Author: Alex Tran

The Best Things of 2017

Post author By Alex Tran
Post date January 1, 2018

Every year, I find myself exploring far and wide for the best the world has to offer. I scour reviews for books, movies, and TV shows. I install and try a lot of iPhone or Mac apps until I find the best one. I listen to different podcasts. I research products and services before I spend my hard-earned money.

Which means at the end of the year, I have a list of things I can confidently recommend based on my experience.

Below you’ll find my collection of those things from 2017 grouped into various categories.

If you try any of these things, I hope you’ll find as much joy in them as I have!

How to Dig Yourself out of a Bible-Reading Rut

Post author By Alex Tran
Post date July 4, 2017
8 Comments on How to Dig Yourself out of a Bible-Reading Rut

In college, I remember a piece of surprising advice. I remember thinking, “Is that something a Christian is allowed to say?”

A friend shared how reading the Bible had gotten boring and monotonous for him. To which someone suggested he stop reading the Bible for a season.

Say, what!?

I’m surprised my friend didn’t turn into a pillar of salt after giving that advice.

But many years later, I get the underlying principle. Sometimes you just need to shift things up when you’re in a dry season.

To maximize the Word’s impact on our lives, we need a consistent habit. But to keep that habit from going stale, we need to vary our approach so our reading remains fresh.

So here are some different ideas to try if you find yourself in a Bible-reading rut.

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I got convicted

Conviction come’s in the weirdest ways sometimes.

Over the past year, I’ve gotten more serious about running. Initially, I chose running because it was cheap way to stay fit. Hah, what a lie. Running hasn’t been cheap. But that’s a post for another time.

As my pocket book dwindled from one running purchase after another, you better believe I jumped at the chance to become a brand ambassador for Janji. Perks included a racing singlet and 35% off future purchases.

In my head, I imagined this equation:

Sale items + 35% off = #winning

The only roadblock?

5 Lessons from 15 Years as a Christian

Post author By Alex Tran
Post date October 18, 2015
2 Comments on 5 Lessons from 15 Years as a Christian

Today (October 18, 2015) is a significant milestone in my faith journey.

Fifteen years ago today, sitting at my computer in my dorm room, I gave my life to Christ and began a relationship with him. Along with that milestone, I also hit 10 years in full-time church ministry last month.

So I thought it’d be fun to reflect back and jot down a few lessons I’ve learned along the way.

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Two Simple and Free Ways to Eliminate Porn Temptation

Post author By Alex Tran
Post date August 8, 2015
2 Comments on Two Simple and Free Ways to Eliminate Porn Temptation

The Internet is a giant, never-ending vat of visual temptation.

Pornography, celebrity sex tapes, websites dedicated to adult content/explicit images, half-naked women in ads.

It can appear quickly and from the most unexpected places.

I was listening to music from Pandora’s website once when a full-page ad of a half-dressed woman appeared as a new song started playing.

Pandora!? #nothelpful

That’s enough to get the mind traveling down the wrong path. Before you know it, you’re opening a new tab, visiting your go-to porn websites, and scouring the web for more. It’s a scenario I’ve repeated, and I know countless others have experienced as well.

So how can we combat porn and visually explicit images coming at us from every direction?

[clickToTweet tweet=”Why resist temptation tomorrow if you have the power to eliminate it today? ~@craiggroeschel” quote=”Why resist temptation tomorrow if you have the power to eliminate it today? ~@craiggroeschel”]

In this blog post, I’m going to show you two free ways I’ve eliminated visual temptation today, so that I won’t have to resist it tomorrow.

And I’ll show you step-by-step how you can use them too!