Faith Firmly Rooted

And now YouVersion is a free app that you'd be...

2012-04-14T12:12:55.430-04:00

And now YouVersion is a free app that you'd be silly to not use for a Bible reading plan.

Very humbling post. 2011 has been one of the best ...

2012-02-03T14:44:05.879-05:00

Very humbling post. 2011 has been one of the best but also one of the worst years for me. Lots of adjusting! Thanks for the reminder that marriage and parenting are not all about one person. As my Bible Study, "Freedom for Mothers," put it this week: "There is no way to be an effective mother and be centered on yourself at the same time." Such a "duh" statement but oh so hard to live out! Love ya babe. I'm so proud of you!

Very accessible and practical thoughts, Cole. Lov...

2011-05-03T03:28:24.988-04:00

Very accessible and practical thoughts, Cole. Love it. You're not reinventing the wheel, but rather laying out in simple language the basics for spiritual growth. I know that's obvious, but I rarely see a well-rounded summary of what spiritual growth looks like. It's typically just "read your Bible and pray," as if the Church, our time, our finances, our inclination to forgive, our self-sacrifice, etc. are trivialities reserved for those who don't have anything better to do with their time.

I wonder if I could make a request. I'd love to hear your thoughts about deepening one's prayer life. Right now, to continue your analogy, I feel like my diet is carrots and chicken nuggets -- not baby food, but not steak either. I pray each day, but often times distractedly, and sometimes half-heartedly, and rarely with a structure to speak of. I pray throughout the day too, like Nehemiah before he goes in to see the king, but I'm talking about a concerted time of prayer where we shut the door and give ourselves over to the task. If you think it might be appropriate for this space, I'd love to hear some practical suggestions you might have.

Absolutely A. I have found non-Christian books tha...

2011-02-08T19:41:31.648-05:00

Absolutely A. I have found non-Christian books that have ministered to me tremendously, as well as "Christian" books who...well, probably shouldn't be considered Christian Books. Either way, as long as you are using the Bible as your lense while reading any book, then they can be very instrumental in your walk with Christ. Just my humble opinion though.

I heard someone say once that "When you open ...

2010-10-14T10:42:19.902-04:00

I heard someone say once that "When you open his Word, He opens His mouth."

I like your ideas! It can be dangerous when we &q...

2010-10-11T14:50:41.063-04:00

I like your ideas! It can be dangerous when we "hear God" apart from Scripture.

I really, really liked your post yesterday. I tota...

2010-04-09T11:34:51.508-04:00

I really, really liked your post yesterday. I totally understood what you were trying to accomplish - some of the items on your list are things I've actually thought on occasion. How silly can we sometimes be as Christians? We can either make our lives very, very complicated with (self-imposed) rules and miss out on the blessings and joys Christ gives us, or we can choose to just relax, focus on serving Christ and loving others, and be who we need to be in Christ.

My main thought when I read your post was that I need to focus on MY PERSONAL WALK, and not to be judgemental of how I think others are (or should be)walking. Just because I feel convicted not to read secular books doesn't mean my Christian neighbor has the same convictions - therefore who am I to stand in judgement of them? (I actually touched on this a little in my own post today...biblical views of vegetarianim vs. meat-eaters.:))

Great post Cole!

Thank you for answering my questions! I like your...

2010-01-18T11:02:24.764-05:00

Thank you for answering my questions! I like your answers and I don't disagree with what you said. But what about Luke 9:57-62, where Jesus asks his followers to leave everything behind?

Wow! Thanks, Brandon, for your tremendous insights...

2010-01-06T15:46:06.422-05:00

Wow! Thanks, Brandon, for your tremendous insights and kind encouragement.

Cole, Helpful thoughts here. I admire people who...

2010-01-05T14:20:52.216-05:00

Cole,

Helpful thoughts here. I admire people who set up "rock gardens" like the Hebrews as a testimony to what God has done at this time or in this place. It's a sort of permanent "best of", a physical reminder that attests to God's great acts.

The first image that came to my mind at your mention of a spiritual growth chart was a constant upward slope. Sure, there are plenty of ups and downs, but the overall direction is almost always upward. How is that the case? I'm no spiritual hero, so it's not on account of me. My graph was accompanied by a picture of Christ walking upward, with me slung over His shoulder like a dead weight. This is to say, the older I grow in my faith, the more I find that sanctification is accomplished by my posture rather than my actions. If I am broken, weak in my own strength, and drained by my own sin, that is when Christ carries me higher. My own righteousness simply has not served me well in my life, but has caused my nearness to God to dwindle. I don't know how I would live without Christ. Thanks for the encouraging thoughts bud.

Travis, wow it has been a while! I think I can co...

2009-12-26T02:15:29.363-05:00

Travis, wow it has been a while! I think I can count on two hands the number of homeruns I gave up as a pitcher from LL thru HS. I think yours was not just shocking to me, but in the heat of competition crushing as well. Wasn't it a grand salami or at least a three run bomb in a close game? Even so, it helped to somewhat kindle our friendship later on if my memory is not mistaken. So thanks for that! I am most grateful for your friendship (and therefore of the homer). Your family is beautiful and I can tell you make a wonderful dad. Tell Roy hello for me and tell your wife (and daughters too when they are old enough) that you were no slouch of a hitter back in the day...I'll vouch for you.

Cole, it's Travis Shepard, from Bear Creek LL....

2009-12-17T22:18:15.598-05:00

Cole, it's Travis Shepard, from Bear Creek LL. Just wanted to say what's up and drop you a line. I'll see Roy Keely tomorrow and tell him I found your blog.
http://savannahryan.blogspot.com (by my wife) is our family blog.
take care man.

Looking forward to the new entry. You have a good...

2009-11-24T11:03:48.843-05:00

Looking forward to the new entry. You have a good Thanksgiving as well!

Thanks for your encouragement and your questions, ...

2009-11-23T18:20:33.410-05:00

Thanks for your encouragement and your questions, Anonymous! I typed out "quick" responses to both your questions and decided I had better just use them as blog entries rather than a comment. Stay tuned for an entire blog entry answering your 2 questions! And have an awesome Thanksgiving!

I enjoy reading your postings, RCW! Regarding &qu...

2009-11-23T12:08:54.760-05:00

I enjoy reading your postings, RCW!

Regarding "God won't give you more than you can handle"... So what DOES the Bible say?

Relating to "God helps those to help themselves"... What do you say to someone who spends a lot of time at church serving but neglects his/her family, and asks "I've spend so much time serving God, why is my family such mess?"

Thanks for READING and COMMENTING, Kirk!

2009-11-18T00:42:21.109-05:00

Thanks for READING and COMMENTING, Kirk!

Good stuff. I agree that the Bible is a book that...

2009-11-18T00:24:57.704-05:00

Good stuff. I agree that the Bible is a book that everyone claims to understand yet so few can really back it up. Thanks for writing!

cole, you are the man. your newest reader, bra...

2009-11-04T12:43:35.812-05:00

cole,

you are the man.

your newest reader,

brandon

My prayer too!

2009-10-10T14:35:53.598-04:00

My prayer too!

THANKS!!!!!

2009-09-29T17:23:27.387-04:00

THANKS!!!!!

Thanks, Karim!

2009-09-28T20:48:04.596-04:00

Thanks, Karim!

Very thoughtfull post on spiritual growth.It shoul...

2009-09-28T20:44:59.177-04:00

Very thoughtfull post on spiritual growth.It should be very much helpfull

Thanks,
Karim

Anonymous, :) I will post something on the subj...

2009-09-25T16:32:30.146-04:00

Anonymous, :)

I will post something on the subject in the near future. For now, check out the following resource by copying the web address below and pasting it into your web browser address bar.

http://www.rose-publishing.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=606

This is just one resource among others, but I find Rose Publishing to consistently produce good stuff.

You can find their pamphlets at most Christian bookstores like Lifeway, Family Christian, or Mardel, etc.

J D’Amico, thanks a lot for your thoughts! I appr...

2009-09-25T14:36:38.382-04:00

J D’Amico, thanks a lot for your thoughts! I appreciate the fact that others are willing to voice their opinions.

I agree with you on some things and disagree with you on some other things you said. I don’t have the space or time to discuss them all. If you want to talk more about this, please email me rather than “comment.” I think we could go back and forth for quite a while and spend a lot of letters…too many to fit in the comments section.

I do apologize if you are a Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon and are offended to see these categories. I definitely did not intend to use the categories as a “bludgeon.” I hope that rather than people in those camps being appalled or emotionally flustered by my statements (we all know that religious talk can certainly get emotional for people), that they would be driven to closely examine their beliefs all the more. I would hope that they would desire to figure out why it is that nearly all of Christianity has excluded them from the family of Christian belief and more or less renounced them as a different world religion altogether. Nobody likes to be placed in a box; but if they consistently were, shouldn’t they want to know why?
I know of some great resources that can explain why.

One of the troubling things going on here is that I think you may have misunderstood both my purposes and my audience within this blog. This blog is for people who have become Christians and are wanting to grow in their Christian faith. It is not a “religious roundtable” or a place that was ever intended to foster inter-faith dialogue. There is certainly a time and place for those discussions; and I certainly have a desire to engage in those types of discussions. However, they are not exactly what this blog is about.

I guess what I am saying is that if you are not a Christian, and you are not wanting to grow in your Christian faith, you probably aren’t going to agree with much of anything I say. Then, I would wonder why you were even reading at all except perhaps to be critical and argumentative. I hope that is not the case. Sir Francis Bacon would be very disappointed indeed: “Read not to contradict and confute…” If you click the link at the top left of the website that says “Click here to email me, RCW,” I will be glad to continue this conversation. (These “comments” are turning into “blogs” in themselves!)

Thanks again for your thoughts, my friend!

-RCW

Will write an "article" on the differenc...

2009-09-25T14:12:09.393-04:00

Will write an "article" on the differences between different denominations of Christianity?