Digging Deeper: Honor God in Everything

Avatar photo Lee Wilson on January 3, 2025

 

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42 (NLT)


HONOR GOD IN EVERYTHING

 

I am a very practical guy. I like big ideas, and I appreciate good vision casting, but I immediately want to dice them up into pragmatic and actionable plans. So, the final commitment we were challenged to make this past Sunday was to honor God every day.

Sounds simple, right? Well, how do we do that? I view this in three different categories for myself: as a spouse, as a father, and as an employee. So how do I honor God every day in each of these categories?

As a spouse, I try to do what Paul says in Ephesians and love my wife as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). This kind of love looks different every day but is rooted in the sacrificial love Christ had for His church.

Sometimes that means if she has to work late, I handle dinner and the kids, running to a baseball field or the grocery store if necessary. Other times, it means I grab her an iced coffee after an early morning for her. And sometimes, it is as simple as putting down the phone, turning the game off, and just listening to her.

When I put on my dad hat, the way I honor God looks different. As the father of two young boys, I spend a lot of time breaking up fights and breaking out the “dad voice” when needed. Other times, it’s the stuff dreams are made of, like playing catch with my sons.

One of the greatest baseball movies of all time is Field of Dreams. If you watch the whole movie, there are all kinds of intricate stories about ghosts, former players, and a magical cornfield. But how does the movie end? What is it all really about? It’s about a son who wants to play catch with his dad. I will stop anything I’m doing when one of my boys wants to play catch. I live for that.

As their dad, one of the keys is ensuring they see Jesus every day. We are finding new ways to introduce Scripture to them and make it part of our routine, but the best way they will see Jesus is in how I treat them and their mom. They are a precious gift that I thank God for every day, even on the hard ones.

Paul references the way he behaved with the Thessalonians “like a father with his own children,” encouraging them and urging them to “walk in a manner worthy of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12). I think that is an ideal description of how I hope to raise my boys into men who walk in a manner worthy of God.

In order to provide for my wife and kids, I have to work. God blessed me with a job that pays the bills and enables me to be home every night and attend every baseball game or chorus performance. To honor God at work, I simply try to adhere to Paul’s command in Colossians:
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17).

If I do everything in the name of Jesus, I have a chance to honor God in everything I do.

 

Lee Wilson and his wife, Deanna, have been NorthStar Church members since 2010. They are parents to Everett, Henry and Roselyn. Lee is passionate about sports (Go Braves, Go Dawgs) and has the pleasure to serve on the worship team as a bassist.

 

Digging Deeper: Be Bold Enough to Share

Avatar photo Lee Wilson on January 2, 2025

 

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42 (NLT)


BE BOLD ENOUGH TO SHARE

 

One of the commitments we were challenged to make this past Sunday was to share Christ with unbelievers. At the end of the Gospel of Matthew is the famous Great Commission, where Jesus challenged His followers to do that very thing. After His resurrection, Jesus commands the eleven remaining disciples to make “disciples of all nations” and assures us that He is with us to the end of the age (Matthew 28:16-20).

Sharing Christ is sometimes the most daunting task a believer can have. The conversations can be challenging. We might be afraid to broach the subject with someone for fear of their response, or perhaps we doubt our ability to articulate it correctly since we aren’t theologically trained.

The bottom line is an uncomfortable truth—you have been commanded by your Lord to do it. We all have different people in our paths to whom God has intended for us to reflect Christ. Sometimes our testimony can be through our actions, sometimes through our words, and sometimes through our story.

Yet we must always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). Have you ever stopped to consider that? I don’t know about you, but I don’t get randomly asked every day why I am a Christian. I sometimes doubt if I could even give a substantive answer to that question, so I have tried to “be prepared” by finding people who are smarter than me (which is easy) to give advice.

Dr. John Piper preached on this very text once and offered direct guidance on how we are supposed to be prepared to give this reason. He first cited Luke 21:14, in which Jesus is preparing His disciples for the persecution they will face:
“There will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to make your case. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.”

In this guidance, Jesus clearly says not to meditate beforehand on your answer and instead promises to speak through you when that moment comes. What a relief!

So what does Peter mean when he says to always be prepared? Piper points to the beginning of that verse, where we are commanded to reverence Christ or to regard Him as holy, depending on your translation. This reverence is the key, according to Piper:
“Reverence the Lord Christ in your heart, and you will always have a reason to give for why you are hopeful.”

We can all agree the world needs Christ, and we are commanded to be part of the way He is revealed in this world. Feel the relief that this isn’t a call to be a theologian; the only thing you need to do is revere Christ. When the time comes to share, Christ promises to give you the words to say!

 

Lee Wilson and his wife, Deanna, have been NorthStar Church members since 2010. They are parents to Everett, Henry and Roselyn. Lee is passionate about sports (Go Braves, Go Dawgs) and has the pleasure to serve on the worship team as a bassist.

 

Digging Deeper: Going the Extra Mile

Avatar photo Lee Wilson on January 1, 2025

 

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42 (NLT)


GOING THE EXTRA MILE

 

I have worked at a Chick-fil-A restaurant for almost nine years. Obviously, restaurant success is often predicated on how good your food is, but it is carried by the service you provide and the way in which you provide it.

One of the hallmarks of Truett Cathy’s company is “Second Mile Service.” It is a part of restaurant training for team members and is at the core of the company’s direction. The idea is to go the “extra mile” in order to surpass expectations and delight the guest.

It takes its root in Matthew 5:41, which states simply, “If anyone makes you go one mile, go with him two miles.” Going the extra mile, in my opinion, is what makes Chick-fil-A different than any other restaurant. You can find good chicken or fast service at other places, but the way you feel when you are at a Chick-fil-A should be the differentiator.

I am responsible for the hiring and orientation at our location, and we take a lot of care to build an eye for service among our teams. We focus on finding opportunities to go the extra mile. Sometimes it is as small as carrying out a high chair for a mom who has her hands full with children, and other times, bigger moments present themselves.

This past Sunday, we were challenged to commit to loving others through service, especially since, as Christians, people watch what we do. Our reputation matters because we have the honor and responsibility of being flagbearers for Christ. What an honor that is!

The idea of walking around carrying a flag that says “Christian” on it should influence each and every move we make. While none of us is perfect, we should daily strive to be more Christ-like in all that we do. The Apostle John says, “By this we know we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:5-6).

Sometimes I get tripped up because I am acutely aware of all the ways I fall short of Christ. I have no grand delusions of any sense of worthiness for Christ. While that is true, it doesn’t change the fact that we are clearly commanded to walk like Him every day.

One of the key elements in accomplishing this is to spend time with Him, both in prayer and in the Word. These habits must be a part of our daily walk, or else we can experience drift and become lost.

Paul offers us several practical ways in which we can love others and walk like Christ, chief among them being his simple claim in Colossians 3:17:
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

This is our lens through which we do anything and everything—to do it all in the name of Christ!

 

Lee Wilson and his wife, Deanna, have been NorthStar Church members since 2010. They are parents to Everett, Henry and Roselyn. Lee is passionate about sports (Go Braves, Go Dawgs) and has the pleasure to serve on the worship team as a bassist.

 

Digging Deeper: Be Atomic

Avatar photo Lee Wilson on December 31, 2024

 

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42 (NLT)


BE ATOMIC

 

A few years ago, I was able to attend a leadership conference in Chicago. It was my first trip to that beautiful city, and the experience was capped off by an afternoon at the friendly confines, where the Braves coincidentally happened to be in town. An unforgettable experience.

The conference was filled with great speakers, but only a few really resonated with me. Chief among them was James Clear, the author of one of my favorite books, Atomic Habits. After hearing Clear speak, I immediately bought the book and began reading it.

It is an easy read, and the concept is fairly simple, yet extremely applicable and practical. The idea is to create habits that help improve your performance or a particular skill incrementally—1% at a time. The concept is predicated on the notion that we can’t make wholesale changes all at once but instead have to focus on building a process that helps us make small improvements constantly. By doing this, we build on our success and make incremental gains over time, which culminate in the wholesale change we are seeking.

One of the best examples he uses is the British Olympic cycling team, which was so bad at one point that they were not allowed to use branded materials to compete, for fear in the cycling world that their poor performance would damage the brands. They adopted this incremental gains approach and, in time, became an Olympic superpower.

We can apply these principles to working out in the gym, improving our grades at school, or growing in our spiritual walk. This past Sunday, we were challenged to commit to growing spiritually.

Spiritual growth can look different in methodology for all of us. You might have the goal of reading the whole Bible in the new year, and that’s a great goal to have. Odds are, you can’t read it in a day. So, you will have to build and develop a routine to read a little at a time and ultimately reach your goal as the year progresses.

My goal for growing spiritually in 2025 centers around my two sons and my wife. I feel like we need to reset for the new year, as my boys are getting older and are ready for a deeper approach to faith.

2024 was a very busy working year for my wife and me, and that presented some new challenges to our faith journey. So, we are recalibrating what that looks like moving forward, and we don’t yet have the answer. Sometimes, not having the answer is what feels daunting.

We can’t reach the mountaintop right away, and that can demotivate us from even beginning to climb. But if we take one step at a time, we can reach our ultimate destination. The key is to keep climbing—or growing. Because whatever isn’t growing is dying.

 

Lee Wilson and his wife, Deanna, have been NorthStar Church members since 2010. They are parents to Everett, Henry and Roselyn. Lee is passionate about sports (Go Braves, Go Dawgs) and has the pleasure to serve on the worship team as a bassist.

 

Digging Deeper: Marrow Deep

Avatar photo Lee Wilson on December 30, 2024

 

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42 (NLT)


MARROW DEEP

 

We hear from our pastor, Mike Linch, all the time that we weren’t meant to do life alone. God demonstrates this in His will for mankind by saying that the first human ever, Adam, “shouldn’t be alone” (Genesis 2:18). We need companionship, we need love, and we need friendship.

On March 4, 1861, our 16th President was sworn into office. Just over a month into his presidency, the Civil War began. Needless to say, there would be a great need for companionship, friendship, and guidance in the months that followed for Abraham Lincoln.

At the onset of the war, Lincoln was routinely involved in the military movements and decision-making at a close level. While Lincoln was well-read in history, the former lawyer and congressman wasn’t keen on making military decisions and sought to relinquish that responsibility to a qualified and like-minded military mind.

The problem for the President was finding the right man. As the conflict drew on, Lincoln eventually decided to move on from General George McClellan, who was charismatic and popular among his direct reports but lacked the ability to mesh with the folksy western lawyer in Lincoln.

Lincoln set his sights on General Ulysses Grant, who earned several promotions after successful battle campaigns and possessed a relentless pursuit of victory. Despite several advisors offering criticism of the flawed man in Grant, Lincoln stuck with his gut and forged an unbreakable friendship with him.

The friendship of the two men who would ultimately lead the Union to victory was forged in the fires of criticism. Both men were routinely doubted for their abilities to accomplish that task, and within the walls of their friendship came the crucial decisions that would win the war.

In the 2012 movie entitled Lincoln, we find the President pondering a crucial decision that Grant has advised him to make. While debating aloud whether or not to do it, he says of Grant, “My trust in him is marrow deep.”

We were challenged this past Sunday to get to know others more deeply. I’d say “marrow deep” is about as deep as it gets.

I have often thought of that line and wondered, “Who do I hold in that regard?” That list isn’t (and probably shouldn’t be) that long. Those types of relationships are forged in the battles we fight in life.

We know the battles are coming, for Jesus Himself warns us that in this life, we will find trouble. But He has overcome this world (John 16:33). Praise God for that! But now what?

While we wait for Him to return, we have to find the people He leaves in our path to help us win the daily battles we face, as well as the battles that bring us to our knees and shake us to the core. We have to find our “marrow deep” people, and we have to be that person for others.

For we weren’t meant to do life alone!

 

Lee Wilson and his wife, Deanna, have been NorthStar Church members since 2010. They are parents to Everett, Henry and Roselyn. Lee is passionate about sports (Go Braves, Go Dawgs) and has the pleasure to serve on the worship team as a bassist.

 

Digging Deeper – Doing What We Couldn’t

Avatar photo Ryan Hoffer on December 27, 2024

 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)


DOING WHAT WE COULDN’T

 

As a recovering alcoholic, 9.5 years sober, it is imperative that I remember the condition that brought about my sobriety. In those last miserable days, when my wretchedness reached a fever pitch, God, even in tribulation, was doing for me what I couldn’t do for myself. That is, He was imparting to me a perspective that could only be reached through desperation and, in doing so, casting off every objection that my spirit would otherwise give to such a surrender.

To use a common recovery expression, this is “the gift of desperation.” It is a gift, on the one hand, because it is benevolent, securing for us our welfare, and on the other because it must come from outside ourselves. A gift is given by another. We cannot give ourselves awareness—for unawareness is, by its very nature, ignorant of itself. Nor can our perspective be altered without the external application of some force.

No, this gift is given from without, by God, who knows the remedy for our condition and the measures that must be taken to arrive at it. He does this daily in the subjectivity of our own affairs and once and for all in the Incarnation.

This is the Gospel: that God, through Christ, has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. And, what’s more, He is continually doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves—breaking chains, restoring relationships, healing infirmities, quieting anxiety, and providing things both material and immaterial.

Ask God today to do for you what you cannot do for yourself, and thank Him that He has already done it in eternity.

 

Ryan Hoffer serves as NextGen Production Director at NorthStar. He holds an M.Div in Church History and enjoys playing the harp. He and his wife, Tiffany, live in Acworth and have three children.

Digging Deeper – A Holy Ghost?

Avatar photo Ryan Hoffer on December 26, 2024

 

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

1 John 4:2 (ESV)


A HOLY GHOST?

 

A common theme among the heresies of the early centuries was the limitation of Christ’s humanity. Ironically, many false teachers accepted the divinity of Christ but denied His humanity (a fact that seems to only strengthen the argument for the former). Some groups claimed that Christ was an apparition or that He merely inhabited a human body but wasn’t Himself human.

One of these groups was the Docetists, from the Greek word dokein, meaning “to seem or appear.” Docetist groups believed that physical matter was evil and, therefore, practiced extreme self-denial to rise to a higher spiritual truth. According to their warped view of the created order, Jesus could not have had a physical body because that would impugn His divinity. The apostle John seems to be aware of these false teachings, as he goes to great lengths to stress the physical nature of Jesus throughout his writings, saying things such as:

“That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands” (1 John 1:1).

One of these false teachers, Cerinthus, was a contemporary of John and promoted Docetist views during the first century. We know from second-century writings that these pagan philosophies were so influential that they established their own schools and began leading people astray. Early church writers have even stated that John wrote the fourth Gospel in refutation of Cerinthus’ views.

This may seem trivial or irrelevant to us today, but the truth is that we can put the matter to rest because the early church worked hard to combat these heresies and establish the orthodox position on Christ’s humanity. They did so by examining the Scriptures and refuting the claims of popular pagan philosophies that were entering the church. These assertions were then formulated into creeds that reaffirmed the truths of Scripture.

When we know the Word of God, we can sift through popular misconceptions about who Jesus is—whether regarding His humanity or divinity. As 1 John 4:2 states:

“By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.”

This week, as we celebrate the incarnation, thank God that He came in the flesh and that we have attestation to this very fact.

 

Ryan Hoffer serves as NextGen Production Director at NorthStar. He holds an M.Div in Church History and enjoys playing the harp. He and his wife, Tiffany, live in Acworth and have three children.

Digging Deeper – Names and Numbers

Avatar photo Ryan Hoffer on December 25, 2024

 

17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 2:17-18 (ESV)


NAMES AND NUMBERS

 

An often-neglected portion of Scripture is the names and numbers contained within. There are tallies of persons and tribes, inventories, and measurements. But let us consider the details, lest we mistake the divine for drudgery. For the Gospel itself begins with such a list! The apostle Matthew starts:

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob…”

God, in His wisdom, saw fit to begin the Gospel with a retelling of the people through whom the Savior would come. And, in touching on this, He bids us to revisit history. These are figures and events—stories of actual people who encountered God—whose experiences are told in the pages of the Old Testament. This would have been especially important to the Jewish audience of Matthew’s writing, who were keenly aware of their ancestry.

But Matthew’s list does more than represent the Jewish heritage of Jesus; it recapitulates all of history in the person of Jesus. For Matthew, to begin the story of Jesus is to start with Abraham and lead up to the “fullness of time,” as the apostle Paul puts it. In that sense, this genealogy can be heard saying something like, “Jesus not only entered history, but all of history worked toward His entrance.” His incarnation is so pivotal that it split time and became the standard by which we measure the calendar year in B.C. and A.D. (Anno Domini).

This is especially important today, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. Let us rejoice with a reading of the genealogy in Matthew 1:1–16, thanking Him that the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).

 

Ryan Hoffer serves as NextGen Production Director at NorthStar. He holds an M.Div in Church History and enjoys playing the harp. He and his wife, Tiffany, live in Acworth and have three children.

Digging Deeper – Let it Be

Avatar photo Ryan Hoffer on December 24, 2024

 

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:38 (ESV)


LET IT BE

 

One of my favorite verses in all of Scripture is found in Luke 1:38, where the mother of our Lord receives the news that she will bear the Son of God: “And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’” The phrase “let it be” is noteworthy—so much so that the great theologian Paul McCartney memorialized it in song! Mary’s response reveals the sublime resignation of her will to that of the Lord’s.

This posture stands in stark contrast to others in the same story. For example, Zechariah, upon hearing from the angel Gabriel that his wife would bear John, the prophesied herald of the Lord, remarked, “How will I know?” (again with the popular songs!). These two responses—Mary’s and Zechariah’s—reveal very different attitudes: one of acceptance and one of doubt.

To further emphasize these differing attitudes, consider the identity of these two figures. Zechariah was a priest and undoubtedly knew the Scriptures the angel was referring to. Mary, on the other hand, was a young girl, untrained in the law and prophets. Yet in Mary, we see a submission that we would do well to emulate when the Lord employs us in His will.

As you seek the Lord today, what is your response? How will I know? or Let it be?

Ryan Hoffer serves as NextGen Production Director at NorthStar. He holds an M.Div in Church History and enjoys playing the harp. He and his wife, Tiffany, live in Acworth and have three children.

Digging Deeper – Will the Real St. Nicholas Please Stand Up?

Avatar photo Ryan Hoffer on December 23, 2024

 

30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Luke 1:30-33 (ESV)


WILL THE REAL ST. NICHOLAS PLEASE STAND UP?

 

A few years ago, when my son was in first grade, I faced the age-old parenting dilemma: What do we do about Santa Claus? Using a little creative thinking, I decided I could have my cake and eat it too by teaching him about St. Nicholas, the fourth-century church figure who was indeed a historical person. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra (in modern-day Turkey) and is remembered in church history as a generous almsgiver and a staunch defender of orthodoxy.

In the early 300s A.D., a church leader in Alexandria named Arius began teaching that Jesus had not always existed but was a created being and of a different essence than the Father. This false view of Christ’s nature began to sweep the Mediterranean world, deceiving a great number of Christians. When Emperor Constantine rose to power, the heresy had spread so widely that he called an assembly of church leaders to reach a consensus on the matter. This meeting, known as the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., is widely recognized for 1) being the first “ecumenical” (representing the whole) council and 2) establishing the orthodox Christological position.

Lists of attendees show that St. Nicholas participated in the meeting, where—over the course of several months—the 200+ bishops debated the Arian controversy using the Scriptures. A medieval legend (which likely lacks historical accuracy) recounts Nicholas becoming so provoked upon hearing Arius argue that he crossed the room and slapped him, for which he was subsequently deposed by Constantine. When the council concluded in July of 325 A.D., Arius’ view was condemned, and one of the most famous creeds in all of Christian history was drafted: the Nicene Creed, which is still read in many churches today.

In this document, it is stated that Jesus is:

the Son of God, begotten from the Father, only-begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, through Whom all things came into being, things in heaven and things on earth, Who because of us men and because of our salvation came down, and became incarnate and became man, and suffered, and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead.

While creeds are man-made statements, this creed reflects the doctrine of the nature of Jesus as set forth in the Scriptures. As a participant in the Council of Nicaea and a defender of the orthodox position on Christ’s nature, we can appreciate Nicholas’s contribution to the treasury of thought on Christian belief and practice.

(*Needless to say, after my son disseminated this new knowledge about Santa Claus to his classmates, I received an email from his teacher.)

 

Ryan Hoffer serves as NextGen Production Director at NorthStar. He holds an M.Div in Church History and enjoys playing the harp. He and his wife, Tiffany, live in Acworth and have three children.