Hypocrisy is something you cannot avoid. You tell your children not to fight and then you argue with your spouse. You tell your children God is in control and then you become angry or despondent with the circumstances of life. You tell your children to put God first, and then you realize you told them that for selfish reasons. Your children are intimately aware of your hypocritical tendencies. It is as if a child is born with a fully-functioning, super-sensitive hypocrisy checker built in. Hypocrisy: something you and I cannot avoid! What can you do? You begin by telling your children is the natural state of all humans. That means that you, just like your children, will at times […]
Monthly Archives: June 2019
8 posts
You think you know who you are. You think you know what you want. The only problem is that today’s thoughts are different from yesterday’s. And tomorrow’s may change yet again. So, do you really know who you are? Are you really self-aware? The problem is we are too easily self-deceived. This is where self-awareness becomes an enigma. We think we know who we are, but we really don’t. Are we truly self-aware or are we self-deceived? How well do we know ourselves? How can we help our children gain self-awareness that is accurate? As Calvin said our wisdom is composed of two parts, our knowledge of God and our knowledge of ourselves and where one begins and the other […]
People are designed for worship. Specifically, God made you and me for the express purpose of worshipping him. Praise is an action of worship where people repeat back to God all the great things he is and has done. Psalm 103 describes it this way: Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. David is saying praise should flow from the deepest parts of who we are. We do best, we function best, when the praise of God defines us. The converse is also true: when you and I don’t live […]
My friend, Will Hunter, has offered a thought-provoking challenge about the amazing benefits that Christ has secured for us from Romans 5:1-11. Through the sacrifice of his Son, God has given his people the huge blessing of a justified life. However, it is so easy and so foolish to fail to take advantage of this “justified life.” You have been given the gift of being justified by faith and not by the good things that you try to do. This gift is immediate and continued access to God’s grace. You have been reconciled to the mighty, awesome, majestic Lord of the Universe. You have peace with the ultimate warrior and avenger. You need not fear death. There is no person, […]
“Whatever.” This is not usually a word of encouragement or optimism. It is what we say when we feel let down, betrayed, discouraged. So, “whatever” is said in a way that is intended to communicate that you don’t care. However, the irony is that it really means that something matters very much. We continue to be surprised at being disappointed. People have this problem called sin. Sin comes from rebellion to God. At its root, rebellion starts with believing a lie. We believe we can be happy apart from dying to ourselves. We believe that the people we love will not hurt us. We believe that we deserve what we desire. We believe things will be better next time. We […]
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, four years ago I received 7 […]
Well, let’s not get too extreme! Yes, you love going to church, but on balance, everyone has a life apart from church. It is important to avoid going to church just out of a sense of duty. Legalism is depressing. Sometimes a chill Sunday morning is priceless. These are easy thoughts to have, even when you do go. However, there are places on our planet where Christians are literally dying because they go to church. News agencies like the BBC are reporting that the murder of Christians is approaching genocide levels, especially in sub-Sharan Africa and in many places in Asia. Yet, people continue to go to small, wooden buildings knowing that they could be burned alive inside on any […]
Another shooting. Funnel clouds forming. People dying. Families broken. Lives shattered. Hatred rules. Where is safety? It was another quiet Sunday. Church had just ended. All seems normal until some motorcycles ride onto the church property. The pastor and 5 other men are pulled out and ordered “Convert to Islam or die.” They refuse, and they are executed, one-by-one behind the church.* Yes, this is a normal Sunday afternoon in Burkina Faso and in many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Many news agencies, including the BBC, are reporting that thousands and thousands are being slaughtered for their Christian faith, to the point it is being called genocide. Where is safety? Twelve people in Virginia Beach are murdered by a co-worker […]