Double Take

Our environment influences us. It impacts our health, our personal progress, and the way we function. It deeply affects our growth; educationally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. A healthy environment enhances life. We, as believers, are created to thrive in grace. We have been given the gift of living in God’s grace. Even in an imperfect world, can we still live in an environment of grace?

Does focusing on our sin actually make us holier? It’s a question many Christians never stop to ask. We assume the answer is yes. After all, if sin is the problem, shouldn’t paying more attention to it be part of the solution? But what if that’s not how we receive our new identity?

We don’t all have the gift of evangelism. But we do love Jesus and we want to spread the truth of God’s grace in whatever way comes naturally. Which causes us to wonder about something. Do they want to hear the good news or the bad news?

Our last week of grace stories from these new friends:

Guillaume Roy - Quebec Canada

Cory McCammon - Indiana

Avery Prevette – IT - Ohio

Stefan Lauer, originally from Germany

John Gildein – Valparaiso, Indiana

Ron Sutton - Juvenile Case Manager - Fredericksburg, Texas

More wonderful people with encouragement for you from the conference:

Scott Wolfe - Executive Director of InYou Ministries - Roebuck South Carolina

Zach Rasmusson - ZR Ministries - North Port Florida

Kyle Jenkins - Dallas Texas

Todd Laczynski - Indiana

Maddy Lawson - New Haven Ministries - Sioux Falls South Dakota

Can the culture of the institutional church affect marriages? We take a look at “biblical” manhood and womanhood. We talk about what communication, what forgiveness is, and what it’s not. What about destructive or abusive marriages? What does it look like for a marriage living from the real Source?

After we had each written a book, we swore we’d never write another one. It’s time-consuming, overwhelming, and agonizing! But after counseling many couples, and creating marriage studies and events, we realized we hadn’t come across a book on marriage that was based on the New Covenant of Grace. So…we wrote one! Maybe it will be helpful to some of you.

When God speaks to us, in whatever way we hear Him, how do we not assign a time to it? What do we do when we misinterpret what we hear from God?

What do we do when someone says I have a word from God for you? How many times have you heard God told me to tell you, and then find it wasn’t necessarily for you?

I don’t know how many times I’ve said this, but it doesn’t make sense to me that Jesus would say I must go away so the Comforter will come, but then He does not talk to us. I believe that God is in perpetual communication with us. And the reason I believe that is because He lives in us. I also believe that listening is a developed skill. How do we learn to listen and respond to Him?

How are we as believers told we ought to use our God-given gifts and talents? Who is our audience? God or fellow Christians? Do we feel pushed to fit a particular religious role? How do we find our purpose?

Every one of us is born with a deep need for purpose. At the most basic level, our birth fulfills the continuation of our kind. But as we grow and begin collecting experiences, something deeper begins to stir—we want those experiences to mean something.

More “unmixing” of the Covenants. Just like oil and water, they do not mix.