“What is God’s will for my life?” We often put this question in the mouth of young people, like high school juniors or college freshmen. The question assumes that a person is on the front side of making major life decisions, and that as he matures he will learn to discern God’s will as he goes along. Here’s another question about God’s will, though, that you may have wondered, even if you have made those decisions already and are well underway into jobs, marriage, or parentin

In the 1960s, when psychological studies in the U.S. first began truly to go off the rails, Stanford researchers conducted a study that today is simply referred to as “the marshmallow test.” In this overly simplified version of the experiment, a child was given a marshmallow with the promise that, if he refrained from eating it for 15 minutes, he would be given a second marshmallow. Assuming that the researcher is trustworthy, the time is not urgent, and the child likes marsh

Every baseball player eventually faces the same humbling moment. The pitcher winds up, the ball leaves his hand, and halfway to the plate it stops behaving like a baseball should. The pitch drops, bends, and disappears under the bat. The hitter swings anyway and comes up empty.

Two things are true about uncertainty. First, it can be intimidating. The mystery of not knowing what will happen is often scary. In times where happiness and security hang in the balance, uncertainty about the outcome gives you the feeling of free-falling through life, forced to wait and anticipate a painful impact when the situation resolves.

How about you? Do you fear death? In a sense, we are all uncertain about our relationship with death, for none of us knows when is our appointment to die. Additionally, none of us are promised tomorrow. If we are not to fear death, then, that confidence must be rooted in something more substantial than just a will to ignore or swallow our fear. Personally, I am not afraid to die. Such a statement is not an arrogance; it is biblical Christianity.

An unfortunate and often devastating fact of life is that people will sometimes hurt you. They may mistreat you intentionally or misunderstand you unintentionally. Our world is full of villains, and that’s why there are many victims. But even if someone legitimately hurts you deeply, you must not make that sinful hurt your personal identity and adopt a victim mindset. The victim mindset will hurt you far worse than whatever the villains in your life have done to you. A perso

One of the reasons we have Strength for Life is to help prepare Christians for potential martyrdom. The role of Biblical pastors, in part, is to cultivate strong Christians who are deeply rooted in their Christian faith, to the point that they understand why the message of the Bible is worth dying for, and that they are committed to following and believing it if martyrdom is ever required.

Spiritual swagger is good, and all Christians should have it. If you regularly listen to Strength for Life content or NorthStone Baptist Church sermons, you have heard the term “spiritual swagger” as a synonym for God-confidence. The redeemed should be confident enough to confront civil authorities, like John the Baptist did when he confronted Herod about his adultery. “It is not lawful for thee to have her,” he told the civil magistrate in Matthew 14:4.