I’m super jazzed about today’s post. Back in 2009, I wrote a song based on a series of messages I delivered on Ephesians. To my mind, Ephesians 1 and 2 are among the most sublime passages in all the New Testament. And so I wanted to put the key thoughts to music. The song is called “In Christ.” I wrote the first stanza, the chorus, and the bridge. The church to whom I delivered the messages wrote the next two... Read more

8 Common Mistake When Reading the Bible – click to listen.   Read more

Watchman Nee continues to explain what “the world system” is, saying, In the book of Genesis we find in Eden no hint of technology, no mention of mechanical instruments. After the Fall, however, we read that among the sons of Cain there was a forger of cutting instruments of brass and iron. A few centuries ago it might have seemed fanciful to discern the spirit of antichrist in iron tools, even though for long the sword has been in open... Read more

How does the Old Testament tell the story of Jesus? I don’t mean just the prophetic texts in Isaiah, etc. But ALL the Old Testament? Listen to find out. Read more

A strong part of our Christian heritage is the practice of writing new lyrics to well-known tunes. This practice goes back to at least the Reformers. But I suspect it precedes that. In February 2012, I delivered a message to a Christian community entitled Living in the Divine Parenthesis. The night before I brought the message, I wrote a song as a companion to the talk called “He Has Anointed Us.” I wrote the song to the tune of Wavin’... Read more

To lighten things up a bit on the blog this week, here’s a short comical story about a young man and a cowboy. A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in California, when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out his window and asked the cowboy . . . “If I tell... Read more

Many who teach grace make it seem as though “good works” are bad and should be avoided. But this is a distortion of Scripture. In this podcast episode, I weighs-in on the outreach vs. inreach debate among Christians (evangelism/social justice vs. community/communion), approaching it from a unique perspective and giving a clarion call regarding God’s mission in the earth. Read more

J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels is an amazing set of commentaries. “We prize these volumes. They are diffuse, but not more so than family reading requires. Mr. Ryle has evidently studies all previous writers upon the Gospels, and has given forth an individual utterance of considerable value.” — CHARLES SPURGEON I personally recommend these Christ-centered commentaries. They are beautiful inside and out and contain riches that you won’t find in most modern commentaries. Here’s a description from the... Read more

“But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.” ~ 2 Corinthians 10:12 Today’s social media has sought to put us all back in high school. Many of us are being tempted to measure our self worth and spiritual usefulness by artificial standards. Twitter followers, Facebook friends, top blog lists, unique visits, and Klout scores are the new metrics that have replaced making the homecoming court, surviving the sports team cut,... Read more

Sometime ago, I delivered a message to an organic missional church entitled Living in the Divine Parenthesis. The evening before I delivered the message, I wrote a song as a companion to the message called “He Has Anointed Us.” I wrote it to the tune of Wavin’ Flag by K’naan. Another organic missional church I relate to took the lyrics and recorded the song in a studio. The lyrics are below so you can read them while you listen to the recording. The... Read more