What comes to mind when we hear the phrase “the good news”? Generally we think the gospel, yes. But what gospel? A set of beliefs including the virgin birth, incarnation, death, atonement, resurrection, repentance and salvation? Yes. What else? As I looked to the...
As I looked through the gospels to learn more about what incarnational living out to look like, I noticed some glaring omissions. This is not the way we would write the gospels in today’s church. Jesus didn’t say much or even model much behavior about church/temple...
Another surprise for me as I looked through the gospels is the amount of healing taking place. As Jesus lived on earth, he did a whole lot of healing. Not everyone, of course, but there is a lot more healing than my non-Charismatic background is usually open to...
As I mentioned yesterday, I recently went through the gospel accounts writing down specific things Jesus did during this time on earth. Several things surprised me as I then looked back over the list I had compiled. One was how pronounced Jesus’ emphasis was on the...
Much has been made lately of the phrase “living incarnationally.” The bedrock passage is John 14:12, where Jesus told us, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am...
As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, let’s incarnate him in such a way that others will experience the reality of Jesus… not only in this season but in the coming year. Pray that the reason he came would be increasingly realized in the lives of those around us, so...
