Life. Faith. Jesus.

Guest article written by Demian Farnworth, keynote blogger at FallenandFlawed.com.

There are two people in the world: Those who go to church and those who don’t.

Let’s talk about those who go to church.

We all know a man who never misses a Sunday morning service–not because he wants to be there… But because it’s his duty.

Dad would roll over in his grave if he didn’t.

A duty he symbolically checks off his list as he kisses his shaky, silver-haired mother on the cheek and then slips out the door, never to give church, God or Christ a second thought.

This man “goes” to church.

On the other hand, we have the man who manically drags his family to church every Sunday only to break down midway through the sermon, struck dumb by the conviction of the Holy Spirit on some secret sin holed up in his heart.

Fortunately he eventually pulls himself together and rejoices when God reminds him of Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

But this man’s not done.

Throughout the week he nurses that tension between conviction and joy–his thoughts always hovering between shame from sin and pride in Christ.

Yes, he goes to church. But as you can see, he’s manifestly different than the first man and church doesn’t define him. What gives?

The truth is really very simple.
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Guest article by Don Dudley, keynote blogger at YouSeeDryBones.com.

I own books. Let me explain.

I own a history book. I can look in it and learn all about the people who lived in the ancient Sumerian culture. There are early samples of their writings like the epic known as Ishtar’s Descent into the Netherworld. How awesome is that? In the appendix it shows how cuneiform evolved into Hebrew and later Greek.

However, I am not an ancient history scholar.

I have a diet book. It’s all about getting good abs. It shows me how to eat correctly and what exercises I can do to have a sweet upper body. It has a special chapter devoted to building “explosive” speed by correctly developing my muscles.

Judging by my waistline, I am not a body builder.

Another awesome book I own is called The Blair Handbook. It is an extensive volume to help writers know the grammatical rules. This book includes sections on how to notate academic papers in MLA and APA.

Despite this, I can barely spell my own name and homonyms trip me up.

Oh, I also own a Bible.
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How long before you actually followed Christ did you say that you “believed” in God?

I can speak for myself here. It was for all my life. I’ve always “believed” in God.

But I didn’t trust in Him. I didn’t love Him. I didn’t worship Him.

There have been numerous people with whom I’ve talked and have told me that they believe in God. Of course, this used to satisfy my inquiry. But not now.

Now, however, when someone tells me they believe in God, I ask them, “Oh yea? That’s great!” And then follow with, “What do you mean by that?”

So why does it take more than just believing?

Whoever follows Jesus knows his voice. They discern from the voice of the enemy, and the voice of their Savior. To put it plainly in the words of Jesus, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

But what does it mean to follow Jesus? I suppose we could write a book about this, but this article does not afford the time and space. So I will break it down into two things for now that are most protuberant: Loving God and Loving Others.

This comes from Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:36-40: Read more

For this Friday I thought I would provide you with a list of articles that you would do well to read.

In fact, if you read them you will gain access to the most protected knowledge in the world.

That’s right, these articles will make you super smart—smarter than all your peers and spiritually superior. . .

Okay, maybe not. But they are good articles! And you should read them!

So here they are. Read them all!
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**Guest post by Demian Farnworth at Fallen and Flawed.**

Great question. It’s one I’ve often struggled with and felt very awkward at times defending, whether that be with friends or family or strangers.

But what I’ve found is simply this: Jesus is very explicit that he—and he alone—is the only way to God.

Think John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”

How do people who reject Jesus as the only way to God deal with that?

They can’t.

See, if anyone reads the Gospels it’s clear that Jesus thought of himself as God. And also thought of himself as the way to God.

The rest of the letters in the NT bear witness to this.

What this means is that either Jesus was a liar or a lunatic. If he was either of those, then why grant him the status of “great teacher” who is just among many to point us to God. Why trust what he says?
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