14 May 2023
Two-Minute Features | 21 May 2023 | 07 May 2023

Christians in Quarrels & Fights, Part 4 (TMF:2095)

Friday, May 19, 2023
Peace to Live By: Christians in Quarrels & Fights, Part 4 (TMF:2095) - Daniel Litton
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       The people in the world who don’t know God have a way of getting what they want in life. We know those ways. They are called sin. James points the finger here in saying that ultimately when we hate our fellow brothers or sisters in Jesus that we are actually murdering them. This is what we do when we go against them. Rather than setting our passion or desire aside, we kill to get it in the figurative sense. We hurt others and push them out of the way. We don’t allow others to get what is their due. We take that which isn’t ours out of our selfish ambition. We see what others have and get jealous of it, and try to get it for ourselves. It’s all about us when we are driven from our strong passions and desires. We, as believers, end up looking poorly behaved. How is it that we bring our passions and desires under control? Again, it’s not that passions and desires are bad; in fact, they can be quite good. It’s only when we want them too much that leads us to due stupid things.

Christians in Quarrels & Fights, Part 3 (TMF:2094)

Thursday, May 18, 2023
Peace to Live By: Christians in Quarrels & Fights, Part 3 (TMF:2094) - Daniel Litton
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       If we have passion for sin, whatever that sin is, that’s not going to work. But I think more likely for us is the fact that we have passion for things we think are good, which actually in and of themselves are good, but our passions are too strong for those things. We want whatever it is too much, and because of this it causes us to quarrel and fight with our fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus. We have the passion for all kinds of things. We can have passion to be in a certain group at church, like the elders or the deacons, we can have passion to be on a certain committee or in a specific ministry, we can want to be recognized by certain people, we can desire a certain amount of money be assigned to our task, or for a certain person to like us in return, or to be the friend of a certain leader—you get the point. There are passions and desires among Christians, and these, when not fulfilled in us, can cause us to fight and quarrel. That of course only works for discord in its mildest form, or in more severe cases can cause us to do angry and stupid things which hurts ourselves and hurts others.

Christians in Quarrels & Fights, Part 2 (TMF:2093)

Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Peace to Live By: Christians in Quarrels & Fights, Part 2 (TMF:2093) - Daniel Litton
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       Let’s define quarrels and fights to get started here. What are some quarrels and fights? Well, they can be arguments, altercations, commotions, complaints, disapproval, disputes, rivalries, feuds, falling out, objections, ruckus, misunderstandings, vendettas, selfish ambition. So, basically in summary they are disagreements, but they are disagreements that have gotten out of control. And what has caused them to get out of control? It is that jealous and selfish ambition that James talked about at the end of chapter 3. Remember? Those are what fuel the quarrels and fights, and of which are summarized as passions here by James. But are passions bad? I mean, is it wrong to have passion toward anything? Well, of course not. Passion in and of itself isn’t bad. An athlete has to have passion to compete. I have to have passion to write these sermons. Passion is only bad when it becomes too strong, or is aimed at the wrong thing to begin with, something of which God doesn’t approve of.

Christians in Quarrels & Fights, Part 1 (TMF:2092)

Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Peace to Live By: Christians in Quarrels & Fights, Part 1 (TMF:2092) - Daniel Litton
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       James chapter 4, starting in verse 1: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask“ (James 4:1-2, ESV). Today James is moving into some unpleasant territory—not that he hasn’t touched on some unpleasant things already—but we are looking at church affairs. Namely, we are focusing now on the relationships between believers, whether those relationships take place within church walls or whether outside, it doesn’t matter. The reality is, is that we as Christians still can get in quarrels and fights. We can still have passions that are ungodly, worldly passions. I don’t think James is talking about believers versus unbelievers here within the church, as some have purposed. I think the heart of this passage does indeed focus on believers in the literal sense.

Pride as a False Sense of Security (TMF:2091)

Monday, May 15, 2023
Peace to Live By: Pride as a False Sense of Security (TMF:2091) - Daniel Litton
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       We are insecure and the pride makes us feel secure. Our real self isn’t good enough as it stands in our eyes so we have to puff it up falsely, and this is accomplished through pride. We can love others out of our peaceful drive, and whether or not they reciprocate is not important to us. We don’t force our peace on others; if they don’t want it, we let them go. In our following of God then, in our relationship with God, people recognize our true sense of peace and see that our faith is genuine. No one questions us because we don’t have that false presentation of ourselves that is based on pride—merely looking perfect so that we can feel awesome about ourselves and for the hope that others will feel that we are awesome. If we are faking our religion, we will have to protect it when people question us. Really, though, if we are a true person of the faith, will anyone question that what we have is real? People will see that we love God, ourselves, and others, by our sheer enjoyment. This is our righteous harvest.