Last month, my wife was organizing a room filled with junk in our house. Often these attempts to declutter just spread junk from one room to others throughout my house. Yet, sometimes items surface during these purges that remind me of important events in my life.
Someone took this picture of me twenty years ago while speaking at a Youth for Christ fundraiser. It was the first time I spoke in public. I was sharing how I came to Christ with a small crowd, maybe 20-30 people. As I spoke, I felt God’s spirit animating my words. This was the first time I can recall God empowering me in this way. If you told me twenty years ago that I would speak for God as my full-time job, I would’ve laughed in your face.
Looking back on my life, God has led me through a circuitous path to bring me where I’m at today...
Read MoreI’ve been working on a new writing project about our new identity in Christ. I recall how learning about my new identity revolutionized my relationship with God. This book will attempt to unpack 30 New Testament identity truths in the form of a 30 day devotional. I’m trying to keep each chapter short so you can spend time meditating on how each identity truth should impact your life. Here’s a sample chapter entitled “Aliens and Strangers,“ which details how we should lives as temporary residents passing through this life.
Read MoreHere’s another sample chapter from my new writing project on our new identity in Christ. Here’s a short clip from the text:
When Jesus wrote to the church at Sardis, he promised those who overcome temptation, “I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels” (Revelation 3:5). Ancient cities recorded their citizens’ names in a registry. Upon their death, city officials would blot the citizen’s name from the registry.
Some evidence suggests ancient cities would remove a citizen’s name if they found him guilty of a crime. In the first century, persecutors would brand unwavering Christians “political rebels” and strip them of their citizenship. But Jesus offered them something no earthly authority could strip away, citizenship in God’s everlasting kingdom.
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