Musing The Mysteries

Simpler isn’t the same as easier – a point I’ll unpack throughout this series. Swimming against the current in culturally toxic culture is like picking a fight with entropy. It’s one of things that make a life with God such an adventure!

Don’t spend your life, invest it! Based on the Parable of the Ten Minas, this teaching has to do with stewarding our lives for the Kingdom and glory of God. Jesus depicted the faithful, the less faithful, the unfaithful, and the faithless. Which are you? [Please excuse the less than stellar recording.]

I gave this message the Sunday I returned from a terribly needed Sabbatical. During the 6 months previous to my time away our church had ben through a very difficult season, one from which I barely survived as a pastor. The things I share in this teaching were part of how the Lord restored and renewed me.

I can’t think of anything more important for our emotional well-being and for the health of the Church than overcoming offenses. For our own good, God requires that we learn to forgive those who’ve offended and wounded us. Of all the messages I’ve given over the years, this theme always seems to provoke a change of thinking about how we're feeling toward others.

This teaching on how to minister to one another is based on the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. I propose that we take our cues on how to serve each other from what he taught us in the Upper Room that night. i.e. If you have my feet in your hands, please use neither scalding hot nor freezing cold water. And since your goal is to take off sin, not skin, please don’t use a wire brush!

This is a teaching I gave while in the middle of a series on the book of Romans called, “Grace Based.” I thought it best to take an entire message to teach about Satan’s role as the “Accuser of the Brethren,” and how to resist his skewed logic by asserting what we know about the justifying work of the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

This message, based on the fruit of the Spirit passage in Galatians 5, is the final teaching in the series on “Christian ACTtitudes.” I’m indebted to an article by the late Jerry Cook in which he compared the toxic works of our sinful nature with the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Happy fruit bearing!

I think that since God has scattered his truth all over the place it can be found in some of the most unlikely places. In this message based on Psalm 19 I teach that while we should recognize divine truth in such locations as a biology textbook, the writings and art of skeptics, and even in the cults, these are but fragments of the Truth as it’s found in greatest concentration in Jesus and his Word.

I gave this message in our church in Santa Cruz, CA during a series on the Book of Revelation. No, it’s not about the Second Coming of Jesus, and yes, the title is a play on words. I’m not that vain! This is about God giving nothing less than his best to us and us giving nothing but our best back to him. As we make our resolutions for the coming year, let's consider giving the Lord our best!

I presented this simple “Kitchen Table Talk” to one of our churches as a primer on how to study the Bible inductively. Instead of the typical terms for inductive study: Observation, Interpretation, Application; I use Investigation, Interpretation, Integration. They seem to me to be more descriptive of the process of the most out of the Word. Plus, I like that they start with the same letter! Whether you’re brand new to the Bible or a mature student, I think this can help you mine the best of the Bible’s riches. Happy listening!