Doable Discipleship

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.  If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed...

“Most people today imagine that the point of Christianity is ‘to go to heaven when you die.’ That’s what most believers believe. It’s what most unbelievers believe. They are all wrong. The point of Christianity is not that we should go to heaven. The point of Christianity is that heaven should come to us.” - God's Homecoming This sentence is the opening of the new book, God’s Homecoming, by N.T. W...

“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?  Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?  Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.  Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was...

“So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, ‘Lord has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?’ He replied, ‘The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere - in Jerusalem, throughou...

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” - John 1:1-5 The Gospel A...

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to...

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” - Mark 8:34-35 The Gospel of Mark reads like a propulsive novel or like an action movie. It even starts nearly right in the middle of the...

God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose...

As we look forward to diving into the New Testament together, we must acknowledge a kind of elephant in the room. Between Malachi, the end of the Old Testament, and the events starting the New Testament there is a 400-year gap. Sometimes referred to as “The Silent Period,” the Intertestamental Period is an important era to explore as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments because as my guest...

As a part of the Navigating the Bible series, one of the questions I always ask is “what does this book teach us about God.” The answer is almost always: a lot. The Old Testament is an invitation to look at the biggest question of the universe: who. That’s right, it’s not why - it’s who. As we read and study Scripture, we learn that the who is God - and he exists in three persons: The Father, the...

Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name. 17 “They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a...

“Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey - riding on a donkey’s colt.” - Zechariah 9:9 In my opinion, Zechariah is a diamond of a book. It has so many facets, so many ways to approach it and points of emphasis and things to teach. Last week we talked about Haggai and Z...

“Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai: ‘Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were pu...

What sorrow awaits rebellious, polluted Jerusalem, the city of violence and crime! No one can tell it anything; it refuses all correction. It does not trust in the Lord or draw near to its God. Its leaders are like roaring lions hunting for their victims. Its judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time, who by dawn have left no trace of their prey. Its prophets are arrogant liars seeking their...

“What good is an idol carved by man, or a cast image that deceives you? How foolish to trust in your own creation - a god that can’t even talk! What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols, ‘Wake up and save us!’ To speechless stone images you say, ‘Rise up and teach us!’ Can an idol tell you what to do? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside. But the Lord is in...

“The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and continues to rage against his enemies! The Lord is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished.” - Nahum 1:2-3 The book of Nahum, the 34th book of the Old Testament, is somewhat a companion to Jonah. When we read Jonah, we saw God send Jonah to Nineveh to...

“Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love.” Micah 7:18 The book of Micah may not be the most well-known of the Old Testament, but it has some of the most well-known verses and passages. Micah takes on the same challenge as many of th...

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. He said, ‘I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me! You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves. Then I said, “O Lord, you have driven me...

“The Lord says to Edom, ‘I will cut you down to size among the nations; you will be greatly despised. You have been deceived by your own pride because you live in a rock fortress and make your home high in the mountains. “Who can ever reach us way up here?” you ask boastfully. But even if you soar as high as eagles and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down,’ says the Lord...

“Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people.” - Amos 5:14-15 The book of Amos has a bit of a reputation. It’s not known for being t...

We’ve been walking through this series on Navigating the Bible we're currently neck deep in talking about the Prophets. These books can be extraordinarily beautiful, but they can also be confusing and hard to read. As a brief pause in our series, I thought today might be good to rewind a conversation I had last year with Dr. John Walton about the prophets as a whole. Dr. Walton is professor of Old...

“The church is a multiethnic and multicultural assembly of believers spanning history that God has called into fellowship with Christ and with one another. We gather regularly to consider the teachings of the Bible and to orient our lives around God’s coming kingdom. Together we wait for God to make all things new, and we bear witness to the world of what God has already done.” - Becoming God’s Fa...

“The act of confessing our sins to one another is a graced invitation to practice the way of faith, hope, and love. The soul tempted to despair will be particularly allergic to ecclesial confession, but it is here that they will find great remedy for their agonizing condition. For in confessing their sins to one another, they are heard with the faith of fellow saints, they are encouraged by the ho...

“That is why the Lord says, ‘Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.’ Return to the Lord for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.”  Joel 2:12-13 The book of Joel, the second of the minor prophets, is such a beautiful book....

“O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?” asks the Lord. “For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight. I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces - to slaughter you with my words, with judgments as inescapable as light. I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. But like Adam, you broke my cove...