Author: Dave Dishman (Page 275 of 475)

I hate to deny myself things I crave, yet denial forms a foundation to Christian discipleship. Jesus clearly told those who will follow him, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24).

One of Paul’s fellow missionaries soured on denial. Demas traveled and served with Paul on many of his trips (see Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 24). But eventually Demas deserted the missionary band. Paul says he left because he loved this world. The suffering and hard living and denial rose to the point of exhaustion. Demas tapped out.

I know several people who tapped out in my years of missionary work. To say they loved the world describes them well. Most leave for fewer financial or moral strictures on their life, or they find it easier to acquiesce to the whims of society. They tire of taking up their cross.

I have no doubt Demas ministered faithfully shoulder to shoulder with Paul, but something pulled him away. No one stands above temptation. Even Judas, who spent three years walking alongside Jesus, deserted the King of kings in the end. I don’t look down on Demas, or my Demas-like former colleagues. Except for the grace of God there go I.

Eventually I hope to say like Paul, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Which reads a lot better when carved into a tombstone than he deserted me.

2 Timothy 4 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by James Ting

Lots of well-meaning folks gush about how you should follow your heart, pursue your dreams, grab what you can from life, look to yourself first, and indulge in the finer things because you deserve them.

Solomon, who indulged better than a Russian oligarch, gave similar advice but with a sobering twist: Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgement.

I thought I lived in a judgement-free zone?! Solomon reminds me of an inconvenient truth—I will stand before the Lord and answer for my actions, good or ill. We all face a reckoning, whether we believe in it or not.

So, the next time you pat someone on the knee and speech-ify about grabbing life by the throat, finish the sentence. Remind them that God asks for an account. People deserve the whole truth—bumper sticker slogans help no one.

Follow your heart? Absolutely. Just remember the Lord follows it as well.

Ecclesiastes 11 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Waranont (Joe)

Sometimes I read things in the Scriptures that sound so up-to-date I immediately read them again. I did so with this passage, while visions of our social media soaked world danced in my head:

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.

I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I love seeing family and hearing from friends, and I like publishing this blog. But I hate trying to have a conversation with any depth or nuance. I hate the way people treat those they disagree with, and I hate the way I get drawn into the snarkiness of it all.

In so many ways, social media magnifies these qualities Paul described as characteristic of the last days. Every hour a new internet mob assails someone for a mistake, current or even long past. Reprehensible language machine-guns back and forth. A lack of goodwill permeates the digital spaces.

Then turn toward the way social media promotes love of self, love of money, love of pleasure and the ditching of self-control. All those influencers promoting all that stuff. How should I treat myself today?

To be frank, social media is the most powerful disseminator of ignorance in human history. While it’s not going away, we were better off without it. The opinion of a crotchety old man? Perhaps, but I present a powerful case made stronger every day.

I don’t normally give much thought to end-times prophecies. But these words of Paul from an ancient era point to deep fissures in our modern world. How ironic to discover the best evidence for the last days in the wondrous technological devices we carry everywhere we go.

2 Timothy 3 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by camilo jimenez

I enjoy a glance up at the stars when taking out the trash or getting home late, or just walking outside for a few minutes before locking up for the night.

But seeing the stars in all their glory involves moving away from ambient light and spending more than a few seconds peering at the heavens. Stargazing involves slowing and stillness. Only when our frenetic days fade to quiet do the stars come out.

The Lord speaks of a similar practice: Be still and know that I am God.

Like stargazing, stillness brings out the depth and nuance and brightness of the Lord. It takes quiet and calm to consider his ways. Exactly the opposite of what my daily intake of social media, news channels, and entertainment brings. There are times for these I suppose, but limited. I don’t find the Lord in those places.

Perhaps many of us feel closer to the Lord when outdoors because it’s calmer out there. Our hearts are stiller in the woods than on the freeway.

Loads of people gaze at the stars and grow convinced there must be a God. Stillness under the stars opens us to the one who spoke and flung those very stars into space.

So, in the warmth of a summer evening, stroll outside and enjoy the stars. There’s no better way to be still and know that I am God.

Psalm 46 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Ryan Hutton