2 Sunday Services, 2 Preachers, 2 Sermons. My dear friends J-Griff + Jon Clark are teaching at Good News this Sunday. Hope to see you there.
stop looking where you can’t find it
So, we had a dog staying with us. I am really not an animal person, but my beloved 4 year daughter has her heart set on getting a puppy + becoming a veterinarian. So, watching my sister-in-laws little dog Hunter for a few days while they went on spring break felt like a good test for all of us.
On day 3, I woke up in the dark around 6.15a, hoping to get the dog out for a quick walk before anyone heard us rustling. I grabbed the leash and Hunter and opened the door. Right as i turned back to grab my water, I put the dog down and before i knew it, he was out the door.
I hustled outside in my bare feet, chasing him around playfully for a few min on our neighbors lawn. Then Hunter took off. Sprinting about 7 houses away and into someones backyard. I started to semi-panic. I ran home and got shoes and walked the neighborhood 3 times yelling his name. Then I retrieved my car and did a bigger loop, yelling his name through the whole neighborhood. At 7a after 45 minutes of searching, I walked through the house to find everyone still sleeping.
At this point, I started forming my narrative on how i would explain to the kids that I had lost the dog. After a few more laps around the neighborhood, at 7.26a Kristen text me, ‘Where are you?’ .. I called her, took a deep breath and told the story saying, ‘So, i’m still out here trying to find Hunter.’ To which she replied, ‘Hunter is in bed next to me.’
As best as we can tell, he had circled right back around 7 houses and gone through the back door and right upstairs after he ran away. I spent over an hour trying to find him outside when he was inside the whole time.
i wonder how many problems you are navigating that are similar?
if you are looking for something in a place you can’t find it, you will only find unhappiness and frustration.
late night fast food doesn’t build health.
healthy Godly relationships aren’t likely found on tinder.
hours cultivating envy on social can’t build contentment.
yet, often we keep searching for things in places we already know they can’t be found. we keep doing the same things, somehow hoping for different results. it’s like isaiah said in chapter 55,
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
if we want to find what we are looking for, more laps around the same neighborhood aren’t going to produce what we want. we must go back to the start and find a new direction or path, prayerfully pondering where God wants us to go.
Recently, I was really disappointed by someone in my life. As I have reflected, I have realized that as much as possible I try to protect myself from being disappointed by people. In my human efforts, that would prevent hurt and disappointment. But, people are people, right? I think God allows disappointment in our lives as an avenue for us to live out our faith.
Take a moment to think of five ways this week that you have been disappointed. They could be big or small; if you have a pen and paper nearby you may even write them down. Now, I want you to think about how you dealt with your disappointment. If you are anything like me, you used your words to convey that frustration in an unbecoming way.
Conviction was knocking on my door when I read these words in James 3. It says, “but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”
If you have struggled at all with a heart attitude that has manifested itself in your words to others, this verse reminds us that we are not alone. Our tongue is a restless evil. Yes, it has the power to bless others, but it also has the ability to tear people in two.
One of my favorite moments on Sundays is when I get to worship with our church family. Because my voice doesn’t sound beautiful, I’d rather join in a chorus of voices than belt it out on my own. But, there’s something about using your voice (good or bad) to bring praise to the one who made you. But, we disservice ourselves when we forget that the people who disappoint, frustrate, hurt us were made in the image of God. In the devotional Streams in the Desert, W.H. Griffith-Thomas says he remembers Bishop Whipple saying these beautiful words, ‘For the last thirty years, I have looked for the face of Christ in the people with whom I have disagreed.’
God’s Word also says that out of the mouth the heart speaks. So often what we say, has more of an indication of what’s going on in us than something truly about someone else. Here’s the truth, God loves me, He loves you, He loves the person that has disappointed me as well as the person who has disappointed you. One of the best ways that we can reflect Him is the way that we speak about others. I pray that as you ponder this verse like I have that you will allow your reflection to move to action in how you relate to those in your life, no matter the disappointment. Maybe that means apologizing or praying for someone instead begrudging them. When disappointment comes knocking at your door, as I am sure it will, may this reminder stand as guard at your lips.
Super Christian Guy Returns!
Saturday Morning Book Review
i spent the week getting caught up on my magazines + articles. 3 incredibly insightful things i read. all of which seem to center around secular culture stumbling into gospel truth.
are trigger warnings helpful?
‘Because trigger warnings involve assumptions about emotional reactions, particularly with respect to P.T.S.D., psychology researchers have begun to study whether trigger warnings are in fact beneficial. The results of around a dozen psychological studies, published between 2018 and 2021, are remarkably consistent, and they differ from conventional wisdom: they find that trigger warnings do not seem to lessen negative reactions to disturbing material in students, trauma survivors, or those diagnosed with P.T.S.D.’ — via the New Yorker.
is sex positivity actually good for women?
What passes for sex positivity is a culture of masochism disguised as hedonism. It’s what you get when you liberate sex without liberating women.
what about when some trans-gender believes they made a mistake?
The hardest thing about detransitioning in my case has thankfully not been living with permanent damage to my body, something many other young people with similar histories to mine cannot say. It has been coming to terms with the bad decisions I made that made my emotional struggles much more painful, my ability to socially adjust and have healthy relationships much more difficult, and generally took my life in an unexpected direction that has been very hard to climb out of.
have a great weekend…
luke + kristen