Vista Community Church

Adam and I, mostly Adam (b/c he was on another level today!) talk through some of the flags in life that (if we pay attention) can keep us in the presence & grace of God (if we let them).

Adam and I reflect on the Romans 6 2 sermon with regard to the animating power of God's Spirit within the believer.

Tom, I heard you. But it's so hard to comment on news headlines without inadvertently aligning (or misaligning) myself with some ideology, cause, or position! I took a stab. More importantly, here's a Frantz Rd. building update and the 3rd of 5 basic challenges/expectations for the Vista family.

What a great day Sunday Aug 15th was! 524 Days after our last NW gathering, we [re]launched NW services, temporarily, at the Dublin Rec Center. One of the things we covered was expectations for one another going forward. I reiterate the first two in this podcast..

After 524 days the NW portion of the Vista congregation gathered for the first time...back in the Rec Ctr where it all started...almost 15 years ago. What a day! Over the nex t few podcasts, I'm going to repeat much of the content we shared. It's important.

There is no option to be free unto oneself…

People sin because at first they have no choice… or choose foolishly.

There is an escape to the rat race, but it's not within your power…

We've been hoping for a positive response regarding 5626 Frantz Rd...and we got one!

If some declares to trust Jesus, couldn't we then simply welcome them and just trust Jesus to bring about their character? Or is it up to us to help straighten them out??

Your choices are like lighter fluid on the flames of either the Spirit or your flesh…

Adam facilitates today's podcast. We talk about Bloomington, me (not my idea), and then get started on some of R9.

Start and finish every day remembering that the aim is Christ, not you.

Adam and I finish our reflections on Romans 10 by discussing how an acceptance of God's standard for righteousness can lead us right into self-denial (with regard to how far off from righteous we are)...

Adam and I wonder (aloud) if righteousness is a concept generally understood...let alone aspired to.

Adam and I continue to have fun with the Russo & Schoemaker "Overconfidence Quiz." The quiz from their book, Decision Traps, illustrates part of past Sunday's argument that we tend to be self-deception (ie., overconfidence) – which the Apostle Paul says keeps us from apprehending God's righteousness.

We actually get to the test answers today...among other things.

Overconfidence is a problem for almost everybody, almost everywhere. In the weekend message regarding Romans 1o I mentioned a quiz that aims to prove it. It's fun and eye-opening. In the weekend message we mentioned two things that keep us from the righteousness from God: The Performance Trap and Self-Deception. Essentially, when we fail to perform, we deny it and convince ourselves otherwise, whi...

Start and finish everyday remembering the aim is Christ, not you…

It was a privilege and a pleasure to help our youngest move to Charlotte with his new bride of just 4 weeks. It included pulling a Uhaul through the Appalachians, cobbling together IKEA furniture, and discovering the charm of the South End. Oh, and I thought of something...

Continuing to draw from Romans 12, and into 11...to discover all that is available as a result of God and his unmerited mercy...

Adam and I barely get started on Romans 12. It's a good start, but stay tuned...

Life wouldn't be so hard if we didn't expect it to be so easy.

What unifies the the people of God is the simple fact that we are who we are because of faith alone in Christ alone, that's it. But we do have an obligation to call out misaligned and disobedient behaviors among us. That is to say, we are called to judge one another. That's a profound responsibility, and...we're not very good at it. We should tread lightly...

Like grace, faith alone is wonderful, but seems unreasonable. And won't true unconditional grace and faith alone (not any particular behavior) be taken advantage of, even exploited? Yep. Let's talk about it.