Tag: media

Psalms & Proverbs, wisdom for every season

The Voices We Listen To Shape Our Lives | Wisdom from Psalms & Proverbs

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Proverbs, Psalms, Scripture

Today I’m reminded of the dangers of the company we keep. I’ve started reading through Proverbs and Psalms again every day. One chapter of Proverbs per day (today is the 22nd, so I read chapter 22), and 5 Psalms today (today is the 22nd, so 106-110). Allow me to share a few of the words of wisdom that struck me this morning.

“Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.” – Prov 22:10

“Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.” – Prov 22:24-25

“Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what’s right.” – Psalm 106:3

“He loved to pronounce a curse—may it come back on him. He found no pleasure in blessing—may it be far from him.” – Psalm 109:17

Over and over again in today’s reading, it contrasted the ways of the Lord with those of the world, and what stood out to me was eye-opening.

The way of the Lord is to bless others, and in doing this they will be blessed.
The way of the evil one is to curse others, and in doing this they will be cursed.

The way of the Lord is to sing praises to him.
The way of the evil one is to mock others.

The way of the Lord is to seek justice.
The way of the evil one is cover up, deception, and depriving others of justice.

The way of the Lord is peace, driving away those who are divisive and cause endless arguments.
The way of the evil one is mocking and insulting others, constantly looking for an argument.

I could continue on and on from just the 6 chapters I read this morning. But those 6 chapters were a good reminder. Now let’s take this one step further.

In your family, do you speak more blessings on others, or curses? Are your mouths filled with praises of God, or mocking and insults of others? Does you work to pursue justice in all things no matter the cost, or are you ok with depriving others of justice so long as things work out the way you want? Do you strive for peace, or is there always an argument to be had?

How about in your circle of friends?

How about in the media and entertainment you consume?

How about in your social media feed?

Do people see the way of the Lord, or the way of the evil one in how you speak and interact with the world?

Perhaps there’s some conversations I need to have in a different way. Perhaps there’s some “friends” I need to remove from my feed. Perhaps there are some voices I need to stop listening to, and some influencers I need to stop allowing to influence me.

Just some thoughts that have been floating through my mind this morning.

“With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them.” – Psalm 109:30-31

Faith or Fear?

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Christianity, Life, Scripture

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Psalm 56:3 NIV

During these strange days of the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s easy to lose our discernment. We’re bombarded with information coming at us from all directions. 24 hour continuous TV coverage of sick people, or possible sick people, or the stock market falling, or the sky falling. It seems to never stop. And it’s enough to drive a person crazy!

So how do we know what information is helpful, and what information we should ignore? Simple. Ask this one question.

Does this build my faith, or my fear?

Pretty simple right? Much harder to apply though. We get sucked into the vortex of the news cycle. There’s always another case, there’s always another news report, there’s always another distraction. We want to be informed (and we should be informed), but be careful where you are getting your news from. Not everything on the news is beneficial. After all, CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS, and any other member of the alphabet soup news media is ultimately trying to accomplish one thing: make money.

“If it bleeds, it leads” as the old expression goes. And if the most engaging news story is the Coronavirus, they will report on it non stop, even if there is nothing new to report. And this type of news builds our fear, not our faith.

So how do we build our faith instead of fear?

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Romans 10:17 NIV

If you want to build your faith instead of fear, turn off the news and open your Bible.

Every day we are trying to offer Christ-centered, Spiritually fulfilling content to build your faith, not your fear. Sunday morning livestream Bible studies, Monday blog posts, Tuesday videos, Wednesday morning Bible studies, Wednesday evening prayer time, Thursday afternoon Bible questions are answered, Friday blog posts, and Saturday we rest.

And we’re not the only ones pushing out Biblical content. It’s my opinion that the Gospel is being preached more in this time when we cannot meet than it has ever been preached. Virtually every congregation is trying to get the message of Christ broadcast wherever they can, which sadly is a brand new concept for some of them.

This is a wonderful time to grow in faith, but you have to say no to fear.

So this week before you click on the news story, or before you watch the news, or before you have that conversation with your friend who swears the sky is falling…ask yourself:

Does this build my faith, or my fear?

I look forward to opening God’s word with you on Sunday morning at 10:00am CST on Facebook, our church website, and on YouTube. Until then, build faith.