Author: Paul Nordman

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Dance with the One Who Brung Ya

“You gotta dance with the one who brung ya” — so goes the American adage, a swig from the little brown jug of hillbilly parlance. It means to remain loyal to the people or principles that supported us in the past and led to our wellbeing in the present. It esteems integrity over indifference, confidence over doubt, and gratitude over exploitation. Yet we repeat this backwoods gem for a reason: the temptation not to heed it.

It was faith in Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by Paul, that brung the Galatian believers to the “dance” of the Spirit. They had welcomed the apostle “as if [he] were an angel of God,”1 and through Paul’s message, “the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to [them] as if {they] had seen a picture of his death on the cross.”2 They believed the good news of the Christ and received in themselves the Spirit of God. But as if in a race — or in this case, a dance — others “cut in”3 on them, an infiltration of those diabolically arguing the need to continue following the ceremonial laws of Moses. The Galatians cowed in fear to the falsehood, and their oppression showed: “What has happened to all your joy?”4 observed Paul. He had brung ‘em to the gospel, but now they danced with the law. So Paul chided them, and for their own good: “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? . . . After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? . . . Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?”5

Legalism would still today “cut in” on our glorious dance with freedom. We no longer feel compelled to follow Old Testament ceremonial laws, certainly, but what about our fleshy demands regarding dress or worship style, for instance? God does not condition His grace on these, so why would we? Yet dancing with legalism is more deeply troubling still, for it grips us hard, steps on our toes, and whispers doubt in our ear. It dupes us into distrusting the enormity of God’s love for us and the sufficiency of His grace toward us. It tempts us to “lead” the dance by our works when we can only “follow” in His grace. This should not be, and it need not be.

So, ask yourself, “What was it that set your feet a-dancin’?” Was it the rigid and relentless demands of the law, or the heel-kickin’ joy of forgiveness and grace? Remember your answer. And dance forever with the One who brung ya.

“God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight.” Romans 3:24 NLT

Father, lead us in Your truth, and remind us of Your grace. Grant that we would rejoice so freely in Your Spirit that others will join us in the dance forever. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 Galatians 4:14 NIV
2 Galatians 3:1 NLT
3 Galatians 5:7 NIV
4 Galatians 4:15 NIV
5 Galatians 3:2-6 NIV

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Those Who Are Where You Once Were

Statistics startle sometimes. Case in point: Bible sales. Every year in the U.S., the Bible is the top-selling book. So, the fact that its sales in America soared 22% in 2024 seemed statistically impossible to me. How do we account for such a surge in the perennial bestseller? I think we have an answer: “a groundswell of commitment to Jesus over the last four years.”1 So observed a study from the research organization, the Barna Group. Barna’s recent data shows “66 percent of all U.S. adults say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus that is still important in their life today. That marks a 12-percentage-point increase since 2021.” Moreover, “Among the biggest drivers of the Jesus resurgence are younger generations—particularly Gen Z and Millennials.”2 What does this tell us but that people still search for meaning and truth? And that some are finding life’s purpose in God and truth in His Word.

Do you recall when “seeker” described you — when you were the one struggling in the search that ultimately led to God through Christ Jesus, His Son? God calls us to remember our plight and, in such remembrance, to extend justice and mercy to those who are where we once were. In giving the Law, God commanded His people, “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.”3 Similarly, God directed His people to the generosity and compassion He had extended to them: “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. . . You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.”4

Today as ever, there are the many who cry out from their own “Egyptian” captivity, those seeking cleansing from guilt and removal of shame, those searching for the purpose of life and the certainty of truth — people who are where we once were. Today may we remember when this was us, and in this remembrance, extend the hope and freedom which, through others, God extended to us.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”5 Yes, Lord, grace us to remember your comfort and to extend your compassion always. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1, 2 “New Research: Belief in Jesus Rises, Fueled by Younger Adults,” Barna, accessed August 5, 2025, https://www.barna.com/research/belief-in-jesus-rises/ (emphases added)
3 Deuteronomy 24:17-18 ESV (emphasis added)
4 Deuteronomy 24: 19-22 ESV (emphasis added)
5 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV

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Remember the Rest of the Story

“The next time Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future.”1 I chuckled at the meme. It was clever, amusing, but ultimately not helpful. I suggest this, instead: “The next time Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of the rest of it.” You know, the part he leaves out. Last week in our remembrance series, we examined “euphoric recall,” the tendency to recollect past experiences more positively than they really were. Today, let’s stare down its counterpart, another form of misremembering: forgetting our forgiveness.

Through Jeremiah, God foretold a day when He would “forgive [our] iniquity, and . . . remember [our] sin no more.”2 Some interpret this to mean we can somehow do something that God cannot — namely, to recall our sins. Personally, I think “remember our sin no more” means God no longer remembers our sin against us. God has “[reconciled] the world to himself in Christ,” penned Paul, “not counting people’s sins against them.”3 Regardless, there is for us a “rest of the story”: Though our past is tainted with sin, it is also overflowing with forgiveness. It is vital to remember both.

Writing to the Corinthians, Paul asserted that some people “will not inherit the kingdom of God,” specifically the sexually immoral, idolaters, and the greedy, among others.4 He then made it personal, “And such were some of you.”5 Then from this sketchy profile emerged their stunning portrait: “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. ”3 Did you catch it? These believers’ past was marred by all sorts of sin, yes, yet it was also filled with spiritual cleansing, restoration, and reconciliation to God — this through the atoning work of His Son and the indwelling of His lifegiving Spirit. Such was true of the Corinthians; such is true of us. Remember this.

Yes, when the evil one accuses you with a “partial truth,” remember the gospel truth. “You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, [Christ] has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.”6 Remember the whole story. And be glad.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” 7 Yes, Lord, this is most certainly true. Thank you.

1 In Matthew 25:41, Jesus teaches “an eternal fire” is prepared for “the devil and his angels.”
2 Jeremiah 31:34 ESV
3 2 Corinthains 5:19 NIV
4 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
5 1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV
6 Colossians 1:21-23 ESV
7 Psalm 103:2-5 ESV