Spark Cast

"Thoughts and Prayers" commonly inundate our social media feeds in the advent of tragedy. “I’m praying for you” is equally spoken towards our own suffering or seeing the suffering of others. But what does it actually mean to pray for ourselves and others? What should we, as believers, be praying for? How should prayer push us into action for the sake of ourselves, our community, and our world?

When everything around us is polarized and divided, what does it actually look like to follow Jesus — not just believe in him?

Considering becoming a teacher? Don’t. James' wisdom on what a true teacher looks like in a world full of influencers and grifters comes in hot with a stern warning for people who want authority and influence but aren’t willing to back it up with exceptional integrity. Words have power. They can save or destroy. So if you’re not willing to be pure, righteous, and peaceable...maybe don’t talk so much?

Every human organization has a natural tendency toward entropy, the gradual degradation of the organization's originally inspiring mission into chaos and dysfunction. When Spark was launched, we intentionally prioritized focusing on being a healthy church, and growth would simply be whatever God granted. For us, this meant tending to the core principles of organizational health and our core values. The book of Jacob is in many ways a "how-to manual" for disciples to reverse entropy, correct dysfunctions, and foster healthy and long-lasting discipleship.

The letter of James/Jacob opens with an exhortation for the scattered twelve tribes to persevere during times of trial, discovering joy in the midst of challenges. This wisdom from millennia ago provides guidance for us during these difficult days.

To quote the prophet Bono, "The rule has been disproved, the stone it has been moved, the grave is now a groove, all debts are removed!" What a glorious reason to rejoice as we conclude our series on Revelation in the Garden and celebrate the empty tomb found in a garden 2000 years ago.

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday elicited a chorus of “Hosanna” (Help/Save us now!) from the crowd following him. In his vision, John hears the multitudes in heaven loudly celebrating with “Hallelujah” (Praise the Lord!) after the fall of Babylon. For many of us Christ followers now, holding the tension of the hosanna and the hallelujah can be joyfully wearisome. As we remember the work of our humble King on a donkey, Revelation 17-20 helps us grasp what it means for him to also be Faithful and True.

The central part of Revelation reveals the central characters in the central conflict in God’s story. We encounter the Woman and her Son, the Dragon and his Beasts, and their ultimate collision at Armageddon. Making this battle about some far-off, abstract ‘end of the world’ cataclysm removes the urgency with which the original audience felt this story playing out literally in front of them. Placing us into that story we realize that our ‘judgment day’ is also near (and already here).

The Four Horsemen. The Destroyer from the Abyss and his demon locusts. Scrolls, seals, trumpets. The Lamb, the Elders, the Angels, the Martyrs. Revelation abruptly escalates from grounded words of advice to a handful of churches to the iconically ‘apocalyptic’ cosmic battle that we tend to associate with the book today. As we are guided through the densest section of symbols in what feels like the most enigmatic book of the Bible, we ought not worry. We can handle it. (That’s actually the point).