More Than Bread: Recent Episodes

Dan Nold (Pastor of Calvary Church)

It's not enough to get into God's Word, we need to let His Word get into us. "More Than Bread" is a podcast featuring Pastor Dan Nold from Calvary Church in State College, PA. It focuses on simply reading the Bible (with a few comments) in the hopes that listening to God's Word, learning from God's Word and leaning into God's Word will shape our hearts, minds, and souls to bring us life. As Jesus said, "We do not live by bread alone, we live by every Word that comes from the mouth of God."

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Psalm 121 is one of the first of a small group (14) of psalms called the "Psalms of Ascent." They were songs for pilgrims on a journey to the holy place, the presence of God. It's a re-do. I first recorded it about 3 years ago during my top 40 Psalms series. But it's a great Psalm to bridge our series on practicing the sabbath and our upcoming series on generosity.

Psalm 121 begins with a question and an answer that should direct and motivate both practices. The question is "Where does my help come from?" And the answer is, "My help comes from the Lord." Who can I trust for help? My help comes from the Lord. Where do I go when I need help? My help comes from the Lord. In this episode we will hang out for a bit with this question and answer. Where does my help come from? The Lord. My help comes from the Lord!

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One more moment to press pause and think about this one day a week that is meant to be a taste of heaven on earth. And I’m going to go at it in a little bit different way. I want to share a story of a moment in the life of Jesus. It doesn’t mention the sabbath at all, but it really reinforces why the sabbath is important. The story is of a man we only know as "the rich young ruler."

It's a story of the one thing we may lack, that is required for a life that truly thrives.

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The good life does not start with activity. It starts with rest. We don't rest from our work, we rest into our work. The order is significant. We've turned the concept of the Sabbath into a day off, a much needed rest from our busyness, but the Sabbath was not meant to be a passive resting; it was always an active turning from work to God.

Basically, God has said, "Once a week I'm going to carve out a day for you. I'm going to remove it from the curse; call it holy so that Satan can't mess with it and I'm going to fill it with blessings. Primarily the blessing of me. And I'm good, so good; you won't regret this day. It'll be like the old days, back in the garden, a
day to remind you that I actually want to spend time with you."

See Sabbath is one day a week to taste-test heaven!

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We are strivers. Rather than finding our identity in who we are, we find it in what we do. At one time work was just a way that we got our family ahead, but now it's the way in which we find our value, determine our worth. We're a society that determines value by achievement. This is even shaping the way we parent. Our kids have to go to the best schools, be trained by the best people and be involved
in all the best activities so they can become the best achievers. Because what really matters is what we do, not who we are. And yet all of our doing does not seem to fill the holes in our souls. In spite of all our doing...something is lacking in our being. Even when I win this rat race, I wake up in the morning to find that I'm
still a rat. But the writer of Hebrews says, there is still hope.

But somehow we have to stop striving, so we can gain the gift!

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Over the course of these episodes and even more the course of the years, I have had multiple people ask me, so what should I do on the Sabbath? How is it different from any other day? What's the purpose? At some point the thought came to me, "The Sabbath was meant to be a little taste of heaven. The Sabbath is one day a week meant to give us a little taste of heaven on earth. I'll be honest, the first time those words came out of my mouth, I thought "Oh... that's good. Way to go Dan. I've never read that, never heard anyone say that. Good job." Of course, I wasn't even close to the first with that thought. I found that the Jewish midrash written over 1000 yrs ago, contained the same idea.

So what would it look like to bring an element of heaven into your Sabbath? What if that was God's intent all along...a taste test of heaven?

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What if I only had one day, one day to live, one day to give, or just one day to do whatever my heart desired to do? What would you do with one day to do whatever you wanted to do?

The average lifespan in the United States is 29,200 days (give or take). My mother-in-law recently celebrated her 32,872nd day. My mom and dad are both over 30,000 days old. In a few weeks, I will celebrate my 23,376th day! In Psalm 84, David says that one day in God's presence is worth a 1000 anywhere else.
One day in God's presence is better than 1000 of my best days anywhere else. Which causes me to pause and ask, "Would I give my life for 23+ days in God's presence? Or let me make it more immediate and practical. Would I give God an hour of my day today, if I thought it was that good?

Psalm 84 is an encouraging and convicting Psalm that causes me to ask the question, "What would I do if I only had one day?"

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What would you think if I told you that I believe "play" is in the very heart of Father God. I love how the prophet Isaiah describes this play-full God in Isaiah 29:13-14:
"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder." Did you catch that? God is bummed because people's hearts are all bricked up and their worship is filled with dry rules. There's no joy, no fun. So what does God decide to do? "Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder..."

I'm gonna blow their minds, knock their socks off, I'm gonna bring a smile to their faces, if it's the last thing I do. Let me ask you... when is the last time you let God astound you?

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We are going to talk about the spiritual practice of play. U knew this was coming, but still you’re tempted to ask, "Did he say play or pray?" Play? Why would we talk about play on the sabbath? Play is not really a spiritual practice is it? Good question! That a Christian should be a great worker, a blessing to every boss is easily defensible. That a follower of Jesus should be willing to sacrifice, even suffer for their faith. I've said that, more than once. That a Christian should be known for their love. Of course...almost goes without saying.

How about no one in the world should be known for their playfulness like followers of Christ? How does that sit with you? In this episode I'll start to make the case that the Kingdom of God is for kids who love to play and there's no better time to play, than on God's stop-day!

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God made "stop-day" (the sabbath) a rule, because He loves delight. He loves to delight us. I think I could even say, He loves to have fun. Sabbath is God saying, hey what I have made for you is so cool, I'm gonna insist that you enjoy it." Remember how we described sabbath in the last episode? Basically God has said, "Once a week I will carve out a day for you. I'm going to remove it from the curse; call it holy so that Satan can't mess with it and I'm going to fill it with blessings. Primarily the blessing of me. And I am so good, you don't want to miss this day. It'll be like the old days, back in the garden."

So practically speaking how do we do it? How do I have a "be-with-God" day?

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When it comes to keeping the sabbath, basically God has said, "Once a week I'm gonna to carve out a day for you. I'm gonna remove it from the curse; call it holy so that Satan can't mess with it and I'm going to fill it with blessings. Primarily the blessing of me. And I'm good. I'm so good. You won't regret this day. It'll be like the old days, back in the garden. It's gonna be a day where I can remind you that I love you and I actually want to spend time with you. You are my delight."

What if that was what the Sabbath was all about? And if that’s what it’s all about…would you really want to miss it? Wouldn't it be your best day of the week?

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Far too often, I come to God to get something from God. But what the gifts of the giver, keep me from embracing the greatest gift? See there is nothing greater than Christ. Christ is the treasure of Christianity. Listen, I don't know why you go to church, why you listen to this podcast, but if it's not ultimately because you want more of Christ, then chances are good that you're going to miss everything. Listen to me, there is a hunger and a thirst deep inside of you that nothing will touch, nothing will satisfy, except Christ...

So here's the question I end with in this episode, "Are you willing to stop feeding at banquet tables where the main course is not Christ. If it's necessary will you let go of the good to go after God? Are you thirsty for the gift of God?"

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The sabbath is a way of saying, "God it's not just a matter of time, if I had all the time in the world, I still wouldn't be able to finish. I need help. I'm limited." I think one reason we don't sabbath well is because we haven't accepted our limitations. We need to develop a theology of limitations.

The sabbath call in Psalm 46 is "Be still and know that I am God." Usually when we think of the word stillness, we think of quiet. Stillness is a lack of noise and sometimes we desperately need times of solitude and silence. But God is not
saying, "Be quiet and know that I am God." The Hebrew word means stop or simply cease. Cease striving. Hands up. Give up. Let Him be God!

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We are starting the second mini-series of spiritual practices that bring God's gracious hand upon us. For the next 8-10 episodes we're going talk about keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath is God's stop-day. And let's be honest, it's so hard. And if you ask why is it so hard to slow down? Isn't the most common answer, well 24/7 living and 24/7 work is what it takes to get ahead. I mean there is so much to
do. It's like, "God, if you want to take a day off, that's your business, but you can see that I just don't have time to stop."

But here's my question, the sabbath question. What if getting ahead is the wrong race? What if getting ahead is really falling behind and we have to stop in order to catch up with the life that really matters? What if getting ahead is the wrong race?

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Remain. Mostly what I want to talk about, in this last episode of the series, is that word "remain." In Biblical Greek, it’s the word meno. It means to take a stand against difficult circumstances. But it was also used to refer to relationships, close personal relationships. So maybe the sense of the word meno in John 15 is "to stick close even when it's difficult."

Stick close to me and I will stick close to you. Regardless of how hard life is, let my words stick close. Stick close to my love. If you stick close, you will live a life that thrives, so stick close. See, if want to breakthrough to a life that thrives, we need to remain!

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In John 15 there is a serious call to love God's Words, to make them an always-there part of our hearts. Jesus uses the word, "remain." Remain in me. Let my words remain in you. Remain in my life. Remain. What we will find in this episode is that there is a connection that goes beyond metaphor into the land of mystical, a connection between Jesus, who is called "The Word" and the Word which we call our Bible. It's almost like God speaks and every time God opens his mouth, Jesus comes out.

Here's the point, "I can't love Jesus, if I don't love the Word!

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Well this isn't the message I preached last Sunday on the Psalms, but it is the Psalm I would have preached on if I wasn't on vacation. :) Psalm 77 is a powerful Psalm on gratitude in the midst of hard times. Few spiritual practices are as easy to understand, and require so little "practice" as gratitude, but honestly it is so powerful, so helpful, so refreshing.

Maybe this Psalm will spur us on to gratitude!

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What did Jesus say to Martha when she came complaining about Mary? "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled over so many things, but only one thing is needed, one thing is necessary." Or perhaps in Martha's only one thing was lacking. With all her worry and hurry she was still lacking something. In essence Jesus was saying, "Mary has chosen what you need. What good would it do to take away from Mary, what you need?" I wonder how many of us are missing what we need because we are hurry to get something we think we lack.

Only one thing is needed. Jesus doesn't say only one thing is possible. He doesn't say, "If you ever do anything other than this one thing, then you are wasting your time." He is simply telling us in midst of our mindlessness, distractions, hurry and worry, that there is one thing that is necessary. We must listen to His Words.

So here is my question, how many of us are choosing the wrong one thing?

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Sometimes we are tempted to think that words are just words. Right? We live in a world with a lot of words. Sometimes it feels like word overload. But is there really such a thing as "just words?" Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Remember that schoolyard ditty? We said it to try to convince ourselves that words couldn't hurt us, but we knew it was just a lie. Words can hurt. Words can bring life. Words can reshape a day, a year, even a life. And those are just our words. Think about the potential power of God-Words.

God's words created the heavens and the earth. God's words bring healing. The words of Jesus were words of life. When it comes to God, there's no such thing as "just words."

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In a number of his books, C.S. Lewis compares the Christian life to a dance with God. He calls it the Great Dance, and says, "Each one of us has to enter that pattern, and take our place in the dance. There is no other way to the happiness for which we were made." See when it comes to the life of faith, there is a great difference between dancing by the book and hearing the music.

Living by the book is all about behaviors and rules and regulations, taking the right steps. But entering into the great dance is all about relationship, romance and joy. You know what? It's hard to dance, if you can't hear the music. Can you hear the music?

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In this episode I'm going to ask the question, "Why don't I hunger for God's Words?" Maybe it's because we aren't sure we really believe in the Bible. When someone says that to me, I'm thinking really? Which part do you not believe? Is it the poetry in the Psalms, or the wisdom of Proverbs? Maybe it was the way Jesus interacted with people? Or maybe you don't believe that stealing and lying is bad?

And I'm not saying that there aren't parts of the Bible, especially the Old Testament, that aren't hard. But some of us use that as self-imposed Word-famine excuse. It's Just too hard! But let's be honest, sometimes what's hard about the Bible is what we do understand, not what we don't understand. Right? So in this episode, I'll ask you ponder that question, "Why don't I hunger for God's Words?

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For those of you who are newer to "More Than Bread" for sometime now I often take a break from the "5 episodes a week" life and simply upload my sermon from the last Sunday (or something similar) on Mondays. Lately at Calvary we've been going through the Psalms with the theme of finding "A Life Refreshed."

This episode takes a look at Psalm 42 and 43. It's a Psalm of Lament, with a recurring theme of hope. No matter how hard the days or how dark the night, hope is fuel for our hearts. And here is the truth, "The best is yet to come, and He is worth the wait!"

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Do I have an urgent hunger for God's Words? First can I define my terms? Here's the deal, if it's not important, it can't be urgent. The dictionary defines urgency as "something of importance requiring swift action. Urgency is an earnest and persistent response to a pressing situation." In other words, urgency is a subset of what's important. If it's not important, it can't be urgent. Now any number of issues in our world today could cause a sense of urgency. But here is what I think, while many things could seem urgent, what actually becomes consistently urgent is whatever we think will brings us life and is missing.

In other words, urgency is defined by hunger. Urgency happens when we lack something which we think will bring us life. So ask yourself, "Do I have an urgent hunger for God's Words?

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Listen, there are voices in this world, voices that some of you have listened to all your life. Some of them were bad voices, mean, always critical, made you feel like you had nothing to offer the world. You can't be fixed, never succeed and can't be forgiven. Some of you on the other hand, you've had some great voices speaking into your life through the years; words of affirmation and courage, words of love and wisdom. Whether the voices of the people in your life, have been good or bad. Whether you have chosen to listen or not. There is one voice above all others that we need to hear.

It's God's voice. Listen for God's voice deep in your heart. Nobody cheers for you like him. He delights in you. He's paying attention, shaping you, holding you, ever faithful and forgiving.

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In Exodus 33, God tells Moses He is saying "yes" to Moses' prayer. Why? "Because you have found favor with me and you are my friend." Every time I read those words, it brings tears to my eyes. In part because I'm reminded how often I seek his favor over his friendship. In part because of the memories that flood my mind. Times when I've gone on long drives, just because I wanted uninterrupted time with God. Times when I've opened the Bible and it's like having coffee with Jesus. And I find myself praying, "God, whether you breakthrough out there or not, would you please breakthrough in my heart. In the last chapters of my life I just want to be known as a friend of God.

What if nothing matters more than this? Are you a friend of God?

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What if I told you that there is a potential breakthrough available to you that would give you a 100 fold return on your life? I know "life" is a broad all encompassing word, but that's really what we are looking for -- the kind of life that goes broad and deep -- and far and wide. The kind of life that impacts every arena of my life, my relationships, my vocation, my causes and passions; my mental health and
physical health and relational health. Do you need a breakthrough to more life?

In the next four series, we will talk about four spiritual practices that I think will put us in a place where God's gracious hand is upon us. The first is saturation in scripture. We need more than bread! What will bring the greatest return for my life? In Mark 4:1-20, Jesus is suggesting it's listening to, learning from and leaning into God's words!

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Psalm 51 is all about sin. Well not just sin. It's all about sin and the overflowing, relentlessly overwhelming love of God. Here's the deal, no one sins out of duty. We sin when we believe that God cannot satisfy my heart. There was a time in David's life where God was the all-satisfying pursuit of his heart. This writer of psalms. This warrior-poet-King with a huge appetite for life. This passionate worshipper of God. There was a time in his life where he had lost everything that we would consider necessary for the good life. He was living in caves on the run from a King who wanted to kill him. Lost his family. Lost his home. Lost his freedom.

But when you read the Psalms, you realize that when David had nothing, he realized God was his everything. God was his life. But then when he experienced success, he went from "God is my life" to "my life is good." Here's the deal, the point of Psalm 51 is not just that we would say no to sin. The point of Psalm 51 is that we gain the life that comes from saying yes to God!

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As we close this study of Nehemiah, I want to circle back to the simple, stubborn conviction that has been underneath everything: "If we’re not dead, He’s not done." Your story is unfinished. Our story, in our churches and neighborhoods, is unfinished. God uses holy discontent to get our attention and at this moment, He is inviting us into a season of returning, marked by repentance, prayer, fasting, and the Word. He places his gracious hand on people who own the rubble and chase him. And he writes his greatest stories in generous hearts that love people more than stuff and live like front-yard missionaries. That’s what I’m praying for us.

If you're listening to this podcast, you're not dead yet. And if you're not dead, God's not done!

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As we continue our review of Nehemiah, you'll hear me say, "Surrendering once is not enough. Repentance is a daily discipline." In other words, if you aren't finding time to shut down the busy and turn off the noise so that you can hear the still small voice of the Spirit of God, you're gonna drift back to the normal of sin. If you aren't joining with others in prayer; if you're not letting someone speak truth into
your life; if our Bible is as closed as our ears...we'll drift back to Nehemiah 13. Don't drift. Don't go back to normal. Surrender forward.

You have to ask yourself, "Am I going to do what I've always done, or is it time for a change?" And I'm not talking about minor tweaks. I'm talking about changes that
go deep and disrupt the normal flow of life; changes that go deeper than sin management. I believe that if I want something different than I've ever had, I may need to do something different than I've ever done! Is it time for a change?

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Nehemiah starts with a leader who is willing to own the brokenness, not only his brokenness, but even his people's brokenness. This gives him a burden of repentance that leads him to prayer. Listen, we desperately need people who will own the brokenness of our communities in such a way that it give us a burden of repentance. We need to bear the burden of repentance for the church that's been running from the heart of Christ for so long. We need to confess and mourn our sin. And when we do, repentance is so life-giving, when we mourn and fast and weep and confess, when we do that we're chasing God. We're chasing God for us and others. This is true repentance, chasing God.

Repentance at it's very heart is the heart that says, "I will stop running from you God, instead I'm going to chase you...with all my heart." I want to be a God-chaser.
If we have an urgent desire that Nehemiah 13, not be our last chapter, we need God-chasers more than we need church-goers.

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Nehemiah 13 is one of my all-time worst chapters in the Bible. I knew it was coming. It's not like I haven't studied or preached through Nehemiah before. Maybe deep down inside I was hoping God would change the ending before we got here. But here we are. It's not so much what chapter 13 contains that makes it my all-time worst chapter in the Bible. There are worse moments in scripture. But Nehemiah 13 is filled with the failure of God's people to love and follow God. Scripture gives us a deep dose of the reality of sin and failure in God's people. It's all over the Old Testament and it doesn't stop in the New Testament.

Failure upon failure. Sin upon sin. God pursues us and we run. But to be honest, it's not the sin and failure that makes Nehemiah 13, my all-time worst chapter in the Bible. Listen to this episode to see what it is that makes it my least favorite chapter.

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This Psalm is not part of our series, but it's a great description of a life refreshed. This last weekend was CWOW weekend, which is a Sunday that we practice being the church rather than going to church. But this Psalm came to mind...

Psalm 133 is focused in unity, relationships. A few years ago, the surgeon general of the United States said that the greatest epidemic we are facing right now is an epidemic of loneliness. John Cacioppo, director for Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago, is the world's leading expert on loneliness. In his landmark book, on loneliness, he describes how profoundly the epidemic of loneliness is affecting the basic functions of human physiology. He writes: "When we drew blood from our older adults and analyzed their white cells, we found that loneliness somehow penetrated the deep recesses of the cell to alter the way genes were being expressed." In other words, when you are lonely, your whole body is lonely. Psalm 133 is a reminder of God's treasuring of community. We are created with a connection requirement! Let unity refresh your life!

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Nehemiah 12 is about a celebration and dedication. That word dedication means to set apart, to consecrate, to totally give over. As the people were dedicating the walls of Jerusalem, they were basically saying, "God everything inside of these walls belongs to you. You are the builder of this city. You are God of this city. Not just the temple, the whole city. The marketplace, the gates, the homes, the people, everything belongs to you." Dedication is more than a ceremony, it's a commitment.

But here's the deal when we commit our lives to God, our lives will make a difference in our world. We'll leave a mark. If I could choose the goal of my life, I want to leave a mark with my heart!

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Two things are taking place in Nehemiah 12, celebration and dedication. In this episode we'll focus on celebration. We celebrate what is important to us. What we celebrate tells the story of our passion. So what do you celebrate? You know what I was thinking about this week? I was thinking that every celebration contains a story. We celebrate stories, God-stories, places where God showed up in or through us.

Nehemiah chapter 12 is about a celebration. The people gather together to celebrate and dedicate. They are celebrating the places where God showed up in Jerusalem, where God showed up to rebuild their broken places... The wall's been built, the gates are hung...people have come to live in the city...and so they celebrate...because their city matters to them. Don't miss this, celebration goes deeper than having a party. It's all about gratitude. Living forward in faith finds it's fulfillment in looking back with gratitude.

Gratitude is a discipline we all need to practice!

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In Nehemiah 11, the walls are rebuilt, the people are getting rebuilt, but the city is empty and God has redemptive purpose for this city, in fact for every city. And He has a redemptive purpose for your life. So here's what I believe. I believe that God determines the times and the exact places where we should live. If you live here, you are not a guest. Where you live is your city and God has a redemptive plan for your city and He has a redemptive part for you to play in that plan.

I believe that you are strategic to God's plan in the strategic region where you live. nd I don't want us to miss what He wants to do. So the question simply is this, "Will I love and serve my city? Will I love my neighbors all the way to Jesus? We are called to do good where we live!

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I closed the last episode of this series, with the words, "Our hearts follow our treasures. If we aren't surrendering our treasures to God, then we're robbing God of our hearts." Do you understand God doesn't need our money. He wants our hearts. And if we chase God with all our hearts, He promises to open up the floodgates of heaven and pour out an uncontainable blessing. If we pursue God with all our hearts, here is the promise, God says, "I will open the floodgates of heaven and pour out uncontainable blessings."

Ask yourself the question, "Is my life overflowing with God's blessings?"

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This message was given on Father's Day as part of our summer Psalms series. And here is the heart of the message. Before we ever talk about the kind of fathers we need to be, we need to talk about the Father we long for. I really believe that in every heart, there is a father we long for. I know we come with mixed emotions on Father’s Day. But before we talk about the kind of fathers we want to be, we
should talk about the kind of Father we have. He's described in Psalm 103.

We long for a Father, for a Father God who loves us unconditionally, unrelentingly, with His whole heart. See before I can be a good father, I need to have a good Father. And in the journey of become a good father, I need to understand where the journey starts. It's not about trying harder, it's about looking higher.

He is the father our hearts long for...

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Malachi was a contemporary of Nehemiah and we are going to detour to some of Malachi's words in this episode. As the people make their commitment to return to God, Malachi's words seem so appropriate. Malachi tells God's people how to return to God, why they are missing God. Malachi spoke to a generation of Israelites who, like many of us today, were chasing everything other than God. Some of us keep wondering why we never run into God, but we can't run into God while we are chasing other stuff. There are really only two directions in
life, either chasing God or running from God.

So how do we return? It could involve many things...but let's not miss the map God gave in Malachi's day. If you want to return, stop robbing God. We would probably expect God to say, "If you want to return to me, Pray more. Dive into the Bible." Both are incredibly important! But what does God say? "Stop robbing me." Are you robbing God?

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I believe that a sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem. It keeps us from life and leads us to addiction. It ravages marriages, breaks families, and hardens hearts. It drains joy and reaps discouragement. It causes us to care about so much that matters so little. A sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem.

But even more importantly, or at least more personally, my sin-soaked heart is my greatest problem. But my greatest hope is that we are relentlessly pursued by
a lavishly gracious, greatly merciful, fiercely loyal, patiently loving God. He is in pursuit of you. He's already pursued you all the way to the cross. If He went that far, He won't stop. Sometimes chasing God is as simple as stop running, and turn around. Give Him your ears. Give Him your heart. Become one of His love stories.

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Let's be honest, we don't like the concept of sin. Sin involves moral absolutes and judgement. Sin has consequences. We prefer the word mistake. A mistake is an error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning. I'm not bad. I just didn't have all the information. I wasn't thinking clearly. Didn't know any better. I tried, but I'm not perfect. At worst I was careless, it's an oops, my bad, get over it. I'm sorry you were hurt, get over it.

Oops, didn't mean to hurt you. Oops, I didn't know any better. Oops I got angry, but you made me. Oops didn't mean to say that... out loud. Be honest, would you rather be a sinner or an oopster? But here's the deal. What if we're not oopsters, we're sinners. If that's the case then, I desperately need the compassionate heart of a merciful, grace giving God!

Are you an oopster?

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You wouldn't necessarily expect to find it oozing out of the Old Testament, but Nehemiah 9 gives us a fresh look at the heart of God. Listen, there has never been a moment in your life where God's love for you has dipped below the red-line. It never fails. Unfailing love. There is no one else in your life who will not fail you. But his love never fails. You are relentlessly loved with an indiscriminate affection. That's the story he's writing. That's His voice you hear whispering, "Child come home." His heart is for you.

And when we know his heart.. Our only response is to return. This is the essence of repentance. This is why we look deeply at our sin. It's not to lash our hearts with shame and guilt. It's not to motivate us to work harder. It's because this is what returning looks like. So, is it time to return?

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One of the ways that my stream of Christianity likes to describe our faith is with the words, "A personal relationship with God." It's not about religion, it's about relationship, a personal relationship with God. But what in the world does it mean to have a personal relationship with God? In Psalm 46:10, it starts with these words, "Be still and know that I am God."

Usually when we think of the stillness, we think of quiet; a lack of distractions and in our world today, the noise is part of our problem. I'm not saying we don't need quiet. But when God says in Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God." it's a far deeper call than just "be quiet." The Hebrew word means stop striving. Literally let your arms hang down and your hands go slack. Stop fighting. Relax. Quit trying to measure up. Give up. Hands up. Let it go. And watch me be God. That's at the heart of this message in answer to the question, "Do you know God?"

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In the last episode, I encouraged us to ask God for more. But here's the reality, too often we are satisfied to settle for something less than all God has for us. Why are we satisfied to settle for less? Are we satisfied to settle for less purity in our hearts? Are we satisfied to settle for less people following Jesus? Are we satisfied with the state of our relationships. Are we satisfied with the degree to which we know God and experience his presence in our lives?

Or do we want more? In this episode, we'll ponder a couple of reasons why we settle for less and I will encourage you, "Don't be satisfied with less, because there is more!"

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Someone asked me years ago, "What do you picture when you keep talking about and praying for an awakening, for a revival. The question surprised me, not that it was asked but because I didn't have a quick answer. But as I've thought about it, while it is as varied as the creative work of God. If I could give it just one word, it would be the word, MORE. I just want more. More Jesus. More of His Spirit. More glory. More neighbors being loved. More holiness. More power in prayer. More people coming more alive to the glory of God and the love of Jesus. More joy. More presence.

God cannot be manipulated, but He can be asked. So would you join me and ask God for more?

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This episode is all about joy. You will hear me say that I think we have seriously underestimated two things. We have seriously underestimated our need for joy and we have seriously underestimated God's capacity for joy. Listen, God has no desire to wake us up to our sin, our failure; He has no desire to wake us up to our dark thoughts or our undone good; He has no desire to wake us up to our shame and then just leave us there.

God wants to awaken us to the fullness of joy that comes in His presence. Every true awakening leads to an awakening to joy. And as Nehemiah told them, "The joy of the Lord is our strength!"

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Listen, I understand for some of us, parts of the Bible are hard to believe. You wonder if it's true. Some of it's even harder to understand and we run into all sorts of different interpretations of all the rules and the theology. Rules and theology which some people fight about so much, you wonder if they are even on the same team. I understand.

God doesn't tweet or txt. He doesn't do facebook posts. He's old school. He expounds and mystifies. Sometimes on purpose, I think, He's less than clear. He shares stories that create questions and some of them are hard to read and some of them are hard to answer. He's not afraid of poetry or doubt or deep dark emotions. But I'm telling you that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. And life comes from knowing God and when we know God we love His Word.

So, open the Book with an open heart and see what He might do!

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Is there any Psalm more loved than the one that starts with these words, "The Lord is my shepherd and I will lack nothing." But here's the deal...I can't say those words without embracing these words, "And I'm a sheep." Now of course you are more than a sheep. You are a child of God filled with the Spirit of God. You are God's beautiful masterpiece, created and called to make a difference in the world. But you are, I am also a sheep. That's where we started in episode #2 of "A Life Refreshed" our look at the Psalms.

And at the heart of the message are some thoughts on how we get from here (drained, discouraged, perhaps even a bit lost) to there, a life refreshed!

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Even if you are not sure you believe it, would you suspend your skepticism and consider the possibility that nothing's more important than hearing God's voice, letting His Words saturate our souls and if there is nothing more important than hearing his voice; no book is more important than His book, the Bible, the Word.

I know some of us need to be convinced, but honestly some of us just need to be convicted. Because while we wholeheartedly agree about the Bible's value; we open it halfheartedly. So in this episode we will ponder the questions, "Am I devoted to God's Words? Are we a people of the book?

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How many of us understand that it isn't easy being the first one to start something big? It isn't easy to be the first one to go to a new place. It isn't easy to be the first one to explore new strategies or climb to new heights or go on new journeys. It isn't easy to be the first one to pray for or live for or sacrifice for an awakening? In the history of our country we've often called those 1st-Ones, pioneers. They're the ones who left their homes with a spirit of faith; aiming toward an unknown destination. Some of the very best chapters of our story have come when we lived with a pioneering spirit.

Nehemiah 7 is a call to honor those who came before us, but it also asks us, "Do you have a pioneering spirit?"

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Nehemiah 7 contains a long, (kind of boring) list of names. But in this episode I just want to make it clear that no list of names is boring to God. Long ago, before all of the grand and awesome creation was even a gleam in Father God's eye, Paul says that God loved us and chose us. He created you in his image. He fashioned your heart with His heart as a model. At the beginning, the warrior-poet David wrote, as He formed you in your mother's womb, He dreamed dreams about your life and He looked forward to all your days. His plan for you has always been for good.

Why? Because you are God's precious treasure. If you don't believe me, just listen in.

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This episode is going to hit on a few of my favorite themes, calling, travailing prayer, revival, finishing well, and God's desire to do a new thing. You know I have found over and over again, that it’s difficult, to finish well, if we aren't willing to lean into new things. And it's almost impossible to lean into new things, without being done with the old things. So my question is, "Are we done with the old things?" As a church are we done with the old things?

I long to see the church shine bright like a city on a hill. I long for us to be known as the hands and heart of Christ. I still believe that the church that Jesus is building is the hope of the world. I want to be part of that church and I'm praying for that church to be done with old things. Do you know what the Bible calls being done with old things? It's called repentance.

That's where we will end this episode, with a call to repentance.

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As I have been doing, on More Than Bread for awhile now, when I preach on Sunday at Calvary, Monday's episode is that message. So we are just starting a teaching series at Calvary called, "A Life Refreshed." It's a look at the Psalms with the theme of...you got it, a life refreshed. If you are feeling drained, damaged, or a little bit of hope-less, you may find this one encouraging.

The next episode we will be back to Nehemiah!

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Don't worry, we're still in Nehemiah. We'll be in Nehemiah all the way to the end of Nehemiah. But I'm changing the series title, because the first half of Nehemiah is more about rebuilding broken places while the second half is more about rebuilding broken people. I'm calling the series Awaken Revival, because those are two words that signify a move of God that rebuilds people.

When it comes to rebuilding broken people, the job is never done! But what we find is that when Awakening comes, God gracious hand is not just for broken places, it's for broken people!

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In this episode we will ponder what it takes to finish well. That's one of the themes that I take with me from the first half of Nehemiah into the second half. John Ortberg writes, "The capacity to finish well is what the New Testament writers called endurance or perseverance....any truly meaningful human accomplishment will require perseverance. Bobby Clinton defined finishing well as coming to the end of my life being more in love with Jesus than I was in the beginning; having a sense of the unique contribution that God has desired to work through me, and not flaming out through moral sin.

None of that happens without perseverance. Finishing well requires a series of breakthroughs that only come with hopeful expectancy. What is the next step you need to take on the journey of finishing well?

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So the wall was completed in 52 days. Pretty amazing, it so obviously involved the hand of God. No way they could do that, without the hand of God on them. So here’s my question, again, "What work are we working, that requires the hand of God?" What work are we working that if it is accomplished, will cause everyone to say, "There must be a God. Because they couldn't do that on their own.

I want to be part of a move of God that makes it impossible to stay seated when the opportunity comes to give God a standing ovation.

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They did it. They did what seemed impossible. They worked at a work that would only work if God showed up and God showed up. They finished the wall in 52 days. In this episode I'm going to share one of my favorite stories. It's about a man named Dee Duke and the big boat that his father pushed. And it causes me to ask the question, "What's your big boat?"

Where are you doing a work that just won't work if God doesn't show up?

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One thing that has impacted me in the last two chapters of Nehemiah is the reality that we do not know the whole story. In our arrogance or ignorance, sometimes we act like we know the whole story. But we don't, at best we see a chapter or two. When you brush shoulders with people in the grocery story, jog past someone on the street, glance at the person stopped beside you at the light, just realize at best you are just seeing the cover of the book, a page or two. You don't know the whole story.

Even when it's your story. You don't even know the whole story of your story. Sure you know more about your book than anyone else's but you don't know the whole story of your life. Because you aren't the author, God is!

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Nothing is beyond God. No problem is greater than His power. No sin goes deeper than His grace. No heart is so damaged, neglected or hard that He cannot breathe into it, new life. But it requires His gracious hand. Nehemiah's description of the story of his success was simple. "The gracious hand of God was upon me."

We need his hand upon us, but here's the deal. "His gracious hand is on gracious people." That's what I see in Nehemiah chapter 5. You know some of us think that the word "if" is missing from God's vocabulary. But God uses "if" all the time. They are called conditional promises. And here is one of those conditional promises, (Proverbs 21:13) "If you close your ears to the cry of the poor, I will not answer when you call out." God's gracious hand is on gracious people!

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The next chapter of the story God is writing in you and through you is primarily about building people, rebuilding marriage and families, and neighborhoods . It's all about rebuilding hearts. When it comes to church, facilities are tools. Programs and ministries are tools and it's good to have tools. But ultimately we have to ask the question, "How are we doing at building people, building Jesus-apprentices who live and love and lead like Jesus?"

We are God's greatest building project. Make no mistake we're still under construction, but people are God's great treasure!

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There is work to be done and sometimes a battle (spiritual) to be fought. What should we do? Rush to the battle and God will fight for you. Listen if God is the
author of my story, then trouble is not the story of my life. And here is the truth that goes beyond my story. God is not only the author of your story, He's the hero!

I have heard it said that we should pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on us. But I find that when I'm working like it depends on me, I rarely pray like it depends on God. Perhaps we also need to figure out what it looks like to work, like it depends on God?

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In Nehemiah 4, the people are half-way home, the wall is half-way rebuilt. But how many of us know that half-way home is sometimes the hardest place to be. Because half-way home, means we still have just as far to go as we've already gone. And if we aren't careful, we can begin to lose heart.

Sometimes if we don't want to lose heart, we need to forget the rubble and remember God. I mean nobody wants to lose heart. We want to be renewed. We want to be strong, filled with hope. We know our stories have hard chapters, but we don't wan to lose heart. This episode will begin to talk about how we go through the hard times without losing heart!

Don't lose heart!

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So if you didn't listen to my message from this weekend at Calvary, even if you usually take Monday off because it's not part of the normal episode, let me encourage you to listen. If you did listen, maybe this is a good one to hear twice. Not just for you, I'm going to listen to this one again. And I'll be praying,

"Lord would you do it again!"

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There are two groups who didn't share in the story God was writing through the leadership of Nehemiah. The Nobles of Tekoa wouldn't put their shoulders to the work and the rulers of the region didn't want to give up control. The political leaders wanted power and the Nobles of Tekoa wanted comfort. Comfort and Control. I see this time and time again. Far too often, the church for which Jesus died, opts for comfort and control. The comfort of religious freedom has become more important to us than surrendering to spiritual faithfulness. We don't need religious freedom to be spiritually faithful.

The complete surrender of our lives is not radical Christianity, it's the base-line minimum. When I look at Nehemiah 2 & 3, when I read the unfinished story that God is writing, it becomes painfully clear, that while God loves to use the broken and those in the margins of life, if we will not abandon comfort and surrender control, we'll miss His story.

Which is a shame, because you are invited...into His story!

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Your story isn’t finished. You need a team. But if you’re not dead, God’s not done. He has a team for you and a team with you. And listen to me, make no mistake, there will be times when the life you want more than anything will be outside of your hands. Your story will not be written without some twists and turns and even a few seemingly dead-end moments. Our journey will not be finished without walking through the rubble of brokenness. In fact, you will face times so difficult, that you can't do it alone. But if you're not dead then He's not done and if he's not done, your story has a team.

And God is writing a good, good, really good story! He's inviting you to be part of that story.

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When God gives us a mission, the call to sacrifice is not far behind. Feeling bad will not save the day. It requires action, sacrifice, even risk. A good idea isn't good enough, it requires good work. Has anyone ever asked you the question, "If you
knew you couldn't fail, what would you try to accomplish for God?" Perhaps a better question is, "What do you care about so deeply, that even if you are bound to fail, you would still have to try?"

Here's the deal. If you take on a mission like that...you can't do it alone!

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Your story is unfinished AND...your story has a team. You are not alone. It may feel that way, but it's not true. Your story has a team. Sometimes we know the people on the team and sometimes we don't. Some of them are people you never met, maybe even long gone, an author, a Biblical mentor, an inspiring example from history. Some of them were on your team for a moment, some joined your team before you were born, and some teammates haven't even been born yet, but your
story has a team. Some you work with hand in hand, some were family and some became family.

They encourage you or pray for you or speak hard truths straight to your heart. They might be people who care about your cause. You work together, play together, pray together and grow together. You seek God together. In fact this week, begin to make a list that answers the question, "Who is on my team?"

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The unmet longings of your heart are not a flaw, they are a gps for your soul. If you let them, they will keep redirecting your heart to God. But this is what amazes me, "you have captivated God's heart." And before Lynn and I talk about the longings of your heart, I just wanted that thought to be in your mind, God loves being with you. And with that thought in mind, let me give you this prayer of longing. David writes this prayer in Psalm 63:1-8. David writes, he prays...

"God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you...I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I cling to you."

This episode is the Mother's Day message from Lynn and I this last weekend! Hope you enjoy!

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Listen, when it comes to the story God is writing in your life, your story has a team. We need each other. No one rebuilds alone. Walking through the rubble and brokenness of life alone, leads to discouragement. If we want to rebuild broken places, renew hope, and revive people, we need a team. In fact courageous leaders understand that God gives us projects to develop people. So share your life. Share the work. You need a team of people committed to growing together and sharing life together!

As a leader, Nehemiah accomplished great deeds. But his story had a team. He made a difference because he got connected. If you aren't connected, you are missing out on the heart of God's story. Your story has a team!

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If our story is hard, is God still in it? That's the question I ask and answer, more than once, in this episode. Throughout Nehemiah's story, the opposition grows. From death threats to picket lines to deception and betrayal, Nehemiah's story gets hard. So what we find is that just because God is writing the story doesn't mean there isn't groaning with the glory. So don't be surprised by opposition to the story God is writing in your life. One of the great mistakes we make, comes when we believe that as long as we know what God wants us to do, the rest is easy.

If your story is hard, God is still in it!

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I don't know what's ahead of us, here at Calvary, or ahead of you wherever you live. I wish I did. I wish I could tell you what God's going to do in your region and how He's going to do it. But I can't. All I can do is tell you I believe that globally He's doing something deep and profound. He's preparing us for His gracious hand.

For years, people around State College (where I live) have dreamed, some have even prophesied about Beaver Stadium (home of Penn State football) being filled with God's people. 100,000 people. In the past, I thought it was unlikely at best, impossible at worst. But for the last seven years, every time that stadium comes to my mind, I sense Jesus say, "ask me for more." So I'm asking him for more. And in this episode I hope to encourage you to do the same. Ask Him for more!

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In Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah makes this statement, "God's gracious hand was upon me." In other words, Nehemiah is saying, "This story was written by the hand of God. It wasn't my strategy, leadership or plan. It wasn't my resources, no it was the gracious hand of God." Isn't that the story we want written in our lives? I don't know how God works with you, but often as I'm reading the Bible, whether it's my own time with God, or study time for a teaching, there will be a single line or thought that sticks with me. Nehemiah's words here have stuck with me for well over a decade. They have become one of my most frequent prayers...

God we need your gracious hand upon us.

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If you have been following me for a bit, you know that the last few months, I've loaded my weekend message from Calvary on Monday's. Gives me a bit of a break and sometimes, it has fit right in with the current MTB podcast series.

While this weekend's message, (and thus this episode) has absolutely no mention of Haggai or Nehemiah, I do talk about temples and sacred places. It's the concluding message in our "Homecoming" series that started in Palm Sunday, and it has a bit of a twist in the story. Instead of God welcoming us home...it's a challenge for us to welcome God home!

Oh and for those who weren't able to be with us...it was an amazing Sunday. We baptized 14 people, prayed for college students, and worshipped our amazing Jesus! A good, good day!

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In the midst of all the rubble, all the pain, all the conflict, all the brokenness in our world, I am reminded of this. I am reminded that God is our Unwavering Certainty in the midst of uncertainty. He is our Loving Father who covers us in his love when we are prone to fear. He's our Overflowing Spirit when scarcity whispers, protect
what is yours. He is our Sacrificial Savior when we are not sure what love does. He is our Almighty King, our Redeemer and in the end, when we see Him, what was lost will be found and what was broken will made whole. Glory is coming and I am filled with hope.

If you need a breakthrough, that's not a bad place to start!

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Are we owning our rubble? That's the question that will end this episode. Remember the BLESS acronymn that gives us some rebuilding, story-writing, principles? B is for "Be Still." L is "Look for the rubble." Nehemiah allows his heart to be saturated by the brokenness of people and causes. He looked for the rubble. But he didn't just look for it. He owned it. And owning it led to a turn of the page. We live a culture that has a hard time seeing our own rubble. We can see it in others, the other side, the other team, the other person. But when I see it in me, when I own it, that leads to breakthrough.

So are you owning your rubble?

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You won't find much written on travailing prayer today. If you want to read about travailing prayer you have to read old books, and listen to old sermons, sermons and books birthed in revival. And yet, the Bible's pages are filled with examples of people who wrestled with God, travailed, groaned and cried out in prayer to see God's purposes birthed in their lives and the lives of broken people around them.

Nehemiah wept. He mourned and fasted and prayed because of the brokenness around him. Not just broken walls, but broken lives. Because of broken lives, Nehemiah prayed with a broken heart. I don't believe we will find our breakthrough if we aren't willing to allow the brokenness that leads to travailing prayer.

So Nehemiah's question of us is, "What wrecks my heart and stirs my passion? And have I ever allowed that brokenness to lead me to travailing prayer?

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In this episode, I'll start with a question for you to ask yourself, "When I look around at a broken world, what grabs my heart? What is broken in the world, or who is broken in the world, that breaks my heart?" Another way to ask that question is, "What is my holy discontent?" Sometimes, some of us...myself included...we want to medicate our hearts so that we don't feel the pain of a broken world. We put walls around our hearts. What we need are hearts without walls that reveal the heart of God to a world in need of love.

At Calvary we say that we want to be living proof of a loving God! Perhaps that starts by asking the question, "What is my holy discontent?"

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Over and over again, through the years, I've prayed Tozer's prayer, "Lord make me a person to whom you can entrust your glory." But Nehemiah is a reminder that we probably won't see His glory without some of groaning on our part. Awhile back, while pondering where I see God's hand in my life, I felt like He said, "Dan I can't trust you with my glory, if I can't trust you with my cross." I won't let you see me in the glory if you can't see my hand in the cross, in your weakness, in your groaning and suffering, in your story.

If your life isn't finished, your story isn't over...but we won't find the glory without going through some mess. So is there glory in your story?

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Vance Havner, a preacher and revivalist born in 1901 once wrote these words,

"The early Christians did not need a shot in the arm every Sunday to keep them going. They knew Jesus and they upset the world and worried the devil and gave wicked rulers insomnia and started something that jails couldn’t lock up, fire couldn’t burn, water couldn’t drown, and swords couldn’t kill. This world has never been moved by cold, calculating brass hats but by fools, with their facts on fire. We are suffering not from a lack of correct heads, but of consumed hearts."

125 years later, perhaps we need more consumed hearts? If so, join me in praying, "God stir up our spirits!"

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Your story is unfinished. Sometimes we look at certain chapters of our life and we think, "That’s the story of my life. We usually say those words in the midst of hard times. Sometimes we say them in despair and discouragement as we look at the broken rubble all around us. "That’s the story of my life." But it’s not. If you are a Christ-follower, you have the very spirit of God in you. You are a citizen of the Kingdom of heaven with full access to the God who is your Father. You're not just a citizen, you're family.

If your life isn’t over, your story isn’t finished. Maybe the opportunity is gone, the dream is done, but your life is not. The story God is writing is unfinished. Sometimes the difference between a sad ending and the next chapter is nothing more than the turn of a page.

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You are sent to love people all the way to Jesus. It's not enough to be like Jesus, and love like Jesus, on the Jesus Way we are sent to love others all the way to Jesus. That's our purpose. That's our "why." What if the most critical issue facing Chistians today is that we don't know what counts, so we settle for a lesser life.

And in the process, we lose the wide-eyed wonder and awe of the radical Good News that we have as our Father God, an unstoppable force, a Dream-Releaser of "beyond imagination" power. That we have in Jesus a, passionate Savior and Leader, who was willing to die to see God's story written in our lives. That we have
open access to the very Spirit of the Living, Creator God.

When we forget what counts, we forget that we are sent to love others all the way to Jesus. That's our "why," our purpose!

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As we come to the end, I'll go back to the beginning to summarize. John 1. Jesus is the Word. Don’t miss this, the connection between Jesus and the Word. It's a connection that goes beyond metaphor into the land of mystical. It goes beyond symbolic into the land of supernatural. There is a connection between Jesus, who is called the Word, and the Word which we call our Bible. It's almost like God speaks and every time he opens his mouth, Jesus comes out.

We can't love Jesus, if we don't love the Word.

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This episode is another weekend message from Calvary as we continue on our "Homecoming" series. It just so happens to hit John 21. Yes if you have listened to all of the episodes on John 21. You will remember that story. But it's one of my favorites, a powerful story of redemption that led to Peter living life with an amazing sense of purpose. If you weren't with us at Calvary, I hope it gives you a great concluding look at John 21. In many ways, this is one of the most amazing things that Jesus did after his resurrection. He made breakfast on a beach for his friends.

After this episode, I'll do a summary episode or two on the gospel of John and then it's on to the Old Testament book of Nehemiah! Enjoy!

AND if you want to join us packing 300,000 meals for refugees, go to packhopepa.com and sign up!

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I know you are probably getting a bit tired of this story in John 21. Almost done. :) But in this episode, I want to challenge you to enter the story. I want to challenge you to live your life in such a way that it attracts people to the fire of God within you. And then to let your fire burn in your communities through prayer with great dreams of what God could do, if we follow Jesus. To let that fire transform your marriage, the place you work, the churches you serve. To let that fire lead you to love and serve people with living proof of a loving God.

I want to challenge us to be people who will passionately stand for God and set our hearts to be the real-deal for Jesus. In this episode, I'll give us three starting points, three kindling points for a burning heart on the Jesus Way!

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At Calvary we have a vision/mission to "build a church without walls." It's a CWOW vision. Part of our description of that puts it this way, "Envision a community so passionate about Jesus Christ and the glory of God that God doesn't just visit their community, He pitches His tent." And that's where it starts, such a passion for Jesus and the glory of God that God doesn't just visit our community, He pitches a tent. He settles in for the long haul. It starts in an on-going encounter
with Jesus that leads to an overwhelming sense of the presence of God.

And it requires a passion revolution in our hearts. God we need a passion revolution for the things that really matter!

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What I hope you will get every time you come to "More than Bread" is something more than bread. With all my heart I believe God wants to speak to you through this time. And then if you have been with me for a bit, you know that it’s not enough to listen to His Words, we need to learn from them, and it’s not enough to just learn from them, we need to lean into them, we need to put them into practice, we need to do what it says. So I encourage you every time you listen take something away, think through an “I will..." statement. As a result of this time, "I will – fill in the blank."

And in this episode I hope your "I will" statement involves thinking through in some tangible how much you love Jesus.

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Every Good Friday at Calvary we have an immersive experience that we call the Way of the Cross. It’s all about the the passion of Jesus. In the cross that passion is not just an overwhelming, emotional or even sexual desire. That's too often how we think about it. We think of lovers, physical attraction, desires so intense they give birth to physical manifestations. Our knees get weak, skin tingles, and our guts heave.

But the passion of Jesus was not just an overwhelming desire. It was a courageous love willing to sacrifice. It was a fire in the gut, that could not be quenched. It was a burning heart of compassion for people and to embrace a cause that matters?

So what's your passion?

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I know Luke isn't John, but Jesus is still Jesus and Luke 15 contains one of Jesus' most well-known stories. We're living with homesick hearts. We can't quite shake this sense that something's missing. But when Jesus walked out of the tomb on Easter morning, He was flinging open the door to the home we couldn't find. Easter isn't just about Jesus coming back to life it's about us coming back home.

I think that's part of the reason why this story is such a priceless treasure. It's Jesus' most well-known story. Charles Dickens called it the greatest story ever told. It captures the essence of our faith and reveals the heart of the Bible. It's a personal invitation to be seen, known and loved in the father's home. The Jesus-Way leads home!

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I think so often, when am I wrestling with doubt, I start asking for a sign. Have you ever done that? John said that he recorded a series of signs in his gospel, so that we would believe. Seven signs were given so that we would believe. But it's important to realize that a sign, even if we're given a sign, the sign gives direction, but it's not the destination. In fact, once you reach the destination, there is no longer any need for signs.

Sign or not, the destination is Jesus. The signs are given so that we would believe. Are you looking for a sign?

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As we are coming to the end of John's gospel, we are coming back to the beginning of the Jesus Way. What is the beginning of the Jesus Way? It all starts with faith, believing, trusting Jesus. But sometimes believing is hard. Over and over again, the writers of scripture, Jesus himself over and over again connects an uncommonly good life, a life uncommon in both it's quanity and quality; he connects that kind of life with faith, with believing.

It seems like it should be an easy thing, it's so easy even a child can do it. In fact we often hold that up as the standard, a child-like faith. But then we grow up. and
sometimes this quest for faith seems so difficult. Sometimes believing ain't easy!

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At a Leadership Summit, a few years ago, Angela Duckworth laid out her research that suggests that every successful person, every person who makes a true impact on the world, has one unique charecteristic. She called it grit. And she defined grit as the child of passion and persistance. Persistance and passion together equals grit. So let me ask you, "Are you passionately persistant in prayer?" Or am I distracted, living with the illusion that I am a great multi-tasker, while my prayer have neither passion nor persistance.

So that's the question for this episode. Are you a gritty pray-er?

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In this episode we are going to hear the words from Jesus, "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." With all my heart I believe that that message was not just made for a handful of people who saw the risen Jesus, it's for each of us. As the Father sent Jesus, Jesus is sending us. Think of all that entailed, all that was involved in Jesus' sending.

What if in the same way, for the same purpose, Jesus has sent you? Coming out of the Easter season, coming at the end of the gospel of John, there's an awful lot to that simple statement. What if He sent you?

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We think of tombs as endings, final pages of the story. But for God every tomb is a transition. Think of the amazing global transition that started in Jesus' tomb. God reset the world and life will never be the same. What if the Easter tombstone is really your stepping stone? You know what a stepping stone is right? A stepping stone is something we need to go to a place we could never reach on our own. What if the trouble you're facing; the doubt, the darkness, the difficulty; what if the tomb is not your final resting place, it's the porch you have to walk across to go home. What if it's not a locked door, it's the key.

What if your tombstone is actually a stepping stone to something so good, you can barely imagine it?

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I am recording this episode for Good Friday. That first Holy Week Friday, the one before the first Easter, no one would have called it Good Friday. Traumatic Friday. End-of-Hope Friday. Last Friday. Dark Difficult Deadly Friday. It’s only looking back that we call it good. I’m going to do something a little bit different in this episode. Mostly, I’m just going to read the story. The gospel of John has 21 chapters, 2 of them, about 10% of the biography of Jesus is focused on that day. Friday. So I’m mostly going to read the story.

And spend a few moments pondering how it was such a dark, difficult and yet in the end, a very good Friday!

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Yes it appears to be a bit of a regression from John 17 back to John 13. But think of it as a recap to our look at John 14-17. John 13 is where it all started. The Lord's supper, last supper before the cross. If you listen to these as they drop, today is Thursday of Holy Week, the day that Jesus started the tradition of what we now call communion. And as we revisit that table meal, we are reminded that we follow a King whose crown is a towel. AND serving is His Way to blessing!

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Few prayers have driven and shaped my heart and my ministry like this prayer; Jesus’ prayer. And you know he prayed it with great fervency in the last hours of his life. It is his prayer for us, that we would be one, that we would be one, just like the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one. He prays that we would live in such a compelling community that everyone wants to be part of it. But it's not easy, right? None of us are perfect, all of us are flawed and we bring those flaws into our relationships. So how do we live in this kind of community?

Here's what Jesus said, "I have given them my glory, so that they can be one." So I guess we need to ask the question, "Is his glory enough?"

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There is a prayer in John 17, a prayer between Jesus and his Father, just before Jesus goes to the cross. At the heart of that prayer is a simple request, "Father make them one. All those who will believe in me, make them one." Honestly I find myself grieved by how easily we minimize the unity at heart of his dream. He's praying that we would form a glory-saturated community that would reveal Jesus to the world around us.

And in fact, I will suggest that Jesus greatest prayer also reveals the great dream of his heart, a dream that continues to this day, "that we would be known by the quantity and quality of our love for each other. Jesus greatest dream became his greatest prayer. Sometimes it seems like Jesus-dream is little more than a pipedream. But if we love him, if we truly value the price of the cross, if we not only proclaim it but actually consider ourselves to be his followers, shouldn't his
dream, be our dream? Shouldn't his prayer, be our prayer?

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We are starting a new series at Calvary called "Homecoming" and I'll be putting them on each Monday. This episode is on the Palm Sunday story. It gives us a look at this reality. Often when Jesus comes into a city, a neighborhood, a school, he comes in with tears in his eyes and a fire in his heart. He comes in with tears in his eyes for those who are missing their encounter with him, and a fire in his heart for those who let it happen.

Which one do you need to see? The tears in his eyes, or the fire in his heart?

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What are you filled with? What fills your life, right now? We can be filled with a lot of stuff, good and bad. What are you filled with today? In John 14-17, Jesus begins to talk about the Spirit of God. If you remember back in John 7, he talked about the Spirit of God so filling us up that rivers of living water flow out of our souls! It's an uncommon call to be filled with the Spirit. We may not exactly be sure what it means. But we do know what it's like to be filled with something.

If someone says they are filled with grief, or filled with fear, or despair or anger or ambition or joy, or filled with love. We know what that's like. We know that what we are filled with dominates our thoughts, dictates our actions, perhaps even describes who we are. So what fills you up?

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John 14-16 is an amazing piece of scripture. Jesus is sharing his last thoughts before he dies on a cross, and changes the story of the world. It's his locker-room talk before his team goes out to play the most important game of their lives. And he is talking to them about life, about what they need to thrive in the hard times to come. In the space of a few minutes, he will use the word "remain" at least 8 times. That's the word that I want us to hang onto. "Remain" or some of your translations say "abide." The greek word translated remain can mean to take a stand against difficult circumstances, but it was also used to refer to close personal relationships.

So maybe the sense of the word is to stick close even when it's difficult. When trouble comes, stick close to Jesus. When it's hard to hope, stick close to Jesus. When you want your life to make a difference, stick close to Jesus!

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As you know I’m kind of stuck in John 14-17. Which isn’t a bad thing at all, if you took my advice and have been reading those four chapters every day, maybe even multiple times a day. So in the last episode, I ended with this thought. I didn’t develop it much, but I threw it out there at the end, the thought was simply this, "If hope is contagious, love is how it spreads." If hope is contagious, love is how it spreads, so if we want to spread hope, we might need a love breakthrough!

In this episode, we'll touch a bit more on the relationships that Jesus touches on in John 14-17. Each relationship is a place where we can pray for breakthrough!

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Remember in a recent episode, talking about prayer, I said that while helplessness is a great initiator of prayer, helplessness is not enough. We need hopefulness to sustain prayer. But when our helplessness meets His hopefulness, something pretty amazing can happen. So I want to talk a bit again about that hopefulness. And here is the statement that I'm going to make...

Hope is contagious!

I'm praying that contagious hope fills every heart that listens to this episode!

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What is peace? In our culture today, we typically define peace in terms of absence. It's the absence of noise, the absence of storms, the absence of conflict and anxiety. But when Jesus spoke of peace, he used the Hebrew word, shalom. Shalom is fullness and wholeness, not absence. Shalom is well-being in the widest sense of the word. It's the blessing of God which sums up all other blessings. Shalom is more about fullness than emptiness, more about presence than absence. Shalom is the wholeness of heart that comes from a fullness of God.

Are you seeking peace?

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Expectancy is a tenacious hope that never stops believing that the best is yet to come. In this episode we will hear Jesus tie together expectancy, child-birth, and travailing prayer. Travailing prayer is the painful work of giving birth to something new. The Bible seems to speak little of casual prayer. It's pages are filled with examples of people who wrestled with God, travailed, groaned and cried out in prayer to see God's purposes birthed in their lives and the world around them.

So I have to ask you, the same questions, I ask myself. Who are the people in our day who will pray like this? Where are the next gen students who will travail in prayer until God births something new in their school? Where are the neighbors who will let expectancy saturate their trouble so that they cannot help but travail in prayer? Where are the employees who will push in prayer till God births smthng new in their company? Where are the travailing mothers and fathers, the grandmas and grandpas, who will not let God rest till the Spirit gives birth to a new season in their family?

It's time to travail...

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It would probably be a good thing for you to read on your own all of John 14-17 multiple times as you listen to the next 5-6 episodes. These four chapters are Jesus last words before he gives his life for a world in trouble. So imagine this, you're with Jesus, sitting by a fire in a cabin, or talking a walk in the afternoon. You're walking through a vineyard and you don't know it but Jesus is sharing his last words before he dies on a cross. Most scholars call these four chapters, Jesus "Farewell Discourse." I think it's anything but his farewell discourse. These are not last words, they are beginning words; summation words maybe, transition words definitely, but not last words.

This is Jesus locker-room challenge before you go out and play the most important game of your life. This is your favorite teacher at commencement looking you in the eye and saying, "You got this." It's your OBGYN doctor, saying, "push, it's time to push. I know it hurts, but something good is coming."

I hope these next few episodes covering John 14-17, truly encourage you!

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In our culture today, Christians are known by and known for a handful of things, to be honest to many of those things are not good things. We are known for our politics. We are known for our moral stands on issues that matter to us. But are we known for the way we love each other?

What are we known for?

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It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. He knew that all power had been given to Him, so he decided to show his disciples the full extent of his love, show them that he loved them to the very end. Just stop for a moment and think about that. He is about to show his followers, the full extent of his love. What is the full extent of your love? How far does your love go? Jesus...is about to show his followers the full extent, the full measure, he's going all the way, holding nothing back; the heights and depths of the love of Jesus is about to go center stage.

What do you suppose the full extent of Jesus' love looks like? That's what we find in John 13.

Jesus...is about to show his followers the full extent, the
full measure, he's going all the way, holding nothing
back...the heights and depths of the love of Jesus is

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We've been settling for the false finish lines of comfort and control. We've been settling for false finish lines of politics and the economy. I have no faith in politics to bring us glory. That's not our finish line. In fact, filling up church buildings on a Sunday morning is a false finish line. But I have found over and over again, that it’s difficult, if not impossible to lean into new things without being done with the old things. So my question is Are we done with the old things? Are we ready to run to the true goal, the finish line of Christ?

I long to see the church shine bright like a city on a hill. I long for us to be known as the hands & heart of Christ. I still believe that the church that Jesus is building is the hope of the world. I want to be part of that church. But to be that church some old things need to die and get planted. What in you needs to die and get planted?
praying for that church to be done with old things.

What if God wants to do a new thing in our day, but he’s just waiting for us to give up some old things?

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John 12 is all about love-bursts. Mary had a love-burst, heart full for Jesus. We introduced that in the last episode. She left the table,...and got a small bottle out of her basket. It was full of a very valuable fragrant oil, worth a year's wages. What would that be for you? Put your number on it. Imagine pouring that out. She walks over to Jesus and uncorks the bottle. By now she has everyone's attention, they know what it is. She pours it out. Over his head and shoulders, his feet. And then she wipes off his feet with her hair.

This was the crazy generosity of a love-burst. The disciples thought it was too much. When is the last time you were crazy generous like that? The crazy generosity of a love-burst!

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John 12 starts on the Saturday before Palm Sunday. Jesus is at Lazarus' house. Yep same Lazarus that was recently dead, now living life large. Jesus is there and I'm telling you everyone wants to see Jesus, everyone wants to be on team Jesus. The crowds are going hard after Jesus. The next day is Palm Sunday, the processional of King Jesus into Jerusalem. The crowds continue to grow.

But at the heart of the Saturday before Palm Sunday is the love-burst of Mary...for Jesus. For 2000+ years this story has been told. It's how Mary is remembered? It makes me wonder how I will be remembered. Have you ever had a love-burst?

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In John 11, we get a whole new picture of Jesus. We see Jesus, standing near the tomb of his friend, pain and grief cascading over him. It's not simply the death of his friend that he rails against, it is the hand behind death. It is the power behind evil, this death symbolizes the accumulation of all that is wrong in the world. Evil, pain, sorrow and suffering, hopelessness, despair, injustice, cruelty, loneliness, and sin. He weeps for his friends, but he is deeply moved by the outrageous abnormality of what has become normal.

As he turns to the tomb, Christ comes face to face with messed up stuff that Father God never intended his children to face when he created us and called it good. He is stirred up in His spirit and shows his face as our champion!

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Isn’t there something in each of us that wants to believe that our stories matter? Sometimes we call that hope. We want to believe that we are living a good story, or perhaps even better yet, we want to believe that we are part of a good story. Yet, there are chapters where it seems like we are stuck in a bad news story. Right? In our culture today, we talk more than a bit about the good life. I live in Happy Valley. How could I live anything but the good life in a place called Happy Valley? But even in Happy Valley, we have bad news stories, right?

There is a question that Jesus asks in this story. The question first to Martha is simply, "Do you believe?" You understand the resurrection is not just something to believe in, it is someone to believe. What do you believe?

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In this series, “The Jesus Way" we are Listening to, learning from and leaning into the gospel of John; to get a better picture of what it looks like to be a Jesus-apprentice. And in this episode, we are finishing John chapter 10. But like the last episode, I’m going to start in John 10 but then wander a bit, all the way back to the Psalm 23. Why Psalm 23? Because there is a lot in John 10, about spiritual battle and a lot about Jesus being our great Shepherd. John 10 contains another one of Jesus “I am” statements. I am the great Shepherd.

And as I was reading John 10 through again, I kept thinking of Psalm 23, which is all about sheep, shepherds, and a crazy battle plan.

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The first problem we have in discovering our identity is that we simply don't know his voice. As my friend Terry says, "We need to develop voice recognition, because we don't recognize his voice." The problem is that we've let so many other voices into our souls. We let the voices that shout lies into our hearts and miss the voice that whispers truth. Ultimately our identity is shaped by the direction of our ears.

So in this episode we'll start in John 10, but we'll spend a little bit of time in Mark 4, where Jesus tells a story about listening and the power of listening to give us a life of great impact. If you want a life of 100x impact, you need to get good at listening for His voice!

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John of Kronstadt was a 19th-century Russian Orthodox priest at a time when alcohol abuse was rampant. None of the priests ventured out of their churches to help the people. But John, compelled by love, went out into the streets. People said he would lift the hungover, foul-smelling people from the gutter, cradle them in his arms, and say to them, "This is beneath your dignity. You were meant to house the fullness of God." You were meant to house the fullness of God but somehow, somewhere along the way they either never knew or they lost their identity. They had lost sight of who they were.

Who am I? Am I what I do? Am I what I wear? Am I how I fail? Am I what I achieve? Am I who you say I am? No really, who am I? That's the question for this episode.

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At the end of the last episode, I said that our vision is shaped by the stories we hear and even more so, that stories we rehearse. Remember I asked, "What stories do you tell and what stories do you hear?" In this episode, I will share four stories that shape our sight. These four stories are not just run of the mill common narratives. These are four stories about Jesus that have the power to change our life. I don't know which story you have landed on, but perhaps you will find yourself or one of your friends who is stuck somewhere before the fourth story.

I'm praying that we all make it to #4!

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If we want to live our one and only life in an uncommon way, we must gain uncommon sight. We need to be able to see what is truly real. We need spiritual sight. So ask yourself the question, "Where am I missing the uncommon sights that lead to an uncommon life because I'm living life blind? Nobody had, nobody has better vision than Jesus. When he looked at people, he saw the mess, but he also saw the glory. He saw the effects of sin, but he also saw the work of God. Jesus had amazing eyes and uncommon vision. John 9 gives us an example of that.

This is one of those seven miraculous signs that reveal something about the heart and power of God and it makes me say, "I want to see like Jesus sees!"

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In our teaching series at Calvary, we've been making our way through four different portraits or roles of a Jesus-Apprentice. The first portrait was Beloved Masterpiece. You are what God does. You are deeply loved and shaped by God to be like Jesus, and He's preparing you to do good stuff, make a difference. Secondly we are called to be courageous leaders. Courageous leaders are those who love others more than self. They are more in interested in developing people than merely achieving tasks. The third portrait was the bridge-builder. My goodness how our world needs humble people willing to be walked on from both sides in order to close the gap, with a sacrificial heart.

The fourth portrait is the front-yard missionaries. We are on a mission to love our neighbors all the way to life, all the way to Jesus! That's what this episode is all about!

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For the last few days, about 70 participants and 30+ coaches, speakers, and leaders have been advancing their leadership, uncovering their calling, while discovering who God is shaping them to be. One of key verses has been Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's masterpiece created in Christ to do the good works that he has prepared in advance for us to do." Now I love that truth that we are not what we do, we are what He is doing. We are God's masterpiece. He's shaping us to be like Jesus so that we can do the good works He's prepared in advance for
us to do. He's preparing us, uniquely shaping us. But he's also preparing good works for us to do. In other words, God is uniquely shaping us to make a unique difference in the world.

That unique shaping to make a unique difference is called "our calling." Each of us is called. I am called. But in this episode, I want to talk about our... FIRST CALLING. Our first calling is not just first in time, but first in priority, because it's the calling that reminds us that if there is a calling...there's a caller. And for us the caller is everything.

This episode is for anyone, but especially those who went through Leadership Advance with me this year. It's the talk that was in the books, that I didn't give.

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In this episode we will hear Jesus say, "If you abide in my word, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." If you dwell in, and get connected to my word; if you let your soul saturate in my word, you are truly my disciples. You can’t be an apprentice of Jesus if you don’t live in his Word; the words of the WORD.

I don’t think I’ve noticed before how almost every chapter, John in his words or Jesus in his words and his example bring us back to the importance of the words of God. We need more than bread to thrive. We need every word that comes from the mouth of God. Right? We need to listen, learn and lean in. It starts with listening, but if that's where it ends, we're lost.

It's not enough to listen, we need to lean in!

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We live in a world filled with darkness. And into this world of darkness Jesus came. In John 8:12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." Like the worship song sings, "There is a light, his name is Jesus. He's the light of the world. But here’s the amazing thing. Don’t miss this thing. Of all Jesus’ I am statements, six of them only apply to him. There’s only one "I am" statement where Jesus says, and so are you. He says, "I am the light of the world. And so are you."

Jesus is the light of the world, and so are you!

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In this episode, I'm going to talk about the beauty of the sound of dropping stones. You will hear it, in your heart, as you listen to this episode, the sound of dropping stones. Did you know that you can recognize by a sound, whether or not you are following Jesus? Do you know what sound you hear when you start living and loving and becoming like Jesus? It's the sound of stones dropping.

I used to have this rock that I kept in my office. It was large enough to write on it the words, "first stone." It was a reminder to me of the fact that I can't throw stones at people who have blown it, if I don't want stones thrown at me when I blow it. And when I blow it, when I make those choices I wish I could undo, I so love to hear the sound of stones dropping.

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Who are your untouchables? We spent a couple of weeks at Calvary talking about being bridge-builders. I think one of the most vital gaps we need to bridge today is the gap between you and whoever your untouchables are because we still have
untouchables today, don't we? How long has it been since you went out of your way to be around the friend who betrayed you? Has she become untouchable? If someone invited you to go with them to do prison ministry, would you go? Would you sit and talk, share the good news of forgiveness to a child molester? What about those on the other side of whatever political divide is your gap?

See the word "judgement" goes with the word "untouchable." In fact the greek word for judgement literally means to seperate. To be judgmental is to seperate, divide and condemn. It's all about building walls instead of bridges. So who are your untouchables?

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This is a long one. But I think worth it. It's a conversation that I'm having with Harold Mckenzie, who recently retired from the lead pastor role at Unity Church. Pastor Mac is one of the best bridge-builders I know. He has bridged racial gaps, cultural gaps, community gaps, church gaps, and more. If you want a little mentoring on being a reconciler, a bridge-builder, I can't think of anyone better than Harold. Settle in and listen with your heart and mind open!

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We are going to hear Jesus say (again), "If you believe in me rivers of living water will flow out from within you." I want to suggest that when rivers of living water flow out of us, we can't help but be generous with Jesus. Being generous with your time, that's cool. Being generous with your finances, I hope you are. Being generous with forgiveness, we'll be in a prison of bitterness if we don't. But what could be better than being generous with Jesus?

But I'm not talking about giving something to Jesus. I'm talking about giving Jesus to others. God has an unlimited capacity to give, but we have a limited capacity to receive. God has an unlimited capacity to give us Jesus but we have a limited capacity to receive, so if want more of Jesus, we need to share Jesus with others. We need to let the rivers of living water flow.

Let's be generous with Jesus!

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The Jesus Way is not just about finding something that will satisfy the dryness of my soul it’s about finding something that will so fill me up that I overflow with life. I can't help but give life away! In fact, few things get us closer to the life we want to get than giving away the life that we have. Don't we all want to get a life? That's why we're here. In fact, that's why Jesus came. In John 10:10, Jesus said, "I came so that you could have abundant life."

So the Bible seems to suggest that there are different levels of life. This episode will look at a few of those different levels, but the one I'm aiming for is when I have so much life that life overflows from me into the people around me. Ask yourself, "Does my life overflow with life?"

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In John 7, we find that the people in Jesus day were really, really confused about who Jesus was, what he was doing, where he came from, and why. Was he the son of God or the son of a carpenter? Was he from Nazareth or someplace way out there? Was he an amazing teacher or a wanna-be rabbi? Most importantly was he, or could I say, "Is He the Messiah?"

Is He the one? And if He is the one, is He my #1? And if not...why not?

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Jesus is more than enough. I'm not saying that he has more than enough or even that he can do more than enough. I'm saying that in and of himself, by himself, he is more than enough. He is more than enough to satisfy every hunger and give life to every hope. He is more than enough to not only forgive but help you to thrive in the midst of the hard. He is more than enough.

In the gospel of John there are seven "I am" statements from Jesus. This one is "I am the bread of life." Is Jesus where you go, when you need life?

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This is another one of our Jesus-Way messages from our 50 Day apprenticing Jesus-journey. This was not an easy one. But I think it's an important one. If you already listened, a second time might not hurt. The role and mission of the bridge-builder is woven throughout scripture. It was on Jesus' heart when he called us to love each other, love our neighbors, and...even love our enemies! And there is no better, more important bridge building moment, than the cross. So I hope you find value in the message!

Because our world desperately needs bridge-builders!

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In John 5, at the end of the chapter, there's a confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day. These leaders were scripture experts. They knew it. They memorized it. They carried it with them everywhere they went. They prided themselves on being scripture experts. But they were missing the glorious goal of scripture. What is the glorious goal of scripture? That's what this episode is all about. But let me simply say this, knowledge of God was not the same as knowing God; loving the scriptures is not the same as loving God; reading God's words is not the same as listening to God.

What is the glorious goal of scripture? Encountering the WORD.

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In today's episode, we will hear Jesus ask a man, what we might think is the world's dumbest question. Take it easy, I'm not saying that Jesus asked dumb questions. But at first glance, it seems like it. He asks a man who has been an invalid for 38 years, if he wants to be made well. It's a seemingly outrageous question right? Except sometimes it needs to be asked. Sometimes we've gotten used to our brokenness. We become friends with our hopelessness. It becomes part of our identity. So do you want to be made well?

Perhaps it's time to say yes.

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In the last part of John 4, we find a story. I'm calling it a "seventh hour" story. It's a story of Jesus healing a man's dying son, with just a word, from long distance. The healing took place at the seventh hour. And I imagine that forever after when this family would rehearse God's faithfulness they would share their seventh hour story. A time when God came through even before they knew He came through. A time when they were given a word from Jesus and they responded.

So just ask yourself, "what's my seventh hour story?" If I don't have one, perhaps it's because I haven't responded to His Word?

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Before we jump into the miracle of John 4, Jesus' second sign. I just want to make sure we understand the connection between Jesus and the Word. This connection goes beyond metaphor into the land of mystical. It goes beyond symbolic into the land of supernatural. There is this connection between Jesus, who is called the Word, and the Word which we call our Bible. So everytime we open this book it can be like sitting down with Jesus, no matter what page we are on.

So here's what I want you to do for just a few moments, even before you listen, I want you to picture yourself, with Jesus, wherever you would be the most at ease, walking by a stream in the forest. Catching up over a grande coffee. And I want you to imagine, listening to, learning from and leaning into... HIS WORDS!

And then you gotta listen to me. Sorry! :)

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Our teaching series at Calvary is unpacking four portraits of a Jesus-apprentice. This episode is my message on courageous leaders. When we love someone more than we love ourselves we do courageous stuff. Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's the presence of heart. And if we define leadership as bossing the best, or even accomplishing the most, we may be settling for false finish lines.

Bottom line, our world today needs courageous leadership...and you, every you listening can be a courageous leader!

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John 4 contains an amazing story full of life-giving themes. It's all about soul-thirst and the hunger of our hearts to live for a worthy mission. It's all about city-revivals and turning the world upside down. It's all about worship and Jesus' mission to find people who will truly worship him.

And it's all about sharing the treasure of Jesus with people living in the margins of life. Who might you share that treasure with in the coming days?

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In John 4, we find a story of something Jesus "had to do." What is your "have-to-do?" The greek word translated as "had to" is often a word that signifies a divine necessity. Perhaps it was a divine necessity for Jesus to go through Samaria. God had a divine appointment set up for Jesus with a woman in Samaria.

So here's the deal. Our story is shaped by our have-to. What I have to do defines me. Jesus was defined by the have-to of Father God. The heart of the Father compelled him to compassion and because of love, he had to share the gospel, the good news. So ask yourself, "What is my have-to?"

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Jackie Hill Perry says this about Jesus, “He is so much greater than the greatest thing and so much more glorious than the most glorious glory the eyes could see. Knowing this, He becomes the aim of all our doing.” He is so much greater. As we finish up John 3, the words give us an opportunity to simply ponder the greatness of Jesus and ask (and maybe even answer) the question, "Jesus are you the one?"

Because if the answer is yes. I can't think of a more important question to answer. Because if he really is the one, if he really is who he claimed to be, then he is the single most significant person who ever lived (and still lives)! He is preeminent in everything.

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John 3:16 is probably the most famous verse in scripture. And not only is it famous, it's great! It gives a one-sentence tweetable summary of the good news that leads to a great life on the Jesus way. It's the beginning of our journey on the way of Jesus, the very beginning. And what is at the beginning? God's love. Like I said in the last episode, "you are God's beloved masterpiece." And few short verses describe the love part of beloved masterpiece, than John 3:16.

You are relentlessly pursued by a lavishly gracious God who is all-in on you. And just so you don't miss it. You aren't the only one. In fact, you probably have an enemy or two, who is loved like that by God, as well. I needed to hear that! Who knows what you might discover in this greatest, most famous verse?

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As we journey on the Jesus-Way, we are going to unpack four different portraits of a Jesus-apprentice. A Jesus-Apprentice is a Beloved Masterpiece, a Courageous Leader, a Bridge-Builder, man our country needs bridge-builders today and an apprentice of Jesus is a front-yard missionary. Those last three, courageous leader, bridge-builder and front-yard missionary, there's a lot of doing in those right? And the Jesus-way definitely involves an all-in doing. But beloved masterpiece, that's a bit more about being...not just what we do, but who we are. And do you understand that who we are is all wrapped up in what God is doing.

You are God's beloved masterpiece! A unique creation loved passionately and persistantly by a God who is all-in on you!

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In John 3, a man comes to Jesus looking for something more. He sensed in his spirit that Jesus might show him the way to something more. But Jesus' words confused him just a bit. Jesus said, if you want something more, "You must be born again." What in the world does that mean? It means that in Jesus, God offers us something more that's so radically different that it's like being born all over again; like starting over and being delivered into a whole new world, for a whole new life. It's not just more of the same old, same old. It's not just like before only better. It's not cosmetic or marginal; you are on your way to a breathtaking, supernatural, eternally new life.

Are you looking for something more?

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Here's a principle of joy on the Jesus-Way, it's so key. If we want joy, if we want to
live our one and only life overflowing with joy, don't miss this principle. It's found in the first of Jesus' miraculous signs; turning water into wine. Here's the principle. When the wine runs dry and you come to Jesus looking for joy, we can ask for anything as long as we are willing to surrender everything.

Mary told the servants, "Just do whatever he tells you to do." Are you willing to do whatever he asks? This is an issue of surrender. Am I willing to surrender control? When we ask for a miracle we honor God's hand by the size of our request, but we honor his heart by our willingness to do whatever he asks.

That's how we find joy on the Jesus-Way!

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Jon Ortberg writes, "God is the happiest being in the universe." God also knows sorrow, but the sorrow of God is a temporary response to a fallen world. The sorrow will be banished when the world is set right. Joy is God's basic character. Joy is God's eternal destiny. God is the happiest being in the universe." Perhaps few things are more essential for the life we long to live than the essential of joy. An unexplainable, uncontainable, contagious and outrageously overflowing joy that doesn't require a changing of my circumstances, or a looking away from pain. It's a joy that comes in spite of the hard.

So perhaps throughout this episode and after it, our simple prayer would be "God give me that joy, overflowing joy!"

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At the heart of every Jesus apprentice is a growing passion for Jesus. A growing certainty that there is none greater than Jesus. A Jesus apprentice, ultimately lives like everything is worth-less than knowing Jesus. Anything that comes between Jesus and me is a loss. No matter what it takes, I want to know Jesus. So ask yourself, "What's keeping me from following Jesus with all my heart?" As I will share in this episode, sometimes what we treasure most about ourselves is the very thing that's keeping us from the Jesus Way.

So I want to invite you to come and see...

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Don't miss this one! It's a bit different because this last week was our CWOW Sunday and snowmegaddon! I know she's my wife, but Lynn has an amazing and authentic relationship with Jesus and in her conversation with Pastor Stacy, she shares about what that relationship "conversational intimacy" looks like. It's a bit different than my regular episodes, not a lot of scripture, not a lot of me, but a lot of Holy Spirit inspired story of a life lived, chasing after Jesus.

Listen all the way through, the end is pretty powerful!

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As I was working on this episode, I couldn't get a song out of my head. It's a simple song that I learned in church as a kid. "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." In John 1 we find that Jesus is not only the Word of God, He is the light of the world. And when His light shine the darkness cannot win. But if you can get past the grand metaphors and visions of light battling darkness, at the heart of John 1 is a messy love story.

In the midst of our darkness and our mess, he relentlessly pursues you. Even as you walk the Jesus way, His heart is relentlessly pursuing you.

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Ask yourself this question, "Whose words do I love? Who gets my ears?" I can't love Jesus' words if I'm never in His Word (the Bible). So how much of it have I read? How often did I read it this week? Do I treasure it? Do his words saturate my soul? Do I let His Words convict me? Guide me?

Here’s the deal, I can’t be an apprentice of Jesus if I never listen to the word. In other words, the first step is as simple as, open the book. This may take a little planning. The good news is that God will meet you wherever you are at, whatever your plan. But you have to open the book. It's hard to walk in His ways, if I don't listen for His voice!

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I don't actually say those three words often in this episode. In fact maybe I don't say them ever. But as you listen to me describe the way of Jesus that we find in John's gospel. I hope you hear those three words over and over again, "You are invited." You are invited to follow Jesus. You are invited to become more like Jesus and do more like Jesus. You are invited to be with Jesus. You are invited on this journey of the Jesus way. You are invited by me, but more importantly we are invited by Jesus!

I hope you join us!

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The Gospel of John is a masterclass in the Jesus way. It is not just a record of what Jesus did, but an invitation into how Jesus lived, loved, related, discerned, and moved through the world. If the other Gospels give us the story of Jesus, John opens a door into the inner life of Jesus—so that anyone who reads it can learn to live from the same center, with the same Father, in the same Spirit, for the same purposes.

For this journey, think of John as an apprenticeship manual disguised as a story. And we start with the question, "What is my most urgent hunger?"

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Today at Calvary we started a new series, a 50-Day Journey called "The Jesus Way." There's even a devotional guide that goes with it. If you aren't a part of Calvary, you can download it online at https://www.calvarycwow.org/resources -- This is the first message in the series and in-between messages, I'm going to do something in the gospels. For the next 50+ days it's all about Jesus and the Jesus way.

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Our God is able to do immeasureably more than anything we could ever ask for or imagine. And not only is He able to do it, I believe He is doing it. So I'm asking for more. With the open heaven's all around us, I'm asking Him for more. I'm asking Him to do more than I can imagine. I want to be part of a move of God that makes it impossible to stay seated when the opportunity comes to give God a standing ovation.

This episode will ask you to join me, because our God is beyond beyond. He is able to do infinitely and immeasureably and exceedingly abundantly beyond every bit of more you could ever ask for. If we could get beyond what we can imagine...He's
still beyond that. Our God is beyond beyond!

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What does it take for us to persevere, to be a people who never give up? I think Paul would say that it takes a connection, a connection to Jesus and a connection to people. And he would say that it takes prayer, all-prayer. Pray at all times with all kinds of prayer for all people with all perserverance. Don't give up praying and when we pray together, there's even more strength for the battle.

So in the darkness, in the battle don't give up, stand up! Stand up together. Stand up in prayer, in the end light wins!

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The apostle Paul is writing his friends to help them when they encounter darkness and in a way the first thing he says is this: If darkness is near, heaven isn't far. Dark times are often isolating times. When we go through dark times we begin to believe we are not only alone, but we are far from God. But don't miss God's words, in Paul's words, "Be strong in the Lord." Even while we are in the Lord, while we are in Christ, the darkness comes, but when it comes, His strength is close.

Listen, if you find yourself in the midst of a dark time, right now, that doesn't mean that heaven is far from you. In fact it may mean that heaven is closer than you can imagine.

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Here is the statement I want to start with so that it saturates you heart, mind and soul for the next 20 minutes or so. The grace God has given you is not just for you. It's His grace and He's asking us to steward His grace. The grace He gives you is not just for, it's for someone else. The question is who? Because there is nothing more amazing than being a conduit of His grace.

Are you a steward of grace?

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Taking a Monday break by posting last weekend's message from Calvary is becoming a habit. But, this one matters to me. Not that other messages don't matter, but this one gave me a sense of hope and expectancy as I worked on it...and a sense of conviction as I spoke it. With all my heart I believe God is inviting us to a year of unforgettable walks. I'm asking you to join us! Ask God for more!

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For 1000's of years Satan has been thumming his nose at God, rejecting and ridiculing the wisdom and the grace of God. But when the grace of God flows (to us and through us) the wisdom of God is made known. Grace has a Cosmic effect. The importance of the church is that it's not just a place where worship services take place, it's a people through whom the purposes of God are fufilled.

In the heavenly places, where heaven meets earth, we become the "see I told you" of God. His amazing grace is on display in us, in the heavenly places.

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You have a seat at the table, in the heavenlies, with Christ. We've all heard that phrase before, "a seat at the table." We're looking for a seat at the table. When it's used in an organization, it's about having a place, having a voice. Usually when we say we want a seat at the table, it's because we feel we deserve a part; we deserve to be heard, to lead. We want a seat at the table. This is not that kind of seat. This is not the kind of seat we earn.

This is more like the seat that would have been empty at Lazarus' house but now is filled because of resurrection. It's a seat like the one Mary sat in while Martha worried and labored over having things in her home just right. Mary sat at Jesus feet to just listen to his words. It's a seat where Jesus says, "Come here, slow down, be still for a bit. Just sit... here with me... I've got a seat for you at my table."

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Ephesians 2 is a tough passage of scripture. But it also contains one of the greatest transformation stories of all time. I was a nobody. I was dead, doomed and damned -- but God --.

Oh, how I love those two words, "but God." Later on you should circle those words, highlight them, underline them in your Bible. "I was dead, doomed and damned but God, is so rich in mercy. Those words are the turning point of my story and yours. They mark the point where God turned my story into His-story.

I love the "but" of God!

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I love what Paul Miller writes in his book, "A Praying Life." He writes, "If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life. You'll always be a little too tired, a little too busy. But, if like Jesus you realize you can't do life on your own, then no matter how busy, no matter how tired
you are, you will find the time to pray." In other words, if I know I need help, I will pray. And perhaps the best words of prayer to start with are...

God, I need help...

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How well do I know God? If there was one and only one question we should ask ourselves as we start a new year...it would be, "How well do I know him?" Jesus once was overheard praying, he said, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) How well do I know God? Moses spoke with God like a man does with his friend, and yet he cried out to know more of God. Paul said, nothing matters to me more than knowing Christ. I want to know Christ. Maggie Ross described the start of spiritual life as beginning to understand that the feeling of emptiness is really an indication of our hunger for God.

In other words, every need you have experienced is a reminder that what I need more than anything... is to know God. How well do I know God?

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In his book "The Prayer of Jabez" Bruce Wilkinson writes, "To bless in the Biblical sense means to ask for or to impart supernatural favor. When we ask for God's Blessing, we're not asking for more of what we could get for ourselves. We're crying out for the wonderful, unlimited goodness that only God has the power to give us."

I think the problem is that somewhere along the way, we quit believing that God's blessing matters, or maybe we quit believing that God really wants to bless us. But let me tell you God's all-in on your blessing!

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In this episode, you will hear Jesus ask a question, that on first hearing, you may be tempted to think, "That's the dumbest question I've ever heard." He walks up to one broken man lying in the midst of hundreds of broken people. They're all laying around a pool because of a legend that when the pool bubbled, the first one in would be healed. Jesus walks up to this man who has laid poolside for over three decades and Jesus asks, "Do you want to be made well?"

But of course, it's not really a dumb question. It's the question, we probably all need to answer. Do you want to be made well and... do you trust Jesus to do it?

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In Malachi 3, I believe Malachi, or rather God through Malachi, is trying to tell us that generosity ushers in heaven on earth, that generous people are the people who unwrap heaven. So in this episode I'll dare you to take a NY's dare to be more generous than you ever thought possible. And actually it's not my dare. It's God's. "I dare you to test me." God says. "I dare you to try to outgive me. Care for the poor in your midst and in your circle. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and give you a New Year filled with heaven all year long."

Perhaps this is how we return to God and live under open-heavens!

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There is a light that shines in the darkness and in the end, Christmas wins. In the days after Christmas there there’s still darkness and we will still need light. We need the light of hope for the darkness of difficulty. Difficulty didn't take a break over the holidays. We need the light of hope. We need the light of generosity for the darkness of selfishness. Christmas scratches the itch of grace deep within us. It gives us a chance to counteract that selfish streak we hate in ourselves.

And what if, rather than being a holiday, here and then gone, Christmas was a holy day that is meant to ignite a light that burns through a year of days? What if the Christmas lights are simply a metaphor of an unseen reality that the light of heaven has now invaded our world and all the darkness of the world cannot stand against the glory of that light?

What if Christmas is a reminder of the wonder that heaven is now in our midst? What if heaven is here?

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For the last episode of Come Lord Jesus, I just want to offer this post-Christmas question. What if Jesus had never come? What if it never happened? What if all we have for Christmas is Santa, elves, and the naughty-nice list. What if there was no Christ in Christmas? What if there were no ripples of heaven on earth that continued to this day?

What if Jesus never came?

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DON'T LISTEN TO THIS -- If you are going to Christmas Eve services at Calvary Harvest Fields. :) It's not exactly the same, but similar!

But if you aren't going to Christmas Eve services at Calvary, I hope that this episode encourages you with the Christmas truth that Jesus is on a mission to bring you home for Christmas!

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In this episode, we are going to talk about favor. That's an interesting word isn't it? Favor. It's used multiple times in the Christmas stories. When we think of the word favor, it's usually used in a sentence like this, "Hey would you do me a favor?" When we ask someone to do us a favor we're saying, "You don't owe me. I don't necessarily deserve this, haven't earned it, but I'm wondering if you would do it anyway. Do me a favor."

Often that's the question behind our prayers is, "God would you please do me a favor." The Dictionary suggests that favor is kindness beyond what is due or usual. It makes me think that perhaps the a good two word description of Christmas is "God's Favor." As we take a peak at Mary the mother of Jesus, we can pray, "God would you do me a favor?"

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In the end light wins, darkness loses. Why? Because we have Jesus.

He is our Unwavering Certainty in the midst of uncertainty. He is our Sacrificial Savior who covers us in his love when we are prone to fear. He's our Overflowing Abundance when scarcity whispers, "Protect what is yours, there’s not enough to go around." He is our Almighty King, our Righteous Redeemer and in the end He will be the one still standing and we will see Him with our own eyes and when we see Him, what was lost will be found and what was broken will be redeemed, the darkness will be no more and we will celebrate Christmas, like we have never celebrated before...

Christmas is an epic, fear-not story, and you are invited to join the story!

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The angels said to the shepherds, "For a savior has been born to you..." That to you was just for them, it includes us. Listen to me, the glory of Christmas is not that God was born in a mess without a family, it's that He welcomes messy people into his family. This is Jesus' trademark. He wasn't born in a gated community or a palace with guards. He was born to us and there is no us that is not welcome to come home. Messy people have been drawn to Jesus for thousands of years, and He's been drawn to them.

And because of that...your best Christmas is yet to come!

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I love the iconic manger images of little baby Jesus, but I have to be honest, it's full-grown Jesus with whom I want to be side-by-side. It's the one who stilled the storm, fed the crowd, healed the outcasts and noticed those in the margins of life. It's the one who could gather a crowd but loved you one-on-one. It's the one who
riled up the religious leaders, confused the politicians, scared the hell out of Satan, and loved his enemies all the way to the cross. It's his steps I want to follow. Grown-up Jesus.

In this Cosmic Christmas battle, we need more than a baby. We need a King! And that's what we have and because of our King, in the end Christmas wins!

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Revelation 12 does not describe a merry, little Christmas. Christmas is a holy war, a cosmic battle for the glory of God, with a vicious villian. Like Frodo and his fellowship against Sauron in the Lord of the Rings, or Iron Man against Thanos, even Little Red Riding Hood against the Big Bad Wolf. A cosmic battle agnst the hosts of darkness. We live in a culture that sees evil as a disease, a pyschological sickness, but the Bible describes evil as personal, malicious and dangerous.

That first Christmas led to war in heaven. Christmas is a cosmic invasion in the epic battle between God and evil; between darkness and light. And guess who wins?

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I used to pray, God put me in the place where you can use me the best, but these last few years, my prayer has changed, now it’s God put me in the place where you can love me the best. And isn't this what Jesus is saying is the reward of those who have little strength and keep his word and love his name? Yes, sure this is an open door to make a difference. This is the church that will feed a hungry world and love their neighbors all the way to Jesus.

But don't miss this. If we don't have intimacy with Christ, we won't make an impact for Christ. As you listen to this episode, I hope a point comes where you pause and ask yourself, "What if that's Jesus knocking on my door?"

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So in this episode and the next we are going to hit the last two letters, but I’m going to deal with them together…because they go well together. They go well together because they both reference a door. The church of Philadelphia has an open door. The church of Laodecia has a closed door.

Will this Christmas bring you an open door, or a closed door?

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In this episode we will look at two "Christmas" letters, one to Thyatira and one to Sardis. With both churches there is this sense of unfinished business. There's a need to keep progressing, keep growing, keep become more of a force for good and God. With Thyatira, it was a bit more of a commendation and with Sardis it was a bit more of an urgent diagnosis. Both churches had good and bad; but both also have this theme of preserving growth. Sometimes in the church and perhaps even in our personal lives we find ourselves exerting a lot of energy, putting on a lot of programs but not really strengthening what matters, not really growing in areas that count.

If we want to honor Jesus on his birthday, perhaps the gift of spritual growth would put a smile on His face, so consider this a bit of a Christmas guide to growth!

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Today we go back to our Calvary series...ONE CHRISTMAS. And it dovetails well with our regular series, "Come Lord Jesus." Because it's all about having one Christmas that Jesus will never forget. AND it's all about joy.

You are pursued. You are invited. There are still empty seats around His table and around His table, the joy overflows! He's inviting us to a Christmas party that could change your world!

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This will be my 31st Christmas at Calvary. 31 years of reading and preaching from the same old stories of Christmas, but to be honest, they never get old. What we celebrate at Christmas is so wondrously holy. The heaven’s opened up and poured the uncontainable blessings and unmistakable presence of Immanuel God with us. Every year that I think I know it all, I’m reintroduced to the wonder and awe of that truth. And if you think about it, there are some pretty amazing Christmas stories filled with heaven on earth moments.

So in this episode, as we take a break from Revelation, we're going to look at an ordinary Joe, that probably doesn't have main character energy. But this ordinary Joe can teach us more than a little bit about faith!

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The Christmas stories from the Bible are central to celebrating Christmas, not just because we need to know the story, we do. But even more so because John says in his Christmas story, that Jesus is the Word of God. In other words, it's not just about a book. It's about a person. It's not just about knowing the truth it's about loving the one who is true.

So there are two equally valid and important statements that we need to understand. First we don't value Christ if we don't value the Word. The Word shows us Christ. It's filled with Christ. It leads us to Christ. I've seen time and time again, when people who love Jesus fall out of love with His Word, over time they fall out of love with Jesus. But it's also true, secondly, that we've missed the Word, if we aren't drawn to Christ. If we learn the Bible without coming to love Christ we've missed it all. Jesus is the Christmas Word!

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The cosmic Christmas was a military strike to the forces of evil. But those forces still operate, which is why, when it comes to the hard stuff that the church of Smyrna was going through Jesus peels back the curtain, in essence to tell them that as bad as things are, they are worse than you think. But he goes on to say, that they are also better than you can imagine! Suffering is coming, but the best is yet to come. So don't be fearful, be faithful!

And how can we be faithful in fearful times? By realizing that Jesus knows, Jesus wins, and Jesus gives. I'll unpack that a bit more in this episode!

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"Do not be afraid." That's the challenge giving to the church at Smyrna, and it was also a pretty common greeting that first Christmas. In Luke 1 – It was the angels greeting first to Zechariah in the temple and then to Mary when the angel brought this message of a baby and a virgin birth. "Don’t be afraid." In Joseph’s dream in Matthew 1, Joseph was told, “Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” In Luke 2, the shepherds were terrified and the angel said, “Don’t be afraid.” In fact, the most common command in the Bible is not "Don't Lie or Steal, Covet or Kill." It isn't "Love One Another" that might be the most important but not the most common.
The most common command in the Bible is Fear NOT! Lloyd Ogilvie notes that there are 366 fear not verses in the Bible.

This episode and the next, we'll talk a bit about fear and I'll hopefully encourage you with the hopeful words, "Don't be afraid!"

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The Church of Ephesus was an amazing church! By every standard that we judge churches by today, it was the cream of the crop. But Jesus said something's missing. I have this against you; you have neglected, abandoned, drifted away from, become indifferent to your first love. Passion for the person of Jesus had been diverted into passion for the projects of Jesus. Activity substituted for adoration. Hard work left no time for heart-work. But Jesus is looking for first-love followers. First in time, first in rank, before the church can be an army for the
Kingdom, it must be a bride for the King.

So here's his question, "Have you left your first love?"

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In this episode I'll ask you this question, "Do you believe God misses you?" I think we have this idea that God is love so God has to love us...because he's God. But we aren't so sure He likes us; not so sure He misses us, when we are gone. But there is something about love that always desires to be with. The Bible is not merely a moral instructionl book or a spiritual guidebook left behind by God for those who might want to make the trip up to Him. The Bible is also a storybook telling us about this God who came down to us. That’s Christmas. And no matter how difficult our story gets, even when life and hardship threaten to overwhelm you, He is with you, because He wants to be. He loves you.

So let me say it again, "Don't miss His heart!"

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My teaching series at Calvary is called, "One Christmas." It's all about getting Christmas right, if we only had one Christmas left before we meet the hero of Christmas face to face, how would we shape this Christmas?

If Christmas is the love story of God, how do we respond? How can we practically and tangibly love Jesus this Christmas? That's what this episode is all about!

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In this episode we take a break from Revelation, but still connecting to our Christmas prayer, "Come Lord Jesus." Jesus is the something more of Christmas. He is our Christmas treasure. He is the more our hearts long for. When it comes to the continuing story of Christmas...Jesus is written all over the pages of the book. It's so easy to focus on all the other elements. Shepherds and Wisemen and angels oh my. Mangers and Santa and Elves oh my. But nothing matters more than Jesus. Do we treasure him? Do we hold him in our hearts?

Jesus is the something more of Christmas!

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I think a primary Christmas message of the book of Revelation is that Jesus is no longer a baby in a manger. In fact, Jesus is King of all the kings and presidents, every prime minister, tribal war chief or military tyrant globally. When Jesus appeared to his disciples post-resurrection, in triumph he proclaimed, "All authority and power has been given to me." And in his own timing, by his own strategies, he is guiding the world to the fulfillment of his purposes. What if this Christmas we let John's vision of Christ flush out our fear and lay waste to our
anxiety.

He's no longer a baby and I'm tell you whatever concerns you, He's got it. He's no longer a baby, He's got it. He's got you. He's able!

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Christmas is nothing more than a shopping spree, if there isn't something more to come. Right? We celebrate the first waiting in hopes of a second coming? And in our world of chaos, confusion, and conflict, we need to be reminded that God’s not done. Come Lord Jesus! The story didn't end with a baby in a manger. It didn't even end with an empty tomb. God is still writing His story of redemption, and
there's more to come. Christmas is not just about what God has
done, but what He's doing and will do. So come Lord Jesus!

The story that began in Bethlehem is far from over. The babe wrapped in swaddling clothes is the same cosmic King who will one day return, wrapped in glorious splendor. The humble carpenter from Nazareth is the cosmic Christ who will make all things new. There's more to come, but we could easily ask, "What's taking Him so long?" This episode will provide at least part of the answer.

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When I ponder Christmas, and this story that Jesus told in Matthew 25, well let me turn it a bit and say this first of all. If you find yourself in need, if you find yourself in "least of these" kind of way, Jesus is so close. This story is a Christmas word of hope to every person listening who feels helpless, hopeless or homeless. Jesus said, whenever you serve the least of these, you served me. If you find yourself today in a least of these kind of way, Jesus is so close. He identifies with you. He sees you. He knows you. He loves you.

But this story is also a challenge for all of us, even those of us who find ourselves in a "least of these" kind of way, to look for Jesus in face of those around us who are broken and in need. In fact I might say it like this, "Your neighbor in need might be the only Jesus you see this Christmas."

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Lee Stroebel shares a Christmas story that ends with this summary.

And at that moment, something inside of me wanted desperately to know this Jesus because, in a sense, I saw him in Perfecta and her granddaughters. They had peace despite poverty, while I had anxiety despite plenty; they knew the joy of generosity, while I only knew the loneliness of ambition; they looked heavenward for hope, while I only looked out for myself; they experienced the wonder of the spiritual, while I was shackled to the shallowness of the material and something made me long for what they had. Or, more accurately, for the One they knew.

In this episode, I'll tell their story, so that we can add to our Christmas prayer, "Come Lord Jesus and give me a heart like Grandma Perfecta!"

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Christmas is an invitation to thirsty people to come and drink. But it’s also an invitation to people who have found the living water to become life-givers. Both invitations are open to everyone, with only condition; you have to be thirsty. Are you thirsty for life? If so, where are you going to get full? Where are you going to satisfy your soul thirst?

My prayer for this Christmas is that we will discover that Jesus can and only Jesus can quench our soul-thirst!

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We are beginning an advent series with this episode. At advent we celebrate the waiting that led to his birth. But Christmas is nothing more than a shopping spree, if there isn't something more to come. Right? We celebrate the first waiting in hopes of a 2nd coming? And in our world of chaos, confusion, and conflict, we need to be reminded that God’s not done. The story didn't end with a baby in a manger. It didn't even end with an empty tomb. God is still writing His story of redemption, and there's more to come. Christmas is not just about what God has
done, but what He's doing and will do. Do you understand? There's more to come.

My hope with this advent series is that a three word prayer found at the end of the whole Bible, would become our Christmas prayer. "Come Lord Jesus."

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Psalm 77 is the heart cry of a person who is waiting for bad stuff to stop and good stuff to start. He has found himself in a season of deep trouble, days when God seems absent at best, times when he cries out to God but finds no comfort for his soul. But even in this deep trouble, he finds a way to practice gratitude.

How about you, have you find a way, even in deep trouble, to still be grateful? That's the focus of this gratitude pause.

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As we enter the holiday season, I just want to focus for a moment on the word, bless. Psalm 67 uses that word alot. "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us." "God our God blesses us. May God bless us still."
I'm sure that they aren't the only ones who use the phrase, but a family that used to attend Calvary, the Norwood's are the first ones who I heard use it, --BBB-- "Blessed Beyond Belief." It's not a bad phrase to carry around in our hearts as we make our way through the Christmas season, as we shop and sing and bake and eat...and eat...and eat...

It's a good thing to be reminded that in so many ways that don't require a credit card or a receipt, we have been blessed beyond belief. In this episode and the next I just want to give us a pause for gratitude!

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"Seek first the Kingdom of God." That's our final challenge for this series. We don't use the word Kingdom very much today, but in Jesus' day they used it all the time. They understood a little bit better than we do, what a Kingdom was all about. See in a biblical sense, everyone has a kingdom. Your kingdom is whatever you control. Your Kingdom is that part of your life where what you say goes. Dallas Willard calls it "the range of your effective will." Throughout life we have this inclination to protect and maybe even expand our kingdoms.

So what are your little kingdoms? You might have more than one. Some people are bold and obvious about kingdom-building; some people are sneaky and subtle about it. But we all have a little kingdom or two that we are trying to build. The question is am I living for my little kingdom, or am I living for His Big Kingdom?

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In this episode we going to focus on a promise and a challenge from Jesus. The promise is "Where your treasures lead, your heart will follow." The challenge is "so put your treasures in heaven, because your heart is made for heaven." Where your treasures lead your heart will follow. So where are you storing your treasures? Where is your heart? In the grand scheme of collecting stuff and counting stuff and saving stuff and spending stuff, whatever you do, don't lose your heart!

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Sometimes we make prayer so complicated! And yes, there are depths to prayer that I may never fully explore or understand, because there are depths to God that will ever be mysterious to me. But at the same time, there is meant to be a simplicity and an ease to prayer that is the ease of a son or daughter coming to their Father, their Papa God. Stop trying to earn it. You can't anyway, but we don't come into His presence because we earn it. We come in because He loves us. We come in because it's home.

Call out to him today. It may be that your prayer is nothing more than, "Daddy come here! But listen for His voice deep in your heart, He wants to be with you. Just let Father God love you.

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I believe that the most important part of Jesus teaching on prayer in Matthew 6:5-15 is the Father part. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray he
said, "Ok, when you pray...say Father." Much of the Lord's prayer was not all that different from the standard Jewish liturgical prayers of the day; one big difference, "When you pray, call Him Father." When Jesus lived, what he had to say about God blew away the routine categories of God-pictures. The father-truth shaped everything Jesus said and did. It certainly shaped his prayer life. But then this this amazing thing happens, Jesus passes it on to us. "Not only my Father, your Father. God is your Father."

So here’s my question, What if I learned to pray like his kid?

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I think our greatest problem is a Sin-Soaked Heart. It keeps us from thriving, leads to addiction, ravages marriages and breaks families, it hardens hearts & creates anxiety filled minds, it drains joy and reaps discouragement..it causes us to hate or even worse ignore our neighbors. We sacrifice our kids on the altar of success and we care about so much that matters so little. Yet in the midst of my sin, my greatest hope is that we are relentlessly pursued by a lavishly gracious, greatly merciful, fiercely loyal, patiently loving God. And every time our hearts get soaked in sin, it’s time to run like little kids to our Father's arms.

What is an oopster, listen in and you'll find out. But realize up front, it's far better to be His kid, than an oopster!

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How many of us have a problem? I wonder if you could make a case that we are defined, at least in part, by the problems we embrace. What's your problem? Sometimes we call it a holy discontent; an external problem so deep in your heart that it's hard to go to sleep without pondering it's solution. Maybe it's not just your problem, it's broader and you want to see it solved for others. What's your problem? Perhaps it's lonliness, or depression or orphans or world hunger or racism, or fill-in the blank. Can I tell what I think Jesus would say? And if Jesus would say it, than it might be a problem that goes even deeper, all the way to the core of our humanity; a meta-problem. I think Jesus would say, "Your problem is you have a broken heart."

And you know what, our broken heart is Jesus holy discontent. He came to give us a new heart!

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I know sometimes "the church" is a mess & right now it's nowhere near the center of attention in central PA (or wherever you live). But "the church" is where eternity is aimed. If you hate the church, heaven's going to be a bit awkward. The sermon on the mount is the blueprint for the life of the church because it's all about becoming like Jesus.

Could that be our greatest problem today? Can I tell you why we aren't the center
of attention in central PA? Why our neighbors aren't running to Jesus? Why each succeeding generation has been more skeptical of and less connected to church? Isn't it because, at least sometimes, we don't look a whole lot like Jesus? If that's the case, we don't need to restructure, reform or renew, we just need to reJesus!

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When my daughter Katy was about 3, for a season of time, one of her favorite prayers was, "And God please help me fly." She had watched the movie Dumbo. I was just glad she wasn't asking God for big ears! But that's my prayer at the end of this episode. God please help us to fly. Give us a love that soars. This is the dream on the heart of Christ for his church. That our love would soar. That we would be known for the size of our hearts.

Listen, we can do this. I believe that the church is standing at a defining moment in the Kingdom of God. Our culture has perfected turning neighbors into enemies. But in the midst of the division, in the midst of the enemy-making, you can love in a way that amazes people. You can even love your enemies. God please help us fly!

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Jesus once said that we would be known as His apprentices by how we love. You are not know as Jesus followers by how you dress or where you live or how successful you are, certainly not by how you vote, but by how you love. Some of you grew up with those four letters, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). They were meant to be a guideline for life, but sometimes I think it's helpful to ask WIJD (What is Jesus dreaming). What is Jesus dreaming?

What matters to Jesus? What's his prayer for us? What's on His heart? What are his hopes and dreams for us. His dream for you starts with your heart. Your heart. Time and again, over and over, we see in scripture that before God releases a dream. He always shapes a heart. What is Jesus dreaming? I think he's dreaming of a people who live different with a different heart.

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As we finish the story of Louis Zamperini...let me say this, "I don't know your story, I don't know your life, I don't know your hurt, your trauma, or your sin, but I do know that the grace of Christ is greater and goes deeper and heals more." And when real-life grace flows into your life from Christ and out of your life to others, you will be a real-life blessing. Paul writes these words in 2 Corinthians 9:6,

"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

That's what I want. I want a don't-quit, gritty, astoundingly generous grace that will cause me to abound in every good work! How about you?

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Astonishing generosity. In the midst of NT Wright’s book, entitled, Jesus and the Victory of God, he uses those two words to describe a key characteristic that Jesus’ expected of his followers. Astonishing generosity. Let those two words roll around in your brain a bit, those who follow Jesus should be marked by astonishing generosity, not just marked by the astonishing generosity of Jesus to us, but because of his generosity to us, we should be marked by our astonishing generosity to others.

Now Wright isn’t talking about money. It would perhaps be a bit easier if it was just money. He’s talking about a more difficult kind of generosity. Grace. Forgiveness those who betray us. Loving our enemies. When it comes to that kind of generosity, ask yourself, "Has my generosity ever astonished anyone?"

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My goal and prayer for this episode as we are coming to the end of Jesus' mountain-top message is that we would love His Words. It's that simple. There's no breakthrough without His Words. We won't thrive in the storms of life without His Words. So we listen to the words of Jesus, we learn His principles and practices, and then we lean in by relentlessly responding. Listen, learn and lean. Without His Words, we will not live different.

This episode is my message from this weekend at Calvary...I hope it helps you thrive in the storms!

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Hypocrisy is hiding what's inside. Authenticity is transparency, revealing what's inside. But integrity goes deeper, integrity requires a transformation of what's inside. And here's the blessing of integrity; when we get real with God, the real God shows up. Can I tell you what I fear most? I fear missing out on the real God showing up. I want to experience God's presence. I want to be a conduit of God's power. I want to experience God at work in our community in supernatural ways.

I want to see the real God show up, but what if it requires our getting real with God?

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It's a question of integrity. When you see the brilliant reds of a maple tree in the fall, you don't have to guess if they are hanging on an oak tree. When you are out hunting and you see horns, you don't need to guess the gender of the deer. Because in God's creation, what's on the outside is a good indicator of what's on the inside. But when it comes to people, that's not always the case. Sometimes the outside lies. There's no integrity. Integrity is not only speaking the truth, it's being true. It's the outside truly reflecting what's on the inside.

So that's the question, "Does my outside match my inside?"

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If I could say anything to you, that you will remember from this episode, it's simply this, "Just let God love you." That's where a life that thrives gets it's start. We love because He first loved us. Let Him love you. Don't put up walls, keep your heart soft. Toward him and others. Let grace heal wounds and even overflow in the broken places around you. Let his forever-love be your journey's guard and guide. Let His love give you boldness to approach Him on behalf of your marriage and any broken marriages around you.

Let His love give shape to your soft heart!

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In this two verses Jesus deals with an area of brokennes, sin and failure that is all too often all too common in our world today. Divorce. He goes from adultery to divorce. In this episode we'll start by talking about marriage and the heart of a wedding and from there will be a challenge to guard your heart. But here's the deal, we don't guard our hearts by hardening our hearts...because when it comes to the pain of divorce...

Everyone needs a soft heart.

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At Calvary in our current series "Live Different" we are nearing the end of Jesus' mountain-top message. Which means we are nearing the end of this podcast series, but...we still probably have 8-10 more episodes to go. So buckle up and enjoy the ride! :)

This episode is the most recent message I gave at Calvary. It's a look at the "narrow way with a narrow gate" and the "broad way with a wide gate." It's a challenge to make the "master-choice." It was a pretty powerful weekend at Calvary, maybe God will use it to speak to you as well. If so, I would love to hear what God is doing in your life. Feel free to do the "fan mail" (not a fan of that name :) or send me an email to dan@calvarysc.org

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As we get into this episode on sex, lust and adultery... you may be asking the question, "How far will God go to love me?" That's the question I'll be answering before we put this episode to bed. And to be honest, my best answer is simply this. The cross is our reminder that God will go so far as to come down and give his life for you to show you his love. God will go so far as a cross to pursue us with all our heart.

Never forget that truth!

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Our next section of Jesus' mountain-top message is on sex, adultery, and lust. And let me just say upfront, that one of the reasons why this is such a tough and tender topic is because there are so many people crying on the inside. Something you did, something done to you, a decision you regret, sometimes there's this deep sense of hidden inner shame. You're crying on the inside. And if that's you, you need to hear these words of Jesus within a context of knowing that he knew that this topic could bring so many people tears on the inside.

And you need to know, there was more compassion in his heart that day on that mountain than your heart could ever contain. Because in the end, it's not really all about sex, it's about knowing and being known by the giver of life!

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Do I truly value relationships? You will hear some form of that question over and over again in this episode. If you want to be the light of the world, if you want to be a real life blessing, if you want to be a reconciler with a heart that won’t quit, you have to make relationships a priority. If you know anything about religion in Jesus day, presenting a sacrifice was a big deal. The common people had the opportunity to present a sacrifice maybe 2-3 times a year. It was a big deal, big, big deal, not like Sunday worship, or even monthly communion. Jesus said, "If you are right in the middle of even your most important religious tradition and you remember that someone's got something against you; stop the religious stuff and go make things right. Now. Don't wait.

Because reconciled relationships matter more than religious routines. So ask yourself, "Do I truly value, even treasure relationships?"

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In talking about his football team, the legendary coach Vince Lombardi once said, "The difference between mediocrity and greatness is the feeling these guys have for each other. If you're going to play together as a team, you've got to care for one another." In some ways, he was just echoing the words of Jesus, when Jesus said that people would know; there would be an unmistakeable recognition that we are his apprentices by the quality of our love and the size of our hearts. When they see that they will know. But let's be honest, sometimes, love hurts and relationships are hard and we get offended.

When that comes we have to choose between murder or reconcilation. And I'm only half kidding. God is looking for reconcilers to be the light of the world.

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If we look at Jesus' example we would have to say that of all his names, Father is God's favorite. In the Old Testament God was called Father, only 7x. Jesus refers to God as Father 17x in the Sermon on the Mount alone! The gospels record over 200x's that Jesus called God Father. God's our Father. In Jesus day, those words were revolutionary. Never before had that been the primary way of viewing God, but it shaped everything Jesus said and did, especially his prayer life. And then this amazing thing happens, he passes it on to us. "Not only my Father," Jesus says, "your Father. He's your Abba, Papa, Daddy God."

Prayer may at times be more than, but it will never be less than an on-going and on-growing personal relationship with your Father God. So climb up on his lap and pray!

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Listen God is so good. I understand, every tragedy, every hurt, every funeral and every divorce; every disappointment seems to be marketing for unanswered prayer and unanswered prayers cause us to question the limits of God's goodness. But God's goodness has no limits. Not only can He help you, He wants to help you. Now I have to be honest, there are some prayers He will never answer, because He has something better in mind for us. But as we go back to Luke 18, we are going to see that there is a prayer, we can pray, that God will always answer...and quickly.

"God give me justice over my adversary." Now that prayer may not mean what you think it means, so you should listen and then pray!

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In Luke 18, Jesus tells a story with a meaning, often called a parable. But in this case, Jesus starts with the "why," the meaning. Often when Jesus told a parable,
he wouldn't give the why. He wanted the listeners to grapple with the meaning without being fed the answer. But in this case, the why of the story is so important that Jesus tells it up front. "Don't miss this." He's saying. "I'm going to tell you a story and I want the story to always remind you of the fact that we should always
pray and never give up. Never forget this. Always pray. Never give up.

Basically Jesus is repeating a message we find over and over again in the Bible. "Don't lose heart." When it comes to prayer, find something good to pray for and then don't stop. Don't lose heart!

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We are God's children. We are not God's friends. We are not God's neighbors. We're His kids. That's what Jesus was teaching about prayer and that's why He said, "When you pray, say Father." Nobody else called God father. Jesus said, "When you pray say Father." Smtms we make prayer so complicated. There are depths to prayer that I may never fully explore or understand. But there is also meant to be a simplicity and an ease to prayer that is the ease of a kid coming to daddy. Papa God.

Stop tryng to earn it. We don't come into His presence because we earn it. We come in because He loves us. We come in because it's home and you are His kid!

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Make no mistake Jesus wants the church to be a place of active, life-giving service and overflowing worship. He wants it to be a community of grace and truth. But few things move his heart like prayer. That's why I imagine a smile came to his face one day when one of his disciples came to him. Jesus had been out praying. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if Jesus had been praying for his disciples, something like, "Father, help them. Sometimes they just don't get it. Father I want prayer to matter to them. I want being with you to matter to them, like it matters to me.

So I imagine Jesus' smile when I read Luke 11:1, "Once when Jesus had been out praying, one of his disciples came to him as he finished and said, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." I think that's a prayer that we should never stop praying, "Jesus teach me to pray!"

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When it comes to prayer, I’m not sure what you are asking for, what you are seeking, or who you are asking Jesus to open the door for, but what if, Jesus message to you in this episode is simply this. Don't quit asking. Don't stop seeking.
Keep on knocking." The open door is coming. Especially don't give up on someone you've been praying for...

Remember, when we pass judgement on someone, what are we doing? We're writing them off. We're giving up on-em. See in Jesus' Kingdom instead of giving up on people, we're gonna pray for people. Instead of writing them off, we're going to lift them up. Instead of telling them they can go to hell...we're gonna ask Jesus to bring heaven to them. Why? Because we want to be part of a move of God that loves people all the way to Jesus and because prayer really matters.

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I think if I lived in the days of Pharisees and Scribes, when I heard Jesus say, "Unless your righteousness exceeds the guys who do it for a living..." I would have heard, "Unless your righteousness goes to infinity and beyond, unless you get more righteous than you ever imagined you could be, you might as well forget it." But that's not Jesus message. Jesus wasn't just looking for a quantity of righteousness, He was looking for quality of righteousness. He was looking for a different heart, that would love different.

He was looking for people who didn't major in rules and regulations, but rather lived and loved different, against the flow. I hope by the end of this episode, you'll have that challenge in your mind. Let's live different!

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Tsaddaqim? What is that babbling? It's the Hebrew word for the "Righteous Ones." The next part of Jesus' teaching is all about the righteous ones. Who are the righteous ones? According to Jesus it wasn't the pharisees and the scribes (the proffesionally religious people). In this episode we'll unpack it with a look back at Isaiah's description of the righteous ones. Stuff like: Your light will break forth (sound familiar) and your gloom will be as bright as the noonday. When you call God will answer. He'll satisfy your deepest desires. In fact your life will be like a well-watered garden!

Isaiah's words are spoken to broken people. But when God shows up, it's good news for broken people. It's good news because His love is amazing and He calls us to love like that. It's a whole different perspective on righteousness and it makes me want to be able to answer "YES!" to the question, "Are you a Tsaddaqim?"

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You are the light of the world. And God has no other plan for the darkness. That's it. No other plan. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit fills us up, we will have the power to become his witnesses. In other words, we will shine, and that's the plan; the only plan, no back-up plan b. There are people in your neighborhood who are living in darkness. Paul said in Acts in 17:26-27, that God has set the times and the boundaries of where we live. Why? In the hope that when people seek God, that when they grope for God in the darkness, they will find him.

And how do we let our light shine? By doing good deeds that reflect well on our Father in Heaven. Are you a do-gooder?

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You are the light of the world. Isn't that amazing? Do you understand? We're here to shine. To be generous with our lives and do good deeds which shine the light on Jesus. You've heard this phrase before, but you may be the only Jesus that people ever see. What do they see when they see you? Think about the last few days, the last week, when people saw you, what did they see? How about in your home; or at church? What does your boss see at work? How about our neighbors, that one that's struggling with cancer, or the elderly wife caring for her husband with alzheimer's and her kids live out of state and sometimes she sits at night, wondering if she can make it through one more day without help.

What did they see in us? Did we bring light to their darkness? I think Jesus' words are a call, a reminder that it's time to shine!

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All my life I have been attracted to the overflow, without walls principles and stories in the Bible. One of my all time favorite prayers in the Bible is Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 which ends with these words, "Now to God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all you ask for or can even imagine." That is so
without walls! Jesus lived a life without walls; a life where just a touch can heal a
heart; a life where forgiveness brings freedom and service brings joy; a life where tombs become wombs for second chances.

But in so many ways, we live our lives within walls and end up disconnected from each other, from God and from life. Sometimes we build walls because it seems safe, but it's really just lonely. One of the ways we build walls is when we judge. That's what this one is all about!

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"You are the salt of the earth." Those are Jesus' words. Think about this, when salt is working, you can't see it. Where are you being salt? Salt-work is annymous acts of kindness. It's backstage work that doesn't mind missing the applause of the crowds; It's working hard and speaking the truth..in love; It's befriending someone who doesn't deserve a friend. It's being real, even when you think no-one's watching. Salt work is living proof of a loving God. Salt work is simply what happens when a transformed heart comes into contact with others.

So where are you being the salt of the earth? Our world desperately needs more salt!

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We need more than bread to thrive. Jesus said that we need every word that comes from the mouth of God! We need more than food-stuff for our stomachs, more than comfort-stuff, more than significance stuff; we even need more than relational stuff in order to thrive. A live that thrives will involve a live that is continually feeding on the words of God. And remember, eating God's words involves more than listening and learning. Both listening and learning are important, but they are incomplete until we lean in. Leaning in, is the place where we become do-ers of the word and not hearers only. It’s the place where our lives change by the power of the Spirit in partnership with the Word of God.

In this episode, I'm challenging us to consider leaning in by asking God to take us out of the center of our lives, so that we can be a blessing to those around us.

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We've been talking about the beatitudes as a pathway to God's blessings. The blessings of God found in the Kingdom of God are amazing, but they rarely come easy. They require a "don't quit grit" that says, no matter what I'm going for it. And it all starts with "Blessed are the poor in Spirit." Blessed are the desperate, the begging poor in spirit. If you are poor in spirit, desperately broken, barely hanging on to a thin rope of hope, blessed are you. If you don't quit, blessing is on the way. When Jesus came on the scene announcing that the Kingdom of Heaven was here, the people understood him to say, "It's a new day. I know life has been hard, oppression, poverty, crucifixions every day. But listen, don't quit; a new day is dawning!"

That's my hope and message in this episode. Don't quit, don't you dare quit!

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In the last episode, you listened to my message on worry. Well it was actually Jesus' message on trusting God so that we don't worry. But there is a six word challenge in Jesus' words on worry, and it's a challenge that we didn't uncover in the last episode. We’ll probably hit these six words again in a future message, but they are so important, so before we go back to our review of chapter 5 and being the light of the world, I just want to give you this six word challenge that is so vital to a non-anxious, worry-free life; "Seek first the kingdom of God."

Seek first the Kingdom of God. Make that Kingdom your first thing and listen, there can only be one "first" thing!

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At Calvary this last weekend, we dove deep into the subject of worry and we celebrated communion. You might be surprised how much those two are woven together. You know as I was working on this message, something occured to me. As we look at the whole of Jesus' mountain top message, the beatitudes take up 8 verses. Reconciliation and forgiveness gets 7 verses' adultery and divorce 6 verses. Prayer is really important, it shows up twice and in total gets 14 verses. Giving gets 7 and judging 6. Worry gets 10 verses and they aren't short!

As Jesus lays out his vision for a new Kingdom...one which gets a lot of his time is worry. Basically he's saying, "In my Kingdom, life can be lived...worry-free." Do you believe that?

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There is a booklet which has been used by God to lead many people to believe in Jesus. It's called the "The Four Spiritual Laws." Maybe you've read it. The first law is this, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." I believe that law is true, especially looking back. But what if the flip-side is also true? God loves you and has a difficult plan for your life.

Not too many Xtian best-sellers incorporate that into their title. Not too many songs about the God who plans to make our lives difficult; and if he really loves us and is really pleased by us...well get ready for really difficult. But perhaps that's what Jesus meant when he said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted..." Don't skip this one...just because you don't like the title. :)

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As we come to the last of eight beatitudes we arrive at what I call the “Thanks-No-Thanks” beatitude. And listen I’m not saying that Jesus saved the best for last, I even hesitate to say that it’s the most important blessing, because they are all so important. Remember it’s a process, and as a journey, all the steps are necessary. But this one, #8, in our world today, it’s so key that understand it's a step to becoming the light of the world. We cannot shrink back from this last step, if we want to be part of Jesus' Kingdom-Story.

And as you listen, listen for the challenge that will help us persevere in persecution. It will come in the form of a prayer. "God cross out the "I" in my life."

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Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will resemble their Father in heaven. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will remind people of their big brother Jesus. Are you a peacemaker? Is the family resemblance growing? Take a moment and think of a hard relationship; someone who has hurt you, disappointed you. Do you look like Jesus to them? Will a point come when they can say to you...this is what I want to hear people say to me: "I see Father God's face in you. I see Jesus' heart in you. I see the fullness of the Spirit in you."

I mean, is there anything the world needs more than peacemakers in this moment?

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What do we need more in our world right now, than peace? We are so quick to draw lines, so easily prodded into conflict. We need peace. I think everyone is seeking it, but few attain it, and keeping it is all too rare. But here's the problem; we have difficulty finding peace, because we are looking for peace in the absence. That's how we define peace, right? Peace comes from absence; the absence of noise or the absence of storms, or conflict.

But when Jesus talked about peace, he had in mind the Hebrew word shalom. Shalom is well-being in the widest sense of the word. Shalom is the blessing of God whch sums up all other blessings. Shalom is more about fullness than emptiness. Let's stop looking for peace in the absence and start seeking His fullness. Peace doesn't come from absence...

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Perhaps the first step to purity is seeking God. As we seek God, we come near to Him, and discover how much He loves us and our hearts begin to burn for Him. In fact to be pure in heart Soren Kierkegaard said is to want one thing, to be undivided. Or we have said it this way, "To be pure in heart is to have an unrestrained affection for God.

So let me ask you what is restraining your affection for God? When God comes close, He begins to burn away the junk that is restraining our affection for Him. But don't expect the burning to be entirely comfortable. He is a refiner's fire. It has to happen to prepare the way, prepare our hearts. It's not optional so, so we have to decide, when God comes close, will I let the fire burn?

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So let me ask you, when it comes to purity, what images come to your mind? What images, what thoughts, what emotions come to mind and heart when I say that we are diving again into purity? There is a call to purity woven throughout scripture. It's all over the place.

Let me tell you upfront. The primary issue of purity is where am i seeking life? If I primarily seek life in my job, or in friends, or in the adrenaline rush of adventure, or in my marriage, or in the weekend, or in success, or in accumulating all the stuff my hands can hold, sooner or later my quest will lead to an impure heart. Where am I seeking life?

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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. I want to see God. I believe that our world today desperately needs people who seek and see God. Jesus said that the pure in heart will see God. The purity of heart that He is seeking is both a quality of heart and a quantity of heart. In this episode, we will dive a bit into the idea of a quantity of heart. In the Greek the word for purity in Matthew 5:8 is the Greek word Katharsos. It literally means "unmixed." For example 100% pure gold is unmixed gold. A pure heart is not only sinless. It is also single; it desires one thing.
Pure hearts are 100% all-in for Christ. It is not just obedience, it is passion.

At the end of episode, I'll ask you to fill in the blank of the sentence, "I am devoted to God and _________. What goes in the blank for you? How much of your heart's passion is preoccupied with the blank?

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Mercy is what Erika Kirk showed last weekend at the memorial for her husband Charlie. The choice to forgive is mercy in action. And in so many ways from my perspective it was the highlight, the most holy moment of the memorial. I closed the last episode with the question, "Does our mercy show?" And I challenged you to take a survey, find out people’s perceptions of Xtians?" If you haven’t done that yet, you should. Some labels will be unfair.

But listen carefully to how rarely our pictures are painted with the brushstrokes of grace and mercy. I wonder if the Spirit might be saying in this moment; "Let your mercy show?" So in this episode, we will look at a mercy-story of Jesus that leaves me with the question, "Am I a mercy-giver?"

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I am so in need of mercy. Have you ever felt that way? I think that's why..actually I know that's why I love this next step in the blessed life. It's the mercy blessing. Blessed are those who are merciful for they will be shown mercy. In some ways I think this is the first "blessed are" that really reveals the heart of God. The Mercy-Blessing describes the heart of Father God. Christ is what mercy does. I mean God's not really poor in spirit. He's not broken or desperate. God doesn't mourn, or if He does it's a temporary response to the brokenness of the world, but it's not who he is. The meek are meek because they have no strength but God is omnipotent. God doesn't hunger for righteousness. He is righteousness.

But mercy? Oh my goodness, that's who God is. Mercy in one of God's most fundatmental attributes. In this episode we will dive into the Mercy-Blessing!

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So this episode, isn't current. I didn't preach at Calvary last week, I was visiting my mom and dad and celebrating my niece's wedding. In fact, might even be on my way home as you listen to this. So this isn't actually last weekend's sermon at Calvary, but in the past I have preached on Matthew 6:19-24. It is a crucial passage, so here is a message I gave from a couple of years ago. It hits the themes of generosity and simplicity and how those practices will help us get our hearts ready for home... AND ready to thrive now!

So we are keeping the rhythm of back and forth between Matthew 5 and Matthew 6. The next episode will get us back to the beatitudes.

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In the last episode we ended with the question, "What is righteousness?" Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. So what is righteousness? That's a key question right? I know what food is and I hunger for it. I know what success is, I have hungered for it, along with friendship and affirmation. But what is this righteousness that we should hunger for?

We're going to deepen our definition of righteousness as we look at the beatitudes as not just a listing of eight different blessings, but as a pathway, a process for finding a life that thrives, a Kingdom-Life. So are you hungry for life? If you are, let's dive in!

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The beatitude for today is, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied." So the question that I will ask us is "Are you living a satisfied life?" Are you satisfied with what you have? But for the purpose of the notes here, I'm going to print the prayer I close with, just in case you want to pray for more than you have. It's a prayer from A. W. Tozer; the response of a heart with a deep longing for God.

O God, I have tasted Your goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want you. I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Your glory, I pray that I may know You indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul ‘Rise up my love and come away.’ Then give me the grace to rise and follow You, up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Oh and...in episode #11, I called us to a season of fasting and prayer. In my weekly newsletter I included a guide for this season. If you would like it, and don't get my weekly email, you can email me at dan@calvarysc.org ---

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Jesus' mountain-top message is a blueprint for a life that thrives. And as I’ve been studying it this time around, I’ve also run into a number of pastors and theologians who think of the Sermon on the Mount as basic training for people heading into a spiritual battle. Knowing what his followers were going to face in the days and years to come Jesus took them on the mountain and said, “This is how you fight my battles.” Blessed are the meek. Not much like any battle strategy we’d consider on our own, but I believe it’s crucial to understanding how we need to respond to the spiritual battle in our days. And there is a spiritual battle taking place!

So the question for this episode is, "Are you seeking meek?"

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Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth! Be honest, when is the last time you prayed for meek? Are you seeking meek? What comes to mind when you paint a picture of meek? Well meek is weak right? Blessed are the weak for they shall become the doormats of life and everyone will walk all over them. In fact Webster defines meek as TOO submissive. Blessed are the spineless, for they never stick up for their rights. Blessed are those who never take a stand. Webster calls them spiritless and deficient in courage. But Jesus calls them blessed.

Perhaps as much or maybe even more so than a heart that leans toward mourning today, we need a heart that leans towards meek. But maybe, meek is a bit different from what we think? Maybe it really is true, mighty are the meek.

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Hey Folks, for those of you who download early, sorry this is coming a little bit late. It's the message from yesterday (Sunday) on Matthew 6 and it's all about fasting. Fasting focuses our hunger on Jesus. Fasting is a humble cry for Jesus. Fasting is a hopeful cry for more.

But I also believe that there is a sense of urgency that fasting brings, that is desperately needed in our times. We need a heart that urgently desires more God, now, for us and others! We are hungry for more, sometimes we just don't realize it.

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Have you ever asked God to give you tears? There is so much pain and suffering and brokenness in the world today. But do we mourn for the brokenness? Perhaps we need to pray that God would help us be tenderly moved. When we die and stand before Jesus and he asks us, "How did you feel about the suffering around you?" What will you say? Jesus felt enough cmpssn for Jerusalem to weep. He wept for every broken person in Jerusalem. He wept for their loss. He wept for people broken by sexual sin and financial greed. He wept for people who didn't love their neighbors and wept for hearts filled with unforgiving bitterness. He wept for people missing God's dreams for their lives.

Blessed are those who mourn? Perhaps we need to ask God for tears.

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When Jesus showed up, on that mountain-top, the people who gathered around were going through a time of deep darkness. While some Jewish leaders experienced an element of prosperity and security, most of them were politically, religiously, and economically oppressed by the Roman Government. High taxes, religious restrictions, crucifixions were common. Most people knew someone who had been crucified. And then Jesus shows up. Remember the report from the last part of Matthew 4? Jesus is proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom; healing people, exhibiting the power of God and telling people about the blessings of heaven breaking on earth. And the news spread and crowds gathered.

There were crowds of people who had been broken and experienced loss and given up hope. People who wondered if God was gone and how far they were
from the blessed life and I think Jesus was telling them, "Don't quit, you are not so far."

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Blessed are the poor in spirit, the desperate, the broken. That's Jesus' first step to the blessed life. Blessed are those with open hands because they have nothing in them. That's hard stuff. It's not easy for me to hear. But do you know who this is good news for? This is good news for those who are broken and desperate; for those who just don't know where to turn anymore. I have good news for you. You are so close to a life that thrives on God's blessings. Don't try to hide your brokenness just because the world can't see that it's the first step on a path to true life. Surrender to the King. Open your empty hands and receive heaven's blessings.

I am broken and blessed? Well if not yet, you are so close!

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As we dive into the beatitudes, we immediately run into the word "Blessed." The word is used 9x's in the first 11 verses of the Sermon on the Mount. The Living Bible translates it, "fortunate, or happy." Eugene Peterson in The Message uses the word "lucky." What is the essence of lucky? It's getting something you don't deserve.
In the Greek language, the word blessed is the word makairos.

How do you describe, the blessed life? Makairos? What 2 or 3 things would you like to happen in your life, where if they happened, you would consider yourself "makairos." Blessed? What is the blessed life? (And how do we get it?)

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At Calvary we are currently making our way through Matthew 6-7, it's the last series of three that we are doing on Jesus mountain-top sermon. So every 5th episode of this series will by the teaching that I just gave the day before this episode drops. So it's also a bit longer than the other episodes.

In this episode, we are doing two things... painting a picture of God as our Father and making the challenge to live our one and only lives for Him, the One, our Father in Heaven! Live for ONE!

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Jesus' sermon on the mountain connects the gospel with the Kingdom of God. The gospel is good news and here's the deal... The Kingdom of God is good news for everyone, even people who don't believe in Jesus. It's good news because when people get it and become Jesus-apprentices; when an outbreak of the Kingdom happens; people start loving better and serving more and surrendering deeper. It's good news for your neighbors. It brings better Sunday afternoon tips to waiters at the Waffleshop. The Kingdom of God in you, will be good news for the people that you work with, whether they are muslims, athiests or part of the LGBTQ+ community.

In fact, if the Kingdom of God hasn't become good news to the people around you, it may not have come to you. If it isn't good news for our families, our neighbors, the people at work or school, maybe it hasn't really bcme good news for us. Because when it comes, it's good news for everyone!

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You have to understand, when Jesus came on the scene announcing that the Kingdom of Heaven was here. Now. The people understood him to say, "It's a new day. I know life has been hard, oppression, poverty, crucifixions every day. Death and disease are your constant companion. But listen to me, don't quit; a new day is dawning!" Something's coming; like a great light in the darkness, in the land of death's shadow a new day is dawning. It's better than you know or can even imagine. You are on the threshold of a new day that will usher in new life that is as different from what you have now as darkness is from light. Don't quit.

You'll hear me say this over and over again in this episode, because I think it's at the very heart of this message. Don't you dare give up!

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You are seen, known and loved by Jesus. See in the end, the greatest blessing, the full description of the blessed life, it's not about lacking nothing, it's about having a shepherd. It's not about fearing no one, it's about having a champion. It's not about having a banquet, it's about being invited by God. It's not about having a house, it's about being part of a family. It's about being pursued and found and loved by Jesus. It's not about having the gifts of the giver, it's about being had by the giver of the gifts and if we have nothing but we are had by God, we have everything!

You are seen, known and loved by Jesus!

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I wonder if this might be true of you... "Somewhere along the way, you quit believing that God's blessing matters, or maybe you quit believing that God really
wants to bless you. But actually I believe that God wants us to be known as the people who are blessed by God. He is inviting you to get blessed! In this episode and the next, before we dive into the beatitudes, we are going to look at Psalm 23 to describe the blessed life!

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So starting today we are going to hang out in Matthew's version of Jesus' sermon on the mount. Each Monday (or if you aren't listening as they drop, every 5th episode, I'll leave you my most recent message from Calvary's teaching series going through Matthew 6-7...and in between I'll review Matthew 5...or at times given an addendum to Matthew 6-7. So anyway, the whole focus for the next 40-50 episodes well be Jesus' sermon on the mountain.

This episode is all about living different!

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The book of James has some of the most amazing prayer promises and principles of prayer. But more than anything it is all about making our lives a prayer to God. The practical wisdom of James gives us a picture of the life of prayer. In this last episode, I will read through the book with a few comments, encouraging you to listen, learn and more importantly lean in, one last time...with the prayer....

God, make my life a prayer to you!

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In Romans 8 we find that creation groans, (travails) we groan, even the Spirit of God groans in expectancy. See when we dive into the gospel and begin to understand the glory that awaits those who believe in Christ, we can't help but groan for those who don't. The gospel causes us to groan for the redemption of all creation. It causes us to travail for the salvation of all people. It causes to groan for glory to be revealed in our families, on our campus, in our city. So let me ask you, "Are we willing to travail in prayer?

Travailing prayer is not something you just work up. It requires hope, humility and hunger. Which one needs the most work in you; hope, humility or hunger?

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In this episode we are going to talk about a type of prayer that I believe is urgently important in our day. I believe that God is stirring up people globally and locally, a fresh move of God on the way. But I think He is still looking for people who will travail in prayer. I must have 100 books on prayer. Only a few of those written in the last 2-3 decades have even a chapter on travailing prayer. If you want to read about travailing prayer you have to go to the old books birthed in revival. And yet, the Bible is filled with examples of people who wrestled with God, travailed, groaned and cried out in prayer to see God's purposes birthed in their lives and the world around them. So I have to ask us,

Who are the people in our day who will travail in prayer?

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How can I get God's attention? That seems like an important question when it comes to prayer right? If I want to be a person whose prayers produce great results, I think I need to be a person who can get God's attention. This episode will give us a picture of the people whom God goes out of his way to give them His attention.

If you have ever asked the question, "How can I get God's attention?" the answer is "Be a tsaddiqim." What's that? Listen and find out.

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That's my question, well one of my questions in this episode, "Does prayer matter if God doesn't care?" I think most of us listening, believe that God could do what we've prayed for, but we have some problem believing that He would. In other words, we're not sure if God cares. And let's be honest, prayer is just shouting in the darkness if God doesn't care.

But at the risk of giving it away, I'll simply say this, "God cares." In this episode and the next we'll talk abit about what God cares about.

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Are you connected? There are so many things in this world that can cause us to disconnect and isolate. But together is better. Thta's the message of James, over and over and over again. The heart behind his words to the scattered is simply, "Together is better." It is. Together is better. To the scattered, do everything you can to preserve together. Don't get scattered in hard times. Don't suffer alone. Pray with others. Don't let hard times scatter us. If you are going through a difficult time, don't just take it to God, take it to God together.

Because, say it with me one more time, "Together is better!"

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Jon Ortberg tells about the time they moved from southern California to Chicago. They spent a lot of time with their kids, just talking through the difficulties of moving. One night, after several months in Chicago, Jon was tucking his daughter
in. She had been getting into more trouble than usual but he hadn't connected the dots. That night, the dam burst and tears spilt out. "Daddy, it's so hard living here, nobody knows me. I go to a new church, a new school, and everybody already seems to have friends. I don't belong. I don't have anyone I can talk to, nobody wants to have lunch with me. Daddy, I feel like a little mouse that doesn't have a hole."

Maybe you can relate? It's not so much about having a hole as it is having a community. And community is such a major part of our life of prayer. So my question is, "Are you connected?"

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In James 5, James introduces us to one of his spiritual heroes. (At least that's how I view what's taking place.) Elijah was just as human as we were but look at what God did through him, through his prayers. In this episode we are going to find that while Elijah was looking for a miracle...the miracle God chose to give him was community, a connection.

Are you connected? When times are tough, together is better!

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A life of prayer is not just about we speak, it’s about what we hear. When it comes to a thriving life of prayer, the word of God is the first word. Our prayers are the second word. Our best prayers come in response to His Words. James mentions the man Elijah in James 5 and Elijah heard the still small voice of God. So let me ask, if God was whispering to you, could you hear him? What if we can best find the presence of God in the stillness? If so, then maybe we should stop Looking for God where He is not.

Can you hear God's whisper?

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So if you listened to the last episode, you know what this one is. It's the audio from my message at Calvary last Sunday (August 17). By the way if you listen as these drop, today is my birthday and like I said in the last episode, Lynn and I are taking a few days away this week for a little bit of r&r before we dive into the fall season!

But my message from Haggai fits a theme in James 5, the theme of persevering, and finishing well. In chapter 1 & 2, Haggai talks about former glory and future glory. At the end of message I give a generosity challenge and a prayer challenge, no matter where you live, I hope you will find a way to join me in both.

And I pray that the CWOW prayer that I leave with you, will become part of your prayer life! A CWOW prayer for future glory!

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Don't you dare give up! In James 5:7-11, that's James message to those who are scattered. Don't give up. When you're at the depths of down, don't give up. When hard times outnumber the good times, don't give up. A turn of the page is ahead and the best is yet to come. So how do I keep going in hard times. James gives us some finishing well tips in this episode. And really thats James challenge. Finish well. Don't flame out. Don't quit. End your life more in love with Jesus than you started. Pursue God. Set your hope, embrace your purpose, strengthen
your heart, find mentors, follow examples.

But no matter what, don't you dare give up!

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Have you ever noticed that when people look back on their lives and you ask them what helped you to grow spiritually; where were those points in your life when God showed up in deep ways and shaped your heart to be more like Jesus? When did you develop that deep unshakeable hope that you have that no matter what happens, the best is yet to come?

Have you ever noticed how often their answer describes a hard-time, a wilderness journey, a pause in the pit, a season of suffering, a crucible experience? It's almost enough to make me pray, God put me in the fire, send me on a wilderness journey. I need some heart chiseling. If that's you, let me encourage you with these words, "You might well be on the hard road to amazing joy."

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If there is a museum in heaven, if there are collections of priceless antiques in heaven, the highlighted pieces that will be viewed with the greatest honor will not be those containing the artifacts of times when the Christian faith brushed up against fame, power and success. I think it will be a collection of ordinary stuff representing some of the most amazing moments that most of the world never knew took place: a cup of cold water given to a refugee; a meal cooked for a sick neighbor; a handwritten note given to a struggling friend; the first check a family wrote to sponsor an orphan in Myanmar...and a widow's mite.

And do you know what that means? That means there's a place for you...in the Generosity Hall of Fame!

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James has some pretty tough, maybe even harsh words for rich people in James 5:1-6. But let's be honest, most of us aren't rich. Or are we? Before (or after, either is ok) you listen to this episode, go to the website, “givingwhatwecan.org." There’s a lot of good and interesting information on the whole site, about the good we can do if we are generous. But for now just scroll down about halfway until you get to the little box labelled “How Rich Am I?” I’ll warn you this is how rich am I compared to the rest of the world; not compared to my neighbors, not compared to the richest people in the US, but compared to the world.

Compared to my friends in Myanmar; compared to the folks who live at your local "out of the cold" shelter are you on the global rich list?

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Yep, you're right. It's not even the book of James. But I felt like the message this weekend that I gave on Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego meeting God in the fire, was worth giving to more people. So rather than moving onto James 5, this one is going all the way back to the Old Testament book of Daniel. It's the message I gave this weekend. If you listened to it all ready last weekend, maybe God wants you to ponder it one more time. :)

Sometimes God saves us from the fire, sometimes He meets us in the fire. But we never go through the fire alone!

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Most of us think of sin as the bad things we do, but it’s also the good we fail to do. If you read this before you listen, we're focusing on James 4:17, but I'm going to take us in a little bit different direction. So before you listen, grab a rag, any kind of rag, just grab a rag. If you can't, then just imagine you have a rag in your hand.

I want us to practice saying this, "We all have rags." Go ahead, say it now. "We all have rags. If you think about it, rags hold an interesting place in our lives...on the one hand they epitomize a lifestyle we seek to escape. We want to move from rags to riches. On the other hand, you may have grown up with a rag or two that at some point became very precious to you. What's that got to do with the good we fail to do?

Well if you listen, you'll figure that out, beause we all got rags.

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Here at the end of James 4, to some degree James is echoing the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:19-34 and from all those words, the statement that stirs up my heart is this, "For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also." For where your treasure is, your heart will follow. Isn’t that James concern as well? You are doing all this planning, trying to control all these variables, why? To gain treasure. But the problem with our treasures is that our treasures determine the placement of our hearts.

So here's my question, "Where is your heart?"

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Remember from the last episode; there is a difference between making a judgment and passing judgment. We make judgments every day. Live is filled with judgements. If you live in my community and you want ice cream, it’s Dairy Queen, Myer's Dairy or the Creamery. Gotta Make a judgment. Some of you are thinking, Do not judge...eat-em all!"

Every day we make judgments, it’s part of life. Some of those judgments are moral judgments. But there's a difference between making a judgment and passing judgment. Passing judgment means you look beyond what a person says or does into their very heart as though you know them intimately and can judge them absolutely. But when we judge, we seperate, we isolate, and we lose our empathy.

But Jesus says, "Not in my Kingdom!"

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In many ways, James 4:11-12 and Jesus words in Matthew 7, about judging others are words that are so deeply needed today. In the Greek language the word used for judge, has within it the idea of seperation. When we sit in judgement of someone we seperate ourselves from them, and seperate them from our community. They become our untouchables. Does that sound familiar? Does it sound like something that might be happening in our communities right now?

Who are your untouchables?

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Remember James -- old camel knees -- so committed to prayer that he developed camel callouses on his knees. His whole book is saturated with prayer, but here in chapter 4, he lets loose with some of the most important prayer-principles in the New Testament, specifically 3 rules of a great prayer life. In the last episode we focused on the first rule of prayer. You have to ask.

In this episode it's, "Love God" and "Battle for Grace." 3 Rules of a great prayer life!

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For those of you getting tired of the first half of James 4, we’re getting close to moving on. But here’s what I’ve found throughout my time in the Word, sometimes we move on to new words too quick. Sometimes we need to let the Words of God soak, saturate and marinate. Sometimes we need to hold them up in the sonlight and look at them from a variety of perspectives like a diamond or a sculpture. Sometimes it takes more than one reading to glean all that we should glean on the first pass. And James 4 is one of those sometimes passages.

In this episode, we'll ponder James diagnostic question for an un-praying life. "You have not because you ask not." What is it that sometimes makes the prayer life so difficulty? I'll give you some diagnostic questions to dig into that personally.

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The last two episodes focused on James 4 have been challenge heavy. This one is encouragement heavy. Here is the simply message from God, that I think God wants you to hear. "I miss you." Do you believe God misses you? I think we have this idea that God is love so God has to love us. But I'm not sure he likes me. Miss me? Nah, with so many people in the world who love him deeper and follow him better than I do, He probably doesn't even notice my absence. But the capacity of his heart is off the charts and there's just something about love that desires to be with...

So what if God misses you?

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When I think of the state of the church of America, actually let me personalize it, when I think of the state of my own heart. Here is the thought that comes to mind.
"It's worse than we think and it could be better than we can imagine." Some of you may not be ready to hear me say this, because it requires a softness of heart, an inclination of our souls to God. It requires a posture of surrender and brokenness and humility. It requires a choice to chase Christ with all our hearts.

But if we are willing to do that...what is worse than we think can become better than we ever imagined.

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Sometimes I look around me at the beauty of creation, family and friends around me, good things happening in people lives, and answers to prayer. In moments like that, do you know what's hard to believe? It's really hard to believe that we are living in a war zone. Every night before I go to bed, I google the war-news about Myanmar and the Ukraine. I don't have to imagine their war zone. But sitting in my office, it's hard to believe I'm in a battle. But that's the message of scripture.

It's not a battle against people, that I'm talking about. It's a different kind of war. And sometimes the reason why our prayer life is anemic and our lifes are not thriving, is because we are fighting the wrong battle. What is your battle?

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In Luke 8, Jesus tells a story that in many ways sums up James 3. He shares a parable about seeds and soils and a 100 fold return in the harvest. But really it's all about words, and hearts, and a great return on investment in the lives of peole. It's about having the kind of heart that overflows with life on the people around us.

So I can't help but ask the question, what is the texture of a good heart? That's wht this episode is all about.

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What if I told you, that I am a stock guru? And if you will invest $100 using my method you will gain $10,000 by year end, a 100 fold increase. What would you say? The promise of a 100 fold return on investment seems almost too good to be true. But if it's true -- it's good. Isn't it? Apply that to any area of your life, education, exercise, a 100x return on investment sounds too good to be true. But if's true, it would be good, right?

In this episode we are looking at a story that Jesus told about 100x gains on investment. An investment of His Word into your heart; are you looking for a 100x return?

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It's something we desperately need today, a wisdom that comes from above. We are living in a time when much of our culture is living by a wisdom that comes from below, filled with a me-first selfish-ambition. But a wisdom that comes from above is peace-loving and willing to yield. It's graciously humble and generously compassionate. It's a wisdom that is from above and we desperately need it today!

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If I declare to you, "We need a radical heart-revolution!" what would you think I mean? I have a sneaky suspicion that James would say that it's all about humility. We need a radical heart-revolution that takes us out of the center of the world, even out of the center of our own world. One of the key characteristics of God's way--is described by James as "Doing good works with humility."

This humility thing is so illusive. What does humility look like? We’ve talked about this before, even recently, but I got to believe it’s good for us, or at least good for me to hear it again. James says that we can't hear God, we can't follow God and we can't find life, without humility. So what we need is a radical heart-revolution.

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When I was a kid, my mom would often challenge me with this phrase, "Garbage in, garbage out." GIGO. It was her way of saying, you can't control your tongue, but you can control what's at the source. Sooner or later what's at the source, what's in your heart and mind is going to come out of your mouth.

And how do we clean up the source? We let God's Words saturate our souls, our hearts and our minds? We let God's Words into our hearts, before our words go out our lips. So what's at the source of what comes out of your mouth?

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There is power in words. We know it because we’ve been on the receiving side of words that encouraged and words that destroyed. There are times when you've been so impacted by words, that in your heart of hearts you know what Solomon meant when he wrote in Proverbs 15:4, "The tongue the brings healing is a tree of life, but a lie crushes the spirit." Words can hurt. Words can give life. Words can seem to be heaven-sent and words can burn like hell.

And sometimes, we just need a button for our mouths! :)

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We are back to the book of James. In this episode we will review James 1-2 a bit, and then in the next episode we dive into chapter 3. You know in reality the book of James is all about wisdom, practical wisdom, not just philosophical wisdom, but how to live life right. Wisdom that works. James says a lot about prayer, but he also says a lot about the Word. No spiritual practices are more important than the Word and prayer. It's that breathing in and breathing out.

We listen to the Word and learn from the Word, but if our listening and learning doesn't end with leaning...leaning into the Word, the Word won't work. Wisdom begins in knowing, but if it doesn't end in doing, it doesn't work. So not long from now, we’ll hear James say in 3:13, "If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom."

Prove it. It's not enuf to say that you are wise. Prove it by how you live. God's wisdom has a certain look to it. So prove it.

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This is my last Psalm Pause. I know, if you read the notes, I said that about the last one, but catch-up from vacation is...well...full. The next episode gets us back to the book of James and a life of prayer.

I've been taking a bit of a break after 100 downloads and during my vacation. I've been reposting some Psalms that specifically hit some themes from our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving.

In Psalm 51, David wants more than forgiveness. Way more. I hope you do too. The grace of God is not just a forgiving grace. The grace of God is a healing grace. The grace of God is a joy-restoring grace. The grace of God is a renewing, sustaining, strengthening grace. The grace of God brings an unstoppable tsunami of transformation. And it's available for you!

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I've been taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving. This is the last Psalms Pause...next episode is James 3.

As I look around us, as I look among us, and as I look within me, I would say that a sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem. We would prefer to highlight other issues. At least in part because when we talk about sin, sooner or later it's going to come back to me. Because here is what I know, my sin-soaked heart is my greatest problem. My own heart is the dominant problem of my life. My heart is my problem. But Psalm 51 gives me hope that God has a solution for my problem!

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I'm taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving.

If you are anything like me, reading the book of James brings some stuff to the surface of my heart that brings conviction of my mess. Psalm 51 takes us into the heart of a deeply personal prayer of confession and repentance. It’s a prayer prayed by David when he was caught in sin. David’s heart was pierced with conviction and burdened by guilt and Psalm 51 is a heartfelt response to that sin. It’s a raw and vulnerable cry for mercy. David doesn’t justify or minimize what he did, he simply lays his soul bare before God.

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I'm taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving.

So we are looking again at Psalm 37; too much for one episode and a great principle from James that we see here as well. God wants to give us the land...but the land is for the meek. Meek? Do you remember that word? Receive the implanted word with meekness! Anyone looking for a little more meekness in their life? Meek isn't weak, it's strength under control. Let's go for meek!

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I'm taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving.

Psalm contains one of my favorite verses. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." There are so many good things in Psalm 37, but in this episode, we're going to focus on a few practical experiments that could help us "delight in God." Perhaps that's the essence of a life of prayer?

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I'm taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving.

One thing I love about the writers of the psalms is that they bring their real self to the game. They don't try to hide the pain or the doubt. They don't sanitize the language. They bring their real self. Psalm 5 is a prayer of lament. It's a good Psalm for times when we are scattered and trying to "consider it joy" when the hard stuff comes.

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I'm taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving.

In Psalm 1 word that I cannot escape in Psalm 1 is the word "blessing." Psalm 1 is a description of the blessed life, the way of blessing, like a tree planted by the streams, roots deep, full of fruit, thriving. We'll take some time in this episode and ponder the path of blessing as it's described in Psalm 1!

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Over and over again in the last part of James 2, we hear something like, "faith without works is dead." Faith that does not lead to action is useless. Faith is as faith does and if it doesn't, it probably isn't. I think what James is trying to say is that we can trust God, the real question is "Can He trust us." The question that we so frequently ask God, perhaps He is asking us, "Can I trust you?"

James 2:14-26 gives us both a diagnostic for the condition of our faith and a few CPR practices to revive it! So, how about a little CPR for your faith?

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"Love your neighbor like you love yourself." Paul, James and Jesus all echo that challenge, that way of life. "Let the way that you love yourself set the standard for the way that you love your neighbor." In other words, ask yourself, What if my neighbor was me? How would I treat me? If I could wrap my neighbor in my skin and he was me, how much wld I love me? So that all the happiness that I seek for myself I would seek for my neighbor. What I seek for my kids, I would seek for your kids. The patience I have with my own mistakes would be extended to you.

The mercy I desire for myself, I would give to my neighbor, because mercy beats judgement every day!

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Did you know that there's a royal law in the Bible? James calls it the royal law of love. Love your neighbor as you love yourself; the royal law. The Bible makes it incredibly clear that nothing matters more than relationships--nothing--first with God and second with people. In fact that very royal love, "Love your neighbor as yourself" is so stuck in the heart of God that it gets repeated in the Bible not once, but nine different times. In fact, the Bible seems to suggest that if I am a success in every other area of life except relationships, I am a failure.

The higher calling of God always starts with the heart. Time and again in the Bible we see that before God releases a dream, He always shapes a heart. Do you want a love that soars? That's what He's dreaming of for you.

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I can't get away from James' words, "God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith." It reminds me of Jesus' words in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in Spirit." Blessed are the broken, the desperate. Blessed are those standing without pretense before God, stripped of all self-sufficiency, self-security, and self-righteousness. That's not easy for us to hear. Can I be honest? Growing up my heroes were not the poor and desperate. It wouldn't be far from true to say that I've spend the better part of my life running from brokenness, not chasing poverty.

God has chosen the poor...and I just have to ask, "What's so good about being poor?"

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Remember elementary school and choosing teams? Does this still happen today? What a nerve wracking deal. This week the NBA draft has been occuring. Teams spend millions of dollars to get the right person. And if you are chosen, what does that mean? It means you matter; you have value; want you on our team. You don't have to be in the NBA or elementary school. Life's ups and downs can still be mapped by those moments of choosing. Did you get chosen for the job or for the school? Did they choose your grant proposal? Did she say yes to your invitation? Isn't every wedding day all about being chosen? A ring says I choose you. I love you above all others. I want to live with you for the rest of my life. I choose.

So I’ve been pondering these words from James chapter 2, "Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world?" And it makes me wonder, "Would God choose me for His team?"

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I love the way James hooks me with his statements. I don't know if he has such a way with words or if it's just the Spirit of God planting the seed in my soul. But from "Consider it pure joy with troubles come your way" to "Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger" to "God has chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith" and know it's his definition of real religion. Real religion is caring for orphans and widows in trouble and keeping yourself uncorrupted Caring for orphans and widows...and refusing to be corrupted by the world.

In our culture, those two challenges go hand in hand. Real religion is more than sitting in a church building, listening to the people sing or a pastor preach. It's making a difference in the lives of people in need. Are you looking for some real religion?

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In the last episode I said that James is really describing a life of trust in his letter to those who are scattered. A life of trust listens to, learns from and leans into the word of God, and a life trust not only breathes in those words, but also breathes out in prayer. So where is God asking you to respond, to trust him today? Over the
course of the centuries you can hear this man James saying; "It will be worth it if you get to the point where you can hear God's voice and trust God's Word. Hear and Do. Listen, learn and lean.

We keep asking if we trust God, but maybe He's asking, "Can I trust you?"

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My goal through this podcast and my prayer for all of us is that we would be drawn to the Words of God, that we would develop a hunger to hang out with Jesus and listen to the whisper of His spirit through our hearts and out our ears. My goal is that we would go to this book (the Bible) again and again in search of gold. That our incentive would be the precious treasure of God-birthed healing in our hearts, inspiring our minds, and renewing our spirits.

But my concern is that sometimes we treat the Words of God like a common worthless penny. We'll take it if somebody gives it to us, but don't expect me to dig for it. But what if one of God's greatest gifts are the Words He speaks?

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Sometimes we get scattered and distracted, we walk through difficult paths in life, in part, because we didn't have a good guide to life. Or maybe you had no guide; no one to show you the sights in the daylight; how to journey to all the good parts and through the hard parts. But here’s what I think James might say to us today, “You have a Father, a Father in heaven who knows the way to a life that thrives, even in the scattered times. Follow him.

So the question for this episode in a life of prayer is simply, "Do you know your Dad?" I'm talking now about your heavenly Dad. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray he said, "Ok, when you pray...say Father."

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One of the questions that comes up frequently in regards to prayer is simply, "Does prayer matter?" I often receive some version of that question in relationship to unanswered prayer. Every death, every war, every cancer, every season of depression, every divorce stands as a monument to unanswered prayer. And so we hear the question in our hearts, "Does prayer matter?" I believe with all my heart that prayer is at the heart of our relationship with God and asking is at the heart of our prayers. But the bottom line is that few things motivate me to pray like answers to prayer.

So here's the question for this episode, "Are there any prayers that God always answers?"

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In this episode, we will ponder for a few moments how our lives can make an impact and leave a legacy. An impact is what we make while we're still living. A legacy is what that impact leaves behind when we are gone. Remember Hebrews 12:4, we read that one a few times in this series, it says, "Let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” In other words, you have a particular race, a way that God is shaping you to make an impact and leave a legacy.

But there are some common principles for running that race to make an impact and leave a legacy. So we are going to look at Jesus' unique race to help us learn how to make an impact and leave a legacy...and what that has to do with a life of prayer.

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James says that you are a kind of first-fruits of God's creative work. His work in you, in the midst of the trouble, His work in you is a first-fruit of His creative work. Think about that for a moment. You are a first-fruit. You're not a remnant; you're His firstfruits. What do I mean by that? Sometimes in scattering times. When persecution comes and following Jesus is hard, we start thinking I'm all that's left. All that's left is a remnant. It's a mindset that says, I have to hang on to what I got with all I got. Because I'm all that's left. But listen, you're not all that's left, you are the first of what's to come. You're not the ending, you're the beginning. What God is doing in you, He going to multiply through you.

And what He's doing in you is writing a story of overflowing joy!

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We will miss the thriving life God has for us if we believe that the best way to find life is to avoid suffering at all costs. Isn't that James message in the first words of his letter to the scattered? See I wonder, if the question that people in James' day were wrestling with was the same question we ask in hard times? Is God good? Can I trust Him? If I say yes to God, is He going to mess up my life or give me life? And then we hear James says, “Count it pure joy when you run into trials and troubles." Welcome problems like a friend.

Why in the world would we do this? We would only do it if indeed hard times bring the good life.

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The bible talks so much about joy. It's all over Jesus' words just before the cross, in John 14-17. He talks about bringing joy as part of his overall purpose. Paul talks a lot about joy. And James leads with it in his letter to those who are scattered. It's almost like, joy is at the heart of God's plan for his people, his family. When James writes, "consider it pure joy when you face trials," it's almost like joy is in the non-optional category. It's almost like joy is a command. And if joy is a command, do you know what that means? It means joy must be a choice.

Does it bother you a bit, when I say, "we can choose joy?" Regardless of our circumstances, our setting, our hard times, can I choose joy?

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If I told you there was a way to experience pure joy, 100% pure joy, would you believe me? Would you ask me to show you the way? In 35 years of ministry, one of the most significant convictions, I've gained is that we have a deep, deep need for
pure joy. The corollary conviction I've developed is that there is very little relationship between the circumstances of our lives and the joy of our souls. Avoiding suffering at all costs does not bring pure joy. Getting everything I want, when I want it does not create great overflowing resevoirs of joy. Comfort and control are not the source of glorious joy.

So how do we find pure joy? That's what this episode starts discussing.

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I will explain in the next episode, but #10 and ( the first) #11 were one and the same deal. This is the real #11. Sorry! :)

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The book of James is written, "To the Scattered..." They aren't just scattered from home, they're scattered from each other, and scattered from God. They've lost their way. There's sin in the camp, the rich are avoiding and even abusing the poor,
there is little supernatural wonder, the word is not being received with meekness. They are judgmental and they've lost their passion for prayer.

They've lost their way. They are scattered. Maybe you feel scattered. Something has driven you off course. You've lost your way. This episode introduces who James is writing to... he's writing to the scattered!

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The book of James is written, "To the Scattered..." They aren't just scattered from home, they're scattered from each other, and scattered from God. They've lost their way. There's sin in the camp, the rich are avoiding and even abusing the poor,
there is little supernatural wonder, the word is not being received with meekness. They are judgmental and they've lost their passion for prayer.

They've lost their way. They are scattered. Maybe you feel scattered. Something has driven you off course. You've lost your way. This episode introduces who James is writing to... he's writing to the scattered!

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As we dive into the book of James, let's start by asking, "What do you know about James?" The author of the book of James was James the brother of Jesus. So ask yourself, "What would it have been like to grow up as the brother of Jesus? How many times did James hear, "James why can't you just be a little more like your brother? Jesus never lies. Jesus always makes his bed. C'mon James, just ask yourself, wwybd. (What would your brother do?).

James didn't even believe in Jesus until after Jesus' resurrection. But somewhere along the way, he became a man of prayer, a leader in the church, and someone with an amazing heart. This episode is all about James.

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What if God brough you to this episode, just so He can say one thing to you: "Don't quit! Don't give up! I'm not done yet." Your story isn't finished, because Jesus is the author of your by-faith story and He's not done yet! Let me ask you, will you let Jesus author your story? I love these words from Pete Greig

"Even now, this Gallilean calls us by name to leave our nets, abandon small dreams of token empires, and follow him into the great unknown. His vision for our lives is a treasure worth everything we own -- worth living for and dying for. It's the vision for which we were born: created by God as a gift of love to his broken, beautiful world."

Don't give up. He's not done yet!

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I used to say that the greatest opportunities we have for spiritual growth are to either go on a short-term mission trip, or go through a time of suffering. Which is a great advertisment for mission trips! Who wants to schedule in some suffering? But in the last 7+ years, I've added to those two, a third opportunity for catalytic spiritual growth; times of transition. I've found over and over again, that times of transition are times when our faith can enter new seasons of growth.

And what is it about mission trips, suffering and transitions that bring us to new seasons of faith? I think it's the uncertainty, the reminder that our control is merely a facade. So what if, when it comes to faith, uncertainty is actually your friend?

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You see here's the deal...if you want to walk on the water, you have to get out of the boat. And here's what I can't get out of my mind; what I'm thinking is that I want your life to be filled with unforgettable walks. I want your life to count, to mean something, to be significant. I want it to lead to something beyond fun, friends, a career, or even family. All those are good, great even, but I'm praying that you have some water-walking moments. I don't want you to settle for life in the boat.

And what’s your boat? That's what we'll talk about in this episode as I lay out four four steps to an unforgettable walk!

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In this episode we are going to use the words of Jesus about prayer, the kind of prayer that matters, that gets answered... to ponder four essentials for prayer. We'll use the acronym PUSH to help us remember them.

Pursue Jesus
Understand Grace
Set a Plan
Hold Fast

Diving into this four prayer essentials will help us pray until something happens!

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Where do you need a break-through to greater things that will cause your life to thrive? Where do you need to shine a spotlight on the courage and compassion and the power and glory of Jesus; Jesus the Redeemer, the Restorer, the Lover of our Souls. If we don't pray like prayer is essential, it's because our hearts have not been grabbed by desperation for things that matter to us.

But when desperation for things that matter grabs our hearts, we will pray like prayer is essential. We will pray like prayer matters. We will pray until something happens. We will PUSH in prayer.

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This episode will be a bit different. Mostly scripture, less explanation. In the last episode we started unpacking the acronym PUSH; "Pray until something happens." If there is a passage filled with the words of Jesus calling us to persevere in prayer, to push when times are tough, it’s gotta be the words that Jesus spoke to his followers just before he went to the cross. So I’m going to read those words, and make a comment or two. But mostly just read His words.

So put yourself there, even now. You don’t know it, but you are a handful of hours away from the crucifixion of Jesus. You are walking with him in the evening hours, through a vineyard, sort of a public park, and He is giving you your final instructions, think of it as a half-time talk before the second half of the greatest game you will ever play. And he starts with, "Do not let your heart be troubled."

Listen to his words…

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So Jesus tells this story to teach a lesson about prayer. It is the story of man who has a late night hospitality emergency. Late night guests have come, but as He and his wife frantically search their cupboards for bread for a late night meal. It's midnight, no convience stores, the only possibility is the next door neighbor. They always have plenty. So he goes next door...(Bang, Bang, Bang,) nothing... (Bang, Bang, Bang). "Go away, comes the voice from inside." "But friend...I need some bread." "Go away, the door is already locked, and my children are here with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything."

But the man in need doesn't go away. He keeps knocking, till finally, not because of friendship but because he is annoyinly persistent, the neighbor with plenty gets up and gives what is needed to the neighbor with nothing. This story teaches us about the power of persistant prayer. But don't miss the even greater truth. We are not God's needy neighbors, we're his kids.

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As quickly as time goes by, if you don't put your heart into the things that matter, you'll miss them! There is a request in Luke 11, for Jesus from a guy who had spent one-on-one time with Jesus, and I think the request is meant to point us to something that matters. If you miss every other point I make in this episode, write these two down.

1) If prayer matters this much to Jesus, I want it to matter to me. So I'm going to start by asking, Jesus teach me that. Teach me to pray. Shape my heart so that prayer matters to me like it matters to you.

2) If I want to learn how to pray I need to learn everything I can from Jesus about prayer. Jesus teach us to pray!

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Once when Jesus had been out praying, one of his disciples came to him as he finished and said, "Lord, teach us to pray..." They had been watching Jesus; front-row seats to watch the greatest pray-er who ever prayed. Jesus' habit was to rise early in the morning to talk with His Father. In the evening He'd often go to the Mount of Olives or some other quiet spot to pray. And don't you suppose that the disciples noticed that when Jesus prayed stuff happened. Seas calmed. Dead people get alive. Bread multiplies. Wine created. Mountain-top experiences.

Stuff like that ever happen when you pray? So it was perhaps understandable, that the only recorded time that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them anything, it was prayer. Teach us to pray!

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Our Lent series has carried along a minor theme of trusting God. The major theme was Jesus' last few weeks on earth, the crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension, but the minor theme has been the question, "Can God be trusted?" I realize most of you listening, believe in Jesus, but do you believe Jesus? Do we trust what he says enough that when he says it, we do it? Do I trust him? I think it’s impossible to find the thriving value of every word that comes from the mouth of God if we only listen and learn but never lean in.

So this last episode simply asks that question one more time. Do I trust Jesus?

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I love to imagine that I was there, in the upper room, in those days right after Jesus went up home. But for a moment I'd like you to imagine you missed it. You weren't there. You didn't join the group. Got distracted. Got scared. Other things were more important. You missed it. What did they have to do in order to receive the promise? Just wait. Be there. 120 waited. They prayed. They didn't have to earn it. They just had to be there, they just had to join in. See I know there are times when we are called to wrestle in prayer, to agonize in prayer, to battle in prayer. But sometimes, I also think that God just wants us to be there. He wants us to engage with others for Him.

But imagine you missed it?

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We celebrate the incarnation at Christmas, resurrection at Easter, but that's only 2/3's of the story at best. Where is Jesus now? After 40 days of post-resurrection, earth-walking, he went up...home. This is the ascension. Can I tell you why the ascension is so important? We need to know who Jesus is now, where Jesus is now, what Jesus is doing now. It's so important because what we need we can't get on our own. Who we need to become we can't become on our own.

The ascension tells us that Jesus is who we need now! He not only understands our prayer, he hears our prayers. And he not only hears our prayers, he holds the key to all our prayer's answers, because He went up!

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One of Jesus' last words before going up home was the word, "Wait." Now everyone, at some intersection of life will have to learn to wait. Lewis Smedes writes: "Waiting is our destiny as creatures who cannot by themselves bring about what they hope for. We wait in darkness for a flame we cannot light. We wait in fear for a happy ending we cannot write. We wait for a not yet that feels like a not ever. Waiting is the hardest work of hope." Don't miss that. God's "wait" is a word of hope. When God says, "wait" He's promising you that there will be a tomorrow.

God's "Wait!" is a promise of more. And so in this episode, I'm asking you to join me in asking Him...for more!

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Before Jesus left his team and went back to his Father in heaven, he gave them a cause, a calling, a great commission. Go and make disciples. Haddon Robinson once wrote, "Somewhere I must find a cause that is greater than myself that is worthy of my life." We deperately need to be committed. Otherwise we have this awful sense that our lives don't count. We want our lives to count, so Christ offers
us a cause. In John 17:18, Jesus said, "In the same way that You gave Me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world." Just like God sent Jesus on a mission, Jesus is sending us.

That's our cause. I call it Grander-Mission Living! Do you have a cause that is worthy of your living and your dying?

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As we start to wrap up our Lent Series, we are looking at some moments in the 40 days between Jesus' resurrection and his ascension into heaven. One of those moments, was Peter’s campfire encounter with Jesus. In the last episode we set it up with a reminder of Peter’s betrayal and the Rooster’s notification. In this episode, we’re going to the campfire breakfast that Jesus had with Peter and some of his friends. But as we go to breakfast, don't forget that image I left with you. Jesus eyes from the cross, catching Peter’s eyes in his denial. And the possibility that the way Jesus looked at Peter when the rooster crowed, was the same way Jesus looked at Peter before the rooster crowed; with love.

What if in that glance, Jesus is looking forward to a moment on a beach and He's already imagining his sunrise invitation to...come have breakfast? Maybe it's your invitation too!

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At the very heart of this next story, a story that took place after the resurrection and before the ascension, is a breakfast with Jesus. It was a meal around a campfire and a moment of renewal between Peter and Jesus. I think you could say that Jesus never met a meal he didn’t like. He just had this way of turning every table into sacred space, every meal into an encounter with God. Is it any wonder that a hallmark of the early church was the practice of hospitality, the sharing of their table? See long before the church had pulpits, she had tables. And the invitation to meet Jesus often started with "Wanna do lunch?" Or in this case breakfast.

But before we get to that campfire breakfast, we need to set the stage, put our souls in Peter's sandals and be reminded, that I'm not a loser if Jesus loves me.

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For the next few episodes as we close our our Lent series, we are going to look at a few of Jesus' days between the resurrection and his ascension. In this episode it's that guy who has the nickname that kind of sucked but totally stuck. Doubting Thomas. How would you like to be remembered with that nickname for a couple thousand years? But Thomas' story is an excellent reminder that that quest for faith is sometimes difficult. If you have ever wrestled with doubts, and I have...then Thomas' story will encourage you and remind that...

Jesus is ok with your doubts!

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From the earliest days of our movement, a greeting arose that was so meaningful. The early Christians greeted each other with the constant reminder that their story was not over and the best was yet to come. The one to initiate the greeting would say, "Christ is risen." The one responding would say, "He is risen indeed." From the very beginning, true Christianity has been a movement of the indeed.

He has risen indeed.

To those who say that the resurrection is just a metaphor; to those who imagine that after Jesus died, his disciples found themselves still moved by his life and his teaching and at some point said, "Let's honor his memory by talking about him like he's still alive.

We say, "No he is risen indeed." Resurrection Sunday is an indeed day.

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As the story unfolds, it's Saturday. The disciples are in this in-between time; the time in between hopeless and hopeful. They don't know what's available so they aren't living like what's available is really available. It's life in the in-between. Can you relate to that? As a follower of Jesus do you ever feel like you are living life in the in-between? You're not quite hopeless, but not quite hopeful. You believe in God, but a vital relationship? Sometimes you put forth quite a bit of effort to be a good Christian, but it seems like duty and you're not sure God cares.

You don't consider your life broken, but on the other hand, you hear these promises about abundant life and you wonder if you're missing something. Sometimes we wake up to find ourselves in the in-between life and we don't even know how we got there but more than anything else we want to know how to move on. Are you living life in the in-between?

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The cross is the ultimate, blow-out love-burst of God. Think about it. From the eyes of heaven, the resurrection was no big deal. Do you think the angels of heaven waited with bated breath to see if God could raise Jesus from the dead? Were they surprised that the creator of life could give life to the bringer of life? In heaven's eyes the resurrection might have been a bit ho-hum. But the cross? "O my God,"
they must have whispered in the halls of heaven, will he really do it? Does he love them...all of them so much that he'll climb up on that tree and take all the sin and shame of the world upon himself and experience their loneliness and brokenness. Does he love them that much?

And the answer was yes.

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Thursday of the last week was the very first communion in the history of the world! So in this episode we have a very simple focus on communion. This mini-drama set in the context of the Passover (a great celebration of deliverance) remembers, celebrates, even revels in the death of Jesus. That's what communion is all about; we proclaim the Lord's death. We celebrate Christ Crucified.

I'll be honest, part of me cringes when I put those three words together. Celebrate -- Christ -- Crucified. It is a mysterious wonder that they could be put together and still have meaning. But they do, such a deep meaning that transformed the foundations of reality. Are we ready to celebrate Christ crucified?

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Who was Judas? Well he was chosen by Jesus. When Jesus was putting together his inner circle, when he stayed up all night praying, asking the Father who should the twelve be, Judas was in his mind. He must have been trusted at least to some degree by Jesus. I mean he was the treasurer; he was in charge of the team’s money.And I believe that Jesus loved Judas. He washed his feet. He showed Judas the full extent of his love. Yet, despite being chosen and trusted and loved by Jesus, Judas betrayed him.

How is that possible? How do you hang out with Jesus for three years? See what he did and meet how he healed and listen to the voice that calmed the storm, and heard him teach? How do you meet with face-to-face, sit next to Jesus at the table…and then after all of that turn around and betray Jesus? All I can say is that I don't want to be Judas!

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When Jesus died on the cross, the viel in the temple, which kept everyone away from the very holy presence of God, that curtain was torn in two. We've all thought that the message in that moment was "Come. You're invited. Come into God's presence." But what if God tore the curtain in two as a way of saying, "I will not be put in a box. Walls cannot contain me." That could change everything.

Do you understand? Since the resurrection, any place can be a sacred space, because Christ is let loose and His presence brings the sacred to every space He touches. There is no box that can keep God in!

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The four gospels are basically biographies of Jesus, but unlike most biographies you've ever read, the gospels pretty much ignore the first 30 years of Jesus' life. They dive into his last three years, but of his last three years, about 1/3 of the pages of the gospels are dedicated to his last week. Sunday to Sunday. 8 days. Apparently the people who knew him best felt we could not get Jesus if we don't get this week in his life. What happens in these eight days is the hot burning center of his life.

So here is what we are going to do for the last episodes of this Lent-series. Each episode will land on a story, an event, a truth from that day of that week. Which means that maybe, I’ll even do In-between Saturday and Resurrection Sunday. If you want Palm Sunday go to our youtube page youtube.com/calvarycwow. That was my message for this weekend. But for Holy Monday...we're talking about the problem with sacred places!

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Spread throughout John 14-17 (which begins with the words, "you will have trouble") are these amazing prayer promises that center around the word, "whatever" -- like "Whatever you ask for in my name, God will give it to you." Whatever. Whatever you ask. You’re probably thinking, "Wait a minute Dan, we've got to be careful how people take a verse like this. It's like we want to protect God's fragile reputation. We don't want people to have unreasonably high hopes in God. And I know, it's not like life was easy with Jesus. Not every ending was happy. There was trouble, hardship. But let me simply tell you, prayer matters to God.

If it didn't matter to God, Jesus wouldn't say, "Whatever you ask."

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You will have trouble! Jesus made it clear that this is normal. You will have trouble in the world. All kinds of trouble. You're going to go through circumstances that will cause doubt and fear. You will lose friends. The world will hate you and people will persecute you. The enemy of your souls, the prince of this world is coming and there may be opportunities for you to lay down your life for your friends. There's going to be trouble, but listen... We often find trouble just before we get to a breakthrough. Right? It's always darkest before the dawn. Difficult times are a catalyst for spiritual growth.

You will have trouble, but...breakthrough is coming!

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We live in neighborhoods filled with people in need of hope. And I believe that somewhere within us is a desire, a stirring to make a hope-filled difference in our neighborhoods, our schools, our workplaces, all throughout our communities. At least in part, I hope that’s why you are listening, and I hope that along with that stirring in your heart to make a difference, you have at least a suspicion that you can't do it on your own. That perhaps like the early church we are better together.

That's what this episode is all about. I have a deep conviction that not only are we better together, but that actually we cannot accomplish all the dreams on our hearts, if we do not constantly and consistently aim our lives and our churches toward the dream of Christ's heart. What is His dream? Well the dream on Christ's heart is the prayer on his lips!

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Years ago, when speaker of the house Sam Rayburn heard he had terminal cancer, he shocked everyone when he announced he was going back to his small town in Bonham, Texas. People said to him: "We've got the finest facilities here in D.C., why go back to that little town?" Rayburn's response came from his deep desire for community. He said, "Because in Bonham, Texas, they know if you're sick, and they care when you die." Perhaps some things are even more important than the finest medical facilities. If no one cares, you're truly alone. So who cares?

In this episode we'll start where most good things start, with Jesus. Because the more we get to know Jesus...the more our hearts get saturated with the undying reality that Jesus Cares. In fact, Jesus not only cares for us, he cares that we care.

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How do you measure greatness? Whether it's for a country, a business, a community or perhaps even more importantly for a person, for you and me. How do we measure greatness? What does glorious greatness look like? How do you recognize it? We may have different pictures of greatness in different fields. So how do you measure greatness? To what greatness do you aspire? That's easy for me, I want to be a great dad and a great husband. I want to be a leader of a great movement that touches people so profoundly, that whole cities are transformed. I want to go on glorious adventures...be involved in great missions to love people all the way to Jesus.

But is there a glory, a greatness that superseeds all other categories? That's the question we're asking in this episode. The true essence of greatness is...?

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Henry Blackaby said that "A love relationship with God is more important than any other single factor in your life." Did you live your day or your week as though your relationship with God was the single most important factor in your life? Listen, the witness of the church is so intimately related to the manifest presence of God, that without it, the peoples of the world cannot and will not, believe. And that's what we have...the presence of God. Moses was a man who had experienced the power of God in ways most of us could only dream about. But he was also a man who knew His God; they talked together face to face as a man would with a friend. And when the time came for Moses to choose between the presence of God and the power of God, it was no contest.

So the question is...do I value His presence over His power. Am I God's friend?

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In the permanent record of his words, God has told us time and time again that He loves us. And He has used a variety of illustrations in the hopes that one of those stories would resonate with the deepest chords of your heart. But every story, every illustration, every metaphor was simply a pre-view of the real deal...the cross. Can you imagine the courage it took to love so deeply that you would walk the path of the cross? It's a courageous love; the kind of love that will go to bat for you even when it costs; the kind of love that won't walk away when it's hard and scary; the kind of love that will even be willing to die for you...

The story of God involves a cross.

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God is calling you to go all-in, because that's how he loves you...with all His heart. What God asks from you is what He gives to you, His whole heart. God is all-in. His heart burns for you! This holy, sovereign, high and exalted, God is all-in for you. Even when you are undone by your failure, you have all of his heart. He didn't choose you because you've got it all together. He chose you because He loves you and He loves you just because. Whatever your track record is, if you are willing to fully surrender to God, then he'll use you to make a difference in your world. You become eligible to be a hero in God's story, the moment you surrender.

He is for you, with all His heart!

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Are you on fire for God? Make no mistake, the fire of God will look different in the
hearts of different people. For some people being on-fire for God will cause them to be God's greatest cheer-leader; for others on-fire will bring a steely-eyed courageous love that sacrifices and surrenders for someone else's good. For some the fire of God will bring a mysterious smile in the midst of hard times; for others it's tears every time their heart brushes up against His presence. It will deepen our prayer lives and cause us to truly love our neighbors, even those who are our enemies. I can't answer this question for you...because your heart has a different shape than mine, so we each need to answer the question for ourselves...

Have you ever been on fire for God?

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In this episode and the next we are going to look at a prayer in Isaiah 64. It's a corporate prayer of lament, but it's also my Easter-Prayer. You know I think it's difficult to grow in prayer, if the prayer "God we need you." isn't always at the center of our hearts and on the tip of our tongues. In fact O Hallesby in a classic book on prayer says, "Listen my friend your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the hrt of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas."

But helplessness is not our preferred state of life, is it? Acknowledgment of our helplessness is not our habit. We would much rather be busy than helpless. We embrace busyness because busyness is all about what we can do, what we need to do, what everyone expcts us to do...maybe even what we do pretty well.

But what if our helplessness, the kind of helplessness that would cause us to dive into prayer like it was necessary and urgent, what if that kind of helplessness would lead to the life-burst of God? That's my Easter-Prayer!

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At Calvary (my church) every fourth Sunday is CWOW Sunday, church without walls. Rather than going to church, we go out to be the church. You know we call Sunday morning a worship service. We sing and we pray. We listen for a word from God to our hearts and we experience God's presence in many different ways. We call it a worship service. But in this episode I will suggest another term, another way to worship. Rather than just going to a worship service, what if we participated in service-worship?

Service in the name of Jesus, serving people with the love of God is real worship. Instead of just saying, I worship you. We show that we worship Him. Generosity can be a simple, profound act of worship!

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Mary had this opportunity that I don't have to give an extravagant gift to Jesus, face to face, to see his expression of gratitude. I have to be honest, I’m kind of jealous of this woman who has been remembered for centuries as someone who was so crazy in love with Jesus, that you cannot talk about the good news with out talkng about her. I would love Jesus like that, if I had a chance. I tell myself, "Jesus would not go hungry or thirsty in my town." I tell myself, "Jesus would have a place to live in my world." I tell myself, if I had anything to say about it Jesus would be taken care of...but Jesus isn't around anymore. I tell myself.

But what if He is? What if the story Jesus is telling is just a figurative life-principle but a spiritual reality? Then I have to ask myself, "She was crazy in love with Jesus, am I?"

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When it comes to living God's dream for our lives, the journey to become someone great, a true follower of Jesus; sometimes we focus so much on the process, all the stages that we have to master, all the different things we have to learn to do right, that we lose sight of the motivating passion that inspires us to keep going no matter how many times we fall & fail. Our motivating passion gives us no other choic, something inside just won't let us stop.

I think we begin to find that motivating passion when we ask the question, "Will Jesus remember me?"

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We've all felt the emotion of urgency, right? That sense that smthng needs to be done right now. Somethings gotta change. Can't wait. It's urgent. Sometimes we get confused about the difference between what's important and what's urgent. We often hear people say, something like this, "Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what's urgent that we have no time for what's important." But what that really means is that we have mislabeled what's important. The dictionary defines urgency as something of importance requiring swift action. In other words, urgency is a subset of what's important. It can't be urgent, if it's not important.

Any number of issues in our world today could cause a sense of urgency. But I think Jesus is suggesting in this episode that nothing is more important or urgent than love. So let's love urgently!

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In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story about a rippled of generosity that travels all the way to His heart. You might think that it would take a really big act of kindness to ripple that far. But actually, it's pretty doable, it's a small act with a massive impact. Because when you do it, you are doing it for Jesus. In fact, that person in need, that person living in the margins of life, may be the only Jesus you see today!

And whatever you do, this Lent Season, don't miss Jesus!

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Our eyes are often drawn to what we think are the great events of our day. We imagine that God only manages his world through the great events. But when we read His story, we can't help bu see that His plans often begin with a baby. When the gospel needs to go out; when a country needs to be liberated; when a song needs to be song; or a book needs to be written; or a medical breaththrough needs to occur; God sends a baby to do it. Is it any wonder that when the world needed to be saved, God came as a baby.

But like a rock dropped in water, that baby started a ripple of generosity and kindness, a ripple of grace and power, a ripple of heaven on earth that changed the world. And if we let Jesus start a ripple in our lives, it will become a ripple that changes those around us.

Let's start a ripple of Jesus!

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In today's scripture we are going to listen to some incredibly amazing, generosity promises. Promises like: whoever sows generously will reap generously; and God loves a cheerful giver; and God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work; and you will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. Great promises, but again the question is do we trust God? Do we trust God’s words? I'm going to give you a couple of great stories of the trust that leads to generosity, but I'll simply say this,

I hope after listening to this episode, there is a stirring in your heart to be outrageously generous!

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You know I look around in central PA, and it’s not just here, I hear of stirrings in other places as well. I think Jesus is getting ready to bring his church into a new season; a season of seeing His Kingdom come in new ways; a season of making a serious difference in the world around us. It won’t happen without prayer and breakthrough prayer is almost always connected to fasting. But Isaiah 58 reminds us that fasting and prayer isn’t enough. In fact, Isaiah reminds us that while we won't make a difference if we don't pray, our prayers won't even be heard if we don't care about the people around us.

But if we care, then a new day will come and you can barely imagine a life like the one Isaiah 58 says is coming!

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Here is a good Lent question, "Does God really care?" Do we matter to God? I think many of us today struggle to believe that God is father who loves to bless his kids. It’s the issue of trust right? Can I trust Jesus? Can I trust God? Or do I need something to hold over him, so that he will respond to me? Do my prayers matter to God? I think one of the reasons we pray is because we care. Right? I mean how many of us spend a lot of time praying for stuff we don't care about?

But I think the fact that I care will not sustain my prayers. I need to know that He cares. Because if God doesn't care, prayer doesn't matter. Right? So we ask the question in this episode, "Does God really care?" And if he does, what does he care about?

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In Mark 4:1-20, Jesus is telling a story of growth and harvest. Actually it is a story of uncommon growth and harvest. In those days, maybe a 10 fold yield was common. Jesus goes all the way to a 100 fold yield. And then he turns his story into a parable about life. A story about letting God's Word take root in our hearts for a great life breakthrough. Because in the Kingdom of "something more" there is something more to you than you see. But here's the deal, it's not ultimately about seeing it. It's actually more about hearing it. In Mark 4, Jesus may be giving us the foundational quality of those who engage life and find a 100x return. They listen. They have ears to hear and hearts that pursue the words of Christ.

Who wants a 100x return on life?

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The apostle Paul knew a bit about causing suffering and going through suffering, and 2 Corinthians 4 contains one of his most encouraging words. He begins and ends with the words, "So don't lose heart." I know, in those times when it feels like we're fighting for every breath; looking at the darkness around us, maybe even in us, we might wonder is there any good news? Should I even keep going? Paul says, Yes. Don't lose heart." Because listen something is happening deeper than you can imagine. God's at work shaping a glory in you that will cause all of creation to stand and cheer. He's actually drawing closer than you can fully experience. In the battle, in the mess, in the hard, that's when you start to see his fingerprints all over your life.

So don't lose heart! Don't quit. Don't give up. The best is yet to come. Don't lose heart!

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Perhaps more than anything Lent is a season to get hungry for the presence of Jesus. Fasting is giving up something that matters for someone who matters more. Can you hear his whisper, come, come to me. I wonder how many of us hold out on God bcse we’re afraid we’ll miss out on life? But here’s the truth. If don't come to Jesus, we’ll miss all the good stuff. So regardless of where you find yourself today, this is my prayer for you,

"God would make our hearts sit down long enough to hear your invitation." That’s what I hope happens to each of us during this season of Lent, that we hear and respond to his very, very good invitation!

The goal isn’t to manipulate God into action but to walk in step with Him. Jesus didn’t fast and pray because He had to—He did it because He longed to be with the Father and to align His heart with the Father’s will. As we follow J

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The story of Jonah inspires me to believe that we're living in days of expectancy and it's time to call urgently on God. How urgent do you feel about making space for God? Is it, more of a "well that would be nice." Or is it more like air? "Without it, I ain't gonna make it?" With fasting and prayer, Nineveh urgently called upon God. And we find later in Jonah's story that, filled with compassion and grace; God responded with a city-wide fast and one of the greatest revivals in history took place in one of the most wicked cities in history.

What's the big deal about fasting? Fasting is a way of saying, "I'm taking this serious. This isn't a game. I'm coming with intensity and urgency and humility. I'm coming in repentance. I'm coming with desperation. I'm asking you to break my heart for the things that break your heart. I'm urgently asking for a move of your Spirit in our region!

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When I look around it seems like the people who really live life, the people who make a difference, the people I want to be like, are people who deeply care about
something that matters. Bob Pierce was the founder of World Vision, what has become one the largest Christian relief and development organizations in the world today. But it all started with a holy discontent. One day as a young pastor in Korea, Bob watched with disbelief as a young girl in third world Asia died while standing in line for food. When Pierce tried to find out why, he was told there just wasn't enough food at the head of the line. That birthed a sacred frustration in Bob's heart and he wrote in the margins of his Bible, "God break my heart for the things that break your heart."

I believe we each have a holy discontent with our name on it, a broken place that God will call us to serve, maybe even rebuild. But we won't find that place without a soft heart. And so we pray like Pierce, "God break my heart for the things that break yours."

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In this episode and the next few, we are going to dive into fasting. Fasting opens up time, makes space in our lives for something that matters more than what we are giving up. But I think fasting also somehow softens our hearts. That's what Joel 2 is all about. It's a reminder that some things are worth crying for. I believe that the next move of God is going to be a movement of tears. Charles Finney in his book, "Lectures on Revival" said, “When the sinfulness of sinners grieves, humbles and distresses Christians expect revival... Sometimes their behavior drives Christians to prayer, breaking them down, making them mourn with tender hearts. They weep night and day. Instead of scolding and reproaching they pray.

Then you can expect revival. And that causes me to pray, "God would you give us the gift of tears?"

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I'll be honest; I spend way too much time telling God, "If you would only give me more, more influence, more people at church, more money, then I could really make a difference in the world. Because people with more, they make a difference. But here's the bad news, sometimes the more stuff we have, the harder it is to follow Jesus. But if we will open our arms and surrender all, we get so much more in return. Because...you can trust Jesus. This is truly the great gamble. It's the gamble for greatness. Can I trust Jesus? Do I believe Jesus? If I get good at serving will I ever taste greatness?

Have you taken the gamble of greatness?

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I'd guess that most of us have experienced the illusion of the myth of more. If I had just had one-thing more; one more relationship, one more degree, one more promotion, one more toy, then life would be good. What are you chasing today? What one-thing do you lack? Maybe it's a dream or a passion, a million dollars, a better relationship, a vacation, a new job, or health. Or maybe you have simple desires like me on that trip to D.C, (some people call them shallow, I call them simple). Sometimes all I want is for the red-light at Krispy Kreme donuts.

And sometimes we get the red light, but our souls are strangely restless, because our souls are made for Christ. In other words, if you gain everything you heart thinks you desire, but miss Jesus, you will walk away sad!

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We are starting a new series for Lent, a season of preparation for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. For the next 40 or so episodes we are going to unpack two themes, "making space for Jesus" and "taking the great gamble." And we are going to start with John's vision of Jesus in the book of Revelation.

So as we pause here at the beginning of Lent, what will John tell us in Revelation 1?" I think his simply message might be, "Stop taking Jesus for granted. Ask Jesus to take first place in your heart. Ponder the stories...ponder with specificity who he
is and what he did... his greatness and his glory...his wisdom and his grace... ponder the cross...and his amazing love. And let him ask you the question, Who do you say I am?"

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Matthew 16 is one of only two places where Jesus uses the word "church." He says, "I will build my church and when I build my church, the gates of hell will not be able to stand against it." In essence Jesus is saying, "My legacy is a church that is an unstoppable force." But we know that that unstoppable force is at times an unspeakable mess. So here's my question,

"When people come to us, do they see Jesus?"

BY THE WAY -- I'll talk about joining me on a social media+ fast in this episode, if you join me, would you click the link below and let me know. I'll get you more information. It's part of become his church, as we make space for Jesus!

Social Media+ Fast

If you need to cut and paste us this https://calvary.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/780/responses/new

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In Mark 6, Jesus was amazed by the unbelief of those who had grown up with him. I wonder if I sat down with Jesus and he pointed out all that he has done for me & thru me and around me...if he might be amazed by my lack of faith? How about you? Have you lost your wonder? Where am I on the ho-hum scale? Have I lost my sense of wonder for the power, the love, the transcendent all-encompassing utter awe-fullness of God? Has Jesus become -- just-Jesus?

If so, how do we go about...regaining our wonder?

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Mark 6:1-13 describes two completely different responses to Jesus. One response was an amazing lack of amazement. The other response is all-in surrender. So here's what I believe. I believe that if you come to Jesus with ears to hear and eyes to see...you will. If you don't, you won't. Sometimes our lack of seeing is more on us, than it is on him. We come unprepared. We come with distracted minds, souls so saturated with stuff that we don’t really have space in our lives to be amazed by Jesus.

Let me ask it this way, "Can you imagine growing up with Jesus?" Sometimes I do. I guess the question that jumps out frm Mark 6 is "What would it've been like to grow up with Jesus?"

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One of my favorite stories is a story of four guys contending for the life of their friend. And while there is more than one thing, I'll share from that story, one of the most powerful realities it points to is this... "Your faith may bring life to your friends." Don't miss it when it says that Jesus looked at the faith that these four guys had and because of their faith, he forgave and healed a man. Your faith might be the catalyst needed for someone else to find life. At the risk of spoiling the surprise, let me share the end of the story in Luke 5.

Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home! And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, "We have seen amazing things today!"

All because of the fellowship of the mat!

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In 2025 Jesus may ask you to do something that you or others don't necessarily think is a good idea. "Not sure that will work Jesus." When he asks u to lean in, you are going to have to decide, do I trust that Jesus knows better than I do. Will I lean into what he tells me to do. Luke 5 is the story of a test for Peter and perhaps a test for us, because Jesus is looking for people who want to make a difference in 2025.

And the people he's looking for are the kind of people who will say to him...if you say so Jesus, I will do it. Are you willing to say yes to Jesus?

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So many, not all, but so many leaders reject(ed) Jesus. Why is that? I think one of the reasons people reject Jesus is because they think he (and God) is a taker and not a giver. Isn't that one of the reasons why people reject Jesus? We have this idea that I can do life better; I can live more, get more, succeed more without Jesus in the picture. Jesus is a taker. He wants to take my fun, take my money, take my friends, take my plans, and in return for that he'll let bad things happen to me.

Do you understand the ultimate statement behind this view of God, this view of Jesus? I can't trust him. Dr. R.T. Kendall, calls it "The Betrayal Barrier." It's that moment when God seems to let us down and we have to decide, "can I trust Jesus? Is Jesus a giver or a taker?

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When Jesus and his first followers walked this earth, what was their brand? How did people identify them, describe them? When people thought of Jesus especially people who were poor, or marginalized, what did they think? I think if you asked the leper, or the prostitute, or the Samaritan woman or the blind man, or the rich tax-collector to come up with a single word that would brand Jesus, the word might've been compassion; all-out compassion.

What if that was our brand; how we are known? What if every time your neighbor or co-worker or classmate thought of you, the first words to come into their minds were, they got a huge, huge heart? Your heart is the wellspring of life. How's your heart?

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If I were to ask you, "What's the point of being a Christian?" What would you say? What does it really mean to be a Christian? What's the point? In this episode we will see an encounter that Jesus had with a religious leader, that I call, "An adventure in missing the point." This leader thought that the point was the hand-washing ceremony. But Jesus' message from day one to day now has always been, "it's all about the heart."

He said that we would be known as his followers by the quality of our love, by the size of our heart, by the depth of our passion for God and our capacity to love our neighbors. That's the point. So...how's your heart?

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Come see Jesus. If you are looking for something more, something great, a great life, come see Jesus. That's what Nicodemus did in John 3. He came to see Jesus and in the midst of seeking a great life, Jesus told him, "You must be born again!" That was certainly not clear to Nicodemus, born-again, what in the world is that?

But then Jesus gave the clearest statement of the good news that leads to a great life. John 3:16. If you are looking for a great life...start here!

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This is our final episode in the wilderness! In the last episode we focused on the question, "Will I live like I am fatherless? Knowing my father is a key survival skill in times of spiritual battle. Our enemy wants us to believe that we are fatherless, when our father is God. So if the battle Jesus faced was a temptation to believe that he had been left fatherless; or that his father wasn’t worth trusting. Our survival skills need to keep us connected to the Father.

We will look at three. "Cross out the I" and "Pray like it matters" and "Find life in the WORD."

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Here is what I believe about our wilderness, about the battle in our wilderness. If the words of Father God give us the courage and strength for the battle, the Devil's strategy is to get us to believe the lie that we live fatherless lives. Fatherlessness is the new cultural norm. It's a story being written into the lives of the next generation; a story heard in songs, seen in movies & read in the blogs. Even if father's aren't missing, we're being told that they aren't necessary. But that doesn't stop the search or fill the hole. In the wilderness we are faced with the question, Will I live like I am fatherless?

In fact, this may even be the essence of battle. Our enemy wants us to believe that we are fatherless, when God is our Father. You are not fatherless!

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I think there’s a better than good chance that anytime we come to see Jesus, before long we will start to hear the still small voice of the Spirit of God calling us to lean out, lean away from what we think is our last bit of comfort, control and security. Listen, in the wilderness, few things are more important than taking your eyes off of you, and inclining your ears to the voice of God. And when you hear the words of God, lean into Him, trusting whatever He calls you to do.

Because in the end, your wilderness is not just about you. People around you might not even know it, but they are desperately counting on you to come through the wilderness and share with them the favor of God.

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Luke 4:1-19 is the story of Jesus' 40-Day battle against Satan in the wilderness. Jesus was baptized, applauded by His Father, and then he was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit of God to battle the evil one. Why did Father God drove Jesus into the wilderness to do battle with Satan? Was it because he was disappointed by Jesus? Was it because he was angry with Jesus and wanted to punish him? Was it because he didn't love Jesus? NO NO & again NO.

God drove Jesus into the wilderness, because he loved him and had a difficult plan for his life. God had a world-changing life-giving mission for Jesus and those missions are not given to those who never suffer. What if you are in the wildnerness BECAUSE He loves you?

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In Mark 1, early in Jesus' ministry, the people are drawn to him from all over, great crowds. Why? Because they believe that they have found their defender. In this episode we will see Jesus go to battle for his holy calling and go to battle for the restoration of community. Where are you contending for community? In what way are you battling for your own holy calling?

I'll close the episode with two prayers, both legitimate and both necessary. The first prayer is "Jesus defend me." The second prayer is "Jesus make me dangerous." Which prayer do you need most at the moment?

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John begins his gospel with a wedding story reminding us that the Kingdom of God is a party, a celebration. Matthew's gospel has more Christmas story but jumps quickly into Jesus' teaching of the radical way of life for those who follow Jesus. Luke's gospel highlights that the Kingdom of God is for all people, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, people in the margins and leaders in life. But Mark opens with battle. In fact, his gospel is filled with Battles. You can’t read Mark without being reminded that when the King of God comes, there is a holy war. Not a battle
against flesh & blood. This is a spiritual battle.

And there is no one who will go to battle for you like Jesus!

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We've been looking at seven miraculous moments in the life of Jesus. There was the wedding at Cana for people in need of wine. There was a child that needed to be healed and a man who had been lame for decades. He needed to walk. There was a crowd that needed to be fed and a boat of fishermen who needed refuge from a storm. There was a blind man who needed sight and a dead man who needed life. John calls them signs and tells us that the purpose of the signs is that we would believe that Jesus is the one!

Sometimes we get so focused on our need for a miracle that we miss the purpose of a sign. The sign points us to our destination. Our destination is Jesus and so my prayer is, "God please give me a pure and simple devotion to Jesus!"

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As we finish looking at the seven signs in the gospel of John, let this truth saturate your soul. In the early days after Jesus resurrection, when his followers turned the world upside down, they were not just inspired by a good story. They were changed; deeply, completely and forever changed. Jesus begin to do a resurrection rewrite of their story. Coming to see Jesus radically changed them.

If you believe in Jesus, at this very moment, your story is going through a rewrite. There are things that are true of you right now that were not true of you before you belonged to Christ. When we become Jesus followers, not only do we get a new story we get a new identity. And can I tell you, it is so worth it, to come see Jesus!

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This episode brings us to the last of the seven signs. And it’s a doosy. Is that still a word? Doosy. It’s a doosy! It’s my second favorite resurrection story. The story of Lazarus and even though the sign reveals Jesus in his resurrection glory, it also reveals a bit of his humanity. The story is found in John 11. And in the midst of Lazarus' death and Mary and Marth's grief, Jesus will ask Marth this question, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die... Do you believe this? When Jesus says, "Do you believe this?" what he is really asking is "Do you trust me?" Do you trust that right now, in the midst of the hard, I am working for your good? What would you say?

Here is the revelation of the seventh sign. He is our resurrection champion!

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This episode is going to spend a few more moments with the sight-sign of Jesus. It's the sixth sign of seven and remember one amazing thing it reveals to us about Jesus; it points to the Jesus who has this amazing ability to see. Jesus sees the people we miss. But there is something more in this sign...Jesus gives us the ability to see Him and see others with greater clarity. One thing I love about this story is our chance to see this once blind man come to see, truly see Jesus.

In this episode, we'll see how the stories, the narratives we rehearse shape how we see; how we see others and how we see Jesus. What stories do you tell and what stories do you hear? What narratives do you rehearse about your life, about God, about Jesus? The narratives we rehearse shape how we see!

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The sixth sign is a miracle of sight. But if we are not careful we will settle for allowing this sign to simply direct us to the Jesus who heals or maybe the Jesus who gives sight. But I think we miss the destination a bit if we don’t realize that one of the amazing things about Jesus was the way he saw and still sees people. This sign is a reminder that God sees us and a reminder that the kind of sight he wants to give us will help us see others like He sees us.

So do you want to just come see Jesus? Or do you also want to go and see like Jesus?

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Remember in the last episode I said, "Storms can drive us from God or storms can draw us to God. Don't let them drive you from God. Let them draw you to God." Whenever I get caught in a life-storm, I have two choices. I can stay in the boat, or I can find a refuge. Which must lead to the question, "So what’s my boat?" Your boat is anything that represents safety and security apart from God himself. Your boat is the place you instictively go to for refuge when the storms come. Our boat is what we trust in; the place we go to find comfort when we are in pain.

But sometimes if you want to come see Jesus, you have to get out of your boat!

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This isn't the main truth of this episode, but it's so important. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't storm-proof our lives. In fact I guarantee you every life will face storms. In fact, getting to a life that thrives, will require some storms that thrive. But here's the deal storms can either drive us from God or draw us to God.

Let them draw you to God. What's your storm? What if God is working up a water-walking storm-sign just for you?!

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The miraculous sign of this episode is Jesus feeding a crowd of thousands, but... in some ways I wonder if it's not also the miraculous sign of a poor young boy who gave all the food he had, knowing that what he had to give would never be enough. And what did he find? He found that Jesus is more than enough.

Listen Jesus isn't asking for more than you can give, but he may be asking for all you have to give. He's not asking you to burnout, he's asking you to look up. He's not asking you to try harder, he's asking you to humble up and ask for help. Because He is more than enough!

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The miraculous sign moment we are pondering in this episode is significant not just because of what Jesus did, but when he did it. He did it on the Sabbath. And I guess, in those days, a miracle counted as work, and only rule-breakers worked on the sabbath. What we will see in this sign is a group of religious leaders who are so passionate about their rules that they could not be astounded by the wonder of God at work.

In this sign we will find that Jesus loves God more than people and he loves people more than rules!

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In today's episode you are going to hear the story of a seventh-hour sign, a miracle of healing; a story of God's faithfulness and a story of the growth of faith. It's a good story, a healing sign that led to faith in the WORD.

And when you get to the end, I will ask you, what is your seventh-hour story? If you have one, I would love to hear it. Just email me at dan@calvarysc.org --

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So we come to see the first of seven signs in John's Gospel, and what a great first sign! He turned water into wine, to keep the party going. You know I love to laugh . I even love to laugh at church. Ask people to describe church and you will often hear the word boring. When's the last time you heard someone say, "Hey I'm going to have a great party at my house this weekend, and I'm inviting a group of pastors and their closest friends."

But Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like a party, a celebration, a factory of joy. And Christ calls us to live a life that invites people to the party. Perhaps our most urgent message should simply be... "Don't Miss the Party!" AND "Don't miss the joy!

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When it comes to faith, many of us are looking for a sign, but we need to understand that while a sign gives directions, it's not the destination. In fact, once you reach the destination, signs are no longer needed. In John 1-11, John records seven signs. Those seven signs were given so that we might believe. They are written so that we will take that first step of faith in Christ and they are written so that after that 1st step, our faith in Christ will grow. The sign, the miracle is not
our destination and in fact faith is not even our destination.

We are listening to, learning from, and leaning into God’s Words and God’s words keep bringing us to Jesus. Jesus is our destination. When we ask for a sign, what we are really saying is, "I just want to see Jesus!"

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There is a unique relationship between sight and faith. We sometimes say, "Seeing is believing." But there is a gospel sense of "believing is seeing." In any case, that desired connection between faith and sight sometimes leaves us looking for a sign that God is real, that God cares, that God is able. And make no mistake there are times that the quest to believe is a hard and difficult road. It's difficult because every child who dies or is abused or goes hungry is a monument to doubt on the battlefield of faith. It's difficult because we are so conditioned to trust our five senses as the determiners of reality. It's difficult sometimes we ping-pong back and forth between wondering if there is a God and being disappointed by the God we wonder about.

For the next handful of episodes we are going to talk about faith and sight and signs. If you are looking for a sign, I encourage you to come and see!

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Jesus is truly amazing. Throughout his life, people used that word, AMAZING when talking about Jesus. But it didn't mean, "wow that's interesting, or odd; or even worth a second glance." No the words used about him meant heart-trembling, knee-quaking awe, almost fear-filled amazement, and mind-bending wonder. So in this episode we will take a quick tour through the gospels to answer the question, "What's So Amazing About Jesus?"

And we'll close with the challenge to pray every day, "Jesus would you please amaze me?"

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Of all the acheivements and accolades in his life, Paul considered knowing Jesus, his greatest treasure. He placed his confidence for all good things in Jesus. He was counting on Jesus. So I want to invite you to come and see this Jesus who is worthy of your life and who thought that your life was worth his death. Come and see this man who knows you intimately and loves you insanely; the man who wrestled death to the mat and sent his Spirit to give us joy and life in the midst of the darkness. Come and see this man who shaped history and invites you into his story. Come and see. That's how it starts with those who follow Christ.

And when you follow Him, you will stop counting on anything or anyone else. What are you counting on?

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For this episode I simply want to give you the words of the prayer I close with. It's a prayer from A. W. Tozer and is the response of a heart with a deep longing for God. I hope you will listen to this episode and make this prayer your own today.

O God, I have tasted Your goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want you. I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Your glory, I pray that I may know You indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul ‘Rise up my love and come away.’ Then give me the grace to rise and follow You, up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Christ is the treasure of God, the gift of God too often unrecognized and reject. A lot of people missed God's treasure because it came wrapped in such a plain package. If we were to journey back in time to Bethelhem, ready to chronicle that starry, special night of his birth. I'm not sure that the video would go viral. We'd have a youtube video of two low-income, homeless people, unmarried, spending the night in a lean-to shed attached to the back of an adobe house; the agony and mess of childbirth. Later we might catch a visit to this lowly scene by a group of crude, and common sheep herders. Think about it. It's so common. God in dirty diapers.

A lot of people did not come to see Jesus, because they missed the treasure in such a plain package. And still today, so many miss the treasure. Look back over your week, have you missed the treasure?

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If you’ve been hanging out with me for long, you know that More Than Bread is passionate about the Word of God. The title comes from something Jesus once said, basically, “we cannot live bread alone, we need every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Thriving requires more than comfort stuff and family stuff and vocation stuff, we need God’s words. We need to listen to, learn from and lean into God’s Word.

BUT...when we dive into the Word, we find that there is this amazing, unique connection between Jesus and the Word. In fact when John describes Jesus, he starts with this statement, "And the Word become flesh." So can I say this? We can't value Christ, if we don't value the Word. And it's also true that we've missed the value of the Word if it doesn't draw us to Christ.

So, are we a people of the Book?

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John 14-16 is filled with some amazing prayer-promises. A lot of "whatever" promises, like "whatever you ask for I'll do." So why don't we pray like prayer is essential? I think most of us think prayer is important, but do we pray like prayer is essential? Listen, no matter how ruined you are...or how broken your city is...there is always a place to start. Sometimes we hesitate to start because we want to know where we will end. I can't tell you how your broken story is going to end, but I can tell you where we have to start.

We have to start with prayer. We have to P.U.S.H. in prayer!

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There r moments in time --the Bible calls them kairos moments-- moments in time that are spiritually historic. In the moment, it doesn't always seem historic, but the moments gather, and build, and something happens. I believe globally and locally we are in one of those moments. I believe that history will record these days as a kairos moment for the Kingdom of God; a season when a new chapter was birthed. If. If. Only if we will travail. The time for casual and common prayer is past.
It's time for extraordinary prayer, a desperation woven through with expectancy that lays hold of God for our good and his glory.

Will you be one of the people who pray like that?

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Luke's gospel is filled with seekers? Are you a seeker? Probably at heart we're all seekers. We're all on a quest. We may each give the quest a different name. The quest for meaning, the quest for purpose, the quest for knowledge, the quest for security, the quest for success, the quest for pleasure. But I want to suggest that the longing behind every quest is the same.

C.S. Lewis speaks about this longing in his book Mere Christianity, "If I find in myself a desire for which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." You were made for another world, and our hearts won't be satisifed till we find Jesus!

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Some sociologists suggest that we are in a season where disappointment is the primary American emotion. We expected life to be always up and to the right, and then it wasn't. And even if it is, social media reminds us every day that it's not as far up and to the right as someone elses. But what if disappointment is a good thing? What if dasappointment is a signal from our soul that our hope is misplaced? What if our disappointment is the gentle whisper of the Spirit of God inviting us to reset our hope?

What if the next chapter of God's story requires a resetting of our hope? Not putting our hope in progress; or the economy; politics or education, or even good ol' American ingenuity; a full reset.

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Can I tell you something? It's not just the birth of Jesus that draws our hearts at Christmas. It's not just that Jesus lived and died; it's how he lived and why he died, that draws a life-weary world to celebrate Christmas. The greatest gift ever given, the most uncommon Christmas gift ever given was not found under a tree, it was found on a tree. Jesus was born to die.

But it was not a tragedy. It was His gift. It was His uncommon Christmas gift...of life to us. It was the greatest gift ever given!

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In Luke 22, we experience a difficult moment between Peter and Jesus. Peter was a guy who experienced as much breakthrough as anyone in the Bible, but he was also a guy who experienced failure. Broken fragments of life, crippled heart, feeling like he would never be enough, all moments that Peter experienced. Think about this. He walked on water, was in Jesus' inner circle, and one night promised Jesus to follow him to prison or death. "Where you go, I go." Jesus answered, "Peter before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, three times, you will deny that you even know me."

And he did. But don't miss this, Jesus knew. Jesus knew that Peter would fail. He
knows I'm gonna fail. Christmas is not reserved for those who never fail. Because He still gives hope to the broken.

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There’s something in our hearts that longs for family. Is that part of the draw of Christmas? We long to be part of a family. We long to connect and when we connect there are such amazing opportunities to thrive, to bless and be blessed. So in Luke 22, we're going to look at the beginning of a new chapter in Christmas family of Jesus. It's a meal around the table with friends who would soon become family. And it's an opportunity to ponder the relentlessly lavish, recklessly passionate love of Jesus for us.

If we miss His heart, we miss Christmas. Listen, if you have given your life to Christ, you are part of His family. What an amazing Christmas gift!

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A lot of Luke 21 sounds at least a bit like the book of Revelation. If you have been joining us in person or online at Calvary, you know we’ve been spending time, this Christmas season, in the book of Revelation. Our advent series theme has been “More to Come.” You know I didn’t realize till I started prepping for that series, that the birth of Christ was not a big month long celebration in the life of the early church. They were so busy looking ahead to and for his second coming that they didn’t spend as much time on his first coming.

Luke 21, describes the time of his second coming as a time of "shaking." And in some ways it makes me wonder if it isn't the case, that every time God shows up, stuff starts to get shaken up! Maybe a whole lot of shaking going on is a good thing?

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Here's the deal. Jesus was born to die. The manger led to the cross and the cross was the ultimate blow-out love-burst of God. But we never would've known that without the resurrection. Before the resurrection, from our perspective the cross was nothing more than abounding despair, unmerciful judgement and victorious evil. The resurrection changed the cross from a symbol of deep despair to a symbol of ultimate hope. An ultimate hope that is built upon a deep, deep love.

There's no Christmas without the resurrection. The world does not go into a global celebration for people who died so long ago. But Jesus still lives, and Jesus still loves, and so we celebrate.

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Yes, that's right. I'm sorry. I know it's supposed to be a chapter a day. 24 chapters. 24 days from December 1 to Christmas Eve. But I just couldn't leave Luke 19. So now we are a chapter off and you'll have something to listen to on Christmas Day!

I couldn't leave Luke 19 without pausing on Palm Sunday. It's a Palm Sunday moment on the way to preparing for Christmas. AND this Palm Sunday moment will give us some Christmas Prep questions as it gives us a glimpse of Jesus' heart!

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After the last episode and its focus on someone who missed Christ, who you might say, missed Christmas, we can’t skip Zachaeus; the wee little man, his tree, and the celebration in his home. Zach is a guy who got it, a guy who didn’t miss Christ and you might even say, didn't miss the true meaning of Christ-mas! And through his story, we are going to ponder the love of God. Listen, the love of God, found in Jesus, poured out by the Spirit has this ability to change us; give you a
courageous self-confidence and contentment all at the same time. Paul describes this love in Ephesians 1:3-5 with one phrase in particular that stirs up Christmas joy in me.

Paul writes, "Without a single fault we stand before Him, covered in His love. "His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by sending Jesus to die for us. And He did this because He wanted to..."

You are covered in His love this Christmas...what more could we need?

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In this episode we are going to hear Jesus say something quite interesting to a rich, young leader. This leader wants to follow Jesus and so he comes to Jesus to ask what he needs to do and Jesus says, "You only lack one thing." Now before you hear what he lacks, let me just say as we prep for Christmas, wouldn't it be great if that were really true? If this Christmas we only lacked one thing?

But what if it's true? If you only lacked one thing; if there was one thing that you could gain, one gift that you could receive, that would bring you the life of your dreams, what would it be?

Listen in on this conversation between Jesus and someone who seems like they've got everything, but still they are lacking one thing. BUT the goodness is, it's only thing...

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At the risk of sounding a bit too much like the creators of "elf on a shelf," in this episode we are going to ponder the question, "Where is Jesus this Christmas?" That's my question, "Where do we find Jesus this Christmas?" So in this episode we're going to look at three moments where people find Jesus. I'm not sure what's happening in your life or the life of someone you care about this Christmas, but I do know that sometimes it can seem like Jesus is hard to find, far away. But I want you to know that you're not far from Jesus and He's making himself easy to find, if you know where to look.

Join me as we answer the question, "Where is Jesus this Christmas?"

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In Luke 16, with all that we could focus on, we will end up focusing on a part of one verse that says, "The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is being proclaimed and eager multitudes are trying to get in!" I think what Jesus was saying is that the Kingdom of God is a treasure worth my life and when somebody really "gets it," with everything in their hearts they want to be a part of this Kingdom. They are eager to get in. So my question is, "Are we eager to get in?" Shouldn't we be?

As Dallas Willard writes, "Every longing you have...every ache in your heart when you think you desire more stuff, or more pleasure, or more success, or to be more attractive, or to have a bigger house, or more applause; what your soul is really crying out for, Jesus says, is for this Kingdom to come down into your life.

Are you eager to get in? Where are the eager multitudes?

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Luke 15 contains three "lost and found" stories. There's a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. And with each story Jesus is telling us something deep about the Father's heart and what heaven celebrates! And in a way, he is reminding us of the "why" of Christmas. Jesus left home, so that the prodigals could come home! Jesus was born to show us the Father's heart. When God sees you what He feels for you is prodigal love, reckless, extravagant, unrelenting love.

Here's what I believe. I believe that in this next year we are going to start seeing more prodigals coming home than ever before. And with everything that is in me, I am going to do everything I can to call us to be a church that celebrates their homecoming with all our heart. It’ll be like Christmas over and over and over again!

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In this episode I'm going to ask you, to ask yourself, two questions. First, do I live like I'm invited. Second, do I live like there's still room at His table?

In Luke 14, Jesus describes a great banquet and you might say that Jesus is really talking about Christmas. In Jesus day, the idea of a banquet or a feast was often used as a metaphor for the coming of God's kingdom. The banquet was about the restoration of all things and the birth of a new community, a new movement of life. To eat at God's banquet was to receive fullness of life and joy. Who's invited to this party? It's an open invitation. Do you understand that? I don't care who you are, what you've done or what's been done to you. You have been chosen. You are invited to the world's greatest celebration with the world's greatest banquet, by the world's greatest host.

So ask yourself those two questions...because God is determined that there will be no empty seats at His table!

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In the midst of Luke 13, there is this moment where Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. And in part his message is, "Don't miss the significance of small seeds." This Christmas don’t miss the significance of small seeds; like a baby born to a teenager in a manger. We like things big. I want a bigger house, a bigger car. More impact. Bigger church. More influence. Bigger dream. We are always looking for the next big thing because if it's not big it must not be God.

I long for us not to miss this; to embrace the significance of small beginnings. What seeds can we plant this Christmas season? Seeds of kindness? Seeds of generosity? The seed of a smile or a kind word or a helping hand? Don't miss the signficance of small beginnings, this Christmas.

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In Luke 12, one of the things that we will hear Jesus say is, "Guard against every kind of greed." Did you know there's more than one kind of greed? I bet you didn't know that. Do you know why? It's because greed is sneaky. We know when we are struggling with lust or pornography, lying or anger. But it's rare that we recognize our greed. Greed is sneaky. We often believe that greed is the biggest problem that other people have. Greed is so sneaky.

But what if this Christmas season, we all, all of we all, just assume that we have a problem with greed. I have a problem with greed. Say that to yourself and then listen to the antidote in this episode.

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The Jesus of the gospels was simply amazing. Crying one minute, knocking tables over the next. Confronting leaders and then pouring out grace on prostitutes. Cursing hypocrites and forgiving a woman caught in adultery. Healing the sick, doing battle against Satan, and speaking stillness to the storm. His power was amazing. His teaching was amazing. His love was amazing.

But in Luke 11 we are going to find a moment when a religious leader was amazed by Jesus lack of religion. Specifically, he didn't wash his hands. Talk about a glorious adventure of missing the point. The creator of the universe, Savior of the world, healer of the sick and redeemer of crosses is sitting at his table and he just can't get his mind off the fact that Jesus didn't follow the religious ritual of washing his hands. Which led to a series of woes, spoken from Jesus to the religious leaders of his day. Some of the things he says, you've wanted to say.

But in the midst of the woes, is a challenge to focus on what's important, the heart.

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Luke 11 is one of my "core" chapters. I explain that a bit in this episode, but it's an amazing chapter for Christmas Prep. At first glance, Luke contains three separate, somewhat unrelated stories. They are about going on a mission, loving our neighbors and being with Jesus. I use these three words to summarize the stories; Mission, Formation, and Union.

But here's the deal, they really aren't just three unrelated stories. God not only inspired luke in the writing of the gospel, but also in the collecting and placement of the stories. In other words there is a reason why these three stories come back to back to back. What's the reason? God wants us to know...

If I want to do like Jesus, I need to love like Jesus. If I want to love like Jesus, I need to be with Jesus, and that leads to a very Mary Christmas!

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As I've been pondering Christmas, aren’t we all looking for a mountain-top experience this Christmas? As I ponder what I need to do to prepare for Christmas, Jesus keeps making it clear that strategically speaking, nothing matters more than His presence. In this episode, as we look at Luke 9, we'll ponder a mountain-top experience that Jesus had with his three closest friends. Our deepest need this Christmas is that God would give us the gift of a mountain-top experience with His presence. The deep need of our communities is a church that will finally get tired of trying to change the world without the power of God that comes from the presence of Christ.

And that’s what I’m praying for all of us this Christmas. God would you bring us up to the mountain!

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Way back in Luke 1, remember the angel came to Mary, the future mother of Jesus and said to her, "You are highly favored by God." Don't miss this, in this episode you will hear me say, "That same favor is for you." The favor of God was not just reserved for Mary. I mean Mary was amazing, but Mary didn't get more favor than God will give you. How did Mary gain the favor of God? She said, "Let it be to me according to your Word." She surrendered to God's Word. She was saying, "If you say so God." Don't miss how quickly Mary goes from "how can this be" to "if you say so" God.

If we want to lean into the favor of God, we need to get better at saying, "If you say so." And if we do, the favor of God is for you!

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In Luke 7, John the Baptist asks a really important Christmas-Prep question. "Jesus are you the one, or should we keep looking?" Here is what I believe. I believe that every heart-longing you have, or think you have, every ache that arises when you see something or someone that you desire; when you dream of more success, or wake up hoping you are somehow more attractive, when you drive by a bigger house and say I wish; when you say what you say or do what you do and then look
around hoping someone noticed...and perhaps will even applaud; what your soul truly longs for is Jesus.

We cannot prepare for Christmas, truly prepare if don't fix our eyes and our hearts on Jesus. Nothing compares to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, Paul wrote. He is the resurrection and the life, light of the world, Our Savior and King. The greatness of Christianity is Christ. The reward of following Jesus is Jesus.

And so if we are going to truly prep for Christmas, we should ask and settle the question, "Jesus are you the one?"

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Right in the middle of Luke 6 is this kind of odd question that sticks out enough for me to pause and ponder. The question is, "What happens when the blind lead the blind?" So that leads me to my Christmas prep question for this episode. Do we really see people? Do we see them like God sees them? So much of Luke 6 challenges me to truly see people as God sees them, whether they are enemies, people living in the margins, people who have hurt me, offended me, or people whom it is easy for me to judge. Do we really see them? Do we see the glory of God in the lives of others? Do we really see people or are we living life blind?

It's causing me to pray, "God give me eyes to see."

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There is so much good stuff in Luke 5, but in this episode we are going to focus on a fishing story with this challenge, "Don't miss the boat." In church our Advent series is "More to Come" and last week, my challenge was "Don't miss Jesus, this Christmas." Same challenge in this episode but with different words.

In this episode we are going to see the life-giving, difference-making process that takes us from listening to the Words of God, learning from His truth, and then leaning in. Leaning in, requires an "if you say so, Jesus" attitude of trust.

This Christmas as you prepare to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, where do you need to say, "If you say so, Jesus?"

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In Luke 4, Jesus goes from baptism to battle. He goes from the affirming voice of God to the wilderness. What we will find is that God drove Jesus into the wilderness, because He loved and had a mission for him. God had a world-changing life-giving mission for Jesus and those kinds of missions are not given to those who have never suffered. You will not change the world, your community or your family, if you are not willing to go into the wilderness, because in the wildnerness God prepares you, for something greater.

Because God loves us, here comes the wilderness!

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Life is made up of moments, opportunities. Have you ever had an opportunity that you missed because you didn't prepare? Here's what I know; moments are not seized in a moment. Life's greatest moments come to those who have prepared. John the Baptized was a man in the story of God, who prepared the way for Jesus. His life-purpose came from the Prophet Isaiah, "A voice of one calling: 'In the desert prepare the way of the Lord.'

What if that's part of God's promise to you. I know the world is dark, the culture is filled with chaos, conflict and uncertainty; it’s like a desert wilderness, but listen to me, a way is being prepared.

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As we listen to and ponder Luke 2. I think the main message is simpley, "Jesus is the treasure of Christmas." When it comes to the continuing story of Christmas, Jesus is written all over the pages of the book. It's so easy to focus on all the other elements. Shepherds and Wisemen and angels, oh my. Mangers and Santa and Elves, oh my. But nothing matters more than Jesus. Do we treasure him? Do we hold him in our hearts? When we are preparing for Christmas, do we find that we simply cannot stop thinking about Jesus?

Perhaps the best way to prepare for Christmas is by praying daily, "Father, just give me Jesus!"

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The full title of this advent Christmas series is “Christmas Preparations – 24 Days with Luke.” But I’m calling it "Christmas Prep" for short. Three plus years ago, we started this podcast with a jet-tour through the New Testament; the whole new testament in 40 episodes. We covered Luke back then, but it was 5-6 chapters an episode! For our Advent series we are going to read through Luke one chapter a day. With 24 chapters, we will read a chapter a day from December 1st to Christmas Eve. And as we do, we’ll see Jesus go from the baby in a manger to grown-up Jesus, King of the World. Christmas is not just the celebration of a baby’s birth, it’s the birthday of the King.

And in this episode we are going to look at what needs to happen to be part of His Kingdom, the Big K!

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For our last episode on gratitude, I’m going to read a very familiar Psalm, Psalm 23. It might not even mention gratitude or thanksgiving but if you believe the Psalm is true, it will give you all kinds of things which could explode in gratitude! Psalm 23 is a description of a life that has been blessed beyond belief. That's not a bad phrase to carry around in our hearts as we make our way from Thanksgiving to Christmas. As we shop and sing and bake and eat...and eat...and eat; it's good to be reminded that in so many ways that don't require a credit card or a receipt...

We have been blessed beyond belief.

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Our gratitude moment today comes from a story in the life of Jesus when he offered us such an overflow of life, that it would be like a river pouring out of our hearts. How many of us are looking for a little more life? How many of us have found that we are drinking at wells and eating at tables that just don't satisfy...and no matter how long we drink we come up slightly empty. Where are you going to get full? Where are you going to satisfy your soul thirst?

My prayer is that at the end of this episode, we can all say to God, thank you for giving me overflowing life!

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This episode on gratitude is going to take us back to the book of Colossians, to ponder the possibility that thanksgiving is not just a day, it's a way of life. It's not just the words we say, it’s the way we live…thanks-giving-living. In Colossians 3, we'll hear Paul say, "Whatever you do, no matter what it is, or when you do it, or who sees you do it, whether it’s something you say or a deed, do everything, whatever you do or say, do it all in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Thanksgiving is not so much a holiday, as it’s meant to be a way of life. So today, how about if we all practice gratitude!

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The theme of this episode on gratitude is simply, be the one. It's based on a moment in the life of Jesus, a story found in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus healed a group of men who had experienced the trauma of leporsy. But only one returned to say thank you. So my challenge to all of is to simply... Be The One!

Be the one who always comes back. Be the one who lives by an internal gps of gratitude. Be the one who is never too busy to write a note or make a call or grab a cup of coffee with someone who has made a difference in your life...to not only tell them thank you but more importantly to tell them that you have told God thank you for them. It will change your heart, enrich your family, drive away worry
and anxiety. Because as we will find in this story...

Something special happens when we pause to give thanks!

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Let's not forget Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is not simply a day in the season of Advent. And it's not just a day. It's a practice and there's simply some element of the wonder of Christmas receiving that we can’t fully enter into without the discipline of gratitude. One of my favorite passages on thanksgiving is found in Philippians 4:4-9. In these few words, I think Paul gives one of the most amazing anxiety-hacks in the world. Here’s what he says,

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Let's be honest, we live in an age of anxiety, but what if there's a great anxiety-hack?

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We are starting a short series on gratitude, leading into an Advent Series. And first we turn our hearts and minds to some words from Paul in Colossians 1:3-14. Paul is thankful for his friends in the church in Colossae. He is thankful for all that God is doing in and through them and all around them. He's grateful for the gospel-fruit that he sees in their lives. What is gospel-fruit? You can eat it. :) But few things will satisfy your soul like seeing the good news bear fruit in your life and through your life.

So as we dig into gratitude, I'm praying that you and I will become the kind of people who cause others to be grateful!

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Our look at Daniel has been an opportunity to ponder the question, “How do I thrive, not just survive, but how do I thrive when the culture around me is filled with chaos, turbulence and uncertainty and to make matters even more difficult, isn’t always friendly to my faith? How do I go beyond surviving to thriving?

And what we’ve found is that in order to thrive, we need a good and powerful God as our leader. We need a faith that is faithful in times when we wonder if God’s going to come through. We need to incline our ears to God and we need to pray. Throughout this series, we've uncovered some principles, some truths, some examples that will help us stand firm when lions roar and in this last episode, I just want us to remember… that when we know our God, the lion's roar ain't all that much!

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In the last few episodes, we’ve come back more than once to the importance of prayer, right? It’s fascinating to me that the two people most entrusted with God’s revelations about the end of time, the time of the end were both people of prayer; proven, persevering, you might even say gritty people of prayer. So as we come to the last chapter, the conclusion of God’s vision given to Daniel about the time of the end…I want to pray a prayer for you, for us. It’s a prayer based on the themes of the last 30+ episodes of Daniel. One of the verses that we did not actually look at that much, provides a bit of a refrain in my prayer. It’s the last part of Daniel 11:32, I like how they put it in the New King James version. "But the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.

So the refrain of my prayer for you is this, "When people know their God, they do great things." That's my prayer for you!

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Daniel 11 is part of the last and longest vision that Daniel was given, or at least that he was given and recorded. But this episode is going to take a bit of a turn from Daniel 11 to the book of Revelation. Both Daniel and John are elderly men when they are given their visions of the end of times. And both Daniel and John are humble people of prayer. Prayer mattered deeply to both of them. So in this episode we're going to look at John's vision of a moment of multitudes of prayers coming before God. And what happens?

All of heaven grows silent. Listen in on how much our prayers matter to heaven! And then answer the question, "What will you do today that has more potential for breakthrough in your life, than prayer?"

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Daniel 10 has a unique context, perhaps more than any other chapter in Daniel's story, we catch a glimpse of the spiritual battle taking place in the heavenly realms. And in that battle few things are more important than prayer...and when we pray together, it's exponentially good. So ask yourself who prays for me? Who do I pray with. I have a team of people over 30, my prayer shield. They fast and pray for me. And if anything good happens in my ministry, the battle is won when they pray, not when I preach.

I believe that prayer is not preparation for the battle; prayer is the battle. And if we want to stand in this battle, we have to pray...together!

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Daniel 10 gives us a behind-the-curtain look at a battle that's been raging for millenia. It's a spiritual battle between good and evil, between darkness and light. Paul would later talk about this battle and encourage us with these words, "Be strong in the Lord." In other words, your strength isn't enough. This is not a battle against flesh and blood; it's a battle against darkness in the heavenly places. Sometimes we just don't believe that it's real, until we feel the touch of the darkness. Perhaps we feel it's touch in a set of tragic circumstances, or an opiod addiction, deep depression, or maybe a habitual sin you can't break.

Listen the battle's real. I've watched lives fill up with darkness. But here's our hope; light beats darkness...everytime!

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Our greatest barrier to a life that thrives is a sin-soaked heart. It keeps us from life and leads us to addiction. It ravages marriages and breaks families. It hardens hearts and creates anxiety filled minds. It drains joy and reaps discouragement. It causes us to hate or even worse ignore our neighbors. A sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem. But our greatest hope is that we are relentlessly pursued by a lavishly gracious, greatly merciful, fiercely loyal, patiently loving God.

Perhaps itt's time to turn back and run like little kids to our Father's arms.

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Daniel 9 contains a prayer of confession of sin. It's a deep dive into sin. I wonder if we often come to sin, like it's no big deal. Like, I know I've messed up once or twice but what's the big deal? In fact, think of how we use the word sin or sinful. Sometimes we put sinful and delicious together and describe our favorite dessert! Sinfully delicious. When we put those words together we are thinking less of our sin than we ought. When we have a desert view of sin. We start thinking about sin as the good stuff that God doesn't wants us to do or have. But in reality sin seperates us from God. It dirties our hearts, drains our joy and sucks the Spirit out of us. Jesus would tell us that we cannot fully comprehend sin without gazing at the cross where he died to pay our price. But as we gaze at the cross let this truth give us hope.

God is all-in on you. The cross was the love-burst of God and his love is dripping off you all over the place!

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In Daniel 9, we see Daniel going into a time of fasting and prayer and mourning. Let me say this, I'm so convinced that if we want to make a difference in our world, if we want our stories to be wrth reading, if we want a taste of God's glory, at some point we will have to take the same journey. At some point our hearts will have to groan for the brokenness, groan for the sinfulness, groan with desperation for the people around us.

I believe that today in this seasons, God is looking for people who will let their hearts groan. People who will sit down and weep for people in their communities who desperately need the hope of God. So God, would you break my heart for the things that break yours!

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In this episode of When Lion’s Roar, we are heading into chapter 8. Remember Daniel 7 marks a transition in Daniel, shifting from history to prophecy; shifting from stories and lessons learned from God’s work and words spoken in Babylon to God’s future work. Chapter 8 contains a pretty dramatic, very draining vision given to Daniel of "the time of the end." It's time of wrath and spiritual battle in the heavenlies, the time of the end.

So in this episode I want to chat a bit about the time of the end and how we prepare for it, because every day, it's just a bit closer!

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In Daniel 7 we move from history to prophecy. And just as Daniel opened his book by peering behind the curtain of history to tell us that God was the hand behind Nebuchadnezzer's victory over Isreal, now he looks forward to the end of time to tell us that Jesus is the King of the Kingdom that will not be shaken. Every other kingdom including the Kingdom of America will one day be nothing more a chapter in the story, but the Kingdom of God is forever.

So in the midst of this dramatic prophetic vision, my challenge is simply this, "Don't miss Jesus!"

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More Than Bread is a podcast passionately dedicated to helping people dive into the Bible and feast on every Word that comes from the mouth of God, so that we can find our place in a Kingdom that will never end led by a King who will never be voted out. And isn’t that why Daniel is such a good book for these days, because that’s what he did. He found his place in a Kingdom that would never end, led by a King who would never be voted out. So in this episode of When Lion’s Roar, we are doing a bit more review of chapters 1-6 before we head into chapter 7.

What is the most important principle/truth that you learned about thriving when lions roar?

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Chapter 7 marks a significant transition from the stories and lessons of chapter 1-6, to the prophecies of Daniel 7-12. So let's take an episode or two to review what it takes to thrive, even when the lion roars. And the first point to review is that God is in control. The story of Babylon conquering Jerusalem is not a tragic story of evil overcoming good. God gave Jerusalem over to Babylon. God decided. As we’ve worked our way through the book of Daniel we’ve seen again and again that Daniel clearly saw God's hand in everything that happened and that truth helped him thrive in the most difficult of times. And his control goes well beyond government all the way down to your single solitary life. He has a plan to see your thrive and He is always working for your good.

Nothing is beyond him. Nothing catches him unaware. No power in the world is greater than his power, no wisdom in the world is deeper than his wisdom. No hate in the world is greater than his love. No evil in the world is more real than his goodness. And He is calling you to thrive!

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The story of Daniel 6 is the story of a man whose life was so centered on God, saturated with God, that he simply could not imagine a life without prayer, even for a day. Faced with a 30-day prayer pause or time with the lions? If Daniel had asked my opinion I would have said, "You know you can pray without bowing your head. You can pray silently. It's just 30 days. It's ok, God will understand. He's put you in a place of influence. Don't lose that. Praying in secret is the lesser of two evils." But not Daniel, for Daniel prayer was too precious. Prayer was more precious than life itself. In essence Daniel was saying, "You can take my life before I will give you my prayer.

There's no price too great to pray... How about us, is prayer anywhere near that precious for us? Perhaps Daniel's story will encourage, convict and inspire us!

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In Daniel 6, Daniel is over 80 years old. Don't miss that. He's 80 years old and he's just as committed, courageous and on fire for God as he was at 15. He's seen a lot., been through more. But along the way he has developed a deep trust in God, a vital prayer life and a conviction that praying for his leaders matters. In the days to come, it’s my prayer that followers of Jesus will develop the same; a deep trust in God, a vital prayer life, and a conviction that praying for others, including our leaders, really matters.

To go a step beyond that it's simply my prayer that we will be different. That we will be known for the size of our hearts and the quality of our love. And it's my deep hope that in the days to come we will pick up the broom and pray. What does that mean? Listen in and find out!

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We live in turbulent, chaotic, uncertain times, maybe not as bad as, but at least similar to the days of Daniel. In some ways, the question asking, hand-wringing, heart-judging, and apocalypse warnings that are taking place...is normal. It happens in times of transition. Change is difficult, but even more than that, times of transition bring about a sense of uncertainty. We don't like uncertainty. But do you know what I've found? I've found that times of uncertainty can become times of catalytic spiritual growth. Times of transition are often times when God wants to deepen our faith or change our paradigm or make us more humble and draw us closer to himself.

So what do we need in times like this, we need people like Daniel. What we need more than anything is a church that will not stop praying, no matter how loud the lions roar!

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In his book, “Follow Me” Jan Hettinga, writes, “The ultimate issue in the universe is leadership. Who you follow and what directs your life is the single most important thing about you.” So when it comes to politics, I've been saying to people, "Regardless of your vote, please, before you vote, make sure you can name your leader." Because if your leader is Christ and you have embraced the gospel; if you are a Jesus-apprentice, surrendered to the King of Kings; if Christ is your King, then you have a deep, unshakeable hope that in December, God will still be in control of whomever thinks they are in control.

BUT...He isn't our King, if He doesn't get our ears. This episode will explore what happens when we don't "incline our ears to God."

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Have you ever stepped into a sacred space? From a fiery furnace to a deep dark mine shaft; God shows up in some of the most unexpected places. Have you ever had a moment or a season where you experienced that lifting up of God into his presence. This is what we need today. I think about the different paths that I’ve traveled to encounter God. Moments that took on a "take-off-your-shoes-this-is-holy-ground" feel. And what I realize is that each of those moments were shaped by a decision to humble up.

See when we humble up, God lifts us up. God opens up a sacred space to encounter His presence. So isn't it time to humble-up?

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We live in a turbulent, conflict-friendly culture that in sometimes is not very friendly to faith. The book of Daniel has much to say to us and our culture. And as I read Daniel's book, my hope is reinforced by Daniel's life. Because of Daniel's life, I believe that no matter what happens on election day (or any other day to be honest), the day after God will still be in control of whomever thinks they are in control. That brings a certain sense of hope and humility to my heart. Humility is where we will hang out in this episode.

Because thriving hearts are humble hearts!

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None of us are exactly the same; there are uniqueness to us all. But regardless of our differences, we're united in this fact, we long to thrive and that longing is universal, not sinful. In fact, perhaps the greatest lie of our age is that God doesn't want you to thrive. God's holding out on you. But if believing that God doesn't want you to thrive is the greatest lie, the second lie is like it. We can thrive on our own in our own way.

God wants you to thrive, but it won't happen apart from Him. Daniel 4 gives us a picture of the journey to thriving!

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In Daniel chapter 4, King Nebuchadnezzer (the guy who had people thrown into a furnace because they wouldn't worship him) becomes a humble God-follower. He sends his God-story out to all the nations of the world. The King of Babylon sends a letter to the known world recounting the glory of the KING of the Whole World. Imagine for a moment what an amazing letter this would have been for the God-followers in Babylon. The least-likely-to-believe has become the most well-known follower of God in the world!

So who gets the least-likely-to-believe award in your life? Imagine if God did in them, what He did in Neb!

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As we spend one last episode on the sacred encounter that Daniel's three friends had with God in fiery furnace, let me simply say, "Sometimes God chooses not to protect us from the fire because He wants to meet us in the fire. As I think about those moments, I can't help but wonder what they talked about in the fire. I wonder if the Savior told them how proud Father God was of their devotion. I wonder if he told them that because of their devotion, people would know their names, thousands of years later, that here in in this podcast people would be pondering their devotion to God, their willingness to step forward in dangerous obedience. Jesus met them in the fire.

Often we go through life without any awareness of the presence of God, until we step into the fire.

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Have you ever had a sacred encounter with God? What was it like? Did it fill you with wonder or dread or maybe conviction...or a little of all three? As we head back into Daniel 3, we will see that the risky step of faith that Daniel's friends took led them to the most amazing sacred encounter with God, that they could have imagined. It was a such a sacred encounter that it even caused King Nebuchadnezzer to worship the one true God.

After reading Daniel 3, while I'm not hoping for a blazing furnace, I am asking God for a sacred encounter!

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First of all, forgive the coughing interruptions in this one. I had a tickle in my throat that just wouldn't go away! More importantly, as we turn to Daniel 3, we dive into one of my favorite stories in the book of Daniel. It's all about the choice that Daniel's three friends made to worship God alone, even at the risk of being thrown into a fiery furnace. I love their answer to the King... "We know that our God is able to deliver us, but even if He won't, we still will not worship another god."

Wow. That's courageous integrity! Have you ever been faced with an opportunity to take a risky step of faith? Doing what's right, even if it leads to the fire?

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You may have noticed that every once in awhile as we’ve gone through the first two chapters of Daniel, I’ve made an application to the political arena in which we find ourselves today. Actually it’s part of why I chose Daniel. I think Daniel has some important stuff to say to Christians in our current culture, including our political culture. So that’s going to shape my this episode, as we review chapters one and two.

And to be honest, more than anything, this review gives me hope, because when we wake up on the morning after election day, God is still in control of whomever thinks they are in control! Choose your Kingdom well!

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There is one Kingdom and only one Kingdom that will last forever, that's the Kingdom of God; the big K. John tells us in the book of Revelation that at the end of time, the only party that will matter is the wedding party at the reception for Christ and his bride the church. At that party there will be no donkey's or elephants, only the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So live and love and work and play and yes, even vote as someone who is part of the family of the King who leads the Kingdom that will never end. What kingdom are you living for?

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Faced with the daunting challenge of a life-time (while probably still a teenager) Daniel resorted to prayer. He went back to his friends and asked them to pray. Faced with an impossible situation, Daniel's first thing is to create time for prayer. Corrie Ten Boom who survived a Nazi concentration camp, facing a variety of impossible situations, once said, "When you face an impossible challenge in your life, if you look around you will be distressed. If you look within you will be depressed. If you look up you will find rest."

Daniel looks up. He knows that impossible situations require the God of the impossible. So Daniel made prayer his first thing. Is prayer your first thing?

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Every miracle begins with a problem. No problem, no need for a miracle. Now I'm not talking about the everyday miracles of life. When I talk about a miracle, I'm not talking about the Vikings winning the Super Bowl. I'm taking about coming to those points in life where we realize that if God doesn't show up we're going under. If God doesn't throw the ball, catch the ball, and score the touchdown, we're gonna lose the game. I'm talking about being in a place of desperation
and fear...where it seems like life is on the line and we've run out of hope.

Did you ever notice how everyone, including me; everyone wants a miracle, but no one wants to need one? But every miracle begins with a problem. What problems do you have that are in need of a miracle?

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The last part of Daniel 1 is all about God's favor. When we see God's hand in hard times and we seek God's favor above all things, our capacity to trust grows. The favor of God flows and we thrive. Where are you seeking your own power and place over God's favor? Where am I resolving to trust? Daniel isn't the hero of this story. This story has less to do with Daniel's courage & convictions and more to do with God's favor.

So what I'm praying, is that we would drink so deeply from the favor of God that we find that He is worthy of our trust.

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I used to say that the greatest opportunities that we have for spiritual growth are to either go on a short-term mission trip, or go through times of suffering; which is a great advertisment for mission trips. Who wants to enroll in the school of suffering? But in the last run of years, I've added to those two opportunities a third opportunity for catalytic spiritual growth; times of transition. I've found over and over, that times of transition are times when our faith can enter new seasons of growth. Don't be so quick to leave times of transition. Gain all you can before you step out of them.

So what is it about mission trips, suffering and transitions that bring us to new seasons of faith? I think it's the uncertainty. It's the reminder that our sense of control is a facade and we turn our eyes to God. When our certainty is gone, we are left with a decision; "Will I resolve to trust God when lions roar?"

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In the last episode, I told you the story of Carl McCumb. He died in the Alaskan wilderness because he didn't know the universal sign for "I need help." Do you know what the universal sign for "I need help" is? You raise both hands with palms to heavens. That's the universal signal for I need help. It’s not a bad thing to come to God's Word with a posture of helplessness, rather than independence.

In fact, before this episode is done, I'll encourage you to do that. Stand and raise your hands with your palms to the heavens and say, "God I need help.” Maybe you are thinking, what will people think. It doesn't matter. If you are in the wilderness in need of help, it doesn't matter what the caribou think...if you are desperate for help and help is in sight, raise your hands and ask for help!

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We prepare for things that matter to us. So let me ask you what are you doing to prepare to thrive? Well I guess it depends on what we think will help us thrive, right? For those of us who are Christ-followers, preparation probably involves scripture. There's more to it than just scripture, but if you came to me and asked me how to thrive as a Christian, sooner or later I would point you to the Bible. Hard to thrive without the Bible. It has value for us in so many different ways. But for a few moments, in this episode, I just remind us about what I think is the glorious goal of scripture.

It's Jesus. Even the book of Daniel is a witness to Jesus.

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One of the principles fueling Daniel's thriving in the midst of hard times, is his deep conviction that God is in control of whoever's in control. This doesn't mean that we are just puppets in God's theatre of life. When we say that God is in control, we mean that nothing is beyond him. Nothing catches him unaware. What He purposes to do he will do. No power in the world is greater than his power, no wisdom in the world is deeper than his wisdom. No hate in the world is greater than his love. No evil in the world is more real than his goodness. And this is the truth that empowered Daniel to thrive when lions roared.

But if we don't give Him our ears, if we don't listen to His Words, we don't really believe that God is in control. Who's got your ears?

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Let me start this series on the book of Daniel by stating an obvious truth. We live in turbulent times. From the life of an individual to the culture of our own community to the headlines of our nation to the suffering experienced across our globe. We live in turbulent times. And yet in the midst of life-draining seasons, let me suggest that deep within every heart is a desire to thrive. Deep within every orphaned and refugee heart, every depressed and party-hard heart, every next-gen and retired heart, every fatherless and every family-healthy heart, there's a deep desire to thrive. We long for a life that goes beyond mere survival!

So this podcast series, on Daniel, is all about "Daring to Thrive.” Dare to thrive when lions roar and the flames threaten to consume you, and you're living in Babylon. Dare to thrive, because God is with you, even when the lions roar!

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"If you remain in me, your life will be filled with fruit!" Jesus is saying that if we connect with him and his words go deep into us and stick, our lives will be fruitful. You will make a difference in people's lives. You will have an impact. There will be fruit. Some of that fruit will be the changing of our lives and some of that fruit will be seen in the lives we have touched. In fact the Bibles says that there will come a day when you stand together with those whom lives you have touched, and standing there with them will bring you great joy.

In this episode, we are going to take a few moments to imagine that!

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Everytime we open the Bible, it can be like sitting down with Jesus. I really believe that, no matter what page we are on. So here's what I want you to do for just a few moments; picture yourself with Jesus, walking by a stream, catching up over a grande coffee. You're sitting by a fire in a little cabin, or talking a walk in the afternoon with the snow gently falling, or like the disciples one Thursday night over 2000 years ago, you are walking through a vineyard. It's evening. You don't know it but Jesus is sharing his last thoughts before he dies on a cross.

And in the space of about 10 minutes he will use the word "remain" at least 8 times. It's a word that he wanted to leave with them...and speak to us. "Remain in me. Let my words remain in you...if you do, your life will be fruitful. In this episode we start to unpack what it means to remain.

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On this podcast, I often talk about the three L's; if we want to thrive on every word that comes from the mouth of God; we need to listen, we need to learn, and we need to lean in. Listening and learning, I find those two L's to be a bit easier than the last L. Leaning in, doing it, that's the hard part, isn't it? Studying it is one thing. Trying to have an encounter with God that's kind of exciting. I'd like to be able to say, "I've heard the voice of God, the whisper of the Spirit."

But doing what He says, leaning in, relentlessly responding, that's a little different. Responding requires trust. How I respond to God's word gives my answer to the question, "Can God be trusted?"

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This episode is about two different character qualities... trust and meekness. Do you trust God and do you receive His Word with meekness. Some of us think the reason we can't believe is because of our minds... when really the problem is our hearts... our hearts have become so broken, so fragmented...that we're afraid to trust God. That's why this journey, this call to hear God is interwoven with the call to trust God. And if we trust God, we will receive His Words with a meekness of heart. I'll have to describe that one a bit, because not many of us think meek is a good thing to seek!

I so deeply want us to get into this Book, and hear God's Words, but ultimately it is not abt chckng off boxes in a journal. It's about hearing the whisper of the Spirit. It's about developing a life-giving relationship with God, that is characterized by trust and meekness.

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As we get started back up with this podcast, I want to take some time, after 400 episodes to remind us why we are doing this. In Psalm 119:72, the psalmist writes, "The words of your mouth are better to me than thousands of shekels of gold and silver..." Similart words are found in Psalm 19:7-11, "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right... More to be desired are they than gold..."

Honestly my primary goal through this podcast is that we would be drawn to the Words of God, that we would develop a hunger to hang out with Jesus and listen to the whisper of His Spirit through our hearts and out our ears. My goal is that we would go to this book again and again in search of gold. Because we need more than bread for our stomachs to thrive, we need His Word for our souls!

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As we close our series on "Praying Scripture" it’s a bit different episode; not so much a prayer in scripture, as it is a scripture for praying people, or a scripture about a praying person. The scripture is in James 6, and the praying man is Elijah. Elijah prayed for a miracle and he got a miracle, then later he needed a miracle and all he got was a gentle whisper. But God was in the whisper!

I think this episode will encourage us to listen for God to speak a word in the gentle voice of silence. The whisper. Sometimes hearing the whisper of God is the miracle we truly need!

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As we make our way to the end of our series, "Praying Scripture," we are continuing to look at the other side of prayer. Listening. If prayer is a conversation with God, the other side of prayer is listening. In this episode we are going back to one of my favorite "listening" stories. It's a glimpse in time of a moment between Jesus, Martha and Mary. And you will hear Jesus say these words, "Only one thing is worthy of your concern."

Wouldn't that be amazing, if there really was one thing, above all other things that should gain our focus, energy and time? Perhaps there is. Listening to every word that comes from the mouth of God!

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As we near the end of our current series, "Praying Scripture" we are talking about the other side of prayer. If prayer is a conversation with God, and we never listen to God, we are woefully ignorant of the greatest blessing of prayer. So we are talking about listening. One of the ways we listen for the voice of God is through his Word, (more than bread we need every word that comes from the mouth of God). The Word of God is not the only way we listen to God, but it’s a baseline for anything else we think might be his voice.

But here's the best part, with just a Word, God can bring a breakthrough...with just a Word, if we will listen.

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So to wrap up our praying scripture series and keep our focus on the value of every word that comes from the mouth of God. In this episode and at least the next, I want to talk about the other side of prayer. The listening side. Prayer was never meant to be the first word. Our prayers to God function best when they are a response to God's Words to us. Prayer is the second word. Perhaps one reason we find it hard to get excited about prayer is because too often it feels like a one sided conversation!

So in the next few episodes, we will talk about the other side of prayer. "Jesus I am listening."

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The book of Hebrews is written for people who had lost a measure of their passion for Jesus, people who had gotten so distracted by other pursuits that they rarely paid attention to God. They didn't have video games, social media, netflix, or 24/7 news channels, but the question has been the same since time began, "Will I choose to pay attention to God?"

You may not know it, but God created you with a hunger in your heart for Him. Your heart wants to be with Him. When Jesus gave His life for us on the cross, He made a way, so that we can come boldly (like a little kid) into God's presence. He gave us an all-access invitation!

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In I Timothy 2, Paul challenges Timothy, his young partner, to make prayer his first thing. I think today, Paul might say it like this, "So here's the deal. My heart's desire is that pple would pray everywhere; that people would pray in their cars, and in the grocery store; that pple would pray as they walk the streets and sit in their class; pray in the halls of their apartment building and the streets of their neighborhood; that when they eat out, people would quit asking God to bless their food and ask him to bless their waitress instead.

My heart's desire Paul says is for people everywhere to pray for everyone, to pray for them as though their lives depended on it. Make prayer for others your first thing!

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When I was a kid, church wasn't terrible but it wasn't at the top of my wanna-do list. I was always looking for reasons not to go. You name the excuse I tried to use it. And one of the things my father never said was, "Hey it's up to you. As long as you are in my house, you decide if church is for you." Nope he never said that! Whenever I said, "Do we have to go to church again, he always said, "No we don't have to go to church. We get to go to church." So I showed him. I became a pastor. And what I am today is at least in part because my mom and dad were committed to a mission that went beyond our comfort. They were committed to the mission of seeing the gospel take root in and shape my life. So let me ask you that question, "What's your mission in life?"

Paul's prayer in Colossians 1 is a good mission-prayer!

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In this episode we are looking at a prayer from Paul in the book of Philippians. I’ve called it a finishing prayer. It’s a prayer to finish life well. In Bobby Clinton’s research on leaders, he found that about 1/3 of Christian leaders finish well. He defined finishing well as having a sense of purpose and calling accomplished, ending up more in love with Jesus at the end than the beginning, and not flaming out or burning out; only one out of three! We can do better!

This prayer as a prayer to finish well and a reminder of what it takes!

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All through the New Testament is an often overlooked spiritual discipline meant shape our prayers. It's the discipline of gratitude, thanksgiving to God. "Don’t be anxious, don’t worry about anything," Paul writes in Philippians 4. But in everything hard situation put these two things together, prayer and thanksgiving and God’s peace will guard your heart.

Let’s be honest, it’s easy to pray when we go through stuff that overflows anxiety into our hearts. Even people who don’t believe in God might pray in a situation like that. But the secret sauce to peace over anxiety is thanksgiving. This episode will help us develop our thanksgiving prayer list by looking at 4 categories of gratitude.

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This one is a bit different. A combination of a report on joining with 10 other congregations and two campus ministries for 36 hours of non-stop prayer and worship and another look at my favorite prayer in all of scripture.

Enjoy!

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Sometimes people make a distinction between praying big prayers and praying small prayers. But do you realize that according to Paul in Ephesians 3:14-21, every prayer we will ever pray is smaller than His power to accomplish it. They are all small prayers because He can do far beyond the greatest good we can imagine. Sometimes our problem is that not that we don't believe in God's power, it's that we don't trust his heart. We believe God can do more than we can imagine, we're just not sure He will...at least not for me.

But what if at this very moment, God is whispering, "ask me for more?"

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Ephesians 1:15-23 is a prayer for power, resurrection power that is available for us. Can I tell you why this is so important? It's so important because what we need we can't get on our own. Who we need to become we can't become on our own. We can't know God better...on our own. We need help. We can't find the hope we need in the midst of times that drain the encouragement out of our hearts. We can't make a difference that matters on our own. We need help. We can't experience the glorious riches of community on our own. We can't find a forever home without help. It's too hard. We can try but sooner or latter we'll mess it up, we'll fall short.

That's why I love this prayer, if God inspired Paul to ask for resurrection power, He must want to give us resurrection power. But it's a gift given only to those who recognize they need help. God we need your help!

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In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul prays a prayer for his friends and in the midst of this prayer are the words, the request, "God give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they can know you better." Later he will ask God to open the eyes of their heart. His prayer brings to mind the simple question, "How well do I know God?" If there was one and only one question we should ask ourselves
on a daily basis, it might be, "How well do I know him?

Jesus once was overheard praying, he said, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) Moses spoke with God like a man does with his friend, and yet he cried out to know more of God. Paul said, nothing matters to me more than knowing Christ. I want to know Christ. So how well do you know Him?

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The prayer for this episode is found in Romans 15:13. It’s a very simple but powerful prayer that Paul prays for his friends. Here it is: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." God of hope fill us with joy and peace so we overflow with hope. Is that you right now? So full of joy and peace that you overflow with hope?

While our prayer is in Romans 15, most of our episode will focus on Romans 8, which talks about groaning in hope, travailing in prayer. It is one of my favorite chapters in all of scripture. Let His hope pour into your soul as you listen!

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In Acts 4, the church prays for courage and boldness in the face of threats and persecution. I've seen this in other places, Myanmar, Iran. Courage and compassion in the midst of hardship and persecution. And so often the partnering activity in those times are bold prayers. I'm not sure what happens to our bold prayers. Sometimes life's disappointments beat them out of us. Sometimes we are trying to guard God's fragile reputation...we don't want people to be disappointed. But in Acts 4, the church was grabbing hold of a God who is the God of creation, the God who keeps his Word, a God of power.

And God showed up with such an immediacy that the place they gathered was shaken up and the people were filled up and they continued to tell others about Jesus. And it causes me to pray, "God would you do it again."

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John 17 contains a dream on Christ's heart. His dream is to unleash upon the world a people who love more, and love deeper, and love longer than anyone else in the world. And so it's not surprising that in John 17, the great dream on Christ's heart becomes the great prayer on Christ's lips. This is the longest recorded prayer of Christ in the Bible. The whole prayer is the whole chapter of John 17. We are just
looking at the last section of his prayer, because that's where he prays for us. He prays first for himself, then he prays for his friends. And then he looks down through the centuries to come and he prays for you and me.

So you might say, that as we listen to Christ's prayer, we're kind of on holy ground. As we listen in on Jesus' prayer for us, your name is in there. And what is his prayer? "Father make them one. Help them to love better."

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I call this story in Luke 5, the fellowship of the mat. Four guys bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus. But here's the point that grips me, Jesus told the four friends that their faith is what brought their friend in need, a miracle. This is really the heart of this episode. My faith matters for others. Your faith matters for others. The faith you express when you bring someone to Jesus in prayer; when you take it even farther and tell them you are praying for them; or when you take it a step farther than that and pray with them, right there in the moment, that faith matters in Jesus’ eyes for them.

Your faith matters for your neighbors. Your faith matters for your prodigal child. Your faith matters for the next generation. Your faith matters for your workplace. Your faith; what does Jesus see when he looks at your faith?

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In Mark 9, a man come looking for Jesus. This man came with a need; a parent who found the child of his heart beaten up and locked up by some force beyond his control. He had tried everything else, but nothing worked. Then he heard about Jesus. And even though he's a sensible man, he's a needy man and Jesus is his last hope. You do realize that's often when we come to God in prayer, when we have no other hope. In his prayer he asks Jesus to do something "if he can." And Jesus responds, "If I can, all things are possible if you have faith." And the man responds with this famous prayer.

"Jesus I believe. Help me in my unbelief." It's woven together in our lives too, isn't it. We believe and we doubt. In the end the man's prayer was answered. His son was saved. But he left us an example of prayer, that more than once I have followed. "Lord I believe, and I doubt. Help me to have more faith."

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Mark 5 contains a prayer for healing. A woman who had experienced chronic brokenness that left her spiritually, relationally, and emtionally isolated. She heard about Jesus, so she came. A somewhat common beginning to prayer. She heard about Jesus; she came to Jesus and she touched the hem of his robe. That was her prayer. She didn't come boldly. This was not a spiritual giant or an intimate intercessor. She snuck in the back. She reached out and touched his cloak...and she was healed. But I think the greatest gift was not her physical healing. Jesus called her out and she came face to face with her healer.

And he called her daughter. The only recorded time in scripture that He called any woman...daughter. He gave her a family with just a touch. Where are you in need of a touch?

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Be honest, there is at least a bit of our heart that sees the title, "I surrender..." and thinks, maybe I'll just pass this prayer by...get back into it tomorrow. Matthew 26 contains a prayer of surrender made by Jesus before he went to the cross. "Not my will, but your will be done." That was his prayer. But I love what the writer of Hebrews would later write, "For the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross." For the joy set before him, Jesus surrendered control. Jesus surrendered his plan. Jesus surrendered his will. What if the greatest joy we can imagine begins with the words, "I surrender."?

I'm sure I haven't studied them all, but of all of them that I have studied, I would say that every great move of God starts in a moment of surrender. That's our prayer today!

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Matthew 15 contains the prayer of an outsider. She doesn't have an inside track to Jesus. She's an outsider and as far as Jesus' disciples are concerned she's an outcast. She knows it so when she comes to Jesus, she comes with the traditional words of a beggar. "Lord, have mercy on me." And she gets ignored and in some respects pushed back. She had to have wondered, at least for a moment if God cared. Maybe at some point you've described your prayer life with the words, "I feel ignored." What do you do then?

Well what this outsider did...led to Jesus amazed at her faith. This is a challenge to go from "does God care?" to amazing faith in our prayer life.

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If I could sum up in a single phrase what I want to leave you this episode; what I long for us to walk away certain of today, it's this: "God is a Father who loves you like only a father can love you." That's the most compelling point of what we know as "The Lord's Prayer." Jesus was born into a religious culture based on stories and images of the God who came to Moses in fire and smoke; the God who delivered them from Egypt with plagues and miracles; a God who was unapproachably mysterious and fearsomely holy. God was not the big buddy in the sky. God was holy. He was not their buddy, He was their creator-king.

Then Jesus comes along and calls God Father...and invites us to do the same. This is the foundational truth of prayer. When you pray...call Him Father!

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Malachi 3:10-12 is not a prayer, but it shapes a prayer that I've been praying for a few decades. "God open the floodgates of heaven and pour our your uncontainable blessings on your people!" But the prayer comes with a challenge from God. It wasn't a pray-more challenge, it was a generosity challenge. God basically said, "I dare you. I dare you to dare me. Be more generous and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room to contain it.”

As I was working on this episode, an old Keith Green song kept humming in my heart… "Make my life a prayer to you. I wanna do what you want me to. No empty words and no white lies; no token prayers no compromise." Make my life a prayer to you, it’s not just about my words, it’s about my life. Make my life a prayer to you.
I wonder if sometimes our generosity is a prayer.

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This episode is all about Jonah's prayer from the belly of a fish at the bottom of the sea. We could talk a bit about whether or not it was a whale or a big fish, or is it even a true story, I mean the science of a guy being swallowed by a whale is a little bit undeveloped, right? But if that’s what you are thinking you are missing the point. The point is not that it’s a whale; the point is that it’s a miracle. And our greatest “save me” prayers come when we need a miracle, right? We need a great God who is able to save.

And I want to tell you. Our God is able…He is more than able. God is the Hero of our story. Remember that point from Daniel’s prayer? God is the hero of this story. And so we cry out in our darkness, in the pit of a whale at the bottom of the sea, "O God save me."

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Daniel (of Lion's Den fame) was an amazing man, but if we were to sit down with Daniel, he wouldn't have any time for our hero worship. He would simply say, "I'm sorry, but you missed the point. I tried to make it clear over and over again, but let me try again; God is the Hero of my story. God is the one who preserves young men from impurity and old men from lions. God is the hero of the story...which is a good thing. Because when the lions roar if all we have is Daniel's example, Daniel's instructions; if all we can do is call out for Daniel to save us, we are lost.

What we need is Daniel's God. So let's pray to the hero of our story!

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Ezekiel’s vision and prayer conversation in Ezekiel 37 is about as close as the Old Testament gets to Easter. How do we pray for more life? Perhaps it begins by understanding that resurrection is the work of a force outside of ourselves. I think we could all agree that in death I am helpless, out of control and unable to change my circumstances. I cannot resurrect myself. Ezekiel’s prayer session begins and ends with the Words of God, but it’s ending looks forward to Easter’s beginning, as God says, "I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live... Then you shall know that I am the Lord."

God says I will do it and when I do it, you will know that I am God. If you are in a dry bones season, this prayer is for you!

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Isaiah 64 begins as a lament. It is a fight with God for more of God. But the lament becomes travailing prayer, as a sense of expectancy is added. We are covered in sin, wanting to do our own thing in our own time for our own glory, so God turns his back on us; gives us over to our sin. But when we lament; when we cry for his presence, something shifts. And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. Do you hear the shift? Isaiah moves frm asking the nation-scaring God to rend the heavens with fearsome fireworks to now asking Father God to put his hands on our hearts and shape us in here.

The picture of the Father as potter and his people as the clay breaks this lament wide-open. It's the New Covenant leaking into the Old Testement. It's a yada relationship. Rather than God bursting forth, God is invited in. That's a pray I want to pray! Father Potter, come!

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Did you ever feel like you were all alone? Like nobody sees you or cares about you. Nobody wants to know you. Nobody is paying attention to you. Psalm 139 is a psalm that resounds with this truth, "God is paying attention to you." God knows when we sit and when we stand. His eyes were on you yesterday when you sat down to take a break, and He knows your schedule; how busy you are, all the places you have to go and things you have to do. He's charted our path. He's familiar with all our ways. He knows the hidden paths we walk; our unseen attitudes, and secret wishes. He knows more about us than we do.

And here is the most astounding, heart-filling truth, "the one who knows you best, loves you the most." That's yada. Let His yada shape your prayers.

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Psalm 77 is the heart cry of a person who is waiting for bad stuff to stop and good stuff to start. The first half of the Psalm is a lament, a cry to God to show up and show off. The psalmist is stuck in deep trouble. But there is a turning point. It doesn't come when the current circumstances change, that's what many of us are waiting for...insead it came when the perspective changed. Instead of looking at his circumstances, he started gazing upon and pondering his God. He started to remember the works of God. And it led to gratitude.

When we become aware of the goodness and greatness of God, gratitude happens. And few things will change your heart, soul and mind while you are stuck in deep trouble, like gratitude! Today is a day to tell God thank you!

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There was a time in David’s life where he had lost everything that we would say was necessary for the good life. He was living in caves on the run from a King who wanted to kill him. Lost his family. Lost his home. Lost his reputation. Lost his freedom. And it was during those days that he'd create this song of worship, this prayer. A Psalm of David written while he was in the desert. And the heart of that song, that prayer is "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you...your unfailing love is better than life."

It's kind of like when he had nothing, he knew that God was his everything. God was his life. This is worship. It's more than a just a prayer, it's soul thirsty for God, a dull ache that arises when we miss him. It happens when we gaze upon his glory and then realize that his unfailing love is better than life itself. God give me you! That's the prayer!

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We have a heart problem. Revive our hearts O God! We let things into our hearts that we would never let pass our mouths. We let stuff into our eyes that would make us blush if we were there in person. In Psalm 51, David longs for a renewed purity of heart, so that he can reconnect with God, because when sin rules, life is without God. When I read Psalm 51, and look at the world around me, and within me, I find myself saying that a sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem.

But there is a solution to life's greatest problem. And it starts with the prayer, "Revive my heart O God!"

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In Luke 10, Jesus sends his disciples out on a mission. It's really a battle, in a way he is actually sending them into battle, a spiritual battle. When they come back he tells them, "Good job. While you were gone I saw Satan fall like lightening from the sky." But here's the deal, here’s the crazy battle plan. When Jesus sent them out, he said, "Now go and remember I am sending you out as lambs among wolves." Jesus sends us into battle as sheep. Hows that for a crazy battle plan? How are we going to win this war? Be a sheep. Jesus says if you wanna see Satan fall like
lightening from the sky. Be a Sheep.

Psalm 23 is the prayer of a sheep to their shepherd. And it gives us the secret to success in the epic battle between God and evil!

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Nehemiah 9 contains the longest recorded prayer in the Bible. And we can learn a lot about prayer from this prayer. For example, prayer must be radically God-centered. This prayer of Nehemiah is saturated with God. He is our Creator, Redeemer, Grace-Giving, Wonder-Working, Lavishly Loving, Great and Almighty, Chastizer and Forgiver of our Sins. I wonder what people might learn about God, if they listened to our prayers?

More than once in Nehemiah 9, you will hear God described as a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. And why are they so taken by his forgiveness, his grace and compassion and abounding love?It's because they have come to realize their sin. Let Nehemiah 9 draw you into the story of your own life and know that He loves you with all His heart!

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Nehemiah is experiencing a great life, great success, influence and power in Susa, but then one day he gets a report of the difficult, discourarging, even tragic circumstances in Jesusalem and God places a holy discontent in his heart. So it says in vs 4, that Nehemiah sat down and wept. He mourned, fasted and prayed to the God of heaven. This is travailing prayer. Travailing prayer is a painful, passionate pushing in order to see something new come to life.

It requires a posture of brokenness, where we realize that the very best thing we have to bring to the table is our desperate dependancy on God. I think God is looking today for people who will pray like that!

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The name Jabez in Hebrew, literally means "pain" or even worse, "bringer of pain." Can you imagine being given that name? Every time someone called his name, it was a reminder of pain. A reminder that his life was a disappointment or a hardship to someone else. Some of you know what that's like, maybe it's not in your name, but it was what you were called...it's how someone spoke to you, about you. It was how you began to think about yourself. But at some point Jabez decided that his past would no longer rob his future.

So he prayed this prayer of breakthrough, "O Lord would you bless me and expand my boundaries. Please be with me in all that I do and keep me from being a pain to others." And God granted his request. Where are you looking for breakthrough?

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Samuel the prophet was a man of great conviction who made a difference in his world at an early age. We might ask ourselves where have the Samuels of the church gone? Where are those people who will stand unmoveable upon the convictions of God. Where are the people who will listen for HIs voice? Where are
the people who will not let a single one of His words drop to the ground? But if we are to ask those questions, we must first ask ourselves where are the Hannah's; with hands folded in prayer?

Hannah's prayer comes from the heart of a mother for the next generation. Listen to her prayer and take some time today to surrender and pray for the next generation!

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In this episode, I'm going to talk a little bit about disappointment and a little bit about blessing. Why am I talking about disappointment in the context of blessing? Well where does disappointment come from? A common answer in our day is that it comes from a lack of self-esteem or a failure to accept ourselves as we are. Maybe, but I'm convinced that the wiser answer is that disappointment is often an emotion that God provides to gentle remind us that there is more.

Isn’t that what blessing is? It’s the more of God. The problem is that somewhere along the way, we quit believing that God's blessing matters...or maybe we quit
believing that God really wants to bless us. But I'm telling you when it comes to blessing us, God is all-in!

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The prayer of Moses in Exodus 33 is "God we need your presence." And God responds, "You have found favor with me for you are my friend." If you know me, you know that few things having driven my life more than the desire to be used by God. But in the last few years God's been refocusing my passion, so nothing would drive me more than being loved by God and loving God with all my heart. I don't want to fulfill his plans and miss his presence.

So here is my question, "Do we value His presence over His power? Do we value His friendship over His favor? Every time I think of Moses, I find myself praying... "God, whether you use me or not, like Moses, would you help me in the last 1/3 of my life to simply be known as a friend of God.

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Genesis 4:26 is the first time prayer is mentioned in the Bible. "At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD." People who pray, people who call upon the name of the Lord are people who are willing to take a posture of brokenness. They are people who are willing to admit that the very best thing I bring to the table is my desperate dependency on God.

Jesus if you don’t come, what I’m longing for will never happen. Jesus, I’m calling on your name. I can’t fix what is broken. I can't fix my heart. I need you. For what are you most desperate? What request has been on your lips that you know, if God isn’t in it. If Jesus doesn’t show up it’s not going to happen… bring that to Him, call upon His name!

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The connection between the Spirit of God and the Word of God and the prayers of God’s people is profound. In fact, my favorite metaphor for this three-way connection is breathing deeply. The Spirit of God is the breath of God. So we breathe in the Word; and we breathe out prayer. Soak your soul in the Word and then lift up your heart to God in prayer, all shaped by the Spirit. This might be the most important rhythm of life. Prayer gets all the press when it comes to God at work, but it always begins with listening. We breathe in the Word of God we breathe out prayer.

So we are starting a series called "Praying Scripture." Each episode will look at a Biblical prayer and with a bit of explanation, in each episode we will pray that scriptural prayer! This episode brings a focus to listening... God give us ears to hear!

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The people in Acts were devoted to prayer, not just as a means to an end, but they were devoted to being with God, with Jesus in prayer. The early church prayed like prayer really mattered. They saw prayer as a necessary preparation for God's Work. (In fact you might argue that they saw prayer as the work, not just preparation for work.) They were constantly together and constantly in prayer. Prayer was not an afterthought or a whispered moment in the midst of the day. It was an intentional, sustained, unified, passionately devoted effort.

Is prayer our first response or our last resort?

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You could say that the book of Acts is the story of a people standing at a crossroads of decision. Their next step would set the direction of their lives. They had to make a decision. It was a decision of devotion. To what or whom would their first devotion be given? They had a conviction that they needed to give their hearts to Jesus, all-in. That kind of conviction only comes about when the dangerous combination of the Spirit and the Word saturates our hearts and minds.

Listen, if you've never felt that kind of conviction from the Spirit to take a particular path of devotion. You can just skip this one... but if you have had a moment where you stood at a crossroads of decision, as to where to place your devotion. Listen in... I think this is an important one.

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Don't miss this, though the book of Acts has been shown time and time again to contain an accurate historical survey, this is not an historical dissertation for Dr. Luke. He's writing to a person, possibly a friend and I want you to picture, his hand shaking with emotion, with excitement, joy, and deep longing as he writes. Because more than anything, he simply wants Theopholis to know Jesus.

And if we want to know Jesus, if we want others to know Jesus, that doesn't happen without the Spirit! You have a mission. It's all about Jesus, but it won't happen without the power of the Spirit!

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When you read Paul's story in the book of Acts, you find that he had a dream, a compelling vision. He wanted to live for Christ. He wanted to bring Jesus to the whole world and for Paul the whole world was at Rome. He wanted to witness to Caesar. So God brought him to Rome. Probably not the way Paul envisioned. no mass-crusade in the Coliseum, no miraculous signs and wonders in Caesar's court.
Some might look at the last years of Paul's life, the world's greatest missionary stuck in a Roman prison and say, "What a waste." But maybe not. When you live your life for Christ with no reserves, no retreats and no regrets, amazing things happen! What was true for him, could also be true for you!

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In Acts 27, we see that Paul had a deep, deep confidence in God’s power to accomplish God’s purpose through God’s plan. God's power, purposes and plan. What is God's purpose? He's taking the gospel global. The Kingdom of God and the good news of Jesus is going global. That’s always been God’s plan, and can I tell you something? In spite of what we think we see, or don't see, we can have confidence in God’s power accomplishing God’s purposes through God’s plan.

That's what was happening in Acts 27 and listen...it never stopped happening and it never will stop happening. All around the world, God is at work. That encourages me, but it also keeps me crying out, "God please do it again, here!"

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Acts 26 is the culmination of the love story that started in Acts 25, the love story between God and the family of Herod Agrippa. It’s also about evangelism. And let’s be honest, many of us have a love/hate/worry/guilt relationship with evangelism. Maybe that's because we've defined evangelism as, "Getting the hard sell from someone who acts like they're my best friend but has never taken the time to get to know me." But that’s not really evangelism. Literally evangelism means proclaiming good news. It’s not about persuading people you are right about the Bible. It’s proclaiming good news. What’s the good news? God loves you. He sent Jesus to die for you. You are proclaiming the love story of God.

What if evangelism is nothing less than inviting people into the world's greatest love story?

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I want to talk to you about seed-planters and soul revolutions. Seed-planters are people with vision. They are people with the patience, the faith and the courage necessary to strive hard for a future they may or may not see. Without seed-planters there is no fruit, no life. Seed-planters are people who love to serve. Seed-planters are people who will leave a legacy by what they invest, what they give. Jesus was a seed-planter; a revolutionary who found great joy in producing the kind of fruit that would turn the world upside down.

I don't think politics will make our communities great again. It requires more then economics. It requires a soul revolution that comes from the seeds of the Spirit producing the fruit of the Spirit. That's what we need, we need a soul revolution!

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Acts 25 contains one of my favorite love stories in all of scripture. I’ll never forget the first time it hit me, it settled into my heart. The passionate relentless love of God is so great. The love of Christ is so great, His pursuit so relentless that he would throw his #1 spokesman in jail for two years so that his #1 enemy might have one more chance to know that love? Such relentless love.

And He relentlessly loves you too! You are relentlessly pursued by a lavishly gracious, greatly merciful, fiercely loyal, patiently loving God. You are part of a great epic love story!

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ACTS 24 is a beautiful description of Paul being faithful. Embracing opportunities to share his faith, to talk about Jesus, even when it might make his life miserable. Not watering down the message to someone who has the power of life and death in his hands. Giving the full truth even if it might be controversial. Paul was faithful over and over again. Over two years, he continued to speak about Christ to Felix. Paul knew that his faith in Jesus was the very reason he was in custody. But he didn't downplay it or hide it. He boldly proclaimed it. He was faithful.

What if God doesn't judge the success of our lives based on outputs and outcomes, but rather on our faithfulness? Jesus help us to be faithful!

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There is a moment of a scene in Acts 23, a short description in verse, and here's what it says, "The following night, the Lord (Jesus) stood near Paul and said, "Take courage..." Who doesn't need more courage, but rather than focusing on the courage…here’s what I love. The following night, Jesus stood near Paul and spoke. Jesus stood near Paul and spoke. And Paul heard the word of the Lord. Listen, I believe the same is true today.

There are times when Jesus is standing near you speaking. In fact, what if this is the very word that God wants to drive deep into your heart with a gentle challenge to listen. When Jesus comes close, give him your ears. We won’t gain anything, if we don’t listen.

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Bob Buford talks about one of the most significant questions anyone ever asked him. The question was, "What's in your box?" It was a question asked in the midst of some life-coaching and the purpose of the question was to bring about a discussion of the central purpose of Bob's life. The consultant finally said to him, "Bob, you have to be real clear on this, real clear on the central purpose of your life. I've talked with you long enough to know that it's one of two things: It's either money or it's Jesus." And then he asked him, "What's in the box?"

The story God has prepared for us will not be written if we don't put Jesus in our box. What's in your box?

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I think every Christian in America should be required to memorize Philippians 1:21. This was Paul’s dream, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." That's the creed he lived by. "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Is that our creed? For most of us, who have the label American Christian, Paul's words are close to our dream/creed. We've just inter-changed two words.

We may not say it this way, but isn't it the way we live? "For me to live is gain and to die is Christ." Honestly, isn't that closer to how we live, how I live? I'm not saying anything that doesn't convict me. These words from Paul rock my world. Ask yourself, like I've asked myself, "Can I say, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain?" Or do I live for the gain now and hope in Christ for my death?

Am I living for Christ or living for the gain?

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If you had to summarize your life in six words, what would they be? How would you describe your life in six words? "Penn State wins again. Heart full." "If I don't graduate, I'll die." "I am seeking comfort and control." The challenge of the six-words is that it causes us to focus on what matters most, to capture briefly something of true significance. It really forces us to ask other questions, like, "Why Am I Here?" "What is life's greatest aim?" "What counts?"

Paul's answer is given in Acts 20:24 and I think it might simply be... "I want my life to count." What is your six-word story?

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What does it take to finish well? Or let me make that even more specific, what does it take for a follower of Jesus, a Jesus-apprentice to finish well? Because I think in order to finish well, we need to have some sense of who is determining the finish line, our course. Who is writing our story? For Paul that goes all the way back to his experience on the Damascus road? It goes all the way back to the words God spoke to Ananias about Paul. What did God say to Ananias about Paul?

God said, "Go, for Paul is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before gentiles, kings and the children of Israel." He is my chosen vessel. Paul believed that. It shaped his life and motivated him to finish well. And you know what? If you are a Jesus-follower, you are chosen too!

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The time comes when we all need a word of encouragement. And isn't that what church is all about. Paul says that the church is God's fields and we are partners in the Harvest, that the church is God's building and we are partners in it's construction...none of us stand alone. And one of the best things we can do together...is to encourage one another!

In fact, if you are here today, it is because...someone planted a seed, a seed of kindness, a seed of encouragement. Someone watered your heart, in a time when your heart was dry or barren, when it seemed like there was no hope, someone reached out with an arm your shoulders and encouraged you. Someone spoke into your heart. They said, "I see something in you. I believe in you. God loves you." They encouraged you.

Never believe you don't have time for a word of encouragement, because the value gained could be off the charts good!

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Somewhere along the journey every heart ablaze for God, begins with a growing heart-conviction that God actually wants to be with us. This is his great promise. I will be
with you. I want to be with you. But somewhere along the way, we gain this idea that God is love so God has to love us. He has to love us because he's God. But we aren't so sure He likes us...not so sure He wants to be with us.

But you see there is something about love that always desires to be with... The Bible is not primarily a guidebook left behind by God for those who might want to make the trip up to Him. The Bible is a storybook telling us about this God who came down to us. He not only loves you, He likes you! He wants to be with you!

And if you've been gone, He simply says, "C'mon back!"

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The Word of God is vital to spiritual life, but it's not enough. It's necessary but not sufficient. There's more. When we go through bone-drying, hope draining times, we need more than knowledge about God. We desperately need the Spirit, the breath of God. In Ezekiel 37, God says I'll put my breath into you. The word for breath is the Hebrew word, Ruach. It's the same word translated as Spirit. The breath of God is the Spirit of God. So Ezekiel called out to the Spirit, and the Spirit entered them and they came to life. They began to breathe.

Do you understand? If you ever go through a dry bone time...and you get to the point where you're wondering if there's any hope; as long as God has breath, there's always hope! It's time to breathe again!

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Acts 18 is full of names, the names of people whom Paul built into...and who were on his team. Paul says that the church is God's fields and we are partners in the Harvest, that the church is God's building and we are partners in it's construction. None of us stand alone. If you are here today, it is because someone planted a seed, someone watered your heart, someone laid a foundation. Someone built into your life. They gave you their time. They taught you about Jesus. They prayed and wouldn't quite praying for you. They were there when you needed them.

Who are the people who built into you? Who are the people you are building into? What list of names comes to your mind? Maybe you should take a moment and tell God thank you for your list!

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I think every person in the world, wants a father who loves us, who will pursue us no matter what, right? Don't we? Our hearts long for a father who will never give up hope that somehow, somewhere his son or daugther will re-connect, come home. A father who is persistent and unrelenting in his love, always reaching out, regardless of where his kid is at, regardless of whether or not there's a response.

God loves us like that, He is a Father without compare, and at it’s heart isn’t that the heart of our mission? We're just showing people the heart of God. We are on a mission to share the Father-heart of God with the world! Let that stir up your heart!

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I believe God has planted in the very dna of our souls, a desire to matter; a desire to live a life that makes a difference... to find a mission worth dying for and even better worth living for. So let me ask you right now, you can answer in the quiet of your own heart, "What and/or who are you really living for? What is your mission in life?

If I could put it in simple, non-religious language, I think Jesus wants us to show people the heart of God. At it’s heart isn’t that our mission? Showing people the heart of God?
I think we get that messed up sometimes. Sometimes we think our mission is to tell people how messed up they are...and we aren't. Sometimes we think our mission is to fix people...and we can't. But what if He's just asking us to show people the Father-heart of God? That's a mission worth living for!

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Are you urgently hungry from something more than bread for your stomach? Here is what I think, while many things could seem urgent, what actually becomes consistently urgent is whatever we think will brings us life and is missing. In other words, urgency is defined by hunger. Urgency happens when we lack something which we believe will bring us life.

I could talk all day about how to get into the Word. I could talk to you about learning from a Biblical mentor and developing a Biblical core. We could talk about resources like "How to Study the Bible for All It's Worth" and commentaries that open up some
of those hard passages. But honestly, knowing how to get into the Word is less important than wanting to get into the Word.

See here's what I know... if hungry people can find food, hungry people will eat. The question is are we hungry for something more than bread?

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Once upon a time we were called, "the people who turned the world upside down." In this episode I want to challenge us to pray, "Lord would you do it again?" We want to live in an upside down world because what we have come to experience as right-side-up is all wrong.

And it all begins with a decision...it's a yes or no decision; an all-in or nothing doing decision. Will you go all-in as a Jesus-apprentice? If we go all-in, what he gives in return is nothing short of amazing. His love is all-satisfying. It will soften the hardest heart and and heal the deepest hurt. It will quench the thirst of your soul giving you the courage to live life with open arms. It will change you. It may hurt you...he will not stop at shaping your to become his masterpiece. His is a fierce, unquenchable love.

Today he's holding out his hand to give you his heart. The question is will you give him yours. That's where it begins.

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I've always thought this story of Paul and Silas was a bit strange. This woman has been following them for days, telling people that they are God's men. They are legit; here to save you. But then one day, Paul gets annoyed and delivers her from demonic bondage and economic slavery and as a result they get beaten severely and thrown in jail; where we find them praying and worshipping at midnight.

And then a miraculous opportunity for escape comes, but instead of taking it, they help their jailer discover the love of Father God. I used to think that was an accident. Now I think it was the goal. It was God's purpose. I can see heaven's conference room, "Hey we got this Roman jailer; he's so close to the Kingdom. How about we send Paul and Silas? Yeah, we'll get them thrown in jail, that way, there's no way they can miss him."

And all of heaven and a room full of earth, rejoices that night as not only the jailer, but his whole family discovers the love of Father God and they become followers of Christ. So who is the jailer that God's putting in your life?

What if God is ready to do it again?

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Every time we come to the funeral of someone who loved Jesus...it should make us long just a bit more for home. Because no matter how great or how hard your life is at this moment, the best is yet to come. And I think that’s how the people on Jesus-team in the early church; I think that’s how they lived their lives. They lived like life was all about Jesus and dying brought the most incredible gain, so we’re not going to fear dying. We’re going all-out in this life for Jesus, because even if going all-out for Jesus brings us death, death brings us great gain.

We can’t lose. The best is yet to come. So let’s go all out for Jesus and the mission of loving our neighbors all the way to Jesus. Let's finish the race of our lives with joy!

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In Acts 16, we get introduced to two people Lydia and Timothy, both followers of Jesus. We know more about Timothy than we do Lydia, but it's still good to hear their stories. Their story is part of God's story and so is yours. Before we leave this episode we'll focus on bit more on Timothy's part in the story of God and how Paul mentored him.

And we will conclude with the mission of God that Paul helped Timothy fulfill...a mission of prayer and the Word and doing good in the world!

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At the end of Acts 15, we are introduced to John Mark. We know him best as the writer of the gospel of Mark. But I think it's safe to say, that without Barnabas we probably would have missed Mark. But instead of missing Mark, we gained an amazing gospel with a vital perspective on Jesus and His team. Barnabas was able to look past Mark's failure and see his future.

So who is your Barnabas? And who is your Mark?

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This episode is about what identifies us as followers of Jesus. What are the non-negotiables? Some of us grew up in a culture that emphasized what some call boundary marker religion. There were certain things that you did and did not do that were very important. Those things marked you as being in the group or not in the group. In my group, when I was a kid, you did not dance, play cards, go to movies, or wear long hair. You certainly did not get tattoos. Do those things and you were outside the group.

But do you know what boundary marker religion does? It focuses our eyes on the boundary instead of the center. It focuses on distance rather than direction. The follower of Jesus has their eyes set on Jesus, running in His direction! That's how they will know we are Christians!

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In Acts 14 is a statement that I love to hate and wish I could ignore. "We must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God." Through many hardships and much suffering, we enter the Kingdom of God. You have got to love that right? We get lots of joy and lots of persecution and then don’t care too deeply about what others think of you. We get the Word of God multiplying and people’s lives being transformed and miraculous answers to prayer and moments of genuine generosity and a whole bunch of suffering. Many hardships.

And we can't help but ask the question, "Can anything good come from everything hard?" I'll whisper the answer, so it doesn't sound inauthentic, "yes."

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It's hard to miss, the book of Acts gives us front-row seats to the incredible joy that saturated the early church, even in the face of hardship, suffering and persecution. This joy wasn’t just a here-and-gone moment of emotion but rather a steadfast perspective and fullness of delight that came from the joy-giving power of the gospel and the filling of the Spirit. So before we dive into Acts 14, let's just pause for joy.

Jesus once said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a party, a celebration of joy! And He calls us to live lives that invite people to the party. What if the most joy-full being in the world is asking us to pause for a taste of His joy?

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The early church faced unrelenting attacks, deep persecution, tragic losses, and from a human perspective unbeatable opponents. Yet, no matter what happened, they would not only bounce back, but in the hardest of chapters, they would overcome. The Word of God spread, followers of Jesus multiplied, communities were turned upside down, and the disciples were filled with joy.

They were so on fire for Jesus that they became a light for the whole world!

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Christ is the treasure above all treasures. He is worth everything you have. We go all-in for Jesus, because what we gain is of infinitely greater value than what we give. The only logical response to Jesus is the all-in response. But I'll never forget, a time I was listening to a description of the parable of the treasure...and I sensed Jesus saying to me, "This is what I did. I gave up everything. I went all-in for you. You are my treasure."

The cross of Christ is the all-in want-to of God. Because of the all-in want-to of God, we are covered in his love. His love is dripping off of you. Pretend you never heard this before, because it's so outlandish, it's upside down radical. "The Almighty God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son so that we could live life fully and abundantly.

God is all-in for you and that's Good News!

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When I read Acts 13, I'm reminded that whenever we go on the mission of God, we step into a spiritual battle. There is darkness in this battle. It may be the darkness that comes in the bitterness of anger, the darkness that comes from depression, the darkness that descends upon a relationship when we just can't seem to find a way to forgive. It's the darkness of choices...that take us away from the light.

Listen the battle's real. I've watched people's lives fill up with darkness. I've watched relationships fill up with darkness. I've watched neighborhoods fill up with darkness. It's real and sometimes the first steps into darkness are so small.

But when darkness comes, God is close. When darkness falls, heaven is not far. So stand in the battle, that's the call. Don't quit. Don't quit. Do not quit. In the end light wins.

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In Acts 12, after all the difficulty, all the persecution, and all the battle that was thrown at the early church, in the end the WORD of God flourished and continued to spread. Why? Well at least in part because of prayer. That was our focus in the last episode. We said you could chart the growth of the early church by their prayer meetings. In this episode we’re going to keep talking about prayer meetings, but perhaps with a bit more focus on the meeting part. See something happened when they gathered for prayer that didn’t happen in the same way when it was just one person praying…and don’t hear what I’m not saying, one person praying matters to God.

But something happens when we gather for prayer.

The fire spreads and we burn better together!

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You can chart the growth of the early church by it's prayer meetings. Something bad would happen, but they they prayed. It looked like they were down and out, but then their prayers went up and in. I bet 80% of us say we believe in prayer. We believe it's important, so why don't we pray? Of course, almost everyone sends up a brief prayer from time to time, but I'm not talking about the occasional, "if you have a moment can you help me God" prayers.

I'm talking about church of Acts prayer. They had a prayer meeting and the church grew. They had a prayer meeting and God renewed their courage. They had a prayer meeting and wondrous miracles took place. They had a prayer meeting and the fundamental realities of life were transformed. I'm talking about that kind of prayer. Prayer was their first response. At every opportunity they turned to prayer.

I'm talking about that kind of prayer.

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Memorial Day is a day to remember those who gave their lives defending our freedom. So how do we honor their sacrifice? I wonder if the best way to honor their sacrifice is found in Matthew 5 and Isaiah 58 both of which contain a call to shine.

You are the light of the world, so shine! You are the light of the world, so shine. Bring light to the darkness, shine! You may feel like you're only one little candle, but when you shine, you can light another candle, so shine! The world needs the light of your life filled with the Spirit of Christ!

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Acts 12:1-5 is a good reminder that when we become part of the mission of Jesus, we enter into a spiritual battle. Don't be discouraged when we face defeat and darkness in our spiritual lives...it's a battle. When relationships tank...don't be caught off guard, it's the enemy's strategy to divide and conquer. The gospel is a real-life, epic story and every epic story has a villan in the battle between good and evil. When we are invited into the Kingdom we are invited into this battle.

Perhaps one of the great problems for our movement today is that for the last few decades the invitation to follow Jesus has read more like a travel agency brochure than an enlistment campaign. Rarely do we hear, "Come follow Jesus and enlist in the battle against evil, for good. Come fight for the heart of your King or die trying."

I'm praying that Jesus would make us dangerous!

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There is a surprising amount of research on this. Gender has no impact on happiness. Weather has no impact on happiness. You have just as much potential for happiness under the cloudy skies of State College as you do in the sun of San Diego! Research suggests that happiness has its source in things like, volunteering, giving blood, serving others, helping your neighbors, and being generous with your finances.

Jesus once said that where our treasures are, our hearts will follow. That means that generosity is the journey of hearts saturated with heaven! How is your generosity?

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You can use a hand for many things; fight, discipline, shake hands, or hug. You can hold someone up. You can bless them. But nothing will empower us and change us and help us turn the world upside down like having the gracious hand of God upon us. The gracious hand of God is nitro fuel for our tank. It's the hand that takes the wheel when we can't see the way and pulls us out of the ditch when we've gone the wrong way. The phrase can be found in many places in scripture, including Acts 11. But one of my favorite places is in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is summarizing an amazing story of God at work with the words, "And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests."

The goal is not simply "more prayer." The goal is to be a people upon whom, the gracious hand of God rests.

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In this episode as we look at Luke 11, we will pause to ponder two things that we can do, every single one of us can do these two things and they will make a huge difference in our life and the lives of others. The more we do these two things, the more the gracious hand of God will be upon us! What two things? Repentance and Encouragement.

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In Acts 10:31, there is this simple, yet convicting description of Jesus. "God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power and Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of Satan, because God was with Him." I read those words and can't help but think, "Isn't our goal to be more like Jesus? Even do more like Jesus?

It's not one or the other, it's both/and. He went around doing good and healing people. He want around providing living proof of a loving God, because He was filled with the Spirit and God was with Him. What are we doing?

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So "More Than Bread," is a podcast that is seriously convicted that there are no words we need to hear more than we need to hear the Words of God. Because the stuff of life is not enough to give us life. We need more than relational stuff or vocational stuff…we definitely need more than luxury, comfort and control stuff. We need every word that comes from the mouth of God, empowered and applied by the Spirit of God. So we listen to his words and we learn from his words and ultimately we lean into, we respond to, we obey his words and we find life.

When people are so hungry for God that they will give up anything, everything just to be with him, then they will hear his voice. "Do you want to be with me?" He asks. "Then listen. I'll speak."

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Today as we finish up Acts 9, we get another look at the impact of the early church and the transformation of people! But in the midst of all the amazing stories, we will pay special attention to verse 31, which offers a glimpse into how the early church found life and helped others find life in between the two tensions of two walks. The verse reads, "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers."

They walked in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Spirit. Not one or the other, they walked in both. What would that look like for us? Which are you more passionage about, the fear of the Lord of the comfort of the Spirit?

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In this episode, we will focus on one small statement in Acts 9. It is a small statement with great significance. Are you ready? Here it is... "You have been chosen." What comes to mind when you hear those words? "You have been chosen." Well you might say, it depends. Chosen for what? If you get a registered letter from the Government, that begins with the words, "You have been chosen." that may not be very positive. But chosen for the Olympics, better deal, right? Every time I do a wedding, I'm impacted by the power of being chosen.

But here is even better news. You have been chosen by God for a great calling. Whether you are married or single, poor or rich, old or young, if you are a Jesus-follower, you have been chosen for a great calling!

How does that feel?

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Lost people matter to God. Your neighbors, coworkers, classmates and friends matter to God. Your enemies matter to God. Acts 8 is a reminder that not only did Jesus go the cross because lost people matter to God, even after the cross he will do everything he can to bring people to Jesus to find life in the Kingdom of God. Lost people matter to God in ways that sometimes it seems like we have forgotten. That's why we are called to be partners in the gospel; helping people encounter Jesus. A Jesus who lived passionately, and healed completely, who loved people whole and taught life-giving words of truth, who died on a cross and rose again to redeem our lives and create a new community he called church.

When lost people matter to you, like they matter to God, there’s no telling how many opportunities He will give you to talk to others about Jesus.

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Acts 7-8 describe a defining moment for the church. Stephen's moment of sacrifice defined our movement as a movement of people who were full of faith, and full of the Spirit, full of grace, and full of power. Stephen's ending moments defined our movement as a movement of people who were fully joyfully surrendered to their King, a movement of courageously generous and deeply passionate people. But it was even more than that. With all my heart I believe that the heavens opened that day.

I believe that God wanted to let Stephen know that he was so pleased by his sacrifice, by the surrender of his life, that He was going to open up the heavens and pour out so much more. So, with all my heart, I believe that when that kind of opportunity come and that kind of surrender is made…it is so worth it. What God does in response is so amazingly worth it.

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One reason why reading the book of Acts is so important, is because it's a reminder of
something significant. We read Acts and we can hear, maybe ever so faintly hear, this call that echoes down through the centuries... "There is a cause, there is a story being written that is worthy of your life."

As I read the ending of Stephen's story, I realize that as the stones of hardship, suffering, perhaps even persecution come raining down on us, the most important question is, "Is it worth my life? If what happens to me is what happened to Stephen, would my last thoughts be, "God what a waste." Or would they be "God thank you for counting me worthy of suffering for Jesus?" Which leads to the question, "Is He worthy?" The life of Stephen cries out, "Yes."

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If I lay it all on the line, God’s gonna waste my life. That's the thought that comes to mind when I read Stephen's sermon in Acts 7. Sure Stephen was filled with passionate courage and preached it straight to the Jewish religious leaders. But then look at what happened. And we think, "If I say yes to God, he's going to send me to the last place in the world that I'd ever want to go and then make me do the last thing in the world that I'd ever want to do for the last person in the world that I would ever want to know. And then he's going to have me die penniless; friendless and obscure." Like God is just waiting us to say yes so that He can consume, ruin and waste our lives.

But here's what I believe, "He's your Father, Father God, and if He is waiting for anything, He simply waits for us to say yes to the incredible destiny of someone who is a child of King. There is a cause...a story being written that is worthy of your life. It's the story of Christ.

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Acts chapter 6 is a turning point in our movement. Up until Acts 6, the only names you ever hear about is Peter and John, once in awhile James. Everyone else is part of a group, or just a number. But after Acts 6 it changes. After Acts 6, everyone has a mission. Ministry is handed off from a few leaders to everyone. In chapter 6, it's Stephen. He's preaching, healing, serving widows. In Acts 8, Philip becomes an evangelist. In chapter 9, Saul gets written into the story. Then it's Dorcas the seamstress, followed by Lydia the church planter, Priscilla the teacher, Philip's prophesying daughters and the list goes on and on.

Because that's what happens when the Spirit comes and fills up the followers of Christ.
Everyone has a part. The mission is placed in the hands and hearts of ordinary men and women who loved Jesus and were filled with His Spirit.

As we dig into Acts 6, here is the first thought that comes to my mind. Sometimes the church is both an unstoppable force and an unspeakable mess. The church in Acts was an amazing movement, full of power and courage, a joy and generosity that would just knock the spiritual socks off your feet. But it wasn't pure. It wasn't perfect.

Don't forget the deceit of Ananias and Sapphira. In Acts 8, we'll see the hunger for self-serving power in Simon the Magician, the fearful retreating of John Mark in Acts 13 and so much more mess. Sometimes an unstoppable force can also be an unspeakable mess, in fact I don't know that history has ever seen a revival that wasn't messy.

But never forget as we look at the church in all her mess. Jesus is so intimately passionate about His church that He calls it His bride. Pretty hard to love Jesus, if we don't love His bride.

In Acts chapter 5, we find the early church experiencing intense persecution from the religious authorities. The apostles have been arrested, flogged, and commanded to stop speaking about Jesus. But instead of being silenced and scared, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the Name.

Can you imagine that mindset today? How many of us would consider it a privilege to be beaten and shamed for our faith? The apostles' response reveals just how radical a transformation the gospel had worked in their hearts and lives. Their devotion to Christ superseded even the most basic human instincts for comfort and control. So as we listen to Acts 5:40-42 today, just ask yourself - do I have that same spirit of joyful willingness to endure hard times for the sake of Jesus? Am I grateful for times when I suffered for Jesus? Not easy questions, but they may measure the heart of our passion for Jesus and how full we are of the Spirit.

In Acts 5, a religious leader by the name of Gamliel, let loose with some wisdom on the Jewish religious leaders. He warned them to leave Peter and John alone because if this movement was not of God, it would die out. But if it was of God...they would find themselves fighting against God!

The church in Acts was of God. It was filled with people who were experiencing the fire of the Holy Spirit filling their hearts and minds. A group of people who were bowing their hearts and bending their knees to give their loyalty and their love to Jesus. And God responded by filling them with his presence, empowering them with his Spirit and giving them courage and deep compassion. A compassionate courage so deep that they just could not stop talking about Jesus!

When is the last time you felt like you just couldn't stop talking about Jesus?

To turn the world upside down, we must get real with our sin. We have to take off our masks and get real with our sin. When we get real with our sin, grace happens and life is transformed. If you grew up in the church, and you are wearing a mask of spirituality that hides the sin in your heart, then you don't like the story of Annanias and Sapphira, in Acts 5. You hear the story and you think, "God that was a little over the top, don't you think?" I mean it was just a little lie, who were they hurting?

If you are a religious person, God's the bad guy in this story.

But if you have ever got real with God and found forgiveness for your sins; if you have ever dealt with your junk, you know that God's not the bad guy. Sin is a cancer that has
no cure but grace and grace that doesn't come if we don't get real. But when it comes...it is simply gloriously good!

This episode is about stuff and our masks and getting real with each other and God. And a little bit about what sometimes happens when God gets real with us!

One of the amazing things about people giving up their stuff is that stuff is one of the most secure and effective masks we wear. Right? Because if we have stuff on the outside, then people assume that we are good on the inside. But here's the deal. Stuff means nothing. It can be used for many things, but it means nothing. It defines nothing. We go through life collecting stuff, getting anxious about stuff, and hoping our outside stuff masks our inside stuff.

In real church, real people get real with each other and God.

Some of you think that there is simply no way God can do anything of significance through you. You beg off every time He extends His hand of partnership, because you are just an ordinary nobody, a common anybody. You don't have the training for this or the experience for that. But the most important question is, "Are you willing to be with Jesus."

The hearts of Peter and John were forever changed by spending time with Jesus. It left them with the kind of courage that is unshaken when you're exhausted, frustrated, and scared spitless, with absolutely no way in the known world for you to do what God calls you to do, unless he does it through you.

Do you understand? It's ok to be unschooled and ordinary, as long as I've been with Jesus. How much have you been with Jesus?

When I read Acts 4, my first thought is this, "Before we turn the world upside-down, God may need to shake-up our church! In Acts 4, there's a prayer meeting that shook a building. We'll actually the Spirit of God did the shaking and I can’t help but ask, "God do you have it in you to do it one more time? Would You shake us until we become the church that you can use to turn our world upside down?"

Because can we be honest? If we keep settling for the same levels of passion and commitment; if we keep placing multiple things in a higher priority than following Christ; if we keep loving stuff more than we love our neighbors and keep doing church like we've always done it, nothing is going to be turned upside-down, which means our world will never be right-side-up. I hope after listening to this episode you will join me in praying, "God shake us up!"

I want to dance, but even more I want to see those around me dance. When the crippled man of Acts 3 began to dance in the temple, do you understand his crippled place become the glory bookmark in the chapter of the story entitled, "When the Spirit was poured out." Where are the bookmarks in your life? What potential bookmarks are there in the lives of people around you? Places of brokenness external or internal, places of brokenness that when wholeness comes, they become bookmarks for the glory of God? Are we praying for the broken people around us. Are we praying that they dance?

I know you want to dance. I want the crippled places in my life to become bookmarks for God's glory...but this story forces me to ask, "Am I praying that God will bring a dance of gratefulness to the lives of those around me?"

As we dive into Acts 3, we encounter one of favorite early church moments, a truly iconic miracle, the story of a lame beggar who became a dancing cripple. In fact, I’ve used that as my user name on more than occasion, because in the end, aren’t we all just dancing cripples? And I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but when a cripple dances, a crowd begins to form and the church begins to matter.

See I believe that's why Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until God gave them the gift of His Spirit. He told them to wait until they got what He had to give, because without the Spirit, church doesn't really matter. Without the Spirit we don't have a whole lot to give. But with the Spirit we have more than we know.

"Wait for the Spirit," Jesus said. Then the Spirit came and the church was birthed. It was a church of humble power and courageous generosity, a church that lived against the grain of society but loved so deeply many in that culture were compelled to join them. It became a church that beat down the gates of hell to rescue neighbors from darkness. This was the church birthed and empowered by the very Spirit of Christ.

There are many different descriptions, different words, the Bible paints many different pictures to help us understand the Spirit. But one of my favorites is the "breath of God" the wind. It's the Hebrew word, Ruach. It is the breath of God that breathes life into our deadness, that blows fire into our hearts, that brings power for living. And that breath, the breath of God is so for you!

I want to live the uncommon life that comes from an uncommon encounter with the living God. And as much as I want to see signs and wonders like the healing of bodies; even more I hunger to see the healing and renovation of hearts. I hunger to see the healing of 10's of 1000's of hearts; the kind of wholesale renovation that would lead God to be pleased to pour out a blessing on central PA that cannot be contained in one
heart, one valley, one school, but spills over and draws people from all over world to Central PA to be shaped by God at work

What will it take to get there? A full-on heart devotion to Jesus.

Acts 2:42-47 is the original destination for the church. Don't get me wrong, the Acts 2 church was just as full of imperfect people as we are today. The Acts 2 church would make mistakes just like we do today. But there was a freshness of Spirit and when that Spirit is let loose in the church, I believe the church is the hope of the world.

I don't mean a building or a Sunday morning gathering. I mean followers of Jesus let loose in the world; loving God, loving each other, and loving their neighbors like they love themselves. Because listen, as another pastor once said, "There is nothing like the local church when it is working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited."

If we aren't that kind of church...we have to ask...why not?

What if it's true that God offers us His presence in the same the same way, he offered it at Pentecost? What if a group of people could be so filled with the Spirit that the world was changed...turned upside down? What if what happened in Acts 2, could happen today? Would we want it?

That day in the upper room as the Spirit came, tongues of fire sat upon each head. Fire is a dominant metaphor when talking about the work of the Holy Spirit. The followers of Jesus saw 120 flames of fire, one on each person. The Spirit gave them a fire of passion for God, for each other, and a passion to share Jesus with others. An encounter with the Holy Spirit will cause our hearts to burn.

Lord would you do it again?!!

We can be filled with many different things...good and bad. What are you filled with today? It's an uncommon call to be filled with the Spirit of God. We're not exactly sure what it means, but we do know what it's like to be filled with something. If someone says that they are filled with grief, or filled with fear, despair, anger, ambition or joy...of filled with love, we understand. We know that what fills us dominates our thoughts, dictates our actions and perhaps even describes who we are. What fills us, shapes our hearts. So let me ask a "what if."

What if it's true that God offers us His presence in the same the same way that He offered it at Pentecost? What if a group of people could be so filled with the Spirit that the world was turned upside down? What if what happened at Pentecost, could happen today? Would you want it?

Imagine you had a chance to be there in the upper room on Pentecost when the Spirit of God came...but you missed it. Imagine you missed it. You weren't there. You didn't join the group. Got distracted. Got scared. Other things were more important. You missed it. What did they have to do in order to receive the promise? Just wait. Be there. 120 men and women waited. They prayed. They didn't have to earn it. They just had to be there, they just had to join in. I know there are times when we are called to wrestle in prayer, to travail and battle in prayer, but what if sometimes we just need to be there.

I read the book of Acts and I envision extraordinary events. Things that make me go, wow! And then I look around me and I see spaces filled with ordinary people. I look within me and so often I feel like I'm even less than ordinary. There's extra-ordinary and there's ordinary and then there's Dan. 120 people were in that room that day; each and every one of them...ordinary. But what God can do through ordinary people submitted to the Spirit of God...now that's extraordinary!

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When God asks us to wait, it's always a word of hope. When God says, WAIT, He's promising you that there will be a tomorrow. Wait is a word of hope. God's Wait is always tied to a promise, which simply means there is still more to come.

Some of you have been waiting on promises you believe God gave you years ago, maybe decades ago. God put something in your heart and then you waited. And as you waited, and waited, you began to wonder why, you even began to doubt the outcome. But God's waiting room is not like a hospital waiting room. When God asks us to wait, the outcome is never in doubt. It's simply the timing that's unknown.

So let's keep asking Him for more, even when He tells us to wait!

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you," Jesus said. "And you will be baptized, immersed in the Holy Spirit. You will receive power and you will be my witnesses everywhere you go." I love my church. I see God at work here. But if there's anything that I know we need more of, it is the power of God. So if we want to turn the world upside down, we have to change the preposition. Change the preposition and you will change the world.

What do you mean by that Dan? I mean that in the case of the disciples before Jesus death and resurrection, they were doing life "with Christ." They were expanding the Kingdom "with God." And when you read the gospels we see what amazing stuff, a group of people can do "with God, with Christ." But Jesus said, just wait...there's more, there's more than "with God." Wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, wait to be immersed in the Holy Spirit. Why? Because you cannot even imagine what it's like when you stop doing life with God, and start doing life in Christ.

The promise worth waiting for is that we can change the preposition from "with" to "in" and find the power to turn the world upside down.

Before I recorded this episode, I was listening to a playlist that I put together and the title of the playlist is simply "Jesus." The song that was playing before I recorded is a song by Terrian entitled, "Honestly We Just Need Jesus." I would add it to the episode if I was better at editing. But instead, click the song and listen to it. It will set up this episode better than the words I had planned to write.

Honestly, I think we just need Jesus.

We want to live in an upside down world because what we have come to experience as right-side-up is all wrong. So let's start with that moment when we were first called, "those who turned the world upside down." It happened a few years after the resurrection, and it's recorded in Acts 17:1-6. That's why every time I read the book of Acts, I'm praying, "Lord would you do it again?"

But here's the reality, we can't turn the world upside-down, if we are desperately striving to keep our feet on the ground. And many of us are; we're trying to keep our feet on the ground, because being turned upside down feels so out of control. It sounds so uncomfortable and not very safe. It sounds like a carnival ride without seat-belts that has no red-stop button.

But what if, that’s what it takes to turn the world upside down?

This is an utterly simple reality. Jesus does not have my heart if He does not get my time. I am not an apprentice of Jesus loving like Jesus, and sent like Jesus if I do not long to be with Jesus. And it’s a journey, not a curriculum; it’s a journey.

This journey you are on, of apprenticing Jesus, is a life-long journey. It’s not a two-day retreat, or a semester long curriculum or even a one-year course, it’s a life-long journey that involves like Paul said, finishing well. I want my life to count. That's why we do what we do, we want our lives to count. It's not enough to count our lives. We want our lives to count. And it all begins be being with Jesus!

The ascension tells us who Jesus is today and where Jesus is today. The ascension tells us what Jesus is doing today. Who is he? He is the Lord of heaven & earth; ruler of all the nations, King of the Universe, and the Head of the Church. Where is he? Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, a position of authority and power. What is he doing? Besides ruling, Paul in Romans and the author of Hebrews both say that that Jesus is interceding for us. He is praying, speaking to the Father on our behalf.

Jesus -- ascended -- holds the answer to all our prayers and the fulfillment of all God's promises. Jesus. King. Christ. Messiah. All power and authority has been given to him. He has the name that is above all other names. Right now at this very moment, Jesus is King over all the earth's presidents, prime ministers, kings, military leaders and tribal chiefs. And in his time, through his means, by his strategies, he is leading the events of my life, AND the events of the world toward his glorious purposes.

And so we prayer, "Father of Heaven, through Jesus would you make it down here, like it is up there!"

This may be a difficult episode for some of us to love. It's all about the ascension of Jesus. The ascension is that moment described in the gospels and the book of Acts when Jesus went up to heaven. But the language of ascension is not just a “going up” language. That language is used, Jesus going up, coming up, ascending. But it’s not just directional, it’s primarily positional. Ascension is the language of Jesus becoming King. He ascended to His throne. King of Heaven and Earth, head of the Church. He is the King of the Kingdom of God. God has delivered to Jesus, through his death and resurrection, all authority and all power.

Here is the part that might be hard to love. If He’s not your King, He’s not your Savior. Is He your King? Have you bowed your knee to Him. Have you surrendered your heart to him? He’s not your savior if he’s not your King. If he’s not your king, you’re not following Jesus. You're just going to church. It's not the same thing.

In this episode we will ponder two different groups (and two specific people) who interacted with the resurrected Jesus, women and family; specifically Mary Magdalene and James. If there was anyone there for Jesus in the hardest moments of his life it was Mary. If there was anyone's change of mind that proves (at least for me) the resurrection, it was James the brother of Jesus.

I am desperately convicted of how much today we need courageous, stick-with-it women like Mary Magdalene and men like James the brother of Jesus, the skeptic turned believer who would spend so much time on his knees, that he gained the nickname, "Old Camel Knees." We would do well to aim our lives in the direction of either one!

Do you believe? When you look around you at the state of the world, or maybe the state of your family, or your life, do you ever wonder who is driving this thing we call "the world" and can that someone be trusted? Can I place my life in his hands? Does he care about me? Can I trust his character and his competence? I call it the "Quest to Believe." Over and over again, the writers of scripture, Jesus himself connects an uncommon life, a life that thrives, with faith, with believing.

It seems like it should be an easy thing, it's so easy even a child can do it. In fact we often hold that up as the standard, a child-like faith. But then we grow up...and sometimes this quest for faith seems so difficult. Can I tell you something? You aren't alone. It's always been difficult. Can I tell you something even more important? Jesus can handle your doubt with deep compassion! Come to him and let him help you in the struggle!

It's one of my all-time favorite moments in the life of Jesus, breakfast on the beach at sunrise with his friends. But for Peter, it's a hard moment...a moment when he comes face to face with the facts of his failure. Jesus knows Peter has messed up. Peter knows Peter's messed up. Peter's pretty sure that Peter's gonna mess up again and Jesus would probably agree. But Jesus doesn't even mention what Peter did wrong. Jesus doesn't let out with a cockle-doodle-do and say, I told you so Peter. He doesn't even try to work through the steps of what Peter did wrong....

He just asks him, "Do you love me Peter?" Three times, once for each denial. Not because Jesus wanted to remind him of his failure, but I think because, there was nothing more important in that moment than Peter hearing his own words in his own ear affirming, "Yes Jesus I love you." Because there was nothing more important in that moment that Peter saying, "Jesus you have my heart."

In this episode we will spend some time talking about the authority of our King in the Kingdom of God. The glory of Easter is not just the promise of personal resurrection. It's the promise of the Kingdom of God come to earth. It's the fulfillment of the promise of the return of the King!

And that King, our King Jesus is offering us the same challenge He offered them at their special place in Galilee, the offer to be part of his team on a mission. Not fans in the stands, but players on the field. He is calling us to go with the good news that the Kingdom of Heaven has come, that the King of the Kingdom is risen and reigning.

All authority has been given to Him, so we go in His authority, for His mission to see our neighbors delivered from the power of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of the Son!

Can you imagine what would happen if we had a viral outbreak of Easter? When God let Jesus loose on the earth, people were amazed; amazed at his birth, amazed at his life, his teaching, his miracles, and his compassion. What if, because resurrection power has been let loose in the world; what if because of the outpouring of Spirit, Jesus was let loose through each of us again and again and again?

That's what happened in the early days of the church and it was an amazing time. It really happaned, a small, marginalized community of people discovered hope and power and they started to live like Jesus. They started to serve like Jesus and love like Jesus and give like Jesus. And they became known as the people who turned the world upside down. What if it could happen again? What if?

How many here have ever had a good movie or a good book spoiled because somebody told you the ending? Like, "Did you realize that the guy in the Sixth Sense is actually dead?" Sorry. On the other hand, in real life, there are times when knowing the ending could make the middle a little easier to live through.

Sometimes wouldn't it be nice to know how the story ends? Did I make the right decision to hang in there? How are my children going to turn out? Is there any point to the difficulty I'm going through? Will it ever end? My life seems so dark right now, it it worth living? Will there ever be any light? Any laughter? Anything but this loneliness? Those questions might be easier to live with, if we knew the end of our story.

And in a sense, that's exactly what Easter means to me. I know the end of my story and even better I know the author! He's alive!

Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday are the celebration pillars of Holy Week. But today isn’t Friday or Sunday. It’s Saturday. The in-between day. The Saturday between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday goes by various names, Holy Saturday, Black Saturday, even Hallelujah Saturday in Portugal. I think of it as Silent Saturday, stuck in the in-between, not quite as bad as Friday, but no hope in sight for Sunday. In some ways, it’s where we often find our living. In-between. Waiting. Waiting in spaces of unanswered prayer, hope not yet realized, grief and fear and anxiety perhaps not at an urgent pitch, but by no means gone.

Welcome to in-between Saturday. The death, lockdown and resurrection breakthrough of Jesus took place over three days. If Friday was the day of suffering, pain and agony and Sunday was the day of hope and victory. Saturday was the day of uncertainty, the day of doubt and confusion and misery. Saturday was a day of waiting... what are you waiting for...?

Can you guess the most famous, the most well known logo of all time? From tattoos to jewelry, from huge monuments that tower over cities to a tracing in the air over a forehead or a heart, from works of art to a form scratched on the walls of catacombs -- the caves where persecuted Christians hid, it's the cross.

You see it on churches, t-shirts, and cemetery tombstones. It hangs from necks as gold jewelry and it's inked in blue on people. I bet it's hard to go through a day without seeing at least one. This is the ages old logo of the church. The cross is the brand of the untamed Jesus and all those who follow Him.

Why a cross? That's what Good Friday is all about!

John 17 is Jesus last time of prayer before the cross and in it we see the dream on the heart of Christ, was a dream for our common unity, that we would love each other like Jesus loves us. And yet how well have we responded to his prayer. We have been so easily divided, race, covid perspectives, economics, when it comes to the unity of the church, I can’t say I’m looking forward to another season of politics.

Listen, the early church didn't ignore the politics of the day because they were afraid. They ignored the politics of the day because they believed they had found something far more powerful, far more glorious. They believed that they were part of a Kingdom that made politics look like fool's play. Rather than settling for a lesser glory, they decided to strive for a glory-saturated community.

For almost 25 years, this has been my prayer... "Father show us your glory. Fill us with your love. Make us one."

What did Jesus do on Wednesday of Holy Week? The New Testament is silent. But I have to believe that Jesus was thinking about Judas, praying for Judas. In less than two days, Jesus will be star player, center stage, in an event that will fulfill the deepest purposes of God and split history in two. In a few hours he will be fulfilling his call, and turning history inside out, while hanging on an old rugged cross.

But before that moment comes, Judas will betray Him. And before that moment comes Jesus will show Judas the full extent of His love. He would even wash his feet. If Jesus loved Judas, He can love me too. And He does. That's what he was doing on Wednesday, getting ready to show us the full extent of His love!

Where is your sacred space? When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple, which kept everyone away from the very holy presence of God, that curtain was torn in two., from the top down. We usually focus on the message in that moment, as an invitation to come. You're invited. Come into God's presence. But what if God tore the curtain in two as a way of saying, "I will not be put in a box. Walls cannot contain me."

Listen, this changes everything.. Do you understand? Since the resurrection, any place can be a sacred space, because Christ is let loose and His presence brings the sacred to every space He touches. Every revival begins with an arrival; a fresh revelation of the glory and majesty; the love and power of Jesus. The good news is that God cannot be put in a box. Walls cannot contain Him. Because of that, I am filled with hope and expectancy that every time I step out my door, I'm entering into potentially sacred space.

I think most of us think that prayer is a good thing. Something we should do more of... when we are able. But few of us think of prayer as a necessary thing. Most of us think that the reason we aren't loving our neighbors, our workmates, classmates, family and friends well is simply because we don't have time. If I just had more time I would be love better. I would be a good neighbor. But the reality is that we can't do what Jesus calls us to do without Jesus helping us to do it. Our communities simply will not change if we do not pray.

In this episode we see Jesus launch a full-out, clean-up of the Temple. Why? Because it was no longer a place of prayer for all people. I'm going to challenge us to fill Holy Week with prayer! I hope you will take up the challenge with me!

We are only a few days away from the start of Holy Week, Palm Sunday. In Luke 19:41, there is a picture of moment, as Jesus came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, He began to weep. I can't get that scene out of my mind. It's a moving party, a celebration; people yelling, shuffling around trying to get a glimpse. All of a sudden the parade stops. On a hill overlooking Jerusalem; it's Jesus' first sight of the city. He's coming over the mountain on the road leading into town, panoramic view of the city. He steps off his ride and stares at the city across the valley. Those in the crowd close to him, begin to notice tears and the crowd grows silent as word passes back. Jesus is crying.

When Jesus comes into a city, He comes in with tears. What brings unexpected tears to Jesus' eyes? He's crying for a city that missed it's moment. BUT...in this episode we'll talk about the people who didn't miss him!

Something happened when Jesus died on the cross. Something deep down in the foundations of reality shifted. It isn't just a story that shows the soft side of God. It was cosmic redemption -- grace started working it's way backwards and forwards through time, as God began to reconcile all things to himself "through the blood of the cross." (Colossians 1:20).

We Celebrate. Christ. Crucified.

We celebrate the day the Living Water said, "I thirst." We celebrate the day when the Resurrection and the Life died. We celebrate the day when the King set all powers aside to serve the powerless. We celebrate the day when the Son of God became the Lamb
of God left to bleed on the altar for our sins.

We Celebrate. Christ. Crucified.

I wonder how often we miss Christ's invitation to join him in a miracle because we think he's leaving the solution up to us. So, we count our coins, strategize our plans, and work up our gumption only to realize, "Yeah, we can't do that. We don't have enough. We can't give what we don't have." Jesus is looking for a yes and too often, all we have is a "yeah but."

Yeah, but...you can't ask me to be their friend. Their needs are so deep. I just don't have enough time. Do you know what it would cost my family? My kids? Can't give what I don't have. If there’s one message that I would love for us to lean into in this episode, it's these five words… "There is more than enough." With God there is more than enough!

Here's a good legacy question. How will I be remembered? That's a great question, an appropriate question to ask, but I would suggest that there's an even better legacy question, not just how will I be remembered, but "Who will remember me?" I’ve been thinking about that a bit lately. Unless you are a world-changer, book-writer kind of person, a lifetime after you die, you’ll probably be forgotten. My kids barely remember my grandparents and their kids will never know them. I’m not saying that your life lived well now won’t impact generations to come. I’m just saying that they won’t know it was you. So it’s an interesting question, Who will remember me?

In this episode we are looking at the story of a woman who has been remembered for centuries because of an extravagant act of generous love for Jesus. I'm a bit jealous of her. I wish I had the opportunity to give an extravagant gift to Jesus, to see the expression of gratitude on his face. And I will simply ask this question, "What if we do have that same opportunity every day?"

I think part of what Jesus is saying in Matthew 25, is that when you come across those who are in need, I don't want you to think of them as the least of these. I want you to think of them as family. They are not just the "least of these" they are family. In fact, they are not just family, they are Jesus, to us.

So...

Go Love Jesus. I'm not taking about going to church on Sunday. I'm taking about a go-love-Jesus adventure. I mean honestly, does it matter where we gather on Sunday if we don't love our neighbors in need on Monday? Sunday is half-time, it's not the game. Monday is proof of Sunday. Monday is mission-day and if we aren't going to love Jesus in need...then we're looking for all-in benefits with a casual commitment. So go love Jesus. Show Jesus your generosity!

This is what love does. Love gives and God gave the greatest gift. He gave us his son. Jesus died for us. My sin responsible for his death. And what does God do. He invites us into His family, gives us a seat at the table. For God so loved the world that He gave His only son...

So that whoever believes would have life. This is the Greatest Invitation . Whoever. Is there anyone left out of whoever? Is there any distinction between the people who are
part of whoever? Does it matter if you are rich or poor? Does the color of your skin matter? Does it matter if you are gay or straight? Does it matter if you were abused or had a happy childhood? Does it matter if you had an abortion? Are you left
out of whoever...if you were a bad parent?

No. Whoever is whoever. The greatest God with the greatest love has given you the greatest gift!

There was a moment in the life of Peter, before he was a Jesus-follower, a fishing boat moment that lead to an "if you say so Jesus" moment. Are you an if-you-say-so-Jesus person? Or do you always know better? It’s hard to surrender when I think I always know best. This moment was a test for Peter. Jesus is looking for people to invest in; leaders to develop; people who will help him make a difference in the world. And the people He's looking for are the kind of people who get good at saying, "If you say so, Jesus."

All the best stuff beyond the measure of our ability to dream is on the other side of, "if you say so Jesus.” If you say so, I surrender.

My sin is not just my failure to reach God's standards, it's a failure to treasure his invitation; a lack of trust in his ways; an unwillingness to surrender. An un-surrendered sin-soaked soul is life's greatest problem. It leads to addiction, ravages marriages and
breaks families, it hardens hearts, creates anxiety filled souls and drains joy. It keeps us from loving our neighbors, because we end up caring so much for stuff that matters so little. A sin-soaked un-surrendered soul is life's greatest problem.

So if we want rest for our souls we need to surrender. What do you need to surrender for the sake of your soul? If we want rest for our souls...we need to practice the
posture of surrender.

We don't always connect the act of surrender to presence of love. But there is a story in John 13, that we call "The Washing of the Disciple's Feet" that is really the story of the love-burst of Christ. Do you realize that when Jesus is serving us, serving others, when he surrenders, it's just the over-flow of a love-burst?

John 13 contains a story from the day before the cross. In a day Jesus will hang on a cross...big sacrifice...world changing event...split time into two ages...but in this moment, he reminds us that the full extent of his love extends to even the most menial acts of service. Sure his love goes as high and wide as the cross...but it also goes as low as my dirty feet. His love is so unbounded that it will even surrender.

In Mark 10, Jesus is quoted as saying, "Whoever wants to become great must become a servant. Because this is what the Son of Man has done. He came to serve and not be served." My goodness don't we want that to be some sort of metaphor. I mean sure Jesus came to serve and not to be served but that was a temporary interruption in the normal experience of his life. And now seated at the right hand of God, with a name that ranks #1 in the universe, He is able once again to take his rightful place amongst the ranks of those who are served.

But I don't think this is what Paul is saying in Philippians 2. What if servanthood was not a temporary interruption for Jesus? What if it was a deeper revelation of the character of God? In other words what if Jesus came as a servant...not to hide the fact that he was God but to show us who God really is.

If that's the case, that we should join Him in surrendering all the way to glory!

In Matthew 14, we are told the story of a storm, a storm where Jesus walked on the water and for a time, so did Peter. Like Peter getting out of the boat, the primary issue of surrender is control. Getting out of the boat, Peter surrendered control. Listen, your desire for control is ruining yr life. It's shriveling up your heart and driving a wedge in your marriage. It's driving your kids away and keeping you from loving your neighbors. Until we're ready to surrender control, we'll always be struggling to get to the other side of the storm, without finding life.

But if we will surrender… we will gain a whole new vision of Jesus. The reward of surrender is revelation. The result of revelation is worship. What could prepare us more for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus?

There is a prayer for more in Isaiah 64, that contains the statement, "We are the clay. You (God) are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." We are the clay. You are the potter. We are all the work of your hand. That’s full-on, all-in 100% surrender. This is not really a God bless me, God protect me, God help and heal me, give me comfort and prosperity kind of prayer. It’s more of a God search me, God break me, God change me kind of prayer. Refine me. Shape me. Mold me. I surrender.

The picture of the Father as potter and his people as the clay breaks Isaiah's prayer wide-open. It's the New Testament leaking into the Old Testament. It's relationship. Rather than God bursting forth, God is invited in. Rather than nations trembling
and mountains quaking Father Potter is shaping my heart. Listen, do you know that the fingerprints of Father Potter are all over you? And sometimes it hurts, he pushes and prods and digs his fingers into the recesses of our lives...but...He Is shaping you for a purpose, a good, a good purpose.

Do you have a be-still space? When God says, "Be still." He's asking, will you trust me? Will you stop clenching your hands to hang onto things that don't matter. If we let our arms fall and our hands grow slack, if we stop striving, we are saying to God, "I trust you." In this episode and I want to give us something very practical to do. Find your be-still space.

During 2020 and into 2021, if you were with us at Calvary, you heard me say more than once, you have two tasks always in front of you. Love your neighbor and be still and know that He is God. And at one point, we encouraged everyone to find a “be-still space.” That's a place where, when you go there, your sitting there is saying, "Here I am God. I have nothing to give you except me, hands down and open, fully surrendered." Where is your be-still space? Perhaps it's a place to pray, perhaps it is a place to be silent, perhaps it's a place where you read scripture and ask God to speak to your heart and mind. But mostly it's a place to just be-still? Who knows what might happen in that place to prepare us for more!

With this episode we start a section in our Lent series on the spiritual practices of "giving-in." One of the most powerful practices connected with giving-in is surrender. And of my favorite scriptures on surrender is Psalm 46. It is a compelling, heart-stirring description of God, but we won't know Him as this God if we don't practice surrender.

The Psalmist calls it being still. "Be still and know that I am God." As you listen to this episode we will be reminded that when the unmovable God is in our midst, we cannot be shaken. No matter how dark the night may be, the morning is coming, no matter how hopeless our days may be, help is coming like the dawn follows the dark. So be still, children of God, though the mountains be thrown into the heart of the sea. God is in your midst. Be still, Church. Though the nations rage, we need not be shaken. Nothing can steal our joy. He's in our midst. Be still and know that He is God!

The word of God brings renewal and revival; new energy and new love to redeem old hurts. Is that the something more you need? I could give you a hundred different life-giving principles but ultimately those who thrive in life and find the more of God are those who know God, those who experience His presence, those who get rid of the clutter and give up control. Those who thrive are those who listen, learn and lean in.

That's a heart issue. Fasting helps us work the soil of our hearts. When we fast, we start to see the clutter as we set aside the distractions. So to use Jesus' metaphors in Mark 4, I guess what am asking is, "Are we willing to work the soil of our hearts to prepare for a greater impact?"

There is something very close to the heart of Jesus in Isaiah 58. Jesus announced his own calling with similar words, "The Spirit of God has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives..." Isaiah 58 is a beautiful portrait of the "more" we are preparing for during this season of Lent.
- A light in darkness--healing for wounds--God's got our backs
- God's immediate presence hearing us and guiding us
- Never-failing streams of water for dry souls
- So watered by the overflow God that we refresh others
- Being used by God to rebuild what has been destroyed

We just need to get God’s attention. Fasting is less about getting God’s attention and more about becoming the kind of people who have His heart and get His attention!

Fasting is a way of saying, "God I need your gracious hand upon me." What if part of preparing for more requires trying to do less? What if we need to fast and pray for more, more than we need to strive to try harder to do more. Maybe we need to stop striving and start surrendering.

You know in the last decades, there have been revivals of worship and movements of prayer...but few calls to fasting. But so often throughout scripture and history, in the shaping of hearts, fasting was a part of the journey to God’s gracious hand upon us. Fasting is a way of saying, "God I am so hungry for you. I need you more than bread." I'm getting everything out of the way. Perhaps in the process of preparing for more, God is asking us to fast and pray.

The best is yet to come. The glory that is coming is greater than the suffering that is here. In fact, maybe now, all we'll ever get is a taste of glory. It's like when you go into a really good ice cream shop. You stand at the counter, looking through the glass at all the choices and you see one that beckons you. So you look across the counter and ask, "Could I taste that one?" He takes out one of those small baby bite-sized wooden spoons, dips into the tub of treasure, and hands it over the counter.

But you know what happens when I take a taste? I immediately begin to think about more. The taste awakens a desire for more. In fact, the taste is a reminder that there's more to come. I know it sound counter-intuitive, but when we fast, we are really asking God for a taste of something more, a taste of His glory. We're not just giving up food or social media or whatever else, we are also saying, "God it’s not enough to remove the suffering, I’m hungry for you. I’m hungry for your glory. But in this episode, we may hear God saying, "You can't share in the glory, if you aren't willing to step into the suffering."

Fasting is a way of practicing suffering.

So often we talk about the battle in our lives between what's urgent and what's important. But in the 40Day story of Jonah, we find that what's important has suddenly become very urgent. Fasting brings a sense of urgency to our giving up.

Listen fasting is not a weight loss program. If you use it to gain followers on instagram, you might as well eat. Fasting will not help you become an influencer with God. It's not a hunger strike trying to force God's hand. Fasting is an acknowledgement that we long for His presence, that we hunger for holiness. Fasting is a serious cry to God that we're tired of playing church while broken people still don't know His love. When we fast and pray with serious urgency we're telling God that we're done being safely full of stuff that will never satisfy and we're to risk the refiner's fire as long as it comes with the presence of the refiner.

There are many Biblical, historical and contemporary examples of what God has done in response to fasting and prayer. Down through the years when people have longed for more, more of God, more of His presence and power, they have fasted. At critical junctures they have fasted and prayed; crying out to God, "O God, this much, we need you, this much we want you. It's never a bad time, but perhaps it is now a good time, to practice our hunger for God by fasting.

I remember the summer after my freshman year in college. I met Lynn in February. She left me in May. She didn't know it at the time, but I knew that she was the one. I was in love. When she left, I think I lost 25 pounds that summer. I was so heartsick for Lynn, I just didn't want to eat, (which wasn't a bad thing, since I didn't have much money to eat :). Has that ever happened to you? The one you love leaves you? The birthplace of Christian fasting is heartsickness for God. Fasting is the practice of going after God with the passion of a heart hungry for God. Fasting is what we do when we sense the absence of his presence and we are hungry for more.

We need to stop pretending that the goal of this life is comfort and that faith makes it easier to be comfortable. God isn't dreaming about giving us a way out of our pain. God dreams about giving us the strength to go through it, and discover His dream. What if our lack of capacity is a gps signal to His dream for our life? If that's the case then few things are more important than finding the power of His Spirit in the wilderness of our suffering.

Before this series is over, some of you may hear the still small voice of the Spirit of God calling u to lean out, lean away from what you think is your last bit of comfort, control and security. Listen, nothing is more important than taking your eyes off of you, inclining your ears to the voice of God and trusting whatever He calls you to do. In the end, your wilderness is not just about you. Your neighbors might not even know it, but they are desperately counting on you to come through the wilderness and share with
them the favor of God.

Almost every time the Bible talks about "the wilderness," it's not good. But it can become good, if we have the Spirit of God. It's one thing to be filled with the Spirit and even led by the Spirit, but when we go through the wilderness with the Spirit we come out the other side, empowered by the Spirit.

When do I need the power of the Spirit? I need the power of the Spirit when God's calling exceeds my capacity. And God's calling almost always exceeds my capacity. Listen if you aren't a little bit overwhelmed by your lack of resources, if you have never experienced a sense of desperation because of the darkness around you then perhaps your heart is hard or your soul is blind. But I can guarantee you that God's purposes for your life require more than the power of your life. God's calling always exceeds my capacity, so perhaps again, we might find ourselves with this prayer on your lips for the next 24 hours, "God please fill me with the power of your Spirit."

The Spirit of God is the treasure of God that fills the people of God. Too often we talk more about the gifts of the Spirit than we do the gift of the Spirit. The treasure is the Spirit. The gift of Christ is the Spirit of Christ. There is no greater gift.

Our life is a jar. Think about that for a moment...what is a jar? It's just a container right? Most jars are defined by what they contain; water bottles, a flower vase, a cookie jar, a piggie bank, a fine bottle of wine. The value of a jar is determined by what it contains. Say this to yourself, "I am God's jar. I am Shaped to be Filled with God." Whatever you are filled with right now, it’s not more than the Spirit of God. In days to come, as we prepare for more, practice the prayer, "God fill me with your Spirit."

Through the word of God, we hear the voice of God and His voice speaks life and courage and perseverance into our hearts. We listen to the Word, we learn the principles and truths of scripture and we lean into His instructions. But there is something else here, something of great beauty and power that we so desperately need in our wilderness. We need more than words of life, we need the life that comes from the one who is the WORD; the one who went into the wilderness to grab life for us.

In the gospel of John there is a confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day. These leaders were scripture experts. They knew it. They memorized it. They carried it with them everywhere they went. But Jesus exposed the fact that knowledge of God was not the same as knowing God; that loving the scriptures was not the same as loving God; that reading God's words was not the same as hearing God...And so in John 5:39-40...Jesus says, You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

My prayer for us, is that we would come to the WORD and dive into the Father’s heart.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to be on the sidelines for the Blue/White Game. Coach Franklin asked Harold and I if we would be chaplains, so we came and said a prayer before the game. I'd been on the sidelines once before, but I'd never run out with the team. It was pretty amazing...running out in the midst of 70,000 people cheering. This is what I imagine when I think of the applause of heaven.

Not just a quiet smile and a whispered affirmation, though that would fill my heart as well, but what I imagine is the thunderous applause of heaven. We can visualize the all-powerful God; always in control; the holy God who hates sin...But what about a God who fills Beaver Stadium with cheers? This is Sacred Delight and it's best heard in the heart. And by the way...it's for you! The applause of a Father who is your greatest fan; a Father who delights in his kids. That's the sound of our journey into the wilderness.

Lent is often experienced as a time of preparation, and as we make our way to the resurrection it becomes more and more obvious that what we are preparing for is more; more resurrection power, more peace and joy in hard days, and most importantly more of the presence of Jesus in our lives.

In the last episode we focused in on the reality of suffering. No one likes to suffer…no one likes times of uncertainty that threaten our peace, times of difficulty that seem to drain our joy, but actually suffering is often a catalyst for spiritual growth. In other words, we rarely get to more without the crucible of suffering. And suffering is one of the overarching themes of LENT. How could it not be as we come to the last days of Jesus…what he suffered, what he sacrificed for us? In the last episode, before we got to Jesus, I paused at Job. And I think Job has something hopeful to help us prepare for more in the midst of hard times.

The apostles Paul and Peter said that we are born again to a living hope so that we can abound in hope. In good and hard times, we can abound in hope. And so we prepare for more…that’s our overarching theme for our LENT series; preparing for more. So my desire in these first few episodes is to simply lay out that theme, set up the theme of preparation. As we head to Easter, we are preparing for more.

The disciples didn’t realize it, in those days leading up to the cross and the tomb, those days leading up to the death of Jesus, they didn’t realize that they were preparing for more, that actually in some ways their suffering and their uncertainty was a part of the preparation. There is this moment between Jesus and his disciples shortly before the cross, it's all about preparing for hope in the midst of suffering and uncertainty, knowing that we know...that the best is yet to come.

As we look forward to the resurrection, no matter how hard the days are, or how good...the best is yet to come!

In John 17, Jesus knowing that the cross is near, prays one final time...one final time he lifts his dreams upward as a prayer. Notice what his dream for us is: He didn't pray for our success; He didn't pray for lives of comfort and safety; He didn't even pray for our happiness. The dream in the heart of Jesus was that we would be one heart. He prayed we would be one, that we would love each other... so that we could change the world.

The first day of Lent is called Ash Wednesday. It seems a bit ironic that Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday would happen on the same day, but perhaps it sets the stage for our journey, better than we could have imagined. Ash Wednesday is a reminder of the frailty of life. It’s a reminder of the cross. Valentine’s Day is a reminder of the life that comes from love, the love that comes from the cross. So perhaps the best thing each of us could do this first day of Lent is to simply say, “Jesus here’s my heart. Guard it. Make it whole. Help me to forgive and love others as you have forgiven and love me."

It's not enough to be a people with the book, we need to be a people of the book. Listening to, learning from, and leaning into the Words of God. My goal and prayer for this podcast, "More than Bread" is simply that we would get into the book, listen, learn and lean into it with all our might. That's all. It's that simple. Read the book, or listen to it and listen for the voice of God. Do you realize how the words in this book have the power to shape your life, and shape our culture. Why? Because when we give our ears to the Words of God, we thrive!

The book of Philemon reminds us that when we encounter the gospel of grace, everything changes. Everything that was past is long gone. We are created anew, given a new name and a new identity. And as a new creation, a people of grace, we forgive. The forgiven forgive. It’s what we do. The dead are brought to life. The useless become useful in helping others find grace. We are no longer runaways, we are adopted children of God, with a seat at the table. Through Christ, we have become who we were created to be.

Philemon is also a reminder that not only are we like Onesimus in need of grace, but like Paul and Philemon we will be given opportunities to forgive and restore other Onesimus’ in the world around us. In many ways, what the letter to Philemon does is give us a guide, a roadmap to grace, a roadmap to community. Paul turns the runaway around, back to Philemon, back to Christian community, back to a spiritual home. Philemon gives me hope that culture can be changed one heart at a time.

Let me ask you a question, “What is your name for God?” Hmm, you mean like a nickname? Like big daddy in the sky? No. You may not be aware of this, but in the Old Testament, the one true name of God (sometimes pronounced Jehovah or YHWH) was too holy for people to speak out loud. But even though they would not say the one true name of God, they did call him by other names.

They usually gave God a name when they had an intense, encounter with God. Or they would give him a name that described how He was at work in their lives. For example, The All-Sufficient God, The God Who Heals, and The God Who Provides were some of their favorite names for God. But certainly if you asked the first people of God, the Israelites, one of their most important names of God was Jehovah Mephalti, the Lord my Deliverer. This was how they first experienced Him and it forever changed their lives. The God Who Delivers... that's what He thinks about slavery.

What is your name for God? A basic idea that underlies the entire Old Testament is that God can be known by His actions in the world. This thought goes all the way back to the exodus experience, when God delivered His people from slavery. During the exodus, the
Hebrews came into relationship with God, they knew God because He had acted in history to deliver them from slavery in Egypt. His actions revealed who He was. He is the one who delivers us from slavery. The Israelites understood that God's actions in the arena of human history were not just illustrations of God's power to a watching world, He was "making for Himself a name."

He was revealing His character as the one saves, the one who delivers us. And that name held true when Jesus came; the God who delivers...

Epaphras wrestled in prayer. That was Paul's description of this man. He was always wrestling prayer for his friends. He was doing the hard work of travailing on their behalf. Like Jacob in the Old Testament wrestled with God; he would not let go until God blessed him. For whom are you wrestling?

I'm not saying there's something wrong with casual normal prayer; those occasional God, bless-em quick prayers. I'm just saying that travailing prayer is no more casual than giving birth. Wrestling is no more a quick easy moment, than it is out on the mat. But travailing prayer will change the world. I have little confidence in great sermons as the means of reaching people's hearts; but I have great faith in that simple Christian man or woman, who will weep her eyes out over those who do not know Jesus. We can't travail about everything, but perhaps sometimes, we should travail about something.

What does it look like if I am devoted to prayer? Well, being devoted to prayer, doesn't mean that prayer is the only thing you ever do; just like being devoted to a job, or a cause or a spouse, being devoted to Lynn doesn't mean all I ever do is hang out with Lynn. That wouldn't be good for Lynn! But if I am devoted, there isn't much in my life that my devotion won't touch. Right? Being devoted to Lynn will cause me to give myself to her in many different ways. It will shape my decisions, shape my day. It will bring her to mind often.

There is a practice of prayer that looks like devotion. That practice won't be the same for each of us and it won't be the same in every season. But it will be noticeably different from not being devoted to prayer!

In Colossians 3 as Paul is wrapping up this section of scripture, you will hear him say more than once, "Whatever you do, do it in the name of Jesus." That's so comprehensive. Anything that you do; everything that you do; whatever do or say, do it for Jesus, like Jesus. What does it mean to live in Jesus name? .Today we understand that idea of doing something in the name of someone. We are doing it to honor them., doing it like they would do it. In the Bible, a person's name has to do with his or her character. So doing something in Jesus' name means to do it in his character. It means doing it as Jesus himself would do it if he were you.

But what is really striking here is the comprehensive nature of what Paul says. Whatever you do or say; I mean what isn't included in whatever? It's basically asking the question, what would Jesus do if he were me?

There is something so amazing about being chosen. Whether you are chosen for marriage or adopted into a family, or hired for a job, or chosen for an award, to be chosen fills our heart. But to be chosen by God? Beyond amazing.

So often when we bring up the topic of being chosen, people want to push it into a theological discussion of when God chose and what God did and what we do and the order of who does what when... in order to be saved. And I'm not saying that's unimportant. It's just not the most important. If you call upon the name of Jesus and choose to give Him your life, you will be in Christ if you are in Christ, you have been chosen.

He chose you because He loves you and He loves you just because...so live like you are chosen!

One of the ways we identify people is by labels right? In fact, sometimes we wear labels on our clothes in the hopes that it will say something to others about our identity. But we also label people. We have economic labels, theological labels, and political labels. We have labels for how someone looks, or thinks. We have sexual labels and intellectual labels. The labels help us decide who to chose and who to reject But here's the deal, if you are in Christ, if you are a Jesus-follower, your label is...

"Chosen By God."

You have value. You belong to someone. We're not God's second-hand car, or His dirty old boots. We are His special treasure, chosen. Make no mistake we weren't chosen because we were special, but we are special because we were chosen.

Are you living like you are chosen?

Ponder this reality for a moment. If you are a Jesus-follower, you have been chosen by Christ, the most amazing man to ever inhabit heaven and earth. He chose you. He picked you up and exchanged your existence for his life. And now you are part of the Kingdom that will never end. So set your sights on Him!

You're not only part of the team, you have been adopted into the family of the creator of the universe. In Him is all the fullness of God and in that fullness you are made whole. There is no sin that He cannot forgive, no mess He cannot redeem and no wound He cannot heal. In fact, you are being shaped to look more and more like him everyday. So set your sights on Him!

Nothing taking place in the world today is beyond his leadership. He is first in everything, all authority has been given to him, and you are on His team. In fact, He has planned stuff for you to do that will make a difference in his world. He has sovereignly placed you in circles where your gifts and abilities matter deeply. So set your sights on Him!

Nothing else is worth your eyes!

We've all asked or been asked that introduction question, “so what are you into?” We ask it because we kind of know that what we are into shapes our identity. Figuring out what I am into is part of the "who am I" discovery process right? Where do I go, to whom do I listen if I want to know who I am? I go to who or what I'm into...and what I'm into begins to shape my identity.

That's why it's so vital that we ponder what Paul means when time after time, he describes the life of a Jesus-apprentice as being "in Christ." He's saying that over time, if you are into Christ, that will shape your identity. As we live "in Christ" we will increasingly live like Jesus and forgive like Jesus and love like Jesus and see people like Jesus and give of ourselves like Jesus. In fact, the more I remind people of Jesus the
closer I am to my true identity.

What are you into?

What is your way of life? When we talk about a “way of life” I’m not talking about religious regulations. On the other hand our way of life is something that we do. It’s a way that we lean into the ways of the Word and the ways of Jesus over time. Dallas Willard said that "the gospel is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.”

We should work hard, strive, and contend for the way of Jesus in us and in others, but we aren’t doing it to earn grace, we are doing it from the grace we’ve already received. We aren’t doing it to earn our place at the table in the family, we do it from our place. We don’t do it to earn God love we do it because we are loved. We are motivated by gratitude not guilt. So there’s a tension we live in between practices and regulations, between effort and earning, How do we live in the tension? By keeping our eyes, our hearts and our minds fixed on Jesus. He is our destination!

In Colossians 2, Paul is contending for his friends, because it can be so easy to let something else divert us from the nothing else of Christ. Paul is ultimately contending so that together we would know Christ, gain the treasure of Christ. It’s all in Christ. In Jesus is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Not in google is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Not in the curriculum of the best seminaries of our day or in my best episode is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In fact, it's not even scripture alone...

Don't get me wrong, scripture is amazing...you should fill your mind with scripture. Commit it to memory. That’s what this podcast is all about, but never forget where the treasure is...never loose sight of the goal...it's Christ. In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Don't let something else divert your from the nothing else of Christ!

Most of us know that we need help, don't we? As much as we try to hide it we are painfully aware of our "as-is-irregularities." Some of us can't believe that you don't see our flaws because some days, the imperfections in me are all I can see. But here's the cool part. When we contend for each other (not against each other, but for each other), when we go to battle for each other, when I battle for your heart and you battle for my heart, when we battle in unity for our neighbors and our city, something amazing happens. Christ is known. In Colossians 2, Paul says, "I'm contending for your heart. I'm contending for community so that you may know Christ, in whom is hidden all the treasures...

Listen, you can't do it alone. I can't do it alone. If we want to gain the treasure of Christ, we need each other.

Here's what we say at Calvary. When it comes to the Word; we listen, we learn, and we lean. We listen for the voice of God, the whisper of the Spirit through the Word. And as we listen, we learn. It’s not all we do but we do do that. We learn about God and about His ways, His values, His heart. We learn about life and how to live well. We learn the promises of God that give us hope. We learn about God from the life of Jesus. Because as we’ve read Jesus is the image of the invisible God. But it’s not enough to listen and learn, we need to lean in. We need to respond.

In fact, rarely should we walk away from listening and learning without writing down an “I will” statement. As a result of my listening and my learning, I will _______ fill in the blank. When it comes to Paul, he was leaning into Christ with all his might! What do you strive for all-in?

Earlier in Colossians 1, Paul prays that the Colossians would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, and that they would walk worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in good works and increasing in the knowledge of God. Then in verse 15-20 he puts pen to paper or quill to scroll and paints a graphic description of the glory of Christ. And in the
midst of the glory is the consistent brushstroke of the word "all." He is firstborn of all creation; all things were created by Him and for Him; He is before all things, all things hold together in Him. All the fullness of God dwells in Him, and through Him all things will be reconciled to God!

All things and everything, it's like I can almost hear Him whispering, "What part of all do you not understand!" Jesus is nothing less than all...

We are making our way through Colossians, a book that is passionately and sweetly obsessed with the worth of Christ. And we keep coming back to this idea…that there is more than I can see. Especially when it comes to Jesus. There is more of Jesus and more to Jesus and more with Jesus than we can see. In Paul’s personal world, in his soul, all of everything is all about Jesus...no one greater than Christ. In fact, in Philippians 3, he basically said that compared to Jesus, anything I can gain apart from Him is like garbage in its value.

Paul had one holy passion. He had one greater-than obsession. One thought filled his
mind all the time...and it wasn't the economy or the NFL playoffs. It wasn't a bigger house or a greater ministry. He wanted to know Jesus, nothing greater than knowing and serving Christ.

I love Paul's prayer. I often pray Paul's prayers. My favorite is Ephesians 3:14-21. An amazing prayer. I've memorized it and pray it often. BUT Colossians 1:9-14 is a pretty good prayer too!

It's a prayer that Paul is praying for his friends. He is so proud of them, they are doing so well in Christ and for Christ on mission. In fact, there are doing so well, that Paul develops this deep sense of urgency for them. He says, "For this reason, because what God is doing in you and through you is so good, I can't stop praying for you. I'm continually asking God to fill you up so that you may live a life that is worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way. So why The Urgency? They've got so much faith, love and hope that Paul is thanking God. But still, he can't stop praying for them all the time. Why?

Because Paul believes there is absolutely nothing more important than living a life that is worthy of Christ...a life that brings a smile to Christ’s face, a life on mission!

There’s more than I can see. When it comes to Christ and his mission, there is more than I can see. There is more to life, more to Christ, more to the Kingdom of God, more than I can see. I think sometimes we unsee the brokenness in our neighborhoods because we don't see the work of Christ. We don't think that we will see it. We're afraid that Christ is not enough. That somehow the burden of the mission falls on my shoulders and it's more than I can carry. More will be asked of me than I can afford and in the end it probably won't matter. So we close our eyes...

But time and again, I’m challenged, as I read Colossians to have faith that Christ is sovereignly sufficient for the mission in your neighborhood, workplace or school. That the cosmic Christ lives next door and loves your neighbors more than you can imagine. So we pray... Jesus gives us eyes to see where you are at work, so we can join you there!

As we jump into Paul’s opening lines of his letter to his friends in Colossai, let me say this and then explain it. "When it comes to Christ and his mission, there is more than I can see." There is more to life, more to Christ, more to the Kingdom of God, more than I can see. There is more happening in me and around me, and perhaps even through me than I can see.

There is more brokenness and more potential for glory than I can see and what is unseen is not necessarily unreal. In fact, Paul's call to fix our eyes on the realities of heaven is a call to get a bit obsessed with what we cannot see!

In this episode, we begin to dive into the book of Colossians, and here is what I love about Colossians. It is passionately thrilled with Christ. Colossians is one of the most Christ-centered; Jesus-loving, Son of God-exalting books in the Bible. It’s filled with variations on the theme of Jesus. Jesus is the object of our faith and the image of the invisible God. Jesus is the creator of all things and in fact, all things were created by him and in fact, all things are even now held together in him. He is the head of the church. The resurrected one; our Savior through the cross; our victorious champion over sin, Lord of glory, Lord of Life, model for living.

If you ever need a pick-me-up reminder of the treasure that has been given to us in Christ, just take 15-20 minutes and read through Colossians. You will find that there is nothing greater than Christ. Christ is the treasure of Christianity. I don't know why you are listening to these podcasts, but if it's not because of Christ, you're missing it all!

And at the beginning of a new day, the question we should always ask is, "What will I do with Jesus today?"

So much of Philippians 4 is about walking with people. Go back and read the whole chapter. It’s all about people; Euodia, Syntyche, his co-workers, Epaphroditus and Clement. They are the people we work with and walk with through difficult times. We share our troubles and we encourage and support one another. We don’t walk alone. We can't walk alone. We won't make it if we walk alone.

And even beyond the people there are some amazing promises flowing from the reality that we walk this path with God, with Christ. When Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." he's simply saying, "don’t walk alone." You don't have to walk alone. We walk beside the almighty Christ who shares his resurrection power with us. In the midst of anxious, difficult times, never forget, "we don’t walk alone."

Sometimes it seems like nothing goes the way you planned, and your left to navigate what might be coming, and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. But even when it doesn't, we imagine it and we hold on for dear life. So when someone says, "don't worry," you're thinking, "Holy cow if you aren't anxious, you just don't know the reality of life. You don't know or you don't care, because if you did, you would be anxious too."

When it comes to anxiety, I can't tell you that nothing bad will ever happen. But I do think Jesus would say, and Paul would agree... there's a better way...

Paul calls us to press on. Forget what is past and strain toward the goal ahead, the goal of gaining Christ. Press on. And the pressing on is needed for what we are doing…but even more importantly it’s needed for who we are becoming. How often have you thought…in a time of failure, a time when you wanted to be like Jesus a lot more than you looked like Jesus…how often have you thought, that’s the story of my life…I’m never going to get there, never gonna change? Paul says, press on, don’t quit. God’s not done working through you and God’s not doing working in you.

Press on. Follow Paul's example. You are a citizen of heaven!

When you read Philippians 3, you can almost feel the passion drip off every word. In fact, for Paul the equation of life is, Christ + Nothing else = Everything. Which also means that without Christ, if we have everything, it's nothing. So often we think we have so much. We think we can get so much, or we deserve so much. But our much is nothing without Christ.

Paul's one thing is Jesus. So press on. Dive in. Forget what is behind, press on to what is ahead and what is ahead? Christ. We have not already obtained all there is to obtain of Christ so press on towards the goal. Don’t give up. Make the choice that Christ will be more important to you at the end of this year than he was at the beginning. Choose to do whatever it takes to have Christ ranked higher in your heart tomorrow than he was today.

Does Christ have your heart? I'm asking a deeper question than simply what do you believe. I've talked to thousands of people who believe correct doctrine, but Jesus doesn't have their heart. Paul Had A gloriously gut-wrenching craving for Christ; a Christ-craving. He couldn't get away from it. Jesus dominated his thoughts, filled his heart and motivated his actions. He wanted to know Christ, gain Christ, be found in Christ and treasure Christ.

Christ was his one-thing, everything else was worth-less. Can we say the same thing? More than just words, what does our life communicate? Where does Christ rank in my heart?

You know there is an interesting connection between prayer and the WORD of God. If you were to ask me, “Which matters more, prayer or the Word?" I would say that it’s a bit like breathing. "What matters more, breathing in or breathing out?" It depends on which one comes next. We need both. This is the rhythm of life.

It begins when we breathe In His Words and continues when we beathe out prayer. Soak your soul in the Word and then lift up your heart to God in prayer. This might be the most important rhythm of life. Prayer gets all the press when it comes to God at work, but it always begins with listening. When prayer is the second word, we will always pray and never give up!

Let me ask you, How do you see Christmas? Do we need a new look at Christmas? Do we need to look behind the wrapping paper? Our whole lives we've lived near Christmas, yet at times, it's easy to lose sight, isn't it? Most every December 26th we
wake up feeling unsettled, like something isn't right, something is missing or wrong.

Why? Because there's a battle. John frames the Christmas story with the words, “Then there was war in heaven.” You might not see it, if you weren't looking for it. Few of the usual elements. But Revelation 12 contains the Christmas story, not the one filled with sentimental sweetness, but the one filled with military strikes, the armies of heaven, and the consistent greeting of, "Don't be afraid."

At first glance, John’s description of Christmas is kind of an intellectual, philosophical rendition. It doesn’t have all the sentimental feels of Luke’s story. But in this episode I want to suggest that John 1 is all about the deep connection between home and Christmas.

We started to grasp the story 2000+ years ago, that we have a home, a family that is broader, bigger, more forever. Because listen, the Christmas story is not a just philosophical thesis about how God became human. It's certainly not a sentimental story about the nobility of the human spirit. It is an historical story about how God became a particular person at a particular time for a particular purpose. What was that purpose? To love us all the way home.

So here's the thing...we all love a good story, but I don’t think Christmas, the way our world celebrates it today, could ever prepare us for the depth of the true Christmas story. That story is what truly draws us in. Not the story of consumption but the story of conception. Not the story of last minute sales, but the story of ever present glory. Few stories can rival the story of Jesus, especially the Christmas chapter. It’s an ancient love story with chapters yet to be written.

What if Christmas was not meant to be a mere annual celebration but an ongoing story? What if your story is contained in the unwritten chapters of the Christmas story? You see the story of Christmas was always meant to be continued. Not just repeated, but continued. We have a part in the messy love-story of Christmas.

Ok one more episode that is a bit, ok a bit more than a bit different from the normal fare. Giving me a few days break. Next episode will be back to the WORD and some words on the WORD!

This one isn't a regular "More Than Bread" episode...it's actually my Christmas Eve message. So if you didn't get a chance to join us...you can ponder "following your star" in this episode. If you did join us, then...read the Christmas story all over again. It's a good one!

Just imagine that first Christmas. No Christmas trees or Santas, no lights, lines, or ornaments, No Christmas cards, bell-ringers or stockings hung by the chimney with care. If we were there that first Christmas eve, we would gaze upon 2 poor homeless people, unmarried, spending the night in a lean-to shed attached to the back of an adobe house. We'd see a young teenage girl going through the agony and mess of childbirth...no family gathering. No presents under the tree. No peace. Bethlehem at this time was bedlam not peaceful. Filled to overflowing with people from around the country, coming to Bethlehem to be registered and taxed by the enemy-occupying Rome.

And yet later that night the announcement would come of "good news of great joy to all people." That's the Bethlehem dream, "good news of great joy for all people." How will we celebrate that...this Christmas?

I hope you can hear me say, don’t get so busy in the Christmas season, that you miss the story. Take some time out, a pause from the Claus, and let your mind and your heart ponder Jesus. Let your soul saturate a bit in Christ. Read the story. Did you know that only 22% of the adults in America feel like they could accurately retell the Christmas story. Read it in Matthew, Luke and even John. Perhaps even read a whole gospel, maybe even all four gospels.

Let your heart be stirred by the story of Christ. Because Christ is the treasure of Christmas. And there is absolutely nothing, no one like Jesus. Still today. Christmas is not just a good story, it’s a true story and it's not just a true story, it's a continuing story. And it's the story our hearts long for... maybe it's time to come home!

Mary's song is a song of subversive hope for light in the darkness. And where does it start? It starts with "My soul magnifies the Lord." My soul is a magnifying glass for Jesus. Could we say that? When people look at Jesus through us does He look big or small? My soul magnifies the Lord. Here is what I hear in those words. Her God filled her up. When she looked at life through the eyes of her heart, all she could see was God... magnified. We all magnify something and what we magnify becomes our hope. What we magnify sooner or later will fill us up.

It's part of the human condition, our souls were created to magnify something. We often call it worship...to magnify something is to let something become huge in my life. What do you magnify? What is it that gets the most magnification for us at Christmas? If it's not Jesus...we're missing Christmas!

Now if I started this episode by telling you that we are going to dive into the Christmas conspiracy…what would you think? It’s not political, it has absolutely nothing to do with q'anon…or any deep state stories. In fact I’m not even talking about consumerism or the war on Christmas. I’m not.

It's not the war on Christmas that I'm speaking about. It's the war of Christmas. When I think back to that first Christmas. "Merry Christmas" was not the greeting of choice. There were no Christmas Trees. No nativity scenes -- well except for one. But Jesus was not front and center in the public square. And yet nothing could keep Christ out of the world. That's the battle of Christmas...

Christmas is the story of how God poured out his favor on the world, through a baby. That's an interesting word isn't it? Favor. "Hey would you do me a favor?" When we ask someone to do us a favor we're saying, "You don't owe me. I don't necessarily deserve this, but I'm wondering if you would do it anyway." Our prayers are often some version of "God I need a favor." The Dictionary defines favor as kindness beyond what is due or usual. I wonder if perhaps the best two word description of Christmas is "God's Favor."

The birth of Jesus is the overflow of the favor of God. So in this episode I want to dive a bit deeper into the favor of God and how we can get it!

All of us at some point, should ask and answer this question, "Jesus are you the one? The Christmas story answers the question with an unqualified yes. And understand, if Jesus really is the one, if he really is who He claimed to be, then He is the single most significant person who every lived. He is preeminent in everything.

And if He is preeminent in everything, than perhaps Christmas was never meant to be one day inspired by the story of Christ's birth; but rather a story that gives inspiration to every day? If I say yes to Jesus. Have I accepted Christ as preeminent in my life? That's truly the Christmas question!

Do you ever get this sense around December 26th that something is missing? That nagging feeling that we've forgotten something we should've remembered. Sometimes what we forget is simply this... "It's not my birthday, it’s his. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birthday. It’s his day. Now let me make it clear, we make such a big deal of celebrating Christ's birthday because never has such a gift been given to us, as the gift given on the day Christ was born. He is the gift that changed the world.

Remember the Magi, those three Kings of Orient far? Jesus is the greatest gift ever given to our world, but they didn't come empty-handed. They came bearing gifts. Don't you sometimes wish you could have been one of them, to stand there before Him and give him a gift that would touch His heart?

You can...not be one of them...but you can give Him a gift that will touch His heart!

I don't care who you are, or how little, invisible or unneeded you feel. You are not unimportant to God. You matter and He knows you. Jesus once said, "He's numbered the hairs of your head." It's not because He has a hair obsession, He has a you-obsession. If you feel like you are living in the margins of life, He is so close. He's attracted to the margins. He lives and loves in the margins. If you are seeking Jesus, you might want to check out the margins.

Mother Theresa described her ministry strategy as going out and looking for the dying, the cripple, the lonely, the unwanted, the unloved, "Jesus in disguise." What if Jesus in need, is actually the star that will lead us to Jesus in disguise, Immanuel God with us?

I've been reading the Gospel Christmas stories since I was a kid (and that's a long time). I've been preaching the Gospel Christmas stories for 35+ years, the same ol stories! And yet to be honest, they never get old. What we celebrate at Christmas is so wondrously holy. And even though there isn’t a single gospel Christmas story that I haven’t heard and preached on multiple times, one of the things that I love about scripture is the way the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to speak a fresh word to us.

I'm praying the Spirit will use the story of Joseph, just an ordinary Joe, to do that for each of us.

Our broken Christmas tree...I'm not talking about a crooked Fraser Fir; or a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. We're talking genealogy; family tree. Jesus's family tree is laid out in Matthew 1:1-17. Be honest, when you read Matthew's Christmas story, you start at vs 18. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows..." If you are like me, more than once you've skipped the first 17 verses. I mean Luke has a genealogy but he doesn't lead with it, it's buried in chapter 3. Matthew goes right to it. And the people that he lists, it's a who's who of who you wouldn't expect.

But that broken Christmas tree is a promise of hope. No matter what's in your past, your past cannot steal God's future. There is hope!

What's the message of Christmas? Back when our kids were still kids, we used to ring the Salvation Army bell together. I remember one Christmas down at the Corner Room, just watching the people go by...teenagers with shaved heads and nose rings...a yuppie
and his significant other...college students of every shape, size and color...a jogger...a few young men going into to get an early start...a younger guy who was obviously homeless... a family going in to have supper at the corner room.

And I just thought, does God really know all those people by name? By heart? Do they really matter to him? Yes. They do. People matter to God. You matter to God. That's why God is with us. That's the promise of Christmas. I can summarize it in four words.

People matter to God.

I wonder sometimes, if a lot of us like Christmas Jesus, more than we love grown-up Jesus? And so Christmas might be our once a year opportunity to think about this sweet cuddly baby Jesus who isn't old enough to know our minds, or strong enough to change our ways, or holy enough to convict our hearts. But I believe that we miss the true story of Christmas, if we don't let the baby grow up!

In Psalm 23, David describes the grown-up Jesus as a Shepherd. And he declares this truth, "If the Lord is my shepherd, I will lack nothing." Now that's a counter-cultural Christmas message, but if it's true, then all I want, really want for Christmas...is Jesus.

Isaiah 64 is a lament. A lament is a prayer that cries out to God in desperation for His presence. It is a prayer that pounds on the locked gates of heaven. It is a prayer of deep pain, intense frustration and confusion about the absence of God. And yet a lament is not just the hopeless cry of a discouraged people, or a frustrated venting. A lament is a profound statement of faith in God. A lament hurls it's hurt to God with the conviction of faith and the expectancy of hope that God can do something. That because God is God, all is not lost; so we need not give up.

In fact a lament is less like the surrender of hope and more like a fight with God, for more God. And, if you think about it, perhaps more than any other type of
prayer that could be associated with Christmas, a lament is a Christmas prayer!

Christmas is a global, timeless, eternal story, but for a moment, I want to step back from that big overarching story being written through all time and space, that includes all of humanity and I want to talk about your story. Let's talk about your personal story. That's one thing I love about Christmas. When Christ was born, God got personal. And Christmas is a good time to ponder our place in God’s Christmas story.

But to do that, we have to recognize the stories we tell ourselves; that little running narrative that goes on in your mind as you go through your day. Like sometimes we look at chapters of our lives (especially the hard ones) and we begin to think, "That’s my whole story. That’s the story of my life." And we rehearse a narrative. In this episode, I want to talk about the stories we tell ourselves in light of the most true story of Christmas.

It was the birth of a baby. Don't get me wrong. I love babies. But if you are going to change the world, don't send a baby. Right? Until we take into account the ripple effect. It's almost easier to watch it than it is to explain it. We’ve all done it. You’ve taken a rock and thrown it into the water and you watched the circles rippling outward from the point of impact. Long after the stone is gone from sight, the effect of its presence ripples beyond it's source. Christmas is a grand illustration of the ripple effect. Such a small beginning, but oh, what a ripple. The ripples of Christmas have continued for thousands of years. Just imagine; what if Jesus never came?

But He did. And the ripples of heaven dropping into the ocean of earth, changed the world forever. Changed my world forever!

Jesus the light of the world, the light of life has come! Isn't that the story of Christmas?
But here's the most amazing part of the Christmas story of light. He invites us to join him. As I was studying Isaiah 9 this week, I had this thought. Here it is. When I think of the Isaiah's Christmas vision of Jesus. I'm reminded that Jesus is the Mighty God, and I am not. Jesus is our Prince of Peace, and you are not. Jesus is Immanuel, "God with us, we are not." Jesus is the Savior of the World, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, you, me? Nope, we are not. We're none of that.

But light of the world? Jesus is and we are. We are the light of the world. Perhaps we never get closer to Christmas than when we live as a light in the darkness. That's why I love Paul's declaration in Philippians 2 as he calls us to shine like stars in the sky!

The ultimate goal of this podcast is that we would grow to love the one who is called the WORD of God and that as God covers us in His love, we would become a bit more like Jesus. If we keep going to scripture to listen and learn but we never lean into it. We never apply it. We never let it change us, then it’s been a colossal waste of my time and yours. But if you’re looking for some Words from God that will challenge you to change and be a bit more like Jesus, Philippians 2 is not a bad place to start.

But be warned, being like Jesus requires surrender!

This episode is a hard one. No ifs, ands, or butts, it’s a hard one. In this episode we are going to talk about the unmistakable and often necessary connection between suffering and joy. We’ll start with the last part of chapter 1 in Paul’s epistle of joy but we might roam a bit farther afield in God’s word also, because this is a good topic to get a broad sense of God’s heart on the subject. And remember this connection comes right after Paul declares, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

What is your dream? You have probably heard the phrase, "The great American dream..." It's all about gaining what we (think we) need for happiness, joy, comfort, success etc. Isn't that we often live? Gain all we can now. We live to gain. I want to win now. I want the job now, security now, the most recognition now. I want to be the one. Maybe you know what I’m talking about, maybe have even experienced it. Even if I'm a Christian, let's gain all we can gain now and then we get Jesus after we die.

For me to live is gain and to die is Christ. But Paul reverses the dream. He says, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." My living now is all about Jesus and when I die, that's when I gain. Can I say, "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain?" Or do I need a reversal? That's the question of this episode.

The gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ...is all about the way in which the weakest, most despised, most difficult people in the world, can become through the power of God, the most beautiful, most radiant, people in the world. The gospel is all about how God finds gold in the garbage; how God does good things in bad times. Or as Leonard Sweet puts it, "...whatever is buried trash in your life, God can turn into buried treasure. Whatever you think are the trash cans of your existence, God can turn them into treasure chests."

Some of you are going through garbage dump times and in this episode, as we look at the next part of Paul's letter to his friends in Philippi, I want to give you three good things about hard times.

We are in Paul’s letter from prison to his friends at Philippi. You know as I’ve been studying through Paul’s letter, thinking about his context and mine, I find myself in the last chapter of my life. I’m hoping it’s a long chapter, but if there are three acts to my life, I’m in act 3. So I think even more about finishing well than I have before.

Paul’s words in Acts 20:24 were a life-challenge for him to finish well. I can just see him writing this in his journal. He writes, "But none of these things (troubles) move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy." He wanted to finish well, and finishing well meant finishing his race with joy. So in this episode, we’re going to take some time to ponder finishing well and in fact finishing well with joy.

Paul's letter to the church at Philippi has power because his words of joy are the words of someone who has experienced unexpected barriers to joy. His life was full of the kind of circumstances that tend to discourage and depress us. Paul left a mark on others, at least in part because of his joy. He calls us to joy from the unexpected prison and circumstantial barriers to joy. This episode is a reminder that in the hardest of times, an amazing, overflowing joy is still available!

There is a simple story in Luke 17 about 10 men who were healed of leprosy by Jesus. Not immediately in His presence, but on their way as they went to the Priest. They were healed on the way, and when they were healed, one returned to Jesus to say thank you. One returned and 9 did not. And my simple challenge in this episode is to "be the one."

Paul begins his letter from prison to his friends in Philippi with a word of a gratitude. "I thank my God every time I remember you, because of our partnership in the gospel. Every time I pray for you, I pray with joy! Paul was determined to be the one.

So be the one who comes back.
Be the one who lives by an internal gps of gratitude.
Be the one who is never too busy to say thank you.
Be the one!

Perhaps few things are more essential for the life we long to live than the essential of joy. Unexplainable, uncontainable, contagious and outrageous, extreme joy. I'm not sure if I should try to distinguish between happiness and joy. But I'm not talking about a pain-free existence. And I'm not talking about getting everything I want, when I want it. I'm talking about something deeper than circumstantial happiness.

In Phil. 4:4 he takes this whole joy thing to the extreme. Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again rejoice! And so he puts joy in the non-optional category. If we value the Bible, then joy is a command and joylessness is a sin. Here's what I'm thinking...

If joy is a command, than it must also mean that joy is a choice. What if…regardless of your prison, regardless of your hard season, what if you can choose joy? Would that change your life?

As we look around us and even look within us, is it so crazy to believe that Paul might be right? A battle between God and evil rages around us. If so, how do we fight a battle we can't see, against forces we don't know, with weapons we aren't even sure we are trained for? I've experienced some battle, in fact more battle in the last few years than I can ever remember, and in the midst of this I was reminded of one of God's crazy battle plans.

Be a sheep and follow your shepherd. As we recap spiritual battle, we are looking at God's crazy battle plan. Be a sheep.

If we are going to stand up rather than give up we need to get connected, to Christ and each other. One of the best ways to connect to both Christ and each other...at the same time, is by praying together. That’s Paul’s concluding challenge.

Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Keep alert with all perseverance, praying for all the saints...and also for me. Pray at all times, with all types of prayer, with all perseverance, for all people. This is a call to all-in prayer. Sometimes I feel that the best I can do is to pray sometimes, with some types of prayer, for some people with some measure of perseverance.

I hope this episode stirs up our souls to pray a bit more.

I used to think that God was kind of arbitrary in choosing who He was going to use; who He was going to empower for great things. "I'm going to use you and you, but not you. That's not what the Bible says. I love the Words of 2 Chronicles 16:9, "The eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth looking for people whose hearts are fully committed to Him, so He can show his great power in helping them. "

God is looking for people to empower, people whom He can use, people He can trust. Nothing can ultimately keep you from living the destiny that God has planned for you; if you will commit your heart fully to Him.

In this episode we'll take a look at 5 heart-commitments we can make to stand in the battle!

Life is a battle, you can't win alone. We need to be connected to Christ. There's no authority in the battle without intimacy with Christ, but it's also vital for us to be connected to each other. Paul's whole letter to his friends at Ephesus is a passionate call to be connected. We are the family of God. We are the body of Christ. We are the dwelling place of the Spirit. AND we cannot win if we fight alone.

Paul's not talking to spies on their own behind enemy lines. It's the unity, the battalion, the team that will win the battle. Be strong as a church, all of you together put on the armor of God. Stand together. You cannot do it alone. At the heart of this episode is a call to together!

Here's the bottom line when it comes to spiritual battle. It's hard to get a breakthrough if we can't find a way to stand strong. In fact, the goal of those dark, evil forces, as much as anything, their goal is simply to see you fall. According to Paul, there's someone out there who is waiting to take us down. So Paul calls us to stand in the power of God. Stand firmly, withstand, do everything you can to remain standing.

Have you ever been in a crisis situation? Anybody ever say to you, "Don't just stand there...do something!" It's almost like Paul is saying, "Don't just do something, stand there!" God wants to strengthen you so that you can stand, withstand and take a stand!

The gospel is an epic story, all the more epic, because it is real. But every epic story involves a battle, and every battle has an adversary. Because at it's heart, every epic story has a battle between good and evil. I think one of the great problems for our movement today is that for the last few decades the invitation to follow Jesus has read
more like a travel agency brochure than an enlistment campaign. We often hear some form of "Come follow Jesus he will lead you to the live of your dreams."

Rarely do we hear "Come follow Jesus and enlist in the battle against evil for good. Come fight for the heart of your King or die trying!"

We have an adversary. There is a battle. So pray always. That's my challenge in this episode.

Employees listen to your boss, follow their wishes, submit to their instructions, with respect and even a bit of reverence, but mostly with sincerity of heart, integrity. And here’s the big one, don’t miss this one. Work for your boss, just as though you are working for Jesus. Don’t be a good worker just to gain the favor of your earth-boss, because if you only focus on them, you’ll miss the main reward. Work for them as though you are working for Jesus; doing his will… Serve with all your heart, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because ultimately your paycheck is signed by God.

While that's not exactly what Paul says in Ephesians 6:5-9... I'm going to suggest that it's pretty close and if we believe it, it could revolutionize our work.

Not everything that make a life great has anything to do with money. Right? And when we go hard after money and stuff instead of the true treasures, something within us knows that we are getting cheated. In our hearts we know that some things are simply priceless.

That’s part of the message of Paul’s letter from prison to his friends in Ephesus…some things are simply priceless; like a family. Now here’s the deal, whether you are married or not, a parent or not, whether you are last in your line or the first of dozens…you have a family. If you are a follower of Christ, you are part of the family of God. And if family isn’t one of your most cherished treasures, one of the values in which you are investing your life…you are missing out on a great life! Don't miss out!

So we are finishing up Ephesians 5…with both a focus on the church and on marriage. Paul weaves them both together. Last time it was the church. In this episode, we're looking at marriage. Paul has some great words about the heart of your marriage. (Actually there’s some stuff here on relationships that could help you regardless of whether or not you are married.)

The heart of a marriage is not feelings, though feelings are vital. A marriage does not begin with a feeling, nor does it begin with physical intimacy, though our society is very confused in this area. At the heart of every wedding is a vow. Marriage begins with a promise. So how are you doing at keeping your promise?

If Ephesians 1-3 are filled with theology and doxology, Ephesians 4-6 is filled with practical how-to's on living a life that thrives. BUT, here in the midst of pragmatic instruction on what it means to be a servant in your marriage, we run into this revelation of a truth more precious than diamonds; one of the most profound things ever written about the Church.

Paul leans way back into the origins of our faith, the book of Genesis, and he draws out God's picture of marriage and applies it to the relationship between Jesus and the church. What does he say? The church is the bride, the passion on the heart of Jesus. Like a bride taking her walk down the aisle he cannot keep his eyes of her face. He cannot stop dreaming about their life together. He cannot help the fire that rises in his heart when he stands to defend her from the comments of people who cannot see the beauty that he sees. He is for us and He is not finished with His church.

Let that breathe hope into your heart.

Moments are not seized in a moment. Life's greatest moments come to those who have prepared. Life's greatest moments come to those who have made all the necessary decisions before the moment is given birth. What is it in the human heart? What is the traction of a soul that gives one person the ability to respond in the moment, with urgency and clarity and passion, while others merely stand and watch? God sets up divine appointments for us to make a difference, but we have to be prepared to seize the moment in the moment when it comes. So walk with wisdom, don't miss your moment!

Ephesians 5 gives us a call to be different. To be different; specifically by loving well; following the example of Christ. He loved us and gave his life for us and he was a pleasing aroma to God. In other words, Christ was a breath of fresh air because he was different. So I'll ask you the question in this episode, "Am I being different?"

You understand, Jesus came to turn our lives upside down and our hearts inside out. He said, "You will be known as my followers by the size of your heart, by the depth of your passion for God and your capacity to love your neighbor." What are we known for today? What we're against? What party we voted for? How we responded to covid, critical race theory or Q'non? Are we a breath of fresh air or just more of the same old stale air offered by the world? We need to be different to make a difference and in Christ, we can!

The most significant people in our lives are not always the ones that are most well known, most celebrated, richest or uber powerful. They aren’t necessarily the ones who impacted many people a bit, but more often they are the ones who impacted you deeply. The theologian Augustine once said that adulthood begins when we start asking ourselves, "how do I want to be remembered?" What legacy do I want to leave behind?

This is the question of significance. There is this stuff that stirs within your heart...the desire to become someone of significance. That desire is a gift from God. It is His confession to us that we are spiritual beings with a purpose...a calling and a legacy to live. Paul describes that person, the person we want to be, in Ephesians 4.

The first three chapters of Ephesians are filled with theology and doxology. In the last three chapters we get the so-what? If this is true and this is glorious, how then should we live? In these three practical-how-to chapters, Paul shapes his words around the metaphor "to walk." How is your walk? I like that metaphor. To "walk" suggests intentional, forward, enduring, and directed, not frenetic or aimless. Short term effort is not what we are looking for, but rather (as Eugene Peterson describes it) a "long obedience in the same direction."

So in this episode, I simply want us to ask ourselves, "How is my walk?" It's a question that has importance for far more than just my physical fitness. How is your walk?

We are in the Good New business. That's our calling. Our primary business is not holding weekend worship services. It's not building buildings or hosting events. None of those things are bad, they just aren't our calling. Our calling is to know and become like Jesus and help others do the same. When that happens lives are changed. Marriages are renewed. Futures are restored. Hope is given. But we can't do it alone. I can't become like Jesus all by myself. I need you. You need me. That's what Ephesians 4 is all about, it's a blueprint for a life-changing community!

What is our calling and how do we walk worthy of our calling? We start trying to uncover our calling when we're young. It begins with the question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?" I think one of the first times we asked Jake what he wanted to be, he wanted to be a pirate. Now he’s a youth pastor, maybe sometimes not all that different. What do you want to do when you grow up…but you see walking worthy of our calling is perhaps just as much an answer to the question, “who do you want to be when you grow up?"

When Paul challenges us to a walk that is worthy of our calling, he's calling us to a certain sort of being... being like Jesus; humble, gentle, loving. So who do you want to be when you grow up? That's the question for this podcast.

One principles operate by, at Calvary is the principle that God is always at work around us, so we need to look for what God is doing and then join him. It's a good principle, but let me tweak it a little bit. Don't just ask yourself, "What is God doing?" Ask, "What is God dreaming." What is on the heart of God that has not yet taken place? What is God dreaming? Because listen when it comes to dreams. Your dreams for you are not enough. We need to seek God's dreams.

So let me ask you, "Where in your life is God daring you to dream?" Where are you stepping out on a journey that is doomed to failure if God doesn't show up? Listen, we have a Dream-Giver-God who goes beyond beyond. So it's always too early to give up hope and never too late to start dreaming!

Can I tell you something? God delights in revealing Himself to those who will seek him with all their hearts. He doesn't get tired of giving you moments to experience the love of Jesus that is beyond understanding. But he wants to be asked. He wants to be pursued. He wants you to want it.

Can I tell you something else? No one can love you like God. His amazing heart is for you. It is the wellspring of life for your heart!

We have a God who is able…a God who is able to do more…a God who is able to do immeasurably more than anything we’ve ever asked for…a God who is able to do immeasurably more than we can even imagine. And what we need in today's world of complexity, uncertainty, and chaos; what we need in our neighborhoods and families, what we need in our hearts is a God who goes beyond beyond, the God of immeasurable strength, wisdom and love. That's who we got!

A God who can do more than we can imagine!

Ephesians 3:14-21 is my all-time favorite prayer. It's a breakthrough prayer filled with faith and expectancy in the God who is able to immeasurably more than we have ever asked for or could ever imagine. But before Paul gets to the prayer. He sets the context when he says, "I am asking that you not lose heart..."

Do not lose heart. Don't quit. Don't give up. I know it's hard, but breakthrough is coming, because we have a breakthrough God. If you are going through a hard chapter in your story. Let this encourage you; let it fill up your heart. God is the God of breakthrough!

Fix your eyes on the unseen realities of heaven coming to earth. You have been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. You have been given a seat at the table. You have been adopted into the family of God. You have been graced. But it's not just for you. You have been blessed so that you can bless others. Grace has been poured out on you, so that others would get caught in the overflow. So the question is for whom has God given you grace?

In Christ we are accepted and deeply loved by God. Think of all the reasons why you have thought you were unacceptable to God. Bring to mind the shame and the worry. Bring to mind the list that Satan the Accuser throws at you. Your prayer life is so dry. Your marriage is on the rocks. Your kids don't like you. You have failed so many times. Your secrets sins scream out to God, I'm no good. Whatever is on your list of do's that you've don'ted and don'ts that you've done; let it come to mind.

Now hear the word of Father God to you, "I chose you before the foundation of the world. I have adopted you as my very own child. I have a spot for you on my lap and a seat at my table. You are accepted and loved. "

Isn't that rich? Do we deserve it? No. Did we earn it? No. Could we ever pay for it? No. Should we enjoy it? Absolutely yes. THAT'S GRACE.

One thing I so love about Ephesians is Paul’s gloriously practical vision of the church. I read Ephesians and I think, "This is the dream in the heart of Father God." Ephesians is a practical manual on church but it looks forward also. It looks forward to the whole family gathered together, from every nation. That’s the end game, right? This is why we go through what we go through and still don't give up on the church. We may give up on structures and strategies and failures, but we don't give up on Christ's church because this dream is pulsating through his nail-scarred veins. Ephesians 2:11-22 passionately inspires me to live His church.

Out of all the amazing parts of God's creation, it's only when he created (creates) people that He says, "That is very good." God's greatest masterpiece is not the amazing way that your body works together. It's not the color of your hair or the shape of your hips, it isn't even your tan-toned abs. God's greatest masterpiece is your soul, your heart. God's great masterpiece is the stories that are written as you live life fully alive. You are a masterpiece in progress. We so need this truth to saturate our souls. As you listen to this episode, let it soak into your soul!

"But God..." There are a handful of "but God" moments in scripture that I call divine reversals. Ephesians chapter 2 contains one of my favorites. "We were dead, doomed, and damned, but God... is so rich in mercy..." I love those two words..."but God." Every time you find that divine reversal in scripture, stop and ponder it, let it soak into your soul. Those two words are the turning point of our stories. They mark the point where God turned our story into His-story. But God is so rich in mercy....

If there was one and only one question we should ask ourselves each new day, perhaps it could be, every morning, "How well do I know Jesus? And do I know Him better now than I did last year at this time?" Jesus once was overheard praying, he said, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) Moses spoke with God like a friend, and yet he cried out to know more of God. Paul said, nothing matters to me more than knowing Christ. I want to know Christ.

And in Ephesians 1:15-23, as Paul prays from prison for his friends in Ephesus, he prays that they would know Christ more. Knowing Christ more, that's a good goal for every good and hard day.

Long ago...before all of this grand and awesome creation was even a gleam in Father God's eye; Paul says that God loved us and chose us. He created you in his image. He fashioned your heart with his heart as a model. At the beginning, the warrior-poet David wrote, as he formed you in your mother's womb...he dreamed dreams about your life and he looked forward to all your days. And it's all because your address, your destiny, your life is "in Christ." There's no better place to be, than "in Christ!"

Jesus once asked a man, a man who had been an invalid for 38 years, a man who was doing everything he could (which wasn't much) to be healed, "Do you want to be made well?" Before you think, like I did, "that's a dumb question Jesus," ask yourself, "Do I want to be blessed?" That's the question we start with in Ephesians 1.

And perhaps it's not such a dumb question. Perhaps it's one that we all need to answer.

I love the book of Ephesians because Paul had a never dying hope for the church. Even while he was in prison, his soul soars with hope for the church. Ephesians speaks to me as an individual of my journey to Jesus, but even more it proclaims hope, God-dreamed, Spirit-inspired, Christ-built hope for the church…and at least in part, that’s what I hope we all take away from our time in Ephesians, Paul’s first letter from prison.

In this episode we will look at the greeting as it answers three questions, "Who wrote it?" "Who read it?" and "What is the message?"

What is it that makes one person open to God and the next person closed? What is it that gives Julie the eyes to see what God is doing while Joe is blind? Why does Sam keep running into divine appointments with God while Sally has nothing to share? It isn't gender or religion. It isn't culture or how well you've got it all together. Sometimes it seems like the least likely to be godly have the most God-encounters.

I think it's expectancy. Expectancy goes beyond knowing about God or even trusting God with my life. Expectancy is faith on tiptoe. It's more than a belief that God can
do something, it's the anticipation that he will do something. In Paul's first jail-time experience, I believe he developed a sense of expectancy in what God does in prison. It shaped the letters from prison in a deep and meaningful way.

I hope this podcast plants a seed of expectancy in your heart!

We are starting a new chapter in our podcast on Paul’s "Letters from Prison," the prison epistles. I know at the end of the Psalms Project, I said that we were heading to the old testament book of Daniel, which I love, but as I dove into it, I just had a sense that it was a podcast series for a different time. So we are going from the Old Testament to the New Testament from Psalms to Paul. But specifically, Paul’s letters from prison; four letters, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon.

We'll start with an introduction, and some context to Paul's story with convicting challenge from Paul to live like Christ is my life, and my death brings gain! "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain!"

What if we become a people of one book? Throughout history, people have either loved or hated the Word of God. They have tried to change it, modify it, undermine its authority, water down its conviction. Dictators, have tried to get it out of their nation, yet they are all dead, and the Word of God still lives today. But what they couldn’t do…we do for them, if we do not listen to, learn from and lean into the Word. There is no other book like the Bible.

In it, God reveals Himself to us. Across a period of more than 1,600 years, God used forty different human writers from vastly diverse backgrounds to write its sixty-six books. And yet the Bible tells one story — the story of our running from God and God’s running to us. Our rejection and His redemption. His love played out on a cross and his power was revealed in an empty tomb.

There is no book more important. Let the Spirit of God breathe life into the people of God, through the Word of God...and then we will thrive!

And now we have come to an end. Wrap-up #2 will be my last podcast…on the Psalms…at least for now…who knows maybe someday I’ll come back and do my middle 40. But for now, a few more wrap-up thoughts. In the last episode, I commented on a fact that I only recently discovered…that the Psalms were written and collected over the course of 1000 years.

That’s a bit mind-boggling, of course, but then add to that a few thousand more years that they have been sung, prayed, read and studied and--my goodness--it’s such a span. For the last few months we have joined that span. Each of you who have listened…have joined that span of years, that corporate community of worship. The psalms are not just individualized journals entries, they are moments of connection to God, moments where people found their refuge in God, and we have been part of that. Welcome to the final episode of the Top 40 Psalms!

As I look back over the last 50+ episodes in the Psalms, one of the major themes that has impacted me is the call to "Be different." That challenge is woven throughout the Psalms. It’s woven throughout the Bible, but I see it especially in the Psalms. Be different. Don’t be like the ungodly. Mediate on His Word. Be different. Don’t oppress the marginalized in your community. Be Different. Be different in who you love and how you love. Be different in your levels of worry and anxiety. Be different in your worship. Let your prayer life be different. Let your generosity be different. Be different in your identity as children of God gloriously created by the creator of the world. Just be different.

But then the counter theme, or perhaps better yet the companion theme is "But come as you are." Be different. But come as you are. Come as you are to worship. That's what wrap-up #1 is all about.

Psalm 150 says, "Let everyone who has breath praise the Lord." Or as we have suggested, "let every breath be an act of worship." No breath is wasted if every breath is worship. So don't waste your breath. Let everything that breathes use every breath, till our last breath, because no breath of worship is a wasted breath.

So we started in the last episode with a moment of worship that Eric Peterson stumbled into; from there we went to Psalm 150's description of worship that descends from the majesty of the heavens to every ordinary breath that we take; a never-ending worship, that we stumble into every time we worship. Now in this episode, we will close the psalms with a moment of worship that shows us how to worship...when life leaves you breathless; when just taking a breath seems almost impossible.

In this episode we will look at a moment of worship involving Jesus in Matthew 15.

This psalm is the grand finale of the Book of Psalms, and it's not just any ordinary psalm. It's a celebration of praise, a cosmic symphony of worship, and a reminder that our connection with God goes far beyond the daily stuff we seek . Psalm 150 is often referred to as the "Hallelujah Chorus" of the Psalms. It is another call to cosmic, universal praise and worship, all people everywhere, everything that has breath, praise the Lord. It's not just all people called to praise God, it’s everybody in every way with every thing you can imagine.

But here's what I love... the Hebrew phrase "let everything that has breath praise the Lord," could literally be translated, "Let every breath praise the Lord." What would need to happen in our lives that we might come to a the places where every breath we breathe is a moment, an expression of worship? That's Psalm 150!

Psalm 148 is an invitation to all of creation…an invitation to join a cosmic hallelujah choir in a boisterous cheer of joy to God. It’s an invitation to an already-started always on-going party of praise. And it’s as all-inclusive as you can get, every created thing is invited to the party of praise. AND I can't help but think it is also an invitation to play. Yep, not a misspelling, I didn't mean to type pray... play. Listen to the whole episode for a challenge to play!

Psalm 146 is a psalm of grateful trust in God’s faithfulness. It contrasts putting our trust in God vs. putting our trust in political leaders. It’s really a question of which Kingdom are you seeking? The Kingdom of God or the kingdoms of this world. Psalm 147 celebrates the greatness of God and His care for His creation. But inserted in the midst of his care for creation are these continuing comments about his care for the brokenhearted, his love for the humble. God is the caretaker of the universe, but he is also the caregiver for the broken and the humble, those in need who know they can’t do it on their own, those who need, desperately need God.

While the greatness of this God is beyond our imagination and he cares for a universe beyond our comprehension, he is here, now, in our space, involved in the intimate details of our seemingly tiny lives and He has a special place in His heart for the humble and the brokenhearted!

Psalm 145 is an ode to the beyond imagination greatness and goodness of God. His greatness is beyond understanding, but so is His goodness. And when I think of the goodness of God, I'm drawn to His heart. The Psalmist writes, "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich (abounding, overflowing) in love." That's a great heart. Listen, this is so important. Father God's heart is stirred up for you. God delights in you. He is relentlessly pursuing you with an extravagant love. So what do we do with that? We pass it on to the next generation!

Psalm 91 stands on stark contrast to Psalm 142 from the last episode. Psalm 142 is David’s cave psalm. It’s a tough one, one where he pours out his complaints to God, one where he brings his fears and loneliness and sense of betrayal and doubt to God. He brings them all with open hands to God and cries out, “I have no refuge and no one cares for my life!” Psalm 91 (suggested to me as someone's favorite) is all about the refuge we find in God. Both Psalms are real. Both matter. Both are necessary if we want to develop a full vocabulary of prayer. But I'll be honest, I'm a bit more partial to Psalm 91 being true of my life, than Psalm 142!

Psalm 142 arises out of one of the most difficult seasons of David’s life. He calls it a "prayer from the cave." It's a powerful expression of David's raw emotions during a singularly challenging chapter of his story. David is desperate, taking refuge in a cave while on the run from King Saul. He pours out his heart to God, expressing deep distress and doubt. He even pours out a complaint or two. It's an honest and vulnerable prayer rising up from a place of fear, frustration, and isolation during a time when he was seeking hope and strength because he had none! AND Psalm 142 gives us the vocabulary and the posture for our cave-prayers.

We know objects by their characteristics, but we know people by their stories. In the first two episodes on Psalm 139, we heard over and over again that God knows our story. That is at the heart of a yada (knowing) relationship. But if we want yada, it's not enough for Him to know our story, we need to know his story. The reality is that our story alone can't make sense of the wonder and difficulty of the live we live. But true intimacy, that happens when our stories merge, when my story becomes His story. That is yada and that's what David is seeking when finishes his Psalm with the words, "Search me, refine me, and lead me O God."

One way evangelicals, love to describe our faith is that we say we have a "personal relationship with God." Those four words slip off our tongues with ease. "It's not about religion," we proclaim, "it's about relationship, a personal relationship with God." To be honest I like the description. "Yada" is the Hebrew word translated "know" in Psalm 139. It is a word of deep intimacy, a deep knowing. It's a nearness, a closeness, a familiarity that breeds friendship. Psalm 139 is often called the high point of Old Testament spirituality, at least in part, because of this vision of a personal relationship with God. With a God like this, there has never been a time when you were forgotten, unseen or unknown. God yada(s) you!

Artistic people fascinate me. When I look at a blank canvas, all I see is a blank canvas; when a painter looks at a blank canvas she sees a picture waiting to be born. How does a sculptor look at a piece of marble and see a statue? How does an architect look at an empty space and see a building? Do you realize that Creator God is an artist? And His favorite medium is you? Some people look at canvas and they see a picture. Some look at granite and see what's captured inside, God looks at your heart and he sees the reflected image of Jesus. Psalm 139 is a deeply personal Psalm about the relationship of the artist God and you.

Psalm 100 says that we enter his gates with thanksgiving...what if that's the only way we enter his gates? What if gratitude is the non-option knock on the door, key to the gates of his presence. Gratitude works because it brings us into the presence of the one who gives us more than our works deserve. And as we come into his presence we learn to become more aware of his presence. In the years to come I believe that the great divide of thriving will not be between liberals and conservatives, or evangelicals and progressives. It will be between those who are aware and those who are not aware....of the goodness of God, the works of God, the love of God that is never failing…

Few things will make you more aware of his presence than giving thanks in his presence! Psalm 138 is a challenge to be a person of gratitude!

Last year, the surgeon general of the United States said that the greatest epidemic we are facing right now is an epidemic of loneliness. John Cacioppo, director for Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago, is the world's leading expert on loneliness. In his landmark book, on loneliness, he describes how profoundly the epidemic of loneliness is affecting the basic functions of human physiology. He writes: "When we drew blood from our older adults and analyzed their white cells, we found that loneliness somehow penetrated the deep recesses of the cell to alter the way genes were being expressed." In other words, when you are lonely, your whole body is lonely. Psalm 133 is a reminder of God's treasuring of community. We are created with a connection requirement!

One more bonus Psalm, there was just something about this short Psalm that caught my heart. Maybe it's just for me, but I believe it's probably for most of you as well. Because we live in a distracted, anxious world that desperately needs to slow down, take a deep breath and just be with God in the now-moment. Psalm 131 is as short as Psalm 119 is long, but it's three verses lead me into a moment of rest with God. Hope it brings you there too!

Psalm 130 is a bonus Psalm; not one of my initial top 40, but having spent the summer in the Psalms, I realized that the themes and the travailing prayer are right where God has my heart. So here you go. Psalm 130 is a Psalm of travailing prayer; a prayer that will not give God rest until He comes. It's a great prayer to pray for a revival, personal or corporate. "Our souls cry out to you God from the depths of our soul, we cry out!"

This one is for the kids, for the next generation. Psalm 127 connects the blessings of God that come in the major arenas of life, work, family and our home. It’s a reminder that from the view of heaven, our efforts no matter how full of heart and skill and hard work, our efforts are worth-less than they could be, would be if God was involved. But it's not an either/or, it's a both/and. It's not either we work or God works, it's "run to the battle and the Lord will fight for you." It's praying, "Lord do it again," while at the same time going all-in for what He is doing. This episode will lead you into a prayer for revival, that the next generation might live in the land of God's-move!

Lewis Smedes writes: “To miss out on joy is to miss out on the reason for your existence.” C.S. Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.” Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” That’s a command. In other words, the Bible puts joy in the non-optional category. Which means that joylessness is sin, one that I think, some of us religious people are particularly prone to indulge in. I'm not saying we don't go through tough times...we live in a fallen world. But if I believe that Jesus is full of joy, then perhaps a personal relationship with a good, joyful Jesus should rub off?

Psalm 122 carries a powerful message that has been resonating with my heart and saturating my soul during this time in the psalms…it’s the invitation to enter into God’s presence. There’s this deep sense of longing for a sacred space where we can encounter God himself, our Creator, our Savior, our Father. I rejoiced when they invited me, “Let’s go to the house of the Lord." What is the house of the Lord? What do you think of when you hear that phrase, "The House of the Lord?"

Let me simply say this, when it comes to the house of the Lord, there is more here than you can see with your eyes or hear with your ears. The house of the Lord where we find the presence of God is far more expansive and diverse, far more everything that you can even imagine.

Psalm 121 is one of the first of a small group (14) of psalms called the "Psalms of Ascent." They were songs for pilgrims on a journey to the holy place, the presence of God. Psalm 121 beings with a question and an answer that should direct and motivate the steps of our journey.

The question is "Where does my help come from?" And the answer is, "My help comes from the Lord." Who can I trust for help? My help comes from the Lord. Where do I go when I need help? My help comes from the Lord. In this episode we will hang out for a bit with this question and answer. Where does my help come from? The Lord. My help comes from the Lord!

Psalm 119 is a love-song to God's Word. If you walk away from this episode with anything, don’t miss the deep, deep love, reverence and devotion the psalmist has for the word of God and the ways of God. Rather than looking for loopholes to escape them, he is looking for ways to dive deep into their embrace. The word, guides, instructs and revives our souls. It’s a lamp and a light, of greater value than much gold. So we should immerse ourselves in scripture. Meditate and memorize. Learn from and lean on. Revere, respect and be devoted to it.

But, it will not compete with the hustle, noise and distractions. If you ignore it often, you will soon easily forget it. And clutter, anxiety, foolishness and the relentless demands of the world will soon fill you and shape you. So again similar to the last episode, my question is not so much are you in the Word as it is, is the Word in you. Is it in you often enough and deep enough that the Spirit of God can breath life into your soul through the word of God? How much time do you give the word? Could you be accused of being in love with it?

If it wasn’t so stinking long, Psalm 119 would be the theme chapter of More Than Bread! Because it is a deep dive into an almost never ending feast of words about the Word. Psalm 119 is a love song to divine instruction, a heartfelt celebration of the psalmists deep devotion and unwavering commitment to the ways of God laid out in the word of God. The writer of Psalm 119 is captivated by the wisdom of God. He is hungry to hear the words of God. He lived in the midst of a people of the book!

In this episode that is the question I will ask at the end. Are we a people of the book? Are you a person of the book? Or am I just a person with the book?

There’s so much in this psalm.

Giving thanks to God because He is good.
Taking refuge in God.
The name of God and the right hand of God.

But more than any of it, I just can’t get past those four words, “His love endures forever.” Whose love endures forever? God’s love endures forever and nowhere do we see that more evident, nowhere is that more clearly proclaimed that it is in the face of Christ. Christ is the face of God. Christ is the only God we know, OT and NT, doesn’t matter. Christ is the face of God. And his love endures forever. And forever, even when we reject him. His fierce love endures. Don't we need to be loved like that?

If I had to give a title to this Psalm, if I had to hold out the theme that impacts me the most it would be the Psalmist’s vision of a high and humble God. High and humble. "Let the name of be blessed, the very name of the Lord is to be praised. He is exalted above all the nations, his glory surpasses the heights of heaven." And yet he stoops down. He bows low. He lifts up the poor from the dust. He humbles himself, comes down to our level. He reigns in majesty, but he also brings his heart close to the most vulnerable. He is our high and humble God and we are called to this same life of humility. I'm praying that this psalm will bring us low so that we can find life!

As we dive into Psalm 107, I want you to imagine that you are in a gathering, perhaps church, perhaps a smaller group, and you are sharing stories,. At Calvary we call them God-stories, stories of God at work in and through us and all around us. Psalm 107 is a call for God-stories. In the first two verses, you will hear these words, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. He love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. Their stories like our stories are good and hard, a mixture of joy and struggle, desperation and redemption. But every story has a transition, it happens when someone cries out and God responds! What is your God-story? Who will you share it with this week?

Psalm 103 is a psalm of praise and thanksgiving that celebrates the unfailing love and mercy of God. It invites us to saturate our souls in the goodness of God and pause for a few moments to remember his blessings…all the blessings he pours out on His people, His family. As I read the Psalm, don’t miss how the Psalmist paints His picture of God, the attributes of God—His compassion, patience, and steadfast love.

In the permanent record of his words, God has told us time and time again that he loves us... and he has used a variety of illustrations in the hopes that one of those stories would resonate with the deepest chords of your heart. But every story, every illustration, every metaphor was simply a pre-view of the real deal...the cross. The crossed changed everything, redefined love, set our eyes on the reality and depth of the love of God. Courageous, passionate, relentless, steadfast, never-ending, unfailing love. Isn't that a love that you need to know today?

Psalm 100 calls us to a deeper understanding of worship and gratitude. It reminds us that our relationship with God goes beyond religion, beyond rituals, tradition and where we meet on Sundays. Instead at the heart of this relationship with God is an invitation to come into His presence and experience the soul-satisfying goodness of God. But in this episode we will focus on vs1. This short 5 verse Psalm begins with an amazing invitation...amazing because of it's breadth. "All the earth, make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth." It is a short psalm with a huge audience! That's why I love it!

Is God a god of grace or a God of justice? Or is He both? Psalm 94 is a passionate, travailing cry for justice in the face of oppression and wickedness. It resonates with the struggles so many encounter in a world filled with injustice. But perhaps even more importantly, Psalm 94 reminds us that we can turn to God; we can trust God as a source of hope and justice. I was most convicted by two questions the psalmist asks, "Who will rise up for us in this injustice?" and "Who will take a stand for me in this injustice?"

Psalm 90 is unique in that it's the only Psalm out of 150 that is attributed to Moses, not David, not the sons of Korah, but Moses. In some ways, I see this as a companion to Psalm 84, the focus of our last episode. They are tied by the concept of time. Remember in Psalm 84, there was this amazing assessment of time, that one day in the house of God, one day in his presence is worth a thousand anywhere else. One day with God is worth almost 3 years anywhere else. In Psalm 90 we find that a thousands years is like a day to God! It's like time gets all messed up in God's presence. But in the midst of that is the challenge to number our days so that we can live with wisdom. What does it mean to number our days, listen to the podcast and find out!

If I asked you to describe your best day ever, for me, what words would come from your mouth? I could tell you about some amazing family days, amazing days with my wife. I could tell you about some top ten ministry days, times when I have seen God at work in awesome ways. But for David in Psalm 84:10, one day in God's presence is worth 1000 of our best days anywhere else. David says, "I would trade a lifetime elsewhere for a month of days in your courts, O God." If that's true, no matter what you are going through right now... the best is yet to come!

I wasn't going to do Psalm 78, but when I read it, I couldn’t get away from it. Why? Because it's a charge, a challenge to care about the next generation. It’s a calling to pass our faith on to the next generation. And let's be honest, the church in America isn't hitting the ball out of the park when it comes to that. Every generation is less connected to the church than the generation before. According to one study, there's about a 4% chance that a 10 yr old will end up a fully surrendered follower of Christ in their 20's. Psalm 78 is a challenge to invest in the next generation, and that matters deeply because they are not the church of tomorrow, they are the church today!

Psalm 77 is a unique psalm. What makes it interesting is the deeply profound shift in perspective and emotion as we journey through the psalm. At the beginning it’s anxiety and anguish. The psalmist cries out to God, pouring out his soul, but finding no relief, no comfort, no peace. His heart is overwhelmed. He feels forgotten, unseen and ignored by God; wrestling with doubt, unable to find hope. But as you read on, a transformation takes place; a shift of focus from present troubles to God's faithfulness in the past. He begins to reflect on God's goodness, God’s wonderous faithfulness. And as he remembers God’s goodness, doubt and despair drift into hope and trust.

There was a time in his life where he really had lost everything that we would say was necessary for the good life. He was living in caves on the run from a King who wanted to kill him. Lost his family. Lost his home. Lost his reputation. Lost his freedom. And it was during those days that he would would sit and create this song of worship found in Psalm 63. A Psalm of David written in the desert...in the wilderness.

"O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life..."

It's kind of like when he had nothing, he knew that God was his everything. God was his life.

In Psalm 51, David wants more than forgiveness. Way more. I hope you do too. The grace of God is not just a forgiving grace. The grace of God is a healing grace. The grace of God is a joy-restoring grace. The grace of God is a renewing, sustaining, strengthening grace. The grace of God brings an unstoppable tsunami of transformation. And it's available for you!

As I look around us, as I look among us, and as I look within me, I would say that a sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem. We would prefer to highlight other issues. At least in part because when we talk about sin, sooner or later it's going to come back to me. Because here is what I know, my sin-soaked heart is my greatest problem. My own heart is the dominant problem of my life. My heart is my problem. But Psalm 51 gives me hope that God has a solution for my problem!

Psalm 51 takes us into the heart of a deeply personal prayer of confession and repentance. It’s a prayer prayed by David when he was caught in sin. David’s heart was pierced with conviction and burdened by guilt and Psalm 51 is a heartfelt response to that sin. It’s a raw and vulnerable cry for mercy. David doesn’t justify or minimize what he did, he simply lays his soul bare before God.

Psalm 46 trumpets a clarion call to trust, from the very beginning. The words "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble," set the tone for the entire psalm. Even in the midst of mess, chaos and confusion, God is our steadfast and reliable refuge. BUT he’s not an impersonal refuge. He desires a personal relationship with each of us. He is a personal God. That’s why I love the invitation in Psalm 46:10. "Be still and know that I am God."

Psalm 43 is a companion to Psalm 42 with a common chorus in both. Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? You know it’s good to ask ourselves questions like that. We can’t ignore what we feel but it’s ok to ask ourselves if our feelings align with reality. Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? Are you discouraged? Is your heart sad? You’re not alone, I know that doesn’t necessarily make you feel better, but you need to know you’re not alone. Others have walked that road, but more importantly...God is with us and because of that we hope!

Psalm 42 is a psalms that can bypass the walls of our intellect and stir up our hearts. It’s a song of desperate longing and the unsatisfied thirsts of our soul. It’s a cry for the refreshment of our hearts. It's a psalm that authentically reminds us of the good and the hard, but in the midst of it all is our souls thirsty for God.

I’ll be honest, I’m not exactly sure why I chose Psalm 38 to be in my top 40. It’s a hard Psalm that dives into the depths of human suffering, guilt, and a desperate cry for God’s mercy. Psalm 38 gives us a vivid portrayal of physical and emotional anguish; especially the anguish that comes from sin and the burden of guilt. Psalm 38 does not shy away from the consequences of sin, and yet even in the mess of sin, there is this hope that God is close, not distant. God is merciful not angry. There is a hope that God is ready to pour out grace when we run to Him.

There's just too much good stuff in Psalm 37 to let it go with one episode. So here we are again. But this time, we'll take some time pondering our place in the land. God wants to give us the land...but the land is for the meek. Meek? Anyone looking for a little more meekness in their life? Meek isn't weak, it's strength under control. Let's go for meek!

And again, we come upon a Psalm that contains a favorite verse. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." There are so many good things in Psalm 37, but in this episode, we're going to focus on a few practical experiments that could help us "delight in God."

One of my favorite verses in the Psalms is Psalm 34:8, "O taste and see that the Lord is good." I love the immediacy of that tactile description. Taste. It's not enough to watch others taste, take it in and chew on it. BUT this episode will put together two seemingly opposite actions. Taste his goodness and fear the Lord. They go together, they really do. So listen up as we talk about fearing God.

Eugene Peterson has said that every language—including the language of prayer—is learned, and through the Psalms we learn the language of prayer. But here’s what I love about prayer steeped in the Psalms. When we read or listen to the Psalms before we pray, we let God have the first word. Prayer should always be the second word. We come to God with our ears, before we come to God with our lips. Psalm 33 gives us an opportunity to be reminded of the power of God's Words!

Psalm 27 begins with fear, but ends with courage and hope. “Why are you not afraid?” the psalmist asks. And the answer... I will not be afraid because in the darkness, God is my light. I will not be afraid because in the battle, God is my fortress. I will not be afraid because when trouble comes looking for me, God will hide me in his sacred space. I will not be afraid because my heart has heard his invitation and I’m coming to his table. I will not be afraid because even if those closest to me abandon me, God will hold me close. This is a great Psalm for those in need of courage!

If I could give one and only one gift to the church today, it would be hard to choose, but certainly I would have to ponder long the gift of integrity. To come to those moments in life when you know you need God more than you know; to be able to stand in those times in the shadow of David and say, "Vindicate me O Lord for I have walked in my integrity." Oh how we are in deep need of integrity today! Psalm 26 leads us to ponder the journey of integrity!

What do you think of when you think of "clean hands and a pure heart?" Psalm 24 suggests that without them, we cannot come into God's presence. The King of Glory has invited us to come...and here's the good news. He's made a way for us to come!

In a consumer-driven world filled with Amazon delights, here is a statement that turns everything upside down. "When the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need. When Jesus is my shepherd, I lack nothing." I don't lack rest. I don't lack strength. I don't lack courage. I don't lack victory. I don't lack a seat at His table. I have everything I need for life, because I have Him!

Do you know what I hear when I read Psalm 23? I hear, "The best is yet to come." Isn't that what David is describing? Even though I walk thru the valley of the shadow of death... God's goodness pursues me and I will live in his house forever. The best is yet to come. And the best is yet to come, because God invites us into a life that is blessed beyond belief. And where does it begin? It begins with rest and restoration!

In this 113th episode of "More Than Bread," we are diving into one of the most remarkable and prophetic psalms found in the Book of Psalms. While it begins with a cry of anguish and desperation, it transitions into a powerful expression of trust and ultimately points forward to the suffering and victory of Jesus Christ on the cross. It’s a lament that leads to glory and a reminder that even in hard times, we hope!

Creation and Word, both declare God's glory. The works of His hands are a wonder to behold...and guess what? You are the work of His hands! Take some time today and find ways to be reminded of the glorious, creative work of God!

Psalm 16 contains one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. Psalm 16:11 contains the words, "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." There is a path of life that leads to an overflowing joy...even in the midst of the most difficult times. But it's His path... what path are you on?

Psalm 13 is an individual psalm written to be prayed, sung or spoken in a corporate setting. It's a psalm of lament that contains a 4 word prayer that has perhaps passed through the lips of every God-follower throughout the ages. "How long, O Lord?" How long will you be silent? How long will you be absent? How long will you abandon me? How long before you show up and make things right? "How long, O Lord?" But there is hope...it's a hope in His unfailing love!

Psalm 8 contain the words of a person filled with wonder because of the creative power of God. They are drop-jaw, knock-kneed, heart-filled from gazing on the wonders of God. But here's the catch...out of all the wonders of creation, you are His greatest masterpiece. You are not junk. You are the beloved masterpiece of God. He can't take His eyes off of you. Take a few minutes today and ponder that good news!

One thing I love about the writers of the psalms is that they bring their real self to the game. They don't try to hide the pain or the doubt. They don't sanitize the language. They bring their real self. Psalm 5 is a prayer of lament...and yet it is carries within it the seed of hope. Can you have both in the same soul at the same time? Listen and see.

The word that I cannot escape in Psalm 1 is the word "blessing." Psalm 1 is a description of the blessed life, the way of blessing, like a tree planted by the streams, roots deep, full of fruit, thriving. We'll take some time in this episode and ponder the path of blessing as it's described throughout scripture!

The psalms are the longest book of the Bible, 150 chapters, half or more written by David. And if there is one thing I appreciate about David, above all others, it is his heart to persevere, his heart of endurance. Through some of the most difficult days, we can imagine, he never gave up hope. That heart of hope is found scattered throughout the Psalms. This podcast will introduce us to the Psalms before dive into Psalm 1.

After a year+ long recording pause, we are back to another chapter in the More Than Bread series. This chapter will take a look at my top 40 Psalms. But first a reminder for why we are doing this podcast; it's all about the value of the WORD.

How do I gain momentum in my spiritual life? If you have never experienced a sense of being stuck in your spiritual life, this question may not interest you. On the other hand, if you have never felt stuck, someday you will. It happens to all of us. In those times how do we gain momentum back in our spiritual life? This episode will review Mark's gospel, but near the end, momentum is what I'm pondering.

How do I stop living an in-between life? Now that's a bit of a strange question. You'll understand it a bit more as you listen to this episode. But the disciples in-between the cross and resurrection were living in the in-between; in-between hopeless and hopeful. For a time, they were stuck. When we feel stuck, how do we move forward. In this last section of Mark's gospel we gain some hope and some instruction for moving forward. Maybe it's time for you to take a step of faith. Maybe it's time to go back to Galilee...

Do people see Jesus in me? The cross of Christ was a moment in history that defined history. A moment when God showed us His love, His power, His grace, and His presence in a deeply impactful way. But Paul would later describe a way of living that only the cross made possible. There is a way of living so intimately connected to Christ that we are crucified with Christ. And when that happens, when we did, Christ begins to live in us. That's when people see Jesus in me. If people don't see Jesus in me now, perhaps I need some cross in my life. What does that look like...listen in on this episode to join me in pondering that question.

Why the cross? Many people today who love Jesus, are offended by the cross. I've heard that question so many times, "why the cross?" It is disturbing that God the Father would send his Son to be crucified. It is disturbing that God would a price, such a price, would need to be paid for our redemption. There are many ways to look at the cross; it's mean is deep and mysterious. What was accomplished on the cross goes well beyond my ability to understand. But scripture is clear, there was a price to be paid. There was a battle to be won. And there was a love to be given. What I know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that the cross shows us how much we are loved by God the Father and his Son, Jesus.

Does Jesus still love me when I fail? That's such an important question and one that at least some of us have wrestled with at times in our life. Can he still use me? Am I still on the team? Can Jesus still love me when I fail? We will find the answer in the heart that Jesus shows toward Peter after his greatest failure. With all my heart, I believe that Jesus looks at each of us with delight, not disappointment. That's the lesson of Peter for us!

Have I ever experienced a love-burst? AND What is the motivating passion of my life? These are the questions that we ponder as we read the first part of Mark 14. And most of our time will be spent focusing on another story of extravagant generosity that touched the heart of Jesus. It was love-burst of a woman that in some ways points the way to the ultimate love-burst of God -- the cross.

Is this the end? I can't tell you how many times I've been asked that question, especially in the last couple of years. Specifically, the question I get asked is "Are we living in the end times?" Mark 13 is all about the end of time, the culmination of history which leads to a whole new chapter of God's story for God's people. But as we dive into Mark 13, we'll see that perhaps even more important than the nature of our times, is the promise of hope and the enduring Word of God!

What is extravagant generosity? How can I touch the heart of God? How do I love God and love my neighbor? These are the questions that this episode will dive into. It's a lot, but the story that Jesus shares of a woman who gave one of the world's greatest gifts is up to the task. We begin with the call to love God and love our neighbors (the two greatest commandments) and we finish with a story that, even if it doesn't touch your heart, touched the heart of God!

Why do people reject Jesus? That's an interesting question isn't it. I think there is more than one reason, but at the heart of it are issues of control, trust and surrender. But in the end, perhaps the more important question is, "Why doesn't God reject us?" I'll give the answer before you even listen, it's that important. God doesn't reject us because His love, his never-ending, always enduring, life-changing love, is for us.

Where is your sacred space? Mark 11 contains two unique outbursts of Jesus all centered around the question of sacred space. Where is your sacred space? We are all hungry for God's presence and when we encounter His presence, that place becomes sacred space. Mark 11 has good news and bad news for those who seek sacred space. The bad news is that God cannot be put in a box. The good news is that God cannot be put in a box! Everywhere He is, is a sacred place!

What one thing do I lack? Imagine Jesus sitting across the table. You're having a cup of coffee and he says to you, "You only lack one thing in your life? If you had that one thing, your life would be off the charts thriving." Wouldn't you want to know what that one-thing was? When he told you what one-thing you lack...at that point the question turns to, "Will I trust him?" Those are the questions this story asks. You'll have to bring the answer.

How am I doing at keeping my wedding vows? Maybe you don't think that question applies to you but in so many different ways, we are all impacted by how well people are keeping their wedding vows AND for those who are not married, Mark 10:1-16 is still a good reminder of the importance of having a good heart!

Do kids matter to you? That's a good question to set the scene for our dive into this part of Mark 9. There are a number of different places we could dive into deeper, but for this podcast, it's all about the kids. When we welcome a child into our life, we welcome Jesus and when we welcome Jesus, we welcome God. If kids don't matter to us, how will we ever carve out space in the presence of God?

Are you seeking a mountain-top experience? That almost seems like a rhetorical question. Of course, don't all of us want a mountain-top experience. As we listen to the story, that is often called, "The Transfiguration" we will understand a bit more the potential components of a mountain-top experience. More importantly, I will suggest that Jesus is inviting you to join him in a mountain-top experience, because even though we make a difference in the valley, we need our time on the mountain-top to gain strength and hope for the valley!

What is your identity? That's a vitally important question that today has surprisingly uncertain answers. We will read the whole chapter of Mark 8 but focus in on the last few verses where Jesus calls his followers to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. I will suggest that Jesus is dealing here with the important question of our identity. Finding our identity in him as a part of the family of God...now that will change our lives!

What is true worship? That's the question before us as we look at Mark 7:24-37. Actually, worship is occurring all around us. Every time we worship, we are stumbling into moments of worship that are already happening. And that worship doesn't just happen in a church on a Sunday morning as we sing a song. It's initiated by God at the intersections of real life, hard life, sometimes real hard life. In this passage we will find that sometimes our deepest worship happens in our most desperate moments.

What's the point? That's the question we are pondering as we listen to Mark 7:1-23. What's the point of the Bible? What's the point of church? What's the point of Christianity? What's the point? Mark 7:1-23 is a moment in a day when it becomes obvious that the religious leaders of Jesus day were missing the point. If the point is all about religion and your religion isn't helping you love better...you might be missing the point.

Will I run to the storm? That's an odd question, isn't it? That's the question that won't let me go from this story in Mark 6. It's a storm story. If there is anything I know, when I enter a storm, it's my desire and hope to get out as quickly as possible. But what if Jesus is in the midst of the storm. What if hearing his voice in the storm is more important than getting to the other side? If Jesus is in the storm, run to the storm!

Do we have enough to share? That's the question Jesus is asking us in Mark 6:30-44. Will I have a scarcity mentality that tries to hold on to all I have with all my strength, or will I give all I have so that I can see Jesus do more than I can imagine. This story is one of great miracles of scripture. The only miracle shared in all four gospels. And there is an important lesson for all of us. What you and Jesus can do together is beyond imagination!

Jesus are you the one? That's the question that John the Baptist asked before he died. It's the question that each one of us should bring to the gospels. Jesus are you the one you say you are? Jesus are you the one who is King of the World? Jesus are you the one who loves me, the one I can trust? Jesus are you the one sent from God to save us? If the answer to the question is yes...that should radically change our lives.

Does Jesus amaze you? That's the convicting question at the heart of this scripture passage. Jesus shows up to his hometown and they were not impressed. They had grown up with Jesus. They didn't worship Jesus. He was just Jesus. Has Jesus become ho-hum to you? If so, how do we regain our wonder? We creep with awe to edge. We take a risk. We go on mission!

What do you fear and who do you trust? Those are the questions we are pondering as we listen to the end of the fifth chapter of Mark's gospel. In the last two chapters we have listened to multiples stories all connected by the theme of fear. So let the scripture and the devotional thoughts cause you to ponder fear and what will ultimately drive fear out of our lives.

How can I find meaningful connections in life? That's the vital question that Mark 5:21-34 asks and begins to answer. I believe we were created with a connection requirement. Whether we are introverts or extraverts, it may look different but we all need connections for life. In the story we find in this portion of Mark's gospel, we will ponder the disconnections and connection points. And again we will find that God wants us in his family! So amazing.

Have you ever experienced the power of God? That's the question this episode dives into with two stories from the life of Jesus. If all we have are these two stories, the qualifying question to "Have you ever experienced the power of God?" would probably be, "Have you ever been afraid of the power of God?" When we experience the power of God, we realize that God is an undomesticated, untamed warrior for our souls. And when we experience his power, we become his missionaries!

How can I become a good listener? That's the question this episode ponders as we do a bit deeper dive into Jesus' main seed-story. This is some of Jesus' most foundational teaching and he gives us a foundational quality of those who thrive and leave a legacy. They are listeners. Listening requires ears, but it actually begins with the heart.

How can I make a difference with my life? That's the question this episode answers as we look at Mark chapter 4. Jesus shares a series of stories (parables) about seeds and listening. And it's all in the context of living our lives in such a way that we make a difference. That our lives produces a 100-fold return!

How do I become part of the family of God? That's the question this episode ponders. Mark 2 gives us an opportunity to consider the characteristics of foes (enemies) of Jesus, fans of Jesus and family of Jesus. And here's the good news, being part of the family of God, having Jesus as our big brother, that's available for each and every one of us. You have a family waiting for you!

If we want to thrive in our living and make a difference in the lives of others, we need to get the "I" out of the middle of our heart. We need to make the journey from foe (an enemy of Christ) to fan (a consumer of Christ) to family (a surrendered follower of Christ). Mark 3 lays out the journey from foe to family.

This episode will look at foes and fans.

Most of the religious leaders of Jesus' day didn't think that Jesus was a good religious leader. He was a little bit twisted in how he led his team, the example he set, especially the rules that he followed. To be honest, if Jesus were doing his thing today, I'm not so sure that most pastors also wouldn't think that he (Jesus) was a bit twisted. But for Jesus the disciplines (rules) were only good if they led people to Jesus, if they led people to a love relationship with God. So in this episode we'll talk a little bit about fasting and a bit more than a little bit about keeping the Sabbath.

The first four disciples whom Jesus called were fishermen, good blue-collar, well-respected workers. The fifth person was a tax-collector, Levi. I guess you would say that he was a businessman, but the people in Jesus' day would have been more inclined to call him a traitor. He collected taxes for Rome, the occupying force in their country...and he collected on commission. Tax-collectors, and dirty-rotten sinners were one and the same to the religious leaders of Jesus day. But Jesus saw something in Levi. Jesus loved Levi and called him to be on his team. And Levi loved Jesus and wanted all of his friends to know him. Levi loved his neighbors!

This episode dives into one my favorite gospel stories. I call it "The Fellowship of the Mat." It's all about four people doing everything they can to bring their friend to Jesus. And in the end, it's their faith, not their friend's faith, but their faith, that grabs Jesus' attention and leads to a great miracle. Who are you bringing to Jesus? Who is in your fellowship?

Matthew's gospel opens with Christmas and moves quickly into the Sermon on the Moun. Luke's gospel from the very beginning seeks to show that Jesus has come for all people. He goes to the margins of life. John starts with a miracle at a wedding because he's all about the love and delight of Jesus. Mark begins with battle...spiritual battle. We see hints of it, even in chapter 1.

Why in the world did people, after a brief challenge from Jesus, leave everything and follow him? It's hard to imagine today, but it has something to do with the Kingdom of God. In Mark 1:14-20, we begin to see the Kingdom of God, front and center.

There is this curious short narrative in Mark 1 of what takes place after Jesus' baptism. Jesus is baptized. He hears the voice of God saying, "This is my son. I love him. He brings me great joy. And then...the Spirit of God drove Jesus into the wilderness. Amazing moment with God, experiencing God's delight and then wilderness. Dry. Hard. Battle-filled. Wilderness. What's that all about?

In this episode we are finally diving into the first chapter of Mark. The question we are going to answer is "Who gets my ears?" It's all about listening to the voice of God. It's all about recognizing the voice of Jesus. Who gets my ears?

Our intro (part 2) focuses a bit on the "gospel." The word "gospel" comes from the Greek word eunangelion which literally means "good news." In this episode we will briefly uncover the heart of the gospel. What is the gospel? That's the question we will answer.

Mark didn't meet Jesus face to face. He met Jesus through others. In some ways, a bit like all of us. But he did know Peter, in fact some call Mark, "Peter's Gospel." This episode is part 1 of our intro to Mark's gospel.

We are back with another episode of More Than Bread as we start a deeper dive into the gospel of Mark. This one is an intro...or more like a re-intro to the what and why of the podcast!

The focus of this episode is John 21. This is the last chapter of John’s gospel. I hope this series on John has been helpful. It has been for me. I’ve talked to a few of you about this, but there is just something about hearing scripture. You know in the days of Christ, and the first church, it was very much an oral culture, the written Word was there, but for most people scripture was read, it was heard. Even today I think there is something deeply enriching in the hearing of God’s Words.

Peter and Jesus are center-stage in John 21. To set the stage for this moment, we need to go back to Thursday night and the beginning of Peter's tombstone story? Remember that? Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. He shares that someone will betray him that night. Peter with all the bold bravado he can muster, responds, “Never. I would rather die.” To Which Jesus replies prophetically, “Three times tonight Peter, you will deny me before the rooster crows. And Jesus was right... And when the rooster crowed, Peter and Jesus locked eyes. John 21 is the redemption and restoration of the heart of Peter. It's so good.

In this episode, we are focusing on John 20. For about 30 minutes as we listen to, learn from and lean into God's Word, we are going to saturate our souls with hope. As we near the finish line of John’s gospel, the last two chapters, John 20-21 contain the amazing story of the resurrection of Jesus and how his closest friends responded to it. But to set the stage and the context, I will spend a bit of time focus on one statement. It’s Jesus' words near the end of the chapter. John 20:21. “As the father has sent me, even so, or in the same manner, in the same way, I am sending you.” In other words, all of this, everything they experienced; life with Jesus, his teaching, all those amazing miracles, all the miraculous signs, and now the cross, death, and resurrection; it’s all leading to this. You have a mission.

When resurrection power was let loose to saturate the world in hope and love, and when it changed my life, it wasn't just for me. It was for others. I have a mission. You have a mission. It's the most amazing good-news mission anyone has ever been given. That's my prayer for each person who listens to this, that we would be compelled by hope to be on mission!

In this episode, we are listening to John 19. The focus of John 19 is the crucifixion of Jesus. So before we dive in, let's just be honest, we’ve sanitized the cross. We've made it into a geometric shape that holds diamonds and hangs around our necks. Crosses are everywhere, we're surrounded by crosses, silver and sanitized. But to really understand the power of the passion of Christ, we need to regain our vision of the cross as it was before Christ, a symbol of hatred, cruelty, and human failure. For a Christian to wear a cross, should be like a Jew wearing a swastika or someone from Japan wearing a symbol of a mushroom cloud or a black man wearing chains.

The cross in Jesus' day was a symbol of sin and hate and death. It is inconceivable that the cross would become a work of art, a tattoo, a common piece of jewelry, the brand of the church. It’s inconceivable until you see the cross thru the eyes of love. Until you are impacted by a generosity so extravagant that it has the ability to transform an old rugged cross into a thing of beauty; transform an instrument of torture into a symbol of life. It was an act of generosity so great, it broke history in two.

This podcast is all about the value of the Word of God for our growth and development. At Calvary we talk about three paths of growth; listening, learning, and leaning. The first two are perhaps self-explanatory. The third "leaning" is all about surrender, living it out. What you get in this podcast is the result of my listening, learning and leaning. But you can do the same. Read a portion of scripture. Then make note of the words or ideas that grab your heart or mind. When you do that you are listening for the Spirit of God to make the Word come alive. Then make note of what you are learning from that passage about God, about life, etc. But don’t leave the Word without pondering what God might be calling you to do. Listen, learn and lean.

In this episode, we are focusing on John 18. I can’t pause on John 18 without talking about tombstone stories; moments of failure. Moments when the leaning did not take place; moments of discouragement, perhaps even despair. Peter was a guy who experienced as much breakthrough success, as anyone in the Bible. But he also failed; he experienced the broken fragments of life, crippled heart, feeling like he would never be enough; that's a tombstone story. John 18 turns our attention to the events that go from Good Friday to in-between Saturday to resurrection Sunday. But first we get the tombstone story of Peter.

John 17 is the last chapter of a unique portion of scripture in John’s Gospel. It’s a three-chapter conversation followed by a one-chapter prayer. Honestly, I think it is one of the most important sections of scripture in the Bible. Some Bible scholars call these four chapters Jesus farewell discourse. But you know that I don’t think these are farewell words. Jesus knows that these aren’t his last words and he's setting the stage for the biggest moment of his life.

So for last time, take a moment and imagine that you are there, walking with this close-knit community of Jesus-apprentices through a vineyard in the evening before Jesus goes to the cross. Coach Jesus has been given the pre-game speech of his life. Whether you know it or not, you are nearing the end of the evening. John 17 is the prayer of Jesus that closes his time with his friends and initiates his final steps to the cross. In John 17, Jesus prays for himself. Then he prays for his current disciples. Then he prays for us. Did you realize that? Not only did Jesus go to the cross for us. Before he went to the cross for us…he looked down through the generations and prayed for us. He prayed for all those who would believe in him. And as we listen to him pray for us, we are hearing his dream for us.

In this episode, we are focusing on John 16. John 16 is in the middle of a unique portion of John’s gospel that some Bible scholars call Jesus farewell discourse. It’s a section of scripture that starts after Jesus washes the disciples' feet and ends before Jesus is arrested. John 14-17. It’s become one of my favorite sections of scripture and I’ve read it dozens of times, in the last year.

So once more take a moment and imagine that you are there, walking with this close-knit community of Jesus-apprentices through a vineyard in the evening before Jesus goes to the cross. That’s why scholars call it his farewell address. But these aren’t last words, they are commencement words. This is Coach Jesus giving the locker-room talk of his life. In the space of a three-chapter conversation and a one-chapter prayer, He will hit on multiple themes but over and over again, he will say this... "You will have trouble." All kinds of trouble. In John 16, the last words we will hear Jesus say are, "In this world, you will have trouble, but don't be afraid, for I have overcome the world!"

So let's dive in and see the resources and the hope that Jesus gives us in times of trouble!

To set the stage before we dive into John 15, let me remind us of the value of the Word of God, the Book! In his book, "The Gift of the Jews," author Thomas Cahill asks the question, "How did a tribe of desert nomads not only survive but change the very way the world thought, felt, and acted?" What distinguished it from all the other nations that no longer even exist? The answer, Cahill suggests is The Book. Israel had a Book. They called it the Tenakh the sacred writings. They were a people of The Book. Sometimes we wonder about the first disciple's willingness to drop everything and follow Jesus. It's because He was a rabbi and they were a people of The Book.

And then John comes along and in essence, he describes Jesus as The Book come alive. The Word became human and lived among us and we behold the glory of God, full of grace and truth. (John 1) In other words, the Word of God is the Son of God. Jesus is the Word of God. It's not just about a book; it's about a person. See John calls us to be...A People of the Book...In Love with the Word. Keep that in mind as we dive into John 15 and Jesus' challenge to "remain in His words."

This episode focuses on John 14. John 14 is the first chapter of a set of four that comprise an incredibly unique portion of the gospel of John. I think it contains some of the most important teachings of Jesus. If you have a red-letter Bible (some versions have Jesus' words in red) the next four chapters are filled with red. Most scholars call these four chapters, Jesus "Farewell Discourse." I think it's anything but a farewell discourse. These are not last words, they are beginning words. It's not a final goodbye, it's a locker-room talk before you go out to play the most important game of your life.

Jesus is walking with his friends in a vineyard, hours before He hangs on a cross and He's talking about finding a breakthrough. In the space of a three-chapter conversation and a one-chapter prayer, he will hit on multiple themes and every one of them is his preparation for trouble by giving them an expectancy of hope. You will have trouble, but don't let trouble into your heart. Don't be afraid, for I have overcome the world. I hope you come to the point, where you just want to read these four chapters over and over again! They will give an adrenaline shot to your soul!

In this episode, we are focusing on John 13. John 13 contains one of the most powerful, and most overlooked moments in the life of Jesus. In some ways, it’s even more revealing of the character and the heart and the power of Christ, than the cross and the empty tomb. It was a defining moment that was meant to define the heart of a Jesus-apprentice. The defining moment came when Jesus washed his disciples' feet. Jesus ensuing charge: "Do for each other as I have done for you. If you do this (serve) you will be blessed." That charge then set up every Jesus-follower the key distinguishing trait. "The world will know that you are my disciples by the love you have for one another."

We are not known for our knowledge, for our religious services, or even our standards. We are known as Jesus-apprentices by the love we have for each other. Now that is a message that the church needs to embrace today!

In this episode, we are focusing on John 12. From John 11 to John 21, we are heart-deep into the last days of Jesus. Days that changed the world. Days that changed my world. From Lazarus to Palm Sunday to Good Friday to Easter Sunday to the days before Jesus ascended into heaven; that's the last 11 chapters of John’s gospel. Over half of John's gospel focuses on the last two weeks of Jesus' life. John 12 begins on the Saturday before what we know as Palm Sunday. Jesus is at Lazarus' house and everyone wants to see Lazarus and Jesus. The crowd seems to be tipping in favor of believing that Jesus is the Messiah. Lazarus was dead and now he is alive; the crowd is gathering. They are looking for a King.

But in the midst of all the pomp and circumstance, John captures a moment, a beautiful moment between Mary and Jesus. You might call it a love-burst, a moment of tender affection that leads to a blast explosion of generosity and love. If you have ever had one, you know what I mean. Jesus connects this love-burst to his death, setting the stage for a week filled with bursts of love that change the world!

In John 11 we get both a miraculous sign and another “I-am” identity statement. As has been the case before, the sign and the statement match up. For example, Jesus fed the crowd and then told them, I am the bread of life come down from heaven. He healed a blind man’s eyes and said, “I am the light of the world.” In John 11, he will raise a dead man to life and tell us, “I am the resurrection and the life…” We’ll hear HIs words in verses 25-26. "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'”

Before John 11 is finished, we will catch a glimpse of Jesus our champion. This is the same Jesus who went to the cross, not out of weakness but from the strength of love. This is the same Jesus who battled death on our behalf...and came striding out of the tomb with victory in hand. This is the same Jesus who rages at the mess of the world and gives us another option...the option of glory. But in the end, which story we find ourselves in will be determined by who we believe and who we follow. I hope we all find ourselves calling out to our champion. Jesus!

If I were to summarize John 10, I would say first of all that there are sheep. (And on the one hand, having raised sheep for a small portion of my life, it doesn’t necessarily feel like a compliment to me, to be called a sheep. But on the other hand, sheep are the sole focus of the heart and mind of a shepherd.) So there are sheep (that’s us); there is a shepherd, that’s Jesus, and there is a thief, that’s the devil, the very enemy of our souls. AND the battle for life is a battle for our ears. The question is to whom will we give our ears, to whom will we listen. Will we listen to the thief – who in the last episode Jesus called the father of lies – or will we listen to the Good Shepherd.

Henry Blackaby wrote in his book, "Experiencing God," God speaks and we are in trouble at the very heart of our relationship with God if we don't recognize his voice. In John 10, Jesus says that he is the good shepherd (another I-am identity statement) and his sheep know his voice. Listen there are so many voices out there and we are foolish to believe that those voices don't shape our lives. To whom are you giving your ears? To whom are you paying attention? If we listen for his voice, his words will bring life.

John 9 contains another sign-story. Remember John shapes his gospel on seven miraculous signs and seven “I-am” identity statements by Jesus. Both the signs and the identity statements reflect on Jesus. They describe him. They reveal an important quality, role or characteristic of Jesus. Remember the sign is more than just a miracle…it points to something. It tells us what's ahead. In John 9, the sign is about sight. In John 8, we heard Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” In John 1, we heard John say that Jesus is the light of the world that gives life to those who believe, and when the light shines in the darkness, the light always wins. In John 9, the light of the world gives sight to a blind man.

Jesus is the light that gives sight.

And don't miss this. We are talking about something more than physical sight. In fact, in John 9, you will hear Jesus mention, spiritual sight. This is what Paul would refer to years later, when he wrote about the unseen realities that are even more real than what we see. But for now, what captivates me, is not just the fact that Jesus gives sight to a blind man, it's the fact that he sees people we miss. Jesus has the most amazing eyes. He sees you. No matter where you are or what's going on. He sees you!

John 8 is a fascinating, intriguing passage of scripture. It contains so many well-known and life-changing truths. For example, you will hear Jesus say things like: "I am the light of the world." "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." And you will also hear a lot of talk about fathers. Who is your father? Jesus says that his father is God. The religious leaders say that their father is Abraham, but Jesus suggests that their father is actually the devil.

If there is one question that you could ask yourself as you listen to John 8, that's it. Who is my dad? What family shapes my identity? Really, who am I? As much as we think we shape our own identity, your family profoundly impacts who you are. If you are a Christ-follower, then your identity is built on what God has done and what God is doing. You are part of the family of God. If you want to know who you are...you need to know who He is. That's why we are taking the time to ponder Jesus in the gospel of John. What could be more important?!

In this episode I'm going to tell you about the day, my son Jake, told me to get a life! Dad. Get a life! Probably not that uncommon to be told to get a life and definitely not uncommon to be desperately seeking for more life. Far more important than my get-a-life story is the story told in John 7 about Jesus' offer of life.

Jesus offers us a life that is worth "more than bread" and it requires something "more than bread" to get it. At the very heart of this podcast is a search for answers, perhaps even a path that will lead us to a life that is more than the life we currently are living. We need more than bread if we are seeking more life. And we are...aren't we? Isn't that why we strive for the promotion, dive into our family, and even cheer on our team, because we are looking for more life? And I”ll tell you very simply, on behalf of thousands of people with whom I’ve had the opportunity to rub shoulders; friends in Myanmar who are willing to risk everything for him; Jesus is a great way to get a good life. So let’s dive into John 7.

As we take one more look at John 6, our focus is on a somewhat famous storm story. My guess is that each one of us could share a storm story of our own. Storm stories are those times when life seems a bit out of control, filled with uncertainty and maybe even a bit of fear. This particular storm story is the one where we get the challenge, "If you want to walk on the water you have to get out of the boat." If you want to go on an adventure with Jesus, you may have to take a (seemingly) risky step of faith.

If you don't know the story, you'll hear it in a moment. If you know the story, let me simply say this. I think if offered a choice, Jesus' friends would have done it all over again. When you come to the end of this story, remember this statement. "I think if offered the chance to do it all over again, they would have done it all over again. Not just the walking on water part; that was cool but I'm not so sure it was the highlight. I'm not so sure I would go through another storm like that, just to walk on water. It would be like a Disney ride; after a few times, it becomes old hat. But I would go through a storm and I would get out of my boat if it led to a face-to-face encounter with the living God.

John's gospel is loosely organized around seven miraculous signs and seven "I-am" statements. The signs and the statements are meant to reveal his identity and lead to faith in Him, believing in Him for life. John 6 is jam-packed with two signs and one "I-am" statement. First, we have the feeding of the crowd with a young boy's sack lunch. Then we have Jesus' mastery over a storm. Finally, Jesus expounds upon His identity and mission with the statement, "I am the bread of life come down from heaven."

At one point, Jesus gives a profoundly (at least at that time) disturbing message about eating his flesh and drinking his blood and many of us followers stop following. So Jesus turned to his core team and said, "Do you want to go away as well?" Peter answered him, "Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." Ultimately that's the decision point for each of us. Do we think we can find a better source of life? In the midst of it all is this amazing story of a young boy who gave Jesus everything he had and in the surrendering became part of a story that's been told to millions of people over the course of thousands of years. Now that's pretty cool!

More than bread, words of life. with that in mind, let’s read John 6. I’ll be reading from the

John 5 is a study in the contrasts of people who don't know Jesus. First, we have the story of a crippled man who had been disabled for 38 years. Jesus found him in Jerusalem by the pool of Bethesda. He had a short conversation with the man and then healed him! This healing is somewhat unique in the scriptures because it didn't require faith. The man didn't seek Jesus out. He didn't ask Jesus for a sign. In fact, later in the story, we find that he didn't even know that Jesus was Jesus. He didn't exercise faith. He didn't have any friends who exercised faith. All he had going for him was that he had nothing going for him. All he had was his great need and his desperate helplessness. But...sometimes helplessness is our greatest prayer. In the end not only was the man healed, but he knew Jesus.

The others who didn't know Jesus were the religious leaders. They were the ones who knew the scriptures. They had mastered the Word, memorized the Word, studied and taught the Word. But they didn't know Jesus was Jesus either. After the miracle, Jesus will confront them with these words, "You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet your refuse to come to me that you may have life." Really the primary difference between the cripple and the religious leaders was that one knew he was helpless and the others did not!

Episode #48 is a bonus episode in John chapter 4. With the amazing story of a worship encounter on a dusty trail with a woman at the well, and in addition, the second sign that Jesus performed, it was just too much good stuff for one episode.

So our focus in this episode is on the last part of John 4. But before you get there, let me take another opportunity to remind us why we call this podcast, "More Than Bread." Simply stated, it's because Jesus believed that the WORD of God was more important to life than bread. We need more than bread. As we move into John 4 and then in the next episode John 5, we must keep in mind the connection between Jesus and the Word; the connection between the Son of God and the Word of God. "In the beginning," John wrote, "the Word was with God and the Word was God." And then, "the Word become flesh and lived in our midst." Before we jump into the miracle moment of John 4, I want to make sure we understand the connection between Jesus and the Word. This connection goes beyond metaphor into the land of mystical. It goes beyond symbolic into the land of the supernatural. There is this connection between Jesus, who is called the Word, and the Word which we call our Bible. This man who claimed to be God...who lived as a servant...died like a criminal...and was resurrected as a King; this man who is called the Word...the Word of God; God in the flesh; He is the God who speaks.

This episode will focus on John 4. This chapter of John's gospel contains what is for me one of the most powerful stories in the life of Christ. Many know it as the story of the woman at the well. It's a story that first of all puts on display the "have-to" of Jesus. There are many stories in the gospels that tell us what Jesus did...there are a few that tell us what he HAD to do, what he lived for. One of those stories is found in John 4:1-42.

But it's also a story of worship and worship we will see is initiated by God at the intersections of real life, in the midst of adultery, broken marriages, racial conflict, and need. Jesus is seeking worshippers and in this moment, his search doesn't lead him to a religious place or even a sacred space. He doesn't find a beautiful place by a stream in the woods. On this day, he'll sit by a well on a dusty trail, near a village filled with people that his friends want to avoid. Bone-weary from his journey; he decides, "Even now, even here, there will be worship." Worship doesn't always require choirs or bands singing songs that move our hearts. It doesn't always take liturgy or communion or even a sermon. Sometimes all you need is a well, a woman with a thirsty heart, and Jesus. Because worship is the natural result of a thirsty heart and mind and soul that has been satisfied by God. Worship is what happens when the life of God begins to flow through the dry wastelands of our soul.

This episode will lead us into John 3. It's the story of a man who came to Jesus looking for something more. Probably few people around this man would have ever dreamed that he was lacking anything, but he came to Jesus looking for something more. The path to more is described throughout scripture, but you can't miss it in perhaps the most famous verse of the Bible, John 3:16. That’s where we will land before this episode is over, John chapter 3:16.

This might be the most well-known Bible verse in modern-day history. I wonder in how many athletic stadiums it has found a momentary home. In 2009, in the NCAA football national championship, Tim Tebow wrote "John 3:16" in the black smear beneath his eyes. That night over 90 million people googled John 3:16. This verse gives a one-sentence tweetable summary of the good news that leads to a great life. It's a step-by-step guide to the greatest life that comes from the greatest response to the greatest gift given through the greatest love to the greatest number, by the greatest one! And you are invited!

In this episode, we are diving into John 2. Remember the gospel of John uses two groupings of seven to help organize the gospel; seven miraculous signs and seven "I am" sayings. In John 2, we get the first sign. In the midst of a wedding reception emergency (ran out of wine), Jesus turned about 150 gallons of water into a fine wine!

Now each of us probably has a story about the day the wine ran dry. It might involve a marriage that's lost its joy, or the death of a loved one. It might involve a search for community or a difficult failure. I know people who would tell stories of regret or fear. Some don't even know the story, they just have this indescribable longing for an un-named something more. The wine has run dry. What do you do when the wine has run dry? Once upon a time, I thought that whenever the wine ran dry, I could always fill my cup on my own. Just worker. Do more. But at some point, I discovered that I was living under the illusion of my self-sufficiency when what I really needed was the reality of God's abundant provision....of joy. I trust this episode will open the door of your heart just a bit more to God's joy.

If I were to give John chapter one a title, I think it would be “A Messy Love Story.” In the beginning, Jesus (the Word) was with God and Jesus (the Word) was God. He created everything. Nothing was created except through him. He gave life to everything that was created. His life was like a shining light that brought light to everyone. But the world was dark. So the light shines in the darkness. Darkness was John's word for the mess. Jesus, the light of the world dove heart-first into our mess. You will hear me describe it in this episode as, "Jesus pitched his tent in our mess." Not sure how much mess you got, but I do know that His love goes beyond all the mess!

Our first 40+ episodes took us on a jet tour through the whole New Testament. The next 20+ episodes will take us on a deep dive into the Gospel of John. John’s gospel is a bit different from the other three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Those three gospels--called the Synoptic Gospels--have a good deal of common material that they share. John’s gospel is the outlier. It's a bit more spiritual, a bit more theological. In fact, some great theological conversations can be had through the gospel of John. At the same time, just like Matthew, Mark and Luke, the heart of John's gospel is Jesus. John's stated focus is Jesus. In John 20 we will read his words, "that those who read it might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and by believing they would have life."

This first episode is an intro to John's gospel and to this series. There are 21 chapters, so there will be 21 episodes. Each episode will cover one chapter of John’s gospel. I am looking forward to diving in!

This episode brings us to the end of the New Testament, and the end of that mysterious, daunting, fascinating, perplexing, confusing, intriguing, challenging, kind of scary book we all call Revelation; the book that comes with its own built-in blessing for reading it. (Revelation 1:3)

For some of you, this has felt like a race from start to finish, the whole New Testament in 42 episodes! On the other hand for some of you, it’s felt like a deep dive into the Bible because it’s been a long time since you spent this much soaking in scripture. So let me just say, if you have made it this far, congratulations. But remember in the end, it’s not just about doing a deep dive into scripture, it’s about letting the Spirit of God do a deep dive through scripture into us.

And that’s why over and over again, you have heard me talking about listening, learning, and leaning. We listen to the voice of God through the Spirit of God making the Word of God come alive for the people of God. We listen. Because in the end whoever gets our ears, ultimately gets our hearts. We learn values and principles and promises. We are learning to see life through Jesus-eyes. In fact, Paul challenges us to enroll in the school of Jesus. And finally, it’s not over till we lean into the Word; until we respond.

So in this episode, we finish this series of listening, learning, and leaning into the New Testament as we finish listening to, learning from, and leaning into the last six chapters of Revelation. And for our pause in the video...it's Revelation 21, hands down, favorite passage of Revelation, the description of our home!

WHAT'S NEXT? 21 Episodes in the Gospel of John starting on April 18th!

In this episode, we are continuing to read that mysterious, daunting, fascinating, perplexing, confusing, intriguing, challenging, kind of scary book we all call Revelation. But don’t forget it’s also a book that comes with its own built-in blessing for reading it. In Revelation 1:3. John writes, “God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says..." So get ready to be blessed!

As we make our way through Revelation, we aren't reading it like it’s a cryptic guide to a prophetic treasure hunt. But we also aren't reading it in fear. Instead, remembering that the genre of the book is apocalyptic writing, we are gaining encouragement from the book. In John’s day, apocalyptic books were written for people who were going through difficult, scary times with the simple message, "Don't lose heart. Don't Give Up. Don't Lose Hope. In the end, Jesus wins." Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will bring all of history to an amazing new beginning.

In this episode, we will pause in chapter 8, with the amazing encouragement that a holy hush envelopes heaven when God's people on earth...pray! If that's true, what will you do today, that is more important than prayer!

In today’s episode, we start to read that mysterious, daunting, fascinating, perplexing, confusing, intriguing, kind of scary book we all call Revelation. But it's also the only book (I think) in the Bible that comes with its own built-in blessing. In Revelation 1:3, John writes, “God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.” This is actually the first time in 30+ years of being a pastor that I will have read the whole book of Revelation to the church…and I’m ready to be blessed!

When it comes to Revelation people generally walk one of two paths. Some treat it like a massive prophetic treasure hunt. If we can just discover the next clue it will lead us to the holy grail of the end of days. So we write up timelines and diagrams and search for hidden clues in obscure texts and develop theories about symbols. I grew up in a church a bit like that. But the second pathway avoids Revelation altogether. I understand that. It's filled with bizarre images, swords coming out of mouths and strange beasts, lots of blood and dragons, bottomless pits and demons, trumpets and bowls, and war and death.

But if we follow either pathway, we will miss out on the greatest blessing for in the end at the heart of the book of Revelation is the Revelation of Christ. It is the revelation of his power and his mercy. It is the revelation of his truth and his grace. It's the revelation of his glory and his majesty. It is the revelation of his Kingship and his victory. But it is also a revelation of his heart. So let me challenge you, don't miss his heart!

In this episode, we have an ambitious reading goal; four New Testament books. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John and Jude. Of course three of the books are only one chapter long, so we’ll probably be okay! Jude is written by the brother of James and Jesus. It is very similar to 2nd Peter dealing with similar instances of false teachers. It’s a call to defend the faith. It contains one of my favorite closing benediction. Jude writes in vs 24-25, "To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."

1st 2nd and 3rd John are written by the apostle John, a close friend of Jesus, son of Zebedee. The author also of the Gospel of John and the book of Revelation. He wrote from Ephesus as a leader in the church and he is writing as an elderly man. As we read these three letters of John, think of an elderly man distilling in short form, the essence of his life, the core values of his heart, the message that he comes back to over and over again. And what is that message? It’s a message of the priority and value of love. Is there more to it than that? Sure. But over and over again, John comes back to love. Love is from God, so we should love one another. How can we say we love God if we don’t love people? Love casts out fear. Over and over again, he is coming to the church and saying, “You have seen this in me. It is my life-message. If I have any influence with you still, please love God and love each other."

Very simple, but very profound challenge!

In this episode, we are diving into the two short books of one of the most famous of all of Jesus’ initial followers. Peter; once a fisherman, then a water-walker, now a follower of Christ and leader in the church. He’s probably writing from Rome, in fact, 2 Peter is probably written while in prison awaiting execution from Nero. The letter is written to Christians scattered throughout modern-day Turkey; Christians who are suffering persecution and hardship. Peter is writing to encourage them and fill them with hope.

This hope at least in part comes because the Word of God is living and enduring (1 Peter 2:23-25). It will give birth to life in our hearts and it will stand forever! But the hope that Peter gives also comes from personal experience. Peter was the loud-talking-before-thinking-step-into-the-water-without-hesitating-I’ll-never-betray-you-Jesus disciple. He was also the disciple who denied three times that he even knew Jesus. But then he was also the disciple who experienced personally the redemptive grace of the risen Christ. I believe that experience of redemptive grace combined with the reality of the risen Christ...pumped life-changing hope into the heart of Peter...and it could do so to you as well!

Today’s episode focuses on the book of James and before we jump in, let me say that James talks a lot about the Word. He writes in James 1:22 “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” Be doers not hearers only. That’s why we have said over and over again… when we come to scripture, we listen, we learn but it’s not over till we lean in. Lean into the doing of what we are hearing and learning!

So a bit about James before we jump in. First of all the James who wrote James is James the brother of Jesus. Think about that for a moment. Imagine growing up as the brother of Jesus. How many times did you have to hear your mom or dad say something like, "James why can't you just be more like Jesus?" But James was not a believer/follower/disciple of Jesus before He died. No James doubted that Jesus was who He said He was. But something happened; a u-turn. How did it happen? Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:7 that Jesus took the time to appear one on one with James his brother. How do you suppose that went? I think that's powerful evidence of the resurrection of Jesus. You don't convince a skeptical brother with a fairy tale.

After that James became a leader in the early movement of Jesus-followers. He was there for those amazing early days, but he was also there for the persecution. He watched friends imprisoned, persecuted, and killed. He watched the church scattered and all those experiences shaped his heart. In fact, he had two nicknames that give us a glimpse of his heart. The first was "James the Just." That referred to his honesty, piety, devotion and his heart for those in the margins of life. The second nickname was "Old Camel Knees." He was called Old Camel Knees because of the callouses on his knees and the callouses on his knees were gained from hours spent kneeling in prayer.

So here is what you get when you read James, an honest, humble man who loved people, was filled with practical wisdom, and couldn't stop praying...and oh yeah, the brother of Jesus. It's quite the book!

The book of Hebrews is written for people with whom many of us could relate; a people who had lost a measure of their passion for Jesus, who had gotten so wrapped up in other pursuits that they had less and less time for God. They didn't have video games, social media, Netflix, or 24/7 News, but the question has been the same since time began...how will I pursue life? They had tried to find life in so many pursuits other than God but they had become, as one commentator writes, a world-wearied and discontent people. So Paul's trying to encourage them. He’s trying to encourage them by regaling them with the blessings of the new way of approaching God through Christ. He’s trying to challenge them to persevere with the image of a stadium filled with those who have gone before cheering them on.

He is pouring out hope into dry and thirsty hearts with the promise that their story is not finished. That’s where we will pause in this episode; Hebrews 11-12. Hebrews 11 is known as the faith hall of fame and Hebrews 12 begins with this timeless challenge, “Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author of our faith."

Can I tell you what I believe? If Jesus is the author of your story, then hope is the story of your life!

In today's reading, you will hear some words about the Word. It’s Hebrews 4:11-13, where the author writes, "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

I want you to paint this picture in your mind. This is what happens if we come to scripture, with humble hearts ready to listen, learn and lean in. Imagine Christ, the word of God, standing over you with a sword in hand. It cuts away all the masks, every layer of deception. It brings everything into the light. As the Word speaks, we know that nothing is hidden from God's sight. What does he see? Lust. Anger. Pride, perhaps bitterness that you would not let go. Or perhaps it's the quiet whisper of a voice late at night that says, "You'll never measure up." "No one could ever love you."

Everything is uncovered. That word literally means naked. We come to God through the Word and as His word enters our souls, it uncovers everything, like we are spiritually naked. Laid bare and actually, that's not a great translation. Laid bare (in Greek) means head pulled back and neck exposed. Laid bare is what the Priest would do with a sacrifice. This is how we come to the Word. Spiritual naked and vulnerable before God. Our life in his hands. Only to find that the one who holds our life in his hands is the very one who has given his life into our hands. Naked and vulnerable with nothing to offer, we find grace.

The scripture reading today is filled with people in need of grace. And at the end is a story of grace about a man who still needs grace.

At Calvary, we talk quite a bit about being Jesus-apprentices. We want to be people who not only follow Jesus but live and love like Jesus. And we cannot, apprentice with Jesus without being sent on His mission. What is our mission? At its most simple, basic understanding we are called to love our neighbors and introduce them to Jesus. So you don't have to be a pastor to have a mission. You don't have to move to a foreign country to have a mission. You don't have to go to seminary or have a master's in anything other than Jesus, but you do have to be an apprentice of Jesus.

And what do apprentices of Jesus do when they go on a mission. Would it surprise you to hear me say, "They pray first." They pray first for all people with all sorts of prayer. That's where we will land in this video for a few moments today as we pause on 1 Timothy 2.

In this day's reading and video we are diving into 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. Paul wrote this letter to a new church filled with young believers going through a difficult season of persecution and suffering. So he's writing to encourage them and give them instruction on how to live like Jesus in the midst of hard times. He's writing to remind them of their hope.

In this video, we will pause on one verse in the midst of both letters. It's a verse that has grabbed my heart, convicted my mind and stirred up my spirit. It's a verse on hospitality where Paul tells the church that because of his heart for them, he not only shared the gospel, but he wants to share his life. This kind of hospitality is at the very heart of the gospel. Jesus came not just to share his message with us. He came to share his very life. This is divine hospitality and some theologians would argue that it is one of the chief attributes of God.

If we would lean into that...it might change the world!

In this episode, we are hanging out in the New Testament book of Colossians, and here is what I love about Colossians. It is passionately thrilled with Christ. Colossians is one of the most Christ-centered; Jesus-loving, Son of God-exalting books in the Bible. It’s filled with variations on the theme of Jesus. Jesus is the object of our faith and the image of the invisible God. Jesus is the creator of all things and in fact, all things were created by him and in fact, all things are even now held together in him. He is the head of the church. The resurrected one; our Savior through the cross; our victorious champion over sin and Satan, Lord of glory. Lord of Life. Model for living. Colossians is an exaltation of the exalted Christ.

If you ever need a pick-me-up reminder of the treasure that has been given to us in Christ, just take 15-20 minutes and read through Colossians. You will find that there is nothing greater than Christ. Christ is the treasure of Christianity. With all my heart I believe that the church is the hope of the world, but only because the church is on the heart of Christ.

I don't know why you are listening to these podcasts, why you are reading through the whole New Testament, but if it's not because of Christ, you're missing everything. Join me in pondering the treasure of Christ, described in the book of Colossians.

Today's reading covers the book of Philippians, Paul's letter to the church of Philippi. Philippians as a book on extreme joy. If joy was an XGames event, this would be the manual. Extreme joy. There are few books of the Bible that focus more on joy than Philippians. But the fascinating truth, that gives this study an extreme edge... is that this book on joy was written by a man in prison, a man in chains, a man with circumstances we would not necessarily define as joyful. And this was not his first bad experience.

When he wrote to some of his friends in Corinth; he was swapping "good old days" stories...and comparing himself to others he said something like this, (I Cor. 11:23-28) "They say they serve Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in jail more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. I was beaten, stoned, and shipwrecked--three times! I've faced more danger in more places from more people than I can count."

So much difficulty and now in prison, possibly facing execution...so when Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord and again I will say rejoice," his words have power because of his life experience.

In this episode, we will pause for a time on Paul’s antidote for worry and anxiety because if there is a joy-sucker out there it’s worry and anxiety right? And my goodness in the last year we have had more than enough good reasons to worry. All the uncertainty has been fertile soil for worry. But Paul tells us that no matter what...we can have joy!

In this episode, we are reading Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. Paul started the church at Ephesus in Acts 18/19 during his second missionary journey and they experienced a mighty move of God, a city-wide awakening. Paul and the church at Ephesus literally changed the spiritual climate. During Paul’s ministry, so many people became Christ-followers, that it disrupted the marketplace, specifically those connected to the worship of Artemis. If there is a church in the New Testament that experienced a region-wide move of God, it was the church in Ephesus.

Ephesians is one of my all-time favorite New Testament books and it develops an amazing blueprint for the church. Because of that, there are so many places where I want to pause, but in this podcast, we will touch briefly on two things. First, we will talk about what Paul means when he says that we are "in Christ." This is so important. "In Christ" is our address and it shapes our identity. Secondly, we will talk about how being "in Christ" gives us strength for the dark, difficult days. Because we are in Christ, we can persevere, thrive and finish well regardless of how great the battle becomes.

In this episode, we are going to read Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia. Probably written around 48AD to the church that Paul started during his first missionary journey. He’s a bit critical of the church, there is a division in the church, a Jewish kind of legalism has sprung up. But his solution is to draw them back to the gospel. And that’s why it has great value for us.

There’s a bit less scripture to read this time, so I’m going to pause for a moment on the front end as well as the back end. There are so many incredible truths in this letter, but I'll start with the cross. Paul’s passion for the cross leads us to celebrate Christ crucified... Honestly, I cringe a bit putting those three words together. Celebrate -- Christ -- Crucified. It is a mysterious wonder that they could be put together and still have meaning.

Here is this struggling movement, persecuted, scattered, poor, doing anything they can to spread the good news of life, the good news of the Kingdom of God here and now. They are doing anything they can to invite people to dive into the gospel with them and the logo they choose to be recognized by is a symbol universally understood to represent pain, rejection, death, failure, and humiliation. A cross. Who thought that was a good idea? Apparently, Paul did. In Galatians 6:14, he wrote, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ..." Keep those words in mind as we read Paul's letter to the church of Galatia.

In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul is talking to people whose lives have become hard and whose stories are messy. When he writes in vs 1, "Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart," we should realize that when he wrote those words, "through God's mercy we do not lose heart," he wrote them because people were losing heart.

And the reality is that life is not always easy.

So here's the challenge that I get from 2 Corinthians 4. Let's be honest about our story--the mess and the difficulty--but in the midst of the honesty, don't lose heart. Don't let your hearts get hard. Don't stop taking the risk of love. Don't give up. Don't lose heart. Sometimes life is just hard, but that doesn't mean it can't be good. Even when we get stuck in hard days, we hope, because when God is the author of our story, then hope is the story of our life.

And in fact, hope is birthed in the crucibles of life. This idea of a crucible is woven throughout scripture. In Proverbs 17:3 it says, The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord refines the heart. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul is talking about the crucible experiences of life. Here is our problem. We want change without the crucible. We want glory without the pain. We want resurrection without death. But there is only one path. The crucible leads to change. Pain leads to glory and death leads to resurrection life. Don't lose heart. Hope is the story of your life!

Gilbert Bilzekian writes, "The silent churning at the core of our being is the tormenting need to know and be known, to understand and be understood, to belong unconditionally and forever without fear of loss, betrayal or rejection." In other words, what we are seeking is love unbounded, love without walls. We want to know that we are not outside the boundaries of somebody's complete love; that someone out there can love me... as I am; that there is someone with whom I can be real and not fear rejection or ridicule.

But in fact, it's even more than that. It's good to know that I can be real with you and not face rejection, but it's not enough. I want to be loved in a way that changes me. Aren't we seeking a love that adds value? A love that never fails? Love unbounded. This is the love that Paul describes in I Corinthians 13. This kind of love will change you. It could change the world!

I’ll introduce Corinthians a bit more in the next episode, but for now let me simply say, that the main message of the 1st Corinthians is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is relevant to every area of our life and the life of the church.

Can I tell you what I believe as I read the first eight chapters of I Corinthians? I believe that all over our neighborhoods, our workplaces, in our friend groups, God is stirring up people’s hearts toward Him. The Spirit is drawing people to Jesus and you are going to miss it if you are too scared, or too busy to join Him. Something is shifting. God's at work. Jesus is building something. The world's greatest building project was not the pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China, or Boston's Big Dig. The world's greatest building project started about 2000 years ago and is still under construction.

The world's greatest building project is the church. And the church is not a building. It's not an address. It's people. The church is God's people under construction. You are the church and ultimately it's not about where we meet, or when we meet, or even if we meet, but it might be about who you meet and what you do when you meet them. Every time you embark upon your front yard mission, you are joining Jesus in the world's greatest building project.

It’s my hope that this podcast might be a small part of developing a hunger for more than bread, a stirring in our hearts for every word that drops from the mouth of God. It’s my prayer that letting scripture saturate our souls will cause us to be different. Honestly, throughout the centuries those who believe that the Bible is truth, those who value the Word and surrender to Christ, have always been different.

John Stott points out that this call to be different is found in each of the four great sections of scripture; the law, the prophets, the gospels, and the epistles. For example in the sermon on the mount, in Matthew 6, Jesus said, "Do not be like them." In the epistles, Romans 12 (part of our reading in this episode) Paul says, "Do not be conformed to the world around you."

In the midst of our reading, Romans 12-15 is a strong call to be different in our love, different in our unity, different in our willingness to sacrifice for God and others. That's what happens when scripture saturates our souls. So ask yourself, "Am I listening with open ears, learning with an open mind, and leaning in with a hungry heart?"

I remember a number of years ago, I was talking to my daughters about their upcoming baptism. They were thinking deeply, asking good questions like, "How do we know that there really is a God?" I looked at them and thought, "You are how I know."

I am amazed that in our world today, intelligent, highly educated men and women can look at the intricate design of the universe and call it a product of time and chance. People who would never buy a lottery ticket because of the mathematical probability of winning can look at the human eye and call it the jackpot of all creative jackpots. How can they not know?

Paul suggests that they do know. In Romans 1, God says through Paul that we know but we suppress the truth because of our pride. In other words, God says, "They know. I know they know, and they know they know, and they know I know they know. What really is going on here is that people deny my existence so that they don't have to surrender control." But if we don't surrender control, we won't get to Romans 8. Which is so amazing! Glory is coming and nothing can separate us from His love!

Today's reading completes the book of Acts, Acts 24-28. As we come to the end of the book of Acts, I just want to share a few thoughts about the life of Paul. As we continue to make our way through the New Testament, many of the books were actually letters written by Paul to the churches he started in the book of Acts. So in today's podcast, I will reflect for a few moments on his life. Starting from his Damascus Road encounter with Jesus to his final two years in Rome, Paul's life is a great chapter in the on-going love story that God has for people. That story cannot be written without grief, pain, and sorrow, but it is also so full of grace, truth, and joy. It is an amazing story and you are part of it! You are relentlessly pursued by God!

Today's reading focuses a great deal on the missionary journeys and adventures of Paul. So we will pause for a few moments on some words in the midst of the reading that define Paul's passion. He wants his life to count. He wants to make a difference. I believe that one of the most critical issues facing us today is that we don't really know what counts. We settle for a lesser purpose, and in the process, . we lose the wide-eyed wonder and awe of the radical Good News that we have as our Father God, an unstoppable force, a Dream-Releaser of "beyond imagination" power. That we have in Jesus a, passionate Savior and Leader, who was willing to die to see God's story written in our lives. Let's not forget what counts. I want my life to count!

The book of Acts is the unfolding story of the beginning of our movement, the beginning of the church. I know some, maybe even many believe that the best of the church is behind us, rather than yet to come. But I believe Jesus calls us to live with a deep sense of expectancy; a hope that the best is yet to come. I believe Jesus is calling us to embrace the role of those who turn the world upside down.

Once upon a time, that's what we were called. In fact, in the reading for this episode, we will come across that description. It wasn’t necessarily a compliment. But it’s become part of my prayer for us, for the church in 2021 and beyond. "Lord, would you do it again? Through your Spirit working within us, turn the world upside down again!"

Today we read Acts 7-11 and we will pause at the moment of Stephen's death. I have this vision in my mind of a horrific tragedy of the brutal death of one of the hero's of our faith, a leader of the early church. And yet it is also a heart-gripping moment of grace, a moment where Stephen leaned deep into the heart of Jesus.

This was a defining moment for the church. Stephen's moment defined our movement as a movement of people who were full of faith and grace; people joyfully surrendered to Jesus, courageously generous, living life all-in with open hands and open hearts. We need to listen in this moment and learn from it, but more than anything we need to lean into it.

In this episode, we dive into the book of Acts. From the pouring of the Spirit of God in Acts 2 to the healing of a crippled man in Acts 3 to the sacrificial generosity of Acts 4 to the exploding numbers of people becoming apprentices of Jesus to the prayer meetings. Oh my goodness sometimes I think, if I could do anything, I would love to go back to one of those prayer meetings, they were devoted to prayer. Those were the days...and these still are those days!

The gospel of John is so rich in material. The final seven chapters are some of the richest. John 17 contain's Jesus' prayer for us that we would be one. That prayer more than most has shaped my life and ministry for two decades. But in this episode, we will pause in the broader section know as "Jesus' Farewell Discourse." In other words, some consider this Jesus' last words. They come in John 14-17, and they are Jesus' last words before crucifixion and resurrection. But they are not last words, they are beginning works and they are so good!

One of the most heart-gripping moments in the days before Jesus' death on the cross is when He takes on the role of a servant and washes His disciples' feet. One translation describes that as the moment where Jesus showed them the "full extent of his love." Wow! This was a defining moment in Jesus' life and His example defines our lives as well!

In this episode, we pause on one of Jesus' I-am statements. "I am the bread of life." This podcast springs from the value that we put on the Word of God. We need more than bread for life. We need every Word that comes from the mouth of God. Now in John 6-9, we find that not only is Jesus the Word, but He is also the Bread of life that comes down from Heaven. Christ satisfies the deepest hunger of our heart!

In this episode, we begin the Gospel of John. John’s gospel stands alone. It's not like the other three! His gospel is more spiritual, more symbolic than the others. You might say that it is more theological. In fact, some of the richest theological conversations and teachings take place in John’s gospel. He focuses on a series of miracles or signs and a series of statements that Jesus made called, “The I-am statements.” The signs and statements point to Jesus divinity, mission and role in coming to earth as the Messiah. Today we will pause on John's opening description that Jesus is the Word of God!

So many amazing scriptures which could give us pause after today’s reading; but the one I personally needed was the story of hope in Luke 24. The story takes place after the resurrection, but before Jesus' friends truly believe in the resurrection. It's a moment when two men took a walk with Jesus on their way to the little community of Emmaus. And it’s a deep story of hope, especially the hope we can find in scripture as we walk together. Because we need hope right? We desperately need hope.

While there are so many places we could touch down for a few moments in Luke 13-19, I want to pause today on a story that Jesus shared about prayer. In Luke 18, Jesus starts with the why of the story. The why (the parable) of the story is so important that Jesus tells it upfront. "Don't miss this," he is saying, "I'm going to tell you a story and I want the story to always remind you of the fact that we should always pray and never give up. Never forget this. Always pray. Never give up." In other words, don't lose heart. When the race seems long and the cheers seem faint, don't lose heart.

Luke 9-12 is filled with so much good stuff! The principles in chapter 12 on generosity and how to deal with anxiety are gold. If you lean into them, they could change your life. But for this reading, we will pause on Luke 10 where Jesus tells three stories; about going on a mission for Jesus, loving like Jesus and being with Jesus. Being precedes doing!

The primary purpose of our reading through the New Testament in 40 days is to spend some time pondering Jesus, diving into the glory of the treasure of Christ. It's obvious in the gospels, but it's not only there in fact everything in the New Testament is saturated with Christ. Jesus is the "why" of the church. The heart of everything written. So as we pause in Luke 5-8, I'll share a few thoughts on the Jesus who amazes us!

As we dive into the gospel of Luke, we quickly discover how much Luke appreciates the role of the Spirit of God. Listen, you will hear the Spirit of God in the conversation over and over again. I love that! But in this episode's reading, we will pause for a moment at Mary's subversive song of hope, the Magnificant!

As we come to the end of Mark's gospel, some of these stories and teachings are sounding familiar. Let them soak and resoak into your heart, mind and soul. I have had the opportunity to visit Israel twice. They call it the fifth gospel. There is simply something about being there. One of the places that gripped me most was the spot marking Peter's betrayal. Hard to imagine how he felt, which makes his return all the more gripping!

As we read and listen to Mark 6-11, there are so many places where we could pause for a moment or two. We see Jesus walking on water, feeding crowds, healing and teaching. We have one of my most gut-wrenching stories, where the Rich Young Ruler walked away from Jesus because his stuff was too important. But for a few moments we'll pause and talk about the dangers of growing up with Jesus.

Reading the gospel of Mark chapters 1-5 with a few comments along the way, concluding with a focus on what a follower of Jesus, a Jesus-apprentice looks like in real life. Hint, it may often require the use of the phrase, "If you say so, Jesus!"

Matthew 25-28 finishes up the gospel of Matthew. The passion and resurrection stories are of course, powerful. The cross and the empty tomb show us the love of God and the power of God. Together they fill us with hope. But then there is this story of the love-burst of Mary, that is where I focus at the end.

Matthew 19-24 includes a lot of difficult teachings but also some of my favorite, like "good leaders are great servants" and "my house will be a house of prayer" and "love your neighbor as you love yourself." For me to love my neighbor like I love myself I simply need to ask, "What would I love me if I were my neighbor!"

Matthew 13-18 is filled with descriptions of how followers of Jesus live and look and love. Perhaps none of those descriptions is more powerful than Jesus' teaching on forgiveness. Jesus loves mercy. We have been forgiven much, so we can forgive others!

Matthew 8-12 is filled with miracles that arise from and inspire faith (believing) but we also see that believing must lead to trusting. When we trust we find ourselves called to follow a King who is worthy of our living and our dying!

We are starting our 40-episode read through the New Testament. The focus in this episode is Matthew 1-7 as Matthew begins to describe Jesus as the King. So much good stuff in Matthew, the birth-story and the Sermon on the Mount! Join us as we listen to the Word and learn from the word and finally lean into the Word!

So many urgent matters in life grab our attention. But something can't really be urgent if it's not important. If we lack the most important things for life, that becomes urgent...and our urgency soon develops into hunger. So the question is, "Are we hungry for God's Word?"