Tag Archive - christian

Foolish Things

August 23, 2011 in Blog, Christianity with 0 Comments

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. -1 Corinthians 1:27 (NIV)

I’m a nerd. I’m willing to admit it. See, this is one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible. I love the message it brings to us about broken lives and about the good news of Christ. On Sunday afternoon, instead of taking a longer nap, I decided to wake up and do a word study on the word “foolish” in this verse. Told you I was a nerd.

Regardless, what I found when I dug into this verse a little was fascinating. The word translated foolish in this verse is the Greek word mōros. Yes, it is one of the roots from which we get our word moron. While it can be used to carry a meaning of a dull or stupid person, it also carries a deeper meaning.

Mōros carries a meaning of “morally worthless, a scoundrel… mōros scorns [a man's] heart and character.”

The fools Paul is referring to in 1 Corinthians aren’t unintelligent people. They are morally repugnant people. Scoundrels. The opposite of those human logic would dictate the God of the universe would choose. He has a whole world at His disposal and he chooses the “morally worthless?”

I’m glad God chose me, a morally worthless scoundrel, to be part of his Kingdom. To share in his good news. To take his message out. I’m glad he chose you too. Welcome to the club, you fool.

Jesus Calling

June 8, 2011 in Blog, Christianity with 1 Comment

My girlfriend and I recently started working through a devotional called Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. Before I left for the summer, I wanted to find a devotional book that we could go through together. This was the one I found that wasn’t just a “happy” devotional. It’s totally based on Scripture, and for just being two paragraphs, it’s really great. It’s written as if it were Jesus speaking to you. I just started it last Saturday, and below is the entry from that day. It really meant a lot to me, and I wanted to share it with you.

Welcome challenging times as opportunities to trust Me. You have Me beside you and My Spirit within you, so no set of circumstances is too much for you to handle. When the path before you is dotted with difficulties, beware of measuring your strength against those challenges. That calculation is certain to riddle you with anxiety. Without Me, you wouldn’t make it past the first hurdle!

The way to walk through demanding days is to grip My hand tightly and stay in close communication with Me. Let your thoughts and spoken words be richly flavored with trust and thankfulness. Regardless of the days problems, I can keep you in perfect Peace as you stay close to Me.

Sometimes the greatest truths are the ones that should be the most obvious. We can’t make it through a day on our own. The way to walk is to grip His hand. Be trusting and thankful today. See things change.

Crushed: Part 2, Pride

April 3, 2010 in Blog, Christianity with 0 Comments

… In humility count others more significant than yourselves. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God … made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant … by becoming obedient to the point of death.

Selections from Philippians 2:3-9 (ESV)

Yesterday, I focused in on the crushing suffering that Christ endured on the day we now know as Good Friday. Thankfully we know today that that’s not all that was crushed Easter weekend. Today I’m going to focus in on crushed pride.

You see, Christ set an example of humility. He set up a standard so high that few men could ever reach it. The Creator God of the universe made himself nothing. He served. He was obedient. Even to the death. The words of Paul’s Christ-hymn that I’ve quoted above are some, I believe, of the most beautiful words in the entire New Testament. They’re words of humility. Words that speak volumes about what Christ has done for us.

I think some of the greatest messages about humility from the Easter story are the ones that we frequently skip over. They’re the ones that happened on Saturday. It’s a day we kind of ignore in the Easter schedule. But it’s one of the most important when it comes to showing how Christ’s example drove others to humility.

Many of us have heard the Roman centurion’s declaration given post-Christ’s death: “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39, NIV) It’s a beautiful, simple confession. But we don’t always really grasp what a big deal it was for that centurion to make that confession. It required an incredible dose of humility. This man was supposed to be one of the world’s toughest soldiers. He was dedicated to Rome and all things Roman. One of the core Roman beliefs held that the Caesar, the land’s ultimate ruler, was God’s son. He was to be worshipped. For this centurion to say that Christ was the Son of God could quite nearly be considered treason. He was, however, so incredibly moved by the things he had witnessed, so moved by the declaration of humility, that he could do nothing but cry out his adoration for Christ.

The centurion wasn’t the only one who had his pride crushed as part of Christ’s death. So did Joseph of Arimithea, the man who buried Christ. See, Joseph was an incredibly rich man. He was a leader in Jerusalem. He was one of the leaders of the Jewish Council. He wasn’t exactly the kind of man you’d picture playing undertaker. But he was. He humbled himself to apply spices and burial clothes to Christ’s body. He even went so far as to have a new tomb made just for Him. Joseph could have easily hired someone to do this if he wanted it done. He could have ignored it and said “someone else will handle it.” Instead, he chose to humble himself from his high position and prepare Christ for burial. He put his pride behind him and focused instead on what his Savior needed.

So what pride in your life needs crushed? Is it your finances? Your position? Your “poor me” attitude? Something else? Let the power of the Cross crush it this Easter weekend.

O Book Review/Giveaway: Hear No Evil by @jesusneedsnewpr

February 19, 2010 in Blog, O Book Reviews with 1 Comment

Hear No Evil by Matthew Paul TurnerOverview:
If you don’t read Matthew Paul Turner’s blog or follow him on Twitter, your Christianity is only half-complete. He’s one of the funniest Christian authors today, and probably ever. Funny and Christian just don’t go together all that often. A few months ago I had the opportunity to review MPT’s book Churched, and was really looking forward to reading Hear No Evil. Thankfully, “Thew” (as he attempted to refer to himself in college) didn’t let me down. Hear No Evil is the story of Matthew trying to get into the CCM industry despite his fundamentalist background, along with all of the bumps, confusion, and general insanity that happened along the way.

Originality:
Answering this one was tough for me. Matthew is a very unique writer, and everything that he writes is original simply by nature. However, I don’t really feel like Hear No Evil brought anything “new” to the table as far as his writing goes. It was an awesome book, don’t get me wrong, I just think Matthew could have done more as far as his own personal originality.

Overall Readablity:
Do you like to laugh while you read? Then you’ll love Hear No Evil. It’s a great comedy/satire book. It helps to know a little bit about Christian music going into the book, but Matthew’s style of writing is very engaging and makes you want to keep reading.

Outstanding Quotation:

My knowing the difference between a rocker and a Christian rocker is similar to the ability most people possess to distinguish a female from a drag queen. It’s usually obvious, like the plot of a romantic comedy starring Matthew McConaughey.

- p. 6

Observations:
Hear No Evil is yet another awesome effort from Matthew Paul Turner. He never ceases to reveal things about Christianity and the Christian life to you while still doing it in his own biting humor sort of way. It’s a bit like Mary Poppins: “A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down…” You’ll learn things about yourself without even trying. That’s what makes MPT’s writing so powerful. He does a great job of pointing out the little quirks and some downright angering things of the “Christian” music industry- from our faux rockers to our hyper-conservative magazine editors. (Make sure you don’t miss the part near the end regarding CCM and Amy Grant…)

I also feel, on the other hand, that Hear No Evil is more of a sequel to MPT’s book Churched than it’s own book. It’s not marketed as such, but I think it should be. A lot of the humor is a lot funnier if you’ve read Churched. It’s a bit like Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2: the first was amazingly fantastic and one of a kind. The second one had perhaps lost a little bit of it’s “luster” over the first, but it was still great.

Own It:
I think you should- after you buy Churched. Read Churched first, then Hear No Evil. You’ll be laughing for weeks.

O Book Reviews Rating:
4/5 stars

Drumroll please…. I am hereby pleased to announce another EvanDoyle.com GIVEA-YAY! No, I didn’t misspell that. This giveaway is so exciting that I’ve turned it into a givea-yay. Here’s the lowdown:

  1. How to enter: Simple. Just leave a comment on this post. Make sure to include your email address so I can get it touch with you if you win!
  2. Extra entries: There are three ways to get an extra entry:
    a. Follow me on Twitter. My username is kidzmatter2me. Once you’ve done that, come back here and leave another comment!
    b. Tweet the following: “I’m entering to win a copy of @jesusneedsnewpr’s Hear No Evil from @kidzmatter2me. Enter yourself at http://bit.ly/brrnBn.” Once you’ve done that, come back here and leave another  comment.
    c. Post a link to this page on your Facebook account. Then leave another comment.
  3. Rules: You must be at least 18 years old. (Sorry kids.) You must be a resident of the United States. (Sorry Canada.) You must not be a family member. (Sorry Mom.) You must really, really want a copy of Hear No Evil. (Sorry boring people.)

That’s it! Now get commenting, tweeting, Facebooking, and whatever else it is you young-ins do!

If you don’t win the giveaway, you can o-cquire your copy at:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Random House

Extremely Boring Yet Legally Required Disclosure:
This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Joseph’s Wacked-Out Life

March 8, 2009 in Blog, Everything with 0 Comments

My life has been on a Joseph kick lately.  We’re starting a 10 week Joseph series in kids’ church, the first lesson of which I taught.  Ryan preached on Joseph today.  I’ve heard stuff about a book about Joseph.  It seems like Joseph just keeps coming back.  I suppose God’s probably trying to tell me something.

Regardless, I did have a realization about Joseph today.  See, Joseph’s life was pretty screwed up.  He had more step-whatevers than you could imagine, his dad cheated his way through life, and he was the favorite.  He wouldn’t let you forget it either.  Joseph didn’t start life very well.  In fact, Joseph even contributed his good share to how screwed-up he was.  Sometimes I can read through his early life and see pride, other times I can’t.

Joseph’s brothers hated him because of his pride.  Finally, his pride led to a fall.  Literally.  He found himself at the bottom of a pit.  Not by his choosing, but more because that’s where the 10 brothers found a convenient place to put him.  That pit was important to Joseph’s life though.

See, without that pit, Joseph would have lived the rest of his life as the spoiled brat child of a con artist.  But that pit opened up opportunities.  That pit changed his life.  After that, he had a rough couple of years, then he became a great ruler.  That’s what a pit did for Joseph.

We’re a lot like Joseph.  Sometimes, we get so cocky we just get thrown to the bottom of a pit without a rope.  While we’re in there, it looks pretty hopeless.  It’s dark and we can’t escape by ourselves.  But if we choose, that pit can be hopeful.  You have to come out of the pit eventually.  Things will be better once you get out.  You just have to try.  Choose that you’re going to get out.  That way, when you’re on level ground, you can look at where you’ve been and thank God you’re not there anymore.  You overcame, with His help.  Let the pit change you for the better, rather than wallowing in the swamp at the bottom.