It’s not unusual for a typical Christian to be blind to God’s comprehensive approach to sanctification that extends from the pulpit to the living room.
American Christianity, in part, seems to have concluded that the key to the success of the local church is tied almost exclusively to the man in the pulpit. This success is proportionate to his ability to relate to the average person on Sunday morning.
The outcome of this kind of thinking can lead people to create a preaching center rather than a discipleship community. You can quickly identify the preaching center because it’s a church that progressively weakens as you move from the pulpit to the periphery.
Power and relevance in the pulpit, which could very well be true, does not mean the congregants are necessarily growing in their personal and progressive sanctification. https://soundcloud.com/life-over-coffee/is-your-church-a-preaching-center-or-a-discipleship-community?si=ddc1a07b21744b2dbfce5e6e71b23ec2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The shocking and inspiring story of Sophie Ottaway.
Watch the full interview here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-490-sophie-ottaway-engineered-at-birth-to-be-a-girl/
Focus on the Cause, not the Effect, so you can remove the cause and not be affected by the effect.
A local church’s worship value is not primarily about the music but the lifestyle because you never ask, “Are you worshiping?” The reason is that we worship all the time. God made us for worship—wired us for worship, you could say.
Worship is part of what it means to be image-bearers. Who could do otherwise? The better question is, “What or whom do we worship?” https://lifeovercoffee.com/three-characteristics-of-a-fantastic-local-church/
Whenever a person chooses sinful anger, he is, in effect, giving the other person control over him. It’s counterintuitive. In his anger, he is like a marionette, a puppet on a string.
Anger toward someone is the total submission of their thoughts, attitudes, emotions, and behaviors to the other person. It is not self-control, as governed by the Spirit of God, but someone out of control or under the control of another spirit. https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-110-help-for-the-angry-person/
