David Bahn - Reflections

God's grace has appeared to bring salvation to all people. What a gift! What a blessing! And what implications there are to this salvation. I regularly make the point that our good deeds, our resisting temptation, our faith, and our love for God does not cause God to save us. God's salvation, his saving grace inspires our good deeds, resisting temptation, our faith and our love for God and for one...

This passage is the clearest reference to the birth of Jesus outside of the accounts in Matthew and Luke. In the fullness of time. When the time was just right. When the Roman roads allowed safe travel. When the world was at peace (Pax Romana). When there was one language which allowed the Gospel to be communicated more universally.

Thousands of good men and women have come and gone who have lived exemplary lives, and made incredible sacrifices. Think Mother Teresa. Martin Luther. Paul himself. But none had power over death. None could raise the dead. None came back to life on the third day. None sit at the right hand of God. The best people who ever live have great limitations to their ability to help us in our hour of great...

Today we recognize Jesus not only as David’s Son, but also as his Lord. He is our Lord, too, the very Son of God. In fact if Jesus isn’t God he should be dismissed out of hand. But he is God in the flesh - a mystery of profound grace and truth. We worship the man Jesus who is God. We worship the Son of God, Jesus who took on human flesh for us. He is both David’s Son and David’s Lord, and our Savi...

When I was baptized I wore a white robe which I thought was just a matter of wearing something rather than my clothes - or even a swim suit. But the symbolism there is worth noting. Through baptism our sins are washed away. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. God calls us his own. I may not be a clothes horse. But O, my Lord, [Jesus has] dressed me. And I am a wonder dressed in his robe...

In Paul's day special duty slaves called child conductors were assigned to young boys. These trustworthy slaves were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood. The boys probably didn't like that much, and may have tried to find ways...

What if we could simply ask God for anything and leave that request at the foot of the cross for him to do as he sees fit with it? What if we could apologize to our friend or family and make no excuse but ask for forgiveness? What if we could be certain of God’s love pure and without strings attached? What if we never had to make an excuse for a failure but could simply ask for forgiveness? We can...

I greatly appreciate Paul's example here. He is firm in his conviction and patient in his teaching. That's a powerful combination. Perhaps that is why this letter is so powerful and popular. There is much to learn, believe, and assimilate here. Most of all it has to do with our place in the kingdom of God, by grace through faith. It is also about not being swayed by pious sounding ideas that call...

Years ago, my vicarage supervisor shared a key insight that has stuck with me for decades: the focus of our quest for truth should not be truth for its own sake, but truth for the sake of the gospel. Whatever issues we may need to clarify, prove, or agree upon, let them serve the gospel message! Let the message of Christ crucified and risen carry the weight of eternal truth. This is the truth that...

Some like to think of the Holy Spirit in human terms as the bashful person of the Holy Trinity. He's happy when Jesus gets the attention. In fact Jesus said of the Spirit, "He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you" (John 16:14).  We are blessed to have received the gift of the Holy Spirit together with all his gifts and workings in the the world, in the church, and i...

The just shall live by faith may have been confusing to them. But it doesn't have to be. It means that we who believe the promises of God, believe that he is good, believe that his grace is fully given in Jesus of Nazareth, God's Son, are right with God. It's a matter of what we think of God. And the enlightenment  of those things comes from God's Holy Spirit, working in our hearts.

Faith is realizing that God is good, faithful, just, holy, and gracious. Faith is believing that Jesus is God's Son and our Savior. Faith is trusting in God's promises. Faith is simple and profound all at once. The smallest child can have faith, and the wisest believer can fathom faith's depths and never reach it's ending. Wherever you or I may be on that continuum we can be sure that God honors f...

We need not worry about issues like circumcision or other Old Testament rituals. Nor do we need to rely on outward manifestations of the Spirit to prove to ourselves that we are true believers. Simply hear God's word. Believe what he says. Rejoice in his salvation. This the the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I'm not sure I like being called evil - by Jesus or anyone else for that matter. But I'd rather be corrected and taught humility than be allowed to abandon God's grace in an ill-advised attempt to impress the king of the universe any day. Truly, "Wounds from a friend can be trusted" (Proverbs 27:6).

I am thankful to be crucified with Christ - to have those parts of me that go against God’s ways nailed there and die. That’s why my life of faith is so precious. I believe that Jesus died for my sins. I believe his promises are true. I believe God is good. I believe it is better to live in ways that honor God. By his power and with his help, I live faithfully and resist temptation. But I never ou...

Living unto God is more than a two hour Sunday morning stint. It's everyday life in humility, hope, kindness, mercy, and love. It's a reflection of the way Jesus lived. And it is a life free from condemnation because he lived it perfectly and has secured our eternal salvation.

Every year I've offered a light-hearted prayer before the meal at the Northwest Houston Photo Club Christmas party. Here's this year's offering. It's based very loosely on " Sleigh Bells. "

Paul died to the law so that he could be alive to God. I want to join him there and celebrate now and throughout eternity his goodness, grace, faithfulness, justice, glory, and love. I hope you will join me there at the foot of the cross.

We are all sinners in need of God's forgiveness and grace. He will also make it clear that God is the author of our faith; it's his gift to us by the Holy Spirit. If we ask how good we must be to please God, to be saved, or to qualify for his love, the goal is far too high. If we ask how good, faithful, gracious and loving God is, we will also never fathom the height, depth, breadth, and length of...

There may be those who wish to throttle our freedom. And sometimes it can become messy when we encounter different practices and preferences. But I stand on Augsburg Confession Article VII, which says in part, “And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is,...

God is good all the time. He is the one rock of life and salvation. We may weave and wander. We may stumble and fall. But God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. Never wavering. Never slumbering. Always steady and true. On this Thanksgiving day, thank God for his goodness and all the gifts you enjoy - all by his goodness and grace. All the time. Thanks be to God!

The saying "Praise in public, correct in private" emphasizes the value of publicly affirming others to build confidence and morale while addressing critiques or sensitive issues in private to preserve dignity and respect. That second part, especially, is very much in line with Jesus' instructions about confronting someone as recorded in Matthew 18. We must do it privately until there is no hearing...

I once expressed my view about the mission of God by saying,  "When it comes to the Mission of God, I'd rather have chaos than gridlock any day." Chaos that leads to the salvation of more people, and the successful pursuit of God's mission may not be pretty. But in a fallen world it is inevitable. And God has a way of working through fallen people to accomplish great things.

Rather than focusing on the people who detract, dismiss, or despise us, we can take Paul's example to heart - insofar as we represent Christ to others. In other words insofar as we reflect the grace and truth of Jesus and people see Jesus through us, we must pray that God gets the glory. And if people dismiss us because we are faithful witnesses to Jesus, we let that fall on Jesus. It may make us...

We may yearn for times of rest and peace. Those times are blessings for which we rightly thank God. But when times are challenging we can also thank God, for he is shaping us and forming us and refining our faith. And God is glorified when we look to him, seek his strength, rejoice in his goodness, faithfulness, and love.