Tag: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Romans 12:19

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Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, ‘Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What do you do when you can’t decide between two options? If possible, you choose both. This past week I finished watching a miniseries and finally watched a movie that first came out a couple of months ago. I had always planned to write a review of both once I finished watching them. I hadn’t planned on finishing both in the same week. And yet, as I have gone back and forth on which one to write about first, it became clearer and clearer that they both covered a whole lot of the same theological ground, although from different directions. Trying to treat them separately just didn’t make sense. Today, then, we are going to span two totally different media universes and talk about the recently completed Marvel series, Moon Knight, as well as the fairly recent latest offering from DC Comics, The Batman, and see how two different visions of the world reveal the Gospel is still the greatest vision of reality there is.

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Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 2:1

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“For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever wanted to quit something? I remember being asked by a neighbor once to do some yardwork for him while he was out of town. He wanted me to take out some weed grass in his yard. He was going to pay me for it, and I enjoy detailed, tedious work, but it was too much even for me. I got about halfway through and was ready to quit. It was much harder than I expected it to be. Following Jesus is no small task either, and the audience of the author of Hebrews was struggling with it. As a result, he encouraged them to stick with it. Let’s learn from their lesson today.

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Digging in Deeper: Ephesians 5:22,25

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“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. . . .Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’m a terrible bowler. I enjoy it. But I’m terrible at it. On occasion I’ve been to the lanes, gotten into a real rhythm, and done reasonably well. More often than not, though, I would do better keeping score by tracking the number of gutter balls I throw. Plus, bowling alleys are almost always seedy-looking places that smell like feet (the same goes with skating rinks, but that’s another story). Sure, there are more and more “entertainment zones” in the mold of Dave and Busters popping up which invariably include bowling lanes, and those are pretty nice, but for some reason stand-alone bowling alleys always seem dumpy. A network comedy about a professional bowler, then, doesn’t really seem like it would be one to catch my eye. Yet after four episodes, I can’t get enough. Let’s talk this morning about CBS’ latest sitcom offering, How We Roll.

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Digging in Deeper: Psalms 34:4

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“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and rescued me from all my fears.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What do you do when you are afraid? I don’t think many people actually have a strategy for that. Fear isn’t exactly something we count on. As a result, we are far more likely to be reactive than proactive in those times. And, when we are being reactive, we don’t tend to make the best decisions. Some people shut down when they are afraid. They are functionally incapacitated until the fear passes. Others take the path of the ostrich, hiding their eyes from it and pretending nothing is wrong. Some get angry and lash out at those around them to cover up the fact that they are afraid. Still others handle it in more productive ways. Perhaps a better question here is how you get out of a fearful situation. David offers one option here that is worth considering. Let’s talk about what it is and why it works.

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Digging in Deeper: Deuteronomy 6:6-7

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“These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Here’s a nice, uncomfortable question to get you thinking on this lovely Friday morning: If you are a parent who professes Christ, what are you doing to make sure your children follow suit? Maybe you’re doing everything you can, maybe you’re not really giving it much thought, but either way, there’s probably at least something inside of you that considers the matter worthy of at least a bit of attention. I don’t have any great answers to that question for you this morning, but I do have a reflection on how not to do it. This occurred to me after watching an episode of the long-running CBS sitcom, Young Sheldon, a prequel series of the immensely popular The Big Bang Theory (of which I have never watched a single episode). Let’s talk this morning about something that doesn’t work when it comes to faith and the next generation.

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