Al Mack

Asking questions about your faith is good. If we never ask questions, it might not be our faith; it might be someone else's, we're just holding onto it. When our friend is asking questions, we can judge the process as misguided. Or we can go through the process with them.

I keep getting reminded.

This is why we pray. This is why we watch. This is why we pay attention. This is why we make noise when "little things" happen.

It used to be that new things came with the warning, Some Assembly Required. It always turned out to be more work than I expected. These days, new things are coming with the warning, Some Prayer Required. Probably will turn out to take more prayer than we expected.

When we prophesy to each other, it is called edification. When we prophesy to an object, it is called authority. But when we prophesy to the Most High, we call that - high praise. ~Heather Goodman, the Wise.

I give up. I just don't have it in me. (And then I realized that I might be more successful if I actually aspired to be average. And I don't. So sad.)

So when I see all the public prophetic proclamations that fill social media, I'm watching more carefully these days. It's not easy, but I'm looking to see if they reveal their motivation. Some of them sound like they're really desperate for attention.

The reality is that while Adam & Eve were created in a garden, you and I were not. We're only partway through the job of "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven," only partway through the process of making His enemies into a footstool.

We often assume that holiness and joy are incompatible, and yet in the presence of a holy God we find the most overwhelming all-encompassing Joy. The Bible uses the word fullness. We have mistakingly believed that holy and somber are synonyms. @BillVanderbush

Debate is a competition, a head to head where you try to bend the will of someone else towards your way of thinking, try to change their mind by force of argument. Dialectic is a philosophic exercise where two intelligent people discuss a topic together to try to find the truth.

All have sinned (missed the mark...the lowest level of misbehavior) not "all are wicked" or "all are automatically damned." ~Angela Bennett Conley

I've been praying for my kids since I first learned that we were pregnant. Part of that included praying for their spouses. When my kids brought their intended home to meet the parents, they were also stepping into decades of prayer for them, who I had not known. Very exciting.

I count a whole bunch of rather specific purposes for the Scriptures: • Teaching • Rebuking • Correcting • Training in Righteousness • Equipping for every good work Which purpose of Scripture is the one that you find moving you, drawing you in?

Think of the Prodigal Son. How much did he have to do before his father accepted him? Did he suffer while he was away? Heavens yes! Did he need to do ANYthing in order to get back into good relationship with his dad? Not at all. But there was much snot that day.

Is it inappropriate to be looking forward to the day the devil is chucked headlong into the lake of fire and brimstone, to be tormented forever and a day?

Death, the thief, our mortal foe, has lost its sting and dread. For every love that’s gone before is but one sleep ahead. @LionsDanX

Don't buy into believing that the world is becoming a worse place and will continue to until Jesus returns. The media focuses on negativity and magnifies it, even exaggerates it, which reinforces many people's eschatology, but the truth is that the Kingdom of God is expanding!

I've been thinking: What does this say about the transgender movement? (I'll bet it's not a pat answer. 🤔)

It seems to me that the accuser of the brethren (and sistren, I guess) is awfully busy. But that does not mean that he needs (or deserves) or assistance.