Category: Christian Living

Many of us are very disciplined in other areas of life but are remarkably undisciplined in our Christian lives. We know that in order to excel in our chosen fields, we need to practice, work hard, sacrifice, commit for the long haul, and endure intense training. We excel in our careers, play great basketball, make great music, fly high in our academics, and yet we flounder in the area of disciplined godliness. We understand the commitment necessary to excel in other things but we don’t seem to see the need for the same commitment to grow in Christ. Somehow, we think that becoming like Jesus doesn’t take much effort, as if we could just wake up one morning and suddenly we’re godly.

God uses three ways to change us and conform us to the image of Christ: people, circumstances, and spiritual disciplines. Of all three, only one is under our control: spiritual disciplines.

First, God uses people to change us. Proverbs 27:17 says is well: ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.’ Our relationships with friends, family, spouse, coworkers, neighbors, pastors, teachers and all sorts of people all mixed together create ample opportunities for us to learn, be corrected, be rebuked, be changed, and become godly in the process, however we react to them.

Continue reading What’s the Deal with Spiritual Disciplines?

We have become so enamored with chasing after big visions that we often forget the power of ordinary living. But God works in the ordinary; and much of the decisive moments of Bible history happened in ordinary places. Esau lost his birthright in the kitchen. Moses parted the Red Sea with an old man’s walking stick. Jesus used bread and wine as symbols of the new covenant. The truth is that big visions are often achieved by faithful, ordinary Christian living, not by sporadic spasms of great deeds.

Fighting sin by just using your will power is like using pea-shooters to fight in a zombie apocalypse. Or like Dora the Explorer trying to beat the full force of the Avengers using her backpack. You can’t do it. Only the power of the Holy Spirit and the application of the grace of God can give you victory.

In the apartment where I live, there is this dear elderly lady who waves at me almost every morning before I go to work. If I am within earshot, she would always say, “Good morning Pastor!” I’d smile, beam back my chirpiest good morning, crank my motorcycle, and speed out of the gate.

She knows I am a pastor. I knew she is related to the owner of the apartment where I live but I never really tried to find out her story. One time when I did a dedication service for their family’s computer shop, we exchanged a few sentences over breakfast. She said she liked my exhortation and that she appreciated that I recited the Apostle’s Creed. Continue reading In The Apartment Where I Live, There is this Elderly Lady…