THE CLANDESTINE SERVANT
UNIVERSE REVERSED
HOLY VIOLENCE & A LIFE ABOVE THE FRAY
THE GOD WHO SEES
God fulfilled every promise He made to Abraham and Sarah, and to Hagar and Ishmael. Both of these parties experienced extreme examples of things not going according to their plan, and they had to learn to trust. But the very names of their children are prophetic evidence of who God would be to them forever—His word never comes back void.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE TREES
TO LOVE AN EARTHQUAKE
We who believe will marvel the sight of the One we’ve waited so long for. Jesus spoke of this coming moment, when Heaven ceases to contain Him, when every eye will see Him, as the “birth,” the joy for which every mother endures the pain of labor. And in the birth pangs, what the author of Hebrews calls “shakings,” I pray we come to love the earthquakes that betray our idols and quicksand foundations for all they are.
SOLDIER UP
Paul was obsessed with the return of Jesus, even when he knew he wouldn’t be alive to see it happen. He closed his last letter to his beloved son and disciple with exhortations and warnings concerning the end of the age, even knitting his own life of service to “that day” and “His appearing.” Why? Because war ends when Jesus comes. On that great and glorious Day, every son can return home and melt his gun into a plow. Until then, every soldier must work hard, suffer strategically, and ignore, defy, and avoid the entanglements of civilian privilege and luxury “to please the One who enlisted him.” We get to serve our Commander, and we want to feel His smile on our lives.
WHEN THE WORLD CAVES IN
CALL IT A REDWOOD
No one can enter eternity and sit at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the feast for union with Him slain before the foundation of the world, harboring offense at another sinner in their heart. Such bitterness will damn you to eternity apart from the just Judge of the ages. So Jesus’ words to Peter were those of a sage and sober wisdom: Forgive every day, until the last day. You forgive and keep forgiving till the end of the age; the welfare of your very soul is at stake. You love till the end.
MERRY-NATHA // CHRISTMAS & THE INCARNATE WITNESS
What we call the “Great Commission” tasked us with the holy dignity of bearing incarnate witness to the Incarnate God. Indeed, “let this mind be in [us] also.” As we meditate on the Incarnation this week—and we should—may we look towards the rest of the story, and may we give ourselves to hasten the Day it’ll happen.
HANUKKAH // FINITE FLAMES AND THE ALL-CONSUMING FIRE
HEROES WORTH A DAMN (BALLADS OF THE REVELATION)
He will, in fact, be the only One standing when every knee bows. His will be the only mouth silent when every tongue confesses the Lordship of Jesus Christ, to the glory of the Father—because He humiliated Himself first and lived a perfect life of full obedience, all the way to a criminal’s public execution. This is our “blessed hope,” and waiting for His coming on the clouds with glory is a good and right expectation.
ALL HAIL THE BLOODY KING (BALLADS OF THE REVELATION)
COURAGE & THE KINGDOM
Revelation 21:8 says “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” To many, it is a surprise that the cowardly are listed along with murders, sorcerers, and idol worshipers. What makes cowardice so deadly, and why should we treat it seriously? Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom in the Parable of the Talents offers some surprising insights.
A CALL TO THE TABLE
I’d like to issue this invitation to you as we leave 2020 for 2021: Come to the table. And bring your buddies. Bring your neighbors. And may He purge us there of everything we still carry but cannot bring into the Promised Land. May He meet us there and “add many to our numbers.” And may the table become a place of humility and repentance, where the Body and Bride of Jesus can prepare the way for the coming King.
GRAPEVINES, GATHERINGS, AND GROWTH
SCANDAL, PROVOCATION, AND THE GOD WHO GOES ANYWHERE
The Law of Love goes anywhere and humbles itself before any person, that it may break their chains off. This is provocative and reforming, because religion derives its “holiness” from its separation from that which it deems dirty. Love sees filthiness and says, “I’ll wash you.” Love draws itself to the broken; religion separates itself to preserve its own whitewashed walls.
DIE FREE AND LIVE FOREVER
The political spirit would like us to think standing up for our rights is paramount. It would like us to destroy people and property in the name of justice instead of bringing healing that only Christ in us can bring. It would like us to see people as their opinions and actions instead of imago Dei. It would like for us to think this battle is indeed against flesh and blood. But we know better.
