Browsing Tag:

Hope

In Bible Study, Blog, Jeremiah on
July 26, 2021

Plans to Prosper

I am a big Disney fan. I love watching animated Disney films, listening to Disney movie soundtracks, and going to Walt Disney Word. One of the best parts of Disney movies are the sidekicks. Pascal from Tangled, Olaf from Frozen, and Mushu from Mulan are just a few of my favorites. But we, as believers, run into a problem when we begin to treat God like a Disney sidekick.

What does it mean to treat God like a Disney sidekick? We can think of Him as our very own Fairy Godmother, who instead of giving us a big blue gown and a pumpkin carriage, will give us perfect health, a dream job, or a new relationship. We can think that if we pray hard, do good Christian things, and rub the lamp in just the right way, God will be like our genie, whose wish is our command. We can think that if we wish upon a star and have enough faith all our dreams will come true, just like Jiminy Cricket sang.

We treat God like a Disney sidekick when we begin to see Him as someone whose sole purpose is to give us good things. And while God does certainly give us good things, He does not promise or guarantee that we should or will receive certain things in our lives. This belief is rooted in a misinterpretation of scriptures like Jeremiah 29:11.

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In Blog, Christian Living, Theology on
July 19, 2021

Worldliness vs. Godliness

One thing I’ve noticed about many believers in this day and age is that they are beginning to look more and more like the world. They share the same beliefs. They use the same language. They champion the same causes. The one thing that used to differentiate between believers and unbelievers – the truth of God’s Word – is now being thrown away and cast aside as untruthful, untrustworthy, and unloving.

This is alarming because Christians are called to be holy and set apart (2 Peter 3:11), to not be conformed to the ways of the world (Romans 12:2). What is even more alarming is that many of these Christians don’t even realize they’re slowly slipping into worldly beliefs and convictions. We then, as believers, need to look to how the Bible characterizes both worldliness and godliness to determine what kind of life we are living and ensure we remain on the right path.

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In Blog, Book Reviews, Ten Commandments on
June 14, 2021

Ten Words to Live By

One of the most well-known passages in all of Scripture is the Ten Commandments. Not only have they been taught often at church and in Sunday School, but they have also been displayed in classrooms, courthouses, capitol buildings, and on monuments all across America. Though we may not have all ten commandments memorized, we generally know what they command, and we probably think we’re pretty good at obeying them. After all, when’s the last time you murdered someone or made a little wooden idol to bow down to? It’s fairly easy to not curse or steal, and we, of course, always put God first in our lives (right?).

But, as Jesus reveals to us in His Sermon on the Mount, these commandments have a far deeper meaning and intention than we might originally think (Matthew 5), and this is exactly what Jen Wilkin focuses on in her book Ten Words to Live By.

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In Attributes of God, Blog, Theology on
December 14, 2020

He is Just

About 3.1 million children around the world die from undernutrition every year.[1] Natural disasters kill around 90,000 people and affect millions more.[2] In 2017, 17.79 million people died from different cardiovascular diseases, 9.56 million people died from cancer, and over 405,000 people were killed by another human being.[3] These numbers are absolutely devastating, and they lead people to ask questions, like “How could a good God let an innocent child die? Where was God in this disaster? How could God let these murderers continue to live?”

We’re not the only ones who ask these questions. People in the Bible asked God the same thing (Jeremiah 12:1, Psalm 89:46). We know God is good, but sometimes we don’t understand why He lets certain things happen. It just doesn’t seem fair.

But God is fair. He is just.

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In Bible Study, Blog, Revelation on
November 9, 2020

No More

The year 2020 has been a disaster, and it seems like every month has brought new chaos and destruction. First, wildfires spread across Australia, then millions of people contracted COVID-19, and violent riots destroyed cities all around the world. We witnessed the crash of the stock market, the emergence of murder hornets, and the tragic passing of some of our most beloved celebrities. In America, we’ve had fires on our west coast, hurricanes on our gulf coast, and strict lockdowns from coast to coast. Maybe, like me, you’re crying out to God “no more!” No more violence. No more chaos. No more destruction. No more!

Thankfully, God has promised us that one day soon there will be no more.

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