Category: Theological Thoughts

Luke 15:21: And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

The response of the older son is like his younger brother’s. The younger brother was blind in sin and disobedience, the older brother is blind in disrespect and self-righteousness. He was so busy thinking of his own affairs and his rights that he missed what was happening before his very eyes. The older brother is a picture of the Pharisees of the day. Here was Jesus transforming lives, giving sight to the blind, giving hope to the hopeless, and changing everything in their midst, and the Pharisees could only see these people in light of their un-redeemed, unchanged status.

The key to this passage is his rationale: “‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command.” This was precisely the same way the Pharisees acted: they boasted in their accomplishments. But if they had up to that moment lived up to all of God’s commandments, they had failed to live up to one: to rejoice over the finding of one lost sheep.

In this season of Lent, when we see people around us experiencing resurrection moments; when we see them in moments of real heavenly delight, the only appropriate response is to feast: “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad…”

Prayer: Our Father, we wish to rejoice with those who rejoice. May we be genuinely pleased with the good news that brings back rebellious sons to their senses and re-unites fathers with their children. May our hearts find delight in the delight of others through Christ our Lord, amen.

One of the most famous biblical names in the Bible is Naomi. Her name means “pleasant.” Yet, when she returned to Israel, she asked to be called Mara, which means “bitter.”

“Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.”

It is an astounding thing that nowhere after this verse is she referred to as “Mara” as she prefers. The author and the characters speak of her only as Naomi, the pleasant one.

While we work hard against evil during this Lenten Season, we need to remind ourselves that the one working in us will carry us to completion (Phil. 1:6). Our identity is bound up in him. The Naomi story teaches us that whether we feel bitter or even choose to identify ourselves with bitterness, God continues to view us as pleasant. We are called this Lent to live the next thirty-four days according to how God sees us, not how we wish to be seen or understood.

Happy Lent! God is pleased with you.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, whose faithfulness reaches to the skies, we give you thanks for looking upon us on earth with your favor. Teach us to see ourselves as you see us, rather than to fight to see ourselves apart from you, through Christ our Lord, Amen.

It was the Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness. The Devil didn’t draw Jesus out to battle. Our Lord was led by the Third-Person of the Godhead revealing once more the Triune unity.

The Spirit plays a fundamental role in this season. The role of the Spirit, according to St. John, is to convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment (Jn. 16:8).

While Lent focuses on the Jesus-story and the reality of the cross, Lent is also a season to magnify the Spirit’s work in convicting us of our sins. The Church season of Lent is only beneficial when the Spirit works within us to produce fruits and virtues; faith and vigor in our walk. And since the Spirit is conforming us to the image of the Son through these virtues, thus we have a calling to fight in harmony with the Spirit. In short, Lent is the harmony of the Spirit’s work with Spirit-empowered saints.

Just as the Lenten journey was a road of struggle, prayer, and communion for our Lord, so too, our walk to bear and reflect such fruits will demand struggle, prayer, and communion with our Lord. Our entire lives can be summed up in warfare. Lent is a reminder to take our sin-struggle as the Christian’s constant battleground. These next thirty-five days stress our need to repent of those things which easily entangle us in a web of deceit. Only the Spirit can lead us well to fight our evil foe. Only the Spirit can lead us to see the victorious Lord who defeated evil for us at Calvary’s cross.

Lent is Spirit-centered. None of us can ever expect to gain from fasting and building godly habits apart from the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

Our Lord Jesus was tempted in three different ways. Among them was the temptation for universal power and authority. For this reason, “the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.”

In the book of Job, the LORD said to Satan: “Have you considered my servant Job?” Before Yahweh presented Job to the devil, He declared Job blameless and upright. Indeed, Job came through the temptations of Satan as a faithful servant just as God said.

In Matthew’s Gospel, God offers a new Job to be tested by Satan. Jesus overcomes the temptations of the evil one by pointing the devil to God’s authoritative Word (Deut. 8). Again, before Jesus went to the wilderness, God declared Jesus blameless and upright: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus is the greater Job.

In these remaining thirty-six days, let us daily remind ourselves that God does not allow us to be tempted without blessing and training us in righteousness. We are God’s servants: blameless and upright in His sight. May the Lenten journey prepare us to be faithful to respond to Satan’s temptations.

Prayer: O Lord, you are righteous and good. We ask to not be led into temptation, but should we be taken to the highest peak where power and authority are offered to us in exchange for compromising your Gospel, speak life to our hearts for the kingdom of heaven is mightier and more desirable than gold and silver. We ask this in the Name of our blessed Lord Jesus, amen.

Dear friend,

When you set up idealistic, unrealistic visions for your children you are doomed to suffer anxiety attacks as you see your dreams frequently shattered. Yes, they will sin. Yes, they will disappoint you. But not any less than you and I disappoint our Lord daily. We often set expectations higher than what we set for ourselves.

I am not discouraging you from pursuing faithful discipline and habits and expectations for your children, but I am discouraging you from your perfectionism. A friend often says, “God is perfect, but he is not a perfectionist.” So, too, we imitate our Father in heaven by refusing to follow the anxiety-ridden culture that sees a child’s inabilities to reach some stated goal as a cosmic curse. Every time your child does not meet that idealist expectation, give thanks to God. After all, it was probably your expectation for that child and not God’s. And, you see, you should desire your unbalanced expectations to die daily and God’s expectations to thrive daily.

Ultimately, what I am saying is, “relax.” Jesus loves you and He wants you mentally capable of handling parenting. Your stresses aid nothing to your child’s development, but your peace and persistent love will aid in 1,000 different ways. More on this soon.

Mighty cheers,
Pastor Uriesou Brito

The Church Calendar is a tough sell in our evangelical culture. It’s not so much because of historical illiteracy; it’s mainly because of historical inconsistency or historical preferences. Most in our culture have a fondness for national and localized festivities. As I’ve said, it’s not a poor keeping of time; it’s a selected keeping of time. I want to argue that there is a time that supersedes civic time and that is the Church time.

Now, I am aware that once we begin this conversation, there will be all sorts of fears about celebrating days for saints, for angels, and other such things. But I am simply arguing for a celebration of the basic church calendar; the five evangelical feast days ((Advent) Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost). If most churches cherished and celebrated a general outline for the calendar, we could begin to see a greater harmonization of themes, topics, and vision for the church universal.

If some were to say, “Why can’t we sing Christmas carols whenever we want to; after all every Sunday is Christmas?” The answer is: “For the same reason you don’t sing Happy Birthday to your child whenever you want to. It’s true that every Sunday is Christmas, but every Sunday is also Easter and Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, etc.” You can do those things, but it takes away from the appointed observance of such a time. If some were to say: “Why am I bound to observe this church calendar?” Answer: “You are not bound to. Your church is not bound to; simply, history has shown its wisdom and its longevity has shown its importance.” There is a historical harmony established on these general feast days that all churches of all ages share. My simple point is that it would be good to begin thinking through these questions if you do not come from a background that celebrates the Christ-life throughout the year.

I have written so much about this, and even edited a book that covers this theme. Once in a while, it’s nice to hear other folks setting an example on this front. This fine piece over at Patheos is such:

If I could put it even more clearly: we gather with the saints each Sunday, not simply out of obedience, nor even because of all the wondrous benefits found therein. We convene with the local church each weekend because we are betrothed, not as individuals, but as a body, to our Lord, Jesus Christ. We assemble together because He has assembled us together. We gather while it is still called “today” because we will be gathered together in His great halls with the believers of all time. If you can’t stomach meeting with believers today, while they too groan as they await the day of their redemption, in what possible reality can you say with earnestness that you will be united with them at the end of all days? When we get down to it, if you understand the importance of why we gather together each week—church should become the “excuse” you use to miss everything else that conflicts with it—not the other way around.

Read the rest…

I remember Steve Martin’s great definition of a celebrity. “A celebrity,” he wrote, “is any well-known TV or movie star who looks like he spends more than two hours working on his hair.” His brief comedic description is actually a simple way of describing celebrities as those who give a lot of attention to the minute and give brief attention to the noble. I generally find celebrities to be a nuisance to our culture. Most of them cherish the destruction of Christendom. Most of them spend their days crusading against the values of the Church. By and large, they represent a conspicuous attempt to use their gifts to persuade others to see the world through the eyes of unbelief.

Kobe Bryan’s death is a bit of a twist in this narrative. Kobe seemed to be from all the anecdotes spreading on-line and on the news, the kind of guy who expressed genuine interest in others and who cared for others. His competitiveness pushed him into different fields. He was a genuine generalist which I find rather compelling in a figure of such prominence. He understood life as a kind of vehicle to tour the world and bring back souvenirs which would add to his knowledge.

Kobe had conquered his basketball arena and he was ready to taste victory in others. But the Bible is a compelling story of the unexpected. Many have stated how they cannot explain the death of someone who in their mind was meant to live forever. But God’s ways, as the prophet says, often befuddles ours.

There is no doubt he had various stains in his past. Yet, a celebrity married to the same woman for 18 years and fathering 4 daughters from the same woman is a rare kind of combination in the world of Los Angeles. Biographers will have to wrestle and put together a picture of Kobe Bryant that is both fair and realistic.

While many of us, distant admirers of his sheer athleticism and competitiveness, grieve in a very general capacity, there is a mother and three remaining children who grieve in a very profound way. May God be the comfort of the widow and the fatherless.

The loss of life–especially in this sort of tragic ending–calls us to see the world with greater clarity. Perhaps the lesson for us is to care less about the trivial and pour into the lasting. Celebrity or not, we shall give an account.