The phrase, “the First-Century Church,” is often used to describe the miracles we read about and the power of the Holy Spirit. And we find that there is an unfortunate split in the church as at one extreme, you find those that don’t believe the Spirit is active today and at the other extreme, we find those that think of the Spirit as something of a Santa Claus and that if you have struggles, it’s directly tied to your lack of faith. I find myself solidly in the middle. The Use of the Term “First Century Church” But that phrase just bothers me. A few blocks from my house there is a Pentecostal church that has on their sign, “A First Century Church.” Now, admittedly, I’ve never darkened the doors of that building and I don’t know any of the staff. So, I could be completely wrong about what they mean as they claim the title. And yet, I still cringe. The website, Crosswalk has an excellent article on the day of Pentecost and the Jewish festival that was being celebrated when it happened. Since I’m not writing about Pentecost specifically, I won’t go into too much detail. But I do encourage you to read the article on Crosswalk here. The Day of Pentecost: The Holy Spirit’s Arrival But, we’ll just lead off with the understanding that the day of Pentecost was the day that the Holy Spirit burst on to the scene in a big way. Lets look at the beginning of the second chapter of the book of Acts: “1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” (NASB 1995) Reading on, please take note that in this instance, “they were speaking with other tongues” means that they were speaking in other known human languages that they likely did not know themselves. But who is “they?” Well, they were followers of Christ. If it’s the same group that was gathered in the previous chapter, then there were about 120 of them. This is to me, rather significant. During the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, we find a significant group of Christ’s followers deliberately hanging out together. I find that very important, but I want to put a pin in that for a moment. The Impact of the Holy Spirit on the Early Church So, from Acts 2:1 all the way to the end of the chapter, we can read about the powerful impact the moving of the Holy Spirit had on devout Jews that were in the area. This moving of the Holy Spirit is the primary focus of what we call the Pentecostal movement or Pentecostal churches. I have nothing against celebrating the power of the Holy Spirit. I think we should. But when the power of the Holy Spirit is all we are thinking about when we refer to the first-century church, then I think we are missing out on so much. The True Essence of the First Century Church Community and the Holy Spirit To put it most simply, the first century church was marked by the concept of community. In some cases, they were hiding in caves to avoid religious persecution so, we can easily justify that. But so much more than that, we see that the individual groups supported each other and spent much time together. We see that they were instructed to mentor each other in the faith. They had an affection for each other just because they were fellow believers. This is a huge cultural statement. They chose each other and helped each other. A Modern Example of Christian Community In Chicago, there is a Christian commune called “Jesus People USA.” At the beginning of my college internship, I lived with them briefly. The whole point of them existing for so many years is that concept of community. They deliberately spend the majority of their time in community so that they all are built up in Christ. It’s wonderful. It really is, it’s a beautiful thing. Not only did local groups hang out together for the edification of all, we see that the local groups supported other local groups financially. Again, we have the concept of care and community. The Need for Deeper Community in Today’s Churches Today, many churches have small group studies and there is the tradition of the church potluck, where people “break bread” together. This is a step in the right direction, but I feel like it’s too little. There is still the crisis of all the Christians who sing wonderful praise songs, sit though a sermon, then are back to being surrounded by their troubles by the time they get their car out of the church parking lot. Is that you? Be honest with yourself, I beg of you. Encouragement to Build Strong Relationships This is why I encourage people to spend time with other believers and to spend time in and around ministry. The more time I am around ministry work, the Word, and fellow believers, the more I like myself. And I want to encourage you in the same way. Be reading Christian books (even if they’re not mine). Spend time with fellow believers, truly pray for each other and with each other. Support each other in your struggles. Check-in with each other. The Importance of Supportive Relationships When my beautiful bride was in the hospital for six months with a brain infection and a dangerous build up of fluid around her brain, I found myself often very alone, despite spending the vast majority of my time at her bedside

You may remember that originally, God established the nation of Israel. But, after Solomon began to turn from God and sin, then his son continued, the northern ten tribes rebelled and made Jeroboam the king over Israel while Rehoboam, Solomon’s son was king over the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and the Levites. The Levites stayed with Judah because Jeroboam and Israel left God. Throughout the following years, some kings were better at following God and others were not. Finally, we get down to Jehoram in Judah and Asa in Israel. Although Jehoram’s father had done a pretty good job of following the Lord and received the Lord’s favor, Jehoram chose to follow the ways of Israel. He was cursed by God for turning away from the Lord. Jehoram died a horrible death. And in 2 Chronicles 21:20, it says that he died with no one’s regret. As soon as I read that, I immediately thought, “Wow, that stings.” Just a little later, in 2 Chronicles 27:6, we read that Jotham ‘became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.” What a difference from Jehoram! They each went down in history being known for who they were. Yesterday, we celebrated Easter and all that Christ did for us. We celebrate His life and have much to say and remember about Him. But what about you? Years ago, there was a song performed on the radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. It was called Stupid Questions. One of the stupid questions featured came after a man was crying. His friend asked why he was crying. “I just came from my brother’s funeral.” “Did he die?” “No, he just wanted to see who would show up.” Do you ever wonder what people will say about you? Should we not live our lives setting ourselves up to be spoken of as lovers of God and people? I think of my family and want them to be encouraged to follow the Lord. I want them to follow my example as they are encouraged of my love for the Lord. I suggest you ask that question as you begin each day. Then live out that day with that at the front of your mind. What will be the sum of our lives? What will people remember? Yes, it’s God’s opinion that matters the most. But we are called to love our brother and sometimes it’s easier to think of the here and now than the bigger picture. Will that clerk, that driver, that person at church see the Love of God in us?

As my coffee is heating in the microwave, I stand at the kitchen sink and cut open an avocado for breakfast. I love standing here. The sky is just beginning to lighten behind the Peacock Mountains and I can see off in the distance the headlights of semis and a few cars dropping into our bowl shaped valley as they head west on Interstate 40. It’s still a little too cold to sit out front on my deck chair and watch as the mountain across the way lights up from the top down as the sun rises behind the house. Wherever I look I can enjoy the views from my high desert home. Morning Reflections: Gratitude and Sadness I’m thankful and I try to remember to thank God out loud each morning for what I get to enjoy. But this morning a wave of sadness comes over me. For some reason I am reminded of all the people, even Christians, who are so burdened by the cares of this life to enjoy, even for a second, this world where God allows us to live. The more I spend my time focused on the beauty of God and His love, the less the cares of this world matter to me. Spreading the Message: Sharing God’s Blessings I wish I could get this word out to everyone. I wish I could change how Christians see their existence. God loves us so much. I was on a business call where he was giving me his time to answer questions. But, I ended up being able to share with him how God has blessed us over the years. He thanked me for blessing him! Despite reading Psalm 23 this morning, my examples helped him to see how it looked in real life. Seeing how it looked in real life was inspiring to him and hopefully helped him to see examples that he was blessed with. Embracing God’s Love: A Call to Contentment You are blessed. God loves you and wants to be in relationship with you. I want you to first know His love then I want you to feel the contentment that Paul describes. When God doesn’t provide what we think we need, we have a tendency to lose that contentment. Seeking Guidance: Resources for Finding Contentment If that’s you, please turn to one of my books or maybe some time counseling. You too can bask in His love.

Discovering Your Inherent Value Do you know your inherent value? Do you? Do you know where your inherent value comes from? In Genesis 1, we see the creation story. God made everything in an order that made sense and we’re told that He did it day by day over six days. God’s Deliberate Separation God very clearly makes distinct separations between each bit of creating. Up until day 6, those separations are by days. Then God changed it up a little bit. On the sixth day, God made every land creature. But there is a distinct separation right after that. He says that it was good. In verses 20 through 22, he fills the seas with all the fish and large sea creatures. But that’s all jumbled up with making birds to fill the skies. Then we have the separator of a new day. There’s no distinction making one or the other stand out. So in the middle of the sixth day when God calls all the land animals good, we see verses 26 and 27. Not only had God ended one action (the creating of land animals) with declaring it good, which seems to be a unique separator in itself. Verse 26 though starts with “Then.” That very clearly separates what he had just done from what He is about to do. His next act stands out as special simply because it is the only part of creation throughout these verses that stands alone. The Emphasis on Being Made in His Image Genesis 1:26 and 27 say, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” It mentions the word image three times in just two verses. And it’s obviously not just because there was no thesaurus around. Each time the word is used, the same message is repeated deliberately. That is done throughout scripture to show emphasis. So the fact that God made us in His image must be pretty important. A Reflection of Family Resemblance From the moment the doctor held up a slimy naked little human, it was clear that my daughter resembled me very strongly. There was no question that she was mine. Being made in my image means that there are things about her that direct people’s attention to me. People see me when they look at her. But I think more important than that is that her being made in my image also means that we’re family. We belong together! Recognizing Your Inherent Value I asked if you knew your inherent value. I asked if you know where it comes from. The very creator of time and all that is made you in His image. There are things about you that should bring our attention to Him. And even better, He made you to belong with and to Him.

The Propaganda Challenge We’re in a major election year. I have to be careful about my focus so that I don’t dread it and get frustrated by it. For me, the first thing I hate is the propaganda. Both sides use it. You can expect it to be there anytime there are messages that are deliberately inflammatory. Nastiness and Strained Friendships Propaganda is only the beginning of what I don’t look forward to. I don’t look forward to the nastiness that will surely come. Friendships will be strained as people argue over points that they may or may not fully understand. Of course, it will likely be at its worst on social media. Communication Struggles in Society I deal with this in a more focused way on a daily basis. Almost every couple that comes to me for counseling has communications at the root of their problems. It’s no surprise really; our society doesn’t have or teach good communication skills. Biblical Wisdom on Communication The Bible, of course, has the answer. James 1:19-20 says “But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” Nor does the anger of man convince anyone of anything quite frankly. As I study the scriptures more and more, I find instructive passages like this seem to be ordered very deliberately. They lead with the most important point first. We must be quick to hear. Instead of hearing the whole message, we hear something that triggers us, then we are quick to respond with defensiveness which starts the process of escalation. The Power of Being Heard The first thing I teach couples (and wish I could teach society) is that everyone needs to feel heard. I need to know that you not only heard the words I said but placed value on them even if you don’t agree. We all need to know we’ve been heard. Communication Exercise  Being heard with compassion is a de-escalator! The tension drops dramatically when a person knows that the other person heard them. Again, agreeing has nothing to do with it. But showing the other person that you value them enough to hear them changes everything. I have an exercise that I teach to couples that makes a dramatic difference in their lives. In essence, they are each to come with something benign. The first person speaks for one to two minutes. While the first person is speaking, the second person is listening very deliberately. As they are listening, they are trying to find that nugget that will tell them something about the other person or what is most important to them. Then the second person reiterates. This is NOT repeating! “So, what I heard was….” We don’t know if the words that were spoken mean the same thing to both people. But if I tell you what I heard in my own words, then we’re more likely to know whether I understood you or not. Now, the second person speaks, and the first person listens and reiterates. Listening all the way through and responding with compassion are key! Real-Life Application of Communication Skills When we move these skills into real life, what results is real communication and understanding. There’s more room for differing opinions because we never escalate. Then, of course, there is the magic that if we are really listening, we might learn something. I encourage you to be quick to listen. If you are willing, I also encourage you to find someone who is willing to do the exercise with you. I’ve found after teaching it to hundreds of couples that they need to do the exercise five or more times per week to get anything out of it. Of course, you can practice the skills on your own. In all of your random conversations throughout the week, try listening and reiterating what seemed to be the biggest point to the other person. Imagine how many problems we could solve in this world if we would all learn to be quick to listen!

Welcoming the New Year: A Time for Second Chances New beginnings, second chances, mulligans…. That’s what we envision each new year granting us. It’s an opportunity for things to go better for us. Or, probably more often, it’s an opportunity for us to do something better. Creating a new good habit, breaking a bad one, or improving ourselves in some way are things that come to mind. Biblical Theme of Renewal These new beginnings or do overs are nothing new. In all actuality they are a Biblical theme. As we read the Old Testament, we see the Israelites flounder in following God. I’ve heard people sound amazed that after seeing God’s provision and protection repeatedly, they still failed to trust God and did things their own way. And each time they did, they suffered the consequences. And yet, God had mercy and grace and allowed them a new beginning. He repeatedly had mercy for them and put His protection and provision over them once again. The Ultimate New Beginning: Christ’s Birth Of course, we celebrated the ultimate new beginning a week ago. Of course, I’m referring to the birth of the Christ child, the arrival of the Messiah. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 (NASB95). I love that verse. We were/are captives by our own doing. We are not free. We see the same theme in John 8:31-38. That’s where we see the well-known verse, “the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32). And who is the truth? Of course, we know that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life! (John 14:6) In John chapter 8, Jesus continues to say that whoever sins is a slave to sin. Worse yet, he points out that the slave is only in the home for a while. It isn’t his to inherit. So as long as we stay slaves to sin, we will not inhabit the eternal kingdom. But since the Son is the direct heir to the Father (for illustrative purposes) then the Son has the authority to change our status from slave to free men! He lends us His status as sinless as long as we cling to Him. (Yes, I believe that we can walk away on our own even if nobody can pluck us from His hand. John 10:27-29) Striving to Draw Closer to Christ How do we embrace that new beginning? How do make the most of Christ’s saving grace? In Philippians 3, Paul is talking about being like Christ and hope of the resurrection. Remember that a focus of the Pharisees was looking forward to being resurrected and Paul had been a devout Pharisee until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. The concept of eternal life or the rapture are really the same thing. So, starting in verse 12, Paul says that although He has not yet obtained perfection through the resurrection he says he “presses on to lay hold of that (resurrection) for which also I was laid hold of by Christ.” (verse 12) Note that he is striving to lay hold of it, but Christ HAS ALREADY laid hold of him for that very purpose. That’s why in verse 13 he says that he no longer looks back. He knows that salvation is done. Christ laid hold of Him for that purpose. If Christ has laid hold of us first, then why do we need to bother to strive? We strive to draw closer to Him, to know Him and revel in His presence. He’s very clear in Romans 6 that we don’t continue to sin just so that God’s grace is even greater. And we don’t strive to gain salvation, but out of gratefulness and to continue to build our relationship with Him. A Resolution Worth Keeping: Growing Closer to Christ So, as we begin another year, I want to encourage you to join Paul and me and grab onto the one that grabbed onto you first and strive, not looking back at the much and mire and mess that we’ve all made in our lives, but look forward with expectation to an eternity with Him, whatever that will look like. Please join me in committing to growing closer to Him and reveling in His love and relationship. That’s a new year’s resolution worth keeping!

Why I didn’t write about Advent, I don’t know. There is so much significance to it. It is a time of looking forward to both the resurrection and birth of Christ. Because of this, it is a perfect time to be aware of our need for Christ. He wasn’t sent for no reason. He didn’t empty himself to be like humanity (Phil 2:4-11) without purpose. Thankfully however, Christ did come! As we look throughout the Bible, there is often the bad news and the good news. There is the bad behavior of humans and the eventual acceptance from the Lord. Unfortunately, the bad news also always brought pain. But thankfully, Christ did come! We celebrate that today and in the words of Revelation 19:1, “Hallelujah, Salvation and Glory and Power belong to our God.” Hallelujah literally translated means “Praise ye the Lord!” It is a term or phrase of adoration. So, Merry Christmas! May you be blessed, and you are! Christ came for you and for that we cry out Hallelujah, praise ye the Lord as we adore Him.

The Middle East Conflict: Israel’s Claim and the Al-Aqsa Mosque As war goes on in the Middle East, Israel’s claim to the land is a point of discussion for many. And yet, as they claim the land, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is built where the Temple belongs. Why does this matter? Understanding God’s Holy House Well, in the Old Testament, God talks of His Holy House. That was the Temple. Many Christians view any church sanctuary as God’s Holy place and deserving of respect. I have a respect for sanctuaries myself. Yet, when we read the Old Testament, that isn’t specifically what God was referring to. Why does this matter? Well, I believe and teach that the Old Testament is as relevant now as it was when it was written. As a disclaimer, I must say that context and an understanding of the Bible as a whole is critical to understanding some parts of the Old Testament. Isaiah’s Message of Inclusion Going way back to about 700 years before Christ was born, Isaiah spoke to the issue of the separation between the Gentiles (non-Jews) and His Holy people. After all, we would not be allowed in the Temple if it were rebuilt today. But, in Isaiah 56 God tells the foreigners that have joined themselves to the Lord that they are His and He will keep them. It’s another beautiful example that the Bible is consistent from beginning to end and that God is a god of love for all of His people. God’s Invitation to All I don’t know how many non-Christians read my blog, but if that’s you, I want you to know that you aren’t necessarily separated either. God wants you. Accepting God’s Invitation What you need to do to make that relationship real and full isn’t complicated. All you have to do is to accept His invitation to become his student. To be willing to allow Him not just into your life, as in going to church. But, at some point, you also need to be willing to be vulnerable enough to allow Him into your heart. Let Him know your pains and frustrations, hopes and fears. It’s not complicated. Getting over ourselves enough to be vulnerable to Him is usually the hard part. Encouragement for Christians And for those Christians that aren’t feeling fulfilled in their relationship with Him, I encourage you to become vulnerable too. Embracing God’s Unconditional Love God loves you because He loves you. Not because you look good, smell good, and maybe even do good. He loved you before you were born! Let Him in. I invite you to go over to my BOOKS page and check out what I’ve written on these subjects. I promise, the whole Bible has the message woven throughout, that He loves you whether you think you deserve it or not.

The Timeless Themes of the Bible I love the continuity of the Bible. There are so many themes that run through it across several thousand years. Of course, the primary themes all deal with His love for us. Once we can accept the concept that He does indeed love us more than we can ever imagine then the next concept is how he keeps us. I was reading from Isaiah chapter 49 and was reminded yet again of this. Though I think that most of us are more familiar with the passage from John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29]My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Unwavering Security: The Sheep in His Hand Our security is in the fact that once we (the sheep) follow Him, nobody can pluck us from His hand. So many things happen in this life. Sometimes God comes through with mighty miracles and sometimes He feels so far away. As I often discuss with my counselees, feelings are not facts! I think Him feeling far away happens when we don’t see the answers that we expect. We may not have specific answers in mind, but some kind of answer at least. So, when we don’t hear His voice or see Him acting, then we feel alone. But when we remember that we are His and in His hand, then we can find some peace in circumstances that aren’t what we want or expect. It’s the concept of remembering and trusting that He knows better than we do, and that He knows and wants what is best for us and the Kingdom. This can be difficult to remember as humans in the flesh. Blessed Brokenness: Discovering God’s Glory in the Ashes As I cover in my new book Blessed Brokenness: Seeing God’s Glory in the Ashes of Life, coming to the realization that He is using us can be such an incredible blessing. It certainly helped me! But, as I said in the beginning, this is a theme that runs throughout the Bible. The human in Christ didn’t want the pain coming His way, but would accept it for the sake of the Kingdom. Even Paul was able to put aside pain and significant suffering as He was being used to minister. Even further back than either of those though was the time of Isaiah. In Isaiah 49:5-6 we see how Isaiah enjoyed the fact that God is using Him and knew that because God was using Him, he could rely on God to be his strength. The Permanence of God’s Inscription Then later, we see a verse that is clearly connected to the passage from John. Isaiah 49:16 says, “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.” God was not talking to Isaiah here, He was talking to His people that He said forgot Him even though He never forgot them! “I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.” The people were like tattoos on His hands. There’s an overwhelming permanence to that. I praise God that He has had a plan for all time and that His plan was to be in a loving relationship with us for all of time and beyond.

Once again, I have enjoyed the honor of receiving an advance copy of a Bible as a member of the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid. They requested only that I write an honest review of the Bible after receiving it. And once again, I have only good things to say about this Bible. It is the New English Translation, which received extensive and thorough reviews as part of the process of the translation. It therefore is a wonderful combination of readability and accuracy. The Timeless Truths Bible includes sections of commentary from various Christian historical figures. It also includes some information about some of these people. I agree completely with the editorial staff of the Timeless Truths Bible that it is important to include the thoughts and understandings of these historical scholars and men of God. When working on a book or a sermon, I find that not only researching the original languages but also checking in with a commentary helps me to make sure that I don’t get off track. Having this material included in the margins will be helpful for any reader. You can get your own copy here.