The greatest threat to the Good Life is the interruption of wholeness by those who hate us. If we can't figure out what to do about our enemies, how can we ever be truly blessed? Jesus' teaching is powerfully radical on this score.

No vision of the Good Life is complete without some emphasis on protecting married individuals from the pervasive, erosive effects of their OWN sin. So Jesus lays down a dramatic vision for the permanence of marriage AND hope of relief to the suffering.

No vision of the Good Life is complete without some emphasis on protecting married individuals from the pervasive, erosive effects of their OWN sin. So Jesus lays down a dramatic vision for the permanence of marriage AND hope of relief to the suffering.

Jesus' warnings against lust go way beyond external explanations for our sexual behavior. Searchingly, he encourages us to go into the very depth of our motivational centers to uncover the heart of lust.

Jesus begins his catechism of the Good Life by zeroing in on the most destructive force to human flourishing: our hatred for each other. His teaching lays us bare for what is really motivating our anger and how to heal it as well.

Jesus is ready to launch into his description of the inner life of his followers, but first clarifies his relationship to the reigning source of truth of his day, the Old Testament Law. But Jesus is not an innovator, but a fulfiller.

For the better part of the last few decades, the church in America has struggled to get clear on the question of what it means to be a faithful witness to Jesus in the world. But Jesus gives us two powerful images to begin a better conversation about it.

The Christian life is one of "moving in" but then "moving out." In other words, you know when the humility of the first half of the Beatitudes has landed when the last half of them begin to come out of your life.

Jesus begins his deep dive into his definition of the Good Life by heading into the far reaches of our humanity where our pride, our callousness, and our power grabs live and keep us away from true human flourishing.

As Christ Presbyterian Church in Oxford, MS completes their 3 yr examination of HOPE, HOME, and HEALING, Les preaches through Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount. There, he lays out his vision for his Kingdom and what it means to "live the good life."