NMC Audio Podcast

Could it be that sometimes we have the tendency to view our relationship with God similarly to the way we view our relationship with a vending machine? God becomes someone that we get things FROM. Consumerism is a ME-focused universe where everything’s value is determined by its usefulness to me, even when it comes to God. What if we traded building the “Kingdom of My” with the “Kingdom of Thy”?

So just who is in charge? Our natural tendency is to want to be in control. We tend to minimize God and maximize ourselves. We want a relationship with God, but we want one where we are in control. We find ourselves trusting more in the natural than the supernatural. Life WITH God is the only way to complete joy and fulfillment.

Living life under God seems like a proper way to relate with God, right? We ought to live under God’s authority, but what happens when this posture gets distorted and the motivations muddled? Living under God can quickly become a means to manipulate God through obedience to secure blessings and avoid calamities. What if we traded the posture of life under God for a posture of life with God?

One of the mega-themes of the Bible is the very idea of God with us. God never abandoned His creation. He does not dwell in the heavens apathetic and uninvolved in the affairs of humanity. He is God with us, manifested most powerfully through the incarnation of Jesus Christ—Emmanuel. Here’s the catch though: God, in his infinite goodness and greatness, has chosen to do life with us, but have we reciprocated? Or have we chosen a potentially more manipulative relationship with God, driven by fear and control?

Surrounding us daily is an ever increasing accumulation of information. We see it, absorb, and often pursue more of it. As people, we want to know more. As Christians, we want to know more so we can connect more with God and others. You may be startled to find out there is one piece of information about Jesus no one can know. And amazingly, it is the not knowing which informs how we choose to live for him.

The statistics are staggering and dismal. Stress, anxiety, depression, fear, and other related mental and emotional health symptoms are showing up in our everyday lives from small to debilitating ways. We are doing our best to find new and better ways to cope, but often without success. While followers of Jesus are never exempt from these challenges, we have an advantage over those who don’t know Jesus and are led by His Spirit. We also have an opportunity to help others even while in the midst of the same struggles.

When we look at the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God, it is interesting that many of us would agree that we must continue to not worship other gods, have idols, misuse the name of the Lord, dishonor our parents, murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, and covet. But what about the fourth commandment… should we continue to observe the Sabbath? Should we work six days and on the seventh completely rest as it was commanded to Moses and the Israelites?

One of the distinguishing factors of Christianity in comparison with other world religions is the access that we have to God through the blood of the Lamb. Jesus has made a way for all of us, once and for all. Why then do we not embrace this gift with consistency and with confidence? What would happen if we devoted ourselves to fully receive God’s gift of presence?

Maybe the term "woke" as it is being used today has you concerned or confused as to its meaning and context. Don't let that stop you from embracing the call in Scripture to "wake up" spiritually. The Lord has a purpose and a plan for every believer to fulfill. We are called to follow Him. We are in the process of being changed by Him. And we have been challenged by Him to impact our world. We can only do this when we are "awake" in the truest sense of the word.

We believe that God is omnibenevolent (all-good), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omniscient (all-knowing). So how are we to understand suffering, pain ,and evil in this life? If God is all-good, then He would desire for there to only be good, right? If God is all-powerful, wouldn’t He have the power to end all suffering, pain, and evil? And if God is all-knowing, wouldn’t He have the knowledge on how to get rid of all suffering, pain, and evil? So why doesn’t He?