He is not here; he has risen!
– The Gospel of Luke 24:6
Christ Culture
I remember it was back in the late 90’s and TGIF was going strong on ABC. Ahh, how I loved those Friday nights with Step by Step, Family Matters, and especially Boy Meets World. Still to this day, Boy Meets World is my favorite show. Therefore, it was quite the shock to my system whenContinue reading “Christ Culture”
When Jesus is Disappointed Part 2
After the rebuke, Jesus commissions them for their work. They are to go into all the world and tell the story. They will proclaim Jesus, and as they proclaim, the Spirit will do signs and wonders. Demons will be cast out, evil will have no power over them, they will lay hands on the sick.Continue reading “When Jesus is Disappointed Part 2”
When Jesus is Disappointed Part 1
Each person has their own idea, or imagination, of what God is like. For many people, whether they realize it or not, this idea comes from how we view our earthly fathers. Hence, the role of a father in a home is vital for cultivating a healthy view of God, and the lack of aContinue reading “When Jesus is Disappointed Part 1”
Spiritual Warfare Part 6
There’s a story in the Bible about an 8 year old boy who becomes King. His name was Josiah. He was a young lad who, “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right orContinue reading “Spiritual Warfare Part 6”
Spiritual Warfare Part 5
BBQ is good. Gnats are a bother. Humans are followers. These are simple truths that seem to be timeless. Now, as you can imagine, the rest of this article will center around the last of the aforementioned statements, humans are followers. Whether we realize it or not, we are not leaders, we are followers –Continue reading “Spiritual Warfare Part 5”
Spiritual Warfare Part 4
Satan is an accuser. His arrows (Eph. 6:16) are his accusations, our sins. His greatest weapon against us are our worst acts. Sin, while separating us from God, also fills the enemy’s quiver with arrows a plenty and his aim is our minds. But here’s the thing – as Satan is sure to accuse usContinue reading “Spiritual Warfare Part 4”
On Fasting
Life is hard, creation is groaning and though we are seated with Christ and saved by grace through faith, this is still our current, shared reality on earth. Our society is built on making life easier and simpler, therefore we, in the church, might be prone to flat out ignore or reject those spiritual disciplinesContinue reading “On Fasting”
Spiritual Warfare Part 3
Why do we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit? Because the Kingdom of God is still at hand and the work required to be Kingdom people is impossible without the Holy Spirit. Kingdom people are those who follow the teachings of Jesus, who believe him at his word that we will do evenContinue reading “Spiritual Warfare Part 3”
Spiritual Warfare Part 2
We’re going to continue our theme of spiritual warfare the next few weeks and today I want to ask a similar question to last week: “What has Jesus come to do?” When we look at Mark’s gospel, which was the first one written, and certainly the most “to the point” gospel account, we learn thatContinue reading “Spiritual Warfare Part 2”
Spiritual Warfare Part 1
Why did Jesus come? Why did the Word become flesh and dwell among us? Many would say, “to die on the cross to save us from our sins”. Amen! This, however, is not the only reason. If this is the only reason we know of Jesus coming, it’s actually a limited view of what JesusContinue reading “Spiritual Warfare Part 1”
God Pursues You
Throughout the Bible there are patterns. It’s actually these patterns that should form what we believe. Instead of isolating individual verses and taking them out of context we should pay attention to the patterns of the Bible to form what we believe. One such pattern we see is that God has a holy habit ofContinue reading “God Pursues You”
We Had Hoped
When Jesus was alive he took the disciples to Jerusalem. Now that Jesus (so they thought) was dead the disciples are leaving Jerusalem. This is the context of the infamous “Road to Emmaus” story. It’s still the third day in this story. The men(disciples) have heard the story from the women(disciples) that Jesus’ body wasn’tContinue reading “We Had Hoped”
The Weight of Hope
Easter Sunday should be a guarantee that the preacher is going to preach – the crucified one is the risen one. It’s obvious. But just because something is obvious doesn’t mean we stop proclaiming it. I heard someone quip one time, “We must continue to preach the obvious or else it will not be obviousContinue reading “The Weight of Hope”
Two Trees
The Bible is not a textbook. It’s an account of sinful humanity being relentlessly pursued by a Holy God. It’s true stories. Timeless parables. Gut-wrenching accounts. Awkward moments. Convicting truths. Real people. To be faithful Bible readers, we would be wise to encounter this book by letting our imaginations run wild – for us toContinue reading “Two Trees”
Holy Love + Vibrant Intellect + Practical Theology = Kingdom Living
It seems like it was just yesterday. Jesus was at a wedding with some friends and upon being asked, but not technically asked, by his mother, to do something about the wine shortage, he replies, “my time has not yet come”. Those six words will reverberate throughout the rest of John’s Gospel. Jesus, though livingContinue reading “Holy Love + Vibrant Intellect + Practical Theology = Kingdom Living”
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“Being a Christian does not mean, first and foremost, believing in a message. It means believing in a person.”
-Guiterrez
