Have you ever known someone who was afraid of commitment? Perhaps when his or her relationship starts to get more serious, and conversations about marriage come up, suddenly this person gets “cold feet” and quickly jumps out of the relationship. The relationship was great, but an increase of commitment is not what they wanted from it. Something similar can happen in people’s spiritual lives...

You may have been there before. You disagree with a friend over something. Neither of you is willing to change your view, neither is having success convincing the other. So, rather than push the disagreement to the point of straining your friendship, one of you says “Well, let’s just agree to disagree.” This means that you will accept that you disagree on this topic and not try to convince the other anymore, which sounds very inclusive and accepting! But when it comes to theo

We often talk about the dangers of intoxication. However, for the person who is struggling with substance use, they may feel that there is no benefit to coming off the substances. Many people who resort to substance use do so because they are trying to escape the painful realities of their life. For that person, being sober is scarier than the inability to think straight when intoxicated. With that in mind, let's examine some of the benefits of sobriety...

Cost-benefit analysis is an important skill that most of us use in every part of life. When looking for a job we ask, “Is the expected income worth the time and stress?” When considering a large purchase, we ask, “Is this item worth the money it will cost?” When considering dessert, we ask “Is the taste worth the calories?” When deciding if we will travel in the snow we ask, “Is my reason for getting out today worth the chance of a car accident?” We do cost-benefit analysis a

We live in a very negative and pessimistic society. Doom and gloom permeate every aspect of culture. Unfortunately, that pessimism has also permeated the church. Many Christians will only look at the negatives of any given situation. They see how hard it is to resist sin, so they despair of ever being able to overcome their bad habits. They see how difficult evangelism is, so they start to think that the church can never grow...

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when members of the church of Christ were known as people who knew the word. Sadly, that cannot be said quite as confidently about us in more recent decades. Too many people make excuses for not memorizing Scripture. They may say that they are not smart enough or that it is too difficult. They may say they are too busy. Regardless of which excuse someone uses, they are refusing to put the work in - but it can be done...