Part of our job in growing in gospel fluency is paying attention to the overflow of our hearts. What comes out in the form of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors finds its origin inside of us. Too often, we focus…
JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLW5vY29va2llLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGeWhwd1Y0Y3dCNG8lMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvdyUzRCUyMmFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXIlM0IlMjBhdXRvcGxheSUzQiUyMGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYSUzQiUyMGd5cm9zY29wZSUzQiUyMHBpY3R1cmUtaW4tcGljdHVyZSUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ== The Gospel of God is grace on fire. It’s love on full blast. It’s peace with power. However, it goes against everything we expect in relationships and even against everything we desire. We expect to have to earn belonging…
Being faithful isn’t a daily grind we have to strategize. “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.” John 5:20 This text is one of the most compelling parts of scripture. It’s…
We’re not outside-in people but inside-out people. When we feel that something is wrong with us, most of try to fix the problem by doing. We change our schedule. We tell ourselves we’ll eat better, exercise more, or spend…
MONDAY Who is God? God is generous. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or…
MONDAY Who is God? God is King. Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. He subdued…
MONDAY Who is God? God is a Good Shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads…
MONDAY Who is God? God is gracious. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God…
This post is a part of a two-part series on Grief and the Gospel. In case you'd like to go back, here's part one: Not Alone in Our Grief. Evidently, it matters how we grieve. Paul mentions a godly grief…
MONDAY Who is God? God is light. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” - John 8:12 …
A Gospel Guide Our theology does more than an adequate job of explaining the reality of the broken world in which we find ourselves. We know that God didn’t design the world to work this way, that sin has devastated…
MONDAY Who is God? God is our perfect Father. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we…
MONDAY Who is God? Jesus is the way, truth, and life. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have…
Regular encouragement from our brothers and sister is a vital weapon against the onslaught of lies and unbelief with which we are assaulted. A Timely Question in a Tough Moment I can’t remember exactly why I was so angry, but I…
MONDAY Who is God? God is holy. Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the…
MONDAY Who is God? God is love. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God,…
We want to grow in gospel fluency and have it deeply planted into our thoughts, words, and actions. Where do we start? God Himself; growing in our intimacy with Him, letting the roots of His love grow deeper and deeper…
When people say they are saved, what do they mean? Think of this blog post as a vocabulary lesson. To become fluent in any language, you must develop your vocabulary. So let’s delve into the aspects of the gospel…
Read Part One Here. In no way is this meant to be a voice of condemnation, for I am the worst of us! However, I have personally come to a place of seeing my deep need for Jesus through…
Measuring Suffering The aching desire for a spouse, the pain of losing a friend, the uncertainty of finding a job...these things all produce pain. Why is it, though, that we tend to compare our suffering to the next person,…
A few years ago, I ran a 5K on Thanksgiving with my whole family - three kids and two strollers. As we crossed the finish line the announcer said, “Welcome the stroller team!” The race was through the…
Our Advent traditions have become numerous: we cut down our tree at the Beck family farm in the shadow of Mt. Hood; we make cinnamon rolls for our neighbors; we go ice skating at the mall; I take…
On these last days of Advent, we turn our gaze to the love embodied in the crib. The incarnation carries into our world not just hope, peace, and joy, but Christ brings with Him a love of…
One of my favorite Christmas memories came five years ago when Mirela told me she was pregnant with our second child. I was overjoyed, amazed, and humbled. When that daughter was born we named her “Maitê,” which means…
We find ourselves between two arrivals - the first in Jesus in Bethlehem and the second as He comes again. We stand between resurrection and restoration. That’s precisely why this season is so important; it locates our hope,…
I haven’t found a suburban light show, a boat parade light show, or the lights in a fancy mall in Los Angeles to compare the Christmas lights of Lisbon, Portugal. My home city truly rises to the occasion…
Christmas is one of those strange times you sing a lot. It’s also a time when you oddly sing words in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and all sorts of languages. A favorite, I think, is the song “O Come,…
A guy who has hung around on the outskirts of our missional community sent a message asking for gas money this week. He said he missed us, but he has been going to another local church. My gut reaction…
Good Times Have Come, So Go Tell it On the Mountain
We tell the stories that matter most to us and our world. The stories you tell at parties, over dinner, and even in small talk have two overlapping qualities: you like them and you think the people around…
I’ll never forget where I was when I first heard the news: LeBron James was coming to Los Angeles to play for our Lakers. King James was going to come! After years of trying to read between…
This Advent season has been a delight for me as we’ve walked through hope and peace. Now we turn our gaze toward joy. Our modern dictionaries define joy as a feeling of great happiness. It’s essentially pleasure plus,…
This past week, each reflection has focused on the theme of Peace and the Kingdom Jesus’ birth brings. It all seems so wonderful. The birth of the saving king, so glorious. The highest glory has come to us! When…
My favorite Christmas movie is Joyeux Noel. It tells the true story of a Christmas Day Truce in the trenches of World War I between the Germans, French, and British. The cost of World War I was a…
We all have a complicated relationship with the Church. It’s a ruckus communion of saints. It’s for many a place of quarreling, a place of scheming, a place of power, and even for those same people, a place…
Growing up, my family spent each night of the holidays sitting beneath the glow of the Christmas tree and watching Christmas movies. We watched the original Miracle on 34th Street and the “new” Miracle on 34th Street (which…
How does the king come? We know He comes to change the world. We know He was born into our world. But how does Jesus come? What is the manner, the posture, the practice of Jesus’ incarnation? Returning to…
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