A Crisis of Faith. Have you ever had one? If so, you’ll not soon forget it. I can tell you from personal experience that a crisis of faith is no fun.

It’s no fun when your belief system is thrown into a tailspin. It’s no fun when your theological substructure upon which you have built your life suddenly crumbles into dust. It’s no fun when you’re suddenly overwhelmed by doubts about the cardinal convictions that you have held near and dear for so long. Let me tell you: Given the choice between a crisis of faith and… say… bamboo shoots stuck up my fingernails, I’ll take the bamboo shoots every time.

Here’s how it happens: Something unexpected hits our lives. A loss. A disappointment. Mistreatment at the hands of a Christian. A personal moral failure that leaves us reeling with the realization that we just did something that we were sure we would never/could never do. A spiritual dead zone where we go through all of the motions that worked in the past — Bible reading, prayer, memorization, faithful church attendance — but no matter what we do or how hard we try to connect with God, He seems utterly disconnected — silent, indifferent, or non-existent.

It doesn’t help that we’ve had it ingrained into our thinking that such deep-down doubts are evidence of a lack of faith. Because if faith is the basis of our salvation — “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8) — then perhaps, just maybe, we were never saved to begin with. Or so we fear. Like a dull headache, the question can gnaw ever so subtly at the synapses of our minds: Can a true believer in Jesus ever really falter in his or her faith, or stop believing altogether?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this because I was reminded of something just this week in our ongoing study of Jesus in HD. During my teaching preparation, I was reacquainted with an old friend. He appears in the opening act of the Gospel drama. He plays a singularly significant role in Jesus’ life and ministry at the beginning, and then just sort of fades away — by design. Yet Jesus held him in the very highest esteem, paying him the most superlative of compliments that firmly established this choice servant of God in His Hall of Faith of biblical heroes.

And yet, in his darkest hour, at that moment when his life hit rock bottom, his faith collapsed.

Yes, I am talking about John the Baptizer. A man about whom Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). Pretty high praise for someone caught in the stranglehold of his own crisis of faith.

Here’s the thumbnail of his backstory (If you want to hear the full-blown account of John’s epic downward spiral, click HERE for the podcast): John the Baptizer announced to the world that Jesus was the Messiah, and that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand (Mathew 3:2). But as so often happens, life did not turn out the way John thought it would or thought it should. This supremely faithful and uncompromisingly godly servant of the Most High ended up in prison and languished in a desert dungeon for months. No, life was not fair. Yes, bad things (a whole lot of bad things) happened to this very good person.

Matthew gave us the briefest of glimpses into John’s personal prison of anguish when he reported that in desperation, John sent a question to Jesus. A most remarkable question, the words of which unmask the depth of John’s doubts. The man who revealed Jesus the Messiah to the world actually asked Him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” (Matthew 11:3).

You talk about a faith in free-fall! There it was for all the world to see and hear.

Now, my point in sharing this is not to solve your crisis of faith (assuming you have had, or will have one). I can’t do that. I can tell you that like me — like John — you will work through it, and come out even stronger because of it.

My point is to tell you this: Jesus did not condemn John the Baptizer. Just the opposite. For it was in response to John’s question that Jesus heaped upon him the highest praise that Jesus gave to anyone.

Have any doubts of your own? Jesus understands. He knows how tough it is down here. He knows firsthand all of the many factors that can suddenly and unexpectedly and tragically come together in a faith-shattering constellation of catastrophes that will rock anyone’s belief system to its very core.

And He loves us just the same.

He won’t condemn us. He won’t judge us. He won’t think less of us. He will not abandon us. He will say to us exactly what He said in response to John the Baptizer: Look at all the things I am doing — “The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them” (Matthew 11:5). In other words, I’m still here. I’m still in control. Even if/when it doesn’t seem like I am. AND… I am not going anywhere.

If someone of the stature of a John the Baptizer battled his own demons of doubt, please don’t be surprised and don’t despair if you do as well.

Mothers, think back to what it was like when you gave birth to your firstborn child – the fears, the insecurities, the feelings of inadequacy.

Now imagine that when you did give birth, it was not in the clinical cleanliness of a hospital room or birthing center.

Imagine you were in a cave, dark and alone, unsanitary to the extreme, no nurse, doctor, or midwife to help you, and you are all of 13 or 15 years old, in what was essentially a foreign country, away from your family, with only your fiancé to help you.

Add to all of that the political climate of the world Mary was living in – a world of crushing oppression fueled by a brutal and barbaric military occupation.

Furthermore, if we discover nothing else from the birth narratives in both Matthew and Luke, we at least learn this: There are some people in this world who are without a doubt the very incarnation of evil.

Such was the power of Rome, and so was the person of Herod.

From this point on in all four Gospels, every miracle that Jesus performs, every lesson that Jesus teaches, every person whom Jesus meets, every action that Jesus completes will all be done under the watchful and wary eyes of Rome, the imperial power to whom Herod had sold his soul.

With that in mind, can we even begin to imagine the world into which Mary gave birth to her son?

You will learn so much more about that world as you listen to this podcast.

You can hear it by clicking here, or through the podcast player on the right. Enjoy!!!

Tonight a dear friend of mine asked me for a copy of my paraphrase of Psalm 2, graciously telling me that it was a blessing especially for her dad. So here it is with my prayer that it will also be a blessing to you. 

Why are the nations of this world in an uproar? Why are the people of this world planning and plotting and conniving such worthless plans?

The world’s leaders have set themselves against God and are determined to defy Him in every decision they make.

But God will not be mocked. His ultimate rule in the world will not be shaken. Indeed, He will make a make a mockery of them as He declares for one and all to hear, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.” (And I would add, not by the vote of the people, but by the divine appointment of Almighty God.)

To My Son I say these words — words that the world had best never forget — To Jesus I say, “You are my Son. Today I have begotten You. Just ask, and I will give You the nations as your inheritance; the four corners of the world are Yours to possess.

“The day will come, sooner rather than later, when You will break them with a rod of iron; You will dash them to pieces like pottery.” 

So to every world leader I say, “Serve the Lord with reverent fear. Rejoice at your God-given privilege, yet tremble in His holy presence. Bow your knee and kiss His Son’s hand, fully submitting to Jesus’ sovereign rule. Otherwise, if you don’t, you run the risk of kindling the fire of His wrath that one day will destroy you.”

 

“The angel told Mary… You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus… Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:34-35).

Matthew put it this way: “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18).

The Virgin Birth. Not one miracle, but two. Two miracles: Each equally amazing. Each equally awe-inspiring. Each absolutely essential to who Jesus was. Each absolutely essential to your salvation and mine.

Two miracles.

When you are through hearing this podcast, you will understand this singularly significant statement: Neither Matthew nor Luke needed to prove the Virgin Birth. The Virgin Birth proved itself.

When you are through hearing this podcast, you will have gained a whole new understanding of the Virgin Birth, and a whole new appreciation for what the Virgin Birth means to your life and mine today, right now, in real time.

You can hear the podcast by clicking on the podcast player to the right, or by clicking HERE. Enjoy!!! 

“He was born in an obscure village, the Child of a peasant teen who knew not man. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. 

“He never married or owned a home. He never held a job, yet paid taxes. He never set foot inside a metropolis. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never wrote a book, or held an office. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He received no awards, no medals, no prizes from His peers. 

“While He was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends deserted Him. He was turned over to His enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial. He had no lawyers, no friendly juries, no fair hearing. 

“He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had – His cloak. After He died, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave…

“And yet two thousand years have come and gone, and today He is still the central figure…of the human race. 

“All the armies that ever marched and al the navies that ever sailed and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as this ‘One Solitary Life.’”

No, I didn’t write this. I quote this. A little gift from me to you. A simple yet timeless piece of poetry that puts this Christmas day into its proper perspective.

Merry Christmas, everyone, from our home to yours.

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified” (Luke 2:8-9).

Do you see what is so singularly significant about that statement?

You will after you hear this podcast. Trust me, you may never hear nor read the Christmas story in quite the same way again.

You can hear the podcast by clicking on the podcast player up on the right, or by clicking HERE.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, from our home to yours!

How much thought do you put into the gifts that you give at Christmas?

I have no doubt that the Wise Men put a considerable amount of thought into theirs.

The three gifts that these mysterious visitors from the East presented to Jesus — Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh — tell a remarkably riveting story. Indeed, the single most compelling story that has ever been told 

This story is so beautifully symbolized and so clearly communicated in a curious combination of three unusual-yet-fascinating gifts.

Spoiler Alert: After hearing this message, you may never look upon a manger scene the same way again.

You can hear the podcast by clicking here. Or you can click on the podcast player on the upper right.

His eyes blazed with the fire of conviction. His voice thundered as he peered out from behind his uncut hair and unkempt beard. He wore a camel’s-hair garment bound with a leather belt. He ate a strangely strict diet of honey and grasshoppers, of all things.

Yet when he spoke, the people trembled. Why?

What did he want?

Where did he come from? Who was this strange specter that haunted the barren sands of the Judean desert? 

What was it about him that caused Jesus to pay him the highest of all possible compliments?

For over 400 long, deafeningly silent years, God had not spoken, God had not acted, no prophets had arisen, no angels had been seen. A 400 year drought of any voice from God.

Suddenly, shockingly, unexpectedly, amazingly that silence was shattered. Shattered by an angel heralding the miraculous birth of a remarkable child.

In this podcast, you are about to meet one of the most remarkable people ever to walk across the biblical stage in this epic drama we call “Jesus in HD.”

You can meet him by clicking the podcast player in the upper right, or by clicking here.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the compelling, history-altering story of “A Man Sent From God.”

The newest podcast in our Jesus in HD series is now up and ready for you to listen. You can hear it here.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of this message for this one reason: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Believe it or not, these 17 simple words comprise one of the landmark, foundational verses upon which our faith, and therefore our lives, rests.

Yet, when you just read them, I doubt that you heard bugles blaring nor angelic choirs singing. You probably saw no lightning flashing nor thunder pealing. My public reading of these words never elicits from anyone any audible ooohs or aaahs. 

Maybe, just maybe, that’s because on the surface at least, these 17 words sound so foreign, so unlike the way we talk, so hard to relate to. “In the beginning was the Word”? As someone said to me just recently, “My mind has always just sort of glazed over that verse.” I can see why.

That being said, it would be impossible for me — impossible for me — to overstate the importance of this opening verse that introduces to us the Gospel According to John. Listen to this podcast, and you will quickly understand why.

You can find it right here. While on its surface, Luke 1:1-4 may not seem like a remarkable introduction to this “greatest story ever told,” I can assure you that Luke’s little lead-in contains several nuggets of pure gold. You are in for some surprises as we formally kick-off our chronological study of the life of Jesus. From my heart to yours, Enjoy!!!