Last week we examined one of the causes why families and churches and friends get so upset with each other: we primarily try to change people’s behaviors, thinking that living by God’s standards will improve our culture. Yes, it will, but at what cost? We say we want to make disciples, but many nonChristians see it as meddling and turn us off. They become less open to hearing about Jesus. And when Christians attack other Christians over politics…
Read MoreHanging in There: Fruit of the Spirit #4
Coworkers have been resigning, causing our boss to make unreasonable demands to take up the slack, so we start reading the help wanted ads. Someone in church offends us by a chance comment, and we're ready to start looking. Again. Our mate treats us like last week's leftovers, and we wonder how a divorce would affect the kids. Some jerk darts in front of us on the freeway, we slam on our brakes, and are ready to quit being Mr. Nice Guy. Fortunately…
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Cancel Culture--Church Style
Our politically charged society has a new term: cancel culture. The tipping point of the concept came from differing slants on Confederate war monuments. Some say they glorify treason and should be removed from public display; others say that’s our history and we shouldn’t try to cancel our culture. Let’s not get into the political, because we face a deeper issue of cancel culture in the church—where many cancel core beliefs about following Jesus. Not necessarily intentionally or knowingly, but many times we…
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image from DeMarcoto
Mean People Suck--But Kindness Works
Not long ago while driving on a traffic-engorged freeway, a red Honda Civic cut in front of me so close I had to slam on my brakes to keep my F150 from ramming him. Yeah, likely lost a number of miles of tread with the skid. And I got close enough to read the sticker on his window: “Mean People Suck.” Honestly, the humor of the hypocrisy mellowed my madness somewhat. Somewhat. About then…
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