Because tomorrow is an interesting day for the blog, I decided to do Friday's content share, today. Unironically, I prayed for guidance on today's share, and sure enough, a post by Tim Challies on the topic of? You guessed it: prayer. Prayer can be so hard. I know for me, oftentimes I find myself more concerned about the way I'm "supposed" to pray than I am about the content itself. And so, I really liked this article. Instead of writing about one specific aspect of prayer, T

I have a tendency to watch goofy dog and cat videos. It's ok, judge me if you will. But one thing that constantly comes up is just how, well, not very bright they can be sometimes. But then I see, with both animals, where they do some pretty intelligent acts. The reality is, animals can be a lot smarter than we give them credit for; and this is not some evolutionary growth, but something God has instilled in His creation. This post from Answers in Genesis goes much more into

Well, Sunday is coming up, and it is a day to gather under the preaching of God's word. But is that all going to church is about? Tim Challies says, "no". Instead, preaching is just one part of a church service. A very important one, mind you, but not the only. So why is it that we can be so dismissive of the worship or fellowship or any other part of your local gathering of believers? In this post, Tim Challies discusses how we ought to treat all of our church service, not j

I doubt there is anything more challenging to understand in the Christian faith than the Trinity. And rightly so—God should be beyond our comprehension. But He also has condescended to us and given us glimpses into who He is. One aspect of who God is is that God is a Trinity. One God, not three. Yet three Persons, distinct, yet equal in divinity. Again, hard to understand. But as Christians, we're called to trust God and His word. And His word clearly shows us that the Father

I'm really good at slowing down and thinking through a situation. Okay, hopefully the laughter from those who know me has died down now. Slowing down isn't natural for me, and I dare say many of us struggle with it. Reagan Rose touches on this, and a couple of other ideas, in this video. What he shares seems so opposite of what we can often think is the right course of action. Be busy, output, output, output, get as much done as you can—it can be overwhelming. But is that the

Decisions are easy to make. Yeah, right. Maybe for some people, but not me. I suspect most of you reading this would say the same. One of the biggest things that Christians struggle with, I believe, is trying to know God's will for their lives. There are a lot of resources and helps out there, but ultimately we all have to decide certain things for ourselves. Well, today's share is a podcast from ACBC on how to help indecisive people. Being an indecisive person myself, I list

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't read Pilgrim's Progress, but it's on your list, then postpone this post. Jonny Ardavanis uses some references from that book. Side note, you should read it if you haven't! All of that said, the main point of his post is truth—more specifically that the world hates it. Oh, people, Christians or not, like to know facts. Most people don't deny things like gravity. But when it is truth that affects moral and spiritual matters, that's when the truth g

I admit, this is not the typical content I cover at Upward Focus, but bear with me. Right or wrong, growing up with a dad who played rock music in his heyday, unsurprisingly I, too, grew up on some classic rock. I remember many evening drives where the radio was tuned to "Nights with Alice Cooper." Since I have that childhood memory, I've always wondered, amidst his conservative talking points and claims of his Christian faith, if Alice Cooper really is a Christian. Unbeknown

If you never picked it up, I like dinosaurs. But I like none more than the infamous T-Rex. I decided for today that I'd share this video from Answers in Genesis and Joel Leineweber. It's about Tyrannosaurus Rex and its family of Therapod dinosaurs. I love seeing these interesting animals from a creationist perspective. So, yes, this is a short post for today. But this video is about a big creature, and an even bigger Creator. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Evolution is a topic we cover here frequently, though perhaps not at the deepest level—I leave that to the experts. And we'll be doing that again today. Today's share is from Dr. Jason Lisle over at Fortis Institute. He briefly discusses an article written by an evolutionist. Right off the bat, you can see the problems with the article. Dr. Lisle does a good job of going through, explaining, and countering the arguments made, though on a more philosophical level at times. Ult

This past Sunday, we sang a song I was not familiar with, but I found it to be a very moving song. I don't usually share music on this blog, but I felt this one fit in with some of the topics explored here. Challenging times and emotions come upon us all, even Christians. The Psalmists give us a window into how they dealt with those times: They brought them before the Lord. Based on Psalm 42 (I believe), this song, written by Matt Papa and Matt Boswell, captures that well. So

Well, you've probably seen the headlines: a team has supposedly found major evidence suggesting a formation in Turkey near Mt. Ararat is Noah's Ark. As a creationist, I would love to see the real ark, not just Ken Ham's in Kentucky. It would be an incredible discovery. Skeptics will be skeptics, of course. Speaking of skeptics, while I would love for us to find the real Noah's Ark, I'm a tad skeptical, too. I'm open, but I want real evidence that proves or denies this discove

I realize I share a lot of video's from AiG dealing with that lovely topic: evolution. But let's face it, one way or another, evolution has influenced our modern world to an incredible degree. I would argue, not for the better. Think about it, if we are merely animals, does that not have an effect on how we view religion, morals, the world, and life itself? If it doesn't, I would ask, "why not?" I mean, when's the last time you saw a group of dogs hold a court session, or bir

It's a bit ironic that I'm sharing a post by Tim Challies today about sleep and the theology behind it. It's ironic because I've basically been awake since the wee hours of the morning—not by choice. I am not an early bird. But for reasons that vary, sleep escapes me many nights. Many times it's because I don't deal with things in a timely manner. I wake, and my mind inevitably races as I think about those very things. Other times, it's because of varying health-related issu

Life is challenging. It can be easy to be discouraged as we look at what's going on in the world today, not to mention what can happen in our personal lives. But Christians aren't in this thing alone. God Himself has told us He is a God of comfort. For today's share, I want to share this article from Ligonier discussing this very idea: that God is a God of all comfort. He breaks it down into three points: The Immanent God, The Incarnate God, and The God of all comfort. I know

A quick blog share today from Answers in Genesis. Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson shares the progress that creationism has made over the decades. Creationists are making progress, though it is slow going. The progress evolution has made in our schools can be very discouraging—especially when we see the results of an evolutionary worldview—but hopefully this blog will encourage you.

I believe it was John Calvin who said our hearts are like idol factories. Sadly, it is a very true statement. Christians are not exempt from this either. All too often, we chase after things other than God. Many times, these are sins. But often, they are good things that we allow to take God's place in our hearts. Today's content share is from ACBC, and it talks about idolatry. This isn't merely a sin of worshipping some statue or false god. Many times it is, again, chasing a

Wooly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, cavemen; these are what often come to mind when we think of the Ice Age. But as Christians, we have to ask: was there even an Ice Age? Science and geology certainly show that there was. And believe it or not, the Bible actually points to it as well. Today, I wanted to share this podcast from Dr. Jason Lisle over at Fortis Institute. He shares thoughts not only about the science behind the Ice Age, but also what the Bible says to back it u

In other words, what came first? Many questions surround the first chapter of Genesis, but one of the most vexing is this: "How was there light before the sun and the stars?" For today's content share, here is an article from Got Questions about that very subject. A plethora of views have been suggested, but a plain reading of the text indicates that, yes, God made light before any luminaries. This article does a great job answering the main issue behind the question. It make

Yes, I'm doing another unscheduled share today. But thankfully, it's a good one, if I may say so myself. Discernment can be a challenge for us all at times. Knowing right from wrong, and even more so knowing best from good, is hard work. Thankfully, as the author of this post points out, like with other things, it is something we can grow in. We know this, because Scripture suggests that it is true (Hebrews 5:14). So, may we all grow in our discernment, especially in this day