MrsDrPoe: Our Favorite Sins

Welcome to the latest Reading Review!  Today I'll share with you another book I received free from the BookSneeze website, "Our Favorite Sins: The Sins We Commit and How You Can Quit" by Todd D. Hunter:

"Our Favorite Sins" is a book about what the book of James tells us gives birth to sin- temptation and (as Mr. Hunter puts it) our "disordered desires."  Several temporary ways to avoid sin are discussed, as is the lasting solution to our sin problem, which is changing our lives from the inside out.  The overall theme of the book is the fact that we shouldn't rid our lives of desire, but we should instead reorient our desires toward the things of God.

The book was a fairly easy read, thought provoking, and I would definitely recommend it.  I found it very interesting the types of sins that most Christians say they struggle with were things like anxiousness, procrastination, eating, media, and laziness.  

While the premise of changing the focus of our desire is not new, I liked the visualizations employed (our pursuing the path of sin is called a "downward staircase" instead of a "slippery slope"), the importance of time spent in prayer and silence, and the emphasis placed on the fact that our duty to mold our lives to that of our Savior isn't earning us anything.

I do, however, wish that more of the prayers in the book would have come from the Psalms or other scripture instead of works of men.  Also, some of the views indirectly expressed by the author do not appear to follow the ideas New Testament.

MrsDrPoe: Examining Modern Media

Well friends, another Theology Thursday is upon us! As always, I invite you to open your Bibles as we once again examine a portion of God's word.

Sometime in the past year, Mr. Poe and I heard a lesson by our friend Mr. Ellis titled "Glorifying God in Gray Areas." In essence, the lesson pointed out that if you try to look in the Bible for a specific verse about getting a tattoo, what to look at on the internet, etc., you won't find one; however, that doesn't mean that the Bible is out-dated or non-applicable to us. Based on study of the basic New Testament principles and guidelines presented in the Bible, any specific 'modern-day' question we have can be answered. Using this concept, today we will look at the side note from last weeks post about current media.

Mr. Poe and I have tried to be even more diligent recently about screening the music we listen to, the articles and books we read, and the movies and TV show that we watch. In order to do that, we look at reviews of movies, shows, books, and articles and read lyrics to determine which movies, songs, etc. have bad language, inappropriate themes/scenes, or any other trash in them. At this point you may be thinking that we're big weirdos (which is ok with me), but before you totally blow this post off, let's look at two Biblical reasons that influenced our decision in this matter:

1: These influences can lead directly to sin.

Jas 1:14-16 says, "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.*" Inappropriate language and themes in media feed on our desire to be like the stars and other worldly people, to be popular or adventurous or loved, etc. in the way that they are. Like James says, dwelling on these desires leads to us physically committing the sin we see/hear. But it's more than that...it's our thoughts as well. Suppose you're watching an inappropriate movie or music video, which means you've got inappropriate thoughts in your head. Matt 5:28 tells us that "...whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

While James provides part of the solution in 4:7-8, "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded." In his letters to Timothy, Paul tells him to "...flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness," (1 Tim 6:11) and "Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." (2 Tim 2:22) We must resist the devil and flee from lusts/temptations! And the most effective way to do that is to get rid of negative/worldly influences in our lives. As Jesus said in Matt 5:29-30, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast if from you...and if your right hand causes you to sin, cut if off and cast it from you."

2: You can't hate it if you accept it.

If you think that you aren't tempted to use bad language or to lust after a woman/man by popular media, you may need to think again (see * above). But if you're fully convinced that you wouldn't sin in these ways by watching a movie or listening to a song, consider how this media affects your attitude toward the subject of the movie or song. Do you find bad language acceptable for other people to use? Do you find promiscuous acts okay for other people to perform? Now consider the Biblical attitude toward sin and evil:

"Hate evil, love good..." (Amos 5:15)

"Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor; And do not love a false oath. For all these are things that I hate,' Says the LORD." (Zech 8:17)

"These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren." (Prov. 6:16-19)

"For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one's garment with violence..." (Mal 2:16)

If God hates it, and we are striving to be like Him, we should hate it too. But it is very hard to hate something if you don't think it's wrong. We should definitely consider how today's media can skew how we view sin; we should also consider that our acceptance of it and the sin it portrays can be a stumbling block to others...


Any way you look at it, "Evil company [or influence] corrupts good habits." (1 Cor 15:33) I've heard people say that if you wouldn't listen to/watch/etc. something with your grandmother, than you probably shouldn't be listening to/watching/etc. it...but that all depends on who your grandmother is. Instead, next time you listen to a song or watch a movie, pay attention to the content and ask yourself if you would still be listening to or watching it if Jesus was in the room with you. If the answer is no, then you should probably turn it off.

MrsDrPoe: Life Isn't A Sobriety Test

Good morning all, and welcome to Theology Thursday on the blog! I hope that you'll open your Bibles with me as we once again look at some thoughts I've had from my daily Bible reading and recent studies.

As people we have to live in this world, but as Christians we are to not be of the world. A lot of times we say that without actually considering its meaning. Someone in the world will have totally opposite attitudes, behaviors, motives, etc. than someone of the world. This person who is simply in the world has a Christ-centered life; he/she has abandoned the works of the flesh for the fruit of the spirit. Not that he/she is perfect, but he/she is doing everything possible to grow closer to God.

In Matt 5:29-30, Jesus says,

----"If your right eye causes you to sin, puck it out and cast it ----from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your ----members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. ----And if you right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it ----from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your ----members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."

These seem like pretty extreme measures, and because of that fact, we often immediately say to ourselves after reading it that "of course Jesus didn't mean this literally." And He didn't...but if we think about the things that encourage us to engage in specific sins that we may struggle with- a certain friend, a family member, a hobby, etc.- it would be just as painful to cut these people/things out of our lives as it would be to cut off our own hand. But Christ says it is beneficial for us to do so, so that we will not be cast into hell.

The easiest way to keep from sinning is to avoid the temptation in the first place, which again leads us to Jesus' advice to cast things that tempt us away. Too many times we think to ourselves, "I can go out with ___; he/she ___s but I'm strong enough not to be tempted." Even if we're not initially tempted by something, willing putting ourselves into sinful situations can cause us to gradually either become tempted to try this thing or become so accustomed to it that we don't see it how God sees it anymore. We must get rid of our temptations. For good. I believe it was our friend, Mr. B. Hall, who made the point that Jesus didn't say "pull out your eye and set it on your dresser so you can use it later," he said "pull out your eye and throw it away."


Mini Case Study: Joseph
In Gen 39, we see the story of Joseph while he was a slave in Potiphar's house. Potiphar saw that Joseph was blessed in everything that he did because God was with him, Potiphar set Joseph as overseer of the house. While Joseph lived and worked there, his master's wife asked him daily to "lie with her" and "to be with her" (v.10). Joseph declined these advances- both to commit adultery with her AND to be in her presence. In short, he avoided her.

One day, when no one else was in the house, Potiphar's wife grabbed Joseph's garment and again asked him to lie with her. Joseph's response was to run away, leaving his garment in her hand. Since she had his garment, she then proceeded to accuse Joseph of sexual assault, which lead to Potiphar sending Joseph to prison. Here, Joseph is a fantastic example of someone trying his best to avoid not just avoid sin, but to avoid even the temptation to sin.


Life is not a sobriety test. The point is not to walk the line between being pleasing to God and being pleasing to men...we should flee the temptations of the world, striving to please God with all that we are and all that we do.