Word of Life Church Podcast

We are not Levites at Sinai cutting down sinners in our zeal. We are healers from Mount Zion reconciling people to God. We are not given the ministry of death from the letter; we are given the ministry of life from the Spirit. If we have more passion to put up the Ten Commandments in courthouses than to advocate for immigrants, help prisoners, and reconcile sinners, we can be sure we are filled with the wrong spirit and have the wrong ministry!

When the Law was given at Mount Sinai, the Levites took up swords and killed 3,000 people who had worshiped the golden calf. At Pentecost, when the holy spirit was given, Peter preached the gospel and 3,000 people were saved! The Apostle Paul says it this way: “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

God is triune but Jesus gets a lot of attention because the Father sends the Son and the Spirit glorifies the Son. Jesus said that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, would come to glorify him. The work of the Holy Spirit is not to draw attention to the work of the Holy Spirit, but to draw our attention to Jesus. He does this by producing within us the fruit of the Spirit.

Ascension Day is easily the most overlooked holy day in the church calendar. In Western culture Christmas and Easter remain very prominent (even if commercialized). In the church Good Friday and Pentecost are still recognized as holy days. But Ascension Day has been almost totally lost. This should tell us something: We’ve lost the meaning of the Ascension of Christ. The gospel is the story of Jesus: Incarnation, Proclamation of the kingdom of God, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension. If we fail to understand the Ascension, our gospel is incomplete.

The demonic seduction of accusation, empire, and propaganda (dragon, beast, and false prophet) always lead humanity to another bloody battlefield. Armageddon always looms. Yet hope abides. Armageddon is always a possibility, but never an inevitability. If we reject the ways of the beast and follow the way of the Lamb, Jesus will lead us away from the doom of Armageddon into the shalom of the New Jerusalem. Though the fires of destruction are always burning outside the walls, the Spirit and the Bride are always calling us into the city of the Lamb...and her gates will never be shut.

The Book of Revelation may be the most important biblical text for American Christians right now, but only if we can rescue it from its egregious misinterpretations and learn to read it properly. Revelation is NOT a 1st century prediction of the geopolitical events of the 21st century; Revelation IS a prophetic critique of the idolatry inherent with economic and military superpowers. The overarching message of the Book of Revelation is this: Jesus is Lord and Rome, etc., etc., is not.

The eschatological vision of the Bible is the answer to our constant prayer, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” So at the end of the Bible we are shown a prophetic picture of the arrival on earth of the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem; a garden city that embodies fidelity and justice.

“Jesus stands before a broken world and says, 'Come follow me.' He invites you to discover a beautiful life that lasts forever." - The Journey at Word of Life ChurchA beautiful life is the kind of life that last forever.A beautiful life is the kind of life that saves the world.The most beautiful life is the life of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.It is the beauty of Christ that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. It is the beauty of Christ that compels us to join with the Roman centurion at the Cross confessing “Truly, this is the Son of God.” In the bleak landscape of our bottom-line, results-obsessed culture, may we find new life as we join Jesus on this journey of beautiful living.

From the beginning Jesus has been gathering together a flock, a community of people, who follow Jesus and believe his teaching, a community that would share his life, eternal life. The Journey at Word of Life is not a solo project. It is an adventure we share together with friends and also with people who we would not necessarily be friends without outside of our shared faith.

Following Jesus is something we do together, but it is a self-initiated journey. No one can walk this journey for you; it is something you determine to do. God does give his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to be our helper and companion. However, you make the daily decision to either cooperate with or work against the Holy Spirit. We are each responsible for our own exploration of The Journey. We have the help of the Holy Spirit, but we also have the help of the collective wisdom of those who have followed Jesus before us. We have summed up much of this wisdom in what we call The Four Practices: awareness, learning, reflecting, action.