Algorithms vs. Church
This week’s devotions are based on Week 2 of Rooted – Grounded in Grace (CLICK HERE)
The purpose of this devotion this morning isn’t to unduly bash social media or tech companies that run them. I am not professing to be an expert in the algorithms and how they work, however, here’s what I have discovered.
Social media algorithms very quickly and readily feed you information that supports your search record, your viewing record and yes, even the conversations you have around your phone. These meme’s, reels, and posts suggest more content that follows what you were viewing and listening to. The result? You have more inputs that solidify an idea or thought you were already having.
And if you don’t like the content of a post? You can tell your feed to snooze it for 30 days or to eliminate the content altogether.
To be sure, social media is not intended to be the end source of all your information, let alone the sole guide to your spiritual life and growth in faith. But without other inputs, the feed on your phone can give you information, teaching and thoughts that mold your beliefs and eliminate anything that would challenge that.
Is that healthy?
It might “work for you” but with eternal life in the balance and the will and Word of God so important, do you really want Mark Zuckerberg and others feeding your faith?
The value of being part of a sound, Bible-teaching church is that you provide yourself the accountability of other Christian friends and a pastor who, God-willing, are also grounding themselves in the Word of God and allowing the Spirit of God through that Word to challenge, mold, and solidify the teaching that truly is the path to eternal life.
The challenge of surrounding ourselves with only things that we want to hear is not new to the 21st Century Christian. Consider what Paul encouraged Pastor Timothy to be aware of in 2 Timothy 4:1- In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
We need to be part of a church, a gathering of biblical Christians to protect us from surrounding ourselves with teacher that just say what we want them to say. We need the sound teaching of biblical truth to address the sin in our life and point us to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. We need the community of believers to provide godly accountability so all of our faith and life is molded by the Word of God.
Why do we need Christian relationships? We need Christian relationships to provide biblical soundboards to counter secular soundbites.
Apply: We all get comfortable in our beliefs. When is the last time you were actively part of a Bible Study at your church? If recently…great, do it more. If it’s been a long time, let me encourage you to join one and let your beliefs be molded by the Word of God!
Prayer: Lord, thank you for Christian relationships and the accountability they bring to keep me close to you and your truth. Lead me to be actively engaged in your church and always allow my beliefs to be molded by you and your word through the people you put around me. AMEN.
Do I have to go to church?
This week’s devotions are based on Week 2 of Rooted – Grounded in Grace (CLICK HERE)
How would you respond to this statement?
“I don’t have to go to church to go to heaven. My faith is between me and God.”
At face value, both statements are true. There is no mandate from God that says a qualification of heaven is church membership. It is reality that one’s faith is very personal and their connection point to God.
However, my experience has been when these two phrases come up that it is really a deflection from wanting to be part of a church. The combination of these statements can easily come across as, “I really don’t want to belong to a church and I can do faith on my own.” In an age of digital media and the ability to customize all your experiences to your personal preference, it is easy to stay away from church, let alone commit to a church and be an active member in that church. Current trends would indicate that more and more people are acting on the belief that “my faith is between me and God and I don’t need to belong to a church.”
With this mindset, we can understand the vicious cycle of beliefs that is lessoning the need and the value for church.
However, we must challenge this premise and ask, “Is this true?”
The BIble is clear that God’s church, even its local manifestation, is made up of people. From the first iteration of the first century church in Acts 2 after Pentecost, people got together.
Acts 2:44-47 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
Later the writer to the Hebrews encouraged getting together when the tendency was to stay home alone:
Acts 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
So do we need to belong to a church to be in heaven? Technically no. However, if the Bible encourages and promotes getting together and having interaction and relationships with other Christians, should we ask, “Why?” Absolutely!
The truth is that God never invites us to do something that is going to be for our spiritual harm. Rather, he is constantly encouraging and promoting those activities and behaviors that will bring us the greatest blessing.
So, relationships with other Christians MUST be a good thing. If God has determined it is a good thing, it is natural to ask, “What are the reasons God wants me to be part of a Christian church and in relationship with other Christians?”
This week we will unpack the blessings that come from working at and being in relationship with other Christians. It may not be the reasons you think, but I will tip my hand and say there are other reasons than the ones we will cover this week.
Apply: Even if you aren’t currently attending a church, what reasons come to mind that would indicate having Christian relationships is a positive thing?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for creating your church as a gathering point to hear your Word and foster Christian relationships. Lead me to treasure the gift of relationships just like I treasure all the other blessings you give. AMEN.
Happy Friday the 13th!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of Rooted – Grounded in Grace (CLICK HERE)
So I was curious.
Today is Friday the thirteenth.
In some ways, it’s just another day on the September calendar, but when the thirteenth day of the month ends up on Friday, somehow folklore identifies it as “unlucky.” Even if you are not superstitious, somehow Friday the thirteenth is a day you pause and think, “oh it’s Friday the 13th. I hope nothing bad happens today.” (Yes, you are welcome for now making you think about it!)
So I was curious.
How in the world did Friday the 13th become an unlucky day when every month has a thirteenth day. Why not Monday the 13th or Wednesday the 13th?
So I poked around the internet and found this on the History.com website:
According to biblical tradition, 13 guests attended the Last Supper, held on Maundy Thursday, including Jesus and his 12 apostles (one of whom, Judas, betrayed him). The next day, of course, was Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.
The seating arrangement at the Last Supper is believed to have given rise to a longstanding Christian superstition that having 13 guests at a table was a bad omen—specifically, that it was courting death.
Though Friday’s negative associations are weaker, some have suggested they also have roots in Christian tradition: Just as Jesus was crucified on a Friday, Friday was also said to be the day Eve gave Adam the fateful apple from the Tree of Knowledge, as well as the day Cain killed his brother, Abel.
There were some other possible explanations (the link is at the end of the devotion), but I got to thinking. If Friday the 13th is about sin entering the world and sin being defeated…actually it’s a pretty good day! I don’t think the Apostle Paul had “Friday the 13th” at all in mind, but he did have in mind what happened in the garden of Eden reversed on the cross of Calvary.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Without the grace of God, every Friday and every 13th would be bad days. But if somehow Friday the 13th is about the 13 people who were with Jesus at the Passover meal and the day he died on the cross for all sin…including yours and mine…then what a great day today is.
Happy Friday the 13th…it’s as good as Good Friday!
Apply: The message of God’s grace applies every day. What is happening today in your life for which you are grateful for God’s grace?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, every day is the fortunate, blessed reality that you love me and are my Savior. Thank you for overcoming my sin with your death on the cross. Thank you for allowing me to have and experience every day your grace. AMEN.
Don’t get lost…
This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of Rooted – Grounded in Grace (CLICK HERE)
Being lost is no fun.
I remember on a Pioneer campout in elementary school a couple friends and I wandered down to a creek. While we were allowed to do this, our intrigue as young boys took us along the creek figuring we could just retrace our steps back and find our way back to camp…until we couldn’t. What we thought was the right tree to turn at wasn’t. What we thought was a path, didn’t get where we wanted to go. What we thought was the right direction, wasn’t. We were lost.
As the sun began to set, we knew we were simply making things worse by wandering around. As a bit of fear began to creep in, we wish we had a map or guide to help us back to camp. Just as it was getting dark, we heard a couple of the camp counselors yelling our names. After a brief reprimand, they led us back to the safety of camp.
At times do you feel like this is your life? You think you are navigating it pretty well, until you aren’t. You think you have your next steps planned out, until you find yourself in a situation you never could have imagined. You think that you are headed in the right direction until you reach a dead end.
Life can be challenging. Life can make us feel lost.
While every answer to every situation and every decision is not recorded in the pages of Scripture, the good Lord gave us the Bible to guide us through life. He is the perfect camp counselor who comes after his children who are lost and invites us to follow his voice and direction.
Consider Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
What the Lord through the writer of Psalm 1 wants us to realize is what happens when we have the wrong inputs in life. When we allow the “wicked,” “sinners” and mockers to be the main inputs in our life, of course the outcome is not going to be blessed or pleasant.
Perhaps it’s easy to say, “I don’t let those type of people speak into my heart and mind.” Or do we? How much of our advice comes from sources that do not honor the Lord or hold a Biblical worldview? How much of our direction comes from secular inputs that neither honor or follow the ways of the Lord?
Perhaps there is an opportunity to have more of God’s Word infiltrate and guide our thoughts, words and actions. The promise is that we will experience the blessing of the Lord, the life-giving nutrition from the Lord, and the prosperity the Lord determines is best for us.
So, if you are feeling lost or to prevent getting lost through life and reach safely the destination of heaven, remember this encouragement from Psalm 119:105: Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
Apply: What aspect of life feels a bit lost? Search online for “scripture about ________” and see what truth from God’s Word speaks into your life.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your work which guides my life to eternity with you. When I am lost, let me turn to you first. To prevent getting lost, let me listen to you always. AMEN.
Never Forget!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of Rooted – Grounded in Grace (CLICK HERE)
Never forget.
For the past 23 years, this phrase has been at the top of America’s mind at the anniversary of 9/11. For those old enough to remember, we remember where we were when we heard the news of the planes flying into the World Trade Center Towers. We remember spending most of the rest of the day watching the news, listening to the radio or talking to family and friends.
Disbelief.. Confusion. Fear. Uncertainty.
All of these emotions I remember having those hours of 9/11/01.
Evil brings confusion, fear and uncertainty.
So where did we turn?
News anchors were just as confused as we were.
Neighbors were just as fearful as we were.
Government officials were just as uncertain as we were.
We turned to the one thing that can bring clarity in confusion, peace amidst fear, and certainty in the middle of uncertainty.
The Lord and his Word.
That evening our small group of Christians in Cary, NC gathered in the hotel conference room we were renting to seek the comfort, peace, and guidance that only God’s word can bring. It didn’t answer the question of who did this. It didn’t answer the question of how this could have happened. But it did answer the question of what our hearts needed. We needed certainty that the Lord was still in control. We needed peace that reminded us that Jesus has overcome evil and Satan and we needed clarity about where to turn when we felt so weak and helpless.
So 23 years later we turn to the same source of clarity, peace and certainty, not just for the answers to 9/11 but to all of life.
We don’t know when the next national tragedy will happen. We don’t know when the next personal challenge will occur. But we do know that the Word of the Lord is always there for God’s people, a country and the world to find clarity, peace and certainty in the midst of evil that creates confusion, fear and uncertainty.
So here’s a couple verses to bring to your heart today to have at the ready when your heart needs comfort, peace and clarity.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength,an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[j]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future,nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May the peace, clarity and certainty only the Lord gives be with your heart on this anniversary of 9/11.
Prayer: Lord, in the midst of evil that creates confusion, fear and uncertainty lead us to always turn to you and your word for the clarity, peace and certainty our soul longs for. AMEN.