Schema of Ancient Corinth’s City Center The following is an excerpt from my Ph.D. dissertation, Decoding the Mind of an Apostle. It is the last part of the conclusion. (The end of the book.)  The order of 1 Cor itself reveals Paul’s way of thinking as...

The gospel does more than save our souls. It re-creates us into a spiritual family – a corporate man that fully bears Christ’s image and proclaims what Jesus really did on the cross. Check it out below on Dropbox or download for later: Recalibration message...

Lechaion Road, Ancient Corinth Here is our first – and foundational – message during a season we feel to “recalibrate” to the gospel standard. Jesus Himself is the foundation of His church. So in this message, I discuss one crucial dimension of what that means (link...

Thank God forever that we are not under law, but under grace. Christianity is not a new “religion” in which we must conform to a sterile moral code to be righteous. Those who put authentic faith in Jesus Christ are born again, transformed by God’s presence working in...

Notes from men’s retreat in Motley, MN – Feb 19-21Four ways to spiritual growth… Embrace the power of the new creation: The journey to maturity begins with the transforming work of the gospel.Fact: When we turn to the Lord and put our trust in Him,...

“Come to me, all those exhausted and overloaded, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke on your shoulders and learn from me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my...

“Come to me, all those exhausted and overloaded, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke on your shoulders and learn from me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my...

“Come to me, all those exhausted and overloaded, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke on your shoulders and learn from me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my...

Jesus’ call is not just to come to him.  It is also to learn from him.  The essence of discipleship is learning the ways of the Master, then walking in those ways.  In fact, this passage is like an early forecast of the...

Jesus’ call to come to him and find rest issues from the tradition of these prophets (quoted in the previous blog).  But there is one major difference.  The prophets called people to the Lord who was speaking through them.  Jesus calls people...

“Come to… ME.” When the prophets called for wayward Israel to turn away from her sin and idolatry, it was always in terms of returning to God himself.  Breaking covenant with him was the real crime.  Repairing that covenant was real repentance.  So here...

When Jesus calls the exhausted and overloaded to himself, he is inviting us to rest inside his sanctuary of meekness.  But there’s more to his invitation than finding a respite from chaos. Jesus is calling us, not just to shelter us, but...