Word of God
"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."Hebrews 4:12-13
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Exit Strategy
One day I was striving forward, kicking stones and leaping over obstacles. I trudged through the unfamiliar jungle, whipping my machete back and forth to cut down the forbidding overgrowth that tried to hold me back. I could hear the rushing water of our meeting place, though I was still a long way off. I could picture the deep green pastures there beside the freshwater stream. Equipped with purpose and power, knowing that my Master waited there for me, having prepared an unbelievable picnic spread under sprawling trees and a tapestry of wildflowers, I fought through the chaos with the knowledge (not just hope) that He was there and that…
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True Crimes
For many, the concept of committing a “sin” is a tough thing to grasp. Before I knew Jesus, I’d heard tell of those who professed to be sinners and attempted to convince others of their morally superior perspective. At that time, the basic concept of sin didn’t mean anything to me. It was used in the context of having broken some secret rules, or at worst, having committed some kind of crime against God. But to me, these always seemed like victimless crimes, since He was God and surely anything I could possibly do wasn’t that big of a deal. Of course, once I was exposed to the Word of…
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Second Skin
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins (Mark 2:22)." Did you realize that as reptiles grow, they shed their skin to allow for further growth? This is because, unlike our skin, a reptile’s doesn’t grow as they grow. Instead, snakes, lizards, and other reptiles must shed their skin regularly as their old skin is outgrown . . . But, unlike the human body, our spiritual skin does not grow and stretch. Indeed, like that of the reptile, our spiritual skin must be shed…
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New Beginnings
In my book, So What’s the Big Deal About Communion? I show how intrinsically connected the Last Supper, and by extension the Lord’s Supper, is with the celebration of Passover. God had selected this very specific event to tie into His plan for salvation, as the first Passover was the first iteration of this plan designed to culminate with all of what we celebrate now on Resurrection Sunday (Easter). While we realize that we are ultimately celebrating both the Last Supper and the Resurrection each week we gather at church for worship and communion, this Holy Week provides an opportunity for us to extend over the course of seven days…
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The First Communion
A couple of years ago, I got in my head the idea of investigating the true meaning and purpose of Communion (The Lord’s Supper) beyond my own elementary understanding of it, and ignoring the different traditions that surround it. Sure, we all understand and appreciate this mirroring of the Last Supper on the night before Jesus’ death on the Cross, and how sharing in it as a church body reminds us of that Cross and the suffering Jesus underwent on our behalf. We get it. But for me, this wasn’t good enough, because the way the Catholic church teaches and practices it, both in substance and form, differs from how…
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An Anchor (It’s Not a Square Peg)
When I was a kid, I didn’t really understand any of the things shown to me in the Bible. I was too young, and I really just didn’t care to understand, to be honest. Let’s face it, I was a kid. Years later, however, after finally understanding and accepting Christ, I began to see Scripture for the truth it is, and time and again I could see God’s faithfulness shine through those powerful words, from beginning to end. Over time, I began to truly see Jesus in Scripture, learning the reality that Jesus is indeed the Word of God John 1:1-3, and statements such as “I am the way and…
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Knowing the Word
Often we find ourselves in a place where we understand, at a rudimentary level, a need for knowing God’s Word, in one degree or another, for a number of reasons. But ultimately, there is no way to really do that without actually reading His Word, whether visually or audibly. Everything we want to know about God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, comes from His Word. But for many of us, that Word only comes to us via a sermon or Bible study. When we allow the Spirit to convict us in this, it stirs the desire to “want to” develop a habit of reading His Word with greater frequency. Yet…
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I Am Free!
I am free. I have been freed from the chains of the law. When I try to uphold the law and live according to the law—for the purposes of accomplishing the law—it leads to death Romans 6:23. The Apostle Paul spoke of this, and explained that it is through knowing the law that we are aware of our sin Romans 7:7. But as it happened in the first century church, the moment that we attempt to live according to the law, we become bound to it. And once we are bound to the law, we are no longer free! Jesus has saved me and freed me from the law. While…
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The Briefing
Jesus, the Man While Jesus was unquestionably “fully human” and “fully God”, we must recognize that being fully human did, in fact, bring significant limitations. While Jesus was clearly connected to God, it was also a requirement of his humanity to be disconnected from God at the same time. Jesus received his power from the Father, but Jesus admitted that there were things the Father knew that were hidden from the Son: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Mark 13:32 While in human form, Jesus was not the Father, and had the requirement of…
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The Spirit of Choice
“The acts of the sinful nature are obvious . . . But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:19, 22-23 Have you ever wondered why you never seem to have an abundance of the aforementioned “fruits?” Why do we find that these promised blessings are always just out of reach, while we continue to struggle with that ol’ sinful nature, never quite seeming to grasp all of that wonderful fruit? They are sometimes referred to as the “gifts” of the Spirit, but, while this is somewhat true Hebrews 2:4, that’s not the…
