When I get dressed for work or for church, I typically do one final check in the mirror before leaving home. I’m looking for any collars that are turned the wrong way, belt loops that have been skipped, a fly that’s unzipped, or any buttons that I missed. I don’t need to be dressed to the nines for anybody’s attention, but I want my appearance to exhibit a degree of excellence.

I think that’s a decent comparison to the kind of excellence that ought to characterize Christian living. Not that we’re seeking attention, but that we simply do life properly. Peter’s formula for spiritual growth (2 Pt. 1:5-9) puts that ideal as the first addition to active faith in God. He uses the word arete, which can be defined either as “excellence” or “moral excellence.” Obviously, this speaks to the quality of our moral behaviors—that we avoid cussing, drunkenness, gluttony, and greed. That we aren’t careless with debt, divisive or manipulative, arrogant, sexually provocative in dress or behavior, or into immoral types of entertainment. And yet, it speaks more than that. The word is used in only four places in the New Testament: two of them refer to our Christian way of life, and two of them refer to the “excellencies” of God himself. That speaks to excellence as a character trait unto itself.

As sons and daughters of God, we ought not be clothed with haphazard habits, lackluster efforts, and milquetoast commitments. Instead, we clothe ourselves with the character traits of Christ (Col. 3:12-14) and we wear them with excellence. So whether in school, work, the arts, or even sports; we give our best efforts. We give God our most sincere and skillful worship. We manage our households, finances, and place in society well. We hold our Bible teaching and Bible learning efforts to a high standard. Et cetera, et cetera. The Christian life isn’t defined by carelessness, laziness, and slovenliness. It ought to be a living example of continual excellence.

So the next time you go out into the daily grind, take a good look in the mirror and do a check on the whole of your life: Am I living a life of arete? Am I living a life that is clothed with excellence?

- Dan Lankford, minister

One of the reasons why we experience paralysis by analysis is our intense fear of regret. We don’t want to miss something or make the wrong choice. We don’t want to start a project the wrong way and wish we’d done it differently later on - so we don’t start at all. We don’t want to choose to eat at a mediocre restaurant (looking at you Chili’s) only to realize later that we should have eaten at Outback - so we sit in the car with the engine running trying to think of all the restaurants in town. We don’t want to make a bad choice. We don’t want to waste our time. So, we freeze.

Again, the same is true when it comes to spiritual growth. Sometimes it’s hard to determine what area of my spiritual life should take priority. We want so badly to make the best choice that we end up making no choice. Our fear of regret leaves us paralyzed and spiritually stunted. That’s what makes this little passage in II Peter so helpful. In it, Peter calms our fears about regret. He instructs us to add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (II Peter 1:5-7), and then he offers a little reassurance...

“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - II Peter 1:8

I think that’s a wonderful little piece of confidence we can carry with us. If we focus on adding and increasing these seven qualities we can be sure that we will always be useful and fruitful in the kingdom. “Seven-Quality People” always make their mark on the kingdom. Peter adds even more reassurance a few verses later,

“Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” - II Peter 1:10-11

That’s why Dan and I are encouraging you to focus on these seven qualities this year. Peter guarantees that Christians with these seven qualities are useful, fruitful, and will undoubtedly receive an eternal reward.

- Jonathan Banning

Paralysis by analysis. Even if you’re unfamiliar with the term you’re familiar with the experience. It happens when life presents you with such an overwhelming number of options that you are left effectively frozen, unsure of how to move forward. Like when you are beginning to embark on a huge project, but you aren’t quite sure how to begin... or when you want to start a diet, but there are so many options you aren’t sure which to choose... or when you and your spouse want to grab dinner, but you can’t decide where to eat... That’s paralysis by analysis.

I think that can happen to Christians when we think about the prospect of spiritual growth. We are called to constantly grow in Christ (Ephesians 4:13). We are called to press on toward perfection (Philippians 3:14). We are called to observe all the Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). If you’re anything like me, those commands leave you feeling overwhelmed. Where do I even begin? What should I aim at?

New Christians wrestle with that. There is so much change that needs to take place, what should I tackle first? More established Christians struggle with that, too. They have that intense desire to serve Jesus in every way, but they are bombarded with applications every week from sermons, classes, elders, and podcasts. It’s hard to sift through the advice and focus on a path. Older Christians deal with this, too. They don’t want to settle in but the marriage is solid, the kids are grown, and their faith is strong - sometimes it’s hard to know what else needs doing. Maybe that’s where you are. You want to grow this year, but you just feel a little overwhelmed and uncertain about where to start. Perhaps we could let Peter offer us a little direction.

In II Peter 1:5-7, the apostle zeroes in on seven qualities, and encourages every Christian to add these qualities to their faith: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. In 2025, Dan and I want to dig into those seven qualities. We want to talk about why they are so important and how we can cultivate these qualities and cause them to flourish within us.

- Jonathan Banning

New Year’s resolutions are typically about making improvements in our lives: correcting some of more benign bad habits and improving upon the lifestyle habits that we already have. We start from a belief that we’re doing okay as things are, and we just want to make some improvements. And for spiritual people, it’s the same: we tend to start from a position a belief that we’re doing pretty well on December 31, and we just want to make some improvements on January 1.

But maybe for some of us, the New Year ought to be a time to take a good, hard look into our lives and fully repent of some sins. That’s not exactly on par with making small improvements. That’s a matter of faithfulness and obedience to God.

Repentance is what the apostles often called for in their letters to our first-century brothers and sisters. When Paul called out the many sinful habits in the Corinthian church, it was not just to make them sad, but to make them actually change their behaviors. When John confronted the churches in Asia Minor, he said simply and forcefully, “Repent.” And when Peter talked about why God’s final judgment hadn’t come yet, he said that it was because God was patiently giving all people the chance to repent.

And, perhaps more important than any of those was the first message that our Lord himself preached: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt. 4:17)

So…

• Have you habitually sinned against your family—against your spouse, your parents, or your kids? Then make 2025 a time to repent of it and change it.
• How about against your employer? Then make 2025 a time to repent of it and change it.
• How about against your church family? Then make 2025 a time to repent of it and change it.
• How about against those outside of Christ? Then make 2025 a time to repent of it and change it.
• And how about against God himself , most of all (cf. Psa. 51:4)? Then make 2025 a time to repent of it, confess it, and change it.

Will that be difficult? Yes. If we’re honest about our lives, or if we take it a step further and allow someone else to give an honest assessment of our lives… we’ll hear things that are difficult to hear. And so the question is not so much about what can I improve for this year as it is about what I must fix this year. Am I willing to do the hard work of self-examination, confession, and repentance so that I can serve God truly?

- Dan Lankford, minister

From the time of the prophets, to Jesus’ own lifetime, and into eternity; these are the powerful words that God uses to tell of the Messiah’s greatness. He is worthy of our adoration, celebration, and devotion EVERY DAY!

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’” (Isaiah 40:1-5)

“For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.” (Haggai 2:6-7)

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’” (Luke 2:9-14)

“He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” (Isaiah 40:11)

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:12)

“Look, I get that there’s a lot of evidence out there, but I still don’t understand why we have to believe. God has the power to just appear and prove who he is, so why doesn’t he just do that and remove all doubts? Why doesn’t he do a great miracle or something? If I saw something like that, I wouldn’t need faith—I would just know.”

By human wisdom, it does seem more plausible to think that God would have more followers if we saw him rather than being asked to follow him by faith. And yet, the Bible is clear that would not be the case. In fact, the people who saw his greatest wonders were often held up as class examples of failure to follow him.

God speaks regularly throughout the Old Testament about how the people who saw his works refused to know him. In Psalm 95, he said, “though they had seen my work for forty years I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.’” (Ps. 95:9-10) They were characterized by short-lived repentance, by single-generation faithfulness, and by egregious departures from his ways right after they had seen him the most directly (remember: the Golden Calf incident happened just about 40 days after they saw his terrifying presence on Mt. Sinai). Indeed, the people who saw the most of him fell woefully short of rightly following him.

And the same is true in the life of Jesus. Many people saw miracles. They all had the same evidence of who he was, but they did not all respond and accept him equally.

And so this leaves us with a powerful truth from both Testaments—a truth which the apostle Paul noticed when he read the Scriptures. “Faith comes by HEARING” (Rom. 10:17), and it often does not come by seeing. Israel saw his great wonders, but Rahab heard the word about them… and she was the one who believed (Js. 2:10-11). The Jews saw Jesus’ signs, but Zacchaeus heard his teachings… and he was the one who believed (Lk. 19:1-10).

Faith—the willingness to take God at his word and trust him—is what truly changes our hearts and makes us his own. As Jesus himself said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (Jn. 20:29) That is why he asks us to believe in him.

- Dan Lankford

The initial tweet: “Jesus calls us to *be* different people, not just to *do* different things.”  The response: “And yet, sometimes the only way to be someone is to do something.”

As a Bible teacher, I have often spoken about the importance of being transformed people, of having hearts and minds that are changed to our very core, and of fully being Christians—not just doing Christian things. And I don’t regret any of that, because it’s all Biblically accurate. But I find, as I look across the landscape of Christian teaching, that sometimes, I and others have taught strongly on the concepts of being, and perhaps too weakly on the ideas of doing. As the Twitter conversation above says, “Sometimes, the only way to be someone is to do something.”

The reality is that God calls his people to do a lot, and the great test of our faith is not always whether we mentally or emotionally approve of them and really “open our hearts to his truth.” The test comes down to whether or not we actually do what he’s told us to do. The lives of Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, David, Samuel, and Daniel were characterized by the things they did or did not do when they followed God’s instructions. And our lives ought to be the same.

So, do we simply do what God calls us to do? Do we behave as husbands and wives like God has told us to? Do we control our words and give thanks to him always? Do we give to the poor? Do we pray? Do we refrain from gluttony and drunkenness as he has said we must? Do we turn our eyes from things that tempt us, including envy, lust, and greed? Do we control our anger? Do we forgive others who have repented toward us? Do we attend assemblies with his people to worship him and edify others?

All of those questions are based on verbs—action words. And they just compel us to ask whether we have the faith to do what God has called us to do.

“But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (Jas. 2:18)

- Dan Lankford, minister

I occasionally get into ruts with my prayer life. At times, I find that I’m repeating myself with little thought, that I’m skipping times of prayer, that I’m only focused on Earthly things instead of Heavenly, or that I’m simply not being honest with God. And there could be other problems.

So how can we get out of problems like these? What guidance from God is there to help us pray better?

Simple answer: the Psalms.

Many believers have emphasized the importance of praying the psalms — adopting their language as our own when we talk to God. This is especially helpful since the Psalms cover essentially the entire emotional and spiritual spectrum of our lives. If there is a situation that we need to pray through, the psalms cover it. Times of joy, grief, anxiety, celebration, victory, despair, repentance, worship… they’re all there. And for all of them, we have divine guidance on how to talk to God.

So my encouragement for you this week is to get your Bible, open to the psalms, and pray (out loud) as your own. When the psalms praise, you praise. When they lament, you lament. When they hope in God, you hope in God. Follow the psalms, and let your heart be completely open to seeking the face and favor of God for each new day of life.

- Dan Lankford, minister

“This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child… that you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.” (1 Tim. 1:18-19a)

“…though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…” (1 Cor. 10:3-5)

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From time immemorial to today, a war rages between the spiritual forces of darkness and God’s power of good in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:10-12ff). Though unseen, this war touches Earth and affects the rising and falling of humanity through cycles of good and evil. The territory being fought over is each human heart, and while the final victor of eternity is already decided, our task remains to fight off the dark forces’ power within ourselves and everyone we know.

The Holy Spirit describes Christians as soldiers in that great war. And yet, it tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not swords, guns, or war machines. Nor are they organizations, political structures, or educational systems. No, our weapons are simple and powerful: hearts and minds that are truly transformed—completely renewed by the powerful truth from God. That is an arsenal unto itself, and if we have the humility and dedication to let God’s word do its work in us, we will find that though we face many conflicts with the enemy (see The Book of Acts for evidence), through the power of God it will be ours to overcome every opinion that thinks itself so lofty as to deny the truth about Christ. And, in the final assessment of all things, we will have served the great victor of eternity: Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega.

- Dan Lankford, minister

Which do you value more: perfection or honesty?

Which type of person would you rather have a relationship with: the one who never makes a mistake and never needs help from you, or the one who is willing to trust you and ask you to be there for them? Which type of friend would you rather have: One who will tell you the truth even when it’s difficult and messy, or one who will bend the truth to keep up good appearances and niceness? Which type of family would you rather be part of: One in which you can confess that you were wrong and hear someone sincerely say, “I forgive you,” or one in which your imperfections and failures are held in perpetuity as indicators that your character is flawed?

This simple dichotomy is one of the ongoing challenges that Christians face. Obviously, perfection is the goal and the calling (cf. Jas. 1:4), but that perfection depends on the ability to be honest, because all have sinned and fallen so far short of perfection (cf. Rom. 3:23). After all, what is the concept of confession but honestly confronting our sin and calling it what it really is? Perfection is not a pretense of no sin having ever existed in our past; it’s the acceptance of God’s grace that forgives the sins of the past. We can’t make ourselves unstained, but we can accept the stain-removing power of Christ in us. It’s not that we hide our sins and even our temptations; it’s that we confront them, repent of them, and turn to God to accept grace that overcomes them.

Obviously, we want to pursue both attributes in our own lives. We’re supposed to be perfect in our love for God, and we’re supposed to be honest about our failures. We’re supposed to be perfect in faithfulness to God, and we’re supposed to be honest that some temptations pull really hard on our hearts. We’re supposed to be perfect in the way we relate to our family and friends and neighbors, and we’re supposed to be honest when we sin against them so that we can repent of it and be forgiven.

Ultimately, we must learn to value both things, as they work in tandem to make us better. We must be people who value honesty even when it reveals unpleasant truth, and we must be people who strive for perfect faithfulness to God. May God help us achieve both.

- Dan Lankford, minister