Month: September 2017

Empowered Servants

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This past Sunday we had the pleasure of ordaining two new deacons, installing them along with two others, and ordaining a veteran minister out of a sister tradition into our own.  In other words, it was a great Sunday.  At the end of the morning, I took a few minutes to tell the story of where this all came from and to point the way forward to where we’re headed as a church.  Keep reading to see what I said.

Empowered Servants

Hasn’t this been a good morning?  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love being a part of the church being the church.  Seeing a group of Jesus followers come together to do the basic things we were called, equipped, and empowered by our Lord to do is really exciting to me and I hope it is to you.  Frankly, it’s hard for it not to be at least a bit exciting.  Whether you are part of a group or not, there’s something exciting about seeing one fulfill its purpose.  We are naturally drawn to purpose ourselves and so when we see one being fulfilled we root for it. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: 2 Corinthians 3:3

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“And you show that you are letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

The Corinthians were a letter from Christ, delivered by Paul?  Huh?

Think about it like this.  What might a letter from Jesus have to say?  From the witness of the Gospels we can say a few things.  It would say, “I love you.”  It would say, “I am for you.  I want you to live fully the life God designed you to live and I’m going to help you every step of your journey to do that.  I gave my life for you so that you can be a part of My Father’s family.  I want you to leave behind the sin that drags you down and steals life from you.  The abundant life of the kingdom can be yours if only you will trust me.” Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Psalm 104:1

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“Bless the Lord, O my soul!  O Lord my God, you are very great!  You are clothed with splendor and majesty.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

One of the things popular in sports psychology is self-talk.  How we talk to ourselves can affect how we perform, and not just in sports.  Folks with a positive conversation going on in their minds and hearts will tend to do a bit better in life on the whole than folks with a negative conversation going.  Constantly telling ourselves we’re no good isn’t terribly helpful.  When we can point our hearts to hope instead of doubt, faith instead of fear, joy instead of gloom, we will be better off than otherwise. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Corinthians 3:17

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“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Two points here.  The first is that you won’t find a more direct connection between the Father and the Spirit than this.  While the connection between the Father and the Son is fairly easy to make in the Scriptures, for the sake of the Trinity, it is more difficult sometimes to connect the Spirit as the third person.  What Paul says here makes it pretty plain.  The Lord is the Spirit.  There you have it. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: 2 Chronicles 33:12-13

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“And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.  He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom.  Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Manasseh’s story should give us a great deal of hope.  He was the most evil and overtly pagan of any of the kings to rule over Judah.  He essentially took his father Hezekiah’s legacy and turned it on its head.  If there was some practice that would offend the Lord, he jumped into it with both feet.  He led the whole nation astray and primed the pump for terrible judgment.   Read the rest…