"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4
The weather here in our neck of the woods has been pretty great of late. The trees and flowers are popping (along with all the allergens), and these are the scents that usually call me to a baseball diamond. I played alot of baseball growing up, and now my two boys play alot of baseball (and…
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Discipline
"Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint." Proverbs 23:4
Restraint is not a particularly popular word in the English lexicon anymore. The word itself implies that there are impulses that must be held back or controlled, and that you can't always get what you want (to quote the Stones). That is not an enjoyable thought for a generation of people that have what they want whenever they want - at least to a degree.
While you could probably think of a hundred examples to every one I mention, the fact that we have…
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"Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." 1 Corinthians 9:25
I think the idea expressed in what Paul writes above is one of the more cumbersome ideas to live out. Here's why: we preach the gospel (as we should) and proclaim that salvation will never, ever be a result of our own works (which is of utmost truth and high priority). But then we are stuck with this idea that "works" are bad and it carries over into how we live our…
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