Pursue Unity by Practicing Humility

Most Christians would agree that unity is a good thing. We’d like more unity in churches and in our relationships, not less. But what often impedes progress is we don’t like what’s required to make unity possible. There is no unity without humility.

There is no joining ourselves with others apart from some dying to self. Each of us must decide, is the payoff of peace worth the price of a gut-punch to my pride? We might desire the beauty of oneness and the sweetness of harmony, but we wait for others to bend and come to us. We want peace on our terms, without the baggage of humility, empathy, and selflessness. Unity is important, but do we value it as much as being heard, exercising our freedoms and rights, and expressing my opinion?

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Christ Purchased the Church’s Peace

“Believers are never told to become one; we already are one and are expected to act like it.” Joni Eareckson Tada

Many churches talk a lot about the cross, and I’m thankful for that. A steady diet of the gospel and understanding how Jesus pays for our sin feeds and nourishes our hungry hearts. But we often ignore that Christ’s death unites believers as one. It’s a reconciling, peace-making act bringing people together. It creates a real, objective unity among Christ’s people (the Church) around the globe and across history.

If the cross not only saves us but it also shapes us, then it will propel us to pursue peace and resist division.

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6 Things to Remember or Do When Your Spiritual Life is Stagnant

Part of the Christian life includes walking through spiritually dry seasons. That’s normal, and yet we don’t want to get stuck there or remain apathetic. Here are six things to remember or to do when your walk with Christ feels stagnant.

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Spurgeon on Benefits of God’s Discipline

For Charles Spurgeon, God’s discipline isn’t separate from his love and care for us. To discipline is to teach and to train, just like parents discipline their children through both instruction and correction. His sermon, “The Discipline of the Lord,” is one of the most helpful summaries of the benefits and blessings associated with God’s discipline. I encourage you to read it in its entirety, but here’s a list of some of those benefits.

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Lessons Learned in the Wilderness: God’s Discipline

Each Wednesday night for the next few weeks, I’ll be teaching a class online about Lessons Learned in the Wilderness. You can view this on Facebook live at the Pennington Park Church account at 8PM.

This week we’ll look at God’s Discipline in the Desert from Deuteronomy 8. You can see the notes here. Here’s a related article I wrote on God’s discipline as a loving Father.

Past Weeks

Week 1: God’s Power to Part the Waters (Exodus 13-14)
Here’s are notes from last week, as well as a link to the video on vimeo.

Week 2: God’s Provision and Daily Grace (Exodus 16). Here are Lesson 2 Notes and here’s a link to the video from week 2. You can also read a related post on 10 Ways to Battle Worry.

Week 3: God’s Life-Giving Oasis versus the Mirage of Idols (Exodus 32). You can download an outline of the Lesson 3 Outline or here’s the video.

Week 4: David’s Positive Example versus Israel’s Negative Example (Psalm 63). Here is the Lesson 4 Outline and here’s the video.

Week 5: Grumbling (Numbers 11) vs Gratitude (Psalm 57). Here are notes for Lesson 5 and here’s a link to the video. A few related articles on grumbling are Give Thanks Together, Grumbling vs Gratitude, and Ingratitude Leading to Idolatry.

Week 6: Looking Back to Look Forward: Spiritual Remembrance (Deuteronomy 7:17-21). You can find the notes here and here’s the video.

Lessons Learned in the Wilderness (Part 6)

Each Wednesday night for the next few weeks, I’ll be teaching a class online about Lessons Learned in the Wilderness. You can view this on Facebook live at the Pennington Park Church account at 8PM.

Continue reading Lessons Learned in the Wilderness (Part 6)

New Book Available on Amazon

You can now purchase a copy of my new book Finding Satisfaction in Christ: A Devotional Study of Colossians in paperback or kindle formats. I wrote this over the course of a few years. What began as a small group study on Colossians in the home of our friends Dan and Emily later turned into a Group Discussion Guide for College Park Church that blossomed into a full-length book slowly written off-and-on over the course of a few years. As any writer or teacher struggles with, I hope my personal joy and benefit of studying Colossians leads to your joy and encouragement as you read through Colossians with me. Here’s a bit about the book.

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Lessons Learned in the Wilderness (Part 5)

Each Wednesday night for the next few weeks, I’ll be teaching a class online about Lessons Learned in the Wilderness. You can view this on Facebook live at the Pennington Park Church account at 8PM.

Tonight we’ll look at Grumbling (Numbers 11) vs Gratitude (Psalm 57). Here are notes for Lesson 5 and here’s a link to the video.

A few related articles on grumbling are Give Thanks Together, Grumbling vs Gratitude, and Ingratitude Leading to Idolatry.

Continue reading Lessons Learned in the Wilderness (Part 5)

How to Survive a Quarantine: 7 Pieces of Advice on Conflict Resolution in the Home

Conflict is bound to happen. Conflict is part of relationships, including healthy ones.

Whether it’s living with friends, a dorm roommate at college, a spouse, or children, sharing a living space with people is hard. We each bring in over-sized baggage. It doesn’t take long for us to bump into one another as friction and frustration mount. That’s even more true in this season of social-distancing when so many of us are confined to our homes, facing challenging circumstances, and lacking some of the people and outlets that help us let out some of the steam in life. How can we handle conflict between roommates, spouses, or parents and kids?

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