You're Not Just Holy Pipe

When God gives you something good, do you have to make sure that you understand it’s not for you but for someone else? Are those the strings He attaches? Does God's grace need to be managed more than enjoyed?  The good people at Surrendered Image have just published my article.

To read or watch it, click: http://surrenderedimage.com/…/youre-not-just-holy-pipe-34984.

God's Grand Setup of Love On Father's Day

On Father's Day, a lot of legalistic-based condemnation will be exposed when sons and daughters praise us dads. Oftentimes we don't give highest value to the beauty of the love we've shared as THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, but rather to the things we should have done but didn't. And that hurts us. Fathers are set up to love and to be loved in return, and praising us today because of love shared will be a terrific assist in reminding us of God's Grand Setup of Love.

A Heavenly Progress Report

My brother, my sister, you will likely have years of accidentally practicing the pretended non-presence of Jesus in you, looking for Him “out there” instead of “in here.”  It will probably take time and teaching and reading and praying and events and people and losses and benefits and crying and rejoicing and catastrophes-turned-triumphs in truly finding and regularly enjoying “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).  It might not be overnight that you fully accept and grow accustomed to the fact that you are the earthly mansion of The King, that He knows and cares for every room and every corner, but it will happen.  In His mansion—in you—He is the manager, He is the janitor, He is the inside gardener, He is the plumber (He moves you!), He is the maid, He is the brains, He is the builder, and He is the King.  He is there, He is here, and you will know Him and how He is.  After all, you are His workmanship—even if His pace seems slow.  You are on His timetable.  Heavenly progress reports are more about Him than about you. 

Colossians 1:27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

(This is a transcript of yesterday's video, "A Heavenly Progress Report," and is for those who might rather read than watch. To see the video, click http://youtu.be/GWgoxYGpPJQ, or simply scroll down this page.)

A Heavenly Progress Report

Got 3 minutes?  God is active and capable with you, so you can relax. Confidence?  Hope?  Knowing who and how He is with you will produce plenty.

Navigating Forward

While we want to respectfully pay attention to what people say about us, we must not let their opinion truly identify us. It will nearly always be less than who and what we truly are, which is found with Jesus and His opinion. He knows exactly who and what you are, since He regards you by what He did through the cross and resurrection. Remembering what He thinks—accepting and enjoying it—will help you navigate the day and those who think less.

A Great Resource

Sarah and I thoroughly enjoyed watching our friend, Andrew Farley, speaking to the church he pastors at Lubbock, Texas, this morning. He is a fantastic speaker and a terrific man, which makes live streaming so good. Fortunately, all of his messages are recorded in both video and audio formats, so you can get to them at any time you like.

Here’s the link: http://www.churchwithoutreligion.com.

Recognizing the Perfect Work of God

What People Need to Hear on Sunday Morning

You’ve got enough confusion, so how can we help each other to avoid it and to receive the truth that God intends should build us up?  Click the link below to read on—or watch—to find out.

http://surrenderedimage.com/Blog/recognizing-the-perfect-work-of-god-34936

The Thing I Do

I have a habit of viewing God’s relationship with me (and, therefore, mine with Him) through the lens of the cross and resurrection of Christ. Both events included me. I was crucified with Christ (Romans 6:1-7 and Galatians 2:20) and the life I live—the thing I do—is to believe what He says of me. From the fact of my crucifixion and resurrection in Christ (Ephesians 2:6-10), I offer myself, not to God “out there,” but to God now “in here”—inside of me. He made me a perfect place in which to live and from which to show Himself to the world. That was the plan—for Him in me. (See Romans 6:11-14.) I don’t first offer to do stuff for Him, I believe what He did for me and to me, and then offer to Him the “parts of my body.” In other words, I look for Him inside before I ever look for Him outside.

Sunday Evening Satire #1

I'm simply having fun with a 3.5 minute, "Sunday Evening Satire.” (Satire: the use of humor or exaggeration to expose and criticize a specific point or practice.) I hope you enjoy it, and DO NOT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY AT ALL. It's for fun. It's a joke. Okay?

A Perfect Connection

As ministers of reconciliation, we are not serving people only a perfect condition with God (as good as that is), we are also serving a perfect connection with Him. It's Him, remember? And He is Life! Life with personality. Life with feeling. Life with direction. Life with vision. Life that had no beginning and has no ending. Not just length of time life, but a new kind of life connected with Him. “I am the way, the truth and the life.”