Church

Disclaimer: I am a pastor and most pastors practice the "preacher's count" on a regular basis.  That is to say, we round the worship attendance up to the nearest two hundred. That being said, gospel math is fairly simple.  It's a matter of addition and subtraction, with the possibility of multiplication thrown in, and trying your best to avoid division. When a person goes from non-believer to believer, they experience the joy of addition.  The triune God gets added to their life, purpose and joy and peace get added as well.  They get added to the Body, which is the church.  Their name gets added to the Lamb's Book of Life. Addition is a wonderful thing.  Preachers preach about the benefits that can be added to a person's life.  But gospel math also requires that we learn to practice subtraction.  God's sanctifying work in our life challenges us to replace…

Bonhoeffer talked about "cheap grace."  Cheap grace is what offers much but requires little.  If we're not careful, we may be guilty of offering a low-calorie approach to discipleship.  It may taste great, but eventually it's also less filling. In 1 Peter 3:21, the writer addresses this matter by using a very interesting word: pledge.  Here's what he writes: "... and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.  It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." When you give your life to Jesus, you are pledging a good conscience toward God.  A pledge goes beyond a good intention or even a promise.  Peter uses a word that was also used to describe what a Roman soldier did when he joined the Roman army.  He pledged to follow the orders…

I've been working on an upcoming sermon lately regarding the Holy Spirit's role in prompting repentance.  In doing so, I came across this great quote from A.W. Tozer on penitence.  For those of you who don't know, Tozer was perhaps best known for his 40+ books.  Of those, The Pursuit of God is among his best.  I have a copy on my Kindle app. In the following quote, he talks about penitence -- a word we don't use much today.  It essentially means feeling a sense of sorrow for one's sins (see this definition).  Here's the quote: "A growing Christian must have at his roots the life-giving waters of penitence. The cultivation of a penitential spirit is absolutely essential to spiritual progress. The lives of great saints teach us that self-distrust is vital to godliness. Even while the obedient soul lies prostrate before God, or goes on in reverent obedience…

Learning to be a Christ-follower is about learning a new way to live.  Learning a new way to live requires learning a new way to navigate life.  Learning a new way to navigate life requires learning a new way to see the path in front of you. I call this reframing. Jesus taught his followers the principle of reframing in the Sermon on the Mount.  Here are a few examples: Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:11-12). You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.'  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with…

For those who remember, boxing legend Muhammad Ali never lacked for bravado.  On many occasions, he would say of himself, "I am the greatest!" Once while flying to a fight, Ali refused to buckle his seatbelt despite being told many times.  The flight attendant kept insisting, but Ali said, "Superman don't need no seatbelt."  Finally, the fast-thinking attendant replied, "Superman don't need no plane." Ali buckled his seatbelt. Muhammad Ali experienced an attitude adjustment. For those of us who have given our lives to Christ, the cross offers us a different way of looking at life: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).