August 23, 2019 – I long to experience more in my relationship with God. In one breath I utter these words and in the next I simply move on with life. I live with a type of practical agnosticism that limits my ability to walk with God. I am more consistent today than I ever have been with spending time with God in His word and in prayer, but I come to the end of the day and realize that the rest of the day was basically spent living in my own strength.

___________________________

Looking back over that journal entry I can see the pull of the Holy Spirit on my heart. To be authentic and to grow in Christ, we have to learn to surrender every moment to him. By that I mean we have to overcome what we have learned about being efficient and being productive in our work. Ten tasks completed in a day for God are far less valuable that one task completed with God. MORE is a two-way invitation. An invitation from God for us to walk with him, and an invitation from us that opens our heart for him to walk with us. His invitation is a calling, and our invitation is a surrendered heart. This is how we experience God more. This is how we experience more of God. We must be united with him and walk in a oneness with the Holy Spirit.

___________________________

I have to be honest. Sometimes I wonder if giving human beings the freedom to choose was really the best decision. Of course, who am I to question the wisdom and goodness of God. Our carelessness in the manner in which we live cannot be blamed on God for giving us freedom. The responsibility rests squarely upon our shoulders.

____________________________

August 19, 2019 – God didn’t give us the bible as a collection of wise sayings, but rather as a guidebook for how to surrender our lives completely to him. Holiness isn’t a goal. It is what we are designed and set free to become. And yet, we are given a choice. Thus, enters the word, “intentional.” We must choose a melding of attitude, motive, and action that produces in us, a reflection of Christ.

____________________________

The genius of God’s wisdom is that the freedom we have been given produces within us a healthy dependence upon God. This is the opposite of what we think of when we think of freedom. Many would suggest that freedom gives us independence, but not when we surrender to the wisdom of God. We need Jesus. We are not self-sufficient. We don’t have all the answers. We are not the “Masters of the Universe.” Our dependence upon God produces in us ears to hear and eyes to see and hearts fully devoted to Him alone. Son, find freedom in the wisdom of God. And, yes, he meant to do that.

____________________________

__________________________

Son, I know I’ve told you many times that you are loved by God. This excerpt from Paul’s teaching is so amazing on many levels. God has a purpose in saving us that reaches beyond just forgiveness and eternal life. Or maybe better yet, the idea of being God’s masterpiece redefines eternal life for us. Eternal life isn’t just what we enter after we die. Eternal life begins when we surrender our lives to Christ. We are created anew so that we can do—how cool is that!

__________________________

August 16, 2019 - Sin and death vie for the position of being strongholds in our lives. I have been guilty of seeing a particular stronghold as a thorn in the flesh, similar to that to which Paul referred in his own life. That is such a lie from Satan! God would never leave us enslaved to sin in any way. Not to keep us humble nor to reign us in. Jesus died so that we might be totally and completely set free. God’s workmanship in us trumps any stronghold of the devil.

__________________________

What do you really believe about God’s power and all he meant when he made you? Believe. He loves you and has given you LIFE!

__________________________

August 10, 2019 – How do you help someone seek God’s will? Maybe the better question is why do so many people struggle to find their purpose in life? Are we distracted by too many opinions? How many voices can one person listen to?  MY GOAL:  Help people wake up, clear the mechanism, and know God’s voice above the crowd.

____________________________

So much of life is lived without any sense of urgency. We allow all the “voices” of the world to distract us because often, we don’t see the harm. Many who call themselves followers of God, give the wisdom of this world equal footing and authority in their lives alongside scripture. Business principles and leadership gurus are allowed to have a seat at the table of our hearts. I could go on, but the point is, Son, wake up to this reality and check YOUR heart. Don’t let this be true of you, your leadership, or your ministry. Here are a few thoughts that I believe can help us really lead and love others well:

1. Listen to God first. Assume the Holy Spirit is always providing counsel.
2. Set up emergency procedures. The wisdom of the world can be deceptively good. Make sure you have a place to go to get away and listen to God. "Best practices" and Faith practices often stand in stark contrast with one another. See stories all throughout scripture if you need examples.
3. Invite God into everything. We can be guilty of separating our guiding principles from the nuts and bolts of our actions. All should be aligned properly.
4. Two steps forward and one step back. Keep coming back to scripture. The extra step of re-evaluation may be inefficient, but so worth it.

____________________________

__________________________

My grandpa used to tell me that a short pencil is better than a long memory any day. He is so right! That scene inside SpongeBob’s brain searching through all the filing cabinets to find the memory of his name is starting to feel all too true lately. I have reached the point where I can watch movies that I’ve seen before and it’s like watching them for the first time all over again. Such is life. Whether we like it or not there is a limit to our capacity to remember details. While this can be a shot to the ego and somewhat lamentable, the larger tragedy is that so many of our experiences of learning and growing and walking with God are forgotten and will never be passed on to others.

Several times in John’s gospel writing, and in his letters, John tells us that his account of the life of Jesus and the teachings that he shares are intended to provide the assurance we need to believe. It was important to John to write things down so that people could read his eyewitness account and believe in the story of Jesus. Why don’t we do this? Now, I realize we don’t need another gospel account, and besides that, we’re not firsthand eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life. However, we do have a story to share, the story of what we have seen and experienced of God. And guess what, it’s not for our sake that people remember our lives, but so that people will be able to know God—that the next generation can have confidence and know why we chose to deny self, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus. Paul said it well in Romans 10:14, “…and how can they hear unless someone tells them.” Take a moment today to remember, and write it down.

__________________________

There is a great old Farside cartoon where a salesman is approaching a house and is greeted at the gate by a sign reading, "Beware of Doug."

I think I liked this Far Side cartoon so much partially because my dad’s name is Doug. It still makes me laugh. On to a more serious note though! The Bible is filled with Beware of… signs. Maybe the biggest of these would say, Beware of Pride.

___________________________

August 3, 2019 – It is so easy to see where all the people around me fail. Heck, I can even see where they are going to fail before it happens. It is so nice that I don’t have their same issues…right? R—i—g—h—t.

___________________________

___________________________

Pride really is a bugger. On one hand you want to take pride in what you do so that you’ll strive for excellence, and then the next moment you have to reject pride so that you don’t become self-centered. The key is to always seek the welfare and restoration of a person’s relationship with God. Sin damages and separates. God wants to use us to bring others back into true fellowship with him.

___________________________

____________________________

I have a question for you today: If someone spied on you every day this week, what would they say you love more than anything else? You might think, “That’s not fair! If they are just spying on me, how would they really know? They need to talk to me to know me.” Well, the truth is, most people will know you more from what you do than what you say. That is even true of your own family, living in your house.

But now, let’s flip this conversation around and talk about the implications of all this on your walk with God.

____________________________

July 27, 2019 – Confidence in what we believe is such a powerful thing. Why are we so prone to doubt? The world we live in doesn’t make it easy to believe in Jesus, or much less live for him. It’s not so much the direct opposition, though that is definitely growing stronger, as it is the myriad of distractions that vie for our attention. The world likes to keep us bouncing from one thing to another with the fear of missing out, leaving us with divided hearts and very ordinary experiences. Things lose their luster quickly because we lack zeal. We cannot be half-hearted in our love and pursuit of God. He was certainly not that in his love and pursuit of us.

____________________________

As you pause a moment today and honestly evaluate your life and walk with God, don’t beat yourself up for where you are right now. Instead, propel yourself forward with some heart-and-soul passion for Jesus. May it be said of you, “I don’t know him, but I know this, he loves God more than anything. Just look at the way he lives.”

We learn early on that being near-sighted means that a person has trouble bringing things that are farther away into focus. In a way, many people suffer from a sort of spiritual near-sightedness. The perspective they have is so small they can’t really see beyond themselves and the moment in time in which they are living.

____________________________

June 23, 2020 – Today, I sit outside, and it gives me a greater perspective of this moment in history. We all have the tendency to elevate our moment as the most important period in the history of the world. Thank God for his larger story! Today is today. It is filled with its version of life and death and victory and tragedy. It is no different than any other day. Do we really believe that our lives, the time in which we live, and the decisions that we make in this moment are more significant than those who lived before us, or those who will come after us? God is on his throne. Jesus is our savior. The Holy Spirit is our comforter and guide. YESTERDAY-TODAY-FOREVER! Our mission is the same as that of our forefathers. In turn, we will pass on this same mission to our children and grandchildren. The issues and cries of our day must not be allowed to derail us in any way. If our lives are a part of a larger story—a God-sized story—then what we do matters. We have been tasked to be disciple-making disciples and ambassadors of Jesus’ ministry of bringing people into right-standing with God.

____________________________

According to Jewish tradition redemption is one of three distinct acts of God. Creation, the beginning of all things, revelation, the ongoing process, and redemption, the end of all things. In a way, Jewish tradition has it right up to a point. However, redemption isn’t the end of all things, but the restoration of all things to the glory of God’s original creation.

_________________________

July 22, 2019 – In John Eldredge’s book, All Things New, he talks about the concept of the redemption and restoration of everything in creation. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting a little older, but this idea has taken on a great deal of importance for me personally. I think of all the things about my life that I regret or that have been such struggles. I think of so many shattered dreams because of bad decisions here or there, missed opportunities with our family that are forever gone, or just wasted time. I find a lot of hope in the fact that one day I will live on a new, restored earth, full of glory, where we can experience all of its wonder. My body won’t be fat. Money will never be an obstacle. Opportunities will never again be lost!

_________________________

Son, I don’t know where you are and what all is on your mind as you read this today, but I want to encourage you to stop and take a moment to dream of what this redemption will look like. I used to think about Star Trek’s nexus where Kirk relived moments of his life and Picard had the life he never actually experienced with a family. In the end, it just wasn’t real. Redemption… now that’s a far better hope as all things become new.

_________________________

_________________________

____________________________

Sometimes believers have really bad habits when it comes to reading God’s word. This excerpt from the prayer of Jesus for his disciples has coined the phrase “in the world, but not of the world.” On the surface that seems like a fair assessment of what Jesus was praying until you start to see how it is being lived out in a person’s life. Too often, Christians, in an attempt to remain relevant, try to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God. Since when did living for Christ become irrelevant? The Kingdom of God and the lifestyle of this world will never mix well. A believer’s life will feel torn apart trying to live this way. Jesus taught his disciples to love others the way they had experienced his love for them. This is what the world needs from true followers of Jesus more than anything! I would go so far as to say that the world despises our attempts at living to reflect culture and yet proclaiming a new and better life found in Christ. It doesn’t even make sense. Worse, I believe our “worldly relevance” is the most damaging and unattractive characteristic of modern Christianity. A world trapped in brokenness and pain is looking for something that is not one foot in and one foot out, but something that is wholly different.

____________________________

Son, do you remember in school when you were taught about the origin of our educational systems? Schools are a fairly modern invention. Prior to that, families or individuals would pay an educated man for the right to become his apprentice. There were no classrooms, no lectures, no homework assignments, there was just life. Sometimes apprentices even went and lived with the “Master Teacher” for a time period. This was the best way to ensure that the learners would understand and master the skills and knowledge of their teacher. The longer I live, the more I see the genius of this educational system. Knowledge, wisdom, and experience all gained at the same time under the leadership of a master. Is this not the way Jesus called out and educated his disciples? Each one of them, after Jesus’ resurrection, went on to be a teacher in one way or another. This is the exact model for discipleship which Paul carried on with Timothy.

___________________________

___________________________

This is important. Whether Jesus returns today or a thousand years from now, our hope is in the gospel being passed on from one generation to the next. I say “our” hope because our predecessors were faithful, and so we too must continue the chain of disciple making for others as well. Can you envision a world without the bible? I can, at least in so far as it being less accessible than it is currently. Can we teach the message of the Bible without access to one? Only if we start now on an apprentice-style journey to become a Master Teacher who will entrust these things to faithful apprentices.

___________________________

Growing up at the tail end of the Cold War and the debate over nuclear power in our country, I heard the word “fallout” almost daily in both school and on television. Everyone was concerned, and with good reason. It was an unsettling time period in history. Fallout is the result of something catastrophic.

What will be the fallout if we stop serving God with a whole heart? The world we live in asks this of us all the time, saying “Hey, it’s okay if you want to be a Christian, but there’s no need for it to interfere with the rest of your life, and whatever you do, please, don’t involve others in your religious convictions.” Whether or not you’ve heard those exact words, you have, no doubt, witnessed something to that effect. Even worse, how many “Christians” do you know who profess to believe one thing, but then live something entirely different. If we’re not humble, we too, may choose this kind of divided life.

_____________________________

_____________________________

There are places on earth where people have never heard of God. How did this happen? The fallout. Son, please, live whole-heartedly for God and lead others to do the same.

upheaval (noun) - a violent or sudden change or disruption to something.

___________________________

That word can be used to describe much in our world today. It seems like every issue, big or small, produces more and more upheaval. Never in history has a public platform existed as it does today, where information, fact or fiction, can circle the globe in minutes. Son, I warn you because I believe this platform is where our enemy wants us to fight our battles.

___________________________

June 8, 2020 – I am so conflicted inside. Like everyone, I want to put certain issues behind us as a people. The thing is, I feel that all our efforts will fall woefully short unless we dig deeper and address our true enemy. Through social media, Satan has our focus firmly fixed on attacking and correcting humanity, all the while continuing to stir the pot of strife, hatred, and war. Paul was right. We must not be conformed to this world. We must not fight against flesh and blood. We must take our stand, but not to please others or mimic the lost world’s response. We must be different. We must jump out of the strong current of upheaval. Otherwise we are not standing and leading, but rather being swept along with everyone else. It is time to take our battle and lay it at the feet of Jesus. He has won the high ground, and it’s time we face our enemy from that vantage point.

___________________________

___________________________

We must learn how to fight our battles on our knees and disarm our enemy with a life of honor, peace, and good deeds.

___________________________

_____________________________

Many things in scripture can be difficult to understand, the elect, the Trinity, the tension between grace and truth. Eternity is a concept that is too great for the human mind to fully comprehend. However, you don’t have to understand something completely in order to believe. The faith of a child is one that believes without any hesitation. As we grow older, we often lose this kind of faith. It’s not a bad thing to explore and gain a deeper understanding, but where your mind reaches its limits, faith must take over. At some point you will have to take a leap from the lion’s head.

Without God, life would be trivial, accidental, and selfish, with no real basis of right and wrong—meaningless and totally hopeless. Thus, our hearts search for significance in the existence of something greater than man alone. Eventually, this search brings us to the story of Jesus. Many religions have peaceful teachings and wise sayings, but the story of Jesus is different. We are confronted with things like prophecy and ancient stories and incredible self-sacrifice. The most convincing characters for me are the apostles. It cost them everything to follow Jesus. They didn’t even understand what he was up to until his resurrection. These men, who ran away in fear, came back with the confidence to live and die for Jesus after seeing him alive again. Paul tried to exterminate Christians and then became one because of an encounter with the resurrected Jesus. Our leap of faith isn’t based simply on stories in a book, but on the testimony of those who saw Jesus risen. Other religions have wise teachers, but none have a resurrected Savior. I may not have an answer for every question, but because of the resurrection, I’m willing to take some things on faith.

_____________________________

_____________________________

Every contract has a line with those words underneath indicating the place where you sign and enter into a binding agreement. Before contracts, men gave their word alone, sealing their commitment with a handshake. An agreement meant something to everyone involved. That is still true.

__________________________

July 13, 2019 – I’ve spent a lot of my life stuck in the struggle between walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit. With good intentions, I have been taught that sin is appealing. That’s why we give in to it so easily. The problem with that line of thinking is that it creates an unintended agreement that brings us back or enslaves us to our sin. Things like, “If it didn’t bring pleasure, we wouldn’t do it,” may seem right on the surface, but the idea creates a bond with sin that we don’t need in our lives. That bond must be broken, once and for all, in order for us to truly walk in freedom with the Spirit. Not only must I see that sin is wrong, but that there is NO PLEASURE in it at all. That kind of pleasure comes at too great a cost.

__________________________

Once again, Satan’s name means deceiver. He and his demons are master salesmen when it comes to sin. Think how easily an advertisement gets stuck in your head. Whether it’s true or not, we can repeat it word for word, and before too long, we sign the agreement to make the purchase. Son, this is something you can’t afford. The cost is too great. Sin does not bring pleasure. Sin brings death and separation from God. That’s all.

__________________________

They say that perception is nine-tenths of reality, but isn’t reality just simply reality no matter what we perceive? While living off of perception alone may be common in the world we live in today, it is dangerous business. That is why Paul cautions us to believe in, and fight for, the truth of Christ.

__________________________

__________________________

Why is it so important that we think correctly? Because our thought life ultimately shows up in our actions each day.

__________________________

__________________________

In other words, thoughts are powerful enough to drive our emotions, and together our thoughts and emotions produce our actions. How then do you wish to live? By perceived truth, or by actual truth? Reality is reality. Truth is a person, unchanging—existing beyond the corruption of this world. What are you thinking? Are you willing to capture and submit your thoughts to the truth revealed in Christ? Only then will you find reality.

__________________________

___________________________

The Jailer, the rich young ruler, Nicodemus, and the entire world all ask the same question. This question represents the first response we have of surrendering our lives to Jesus. There is no arrogance in it. There is no self-reliance in it. There is no hidden motive. Simple surrender to an overwhelming need.

___________________________

___________________________

Some time ago the term “easy believism” surfaced in one of our small groups, so I did a bit of research. The term can be defined in several different ways, so be careful that you ask for a definition if someone brings it up. The crux of the issue centers around whether repentance is a requirement to be saved or is it the result of salvation. I have rolled this idea around and around in my head many times since that night. Any time I put my act of repentance before God’s gift of salvation, I end up with a salvation that is based on the works I do, rather than the grace God gives. Literally, the only thing we do to be saved is surrender. Once surrendered, repentance is the life we choose to live, by God’s grace.  I guess all those years of Vacation Bible School had it right all along. Giving your life to Jesus is as easy as A, B, C. Admit that you are a sinner in need of a savior. Believe that Jesus died for your sins and God raised him from the dead. Confess that Jesus is your Lord and your life belongs to him.

A – B – C – I guess that is pretty easy!

___________________________

Life often feels like a lot of zig zagging from one point to the next. What amazes me about this, is that looking backward over the many different places I have been, I can see a straight path. Somehow, God manages to use every experience through which he leads us to build or develop something in us. One stop along the way leads to the next and on we go. It is really amazing to see his hand at work, but that rarely comes when you’re in the middle of the process.

The reason it feels like we are constantly weaving our way down a very crooked road is because it never seems like we’re able to build up any momentum.  

___________________________

July 3, 2019 – I long for the fusion of what I am doing (busyness) with living out God’s plan and purpose for life (business). How can I be devoted to one thing, while constantly having to give my attention to a million other things. Feeling so divided makes it difficult to build any momentum.

___________________________

If what you do every day is more busyness than business, then you need to reevaluate what you’re doing. There will always be people and activities that will hound you for your time and attention. Choose wisely. In the book Boundaries for Leaders, the authors write, “Everything that exists in your life is either something you create or something you allow. You are ridiculously in charge!”

Ask God for wisdom. Trust his above all other voices. Then remember, time spent, is rarely worth the cost, but time invested, produces the greatest dividends.

___________________________

That question has been around for ages in many different forms. I like to rephrase it as, “What is the purpose of life?” Believe it or not, that answer is really simple. Jesus, and then Paul, spelled it out for us very clearly. The purpose of our life is to bring glory to God by being an ambassador of Christ in the ministry of reconciliation that he entrusted to us. That is true for me. That is true for you.

So then, we follow up with, “What does that mean? Could you put it in terms of, what is my life’s mission?” Okay, so here I would suggest we need a new question. We tend to ask questions like this from a very self-centered perspective. A better question to ask is, “Who is my life’s mission?” That shifts the focus off of just one’s self.  Son, there are people in your life that will listen to you above anyone else. That’s why God puts us in specific places or circumstances. He needs us to be available to him with open eyes and willing hearts. As your leadership grows, so will the number of people who God purposefully brings into your life. I feel like I need to say that this is not a bad thing. You want to grow your influence, but remember, it’s also not all about you. Ambassadors represent the entity that sent them. They usually have a very specific job with clearly defined parameters. For us, that is the ministry of helping people be reconciled to God through a relationship with Jesus. Then, one by one new followers of Christ become growing disciples who walk with God and live as ambassadors continuing this mission. Notice, it’s all about people. They are your life mission.

__________________________

Like everyone else, when such an important question arises, I turn to Google for a good definition:

Devotion is love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause.

If people were to look at your life, what would they say you are devoted to? I ask because it is impossible to hide true devotion, and it is very telling as to where our heart truly lies.

___________________________

July 1, 2019 – What if we are devoting ourselves to the wrong things? Or, what if we are never truly devoting ourselves to anything? Devotion to the right things leads to amazing results. With the church in Acts, people were being saved, people were generous as selfishness faded away, and even those outside of faith recognized something attractive in the way the believers lived.

___________________________

Apathy, a wandering spirit, and a lack of ambition are the inevitable results of a life devoid of devotion. We certainly have plenty of examples of what that looks like in the world around us. However, your biggest struggles will come when you devote yourself to the wrong things.

Devotion can be compared to creating the right combination of moisture and nutrients in the soil. It will produce growth. I actually say this as a warning because water and fertilizer don’t determine what grows, but simply that something does indeed grow. Likewise, devotion will grow anything in your life, good or bad. Be intentional about what becomes the object of your devotion.  

___________________________

____________________________

Can you sin while doing good? Certainly! Can you sin by doing good? Possibly. That is an interesting question. Since we reap what we sow, what if we continually settle for good things rather than pursuing the best things?

____________________________

June 18, 2019 – Do not grow weary in doing good. Why is that even a thing? 
Is it possible that we are guilty of over busying ourselves while still missing the point of life as a believer? Relationships are the key to unlocking the abundant life of being a follower of Christ. When we stay busy, relationships are the first to suffer. They become tedious when they should be life-giving. This is true for the introvert and extrovert alike. What if everything revolved around our relationships with God and other believers? What if we created real community? Too many things compete for our attention. We exhaust ourselves in doing, when we ought to invest our time in being.

____________________________

What I am trying to suggest is, life should move at the speed of relationships. Often our mentality is to create an event or activity to connect with people. Our approach needs to change so that we’re actually living life together as believers. This is a huge cultural shift for most of us, to move fellowship off our calendars and into how we define normal daily life. Exchange the good for the best.

__________________________

When I took Hebrew in college, our professor taught us that the word “perish,” which I underlined above, also can be translated “wander.” In other words, the destiny of the wicked is to wander through life, blown about by every new idea.

__________________________

June 14, 2019 – Why does it seem that so many young people lack commitment and resilience? I am frustrated by how quickly they abandon something because it is difficult or inconvenient. They don’t know how to persevere with something of value. They are so easily swept up into anything and anyone that offers an opinion and desires to sway the masses. If you value them and speak the truth, you are dismissed as irrelevant. If you use and manipulate them, then you are a god. It just doesn’t make sense.

__________________________

Wow, I guess I had rant-mode turned up to high when I wrote that journal entry! I would love to say I have an easy answer to fix this issue, but honestly Son, I want to caution you so that you don’t allow yourself to go down this path. Your generation has a tremendous desire to right the wrongs of this world and that is to your credit, but you are also plagued with an information overload that often strays more toward personal opinion than fact. This is why it is so important to firmly plant your feet on a solid foundation. Know what you believe. Filter everything through what you know to be true. The wind will blow, but like a well-watered and healthy tree with deep roots, you don’t have to be blown or broken by it.

Okay, so I couldn’t help myself since this is Day 66, of course, I had to include a Star Wars reference.

__________________________

__________________________

In a moment, an order was given and those who fought alongside them for entirety of the war, turned on them and the Jedi were caught off guard and destroyed. George Lucas may not have been trying to teach biblical principles, but he did. Now, I’m not saying that your friends are going to turn on you and try to kill you, at least I certainly hope not. What I am saying is, as long as we live on this planet, we have to deal with the reality of subtle deception and infiltration. Our walk with God is constantly in danger.

Influences come in many shapes and forms. What is entertainment one day, may quickly become a steady stream of immorality and selfisness the next. We have to be careful about what we allow into our lives. Paul wrote about this in his first letter to the Corinthians. He warned us that while we have freedom in Christ, there are some things in this world that are not profitable or beneficial to us. He implies that we’d be better off to lay aside our freedom, rather than allow ourselves to be led astray. I suppose it comes down to these questions: “How close do you want to be to God?” “Do you want to hear and respond to the Holy Spirit’s direction?” “Do you want to have peace and confidence in your decisions?” Then, do the hard things.

__________________________

__________________________

It’s not a building or specific location. There is no required minimum number of people. It can look different from one gathering to another. It can be formal or relaxed, but one thing it must be, is genuine.

___________________________

June 11, 2019 – The early church devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, and to prayer. They shared life together. They intentionally met to pray together. They took care of one another. They worshiped and ate meals together. They leaned on one another. They were respected and appreciated by those outside the church, and the Lord added to their number daily as people came to faith in Jesus.

___________________________

The Greek word, ἐκκλησία, pronounced ek-klay-see-uh, is translated most commonly as church. A better translation might be a gathering or assembly of people. A church begins as a handful of people coming together with a common purpose. I firmly believe that if we build our gatherings around the right things, reaching new people will be a natural result. Luke said it best in Acts:

___________________________

__________________________

A hidden heart is easily hardened and leads to our attempted justification of poor choices, but a humble heart can be restored through repentance.

__________________________

June 8, 2019 - Being humble when it is chosen by you is a wonderful thing. It benefits everyone. When you are humbled by circumstances or misdeeds, not so much. It is sorrowful. Most of us have experienced this side of humility far more often. The fact that pride leads to destruction seems to be one of the most ignored truths in all of scripture. Even though we have experienced it, we still allow pride to lead us down selfish paths to temporary pleasures. And yet, sin still gives birth to inescapable consequences. We have to break this cycle.

__________________________

So then, what are we to do? Son, I want to encourage you to awaken each day with a renewed sense of surrender and repentance. Pride and fall produce guilt and shame. We don’t need more of that in our lives. We can no longer choose to run and hide like Adam and Eve. It’s really kind of pointless anyway.  We can’t hide from God. Instead, we must daily turn toward God in humility, admit our wrongs, and allow him to hit the reset button and wipe away the memory of our sin.

__________________________