When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, He prayed "lead us not into temptation". He knew that if you can avoid temptation you can avoid sin all together.

The entire Old Testament bears examples of God's people refusing to consecrate themselves and carry out their responsibilities, instead appointing a small group of people to do the entire communities job. In some ways, this attitude still fuels the modern day clergy/laity dichotomy.
The New Testament tells a different story...

We have to learn how to impart and inherit. The Fathers and Mothers must learn how to impart wisdom, maturity and depth. The Sons and Daughters must discover how to inherit lessons and resources that were already paid for with someone else's blood, sweat and tears and value the sacrifices of the previous generation.

To put it succinctly, the message of the gospel is more than simply personal salvation. The message of the gospel includes growing in holiness and sanctification through the filling of the Holy Spirit, makes divine healing central and not peripheral and offers hope in the return of Jesus.

For a long time the goal of much Christian Education ("discipleship") was focused more on establishing a Christian worldview than on leading people into an encounter with God.

I've found that often the people with the most over-the-top expressions of praise have some pretty incredible testimonies and if we just took time to listen to their stories it would make perfect sense to us why they sing and dance and shout and clap the way that they do.

If you are more convinced of your disappointments in God than you are in His inability to disappoint, you may need to take time to assess whether you are a believer or a disbeliever.

Sustaining spiritual renewal is not simply a "christian growth tip" or "spirituality hack", it's a paradigm shift. It means that the focus of your life becomes sustaining the fire of God that rests in your chest by making actionable decisions on a moment-by-moment basis.

Our response to the power of God does not validate or invalidate the work of God. It's not real just when people respond correctly. It's real if Jesus did it.

While many churches are debating the desires of the church members verses the needs of the community, a church that exists for Jesus can give itself to the will of God and to pleasing Him.

The church is not the Kingdom.  The church is supposed to reflect the Kingdom, but for now the church is imperfect.  The church needs to be regularly and consistently remade to better reflect the Kingdom of God.  

Before there was a sun, or lightning, Jesus' face shone. Before mankind ever discovered fire, Jesus' eyes burned. Before there were rapids, Jesus' voice was full and loud. Before people were heating metal Jesus' appearance glowed.

Isaiah didn't even know what he was signing up for yet, but he had seen "the Lord sitting on a throne lofty and exalted", so he responded.

When it comes to our walk with God, it's difficult to sustain a sense of dynamic power, life and vitality. Often we do well for a while and then our vitality wanes.

I say this because a lot of people think that church is boring. I often cannot relate to this because I usually come away from a church gathering either exhilarated or exhausted, but never bored. 

I think the idea of being “open to the Holy Spirit” is too sterile, too safe, too passive, too tame and frankly, too unbiblical.

I don't think I've ever doubted that God existed, I've just always inherently believed that He does. But there have been countless times where my heart wasn't sure that God was good.

I have absolutely no doubt that my generation has a huge deficit when it comes to honoring and revering God.  But here is where I get hung up; did the previous generations actually have more reverence for God, or did they just behave better?

Our response to God reveals our heart.  When we respond poorly it reveals that our heart is set on other things.  When we respond well it reveals that our heart in in alignment with Heaven’s priorities.  Our responses can change from day to day depending on our connection with Jesus, mood, schedule and other factors.  

In ministry, professionalism can be a form of reverence, or it can be a substitute for reverence. This is one of the many fine lines that exist in ministry.