“Having Christian convictions can’t ever negate having Christ’s compassion” (Ann Voskamp).
It’s not a case of either/or. It’s both.
In today’s culture, there are those on one side who let their compassion override their convictions. They preach tolerance (except for those who happen to disagree with them) and teach that loving people means loving their sin.
On the other side of the fence, there are people whose convictions have turned them into people who not only need to be proven right but everyone else must have their faces rubbed in the fact that they’re wrong.
If you truly follow Jesus, you’ll have both. Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery “Neither do I condemn you” with compassion, but He also told her “Go and sin no more” with conviction. Yes, Jesus loved sinners and ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, but He loved them into repentance and transformation. When He ascended into heaven, they weren’t sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes anymore. They were devoted disciples living a new way of justice and holiness.
Remember, it’s not either/or. It’s both/and. God was compassionate toward you while you were a sinner far from grace but He still calls you through conviction to repent and turn to Jesus in faith.
Yesterday was a hot one. Today was also a hot one. Tomorrow will most likely be a hot one. Are you sensing a trend yet?
It’s called summer. It’s like stepping out the front door into an oven. Except in my case living in Tennessee, it’s like an exceptionally moist oven. That’s because it’s very humid.
If it were 100 degrees with no humidity, I could adjust. I could learn to live with heat. But humidity is just not fair. It’s especially unfair to people (like me) with curly hair who just want to look normal and not like an alpaca who stuck its finger in an electrical socket.
But there is still a lot of summer to go. Officially, we have until September 21, but as everyone in Tennessee knows, hot weather is here until at least October. Maybe longer.
So my advice is to drink lots of water, wear sunscreen, and stay inside from 2 pm until November 2 (or maybe longer depending on the outcome of the election).
I see people in the heat wearing hoodies and jackets and long sleeves. I’m not judging, but why? It’s already heat stroke weather. There’s a heat advisory. If it’s me, I’m not adding to the risk. I mean you can wear all the layers and polyester you want. It’s a free country, but just know I will be sweating all the more when I see you bundled up in 95 degree heat.
But fall is coming. My favorite season because it’s not too hot, not too cold. Plus, you can legitimately wear hoodies and flannel and not die.
By the way, I get equally annoyed when I see people in t-shirts and gym shorts in the middle of winter. That’s just as dumb in my humble opinion.
But because we all made it through another week of living in a sauna, I brought you a joke to enjoy. Hope you like it.
I heard that in the opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympic games in Paris, France, they made a mockery of Christianity. Apparently, people are all offended.
Maybe I should be as well, but it seems to me that means believers are doing something right. At least according to Jesus, they are.
Jesus said that if they hated Him, they will hate us. Jesus’ message was one that got Him crucified. And His message wasn’t merely love God, love people. That wasn’t enough to get Him killed. He claimed the title of Messiah. He said He was the Son of God, equal to God. He even said, “I AM” claiming the divinity as one of the trinity.
Jesus called people to a new way. He called us to live a new way. He said that people would not understand. Not only that, they would hate us. He said to rejoice when we are persecuted and mocked and belittled because our reward is coming.
I don’t think we get credit for being hated when we are obnoxious or arrogant. I don’t think we should rejoice for being persecuted when we’re seeking to make politics the ultimate goal and getting “our” candidate elected takes precedence over preaching the gospel to every nation, tribe, and tongue.
We are not better than anyone else. We of all people know the depth of our depravity, the full wages of what our sins deserve, and what we would have been apart from the grace of God. We know more than anyone how dependent we are on God for anything in this life and for any hope of a next life in heaven.
If people only say nice things about us as Christians, we’re doing something wrong. Or we’re not doing the right things loud enough like loving our enemies, blessing those who curse us, and being salt and light. Jesus said woe to those when all people speak well of you because they did the same for the false prophets. The world says it will only applaud what we say when we sound just like them, but really then we will have zero reason to exist.
I love how the disciples didn’t get offended when they were persecuted and mocked. Even when they were beaten and thrown in prison for preaching about Jesus, they chose to count it all joy. They rejoiced that they had been counted worthy to suffer for the Name. They knew that ultimately nothing could stand against the message of the Cross and that the power of Jesus would prevail as it had at Golgotha over sin, death, and hell.
May we rejoice when people mock us not for being jerks but for being faithful witnesses. May we count it all joy when people mistreat us not for how we shame those who think differently than us but for how we love those whom Jesus loved.
Is it possible that God can speak through an aptly-timed social media meme? If I had to answer that question right now, I’d lean toward yes. I seem to get memes like this one that remind me that gratitude is always appropriate even in seasons of anxiety.
There’s always something to be thankful for. I am most definitely living inside of multiple answered prayers (both from me and from others) while I am waiting on other prayers to be answered. One obvious example that practically stares at me every day is Clifford the Big Red Jeep, the car I prayed for.
So basically while I pray for God’s provision for a job, I am literally driving the answer to a previous prayer. After that, you’d think I’d be all done with questioning God’s timing or wondering if He will really provide this time, but I still do. I identify with those Israelites wandering in the desert who seem to have short-term memories when it comes to the blessings of God and long-term memories when it comes to every hardship.
Even the basic gifts like waking up every morning and having reasonably good health are answered prayers. So is having good eyesight and hearing. So is being able to walk anywhere I want. I am living in all these answered prayers that I routinely take for granted.
God, forgive my doubt and my entitlement. Thank you that you are way more patient with me than I am with you. Even as I pray for You to grant my petitions, grant me to see with Your eyes so that I can trust Your heart and Your timing and not lose heart. Amen.
That’s not how I would have done it. If I’d had my way, probably Paul would have gotten his just desserts. He’d have received the same as he gave — that’s how Hollywood typically plays it. I can see his death scene playing out like Hans Gruber falling from the top of the Nakatomi Tower at the end of Die Hard.
But thankfully God’s ways are not like my ways. That same Paul went from being enemy #1 to Jesus and the faith to being the biggest champion of Christianity and spreading the gospel. God turned the bad guy into one of the good guys, as we’d say in old Hollywood.
That’s how the gospel works. The very worst of humanity can be transformed into a saint. And by saint, I don’t mean someone who is a notch above the rest of us and super holy. As I’ve heard it said, a saint isn’t someone who is good but who has seen and embraced the goodness of God.
It’s a bit of an ironic twist that the man who formerly persecuted the Church and made so many martyrs ended up himself becoming a martyr for the very faith he once tried to destroy. Again, that’s how the gospel works. That is something only explainable by the mercy of God.
That’s why I think a lot of the current political rhetoric is foolishness. Neither Biden or Trump are beyond the grace of God. That’s why I pray for the salvation of both every single night. Who knows? What an amazing testimony either one (or both) could have. And yes, I also pray for the salvation of Kamala Harris as well.
Who knows what any of us could be apart from the grace of God? Who knows that any of us could descend further than any Hitler or Stalin or Bin Laden? All of us are capable of any kind of evil apart from God’s continuous mercy.
I know that I’m not a believer because I was so very smart to choose Christ. I know it’s not because I was better than anyone else in the world. It’s only because God chose me first and set His love on me that I could even choose Jesus in the first place.
Billy Joel said, ““If I ever reach heaven I expect to find three wonders there: first, to meet some I had not thought to see there; second, to miss some I had expected to see there; and third, the greatest wonder of all, to find myself there.”
I think that any of us who end up in heaven will spend eternity amazed that we somehow made it in despite all our unworthiness and all the rest of that eternity will be our endless gratitude and praise for being there and for Jesus who got us there.
Lately, I’ve been getting a triple dose of The Chosen. I’m watching the latest season on the app, reading the books as they hit the shelves, and listening to the novels based on earlier seasons on Audible.
One thing I notice is how many times the disciples and other followers of Jesus will recite a prayer of thanksgiving that starts “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe . . .”
Today, I was reading in my devotional, 52 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know, and the word for today just so happens to be berakah. It’s the Hebrew word for blessing. The Jews of biblical times practiced berakah blessings throughout the day. Those are basically short prayers of thanksgiving for things like waking up, watching the sunrise, meals, and various other things. They even have a prayer for going to the bathroom.
In 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul instructs believers to “pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I don’t think he meant to walk around all day every day with your eyes closed in prayer. There’d be a lot more accidents — especially traffic accidents.
I do think that Paul wanted us to keep a spirit of prayer and an open dialogue with the King of the Universe. One way is to recite these berakah blessings throughout the day. I’m sure there are prescribed prayers you can follow. As a Gentile believer grafted in, I can’t speak with authority on this, but I think it’s okay to make up your own prayers of thanksgiving and blessing.
I like the idea of starting each prayer with “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe” because it feels connected to the people of God of old. It’s also a healthy reminder that there is a King and it’s not me. I’m not the one in charge who’s supposed to figure out every detail. That’s God’s job. My job for today is to follow Jesus and the rest will take care of itself.
I have to give credit to the character of Matthew from The Chosen (and to the incredible screenwriters and director). It’s such a great line that fits in with the gospel accounts and message. Follow Jesus, seek the Kingdom of God, and give thanks. That’s my job.
I always pray for God to speak to me. I usually follow up with something like “and give me ears to hear when You are speaking.”
I can’t say that I’m one of those who has ever heard God speaking audibly. Typically, I can’t say I’m very good at discerning God’s voice. I usually have too many other noises and voices in my head.
Other times, I’ll see a social media post that just so happens to hit me square in the feels. It will be something that speaks specifically to me in the moment.
The above meme is an example of me reading a meme or a post that stops me dead in my tracks because it’s so accurate to where I am in my current situation. Then I wonder if it could possibly be one of the ways God speaks to me.
I wonder if I limit my ability to hear from God by limiting the ways He can speak to me. Obviously, the primary way God speaks is through His revealed Word, but I think God can communicate through other ways as well.
I also wonder if I took something as just a really neat coincidence when it was actually God’s way of speaking to me. Like one of those timely posts or snippets from a sermon. Or maybe it was a line from a song or a movie.
I wish I could remember how C. S. Lewis put it. He said that sometimes we’re too busy banging on the door to God’s throne to hear from Him. We’re too anxious and occupied with our pleading to be still enough to listen.
I think sometimes the prayer goes like this: “Lord, calm my mind enough to hear from You. Still all other voices so I know it’s You. Give me enough sense to recognize You speaking when I ask You to speak. And help me really to hear and obey what You tell me. Amen.”
“It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation'” (Isaiah 25:9, ESV).
[Verse 3] A fountain for the thirsty A lover for the lonely This is our God And He brings glory to the humble And crowns for the faithful This is our God
[Chorus 1]
[Chorus 2]
[Bridge] Oh Lord You are the one we have waited for You are the one we have waited for So You are the one we have waited for
[Chorus 1]
[Outro] You are the one, You are the one There is none like You, Jesus There is none like You, Jesus” (Chris Tomlin / Jesse Pryor Reeves).
One day, our faith will be made sight, then we will proclaim that this is the God we’ve been waiting for all these years. We will declare the ultimate and final victory then.
This is the same God we’re waiting on and worshipping now.
“Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5, NLT).
Today as a deacon, I attended the celebration of life service for one of our members who tragically lost his life at age 42. He had been married only 16 months when his life was unexpectedly cut short.
The funeral was beautiful and God-honoring. My favorite part of the entire service was when the worship leader sang the first song, the widow of the deceased stood up alone and raised her hands in worship, grieving and praising at the same time.
That’s an image I will carry with me as long as I live, I think. She had her world utterly wrecked like a rug pulled out from underneath her and still was able to declare like Job, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21, ESV).
There is so much evil in the world and so much that makes no sense. If this life is all there is, then there is no hope, no future, and no reason to keep going. But if we have the promise of God for something better coming (and we do), then we know that this is what the Apostle Paul calls a light and momentary affliction compared to the joy that’s coming.
Not that grief is nothing. Not that the pain isn’t real. But the coming joy will overwhelm us and seem so much greater than any sorrow that went before, like a woman holding her newborn baby after the agony of giving birth only is thinking of new life and not pain.
My brain has no compartment for comprehending the level of suffering this woman is currently undergoing and how radically different her life will be from now on. There will always be a void where her husband should be and a dull ache that never completely goes away, but there will always be a Father’s love that grows deeper and sweeter with the passing of time.
“Yea, though walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” The psalm does not pretend that evil and death do not exist. Terrible things happen, and they happen to good people as well as to bad people. Even the paths of righteousness lead through the valley of the shadow. Death lies ahead for all of us, saints and sinners alike, and for all the ones we love. The psalmist doesn’t try to explain evil. He doesn’t try to minimize evil. He simply says he will not fear evil. For all the power that evil has, it doesn’t have the power to make him afraid” Frederick Buechner, The Clown in the Belfry).
I honestly don’t know anybody who had good hair in middle school. Back in my day, me and other boys my age were rocking the bowl cut. I think girls were more Little Bo Peep style. Of course, it was the 80s so the hair was piled super high and think. I don’t know how many cans of hairspray and layers of ozone were sacrificed, but it surely wasn’t worth it in hindsight.
So take that as your daily affirmation. Your hair is better now than it was then. Even if you don’t have hair anymore, it’s still a better look than the awkward 6th grade school photo hair you had back when. Not to mention the questionable fashion choices you made (or more likely your mother made for you).
I think the more trendy you are, the more likely it is that five years from now, you will laugh at yourself (and plenty of other people will laugh at you as well). The majority of trends seem to run along the lines of “well, it seemed like a good idea at the time” or the equivalent to “hold my beer” or “watch this” scenarios that never end well.
It’s always a treat to see really young photos of celebrities. A lot of them look better playing high schoolers than when they were actually in high school. I don’t know why that is, other than maybe they have the hindsight to know what they should have looked like back then.
Of course, the fact that you can laugh at your middle school yearbook photos means that you are still around and alive and kicking. That’s a good sign. It means that you still have a purpose and that God’s not done with you yet. And your hair is way better now.
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