thoughts out !oud

a Christian’s news, views, opinions and occasional poetry …

When have you simply just trusted in God?

This post of mine is nothing overly profound. But I read a post over at Dead Theologians that discusses the topic of fakeness - the ability to be someone in one instance, but then be able change your spots in another circumstance. In his post he mentions waiting nervously for the guest speaker who was running late and had not contacted the church that he was running late. Not knowing whether or not the guest speaker was going to turn up, and not having a backup plan in case things go pear shaped, is quite a pickle to be in. I’ve been in that situation a couple of times, which is what I’ll share here, and I believe it be one of those moments when… Continue reading When have you simply just trusted in God?

Pray like Jesus series - Pastor Mark Driscoll

My recent posts on prayer perhaps were somewhat influenced by a series on prayer that Pastor Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, Seattle, has been delivering over the last few weeks. This is a great series. I would encourage you to give them a listen… Continue reading Pray like Jesus series - Pastor Mark Driscoll

Three simple tips for creating long-lasting prayer habits

One of the questions at the end of my article You don’t have to pray … you get to is quite obvious: how do you get your prayer life on track?

When I was an elder for my church some time back, I would occasionally lead the congregation in corporate prayer during the services. Now, if you know anything about me, I’m pretty lazy, in all honesty - I don’t prepare anything to read out loud for corporate prayer time (that just doesn’t work for me, anyway) and I’d only have a few sketchy ideas about what to pray about. You know, the usual stuff - missionaries associated with our church or members of the church, a prominent disaster in the news, the health of so-and-so, etc. etc… Continue reading Three simple tips for creating long-lasting prayer habits

You don’t have to pray … you get to!

Prayer is essential to the Christian world-view and life-style. It is the heartbeat of a Christian’s spiritual walk with God and a hallmark of his spiritual maturity. The scriptures petition us to pray; we pray predominantly when there appear to be no other options open to us, yet we ought also pray with thanksgiving when times are good. Prayer is not about getting God to do what we want Him to do, nor is it about telling God what He doesn’t already know. Prayer is much, much deeper than these shallow misconceptions of it. Oswald Chambers says of prayer:

Is the Son of God praying in me, or am I dictating to Him?….Prayer is not simply getting things from God, that is a most initial form of… Continue reading You don't have to pray ... you get to!

5 signs that (and 1 reason why) you’re self-righteous

Many non-Christians will label Christians as being an overtly self-righteous bunch. Is there truth to this claim? Well … yes. A lot of truth, actually.

The dictionary says this about self-righteousness:

convinced of one’s own righteousness especially in contrast with the actions and beliefs of others : narrow-mindedly moralistic.

There’s a common theme going on here. See if you can pick it before you reach the concluding remarks at the bottom of the post. Here’s my brief 5 signs that (and 1 reason why) you’re self-righteous:

#1. Denial
When faced with the charge of being self-righteous, you immediately defend yourself. In your defense, you will typically throw back reasons as to why you are righteous and not self-righteous.

#2. Everyone else is substandard
You’re the king. You are… Continue reading 5 signs that (and 1 reason why) you're self-righteous

Why Christians Suck

When I first professed my Christian faith, I was hungry for all the Christian related material that I could get my hands on. Being at Uni, I spent long hours deep into the night at the Uni computer labs, buried in the guts of the Arts building. There, I would plug away at the Internet, researching spiritual topics as they came to mind - looking for the Christian Continue reading Why Christians Suck