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Today's Favorite Book Friday is One Way Love by Tullian Tchividjian.  It is one of the first books that helped me to see how amazing grace is and how it is not based on what I do or don't do.  For those of you who attend Hesston MB Church, I have free copies of the book available to you.  If you comment below and tell your friends on social media (Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram) about my blog, then I will get you a copy.

What do you do during morning devotions?  I have shared previously that I read It is Finished by Tullian Tchividjian and New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp.  However, I have also been looking for ways other than reading through the Bible in a year to spend time with Jesus. Let me remind you that devotions are not something to check off a list or to prove you are a good Christian.  It is all about relationship with Jesus.  God does not love you more if you do them or less if you don't.  Most recently, I have been reading through the Psalms and listing the characteristics of God.  As I list them, I then incorporate them into my prayer time. I have loved this time with God.  After I finished the Psalms, I wanted to continue this.  So, I recently started reading through the gospel of Mark and listing characteristics of Jesus.  I list these and then pray about them as well.  Why do I share this?  To offer you another opt...

Below are my notes from the sermon I preached today at Hesston MB. It was based on John 18:28-40 and was entitled, "To Tell the Truth." Introduction: Do you remember the game show “To Tell the Truth”? Premiered in 1956 & ended in 2001 & the purpose was for celebrities to guess which of the contestants was telling the truth about an occupation or experience. This morning, I am the contestant of “To Tell the Truth”. I have put three statements on a slide. You are to guess which one is the lie. A.       Attended Michael Jackson “Thriller” Tour B.       Valedictorian of My High School Class C.       Have Most Speeding Tickets of all HMBC pastors   We naturally are seekers of truth.   We want to know whether what we are told in the media, by teachers, bosses, families are true. Today, our passage focuses on truth in a conversation between Pilate & Jesus.   Who’s Who? ...

Here is the final post by speaker/topic from Liberate 2015. Previous posts are organized the same way for the pre-conference and Thursday-Friday noon. Blessings! Eric Metaxas-"Transformed by Amazing Grace" here Ray Cortese-"It is Finished-The Present Power of These 3 Words" here Tullian Tchividjian-"It is Not Finished" here David Zahl-"It is Finished: The End of Score-Keeping" here Steve Brown-"Relax, It Really is Finished" here

I am sitting in Ft. Lauderdale airport waiting to depart.  I wanted to jot down a few thoughts and reflections for Liberate 2015. I was thankful to have 7 others from Hesston MB join me this year.  I look forward to discussions with them moving forward. Here are a few take-aways or reflections: This is a repeat from last year.  I am loved, accepted, righteous, and approved by God therefore I don't need to seek approval, acceptance, and love from others, but because of God's love, approval, acceptance I am free to love others freely. I walk away from this conference refreshed, relaxed and renewed that I don't need "to do" anything.  Yet because of the good news of grace, I want to preach/teach grace to others and love others. Elyse Fitzpatrick talked about Satan's lies.  I need to remember what God's Word says about me not the lies of flesh, world or Satan.  Here is a quote from her message: "When Satan accuses you, look up! We conquer...

Unstoppable: Tracing God's flawless work through flawed people Acts is the story of God choosing the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. These are not the happiest verses in the Bible.  To understand, we need to go back to Chapter 4:32-37. This seems harsh and forgiving. The cold heartedness of this story reveals danger of self-salvation. Ananias & Sapphira are you and me. This was deeper than financial greed.  We inside the church are masters of disguise.   Fruit of justification of works is hiding who we are from ourselves & others. After we become Christians, we tend to leave the gospel behind. We understand Christ's work is relevant in our past & future, but it's our work relevant in the present. The root cause of our exhaustion is not something outside of us, but something instead inside of us. It is amazing to me that Christians celebrate when brothers or sisters in Christ experience failure. We all have secrets. Lying is part of our self-salv...

Here are my favorite quotes from speakers from Day 2 of Liberate 2015: God's Will is not lost. Question is not what but where & how. (J.D. Greear) When Satan accuses you, look up! We conquer him by the blood of Lamb & word of testimony (not ours, but His) (Elyse Fitzpatrick) The entire life, death, resurrection, ascension, and coming again of Christ is relevant to grace. (Justin Holcomb) If the Lord picked you to do something, there is no pressure because He will speak through you. (Eric Metaxas) Rest in God's commitment to bring to completion what He began. (Scotty Smith) Every morning wake up & believe God is pleased with you because of what Jesus has done. (Ray Cortese) Your assurance of salvation never comes from looking in, but instead from looking up and out. (Tullian Tchividjian)

The flesh is bitterly resistant to "it is finished." We are not waring against flesh & blood. We are waring against the flesh, the world and Satan. Love not law begets love. There is a crucial distinction between law & gospel. Passive Righteousness vs. Active Righteousness We live on two planes: before God & before others Passive Righteousness-settled by Jesus Active Righteousness-serving our neighbor I had a low view of the law & thought, "do your best & God will do the rest" would satisfy requirements of law. When we think our good works are for God instead of our neighbor, God's love is dependent on us instead of finished work of Jesus.  We live as if our sanctification precedes our justification. Good works are not a transaction for God. They are for others. One of the Devil's greatest lies is God gets tired of our repeated asking for forgiveness. After justification, good works are not thrown out, but instead ...

Below you find a post that I shared about a year ago.  It was written after returning from Liberate 2014 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  I leave for Liberate 2015 in just 27 days.  I cannot wait to hear good news on the theme, "It is finished." Another bonus is the time to spend at the beach and ocean. The picture below was taken last year.  Enjoy my thoughts on grace and the ocean again:   Grace is like an ocean because: It is deep .  When we think we have understood its depths, there is more. It is far reaching .  No matter what you have done in your past, God's grace can reach you. It is free . Isn't it amazing that you can go the beach for free?  No admission fee. It draws you in .  Just like the undercurrent in the ocean, God draws us. It is rest . Listening to the waves is relaxing and peaceful. It is unpredictable . You cannot predict the pattern of waves. You cannot predict how grace will affect a person. ...

We are finishing up our series on Jesus Is ______ by Judah Smith this weekend.  I have enjoyed our discussions on who Jesus is which better equips us to worship Him.  Our next series is based on the book One Way Love by Tullian Tchividjian.  We will be focusing on how understanding God's One Way Love frees us up to serve God and others.  If you have not read the book, it is excellent for many reasons but especially the explanation of grace and law.  Pick it up at your local Christian bookstore.  As you know, I recommend Faith and Life Bookstore in Newton.

Several of the videos are now available from speakers at Liberate 2014.  Today, I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes from each speaker.  You can read all my notes on blog posts from February 20-23.  The King has banged the gavel and pardoned our past, present, and future sins.  If you don't get justification, you will run from God not run to Him. (Matt Chandler) Grace isn't just a doctrine. It's 24/7. It's a pool where elephants can swim and children can play. (Steve Brown) Home is not a place to settle, but a place to set out from. (Sally Lloyd-Jones) Two preliminary points in making connection with others: you have to get to the end of law (sanctions don't work with kids, spouses, or others) & the name of the game is healing. (Paul Zahl) Three things the gospel does that religion cannot do    1. Gospel reveals to us God is more glorious than our idols (2 Corin. 3:18)    2. Gospel overwhelms us with grace (1 John 4:19) ...

I just returned from Liberate 2014 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  Below is a picture I took. It was a great conference and you can read my notes from many of the speakers on earlier posts.  Today, I wanted to share some thoughts I had while sitting on the beach one morning about the similarities between grace and the ocean.   Grace is like an ocean because: It is deep .  When we think we have understood its depths, there is more. It is far reaching .  No matter what you have done in your past, God's grace can reach you. It is free . Isn't it amazing that you can go the beach for free?  No admission fee. It draws you in .  Just like the undercurrent in the ocean, God draws us. It is rest . Listening to the waves is relaxing and peaceful. It is unpredictable . You cannot predict the pattern of waves. You cannot predict how grace will affect a person. It is bitter .  We avoid drinking it.  To those who want to live b...

Saturday night, Tullian Tchividjian shared about One Way Love. One of the greatest draws of Liberate is Ft. Lauderdale in February. His topic was "Inexhaustible grace for an exhausted people" What is main problem in evangelicalism? Most would answer related to cultural wars.   20 years from now his hope is people will respond "forgiveness of sins." We should be good news specialists. When it comes to the gospel, there is no "and then." Luke 4:16-21-May God use the mission statement of Jesus to blow our minds. We live our lives under a banner that reads, "it is finished." The church should be one place in all of society where people can find rest, but instead they get a to do lists. Life places many demands on us. Life is long on law and short on grace. Where does our exhaustion come from?    Often we think it comes from outside of us.  But it is not. It is from inside of us.     Robert Capon quote (further, better, more aggressive)    It is...

I know the Liberate Conference is two weeks away, but I need to focus on the warmth on this cold day in Kansas.  I will be posting notes here from the speakers during and after Liberate which is Feb. 20-22, 2014 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  Below are pictures of several of the speakers at Liberate.

The quote below has helped me understand Scriptures related to sin and God's love.  Tchividjian in One Way Love writes, "The reason we fight sin, then, is not because our sin blocks God's love for us, but because our sin blocks our love for God and others."

We have come to believe that the law is what makes us obey.  According to Tchividjian in One Way Love , that is not how it worked for Zacchaeus or his life and even yours.  So the Law serves us by showing us how to love God and others. But we fail to this every day. And when we fail, it is the Gospel that brings comfort by reminding us that God's infinite approval of us doesn't depend on our keeping of the Law but on Christ's keeping of the Law for us. And guess what? This makes me want to obey him more, not less!

One of the illustrations that Tchividjian uses in his book, One Way Love comes from the novel, Les Miserables .  Below is a quote from that part of the book. If the Law is the first word, Grace is the last. Listen closely: The Law exposes Valjean (and us), while Grace exonerates him. The Law diagnoses, but Grace delivers. The Law accuses, Grace acquits. The Law condemns the best of us, while Grace saves the worst of us. The Law says "cursed", Grace says "blessed." The Law says "slave, Grace says "son." The Law says "guilty", Grace says "forgiven." The Law can break a hard heart, but only Grace can heal one.

Below you find another quote from One Way Love by Tchividjian.  The purpose of the Law is to point us to Jesus.  Once we realize we cannot measure up to the Law and it has crushed us, we can rest in grace of God. "But then, once we are recrushed by the Law, we need to be reminded . . .We need to be old over and over that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, that nothing can separate us from God's love, and that Christians live their lives under a banner that reads, "It is finished." "The Gospel declares that Jesus came not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. Jesus met all of God's holy conditions so that our relationship with God could be wholly unconditional. The demand maker became a demand keeper and died for me--a demand breaker.

"The law offends us because it tells us what to do--and most of the time, we hate anyone telling us what to do. But ironically, grace offends us even more, because it tells us that there is nothing we can do, that everything has already been done. And if there is something we hate more than being told what to do, it's being told that we can't do anything, that we can't earn anything--that we are helpless, weak, and needy. However much we hate the law, we are more afraid of grace."

In One Way Love, Tchividjian quotes Paul Zahl for a definition of grace.  As you read the definition, be reminded of the grace given for you by Jesus. "Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return. Grace is love coming at you that has nothing to do with you. Grace is being loved when you are unlovable. . . The cliche definition of grace is "unconditional love." It is a true cliche, for it is a good description of the thing. . . Let's go a little further, though. Grace is a love that has nothing to do with you, the beloved. It has everything and only to do with the lover. Grace is irrational in the sense that it has nothing to do with weights and measures. It has nothing to do with my intrinsic qualities or so-called "gifts" (whatever they may be). It reflects a decision on the part of the giver, the one who loves, in relation to the receiver, the one who is loved, that negates any qualifications the receiver may personally ho...