Tag Archives: jesus

The Gentleness of God…

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A podcast from a service at Curwensville Alliance.

Occasionally, in the back of my mind, I detect this thought — an ungodly thought — that God doesn’t really love me. It’s a thought that says that I don’t measure up and because of my failures, God would like to smack me. Hard. Now. Twice.

Now, before you say, “Steve, I never have that thought; what’s wrong with you!?” think. Think about your own thought talk. When someone approaches you with a ministry opportunity, how do you respond? With confidence? Or with reluctance based in your own feelings of inadequacy? That’s what I’m talking about. Or what about those times you reflect on a conversation where you said the wrong thing and really hurt someone you were honestly trying to help? When you think about that, do you think to yourself, “I am such an idiot! I should just keep my mouth shut! How can God put up with my stupidity!?” That’s what I’m talking about.

I was thinking about where that voice comes from. It doesn’t come from the pastor I had while growing up. He preached grace with clarity. Maybe it comes from teachers or youth leaders? Maybe I picked it up in the dorm at the Christian college I attended? (Late night freshman chats in dorms can be very good or very bad.) Maybe I picked it up at home?

I doubt it.

It was my wife who suggested something like this:

It came from the Garden, Steve. It’s exactly what the serpent suggested to Eve. “Did God really say…”

Immediately, when Laurel suggested this, I new she was right. It’s the enemy of our souls that makes us wonder if God really said what he said. It’s the enemy who wants to convince us we are unloved.

This podcast is from a series on The Nature of Jesus. A series presented to help combat such lies when they come into your life. This message, in particular, is about Jesus’ gentleness — and how he cares for you. May God embroider the truth of his love on your heart as you listen.

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An Advent Sermon on Peace…

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I read this week that the phrase, security blanket, was actually invented by Linus van Pelt. Linus’ sister, Lucy was always bothered by Linus’ attachment to that blanket. She tried to make Linus drop it. She stole it and hid it. Once she cut it up to make shapes for a flannel-graph. Another time she cut it into squares for Linus to use to clean his glasses. She once made a kite out of it and “accidentally” let go of it. Another time Lucy buried the blanket, causing a frantic Linus to dig up almost the entire neighborhood before Snoopy found it.

Why would she do that? Because she was the annoying big sister. Because she was Lucy.

There are a lot of Lucys in this world. In fact, it sometimes seems that the whole world is nothing but a mean old Lucy who tries to prevent us from having any kind of peace of mind.

Now the Bible doesn’t speak about security blankets, but it does speak of being secure. The Bible speaks about being safe — about peace.

That’s what this podcast is about today: Peace. If you’re looking for peace, give it a listen.

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Am I Hurting Myself without Realizing I Am?

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Presented October 9, 2011

Have you heard the expression, “That’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face”? You don’t hear it often, but you observe it frequently. I can give you three real-life examples.

A worker is angry with the company because they keep laying people off. Some of his best friends have lost their jobs because the corporation can’t make a profit. And he’s angry. So he decides to become lazy. He avoids doing routine maintenance on machinery. He pushes products that are defective down the line so they go out to the consumer, knowing that it will damage the company’s reputation and decrease their market share. He leaves early, getting someone else to punch him out. You know what this will mean, right? It will mean the company will have to lay off more workers — the very thing he hates. In his anger, he’s cutting off his own nose to get even with his face.

Or what about the husband is angry that his wife spent twice the money at Old Navy that he thought she should have. After all, they are saving for a vacation. So, to get revenge on her, he goes out and spends money on things he doesn’t even really want. A moose-call from Grices, though he has no plan to hunt moose. A new laptop, even though he hardly uses computers. A subscription to Consumer Reports magazine, though he won’t take time to read it. In his revenge, he’s cutting off his nose to get even with his face.

Or how about this one? A woman is angry with God because God’s not lived up to her expectations. God has not done what she wanted him to do in her marriage and with her boys. God has been speaking to her about her sin and she doesn’t like to hear that. So, to get back at God, she enters into a life that she knows would make God angry. And in the process, she risks everything – waking up morning after morning, wondering if she has AIDS. In her effort to get even with God, she’s damaging herself. She is cutting off her nose to spite her face.

People do this all the time.

In the life of Jesus, the people who needed him most injured themselves by attempting to injure him. They display this behavior throughout the gospels. They show it in living color today in our text. They cut off their noses to spite their faces.

Sometimes we do the same thing. This podcast addresses this tendency and helps us avoid it.

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