The Unfaithful People of a Faithful God

One of my favorite churches, The Crossing in Columbia, Missouri, put together the following  video which serves to remind us of two things:

1) Whatever self-generated righteousness with which we try to clothe ourselves is really nothing but a polluted garment in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6).

2) Nevertheless, even in the midst of our faithlessness, God is still faithful to those who find their identity and righteousness in Him (2 Timothy 2:13).

As I've highlighted before (both here and here) and as my friends at The Crossing point out here, the Bible is neither a book of rules nor a book of heroes, but rather it is the story of Jesus as the one true hero.

Only Jesus’ faithful life and death for our sin and resurrection to guarantee the full redemption and restoration of humanity and the earth IS the point.

Our salvation is God’s doing from first to last through Christ and his Holy Spirit.

Watch the video below, and if you'd like, click here to listen to a recent sermon on the topic by The Crossing's pastor, Dave Cover.  And may we all be like the man who cried out to Jesus in Mark 9:24, "I believe!  Help my unbelief!"


Revelation of Humanity from The Crossing on Vimeo.

A Response to Ricky Gervais

A few weeks back, comedian Ricky Gervais wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal on why he is an atheist.  Yesterday, my friend Dave Cover wrote a response to Ricky Gervais.  It probably won't appear in the Journal, but hey, it got mentioned here.  Somehow I'm guessing Dave's not too excited.

Dave is Teaching Pastor at The Crossing Church in Columbia, Missouri and a really sharp guy.  I found his post to be very thoughtful and thought-provoking as he points out some of the logical fallacies that Gervais and other atheists often fall into in presenting their arguments.  In the end though, the strength of Dave's argument rests not in his refutation of atheists' beliefs, but in the rationale for his own:

One big reason I believe in Christianity is that there is convincing historical evidence for a real Jesus who lived, did miracles, was crucified, and rose from the dead. I believe the New Testament is not a book of myth, but of historical fact and truthful teaching on the realities I see everyday in the human condition: that sin is destructive, that human beings have souls, that love is better than hate, that evil is real and good is real, that life has meaning and death is foreign to my created instincts.

I highly recommend you click here to check it out.

Praying Through Scripture

Have you ever wondered what exactly some people mean when they suggest that we should "pray through Scripture" and "meditate" upon it? If so, Dave Cover, Teaching Pastor at The Crossing Church in Columbia, Missouri (and one of my mentors from my collegiate days) gives us a helpful example.

In it, he highlights the benefits of committing Scripture to memory and encourages us all to memorize such passages as Psalm 23.

When you’re lying awake at night unable to sleep for whatever reason (restlessness, anxiety, worry, regret, etc.), you can meditate on and pray through Psalm 23 from memory. When you’re driving on your way to work and you’ve got that anxious feeling inside you—either because of trouble at home or at work or in life—you can meditate on and pray through Psalm 23 from memory. Cling to the presence of God and the promises of all that He is for you in Christ the same way King David did 3,000 years ago, and the same way believers have done ever since.

You can read Dave's whole post here.