Month: September 2017

How to Live Courageously in A Scary World-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

w God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord~ 2nd Timothy 1:7-8 NLT

 There is a lot to love about life in the 21st century.

 There simply are no words to express my love for the under appreciated and under celebrated miracles of indoor plumbing, air travel, Pinkberry’s frozen yogurt, antibiotics, freshly ground coffee, electricity, central air, smartphones and pizza delivered right to my front door.  

However.

Life in the 21st century has done some damage to my ongoing love affair with living in the 21st century. There are situations common to modern life so far outside of human control that they are literally the stuff of nightmares. Things like earthquakes, church shootings, terrorist attacks, school shootings, superbugs, and random acid attacks. Further complicating issues there is a seemingly endless supply of punk dictators hell-bent on destroying everyone else’s peace and quiet in this world.  

 Sigh.

 For Christians times are even scarier. On top of all the weird junk everyone else has to deal with, we have the added pressure of living in a culture that no longer respects Christians or Christianity. Many otherwise nice people are openly hostile not only to the truth claims of the Bible but also to individual Christians. Christian bakers, printers, photographers and florists have lost thriving businesses because they refused to cave to the ever-expanding demands of the LGBTQ culture. Even within the church there have been challenges to traditional biblical views and attacks on biblical authority have become routine. Christians who hold to traditional views on marriage, gender and sexuality are openly ridiculed and regularly scolded for being close-minded, hateful and hopelessly behind the times, no matter how gently and lovingly they state their opinions.

 Sigh.

 The never-ending stream of strange and scary news often leads to a sense of powerlessness and confusion. God has called His people to better things than powerlessness and confusion (1st Corinthians 14:33). Those better things begin with following some basic do’s and don’ts for living courageously in scary times.

 Know stuff so you can pray-

 There is a growing number of Christians who will not watch the news or read up on current events because they feel current events are simply too terrifying to face on a daily basis. Sorry, but fear is a wretched excuse for ignorance. Knowledge empowers us to pray for people and circumstances that urgently need God’s supernatural involvement. We are incapable of changing anything we choose to remain deliberately ignorant of.

Be a problem solver-

 Christians are commanded to go out into the world and let their light shine before people (Matthew 5:16, Mark 4:21). Getting out there looks different for different people. For some it might be as simple as repeatedly engaging in awkward conversations about what Christians believe with an unsaved neighbor or coworker who routinely spouts really weird ideas and strange philosophies. For others it might be as complicated as opening their home to an unwed mother or adopting a kid out of foster care. No one can solve every problem but everyone can make a difference in someone’s life.

 Rejoice that God has chosen you to live right now-

 Seriously. It really is an honor. The God of the universe has selected you to represent Him in the world at one of the most complicated and bizarre moments in human history. It is a high and holy calling no one should shy away from for any reason (Esther 4:14).    

 Don’t…

 Live in fear-

 Believers are commanded to fear no one but God (Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 27:3, Psalm 34:9). I am convinced that the key to managing fear and anxiety is prayer (Philippians 4:6). When feelings of fear for the future take over, take those feelings to God. When we take our worries to God consistently (consistency, really, is the key) He empowers us to experience hardship and difficulty with courage and hope rather than fear.

 Be a jerk-

 I get that it’s tempting to be a jerk back to people, but the world has enough jerks already. Find a nice way to say hard things and commit yourself to loving people even if they don’t deserve it.

 Forget God has a plan-

God is not caught off guard by all the crazy stuff going on in the world right now. Rather, He is using it to get the attention of distracted and disobedient people who have drifted away from Him and His truth in every way imaginable. Right now God is calling Christians to show His love, speak His truth, and be His hands and feet to those people.

 I repeat it’s a high and holy calling.

 Embrace it.

The Peril of Hypocrisy-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good~ 1st Peter 2:1-3

 Their are groups who seek to end all forms of racism, fascism and hate-speech in America.

 A noble and commendable goal.

 Interestingly enough, though  every single one of those groups intentionally employ fascist methods and strategies including physical violence, hate speech, victim blaming and racist rhetoric. They engage in fascism, violence, hate speech and racism in order to end fascism, racism and hate speech.

 Insert confused face here.

 The first time I heard about the methods of these groups I remember thinking only a lunatic would attempt to stop something by engaging in the very thing they claim they want to end. However, after a little thought it occurred to me that it wasn’t lunacy motivating those groups. It was something far more fundamental, malevolent and dangerous than simple lunacy: hypocrisy.

 Jesus had a lot to say about hypocrisy and none of it was good (Matthew 6:1-16, Matthew 7:5, Matthew 23:13-33, Luke 12:56, Luke 13:14-16). Jesus treated hypocrites and hypocrisy with the utmost contempt because He understood a couple of truths at the heart of hypocrisy that we, as people who tend toward hypocrisy frequently overlook.

 Hypocrisy spreads like a virus, especially when it begins with leadership. Anytime a leader (parent, pastor, politician, supervisor) takes a hypocritical position on a subject, or chronically behaves in a hypocritical fashion, everyone who follows that leader is tempted or deceived into taking the same position and behaving just like their leader. Sadly, anyone who follows a hypocritical leader eventually becomes a mirror image of that leader.

 Jesus hates hypocrisy because it robs people of self-awareness. Hypocrisy is at the root of calling good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20). If a person tells themselves wrong is right, or at least right for them (because their circumstances are special) often enough or long enough they begin to believe their own lie and end up doing things they never could have imagined themselves doing. As they are instructing others not to do the very things they are doing.

 Sigh.

 The hypocrisy that has taken root in anti-fascist circles is more than just a humorous case study in irony; it’s a cautionary tale for us all. Especially, for those of us who follow Jesus. Christians sometimes write off hypocrisy as nothing more than a quirky personality trait, or worse yet, as a legitimate means to a needed end. In reality it’s a serious sin that grows out of pride (another serious sin) both sins are nurtured by a willful lack of self-awareness. If left alone hypocrisy ruins not only the hypocrite but also everyone around the hypocrite.

 Sadly, no one, no matter how spiritually mature is immune to the appeal of hypocrisy. It is simply a part of our fallen nature as humans to imagine that we can trick everyone around us, including God Himself into believing we are doing what we say we are doing-instead of what we are actually doing. In the end the only one who is fooled is the hypocrite.

 As a general rule, I am extremely wary about hunting for sin in the lives of other people. Most of us, including myself have more than enough sin in our own lives to worry about; we simply should not be focusing our attention on anyone else’s sinful junk. That being said, Jesus warned His followers that deception would be one of the defining characteristics of the end times (Matthew 24, Luke 21:5-36, Mark 13:1-23). Hypocrisy is deception that begins with an attempt to deceive others and ends with self-deception, hypocrisy is also at the root of almost every kind of evil. Because of that, Christians should deal ruthlessly with any hypocrisy they see in their own lives and run as fast as they can from any leader who is transparently hypocritical.

 Hypocrisy destroys individuals, families, churches, relationships and entire movements. Hypocrisy of Christians has done more damage to Christianity than any other single issue in the 2000-year history of the church. Any behavior that can do that much damage should be dealt with decisively and mercilessly.

Is the Bible Unloving? It’s a Question that Needs an Answer-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth~ John 1:14 NKJV

 It’s been a long, miserable week in the the Pacific Northwest. Most of our region is literally on fire right now and the city I live in is so smoky and gross the whole house smells like we’ve been barbecuing in the basement. The local health department has officially classified the air quality as “hazardous”.

 The heat, smoke and air quality left me feeling more than a little unmotivated. As a result I found myself struggling to come up with a topic for this weeks blog-post. Inspiration came early Tuesday morning when I opened Facebook and ran across what I felt at the time was a rather innocuous quote from Bible teacher, Beth Moore…    

 You will watch a generation of Christians—OF CHRISTIANS—set the Bible aside in an attempt to be more like Jesus. And stunningly it will sound completely plausible. This will be, perhaps, the cleverest of all the devil’s schemes in your generation. Sacrifice truth for love’s sake, you will rise or fall whether you will sacrifice one for the other.

  Beth Moore literally could not to be any more on point with her observations. The spiritual tension that exists between biblical truth and the culture’s definition of love is the greatest theological conundrum of our generation. I have believed for a long time that if the church doesn’t get its proverbial act together and figure out a way to communicate the truth concerning this critical issue, biblical Christianity will dwindle down to a tiny remnant within a generation.

Here’s the thing:

If we set aside truth in favor of “love” we’re done. The entire world will enter a spiritual and moral dark ages, the likes of which the world has not seen since the dawn of the Christian age.

 It was not Beth Moore’s words that got me spoiling for a smackdown. It was the absurd responses to her quote I found frustrating.  To my astonishment, most of those who commented disagreed with Beth Moore. Some vehemently. All the dissenters called her unloving and accused her of lacking compassion. A few even called her out for making an idol out of the Bible.

 Seriously? Is that even a thing?

 Sadly, too many Christians have twisted love into something not found anywhere in Scripture.

 There are two truths we need to acknowledge concerning Jesus, love, and the Bible. First, we simply cannot separate the words of Jesus from the rest of the Bible. In the book of John, Jesus is referred to as The Word. By using that particular designation to describe Jesus, John is making a powerful statement about who Jesus is and what exactly Scripture is meant to reveal.

In John 1:1 the Apostle declares that Jesus is the personification and expression of all of the words of God. This means Jesus is the substance and incarnation of all that had been written in the Old Testament law and all that was to be written in the New Testament letters.

In a very real sense: Jesus IS the Bible. 

 This means that the statements Jesus made in the gospels (the red letters that contemporary Christians get all excited about) are no more or less significant than the Old Testament Law and the New Testament letters. Jesus is the perfecter of our faith and the author of ALL of Scripture. Not just the Scripture we feel comfortable with or those that reflect our current cultural values and sensibilities (Hebrews 12:2, 2nd Timothy 3:16, Luke 24:27).

 Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial requirements of the law and we no longer live in a theocracy, so as 21st century Christians we no longer sacrifice animals to have our sins forgiven (Jesus took care of that for us). Nor do we follow the civil laws that were given specifically to the nation of Israel. However, that doesn’t mean that the entire Old Testament should be tossed out because much of the Old Testament FEELS unloving to contemporary readers who have a nasty habit of leaning on their own understanding of reality rather than the revealed truth of God (Proverbs 3:5-6)

 The second truth we must understand and come to terms with is that the good news of the gospel is wrapped up in a whole lot of really bad news. The good news is: God loves people so much that He sacrificed His only son so that we could be forgiven and spend eternity with God (John 3:16).

 The bad news: is that God is a holy and perfect and He really hates sin. God decided before the foundation of the earth was laid what actions are and are not sinful. He has not modified or relaxed His standards on those issues. The penalty for for sin is awful: eternity in hell forever separated from God and all that is comforting and good. All people are sinners who cannot under any circumstances get right with God and be forgiven unless they are willing to leave their life of sin and follow Jesus wherever he leads (John 8:11, Mark 8:34).

 Those are two truths we must be honest about as we share the love of God with people. When we don’t tell the whole truth about life and sin and eternity we are really telling a lie that will eventually lead to the spiritual death of those we claim to love.

 There’s nothing loving about that.

Does Truth Even Matter or is it All About Love?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth~ John 1:14 NKJV

 It’s been a long, hot week. Most of the Pacific Northwest is literally on fire right now and the city I live in is so smoky and gross that our whole house smells like we’ve been barbequing in the basement. The local health department has classified our air quality as “hazardous”.

 The heat, smoke and crummy air quality have left me feeling more than a little unmotivated, as a result I found myself struggling to come up with a topic for this weeks blog-post. Inspiration came early Tuesday morning when I opened Facebook and ran across what I felt at the time was a rather innocuous quote from Bible teacher, Beth Moore…    

 You will watch a generation of Christians—OF CHRISTIANS—set the Bible aside in an attempt to be more like Jesus. And stunningly it will sound completely plausible. This will be, perhaps, the cleverest of all the devil’s schemes in your generation. Sacrifice truth for love’s sake, you will rise or fall whether you will sacrifice one for the other.

 It would be difficult for Beth Moore to be any more correct on this point. The spiritual tension that exists between truth and love is the greatest theological conundrum of our generation. I am convinced (and have been for a long time) that if the church doesn’t get it’s proverbial act together on this issue, biblical Christianity will all but vanish with this generation. If that happens, our culture will enter a spiritual and moral dark ages, the likes of which the world has not seen since before the dawn of the Christian age.

 It was not the quote that got me spoiling for a smackdown. It was the absurd responses to said quote that motivated me to start writing. To my astonishment, most of those who commented disagreed with Beth Moore, some vehemently. All the dissenters called her unloving and accused her of lacking compassion. A few even criticized her for making an idol out of the Bible.

 Seriously.

 The comments were a bitter reminder of a reality I frequently bump-up against when I’m interacting with other Christians. Sadly, too many in our generation have twisted love into something that is not found anywhere in the Bible.

 There are two truths we need to acknowledge concerning Jesus, love, and the Bible. First, we simply cannot separate the words of Jesus from the rest of the Bible. In the book of John, Jesus is referred to as The Word. By using that particular designation to describe Jesus, John is making a powerful statement about who Jesus is and how He fits into Scripture.

 John is declaring that Jesus is the personification and expression of the word of God. Jesus was the substance and incarnation of all that had been written in the Old Testament law and all that was to be written in the New Testament letters.

 What that means is that the statements Jesus made in the gospels (the red letters that contemporary Christians get all excited about) are no more or less significant than the Old Testament Law and the New Testament letters. Jesus is the perfecter of our faith and the author of all of Scripture. Not just the Scripture we feel comfortable with or those that reflect our current cultural values and sensibilities (Hebrews 12:2, 2nd Timothy 3:16, Luke 24:27).

 Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial requirements of the law and we no longer live in a theocracy, so as 21st century Christians we no longer sacrifice animals to have our sins forgiven (Jesus took care of that for us) or follow the civil laws that were given specifically to the nation of Israel. However, that doesn’t mean that the entire Old Testament should be tossed out because much of the Old Testament FEELS unloving to contemporary readers.

 The second truth we need to understand is that the good news of the gospel is wrapped up in a lot of really bad news. The good news is that God loves people so much that He sacrificed His only son so that we could be forgiven and spend eternity with God (John 3:16).

 The bad news for us is that God is a holy perfect God who hates sin. God decided a long time ago what actions were sinful and He has not modified or relaxed His standards on what sin is and isn’t. The penalty for for sin is awful: eternity in hell forever separated from God and all that is comforting and good. All people are sinners who cannot under any circumstances get right with God and be forgiven unless they are willing to leave their life of sin and follow Jesus wherever he leads (John 8:11, Mark 8:34).

 Those are at least two of the truths we need be real about as we share the love of God with people. When we don’t tell the whole truth about life and sin and eternity we are really telling a lie that will eventually lead to the spiritual death of those we claim to love.

 There’s nothing loving about that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why the Outrage Over Race is Fake-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?  But I, the Lord, search hearts and examine secret motives. I give people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve”~ Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT

 The evening news has become a never-ending loop of men and women, punching, kicking, screaming obscenities, pepper spraying and throwing urine on complete strangers in what they claim is an effort to end fascism and racism in America.

 Seriously, we are being gaslighted. 

The rioting and looting going on across America has nothing at all to do with ending racism and fascism. Let’s be real. No one actually likes white supremacists; even regular racists find white supremacists to be a bit much. As a result, their numbers are simply too insignificant to be any kind of a real threat to democracy. And because just about everyone hates them already, their demographic is not exactly expanding at a terrifying rate.

 The math proves my point.

 Both organizers of the event in Charlottesville and the media have described the white supremacy rally in Charlottesville as “massive”. These folks point out correctly, that the rally drew white power groups from all over the country. That said, pretty much every observer has agreed that this “massive” rally attracted several hundred racist/fascist/white supremacists at the very most.

 Okay so, the rally in Charlottesville drew racist-fascist freaks from all over the country and all those clowns could manage to scrape together was a couple of hundred people? America is a nation of roughly 323 million people. Two or three hundred bigoted kooks waving confederate flags in the blazing sun barely qualify as a movement, let alone a flourishing movement in the context of a nation of 323 million people.

 It’s just not about race.

 Nor is the never-ending stream of cursing, tearing down statues, spitting on people, pepper-spraying and chucking urine at anyone wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat or tee shirt really about Donald Trump or his policies.

 Intellectually honest people have to admit that Donald Trump hasn’t done anything worth freaking out over. Donald Trump has not opened a single concentration camp, started a nuclear war with Europe, murdered an immigrant on live television or taken food from the mouth of a food stamp recipient while cackling manically. Nor has he drunk the blood of—well, anyone—despite the fevered forecasts of our lefty friends.

 Unknowable motives aside, Donald Trump hasn’t DONE a single thing one would not reasonably expect from any other Republican President; aside of course, from sticking his foot in his mouth at predictable intervals and sending out questionable tweets at odd hours. That said, I think we can all agree that saying and tweeting stupid stuff is hardly worthy of impeachment and/or imprisonment (as some have called for).

 Nor is the over-the-top activism about our racist past. I am no fan of Confederate statues or symbols (I once told my son’s friend never to wear a confederate flag t-shirt in my house again). That said, those statues have been sitting in parks and public spaces for decades (including eight years under a Democratic president) and only egg headed professors and a few of the deeper thinkers in the social justice warrior movement cared all that much about the symbolism or even the existence of those statues.

 The current bouts of social unrest are not about any of the things the news media or even the protesters tell us they are about. The unquenchable-dumpster fire playing out on the news every night is really about the depraved condition of the human heart. It’s about angry people who don’t understand why they’re angry searching frantically for a place to vent their wrath. It’s about how the unredeemed and unrepentant love turmoil, violence and senselessly venting their own rage. Social injustice, racism, the Trump administration, Trump voters, and the sins of the past are useful excuses for a generation that has lost its way in every way it’s possible to be lost.

 But before we Christians get too smug and self-righteous we need to remember that as the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” we bear a huge burden of the blame for the sorry state of our world. The disaster playing itself out every night is mostly about a generation of young people who have no real knowledge of God and as a result have no cause greater than their own self-interest to believe in.

That’s on us.

It’s the responsibility God’s people to give each generation that comes along a working knowledge of God. Without knowledge of God the only causes believe in are misguided at best and evil at worst. 

 It’s not too late. We are all still here and so there is still hope. Change needs to begin with the family of God. So repent of any sins or inaction on your part and then commit to praying daily for the thugs you see chucking urine at bystanders on television every night. Those people need our prayers a lot more than they need our disdain or condescension. Then get busy. Love a stranger. Tell someone about Jesus. Be the change you want to see in the world.