Am I a Misanthrope?

It might be in my blood. It might not be. My dad was a likable guy. People in church, in the neighborhood, and in our family loved him. When my dad’s genes are showing up, I am pretty likable, if I do say so myself.

And then there’s dad’s cousin, Wayne. Since you’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead, I won’t talk about Wayne. But if I did talk about him, I’d say he was a crusty old grouch who didn’t like anyone. Whoops — well, when I do things like that (speaking ill of the dead), I guess it’s Wayne’s genes that are showing up.

What about you? Are you a lover of humankind or a misanthrope?

Although Wayne lived into his late 80?s, he’s the exception to the rule. Generally people who don’t love others lead shorter, lonelier lives. Their lack of spiritual and emotional health leads to a lack of physical health. Who knows what damage it does for eternity.

In this podcast, we examine how the Christians in Corinth were behaving toward one another — without love or respect — and we work to learn how we can do the opposite.

The sermon notes are available upon request. Email me at the address below.

 

 

You can listen to the podcast at the bottom of this post.

Deprogramming for Emotional and Spiritual Health

Smartphones have apps on them — computer programs that accomplish tasks and effect performance. Any app that is on the phone changes the phone — some for the better, some for the worse.

Materialism App

We’re like that phone. We live in a world system that offers us apps that influence us. In fact, whether we install the apps into our lives or not, we can’t deny their influence. Perhaps some of the apps come bundled into our lives as the sinful nature. Others are ones that come without warning. Still, others, are ones we foolishly install without first determining how safe they really are.

This podcast suggest three apps we might have in our lives that, if we are going to be emotionally and spiritually healthy, must be removed.

How to Grow Spiritually

Presented 4.28.2013

Remember when you were a kid and you couldn’t wait to be an adult? Now, as an adult, I sometimes wish I could go back to those carefree days of childhood.

But besides the fact that I can’t go back, I know I couldn’t stand to go back. Growing is a good thing. Maturing is what we are supposed to do. And we all know men and women who never grew up, right? That’s not pleasant.

Spiritually speaking, the Bible warns us not to remain immature. God wants us to grow up, spiritually.

This podcast speaks of how we can grow up — mature — spiritually speaking, by borrowing and elaborating on Bill Bright’s Five Principles for Growth.