Rend Collective - Build Your Kingdom Here OFFICIAL

Jesus asked us to pray: "Your kingdom come..."

May we continue to pray for the coming of God's Kingdom and may we yield our lives to God's will. 

This is one of my favorite Rend Collective songs.

 

Trust Jesus for Righteousness

In this period of staying at home and social distancing I am forced to preach in front of a camera. This is my message from March 29, 2020.
 

What is the Goal of Salvation?

What is the goal of salvation?

I believe that the message of the Gospel has been watered down to the point that many Christians have missed purpose of salvation. We assume that salvation is about “saving us from sin” and “going to heaven” when we die.

What if I told you there is more?

If the Gospel is just about having our ticket punched for heaven, then there is little motivation to have a transformed life now. The great transformation will happen when Jesus returns and we go to heaven.

But that is not the hope of the Gospel.

The hope of the Gospel is for transformation to happen right now. For God’s Kingdom to come and His will be done here on earth, today, just as it is done in heaven. The part of this great transformation that we have control over is the change that takes place in our lives.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.  (Galatians 5:22-26; NLT)

The way transformation happens in our lives is when we follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and allow him to bring healing to our hearts.

We are to be living with love, joy, peace, patience, and the rest of these qualities today. This is not a description of what our lives are to look like in the future, but what they are supposed to be like right now.

The bad news in this message is that you and I are unable to bring about the transformation of our lives on our own. Our addictions and our habits and our culture are too strong.

The good news of this message is that the Holy Spirit is our divine helper in this task. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to bring change to our lives.

The goal of salvation is wholeness and holiness. With the help of the Holy Spirit this can happen.

The Fruit of the Spirit is nothing less than a description of a life that has been made whole and holy. It is the type of life that you and I were created to live.

Take 3 minutes and listen to what John Eldredge has to say about wholeness and holiness.


As we experience wholeness and live in holiness the world around us begins to be transformed.

That is why this message is important. Followers of Jesus are not to sit back and patiently wait for his return. We are to pursue the transformation of the world by being transformed.

By pursuing transformation we will experience purpose and contentment. These two realities will bring a welcomed relief to our lives.

Instead of trying to create life by our own power we will be living the life that God created us to live.

That is a very hopeful thought.

How to Read the Bible: Literary Styles

The Bible is the foundation for our spiritual formation.

Yet, for many of us who follow Jesus, reading the Bible is difficult. We have good intentions for reading the Bible, but we often fail in those intentions.

One of the keys to understanding the Bible is to remember that it is written in different literary styles. What are those styles?



As we come to read the Bible it is crucial that we don't just come to gain new information. Rather, we want to approach the Bible asking the simple question, "How does this apply to me?"

There are certain literary types which make this easier to do than others.

Personally, this is why I prefer the New Testament over the Old. It is easy to skim through the laws found in Leviticus or the genealogies found in Genesis, or even the writings of the Prophetic books. The literary styles that make up the New Testament, especially the discourse nature of the Apostles' letters, make it easy for me to answer the question, "How does this apply to me?"

One of the best things we can do, as a general practice, is to see the Bible, not as a book to be conquered, but as writings to understand. To do this we need to approach the Bible prayerfully and humbly, asking God to speak to us from its pages.

Rend Collective - Rescuer (Good News) [Official Music Video]

It is Thanksgiving here in the United States.

On this day that we remember the many blessings God has given to us, may we not forget the greatest blessing of all.

Thank you God for Jesus!

How to Read the Bible: Biblical Story

The Bible is an important book.

 For Christians, we understand that the Bible provides us with the information that we need to guide our lives and move us along on the path of spiritual formation.

 Yet, the Bible is an ancient book, and it is not always easy to understand.

 While the Bible isn't easy to understand it does tell one unified story.



When we read the Bible, whether we are reading in the Old Testament or the New Testament, we need to pay attention to the choice that is being offered. Over and over again in Scripture we read about people who are offered a choice to either follow God's way or to do what they feel is right.

What the Bible teaches us is that when people choose to do what they think is right, the result is hurt, pain, distrust, division, and death. This is the explanation for why the world is in the shape that it is in.

The Bible does point to a person of hope. That person is Jesus. He is the one who always choose the way of God, and thus was able to bring restoration and renewal to the world. We are able to join with God in this renewal project as we follow Jesus.

Seeing this thread that runs through Scripture helps to know what we are to pay attention to as we read the Bible: How can we make the choice to follow God's will?

How to Read the Bible: What is the Bible?

For us who follow Jesus the Bible is a very important book.

It provides the fundamental truth for us to believe. It forms our faith. It teaches us how to follow Jesus.

Since the Bible is such an important book for our spiritual formation, we should know what it is.

 

The Bible is a collection of books written over a 1,000 years and tell the story of God and how He relates to humanity. The prophets of the Old Testament and the Apostles of the New Testament both believed that these writings contain the truth that God wants His people to know and understand.

Since God's voice can be heard through Scripture we need to prepare ourselves to hear it as we come to the Bible to read. Before we open the cover of our Bible (or open the Bible app on our phones), we should spend a few moments in prayer and ask God to give us ears to hear the truth He wants us to know. It is important for us to invite God to speak to us through these words that were written thousands of years ago.