Truth Endures
The Bible asserts the enduring power of truth: “His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:5, 117:2). Truth is found in surprising spots, in unorthodox places; even nuggets of it are found in distorted religions, godless cultures, and ethnic groups that do not look or think like us. We do not have a corner
A Worthy Manner
We are admonished to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord”. Paul wrote to Timothy, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Timothy 2:19b NKJV). It is not enough to avoid evil, we are to walk with a motive to please Him. We are to intentionally follow His
Bondage or Worship
Sin blinds to truth. It will cause us to rationalize wrong behaviors; it will make us find ways to justify it to others. All sins conceal idols; the failure to worship is only a symptom of that. Worship will keep us from sin and sin will keep us from worship, Adam and Eve hid
The Christian Way of Living
We have put ourselves in the untenable place of trying to defend our moral and ethical stances to a secular culture apart from Christ being the focal point of one’s life. He is why we do what we do, why we avoid what we avoid and why we pursue what we pursue. The world
Finding Rest
The heaviest burden we have to bear is our own un-surrendered self. Jesus’ burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30) — but ours can be killing us. Ego is crushing; pride is devastating. Ego must be nailed to the cross. “Bear yourself as a burden and it will always be too heavy” (Thomas Merton). It
Escaping Corruption and Lust
We love to quote 2 Peter 1:3–4 how the promises lead to making us “partakers of the divine nature”. Partakers in the NIV is “participants in the divine nature”, an amazing thought. What we miss in the passage is that “escaping corruption and lust” is also a part of the promises and not just
Molds
Molds serve a great function in manufacturing. In the church they can be more than problematic. Truth is, most all churches have a mold, that is, their expected outcome of what a member is to be like. Molds in the church bring with it folks who think they are in “quality control” to ensure
Good Folks
I have seen my share of hypocrites; I have seen the mischief of their pretensions and play acting. But I decided a long time ago that they would not determine whether I went to church or if I followed Jesus. I also decided not to focus on them. For you see, I have seen
Christlikeness as Image Bearers
Ancient kings would extend their kingdoms to far reaching cities; they would erect images of themselves in these places to declare that place was also the king’s domain. God created the first humans in His own image so that as they spread over the earth these image bearers would declare by their presence that,
Life is Not Fair
It was not fair to Jesus either. Someone lied about me; it happened to Jesus also. My reputation has been damaged by gossip; they said that He was a drunkard. My credentials were questioned; so were His. My friends forsook me; Jesus knows about that. My temptations are great; check out Jesus’ 40 day
Jesus as Family
We have a biological family and we have a spiritual family. Oftentimes the latter is closer than the former. Jesus identified His disciples as family in all three synoptic gospels. The NT sees the church as the family of God, the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). As such, we are admonished to treat our
Jesus as Wisdom and Word
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:1–3 NASB). This bears more than a striking resemblance
Jesus as Lord and Master
We recoil from the word “Master”. Its connotation offends us; it suggests that we just might have to bow to someone above us. Hear this word from Jesus, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46 NRSV). The Lordship of Christ is front and center
Jesus as Warrior
It was hoped that the Messiah was to be a great warlord who would release all His fury against Israel’s enemy Rome. He did not take up the sword against it, much to the dismay of His followers. Instead, the “fury’ with which He would defeat was dying like a lamb; when we thought
Jesus as Intercessor
If we believe that God is Trinity then we have to say that the intercession of the Son to the Father is the self-talk of God. As I said in the book “The Self-Talk of God”: “The Son and the Spirit pray to the Father, not to overcome the Father’s reluctance, but this is
Jesus as First-fruits
A farmer looks forward to the first fruits of harvest. The Father raised the Son from the dead as the first of those who would be brought back to life from death with a new creation body. This is the beginning of “making all things new”. This is the defeat of death. His resurrection
Jesus as Friend
Abraham was known as a “friend of God”; he walked with Him in faith and obedience (James 2:20–24). Jesus said, "You are My friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:12-14). He further said that there was no greater love than “to lay down your life for your friends” (John 15:12-13). Jesus
Jesus as Victor
There were many victims to the cruelty of Roman crucifixion. But there is One who died on a cross that transformed victim into victor. Rome came against Him in a crushing public way, believing by this that they were done with Him. They threw everything they had at Him, yet He turned it all
Jesus as Lion and Lamb
John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world”. Isaiah saw Him as a “lamb led to slaughter” who never opened His mouth in protest (Isaiah 53:7). In The Revelation of Jesus Christ, John on Patmos sees the Lion of the tribe of Judah triumphing,
Jesus the Shepherd
Kings were expected to be shepherds that cared for the people as sheep; Ezekiel prophesied against kings for their failure to do so (34:1-20). When Messiah-King came, He declared Himself to be the good shepherd. We call leaders of congregations pastors, i.e. shepherds; they are to care for the bodies and souls of those
Jesus the Servant
“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45 NRSV). Jesus’ way of being stands in vivid contrast to the way the Gentile lords did business. He reminded us that we were to follow His example in being a
Jesus the King
God’s Good News is that the Kingdom of God has arrived. “Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. ‘The time promised by God has come at last!’ he announced. ‘The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!’” Mark
Jesus the Prophet
A prophet is one that speaks forth God’s word. He is not so much a teller of the future as an expounder and exposer of the present; he is one who reads clearly and declares the present state of things. The prophetic role is not a popular one. Jesus exposed the corruption of the
Jesus the Priest
Jesus took the role of a priest when He declared, “Your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5). Though Messiah, born of David’s line, did not descend from the tribe of Levi, yet He became our great High Priest after the “order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:18-20). He makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34); He is for
Jesus the Leader
The Lamb submitted Himself to a Roman cross and by that cross won true victory. He invited His followers to take up a cross, even if it meant going to their own deaths. In fact, we carry that on which we die. He said that if we did not follow His cross-bearing method that