Where Happiness Comes From

“The happiness the Bible advocates isn’t dependent your circumstances. It comes from living in relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” -- Hugh Whelchel

Transformation Not Information

“Discipleship is to be more like Jesus. Christ-like transformation is the goal, as we are "to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29). The point is not information, but Christ-like transformation. And, that means it is not about knowledge in general, but about knowing Jesus better. Trying to be like Jesus, without the power of Jesus, dishonors Jesus.” -- Ed Stetzer

The Christian Life

“The liberating truth of the Christian gospel is that God’s love for us and approval of us has nothing to do with us. The Christian life commences with grace, continues with grace, and concludes with grace. Jesus met all of God’s holy conditions so that your relationship to God could be wholly unconditional.” -- Tullian Tchividjian

A New Humanity

“Contrary to some perceptions, Jesus didn't die and rise from the dead so we could attend religious services. Instead, Jesus was raised to be the first of a new humanity, a new creative work of God. As part of this work, we enjoy relationship with God and join him in his mission.” -- Jonathan Dodson

Knowing Jesus Personally

“Sheer scholarship alone cannot reveal to us the gospel of grace. We must never allow the authority of books, institutions, or leaders to replace the authority of *knowing* Jesus Christ personally and directly. When the religious views of others interpose between us and the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we become unconvicted and unpersuasive travel agents handing out brochures to places we have never visited.” -- Brennan Manning

Photo by James Saunders

Being Fully Present - A Christian Perspective

It is obvious that our technology today is having a negative impact on our ability to really connect with each other. Over a year ago I gave a speech at our Toastmaster's Club here in Brașov about this very subject titled Be Fully Present.

How should Christians view and deal with this problem? I came across an excellent blog post today that talked about this issue titled The Presence of Mind to Be Present by Jeremy Writebol. Here is what he had to say:

One practical way that love expresses itself is by our presence with others when we are actually with them. It seems to be the case more and more that whenever my wife and I go out on a date, we notice other couples in the room sitting at the same table staring intently into the World Wide Web on their cell phone. The glow of the smart-device covers their face and the concentration and devotion they exhibit towards whatever they are looking at is obvious. However, it looks rather odd to see two people at the same table staring into two devices and spending a significant amount of time not talking to one another. I often wonder if they are unable to talk and send one another text messages to communicate. It seems that this sort of ailment is occurring more and more these days. And  myself am not innocent.

You can read the rest here.