Grace and Peace

I mostly try to write about things that inspire, instruct, or encourage, but today I want to take a moment to vent about one of my “pet peeves.”  Here it is…Christians who are so gullible they fall for all kinds of religious kookiness.

What prompted this rant is that I noticed that another religious superstar is getting ready to release his latest book on October 15th.  And like the sheep that they are, people will run right out and buy and read his blather. Arghhh!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I am sure there will be some who read this and say, “Well, Jim is just jealous because he isn’t popular or famous.”  Let me address that…BALONEY!  Popularity and fame do not matter.  Faithfulness to God and His Word does matter greatly.

Dear friend, don’t be sucked in.  Just because someone is on TV or radio or writes a book or pastors a big church or pastors a small church or anything else you can think of doesn’t mean that their book is worth reading and taking to heart as a spiritual guide.  The Bible is the only reliable spiritual guide and if some one’s writing or speech doesn’t line up with what the Lord says run, don’t walk, and get away from it as fast as you can.  You are responsible for discerning the truth of Scripture and rightly applying it to your life.  God has given us the Holy Spirit as an abiding, indwelling presence to guide us in the truth. (John 14:15-26)

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. (Acts 17:10-12 ESV)

It (Love) does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  (1 Corinthians 13:6 ESV)

Love does not take delight in evil; that is, love finds no pleasure in things that are wrong, base, or ungodly.  It does not so much mean that a person delights in wrong doing themselves, but that they get a thrill in hearing something derogatory about someone else.  It is one of the quirks of human nature that we prefer to hear of the misfortune of others, especially their fall into sin, rather than of their godliness or success.  Love should never find pleasure in a bad report about someone.

The flip side of the coin is that love should rejoice with the truth. That is not as easy to do as it sounds.  There are times when we definitely do not want the truth to prevail; and still more times when it is the last thing we want to hear.  Real love has no desire to veil the truth or parse the truth.  It has nothing to hide and is glad when the truth is revealed.