Tag: Christian living

Digging in Deeper: Galatians 6:7-10

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“Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the best ways to grow a church is to invite new people to come. That sounds like it should be obvious, but perhaps not as much as you would think. Inviting people to church is such an old-fashioned idea. Surely there are more modern, seeker-sensitive methods of getting them to come. I mean, if that’s all it really takes to grow a church, how is anybody going to make money off of gimmicky approaches that guarantee successful church growth campaigns for only $199? Don’t you worry. Those will still be there. In any event, the trouble with this is that it feels awkward to invite someone to church. So we don’t do it. Especially if you are an introvert like me. After all, they may not come in response to our invitation. That’s true, but they almost certainly won’t come without one. Well, the other day, I invited someone to church. What I got in response was a bad church story. The invitation may yet play out, but if it doesn’t, that bad church story will have a lot to do with it. The whole thing got me thinking about why people have those and what we can do about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 15:25-27

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“So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there. He said, ‘If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.’ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy date palms, and they camped there by the water.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had a teachable moment? It doesn’t really matter right now if you were the student or the teacher in it. Teachable moments come along every now and then and bring with them the opportunity to impart possibly life-changing information or wisdom. Israel’s experience at the waters at Marah provided just such an opportunity for the Lord. Let’s take a moment to think through what God had to teach them, why it mattered, and why it points to something important about the nature of our relationship with Him.

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Digging in Deeper: 1 Peter 1:3

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“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

As far as the world is concerned, the way of Jesus is a way of weakness and failure. Well, weakness in a world dominated by what is perceived as strength invites aggressive people to challenge and persecute those who are given the unfortunate label. Those people and institutions and even nations that are thought to be weak are made into targets. They can become scapegoats for all kinds of problems. Eventually they are seen as less than fully human, and once that particular line is crossed in the minds of their adversaries, a whole range of awful things suddenly fall within the realm of reasonable, acceptable, and even good to do to them. The apostle Peter, who had once fully bought into the world’s narrative of strength, opens his first letter by offering praise to God because of the living hope He has given us through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The trouble with a resurrection hope is that it starts with a death. In this case it was a voluntary death that was not resisted. The world sees that as weakness and responds accordingly. How do we live with a living hope in a world that doesn’t understand such a thing?

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Morning Musing: Matthew 10:37-38

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“The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Today is going to be just a little bit different than our normal Friday conversations usually go. There are several reasons for this including the priority I endeavor to give to life and ministry (in that order) over writing these. The reason for this particular post as well as next week’s post at this time, Lord willing, is that the adult Bible study I teach on Wednesday nights has been having some powerful and challenging conversations as we have been working our way through Matthew’s Gospel. Our most recent conversation struck me as important enough that I wanted to share a glimpse of it with you. I’m going to keep this pretty short and to-the-point, but it’s worth your time to begin reflecting on the idea because it is a life-changing one. The idea is this: Are you worthy of Jesus?

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A Simple Matter

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This week we are wrapping up our series, The Story of Us. This final part won’t take us to the end of Luke’s narrative of the early church in Acts, but rather to the halfway point. From here his focus shifts from the church itself to Paul and his missionary journeys. This halfway point marks what is perhaps the most significant moment in the story. The question on the table was frightfully important: just how complex a thing was following Jesus going to be? The debate was fierce, but in the end, they decided to follow Jesus in making it a very simple matter. Let’s see together how this all unfolded and what exactly it means for us. Thanks for reading and sharing.

A Simple Matter

Have you noticed that things tend to get more complicated over time? If you haven’t, perhaps some examples would help. Let’s start with the tax code. The original 1913 income tax law was 23 pages long and took about 400 pages to explain. Today, the tax code comes in at about 70,000 pages of text. No wonder politicians from both sides of the aisle regularly promise to reform and simplify things! Or consider a business. Apple started with two computer nerds in a garage. Today it is the most valuable company in the world, employing thousands of people, and is vastly more complex than it was in 1976. Or perhaps consider…churches. Most churches begin very simply. They have a vision and a message. Then over time they add programs and committees and policies and by-laws and buildings and furniture pieces and ministries all of which become enshrined both in structure and in placement such that the message and vision become a mere sideshow to the main event of tradition. And tradition is a complex thing. 

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