Category: 2024

The Very Worst Thing a Christian can Settle for-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day- 2nd Corinthians 4:16 NASB

Settling.

It’s a notion most modern people are a bit uncomfortable with. 

The whole concept of settling smacks uncomfortably of losing— or at the very least not trying hard enough. We teach our kids from the time they are capable of conscience thought not to settle for a single thing. Humans learn early on to continuously strive for more stuff, to work our tails off, to do our very best and by golly to win—no matter the cost.

Okay, so the Bible is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to the issue of settling. Contrary, to what most of us were taught growing up, the Bible is clear: settling can be good and healthy as long as we are settling for the right stuff. God loves it when we make the choice to settle for being content with what we have (1st Timothy 6:6) Living a quiet life without a lot of self-aggrandizement or ballyhoo is a good and God-ordained thing to settle for (1stThessalonians 4:11, 2nd Timothy 2:2).  God rejoices when His people settle for doing good with the time they’ve been given (Psalm 37:3, Ecclesiastes 3:12). It’s always good to settle in and sit in the presence of God (Luke 10:38-42). In fact, that kind of simplicity is what we were made for. 

However. 

It occurred to be recently that most people (me included) are quick to settle for the one thing we should never settle for.  All the while shunning the very stuff we ought to eagerly settle for, because all the things God wants us to settle for are guaranteed to bring us joy, peace and contentment. This painful realization came as I was making my way through Romans. The verse that got me thinking about all this appears to be unrelated to the whole notion of settling, but it’s not. It said: 

Love must be free of hypocrisy- Romans 12:9a

It hit me pretty much out of nowhere that I have settled for exhibiting a surfacy (hypocritical) kind of love that looks and says all the right things but is not really heartfelt or sincere. Then it hit me, again pretty much out of nowhere that I tend to settle for all sorts of surfacy things. Not all the time, but often enough, it ought to shake me up. 

Yikes. 

I have been known to settle for surfacy goodness, all the while the gunk inhabiting my heart is far from honorable. I have settled for going through the surfacy motions of worship while my mind was on my to-do list. I have settled for surfacy courtesy while I harbored a less than gracious spirit. I have settled for surfacy joy that lacked any kind of depth and never really reached my soul. I have settled for looking good rather than being good, in myself as well as in my children while they were growing up.

Yikes. 

It would be tempting (and easy) for everyone (including me) to write me off as an insincere buttheaded jerk. However, I don’t think I’m alone. If I were a betting woman, I would bet good money I have lots of company. It’s one of those ugly characteristics of the human condition no one likes to talk about: we all have this tendency to settle for surfacy goodness instead of doing the spiritual work needed to actually be good. Human beings naturally gravitate towards fake goodness rather than fulfilling our God-given purpose to be like Jesus. 

At the root of the problem is our nature (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 1:18-32, Romans 3:23, Romans 7:18, 1stCorinthians 2:18). We are sinners and because we are sinners true, heartfelt, gut level goodness does not come naturally to humans, even redeemed humans (Matthew 10:18, Psalm 53:3, Romans 3:12). That said, nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26) nor is the problem with God. The problem is always with us. We are reluctant to do the work because the work always involves a personal honesty, self-examination and willingness to allow our hearts and minds to be changed on issues. 

However.

If we are in Christ and really want to be more than surfacy good. It can happen. God never commands anyone to do anything they are unable to accomplish (Colossians 3, Romans 12, 2nd Peter 1:3-11). The key to inner transformation is self-analysis or looking beneath our behavior. Behavior is important, God cares a great deal about what we do.  However, behavior is rarely the best measure of inner goodness. Feelings are (oddly enough) often a better barometer of our inner goodness than behavior is. If we self-examine and recognize we have the right behavior but a terrible attitude we need to take our negative feelings to the Lord in prayer and ask God to give us the right heart. Then we need to keep praying and repenting and asking for heart change until we get to the point when our feelings begin to match our behavior. It will happen. It may not happen overnight but if it’s what we really want it will happen. 

At the heart of surfacy goodness is hypocrisy and there is nothing Jesus hates more than hypocrisy (Matthew 6:2-16, Matthew 23).  Further complicating the matter is for Christians surfacy goodness can lead to a religious spirit. When we have a religious spirit looking good is all we care about. 

I’m not a big believer in New Years resolutions. That said, there is value in setting spiritual goals and doing what it takes to meet them. The goal of genuine, heartfelt goodness is a goal every Christian ought to set. 

How do Christians Keep the Dumpster-Fire From Raging out of Control?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is- Ephesians 5:15-16 NASB

The world we live in is a flaming-hot-dumpster-fire. 

I say that a lot. 

Probably too much. In my defense, lots of people say it a lot. It’s an axiom that’s becoming more and more of a thing all the time. It’s also true. Sane people (our numbers are dwindling) clearly see the lines between what is okay and not-okay are blurring (Jeremiah 4:22). This has happened because there is an ever-growing number of outwardly normal people who cannot tell the difference between good and evil anymore (Isaiah 5:20).  

Take a current news event as one small example:

There’s this guy (Luigi Mangione) who killed a guy (Brian Thompson) because he hates the health insurance industry. Luigi Mangione didn’t have a beef with Brian Thompson. He didn’t even know Brian Thompson. For the record, I don’t believe there are “good” reasons to break the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13, Mark 10:18-20). Nonetheless, there are exceptional situations, like when someone kills your child or your mom or your wife or your brother, when murder FEELS slightly less dastardly. 

This was not an exceptional situation. 

Further muddying the waters are the folks (scads of them) who sincerely believe murder was justified in this case because the man who was assassinated was a well-paid health insurance executive.  Then there are the weirdos who immediately started crafting amoral little social media posts where they daydream out loud about having sex with the guy who killed a guy for no reason. 

Like I said, it’s a dumpster-fire.

 Jesus’ people are to be the “salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16). Salt has all sorts of uses, but a primary purpose of salt is to stop decay. Light illuminates what is true. This sums up our job description neatly. We are to keep society from going off the rails and tell the spiritual truth. That’s it. However, it is getting more and more difficult all the time to do what we’ve been told to do, mostly because the flaming-hot-dumpster-fire is getting hotter all the time.

Sigh. 

 This week I spent a lot of time thinking about/praying about all this. Amid my musings the Lord impressed on me a couple things we can all do. All these things are simple but none of them are necessarily easy. None will change the world overnight, but they will over time. Doing them ensures we meet the requirements of our job description. 

It all begins with:

Living like we actually believe in God- 

Seriously. This all we have to do to be salt and light in a sin-sick world. When a person lives like they believe God is real they DO what He tells them to do. They know what sin is and avoid it like the plague. They are quick repent when they do sin (1st John 1:8-10). They love people and because they love people, they are very careful to ride the line between treating others with respect and kindness and telling them truth about where their actions will take them (1st Corinthians 13, Romans 6:23). All of this, if done consistently will make a difference in how the average Joe and Jane view Christianity. This will inevitably lead to more conversions. More conversions mean a smaller dumpster fire. Always a big win. 

Just saying “no” to conditional obedience-

Conditional obedience is attaching qualifiers to our compliance to God’s commands. Our obedience is conditional when we say (out loud or in our hearts): “okay God, I will do life your way if you provide me with a good job, great friends, a good spouse, devoted adult children and a nice place to live”. Conditional obedience is choosing either consciencely or subconsciously to quit obeying God the second God ceases to act as our blessing machine (John 3:36, 1st Peter 4:17) and at some point, He will because we are His servants He is not ours. Conditional obedience completely lacks faith (Hebrews 11:6). It is proof positive that we either don’t really believe in God at all or we don’t really trust Him to run the show. If we don’t trust and believe in God, we can’t expect the world to either.  

Keep the main thing the main thing-

Jesus is the main thing. He is ultimately what the Christian life is all about. Christianity is not about building a following. Nor is about having the world think well of us. Our business as Christians is to know Jesus, obey Jesus’ commands, glorify Jesus every chance we get and lead other people into relationship with Jesus. Period. When we choose to do these things all the time, we become a blessing to God and a protective force that illuminates spiritual truth for the world (Matthew 25:21). 

And finally:

We must be willing to bring up the main thing even when the dumpster fire world flies into a rage because we dared to bring up Jesus. It is not enough for Christians to live good lives, nor is it enough to be compassionate, big-hearted and peaceful. All of these things are good, all of them are critical to our practice of Christianity. However, the main thing is still the main thing and bringing up the main thing is the only way to slow down the raging dumpster-fire. 

The Spiritual Superpower Every Christian can Have-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ- 1st Peter 1:13 NASB

The New Testament contains many thought-provoking little tidbits that are not really substantial enough to qualify as a complete verse. These are more like little phrases— many of them have a lot of gold to mine. 

Here’s one of them:

But we have the mind of Christ- 1st Corinthians 2:16

 This little phrase begs a whole bunch of critically important questions, including: 

Are all Christians just given “the mind of Christ” at the moment of salvation? 

Did the Corinthian Christians have the “mind of Christ” or was Paul just wishing they did or hoping they would figure it out? 

Does the English phrase “mind of Christ” mean something especially special in Greek? 

If we don’t automatically receive the mind of Christ at salvation, how do we get “the mind of Christ?

So. 

Context is useful in grasping the deeper meaning here. This little snippet is a tiny fragment of a greater conversation Paul was having concerning some super stupid things the Corinthian Christians were doing and thinking. Therefore, it is safe to assume Paul is not commending the Corinthians for having “the mind of Christ”. Nor is the mind of Christ is something all Christians are given as a part of the initial salvation package. Although, the mind of Christ is obviously something every Christian CAN have and should go after. I was a bit surprised to discover the phrase “mind of Christ” means pretty much the same thing in Greek as it does in English. Basically, it means “to think like God”. Consequently, if someone has the “mind of Christ”, they will see events, life and people the same way God does. 

This means the “how” of thinking like God is critical, so critical, it is probably the key to a lot of our spiritual growth and maturity. Without it we will likely flounder spiritually, just as the Corinthians were. Thankfully, there are four easy things every believer can (and should) do daily that will move them closer to the goal of having “the mind of Christ”

Go after discernment (Psalm 119:66, Philippians 1:9)-  

The word discernment and its derivatives are used thirty-two times throughout the Bible. The Greek word for discernment is anakrino. It means “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent examination, to scrutinize.” A discerning individual thinks issues and situations through prayerfully. Discerning people learn to apply biblical principles to all of life. This gives them the wisdom to understand deeper (sometimes hidden) issues in each situation. Furthermore, discerning people understand all of life is connected. Everything we do and think affects everything else, behaviors and attitudes have consequences (Hebrews 12:15).  We acquire discernment through intimacy with Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of wisdom (Colossians 2:2-3).  Consistent Bible reading, prayer and the practice of consciously applying the Bible to life gives discernment ample space to flourish in our lives. 

Limit worldly voices in your life-

Everything we do is a direct result of what we think about (Matthew 6:22, Psalm 26:3, Psalm 110:3). What we choose to read, watch, listen to become powerful influences that consciously and/or subconsciously influence how we think and behave. Consequently, if we want to develop the mind of Christ it is wise to exercise caution and discernment about what influences we allow access to our lives. 

Get the word of God in you so it will come out of you- 

The more exposure we have to worldly entertainment and ideas the more worldly our thinking will become. Conversely, the more exposure we have to the word of God and biblical principles the more we think like God. We become what we marinate in. Getting into the word daily and surrounding ourselves with biblical principles ensures we will acquire the “mind of Christ” as we mature. 

Ruthlessly go after congruency- 

Congruency is one of the five (four?) math terms I actually understand. It means sameness. If a Christian’s life is congruent, they are the same all the time. There is no subterfuge, deception or hypocrisy in their lives.  Jesus hates hypocrisy. Jesus mentioned or taught on hypocrisy twenty-one times in the gospels. Not once did He have anything positive to say about hypocrites or hypocrisy (Luke 12:1, Matthew 6:2-16, Matthew 23, Matthew 15:6-8, Matthew 24:51). It is impossible for a person to think like Jesus while doing something Jesus despised. All humans tend towards hypocrisy. Thus, hypocrisy is something we must mercilessly root out of our lives. The only way to root out hypocrisy is with sincere and sometimes ruthless reflection. We must make a practice of scrutinizing not just our actions but also our attitudes and the motives behind our actions (1st Corinthians 11:27-29, 2nd Corinthians 13:5). 

Okay, so full disclosure:

The mind of Christ is awesome, essentially, it’s like having a spiritual superpower. It enables the average Joe or Jane Christian to think like God. This in turn empowers average people to do things and endure things they could never do in their own power and human wisdom (2nd Corinthians 12:9). However, it’s not always all sunshine and gummy bears. As our thinking becomes more like God’s there will be times when the world (and the people in it) will not always understand what we’re doing or why we’re doing it. We need to do it anyway, because when we do the world sees Jesus in us and we please the Lord. 

The Blessing Many Christians are Missing out on-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life- Jude 20-21 NKJV

Weird but true fact.

There are actually classifications of different kinds of sin. 

Seriously. 

That’s how absurdly rebellious the human race is (Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:23). There is a very real need for us sort and organize our sin and disobedience (Romans 10:3). 

Insert face-palm here. 

All sin essentially falls into two generally recognized categories. First:

There are sins of omission (James 4:17). 

A sin of omission is electing NOT to do something we know we ought to do. We sin by omission when we ignore needs or when we willfully decline to do good deeds when we can. Sins of omission don’t feel like a big deal to most Christians. In reality they are a much bigger deal than they appear to be on the surface. Anytime we willfully refuse to do what’s right, our heart gets a little bit harder towards God and people. When a human heart becomes hard the possessor of that heart becomes less able to understand God, His word and His will (Mark 6:52, Mark 8:17, Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 4:7). This sad state of affairs leaves us a hop, skip and a jump away from much bigger and much badder sins (Proverbs 4:23) Yikes. Equally, as critical, our rewards in heaven will be connected to the good we did (or didn’t do) on earth. Refusing to do good means eternity/heaven will be much less than it could have been (1st Corinthians 3:10-15, Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 10:44, Matthew 16:27, Ephesians 6:8, 2nd John 1:8). A loss of future reward may not feel like a big spiritual deal now. However, scripture warns it’s something we will be aware of in the hereafter. 

There are also sins of commission (Exodus 20:3-17, 1st John 3:17-18, 1st Corinthians 6:9-10)

A sin of commission is a sin we commit on purpose fully aware our actions are wrong. Basically, anything the Bible expressly forbids is a sin of commission. Therefore, it is a sin of commission to steal, covet, commit adultery and lie. Sins of commission are a very big deal. In our Christian culture we tend to downplay all sin, even sins of commission. Anytime a Christian tells a lie, slanders another person, has sex with a someone who is not their spouse or resentfully covets another person’s stuff other Christians tend to say things like “there’s grace for that” and there is. However, there are also plenty of warnings about taking grace for granted and testing God (Deuteronomy 6:16, Luke 4:12, 2nd Corinthians 13:5, Hebrews 10:29). We would be wise to pay attention. 

Seriously.  

Okay so. You’re probably asking yourself:

When are we going to talk about blessings? Is there a point to all this dreadful sin talk?  It’s bumming me out. 

Yes. Yes, there is. Thank you for asking.

There is one sin in particular I wanted to talk about because I am convinced it’s a huge deal. I am convinced our failure in this one area is at the root of our lack of blessing. Our failure in this one area shows up all over the place. It shows up in our failure to pass on our faith to our children. It shows up in our high rates of moral failure. It shows up in our failure to transform our culture. It shows up in the hardness of the hearts unbelievers we interact with. The worst thing about this sin is that it doesn’t really feel like a sin. It doesn’t feel like anything. A respectable Christian can commit this sin every-single-day of their lives and never feel an ounce of conviction and miss out on all sorts of blessings in the process.

This sin is… drumroll please…

 The sin of neglecting to pray or refusing to pray. 

Before you roll your eyes, blow me off and go read something else, hear me out. This one matters. A lot. This is because prayerlessness is one of those rare sins that is both a sin of omission and commission all at the same time. We all have opportunities to pray where we just choose not to. Prayer is also something Christians are commanded to do (Matthew 6:6-13, James 5:16, Ephesians 6:18, 1st Thessalonians 5:17, Philippians 4:6, 1st Timothy 2:1). 

There aren’t very many sins that are a both a sin of omission and commission all at the same time. This makes not praying a huge deal.

I know all the objections (mostly because I have made all these arguments at some point). They are:

I’m busy.

I don’t know how.

Prayer is boring.  

My prayers don’t get answered so why bother?  

At different points in our lives all of the above objections are true. However, none change the fact that we are commanded to pray. The command still stands. I do not wish to heap condemnation on anyone. Rather, I want to encourage everyone everywhere to pray. There was a time when I was guilty of prayerlessness.  I would pray over my food or when life got scary but I lacked a consistent prayer life and it showed. I was spiritually powerless. Then my life went to hell and I learned to pray. Don’t be like me. Don’t be a slow learner. Be better. Be smarter. Get in on the blessings early.

Just start praying. Prayer isn’t a “go big or go home” undertaking. God just wants to hear from you. Start small. Make a practice of praying the Lord’s Prayer when you wake up in the morning (Matthew 6:9-13). Turn off the streaming services and podcasts and pray instead. Pray for your family while you drive to work. Pray for revival as you fold the laundry or wash the dishes or mow the lawn.  Pray for your church/pastor while you walk to get the mail. Pray for your spouse while you get ready in the morning. Just pray.

Trust me. 

The more you pray the more you will want to pray because prayer is addictive.

In a good way.

The Key’s to Spiritual “Greatness”-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us- Hebrews 12:1 ESV 

 I wrestle with a lot of questions. 

Most are one-hundred-percent irrelevant in the grand scheme of life and eternity.  Nonetheless, a few of them do have some validity. One of those is:  

What makes a person “great” from God’s perspective? 

What made men and women like Abraham, Deborah, Moses, David, Paul and Peter great people? 

Why is Abraham called a “friend of God” over and over again in Scripture (2nd Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23)? What was it about Moses that moved God to speak to him face-to-face “like a friend” (Exodus 33:11)? Why would Deborah be chosen as a Mother over Israel (Judges 4:4-5, Judges 5:7-8)? What made David a man after God’s own heart (1st Samuel 13:14)? What was it about Paul and Peter that qualified them to lead the most critical movement of all time (Romans 11:13, Acts 2:1-47)?

 These are the questions. 

I have spent countless hours pondering what exactly makes someone the kind of person God points at and says: “that’s my guy” or “that’s my girl”. I don’t have all the answers to this or any question (obviously) but I do have some ideas. Here are four of them:

They always got back on the horse (metaphorically speaking) immediately following a spiritual failure-

Not everyone on the above list has a spiritual failure recorded in Scripture. However, the ones who do, failed spectacularly.  Seriously. Abraham lied. A lot. Moses was a murderer with a foul temper. David was an adulterer, a liar AND a murderer. Paul was a blasphemer and a murderer. Peter denied the Lord after being on Jesus’ inside circle for three years. Nonetheless, not one of these folks let their massive failure define them or their relationship with God. Each one took their mess to God, asked for forgiveness, repented and got back to worshipping, working and praying ASAP. These folks didn’t hide from God. They didn’t fib about their failure or attempt to cover it up. They didn’t wallow. They didn’t allow sorrow over their failure to turn them into alcoholics or drug addicts. They didn’t quit church or synagogue because they screwed up. The spiritual greats all trusted God’s promises to forgive sins (Psalm 65:2-3, Psalm 86:5, Psalm 103:12, John 3:16-17, 1st John 1:9, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:13-14) as fact and moved on. In the process each one learned from their failure and went on to live lives that brought God glory.  

They believed God- 

The spiritual greats all believed God, even when it made no sense. Most of the time it didn’t. They all believed anyway (Genesis 15:4-6, Romans 14:9, Hebrews 11:13-15). Their belief was more than simple head knowledge. Their trust in God and His plans always led to radical obedience and a steel-in-the-spine commitment to glorifying God, no matter the circumstances. God says the world is not worthy of such people (Hebrews 11:37-38).  

They were all willing to be second or third or fifth or whatever- 

There’s an intriguing little verse no one pays much attention to tucked into 3rd John. It says: I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority- 3rd John 1:10. Okay, so, this is a thought-provoking little verse for numerous reasons. First, what kind of prideful numbskull would refuse to acknowledge the spiritual authority of John the Apostle? Seriously. Who thinks like that? Diotrephes apparently. Second, it’s the apostle John calling someone out. John wasn’t known for that sort of thing. Paul called people out all the time (Acts 15:37-39, Galatians 2:11-14, Philemon, 2nd Timothy 4:10, 2nd Timothy 4:14). Peter could be counted on to throw some shade around from time-to-time (Acts 2:23, Acts 3:13-15, 2nd Peter 3:15-16). John doesn’t do that, he’s the nice one. Church history records him as the “apostle of love”. Nonetheless, Diotrephes desire to be “first” was so appalling to John and antithetical to the gospel that Mr.  Nice-guy felt compelled to call Diotrephes out publicly. John had some good reasons for doing so. Someone who loves to be first (in this context) wants to be the most important person in the room. These Christians want to be THE go-to person for spiritual teaching, moral advice and wisdom. People who love to be first have a stunning lack of humility that causes them to do anything including lying and slandering good people just to keep their position or standing in the church.  To the contrary, all the folks God calls great saw themselves as deeply loved by God but not as any more-or-less important than any other person. They were all willing to share the stage and give God ALL the glory. 

They took hardship on the chin (metaphorically speaking)- 

It’s simply a fact: hardship and difficulty affects people in one of two ways, it either makes them bitter or better (Hebrews 12:15). For God’s best and brightest it always makes them more like Jesus. God’s greats refuse to wallow in self-pity. Instead they choose to view suffering as an opportunity to grow and glorify God.  

God is merciful, kind and good. Seriously. God never places spiritual greatness out of the reach of anyone. All it takes is faith, a willingness to do life God’s way and a little humility.

God does the rest. 

How to Grow Through a Hard Season-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

A bent reed He will not break off. And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice- Isaiah 42:3 NASB

Any believer in Jesus who lives long enough will go through what many Christians euphemistically refer to as “a season”.

“A season” is just a brutally long trial, or in some cases a long series of trials. In “a season” nothing goes the way it’s supposed to go, in spite of one’s best efforts and most impassioned prayers (Job 1:1-22). 

 “A season” starts with bad news.  

You discover your spouse cheated or a close friend betrayed you. Perhaps, a child you thought you raised right goes “no contact” or “comes out” as something totally unanticipated—or both. Or, maybe you experienced a job loss or a loved one was diagnosed with an illness. It’s possible the terrible and unforeseen news is something so dreadful I cannot even fathom it. 

Heaven forbid. 

It is not unusual in “a season” for the initial bad news to be followed up by a series of more catastrophes and more bad news. 

Most folks jump to the conclusion during “a season” that God is angry about something they did or failed to do. It is not unusual for Christians to expend a lot of energy trying to figure out where we went wrong or why God is all of a sudden ticked off at them. 

God is not angry and He is not punishing you. 

That’s just not His jam. God does not make bad things happen. We live in a fallen world so when bad things happen God uses those events to change us into something better. Punishment is intended to inflict pain. Discipline (hardship and trials) is intended to teach, train and make us more like Jesus. God takes the hardships of life and uses them to ultimately bring about our good and His glory (1st Corinthians 2:16, Romans 12:1-2, 2nd Corinthians 3;18). The Greek word for discipline in the New Testament is paideuo (Hebrews 12:7). Paideuo and all the words derived from paideuo are linked to educating, teaching, training and humbling (James 4:10, 1st Peter 5:6-10). Trials are the means God uses to align our thinking with His, deal with sinful pride and bring us into a greater state of glory (2nd Corinthians 4:16-18). 

So. 

All that to say: trials are a good thing that feel like a really terrible thing (James 1:2-4). 

Sigh. 

The early Church is a good example of how God uses difficulty for good. The early church thrived for a time (Acts 2:43-47) and then experienced a collective “season”. During their “season” persecution broke out and many believers in Jesus were jailed and even executed (Acts 8:1-3). The trials they experienced were horrific (Hebrews 10:32-35, Hebrews 11:33-38). However, it resulted in Christians being used to spread the gospel around the literal world. As a result, God’s people received eternal blessings for their faithfulness, people came to know Jesus and God was glorified. 

We ensure a trial accomplishes good things in our own lives by doing the following when life gets hard: 

Work on you- 

Commit to working on yourself even if you already feel like you are doing so (and you probably are). Step up your efforts. Get into the word, read some good Christian books and make self-examination a regular part of your spiritual routine (2nd Peter 1:3-11, 2nd Corinthians 13:5, Proverbs 12:1). Commit to making any changes that need to be made in your attitude or behavior. Seek to apply the word of God to every aspect of your life. None of these things are guaranteed to change your circumstances. However, they will ensure you come out of “the season” a better person and more effective Christian. And that’s a lot. 

Pray for fresh vision- 

God often uses trials to change our direction. This is what God did with the church in Acts. The believers in Jerusalem were content with the spiritual status quo and for good reason: the Jerusalem church was awesome (Acts 2-4). Nonetheless, God had a vision for His people that was bigger than one body of believers (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8). He used trials (persecution) to move the early Christians out of their comfort zone and into a lost and dying world. Trials are the time to seek the wisdom of others and to pray for direction and vision (Proverbs 29:18).   

Worship-

Perhaps the purest act of faith is to worship God in the midst of circumstances where it makes zero sense to do so. Again, this will not magically transform your situation.  However, worship in the midst of a trial pleases God like nothing else can, positions you for future blessing and ensures you work out your salvation in a manner that pleases God and leads to greater faith and growth (Hebrews 11:1-39, Philippians 2:12-13). 

And finally:

Trust the Lord no matter what- 

By far, one of the most awful characteristics of “a season” is that God typically FEELS distant and far removed from the chaos and difficulty that is your life. That doesn’t mean He is. Feelings LIE. All. The. Time.  Truth-be-told, God is in fact right there with you. Jesus is praying for you; the Holy Spirit is guiding you and God the Father is holding you in the palm of His hand. He’s weeping over your pain but rejoicing in your faithfulness and growth (Luke 22:31-32, John 14:26, John 16:13, John 10:28-29). Your job is to trust Him to get you through to the other side (Proverbs 3:4-6).

He will and there will be good things there. 

Hey Church- the Election Results Probably Don’t Mean What we Hope they Mean.

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

 If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land- 2nd Chronicles 7:14 NASB

I have a hunch many regular readers of this blog did a literal happy dance when they learned the outcome of the 2024 election. 

You know who you are. 🙂

The results were what most (not all) American Christians were hoping for. There are many Christians (like myself) who have some reservations concerning Trump as a person. However, it’s simply a fact that there has been more poverty, more abortion, more crime, more war, more violence and less overall goodness in the past four years compared to the previous four years (Proverbs 29:2).  Past results are generally the best predictor of future results.  Therefore, it is not difficult to conclude that Trump (in spite of his shortcomings) is the leader who will do the most good and the least harm for the greatest number of people in the coming years (Jeremiah 29:7). And that is all we can really dare to hope for in these crazy-town times. 

I also suspect more than a few Christians reading this post also think (at least subconsciously) that this election outcome means God is happy with how everything is going in America and He’s just looking for an opportunity to bless our socks off.  

I don’t think this means that. 

Seriously. I don’t. 

Rather, I believe the God of the universe is giving us a reprieve, a break in the madness. He’s not giving us a break so we can rest on our laurels and reacquaint ourselves the delights of lower interest rates, cheap eggs and overall better economic conditions. God is giving us a loll in the craziness for one reason and one reason only: God loves people and wants them come to know Him as their Lord and Savior because revival is the ONLY route to a more moral, healthy and life-giving culture (John 3:16, 2nd Peter 3:9). 

It just is. This win is not about blessing. It’s about God giving the church a clear opening to be the church. Therefore, I want to encourage everyone reading this to take a deep breath, celebrate the win for just a little longer and then do the following:

Pray twice as hard over the course of the next four years as you did over the course of the past four-

I suspect that most Christians have prayed more in the last four years than they have in the previous twelve. Prayer is always a good thing. I would never argue against prayer. However, the motive for our prayers has been less than noble. Most of us have prayed out of fear. We were scared senseless over what we were seeing in the culture. The crime, the crushing of dissident voices, the economic chaos and the spiritual state of the younger generation left Christians in shock. It was scary as hell. Literally. Smart people became fearful and did what smart people do when they become fearful: they prayed their faces off. Churches that have never once hosted a prayer meeting were hosting regular prayer meetings. People who have never attended a prayer meeting attended numerous prayer meetings. It was a beautiful thing. More people have gotten saved in the last four years than I have seen in my lifetime. This happened because people prayed. The spiritual war is far from over, it’s probably just heating up (Romans 6:12-13). Many of us started praying in fear now God is calling us to pray in faith and see what He does (1st Thessalonians 5:17, Mark 14:38, Ephesians 6:19). 

Tell your friends and neighbors about Jesus- 

Truth-be-told, most people who voted red this time around did not do so because they care about freedom of religion or the unborn or the supreme court or the spiritual condition of the next generation. Most who voted red this time around did so because they were thinking about their own financial situation. Period. It is not immoral or wrong to think about one’s own financial situation. We live in a world where finances are a reality and its perfectly okay to care about them. However, why we choose something or someone says a lot about where our hearts are at and most of our friends and neighbors have hearts that are far from God. They need us to use this opportunity we have been given to tell them about Jesus. He is the only one who can bring real security and authentic peace in even the toughest of times (Romans 5:1, 2nd Thessalonians 3:1, John 16:33). 

And finally:

Work for the good of all people –

In Jeremiah 29:4-7 the prophet gives the Jewish people (who had been captured by the Babylonians) some advice that applies any Christians living in a culture hostile to their faith. Jeremiah commanded the captives to be good people, raise good families, to be kind and honest and to work for the good of everyone, even the Babylonians. It was solid advice we can easily apply to our current situation.  This is the time to double-down our efforts to get to know our neighbors and love them well. It’s the time to work our tails off to be a God-fearing, wise and helpful presence in our communities. In doing we will be the salt and the light our world so desperately needs (Matthew 5:12-13) and position ourselves and our world for spiritual revival that will bring future blessing.

What the Book of Romans Teaches us About the “Why” of Jesus-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

 He (the Father) raised Him (Christ) from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come- Ephesians 1:20-21 NASB

I am currently going through the book of Romans with a friend who I have a discipling relationship with.  Romans was her pick. When she picked it, I sighed inwardly but I did not have the heart to tell her it’s basically my least favorite book in the New Testament.  She was just way too excited for me to lay a heavy load of negativity on her.

So, I kept my thoughts to myself.

 It’s not the content or theology of Romans I take issue with. To the contrary, the content and the theology of Romans is some of the most profound in all the Bible. It’s Paul’s writing style that annoys me. Romans is what I call a “winding story”.  The apostle takes the long and meandering road to make the vast majority of his points. Furthermore, Paul routinely uses a hundred words when (in my opinion) fifty would more than do.  I simply prefer a more concise and tidy writing style. 

It’s just how I roll. 

However. I’m coming around to the book of Romans, mostly because it hit me kind of outa the blue that the whole book is basically just the “why” of Jesus. I do love to know the why of everything and the “why” of Jesus is, without question the most important “why” ever. There are ultimately five really good reasons why ALL people everywhere need Jesus. 

It all begins with the reality that:

All people are terrible- 

We just are. Humanity’s collective terribleness is the overarching theme of Romans 1:18-3:31. Humans love to sin because rebellion is a part of our human DNA. Jews and gentiles are both awful. The gentiles were/are terrible apart from the law (Romans 1:18-32) and the Jews were/are equally as terrible (in different ways) with the law as their guide and teacher (Romans 2:17-29). Paul sums it up neatly in Romans 3:11-18 where he quotes a bunch of Old Testament passages that tells us that no one is righteous and all people are at the core of who they are—really awful.  Humanity’s universal wickedness means that even our best efforts to do good are often self-serving and inevitably fall miserably short (Isaiah 65:6).  It’s a lot of bad news and it’s all still true in 2024.  

No one can stop being terrible without Jesus-

We just can’t.  But God knows we are prideful and self-willed so we would try. He gave the Hebrew people the Old Testament law with its system of sacrifices and rules to show us that none of us can be truly “good” in our own power.  The law was insufficient because it could not make anyone truly good or righteous (Romans 2:23, Hebrews 7:18-19). The problem wasn’t with the law. The problem was with people. A person could obey all the law and still have an evil unbelieving heart bent toward sin and evil (Matthew 5:17-48, Jeremiah 1:9, Proverbs 26:11). A better plan was needed. Jesus was that better plan. Jesus came to earth to die on the cross to become a once-for-all sacrifice, not just for the Jewish people but for all people (Hebrews 10:10, Romans 1:16-17). Jesus took on the sin of humanity so the problem of the sin could be dealt with once for all (Romans 8:3, Hebrews 9:26). He took the punishment we deserve. In doing so, the relationship between God and humanity could be restored to what it was before sin entered the world (Genesis 1:26-31, Genesis 2). 

Jesus brings hope-

He just does.  Jesus was both God and man. He was born of a virgin woman because the seed of sin came through Adam (Romans 5:12). Because Jesus is God, He was able to live a sinless life. A perfect sinless sacrifice was what was needed to satisfy God’s warranted anger at mankind’s sin and rebellion (Romans 1:18). We also needed a way to actually be better. Jesus is the way. When we place our faith in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection God no longer sees our sin and terribleness (Colossians 1:21-22). Instead, God sees the goodness and righteousness of Jesus. Our sins are forgiven and forgotten by God (Psalm 32:1, Acts 10:43, Romans 4:7-8, Colossians 1:13-14). 

Jesus not only makes us righteous in God’s eyes He also makes us far less terrible from a practical perspective- 

Jesus not only died for our sins, He also lived a perfect, sinless life to teach us how to live a life that pleases God. When we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are no longer slaves to our sinful tendencies and desires (Romans 6:6, 2nd Corinthians 5:17, 2nd Corinthians 3:18, 1st Corinthians 6:9-11). We are set free to do what is right (Romans 6:16-17). Romans 12:1-21 gives us the road map for loosening the bonds of our sinful nature and being transformed into the image of Jesus. When we do what Romans twelve tells us to do we become what the apostle Peter called “partakers of the divine nature” (2nd Peter 1:4-10). When we choose to live a life of repentance and obedience we literally become like the God we serve.

And finally: 

Jesus gives people the ultimate purpose and hope for a better future. The book of Romans promises all of God’s people the joy of present usefulness, no matter their present situation (Matthew 5:14-16, Romans 15:14, Romans 15:17, Romans 12:6, 1st Corinthians 12:27-13:13). When we give our lives to Jesus He empowers with gifts that enable us to do His will in this world. As a result, we become change agents who bring light, life and truth to a lost and dying world. On top of all of that we get to spend all of eternity with the God of the universe (John 3:16, Romans 6:23).

And, that’s the why of Jesus.

Three Crazy-Town Beliefs that are Taking Root in the Church-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long- Psalm 25:5

Our world is awash with crazy-town beliefs and deceptive philosophies. I could give a million examples (okay, well maybe not a million, but a lot). 

Here’s one example: 

A majority of folks today (especially those under forty) literally think there is no such thing as absolute, fixed, immutable truth. These folks (most of them very nice people) are persuaded that every individual on earth has their own unique little “truth”. No one can dispute their truth even if their “truth” flies in the face of all sorts of hard evidence to the contrary or contradicts someone else’s “truth”. Thanks to this crazy-town worldview we are now at a place where a significant minority now “identifies” as something they clearly are not (an animal, a different gender, a different race, etc.). These folks are convinced their “truth” is the TRUTH. So much so, they demand the rest of the world enter into their delusion and celebrate their “truth”.  Normal folks can even get “cancelled” if they refuse to enter into these delusions. 

Sigh.

It’s easy to get really judgy regarding this stuff.   

However, it is critical we remember, that at this writing planet earth is very much under the control of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-2, Job 1:7, 2nd Corinthians 4:4, Revelation 2:13). This generation is also (in my opinion) living in an age of powerful deception (Matthew 24:3-4, 2nd Thessalonians 2:11, Psalm 4:2).  Therefore, Christians are not exempt from getting caught up in deceptive philosophies or wrong thinking (Colossians 2:8). Some of those philosophies and deceptions are the same the ones our non-Christian friends and neighbors have fallen prey to, others are unique to Christianity.  There are at least three worldly and wildly dangerous beliefs that have infiltrated Christian thinking. These beliefs are taking the church captive and hamstringing the churches effectiveness. They are:

Your authentic self is your best self-

We live in a time and place where individualism is valued above all else. Everyone is encouraged to discover and celebrate their “authentic self”. This sounds great on the surface. It even sounds kind of Christian, after all, God made us all unique individuals, right? Well… sort of. It is true we are all unique creations made in God’s image (Psalm 139:14). It’s also true that it is a beautiful act of worship to discover our giftedness and use it for God’s glory and the good of the church (1st Corinthians 7:7, Hebrews 2:4, Ephesians 4:8-16). However, all humans are—at the core of who we are— fallen, sinful and super messy. This means that when we celebrate someone’s “authentic self” what we are really celebrating is their sin nature run amok.  Oftentimes, we are applauding the very things (chaos and sin) that keep people from finding genuine peace, spiritual transformation and moral virtue (2nd Corinthians 5:17, 2nd Corinthians 3:18). Our aim as believers should not be to become our “authentic” or “true” self or to applaud anyone else’s “authentic self”. Instead, our aim ought to be to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process of sanctification (becoming like Jesus) and to help others to do the same (Matthew 28:18-20).  Romans 12, Colossians 3, 2nd Peter 1:3-11 give us the blueprint for the sanctification process. If we follow the instruction in those passages we will be successful Christians and our best self. 

Results matter more than character-

Unfortunately, it has become disturbingly common for churches and Christians to disregard the bad behavior of Christian leaders because “good things are happening in the organization/church” or “people are getting saved” (1st Timothy 5:24-25). This whole notion disregards Scripture that tells us that God is deeply concerned with more than results (Proverbs 16:2, James 4:2-4). Anything (even a good thing) done with a wrong heart or bad motives will have little to no eternal value (1st Corinthians 3:10-15, Hebrews 4:12-14). Furthermore, it’s simply a fact that when people “get saved” under a bad leader quite often they end up falling away from the faith when the leader’s behavior is revealed. All this to say, character matters. When character is sacrificed on an altar of “results” the results we get will ultimately be less than what could have been and displeasing to the Lord. Yikes. 

Prayer is irrelevant- 

God commands Christians to pray (Matthew 5:44 James 5:16, Philippians 4:6, 1st Thessalonians 5:17). However, there are a lot of Christians who believe God has already decided and/or already knows how everything is going to work out so there is no reason to pray. These folks literally believe God has commanded them to do something totally pointless that makes no sense. I believe prayer is critical because God speaks to people through situations and in a still small voice every time we ask Him to. Seriously. He does. Every. Single. Time. The more we ask the more He prompts people. Humans have freewill so sometimes they ignore God’s promptings. That’s on them. It’s on us to keep asking for the Fathers will (Matthew 18:1-6). 

What we believe matters. 

A lot. 

Wrong thinking always leads to wrong actions. Wrong actions inevitably yield terrible outcomes. Conversely, right thinking provides spiritual protection and ensures a better outcome. In our age of deception, it is imperative we hold every idea and belief up to the light of Scripture, even the ideas we hear in church or from Christian influencers. If the idea or belief lines up with Scripture we ought to live by it, if it doesn’t it needs to go. 

Seriously. 

The Number one “Rule” of Modern Christianity-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace- Jeremiah 6:13b-14 NIV

Life is full of unwritten rules. 

An unwritten rule is an expectation no one really needs to be told about. For example, we all understand it’s not okay to roam through a public space like a subway or a movie theater with music blaring out of a speaker. There are (to my knowledge) no signs telling people they can’t play their music in these spaces. We all just know better. Because we all know better than to break unspoken rules, when someone does, people judge. 

It’s just how it is. 

Christianity has its own fair share of unwritten rules. There are things we simply do not do in Church world. No one treats communion like a buffet, grabbing enough juice to quench their thirst or enough bread to tide them over until lunch.  Some of the unwritten rules in church world are biblical, others, not so much. One really prominent unwritten rule in church world is: 

No negativity allowed! 

The love of the positive (and aversion to the negative) is reflected in the following “rules” Christians are told to follow:

Christians should only preach and speak about what they’re FOR not what they’re against-

Churches should stick to preaching the gospel only because social issues are not relevant to the gospel-

A good Christian is always kind and never hurts anyone’s feelings-

It’s a terrible sin to speak against “the Lords anointed”-

All of the above rules are well-intended, a few even have Bible verses to back them up. Each one is meant to encourage kindness, cooperation, unity and inoffensiveness. 

All good things. 

But are these “rules” biblical? 

Nope, nope and more nope.

No one should seek to be unnecessarily offensive, nor should Christians preach about social issues to the exclusion of the gospel. It is not okay for believers to hurt people on purpose, slander Christian leaders or criticize good programs designed to help people (2nd Timothy 4:2, Ephesians 4:32, Hebrews 13:17, Isaiah 5:20). Those things are all wrong. Period.

However. 

 It is also true that Jesus routinely addressed the hot-button issues of His day. In the process, He made a lot of folks really angry (Matthew 19:1-10, Luke 20:20-25, Mark 7:10-13, Matthew 20:16). Jesus also openly criticized people, including religious leaders (Matthew 23:1-33, Luke 11:37-53). I suspect Jesus hurt a lot of feelings and yet, God the Father had nothing but good things to say about Jesus (Matthew 3:17, Mark 9:7)

Furthermore. 

There are many instances in the Old Testament where God had nothing good to say about some dearly loved prophets. These “prophets” angered God because they insisted on preaching messages of blessings and positivity when God had declared there would be nothing but a giant load of judgment and trouble for His people (Jeremiah 6:13-14, Jeremiah 14:14, Ezekiel 13:9, Lamentations 2:14, Isaiah 44:24-25). 

The problems with choosing to dwell entirely on the positive are countless. For one thing, it puts a lot of limits on what Christians can and can’t talk about. Any subject that makes people uncomfortable or angry is out. This eliminates much of the Bible and all discussion of sin. It also means Christians can never speak up about social issues, even really evil social issues. If seventeenth century Christians had chosen to only speak a positive, happy message, slavery might still be legal. Our aversion to speaking the negative is one of the key reasons there are so many bad leaders in positions of power in our churches. If one believes its poor form or sinful to discuss problems with a leader’s bad behavior, the silence that ensues gives that pastor plenty of space to keep doing what they’ve been doing. In every church or Christian organization where there has been moral failure there has also been an unspoken (sometimes spoken) rule against saying anything unflattering about the leader.  Never discussing the negative also limits the spiritual and personal growth of individuals. In some churches, spouses (especially women) are discouraged from any negative talk about their spouse’s behavior— even if the behavior is clearly wrong or even abusive. Instead spouses are encouraged to pray that God would speak to their husband or wife. This presupposes the person in question, who is walking in sin is going to listen the Lord when He speaks.  Those folks are denied growth opportunities because their closest neighbor (their spouse) is prohibited from confronting their sin. 

Sigh.

 Instead of insisting on positive vibes only, Christians ought to make a commitment to actively seek God’s best for all people in every situation. Seeking the best means we cover every difficult or potentially thorny conversation in prayer. Seeking the best demands we become biblically literate so we know an answer to prayer when it comes. It means there will times when we keep our pie holes shut because the issue at hand is not really critical or worth offending someone over. Other times seeking the best means saying what needs to be said as kindly as possible, even if offense is taken (Ephesians 4:15, Philippians 1:9-11). Seeking the best for others means we do the hard work of learning to discern right from wrong. It means we remember unsaved people naturally find the gospel and biblical truth offensive (1st Corinthians 1:18, 1st Corinthians 2:14). Loving people and seeking their good means we break the rules by preaching the gospel and speaking against social evil. It means we tell the truth because if we really love people we don’t want them to spend eternity in hell because they lacked pertinent information concerning right and wrong. 

That would be the most unloving thing ever.