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By Stephanie Green, MBC Staff Applications Analyst & MBC Tysons Attendee
In a recent discussion with a close friend, I realized why I get so concerned about “relational sanctification” (as I would label it). I’ve found that relationships I’m in now can have a way of resurrecting the past, and all of the hurts that have been hiding under its webs. Previously in my life, these flashbacks have been so painful that I didn’t know how to deal with or face the reality of the hurt. For example, in high school, after being stood up on the day of my boyfriend’s prom, I began cutting. Several years later, while in a disastrous relationship with a college boyfriend, I tried to…
By Peter P. Lackey, Jr., MBC Tysons Attendee & Founder, Man’s Ultimate Challenge
“Your real, new self will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him.” – C.S. Lewis
One of the things I like to do with my kids is play video games like Call of Duty. Now, I am from the Atari generation where my friend would actually have to come to my house to play a maximum two-player game. The game would have only one map or play surface, and each of us would be equipped with a controller made up of a joystick and one red button—that’s it! I can actually hear the gasp from…
By Joey Ruyter, MBC Prince William Discipleship Pastor
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that if you’re reading this, and you have a beating heart, then you’ve probably faced conflict in your life. It’s happened to the best of us, whether it’s between you and your parents, your spouse, your children, your boss, your siblings, a friend at church, or even your pastor. If you are engaged in any type of relationship, you have probably experienced it.
WHERE DOES CONFLICT BEGIN?
James 4:1 says “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?”
I have found in my counseling encounters—and even in my…
By Lexie Dache, Operations Manager for MBC Tysons Outreach
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)
When disaster strikes, no one knows what to say. If the words escape past the lump in your throat, they still seem to lose their meaning. In times of trouble, words become cheap, but simple actions are gold.
In January, the Outreach staff encountered a woman in a crisis. Her young daughter passed away from a brain tumor, and she found herself heartbroken with limited resources and no family around.
There were other people in the church who heard this news,…
By Joy Lippard, MBC Tysons Worship Leader
Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. Psalm 33:3
Music is powerful in our culture. Often times, without realizing it, people form opinions of what they believe and how they live based on what they learn from the lyrics in popular songs! The same is true of songs in the church. People learn their theology from music. For a Christian songwriter, that means a responsibility to write truthful and doctrinally sound lyrics. Whether I’m writing a congregational worship song or a song about life or love, I use the Bible as my guide for writing solid and truthful lyrics.
Writing songs that are…
By Carole Schryber, MBC Tysons Attendee and Women’s Conference Breakout Speaker
One day as I was driving I stopped at a red light, and turned around to check on my youngest son who was only four at the time. Eighteen years later, I still can picture that day. The sun was shining in the back seat reflecting on his beautiful face. I declared, “Jack, you have the most beautiful blue eyes.” Without missing a beat, he replied, “God colored me good.”
Over the years I have often reflected on the profoundness of that statement. Jack understood that he was the product of a Creator God, who drew him in a unique way. And the result was good.
Sadly, it had taken his…