Can we continue to live radically committed to Christ in the bullpen and bus barn?
Tag: gospel
God is assembling a good and perfect plan through the parts and pieces we don’t understand.
Though he was a prophet, Jonah never quite caught God’s heart. Could the same be said of us?
We are called to be seed-casters. We have one job: faithfully spreading the seed everywhere we go. We cannot afford to get discouraged and drop out in stretches where we don’t yet see a yield.
Flourishing, truly growing up into the image of God, will take many seasons. Thank the Maker that He gives us time. Most of us have full decades to come to terms with the gospel and reckon our flesh with it’s uncomfortable truth. If it’s fast and easy, then we are weeds. If it’s frustratingly slow and strenuous, then we can trust that God is growing something enduring in us.
The geographical details of Nazareth provide additional insight into Jesus’ life and ministry.
“As he was scattering seed…” (Mark 4:4 NIV) The seed is the word of God and the primary job of the believer is seed spreading. Most places we plant seed will not produce results. Plant anyway. Much will be stolen, withered and choked out. Plant…
It seems to me that Jesus was endlessly uncomfortable and frequently filthy. Somehow amidst all this dirt and difficulty, He maintained spiritual purity so strong that He could reach out and make the unclean clean again.
Power plus the Holy Spirit plus conviction: these are the sure identifiers of adoption. If we are missing these crucial factors, are we really in Christ? Or perhaps, are we inoculated? Like any vaccine, we’ve received just enough gospel to believe we’ve got it, but we’ve never truly allowed it to storm our frame and bend our will. We have yet to give ourselves over to the cause completely. We settle for some lesser, fraudulent version of Christ-following; where we keep our old life and options open.