Trust The Science?

Science is by its nature exploratory, always refining, always discovering, always evolving. It is never settled.  So when you are asked to "trust the science", you are really being asked to "trust the (current state of) science", which is partial at best, and often fallible.  You can't reliably trust science any more than you can reliably trust data, since the data can be partial, incomplete, corrupt, with any analysis flowing from it to be equally as flawed.  Trust should be reserved for that which is complete, reliable, unchanging and morally sound, not for something amoral, speculative and still in development. 

Opposition

If you are going to face opposition and persecution, be sure that it's because you are walking with Jesus, not because you're just an idiot.

Gratitude Sustains Optimism

"Gratitude makes optimism sustainable.

"And if you don't think you have anything to be grateful for, keep looking. Because you don't just receive optimism.  You can't wait for things to be great and then be grateful for that.  You've got to behave in a way that promotes that."

----- Michael J. Fox

Spiritual Communication

Human beings are equipped with the ability to know and understand God (Jer. 9:24) and communicate with Him.  But just as language takes children years of effort to learn in order to communicate well with other human beings, so does spiritual communication take time and effort to learn to communicate well with God.  

In many ways, God is already speaking to us  - we simply need to work at understanding what He is saying and then respond to God in kind. See the example of both John the Baptist and Jesus (Luke 1:80, 2:40).

SHAPE

S - Spiritual Gifting

H - Heart Attitude

A - Abilities

P - Personality

E - Experiences

I am... She is...

I am introverted, she is extraverted.

I am things, she is people.

I am intuitive, she is data-driven.

I am big picture, she is detail.

I am spending, she is saving.

I am concept, she is process.

I am approximate, she is precise.

I am why, she is what.

I am ideas, she is execution.

I am theology, she is praxis.

That's a pretty good pairing.  :)

 

Remember Who It's For

"The work of Jesus in you and for you and through you is for the sake of those around you. The Christian life is the outliving of a God who is indwelling, the living out of a God who is dwelling in."

Dave Clayton, Ethos Church, Nashville, podcast on Colossians 3, A New Community.

"The byproduct of devotional spirituality should always be an increased capacity to love and serve others." 

Kenneth Boa, "Sacred Readings: A Journal".