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In the midst of our personal pain, we do tend put more focus on ourselves than on God. Edwards sought to keep perspective by remembering the torments of Hell whenever he was inclined to lose that focus.

The Torments of Hell and Can I Really Feel Your Personal Pain?

It’s unnatural to really feel the personal pain of someone else. You can sympathize, but really feeling the suffrage of another isn’t something we intuitively do. And why does it matter anyway? Well, for starters, it’s a way we can keep our own personal pain in...

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In The Life Giving Leader, Tyler Reagin pleads the case for learning to lead from your unique God-given design to help facilitate a similar pursuit in the lives of others.

Book Review – The Life Giving Leader by Tyler Reagin

In The Life Giving Leader: Learning to Lead from Your Truest Self, Tyler Reagin pleads the case for learning to lead from your unique God-given design to help facilitate a similar pursuit in the lives of others. With forwards by Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel, the...

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Are you going through life and not really knowing how to live? The Bible talks about this, specifically in Ecclesiastes. I think of that book every time I hear Audioslave’s song, “Show Me How to Live.”

I Need Somebody to Show Me How to Live – for Real

One of the worst fates is going through life and not ever knowing how to live. I mean genuinely knowing how to live fully with freedom to be you and pursue your purpose. The Audioslave song, Show Me How To Live is one that always gets me pondering that premise. Some...

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When it comes to having a progressive mindset toward discipleship, it is about God before self`... No matter what… At all times - And all ways.

Personal Discipleship Requires Having a Progressive Mindset

Many things in life and work require having a progressive mindset. I’ve come to understand that this is especially true when it comes to personal discipleship. Before I explain that and put it into context of Edwards’ second resolution, let me explain a bit....

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I wonder if our YOLO culture will produce no regrets or more regrets for people approaching the ends of their lives. We may never know, but we should give thought to our response in our own earthly lives, and the eternal implications of the answer.

The Key to Living a Life of No Regrets in a YOLO Culture

There’s no easy way to say this, so here it is; we’re going to die. And when that time approaches for each of us, we want to be able to look back on our lives and say we have no regrets, right? That’s the idealistic scenario, at least. Is it realistic? Maybe. Of...

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Throughout life, there are many personal influences. How can we be mindful of them and learn to filter the appropriate from the undesirable?

The Right Personal Influences and Being Mindful of Them

I credit many people as being positive personal influences in my life. Some are long-time influences, while others are short-lived. Likewise, there were many events and happenstance that I pinpoint as personal influences of both me and my entire generation. Take a...

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We encounter gray areas in many ways. But, just because it’s not clearly one way or another, have we gone too far by considering a “gray area” to be synonymous with “yeah, it’s wrong, but since it’s a gray area, it’s okay”? Edwards saw this likelihood, and perhaps he drafted resolution 39 for that reason.

Are You Too Comfortable in the Gray Areas of Life?

Life comes with a lot of gray areas. We meet them in many situations, whether it’s in business, marriage, following laws, or otherwise. Too often, though, when someone says, “it’s sort of a gray area" they say it to infer “yeah, it’s not right, but it’s a gray area,...

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Personal accountability is almost a dying art. I think that is why Edwards make sure to resolve to hold himself accountable to his resolutions.

Resolve to Have Personal Accountability in Life

There often seems to be a lacking of personal accountability in our world. In fact, it seems like personal accountability is a dying skill, much like cursive and Latin. That's why I love that Edwards built personal accountability into his 23rd resolution. And I don't...

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The phrase, Christian Living is probably a publishing industry invention. But it may be one of the most important disciplines of our age. I think Jonathan Edwards’s first resolution captures this ideal for becoming more like the character of Christ and in frequent communion with God.

The Art of Christian Living – World but Not Worldly

I tried to find the origin of the phrase, Christian Living. I failed. It’s not overly surprising to me. However, I have seen it in many avenues over the last several months, so I thought there was a chance. But the art of Christian Living may be one of the most...

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