Welcome to Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger.
Hope is a neglected virtue. When is the last time you reflected on hope or took steps to build the virtue of hope in your life? We hear a lot about faith and love, but not much about hope.
As a virtue, it is an interesting character trait in that we need it the most when it seems the most unreasonable to have it. It is easy to be hopeful when all is good and the future is bright, but hope is built into our hearts and minds when times are tough and the future is uncertain. G.K. Chesterton said, “For practical purposes it is at the hopeless moment that we require the hopeful man, and the virtue either does not exist at all, or it begins to exist at that moment. Exactly at the instant hope ceases to be reasonable it begins to be useful.”
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information, please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Universanity1-Worldview
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
The idea of a Christian worldview is a hot topic right now, and rightfully so. It is a concept that covers more than just what we believe about the world, but how we behave as a result of what we believe. Unfortunately, as Christians, we often do not put enough time into constructing a biblical worldview, and at times we struggle with our interaction with culture.
Dayspring Center for Christian Studies is sponsoring a weekend conference on Feb 10-11 called Univerasnity to help students develop a deep enough worldview to thrive through their University years. The statistics on students who let their faith grow cold during that time are staggering, and we want to help them develop a deep and lasting faith. You can find details at dayspringcenter.org.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director for Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
The idea of a Christian worldview is a hot topic right now, and rightfully so. It is a concept that covers more than just what we believe about the world, but how we behave as a result of what we believe. Unfortunately, as Christians, we often do not put enough time into constructing a biblical worldview, and at times we struggle with our interaction with culture.
Dayspring Center for Christian Studies is sponsoring a weekend conference on Feb 10-11 called Univerasnity to help students develop a deep enough worldview to thrive through their University years. The statistics on students who let their faith grow cold during that time are staggering, and we want to help them develop a deep and lasting faith. You can find details at dayspringcenter.org.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director for Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Evil Religion? Richard Dawkins
Welcome to ETC, I’m Phil Steiger.
Is religion evil? Richard Dawkins thinks so. He is the Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, and recently has gone to some length to argue that religion is evil. His point is that even though Christianity claims to teach morality, nothing but moral evil and ignorance comes from it. As a believer, at least a couple of things could be said.
First, Dawkins makes the mistake of picking bad examples of Christianity to define it. Certainly there have been evils in the history of the Church, but those do not change the moral perfection of Christ, or the potential goodness of believers. Secondly, given Dawkins’ strident naturalism, he is unable to defend a serious distinction between good and evil anyway.
Ironically, he borrows his sense of good and evil from the very religion he claims to debunk.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and director of dayspring center for Christian studies. For more information please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Is religion evil? Richard Dawkins thinks so. He is the Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, and recently has gone to some length to argue that religion is evil. His point is that even though Christianity claims to teach morality, nothing but moral evil and ignorance comes from it. As a believer, at least a couple of things could be said.
First, Dawkins makes the mistake of picking bad examples of Christianity to define it. Certainly there have been evils in the history of the Church, but those do not change the moral perfection of Christ, or the potential goodness of believers. Secondly, given Dawkins’ strident naturalism, he is unable to defend a serious distinction between good and evil anyway.
Ironically, he borrows his sense of good and evil from the very religion he claims to debunk.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and director of dayspring center for Christian studies. For more information please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
1 Thess 5-Always Praying
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
It is hard to always pray, but that is what Paul asks of us in 1 Thessalonians 5. In fact, in verses 16-18, Paul asks Christians to be joyful always, to pray always, and to give thanks always. It is hard to do those things from time to time, much less all the time. Is there a way to get there?
Maybe the most practical way to do these things is to change the way we see the world and put God at the center of it all. The monk Brother Lawrence once said that he determined to make God the aim of all his thoughts and the end of all his actions. He wanted to do and think nothing that did not end up with and in God. Have we reflected yet today on God’s presence with us?
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director at Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
It is hard to always pray, but that is what Paul asks of us in 1 Thessalonians 5. In fact, in verses 16-18, Paul asks Christians to be joyful always, to pray always, and to give thanks always. It is hard to do those things from time to time, much less all the time. Is there a way to get there?
Maybe the most practical way to do these things is to change the way we see the world and put God at the center of it all. The monk Brother Lawrence once said that he determined to make God the aim of all his thoughts and the end of all his actions. He wanted to do and think nothing that did not end up with and in God. Have we reflected yet today on God’s presence with us?
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director at Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Ruth 2-Answer to Prayer
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
How does God answer prayer? Well, in the life of Ruth, we read Naomi's prayer over her that God would help her find a homeland. We also read Boaz's prayer over Ruth that God would repay her for her kindness to his relative Naomi.
Ruth did find a home-it was Naomi’s. And Ruth was repaid for her kindness-when she married Boaz. In both cases, God used Naomi and Boaz to answer their own prayers.
From time to time we fall into a rut when we think God will work something out for the people we pray for by some other means we do not know or see. But as we see with Naomi and Boaz, God will often use us as His way of answering our prayers. Be alert-God may be answering prayer through you and your faithfulness.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director at Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
How does God answer prayer? Well, in the life of Ruth, we read Naomi's prayer over her that God would help her find a homeland. We also read Boaz's prayer over Ruth that God would repay her for her kindness to his relative Naomi.
Ruth did find a home-it was Naomi’s. And Ruth was repaid for her kindness-when she married Boaz. In both cases, God used Naomi and Boaz to answer their own prayers.
From time to time we fall into a rut when we think God will work something out for the people we pray for by some other means we do not know or see. But as we see with Naomi and Boaz, God will often use us as His way of answering our prayers. Be alert-God may be answering prayer through you and your faithfulness.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director at Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Stem Cells 1
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
One of the more pressing issues facing our culture today is stem cell research. Emotions run high as miracle cures are promised if we are only allowed to have access to embryonic stem cells or even the legal right to clone embryos for their stem cells.
Through all the science, one ethical question needs to be asked, what is the human status of the embryo? If life begins at conception, and I believe it does, an embryo is a human with the same rights as any child or adult. Harvesting stem cells requires that the embryo be destroyed, thus destroying a human life. We do not find that acceptable in any case that involves the killing of an adult for the potential aid of others. And we should not find it acceptable in the case of harvesting stem cells from embryos.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director at Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
One of the more pressing issues facing our culture today is stem cell research. Emotions run high as miracle cures are promised if we are only allowed to have access to embryonic stem cells or even the legal right to clone embryos for their stem cells.
Through all the science, one ethical question needs to be asked, what is the human status of the embryo? If life begins at conception, and I believe it does, an embryo is a human with the same rights as any child or adult. Harvesting stem cells requires that the embryo be destroyed, thus destroying a human life. We do not find that acceptable in any case that involves the killing of an adult for the potential aid of others. And we should not find it acceptable in the case of harvesting stem cells from embryos.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director at Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Worldview 2-Engaging Culture
Welcome to Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger.
The need for worldview education is becoming more and more acute everyday. In their recent book, Smart Faith, J.P. Moreland and Mark Matlock make the case that the more we are able to think through our faith, the better off we will all be. This does not mean we all need to be geniuses, but we all need to learn how to love our God with all our minds.
In doing so, we will not only strengthen and deepen our own faith, but we will have a greater impact on the world as well. A few decades ago, parts of the church withdrew from the rest of culture, and the result is that culture has lost its sense of a Christian perspective. Reengagement will take work, but it is the kind of work to which God has called us all.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director for Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.
For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
The need for worldview education is becoming more and more acute everyday. In their recent book, Smart Faith, J.P. Moreland and Mark Matlock make the case that the more we are able to think through our faith, the better off we will all be. This does not mean we all need to be geniuses, but we all need to learn how to love our God with all our minds.
In doing so, we will not only strengthen and deepen our own faith, but we will have a greater impact on the world as well. A few decades ago, parts of the church withdrew from the rest of culture, and the result is that culture has lost its sense of a Christian perspective. Reengagement will take work, but it is the kind of work to which God has called us all.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director for Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.
For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Ruth 1-God In The Ordinary
Part of the power in the book of Ruth is its unassuming nature. In this book, God works through the ordinary lives of ordinary people. There are no miraculous events-no parting seas, floating axe heads, no thunderous voices from heaven. In fact, if we read the book of Ruth looking for God in the spectacular, we will miss Him altogether.
This feels a lot like my life. In reading through this book, it has been impressed upon me that it is about God’s handiwork, not in spite of the simple pastoral setting, but because of it. Understanding Ruth will help correct something in our lives-we cannot equate the ordinary with the unimportant. Your ordinary life today is a potential avenue for the amazing grace and strength of God.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
This feels a lot like my life. In reading through this book, it has been impressed upon me that it is about God’s handiwork, not in spite of the simple pastoral setting, but because of it. Understanding Ruth will help correct something in our lives-we cannot equate the ordinary with the unimportant. Your ordinary life today is a potential avenue for the amazing grace and strength of God.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Lewis-Screwtape and Apathy
It has been said that the greatest threat to the Christian faith in our culture today is not overt persecution, but apathy and slothfulness among Christians. C.S. Lewis highlights this reality in a winsome way with his book, The Screwtape Letters. In it, Lewis takes the point of view of a senior demon advising his nephew on how to separate a man from his church and his faith. More than once, Screwtape’s advice is to allow the man to think he is Christian as he attends church and goes through the motions, while in fact, the man’s true and deep faith has long since grown cold and stale.
From time to time we should reflect on whether we are in that believer’s position. Have we begun to rely on repetition and comfort for our relationship with God, and if so, have we slipped that much further from the depth God wants in our lives?
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.
For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
From time to time we should reflect on whether we are in that believer’s position. Have we begun to rely on repetition and comfort for our relationship with God, and if so, have we slipped that much further from the depth God wants in our lives?
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.
For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Jeremiah 17-Contagious Worship
Our worship as Christians is intended to be contagious. In Jeremiah 17:26-27, God is explaining to His people what their world would be like if they kept the Sabbath and worshiped Him with their whole being. God says:
And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem… bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices,… and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD.
Part of Judah’s problem at this point in history was their failure to worship God with the rhythm of their daily lives. If they had kept the Sabbath, notice the promised result-the attraction of surrounding nations.
Our worship should be no different. May we be an attraction to the rest of the world through lives dedicated to the worship of God.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.
For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem… bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices,… and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD.
Part of Judah’s problem at this point in history was their failure to worship God with the rhythm of their daily lives. If they had kept the Sabbath, notice the promised result-the attraction of surrounding nations.
Our worship should be no different. May we be an attraction to the rest of the world through lives dedicated to the worship of God.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.
For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Worldview 1-Teenagers and Faith
A recent study by the Barna Group noted that of the teenagers who are currently in evangelical youth groups, 58% of them will not be attending church by the time they are 30. That means that over half of the teenagers in the average youth group today will not think their faith is crucial to their lives within fifteen years.
Why do these kinds of things happen? I think the answer to that question begins with the concept of worldview. Many of us have been socialized into our faith-our faith is based on our social structures. To deepen our faith, we need to learn how to think and interact with the world from the standpoint of a well-developed Christian worldview. That way, when we move on from social structures like youth groups, we have the tools we need to apply the mind and life of Christ.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.
For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Why do these kinds of things happen? I think the answer to that question begins with the concept of worldview. Many of us have been socialized into our faith-our faith is based on our social structures. To deepen our faith, we need to learn how to think and interact with the world from the standpoint of a well-developed Christian worldview. That way, when we move on from social structures like youth groups, we have the tools we need to apply the mind and life of Christ.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.
For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
Lewis 1-Abolition of Man
With the recent surge in C.S. Lewis’s popularity, it is good for us to remind ourselves that Lewis was not just a wonderful popular author, but a solid Christian thinker and apologist as well. One of his many enduring works is the short book, The Abolition of Man.
In much of the book, including in his wonderful appendix, Lewis argues that there is an objective moral structure in all humans in all cultures in all times. This is a lesson we sometimes need to remind ourselves of in our relativistic world. God built us in a certain way to work in particular moral fashions. It is simply destructive to believe that anything goes, and that there is no such thing as a moral law to human nature.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.
For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
In much of the book, including in his wonderful appendix, Lewis argues that there is an objective moral structure in all humans in all cultures in all times. This is a lesson we sometimes need to remind ourselves of in our relativistic world. God built us in a certain way to work in particular moral fashions. It is simply destructive to believe that anything goes, and that there is no such thing as a moral law to human nature.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.
For more information, please visit www.everythoughtcaptive.org.
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