Your Baptism is an Important Promise
We must be a people who live up to our baptismal promises. It may be that you do not consider baptism a promise, but it is precisely that. You and I have entered into a covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We have made promises, and these promises...
What is the Open Door? Revelation 3
The Jewish Christians in the Hellenistic city of Philadelphia endured severe persecution at the hands of their own friends, neighbors, and family members. The Lord addressed these embattled believers in Revelation 3: I know your works. Behold, I have set before you...
What Would You Do if Your Friends Disowned You?
Imagine how you would feel if your closest friends and family members told you that you’d betrayed your heritage, and that you were no longer the beloved elect of God. It would be very difficult to hear the people you love most say to you, "If you persist in your...
Religious Persecution in Progress
What do you do when the fabric of your life is torn? Most of us would say that we don't like our lives to be dull and monotonous, but that is probably not what we really feel. Life is made up of routines, habits, and traditions, and it is usually when these routines...
Colossians 3: Growing Into Glory
When Christ who is our life is revealed, you will be revealed with Him in glory. Glory is a word that means "light." Sometimes glory also means heaviness; think of the overwhelming brightness of the presence of God. When the children of Israel made the Tabernacle in...
Are You a Part of the People of God?
What does it mean to be part of the new creation? Colossians 3 describes some of the signifiers and characteristics of the new people of God: Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of...
So You’ve Died and Gone to Heaven. Now What?
There’s so much more to the Christian faith than simply dying and going to heaven. You see, heaven is not yet finished. We have in our minds the notion that heaven is already completed and perfected, but that’s really not the way the story is told in Scripture. The...
How Did You Learn the Gospel?
Early on in Baptist history, we chose to turn away from heavily creedal formulations and mechanical church practices. We wanted to make sure that every individual had a personal, individual commitment of trust in the person of the crucified and risen Jesus. That does...
The Light of the World: He Spake by the Prophets
I mentioned in my last post that light and glory are key themes in the gospel of John. John describes the light and glory of God as a heavy, weighty thing. Why is that? John had in mind two scenes from the Old Testament. If you understand these, you’ll have a better...