We live in a culture that is materialistic to an astonishing degree.  I am constantly amazed,  and disgusted at the lengths people will go to in order to gain more “stuff.”  A popular bumper sticker a few years ago summed up this hedonistic lifestyle: “The one who dies with the most stuff wins.”  But the Bible constantly warns us about the dangers of trying to serve God and money.  Both the Old and New Testament are replete with admonitions to avoid this danger.  In my reading this morning I came across Proverbs 13:8 which says in the ESV: “The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth, but a poor man hears no threat.”  Very simply that verse refers to a kidnaping where a rich man could pay the ransom and be freed, but a poor man would never have to deal with the scenario because no one would kidnap him to start with.  What would be the point?  Maybe the answer to our materialism is as simple as well: want less!  A man once told me that not wanting something is, in many ways, better than having it.  If I have my heart set on a certain kind of car and finally obtain it then I have to worry about wrecking it, or someone stealing it or opening a car door into it at the mall.  But if I am content with the car I have (something that has been exceedingly difficult for me) then I don’t have all that worry.  The apostle Paul had a good word for us in Phil 4:11, “…I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”

One of the most prolific readers that I know anything about is Dr Albert Mohler, President of  The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.  Dr Mohler has literally thousands of books in his personal library and by most accounts reads a book a day!  It is always interesting to know what such a man is reading and several times a year he gives suggestions for those who read his blog.  Check out what he recommends for summer reading here.

Last week I posted a video from Dr John Piper on the “prosperity gospel” and his opinion of it.  If you have watched the clip you know that he is not impressed with it.  Most Baptists are quick to condemn the charisimatics for their holding to this doctrine but many of us hold it “on the cheap.”  By that I mean we would not agree with the worst of the purveyors of this drivel, like Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn or Joel Osteen but we will take it if we can slide it in the back door.  For instance, we will buy in to The Prayer of Jabez, which, in my opinion,  is nothing more than the prosperity gospel in a Baptist disguise.  Also, we are known for telling people that if they will tithe God will always take care of them and give them more money than if they did not.  While I certainly believe that every Christian should support their local church and other Christian organizations we should do so not out of any hope of return but because we love God and desire to be obedient to Him in all things, including the matter of sacrificial giving.  The promises of a return for those who give are general principles that must always be understood to operate within the confines of God’s will for our lives.  If you knew that God would let you go bankrupt if you gave to His church but also knew that He commands giving, would you give anyway?  One of our most famous Southern Baptists missionaries, Lottie Moon, starved to death because she gave away her own food.  According to many Christians today, God would never let something like that happen, but He did.

As I prepare a funeral message for a good friend who died suddenly last week I was reminded of the brevity of our lives and of the necessity of putting all our trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ.  He not only forgives all my sins but God also imputes all of His righteousness to my account.  Dr John Piper talks about this in this video.

On Sunday morning, May 31, 2009, Dr George Tiller was murdered in cold blood while serving as an usher at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas.  Dr Tiller has become infamous for his willingness to perform late term abortions.  Read what Dr Albert Mohler has to say about this heinous crime in this article.