December 28 - Life Giving Glory

2 Corinthians 3:1-18

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:4-6 ESV)

The Spirit of God changes people. He changed me. He keeps changing me. He keeps reminding me of errors, pointing out needed improvements, and guiding toward necessary refinement in attitude, doctrine, and discipline. The Spirit changes me.

The biggest and most impactful change the Spirit of God has worked in my life is salvation. I have crossed over from the destiny of death into one of life. Jesus made that possible. God made it sufficient. The Spirit has made it life.

Everywhere that I go. Everyone that I contact and connect with. I hope that I am able to give and share life everywhere! Just as the Spirit has called, empowered, and encouraged me; I hope that I will give life—the life of Christ—always and anywhere.

December 25 - The Other Christmas Story (Invading Enemy Territory)

Read: Revelations 12:1-17

She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne (Revelation 12:5 ESV)

Christmas is awesome. By far my favorite holiday. I love the festivities. I love the traditions, and the time with my family. But, more importantly, I love the reason for the season.

The story of Jesus' birth is amazing. Many miraculous events surrounded, and preceded it. But it is so much more than the cutesy candy coated Sunday School story we all know and love so much.

The Christmas Story is a story about invasion. It is the beachhead for the divine campaign to reclaim Creation, redeem humanity, and restore the Kingdom. God had set events in motion to become a man. He would walk the Earth. He would feel dirt beneath his feet and oxygen in his lungs. He would work, sweat, eat, love, and even die.

The Apostle John had a unique relationship with Jesus. He was almost like Jesus' kid brother. And he lived long after the rest of the disciples. Having been exiled after surviving several attempted executions, John was visited at his island prison by Jesus. The Holy Spirit worked in John and granted to him a supernatural vision full of wondrous things—many of which are nearly impossible for me to comprehend. He wrote them all down in a book that has come to be called The Revelation. It is the last book of the Holy Bible, and it includes a passage that always rings so incredibly for me at Christmas time.

Jesus was born into tumultuous human times, but it was happening alongside epic supernatural events. Jesus invaded enemy territory. He stepped into death and brought life. He stepped into defeat and brought victory.

I like the Christmas Carols. Silent Night and Joy to the World are beautiful songs. But I imagine that first Christmas to be something more like D-Day than the latest Christmas Special. And all these centuries later, Jesus is still invading enemy territory to restore families, mend hearts, and breathe hope into hopelessness.

Merry Christmas.

November 22 - Jesus the Resurrected Man

Luke 24:36-43

See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:39 ESV)

Some pretty incredible events transpired in a room that has came to be known as the Upper Room. First, the Last Supper was held there and it is where Jesus instituted Communion. Also, Jesus appeared to ten of his disciples there following his death and resurrection.

Seeing Jesus was almost more than they could bare. Their minds couldn't take it. It was inconceivable, even to those who had seen Jesus do the impossible time and time again. Some thought he was merely a spirit, and not actually the resurrected Christ. Jesus put that thought to rest by challenging them to see his scars and to touch his skin. He challenged them to experience his resurrected body.

He is still challenging us to experience the resurrection. He beckons us to him to find hope, healing, and forgiveness. Not to just a spirit; but to the resurrected Son of God.

November 21 - Peter Saw Jesus

Read: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:3-5 ESV)

I can't help it. When I consider death I think of the finality of it. It just sounds like an ending. And, in spite of my belief about the afterlife, anytime someone I am close to dies it feels like a forced goodbye.

I think Peter must have felt much the same way about Jesus. The resurrection wasn't something to they were counting on. No one had done it before. And even though Jesus told them exactly what would happen! it seems like they largely missed the point.

So when Jesus began to appear to his disciples I can't imagine how they must have felt. It would have been like seeing something you believed to be impossible happen right before your eyes. Like seeing a fallen leaf fall up or a man flying under his own power.

Death feels certain. And life after death unknown. We believe, and we hope we know, but we don't know for certain. Peter had his conviction steeled the day the risen Son of God appeared to him. The man he loved demonstrate the reality of his deity by returning to life. Everything changed for him he day that Peter saw Jesus.

November 18 - Running to Jesus

John 20:1-10

Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. (John 20:4 ESV)

Peter and John heard that the tomb of Jesus was empty, but they had to see it for themselves. So they ran all way there. John outran Peter, but Peter went in first.

They saw the empty tomb. Jesus was not there. They believed him to be alive, but they didn't yet understand the significance of the event. It was unprecedented.

Today, it is still unprecedented. People don't just come out of tombs. When we run to Jesus we aren't running to the grave. We're running to the grave robber. We're running to life.

November 17 - Alive!

Read: Matthew 28:1-10

He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. (Matthew 28:6 ESV)

Jesus was raised from the dead after three days in the tomb. He had talked about it, predicted it, and then he did it! The authority of Jesus and declaration of his divinity was he resurrection. It is the linchpin of Christianity. Without Christ's resurrection there is no redemption. There is no second chance at a renewed life.

Jesus brought people back a few times during his ministry. Each time was a notable event, but his resurrection was altogether different. When Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb Lazarus was still just a man. He grew old, and eventually he died. The other people that Christ raised all would go on to carry out the natural course of their life. Jesus was different. Jesus didn't lie in a tomb for three days, become miraculously revived, and then go on to die an old man at a later date.

Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, is the inky one to ever be resurrected. His return to life was not temporary—it was permanent. He defeated death, and by his conquering resurrection he has called us into life eternal. He left death behind, and one day so will we.

November 15 - After Three Days

Read: Matthew 27:62-66

and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ (Matthew 27:63 ESV)

Once Jesus' body had been entombed a group of religious zealots gathered before Pilate. This was the same group that had had Jesus murdered. The same group that had regularly pitched a fit over Jesus performing miracles on the Sabbath were gathering with Pilate on the Sabbath to get someone to seal the tomb.

They remembered Jesus' own words. They remembered his promise to rise again. And they were so blinded by their religious idiocy that they thought to thwart it, proof that they never actually comprehended what was about to happen.

Pilate granted their wish. The tomb was sealed. Guards were posted. The religious goons were satisfied. No one was going to steal he body of Jesus. No one would make false claims about his resurrection.

November 14 - Entombed

So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. (John 19:40-42 ESV)

Jesus’ body was placed in Joseph’s tomb on the day that he died. It was a tomb cut from the rock near where the crucifixion took place. With the Sabbath approaching Joseph used the already prepared tomb in the garden to lay Jesus in.

Jesus is often referred to as the second Adam. The first Adam first sinned in a garden. It seems only fitting that the death to end the threat of sin and death should result in our savior being buried in a garden.

He was buried. He was dead. But he didn't stay dead. He didn't stay buried. He was laid in a borrowed tomb, but he arose the conqueror of death, Hell, and the grave.

November 8 - The Dead Rising

The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:52, 53 ESV)

What happens after you die? That is the question of upmost importance to so many thinkers. There are a multitude of varying opinions and ideas. Some think nothing waits after the last breath is drawn. And for everyone else there many belief systems.

Christianity, like Old Testament Judaism, presents the notion of an afterlife in which you retain your identity. An eternal existence spent in either Heaven or Hell. The remarkable event of the mass revivifaction witnessed after the crucifixion points out the truth of the afterlife. All of those people, called saints, came back for a period. People saw them and knew them.

Jesus died, but what happens when the Immortal One wraps Himself in mortality and allows it to be extinguished? Well, death has no hold on the One who conceived of life itself. Jesus would rise from the dead.

Celebrate Halloween

Why I celebrate Halloween with my family.

We like Halloween in the King house. For us it's not about spooks, witches, and dead stuff. But it is an awesome opportunity to dress up like a favorite character and have some fun. And we always have a lot of fun.

As a Christian father who happens to be a minister it is really important to me that my son grows up to see how I engage with some of the parts of our culture that evangelicals have made unnecessarily awkward. For years the church has replaced the word Halloween with words like "harvest" or "hallelujah". Which is fine. But they still celebrate Halloween.

Let's be honest. Celebrating Halloween is dressing up, and candy, and all of that other stuff that is so great. Doctoring it up and calling it something else doesn't change what it is. So let's stop being confusing, unclear, and intellectually dishonest.

Rather than pitch a fit over wording, and get lost defending how we "don't celebrate Halloween"—my family has decided to do something different. And we know we aren't the only ones. Instead of pretending like we don't celebrate it, let's just fess up to it, go all out, and enjoy it. Let's see just how much fun we can have. But, and here's the clincher, let's redeem it.

So Halloween for the Kings isn't about demons and darkness. It's not a celebration of dreariness, death, and decay. It is about life. Enjoying life together. We will be who we are in all of our Nerd-filled wonder, and use this fun day to shine the glory of God around us. Who knows, on a day like Halloween someone just might be paying attention.

September 28 - Peter & Jesus

Luke 22:55-62

And he went out and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:62 ESV)

Jesus told Peter that he would deny him three times and Peter refused to believe it. Jesus also told Judas that he was the betrayer and Judas knew it to be true. What was the incredible difference between these two followers of Christ? I believe that the most significant difference between Judas and Peter rests in their response to their sin against Jesus.

Judas hung himself before Jesus was even crucified. He knew his guilt. And he felt trapped by it. Peter wept at the realization that he had sinned so greatly by denying Christ. The difference in these two responses is incredible. It's a point I have written about often but I believe we cannot look at it too closely. Judas regretted his actions and killed himself. Peter showed genuine remorse, and sought forgiveness.

Peter betrayed Jesus. He knew that he had done it. He felt horrible. But he also recognized that there was a way back. No, not immediately, but he did take his sin to Jesus. Jesus reminded him that he knew about it before it had even happened. He forgave him.

Peter and Jesus had a unique relationship in terms of teacher and disciple. But all Christians share a similar experience with the two. In the connection between redeemer and redeemed we are all Peter, and we all need Jesus.

September 21 - Remorse & Regret

Matthew 27:1-10

And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:5 ESV)

Judas Iscariot returned the money he had received for betraying Jesus. Then he went and hung himself. The chief priests rejected his plea for forgiveness because they refused to acknowledge that anything wrong had taken place. They then used the thirty pieces of silver to purchase a field called the field of blood.

Judas threw the money into the Temple out of disgust. He was disgusted with his own actions, but he was also probably disgusted with the responses of the religious leaders. He realized his erroneous ways

Judas was remorseful, he regretted his actions, that much is clear. However, he did not take his sin to the one place where it could be dealt with. He did not take his sin to Jesus. He did not repent. Instead he ended his own life.

Judas Iscariot's story is tragically sad. It is the story of a what can happen when we deal with our sin in the wrong way. Jesus does save us from sin. He died for that very thing. But we have to take it to him, we have to believe that he will do it, and we have to entrust our lives to him.

September 20 - What Is Your Judgement?

Matthew 26: 57-68

"What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” (Matthew 26:66 ESV)

Jesus received an unfair judgement. Arrested in secret. Tried in the middle of the night. He faced a sham trial, with false witnesses, shady-power-hungry adjudicators, and a corrupted militant mob like police force. Jesus was judged guilty. He was declared deserving of death.

Ironic seems like such a pitifully inadequate word to describe the scenario. He was wrongly accused. Wrongly judged. Wrongly killed. All so that he might bring an opportunity for eternal life to the very men who were killing him.

"What is your judgement?" They asked. Well, thanks to Jesus all that have entered into salvation have entered into a judgement of life.

August 21 - These Will Go

Matthew 25:31-46

"And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46 ESV)

Jesus stated very plainly that in the life to come there would only be two possible destinations for the soul. Heaven or hell. Eternal life or eternal death.

The thought of hell can be pretty crazy. Most literal interpretations or beliefs are rooted in the idea of a place of fiery torment that burns but does not consume. I don't know what hell will be, but I do know what my capacity for understanding the Scriptures leads me to believe. I believe that hell will indeed be a place of unending torment. It will be so horrible that it will be as if the most anguishing kinds of physical, emotional, and spiritual pain were all rolled into one.

Those who live under the grace and Lordship of Jesus will be spared that agony. They will find eternal life, joy, and peace. Everyone will wind up in one location or the other. There will be no in-between. There will be no other options. All will go somewhere in the life to come.

August 15 - Gathering Vultures

Matthew 24: 15-28

Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (Matthew 24:28 ESV)

Have you ever stopped to watch the prime time news for five minutes? If you have ever engaged with mass media during a peak news cycle you have no doubt noted the overwhelming gloom that permeates all of the terrible news. The reason is that bad news draws the attention of people.

Jesus, delivered a stern word to his followers. He was warning them about the signs of the end times. And he cautioned them to remain optimistic. He didn't want his followers to proclaim a message that was inundated by the dark stigma of weighty world issues.

People today really are drawn to bad news. In school when I was learning to be a journalist, I remember hearing the phrase "if it bleeds it leads," regularly. Death, disaster, and decay draw people's attention.

The sad truth is that this kind of thinking makes its way into the church far too often. One bad little thing can happen, and we can focus so hard on it that we completely neglect the other thirty-five awesome things going on. We are not people who celebrate death and negativity. Jesus came to bring the dead to life.

August 5 - Wrong

Matthew 22:23-33

But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God." (Matthew 22:29 ESV)

"You are wrong," is not a phrase that I have heard many times in my life. I was that kid in school that usually seemed to know the answers. Today, I still get looked to for answers. And a lot of the time I either know the answer, or know how to go about finding it. But the reason why that is important is because all of the answers that matter are the ones that come from my knowledge of God.

Jesus hit that nail on the head repeatedly. To the point that the religious leaders did not know how to deal with him. He was always right. He always had the answer. And when they concocted their crazy tests to trip him up he turned it around on them as a way to point out their shortcomings.

Intellectually I am right a lot of the time. Spiritually I am definitely a work-in-progress. I am hoping that one day my family and friends will be able to look back over the course of my life and say that I was right. Not about intellectual facts or acquired knowledge, but about the things in life that truly matter.

I don't always succeed, but my hope as my feet hit the floor every morning is that I will grow in my knowledge of the Scriptures, I would serve God diligently, and love people genuinely. Because a person can life their whole life and seldom be wrong only to stand before Christ one day and find out that without him they were always wrong.

August 4 - God of Life

Luke 20:27-40

Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him. (Luke 20:38 ESV)

The Sadducees were a group of religious leaders that did not believe in the after life. One day in a bid to discount and humiliate Christ they put him to question. Like their contemporaries, the Pharisees, they concocted a strange rhetorical situation as an attempt to determine Jesus' traditional affiliation and political leaning. Par for the course he proved that the people did not have their mind or hearts set on the things of God.

Those who belief on Jesus for their salvation are brought into a new life. They have rejected death. They have left behind sin. Not because they are perfect but because Jesus has taken sin from them based on their faith in his sacrificial power and blameless life.

God created men for life, love, and relationship with Him. To be in union with Him is to enjoy eternal life. God is the God of life. That all sounds perfectly strange and seemingly beyond comprehension, but in a way that is what makes the majesty of it that much more wonderful.

July 4 - The Lazarus Problem

John 12:9-11

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (John 12:9-11 ESV)

Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead and the religious people went nuts. They started making plans to kill Jesus. But that wasn't enough. Even had they killed Jesus, which they did, there was still the Lazarus problem for them.

Had they actually been able to remove Jesus there was still the fact that he raised Lazarus to life. A dead man living again is powerful evidence in favor for the reality of Jesus' supernatural power and divine origin. So they went beyond the plan to kill Jesus and started making plans to kill Lazarus as well.

The resurrection of Lazarus is a historical fact, even as much so as the resurrection of Jesus. People wanted to refute Lazarus' miraculous reviving. The power players wanted to remove him as evidence in the situation.

Today Christianity is often under assault. Historical revisionists try to blot out the truth of the resurrection and downplay the influence of Christianity on our culture. Typically their first line of attack is to undermine, rewrite, or ignore, the overwhelming historical evidence in favor of the orthodox view of Christ, his miracles, nature, and resurrection.

To make this even more personal—we have an instinct to act the same way sometimes. When we do something that makes us feel a tinge of guilt we try to erase the evidence. However small that might be. I'm sure you could think of your own personal example.

The Lazarus problem faces all of us. Lazarus was brought back by Jesus. Jesus was brought back by himself. We face the eventuality of life beyond death. None of us have experienced it as of yet, but there is coming a day when it will be irrefutable. And not only do we face the awesomely confounding prospect of resurrected eternity with Christ, we also may embrace the spiritual reality of a resurrected soul in this life.

Our choices have led us to death, destruction, and disaster. Jesus raises us up out of that. Lazarus wasn't a problem for Jesus. And neither are you.

June 30 - From That Day On

Read: John 11:45-57

So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. (John 11:53 ESV)

An undeniable miracle had occurred in full sight and knowledge of many people. A dead man was no longer dead. Witnesses confirmed it. Critics acknowledged it. The religious leaders didn't know what to do with it.

Jesus was obviously beyond them. He was shaking up the status quo and the bureaucratic religious establishment was terrified. They were afraid of their Roman conquerors. They were afraid of losing their hold over the people. They were afraid they would lose their lucrative system of religious robbery. They did what fearful people do. They made plans.

According to their twisted minds the only way to solve the problem was to remove Jesus from the scene. So the formation of the plan to have Jesus murdered began. The men entrusted to lead the people to God ignored God's Son, schemed to murder him, and felt right about doing it.

From that day on the fear of men compelled them toward great evil. From that day on the willful stubbornness of a select few plotted the death of innocence. From that day on men planning to kill God were unknowingly ushering in the promised salvation of mankind.

June 29 - Come Out

Read: John 11:38-44

When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." (John 11:43 ESV)

The time had come. Jesus had travelled to Bethany to raise his friend Lazarus from the dead. He reminded onlookers to believe. He commanded the stone to be rolled away. He prayed aloud for those nearby to hear. And then he called to Lazarus to live again and exit the tomb.

I'm not sure I can even imagine what that must have been like. They all saw it, all experienced, all knew what had just happened. Jesus, this man that was supposed to be a simple carpenter from nowhere—had become a premiere rabbi. He was saying things priests didn't say. He was helping people priests didn't help. He was doing things priests couldn't do.

The revivification of Lazarus was a turning point. It was undeniable. Someone that was clearly dead had been returned to life. It was a declarative miracle of a nature that surpassed all his precious public works. Jesus publicly and boldly declared himself to be master over life itself. He called Lazarus out of the grave, out of death, out of the past, into a kind of newness of life that only Jesus could give.

I really believe that Jesus is still doing that. He is still calling people to leave their tombs, leave their life of death, and leave behind their pasts to pursue newness, to pursue him. I'm so glad that one day I felt the compelling call of Christ stir within my soul and chose to come out of darkness into light. What is Christ calling you out of?