This article was posted on the Gospel Coalition website. After a few months on “our” mission field—a post-communist, dead, atheistic region—my family and I were reeling from shock. No, not culture-shock, though there was plenty of that. It was the shock of coming face to face with demonic forces beyond our comprehension. Numerous strange events […]
Colossians 2: Don’t Lose Your Head (pt3 of 3)
Practically, what were the false teachers saying to the Colossian church? v21 – “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch?” The false teachers tried to turn the church at Colossae from a community of grace to a community of performance. From a true community of life-giving faith into a community of religion and rules and regulations […]
Colossians 2: Don’t Lose Your Head (pt2 of 3)
If God’s desire is for us to stay connected to Jesus so that you can continue to be nourished and grow spiritually, what do you think Satan’s desire is? Isn’t it quite obvious? Satan will do everything in his power to get you and me to let go of Jesus and to make something else […]
Colossians 2: Don’t Lose Your Head (pt1 of 3)
Text: Col 2:1-23 Last week, we spent most of our time on one verse. Col 1:18 [READ] If you recall, the main point of last Sunday’s sermon was rather simple–Jesus is first place. We worked our way backward through v18. First, as a summary statement, we read that Jesus is first place in everything. Next, […]
Colossians 1: Jesus is First Place (pt3 of 3)
Now let’s bring it altogether. Jesus is first in the church, he’s the head of the church, he is first period, he’s the beginning, he’s first over creation as well as first in the new creation. Finally, what does it mean for Jesus to have first place in everything practically in your life and mine? […]
Colossians 1: Jesus is First Place (pt2 of 3)
There is something not right when someone fails to trace things back to their Creator and they act as if they just popped into existence. As if they created themselves. There is something right and beautiful when a concert master performs Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major at Carnegie Hall and afterward, amidst the roaring […]