blog and podcast

When Christ entered into the city of Jerusalem just days before he would give his life for us, he was filled with sorrow and wept over the sins of the people there (luke 19:41-43). It is right for us to imitate Christ's heart and mourn the sins of others, but even greater, we should mourn our own sins. What does it mean to mourn our sins? Our soul must come to a real sense of our sin before we come to a real sense of our salvation. The real sense is that it is our sin that separates us from the love of God. Our souls are like a balloon, as our awareness of our sin grows, so does our experience to understand God's peace, joy, and intimacy of God's undying love for us. Matthew 5:4 says: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." I realized that there is a difference between mourning our sin in a worldly sense, and mourning our sin in a spiritual sense. My sin always caused me to feel shame and guilt, but there is a difference in feeling bad about your actions and mourning them. It is our Godly sorrow that leads to change...worldly sorrow only leads to guilt and embarrassment. Paul writes to the church at Corinth and says: "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." (2 Cor. 7:10) Mourning our sin before God produces in us a real change, a real longing to grow deeper with God, and a real concern for how we live our lives before God each day. The promise to those that have these concerns is that they will find comfort. As we experience pain, grief, and sorrow in this our lives, the world has nothing to offer for real lasting comfort, but our God's supply is unending. PETE

The first Sunday in our series on the Beatitudes found in Matthew chapter 5 begins with the characteristic and the promise that comes to those that are "Poor in Spirit". As a poor man is dependant on others, so should we be dependant on God. A poor man lives every day in his/her poverty and a constant awareness of his/her need for care. Their poverty stimulates humility every day. So, if we are to be poor in spirit, we should constantly live with a sobering awareness of our constant need for God's guiding and sustaining help. Humility means that we understand our position before God; he is God and we need him. We experience true happiness when our supply comes from God, all other sources are shadows and imposters of the truth. As a poor man is aware of his need for assistance, be poor in spirit and aware of your need for the guiding grace of God in your life. The kingdom of heaven is prepared for and will be occupied by people that have this characteristic..."for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (matthew 5:3). PETE

I used to play a game called "bigger and better". I would go door to door with friends starting out with a stick of gum and ask the stranger, "do you have anything bigger and better to trade for this stick of gum?" If they are a good sport, we'll get a good trade. Then we take this new item (maybe a candlestick, or picture frame) and do the same thing at the next door. By the end of the night, you get some pretty amazing treasures. I've even had a friend who got a car! We always look for bigger and better things to come. God always revealed himself to his people. In the Old Testament, He revealed himself through dreams, visions, burning bushes, angels, etc. But now (we learn in Hebrews 1:1-3), that God reveals himself to us by his Son, Jesus. Jesus is the radiance of God's glory. The old way was good, but the new way is Better! God wants more than anything to reveal himself to us. Christ received a reward of the highest honor when He gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins. The book of Romans tells us that we will also share in God's glory if we share in his suffering. We may obtain a "good" life without God, but it will end in disappointment. But God has revealed himself to us so that we could share in his glory and experience unending deep relationship with Him, now and forever. Aim for bigger and better! PETE