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God’s Generosity Serves His Jealousy

November 14, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

“And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.” –Deuteronomy 6:10-15

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” -Romans 6:1-2

Our Only Hope

November 13, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Why Can’t We Understand God Completely?

November 12, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Why Can't We Comprehend God completely fully — Psalm 103:11, Isaiah 55:9

Why can’t we understand God completely?

It would be a great travesty if we were able to understand God completely.

Life is more than confusing. With all its twists and turns and movements without knowing where we are headed, it is no surprise that at times we wish we could fully understand what God is doing in our lives. If only we could know what he is up to, we reason, then we would be able to trust his love for us.

God Reveals Himself Through Our Stories

November 10, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

story glory of god — I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.-Psalm 139:14

To know the works of God is to begin to know God himself. We are constantly describing and defining things by comparing them to other things. This is what God does to reveal himself to us. When God seeks to explain what he is like, he cannot just say, “I am like God.” To describe what an apple is like, you can’t say it is like an apple. Everything you define you define it by comparing it to something else. To define a word you cannot use that word in its definition.

Christian Culture Is Not Found in the Bible

August 9, 2017November 8, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7dmUaZRktQ&t=0s

And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. – Acts 11:26

The word “Christian” is nowhere used in the Bible as anything other than a noun. However, in American culture we constantly use “Christian” as an adjective or adverb to describe things such as music, movies, books, character, charitable acts, and so many other things. The great danger in this is the temptation to replace our genuine faith in Christ with traditions steeped in culture rather than God’s everlasting truth.

Don’t Waste Your Pain

November 22, 2018November 5, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Pain, who can escape this part of our reality? No one. Though we all try to avoid it, pain eventually catches up to us all.

Whether through the loss of a loved one, the lack of the life we’ve planned for, or through relational heartache, pain never discriminates. It eventually finds us all, brings us to our knees and makes us yearn for relief. Pain is raw, real, excruciating to go through, and completely unavoidable. This is a broken world, and no one escapes without some painful wounds.

But in the midst of it all, God speaks.

The Difference Between Reasons and Excuses

November 4, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

There are always reasons why we sin, but there is never an excuse. In a day and age where everyone who attends high school is required to take a course in Psychology 101, where you can turn on the TV and watch Dr. Phil do a live counseling session, and where every behavioral problem in children is apparently linked back to a genetic problem solvable by medication, we are a society prone to look for the “root issue of the problem.”

It’s certainly not wrong to take a deeper look at how someone was raised, what genetic dispositions they may have, or how society has negatively shaped an individual. The Bible itself makes clear that bad actions (sin) are rooted not in the surface decisions being made but deeper, in the sinful nature (Galatians 5:17).

The Ultimate Guide to Christian Singleness

May 28, 2018October 31, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

There are already so many great books on Christian singleness. Just do a Google search on “books on Christian singleness,” “Christian books about being single,” “best books for Christian singles,” “Christian books on finding a spouse,” “finding a godly husband,” “how to be a Christian in college.”

The results will be endless.

I’m sure you will find a lot of helpful advice in these Christian books about singleness. However, most of these Christian books about being single focus on one aspect of singleness: your relationship with God, godly dating, finding contentment as a Christian single, how to find a Christian spouse, and other such topics.

I believe the Ultimate Guide to Christian Singleness is so special because it covers nearly every common question asked about singleness. I get right to the point in these thirty chapters. I don’t waste time with long stories. And I give you extremely practical steps to take in each of the four stages most Christian singles go through. It’s great for small group Bible studies or for individuals too.

If you want answers, this book on Christian singleness was written for you.

Below is the full description. I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at MarkBallenger@ApplyGodsWord.com.

Hoping you find the love, security, and guidance you need during your season of Christian singleness.

For God’s glory and our good,
-Mark

Why Does God Give Us Crowns?

October 28, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

4Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. . . .

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”

– Revelation 4:4, 9-11

Why Does God Value Us?

October 26, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Why does God value us so much? Where does our worth come from?

We are constantly trying to create worth in ourselves by our works. We often think God values and loves us because of what we bring to the table. It’s easy to think God chooses and elects us because he saw something special in us. But none of this is true. When God looks at people apart from the grace of Jesus Christ, he doesn’t see potential, he sees a problem.

God Values Us Because He Is Love

And yet he truly does love and value us immensely, more than we can ever fully know. The only reason God can love us even though we were his enemies is because his love is not based in us at all. He does not love us because of what we do. He loves us because of who he is, for “God is love” (1 John 4:8).