LARK BLOGCAST

With all the swirling thanksgiving emails, tweets, reels, Hallmark cards, and sermons, you'd think if we don't give thanks rightly, we will be putting ourselves in the crosshairs of God's judgment. But what if giving thanks isn't about giving thanks, but about reveling in and enjoying the gift we've received? We love holding things over our heads. But, that's something we can be freed from. 

Check out my thoughts on how we get thanksgiving wrong and end up nullifying the very thing we're thankful for. In an effort to show we're really serious, we instead show that we're seriously mistaken about how to receive the gift of life in Christ in good faith. Good News for me, you and everyone else. Happy Thanksgiving! 

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www.larksite.com/blog/improper-thanksgiving

Lark stories help illustrate why we are so adamant about spreading the message of the cross. Check out this one to hear about how one friend never saw a pastor cry until he told me about his story and experience in Churches. There's something so beautiful and powerful about sharing and listening to the long version of someone's story, even more so when you tell them about the love of God.

It is worth noting that this isn't the only person who's never had the experience of crying with a pastor. Sadly, lots of people have only ever experienced pastors as leaders, motivators, accountability regulators, and even bringers of expectations. What can we learn from observing these realities in such a time as this where pastors and attenders alike are abandoning traditional versions of church at a higher rate than ever? 

www.larksite.com/blog/never-seen-a-pastor-cry

Travis' Story

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The story of how the Church dealt with Galileo is an important point of conversation for today's Church. Have we learned at all from how that story played out? Have we given up on getting it right or have we just changed the furniture around? What exactly does it mean to be the Church, and who get's to decide who's doing it right? Dive into this and more on this episode of the Lark Blogcast.

The fact that we - the Church - still have practices and policies in place to help us exclude certain people for certain reasons shows that we still think that some of the reconciling work of Christ has been left undone. We somehow exist with a sort of cognitive dissonance between how Christ came to forgive all sin, yet we persist in excommunicating, expelling and excluding certain sinners and certain sins. Let's explore what we haven't yet learned from the way the Church sentenced Galileo, who was later found and proven to be right!

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www.larksite.com/blog/jesus-galileo-and-giving-thanks 

The question of how do we live now that we believe God has redeemed us is a troubling one. Many of us live and die in anxiety about whether or not we did it right. But what if the life of faith is expressly opposed to the life of getting God to love us? What if the call is to trust God, not to live as if we owe him? What if we were to give up the conquest of sin to be an heir with Christ?

Explore how we can so easily slip back into the way of beating sin instead of resting in the cross. Reconsider what exactly God has called and freed you to do. What is the goal of all of this? What is the necessary end of your way of life? Is there another way to relate to God and the world based on what Jesus has done and promised? Let's dive in! We welcome you questions, push-backs, and clarifications. Reach out to us online!

Read online: 
www.larksite.com/blog/give-god-nothing

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Words of encouragement are far more scarce than we usually recognize. Learning about how the human being's brain responds to both the absence and the presence of encouragement opens up another level of understanding about the power of speaking the Gospel about Jesus and words of encouragement and affirmation to someone's face. We need it. But, first we must recognize our inclination to avoid it.

There's a wild connection between neuroscience, emotions and the speaking and hearing of the Good News. Not to mention, the sharing of encouragement and affirmation that is steeped in the Good News. Check out this short piece to explore how saying and hearing the Gospel about Jesus can physiologically change lives.

www.larksite.com/blog/words-change-matter

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What it means to actually believe the gospel is actually one of the greatest confusions within the church. But, according to Jesus, it's a lot more like trust than trying. The interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well shows us so much about what Jesus thinks people need. Instead of religion repairs, Jesus moves in for a few days and says he himself is all they need. 

If believing the gospel looks more like helping Jesus do what he already did, it's not faith we're living in. We're invited to rely completely, 100% risk, on something Jesus already did. And, although it requires us to be honest about our utter inability to be sufficient, it is the breaking of chains and the liberation of the enslaved. Read or listen to this blog to dive in to some clarifications about how to believe the Gospel. 

www.larksite.com/blog/believing-the-gospel
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What exactly does it mean to be like Christ? To grow in Christlikeness? Who causes it and how does it happen? What exactly is it we turn into if we are transformed? Jesus didn't set up an impossible life we have to live. He invited us into his life so we could share in his righteousness, holiness, and his trust in the Father - the one thing we resemble the least about Christ. It's God's work!

It's helpful to take a closer look at what we mean when we say Christlikeness these days. So many of the things we say and much of what we think is formed less by what Jesus said than by what interpreters of Jesus say. Take a few minutes to think about this with us and be encouraged as you're going. You're invited to ask questions and explore further with us however you feel comfortable. Hit us up!

www.larksite.com/blog/how-to-grow-in-christlikeness

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Transformation can be a tricky subject for the Church. It often shows up not as the blessed aftermath of getting wrecked by grace, but as the strategy instead. If you've ever felt like you're supposed to prove that you've received grace by demonstrating transformation, this short piece is for you. 

Consider how striving for transformation actually derails the one thing Christians are called to: proclamation. When proclamation of good news is eclipsed by demands for transformation, people lose sight of life, grace and freedom even though they use Jesus to back up their position. Listen in to consider a different way. 

Read this blog at www.larksite.com/blog/transformation-is-a-dirty-word

Join the conversation with Lark: www.larksite.com/get-connected

The doubts and questions we all come by honestly are all too often dismissed or demonized by other people. Unfortunately, belonging is also often intimately connected with whether or not you agree with everyone else's answers to your questions. Looking deeper, we see that insecurity, or the frenetic search for security, is closer to the root of division and strife wherever you go. 

What if doubts and questions aren't keeping you out of God's favor, but are actually the pathway to peace? Jump into this episode to explore how God's scandalous grace doesn't require us to have all the answers, but accomplishes the restoration we're desperate for by exposing the false god's we no longer need to bow to.

www.larksite.com/blog/do-doubts-and-questions-disqualify

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More than any other moment in history, today independence is hailed as the ultimate goal of humanity. Independence is seen as the epitome of freedom. But in light of what Jesus said and did, we learn freedom is actually in dependence. We can't not be dependent. To live as if we can ever actually be independent is to choose frustration, bondage, and separation (independence) from life itself. 

While being dependent on anyone or anything outside yourself is seen as weakness by many people, the actual absurdity is the idea of independence. So trying to achieve more and more independence really only ends up causing you to live less. Seems confusing at first, but it's really at the core of everything wrong in the world. It's the heart of sin, brokenness and division.

Check out this episode as we briefly unpack this idea.

www.larksite.com/blog/freedom-is-in-dependence-not-independence

Join the conversation with Lark: www.larksite.com/get-connected