Thinking This Week

SHHHH…

Let me encourage you to turn off everything and spend some time in peace and quiet: no TV, no iPad, no Pandora, no Netflix.

I remember studying spiritual disciplines with some friends. We talked about the usual topics: Bible reading, fasting, prayer, tithing and the like.

Then we talked about silence. 

Have you noticed how little of it there is? Our cars, homes and heads are filled with the constant din of something: people talking, people singing, bands playing, trains, planes and automobiles. We are in a state of constant stimulation. Do we become so filled with noise that we cannot think, or worse, cannot hear God?

Remember where God met Elijah? It wasn’t in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in a roaring fire. It was in a still, gentle whisper.

Shhhh… Turn everything off. Sit. Think. Listen.

SPEAKING OF BIBLE READING….

Keep at it. No matter where you are in your Bible reading habit, keep at it. I think of Bible reading discipline as the opposite of quitting smoking. They say about quitting smoking, “Don’t quit quitting.” I think of Bible reading discipline as, “Don’t stop starting.” No matter what, keep at it.

Remember, the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, the one offensive armament listed in Ephesians 6.  God’s Word equips us to battle against the nonsense of the world and the tricks of Satan. The Word of God enables us to live well and to die even better.

If you are not a regular Bible reader, let me encourage you to start. As little as a chapter a day is a good place to start. By reading just a few chapters a day you will be able to read the entire Scripture in a year. 

Check out YouVersion. Search for Reformation Reading Plan.  https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/3023-reformation-reading-plan

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

I was at a conference recently that connected abortion and pornography. What was interesting was thinking through how wide spread pornography is compared to abortion. Lots more people are personally involved in pornography than abortion.

Got me thinking.

Both are destructive and sinful.

While there is rightly much conversation in the Church about abortion, let’s not forget to talk about pornography and the call to turn away from it.

• If you are involved in pornography, let this be an invitation to turn away from it. Get honest. Get help. Get forgiveness.

• Parents—make sure that your children are aware that at any time everything they do on the computer or smart phone is open for your investigation. You must protect them from this temptation.

• Avoid using the internet in private, secluded settings or times.

• Make sure that someone else is aware of or has access to the sites you visit. At our congregation we use Covenant Eyes.  https://www.covenanteyes.com/

The trouble that people get into with the internet and pornography is real and disastrous.

PROMPTINGS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

This year our congregation has focused on being in step with the Spirit. As we celebrate Pentecost, we should be clear that the Holy Spirit works more than at the Day of Pentecost. Skim Luke and Acts to see how often the Spirit is mentioned outside of Acts 2.

What does it mean to be “prompted by the Holy Spirit?” Does the Spirit even do that to Lutherans?

Sure he does. Remember, the Spirit dwells within us. Paul encourages us to “keep step with the Spirit.”

So about these promptings:

• The Spirit will never encourage us to do something outside of the Word of God. This is one of the reasons we need to know the Bible better every day. If it is not in accord with the Word, it is not a prompting of the Spirit.

• The Spirit loves to draw attention to Jesus. So, promptings of the Spirit will somehow be Christ centered or Christ focused. Don’t expect him to prompt you with such a small thing as a winning lottery numbers. Do expect him to prompt you to talk to someone, or send a card to someone, or do a favor for someone who needs to know Jesus.

• A prompting of the Spirit is different from some great idea that you come up with, but at times you might not be able to tell the difference. (And at that point I’m not sure it matters—we should be using our brains too!)

ONE MORE THING THIS WEEK

Recently, I listened through and then read through Cynical Theories. https://www.amazon.com/Cynical-Theories-Scholarship-Everything-Identity-ebook/dp/B08BGCM5QZ

If you are looking for something that will help you to understand where the idea that “everyone is a racist” came from and why feminists now favor letting boys into the girls’ locker room, this is the book for you.