Grace is always one-sided. We never have anything to do with it - that is, besides the sin that makes it necessary. But for some reason, we convince ourselves that are responsible for the grace we receive. We are convinced that in order to progress spiritually or to get more from God, it’s all riding on our performance.
At any moment our family room is on the verge of being transformed into a rave. "Dance party! Dance party!" is all that's needed and the room will immediately cease to be a place of lounging, toy-playing, and movie watching and become a dance floor filled with moves you'd hope to never see a grown man do.
There is something alluring about a ladder. The better you perform, the higher you climb. The higher you climb, the more you get. If you want more from your job, work harder. If you work harder, you get better and if you get better, you get more rewards.
It doesn’t end. Weeks after the tragedy at Pulse, a nightclub in Orlando, we have witnessed the tragedies of the death of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and a mass shooting that killed 5 police officers in Dallas.
God have mercy.
Christians are experts in denial. We find ways to cover our tracks, to hide the problem, and to justify ourselves with a string of excuses. We've become experts at putting on a facade of a happier, more behaved version of ourselves. We hide the problem while appearing to have it all together.
Today, I’m excited to announce the launch of a new book that I've been working on for several months in order to share with the world - for free! Introducing: The Art of Law and Gospel.
One of the most dangerous problems plaguing the Christian Church is the failure to distinguish Law and Gospel. These two words - Law and Gospel - are a gift from God. We need both words, but we need them for different reasons.
The greatest threat to the Christian Church is not the culture we live in. Despised the ever-present culture-wars, it is not the greatest potential of damage to the Church. Christianity has faced cultures far more hostile to the Christian faith and have experienced exponential growth.
The accusations of the voices we hear on a daily basis are deafening. There is no shortage of voices that will remind us of our failures. If God can choose to speak even through the mouth of an ass to get his message across, it seems that Satan has an abundance to choose from for his message
Once an addict always an addict. It may not have hit you, but it will. It always does.
We are born in this world addicted to the Law. We crave "do this or don't do this" and from our first sip, we measure ourselves accordingly. We get high off of our own self-righteousness, creating images of ourselves based on imaginary comparisons. .
The Christian Church loves to preach the Law. It loves to give us lists, steps, and advice. The Church loves to preach "do this" to a people who repeatedly fail to do it.The lists and steps aren't the problem, the problem is that lists, steps, and advice at best are a temporary fix to a symptom of the real problem.
The first artist, only one day into his new life, is given an important creative endeavor. We don't know if he also suffered from the first case of writers block or had to deal with the inner turmoil of staring at a blank canvas, but less than 24 hours into life in the Garden, Adam is given the first creative opportunity.
Slavery turns human beings into assets. Oppression becomes the method of business in order to meet the demands of the master. Tyranny, manipulation, and fear are all wielded to get the slaves to do whatever the master wants.
The Law is the dominant language of our culture. We may not realize it behind a veil of self-improvement, fashion advice, or suggested nutrition plans from lifestyle bloggers, but the predominant message of culture is "Do more. Try Harder."
Every set of instructions ends the same way - frustration, confusion, and a pile of extra pieces. Instructions are the bane of Christmas morning. Instructions make a trip to ikea filled with angst. Instructions have a gift for making us curse toy manufacturers, swearing they added extra pieces.
God's assembling a league of not-so-extraordinary gentlemen. He's gathering ordinary individuals with marginal influence, mediocre careers, and minimal pay. These men and women aren't the ones that are told of in legends. These aren't the men that kids dream about becoming - kids don't go to bed dreaming about working on the assembly line or doing taxes.
