{"id":1787,"date":"2022-07-08T09:46:41","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T13:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1787"},"modified":"2022-07-08T09:46:41","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T13:46:41","slug":"convictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/08\/convictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Convictions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When digital technology arrived in church offices towards the end of the 20th<\/sup> century, it launched a timesaving revolution with regard to mundane tasks like bulletin preparation.\u00a0
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It also provided some genuinely funny moments.
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One of them happened at a church that quickly grasped that their new computer could retain a liturgical paradigm for funerals.\u00a0 All the administrative assistant had to do was replace the name of the last person who was deceased with the new one.\u00a0 Everything else would remain the same.\u00a0
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When it was time to celebrate the life of a woman named Edna, a single keystroke inserted her name wherever the name of the previous decedent, a woman named Mary, appeared in the bulletin. \u00a0Everything went smoothly until the Apostles\u2019 Creed.\u00a0 That\u2019s when the congregation stood and said together, \u201cAnd I believe in Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Edna.\u201d
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It\u2019s a safe bet that wasn\u2019t the first time a group of worshippers rattled off what was printed in the bulletin without asking themselves if they really believed what they were saying.
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The philosopher Michael Novak suggests that the things people believe \u2013 our personal convictions \u2013 generally fall into three categories.\u00a0
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First, we all profess a number of public convictions<\/strong>.\u00a0 These are things I say<\/em> I believe, and which I truly hope others think<\/em> I believe, but which, in the end, turn out to be not much more than idle words.\u00a0
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Every four years, as the next presidential election approaches, candidates from both parties spend a considerable amount of time crisscrossing the state of Iowa.\u00a0 That\u2019s because the Iowa caucuses are the first real \u201cbeauty test\u201d of the presidential primary season.\u00a0 It would not be unusual to hear a candidate say at a breakfast rally, \u201cIt\u2019s so great to wake up on a January morning in Des Moines!\u201d\u00a0 Actually, no, it isn\u2019t that great.\u00a0 Even Des Moines residents are likely to admit that.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re hoping to win the hearts of Iowa voters, sometimes you end up saying things you simply know you don’t believe.
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When it comes to discipleship, we all face the temptation of thinking it\u2019s enough to get the words right \u2013 \u201cI believe in Jesus, blah, blah, blah\u201d \u2013 without ever taking the time to comprehend their life-altering significance. \u00a0Spiritual perjury is an ever-present danger for all of us.\u00a0
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Second, Novak speaks of private convictions<\/strong>.\u00a0 These are things I sincerely think<\/em> I believe.\u00a0 But maybe, when the chips are down, my beliefs turn out to be more fragile than I thought.\u00a0
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\u201cAnd my God will meet all your needs through the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus\u201d (Philippians 4:19).\u00a0 What a great verse.\u00a0 It\u2019s a promise I can build my life on.\u00a0 But then I lose my job.\u00a0 Or my health crashes.\u00a0 Or somebody who said they would never leave me announces they\u2019re trading me up for a better happiness provider. \u00a0\u00a0These are the moments when I find out what I really believe about God\u2019s provision.\u00a0
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Finally, there are my core convictions<\/strong>.\u00a0 No matter what I say to others, or how I talk to myself day in and day out, these are the things I really<\/em> believe.\u00a0
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What do I really believe?
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It\u2019s actually pretty easy to answer that question.\u00a0 All I need to do is pay close attention to a trio of markers in my life:
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How do I spend my time?<\/em>
Where do I spend my money?<\/em>
What do I daydream about?<\/em>
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If say I believe that Jesus wants his followers to spend significant time together \u2013 that \u201cwe are not ourselves by ourselves\u201d \u2013 then that should show up on my calendar.\u00a0 And my checkbook should reflect an investment in the Body of Christ.\u00a0 And when I\u2019m alone my thoughts and prayers should gravitate to various means of deepening my relationships with fellow disciples.
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If I say I believe in serving the poor, the evidence should be blindingly obvious in my Day-Timer and my VISA statement.\u00a0 And in my idle moments I should catch myself ruminating on new ways to enrich the lives of those in need without creating dependencies.\u00a0
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It\u2019s easy to say<\/em> that the purpose of life is to love God and love others.
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But do I really believe that?\u00a0 Love is as love does<\/em>.\u00a0
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This is a great weekend to take a fearless personal inventory of my core convictions, and to ask God to steer me toward a way of life that is closer to his heart.
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Here\u2019s the good news:\u00a0 I won\u2019t have to believe in the Virgin Edna.\u00a0

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When digital technology arrived in church offices towards the end of the 20th century, it launched a timesaving revolution with regard to mundane tasks like bulletin preparation.\u00a0\u00a0It also provided some genuinely funny moments.\u00a0One of them happened at a church that quickly grasped that their new computer could retain a liturgical paradigm for funerals.\u00a0 All the administrative assistant had to do… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1788,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[464,465],"class_list":["post-1787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-belief","tag-convictions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1787"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1789,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787\/revisions\/1789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}