Jeremy R. Geerdes Posts

When Jesus told the Smyrnaeans and us to be faithful, then, he was really saying that, when life is tough, we need to be full of faith that Jesus can. When God seems distant or hidden behind danger and pain, we need to be steadfast in affection toward and allegiance to him. When there are mountains in the way and bad guys waiting on every pass, we need to be firm in our adherence to the promises that we have made and in observing our duty to obey.

In situations such as the church faced at Smyrna, such promises can sound rather hollow because we are focused on the here and now, where things are tough. And because we are focused on the tough things in the here and now, rather than on him who is transcendent, eternal, and victorious, we get scared.

Ultimately, this is the problem with complacency: it leads to exactly the opposite of what God wants for us. God wants for us to be completely without sin, engaged in a perfect relationship with him. In order to realize that, he never considered “good enough,” but loved extravagently. And those who will experience this amazing promise must never succumb to the stronghold of complacency.

Revelation 2:1-7 Editor’s Note: If you haven’t read it already, you’ll probably want to start with Part 1. The battle plan Whenever we come up against complacency, before we do anything, it is important to recognize two things. The first of these is that Jesus’ plan for dealing with complacency is simple. That is not […]

Like the Ephesians, some of us, if we are honest, have set our love of God and people on the counter and promptly lost it. It was not that we meant to lose it! We started out with passion and love for God and people, but eventually, we set down that passion and love in favor of a routine. We still did enough good stuff to be called good and effective Christians. We thought for sure that no one would notice the difference. Shoot, we did not even notice the difference!

Even after Jesus has already won, Satan has not surrendered just yet. His strongholds which remain in our lives and in our churches represent an existential threat to our personal faith, our whole congregation, and even the Church as a whole. But Jesus intends to obliterate them so that we can truly claim the victory of faith and live as more than conquerors.

Things have been a bit hectic over the last several weeks, so I have not had a chance to report regarding my sixth semester of seminary. Semester 6 started in January with me enrolled in three courses: Congregational Relationships, Recovery & Delivery, and Diagnosis & Prescription for a Healthy Church. The last of these was […]

On the darkest day, it seems like everywhere we look, we see war, famine, unemployment, underemployment. Cars break down. Violence and crime. Broken marriages and homes. In the responses of a stranger and some no-name women, then, we find some essential observations for life in a Good Friday world.

A couple of weeks ago, I finished my fifth semester as a seminary student, and over the holidays, I received my final grades for the two courses I took. In Congregational Spiritual Formation, the larger of the two classes, I received an A-, and in Personal and Corporate Disciplines, I received an A. This gives […]

I went for a run today. I’ve been trying to get back into running regularly over the last several weeks, but I will admit that it has been tough. Today as I walked out the door a little after 7:30 am, I was hit by a wall of heat and humidity which I knew immediately […]