You know those emails? The ones that sound too good to be true? "Microsoft is doing a survey and if you send this email to 10 people they will track it and send you $50". Yes, you know the type. If you're like me, you head to this site and see whether or not your suspicions are correct.
Pastor Larry Osborne takes this a step further as he sets out to debunk 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe. In a delightful, tell-it-like-it-is, conversational style, he presents ten beliefs Christians tend to entertain. He calls these "spiritual urban legends".
Some of the chapter headings: Faith Can Fix Anything; Forgiving Means Forgetting; A Godly Home Guarantees Godly Kids; God Has a Blueprint for My Life. Osborne challenges the reader to be as the Bereans and check every belief against Scripture.
Careful reading of Scripture can reveal these answers regarding spiritual urban legends:
(pg 19) Faith...is designed to guide us on a path called righteousness...it will take us exactly where God wants us to go
(pg 31) ...It[forgiveness] doesn't start with the wrong that was done to me; it starts with the wrongs that I have done to others.
(pg 60) ...there is little emphasis on the kinds of decisions we commonly stress over. Instead the primary emphasis is on godly character and daily obedience as our pattern of life.
(pg 69) Our job is not so much to find something; it's to become someone---a reflection of his image and character no matter where we find ourselves.
(pg 100) Every trial or hardship calls for the same response: obedience. We are to do the right thing no matter what the outcome.
I especially enjoyed Dumb Idea 9: A Valley Means a Wrong Turn. Osborne divides valleys into three categories; "God Sent Me Here", "I Messed Up", and "Who Knows Why". There are different responses for each situation. Three questions to ask when in a valley are: "Why Am I Here?" "How Should I Respond?" and "What Can I Learn?" Those are questions I've learned to ask myself and encouraged my children to do when in a tough situation. As Osborne states, "There are always lessons to be learned and character to be built no matter what the cause or what the valley."
10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe. Are some of these familiar? Have you really studied Scripture to see if it actually says what you *think* it says? You might be surprised.
Larry Osborne is a teaching pastor at North Coast Church in Vista, California.
2009 Paperback published by Multnomah.
Purchases can be made through: www.amazon.com, www.familychristian.com, and www.christianbook.com
I have one copy to give away.
1 comment:
Oooh, that looks very interesting. If no one else wants it, I hope you will consider me :-)
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