Penal Substitution, Craft Beer, and some Happy Theology

Watch some thoughts on atonement, the Trinity, and the work of Christ here!

Some thoughts on Colossians, and a call to fast!

Colossians is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful books in the New Testament. Colossians highlights the significance of the person of Christ- fully God and fully man – and juxtaposes authentic Christianity with the superstitious and legalistic doctrines that were finding footholds in the first century church.

Reading Colossians in 2011 as a new believer, I was compelled and inspired by the clear imperatives in the second half of the book: love one another, be honest, and work hard. The first half, on the other hand, seemed to be a lot more abstract – upholding the divinity of Christ and rejecting superstition. I dealt with this issue a lot when I would read anything by Paul; I struggled to make the connection when I read anything from Romans to 1 Thessalonians. I enjoyed reading the theology and found it interesting, but I could never quite understand why Paul seemed to think it related so directly to our day to day lives in Christ.

Then the Gospel happened.

I was working on a jobsite in the spring of 2016, surfing the internet on a coffee break. I was making a point of fasting weekly, both for my own spiritual benefit, and to press into the Lord for some content to teach my men’s group. On this particular fast day, I had the thoughts come to mind, “intimacy with Jesus and union with Christ,” and immediately recalled seeing a book on Amazon called “Mystical Union.” I looked up the author’s name, and scrolled his videos on YouTube. I was floored. As I soaked in the implications of God’s union with humanity in the person of Jesus, Paul began to make sense. A whole new world seemed to open up before me as I began to see the significance of Jesus’ incarnation, and started to see God, life, and myself through a “Christological lens.”

In the first two chapters of Colossians, Paul beautifully articulates the person and work of Christ. He alternates between describing who Jesus is in His person, and what He has done for us through His death, resurrection, and ascension. Paul describes the heart of the Gospel he preached as being “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27) Not just Christ as an example to follow, but Christ in humanity as a man, indwelling humanity by His Spirit.

Paul’s specific moral imperatives in chapters three and four find their context in chapters one and two. Without the theological framework of chapters one and two, these instructions become just another form of legalism. By contrast, when we see these instructions in the context of the person and work of Christ, they describe what human life looks like when it is lived in the light of the reality of our inclusion in Jesus and of His union with us. The Gospel is not advice; it is, instead, the flat announcement of the victory of Jesus over sin, death, and every power of the enemy. The implications of this victory include (but are in no way limited to) our absolute freedom from sin, judgement, religious legalism, and superstition, no thanks to us or our own efforts.

Union with Christ changes everything. Every aspect of our lives finds its true meaning in this union, and every malfunction in our lives or characters stems from, I believe, our failure to live from a place of simple trust in who Jesus is in us. Union with Jesus drastically changes our motives; instead of living for Jesus, union means that we live in Jesus. We live, because Jesus lives, seated at the right hand of the Father in a physical, human body, and not only that, but in us through His Spirit. Instead of striving for a closer relationship with the Lord, this union allows us to participate and drink from Jesus’ own relationship with His Abba through the agency of Holy Spirit. Instead of striving to please God, we live lives of righteousness and love as a product of seeing what has become of us in Jesus. Instead of pressing in for “more of God” through our efforts and disciplines, this union allows us to rest in the reality that God has given us all of Himself, forever, in Jesus.

In  late December into early January, the corporate compulsion to make resolutions, sanctify ourselves, and rededicate our lives to the gym and to the Lord is tangibly thick, like the layer of frozen air laying across the our hemisphere, or like the glory cloud at Bethel. This intoxicating combination of some free time, extra calories, fresh winter air, and probably alcohol compels us to “think bigger” as we begin 2018.

I am not exempt from this.

I am calling a fast, and I want to invite you to join me. Along with countless believers around the world, I am echoing the call for a season of radical self-denial. Let’s make a resolution.

In light of what has become of my humanity in Jesus, I am committing to a season of living in absolute denial of my old, corrupt, sinless, joyless, religiously-sober self. For this fast, I am rejecting the identity I inherited through Adam- I am living in the light of the reality that this self has been circumcised away from me through the death of Jesus, and that I have been resurrected and co-seated with Christ in fellowship with His Father.

I am going to fast from self-righteousness and false humility. I am fasting from dark introspection. I am fasting from sin. I am fasting from the harassment and oppression of the enemy. I am fasting from religion in all of its forms. I am fasting from living outside the love of God, and from seeing others outside of the lens of God’s grace. I am fasting from seeing God’s character as being different than the character revealed in Jesus. I am fasting from seeing the Father, myself, or anyone else through any lens except for the revelation of Christ and Him crucified. By God’s grace, through the faith that  comes as a free gift, I am going to live joyfully aware of my inclusion in Christ. I am going to eat heartily of His broken body- I am feasting on the reality of our redemption from every effect of Adam’s fall. I am committed to drinking deeply from the cup of the New Covenant, to living daily in a state of intoxication with His goodness and mercy! In 2018, let’s resolve to keep the feast, for Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. 

Whether you are fasting from food or still finishing your Christmas leftovers and expired eggnog, I wish you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, and His very own joy and bliss for 2018!

2017 testimonies, and your 2018 Prophetic Word!

2017 has come and gone, and what a year it was. Over the past three years, it has felt like each year brought exponential transformation and growth, and that has shown no signs of slowing down as we have begun the new year. Jessica and I are both deeply thankful for everyone who walked with us through the last three years, and for the amazing experiences and the resulting changes in perspective and lifestyle these experiences have brought.

A couple things that happened throughout the last year have stood out that I feel are worth sharing on this platform.

First, seemingly randomly I received a text from my brother about a downtown outreach ministry being started by a local contractor. The timing was nothing short of predominant; three days before that, I had stepped down from another ministry responsibility, and was asking the Holy Spirit where and how He wanted me to serve. This was obviously the answer. Once a week, we have brought food, clothes, hugs, Bibles, and the love Jesus to the poorest of the poor in Winnipeg. God has used every week’s ministry to reveal His goodness and His heart to me, and I have been so privileged to watch Him work as we rest in His ability to minister through us. One encounter I will never forget was a First Nations man who walked up to me in tears as I chatted with another girl in front of a pizza shop on Osborne. “Help me!” he begged, almost choking on his tears. I told him softly that I didn’t have any cash when he looked into my eyes, put his hand on my chest over my heart, and said “I don’t need money… I need what you have.” We looked into each others eyes for a second before he exclaimed “It’s Jesus, isn’t it?! I need your Jesus!” We had a beautiful time sharing the Gospel with him and praying for him. I haven’t seen Him since, but I am trusting that the Holy Spirit will weave that experience into the tapestry of God’s saving work in his life. 

A second experience, also in Winnipeg, occurred this summer, while I was out walking with another group that ministers downtown. A thirty-something man was pushing his girlfriend in front of him in a wheelchair towards us when a young man in our group boldly asked if she wanted to be able to walk again. Our group laid hands on her, and without any prompting (or warning) she climbed out of the wheelchair and started screaming, “I’m walking! I’m f***ing walking! I can walk!” Her boyfriend was so touched by the love of God that he asked for us to pray for his addictions. As we prayed for him, he slowly collapsed onto the sidewalk in tears, clearly overcome by the presence of Holy Spirit. The team ran into the couple again the week after- this time, without the wheelchair! I have lost count of the number of healings and miracles we have seen this year, but there are some, like this, that I could never forget. 

The highlight of our year was the opportunity we had to travel to Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Thailand to serve, minister, and explore. For almost two weeks, we sat under teaching of the unadulterated good news of God’s grace in Christ. On numerous occasions, as we took in the teaching, I felt like I was meeting Jesus again for the first time. During our stay in the Philippines, we quickly developed a friendship with the twenty five or so street kids who roamed the area around our group’s bed and breakfast. All between the ages of five and ten, these kids were left to their own devices, day in and day out. Each child absolutely basked in the love and affection we were able to give them- our days were filled with hugs, kisses, games, and children constantly climbing into our arms one after another and throwing their heads onto our chests. I pray for those kids every day; I pray for the opportunity to go back and sit in front of Jollibee’s and play Mister Shark with our new friends. I pray that they learn to receive from the Father the love and care they experienced with us, and I pray for the local church to walk in God’s heart towards these children who are otherwise invisible in their society.

It is such an amazing gift to go into the new year with so many amazing memories from the year past, and with such hope and anticipation for the year to come. While our circumstances fluctuate and vary over time, (they weren’t always bright in 2017, and probably won’t always be bright in 2018 either) the Gospel, the goodness of God, and the finished work of Jesus Christ do not. Whether we recognize it or not, we have a rock-solid foundation for joy and hope. We have a hope and a confident expectation that, in any circumstance, Jesus will make Himself known in and through us. We have assurance that the Father of Jesus does not look different from the Son- that there is no dark or angry God hidden behind Jesus’ back. We have confidence that we are who the Father has said we are: pure, holy, and righteous children of God in Christ Jesus. We have confidence that we can experience every circumstance with contentment and joy through Him who gives us strength.

My “prophetic word” for 2018 is the same Word that was with the Father in the beginning. It is the Word through whom all things were made. It is the Word through, in and by whom all things exist and hold together. His name represents our inclusion in His saving and redeeming work- that in Him our humanity has been cleansed from every contamination brought about by the fall of Adam. His name signifies that we have been freed from every definition of separation or distance between man and God- that He, in His very being, is our reconciliation with God. And it is in his name that I wish you wholeness, peace, and a year of hammered-drunk intoxication on the bliss of the New Covenant! May God bless you until we participate in His fellowship again face to face!