Beware of your thoughts, they become your words.
Beware of your words, they become your actions.
Beware of your actions, they become your habits.
Beware of your habits, they become your character.
Beware of your character, it becomes your destiny.
- Unknown
Faith
Beware
Sin Through Weakness and Goodness
Bad and mediocre people are tempted to sin by their own habitual weaknesses. The earlier lies or thefts or adulteries make the next one that much easier to contemplate. Having already cut so many corners, the thinking goes, what’s one more here or there? Why even aspire to virtues that you probably won’t achieve, when it’s easier to remain the sinner that you already know yourself to be?
But good, heroic people are led into temptation by their very goodness – by the illusion, common to those who have done important deeds, that they have higher responsibilities than the ordinary run of humankind. It’s precisely in the service to these supposed higher responsibilities that they often let more basic ones slip away. – Ross Douthat, New York Times, November 13, 2011
Love and Bowels
A key to understanding how Christians are called to love each other comes from a very unlikely place. Read the account of Judas’ death in Acts chapter 1:
Now this man [Judas] purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. (Acts 1:18 KJV)
Even though the account of Judas death seems to be contrary to understanding Christian love, It is key to understanding a first century metaphor that John uses in a letter to an early Christian community. The passage is found in John 3:11-18:
For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:11-18 NIV)
The Grain on Which we Live
It’s remarkable that men should be so arrogant and secure when there are so many, indeed countless, evidences around us to suggest that we ought to be humble. The hour of our death is uncertain. The grain on which we live is not in our hands. Neither the sun nor the air, on which our life depends, lies in our power, and we have no control over our sleeping and waking. I shall say nothing of spiritual things, such as private and public sins which press upon us. Yet our hearts are as hard as steel and pay no attention to such evidence - Martin Luther, 1483-1546
Those Crazy Christians
I have a new reason to love the ABC sitcom “The Middle.” Besides being true to life in that it depicts a REAL modern family who’s father is in charge and a little gruff at times, a mother who’s trying to hold things together in a not always perfect way and teenager antics so real they are funny, the star is a Christian. [NOTE: If you've never seen the episode with the church youth group holy hay ride and the alternative new year's party you need to find it and watch it as soon as possible].
In a 2006 Christianity Today Post interview Paticia Heaton said
“There’s a need for Christians to stop being portrayed in our industry as crazies,” she said. “Christians….have just been stereotyped to death. You try to be a model of kindness and love and forgiveness to all those around you, because you have received kindness and love and forgiveness from God through Christ. That’s what Christianity is.” (Lee Warren“Patricia Heaton Says her Politics have Cost Her Possible Roles” Christian Post May 21, 2011
Agreed. Take her final sentence and place it in your life. If you are one of those crazy Christians who make it easy for the entertainment industry to stereotype us you will be better suited to practice kindness, love, and forgiveness instead.
7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. (Titus 2:7-8, New International Version)
Photo by Matt (originally posted to Flickr as Patricia Heaton) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
G.O.S.P.E.L
Just watch and try to not be amazed at the simplicity of the Good News of Jesus Christ our Messiah.
Parable of the Hidden Treasure
The traditional interpretation of the parable of the Parable of the Hidden Treasure describes the value of the kingdom of heaven (treasure) and the process by which one acquires that kingdom (sell everything). But there is more to this short parable, when placed in context and in light of all teachings of Jesus the interpretation gets turned on its head. Jesus sold everything and bought us (the treasure)
Read more →Six Word Bible Story
Inspired by a tweet from Brian Chen @bxchen who referenced a 2006 article in Wired magazine I asked a couple Twitter followers to compose a six word story using the Bible as inspiration. The Wired article promoted the concept of a six word story which is based in a work Ernest Hemingway considered some of his best that only used six words, ”For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Here are the stories Joel, Cynthia, and I wrote throughout the day. I would love to read your six word stories, comment below or tweet to @GregChaney using the hashtag #sixwordstory Read more →
Should Christians Pray for an NFL Lockout?
In this month’s issue, Sports Illustrated polled die hard football fans to gauge the mood on the potential NFL Lockout. The poll conducted by market research firm M&RR found that most believed a deal would be reached and there would be a full NFL season. But if there isn’t, the poll listed the activities that would take the place of football:
Half of NFL fans (47.5%) say they would watch more non-sports TV and 61.2 percent would watch more of other televised sports without the NFL season. Fans would also spend more time surfing the internet (56.1%), with significant others (45.1%), doing yard work chores (43.6%), playing video games (33.5%) and at church (13%).
ONLY 13% will go to church! That will be the easy interpretation most people will make and I think a misguided one.
Consider this, 111,000,000 people viewed the Super Bowl this year and if the same percentage as those polled go to church next year then 14,430,000 people will be in church instead. Even if you take a single Sunday night game like the Cowboys vs Eagles with 25,300,000 viewers then 3,289,000 people would be in church.
I like football and hope the players get taken care of during the negotiations. There are some very real physical and fiscal issues that must be resolved however, if we can get more people into church (and further spread the gospel)…I’ll take it.