If you have any questions, visit oneyearchallenge.org.

Doing God’s will is not always supposed to be fun or comfortable. Sometimes obedience means sacrifice and discomfort.

We have admiration for martyrs—people who die publicly because of their faith. We know their stories from the Bible and church history. But what about the kind of martyrdom that slowly draws the life from us, not in an execution, but from a daily choice of being poured out like a drink offering?

Read the whole thing.

Check out this graphic showing how the theme of resurrection was at the heart of the book of Acts and the Apostles’ preaching.

See the full-size image.

This week’s Monday Music comes from Hungary. We have a great OYC site in Budapest!

English Lyrics:

Your love is strong, there is no stronger ground and sky,
When embrace, the pain subsides and shame flies awat
Your gaze deep as the ocean, I am submerged in it;
Mercy is there waiting for me, even if I stumble.

Your presence in my bones,
Hot like fire, your love strong as the grave.

All I have is yours, Burn me, fill me in.
All I have is yours, My Savior, My King, Creator and God.

Your love is strong, there is no stronger ground and sky,
Your love is a hope, a dawn star in the night.

My heart is enclosed in garden, I raise all its fruit for you.

From David Platt’s Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream

We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.

Church planting can be painful. Adam Ramsay shares three things that church planters need to know about pain:

1. If pain is inevitable, self-pity is not an option.
2. If Jesus is my king, pain can be my servant.
3. If Jesus is with me, I can face anything.

Because pain in ministry is one of the unexpected tools God will use to shape you, gradually but increasingly, into the likeness of his Son.

Read the whole thing.

Let’s not forget that its the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, that will ultimately save us and not the strength of our faith.

When we wrestle with doubts, we should remind ourselves of this precious truth: it’s not the strength of our faith that ultimately matters, but the object of our faith.

Read the whole thing.

Did Jesus really preach in parables to confuse people? Steve Weaver shares why parables simultaneously reveal and conceal the truth about Christ, and why that leaves room for God’s intervention in a our salvation.

This teaching should also lead us to compassion for the lost. That we would weep for them as Jesus did and plead with them to come to Christ (as Jesus did). We should pray to God that the same God who opened our eyes would open their eyes to the gospel. This is their only hope. If we truly believed this, we would be people of prayer!

Read the whole thing.

If you have any questions, visit oneyearchallenge.org.

Check out this video update from the Edinburgh OYC site. The church is gaining momentum in building its youth ministry! For more information on the Edinburgh OYC, go to the Edinburgh page on the One Year Challenge website.