TopekaStew

Sunday the sermon was about sanctification, which is a five syllable, religious-sounding word. But don't let that deter you. Sanctification is a beautiful process. It refers the transformation of a follower of God from a dingy, cracked mirror to the clean, bright, and shining reflection of his Son. It's not always easy, this process of getting cleaned up, but the final product is beautiful and attractive to others. Below are some of the ways you can plug in to the power of the Spirit and join Him in cleaning up the mirror. Remind yourself that God is at work in you: "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.... He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it" (1 Thess. 4:23-24). "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12-13). Pray for more holiness in your life: "Lord, give me strength to know the love of Christ that surpasses kno...

It was a Saturday night and I was feeling blue. I was preparing for church the next day, getting myself ready mentally and spiritually. But the voice in my head was arguing with me, saying things like, "Why bother? It doesn't do any good." I felt worthless. I felt blue. It was as if a heavy darkness was encroaching, surrounding me. But then I thought, "I don't believe that. I believe God is at work and that he has a purpose for me." I remembered what I had heard one of my mentors say about preaching good news to himself. So I preached to myself. I spoke aloud, quoting Ps. 42:11 to myself: "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God." - Ps. 42:11 As soon as I heard myself say, "hope in God," a light flicked on in my soul. The light was small, like a candle in a pitch black cave, but as that light came to life the encroaching darkness suddenly jumped ba...

For the past four days I've taught teenagers about prayer. They're at camp, having a blast with their friends, and I got the priviledge and challenge of interrupting their fun in order to direct their minds toward the Bible and what God has to say about communication with Him. What was great about this week was that I was asked to teach the same material for four different groups over four days. This allowed me to teach, reevaluate, reconsider, dig deeper, and then teach again and again. I loved it! Normally I rush through a week, trying to dig into Scripture in order to teach a class and preach a sermon, and then I immediately begin thinking about next week. So, the opportunity to dig down into Scripture on the subject of prayer was refreshing and reinvigorating. One of the passages that really came to life for me was 1 John 1:5-6: "...God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not pract...