...But Christ Is Still Our Lover

The church is a mess. Aside from possibly being the understatement of the year, its true. It is very easy to look at the all rampant sin and wonder how on earth the church is being made into the image of God. It is not surprising to see people who, capitalizing on individualism, want nothing to do with the church; they have Jesus, why do they need the church? It is also very easy to look at all the ways that the church has wronged people, the corruption and scandals, the love of money and greed, and to conclude (often rightly) that they are no different from the world. Pulpits are more filled with self-help, empty platitudes, social and political grandstanding, and almost everything under the sun except for what they should be filled with: law and gospel, sin and grace, repentance and the forgiveness of sins. It is very easy to rage against the church and to condemn her. This is nothing new, however. It has been the story of the church since her inception because of one simple fact: the church is made up of sinners, like you and me.

They Will Live In Glory With Christ

"For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." Romans 7.19

My parents were raised in the Wesleyan holiness movement, the Nazarene Church. Aside from the fact I know I'd be a terrible Nazarene (I drink and smoke, but I don't chew. However, I might go with girls who do), I don't believe anyone would actually be good a Nazarene. I have a memory of conversation with my dad where he mentioned that if the second work of grace, where a believer attains freedom from all known sin, was true, he didn't expect to have it. He's certainly not alone. I think that the scriptures themselves militate against this idea. I hold Paul's experience in Romans 7 to be the experience of the post-conversion Paul, and then there's the testimony of John that would seem to call this idea into question. I believe that repentance is the posture of the believer. From conversion to death, the life of the believer is gospel-oriented. Repentance and the forgiveness of sin is a daily reality for the Christian.

With Open Arms

Reformation Day just passed. For most people, it's called Halloween. While that is fine, (who doesn't like little zombies and vampires roaming around the neighborhood seeking blood and brains...or candy?) this year was special for another reason. God's faithfulness was lived out in a beautiful expression at our church. On Reformation Sunday we welcomed back into communicant membership a brother, James, who was excommunicated for 15 years. Fittingly, our pastor taught a message from the beginning of Hosea regarding his family. A few days later at the Springs Reformed Reformation Day Conference, I was fortunate enough to hear about the reformation and rediscovery of the church and pure worship from 2 Chronicles. These three things got me thinking about the Parable of the Prodigal Son.