“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.” –Luke 11:34-35

We need to watch ourselves. Jesus is simply stating a spiritual law here. The stuff that comes into you from the outside, the stuff you see, affects your insides. All too often we think we are unaffected. We think it is fine to watch the movie, because we would never do any of the things in it ourselves. The question is never, “what can I do and still be Christian?” The question is always, “how can I become more like Christ?” (more…)

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” –1 Peter 5:6-7

I don’t really believe that verse. I know I believe in the Bible, but I guess I don’t believe the Bible when it tells me this. At least you wouldn’t think so by the way I live sometimes. A lot of problems arise in the Christian life when we don’t really trust God. We think that what he wants from us is oppressive and not really for our own good. There are sometimes areas in my life that I want to hold onto. I clench my fist around these like a child, but God has been a father for a long time, and he knows how to pry my fingers open. (more…)

A few weeks ago I made a post on “what is a disciple?” That post covered what Jesus was doing when he called his disciples. It was looking at the issue of discipleship from the perspective of a disciple. Now I would like to take a moment to take a look at the issue from the other side. In Mathew 28:19, Jesus commanded his disciples to go out and make other disciples. This command is important to keep in mind as we go out and share the gospel. If we lose sight of this, then we will be converting people to a religion rather than sharing our relationship with Jesus Christ. We will be asking people to follow us and our ideas rather than give all of their life to our King. (more…)

I would like to say a few words today about the discipline of prayer. Often times, we make prayer what we want or we forget it altogether. However, if we do not draw close to the Lord Jesus, how are we to be called Christians? I say the discipline of prayer, because prayer is more than asking God for what we want when we feel like it. Prayer is drawing close to the throne of God even when we don’t want to. It is a transforming power that shapes our lives. It is the highest office of ministry in which we can join Christ in interceding for the world. It is a necessity not a luxury. The time has long since come when Christians need to get serious about spending time on their knees. (more…)

I like this time of year. I enjoy the fireworks and the hot dogs. In Lexington, where I live, there is a big parade on July 4th. All of this to celebrate American independence. We are all about freedom, we hold it as one of our highest values. While this understanding of man being free from man is all well and good, this love of independence leaks into our spiritual understanding as well. The fact of the matter is that we are not and never have been independent. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe we have freewill, that isn’t what I’m addressing here. What I’m addressing is the fact that there is a war going on with only two sides. You are either serving the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Satan; choose this day whom you will serve. (more…)

I’ve heard a number of sermons preached on idolatry. Without fail, the preacher will mention that idolatry is different in our day and age. Our culture does not bow down to things made of wood and stone, but rather we worship other, more abstract things like money and success. While all of this is true, I think there is a very real sense in which our culture bows down and worships false gods. The confusing thing, however, is that we often name these idols Jesus. An idol is a false god that man has made for himself to worship. Every time we fashion for ourselves a fake Jesus because our idea of Jesus is easier to worship than the Only Living God, we are guilty of idolatry. I’d like to talk about a few of the specific ways in which our culture has made false Gods. (more…)

Philippians 2:1-11

As servants of Christ we are to become like Christ. We are to take him as an example and follow in his footsteps. Once we are walking down that path, if we lift up our eyes to see where it leads, we will see the Cross. The life of a Christian is a life of continual death to self. One of my favorite verses in the bible is Ephesians 5:1. In it, Paul tells us to sacrifice ourselves for the others around us just like Christ gave himself up. I often get caught up in “me” Christianity. I am worried about my struggles, my hopes, my relationship with the father. These are all good things to think about, but somewhere in the mix it is easy to loose sight of other people. (more…)

Mark 3:13-15

In all the gospels there is a distinction drawn between the crowds that gathered wherever Jesus went and the disciples who really followed him. I’m always concerned for the crowds. It seems like they are interested in Jesus, but he always speaks to them in parables. They follow him around at a distance, but never really know him or get close to him. He has compassion on them and heals them, but they never really give their lives to him. In the great commission Jesus does not command us to go out and make crowds, but to go out and make disciples of all nations. This makes me ask, “what exactly is a disciple?” I think this verse in Mark 3 shows that disciples are meant for three things: intimacy, mission and power. (more…)

Titus 2:11-14

Sometimes, when I preach on campus, I tell people, “Jesus Christ did not die so that you could go to heaven.” This usually makes a few people stop and listen. Our culture has inundated these people with a teaching that revolves around their own personal desires. The context in which they think about Jesus is all based upon, “what can he do for me?” The problem with looking at salvation as a benefits package is that true salvation requires a total death to self. In this passage in Titus we learn that the purpose of Christ’s death was not to give us the warm fuzzies, but rather to purify for himself a people who are zealous for good works. (more…)

Mathew 16:13-20

This is a pretty well known passage to most people. Naturally I have read over it many times, but recently the Holy Spirit revealed some important aspects of this scripture as I meditated upon it. Before, when I read this passage, I always took away the point that Peter believed that Jesus was the Christ and this was good. However, I now think that this passage has more to do with knowing Jesus in a personal way rather than knowing a set of teachings; let me explain:

In verse 13 Jesus asks the disciples who the crowd thinks he is. The people referred to here are the masses in contrast with the disciples. All over the place we see tons of ideas about Jesus, some more accurate than others. When the disciples respond to the question, the individuals that people say Jesus is, are without exception men of God. All of these guys, John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, etc., are good people. They were sent from God with a particular message or teaching. The crowd thinks that Jesus is the same. They think that he has been sent from God with a wonderful new message and a few miracles too. (more…)