Sermon Resources:
Scripture References - John 8:31-32, John 14:6, Deuteronomy 23:21-23, Ecclesiastes 5:4, Psalm 50:14, Matthew 5:34-37, Luke 16:10
1. "Spin Room" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_room
2. “There is perhaps nothing that so marks us as human as the gift of speech…By speaking, we can reveal the hiddenness of thought, we can express the subtlest as well as the most devastating of emotions, we can heal, we can make poems, we can pray. All of which is to say we can speak truth—the truth of what it is to be ourselves, to be with each other, to be in the world—and such speaking as that is close to what being human is all about. What makes lying an evil is not only that the world is deceived by it, but that we are dehumanized by it.” -Frederick Buechner, "Wishful Thinking"
3. "The essence of swearing that Jesus targets here is about invoking something or someone else, especially God, to make your own words more significant or weighty. The aim is to impress others with your seriousness or piety so that you get what you want. It’s a device of manipulation designed to override the judgment or input of others in order to possess them for our purposes. It’s manipulation, or, as we say in our culture, “spin.” And Jesus says it's evil. Instead of loving and honoring others with truthfulness, the intent is to get one’s way by verbal manipulation of the thoughts and choices of others.” -Dallas Willard, "The Divine Conspiracy"
4. “The tendency to lie is absolutely natural in the child, and if not checked, leads to deeper and deeper evil. That children lie, steal, cheat, and want to make reality what they want it to be is routinely observable. The fact that some people grow into honest adults is absolutely remarkable.” -M. Scott Peck, "People of the Lie"
5. "Just as forgiveness is the one way to be free from your painful past, so promising is the only way to be free from your unpredictable future. But it is not only that I know myself in the mirror of my promises. My people, the ones who belong to me, who depend on me, also know me by the promises I have made. What I promise is what I am and will be to them. Only if they really know what I am can they live with me in trust. They know me in the important way, not by reading my therapist’s notes, but by knowing my power to keep promises.” -Lewis Smedes, "Controlling The Unpredictable"

The Great Con | Spin And Non - Commitment - James 5:12 - Clint Leavitt

Listen as Luke Parker introduces the story of Nehemiah, whose realization of Jerusalem's destruction leads him to grief and mourning, even for sins he didn't commit, and how learning to repent and plead with God is the first step to rebuilding a broken world.

12 July 2020 | #here #now #us: Nehemiah 1 - Luke Parker

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The Great Con | Spin And Non - Commitment - James 5:12 - Clint Leavitt

Midtown Presbyterian Church

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