Spiritual Wisdom from Old Guys

Have we experienced the Agony of Defeat in Christian life, or are we still in that optimistic phase where we think becoming Christ-like will be easy? If Paul—the greatest Christian who ever lived—struggled intensely with sin toward the end of his life, why do we think we should pretend we have it all together? This message, contextualized by a moving trip to Israel including the Holocaust memorial for 1.5 million children, explores Romans 7 where Paul becomes intensely personal about the war raging inside mature Christians. Through the Super Bowl metaphor (believers are players in the contest for which the universe was created, not props), the teaching exposes the tension between image (spending energy looking good) and essence (reality of Christ living in you, making you broken and humble). Discover why exercising freedom to become Christ-like reveals conflict with something left over that pulls back, how Paul's honest confession takes away the need for pretending, why there's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, and the privilege through the cross to have victory step by step—don't settle, win the Super Bowl of life.

How can believers be free from the law for salvation but somehow still think they must keep it for sanctification and godly living? If the law has no jurisdiction over dead people, and we died with Christ on the cross, why do we still try to relate to God through keeping rules? This message on Romans 7 reveals that just as marriage can only be broken by death, believers' relationship to the law was broken when they died with Christ—they're now free to be married to Christ and bear fruit to God. Through the archery illustration (God's standard is the bullseye; missing it even once is sin), the teaching shows how Christ hit the bullseye perfectly then exchanged scores with believers on the cross. Discover why knowing the law actually increases the desire to sin (Paul's coveting increased when he learned "do not covet"), how the law was intended to bring life but can't because no one keeps it, and the liberating truth that believers are not saved by works and not sanctified by works—they're sanctified by the Spirit to bear fruit.

What is our personal attitude toward sin in our own lives—do we hate it, or are we casual about it? If sin is the number one problem behind all other issues in life, why do we spend so much energy addressing symptoms instead of root causes? This New Year message confronts the S word that many avoid discussing but is central to maturity: sin is overpowering, incurable without Christ, and responsible for all misery and heartache in life. Through Romans 6's slavery illustration, the teaching exposes Satan's major deception—that people are their own masters when actually everyone is either a slave to sin (leading to death) or a slave to Christ (leading to life). Discover how to make freedom practical by doing inventory of body parts (tongue, mind, sexuality) and consciously presenting them to Christ for righteousness instead of sin for wickedness, because if given to sin, life spirals from bad to worse, but if given to Christ, life becomes progressively purer as God's life flows through.

Do we understand the radical difference between law (do this and you'll live, leading to death) and gospel (receive life and you'll do these things, producing life)? Beyond knowing three crucial truths intellectually—we died with Christ, we're no longer slaves to sin, we have life that can never die—do we believe and reckon them as personally true, where the power comes from? This year-end message proposes a biblical 1997 resolution based on Romans 6: because of what we know and believe about ourselves (no longer having to give body parts to sin), identify one body part currently being used for wickedness to stop offering it, and one part God wants more of to start offering as an instrument of righteousness. Through explanation of law versus gospel (two divisions of all Scripture), baptism as identification with Christ's death and resurrection, and the progression from knowing to believing to acting, the teaching reveals that Christian life's power comes from personally appropriating truth—reckoning ourselves dead to sin but alive to God, then making choices to offer body parts as instruments of righteousness rather than wickedness.

Do we realize that Christmas is a life and death issue—that what we do with Christ is a matter of life and death? How has death (spiritual, physical, eternal) affected our lives as descendants of Adam, and do we recognize all three dimensions? This message reveals the devastating reality that Adam's one sin brought death to all humanity in three forms—separation from God (spiritual death), from our bodies (physical death), and from hope (eternal death). Through the illustration of fig leaves (humanity's first self-help program that can't work because dead people cannot help themselves), the fur coat God provided (pointing to Christ's sacrifice), and the escalator metaphor (God sending everything down while people try to climb up), the teaching exposes humanity's desperate condition and God's generous solution. Discover how in the same way death spread through Adam, life can spread through Christ, why God's gift is infinitely greater than Adam's trespass, and how the gift of life is simply received by believing God—standing still and taking what He's sending down.

If everything good and perfect comes down from above as gifts, why do we keep demanding them from the world, people, or ourselves? Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem so dangerous to Herod and the kings of this world, and why do world powers still try to silence Him today? This message reveals that Christmas brings the gift of peace—not something humans can create but only receive from the Prince of Peace. Through Micah's 700-year-old prophecy about Bethlehem, Pilate's contemporary question "What is truth?", and Isaiah 53's description of Jesus bearing the punishment that brought peace, the teaching exposes why people want peace apart from truth (which never works) and how the cross is God's way of reconciling alienated humanity back to Himself. Discover why Jesus' alternative kingdom based on truth threatens world's pseudo-peace, how real peace can only be had through Christ who is the truth, and why subjective experience of peace is never divorced from objective reality of the cross—it's a finished, perfect gift received by faith.

Where is the real spirit of Christmas found, and why do so many look for it in wrong places like malls or tree farms? Are our hopes tied to this temporary life (career, family, retirement, health) or to eternal realities we were made for? This message reveals that Christmas brings the gift of hope—not wishful thinking but confident expectation regarding the future rooted in eternal life. Through the tragic story of a law student who jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge (having everything externally yet no internal hope), Paul's testimony of being hard-pressed but not crushed, and the promise of an eternal dwelling to replace this earthly tent, the teaching shows how hope transforms worldview by putting heaven at the center. Discover why if believers' hope in Christ is only for this life they should be pitied, how hope makes Christians joyful optimists, and why God gave the Holy Spirit as deposit guaranteeing the future—changing how believers live in the present.

Do we really believe we've been justified by Christ's blood, or do we still feel guilty and condemned before God? If being justified means having peace with God, why do so many Christians live anxious and unsettled lives? This message reveals that God is a speaking God who negotiated a new covenant through His Son, offering friendship with Himself through the cross—available by simple faith. Through examination of Romans 5, the teaching shows what believers can expect once justified: peace with God, standing in His grace, hope in His glory, and even rejoicing in suffering that produces perseverance and character. Discover why believers are the product of God's best effort (more valuable than creation which He'll destroy), how justification rests on three unshakable foundations (God's grace, faith, Christ's blood), and why worship should be filled with awe knowing two seconds after death believers will be in heaven—eternally secure because of what Christ accomplished.

Would Adam and Eve have sinned if they'd made the decision to be thankful for all God gave them, or is ungratefulness the root sin? Are we absolutely sure that if we died tonight, we'd be in heaven tomorrow, or are we just hoping? This Thanksgiving message reveals that one non-negotiable mark of mature Christians is thankfulness, yet refusing to give thanks makes thinking futile and hearts dark—possibly the worst sin leading to all others. Through examination of Romans 4:16 ("the promise is guaranteed"), the teaching shows why salvation can be guaranteed: it's completely God's gift requiring only belief, not human effort mixed with grace. Discover the three components of Abraham's faith (object was God Himself, faith faced reality while holding on, result was giving God glory), why being fully persuaded that God has power changes everything, and how secure salvation rearranges perspective on possessions, pain, people, purity, and identity—increasing thankfulness from deep inside.

How can Christianity be so radically different from every other religion—what God has done versus what people must do? If Abraham is the prototype believer and salvation has always been by faith alone, why do people keep trying other ways to relate to God? This message reveals that Abraham—father of all believers, Jewish and Gentile—illustrates the transaction at salvation's heart: because he believed God, righteousness was credited to his account. Through Abraham's story spanning Genesis, the teaching shows believers are part of God's 4,000-year rescue plan to reattach humanity to Himself. Discover why God calls people for two reasons (to bless them and use them to bless others), how the great failure then and now is taking blessing but forgetting mission, why Abraham's imperfect but growing faith teaches us to keep coming back to trusting God, and how the gospel's main purpose is showing the world what kind of God sits on heaven's throne.