We’re all passionate about something. Anyone who knows me knows I’m passionate about technology and media. My wife is passionate about teaching children. I have friends that are passionate about music, organic food, immunizations and sports. These are the things that others know us for.

We should be known for Christ.

We should be known as people who are first and foremost passionate about Jesus and what He’s doing in the world, because (let’s be honest) the rest is just not that important.

People may not remember what you say, but they will remember what you’re passionate about.

Welcome to the new site! I’ve been wanting to do a hosted version of WordPress for awhile now and could never wrap my head around what I wanted it to be. Do I want it to be a blog or a portfolio? Do I want to talk about ministry and leadership or family and personal growth? And then I decided to do it all. So I’m casting off all conventional wisdom (that says to be focused and narrow in scope) and launching www.theworkisneverdone.com.

The work is never done refers to the continual process of growth and development that God is leading me through. He is never content to leave me where I am, and I’m never content to stay there. I hope that these pages will encourage, challenge and inspire. Thanks for the visit.

So I was reading Galatians 3:23 yesterday morning and had some thoughts I wanted to share. Before I proceed here’s Galatians 3:23 – 29 (ESV).

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

I was specifically drawn to the first verses where it says we were imprisoned under the law. Imprisoned under the law seems like such harsh imagery but then we see the law was a guardian. Guardians protect often by limiting activities, thus imprisonment and not true freedom. But what were we being protected from? Satan? Ourselves? Perhaps God himself? I think it includes all of that. We know the primary reason for the law was to remain in right standing with God. God, in His justice, has standards that the human race discarded and we need to be cleansed from that. The law was given to create a way for us to regain right standing in the eyes of the Lord. But then we see that we were imprisoned under it. I think this has to do with the impermanent nature of the law. The law has a lot to do with human action. We have to keep the law in order for the power of God to flow through it. Thus we are bound to it, imprisoned under it. But God had a better plan for us than repeated religious rituals. He sent His Son to replace the law with faith. The most exciting verse in that whole passage is verse 25:

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

No longer under a guardian, no longer imprisoned by the law. Free, children of God, through faith. Sometimes I forget how cool that is.

So here you will find all the wisdom I can muster. I promise it won’t be much. I’ll be back in a few days with some pictures and information about the tech stuff at Rock Bridge. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy the wonder that is OLED.

http://gizmodo.com/5070933/samsung-shows-off-giant-40+inch-oled-hdtv

(Originally published in Collide Magazine – June 2008)

There has long been a tension between image and word in our churches. Historically, that tension was not as one-sided as it is now. For centuries, the Church was rich with artists and imagery. The Church even constructed church buildings designed to astound visitors and to spur the imagination towards the wonderment of God. Then something changed.

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