morality

How Do We Live Godly Lives in an Ungodly World ~ Part 1

/ Bob / Leave a comment

In John 15 and in John 17 Jesus uses the word “world” over and over again – and it’s not good news for the world. The world He is talking about involves the worldly ideas, beliefs, practices, and common behaviors of the general population. Satan is the evil one who seems to have his way in the minds and hearts of the people at large and Jesus knew that the world that Christians would face would not be tolerant of their fundamental beliefs.


In this session we looked generally at the ways of the world as opposed to the ways of the Kingdom. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12) in our opposition to the sin that has beset our world, but we do need to know where we stand in relation to the worldly ways that are brought on by that sin.


In James 4:4 we read that friendship with the world equals hatred toward God. To be a friend of the world, you will automatically be an enemy of God. Next week we will begin looking at some practical, scriptural responses to the world’s ways as we seek to Godly lives to the glory of the Father.



This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday,
March 12, 2023. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions entitled Living the Agape Life – a Bible study curriculum developed by
Bob Young with input from the members of the Agape Life Class. Handouts with slide content can be requested at:
fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


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Forget Black Friday – Remember Black Tuesday

/ Bob

I know it’s Friday, but today is Black Tuesday – the 92nd Anniversary of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the beginning of the Great Depression. Now, I don’t want to depress you, but at that time America had just gone through the end of World War 1 (1914-1918 although the USA didn’t get involved until 1917) and the Spanish Flu epidemic (1918-1919.) Those events were followed by a period of economic growth we know as the Roaring 20’s. From 1921 to 1929 the stock market grew by 539% from 72 points to 381 points. During this same time period the economy grew by 42%. While there are many political and financial events that had some impact on the 1929 crash, I think this cartoon, published in the Los Angeles Times in 1926, may give some insight into another problem of the Roaring 20’s that may have led to the Great Depression. God has a way of correcting things that we may not always see. I’m not saying that we are headed for such a correction 100 years later. However, as stated by George Santayana, an American philosopher, in his work, The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”