The Blog
Perfect Citizens-NOT
God’s kingdom operates according to the rules of His kingdom. Repentance is simply agreeing to live according to the rules of God’s kingdom. Why would God allow anyone into His kingdom (where salvation is found) who refuses to live according to the rules of His kingdom? Of course, living in God’s kingdom does not mean that we are all perfect little citizens, either.
Gospel Feet
It is the feet of Christ—broken and bloodied by a nail on a cross at Calvary—it is His beautiful feet that come down from the heavenly Mount Zion to bring good news, the gospel, to proclaim and deliver God’s peace forever more.
Witness in Love
God wants us to bear witness with His word, at least. But He also wants us to bear witness with His love, too.
Second Chances
The message of Jonah is ultimately MISSIONAL. In fact, that is the ultimate message of the whole Bible. The application of the revelation of God must always be the mission of God in Christ Jesus to the ends of the earth.
Huge Fish
God has given us His word, by His sovereign grace, for two reasons, at least. First, God gave us His word to reveal who He is so that we might come to faith in Christ Jesus. And second, God gave us His word so that we might live according to His word—to live according to His plan and purpose and design for our lives—that is, to live in the kingdom of God.
Work of the Lord
Most of the time, we want God to help us through the challenges and struggles we face in our lives, but those challenges and struggles have nothing to do with the kingdom of God. On the other hand, when we give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord, God will most certainly help us through every challenge and struggle we face. That’s God’s economy.
Of First Importance
The fact that there are different interpretations on all kinds of matters in the Bible begs the question: what is the main thing, then? The Apostle Paul tells us what the main thing is: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Him crucified, resurrected, and returning. Faith in Christ draws us into the law of Christ: loving God and loving others, as ourselves.
The First Vote
The bottom line is that Paul is not restricting women from talking in church services, nor is he restricting women from teaching men. Paul is concerned about fostering peace between husbands and wives for the sake of their marriage and for the sake of Christian witness.
Bored Faith
We formulate and develop experiences to help us draw closer to God, but the great irony is that great experiences may actually draw us further away from God, because God is not in the experience. God is God. And God is Spirit. And we encounter God spirit to Spirit in loving fellowship and relationship, regardless of the “sphere” that we devise for the “experience.”
Way of Love
The way of love edifies the church. There is nothing wrong with edifying oneself to draw close to God. But edifying others is better, more mature, more spiritual.