Chris's message this week on the biblical call to submit to the authorities God has put (or at least allowed to be) over us brought to my mind a memory from 25 years ago. At the time I was a senior at our denomination's college in Nyack, New York. That year I had been privileged to have the responsibility of being managing editor of The Forum, the student newspaper. It wa...

Some believers seem to hate ambiguity of any kind, especially as it relates to God. The idea that there are areas of mystery in knowing and relating to Him is intolerable for many. All too often the fear that results from coming face to face with this mystery drive them to attempt to find in the Word of God a clear cut answer to every question. The problem is that our Lord...

To be a slave to love is not to be a slave at all because there is no slavery in true love. When we are possessed by it we are, paradoxically, set free. This truth is important to remember when we read in the Scriptures about being slaves or "bond-servants" (Doulos in the Greek) to Christ. It is only love that compels us to give ourselves totally to Him, and in the giving ...

Good messages often contain something that remains with the listener well after that message ends. This was true for me with a recent sermon in our "Power and Authority of a Submissive Heart" series. Near the end of the message Pastor Chris said something that struck a deep chord of personal meaning in me. To paraphrase him he said that sometimes we must die to our dreams ...

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Eph. 6:12 This verse has the potential to set us free from so much unnecessary human conflict in this life, yet it seems to be one of the hardest realities to receive and ...

The following is an excerpt from a longer post called Stop Eating the Vomit at Dick Borg's blog, Branches in the Vine. -------------------------- But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.- 1 Timothy 6:11 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along wit...

Two Sundays ago we learned that any hope the sincere Christ-follower has of learning the way of submission to God Himself, and any legitimate human authority, must begin with understanding the ultimate submission of God, the Son of God, to God, the Father. In fact, if it were not for the obedience of Jesus on Earth two-thousand years ago we would not have had a church in w...

I believe that one of the implications of the message Pastor Chris used this past Sunday to begin the new Power and Authority of a Submissive Heart series is that Human beings were originally created to experience submission to God as pure joy. How great was our fall that today so many of us tend to hate the very thought of submission, not only to our God but also to those...

I believe Pastor Chris's message this past Sunday especially resonated with many people, and I was no exception. The section about inclusivity being part of our church's vision was what made me think the most, but I also believe inclusivity cannot be thought about apart from another aspect of True Life's "spiritual DNA", our desire to be authentic. Both these qualities hav...

I'm writing this email as The Offense Trap series comes to an end because, during these past few weeks, I believe I have been delivered from the trap I had been caught in for over forty years! It happened so suddenly and miraculously , especially because I wasn't even praying for it and I certainly didn't recognize that I needed healing! For all these years I blamed my h...