Morning Musing: Mark 8:36

“For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? (CSB – Read the chapter)

We have been talking about how we can be good at being rich for the last three weeks. This verse, in context, doesn’t have anything to do with that at all. But what it does do is give us a perspective we can take to every part of our lives – including our wealth – that has the power to totally transform our thinking, and by that, our living. If you want to truly be rich – in this present age and any age beyond it – this is a perspective you need to consider embracing.

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Broken from Birth

As we continue our journey through some of the more unsettling results from the Lifeway and Ligonier Ministry The State of Theology survey, this week we are moving on from the doctrine of God to the doctrines of people and sin. One of the more common ideas about our status before God when we start out in life is that we are all born innocent in God’s eyes. Yet as we engage with the Scriptures carefully, we are greeted with the rather disturbing news that this isn’t the case at all. In this next part of our journey we are talking about why that is and why the truth is so much better. Thanks for reading and sharing.

Broken from Birth

I don’t watch as many of them as I used to, but I used to watch a lot of food competition shows. I’ll still occasionally tune in today just to see the sheer artistic splendor of the things the various food artists create. The level of detail and intricacy to some of their creations is simply jaw dropping. There’s a new series on Netflix called, “Is It Cake?” where judges have to guess which of the items on a display in front of them are cake and which aren’t. They get fooled a lot. The fact that someone can make a cake look so convincingly like something else like a shoe or a purse or even a burger and fries that you actually can’t tell which is which is amazing to me.  

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Digging in Deeper: Luke 12:19-21

“Then I’ll say to myself, ‘You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared — whose will they be?’ That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What is the proper end for the things you have? Do you ever think about that? If you’re like me, that’s probably not a question that crosses your mind very much. You get stuff and you use it or don’t. That’s it. But what if there’s more to that story than you and I often think? What if the stuff isn’t really ours first? Let’s talk this morning about a new perspective on our stuff and one of Jesus’ most uncomfortable parables.

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Digging in Deeper: Luke 23:34

“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided his clothes and cast lots.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are some things I write about a lot. Part of this is because this particular slate of topics are ones about which I am personally passionate. That only makes sense. This is my blog, after all. I’m going to write about the things in which I naturally have an interest. Especially on Fridays. Some of the things I write about frequently, though, I cover because I genuinely try to stay tuned in to what is happening in the culture around me, and these are topics that keep coming up again and again. One of these recurring topics is forgiveness. It is a topic that has come up several times even just recently. I wasn’t totally sure what I was going to write about this morning even as late as last night. But then I watched a recent episode of the CBS comedy, Ghosts, and I had my theme. Let’s talk today about some wisdom from beyond the grave.

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Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 30:7-9

“Two things I ask of you; don’t deny them to me before I die: Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need. Otherwise, I might have too much and deny you, saying, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Last fall I saw the news that one of the largest PowerBall jackpots ever had been won by a single person. The total prize was just north of $2 billion. The lump sum prize payout was a shade less than $1 billion which seems like it would be a major letdown minus the fact that it is still more money than the vast majority of the world will ever see in their entire lifetime. No one wants to be poor. That’s part of why so many people play the lottery. Nearly all of them lose, of course, because the lottery is a game for people who can’t do math. (Unless your name is Jerry Selbee – this is worth a read – in which case just the opposite is true.) What we want instead, though, as amply demonstrated by the tens of millions of people who nonetheless bought tickets in hopes of winning this particular prize, is to be rich. But what if neither of these paths were the wisest to take through life? Let’s talk this morning about the wisdom of a third way.

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