Here’s a key problem with religion. Our responsibility as believers has never been to beat or coerce other people into the submission of what we believe to be truth - even IF we happen to be right about a given subject. As followers of Christ, our job is to lift up Jesus in everything that we do – and if we can’t do so in love and in grace, with patience and with mercy, then we aren’t exalting Him at all.

People aren’t attracted to Jesus because of religion, it’s about relationship. Your relationship with them; your relationship with Him. And when He is lifted up properly, others will come and see what intimacy with Him can truly be.

Religion is satisfied with behavioral modification, but the Lord is after Spirit transformation – which by the way, HE initiates and works within us.

There’s one verse that changed how I thought about my enemies. Given the “them against us mentality” that has become so pervasive in our country and in fact, seems to be intensifying all around the world, I think that everyone who follows Jesus needs to consider this verse thoughtfully and prayerfully:

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:12

Too many Christians live and act as though Jesus is coming back on a rescue mission.

They’ve gotten it wrong.

Jesus accomplished our rescue on the cross. He redeemed and restored us 2000 years ago. The problem is, as believers and followers we have failed to step into the fulness of His promise to reclaim and advance God’s reign here on Earth.

When Christ returns, it won’t be to establish His Father’s Kingdom, it will be to finalize it.

By His own Hand, God is raising up an “Ekklesia of today.”

I call them the Ekklesia Kuriakos, which literally means “an assembly of the called who belong to the Lord.” They are the ambassadors of His Kingdom. And like Jesus’ disciples, these are not folks that most would naturally consider to be agents of Heaven. But neither the disciples of Jesus...

The Church, as an institution, has largely failed to properly complete the commission Jesus gave to his followers in Matthew 28 and Luke 24. While the church has affected the world in many positive ways, it has also failed to make a lasting, transformative impact and it’s track record for operating in the direct, unmistakable power of God is intermittent.

Worse yet, church, under the guise of organized religion has arguably succeeded in hurting, wounding, and killing at least as many as they have claimed to convert.

Do you consider yourself spiritual but not religious?

Do you love God but struggle with church?

I get you. You’re not alone. Church is simply not an affirming, positive or even spiritual experience for far too many people.

The fact of the matter is, the Church has been perceived as intolerant, negative, judgmental, condemning, and irrelevant for many, many generations. Which unfortunately, it largely has been. Ironic since Jesus is none of these things.

December 18th, 2021 would have been Josh's 36th birthday. Back in July, I shared that our son Josh had suffered a massive, unexpected brain hemorrhage that took his life. Today, I’m following up on Josh’s story and how it’s affected my wife and I.

God will never fit into any box humankind puts Him in. The very limitations of our humanity preclude understanding of the God who is infinite. That doesn’t mean that you can’t know the Lord, you absolutely can: deeply and intimately in ways that most believers never even bother to imagine.

Knowing God, knowing the Father, knowing Jesus Himself and knowing the Holy Spirit, is why Jesus came to Earth in the first place. But again, that knowing isn’t born out of our humanity, it’s born out of our spirituality. How do you shift your perspective from the natural to the spiritual?

God desires a righteous people, but it is not a righteousness that can ever be attained through self-effort, determination, or be forced. It is not an imposed moral standard. Despite what you may have been taught, the Lord’s focus is not on your behavior. 

Righteousness that is rooted in behavior (what appears to be righteousness anyway), is not remotely the same thing as behavior rooted in righteousness. The righteousness the Lord seeks from His people can only be achieved in us by the Holy Spirit through the renewal and transformation of heart and mind. Real righteousness originates in Heaven and flows through us, it doesn’t come from us. 

Are you trading in fake currency, thinking you are offering acceptable divine transactions to earn favor in the Kingdom of Heaven through what you do?

Are you one to be severely disappointed or have your faith shaken when circumstances turn against you or things don’t turn out as you expect? We’re supposed to be living in victory, right? Then is the Bible is in error about this? Or, is it possible that you’re harboring some false assumptions or incorrect expectations that are holding you back from living the victorious, purposeful life God intends for you?