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Highland Church of Christ

Heart of the Matter: Is it up to God or Up to Me? (1 Sam. 11) Chris Altrock – June 25, 2017

This entry is part [part not set] of 4 in the series The Heart of the Matter

Chris Anderson tells the story of a man who went out to the desert to find God.[1] He fasted. He prayed. He longed to throw himself into the arms of God.

One day he was walking and he fell off a cliff. He would have fallen to his death if he hadn’t grabbed a branch partway down the cliff. As he swung there, grasping the branch, high above the river and the jagged rocks, he cried out, “Lord, Lord! Are you there? Help me! Tell me what to do!”

Eventually, the voice of the Lord came, calmly and quietly. “Let go,” the voice said.

Seconds passed.Read More »Heart of the Matter: Is it up to God or Up to Me? (1 Sam. 11) Chris Altrock – June 25, 2017

Unbroken: Praying Through the Ordinary Minutes Not Just the Extraordinary Milestones Chris Altrock – May 28, 2017

This entry is part [part not set] of 3 in the series Unbroken

Highland’s Women’s Minister, Lawana Maxwell, and I co-lead a class for adults on Wednesday nights called Quest. The class is designed to push adults deeper in their spiritual lives. As Lawana and I were preparing the curriculum, she suggested a compelling book she had read. It’s been a spiritually formative book for our class.

The book is by Nabeel Qureshi and is called Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus. The book is Nabeel’s account of leaving his family of origin and his Islamic faith and embracing Christianity. He lost nearly everything in the exchange.

●      For months after his conversion his family attempted to reconvert him to Islam by sending Imam after Imam to him.

●      When he decided to marry a Christian woman, they refused to come to the wedding.

●      And when he gave up his plans to become a doctor in order to enter Christian ministry, it was the final straw. Read More »Unbroken: Praying Through the Ordinary Minutes Not Just the Extraordinary Milestones Chris Altrock – May 28, 2017

Unbroken: Experiencing Divine Relationship Through Enduring Prayer in Everyday Life Chris Altrock – May 21, 2017

This entry is part [part not set] of 3 in the series Unbroken

Attention Spans

A couple of years ago the software giant Microsoft conducted a study of 2,000 people. They discovered that the average human attention span has declined.[1] In 2000 the average attention span was 12 seconds. In 2015 it had dropped to worse than a goldfish:

 

Attention span of a goldfish

9 seconds

 Attention span of humans

8 seconds

 

The report theorized that this short attention span largely has to do with the impact of a digitized lifestyle. That is, because we use so much digital media these days, we’re used to doing a lot of things quickly, but paying attention to none of it for very long.Read More »Unbroken: Experiencing Divine Relationship Through Enduring Prayer in Everyday Life Chris Altrock – May 21, 2017

Unbroken: Finding Divine Resources through Enduring Prayer in Everyday Life (1 Thess 5:17) Chris Altrock – May 14, 2017

This entry is part [part not set] of 3 in the series Unbroken

A famous Russian story centers on a man who was born in a region north of Ukraine.[1] His life was filled with suffering and loss.

●      When he was three and his brother was ten, his parents died. He and his brother were taken in by their grandfather, who raised them.

●      When the brother became a teenager, he became unruly and began drinking heavily. Once, the older brother pushed his younger brother and permanently damaged the younger brother’s arm. The younger brother lost all use of his arm.

●      Eventually, the grandfather found a wife for the younger brother. Upon his death, he left his home and property to the younger brother and wife. The older brother, jealous that the grandfather had left everything to the younger brother, set fire to the house one night. The younger brother and his wife barely escaped.

●      They were now destitute, without any clothing or money. For two years they lived as landless peasants, selling the handiwork which the wife was able to sew.

●      Then, she became ill. And she, too, died.

This poor man had now suffered the loss of his parents, the injury to his arm, estrangement from his brother, the loss of his grandfather, the loss of his home, and the loss of his wife. Overcome with grief, the husband took his Bible, and set off on a pilgrimage, searching for meaning and purpose in life.Read More »Unbroken: Finding Divine Resources through Enduring Prayer in Everyday Life (1 Thess 5:17) Chris Altrock – May 14, 2017