Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:22–24 (NIV) When you trace Christianity back to its roots in each country, you can see how people tended to mix their cultural beliefs with Christianity. You can even find examples where very strange beliefs were mixed in—beliefs that go directly against Jesus’ teachings. In the Western world, we mix the beliefs of our culture with Christianity all the time. People pick and choose what they like from popular ideas or other religions to create a sort of pseudo-Christianity. Meanwhile, …

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18 (NKJV) Do you want to experience more of the miraculous? The key to walking in incredible love, joy, peace, freedom and the promises of God for your life lies in understanding what happened from the cross to the throne. If I were to ask several individuals what they felt Jesus did for us, it would be interesting. Most Christians would say something about the forgiveness of our sins, and they would be right—but only partly so. As amazing as it is to have our sins forgiven, there is so much more! This month, we’re going to …

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13 (NKJV)   The main purpose behind why Jesus went to the cross is family. In fact, right from the beginning, God created us to be His family. The Message Bible version of Ephesians 1:3–6 says, “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.” When mankind was separated from God because Adam chose not to follow Him, God didn’t give up on us. Ephesians 1:3–6 goes on to say, “Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through …

You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. Psalm 76:4 (NKJV) God does everything with excellence. It’s His nature. Psalms 76:4 says He is “glorious and excellent,” and He has given us the desire to grow, excel and become more like Him. Many have a problem with excellence because they have entangled it with acceptance. Talking about excellence is a sore point for them because they feel as if they can never measure up. The truth is that we are all imperfect. We have good intentions, but something happens on the path between intentions and reality. Even the apostle Paul felt the same way, saying “I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I …

Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Proverbs 2:2 (NLT) Do you wish you had more influence with certain people? Over the past few days, we’ve been discussing relationship keys that are essential when it comes to influencing and leading others. As the popular saying goes, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. In other words, influence is often built through relationship. According to Tom Marshall’s book, Understanding Leadership, there are four building blocks to relationship, and so far we’ve covered the first three: trust, care and respect. Trust is the most fragile of the four. Whether you are leading people you love (like your kids) or your team members at work, they need to be …