Jesus is my personal trainer. Sometimes He increases the weight I work with in order to make me stronger.

Christians have been trained how to listen to a preacher, but not how to listen to the living Jesus. If we truly believe Jesus is alive, we should rally around Him–not around another person, place, or thing. Turning worship into a prearranged program has caused centuries of Christians to believe that they can’t hear what the Spirit is saying.

Preachers are just people. They’re no better at hearing from God than other Christ-followers are. Listen to His voice for yourself.

When sin, shame, and guilt build a wall that keeps us from the living Jesus and His forgiveness, we’re walloped with unnecessary pain.

You don’t need to go to church or anywhere else to interact with the risen Jesus. He’s present and available anytime and anyplace. We all need His training because as humans, we were all made with dignity (“I am fearfully and wonderfully made,”) but we’ve all chosen at times to violate our own dignity “(O wretched man that I am.”)