Mike Taylor

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Category: Faith

  • Why Your Level of Freedom Is Determined by Your Level of Personal Responsibility

    You can’t have freedom without personal responsibility.

    In fact, freedom will only increase at the rate of personal responsibility.

    From the very beginning, responsibility has been woven into life with God. 

    Adam was placed in the garden “to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). God even let Adam name the animals (Genesis 2:19–20). Considering there are millions of species in the world, I think we underestimate how big of a job God gave him (just ask a biologist).

    Moses was given the responsibility of freeing the people of Israel, and the people of Israel were given the responsibility of fighting for the Promised Land.

    Over and over again in Scripture, the pattern is always the same: freedom increases as responsibility increases.

    And Jesus talked about this in the Parable of the Talents. 

    A master entrusted three servants with his money before leaving on a journey. Two invested what they were given and doubled it. One buried it because he was afraid to lose it.

    When the master returned, he praised the first two but condemned the third as “wicked and lazy” (Matthew 25:26).

    Why? That seems harsh.

    He wasn’t condemning his ability or resources. He was condemning his rejection of the gift of responsibility.

    The prophet Ezekiel was also given a choice to accept or reject responsibility. 

    God led Ezekiel into a valley of dry bones and asked him, “Can these bones live?” 

    Of course, Ezekiel didn’t know. Only God knew that. But God told Ezekiel to speak to the bones anyway. He told him to prophesy to the bones and tell them to come to life.

    And when he obeyed, the bones came together, flesh covered them, and breath filled them (Ezekiel 37). 

    Now why did God lead Ezekiel all the way out there to have him do something that God could have done all by himself? It’s not like God needed his help.

    It’s because we can only receive the freedom God gives when we take responsibility.

    So he includes human beings in the process of redeeming creation. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

    But why does he trust us with things even when he knows we’re going to mess up?

    God desires relational intimacy because that’s his nature. Relationships can only exist where there’s freedom. Without freedom, you have nothing to give other people – no time, attention, affection, etc.

    And in order to gain freedom, you must be willing to bear the weight of responsibility. You cannot have one without the other.

    In fact, the word “responsibility” means “to respond” or the ability to respond – which is just a description of freedom.

    When we accept responsibility and carry out our free will for God’s glory, we experience the Kingdom of God here on earth.

    This is God’s heart for all people – to accept responsibility, have freedom, make wise choices, and experience life to the fullest through Him.

    This is why Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

    When you’re working for the Lord, you’re giving your free will to him. You’re exercising freedom to invest in your relationship because you love him.

    Not only does it bring us closer to God, but accepting the weight of responsibility is the only thing that enables you to do things with excellence.

    Think about it. Why do you clean a friend’s house more carefully than your own when we’re staying there? It’s because you feel responsible to them. 

    The same principle runs through our relationship with God, our families, our work, and the people around us. 

    What we claim responsibility for, we steward. What we refuse responsibility for, we neglect.

    If you want to see things in your life grow and thrive, it starts with accepting personal responsibility for them.

    It isn’t someone else’s fault. It isn’t someone else’s to take care of. It’s yours. You can always affect the outcome.

    And when you accept that burden, your personal freedom increases.

    When you reject that burden, you choose to remain bound inside the confines of everyone else’s actions.

    So here’s the question:

    Where are you waiting for God to move? And what responsibility has he already placed in your hands?

    In American Christianity, we love to pray for things. We love to wait on God. But most of the time, he’s waiting for you to accept responsibility and start working. 

    If you’ve been passive, it’s only a matter of time before you feel restricted.

    And it’s because passing on responsibility shrinks your freedom.

    Yes, we should pray for God to guide and open doors when we hit roadblocks.

    But I would argue most of our roadblocks are just fear dressed up as an imaginary barrier. 

    The truth is, change rarely comes by waiting. 

    Ezekiel didn’t wait for the bones to rattle on their own. 

    The servants in Jesus’ story didn’t wait for God to tell them how to multiply the money. 

    They acted based on what they knew. They took responsibility and trusted God to bless them by multiplying their efforts and giving grace where they messed up. And God worked through their obedience.

    The same is true for us. 

    God has already shown his heart through his creation, his word, and his actions in our lives. 

    Our job is to carry what he has given into the places he’s entrusted to us. The ones right in front of us.

    As we do, things begin to take shape. Dead places start to stir. Relationships begin to heal. Growth becomes possible.

    But it’s only in the movement that we often must initiate.

    Responsibility is not a burden. It’s an invitation to join God in his work – to be “co-workers in God’s service” as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 3:9 – so that his Kingdom can come.

    In that light, responsibility is a gift worth thanking God for every day.

  • Why It’s Normal (and Healthy) to Feel Like an Outsider If You’re Following Jesus

    To follow Jesus, we have to be willing to break what’s normal and acceptable.

    In fact, the more you follow him, the more you’ll drift outside cultural norms.

    You have to be willing to be an outlier and an outcast.

    Here’s what I mean…

    In Luke 8, a Jewish religious leader named Jairus comes to Jesus and begs him to heal his 12-year-old daughter. On the way, a crowd presses in. Jesus was already well known for healing, and large crowds often followed him.

    In that crowd was a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years with no medical hope (Luke 8:43). According to Levitical Law, she was unclean, and anyone who touched her would be unclean until evening (Leviticus 15:19). She knew this. But desperate for God, she reached out anyway and touched Jesus’ clothes. Immediately, she was healed.

    Twelve years of bleeding, healed in an instant. But she broke the law.

    Jesus stops and asks who touched him. Imagine being that woman. You’ve touched a man while unclean, experienced a miracle, and wanted to slip away quietly. The pressure and fear must have been overwhelming.

    His disciples are confused because everyone is touching him. But Jesus persists. Terrified, she comes forward, trembling, and falls at his feet. Then, in boldness, she tells her story publicly: unclean for 12 years, yet daring to believe she would be made clean instead of making him unclean.

    And Jesus doesn’t rebuke her. He blesses her: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

    She broke the law and admitted it publicly, and Jesus blessed her anyway.

    Now imagine Jairus. As a Jewish leader, he knew the law and the scandal of what just happened. Yet he still had to decide whether to trust Jesus. On the road, he hears his daughter has died. Jesus tells him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

    Think about that. Jesus stopped for a woman who was legally unclean, risked making himself unclean, and in the delay, Jairus’s daughter died. Bitterness could have set in. But Jairus proceeds anyway.

    At the house, mourners are crying. Jesus kicks them out and tells them to stop. That alone must have felt offensive. Then he takes only Peter, James, John, Jairus, and his wife. He touches the girl’s hand (again breaking the law by touching a dead body, see Numbers 19:11) and tells her to get up. And she does. And in practical fashion, Jesus tells them to give her something to eat.

    It’s easy to miss how many norms and legal standards Jesus collided with. There was a way to do things. There were rules and formalities. And Jesus navigates them with an uncomfortable amount of freedom.

    But Jesus didn’t abolish them; he fulfilled them (Matthew 5:17). He lived the heart of the law, not just the letter.

    Even our courts in America today recognize what’s called the “necessity defense”, which is breaking a law to prevent greater harm. If you break the speed limit to get someone to the hospital, you can argue that it was justified because the heart of the law is to protect lives.

    We all understand there’s a difference between the letter and the heart of the law. That comes from God, who gives us grace even though we’ve all broken his law.

    We don’t get a pass for sin, but God knows the heart. 

    One of my favorite lines is, “An ignorant yes is better than a well-informed no.” 

    If you’re pursuing God’s heart and make a mistake, good – you were pursuing him. If you break social norms or even actually laws while chasing him, grace covers you.

    Fear tells you not to do the thing you feel compelled to do. 

    Faith says if your heart is set on God, you don’t have to worry about the outcome because Jesus takes care of your life (Colossians 3:3–4; Matthew 6:33).

    Where there’s faith, there’s uncertainty. 

    And where there’s uncertainty, there’s discomfort. 

    Our comfort zones of acceptance and admiration will be challenged. But will we move forward when there’s no clear path to success?

    Jesus said if you want to follow him, you must deny yourself and take up your cross (Matthew 16:24). In his time, a cross meant shame and rejection. It was the opposite of normal. Carrying a cross implied guilt and required grace.

    Picking up your cross means dying to the law none of us can meet. But the promise is that if you give up the need to draw life from fitting in, being accepted, and being comfortable, you’ll gain true life from God (Matthew 16:25).

    And like Jairus and the bleeding woman, you’ll see things far greater than anything you imagined.

  • How to Know If You’re Doing What God Wants You to Do

    Imagine a father and a son sitting in a living room together.

    The son is 6 years old. His head is tilted back staring at the ceiling in boredom. He has a frustrated look on his face. Finally, he lets out a big breath, looks at his father, and says, “Dad, what should I do today?“

    The dad looks at him and says, “I don’t know, son, what do you want to do?“

    The son says, “I want to do whatever you want me to do.“

    The father, confused, replies, “I want you to do what you want. I don’t want you to just do whatever I tell you to do.“

    As a father or a mother, or as a son or daughter, can you picture this situation? 

    Why would the dad be frustrated? After all, the boy only wants what his father wants.

    But the belief beneath the question that the son is asking really comes down to this: 

    “I’m afraid to choose because I don’t want to disappoint you.”

    As a father, that’s both frustrating and heartbreaking. 

    We want our kids to feel free and secure around us. 

    We don’t want them to feel like we’re over bearing or controlling. We want to be the safe place they come with their creativity and ideas and dreams.

    For a child to have such a fear-based mentality when it comes to their relationship with their father is a tragedy.

    Instead of telling a child what to do, a good father is more concerned with how they do it.

    As a dad, I don’t want to tell my kids what to do with their lives. 

    Instead, I want them to learn from me how to do whatever it is they decide to do with their lives.

    I want to teach them things like:

    • Whatever you do, do it with excellence. 
    • Love people in the same way you love yourself. 
    • Treat people with kindness. 
    • Serve other people before looking out for yourself. 

    These are the kinds of things I want my kids to think through as they do whatever it is they’re doing in life.

    To tell them what to do only fuels their propensity to avoid their freedom to choose.

    Imagine this same boy at age 18 coming to his father and asking him, “Dad, what major should I choose in college?“ Or, “Dad, what woman should I marry?“

    It seems asinine that a child would live like that.

    And yet that’s often how we approach God.

    We’re afraid to do things we’ve dreamed of doing out of fear that God won’t approve.

    Longing for the will of God becomes a mask for fear we’ve developed about the character of God.

    Fear causes us to picture God as a harsh man (Matthew 25:24). We think that if we make the wrong choice, we’ll lose his approval.

    But that’s not God’s character at all.

    God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love (see Exodus 34:6, Numbers 14:18, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8, Psalm 145:8, Joel 2:13, and Jonah 4:2).

    God is patient, merciful, and loving (see Romans 2:4, Romans 9:22, Romans 15:5, 2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 6:6, Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 2:4-5, Ephesians 4:2, Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 1:11, Colossians 3:12-13, 1 Timothy 1:16, Titus 3:4-5, Hebrews 4:16, James 5:11, and 2 Peter 3:9).

    I’ve spent long nights praying for God to give me the “right answer” between two good options. But I’ve almost never gotten a direct answer. 

    What I’ve found is that God will prompt me with questions and thoughts and help me filter decisions through his character.

    He often asks me what I want. (See 1 Kings 3:5, Matthew 20:21, Matthew 20:32, Mark 10:36, Mark 10:51, Luke 18:41, and John 1:38.)

    Other times he’ll wait until a desire bubbles up inside of me and I have enough courage and faith to ask Him for it. (See Genesis 15:2-6, Genesis 28:20-22, Exodus 3:7-10, 1 Samuel 1:11, 1 Samuel 1:19-20, 1 Kings 3:9-13, 2 Kings 20:2-6, Psalm 37:4, Matthew 7:7-11, John 14:13-14, John 15:7, John 16:23-24, Acts 10:30-31, and 2 Corinthians 12:8-9)

    I used to see this line of thinking as selfish – that it’s selfish to think about my desires.

    But what does a good father want? 

    A good father wants to be a part of his kids’ lives, and he wants to model for his children how to do whatever they endeavor to do in life with excellence. 

    For a child to make their own choices and act in the character of their father requires a deep intimacy, trust, and respect.

    Fear, on the other hand, has to do with punishment (1 John 4:18). But there is no condemnation for those in Christ (Romans 8:1).

    So what are you afraid of?

    Make the bold choice to exercise freedom and receive mercy (Micah 6:8).

    Then, in all your ways acknowledge him. But you have to choose a way first.

    And whatever you choose, do it with all your heart and in the full representation of God so he gets the glory. (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17)

    I think you’ll find that was the point all along.

  • Is God Always With You?

    What does it really mean for God to be with you?

    Scripture says that God is always present.

    Psalm 139:8 says, “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”

    But Scripture also says multiple times that God will never leave us or forsake us.

    Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

    Hebrews 13:5 reminds us of this: ‘…God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” 

    This line is echoing God’s promise in Deuteronomy 31:6 to never leave or forsake his people.

    In that sense, God isn’t just present, he’s also with those who follow Jesus.

    In Isaiah 41:10, God says, “fear not, for I am with you.”

    Joshua 1:9 says, “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

    Psalm 23:4 says, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

    1 Corinthians 3:16 tells us that we are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in us. 

    Dwelling involves a conscious choice to not just be present but to also to be committed to the wellbeing of the home.

    There’s a big difference between being present with someone and being with someone.

    Being present is a matter of logistics. It involves putting yourself in the same space as someone else. God is present with everyone.

    Being with someone, on the other hand, is a matter of the heart and will. It’s a conscious choice to align with someone not just physically but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

    Many parents are physically present with their kids but not emotionally with them.

    Sometimes, as children of God, we can find ourselves believing the same about God:

    We know that God will never leave us in the sense that he will always be present; we’re just not sure that he’s with us.

    You can’t go anywhere God isn’t.

    But then there’s another piece of God‘s character. 

    He’s on your side, wishing and willing your good in all circumstances.

    It’s often very difficult to see God as someone who’s rooting for us to win and willing it to be so in every moment.

    Seeing that the God of the universe is truly on your side no matter how good or bad you are gives you confidence to do the good work he’s put in front of you. 

    He’s not waiting for you to get your act together. 

    He’s waiting for you to realize that he wants to call your heart his home. 

    And he knows, of course, that once you open your heart to him, then the right actions will flow from that naturally.

    When our actions start flowing from our understanding that God is actually with us and not just around us, then the goodness we’ve been chasing starts following us instead.

  • Without Loving People, You Can’t Fully Know God. Here’s Why.

    No matter who you are or how spiritual you are, your view of God is incomplete.

    No matter how much you know, what you know about God is only a portion of the full picture.

    We like to think that what we currently know is all there is to be known. 

    At least, until we learn something new.

    Then, once we realize that we weren’t 100% right, we think that by adding what we knew before to what we now know, we can now be 100% right again.

    But we’re always missing at least some portion of truth. 

    Think back to the things you believed to be true a decade ago. You only had part of the picture. (And it’s still true today.)

    So how could we think that we alone could see the full picture of God?

    Paul, talking about the resurrection, says, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully…” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

    What we believe to be true about God is only a portion of the picture of who God really is in all his fullness.

    In fact, it’s impossible to fully know God strictly from your own personal perspective.

    He’s too big for any one person to understand.

    Paul said that the Church makes up the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

    In other words…

    Christ is fully known only through the Church collectively.

    Different parts of the body of Christ come together to create a whole picture.

    You can’t know God fully outside of community in God’s church.

    Ephesians 3 goes more in depth about how God’s purpose is to use the variety of believers within the body of Christ to showcase God’s glory to the world.

    Paul calls it the “manifold wisdom of God” which just means “many diverse manifestations.”

    In Ephesians 2, Paul also talks about how believers are like stones being built together on the cornerstone of Jesus into a dwelling place for God. 

    Each of us fits together to create the environment where God is fully known.

    Here’s another way to put it:

    Our view and knowledge of God is limited by our unity within the Body of Christ.

    In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he’s talking to a diverse group of Christians in a large, thriving city.

    The church was brand new and there were many types of people with many different types of beliefs. 

    And here’s what he says to them:

    He prays that they would be rooted and established in love, which can only exist in community.

    Then he prays that they would have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. 

    This, he says, will lead them to being filled with the fullness of God.

    Notice the order.

    The fullness of God – the full knowledge of him that goes beyond what we can personally understand – is only experienced together with all the Lord’s people, rooted in love for one another.

    Jesus was once asked what’s the greatest commandment in God’s Law. 

    He said that the first and greatest commandment is to love God. 

    But then he says something interesting. 

    He says that there’s a second commandment that is like the first, and that is to love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40) 

    The phrase Jesus used when he said that the second commandment “is like” the first commandment is a word in Greek that means the same as or of equal rank.

    When you put Paul’s teaching in the context of what Jesus taught about loving others, the picture becomes much clearer…

    The only way we truly come to know God in all his fullness is within the context of community with other believers.

    In isolation, our view of God is always slightly incomplete.

    There’s a portion of God’s character that you can only experience through other believers.

    Of course, the friction of someone else’s view of God rubbing against our view of God is really uncomfortable.

    But in that friction, we get to wrestle with the parts of God we didn’t previously know.

    Unity drives God’s blessings according to Psalm 133, and unity is how the world comes to know Jesus, according to John 17.

    So when people frustrate you, remember that you both need each other to see the full picture and know God fully.

    And without the other, you’ll both miss out on what you’re intended to get.

  • When Preparation Become Avoidance

    One of the biggest misconceptions created by personal development culture is that we always need just a little more.

    Just a little more experience or knowledge, then we’ll be ready to face what we’re afraid of.

    Through this lens, fear is something we can overcome with preparation.

    But what we’re often saying is, “I’m not sure this will work out, so I’m going to delay it.”

    And we end up feeding the fear that’s keeping us from taking action.

    You’ll never be fully ready and you’ll never out-prepare fear. 

    You’ll never have enough knowledge or money or experience.

    The only way to overcome irrational fear is to plan and take action quickly.

    Knowledge can only go so far in overcoming a lie. 

    Fear cannot always be circumnavigated or overcome. 

    Most of the time you just have to go through it.

    So the question is, what stopped you?

    Was it really a roadblock? 

    Or were you delaying uncertainty?

    Maybe you should do it anyway.

  • Why Limited Vision Causes Limited Provision

    Where there’s limited vision, there’s limited provision.

    God will not provide where there’s no pursuit.

    When Abraham called God “Jehovah Jireh” – which means “The LORD Who Provides” – the literal meaning of the Hebrew word for Jireh is “to see” (Genesis 22:14).

    It’s the same word used to describe when God created the Earth and “saw” that it was good.

    His vision led to his provision.

    Prophets in the Old Testament were called “seers”. The Hebrew word for “seer” comes from the same word that was used to describe God as Jehovah Jireh.

    What the prophet saw, God provided.

    In order to get God’s provision, it was important to first seek God’s vision.

    We’ve carried the same idea into our English language.

    The English word for “provide” comes from two Latin words that literally mean:

    • “Pro-” – to come before, prepare, or make way for something
    • “Videre” – to see

    Together, “provide” literally means “to make way” for “something that has been seen”.

    If provision is stagnant, it’s worth asking yourself how resolute you are in the vision.

    Is it vague? Is it hazy? Can you only sort of see it through a mental cloud?

    Visions are outcomes, not detailed plans.

    You don’t need all the facts, but you do need a destination.

    If you can’t see it, it might be time to seek after it.

    Follow me here…

    Matthew reminds us to seek the Kingdom of God first, then provision comes. (Matthew 6:33)

    The Kingdom of God is union with Jesus. (John 17:21, John 15:4)

    And union with Jesus comes with revelation – which is vision. (John 14:21, John 10:27, John 16:13, James 1:5, Isaiah 30:21)

    Union leads to vision which leads to provision.

    It makes sense when you break it down.

    Without vision, we’re wandering aimlessly.

    And wandering aimlessly is unproductive and wasteful.

    So why would a good God pour resources into aimless, wasteful wandering?

    When the Israelites were wandering in the desert, he gave them very simple provisions – manna every day.

    In fact, they complained about the provision so much that they missed the fact that they had rejected the vision.

    If you remember, the vision was the Promised Land – which was flowing with milk and honey and fruit.

    They reached the Promised Land within a couple of years of leaving Egypt, but because they failed to see the vision, they wandered.

    And because of their wandering, their provision was limited.

    Which leads us back to this:

    Where there’s limited vision, there’s limited provision.

    God doesn’t bless short-sightedness.

    Proverbs 29:18 tells us where there is no vision, the people will cast off restraint.

    The word for vision here means mental sight or revelation from God.

    The word for “cast off restraint” means to let loose of the boundaries of an ordained covering.

    When we stop seeking vision, we’re letting go of the intended provision.

    We suffer from short-sightedness.

    In 2 Peter 3, the apostle Peter addresses short-sighted people:

    He says, ‘They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he [Jesus] promised? […] 

    Then he says, “But they deliberately forget […]’”

    They abandoned the vision because they had forgotten God’s faithfulness to see them through what seemed unlikely.

    And in doing so, they rejected the provision of hope, joy, and peace along with the tangible provisions needed to get them through to the destination.

    So if you find yourself lacking, it might be worth asking if you’re still on track.

    Are you seeking his voice?

    And are you laying down selfish ambition?

    If so, provision is coming.

    If not, it might be waiting for you somewhere else.

  • Why Your Potential Will Keep You From Your Purpose

    The impact of your life is less dependent on what you’re willing to do and more dependent on what you’re willing to not do.

    To achieve something, it’s natural for us to first think of what we can do to make it happen.

    But when Jesus talked about the kingdom of God, he didn’t talk about what we needed to be willing to do.

    Instead, he talked about what we needed to be willing to not do.

    He challenged the disciples to leave everything they had to follow him. 

    When Jesus asked Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow him, it was immediately after they had just caught so many fish it was sinking their boat. (Luke 5:7)

    Imagine having the best day of sales you’ve ever had at your business, and deciding to walk away from it altogether on the same day.

    If you consider the immediate requirements of discipleship, there wasn’t much for them to do.

    But being willing to stop pursuing their business was a much bigger deal.

    What Jesus was asking them to give up made no logical sense at the time. 

    Why would they give up the thing they had built – the thing he just blessed? Why give up their steady income?

    We like to think that maybe Jesus would’ve played it safer. 

    Our version of Jesus would’ve asked them to give their extra time to him when they weren’t fishing.

    He would’ve asked them to be part-time fishermen, maybe. 

    But he didn’t do that. He showed them what was possible, then he invited them to go all in.

    In Luke 14, Jesus is talking about the value of counting the cost before you do something.

    This parable has been used to justify playing it safe – to be as certain as you can before doing something. But that’s not exactly what Jesus was saying.

    He basically says, wouldn’t it be dumb to endeavor to build a house or go to war without first thinking about what you’re going to have to give up in order to be successful? 

    If you think you can go into either of those things without giving up a great deal, you’re not going to be prepared to see it through. 

    Jesus ended that conversation by saying, “those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:33)

    That’s not a paraphrase. Go read it.

    When a king decides to go to war, he’s also deciding to not focus on farming, harvesting, building towns, and improving infrastructure. 

    By deciding to go to war, he’s giving up everything else. 

    It’s a reckless endeavor, but one that must be committed to wholeheartedly. Anything short of that will end in failure.

    We all have things that God has given us to do that require our full commitment. 

    And it’s easy to say that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. 

    But the more difficult question is:

    What are you willing to not do? 

    What are you willing to give up?

    Your number one barrier is not your ability or inability. Your number one barrier is distraction. 

    What’s so important in your life that it’s going to require the elimination of all distractions?

    Because in order to fulfill your purpose, you’ll find that you have to be willing to give up your potential.

  • Why God Welcomes Doubts

    Doubt is a normal human experience.

    Most people have doubts about their abilities, their future, their relationships, and about God.

    Doubt gets a negative connotation, but it can actually be very constructive.

    The Greek word in the New Testament for doubt is “diakrinó“, and it has both a positive and negative connotation.

    So the negative use of the word means to waiver back and forth between ideas. It doesn’t simply mean to wonder in your mind if something will happen for certain. It implies an instability in beliefs and a lack of commitment. (See James 1:6)

    The positive use of the word implies sifting through facts for the sake of discernment. (See Matthew 16:3 when Jesus rebukes for failing to “discern the signs of the times”.)

    Positive doubt takes you out of your comfort zone while negative doubt leads you further into it.

    When you take the time to separate two ideas for the sake of deciding between them, you’re taken outside of your comfort zone.

    It’s comfortable to jump back and forth whenever it’s convenient.

    But it’s only in the discomfort of doubt and discernment where we can effectively grow.

    The key to healthy doubt is to understand its source. 

    Dr. Gary Habermas, a well known religious researcher and professor, identifies three types of doubt: 

    • Factual (lack of information)
    • Emotional (rooted in pain)
    • Volitional (unwillingness to trust) 

    What’s interesting is, most doubts aren’t factual or volitional – they’re emotional.

    Distrust and doubt stems from the heart, not the mind, and thus isn’t solved by information alone.

    This is why a husband who doesn’t trust his wife is never satisfied with knowing where his wife is or what she’s doing at all times. He’ll always wonder, and he’ll always want more information.

    It’s because the issue isn’t about information. It’s about the emotional damage of the person who’s unwilling to trust.

    Emotional doubt arises when feelings overshadow facts, leading to “what if” questions without evidence.

    Anxious or obsessive thinking often fuels emotional doubts and distrustful thinking. 

    This is what causes people to doubt their salvation or question God’s goodness even though they have the facts that reinforce those beliefs.

    There will always be facts to the contrary of what you believe. The question isn’t which side has more facts. The question is, which side are you willing to trust?

    To overcome emotional doubt, the brain has to be taught how to process information differently. 

    For example, instead of running with the first conclusion your mind produces, ask yourself why there’s resistance to trust. Does the idea of trusting hurt? If so, that’s a red flag that there’s pain beneath the surface to be dealt with.

    It’s amazing what processing information from a neutral perspective can do. If you can train your brain to simply be an observer of facts, then the pain of trusting can be dealt with separately from the act of choosing a path.

    You control your doubts and how you process them. 

    It isn’t the events in our lives that cause trauma – it’s our interpretation of events and our reaction to those events that causes the most impact.

    Faith in anyone or anything should always be grounded in facts. Trust should, in essence, be a conscious decision to stop chasing alternate conclusions and lean on the facts you have.

    It’s like the old chair that looks sturdy enough to hold your weight. You can’t know until you release your weight and try it.

    In the same way, you can train the habit of faith by learning enough and letting go.

    Self-confidence and relationships work the same way. Kick the tires, see if you think you can trust it, then let go and try it. If it holds weight, release more and see if it holds. Continue until trust is built.

    You’ll never out-learn distrust and doubt. The only way forward is to learn enough and let go.

  • It’s Time for Us to Rethink Church

    Christianity is declining in America.

    And that might not be a bad thing, because it’s not the real issue.

    Maybe what’s fading is the shiny replica of the Church that we’ve created.

    The American church that’s been publicized is one built on polished sermons and impressive stages. It’s been more concerned with attendance than service. It’s been more concerned with comfort than breakthrough.

    Maybe the world doesn’t hate Jesus as much as we think. Maybe they just haven’t seen much of him lately.

    What they’ve seen in America over the last 50 years is mostly is a cheap replica – just close enough to fool the untrained eye.

    And they’re not wrong to feel let down.

    Evil will always push back against truth. That’s to be expected.

    But we’re not fighting against evil people. We’re fighting spiritual deception. (Ephesians 6:12)

    And how do we overcome deception?

    But Jesus said we would be known by our fruit. (Matthew 7:16)

    If we’re led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14), that means we should be known for:

    • Love
    • Joy
    • Peace
    • Patience (Long-suffering)
    • Kindness
    • Goodness
    • Faithfulness
    • Gentleness
    • Self-control

    And yet statistically, the attributes American Christians are least known for are care, friendliness, generosity, encouragement, and hope.

    Peter said we should be ready to give a reason for our hope. Of course, that means we have to first live like people with hope.

    People aren’t necessarily walking away from God.

    They’re walking away from the off-brand version of Him we’ve presented that looks like false hope.

    There are still plenty of people in the world who are hungry for the gospel.

    We’ve just made the gospel about something other than the gospel.

    Jesus never said to build churches. He said to make disciples.

    Likewise, the early Church looked very different than what we’ve built in America.

    • They shared everything they had willingly. We get mad if anyone talks about money in church.
    • They met together every day. We show up twice a month when it’s convenient.
    • They broke bread in their homes and centered their lives around communion. We go to a small group every couple weeks and sip juice from plastic cups once a quarter.
    • They prayed constantly. We say formulaic, surface level prayers and only in the transitions in the service.
    • They were known for their conviction and love for one another. We’re known for condemnation.
    • They were united. We’re divided in every way imaginable.
    • People noticed them and they grew. People are noticing us and we’re shrinking.

    The difference is stark.

    Maybe we need to stop asking how to get people back into church and start asking how to get the Church back into people.

    The world is tired of the show…and good for them.

    They want hope. They want to be healed and made whole. They want to encounter something real.

    Yes, Jesus said that the truth that will set them free…and we love hammering the truth…but…

    The full context of His statement is:

    “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

    Truth comes through discipleship. It comes from living out the teaching of Jesus in our lives. THEN the truth will set us free.

    Truth is only discerned through the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

    Which means…

    The world needs to see the Spirit in us before they can discern what we’re saying.

    Which means…

    We have to transform before we can insist on a broken world transforming (see plank and log, Matthew 7:5).

    And here’s the uncomfortable truth:

    If they can’t see the Spirit in us, then maybe there aren’t as many people deserting God as we think.

    Maybe we’re the ones who have gone missing.