Simply Gospel

May my steps be worship. May my thoughts be praise.

  • Why I Quit Being Nice

    Why I Quit Being Nice But now, as I thought through the past ten years of my life, I realized being “nice”wasn’t doing for me what I wanted it to do. Being “nice” was preventing me from saying what I thought about things. It prevented me from telling my friends that I thought laughing at someone for tripping on the stairs was rude (for fear of being too harsh or judgmental) and prevented me from telling the girl who tripped that I knew how she felt. I’d been laughed at, too. Continue reading

  • Practicing Biblical Hospitality

    Practicing Biblical Hospitality Biblical hospitality is when we give ourselves willingly to the needs of others. It is bigger than food and shelter. It is the outpouring of mercy and grace from God to others, without expectation for reciprocation. Jesus said in Luke 14:12b–13, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay… Continue reading

  • What’s So Wrong With Being High Maintenance?

    What’s So Wrong With Being High Maintenance? “Go ahead,” he insisted. “Be a burden to me. I dare you.” Suddenly, in that moment, I realized my tendency to pretend like I didn’t need anything from him, or from anyone else, wasn’t healthy. It didn’t make me low-maintenance. It made me a liar. Because I did need something from him. Continue reading

  • Worth & Others

    Over the last couple of posts, we’ve looked at the value God places on each of us — that you, as an individual, are worthwhile and valuable to God. Knowing we’re valuable to God then changes how we treat ourselves, how we conduct ourselves, and how we present ourselves every day. I’m not simply some office worker living a mundane work-home-work existence; I’m a child of God. I’m a light on a hill. I belong to a royal priesthood, set apart and sanctified by God. So I should act like it. The next big step comes when we realize that God… Continue reading

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  • Will the United States Stand Forever?

    Will the United States Stand Forever? Although we may enjoy living in the United States, we shouldn’t get too attached to this (or any) country. This country may end when the Lord returns, or it may topple sooner. But one way or the other, we need to remember that God is in control and those who are faithful to Him have absolutely nothing to worry about! Which is why seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33) should be our only concern. Continue reading

  • Why I Still Go to Church

    Why I Still Go to Church In short, spiritual community provides soulful nourishment that I am unable of obtaining on my own. I think we all, on a deep primal level, long for our souls to be fed in some way. We have big, heavy questions and deep, aching doubts and intense, paralyzing fears. Some of us look to religion and to the Church to give us the answers. And then when it doesn’t give us the answers that we wanted we feel let down, betrayed and disappointed—and we leave. But no one has all the answers—certainly not any priest,… Continue reading

  • Christianity & Self Worth

    In my last post, I looked at the fact that God sees you as valuable. He has done a great deal to care for you and to ensure you have a home with Him for the rest of eternity. We do not have a God that sees us as sinners unworthy of His grace. Rather, we have a God that regards us highly, who sees each and every one of us as valuable and worthwhile. How, then, should that affect how I view and treat myself in this life? Or do you not know that your body is a temple… Continue reading

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  • Worthwhile

    Have you ever thought about what you are worth to God? Too often, I hear brothers and sisters talk about themselves as if they are insignificant to God – sort of reflecting the question David asks in Psalm 8:4: “What is man that you are mindful of him?” What can we possibly mean in the context of an eternal God? What can one person mean to the Creator of the cosmos, to the Alpha & the Omega, to the Almighty? How can one speck of sand mean anything in the landscape of human existence? But you are worthwhile to God. You… Continue reading

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  • September Twelfth Christianity

    How we respond to tragedy often speaks to who we really are. On September 12, 2001, I and many others saw some of the greatest outpourings of love and support toward all of those affected by the tragedies of the previous day.  Some call September 11 “America’s Darkest Day”, but the days and weeks to follow were some of our brightest in terms of charity, in kindness, and in helpfulness.  Prayer gatherings, migrations to New York City to help in any way, financial giving, even things as small as flowers and notes left as close to ground zero as could… Continue reading

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  • Forgive & Forget

    Quoting Jeremiah, Hebrews 8:9 states: I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. Twelve years ago today, I was running late to work when I heard Gold 104.5 DJ Bruce Elscott break the news that the Word Trace Center had been hit by an airplane. The news was confusing, at first being reported as a possible accident. There were varying reports about the size of the plane. Was it commercial or private? The assumption was not one of intended violence until the second plane hit. Then the world stopped as it became apparent… Continue reading

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