Tag: Salvation

Morning Musing: Joel 2:1-2, 11

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“Blow the horn in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the residents of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; in fact, it is near — a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and total darkness, like the dawn spreading over the mountains; a great and strong people appears, such as never existed in ages past and never will again in all the generations to come…The Lord makes his voice heard in the presence of his army. His camp is very large; those who carry out his command are powerful. Indeed, the day of the Lord is terrible and dreadful — who can endure it?” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had a day whose coming you dreaded? A few years ago I got a speeding ticket—the only one I’ve ever gotten and even it was accidental because I missed a sign in a stretch of road where the limit kept changing from 55 to 45 and back. And, like any ticket, mine came with a court date. Boy, did I not want that day to come. The walk of shame to the judge’s bench to learn the punishment for my crime was not something I was looking forward to experiencing. What Joel says here suggests that the day of the Lord is one whose coming should fill us with a similar sense of dread…only worse. Why?

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Morning Musing: Psalm 15:1

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“Lord, who can dwell in your tent? Who can live on your holy mountain?”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

What matters more in the end: What we believe or what we do? What is it that ultimately determines who gets to be with God and who doesn’t? The content of our thinking, or the outflow of our behaving? That’s a little like the chicken or egg question. How do you decide one from the other? You can’t really. But can I go out on a limb a bit and suggest that the Scriptures seem to give maybe a fraction more weight to one over the other? 

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Digging in Deeper: James 2:24

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“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’ve said many times before that context is king when it comes to understanding the Scriptures. I’ll continue to beat that drum until I have you dancing to it in your sleep. But there aren’t many verses for which such a reminder is so important as this one. Taken out of context, this verse threatens to unravel our whole understanding of salvation and seems to justify the stifling legalism that has given Christianity such a bad name in so many places. How do we get this right? 

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However You Want It

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This past Sunday we continued in our series, Bible Stories to Make You Squirm. In this fourth part we looked at a story that’s hard, not because of something God does, but because of how utterly depraved we are. What do we do with a disturbing story that ends in a hopeless place like this? Keep reading to find out.

However You Want It

Film makers are creative folks.  They are artists.  Some of them cross the line over into being artistes.  Usually those are the ones who give us films that nobody goes to see unless they consider themselves fellow artistes.  The rest of us just like movies.  But, because they are generally artists, they are creative.  They don’t like making the same movie over and over and over again if they can help it.  But, when the culture likes a certain type of movie—superhero movies at the moment—they have to make the films that will attract the dollars that will allow them to make more movies.  Occasionally though, someone will get an idea that goes well outside the box of the norm while still within the general parameters of what people will pay to see. 

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Morning Musing: Romans 6:1-2

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“What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

What should be the relationship of the follower of Jesus to sin? Obviously we shouldn’t do it, but let’s be honest: a simple “ought not” isn’t usually sufficient to keep us from it. We need to understand the why behind the should not before we’re going to wrap our heart and mind around it to a sufficient degree that it begins to have the kind of power in our lives it needs to have. Here in Romans 6, Paul explores this very idea. His treatment may not be exhaustive, but it is powerful. Let’s spend some time unpacking this together. 

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