Practical Faith

Today’s episode of “Practical Faith” will be a creative one – I want to invite you to use your imagination as we talk together today about some of our personal favorite songs of worship, and what about them makes them favorites...

In today’s episode, we will see these two primary characteristics of God – His holiness and His love - working together in His relationship with His people.  God disciplines those He loves. 

I see a lot of God’s character in my grandfather - particularly his love for his family and his devotion to doing the right thing, even when the right thing hurts.  There is a section in the Bible between the Psalms and the New Testament where we see these two characteristics of God – His profound love and His devotion to doing what is right and best even when it hurts – we see these two character...

We were not meant to be dead-ends for the work God is doing in us.  That work that is flowing into us should also flow out of us - where appropriate, and where it can benefit another present or future follower of Jesus - Tell Somebody!

The story of Immanuel (God is with us) that is found in Daniel 3 is amazing! And it reminds us of an essential truth: God is not just faraway up in heaven, wishing you the best.  God does not stand outside of your pain and injustice.  He is right there, in the flames, with you.  He is standing right beside you in the heat and the smoke and the fires of your life.  

Have you ever heard the story of the disciples of Jesus, who were stuck out on the sea in their fishing boat in the midst of a violent storm?  The winds were so fierce and the waves were in such tumult, that they thought they were going to die!   And where was Jesus?  Look back at Mark 4 – where is Jesus in this story?  He is right there with them.  He is in the boat with them.  And He speaks from...

Today’s episode is pure fuel!  If today, you are in need of some encouragement, please turn up your dial and focus in, because I want to share some words of encouragement with you in your everyday followership of Jesus. 

As followers of Jesus, we need Leviticus, and here’s why: it is very difficult for us to understand Jesus without understanding Leviticus.  It is hard for Christians living in the 21st Century to fathom the depth of Christ’s sacrifice for us and for our sins without understanding the sacrificial system that is so thoroughly explained in Leviticus. 

What if the thing God wants to set us apart from is our separation from Him?  Holiness sets apart.  And holiness seeks to separate us from our apartness from God, drawing us into ever more intimate and communal togetherness with Him.  Holiness sets apart; holiness draws together. 

We grow in holiness as we obey in faith, which requires effort.  Effort does not mean we "earn" our salvation - effort simply means we are active (not passive) participants in our own salvation journey.  He does the saving!  And we are to actively cooperate with His saving grace at work in our lives.

Growing in Christ could be compared to language learning.  Have you ever tried to learn a new language?  It takes more than lectures and books and memorization.  You can’t just learn a language - it’s got to get in you, and that requires immersion...

John chapters 14-16 are Jesus’ biography of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit’s chief attribute is holiness, and it is clear from Jesus that He wants His Holy Spirit to live with us and dwell in the hearts and lives of His disciples.  And that includes us.

God’s expectation of us as followers of Jesus is that we would be holy.  However, only God alone is holy, and we are incapable of holiness on our own. How then does God work in us and with us to make us holy in Him?  

Everyone on planet earth needs a mentor, coaching them along toward their next stage of growth or maturity.  Even professional athletes have trainers and coaches, helping the best in the world get better!  This applies to Christian discipleship as well.  No matter how old, mature, or experienced you become, you always need someone in your life challenging you to take that next step in your faith d...

I bet you’ve felt it, too.  In the midst of even the best circumstances or the worst, maybe you’ve had the sense that something fuller, deeper, stronger, more pure, more whole, more complete is out there than either the temporal junk or the wonderful euphoria we are currently experiencing.  If you’ve ever felt that way, you’re right.

Knowing who Jesus is, who He is not, and why that distinction matters helps us understand what it means for us to follow Him and to be His disciples.

In Mark chapter 8, Jesus reveals to His disciples for the first time that He, as Messiah, would have to suffer and die. But this did not fit into their boxes of who Jesus was supposed to be and what He was supposed to accomplish as Messiah. Jesus then leverages this crucial moment to clarify for His disciples how they had been thinking wrongly about Him, and why that matters so much.

Jesus is interested in who you say that He is.  Not just your parents, or your church, or your denomination, or your friends, or your co-workers.  YOU.  Who do you say that He is? 

The people of Jesus’ day had all kinds of opinions as to who Jesus was, and the people of our day have all kinds of opinions as to who Jesus is.  But the question He poses to each of us is, "Who do YOU say that I am?"

Some may have a negative reaction against recited prayers because they can feel unoriginal and insincere.  But it is important to remember that the Bible is filled with beautiful prayers that we recite all the time.

Many Godly Christians have gone before us – many who walked closely with God and shared an intimate relationship with His Spirit.  Some of them wrote down their prayers centuries ago, and our relationships with God can be enhanced by their examples and experiences today.

Holy Spirit-infused rituals are tangible ways that God gets hold of us, reorients us, and empowers us to be his image-bearers.  In the Sunday morning worship service, we are training our minds, our spirits, and our bodies – we are training our whole selves - for the ongoing (day-in, day-out) worship of God. 

Worship is supposed to be about what we our offering to God: our heart, our attention, our openness to Him, our response to His guidance.  But sadly many churches have turned worship into a Christianized form of public entertainment.  And some church leaders have, in a way, trained their people to expect a show.  We’ve come looking for a performance – we want to be impressed – so when we’re not, w...

This is what Christians are called to do: to go to pain – to run towards places of hurting – and to bring whatever tools we have – our testimonies & experiences – our God-given talents & skills – to offer people hope in Jesus – in person – with both our words and our lives lived among them. 

When my strategies fail, when my willpower gives way (for the millionth time), when the enslaving power of my pet sin kicks my meager solutions in the teeth, I am left with nothing but naked faith.  Bare, unassisted trust in the Deliverer.