Finding Christ in the Situation

We’ve seen in this post and this post that God has been at work in the world ahead of his people throughout the scriptures.  He was ahead of Joseph (Genesis 37-50), ahead of Daniel (Daniel 4:10-17), ahead of Peter (Acts 10:19-48), and ahead of all the apostles (Acts 11:19-30). If we see examples of God at work ahead…

God Is Up To Something

The “previousness” of God, which I wrote about HERE, refers to the idea that God is already at work in the world before his people even get there.  It refers to the fact that God doesn’t need to wait for us—God can begin his work well before we have even realized what God is up…

The previousness of God

The Previousness of God

I’m a big believer in the sovereignty of God.  What does “sovereignty” mean?  It essentially means that God can and will do as God chooses. ​I know that raises a lot of questions.  Questions about the existence of evil and why God doesn’t always prevent catastrophes.  And what about free will?  If God is sovereign,…

Vocation As Discipleship

How do people grow in their faith?  Well, the question I really want to ask is, what kinds of things do churches do to help people grow in their faith?  Here are a few things we did in my church: Held worship services Sang worship songs Had small groups Asked people to usher and serve…

Ministry Wherever

The unique way in which we live out our calling is what we call our vocation.  I used to think of vocation as nothing more than a job.  When I was in high school, I had friends who would go to a place called “Vo-Tech” in the afternoons, which stood for “Vocational Technology.”  There they…

Living Into Both Callings

One of the greatest challenges for the church today is the re-integration of the sacred and the secular.  Too many people live with the false belief that their Monday through Saturday lives are less important to God than their life on Sunday—especially Sunday morning.  Too many people think that only pastors and missionaries and worship…