Josh Hunt's Blog, page 258
October 9, 2016
Respectable sins
In his 1973 book Whatever Became of Sin? psychiatrist Karl Menninger wrote, The very word, “sin,” which seems to have disappeared, was once a proud word. It was once a strong word, an ominous and serious word.… But the word went away. It has almost disappeared—the word, along with the notion. Why? Doesn’t anyone sin […]
October 8, 2016
Slay the giant of discouragement
First Response: Cry out to God. “Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger […]
October 7, 2016
How to start your Bible Study
The beginning sets the tone for the whole. Like Scott Peck’s classic beginning line of The Road Less Traveled, “Life is Difficult.” We wanted to believe it was easy, or you could make it easy, or easier in three easy steps. Or, Rick Warren’s beginning line of The Purpose Driven Life, “It is not about […]
What is the gospel?
What was the gospel that Jesus and the early disciples proclaimed it? It was not the answer to the question: what are the minimum requirements for going to Heaven when I die. It was all about the Kingdom of God. It was all about “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it […]
October 6, 2016
The Power of Habit
Most of life is on autopilot. Your life is largely about habits you have made. We don’t make decisions about most of the things we do. We develop a habit, and the habit determines our life. As the old saying goes, “Choose your rut carefully; you are going to be in it for the next […]
October 5, 2016
Listening to the Word is not enough
Two brothers were walking on their father’s extensive, wooded acreage when they came upon a young tree heavy with fruit. Both enjoyed as much of the delicious fruit as they wanted. When they started back, one man gathered all the remaining fruit and took it home with him. His brother, however, took the tree itself […]
October 4, 2016
Slay the Giant of Fear
The next step is all about taking advantage of wonderful, untapped resources. Most people simply don’t realize the treasure that lies at their fingertips. The Bible is filled with practical promises. Any one of them, if we choose to take hold of it, leads to liberation from some tough problem of life. If I were […]
October 3, 2016
The Gospel According to Jesus
I believe there has been a fundamental misunderstanding about Jesus’ message in our day. People have gotten the idea that Jesus’ gospel—his Good News—is primarily about how to get ready for life on the other side of the hedge, rather than the announcement that the mysterious Someone has broken through the hedge and entered our […]
October 1, 2016
Don’t just read the Word…
If reading the Bible can be compared to cruising the width of a clear, sparkling lake in a motorboat, studying the Bible is like slowly crossing that same lake in a glass-bottomed boat. The motorboat crossing provides an overview of the lake and a swift, passing view of its depths. The glass-bottomed boat of study, […]
September 30, 2016
This spiritual discipline will change your life
If you still doubt that Christians need to be exhorted to discipline themselves to read the Bible, consider this: USA Today reported a poll just three months before this writing that showed only 11 percent of Americans read the Bible every day. More than half read it less than once a month or never at […]
