Jesus’ #1 topic

The most common topic in Jesus’ preaching was the Kingdom of God. Oddly, I’ve also found that Jesus’ #1 topic is something that few preachers, and therefore, fewer believers understand. That may be because so few preachers ask themselves what they want their audience to take away from their messages. (It’s a simple question that Jesus obviously understood, and the reason His messaging was so clear.

It seems to me that all biblical preaching explains The Kingdom of God, and therefore, if preaching points at a different kingdom, it’s misaligned. If it’s misaligned, it’s powerless to make disciples of anything but the world, which is a polite way of saying that non-biblical preaching develops children of hell. And now we understand how the impotent Western churches got the way they are as well as how the ones with Holy Spirit’s power got that way! 

When our Pastor mentioned last week that, “Some people see [Jesus] from afar and find Him fascinating,” I believe he found the right note. He was telling us that what some people have learned about the Kingdom and its King is nothing more than what one might learn about the internal combustion engine from watching F1 races. The watcher thinks he knows, but when he speaks he proves his ignorance while the one who really knows is down in the pits getting his hands dirty. You may remember Dr. Packer’s retelling of the analogy of spectators on the balcony and travelers on the road, (Knowing God, 1973, 5-6). While the spectator knows about God, the traveler knows God. (The original analogy is found here and worth reading as is the entire book, which is a classic for good reason.)

Perhaps the most difficult thing a Pastor does is craft words that draw the prideful man and woman down off their balcony and onto the road. They must set down their wine glasses! They literally have to lower themselves as Jesus did. They are challenged to trade luxury and accommodation for sweat and suffering—who wants that without knowing something greater than the luxurious balcony lies ahead? The one-in-ten who hunger for God despite the cost and trust Him to have built a better Kingdom, that’s who. 

If you’d like to understand the Kingdom of God more clearly, read what life is like when it descends upon us in Matthew 5-7. The passage that you will recognize as “The Sermon on the Mount” contains the moral teaching of Jesus to be sure, but also how to get to that high moral state. Matthew 4:23 prefaces the reader to understand that Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, and chapters five through seven list His content. Let’s look at what He’s offering.

• The Kingdom is first on the list!

• Comfort

• Inheritance of the entire earth

• The same fullness promised in Psalm 23—a filling to “running over”

• Mercy (any takers?)

• A vision of God Himself! (Can it get any better than that?)

• Sonship (see “inheritance”)

• The Kingdom again.

• A great reward, not unlike the reward the prophets received.

I’m a quarter way through chapter five, more or less one-twelfth through the sermon and already Jesus has promised enough to get me off the fancy balcony. No wonder, He preached about the Kingdom. What wonder that so few travel the road with Him. Perhaps we can pray that they sober up. Perhaps we can pray first that we become more attractive travelers.

Jesus on a broke down bus in Louisiana

Occasionally, life hand us a line that will make an excellent country song. Our church youth group had a fantastic week with 17,000 other kids in Birmingham. Things went so smoothly that you might have thought all the teenagers were filled with the Holy Spirit and stayed full. That is about as likely as a Central Texas rainstorm in July, which you may know we just had.

I’m told that the conference was spectacular. The preaching was on target. The worship was inspirational. The kids behaved! The adults behaved!! Thousands gave their lives to Christ, thousands more recommitted, and pretty much the whole stadium bought in on the final night and agreed that living for Jesus beats living for the Devil and they took a stand to that effect.

On the long drive home, the bus broke down somewhere in the not-so-good part of South Louisiana. A State Trooper happened by and stood guard. Evidently, the area where the bus broke down had seen a lot of trouble recently. I’m told that the kids used the time to sing praises to Jesus. All I can say is that the adults must have thought they’d all died and gone to heaven. No exhausted whining—singing.

To have the kids end the week in the way they did is a profound mystery. Why were the prayers for safe, easy travel not granted? Why could the prayers, prophets, healers, and helpers on the bus not heal the bus? Well, I think maybe we’re asking the wrong question because most of us—me anyway—tend to view inconveniences as out of God’s will when in fact, they’re only out of our will. Mysterious is it not? 

If we start by trusting God with circumstances, we realize that it could be that a broken bus was the one nudge needed by one kid who will now commit and not just please their friends, and that one will go on to do something God needs them to do. It could also be the surprise misadventure that forever triggers memories of God’s steadfast love and keeps a fired up teenager from becoming an idiot in their adult years. Perhaps you, like me, noticed that, “Jesus on a broke down bus in Louisiana” sounds a lot like a country-faith song. Maybe the next Brandon Lake was on the bus, writing. One can hope.

Convict Which Murderer?

In any given murder, someone is to blame. Evidence proves who did it, who is to blame. Meanwhile, corporate media will blame the wrong person, which will lead to great injustice from the idiotic public (those who believe whatever corporate media tells them to believe), but sleuths will sleuth and find the truth! We know this because we watch enough stories to give us some level of confidence that murderers will be found out, blamed, and put someplace that limits them from murdering anyone else.

What is one to do, however, with the most prolific and efficient murderer of all time: sin? Who does one blame? Who do we prosecute? How do we unhang the jury?

Sin is certainly a murderer. The bodies are everywhere. The evidence for sin as a weapon of mass destruction is obvious, but only because we have a Bible point out what is and is not sin.

• Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12, BSB)

• For the wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23, BSB)

• When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (James 1:15, BSB)

Without a Bible, we are left to the whims of people fed by corporate media (in other words, ninnies). Clearly sin is a killer, and clearly the one who wants to stay alive stays far from it.

That’s not, however, you or me, is it? No, we drift to close and some sin gets on us. Then, rather than wipe it off, we eat it! Then we feel guilty and so, we go to church, right? Of course it’s right—you know as well as I do that people go to church once or twice to try to get out from under the pain of sin. The world has done a wonderful job of lying us into believing that we can get rid of sin by going to church, which is like believe one becomes jet-money rich by walking through a bank lobby.

So, sin is a killer much like rat poison is a killer. But the one who ingested the poison or the one who served the poison by their own free will, are they not accomplices to their own or someone else’s death? Are they not to blame? Are they not condemned to die for it? Yes!

Romans 8 reveals how one find acquittal. (No, you have to go look it up.)

Guilty Confirmation?

Have you felt guilty when you thought God told you something but you wanted confirmation? That guilt is not from God.

So, stop it. Solomon asked for confirmation. O Lord, God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant David (2 Chronicles 6:17 BSB). So did more than a few of the characters in the Bible. Gideon even invented an elaborate test for God to pass.

Now, I am not at all a fan of testing God, mainly because Jesus said not to (Matthew 4:7), but I do not believe that asking for confirmation is the same thing. The Bible says that we are right to confirm matters with two or even three witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15, 2 Corinthians 13:1 and 1 Timothy 5:19).

Perhaps you will agree that many people get themselves into trouble when they hear themselves but think it God was telling them what they wanted to hear. Confirmation from wise sources will prevent a host of foolishness. I’m thinking the Bible is my primary wise source here, but people with a wise track record who know the Scriptures would count as a witness too.

Liars Lie

I’ve found myself recently dealing with an unusually large number of liars. A family member was caught lying spectacularly. Then another. Then a church member. Then another. Now I see all the news media saying things like the riots in LA, and elsewhere are “mostly peaceful.” That’s a bit like saying Israel did not bomb most of Iran, most of the country escaped Covid-19 without a scratch, or most of the Capitol was left untouched on January 6, but we’ve never even imagined the media leveling such soft-serve nonsense. In the latter case, we are seeing a cheapening of truth that appears intended to sell a false picture of reality—an attempt to gain trust where trust is not warranted. In the former, more personal, cases, we see people softening the perception of their behavior as though lies do not matter. One might think that they too want to gain trust where trust was not earned.

The bottom line is that when truth becomes fluid, lies grow. Liars lie, and the only way they stop lying is that they incur some penalty for it. Parents lie to their employers, and get fired for it. Immigrants lie to the citizens of and they’re deported for it. Children lie to their parents, and privileges are removed. But these sorts of penalties for lying only happen when the employer, the citizens, and the parents posses a spine to stand against lying liars.

Let’s also take a moment to remember the reason lies exist. Deception is a tactic used to gain an advantage over someone whom one considers to be an enemy. Liar do not lie to you because they love you; they lie to gain an advantage.

Let me make this very clear: Christians do not tolerate lies because we have no advantage to gain. We are God’s children, recipients of all His promises. Because God has been so kind to us, we love God (who, incidently, never lies). Our behavior is an outward demonstration of His love, so we have no reason to lie. When God says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16, BSB), His devoted child does what He says because we love who He is. Our love for Him is enough to prevent us from lying to you. We are, however, all quite incomplete, we do lie, and when we do, we own the lie and clean up the resulting mess. The man or woman who has sold out to this world lies to get their way, and often shifts the blame leaving the mess for someone else to handle. To do less than admit and clean up one’s lies is to be a liar. To be a liar yields very little trust with others so, one tends to grow lonely as they grow old. Moreover, liars have a terribly weak and distant relationship with God. Sooner or later, liars are called to account. A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will perish (Proverbs 19:9, BSB).

As Christ’s followers, we do as He did; we care about liars (not trust, care). We want a better life for them often more than they want it for themselves. Moreover, we have the spine required to prevent our employees, guests, and children from getting away with lying. One does not stand against lies because they are mean, but because they love others enough to say something. To tolerate liars is to be apathetic to their condition, and apathy is not love.

Revelation

The idea conjured up with the word “revelation” often makes even the most dedicated Christian stop and think, but I’ve found that few of us understand what revelation is. In one sense, it’s the name of the last book of the Bible (and often, the most confusing one). The title let’s in on how revelation is God’s way of telling us what will happen in the future, even at the end of time as we know it. The namesake book is a good-news story of great cosmic and spiritual warfare and it says, in essence: God wins and we win as we tag along with Him!

But biblical revelation is not limited to the last book or even to the Bible. It’s all through the Bible to be sure, and all over a believer’s life as they tune into the Holy Spirit. Revelation happens when God reveals something to humans that we would not otherwise know. When God tells Moses His name (Exodus 34:6ff), He is revealing His name but also His character. That’s a really good thing and something we would not otherwise be able to discern. As a result of all the good revelations in the Bible, many of Jesus’ followers think that revelation is always something good (like God is providing, defeating an enemy, healing a sickness, you get the idea). 

I’ve found that many times, what God reveals is so bad on the surface that I wish it would’ve stayed hidden. Wrong attitude, dude, yes, but also a statement of reality. Within the last couple months, two things were revealed to me that are terrible, and one was revealed that is so good I might be able to forget the bad news. 

The good thing is that God only reveals things to people that He trusts with that knowledge. He reveals something we can handle. He never reveals something just because He wants our opinion on it, but always because He wants us to act on the information in ways that please Him, conform to His will, and advance His kingdom (and He will always tell us what they are if we will ask and listen to the Holy Spirit, and read the Bible—those two sources tell all). When the revelation is bad, it’s usually God’s way of encouraging us to stand (see Ephesians 6), and when it’s good, it’s His way of showing His glory so that we be be grateful.

He revealed to a friend that her husband's behavior is abusive, for instance. That’s hard, but God gave her that truth because he loves her, she can handle it, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32). It’s a lot easier to get out of a toxic relationship when God’s Word shows us its toxicity. Before that, it’s just one opinion against another, ad nauseum, and that makes things much harder to change. Sadly, my friend, though she has God’s Word on her side, is taking abude from family and church for not doing enough to make the relationship work. This is utter insanity, blame-shifting, and in itself abusive. Why won’t God’s people trust His Word!

You do not need to swim in an ocean of pain when God sets you free. No, life is not about you, and the goal of life is NOT pain avoidance despite what the world claims. The goal of life is obey God, and let Him reveal the truth, and let the truth set you free! He’s going to reveal more stuff throughout your life, and you can handle that too. The truth is always best. 

Marriage Fight

I don’t know anyone who likes fighting with their spouse, but everyone I know does it to one degree or another. Ultimately, spousal fussing boils down to one party feeling like they’re going to have to stick up for what they want because the other one ignores their needs. Often this is true as the sun is hot. The other party, often oblivious to their behavior, is aided by the revelation that they are not all that caring (made worse by their obliviousness) and feels the need to defend themselves as though their uncaring attitude were somehow justified by their workload, the kids, or some other nonsense. That’s how wars start.

Of course there are exceptions. Emergencies happen. Perhaps you’ve noticed, however, that if a tough season is acknowledged and communicated clearly (in love), it passes more smoothly. If one spouse assumes the other one can process what’s going on without clear communication, they invite offense and bickering.

The Bible is loaded with instruction to break destructive cycles. I’ll offer a verse that explains the root cause of arguing along with a few key verses for husbands and the same for wives.

If you’re in a fussy marriage, the temptation will be to focus on how poorly your spouse attends to their responsibilities. Don’t fall in that trap! Attend to yourself, then ask your spouse if they’d like to calmly, non-defensively discuss how God’s word will help you avoid bickering. You know, let’s act like adults.

First, the root of the problem is spelled out in James 4:1-6: What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy? But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: (Proverbs 3:34) “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

So, we see that it is love for the world that pushes God away, and it is humility that brings God close. Love for the world causes one to think of themselves, and that is the acid eroding marriages. Therefore, we see that Jesus’ commands to deny yourself and love as I have loved you will not only draw us to God but also improve relationships (Luke 9:23, John 13:34).

Biblically, a husband exemplifies selfless living. A few verses explain how.

• Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25).

• Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered (1 Peter 3:7).

• He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD (Proverbs 18:22).

The first verse is the hardest. It sets the tone for sacrificial love. It does not advise a man to care nothing for himself but willingly to sacrifice his desires in favor of God’s will as Jesus did.

Second, he greatly values his wife. I’ve known guys who treated their boat better than their wife, and she noticed! The man who is inconsiderate toward his wife finds God ignoring him and his wife falling into all sorts of muddy thinking.

The Proverbs teach wisdom, so the man who treats his wife like the gift she is on the road to becoming wise. The one who treats her otherwise is among the world’s great fools. Man, your wife is the clearest evidence you have of God’s favor. A guy who wants a younger model is cursed by worldliness—his lust got the best of him. The one who sees his wife as among God’s greatest gifts is the one who pleases God. One does not fuss with an excellent gift.

There is much more to be said, but our space is limited. Let’s leave it that a wise husband puts his love into action so that his wife can see it. He cares for her needs more than his own (Philippians 2:4). The biblical wife has the same attitude.

• Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22).

• [Older wives] can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited (Titus 2:4-5).

• Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives (1 Peter 3:1).

Anyone who thinks submission is easy has not done much of it. It is easier to submit to one’s husband if the woman first submits to God. I admit that the submission thing often gets out of control, but it never will if the husband leads the whole family to submit to God. He is her model, but she must follow. The women who won’t submit have fallen prey to the world’s scheme, and their lives will be tumultuous.

Second, we see that part of what God wants to do is to create role models out of godly wives. When the wife does what God says she is blessed by every promise the Bible holds. When she doesn’t, it gives rebels and Satan a foothold to discredit God’s word. Do not overlook the consequence of disobedience—the children see!

Third, while a woman will never argue her husband into heaven, she will win him over with her kindness. It’s as simple as that, and I am living proof. My wife won me over to Christ by acting like a Christian. Nothing more complicated led me to consider God’s word, which led me to God’s grace. I am blessed above all men by God’s gift of a wife who knows how to behave.

Again, here is much more to be said, and I invite you to do your own Bible study. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you need to know. A wise wife puts her love into action so that her husband, dumb as he may be, cannot miss it. A wise husband models loving action because love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).

Needling a Big Jerk

I get the opportunity to interact with phlebotomists several times a year. I always ask two questions designed to make them laugh (because it seems to me that one does not want a bad mood bear sticking needles in their arm). First question: Do you know how many people you’ve stuck? Second question, what’s your best story of someone passing out from the needle? 

Today, I got the best answers I’ve ever had. The girl drawing my blood could not have been more than 25, but she said she’d stuck over 25,000 people! I told her I knew I was in good hands and that she’d do a great job, and also that she was in for a treat because my veins are probably the best she’d see all day. 

I was hunting smiles. She delivered and replied, “I had a body builder come in and I don’t know what his problem was. He walked in behind a lady with three little kids and he looked at me and said, "‘You want to do mine,"‘ then pointed at the lady and said, ‘she’s going to be a lot harder.’ I got him prepped and asked if he had any needle issues, he pointed at the lady and said, ’Not like her—better watch out for her.’ The lady rolled her eyes, and I asked if they were a couple. They weren’t. The guy was just taunting her, I guess. Anyway, I just wanted to get him done and gone. As soon as I stuck the needle in his arm, he went out!” 

I laughed, “He hit the floor?”

“Worse,” she said, “he started sliding down out of the chair.” I had a picture of a guy melting to the floor. “I tried to hold him, but he was so much bigger than me, I had the push against him to keep him from sliding all the way down. That’s when he peed himself. Soaked his pants, pee running on the floor, and all over my scrubs. The lady was laughing so hard I thought she would pass out too.” 

I was stunned. She continued, “When he came to, I told him he’d fainted and he looked down at his wet pants, stood up, put his head down and just walked out. The lady was still laughing.” 

Epic. 

I asked if she’d ever heard the Bible verse, Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). She liked it. 

Fish Guts Attitude

I showed up for a haircut appointment and saw the barber holding a mirror at the back of the head of the guy in the chair, which you probably know signals he’s about done. I was surprised to see three people waiting: an elderly man with a walker, an elderly lady, two seats over from the man, and a younger man seated across from him. I took the open seat, nodded hello and said, “Y’all doing okay?”

The younger man introduced himself and exchanged the typical Texan pleasantries. The lady nodded and smiled, but the older man pursed his lips and loudly huffed, “It’ll be a lot better if she’d hurry up.”

The younger man said, “Now, Dad, we’ve only been here a few minutes.” The woman sighed and examined her shoes. About once a minute, the old man took turns grumbling that his son, his wife, and the barber were wasting his time. He was as impatient as coffee.

I looked at the walker and wanted to ask where exactly he thought he needed to be, but I kept quiet. The old man grumbled all over the floor. I noticed his red ballcap and wondered if a nod to the election might help his attitude, but he was one of those people whose attitude floats through a room like last week’s fish guts, so I stayed quiet.

After another minute, the old man said, “That’s enough—let’s get out of here,” and his family begged him to wait. This went back and forth several more rounds. In between salvos, the son glancing at me, embarrassed, and I smiled like I understood and wondered again where he needed to be. Sedated, came to mind.

When the guy in the chair got up, it occurred to me that we had one barber with one impending appointment—mine—and more than one customer waiting. Did I get my appointment wrong? I asked myself, Or is this guy about to go off when he finds out I’m next? I decided I’d let him go ahead of me as that was a sure way to make the world a better place in that moment. Given the few, wispy strays that were escaping from under his cap, I figured it’d take more time to get him in and out of the chair than it would to cut his hair—I was willing to wait an extra eight minutes.

The first guy paid, and the barber said that she had an appointment scheduled and pointed at me. She asked, “Did you book online?” which I thought was about as likely as the man doing ballet in the parking lot. After a huddle around his wife’s phone, everyone realized that the man did not have an appointment. No one was surprised but him, and no one seemed all that surprised when we he blamed the Internet, which he said he does not use.

His revelation caused the vibe in the barbershop to resemble one of those fail videos that one finds on the (useless) Internet. When the barber explained that she had no openings the rest of the day, Mr. Happy Pants said a few things his son and wife wished he had not said. He shuffled to the door where an icy blast proved his theory that the entire planetary system had aligned against him. The cold did have an awakening effect—he remembered that they had no car, which led to some more words, which I will leave to your imagination. Despite the barber’s offer to wait inside with a cup of something hot, the Attitude preferred the cold. He then became the most popular man in the barbershop by leaving.

The barber secured the drape over me while apologizing for the disturbance like any of us would do in such an awkward situation. And like any of us would also do, I told her not to worry about it. Then a thought struck me hard enough that I could not step over it.

“You know,” I said, “that old man might be in pain.”

“You think that’s why he was so mean?”

“Maybe he’s sad. I noticed his wife’s medic-alert bracelet said DNR. Maybe he’s trying to deal with a 60-year marriage that’s about over.”

I said something about Jonah—he’s been on my mind since our Pastor is doing a series on him. You may remember Jonah is the pouty prophet who was eaten by a fish, which might swallow up anyone’s attitude. Jonah, however, had an especially acute case of bad attitude even before the fish incident. The Bible says that “the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (2:10 BSB). That’s where I get the idea that Jonah had a fish guts attitude, not because he walked around dripping bile (the text doesn’t say). In fact, Jonah preached a one-sentence sermon, and a pagan city repented and turned to God. In that sense, he’s got to be one of the most successful prophet-preachers in history, but his attitude stay in full fail mode. I brough Jonah into our conversation and added, “I wonder if Jonah was in pain because the people of Ninevah harmed his family—the Assyrians were known for their brutality.”

For several minutes, the only sound was the clip of scissors, then she said, “My grandpa is mean like that. Maybe he’s in pain.”

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather meet Jesus face-to-face this afternoon than develop a Fish Guts Attitude, and I know what I’m saying because more than once I’ve allowed myself to hold an attitude that smelled as bad as anything Jonah or that old man could display. My old man is a troubled soul who needs to be put down like a rabid dog.

I don’t mean to lump old men in one grumpy demographic. Older men are to be sober, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness (Titus 2:2 BSB), and most of us (at least the old men I know) struggle to maintain a good attitude. The old men like to pull up their “old man” it seems.

The “old man” I’m referring to is the one Paul wrote about, the man before Jesus redeemed me. The old man before Christ was driven by selfish desires while the new man in Christ responds to the needs of others (Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:9-10).  It’s not too big a stretch to imagine myself facing the end of a sixty-year-marriage someday, and it’s not a stretch at all to think that I might think more about the loss than the decades I gained from a wife who is more than a blessing. My attitude could get as sour as pickle juice unless I consider the needs of others and not merely my own (Philippians 2:4).

How’s your attitude, by the way?

Jesus Fought the Law (and He Won)

A fellow in our church was struggling with something and asked to meet. Within a few minutes, he explained that he was in a Bible study group led by a man who taught that following the Old Testament Mosaic Law is something God still requires, even for Christians. He believes Saturday is still the Sabbath and, therefore working on Saturday is a death penalty offense according to Exodus 31:14-15 and Numbers 15:32-36.

That led me to study what the whole Bible says with regard to Mosaic Law. Best I can tell, much of the Mosaic Law was fulfilled in Christ and is no longer binding on Christians. The New Testament teaches that the Mosaic Law was a temporary covenant pointing to Jesus, and with His coming, the law has been fulfilled (Matthew 5:17; Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:24-25; Hebrews 8:6-13).

Categories of Mosaic Laws Fulfilled in Christ and No Longer Binding

Sacrificial Laws – These laws governed the offering of sacrifices for sin. Jesus, as the perfect sacrifice, fulfilled them.

• Leviticus 1–7 (burnt offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings)

• Hebrews 9:12 – “He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.”

• Hebrews 10:10 – “By this will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Temple and Priesthood Laws – These regulated temple worship, priestly duties, and purification. Jesus is the final and permanent High Priest.

• Exodus 28–29; Leviticus 8–10 (priesthood regulations)

• Hebrews 4:14 – “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.”

• John 4:21-23 – Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that true worship is no longer tied to a specific location. 

Dietary Laws – Laws governing clean and unclean foods, now declared fulfilled and no longer required.

• Leviticus 11 (unclean foods)

• Mark 7:19 – “Thus He declared all foods clean.”

• Acts 10:9-16 – Peter’s vision of unclean animals, signifying the end of dietary restrictions.

Circumcision – A sign of the Old Covenant, no longer required for Christians.

• Genesis 17:10-14 (circumcision command)

• Galatians 5:6 – “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith working through love.” 

Sabbath and Festival Laws – The weekly Sabbath and annual feasts pointed to Christ and are no longer binding.

• Leviticus 23 (feasts: Passover, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles, etc.)

• Colossians 2:16-17 – “Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body belongs to Christ.”

• Romans 14:5-6 – Paul states that observing certain days is a matter of personal conscience. 

What Laws Still Apply?

Moral Laws (e.g., prohibitions against murder, adultery, theft, idolatry) are reaffirmed in the New Testament.

• The moral core of the law is summarized in love for God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 13:8-10).

• The New Covenant ethic is driven by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25) rather than adherence to the written Mosaic Code.

In summary, Christians are not under the Mosaic Law (Romans 6:14; Galatians 3:25), but they are under the law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21), which is characterized by faith and love. The law’s purpose was to lead people to Christ (Galatians 3:24), and now that He has come, we live by the Spirit, not the letter of the Old Covenant (Romans 7:6).

Anyone who tries to get you to follow laws that Jesus fulfilled is trying to obliterate your freedom in Christ (see Galatians—that was the problem Paul addressed). You can if you want to, but I politely decline.

Braggy old man

We started a new discipleship group last night. Right off the bat, I had to ask the group members to forgive me for bragging. This is where I’d like to blame or make excuses for sarcasm, but…no. I don’t know what got into me. For a moment I forgot who I am. 

Has that happened to you? It happens to me more than I’d like. The “old man” wants to be first, he elbows for prominence, grabs the best seat and the last piece of pie, and then rolls haughty eyes at the new man. He distracts, inflates, blames, shames, puffs, and accuses like a corrupt prosecutor hunting another head for his wall. I don’t know about you, but I just forget sometimes that God has freed me from the old man, and then I’m embarrassed, like I got off the bus at the wrong stop. 

I need help. Holy Spirit, drive Your word into my heart like a tent peg, deep enough to hold when the old man tries to tear down what You put up. 

Praise be to the Lord, 

for he has heard my cry for mercy. 

The Lord is my strength and my shield; 

my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. 

My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. 

The Lord is the strength of his people, 

a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. 

Save your people and bless your inheritance; 

be their shepherd and carry them forever. (Psalms 28:6-9)

Right Address, Wrong Destination: How Listening to the Wrong Source Gets You Lost

A man hops into an Uber, full of confidence. He entered the address in the app, so he leans back, pops in his ear buds, and enjoys the ride. All is well. He’s done his part. No need to check directions, no need to second-guess—he’s on the way.

Twenty-five minutes later, the car pulls up to a pawn shop where he expected to see a restaurant. Instead of familiar city hubbub and the promised land of five-star food and cocktails, he’s in a neighborhood that looks like it hasn’t seen a non-cash transaction since 1986. Turns out, he gave the Uber driver the correct address but the wrong zip code. Close enough to feel right, wrong enough to wreck the moment.

The problem? He trusted the system. He assumed that because he gave mostly right information, he’d get the right result. This is exactly what happens when we listen to the wrong sources about how the world works. 

Slightly Off is Off

For those of us educated in Western countries, our teachers, even those at church, almost exclusively bought into what one might call a naturalistic and humanistic worldview. That’s not to say they did (do) not believe in God. It is to say that they do not immediately think of Gd, or spiritual activities, as causal. They think of causes as something one can sense. A person gets sick, they see the physician rather than the elders of the church as James commands in chapter five of his letter. Another person succumbs to alcohol or drug addiction, and we send them to the psychiatrist rather than to the exorcist. Our worldviews are shaped by naturalistic explanations.

None of us gives it a second thought until the meds don’t cure the malady, and someone with an alternative worldview offers an alternative explanation. We’ve supplied mostly right information, trusted the system, and applied the prescription, but the answer dumped us out at the wrong address. Slightly off is off.

People assume that if they’re “mostly” right about God, they’re fine. They mix in a little Scripture with a lot of self-help platitudes written by people who never read the Bible. They add a dash of motivational Instagram theology and assume they’re heading in the right direction. They check the box: Christian? Yes. Bible? Sure. Sermons? When convenient. 

But if the source is wrong—even by a little—it can take them way off course.

• “God just wants you to be happy.” (Wrong source.)

• “God helps those who help themselves.” (Wrong source.)

• “If you have enough faith, you won’t suffer.” (Wrong source.)

• “Follow your heart.” (Definitely wrong source.)

Those ideas sound close enough to the truth to make many people feel safe. Much like trusting an Uber ride without double-checking the details, misplaced trust can take you places you don’t want to go.

Who’s Your GPS?

The Bible is clear: “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27, BSB). Jesus didn’t say, “My sheep listen to influencers who occasionally mention Me in their bios.” Or “My sheep listen to their feelings, vibes, and whatever’s trending.” No, He said His followers know His voice and follow Him—not whatever preacher, book, or TikTok algorithm sounds appealing that week.

If the voices you trust aren’t leading you directly to Christ, they’re leading you somewhere else. If the people you go to for help are helping you come back to them again and again, they may be more interested in your patronage than in your healing. Like an Uber with the wrong zip code, “somewhere else” is never where you thought you’d end up.

Check the Map Before You Ride

Before you hit cruise control on your spiritual journey, take a moment:

✔ Who are you listening to?

✔ Where is that leading you?

✔ Is it straight from Scripture, or just sprinkled with it?

Wrong voices don’t announce themselves. They sound wise, they sound spiritual, but they’ll drop you off in a bad part of town faster than you can say, “Wait, this isn’t where I’m supposed to be.” 

The Good News?

God’s Word is the ultimate reroute. No matter how far off you’ve gone, no matter how many wrong voices you’ve trusted, He’s always ready to guide you home. But you have to listen to Him first. Jesus said, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

 Because trust me—no one wants to explain to God why they spent their whole life listening to bad directions.

Feed the hungry

Jesus replied, “You give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16). Why would this ever cross their minds? Because they’d been with the One who makes the impossible happen with such regularity that miracles seem common as bread.  

“You of little faith,” Could He say the same to us? I’ve found Christians trying to gin up faith out of their own willpower, and finding it was always too little. After thinking about it for a very long time, I realized that until Jesus heals us of the drive to create faith, we cannot possibly have the faith He had. It’s when we get hungry for His faith that we find it.

—except from Hunger, available on Amazon

Irregular Joe

Joseph had been taken down to Egypt… (Genesis 39:1). Joseph’s story challenges claims that God wants us to live carefree lives or that God remains distant. We see God causing others to favor Joseph but not protecting him against a lie that put him in prison. All we know for sure, is that God’s faithful love never left Joseph and Joseph succeeded wherever he went because of God’s intervention.

Joseph was not exactly innocent. He definitely lacked emotional intelligence. He did not recognize his brothers’ envy or try to endear himself to them by pitching in with the work. Behavior like Joseph’s is often perceived as that of an entitled brat, which is something God does not tolerate.

Given what we know about God’s character and what we know about people whose character must be hammered out like iron in a furnace, it seems that God used Joseph’s trial to turn him into someone useful. God prospered Joseph through the terrors of slavery, false accusation, and imprisonment. As silly as Joseph was, we never see him complain. Moreover, when Joseph emerged from the trial, he was far more receptive to the needs of others and therefore, more useful to God.

God prospered Joseph, but not in his position as a favored son. God prospered him as a slave. Likewise, God protected him. Potiphar could have killed Joseph. Given the accusation against him, it’s surprising that death was not on the menu. Prison could have killed Joseph too. I doubt ancient Egyptian dungeons were like day spas. Joseph’s life was in constant peril, and he knew God kept him alive. God’s protection humbled him.

Here you are, thousands of years later, reading about how God worked in Joseph’s life. You’re probably not a slaver, falsely accused and imprisoned, or flirting with death. But whatever you’re trying to overcome–your present enemy–may well be causing you to question God’s love.

Please consider that God may be using your trial to perfect your character. I know that can come across as salt on a wound, but let’s think it through and ask God for insight. Perhaps your enemy is a co-worker, a lying accuser, or an unfair bias over which you have no control. Is it possible that your trial is the fire God uses to turn you into His champion? I don’t know either, but I do know that God will vindicate you if you trust Him and (hard concept warning) wait. Perhaps your enemy is internal like depression, anxiety, cancer, heart disease, or another malady. Watch for His kisses, blown from heaven to you: favor with employers, favor with health, favor with family, favor in finances, but most importantly: favor with God. He will show Himself in your trial. Stand in faith, knowing God is good and makes no mistakes. You’ll come through the trial as a sharp sword ready to do whatever God has in mind.

—except from Hunger, available on Amazon

Rightly Committed

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness… (6:33). Not long ago, I had a dream about overcommitting, which is not something I often do. (I wrote the book on using one’s time to find success; Mindset for Success: Shut Up Your Inner Critic and Get the Life You Want). I know rest is a gift to be opened every Sunday. Not that I’m perfect. Victory over time bandits often eludes my grasp, but just as often I do first things first and second things second.

In the dream, we were moving into a new house with a large kitchen and many people were helping us unpack. I was frying a feast of fish, steak, and chicken. Frying things is messy as you probably know. Grease loves to overflow its boundaries. Sane people do not fry loads of meat while unpacking a move.

Usually, dreams are parabolic: something means something else. Frying meat while unpacking from a move makes no more sense than filling one’s days with secondary activities while leaving the most important task undone. When Jesus said, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness… He did not expect us to start the day catching up on the news. First means first.

God gave you a task, and only a poor disciple fills their days with things that leave no time for it. If one is biblically illiterate, seeking His Kingdom first means reading the Bible and praying, then news, work, pickleball, whatever. Put off the warm fuzzies; build your soul first.

—Hunger, vol. 1 available at Amazon.

Blessed when cursed

A blessing opens Jesus’ sermon (Matthew 5). You feel poor, broken, sad, not good enough, oppressed, persecuted for doing the right thing? You are not alone. God sees and He comes to bless you. Let the Kingdom of Heaven come near (Matthew 4:17). Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me (Matthew 5:11).

Just like God asked Abram to pack it all up and trudge away, He will ask you to do something by faith. Something that will make no sense to people tuned into the popular culture. Be happy when people who follow demons make fun of you; it’s good evidence that you’re on the right track. Trust God. Let Him bring you into His presence. When everyone dines on selfness, tell God you’re hungry for righteousness. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Get it in your heart that God is good.

—Hunger, Jan 5, available on Amazon.

Order from Chaos

In the beginning God created… (Genesis 1:1). God created order from chaos, which does not mean He created it of out the laundry room of a family with four boys under ten. Literally, the Hebrew Bible says earth was formless and void, which means He created it out of nothing. The nothing is not as big a deal as the order, however, for order gives us a huge advantage.

In an orderly universe, things get predictable. If you plant carrots, you get more carrots, which allows agriculture. When male and female bovines get together, they produce calves, which allows cattle ranching. Stars appear in predictable locations, which allows for navigation, which allows for trade. From weather patterns to crop cycles to the arrangement of organs in our bodies, God’s order gives us the ability to do many things more efficiently.

We call the observation of God’s order science. Science makes life better, but, great as it is, science tells us nothing about the meaning of life, much less how people or God work. For that, we need God’s revelation, which is one reason to read the whole Bible—to know how God works and how people tick.

Around 600 years ago, science started wiggling out from under the idea that everything was created by God’s design. Science soon took on a life of its own. Since then, it’s become an idol, a fake god with its own set of doctrines and commandments. Few scientists accept the Bible’s creation account, preferring natural selection to explain how we came to be. But like all idols, science falls short. Natural selection cannot explain love, meaningful existence, or how the universe is so finely tuned to allow for life on Earth. Nor can it explain how Moses got so much of the creation story right.

According to MIT scholar and physicist Gerald Schroeder, the probability of Moses guessing the order of creation is impossible without revelation from an intelligent Being. That is to say, mathematics prove that only God could create such a finely tuned universe and only God could have revealed it to Moses thousands of years before science discovered it. Schroeder aligns scientific calculations of the history of the universe with the creation story, and by applying Einstein’s Law of Relativity to the equations the biblical account checks out. So, people who puff at the Bible are full of smoke. The Bible is right when calculations include what science has learned about time, mass, and energy. The math does not lie, nor does the Bible.

Many people can tell you something important about nature, like which foods are edible, or how to get more sleep. But only God can give your life meaning so that family dinners are fun, and sleep comes easily. When you’re tired of going through the motions, tired of working to buy stuff to impress people who don’t like you anyway, frustrated by the banality, arrogance, and outright deception of the world’s system, then you may be hungry for God. God feeds hungry people. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6). Perhaps you will start the year by asking Him to fill you.

—Hunger, January 1, book available here

The Binding Agent

His name is The Word of God (Revelation 19:13). To a 21st Century audience, Jesus’ title comes across differently than it would have to an audience of John’s contemporaries. A 1st Century audience familiar with the nuances of Greek would have heard several sentences packed into that title “Word of God.”

“Word” (Logos) is the thing by which all other things hang together. It is the binding agent of the universe; the lynch pin that makes things function as intended. We simply cannot know Jesus apart from an understanding of His nature, which is to make all things work as God designed them to work.

Once He is received, the Word becomes the most effective medicine and nourishment a person can ever find. He turns us from enemies into friends, from trash to treasure, from orphans to children. Once we know Him as The Word, we can respond to any weapon, enemy, trouble, persecution, or problem with His name. He is the promise.

—Hunger, December 28, available here

The Prince of Peace

I am planting seeds of peace and prosperity among you; they will grow and yield a rich harvest (Zechariah 8:12 BSB). It’s Christmas! Jesus is the Prince of Peace, a planted seed that kept the promise and grew into a tree of life. He came to us, ministered to us, died for us, and lives in us by His Spirit. He is our peace, ruling the universe from His throne.

(from Hunger: A devotional commentary on the Bible for people hungry to know God.)

Clean up, Christmas is comin’

“Shout for joy and be glad, O Daughter of Zion, for I am coming to dwell among you,” declares the LORD. “On that day many nations will join themselves to the LORD, and they will become My people… Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel. So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes” (Zechariah 2:10-11, 3:3-4 BSB).

God promises, and He kept His promise when Jesus came to us, Immanuel, God with us. Christmas is almost here! We need not wait to get clean though.

When God cleans up sin, He cleans it all the way. The blood of Jesus is not cheap soap that leaves stains. If you’ve been cleansed, and Satan (or one of his minions) accuses you of it, that’s a lie. The way to fight that lie is to agree, “Yes, I did that,” followed by, “but Jesus cleaned it up, and you can shut up.”

When you receive Jesus, you’re not a foster child, you’re a son. You’re not offered hand-me-downs; you get a new suit like a son’s. You don’t eat leftovers in the kitchen; you sit at the table with the Father, enjoying His banquet. You may feel unsure of your standing, but that’s just unbelief at work. God says you’re already good enough. You’re His–believe Him. 

(from Hunger: A devotional commentary on the Bible for people hungry to know God.)