God had a problem with those in Jeremiah’s time. So, He sent the Prophet to warn them of coming judgment. Instead of listening, their leaders assured the people they were fine with God. After all, they were His people, they had His temple and He would never let it be destroyed. And when the Prophet and others tried to speak the truth, it was a reproach to them. They hated it and refused to listen.
Sadly, many of our leaders today have, also, compromised the truth. Rather than biblical morality, they are more concerned about popularity, being politically correct, and being re-elected than the well-being of the nation, spiritually or otherwise.
Even many of our spiritual leaders seem more concerned with not offending anyone than with speaking the truth. While we can’t fully understand all the motives, it seems that selling books and filling their churches are more important. Even whole denominations have twisted the truth to accommodate the culture in which we live and have deceived many.
And from our New Testament reading, how did the Apostle Paul pray? Could his prayers become a model for ours and hold a key to how we should pray for our families, our leaders, and our nations?
After explaining who we are in Christ for three chapters, Paul begins chapter 4 of Ephesians by saying, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” Because of everything Christ has done for you, I’m begging you to walk worthy of that calling. Or to say it another way, he gives us a snapshot of what a Spirit-controlled life should look like. We’ll take a closer look at some of those characteristics today.
And our reading from the book of Isaiah could be headlines from today’s newspapers! “Our courts oppose the righteous,” “Justice is nowhere to be found,” and “Anyone who renounces evil is attacked” for starters.
If you’ve been around church for a while, you have probably heard someone teach or talk about strongholds. Depending on your church background, you may have different ideas about what the word means. When the Apostle Paul talked about strongholds, what was he referring to? Could we have strongholds in our own lives? And, if so, how do we get rid of them?
We’ll also look at the Sovereignty of God, how to be more sensitive and discerning in our personal ministry to friends and family, and ask ourselves a couple of important questions: Could we be drunk on something other than drugs and alcohol? If so, how could it put us in a stupor that is just as dangerous?
Good doctrine … there I said it … the “D” word. It seems, in many churches, we’re afraid of the word and of calling many biblical concepts by their traditional or biblical names. I understand the value of making preaching and teaching relevant. But have we gone to such lengths to avoid using biblical terminology that we have become a generation of biblical illiterates?
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, doctrine is, “a set of ideas or beliefs that are taught or believed to be true.” Biblical doctrine is made up of the ideas and beliefs that the Bible teaches to be true. It’s the Bible carefully studied and understood.
Good doctrine matters because what we believe about God, His sovereignty, and His dealings with those He loves, determines how we’ll respond to the tests and trials of life, among other things. It also determines whether we witness, how we interact with others, especially our spouses and children, and whether we have peace at the end of our lives. Good doctrine matters more than we know and bad doctrine, even when it sounds very appealing, has a nasty downside.
Today the battle for truth is raging. Truth itself has become relative and God’s Word carries no authority for the majority of people in our nation and much of the Western World. Some Christians find it difficult to work in their chosen fields without compromising their religious convictions. In many arenas, those who speak up for what is morally right are called bigoted, intolerant, or worse.
But we need to be careful about putting our hope in the government to change and protect us. While there might be a temporary slowing of the process, I believe in the long run these trends will continue, perhaps faster than we think possible. So, how can we prepare ourselves for the continuing battle?
We’re working our way through the book of Colossians in this series of posts. In this lesson, we’re going to look at Paul’s warning to them about the danger of being taken captive by a false gospel.
Controversial issues abound these days. It’s not just that they abound but the divisions seem to be deeper and more contentious. Controversial issues come up on social media, from political platforms, in the public square, on the news, on talk shows, and all across the internet. But they will also come up across Thanksgiving tables in a few days.
How do we decide when to engage in those conversations and how can the love of God and His wisdom help us navigate those controversial issues?
