A blog designed to encourage Grace Church of Tallahassee College/Career members to think biblically in all areas of life and to grow in the knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness (Titus 1:1). The title is based on Titus 2:12 where Paul says that the grace of God saves us and trains us to live godly lives in the present age.
Choosing what to major in (or even whether or not to go to college) is a daunting task for many. Others give it little thought. I found this podcast episode (14 minutes) from Ask Pastor John to be wise and helpful.
His main considerations are
1. Aim at God's glory
2. Pursue Personal Holiness
3. Consider Your Gifts
4. Ponder Your Desires
5. Pay Attention to Needs
There is more in the podcast, so I encourage you to listen to it.
We will be praying for the persecuted church this Sunday night at prayer meeting. Hebrews 11:36-38 reminds us that Christians have
"suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth."
God commands us to "remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body" (Heb. 13:3). To remember them involves praying for them - how could we remember a part of our body suffering and not pray for it?
Here are five things you can pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters
Five Prayers for the Persecuted Church
1. Know
the love God has for them and not be tempted to believe that suffering is an
indication that they are not right with God.
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is
the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of
God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As
it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are
regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans
8:34-37)
2. Honor Christ by only suffering for doing good
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you
will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in
your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a
defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do
it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a
good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your
good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it
is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for
doing evil. (1 Peter 3:14-17)
3. A willingness to lose all knowing that Christ will never leave or forsake
them
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be
content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor
forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The
Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
4. Love for those who persecute them
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to
you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so
that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise
on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what
reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And
if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do
not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You
therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew
5:43-48)
5. An open door to proclaim the gospel and clarity as they share it
"At the same time, pray also for us, that God
may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of
Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I
may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. (Colossians 4:3-4)
We are part of the way through a new semester (for our students). With each new semester (or season of life) comes unexpected changes in terms of schedules. Sure, you know when you have class and work, but there are unanticipated changes, too. The danger in a new semester (or a new season of life - like going into college, graduating, moving to a new place, etc.) is that our priorities don't get in the new schedule.
I encourage you to take about 30 minutes to an hour to prayerfully consider your priorities and compare them to your actual schedule.
There are a lot of things we could say about what to look for in a potential spouse (which is to say, a person you would date). One thing you want to avoid is marrying a fool since "the companion of fools will suffer harm" (Proverbs 13:20). Here is an excerpt from Joel James' mini-book HELP! I'm Confused about Dating, to help you recognize some character qualities of a fool (and thus avoid dating a fool):
“He who conceals hatred has lying lips, and he who spreads slander is a fool” (Proverbs 10:18). A fool tells lies and spreads slander, saying untrue or hurtful things to protect him- or herself or to get at others. If the person you are interested in has a lying or abrasive tongue, scratch him or her off your list immediately.
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel” (Proverbs 12:15). The fool is conceited, always thinking he or she is right. Thus, this person refuses to be corrected. Who wants to pursue a marriage kind-of-relationship with someone who refuses to admit he or she is wrong?
“A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother” (Proverbs 15:20). Fools often have bad relationships with their parents. If someone speaks disrespectfully to or about his or her parents (or treats them badly in any other way), stay away. How this person treats his or her family reveals how he or she will treat you once the facade of dating politeness is dropped.
“A fool’s lips bring strife, and his mouth calls for blows” (Proverbs 18:6). Have you noticed an increased level of conflict with your family and friends since you started dating someone? Is he or she often the vortex of those conflicts? Maybe you are dating a fool, because fools are always surrounded by a thundercloud of strife.
“The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh” (Ecclesiastes 4:5). The “folding hands” terminology connects this to the sluggard of Proverbs (6:6–11; 24:30–34). If a guy has never held a job, doesn’t carry through on responsibilities, or doesn’t work consistently before marriage, then he won’t afterwards, either. Walking up an aisle, mumbling “I do,” and then walking back down the aisle doesn’t transform a person’s character.
“Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, but any fool will quarrel” (Proverbs 20:3). A fool often quarrels. Why would you want that in a companion?
“A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back” (Proverbs 29:11). Don’t kid yourself; eventually you will be the target of your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s anger.
Don’t let some good points blind your eyes to a person’s lack of true commitment to Jesus Christ. If you find yourself continually excusing your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s behavior, it could be that he or she is a fool. Call sin “sin,” and call off the relationship. In short, follow Solomon’s instruction: “Leave the presence of a fool.” (Proverbs 14:7)
We will be discussing relationships and dating at Thursday night Bible study over the next few weeks. I hope you can join us.
Carl Truman has an opinion piece at World called "America's LGBTQ Establishment: Pride Month Shows Who Really Has Power in America." In it, he discusses the month-long cultural celebration of pride, specifically in the form of sexual expression. Truman writes, "June, once the harbinger of summer sun and fun family vacations, is now a grim annual marathon for anyone who has hesitations about the orgy of identities and the exaltation of sexual expression that have laid claim to the mainstream of cultural life in America."
His main point is that pride month is not about civil rights or equality before the law. Instead, it is a flexing of power. The fact that there is a whole month in which businesses, politicians, and celebrities bow to pay homage to the sexual expressions of the LGBTQ community shows that the LGBTQ movement is not marginalized. As Truman points out, "If you are truly marginalized, you tend not to have months celebrating your existence." It's hard to see how a group can claim to be marginalized 11 months out of the year while having a month celebrating their viewpoint and denouncing any opposition to it (and the rabid support of the government, corporate America, and Hollywood for the entire year).
This isn't to say that we should respond with hatred. Christians love those who treat them as enemies. We do that by speaking the truth of the gospel in love. Romans one tells us that this celebration of sexual rebellion is, in fact, an expression of pride. It is an exchange of the Creator to worship creation (ourselves and others). All of us are born in this truth-suppressing condition, and the wages of this is the righteous judgment of God. The good news is that Jesus came to free us from the darkness and rebellion so that we can be forgiven and transformed from enemies of God into children of God.
Besides sharing the gospel, we must also live as redeemed people. We must fight against our own pride, knowing that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). We must eschew hypocrisy (i.e., don't denounce LGBT deviances while excusing our own).1 We must deal with our own indwelling sins and tell others to repent and believe in Jesus.
So, this June, let's celebrate the Lord as the Sovereign Creator by focusing on humility. We can highlight this to ourselves and others by making an extra effort to meditate on what the Scripture says about humility and faithfulness (Phil. 2, James 4). We can choose, by God's grace, to not live by our feelings or what the culture demands but by God's Word (Ps. 1, 119). We can faithfully fulfill our roles in our families, church, and civic life.
-----
1. To be clear, hypocrisy is speaking against sin while coddling it in my own life. It is not hypocritical to call sin for what is while also struggling against it in my own life.
This past Sunday marked the 50th anniversary since the Roe v. Wade decision effectively created a right to abortion. The intentional killing of unborn humans, boys and girls, was declared to be a right by the Supreme Court some 50 years ago. Over the 49 years that it was in effect, over 60,000,000 babies were legally killed in the womb. If we took 1 second of silence for each life lost, we would be silent for over 694 days. Thankfully, this past Sunday also marked the first time we could celebrate that Roe was not in effect for another year. But, while we celebrate, we have a lot of work to do.
One job is to remember that each person has a God-given right to life. Vice president Kamala Harris was in Tallahassee this past week to give a speech about how we must make it legal for women to be able to have their children's lives ended if women are to be truly free. In her speech, she said that our nation's founding document (the Declaration of Independence) guarantees the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But, glaringly absent from her retelling was the first right enumerated in that document: LIFE.
We must ask, "Can we have a right to liberty without a right to life?" No, life is the foundational right upon which all others stand or fall. Abortion rights advocates, like Kamala Harris, have an unstated premise in their arguments. Namely, they believe that only a particular class of people have the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is only those who choose to allow to live. Those in the womb are in a different class - they are too weak, too small, too dependent, and too vulnerable to have a say in all this. So, these advocates conveniently leave off the right to life. For them, the conversation about rights is only for those who are strong enough to put their rights above those who do not have a voice.
The declaration of independence rightly recognizes that the right to life is given to us by our Creator. In a culture that is increasingly hostile to the idea of a Creator, is it any wonder that life is devalued? As Christians, we have an essential job. We must remind people that God is the Creator and that he gives life. He has made all people in his image; thus, every life, no matter how small or dependent, is worthy of dignity and care. Our right to liberty is not some unfettered form of self-indulgence as our culture seems to think. That is nothing more than bondage and violence in disguise. Liberty is given so that we might respect life. As Christians, we point people to Jesus who alone can truly give us life, freedom, and happiness.
The Legal Docket Podcast (produced by the World News Group) had two episodes on "Overruling Roe." The first episode followed how the Dobbs case made it to the Supreme Court. The second episode, which I highly recommend, presents the case that was made.
This is part of the series "Summer is a Stewardship."
We all have a lens through which we see the world. This doesn't mean that reality is subjective. It means that we have a way we interpret reality and answer life's big questions. Whether we know it or not and whether we are consistent or not, we apply our worldview to help us understand the world, ourselves, and questions of meaning. Thus, we must get a better handle on the biblical outlook on life and work to apply that worldview consistently to news, entertainment, ethical issues, and our goals.
Work on thinking biblically about all of life this summer. When the Fall semester flurry of activity begins, you will be hit with all sorts of news, information, ethical claims, and temptations towards folly. Now, not in the midst of the storm, is the time to prepare.
Music (and arts) can profoundly shape how we view the world. This is good when they align with truth and not good when they align with worldly philosophies. So, find some good Christian music to tune your heart to see the world and God's kingdom as it is. A few suggested artists: Sovereign Grace Music, Gray Havens (for those who like folksy music), City Alight, Shane and Shane, Matt Boswell, and many more.
Mainstream media seems like propaganda for the respective sides in the cultural war. I found the World News Group, specifically their podcast "The World and Everything in It," to offer meaningful news from a biblical worldview and absent all the hysterics. Al Mohler's podcast "The Briefing" also covers news from a Christian worldview (but he generally covers a few topics from the headlines rather than being a complete news service).
Read your Bible daily and let its truth renew your thinking, priorities, and interpretations of life. Think about how what you read applies to your life, explains the world around you, and directs your ethics, goals, and priorities. The Bible shapes how a citizen of God's Kingdom sees the world.
