Today, we’re talking about the sin of greed. Greed is one of those sins that I think always brings to mind someone else.  I bet most of us would put the line where greed begins somewhere farther out than our level of greed.  In fact, some of you probably reacted by thinking, “I don’t have enough excess to be greedy.”  We say things like, “I worked hard for that money and I deserve to spend it how I want” or “Everyone else has a new Iphone so I deserve a new Iphone” or “I don’t know what the future holds, so I had better hoard more away.”  We’re not saying that having a new iPhone makes you greedy or that savings make you greedy, but almost all of us are affected by greed. 

Let’s start off with a definition: Greed is a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (such as money) than is needed. It’s a sin that paradoxically leaves us with less of what we really need. Here’s where the rub comes in: who gets to decide how much I need?  Do I decide that?  Is there a formula for it somewhere?  

Greed is a false pathway to enjoying life, built on the lie that this life is all there is. Jesus calls people foolish who store up earthly wealth but lack a rich relationship with God.

• Luke 12:15 Beware! Guard against every kind of greed.  Life is not measured by how much you own. 

• • • The word that’s translated beware literally means to guard yourself.  You’re under attack from greed and covetousness.  You need to guard yourself or it will destroy you. We have to be active about this, not passive. If that was the case in Jesus’ time, imagine how much more for us today? Our entire economy is built on the philosophy that you need more – ads, social media, peers 
    • Jesus reminds us that life is not measured by how much we own.  
    • The other twisted truth about greed is it almost always leads us to a feeling of lack and scarcity.  We don’t recognize the blessings God has already given us. 
      • If you have a garage, your car has a nicer home than the majority of the world’s population. 
      • If you have food to eat, more than one set of clothes to wear, and any money in the bank account that puts you in the category of wealthy when compared to the world’s population, yet how many of us feel rich?  

• Luke 12:16-20 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?

• The parable is not saying we shouldn’t work hard or that abundant crops are a bad thing. There are many exhortations in scripture to work hard. There are exhortations to save. 
• There’s no thanksgiving from this man to God for his providence.  There is no consideration to the needs of those around him.  It’s all about him.
• Thinking as an owner instead of a steward

• Luke 12:21 Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.

• • The man’s biggest issue wasn’t what he did have; it was what he didn’t have – a rich relationship with God. Wealth in and of itself isn’t bad, but it’s bad if we pursue it in place of a relationship with God. What if we pursued God like we pursued wealth?  What would that look like?  Think of how many years of education you went through for the career you have now.  What if we pursued God that way? 

Greed is destructive at every level: individual, family, and society

• • Greed brings destruction and brokenness at every level.  That shouldn’t surprise us.  As we saw earlier, all sin brings death.  Greed is closely related to coveting.  In fact, in many places in the bible you’ll see them used almost interchangeably in different translations. If we think of greed as wanting more than we need, coveting is wanting more than we have.  Think of what greed and coveting do to us individually. First, they rob us of contentment.  Is there anything that brings us a sense of peace like contentment?  But when you’re stuck in greed and coveting you won’t experience contentment.  
  • Second, greed robs us of thanksgiving.  Do you know how many benefits there are to being filled with thanksgiving and gratitude?  I read an interesting article from Forbes magazine titled “7 scientifically proven benefits of gratitude”.  It listed physical health, mental health, better relationships, better sleep, and better self-esteem as some of the proven benefits of being thankful.  This is an article from a secular magazine that acknowledges the benefits of gratitude.  But when you and I are stuck in greed, it robs us of that.  Would you describe yourself as a grateful person?  Would your friends and family call you a thankful person?  There’s a great conversation starter for you and your family or your small group. 
  • Greed is destructive at the family level

• Luke 12:13 Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide my father’s estate with me.” 

• • Jesus had been teaching on some really important, deep issues.  This man is oblivious to it, doesn’t have ears to hear, because he’s focused on his father’s estate. 
• Greed is destructive on societal level
  • Embezzlement, sex trafficking, drug trade, unfair treatment of works – all have foundations in greed. 

The antidote to greed is not poverty but generosity, looking outward to give to others in need. The reward for this is the ability to actually enjoy the stuff we have, recognizing it as a gift from God.

• • You can live in poverty and still be greedy. Poverty isn’t the antidote. 
  • It seems counterintuitive.  If I’m already wanting more than I have, how is giving it away going to help?  Another example of the upside down kingdom of God. 

• Luke 12:33-34 Sell your possessions and give to those in need.  This will store up treasure for you in heaven. And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe.  No thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it.  Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

• • • Not really our possessions, just managing them – Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” 
    • What’s our knee jerk reaction to that first part of the verse – sell your possessions and give to those in need? God isn’t asking us to do it just for the sake of doing it.  He said that by doing it, we store up true riches.  We store up treasures in heaven.  I don’t know exactly what those look like, but if Jesus is using them to motivate us, they have to be pretty amazing. 

• 1 Timothy 6:17-18 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable.  Their trust should be in God who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.  Tell them to use their money to do good.  They should be rich in good words and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.

• • He didn’t say teach those who are rich not to be rich. He said teach them not to trust in their money and be proud.  It’s a heart issue.  It’s our attitude towards money and wealth. 
  • As we become more and more like Jesus, we’ll find ourselves being more and more generous.  

Men, we’re in our third week of this 7 deadly sins series.  Today, we come to a sin that seems to be at epidemic proportions in our society – the sin of lust.  In our highly sexualized culture, we have to be on guard and intentional because this sin is lurking around every corner.  It’s looking for ways to make it into your home, your life,  and your schedule. 

Jordan Petersen podcast talking about how a 12 year old boy can see more naked ladies on his phone in one day than King Solomon saw in his life. 

Carl’s Jr. commercials story (Hardee’s in the South East)

Like all of the other lies from the devil, lust is not going to bring the fulfillment you think it is.  It falls short.  It leaves you wanting more.  

Lust is a shortcut to sexual fulfillment, but it doesn’t actually get you there. When you lust after someone, you are objectifying that person for your own selfish pleasure.

• Our culture thinks sexual fulfillment is the ultimate achievement.  (It doesn’t seem in scripture that there is going to be sex in heaven, so it’s obviously not the ultimate fulfillment.  Not sure if this would be a rabbit trail) It is a blessing from God when used in the context of marriage between a man and a woman, but it’s not the ultimate fulfillment. A relationship with our creator is so much more important and fulfilling.  

It is a blessing, however, the enemy has corrupted it.  So much so that growing up in the Southern Church, it was either NEVER spoken about or it was “whispered” that is was bad.

 “Purity Culture of the Church= Desire is shameful and sexual desire is shameful.  IF you are just pure/virgin at your wedding day, ALL of your sex in marriage will be perfect…Then it isnt..The confusion is real

This has caused couples to not talk about it in their marriages and thus the enemy gets an advantage in a marriage to cause division.  Yet just the opposite is true.  God wants us to have great sexual fulfillment…inside the Marriage Covenant.  

Matthew 5 vs Song of Songs.  The Church wants to talk Matthew 5 (preached as shame) yet they will not touch Song of Songs (Solomon) where it is seen as a gift from God.

Lust has a bigger impact than you think – physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. It not only skews your picture of sex, but it does so much more.

• Matthew 5:27-30 You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’[j] 28 But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your eye—even your good eye[k]—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your hand—even your stronger hand[l]—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
  • Physically – distraction, STD or unwanted pregnancy if you act out on the lust, 
  • Emotionally –  objectify women, lack of contentment, feelings of frustration, 
  • Relationally – betrayal, lack of trust, your wife/girlfriend feels like they don’t measure up 
  • Spiritually – making this an idol in your life, creating an area in your life where you don’t submit to God’s authority, shame, guilt, not wanting to connect with God because of the sin you’re carrying 
  • Makes sex all about me – my desires, my pleasure, my wants – According to the Bible, once I’m married, my body is not my own.  It belongs to my wife.  Most fulfilling sex life is when my wife feels secure, fulfilled, and cared for in that area of our marriage.  
  • Early Fighter Pilot experience/ Male Dominated career field with lots of vaults to a Christian Commander who made a stand to the culture we have today.

• “What Happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”– Nellis AFB is the Home of the Fighter Pilot and located in Las Vegas.  So, fighter pilots make the “Pilgrimage” and “live it up” there.  My experience and the Lord sending a mentor at 3 am in a McDonalds

Lust feeds on secrecy and starves in transparency. The road to healing starts with confession – first to God and then to others.

• 1 John 1:8-10  If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
• God already knows our sin, even our sinful thoughts and desires.  It’s freeing to bring those to him in confession and repentance.  We not only confess the sin of lust, we need to confess the sin of not trusting that God has our best in mind in this area of our lives.  For some reason, this is the one area where I think most people think God is holding out on them.  God is being stingy.  God’s not being stingy.  He wants the best for you.  He wants to save you from wounds – emotional, physical, relational pain.  
• James 5:16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results
• You don’t have to shout this from the rooftops, but find a couple of guys you can trust that can be your accountability partner.  Be careful of sharing too much with your wife, but be honest about struggles.  
• My Accountability Brother- Open and Transparent even to the point where he can make a Fighter Pilot (because of our early culture and the male dominance in the field we hear alot) embarrassed….BUT it is how he and I attack it together.  He is as open as I am.  As such, I have become transparent with other men and my boys.  
• Pinto and I with another fighter pilot being transparent.  You could see he was still caught in the “Secret Life” and he was speechless at our transparency in our personal lives and in how we dealt with it in the Fighter Pilot Culture

God has given us a proven battle plan to be victorious in this area.  It starts with changing the way we think and then the way we act.

• Romans 12:2  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
• The world is constantly putting pressure on us from all sides.  The word picture of “don’t be conformed to this world” is don’t be molded.  It’s like a potter molding clay.  He’s exerting pressure on it from all sides.  If you do nothing, you’re going to let the world shape you.  
• Focus on the worst case scenario.  

Steps to Victory

• Confess it to God
• Confess it to a confidant
  • Have at least one brother to hold you accountable and have a team of brothers to have your six when you are getting pressured or stumbling (Hollywood and Smash)
• Renew your Mind Every Day
  • God’s Word
  • Prayer
  • Worship
  • Fellowship
  • Music for me is key
• Eliminate Sources of Temptation
  • Apps on phone
  • Computer in bedroom
  • Going to the Gym
  • “Play the dweeb” 
  • “Look at the floor” / Elevators and meetings”

   -Modern Threat (phones) vs old threat (magazines)

• Retrain Your Response to Triggers 
  • Replace bad habits with Good habits
  • Don’t just bounce your eyes, thank God for your spouse if you’re married, for example 

This is not a battle that you can win alone.    FLEE from lust. “Abort vs Merge”  Top Gun 2 Spoiler…  Killer at the merge…yet 3-1 says merge is unsurvivable against a modern threat, yet we still go to the merge..the difference is we are not alone! 

Get a Wingman/ Battle Buddy!  We are all struggling with what the enemy twists and what God wants us to be blessed with. Two Ship min, 4 Ship recommended. 

Hey, men.  We’re continuing on in our series, 7 Deadly Sins.  Today, we’re looking at another one of those sins that’s probably sneaking up on more men than they would think. We’re talking about the sin of gluttony.  If you’re not overweight, if you’re not given to drunkenness, you may think this is something that other guys deal with, but we’re going to see that the sin of gluttony isn’t just about the amount or type of food we eat, but our attitude towards food.  

I remember when we did this sermon series and I kept looking ahead to the next week and wondered, “When am I going to finally hit an easy one that I don’t struggle with?” I thought for sure it would be gluttony or sloth, which we haven’t covered yet, but as I dug into God’s word, I realized I did have areas in my life that were gluttonous. 

In the dictionary, gluttony is defined as an unhealthy obsession with food or drink.  Many of you would probably say, “That’s not me.” But as believers, what if we defined it this way: undisciplined use of food or drink, or not being led by the Holy Spirit when it comes to my relationship with food.  Now, all of a sudden, I recognize there may be areas of gluttony in my life.  

For example, if you spend a significant amount of money eating out every month and yet you’re not generous to others or to God’s kingdom, is that gluttonous?  If you have to have two to three cups of coffee in the morning just to get going and to avoid a caffeine headache, is that gluttonous?  I know, some of you are like, whoah Pastor John, you just crossed a line.  Did you really just say something negative about coffee? That’s heresy!  Maybe it’s not the amount of food, but types of food your doctor has told you to limit because you’re battling high blood pressure or high cholesterol, but you just can’t seem to control those urges.  Is that gluttonous?  I would submit that all of those examples probably are gluttonous and at the very least could be.  And I would also say that what might be gluttonous for me, might not be for you, and vice versa. We have to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading in this area, just like every other area of our lives.  So I hope you won’t check out today because you think gluttony is an issue that doesn’t affect you.  I hope you’ll ask the Spirit to speak to you and help you identify areas where this might be an issue. 

Southern Church and the pot lucks, “Baptists worship with food”, Church and fast food restaurants are almost 1-1 ratio (not really) but I cannot recall hearing a sermon or teaching on gluttony.  Huge blind spot for me.

God gave us food for our enjoyment, but he also gave us boundaries. Enjoying food isn’t bad; even Jesus let people have their fill.

• • Ecclesiastes 9:7 So go ahead, eat your food with joy , and drink your wine with a happy heart for God approves of this.
    • God approves of this.  He doesn’t just permit it, he approves of it. Talks about the heart attitude we have as we enjoy God’s gifts to us.  Eat with joy, drink with a happy heart.  An attitude of gratitude for God’s provision. 

• Proverbs 24:13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good. Honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. 
  • In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was actually commanded to celebrate 7 feasts per year.  There was a lot of symbolism involved.  It was just about eating, but they were feasts. Food was involved in each of them. 
• Matthew 14:20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.
  • This is in the context of the feeding of the 5,000 miracle.  They all ate as much as they wanted.  Some translations say they ate until they were full.  Jesus provided extravagantly.  He didn’t just give them a few crumbs.  Notice they picked up the leftovers.  They were good stewards of the resources.  I think wastefulness can be a sign of gluttony, or maybe a symptom of gluttony. 
  • Jesus was actually accused of gluttony by the religious leaders.  We know he wasn’t gluttonous because he was perfect.  He never sinned.  He enjoyed a good meal in the fellowship of others.  
• But he also gave us boundaries 
• Proverbs 23:21 Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons, for they are on their way to poverty.

• Our gluttony can lead us to poverty.  It can lead us to obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. But it’s not just a financial issue or health issue.  It’s a spiritual issue.
• Isn’t it interesting that the first boundary God gave mankind involved food?  
  • Adam and Eve could eat from any tree in the garden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil  

Gluttony is a false pathway to comfort, using food and drink to satisfy a deeper craving in all of us. A glutton uses food much like an addict uses drugs.

• • Culture makes it so easy to slip into gluttony – variety of foods we have access to, portion sizes, 
    • All you can eat buffet – not only give into gluttony you justify it – “I have to get my money’s worth!” 
  • Comfort Food – “Just like mom used to make” trying to tap into memories of recipes we had as kids – for most of us this brings back thoughts of security, laughter, warmth – but these are only temporarily met with food.  The satisfaction is so fleeting and ultimately falls short of what we’re really craving.

• John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  Anyone who eats this bread will live forever, and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.

• • Only Jesus can solve that spiritual hunger that we all have.  Only he can solve the yearning for relationship . 
    • Jesus said, when you eat physical bread, you’re going to be physically hungry again.  If you eat the living bread that came down from heaven, you’ll never be spiritually hungry again.  You’ll still need physical food.  We’ll all need that while we’re here on earth, but we don’t need to use physical food to try and satisfy a spiritual hunger.  Let me try to give a couple of practical examples of how this plays out – 
    • Let’s talk about boredom.  Research shows that many people overeat because of boredom.  You don’t find meaning or purpose in your life.  Eating can be an attempt to distract yourself from that experience.  But where is ultimate purpose and meaning found?  In Jesus Christ – being in relationship with him and being on mission with him leads to that abundant and full life that is anything but boring.  
    • Another example would be stress.  Chronic stress can trigger us to overeat.  How do we ultimately learn to deal with stress in a way that brings real relief versus just a temporary distraction?  By finding peace through Jesus, by connecting with him through his Word and through prayer and asking him to bear fruit in our lives. 

• Ephesians 5:18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.
• Often, we’re drinking too much alcohol because we’re trying to create something only the Holy Spirit can genuinely create.  Maybe we’re trying to generate courage to face up to a difficult situation.  Or we’re struggling with some tough issues and we’re trying to use alcohol to either cope with it or numb the pain.  We want to feel joy and happiness, but unfortunately, it doesn’t lead to genuine happiness.  It’s only a counterfeit substitute.  The happiness, numbing, or courage it does bring doesn’t last and actually leads to pain and brokenness in the long run. 

The antidote to gluttony is both fasting and feasting, putting food in the proper place in our lives. It’s learning to find our ultimate satisfaction in Jesus.

• Galatians 5:22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, ,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. 

• Proverbs 25:28 Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self control

• • Feasting with the right attitude – thankfulness, generosity, patience 
  • Fasting
    • I incorporated fasting into my spiritual journey on a monthly basis about two years ago.  It has had a major impact on me.  Forces me to recognize my dependency on God’s strength and provision in a very tangible way.  

• Revelation 19:9 And the angel said to me, “ Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.” 

• • What a feast that will be.  A feast in the presence of God.  Only one way to be invited to that feast – a relationship with Jesus – gospel presentation.  

• So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

• Practically, what does that look like? 
  • We eat with thanksgiving, generosity
    • Inviting someone to join us
    • Not taking the biggest piece of cake or best looking burger on the grill
    • Exercising self control 
    • Incorporating rhythms of fasting 

We’re up to sin #5 in our Seven Deadly Sins series and today is one that most men can probably relate to – the sin of anger.  

For many people, anger is the substitute emotion to mask deeper feelings that you struggle to express. Identifying the real emotion that is underneath and understanding what triggered it is a key to victory over anger.

This describes me to a T.  I would say 90% of the times I have an outburst of anger, anger isn’t really the issue.  I’m dealing with fear.  I’m dealing with feelings of inadequacy, or I am made painfully aware of how little control I have.  

• Car trouble – sets me off like nothing else.  The reason I get so mad – I don’t know a lot about cars.  I come face to face with my ignorance and lack of knowledge/experience.  I fear the cost.  It throws my schedule off which is a reminder of the lack of control I have.  
• The problem is fear and inadequacy don’t really seem like very manly emotions.  But for some reason, historically, our culture has given men some leniency when it comes to anger.  
• Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you,  and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
  • I think there is an agenda to feminize men in our culture.  That’s not what we’re talking about here.  Understanding our emotions, what’s really going on, is not “feminine” or “masculine” thing. It’s having wisdom. David wrote Psalm 139.  He was a man’s man – a warrior, a giant killer
• It’s important to ask God to help us identify what is really going on.  We often have blinders.  It’s good to bring other brothers in who can also give you input.
• I think it’s important before we get too far in to the conversation to be clear that not all anger is a sin.  Jesus was angry at times and he never sinned. God the Father has been angry and he is perfect.  Expressed anger at the temple when he threw over the money changers’ tables.  Was angry at the religious leaders at times for leading the people astray.  
• Ephesians 4:26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you. (NLT) NIV – In your anger do not sin. 
• Matt’s Camping Trip and my anger-Frustration, learned from my father. Thought it would make a teachable moment but in a bad way. I was trying to shortcut discipline and not share the why. Became a teachable moment for forgiveness with Matt and while he still struggles with forgetting things (yes Matt is probably listening) he blessed him with an amazing wife that helps cover this blind spot.
• Josh’s disobedience as a teenager and my frustration with him led to a famous hole in the wall in our house. Another teachable moment for my kids.

Substitute anger is a false pathway to control – making you feel powerful instead of vulnerable.

Genesis 4:6-7 Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

Context of the situation – Abel’s offering was accepted, Cain’s was not 

He hadn’t sinned yet.  God said, “You’ll be accepted if you do what is right”. Sin was crouching at the door.  It hadn’t come in yet.  Cain could have dealt with this in the right way and it wouldn’t have become sin. 

Emotions his anger was masking – jealousy, feeling like he didn’t measure up, maybe helplessness .

If you know the story, Cain didn’t get his anger under control.  (lame pastor joke – because he wasn’t able).  He ended up murdering his brother. His whole life changed because he wasn’t able to control his anger.  

Anger while getting ready for church because we are late- I hate being late.  Then the movie “God’s Not Dead” came along and a subplot is about two characters who are constantly getting sidelined for a trip they were taking.  One  was getting frustrated, the other was just a great example and just kept saying “God is good all the time” and knew that God had him where he needed to be. Not to spoil the movie, but the movie ends with these two being in the right place at the right time.  

Substitute anger actually causes a loss of control – both emotionally and relationally, and even spiritually.

• James 1:20Human anger[g] does not produce the righteousness[h] God desires
• Just before this, we’re told to be slow to speak and slow to anger.
• Isn’t it ironic that anger often causes even more loss of control, when feeling like we don’t have control is one of the key causes of substitute anger? Back to car story – breaking down on the way home from Alabama to Utah with my fiance riding along with me.  Punched the side of the car as we were stranded.  Rhonda looked at me like I was a complete idiot, which I was, and said, “ Is there some way that’s supposed to fix the car or make the situation better?”  
• When we lose our temper like that, it can cause relationships to spiral.  People don’t feel safe around us.  Even if they feel physically safe, they don’t feel safe emotionally to share concerns, fears, ideas.  It breaks down communication within the relationship.
• Loss of spiritual control – 1 John 3:10  So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers[b] does not belong to God. 
• Ecclesiastes 7:9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
  • It’s foolishness to lose our temper and have outbursts of anger.  
• My loss of control in Afghanistan after watching a tragic event.  I felt totally helpless.  Rage and murder in my heart as I rolled into strafe the enemy that had caused this situation.  I fully intended to shoot without clearance because I could see the enemy still and I was going to “take care of it”.  Thankfully as I am about to pull the trigger, God made me stop and pull up and I performed a rather “ impressive” show of force just over the head of the enemy instead.  Why didnt I shoot, the enemy was very close to the friendlies that had just been hit and if one of my rounds had been even a few feet off, I could have made things much much worse.

The antidote to anger is to be vulnerable and practice silence – just as Jesus did.

• Like many sins, we have a tendency to justify our anger.  If anyone had a reason to be angry, it would have been Jesus after his betrayal.  He was completely innocent, falsely accused by one of his closest followers (one of the twelve), Crowds taunting him – “He saved others.  Let him save himself and come down and we’ll believe him.”  In all that, he remained silent.  
• Psalm 4:4 Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent. – Most of us don’t even have to think about it overnight.  If we’d just stop and be quiet for 15 minutes, the anger would subside.  We wouldn’t say things that we end up regretting.  
• Ephesians 4:26-27 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”[d] Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
• Anger gives the devil a foothold.  If we don’t address it, deal with it, that foothold will eventually become a stronghold.  That anger leads to bitterness, resentment.  I experienced that in my career before going into ministry.  I became a very skeptical, cynical person because of not dealing with anger in a healthy way.  
• Anger with a boss  while being gaslighted then God melting my heart for him in a moment when I had been praying,fasting and seeking wise counsel all the while asking the Lord to forgive me and take this burden from me. My anger started as just anger against injustices that I witnessed, but then I let it continue into an unhealthy sinful anger of frustration.  Then when my Boss was having his own outburst of anger over not being promoted, the Lord had prepared me, and in supernatural moment, God gave me recall of numerous scriptures for him and completely flipped my anger to love.
• Wrapping up – being honest with ourselves and others about those deeper emotions we’re trying to hide with anger – fear, inadequacy, etc.  Being vulnerable and transparent about those frees us from trying to mask them.  

How I dealt with frustration this morning just before the recording.  God has an awesome sense of humor and timing!!!!!  Capt Vaughn vs Col Vaughn

Seeking wise counsel, prayer and fasting helped me with the deep anger.  For the moments of quick onset anger like being in traffic or late for a meeting, prayer where I acknowledge I am angry, and focusing my thoughts on what I am grateful for seems to help me.  “God is good all the time and all the time, God is good”

Anger for me seems to be the exact opposite of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.  Love can be a cure for our division in America

Welcome back to the podcast. We’re coming to the tail end of our 7 Deadly Sins series.  We have two more sins still to cover, and today, we’re talking about envy.  And envy is the most miserable of the sins on this list.  We say that because there is nothing fun or redeeming about envy.  At least with some of the other sins you might experience temporary pleasure, but with envy, there is nothing positive about the experience from start to finish.  It is completely and wholly miserable.  And yet, it not only affects most of us, many of us like to wallow in it. 

How do we know if we’re struggling with envy? Use phrases like “That’s not fair”, “If only I had…” If you diminish the accomplishments of others, i.e. “If I were 6 foot 7 I could play professional beach volleyball, too”.  

This is a sin that starts so early in our lives.  If you’re a parent  with multiple children, you’ve experienced that situation where there is a toy lying on the counter or on the ground and no one is playing with it and everyone is getting along. But as soon as one kids starts to play with it, everyone wants to play with it. And let’s not pretend it stops when we’re children. It just typically looks a little different for adults.  For us it might look like having dinner at a friend’s house and the appliances in their kitchen are newer and nicer than yours.  All of a sudden, that refrigerator and dishwasher in your kitchen just don’t cut it anymore.  You start to think about why you deserve new appliances.  You reason that you make as much money as they do.  You’re a good person. You deserve nice things.  And now, you’re no longer grateful for the appliances you have in your kitchen.  Now to be clear, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with getting new appliances, but if we’re being motivated to get them because someone else has them, even though our current ones are still working fine, we have to honestly ask “ Is it because of envy?”

Before we get into the first main point, maybe it’s helpful to start with a definition: 

Envy – a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck

But I would like to modify this definition from a more biblical perspective, to a definition that I think more accurately gets at the heart of what is really going on

Envy – a feeling of discontent or resentment toward God because of someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck

That’s really what’s happening with envy, particularly for the believer.  We feel like God has somehow short changed us.  He didn’t get it right.  We were the ones who were supposed to get the promotion.  We’re supposed to have the spouse that treats us well. We were supposed to be the ones to be able to have children on our timetable. 

 Early in my career, my wife and I would look at and compare our cars and belongings to others in the Squadron or even our own family.  We were literally “Keeping up with the Jones”.  Often times we would resort to “Retail Therapy” (and we still fight this every now and then) to fill a spiritual need.  This led to debt, stress, worry, and loss of a giving spirit.  Once again, like all the other “Deadly sins” we have looked at, we were trying to shortcut God’s will, design, and in this case, His financial and physical blessings. Then came Dave Ramsey  and his saying of “Live like no one else, so that later, you can live like no one else”.

The first step in dealing with envy is to turn back to the very God who seems to have treated us so badly. Instead of substituting anger for envy, be honest about what you’re feeling.

This is an important place to start.  You might not have consciously thought that you’re really angry with God when you’re envious, but anytime we’re discontent, we’re feeling like God has shortchanged us.  We feel that God is unjust.  He isn’t being fair.  And I hope to say this as gently as possible, but God is God and we’re not.  Our sense of justice, our sense of fairness is tainted by sin.  We have a distorted view of justice and fairness.  Trust me, friends, we should be exceedingly grateful that God doesn’t treat us fairly.  Because if he did, we’d all be destined for hell.  And any time you notice you’re feeling like God has given you the short end of the stick, I would encourage you to look at the cross.  

Genesis 4:3-7 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

• We talked about this story when we had our podcast on anger, but today, we want to look at the root emotion that caused that anger – jealousy.  Cain was jealous of his brother. 
• In this gentle confrontation, God tried to help Cain come to the right response.  He tried to encourage him that he would be accepted if he did what was right.  He said that sin was crouching at the door. Up to this point, Cain hadn’t sinned, but he is right on the edge.  Sin is right there ready to pounce.  That tells me that it is OK to question.  In his questioning, Cain hadn’t sinned yet.  There is a space where we can come to God with hard questions about things that are or are not happening in our lives, but we need to come to him in humility and faith.  And we have a choice in those moments to do what is right.  To come out of that on the other end and say, “God I may not understand it, but I know I can trust you. I know you are just.  I know you are good.”
• I’ve had multiple times in my life where I was going through some sort of inconvenience, some sort of trial, and I’ve said, “Couldn’t it be easy, just once, God.”  And I said it in the whiniest, brattiest, most ungrateful voice you can think of.  I went from a question made in humility to a flat out lie.  God has made it incredibly easy for me in so many ways.  He sent his son to die on the cross for my sins and Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light.  He gave me an incredible wife.  My kids are respectful and obedient and a joy to be around.  I’m healthy.  I have the most amazing church family anyone could ask for.  I have it easy in so many ways.  And yet, I have the nerve to ask God if it could be easy just once.  And in those moments, when I come to my senses, I acknowledge that God is so good to me.

We have spoken about the Tornado that destroyed our farm and home six months ago a few times already on the Men’s Podcast.  I can genuinely say we have been blessed by that event.  We been blessed with, as Paul talks about,  a peace that passes understanding.  That is only from the Lord.   However… we are starting to feel a little frustration and looking at other houses a little “dangerously” wanting to short cut the rebuild as the frustration builds with the clean up and construction.  However, we know that He has a plan for this and will use this for HIS glory.  He is definitely working on “Contentment” for both Eugenia and I.  We have to constantly remind ourselves to have a grateful heart and praise the Lord!

The second step is to learn to admire God’s gifting in others – without comparing them with your gifts.

• 1 Corinthians 12:29-31 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.
• Our envy isn’t limited to stuff.  We might be envious of someone else’s talents and giftings, the position they hold, or the respect they have in our church or community.  
• Instead of wishing we had someone else’s gift, we should be grateful for the gifts God has given us, because as believers, we’ve all been given spiritual gifts.  Most of us don’t even completely realize what our God given gifts are, much less fully developed them.  Or we’re using our giftings for ourselves instead of for the common good of the church.  We have no idea what God can do through us because we’re too busy wishing we had a different gift.  What a waste! We’ve probably all heard the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side”, and usually we think of that in terms of relationships, but I think it’s applicable here.  If we’d take the time to water and fertilize and weed the gifts we have, they’d be just as green as what someone else has.  We wouldn’t have to look on the other side of the fence.  
• In fact, we could take that a step further.  Instead of being envious of someone else’s gifts, we could actually celebrate them.  I can be thankful that God has given people musical giftings that I don’t have.  I can be thankful that we have people who have some tech savvy to run our sound board and media computer.
• To be a completely healthy, local body of Christ’s church, we need everyone to be exercising their gifts.  You’re needed.  Your gifts are just as important to our church family as someone else’s – whether that’s singing, teaching, leading, or your great attention to detail as you clean the campus, or your warm smile as you welcome someone coming in the door.

I have never an original thought, so to be successful, I take from both good and bad examples to learn from.  However, if I let a spirit of self doubt or pride get in there, I can turn that learning into… I am going to fail because I wish I was a communicator and leader like….. Or could organize my thoughts and express them so beautifully  like…. 

The third step is to question the system of values that says we should envy the wealthy, famous, and beautiful. God looks on the heart, not the outward appearance. 

• Isaiah 53:2-3 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,    like a root in dry ground.There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.
• This is a Messianic prophecy.  This is talking about Jesus.  
• And I think at the heart of a lot of this is – do we value most what God values most?  Take beauty or the idea of physical perfection, for example.  Think of how invested our society is in trying to achieve that – the billions and billions of dollars that are spent annually trying to hit this target of “beautiful”.  Which is a moving target, by the way.  What was beautiful 100 years ago isn’t the same today and what’s beautiful today won’t be 100 years from now. This is just not a value to God.  The bible says physical training is of some value.  It also says our body is a temple, so we should care for it.  Exercise is good. But when we become so focused on looking a certain way that just isn’t important to God, and more often than not, it distracts us from things that are important to him.
• 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy[g] when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world,[h] things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
• I love how God’s kingdom is upside down from the world’s kingdom.  So often God tells us that the things the world thinks are important are rubbish.  The world values physical beauty – God doesn’t care.  The world values celebrity and fame – God values those that are despised by the world.  The world values power – God chose the powerless. God uses people who by and large are considered nobodies by the world.  The result is that Christianity is not about elevating people.  It’s about elevating God.  God deserves all the glory and honor and credit.  He is the central figure in the story, not us. 
• 1 Timothy 6:6 Yet true Godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 
• Contentment is not just about money and material things.  It’s the attitude of being happy with what you have in all areas of life.  It’s being happy with who you are and who God made you to be.  A content person recognizes that everything they have is from God and that God is good.  God’s plan for our lives can be trusted.    I want to honor him by doing the best I can with what he has given me.  I don’t want to waste time and energy by whining about what I don’t have.  And there’s no enjoyment in it.  As we said at the beginning, Envy is the one sin on this list that has nothing pleasurable in it.  It simply leads us to bitterness, anger, depression, frustration.  

Are you missing God’s call for you based on your envy/ pride/ comparison to others who are gifted/ designed differently, or are you properly using the talents / design of how God made you?

We’re looking at sin #7 in our 7 Deadly Sins series today.  Before we get into the specific sin of sloth, we recognize you might be feeling a little beat down by now.  Maybe you’re recognized that you struggle with every sin we’ve covered in the series.  I’d just remind you that conviction is good.  Condemnation is not.  Ask God to strengthen you in these areas where he has revealed sin in your life and come to him with humility and a genuine desire to go his way instead of your own way.  His grace and forgiveness are bigger than mistakes we’ve made in these areas.  

This sin of sloth is another that can sneak up on us, especially if we equate sloth with laziness.  Laziness can be one of the symptoms of sloth, but it’s not the only one.  So if you’re thinking you have a great work ethic, and you’re burning the candles at both ends, so there’s no way this could apply to you, think again.  

In fact, since we’re speaking to men specifically on this podcast, I would say that the American church at large is full of slothful men.  We’re full of dads who don’t take God’s calling to be the primary pastor in their homes seriously – dads who kill themselves to provide financially for their families, but are absent emotionally and spiritually when they walk in the door.  We’re surroyunded b men who fail to engage in real relationships and the good and the bad that comes with them – men who would rather escape reality and engage in a fake world online or on a video game because they’ve given up. 

Big Idea: The 7 deadly sins are not a list to keep us from getting the most out of life.  The opposite is actually true and the sin of sloth proves it. 

The book Tender Warrior early in my life as a parent and husband led to me being on purpose as a husband and father.  Today I have a wife that is amazing and we enjoy a great marriage, we have kids who we talk with everyday and cannot wait to spend time with, and we are already planning how we can impact our kids.  

Sloth is giving up on life and relationships; it looks like laziness, but in reality it’s apathy. Jesus hates it because he came for the exact opposite purpose: to give us a rich and satisfying life.

John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

• We long for purpose.  It’s part of being created in the image of God.  When we feel like we have not purpose we’re not living a rich and satisfying life” 
• Story about Jewish concentration camp prisoners moving dirt in the camp. 
• The devil wants us to be apathetic.  He wants to rob us of the joy we experience when we’re engaged in the lives of others.  
• There was a season where I became pretty disengaged with my siblings and their families.  I still went to the family functions, but I wasn’t engaging.  Patterns of sin that I had seen for years, consequences to decisions that had been made but blaming everyone else, just got wearisome to me.  One of my sisters challenged me on it.  It was a hard conversation.  Eventually, I thanked her for having the courage to confront me, but that wasn’t my immediate reaction. 
• Surrounded by driven people, Surround yourself with people who are driven for the Kingdom and in life.  However, Type A’’s be careful that the driven people at work that you are surrounded by lead you away from or distract you from your primary purpose as leader of your home.  77th FS and 14 days and Sunday afternoons…left no to little time to lead my family.. Which led to the “7 dark years”
• Our “7 dark years” in our marriage where we had a sick child, keeping our niece and nephew, my career was skyrocketing and I was deployed a lot…I was not being the leader of my house and was misplacing my purpose…burnout?.  The dark years ended when I showed the proper concern, enthusiasm and purpose for my marriage again.

The picture of genuine faith is not of monks hidden away in their monasteries, but rather of men and women engaged in their world.

• Sometimes our apathy is driven by a sense of pointlessness – “I’m just one guy.  The world has gone down the tubes.  What difference will it make?”  I’m sure many of the men and women in scripture had some of those same thoughts.  If we were engaging in our own strength and power that might be true.  But as believers, we’ve been sent out under the power and authority of the King of all Kings.
• Gladiator line – “What we do here on earth echoes in eternity” . 
• Hebrews 11:32-34 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33 By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.
• Do you see a need? Do you see an injustice? Do you see an area where God is calling you to step in or step up? 
• Are we too heavenly minded to be any earthly good?  Not saying we shouldn’t have an eternal perspective. We definitely should.  Not saying we shouldn’t long for heaven.  We should.  But God has invited us to be a part of building his kingdom.  Are we taking that invitation seriously? The Great Commission tells me it’s more than just an invitation; it’s a command. 
• “Modern Monk” – Many in the Church spend  their time “going deep” in the Scripture but never apply it or disciple others. They have become complacent or apathetic to the Great Commission.
• As a fighter pilot, in the flight brief before every flight, I brief: “Complacency Kills”.  What we do is serious life or death business.  We need our pilots to be focused and ready for the flight because one small error can kill you and/or others.  The same can be said for how we see disciple making and the Gospel.  Complacency/ Apathy  Kills
• Burn out for me leads to apathy- antidote is grateful worship/heart and proper rest (not laziness…The laziness lie for me).   Proper rest is a whole other podcast, and once again, the key was having a mentor speak life into me to point it out.  That mentor had concern, love, and patience with me to invest in me. Gents, that is what we are called to do as leaders of our marriage, homes, kids, and those around us that God has placed in our lives.

The antidote to sloth is to purposefully engage in the world – and the payoff is joy. Jesus is our ultimate example of this kind of passionate purpose. 

• Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.[a] Because of the joy[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people;[c] then you won’t become weary and give up. 
• How is this a life that is rich and satisfying? I see words like strip off, run with endurance – I’m not much of a runner.  My rule is that I don’t run unless there is a ball involved or someone with a weapon is chasing me.  But because of the joy waiting for us.  For the author of Hebrews to address this, you can assume that people were getting weary.  They were giving up.  They were giving in to sloth.  
• How do we engage the world? Start with your family.  Engage with your wife and kids. Engage with siblings.  If they’re believers, help them take their next step in their pursuit of God.  If they’re unbelievers, introduce them to Jesus. First conversation we did on this men’s podcast was to introduce how to use the PursueGOD resources to engage with other men. So many topics to choose from that give you the ability to meet people where they are.  There’s nothing more important that you can do with your life than to pursue God and help the next person pursue God.  It brings ultimate fulfillment.  
• In my role as a pastor, I feel like I spend most all of my time engaging.  When I get home, it’s very tempting to feel like, “this is my refuge”.  It’s really tempting for me to disengage.  When that happens the people I love the most are being hurt by my slothfulness.