Am I a Misanthrope?

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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.

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I Did It My Way: Back to School Sermon

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I was talking to Josh, an elementary teacher, this week. I asked him, “How much time do you have influencing students? Don’t include recess. Do include assignments.” He said, about 8 to 8 ½ hours per day.

backtoschoolDo the math on that. 8 hours X 180 days = 1,440 hours of influence in a day. That’s a chunk of time.

School is a powerful influence in anyone’s life.

If that teacher is Josh, who treats people with respect and who knows Jesus, that’s time well spent. If that teacher is cynical, atheistic, or misanthropic, that’s problematic.

We are really blessed, in Clearfield County, to have a great bunch of teachers and good school systems. And we, as a nation, are blessed with great tech schools, colleges, and universities. But that doesn’t diminish the need for students to be prepared for what’s ahead — whether in high school or college.

School always comes with pressures to conform, to fit in, and to concur with ideologies that you might not naturally agree with.

This podcast talks about being yourself in school

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PODCAST: Living Above Your Nature at School

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Back to School Sermon Presented August 19, 2012 at Curwensville Alliance

Just last year, Austin Smith, a 15-year-old from Michigan, was bleeding the brakes on a 1991 Buick Century with his grandfather.

muscleWhile Austin was inside the car pumping the pedal, the vehicle shifted and after he got out, it fell off the blocks, pinning Grandpa Ernie under 2,000 pounds of steel.

As he tells the story, Austin says, “I was just so scared. I didn’t know what to do.” So Austin grabbed the car by its front bumper and lifted. He lifted it high enough that his grandpa could crawl out.

How did he do that? Huey Lewis might say, “That’s the power of love.” We all know it’s adrenaline. When you are in that kind of situation, sometimes, your body can do things that aren’t humanly possible. Or at least not ordinarily humanly possible.

Austin was living above his natural abilities — empowered to do something he could not naturally hope to do. God does that for Christians — empowers us to live above our nature.

This podcast suggests that you can do that as you head to school this fall.

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