redemption

Sudden Resurrection

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead?’” – Luke 24:1-5 What an awesome truth we celebrated this past Sunday! I can’t stop thinking about it! Though the road to the cross was dark and filled with pain and His death was bloody and horrible, Jesus’ resurrection overcame it all! Naturally, when His mother and friend came to the tomb to tend to

April 20, 2022 1 Comment

The Suffering Savior

“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they slapped him in the face.” – John 19:1-3 Having just celebrated Easter, the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus is fresh on our minds. There’s no better time to remember the long and painful road our Savior endured to get to the cross. After three years of difficult public ministry that were no doubt physically, emotionally and spiritually draining, He was betrayed by one of His own disciples. He was turned over to Roman authorities, who, after pressure from the zealots among His people, agreed to have Him killed. As if the sentence of death by crucifixion wasn’t horrendous enough, He was beaten to

April 19, 2022 No Comments

Intended Harm Transformed

“His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. ‘We are your slaves,’ they said. But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” – Genesis 50:18-21 Yesterday, we continued to look at the story of Joseph and we saw that after nearly twenty years of misfortune and trial, He finally witnessed the fulfillment of his prophetic dream. This is the culmination of his story. After interpreting Pharaoh’s vision, Joseph was elevated to a position wherein his power was almost equal to that of the king. This was truly a display of God’s divine favor! Through this promotion,

April 17, 2022 No Comments

Utterly Pure and Persecuted

“Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he refused. ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care…One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” – Genesis 39:7-9,11,12 Yesterday, we looked at the beginning of the story of Joseph. He was a young and naive dreamer who was sold into slavery by his brothers in their jealousy. After being sold, Joseph’s saga progressed, and he ended up in the household of a wealthy Egyptian named

April 15, 2022 1 Comment

Our Hidden Self

“For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.” – Mark 4:22 Every person has aspects of themselves that they do not naturally reveal to others. We all have layers, and we choose how, where, and with whom we peel them away. This is a normal element of life and relating, and it’s not a terrible thing in general. Clients see the completely covered version of us, our friends see a little more, and our family — usually those we live with and who know us best — see the truly hidden version of ourselves. And then there’s God… There are elements of our soul and parts of ourselves that no one knows about and that we sometimes can’t describe, whether we understand them or not. These are the innermost secrets that only God can see. They

January 28, 2022 No Comments

The One Who Changed it All

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord– and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” – Isaiah 11:1-3 The Jewish people awaited the arrival of their Messiah with bated breath. They knew that when He came, He would save the world and alter the flow of history, even though they were living in the midst of persecution and constant battle. “God, have you forgotten us?” and “God, why all this suffering and evil?” were some of the cries, but there was a prophetic voice declaring that one day He will come and make things right! Perhaps no book did a better job of portraying this

December 21, 2021 1 Comment

God is So Good

“Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” – Isaiah 44:8 There was a belief in ancient pagan religions that there were many gods; in fact, practically every nationality believed this. There was a god of trees, a god of sky, a god of sun, a god of mountains, and so on, regardless of their individual names. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of gods at times — in essence, they were vast, insane, cruel, and at odds with one another. Humans, according to this tradition, were like puppets who had to appease a slew of power-hungry divine creatures; they were caught up in a weird cosmic conflict. When Yahweh revealed Himself to Abraham as the One True God, the Jewish

December 20, 2021 1 Comment

History’s Cornerstone

“For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’” – 1 Peter 2:6 Today I have some excellent news for you: things may be becoming darker, but you’re becoming brighter. Even if the days are becoming colder, you’re getting warmer, because I think God works His greatest miracles in our lives when we’re at our lowest. Because of One Man, who changed the path of history from the moment of His birth, redemption is attainable. Everything changed in year zero, as you can see. The two epochs of human history, BC and AD, center around one thing: Christmas. Although BC stands for “Before Christ,” we can refer to it as “Before Christmas” for our purposes because it essentially implies the same thing. Year one corresponds to the birth of Jesus,

December 17, 2021 1 Comment

Holy Healing

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” – John 12:24 Today, I’d like to share with you about the Paschal Mystery, an ancient Christian principle that we don’t often discuss, unless perhaps during Easter. In essence, to become Paschal is to become anti-fragile, and this occurs when we recognize that in our salvation, we were given the gift of redemption, not just of our souls, but also of all of our earthly circumstances. This means that whenever we are hurt, attacked, or have a dream die, if we respond in faith, fresh life will eventually emerge from the unpleasant experience. Things that die in Christ come back to life with even more strength! You were given death when you were baptized into Christ. Did you realize that?

December 2, 2021 No Comments

Grace and Truth

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14 Do you like things that are salty and sweet? I sure do. There’s something about kettle corn, salted caramel, and french fries with milkshakes that creates the perfect balance of flavors. Interestingly, I believe this is how grace and truth function in the life of a believer. The Bible says that Christ — the Living Word — came to earth full of these important, and seemingly opposite, characteristics. You see, whereas grace is unmerited favor, or getting what we don’t deserve, truth calls out reality and reminds us of what we do deserve. So how do these two coexist and complement each other? The answer is simple, and it’s found in the salvation we

October 22, 2021 No Comments

Sudden Resurrection

The Suffering Savior

Intended Harm Transformed

Utterly Pure and Persecuted

Our Hidden Self

The One Who Changed it All

God is So Good

History’s Cornerstone

Holy Healing

Grace and Truth

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