Get Your Head on Right

Is faith all we need to be useful to Jesus? That’s not as easy a question to answer as it might seem. Certainly faith is all we need to enter into a relationship with Him, but being useful goes beyond that. As we continue our series, Being Useful, we talk about something that has to go with our faith if we’re going to hit that mark. Keep reading to find out what it is.

Get Your Head on Right

I grew up in a hymn-singing church.  Every single Sunday morning we sang hymns.  As a result, the great hymns of the faith are like a warm, familiar embrace for me.  I suspect that in this room, I’m not alone in that sentiment either.  I suspect there are many of you who grew up with the hymns and have a genuine love in your heart for them.  Now, I love worshiping by singing more contemporary praise music too, but just like anything that was a regular—and positive—feature of your childhood just feels good, the hymns are that for me. 

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Morning Musing: Philippians 4:13

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter

If there was ever a case to be made for a particular verse of the Bible being the official verse of sports, I think this one would win the prize. It seems like every professional athlete who is willing to publicly claim the name of Jesus makes sure to put this verse on something he wears to play. And snapped up out of its context, it seems to serve the purpose of sports well. But is there any more to it? 

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Morning Musing: Philippians 1:9-11

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

It is popular nowadays to talk about the all-encompassing power and importance of love.  We are sometimes led to believe that if we do nothing other than love each other, our lives will be perfectly harmonious and the world will have all of its problems resolved.  But, while love is certainly the chief of the virtues–there’s no question on that fact in the Scriptures–contrary to popular theology and the Beatles popular song, love is not all we need. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Philippians 1:20

“…as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Here, Paul is talking about his current physical situation and how some folks are responding to it.  Just before v. 20 here, he talks about people who are sharing the Gospel out of both pure and selfish motives.  Either way, Paul says, the Gospel is proclaimed, which brings him joy.  Verse 20 is followed by his much more famous declaration that to live is Christ, but to die is gain. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Philippians 3:8-11

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith–that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

What would you be willing to do to get the thing you want most?  That kind of question appears in many different contexts.  But, its focus nearly every time is aimed at discovering the lengths to which someone is willing to go to achieve some highly desired end.  And most often, the kinds of things that are imagined for the person to do fall outside and even well beyond the borders of what was previously considered morally acceptable.  But, the goal is sufficiently desirable that violating previously held moral and ethical boundaries is seen as a worthy price to pay.  Consider the basic plot of a story like the Taken trilogy.  A man’s daughter is kidnapped and he makes clear to her kidnappers that he will stop at literally nothing to get her back safely.  The ends in this case justify the means deemed necessary to reach them. Read the rest…