Category: Level: Intermediate

poor broke pockets

Jesus Brought Blessings For The Poor

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It is encouraging to remember that when Jesus came to earth he taught blessings for the poor from the very beginning of his ministry. Even before he was born, in Mary’s song to God when she is pregnant with the Messiah, a song we call the Magnificat, she proclaims, “he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty” (Luke 1:53, ESV). We also see that at the beginning of his ministry Jesus proclaimed these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” (Luke 4:18 ESV) From these passages we know that the advent of blessings for the poor was an important part of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus never promised to make the poor financially rich, but he did promise something better: to fill their hearts with spiritual wealth. Continue Reading →

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The Four Biggest Pitfalls Of Leadership (And Followship)

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Many years ago I was attending a really good church where the Holy Spirit was present and the people were genuinely seeking God. I was especially thankful because my previous church had just collapsed due to some unresolved issues between the pastor and the elders. Everything was going well at this new church, then one day I received a stunning message. The senior pastor had just left his wife and run off with the attractive worship leader, who left her husband to run off with the pastor.  The two of them had been spending a considerable amount of time together in ministry, and staff members expressed concern, but the pastor did not respond. This illustrates one of the big pitfalls of leadership. Over the years I have observed first-hand pastors and other leaders who fall into moral failure or severely restrict their effectiveness because of four different issues. Maybe there Continue Reading →

disciple saint francis

What Does a Maturing Disciple of Jesus Look Like?

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We agree that the mission of the church, and the mission of God in our lives, is to make (beautiful) disciples of Jesus. We also agree that discipling is a maturation process; believers are supposed to “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).[2] Another way of saying this is that we are partnering with God to help people follow Jesus and join his mission. All our doctrines, practices, and congregational lives are anchored in these ideas. Renew.org recently published my article on this topic. You can read the full article here. Below is part of the article. But in order to pursue this discipling process, do we not need to know what a maturing disciple of Jesus looks like? How do we know if we are traveling on the road of maturity unless we know what the road looks like? In other words, Continue Reading →

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Why Do So Many People Ignore Morality (And How Do We Respond)?

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New York Times Columnist David Brooks recently published an article in the Atlantic magazine about the condition of morality. He discussed the history of morality and explained why so many people ignore morality today. (The article can be found here, but you probably need a subscription.) This is very important for believers to understand, especially leaders, because we need to understand how people think if we are going to help them transition to Christlike thinking. Brooks begins with the problem, then examines history; he highlights the Enlightenment movement that began in the 17th century. It prioritized the power of reason to arrive at all knowledge. I will quote from Brooks’ article. There’s a question that’s been bugging me for nearly a decade. How is it that half of America looks at Donald Trump and doesn’t find him morally repellent? He lies, cheats, steals, betrays, and behaves cruelly and corruptly, and Continue Reading →

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Does God Want To Glorify His People?

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This is an excerpt from my new book A Quest for the Ultimate. The retreat director Jacob asks the group about their observations in Revelation chapters 21 and 22. The issue is what God emphasizes in the next age. Does he focus more on himself or on his people? Does he want to glorify his people? Browse through chapters 21 and 22 of Revelation and tell me which is emphasized more: God’s glory or the glory and honor of the people of God? I will give you a couple of minutes.Everyone digs into their bibles. After five minutes Jacob asks again, “Which is emphasized more?”“There is a lot of description of the bride, especially in the description of the city,” Kwan observes.“Most of these two chapters are about all the blessings God is going to give us and how beautiful the bride is,” Melissa adds.Heads nod.Somewhat surprised, Gabriella replies, “I’m Continue Reading →