How to Effectively Pray for Others to Behave Better

1. Think of all the people you want to behave better. Think of all the people you know who you want to be better husbands or fathers or wives or mothers or employees or students or managers of their time or money or emotions. You want them to be better Christians who show greater wisdom and more consistent character. Ones who empower themselves and are trustworthy to all those around them rather than people who sabotage themselves and are unreliable. People who honor God in their conduct rather than shame Him.

The Key to Romans: God Wanted & Needed More Sin in Order to Save Us from It

Paul writes to the Romans in what may seem almost an off-hand comment: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6 ESV; emphasis added).

This verse starkly shows that Paul, at times, can refer to the flow of human history as a collective pronoun. “We” were weak in the beginning of the first century, and then Christ died for us. Many Christians have conversion stories whereby they learned what Jesus did for them, repented and entrusted themselves to Him, and were empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk in newness of life. That is a fruitful analogy, but Paul obviously isn’t talking about what happened in all Christian biographies. He is talking about what God and Jesus Christ did in human history at the crucifixion.

And this passage tells us not only that Christ died in human history but that he did so “at the right time” in human history.

Imitation Is Not Inauthentic

In my opinion, Christians often emphasize several things that all tend to lead to a basic problem. They stress the importance of “authenticity.” Or they focus on a need for “a change of heart.” Or they say that one’s Christian commitment must “come from within.” I am sure they use many other phrases of a similar import.

The problem that they lead to is negligence or sloth. If God tells you to change your behavior and you wait for your inner attitude to change then you are refusing to heed God’s will.

Don’t Feed (Your Ego) on the Weak: Paul’s Paradoxical Wisdom in Galatians 6:2-5

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.
Galatians 6:2–5 ESV

I preached on Galatians 6:1-5 many years ago. At the time, I gave most of my attention to verse 1 (“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”) I argued that the first verse implied that the “burdens” that Paul had in mind were the consequences of being sinned against or dealing with sin in the Church in terms of the work that it required, the risks that one had to face (temptation), or the stigma of shame in the community.

Just in Case that Resolution to Read the Bible in a Year doesn’t stick…

Far be it from me to disparage a New Years resolution, especially one so ennobling as the resolve to increase one’s own Bible literacy. I know that, by offering a way to salvage a failure, it is theoretically possible I might make the failure more likely in some cases. But I think it is far more likely that there are many who have quit sometime in March, or in Numbers, whichever came first.

I write this post because I think that people who read the whole Bible every four years are better off than people who read less than half the Pentateuch in the first quarter of every year.

Training Or a Disguised Hero Battle: Two Options for Perspective

In my last post, I think I vacillated between two perspectives on one’s life. That isn’t a problem because neither perspective completely explains our experience. But both are roughly accurate and helpful.

So let me more clear about them:

Why Not Play Your Life on Legendary?

Video games have gotten far more “realistic” since the days of pixelated two-dimensional plumbers dealing with monkeys. I use quotation marks because they are often unrealistic by portraying a world of science fiction weaponry or magic. Also, the games I know allow players to run without getting tired and usually heal their wounds instantly by contact with a health pack that promptly vanishes after use. But the three-dimensional graphics are amazing.

Can You Guard Your Heart?

Recently, I asked how one becomes a different person and answered that one becomes different by acting differently, as opposed to wishing to be different. Of course, people tend to assume one would only act differently if one wished to do so. But that is not necessarily true. People sometimes act in ways that will lead them to become someone that they do NOT want to become. A person who overindulges in alcoholic beverages often does not want to become an alcoholic. But such repeated overindulgence leads there no matter what he desires.

Another instance of behavior leading a person to becoming different apart from his desire to change is child-rearing. Parents have goals for their children’s character and require various behaviors of them in the hope that it will bring about that change. This often starts long before the child has any idea that adulthood lies in his future or that he is developing into a character that will be partly determined in the present.

How One Becomes a Different Person

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be…
Paul’s First Letter to Timothy 3:1-2a (ESV)

Paul goes on to list qualities an overseer must possess. The list is obviously meant to eliminate many Christians from being considered for the office. But he doesn’t begin by saying that people should not aspire to the office. Rather, he encourages them in the aspiration, inviting them to develop the required qualities.

People can aspire to change. Generally speaking, a Christian can (and should!) aim at becoming someone with a different character than he currently possesses.

Psalms 62 Says… a sermon

I recently noticed that Psalm 62 seemed related to the content of my book on Proverbs. Happily, I was invited to preach so I made it my sermon text!

https://youtu.be/_ymB_DvoG-4?t=803