God doesn't promise to make us happy

Nicole Cottrell identifies five lies that Christians believe. Number five is one to which I've been susceptible, the notion that God promises believers in Jesus that He will make us happy. But Cottrell is dead-on when she writes:

Happiness in scripture is usually mentioned in terms of a fleeting moment or a temporal, earthly event. Neither the scriptures or Christ (or anyone else for that matter) ever tell us that God wants us to “be happy.” He wants us to be a lot of things: righteous, holy, godly, pure, sanctified, etc … but “happy” ain’t in the list. 

It’s cliche, but man is it true: God is more concerned with our holiness than our happiness.

Read the whole amazing article.

Buck the Waves

Ever notice how so many people described as being "cutting edge," "prophetic," or even "courageous" are just jumping on board the latest flavor-of-the-week bandwagon?

 This is the kind of thing Paul warned the young pastor Timothy would happen, as it does in some form in every generation: "...the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Buck the waves: Stick with Christ and the Word of God. "All other ground is sinking sand..."