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By Mike Kelsey, Campus Pastor @MBCSilverSpring
The Heart Is Always Seeking Something
For the most part, our behavior is our attempt to attain what our hearts desire. Christian counselor and author David Powlison explains, “My daily behavior is my attempt to get what is important to me in various situations and relationships. My choices and actions always reveal the desires that rule my heart.” These can sometimes be inherently sinful desires, but usually even those can be traced to legitimate desires that are not necessarily sinful but that can begin to take the rightful place of God (approval, companionship, success, respect, etc.). In fact, this is what the writers of the New Testament mean when they use the…
By Rachel Thomas, Director of Discipleship for Women & Ministry Teams @MBCLoudoun
Many of you may be aware of the Alcan Highway. It was built during World War II to connect Alaska with the lower 48 states. Up until the 1960’s, it was all gravel and a challenge only a bold driver with a tough truck would want to tackle. The difficulties of the Alcan Highway in those days are captured in a story told by Ray Stedman, an evangelist in the Bay Area. He told of crossing the border into Alaska and seeing a sign that read, “Choose your rut carefully – you’ll be in it for the next 200 miles.” Choose your rut carefully. Choose your rut…
By Will Pavone, Former Young Adults and Edge Community Pastor @MBCTysons
In our summer preaching series, we’re talking about recapturing a zealous love for the Lord Jesus and how we need to live a life of ongoing repentance from everything that tempts us to stray in our fidelity to Him. One of the steps in the process of repentance is having a “holy resolve” to walk in obedience to Christ. I have found that in my Christian life I need the sanctifying grace that God dispenses in the context of biblical community to overcome the many ways my heart is tempted to sin.
Below is one of the best and most practical tools I’ve ever used in order to…
By Rachel Thomas, Director of Discipleship for Women & Ministry Teams @MBCLoudoun
Why should we know Christ? If we have accepted the free gift of grace through Jesus’ death and resurrection, live a good and moral life, read our Bible every now and then on our own, pay attention enough during the sermon to recite facts about the Bible and who Jesus is, then we can pass as a Christian, right?
In Philippians 3:4-6 Paul says, “…If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor…
By Mike Kelsey, Campus Pastor @MBCSilverSpring
These questions, from David Powlison’s book, Seeing with New Eyes (pages 132-40), are very helpful in identifying the “functional gods” that drive your life.
- What do you love? Hate?
- What do you want, desire, crave, lust, and wish for? What desires do you serve and obey?
- What do you seek, aim for, and pursue?
- Where do you bank your hopes?
- What do you fear? What do you not want? What do you tend to worry about?
- What do you feel like doing?
- What do you think you need? What are your ‘felt needs’?
- What are your plans, agendas, strategies, and intentions designed to accomplish?
- What makes you tick? What sun does your planet revolve around? What do you…
By Mike Kelsey, Campus Pastor @MBCSilverSpring
The Heart Is An Idol Factory
We were created to worship and therefore even when we are not actively engaged in “religious” activities, worship is still at work in our hearts. This is where the biblical teaching of idolatry becomes very important. For most of us, the word idolatry conjures up images of statues and shrines. And this is certainly an external form of idolatry. But Scripture also addresses internal idolatry, which happens when we make anything in life more important and necessary than God and His will. The elders of Israel were rebuked for setting up “idols in their hearts” (Ezek. 14:1-8), and the apostle Paul diagnoses coveting and…
By Rachel Thomas, Director of Discipleship for Women & Ministry Teams @MBCLoudoun
“A disciple is a follower of Jesus Christ who lives in biblical community
and is committed to becoming like Him by obeying Him, serving Him and sharing Him.”
– McLean Bible Church definition of a disciple
The next installment of our discipleship definition break-down is “who lives in biblical community….” I’ve heard of “biblical community” my whole life, as I grew up in the church. I would say that I even experienced it at times, but really didn’t understand the implications of TRUE biblical community until I went to college.
I attended a Bible college in Chicago where we literally lived communally. We girls lived on the same…