IRS Scandal and Lust What do these two things have to do with each other? First, consider the scandal: As a CPA, I deal often with the IRS, taxpayers and exempt organizations. The revelations about current IRS malfeasance make me furious. Knowing that the IRS treats some citizens worse than others—solely because of their political [...]
Crucify The Flesh As those who follow Christ, we are saved by the blood of Christ. It was His sacrifice that made it possible for us to become God’s children. However, we must not sit back and rest in this forgiveness. God intends for our sins to die as well. This is a central theme for the [...]
Present yourself to obedience (Romans 6:16). When we present ourselves, we are giving ourselves up. We are denying our own way and letting God have His way. In teaching about presenting our “members” Paul referenced directly the idea of “members” that Jesus spoke to in His seminal teaching about lust. Based on his study of [...]
Dallas Willard died Wednesday. It is a great loss. Unlike any other writer, he worked tirelessly to correct the failure of the modern church in its duty to “provide effective practical guidance” on how to live as a follower of Christ. ….this was his whole life—encouraging, challenging and most of all demonstrating a close walk [...]
Watchman Nee was an influential teacher out of China and is famous for his book, The Normal Christian Life. The book is based on teaching he gave while visiting Europe in 1938-1939. Nee painted his description of “normal” by drawing from Romans 1-8, concluding that a “normal” Christian was one who follows Paul in saying [...]
Today we conclude our study of how Dallas Willard’s VIM template—Vision, Intention and Means—can help us in overcoming lust. As we have seen, each of these elements plays a vital part in the process. Last week—in the first of our two part discussion of the Means—we considered those who live their lives in consistent obedience [...]
Overcoming lust is for everyone. No one gets a free pass—each of us must confront evil desires that “war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11). Working our way through Dallas Willard’s VIM template—Vision, Intention and Means—as to how to overcome lust, we now consider the means to this end. This is where we roll up [...]
Intention is all about how we exercise our “will”—we do what we intend to do. Last week we introduced Dallas Willard’s VIM template—Vision, Intention and Means—as a way to describe what it takes to overcome lust. We also described the Vision—or Goal—when it comes to overcoming lust this way: You will be overcoming lust [...]
How does one overcome lust? Do you “know how to” do it? ….that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust” Paul described the pressing need to “know how” this way—“that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know [...]
What can the story of a medieval robber barron teach us about lust? In the 1300s, the robber barron Dirk Loef van Horne built an impregnable, state of the art fortress called Loevenstein—Loef’s Stone—pictured above. It is near the village of Giessenburgh in South Holland which is where my mother was born. Her sturdy ancestral [...]
