Whatever

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.
           (Philippians 4:8)

Yesterday was a day filled with anxiety, tension, confusion, etc. A person I love dearly was lied to and lied about to others. The day was probably not the complete disaster that you might expect from reading the first part of this paragraph. However, it was one of those days we are glad to put behind us, hoping that the tomorrow will make up for it and put a positive balance in our emotional bank account.

In most of the situations the circumstances were beyond my control. There was nothing I could do but ride the day out to its end. I ended the day tired. I did not end it with praise. I did not end it thinking about purity and justice. I did not end it looking for the things of good report. I saw no virtue or praise. I meditated on myself, and therein lies the problem.

If I center only on me rather than the One who is alive in and through me, I will have a hard time finding truth, because I must seek truth in the One who is Truth, I will mourn the loss of purity because I am not pure, there will be no good report because slander, whether it is heard or spoken, rarely centers on the good in another. So, it is easy to see how one can arrive at a time for sleep having not experienced virtue and having praises unspoken.

Maybe if I start the day differently myself, concentrating on those words of encouragement from Philippians, I will find it better for myself and make it better for others as well.

Pastor Craig

Free Indeed!

Without the church, liberty becomes license. Liberty is the precondition to love and service. License is the precondition to bondage. It is bonding because when we believe we deserve anything in this world, then our abundance is based upon rights rather than blessings; it leads us inexorably into worship of false gods.[1]

So If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed    (John 8:36)

We seek freedom in so many different ways. The problem is most of those ways only lead us into greater bondage. In seeking to be free from “restrictive” moralism, we become enslaved to our own lusts and passions. Claiming that “No one can dictate what we do but ourselves,” we become spiritual, moral, and philosophical orphans with no home or foundation.

The more laws we create, the more we must agree with the Apostle Paul that we are slaves to the law and not free men. I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[2] The law can only identify sin. It cannot, by its very nature, abolish it.

It is only through the work of Jesus Christ that covetousness, adultery, lying, stealing, murder, hatred, prejudice, and idolatry, once identified by the law, can be eliminated.

Yet, we try to bind Christ more and more to the church building, and the church building alone. When we do this, we only drag ourselves into greater and greater bondage. We become chained to what we hate and isolated from all hope, peace, love, forgiveness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. Let us submit to the Son and become free indeed.

Pastor Craig

[1] Laverentz, Eric (2012-05-08). Is Caesar Our Savior? (Kindle Locations 2116-2118). First Edition Design Publishing. Kindle Edition.

[2] Romans 7:7