Ron's passion is to make Jesus-disciples and build Jesus-churches that fully reflect Jesus Christ in the world! Ron has planted churches, taught in Seminary and Bible schools, and trained church leaders around the world. He has Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degrees from…
Sanctification: becoming more and more like Jesus Christ!
Fighting back against spiritual resistance!
A challenge from Jesus to let go of whatever keeps you from freely following Him!
The strangely supranormal ministry of Jesus Christ!
The pastoral heart of Jesus (the Good Shepherd) in action!
Jesus experienced rejection throughout His entire ministry, but the rejection He received in His hometown of Nazareth was particularly painful. Their familiarity with "childhood" Jesus made Him familiar, common, and offensive to them in many respects. In short, they were offended by Jesus and filled of unbelief toward His ministry. As a result, Jesus to do the mighty works in Nazareth. But instead of being shut down by this rejection, Jesus turned His attention to the mission field ahead and released His men into the mission.
What we all need for an amazing new year ahead, is a refresher in the New Covenant! Jesus came to this world full of "grace and truth". Grace comes through Jesus and is a totally free gift to us because Jesus paid for the entire Christian life upfront on the Cross. Jesus gives us a Christian life that is by "grace alone" not by works of the Law. And this New Way of relating to God is only accessed by "faith alone"--we don't "work" for it or "earn" it, we simply believe and accept the promises of God by faith. Grace works through faith, but the final piece of the equation is that everything in the Christian life only works through the power of the Holy Spirit. So this New Covenant for the New Year ahead is only given by grace, accessed by simple faith, and activated in our lives by the Holy Spirit. Such good news! This study in Mark 5 illustrates grace, faith, and the Spirit's power as the way everything works now in the New Covenant. I pray that 2024 will be a new year for you that is focused on this New Covenant in Christ! I can think of no greater prayer to pray for you than this one!
The story and details surrounding the birth of Jesus in Matthew 1-2. Then how we can apply this to our lives at Christmas time!
We are in the middle of a gigantic cosmic battle between good and evil over the lives of every human being on earth! It's a messy battle that needs to be understood so that we aren't victims! This week we are going to touch on this spiritual battle directly from Jesus' ministry in Mark 5. In this study Jesus deals with a legion of demons--the messy side of God's Kingdom invading planet earth!
Jesus told parables to illustrate the Kingdom of God or what life is like under the rule and reign of God. But most people were happy to just hear Jesus' parables and go home afterward. So only those who stuck around and pressed into Jesus got the secrets of the Kingdom. Perhaps the greatest of all Kingdom "secrets" is the revelation that Jesus is the sovereign Lord of King of God's Kingdom!
God designed us to bear fruit in our lives--fruit that remains and lasts the tests of time. But what are the obstacles that stop or stunt that fruitfulness? Jesus' first parable is full of truth that clarifies where we are at spiritually, and shows us how to stay on track!
We'll be looking at how Jesus faced the unfair judgments of others in His life and how that applies to our lives.
Jesus was hounded by leaders who tried to trick Him to sin, political leaders who plotted His death, mobs of people that could have crushed Him to death, and bizarre demonic activity that brought confusion to people about His true identity. In all of these things, Jesus had wise solutions to the greatest of life's problems!
Jesus' battle with the religious leaders of His day gave ample opportunity to demonstrate the profound differences between Himself and the unhealthy religion of the day. This passage of Scripture is a real challenge to the look and feel of the church that Jesus is building in the world today.
There are major differences between religion and the life-giving Christianity that Jesus brings! This week we will see Jesus expose the deceitfulness of religion that can only offer people "words" without the raw, supernatural power to change lives!
This teaching looks at how Jesus approached His ministry!
A closer look at what we need to know about following Jesus, followed by some of the things that made Jesus so famous!
Mark's Gospel reveals Jesus as both the Son of God and the Servant prophesied in Scripture--the Servant-Son who came to powerfully advance God's Kingdom on earth. Throughout Mark we see Jesus as a man of action and authority and he calls us to be the same! Today's message shows how John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus' ministry and gives us many good examples to imitate! Welcome to this face-paced adventure of seeing how Jesus works and following His example!
The ancient Aramaic phrase, "Maranatha" was one of the earliest words that identified Christians to each other in early Christianity. The phrase means: "The Lord has come" in the sense that Jesus came to earth, died, and returned resurrected. It also is something we pray for right now in the present: "Lord, come!" We are hungry for the Lord to return and set all things right on our messed up planet. But it also means: "The Lord is coming!" It is our heart's desire that Jesus will indeed come back again soon! So "Maranatha" is a loaded idea...it celebrates the fact that Jesus has come, that we long for His soon return right now, and that He will most assuredly come again very soon. This final teaching from Paul calls us to live our lives in the light of the King's soon return! Maranatha...even so, "Come, Lord Jesus!"
The Resurrection is central to the practice of our faith in that it gives us what we need to live a powerful hope-filled, and productive Christian life right here and now. This teaching gives clarity and fresh understanding of the nature and mechanics of the Resurrection.
Resurrection is central to our Christian faith: the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, followed by our own future resurrections! Paul addresses some anti-resurrection teaching that was present in the church of Corinth, and he shows us why our faith in the resurrection is essential to a Biblical faith in today's world.
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