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Revelife Christian Blog

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

This is My Beloved Son: Hebrews 1:1-3 and Luke 9:28-35

The Book of Hebrews is the epitome of the Old Testament focused through Gospel lens. Nowhere does this Gospel message come into sharper focus than in these opening three verses of the epistle.

Christ, Christ, CHRIST
A couple of years back I taught a Bible study on Hebrews and was especially struck during this prolonged look at that wonderful book with how central Christ is in our salvation. And how that all-importance of Christ in our lives actually crowds out and rids me of cherished notions I used to hold on to as Christian.

Yes, I know that Christian readers might right now just skip over that sentence about Christ being central, as if I was stating the obvious. "Yea, I know all that. And...?" But I am not stating the obvious. I am pointing out the overlooked. I mean that the utter, crucial centrality of Christ in our lives is something that is really neglected today: Many Christians are quite clear on what Christ did on the Cross. They have certainly heard enough sermons. And they are reasonably clear on how Christ will come for His own and take them to Heaven. More Here...

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Praying My Mental Illness Away Didn't Work

Mercy Ministries is a six-month residential treatment center that treats young women with “life controlling issues” such as self harm, eating disorders, victims of abuse, drug abuse, alcoholism, suicidal tendencies. They are a multi-national, popular, charismatic, Christianity based, residential treatment center that I’d like to see shut down.

I was 20 when I stayed at Mercy Ministries America for four months in 2008 to deal with issues that had been affecting me for years -- eating disorders, PTSD, dissociative disorders and severe chemical depression. By the time I made it to Mercy I had been in a dozen or more psychiatric wards and all I wanted was to feel better. To feel ground under my feet. I was greeted with something far from that. It was much more then just throwing me out the door. What they did to me was very wrong.

Going into Mercy I was basically promised the world. I was promised freedom from my illnesses if I would just obey them and in turn obey God. If I did as they said I would be free. And that's all I wanted was to feel better. If you told me that walking across country would make me better, I would have done it. I was weak, I was vulnerable, I was very sick. I knew going into Mercy that it was a "tough" program. But I was convinced that's what I needed. More Here...
Submit Your Posts to Revelife!

We want to take a moment to extend an invitation to those of you who haven't submitted something to Revelife in a while. We know there are many of you who have, for whatever reason, stopped submitting your posts to Revelife. It's not easy for us to find good content, and there are many of you who are fantastic writers. We miss seeing your posts in our editor! If you haven't submitted a post in a while -- or ever -- we want to invite you to share with us your thoughts. If you're looking for inspiration, here are some general topics we like to feature:

- current events
- social issues
- popular culture
- personal experiences and testimonies

Feel free to send us anything in these categories or on any other subject that you find interesting. It is the breadth and depth of subject matter we feature here on Revelife that makes our community unique.

If you're new to Revelife -- or just need a reminder -- visit our About Us page to learn more about who we are.
More Thoughts on the Effeminate Church

Douglas Wilson has posted a response to those (like myself) who took issue with his "Eleven Signs That Your Church Is Effeminate."

I've talked enough on this subject, so I'll mention just one thought: Wilson sidesteps the issues his original article brought up. He defends himself and complementarian thought in general terms, saying that a church is "truly feminine" (a good thing) when you have "a worship service led throughout by men." But he doesn't address that he took a list of nongendered things such as certain chord changes and articles of clerical clothing and made them out to be complementarian gender roles. He may have done it in jest--I never doubted that--but humor reveals what you think to be true.

What do you think about Wilson's response? Do you feel that calling the church "effeminate" is a negative thing? Why or why not?

Monday, 14 May 2012

Courageous: My One Word for 2012

By Tom Zuniga

My One Word 365 for 2012 is courageous.
After five months of this slightly less sparkly new year, I wanted to check in with my spring progress. Not in a puff-myself-up kind of way, but more of a trying-to-stay-accountable sort of way.

In short, it’s been a life-changing year.

In long…

I met with one of the most inspiring people I may ever meet. He’s a phenomenal writer and an even better person. Just been so blessed by this guy. I’m glad I battled the suicidal butterflies inside my stomach and accepted his offer to meet in person at a Hollywood Starbucks. I also recently interviewed him, so be on the lookout for that TMZ EXCLUSIVE in the coming weeks! More Here...
You Are That Man: Our Sin Looks Terrible on Other People

Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man."
2 Samuel 12:7

King David had slept with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his most faithful soldiers. Uriah, on learning that she is pregnant, tries to cover it up. After several failed attempts to get Uriah to come home to his wife, David tells his commander Joab to facilitate Uriah's death in the battle field. Uriah is killed in battle, and David then takes his widow as a wife. The nation of Israel sees David as a noble king who took under his wing the wife of fallen hero.

About a year goes by, the child is born. One day God sends the prophet Nathan who begins to tell David a story. Kings often acted as Judges, and people would bring their cases to them. Nathan tells him this story. More Here...
Notecards: How I Spend Time With the Bible

About four months ago or so, I started writing down any Bible verses that particularly stuck out to me in a sermon, personal devotion, small group study, or whatever. I have accumulated a neat little stack, and it’s become my go-to for just about every situation I find myself in lately.

I don’t realize it at the time I’m writing the verses, but I have slowly built up my own little armory of Bible verses, and with that armory there is always a verse or two that speaks to any given situation. It truly amazes me the ways God knows me so well, and I still struggle with trusting him. Humanity really gets in the way sometimes.

On a serious note though, it is truly incredible how I can study a verse at one time and it says one thing to my soul, and yet as I go through a completely different situation that same verse speaks to me on a whole other level and is still 100% applicable. God truly is amazing. More Here...

Sunday, 13 May 2012

Revelife Sunday Service: Climate Change (Part One)

Good morning, everyone! It's Sunday, and for Christians around the world, today is an opportunity to gather together to worship God and to learn more about Him. We here at Revelife believe that the best way to spend Sunday morning is at your local church, and we hope you will be able to attend a service in your community today.

But we also understand that, for a variety of circumstances, many of you won't be able to make it to a service today. It's summer, and many people are on vacation and away from the church they regularly attend. Some people we know and love are elderly, sick or injured and are physically unable to get to a church service. And there are those who have reservations about the church as a whole, who won't step foot in a church because of past experiences.

While we don't think there is any perfect substitute for the local church, we do hope we can fill the gap this Sunday morning by providing you with access to the amazing services at North Point Church in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Today begins a new series featuring Jeff Henderson, lead pastor of the Gwinnett Campus of North Point Church. His series, Climate Change, isn't about what we traditionally think of when we think of the term "climate change." All of us have a climate -- your teenage daughter often has a stormy climate and your boss probably has an explosive one, but your beloved grandpa's climate is calm and warm. So what is your forecast?

Tune in to North Point Online today and get the answer! North Point's services are streamed live at 9:00am and 11:00am with rebroadcasts at 2:00pm, 6:00pm and 10:00pm (all times Eastern). We hope you will be able to join us today at one of these times!

If you enjoy the services at North Point Church, you should know that there are North Point Strategic Partner churches all over North America. To find out if there is one in your area, visit northpointpartners.org.

Saturday, 12 May 2012

Some Thoughts on Amendment One

By Sharon at SheWorships

Last week I was home in North Carolina visiting family and friends, which made for interesting timing. It was the week leading up to NC’s Marriage Amendment vote, which means I was inundated with information, debates, and commercials for both sides. Because I now live in Illinois I was admittedly uneducated about many of the nuances of the debate, so last week was a bit of a crash course for me.

After a week of reading about the issue and discussing it with people on both sides, I confess that I still find much of it to be very confusing. While a lot of North Carolinians have very strong convictions on either side of the debate, I found it to be exceedingly complex, and at times Ike and I both found ourselves scratching our heads over the details. More Here...
A Conversation at Church Camp

13 year-old-me to Counselor at Church Camp: My mom was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. I keep praying for her to get better, but she just keeps getting worse. Why won’t God make her better?

Camp Counselor: I can think of two possible reasons. The first is that it might be God’s plan for her to have Schizophrenia.

Me: Why would God have a plan like that?

Camp Counselor: God works in mysterious ways that we can’t understand. We might not be able to see it, but God might be able to use her disease to bring about great good in other people’s lives.

Me: Ok...what’s the other possible reason? More Here...