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Devotionals

Empty Phrases

Jesus said that when we pray we should “not heap up empty phrases” (Matthew 6:7). Later he lamented a hypocritical form of worship by quoting the indictment that first came through Isaiah: “These people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13; Matthew15:8). We must be so careful

ATAPAT

There is a bizarre little acronym starting to catch on at our church and with our listeners. And for that I am glad. It is, if you haven’t heard, my abbreviated and colloquial way of referring to what Jesus was getting at when he addressed his would-be disciples. It is my attempt of...

I’m for Christ

In his parable of differing “soils” Jesus specifies some of the reasons certain people initially embrace Christianity, often with a great deal of enthusiasm and fervor, but then after a while bail out never to establish a root system which bears genuine and lasting fruit. Those identified as the first to leave do so because of

Bearing Real Fruit

Jesus said, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). That kind of straightforward evaluation should not only be applied to “them,” but also to us. In the upper room, not long before his crucifixion, Jesus told his twelve apostles, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8). At that time, you’ll remember, one of the Twelve was secretly conspiring to betray Christ, cashing in his association with the Messiah for thirty pieces of silver. Judas wasn’t intent

The Great Commission

When Christ’s redemptive work was complete he gathered his disciples and, with “all authority in heaven and on earth”, commissioned them (and every subsequent generation) to get serious about their job of propagating the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20). The central verb of this passage is straightforward and notably uncomplicated: “make disciples!” Between the two advents of Christ

Loving God With All

Many today suppose that a periodic acknowledgment of God or a half-hearted recognition of Christ should be sufficient to avoid any concerns come Judgment Day. “As long as I am not an atheist or a murderer and I believe in the Man upstairs,” they presume, “then I should be okay.” Perhaps we are partly to blame

Christ Honoring Words

While impossible to master this side of heaven, God calls us to give special attention to replacing our errant and superfluous words with Christ-honoring words that make a good and godly difference (Ephesians 4:29). While this requires restraint and thoughtfulness, the primary focus of this command

Godly Ambition

The problem with worldly ambition is that it is misdirected. God is great; we are sinful. God is infinite; we are finite. God is the only sovereign authority that is; we are impotent – so impotent that we are not able to...

Spiritual Sensitivity

The lenses of our eyes are extremely sensitive. It doesn’t take but a speck of dust to stop us in our tracks so that we can delicately and diligently work to extract the irritating particle. That’s what makes Christ’s illustration concerning...

Righteous Anger

While most Christians are chasing a modern fantasy of an irenic and affable day-to-day Christian experience, may we recognize the truth that we cannot be godly without regularly feeling and periodically expressing righteous anger...

Hope Misplaced: Sadducees

When Jesus came to this earth, he faced a lot of opposition. Different groups were vying for power and one of those was a religious group called the Sadducees. We first hear...

Time for Prayer

Few would disagree that life is busy and cluttered with activity. Even so, it is imperative that we follow the pattern set for us by Christ, regularly shutting out everything to quietly spend time in communion and fellowship with God. This was the habit...

Tumultuous World

We live in a violent and tumultuous world—for now. Surprisingly, it’s one of the byproducts of grace. Had God chosen to destroy every sinner at the moment of his or her sinful intent, our world would indeed be free from all the horrible headlines, but it would also be unoccupied. Instead, God graciously and mercifully provides...

Time

The Bible makes a sweeping and comprehensive point when we are rhetorically asked, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). Consider the magnitude of that question. Scripture goes on to definitively clarify that the Source and Purpose of all the things we tend to feel