Understanding Your Faith - aknowingspirit

Author Darren Brown: God uses flawed people for His plans, too

Darren Brown didn’t initially intend on writing professionally. However, after it was suggested from family and close friends that he turn his adult Sunday school lessons into a book, he decided to take a leap faith on publishing. This resulted in his first book, Flawed Like Me which focuses on 12 Biblical characters and how God used them in spite of their flaws for His greater plan. During an interview with Aknowingspirit, Brown talked about how God does this with all of us—and the reason behind this. “By using flawed people, we can’t take the credit for ourselves,” Brown said. “We couldn’t have done it on our own.” Brown went on to discuss how God’s second chances were evident in his own life, and how his life transformed with God’s help. Listen to the entire talk with Darren Brown below. This discussion will also air on the Virtuous Entertainment TV Network!

Paul Denikin
Relationships , Understanding Your Faith
July 28, 2021
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Ideas for How Church Communities Can Care for Their Senior Members

Churches provide their members with more than just a place to worship. It’s also a source of community, a promise that there will be people there for you when you need it. If you have a substantial senior population in your church community, there’s a lot you can do to make sure they’re thriving. Aknowingspirit has created this guide to help inspire you to do what’s best for the seniors in your church family: Creating Social Opportunities Help the seniors in your church get the social time they need to thrive: Many seniors get very little social interaction, which can lead to serious health issues. Hosting senior-focused events is a great way to help facilitate friendships among your senior population. Mixed-age events help build intergenerational friendships, which offer many benefits for people across ages. Visiting at Home Seniors can benefit from a friend checking in. Encourage your community to visit one another – particularly older members – throughout the week. Learn these home safety red flags, and volunteer to help seniors create a safer home environment. Give seniors a hand finding local pros for window repair, plumbing, or electrical work. Encouraging Activity Help seniors stay active to encourage a longer, healthier life. Regular exercise helps counteract the damaging effects of aging. Create opportunities to exercise through active church volunteering, such as tending the church garden. You can also facilitate a church exercise group where members of all ages exercise together and hold one another accountable. These are just a few ways your church can be there for its senior members. If you’re looking for more ideas, the best thing to do is connect with the older members of your church community and ask them their needs directly. This way you can ensure your church is meeting the needs of its most vulnerable members. Take a look at the Aknowingspirit shop more on spirituality and following God’s call. Photo Credit: Pexels Please visit dadknowsdiy.com for more information.

Candace Paul
Aknowingspirit Authors , Understanding Your Faith
July 17, 2021
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Kindle Vella is here! Aknowingspirit authors already have stories!

You may have heard of Kindle Vella, a new publishing option offered by Amazon Kindle. On Vella, stories can be told one short episode at a time. Aknowingspirit author and founder, Candace Paul, has already started a series on the platform called, Time’s Up. The concept behind the work is that we always assume there will be more time – another year, another month, another week, another day. We simply believe there will be more time to “get it right” or “figure it out” – despite numerous chances we’ve already been given. But, the truth is, we never really know when time is up. What if there’s no second chance…this time? What if…this is it? In this short fiction series, Candace shares the beautiful redeeming power of God’s grace, and what happens when it is taken away. Click HERE to read now!

David Matteo
Understanding Your Faith
December 15, 2020
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Election Integrity

After so many years, my mind still can’t seem to fathom, That from every descendant in my past who survived relentless torment, you chose me to be among living now; Despite all who existed throughout my history, to be present at such a time as this; Out of curiosity, what did you see? It would truly help me to know; I find that in my moments of sorrow, it’s the mystery of your selection that gives me hope; Meditating on the words you spoke in Jeremiah 1:5, I can’t help but ascribe them as personalized note to me; A sacred promise and assurance that you knew me before I was formed; So after being born, you knew the mess I’d turn out to be; Provoking the question of what qualities you deemed worthy for my preservation; Is there an explanation my elementary intellect can comprehend? Am I too inept to grasp the depth of your preference because at times, I feel like a mistake… A waste of space that offers no real value for the investment made but don’t get me wrong, By no means do I wish to dissuade your interest; nor do I intend to question your decision but to finally end this debate, please tell me… Was I the best candidate?

Neo Lloyd
Spiritual Living , Understanding Your Faith
July 20, 2020
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Poem: Man-made love

People are so fickle Picking and choosing what they love. Putting conditions on whom they love. Doing the very opposite of what love is! Why are we so unkind? Why are we so impatient? When did love become so rude? When love doesn’t serve the self, it is rejected! When a multitude of faults stand before this man-made love, they are not covered! Since when does love put a list of conditions on its recipient? Is this the love that was foretold? Is this how the love of many grows cold? Is this how people become lovers of themselves? Whose example of love is this? Where is kindness, patience, and gentleness? Where is humility and selflessness in this cold love? When did love stop enduring all things? So many questions, only one solution. Jesus Christ! Lord, your faithfulness is like a mighty mountain. When man-made love abandons so easily, You will never leave or forsake your beloved. When man-made love puts terms and conditions, You love from everlasting to everlasting. You love first when love is most undeserved. You love when all conditions are undesirable. You love as a matter of life and death. You love with a resurrecting love. You love when nothing else is left. You love when nothing is offered in return. You love perfectly. You love completely. You love with your whole being. YOU ARE LOVE. Neo M. Lloyd @NeoMLloyd [twitter]

Neo Lloyd
Understanding Your Faith
July 11, 2020
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Poem: The Goodness of the Lord

The Goodness of the Lord by Neo M. Lloyd Every pit I could fall into, I fell into. Every mistake I could ever make, I’ve made. Every wrong turn I could have ever taken, I took. Every bad decision I could make, I made. Every backsliding I could do, I did. Every chance I had to follow the ways of death, I followed. Who would I be? Where would I be, If it wasn’t for your goodness, and mercy, and grace? I was that one lost sheep and You went back to find me. I didn’t even know I needed you. I was happily ignorant and downright childish! But You loved me. You gave me Your grace, You gave me your son. Lord Jesus you took a beating that was meant for me. You bore every painful stripe of my rebellion. That vinegar they gave you when you asked for water, Lord, that was my cup! The cup that I deserved. Every drop of Your blood, You sacrificed for my soul. Every tear I am responsible for in that moment.Every time I chose myself over You. Every time I chose my sin over You. Every time I chose people over You. But You chose me over yourself. Right from the beginning You chose to love me, to save me, to die for me! I will never truly understand the depth, height or breath of Your love. What I know is that You chose me!While I was dead in my sin. You loved me, You rescued me. I love You Lord. My God! My Father! My Master! My Everything! Neo M. Lloyd@NeoMLloyd on Twitter

David Chandler
Understanding Your Faith
April 22, 2020
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A short take on “Judge Not”

During the years I have been a believer, I have heard the phrase “Don’t Judge”. So many members of the professing Christian world has uttered this on a number of occasions. They do not want anyone confronting them about their sin. What does the Bible actually say concerning this topic? Matthew 7:1–“Judge not that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Let’s look at what the Lord Jesus Christ said about “judging”: John 7:24. “Judge not according to appearance, but judge RIGHTEOUS judgment” The context is clear. The Lord did not say NOT to judge at all, but not to judge hypocritically, or judge righteously, according to scripture. The postmodern Christian world does not like this. In fact, it is used as a premise for their unrighteous lifestyle and strange belief systems. No one wants to be held accountable for anything. We are living in an age where Aleister Crowley’s “Do what thou wilt” mantra reigns supreme. There are no absolutes. Right and wrong are subjective to each individual’s perspective. This goes totally against what the Bible says. God deals in absolutes. It is either heaven or hell. Either you are saved or you are not. Jesus said, you cannot serve TWO masters. Either you will LOVE the one and hate the other. Elijah, the Prophet said. “Why halt ye between two opinions? If God be God, serve Him, but if Baal be Baal, serve him?” 1st Kings 18:21. (Paraphrase mine). We need to make a choice on who we will serve. We cannot straddle the fence. There is only one way that leads to life. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me.” Jesus is the Way! D.C.

Ann Lenaers
Spiritual Living , Understanding Your Faith
February 20, 2020
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Toxic Spirituality

Before I accepted Christ, I was deep in the New Age movement – crystals, reiki, medium readings, law of attraction, you name it. So do I understand the mentality of someone living that life? Yes. Absolutely I do. Then Jesus appeared and yanked me out of it by dropping a huge dose of truth on me, and I woke up from the haze I didn’t even realize I was in. One of the biggest pieces of the New Age movement that has seeped into popular culture (and many churches) is the belief that we must always be positive. Anything negative is bad. Over the years what this has evolved into is: “If it doesn’t bring you joy, get rid of it.” If someone ever hurts or upsets you, they are toxic and you should abandon them. “If you have a problem with me, it’s because of something that is unhealed in you that you need to work on. It can’t possibly be a problem with me.” Disagreement is immediately viewed as hate, judgment, or shaming. Think happy thoughts and the boogey man will go away. You are perfect just the way you are. None of those are truly healthy mentalities. Over time it inflates the ego and creates people who are so self focused and overly confident in themselves that they lose their humility and can’t accept personal responsibility for their human errors which are inevitable. They become the god of their own universe where they believe they are creating their reality in a very magical capacity, and they are equipped with excuses that make them feel justified to place all the blame for problems on everyone else. Ultimately you get detached from reality. Been there. Done that. Not proud of it. My response to those points is this: Dirty laundry doesn’t bring me joy, but I must wash it, not throw it out. People are not disposable, and if you mistreat me, your behavior is part of the problem. I can own my part in it, but you need to as well. There are at least two sides to every story, and it is most often the case that everyone involved holds some degree of fault. It’s ok as long as we can address it calmly and rationally. In objective discussion, disagreement does not have to mean hate (see previous article Who Are You To Judge?). While happy thoughts and positivity are ultimately beneficial, they don’t erase the things you don’t like. Nobody is perfect. We crucified the only one who ever was. For your psyche to be grounded with humility, you cannot be the limitless god of your own universe – there must be an authority higher than you which you must answer to. Consider that every feeling we perceive as negative exists with purpose. Pain is an alert system that calls our attention to something physical, emotional, or spiritual which needs healed. Fear can be a safety mechanism, like a person who is afraid to touch a hot stove not wanting to get burned. Shame can drive us internally to change a bad behavior that led to…

Ann Lenaers
Spiritual Living , Understanding Your Faith
January 16, 2020
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A New View

In August of this year, my life took a major turn. My primary housekeeping client passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly. She was a sweet, spunky older woman living with her husband in a gigantic home full of treasures collected throughout their epic life of wealth and travel. It was her castle, her dream home. She was also OCD, so keeping it all clean to her standard of literal perfection was my main job that paid the bills while basically giving away my ministry work. This woman was not just my employer, but over the six years I cleaned her home she was a friend who became family. Her passing forced me to reevaluate my career choices. I had a few months of employment left so I could help her husband get situated in his new living arrangement. During that time I was looking at the job market with one side of my brain and dreaming with the other. On one hand, it was nice that a traditional job allowed me to give a great deal away, but I ached to give my life to ministry completely. God had been training and pushing me toward it for many years. I created Peace Is The Road doing volunteer projects, wrote Christian books, made Bible study videos, coached clients, became actively involved in my church, and even started running groups. I kept busy being faithful in the small things, because to me the small things are the big things. As I started building momentum, there was a sincere desire to maintain the greatest integrity in the foundations of my work. I didn’t want to plaster my face all over it, because it wasn’t about me. I wanted all praise to be for the Lord and all focus to be on Him and the people who needed Him. I also didn’t want to accept money for my work, because Jesus didn’t accept money for anything he did. The Bible speaks so heavily against the evils of loving money, and I didn’t want to fall victim to it. My heart was fully focused on giving of myself freely with unconditional love, even if that meant I had to work harder to do it, which is exactly what happened. I was a working mom who used spare time to squeeze in ministry. A dream birthed from my calling and slowly grew in my heart that someday I would do ministry as my full time work. God had shown me a promise of that future with no clue when it would come. Now I was faced with a big decision – should I find another full time job to replace the housekeeping income or take this chance to focus on full time ministry? God continued sending me His peace in my heart and messages about trusting Him to provide just as He does for the birds (Matthew 6:26-34), so as the last day of housekeeping steadily crept up on me, I did my best to stay calm, trust Him, and get as much work done as I could. This resulted in my second book “Redeemable” being…

Nelson Hawkins, Jr.
Spiritual Living , Understanding Your Faith
January 10, 2020
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God Who? (Part I: Intro)

Hey everybody! Welcome to 2020! Having finished that identity unit, I felt it was best to understand where our identity goes. And actually, that would be with God. But before we get into that, I want to go into the story that led me to make this entry. Have you noticed in the culture that when people refer to big spiritual breakthroughs, they often give credit to the universe? Yep, that universe. The balls of gas, celestial collisions, dark matter, supermassive black holes, and cold reaches of nothingness. When did this become sentient? Why did this become the new standard over the God of the Bible? Why do others reach to ancestral worship? Why do others reach to making parallels between God and other faiths, saying “white people” stole and plagiarized the “Judeo-Christian” God from Kemetan lore? The racist spin on Christianity as a result of Chattle enslavement, for instance. As a result, this puzzled me, because it seems very simple to me, but then I decided to go a little bit deeper. And I’m going to bring you along on the summary of this journey. Let’s take a look, shall we? But first, I want to bring an understanding on why we need the right God, and it’s deeper than “making sure that you get your prayers answered”. Well, we must have faith in the right God otherwise we will die in our sins. Turning ourselves over and loving the true God with all that we are will empower us to obey Him. Without definition, there are no boundaries. Without boundaries there is no order. And without order, comes chaos. So let’s start with that definition. Definition: Within the nature of one God, there is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Nature makes them one. They are co-equal, and co-eternal, and thus these three are the one God. Don’t get me wrong, the Bible ONLY discusses ONE God (and no, not modalities). His divine nature has always been the same, and His personhood has always been the same. His Membership, while always having been the same, the Members themselves have played different roles and have been introduced at different times. One God, (mentioned in the first-person plural in Genesis 1 at first), and then the oneness of God was focused on in Old Testament in Exodus with Moses, approach of God moving into time, typological theology that all led to Jesus coming back in the New Testament. Once we get to the new covenant, New Testament, Jesus carves it out further. The three Persons within the Triune God are introduced in Matthew 3 (introducing the Father and the Spirit coming down as a dove, and the Holy Spirit leading Jesus Christ into the wilderness in Matthew 4:1)…two other personalities with different roles and 4 introducing. There are more displays of the personality of God in the New Testament, which makes more sense as there is more of an emphasis on direct relationship, as Jesus introduced Himself as Way, Truth, and Light. But what say ye for the definition? Tough to digest, isn’t it? Let’s introduce this proposition real quick:…