So much of what Jesus taught about referenced money. It was his way to teach us in a way that we could understand. And when He walked into the Temple on Passover and cleared it out, He showed everyone how much He cared about money.
It wasn’t just about the money to Him.
It was the idea of people getting ripped off.
And He was to have none of it.
And so He made His cord and sent everyone into backpedal mode.
Fast forward to the end of Jesus ministry. This action at the temple directly lead to Him being executed. And in His last moments, He was executed in the most humiliating fashion.
The meaning of the word Tetelestai in the Greek is “it is finished”. It is the final words of Jesus as recorded in John 19:30. It makes sense that this was the last thing uttered by Jesus on the cross as He gave up His life.
The interesting part about this is that this is not the only way Tetelestai was used. The Greek word “tetelestai” was also used in business during Jesus’ time to indicate a debt or bill had been paid in full. And this changes this entire situation, especially to the seeker.
As I saw this beautiful word on a tattoo yesterday, it brought up an interesting conversation at track practice. In conversation with a young man who I coach and who I know very well, I asked: “Why would someone utter ‘IT IS PAID IN FULL’ right before they died?”
There is only one thing that makes sense to me.
Jesus died for me (and you) to pay off a debt that we couldn’t.
He paid debts that we owe, and continue to owe.
But Romans 5 states:
Romans 5 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more
The trespass? It is Paid In Full.
I can’t outdo on the evil side what He did on the side of grace…and neither can you.
This is incredible.
And it is my testimony moving forward.
He can forgive.
He can forgive me and He can forgive you.
For God is the ONLY one who can set out in a situation and make it so all of us can win.
Thank You Jesus.
Tetelestai
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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So much of the Old Testament is hard to read. Blessings and Curses … and a lot of rules. But only if you read it without considering who wrote it.
John 1 says “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God from the beginning”
Let me say this again: He was with God from the beginning.
Yes. Jesus. He was with God from the beginning.
So let’s read this through those glasses:
Deuteronomy 286 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
As you move forward in your life, God wants to bless you as you arrive and when you leave.
What a promise!
Now certainly we need to read one small verse and seek to understand it by putting it in context with the entire passage and the entire book. At the beginning of Deuteronomy 28 it says:
Deuteronomy 281 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.
IF. IF we fully obey.
Certainly God is not asking us to be perfect. Noah found favor in his eyes. So did David. So did Abraham. And ALL of them made major mistakes that made them far from perfect.
In reading this in context, I think His point is for us to do each of these items:
Trading Pride For Repentance
Proverbs 16 18 “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”
Trading Religion For Worship/Devotion
1 Samuel 13 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
Realizing The Magnitude Of Our Forgiveness
1 Timothy 1 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
In these three things, we have a chance … to receive the promise of Deuteronomy 28:6.
Deuteronomy 286 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
So I encourage you this very day to raise your hands to the heavens and cry out the Living God … to thank Him for loving you beyond your sin. He is worthy of our praises. He is greater than our sins. And He is certainly worthy to save.
And that makes you, and me, Blessed …
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Jesus is seeking you out in the same way that He sought out a rejected woman at a well some 2000 years ago.
And when you understand this very important truth, you understand that you are saved for a purpose.
John 4
4 Now he had to go through Samaria.
6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. ) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
18 Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” 27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ ?”
30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about the fact that Jesus cut the humanistic ties with racism, misogyny, elitism, economic class, religious rules, and every other item that we, as humans, have created … Even though it could be.
My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about forgiveness for all … Even though it could be.
My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about the fact that Jesus claimed to be God … Even though it could be.
My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about Jesus being the LIVING WATER … Even though it could be.
My point of emphasis is this:
YOU, just like the woman at the well, are saved for a purpose.
So if you lack Purpose, then check in with Jesus and connect with Him in a deeper way … because when He saves you He gives you purpose.
And if you are in need of saving, cry out to Him to be your Savior … He is worthy to save. And He has such a great purpose for you.
He is worthy … and He wants to put something on your life that is bigger than anything you could ever imagine or even ask for.
YOU … were saved for a purpose.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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As I was preparing to speak to our FCA group last week, the phrase “It Just Got Real” was on my heart and in my head.
Two of our students were in a terrible car accident. And when looking into the details it was truly a miracle that they were still alive to talk about it.
All of us have had “It Just Got Real” moments that challenge us to rethink who we are, what we are doing, and why we are even here in the first place. It is in these moments that we have opportunities to make important decisions … I encourage you to do this with God at the forefront of your mind.
It Got Real with Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3 as he came to the realization that his life had no meaning.
Ecclesiastes 3 11He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end”.
What is the meaning of life has been asked by mortal men since the beginning of time.
It Got Real for John as he penned John 1 and made the boldest claim in human history:
John 1 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
He had seen Jesus crucified and raised from the dead. And only after did he put all the pieces together.
It Gets Real for ALL OF US when we see the true commitment of Jesus to who we are and what we are doing.
John 11 35Jesus wept.
Mary had told Jesus that He needed to be there … and, had He been there, her brother would not have died.
But that’s just it, isn’t it?
We expect Jesus to NOT BE THERE … but Jesus IS there. He IS ALWAYS THERE.
And as He sat on that hill and looked over Jerusalem this is a truth that you must take with you EVERYWHERE YOU GO AND IN ALL THAT YOU DO.
He Shows Up
God is there for us.
He is there for us in the flesh … but more than that, and when we can not see His work as Mary couldn’t, He is there in the spirit.
His Kingdom is eternal and it is an invitation for all who would dare call Him king.
His Kingdom is for the rich and for the poor, for the strong and for the weak.
His Kingdom is for the put together … and for the broken.
It Just Got Real.
What are you going to do about it?
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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The Bible calls all of us as believers to many things.
And one of them is to be: Above Reproach
As we read below:
1 Timothy 31 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
There are many things in this verse that we must read:
Faithful
Temperate
Self-Controlled
Respectable
Hospitable
Able To Teach
Not Given To Drunkenness
Not Violent But Gentle
Not Quarrelsome
Not A Lover Of Money
Must Manage His Family Well
Must Have A Good Reputation
Now, if you are A Recent Convert … what I have to say now is not for you. You are to seek God, and pray, and learn His word, and meet with other SOLID BELIEVERS, and grow in your faith.
But most of us … we grow out of that … and now it is time to step up and do the very thing that that verse above requires. It is time for us to walk into the calling that God has for us. As a coach, I would say: “Get Your Butt Going!”
You Are Called To Greater Things
Do not underestimate your influence, do not downplay it, and do not lazily disregard it. Walk into your calling!
1 Peter 2 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
This Is Not An Optional Mandate
He calls us to ministry. It is not our job to “regulate” the pastor. We are not to sit in the back pew and say “he needs to do this and this and this …” Nonsense. We are to stand up and lead. Start your ministry today, or at least tomorrow or Monday or have a plan. And aim big! The world is full of the lost.
Matthew 2818 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
24 “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 ” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The Gold Standard
Follow the playbook in your ministry. The playbook is written in your Bible. And Jesus … He is the Gold Standard.
Proverbs 173 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.
So yes,
Be Above Reproach
Be:
Faithful
Temperate
Self-Controlled
Respectable
Hospitable
Able To Teach
Not Given To Drunkenness
Not Violent But Gentle
Not Quarrelsome
Not A Lover Of Money
Must Manage His Family Well
But then what?
Get Your Butt Going!!
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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As I drove home from a meeting with an incredible man today, I was convicted in my car and I believe God put this thought on my heart:
“The Bible IS NOT a boot.”
Amen.
The Bible should never be used to kick someone, to hurt someone, to drive a point home.
It is NOT OUR PLACE.
I am saved by the grace of a God who loves me too much to let me die in the midst of my sin … and my sin is great.
Thankfully I say to you … “My God is not done with me yet!”
Wow, that feels so good to say:
“My God is NOT DONE with me yet!”
In a world of darkness and evil and falling short, I am the greatest of these … the pride, and unforgiveness, and impurity, and vengeance, and hard-heartedness that can well up in me is beyond description. And it is destructive. And yet, I can find it, and identify it, in me. In God’s love letter written to all of us, for this day, on January 28, 2025, Paul said it best:
1 Timothy 1 15Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
The Bible Is NOT A Boot.
Because if it were, I would be getting kicked in the face right now by a God who could kick me a good distance. But that is not His way. And as I meditate on that verse above today, I am so grateful. For I am “the Chief of sinners” and I would be happy to argue with Paul about it.
And chances are … you are “the Chief of sinners” too.
And so what does God tell us to do?
How are we to introduce others to Jesus?
How can we properly communicate this gospel?
Here are a few thoughts:
The Bible is a Message Of Reconciliation:
2 Corinthians 518 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The Bible is a message of love:
John 3 16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The Bible is a message of our need to have a Savior:
Romans 8 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
The Bible is a lot of things.
It is a book of instruction.
It is a book of wisdom.
It is a book of history.
It is a book of LOVE and GRACE and FORGIVENESS …
It is a book about Jesus.
There are a lot of ways to describe it.
But one thing that it is not: The Bible Is NOT A Boot
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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I am stealing today’s message from Tre Sills. Tre is a local pastor and convicted our FCA group today with an important message.
There is a good chance today that many of us have failed on some of our “I am going to be better” convictions that we made at the beginning of 2025.
I know this idea resonates with me because I live in a world of: “I am going to be better”
The reality is that it is God that makes us better. God and God alone.
After all, when we meet Jesus in the quiet place and surrender to what He has for us, He does a new thing inside of each of us:
2 Corinthians 517 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
It is God, and God alone, who makes us better. And sometimes He does it one layer at a time. He comes and ministers to our inner self and begins to do a work on us, and in us. HE, and HE alone, can do that work.
Paul continues with his encouragement, telling us almost the opposite of “I am going to be better” by telling us:
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Thank You Jesus!
In a world with the wrong kind of accountability, God can show up. He can show up for me … and for you.
And when He shows up it is to remind us that we are not who we are by our own works … but that we are created in His image and that He can actually work on us from the inside to make us like Him.
He shows up to remind us that His plan is to also do this for others … to reconcile them with Him.
Man doesn’t fix marriages, or companies, or countries, or neighborhoods. Our president doesn’t decide if we have a life. Our mayor doesn’t change our life from bad to good. And our enemies certainly won’t bring out our best.
No.
It is Jesus.
It is the Jesus who spoke the words of life to Lazarus and the woman at the well. And it is this Jesus who ministered to Roman soldiers, and pharisees who would listen, and leppers who were outcast, and Kings … It is this Jesus who showed up at the temple to tip over tables and send a message to the establishment: “Not on my watch!”
And it is this Jesus that can fix me … and you.
And we would do wise to do what the Samaritan woman did. To go into “our place” and tell people: “Come and meet the man who told me everything I ever knew” (John 4).
After all, if we want to fix _ ….. Whatever it might be ……
We need the Author of the “ministry of reconciliation” and not anything else.
Because He is the only One that can do it in the way that will bring hope.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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As I turned on Chris Tomlin this morning, I was taken aback. What a song … and what a moment … a whole crowd crying out to Jesus. His mighty hand on our lives is ALL THAT WE HAVE.
Perhaps you might listen to it as you read this word?
Let me say this again: He is ALL THAT WE HAVE.
The verse on my heart yesterday and today is no cliche’. It’s not a guide … or a map … or some lucky word.
God is not lucky. He is not our rabbit’s foot. And He isn’t passively waiting for us to “get through it”. Our God, in all forms, is all about being for us.
Jeremiah 29 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
The choices He gives us have lead to our demise. They lead to Adam’s demise and EVERYONE else’s. But this is not a mistake. Without a choice, without our ability to say yes or to say no, there can be no love.
Our trials are not on Him. They are not Him trying to test us or to punish us or to paint us into a corner. Our trials are the result of choice and the sin we live in. Nothing more. Nothing less.
And for us to think that the world will somehow fill us is a lie from the pits of hell.
And to this conundrum there is no human answer: We have made a mess.
And when we fall into that mess it is, simply, what happens. And so it goes.
Thank God for the gospel.
When we wallow and sit in our hole with no hope … Here comes Jesus. And He comes in the form of the Holy Spirit or another believer who would dare tell us what we sometimes won’t hear from God.
He has a plan
He wants to bless us … and give us a future
He wants us to thrive
This is not easy … but we must FIGHT both for ourselves and for each other. When the mountain before us is too big …
We must ask God to resurrect HOPE inside of us, get up, and walk forward.
This is not easy.
It requires us to stand up and to move forward.
It might require us to change our situation.
We might have to change our mindset.
It might be an act of faith that God is simply moving us to a new season of life.
“For I know the plans I have for you,”
But whatever it is, we must grab on to this Jeremiah 29 word and get up.
If you are in this place, cry out for HOPE, because HOPE is the rocket fuel for Faith, and Faith is the rocket fuel for walking up that mountain that we see in front of us.
Because without Him, we can never ascend.
And ascending to worship Jesus is the only thing that can truly make us whole again.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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In the last post, I talked about the Heart Of His Ministry, and today I would like to address the Heart Of The Gospel.
At no time in history is this message more important than today.
John 316 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
And so it is.
God loves the world.
God loves you.
And God has no condemnation for those who believe in Him.
How can this be rejected?
It is the only thing we really need to step forward.
We trade our mortality for an eternal existence to be lived out today.
I often wonder …
How will I afford that?
How can I get through this …. ?
Where am I going next?
What is in store for my kids in their future?
The reality is that all of these questions do not matter compared to the one that really does … and that is:
WHO do you believe in for your eternal existence?
And once you answer that you can build your day, and your life, around it.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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2 MINUTE WARNING 