You’ve received Christ, and all your sins are covered under the blood of Jesus. Now it’s time to get on with your new life—shape up or ship out! Ouch! We can’t only address our behavior: Behave right! Look right! Act right! We need more than a surface cleaning–we need transformation. The whole gospel deals with… Read More
Know your roots
Roots are the underground part of a seed plant body and are the organs of consumption, aeration, and food storage. They also act as a structural anchorage and support the plant. The spiritual definition of roots is similar: structures that support one’s spiritual outlook on life. The roots nourish the rest of a person’s life… Read More
Honor your parents
Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 5:16 (NLT) Notice that this is the only commandment in the Bible with a promise about the way life operates. Jesus always subordinated his life and… Read More
No one is an island
Most Americans think individually, not corporately. Because we don’t think corporately, we aren’t really aware of what our sin does to other people. Our repentance is therefore incomplete. There is no sin that you can do that is private, no matter how secretly it was committed. Every sin you do afflicts the body of Christ… Read More
The jig’s up
David was tired of going to war as the Lord commanded, so he took a little vacation. Then he saw this woman—WOWSERS! What a woman! They were two consenting adults—where was the harm? Secret lust. Secret sex. But it’s hard to keep pregnancy secret for too long—and this secret was out before they ever got… Read More
No excuses
Read the story of the Lord’s rejection of Saul as king of Israel in 1 Samuel 15. God gave a very specific set of instructions, which Saul listened to, then went ahead and did his own thing. (Sound familiar?) The prophet Samuel was sent by God to confront Saul. Saul told Samuel, “I obeyed the… Read More
Prayer and work go hand-in-hand
Pray about everything. Then pray some more. But at some point, we have to quit praying and start acting. ~Mark Batterson in Draw the Circle: The 40 day prayer challenge Mark Batterson makes the point in Draw the Circle: The 40 day prayer challenge that we get spiritually stuck when we misunderstand our role as followers of Jesus… Read More
