Send me a Text Message! In this two verses Jesus deals with an area of brokennes, sin and failure that is all too often all too common in our world today. Divorce. He goes from adultery to divorce. In this episode we'll start by talking about marriage and the heart of a wedding and from there will be a challenge to guard your heart. But here's the deal, we don't guard our hearts by hardening our hearts...because when it comes to the pain of divorce... Everyone needs a soft heart.

Send me a Text Message! At Calvary in our current series "Live Different" we are nearing the end of Jesus' mountain-top message. Which means we are nearing the end of this podcast series, but...we still probably have 8-10 more episodes to go. So buckle up and enjoy the ride! :) This episode is the most recent message I gave at Calvary. It's a look at the "narrow way with a narrow gate" and the "broad way with a wide gate." It's a challenge to make the "master-choice." It was a pretty powerful...

Send me a Text Message! As we get into this episode on sex, lust and adultery... you may be asking the question, "How far will God go to love me?" That's the question I'll be answering before we put this episode to bed. And to be honest, my best answer is simply this. The cross is our reminder that God will go so far as to come down and give his life for you to show you his love. God will go so far as a cross to pursue us with all our heart. Never forget that truth!

Send me a Text Message! Our next section of Jesus' mountain-top message is on sex, adultery, and lust. And let me just say upfront, that one of the reasons why this is such a tough and tender topic is because there are so many people crying on the inside. Something you did, something done to you, a decision you regret, sometimes there's this deep sense of hidden inner shame. You're crying on the inside. And if that's you, you need to hear these words of Jesus within a context of knowing...

Send me a Text Message! Do I truly value relationships? You will hear some form of that question over and over again in this episode. If you want to be the light of the world, if you want to be a real life blessing, if you want to be a reconciler with a heart that won’t quit, you have to make relationships a priority. If you know anything about religion in Jesus day, presenting a sacrifice was a big deal. The common people had the opportunity to present a sacrifice maybe 2-3 times a yea...

Send me a Text Message! In talking about his football team, the legendary coach Vince Lombardi once said, "The difference between mediocrity and greatness is the feeling these guys have for each other. If you're going to play together as a team, you've got to care for one another." In some ways, he was just echoing the words of Jesus, when Jesus said that people would know; there would be an unmistakeable recognition that we are his apprentices by the quality of our love and the size of our h...

Send me a Text Message! If we look at Jesus' example we would have to say that of all his names, Father is God's favorite. In the Old Testament God was called Father, only 7x. Jesus refers to God as Father 17x in the Sermon on the Mount alone! The gospels record over 200x's that Jesus called God Father. God's our Father. In Jesus day, those words were revolutionary. Never before had that been the primary way of viewing God, but it shaped everything Jesus said and did, especi...

Send me a Text Message! Listen God is so good. I understand, every tragedy, every hurt, every funeral and every divorce; every disappointment seems to be marketing for unanswered prayer and unanswered prayers cause us to question the limits of God's goodness. But God's goodness has no limits. Not only can He help you, He wants to help you. Now I have to be honest, there are some prayers He will never answer, because He has something better in mind for us. But as we go back to Luke 18, we are ...

Send me a Text Message! In Luke 18, Jesus tells a story with a meaning, often called a parable. But in this case, Jesus starts with the "why," the meaning. Often when Jesus told a parable, he wouldn't give the why. He wanted the listeners to grapple with the meaning without being fed the answer. But in this case, the why of the story is so important that Jesus tells it up front. "Don't miss this." He's saying. "I'm going to tell you a story and I want the story to always remind you of t...

Send me a Text Message! We are God's children. We are not God's friends. We are not God's neighbors. We're His kids. That's what Jesus was teaching about prayer and that's why He said, "When you pray, say Father." Nobody else called God father. Jesus said, "When you pray say Father." Smtms we make prayer so complicated. There are depths to prayer that I may never fully explore or understand. But there is also meant to be a simplicity and an ease to prayer that is the ease of a kid coming to d...

Send me a Text Message! Make no mistake Jesus wants the church to be a place of active, life-giving service and overflowing worship. He wants it to be a community of grace and truth. But few things move his heart like prayer. That's why I imagine a smile came to his face one day when one of his disciples came to him. Jesus had been out praying. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if Jesus had been praying for his disciples, something like, "Father, help them. Some...

Send me a Text Message! When it comes to prayer, I’m not sure what you are asking for, what you are seeking, or who you are asking Jesus to open the door for, but what if, Jesus message to you in this episode is simply this. Don't quit asking. Don't stop seeking. Keep on knocking." The open door is coming. Especially don't give up on someone you've been praying for... Remember, when we pass judgement on someone, what are we doing? We're writing them off. We're...

Send me a Text Message! I think if I lived in the days of Pharisees and Scribes, when I heard Jesus say, "Unless your righteousness exceeds the guys who do it for a living..." I would have heard, "Unless your righteousness goes to infinity and beyond, unless you get more righteous than you ever imagined you could be, you might as well forget it." But that's not Jesus message. Jesus wasn't just looking for a quantity of righteousness, He was looking for quality of righteousness. He was l...

Send me a Text Message! Tsaddaqim? What is that babbling? It's the Hebrew word for the "Righteous Ones." The next part of Jesus' teaching is all about the righteous ones. Who are the righteous ones? According to Jesus it wasn't the pharisees and the scribes (the proffesionally religious people). In this episode we'll unpack it with a look back at Isaiah's description of the righteous ones. Stuff like: Your light will break forth (sound familiar) and your gloom will be as bright as the noonday...

Send me a Text Message! You are the light of the world. And God has no other plan for the darkness. That's it. No other plan. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit fills us up, we will have the power to become his witnesses. In other words, we will shine, and that's the plan; the only plan, no back-up plan b. There are people in your neighborhood who are living in darkness. Paul said in Acts in 17:26-27, that God has set the times and the boundaries of where we live. Why? In ...

Send me a Text Message! You are the light of the world. Isn't that amazing? Do you understand? We're here to shine. To be generous with our lives and do good deeds which shine the light on Jesus. You've heard this phrase before, but you may be the only Jesus that people ever see. What do they see when they see you? Think about the last few days, the last week, when people saw you, what did they see? How about in your home; or at church? What does your boss see at work? How about o...

Send me a Text Message! All my life I have been attracted to the overflow, without walls principles and stories in the Bible. One of my all time favorite prayers in the Bible is Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 which ends with these words, "Now to God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all you ask for or can even imagine." That is so without walls! Jesus lived a life without walls; a life where just a touch can heal a heart; a life where forgiveness brings freedom and service b...

Send me a Text Message! "You are the salt of the earth." Those are Jesus' words. Think about this, when salt is working, you can't see it. Where are you being salt? Salt-work is annymous acts of kindness. It's backstage work that doesn't mind missing the applause of the crowds; It's working hard and speaking the truth..in love; It's befriending someone who doesn't deserve a friend. It's being real, even when you think no-one's watching. Salt work is living proof of a loving God. Salt wo...

Send me a Text Message! We need more than bread to thrive. Jesus said that we need every word that comes from the mouth of God! We need more than food-stuff for our stomachs, more than comfort-stuff, more than significance stuff; we even need more than relational stuff in order to thrive. A live that thrives will involve a live that is continually feeding on the words of God. And remember, eating God's words involves more than listening and learning. Both listening and...

Send me a Text Message! We've been talking about the beatitudes as a pathway to God's blessings. The blessings of God found in the Kingdom of God are amazing, but they rarely come easy. They require a "don't quit grit" that says, no matter what I'm going for it. And it all starts with "Blessed are the poor in Spirit." Blessed are the desperate, the begging poor in spirit. If you are poor in spirit, desperately broken, barely hanging on to a thin rope of hope, blessed are you. If you don't qui...