Have you ever been a part of a sports team that wears jerseys with labels on them? Usually a jersey has a team name, logo, and your player number. Some also include your last name and maybe a sponsor name and logo. NASCAR driver uniforms have, perhaps, the most labels of all. We, too, canContinue reading “How to rip off labels stuck to you – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 5”
Tag Archives: church
The Already, but Not Yet Kingdom – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 2
Christians are citizens of the Kingdom of God now. What does that mean? How does our citizenship in God’s Kingdom matter now? The answer to that question is something called, “the already, but not yet”. We are a part of the Kingdom of God already, but that Kingdom has not yet come in its fullness. Continue reading “The Already, but Not Yet Kingdom – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 2”
How to walk with the Holy Spirit every day – Our Identity: Temples of the Spirit, Part 5
If you are a Christian, you carry the Holy Spirit around with you everywhere you go. So what? What does that matter? How do we live out our identity as temples of the Spirit? It starts with confession and repentance for the sin in our lives. Admit it, and turn away from it. One ofContinue reading “How to walk with the Holy Spirit every day – Our Identity: Temples of the Spirit, Part 5”
What is the Holy Spirit? And how do we receive the Spirit? – Our Identity: Temples of the Spirit, Part 2
What is the Holy Spirit? As a spirit, you cannot see the Spirit. The Spirit is invisible. But the Spirit is God, God’s true spiritual being. The Spirit is equal to God in every way. In Scripture we see various descriptions of the Spirit. The Spirit came like a dove alighting on Jesus during hisContinue reading “What is the Holy Spirit? And how do we receive the Spirit? – Our Identity: Temples of the Spirit, Part 2”
Jesus wants us to have so much more than eternal life – Our Identity: In Christ, Part 3
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear “eternal life”? Probably heaven right? Life after death. But that’s not the only way that Jesus talked about the new life that we can have in him. In John 10:10 he would go on to say that he came that people would haveContinue reading “Jesus wants us to have so much more than eternal life – Our Identity: In Christ, Part 3”
How to move out of the crowd and get near to God – Our Identity: In God, Part 5
Remember the parable of the princess who hid her identity, and never spent time with her father, the king? There’s more to the story. The princess was an adopted child of the king with all the rights, benefits and privileges of being in his royal family. But she did not actually spend time to getContinue reading “How to move out of the crowd and get near to God – Our Identity: In God, Part 5”
How to avoid assimilation and follow Jesus – Characters: Daniel, Part 5
A retired couple in my congregation told me about the time they attended a high school reunion, and their classmates, now all retired, each took turns sharing what they were doing with their lives. The sharing went all the way around the circle, and not a single person mentioned anything about serving the Lord. PerhapsContinue reading “How to avoid assimilation and follow Jesus – Characters: Daniel, Part 5”
How much should we let our Christianity show? – Characters: Daniel, Part 4
In this series of posts on Daniel and his friends, we’ve been talking about assimilation. How much should Christians allow themselves to assimilate with their surrounding culture? What areas of ethics matter, and which don’t? It’s not always easy to know. One way people seek to answer this question is about process. Do the endsContinue reading “How much should we let our Christianity show? – Characters: Daniel, Part 4”
The antidote to envy – Second Sunday of Advent, Part 3
Is there any hope to rid ourselves of envy and jealousy? What are we to do with our dark longings? We can feel powerless to combat them. We hate the way they make us feel. Dissatisfied and grumpy. Convinced that the next iPhone, the next TV show, the next vacation, the next date, the debtContinue reading “The antidote to envy – Second Sunday of Advent, Part 3”
Mercy for those who doubt – Jude 17-25, Part 5
“Be merciful to those who doubt.” Interesting phrase, isn’t it? So often we conceive of doubt as a negative thing to be avoided, and the result can be that people who doubt are considered to be sinful or strange. But is doubt wrong? As we conclude our two-week study through the letter of Jude, weContinue reading “Mercy for those who doubt – Jude 17-25, Part 5”
Engaging Scripture 