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…
Tag: Christian Living
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…
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]
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]
PSI – 2 Corinthians 10
Paul was a master warrior who understood the battle, had expert knowledge in spiritual warfare, knew the motives and tactics of the enemy, and relied on the commands and power of the Master. Every Believer is called to spiritual warfare and every leader is called and equipped in the same way as Paul. Unfortunately, we too often walk according to the flesh, not realizing how embedded the enemy is within the hearts and minds of people and we take our eyes off of the objective, being more content with making people happy than holy.
