A few years ago, Christian author, speaker, and apologist Os Guinness wrote a book called, A Free People’s Suicide. In it, this British gentleman offered some advice to Americans and free people everywhere on the price of their freedom; not the cost, but the price. He talked in particular about what he called the golden triangle of freedom.
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“My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
We’ve all experienced some version of this before: Something has happened that, while not necessarily bad, is capable of being understood in a negative light. You hear about it in bits and pieces from someone who is sharing it with you third hand, and after hearing only half of the story, get ferociously angry. And in your mind, this is a righteous anger. God is offended at this and you with Him. You say or do some things that cannot be taken back. But, once that initial wave of rage has subsided a bit, you learn a bit more about the situation from someone who has firsthand knowledge and discover that your initial reaction was wrong. This wasn’t something worth getting angry about at all, and now you’re stuck with egg on your face. Oops.
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“For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
I want to matter. I want for my life to count for something. That desire pulses deep with every beat of my heart. If I were a betting kind of man, I’d bet that you feel this too. While it may manifest itself in different ways, this desire burns at the heart of every single one of us. We want to be able to look back on our lives at some point and be able to say: I accomplished something of value to this world. One of our deepest fears is meaninglessness. Anything that helps at least sort of scratch this itch gets our attention. Given that, what Peter says here should have us rapt with it.
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This past Sunday morning we wrapped up our series, Bible Stories to Make You Squirm, by looking at another doozy. When Jesus entered the world as a baby and King Herod found out about it, he murdered all the boys two years and under in Bethlehem. What we are supposed to do with this and what it means for us is what we talk about here. Keep reading to learn more.
Also, this week I am going to make some changes to my posting schedule. Producing two posts, three days a week isn’t such a big deal for me on the writing side, but as someone who reads other blogs, I know that trying to read two posts on any given day is a lot. You’ve hung in here with me as I keep learning how to do this better over the last couple of years, and I am supremely grateful. Going forward, I am going to move to five weekly posts–one each day, Monday through Friday, all at 8:00 am. Mondays will be the previous day’s sermon or a Digging in Deeper post if I’ve had the weekend off. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be the usual Morning Musings. Wednesdays and Fridays will be Digging in Deeper posts (usually just a bit longer than the Morning Musings or else a chance to go a little deeper into a conversation we have started on Tuesday or Thursday). Saturdays and Sundays will still be off, although I may start adding some guests posts on the weekends in the not-too-distant future. Hopefully this will make for better pacing for you, the faithful reader, while keeping you still interested in making connections between the Word and the world. Thanks for sticking with me all this time. I’m looking forward to many more good conversations in the days ahead. Blessings to you!
The Hard Road
Most cultures have a set of proverbs, adages, axioms that form the popular foundation on which the bulk of its people stand when it comes to thinking about how they are going to get by and get along with one another. Many of our culture’s most popular proverbs come from the wit and wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, one of our Founding Fathers. Many of these you probably know well: Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man…healthy, wealthy, and wise. A penny saved is…a penny earned. Don’t put off for tomorrow…what you can accomplish today. Some of his proverbs are a little less familiar, but still really good: He who sows thorns should not go barefoot. The one who is content has enough; the one who complains has too much. Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it.
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“No one undergoing a trial should say, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Have you ever had one of those moments when you did something and then immediately thought, “Where did that come from?” I suspect we all experience that from time to time. We get caught in a raw moment and react in a way that catches us and everyone around us entirely off guard. The same kind of thing can happen with temptation. James here, though, tells us we shouldn’t be quite as surprised as we are.
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The Nexus 