March 14^th

The Valentine’s night Bible Study was in the book of John. Pastor Kenny made the observation that Christians sometimes create worldly descriptions for spiritual problems. This leads us to create worldly solutions for our spiritual problems. I would like to extract those two statements and apply them broadly to our spiritual walk. I have made this mistake, and watched others do the same, many times during my life. I guess it’s the perennial problem we Christians face. How to keep ourselves looking at this world through our Christian lens.

     Almost twenty years ago at Woodmont Baptist Church I had a prayer partner who would say the following; If you are facing a crisis and your closest non-Christian friend offers a solution, listen carefully, be kind, but do the opposite of what they suggest. This may (or may not) be an over-reaction, but my prayer partner was making a great point. We should constantly seek spiritual guidance in our everyday life. We can do that through the Bible, through prayer, through other Christians whose judgement we trust and, of course, your Pastor.

     So there was a problem or incident that affected your life negatively. You still don’t have peace about it. You blame the friend or family member that put you in that situation. But blaming someone else can keep you from reconciling this problem with God. Even if it’s painful, you must retrace your steps to the moment where you took your eyes off Jesus. Then you have to take complete responsibility for the action you took or the decision you made. Only then can you face God in complete conviction and pray to Jesus to pull you closer.  

     There is no absolute truth outside of Christianity. Talk to Jesus daily. Own the fact that you have a Christian worldview. In Christianity life is black or white. There is no gray. There are no shadows where Satan can hide until you have a weak moment. If you don’t have that clarity, then talk to a Christian you trust.

David M. House, Sr