Grant, O God, that no false teaching may ever have any power to decieve us or to seduce us from the truth.
Grant, O God, that we may never listen to any teaching which would dethrone Jesus Christ from the topmost place;
Grant, O God, that we may never listen to any teaching which for its own purposes perverts the truth.
O God, our Father, establish us immovably in the truth.
Give us minds which can see at once the difference between the true and the false;
Make us able to test everything, and to hold fast to that which is good;
Give us such a love of truth,that no false thing may ever be able to lure us from it.
So grant that all our lives we may know, and love, and live the truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Monday, January 28, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Ban New Year's Resolutions
In so many ways, I dislike New Year's Resolutions. My sneaky title was just to get your attention, because people can do what they want and it is good to have some goals. But thinking through this stuff, there are a couple of things that come to my mind about this idea or some common goals.
One that Christians do often is "get closer to God." This one is particularly annoying to me on many different levels. No resolution is worthwhile if you have to ask a follow-up question like, "what does that mean?". Often people will say something like, read their Bible more, attend church more regularly, pray, etc. Those are depressing answers to me. Firstly, I believe the Christ died and was resurrected to make the payment for our sins, or actions that disobey God, and then gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to live within us and guide us. If the Holy Spirit (God) is living within us, then we can't get any closer to God than that! What if the goal would be changed to "becoming more like Jesus"? That would be much more practical, and could be broken down easier because there is a definite standard involved. For instance that means you will be less selfish (serve your spouse, forgive easier, put other people's needs ahead of your own, to serve not be served), do something to bring justice to your corner of the world (volunteer at a shelter, tutoring, speaking out against mean jokes, helping an elderly neighbor), and love the unlovable. Not only are these tangible goals, they are meaningful, so no one can complain about and make you into a better person.
One that Christians do often is "get closer to God." This one is particularly annoying to me on many different levels. No resolution is worthwhile if you have to ask a follow-up question like, "what does that mean?". Often people will say something like, read their Bible more, attend church more regularly, pray, etc. Those are depressing answers to me. Firstly, I believe the Christ died and was resurrected to make the payment for our sins, or actions that disobey God, and then gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to live within us and guide us. If the Holy Spirit (God) is living within us, then we can't get any closer to God than that! What if the goal would be changed to "becoming more like Jesus"? That would be much more practical, and could be broken down easier because there is a definite standard involved. For instance that means you will be less selfish (serve your spouse, forgive easier, put other people's needs ahead of your own, to serve not be served), do something to bring justice to your corner of the world (volunteer at a shelter, tutoring, speaking out against mean jokes, helping an elderly neighbor), and love the unlovable. Not only are these tangible goals, they are meaningful, so no one can complain about and make you into a better person.
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