Joyfully Enduring Trials.

Our second week in the book of James allows us to take a look at verses 2-4 of chapter 1.  After a 16 word, 1 verse introduction, James comes with an imperative command that ultimately calls for total obedience.  He waste no time as he comes straight for heart specifically focusing on an issue that [...]

James: A Favorite Letter Among Christians

We are thrilled to start a journey through the 108 verse wisdom letter of James. James being the half brother of Jesus, converted post Christ’s resurrection, an authoritative voice in the early Jerusalem church (Acts 15) and the earliest of letters circulated to the churches in the diaspora (scattered and persecuted Jewish Christians), makes it [...]

The Danger of Judging

In Matthew 7:1-5 we find a passage that is very famous within our culture.  In fact, this passage is one of the most misunderstood both within the church and throughout secular society.  Properly applied Matthew 7:1-5 provides righteous guidelines for specifically judging a person within the context of a community of believers.  Within these guidelines [...]

Pray Like Crazy

If we are gut-honest we have to admit we spend far to much talking, teaching and preaching about prayer and far to little time actually praying. We are just not availing ourselves to the direct access of the throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16) through Jesus Christ. The privilege we have to talk with a holy, [...]

An Affair of the Heart

Joshua Harris writes “I have come to believe that lust may be the defining struggle for this generation”.  This struggle for centuries has had devastating effects on humanity.  Interestingly Jesus recognized this deadly disease and spoke openly to the crowds as he delivered a counter intuitive gutsy sermon.  This issue surfaces in Matthew 5:27-30.  In [...]

Murder Without Knives

Since Sinai we all agree that murder is seriously wrong. The Sixth Commandment at face value appears to be one of the easiest of the Ten Commandments to follow and certainly one that the vast majority agrees with. However in Matthew 5:21-26 Jesus provides some clarity and amplification to this Commandment. The religious leaders had [...]

Being a Salty, Well-lit Church

What does sodium chloride and electromagnetic radiation have to do with the gospel? They are the two brilliant, world-view clarifying, soul-searching, and ministry-shaping metaphors that Jesus delivered to his early disciples on the side of hill in Judea—Mt.5:13-16. It is hard to examine the impact of these two metaphors since we live in a world [...]

Happy are the Spiritually Sad

In the greatest sermon ever preached Jesus claims in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”  This counter-intuitive statement fits perfect in the sequential order of characteristics that Jesus gives in Matthew 5:3-12.  The basic paradox of this statement is simple “happy are the spiritually sad”.  However the core of [...]

Over the next few months we are going to march through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. This discoarse has significant implications on living in the Kingdom here and now. As the crowds began to swell, Jesus wanted to insure that their reason for following him was for all the right reasons. He [...]

Pursuing God

On June 14, 1946 A.W. Tozer wrote the following words. In this hour of all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears; within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself.  They are eager for spiritual realities and will [...]