I actually think one of most profoundly and deep pastoral moments between a pastor and his church is what happens between them before God in the context of preaching.
Our default faith mode is to trust, above all things, our own ability to create a safe, controllable, predictable world.
Long-term, gospel-motivate d obedience can only come from the grace of what Jesus has already done, not the guilt of what we must do.
I never had an intellectual struggle with the Bible, with the gospel, with the claims of Christ.
Grace is upside-down, to-do-list wrecking, scandalous and way-too free. It’s one-way love.
God has hardwired me to thoroughly enjoy and be sharpened by good and friendly theological discussion about the gospel.
From the time God saved me at 21 years old, I’ve always been fascinated by the parables of Jesus.
Even political insiders recognize that years of political effort on behalf of Evangelical Christians have generated little cultural gain.
Don’t get me wrong – what we do is important. But it is infinitely less important than what Jesus has done for us.
Death is the operative device that sets us free in Christ – when we die, we truly live.
Rest assured: Before God, the righteousness of Christ is all we need; before God, the righteousness of Christ is all we have.
I was afraid that if I surrendered my life over to God, God would tell me not to do those things that I desperately wanted to do.
Our assurance is anchored in the love and grace of God expressed in the glorious exchange: our sin for His righteousness.
The truth is, narratives of self-justification burble beneath more of our relationships and endeavors than we would care to admit.
There’s absolutely no way you can feel the freedom to embarrass and humiliate yourself unless you have finally recognized that your identity is in someone other than yourself.
We often read the Bible as if it were fundamentally about us: our improvement, our life, our triumph, our victory, our faith, our holiness, our godliness.
Because Jesus came to secure for us what we could never secure for ourselves, life doesn’t have to be a tireless effort to establish ourselves, justify ourselves, validate ourselves.
When it comes to engaging and influencing culture, too many Christians think too highly of political activism.
Thankfully, while our self-righteousness reaches far, God’s grace reaches farther.
Performancism is the mindset that equates our identity and value directly with our performance and accomplishments.
Our minds are affected by sin. Our hearts are affected by sin. Our wills are affected by sin. Our bodies are affected by sin.