Does summer for you mean living without routines? I love it. We truly need to break routines once in awhile. But the fact is living without routines can be disastrous. Also for our spiritual well-being. Routines help us stay focused on the right things. While on vacation we might forget to keep our daily date with God. For a few days it does not matter that much. God does not move anywhere. Grace is valid even when we do not…
How has your summer been? Are you ready for some new things in your life? How is God guiding you right now? Our summer has been hot and fun and I hope we can do much more swimming before the fall. God is also creating new opportunities for me and I am saying ‘yes’ to him. What is going on? Our family has received a save-a-date to a wedding in Florida around Thanksgiving. Our family has decided to go to…
Who do you say Jesus is? This is one of the most important questions you ever answer. Who is Jesus to you? Is Jesus a philosopher, a teacher, a radical social activist or something more personal, maybe even life-changing? This is what Peter answered to Jesus’ question: Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16, CEB,*) How about you? Is Jesus a savior to you? Do you think Jesus is the son of…
Is your faith an abstract collection of doctrines or do you have a resurrection faith? That kind of faith that drives any trace of fear out? That kind of faith that laughs in the front of death? That kind of faith that boldly declares like Paul: If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s (Romans 14:8, NRSV,*? When…
Have you ever taken a selfie? Do you enjoy seeing your friends’ selfies? These self portraits usually give us glimpses of their lives. Have you ever wondered how the selfie of God would look like? The Son is the image of the invisible God, the one who is first over all creation. (Col.1:15, CEB,*) The selfie of God is Jesus. The selfie of God is indeed Jesus. And it is a huge blessing. Without Jesus we would not have an access to…
Too often we take life granted. We forget how fragile we are. We forget that we can’t control everything. We forget that there are not guarantees in life. And most of all we focus on the earthly things and forget God. We flirt with the destructive things and wonder why we don’t feel close to God. We are in danger of becoming enemies of the cross. As I have told you many times and now say with deep sadness, many…
Do you have Jesus in your heart? Good for you. But do you have inside out faith? Does your faith get an outside expression too? Does the workings of Jesus in your heart get you also work out your faith? These are fundamental questions. When our faith becomes an inside out faith, we are truly experiencing the joy of salvation. Sure, we are saved only by grace through faith in Jesus. But that is not the end of it. We…
What do you think? What is spiritual formation all about? I think it is simply becoming what God has meant you to be. It is the process of becoming Christ-like. It is growing in con-FORM-ity to Christ. How does it happen? Only by letting God work in and through us. We can facilitate the process of spiritual formation but it’s always God’s work, not ours. Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in…
Oh, how sweet the light of day, And how wonderful to live in the sunshine! Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted. Take delight in each light-filled hour, Remembering that there will also be many dark days And that most of what comes your way is smoke. (Ecclesiastes 11:7-8, MSG) Summertime seems to be an on-going bliss in our household. Life is easy and worries are small. Thanks be to God! The…
Over and over again the Bible proclaims that if we repent, God will forgive us. This grace feels too good to be true. Yet it is true. Love, grace, and forgiveness form together the very essence of God. Because we are not able to become holy on our own, God sent his only son to redeem us. Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we can be forgiven by grace through faith in Jesus. But if we confess…
