Today’s blog continues Pastor Kyle Idleman’s discussion of the “divine” attributes of money in Chapter 9 of Gods at War, as illustrated in The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12: 13-19). 2. The rich fool looks to money as his source of satisfaction. Pastor Idleman relates a recent discussion he and his wife had […]
In Chapter 9 (“The God of Money”) of Gods at War, Pastor Kyle Idleman notes that of the 38 parables Jesus tells, 16 deal with the subject of money. The author adds that Jesus seems to be clearly stating that God’s main competition for our hearts often is the god of money. The reason why […]
Pastor Kyle Idleman continues his discussion of pleasure in Chapter 7 of Gods at War by observing that the god of entertainment, rather than inspiring our “bored and apathetic” existence, in truth makes us feel more bored and apathetic. In fact, several years ago Neal Postman wrote a book titled Amusing Ourselves to Death, in […]
In Chapter 7 (“The God of Entertainment”) of Gods at War, Pastor Kyle Idleman tells of a mission trip one of his friends made to India. His friend had a picture of what served as the family room in an Indian home. The centerpiece, somewhat like a mantel on a heart in our country, featured […]
Pastor Kyle Idleman continues his discussion of pleasure in Chapter 6 of Gods at War by noting that pleasure has a rather unique trait: “the more intensely you chase it, the less likely you are to catch it.” When we make the pursuit of pleasure our god, we experience anything but pleasure. As the author […]
While Chapter 6 of Pastor Kyle Idleman’s book Gods at War specifically deals with the god of sex, his comments are pertinent to all of God’s pleasurable blessings. At the beginning of the chapter, the author astutely describes how our sinful nature changes the impact of God’s gifts: ” . . . isn’t it amazing […]
In Chapter 5 (“The God of Food”) of Gods at War, Kyle Idleman discusses why we may look to food for comfort rather than the Comforter. When we eat, the author observes, we’re not just looking for bodily sustenance, but satisfaction. And God is lavish in His gifts- including our enjoyment of food. Problems occur, […]
Part 2 of Pastor Kyle Idleman’s book Gods at War begins with an introduction in which he discusses the place of pleasure in modern life. The author notes that today pleasure comes close to being the whole theme of daily living. Much more than our ancestors, we expect our daily work to be pleasurable. As […]
In today’s blog, Pastor Kyle Idleman (Gods at War) presents and discusses the 3rd and 4th options offered by Joshua. Option 3: Gods of Our Culture– The newest gods the Israelites encountered, “the newcomers to this cosmic clash” as the author puts it, belonged to the Amorites. The most significant weapon the Amorite gods had was […]
Today Pastor Idleman continues his presentation and discussion of Joshua’s 4 options (compass points) in Gods at War. Option 2: Gods of Your Past– The author observes that the Egyptians were much like the Mesopotamians, having a “diverse and highly-developed pantheon of deities, often mixing human and animal body parts to create specific gods. In […]
Earlier in Chapter 4 of Gods at War, Pastor Kyle Idleman presented several options that Joshua presented to the people of Israel in his farewell address at Shechem. Pastor Idleman asks us to think of those 4 options (Joshua’s 3 plus Jesus) as compass points, because whatever option we choose will head us in a […]
Pastor Kyle Idleman (Gods at War) concludes his spiritual arteriogram today with Questions 5-7 (the author’s words are in bold type). 5. Where is your sanctuary? In Psalm 46: 1-2 we read: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the […]