I started my church 11 years ago with big dreams for God. Church planting networks want people with big dreams for God. We create huge conferences to encourage people to dream big dreams for God. At this point your “cynic radar” is already starting to go off as you read this. Bear with me a […]
Suffering & Living Like this World is Heaven
Suffering is one of the most common reasons people doubt God. If God is so loving, how can such bad things happen? Trite statements by Christians only make this worse: Something good will come out this, just wait. God has a purpose for everything. Something good will come out of rape, child abuse, or the […]
Love? Nothing Says Valentine’s Day Like Fifty Shades Darker & the SI Swimsuit Edition
It’s February, which means Valentine’s Day is coming. The season of love. You can tell a lot about a culture by the way it celebrates holidays and in this case, you can tell a lot about what a culture thinks love is. If you asked a person on the street what love is, you would […]
How my Transforming Community took me from performance-striving to deep rest
An abbreviated version of this article was published on the Transforming Center’s website: What does transforming leadership look like for Pastor Noah Filipiak? Here is the full version: I love seminary. I have one seminary degree and look forward to going back for more. With that said, my experience in a Transforming […]
Psalm 46 is a Gift for those who Struggle with Depression & Anxiety
When you ask God to take away your depression or anxiety and He doesn’t…
The WHY and HOW to God’s Design for Sexual Purity
Christians are to save sex until marriage and are to keep it there. (Genesis 2:24; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20) And fantasizing about sex outside of marriage is the same heart condition as engaging in it. (Matthew 5:27-28) These sound like some pretty strict “thou shalt not’s!” It’s very important that we understand why God gave us […]