But our forgiveness is not free. It cost God dearly. If we persist in sinful behavior we reveal that we don’t truly appreciate what He did for us. He died to bring us into a new Kingdom of Righteousness. Sin is incompatible with it.

And sin might not be what you think. Sinful behavior is not the real problem. Now, of course, Christians are not supposed to be greedy, hold grudges, lie, get drunk, sleep around, kill people, steal, use porn, etc., etc. I could list sinful behavior all day. Of course we shouldn’t do those things. They’re bad for us.

But that’s not the essence of sin. What is it? It’s our assertion of independence. It’s self seeking. It’s insisting that we WILL have what we want. What we seek becomes our god.

Sinful behaviors simply reveal that we have a different king, and that king is us. The message of Christ is that we must radically break from self-rule. And unless we do, there is no forgiveness.

Thomas was a 1st century man with 21st century doubts. He rejected the supernatural and insisted that he would only believe what his senses could perceive. So to Thomas the real Jesus came with answers both tender and tough. He handled Thomas’ doubts with patience. He met Thomas doubt with divine power. He handled Thomas’ doubt lovingly. He condescended to offer the proof Thomas required. Jesus lovingly played the role of the Good Shepherd seeking a single lost sheep. The sole purpose for the resurrection appearance of John 20:19-31 seems to have been saving Thomas from his unbelief. This is the way of Jesus.

But Jesus also handled Thomas’ doubt with authority. He said, “Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27).  Some well meaning Christians start and end here. They dismiss sincere questions by saying something like, “You just have to have faith.” And, of course, you DO have to have faith. But Jesus doesn’t start there. He starts with patience, with power, and with love. And then He challenges our will.

Jesus commands belief. We must choose to believe. Belief ultimately is not a feeling we have to wait on. It’s an informed decision based on graciously provided, reasonable evidence and based on the character of the One who commands it.

When you consider who Jesus is, His tender treatment of us is incredible. But there’s a limit to His patience. He doesn’t want us to remain stuck in doubt. The sooner we deal with our doubts, the sooner we will know the blessings God has in store for us.

If you’ve been quietly harboring doubts, just living with them, Please deal with them. Take action that will help you to overcome doubt. Keep gathering with God’s people. Develop a habit of noticing God’s power in His world and His Word. Read Scripture. And finally, after all this, you MUST make a decision. I’m not saying shut up and believe. Explore your questions. Seek answers. Examine the evidence. But do not allow yourself to waver in unbelief, because no decision IS a decision.

What is scientism? Whenever scientists assert that only that which is scientifically verifiable can be believed as truth, that is scientism. It’s not science. It’s putting faith in what we can discern through the scientific method.

But science is out of its realm when it comes to unique events such as the resurrection. Its method only works with what John Stott calls “precedents and sequels.”  The resurrection has none! The scientific method is incapable of evaluating it!

Jesus’ resurrected body is something entirely new. Paul calls it a “spiritual body”. That’s confusing to us. We tend to equate the spiritual with the immaterial and the physical with the material. How can something be both?

I don’t know that, but I do know that Jesus’ resurrected body is different from ours. He can pass through walls. He can appear and disappear. But he can also be touched. Most importantly, unlike those who’d been raised before Jesus, his body is no longer susceptible to death. He broke the power of death. To this day, Jesus is a spiritual-physical reality, forever the divine-human Son of God.

That’s the nature of Jesus’ resurrected body. We will one day see Him, touch Him, hug Him. I can’t wait!

Any thinking person must realize the importance of this question because Jesus Christ is, without a doubt, the most influential figure in history. What do you think of Him? Is what you think accurate? And does it matter?

You won’t be surprised that I think it matters very much. I’d even say that nothing matters more than to know the truth about this man. That’s because of words like this in the Bible: “Jesus is the image (the exact representation) of the invisible God…in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 1:15; 2:3)

The Bible says that Jesus is how we find out what God is really like and how we discover ultimate truth. Wouldn’t you say it’s worth finding out who Jesus really is?

The resurrection is relevant because it offers proof of the claims of Jesus. Recall for a moment the outrageous nature of some of His claims.

• He claimed always to have existed.
• He claimed to be the embodiment of Truth and equal with God.
• He claimed the authority to forgive sins.
• He said the meaning and fulfillment of life could only be found in Him.
• He claimed He’d return one day and judge the world.
• He claimed that the eternal destiny of every human being depends on their relationship with Him.

No prophet, sage or leader of any world religion ever claimed what Jesus did. A few forgotten ones have, but their movements fizzled when their delusions became apparent.  But the movement Jesus started is still growing. Why? Because of the resurrection! The claims of Jesus are not outrageous after all. They were proved by His victory over death!

Millions upon millions have accepted this truth and it radically changed their lives for the better.  Is this true for you? If not, there’s no reason that it cannot be true, starting today. Is there an intellectual problem? Check it out! Is there something you’re afraid you’ll have to change? Please don’t be foolish!

Nothing could possibly be more valuable than experiencing a growing connection with God Himself that introduces you to life as God intended it to be. All of this is for you and me through the living Jesus.

You don’t know a single person who doesn’t matter to God. You may have a spouse who hasn’t set foot in a church for 20 years. Don’t give up. You may have a son or daughter who has gone so far astray that you fear it’s too late. Don’t give up. Paul’s story is one way God urges us to continue to pray for them and to share the message of Christ with everyone.

And you know what? If no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace, that includes you, too! Nothing that you have done is too much for God to forgive. It is no accident that you are reading this today. It’s God’s mercy. Perhaps you believe there’s something in your past that God could never forgive. Believe what Paul’s example teaches us. Nothing you have done puts you beyond the reach of God.

Thank and praise God and never, never give up!

God put His character and power on exhibit in Paul’s life. Paul had been ravaging the church. He was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples” (Acts 9:1). He was a wild man. He was ruthless and obsessed. Paul was the last person anyone would ever expect to become a follower of Jesus. But he changed radically after his experience on the Damascus road. And people found this almost impossible to believe. (See Acts 9:26.)

Why did they have such a hard time and just write Paul off? For the same reason that we give up on people. We have a hard time believing that God could love people who don’t deserve it. We forget that nobody deserves God’s love. We don’t deserve it either!

We don’t get what we deserve. It is by God’s undeserved gift that any are saved. We keep forgetting that God doesn’t love us because of what we do, but because of who He is and what Christ has already done for us. You don’t know a single person who doesn’t matter to God!

Paul called himself “the worst of sinners.” This means that he can be used to illustrate God’s incredible generosity toward every person who comes to believe in Him. Paul’s conversion was hard to believe, but it was true. That’s because no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. Believe it!

“[Jesus] made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.” — John 2:15

The whole notion of God’s wrath causes problems for some people. But this is an issue we must address head-on if we are truly to know God.

Jesus was angry when he cleared the Temple. His anger was provoked by things that hindered worship. He was angry because all the commotion (animals, merchants, etc.) kept people from prayerfully thinking about the seriousness of entering God’s presence. He was angry because some of those who had come to worship God, the Gentiles, were being crowded out of the only place they were allowed to pray. And all of these hindrances had been allowed by the temple authorities, the very ones who should have been leading God’s people in worship.

Let me be honest… There are moments when my very best efforts at leading worship are not everything they should be. I’m not as spiritually prepared as I’d like to be. I catch myself somewhere else in my mind. And I bet all our leaders would say the same.

It’s not just leaders, though. We set the table, so to speak. But are you ready for the meal? Have you prepared for an honest confession? Are your prayers real or rote? Do you plan to obey what God directs through His Word or will you check to see if it’s convenient first?

Let’s ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions:  Does our worship consider others or is it selfish? Do our hearts truly break over those who are far from God? Do we have any real joy from God’s presence that we’re compelled to share? Or are we content as long as we have everything the way we like it?

Jesus hates it when we’re so careless about something so serious.

I often fail as a leader, as a worshiper, and as a friend. I have not loved God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. And I have not loved my neighbor as myself. What about you?

“At once the Spirit sent (literally ‘cast out’) him out into the desert…” — Mark 1:12

Each year, Lent begins by taking us into one of three Gospel accounts of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. Matthew and Luke both say Jesus was “led by the Spirit”. But Mark makes another point. Jesus wasn’t just sent — He was compelled! He had to go! Why?

Because the desert is an inescapable part of human existence in a broken world. It’s inevitable. Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus was tempted in all the ways we are tempted. Jesus had to go to the desert because sooner or later we do, too. Anyone who’s made it at least to middle school knows what I’m talking about because you’ve been in the desert, too!

In biblical terms, the desert is a metaphor for the place where people have an opportunity to get to know God or to know Him better. With distractions stripped away, God can get our attention in the desert. God loves us enough to let us go into a dry, thirsty desert if that’s what it takes to make us thirst for His living water.

Luke 5 says that Jesus often withdrew to “lonely places” (the same word as “desert”). He frequently got away from people and distractions to be alone with God. If the divine Son of God needed to go to the desert, we do, too!

Lent is a resource to help us go to the desert willingly. Many take on some sort of personal deprivation, a fast. I suggest being a bit more strategic. Go beneath the behaviors and try giving up problem attitudes like self-pity or bitterness or critiquing others. Or prayerfully scan your life. Ask yourself if there is any thing, habit, or diversion you feel you can’t live without? Does the thought of losing it throw you into rage or panic or depression? Your reactions can help you discover if something could be more than a harmless distraction and instead may be a deadly idolatry.

I challenge you to make two commitments this Lent:

1. Commit to obey God, even when you don’t understand all the “whys” of His commands; and
2. Commit to thank God even when you don’t like your circumstances.

These two commitments, sincerely made, will radically transform your desert experience.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

When I talk to formerly-churched people, one of the biggest reasons they are “formerly-churched” is that they’ve been betrayed by church leaders. Nothing grieves me more than to remember ways in which my spiritual immaturity has hurt people.

Paul wanted to avoid that. He didn’t want his ministry to become a train wreck because he was only acting like he did it for Jesus. He wanted to avoid disqualification and missing out on the reward of his ministry.

Was he serving for the sake of Christ? Or was he serving for the sake of Paul? I might ask myself the same question. One day all this will be revealed. And the only things with any lasting value will be those things we’ve done that are consistent with God’s will. Nothing else will be rewarded.

Paul calls the reward “a crown that will last forever.” What’s the crown? It’s certainly eternity in the presence of God. But the joy of that will be magnified by knowing that you didn’t come alone. You brought others to Him with you and you heard Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

That’s a priceless reward! And that’s why self-control in all things is so important.