5 Reasons you should do Emmaus School of Biblical Studies.

I just finished participating in a nine-month intensive Bible training program at Emmaus School of Biblical Studies (ESBS) in Lake Lure, North Carolina. What an amazing, edifying, intense and life changing experience. As I reflect on my experience at ESBS, I only wish more people knew of the program and had the opportunity to learn the Bible in its totality. Hence, this is blog post purposes as two things. One my shameless plug of ESBS, and why you should not hesitate to do the program. But most importantly my praise to God for the program of Emmaus School of Biblical Studies.

The Staff.
The staff at Emmaus are Christ-exalting, Jesus-saturated, Spirit-filled, Gospel men and woman who love truth more than their own opinion or reputation. They know the bible, love the bible, apply the bible, and want to see others do likewise. They are in no way perfect nor do they pretend to be, but are humble people, quick to repent, admit when they don’t know something, and own up when they’ve messed up. They invest in the students through discipleship and want to see people live a life that brings attention to the glory of God. I have a personal relationship with all my teachers; a few of them especially have carried over into deep God-centered friendships.

The Teaching.
Not only does one learn the Bible, but also the background to the Bible. They help you get “into the shoes” of the the original reader and original audience. Furthermore, they are now offering Logos bible software included in the tuition!

In 9 months, you will have studied the Bible in it entirety and read through the Bible verse-by-verse a minimum of 5 times. (thats four more times than most professing Christians will read it in a lifetime.) There’s no tip-toeing around hard passages, but attacking them ferociously, head-on, inductively, and with humility, grace and truth.

You will have an understanding of each book as a whole (everything from authorship, dating, original readers, theology, themes and most importantly application). You will spend so much in-depth time with each book that you will start to feel a personal relationship with certain books or authors. Not only will you have an understanding of each book, but you will see clearly how each book fits in with the big picture of scripture and God’s story. You will be more confident about scripture and the Bible, who God is, what he is like and how that changes everything about your life and the way that we interact with one another. No other 4 year, let alone one year, programs can give the depth and intensity as ESBS can and will.

It is a gospel-focused community, where you learn how to live with the understanding that what Jesus has done for us is way more important that what we do for him. Good deeds are done because of God’s love for us in Christ, and not to earn His love. That’s the tone of the community, it’s the focus of the discipleship, and it permeates the culture.

The Affordability.
The staff are not paid, but are supported. Should they be? Yes. Could they be? Yes. Why don’t they? Because they want to see all men and women trained in the word, in a way that is affordable. Even if that means not being paid and raising their own support. They are not there for the money, they are there to teach the bible to those who hunger for it.

The Scenic.
Emmaus School of Biblical Studies is a branch of Camp Lurecrest ministries. It is located on the large camp property, in the mountains, on the lake. A perfect place to engage Gods word distraction free, while seeing his glory reveal in a deep appreciation of his creation.

Any one can do it.
Evan is a teacher; he did it.
Caleb is a pastor on Sabbatical who brought his family; he did it.
Rich is a bible teacher who brought his family; he did it.
Mary Austin and Heather are recent college grads; they did it.
Abigail is a message therapist; she did it.
Sean is a graduate with two masters at seminary; he did it.
Jon, Josh, and Bryson are all recently graduates from high school; they did it.
Ellen is a missionary; she did it.
Rylan and I are Canadian; we did it.

To you reading these words; you do it.

Mary Austin; I Vow....

Mary Austin, I Understand and admit that without Jesus it is impossible for me to muster up enough strength, loving feelings or good intentions to fulfill my biblical role and calling in marriage but In light of who Jesus is and what he has done, and by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

I VOW to Love you unconditionally as Jesus has loved the church unconditionally and died for her. I VOW to ferociously pursue your heart, mind and affection as Jesus has ferociously pursued his bride the church. I VOW to serve you relentlessly, despite how you are treating me, or what I am getting out of it. Just as Jesus served the church relentlessly despite what he was getting out of it. I VOW to not to be the hero but point you and our family continually and relentlessly back to the good news of what Jesus has done. I VOW to die to myself and spend myself on you and our family just as Jesus died for and spent himself on the church. I VOW to have thick skin and a soft heart. Thick skin to handle life, and a soft heart to love you well. I VOW to be Tough and Tender. I VOW to invest myself in you with my time, emotions and affection. I VOW to love you and commit myself to you marriage, solely for a lifetime, regardless of circumstance situation or feelings. I will never leave you. I Love you.

Chance Faulkner

Pride of Haman/ Humility of Jesus.

In the book of Esther, we see a clear picture of how pride plays out in the life a the man Haman. I could not help but to notice the contrast we see In the New testament of Haman’s Character to Jesus. Haman is sold out to power, where Jesus is sold out to weakness. Haman is sold out to hatred to the point of taking the lives his enemies(the Jews) Jesus is sold out to love, where he will lay down his life for his enemies. Haman’s life is motivated by self and pride and but Jesus’ life is motivated by humility

Haman represents a man sold out for power. His boast is his wealth and his public elevation above the other nobles and furious when Mordecai refuses to bow down to him. So furious that he plots to have him murdered (5.11). It is not enough for him to be rich and powerful; but he must be richer and more powerful than others. Later in the story, He is in high spirits because only the king and he have been invited to Esther’s banquet (5.9,12). Jesus is the God-man sold out to weakness. His boast is in the father (John 13.31, Luke 22.42, John 5.43 ) and though he is fully God, he chose to humbly incarnate himself, take on human flesh and die a sinners death. (Philippians 2.1-11)

Haman represents a man sold out to hatred of his enemies. All of his strengths and advantages, by his own admission, mean nothing to him when he thinks of Mordecai, “that Jew” (5.13) The only thing that can restore his happiness is the prospect of Mordecai’s death (5.14) Here is self-love, the heart of all sin, at its social worst: unrestrained, it vows that it will be first and wants the death of all who stand in the way of fulfilling that vow.Jesus is the God-man who is sold out to love of his enemies. He considers all of his strengths and rights as nothing, but rather steps down from his throne and lays his life down for those who hate him. While Gods children are still in their sin and rebellion, Jesus dies as their substitutionary atonement(2 Corinthians 5.21, Hebrews 9:14), ransom (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Timothy 2:6, 1 Peter 1:18, Revelation 5:9), propitiation (Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10)  and justification before God. Though he deserved to be served, he served. Though he deserved to be given to, he gave. Though he deserved life, he chose death.

At the very root of Haman’s heart and motivation is pride.  He choses to to worship creation (himself) as God rather than God himself. But At the very root of Jesus’ heart is humility. Though he was God and had every right to worship himself, chose to lay down his rights and live a life glorifying to the father,

God Sovereignly delivers and rescues his people.

In the book of Esther, we see that God Sovereignly delivers and rescues his people. Although the book does does not name God directly/explicitly, the the author nonetheless expects his intended readers to see God at work at every turn in the story. The book of Esther strongly supports and illustrates the doctrine of divine providence, as it is operated at a particular time of danger to the Jewish people who lived in a bleak moment under the Persian empire. Like the test of scripture, God is preserving them for the future gift of the Jesus; their Messiah. At first the events can seem coincidental, but as the story progresses it becomes clearly that only by with ordinance and provision of God could things work out as they do.

The Story starts with the deposal of Queen Vashti and the replacement of Esther as queen(2.17-18). Esther is a Jew but by the advice from Mordecai, keeps her origin quiet. Their actions in this matter are not without their ethical flaws, but God uses the circumstance; Esther’s beauty, her keeping her origins quiet, and her questionable ethics as a means to save Gods people from extermination preserving them for the coming Messiah.

The story continues to where Mordecai uses Esther’s position as his way of warning the king about an assassination (2.19-23) Not only is Mordecai’s being in the right place at the right time save the king, but later in the story saves Mordecai himself from murder by the prideful, Jew hating Haman. The very night Haman is going to murder Mordecai, the king can not sleep and has the book of the kings read to him, in which the story of Mordecai saving the king is read. (6.1.10-11) He is therefore elevated above Haman and saved from  him.

Furthermore, Esther’s position of favor to the  to the king is also another example of Gods Providence and Sovereignty. Mordecai’s question, ‘And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?’(4:14), posed at the moment of crisis, leads the original reader (and us) to expect Esther outcome to be successful, because we have already seen the providence of God at work in her selection as queen, at work in Mordecai’s protection and it is confirmed when the king extended his scepter to Esther and receives her request. King Xerxes was a selfish, harsh man with a bad temper. Even as queen, her request could have likely got her killed (4.11).  But God finishes what he starts and is sovereign even over wicked, pagan kings. He grants her favor with the King and the Edict is reversed, thus saving not only Esther and the Jews, but the true and better King; King Jesus.

The book of Esther is an amazing picture of the God in which we serve. He is a big God who has sovereignty over all people, in all places all times. In his nature and character he is able to Save. The Rescue mission that he started in Genesis 3.15, he continue to faithfully fulfill through all history and accomplishes on the cross of Christ.

Faithful God, Unfaithful people.

Hosea is the last prophet to prophesy to the Northern kingdom before their fall and exile  to Assyria in 722 BC. His ministry followed a golden age in the, with peace and prosperity not seen since the days of Solomon.  The rich and powerful got richer and more powerful at the expense of the poor and vulnerable. All the prophets addressed this situation but Hosea concentrated on their unfaithfulness to God in their idolatry. Israel has forsaking the one true God and has whored to worship Idols.  In this amazing book we see the most harsh and stark pictures of sin, human depravity, and the state of the human heart that I have yet to find in the O.T. We see sin and unfaithfulness from Gods perspective and we see it personified in the life of a man.

God instructed Hosea to marry a wife of whoredom (prostitute) whose unfaithfulness to her husband would serve as an example of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God.1 A prostitute was one who accepted money for the performance of sex and prostitutes in general were considered an underclass.  Priests could not marry harlots2, Israelites should not make their daughters harlots3, and a priest’s daughter who became a harlot should be burned4. Like the death of children in battle, the turning of wives into harlots was considered a tragedy of destruction.5

He marries Gomer, and she bears three children. (one of them was probably not even his own.6)  Each one of the children’s names speak of prophecies of the Lord’s future judgment: Jezreel- the place where Jehu’s sword ended the dynasty of Omri (2 Ki. 9:23–10:17), ‘Lo-ruhama’ which means ‘Not pitied’ or ‘no mercy’ and ‘Lo-ammi’ which means ‘Not my people’7. The picture of the state of Israel’s position before the Lord.

After some time, Gomer eventually leaves Hosea to return to the whoring life that comes most easily to her8. She has found herself herself forsaken, enslaved9, worn and in many ways no longer attractive to Hosea. She is damaged goods. She is an adulteress and according to the law she deserves death.10 or at the very least to be divorce11. But Hosea does something radical, scandalous and shocking. Instead of leaving her, stoning her waiting for her, or giving up on her; he pursues, finds her her and ransoms her from her enslavement. He redeems her. Gomer is bought back by the husband she had deserted. He does it for the purpose of restoring her back to her place as wife. Despite her sin against him, the lack of affection and appreciation from her, while she is still in her sin, he pursues her and makes her his again.

The story is not told explicitly, for the point is not to interest us with human romance and heart-break but to demonstrate the consistency and depth of God’s love for his people. A love that tolerates no rivals. A love that is shocking, scandalous, stubborn, ruthless, and messy.

In his love, mercy, grace and kindness. He gives them a glimpse of a brighter future. In Christ, God has done something for: whores12, prostitutes13, tax collectors14, and sinners15  self-righteous Pharisees16 , that they could no do for themselves. God has sent Jesus as Savior17, Substitute18 Ransom19  and Propitiation20 Those who have not received mercy will receive mercy, and those who are not his people, will become would become ‘Sons of the living God’21

Our sin is deeper than we could ever fear but his grace is deeper than we could ever imagine, hope or dream.. He takes dead people and makes them alive.
This is the Gospel.


1 Hosea 1:2 , 2 Lev. 21:7, 3 Lev. 19:29, 4 Lev. 21:9, 5Amos 7:17, 6 Hosea 1:9, 7 Hosea 1:4-9, 8 Hosea 2.5, 9 Hosea 3:2, 10 Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 22:22, 11 Deuteronomy 24:1, Matthew 5:32, Matthew 19:19, 12 Hosea 2:5, 3:3, 4:10, 4:12, 4.13, 4.15, 5.3, 9:1, 13 Matthew 21:32, Heb 11:31, 14 Matthew 9:10, 11:19, 21:31, 21:32, Mark 2:15, 2:16, Luke 3:12, 5:27, 19:2, 15 Matthew 9:10, 9:11, 9:13, Mark 2:15, Luke 5.30, 10:45,16 Gal 1.14, Acts 26.517 Luke 2.11, Jn 4.42, Acts 5.31, Acts 13.23, Ephesians 5.23, Php 3.20. 1 Tim 1.1, 1 Tim 4.10, 2 Tim 1.10, Titus 1.3,Titus 2,10, Titus 2.13, Titus 3.6, 2 Peter 1.11, 2 Peter 2.20,2 Peter 3.2, 2 Peter 3.18, 1 Jn 4.14, Jude 1.25, 18 2 Corinthians 5.21, Hebrews 9:14, 19 Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Timothy 2:6, 1 Peter 1:18, Revelation 5:9, 20 Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10, 21 Hosea 1:10, Romans 9:26

Sin and Rebellion leads to pain and defeat. Jesus is the true deliverer.

Joshua, a great leader has just led the people of God to the promise land and they are starting to come into the nation, Joshua led with courage and then he died. He wanted the people to drive out the enemy completely. The enemies of God are those people who worshiped other gods. But instead of being drastic with sin, instead of being drastic with idolatry, they make room for it, they embrace it, they become friends with it and for the next few hundred years throughout the book of judges that continues to plague them.We see this pattern where the people turn their backs on God, to worship other gods and idols. (Judges 2.11, 3.7, 3.12, 4.1, 6.1, 10.6, 13.1)  So God lets them Go in their own way and they are given over to captivity.Then we see this pattern where they would cry out to God, God would feel moved to pity by their groaning, and would send a judge: someone who liberates the oppressed, someone who brings freedom from captivity. This cycle continues through the entire book of Judges and when  the judge died the Israelite's would get worse then when they started.

He simply reminds them what once again been forgotten what had once again been discarded.He reminds them that he was the one who brought them from egypt and delivered them from slavery of the egyptians. He was the one who delivered and led them into promise land. He was the cloud by day, pillar of fire by night. He was the one who chose, protected , provided, and loved loved them.Blood was shed for them and now they are flirting with other men (gods). He is their husband and they have walked away from him. He is a jealous God and will not embrace tolerance for other gods.
They continue to cry out to him because of their affliction and their oppression but the main problem isn't the oppression, but baalism. The solution should not be to get rid of their oppression The solution to get the heart right. Their heart is depraved and they are desperately in need of a new one. The physical oppression and captivity is only a shadow and symbol of their spiritual oppression and slavery. The Physical judges are just a shadow of a better one. They were not Israels saviors and could not bring ultimate peace. They are unworthy sinners who fall short. God sends them as a sign that he will bring peace, by his mercy and grace, to people who did not deserve it.

Israel is longing for justice that only God can bring.The only way to bring an end to hostility and enmity in the world is to bring an end to the source of hostility and enmity, namely, sin. Ultimate peace found in Jesus, not sinful, human, judges. Humanity can not live in right relationship with God. Our hearts would never choose him. This is creating a longing for someone else, some great, someone true. Jesus.While we are still in our sin, and rebellion. God sends a deliverer. His name is Jesus. We deserve punishment, we deserve oppression, we deserve hell and we’ve turned our backs from him and have run away. We chose to become enemies.

BUT
God is loving and compassionate and sends someone to intervene for us. He sends himself. Jesus lives perfectly, we kill him, and he rises again sending his spirit to live inside of us, given us a new and regenerated heart, so that we can and will obey and live in right relationship with him.  The atonement brought us peace. There is a cost to sin and rebellion and that is the loss of peace and only God can give and be our peace.

He is the true deliverer who does it perfectly, he is the true deliverer that we long and await.On the cross he crushes sin, satan death and hell. He is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world making peace by his blood.  Jesus is the true sacrifice. Because of His sacrifice on your behalf, God has given you infinite favor, you are at peace with God. He took your punishment, and gave you his righteousness. They longed for peace and One day in the full presence of Jesus peace will be complete.
A friend and mentor of mine says "you have real potential... to screw your life up" and I think he is right. Christian, remember Christ and what he has done. Believe his finished work and your identity in him and let that motivate and fuel you to godliness. Don't forget it. Write it down. Remember it. Receive it. Embrace it, and Preach it to yourself daily.

Sin is deep, His grace is Deeper.

How wretched I am!

Exodus paints an amazing portrait of Gods nature and Character. It reminds humanity of how deep our sin is. It also reminds us how deep His grace is.

“And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

God does something for the Israelite's, that the Israelite's could not do for themselves. He delivers them from the bondage of the Egyptians, and makes for himself his own people in which he can have relationship with. He takes a bunch of stubborn, stiff necked slaves, and makes them sons in daughters. This Only a shadow pointing to what he is going to do thousands of years down the road in Jesus. In Exodus, God does something for his people that his people could not do for themselves; he delivers them from the bondage of slavery. But By the Gospel,God has done something in Christ that we could not do for ourselves. He has delivered wicked sinners from the bondage of sin(the true Pharaoh). He has done it. He has fought for us, he has won. It is finished.


This is amazing.God has truly done something for me that I could never do myself. In Christ, he has saved me. In Christ he has conquered sin, satan, death and hell. In Christ he has given me his righteousness, and taken my sin, shame and condemnation. He did it, Despite me.
Despite my failures, despite my success,despite my past, and despite my future. He has done it by his unmerited, electing, unconditional, and gracious love. Yet still I love sin more than I love him, still I love my pride and selfishness more than I love him, Still I love my glory more than I love his. How wretched I am! How flawed I am, and How dependent I am on his promise to finish what he completed, how dependent I am for him to change me, regenerate me, sanctify me.

Jesus is the true and better Passover lamb who by faith in his word, we are covered by his blood and the angel of death passes over us.
Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant
Jesus is the true and better rock of Moses, who by the striking of his body, came life to all who drank.
Jesus is the angel of God who stands between us and sin.
Jesus is the true and better veil, mercy seat, lamp stand, ark of the covenant...
If you read Exodus and do not see Jesus, read it again for you are not reading it correctly.

Genesis: the book of beginnings.

It is the beginning of the story of God. In the Story we see God as creator, and man as fallen creation. Through Adams sin of ommison and failing to lead well, relationship with God, and each other is broken. Man turned his back on God and wanted to be worshipped as creator rather than to worship as Creation. He chose the path of sin, satan, death and hell. God could have accepted it, and been completely content in fellowship with the Trinity(1.26,33.22. 11.7) but the story does not end there. As much as he is Holy, and Just, He is also compassionate, merciful, and gracious towards his children. He makes them a promise. God will send a man(Jesus), from whom all nations will be blessed(Gen12.2) and who Satan will physically harm, but he will ultimately crush. Through out the rest of the book we see the continual failures and short comings of his people. We see the depravity and wickedness of man. And we see that sin is deep but Gods grace is deeper.

Jesus is everywhere in Genesis and I look forward to studying the rest of the Old Testament and seeing the amazing portrait of who he is.

The only one who could have thrown the stone, didn’t.

The book of John paints a beautiful portrait of Jesus, the God-man. We learn that Jesus is very embodiment of who God is and is an exact imprint of God the father(John 1:188:58) If we want to know God, see God, understand God, and be in relationship with God, we look to Jesus. Jesus says that he does only what the father tells him to (John 5:19) If that is true, which I believe it is, then John 8 shows us an amazing picture of who God is. For those who read the old testament and see an angry evil God, you might want to read John 8 and repent of those false ideas.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:3-11

Up to this point, Jesus had been doing miracles and and making some big claims. The religious leaders of the day had taken offense at almost everything that he taught and stood for. They first began persecuting him after he had healed on the sabbath(John 5:15) They did not like the way he did his ministry, or the fact that he refused to follow their religious, hypocritical, strict, and despairing, man made laws outside of the law. He continues to butt heads with them over his teachings and his work. He is shocking, radical and ruthless to them but gentle, kind, and compassionate to the lowly.

We enter the scene to the religious leaders of the day, trying once again to trap Jesus. The Jewish law demanded the execution of this women(Deut 21:22), but Rome has removed capital jurisdiction from Jewish courts, except for temple violations therefore the Jewish leaders test weather Jesus will reject the law, compromising his patriotic Jewish following, or reject Roman rule, which will allow them to accuse him to Rome. The law also demanded that the man be executed as well, but where is the man? He is no where to be found (do you see the hypocrisy and corruptness in this?) So what is he going to do? Will he support the stoning of the woman and reject Roman rule, or will he reject the stoning and therefore reject the law? It is interesting how he responds “Let him who has no sin throw the first stone”. Who steps up to the plate? No one. Jesus writes something in the sand(something probably really offensive), and they leave.

Once the accusers of the adulterous women left, Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you. Depart. From now on, sin no more.” Jesus was sinless, and Jesus was God. In every way this woman’s sin deserved wrath and stoning. It was an offense to God himself. The only person who could throw the  stone didn’t. Notice what he didn’t say.“if you go and sin no more, then neither will I condemn you.” But Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” The command is not a condition. “Neither do I condemn you” is unconditional, it comes with no strings attached. Jesus motivates her to be harsh with sin, not with the law as her fuel, but with the Gospel. The reason she should not sin, is because God has not condemned her and thrown the rock, but forgiven her and given her grace. Her obedience doesn’t come from the condition that if she obeys he wont throw the rock, but because he didn’t throw the rock, she should obey.

This is an amazing picture of the Gospel and if we believe it, it will radically change and mess us up to the core. Christian, the only one who could have thrown the rock, didn’t. Don’t obey God so that he wont throw the rock, we obey him because he has not thrown the rock. Want to know what God is like? Look to Jesus.

The only one who could have thrown the stone, didn't.

Love.

When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40)

This is what God wants for and from us but I think that if we are honest with ourselves, our natural tendency is to love our self more then anything or anyone else. When left on our own, we cannot keep this command. It doesn’t offer life because when we try to love God with our own strength and devoid of the gospel we do so in a legalistic religious way. It doesn’t give life as it was meant to, but condemnation. The book of 1 John paints a beautiful picture of what it actually this looks like. We learn that not only is loving God and neighbor a command but also so much more.

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us 1 John 3:16
Love is the root of the gospel. It was love that moved the Son to offer himself as our sacrifice. Because of the wicked, corrupt, and depraved effects of sin in our lives,  we would never choose God or move towards him. While we were still sinners, still in rebellion, still willingly rejecting and denying him, he died for us. This goes against the pity definition of love that we as a society has created. Its radical, ruthless, shocking, scandalous and completely counter intuitive to the human heart. This is what love is. God defines it but he doesn’t stop there, he actually fulfills it and shows us what it looks like. Love is not passive, but it is also active.

We love because he first loved us 1 John 4:19
Love is the fruit of the gospel. Out of an understanding of this great love that he has for us, only then can we be fueled to love others in the same way. In understanding that in our worst, God have us his best can we be motivated to serve and love others in a way that is unconditional and selfless. Only in understanding that he died in our place for our sin, can we truly live this out, That means servings, investing, building up each other in a way that is completely selfless. Its about giving without expecting anything back.

Not Faith + Works but Faith that Works.

The book of James practically and faithfully reminds Christians how to live authentically and wisely for Christ. In its five small chapters, It has over fifty commands.

Luther wants called the book of James an “epistle of straw”. He did not like the book of James when he first read it because in his opinion there was too much emphasize on works and not enough emphasis on what Jesus has already done. He thought it was devoid of the gospel but he eventually saw that he indeed was mistaken.

Like Luther, we often have this response also. At first read it may appear that James’ view on faith is contradictory to Paul’s, but with careful study, it is clear that they the spiritual fruit that James talks about simply demonstrates the true faith of which Paul wrote. Their writings are not  contradictory but rather complementary.

God wants us to be free. That is why Jesus came. When reading through James we must be careful how we read it so that we do not mis read it and miss what James has to say and offer us.
The gospel is the foundation on which we are to understand the book of James and the bible. If we do not understand the gospel, everything we learn will turn us into self-righteous pharisees which will eventually lead us to pride, or despair. We will either become a legalistic pharisee or we will become gospel soaked lovers of Jesus.

There are two ways to approach James. (And notice the verb tenses.)We can either approach James with the mindset that:

I’m obligated to live this way so that God will love me.
or
I’m free to live this way because God has already loved me.

You are either motivated by legalism to obedience or you are fueled by the gospel to obedience. Thats it, there is no in between.

I’m obligated to live this way so that God will love me.
Unfortunately in many churches today, the Gospel of Christ is assumed and we are taught morality and ‘do this’ and ‘don’t do that’. We are taught a moralistic therapeutic deism, where we try harder to be better, and told to pick ourselves up from our bootstraps, Jesus is our life coach and moral example, and guide to a healthy, good works, moral and happy life. We leave the sunday morning motivated to try harder, and to perform better. Therefore when we approach God our mindset becomes ‘I do good things IN ORDER to gain Gods love and favor.’ So we work really really hard, to be moral and good people, so that God will bless us. The result is we either do well in our performance, and then are puffed up with pride, or we are defeated, and we fall into despair. This is how it works. When things crash and the world hits us, we question Gods goodness and character entirely based on our misunderstandings and poor interpretations. We let our circumstances dictate our passion. This leads to guilt-driven obedience. It is a life of shame, and condemnation. We see the gospel as “Do” and use our good works as a means to salvation. The common interpretation of James is Faith + Works = Salvation. This is wrong.

I’m free to live this way because God has already loved me.
But if we interpret the book of James through the lens of the Gospel we learn the Its not Faith + Works but rather Faith that Works.The gospel says that I do good things because God has already loved me. God came in Jesus through the Gospel not to just set non-Christians free from the penalty of sin, but to set Christians free from the power of sin. The Gospel is our motivation in our obedience to God. We don’t do good works in order to gain his love and acceptance, but we do good works because Christ has already gained infinite love and acceptance on our behalf. We are free to be harsh with sin because we know the cost that Jesus, our savior (not our life coach) paid. We understand our wretched, wicked and corrupt state and that God has done something in Christ to save us. We understand that Christ has done something totally radical, and counter intuitive to every performance driven impulse of our heart. He has actually done the work. It is finished. Therefore good works are not a means to salvation, good works are the fruit of salvation. In a thankful and appreciation to what he has done, we respond. Those who have saving faith, have been given a new heart, and are being regenerated into the likeness of Christ. It is impossible to have saving faith and not do good works. That what James means when he says “faith without works is dead” he isn’t saying that Faith + Works. He is saying Faith that Works. Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone.

When we read the bible it must be interpreted through the lens of the Gospel because believe it or not, the bible is not about you. Its about Jesus.

Passing the Torch. From one Gman to another.

2 Timothy is the most personal, intimate, emotional, and pastoral book I have yet to study here at ESBS. Before dying, Paul writes 2 Timothy to express his deep affection for his faithful friend and to ensure that his ministry would continue after his death by younger Christians, who would pass the torch from one Gospel man to another.

Timothy is likely the last letter that Paul penned and may have been written only days before he was murdered by beheading at the hands of the Emperor Nero in 68 AD. As he sits alone in his dark, filthy, roman cell, scarred by beatings and persecution, not complaining nor questioning Gods goodness or faithfulness but rather with his head up high determined and confident that he will soon be in Glory, face to face with his Savior and great King Jesus.

Paul has served faithfully as an apostle, he has been ship wrecked, stoned, flogged, harassed, and beaten. He has run the race, he has fought the good fight, he has been faithful and he will soon be in glory.
Paul is about to pass the torch to the next generation of Christian leadership and It is interesting what Paul wants Timothy to understand and accept at this defining moment.
What does biblical leadership look like?
His Instructions:

“Preach the Word in season and out of season” 2 Tim 4:2
Be faithful to the word of God and preach the bible for what it says, not for what you want it to say. Make it sound as good as it really is. The Bible says some radical, offensive, ruthless, shocking things that offend every self righteous, performance driven, post-modern, rebellious impulse of our hearts. People do not want to hear truth but would rather have their itching ears satisfied and wander off into myths. Hold firm to the word, be faithful in times of fruit, and in times of drought. Do not relent. Preach without apology. Do not be silent. They chopped off Paul’s head, stone stephen and crucified Christ because it was the only way to silence them.

“Remember Jesus” 2 Tim 2:8
The bible is about Jesus. Tell people about Jesus. Tell them of his goodness, of his character and his radical grace. Tell them that they are sinners in need of a savior. Tell them that he is a good and forgiving God. Tell tell about the good news that God has done something in Christ to Save wicked, wretched sinners like them. Warn them about Hell, and paint a beautiful image of what Heaven will be like. Inspire them to Love Jesus. Herald. Proclaim. Announce.

“Fulfill your ministry” 2 Tim 4:5
You have YOUR own calling from God. This is not someone elses ministry this is your ministry. If God wanted someone else, he would have picked someone else. It is important and good to learn from others, but not to duplicate their ministry. You are who you are, by the eternal love of God. Offer yourself to God, and reach for YOUR destiny. You are approved and qualified by God.

Do we see Him?

Do we see him?

Ricky: "Dear Lord Baby Jesus, or as our brothers in the South call you: 'Jee-suz'. We thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Dominos, KFC, and the always delicious...Dear Lord Baby Jesus, we also thank you for my wife's father Chip. We hope that you can use your Baby Jesus powers to heal him and his horrible leg. It smells terrible and the dogs are always botherin' with it. Dear Tiny Infant Jesus..."

Ricky: "Dear Tiny Jesus, in your golden fleece diapers with your tiny, little fat balled up fists...Look, I like the baby version the best, do you hear me? I win the races and I get the money.... "Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus, don't even know a word yet, just a little infant, so cuddly, but still omnipotent.....”

the script below was taken from a famous dinner scene from the movie Talledega Knights; the ballad of Ricky Bobby.

When I first saw this specific scene I was filled with all different kinds of emotions.
First, It was a funny, so I was filled with laughter.

But the more I chewed on it the more I was filled with a sadness, anger and drive. I was filled with these emotions because, this mindset isn’t a far cry from the one that our era has today.

I think if you are honest with yourself, you would agree with me also. You would agree that this is indeed a familiar mindset that many people have whether they admit it or not. The reason for this mindset, is that in reality we like this Jesus best. We tend to only see the baby Jesus and never move past it. Why? this baby Jesus is safe. He is not a threat. He isn’t offensive, radical, or ruthless but cuddly, cute, soft, fun, harmless, safe, you can pick him up and rock him to sleep, you can pick him up and take him where ever you want. Who doesn’t like babies?

No one would every say this or admit this but in our minds, in the way we live life out, in the way we approach God, we can in fact have a Ricky bobby, baby Jesus mentality. A cute baby, who gets us good things, makes us feel nice feelings, or get us out of hell.

Do we see him?

In The book of Colossians we are forced to see a glorious and accurate portrait of who Jesus really is. We see a portrait that is radically different then the “Christmas baby Jesus”. We see a Jesus who has authority. A Jesus who is King.

He is the very picture of God, The invisible God becomes visible. (1:15) At one point we could not know, see, or be in relationship with God. People could know of him, but they couldn’t actually know him in a real relational way. Through Jesus we now can. Jesus is God revealed to us. If we want to know his character, look to Jesus. If we want to know his will, look to Jesus. If we want to know his emotions, we look to Jesus.

He is he both the cause and the source of creation. There is nothing that exists without him. He is the ground for reason.He is the very point of everything. It is all about Jesus(1:16, John 1:3)
He is the Head of the church. The Senior Pastor. He calls the shots. Our authority must reside in Him, we must be submissive to Him, organize our leadership around align our mission to him. He is not functional figure head, rather then the Pastor in which all other pastors yield to in leadership. It is all about Jesus, if it isn't, we have a problem.(1:17).
He is the fullness of God (1:19) Jesus is the fullness of The Old Testament God. He isn’t a new God, he isn’t a more ‘chill’ God, or ‘more loving’ God. He is the One true God.

The same God who:
made all of the world in 6 days,
afflicted the Egyptians with plagues,
parted the Red Sea and provided the Israelites travel on dry land while being pursued by the Egyptians,
was a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night,
sent manna down from heaven,
water from a rock,
made the sun stand still,
rose up judges,
commands the ground to open and swallow rebells,
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

Do we see the baby Jesus, or the Jesus:
- that tells the wind and waves to shut up and they do because the authority that he has in his voice.
The Jesus who is the sustainer of everything and when he speaks things happen.
The Jesus who flips tables in the temple,
picks fights with the pious religious teachers who would not accept his message.
who is Glorious,
who is Perfect,
who is Holy,
who is Just and Supreme,
who is King of Kings,
who is Lord of Lords,
who Deserves nothing less than eternal glory and everlasting worship.
The Jesus who wrapped himself in the flesh, ate with us, did life with us then we striped him naked and crucified him, nailed him to a tree because we refused him as God.
The Jesus who on the cross he Paid our debt in full, took our sin and shame and gave us his righteousness,then sealed us with the Holy Spirit and made us his own.
 Do we see him?

Yes, the baby Jesus scene is important, and it paints a glorious picture of his humanity, and humility. It speaks incredibly about his love and his nature and character. But He did not stay there. He grew up, discipled, then he went to the cross, rose three days later and is now sitting at the right hand of God in glory. Sin, Satan, Death and Hell Defeated.


Do we see him?

Baby Jesus isn’t going to get you through this year.

The Way Of The Gospel.

We live live in a culture that values self reliance, and performance. If  One is going to succeed in life, and accomplish things they need to be the smartest, the biggest, and the best. They need to be strong and able to out-perform the rest. In the bible, but more specifically 2nd Corinthians we see that the way of the Gospel takes our lust for power and significance and turns it upside down.

The way we see Paul live is irrational, and inverted to societies thinking. His ministry is not flashy, eloquent,  or comfortable, but simple, straight forward and irrational to everything we know and expect. Paul embodies the life, death and resurrection of Christ, and the religious, pious false teachers do not like and will not accept the crux of his message; a defeated savior.

What does it mean to live a cross centered life? Paul has some radical things to say.
Acknowledge your frailty to God. Look to the Savior. He embraced the weakness of the cross so that you and I, weak moral sinners, can experience the blood-bought power of God.

What is your strength (that thing you rest on ) charm, intelligence, charisma, humor? Cross centered living means we do not ignore our weakness, but lean into them.
why? because we know, “When I am weak I am strong” because God will reveal his power

So, let’s boast in our weakness instead of our self-righteousness and strength. This is obviously folly and nonsense to the world, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.

How Big is your God?

Unconditional Election. Predestination. 
When you read or hear these words how do they make you feel? do they make you feel:
- uneasy?
- awkward?
- angry? 

- confused?
- uncomfortable?


Why do you feel those feelings?
Is it because these ideas don’t fit into the tiny theological box that you’ve put God in? Is it because you think that God wouldn’t do something that you wouldn’t do? Or maybe God would not think or act in a way in which you do not think or act?

Do we ever think that maybe the creators plans are more developed then our own and that maybe his nature and character is perfect and it is us who is flawed? So often we put Gods actions into our reasoning. We tend to put God into a box and are tempted to only believe the things the we can understand or comprehend. The things that we don’t understand or do not like; we get rid of. 


For many of us, our God is too small. Our tendency is to make him reflection of who we are and what we understand rather than us being a reflection of him. We can come to places that tell us things about God that go way beyond what we can understand or comprehend, and instead of accepting things by faith and believing them despite whether these things are true about God, we tend to dismiss them, sweep them or under the rug, or get rid of them in our minds altogether.

There are things about God that we will never understand because God is God and we are not, God is big, we are small. God is infinite we are finite. God is knowable and we don’t have to guess who he is, because he has showed us. What we do know about God is true and real as long as it corresponds with the scriptures. What we know is true, but it is only partial. How can it be that God has ordained everything and yet we are not robots?- this is a good question and we may never know. Scripture tells us things about God that are gloriously true but way beyond our ability to understand. If we don’t dismiss them but wrestle and take God at his word, we will grow and mature. 

The book of Romans, paint a depressing, and sad portrait of the condition and depravity of humanity. One does not have to read far into the first chapter before learning that  humans are so spiritually corrupt, prideful, rebellious and wretched that we would never choose God (Rom.1:21,3:9-10, Psalm 14:1,3) In fact, not only would we never chose him, we actually actively reject him. (1:21,32)

Further more, we also have the audacity to take God and put him on trial (1:28) We decide that this is not the kind of God we want, we reject him as God, do not see him fit to be worshipped, in so turn and worship the creature, rather than the creator thus God gives humanity over to its rebellion and he lets humanity to worship, pursue and obtain the very things that lead to destruction (1:18-32) Because we are in rebellion, everything we do is sin, good works and bad works alike (Rom.14:23) Our inability to submit to God or make changes to ourselves is total, and we are therefore totally deserving of eternal punishment. If God waited for us to seek after him, the point is that he would be still waiting. Naturally we run from him. And if God waited for us to move towards him, we would have no hope at all. We are Dead.(Ephesians 2:4–5) Blind. (2 Cor 4:4) Hopeless people. Every single person.(1:20) Period.

But along with being perfect, holy and just God is also compassionate and loving. So before the world ever existed, before there were stars, a moon, the sky, before their were grass and goats. There was God. In that moment, God had you in mind and, in His unfathomable, electing, shocking, ruthless, scandalous and unconditional love, He decided to redeem you in Jesus Christ. He really did. He chose to save you (Ephesians 1:3) His love for you is eternal and not based any merit. God chose you to be his child before the foundation of the world, despite you.(Romans 8:29-30, 9:11, 11:5-7, Ephesians 1:4-6) While you were still dead in your trespasses(Romans 5:8. Ephesians 2:4-5) spitting in his face, jamming nails into his wrists, thorns into his head, he did something shocking. God took you, his will overrode your will, he gave you faith, HE saved you, HE embraced you, and HE accepted you. Then he substituted your cold dead heart with a new and regenerated heart and then sealed you with the Holy Spirit. Because God is faithful to complete the work he began; he promised to sustain you, and to hold you back from sin that leads to death. You are you eternally secure (Ephesians 1:13, 2Corinthians 1:22, 5:5)



‘Wait Chance you mean to tell me that God unconditionally elects?’

How dare he:
- trade me his righteousness for my sin
- come uninvited into my life.

- force his will to over ride my will.

- make a choice.

- give me something I don't deserve(grace)
- not give me what I do deserve (wrath)

How dare he:

- he save me.

- give me faith.
- secure me.
- give me a new heart.
- a new mind.
- a new path.

(sound ridiculous?)

praise God.



How does this fit into the post modern thinking in which you are saturated in?
is this offensive? 

Well, you or I do not get to comment on how God saves. He is God, we are not. We are just pieces of clay, trying to tell other pieces of clay, about who the potter is. His thoughts are not like our thoughts and his ways are not like our ways(Isa 55:8) 


The Doctrine of Unconditional Election is a comforting doctrine. In understanding that God saves sinners, and sinners don save themselves, it frees us to approach evangelism with confidence and boldness. It assures us of our eternal security. God Loved you before you did anything good or bad, and you can be confident that he loves you after.

The Doctrine of Election isn’t a topic to be debated, but embraced and bring overflowing passion and worship to our Sovereign, omnipotent God. It should challenge us to be Christians;
"Radical, full-blooded, Bible-saturated, Christ-exalting, God-centered, mission-advancing, soul-winning, church-loving, holiness-pursing, sovereignty-savoring, grace-besotted, broken-hearted, happy followers of the omnipotent, crucified Christ. At least that’s our imperfect commitment.’’- John Piper



Well how do I know if I am elect?

Do you hate sin and love Jesus and been giving a regenerated heart by the Holy Spirit?
Then you are elect.



Unconditional Election. Predestination. 

When you read or hear these words how do they make you feel? How about:

- thankful?
- humbled?
- excited?
- passionate?
- worshipful?
- assured?
- comforted?

How big is your God?