Rising Above Desires & Fears, Part 2 (TMF:2745)

Friday, November 14, 2025

Peace to Live By: Rising Above Desires & Fears, Part 2 (TMF:2745) - Daniel Litton
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People generally, for the most part, base their lives on what they can get. That’s the American way. That’s the way we are taught. We are taught to seek the things that are here, that are on this present earth. Remember, Paul would have this problem with one of his companions, where, he will say later, at the end of his life, “…Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica” (ESV). “[I]n love with the present world.” We are familiar with that, aren’t we? That’s where most of us find ourselves today. Certainly, to be fair, to some degree our world, our outer surroundings, are a bit different for us in present day society, here in America. Why, we are incredibly wealthy compared to the rest of the world. For the vast majority of us, life is good. Life generally goes well. A lot of times we get what we want. The world is good. This is our experience. All this ‘goodness’ makes it even more difficult for us to “seek the things that are above.”

Rising Above Desires & Fears, Part 1 (TMF:2744)

Thursday, November 13, 2025

Peace to Live By: Rising Above Desires & Fears, Part 1 (TMF:2744) - Daniel Litton
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Colossians 3, verse 1: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (ESV). Paul begins dealing with us today—with the Colossians—in calling us all to a higher calling. It’s a higher calling. It’s an awareness in the living out of our lives. It’s not just simply living our lives, but actually living them out in a higher quality, with the understanding that there is more to life than what we see with our eyes, what we see in the physical realm. That’s the way the world lives, right? They live by what they see, what they want, and even what they fear. Desires and fears. These are the two areas of life. We all desire things, and we all fear certain things. The key, the key to life, Paul is telling us today, is to rise above those desires and fears. We know we’re supposed to rise above the fears. We’ve been instructed to do that for many years. But to rise above the desires too, that’s not something that’s talked about all that much.

What Rules Should There Be? Part 4 (TMF:2743)

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Peace to Live By: What Rules Should There Be? Part 4 (TMF:2743) - Daniel Litton
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Coming to mind is an experience had at the Amish-Mennonite church, where, one Friday night, the church met together to play volleyball in a local gymnasium across town. It had been years since volleyball had been played—probably 20 years or so. Since high school. And one of the responsibilities of the server, when one was up for the turn, was to keep track of the score. Upon arriving at the turns, and serving multiple times, and the ball being in play multiple rounds, score kept being forgotten to be kept by you know who. A sister, who is a schoolteacher, explained the error on the speaker’s part and how it is to be done. She then later on, probably ten minutes later, had to explain it again. The speaker could see her inner-anger mounting. A fear arouse that the speaker was going to be scolded for his iniquities. She was right, however. The game had agreed to be played, and it is was the responsibility of the server to do the right thing in keeping the score. Thankfully, she later got over it, and didn’t hold it against the rookie player.

What Rules Should There Be? Part 3 (TMF:2742)

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Peace to Live By: What Rules Should There Be? Part 3 (TMF:2742) - Daniel Litton
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If a group of people wants to have a certain set of rules, that seems fine, so long as they say those specific rules don’t have to be followed for one to be saved from their sins, to avoid Hell. If one is saying the church’s custom rules have to be followed to avoid Hell, then the Gospel of that body has become a faith plus works Gospel. That’s bad. We don’t want that kind of Gospel because it brings bondage, it brings extra labor that isn’t necessary. Now, if the Gospel being presented doesn’t include the cross, doesn’t include one becoming born-again, then it’s a totally false Gospel. But each group of believers needs to decide for themselves what rules they are going to follow, and the members should follow those rules if they are a member of that church. There are many churches to pick from. If one wants to be part of that church, the rules should be honored. But if they don’t like the way things are done, they can go elsewhere. They should not join the church and then try to change that church. That’s not right.

What Rules Should There Be? Part 2 (TMF:2741)

Monday, November 10, 2025

Peace to Live By: What Rules Should There Be? Part 2 (TMF:2741) - Daniel Litton
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It seems best to understand rules a matter of the heart. Do the rules actually help you become closer to God, or do the rules take you further away from God? This is what was asked of the speaker when having lunch with a non-denominational pastor while attending the Amish-Mennonite church, a church that had clearly spelled out rules. And a good and perfect question it was, seeing that it drove right to the heart of the matter. That’s what every church should ask, whether their church rules bring the person closer to God or not. It’s not that rules should be in place due to fear, per se. Usually not. Nor should they just be following rules as a result of what tradition is, or what the leader or group of leaders want to do. Rules are present for a reason, to actually help us, and not to hinder us or make life more difficult than it needs to be. If a group of people wants to have a certain set of rules, that seems fine, so long as they say those specific rules don’t have to be followed for one to be saved from their sins, to avoid Hell.