Tag: Paul

Redirection

Leave a comment

Sometimes we get everything right. Sometimes we serve God in a way that explodes in the best way possible. Lives are changed; communities are made whole. And then sometimes, just when things seem poised to grow even further, God comes and interrupts what we are doing for Him to call us in a new direction. Why would He do such a thing? Today, as we wrap up our teaching series, When Life Gets in the Way, that is exactly what we are talking about. Thanks for being here throughout this journey. May you be better prepared for the interruptions you will yet face as you journey toward His kingdom. Here’s the message.

Redirection

In 2016, we thought we were moving. We had been serving our little, country church for several years, and things were going really well. But then another church reached out, and as we prayed through it and considered all of the various factors involved, it really seemed like this might be something God was doing. We inched our way through their process, but it was quickly clear that things were moving ahead pretty smoothly. It was not easy to wrap our heads around the idea of moving. The church we were serving was the first church we had ever served. They had taken a chance on a young guy fresh out of seminary. Our boys were all three born in that community. The church loved us well. But the further we moved forward, the more we got our hearts and minds wrapped around it, and the more excited we got about the prospect of what God seemed to be doing. 

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Matthew 9:9

Leave a comment

“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When thinking or talking about religion, it is easy to just lump everything into one category. For the sake of convenience we divide the world into the religious and the non-religious, the sacred and the secular. In doing this, however, we can fall into the trap of thinking that all religions are basically the same. After all, they are all religions. How different can the really be from one another? The short answer is incredibly different. And the most different of all is Christianity. It is so very different because at its core it is not about keeping a bunch of rules. It is about following a person. I had a great chance to share this remarkable idea with a bunch of fantastic kids this past week. Let me share with you what we talked about.

Continue reading “Morning Musing: Matthew 9:9” →

Where It All Begins

Leave a comment

Yesterday was Easter, the day for celebrating the resurrection of the Son of God. History turns on this event. The world looks the way it does today because of this event more than just about any other. It’s a remarkable story. Today, let’s spend some time reflecting on just what it means for us that Jesus rose from the dead.

Where It All Begins

Jesus was dead…and then He wasn’t. 

If you were to take that statement, get rid of Christianity entirely, and drop it into any other context, it wouldn’t make any sense. At all. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Across the centuries of human history, various different religious movements offered up theories and ideas about what might lie on the other side of the grave. But none of them had anything like the resurrection of Jesus as a part of their frame of reference. Now, some of them developed something like it after Jesus’ resurrection, but not before. This is because we didn’t have a category for something like that. Instead, when Jesus was buried late in the afternoon on the Friday when He died, everyone expected Him to stay put. 

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Acts 17:26-27

Leave a comment

“From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever felt like you were searching for God? Maybe that’s too on the nose right out of the gate, especially if you’re not really much of a Jesus person. Have you ever felt like you were searching for something in life? Perhaps you were simply looking for more out of life. All people everywhere and in all times have a built-in awareness that there is more to life than our normal get-up-go-to-work-go-home-to-bed-and-do-it-again-the-next-day routine. But we don’t always have a clear sense of what this more should be. This morning, with the help of Paul’s attempt to teach a group of Greek intellectuals this same idea, let’s talk about what this more might be for you.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Philippians 1:12-14

1 Comment

“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ. Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word fearlessly.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What do you do when things aren’t going like you planned? Maybe you’re the kind of person who is able to fairly well roll with it. But I suspect you are at least a little disappointed in that moment. Perhaps, though, “a little disappointed” doesn’t really cover it for you. Rolling with it isn’t a resource in your repertoire. This may be especially true when your plans were to help someone else or do something good. In that moment, you’re ready to simply throw up your hands and give up. Paul, here, though, offers us another approach to consider.

Read the rest…