Stand Firm - The Importance of Sound Theology

Theology is for university types, right? 

Old white men in their ivory towers, wearing cardigans, smoking pipes, and using terms no one understands.

Nah, you know I don't believe that.

Simply put, theology is "the study of the nature of God and religious belief." If you read your Bible, you are immersing yourself in theology.

But sometimes, especially when you are a new believer, even things in the Bible can seem confusing. Certainly all the voices clamoring for your attention on the Internet (including mine) can make things confusing! 

How do we deal with this? How do we know what is right?

Good theology is the fruit of study and of reliable sources. It is worth your time to really pay attention to your theology and make sure that what you believe aligns with the Word of God.

At Do Not Depart this month our theme is "Why Sound Theology Matters for Every Woman." The writing team has taken turns addressing different reasons why it makes a difference for you to think through what you believe.

Today I am writing about how good theology helps you to stand firm. Here is a glimpse...

When I was a young believer, I was both passionately committed, and continuously confused.

I wanted more than anything to follow Jesus and walk in His ways, but I had almost no Bible knowledge. I would hear someone talk on Christian radio, or see a sermon on TV, and not know whether what they were saying was true. I’d have conversations with people of varying Christian backgrounds, and their positions would contradict. Who was right?

Then I would go grocery shopping at the health food store, and see New Age books, and talk with non-Christians, and some of the things they said made sense to me. What was going on?!

Read the rest of my post on standing firm at Do Not Depart. Stand firm sisters!

When You Are Worn Out, This is the Habit to Focus On

Are you worn out, sister?

Are the kids too needy, the days over scheduled and the house trashed?

You need a little Jesus, don'tcha? Nah - a lot of Jesus.

How are your quiet times going? Not going so much? Yeah, I get it.

It is a constant battle isn't it? To be in the world but not of it, to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus... it's a daily struggle.

When my kids were young, and I knew I was going to homeschool, I became enamored of the writings of nineteenth century educator Charlotte Mason. I loved her gentle approach to teaching young children. But I was most impressed (and convicted) by her writings on habit.

Mason's contention was that when we train our children to have good habits a huge part of our parenting and educating battle is already won. But her words made me look at myself, and ooo boy I did not like what I saw.

I am not going to pretend that fifteen years later I have all the good habits and have ditched the bad. Goodness, back then some of the bad habits I fight now didn't even exist (I'm looking at you iPhone and Facebook.)

Still, the habit of rising and starting the day in God's Word will always be a blessing. I am not completely faithful in it, and when I slip I feel it. I am a much nicer and more patient person when my brain has been seasoned with Truth.

If you want to develop the habit of starting the day with Jesus, I highly recommend the HelloMornings ministry. When you join a HelloMornings group you will have the accountability of like-minded women who are also wanting to grow with Jesus by meeting with Him daily.

I am so blessed, y'all. I had the privilege of collaborating on the Bible study for this upcoming session too. Six years ago, when I first participated in HelloMornings, I never would have dreamed that I would have the joy of being a part of writing the studies. Isn't God delightful?

Because God's Word is living and active, you do not need to have gone through part 1 of But We See Jesus to be able to do this study. Just jump in now.

And (woohoo!) I have copies to give away! You can enter on Twitter, or on Facebook. Or both! I will be drawing names on Saturday morning.

If you want to give HelloMornings a try, head over now and join - a new session is starting on Monday October 10, 2016! You may just find it changes your life!