Deep-End Discipleship

“ Jesus came down from the mountain with them and stood on a large area of level ground. A great company of his disciples and a huge crowd of people from all around Judea and Jerusalem and the area around Tyre and Sidon joined him there. They came to hear him and to be healed from their diseases, and those bothered by unclean spirits were healed. The whole crowd wanted to touch him, because power was going out from him and he was healing everyone. Jesus raised his eyes to his disciples and said: “Happy are you who are poor,   because God’s kingdom is yours. Happy are you who hunger now,   because you will be satisfied. Happy are you who weep now,   because you will laugh.” Luke 6: 17-21 CEB There is a lot of pressure in life to be perfect. This pressure can often add up to a very heavy weight to carry. Somehow we are taught to measure our life by the length of our resume, AP classes, or our GPA. This high level of success can motivate us to reach ...

May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone in the same way as we also love you. May the love cause your hearts to be strengthened, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his people. Amen. 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 CEB The other day my roommate and I were in Hobby Lobby looking for some Christmas decorations. We were walking up and down the aisles trying to find some good decorations to help us get in the holiday spirit. Every aisle we went down we found a billion things we loved (of course because it’s Hobby Lobby). As we walked down this one aisle, for probably the 5th time, I said something along the lines of “oh man everything is so cute, this is dangerous, maybe we shouldn’t have come here”. Right after I said it, a woman in the same aisle said “I know! Isn’t Hobby Lobby the best!”. We joked about how much money we were going to spend, and how we definitely shouldn’t have come to...

“Also, let’s hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God’s Son; because we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin.” Hebrews 4:14-15 It’s really easy to feel alone. When life gets stressful, when friends do hurtful things, when getting a “good” grade seems like an impossible task, it may feel like no one is there. You may think that no one could possibly understand what it’s like to be you right now. Even more so, you may wonder how in the world Jesus, the Savior of the World, the Son of God, could possibly understand how hard life is for you right now. But the coolest thing is that Jesus total understands. Jesus was 100% human, which means he experienced life in full, just as you do. Jesus knows what it’s like to have friends turn their backs on him. He absolutely understands what it’s lik...

If any of you are suffering, they should pray. If any of you are happy, they should sing. If any of you are sick, they should call for the elders of the church, and the elders should pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. Prayer that comes from faith will heal the sick, for the Lord will restore them to health. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven. – James 5:13-15 CEB – One of the best grades I’ve earned in seminary came in one of the hardest Greek classes. The only way I was able to do well in that class was from an incredible study group who supported and taught each other. The group was a mixture of times of serious focus and great laughter. I can’t imagine getting through that class well without those people! James at the end of his letter is encouraging the believers to come together as a unified community. Though these Christians had struggled greatly, he encouraged them to come together to pray, rejoice, and care for each other....

  “ I said, ‘Mourn for me; I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips. Yet I’ve seen the king, the Lord of heavenly forces!’”  “Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, ‘Whom should I send, and who will go for us?’ I said, ‘I’m here; send me.’” - Isaiah 6:5 & 8 CEB - We don’t often use the phrase ‘unclean lips,’ but it doesn’t take much to think about what it could mean. In our society, we classify certain things as ‘dirty words’ or ‘dirty language.’ But I do not think cussing or talking about lewd subjects is the only ways our lips can be unclean. How often do we think about the implications of what we say? Sure we realize that we might not always say the best things. Instead of saying a loving or kind word we simple just say something OK. Sometimes we do not say anything at all and hope that is better than what we wanted to say. After all, there is the motherly proverb of “if you can’t say something nice, don...

Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth. This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts in God’s presence. – 1 John 3:18-19 – “I love you.” These three little words can be so powerful. Hearing it from a parent, friend, or mentor can encourage you and lift up your mood if you’re having a rough day. Hearing it from a crush or significant other can bring a smile to your face and makes you feel happy inside. But how would you feel if someone said “I love you,” but never acted in love towards you? Would you believe them if they never did acts of love or simply ignored you? As Christians we say we love everyone because Jesus loves everyone. Jesus did not just say that he loved people, but he demonstrated an act of love by dying for their sins and rising from the dead for their new life. Jesus displayed his love for people throughout his life with acts such as healing, teaching, and relationship building. W...