How judging killed a discipleship effort in the local church – Holding others accountable, Part 2

Over the years in my church family, people have raised the concern about Jesus’ teaching, “Do not judge” on more than one occasion.  “Who are we to judge one another,” people say. It sounds very spiritual. But I think they are interpreting Jesus incorrectly.  The first occasion people raised the concern about judging was probably 20Continue reading “How judging killed a discipleship effort in the local church – Holding others accountable, Part 2”

Why humility, teachability and the Korean concept of Han are vital to confession – Advent Psalm of Confession, Part 5

As we learned in the previous post, when we confess our sins, we are trusting in God.  But there’s more. When we confess our sins, here is what we are to do next, as David writes in Psalm 32, verses 8-9, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; IContinue reading “Why humility, teachability and the Korean concept of Han are vital to confession – Advent Psalm of Confession, Part 5”

What to do when our hearts feel stone cold – Advent Psalm of Confession, Part 3

Israel’s great king, David, has sinned greatly, as we’ve seen in the previous two posts in this series here and here. But with some creatively devious evil thinking, he has covered his sin, and has just one more detail to care for. This is how the story continues in 2 Samuel 11, verses 26-27, “WhenContinue reading “What to do when our hearts feel stone cold – Advent Psalm of Confession, Part 3”

How repentance is actually beautiful – Luke 3:1-20

The word “repent” conjurs up horrible images.  Awful, judgmental images.  Hellfire and brimstone preachers. They scare me. How could “repent” be anything but an ugly word? This past Sunday we studied John the Baptist.  You can check out the sermon here.  It was looking at Luke 1:80 briefly and then Luke 3:1-20. Luke records JohnContinue reading “How repentance is actually beautiful – Luke 3:1-20”