Tag Archives: joy

The Paradoxes of Authentic Christian Living

Posted on July 7, 2026 by Mark Cole

Learning to Live God’s Upside-Down Life One of my favorite updated quotes from A.W. Tozer is this: “A real Christian is an unusual person. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, God, God Adventures, humility, Jesus, Leadership, obedience, Wisdom | Tagged abundance, alive, authentic, Christian, death, dying, exalt, freedom, friendship, fulfillment, gain, give, give up, grace, humble, humility, invisible, joy, lead, life, love, obedience, paradox, power, Presence of God, pride, purpose, riches, servant, serve, service, soul, spiritual, strong, Surrender, treasure, true life, upside down, weak, wealth | Leave a comment

Following God Wholeheartedly: The Joy and Challenge of Complete Obedience

Posted on July 3, 2026 by Mark Cole

“But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.” — Numbers … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, God, God Adventures, Jesus, Leadership, obedience, Wisdom, Worship | Tagged abundant life, Bible reading, Caleb, clear conscience, confess sin, courage, devotion, divided heart, eternal reward, every area, faith, faithful servant, following God, God's presence, humble, humility, joy, Love God, maturity, obedience, Obedient, peace, prayer, pride, private, serve, serving God, sin, Surrender, teachable, thankful, unconfessed sin, Well done, whole heart, wholeheartedly, Yes Lord | Leave a comment

Psalm 150: The Grand Finale of Praise

Posted on June 30, 2026 by Mark Cole

The book of Psalms ends exactly where it should—with praise. After 149 chapters filled with joy, sorrow, victory, failure, repentance, thanksgiving, questions, and worship, the final psalm contains no requests, no complaints, no confession, and no instruction about life’s problems. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, God, Music, Worship | Tagged all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal, eternal life, excellence, faithful, forgave our sins, glorify God, God is worthy, holy, honor God, humility, joy, just, leading people, Let everything, lifestyle, loving, merciful, musical instrument, offering to the Lord, praise, praise God, praise Him, praise the Lord, psalm 150, purpose, reverence, true worship, trumpet, wholehearted worship, Worship | Leave a comment

Better Together: The Strength of a Triple-Braided Cord

Posted on June 29, 2026 by Mark Cole

Why God Never Intended Us to Walk Alone One of the great lies of our culture is that strength comes from independence. We admire the self-made person, the lone hero, and the individual who seems to need no one else. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Family, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Leadership, Wisdom | Tagged accountability, accountable, attitude, back-to-back, bear one another's, Bible study, burdens, carry the load, church family, community, disciples, discouragement, encourage, encouragement, failure, faith, friendship, isolation, joy, marriage, partnership, pray, pressure, relationship, relationships, stronger together, team, team sport, teams, temptation, three are better, Thrive, together, triple-braided, two, two by two, vulnerable, wisdom | Leave a comment

The Role of Suffering in the New Testament

Posted on June 28, 2026 by Mark Cole

Why God Uses Trials to Shape His People When I read the book of Acts, one statement always causes me to pause. After the dramatic conversion of Saul (later called Paul), God spoke these surprising words to Ananias: “I will … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Church, God, Jesus, Leadership, obedience | Tagged all things, ambition, beaten, beatings, betrayed, cancer, character, choices, comfort, crucified, death, difficulties, every tear, eyes on Jesus, failure, faith, fallen world, falselly accused, follow Me, hardships, His purposes, hope, hunger, joy, kept the faith, Kingdom of God, know Christ, more like Jesus, New Testament, normal, pain, patience, Paul, persecution, perseverance, poor choices, pride, prison, rejected, rejection, Saul, self-reliance, sickness, stonings, suffer, suffering, testing, the cross, trials, trouble, troubles | Leave a comment

12 Lessons From The Book Of Ecclesiastes

Posted on June 28, 2026 by Mark Cole

Finding Meaning in a World That Often Feels Meaningless If you’ve ever wondered, “What is the point of it all?” then you’re not alone. King Solomon wrestled with that very question over 3,000 years ago. The book of Ecclesiastes is … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, God, Jesus, Leadership, obedience, Wisdom | Tagged a time to, abundant life, acheivements, back to God, blessings, born, daily blessings, dance, death, decisions, deepest hunger, die, Ecclesiastes, education, enjoy life, eternal life, eternal soul, eternity, every day, every season, everything beautiful, faithfulness, fame, fear God, foolishness, forgiveness, friendships, good food, growing older, harvest, heart of wisdom, honest, hope, joy, life is short, love, marriage, meaningless, mourn, number our days, obedience, old age, plant, pleasure, purpose, recognition, relationships, reverence, seasons, Solomon, thought provoking, wealth, weep, wisdom, work, youth | Leave a comment

8 Tips On Taking Your Sunday Morning Worship to the Next Level

Posted on June 27, 2026 by Mark Cole

I love leading God’s people in worship. I have been privileged to lead worship teams in my home church and around the world for more than forty years. Along the way, God has taught me many valuable lessons. Here are … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Church, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Leadership, Teaching, Worship | Tagged about God, All your heart, authentic, bowing, CCLI, change hearts, clap, clapping, dancing, encounter God, focus on God, God first, good example, great example, great songs, great worship, heal, His presence, humility, in-ear, joy, lead, leadership, leading worship, lyric changes, lyrics, media, memorize, musical, new songs, next level, only God, passion, prayer, praying, preparation, prepare, problems, raising your hands, rear projection, rehearsals, repertoire, Rule of D, scripture, shouting, sincerity, sing, singing, songs, sound, sound mix, soundman, Sunday, Sunday morning, tech, to God, Top songs, upbeat, work hard, Worship, worship God, worship Him | Leave a comment

8 Lessons From Solomon’s Temple That Still Matter Today

Posted on June 25, 2026 by Mark Cole

“The whole building, as it was being built, was made of stone prepared at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the temple while it was being built.” — 1 Kings 6:7 … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, God, Jesus, Worship | Tagged approach God, blessing, cedar, construction, craftsmen, dedication, devotion, enthusiasm, excellence, forgiveness, God's Spirit, God's presence, gold, gratitude, His presence, holy, holy place, Holy Spirit, house of prayer, Jerusalem, joy, justice, King of kings, lessons, mercy, Most Holy Place, my best, our best, planning, practice, prayer, preparation, prepare, private preparation, relationship, reverence, revival, sense of awe, Solomon, Solomon's Temple, study, temple, temple of God, transforming lives, wholehearted, Worship | Leave a comment

Created in God’s Image: What It Means and Why It Matters

Posted on June 24, 2026 by Mark Cole

“So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27) Few truths in the Bible are more profound than the declaration that human beings are … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, God, Jesus | Tagged be loved, bear His image, character, community, compassion, created, created by God, creativity, Creator, dignity, eternal, faithfulness, family, fellowship, forgives our sins, friendship, gentleness, gifts, God is merciful, God is truth, God's image, God's nature, goodness, govern, holiness, Holy God, honesty, human, image of God, immeasurable, invisible God, Jesus, joy, justice, kindness, Know God, love, moral nature, more like Him, more like Jesus, obedience, patience, peace, perfect love, perfect truth, pray, purpose, purpose in life, relationship, representatives, respect, right and wrong, righteous God, self-control, sin, social status, stewards, stewarship, success, talent, talents, the King, transformation, transformed, treat others, Trust, value, view ourselves, Worship | Leave a comment

How the Holy Spirit Changed Ordinary People

Posted on June 19, 2026 by Mark Cole

The Book of Acts is often called the “Acts of the Holy Spirit” because it records the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in and through ordinary believers. Again and again we read that people were “filled with the Holy … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, God, Healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Wisdom | Tagged adoration, Angels, boldly, boldness, book of Acts, cared, courage, courageous, delivered, discernment, encouraged, filled, full of faith, generosity, generous, God's wisdom, God's presence, Gospel, gratitude, heal, healings, Holy Spirit, inspired words, joy, laid hands, love, loved, loving, miracles, miraculous, one heart, one mind, Pentecost, powerful witnesses, praise, praising God, preached, prophecy, prophesied, protection, rushing wind, serve, shared, sick, signs, signs and wonders, speaking in tongues, spirit, spiritual discernment, stengthened, suffering, supernatural, the Holy Spirit, tongues, tongues of fire, transformative, transformed, transformed lives, unity, wisdom, witnessing, wonders, Worship | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: joy

The Paradoxes of Authentic Christian Living

Following God Wholeheartedly: The Joy and Challenge of Complete Obedience

Psalm 150: The Grand Finale of Praise

Better Together: The Strength of a Triple-Braided Cord

The Role of Suffering in the New Testament

12 Lessons From The Book Of Ecclesiastes

8 Tips On Taking Your Sunday Morning Worship to the Next Level

8 Lessons From Solomon’s Temple That Still Matter Today

How the Holy Spirit Changed Ordinary People

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