Glory of Christ Fellowship

Well, what can we say about 2020? Online classes, distance learning, wearing masks, not going to restaurants, empty stadiums, and cancelled events are all things we have come to expect. This makes March 12 seem like it was more than ten months ago. In between that time, we have seen racial tensions spill over into rioting in the streets, leaving us to wonder just how far the mayhem would go. We have experienced job insecurities that have led to layoffs and employees hoping to survive the cuts. Some roles have changed to the point where job descriptions are undesirable and unrecognizable. We have witnessed a historic and contentious presidential election, the most important perhaps in American history that featured many “irregularities” and procedures that violated election laws. Currently, our country is gearing themselves up for a Joe Biden and Kamala Harris presidency which, for many in the church, will mean an attack on several issues that are of grave concern: abortion, religious l...

Have you noticed that the original Christmas story was surrounded in controversy, danger, and difficulty and each person who was closest to Christmas encountered fear? The angel told Mary not to be afraid (Luke 1:30). Joseph was told to not be fearful in taking Mary to be his wife (Mathew 1:20). Zechariah encountered an angel when he went to the temple and he feared (Luke 1:11-13). Fear fell upon all the neighbors of Zechariah when he regained his speech and blessed God (Luke 1:65). The shepherds feared in the fields (Luke 2:10) before they were told of the good news of great joy. Let me offer three takeaways: We Want The Transcendent...But We Don’t The Bible tells us all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. To encounter God is to encounter his glory. To encounter his glory is to recognize our sin in his presence and this causes fear.  Christmas highlights the conundrum that sinful humanity is in. We long for the transcendent and supernatural that only God can provid...

Every Christmas season I ask my kids what the incarnation means and they don’t know. This is a great reminder to never assume that your kids know what you are talking about when you use certain words. Remind yourself to frequently ask your kids if they know what a certain word means. They may not, and your family devotions will be the richer for it. Incarnation refers to the idea that Jesus has taken on flesh and dwelled among us (John 1:14). I used to study Spanish and remember “carne” means meat, or flesh. My son was quick to point out the word carnivore is someone who eats meat. Thus, incarnation refers to Jesus taking on flesh. There are glorious implications of Jesus taking on flesh. Here are three that you should consider: God is represented to Mankind. When Jesus took on flesh and dwelled among us a strange and wonderful reality occurred, God became man. When Jesus took on humanity it was a great indication of God’s intention to move towards us, not away. In Christ, the almight...

As we work our way through Esther it is hard to ignore the topic of pride. Haman and Xerxes were the two most powerful people in the world at this point, and they both had plenty of pride to boot. Haman’s pride is easier to point out because it so visibly and so neatly satisfies one of our favorite Proverbs:  Proverbs 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.  Haman wanted genocide for the Jews when Mordecai refused to bow down to him. Haman made a gallows pole that was 75 feet high for Mordecai. This is ridiculously high and would have been seen for miles around.  The danger for us in reading the Bible is that many of the examples of pride are so fantastic that we might not think we relate. Maybe we should be thankful for the outlandish examples. If we had the resources of Haman we might go to equally ridiculous lengths that he did. In this, we see the potential of pride within our own hearts.  There is another consideration as well....

You would have thought that the title of this blog contains a typo. Not so, not so. Yes, in fact, I intended to spell family as "family." If you have ever heard of the word "brunch" you know it is a mash-up of the words breakfast and lunch. Thus, brunch. Can you guess which two words gets the mash-up here? If you guessed Trinity and Family, you are correct. I am reading a book by Herman Bavinck called The Christian Family. So far so good. As Herman B explores some of the biblical foundations of family he says something intriguing about the origins of the family and it’s connection to society: “The two-in-oneness of husband and wife expands with a child into a three-in-oneness. Father, mother, and child are one soul and one flesh, expanding and unfolding the one image of God, united within threefold diversity and diverse within harmonic unity.” Bavinck continues... “This three-in-oneness of relationships and functions, of qualities and gifts, constitutes t...

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone...For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. - Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 In the book of Isaiah we are given several prophecies about the birth of Jesus Christ. One of the greatest is in chapter 9 where we read about a child being born, a son given (Isaiah 9:6-7). Earlier in the chapter we are told that Jesus is a “great light.” It is important to understand that when the Bible talks about darkness it refers to “evil and ignorance.” In other words, the world i...

Many Christians are dismissing John Piper and cutting ties with him over his recent article on the 2020 elections. I think this is a mistake.  For the record, I also think his article was problematic for a number of reasons. As much as I found myself disagreeing with his counsel it has left me wrestling with a much bigger question: what do I do with John Piper? Should I, like many other Christians, tune him out in protest to his political views?  My answer is no, I shouldn’t. And I don’t think you should either. John Piper started teaching at Bethel Seminary in the mid 1970’s. At minimum he has 45 years of ministry under his belt. Let’s not forget, this is faithful, fruitful ministry. The average stay of a pastor in a church is around 3 years. John Piper served Bethlehem Baptist church for 33 years, that’s 30 years longer than the average stay. Piper has always remained humble, he has battled sin and the temptation to self-glorification. I was at Bethlehem to see the inner wor...