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All Salaried Pastors Everywhere, Please Resign!

This is a call to all salaried pastors everywhere on earth: please resign right now!

Christ's church has both much potential and many problems. The church could be so much more if Christ's people en masse lived as the priests they already are. One of the biggest roadblocks to an active, thriving church is salaried pastors. I should know; I used to be one.

The salaried pastorate inadvertently keeps the church shackled. A damaging co-dependent relationship exists between paid pastors and the people in the pews: the pastor(s) gets paid to "do the work of the ministry" while the people largely sit and watch. Despite good intentions, this relationship stifles the good that the church can do and the wondrous thing it can be.

I do not sugarcoat or soften this call in any way. I believe all pastors who receive salaries from churches should resign today. This applies to all places on earth. Do not worry; you are not indispensable to the church. The Holy Spirit can lead things just fine on His own. In your absence, He will raise up elders from within the body who will lead through servanthood.

Rather than leaving the churches where you are employed, I'm simply stating that you should resign from your positions. Consider teaching about why this will help the church. Stay there. Change your role. Lead through service instead of decision making. Become one of the body, equal with everybody else. Encourage others to lead in their various areas of gifting. Stay in the background.

Please, pastor friend and brother in Christ, resign now. God will take care of you. He provides for me and my family each day. It won't be easy, but Christ did not call us to lives of ease. Rather, He called us to live as part of His priesthood and encourage/exhort others to do the same. We are all part of one body, all needed by the whole.

Resign and watch what the Holy Spirit will do. It will be an exciting ride and one that will please the Lord.

Every Day Remember That You Are a Priest

I Peter 2:4-10 tells us that everyone who is in Christ is also a priest:

"As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:

'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.'

So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,' and 'A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.'

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

The 4 Things You Need to Correctly Understand the Bible

I think we all agree that it is critical to understand the bible correctly. The original authors meant something when they wrote. It's our duty to comprehend what they were saying then and how that applies today. This is not always an easy task, but it is usually an enjoyable one.

Many Christians do not believe they have the ability to correctly understand the bible. I'd like to squash that belief. In order to understand the bible you only need four things. There are also many things that you do not need. Some of the things you do not need can be beneficial, but they are not necessary.

You do not need a seminary degree, ordination, overseas missionary service, thirty bibles, fancy bible software, Greek, or Hebrew. You also don't need experience as a paid pastor, Sunday School teacher, or Deacon. You certainly don't need to have written a book.

What, then, are the four things you need to correctly understand scripture? Here they are:

1. Your brain
2. The Holy Spirit
3. A good translation of the bible
4. Other believers

First, you need your brain. This is because you can, in fact, understand the bible. If you know Jesus Christ, then you are a part of the priesthood of all believers. Also, you have the Holy Spirit's assistance. He will not fail you. Our God is not a god of confusion. He wants you to correctly understand His book. The Spirit will help with this. Since you probably don't read both Greek and Hebrew at an expert level, you need a good translation. One is enough. Finally, you need other believers. As a group you can and should discuss the meaning of biblical texts. Interpretation is best done in community.

That's all you need. Four simple things. You can do it.

Expository Discussion

I have many fond memories of my time in seminary. One outstanding aspect of life at Southeastern was the constant challenge by both professors and friends to understand the meaning of the biblical text. We students were exhorted again and again to remember that the key is what the original author intended. This stands in stark contrast to the postmodern thought which permeates some churches today (the ideas that texts have no absolute meaning and that the reader brings meaning to the text).

At the seminary level, the first goal is to correctly understand the biblical text. The second is to preach that text in an expository manner. This simply means to explain the meaning of the text to those listening.

While I'm a big proponent of accurate exposition, I've rejected the traditional definition of preaching. Much more beneficial for the church is what we could refer to as expository discussion. This refers to a free-flowing conversation among a group of people seeking to accurately understand what God has said in the scriptures.

Expository discussion takes the best of expository preaching while rejecting the worst. It seeks to know what the original authors of the bible meant while doing so in a give-and-take setting.

Expository discussion is based in the idea that the church is a fully functioning priesthood of all believers. All Christians have the ability to read and understand what God has said. Some may be more experienced at this process, but all can and should participate.

Since all have the ability to read (or at least listen to) scripture and discuss it, the group dynamic is often a fascinating one. In a room with, for example, twelve people, the group can benefit greatly by what the Holy Spirit has to add through all twelve people. While the biblical text means one thing, the group has a way of seeing and describing that one thing is different ways. This helps all involved better comprehend both what God means and how they should respond to this.

A key in expository discussion is that all involved have the authority, under the direction of the Spirit, to say what they think the text means. Of course, there can occasionally be error which needs to be addressed. However, this is not the norm. Believers should be encouraged to add to the discussion. I've experienced many "A-ha!" types of moments listening to brothers and sisters simply describing what they believe a specific verse means. No one in the group has to wait for some outside expert to walk in and tell them what it really means.

I hope you are part of a small group of some type that functions in this way. It could be a home group, a Sunday School class, or simply friends getting together over coffee here and there. Regardless, expository discussion is deeply enriching. It never fails to challenge me. Almost every time I take part in it I see something new I'd never thought of before. This is not always comfortable, but it is beneficial.

Every Sunday our church family gets together. We are currently studying through both Genesis and Proverbs. Each week we discuss a chapter from both books. It never (literally) fails that someone says something that makes me think deeply about what I think I already know. I'm looking forward to this coming Sunday already. I hope you are as well.

Priesthood and Intimacy

Being part of God's priesthood is an undeserved gift. This gift demands responsibility for action on our part. Also required are self-sacrifice/service and reciprocity.

As a final thought on this topic for a while, let me include intimacy as critical for priestly living. I'm referring to both intimacy with God and intimacy with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Of primary importance is our own relationship with God. By definition, priests to God are close to God. Priests offer daily sacrifices of themselves to their Creator and Savior as part of communing with him. God desires and demands intimacy with his children.

Secondary, but still critical, are our relationships with other believers. We show our love for God through how we interact with other Christians. As we look in the bible, we see an expectation that we, as priests, will have close relationships with other priests. There is much more scriptural support for having close relationships with other believers than non-believers. Of course we ought to be friends with both groups, but Christians are to be the priority.

Intimacy requires time. This may be the toughest part. In our ultra-busy society, we often don't have much time to spend with Christian friends. I know I suffer from this with having to work about 60 hours per week. Regardless of our situation, we must do the best we can.

I'm sure there are some believers who are intimate with God who have very few if any Christian friends. This could occur overseas or here in the USA. The general pattern, however, for Christians seems to be that God wants us to live out our intimacy with him by being intimate with Christian brothers and sisters.

As we think about being priests, let's not ignore intimacy.

Priesthood and Reciprocity

As priests to God, our primary duty, responsibility, and joy is worship of our Lord. It is the reason we exist. We are called to be active in this pursuit.

One of the main ways we worship God is through our self-sacrificial service of others. God desires that we help our brothers and sisters to live more effectively as the priests they already are. One primary way we accomplish this is by carrying out the multitude of one-anothers in scripture.

The one-anothers are, by definition, a two way street. We love others; they love us. We serve others; they serve us. We admonish others, they admonish us. In light of this, we must be careful to give others opportunity to act as priests toward us. We must be willing to accept service.

There is a tendency (and I'm not sure why this exists) among some Christians to be always serving but not receiving it. If you ask them if they need help, they almost always say no. I think they do this because they don't want to cause any work for anyone else; therefore, their motives seem pure. However, in doing this they actually stunt the growth of their brothers and sisters. This is because they are keeping them from serving.

The one-anothers have a reciprocal nature. We all grow up together in Christ as we serve one another. We help others grow by one anothering together. This involves both giving and receiving. If we only focus on the giving, we end up inadvertently hurting both ourselves and others.

The New Testament is plural not singular. The authors intend body life to be full of reciprocal one-anothering. When this happens, the body grows in both health and maturity. Even more importantly, God is worshipped through back-and-forth priestly service.

Priesthood and Self-Sacrifice/Service

Living as priests to God is a mind-blowing reality. God looks to each of his children as living sacrifices. This, in turn, requires responsibility on our part. Unlike the passive (dead) sacrifices of the O.T. system, we are sacrifices who are very much alive.

As sacrifices, it is not surprising that God's expectation is that we will live lives of self-sacrifice and service. This is almost always in relationship to other people. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament shows us that Christ's expectation is that his followers will think of others before themselves.

For example, Paul writes in Philippians 2:3-4, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Paul then provides his readers with the greatest example of service and sacrifice: Jesus Christ himself in the Christ Hymn of 2:5-11.

I love the irony in the bible. Jesus Christ is both our High Priest and our sacrifice. In turn, as Christ-followers, we are priests who are to live sacrificially as sacrifices to God (that sounds redundant but is not intended to be).

As priests, we have been given great responsibility. As sacrifices, we are to live sacrificially. That would be a burden except that Christ has gone before us. He is the ultimate priest and sacrifice. We just follow along is his blessed footsteps.

Priesthood and Responsibility

All Christians are an equal part of the priesthood of all believers. This is both a great privilege and a great responsibility.

It is a stunning privilege to have direct access to the God of the universe. We've been given the gift of being able to communicate with our Lord whenever we want to do so. No individual stands between us and God. This is a unique aspect of Christianity among the world's religions.

Along with the privilege, we have the responsibility to live it out. This requires action on our part. We cannot sit back and wait for someone else to do priestly things for us. We all, as individual Christians, have the responsibility to live as sacrifices to God.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1

Paul's appeal is for us to take action. Each one of us.  Once we understand this, we need to ask what this looks like. It can probably be summed up best in the Great Commandment.

But what does this responsibility look like in practical terms? James helps us in 1:27, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

Along with living holy lives and caring for the needy, other aspects of priestly living include sharing our faith with the lost and carrying out the one anothers within the church.

All of the above require activity on our part. Christ does not expect his special people to be passive. Rather, his expectation is that we will go and do in this world.

Responsibility is one aspect of the priesthood. There are several more. I'll be covering these in the next few posts. In the meantime, what other key components of priestly living can you think of?

Mutual Edification and the Priesthood of All Believers

Mutual edification is the primary reason for the gathering of the church. Although various activities may occur as the body comes together, the goal of the assembling is that the church family be built up together.

The priesthood of all believers describes what the church is. The moment a person surrenders to Christ in faith, he also becomes a priest to God. The challenge is living out this priesthood.

As we think about these two things (mutual edification and the priesthood of all believers), we see a link between the two. The priesthood, in fact, helps us define what mutual edification actually is.

What is mutual edification? Here's my definition: Mutual edification is helping each other live more effectively as the priests we already are.

We don't try to help other believers become priests. That would be like trying to help believers get saved. All believers are positionally priests. God makes it happen.

The challenge and great privilege for all of us is actually taking responsibility to live out being the priests we are. As the body gathers, we encourage and exhort one another in ways that assist all present in both growing closer to Christ and becoming more like Him.

Paul, among others, addresses these issues in familiar passages. In Romans 12:1 the apostle appeals for the church in Rome to live as the priests they are, saying, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." How do the believers get to the point of doing this? One way is through mutual growth. I Corinthians 14:26 tells us, "What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up." When the church congregates, everything is for edification.

It's a wise thing to give thought to how we will edify others when we come together. This does not mean that we plan it all out, but rather that we just be prepared. In order to do this, it's good to know what the goal is. One good way to think about the goal is that it's helping priests live more priestly.

What the Priesthood Looks Like

Since we, as Christ's church, are a priesthood, we should know what this looks like. In general, there is a fairly simple answer. We find it in some familiar verses - Romans 12:1-2.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:1-2

Although the answer is simple, it is also profound. Sacrifices by definition are completely given over to someone. They are dead to their own desires and wishes. They in every way exist for someone else. In our case that is Christ.

Basically, we exist to please God. On a daily basis, then, Paul admonishes us to make a practice of presenting ourselves as living sacrifices. This requires action on our part. There is absolutely nothing passive about it.

A significant part of the discipleship process is helping our brothers and sisters in Christ present themselves as sacrifices (as they in turn help us do the same). When we initially turn to Christ, he makes us priests. Our responsibility is to engage in mutual priesthood building as we assist one another in becoming daily what we already are.

What's all this look like day to day? As we relate to the church, we live out the one anothers. As we engage the world, we preach the truth and serve abundantly. To put it simply, priests live to glorify Christ by striving to do what he desires each minute of the day.

As with many other aspects of the Christian life, living as priests is not complicated. What it does require is devotion, obedience, and action.

On Getting a Christmas Gift but Not Opening It

God has determined that his people are his priests. All his people are his priests.

"You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." I Peter 2:5

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." I Peter 2:9

It's not that all believers might be priests. In fact, all are priests. It is not an option; God has decided it. Also, it is no chore, but rather a great privilege.

Despite this, the church is largely ignorant of the implications of the priesthood of all believers. Most local bodies function as if only a few are priests. The majority of the people are passive while the few do most of the work.

This reminds me of receiving a Christmas gift but then not opening it. Now, I've never done that and you probably haven't either. The church however both has and continues to do so. The priesthood of all believers is a stunning and unique gift that God has given to all his followers. God desires that we all live out the reality of what we are. Instead of ignoring this gift, let's vigorously embrace it and encourage our brothers and sisters to do so as well.

Missions in I Peter

The book of I Peter teaches us much about living as exiles in this world. Not surprisingly, the apostle deals with the theme of suffering several times in this epistle. What about missions? Does Peter write anything that will help us share the gospel more effectively? The answer is yes. Peter gives us valuable information to share about the church. Specifically, the church is a priesthood (to read the first post in this series, click here).

In order to fully share the good news of Jesus Christ, we must tell what the church is and does. Although this is secondary to what Christ has accomplished for us, it is still critical. The reason is that anyone who accepts Christ is also immediately ushered into the church. The new believer needs to know what this thing is that he is a part of.

Peter writes the following short but key passages:

"As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." I Peter 2:4-5

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." I Peter 2:9

In these passages Peter says that the church is a "holy priesthood" and a "royal priesthood." We are told that we are able to "offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God" and "proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

Priests have direct access to God. Priests have a relationship with Him. Priests are active. Priests offer acceptable sacrifices. New believers need to know that God expects them to be active in their relationship with Him, in their relationships with other believers, and in their proclamation of the gospel to the world.

A problem with much missions and evangelism today is that it offers no biblical definition of what the church should be and do. Instead, new Christians quickly learn through observation that they are expected to attend Sunday School, attend worship services, listen to sermons, join a church, put money in the offering plate, attend Wednesday evening activities, etc., etc., etc. These expectations create passive new believers.

Thanks to Peter we have a biblical way of teaching new Jesus-followers what it is to actively live for Jesus. Let's make sure that they understand that they are priests with all the responsibilities and privileges that carries.


To read any or all posts in this series on missions, click here.

Priestly Serving Together

We live in such an individual-driven society that it is sometimes difficult to accurately understand what the apostolic writers are telling us. We are further hampered by the English language. Specifically, singular commands and plural commands often sound the same; the word “you” can be singular or plural.

Since we are Western, we often fall into the trap of reading commands as singular when they are actually plural. Romans 12:9-21 is a passage where this can easily happen. In these verses, Paul gives short command after command, and almost all are plural.

Paul is telling us that we serve as priests together:

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

This sounds sort of like a laundry list to our ears. How in the world can we obey all these commands? We can’t if we try to do it alone.

Paul, to our benefit, isn’t thinking about us living up to these standards alone. Instead, the apostle is thinking about body life. Three times in these verses Paul uses the expression “one another.” His thought process is that we will carry out our priestly service right alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ. We will live according to these high standards by helping one another do so.

By the power of the Holy Spirit and with the help of the church family, we can live in a manner that pleases God. This is what priests do. We offer sacrifices of praise in accordance with God’s standards. We do it together.

I Love This Verse!

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16

If we take scripture seriously, then this verse has uber-significant application for various reasons. I'll briefly focus on one. It is not only our joy, but also our responsibility to teach and admonish others and also accept teaching and admonishing from others.

Paul has an expectation of action on our part. We are not to sit back and wait for others to do this, but instead we are to engage in teaching and admonishing the church. Since this letter is written to the entire body (note: not just some), this applies to all Christians. This is a key aspect to the priesthood of all believers.

In order for the church to be healthy, we must live this out.

Using Priestly Gifts for the Good of the Body

We’ve previously seen that Paul calls upon all of us in the church to live as the priests we already are. In doing this, the apostle tells us that we can actually know the will of God.

Paul continues in Romans 12 with the exhortation that we priests must all use our gifts for the good of the body. Paul informs us in verses 3-8, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

The body needs all its members. All the priests need each other.

Keeping an accurate and humble view of self, we are to all serve the body with whatever gifts God has given us. This is critical because, as Paul writes, “…the members do not all have the same function.” This is why all are necessary. If all don’t function, then the body will have significant weaknesses.

In God’s kingdom we are not individuals, at least not in the ultra-individualistic, modern, Western sense. Instead, we are all parts of one functioning body. Every part is necessary. Paul says we are, “individually members one of another.” I’m part of you and you are part of me. It may at first sound odd to us, but if we are part of the same body this must be the case.

In the midst of body life we must not be passive. Rather, let us all use our gifts to serve in the family in whatever manner we can. When all parts function, then the body becomes vibrant. All needs are met and the body is healthy.

We priests offer acceptable sacrifices to God when we actively serve the body using the gifts he has granted us. God desires and commands this, and we all benefit from it.

An Excellent Biblical Definition of the Church

On Sunday our church family was studying through I Peter chapter two. Not surprisingly, verses five and nine generated a good bit of discussion concerning the church. As I read verse nine several times, I was struck that it is an excellent definition of the church.

I Peter 2:9 in a few different translations:

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (ESV)

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." (HCSB)

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." (KJV)

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (NIV)

Sometimes we make life too complicated. In attempting to define things such as the church, let's simply let scripture speak whenever it provides definitions. I Peter 2:9 is the best I've ever seen for the church.

We Priests Can Know the Will of God

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:1-2 (emphasis mine)

What a wonderful truth! Since we are priests to God, we can know his will.

When we offer the spiritual sacrifice of rejecting the things of this world and instead give ourselves completely to God, we can understand what his will is. This is stunning. We sinful people can comprehend what the Creator of the universe plans and desires.

Although it is wise to seek the counsel of Christian brothers and sisters, we can see in this passage that we can understand God's will on our own. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, and led by what we read in scripture, we can and should be able to know God's will. We don't need anyone else to stand between us and God.

I'm not suggesting a sort of "Lone Ranger" Christianity. We benefit greatly from discussing important issues with Christian friends. However, we do not have to depend on others to stand in as a sort of intermediary between us and God. We don't have to wait for them to tell us what to do. Rather, we all can know the will of holy God.

This is amazing. I love that God speaks to all of us and hasn't chosen any special class of people to stand above the others. Let us all seek his will together, and at the same time know that we can understand it.

A Call to Live as the Priests We Are

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."  Romans 12:1

Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, performed the ultimate act of sacrifice by giving himself for us. Because of what he accomplished, we are one with him (interestingly, I just learned that the term "High Priest" is used more in the book of Hebrews than any other book in the bible).

God does not expect us to act as priests in order to come to him. Rather, because of Jesus' atoning work, we are priests. Our status is set. It does not depend on our work, but Christ's accomplished work. Notice that Paul does not call upon the Roman Christians to perform spiritual sacrifices to be right with God. Instead, he calls upon them to live out the priesthood that they are a part of. As priests, the fruit of their relationship with God is their spiritual sacrifices.

This is a clarion call from the apostle to the Roman church to embrace their priesthood. We must remember that Romans 12 comes relatively late in this epistle. For much of the previous eleven chapters Paul has discussed what God has done in his rescue mission of sinners. God performed the necessary work of redemption to make us priests.

In light of our peace with God (Romans 5:1), we can and should embrace this call to live as the priests we are. Stunningly, God has freed us to live through Christ in ways that please him. He accepts our sacrifices because of his Son's ultimate sacrifice.

Topics of Interest (at Least for Me)

I've mentioned several times (probably too many) that I'm working a lot these days. This, by the way, is far superior to being unemployed.

Due to the work, my blogging time has decreased. Therefore, I'm planning to narrow down the focus of this blog. As in the icon to the left, I'm going to be writing primarily about four things that are topics of interest at least for me:

1. Simple Church / House Church/ Organic Church Positives

I realize that I write about this quite a bit already. However, my plan is to focus more on the positives of whatever we call this sort of church life. I hope you see a smaller percentage of posts targeting negatives of institutional church; this may occur from time to time, but the percentage will be dropping.

2. The Priesthood of All Believers

This often misunderstood doctrine of the faith is critical to a healthy church. The more I ponder the reality of our priesthood, the more stunned and awestruck I am by it. Of course, this is only possible because of our great High Priest - Christ himself.

3. The Atonement of Christ

This is probably my favorite doctrine of them all. The High Priest offers himself as the once for all sacrifice for us. It's so wonderful that it's almost unbelievable.

4. World Missions

This should need no explanation. What a privilege to be Christ's ambassadors!


I hope this streamlining of focus will make for a better blog and more interesting discussions. While blogging frequency will be less than in the past, maybe the quality will rise.