Barney Wiget's Blog, page 25
July 8, 2020
A Prayer for Endurance
Churchill said, “This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure.” Endurance is something that more Christians need more of today.
I’ve been praying Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:9-12 to increase my own endurance. I hope this short video will help you to dare and endure in Christ.
July 6, 2020
Ravenous for Righteousness
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
Jesus didn’t come here with a fistful of Religion Redux; instead he exhibited and explained a whole new way of behaving that starts on the inside and shows on the outside. Any sort of “tacked on” righteousness simply will not do. We can try to hook “good works” onto our branches like ornaments on a Christmas tree, but they tend to drop off as the tree rots. Alternatively, he injects healthy sap into our roots, which courses through our branches and produces a harvest of good fruit.
Since God crucifies “self” and demotes us from frontrunner to follower, the harvest is no monument to our self-effort. “Nothing is more beautiful than righteousness and nothing is more hideous than self-righteousness.”
“Some people will be virtuous not because they love God’s will,” says Thomas Merton, “but because they want to admire their own virtues.” Yet when rooted in the blessed attitudes, righteousness can safely take place without threat of being sucked into self-aggrandizement.
This is an excerpt from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
As such, I’d appreciate your feedback on this post and others to come in order to make the final copy publish-worthy.
July 5, 2020
Smart Muggers Don’t Pick On Navy Seals
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? James 2:5-7
The rich “exploit” the poor by “dragging them into court” … Unlike the poor, the rich can bribe the judge and hire Johnnie Cochran to defend them!
Not to say that all wealthy people abuse their power this way… It’s not that the rich are inherently more evil than the poor, but they have more means and opportunity to hurt more people without breaking a sweat.
Nor is it to say that the poor don’t sin, but this particular sin doesn’t usually happen among the poor since they don’t have the capital to win court cases…
Of course, not all the rich oppress the poor… There are many many wealthy people who appreciate their success and leverage it for the good of the many…
But historically a large proportion of the rich got that way by depriving the poor directly or indirectly in one way or another. They’re easy targets because they have no power to resist…
Smart muggers don’t pick Navy Seals as targets… They choose the weakest mark.
July 3, 2020
Not All Christians Are Fans of Donald Trump
I recommend these books, all by clear-thinking Jesus-following persons with biblical, moral, and philosophical objections to the Donald Trump presidency.
Does anyone have other recommendations on the topic of Mr. Trump’s qualification for the job––for or against?
Bigots in the Church Lobby
Feel free to share this less than 10-minute video on James 2:1-7.
July 1, 2020
God, Partial to the Powerless
When I say God is partial to the poor, doesn’t mean he’s biased… There’s a difference…
He’s partial to the poor in the same way that firefighters are “partial” to houses that are on fire over ones that are not…
When people say to “BLM” – “All lives matter”… When you call 911 and tell ‘em “Come quickly! My house is on fire!” You don’t want to hear: “Ma’am, all houses matter”!
When your house is on fire like the houses of the black community’s, and the fire engine keeps passing you by as though you don’t matter, you too might call out: “My house matters!!!”
A good dad will protect his weakest son from being beaten by his strongest son. IN that regard, he shows his weak son preferential treatment …
As a matter of justice God particularly prefers, protects, and identifies with the weakest members of the community… You see that in the crowd Jesus hung with…
Check out the rest of this video under 8 minutes…
Love Abounding
May my love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that I may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
It all begins with love… Love is the most obvious sign of maturity… It fosters insight, discernment, purity, fruit…
Love is the fuel…
You have a tank full? Neither do I.
That’s why I keep praying for my love to abound more and more… and I encourage you to do the same.
Check out this 6 1/2-minute video for the rest…
June 30, 2020
Acquiring a Quiet Soul
For some brief remarks (under 5 minutes) on this beautiful Psalm, watch this…
June 26, 2020
Jesus’ Little Brother James
Can’t you just see young Jesus bringing people home for dinner every night, not so much his buddies from soccer camp, but widows and orphans he encountered on the way home from school? Maybe, for practice, he healed sparrows and multiplied breakfast for the family but it’s more likely that he washed the feet of homeless orphans and widows…
Can’t you hear James at the table, “Seriously, Jesus! Who’s this now? Couldn’t we just have a family dinner once in a while without all these indigents who smell bad and eat our food?” …
Jesus responds: “Sorry, bro, but I couldn’t help myself. If it’s a matter of not having enough, they can have my plate. I’m happy to fast. Plus, it seems to me that everyone is ‘family’ Right? Besides, what about those who don’t have a family?” …
Mary whispers to James, “Just be patient with him. I know, he’s different. I know his ways are strange to us and it is inconvenient to have him as a brother, but give it some time and see if down the road it doesn’t make sense. In the meantime, pass the pasta!”
A few years later James gets converted and he becomes a full-on adopter of the upside down way Jesus. “Real religion, the kind that God likes is to feed the homeless and loveless and give ‘em the best seat at church!”…
Take 5-minute video for the rest…
June 25, 2020
What’s In It For Us?
Some hunger for the righteousness that promises earthly rewards and some heavenly, but the better way––whether in the hereafter or the here and now––is to live the best version of ourselves while enjoying intimacy with the Rewarder himself. The most exquisite rewards are those that come from living so near him that you hear his whisper in your ear and feel his heart beating inside your chest.
While Lawligans do righteousness more as image-management and to feel good about themselves, those pursuing surpassing righteousness merely hope to reflect glory back to God and advance the kingship of Jesus on earth where its saltiness doesn’t evaporate and its light doesn’t run for cover.
Love doesn’t keep books or think in terms of profit and loss any more than a mother records the number of times she heats her baby’s bottle or changes its diaper.
Those with surpassing righteousness don’t use God to make them look good, but revel in the privilege of being used by him to show others how good he is!
This is an excerpt from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
As such, I’d appreciate your feedback on this post and others to come in order to make the final copy publish-worthy.
