It’s easy to dehumanize God, to view Him as a rock wall. At best, we see Him as able to connect with our pain and empathize with us. But what if it is His pain we connect with when we suffer? When affliction won’t relent and life has wrung us out, we’re stepping into an area of God’s heart only suffering can take us to.
Read MoreHere’s a quick breakdown of what the Lord is doing in places where public expressions of Christianity result in persecution, excommunication, and death: Jesus is saving people. Many of those people are part of a disciple making group. Each person in a group is leading another group. Each of those people are being discipled and are obediently reproducing other groups of disciples that do likewise. And most of those people are women.
Read MoreWe’re here to bear one another’s burdens. To help shoulder the messy, weighty responsibility of restoring the person who sinned and coming alongside any other persons affected or involved. If the exposure of another person’s sin makes us feel superior because it’s not something we struggle with, we’re in deception, and we’re being of no use to the brother or sister in sin. We’re just playing into the slanderous symphony composed by the Accuser of the Brethren.
Read MoreIt wasn’t God’s design for the people to have earthly kings. His desire for them was to have judges as the leadership in place, men and women who knew Him and were familiar with His ways, listening to Him for their guidance, rather than lusting after power and control—the undying, infamous motivation of earthly princes. We all long for a good and trustworthy king, but there is only one.
Read MoreMany Christians fall into the deception of believing their practices to be biblical, rather than cultural— and placing culture above kingdom. When Jesus called people to follow Him, He called them to leave behind their cultural priorities. There is a disciple of whom He said, “Truly I tell you, wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told,” because she set aside her culture in order to worship. May we remember her reckless abandonment of cultural idolatry, and the King who made it worth it.
Read MoreJesus said to a doubting Thomas, “blessed are those who have not seen yet still believe.” He said to a doubting John the Baptist, “blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” We want to see God with our own eyes, we want to see Him move on our behalf, we want to be delivered of what plagues us, we want miracles, we want proof. None of which are bad— and yet, God honors the faith of the one who doesn’t see these things, and chooses anyway to place their trust in Him. The peace of your life starts the day you look at God and say, “You are allowed to give or take anything from me. You owe me nothing. It is I who owe you my life.”
Read MoreThe Lord invites us in and washes us clean. All too quickly our pride tells us we know better and we set out on our own. But He is relentless in His love, pursuit, and commitment to us, even when we have forgotten our commitment to Him. “Grace Abounding” is a beautiful exploration through these truths. Read this stunning poem by Andrew Cowart, first published in our PILGRIM VOL. III 2020 Field Journal.
Read MoreIn our carnal nature, we see the gardener’s efforts as less powerful or impactful than the efforts of a soldier. But then we look at our Jesus, sleeping in the boat on a sea full of storms, perfectly at peace. His peace might even offend those of us who’ve been spinning our wheels. His own people did not recognize Him as Messiah, because they wanted Him to come as a warrior, but He came as a servant. The strongest human to ever walk the planet waged war in very different ways than we expected Him to.
Read MoreThe Gospel without justice is empty. Justice without the Gospel is desolate. For all have sinned and fall short, all are needy of His righteous judgement and His scandalous grace. God invites us into the duality of this grand, epic, messy story in which He breaks down all our boxes. He is not bound by the limitations of this world’s rules, and so neither are we.
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