What Bible verses most speak to you?
I’m not exactly a “What’s your life verse?” kind of guy, but there are a few that SO resonate with me that they ring in my head almost daily.
As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way. ~1 Samuel 12:23, CSB
Even as the Israelites insisted on having a king like all the surrounding nations, Samuel loved them enough to a) warn them and b) commit to them his faithfulness.
That’s what God does with us, right?
That’s my commitment to my first ministry (Kristine!), and that’s how I think about shepherding a flock. Prayer, preaching, and care ARE the work, right?
A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps. ~Proverbs 16:9, CSB
I could tell you story after story about how this has touched down in my life, how…
…in the span of a few weeks I went from a breakfast conversation in Portland, Oregon to studying for five weeks in Oxford, England
…I ended up working on my DMin at Denver Seminary (and how a DMin in Spiritual Formation relates to an MA in Apologetics)
…the Lord revealed to me one step in front of me that resulted in marriage and moving to Tacoma, Washington and turning down an offer for a pastoral role along the way
….I believe that “the call” may be a ‘road to Damascus’ moment for some people, but is more likely to be like the wandering, stumbling path that Peter took.
…Kristine and I have been praying that the Lord would lead us to a locality — congregation, town or region or people group to be reached, etc.
In a host of ways, this relates to a couple verses that I think sum up nearly all the ethics of the New Testament:
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. ~Romans 12:1-2, CSB
When I started serving regularly in the weekly chapel services for LifeChange (at Union Gospel Mission in Portland, OR), I prayerfully began by preaching through Romans 12.
But in the last couple years my own view of “preaching” and “pastoring” has been transformed by what I have learned while serving at UGM:
“Relational” over “transactional.” As I preached through Romans 12, the Lord hammered home “relational spirituality” to me such that it became the focus of my DMin thesis (Romans 12 is the application of the Gospel to loving God, loving/being the church, and even loving one’s enemies).
Dialogue beats monologue. I began serving by ‘delivering a message’ at UGM’s chapel services, but what I found was “circling up the chairs” and facilitating a lesson conversationally had a greater impact.
This dovetails with my passion for applied theology — our ability to connect. It’s the subject of my doctoral work. And it’s rooted in one of the quintessential verses used in apologetics — that relational spirituality isn’t just about the “what,” it’s also very much about the “how”:
…but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do this with gentleness and reverence… ~1 Peter 3:15–16a, CSB
“For the hope” is where the name of my podcast and personal ministry comes from, but there’s more to me than that.
In this “now and not-yet” life the “now” is both being ready to give an apologia, but it’s also an incarnational caring. Peter was writing to the diaspora during what was probably a reign of Nero. Identifying with Jesus came at a cost.
But your identity is itself rooted in hope — and hope is inherently “history and eschatalogy.” To paraphrase Lewis Smedes, remembering redemptively is trusting that a God who has always been trustworthy can be counted on for a history which is yet future to us.
And don’t we live in just such a world with just such a need for the gospel?
Why, yes. Yes we do.
I’d argue that politics simply follows culture, and culture simply follows worldview. So where are we at with origin, identity, meaning, morality, and destiny?
We need to get people ready spiritually for some tough times ahead.
