Today is a VERY HARD part of our year-end FAITH INVENTORY as we get ready for 2022. Here it is: Look back over 2021 and consider how READY our faith was in response to the challenges of life when they crashed our shore.    That’s a tough question because every believer, to one degree or another, could respond to our challenges “more like Christ.” After all, Jesus is Jesus and we’re human.    It...

This question arrived yesterday from our global online tribe: “How Can I Become a Christian?”    I was immediately thankful to get this question and its reminder, especially in December during our end-of-year Faith Inventory and celebration of Christ’s birth. It’s a reminder as we head into 2022 that every believer is commissioned by God to bring people to Jesus.     That...

Regrets are part of life on planet earth. And that begs this piercing question that came to me this morning in my year-end FAITH INVENTORY: “If you had it to do over again, what would you change? Would you ‘undo’ the worst mistake you ever made?”    Every believer has actions in their past they would change. It might be: Our role in a failed relationship. Something we did to alter our...

Jesus is the LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Yes, even during tornadoes, wars, and pandemics. There’s no question about that fact. But there is this question for all believers:    “Are we shining God’s light to extinguish the pockets of darkness that pop up around us every day?”    That’s the question I am pondering right now in this end-of-year Faith Inventory and construction of a spiritual...

This month’s end-of-year FAITH INVENTORY has me convicted about, and praying over, this piercing question: “Hey Mark, will Christ be your NORTH STAR in 2022?”    I’m not sure why God has me contemplating this question with such intense focus right now as 2021 prepares its fade to black. I have heard countless versions of the NORTH STAR metaphor for over 20 years, mostly as a business strategy....

This yawning morning in December has me, once again, taking my end-of-year Faith Inventory to prepare for the arrival of 2022. Bracing for the holiday crush, I am acutely aware that there are millions of Christians on planet earth who are waking up discontented, if not depressed, about their life and JOYLESS walk with Christ. That’s why checking in on our LEVEL OF JOY is the next action step in this...

The INTENSITY of our year-end FAITH INVENTORY and READINESS for 2022 is about to swell as we take a deep look at where we are in our walk with God TODAY and where he would have us go TOMORROW. The intensity comes from his call for us to become SPIRITUALLY MATURE.    “We are not meant to remain as children, but to grow up in every way into Christ.” Ephesians 4:14-15.     This...

This just in from our global tribe of online followers:    “I love the series on taking faith inventory in December to get ready for the next year. My question is would our faith increase or decrease if we knew the future?”    This is a perfect next step in our year-end Faith Inventory before we greet 2022. And my mind immediately went to SPIRITUAL INDIFFERENCE. I want my faith...

VERB  action, state, or occurrence.    NOUN  people, places, or things.    In the early years AFTER I gave my life to Jesus and BEFORE my complete surrender, my faith was a NOUN because I had not fully RELEASED CONTROL to him. I was playing it safe. Little prayer. Little commitment. Little action. My faith was a NOUN.    Every believer—me, you, everyone—has...

My year-end “Faith Inventory & Review” was interrupted this past weekend when I got really sick. We were in the middle of a trip to celebrate our birthdays and laying on my back gave me A LOT of time to work on that review. I would never CHOOSE that approach, but God used it in a powerful way by having the question WHAT’S NEXT dominate my thoughts about where he wants me to go in 2022. I hope...