In John 14:6, John reported Jesus as having said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” With those words, there was no room left for any other way to salvation. Now, we can either believe it or not…that option is left to us, but…
What’s your take?
Just a quick reminder that all will benefit from your take on these verses in 1 John that we’re looking at. The Gathering folks are reading through these passages with me, so let me hear how God is speaking to you through it. It can bring about a very rich resource for anyone who reads,…
Nuances – 1 John 2: 18-21
Interested in a spiritual experience? Take your pick. There is a flavor for every taste. Like all the assurance with half the guilt? No problem. Enjoy a good mountain-top experience with no extra commitment? That’s out there, too. As a matter of fact, one of the most popular nuances in the Christian segment of the…
The Danger in Living the Cultural Mandate – 1 John 2:15-17
I love culture. I enjoy being a part of the world in the sense that I enjoy things like technology, cafe culture, the arts, sports, city life, etc. To some extent, I believe that we’re wired that way. The Cultural Mandate found in Genesis 1:28 states the following: And God blessed them. And God said…
Be Encouraged! 1 John 2:12-14
Sometimes we just need encouragement, don’t we? It can seem like the whole world is on our shoulder and if one more thing happens, we’re going to snap. I love this little section where John just pours out encouragement on his readers. In essence, he simply says, “I’m writing to you because you can do…
Blurred Vision – 1 John 2:7-11
Hate is a strong term when talking about people. It is something that few people admit to doing…especially Christ-followers. I wonder, though, do we hate without even realizing it? I admit there are people I strongly dislike, but do I hate them? Surely not. I love them because we’re told to love everyone. That’s what…
Who Do You Look Like? 1 John 2:1-6
In 1 John 2:1-6 (including verse 6 because it ends the sentence), there is another test to knowing whether or not you are a child of God. I love this because John demonstrates that there are observable indicators as to whether or not our faith is real. In a world where so many people claim Christianity…
PSI – Words, in the End, Are Still Just Words – 1 John 1:5-10
It is a popular notion, as Americans, to call ourselves Christians. Ask just about anybody, regardless of lifestyle, beliefs or politics, and they will tell you they are Christian. This just points to the fact that the word, “Christian,” has become meaningless. As a matter of fact, many would hold that because they are Americans…
PSI – Living the Challenge: 1, 2, 3 John
Yesterday, I issued a challenge at The Gathering to begin to get into Scripture. (Audio can be accessed through our website, the Sermon Audio page of this blog, or iTunes, if interested). Looking at the Model Prayer in Matthew 6, we have spent the last three weeks on verse 11: Give us this day our…
PSI – Renewal to Transformation
Over this past week I’ve been meditating on and dealing a lot with the implications of Romans 12:2: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. I wanted…
Ridiculously Blessed
I am continuing a series on the Lord’s Prayer called “GodTalk.” It’s been interesting to slow down and really look at what Jesus was telling us to do in that short prayer. Yesterday, we looked at the phrase, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We’ll take that in two parts with the topic yesterday focusing on both the source of our provision and what we are to do with it once we have it. [Read more]
On The Election
For the last two weeks at church, we’ve been discussing both the will of God and the Kingdom of God. This week we have a new president. Some are happy about that while others, well, not so much. The question I want to ask is, “Did the will of God occur?” I think the way you answer that will affect what your attitude will be in light of the results. There are basically two possibilities: [read more]
Happy Reformation Day
It’s Reformation Day (Read more…)
Extreme Grace, Part 2
So, when we last left our hero, Peter had just accused some religious officials of being really bad people because they had denied Jesus. As we so astutely pointed out, Peter, too, had done some denying on his own of Jesus but worse…he actually knew Jesus and who he was.* So, now Peter’s lookin’ pretty bad.[Read the full post]
Extreme Grace, Part 1
Twice Peter said the they had denied Jesus. Helloooo, excuse me, Pete, but do you not remember where you were at about the time these little people were denying Him?? Peter had run away like a scared little girl from, oh, yeah, a little girl who had accused him of being a follower of Jesus. Three times! It’s like he totally forgot what he had done. How does that happen? What right does Peter have to be accusing others of denying?
[Read the full post]
My Politics
For too long, in my opinion, Christians, in general, have aligned themselves with a particular party. Now, the trend seems to be going the other way. The reasons cited usually have something to do with one or two particular issues. On the left, it seems mostly environmental and justice issues. On the right, abortion and traditional marriage. On both sides, the economy is a big deal and, of course, the war.
My contention is that none of those are exclusively (or primarily) political issues. They are just issues and, principly if not explicitly, the Bible speaks to all of them. [Read Full Post]
What Difference Does Prayer Really Make?
Since God knows everything before we even know we need something (Matthew 6:32) and because He has no need of anything, including praise, thanks, etc. (Acts 17:24-25 – that is to say, though He may desire to hear our thanks, it is not something He needs to feel good about Himself), what is the real point in prayer?
Ministry Milestones
It’s not a huge one, I suppose, but yesterday marked the two-year anniversary of my interview at MBC (now The Gathering) and the first sermon preached there. My actual two-year anniversary of starting will not come until December 10.
The Powerless Prayer
I’m in a new series on prayer as we look at what has been traditionally called “The Lord’s Prayer” or “The Model Prayer.” When we start looking at what Christ said prayer is and isn’t, we quickly realize that much of what we do really isn’t prayer at all…at least not the kind that Jesus said is acceptable to the Father.
Catalyst Conference, Day 1
I really don’t know that I can adequately put into words all that I’ve experienced today. After a very challenging day getting down here and actually getting to the conference, I understood why things prior to the conference would come with such difficulty: God had some radical things to teach me that could make an…
Catalyst
I leave for Catalyst later today in Atlanta. If there is time, I plan on posting at least a couple of thoughts and reflections from the conference throughout (maybe at least some short ones with the Blackberry). Really looking forward to the spiritual retreat and feeding this should provide. There’s a great line-up of young leaders…
