When Good Becomes Bad

Does God want you to be happy? How you answer this question will show a lot about your worldview - what you believe about reality and your place in this world. If you say, “Of course not” or “that doesn’t matter” then you will embrace a practically materialistic worldview in which you work to be the master of your own fate. This sounds liberating, but in fact it is crushing. Your shoulders were not meant to carry the weight of creating your own soul-satisfying purpose in this world. Any design we concoct cannot measure up to the deep yearning of our hearts for happiness.

Echoes of the Miraculous

Jesus did many amazing miracles, each showing more of who He is – the Son of God. And, they did more than this, they proved that Jesus not only was filled with the Spirit of God, He is the Spirit of God.

 

Untrustworthy Steps for Discerning God's Will

In the excellent movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana must overcome three challenges or booby traps to get to the holy grail. The second challenge features a room of paved stones with letters engraved on them. Some of the stones are supported, while others have no support and give way to reveal an empty chasm beneath. Indiana must choose the right stones to walk across the room.

Sometimes, discerning the will of God can feel like this room of paved stones. We must choose the right steps for discerning God's will, or we can step confidently only to find ourselves dangling precariously before some peril. Ok, stretching the analogy a bit for dramatic effect. But seriously, how can we know which steps or which methods are trustworthy and which are untrustworthy for discerning the will of God?

The Unchanging God

God, I am looking out the window into the sky and see clouds moving across the panorama.  Megan told me that the clouds are constantly changing shape because the dust and moisture rise and fall.  Even the heavens change, but You remain the same.  Your love, Your grace, Your mercy, Your forgiveness, Your promises, Your faithfulness, Your justice – none of these changes.  You do not veer.  Your promises do not rust.  Your justice never erodes.  Your forgiveness never scrapes bottom.  God thank You so much for not only Your eternality, but Your consistency, Your immutability.  What if You did change?  I could not cling to Your promises. My hope in You would waver. Even the very existence, the air I breathe, would be tentative.  What if the earth titled away from the sun?  What if you no longer graciously forgave sin by the blood of Jesus?  You would not be God.  There would be none to worship.  Life’s meaning would vanish.  Hope would become myth.  Thank You, God, for not changing at all for any reason across all time.

Cultivating Joyful Observation

What tends to rob your joy?

My wife and I have four kids, and I tend to struggle with impatience.  Being stuck in traffic (I know Reno, NV does not have traffic compared to most other cities) when the kids are making a chorus of wining / crying / complaining tends to rob my joy!  Other joy-robbers include various sinful escapes or simply focusing on frustrations, annoyances, and worries. 

Is there a biblical way to renew my joy?

How are Christians to Relate to a Secular State?

How are Christians Commanded to Relate to a Secular and Corrupt State?

Any Christian who seeks to keep up with current events has likely pondered recently, “how should I respond to the secular age in which I live?”  Legislation to offer women greater choices regarding their pregnancies seems to be legalizing infanticide.  Movements to promote fair and just treatment of all persons regardless of race or gender now seem often to promote a sexual lifestyle incongruous with the Bible.  How should Christians respond?  Should we leave it to politicians?  Should we take up signs and protest?  Does the Bible have anything to say generally about how to live as heaven citizens in our earthly citizenship? 

In answer to the last question – yes!  What follows is a brief sampling of Scriptures that speak to the subject – how are Christians commanded to relate to the secular state or to a corrupt generation?  These verses are not meant to be exhaustive in their treatment, but helpful and relevant.  Overall, the Bible says Christians must be subject to governing authorities and not speak corruptly in a corrupt generation, while seeking to be faithful witnesses for Jesus, including the task of exposing false doctrines that oppose the Gospel.

What is a Christian Leader?

"What then is Apollos?  What is Paul?  Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth," (1 Cor 3:5-7).

Who is your favorite Christian author or preacher?  Spurgeon?  Piper?  Chandler?  Bunyan?  Lewis?  MacArthur?  Mohler?  Graham?  Reading good Christian books and listening to good Christian preaching is a rich blessing aided by technology that makes so much accessible via a website or an app.  Is there any danger here?  Only that we begin to import fanaticism into Christianity.  If we could ask Lewis or Bunyan or Spurgeon about whether they would want to be adored by their many fans, guaranteed they would say, "Don't worship me.  I am nothing.  Look to Christ.  He is your Savior.  I am only a man."  As we enjoy good Christian teaching and preaching in an age of accessible information let us do so with a few key truths: