Silhouette of a man kneeling in prayer on a hilltop during a vibrant sunset.

Morning Musing: Philippians 3:18-19

Leave a comment

“For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Paul’s was really passionate about leading people to Jesus. He was convinced beyond measure of the truthfulness of the Gospel, of the reasonableness of the Christian worldview. He vividly remembered the other side, and intimately understood the contrast between the two. He didn’t want anyone to be stuck living forever like he once was and was willing to go through just about anything to keep them from that so far as it depended on him. But he was also honest about the fact that not everyone was going to come around. The us-and-them divide was real. In the next few verses he contrasts one with the other. Let’s take a look starting with the latter.

Read the rest…
Group of hikers walking on a trail toward the rising sun in a valley.

Morning Musing: Philippians 3:17

Leave a comment

“Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Who is your model? Who is the person whose life yours is most lived in imitation of? A parent? A grandparent? A friend? Some celebrity? Here’s a better question: are your efforts at imitation intentional or unconscious? Everybody has somebody whose life is the pattern they are seeking to match whether they realize it or not. If you don’t know who your person is, that means you are doing it unconsciously which means it may be a person you don’t want to be modeling. Here’s one more question: who is using your life as a model? Paul offers us an example here that is worth considering. Let’s do that.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Acts 17:28

Leave a comment

“For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the errors Christians sometimes make is in thinking there’s nothing redeeming about the world at all. While we are to reject the world and its ways, the people in it were still created in God’s image even if they don’t recognize that. And, as bearers of God’s image, they will occasionally stumble across truth and get something right. This is usually accidental, but even as a broken clock is right twice a day, so the world sometimes gets it right. I was reminded of this in a recent episode of Abbott Elementary. Let me tell you how.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Philippians 3:15-16

Leave a comment

“Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The hardest chemistry class I took in college was Physical Chemistry. The professor was great, but the concepts were difficult. Making things even more challenging was the fact that on every exam he included one question that we hadn’t covered in class. It was a chance for us to apply the concepts we had learned so far to something entirely new. I don’t think anyone ever did well on that question. The whole purpose of a test—a fair test anyway—is to hold you accountable for what you have learned to make sure you have really learned it. God operates in much the same way with truth. Let’s talk about it.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Philippians 3:12-14

Leave a comment

“Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We like for things to be simple and direct. Okay, that’s not entirely true. We often complicate things endlessly, but still, when things can be either this or that, black or white, we’re happier. That’s especially true when it comes to the Scriptures and key theological concepts. We are drawn to the idea, for instance that salvation is all God from start to finish. Or, we are drawn to the idea that we play a role. What we actually find, though, is something a bit messier than that. While there are definitely places where Paul emphasizes the entirely divine nature of salvation, there are also passages like this one. Let’s check it out.

Read the rest…