Through and To

When I was 13, a neighbor got a new drum set…and GAVE me his old one! It was a piece of junk, really. To him, it was essentially trash. To me, though, it was an absolute treasure. 

That’s how it can be with our spiritual gifts. It's all too easy to focus on other things and discard them. In a manner of speaking, they become like trash to us. Yet, when we give them away, we see the treasure they are to others AND the Lord returns their value back to us! 

You are the only human being who knows exactly what’s going on inside your head and heart at every moment, but you're not the only person. 

The Holy Spirit is a person. He and Christ are one. So, to have the Holy Spirit is to have Christ, which grants Christ access to your innermost thoughts and feelings and grants you 24/7 access to Jesus - the wisdom of God. 

It is only by the Holy Spirit in us that we can understand the wisdom of God, find peace with what we do not yet understand, and seek to further understand. 

God made us to be better together. Arguably, he made us to be whole when we’re together. 

God exists in community with himself and we are the dwelling place of God. That means the full life Jesus came to give is found when we are together, living in perfect community with each other and in harmony with God's nature. 

Finding community means finding wholeness. 

When people need help, the Community of Faith (Christians anywhere) should be the first place they think to go. BUT...people inside and outside the community of faith won’t even think to turn to the community of faith for help unless they are convinced the community of faith actually cares about their needs. 

The best way to show someone you care about their needs is to learn to love them the way Christ does and the best way to do that is to abide, to remain, to consistently be with Jesus. 

Originally shared June 1, 2025, at Eaton Rapids Church of the Nazarene. 

When disciples - the people who are learning, practicing, and reproducing the way of Jesus - carry out the Bible’s commands for living in community, regardless of where or how we worship, we will impact the places where we live, learn, work, and play. Jesus put it this way, “by this they will know you are my disciples, that you love one another as I have loved you.” 

“Finding Community” means finding healing. 

Originally shared May 25, 2025 at Eaton Rapids Church of the Nazarene. 

How do we navigate the messy middle of embracing Jesus, allowing him to lead us out of slavery to sin and death by choosing to stay connected to him and deciding to obey his teaching while simultaneously living for the kingdom while living in this broken world with our own personal brokenness? 

Originally shared May 18, 2025 at Eaton Rapids Church of the Nazarene. 

The story of Exodus presents a pattern that repeats throughout the whole Bible: out of slavery, through the wilderness, and into freedom. Out, through, in. We live in this pattern today and it will find its ultimate fulfillment when Jesus returns in his fullness. 

Thanks to The Bible Project for Inspiration. 

Originally shared May 11, 2025 at Eaton Rapids Church of the Nazarene. 

Sin is one of those topics that some people say you can't talk about enough and others say you shouldn't talk about at all. There are a lot of reasons for both of those extremes, but a healthy approach lies somewhere in the middle...and it begins with understanding the whole big picture. Understanding what sin is and what it isn't helps us appreciate how good the news of Jesus really is.

Originally shared May 4, 2025, at Eaton Rapids Church of the Nazarene. 

Genesis 2 tells about two noteworthy trees in the Garden of Eved: on that provides life and one that opens the door to death. The first humans chose death, but Jesus is present in the Garden and already has a plan to come as the new tree of life. If we remain in him, not only will we find eternal life, we can't help but share that life with others.

Originally shared at Eaton Rapids Church of the Nazarene April 27, 2025. 

The Bible is one big collection of stories, songs, poems, letters, lessons, and more about our relationship with God - and ALL of it points to Jesus. This includes eating good fruit with bad results, sacrificing animals when you mess up, the role perfected torture, and the ultimate Trojan Horse. 

And all of that comes together on Easter Sunday. 

Originally shared April 20, 2025.