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I didn’t fully understand the depths of grief until the year my family lost two sisters and a brother within eight months.

Scripture does not give directions about the format of seating or the use of a stage. We find no mention of a required carpet color or use of stained-glass windows. During the early days of the church, there were no chapels or cathedrals with steeples. That is because the Church is not a building.

Understanding the differences between everyday trials and trials that occur because of spiritual warfare is crucial for us tofight spiritual battles well. Here are seven differences between everyday trials and spiritual warfare:

When we pray for people in need, God hears every word and responds with compassion. Here are 7 prayers you can use to pray for people who need help in the Nepal flooding.

Intercessory prayer is standing in the gap as a bridge between Jesus and the person or situation we’re praying for and seeking His intervention, guidance, help, healing, protection, or blessings.

Okay, I’m going to tell you a weird story… but hang with me.Meet Jimbo. He’s one of those super-strong power lifters. The kind of guy that never skips leg day. He looks like a boulder, and if you were dumb enough to punch him, you’d know it to be a fitting description.One day, ol’ Jimbo tragically lost a leg in an underwater basket-weaving incident. Don’t ask. He doesn’t like to talk about it.Yet, Jimbo hasn’t stopped believing in leg day. He knows the importance of a whole-body workout. So, even though his leg is severed from his body, he still tends to it. He’s hired a leg trainer. He’s bought the best equipment. He keeps hobbling around and preaching on the virtues of leg day.Why in the world is Jimbo trying to keep that old leg alive? Well, he understands the importance of legs. And he also believes that there will be an unknown future where maybe, just maybe, his leg will be able to rejoin the body. If the Japanese can make square watermelons, why can’t we figure this one out?Now we all know how biology works. His severed leg is either going to start withering or stinking—as a detached body part would have a tendency to do. OR he’s going to figure out a way to keep that thing alive, but it’ll become some freakish Frankenstein version of his old leg.And then you’ve got the uncomfortable task of firing your youth pastor.Oh, wait, did I lose you there?Jimbo is a senior pastor who really believes that youth are the future of the church. He believes it so much that the church spends a ton of money and energy hiring a pastor just for the teens. Not a bad strategy. And it has the added benefit of making Jimbo think that he can “delegate” the youth to somebody else and get them trained up into mature adults that he feels far more equipped to handle.But the problem with the strategy is one little problem. The youth ministry is detached from the rest of the body. And then expected to grow into something that resembles the body. And could maybe even lead the body someday. That’s just silly. And that youth pastor you fired didn’t stand a chance.We wouldn’t have a story here if Jimbo hadn’t lost his leg, would we? He’d just be a guy passionate about health and growth, who hired a trainer to help him with an important but oft-neglected part of his workout routine. In other words, he’s strengthening the body by strengthening his legs. Not strengthening a severed leg in the hopes of keeping it alive until some day in the future when he decides to play the part of Gene Wilder (you should really watch Young Frankenstein if you don’t get that reference).Here are 5 ways a pastor can strengthen the youth ministry:Notice the direction of these. These are not five ways that you can help out your youth pastor. These are five ways that you can get your hands dirty and engage in the work of strengthening a part of the body that God has called you to shepherd.Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Zinkevych

Your spiritual and mental health are connected. Practicing spiritual disciplines can deepen your faith and strengthen your mind.

Gain traction in paying down your debt, and you’ll begin to find financial freedom. Here are ten ways to tame your debt monster.

You can turn to Jesus when you’re stressed and find the resilience and peace you need to manage any stressful situation – even the most intense stress you go through.

As we look back on Dolly’s wonderful legacy, we can learn some key lessons that can help us in our own faith journeys. Here are 5 lessons we can learn about Christian faith from Dolly’s inspiring life.

Historically, the Church has ignored or even created mental health issues in its congregations through these ten things.

I have seen and experienced many things that turn people off and cause them to leave and not come back. For most churches, I don’t believe they do these things with malicious intent, but when they happen, instead of welcoming the new visitor back, it pushes them away.

The thought of a woman tearing down her house with her bare knuckles sounds outrageous. Aren't we all striving to build great families? We aspire to have thriving marriages and raise God-fearing, responsible children - the salt of the earth. So when we catch wind of someone who deliberately demolishes their house to the ground, we gasp in shock. Something has to be totally out of place with such a woman, and the Bible is clear on the problem - she is wrapped up in folly.

The best people in your church might not be those you’d notice right away, but look carefully and you will find Christians who exemplify and model these 10 godly characteristics.

When we find ourselves in difficult situations, God desires for us to come to him and ask for his help. Here are 7 prayers for situations where we say, “God, please help me.”