Jan 21, 2025 | By Dr. Scott Rodin | To borrow an idiom from Cervantes’s Don Quixote, I am going to ‘tilt at a windmill’. I want to challenge us to reconsider how we interpret and use a familiar and favorite scripture. There is a phrase recorded in both Matthew 25 and Luke 19 that is a favorite of motivational speakers, leadership trainers, and spiritual guides. I’ve heard it referenced countless times at conferences, trainings, and sermons. It has risen to the ranks of scriptural superlative nearly unparalleled in the rest of the Bible. The verse comes from Jesus’ parable of the talents. He commends the two stewards who invested wisely what he had left them and returned a doubling of the principal. Jesus says that the owner commends them with the words, “well done, good and faithful servant.” It seems their good stewardship is applauded and rewarded by the one who entrusted them with something that was not their own.

Jan 7, 2025 | By Dr. Scott Rodin | Last week I shared with you a 2025 vision and challenge to embark on the journey to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ than you have ever experienced. Jesus has so much more for us than we would ever dare ask or even dream of. Now a week on, I am sobered with the reality of the powerful force that will keep us from experiencing this abundant life. It is, in a word, fear. The deeper walk with Jesus is not for the faint of heart. Scripture, the Saints of the church and the Holy Spirit all testify that the first steps on this deeper journey will take us across terrain we have been reluctant to cross. These are not steps that bring comfort dressed up in the counterfeit reassurance of growth without cost or progress without pain. It is truly new territory.

Jan 1, 2025 | By Dr. Scott Rodin | In February 1974, I made the decision to follow Jesus. I did not choose Him that day, He chose me. For 51 years I have been a Christian. For the majority of those years, I have tried to follow Jesus. However, it is only in the last two years that I have begun to understand what that really means. This realization brings both joy and sadness. The joy of being on a deeper journey with Jesus is inexpressible. The sadness of lost years meandering through a maze of relational mediocrity is profoundly sad...

Dec 23, 2024 | By Dr. Scott Rodin | There are many words and phrases that carry Christmas messages. Whether sacred or secular, they conjure up memories from the whimsical to the holy. The Christmas season is filled with them. Joy to the World. Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. Silent Night. It’s a Wonderful Life. White Christmas. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Hark, the Harold Angels Sing. These Christmas themes are nostalgic and heartwarming, a welcome relief from the relentless words and images that depict the increasing madness of the world in which we celebrate this Christmas season. Amidst the breadth of Christmas words, I want to suggest there is one phrase that transcends all others. Not only this Christmas season, but from the dawn of time until Christ’s return. It marked the single most important event in human history. It is a simple phrase with cosmic consequences. Isaiah prophesied it first. It was confirmed by an angel with Mary and its promise consoled Joseph. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel, God with us.” (Isaiah 7:14) Three words. Three powerful words. On them hinges the fate of the world. If we believe them, if we have the radical faith to really believe that Christmas marks the unthinkable, audacious idea that the God of the universe, the creator and sustainer of all things, actually came to earth and bore our flesh, our brokenness, our fear, our pride, our shallowness, our fickleness, our doubts, our shame, all of it, if we really believe it, if we can even begin to comprehend it, if we will let it seep deep into our spirit, then those three words will change us forever. God with us.

Dec 16, 2024 | By Dr. Scott Rodin | This is the final in our four-week series on Advent as we look at four warning signs that our hearts are under spiritual attack, and how we can break free and experience a heart at peace in our own Advent journey to see the King. I am playing off the four major signs of a physical heart attack, 1) tightness in the chest, 2) shortness of breath, 3) pain in the left arm, and 4) nausea. Just as our physical heart can be attacked, throughout Scripture we are warned about the attack on our spiritual heart. This attack also has warning signs that must be heeded, and immediate action taken. Just as with our physical hearts, this attack is a matter of life and death. We’ve considered the warning signs of a tightness in our perspective, a shortness of breadth in our love, and a sharp pain in our wallet. We will now turn to the fourth and most challenging sign that we are experiencing a spiritual heart attack. Warning Sign #4 – A Sickness in our Spirit

Dec 11, 2024 | By Dr. Scott Rodin | I am using the four weeks of Advent to look at four warning signs that our hearts are under spiritual attack, and how we can break free and experience a heart at peace in our own Advent journey to see the King. I am playing off the four major signs of a physical heart attack, 1) tightness in the chest, 2) shortness of breath, 3) pain in the left arm, and 4) nausea. Just as our physical heart can be attacked, throughout Scripture we are warned about the attack on our spiritual heart. This attack also has warning signs that must be heeded, and immediate action taken. Just as with our physical hearts, this attack, too, is a matter of life and death. Warning Sign #3 – Pain in the Wallet One of the most significant warning signs of a physical heart attack is sharp pain usually in the left side of the body. It can be in the jaw, the shoulder or the back. Sharp pain is always an indicator that something is very wrong. The same is true in a spiritual heart attack. While this pain may come in many forms, in this Advent season I want to focus on one particular pain many of us may feel; a sharp pain in our wallet. Here are a few ways we may feel that pain...

Dec 6, 2024 | By Dr. Scott Rodin | I am using the four weeks of Advent to look at four warning signs that our hearts are under spiritual attack, and how we can break free and experience a heart at peace in our own Advent journey to see the King. I am playing off the four major signs of a physical heart attack, 1) tightness in the chest, 2) shortness of breath, 3) pain in the left arm, and 4) nausea. Just as our physical heart can be attacked, throughout Scripture we are warned about the attack on our spiritual heart. This attack also has warning signs that must be heeded, and immediate action taken. Just as with our physical hearts, this attack, too, is a matter of life and death. Warning Sign #2 – Shortness of ‘Breadth’ When our physical heart is under attack our breathing becomes shallow and we find it hard to take a deep breath. When our spiritual heart is under attack our ability to love becomes shallow and we find it hard to experience God's deep peace.

Dec 1, 2024 | By Dr. Scott Rodin | It’s likely we all know the four major signs of a heart attack. According to the American Heart Association they are: 1) tightness in the chest, 2) shortness of breath, 3) pain in the left arm, and 4) nausea. If you experience these symptoms you must call 911 or get to a hospital immediately. It’s a matter of life and death. Throughout Scripture we are warned about another kind of heart attack – the attack on our spiritual heart. This attack also has warning signs that must be heeded and immediate action taken. This attack is also a matter of life and death. Over the four weeks of Advent we will look at four warning signs that our hearts are under spiritual attack, and how we can break free and experience a heart at peace in our own Advent journey to see the King.