Q – Does someone in a distant country have a substantially reduced chance of being saved than someone in America? Does anybody have no chance simply because of where they are and what information they have access too?

The first thing I want to do is give the short answer to this question. Being a target of God’s mercy is not a function of chance – it is a function of God’s sovereign action toward those who hate him – turning hard, proud, self-centered, idolatrous hearts into soft, humble, repentant, dependent hearts. God can break through deception and blindness anywhere, anytime – and he has – and he does. Read the rest of this entry »

Julie M shared this with me when the Winona bridge was closed – I love it

I was thinking about how much the bridge being closed changes everything!! Last night I asked a Wisconsin graduating kid what his college plans were and he answered, “well…..I WAS gonna go to Winona State but with the bridge closed…” so now he’s looking into La Crosse instead! And last night Ed and I didn’t attend our clown club meeting in Winona either because of the bridge. The club emailed and said no one on the MN side can make the parade this Sunday in Independence, WI and asked if Timber and Jubilee could, but we have plans already. College changes, parade changes. I also am not certain I’ll keep any cleaning jobs there. I’ll bet Ashley Furniture is missing a few MN employees too. Lots of changes due to this one bridge!!!! Then I thought of how Jesus is a bridge to God. And I got a mental picture of someone walking across the shadow of the cross to God. That picture came from a video of Sara Groves actually called “I just showed up for my own life” Anyway, I thought of how we didn’t know the day and hour that bridge would suddenly be out of service for us and how now our lives have changed. So I thought about how Jesus is still calling people to cross over from death to life and how they put him off taking for granted that the choice will always be there. One day the bridge will be out. Changes everything doesn’t it?

Mark 6:53-7:4, “rejecting religiosity” [Listen]

Following Jesus is not for the faint hearted. It is a call to become like the One who saved us. The Spirit-lead life will inevitably stretch us. It will call us to risk and to spend our lives for others. We will be asked to let go of religiosity and move to a relationship-driven life where we trust King Jesus with everything. There is no room for religiousity.

Today we are going to see an example of the tension between religiousity and serving Jesus. Read the rest of this entry »

Matthew 28:16-20, “our calling: make disciples” [No Audio]

As we have just thought about the the forgiveness of our sins through the death of Jesus and the new life he gives through his resurrection, I can’t help but think of those who followed Jesus 2,000 years ago and what they must have been thinking – can you imagine? There was a lot at stake here. Some of them had been “walking” with Jesus for three years. They had seen amazing miracles and heard phenomenal teaching which, on the one hand, had “captured” the crowds and given them hope that Jesus really was the one who would rescue them. On the other hand Jesus infuriated the religious power-brokers of the day. Read the rest of this entry »

Matthew 5:13-16, “salt and light” [Listen]

Jesus said that those who align with him are, “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world”. While many may be accustom to these words, their meaning is truly profound. Read the rest of this entry »

Three Great Relationships – Part 7 [Listen]

July 15, 2007 / Matthew 22:36-40

Today, I’d like to finish our series with the third and final relationship we are called to embrace. We’ve discussed our relationship with God. We’ve discussed our relationship with each other here in the local church. Today I’d like to talk about the relationship we are called to have with those who have not yet embraced Jesus as the one they will follow to the end. I’d like to do this by asking a couple of fundamental questions: Read the rest of this entry »