The Real Prayer of Jabez
Any one who knows me knows that I have a huge beef with the Prosperity Gospel. It sickens me to see the Word of God reduced to just another snake-oil self-help scam where you can get anything you want if you just “think positively.” One of the most popular examples of this is The Prayer of Jabez, which misuses a small anecdote found in 1 Chronicles 4:9-11: Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. Many people interpret this as, “If you ask God to...
Grumble, Grumble, Grumble
This weekend was a good mix of fun, work and some great preaching (Check out the Crosspoint sermon from 8/16 if interested). The sermon was on Exodus, shortly after the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea and were beginning to grumble about not having food nor water in the desert. It was a convicting sermon which just shows me how much better I have it in today’s life with food a couple steps away and over 50 magical things called faucets which will provide water immediately. And yet, I find that I grumble a lot to God when things are going so hot. I find that the word is so appropriate with my overall attitude when life isn’t going my way. If we take a closer look at the grumbling, we can uncover a whole host of nasty dark attitudes which God...
Tired
I’m tired. This past week I’ve been putting myself under a lot of unnecessary stress. It’s like littlest problems become huge monsters ready to eat me alive. Anxiety disorder will do that to you. But I’m sick of it all. I’m tired of struggling with my demons. I’m tired of living in a world full of trouble and turmoil. I’m tired of all this fear and loathing. I’m tired and I want to go to bed. It’s times like these when I think about Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest.” What does this rest look and feel like? Sometimes I naively think it means God will take away all trials and pressures out of my life, but that’s...
Borne by God
In light of the recent and ongoing sufferings my family is enduring, Pastor Alan asked me to give a testimony about our Lord’s faithfulness during this time at the Sunday evening meeting. Here is something of a revised version. A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way? P R O V E R B S 20:24 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. P R O V E R B S 19:21 They say hindsight is 20/20; apparently I need LASIK surgery! While things are certainly clearer looking back upon them rather than in the midst of them, none of us can fully discern the Lord’s providential outworking of his purposes for us. The Lord has, however, given to us “all things that pertain to life and godliness,...