Overcoming the Worldview of Doom and the Culture of Fear – The Path of the Cross – Purity 741

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning! Today's photo of cumulus cloud— of cumulus cloud-filled blue skies over Waite Road comes to us from yours truly as I captured the scene Sunday afternoon on the return trip to my countryside home while out walking my off-camera canine companion Harley. Harley enthusiastically begs to be taken for walks, and when the weather is pleasant, I try to remember to bring my phone so I can grab some photos to document the beauty of God's creation. Harley's enthusiasm often causes me to grab some random shots on the go, and I often don't really know what I am capturing until after the fact. Although I have grabbed and shared lots of photos on Waite Road, I believe this was the only time I happened to capture the cross like utility pole that borders this section of our path, and today it has helped me collect my scattered thoughts on the importance of walking on the path of Christian discipleship in maintaining our peace and joy in life. If you haven't noticed, the overall orientation of the news creates a culture of fear. The news adage, "If it bleeds, it leads," points to the fact that while there is an unlimited amount of current events and facts that could be reported, The hard truth is that the news stories that involve violence or that prey on our anxieties are the ones that get the highest ratings, and thus will be the ones that are focused on and repeatedly told. I am sharing a link to Deborah Sarani's article on PsychologyToday.com from 2011 that provides some insight into how watching the news could undermine our physical and mental health. Serrani's article states that it's been said that fear-based media has become a staple of popular culture. The distressing fallout from this trend is that children and adults who are exposed to media are more likely than others to feel that their neighborhoods and communities are unsafe, uh, to believe that crime rates are rising, to overestimate their odds of becoming a victim and to consider the world to be a dangerous place. Sarani, in 2011, mind you, advocated that news media needs to return to a sense of proportion, conscience, and most important, truth-telling. So, so how do you think we did in the last 11, the 11 years since this article was written? Not so good, as the news industry has increasingly been crafted to not only lead when it lead with what bleeds, but has been politicized to cater to networks, uh, a network's political audience. The view of current events now depends on the source you receive the reports from. This has caused a general distrust of the media and their quote-unquote fake news. This phenomenon in our increasingly contradictory post-Christian society that denies the wisdom of common sense and biblical morality has me thinking of George R. Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, and phrases like doublethink, which Orwell's novel described as to know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancel out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it. Doublethink is the soup du jour in our society as it stresses coexistence and diversity, which not only recognizes the existence of differing views, religions, and lifestyles, but attempts to suspend discernment by subtly implying that all the various options in these aspects of our lives are equally valid and thus true. While our relativistic society pushes individual truth, What's true for me is true for me. What's true for you is true for you. Logic and reason insist things that contradict one another cannot both be true. Sometimes we need to recognize the truth that opposing views can't both be right. But in our politically correct society that seems to be able to tolerate all views except biblical Christianity, the cardinal sin if they were indeed allowed to categorize something as sin, would be to tell someone, "You're wrong." As appealing as it would be to go around telling everyone they are wrong, as Christians we have to be wise and discerning in how we speak the truth in love. The Lord will use the— will use the Word of God to convict people of their sin and bring them to faith in Christ. Our arguments won't do that, or being a jerk won't do that. So what are we supposed to do? Well, we are supposed to live as disciples of Christ. We are to walk on the path of the cross. That's what I got from today's photo. By rejecting the world's narrative of the state of reality and focusing on the truth of God's word, and by applying God's wisdom to our lives, you know, we should limit our exposure to the news and pick up the word of God and and attempt to live by it. Jesus Christ attested to the ability of God's Word to change us and its truth in John 17:17, where he said, "Sanctify them by your truth. Your Word is truth." So, so, while the world is trying to tell you the news, and some may be advocating for changes to our world through governmental means because of the bad news that is constantly before and are, as John Mayer sang about, waiting on the world to change, the Lord is directing us to be changed by applying his truth to our lives, by making Jesus our Lord and Savior, and by following in his ways. To overcome the world, we have to overcome the lies of the world by recognizing the truth that all roads do not lead to heaven, that all beliefs, lifestyles, and behaviors are not equally valid, and to know that what some call acceptable, legal, or good are actually evil according to the Word of God. The good news is that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone, but with that good news comes some really bad news. The bad news is that we can't change the world, we can't convince everyone of the truth of God's Word, and we can't save everyone and establish God's kingdoms on the earth. If we could, there would be no need for Christ to return, and God's Word assures us that he is coming back and that things will get worse before he does. But don't forget the hope of the gospel. We can be used by God to bring some into his kingdom before he comes back to judge and rule the earth. And in spite of the culture of fear that has proliferated all around us, we can still experience peace and joy in this strange new world regardless of the circumstances when we focus on the Lord and walk in the Spirit. Our faith is a faith, is a faith of hope. We have hope in Christ and in his return, but we also have the hope that we can experience the fruit of the Spirit in our lives when we make the decision to repent of the world's ways and turn to God's ways. We also have the hope that God has prepared us for good works, to have a purpose on this earth. To help people and to be used to show them the truth of God's Word and the good news that Christ overcame the world, and that through him they can be given rest and peace in, in the here and now and eternal life with him forever. So focus on the good news, keep walking and talking with God. It's not all doom and gloom out there, but to know peace and joy in a world that focuses on the fearful aspect of our experience We need to know the peace that goes beyond all understanding by being reconciled to God by the Prince of Peace and to be in harmony with him by continually walking in his ways. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is John 14:6, and it says, Jesus told him, I am the truth, the way, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. Today's Bible verse is Christ telling us that he is the only way to God the Father. Here Christ makes it abundantly clear that there is one way to be reconciled to God—him. Christ is the truth that has to affect our lives. Christ is the way to eternal life and the way to life and life more abundantly. There is no peace without peace with God, and Christ's death on the cross for our sins brings it to all who put their faith in Him. Of all the many options in this world, Jesus is the one way to peace with God and life everlasting. That may seem narrow, but Christ said in Matthew 7:13-14 to "enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction." and there are many who go in by it. But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there is few who find it. It's not easy to come to faith in Christ. In fact, apart from God's grace and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, it's impossible. But if he has revealed to you the truth of who Jesus is, we simply must accept him as our Lord and Savior and make the hard choice to experience the life he has for us by living according to his way. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org to— where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life, and we're continuing in the section where it was about applying our faith in the workplace. And number 4 on his list of things says, we make much of Christ in our secular work by earning enough money to keep us from depending on others while focusing on the helpfulness of our work rather than financial rewards. And you know that, you know, just not for nothing, but I would say that's a great, uh, point, uh, Piper makes, and that, uh Yeah, we have to make enough money to support ourselves and not depend on others and to, you know, be in debt, and that our work should focus not on our financial rewards but the, you know, what help we're doing, what good we're doing in the world. Just that even, you know, the most basic job or whatever job we have, we can, you know, do it well and serve the people that we're serving. And have that as our focus and not just the money. You know, it's wisdom. So if you want to see what John Piper has to say about that point, go to mtforchrist.org to check out that resource. Well, today is Thursday. I actually have a break from our— my discipleship class, as our participants basically are going to be on vacation, for Memorial Day. So, um, we decided to take a break and reconvene next week. So I look forward to, uh, well, I look forward to a night off. That's a strange concept, uh, on a Thursday night for me. And, um, but I am looking forward to it. And today I have the day, as fate would have it, I have the day off from work as Verizon has decided to bless me— sorry, bless me, uh, with a work day on Saturday on Memorial Weekend. So, uh, what could have been a 3-day weekend is now a 2-day weekend, but I got today off and, and, uh, I get a 1-day weekend off, uh, with Thursday and then a 2-day work week before, uh, having 2 days off. So, um, it is what it is and I'm gonna make the best of it. Um, today I'm spending my day at the countryside home as I was blessed to spend the night with my wife and our company. And today I'm going to try to focus on spiritual pursuits. You know, I'm not going to— certainly not going to turn on the news to see the bad news and things that could depress us. And, you know, see the world's compassionate and sometimes angry response to tragedy. Instead, I'm going to focus on my relationship with the Lord today and, you know, try to finish some of the books I've been reading. I've been reading a book on spiritual warfare and another book on Christian counseling that have grabbed my attention, and I want to press on and see what I can learn and know and remind myself of. And that's, that's what the path of Christian discipleship is really all about. It's about learning how we should live and, uh, and applying that wisdom to our lives. And, um, amazingly, that's called walking in the Spirit. And when we walk in the Spirit, we, we experience the fruit of the Spirit— that peace, joy, love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience, and self-control. These are the things that we need in the strange new world that we live in, and these are the things that are available to us as Christians when we decide to, you know, not be like the rest of the world and, you know, believe the Bible is true and live according to it. It's basic Christianity, and in our ultra-free society, quote-unquote, you know, that's a simple thing that's not experienced much. It's somewhat counterintuitive to life, and that's life in not just in general but also in the church, as You know, our faith sometimes is just a weekly observance, and it just goes surface deep. The Lord calls you to be sanctified by his truth, and he promises, you know, the fruit of the Spirit to those who walk in the Spirit, but no one's doing it. So, you know, I, in coming to faith in Christ, I discovered, yeah, let's do it. And man, is it, you know, a challenge, but It's a challenge that we should take every day because, you know, great victory results in it and peace. So that's why we do what we do. That's why we, we share this message as a blog and as a podcast, and that's why we're going to keep doing it until the Lord calls us home. Now, whether or not we'll do this every day for the rest of our lives, we'll see, but you know, it's a good practice for me just to reflect on my faith and to praise the Lord and encourage others to do it too. So it's good for me, and if there's even one person listening, it's good for— I think it's worth doing. We need encouragement in this world. We need good news. And I'm hoping that this, this podcast and this blog is a source of that for everyone. So, um, I know the rest of you probably have to work today, so, uh, let's pray for you. Um, even if you don't work today, we'll pray for you because I appreciate your company along the path, um, of Christian discipleship. So, uh, let's come before our Lord in prayer. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Thank you for the blessings of this life and the wonders of your love that have been revealed to us through our faith in Jesus Christ. You opened the door and you invited us to go down the narrow pathway that leads to life and life more abundantly, a life everlasting in your kingdom. And Lord, we said yes. And, uh, we might have been hesitant, you might have had to drag us for some of it. Some of us might be sitting down, but Lord, help us to walk, walk out our faith every day. Help us to, to know you and, and seek to know you more, and seek to know the peace that you have for us by, by looking at our lives and challenging what we do to line up with what your word says. Lord, we thank you for the love you've given us. We thank you for the truth you've shown us. And Lord, we, we just pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to to see what you want us to see and direct our path to do the things that you want us to do. Lord, we pray for the people listening today. Um, Lord, we pray for healing for our friends. We pray for insights for our friends. We pray for blessings for our friends. Lord, we pray for you to, to bring, to bring the solutions that they need for their lives, um, and, and bring the strength and, and wisdom that they need as well to endure and to make skillful decisions in terms of what, what they do with their lives. Lord, we pray for you to go before us so we can represent you best here on the earth, and we pray, we pray that we can be used to show others the truth. Lord, we thank you, we love you, and we praise your holy name, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.