Mosaic Blog
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Surprising God
Is God ever surprised? Of course not. He knows all: past, present, and future. However, twice in the Gospels, Jesus "marvels," or is "taken aback." In Mark 6, the people of Nazareth (Jesus' home town), those who knew him best, refuse to believe in him. The text tells us "he marveled because of their unbelief." In some sense, he was unpleasantly surprised by their stubborn unbelief, and withdrew His presence and His power.
Kids Summer Nights 2018
“Think we can do a Vacation Bible School?”
When the idea came up in our team staff meeting to launch a week-long kids’ camp, the odds were stacked against it. Not enough time. Not enough volunteers. Not enough interest. I’d even tested it with a few people. “What would you think about serving on a VBS team?”
Does God love me less when I mess up?
Half a century ago, the psychologist Carl Rogers suggested that simply loving our children isn't enough--we have to love them unconditionally, for who they are, not for what they do. As children (and as parents) we intuitively know this to be true. We also know how rare truly unconditional love is, even in the most sacred relationships.
Intoxicated with Scandals
We live in a culture intoxicated with scandals, especially high-profile ones. We find these highly entertaining. We just can't look away. Our particularly favorite scandals include some moralist, preaching against a particular sin, which they end up getting caught in. It's like a well-crafted joke. The hypocrite's preaching is the set up, the personal violation of the sermon, the punchline. We are amused by a ruined life.
Love Your Enemies?!
Jesus once said, “be quick to speak your mind, easily provoked to anger, and always ready to take offensive.” Okay, obviously Jesus never said that, but He would probably get a resounding “Amen!” from our culture if He did. It seems like people can get outraged and offended by just about anything these days. It’s a quality many people prize in themselves, but despise in others.
How to be a Good CoJourner
We're excited to host Jarrod Lynn as our guest preacher on Sunday. Jarrod was born and raised in northern California. He graduated from Brown University with a bachelors degree in Economics & Engineering, and also a Masters degree in Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship.
#Blessed
What is the blessed life? What do we mean when we say "God Bless America" as we'll hear over and over this week? What are you asking for, when you ask for God's blessings? How many of those "blessings" can be reduced to materialism? How many of our requests for "blessings" include jobs, money, or housing? Then, once we get those things, how long does our feeling of "blessedness" last, before we start asking for more?
Highlights: The Gospel Coalition Women's Conference
Earlier this month, I was privileged to join around 8,000 women from all 50 states and 27 countries for The Gospel Coalition Women's Conference, "Listen and Live." Keynote sessions focused on the book of Deuteronomy, highlighting themes of obedience and grace; holiness and love. Workshop sessions highlighted topics from chronic illness to vocation to race to parenting, adoption and infertility.
You might be a legalist if...
As we read through the Gospels, we see Jesus intentionally provoking the religious Pharisees over and over, most often for their legalism. Why? Doesn't He know it makes them angry? Of course He does!
Legalism repeatedly rears its ugly head, both in the Scriptures, and in our lives. Legalism divorces law from love, commandments from covenant. The reason why Jesus deals with legalism so often, is because every single one of us wrestles with it at some point, at least to some degree. How can you discern whether you struggle with legalism? Well, I'm glad you asked!
Eating & Drinking
How would you complete this sentence: Jesus came ______ ? To save sinners? To preach the Good News? To establish His Kingdom? To die on the cross?
The Scriptures complete the sentence three ways: