Mysticism, legalism and existentialism – oh my! How about becoming whole through Christ instead?
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Category Archives: Faith
Repentance
In the New Testament, repentance means to change the way that we think and act. Without the Lord, this would be impossible. However, when we bring, and then surrender, our thoughts, beliefs and actions to the Lord, He replaces them with peace, truth and hope. True repentance brings transformation.
I love to work in my garden. Have you ever dug a large hole in hard clay to plant a bush? I think repentance requires many of the same steps.
When I dig the hole, I expend a tremendous amount of energy. Being willing to openly expose my sins and faults to the Lord also requires much effort.
Sometimes my feet hurt from stomping down on the shovel as I try to break through the hard soil. Likewise, there have been times when my body, soul and spirit ache as I struggle and my heart can feel like heavy, solid clay.
Come to the Waters
Just some of many who gathered Saturday to celebrate new life!
On Saturday, over sixty people gathered for a mass baptism at our house, involving various fellowships and ministries relating together here in Virginia.
After we buried lots of old natures, and lifted lots of new believers up into that same resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead, we enjoyed a cookout and just hangin’ with each other.
Celebrating
Oscar and Nicole
This is the one year anniversary of a wedding I performed for Oscar and Nicole.
Marianne and I hosted the wedding in our home, and they are part of the fellowship that meets there.
I was very sick at the time, and had to have a stool beside me just in case I felt weak and needed to perform the ceremony sitting down. But I made it through on my own two feet and it was a great time of celebration!
This was a highlight of ministry for me. Oscar and Nicole mean a lot to Marianne and me, and are evidence of how God delights in redeeming lives.
Here’s more of the story…
~ Jim
Grace and Forgiveness
Christians seek God’s forgiveness – not to remove some block in His heart, but to release a block in our heart.
Civic Compassion
Crossroad Nugget
Tragically, some throw off the limitations of pastoral monopoly, only to fall prey to the tyranny of apostolic hierarchy. When will we ever learn?
To Love and Be Loved
Today is our wedding anniversary.
Our marriage is a testimony to the greatest gift two people can give each other: The ability to love and be loved.
Integrity
It’s great to write books and blogs promoting the role of women in the church, finding “ekklesia”, and all sorts of other local church issues.
But the rubber meets the road when it comes to those with a history of using the church to sexually prey upon and exploit others.
It is hypocrisy to then defend and promote them, to discount the properly issued warnings of their own local church (see 1 Tim. 5:19-21), to ignore the evidence you personally have seen, and to stand quiet as they continue a campaign of cover up through threats and intimidation against anyone who dares bear witness against them.
When it really matters, do you put your values – and the things you write – over personal friendships and your network of mutual promotion?
It’s time to walk in integrity once again…
God wants leaders who’s public persona, words and values match their private lives.
~ Jim
Obedience
Obedience is like the tug of war game that my second grade students play every year on Field Day. Each team musters their forces together and strategically places the participants where they will be the most effective. Then, when the whistle blows, each side pulls with all of their might.
Often I find that my obedience to the Father’s plans is like that. I line up all of my reasons why I probably should not do what I feel the Father 
wants me to do; then, I try and justify my reasoning.
Fortunately, I am usually on the “losing” side of that tug of war because my heart’s desire is to be obedient and to do the will of my Father. However, my response is not always as instantaneous as I would like.
Repost: The Transformational Power of the Cross
The Transformational Power of the Cross
As we celebrate our freedoms this week in the United States, let’s not forget the fundamental power of the Cross to transform not only individuals, but whole cultures, societies, nations … and even history itself.
Unfortunately, however, there are Christian isolationists who deny God’s sovereignty over all of His creation – and the institutions He Himself has ordained for our good.
Finding Freedom in a Prison Cell
Finding Freedom in a Prison Cell, by Marty Friedman
This is a wonderful story of redemption. Marty Friedman came to the Lord in jail, and for two years was part of a fellowship we helped start in the housing unit where he lived. He became a leader in that fellowship, where he profoundly impacted many, many lives. Now that he’s out, I am privileged to call him my friend.
BTW, I’m not sure about that reference to me as his “Sunday pastor”.
Marty, we gotta talk about that… 🙂
Crossroad Nugget
It’s not so much the idea of “clergy” that’s the problem, but laity. After all, we’re each called to be ministers of God to one another and to a waiting world.
Grace at Work
The ongoing work of grace brings wholeness and freedom from hurts and bondage.
See Life or Reaction?
Confession
A wonderful blog by Carl Austin on confession.
“If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven;
if you do not forgive them,
they are not forgiven.”
John 20:23
Over the past couple years I have become increasingly convinced that, beyond corporate worship and edification, the primary function of “church” is that of being a healing community. Church as a healing community is a group where Christ’s Body is truly evident in varied spiritual gifts, emotional support, shared resources, prayer and confession. A church as a healing community is one of the places where the “loving others” of the great commandment is made manifest.
Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the sacramental duty of confession in the Body. I also suspect that confession is not an issue of much importance to most evangelicals. My background is both a bit Lutheran and a bit Roman Catholic, and I can recall one of my sanctimonious Lutheran sunday school teachers saying, “We don’t confess our sins to a priest, but directly to God.” The implication…
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Crossroad Nugget
Western jurisprudence has dumbed down liberty. It now means state-sanctioned vice, rather than individual freedom to pursue virtue.
True Church
Do we minister “to” the poor, despised, destitute and abandoned…
Or do we open our lives to each other, in mutual ministry one to another?
Do we have programs “for” the poor, despised, destitute and abandoned…
Or do we open our tables to each other, in mutual fellowship one with another?
Do we “go” to the poor, despised, destitute and abandoned…
Or do we hang with each other, in mutual friendship one for another?
Do we “fix” the poor, despised, destitute and abandoned…
Or do we need each other, in mutual humility one with another?
Crossroad Nugget
God redeems His creation,
despite its fallenness,
and reconciles us to Himself,
despite our brokenness.
Repost: I Want More Religion (Part 1)
One of the biggest lies you hear these days among the “hip” crowd goes like this: It’s not about religion, but a relationship.
Love and Evil
Like the gnostic Marcion in the early church, some still elevate their own sensibilities over Scripture by denying that God’s righteous wrath and gracious love are fully compatible.
See Beyond Scripture? (Part 3)
Resurrection Power and Water Baptism
The Resurrection Power of New Life
This weekend, I met with one of several fellowships in our county that’s primarily comprised of men who surrendered to Jesus while in jail.
They are now out, and meeting weekly in different gatherings as they encourage, support and move forward together in the Lord.
Because they came to the Lord in jail, many of these men did not have an opportunity to be water baptized quickly after conversion. Some ended up serving the Lord – and the State of Virginia! – in jail for several years after becoming believers, and were only recently released.
As a result, they now want – and need – to be water baptized.
Repost: Following God’s Presence
I am more at home in a jail cell, than in a church sanctuary.
Grace at Work
Among those I hang with, the unflinching ministry of confession and forgiveness brings freedom, and repentance produces maturity and wholeness.
See A False Love
Repost: Postmodern Idolatry
Will we submit to the spirit of this age, or the rock of ages?
An older, but timely, blog.
Neil Cole on Institutional Church
Critique of the Center Church by Tim Keller [Part 3], by Neil Cole
I like Tim Keller’s books. We even went to the same seminary and share many similar influences. But Neil Cole provides a needed critique on Keller’s latest book, which views churches as institutions.
Crossroad Junction 