On walking the Way

Our life is not a gift that was delivered to our door in a box for us to use as we will. It is a gift we only find and have in Jesus. Our life is in Jesus like a fish’s life is in water. There is no life apart from Jesus. Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe

There are two phrases that are repeated often in the Bible, and when taken together, they seem a bit puzzling. * Fear God * Fear Not Today I would like to give each of these statements a little thought. Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe

Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter an...

Christians not only have Christian t-shirts and merch; we carry the name in a deeper way as well. Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe

Pentecost is like the Christian Sinai. God appears in fire, and we see the people of God redefined and empowered. God was expanding His people by adding the faithful from every nation to the faithful believers of Israel. Now, God’s people are forever defined by faith, rather than ethnicity. At Sinai, God was a distant fire that most of them could not touch or even approach. At Pentecost, the fire...

Last time, we talked about the context and structure of the seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor found in Revelation. I would like to continue that study as we work to answer the question, “How are we to live while we wait for Jesus?” Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe

In this series I want to focus primarily on the 7 mini-epistles found in chapters two and three. When properly understood, these short letters to seven suffering churches offer us real help and encouragement in the chaos of today’s world. . Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe

If you have been watching the news lately, or even if you haven’t, you have no doubt heard. The news is not good. War is never good news, and the more people and nations that get involved, the worse it gets. If you are interested in the topic of the last things and the coming age I have written a reader’s guide to the book of Revelation to help you understand and enjoy this encouraging book. Revel...

There is a theme that can be traced in the Gospel of John that is very sobering. Today I want to supply a little food for thought as we approach Good Friday and Easter. We will be tracking the theme of seeking human approval instead of God’s approval. I will read selected passages from John that describe the relationship between Jesus, the crowd, and the leaders of the people. These relationships...

John 19:1--16 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out,...

We’ve been talking about reading the Bible, and today I would like to continue that conversation. Many of us were taught that the Bible just needs to be read simply and interpreted literally. But the problem is, many things in the Bible were not written to be understood literally. And many things are anything but simple. Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe

Some time ago I posted an article titled Breath In, Breath Out . In this post I discussed how walking the way is a two-part process, much like breathing. Breathing is not inhaling or exhaling; a breath is to inhale and exhale. We need to breathe in God’s Spirit and grace and breathe out God’s love for the world. Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe

Jesus is our king, and his kingdom is our team. We are here as his representatives. I don’t think partisanship has any place in the kingdom of God. Our loyalty is to our king and our king alone. Anything else is idolatry. As we try to live worthy lives in this fallen world, finding the right voice for this cultural moment is difficult. However, Peter gives us a bit of encouraging advice in his sec...

It has been said many times and in many ways that we don’t really learn by hearing; we learn by doing. In my classes I have reduced this idea to a motto: “I will know the truth, as I do the truth.” Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe

When young people ask me why such and such a policy exists on our campus, I tell them, “Every rule has a name.” By that, I mean rules are made because someone did something that caused someone else to make a rule. Over time you get countless rules that way, but somehow people keep doing bad things. Jesus explained this phenomenon as he was explaining why he was disagreeing with Moses regarding div...

The new year always brings with it a sort of implicit hope, a hope that this year might be better than the last. A hope for relief—a hope for change. I think this is a good thing, even though it may in reality be nothing more than a conditioned cultural response. After all, without a calendar, one day is no different from the next. Despite this, I think we all agree that every day is a new day, an...

Christmas is a time of joy, wonder, and hope in a world filled with hate, cynicism, loneliness, and pain. This season is a mirror on the world and on our own attitudes. As Christians, we need to respond to reality while maintaining our innocence and wonder. This may seem impossible, but this tension has been a part of Christianity from the beginning. Christianity is filled with things that seem to...

This is the sermon I will be giving on Sunday, Nov. 30. I was given the passages below as the lectionary passages for the week. It was a challenging assignment, but I think I found a way to talk about Thanksgiving, Advent, and these passages—eventually. Daniel 3 John 18:36-38 Advent, Thanksgiving, and Hope Good morning! Today is the first Sunday of Advent! The first Sunday of the New Liturgical Ye...

We often consider ourselves to be the first link in the domino chain. But other times we consider ourselves to be the last in the chain. But the truth is more complicated than that because we are all part of a very long chain we did not create. So you’re probably wondering what brought this random analogy to mind today. It all started for me when I came home from a meeting where I sat next to the...

There is an internet meme that goes something like, Your boos mean nothing; I’ve seen what makes you cheer. At the end of Paul’s description of the downfall of humanity in Romans 1, his final summary describes the tragic mess the world has become in this way: And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with...

Today I want to take some time to think about the significance of meeting on Sunday and why, from the very beginning of Christian worship, Sunday has always been the day Christians gather to worship and remember. And why most Christians refer to Sunday as the Christian “Sabbath.” But today I would rather not examine the history of Sunday worship. Instead, I want to reflect on patterns we find deep...

We have not arrived—and that is a good thing. It is easy to take so many things for granted. As Christians, we’re taught that we are saved by grace through faith, and since we have faith, all is well. And we are well in Christ; we are forgiven; it’s all true! But today I want to think about what comes next, now that we have faith. Now that we believe, what has changed, and what do we seek? Paul de...

Self-evaluation can be extremely difficult. When I am very honest with myself, I begin to see how often I am more concerned about what people think of me than what kind of man I truly am. The Bible tells us that life and death flow from the inside out. This is a recurring message, and it was taught long before the Gospel. Consider this passage from Proverbs, for example: Watch over your heart with...

There was a time when bracelets with WWJD on them were popular. The idea was that before anyone did anything, they should ask, What Would Jesus Do? This is still a fine question, long after the trend is gone. Today, we want to pursue that question a bit by asking, “What Did Jesus Preach?” We need to understand His message to understand Him. And we need to understand Him to understand what He would...

When I look out into the world today, it’s hard to understand how so many things that were never even a question in the past are now the only things people talk about. Events like mass shootings didn’t exist, and assassinations were extremely rare. Since guns have not changed and we have more laws than ever, I have to lay the blame on us. We have changed. In the 60s and 70s, the question always se...