'Gospel' Tagged Posts
All In: Being Unleavened
Leaven Luke 12:1-12. You might think of leaven as leftovers. It’s not like the leftovers you put in your refrigerator after a meal. It’s not leftovers like a doggie bag. It’s uncooked leftovers. It’s leftover dough that is used to kickstart the next batch of dough. It’s used to make the dough rise. But that’s not what usually makes it a great biblical image. That’s part of it, but the real heart of the imagery goes back to Exodus 12,…
Churchianity
Churchianity I didn’t coin the term “churchianity”. It was in use by the end of the 18th century. And the phenomenon is far more ancient. We see it already in Isaiah 29:13-14. And our Savior created the opportunity to address it when he accepted an invitation to dine with a Pharisee. The story is found in Luke 11:37-54. Pretending you are Pure The Pharisee was shocked that Jesus didn’t ritually wash before he ate. The Pharisees were terribly concerned that…
Living in the Light of Grace
Four Responses to Grace From Luke 11:14-36. It’s pretty easy to see the two major negative responses to Jesus in this passage. Some accuse Him of casting out demons through satanic power. Others take a ‘prove-your-credentials’ approach. But if we look closely at this passage, we’ll see two others: apathetic neglect and nurtured reception, living in the light of grace. Rejection Jesus demonstrated the absurdity of the satanic-power suggestion. Satan has invested significant resources in subduing men. He would not…
Speaking to Your Father
The Christian’s Privilege of Prayer: Speaking to Your Father What we Pray The principal lesson in Jesus’ instructions for prayer is that you are speaking to your Father. To those who believe and trust Jesus Christ, “He gave the right to become children of God,” If Jesus died for you, then you have been adopted as a son of God, an heir of His kingdom. That fact governs everything else in prayer. It governs what you pray for: Because you…
Avoiding Burnout
Being Served and Serving It’s easy to get overwhelmed with Christian service. Volunteer burnout is a real threat to Christian ministries. And, even beyond the ministries of the local church, there are so many calls for your time and resources as a Christian living in a fallen and needy world, that anyone with a sensitive heart, who wants to be a good neighbor, can easily grow anxious and troubled … overwhelmed. It is easy to lose sight of what’s really…
The Good Samaritan
The parable of the Good Samaritan is the first part of a three-part lesson in what a disciple ought to be about. In short, he is to be about love (of God and neighbor) and prayer. A man asks Jesus the most important question in all the world, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus allows him to show that he actually knows the answer. But the answer he knows only leads to despair. The law does,…
Rejoicing in God’s Will
God’s will, not your work, is the place to find joy in ministry. When the 72 returned from their mission, they were very excited about the divine power that they had been privileged to wield. They acknowledged that all they had done had been done in the name of, and therefore the power of, Christ. And Jesus encouraged them in two ways. Measuring Effectiveness First, He told them that, while they were ministering in His name, He was watching Satan…
No Fire … Yet
Verses 51-56 of Luke 9 kind of set up the main point of the section. While both elements present stories, in a sense, it is the first story that makes sense of the second. In the first story, Jesus experiences rejection, and corrects the disciples’ desire to call down fire on the offenders. That’s the backdrop for the second story, where three would-be disciples respond to Jesus. The section begins with Jesus “setting his face” to go to Jerusalem. This…