This post is a blast from the past. It’s the first post I published on October 22, 2012. I thought it would be interesting to revisit it today. If nothing else, it will re-establish the purpose and focus of this blog: — It’s always a privilege to “be there from the beginning” of any new venture. So if you’re reading this post, then welcome . . . and I’m glad you are present for our beginning. I’m honored to have... Read more

The 121st episode of the “Christ is All” podcast is available. It’s called Hacks to the Victorious Christian Life. And I’ve got a discussion partner for this one. As always, if you enjoy it, pass this post on (using the share buttons below) and be sure to subscribe in iTunes or Beyond Pod below. LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE Read more

Enter now Moses and Aaron. These two men are leading the children of Israel in the wilderness. There arises a controversy over their leadership. Moses and Aaron are being challenged by some of God’s people. God says to Moses, “I want you to take a rod from each of the leaders of the tribes of Israel—twelve rods. And I want you to put them in the tabernacle” (see Num. 17:1–4). The rods were put in the Holy of Holies where... Read more

Jonathan Cottrell recently interviewed me about the gospel of the kingdom and the present insurgence. Read it below. Enjoy! There have been many books written on the kingdom of God. How is your newest book, Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, different?  That’s a great question. Let me begin by saying that I never choose to write a book. A book chooses me. I become so burdened with a message that I have to release it. The discomfort of keeping... Read more

As I explained in Jesus Now, the beginning of the Christian faith is fairly easy. And so is the last part of the journey. It’s the middle that’s incredibly difficult. There are usually two points in a believer’s life where they encounter a crisis of faith. This is especially true if God is using the person in powerful ways. One is when they are around 30 years old. The other is when they are in their 40s. I’ve watched many people fall away... Read more

The other day I was reading Luke 18, the beginning parable. Here’s what the Lord said, Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he... Read more

There’s no question that the New Testament teaches that there will be various degrees of reward in the future kingdom. But it’s important that we don’t make the mistake (as many have) of elaborating on them beyond Scripture and codifying them into some sort of ironclad system. Scripture doesn’t give us details about this aspect of the kingdom. Although it certainly does teach rewards. For example, For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which... Read more

In John 5, Jesus made this insightful but sober remark: “How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” One of the major obstacles to faith and the cause of unbelief is the desire to receive glory from mere mortals, instead of receiving honor from God. My prayer: Lord, in all that I am doing, in all that I’ve done, and in all that I will... Read more

Recently, I came across a fascinating remark from George Whitefield regarding John Wesley. Whitefield and Wesley were contemporaries who both had massive followings during their time. But they disagreed on a number of key theological points. Whitefield was much more a Calvinist while Wesley was much more an Arminian. In light of their doctrinal disagreements, someone once asked Whitefield if he thought he’d see Wesley in heaven. Here is Whitefield’s reply: “I fear not, for he will be so near the... Read more

Theology doesn’t have to be a bloodsport. It can be a civil and intellectually honest conversation. However, much of the problem today is that Christians use different conversational styles when they argue theology. So the disagreement ends up being rooted in semantics rather than substance. And that’s why we have WWE-styled theological smackdowns! Check out this blog series – which offers a cure for this ill: Introducing Spiritual Conversational Styles The Charismatic Spiritual Conversational Style The Quoter Spiritual Conversational Style The... Read more