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Temptation

In Blog, Fruit of the Spirit, Theology on
December 4, 2022

Self-Controlled and Sober-Minded

Just one more!

We all know the feeling—the feeling of wanting just one more. Just one more Netflix episode. Just one more cookie from the cookie jar. Just one more thing that we have to purchase right this minute. Of course, we all also know that it is never just “one more.” Just one more episode turns into staying up until 3 a.m. watching your favorite TV show. Just one more cookie turns into having difficulty fitting into your jeans. And just one more purchase turns into an overwhelming amount of credit card debt.

Self-control is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, which all Christians are called to possess (Galatians 5:22-23), but it’s a very difficult thing to actually put into practice. It’s been a struggle for human beings to control themselves ever since the Garden of Eden, and we’ll have to wrestle with our wayward desires for as long as God has us on this earth. Practicing self-control is even harder around the holidays, when indulgent foods, big sales, and movie marathons are around every corner. In times like these, we must lean into self-control more than ever before. But why? Why is self-control so important?

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In Blog, Cultural Christianity, Theology on
October 10, 2022

Should I Really Let Go and Let God?

“You just have to let go and let God.”

You’ve probably heard this phrase before. It’s a particular favorite amongst Christian influencers and megachurch pastors. Let go and let God—the idea of letting go of whatever troubles you in this life and letting God take care of you and your situation. In one sense, this little phrase is a great reminder that we’re not ultimately in control of what goes on in our lives and we need to trust God’s sovereign will.

In another sense, this little phrase can cause major theological errors that greatly affect our faith and relationship with God. Before we share this clever quip with someone or use it to define our own lives, we ought to ask: “Should I really let go and let God?”

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In Blog, Book Reviews, Sexuality on
June 26, 2022

Pure

Purity culture has left quite a bad taste in the mouths of believers and unbelievers alike. If you type the phrase into Google, you’ll find numerous negative articles regarding this movement, some even published by Christian websites. While the proponents of purity culture started with good intentions of helping their youth to pursue purity and godliness, they made a lot of mistakes along the way and taught several very unbiblical ideas to thousands of teenagers all across the nation.

As more and more people are standing up and exposing the lies they were taught and the hypocrisy they witnessed within purity culture, it seems the pendulum is beginning to swing too far the other way. Instead of encouraging dating for the purpose of marriage and abstaining from sex, many people (including some professing Christians) are encouraging our youth to sleep with whomever they’re interested in to see if they’re “sexually compatible.” While this idea may agree with the ways of the world, it certainly does not agree with the Word of God. As Dean Inserra argues in his new book, Pure, Christians must stick to God’s design for sex.

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In Bible Study, Blog, Ephesians on
September 14, 2020

Our Real Enemy

Our country is very divided right now, perhaps the most divided it’s been since the Civil War era. We’re constantly arguing and bickering with those we disagree with, and it seems like there is nothing we can all agree on. I feel like this is the most evident on Twitter. Twitter can often seem like a cesspool full of angry, bitter people who think that what they believe is right and anyone who disagrees with is them is a terrible, horrible, awful person. Now, this surely doesn’t describe everyone on Twitter. I’m on Twitter, and I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as angry and bitter ;). But there have been many, many times in recent months that I see a tweet that I think is completely wrong, and it takes a lot of self-control and restraint not to reply, or at least not reply in a way that is not Christ-like.

These days we can often see the people we disagree with on Twitter, on Facebook, or even in real life as our enemies. They believe in things that are completely antithetical to our beliefs and convictions, so we distance ourselves from these perceived enemies as much as possible. Scripture argues, though, that these people are not our enemies, but that we do have a very real enemy who is at work in this world.

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