Nick Sorenson's take on Living for Christ and Serving in the Church

You've Been Praying Wrong...  Ok maybe not! And this is the dumbest click bait title that has plagued YouTube on various topics for a few years now. How do I know how you pray! What I will say is that maybe I've been missing one important detail in living out the Lord's prayer in my own prayer life, and maybe you have too. Maybe you're ahead of me in this area! When we see Jesus pray in Matthew 6 and Luke 11, we see Him begin His prayer with praise and honor to God. I don't know about you, but for me, it has been easy to begin with requests. "Lord, I pray for Bob". "Lord I pray for my sore wrist". "Lord I pray for my aunt's pet cat". It's very easy to get off on what may be a bad start in prayer if we are praying according to Jesus' example prayer. Now we can't completely incriminate all of us who do not open in prayer with honor and praise to God. David's Psalms are not always praise and in some cases open with a co...

One Man's Theory on "a" Reason for Life Pain A couple years ago, I felt a pop near my sternum and what I thought was a sudden drop in blood pressure. I felt dizzy, sort of spaced, and didn't know if maybe this was the end. Before this point, I'd felt pretty healthy and never really considered much in terms of a shortened lifespan. This event led to EKGs that pointed to likely heart attack(s). I spent a few days admitted into the hospital following these tests and was really unsure of what was to come. In my heart, I was ready for eternity, but didn't really want to leave my family. As testing proceeded, including CTs, a stress echo, heart rhythm monitoring, more EKGs, 25+ blood draws, and a cath lab, the conclusion was that here was no heart attack, nor blockages, but that RA (rheumatoid arthritis, which I didn't even know I had) had been attacking my vital organs. I had felt major fatigue for a couple years and many joints had been been in extreme pain i...

What About the Current State of the Worship Industry? In 1999, as a young student at a Christian college (Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri), I set out to study church music. My degree program advisor, who'd been at the college since 1964, asked me the following question: "What is worship?". I have no idea how I answered Dr Calvin Johannson in that moment, but his facial expression didn't look 100% pleased with my response. How would I answer the question today? I'd say, worship is bowing low to a highly exalted, holy God. He must increase, I must be made small. I think of face down prostration. This putting ourselves into a place of humility while exalting an all powerful and sovereign God (who alone is the Author of salvation and who is the only One who holds the power of damnation) is 100% appropriate. As we humble ourselves and lift up God, we have a sense of awe. There is a tangible sense of the envelopment in God's love toward us. We do this wi...

Is Jesus Christ God? I recently read a book entitled "Jesus Christ is Not God". No, I didn't buy the book. No, I didn't believe the concept. I was loaned this particular book by a kind person who sincerely believes that Jesus Christ is Not God.  In almost 40 years of following God (5 years old and on; minus a few years of wandering), I never really questioned this concept, because as I read Scripture, in my mind, it goes without question that Jesus is God. What I've always found to be the bigger obstacle (for most, including myself) is the following question: "Is Jesus Christ Lord?" Sure, many assume He's God, but life (as in temporal, earthly, material, carnal) must go on. So in many cases, He's NOT our Lord. I love the simple old song from the 60s (written by a hippie during the Jesus movement):  "He is Lord, He is Lord, He has risen from the dead and He Is Lord Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord." ...

"President" of the Church?  We're all familiar with the term "president". Head honcho, Top Dog, Chief Executive Officer, are all words we could substitute for the word president. So why not use this word in the leadership of the church? After all there are many denominations who DO use it.  Well the first question to ask, is the office of president (or the implication of a top dog) Biblical? It couldn't hurt anything could it? Why bother oneself with examining the role?  To be very honest, I never thought much about it and generally accepted the idea. That is until now. I recently stumbled across the smoldering embers of a formerly strong (10s of thousands) group called "The Way International". We were invited to a local home group hosted by the family of my son's co-worker. Out of respect for the friend of my son's, and for the fact that I support the idea of the home church, we decided to check it out. In defense of the kind local couple...

If/Then Statements in the Faith??? Not always. It would seem to make sense that: - IF a person serves God wholeheartedly, THEN God will let life go smoothly. This is a common misconception. It's a human idea and it's NOT Biblical. This idea is just as much in error as the idea mentioned in my post "Is it God's Will for His Children to Live in Wealth". To defend this statement, let's start with a verse from Jesus   Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. It would seem reasonable to believe that, IF I am good and just, THEN God will make my life easy. God will put wind in my sails in all directions that I may travel. God will proper me in my job. My garden will grow perfectly. God will keep afflictions from my door post. Although this would be nice, this picture is nearly the opposite of what we read from Jesus in...