Sadly, there are a lot of people who claim to be Christians today but lack Christ as their head.  Like sports team mascots, they claim to represent and be hidden with Christ, but they never put on the big head of the costume that completes the outfit.  They think they can have all the benefits of an ambassadorial position while living by their own head as their ultimate authority. 

He says they could endure because they knew they had "a better possession and an abiding one."  This better possession is the object of our faith; Jesus…

Many people have lives that appear well put together, organized by the rhythms of education, recreation, occupation, vacation, family, retirement, etc. They do not appear to be "wandering." However, their hearts have only ever known the wilderness. They wander far from the home for which God made them.

The Spirit unites us to Christ so that we who are sinners can enjoy the love of the Father through the righteousness of Christ given us by faith. 

Although it is good to help one another with tangible needs (food, clothing, shelter). Only Christians are uniquely equipped to minister the gospel to sinful hearts. That is where the real needs are found because sin is everyone's greatest problem.

Last Wednesday, we heard that my uncle Dan had passed away suddenly from a heart attack while working on his farm. Although his family was near when it happened, nothing could be done. In the days since I have watched my family grieve deeply.

This week, RIC is fasting and praying. . .Beginning the new year is a great time to remind ourselves of our actual provider, protector, and purpose-giver. 

Ezra was not a celebrity pastor.  He didn't have millions of followers, or a megachurch built on his attractive personality, contemporary clothing, style, or feel-good sermons…God who favored him for his love of the law and king Artaxerxes who recognized in Ezra his ability to know and execute God's ways.

If you have done any Bible readings this Christmas about the coming of Jesus in the Old Testament, you must always include the short letter of Malachi.  In four short chapters, he diagnoses the sinful hearts of the priests who have led the people of God astray.  Their worship is polluted, they don't teach God's ways, they abandon God's covenant, and they refuse to give their hearts to God. 

The self-centered pop singer blatantly admits, "Every time I close my eyes, I see my name in shining lights." You and I were designed to open our eyes and behold the glorious revelation of the Light of God in the Light of the Son.

Consider this: the rim is what you may know of Jesus immediately, but through John's description, you see the eternal depth of his nature. In knee-buckling amazement, the scope of his power to speak into being all that exists washes over you.

Sunday evening, I was moved as I heard story after story of how significant RIC has been in the lives of those participating in this discipling community. The Lord is working through you to build one another up.

Marriage is the physical picture of Christ and his church…We love marriage because it leads us Jesus.

For many, evangelical means something politically, religiously, or even stereotypically.  However, for those who have heard the good new that the righteous God has made sinners right with him through faith in his Son, 'evangelical' becomes so much more. 

What happened to him was an internal transformation of understanding and love for God. Something unlike his aesthetic piety and monastic practices had brought him. A profoundly religious laborer for God as a monk, he struggled to find peace with the Lord.

In everything we do as Christians, we want to honor the Lord and thank the Lord because we live to the Lord…Celebrating Halloween or abstaining cannot be motivated by a selfish desire for superiority any more than for free candy.

The people of Israel had every opportunity to never leave the Promised Land. Trust God, Obey God, Live in the Land. That summarizes the terms for staying in the paradise of Canaan land. But they couldn't do it.

You are wrestling with something that is time-consuming, emotionally draining and is a mountain of unknown right now. You have few to no options in how to go forward. You're praying for some daylight to shine on your soul so that you can get up tomorrow and keep going. Your power is exhausted...

Just like that awesome pair of pants you wore throughout high school and college, they don't fit anymore. How we once dealt with our relationships is like a worn-out, ill-fitting pair of pants. Now clothed in Jesus, we bear his "logo," representing his humility and care for one another.

Last Sunday, we looked at Ephesians 4-5:21. Central to that text is the Truth spoken in Love. But it is Truth spoken to callous, dead hearts and minds that come from darkness into light (2:1, 4:19, 5:8). It is the Word of Truth spoken that brought us to life by God's grace. Life is found in the continual gospel piercing of the fat of our hearts and callousness of our minds.