Gospel Re-Formed

They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” - Matthew 21:7-11 ESV (Mark 11, Luke 19, John 12) They call this the "Triumphal Entry" of Jesus. Jesus entered Jerusalem, the holiest city, during the time of Passover, when Israel looked back to the time when God delivered His people from Egypt. This was more than a celebration for God's people as they were redeemed from slavery, but also a reflection of our need for redemption and restoration every day through a yearly meal, sacrifices,...

How great are his signs,    how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,    and his dominion endures from generation to generation. - Daniel 4:3 ESV I am reading through Jeremiah right now. It is about a prophet who is called by God to proclaim repentance to His people that have turned from the ways of God yet again. His people refuse the plead of Jeremiah over and over again, eventually imprisoning him (Jer 37:11) and forcing him into exile to prevent him from proclaiming God's words (Jer 38). His people would not listen. So God brings them to their knees through suffering in exile themselves, just like in the desert on the way into the promised land. God allows Babylon to forcefully take over His people and rule over them (Jer 39). Yet he will still shows mercy on them: “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans...

“But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33 ESV I have been reading the space trilogy by C.S. Lewis, currently in “This Hideous Strength”. It is an interesting story about an organization (named N.I.C.E.) that desired to purchase an unused portion of land in the middle of Bracton College. They wanted to clear it out and build something useful in its place to help society. Without giving too much detail, rather than building up the property to assist mankind they had an agenda to replace the town itself using less than desirable methods, mainly through violence and intimidation. One of the main characters, Mark, was offered a position there and was encouraged to visit their facilities to find out more about the organization. In one scene in chapter 4, he met up with one of the ‘Spiritual Leaders', Reverend Straik. Straik gave quite a speech connecting the work of the Church with their mission at N.I.C.E. He pro...

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:14-15 ESV (see also Mat 3:2, 4:17, Luke 4:43, John 3:3) I was reading through Mark with fellow believers and these verses struck a chord with me, but my mind kept being pulled to the words “Kingdom of God”. This was not a verse that was new to me by any stretch. “Kingdom of God” is mentioned 71 times in the New Testament. 71 TIMES! Kingdom of Heaven is mentioned 32 more times. But this time I decided to stop and ponder these words. These were the words that Jesus preached to the people from the beginning. “The time is fulfilled…” is how Jesus' proclamation starts. The narrative of the gospel is not something new, but the fulfilment of what God started in Genesis 1. His people were in the middle of this story, a love story if you will. Not a story of two people in love, but the accoun...

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Cor 13:4-7 (NASB) The entirety of 1 Corinthians is about love, using several angles to fully define what Christian love is supposed to look like. It not only defines attributes of love (what love looks like) but even expresses the importance of love over other gifts that are given to Christians, even our speech. Take 1 Cor 13:1 (NASB): “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” No matter what you say, whether it is true, from God, or neither, without love the information becomes nothing but noise. Not only that but like a noisy gong, painful to hear, a...

"The real danger is not atheism, but that we ask God to coexist comfortably with the idols of our heart." - Tim Keller (on Twitter) When I was a teenager, I had a dream that I was replaced by a robot. I was playing soccer with my friends and got seriously hurt, ending up in the hospital with my heart hanging off of one of those IV poles. So I was replaced. My friends came to see me after a game with the new "me", gloating about how great he was. They were so close to him that I thought that I was no longer needed, so I cut the lines. It was a horrible dream, especially for a teenager. Dreams can be good or bad. Dreams can expose fears, like being alone or replaced by a robot. It can reveal our desires for the future, like a career, or something materialistic such as a new house or sports car. It can spark a journey for positive change in society. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream for all people to be treated with equality, a dream that still needs to be realized to...

We all see the brokenness of this world. We see violence, sickness, poverty, death, and a sadness that streams from this experience we call life. We also have a desire to bring the world back to a better state, righting the wrongs that we see. So we attempt to change this world. The canvas we see is not white as if fresh and clean, but warped and distorted, the woven fibers of time tainted by sin and death. In the darkness, we attempt to paint this world in a color that covers this darkness, this brokenness. We paint in many colors, some bright, some dark. We draw rainbows, smiling children, catchy sayings, cat videos, even Bible verses. We also draw the roaring warrior within, loudly proclaiming our authority and power over this world through boldness, pride, and dominance. We even display the good ol' red, white, and blue. Although most of the time it is just red or blue because the country’s real enemy is the other color. We try to paint anything to distract us from the ...