by Caleb Moore | Feb 19, 2019
Often when we pray, we pray for relief. We pray for
financial relief, emotional relief and physical relief. Most of us have never
prayed for pain, at least not directly, but pain is often a result of our
prayer life.
Any time you want to grow spiritually you can be sure that
pain will play a part. If I were to ask you in what seasons of life do you grow
the most spiritually, many of you would talk about a difficult circumstance you
went through.
Maybe it was the sickness of a loved one where you had to
learn to trust God. Maybe it was loosing a job, where again, you had to learn
to trust God for provision. In all of my biggest leaps of spiritual growth,
pain played a big part.
The question isn’t, “Will there be pain?” The question is,
which kind of pain will you choose? Sometimes I grow because I suffer the
consequence of my own actions. This is self-inflected pain that God uses to
grow me. Other times, the pain is found when I am following God’s commands, and
the situation gets really difficult.
In the Old Testament, Elijah experiences good growth through
pain. He stands before Ahab and proclaims that it will not rain until he
decides that it is time. Elijah got to be the mouth of God before an evil and
powerful man. He got the chance to really make a difference and to stand on the
greatest stage where he spoke boldly for God.
Then God leads him to a stream where ravens bring him his
food, and he drinks from the water. However, over time the stream begins to go
dry. Why? Because that is exactly what Elijah prayed for. Pretty soon Elijah
gets thirsty, and the water is all gone. His pain was a direct result of his
prayer life.
I would argue that God was using that time to prepare Elijah
for what comes next. It’s hard to see when you are in the midst of a struggle,
but sometimes that pain is a blessing, especially if it is the result of
obedience.
Too many times we pray for God to ease the pain of our own
mistakes. If pain is inevitable, then it would be best to experience the growth
that comes from obedience.
So this is the choice we as Christians have to make. What
kind of pain do you want? Do you want the pain of consequences or the pain of
obeying your calling? When we follow the example of Elijah, or even Jesus
himself who chose the pain of the cross, God uses that obedience in mighty
ways.
This week, I ask that you pray a dangerous prayer. Pray for
pain, but pray for the pain that comes from trusting God. If we are to mature,
we must trust, and trust is always scary. But I would rather suffer from
obedience than have to suffer one more time for the same old mistakes of my
past.
by Caleb Moore | Jan 24, 2019
Christian music has changed a lot since it first entered the scene. When I was younger, there were only a few bands to pick from unless you were into old timey gospel music.
I remember my parents having only a few records of Christian Music, and if you didn’t like Amy Grant then your music choices were cut in half. In spite of this limited selection I was told that I should only listen to Christian Music. That was a problem for me because I didn’t really like anything I heard.
It wasn’t that I didn’t love Jesus; I just didn’t like the songs or the style of music that was available. As I grew older, Christian music went through an incredible transformation and began to explode on the radio and in the stores.
Suddenly you didn’t just have a few popular bands; now you could find Christian music in almost any style. Christian pop has become increasingly popular and influential with their songs, even being adapted into Sunday Morning services
When I was a teenager, some older Christians suggested that I get rid of all my secular music. They convinced me that any song that didn’t sing about Jesus must be of the devil. There was no scriptural argument for that position, but they pushed the issue so much that I finally gave in and threw it all away. That lasted about a month, and then I went back out and bought all my old tapes again.
Silly as it might seem, this became a place where I struggled for sometime. I felt like less of a Christian because I wasn’t up-to-date on the latest musical trends. All I wanted to do was listen to Bob Dylan whose music moved me in a way most Christian music had not. I felt like I had to keep my musical preferences hidden in fear that people might think I am immature in my faith.
It wasn’t until later that I realized why I always had conflict in this area. The truth is, I don’t believe there is such a thing as Christian Music.
That may sound strange so allow me to clarify. I’m in a church while writing this, but the chair I’m sitting on is not a “Christian” chair. The word Christian is a noun not an adjective. Jesus didn’t die on the cross to save pop music; He died to save people who sometimes make pop music. There can be a danger when we make the word Christian an adjective.
There are many books that are labeled Christian that teach things that are contrary to the truth of Scripture. There can be music labeled Christian that teaches false truths as well.
We often slap that word onto things to let people know that whatever is inside is safe and palatable. We’ve turned it into a label that gets applied to things so you don’t have to question it. But Christianity was never meant to be a simple label; it is a role that all of us are called to live out by our words and actions.
Sometimes I listen to Christians who make music. It took a long time, but there are now bands that fit my musical tastes.
I like French Canadian folk music, so I have never had a wide range of options when it comes to finding music. The singers are Christian and sometimes their songs are about Christ.
But I want to be careful how I label things, so that I don’t allow junk food into my heart and mind simply because someone else has slapped the label Christian onto it.
by Caleb Moore | Jan 9, 2019
Study after study is revealing what we already know. Social media is having a devastating effect on our children.
It is not just the time it takes up or the fact that many kids are waking up to check their phones in the middle of the night, making their quality of sleep worse. No, the real problem is the depression and anxiety it causes.
At first, we had no idea what this type of connectivity would cause. We could see some productivity issues in adults, but we were clueless as to how destructive it would be to minds that are still developing.
But now we know, and something must be done about it. It is too hazardous to just look the other way and assume that it doesn’t apply to your children.
The negative effects of social media hit girls the hardest. Boys with smartphones are much more likely to abuse them by excessively playing video games or accessing pornography, which is equally as destructive, but these dangers are more recognizable. Girls, however, are using social media platforms that are widely accepted without being aware of the damaging consequences.
Since 2009, there has been a 62 percent increase in girls age 15-19 cutting themselves to the point of needing hospitalization. When I was a youth pastor, this epidemic was just beginning, and I had several girls who seemed otherwise healthy who cut themselves on a regular basis.
This self-harming is an early indicator that the person is suffering from severe depression and anxiety. This may seem horrifying, but it’s even worse for preteen girls. Their self-harm rate has increased by 189 percent. This younger group typically had a fairly low rate of self-harm, but it has more than tripled in just the last five years.
Why is it so damaging? There are lots of reasons, from self-image issues to bullying. Boys tend to be physically aggressive, whereas girls are socially aggressive, and social media has given them the ability to destroy another person with a single angry post.
There is also the image issues it can cause. You may have seen a girl take 20 selfies, trying to get just the right light and right angle. Then those photos get edited, and hashtags added that make their lives seem far greater than they actually are. This type of double life can easily lead to a person feeling like a fake, creating a deep sense of loneliness.
What can a parent do to protect the child God has blessed them with? The experts recommend that kids should have no social media accounts until they are in high school, and once they do have accounts, any phone or laptop be removed from their room at least one hour before bedtime.
These may seem like extreme measures, and you can expect them to protest, but as the evidence continues to pour in, we have a duty to protect our kids from things that show a great ability to cause emotional and perhaps even physical harm.
All the data listed in this post was taken from the book The Coddling of the American Mind by Lukinoff & Haidt.
by Caleb Moore | Dec 24, 2018
If you listen very carefully on Dec. 25, you can hear a sound that only happens once a year. It’s the sound of millions of pieces of wrapping paper being torn simultaneously all across the globe.
Little kids are always excited to see what they got, but they may also be equally as excited to tell their friends what they got. I remember the first day of school after Christmas break; everyone would be talking about what it was that they got that year for Christmas.
We all wanted to be the kid who got the latest video game console or new bike. It seemed like the better present you got the cooler you became.
Even as kids we often used material possessions to find out where we belong on the social ladder.
This carries over into our adult lives. We might not talk about what we got, but we can be guilty of bragging about what we got our children or spouse.
This attitude isn’t just limited to the holiday season either. It’s really hard not to brag when we make a big purchase like a house or a car. I’m guilty of announcing a new car on social media like it was a new baby.
This kind of social bragging is what some commentators think Paul was talking about in 1 Thess. 4:11 when he wrote, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands…” There are lots of ways we are ambitious, but rarely do I think of myself as being ambitious to be quiet.
This is totally contrary to a celebrity-driven world where everyone wants to be known, and if they can’t be famous they at least want to be popular. When two guys meet each other for the first time one of the first things we ask is “What do you do for a living?” Sometimes this is an innocent question, but other times, it’s a way of gauging the worldly value of another person.
Paul continues to write why he would call them to such a life. In verse 12 he continues, “so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”
God wants our daily lives to speak great volumes, not just carefully selected moments that make us look good. Another way of saying this is that your character is more important than your career or what you own. We simply don’t live by the rules the rest of the world lives by.
Reading 1 Thess. 4:11-12 made me think about the things I pursue. Before today, I don’t think living a quiet life was on my list of pursuits, but it’s a good truth to be believed. Our lives speak volumes when we are truly loving and respectful on a daily basis as we preach the grace of Christ to all who will listen.
by Caleb Moore | Dec 11, 2018
You may have driven by a church that had the words “apostolic” or “oneness” in the name of it. Inside they sing songs about Jesus and read from the same Bible you might read. From a distance, they seem like just another charismatic Christian church, but there are a few key differences that may put them outside of the boundaries of Christianity.
The major issue within the oneness movement is an old heresy that resurfaces every now and then. Its theological name is modalism, but it is most commonly known as oneness. This simply means that they do not believe in the Trinity. Believers in this idea say that God appeared in different modes at different times. It’s as though God the Father has a mask that He puts on. Sometimes He is the Son, and sometimes He is the Father, but they never coexist.
Another one of their beliefs is that you must be baptized in the name of Jesus only, and a true conversion will be evident by the speaking of tongues. This means that if you have never spoken in tongues then the Holy Spirit doesn’t really live within you. The Oneness Apostolic group was kicked out of the Assembly of God church for teaching things that are contrary to Scripture.
Like many false teachers, they put forth the claim that the Trinity was some pagan invention that was forced into the church. Not only is this easy to disprove but we see the Trinity in the Old Testament, and Jews historically believed in one God who existed in several persons. They often called this the two powers of heaven with a growing belief that there was a third that was some kind of Spirit. It wasn’t until the rise of Christianity that Jewish leaders began to forbid talking about the two powers in heaven belief because it sounded too much like Christianity.
This was documented by the late scholar Alan Segal in his book “Two Powers in Heaven.” The two powers idea was a way to understand certain passages like Genesis 19:24 where God seems to appear in two separate ways that interact with each other. We even have the Hellenistic Jew Philo of Alexandria writing before the birth of Jesus in a way that sounds very Trinitarian. He wrote, “the one living and true God there were two supreme and primary powers–goodness and authority; and that by his goodness he had created every thing, and by his authority he governed all that he had created; and that the third thing which was between the two, and had the effect of bringing them together was LOGOS, for that it was owing to LOGOS that God was both a ruler and good” (cheribum 27-28).
There are also some verses that make the oneness belief really awkward. For example, how can Jesus pray to the Father if Jesus and the Father cannot coexist at the same time? Despite all the problems that come with this belief, it continues to grow all over the world. I encourage you to make yourself aware of some of their beliefs so that you can have healthy conversations with those around you.
If you would like to read more on this subject I recommend the book “Oneness Pentecostals and the Trinity” by Gregory Boyd.