Bible, theology, culture, etc.
https://youtu.be/GBOxwPexwrA Sometimes experience is the best teacher. How many times did our parents tell us, “If you do X life will be so hard for you.” And yet, when X presents itself, our parents’ words no longer hold any weight. So, good parents--when your child is young—discipline them with consequences to teach them, to give them a little taste … Continue reading Self-Destruction (1 Cor 10:1-14)
https://youtu.be/DBDTj76dRBw In Angela Duckworth’s book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, the professor of psychology and MacArthur Fellow argues that hard work and doggedness, in contrast with raw talent, plays a vastly more important role in being successful in life. We tend to assume that successful people are born with innate abilities that average people lack—which … Continue reading A Servant to All (1 Cor 9:19-27)
https://youtu.be/wJn6TLY0n14 True maturity is revealed in the presence of immaturity. If dad sees his child beginning to throw a temper tantrum because she is losing the board game, he condescends to her level, explains how the board game works, reminds her of what good sportsmanship looks like, and encourages her. He probably will hold himself … Continue reading A Model of Maturity (1 Cor 9:1-23)
https://youtu.be/ZO5gJKpMmCE 1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. 4 Therefore, … Continue reading Love Builds Up (1 Cor 8:1-13)
https://youtu.be/6ATYFdo3npo So, here we are, on the cusp of a New Year. We can look back over the last year and kind of evaluate how it went. Did you spend 2023 how you hoped you would? If not, then now is the time to look ahead to the next year. What do you want 2024 … Continue reading Christ Above All (1 Cor 8:6)
https://youtu.be/ArhvgrFFeJw Paige Benton, in an article titled, “Singled Out by God for Good,” opens with this: “Had I any vague premonition of my present plight when I was six, I would have demanded that Stephen Herbison (incontestably the catch of the second grade) put his marriage proposal into writing and have it notarized. I do … Continue reading Singleness and Marriage (1 Cor 7:32-40)
https://youtu.be/LOu-u5m00VU “The days are long, but the years are short.” These are words all parents of young children hear. Usually, it is given by someone older and wiser when the young parent is looking particularly haggard and road weary. The child tries to flush their shoe down the toilet or stick a crayon up their … Continue reading Living Like It’s the End (1 Cor 7:25-31)
https://youtu.be/eUjtxlAd5hs What is the secret to being happy? If you are unhappy, the problem is either (1) your circumstances or (2) you. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so I’ll cut to the chase: Paul doesn’t think the problem with our lack of contentment is our circumstances. 10 To the married I … Continue reading Live as You Were Called (1 Cor 7:10-24)
https://youtu.be/DudDkmQybjk The Bible is God’s inspired, infallible, and inerrant word. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” (2 Tim 3:16-17). One test of whether or not we believe that … Continue reading Sex, Marriage, and Singleness (1 Cor 7:1-9)
https://youtu.be/zpaYUu1UEZs Sex and marriage have often been a place where the world and the church divide. Our cultural morays around sex have long since left the idea of sex being restricted to marriage. So, today people are getting married later and later in life, having fewer and fewer children, or foregoing marriage and children entirely. … Continue reading The Power of Sex (1 Cor 6:15-20)
Marc Sims 