Showing posts with label faithfulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faithfulness. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 01, 2023
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Outgoing Kentucky Governor's Pardons Were Un-Christian
Republicans, Democrats, and Independents probably all agree—in some cases, for different reasons—that the outgoing Kentucky governor’s last-minute pardons for murderers and rapists were horrifically wrong.
His argument about redemption is also, from a Christian perspective, completely wrong. As a Christian, I believe in God’s redemption for all sinners (including me and the rest of the human race) through Jesus Christ, even those guilty of heinous crimes.
But not even the forgiveness and redemption of God means that those convicted of murder, rape, or other crimes should be exempted from punishment.
Pope John Paul II famously visited the prison where the man who nearly killed him in Vatican Square. There, he forgave his assailant. But he still left the man in prison to pay his debt to the nation whose law he violated.
Scripture teaches that God rules in two ways.
God governs first in the kingdom of grace in which those who repent and believe in Christ voluntarily accede to His authority.
In the kingdom of the Law, God governs by coercion through governments. Governments are charged with keeping peace so that people can live securely.
The former Kentucky governor, with his spate of last-minute pardons, violated the will of God and made people less secure and safe. The pardons are indefensible as the Christian acts he claims them to be.
They were, quite clearly, un-Christian.
His argument about redemption is also, from a Christian perspective, completely wrong. As a Christian, I believe in God’s redemption for all sinners (including me and the rest of the human race) through Jesus Christ, even those guilty of heinous crimes.
But not even the forgiveness and redemption of God means that those convicted of murder, rape, or other crimes should be exempted from punishment.
Pope John Paul II famously visited the prison where the man who nearly killed him in Vatican Square. There, he forgave his assailant. But he still left the man in prison to pay his debt to the nation whose law he violated.
Scripture teaches that God rules in two ways.
God governs first in the kingdom of grace in which those who repent and believe in Christ voluntarily accede to His authority.
In the kingdom of the Law, God governs by coercion through governments. Governments are charged with keeping peace so that people can live securely.
The former Kentucky governor, with his spate of last-minute pardons, violated the will of God and made people less secure and safe. The pardons are indefensible as the Christian acts he claims them to be.
They were, quite clearly, un-Christian.
Monday, February 11, 2019
The Only Opinion That Matters
[This is the journal entry from my quiet time with God this morning.]
Paul wasn’t asking Timothy to do what he himself wasn’t willing to do. (Or hadn’t done.) The seasons in which the gospel we Christians are called to believe and to share with others change. Sometimes the message of the gospel we carry will reach people and they become disciples of Jesus too. Other times, people will misunderstand the message or us and treat us like we’re “all that.” And at other times, our message and we ourselves will be treated with contempt, sometimes even be subject to persecution.
But neither the God we know in Jesus Christ nor His gospel or our need of Christ and His gospel ever change! “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).” Even as we reach out in love to the crowds who need Jesus Christ to be saved from sin and death, we can’t allow their reaction to change the only message that can save them. As the apostles Peter and John said of Jesus shortly after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension: “ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).” (Here, they simply reflect what Jesus says: “ I and the Father are one” and “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”)
I like to have people accept me. I don’t like confronting those who are hostile. I don’t like offending people, even when the offense is the revealed Word and will of God. By the power of the Holy Spirit Who lives in believers, I need to be more like Paul and Barnabas, faithful to the God revealed in Jesus whether people’s high opinions or low opinions of me don’t match reality; faithful to Christ, whether people like it or not, whether they misunderstand it or not. It’s only this kind of faithfulness that authenticates the gospel, the good news of new life as a gift of grace from God through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Respond: Lord, help me to resist my desire to take my cues from the world. Open me today to the promptings of Your Holy Spirit seen in Your Word. Help me to remember that Yours is the only opinion that matters. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Look: “Even with these words, they [Paul and Barnabas] had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples.” (Acts 14:18-21a)
In Lystra, Paul and Barnabas, commissioned to carry the Gospel to Gentiles and Jews, are the instruments by which the risen, ascended Jesus heals a man lame from birth. The local crowd thinks that Paul and Barnabas are gods. They’re intent on offering sacrifices to the two. Even after Paul and Barnabas explain that they’re not gods and have come with good news of new life from the one true God revealed in Jesus, “they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.”
No sooner had the two explained this than some of their fellow Jews, opposed to the preaching of Christ and from Iconium, convinced the Lystra crowd that Paul and Barnabas should be stoned to death. Paul was so badly pummeled, apparently unconscious and immobile, that the crowd left the apostle for dead. But, after the Christians gathered around Paul, presumably praying, “he got up and went back into the city,” heading off to Derbe with Barnabas so that the two could continue their missionary work.
There are two obvious things about this incident, I think. First, there’s the fickleness of the crowd. Within the span of a short amount of time, they have two conflicting reactions to Paul and Barnabas, both of them wrong. First, they want to worship the two of them. Then, they set out to kill them.
That’s not unlike how we treat the latest celebrated people to enter our lives: At first, we hail them as some kinds of gods; then, disappointed that they’re only human, we tear them down. This cycle is depressingly familiar.
In Lystra, Paul and Barnabas, commissioned to carry the Gospel to Gentiles and Jews, are the instruments by which the risen, ascended Jesus heals a man lame from birth. The local crowd thinks that Paul and Barnabas are gods. They’re intent on offering sacrifices to the two. Even after Paul and Barnabas explain that they’re not gods and have come with good news of new life from the one true God revealed in Jesus, “they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.”
No sooner had the two explained this than some of their fellow Jews, opposed to the preaching of Christ and from Iconium, convinced the Lystra crowd that Paul and Barnabas should be stoned to death. Paul was so badly pummeled, apparently unconscious and immobile, that the crowd left the apostle for dead. But, after the Christians gathered around Paul, presumably praying, “he got up and went back into the city,” heading off to Derbe with Barnabas so that the two could continue their missionary work.
There are two obvious things about this incident, I think. First, there’s the fickleness of the crowd. Within the span of a short amount of time, they have two conflicting reactions to Paul and Barnabas, both of them wrong. First, they want to worship the two of them. Then, they set out to kill them.
That’s not unlike how we treat the latest celebrated people to enter our lives: At first, we hail them as some kinds of gods; then, disappointed that they’re only human, we tear them down. This cycle is depressingly familiar.
The second thing that strikes me in the passage from Acts is this: Paul and Barnabas are not swayed by the fickle crowd. They don’t play to the crowd. When the crowd wants to make them idols, they’re faithful to Christ. When the crowd wants to kill them, they’re faithful to Christ.
Listen: Years after the incident recounted in these verse, the apostle Paul wrote to a young pastor: “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2)
Listen: Years after the incident recounted in these verse, the apostle Paul wrote to a young pastor: “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2)
Paul wasn’t asking Timothy to do what he himself wasn’t willing to do. (Or hadn’t done.) The seasons in which the gospel we Christians are called to believe and to share with others change. Sometimes the message of the gospel we carry will reach people and they become disciples of Jesus too. Other times, people will misunderstand the message or us and treat us like we’re “all that.” And at other times, our message and we ourselves will be treated with contempt, sometimes even be subject to persecution.
But neither the God we know in Jesus Christ nor His gospel or our need of Christ and His gospel ever change! “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).” Even as we reach out in love to the crowds who need Jesus Christ to be saved from sin and death, we can’t allow their reaction to change the only message that can save them. As the apostles Peter and John said of Jesus shortly after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension: “ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).” (Here, they simply reflect what Jesus says: “ I and the Father are one” and “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”)
I like to have people accept me. I don’t like confronting those who are hostile. I don’t like offending people, even when the offense is the revealed Word and will of God. By the power of the Holy Spirit Who lives in believers, I need to be more like Paul and Barnabas, faithful to the God revealed in Jesus whether people’s high opinions or low opinions of me don’t match reality; faithful to Christ, whether people like it or not, whether they misunderstand it or not. It’s only this kind of faithfulness that authenticates the gospel, the good news of new life as a gift of grace from God through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Respond: Lord, help me to resist my desire to take my cues from the world. Open me today to the promptings of Your Holy Spirit seen in Your Word. Help me to remember that Yours is the only opinion that matters. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Monday, February 04, 2019
Going Where I'm Sent...Obediently
[This the journal entry from my quiet time with God earlier today.]
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Look: “But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel…’” (Acts 9:15)
A Christian in Damascus named Ananias receives a vision from God that a man named Saul is in his city and needs his help. Ananias is appalled at the whole idea. “‘Lord,’ Ananias answered, ‘I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.’” (Acts 9:13-14)
That’s when the Lord gives His simple imperative to go and take care of Saul, who has encountered the risen and ascended Jesus on the road to Damascus and now is blinded and helpless at a house in the city.
It’s not as though the Lord says, “Go, because it’s what I told you to do.” He could have pulled that number, a favorite of exasperated parents through the centuries. And He would have been justified in doing so. After all, if anyone has the authority to tell us what to do, it’s the Lord.
He does assert His authority when He tells Ananias, “Go!” But He also explains why He’s telling Ananias to go to a street called Straight, to the house of Judas, where he’s to ask for Saul (Acts 9:11-12): The Lord had plans for Saul to be a preacher of the good news of new life through faith in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ to Gentiles and to kings. The Lord also wants to reveal to Saul, soon to be renamed Paul, that he was going suffer for being faithful to Christ. (Acts 9:15-16)
A Christian in Damascus named Ananias receives a vision from God that a man named Saul is in his city and needs his help. Ananias is appalled at the whole idea. “‘Lord,’ Ananias answered, ‘I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.’” (Acts 9:13-14)
That’s when the Lord gives His simple imperative to go and take care of Saul, who has encountered the risen and ascended Jesus on the road to Damascus and now is blinded and helpless at a house in the city.
It’s not as though the Lord says, “Go, because it’s what I told you to do.” He could have pulled that number, a favorite of exasperated parents through the centuries. And He would have been justified in doing so. After all, if anyone has the authority to tell us what to do, it’s the Lord.
He does assert His authority when He tells Ananias, “Go!” But He also explains why He’s telling Ananias to go to a street called Straight, to the house of Judas, where he’s to ask for Saul (Acts 9:11-12): The Lord had plans for Saul to be a preacher of the good news of new life through faith in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ to Gentiles and to kings. The Lord also wants to reveal to Saul, soon to be renamed Paul, that he was going suffer for being faithful to Christ. (Acts 9:15-16)
How does Ananias respond? Acts 9:17 says, “Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’”
Listen: I suppose people could have a debate as to exactly why Ananias obeys the Lord and goes to Saul. (1) Is it the simple imperative, “Go”? (2) Is it the explanation the Lord gives to him as to why he needs to get Saul? (3) Is it a combination of the two?
All of those factors are in play, I suppose. But it boils down to this: Ananias is a disciple who trusts in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, he is able to be obedient to a command that he doesn’t really want to obey.
Because of the relationship Ananias has with and his receptivity to Christ, he hears Christ’s command to go and he goes.
It makes me wonder how much of what God may want to do through me am I missing through my failure to listen for Him as I read His Word and interact with people who may have needs God could take care of through me?
The things that God may want to do through me won’t necessarily lead me to grand gestures or sacrificial martyrdom. In the grand scheme of things, Saul/Paul is the “important” figure in this passage, the one who will be used by God to plant Christ’s Church throughout the Roman Empire, proclaim the good news to kings, and then die a martyr’s death. Ananias is a bit player. But his simple responsiveness to the Lord was pivotal!
After telling Saul that Jesus has sent him so that Saul can be filled with the Holy Spirit, we read: “Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.” (Acts 9:18-19) It appears to me that Ananias baptized the apostle Paul!
God could have chosen someone other than Ananias to “Go!” to Saul, of course. But Ananias was obedient.
This inspires me! I want to be a disciple of Jesus who, however frightening or insignificant or pointless it may seem to be, is willing to, “Go!” when God tells me to to go.
Everyday in God’s Word, I encounter commands from the One Who has saved me from myself and done so as a free gift of grace through Christ, to go, to take Christ to others by my words and actions. Everyday, I’m convinced, as I go through my life, Christ is calling me to follow His lead in some way or another. But I’m so busy with getting the next thing I think that I need to get to that I’m often deaf to opportunities to be useful for God’s purposes.
Respond: I think that a useful thing for me to do today (if I can remember it) is to ask You, Lord, “What do You want me to do or say in this situation, in this appointment, in this meeting, in this time of study today, Lord?”
Could You help me to remember to do that, Lord? And could You help me then remember to do what You, in Your purposes, seem to want me to do?
What do you want me to say or do right now, Lord?
Listen: I suppose people could have a debate as to exactly why Ananias obeys the Lord and goes to Saul. (1) Is it the simple imperative, “Go”? (2) Is it the explanation the Lord gives to him as to why he needs to get Saul? (3) Is it a combination of the two?
All of those factors are in play, I suppose. But it boils down to this: Ananias is a disciple who trusts in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, he is able to be obedient to a command that he doesn’t really want to obey.
Because of the relationship Ananias has with and his receptivity to Christ, he hears Christ’s command to go and he goes.
It makes me wonder how much of what God may want to do through me am I missing through my failure to listen for Him as I read His Word and interact with people who may have needs God could take care of through me?
The things that God may want to do through me won’t necessarily lead me to grand gestures or sacrificial martyrdom. In the grand scheme of things, Saul/Paul is the “important” figure in this passage, the one who will be used by God to plant Christ’s Church throughout the Roman Empire, proclaim the good news to kings, and then die a martyr’s death. Ananias is a bit player. But his simple responsiveness to the Lord was pivotal!
After telling Saul that Jesus has sent him so that Saul can be filled with the Holy Spirit, we read: “Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.” (Acts 9:18-19) It appears to me that Ananias baptized the apostle Paul!
God could have chosen someone other than Ananias to “Go!” to Saul, of course. But Ananias was obedient.
This inspires me! I want to be a disciple of Jesus who, however frightening or insignificant or pointless it may seem to be, is willing to, “Go!” when God tells me to to go.
Everyday in God’s Word, I encounter commands from the One Who has saved me from myself and done so as a free gift of grace through Christ, to go, to take Christ to others by my words and actions. Everyday, I’m convinced, as I go through my life, Christ is calling me to follow His lead in some way or another. But I’m so busy with getting the next thing I think that I need to get to that I’m often deaf to opportunities to be useful for God’s purposes.
Respond: I think that a useful thing for me to do today (if I can remember it) is to ask You, Lord, “What do You want me to do or say in this situation, in this appointment, in this meeting, in this time of study today, Lord?”
Could You help me to remember to do that, Lord? And could You help me then remember to do what You, in Your purposes, seem to want me to do?
What do you want me to say or do right now, Lord?
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Friday, September 01, 2017
In This Moment
Most days, I begin my day in quiet time with God. To see how I approach these special times, go here. Here's what I journaled from today's quiet time:
Look: “...Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.” (2 Corinthians 8:10-12)[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Economic calamity had come to the Christians living in Jerusalem. One year before Paul wrote the letter from which the verses above come, the Christians in Corinth to whom he’s writing had expressed the desire to provide their fellow Christians with some relief. But they hadn’t followed through. Paul urges them to do so, using the example of the impoverished Macedonian Christians as examples and prods; the Macedonians had, despite being poor, begged Paul for the chance to help those in Jerusalem.
Then, Paul seems to say, “Look, if you Corinthian Christians feel that you don’t have enough to make the kinds of offerings you want to make or once intended to make, don’t let that stop you from giving. God regards gifts acceptable according to the giver’s capacity for giving.”
Listen: This has broader application to more than giving financially in response to what Jesus Christ has done for me. It applies to my whole life as Jesus’ disciple.
I tend to look for the perfect time to share Christ, to ask people if they would like to pray, to help someone, to call a friend or family member.
In other words, I put off being a faithful Christian until I can find the right time to do it. I do this as though whatever I do has to be perfect: the perfect offering, the perfect invitation, the perfect prayer, the perfect meeting, the perfect telephone call. In this, as in so much in life, the biggest cause of procrastination is perfectionism.
The Corinthians, instead of giving as they said they wanted, procrastinated. Was it because they regretted the offer they’d made of offerings? Was it because they had overestimated their capacity to give? We don’t know. But Paul says, “...if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one doesn’t have.”
I’ve told many people this before, but it’s true: God will never hold us accountable for not using the gifts and blessings He didn’t give to us; God only holds us accountable for failing to use the gifts and blessings that He has given to us.
If I’m not a millionaire and I’m waiting to be generous until I am, I will never be generous. I’ll do nothing useful with my money. Instead, I should be generous with what I have.
If I don’t have the particular gift of evangelism, I still can share Christ with someone else in my own way.
If I feel called to pray with someone and ignore the call, that’s what I will be held accountable for.
If I feel that the time and conditions have to be perfect for me to do what God has called me to do, I’m too focused on my times, my conditions, on what I lack. I’m more focused on me than I am on God.
That isn’t faithful. God calls me to be faithful with whatever time, whatever money, whatever relationships, whatever knowledge, whatever experiences, I have at any given time.
My call is to be faithful to God, trusting in His capacity to make more of what I bring to any call or situation than what I possess on my own. This is the God Who created the universe from nothing (ex nihilo, as the theologians put it). So, He is perfectly capable of making something good of my little capacity if I will just trustingly do what He calls me to do.
I need to quit putting off being faithful in this moment and under these circumstances.
This reminds me of a favorite quote: “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” This isn’t saying we should do shabby work or give God our leftovers. It’s saying that the best time to be faithful to God isn’t in some perfect future that will never arrive on this earth, but right now.
That, I think, is Paul’s message to the Corinthian Christians and to me. I’m accountable to God now. I have the opportunity to serve God and to serve others now. And whatever I’m able and feel called to do right now will be acceptable to God.
Respond: God, free of me unreasonable expectations of myself. Let me live in the comforting, empowering reality of Your grace given through Christ right now. And help me not to put off what faithfulness I can live out today until a tomorrow which may never come. Whether it’s my time, money, talents, spiritual gifts, or opportunities, even if I see them as negligible or insignificant, help me not to squander the chance to use them for Your glory today. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Say I Won't by Lecrae
Lecrae teams up with fellow rapper Andy Mineo on this brand new video from Lecrae's latest LP, 'Anomaly.'
When you follow Christ, you're "not afraid to be different."
Friday, October 17, 2014
Outsiders by Lecrae
Absolutely love this, the opening track on Lecrae's latest CD, Anomaly.
"Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles [in this world], to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." (1 Peter 2:11-12)
"Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles [in this world], to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." (1 Peter 2:11-12)
Friday, November 29, 2013
If You're Going to Get Hated, Make Sure It's for the Right Reason
"Just as Jesus could not help but produce enemies, so [His] disciples will have enemies who hate them. That they will be hated, that Christians have been and will continue to be hated, is not necessarily a sign of faithfulness; but if Christians are faithful, they will be hated. They will be hated because those who have gone to the nations in Jesus' name cannot help but produce enemies who refuse to acknowledge the challenge that Jesus's people present to any loyalty not determined by discipleship to Jesus." [from Stanley Hauerwas, Matthew (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos Press, 2006), p.202. Part of his chapter on Matthew 24 and 25.]
It's no surprise that Christians incur hatred for their faith in Christ.
The problem with the Church today is that many Christians seem to almost want to be hated for the wrong reasons. That happens when they confuse faithfulness to Jesus Christ for being apologists for their political philosophy, their class, their social views.
God is not a Republican. God is not a Democrat.
God is not wealthy, middle class, or white.
God is God.
He has been revealed definitively in Jesus Christ.
Christians, if we're going to get people to hate us, let's make sure it's for being faithful to Christ and not for any other reason!
It's no surprise that Christians incur hatred for their faith in Christ.
The problem with the Church today is that many Christians seem to almost want to be hated for the wrong reasons. That happens when they confuse faithfulness to Jesus Christ for being apologists for their political philosophy, their class, their social views.
God is not a Republican. God is not a Democrat.
God is not wealthy, middle class, or white.
God is God.
He has been revealed definitively in Jesus Christ.
Christians, if we're going to get people to hate us, let's make sure it's for being faithful to Christ and not for any other reason!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Friday, September 03, 2010
Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin
Great words from my one-time seminary adviser, Hans Schwarz, Professor Emeritus of Protestant Theology and Contemporary Theological Issues at University of Regensburg in Germany:
Christ-like conduct requires us to have compassion for both faithful and sinners, but it requires us to discern between faithful living and sin, to espouse the former and to reject the latter. While we welcome everybody into our midst, especially those for whom Jesus cared, namely the poor, the despised, and the outcast of society, we dare not bless or condone that which the Bible in all its witness to God's saving action disapproves.[From By What Authority?: Confronting Churches Who No Longer Believe Their Own Message]
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
So you think being a Christian means you'll have a trouble-free life?
So you think being a Christian means you'll have a trouble-free life?
Not so much.
The Bible promises, "Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12).
And Jesus says, "In the world you face persecution." He goes on to say, "But take courage; I have conquered the world" (John 16:33).
Persecution isn't just exercised by oppressive governments slapping believers into jail cells.
Persecution also comes from people who mock faith or question the intelligence of those who trust in the risen Christ.
Persecution is exerted by the guardians of political correctness, by scoffing family members who tell you that you need to "loosen up," and by the whispers of Satan trying to convince you that you're a chump for following a God you can't see rather than things you can see.
Persecution comes in many forms and it is guaranteed to be part of the Christian life.
I have to ask myself: If I'm not catching flak for my faith in Christ, how faithful am I really being?
If I'm "following Christ" only because I think it will give me a trouble-free life, I've got another think coming!
But I also know that even in the midst of troubles, the risen Christ is with me, using the negative circumstances of my life to rebuild me and to gradually transform me into the person God can use for the best of purposes--God's purposes. God is fitting me not just for this life, but for eternal life.
The motivational speakers focus on being successful and happy today. God is interested in how we live--and that we live--over the long haul of eternity.
Jesus doesn't want to be a lucky charm who prevents us from experiencing unpleasantness. He wants to be our God and King and Savior.
When we Christians say in the Apostles' Creed that we "believe in Jesus Christ, [God's] only Son our Lord," we're espousing trust in the God of the long haul, Who gives something more valuable and enduring than an easy life this side of the grave.
I like Paul's words, which I almost always read at gravesite committals of the bodies of believers who have died: "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Corinthians 15:19).
When I get bogged down in discouragement, frustration, or self-pity over those who scorn the Bible or my faith in Christ, I have to remind myself, "Don't look for an easy life, Mark. Look for Christ and His help in living a faithful life, no matter what."
It's a helpful reminder for me. I thought it might help you too.
Not so much.
The Bible promises, "Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12).
And Jesus says, "In the world you face persecution." He goes on to say, "But take courage; I have conquered the world" (John 16:33).
Persecution isn't just exercised by oppressive governments slapping believers into jail cells.
Persecution also comes from people who mock faith or question the intelligence of those who trust in the risen Christ.
Persecution is exerted by the guardians of political correctness, by scoffing family members who tell you that you need to "loosen up," and by the whispers of Satan trying to convince you that you're a chump for following a God you can't see rather than things you can see.
Persecution comes in many forms and it is guaranteed to be part of the Christian life.
I have to ask myself: If I'm not catching flak for my faith in Christ, how faithful am I really being?
If I'm "following Christ" only because I think it will give me a trouble-free life, I've got another think coming!
But I also know that even in the midst of troubles, the risen Christ is with me, using the negative circumstances of my life to rebuild me and to gradually transform me into the person God can use for the best of purposes--God's purposes. God is fitting me not just for this life, but for eternal life.
The motivational speakers focus on being successful and happy today. God is interested in how we live--and that we live--over the long haul of eternity.
Jesus doesn't want to be a lucky charm who prevents us from experiencing unpleasantness. He wants to be our God and King and Savior.
When we Christians say in the Apostles' Creed that we "believe in Jesus Christ, [God's] only Son our Lord," we're espousing trust in the God of the long haul, Who gives something more valuable and enduring than an easy life this side of the grave.
I like Paul's words, which I almost always read at gravesite committals of the bodies of believers who have died: "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Corinthians 15:19).
When I get bogged down in discouragement, frustration, or self-pity over those who scorn the Bible or my faith in Christ, I have to remind myself, "Don't look for an easy life, Mark. Look for Christ and His help in living a faithful life, no matter what."
It's a helpful reminder for me. I thought it might help you too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)