Equipped Church Blogs

  The Boy, The Giant, and The Ordinary Armor “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.”  Mark Twain “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”   Muhammad Ali “It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.”   J. R. R. Tolkien “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Dale Carnegie “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” Maya Angelou “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.” Eleanor Roosevelt      There he was, a ruddy young shepherd standing before King Saul, about to face his greatest challenge. As the Philistine giant Goliath mocked a...

  Trusting God vs. Making Risky Decisions “God is God. Because he is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.” Elisabeth Elliot “Presumption is expecting God to join our plans rather than seeking His plans.” Oswald Chambers “Faith is not jumping to conclusions; it is stepping out on the promises of God. Presumption is acting without the assurance of His leading” Warren Wiersbe “Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.” Oswald Chambers “Presumption whispers false assurances where faith should seek God’s will.” Charles Stanley      Sometimes, in life, we find ourselves at a crossroads. On one side lies the path of trusting God completely. On the other, the temptation to take matters into our own hands. It is a choice echoing that fateful decision in Eden to either grasp for knowledge or trust G...

  From Me to He: Reclaiming Worship That Transforms “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” Johann Sebastian Bach “It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it.” A.W. Tozer “The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God.” Saint Irenaeus “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” John Piper “Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose—and all this gathered up in adoration.” William Temple      When did worship become about us? A quiet shift has occurred in modern church culture, a recalibration of our focus that places personal gratification above the glory of God. Songs o...

  Baal-perazim: Lord of the Breakthrough “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Leonard Cohen “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T. S. Eliot “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” Paulo Coelho “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.” J. M. Barrie “Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” Ernest Hemingway      Baal-perazim. It almost sounds like an afterthought, does it not? Something you might brush past without a second glance. But that name—tucked away in Israel’s history—carries with it a force that can shake everything we think we know. Baal-perazim. It is not exactly a name you hear tossed around at dinner parties, is it? Yet, maybe it should be. This obscure place is a pivot point, a place where God’s power crashes through our reality, turning everything on its head. David’s Flood: A ...