theology

Offense Vs. Defense

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Crash the gates

Stop playing defense.

If we’re going to let Jesus have His way in His church then we need to stop playing defense. We need to focus on playing offense.

Look carefully at what Jesus said about the nature of His church: “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).

Gates are defensive structures. They are built to protect their own territory. Jesus plainly said that He would build His church. This building would happen on the rock of people confessing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

As Jesus builds His church people will come out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light (1 Pet 2:9-10). The gates of Hades will not be able to stop the advance of Christ’s kingdom expansion. Continue reading →

Resurrection Monday

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Jesus is alive

Another Easter Sunday come and gone. Next Sunday almost everything will be back to normal. Attendance will shrink back. Extra services will be stored away until Mother’s Day and/or Christmas.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Maybe it won’t always be.

We can’t change our culture in an instant. We also can’t make other people’s choices for them. That’s a fool’s errand.

What we can do is examine our own choices, attitudes, and actions. We can – by the grace of God – be changed. With that in mind I want to invite you to celebrate Resurrection Monday.

No, it’s not a new holiday I invented. I won’t try to sell you candy, gifts, cards, decorations for your home, or any other such thing. Continue reading →

Learning To Walk

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Father helping his son for the first steps

One of my priorities as a Dad is to help my children learn to walk. I take this seriously. Our sixth child walked the earliest so far. She was walking one day before she was 9 months old.

We’ll see if I can have our seventh walking before that.

My wife doesn’t always share my enthusiasm. With so many young children in the house it can be nice to have a few that are limited in their mobility.

However, I figure they’ll never move out if they can’t walk on their own. Might as well get started as soon as we can. (I’m mostly kidding.)

I want my children to grow to maturity. I enjoy helping them take their first steps. I also enjoy watching the momentum build as they grow more and more into who God designed them to be.

This is true in my household. Also in the household of faith.

Continue reading →

You’re Invited To…

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You're Invited!

I don’t invite people to attend our church.

Does that seem strange to you?

It’s not because I don’t want people to come. I do. We don’t turn people away. We feel incredibly blessed whenever someone chooses to gather with us.

It’s also not because we want to keep our congregation as small as possible. I look forward to the day when people from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people gather to worship our God together in unity. Worshiping among the multitude that no one can number is going to be awesome. Truly.

But inviting people to church is putting the cart before the horse. It has deep implications on our gatherings. I believe it’s harmful.

So, I don’t invite people to come to our church. I invite people to come to Christ.

Continue reading →

Shifting The Church’s Foundation

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Flimsy Foundation
My wife and I have seven children (so far). The oldest is 9. The youngest is 4 months. Nope, no twins. We’re not trying to set a world record. We don’t want our own reality TV show. We just seem to be particularly fruitful in this area.

As we teach our children about the Bible it’s delightful to see them grow in their understanding of who God is. I enjoy seeing them get the bigger picture. It makes me laugh when our kids realize they can answer many questions by blurting out “God” or “Jesus.”

This practice is not restricted to children. It is a mark of spiritual immaturity. It is often praised for its simplicity and child-like faith. However, children are supposed to grow. So are we.

If I were to ask you, “What is the foundation of the church?” what would you say? Would you blurt out “Jesus!” without thinking? If so, you’d be close.

But you’d be wrong.

Before you burn me as a heretic look what God’s Word says about the foundation of the church: Continue reading →

The Problem of God’s Goodness

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The Problem of God's Goodness

Many people have heard of the “problem of evil” or the “problem of suffering” – but the problem of God’s goodness? For many people that’s a new one.

As I’ve shared the gospel over the years I have heard people bring up the problem of suffering many times. The basic version asserts that any god who is all-powerful, all-good, and all-knowing would eliminate suffering and ensure that bad things don’t happen to good people. Yet, clearly the world contains much suffering.

Many people who are seemingly decent have terrible things happen to them. Human action can’t account for all of the suffering either. Natural disasters bring suffering to both kind and unkind people equally.

Of course, this philosophical objection is merely a straw man. It may be a strong argument against the god of the philosophers. This god exists only in theory. It is a non-argument against the living God revealed in the Bible. The reason is not because the logic fails. The reason is because the argument fails to account for God’s goodness.

The problem of God’s goodness is the one we need to worry about. Continue reading →

Bold Humility

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Increase and Decrease

I always enjoy seeing how different movies characterize John the Baptist. In the portrayals I’ve seen he usually looks like a wild-eyed lunatic.

I get it. He lived in the desert. He ate bugs and honey. He wore a belt.

None of this means he lived like a crazy person.

No doubt John was a bit eccentric. Jesus had pretty high praise for John, though.

I tell you the truth, among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. (Matthew 11:11a NET)

There are many noteworthy characteristics in John’s life and ministry. However, one always stands out to me. And it wasn’t that he ate honey or that he wore a belt. Continue reading →

10 Things to Think About

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Holiday stress

There’s no shortage of stuff to think about. As the holiday season approaches people are busy making plans and preparations for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year.

Food. Travel. Presents. Family. Weather.

Sounds relaxing, doesn’t it?

In the midst of all the hustle and bustle we can let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. It’s what Christians are called to do. We can certainly be thankful for this. Continue reading →

The Greatest Value

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value

One of my favorite holidays is approaching followed immediately by one of my least favorite days of the year: Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

I like to eat. I hate to shop. I love jellied cranberry sauce. I strongly dislike waiting in lines. I desire to cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude in my heart and home. I want to put to death the covetousness that dwells in my flesh in obedience to God’s Word.

Immediately following a day that is supposed to be dedicated to giving thanks for what we have is a day that offers deals on everything we don’t. People will wait in lines, sleep outside, and fight with each other to get the best value on stuff that no one really needs but seemingly everyone wants.

As we get closer to Black Friday I am thankful that the greatest value is something that I don’t need to wait in line for or wrestle out of someone else’s hands. Neither do you. Continue reading →

The Struggle is Real

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Some Trails Are Hard to Follow

I had the privilege last weekend to share the gospel together with Christians from four different local churches. I love the unity of believers who worship the same God but in a different building than I do.

Over the years of walking with Jesus I have had countless conversations with non-believers about the gospel. Last weekend I had a conversation with a young man that I feel like I’ve had a thousand times all by itself.

This particular young man was kind, candid, gracious, and polite. As is the case with many non-believers, he had never personally read the whole Bible for himself. His understanding of Christianity was based primarily on his experience living in America.

Hearing Christian cliches. Reading bumper stickers. Talking with people who identify themselves as Christians. Seeing stereotypical Christians portrayed in the media.

During our conversation this young man said to me something along these lines (I’m paraphrasing): “I just find it hard, personally, to believe in a god that doesn’t care about all the suffering in the world. A god who is supposedly all good and loving and powerful, yet who seems to maybe even enjoy allowing so much bad stuff to happen. If some people want to believe in god because it gives them hope, I get that. But I don’t.” Continue reading →