recent posts
By Petra Barrientos, MBC Tysons Multiply Table Leader
God has taught me a lesson. In a good way. He has once and for all put to rest my forever-reoccurring issues with prayer. Even to type the words “issues with prayer” makes me cringe. In the days leading up to my recent baptism I was wrestling with questions like “Why pray if God has a perfect plan and I really don’t have a clue? And what if He hears my messed up prayers and decides to deviate from His plan just because I have not begged Him often enough?” All too familiar territory and I cannot believe that somehow or other I ended up back there—again.
(I need to deviate for a…
By Todd Peters, Director of The Rock Student Ministries at MBC Tysons
A few years ago I was working in Africa, where average temperatures were in the 130s. At the same time, my bride was at home in Alaska where temperatures were below zero. We decided to meet in San Diego and merge our climates. During our visit, we took our first flight in a hot air balloon.
Immediately, I noticed that our pilot navigated the balloon by increasing or decreasing altitude to make use of existing wind currents. By timing the release of propane fire, our pilot took us upward to catch the desired current. He skillfully judged the winds using flags and smoke from distant landmarks. Sometimes he sprayed…
By Nate Keeler, MBC Arlington Pastor
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace…
By Sue Moye, Assoc. Director of Discipleship for Midsize Groups & Strategic Initiatives at MBC Tysons
My awe for who God is and His plan for me has grown through reading Part Four of Multiply, “Understanding the Old Testament.” I took Old and New Testament Surveys during my four years at a Christian college and have some seminary under my belt. Even so, I have never before been positioned to take in the whole panorama of God’s plan to relate to His people like I have through studying Multiply. Let me share what reading Part Four of Multiply is doing in my life.
If you are like me, you have set out to read the whole Bible in a year numerous times, and have made…
By Brian Rice, Access Adult Coordinator at MBC Tysons
A week or so before Lon preached on the book of Colossians, a very nice Jehovah’s Witness couple came to my door. The woman shared the script she had memorized to try and show me that our beliefs were the same—we are sinners in need of Jesus as a savior. After a few minutes of polite conversation and affirming what she had said so far (none of which was yet heresy), I asked what the difference is between her beliefs and what I as an evangelical Christian would affirm. She continued down her script, and with polite curiosity I asked the same question a few more times. There obviously must be…
By Joe Henriques, MBC Tysons Campus Pastor
I used to go to church on Ash Wednesday—the first day of the Lenten season that lasts until Easter—to get ashes pressed on to my forehead. The ashes were supposed to remain in the shape of a cross, but they always gradually turned into a smudge mark. Then for the next 40 days (except for Sunday), I gave up something that I liked.
This year, I gave up Lent for Lent. I decided to celebrate instead of fast. I’m making merry instead of mourning!
Not because I think Lent is a bad thing. Along with millions of people in the big world of Christendom, I agree that it’s a good thing. At a baseline level,…
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,…