Years ago, I became impatient with those I was ministering to. The Lord had given me vision. I knew where the people of God needed to go. But I wasn’t seeing a lot of progress. Chomping at the bit but unable to run I ended up stymied and stewing…prayerfully, of course 😉 One night, the Lord…
Category: Church
Abandon Ship!
Over the years, I’ve read things by people who have left the church but continue to identify as Christians. There are a variety of things that lead to such a decision. Some have had bad experiences in the church and are connecting with God elsewhere. Others are reacting to a navel-gazing form of Christianity that…
Our Favorite Whipping Boy
But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?” (Gal. 2:14). Peter (AKA Cephas)…. It’s always Peter, right? All…
The Tabernacle of Christ (Part 3)
Please read Part 1 and Part 2… More Than Enough “Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: ‘No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.’ And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than…
The Tabernacle of Christ (Part 2)
In part one, we began comparing the building of Moses’s tabernacle with the body of Christ building itself up in love (Eph. 4:14-16). We will continue this comparison in this post… According to the Pattern Revealed “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all…
The Tabernacle of Christ (Part 1)
(The following is excerpted from my booklet, “The Consummation of All Things in Christ: Ephesians Chapters 1-4“) *** “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and…
Celebrating “In”-dependence
Sketch by Patrick Murphy With the Fourth of July just past, we have ringing in our ears and independence on our minds. National memory makes independence a chief value for Americans. Our sense of freedom is rooted in each person’s right to live as they see fit. The classic “American Dream” is to achieve…
The Biggest Small Word
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ….” (1 Peter 1:1) “Of” is a mighty word in scripture. It can show source–something that originates in something else and shares its nature, substance, reality. Ownership is another connotation. “Of” also suggests “from”; coming in another’s stead and on their authority. Such big ideas in such a little word!…
More Apostate than Apostle
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ….” (1 Peter 1:1). Over the years, I’ve concluded that “apostle” is a greatly abused term. For the most part, we’ve turned it into an honorific title. The office of apostle looms large in some movements, with prophet as a close second. Such movements seek to bring local congregations under…
The Voice of One 