Notice Solomon’s wording of Proverbs 12:11. One person pursues a productive path of working his land while another pursues fantasies. He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. Proverbs 12:11 Social media offers the endless pursuit of the things that are not productive, or in the meaning of this Proverb, fantasies. It can be as obvious as spending hours and hours perusing posts, tweets and home pages. Or your pursuit can be about the being involved in arguments and causes which, while interesting, are ultimately, not productive, i.e. fantasies. The world of the social media makes it easy to ignore the reality of God. Remember, the fool has said in his heart […]
Monthly Archives: June 2015
21 posts
In Scripture we are taught that: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4 Thus, when God’s instruction is ignored, we can expect life not to go well. Sometimes, it takes a while for this truth to be fully grasped. One of the themes of the sexual revolution of the 1960’s is the belief that marriage is an outdated institution and certainly is not the only place for sexual activity. Fifty years later, we have arrived at the point where marriage and sex have no cultural relationship to each other. Sexual expression, in almost any form, has become the right of any person, adult or child. The choice […]
We don’t worship God to appease him. We don’t give to God to impress him. We don’t love God to flatter him. We don’t obey God to make him like us. We don’t pray to God to show our piety. We don’t praise God because he needs us to. We worship, give, love, obey, pray, and praise God simply because he is who he is! Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him […]
Here are three things that go hand-in-hand with presenting wisdom as a blessing: First: listen before you speak. To be a good listener you must be able to repeat the words you hear back to the speaker in such a way that he can affirm that you really do understand what was said. You don’t always have to agree, but you must always understand. This attentiveness shows respect, first for God and then for your child. It also indicates that you view your authority as a trust given to you so that you can be a servant. Answering quickly, without fully understanding the intent of the words you hear, shows a lack of concern for others and, according to Proverbs, […]
If you hear your child frequently complain or grumble, you are hearing a child who is becoming a slave to his own desires. This means trouble. Sin feeds on the desire for immediate happiness. That is why a child can go from seeming bliss to outrage in an eye blink. One moment everything is fine. Then he sees his brother with a toy that he wants and he immediately erupts with a howl that sounds like he is being tortured. Why? Because he doesn’t have what he wants, what he thinks he deserves. God wants his people to live a life of praise. Complaining and grumbling are not compatible with praise. The Bible teaches that God is a faithful God […]
Anger: sometimes it just feels right. When your husband is insensitive, when the kids are selfish and squabble constantly, when your wife is disrespectful, anger stands ready to come to your defense. When others are not helpful anger is there to encourage you. When your pride is wounded, anger offers its healing power of retribution. But when anger is embraced, God is cast aside. But what about righteous anger? That’s always the trap. Paul says in Ephesians 4:26 that in your anger you should not sin. So, since it is possible to be angry and not sin, it easy to welcome anger like a friendly ally when others sin against us. But Ephesians 4:26 is not all that Paul has […]
When you are sick you want relief. When you are angry you seek justice. When you are hurt you want comfort. For all of these things, we as Christians are told to cry out to God. This is good! But from this point things can get a little uncertain. Should you pray for an immediate response? Has God turned away from you if there does not appear to be one? There is some clear guidance for us in the Lord’s prayer. Christ instructs his disciples to pray: “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” These directions put everything in perspective! Yes, you want immediate relief. I can relate to this, having just undergone 7 weeks of […]
by Tedd Tripp As Father’s Day approaches, families prepare to honor their fathers. For me, as a father, it is a time to reflect on the meaning of fatherhood. The Apostle Paul’s observation about fathering in 1 Thessalonians 2 is a good place to start. Paul observes that he had been like a father both by example and his instruction. As for his example, both the Thessalonians and God were witnesses of how holy, righteous and blameless he had been toward them. Holy refers to him in relationship to God; he was a devout, pious man, intent on pleasing God. Our families must see the integrity of walking with God. We will sin, but they must see a Dad who […]
As you prepare to go to church each week, do you consider this to be an act of courage? Well, if you go to a church that believes that God is holy, that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, that the Bible is the inspired word of God and must be obeyed, then going to church is a an act of courage! When you go to church and you affirm your belief with other Christians in these core doctrines of historic Christianity, you put yourself at odds with those who view such beliefs as a threat to personal freedom and choice. Serving and following the Lord of Scripture used to be fashionable. No longer. Our communities are being pulled apart […]
Each year I repost the prayer President Franklin Roosevelt made for the success of the D Day invasion on June 6, 1944. What is striking about this prayer is that FDR did not speak of many Gods or many faiths or many religions. He asked that the will of Almighty God be done. Today, we seek protection from a moment of silence offered to a god of our own choosing. Today, we are too proud to seek protection of the one true God. Also, this prayer speaks of good and evil in terms of absolutes. Absolutes, in terms of morality, are something that is no longer viewed as positive. Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day Prayer June 6, 1944 My fellow Americans: Last night, […]