Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. . . So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. - Hebrews 13:8-15 (ESV)
 
American evangelicalism has recently had a leadership crisis. At the highest levels, there have been multiple revelations of abuse and misconduct. The stories of hidden sins and the chaos they have produced in their wake have rippled throughout the church. At the lower levels, the strain of regular ministry and the added layer of complexity through the pandemic have caused pastors to leave the ministry at an increasing rate. All of this may cause us to question how we should relate to leaders.

God is our loving Father, unlike anything we have experienced with our earthly father.

What is different about our heavenly Father? How does he father us now and what is the hope of our sonship in the midst of trials and suffering? There is no place in our minds or on this Earth where we are outside the sovereign domain of his care and instruction. And in the time we have left on this earth, God has profound purposes for our life. Centrally, to display his glory in our lives through conforming us more into Christ. Every blessing, good gift, and even every wrestling, temptation, tragedy, pain, turmoil, and physical illness is purposeful, because God is our Father and the sovereign of the universe. He is working in us in ways that are beyond our comprehension. We can rest in his love and sovereign hand and dismiss the notion that we will ever experience any purposeless blessing or discipline. The knowledge of our Father and the hope of sonship is vital for enduring suffering and for living lives of faith in a fallen world.

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. - Hebrews 13:1-2 (ESV)

How would you describe a Christian? What are their defining characteristics? How would people outside the faith identify them?
 
You might say a Christian is defined by what they believe. You might think that Christians are set apart because of their moral imperatives. Others might describe Christians by how they live in the world or how they vote. Still others define Christians by the person they follow and try to model. All of these have a place. And all of them might shape the picture of Christians in a particular time and place.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
 
Running is a polarizing activity. Some people love it. Other people hate it.
 
It has amazing benefits: It can clear the mind, its good exercise, it can be done alone or with friends and, here in Huntsville at least, its a great source of community for people. Another person described running like this, “It was one of the worst experiences of my life. Legs aching, trying to suck in air while feeling like I had been stabbed in the chest. I’m pretty sure I even got cramp in my big toe. It was awful, and I was only running around my block.” What about you – do you love it or hate it?

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. - Hebrews 12:28-29 (ESV)

I once heard a guy theorize that Disneyland is meant to be a very spiritual place. It wasn’t because it contained characters with fanciful stories or because it had retold tales that shaped children’s experiences. No, it was because it has a bunch of mountains. There is Splash Mountain and Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain and the Matterhorn. His theory was that mountains in the course of human history are spiritual places where profound things happen and are revealed. I’m not sure what profound and revelatory thing is happening on top of Space Mountain, so I take his 'spiritual Disney theory' with a grain of salt.

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. - Hebrews 11:39-40 (ESV)
 
I’m not good at waiting.

When it’s close to Christmas or my birthday, I become a junior Sherlock Holmes trying to figure out all the plans and presents. When I order something, I check regularly to see its shipping progress. Being stuck in traffic is another major test for me. But waiting is a fact of life...and it is also a spiritual reality.