Tag: 2 Peter

The Secret to Mattering Most

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This past Sunday morning we kicked off a brand-new teaching series called Being Useful. That’s something we all want, isn’t it? We want to be able to confidently say that we have made a difference in the world. Our heart pulses with that beat. Over the next few weeks, we are going to be examining the character that will guarantee we reach our goal in the areas that matter most. I look forward to going on this journey with you. Thanks for reading.

The Secret to Mattering Most

Let’s start this morning with a quick pop culture survey for you.  Shout it out if you know the answer.  What do Dude Perfect, PewDiePie, HolaSoyGerman, and elrubiusOMG all have in common?  They are all YouTube stars.  PewDiePie leads the pack with 96 million subscribers to his YouTube channel.  The other three all sit north of 35 million, with Dude Perfect leading the second-tier pack at over 42 million.  A lot of subscribers translates into a lot of money because of the way YouTube shares ad revenue with its viral video producers.  In 2018, Forbes Magazine reported that the highest grossing YouTube channel was not actually one of the top 10 by subscriber totals, but rather Ryan ToysReview.  This seven-year-old whose channel started when he was four and features him playing with toys…really, that’s it…made him (and his proud parents) $22 million.  The Dude Perfect channel—which is produced by some friends from Texas A&M whose stated goal is to glorify Christ in all they do—made $20 million.  That kind of income allows them to keep making videos like this one as their full-time job. 

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Morning Musing: 2 Peter 1:8

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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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Morning Musing: 2 Peter 3:15-16

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“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters.  There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Just a little note here on the defense of the Bible.  Some critics have argued that the writings of the New Testament “became” Scripture gradually.  It was the result of a power play by men seeking power for themselves and these writings were a convenient way to get it through the levers of religion.  But, when they were written no one considered them Scripture.  Except for this… Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 2 Peter 1:5-8

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“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Do you want to be effective?  We all do, don’t we?  We want to be able to have an impact on the people and environment around us.  Not only that, but we want to do so in a way that will last and have meaning.  The question, then, becomes: How do we do this?  How can we have an effective impact on our situations? Read the rest…