Making the Most of Our Moments

This post reflects on how quickly time passes and how our dreams can feel increasingly out of reach. It challenges readers to examine how they use their time and encourages them to make intentional, wise choices in everyday moments. Drawing on insights from Erwin McManus and Scripture (Ephesians 5:15–17), it emphasizes that the abundant life Jesus promises is found in how we steward the time we’re given. The message is clear: don’t wait—seize your divine moment and make each day count.

Read Making the Most of Our Moments.

The Life We Imagined

We all carry an ideal image of what life should be—but for many of us, reality falls short, leading to disappointment and frustration. While hardship is undeniably part of the human experience, settling for a survival mindset may cause us to miss something greater: the life God truly intends for us. In this post, we’ll reflect on the Apostle John’s words in 1 John 2:24–25 and explore two powerful truths—true life flows from obedience to Jesus, and it is found in fellowship with God. This “eternal life” isn’t merely about duration; it’s about depth. It’s a life of meaning, purpose, and redemption—and it’s available to all who walk with God.

Read The Life We Imagine vs The Life God Offers.

The Foundation For Godly Leadership

We live in an age of influencers—people who shape how we think, feel, and live, often without accountability or grounding in truth. In this post, based on Titus 1:1–9, we’re reminded that real transformation comes not from trends, but from God’s Word. The Apostle Paul calls for godly leaders who live with integrity and guide others toward King Jesus. But leadership isn’t limited to pastors or church elders—it’s a calling for every follower of Christ. Whether at home, at work, or online, your life has influence. This post will challenge you to consider who you’re leading and how your life reflects the truth of the Gospel.

Read Transformed by Grace: The Foundation for Godly Leadership.

Transformed by Grace

Four years ago, 18-year-old pianist Josiah Jackson made a promise at Chicago O’Hare International Airport: one day, he would return and fix a broken, out-of-tune public piano—for free. In 2024, he fulfilled that promise, spending seven hours meticulously restoring the instrument, bringing music and joy back to a busy terminal.

Josiah’s story is a powerful picture of the Gospel. Like that neglected piano, sin has left each of us broken and out of tune, unable to live the life God designed us for. But there’s hope: God’s grace restores us.

In my latest post, we dive into Romans 6:1-14 to see how grace transforms our lives. We are given new lives through Jesus’ death and resurrection, welcomed into a new relationship with God, and freed to live as instruments of righteousness. This transformation isn’t about trying harder—it’s about trusting God’s restoring work and living each day in the safety net of His grace.

You’ll also discover a simple two-step daily challenge to help you live in the freedom and confidence that comes from being made new in Christ.

Big Idea: God’s grace doesn’t just cover our sins—it transforms us, tuning our lives to reflect His love and purpose in the world.

I invite you to read the full post, be encouraged by Josiah’s inspiring story, and be challenged to live each day as a song of praise to the God who catches us when we fall and tunes us for His glory.

Read Transformed by Grace here.

Far Too Easily Pleased

Uncover the life God dreams for you in Shattered Dreams: Far Too Easily Pleased, the powerful finale of our 4-part series. Explore five transformative traits from John 13–17—servanthood, love, abiding in Jesus, Spirit-led guidance, and unity—that reveal God’s vast vision beyond our fragile plans. Inspired by C.S. Lewis, this post challenges us to trade mud pies for infinite joy. Read now and awaken to the unshakable purpose waiting in your brokenness!

Shattered Dreams: Far Too Easily Pleased

Lessons from the King: True Obedience

Build Your Life on the Rock: True Obedience
What’s your foundation? In Matthew 7:24-29, Jesus contrasts two builders—one wise, one foolish—facing the same storm. The difference? Obedience. In the post True Obedience Paul’s Ponderings dives into the Sermon on the Mount’s climax, exploring how loyalty to King Jesus through action, not just words, keeps us standing when life’s winds blow. Read it now and ask: Which house are you living in?

In God’s Image: Why Women Belong in Pastoral Ministry

Does God’s design limit women in pastoral ministry, or did tradition get it wrong? In ‘In God’s Image: Why Women Belong in Pastoral Ministry,’ I explore how Genesis 1’s co-rulership, prophets like Deborah and Huldah, and early church leaders like Phoebe reveal God’s plan for women to lead. This isn’t woke theology—it’s biblical truth. Read more at Paul’s Ponderings.

Living as New Creation

“The message of the action of God in Christ is concerned with the creation of a new identity, namely, the redeemed person participating in the reconciled society, enjoying fellowship with all creation and with the Creator.”~ Stanley Grenz; Theology for the Community of God

 The mission of Jesus Christ was not just to save people from their sins, but also to create for God a holy people. People who lived the life of Jesus, who experienced true fellowship, and worshipped God in spirit and in truth.

 The reason for this is to participate with God in restoring creation. It is easy to recognize that things are not what they should be, and God desires all those who follow Jesus to participate in the restoration of creation.

 Through the resurrection of Jesus we have the hope of things being made new. That includes us! Remember what the apostle Paul wrote:

 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17; NLT). 

Becoming new creations isn't something that is reserved for the distant future, but it is meant to be a present reality.

This reality begins the moment we choose to follow Jesus. The problem is, and the reason we don't feel new, is because we still live in a broken, fallen, and sinful world. Our flesh is still drawn to the things of this world, even as our hearts begin to desire the realities of heaven.

See more at Paul's Ponderings: Living as New Creations.

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Between a Rock and a Hard Place

One of the topics that is grabbing the nations headlines is gay marriage. It is a controversial topic even within the Church. I am not able to say anything that hasn't already been said, but I did want add my perspective to the discussion. I hope it is helpful.

The Church will always be involved in politics. That is because politics, according the Oxford American Dictionary, are “the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area.” This means that Christians, by virtue of what we believe, will at times be in conflict, in one way or another, with the standards and laws of the community.

Reading through the book of Acts we discover that Christians were arrested time and time again because of the way they lived and the way they encouraged other people to live. The teachings and the actions of the Church were in conflict with the culture and expectations of the Roman Empire.

Even if you adopt a Christian Anarchist view, like I have done, you will not be able to escape the reality that the Way of Christ has political implications. This is why it is very important to remained informed about what is happening in the political arena of life.

Finish reading Between a Rock and a Hard Place at Paul's Ponderings.

 

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Trust God With Your Life

Spiritual growth depends on our trust in God.

{James 1:1-4; ESV}

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

It is no secret that life is filled with heartbreak, disappointment, tragedy, and an assortment of other troubles. We understand that God has not promised us an easy life. We are also aware of His ability to use the junk of our lives to mature our faith and transform us into the people He created us to be. The reason we should find joy in our suffering, is because God redeems our pain to make us new creations.

Yet, we also know that this is easier said than done. When our lives are going smoothly, or at least manageable, we can say, “I trust God no matter what happens.” It is easy to trust to God when things seem to be easy.

When the clouds descend and the storm hits often our trust in God disappears. If we are not careful we may even begin to question God's heart. We may even begin to question His existence.

Read the rest at www.paulsponderings.com. Trust God With Your Life.

 

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Life is all about God

The new Paul's Ponderings has a post reminding us that It is all About God. Jump over there and let me know what you think.

Follow @PaulBSteele

Letter to the Editor: The Bible still has a Role

Since I only got two hours of sleep last night and because my thoughts today are centered around the loss of my Grandpa I won't be able to do live blog Wide Awake today.  Instead I want to share with you the letter to the editor that I wrote which was published in the Austin Daily Herald yesterday.  To be fair I will post a link to the the letter I was responding to: Message was OK.


Here is the unedited version of the letter.  The newspaper did make a couple of changes, but nothing of importance.


The Bible Continues to have an Important Role

I am writing in response to Darya Gemmel's May 4 letter to the editor titled, “Message was OK.”

It is crucial for us to remember that a message is greater than its content. The message of a speech is also tied to things like word choice, body language, and tone. All these parts combined form the actual message of Dan Savage's speech: It is okay to bully people who believe “b***s***.”

According to Dan Savage we can ignore the words of the Bible because “the Bible is a radically pro-slavery document,” and “because the Bible got slavery wrong.” While it is true that the Bible makes allowances for slavery, it is hardly pro-slavery. We must remember that the Bible was written within a certain cultural context, and within that context slavery was a normal, acceptable, and some may argue, necessary part of life. As we interpret what the Bible says about slavery we have to keep this social context in mind.

While Dan Savage can conveniently look back on ancient history and pass judgement, he fails to appreciate precisely why he holds the position on slavery that he does. While he might call it “the easiest moral question that humanity has ever faced,” his position is actually the minority position. Not only has slavery been acceptable throughout human history, it is still very acceptable throughout the world. If National Geographic is correct in its September 2003 report then “there are more slaves today than were seized from Africa in four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.” Even today people are getting the “easiest of moral questions” wrong.

Why do so many of us in the Western World get this moral question right? The answer is the Bible. It is true that the Bible outlined rules for the fair treatment of slaves, yet it is also true that the apostle Paul planted the seeds which revolutionized the way people viewed slavery. Commenting on Colossians 4:1 historian and theologian N. T. Wright writes; “Paul does not protest against the institution of slavery. That would be about as useful, for him, as a modern preacher fulminating against the internal combustion engine. His approach is subtler. He has found a fixed point on which to stand, from which to move the world: slaves too are human beings with rights.”

Slowly the world did begin to move. The first sign that these seeds Paul planted were germinating is seen in 379 during Lent when Gregory of Nyssa preached a sermon condemning the institution of slavery. A person will search in vain to find a similar sentiment expressed at that time in the ancient world. It was a slow, especially by our standards, process, but as Christians meditated on the teachings of Christ and the teaching of Paul they began to realize that this culturally acceptable institution was not acceptable to God. Eventually people like William Wilberforce, who were influenced by this vein of Christian thinking, appeared on the scene and fought to end the practice of slavery. This is a fight that continues today.

To say that the Bible got slavery wrong is to ignore the role the Bible played in bringing the Western World to the understanding we have today: that slavery is an immoral practice. We must remember that when handled correctly the Bible continues to play an important role in influencing the morality of people.

Paul Steele, an imperfect disciple
Austin

Linkage: The Power of Implementation Intentions

One of the realities that we discover as we follow Jesus is the need for constant change.  We realize that we need to change our attitudes and well as our behaviors.  Yet time and time again we discover we don't have what it takes to change, and our good intentions remain good intentions.

The good news in this is that this change that needs to happen in our lives is not entirely our responsibility. The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:22-23; "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law" (ESV).  One of the truths that Paul wants us to understand is that this changed life we are to live is the result of the Spirit working inside of us.  Our changed life is the fruit that the Spirit produces in our lives.  So when it comes to making changes in our lives we first need to surrender to God and ask Him to bring healing, wisdom, and strength to us through the Spirit.  We need God's help to change.

With that being said we have to realize that we have a part of play in our transformation as well.  Ultimately God wants us to be people who freely choose to do what is right.  We need to learn how to make the right choice, so that the right choice becomes second nature to us, something that we do without thinking about it because it is how we are.

Dallas Willard in his book The Renovation of the Heart provides a formula for the human side of transformation: VIM.  Vim stands for Vision, Intention, and Means.  We have to have vision of what that transformation will look like in our lives, we need to have the intention to bring that vision to reality in our lives, and then we have a means on making it happen.

It is in that last point, the means of turning our intentions into reality, that this article from the Art of Manliness about.  I hope that you find it helpful in your quest to become the person God created you to be.

If you’re like many men across the world, you probably set some new goals for yourself on January 1. Maybe it was to work out regularly or get into the reading habit. Or maybe you wanted to pay off your debt or increase your productivity. 

Perhaps you did okay for the first week or two, but have already fallen off the goal-achieving wagon. Oh well. There’s always next year, right? 

Hold on there, chief. No need to wallow in regret for the awesome life that could have been. There’s still hope for you yet. 

To end this month-o-motivation, I set out to do a comprehensive post about all the ways to increase your chances of reaching a goal. 

But as I waded into the research, what I found was that 1) summarizing all of the information required more of a book than a blog post, and 2) a lot of the methods didn’t personally strike me as all that helpful.

Continue Reading A Formula for Success: The Power of Implementation Intentions.

Linkage: Don't Just Stand There

As we follow Jesus it is easy at times to stop and wonder what the next step is going to be.  We become paralyzed with fear and uncertainty that we don't do anything waiting for God to make His will for our lives clear.  Perhaps God is wanting us to step out and do what He has already revealed, even when doing so goes against common sense.

That is the point Mike Andrews is making in this post:

It was a huge mess. After watching their oppressors being hounded by bloody water, frogs, flies, gnats, hail, dying animals, locusts up the wazoo, darkness, festering sores all over their bodies, and the deaths of their firstborn sons... now they were free. Well, they were on the edge of the wilderness loaded down with loot, with no homes to which to return, but at least they weren’t slaves anymore, right? Then it all started to look really bad...

Continue reading Don't Just Stand There.

Just to build on Mike's thought is the need for us to go together.  There certainly will be times when we are forced to go alone, but it is so much easier to go as a group.  Just as a cord of three strands is multiple times stronger than those three strands alone, when we function as a body we are able to infuse each other with strength, courage, and faith that is desperately needed to live the life God has created us to live.

Linkage: Tim Tebow, Converter of the Passes

I am a Denver Bronco fan.  Right now the Broncos are a mess thanks to the previous coach and GM who made some terrible player decisions.  One of those decisions was trading up to draft Tim Tebow.  Tebow was a Heisman Trophy quarterback in college, but many NFL analysts didn't think he had what it took to be a NFL quarterback.  I thought that was a bad move then and I still doubt that it will pay off.

That being said I want Tim Tebow to succeed.  Partly because he is now the Bronco's starting quarterback, and partly because of who he is.  He is a man of faith and it is neat to see fellow believers succeed.  So it is for that reason I found this commentary by Brian Phillips interesting.

Here's how I think it works, this Tebow madness.

• Somewhere within all our reptilian hearts lurks an instinct for trial-by-combat. This instinct tells us that when a person is strongly associated with an idea, we can use that person's success or failure within the sphere of competitive athletics as a legitimate indication of the quality of the idea. Did the green knight kill the blue knight? Then the queen must be innocent!1
• Tim Tebow has, for various reasons and despite the presence of many other religious athletes in the NFL, become the avatar or champion of evangelical Christianity in football.
• In doing so, he has managed to take on outsize significance in the league despite largely failing to excel on the field and despite the fact that the NFL already reads culturally like the result of a right-wing blogger shotgunning a wine cooler and deciding to "make things fabulous."2
• We all know that this is ludicrous, but we all kind of feel it anyway.
• As a result, it's basically impossible not to see Tebow's ability or inability to complete a 15-yard out pattern to Matt Willis as a referendum on the Book of Deuteronomy.

Continued Reading...

Linkage: Reading the Gospels for all They are Worth

This is part two of the article I linked to by Matt Proctor entitled Getting the Most from the Gospels.

In Part One of this article, I explained that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are more than divinely inspired, historically accurate biographies. They are that, to be sure. But each writer’s distinctive approach to telling his material gives us nuance and knowledge we would never have received from one writer alone. 

This week we consider principles to help us get the fullest meaning possible from what I call these “pastorally interpretive narratives of the life of Christ.”

Read Behind the Lines 

The first principle of Gospel reading is read behind the lines. In other words, look at the history and culture behind the Gospel stories. Often we can see a story’s truth clearly only when it’s placed against the historical/cultural/geographical backdrop. As 21st-century Westerners, we must put ourselves in ancient Jewish sandals to understand their culture. We will need to do some hermeneutical excavating to brush away the accumulated dust of the centuries to get back to the original setting. This background can take us to new depths of understanding.

Continue Reading...

Linkage: Getting the Most from the Gospels

Having grown up in a Christian family and being around church my entire life it is easy to approach the Bible with a confidence that I know what is being said, and in the process miss what God wants to communicate.  In this article from The Christian Standard Matt Proctor challenges us approach the Gospels with fresh lenses.

“Irresistibly drawn to Jesus.” That phrase describes many who have come to faith after reading the Gospels. Most of us love the Gospels because we love Jesus, and the Gospels bring us face to face with him. For some the Gospels are so familiar, though, that they miss truth contained there. A few helps can prevent that from happening. 

When he was growing up, Vince Antonucci’s parents never took him to church. Maybe it was because his mother was Jewish and his father was a professional gambler. Regardless, he knew nothing about Jesus. He says, “As far as I know, I had never even met a Christian.”

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Linkage: The Holy Spirit in the Church

For many Christians the Holy Spirit is overlooked because we just don't know what to make of Him.  Part of the reason is the way some Christians treat the Holy Spirit seems silly and unreal.  Another part of the reason is because we tend to view Jesus' death and resurrection as the climax of God's plan of redemption.

This link is to a transcript of a talk N. T. Wright gave on the Holy Spirit and His work in and through the church.  I hope that it will help you understand the role of the Spirit in our lives a little bit better.

I am delighted to be speaking at this first Fulcrum conference, and am very grateful to Francis Bridger and his colleagues for inviting me, and to Graham Kings and the staff here at St Mary's for their hospitality. It is twenty-five years since I last spoke here, at one of the old Islington Conferences, and I trust I shall look back on this day with as much pleasure as I now look back on that one. 

I want you to imagine for a moment that you have just thrown open the window on a glorious spring morning. A fresh breeze is stirring around the garden. In the distance there is a crackle of bonfire as a farmer clears away some winter rubbish. Out in the field, a skylark is hovering over its nest. All around, there is a sense of creation throwing off its wintry coverings and getting ready for an outburst of new life. 

All these are images the early Christians used to describe something strange but real and central to their lives. They spoke of a powerful wind rushing through the house and entering them. They spoke of tongues of fire resting on them and transforming them. They picked up, from the ancient creation story, the image of a bird brooding over the waters of chaos to bring order and life to birth. 

How else do you explain the inexplicable, except in a rush of images from the world we already know?

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Linkage: What is Faith

There are different "church words" that we use that we are not 100% certain what they mean.  One of those words is faith.  This article from Be Thinking attempts to give a simple and biblical definition to that word.

I’ve been trying to avoid using the word ‘faith’ recently. It just doesn’t get the message across. ‘Faith’ is a word that’s now misused and twisted. ‘Faith’ today is what you try to use when the reasons are stacking up against what you think you ought to believe. Greg Koukl sums up the popular view of faith, ‘It's religious wishful thinking, in which One squeezes out spiritual hope by intense acts of sheer will. People of 'faith' believe the impossible. People of 'faith' believe that which is contrary to fact. People of 'faith' believe that which is contrary to evidence. People of 'faith' ignore reality.’ It shouldn’t therefore come as a great surprise to us, that people raise their eyebrows when ‘faith’ in Christ is mentioned. Is it strange that they seem to prefer what seems like reason over insanity?

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Linkage: Bookend Your Days

I so relate to this.  It is time to create a routine for morning and evening so I can accomplish every thing that I set out to do.

You’re a college student. 

It’s midnight. You’re brushing your teeth and reviewing how the day went. And you’re disappointed. 

You had planned to work out, study for an upcoming history exam, clean up your apartment, and find time to meditate. 

But none of those things happened. 

You woke up late. As soon as you sat down to study in the afternoon you saw some friends who invited you out to eat. And that night you got sucked into aimlessly surfing the internet while the dirty dishes sat for another day in the sink. 

You spit out your toothpaste and vow to do better tomorrow–tomorrow you’re going to turn it all around. But the next day brings more of the same. 

Does this sound familiar? Do you feel like you’re stuck in a cycle of good intentions but disappointing follow-through?

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