Displeasure and "Dissed" Pleasures
Last night we talked about making war on anger. Here are a few summary thoughts from our time in God's word. Anger can defined as "a strong feeling of displeasure." Anger is the feeling we are tempted to experience when we have "dissed" pleasures, that is, when we don't get what we want. James 4:1-2 makes this very clear, that the source of our fighting and quarreling is our passions/pleasures and desires/lusts. Behind every instance of anger is an unmet desire. Not every desire is inherently sinful (e.g., sleep, food, relaxation, peaceful relationships), but it can become sinful when we desire that thing more than we desire to honor Christ. When we desire something more than God Himself, we have an idol. Therefore, anger has an amazing capacity to reveal the idols in our lives. The thing that we desired and were unable to attain, and were thereby provoked to anger, is the idol. What idols has your anger revealed lately?
Hillsong United Concert on June 10
Join us on Wednesday, June 10 for the Hillsong United concert at Willow Creek. You need to purchase tickets on your own at this link. We'll carpool together from the church, but those details will come later.
Daring to Dally
John Owen was a preacher in centuries passed (1616-1683), but don't worry, he's still relevant. Here's a quote I found today: "Know that he that dares to dally with occasions of sin will dare to sin. He that will venture upon temptations unto wickedness will venture upon wickedness." Here's the point. If you're willing to mess around with temptation, then you're equally willing to mess around with sin. "But," you say, "temptation to sin and sin are two separate matters!" That's true, but sometimes we're more fond of the temptation than we'd like to admit, so we set ourselves on a path to knowingly rub shoulders with temptation as if that were better than setting out on a direct course to sin. Perhaps an example will clarify. If you're at home watching TV alone you may not say to yourself, "I'm gonna try to find something sinful." However, if you're not watching with an active desire to honor Christ, then you just might be willing to stop your channel surfing at a particular place, saying to yourself, "Hmm. What's this?" knowing full well that you're not heading in the right direction. That willingness to stop and entertain the coming temptation is where sin begins.
Read on only if you're a word nerd. What's up with "dally"? To dally is to show casual interest in something. It comes from an Old French word meaning "to chat." A chat is a casual conversation, usually pretty superficial, noncommittal. Christlikeness is never a matter of casual interest; it doesn't come about that way. It's an all-out pursuit, like when you watch a lion hunting down a gazelle on the Discovery Channel.
Read on only if you're a word nerd. What's up with "dally"? To dally is to show casual interest in something. It comes from an Old French word meaning "to chat." A chat is a casual conversation, usually pretty superficial, noncommittal. Christlikeness is never a matter of casual interest; it doesn't come about that way. It's an all-out pursuit, like when you watch a lion hunting down a gazelle on the Discovery Channel.
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