Tag: Lies we believe

The Parenting that Transformed the World and the Path Forward-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment


So these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day- 2nd Kings 17:41 ESV

Nearly every Christian parent of a certain generation read their kids a book called The Giving Tree, by Shell Silverstien.

The Giving Tree is sentimental little tome that chronicles the lifelong relationship between a boy and an apple tree. The tree loves the boy unconditionally and does its level best to meet every need the boy has, no questions asked. In the beginning the boy and the tree simply enjoy one another.  However, as the boy ages, he goes to the tree to have more and more of his needs met. When he needs a place to play, money, a house to live in or a place to hang out the tree enthusiastically, joyfully and sacrificially finds a way to give the boy what he wants.  The tree is unfailingly generous to the boy even when its generosity creates some rather thorny issues for the tree (like becoming a stump).  The boy never gives anything back to the tree, nor does he say, “thank you” to the tree for its kindness. When the boy returns to the tree as old man looking for a place to rest, the tired old tree offers all it has left (a stump) to the “boy”. The story closes with the: “and the tree was happy”.

Consciencely or not, nearly two generations of parents took their childrearing cues from The Giving Tree. There are reasons for this. Many parents who had children in the 1990’s and early 2000’s felt their own parents did precious little to prepare them for life. Most were left to muddle through and figure things out on their own. These folks did what flawed humans do when life feels unfair.  They overcorrected, did the opposite of what their parents did, and over-performed. These parents put their kids first. They showed up and gave till it hurt. They wanted their kids to understand how the world worked so they explained everything in excruciating detail. They made darn certain their kids never went without the newest trend, thingmajig or doohickey. Parents and teachers went out of their way to make sure kids never felt bad about themselves. As a result, two generations of children did little without receiving a trophy or some sort of reward, no matter how inadequate their effort.

These parents were not bad parents or people. Truth-be-told, they were probably the most well-intentioned parents in the history of history.  They genuinely believed kids raised by big-hearted, open-handed parents would grow up to be big-hearted, open-handed adults. Churches went out of their way to cater to this generation. Untold millions were spent giving children and youth a delightful, fun-filled church experience that tended to be tragically short on doctrinal truth and hard teachings.

Many of these adult kids have turned their backs on God and Christian morality.  A vast majority insist on having their way in everything. Few can stand being corrected or disagreed with (Proverbs 12:1). It’s their way or “no way”.  Sadly, this style of child-rearing produced a shocking number of narcissistic adults. Many have little or no respect for God, parents or even immutable facts like the existence of only two genders (2nd Timothy 3:15). This is sad, not just for the parents or society but also for the adult children. God hates narcissism or what the Bible calls the sin of pride (Proverbs 16:18, Leviticus 26:19, Psalm 10:4, Psalm 31:19, Proverbs 13:10). Prideful, selfish, narcissistic people rarely seek the Lord.  When they do its usually just for fire insurance or because they feel church attendance can offer them something useful.

I despise long screeds lacking in hope. I also fear that this post will become just that if I don’t turn a corner and offer a path forward (Romans 5:5).  I believe that if someone is breathing there is optimism for their soul because God is gracious and good. However, Christians must do three things to see change realized in this next generation. Those three things are:

Pray-

Now is the time to pray for younger generations. Children, teens and young adults are confronted daily with sweet sounding ideas and philosophies that are designed by demonic forces to lead them as far away from God and His standard of truth as possible (Colossians 2:8, 1st Tmothy 4:1).  They are told there is no God, life is a party, and morality is for morons (2nd Timothy 2:25). Nonetheless, revitalization of the church and personal revival is possible, but it won’t happen if Christians don’t ask for it (Luke 18:1).

Stand firm for the gospel-

We are where we are because the gospel has been watered down for the better part of two generations, in order to make it more palatable to the average sinner. We must end that strategy once and for all. The gospel must be preached. All of it. Including the hard parts that spell out the need for repentance, faithfulness to Jesus and lifelong transformation (Acts 2:38, Galatians 5:22, Romans 12:2).  Without those critical teachings the gospel is only partially preached (Hebrews 2:3).

And finally, we must:

Change direction-

It’s time for Christians everywhere to be sober minded and prayerful (1st Peter 5:8). We must carefully examine the philosophies and strategies that have impacted the way we parent our children, live our lives and run our churches. If we do, God will mercifully give us a much-needed fresh start.

Four Spiritual Lies that Make Trouble for the Church-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Thou shalt not bear false witness- Exodus 20:16 KJV 

Spiritual Lies have always been a problem in our world. Most of the New Testament letters were written in response to some spiritual lie generating pandemonium in the 1st century church. Not much has changed in the last two thousand years. If anything, spiritual lies have become even more plentiful in the 21st century.  

There are all sorts of reasons for this.

The internet is undoubtedly a factor. Thanks to the worldwide web it is easier (and faster) to spread lies than it once was. Human nature doesn’t help.  We are a fallen people and fallen people love lies more than truth (Psalm 52:3, Daniel 8:12). It is also true the lines between truth and falsehood have become blurrier in recent years. Fewer people think in terms of black and white these days.  Grey is in. This has led society to embrace situational ethics and a conviction that we are all blessed with our own unique little truth. My truth doesn’t have align with your truth or even to recognized facts. It just has to be something I choose to believe is true.   I suspect demonic activity is at play here.  As we inch closer to the end of all things, Satan (the father of lies) has more power (for a season) and it would make sense that lies would become more prolific (Daniel 9:26, Daniel 11:35, Isaiah 46:9-11, Luke 21:9, Matthew 24:14). This means it’s essential Christians do their due diligence, learn the Bible and be on the alert for clever lies meant to deceive us into attitudes and behaviors displeasing to Jesus. The following list is far from exhaustive, but it does cover a couple of clear troublemakers, including:

Grace means God lowered His standards of behavior- 

For the last couple of decades or so, many churches have taught grace means God stopped judging people, especially Christians. As a result, many Christians feel little is really off-limits for them because well, God forgives sin, so sin must not be that big a deal. As a result, fewer and fewer Christians feel bad about sex outside of marriage, using salty or saucy language, gossiping, greed, selfishness or abortion. Many have embraced a very flexible morality when it comes to social/political issues.  This idea is dangerous because it’s cheap grace. It’s grace that has forgotten Jesus paid a heavy price so we could have the privilege of complete forgiveness (Romans 4:7). It also denies a lot of reality including a plethora of Scripture that teaches the way to heaven is narrow, hard and requires we embrace holiness and put Jesus commands into practice (Matthew 7:13-29, Matthew 25:1-46). This lie also flat-out disregards every warning given to Christians in the Testament that unrepentant sin will keep a person from “inheriting the kingdom of God” (1st Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-2, Hebrews 10:26-27, Revelation 21:8). This truth does not mean we should embrace legalism or a harsh view of God. Rather God’s grace and kindness should cause us to honor God’s mercy with a life of love lived out in obedience (Titus 2:11-13).  

Paul is not a legit apostle so we can ignore his writings- 

This is a relatively new lie. It may or may not gain any real traction in coming years but it’s worth noting.  There are some who are teaching that because Paul wasn’t one of the original twelve apostles he was not a legit authority in the early church. Consequently, his writings can and should be disregarded by modern readers (2nd Peter 3:15-17).  I suspect this view is attractive to some because Paul’s teachings tend to be hard. Nobody likes hard anymore. This view is a mess because it does not give God credit for being God. If God had wanted to keep Paul from writing most of the New Testament he could have. He didn’t so we best pay attention to what was written and handed down (2nd Timothy 3:16, 2nd Peter 1:19-21). 

No one has to forgive anyone unless the offender has repented- 

This lie is gaining a lot of traction. There are a couple of problems with it.  First, Jesus never attached the need for the offender to repent to His commands for us to forgive. Jesus did not say: forgive seventy times seven but only if the offender proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt they are dang sorry for what they did.  That’s absurd. I guarantee you that if someone has committed the same sin 490 times, they are NOT sorry for what they did and they will probably do it again. We are told to forgive anyway (Matthew 18:21-35). The second issue is bigger and thornier: who gets to decide if someone has truly repented? Me? You? Some committee of smart people somewhere? How will we know if someone is truly sorry? The truth is that we can’t know, only God can know, because He is the only one who can see the human heart (1st Samual 16:7). That’s why we are commanded to forgive and let God sort the details out in His own time and way (Matthew 6:15).

And finally, 

Circumstances excuse wrong behavior- 

In our squishy world where situational ethics reign supreme, we like to think this is true but it’s not. Adultery is wrong even if your spouse happens to be entirely unpleasant. Stealing is wrong even if a person is hungry and it doesn’t matter if someone is mentally ill or not. Killing innocent people, especially those who are unable to defend themselves is wrong. Thankfully, there is grace and mercy available to all who ask for it, but it doesn’t mean anyone gets to sin willy-nilly just because times are tough and life is hard. That’s just another lie we’ve bought into. 

False Teachers to Watch out For-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron- 1stTimothy 4:1-2 NIV

I have a love-hate relationship with the internet. 

I love that the internet allows me to keep in touch with friends and family all over the world. I love that I can ask my magic google machine anything—anytime—of the day or night and the internet will give me a response to my inquiry in literally seconds. I love that the internet has made it possible to share the gospel with every tribe and nation on the earth (Matthew 24:14, Revelation 14:6).  There are also some things I hate: I hate that the internet is a safe space for weirdos, evil people, and exploiters.  I hate that bad ideas spread faster than good ones on the internet.  

But more than anything else I hate that the internet has become a safe haven for false teachers and heretics to spread bad/incorrect/stupid ideas about God and the Bible. Recently, I was sent an appalling Facebook page.  Most of it was so off-the-wall biblically it would have been laughable if the stupid page didn’t have fifty-eight thousand followers and the author a book deal with a well-known Christian who really ought to know better.

Such is life in our modern age. 

The good news is the experience got me thinking about false teachers and how to spot them. The Bible teaches there are two basic varieties of false teachers Christians should be on the lookout for. The first is a false prophet. These folks were more of an Old Testament issue, though I suspect there will be a resurgence of false prophecy in the near future (Matthew 7:15, Matthew 24:11, Mark 13:11). 

A false prophet shares made-up predictions concerning God and what He is going to do in the future. False prophets were famous for proclaiming peace and blessing while all the legit prophets were promising devastation and ruin unless there was some valid repentance (Lamentations 2:14, Ezekial 13:9, Jeremiah 8:11-12). It was quite common for the bogus prophets to have more disciples and more prestige than the real deal. 

The other type of heretical teacher is called a false teacher. False teachers are a common New Testament theme. A false teacher is a church leader or teacher who claims to be a Christian but teaches things that causes folks to stray from biblical truth (2nd Peter 2:1, Titus 1:10-11,1st John 4:1). False teachers are typically self-deceived. They believe they have it right and everyone else has it wrong.  False teachers and prophets typically come in in four different varieties, including: 

The omiters-

For the record, I am aware that omiter is not a real word. I made it up to describe a variety of false teacher who only tells half the gospel story. These guys (and gals) have a lot to say about mercy, grace and deliverance but are weirdly silent on the subjects of repentance, holiness and living a life that pleases the Lord (Matthew 3:8, Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19, 2nd Peter 3:9, Ephesians 4:1, Colossians 1:10, Revelation 9:20-21). These pastors and teachers appeal to the flesh by peddling an intoxicating combination of cheap grace and easy believism.  They either openly teach there can be salvation without sanctification and godliness, or more often than not simply omit any mention of those sticky wickets (2nd Corinthians 5:17, 1st Thessalonians 4:3-8, Romans 6:6, Colossians 3:5). Unless someone dies immediately after becoming a Christian, the pursuit of sanctification (holiness) is a requirement of all believers. Anyone who omits this reality is only telling half the story and should be avoided. 

The enthusiasts of novelty- 

These guys (and gals) put a new and much more palatable twist on teaching that has been settled since the days of the early church (Galatians 1:8).  They tell believers it’s okay to be gay or practice some other sort of sexual immorality (Jude 3-4, Jude 17-18, 2nd Peter 2:18-20). They loudly proclaim forgiveness is unnecessary unless the offender is sorry for what they did. They tell eager listeners God has softened His stance on virtually every issue (1st Timothy 4:1-2, 2nd Timothy 4:3-4). Like the omiters, they appeal to the fleshly side of human beings by asserting that God has changed His mind on critical issues or the church has gotten it wrong until they came along. 

The fault finders-

These guys (and gals) can be tricky to identify because on the surface they look more legit than some legit teachers. These folks spend their entire ministry pointing out the faults, sins and false teachings of other Christian teachers. They rarely—if ever go to those they accused of false teaching (Matthew 18:15). Instead, they spend an inordinate amount of time writing long blogs pointing out the sin in other ministries or churches. It is okay, even necessary at times to point out an incorrect teaching., we do not want Christians walking in ignorance or deceit.  However, it is far more effective to teach the truth of God’s word so that people will know how to identify heresy for themselves. If someone criticizes more than they teach there is a problem. 

And finally,

The twisters of scripture-

These folks rarely tell flagrant lies about Scripture. Instead, they twist truth in such a way it becomes both misleading and appealing to the flesh. These teachers always promise an easier path than the one laid out in God’s word (Matthew 7:13-14). They simply mislead the untaught and willfully ignorant. 

It is critical false teaching is identified because wrong thinking and wrong beliefs always leads to wrong behavior. Contrary, too much modern teaching God holds people accountable for what they do and don’t do (Revelation 20:12-13). It is imperative we know the word of God and are able to discern God’s truth from the half-truths and outright lies of the world

Four Things Christians Should Stop Saying Immediately-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned- Matthew 12:26-37 ESV

I feel like this post needs a bit of a disclaimer, so here goes:

I am not, nor have I ever been much of a rule maker.  I truly believe laws are for lawbreakers (1st Timothy 1:9-11). Therefore, if people would just obey God and do what He tells us to do laws would be totally unnecessary and the world would be a better place. Because I believe that to be true, I try to mind my own business and let everyone else mind theirs. This is especially true when it comes to words. I do my level best not to police other people’s words.  There are things I try really hard not to say (Exodus 20:7, Romans 1:29, Ephesians 4:29). However, I don’t force others to be like me. 

Controlling other people’s words is for nincompoops and control freaks. 

All that being said. I guess I could officially be labelled as a control freak nincompoop, because there are some phrases I am sick of hearing Christians say. I don’t love it when non-Christians use the same phrases. However, I do understand that Christians are not to force non-believers to live, think or talk like believers (1st Corinthians 5:12-13). Christians are commanded to teach truth, model love and live righteously so that non-believers become curious about our faith (1st Peter 3:15) and want to become believers. The words we use to matter and what we say ought to be in alignment with Scripture. The following four phrases are best-case-scenario, worldly and silly (1stJohn 2:15).  Worst-case-scenario they are spiritually harmful to both hearer and sayer because they lead folks to believe things that have the potential to lead people to both a literal and a metaphorical hell. Those phrases are:

“Perception is reality”- 

Perception is rarely reality. Perception is a weird mix of what we witness, what we feel and what we believe (Ephesians 5:6). An individual’s perception might be spot-on; it might be someplace in crazy town. Reality, on the hand is whatever actually took place.  It’s the facts. No one gets their own unique little reality based entirely on their perceptions.  It’s true that our life experiences and insights impact the way we see reality. However, healthy, sane, people should not be content to see the world through their fallible, unstable perception of events. It feels like kindness to allow someone’s faulty perceptions to be their reality (Proverbs 23:23), but it’s actually a form of cruelty. We must always strive to be kind, but we must also remember it is truth that sets people free and lies that hold people in bondage (John 8:32, Ephesians 4:15).

“Protecting my peace”- 

People who say this one are almost always cutting someone out of their life and using peace as the reason to do so, usually without so much as a single attempt at real reconciliation (Matthew 5:23-24).  Peace is a blessing.  No healthy human chooses to forgo peace for conflict or disunity (Psalm 133:1).  However, truth-be-told there are precious few human relationships that don’t include at least an element of conflict. Furthermore, nowhere in Scripture are we promised peace through any relationship except our relationship with Jesus Christ (John 16:33, Colossians 3:15, 2nd Peter 3:15). Nowhere in Scripture are Christians told to break off relationships simply for the sake of maintaining personal peace. On the contrary, Christians are called to make peace with one another (Romans 14:19).  Peacemaking is as different from peacekeeping as apples are from orangutangs. Peacemaking is hard work because it almost always means wrestling through messy conflict and hurt feelings to get to a place where both parties are at peace (Matthew 5:9). Peacemaking is all about grace, forgiveness and loving people in spite of their imperfections, the same way Jesus loves us (Matthew 18:21-22, Romans 5:8, Hebrews 12:14). 

“My truth”-

There is simply no such thing as “my truth” and “your truth”. No one gets a unique little truth to call their own because they are fond of the truth they invented. Truth is truth. Anything else is either a pack of filthy lies or an example of a human being trying to make God or His truth into a more palatable image.  Christians must contend for the truth as given in Scripture (Psalm 25:5). We must also avoid the cultural tendency to believe we all get to construct our own truths about God and life based on how we wish things were (Isaiah 59:14-15).  

And finally:

“My Jesus”- 

When people use this phrase, they are almost always attempting to demonstrate kindness and grace to someone who is sinning their face off.  They say my “my Jesus would be okay with that”. These folks have noble intentions and good hearts but a faulty understanding of grace, truth and what the Bible has to say about most issues (John 1:14-17, Titus 2:11-12). There’s one Jesus, the one presented in the New Testament. Jesus isn’t a chameleon who changes His decrees concerning right and wrong depending on who He’s hanging out with and how sorry He feels for them. Genuine love helps people caught in sin to get to know the biblical Jesus. Real love teaches the truth that leads people to a place of repentance rather than a place of feeling okay with sinful choices. That’s real kindness, real grace and authentic love and it’s what we are all called to. 

Four Things we Need to Give God Permission to Change our Minds About-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Lord, who may reside in Your tent? Who may settle on Your holy hill? One who walks with integrity, practices righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart- Psalm 15:1-2 NASB

This morning I had a long, passionate conversation with the God of the Universe concerning a subject that’s been vexing me in all sorts of different ways (Ephesians 6:18). This discussion was mostly just me railing against everything I don’t like about my current situation.  

For the record, I know that the emotional and spiritual place I found myself this morning is not a good place. I do not advise anyone to “go there” (more on this later). It is not a place I go very often anymore. When I was a younger woman, I could get to this place rather quickly and frequently.  Thankfully, it is no longer a short trip to that place. 

The place I am talking about is this weird mental space where I get so negative about a situation or a person all I can do is make a case against the person or situation in my own mind. Once I let myself “go there” I have a hard time seeing any good at all in the person or situation. This is not something that happens overnight. It takes time and there is almost always a great deal of context surrounding the situation.

As I wrestled through my less than Christ-like feelings I prayed something without really thinking it through. I said: “God, I give you permission to change my mind on this subject”. Then I immediately thought to myself; “self, this is the God of the Universe. He does not need your permission to do anything.” 

The case was closed in my mind.

Then (and this is the weird part) out of nowhere the Holy Spirit informed me (not in a gentle way) that God really does need my permission to change my mind because I have free will (Galatians 5:17, Galatians 6:8). This means I can do whatever I want (1st Corinthians 10:23). I can be wrong if I want to be wrong. I can wallow around in unrestrained negativity if I want to. I can think the worst of people. I can act like a jerk. In the process, I can mess up a lot of stuff for myself and others. I can hurt people. I can blowup relationships I care deeply about.  In the process of all that I can make it whole lot more difficult for the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of others. 

I don’t want to do that (Mark 14:38, Romans 8:5). No one who loves Jesus does. So, it occurred to me that there are at least four things we all need to give God permission to change our mind about. They are:

The people around us-

People are tough. They think weird things. More often than not, weird thinking leads to even weirder behavior.  It is not uncommon for people to hurt us or the people we love with their weird behavior (Psalm 41:9). It is all too easy to believe another person’s weird and/or hurtful behavior is somehow personally directed at us or those we care about. Truth-be-told sometimes it is, but most of the time it isn’t. Our calling is to be open to the reality that the people hurting us aren’t all bad. Most of the time they are just weird and struggling with their own junk (1stCorinthians 13:4, Colossians 3:12-14). 

Circumstances-  

It’s easy to go negative in a fallen world, mostly because circumstances in our world can be brutally hard. Friends betray us, people we love get sick or die and sometimes life is just heartlessly unfair (Genesis 37-40, Matthew 27:45-65). It is all too easy to forget that God sometimes does His very best work in the darkest of circumstances. Quite often the darkness we experience in a given situation is just the prelude to something better than we could have ever imagined (Genesis 45, Matthew 28:1-7).  This means we should stay open to changing our thinking about the situation we find ourselves in. Changing our thinking may or may not change circumstances but it will empower us to trust God in the midst of our confusion and pain. 

What we see- 

One of the hardest things about being human is that we CANNOT see the big picture. Our finiteness makes it impossible (1st Chronicles 16:7). We can only see what we see. Unfortunately, sometimes what we see does not accurately reflect the bigger picture of a given situation. I am convinced this is the primary reason Jesus cautioned against making harsh judgements (Matthew 7:1-2). It is on us to spend time in prayer before we judge what we see. We must also be willing to do a little investigative work before we believe the worst about something we witness. 

The hearts of other people- 

No one can see another person’s heart. This means we have no idea why other people do what they do. They might be doing what they’re doing because they’re evil and they want to hurt people (it happens). However, it’s far more likely that person is just a clueless bumbler completely unaware of how their actions are affecting the people in their orbit. 

Unfortunately, negativity sometimes feels good. This is because allowing ourselves to “go there” feeds the fleshly part of us we are called to crucify (Galatians 5:24). The answer is not to pretend everything is okay when it’s not. The answer is to seek God and ask Him to change our minds and help us to see the bigger picture and give us the power to praise Him through the pain. 

How Churches can Overcome a Toxic Culture-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven- Matthew 5:14 and 16 NASB

 Secular culture has always had an element of toxicity to it. 

This is unavoidable because anything (or anyone) that isn’t actively for Christ will always be anti-Christ in some way (1st John 4:3). Nonetheless, until recently, much of secular culture was fairly neutral, some elements might have even been considered somewhat wholesome.

That ship has officially sailed. 

At this point in human history nearly every culture on earth has embraced every evil under the sun and started calling the evil “good” (Isaiah 5:20). Politics are corrupt, people are selfish, cruel and mean, many appear to be going feral, deviant sexual behaviors are embraced and celebrated. Parents are no longer honored, life is no longer held sacred, and marriage is no longer seen as a necessary steppingstone to parenthood (Romans 1:18-32, 2ndTimothy 3:1-5, 2nd Timothy 4:3). Sadly, that list is barely skimming the surface of our world-wide cultural brokenness.  

Sigh. 

Churches tend to take one of several unhealthy approaches in dealing with the ever-encroaching madness. Some mainline denominations gleefully embrace and celebrate the culture. In these churches abortion and euthanasia are viewed as gifts, they believe gender is a choice everyone gets to make and homosexuality, is just another sexual option on a long list of options. Politicians who battle for the “right” to live a life of what the Bible calls “sin” are applauded as heroes. 

 Other churches do their level best to simply ignore the culture. They focus on Jesus and how awesome He is and how awesome He is to those who love Him. These churches will do anything short of sin to keep negativity and ickiness from creeping into their churches.  If something problematic does find its way into the like the death of Charlie Kirk, a gay couple or outspoken political views the whole messy muddle is quickly swept under the rug, and leadership moves on to cheerier topics. 

Others attempt to fight the evil, not with good as the Bible instructs (Romans 12:18-21) but with mockery, condescension and mean-spiritedness. These folks poke fun at anyone who disagrees with the Bible, conservative political views or their expression of Christianity.

The drawback with the first approach is (hopefully) obvious. Embracing sin to win people to Jesus makes almost as much sense as believing someone could cast out a demon with the power of Satan (Matthew 9:33-34). It’s absurd. Celebrating sin just makes  something God expressly forbids feel safe (2nd Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19). This tactic keeps individuals deceived, disobedient to God and trapped in the ugliness and hopelessness of sin (2nd Peter 3:11, 1st John 1:6). 

The problems with second approach are more complex. On the surface this approach feels wholesome and agreeable because it limits offense and controversy and makes Christianity an easy thing for people to accept. However, because churches have remained silent regarding cultural issues an entire generation is mostly ignorant concerning a whole host of biblical issues including (but not limited to) abortion, euthanasia, gender, homosexuality and what it means to honor one’s parents. Furthermore, what you win people with you win them to. Winning folks to a wishy-washy, inoffensive form of Christianity will not form strong disciples able to withstand persecution.  This approach also cruelly ignores the pain of those who have been damaged by the culture. The Church ceases to be a place of healing if no one is ever allowed to talk about anything icky, contentious or hard.  

The third approach sometimes feels the most holy and helpful because it actively calls out sin and heresy.  However, no one in the history of forever has ever been mocked, belittled or shamed into holiness or right thinking. It just doesn’t happen. 

So, what should the church do about the culture? Following are four things we can do: 

Be real without embracing despair or hopelessness-

The culture is terrible. More and more people are choosing to live a life of sin. This damages the sinners and generates untold pain for their families. Politics are divisive and gross. This makes communication and finding common ground challenging. The state of the culture makes life uglier and living out our faith harder. These are realities we have to deal with. However, none of these issues make Jesus any less powerful or God any less good.  We must recognize the realities of our age without losing sight of God’s goodness or power to transform people and situations (Joshua 1:9, Galatians 6:9).

Be a hospital for those hurting from the culture-

Churches cannot ignore the damaged, brokenhearted people in their midst. Churches must acknowledge, love and provide opportunities for healing for those leaving sinful lifestyles including homosexuality and transgenderism. Churches must also come alongside family members (parents, grandparents, siblings) and help them to love wayward family members with the love of Jesus. 

Be like Jesus and not just the Jesus who turned over the tables in the temple- 

There were a lot of sides to Jesus and being like Jesus doesn’t mean we are always milk-toasty, wishy-washy and endlessly tolerant of every stupid thing to come along. It does mean we lead with love even when we have to say hard things and draw rigid lines around what we will and will not do (Romans 6:12-14, Ephesians 4:25, Ephesians 5:11-12). 

And finally:

Choose biblical relevance over cultural relevance- 

Forget about cultural relevance. Our culture is rotting from within; it has nothing to offer but death and sorrow. There’s nothing to be gained from aligning Christianity with death, sorrow and rot. Instead, Christians must choose to align with the Bible and fearlessly declare truth. It’s where life is found (Psalm 16:11, Deuteronomy 30:19) and a culture of death is overcome (John 10:10). 

Four Things Done and Taught in Churches that Harm Christians-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

We proclaim Him, admonishing every person and teaching every person with all wisdom, so that we may present every person complete in Christ- Colossians 1:28 NASB 

Fourteen-ish years ago when I began writing this blog, I wrote ad nauseum about problems I saw in Church world. Nearly every week I wrote about some church peeve or irritant I had with how church was being done. 

Then I did this thing I do sometimes. 

I got tired. It felt like I was expending a lot of energy yammering on endlessly about church problems. In more introspective moments, I wondered if I was perhaps overdoing some criticisms. I didn’t want to be one of those people who only complained and never really DID anything to solve problems or make the world a better place.  So, I intentionally pivoted. I began writing more posts focused on doctrine, Bible study and spiritual growth. My hope was that by focusing more on Christian living I would ultimately impact the church community and facilitate much-needed change.

Well. 

This last week it occurred to me as I was listening to some really one-sided teaching on a critical issue that the problems in church world have not gone anywhere. I felt a distinct nudge from the Holy Spirit to revisit some issues that are still impacting the church negatively. Following are four the Lord laid on my heart this week: 

Heretical teachings on grace- 

Grace is the most essential doctrine in all of Christianity. Grace is the foundation of everything we believe about Jesus, salvation, forgiveness and how we respond to those who have sinned against us (Ephesians 1:5-7, John 10:10, Matthew 18:21-35). Without grace there is no prospect of salvation, no forgiveness, no abundant life and no hope for anyone no matter how “good” they appear to be (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:23-25, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2nd Peter 2:18). Period. However, anytime the doctrine of grace is taught without discussing the doctrine of sin it creates very real practical and theological problems. One of those problems includes an attitude Paul warned about in Romans (Romans 6:1-23). It’s the idea that it is okay (perhaps even good) for Christians to sin on purpose because it gives God an opportunity to forgive their sins (demonstrate grace). Therefore, (the logic goes) sin your face off because grace is just a big bucket of forgiveness one can dip into anytime they sin intentionally or unintentionally. This attitude is foolish and spiritually dangerous because it ignores the clear biblical call to repent and become increasingly more holy with every passing day (John 8:11, 1st Peter 1:15-16, 1st Peter 2:5, 1st John 5:1-4). This does not mean there is no room for failure, mistakes and human frailty in Christianity (Romans 3:23, 1st John 1:8-10). It just means Christians are deeply grieved by their own sin and never treat it lightly. 

Salvation without Repentance- 

When I first started writing this blog, I was deeply troubled by the fact that most American churches no longer gave a salvation message. This is an area of growth for the American church; more and more are giving a salvation message. This is very good. However, the whole notion of sin and repentance is sometimes being left out of the call to salvation (Isaiah 1:28, Isaiah 13:9, Matthew 9:13, Luke 13:1-3). People are not always being told that they need salvation because they are sinners who need to be forgiven. Instead, the message being preached in many churches is often a bit fuzzy, i.e. “you need Jesus because He will give you comfort and make you a better version of yourself”. Jesus will do those things but that is not the primary reason we need Jesus. We need Jesus to make us right and holy before a holy God (2nd Corinthians 5:17). 

Bible-lite  

 The Bible is the most beautifully balanced book in all of creation. It is abounding with stories, psalms and theology that reveal and remind us of God’s kindness, mercy, grace and goodness. If one needs a positive reminder of God’s love and goodness they will find it (Isaiah 43:25, Ezekial 36:26, Psalm 23, John 3:16, 1st Corinthians 6:11). However, the Bible also has a lot of passages that serve (metaphorically speaking) as a kick in the backside (Romans 1:18-31, 1st Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21). God designed His word this way on purpose knowing that we need both in equal measure. Without both we quickly lose sight of our on-going need for sanctification and growth (2nd Corinthians 7:1, 2nd Peter 1:3-11).  

Silence concerning the culture-  

The word toxic is overused to the point of absurdity in our world. Nonetheless, our culture is truly toxic. It is a lethal force that damages our souls without our knowledge or consent.   Unfortunately, many pastors and Bible teachers are reluctant to address cultural issues because they want to avoid “being political”. I get it. However, many “political” issues are first and foremost spiritual issues, and many Christians (especially young Christians) are ignorant of what the Bible has to say about a myriad of critical issues including (but not limited to) abortion, how a Christian should treat their parents, cancel culture, poverty and homosexuality. By avoiding “political” issues the church has short-circuited the discipleship of millions to the detriment of the church and the culture. 

Contrary to popular opinion, what a Christian believes matters. 

What we believe matters because our beliefs about doctrine, cultural issues, God’s character and truth all inform and affect our behavior and we will give an account for our behavior in this life (Matthew 12:36, Romans 14:12, Hebrews 4:13).

Making Spiritual Sense of Those who Once Professed Christ but no Longer Live for Him-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the [word, immediately he falls away- Matthew 13:20-21 NASB

From time-to-time, I have a conversation with the Lord that goes something like this:

Me: Good morning God!  What do you want me to write about this week?

God: I want you to write about ____________________.

Me: Uh… I’m sorry God, I hate to tell you this but no one wants to read that. It will make people mad. 

God: I know. Write it anyway. 

Me: Sigh. Okay. 

Such was the case this last week. I asked God for a topic. He gave me one. I argued with Him. He won. It’s His thing. 

So.

I work in an arena of ministry with many people who have relatives (usually adult kids, but not always) who are walking a very sinful path. Sometimes these adult kids are so steeped in sin they are walking several different sinful paths all at the same time (trust me it can be done). All these adult children know their behavior is wrong because they were raised to know right from wrong. The folks I work with are looking for some kind of spiritual hope for their loved one. More often than not, they find that hope in a commitment the adult child made to the Lord a long time ago, often in childhood or their early teens. Sometimes the child who is now walking in sin appeared to walk with God for a season. However, that ship has officially sailed. They are now living lives that completely oppose God and everything He’s all about.  Nonetheless, these parents cling to the belief that their child’s childhood commitment was the real deal and “proof” their child is a believer. 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news (truly I do). 

However, this line of thinking is not wise or biblical. It is personally comforting to believe a loved one is saved when they are living far from God. However, it is not in our best interest or theirs to hang all our hopes on a prayer a child (or an adult, for that matter) prayed at some point in the distant past, when there is zero fruit to indicate they have made the journey from spiritual death to spiritual life (Matthew 3:9-11, Matthew 7:16-20, Luke 6:43-44, John 15:4, Galatians 5:19-24). 

 Here’s why:

False hope keeps us from praying rational and compassionate prayers-

The most loving thing one human can do for another is pray for their salvation (Acts 2:21, Acts 4:12, 1stCorinthians 6:9-10, Titus 2:11-12).  Therefore, if a loved one does not live like a Christian the loving and logical thing is to assume they aren’t one and pray accordingly. If we get it wrong, the Lord will sort it out. 

There is very little space in the New Testament for Christians who don’t at least try and act like Christians-

There’s just not (Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:4-6, Ephesians 2:1-10, 2nd Corinthians 5:17, 2nd Peter 1:3-11). It is normal for new Christians and even seasoned saints to stumble and even fall sometimes. No one this side of heaven is free of their sin nature. We should not assume that just because a Christian screws up (even in a really big way) they are unsaved. That being said, the Bible makes it clear: authentic believers in Jesus do not wallow around in sin for years and years with no apparent remorse or desire to change. Nor do they mock Jesus, Christianity or other Christians. True Christians do not write or speak about how freeing it is to depart the faith and live a life of unfettered sin. Jesus is clear: no fruit (or ONLY bad fruit) no salvation. That doesn’t mean anyone is doomed. As long as a person is breathing there is hope for redemption (John 3:16, Romans 5:7-9).  That said, we must be realistic about their spiritual state in order to help them. 

Children don’t always understand the commitment they made-

It is spiritually risky to assume a child or teenager understands or understood all the ins-and-outs of making a heartfelt commitment to Jesus when many saved adults struggle with the concepts of salvation and sanctification. We must understand that from a developmental standpoint the teen years are a period of life when people “try on” identities and decide who they want to be and how they want to live. If a teen or child “tries on” the identity of “Christian” or goes through the motions of living like a Christian for a season but never REALLY repents of their sin and follows through on a commitment to obey Jesus as the Lord of their life, the whole thing was (sadly) just another phase of childhood and nothing more. Consequently, it’s critical parents ensure children and teens who profess Christ are given a LOT of follow-up care and discipleship. It’s the best way to stack the odds in favor of a genuine commitment to Jesus (John 10:9). 

I am not arguing people “lose” their salvation. However, Jesus made it clear there will be people who make commitments to God who don’t really mean it or understand what that commitment entails. Those people inevitably “fall away” (Matthew 7:13-23, Matthew 25:31-46, Mark 16:16). If those folks die without truly knowing Christ as Lord, they will not make it heaven. We prove our love for these people by praying fervently they will understand their spiritual reality and seek God while He can be found (Isaiah 55:6, Hebrews 4:6-7, 2nd Peter 3:9, Matthew 24:13).  

What Does Trusting God “Look Like”?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you- Psalm 9:9-10 ESV

Life is full of struggles, events and trials no one (Christian or non-Christian) really understands. 

Kids get sick. Politicians lie. Leaders scheme and mislead. Disasters strike out of nowhere, sometimes wiping away a lifetime of diligence. Friends betray friends. Good people die before we think it’s time. People we thought were decent behave in ways that cause us immeasurable hurt and pain. Children who were raised right sometimes go terribly wrong. Spouses who swore before God to be faithful and true “till death do us part” sometimes don’t. 

This gloomy list could go on forever but I will spare you. 

For Christians all these things (and hundreds of others) are more than a long list of things that vex us or stuff that tempts us towards bitterness (Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:15). All of these things (and hundreds of others) are just an opportunity to trust God with things we don’t understand (Proverbs 3:5-6, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Psalm 37:4-6). 

Most folks tend to think of trusting God as a passive undertaking where we do nothing and God does everything, it’s not. Trusting God is more than just sitting back and patiently waiting for God to transform our mess into a message. Trusting God is an active process. Trusting God is a verb not a noun. There are things we can do that both prove we trust God and cause us to trust God. When we choose to trust God with things we don’t understand, we grow as believers. Our faith is proven genuine and our ability to love God and people is expanded (Hebrews 11, 1st Peter 1:3-9, James 1:2-4). All good things. 

All this begs the question: what does trusting God look like? 

Trusting God is more than a commitment. It’s a series of choices we make every day. The tougher the times the harder it is to make those choices. Some of those choices include: 

Choosing the path of transformation and growth-  

The whole aim of the Christian life is to be transformed into the image of Jesus (Romans 12:1-21, 2nd Corinthians 3:18, Colossians 3:1-25, 2nd Peter 1:3-11). This is a process, never a one and done. Transformation is lifelong journey where we cooperate with the Holy Spirit to take off our “old sinful self” (Romans 6:6, Colossians 3:9, Ephesians 4:22) and “put on” new attitudes and behaviors pleasing to God.  Over time with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are transformed into person who looks, thinks and acts more like Jesus (2nd Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 2:12). Anytime we experience hardship or difficulty we are also tempted (sometimes subconsciously) to put the transformation process on hold and essentially stop growing spiritually. Actively trusting God means we choose to pursue holiness and growth in spite of the things we do not understand. 

Choosing forgiveness and letting God deal with people however He sees fit-  

 One of the most basic (but critical) ways we trust God is to give up our right to seek revenge and /or harbor anger and bitterness towards those who have hurt us. It doesn’t matter if they did what they did on purpose or accident. Nor does it matter if they are sorry for what they did. Trusting God means we believe that God will deal with the people who have hurt us in whatever way is most appropriate, when the timing is just right (Matthew 6:14-15, Romans 12:19).

Trusting God means serving God and others even when we feel like retreating- 

Hurt, pain and betrayal can cause us to shutdown emotionally and retreat from living life to the fullest (John 10:10). Trusting God means we continue to live life running full steam ahead serving God and people both inside and outside our local churches no matter how we feel at the moment (Romans 12:10, Ephesians 6:7-8, 1st Peter 4:10-11). 

Continuing to grow in grace-

Trusting God means that we never allow the tough, ugly stuff of life to make us hard, suspicious and/or callous towards people. Trusting God means we choose to grow in grace. Growing in grace means we do our level best to become kinder, wiser, gentler and more loving in spite of the difficulties we encounter along the journey (Proverbs 1:5, Proverbs 4:18, 1st Peter 2:2, 2nd Peter 3:18, Colossians 1:10). 

Never allowing our brokenness to become our identity- 

For Christians the hurt, pain and trauma we experience in this life is not our identity (Psalm 139:14, John 1:12, Ephesians 2:10). If we are followers of Jesus, we are NOT the sum-total of our most traumatic experiences (Ephesians 4:22-24, Galatians 4:6-7). We are not our worst mistakes. Nor our we our darkest moment. We are children of the King. We were created to be over comers and lights who shine in a dark world (Matthew 5:14, Philippians 2:14-16). Trusting God means we choose to live out our God-given identify of wholeness rather than an identity of brokenness and pain.

None of these things are easy. In fact, all of them are impossible when we try and do them in our own power. The only way to trust God fully with things we do not understand is to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26).  He gives us the spiritual power we need to trust God with the things we don’t understand.  

The Latest Trend in Pit-of-Hell Thinking

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

A son will not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself- Ezekiel 18:20

There are basically three kinds of thinking.  

First, there’s good or wise thinking. Good or wise thinking is aligned with what the Bible teaches. Learning to think biblically does not mean life will always be easy or free of trials (2nd Corinthians 4:17-18, James 1:2, 1stPeter 1:6-7).  However, biblical thinking coupled with relationship with God ultimately leads to peace with God and eternity spent with God (Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 5:1, Romans 12:2).  

There’s also bad or worldly thinking. Bad thinking is not always obviously erroneous. Bad thinking is bad because it is not aligned with the Bible and so it’s off, it’s worldly and therefore lacking in wisdom (Colossians 2:8, Philippians 3:19). This is the kind of thinking Christians end up with when they lean on their own understanding of how to do life rather than God’s (Proverbs 3:5-6). Bad or worldly thinking will not always completely ruin a person’s life, but it will lead them in a less than godly direction and ensure they never quite live up to their God-given potential.  

The final category of thinking is what I call “pit-of-hell” thinking. This type of thinking is literally, and I do mean literally, straight out of the pit of hell. The New Testament refers to it a: “doctrine of demons” (1st Timothy 4:1). Pit-of-hell thinking always has a demonic component to it that makes it very deceptive. Indulging in this kind of thinking ultimately causes an individual to become derailed spiritually, emotionally and morally.

 There’s no scarcity of pit-of-hell thinking in the world today. 

One wildly popular and sinister example of such thinking is a notion that originated with Sigmund Freud (1873-1939). Freud taught that individuals could trace all of their bad behavior, emotional problems and wrong thinking back to something their parents did or did not do to them in childhood. If an adult lacks self-confidence, can’t stand up for themselves, has a tough time making decisions, is angry, hates sex, is addicted to sex, can’t maintain a long-term relationship, allows themselves to be abused, is codependent, drinks too much, uses drugs or is a narcissistic jerk, it is all the fault of that individual’s parents, usually the mom. It is true that we are all influenced by our childhood experiences. Bad parenting is bad, partly because it has a generational impact (Lamentations 5:7). That said, if parents were responsible for all our sin God would have sent us a therapist rather than a savior (Acts 4:12).  

Following are the top four problems with this thinking: 

It prevents individuals from dealing with their problems and sin-

The first step in dealing with a problem or sin is to take personal responsibility for that sin and/or owning our part of the problem (Proverbs 28:13, James 5:16, Psalm 32:3). It is impossible to take responsibility, effectively confess a sin or repent of something that we are blaming our parents for. Conversely, when we take full responsibility for our sin, God forgives that sin and gives us the wisdom we need to move forward in a victorious way that breaks generational curses and sets us free from the bondage of sinful strongholds (Psalm 32:5, Psalm 51, 1st John 1:8-9). 

It leads folks to believe it’s okay to break the fifth commandment- 

Believing the lie that their mom and dad are ultimately responsible for our misery and sin leads us to believe that it’s okay to disrespect or dishonor our parents. This line of thinking is in direct violation to the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12). This commandment is clear, unambiguous and repeated many times throughout the Old and New Testaments (Deuteronomy 5:16, Matthew 14:4, Matthew 19:16-20, Mark 7:10, Ephesians 6:2). It is one of the clearest teachings in all the Bible. God was so serious about this commandment there is blessing promised for keeping it and curses attached to breaking it (including a death penalty). Furthermore, nowhere in the Bible are we given a loophole when it comes to honoring/respecting our parents. It is impossible to honor or respect someone who you blame for all your problems and bad choices. 

It’s at the root of the estrangement epidemic- 

Children cutting their parents out is now a popular trend. Typically, the parents were not abusive just “toxic”. Toxicity is frequently defined as “not being supportive enough” or “not in tune to the child’s needs”.  The bottom-line is that these kids have bought into the lie that all of their problems and issues are the fault of their parents rather than the result of their own choices. This view is at the root of incalculable misery and hurt. No one wins in an estrangement. The parents are left devastated, and the adult child never really grows up and takes responsibility for their own behavior (Ezekial 18)

It’s not biblical– 

It’s just not. There is not a single Bible verse that indicates that anyone is responsible for our choices or sin except us. Period. People are not soulless automatons preprogrammed by childhood experiences. We are influenced by the experiences we have growing up but ultimately each one of us chooses how we respond to what we experienced.  

All parents are sinners, therefore they all make mistakes. Some even sin against their children (Romans 3:23). This does not make abuse okay or excusable (Romans 3:19). Parents who abuse their children will be held accountable for their sin (Ezekiel 18:4, Matthew 18:6, Romans 14:12). That said, no one is responsible for our adult choices except us and taking responsibility for our own junk is the first step in making a better future for ourselves.