Oasis Az

God is rational, but we cannot possibly understand why God created a world where suffering is real and pervasive. We can try, but we'll always fall short of grasping what God is doing because his ways are higher than our ways. In the end, all we can...

Even when we suffer, God is just—though his ways are mysterious. Job put God on trial, revealing his own self-righteousness. How can any of us compare our justice to God’s justice? God doesn’t answer to us, nor does he fit into our tidy boxes....

God requires obedience, including integrity, purity, compassion, faithfulness, and hospitality. But our obedience never requires God to give us what we expect or demand of him. God alone is God. He keeps his promises to us, but he owes us nothing....

The most precious possession on earth is wisdom--the ability to make good decisions and nurture healthy relationships. Real wisdom is elusive, unless we learn to obey Jesus.

God doesn’t always rescue the innocent from suffering. That’s a fact. It isn’t fair and makes zero sense. But it isn’t the whole story, either. God loves us dearly and works behind the scenes to care for those he loves. We cannot judge God...

Justice is sometimes served here, but ultimate justice awaits. The righteous and wicked often receive what the other deserves this side of heaven. So our incentive for following Jesus cannot be material reward (or we’ll fall away), but the...

1 John 1: Confession: Agreeing with God

We assume that if we do what’s right, life will work, but that’s a myth. God is just, but he doesn’t guarantee our lives will work if we follow Jesus. We suffer because we live in a fallen world where we suffer sometimes for no obvious reason....

Elijah Wounded

We live because of God's mercy and power. Apart from God, we would perish at the hands of our Enemy. But God provides boundaries evil cannot cross. God sustains us until he brings us safely home. We may experience evil, but even then God will never...

God delights in our desire to please him. Our obedience is uneven and broken, but God takes pleasure in our longing to obey him, even as we fail. When we respond to hardship and suffering by grieving with God --even in anger-- God enjoys us. But we...

We prepare our children for adulthood by recognizing our responsibility to provide appropriate consequences. Therefore, the purpose of discipline is to save lives by training our kids' hearts to choose God's path. If we do it well, we transfer...

We are most prepared for the battle when we're aware of our weakness and our need for God's strength.

Message from Various Speakers on September 5, 2021

Forgiveness

Parenting is hard because we and our kids have illegitimate goals. As a result, we're controlling, permissive, or passive. So the Bible should be our guide as we establish healthy authority in our homes. Let's parent our kids like God parents us.

God created us male and female. Race, color, nationality, sexual orientation, height, shape, and language are temporary. Our biological sex is part of our identity and living into our identity honors God.

God commands us to honor our parents. When we're under their authority, we obey them unless what they tell us to do clearly and directly violates God's rules. When we're no longer under their authority (i.e., neither emotionally nor financially...

Everyone's called to celibacy--at least for a season. For some, it's a long-term calling to free up our lives for whatever God calls us into. God invites the single person to channel their sexual desires in a healthy way that builds up others.

God hates divorce because it denies the sanctity of marriage (Mal 2:16, Mat 19:4-8). He allows us to divorce (but doesn't require it), however, only when our spouse breaks the marriage covenant (Mark 10:11-12, Mat 5:32, Mat 19:9). God permits...