"The greatest affliction of life is never to be afflicted." - Anonymous
"Great trials seem to be necessary preparation for great duties." - Thompson
Affliction
"We ought as much to pray for a blessing upon our daily rod as upon or daily bread." - John Owen
"Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not." - Henry Fielding
Adversity
Signs That I Need a Retreat
by Robert Johnson 1) I feel emotionally “raw” in the face of criticism or disagreements.2) I struggle with creativity.3) I fall into a rut of being pessimistic.4) My need to belong consistently displaces my responsibility to lead.5) My stress levels begin to impact my nutritional choices.6) There’s an increase in the temptation to lead by
Contentment
What Contentment IS Contentment is the ability to have joy in my life, being thankful for what i have instead of bitter about what I don’t. Contentment is know that my value as a person is in no way tied to the value of my assets. Contentment is the ability to say no to things
Are You Waiting for “The One?”
Cultivating Realistic, Positive Expectations for Christian Marriage – Margaret Kim Peterson & Dwight N. Peterson. IVP Books. Does God want to write your love story? Maybe not! Through positive, realistic assessments of family, conflict, friendship, children, household economics and life stages, Margaret and Dwight Peterson help us locate the difference between inherited images of marriage
Ancient Christian Devotional
Lectionary Cycle B – Edited by Cindy Crosby. Formatio. This devotional guide combines excerpts from the writings of the church fathers as found in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture arranged in fifty-two weeks of readings following the weekly lectionary cycle B. Spend each day with God as you draw from the prayers and hymns
The Most Important Thing You Do
How could eleven men replace Jesus and begin the most important movement in human history? It sounds impossible and yet it happened. This small band of leaders were used by God to begin the church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, but the genesis for their leadership happened three years before. And he went up on
Faith to Face Your Impossibilities
by Michael Catt (Part of the Leap of Faith series) Joshua 3:1-17 There are several reasons why believers can get clsoe to victory and never achieve it:1) They trust in their fleshly wisdom.2) They get a word from God and then go ask someone what they think about it.3) They hold on to traditions rather
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives.It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." - Andrew Carnegie
"The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual." - Vince Lombardi
Teamwork
Teens and Social Media
A January online study of more than 500 youth ages 13 to 17 conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by World Vision revealed:80% of teens use social media.44% of teens say they’ve become more aware of others’ needs as a result of social media.34% of teens say they “friend,” “like,” or “follow” charitable causes or
Millennials
In an effort to better understand the nation’s 78 million Millennials–those born between 1980 and 2000–Thom Rainer and his son Jess, who was born in 1985, conducted interviews with 1,200 Millennials. Their findings include: – Millennials are perhaps the least religious generation in American history–only 13 percent said any type of spirituality is important to them. –
Wired for Intimacy
How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain – William M. Struthers. IVP Books. Taken from chapter four:“If this corrupted pathway can be avoided, a new pathway can be formed. We can establish a healthy sexual pattern where the flow is redirected toward holiness rather than corrupted intimacy. By intentionally redirecting the neurochemical flow, the path toward