Encountering Jesus: The Only Authority Over Evil

Here is a post from the ministry I work with, Rebirth: East St. Louis. This is a recap of the latest Bible study we had this past Wednesday night. Mark 1:21-28 is an amazing passage with much to teach us. 

“And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered into the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the religious teachers. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an evil spirit. And he cried out, ‘What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be Silent, and come out of him!’ And the evil spirit, convulsing him and screaming, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with real authority! He commands even the evil spirits and they obey him.’ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.”

Mark 1:21-28

One of my favorite things about teaching Bible studies with our guys is the opportunity to be personally amazed by the passage of Scripture we are going through. This week, we continued our“Encounters with Jesus: How God Changes Everything“ series by going through Mark 1: 21-28. Even now, as I reflect on this passage, I am amazed at the Bible’s inexhaustible nature. There is so much great stuff jam packed into these 8 short verses. When considering the length of the entire Bible, Mark 1: 21-28 can seem quite miniscule. Yet, this passage tells us so much about who Jesus was, what He came to do, and how encountering Jesus is the only hope for the world.

After going through the story, I asked our guys, “why were the people so astonished and amazed at Jesus’ teaching and actions?” One of our students hit the nail on the head, “Because they had never seen anything like that before.” And that is exactly right. This story is much more than a vivid look at spiritual warfare or a story that proves that demons exist. Much more than that, this passage tells us that Jesus is the eternal, long awaited solution to the evil that exists in the world.

This scene would have astonished people not because they hadn’t seen or experienced evil face to face. No, that is something we all see and experience every single day. Jesus’ actions were astonishing because He is the only one in the history of mankind that had exercised such authority and power over evil.

Further, this authority over evil is something we all inherently long for. We all desire a day when we don’t have to live in fear of disease and death. We all long for the day when we don’t have to fear abuse and pain. When I asked our students about the evils they see and experience everyday, they had no problem identifying some. They are surrounded by death and poverty. And just like the rest of the world, they desire a day when evil no longer has the final say. Together, we long for someone or something to save the day.

In Mark 1:21-28, the people who were watching Jesus would have had the same hope and desire. They were astonished at Jesus because they had never seen someone who could actually fulfill that hope. Since evil entered the world, humans have tried again and again to find a solution. Whether it be trusting in political powers to bring peace, or a personal zeal to overcome evil, all man made attempts to defeat evil have come up short. Jesus is the only solution to our problem of evil and sin. He is the only authority over evil. Whether it was 2000 years ago in Capernaum, or present day East St. Louis, Jesus invites us to trust in him as the Holy One of God who has defeated all the powers of evil.

Poverty and the Gospel-Part 4: Life as Intended (continued)

My apologies on being a week since I last posted on this topic. Life has been a bit busy :). Continuing on our topic of what is really at the heart of poverty, and how it applies to the gospel, we have first established that at the heart of Jesus mission was to reclaim or restore life. He came proclaiming the good news of God's Kingdom, whereby everything that was lost in the fall would be restored. Since God came to restore us to our image bearing as God intended,  last week we asked what all does it entail to bear God's image. I broke it down into 4 relationships. In order to fully live as God's image bearers, we were created to be in a vertical relationship with our God, an internal relationship with our selves, a horizontal relationship with others, and also a relationship with creation.

So what did these 4 relationships look like before the Fall? What were they intended to look like? To see this, we will look at Genesis 1 and 2.

Let's start by looking at our vertical relationship. First, as image bearers, human beings were made to worship. This is innate inside of every human. We all worship something. In the beginning, before sin entered the world, God, our Heavenly Father and Creator was the sole object of our worship. In fact, God was so much the sole object of our worship that there wasn't even a need for a separate time for worship (like church on Sunday's) because Adam's entire life was worship. All of his days and in everything he did, Adam was worshipping God. It must have been awesome to be able to worship God in all activities in an unhindered fashion.

Something else that defined Adam's vertical relationship with his Creator was intimacy. Notice that in Genesis 1 and 2, Adam talked openly with God. There was no separation or barriers. Adam was able to stand and communicate with God with complete transparency, openness and confidence. There was complete harmony. God walked with Adam in the garden. Adam lived completely in God's presence.

Lastly, as it was intended, there was a proper Creator/creature distinction. The main reason why life was perfect before the entrance of Sin was the way in which Adam rightly lived under God's loving and righteous eternal rule. The only way life can be in order or harmony, is if we are living under our Creator's intentions. Now, at first this may seem like God is a bit like an overbearing task master who demands that we stay in line with him. To this, we must realize that God's intends for us to live under his loving and righteous rule because it is 100% good for us. He doesn't demand that we live under him because he's mad, or wants us to suffer. Rather, we suffer when we choose to be our own God. We suffer when we lose this Creator/creature distinction. When we look at the effects of the Fall, we will see this more clearly. But, it is safe to say that life as intended includes humans, as God's image bearers, living an unhindered life of worship before their Creator with constant relational intimacy between us and our God. 

Poverty and The Gospel: Part 3-Life as Intended

So far we've established that Jesus came to restore life. His mission was bigger than just forgiving sins. It was bigger than acts of love or giving hand outs to the homeless. The good news Jesus brought was a pronouncement that through him, God was reclaiming creation. God was reclaiming creation by the ministry of his Son. The reason we need this is because under our own self-autonomy, EVERYTHING is out of line. EVERYTHING is distorted. Jesus came to restore life. Now, we are asking the question, how is life distorted? What was life supposed to look like? What went so wrong that God had to send his own son to restore life? What does true life consist of? To see this, we need to go back to Creation, since everything after the Fall, humanity, or life, has been distorted.

"So God created man in his image. 

In the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them."

Genesis 1:27

The simplest answer to these questions about life are that humans were created to be God's image bearers. Life as God intended it to be consists primarily of bearing God's image. This is what makes us unique. This is what we were created for. This is what true life is. To give a simple definition, I'm going to say that life as God intended it to be, or true life, is living in a full expression of our image bearing.  But what does it mean to bear God's image?

I propose that in the Creation account, we find 4 relationships which humans, as God's image bearers, were created for. Together, these four relationships make up a full expression of image bearing, or according to our definition above, true life. Let's look at these relationships. (I am going to unpack each one in the days to come, this is more of a fly by)

First and foremost, the primary relationship which humans were created for was our vertical relationship with our Creator. I say this is the primary relationship because without the proper vertical relationship with our Creator, all of the other relationships with be out of whack. Our other relationships are completely contingent on our relationship to God. If we wrongly relate to our Creator, we can't possible properly relate to his creation. To have true life, to live in a full expression of our humanity, we must have an unbroken relationship with our Creator. 

The following three relationships are what I call "horizontal" relationships. They are the result of our primary relationship and have to do with God's creation. One of these relationships is our relationship with our self. As image bearers, we were meant to have a self-image based on our  vertical relationship with God. More on this relationship in the days to come. Next, in the creation account we see that as humans, we were meant to live in relationship to others. Humans were not created on an island. God never intended us to live in isolation. Therefore, part of what it means to live in a full expression of our humanity is to live in community. Lastly, as God's image bearers, we were given a particular relationship to the rest of creation. There is way to much to say here in this quick fly by, but the Genesis account is clear that humans were meant to live life with a harmonious relationship with creation. This consists of having dominion over God's creation. We'll talk more about that later. 

From this post (I know it was brief and I didn't say a whole lot), all I'm trying to establish is that to live in a full expression of what it means to be human, to have life as it was intended, we must have all 4 of these relationships. They must be unbroken and exist in harmony. Further, for them to do this, they must exist under a unhindered vertical relationship with our Creator. Once our vertical relationship is out of line, all of the other relationships follow suit.

What Do You Treasure?

""The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. 

When a man found it, he hid it again,

and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." 

The notion of hidden treasure may seem a bit antiquated for modern times. I mean, we aren't the pirates of the Caribbean, and none of us are Jack Sparrow. Yet, I don't think the hot pursuit of hidden treasure is that far from our hearts. Think about it. We are all after something. Whatever it is that we value most, we will chase after. Whether it be the pursuit of money, a career, a football scholarship, recognition, respect, or simply academic success. Whatever is precious to us, we will be willing to sacrifice and chase after. 

This raises the question: What do you treasure? In other words, what do you value most, or what is most precious to you? In this passage, the thing that was most valuable to the man was the hidden treasure. He chased after it with all that he had, even selling everything that he owned just to get this treasure. This brings us back to the question, what do you treasure?

In life, just as with the man in this short parable, we can tell what our treasure is by what we are willing to give up to get it. When something is supremely valuable to us, we are willing to sacrifice for it, we are willing to spend time and energy to get it. This treasure will captivate us and we will be drawn to it in such a way that we are willing to follow it with everything we have. 

So why would Jesus tell this short parable to a large crown in Matthew 13? How is the Kingdom of God like this hidden treasure? I think what Jesus is telling us is that being in a relationship with Him is a lot like finding that treasure. Knowing God is more valuable, more precious and more captivating than anything else in this world. So much so, that if we come into this relationship, we will be so drawn to Jesus, so captivated by His glory and beauty, that all the  treasures in this world, the treasure we so often chase, will soon loose their appeal. Jesus is the supremely valuable treasure that we are all looking for. 

Lastly, if we look at God's actions, what does this say about what or who he treasures? Based on the criteria of what you are willing to sacrifice for, you treasure, it is evident that God treasures us. We know this  because he was willing to give everything for us. And this is the good news; God so loves and treasures each one of us, that he sacrificed his only son, that we could discover him as the true treasure. 

Being Clean

"It's not what goes into your body that defiles you; 

you are defiled by what comes from your heart."

Mark 7:15

One of the many reasons I love Mark's account of Jesus' life is the way Mark depicts Jesus as confrontational. From the very beginning of Mark, Jesus comes proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In doing so, he confronts our tendency to make ourselves the king of our own little kingdom. He challenges our reality by confronting our misconceptions of who we are, and who we think God is. 

One passage in which Jesus does this is in Mark 7:1-23. You see, going all the way back in the Old Testament, there is a big problem. Because humankind fell into sin, we cannot come into the presence of God unless we are clean (spotless, without blemish, blameless, without sin). In fact, this is a very big deal to God. That is why in Leviticus there are extensive rules about cleanliness and purity. That is why  there was a day of atonement once a year, and the high priest who was to go before God and atone for the sins of the people had to spend a week preparing himself, washing himself, making sure he was clean. 

This may seem odd, but think of it this way. When we go to meet an important person or have an important event, we also prepare for it. We will take a shower, get a haircut, put on make up, wear our nicest clothes, etc... The same goes for how we are supposed to approach God.

Imagine you own a house. It is perfectly white. It is painted white on the outside, the carpet is white, all the couches are white, the walls are white, the tables are white; everything is bright shining white. Now imagine a person covered in mud comes to your door and wants to come in. It's not going to happen. This is also a reality between us and God. This is why there were the Old Testament purity laws. 

And this is where Mark 7 comes in. Jesus, interacting with the pharisees, confronts their misconceptions. In this passage, the Pharisees had a problem because Jesus' disciples weren't following the traditional purity laws. For example, they weren't washing their hands before they ate, they don't wash their cups and plates the proper way. For the pharisees, this was how we maintained our purity before God. 

I love how Jesus challenges the Pharisees. He doesn't come at them attacking their zeal to be pure. Rather, he gets at the heart of the problem (literally and figuratively). Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah and says to them, 

"These people honor me with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship is farce, 

for they teach man-made ideas as the commands from God" Mark 7:6-7

The problem was that the pharisees thought they could make themselves clean by their own actions. They thought they could be pure before God through religious acts. Jesus confronts this by stating the real problem. The real problem isn't that on the outside they are unclean or impure, it's that their hearts are jacked up. The real problem is a heart problem. The pharisees may have performed religious acts of cleanliness, but their hearts were filthy. 

At this point, it's easy to point at the pharisees and jeer at their ignorance. However, we are not any different. We may not look to Old Testament laws to save face before God, but in some way, shape, form, or fashion, we are all trying to become clean before God. We all look to 'DO" something in order to make us right, to give us worth, or to give our existence significance. 

And this is is where Jesus speaks to us. By confronting the Pharisees, Jesus is telling us that the thing that really makes us unclean is our heart. The problem isn't the externals as much as it is the internal. Further, this is a problem we ALL have. It isn't just the Pharisees. It is us! And as long as we are looking to "DO" something to fix it, it will never work. We could never possibly clean ourselves up enough to be perfectly pure before the eyes of God. 

Back to the white house example (not the presidents home, but a house that is purely white). What Jesus is saying is that while we are standing outside the house that is sparkling white, we could never scrub hard enough to make ourselves worthy for entrance. It doesn't matter what we try to use (religion included), it won't work. What we need is a heart transplant from the inside out. 

This is where the good news of the gospel comes in. When Jesus came to earth and died, he essentially came and lived the pure, clean life that we should have lived, and he died the death of someone who was impure. He did this is substitution for our uncleanliness. Further, because he was the only one who lived a truly pure life, he offers to us his very life. He sees us sitting outside the white house, scrubbing hard, and says to us, "That will never work. But receive me. I will make you clean from the inside out. I can get you on the VIP guest list into the white house." And with one touch, we are made clean. Further, he stays by our side, continuing to transform our hearts from those of stone, to those who desire to walk with and worship the living God. 

Checking Yourself In

Then David confessed to Nathan, 

"I have sinned against the LORD."
2 Samuel 12:13

These are David's words following his horrendous actions in committing adultery with Bathsheba and then essentially killing her husband. To top it off, David lied and tried to cover the whole thing up before coming clean. 

This verse is also a bite-size preview of Psalm 51, wherein David confesses and repents to the LORD. The reason I love this story is because I think it gives a good snapshot of what Christianity is really about. This story shows one of the Bible's most Godly characters (David) fall into complete and utter sin and despair. It shows a hero of the faith fall.

But herein lies the beauty of the gospel. Where the seeming "hero" falls (David), the true Hero of the story is brought to center stage. The gospel is not about cleaning yourself up, hiding your sin, covering up your brokenness, or your own personal spiritual strength. Quite the opposite actually. It is about how we are all like David; ruined, broken, weak sinners who are in need of a divine act of grace on our behalf. The gospel is about us being honest with our sickness, sin, evil, and brokenness, and then turning and clinging to the only one who can actually save us. It is about looking to the true Hero for forgiveness and new life.

Think about it terms of a drug addict. It would simply be stupid for a drug addict,who is obviously addicted to keep living their lives as if they don't have a problem. It would be futile for them to attempt to clean themselves up on the outside, so they appear to be 'clean', but on the inside, they are still sick and addicted. The only solution is for them to ditch their delusion, be honest with themselves and realize they are jacked up and desperately need help. The solution is to check themselves in to rehab. Likewise, we are addicted to sin. We might not have killed anyone of committed adultery as David had, but I have absolutely no doubt, that if you look at your life honestly, and compare it to God's standard of love, truthfulness, compassion, and justice, you will cringe at your sickness. Like a delusional drug addict, our tendency is to live our lives as one big cover up. We try so hard to hide the inner sickness of sin that is ruining our lives. We try to cover up our inner brokenness with big houses, fashionable clothes, successful careers, relationships, alcohol, sports, the latest gadgets, and the list goes on and on. Our tendency is to cover ourselves up and save face, rather than be real with the situation.

The beauty of the gospel is that we no longer have to save face. You no longer have to cover up all the crap in your life. There is healing. There is redemption from this addiction and enslavement of sin. There is a solution. The solution is Jesus. Christ's death and resurrection on our behalf is the only solution.  All it takes is being honest with yourself, and checking yourself into rehab (yes that's a Lecrae reference :). All it takes is knowing your absolute need for him. Like David, when he was finally honest with himself, and turned and confessed to God, it was there he experienced what Christianity is really about.

Like One of the King's Own Son's

"And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at David's table,

like one of the king's own sons."

2 Samuel 9:11

Who is this Mephibosheth guy? A little background on this verse. Mephibosheth was the grandson of Saul. Yes, this is the same Saul who tried to kill King David. Because Mephibosheth was from the household of Saul, David, by law, legally had the right to kill him. So, first of all, Mephibosheth was a man who deserved death. Some more background; Mephibosheth was crippled in both feet. In other words, he was completely helpless and useless. He was an outcast. So here is Mephibosheth, who by law deserves a traitors death, and who by his own recognition in 2 Samuel 9:8, describes himself as a "dead dog". 

As the story goes, David, rather than killing Mephibosheth, rather than bypassing him as a social outcast, actively seeks to show him mercy and kindness. 2 Samuel 9 begins, "One day David asked, 'Is anyone in Saul's family still alive-anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?'" (2 Samuel 9:1). Where nothing but judgement was deserved, David delighted in, and sought to show mercy and kindness. 

The reason I love this passage (and am doing a Bible study on it tomorrow night, Wednesday) is not that it shows how great of a guy David is. It is because what David did for Mephibosheth is strikingly similar to what God does for us. David takes a dead dog, and brings him to the King's table, and adopts him as a beloved son. God takes us, sinners, who rightfully deserve death,  who are crippled and unable to help ourselves, who are outcasts, and offers us mercy and kindness. He takes dead dogs and makes us into true sons and daughters of the King. That is too good to be true! But the good news is that, yes, it is true. We are Mephibosheth. We are poor, crippled, broken, sinful people. But God's love and mercy are greater. Only the power of the gospel can take us from dead dogs to those who are "like one of the King's own sons." (2 Samuel 9:11)

Easter Weekend

Below is an update on my Easter weekend. It was originally posted to the Rebirth: East St. Louis blog (where I work). Enjoy reading it. For the full posts, and some sweet pictures and video, check out:
An East St. Louis Easter
Video and Pics

I hope everyone had a good Easter weekend. Mine was a particularly good Easter. I was able to go home, be with family, see friends and enjoy some really good food! What made it even better, is that I had the unique opportunity this weekend to share all of those things with a couple of our East St. Louis guys, Cortez Spencer and Luther Wright. Yes, that is correct. This weekend I had the privilege of having Cortez and Luther come up and spend Saturday and Sunday with my family and me. The weekend was an awesome experience on many different levels.

 First, the weekend was a great chance to simply spend some quality time with Cortez and Luther, continuing to build our relationship and get to know them better. We were able to play some pickup basketball, meet several of my teammates from college, cookout on Saturday night, go to church on Sunday, and have an Easter feast with the rest of my extended family. I really think the weekend, and being in a different context, allowed for several unique conversations about God, life, circumstances, etc… As you can imagine, an entire weekend along with a 4.5 hour car ride is a great chance to share in some good conversation.

 Also, as I reflect back on the weekend, I think it was a great picture of reconciliation. In the gospel, Jesus breaks down all the existing barriers and walls that both separate us from God, and that separate us from each other. Because of Good Friday (Christ’s death) and Easter (Christ’s resurrection), these barriers are completely shattered. The gospel reconciles us to God, and also reconciles us to each other. For those who don’t know, I grew up in Wheaton, IL, which, socio-economically, may be the polar opposite of East St. Louis. It’s affluent, the crime rate is nearly non-existent, and the population is mostly white. Having Cortez and Luther up was a huge reminder of how Jesus unites us. Only the gospel can bring together a random guy from Wheaton, IL and two sophomore high schoolers from East St. Louis together.  As the Apostle Paul writes, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” In other words, Jesus breaks down the religious, racial, ethnic, geographic, and economic barriers that would otherwise separate us. He completely shatters the hostility that exists between us (Ephesians 2). I think Cortez and Luther coming up to Wheaton was a picture of how Christ has broken down certain barriers for all of us. It was a beautiful scene to be sitting around a table, sharing meals with each other, learning from one another, and mutually enjoying good fellowship with one another. There are many differences that exist between us, but in Christ, we are one. We are united under the good news of Jesus. Praise God for the way he not only reconciles us to God, but also reconciles us to each other!

 I think the coolest thing about the weekend was simply the opportunity for Cortez, Luther and I to mutually share in each other’s lives’. Shane and I spend a great deal of time in East St. Louis. We are at the school, in the kids’ neighborhoods, on the football field. We have tons of opportunities to share in their life. This weekend was such a great chance to have two guys share and be a part of my life. I can’t even describe how blessed I have been through guys like Cortez and Luther, and in particular, how much of a blessing it was to have them spend the weekend with my family. This weekend wasn’t a one-way exchange. I can recall how Cortez was able to play the piano with my nana (Grandma). At one point, she was improvising Amazing Grace on the piano while Cortez was belting out the words. Imagine that! An 86 year old Italian women from the south side of Chicago collaborating with a 17 year old African-American from East St. Louis to play a rendition of Amazing Grace. It was priceless! It was also cool to see the way in which Cortez and Luther were able to encourage the many people they met this past weekend. Their stories, and the evident ways in which God is working in their lives were such a blessing to those who they met. This weekend certainly was not a one-way exchange. Rather, I’d argue Cortez and Luther were much more of a blessing to my family and I than we were to them. Their courage in traveling up to a completely foreign place, to stay with a bunch of strangers is not only commendable, but is an inspiration. I am thankful for these guys!

The Cross: Something Done By Us, and Something Done For Us

This is a summary from our Bible study @ Rebirth: East St. Louis this past Thursday. With Good Friday coming up, we talked about the death of Jesus. Here is the original post. 

Following Tuesday's study on the weight of sin, and with Good Friday approaching, yesterday in Bible study we looked at the death of Jesus. Just thinking about it now, I am so thankful for the good news of the Cross and for the incredible opportunity to share and talk about this with our guys. Jesus dying for our sins is something most people (and our guys) have heard or are somewhat familiar with, but it is something that often gets glossed over. What does it actually mean that Jesus died for us? Yesterday was an incredible time to reflect on why Jesus had to die, and what this means for us.

You could spend a lifetime pouring over the significance of the Cross and still not exhaust its depth. Yesterday we talked about two realities of Jesus dying on the Cross. First, relating back to the weight of sin, I wanted our guys to see that the Cross was something done BY us, and secondly, that the Cross was something done FOR us. 

The main text we looked at was Isaiah 53:3-10. This is some pretty heavy stuff, but I wanted our guys to reflect on why Jesus died. It wasn't for his sins, but it was for our sins. We've spent a good deal of time talking about how Adam's rebellion effected our relationship with God, with each other, and with Creation. Yet, we are not innocent spectators in the Fall. We are active participants, who just like Adam, rebel against God, don't trust his authority, and disobey his word. This is something we do on an everyday basis, and because of that, we deserve the just wage of sin, which is death. And this is exactly the death that Jesus died for us. 

"But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins" Isaiah 53:5

Jesus took upon himself the punishment that we rightly deserved. I think this is important for our guys to see, because if we don't see the Cross as something done BY us, we can't rightly understand the Cross as something done FOR us. If we don't understand the weight of our sin, and the punishment that it deserves, Christ's death won't have much significance. It will merely be a metaphor of love, or a good example, but it will not be a saving work. At the cross, Jesus took the punishment for our rebellion. 

Furthermore, the Cross is something done FOR us. Because Jesus died, we are free from the condemnation of our sin. We are no longer on death row, hopelessly imprisoned, sentenced to eternal death. But now, we are completely set free from the condemnation of sin, and are free in Christ. This is amazing! Also, we are now made right again with God. The three relationships we've talking about (us and God, each other, us and creation) can now be restored. 

"He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed." 53:5

This is what Christ's death accomplished FOR us. I'm praying that for some of our guys, this is their beginning in recognizing and owning up to the reality of their own rebellion. More so, I'm praying that this would lead to repentance, and turning to trust in  Jesus' work on the Cross as the only way in which we can be saved. Next week, we'll be talking about the resurrection. Keep praying!

Everything in Common

Here's a quick update on the latest Bible study we've had with the ministry I work with, Rebirth: East St. Louis. Pretty sweet to be discussing the story line of Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration with a bunch of 13-18 year olds. I'm amazed at God's story of redemption, and even how he brings people together who seemingly have nothing in common. 

Yet, in the story of God's grace, we have everything in common. We are all beautifully and uniquely made in the Creator's image, created to intimately know God, and be shamelessly united to each other. We have all rebelled, and as a result, we all experience deep pain, brokenness and struggle. Our relationship to God is severed, and our relationships with one another are broken. Yet, we are left with echoes of Eden in our hearts. We all still long for what life was supposed to be like, what it was like in the Garden of Eden. We long for to be reconciled to God and to each other. This reconciliation that we all to some degree or another desire and long for, is found in God's Son Jesus, who came to die, so that WHOEVER believes may inherit true life. And for all of us who trust in Jesus, we will one day be united to him, back in perfect harmony. We will experience the intimate fellowship with one another that we long for. There will no longer be death, or tears, or crying, or pain, or struggle. Everything will be made new, and together, as one people, we will worship God. 

The Gospel: Better Than A Second Chance

Sunday, I had the amazing opportunity to attend the graduation ceremony for the January class of 2012 from the Vincent Gray Academy, in which I was able to see one of our students receive his high school diploma. The Vincent Gray Academy is an alternative high school which provides free, private education for students who live on the margins of poverty in East St. Louis. For many students in East St. Louis who have fallen through the cracks, this place provides a 2nd chance in life....


Read the rest of the post here: The Gospel: Better Than A Second Chance

Article About East St. Louis

As most of you know, I've started working with an inner-city ministry called Rebirth East St. Louis. I just wanted to share a link to the most recent blog post on Rebirth's website which contains a story from the Riverfront Times about the East St. Louis football program (which I coach for) and what life looks like for many of the kids I work with. Enjoy!

Here is the link to the Rebirth blog

Here is a direct link to the article

What Does It Mean to Be Lost?

A recap of last week's Bible study @ Rebirth East St Louis. 

If Only I Had _____

Here is an overview from the Bible study last week with Rebirth East St. Louis. 

Embracing Our Sickness

Here is a brief recap of our Bible study last week @ Rebirth ESTL.

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

Mark 2:17

This week in Bible study, we looked at the passage of Mark 2:13-17, specifically highlighting this last verse. What strikes me about this passage is just how counter-intuitive it is. The God of the universe, perfect and holy, calls an ethnic outcast named Levi. He then chooses to “kick it” with moral outcasts. To top it all off, he declares that he came for those who are sick. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners. The reason I say this is counter-intuitive is because I believe the default mode of every human heart (whether you're from East St. Louis, South Carolina, or Chicago) is religion. In other words, we spend a great deal of energy just trying to cover up the fact that we are sick. We attempt to 'patch up' our sinful heart, or 'clean up' our shame. We think we can solve the problem of sin by making ourselves good enough. I think with many of the kids in East St. Louis, this is the case. There is a genuine desire to know God, or follow Him, or to change. But this is most often pursued by trying hard to clean oneself up enough so that they are acceptable to God. 

This is where the radical nature of the Gospel comes in. Religion says, 'you can clean yourself up, all you need is a little behavior modification, if you do enough external acts of righteousness you can patch yourself up.' But the Gospel tells us quite the contrary. It tells us that we are sick, and we can't make ourselves right. It tells us that the only thing that qualifies us is knowing the fact that we don't qualify. It tells us that we don't need behavior modification, we need a heart transplant. Finally, it tells us that there is One (Jesus), who himself became sick in our place and for our sake, so that through Him we might be made well. The Gospel tells us that our patch up work will never do, but Jesus came to give us completely new life. 

Our study this week concluded by looking at the response of Levi. It says Jesus called him, and in response, Levi 'rose, and followed him.' Jesus didn't call Levi because he was a righteous person by earthly standards. Levi was a sinner. Levi was sick. Yet, Jesus invites him to know him as Savior. He invites him to follow him. He invites him into this unique relationship. The answer wasn't for Levi to make himself look better externally, or try to be more like the religious people of the day (the Pharisees), it was to simply rise and follow Jesus. It was to acknowledge that he is sick, that he can't save himself, and to believe that Jesus could. Being a Christian isn't about patching ourselves up. It is recognizing our sickness, and coming to Jesus as we are. To be made well, we must know we are sick. And for those who know they are sick and turn to Jesus, there is an overwhelmingly amazing remedy. 

My hope and prayer is that God would continue to work in the lives of these guys, causing them to see just how sick they are, yet how complete and marvelous the remedy is.

Rebirth East St. Louis

To those who are interested, here is the link to the ministry I've been working with, Rebirth East St. Louis. Rebirth is a ministry aimed at bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the youth of East St. Louis. Right now, I'm coaching football at the public high school and using that as a means to minister to the kids through weekly Bible studies, and simple things such as giving kids rides home, getting to know them, sharing meals with them, and walking with them through their struggles. It has truly been a joy to be able to spend time in East St. Louis and it is my hope and prayer that God would restore and transform this community through the good news of Jesus.

If you are interested in learning more about Rebirth East St. Louis and what we do, or if you want to learn more about the city of East St. Louis, I encourage you to check out the Rebirth website. Also, I encourage you to join me in praying for the youth and the community of East St. Louis. Check out the Rebirth blog for updates on the ministry, ways you can pray, along with recaps of our weekly Bible studies.

Periodically, I'll also be posting on here my thoughts and experiences with inner-city ministry in East St. Louis.