The WORLD values, desires, and chases INTEGRITY. And that’s a good thing. Look at how Mr. Webster puts it:    in·teg·ri·ty: The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; the state of being whole and undivided.    Here are three of the most common ways the world looks at INTEGRITY: 1) Living your life in private as you live it in public; 2) Being honest and telling...

Want to take the pulse of your SPIRITUAL AUTHENTICITY? Measure the level of your OPTIMISM. How well–and true–a believer lives with optimism plays a significant role in determining the depth of their SPIRITUAL AUTHENTICITY.    I call this AUTHENTIC OPTIMISM and the story is set against this backdrop:    The world’s operation manual for living in the 21st Century was...

This just in from our global online tribe: “I actively read and post Christian content but it does not feel spiritually authentic to me like the subject you have been writing about. It’s discouraging.”    Social media is NOT a bad thing for Christian content and spiritual growth. In fact, it can be a very powerful tool. My ministry was built solely on social media platforms.    But...

There will be times in the life of every Christian when the skies are dark and menacing, just like that day on Golgotha when Jesus had what felt like failure race through his bloodied and grimacing frame. But all believers must remember that on that day and every day since, God can be found leading his children to VICTORY. We just need to flip his VICTORY SWITCH to the on position.     Finding...

SPIRITUAL AUTHENTICITY is a critically-important part of BEING in, and transformed by, Christ. It must outweigh “bringing God along” as we DO things in the world. But pulling that off is a life-long journey that requires discipline and sacrifice.    Here’s my take on how to stay on that path day-in and day-out:    Spiritual Authenticity comes when we put 100% of the focus on JESUS...

We’ve established that our Christian faith walk needs to pivot on BEING in Christ—yielding to God in full surrender and obedience to HIS plan–and not just DOING spiritual things in the world. That naturally leads to living with SPIRITUAL AUTHENTICITY—dropping the pretend game and emulating Christ.    OK…fair enough. That makes sense. But there is a TRAP in this part of the journey...

This just in from our global online tribe of 1.1 million followers: “Why should I try to be authentic? God loves me for being me.”    This is a fair and powerful question that needs to be examined closely.    I’ll start with this truth: God ABSOLUTELY loves you—me, all of us–for being who we are.    “may (you) have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,...

We’ve established that pretending, FAKE FAITH is not what God wants for his children. We’ve grounded that message with an emphasis on AUTHENTICITY. And we’ve committed to BEING in Christ over DOING in the world. Now it’s time to drill deep into the pitfalls and problems that pivot off a believer’s desire to be an AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN.    Here’s the pitfall that joined me for morning coffee...

Let’s test how good your AUTHENTICITY RADAR is at identifying a spiritual pretender.    The starting point is to recognize that spiritual maturity is a life-long process of being AUTHENTIC that does not leave any room for PRETENDING. It is fueled by obedience and discipline. Trust and commitment. BEING in Christ over DOING in the world.    Spotting that kind of behavior starts...

We need to be aware of the FAKE FAITH that claims Christ as an insurance policy to avoid a fiery descent into hell. That hollow faith is focused on the DOING part of Christianity—the Bible and prayer transactions. It ignores the BEING part of our faith that insists on connecting with Christ in an intimate way that transforms our heart after our head has said yes to God’s salvation promise.    FAKE...