I'll Be Honest

When we are with other Christians, we should purposely plan on turning the conversation to spiritual things. One way is to ask specific questions about the sermon or about what God is doing in someone’s life. On the other hand, we shouldn’t think that every time of fellowship has to be directly focused on a chapter and verse from the Bible.

“Do you realize this: On the greatest day you’ve ever had in the living out of your Christ-likeness you’ve fallen miserably short. You are under unfathomable grace on that day. What’s the basis of God’s acceptance of you? It is the same basis of God’s acceptance of this thief: The shed blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ.” – Jesse Barrington

Are you convinced of the value of personal discipleship? That is, connecting with fellow Christians; brother to brother, sister to sister, on a personal, one on one level, to invest in one another, and to help one another to grow in grace. Do you have spiritually intentional relationships in your life? Chuck Vuolo pastors at http://www.newlifemd.org/

What is boldness? Boldness is the Christian virtue of being able to speak about God and His gospel with frank, unashamed openness, unhindered by the fear of man (or what people will think). Boldness of speech is consistent with a variety of personalities, gifts, and callings, and is consistent with discretion, sensitivity and gentleness.

Since eternal hell is real, then what does it matter how some person thinks about me? When they're going to eternal hell! That alone should motivate us to overcome our silly fears and be graciously bold in telling people the good news of Jesus Christ.

Christians must not be passive in putting sin to death; they must be proactive. We must never take an attitude of defeat. The Bible calls us to long-term mortification of sin. And at the center of our mortification must be the gospel of Jesus Christ; otherwise it's just another form of moralism.

There is a subjective element to the Christian life. There are seasons when Christ will draw near to the believer in an experiential way. We ought to pray for more of the subjective power and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians.

Forgiveness is not a small issue in the Christian life. A person's response to being wronged is a good test to see if they've really been forgiven or not. Failure to forgive is failure to see the enormity of our own sin before a holy God. [Craig is a member at GCCSATX, and also serves as an email counselor with I'll Be Honest.]

Original question, "I am 28 and married with two toddlers. Sometimes the demands of the kids and stresses of everyday life cause me extreme frustration. My wife says that I have anger issues and I believe she is right because I even try to watch against its rise but sometimes it still gets the best of me. It never gets physical and I acknowledge it is a problem but I am really desperate for some w...

Why do people smoke marijuana? For some it is for medical purposes; and for many young kids it is due to peer pressure from their “friends”. However, for most, it is to intentionally get high and buzzed. Pot brings your mind into a state where you feel better than normal. That is why it is called getting “high” and not getting “low”. In this Bible study, Tim discusses some Biblical principles rega...

When sharing the gospel, all we need to do is proclaim what we know from the Word of God. We may feel very inefficient and incompetent, but the power is in God's Word; not in our abilities, persuasive arguments, and debating skills. It's not the vessel proclaiming the Word, but the Scriptures themselves that have power.

There are many people who talk about "the presence of God". Is this biblical or is it mysticism? Anytime we're dealing with experiences in the Christian life, we need to be careful and we need to look at what the Bible says. We need to make sure that we're not looking for something more than what's revealed in the Bible; but we also need to be careful that we're not satisfied with something less t...

Many times people set out on a course to glorify God and do His will. But they get frustrated when it doesn't go as they planned or it doesn't seem to prosper. They get left in a place to where they feel like they don't even know if they can trust the Lord or not. But the problem many times is that what they set out to do wasn't actually God's will. Deep down inside they were really seeking their...

What does it mean to walk by faith? We want to know what the Bible says about it. But we also want to see if the Bible describes what the opposite of what walking by faith is. The Bible says that the opposite of walking by faith is walking by sight. Faith is living your life based on invisible realities that your physical senses can’t apprehend. The Bible not only defines faith for us, but also gi...

A great part of walking with God is surrendering to His way in your life. A life surrendered to God’s way is a life built on His Word. A life built on His Word is one that takes refuge in Him. This God-- his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. - Psalm 18:30

Don't let the cheapening of the phrase, "What Would Jesus Do?" take your eyes away from the reality and truth of that statement. We should live and measure our lives by seeking to imitate Jesus Christ who was perfectly pleasing to the Father.

There are many verses in the Bible that talk about being saved by faith, and there are also other verses that seem to indicate that we are saved by our own effort and striving. How do we reconcile these two? And once we are saved, how can we have assurance that we're actually saved and haven't deceived ourselves?

I cannot account for my life except for the fact that Jesus is a risen and living Savior. None of this pulling yourself up by your religious bootstraps. I had no strength to pull myself up by any bootstraps. Jesus came and visited me... and changed me forever - Chuck Vuolo

Emotions are an essential element of how God has created us. However, with the fall and sin entering the world, emotions have been disrupted and corrupted. Yet through Jesus Christ, there is restoration of our emotions and believers grow more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

There are many possible factors as to why a church may have members that don't give their money sacrificially to meet needs. Many of these factors are problems. But the root of the problem is that we don't love God enough. Love will fuel us to give sacrificially. We will make the most sacrifices for what we love. And if we truly love Christ, there will be proof of it and we will express it. The pr...

What characterizes the Christian is not that they don’t do bad, but it is that they are zealous for good works. We must get away from a Christianity that has a negative emphasis; where the focus is on everything you don’t do.

The Bible teaches that as a man Jesus possessed the essential elements of human nature. Jesus was not constricted in His emotions, or corrupted and controlled by His emotions. He was perfectly balanced in His emotions.

Jesus’ sorrow and compassion spring from His observation of the effects of man’s fall. As believers we must imitate the emotional life of Jesus and his sorrowful compassion. The only way that we can be like Jesus is to cultivate our own relationship with Christ.

Jesus’ anger sprang from His recognition of the sources of man’s fall – Satan and sin, but also death. The motives of Jesus’ anger were pure: love for God and love for others. The joy of Jesus springs from His contemplation and anticipation of the solution to the fall which He came to bring!

A stranger is someone who is different, alone, out of place, and doesn't fit. The world is filled with strangers because what truly makes someone strange is being a stranger to God. Christians are no longer strangers because they've been brought near to God through Christ. They can see a face and hear a voice that no one else can see or hear. Christians can also know that they're no longer a stran...