-
Gaze On God, Not the Wicked
News headlines are bleak these days. Factual events are spun as fiction to benefit the guilty. Differing accounts cause confusion and disguise the truth. And just when it seems things can’t get worse, violence breaks out again, communities are displaced, and thousands tragically perish. The marginalized suffer (again) while the wealth of the privileged increases. It can seem like the wicked are winning. We can feel like Asaph, the writer of Psalm 73. 3 For I envied those who are proud, as I observed the prosperity of the wicked.4 For they suffer no pain; their bodies are strong and well fed.5 They are immune to the trouble common to men; they do not suffer as other men…
-
I would “kill” for what you have; tackling the strength of jealousy
Recently, one of my older boys had a headache. I swooped in with all my Mom might and offered comfort, medication and syrupy words of compassion. It only took seconds for me to meet the gaze of my preschool boy and watch him suddenly declare that his stomach hurt; he too was in need of Mom’s attention and affection. At one point or another, nearly all of us have stood by and witnessed someone else receive something we desperately long for ourselves. Whether it’s affection, praise, opportunities, promotions, relationships, the heart longs for so much and nearly always notices when someone else has the thing we want. The story of…
-
How Do You Respond to Other’s Blessings and Advantages?
A few months ago, I had some extended time with the Lord that integrated my mind and heart concerning a habitual sin that I have dealt with on and off for years. It is a sin that doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it is always devastating. It is listed in the seven deadly sins and rightly so. Maybe you struggle with the same sin—envy. It is not a sin that I am preoccupied with and it only happens with a few people, but one person is one too many when it comes to being holy before the Lord. “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter…
-
Imagine There’s No Lennon
“Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky…” I find the above one of the saddest thoughts ever put to music. Unfortunately this song has become the Humanist theme song. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and shutdown, a bunch of celebrities decided to sing this song acapella and share it with the world… for some reason. Why? It is a melancholy, hopeless song… at least on the surface. And John Lennon is dead. Imagine there is no heaven, no place where people finally find rest from a life of toil and struggle, pain and sorrow. Imagine there is nothing…
-
It’s Not Easy, Being Green
A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; but jealousy is like cancer in the bones (Proverbs 14:30, NLT) We can thank William Shakespeare for giving us the term “green eyed monster” when describing the destructiveness of jealousy. In the story of Othello, Shakespeare demonstrates the devastating results of it—and why it truly is a “monster.” As it was in biblical days and Shakespeare’s day, so it is in our day. Jealousy and her offspring (resentment, anger, hatred, deceit, etc.) have been a root cause of sin in the church and in the world, and we would be wise to take a more serious look at it. It is so…
-
The Game You Will Never Win
Why do we torment ourselves by playing The Comparison Game? It’s part of human nature – evaluating the looks or accomplishments of others and comparing them with our own. We may not even realize we are doing this, until the dark emotions of discouragement and discontentment begin to churn within us. As someone once said, “To compare is to despair.” We can quickly determine how we measure up with another in importance, our giftings, accomplishments or the Cute Outfit Quotient. It’s been called the “sidelong glance” – instantly sizing up someone out of the corner of our eye, or being sized up ourselves. Social media doesn’t help us…
-
The Outrageous Nature of God’s Grace
The contemporary cultural climate in the global north (as well throughout the majority world) has called for a long-overdue, renewed interest in the notion of "equity." After all, there is a legitimate concern for promoting fairness and justice, along with integrity and respect, among all people, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status (a point made recently by Professors Darrell Bock and Ramesh Richard in an opinion piece at the Washington Post religion blog). On the one hand, it is important to champion the cause of people being treated unfairly. On the other hand, we can quickly find ourselves consumed with comparing our lives to others. In turn, Satan…
-
Our Applause for Good Deeds and Behavior–Who Does It Go To?
Who are we honoring when we see good deeds and behavior? I think how we answer this question determines if we fall into the trap of envy or not. “The Seven Deadly Sins” is a list of categories of predominate sins that were identified formally around the fourth century. Envy, greed, lust, sloth, gluttony, pride, and anger are the seven that made the final list. In exploring these categories, I was confronted with one way that envy can be manifested—“Envy begrudges someone their status, material possessions or the relationships and good will that they have earned from others in the community.”[1]“Yuck!” I thought, “I subconsciously do that!” Verses like 1…
-
A Date Which Will Live in Infamy
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). The word “infamy” is defined by Dictionary.com as “extremely bad reputation, public reproach, or strong condemnation as the result of a shameful, criminal, or outrageous act”. Thus one year ago today, June 26th, 2015, the day the Supreme Court of the United States declared that homosexuals had a Constitutional right to marry, is a date of infamy. The Court based their decision upon… well… upon philosophic talk that was devoid of wisdom. After all, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7, NIV 1984). The word “fools” describes…
