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The Counterintuitive Ways Of God
Today on Discover the Word, we conclude our weeklong study on the counterintuitive ways of God. God’s plans and methods often seem like the opposite of what we’d expect, but can we trust God in seasons of pain and when life doesn’t make sense? Get the faith-building answers today on Discover the Word!
“In Christ”
Today on Discover the Word, we welcome seminary professor Con Campbell to the table. Together, we’ll be studying Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus to discover how an identity “In Christ” changed everything for these early church believers. Learn what this can mean for your life, too! Listen today to Discover the Word!
“Substitutes” Get A Bad Rap
From off-brand sodas to understudies in a Broadway musical, “substitutes” get a bad rap. But today on Discover the Word, the team and special guest Robert Gelinas discuss how Jesus was our substitute and how we can live as substitutes for others. Learn the way of the cross today on Discover the Word!
“The Cross As A Way Of Life”
Why did Jesus die on the cross? Certainly, it was to pay for our sins but that’s not the only reason. Today on Discover the Word, the team and special guest Robert Gelinas get together for another conversation on “The Cross as a Way of Life.” Learn how the death of Christ teaches us to […]
How Has Jesus Called Us To Live?
There are a million things that shape our lives. Our upbringing, our parents, life experiences, our job . . . but what if our lives were shaped by the cross? Today on Discover the Word, our team, and special guest Robert Gelinas discuss how the cross isn’t just a reminder of what Jesus has done […]
Sinners Like Us
I have a friend—her name is Edith—who told me about the day she decided to follow Jesus.
Edith cared nothing for religion. But one Sunday morning she walked into a church near her apartment looking for something to satisfy her discontented soul. The text that day was Luke 15:1–2, which the pastor read from the King James Version: “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, ‘This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.’”
That’s what it said, but this is what Edith heard: “This man receives sinners and Edith with them.”…
Discover How The Cross Is A Model For Life
To a first-century Roman, a cross wasn’t a piece of jewelry or a wall decoration. It was a symbol of death. But today on Discover the Word, the team, along with special guest Robert Gelinas remind us that the cross is more than just a reminder of Christ’s death, it’s a model for life. Discover […]
Am I Blessed Like This?
When we first read the statements of Jesus, they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling, and they sink unnoticed into our subconscious minds. For instance, the Beatitudes initially seem to be merely soothing and beautiful precepts for overly spiritual and seemingly useless people, but of very little practical use in the rigid, fast-paced workdays of the world in which we live. We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the “dynamite” of the Holy Spirit.
His Nature and Our Motives
The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to place within anyone who would let Him a new heredity that would have a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees.
Sanctification (2)
The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfect qualities of Jesus Christ are imparted as a gift to me, not gradually, but instantly once I enter by faith into the realization that He “became for [me] . . . sanctification . . . .” Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life.
Sanctification (1)
The Death Side. In sanctification God has to deal with us on the death side as well as on the life side. Sanctification requires our coming to the place of death, but many of us spend so much time there that we become morbid. There is always a tremendous battle before sanctification is realized— something within us pushing with resentment against the demands of Christ.
The Mystery of Believing
Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.
There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain.
The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church
Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.
The Concentration of Personal Sin
When I come into the very presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense, but I suddenly realize and the focus of my attention is directed toward the concentration of sin in a particular area of my life. A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are.
Light of the World
One of my favorite pieces of art hangs in the Keble College chapel in Oxford, England. The painting, The Light of the World by English artist William Holman Hunt, shows Jesus holding a lantern in His hand and knocking on a door to a home.
One of the intriguing aspects of the painting is that the door does not have a handle. When questioned about the lack of way to open the door, Hunt explained that he wanted to represent the imagery of Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and…
