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“Who may worship in Your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter Your presence on Your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.” Psalm 15:1-5 (NLT)

There is a dear lady at the Bible study I attend. Her clothes look old, and they often don’t match. She doesn’t wear make-up, and she keeps her hair plain.

As I have gotten to know her, I have seen her deep desire to grow in her knowledge of God, and to serve Him whole-heartedly. She comes early to help set up, and she stays late to help put things away. She never seeks attention for herself, and always gives glory to God.

In the secular world, she would be considered a nobody. But to God, she is beautiful, valuable, treasured. She is one of the faithful Christ followers we are called to honor.

The Bible gives us many lists of attributes that describe genuine Christ followers. Those in our culture, and even Christians who are distracted by the world around them, see these lists as nothing but a bunch of rules; they might describe them as backwards, old-fashioned, or only for legalists.

However, Scripture describes the life of a believer in this way because living this way brings glory to God, and joy to those who serve Him.

The Apostle Paul reminds us

“the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:25a).

What doesn’t make sense to the world around us makes perfect sense to God; and what strikes the world as incredibly wise doesn’t even compare to the foolishness of God.

Lord God, You are infinitely wise. Help me to trust Your Word, even when it is difficult and makes no sense to me. I believe that it makes sense to You, and You are trustworthy. Amen.

Thought: Read the list of attributes in Psalm 15 again. Is there something from this list that you are struggling to accept? Pray that the Lord would convict you of your sin and change your heart so that you would desire His wisdom and not the wisdom of the world.

By Caran Jantzen

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“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” – Mark 8:19

There is a major shift in the church these days. While the vast majority of people identify with being “Christian,” there is a new trend or shift in the wrong direction. Many are moving from a convictional faith (one that is deeply rooted in Biblical faith) to a more cultural belief in a “feels good” religion.

As Ed Stetzer so aptly put it: “The Church isn’t dying off, it’s just being more clearly defined”. The new “in” faith is best described as moral therapeutic deism, where people worship a creative god who blesses people who are good, nice and fair, and helps believers be happy and feel good about themselves. It is a naive and coldly utilitarian view of God.

This new wave of belief has given up on the truth of Scripture and has nothing to say to a fallen world.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these:

1. “A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.”
2. “God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.”
3. “The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.”
4. “God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.”
5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.”

That, in sum, is the creed to which much postmodern faith can be reduced. When it comes to the most crucial questions of faith and beliefs, many respond with a shrug and “whatever.” Most are incredibly inarticulate about their religious beliefs, and most are virtually unable to offer any serious theological understanding. The casual “whatever” that marks so much of the American moral and theological landscapes is a substitute for serious and responsible thinking.

The essential question of the Christian faith is found in Mark 8:19 where Jesus asked Peter: “Who do you say I am?” If Jesus is not the center of what we believe, then our faith is meaningless.

As more and more churches and their members move away from scriptural authority, the more their faith diminishes into a meaningless faith that blends with a postmodern world that is counter cultural to true Christian faith.

Where are you in your relationship with Jesus today?

By John Grant