Followers of Jesus in Lexington

Let There Be Light, Not Leaven

Like the Germans learned with Adolf Hitler in the 1930's, evil is simply not a force that you can box in and control...it must be eradicated. So what happens when evil shows up in God's Glory Story, or even worse, in the church? Paul was livid because the Corinthian church was not only tolerating evil, they were celebrating it. The antidote...the church MUST judge that which is within, and it must ACT on that judgement.

So You Wanna Be Special

What happens when we as churches form mini tribes, concluding that we've arrived and are now an example of what others should be? Paul had some things to say about all of that. The Corinthian church thought they were special, but instead they were actually breaking God's world. After some spicy commentary, Paul finally gives his prescription for how we can be special as a tribe. And it wasn't what they were expecting... 

We've Got The Whole World In Our Hands

Pharaoh told the Israelites to “gather your own straw”. But God is giving us everything we need. In fact, Paul says that as Christians we’ve got the whole world in our hands. So what are we gonna do with it? 
Are we going to use it to build something lasting and useful? Or are we just going to play around, wasting all of its potential by watching funny cat videos?
Are we going to build on the foundation of Jesus and what he wants for this world? Or are we going to build on the foundation of our own little tribe, with us as the center of truth and the center of the world?
Are we going to build for Jesus, in our true identity and for the benefit of others? Or are we going to do all the good things, but do them so we can be successful and our ego can feel protected.

The Church Is Like A Swimming Pool

My cousins once had a pet raccoon named Bandit, and he was an intuitive swimmer. However, humans aren't like that....and neither are new Christians. So what does it mean for a church to be like a swimming pool, and why did Paul care?

The Philosophy Of The Cross

Justin Martyr once described Christianity as the true philosophy, our best shot at right thinking for right living. However, by this time, the Greeks already had a robust philosophical tradition. Yet instead of giving a point-by-point rebuttal to this corpus of thought, God responded with an image…the cross.
What does cross-shaped thinking look like? And what contribution did this philosophy make to a Western society that now believes that all men are created equal, that women are valued, that slavery is an abomination, that racism is being dealt with, that the poor is being taken care of, that killing is not a public sport, and that babies are no longer left to die?

I Am Of Apollos

What should be our response to the Christian plague of tribalism? To those of our brothers and sisters who identify as of Paul, or of Apollos, or of Martin Luther, or of Menno Simons? It turns that that our response of "I am of Jesus" is almost as unhelpful. So what is the path forward to a single "I am of ____?"

A Case for a Connected Kingdom

This message was shared as part of a KFW Midwest exploratory weekend. Are we the type of people Jesus that do whatever Jesus commands us? Sure, we wash feet, we wear headcoverings, we don’t swear…we even love our enemies. But what about that other thing Jesus said..."that they may be one"? In this message, an intuitive, practice, and biblical case is built for intentionally connecting as churches. 

Lovecraft: The Art of The Great Dance

Love is what makes God’s world and holds it together. Yet love can't be manufactured, it takes imagination, it takes noticing, it takes creativity, it takes adjusting. How can we participate in The Great Dance with one another, and not just pass through life as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal?

A Masterclass in The Great Dance

A masterclass is when someone says in five minutes what otherwise would have taken all semester for a teacher to summarize...it's concise, brilliant, and powerful. And that is exactly what Jesus shared in John 14, a masterclass in The Great Dance of love.

God's Gravity and The Great Dance

Alexander the Great wanted to remake creation into a Greek-shaped world...but what would it take to remake creation into a Jesus-shaped world? This message argues that love is not only the mysterious force that holds together God’s world, it is also the force that enables The Great Dance...as among the Trinity, so among us on earth.

Before The Beginning

Did you ever wonder what was before the beginning? Whatever it was, it must have been very mysterious. Fortunately, Jesus actually told us...before the beginning was love. The goal of this message is to present love in a fresh and new light. Oneness as "unity in variety", not uniformity. Love as action, not intent. And love as not only our origin story, but also our destination. Love...it's the greatest thing.

On The First Day

When the Romans and Jewish rulers killed Jesus, they could not have guessed that the stone they were rejecting would become the cornerstone of a whole new world. Follow the Apostle John and Mary Magdalene as they stand in shock and wonder at what lies in front of them. What is this new Jesus-shaped world? Why do people keep talking about the year of jubilee?

When We Broke God

Sometimes, when you go into a store or garage sale, you will see a sign that says “Not responsible for accidents. You break it, you buy it.”  The point is…be responsible. Your carelessness shouldn’t be at the expense of someone else. But what happens when we break something that is God’s? Or even worse, what would happen if we actually broke God? How will God respond? What will this tell us about God?

Humility | Stepping Forward

That impulse we feel to step forward...isn't that pride?  Maybe not. It might actually be humility. Once we've stepped backward and deflated our Ego, Jesus calls us to step forward in our True Identity as "the Rock", the "Apostle to the Gentiles" and "the Son of Consolation". The current chapter in God's Glory Story is counting on us to be humble...to step backward and to step forward.
This is message #2 of a two-part series on humility.

Humility | Stepping Backward

In the message, learn about the Ego, the Shadow, and why all of society engages in playacting. Hear why humility is NOT "the annihilation of self", but rather something much more powerful and redemptive. And why "stepping back" and taking the lowest seat at the table is only the first step in humility...a launchpad for the second dimension of "stepping forward" in God's Glory Story.
This is message #1 of a two-part series on humility.

Behold the Man!

So, if humans are going to again be God’s stewards on earth, God needed to give them something to guide them after baptism so when they wake up each morning they could know what they are supposed to be doing as God’s stewards on earth.  He could have handled it this way…Behold, the rules! But that’s not what He said. Instead, he said...Behold the man! The Great Principle of God, our best shot at understanding what God is trying to say is....a man.

What Is The Silence Saying?

We know what God was proclaiming when the Messiah was born and when He died and came back to life. However, what was God proclaiming in the years in between...in those silent years when Jesus was age 13 through age 30?  It turns out....in that silence God actually had a LOT to say.   P.S. It is also possible that Mary put her thumb on the scale and influenced the trajectory of God's Glory Story?

How Should a King Come?

One of the most shocking things about this chapter in God’s Glory Story is the deliverer that God sent was…God himself. If we pay attention to “how” he enters our world as a deliver, we can learn a lot about how He will show up in our chapter of the story. So how did this king come?

Joseph: A True Son of David

Joseph may be one of the most underestimated men in God’s Glory Story.  Yes, he would get to participate in the most exciting chapter in God’s Glory Story. But for Joseph it came with agonizing choices… choices that would cost him nearly everything he cared about.

From Despicable Me to Beloved Son

In Corrupt Creation, when you dug deep into the depths of who you were…what you found was death. You were Despicable Me. However, after being baptized and entering God’s New Creation, when you dig deep into the depths of who you are…what you find is God (in you).
You are a Beloved Son...with a new sense of belonging, a new tribe, and a new innocence.

Not Like That Anymore

Jesus knew that after being baptized, people would assume that most things are as they’ve always been, maybe just dressed up a bit.
He knew he would need to convince them that things are radically different in God’s New Creation, and not just that things are radically different, but that they are radically different. For this reason, Jesus took a young converted Paul into the wilderness and personally taught him the ins and outs of this good news. Because people need to know that “it’s not like that anymore”.
What happens after baptism, what is life like when you step into glory and spend your first day in God’s New Creation?

The Dirt Didn't Change

When a soul comes out of the waters of baptism, they are returning to the exact same ground they left just a few minutes before....the dirt didn't change. So what is different about this new reality they are entering as they leave Corrupt Creation and enter God's New Creation? Imagine "life on earth" if gravity was optional and you had an internal jet engine at your disposal? And if God's New Creation is everything it's cracked up to be, what are the possibilities for God's Glory Story on earth?

The Gravitational Pull of Sin...Broken

The law of gravity says what goes up, must come down. But what if you saw your neighbor jump from their roof…but not fall to the ground? Is gravity broken? In this message, learn how followers of Jesus defy “the law of sin” in their bodies and soar as eagles in God’s New Creation.
This is message #4 in a series of messages on baptism.

Burying the Big One - God's Plan For The Epidemic of Sin

The primary instrument of death that helped the Europeans conquer the Americas was....smallpox. This virus, which by definition must live in human and animal bodies, was so deadly that it even killed five European monarchs. Smallpox was the big one, and to eliminate it would have required the simultaneous elimination of all living bodies.
The world is infected with another mysterious disease that is carried in human bodies....sin. It literally kills people every day and there is no vaccine for it. However, a man with a mysterious practice involving water seems to have a global solution...a way to bury the big one.
This is message #3 in a series of messages on baptism.

Renewing the Image

Baptism is a portal from one world into another…the place where we can enter into God’s new creation. Over and over again, the New Testament writers used specific language to tell us that God did something really big with the Messiah...something that wasn't about heaven, but about earth. Earth's issues were so large, they couldn't just be patched...they needed a factory reset. They were saying that the stone that the builders rejected had become the cornerstone of a whole new world.
This is message #2 in a series of messages on baptism.

Let There Be

Baptism is an interesting practice. Words are spoken, the baptized person is now wet, and at a glance they appear to be….still the same person. Did anything happen there?
One of the central claims of Christianity is that baptism is a huge deal. It is a portal from one world into another. If this is true, what does it look like when someone we know becomes a new creature, and what can they expect in their new life in God’s new creation? To answer these questions, this message explores what it looks like when a creator god shows up. And what this has to do with a fire-breathing sea monster.
This is message #1 in a series of messages on baptism.

Casting Out Fear

The powers of darkness want to stop God's Glory Story from moving forward. And it's possible that the #1 tool they are using to stop that story is....fear.  Find out how your biology is working against you when you are fearful, why your lizard brain thinks your brother in Christ is a....grizzly bear. And what the Bible says you can do about it.

Crossing the Rubicon - The Day Jesus Took History Into His Own Hands

When Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley on a donkey, He was largely silent. Yet in His actions He was shouting at the top of His lungs. To the powers of darkness, these weren't just simple actions..."them was fighting words". Revisit the great drama of the Sunday before Jesus died, the day when He "crossed the Rubicon" and took history into His own hands.

Concealed Carry: Being On-Guard Against Gossip

Gossip is not "good spiritual conversation". Gossip is sin. So why does the conservative Christian church struggle so much with integrity in its speech? And why are we as humans so prone to gossip? And what does this have to do with whether firefighters like to take risk in life?

Loving the Ugly Duckling

Many people spend most of their life trying to overcome an inner voice that tells them they are the Ugly Duckling.
It started with the parent that we couldn't please...."You never do it quite right, you don’t deserve what I am giving you, you’ll never measure up." Then the pastor chimed in...."It’s a good thing God is good…because we aren’t and can’t be. If good does happen to come from us, it’s because God did it, not us."
But what if God created humans as something with dignity, a being crowed with glory and honor? What is our potential if we stop telling ourselves the lie that some of us inherited from our parents and/or pastors....that we are the Ugly Duckling?

Ramping Up The Revolution

As the Christian community watches in horror, it seems that society is being primed for another super-cycle of violence similar to WWI and WWII. Around the world, people are restless, norms are breaking down, and violence is being normalized. The powers of darkness are ramping up...it's time for the kingdom of God to also!Here is what that could look like.

Shame...The Signal You Belong

Shame...often misused and often misunderstood. Discover how Jesus and the apostles used shame to form and preserve the new Jesus society. See how shame is used in an honor/shame culture not to define "right vs. wrong" but rather to define what makes us "us."

Tell Me...What Makes Us ”Us”?

Jesus and the apostles were given a nearly impossible task...march into a culture that is organized around "loyalty to my tribe" and form a brand new people group. Can a new tribal identity be formed in the absence of family ties, ethnic affinities, and socio-economic classes? It would be risky. See how the early builders of the "Christian nation" used the twin tools of honor and shame to form their new people group and reinforce its values.
This message is the first in a series on the Honor/Shame culture of the first century.

Is This Your Idea of a Good Job? Repentance 4 of 4

You are only account-able to repent and follow Jesus when you are response-able....when you are responsible enough to do the job you are signing up for.  But what is the job description of a Christian? And is this a job you really want?
This is the fourth message in a four-part series on repentance.

A Job Description of a Soldier of the Lord - Repentance 3 of 4

You are only account-able to repent and follow Jesus when you are response-able....when you are responsible enough to do the job you are signing up for.  But what is the job description of a Christian? 
This is the third message in a four-part series on repentance.

What Does It Take To ”Follow Me”? - Repentance Part 2 of 4

Having explored the "why" of repentance in the previous message, what did Jesus say about "when" a person should repent and follow Him?  
This is the second message in a four-part series on repentance.

Called To A Calling - Repentance Part 1 of 4

Why should a soul repent, and when?”  If heaven and were not primarily what Jesus had in mind when He said “repent and follow Me”, what is the point of repentance?
The message also discusses the “age of accountability” and attempts to replace it with what Jesus actually said about “when” to repent.
This is the first message in a four-part series on repentance.

The Expectations of Amazing Grace

In the Greco-Roman world, the term "grace" did not mean how we understand it today.  Martin Luther defined it a certain way...but Paul seemed to have something else in mind. An emerging understanding of the Greek term "charis" is redefining the Evangelical understanding of this important biblical term.  This message was originally shared in Lexington, IL, and later shared and recorded in Cheyenne, WY.
PLEASE NOTE: About a minute of audio is missing in the middle of the message. 

Joe Biden....God’s Minister

Government policy during COVID inflamed the passions of many Western Christians, often resulting in anti-government sentiment.  But what did Jesus and the apostles actually say about government? Is there a model that explains how God uses human government as "His minister", even though His answer for the world's problems is Jesus and His kingdom? This message, which was first shared in Lexington, was later shared and recorded in Cheyenne, WY.

So What Is Your Story?

A message on how to pierce the fog of your feelings, examine the underlying story, and become more fruitful as a Christian.
Our local sisters had a get-together where they talked about how to manage strong feelings.  They were pretty excited about some of the thoughts that were shared, so a full message was eventually developed on the topic.