Hey Friends…
There are two profound forces at work within us that are diametrically opposed to one another. When I tell you what they are, you will instantly understand. But at the same time, most Christians have little awareness of these two forces in a practical, “in the moment” kind of way. Worse yet, most do not know which are presently in control of our immediate behavior. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… a few important things: · Last chance to sign up for tomorrow’s 8:30 a.m. men’s breakfast!! Click here to RSVP… c’mon out to harden your arteries with waffles, eggs, and more and soften your heart before God as we explore some exciting challenges that are sure to help us grow in Christ! · Potluck sign-up is here for our March 24 Palm Sunday extravaganza and fellowship luncheon!! Click here to let us know what you can bring. Our service that morning is going to be incredibly powerful: testimonies of wild transformation, a celebration of baptism, and great worship. This will be a “don’t miss in-person” Sunday morning if there ever was one!! · We are launching a NEW middle school program every Sunday morning starting March 24. The middle-schoolers will go out after worship to their own dedicated teaching, fellowship, and games with Chris Bowen, Jess Sauder, Kelley Adrain, and others! · Speaking of younger Mt. Hope’rs… We are praying for a wide range of volunteers to serve in our children and youth ministries—everything ranging from administrative, to teaching, to activities, to nursery. We have low-frequency, low-prep options as well as more intense roles. Click here to let us know you’d like to learn more! · Mark your calendars for Easter, March 31. We will hold two Easter services—9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Kids Connect and nursery will be offered only during our 10:30 service; however, nursery will be available at 9:00 by RSVP only (click here to let us know!). AND… just after the 10:30 service, join the kids for an action-packed Easter Egg hunt!! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who never struggle with anything. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… We are being led. Powerfully. Every single day. Every single moment. Every single impulse. Someone is pulling at you. Someone is leading you… according to scripture, even controlling you. Most of us have no idea it’s happening. Now, we’ve all heard the concept of a little angel standing on one shoulder and a little devil on the other. We laugh about it, and then quietly hang our heads and admit that more often than not, one of those little fellas on our shoulder (um…usually the one dressed in red) wins the argument. It is a fun way to visualize the moment-by-moment struggle we face between good and evil. But do you know the biblical version of this? In the Bible’s revelation to us, it is not at all an angel or a devil. (Those critters are way bigger than would fit on your shoulder anyway. Oh… and they probably don’t wear white robes and wings, nor red suits with pointy horns and pitchforks.) The influence of these two powerful leaders in our life is far more subtle. So subtle, in fact, that very few of us ever recognize their presence. A hundred years ago, the Church talked about it all the time. Every movement of the believer was judged carefully by these two influencers. We talked constantly about whether we were walking in alignment with one or the other. Every Christian could unmistakably recognize them and judge their reactions by them. We held each other accountable to see their influence, and then intentionally change which one had a hold of our reactions. A hundred years ago, the Church was thoroughly in the Word of God. We knew the teaching on the subject like the back of our hands and lived according to it. And then the Church just dropped it. We went silent on the subject. Today, we know almost nothing of it. Part of this happened because the Church decided the teaching wasn’t popular. It didn’t make us feel better about ourselves to recognize a moment-by-moment struggle we had to be attentive to every day. I mean, who wants to be on high alert all day long? Where’s the fun in that? Another part of dropping the topic had to do with modern Bible translations that took an unfortunate turn trying to proactively interpret the New Testament’s original Greek language for you. Modern Bible translators added modifying English words to their translation of the Greek that very subtly changed our understanding of the text. While this often does make it easier for us to grasp the Bible’s meaning, in this particular case, it ever so slightly shifted our perception of the teaching. As a result, we miss its import altogether. Wanna know who these two powerful leaders in your life are? One of them is you and the other is Him. In the Greek New Testament, one is called your “flesh” and the other is your “spirit.” Do you know the difference? Your flesh--in the terms meant by the Greek writers of the New Testament—speaks of your whole self. It is all of who you are: your ideas, your intellect, your desires, your impulses, your fears, your joys, your personality, your will. It is the holistic you. When led by your flesh, you are being led by you. Modern Bible translations unfortunately translate this word “flesh” as “the sinful nature.” It causes us to read right past it because we do a quick gut check and say, “well, I know where I sin and where I don’t. So long as I’m not overtly sinning, I can move past these teachings as they do not reflect my current situation.” The problem is that our flesh does not just command the bad things we do. It also commands, controls, and leads the good things that we do. It cannot be recognized as the little red-caped, pitchfork-bearing devilish imp on our shoulder because our flesh is not always pure evil. Simply put, our flesh is our human nature. God designed it and put it in us, so its origins were not sinful. Then… sin indeed entered that nature (thanks, Adam and Eve…hmmph…). So, what was designed perfectly by God to be our essential nature was corrupted by sin—hence modern translators offer their interpretation to you that you are being led by your sinful nature. We need to grasp the difference between flesh and spirit. It has monumental daily and hourly implications for us. It defines everything about our spiritual, emotional, relational, and mental health. Ooops… I’ve just run out of room in my weekly book-writing to you… so shucks, you’ll just have to come to church to find out more!! Oh… but you need to know this!! Will you do some reading in advance and then come hang with us this Sunday? Check out Romans 8:5-16 and Galatians 5:16-25. Do me a favor: circle every place where you see the phrase “sinful nature” and replace it--just write above it in your Bible—with the word “flesh.” We’ll unpack this very carefully Sunday morning--10:00 a.m. in-person (best!!) or online livestream (mediocre, but still worthwhile…) Can’t wait… love you all so dearly!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Chris EadsMt Hope Pastor Archives
November 2024
Categories |