It Is Coming...

If you have not heard about the ESV Study Bible, check out more information on it here. I am blown away at the amount of people I look up to who have endorsed the Bible.

The One Thing You Have To Do To Start Praising God

My friend Brian has a great post on praising God. He briefly but properly works through Psalm 99:1-3.

Here is a short excerpt:

If you're anything like me, you're probably not always feeling up to falling at God's feet in delightful worship. Some of you hate or avoid or want nothing to do with God. Others find yourselves longing to joyfully praise Him, but instead you battle indifference only to muster a trickle of response. How does Biblical praise happen? At what point do we change from numbness to happily exalting His name?

Check out the full piece here.

From Riches to Rags

Who really would choose, even desire, to go from riches to rags? There is a guy I know who grew up in a home where his parents taught him well. He was well respected. In the eyes of most people, he was good. In fact, he was very good. His integrity was above most people. Further, he was pretty passionate guy. He really lived out his convictions. One of those guys who many people wanted to be, but were not bold enough to become.

But in a moment, this guy gave up all hopes for power, wealth, and fame. He did not give it all up for the sake of his family or to have a better work-life balance. He wasn't pursuing a stress-free lifestyle.

In fact, it was the opposite. The rest of his life was filled with going to jail (multiple times), countless beatings, being stoned, and he was even caught in some crazy natural disasters. No matter which side of the diversity line the people he came in contact with stood, they didn't like him. For the most part, he was homeless, poor, and hungry the rest of his life.

Who is this man? His name is Paul. You can read a more accurate narrative in 2 Corinthians 11:23-30 and Philippians 3:4-6.

So why would he go through all of this. It is pretty obvious from what he says in 1 Corinthians 15:19, "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people to be pitied."

Paul choose a seemingly foolish lifestyle of sacrifice, persecution, and hardship for the sake of Christ!

Many people have a different definition of "believing" in Jesus Christ. What does your definition of "believe" practically look like? Is it similar to Paul's? If you believe in Christ, would your life be pitied/regretted if Christ's resurrection is not true?