Bruce Snavely

We are well aware that there is a lot that goes on in the name of Christianity that is far from our Biblically-based faith.  I spend a lot of time teaching in developing nations (some not developing), and it is amazing what passes for Christianity in some places.  For example, because of the systemic poverty that abounds in Africa, the prosperity gospel (PG) movement is alive and well. The prosperity gospel, as it is commonly called, promises wealth to those who cannot even buy clothes for their children or send them to school.  The lies of this theology don't come near to what God teaches us in His Word about our stewardship of money and material things, and yet impoverished people will hold out with desperation that it just might work for them to bring them wealth.  It is truly one of life's saddest spectacles, not just for the victims, but for how the Scriptures are cheapened and misused in this process. Jesus said “ It is Written”  on several occasions t...

In the previous blog we discovered two important things about contentment.  The first thing we saw was the fact that contentment does not rest or depend on the performance of others.  If it did a person would be looking to mom, dad, a husband/wife, or literally anyone for the contentment they seek on any given day.  Paul reveals in Phil 4:10 that even though his friends among the church at Philippi hadn't helped him in months, he was not angry or feeling betrayed but rather was very much content. The fact is biblical contentment is the ability to be satisfied with God's provision for me today! How could that be true?  Paul demonstrates in verse 11 that he had  learned  to be content through a litany of life experiences he had gone through in his momentous ministry.  However, the word learned here does not guarantee contentment, it simply bears out the reality of contentment.  In verse 12 Paul uses yet another word in the Greek original which...