Tag: Relationships

Morning Musing: Philippians 2:19-24

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“Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy  to you soon so that I too may be encouraged by news about you. For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests; all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know his proven character, because he has served with me in the gospel ministry like a son with a father. Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. I am confident in the Lord that I myself will also come soon.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Ministry can be an intensely lonely affair. I don’t say that out of complaint because I don’t often feel it, but merely observation because it is a reality for so very many who have accepted God’s call to service, especially in a full time capacity. You are often surrounded by people, but because of the nature of the work and the nature of the world, it is often difficult to know who you can really trust to let in. Overcoming that takes effort and intentionality. Paul took a path that could have been very lonely indeed. But he did the work to avoid that trap and its dangers. At the end of chapter 2 here, he talks about two of the men he held dear. Let’s take a look at each in turn.

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Morning Musing: Philippians 1:7-8

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“Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Being a part of the church can be tough. Now, some of that depends on the individual church. Some churches are hard to connect with because their culture is broken. But being a part of a church that is healthy and welcoming doesn’t happen automatically. Even the best church takes some work and intentionality to be a part of. It takes building relationships and investing in those relationships over time. When you do that, something like what Paul describes here becomes possible. Let’s talk about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Genesis 2:24

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“This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Well, here we are at another Friday when I didn’t have any idea what I was going to write about as I finished the day and got into bed, but then just before going to sleep something dropped straight into my metaphorical lap that I just couldn’t avoid. One of the things that I tell my church as often as I can make it come up naturally is that being a follower of Jesus doesn’t mean completely disengaging from any media sources that are not fully supportive of the Christian worldview. Rather, it means engaging wisely and with their worldview radar on high alert so they can identify ideas that are contrary to the truth and consciously reject them. They should do this they are engaging with various media by themselves, of course, but they should be especially vigilant about doing it when engaging with their kids both so that they are teaching them what is correct, but also so they are teaching them how to engage critically and through the lens of the Christian worldview. Well, the most recent episode of Abbott Elementary that we watched last night gave me the opportunity to do just that. Let’s talk about it.

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Morning Musing: Romans 12:16

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“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

A friend of mine pastors a church that’s hard. The congregation has a reputation for being a church that chews up pastors and spits them out. There constantly seems to be discord among the members. Someone is always upset about something. My friend spends a fair bit of his time putting out fires. From the outside looking in, the people there do no live in harmony with one another. It makes accomplishing effective ministry a great deal more difficult than it might otherwise be. A church wracked by disharmony is going to have a much harder time proclaiming and advancing the Gospel than one that isn’t. This is why Paul gave us this next series of commands for living the Christian life well. Let’s continue our exploration of his practical list of how what it looks like to follow Jesus.

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Something Special

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“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” (Ephesians 5:25 CSB)

The much cliched saying is that time flies when you are having fun. I remember enjoying my high school experience thoroughly. I had a terrific community I was a part of in my school with strong traditions and lots of fun along the way. It never felt like it flew by, though, when the end of that season finally arrived it all felt very much surreal. The same thing goes for college. Those years felt faster, but I don’t remember consciously processing the thought that the time was moving particularly quickly. Given that, you would think that a span of twenty years as compared with that combined eight years would feel like an eternity. But the last twenty years have passed by in the blink of an eye. As much fun as high school and college were, it doesn’t even compare with the joys of marriage. Today I’ve been married for twenty years to my one and only, and the joys of the journey are only getting sweeter. Let me share a few with you.

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