How To Get Your Faith Questions Answered on This Website

My goal is to help in your spiritual walk and leadership.

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This website is made to help you get questions answered about the Christian life and live biblically. As the tagline says, I want to help you with “Building your life on practical, Biblical insights.” There’s nothing more important than your walk with Christ. We’re here to help you with that!

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Over the years I’ve shared so far about 400 posts. They represent hours and hours of writing, editing and before that, time studying the Scriptures to find God’s wisdom. I’ve been a Christ follower now for about 60 years and along with that a pastor, missionary and Christian leader. I’ve learned a few things along the way.

The posts cover a wide range of topics. So why not take advantage. It’s all free for the taking.

Many of these posts are available to listen to as well as read. To listen, just click on the link labeled "Play"

Thousands of people have been helped by these articles and recordings. For example, just today as I write, I received this comment on Facebook: “I went through your web site and found honeycomb, Amen…thank you very much for the sharing the wonderful web site with me.”

Another recent comment is: “Thank you for this. I am new to faith, having previously turned away and your articles are really helping me on my new path and discovering who God has meant for me to be. Thank you, it is truly and gratefully appreciated. Amen.”

So how can you get questions answered on this site? In this special post, I’d like to share how.

Here are 3 ways to get your questions answered and get help to live a biblical, Christian life:

1. Use the “Search my blog” tool.

This first way to get questions answered is quite easy. Simply go to the search bar which is a magnifying glass on the top right corner of the blog section of my site.

Type in your subject of interest and then you’ll see the articles that might be helpful.

For instance, you might search:

• Joy

• Death

• Marriage

• Depression

• Homosexuality

• Divorce

• Worship

• Temptation

• Faith

• Stress

• Guidance

• Evolution

• And so on

Each of these areas have been covered in the over 400 posts.

2. Search one of the five categories the website normally covers.

This website is designed to get your questions answered in five basic categories. They are:

• Spiritual Life

• Family

• Apologetics

• Leadership

• Church Planting

If you click on one of the categories, you’ll see every post that covers an issue in that category. The categories are at the top of the blog section of my site.

In addition, I’ve written on topics that could be put in other categories, such as “Current Ethical Issues.” So, if you don’t see what you’re looking for, I’d encourage you to search using the “Search my blog” option in item #1 above.

3. Send me a message and ask a question about a topic of interest.

As I’m able, I’m happy to help get your Christianity questions answered if you contact me. I can’t answer every question, but if I can’t answer, I might be able to help you find a resource to get an answer.

If you want to get in touch, click HERE. Of the options there, email might be best.

Finally, if you are wondering how to have eternal life through Christ Jesus, click HERE to learn how to receive this amazing gift.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

NOTE: Facebook is random. Email is reliable. Subscribe via email and you won’t miss any of my articles, podcasts or videos. You’ll also get my eBook: 10 Prayers to Unlock Heaven on Earth

The Power Of Celebration, Congregation And Cell

Great ministries are built on these three foundations.

Years ago, it was my privilege to study under C. Peter Wagner at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Wagner introduced me to the concept of Celebration, Congregation and Cell to build a great ministry. But what are these three and what makes them so powerful?

Image provided by Grace Lutheran Church via www.flickr.com

Here’s the concept of Celebration, Congregation and Cell:

1. Celebration

In the Celebration, Congregation and Cell model for building a powerful ministry, Celebration is the worship gathering of all those involved in the church. Usually this is on Sunday mornings, however some churches have alternatives such as Saturday night worship as my own church has. (Saturday night church is helpful for those required to work on Sunday morning or those who otherwise need or want an alternative.)

What size is the Celebration? Answer: It can be as big as a facility can hold.

The largest church in the world, in Seoul, S Korea, has tens of thousands meeting for Sunday “Celebration” worship in many locations.

You might say that the bigger the crowd, the better the Celebration. This is not always true, but it is certainly true that more people means more sound when singing worship to the Lord, and in the minds of many, more excitement drawn from the numbers of people.

Perhaps you’re thinking how much you’d dislike such a huge church gathering, and you have every right to feel that way. However, you might dislike it because you are looking for something different from church that is provided in the other components of a powerful ministry: Congregation and Cell.

2. Congregation

What is a “Congregation?” The word can be used to describe a whole church, but in the Celebration, Congregation and Cell paradigm, it’s used to describe a gathering of 50 to 100 people, within the larger church.

These Congregations could be large Sunday school classes, singles ministries, senior adult gatherings, men’s ministries, MOPs groups, and so on.

Most churches in the USA are at the Congregation size—I’m talking about the entire church. The average size church in the USA is about 70. Often members of these churches are most comfortable with this size gathering. In a Congregation, the crowd is small enough to know everyone by name, and yet big enough to have quality worship, preaching, children’s classes and so on. My guess is that many or most of the believers in Congregation sized churches would have it no other way.

And there is no problem with being this size UNLESS we’re not fulfilling the Great Commission to “make disciples of all nations.” If a church is ingrown, stagnant and self-focused, then there should be some self-examination in the light of the command of Christ to reach the lost.

Not every church this size is self-focused. So, examine your situation to determine if this is the case.

Jesus utilized the Congregation concept as seen in Luke 10:1-2 “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (ESV)

These 72 were Jesus’ Congregation-sized fellowship and ministry team.

3. Cell

You might be wondering “What does it take to surpass the Congregation size and grow to a larger Celebration size?” The answer usually lies in the smaller Cell size. By “” is meant a gathering of about 12 who meet for fellowship, study, accountability and discipleship. These are often called “small groups” or “cell groups.”

Does the number 12 sound familiar? That’s right; Jesus Himself is the most famous Cell group leader in history. He mentored twelve who went on to change the course of history.

Why is a Cell so powerful? There are several reasons:

• Closeness of fellowship

• Depth of accountability

• Mutual support in the storms of life

• Personal shepherding via the Cell group leader

• The opportunity for Cell multiplication

By utilizing Cell groups, churches can become smaller as they become bigger.

Back to the largest church in the world, the pastor, Dr. David Yonggi Cho, will tell you that he built that church through prayer and Cell groups. THOUSANDS of Cell groups.

Check out my post titled It Was Better than the Olympics Opening Ceremonies and see pictures of the gathering of the tens of thousands of Cell group leaders (not groups but leaders). There were about 70,000 Cell group leaders in attendance at the prayer gathering I attended. Multiply each of those by 12 and you get 840,000!

No wonder they’re the largest church in the world.

Celebration, Congregation and Cell as a model for ministry

Do you want to build a powerful church ministry? I suggest that you build utilizing the Celebration, Congregation and Cell model. Why? Because:

• It’s what Jesus did.

• It works.

How do you build such a ministry? Again, do like Jesus: send out those you’ve discipled two-by-two to make more disciples and start more Cell groups. Then, as they make disciples, they too must send them out two-by-two so that groups multiply:

Easy? Not necessarily.

Effective? Most definitely.

Help Spread the Word!

If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

Additional resources about related subjects on this site:

• How to Get More Out of a Church Service Even if you Don’t Enjoy Going

• How to Handle Church Conflicts with Confidence

• 4 Reasons We Must Start New Churches Now

• What is the Church Supposed to Be?

• The Top Ten Reasons to Plant New Churches Now

• Vlog: God Loves All Kinds of Churches

• Vlog: Abandoned Churches aren’t necessarily a bad thing.

• Podcast: Which denomination is right?

NOTE: Facebook is random. Email is reliable. Subscribe via email and you won’t miss any of my articles, podcasts or videos. You’ll also get my eBook: 10 Prayers to Unlock Heaven on Earth

The Bad News Is Time Flies…

…the good news is you’re the pilot.

The bad news is that time flies and sometimes it seems to move quickly, while at other times it seems to move more slowly. But, the good news is we are the pilots and that means we can choose how we spend our time.

This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net.

This quote reminds me of when I was in my teens and 20’s and how I piloted my own life. I was in control, charting my own course and spending my time chasing selfish pursuits. I lived a self-directed life and as a result, I spent time doing things I now regret. But, God in His mercy, changed my life when I accepted Christ at the age of 27.

I remember my Pastor giving me a short essay called: A Tandem Ride With God, to explain how God wants control of our lives when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior. It’s an analogy that describes new believers and at first, they are usually the ones pedaling and sitting up front on a tandem bicycle with Jesus sitting on the back seat. But, then Jesus suggests that they switch places and let Him be the driver. As a result, life becomes a thrilling adventure with Him in control and leading the way.

I don’t know about you, but I would much rather have Jesus in control and piloting my life than me. I willingly and gladly take the co-pilot seat and trust Him so that I can safely reach the right destination. He made this possible when He died on the cross for our sins.

God has given us free will to choose to live either a self-directed life or a God-directed life in Christ.

I’ve lived both ways and I can tell you that His way is best.

But, perhaps you have never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Please click here if you would to do so now.

The Lord can help us with time management. Each day a Christian can pray, asking Him to fill and empower us with His Holy Spirit. By surrendering our lives each day to Him, we can trust Him to help us use our time well; and to let us know if we get off track.

This is the essence of doing as Jesus commanded His disciples in Luke 9:23 which says,

Then Jesus said to all the people: If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me. (CEV)

Life is a gift from our Creator and one day we will have to give an account of how we’ve lived as Romans 14:12 says, “So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” (NIV)

Living God’s way helps us to use our time well.

Ephesians 5:15-17 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (ESV)

Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (NIV)

We need wisdom to use our time well. To gain wisdom, we need to know God’s will for us and understand how He wants us to live.

In order to know God’s will, we can seek Him by spending time with Him in prayer and Bible study.

Meeting daily with the Lord is a good investment of time and an essential component of good time management.

In addition, we can regularly schedule an extended period of time with the Lord to receive greater insight and guidance from His Word.

There are so many different Bibles versions, Bible apps, devotionals and Bible websites available to spend time in God’s Word. Biblehub.com is a Bible study site and some Bible websites such as Biblegateway.com have an audio version of the Bible.

See the Recommended Resources page on this website for many great resources.

I use an internet Bible for study, an audio version while walking, and in the evening, I read from a hard copy edition.

Using these tools can help us to grow in our understanding of God’s will and help us to use our time wisely.

We don’t know how long we have to live, so it is important that we take stock and reevaluate our lives to make sure that we are using our time well.

In addition to receiving help from the Lord, prayer and Bible reading; good time management requires an investment of time, organization, tools and effort.

Setting and achieving goals can motivate and encourage us as we see the fruits of our labor. We can use a specific method to set and monitor goals on a daily, monthly and annual basis. This type of planning requires careful thought and prayer.

The first step is to identify your purpose. Then next begin by identifying and prioritizing core values. Next, write your life vision.

An excellent book to help with time management and all of the necessary steps for setting goals is the: Don’t Miss Your Life eBook.

These resources are great for successful time management and can help us stay accountable and gain confidence.

But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand. (Isaiah 32:8 NIV)

What would you like to accomplish with your time?

Could you use some help with time management and setting goals?

Your thoughts are welcome! You can leave a comment below.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

The bad news is time flies the good news is you’re the pilot. –Michael Althsuler | CLICK TO TWEET

Additional resources about related subjects on this site:

• Who Needs a Vision Retreat?

• So You Think You Can’t Take a Prayer Retreat?

• 7 Steps to a Productive Vision Retreat

• 3 Wonderful Ways to Read the Bible

• 4 Steps to Identify Core Values and Make the Best Decisions

• Setting Goals or Solving Problems

• DOO IT: Four Steps to Accomplishing Your Dreams

• 4 Easy Steps to Set Goals and Become Far More Productive

NOTE: Facebook is random. Email is reliable. Subscribe via email and you won’t miss any of my articles, podcasts or videos. You’ll also get my eBook: 10 Prayers to Unlock Heaven on Earth