Forged By Faith

Jeremiah 3:24 NIV From the very dawn of civilization, mankind has managed to somehow fail to learn one of the most crucial truths that exists. The problem that created original sin continues to be the problem that corrupts and destroys humanity today. They say that if you don't learn from the past that you're destined to repeat it. Well, we've clearly not learned our lesson because we simply fail to understand how an apple can teach us anything. And so we’re repeating that same downfall over and over again. That lesson is that what we consume may also end up consuming us. It seems that every single year, without fail, this idea starts spinning around my mind during the lead-up to this holiday that many are celebrating today. Flipping through the channels and seeing all the ads for all the scary movies. Watching a show and seeing a commercial for some new horror flick that's coming out. Scrolling around the interwebs and seeing stories and messages and advertisements and...

Isaiah 64:7 NIV I sit here this morning staring out the window at a world enveloped in fog. Just a cool fall morning, but so many times in life there's a deeper message to be found if we just look for it. Fog is an obscurant that all of us recognize. It's a curtain that conceals the normal to which we're accustomed. But as much as we may recognize fog as it manifests atmospherically and environmentally, I fear we usually fail to notice it declare its presence spiritually. Sin exists as a fog within our hearts and minds. You see, sin tells us that we’ve found the way to everything we want while only leading us into the mist. It blinds us to the truth. It lures us into a laziness in which we don’t worry about what’s ahead and focus instead on only what’s right in front of us. And as we focus in on the here and now, we quickly give sway to our intense desires to make this life fun and exciting and comfortable. And as we get more of what our deceitful hearts crave, we slowly st...

Isaiah 59:2 NIV Our way or the highway. That's how it's supposed to be, right? Well, at least that's a message we tend to hear rather frequently. "It's my way or the highway." Come along and go along and enjoy the ride that I'm taking or get lost and leave me alone. Tell me I'm doing good or don't tell me anything. Pat me on the back or pack your bags. Bottom line is that I'm doing this my way "come hell or highwater". Well guess what folks, in all our arrogance we forget that hell is coming. And it's coming for all of us. And doing this our way is what's gained us a first-class ticket all the way there. Our way has earned for us all the misery we could never imagine and yet continue to pretend doesn't exist. It does. It does exist. You know why hell exists, because wrongs must be punished. Arrogance and pride must be humbled. Our selfishness has to be leveled. Our desire to spit in God's face and ignore His truth and ...

Isaiah 55:8 NIV I'd like to start off today's post with something that I dare say you don't hear very often: I'm tired of me. Yep, I'm sick of my way. Sick of my goals. Tired of my fondness for foolishness. Worn and weary from all the years spent chasing a ghost. Fed up with daydreaming about some perfect life when I've been handed something far better than my idea of perfect. Done with playing as if I know better and can manage to plot a course to something better and higher and more valuable than what God has in store. Because, at this point in my life, I can say with all honesty that all time spent focusing on what we want only causes us to miss witnessing and enjoying and embracing all of the blessings that are being showered down upon us every single day. While we're busy focusing on everything we want that we don't really need, we're failing to see all the gifts God is sending us that we really don't deserve. This world is so consumed with ...

1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV Call it being misunderstood. Call it being rejected. Call it being labeled an outsider, a weirdo, a Jesus freak, an idiot. Call it whatever you want, the bottom line is that our faith makes us different because it runs violently against the grain of normality. It makes no sense to a world following hearts bent toward sin. It seems foolish to a people who find freedom in being limited to this world. It seems unnecessary to a society built on limboing under expectations and blowing past moral considerations. The message of the cross is truly foolish to those who are happy living in the dark and facing an impending demise that they're doing everything they can to pretend isn't coming. We've been discussing the evidence of God over the last couple of days, and the very fact that a small few manage to find humility that leads to believing in Christ among a creation that only knows rebellion is without a doubt the best evidence for God's existence. Beca...

Ezekiel 12:2 NIV We are a people bent on rebellion, and it's been that way from birth. Each of us are born into a mindset of mutiny against those we deem to be in charge. Not sure if we just want to be in control or if we love being able to reject authority and prove we know a better way, but whatever the case, our hearts only know rebellion. We want to run, to flee, to do our own thing without question or threat of penalty. Humanity only knows dissent and disobedience. Something about the allure of making our own way has taken such deep root in our minds that we know no other way. The thrill of going against something or someone ushers this flood of adrenaline and excitement that fuels our continued desire to push back against any semblance of rule or control or expectation. We just have such a deep desire to prove how smart and tough and witty we are, and no amount of error or foolish mistake seems to be shameful enough to break that wayward spirit. A while back we discussed this...

Romans 1:19 NIV Denial. It's a truly powerful thing to be able to go through life and manage to remain oblivious to the reality in which we exist. To be able to ignore the goings on around us is truly one of our more impressive human abilities. But for all of our ignorance we run the risk of following a delusion all the way to the grave, and ultimately, far beyond. And yet, no matter how many stand up and cry out to those being washed away in the flood, society just keeps on funneling happily toward their demise. We really can convince ourselves of just about anything if we want to believe it badly enough. As we discussed yesterday, humans are on a collision course with God's vengeance. The things people are doing down here are in no way acceptable, and yet society accepts them. Sin is praised, and I know that I sound like a broken record at this point with that statement, but it's true. Everything wicked is applauded as if it’s some monumentally courageous act to give into...

Isaiah 30:30 NIV Thunderstorms terrified me as a little kid. This sudden unleashing of calamitous crashes and brilliant displays of lights tearing through the darkness. Windows rattling, winds beating against the walls, the sheer fear that everything would be blown away or destroyed in the chaotic aftermath of the violent torrent. Just something about the seemingly unstoppable power found within nature ushered in these instant fears of being completely unable to stand against it. But as I've grown, I've found a comfort in nature's power. It's in this feeling that behind all the precipitation and swirling clouds and turbulent noise that there's a control hidden somewhere. It's a sense that there's a finger pointing those storms along their course. It's a trust that God is in fact the One who designs and controls and purposes everything that happens. And having endured many storms along this road, it's a reminder that no matter what we're left with...

Isaiah 30:5 NIV As much as we may not enjoy admitting it, we all need advice. We're all in need of help and guidance and wisdom in life because none of us have this figured out. None of us are able to live entirely self-sufficient, at least in terms of faith. None of us get everything right all the time, and so we begin looking for the help that we know we need to live our lives in a better way. But where we seek that wisdom or advice or input is absolutely crucial. And when you look at the world around us, you can see just how bad things get become should you seek your guidance in all the wrong places. “We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.” I heard that quote from pastor Voddie Baucham months ago and it's been one of those profound statements that's just stuck with me ever since. We can't keep turning to the world to show us how to live and expect that we'll find ourselves able to rise...