When you become a follower of Christ, you are signing up for something that is more like a marathon than a 100-yard sprint. Friedrich Nietzsche, who was no friend of Christianity, demonstrated real wisdom in the following statement: “The essential thing ‘in heaven and earth’ is ……. that there should be long obedience in the […]
Living the Kingdom on Earth
Discipleship (Page 3)
About two and a half months ago, our church lost a dear Christian brother, Ed Sidebottom, in a backyard accident. Ed was a great blessing to many of the people in our congregation. He wasn’t the most articulate person in the world. But he loved the Lord and he loved people. He had the spiritual […]
At the beginning of Jesus’ last week on earth, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. There were a couple of reasons why Jesus rode into town that first Palm Sunday on such a humble animal. First of all, it fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 that was written over 500 years before Christ’s first […]
On many occasions, the four Gospels reveal Jesus speaking on the topic of money and material wealth. A couple of reasons come to my mind to explain this emphasis. First of all, we are both spiritual and physical beings. As physical beings we are going to need and consume physical resources. In fact, our spiritual […]
Many Pro Football coaches would say that Jason Witten of the Dallas Cowboys has been one of the top 3 tight ends, along with Rob Gronkowski & Tony Gonzalez, in the National Football League for the last decade and a half. He has played in the League about 14 years. He’s a shoo-in for the […]
A few days ago I read an interview that Stephen Curry did with Stephen Copeland from Sports Spectrum magazine before the 2012/2013 season. One of the interesting things about this article is that it was written before Curry’s stardom in which his team, the Golden State Warriors, won the NBA Championship in the 2014/2015 season. […]
It is no accident that Christ experienced the Transfiguration in Mathew 17. This is a mountaintop experience above all mountaintop experiences. It happened right after Jesus’ first explicit teaching of his upcoming arrest, crucifixion and resurrection in Mathew 16:21. Suffering, spiritual power and glory are always held and experienced in dynamic tension within a Christian […]
We all like to think we have strong character and that our relationships with those in our family and church fellowship are substantive and loving. But I believe that it is in the fiery trials of life and how we respond to them which really determine the quality of our character and relationships. Are You […]
In this blog I would like to look at the last saying of Christ on the cross that is recorded in Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. Willful Blindness There is a dynamic tension in these words. The “them” that Jesus is talking about must be guilty […]
The Power of Biblical Images The manger in Bethlehem, the yoke of an oxen, the cross on Golgotha, the broken bread in the Lord’s Supper are all biblical images which convey important truths about the person and work of Jesus Christ. They also convey important truths about the nature of Christian discipleship in today’s world. […]