Throughout Advent this year, we are examining our longings. During this second week, we have been studying Psalm 73, learning what to do with envy and jealousy. If this is the first post you are reading in this series of five, I urge you to go back and start at the beginning, as the psalmist,Continue reading “How to have victory over envy and jealousy – Second Sunday of Advent, Part 5”
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God says he is enough for us, so why doesn’t it feel like it? – Second Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 4
Have you ever questioned something like what the title of this post suggests? I have. My guess is that you have too. What do we do when God doesn’t seem to be enough for us? What do we do when we struggle with envy and jealously, especially of the arrogant and mean people who seemContinue reading “God says he is enough for us, so why doesn’t it feel like it? – Second Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 4”
The antidote to envy – Second Sunday of Advent, Part 3
Is there any hope to rid ourselves of envy and jealousy? What are we to do with our dark longings? We can feel powerless to combat them. We hate the way they make us feel. Dissatisfied and grumpy. Convinced that the next iPhone, the next TV show, the next vacation, the next date, the debtContinue reading “The antidote to envy – Second Sunday of Advent, Part 3”
How envy rots our insides – Second Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 2
Have you ever burned with envy? You’re not alone. Envy is, as we saw in the previous post, considered to be the central fact of American Life. In our Advent series, Longings, this second week we are looking at envy through the lens of ancient poem, Psalm 73. So far we have seen the author,Continue reading “How envy rots our insides – Second Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 2”
The central fact of American life – Second Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 1
What is the central fact of American Life? Please don’t Google it. Just think about the first word that comes to your mind. Did you think of words like: freedom, liberty, money, politics, consumerism, individualism or shopping? There are many words both good and bad that define our American experience. I recently read an answerContinue reading “The central fact of American life – Second Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 1”
The only way to truly fulfill your longings – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 5
Have you ever thoughts that you be so happy if you hit the lottery? I have. I have dreamed of how I would spend the money. It sounds so freeing. I would be free from debt. My kids would have no college debt. I get excited just typing it. Many of us can feel thatContinue reading “The only way to truly fulfill your longings – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 5”
How Christian freedom should not lead Christians to behave badly – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 4
Have you ever heard Christians say that if churches or Christian institutions don’t have rules and regulations, people will go off the rails leading to anarchy? So if we want to be good Christians, they say, then we should be making new rules, like the ones in the previous post: no wearing lipstick or smokingContinue reading “How Christian freedom should not lead Christians to behave badly – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 4”
Peer pressure and our longings – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 2
Have you ever been swayed by what other people think, even though you don’t really agree with them? Have you ever been influenced to act contrary to your beliefs because you feel pressure from others? Often we say that teenagers succumb to peer pressure, but the reality is that adults of all ages are justContinue reading “Peer pressure and our longings – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 2”
Why did the US death rate jump sharply in recent years? – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 1
If you could say in one word what you want more of in life, what would that be? What this question gets at is longing. This Advent, we are talking about longing. Advent is a season of longing. Ancient Christians created the season of Advent as a four week long preparatory time for the greatContinue reading “Why did the US death rate jump sharply in recent years? – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 1”
When holidays are depressing [Third Sunday of Advent]
Editor’s Note: I’m playing catch-up with blogging Faith Church’s sermons. My doctoral coursework, a heavy load grading online classes I teach, and the holidays landed simultaneously these past few weeks! So before we jump back to the Deuteronomy series, I’ll survey the last few weeks of Advent, belatedly, of course. On the Third Sunday ofContinue reading “When holidays are depressing [Third Sunday of Advent]”
Engaging Scripture 