In Spirit and Truth

We speak often about making disciples by sharing God’s love, one person at a time. This is our mission, and one of the two main purposes of our existence. But why is this sentence so much easier to say than to implement? It all has to do with your eyes. Pastor Cindy recently ditched the glasses in favor of a new way of seeing. She now has contacts that are training her eyes to see one eye at a time. One for distance, and one for close up. She told me it was going to take from two to four weeks for her eyes to adjust. Right now everything is blurry, but in time she should be able to see more clearly without the hassle of glasses. In order to accomplish our mission, we too have to ditch our current way of seeing in favor of a new worldview. We need to train our eyes to see that we are ministers of reconciliation for God, and that we, and no one else, are responsible for sharing God's love. We need to train our eyes to see the hurt, confusion, and disillusionment of those around us, a...

Psalm 147:11 “the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Psalm 149:4 “For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.” You have probably heard the words, “God loves you,” a few hundred times. But did you know that God likes you?! Not only does He like you, but He delights in you! I know, I know…It took me a while to believe too! But God really enjoys being around you! If we could wrap our minds around this amazing truth, being a disciple of Jesus would be so much easier! It is hard to find the time to pray, or spend time in the scriptures, or fast, or…well you get the picture. It becomes even harder when we think that we are approaching a God with His arms crossed, foot tapping, and eyes glaring, because He knows how long it’s been since we were last with Him. But this is not the picture that Scripture gives us of God! Romans 8:15 tells us that we were freed from fear, and released into being chosen by God. “For yo...

It is one of the oldest and longest running issues in the church. How shall we worship? For those earliest Jewish followers of Jesus, it must have come as some surprise that Gentile believers didn’t worship the way they did. The Apostles decided at the council at Jerusalem (Acts 15) what things were and were not essential. Much later, we see the battle shift focus from cultural laws to spoken language. In what language shall we worship? Again history repeats itself and it was decided that each people group could worship in their own language. Even the churches that historically resisted have now come to the same conclusion. Today the battle has shifted from language vernacular back to cultural vernacular and we are faced with the question, "How shall we worship?" We could easily fall into the mindset that pervades history, and declare that worship should look for everyone like it looks for us. But that mindset is not a biblical one. Scripture dictates the content of our worsh...

Yes, it's that time of the year again! It's time for a brand new calendar; a clean slate of endless possibilities, with all those empty boxes begging to be filled. We are a resolved people! We are resolved to do better this year than last, to love stronger, to forgive easier, to exercise more, and eat less. Every year it’s the same. We resolve to produce more positive fruit! And every year, it only takes a few weeks to get disillusioned and downhearted. So how will we make this year different? How can we enter the New Year in such a way that we meet our resolution expectations? Believe it or not, scripture offers us an answer. In John 15:5 Jesus says, "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." We abide in Christ as He abides in us. It is honestly a little freeing to hear Jesus say, "Apart from me you can do nothing." I cannot tell you how encouraging it is ...

"Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these [truths of the Gospel], even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right…to stir you up by way of reminder," – 2 Peter 1:12-13 I find this time of year, that it is easy to quickly rehearse the Christmas story and, because I have heard it so many times, gloss over it, and not give it the attention it deserves. I know the story well. I could quote it to you without thinking: 2+2=4! Virgin Mary + Baby Jesus = Christmas Story! Shepherds x Wiseman = rocking party + (cool gifts)3. It’s formulaic. Here just days away from Christmas, I need my heart stirred up by way of reminder. I need to be reminded that the God of the ages, who is too awesome to be contained by the heavens, put on flesh and lived the human life for thirty-three years. I need to be reminded that God submitted not only to a human life, but submitted to nine months in the womb; submi...

Recently Kristin and I found out we were expecting our second child. That revelation brought with it a flurry of activity! Expectation changes behavior. Overnight her diet changed – more fruit, more protein, and pre-natal vitamins. We began to think about names. We began to make mental lists to make sure we were ready for the arrival of this new baby. Expectation changes perception. Suddenly she understood why she was over-tired. She understood why she was more emotional than normal. When she viewed those emotions and feelings through the lens of pregnancy it all made sense. Expectation changes priorities. Because we are expecting, we are intentional with what she eats, we are intentional with how late we stay out, and we are intentional with preparing for that which we expect. In the midst of this I think of Mary. Betrothed to be married, she was expecting. She was already making her plans; she was already in the middle of rearranged priorities. She was expecting a wedding. Then the A...

#211 in our United Methodist Hymnal has, for some time, been my favorite song of the Christmas season. The haunting melody bears the familiar pain of the exile, and yet this song about deep desire and current pain is filled with hope. Not just any hope, but hope of deliverance. It is the hope for the return of God. Emmanuel had been here before. Adam and Eve walked with Him in the cool of the day. But those days are long forgotten. The years of rebellion had pushed them so far away that all they had left was an ache to be remembered. O come, O come Emmanuel! Can you identify with this song? Christ came and brought about our redemption. He walked with us in the cool of the day. But years of rebellion have pushed our world to the edge of evil. Listen to the echoes of wars and conflict. Those wars happen between countries, but they also happen between family members, they happen between friends. A thousand shattered relationships make us cry out, "O come! O come, Emmanuel!" We a...