Sunday, April 17, 2022

Where Do You Find Hope?

   Almost any of us who know the Easter story know that one of the main themes is hope. But that is only one story that has the theme of hope. Think about any of the stories you know where hope is a theme. Some may have happy endings, while others may have sad endings. Everyone has hoped for one thing or another in their lives. But, are we hoping for the right thing?
   We all have our own story here on earth. There are ups and downs in our stories. And, there are times we may not have hope. There is only one story that gives us true hope. And, it starts with God creating the world. Then man fell into sin. There was little hope in the world, except for a promise that God would send a perfect lamb to be sacrificed on our behalf. God sent His only son to die on the cross for us. The true story of hope is found in the Bible.
   But, there is one other great thing about this story of hope found in the Bible: it’s not over yet. God gives us a chance to be a part of the story. He gives us our hope in Christ because we know he is coming back. It is our job to make sure that others have the chance to know about this hope in Jesus. But, Jesus coming back isn’t even the end of the story either. When he comes back we will get to live with him forever. See the true story of hope never ends. It’s amazing to think about isn’t it? Hope you all have a happy Easter.
   Mark 8:31, Luke 24:6-7, Revelation 21:4

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Looking through Your Worldview Lense

   I attended Lancaster Bible College for 4 and 1/2 years. While there, there was one topic that was always talked about. During Freshman year I don't think that I was in a single class that did not mention at least one part of this idea of a Worldview.
   Every person has their own Worldview whether they know it or not. Your Worldview is based off of people you know, your life experience, and so much more. You may not know all of the parts of your Worldview but let me give you an example of a situation where your Worldview would come into play.
   Imagine you just had a long day at work/school and you knew you had another meeting where you had to go back to work/school. You knew you needed a break before your meeting so you went out to grab a bite to eat and your favorite beverage. You come back to work/school fairly refreshed from your food but you had some of your beverage left over. You go down the stairs and open the door to work/school and pick up your beverage but your drink falls and spills all over the floor. One of your fellow employees/school chums sees that there is a mess. The employee/school chum helps you clean up the mess.
Now, you may be asking how in the world that situation has to do with your worldview. I'm glad you asked. There are different parts of your Worldview that would impact how you view this situation.
   1. Your view of God-in this situation you could be thinking God hates me because this happened even though I'm in a hurry to get to my meeting. Or, you could be thinking thank you God for sending my fellow employee/school chum to help me clean up my mess. Who knows, maybe because of that spill something good happened. You could have impacted that person, you could have made a new friend, you could influence that person to come to Christ, or you could have avoided another disaster that would happen in the future.
   2. Your view of the world-you could be thinking the world is a horrible place because you lost your drink, you have this meeting, and it just isn't fair that everything happens to you. Or, you could be thinking the world is such a great place because it could have been much worse. I could have fallen down the steps with this drink and gotten hurt, the drink could have gotten all over me, etc.
   3. Your view of people-you could think that you wish another person would come to help. You could also think that you can handle cleaning this up yourself because you don't want to owe this person. Or, you could think that person was so nice to help me clean this up. You could say thank you to that person and strike up a conversation in order to make a new friend.
   How you view God, the world, and people impacts how you act every day. Thus this also goes as far as to say that how people treat you says what their Worldview is like.
   This is what I want you to think about: there is power in perspective. Getting to know others and their Worldview helps you to walk in their shoes. It helps you see who they are and why they do what they do. P.S. worldviews are always changing because we change with experience.
   So, do you know what your Worldview is? Are you trying to understand others through their Worldview?
   John 13:34 and Ecclesiastes 3