Is life stressing you out? If so, you’re not the only one. Doctors tell us that a significant portion of illness is brought on by stress. I run into people everyday who are overwhelmed by schedules, relationships, finances, job demands and any number of other pressures. It fascinates me, however, that I also run ...

1. You must examine the right person. So often, when we are struggling to forgive ourselves, the obstacle we face is a deep awareness of our own guilt. We KNOW we are guilty. We did it. Forgiving ourselves can feel like the moral equivalent of saying 1+1=3. It’s just not right and saying that it is right ...

I share my birthday with my first child. Lauren was born at home with the help of our midwife Susan and quite a bit of effort on Nancy’s part at 10:30 PM on my 25th birthday. This event brought me a mixture of both smugness and awe. Smugness because I had accurately predicted the date of her birth five days earlier. ...

Sometimes God isn’t answering the questions I’m asking. His silence can at times seem deafening. Is something wrong with me? What if I just can’t hear what he’s saying? Does his silence indicate disapproval? It’s true that our choices can limit our experience of God’s voice. When we ...

Romans 6:5-11 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died ...

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This is a message I spoke at Crossroads Church in Decatur on Aug 1, 2010. What is Keeping You from the Father? – Alan Smith | Teaching ...

AlanSmith_Sermon_WhatsInMyAccount This is the message I gave last weekend at Crossroads Church in Decatur, ...

Suddenly I saw with clarity the very issue that all the communication skills in the world depend upon. I saw the foundational attitude without which no other relational changes will be sustainable. It’s about responsibility. Specifically – who is responsible for who and what? If this piece is not right ...

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.(ESV) In my last post I ...