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What is God up to in our lives? When we look throughout Scripture, we see that, above all, God is restoring his image in us so we can be fruitful members of his eternal community of love. Restoring God’s image is another way of saying “becoming like Christ,” or as I like to put it, “Christformation.”

In this article, I would like to explore the importance of accepting our forgiveness in order to progress in Christformation. Throughout Scripture, we learn that God has forgiven our sins through the cross of Christ: “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3, NIV).

I want to persuade you to fully believe in this forgiveness from God. In fact, I want us to believe in this forgiveness enough that we are not averse to discovering our weaknesses and faults and the roots behind them. Much of Christformation depends on our willingness to let God make us aware of our faults. If we resist this process, then we are resisting the restoration of the Christ-shaped image of God in our lives, which also means that we are resisting God’s mission to create his community of love with himself and his followers. If we embrace the process, we will experience steady progress in freedom from our corruption and freedom to abide in Christ.

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He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Luke 10:2, NIV)

In Matthew 10, we read about Jesus sending out his twelve apostles to do ministry. In Luke 10, there is another sending out, this time of 72 who would go ahead of Jesus in pairs. Just as John preached repentance to pave the way for people to receive the Messiah, these 72 were specially given the ability to perform miracles in Jesus’ name through power he had given to them.

Although our ministries will look different, Luke 10 gives us a great picture of the kingdom commission that we have been sent on today. We too are sent. How should we go? Jesus explained:

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Where was Jesus born? Let’s journey back over 2,000 years to explore the place where Jesus the Messiah was born.

Jesus’ birth is literally the basis of the modern calendar that is used all over the world.[1] Currently, we are about to enter the year 2024. In many places the date is still abbreviated as A.D. based upon the Latin expression Anno Domini, which means “the year of our Lord” or, now, more commonly as C.E. (an abbreviation for “Common Era”). Everything before the birth of Jesus is considered B.C. (“Before Christ”) or, often now, B.C.E. (“Before the Common Era”).

The calendar our world uses tells us that it has been roughly 2,024 years since his birth. But where was Jesus born?

Historically, Christians have believed that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Not everyone is convinced, however. Some skeptics doubt or disbelieve that he was born there or that he even existed as a historical person. Mormons believe he was born in Jerusalem, for the Book of Mormon states that “he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers” (Alma 7:10).

Yet there is good evidence that Jesus was a real person and that he was born in Bethlehem. Let’s review ten historical truths which provide support for the belief that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem was an ancient town, still in existence, about five miles outside Jerusalem and located just inside the Palestinian West Bank.

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*Author’s Note: Paul’s encounter with Christ led him to a greater understanding of the faith, and from that encounter, Paul developed a theology of mission that affected everything about him, specifically in four areas:

Each of these contributes to the missiology of Paul, and from them, we can learn much about God’s missio Dei, his desire to reach all nations with the good news of Jesus Christ, and the offer of salvation he extends to each of us. In this article, we’ll explore the nature of Paul’s experience of persecution and suffering, and how this formed Paul’s theology of mission.

The topics of pain and suffering are a significant thread through Paul’s letters, and his experiences with them had a profound impact upon his ministry and his missiology. Not only did Paul teach that suffering would take place, but he lived it himself (Acts 20.22-24).[1] From Paul, we can gain insight into the nature of suffering, its redemptive purpose, and why Paul could use his afflictions as a basis for boasting.

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*Editor’s Note: In this article’s final paragraph, the author rightly calls this sports-church conflict an “elephant in the room.” As such, it’s an elephant that has plunked down in the middle of the room and seems to have no plans of exiting. “Blue laws” no longer make sporting events off limits on Sundays, and many churchgoing parents show no struggle when it comes to which event wins out. So in light of this reality, which is more problematic: for Christian families to continue to skip church for a kid’s sports event or for church leaders to confront these families’ decision as unwise or even immoral? While the following article makes room for multiple perspectives, it advocates for a more accommodating posture from church leaders. For another helpful, alternative position on this topic, I recommend this article.

As a Christian, what should you do when an event for your kid’s sports league conflicts with Sunday worship? This topic has been on my heart for a while. I’ve encountered different views and been on both sides of the question—both as a Christian leader and as a parent of a young athlete. This topic touches thousands of us, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

Before we delve into the topic, let me take a moment to give the context I’ll be writing from. This topic remains complicated but might be a bit easier for me and my wife Heather because our athlete daughter Noelle loves the Lord and wants to live for Him. (We got to lead her to faith, and I was blessed to baptize her a few years ago!) We want nothing more than to see her walk with Christ continue to grow as she transitions into adulthood. That is our utmost priority!

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I have always loved road trips. Mostly for the view and the scenery. It’s the adventure of discovering different landscapes I love most. That and traversing God’s good creation.

On a recent day off, I took to the road and headed for the mountains. As I navigated the changing grades peppered with sharp curves, I reminisced on the ups and downs, twists and turns I’ve experienced in this spiritual life in Jesus. Winding my way around those blinding curves, not being able to see what lay ahead or when I would reach the summit (or valley), I reflected upon our pilgrimage with the Lord. Much of the journey often seems unforeseen and uncertain.

Life, in general, takes us across various physical terrains which can map onto our spiritual lives. The spiritual journey of disciples crosses many metaphorical landscapes. Metaphors, like those of weather or seasons, help us gain a fuller meaning of the unseen spiritual life. You’ve likely heard it said that we “go through different seasons” and “weather many storms.” For this article, I’m exploring the symbolism of natural landscapes to our spiritual lives.

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“Put me on the next flight. My son needs me.”

In the middle of the 2008 NBA playoffs, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade received a call no parent wants to get—his 6-year-old son was in trouble. Wade was in the middle of a career-defining series, carrying the weight of his team and an entire city’s hopes. But that call changed everything.

His son, Zaire, had been rushed to the hospital with a medical emergency. Without hesitation, Wade left his team, canceled media appearances, and told the airline: “Put me on the next flight. My son needs me.” He flew home, stayed by Zaire’s bedside, and didn’t leave until he was stable. Then he quietly returned to the court, picked up where he left off, and didn’t make a big deal of it in the press.

Later, when asked about it, Wade simply said, “Basketball is what I do. But being a dad—that’s who I am.”

Most of us won’t even decline a work call—let alone drop everything—to show up for our family. What are the moments that matter most to your kids? And what are you willing to do to be there? We say family is our top priority—but would our calendars, texts, and screen time agree?

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Early on in ministry, one of my pastors sat me down to have a heart-to-heart about entering ministry. In this long conversation, my pastor imparted much of his own personal experiences into me. He shared about his ups and downs in ministry, his best learnings from years of experience, and his joy to continue to serve. Often this talk comes back to me during a ministry season, but one truth still rings the loudest from this. In one moment of the talk, he looked me square in the eyes and declared, “There are no lone rangers when it comes to ministry.” Essentially what my pastor was saying was that ministry was not meant to be done alone.

When we are engaged in the eternal battle of ministry, we can often face decisions, situations, and places that can be very taxing on our soul. The “dark night” of the soul can keep us awake at night as we reflect on the questions of “What if?” “Did I do the right thing?” or “Could I have said this better?” We all have that nasty message in our inbox, that person that only sees the things that we are doing wrong, and even those meetings that seem to suck the life out of our soul. It is for this reason that the words of my pastor ring so true for us all. No one should carry the weight of ministry on their own.

From the start of creation, even within the Godhead himself, we see that community is a central theme of God.

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Spend more than a few weeks in the heart of a church and you discover that church is messy.

I can see it in the face of first-timers, that look of, “Wow, this is what we’ve been looking for!” You know, that euphoric, honeymoon, shiny-new-car feeling. “We finally found a clean, tidied-up, everyone-loves-each-other, there-are-no-problems church.”

Then two months later, their faces look different. The shine has worn off. The realization came: “This is a messy church.”

But even Paul had to deal with messy churches. No church is perfect, and if it’s growing and the Spirit is working, it’s messy.

Here are three reasons why church gets messy, and why that’s a good thing.

As a matter of fact, the church is messy, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

If I were to act like our church were not messy, I would be lying, because I am in it! I might be the messiest person in our church!

I resonate with the apostle Paul when he said:

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15, NIV)

The messiness of the church has allowed me to fit right in.

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Christians long for our eternal home in heaven. When we look at the scene of the final judgment in Revelation, we notice that the most important consideration that will determine our eternal destiny is whether our names are written in the lamb’s “book of life.” This is a record of all true Christians, those whose sins have been forgiven by Jesus, described in Revelation 20:12-15 (NIV).

“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. . . . Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

The next thing God inspired John to write after those words is a description of the destination of those whose names are written in the book of life in Revelation 22:1 (NIV):

“Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.”

In this way, God paints a beautiful picture of what eternity will be like for those who have been saved by the grace of Jesus because of their faith in him.

We were created for an eternal relationship with God. Our ultimate hopes, dreams, and desires can only find their true fulfillment in the eternal kingdom with God after death. When the Bible speaks of our lives in eternity after death, it speaks of a glorious existence—a close, intimate relationship with God.

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