CURRENT SERIES: DOWN TO EARTH (on the incarnation of Jesus Christ)

Nobody said it would be easy.

Following the way of Jesus is hard—it requires sacrifice, endurance, constant commitment to staying fueled by the Spirit, and a constant decision to rely on our own strength.

The way of Jesus involves taking up our cross every day and following him into pain, into hardship, sometimes even into conflict or loss of life. We forget that sometimes. Our thoughts tend towards the benefits of serving Jesus. But we forget that there was a crucifixion before there ever was a resurrection.

And yet, so many of us flounder to give up at the slightest bit of resistance. Never mind taking up your cross. Most of the time we can barely manage taking time to pray.

Over the years, I think I’ve heard every possible excuse ever invented for why Christian spirituality is too much work. All of these things seem reasonable at the outset, but given what we know to be true, both about the sacrifice Jesus made and the cost he forewarned us we would pay for following him, they quickly start feeling pretty flimsy.

Sure. All that stuff is hard. But even if we did all that hard stuff, it still wouldn’t really qualify as “taking up our cross”, would it? I mean, Jesus wasn’t referring to the cross as a metaphor—he actually picked up a cross and then got pinned to it, like he was part of Caesar’s butterfly collection.

I don’t want to belittle anyone’s personal pain. I do however, want to point out that our idea of what “suffering for Jesus’ is sucks.

When it’s too hard to read the scriptures, too tough to pray, and too much to ask to give money or serve or get into accountability with another believer, then you’re not wiling to suffer; not even a bit.

It’s time for each of us to put on or spiritual big boy pants. It’s time for us to stop making excuses, to make a firm commitment in our hearts and begin living the life God has intended for us. And yes, that life will be hard sometimes, but it will also be worth it.

CURRENT SERIES: DOWN TO EARTH (on the incarnation of Jesus Christ)

Nobody said it would be easy.

Following the way of Jesus is hard—it requires sacrifice, endurance, constant commitment to staying fueled by the Spirit, and a constant decision to rely on our own strength.

The way of Jesus involves taking up our cross every day and following him into pain, into hardship, sometimes even into conflict or loss of life. We forget that sometimes. Our thoughts tend towards the benefits of serving Jesus. But we forget that there was a crucifixion before there ever was a resurrection.

And yet, so many of us flounder to give up at the slightest bit of resistance. Never mind taking up your cross. Most of the time we can barely manage taking time to pray.

Over the years, I think I’ve heard every possible excuse ever invented for why Christian spirituality is too much work. All of these things seem reasonable at the outset, but given what we know to be true, both about the sacrifice Jesus made and the cost he forewarned us we would pay for following him, they quickly start feeling pretty flimsy.

Sure. All that stuff is hard. But even if we did all that hard stuff, it still wouldn’t really qualify as “taking up our cross”, would it? I mean, Jesus wasn’t referring to the cross as a metaphor—he actually picked up a cross and then got pinned to it, like he was part of Caesar’s butterfly collection.

I don’t want to belittle anyone’s personal pain. I do however, want to point out that our idea of what “suffering for Jesus’ is sucks.

When it’s too hard to read the scriptures, too tough to pray, and too much to ask to give money or serve or get into accountability with another believer, then you’re not wiling to suffer; not even a bit.

It’s time for each of us to put on or spiritual big boy pants. It’s time for us to stop making excuses, to make a firm commitment in our hearts and begin living the life God has intended for us. And yes, that life will be hard sometimes, but it will also be worth it.

CURRENT SERIES: DOWN TO EARTH (on the incarnation of Jesus Christ)

Nobody said it would be easy.

Following the way of Jesus is hard—it requires sacrifice, endurance, constant commitment to staying fueled by the Spirit, and a constant decision to rely on our own strength.

The way of Jesus involves taking up our cross every day and following him into pain, into hardship, sometimes even into conflict or loss of life. We forget that sometimes. Our thoughts tend towards the benefits of serving Jesus. But we forget that there was a crucifixion before there ever was a resurrection.

And yet, so many of us flounder to give up at the slightest bit of resistance. Never mind taking up your cross. Most of the time we can barely manage taking time to pray.

Over the years, I think I’ve heard every possible excuse ever invented for why Christian spirituality is too much work. All of these things seem reasonable at the outset, but given what we know to be true, both about the sacrifice Jesus made and the cost he forewarned us we would pay for following him, they quickly start feeling pretty flimsy.

Sure. All that stuff is hard. But even if we did all that hard stuff, it still wouldn’t really qualify as “taking up our cross”, would it? I mean, Jesus wasn’t referring to the cross as a metaphor—he actually picked up a cross and then got pinned to it, like he was part of Caesar’s butterfly collection.

I don’t want to belittle anyone’s personal pain. I do however, want to point out that our idea of what “suffering for Jesus’ is sucks.

When it’s too hard to read the scriptures, too tough to pray, and too much to ask to give money or serve or get into accountability with another believer, then you’re not wiling to suffer; not even a bit.

It’s time for each of us to put on or spiritual big boy pants. It’s time for us to stop making excuses, to make a firm commitment in our hearts and begin living the life God has intended for us. And yes, that life will be hard sometimes, but it will also be worth it.

The Centre.

The Centre.

The Centre.

The Centre.

The Centre.

The Centre.

The Centre.

CURRENT SERIES: DOWN TO EARTH (on the incarnation of Jesus Christ)

I get together every week with a friend for some spiritual coaching. He is a brilliant man and a solid businessman, so I consider it a high honor to serve as his spiritual advisor. Every week we get together, and every week he brings this red plastic cup. It’s not too much to look at—just some Costco-looking thing that probably gets sold 100 for $1, but he treats it like his prized possession.

So we’ve started to use it to illustrate several of our talking points. In particular, we’ve used this cup to talk about the value of Christians because of Christ living inside us. Imagine, for example, pouring liquid gold into the crummy red plastic cup. Because of what’s inside the cup, despite its outward appearance, that cup is now pretty valuable.

We are like this cup. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, you need to understand that you have great value in this world (and to the God who made it) because you’re full of the Spirit of Christ. And this central truth doesn’t just concern our value to God, but also our ability to make a difference in the lives of others. Even the weakest of us is made powerful in him.

Christ was born into this world so he could be born again in us. He makes his home in us, living in the red plastic cup of our heart. As he does this for us, we should bear in mind that he did this for others, too. So our attitude towards those whose reddish plasticity is particularly distasteful should be gracious, loving, gentle, and kind.

NEW SERIES: DOWN TO EARTH (on the incarnation of Jesus Christ)

God is not a clockmaker, creating the world on his holy laurels while the seconds ticks by to Armageddon.

God is involved.

And I’m not talking about miracles or natural disasters or even material blessings. I’m talking about the central truth of Christian spirituality—about God becoming human and living among us.

God is so committed to this world and us who live in it that he descended from His supposed throne of indifference and came here to see what things looked like from the ground up. He was deeply invested in our daily affairs—the humdrum and ho-hum of working, eating, laughing, sleeping, talking, playing, loving and all the rest — choosing to validate and authenticate every minute detail of our clumsy, fumbling adventure on this blue marble planet.

The Incarnation shows us that God is a committed parent playing with His children on the rug, even when they decide to kill Him off.

This book is about the Incarnation…and I’m going to talk about this because I’m afraid we’ve forgotten just how involved God was then and remains now in the lives of His children.

Teaching Atlases for this series will be available for $10. Thanks to the anonymous donor who made this teaching atlas possible. If you are interested in underwriting the cost of these atlases, please email info@westwinds.org.

NEW SERIES: DOWN TO EARTH (on the incarnation of Jesus Christ)

God is not a clockmaker, creating the world on his holy laurels while the seconds ticks by to Armageddon.

God is involved.

And I’m not talking about miracles or natural disasters or even material blessings. I’m talking about the central truth of Christian spirituality—about God becoming human and living among us.

God is so committed to this world and us who live in it that he descended from His supposed throne of indifference and came here to see what things looked like from the ground up. He was deeply invested in our daily affairs—the humdrum and ho-hum of working, eating, laughing, sleeping, talking, playing, loving and all the rest — choosing to validate and authenticate every minute detail of our clumsy, fumbling adventure on this blue marble planet.

The Incarnation shows us that God is a committed parent playing with His children on the rug, even when they decide to kill Him off.

This book is about the Incarnation…and I’m going to talk about this because I’m afraid we’ve forgotten just how involved God was then and remains now in the lives of His children.

Teaching Atlases for this series will be available for $10. Thanks to the anonymous donor who made this teaching atlas possible. If you are interested in underwriting the cost of these atlases, please email info@westwinds.org.

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

Archetypes Series

The Art of Journey Series

The Art of Journey Series

The Art of Journey Series

Nehemiah Series

Nehemiah Series

Nehemiah Series

HiveMind 2009 Series

Jamaica Trip- message by Ben Redmond

Book of Ezra by David McDonald

One Prayer 2009 Series

One Prayer 2009 Series

Message by John Voelz.

Sin Monkey Week Three

Sin Monkey Week One

Most of life is not lived in crisis - which is a good thing. Not many of us would be able to sustain a life of perpetual pain or loss or ecstasy or challenge. But crisis has this to say for it: in time of crisis everything, absolutely everything, is important and significant. No word is casual, no action marginal. An almost always, God and our relationship with God is on the front page.

Malachi creates a crisis at a time when we are unaware of crisis. He wakes us up in the humdrum time of life, when we treat the worship of God as a mere hobby or diversion, when we are only concerned with ourselves.

He (Malachi) gets the last word of Holy Scripture in the First Testament and challenges us in the danger of trivializing matters of God and the Soul.