Bible

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Follow Your Heart

It’s graduation season and millions of graduates are getting all sorts of advice, some useful, and some not so much. The useful advice tends to be practical: eat your veggies, spend less than you earn, sort your laundry. (My college’s team color was an intense, bright red. By the end of the first month, most of the guys in my dorm had new t-shirts—and pink underwear.)

The more esoteric advice leaves a lot to the imagination: “Strive.” “Live your dreams.” “Be all that you can be.” Strive to do… what? The value of much advice like this depends largely on what a graduate’s goals are. Do they want to make the world a better place? Or is their goal to amass as much stuff (money, fame, power) as possible?

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False Witnesses

I was reading my Bible this morning when I came across these verses (Matthew 26:59-60):

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.

When I’ve read this before, I’ve always dwelt on Jesus’ sinless nature, and how there wasn’t any real evidence so they had to invent something deserving of the death penalty. This morning, what caught my eye were the false witnesses.

I wondered… who were these witnesses? Did the Sanhedrin go looking for people to lie on their behalf? What would cause a person to testify falsely? Was there money involved? And in this case, they weren’t just lying. They were lying about God! We, of course, would never do such a thing!

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Steps to Success: Godliness

(Yet another installment in my study on 2 Peter 1:3, 5-8.)

Am I godly? Are you?

I’d always assumed that godliness meant “being like God,” so I was quite surprised to discover that isn’t the case. I don’t often take the time to dig in on a word or phrase, but in this case, I’m glad I did. Understanding the Greek was essential to understanding what Paul says.

Godliness is translated from the Greek word eusebia (εὐσέβεια). It is derived from a root word (εὐσεβής) meaning “pious” or “reverent.” It relates to doing that which pleases God, based on one’s heart attitude.

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God Grant Us Patience!

I’ve been slowly (very slowly) going through God’s “Steps to Success” (found in 2 Peter 1:3, 5-8). After looking at faith, goodness, knowledge, and self-control, the next attribute is “patient endurance.” The Greek word used here,  ὑπομονή (hypomonē), is also sometimes translated as perseverance. Each definition has its own nuances. Let’s start with “patient endurance.”

I confess in particular that I’m not very good at the “patient” part of “patient endurance.” I endure, all right, but I do it with plenty of griping and self-pity.

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Warning…

We just exchanged our aging pick-up for a newer vehicle that gets much better gas mileage. Wanting to take the best care possible of our new car, we sat down together to read the owner’s manual. (Yes, I know, nobody actually reads the directions. We’re just weird that way.)

While the manual is quite thick, clearly most of the contents are there for the express purpose of making the lawyers happy.

In our reading, we discovered these serious hazards:

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It’s OK to Be Overwhelmed

 

“God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

We were going through a particularly trying time in our lives, and my friend was trying to be helpful.

The problem? Her advice wasn’t true. God had given me more than I could handle. The situation was overwhelming. I was exhausted, my nerves were frayed, and there was not even a glimmer of light at the end of a very dark tunnel. I was beginning to consider the benefits of a nervous breakdown.

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Self Control

In my on-again, off-again series on God’s “Steps to Success” (found in 2 Peter 1:3, 5-8), I’ve been meaning to write about self control for some time, but I never knew quite how to approach the topic. Yes, in Peter’s list, “self-control” comes after knowledge—first we need to know the right thing to do, and then we need to follow through and actually do it! But how does this affect my day-to-day life?

Then last month something happened that turned this from an intellectual exercise into a personal issue.

Though Pete was out of town, I still planned to attend a special Christian concert about twenty minutes away. To get there, I had to pass through a rural area with no street lights. Since my night vision is less than optimal, I arranged a ride with another couple.

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A Bible Quiz

How well do you know your Bible?

After reading an article (on CNN’s “Belief Blog”) entitled “Actually, that’s not in the Bible,” I thought it would be fun to put together a little quiz. How much do we know about what the Bible really says? The answers are at the end, but no peeking until you’ve finished the test.

True or False

According to the Bible…

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The Bible is Better than Harry Potter!

Think of your favorite book, the one you read in one sitting because you just couldn’t bear to put it down. The Hobbit? One of the Harry Potter books? A best seller by John Grisham or Clive Cussler? I bet it wasn’t the Bible.

We agree that the Bible is important reading, but is it exciting? Once you know that Noah survives the flood, that David confesses his sin regarding Uriah and Bathsheba, and that Jesus rises  from the dead, you’ve got to admit that the Bible just isn’t that suspenseful. In fact, reading it often feels like hard work.

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