Are you a Berean? Acts 17:11 reads:
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
When it’s time for the sermon, do you listen with great eagerness? Then, do you read your Bible on your own to see if what they said is true?
I was reading yet another article on the travails of Mark Driscoll (a whole separate topic) when I came across this statement:
It seems that these are the three areas where Christians most likely to fall into sin—pride, sex, and love of money.” … First John 2:15-17 calls them, “All that is in the world—the lust of the flesh [sex], the lust of the eyes [love of money], and the pride of life.” In other words—passions, possessions, pride.
It’s true that we tend to consider these the “Big Ones.” Most sins can be placed into one of these three categories. For example, we’re told not to covet our neighbors’ goodies. That would fall under “lust of the eyes.” We’re not to covet his wife either, lest we succumb to “lust of the flesh.”
What is your opinion on illegal immigration? I’m sure you have one. This is a topic that everyone is passionate about, no matter which view you take. Provide amnesty? Send them home? Seal the border? Open the border? On the one hand, the Bible tells us to obey the law. On the other, we’re to welcome the foreigner and alien in our midst. How do we apply those verses to this political—and very human—quagmire?
Our Global Sunday school class had a guest speaker this past week. Jeff Hines and his family are missionaries to Honduras. He had a perspective that totally rearranged my thoughts on this difficult subject. What he had to say on this topic is important enough that I want to share some of it with you.
One of our granddaughters is recovering from hand, foot, and mouth disease. Yes, that’s a real disease, usually affecting very young children. It’s not serious—the virus just causes a low fever, a rash, and little blisters on the hands, feet, and in the mouth and throat. While there is no vaccine or treatment, it runs its course in a few days.
Lately, I’ve been suffering from a much more dreaded malady: foot in mouth disease. A number of times in the past few weeks, I’ve said something I’ve instantly regretted. Then, to try and cover up my slip, I say something more, compounding the problem. Now I have both feet in my mouth.
Last Friday I listed four ways we can do something to help the Christians in Iraq—stand in solidarity, write letters, give generously, and, most importantly, pray. When I mentioned prayer, I gave some guidelines, including the need to pray for the ISIS Muslims who are deceived captives of the enemy.
In spite of my suggestion, I wasn’t sure exactly how to pray for them. Sure, we want them to stop what they’re doing and turn to Jesus. But what does that look like? Is it all right to pray that God clobbers them?I’ll admit, this is one time when I want my big, powerful, angry God to do some serious smiting!
Then I came across this blog post that neatly summarizes just what we should be asking God for, when we pray for our enemies. It’s even specifically aimed at praying for Al-Qaeda and ISIS. I know I’ve stopped my Tuesday posts for the time being, but this was just too timely and appropriate to pass up. Please read:
Since January, six thousand people—Christians, Kurds, Yazidis, have been brutally murdered by ISIS, the radical Sunni Muslim terrorist group that is carving an Islamic state out of northern Iraq and Syria. It’s incredibly painful to read the reports of the atrocities being committed. If you’ve ever wondered if Satan is real, read a few of these news items:
Which is more important—social media or an actual person standing in front of you?
Most of us would agree—at least most of the time, the physical presence of a person trumps catching up on Facebook or Twitter, answering texts or phone calls. Sure, my best friend understands that if we’re chatting and my husband calls, I’ll probably take the call. And I’ll tell Pete that I’m in the middle of a conversation—is this important or can it wait a bit? On the other hand, if my friend is confiding about something serious and important to her (and me), I might not answer the call. There are no hard and fast rules, but there is courtesy.
It’s amazing what you can learn when exercising at Curves. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been a member of Curves for almost three years now—the first time in my life that I’ve managed to stick with an exercise program that didn’t involve swimming or folk dancing. I just need to be distracted while I wear myself out. Curves is perfect for that. Going from machine to machine occupies the body, but not the mind, so we chat with the other women as we huff and puff. These women are a wellspring of fascinating information. For example…
When asked (in Matthew 22:36-38) which is the greatest commandment in the Law, Jesus replied “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ He was quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, but with a twist—Jesus added the word “mind.”
There’s a reason for this. When Deuteronomy was written, the concept of mind was included in heart and soul. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, those meanings had diverged. Wanting to be sure that we understood our need to love God with our intellect, Jesus inserted the extra word. (And while Matthew omitted “with all your strength,” Mark and Luke made sure to include it.)
For the past week we’ve enjoyed the company of our out-of-state daughter and two granddaughters. Gwendolyn is now three months old, Willow recently turned two. I’ve loved every chaotic minute. I’ve spent the week reading cardboard picture books, filling sippy cups, and moving sharp or breakable objects to ever higher shelves.
Like all grandchildren, our grandkids are nearly perfect, but they still need a lot of civilizing. They weren’t born polite, considerate, well-behaved little girls. Our kids are doing a wonderful job of teaching and training, but if you’ve ever wondered about the concept of Original Sin, just spend a day with a toddler!
Compost 