Revelife Christian BlogSubscribe to the revelife RSS feedSubscribe to the revelife

Sunday, 29 April 2012

  • Revelife Sunday Service: Christian (Part Seven)

    Today is Sunday, and all over the globe, Christians are headed to their local churches to celebrate and worship with one another.  We here at Revelife really hope you'll find a local church to attend today, but we also know there are circumstances that prevent you from making it to church on Sunday morning.

    That's why we feature the services of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia.  Today, Pastor Andy Stanley will continue in the series Christian.  To many people, the term "Christian" is a loaded concept -- and not necessarily a positive one.  In this series, Andy is unpacking what it means to be a Christian, and his answers might surprise you.

    North Point's services are streamed online live at 9:00am and 11:00am with rebroadcasts at 2:00pm, 6:00pm and 10:00pm (all times Eastern).  We hope you can join us for a service today!

    If you enjoy North Point's services, you should know that there are North Point Strategic Partner churches all over North America.  Click here to see if there is one in your area.

Saturday, 28 April 2012

  • Tiny Arguments: Women in Ministry

    By Nic Don at Theopolitical

    Tiny Arguments is an idea I’ve had for a while now.  My aim is to create a repository of tiny arguments, expressing a view in as few words as possible, so that instead of establishing the same common ground in multiple venues, I (and hopefully others) can point others here and five minutes later continue the conversation in more interesting and profitable ways.  I will begin with my tiny argument for women in in ministry.

    I believe that God calls women to all roles within the church and equips women to both pastor to and teach all members of the church.  

    Why? More Here...

  • Marriage Poison

    By Sharon at SheWorships

    Out of the blue, one of my co-workers asked me an interesting question as we sat across from one another this week:

    “What brings you satisfaction in life?”

    That’s a big question that I was not at all prepared for, so I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer. There are, after all, a lot of ways to answer it. After I gave it some thought I realized that the real question, for me, is not what brings me satisfaction, but what takes my satisfaction away.

    On the whole, I am very satisfied with my life. God has been oh so good to me and my husband! In addition to all we have in Christ, we have a wonderful marriage, a baby boy on the way, health, security, and so much more. God has been abundantly good to us, and I am beyond satisfied. I am overjoyed! More Here...

  • How Does God Treat my Heart?

    How does God treat my heart?

    That question should evoke a passionate answer, should result in my heart singing praises to Him because He has always only given love to my heart. Problem is, I'm way to busy trying to get my heart 'ready for God' to realize the kindness He has embraced me with, I'm so focused on myself that I don't ever hear the question.

    There is a story in the old testament when David and his men were on the pursuit of the Amalekites who had raided their homes and kidnapped their families. In their journey two hundred of David's men reached a point of exhaustion and could no longer travel, they stayed behind while David and the remaining four hundred men went on to find the Amelekites and rescued their families along with all the stolen goods that had been taken.

    On their way back they met up with those left behind, David's first words to them are - How are you doing? - A few of the men who battled and rescued the families were angry with those who stayed behind and said that because they did not go with them, they would not receive any of goods they retrieved from the Amalekites. David steps in and says "My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us." 1 Samuel 30:23. From that day on, the share was the same for the man who went to battle and the man who stayed with the supplies. More Here...

Friday, 27 April 2012

  • Lightning of the East: Extreme Cult Threats in China

    I want to begin this post with a question: do you believe Satan is active in the world today? 

    Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour“  1 Peter 5:8

    The following is a quote from a minister with first hand experience of one of the most Satanic cults I’ve ever heard of (originating out of "the far East"):

    This satanic cult, ‘lightning of the east’, is one of the most evil and deceitful cults I’ve ever seen in China.   They are positively wolves’ in sheep’s clothing; they attack Jesus Christ, twist and defraud the Bible, destroy families and lives, causing great hurt and destruction to Christians who have bought by the precious blood of the Savior!  They are devils dressed as ministers of light, workers of Satan, false prophets after the way of Balaam.  May the Lord have mercy upon the elect that they may be able to discern, to reject the lies and the deceitful words from Satan, May our brethren returning from ---------, be on the alert!  May those that were deceived quickly repent and return!

    This cult has various names, “The Congregation, Church of Almighty God, Seven Spirits Sect, New Power Lord’s Church, True Light Sect, or True Way Sect”, but it’s more common name is “Lightning from the East” or “Eastern Lightning”.

    More Here...
  • Why I’ve Never Been Baptized

    By Tom Zuniga

    Several years ago I watched my younger siblings do it. I’ve often wondered whether I would ever follow in their footsteps. Been questioned about it plenty of times.

    But I already have Jesus in my heart. I love Him dearly. He is everything; He’s the only thing.

    For nearly 25 years God’s will has superseded mine, despite countless stumbles along the way. I’m certainly not perfect, but I strive to do the right thing. To love people like God has inexplicably loved me. I believe in Him as sure as I do oxygen or the intoxicating smell of cinnamon buns baking in an oven. When all else fails, He never has, does, or will.

    I’m already assured of living with Him forever someday. What else is there? More Here...

  • A Rosemary By Any Other Name: Lessons in Deception

    By Dean Lusk

    I'm not above telling about the times I've done stupid stuff
    . An old post, Adventures in Yardwork, is a classic example of a story that might make you laugh at me and think about just how stupid I can be. Here's another (slightly longer than usual) story that may enable you get a chuckle at my expense.

    My dad came up with an incredible pizza recipe many years ago; before I was born, I assume. When I was a kid I spied on him when he made pizza so I could steal the proverbial "secret sauce" recipe. Only it wasn't proverbial -- it actually was secret sauce -- and I didn't "spy," per se. I just asked him what he was putting in there.

    Flash forward to the present, in which my wife and I are really getting into planting things and making food with fresh herbs, vegetables, and all that stuff. Not just because it's healthy (after all, chocolate chip ice cream with caramel topping is an evening staple for me), but food made that way tastes substantially better than it does when using dried spices or canned vegetables. More Here...
  • What Does it Mean to Be a Christian? (Part Eight)

    I'm realizing that I have a lot of fear in my life. It's been around for so long, and I'm so familiar with it, that I think, in a lot of ways, I've become accustomed to it and I just let it be there. Fear can be a hard thing to get around or get rid of; I mean, how do you just stop being afraid? Hard, right? It's a very basic human emotion and often, one of the strongest. You can choose not to react to it, but how do you just stop feeling it?

    I'm a regular human being; just an average Joe on the street that many people wouldn't take notice of. And even if you did, I'd probably walkaway from our conversation without you thinking that I'm weird. My friends know I'm weird, but to the causal conversationalist, I'm just a normal guy. But, whether like a lot of people or unlike them, I'm afraid of a lot of things. Afraid of what people might think of me, afraid to stand out, afraid of confrontation, afraid of the future, afraid of unhappiness.

    I'm also afraid of giving my life totally to God, because I won't be able to control what happens to me -- even though, ultimately, I can't control that anyway -- or how I become in that future. This is a silly reaction because I am confident in God's infinite love for me, and because of that love, I can be confident that any plans God has for me are great plans. This is what He means in 1 John 4:18, when He says, 'perfect love casts out fear...' Because of God's love, and because of our love for Him, we shouldn't fear His plans for us. Our future as a disciple of God may not be easy, but it will be alongside, and drawn nearer to, our God, whom we love. So it should always be good. More Here...

Thursday, 26 April 2012

  • How Do We Love Homosexuals? Responding to "I'm Christian, Unless You're Gay"

    By Conrad Ma

    So in case the article hasn't reached your Facebook page yet from a friend of a friend of a friend, here it is: I’m Christian, unless you’re gay.

    I read this article and one teen's response to the article tonight, and it got me thinking about what exactly is my stance on homosexuality. Obviously, I have to stick by God and say that homosexuality is most definitely a sin. Everyone in Church already knows that, and we don't have to beat it death. So the tricky part with this issue is how exactly do we deal with homosexuals outside of church? Or is that not even the best way to question it? What we should be asking is what is the best way to love homosexuals?

    Some people take a hard line conservative approach that we should absolutely not legalize gay marriage in Canada. Yet in Canada, some people may take that position not really knowing what the consequences are and what it really means to this particular group of people. I'm thinking that there needs to be some sort of relational connection before we just make such a conservative stance especially when people in Church tend not to know anyone who happens to be gay.

    At one point I did take a zealous conservative approach like that until God taught me more about love and what it really means. Love still means being a friend to those who are lonely and reflecting Christ as best as we can with the help of the Holy Spirit. And pardon my harsh language but there is a part of me that is deeply hurt when the Church makes unloving actions like bullying on a homosexual who has just come out of the closet. More Here...

  • Submit Your Posts to Revelife!

    Did you know that a lot of the content featured on Revelife is written by our readers?  It's true; Revelife pretty much lives on the content that our readers submit, and we want to encourage you to keep writing and submitting your posts! 

    If there is a subject you're passionate about or a topic you're knowledgeable about, consider writing out your thoughts and sending them our way!  Our editors will select and thoughtfully edit the best posts we find.  We usually put a picture with each post, so if there's one you want, make sure you include that as well!

    Don't forget; you can also tell us what you want to read by voting on the posts already submitted by other users.

    If you're new to the site -- or just need a reminder -- check out the About Us tab to learn more about the Revelife community.

Follow Revelife!