Month: September 2019

Use It Well

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In this fourth part of our series, Simplicity: Finding Contentment in a Busy Life, we get practical. What does it actually look like to live with the simplicity and contentment found only in Christ in some specific situations that everyone faces? We start this week with a situation that is powerful tempting for just about everyone to seek their contentment somewhere other than Jesus. Keep reading to find out where.

Use It Well

By a show of hands, how many of you have heard of Benny Hinn? The televangelist is a longtime peddler of the Prosperity Gospel. The Prosperity Gospel is a uniquely American heresy (that we have unfortunately exported around the world) which holds that God rewards faithfulness with material blessings, that worldly success is an obvious sign of God’s favor. It holds that the contrary is true as well: Poor health and financial loss and the like are signs of faithlessness on our part. If we aren’t seeing the life outcomes we want to see, it is because we don’t believe strongly enough. Hinn’s specialty is healing. His services are filled with him waving a hand in someone’s direction and that person falling over backwards as she is “slain by the Spirit.” In practice it’s pretty wild stuff.

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Digging in Deeper: Isaiah 44:9

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“All who make idols are nothing, and what they treasure benefits no one. Their witnesses do not see or know anything, so they will be put to shame.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

This is one of my favorite passages in Isaiah. Take a minute, click the link above, and read from here all the way through v. 23. I can’t read this section without chuckling a bit to myself at the sarcasm dripping from the pages. Most often, when we encounter idolatry in the Scriptures it is being condemned. Here it is mocked. Isaiah is flat out making fun of idolaters. So, why is this on my mind this morning? Because we have recently been treated to an example of what Isaiah was saying.

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Digging in Deeper: James 1:22

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“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

So, last time, I offered up the beginning of my review of Marvel’s Luke Cage. It is a story that invites some theological reflection in part because it is consciously rooted in a theological framework. The main character is a preacher’s kid and the main villain quotes Scripture constantly and always carries a Bible well-worn from being read and marked up. I said I thought there are three lessons worth learning for followers of Jesus. Let’s talk about those now.

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Morning Musing: James 1:22

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“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

So, I recently finished watching the first season of Marvel’s Luke Cage on Netflix. I know, I know, where have I been for the last three years? What can I say? I’m slow to watch a few things. But, the upshot of being a step behind the times on my TV viewing is that I can talk about it without worrying I’m going to spoil it for anyone. And I think there is plenty to talk about from the standpoint of the Christian worldview. Just in case, then, if you are even further behind than I am, I’m going to include spoilers in what follows.

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Morning Musing: Hosea 14:9

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“Let whoever is wise understand these things, and whoever is insightful recognize them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

I write a lot of these things. I honestly don’t always remember what I’ve written about after a few weeks. It’s always interesting to me, then, when I go to prepare a blog and discover that I’ve already written an entry on the exact same verse. The few times I’ve done that, though, I’ve written on different aspects of the verse and from a somewhat different angle. The heart is the same, but the application is situational. This is a verse I wrote on back in May. Here’s a second look at it. Thanks for reading.

I enjoy trying to do origami. Let me say that again with a bit of emphasis: I enjoy trying to do origami. The idea of it captures my interest, but I’m not very good. It’s not for a lack of effort. I’ve tried many different projects over the years. I’ve bought whole books about it. I’ve admired pictures of amazing creations. But when it comes to folding paper to make something cool, there is a certain way to do it. If you don’t do it just right, you won’t be able to do it at all. What Hosea says here suggests that following God is a little like this. Let me explain.

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