Practicing Faith

Practical ideas for Christian living

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How to Love Your Job (or Leave It)

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One of the greatest blessings in life is to love your work, to be satisfied in your labor. When you invest the best hours of your day in a rewarding job, your energy level not only stays high throughout the day; it gets refilled by being at work. A miserable job, on the other hand, […]

photo credit: Carol M. Highsmith

Taken from Simplify by Bill Hybels. Copyright 2014. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc. All rights reserved. To order a copy of this book, go to Resources. To be eligible to win a free copy, please subscribe.

How to Reconnect Your Family by Unplugging Technology

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If you have a nagging feeling that technology is negatively influencing your children, you’re not alone. As you evaluate the effects of technology on your family, it’s important to start with yourself and your own habits. As parents, we have to model the behavior we expect from our children, even with our cell phones and […]

photo credit: Whisper to Me
Taken from Screens and Teens: Connecting With Our Kids in a Wireless World, ©2015 by Dr. Kathy Koch. Used with permission of Moody Publishers. To order a copy, go to Resources.

How to Let Go of Regrets

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Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, once noted that regret “causes us to become cannibals of our own hearts.” Unresolved regret is a leech that steals from our present in order to feed the pain of our past. Some regrets stem from the things we’ve done, like ending a relationship, quitting a job, dropping out […]

photo credit: Dale Hanson Bourke

Michelle Van Loon is the author of If Only–Letting Go of Regret. Click here to order your copy today. Please visit the Resources section for further reading.

Four Steps to Simplify Your Schedule

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Are you exhausted, overwhelmed and overscheduled? If so, you’re not alone. It seems like everyone I talk to lately is on the verge of burnout. And when we’re depleted, we tend to get irritable. Resentment builds up. We lose focus and mistake motion for progress.

I’m convinced that God is calling most of us to simplify our lives. We need to take steps that will bring us back from our unhealthy, overscheduled lives and bring us into a place that allows us to focus on what’s really important.

So how do we change the pattern? Here are some steps. They’re not easy, but they are worth it.

photo credit: Dale Hanson Bourke

Taken from Simplify by Bill Hybels. Copyright 2014. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc. All rights reserved. To order a copy of this book, go to Resources.

(Previously published in March 2015.)

Blueprint for a Better Prayer Life

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Prayer is an open line of communication to God to hear his heart and discover his will. In addition to making you more spiritually sensitive, prayer will give you guidance. You can talk to God all the time, every day in all kind of circumstances. Here are some tips for developing a strong prayer life […]

Excerpt from Your Blueprint for Life (Thomas Nelson, 2015). Used by permission of the publisher. To order a copy, go to resources.

When God Seems Far Away

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Sometimes, no matter how much or how hard we pray, we crash headlong into the silence of God and seemingly unanswered prayer. Silent cries, wordless waiting, or banging away on heaven’s door is all part of a relationship with the One who is good and beyond us and our control. If you’re struggling with unanswered […]

photo credit: Dale Hanson Bourke

Adapted from True You–Overcoming Self-Doubt and Using Your Voice by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun and Tracey D. Bianchi. To order a copy, go to resources.

How to Bring Hope to Your Workplace

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If you are not currently finding hope at your work, how can you bring hope into your work? No matter what the atmosphere and culture of your current workplace may be, there are five ways you can raise the hope level where you are now. Arrive with energy. Come to work on time, with a […]

photo credit: Carol M. Highsmith
This excerpt from The Hope Quotient by Ray Johnston was reprinted with permission from W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. To order go to resources.

Are You Called to Be a Mentor?

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I sat one evening at our kitchen table and watched as my son sobbed, rubbed his temples and yanked a fistful of his hair. He shoved his math homework at me and hollered, “I’m stupid!” I gently slid the paper back. “Let’s walk through this again.” More tears. It was fourth grade. The answers were […]

Adapted and updated from True You: Moving Beyond Self-Doubt and Using Your Voice by Adele A. Calhoun and Tracey D. Bianchi (IVP, 2015. To order a copy click on the image (right).

Contemplative Practices for Everyday Life

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I define contemplative spirituality as slowing down to be with Jesus. It has made a radical difference in my life and in the lives of those to whom I have taught these principles. Contemplative spirituality does not require removing oneself from the hustle and bustle of daily commitments. Rather, it forms the basis from which […]

Taken from The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero Copyright © 2015 by Peter Scazzero. Used by permission of Zondervan. To order a copy, go to resources.

Going Beyond ‘Welcome’ at Church

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If we welcomed strangers into our homes like we welcome strangers into our churches, they’d never come back. Why? In our zeal to have another warm body in worship, we often forget the common-sense practices of hospitality that orient them to our space, let them know who we are, and communicate we want to see […]

Erin S. Lane is author of Lessons in Belonging from a Church-Going Commitment Phobe (IVPress). To order a copy go to resources.