GOSPEL :: FAMILY :: MISSION
Spiritual growth is slow and it can be super agonizing. Sometimes, spiritual growth feels like I’m stumbling around in the dark trying to find the light switch so I can see where I’m going. Spiritual growth is similar to any other discipline in that most of it happens in the mundane, behind the scenes, along the roadside, in the nearly invisible places of life.
Where is your heart today? What’s the condition of your heart? Is it united in a singular focus towards Christ or is it disunited and running a different direction? Is it bound or glued together in Christ or is it divided by multiple visions of satisfied desires? Is it full of the peace of Christ or is it full of the turmoil of sin and suffering?
We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience and Christlike character. It’s interesting to think about obedience like a glass that can be filled with something. And it’s also interesting to think of that same glass with little beads of perspiration on the outside that proves how hot or cold the character of the glass is.
The way we walk out our Christian life is a direct result of the way we hear the call of God on our lives. This can be illustrated by thinking about my children playing in the backyard. When I call them to come inside for a meal they have been looking forward to, the way they walk (or run) into the house is much different than when I call them inside to get some chores done.
One of my favorite quotes is that good theology (Godly truth) leads to good doxology (Godly praise). To put it another way, authentic worship flows out of Biblical truth.
The goal of the Christian life is to become more and more like Christ. This is the aim of what Paul writes to the Ephesian church. His aim is that we would become more and more like Christ as we sit securely, walk obediently and stand firmly.
Love is a powerful experience. It’s unlike any other experience because it affects more than just the mind. It affects the heart and the emotions at the deepest levels. The experience of love is like the difference between a great steak and a great marriage.
What happens when you make small things the main things? You lose sight of the big things right? When small things become the main things, the most important things become forgotten things.
There’s this classic scene in the movie Rush Hour where Jackie Chan gets off a plane and meets Chris Tucker for the first time. Chris Tucker walks up to Jackie Chan and says, “Please tell me you speak English. I’m detective Carter. Do you speak English? Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?”
Some days are like a whirlwind. Some weeks are like a whirlwind. When I think of a whirlwind I think of a tornado. I remember the tornado that rolled through Hallam, NE back in 2004. Hallam was a small town of less than a 1,000 people that was struck by a two and a half mile-wide tornado in the middle of the night.
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