spiphywarfare

Tag: faith

  • It’s so Tiresome

    It’s so Tiresome

    Digital Wasteland

    It seems, to me, that most social media is becoming a wasteland where you have to filter through trash ads, political takes disconnected from reality, and the delusions of the continuously online. To be honest, I probably spend more time than I should online, but I work to ground myself by doing simple things. Standing quietly and looking at a tree for a bit reminds me of what reality is. People watching works for me too.

    Disunity in Faith

    Lately, it’s gotten worse though. Most, not all, of my social media interaction is based either on family, friends, and my faith. The faith-based interactions have taken a troubling turn over the past year or so. There’s a conflict raging between two loose groups. Group one defines itself by labelling the other side Christian Nationalist, woke right, or other names. The other side defines itself by laughing at group one and then going about their business. It’s much deeper and far more complex than that but my intention isn’t to delve into the complexities that led to this point.

    No, my goal here is to express my disappointment in the first group. Largely, I would identify with much of what they hold to be true. Hitler was bad. It’s okay to be an ally with Israel. An inter-racial marriage isn’t sinful. So, it’s not their values that disappoint, I don’t think. Maybe as time goes on it will turn out to be that their values are in conflict with mine. It’s their apparent lack of ability to think rightly and see the world correctly. Something skews their perception and for the life of me, I don’t get it.

    A group of younger men are gaining influence simply by stating their positions unapologetically, and PhD holding men with long-time ministries spend their time crying and calling those young men childish, neo-Nazis, racist, etc. Somehow, these older men, who should know better, think their name calling is okay. They don’t get how foolish it makes them look. Their non-stop caterwauling is every bit as annoying as the cat that shows up every night at midnight to yeowl all night long outside your window. Enough already.

    Suggestion

    Maybe, rather than crying and whinging on about it, sit back and try to understand what is happening. Maybe take your supposed belief that God is sovereign over everything and contemplate that He is allowing or even causing this. Then maybe ponder Gamaliel’s warning to the Sanhedrin. I mean, that’s in the Bible. Is there any other stuff in God’s Word that might help?

    If only God had given us guidance here. Can Christians be different and have different roles? Can they be one while still being like, I don’t know, a human body? Maybe some are like the eyes and provide information to help navigate the body while others are like the feet and stomp through the mud and dust of culture. Something, like that would have been helpful.

    I write this knowing they’ll probably never see it and if they do, they’ll dismiss it as only so much grumbling from the rabble that don’t have their theological degrees or the proper high-mindedness to be taken seriously. That’s the part that’s most disappointing, they’re old enough (and should be wise enough), to know better. Scolding them isn’t working and in case you haven’t figured it out yet, it won’t work.

    These older Christian men should be able to rise above the noise and find unity in our shared values and service to our Master.

  • Knowing God’s Word is Essential for Christians

    Knowing God’s Word is Essential for Christians

    In this “Christian” nation, far too many who claim to be believers never take the time to read scripture. I know because that was me for many, many years. It is easy to neglect. However, I’d suggest that knowing God’s Word is the most important aspect of being a believer. Prayer and fellowship with other believers are right behind.

    Chapter 22 of the book of 2 Kings opens with a young king who obviously seeks to honor the Lord by having the temple repaired. I can’t imagine putting effort into this if his goal was something else. Surely, he thought he was doing right in the sight of God. While this work was going on, this happened:

    Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king. When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes.
    2 Kings 22:10-11

    Josiah’s humility and repentance saved his nation. He was only able to do this by hearing the actual Word of God. It was obvious to him, when he heard the Word himself, that they were getting it all wrong. They had priests, they had a temple, they had it wrong.

    When I finally started reading God’s Word faithfully, I started noticing things that had crept into the church. I started noticing modern church music often contained a phrase or two that was slightly off of what scripture said. I started catching single sentences in books that were otherwise fine that twisted a passage’s meaning ever so slightly.

    It’s important to sit under the teaching of knowledgeable teachers. It’s okay to watch people online whether they be pastors, podcasters, or apologetic masters. Reading books related to our faith is fine. But all of it must be done with God’s Word as the foundation. Like us, these men are all fallible.

    How often are you opening God’s Word yourself and not just letting others tell you what it says? Do you ever read it?

    My suggestion if you want to start reading it yourself is to do that. Pick it up and read a chapter a day, or more if you feel like it. Just pick a book and determine to read it every day until you finish that book. Then, read the next book. You may just find yourself surprised.

    Stay safe and keep the faith.

  • Don’t Be Guided by Emotions

    Years ago, when I was in the 10th grade, I found myself in a situation that would change my life forever. It all started innocently enough in the school cafeteria, where I was having lunch with a friend I had known for eight years. As I finished my meal and got up to leave, I heard a shout, “Hey!” Turning around, I saw a single french fry flying towards me. It hit my shirt, leaving a smear of ketchup.

    Annoyed, I told my friend he would have to clean the ketchup off my shirt. He refused and suggested we take it outside. The next thing I remember is him standing up and turning his back to me. I picked up the chair he had been sitting on and hit him with it. My next memory is of another friend yelling my name while a strong hand gripped my shoulder. Apparently, after hitting my friend with the chair, I grabbed him by the hair and started beating his head against a radiator. In the chaos, I even elbowed a coach who tried to intervene.

    This incident left a lasting impression on me. During the three days of in-school suspension that followed, I had plenty of time to reflect on my actions. I realized that my reaction was driven 95% by personal issues I was dealing with at the time and had only a little to do with my friend’s actions. It dawned on me that if I didn’t learn to control my emotions, I was on a path that could lead to prison or worse.

    Thus began my long journey towards emotional control. It involved a lot of prayer and a humbling realization that I was not nearly as important as I thought I was. This newfound perspective significantly reduced the stress in my life.

    I often see trivial matters causing conflict among professing Christians on social media. Many of these disputes seem like they may stem from personal circumstances and an inflated sense of the importance of one’s own opinion.

    Today, I follow many people online whom I’ve never met and likely never will. At least not this side of eternity. I choose not to engage in battles over minor issues with them, recognizing them as my siblings in Christ. This brings me peace.

  • Christian, Avoid These Two Things

    Christian, Avoid These Two Things

    Short but true. Christians who want to walk in a God-honoring manner should steer clear of the Enneagram and the heretic Russell Moore.

    Suggest you go read the entire thread

    If you haven’t read much on the Enneagram or are considering using it, do some research on it. At least read this article as an introduction.

    And, if you don’t have a Twitter/X account, you should be able to read the whole thread mentioned above right here. If you do have one, @WokePreacherTV would be worth a follow.

  • Help Me be Content

    I went to watch the sun come up at the local lake this morning. It seemed to take forever!

    I sat in the quiet truck. The only sound I could hear was the heater blowing. The warm air succeeded in tricking my mind into thinking it wasn’t actually close to freezing outside.

    The edge of light at the horizon turned into licks of brilliant orange flame as it reflected of the scattered high clouds. Watching this slow crawl of life into another day gave me plenty of time to think.

    As I sat there I thought of things that had been, could have been, and will never be. I allowed myself to get into quite the funk. I know nobody else ever starts looking around at things and thinking how easy it would be if… I was that person, I had a new (job, car, home, etc.). But I did. I saw a heron standing motionless in the water. That’s right, I started to think how much better it would be if I was a bird.

    Egret photo by Egret by Freeimages.com/BrendaDBaker

     

    That bird. Standing there in the water. Not a care in the world. Why couldn’t I be that bird.

    I turned off the truck. I rolled the window down so I could listen to the sounds of nature. What I heard was the brisk wind blowing across the lake as it removed the magic of the heater from the interior of the truck and my “poor me” brain.

    Suddenly that bird didn’t have it so well. It was cold. The wind was blowing. He was wet. The lake level was down. Seemed like sort of a miserable existence.

    Yet, still he stood there. Motionless. Waiting for some small fish to swim by at just the right distance so he could snag a meal. Just like he would on a beautiful day in late spring.

    It dawned on me I’d been pretty much being stupid. As the sun finally poked itself above the horizon I found myself asking God to give me contentment. Asking to be content whether my surroundings are meager and unpleasant, or pleasant and bountiful.

    Lord, let me be content.

    Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit. For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either. But if we have food and shelter, we will be satisfied with that. 
    1 Timothy 6:6-8

  • A New Year Lesson Learned

    A New Year Lesson Learned

    I’ve never been a big fan of the whole “Open your Bible and close your eyes and you will get a big surprise” method of Bible study. Perhaps because when I was younger and had no idea how to systematically study the Word that was exactly how I’d approach it. I’d close my eyes, open to a random page and point. It was almost always to a genealogy or some other equally exciting passage.

    That of course does not mean that I think God can’t choose to direct one to a specific teaching He wants them to have. I believe that happened to me on January 1, 2017.

    2016 was without a doubt, the worst year I’ve had in my entire life. I experienced more turmoil, doubt, and rejection than ever. I found myself questioning both God and my faith numerous times. While not a manly thing to admit to, 2016 probably has claim to more of my tears than the rest of my life combined. Through it, I’d started becoming disobedient. I started 2017 wanting to put 2016 behind me. Burn it up and never think of it again.

    That was my mood when I opened my Bible on January 1, 2017. I didn’t intend to randomly read a passage, I was trying to find a specific verse I’d read earlier. I opened it and started reading Hebrews 10. Boy did I need it!

    Several of the verses in this chapter spoke to me that morning. Among other things, verse thirty-two…

    But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of suffering.” Hebrews 10:32 NASB

    A quick bit of background info. I jumped into the race (accepted Christ) for the prize at seventeen. Unfortunately, I sat on the starting line for years. As a matter of fact until a few years ago many people would never have guessed I was a Christian.

    I cried out to God in early 2013 to break me and forgive me for wasting so much time. I had three years of amazing change in myself. I felt so in tune with God. That changed at the first part of 2016 and I wanted to completely forget 2016. But here, God’s Word is telling me to remember a “great conflict of sufferings” that were endured “after being enlightened”. None of the versions I read say things like, remember when some of you endured, or you might have endured.

    I get the distinct impression that when you experience spiritual enlightenment, you will experience great suffering AND… you need to remember it.

    I don’t want to remember it. I want to forget it. But I need to remember it. Chapter 10 closes with comments about endurance and faith. I will not forget. I will endure.