Compromise

(some things are just true)

Compromise

I’ve heard it said that the secret to business success, buying a house or a happy marriage is compromise. You know, where two parties move away from their relative positions of preference into some common middle ground. But I contend that too much compromise can actually leave everyone unhappy. Taking turns picking a movie to watch, while keeping others’ deeply held feelings in mind, is better than consistently watching films that no one really likes. Getting half the pizza all meat and half all veggie is better than spending time picking toppings off every slice!

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4

But some things are not open for compromise; like matters of Biblical truth.  God’s word says what it says. Turning away from sound teaching and choosing to instead interpret truth in ways that sound like what our ears want to hear is a decidedly dangerous path.  Taking turns believing and not believing to fit our mood or circumstances is an equally poor choice.  Instead we can embrace the comfort and peace that comes from trusting in the unwavering consistency of God. And the freedom that accompanies conforming to His ways.

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 7, Number 44

Just a berry or two

(it's like a milkshake...minus the ice cream of course)

Just a berry or two

For the last couple months I’ve been taking a fruit smoothie on my morning commute, rather than yet another cup of coffee.  The benefits are fairly obvious…several servings of fruit and dairy that I would not otherwise get during the day…and a further reduction of my once prodigious coffee consumption.

Part of the fun is figuring out what fruit we have in the house and how the combinations might taste together.  Frozen strawberries are always a good start with any number of other items thrown in for good measure.  One thing I have learned for certain…it only takes one or two blueberries or blackberries to change the color of the whole concoction in a profound way!

“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” Galatians 5:9

Paul used the illustration above to speak to the danger of untruths or false teaching creeping into the church.  Like yeast in the dough, or berries in a smoothie, a belief or interaction that begins as a small thing can change the nature of an entire community in no time.  The same goes for the story you hear that may or may not be true.  By continuing to spread the gossip along, something that may well be false becomes increasingly accepted as the truth. Use your influence instead to encourage and build others up. Promote positive change and positive outcomes by using the truth!

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 7, Number 20

Widows and Orphans

(Biblical truth doesn't change...society changes... we just need to find new and different ways to apply the truth!)


The Bible talks many times about widows and orphans and how their families and God’s people ought to look after and care for them. Life expectancy was low and Israel was often at war; men died young as a matter of course. In the context of Bible times, their plight would be extreme. Without the right to own property or in many cases the means to earn a living, the call for care was practical as well as spiritual.

Life expectancies are much longer now and we are not so often at war. Women are no longer treated as second class and children receive an education courtesy of the local taxpayers. I can’t think of any orphans that I actually know and only a few widows. So does the exhortation of James 1:7 to “look after orphans and widows in their distress” still apply?

Consider this. Let’s shift our paradigm just slightly and think of the all the single parents we know, especially women who have been left behind for a variety of reasons. Think also of all the children who don’t have a father in the home, and perhaps never knew their father at all. Suddenly, we see a whole new group of modern “widows and orphans” many of whom desperately need help; many of whom live right next door.

So follow James and do what you can. Make a meal. Cut the grass. Become a mentor to a teenager you know. Pray for them. Let them know you care.


Thanks for all you do.

Brian