Temptation can take us to a place we never wanted to go. Talk with anyone who’s responded poorly to temptation and they’ll agree with this. (This is every one of us who are reading this, by the way.) We’ve seen the hurt on the face of someone we’ve sinned against. We’ve felt the shame of personal defeat and regret, when we’ve given into the same sin again and again. What looks so good when we’re on the front end of temptation can be so destructive if we give in to it. 
 
In light of all this, the perspective James gives us on sin is so important. Here's what James 1:13-15 says:

If you ever check out either the Library or the footer of this site, where we highlight the top 5 posts of the previous month, you'll have seen that "The Importance of the Christian Worldview" has been on this "Top 5" streak for a while (a long while!). And it's understandable why.

In a world of so many worldview vying for our attention, in what ways is the Christian worldview distinctive? (And what even IS a worldview?) How do we live in line with this worldview? These are important questions to ask, and I wade into questions like this into the post.

If you've not checked out the post, you can do so here.

So as a nod to the popularity of this post, I'm officially going to "retire the jersey." I'll leave the post just as it is on the site and will include it in the "retired jersey" category of this site's "Library" page. However, moving forward I'll no longer include it in numbers 1-5 of each month's top posts (even though it continues to rank highly among the website "hits" for individual posts), thus allowing room for other posts.

Interested in other posts that have gotten a lot of traffic on this site recently? Click here to check 'em out!

It's no exaggeration to say that Christianity stands or falls on Jesus' resurrection. If Jesus wasn't raised bodily from the dead, our faith is "useless" and "futile" (see 1 Corinthians 15:14 and 15:17-19). But if Jesus HAS been raised bodily from the dead...well, we'd better pay attention to Him. The Christian faith has meaning, our future has hope, and our mission matters.

So why is it credible to believe in Jesus' resurrection? Or even beyond that, why does it make the best sense of the evidence we have to believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Here are four lines of evidence that - when put together - build a strong case for the reliability of Jesus' resurrection. 

​
Please note the usual disclaimer, that my recommendation of this article is not necessarily an endorsement of everything else on the site where this was posted. As always, read both discerningly and graciously, and with the Bible as your final authority.

In Luke 9:23-25, Jesus makes some bold statements about following Him. In a sense, these verses provide a “101 Class” on discipleship.  

“Disciple” is a word you’ll hear in church world a lot - and rightfully so. One of Jesus’ last commands is for the church to go and “make disciples” of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Making disciples who make disciples should be on the short list of priorities of every church.

The word disciple literally means “learner.” Don’t just think of a learner in some classroom environment, though. Think “apprentice.” Think “someone learning a skill or a lifestyle.” As followers of Jesus, we’re apprentices of Jesus. Or another way to look at it is that a disciple is someone who walks in the footsteps of someone else.

When I was in college, I went on a couple of backpacking trips in Colorado - one to fulfill some P.E. credit, and one as part of a team building experience for R.A.s. They were great: Get away from civilization, sleep in tents, see some awesome sights in the Rockies, and do a whole lot of hiking. And both times I went, the guide we were with reinforced the value of paying attention to the person in front of you. To watch where they stepped and to follow that same path. To literally walk in their footsteps as much as you could.

​As disciples of Jesus, then, we walk in His footsteps. And if the path He went on involved suffering and self-denial (Jesus tells us this in Luke 9:22), we can’t go around that ourselves or skip that part of the trail as His followers. Which is exactly where Jesus takes His instruction to us in Luke 9:23-25:

This Fall, Brookside Church is preaching through much of the Gospel of Luke on Sunday mornings. (Check out our "Best. News. Ever." series here.) And in Luke 4:1-13 we read the story of Jesus overcoming Satan's temptations in the wilderness.

There are two levels you can read this story on. The first level points to WHO Jesus is. With the name "Adam" - our first father - still ringing in our ears at the end of Luke 3 (Luke 3:38), we then read about Jesus doing what Adam didn't - overcoming Satan's temptations, relying on God rather than himself (cf. Genesis 3:1-6). Jesus is the "better Adam" who has victory over Satan.

The second level unpacks HOW Jesus defeated Satan. Most practically, he did this by rightly using Scripture (and relying on the Author of Scripture). Satan overcame the temptations and lies of Satan with the truth of Scripture. 

I've included a practical resource we developed for this below (tied most closely to this "second level" of reading the story mentioned above). Our hope and prayer is that this resource can help you both identify lies of Satan and immerse yourself in Scripture - so that you can overcome the lies of the enemy with the truth of God's Word.

Recently I taught on 1 Timothy 4:7-8: "7...train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." Over the course of about 40 minutes, I get into WHAT true godliness is, WHY it's important, and HOW we train ourselves for it. 

As the Brookside Institute champions values like biblical literacy and theological formation, let's not forget that these aren't ends-in-themselves. Let's train ourselves for godliness.