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Today, I preached at Hesston MB from Ezra 2 and my title was "The List".  Below are notes from the message: Introduction: What lists have you been on during your lifetime?   There are good lists. School-Honor Roll/Music or Drama Program/Team Roster   Work-Most Successful/Membership in organizations (professional or civic) Personal-Most Popular/ Best Looking/Most intelligent/ Republican/Democrat/Independent/Other?   Family-Good Parent, Spouse, Child Church- Good Christian There are also bad lists that we don’t want to be on.   Hypocrite? Unpaid taxes? Felon? Addict? Gossip? Judgmental? Ashley Madison? Today’s passage from Ezra 2 is about being on a list.   I told Brad that it was convenient to be gone this week since this is a difficult passage to preach.   Isn’t it just a bunch of names?   Why does it matter?   We will see people included and excluded from the list. If every Scripture points to Jesus, what about Ezra 2? Read E...

As I have mentioned before, I am reading through several books this summer on our identity in Christ.  I am almost finished with Who Do You Think You Are? by Mark Driscoll, but decided to pick up another book called Identity by Eric Geiger.  The chapters I read last week were entitled, "You Are The Priest & You Are the Bride."  Here are a few thoughts from Geiger on identity: "You are a priest because God calls you a priest." "If you are a follower of Christ, God has qualified you to enter His presence." "Many Christians live defeated because they believe the lie that they are prisoners of sin. The reality is that Christ has set us free from sin. In fact, the word sinner is never used in the Bible of a Christian. While we still sin, and will struggle with sin, our identity is no longer that of a sinner. We are brand-new people." "You are the bride of Christ because Christ brought His righteousness into the relationship."

This is the title of chapter 3 of Mark Driscoll's book, Who Do You Think You Are? I am thankful for this chapter as it repeats much of what I have been thinking about who we are in Christ and who God is.  Driscoll does a great job of explaining this from God's Word.  Here are several quotes that I highlighted from the chapter: "Rather than sinners, the Bible overwhelmingly calls us "saints," "holy," or "righteous" more than two hundred times. Biblically, then, the primary identity of a believer in Christ is not as sinner but as saint. While we still struggle with sin in this life, as Christians, our identity is not found in our sin but in Christ's righteousness."   "Sin may explain some of your activity, but it's not your identity. Your identity is in Christ, and because of your new identity, by God's grace through the Holy Spirit's power, you can change your activity. Because you are a new person posit...

Right now, I am reading several books on the gospel.  It is interesting how each one is helping me better grasp the truth of the gospel.  Each comes from a different perspective, but have many overlaps as well.  These books are: The Gospel of Peace by James Richards When Sinners Say I Do by Dave Harvey Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian Good & Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith I think what all of them agree on is the need to understand who God is and who we are in Christ.  This truth is so important because that will then impact what we say and do.  Rather than participate in the "pendulum swing", they give a balanced view of love & holiness.  Both are important and when we respond to an extreme in either one, we do not have a Biblical understanding of God. They also speak to our motivations.  Why are we serving in the church?  Why are we loving others?  What is our response when we sin?  All of these a...

How would you answer that question?  Personally, I lean much more towards sinner.  But as we look at Scripture and better understand our identity in Christ, does that change the answer?  When we grapple with what Christ did through his life, death, and resurrection, does that impact how we see ourselves?  Is this just a theological debate or does it truly affect how we live the Christian life? I am reading The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith.  His chapter entitled, "God Transforms" addresses the title of this post.  Smith argues that our narratives of being a sinner are false.  Before you get upset, he believes we still sin, but wonders if focusing on being a sinner fits with what Christ did on the cross and the rest of the New Testament . He reminds us that we are not under the power of sin any longer.  He says, "God is no longer dealing with you on the basis of your sin."  I look forward to discussing more of the details of th...