Resources by Topic: Christian Life

We first got to know our dear friend Tami Yeager when she was a part of our EPM staff. She is a dear sister with a big heart for the Lord and for people. May her words encourage all of us, especially those of us who are experiencing suffering, to “love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22, NIV).

I love to read Scripture, but I also love to listen to it on audio. I was listening to David Suchet reading Galatians, and I kept hitting the reverse button on my Audible app to go back and listen to this verse again and again: “So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:7).

When we’re prideful, we make God our opponent: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5-6). There are many things wrong—not to mention ludicrous—with making God our opponent, but the most obvious one is this: it’s a battle we can never win.

Jesus asked, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” (Luke 12:25, NIV). Nothing is more impotent than worry, and nothing so robs us of happiness in Christ.

Recently, feeling a weight about Nanci’s fight with cancer, I also felt a great need to sense God’s presence and joy. The Lord led me to Psalm 100. When I read verse 2, which says “come before Him with joyful songs,” I realized I rarely sing to Him in my quiet time.

If we don’t clean our dirty laundry, the world will hang it out on the line for everyone to see, every time. Our goal shouldn’t be to convince the world there’s no sin in the church. The world already knows there is, and so should we. And only if we do know will we do something to deal with and prevent it in Christ-honoring way.

When we’re asked to do worthless or unprofitable things, it doesn’t take much wisdom to say no, does it? Especially not when you do one of those things and think, “Okay, that was a waste…I’m never doing that again.” The real problem is all the good things we’re asked to do.

Fasting is not just an ancient practice or something you have to do before a blood test. It is also a spiritual discipline... Here are some helpful resources about fasting as a spiritual discipline:

I really appreciate what Joy Hlavka Forney has to say in the video in this blog about contentment and simplicity, and what we need to let go of in order to experience them. 

On the New Earth we’ll never celebrate sin, but we’ll celebrate diversity in the biblical sense (though never in the twisted sense that celebrates sin in the name of diversity). So let’s get a head start now, by loving and serving people of different cultures and races. This article by EPM staff member Shauna Hernandez is an excellent reminder of why we should do so. 

We tend to let our jobs, relationships, material possessions, abilities, and other things define who we are, when they shouldn’t. Here are four aspects of our identity captured in Scripture, followed by some resources you might benefit from.

As people respond to my books, ask questions, and state opinions through emails and social media, I’m struck with how many say they believe the Bible, but their interpretations are so out of line with credible biblical meanings that their profession of confidence in Scripture becomes meaningless, and even dangerous.

In Psalm 27, David tells himself twice to wait for God, and uses His personal name: Wait for Yahweh, the God who is, and who is at work, and who is at work for you and me.

Randy Alcorn was interviewed on various topics such as trusting God, Christian bucket lists, Heaven and more. In this audio clip, Randy challenges us to think about how we're spending our time.