Flagstone Church of Christ

Evangelism. Soul-winning. Spreading the gospel. These are terms that many of us may have heard, but not all of us are quite sure what they mean. We hear preachers tell us we need to share the gospel, to share our faith, to tell people about Jesus. But we live in a culture that desires...sometimes demands...that we keep our opinions about our faith to ourselves. So if I'm a Christian, is it a requi...

Conspiracy theories. Hoaxes. "Fake news." In an age where we have so much information (and so many different people's opinions) available at our fingertips, it can become difficult to know what is true and what is not, what is real and what isn't. We struggle with this when it comes to our faith as well. How do I know what's true when there are so many different belief systems to choose from? Is t...

Recent research has determined that over half of the American population wonders on a regular basis what their purpose is. We want our lives to have meaning. We want there to be a reason behind the decisions we make and the activities we engage in. We don't want our relationships to be superficial and empty - we want depth, we want significance. And yet so often I don't know what my purpose is. Ho...

I Don't Know. Those may be three of the most frustrating words in the English language. I can feel anxious and stressed when I don't know an answer, when I don't know the direction to go, when I don't know the purpose. There are questions that I wrestle with, and when I don't know the answers, it just leads to more confusion and doubt. It seems like things would be a lot easier if I just had all t...

In any relationship conflicts can happen, feelings can get hurt, distance can be created - and when that happens, things can get complicated. Whether it's a dating relationship or a marriage, if I've been hurt by the other person in that relationship, it can be difficult for me to forgive that person, much reconcile with them or try to get back to "the way things used to be." What do I do when I f...

One fairly common reason my relationship with another person might seem complicated is because we're just "not on the same page." We're not connecting. I don't see things the way they do, and they don't see things my way either. The longer this goes on, the more confusion builds and the more frustration sets in. So what do we do? How can we get on the same page more consistently?

Paul Meyer once said, "Communication is the key to personal and career success." It's the key to relationship success as well, and yet it seems that communication (or lack of it) is one of the factors that often complicates our relationships. How necessary is communication to my relationship? And how can I improve my communication skills so that things can become a little less complicated?

Relationships. Whether we're in one, looking for one, or looking to get out of one, relationships can sometimes get complicated. Communication issues, different backgrounds, different goals, different preferences - any or all of these factors can keep two people from having a healthy connection with each other. What's at the heart of the complexities we sometimes find in our relationships? Is it p...

It's possible that many of us get tired of what we're doing or frustrated with the challenges we're experiencing or distracted from whatever goal we're trying to accomplish because we lose sight of why we committed to that goal in the first place. The same can be true with our daily walk with Christ as well. If I lose track of why I'm trying to live the way He wants me to, I am more susceptible to...

As a Christian, faith kinda comes with the territory, doesn't it? After all, we often call ourselves "believers," right? So what do I do when my faith in God feels like it's crumbling? Or what about those times when I haven't completely let go of my faith, but I'm not really trusting God either? I might feel like I need a do-over, a brand new start with my faith. But is it even possible to "reset"...

In order to "hit the reset button" in a particular area of my life, one thing I may need to reset first is my mindset. My actions are often dictated by my thoughts, so one of the reasons I may have a relationship that's unhealthy or I might be emotionally unhealthy or spiritually unhealthy is because I'm mentally unhealthy. But can it really make that big a difference in my life get a new start wi...

Whether it's a laptop, an electrical device, or a major appliance, there are a lot of things we use on a regular basis that come with a "reset" button - a button to push when something isn't working the way it's supposed to or isn't working at all. There are many of us who would love to have a reset button to push when something in our personal lives isn't working the way it's supposed to - maybe...

Whether it's a laptop, an electrical device, or a major appliance, there are a lot of things we use on a regular basis that come with a "reset" button - a button to push when something isn't working the way it's supposed to or isn't working at all. There are many of us who would love to have a reset button to push when something in our personal lives isn't working the way it's supposed to - maybe...

The Christmas season is coming to an end. Decorations are coming down and being put away. Most of us will spend the next several days boxing up our Christmas stuff, and we won't pay much attention to it for another year. But some of us will be tempted to do that with our connection with Jesus as well. Now that Christmas is over, we'll stop focusing on Him and we'll stop allowing His presence to ma...

So often we talk about faith in God - choosing to believe His word, choosing to believe in Him, choosing to believe that He is active in this world. But there's something significant in the story of the birth of Jesus that shows God actually believes in us! He believes that we can do some pretty awesome things, and He gives us this ability to accomplish His purposes in our lives. But how do I know...

One of the words we hear often around Christmas time is the word "hope." We hope to get good presents. We hope to see certain family members at Christmas. We hope our Christmas recipes turn out okay. Taking this a step further, if we believe in the story of the birth of Jesus, we discover that there are promises from our God that we can put our hope in. And yet, there are those that try to convinc...

The newborn Baby Jesus being placed in a feeding trough in a stable isn't just about a miraculous birth or humble beginnings. It's about God choosing to actually enter our world, to enter our lives, to engage with us and connect with us in an extremely personal way. Do I really believe that an all-powerful deity really wants to be that close to me? And even if I choose to believe that to be true,...

We're usually encouraged to believe in a lot of things during Christmas time - flying reindeer, a rotund man sliding down a chimney, a locomotive that runs down Main Street. But there's one story that we focus on at this time of year that will absolutely change our lives if we choose to believe it - the story of a baby born in a barn and laid in a feeding trough. The challenge for all of mankind i...

In the gospels, Jesus continually offers a level of grace that blows the water off of cultural expectations. It's a grace that's offered to all peoples regardless of the amount of sin in our lives and should radically change the way we view God and each other. We bring nothing to the table except for debt, and Jesus deals our grace endlessly and boundlessly and THAT is something worth sharing and...

"Grateful" - what does that word mean? It's similar to being thankful or being content, but there's more to it than that. Being grateful goes beyond just saying "thank you" to someone who does something nice for me or being satisfied with what I have. When I am grateful, I am so thankful for something that someone has done for me that it moves me to action. I actively thank that person and probabl...

There are times in life when we struggle to be real, to be genuine. Some of us put a lot of effort into masking our true emotions and feelings. Others feel like we need to pretend to be someone we're not. But why do we feel like we need to put up an emotional "wall" between ourselves and others? And how do we get better at breaking down those walls and being more real and genuine with others?

We've got bibles with paper pages and bible apps. We've got online sermons and podcasts and live speakers onstage. We've got memes and blogs and bumper stickers. We have all sorts of different opportunities to hear about God and about the kind of life He wants us to live. So why do I struggle to actually do what His word says I should do? And how do I become a better "doer," not just a good "heare...

I may often have really good ideas of things I want to do and goals I want to accomplish. So why does it seem like I never actually accomplish them? The problem might be the goal itself or the obstacles I encounter. But honestly, the biggest problem might just be my lack of follow-through. I may have the vision and just not be very good at completing the mission. So is it wrong to struggle with fo...

Ever have those times when the thing you thought was going to be good turned out to be not so good? The meal you tried to make looked good on Food Network but not so good on the plate. The "simple" DIY project ended up taking hours and still isn't finished. The exercise/weight-loss plan is...well...still in its "planning stage." It happens to all of us - we have good intentions, but the actual res...

We live in a culture that appears sometimes to almost demand that we look out for ourselves and our own interests first. We don't like our comfort zones to be stretched, our time or effort to be sacrificed, or our "rights" to be given up for the sake of someone else. And yet part of Flagstone's mission is to find opportunities to serve other people...which seems to demand that I look out for other...