Highlights - Episode 52 | Antidote to Fear

The answer for our fears is not a what, but a who.

First: Remember, God is BIGGER than our problem.

Second: Pursue your friendship with God BEFORE you face a crisis.

Third: Pray earnestly.

Fourth: Take Action.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Fifth: Say “no” to fear.
Fear knocked, faith answered and no one was there.

Sixth: Never face your fears alone.

Highlights

Live No Lies, by John Mark Comer

Deceptive ideas play to disordered desires that are normalized in a sinful society.

The Devil The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. Disinformation is at the root of almost every single problem we face in our society and our souls Soak your mind and imagination in Jesus’ truths before you are assaulted with the devil’s lies.
The Flesh Every time you think or do something it becomes easier to think or do that same thing again, and the more you repeat this process the harder it is to break the self-perpetuating cycle. Cells that fire together, wire together. At first we make our own decisions, but then our decisions make us…The lies we believe, lead to behaviors we can’t leave. What Scripture reading is to our fight with the Devil, fasting is to our fight with the flesh. For confession to yield…freedom, it must drag our sins into the light…Just the act
The World The world - a system of ideas, values, morals, practices, and social norms that are integrated into the main stream and eventually institutionalized in a culture corrupted by sin…The distorted becomes normative…If you can make it trend, you can make it true. Every follower of Jesus in every culture has to constantly ask the question, in what ways have I been assimilated into the host culture? Where have I drifted from my identity as a Christ-follower? A growing number of people are more loyal to the ideology of their political party than they are to Jesus and his teachings. We can't follow Jesus alone. And by following Jesus together, we are able to discern Jesus’ truth from the devil’s lies, help one another override our flesh…, and form a robust community of deep relationships that functions as a counterculture to the world. In doing so, we’re able to resist the gravitational pull of all three enemies of the soul. To say “yes” to Jesus invitation is to say no to 1000 other things. As the monks used to say, "every choice is a renunciation." It's 1000 tiny deaths that all lead up to one massive life. It’s… the freedom of yielding to love. It's saying to Jesus, “whatever, wherever, whenever, I am yours.

Other books by John Mark Comer: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, (2019) Practicing the Way, (2024)

Three Comer Interviews: https://careynieuwhof.com/mypodcast/ #’s 316, 440 and 626

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-carey-nieuwhof-leadership-podcast/ id912753163?i=1000507476227

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-carey-nieuwhof-leadership-podcast/ id912753163?i=1000534517644

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-carey-nieuwhof-leadership-podcast/ id912753163?i=1000642615384

Restoring the Foundations: https://restoringthefoundations.org/

Highlights: How NOT to Read the Bible (Episode 50)

The road to atheism is littered with Bibles that have been read cover to cover.

To most Christians, the Bible is like a software license. Nobody actually reads it. They just scroll to the bottom and click “I agree.”

Never Read a Bible

Verse By lifting verses out of context, they can easily be misunderstood. The story-line of the Bible must be understood so that we can see where the verse/passage/book fits into the larger over-arching story.

We need to enter their world to hear the words as the original audience would have heard them and as the author would've meant them to be understood…If we don’t the possibilities for confusion are endless.

Stranger Things

The surrounding people groups who worship other gods and goddesses practiced all kinds of evil things…God did not want Israel to become like them, so he had Moses write down loving guidelines…to keep them distinct from other nations.

God didn’t create the institution of slavery. Slavery was man-made and was everywhere in the ancient world. The Old Testament rules established unique protections for slaves. Slaves were treated much better in ancient Israel than in surrounding cultures.

Boys’ Club Christianity

When we read what Jesus did with regard to women, it should be recognized as countercultural, highly shocking, and extremely challenging to the religious leaders of his day. We see Jesus striving to change the culture he lived in through the way he treated women – with respect, dignity, and equality.

The Bible verses that at first sound misogynistic and chauvinistic have explanations.

Misunderstandings are due to not looking at the specific situations and unique culture of that time period.

Do We Have to Choose Between Science and the Bible?

The Bible teaches us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go. (Galileo)

So many of the debates within Christianity, as well as the mocking criticism of the Bible, end up being irrelevant when we accept that God wasn't providing details to satisfy questions from our modern scientific worldview. God used what the people were aware of at that time to communicate the truth about himself and his work in creating all things.

Does Christianity Claim All Other Religions Are Wrong?

Christianity is the one world faith in which people don't have to earn their way to heaven, but it is through the work of Jesus and us putting faith in him.

The Horror of God’s Old Testament Violence

If you were carefully reading the entire Old Testament, you would not find a reactionary God who needs a class in anger management, someone who strikes out randomly, without cause. Instead, you find a God who is patient – again and again – with his people. Even in the parts where God is actively behind violence and death, it is not done without first pleading for change, giving warnings, waiting for change and showing great patience.

Jesus Loved His Crazy Bible

The Bible Project Podcast (12/06/2021) Interview with Dan Kimball

The Lost World of Genesis One, John Walton

ReGenerationProject.org