Contemplations

Principles do no good if there’s no practical way to apply them. Have you discovered this? High-minded ideals may be nice to think about, but to really make a difference in our lives, they need to have some skin on and work in the real world. The last two posts have been part of a three-part series on good works that stemmed from a conversation with a friend who had a question about a message I preached called “The Surface and the Substance”. (You can listen to the podcast here.) In posts, we explored Jesus’ command in Matthew 5:16, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”, which instructs His disciples to live in such a way that we draw attention to the goodness and glory...

Should I do good deeds in public or in private? In response to a question about my message last week, called “The Surface and the Substance” (listen to the podcast here), I shared some thoughts yesterday about the importance of following Jesus’ command in Matthew 5:16, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” We discovered that at the core of this teaching, Jesus is saying that the call of the disciple is to live in such a way that we draw attention to the goodness and glory of God, not to ourselves. (Read the full post here.) The tricky part, though, is how to balance this with what Jesus also said, instructions found in Matthew 6 that seem on the surface to...

Don’t you just love it when the Bible contradicts itself? Now before you get upset (if you believe the Bible) or cheer (if you don’t), hear me out. A friend called me the other day with a question: “In your message yesterday you said we are supposed to do our good works so people can see them so that we bring glory to God, but I was always raised that we’re supposed to do good works in secret so we have our reward in heaven.  Which one is right?” I had been sharing a message about the glory of God called “The Surface and the Substance”  (listen to the podcast here) and had referred to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father...

I am a child of God. I preach, but I am not first a preacher. I play and sing, but am not first a musician. Born in the U.S.A., but not first an American. Love, and am loved by a father, mother, two brothers and more, but am not first a part of that family. I have a fine car and a nice place to live, but they do not define me; friends, well-wishers and a few admirers, but neither do they. I have people who do not admire or respect me, who overlook and disregard me, but they do not define me, either. I’ve had successes, but they are not the headline of my story. I’ve had failures, but they don’t have the last word. NO, my story is written in red, my value determined by my identity and my identity defined and secured by the blood-price paid for me...

“What does he know that I don’t?” David, the writer of Psalm 119, says, “How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.” (Psalm 119:103) Granted, there are some nice things in the Bible, but really, “sweeter than honey?” Here’s what David understands that we often miss when we read the Scriptures.  ALL of the Bible is good news. Good news that God made the world a beautiful place and will return to make it new again. Good news that God made a way for Adam and Eve and has made a way for us. Good news that God is always faithful to His people no matter how long they wander in the desert or how far they go. Good news that His commands lead to life, and life abundantly. Good news that Jesus is the...

Which is better, old or new? “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” -Matthew 9:17 How easy it is in our “newer-is-better” consumer culture to discard the old in favor of the new…but Jesus doesn’t do that.  Jesus finds value in both the seasoned and the start-up, the trendy and the traditional. Don’t be so quick to embrace the shine of the present that you miss the substance of the past, and don’t let the comfort of the familiar keep you from the fresh wine of a brand new...