“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” - Matthew 5:7–9, CSB Eventually, what is happening inside you becomes visible.You can hide a lot for a while. You can learn Christian language. You can know when to say amen. You can attend church, read Scripture, serve, g...  Read More

“Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” - Matthew 5:5–6, CSBYesterday, Jesus began with empty hands. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Before kingdom character ever becomes visible through what we do, Jesus deals with how we see ourselves before God. We recognize our need. We stop pretending we c...  Read More

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” - Matthew 5:3–4, CSBNobody wants to feel needy. We spend a lot of our lives trying to prove the opposite. We want to feel capable. Independent. Strong. Put together. We want to be the person who can handle it.So when something starts falling apart, our instinct is usually...  Read More

“Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.” - Philippians 3:20–21Jesus is coming back. We say that. We believe that. But there is a difference between believing something doctrinally and al...  Read More

“Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” - Philippians 3:20For the last few days, we have been looking pretty closely at our lives. What defines us? Who gets the final word? What are people learning by watching us? Where does our Christian confession fail to match the way we actually live?Those are necessary questions. They can also become...  Read More

“For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things.” - Philippians 3:18–19There is something sobering about the way Paul writes these words. He says them with tears. That matters.Paul isn't standing at a distance lookin...  Read More