Leader || Preacher || Teacher
Leaving home for Mobile, Alabama gave me visions of an ocean’s worth of possibilities, the endless freedom of setting my sails to the wind and plotting my own course.
Instead what I was greeted with was a long dusty desert road of poor choices, failures, and an abandonment of all things spiritual.
Yet, it was on this path that I was found.
Continue reading “Nothing Can Stand in the Way of You Following Jesus”
It’s been a great week for sports. Tiger Wood’s comeback victory to win the Masters after an 11 -year hiatus from major victories was amazing. Most people thought his career was finished. Many thought that he would never win a major event again.
How do you know when something or someone is finished?
Continue reading “It is Finished but it’s Not Over”
I had made up my mind that I wanted to try out for the 7th-grade basketball team. I stood up in class in response to the directions heard over the intercom that all who were interested were to meet in the gym. A guy in my class, I’ll call him “Tom”, pointed his finger at me and laughed saying, “You think you are good enough to make the team?” I was embarrassed. I went to tryouts but
“He’s been dead for 45 minutes.” These were the words given to Joyce Smith when she saw her son John for the first time after he had been retrieved from the frozen waters of Lake Saint Louise. Doctors and medical staff worked diligently to try and bring life to his lifeless body. Joyce worked continually in prayer for her son. What happened next defies explanation.
Continue reading “Live a Life of Love: There is No Try”
It is not common to pull up into a restaurant parking lot for breakfast only to see a car slowly roll past you going backwards. “Wow, nice car! Huh, why is it rolling backwards across the parking lot? Why isn’t there anyone driving it? Oh no, its headed for that bank!” One moment I’m exiting my vehicle thinking about a tasty breakfast and the next I’m sprinting behind an unmanned car. I am the only thing standing in the way of this Porsche Panamera from crashing into a bank. That’s right I “risked my life” to save a luxury car from crashing into a financial institution. ‘Merica!
Years ago, I asked a student minister to share his testimony with me. He was sitting across from me in local coffee shop. We were just getting to know each other. He told me how he read the right Bible in the right way. How he was baptized with right understanding, in the right mode. How he worshipped in the right church, with the right hierarchy, with the right acts of worship. I said, “That’s great. Could you say that again this time mentioning Jesus and his grace?” I am certain this is how many in my Christian tribe would tell their testimony today. Why? Because it was once how I told mine. Continue reading “Selfie-Centered Gospel”
Acts 9 is not a passage that was included in Luke’s writings to teach us about baptism. It is there to tell us about the profound conversion experience and calling of Saul (Paul) and it includes his baptism. Paul is met by Jesus on the road to Damascus and is forever changed. Paul meets Jesus and is told what to do by Ananias and all that happens; his persecution of followers of the Way, the bright light, the voice of Jesus, the blindness, the fasting, his new calling, and his baptism are all included in his testimony. Continue reading “Next Step || Baptism & Calling”
Romans 6:1-7 (NIV) What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Continue reading “Be Buried to Be Free || Sin | Grace | Baptism”
Salvation is not limited to any temporal aspect. It is not limited to any specific time and place. Salvation is all encompassing. Salvation is through Jesus Christ and includes the past, present, and future. To help us connect salvation to the past we will refer to it as our justification. Salvation in the present is our sanctification and salvation in the future is our glorification.
A life without pain may mean that we have resigned to helplessness and hopelessness. A pain free life sounds great but it may be that we have grown numb or that we are self-medicating to stay numb. A pain free life may mean that we have also become numb to joy and love. In our efforts to avoid pain to try and spare ourselves from the worst, we may inadvertently choose to miss out on God’s best. Pain is a gift, but it is the gift that no one wants. We don’t want it because the problem with pain is that it cannot be switched off. Continue reading “The Gift of Pain”