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When New Years Resolutions are Forgotten or Broken...What Do I Do?

Scott Wendal — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 19:46:49 +0000

When New Years Resolutions are Forgotten or Broken...What Do I Do? Scott Wendal Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:46

Every January millions of people make goals and resolutions… near the end of the first month many of those resolutions have fizzled. Those idealist goals include things like healthier eating, regular exercise, quality time with family, more time with God in His Word and prayer, and some even make goals regarding spending less to being more kind or diligent at work. When asked in a survey how long their resolutions last, over half of Americans responded with three months or less.

When asked in a survey how long their resolutions last, over half of Americans responded with three months or less.

Experts acknowledge that the excitement of a new year often results in people setting impractical goals. Literally thousands of helpful books (like Atomic Habits) encourage people to set reasonable small goals. The premise is that “implementing the right habits will drastically improve your life. It is true that small adjustments lead to massive transformations. Even with this understanding there needs to be three keys to be successful in personal growth and transformation: 1) The Right Desires; and 2) the Right Priorities; and 3) the Right Power.

The Right Desires

Being made in the image of God, every human being has mind, emotion, and will. As our Heavenly Father, the Lord desires us to love Him in response to His great love for us. The apostle John understood this when he said, “We love Him [God], because He first loved us” I John 4:19. Once a person has given their heart and life to Christ, they have a new spiritual nature. It is our responsibility to fan the flames of our new spiritual desires.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness….” Matthew 5:6

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Mattew 6:33

“Thou shalt love the Lord that God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matthew 22:37

Once I have the right desires (seeking God) and I have them for the right reasons (the glory of God), I am now prepared to determine the right priorities of my life.

The Right Priorities

The basic principle of life and stewardship is this - God owns everything. God owns everything, including ME! He also owns my time and He owns your time.

The Basic Principle of Life and Stewardship is this - God owns everything, including ME!

As Christians, we are all living with the understanding from the same book – the Bible! As you mature in your faith and grow in Biblical knowledge you will most likely come to the same conclusion of believers down through the centuries that life is about relationships – first with God, family, then others. I have had the opportunity to invest and train hundreds of missionary couples by sharing my list of priorities – beginning with the most important:

1. Faith

2. Family

3. Friends

4. Fitness

5. Finances

6. Fun

You may choose different words or phrases to delineate your priorities of life, but we all begin with “GOD FIRST” and certainly would place our family relationships right after the Lord.

You may generally agree with this list “right priorities” but the question is – “Am I spending my time, money, and energy in alignment with what I believe is important?” A sad but true commentary of 21st century Christianity is that “we worship our work, work at our play, and play at our worship.”

Rather than feel defeated or discouraged over “broken or forgotten” New Year’s’\ Resolutions, why not determine today to “re-align” your day, week, and month with godly priorities? This kind of attitude is not defeated by your past (Philippians 3:12-14), but is energized because God has given us a brand new day and we can “make a difference” with His power working in us.

The Right Power

With the right desires guided by the right priorities, we now turn to the Lord to experience the right power. For Christians, spiritual transformation begins in the heart. Once we have the epiphany that “we were made by God and made for God” we then can begin to discover how to spend our life – beginning with the next hour, day, week, and month. Yes, this takes a little bit of planning and a whole lot of humility. The apostle Paul acknowledged this, even when he was in prison, God could work in and through him when he wrote…

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13.

How do we access the power of God in our lives on a daily basis?

1. Renew your mind daily in the Word of God.

Begin everyday with the prayer of the Psalmist, “Open though mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Psalm 119:18

2. Seek to be like Christ in your thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions.

Invite the Holy Spirit to transform you – little by little – to be more like Jesus.

3. Take responsibility for your words and actions.

Jesus calls us to “deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him” Luke 9:23.

4. Ask the Lord to guide and empower you by His Holy Spirit.

The Lord delights in “showing up” in the lives of His children. Never cease to be amazed that even though “our sins they are many, His mercy is more.” “Walking by faith” means that we are choosing to follow the Lord and His Word, even when we don’t understand it or feel like it. God’s love and truth shines brightest when we are broken and weak. Paul encourages us by his power personal testimony… “when I am weak, then am I strong.” In my greatest weakness, “the power of Christ rests on me.”
Don’t let your life be defined by broken or forgotten New Year’s Resolutions, rather choose the right desires which leads to the right priorities that will be fulfilled with the right power - God’s Power!

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Christian Life

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Dr. Paul Chappell

Stewarding Life Planner

Dr. Paul Chappell

Depravity and Free Will

Dr. Tobi England — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 22:47:17 +0000

Depravity and Free Will Dr. Tobi England Thu, 01/15/2026 - 14:47

A Response to Calvinism

This year at Spiritual Leadership Conference, Dr. Tobi England addressed one of the most important theological discussions of our day: free will and Calvinism. His session blended both truth and grace, tackling difficult questions with biblical clarity. This article is a condensed version of that session, you can listen to the full session here or access any session from SLC 2025. We're already looking forward to this year's conference, September 27-30th—register here.

If you've ever tried to sort through Calvinism, depravity, and the "regeneration before faith" debate, and you want a biblical way to think about it, this article will be a great help to you.

Three Starting Points

Before diving in, let me establish three things that matter for this conversation.

First, this is a Christians-with-Christians discussion. The conversation about Calvinism distinguishes Christians from other Christians, not believers from non-believers. Not everybody who disagrees with you is a heretic. There is such a thing as heresy, for instance if you deny the resurrection of Jesus, you need to get saved, but the Calvinism debate lives in the category of in-house theological disagreements. That being said, I do believe there are some errors in theology we can and need to correct, and I hope to address some of those today.

Second, theological errors often begin as imbalances. Many don't start by teaching something obviously false. They start by over-emphasizing one particular point in theology until it crushes the others. While we don't have unlimited space here, I want to be clear: we must affirm the sovereignty of God without reservation, without caveat, and with great clarity. God is sovereign, absolutely. God is fully unlimited in His power and complete in His authority. Yes, the sovereignty of God is relevant when we're discussing free will.

Third, we should judge positions by their best arguments, not their worst. Very few things can hurt a good position more than bad arguments for it. There are bad arguments against Calvinism, just as there are bad arguments for it. We're much more critical of somebody's reasons when their conclusions don't align with ours. I hope you'll join me in being thorough and thoughtful, because what we're addressing here is one of the central issues.

Where Scripture Starts: God Desires Salvation for All

First Timothy 2:4 says God "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." Scripture is clear, and repeats, that God desires the salvation of all men. A ministry focused on evangelism and soul-winning recognizes this instinctively: God's heart is for people to be saved. Jesus died for everyone. He died for the sins of the whole world. We're commanded to spread the gospel, and God's desire is for the salvation of the lost. It's not God's fault if the lost remain lost.

A Biblical Understanding of Free Will

What do we mean by free will? In general, it's the human capacity to choose a course of action from among various alternatives. Scripture teaches that free will is part of God's creation.

But we need to define our terms carefully, because people use "free will" to mean very different things. Some define freedom like this: you're free to act according to your desires, but you're not free to choose your desires. That's not genuine free choice. If you could not have chosen otherwise because those desires were caused outside of yourself, then you have free will in label only.

What I'm arguing for (what I believe Scripture teaches) is that we genuinely have the ability to choose, and we are responsible for those choices. This is what theologians call a libertarian view of free will.

Where We See This in Scripture

Adam had a choice in the garden. Genesis 2:17 warns him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam wasn't destined or determined to sin, he deliberately chose to rebel against God. That's an important point, because if he didn't choose to disobey, then where's the fall? We find that Adam is blameworthy because of the choice he made.

We see it with Joshua, telling the people to "choose you this day whom ye will serve" (Joshua 24:15). We see it when Jesus looks over Jerusalem and says, "how often would I have gathered thy children together... and ye would not" (Matthew 23:37). We see it when Stephen says, "ye do always resist the Holy Ghost" (Acts 7:51).

Here's the principle underneath it all: culpability requires capability. If I'm culpable for something, that means I'm blameworthy. But I can't be blamed for something I had no capacity to do otherwise. You wouldn't blame me if you tripped over your own untied shoelace while I was unknowingly standing on it. Why? Because it wasn't intentional. It wasn't a choice I made.

Throughout Scripture, God holds us blameworthy for the choices He gives us. And culpability demands capability.

Romans 1:20 makes this explicit: "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." Notice that—the invisible things are not only seen, but understood. And it's that understanding that leads to accountability.

The Drawing of God Is Universal

Now, it's absolutely true that we need God active in our lives to be saved. God is the prime mover in salvation. That's not a Calvinist teaching, that's a biblical teaching. I'm not saved because I sought after God. I'm saved because God sought after me.

But here's where many jump the tracks theologically: the drawing of God, the moving of the Holy Spirit, that's a universal experience for all humans, not a selective one reserved for the elect.

John 12:32 says, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." Romans 1 speaks of general revelation - creation itself reveals God's eternal power and divine nature. Some people argue that dead men can't respond to truth, that there's no point in apologetics with unbelievers because they're spiritually dead. But Paul says even general revelation is understood by the unsaved world. That's why they are "without excuse."

We are hopeless without divine revelation and the moving of the Holy Spirit. But Scripture also teaches that all humans have access to both.

A Biblical Understanding of Depravity

Let's be equally clear: we believe the Bible teaches depravity. Romans 3: "There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." We're not only sinners because we sin and we sin because we're sinners. We have a sinful nature. Original sin is real. Read Romans 5.

But depravity is not the same as total inability. This is where so many philosophies (Calvinism and others) go off the rail.

Edwin Palmer, a Calvinist theologian, says this plainly: "Another way of describing total depravity is to call it total inability." I'm working hard not to create a straw man here, as you're going to hear from Spurgeon, Piper, Frame, Sproul, and others. But what we find is that total inability is not a scriptural teaching.

Depravity means I have a sin nature. Depravity means I'm guilty before God. Depravity means Adam's sin passed to all of us. But the Bible does not teach total inability.

The Jack-in-the-Box Illustration

Look again at Romans 1. Verse 18 says men "hold the truth in unrighteousness." What does it mean to "hold" the truth? It doesn't mean holding it like you hold a remote. The idea is to suppress or withhold it.

When my kids were little, we had one of those jack-in-the-box toys. You turn the crank, it plays the music, and then—pop!—the clown jumps out. My kids figured out they could put their hand on the lid and hold it down while they turned the crank. They liked the music, but they didn't want the jump. So they suppressed it. They kept it in.

That's what Paul is teaching. We withhold the truth. We suppress it. We reject it. But Scripture says God has made Himself so clear through creation that the invisible things are "clearly seen and understood, so that they are without excuse."

General revelation is sufficient to condemn, not to redeem. But it is enough to make man accountable.

Why Total Inability Leads to Determinism

Here's the pivot: total inability leads to determinism.

Determinism says it's already planned out. You can't change it. You're not really in charge of your own decisions. It's all scripted. You're just playing the part.

And determinism isn't an uncommon worldview. Multiple worldviews deny libertarian free will. I read a whole book by an atheist materialist who argued that every atheist ought to be a genuine determinist. Why? Because if everything is caused by what came before, and what came before goes outside your lifetime, you're not responsible for the chain of events that leads to your decisions. They're determined.

So determinism has more in common with Islam or atheistic materialism than it does with a biblical view of moral responsibility.

The Problem of Adam's Sin

Look at where the determinist system breaks down: Adam.

R.C. Sproul wrestles with this in his writing. He acknowledges that before someone can commit an act of sin, they must first have the desire to perform that act. Evil actions flow from evil desires. But Adam and Eve were not created fallen. They had no sin nature. They were good creatures with free will and yet they chose to sin.

Sproul's response? "Why? I don't know."

But I think we can know. We can know because the choice to sin is always something we're responsible for, because God holds us responsible, because we have moral free will. Why did Adam and Eve sin? Because they chose to. It's as simple as that. God didn't cause them to sin. God didn't force them. God didn't put them on a track where they could do nothing but sin.

When I was a kid, we had a slot-car race track. You'd squeeze the trigger to control the speed, but there was a pin on the bottom of the car that tracked a groove in the track. The kid driving the car wasn't choosing direction, only speed. The path was determined.

That's unlike a radio-controlled car today, where you can make it go right, left, forward, or back. The path isn't predetermined.

God hasn't predetermined everything that's going to happen. He's given us genuine free will.

Foreknowledge Isn't Causation

Now, some people get hung up here. Does God know all things future? Yes, He does. Every characteristic God has, He has to its fullest extent. God's knowledge is absolutely complete. God knows the future.

So here's the question: if God knows what you're going to choose for breakfast tomorrow, could you choose something different?

The honest answer is no, you couldn't choose differently than what God knows you're going to do.

But that doesn't undermine free will. God's foreknowledge doesn't cause us to lose our freedom.

Here's an example: if I offered my wife a choice between sushi and Mexican food, I'd bet my entire net worth on what she'd choose. She doesn't like raw fish. I know she'd pick Mexican. Does that mean she's not making the choice? Does my knowing ahead of time mean I forced her to choose Mexican food? Of course not. It's her choice, and my knowledge of what she would choose doesn't determine it.

The foreknowledge of God isn't something that removes our free will or our culpability.

Four Errors We Must Avoid

Let me wrap up by identifying four specific errors we need to avoid.

Error #1: Teaching That Salvation Precedes Faith

Some argue that first you get saved, and then you have faith. Faith isn't how you receive the gospel, it's evidence that God flipped the light switch at some point.

Boettner argues, "A man is not saved because he believes in Christ. He believes in Christ because he is saved." John Piper echoes this: "We do not think that faith precedes and causes new birth. Faith is evidence that God has begot us anew." R.C. Sproul goes even further: "The cardinal point of reformed theology is this maxim: regeneration precedes faith."

But we contrast that with what we see in Scripture. We're saved by grace through faith. John 11 says, "He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." John 3:16: "Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." Galatians 3:26: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."

Our faith is the response we're required to give to the gospel in salvation. Even Charles Spurgeon said plainly, "We are all ready to set our seal to the clearest possible statement that men are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and saved the moment they believe."

Error #2: Treating Foreknowledge as Deterministic

We absolutely believe the full sovereignty and omniscience of God. But if you turn God's knowledge into God's causation, the implications are terrible. How do you counsel someone who's been abused or raped and say, "Well, God is the primary direct cause of that suffering in your life"?

A better biblical explanation is this: we live in a fallen world, and God overcomes evil through the cross. God didn't eliminate the possibility of sin by removing free will. God conquered the reality of suffering and evil through Christ.

Norman Geisler states it well: "If God is the cause of all human action, then humans are not really morally responsible."

Error #3: Denying the Universal Offer of Salvation

Second Peter 3:9 says God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Acts 17:30 says God "commandeth all men every where to repent."

God died for and desires the salvation of all. Not everybody will be saved—but that's because of our free will, our depravity, our rebellion against God. Just like Adam and Eve chose to go against God's will, so those who reject the gospel choose to go against God's desire.

Error #4: Making God the Cause of Sin

Kenneth Keathley puts it bluntly: "If determinism is true, then God is the first cause of sin."

That's a terrible problem. And it's one we must avoid.

The Bottom Line

I want to close with a quote from Charles Spurgeon that I can fully agree with:

"If a man be saved, all honor is to be given to Christ. If a man be lost, all the blame is to be laid upon himself. You will find all true theology summed up in these two short sentences. Salvation is all of the grace of God. Damnation is all of the will of man."

Second Peter 3:9 remains clear: God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

The idea that you have to embrace determinism to affirm God's sovereignty simply isn't biblical. We can (and must) affirm both the absolute sovereignty of God and the genuine moral responsibility of man. Scripture holds both in perfect balance, and so should we.

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Christian Walk

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Dr. Paul Chappell

The Resilient Life

Keep The Faith

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Running a Church Is Harder Than Running a Business

Dave Delaney — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 18:18:29 +0000

Running a Church Is Harder Than Running a Business Dave Delaney Wed, 01/14/2026 - 10:18

Business analyst Peter Drucker once observed that the three most difficult leadership roles he could imagine were hospital administrator, university president, and church minister. His reasoning was simple: each role requires leaders to wear multiple hats while meeting wildly different, and often competing, expectations.

Church leadership, however, presents challenges that exceed even these fields. It operates in the realm of spiritual conviction, emotional attachment, volunteer dependency, and eternal stakes, a combination that makes ministry uniquely demanding.

Spiritual Issues Intensify Emotional Reactions

Unlike business decisions, church decisions are rarely neutral.

Pastors who faithfully teach what the Bible says about sensitive issues, such as divorce, sexuality, sin, repentance, or discipline, quickly discover that otherwise reasonable people can become emotionally charged and deeply personal when conviction sets in. Conviction touches identity.

And sometimes the conflict isn’t even theological. It can erupt over something as small as:

forgetting to mention memorial flowers,
changing the order of service,
or moving the American flag on the platform.

In ministry, minor decisions often carry symbolic weight, and that weight amplifies emotion.

Authority Structures Are Often Unclear

In most businesses, lines of authority are well defined. Employees know who makes decisions and who is accountable.

Churches, however, often operate within dual leadership structures. Staff and deacons may share overlapping responsibilities while holding different leadership philosophies. When clarity is lacking, tension grows. Instead of collaboration, leaders can begin competing for influence, which eventually erodes trust.

Relationships Complicate Every Decision

Healthy church ministry is relational by design. When done well, the church functions as a family.

But that strength also creates complexity when:

people leave the church,
conflicts arise,
or staff members need to be corrected or replaced.

Unlike business, decisions are never merely professional; they are personal. Because churches value love and unity, leaders are often reluctant to confront issues directly. Over time, unresolved problems fester, making future decisions even more difficult.

Success Is Defined Differently By Everyone

In business, success is measurable: profit, growth, customer satisfaction, and sustainability.

In church life, the question “What does a win look like?” produces vastly different answers. Some emphasize attendance, others discipleship, others outreach, care, or doctrinal precision. Each of these is good, biblical, and necessary, but none of them stands alone.

With so many expectations, pastors are often criticized not only for neglect, but for failing to emphasize someone else’s preferred metric. A growing church may be accused of being shallow. A doctrinally careful church may be labeled cold. A caring church may be seen as inward-focused. No matter the emphasis, something else will appear underdeveloped to someone.

A pastor’s success is also judged by what he doesn’t do. If he spends time shepherding the hurting, someone wonders why evangelism feels neglected. If he guards doctrine carefully, someone questions his warmth. If he leads change, someone accuses him of abandoning tradition.

In ministry, faithfulness is rarely evaluated holistically. It is often measured selectively, through the lens of personal preference rather than the full counsel of Scripture.

Experience Is Often Mistaken for Expertise

In business, few customers presume they understand the internal mechanics of an organization. In church life, longevity often breeds confidence.

In church, longevity often breeds confidence. Long-term members may believe they are experts on how the church should be run, much like sports fans who sit in the stands yet believe they know better than the coach. Familiarity can produce wisdom, but it can also produce entitlement.

The Church Welcomes the Broken, and That’s Hard

The business world filters applicants. The church opens its doors to everyone and rightly so.

But welcoming the broken, wounded, and disenfranchised means church leaders often shepherd people carrying unresolved pain, emotional fragility, and deep mistrust. This is central to the church’s mission, but it is also emotionally exhausting.

Every person added to the church adds both joy and need. Like a child adopted into a family from a traumatic background, the church inherits past wounds along with new life. While sanctification brings healing, there is no realistic expectation of rest from problems and needs. Over time, emotional burnout can result.

The Mission Depends Almost Entirely on Volunteers

Businesses rely on employees. Churches rely on volunteers.

When volunteers disengage, fail to show up, or burn out, there is little leverage—only patience and persuasion. The weight often falls on a small group of faithful servants who quietly carry the load week after week.

There Are Few Safe Outlets for Frustration

A business executive can vent, show frustration, or raise their voice without career-ending consequences.

A pastor cannot.

Ministry leaders are expected to model Christlikeness at all times, and one emotional misstep, public or private, can end a calling overnight. There are few appropriate places to process anger, disappointment, or fatigue, which makes ministry deeply isolating.

A Final Word

This is not written to complain, excuse failure, or ask for sympathy. It is written to create understanding.

Pastors are not asking for lowered expectations, only for grace, prayer, and partnership. Church leadership is heavy not because pastors are weak, but because the work matters deeply and the people matter eternally.

Running a church is harder than running a business, not because pastors are less capable, but because the work is heavier, the stakes are eternal, and the calling is sacred.

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Ministry Leadership

Ministry Resources

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Dr. Paul Chappell

The Spiritual Leader

Dr. Paul Chappell

Hold That Taste

Monica Bass — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:49:06 +0000

Hold That Taste Monica Bass Wed, 01/07/2026 - 14:49

We live in a culture that moves quickly—sometimes relentlessly so. News cycles refresh by the hour, conversations are abbreviated, and even meaningful moments are often rushed through on our way to the next obligation. We skim headlines, scroll past thoughts, and move on before anything has time to settle.

That hurried pace doesn’t just affect our schedules; it shapes how we process truth. We hear good things, meaningful things—even life-shaping things—but we rarely linger with them. We consume and move on.

There is a word Scripture uses that stands in quiet contrast to that rhythm: savor.

That idea of savoring—holding onto something good instead of moving on too quickly—appears in a passage of Scripture in which we often overlook the word itself.

In Matthew 16, Jesus asked His disciples a pivotal question: “Whom say ye that I am?”

Peter answered with a powerful declaration, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus affirmed his answer with words worth remembering: “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

What follows is one of the doctrinal highlights of the Gospels: “upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

But in the emphasis we give to Jesus’ declaration, we sometimes miss Peter’s lack of savoring.

For just a few verses later, when Jesus began to speak of His coming suffering and death, Peter rebuked Him. And Jesus responded with a startling statement: “Get thee behind me, Satan…for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 16:23).

Peter had received profound truth directly from God, but he didn’t savor it. He didn’t linger in it. He didn’t hold onto it. And because he didn’t savor the things of God, he acted on fleshly—and in this case, even satanic—thinking.

It’s striking when you think about it. Peter didn’t reject truth. He didn’t argue against it. He had just boldly declared it.

But he didn’t hold onto it. He didn’t let it settle in. He didn’t give it time to shape his thinking or recalibrate his perspective as he moved on to the next moment.

Unfortunately, we do the same.

We hear truth preached. We read it devotionally. We nod in agreement when a verse pierces our hearts.

But then the moment passes. A schedule demands our attention. A conversation distracts us. A problem presses in. And before we realize it, that truth has slipped from both our minds and our living.

It’s not because the truth isn’t powerful. It’s because we don’t savor it as we should.

Scripture often describes truth as something we experience with our senses—a kind of spiritual taste:

• God invites us to taste His goodness: “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8).

• God describes His Word as sweet: “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103).

• God calls us to taste His grace: “If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:3).

So how do we move from simply tasting to actually savoring the things of God?

It’s not complicated; it just requires intention.

1. Slow down.

Savoring never happens in a hurry. You don’t savor a meal while rushing out the door. You don’t savor a conversation when your mind is somewhere else. And you don’t savor truth when you move on from it the moment the service ends or the devotional closes.

Psalm 46:10 holds the key: “Be still, and know that I am God….” There is something about the knowledge of God that can only come through stillness. There must be times when we pause if we are to savor the goodness of God and knowledge of His presence in our lives.

Speaking from experience, it’s easy to blame the pace of our lives or the demands of our days for our lack of stillness. But this is a personal decision. We must choose to carve out moments to be still in His presence.

2. Meditate on it.

Biblical meditation is not emptying the mind to see what appears; it is focusing the mind on the truth of what is. It is deliberate thinking on God—His ways, His Word, and His goodness.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. (Psalm 63:5–6)

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. (Psalm 143:5)

O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. (Psalm 119:97)

Biblical meditation is the quiet return of your thoughts to a truth God has given you. It’s replaying a verse in your mind while washing dishes. It’s revisiting a sermon thought while driving. It’s taking time while you read the Bible to ask, “What does this show me about God? About myself? About how I should respond today?”

Savoring involves reflection, contemplation—meditation.

3. Share truth with others.

The natural outflow of meditation is conversation: “I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings” (Psalm 77:12).

Like a good meal that is best enjoyed in company, our savoring of the things of God grows deeper when we talk about it with others. When we share what God is teaching us, that truth settles more firmly into our own lives.

God designed us to strengthen one another this way—to speak of His works, His character, and His truth together. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).

The things of God are meant to linger long after the moment they are first received. His goodness and the greatness of His Word are too rich to only taste once.

Category

Christian Life

Three Steps to Setting Spiritual Goals and Building Daily Consistency in the New Year

Dr. Paul Chappell — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 19:11:53 +0000

Three Steps to Setting Spiritual Goals and Building Daily Consistency in the New Year Dr. Paul Chappell Fri, 01/02/2026 - 11:11

There is nothing like the beginning of a new year for fresh momentum in vital goals. And there is no more vital area of goal-setting than in our walk with God.

After all, spiritual growth rarely happens by accident. It grows in the direction we intentionally set, supported by daily faithfulness in God’s Word.

Spiritual growth rarely happens by accident. It grows in the direction we intentionally set, supported by daily faithfulness in God’s Word. SHARE ON X

As you look toward growth in your walk with God in this coming year, I’d like to suggest three practical ways to set meaningful spiritual goals and support them with consistent daily habits.

1. Begin with Spiritual Direction, Not Just Discipline

Many believers begin the year by deciding what they will do—read more, pray more, serve more—without first considering what they are pursuing. Scripture consistently places direction before activity.

Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

Spiritual goals should flow from a clear pursuit of God. When our aim is defined—to know Christ, to walk in His ways, and to live for His glory—daily consistency becomes purposeful rather than mechanical.

With clear spiritual direction, daily practices become acts of alignment rather than obligation. We are not merely filling time; we are ordering our lives around eternal priorities.

2. Set Clear Spiritual Goals That Shape Daily Life

As in every other area of goal-setting, spiritual goals should be clearly defined. Vague intentions such as “I want to grow spiritually” are good desires, but they lack direction.

Clear spiritual goals might be phrased like this:

Read through the New Testament (or Bible) this year.
Complete an in-depth study of the book of James.
Develop a prayer list and pray through it daily.
Memorize four Bible chapters this year.

When spiritual goals are clear, daily consistency is part of a larger goal. Each day becomes a step in a purposeful direction.

3. Establish a Daily Plan That Supports Those Goals

Spiritual goals are most effective when they are supported by a realistic daily plan. Good intentions, however sincere, rarely carry us to completion without thoughtful structure.

A workable plan does not need to be complicated. It should be simple, sustainable, and rooted in Scripture. For many believers, this begins with deciding when they will meet with God each day and how they will engage His Word consistently.

For example, if you have a goal to read through the Bible this year, it is helpful to think through a few practical questions:

What reading plan will I follow?
What time of day will allow me to engage Scripture consistently?
Where will I read so that I can focus without unnecessary distraction?

Similarly, if your goal is to memorize Scripture, it is wise to determine what passages you want to memorize and when and how you will make space for that memorization in your daily routine.

Spiritual goals are sustained through daily nourishment. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Just as physical strength requires daily food, spiritual strength is cultivated through regular time in God’s truth.

Carrying Spiritual Momentum into the New Year

Even with clear spiritual goals and a workable plan, many believers benefit from a simple way to begin each day grounded in God’s Word.

Providing a resource to help with that is my heart behind writing Daily in the Word, a free daily devotional sent by email each morning. It is designed to help you start your day focused on Scripture and encouraged in your walk with Christ.

Each emailed devotion includes:

a Bible passage
a brief devotional thought
a concise takeaway to carry with you throughout the day
the full text of Scripture passages to read through the entire Bible—or the New Testament—over the course of the year
And all of this is delivered right to your inbox. You can sign up to receive these free daily emails at devo.paulchappell.com.

The beginning of a new year is a gift from God—an opportunity to set spiritual direction and walk forward with purpose. As you establish spiritual goals and support them with daily faithfulness, remember that God uses consistent time in His Word to shape and strengthen your walk with Him. My prayer is that, through simple daily habits, you will grow deeper in your walk with Christ in the year ahead.

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Christian Walk

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Dr. Paul Chappell

Stewarding Life Planner

Dr. Paul Chappell

10 Qualities to Instill in the Hearts of Students

Dr. Paul Chappell — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 21:35:04 +0000

10 Qualities to Instill in the Hearts of Students Dr. Paul Chappell Mon, 12/29/2025 - 13:35

There’s something about the start of a new year—and the routines that come with it—that feels like a reset. Schedules fill, activities regain momentum, and families settle back into familiar rhythms. Before the pace takes over, however, it’s worth pausing to regain a big-picture focus. For parents, pastors, and educators alike, it’s good to consider what we are really trying to build in the hearts of the young people God has entrusted to us.

After all, repetition is often the key to learning. Yet it’s easy to fall into a rut—faithfully repeating tasks without regularly reexamining the goals toward which we are working. Over time, even necessary repetition can wear us down if we lose sight of its purpose.

If you’re a parent, you may tire of reminding your child to make his bed or eat his broccoli.
If you’re a teacher, you may wonder if there will ever be an evening when you don’t have homework to grade.
If you’re a pastor, you may battle the frustration that tends to come with continually addressing immature crises in youth or children’s ministries.

Sometimes we need to step back and remember the larger goals we have for our students. Our greatest aspirations for them are far larger and more significant than that they make their beds, eat their vegetables, complete their homework, and listen to their Sunday school teachers.

Ultimately, we want our students to enter adulthood with a heart for God and a surrender to His will. As we equip them with the skills to live a faithful Christian life, it is vital that we keep our eyes on the big picture.

With that big picture in mind, I suggest the following ten qualities as a starting point for what we desire our students to possess:

A heart for God—Nothing is more important. To love God with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength is God’s first commandment (Mark 12:30).
Grounding in biblical beliefs and convictions—They need to know more than what we believe; they need to know why we believe it (2 Timothy 2:15).
Love for the brethren—Without love for others, Christian ministry is meaningless and fruitless (1 Corinthians 13:1–3).
Love for the local, New Testament church—Young people in today’s generation want to change the world. The local church is God’s vehicle to reach the world and effect real change (Mark 16:15, the book of Acts).
A heart for their parents—Parents need to intentionally tie heartstrings with their children, and teachers and Christian workers need to help their students keep those heartstrings short (Malachi 4:6; Luke 1:17).
A heart for their pastor—As an undershepherd for the Chief Shepherd, a pastor has a vital role in a Christian’s life. Young people need to keep open lines of communication with their pastor (Hebrews 13:17).
Patriotism—American young people should know, respect, and express gratefulness toward those who have purchased their freedom. A student with a heart for America will also pray fervently that our nation will return to God (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Biblical principles for decision making—When our students enter their teen and adult years, they need an understanding of how to seek wisdom from God’s Word and personally make wise decisions (Psalm 119:105).
Love for souls—The most valuable possession we have is our souls. Thus to love others as ourselves is to care for their eternal destiny and point them to Christ (Mark 8:36; 12:31).
A heart for worldwide missions—Our fleshly sphere of interest spans no further than what affects us. Spiritually-minded young people develop a larger picture—a heart for world evangelism (Matthew 28:19–20).

This is just a beginning. I’m sure you could think of more qualities to add to this list.

But when you consider how to instill these—or any other—qualities in the hearts of your students, I would remind you that some things are better caught than taught. If you are leading a young person, you’d better practice what you preach.

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Student Ministry

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Dr. Paul Chappell

Are We There Yet?

Paul and Terrie Chappell

From Bethlehem to the Millennium: Why Israel Still Matters

Dr. Paul Chappell — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 17:22:08 +0000

From Bethlehem to the Millennium: Why Israel Still Matters Dr. Paul Chappell Wed, 12/24/2025 - 09:22

Every Christmas, our attention turns to Bethlehem. We sing of angels and shepherds, and of God stepping into human history wrapped in humility and grace. The King of kings was laid in a lowly manger.

Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem was not coincidental. It was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Micah 5:2), and it was central to Gabriel’s announcement to Mary: “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32).

These were not poetic words meant only to inspire; they were covenant promises rooted in God’s commitments to His people Israel.

But what do those promises mean today, two thousand years after Christ?

In recent months, renewed global focus on Israel has stirred intense discussion among Christians. Alongside political debate and cultural tension, a theological question has resurfaced with new urgency: Does Israel still matter in God’s plan? Or have the promises once given to Israel now been fulfilled by the church?

Two Views

Two broad theological approaches attempt to answer these questions. At the risk of oversimplification, the following definitions describe these positions, recognizing that each includes a wide range of interpretations.

Fulfillment Theology (sometimes called Replacement Theology) teaches that the church has fulfilled the covenants God made to Israel and thus replaced Israel as God’s covenant people. According to this view, the promises once given to Israel are now fulfilled spiritually in the church, and Israel no longer holds a distinct role in God’s redemptive plan. This view has historically been associated with Roman Catholic theology and with many Reformed denominations, though it is held with varying emphases and expressions.

Dispensational Theology teaches that God has distinct purposes for Israel and the church. While salvation has always been by grace through faith, the covenant promises made to Israel—including national and kingdom promises—were never revoked and will be fulfilled literally in God’s time.

I believe Scripture clearly teaches the second view—not because of current events, but because of the nature of God’s promises. Consider three reasons.

1. God’s Covenants Were Never Revoked

The clearest reason Israel still matters today is this: God’s covenant promises to Israel were never revoked.

Throughout the Old Testament, God established several unconditional covenants with Israel, most notably the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenants. These covenants were not based on Israel’s faithfulness, but on God’s. He bound Himself by promise, not by performance.

God promised Abraham a land, a nation, and a blessing that would extend to all families of the earth (Genesis 12:1–3). He promised David an everlasting throne and kingdom (2 Samuel 7:12–16). And He promised Israel a New Covenant that included both spiritual renewal and national restoration (Jeremiah 31:31–37). Significantly, when God described the permanence of that New Covenant, He tied it to the fixed order of creation itself, declaring that Israel would cease to be a nation only if the sun, moon, and stars failed.

None of these covenants were annulled by Israel’s unbelief, nor were they redefined by the birth of the church. Delay in fulfillment does not equal cancellation. “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29). Scripture consistently presents a God who keeps His promises according to His timetable, not ours. After all, it was “in the fulness of time” that “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law” (Galatians 4:4–5). And it will be in His fullness of time that Jesus returns as King of kings.

2. Jesus Confirmed the Promises

Not only were God’s covenants never revoked, but Jesus Himself confirmed them.

From the beginning of His earthly life, Christ was presented as the fulfillment of Israel’s covenant hope. As just mentioned, Gabriel announced to Mary that Jesus would receive “the throne of his father David” and reign over a kingdom without end (Luke 1:32–33). These words echo God’s promise to David centuries earlier and point forward to a literal, future reign.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus consistently affirmed the reality of the kingdom rather than dismissing it. When He preached, He declared that the kingdom of heaven was “at hand” (Matthew 4:17). When He taught His disciples to pray, He instructed them to ask for the kingdom to come (Matthew 6:10). And after His resurrection—at the very moment when misunderstanding would have been corrected if necessary—the disciples asked, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Jesus did not rebuke the question or spiritualize the promise. Instead, He spoke of timing, not cancellation: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:7).

This distinction is critical. Jesus did not deny Israel’s future restoration; He deferred it according to God’s sovereign timetable. The kingdom was postponed, not replaced.

The New Testament consistently presents Christ as the heir of David’s throne who will yet rule over the nations (Luke 1:32–33; Acts 2:30). His first coming accomplished redemption; His second coming will establish righteous rule (Revelation 19–20). Between those two events, local churches have been given a mission to bear witness to the King.

Far from rendering Israel obsolete, Jesus’ ministry confirms that God’s redemptive plan is still unfolding—exactly as Scripture foretold.

Scripture also teaches that Israel’s future restoration will come through a period of profound testing. The prophets describe a coming time of tribulation—called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7)—during which God will both judge the nations and bring Israel to national repentance and faith in her Messiah. This period is not a detour in God’s plan, but a prelude to the establishment of Christ’s millennial reign. Far from abandoning Israel, God will use this time to fulfill His promises, culminating in Israel’s revival and the visible reign of Jesus Christ from David’s throne (Revelation 7:1–8, 20:1–6).

3. The Church’s Role Is Distinct from Israel’s

The New Testament presents the local church as a unique body—formed after Christ’s resurrection and empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Its mission is clear: to proclaim the gospel to every nation and to make disciples of all people. This calling is global and urgent, but it is not identical to the covenant promises God made to Israel.

Jesus made this distinction clear in Acts 1. When the disciples asked whether He would restore the kingdom to Israel, He did not dismiss their expectation. Instead, He redirected their focus: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me” (Acts 1:8). The church was given a mission of witness, not a mandate to establish the kingdom.

This distinction guards us from an unnecessary—and unbiblical—competition between Israel and the church. God does not abandon one people to make room for another. He works according to His own timetable, accomplishing multiple purposes without contradiction. Israel’s future restoration and the church’s present mission are complementary, not conflicting.

Understanding this helps preserve the integrity of Scripture. When we allow Israel to remain Israel and the church to remain the church, prophecy remains coherent, God’s promises remain trustworthy, and Christ’s return remains the blessed hope toward which history is moving.

What about Other Passages?

An in-depth discussion of every passage raised in this debate is beyond the scope of this article. It is worth noting, however, that several verses commonly cited in support of Replacement Theology address salvation and spiritual inheritance, not the national or covenantal promises made to Israel.

For example, Galatians 3:16–29 teaches that all who are in Christ—Jew and Gentile alike—share equally in the blessing of justification by faith. This glorious truth affirms unity in Christ and equal access to salvation, but it does not redefine or revoke the specific covenant promises God made to Israel as a nation.

Additionally, Romans 9–11 is sometimes cited in support of Replacement Theology, particularly because of its emphasis on God’s sovereignty and Israel’s unbelief. Yet the overarching purpose of the passage is to defend the faithfulness of God’s covenant promises, not to deny them. Paul explicitly asks whether God has cast away His people and answers emphatically, “God forbid” (Romans 11:1). He presents Israel’s present unbelief as temporary, anticipates a future national turning to Christ, and concludes that “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29). Read as a whole, Romans 9–11 affirms—not replaces—Israel’s ongoing role in God’s redemptive plan.

A Faithful God Who Keeps His Word

From Bethlehem to the Millennium, the Bible tells a unified story of a faithful God who keeps His Word.

Jesus was born in the city of David because He is David’s promised Son. His birth fulfilled prophecy, His life confirmed covenant promises, and His return will complete what God has pledged from the beginning. The church exists today not as a replacement for Israel, but as a testimony to God’s grace—calling people from every nation to faith in Christ until the King returns to reign.

Why does Israel still matter? Because God’s character matters. If His promises to Israel can be redefined or revoked, then no promise in Scripture is truly secure. But if God remains faithful to Israel—even through centuries of unbelief, dispersion, and opposition—then believers can rest confidently in His faithfulness to every promise He has made.

Bethlehem reminds us that God keeps His word. The Millennium will magnify it. And until that day, we proclaim the gospel with confidence, knowing that the God who began His work will finish it—exactly as He said He would.

View original article on Paulchappell.com

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Dr. Paul Chappell

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Dr. Paul Chappell

Stewarding Life

Dr. Paul Chappell

Biblical, Spirit-Filled Preaching

Dr. John Goetsch — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 20:29:24 +0000

Biblical, Spirit-Filled Preaching Dr. John Goetsch Fri, 12/19/2025 - 12:29

This was the testimony of a song leader by the name of Mel Swan in Barron, Wisconsin, when I asked him about his salvation testimony nearly fifty years ago. Mel was in his eighties then, but he could recall in vivid detail the mighty workings of God through those revival campaigns.

“The preaching went on for weeks. Night after night, under the tent in the town square, crowds would gather to hear the evangelists. We were farmers, but every night we would finish the chores, pile into the car, and head to town. As a small boy, I was smitten by the power of God’s Word and came to know Christ as my Savior. But it wasn’t just under the tent each night that God’s Spirit worked. One day my father and I looked over the fence and saw our neighbor kneeling in the furrow behind a team of mules, crying out to God in repentance. Like a mighty monsoon, the Spirit of God had swept over our little community and the surrounding area.”

Every summer, he told me, an evangelist would set up his tent and for weeks would simply but powerfully preach God’s Word. Those meetings would sometimes extend for two months. They didn’t dare stop them, he said, for fear that God would judge them if they did.

“That was another era”… or was it?

It is easy to relegate testimonies like these to a different era. God must have chosen to work differently on the day of Pentecost when Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, stood and boldly declared God’s truth. The messages preached by D. L. Moody, R. A. Torrey, Billy Sunday, Mordecai Ham, R. G. Lee, and others must not be relevant in today’s culture. Surely no one is capable of seeing church growth like Lee Roberson, G. B. Vick, or John R. Rice did in their ministries.

But perhaps we should look beyond an era, a man, a culture, or a methodology. While preachers vary in personality, and cultures change from generation to generation, there are two indispensable elements to preaching in every age and culture.

The record of Jesus’ ministry

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:16–21).

Those two indispensable elements are manifested in the audience’s response in verse 32:

“And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.”

The indispensable elements

The Word of God and the power of God are absolutely indispensable for the work of God.

Questions we shouldn’t dodge

Dare we call something preaching that has not these two elements?
Is reading, quoting, or explaining the Bible without the Spirit of God’s power really preaching?
Does someone who is filled with the Holy Spirit but never uses Scripture accomplish the task of preaching?

Hydrogen without oxygen is not water.
Oxygen without hydrogen is not water.

Likewise, preaching that does not possess both God’s Holy Word and God’s Holy Spirit is not preaching. Scripture and the Holy Spirit work hand in hand to produce effective life-changing preaching in the heart of the hearers.

“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Methods have changed— The Need For Spirit Filled Preaching Hasn't

I have observed many changes in how we do ministry over my lifetime. In my early years of evangelism, a pastor didn’t want me to come unless I could stay at least eight days, including two Sundays. I’ve watched churches go from four regularly scheduled services a week (Sunday school, Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening) to Sunday morning only. I would have met a premature death had I brought even a piece of candy in my pocket to church as a kid. Now it seems impossible to draw a crowd without donuts and coffee.

Quite frankly, I am weary of quibbling over the merits of individual services or finer points in methods. Every local church is autonomous, and every pastor must follow the Lord’s leading as to the activities and services of the church.

But whether you preach once a week or several times a day; whether you preach ten minutes or two hours; whether you use a pulpit, a PowerPoint, or have a potluck while you speak—

—don’t call yourself a preacher and don’t tell folks you have preaching at your church, if you are not proclaiming God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A lack of either or both does not fit in God’s definition of preaching.

Biblical, Spirit-filled preaching will draw a crowd in any culture.
More importantly, it is preaching with those two elements that will change that crowd in any culture.

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Pastoral Leadership

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Homiletics from the Heart

Dr. John Goetsch

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Dr. Paul Chappell

Choose to Be Filled with the Spirit

Terrie Chappell — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 21:27:58 +0000

Choose to Be Filled with the Spirit Terrie Chappell Thu, 12/11/2025 - 13:27

When our family took a trip to the Holy Land, we enjoyed seeing so many historical Bible locations, but were surprised that many of them looked different than we expected. Some sites had elaborate buildings “preserving” them, and other sites were outright distorted. While many of the locations we visited had modernized or changed over time, there was one place that was special for all of us: the Sea of Galilee.

The Sea of Galilee remains unaltered by man and was a beautiful and peaceful setting for a special time of Scripture reading and singing with our family. The Sea of Galilee reminded me of how small we are—how dependent we are on God. This location, as the central point of Jesus’ miracles, helped life fall into perspective for me. It drew my attention to the unlimited greatness of God.

We tend to enlarge ourselves in our own imaginations. We think we are strong and capable. But the greatness and majesty of God’s creation reminds us of just how small we really are—how needy we are of the power of God in our lives.

Thankfully, God has made His power available to us personally. He Himself indwells us, and He wants us to daily experience “what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power” (Ephesians 1:19).

When you trusted Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit took up permanent residence in your spirit (Ephesians 1:13–14). He indwells you and will remain with you until you see the Lord face to face (Ephesians 4:30).

Yet so many Christian women live as if they didn’t have the Holy Spirit. We stumble through life trying to make decisions and accomplish actions on our own. We live according to what feels good to us, and we make choices on the faulty authority of our own wisdom.

How is this possible? How can it be that we have God Himself within us, yet we live as if life and success rest on our own shoulders?

Perhaps it’s because we’ve relegated the influence of the Holy Spirit to small sections of our lives. Sure, He indwells us, but we’ve never learned to listen to His voice for direction or wisdom, much less heed what He prompts us to do.

If we want to live life as God intended, something must change. We must give the Holy Spirit entrance into every area of our lives. This is what Scripture calls being “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). And whether or not we experience this filling is our choice.

The Command

In Ephesians 5:18, we are commanded to “be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” The word filled refers to control. In a comparable way to a person being filled with, or controlled by, alcohol, so we are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. We are to let Him fill us—our minds, thoughts, wills, and actions—so that we are governed by His control.

The very fact that God commands us to be filled with the Spirit indicates that it is quite possible to not be filled with the Spirit. Too often, we give control of our lives to other sources. We let our own selfishness control our decisions. We let our friends, our desire for acceptance, or our quest for monetary success govern our lives. What a loss is ours when we settle for anything less than Holy Spirit control!

Please understand, this is not how God designed for you to live the Christian life. He has made His power available to you, and He instructs you to take advantage of it—to be filled with the Spirit.

The Choice

When God gives us a command, we have a choice—to obey or disobey. Being filled with the Spirit is not a mystical thing that sometimes just “happens.” It is our choice to surrender to Him.

So how do we make this choice? There are three words that can help us: desire, surrender, and obey.

Desire

God wants us to desire His filling with intensity. The psalmist expressed his deep hunger for God: “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is” (Psalm 63:1). When we desire the filling of the Spirit, we will gladly surrender to His control.

Surrender

In Romans 12:1, the Bible gives vivid imagery of what it means to surrender to Him: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

The picture in this verse would have reminded first-century Christians of animal sacrifices—an illustration of complete surrender. An animal could not be “partially sacrificed” or even “mostly sacrificed.” It was all or nothing. Even so, we must wholly and completely surrender ourselves to God.

There is a great distinction, however, between the animal sacrifices mentioned here and the sacrifice God calls us to make. We make a living sacrifice. Laying our will on the altar does not call for a physical death, but a death to self. It is the deliberate decision to offer our will to God—without reservation or stipulation—and then live in surrender to His will. It is to be a “no strings attached” transaction.

Obey

When we surrender to God, He begins to direct our lives in an incredible way. Through His Word and through His inner promptings (which are always consistent with His Word), He gives us instruction and guidance. This is the point of opportunity for us to live out the choice we made to surrender.

It’s not enough to say we surrender, we must actually obey the Lord. Being filled with the Spirit starts with a decision of complete surrender, but it still requires daily choices to yield to His control.

Resisting or ignoring the promptings of the Holy Spirit damages our relationship with Him. Ephesians 4:30 instructs, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” When we reject the Holy Spirit’s control, we grieve Him and demonstrate that we believe our own way is better than His.

Each time the Holy Spirit reminds you of His will, convicts you of error, or prompts you to reach out to someone else, obey Him. It’s the only right choice.

Desire the Holy Spirit’s filling. Ask Him to give you a complete dissatisfaction with mediocrity. Surrender your will to Him every day and in every way. And then obey Him completely.

The Spirit-filled life is not a mystical privilege reserved for a few; it is the daily reality that God makes available to each of His children. He commands us to walk in the Spirit, and as we yield ourselves to His control through the surrender of our wills and obedience in our choices, He leads us to the best future imaginable.

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Living Beyond Your Capacity

Dr. Paul Chappell

It's a Wonderful Life

Terrie Chappell

Discipling Teens in Today's Culture

Larry Chappell — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 19:26:10 +0000

Discipling Teens in Today's Culture Larry Chappell Fri, 12/05/2025 - 11:26

I've been working with teens at Lancaster Baptist Church for about 18 years now, and God's been really good to us. Right now we're seeing some incredible momentum—close to 300 teens between English and Spanish at our last Bible study. But it hasn't always been that way. Youth ministry has its ebb and flow. Sometimes there's a class that struggles, and then sometimes right behind that there'll be some momentum.

The key isn't chasing the next big thing. It's about being faithful with what God gives you and building on biblical priorities that actually work.

We Don't Need Special Categories

Here's something I'm convinced of: we don't always have to carve out special categories for teens. If there's a great passage in Scripture that speaks to discipleship for believers and Christians, we don't have to go looking for another one that deals specifically with teens. This is applicable.

I get questions a lot about discipleship material. We use our church's continued discipleship material, and I always tell the teens going through it, "This is a challenge. I know this is written for adults. I think you can do this as well." We can raise the bar and challenge them. Don't water things down.

Four Biblical Priorities from Colossians 2

Let me share four priorities from Colossians 2 that have shaped how we approach youth ministry. Paul's writing to believers he's never met, yet his heart is fully engaged. That's the model we need.

Priority 1: Bear the Responsibility

Paul says in Colossians 2:1 that he has "great conflict" for people he's never even seen face-to-face. He's not fighting with them—he's willing to fight for them. From a distance, he's close in spirit. He bears the responsibility.

Youth ministry is a tremendous responsibility. We need to feel the weight of that responsibility. It's a sacred responsibility to be able to invest in the lives of teenagers.

Here's how we bear it:

Demonstrate a genuine passion for the Lord. I love this quote from an old Scottish preacher: "The best way to overcome the world is not with morality or self-discipline. Christians overcome the world by seeing the beauty and excellence of Christ. They overcome the world by seeing something more attractive than the world."

Teens spot something inauthentic from a mile away. Unless it's in their own life—then they can't see it at all. But in others? Oh man. We have to show them something real and more attractive than what the world is offering.

I say this in every youth lesson I teach: God does not bless who you pretend to be. What gets sacrificed in the busyness of ministry is not our to-do list, but our hearts. We'll get those calendar items done, but sometimes what goes unchecked is our hearts and our time with the Lord.

You've experienced both sides of this. You've walked into a Bible class just glancing through your notes like, "God, give me something last minute. Please be good." But you've also experienced when you've found something in Scripture that excites you and invigorates your soul—then going and letting that be an outpouring into the lives you're reaching. God can make a real impact with that.

Partner with parents. The responsibility of raising the next generation, if you read Scripture in Deuteronomy, squarely falls on the shoulders of parents. Youth ministry is relatively a new deal. Modern youth ministry as we know it was really birthed out of the evangelistic personality—Billy Graham came along, young, leading Youth for Christ, and churches said we need someone like Billy Graham.

There's a lot of good things from that, but one blind spot is that parents can come check their kids at the door and expect youth leaders to do the work they should be doing. We want to partner with parents, not replace them.

I have three to four teen parent meetings a year. If you've never done one, I highly encourage it. My first few years, they scared me to death. I thought all the parents were suspicious of me and hated me. I had no kids at all. I went and talked to my dad, and he said, "Teach the simple truths we see in Scripture. Dads need to love their families. They need to lead their families."

So I put together one of the most simple lessons. Man, I had a line out the door wanting to talk to me afterwards—guys that were great guys in our church just saying that was very impactful. The truth impacts.

Parents need three things from us:

Information - We send a monthly newsletter. We communicate through text, email, social media, handouts, phone calls—all channels. Yes, it's always in the moment. "Where are you meeting again? This costs money?" Yeah, we've been saying it for four months. But we make sure they can access it.
Instruction - Don't leave out parents when you're thinking about discipleship. Teach them from God's word. If you're younger, do it humbly and maybe partner with someone with experience.
Involvement - Just a couple days ago, a dad called: "I'm sensing my son is struggling with this. I've tried to talk to him. I've hit a brick wall. Could you talk to him?" So we set up a meeting. Parents need our help.

Show up consistently. This is where most campus ministries fail. We do this in church world—put our best foot forward at Easter and Christmas, but between those big events, things fall apart.

John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach at UCLA who won 10 NCAA championships in 12 years, was famous for teaching something seemingly small: how to put socks on. First day of practice—here's how you put your socks on. Sounds ridiculous for college athletes on scholarships, but Wooden believed what was done consistently could build championship results. Properly worn socks prevented blisters. Blisters meant missed practices. Missed practices meant less conditioning. Less conditioning meant less teamwork and poor execution. A tiny thing like that could cost a championship.

John Maxwell said the most powerful force in the universe is compound consistency. Take something, do it well, and do it again and again and again.

What happens when we don't do things consistently? Credibility erodes. You say you're sending out an exciting newsletter, and by month three it's not out—parents are like, "Eh." Hypocrisy creeps in. Frustration grows. God's glory is diminished.

Start small. Small things done consistently are better than great things occasionally. Maybe you're a lone ranger—just you and your spouse with a few kids. Don't spread yourself too thin. Take the small things that really matter and do those consistently. Build them into the culture. Then when the Lord brings someone else along, that culture is already established.

Priority 2: Believe with Joy

Colossians 2:5 says, "For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ."

Paul is at a great distance from these people, yet he's optimistic for them. He's believing. He's joyful for them. He's beholding their order and steadfastness. He's saying, "I'm writing you this letter. You haven't seen my face. I don't really know who you are personally. But I'm believing that God is going to do something great in your life."

Some spiritual optimism will go a long way in our youth groups. Sometimes the perspective from teens is, "They're just out to get me. They only recognize the terrible things I do." But Paul knows not every believer is batting a thousand, yet his heart is believing the best.

Here's how:

Celebrate the wins. What gets praised gets repeated. It's easy to see things to be critical of—someone slipped up, did something you need to address. But when someone shows a little effort, listens well, make a big deal about that.

This past year at camp, Phil Raven brought a great message about standing together. He coached our youth groups how to pray together. The week after camp, for the first time ever, our youth group—a group of guys—just spontaneously got together and started praying. What's cool is it hasn't stopped. It's only grown. Last Bible study, that group had grown to about 30.

You know what we did? We praised it. I told them, "I'm not going to hijack this. This is your moment. I just want to say I'm proud of you"—and I said it real loud so everyone in the youth group heard. I would love for all of them to be praying, but rather than condemn those who aren't, I praised what was happening. That circle has grown.

Correct with love. Believing with joy doesn't mean we're just happy-go-lucky. Sometimes there are things you need to correct, and that's just as loving. Paul did this often—he'd take something false and correct it and guide.

Guard against cynicism. I'm not talking about cynicism in your youth group. I'm talking about cynicism in us. "I don't know about this kid. I'm gonna write this one off."

I tell our youth staff: don't write off kids in our youth group. We're going to give them a chance.

There was one girl who came into our office struggling with her sexual identity. Actually, I say struggle—she didn't think she was struggling. She was just blatant about it. Her parents were sitting there. She wasn't being mean or rude, just, "This is the way I am. This is what I'm going to embrace."

I thought, there's potential in her. Let's pray for her. Fast forward a decade—she's gone to Bible college. She loves the Lord. I shook her hand in church just recently.

It would have been easy to say, "Well, this person identifies as that. They're gone. Bye-bye." But God had different plans. You never know.

Priority 3: Build Faith with Intention

Colossians 2:6-7: "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving."

Paul mixes metaphors here—building and agriculture. You're not supposed to do that, but he does it anyway because it makes perfect sense. That's what discipleship is: deep roots and strong standing, an outward life of action and faith.

Five ways to build and disciple teens:

1. Preaching and teaching of God's word. Paul says "as you have been taught." Make a priority of those moments. All of us can look back and trace important life lessons to when we were at a teen camp or youth conference. Get your kids around preaching.

Sometimes we'll cancel Bible studies so we can be in with the main adults because we want them to hear the preaching of God's word. Our kids need both teaching and preaching—to herald with authority.

If kids aren't listening, move someone causing disruptions. I tell our youth workers: sit with the teens. Why? Because the preaching and teaching really matters. That's what God uses. You won't disciple kids unless they're getting under the preaching and teaching of God's word.

2. Relationships. Relational investments reap spiritual influence. The most important thing we can do is not just plan activities. Activities are not a means to an end. The most important thing is spending time with the teens God has entrusted to us.

Big mistake people make: they want the influence. "Hey, look over here. Sit up here. Why don't you respect me?" Well, because they don't even know you.

Go systematically through your roster and make sure you're touching every kid. There's always the corner kids. There's always the ones who come up and love your lesson—you're their best friend, the greatest person. You can pat their back and feel good about youth ministry. But then there's the others off to the corner that maybe aren't getting attention.

Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing." Discipleship is the trellis that holds it up along the way. Those relationships are the trellis that help us see Christ formed in others.

3. Private disciplines. When they can take truths they're learning from the pulpit and relationally, and make an impact in their private life. Simple things like learning to pray, learning to spend time in devotion.

Your faith will stunt if it's only preaching and relationships. If you're never taking it home and developing personally, your growth will stunt.

We do summer surge during the summer—a summer accountability program with reading, books, chores, tasks. About 50 completed it with an incentive. Every Sunday we have teen connect—tables around our auditorium where kids hang out with us. They fill out fuel gauge cards: Did you read verses? Did you invite someone? Wednesday we read those cards, pray through requests, give them candy. Simple, but we're keeping those spiritual disciplines in front of them.

4. Personal ministry. If you're having devotions and listening to preaching but never get out and serve, you're not fully following Christ as you could and should be.

We just started a preaching academy with Dr. Shetler. Whether a guy's going into ministry or not, I think it's great for them to learn to stand up and preach.

My neighbor Ethan graduated, studied to become a doctor, going to UCLA. He learned how to preach. I'm not a big fan of public education—there's a lot of indoctrination. I prayed with Ethan and his parents about it. I was scared for him. But Sunday he brought his roommate who got saved. He's probably brought 20 kids from UCLA. A couple times he's said, "Larry, I need a van this week." Why? Because he learned how to preach. He's going to be a doctor who knows how to preach.

Getting teens involved in ministry is sometimes work. Sometimes it's messy. Sometimes they goof around when they should be passing stuff out or break stuff when they should be praying. But get them involved.

Two reasons kids leave church after graduation: One, they don't know what they believe. That goes back to preaching and teaching. Two, they aren't serving. They don't have a job to do. Give them a job. Let them know that job is there when they get back from college.

5. Circumstances. Sometimes God just works through special circumstances. There's one kid, Emilio, in our youth group. God was working in his heart at Joshua Camps. First game back—loves football, lives for football—he made it through three quarters and got injured. Broke his femur on the field.

That night at the hospital, by the time we got to him it was midnight or one in the morning. He's laying there, still has his shoulder pads on. Before I said anything, he grabbed my hand: "Pray for me." We prayed with him.

Sunday night after church I went to visit. He told me that late that night after we left, he was alone. "I had my pads on and didn't want to take them off because all I lived for was football. To take his pads off was a moment of surrender."

He said, "Finally, I said, 'God, thank you for the time I got. I'm gonna serve you. I'm gonna live for you.' And I took my pads off." He told me, "It normally takes two people to take my pads off. I don't know how I laid there on a bed with a broken femur and took my own pads off."

He came to our high school revival a couple days later on crutches and gave a testimony. God's working in his life. God works through circumstances. We want to be there in those moments—even the dark moments, the peaks and valleys.

Priority 4: Be Aware of the Dangers

Colossians 2:4, 8: "And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words... Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit."

When Paul says "spoil you," he's speaking of kidnapping you. One thing that stuck out at Charlie Kirk's funeral—Erika said Charlie had a heart for the lost boys. The lost boys of culture. Those who've been taken captive, who've been spoiled. We should have a heart for them too.

What are these dangers?

Enticing words - Arguments that sound reasonable. Fine-sounding arguments. Our culture is persuasive. On top of that, there's linguistic theft—words are taken that used to have certain meaning and now new meanings apply.

Words being hijacked today: Marriage has a biblical definition. Culture is redefining it. Love, hate, equality, justice—biblical concepts now defined against Scripture. Male, female, tolerance, bigotry, oppression.

We need to use our words well. Guard that kids in our youth group aren't being taken captive by something that just sounds good.

Empty philosophy - Something hollow. Paul is contrasting: "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (v.9). There's a fullness of Christ. We don't want them so full of the world that their hearts won't take hold of truth.

Man-made traditions and world systems - The world always has a way to explain God apart from Christ. Social media, world economy—these are all devices and outlets the world uses to channel empty, hollow philosophy.

The whole point? "Not after Christ." The purpose of discipling kids, partnering with parents, being watchful, making sure there's preaching and relationships, capitalizing on circumstances—it's all so we see "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

What Momentum Really Looks Like

I want to close with this. God has given us some great momentum even these last few months. We see it in 300 teens showing up. We see it in 30 guys staying after to pray. We see it in kids like Emilio surrendering on a hospital bed.

But momentum isn't manufactured. It's the fruit of faithfulness to biblical priorities done consistently over time.

Whether you're launching campus ministry or trying to revitalize one that's struggling, go back to these four priorities:

Bear the responsibility with passion, partnership, and consistency
Believe with joy—celebrate wins, correct with love, guard against cynicism
Build faith intentionally through preaching, relationships, disciplines, ministry, and circumstances
Be aware of the dangers that would kidnap this generation

Start small. Do the small things that matter consistently. Build them into your culture. Be faithful with what God gives you.

And watch Him make teens who are rooted and built up in Christ.

This article was adapted from the session "Rooted and Ready: Discipling Teens in a Shifting Culture,” originally recorded at the Spiritual Leadership Conference 2025 in Lancaster, California. To listen to the full session or download the session notes, click here to access the complete recording and resources

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Avoiding Confusion

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Paul Chappell and Larry Chappell

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