XtianNinja
Full-time, Christian variety content creator building an open, encouraging, and meaningful online family through gaming, real talk, and God's truth.
Part of getting to know someone is asking them what kind of music they like. That question seems to rank close to “What do you do?” and “Where are you from?” when we are looking to understand someone better. I have a hard time with that question! I listen to so many different styles that it confuses my poor […]
Matthew 6:19-34, John 15:5-8 are key verses to read and know if we are to understand life as a Christian. They are encouraging, reassuring and powerful. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read them or referenced them in sermons. Life with Jesus is meant to be a life where our worries are minimized, our joy is maximized, and where […]
I almost went back on Facebook this last week. I had left “the social network” quite some time ago for a myriad of reasons. It was taking up a lot of time, feeding my pride, and when a friend told me Facebook was a contributing factor to his adultery, it was the last straw and I deleted my account. It […]
I recently began a sermon series called Plug In: The Spiritual Disciplines, where I plan on going through 10 weeks of study on different ways we can meet God, know more about Him, understand our faith, and grow closer to Jesus. This was given as the first sermon in the series. I realized after the service that it was too […]
Did you know you can use salt to put out a fire? In fact, if you have a kitchen grease fire (and don’t have a fire-extinguisher) you shouldn’t use water, but instead cover it with salt. Why bring this up? Because there are some people out there reading this who need to use their salt (Col 4:5-6) to put out […]
Discernment When my daughter Eowyn was very little, she took it upon herself to simplift the alphabet. She’s replaced all the C’s, G’s, and K’s with the letter D. It was cute, (and if it caught on, would have made spelling a lot easier) but it made her difficult to understand at times. “Daddy, dan I have some dum or dandy […]
I read recently about the importance of eating slowly. Here’s a quote: “Most Americans eat too fast, and, as a result, they take in too many calories before they realize they’ve eaten enough. It takes approximately 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to send out signals of fullness.” (source) Wow! 20 minutes?!? I finish my […]
I wrote this article a while back for ChristianWeek and it feels like it’s time to resurrect it. Pastor: “How you doin’ Bob?” Bob: “I’m so busy I can’t catch my breath!” Pastor: “How are the kids, Bob?” Bob: “They’re busy! I can’t find them most days.” Pastor: “How’s your wife, Bob?” Bob: “Really busy…I think…I haven’t talked with her […]
I recently spoke at the 165th anniversary celebration for Beckwith Baptist, a church in the Ottawa area. I got a lot of comments and requests for the text, so I thought I’d post it here this week. It’s based on Acts 2:42-47. — A Good Church If you ask the question, “What is a church?” a lot of people will […]
Ok, I’ll admit that this may come across a little rant-ish, but I want to give a message to those who are Consistently Late for Church. You may want to print this one and pass it around. (First obvious question: “Are you talking about a certain person/family?”, the answer is “No. This problem is quite broad spread.” Second obvious question: “Does […]
This one couldn’t wait until “Link Friday”! I just stumbled across a great post by 4given2serve who put together a list of what he calls “The 25 Most Influential Preachers of the Pastor 25 Years“. I’m not going to criticize his list, nor do I want you to. I’m also not going to try to argue with any of these […]
I’m breaking pattern this week so I can share something I wrote for Father’s Day, a sermon based on Psalm 1:1-2. It’s challenging and practical, and I hope will help you next time you have the “I’m worried about the path you’re going down” talk with someone. —— “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the […]
So far so good this week, so let’s continue our experiment and see if we can connect Coffee and Outreach. Basic Outreach Outreach, in its most basic form, is simply sharing the love we have experienced through Jesus Christ with others through our words and deeds. We are grace, therefore we are gracious. We have been forgiven, therefore we forgive. […]
Let’s continue our brainstorm by linking Coffee to Fellowship, which is admittedly, the easiest of the bunch. Coffee and Fellowship… Fellowship and Coffee… they go together like coffee and cream. Cream and sugar. Coffee and cookies. Chocolate and coffee. Coffee and cake. Cake and ice cream. Ice cream and chocolate sauce. Mmmm… coffee flavoured ice cream… Ooops, sorry! Got carried […]
Let’s keep the brainstorm going and see if we can connect Coffee and Discipleship. Coffee/Discipleship is Personal Coffee, like discipleship, is a very personal thing. People like their coffee a certain way, and if it’s not done right… well, as my dad used to say, “It’s like drinking dirty dishwater.” Walk into a Starbucks sometime and listen to how people […]
This is the first of some week-long experiments where we take something ordinary and see if we can use it to Worship God, grow as Disciples, encourage Fellowship, and practice Outreach. And the first thing that springs to mind is the writer’s best friend — coffee. Did you know: Coffee was discovered by an Ethiopian goat herder who noticed his […]
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