Do you have a goal in front of you, but feel like you're becoming tired before it's achieved? Or are you coasting because you've already seen some progress? If you can relate, then maybe you're in the dangerous place of "halfway". In this conversation, Pastor Nate encourages us to continue moving forward in the endeavors God has placed before us. Article Link: https://www.nateholdridge.com/blog/186 Follow Pastor Nate: Website: nateholdridge.com Twitter: @nholdridge Instagram: @nateholdridge Pastor Nate’s Church: www.calvary.com

What did Nehemiah do when he heard about the horrible condition of Jerusalem? In this conversation, Pastor Nate shares with us Nehemiah’s powerful response to the ruin of his hometown. Article Link: https://www.nateholdridge.com/blog/180 Follow Pastor Nate: Website: nateholdridge.com Twitter: @nholdridge Instagram: @nateholdridge Pastor Nate’s Church: www.calvary.com

If you were to ask Jesus today how to pray, what would He say? Would He prioritize the same things you do? What language would He use? In this conversation, Pastor Nate shares with us some thoughts about Jesus’ framework for prayer found in the Lord’s Prayer. Article Link: https://www.nateholdridge.com/blog/gleanings-from-the-lords-prayer-matthew-6-9-13?rq=gleaning Follow Pastor Nate: Website: nateholdridge.com Twitter: @nholdridge  Instagram: @nateholdridge Pastor Nate’s Church: www.calvary.coman

I call it the Africa Decision Myth. I’m sure you’ve heard, or maybe even said it, before. The idea is simple: if God asks me to go to Africa, I will go. In other words, I will live my life, my way, and then if God busts in and interrupts everything, gives me a big ol' sign in the heavens, I will do as he asks.Only, it doesn't work that way. The people who go to Africa, or Europe, or their coworkers with the gospel, don’t make one massive decision. They make a million choices, little ones which lead to something big and visible. It is the small stuff, the seemingly inconsequential, which builds to something massive. Our next section in Romans teaches us the power of the smallest decisions. We have learned some incredible truth so far in this study of Romans 6-8. We are dead to sin, alive to God, and must reckon it so (Romans 6:1-11). We have died with Jesus on his cross, so now we can live in newness of life with him (Romans 6:1-5). Right now. Not later. Newness of life right now. Also, there is a battle happening (Romans 6:12-14). Sin desires to sit on the throne of our lives. It wants to enslave us. It is trying to take our bodily appetites and turn them against us. Sin seeks to enter in, and, though we are born again, we become enslaved, saved but subjugated. Slavery to sin is not our destiny, however. Not at all. We do not have to come under its power. But this next section will show us how we are enslaved to something. The adverse option is sin. The favorable option is righteousness. To which are you surrendered? Positionally, in the sight of God, you are a slave of righteousness. God sees you this way, and as you present your body, ever increasingly, to righteousness, you become a real slave of it. The question remains: how do we live under grace, not law? How do we operate as slaves to righteousness? We’ve learned we must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. We’ve seen how sin will have no dominion over us. We’ve discovered the aim is to bring the body of sin to nothingness. How is this so? How do we live this way? Much of this next section will draw upon the parallel of slavery. Whom will you serve? Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). We only have one master. Paul believed righteousness could be our master. He thought righteousness could become natural to us; we could feel compelled, enslaved, to do what is right. Remember, sin wants to enslave. Sin wants the throne. Paul will now tell us how righteousness can have it instead. The way it works is simple. If you present yourself to sin, you will become a slave to it. However, as a Christian with the Holy Spirit inside you, if you give yourself to righteousness, you will become a slave to it. Slavery is always the result, so we ought to present our whole self to our new Master and his word, devoted to our sanctification process. Let’s discover the process. Slavery Is Coming (6:15-16) “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” (Romans 6:15). Paul reminds us here that we are living under God’s grace. In other words, we are living in a constant state of God’s favor, which includes his empowering. He will grant us the ability we need to overcome sin, which is part of his grace. The question here is, ought we sin because we are under grace, not law? Why take sin seriously? Jesus fulfilled the law for us. We are under grace. God has transferred us into Christ. We are locked in. What can sin do to us? Put another way the question might sound like this: wouldn’t obedience to God be like living under the law? Shouldn’t a grace-life be different? Paul said, “By no means!” he gave this answer often (Romans 3:4, 6, 31; 6:1). He is emphatic. We are not abusers of God’s grace. A child with an influential parent might abuse their privilege, but we will not. We instead want to live up to o

Christina and I have tried to build our marriage upon God and his word. We have appreciated all the passages in the Bible which speak directly to the married life.But we have also loved many other Scriptures which have helped our marriage. In this short four-part series, I will write about four of those Scriptures. In each, I will elaborate on the principle found there, along with how it has applied to our marriage. Our prayer is that every believing marriage would find grace and strength in the word of Christ.Read the entire series here.“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:3–4).Christina has not completed Nate, and Nate has not completed Christina. Yes, when we married, the two become one flesh (Genesis 2:24, Mark 10:8). But it is Christ who completes us. Our lives, as the passage reads, are “hidden with Christ in God.”Consider the phrase: “Christ who is your life.” Christina and I have found that we cannot be one another’s life. Her life is not hidden in mine; nor is mine hidden in hers. We are close, intimate, and one, but as believers, we discover our lives in Jesus Christ. This plays out in our marriage in simple ways. Here are five of them:1. We pursue our relationship with Jesus.Our connection to God is of greatest importance. We have both prioritized our relationships with God in Christ. Christina needs me to spend time with Christ, and I need the same from her. As a couple, we encourage and commit to a daily time of Bible reading and prayer. As individuals, we read the Word and petition God. If I ceased to start my day with Bible reading and prayer, Christina would wonder what was wrong.2. We recognize our satisfaction comes from Jesus.He is the only one who can satisfy our souls (Psalm 107:9). He alone is the lifter of our heads (Psalm 3:3). He is the bread of life we need to consume (John 6:35). Without the pressure to complete the other, we can enjoy one another. When our identity is fixed in Christ, we are free to appreciate and drink in the love of the other.3. We prioritize learning and growing in Jesus.If our life is hidden with him, if he is our life, we conclude it is important to continue to grow in him (2 Peter 3:18). This takes the form of reading books and listening to teaching about the Christian faith. We read books on marriage, parenting, finances, and soul-care. We listen to podcasts which teach us about the Lord. Though we sometimes consume the same material, we are two different people, so our norm is to take in different content at different times. We also try to take time to relax and talk about what we are learning.4. We believe our lives should honor Christ.If he is our life, then we feel each decision and priority should be weighed in light of who we are in him. We want our financial practices to reflect who we are in him, so we shoot for generosity, contentment, and saving. We want our calendar commitments to reflect who we are in him, so we emphasize ministry and church life, but also balance, rest, and friendship with others. We want our speech to reflect who we are in him, so we repent and confess when we’ve allowed ourselves to say things unbecoming of Christ.5. We recognize the struggle to see our lives as hidden with Christ in God.The passage says, “For you have died.” We died with Jesus on his cross, were buried with him, and now live to experience his newness of life (Romans 6:1–4). But we are still on this planet—in bodies made for the earth while Christ is in heaven! Because of this, it is challenging to remember where our truest life is found. It is easy to get caught up in the here and now. Knowing this, Christina and I drink up the grace of God when we see a failure. We recalibrate and confess our sin to the Lord. He helps us recenter ourselves upon him.When I look at Christina, I see the woman of my dreams. But I know she cannot handle the crushing we

“The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.” (Psalm 129:3 ESV).“I have no peace about it,” someone says. “So I will not do it.” With the right spirit, this is a prudent mechanism for discerning God’s will. But if what you mean is, “I will not have peace if I do it,” you might be in error.Christ’s ExampleYou see, the Christian life follows Christ, the one who embraced affliction to win the church. He had a vision of what could be, but also the suffering required to get there, and endured that pain to reach his goal. We will never atone for anyone’s sin like Christ did, but once in Christ, he will further his kingdom by calling us to pockets of pain.The SongOur psalmist, one of the pilgrims on the way to Jerusalem, sang of the pain. The plowers had plowed upon his back. His suffering had been intense. It cost him to go to Jerusalem and worship. To follow God, to allow him his rightful place as king, the pilgrim paid the price. Some form of pain, we do not know what kind, came into the psalmist’s life. He felt his back was like a field, cut and plowed and churned up. The furrows his tormentors carved were long. The hurt was palpable and real.Though painful, fruit comes from the long furrows of a field. Perhaps the suffering singer, pen in hand, writing the song, knew the plow would result in fruit. Maybe he realized all the suffering would produce.Paul’s PainPaul, after his conversion, learned all he would suffer for Christ’s sake (Acts 9:16). I don't know anyone who could handle such a revelation. But he knew, from the outset of his ministry, the hurt he would pay for the fruit of gospel advancement. The nations heard, but the hardship was great.Paul was a Roman by citizenship and Jewish by race. He was a young Pharisee educated by the foremost rabbis but also experienced in Greek culture from childhood. He possessed a commanding intellect, adept in Scripture and society. He was an ideal candidate to bring the gospel to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16). But all those qualifications would have meant nothing had he been unwilling to suffer. Because he was willing, Christ’s message increased throughout the world.Hurt RequiredLeadership, parenting, and sanctification require pain. Education, career, integrity, evangelism, disciple-making — all take hurt to accomplish. I recently overheard a mother talk to her friend about her early-elementary aged children. She complained about the childish attitudes of her children. She was flabbergasted they didn’t want to go to school, be responsible, or study hard. She was aghast she would have to work to help them learn to work. She seemed to have forgotten, perhaps just for a moment, I’ve been there, that anything worth doing is going to sting.

“And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians." (Acts 11:26)During a recent sermon at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, Pastor Brian Brodersen, who recently taught the book of Acts, spoke about the church in Antioch. As the text above mentions, it was “in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” The church did not call themselves Christian, the people of Antioch did.The believers in Antioch were far different from the culture they lived in. Because they lived in an environment without a connection to Judaism like the church in Jerusalem had the Christ-followers in Antioch stuck out like a sore thumb. Antioch was a Roman city, influenced by the Roman and Greek way of life, the third largest city in the empire. So, as people watched those believers do their thing, a new title began to form. They were called Christians because they followed Christ.In Brian’s teaching, he highlighted eight defining marks that would have set the believer of Antioch apart from their culture. Each mark is telling and beautiful for us to consider (and emulate) today. I will repeat each of the marks Brian mentioned, followed with a little commentary.1 They spoke of Jesus and what he had done for them.When Barnabas arrived in Antioch to check out the church, he saw the grace of God. Many of the believers there had been radically saved. Their conversion stories were often sharp and distinct, so they loved to tell their community of the love of Christ. They preached him and his gospel message to the world around them.2 They lived out their devotion to Christ for all to see.The lives of those believers varied significantly from the rest of the society around them. Their dissimilarity with their culture was a new experience for the church, for the Jerusalem believers practiced a lifestyle somewhat like the society they lived in, one steeped in Judaism. Judaism and Christianity overlap in moral matters often, so the church stood out mostly for its belief in Jesus as the Messiah (Christ). But, in Antioch, the new morality of Christians was far different from the ethics of the city. Still, the believers there were part of the city, rather than isolationists like the Jewish community there. Neither isolationist or idolatrous, the believers became a fascination for many in Antioch.3 They were a multiethnic, diverse community.In those days, religion and race were tied together in a tangled knot. Your race determined your religion. As Christianity spread, through missions trips and gospel preaching, true conversions occured. Since they preached anywhere and everywhere, the respondents were of every race and culture, which led to a multiethnic and diverse church. The gospel does not demand people walk and talk like a particular culture; this was evident in Antioch.4 They had a new sexual ethic.Our society ran away from a biblical sexual ethic and into a Roman-world-sexual-ethic, but the believers in Antioch ran out of a Roman-world-sexual-ethic and into a biblical one. They learned to respect women, recognizing honor and equality is due to the female gender. They decided to honor marriage, rather than make a mockery out of the institution. They reserved their sexual experiences for inside covenantal union. The society around them took note.5 Women were given honor and equality.The attitude the early church had towards women did not exist elsewhere in the ancient world. Marriages were often a sham. Women were considered property. Men ran amock. But the believers in Antioch began to behave differently towards women.6 Children were honored.Infanticide was common in those days. If a child displeased or inconvenienced their parents, they could be eliminated. In our abortion-culture, this attitude is not difficult to imagine. But believers began treating children with the dignity they deserve. Christ honored children, and so did his early followers.7 They had a new work ethic.Rather than live to acquire wealth, believers began to work wit

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”(Romans 12:1–2).Modern companies have mission statements, a guiding sentence or phrase for all they do. Christians, in a sense, have a mission statement also. If pressed for it, I would turn to Romans 12:1-2. Here, in response to the glorious gospel he wrote about in Romans 1-11, Paul concludes: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”There it is. My mission as a Christ follower is straightforward: My body for God’s glory.Until Christ calls me home, this is my mission. This body of mine — all its thoughts, dreams, experiences, preferences, and commitments — is to find use for the glory of God. Paul would go on to describe what this looks like in Romans 12-15, but here I want to simply consider this mission statement.My body for God’s glory. What does this mission actually mean? What is my motivation for this mission? Are there obstacles to succeeding in this mission? Is there an aid to accomplishing this mission? What is the result of living out this mission? In this article we will study:The goalOur motivationAn obstacleAn aidThe resultThe Goal: I Am A Living Sacrifice For God (12:1)Paul did not believe the body was a prison for the soul. He believed our bodies could be useful towards the glory of God. This is gospel power because the Bible teaches that sin riddled and ruined our bodies. Paul taught us that sin had wrecked our understanding, making its way insidiously into our mouths and feet and eyes (Romans 3:9-20).But by the power of the cross, our bodies are redeemed from what they were. Our minds, mouths, feet, and eyes are given new life. Surrendered to God, they can be used to glorify Him. Even the possibility of this — when you consider what we were outside of Christ — is astounding.The placement of Paul’s teaching is precise. He talked much of what we are in Christ in Romans 1-11, but little of what we should do. He had mentioned the belief of our heart and the confession of our mouth, but now he goes after the whole body. It is of little practical use to know the gospel message theoretically if the body is not surrendered to God. Paul knows that, so here he urges a sacrificed life.But what does it mean to be a living sacrifice? In the Old Testament era for Israel, there was a sacrificial system. There, the people of God would offer various animal and produce sacrifices to the Lord. Sometimes the sacrifice was completely consumed on the altar. Other times God received part on the altar and the priest or worshipper ate the rest. But those animal sacrifices always came in alive and then died.For us, the opposite is true. We come to God in our deadness in trespasses and sins. He then makes us alive by His grace and glorious gospel of the cross of Christ. As we give Him our bodies for his glory, we walk away more alive than ever before. We came in dead, but leave alive.Therefore, a living sacrifice is a person completely devoted to God. This isn’t a calling upon a few Christians, but all Christians. Paul uses the words “holy” and “acceptable” in this passage. He means we are to be set apart, consecrated, for God’s purposes. In the Old Testament era, they would consecrate, set apart, various instruments (candlesticks, altars) for the temple work. They were set aside for God’s use. You are to be the same. You are to be set apart for God’s purpose. Your body for His glory.Give yourself wholly to God! Our nature is to be selective in giving ourselves to Him, holding back portions of our lives. Sometimes we do this knowingly, other times we discover this later. But we should want to give everything we are to Him. Declare yourself sacred for God.Imagi

“If you do not know, O most beautiful among women, follow in the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.” (Song of Songs 1:8).In the greatest of all songs, Solomon did not sing first. His (future) bride had started the singing, rejoicing over his love. But her song deteriorated into self-doubt and insecurity. This is why she sang, “I am very dark, but lovely…do not gaze at me…my own vineyard I have not kept” (from SOS 1:5-8).Clearly, she dealt with insecurities in her heart. Some of this was tied to the treatment of her family. Her brothers had forced her to work in the vineyards. The hot sun and long days had weathered her appearance. That harsh treatment and her perception of her outward beauty weighed on her.It is here Solomon sings. He bursts onto the scene with honesty and healing. He sings of her beauty. He calls her the “most beautiful among women.” His words must have been good medicine for her heart sickness.In marriage, spouses have an opportunity for God to use them. We can be instruments in the hand of God. He wants to heal the brokenness in us all, including our spouses. He wants to use our words to help that healing process along.Solomon used his position as husband well at this point. His words were not harsh, but helpful. He knew of his powerful voice in her life, so he used it well. He opened his heart and mouth and told her how he saw her. She needed to know. He fulfilled that need by speaking — singing — about her beauty. He sang it to her. She needed to know.Used rightly, married love can be a great help to our brokenness. We cannot live and die on our spouse's words, but we do have a great opportunity to build up the other. We all come into marriage as incomplete, for we are not glorified (i.e. in heaven yet). Jesus is still working His redemptive ministry on our souls. So when our spouse speaks an affirming word it can be used by Him to continue His rebuilding work in our lives.My encouragement here is simple: open your mouth and heart in restorative praise of your spouse. Tell them of their beauty, how attracted you are to them. Admire them out-loud. Adore them. At the end of the day, we get our security from Christ, but our words help. Like medicine, our words of praise help the heart sickness within.

We are filthy rich. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians church tells Christians as much. Rich in Christ. Spiritually wealthy in Him. We have already received every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are adopted, predestined, and chosen by God. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. We have been reunited with Him. The work of Christ was a full work, and Christians must learn to enjoy all they’ve received in Him, to walk out the spiritual reality that is theirs in Christ.But in the walk, there is a war. In that war, we must learn to stand. The enemy wants to take us out. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. Our war is unseen and invisible. But an invisible war is not a fictional war. The battle is truer than the most flesh and blood war we’ve seen broadcast on CNN. Our war is a legitimate struggle in the spiritual realm.For this war, God provides spiritual armor for His people. A belt. A helmet. A breastplate. Shoes. Even a sword. But then, finally, prayer. For this spiritual war, there is a spiritual opportunity, prayer to God.Paul says it this way: “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:18–20).All the great moves of God begin with prayer.Sometimes many people pray (see Acts 1-2). Sometimes one man prays (see Nehemiah 1). Sometimes the prayer is sparked by a trial (see Exodus 1-2). Sometimes prayer is sparked by sin (see Psalm 51). But the great moves of God, corporately or personally, often start with prayer, for God is ever-listening to the heart of His children. Here is how Paul describes it.Non-Stop Prayer“…at all times…” — Ephesians 6:18Paul does not invite us into a nonsensical prayer life when he says, “at all times.” He doesn’t mean we are to walk around muttering prayers out loud to God all day long. He isn’t suggesting a ridiculous form of life, but a radically helpful one.The cross of Christ has won us forever access to the throne of God. We can pray at all times. We don’t have to get all worked up into a spiritual lather before we can pray. We don’t have to sing worship songs for forty-five minutes before we can pray. We don’t have to confess every known and unknown sin before we can speak with our Father. We don’t have to read ten chapters in the Bible before we can pray. No, Christ has won a way into the Father’s throne room. We can pray non-stop, at all times, because of the work of Christ.In another place, God says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), which does not describe an unbroken flow of words, but fellowship. Interact with God all throughout the day. Start the day with prayer. End the day with prayer. But “at all times” cry out to Him in prayer. We've been invited into an unbroken flow of dependence and fellowship with our God. He resides within us, by His Spirit, so He is an ever-present help for us.Do you find yourself in a hard conversation? Pray. Are you tempted? Pray. Are you feeling discouragement wash over your soul? Pray. Do you see or read something which grieves your heart? Pray. Do you need wisdom for a decision? Pray. Have you just spoken with someone in need of prayer? Pray. Right now, go to the Father, pray. Do not delay, for that is your enemy’s desire. Instead, waste no time — pray! Develop continual and open communion with God.Spirit-Led Prayer“…in the Spirit…” — Ephesians 6:18The entire Triune Godhead is involved in your prayer life. Jesus made a way for us to access the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. So the cross is the way, the throne of God is the destination, and the Spirit is the helper. He wants to aid your prayer life. He wants to bring you into the flow of prayer, out of the dryness a