Posts in faith
How We Can Pay Attention to God's Faithfulness

Yesterday, Trent was telling me how sad he was because he missed his friends in Wenatchee.  I pointed out that he had a lot of friends at school, but he said that none of them were friends that he "could just call up".  My heart ached for him, so I prayed a little prayer.  One hour later, there was a knock on the door, and an invitation for a play date was extended by one of our neighbors.  Today, he was cruising around the neighborhood with these two sweet boys while I had a cup of coffee and a chat with their grandma.

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faith, grace, prayer, trustDawn Klinge
Why it's important to defend your faith

Defending Your Faith, by R.C. Sproul, is a book I recently read.  It’s an introduction to apologetics, something I wish I had read years ago (and why I included it in my recent booklist for teens).   A simple definition of apologetics that it's a defense of the Christian faith.  The book struck a chord with me because it approached the subject academically, with solid logic.  This blog is all about faith and trusting in God, and I like to explore why God is trustworthy.  I have written often about the work of the Holy Spirit, in speaking to our hearts and revealing his truths- and about how this work is essential to knowing God.  But that is not to say that we should ignore logic or dismiss the task of defending the faith in a way that breaks down the barriers between those of us who believe and those who do not.

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faithDawn Klinge
10 Best Books on Trusting God For Teens

A while ago, I compiled a list of my favorite books on trusting God.  That list had titles that dealt mostly with trusting God through hard times and letting go of anxiety- issues that I have personally dealt with, recently. I have another list of favorite books about trusting God for you today.  This new list of ten books is for teens.  I have chosen titles that do an excellent job of speaking to where I have seen many Christian teens are in their faith journey.

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Where does faith come from?

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.  Romans 10:17

Where does faith come from?  As a kid who grew up in church, faith in God has long been a part of my life.  Christianity was the faith of my parents, and as a young child, I would have said it was mine, too.  But mostly, I was going through the motions- no personal relationship with Jesus.

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How to pray: 3 different types of prayer

I first became a Christian when I was five years old.  I’ve prayed to God since then (and probably before, though any prior memories are foggy).  I never prayed out loud though, not in front of people, not until a couple of years ago.  Though I knew God heard and answered my silent prayers, and I often prayed along in my heart to the spoken prayers of others, I was self-conscious of what other people would think, and afraid I was “doing it wrong.”   By the grace of God, that has changed.  Through my participation in a small weekly meet-up of Christian women in my home, and our practice of praying for each other, out loud, I have learned to let go of any most self-consciousness- and I’ve learned that I’m not alone in these feelings about prayer.

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faith, prayerDawn Klingeprayer
What is true humility?

How often, when I feel offended or hurt, would I be more at peace, if I were simply more humble?  That is the question that has been rolling around my head lately.  When I put away the thoughts of myself, about how I think I deserve to be treated, what do I have left to be offended about?  Not much.

There’s no avoiding this simple fact:  to be like Jesus is to practice humility.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”  Philippians 2:5-7

How do I put away thoughts of myself when I don’t like the way I’m treated?  I like how C.S. Lewis said it, in Mere Christianity,

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Grace is for all of us
“Grace is for the desperate, the needy, the broken, those who cannot make it on their own.  Grace is for all of us.”- Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew

I’m reading a book called, The Jesus I Never Knew, by Philip Yancey, and in it, he tells the stories of two famous Russian novelists, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky.  Yancey explains how these two men helped him better understand what Jesus was saying when he preached the Sermon on the Mount.  I highly recommend Yancey’s book, and encourage anyone to read it for themselves, but I will give you a brief synopsis, because I’m excited to share what I’m learning about Grace and who God is.  This is good stuff!

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A Review of Emily P. Freeman's, Simply Tuesday

“True smallness is an invitation to live as I was meant to live, to accept my humanity, and to offer my ability and my inability, my sin and my success, my messes and my masterpieces into the hands of God.”- Emily P. Freeman, Simply Tuesday

Simply Tuesday, is a book that invites the reader to embrace the ordinary, to exhale, and to recognize that the kingdom work of God is accomplished in the small moments of everyday life.

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