Tag: The Christian worldview

Digging in Deeper: Romans 8:28

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“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purposes.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

A common cliche we like to use when something happens unexpectedly or unfolds in a way we didn’t plan is that God works in mysterious ways. The idea is that God can accomplish things in ways and by means that go well beyond our ability to explain them. Followers of Jesus call this miraculous. Secular folks just call it chance or good luck. Either way, our powers of prediction are generally pretty bad. A recent series on AppleTV got me thinking about all of this as I watched the story take twists and turns the characters could not have imagined at the outset. God actually played a role in the story, but it was an interesting one. Let’s talk for a bit today about Lessons in Chemistry and how things all work out according to plan.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 20:4-6

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“Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow in worship to them, and do no serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The theme of a jealous spouse is a fairly common one in our stories, and it is a uniformly negative picture. That is, the jealous spouse is always the villain. Here in the second of the foundational commands God gives the people for what it looks like to live in a covenant relationship with Him, though, we find God describing Himself as jealous. He wants us all to Himself, and doesn’t want us putting anyone or anything ahead of Him. Let’s talk about why this is, what idolatry is, and why it’s a good thing that God is jealous for us.

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Digging in Deeper: Galatians 3:27-29

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“For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. If you are a student or work for a state or federal employer, or a bank, or any one of a number of other places, I hope you get to enjoy your day off. Other than one of our Founding Fathers or Abraham Lincoln, it is hard to imagine another American from our entire history who is more celebrated than King. He’s the only person in our history who has a day named after him. Washington and Lincoln used to have their own days, but those got rolled into President’s Day more generally which is really too bad because all of our Presidents are not equally worth celebrating, but that’s for another time. That all being said, King is rightly given his own day because of the absolutely invaluable contribution he made to our nation. We would not be who we are without his tireless labor to advance the cause of Civil Rights for all people, but especially black people in a day when racism ruled in the hearts of far too many people. Let’s reflect for just a minute on King’s vision, what gave it substance, and how we’re doing with achieving it today.

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Is Jesus Really the Only Way?

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Over the last three weeks we’ve tackled some big, tough questions. These questions have brought us face to face with the nature of reality, the identity of Jesus, and the gut-wrenching pain of suffering in this life. This week, we are wrestling with one that lies right at the heart of the journey all people have been on for the entirety of human history: How do we get into a relationship with God? The answer we find affirmed and even insisted upon in the Scriptures is Jesus. That answer has never really rung reasonable in the hearts and minds of a sinful world. So then, is it really true? Let’s talk about it.

Is Jesus Really the Only Way?

I used to love choose-your-own-adventure books. Do you remember those? You read to a certain point and then were given a choice between two different options. If you went with option A, you turned to page 47, but if you wanted option B, you turned to page 63. Then, when you got through that next part of the story, you were able to choose again. How the story went in any given read through was entirely up to you. Now, because I’m a little bit OCD, I would always make sure I read the book enough times that I experienced every possible option for how the story could have gone, but the point was that it was my choice. I had the power. 

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Morning Musing: Galatians 5:19-21

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“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things – as I warned you before – that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Our culture’s relationship with violence is an interesting one. On the one hand, the movies and streaming series we produce are increasingly gory. Long gone are the days when violent releases merely hinted at the really gruesome stuff. Now directors seem to delight in finding more and more creative ways for people to be killed or otherwise mutilated, and also in showing us all of the details. Horror films used to rely on scaring audiences. Now they mostly rely on overwhelming their senses with senseless gore. On the other hand, the barbarity of Hamas’ recent attack on Israel was a shock to our senses. We hear the stories or see the videos and ask how one person could possibly do that kind of thing to another person. The answer is almost certainly not that they were just desensitized by watching recent Western horror films. The answer is that this is how people have always been. Let’s talk about why we struggle to understand that, and just what it means for us.

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