Roses of Grace

Proverbs 12:15 says, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice."  It's clear in the Bible that taking advice is important. As we grow in wisdom, we begin to understand just how foolish we actually are, and a proper response to that is to seek wisdom from others.  And while this is good and right and Biblical to do, it opens up a tricky can of worms for a Christian living in a secular world: should we take advice from unbelievers?  It's one of the most relevant questions we can ask, I think. We're surrounded by people who want to give us advice—and who we genuinely love and care for—but who don't believe in the truth of God's word, and it's hard to know how much weight to give to their ideas.  Fortunately, the Bible gives us some insight. So let's take a look at what the Bible says about taking advice from non-Christians.    First of all, we should recognize that not everything unbelievers say is false.  This shou...

Edy and I wrapped up our Paraguay trip (which you can read about here if you'd like the details) a little under two weeks ago, and man did we learn a lot.  It's good to be back home. I didn't realize just how draining living in another culture would be, and when we first got back it felt very strange that the majority of my conversations were in English—not to mention the sweetness of our reunions with family and friends.  So how was it?  The short answer is "good." There were very high highs, and very low lows. Some aspects of the culture we enjoyed, while others were a little harder to get used to. Did the experience change us? Absolutely.  You can't go to another country for any significant period of time without changing. Even if the change is small, or you didn't feel like the discomfort was paying off at the time—when you're forced to do hard things, you grow.  When I announced the trip two months ago, I wrote down some prayer requests. I belie...

In the stories of Jesus's life in the New Testament, it's easy to forget the details.  There's just so much in the Gospels. How can we get it all? Parables, clashes with the Pharisees, notable conversations with people such as Nicodemus or the Samaritan woman at the well.  And, of course, the climax of all four Gospel narratives—the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  But studying the details hidden in the Biblical text is extremely important as well. Not only do they often give us a greater understanding of the context of the texts we know and love, many details in the Gospels provide insights on the humanity of Jesus after the Incarnation.  Jesus had job training. He was a carpenter. Someone who built things.  Why?    A Prophet Has No Honor "He went away from there and came to his hometown ... And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What i...

Does your life have problems? Like, any problem at all. Sin problems, health problems, money problems. Or any other kind you can think of. 99% of you probably answered yes. The other 1% answered yes too, if they're honest. Everyone's life has problems. Life is tough, and it comes with a lot of plot twist that we aren't equipped to handle. But what can we do about it? I'm excited to share with you something that the world desperately needs: an easy, simple strategy to fixing everything that is wrong with the world. (Note: if you're growing a little concerned, please bear with me. I promise I haven't gone crazy.) Ready? Then let's jump right in!   How to fix everything The first step to fixing every problem in your life is to never sin.  Think about it. A lot of the problems in your life are internal problems: they're caused by you, and the struggles with sin that you have. If you sin, than you feel guilty. That isn't a pleasant feeling. And, we are ...

(Note: Today's blog post is written by Isabella Daou from the blog Inhuman Passion ! Isabella is a wonderful blogger who writes about the Christian walk, and I'd highly recommend her articles. They're very encouraging to read.) We all know that to survive, we need to eat.  We need energy from calories to perform tasks. And food has calories, so we eat food to give us the energy we need.  After eating, we use the calories we consumed to do something. Whether our body uses them to perform basic functions, uses them as fuel for exercise, or stores them as fat, those calories are used. We take energy in so we can put that energy out.  In the same way that we get energy to perform basic functions from food, we get the energy to live for Christ by spending time with Him.  Food has calories. So when we take in food, we take in calories and nutrients, and our body then has those calories and nutrients in it. Jesus is the source of light. So when we spend time with Jesus, our...