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The problem isn’t so much that we tell lies but that we live them. We let them into our bodies, and they sabotage our peace. All around us in the culture and deep within our own body memories are lies: deceptive ideas that wreak havoc on our emotional health and spiritual well-being, and deceptive ideas about who God is, who we are, and what the good life truly is.
Dr. Nancy Pearcey has been described as "America's preeminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual.” John Mark describes her book Love Thy Body as “hands down the best work [he’s] read on the worldview behind the sexual revolution.” In this conversation, the two of them discuss Personhood Theory, and how this kind of thinking has a bearing on gender, abortion, sex, human rights & more. This is a weighty conversation, but an important one. We hope it serves you as you navigate following Jesus in this complex moment. J.T. Thomas is one in a million. Courageous, peace-filled, convicted - J.T. is the founder of Civil Righteousness and a true peacemaker, living at the intersection of Jesus’ teachings and activism. Join the two of them for a conversation on generational trauma, the spiritual realities that fuel racial injustice & how to build a response to racism that’s informed by the way of Jesus. I whittled down my highlights to the top best 10 quotes. Here’s my list with a few thoughts on each one. (I hope my church gets used to me quoting from Live No Lies in sermons)This book is a godsend. It exposes our spiritual enemy of untruth—a foe impacting our societies on a global scale. In a world where everyone tries to live their own ‘truth,’ this book reveals and challenges the many lies that have become common, normal, and accepted in our everyday conversations and decisions..” —Albert Tate, lead pastor of Fellowship Church If this sounds a little pessimistic, just remember what happened at the beginning of the world – Adam and Eve sinned. This sin went viral and spread through society because people are easily influenced by each other. Too often, we focus on fighting against sin ourselves. Be honest, how is that working out? The better approach is to focus on spiritual practices (i.e., abiding in the vine, walking by the Spirit, etc.) and unleash the power of God to transform us. All of us are easily deceived. In his book Dupe, the deception expert Dr. Timothy Levine shows how even the most intelligent people are terrible at identifying lies. Our default reaction is to assume someone is telling the truth. The psychologist Sigmund Freud argued that it was the repression of desire – particularly the libido – that made people unhappy. This notion has been incredibly influential in the West. Secular culture encourages people to be true to themselves and follow their desires.
When a person fasts, they train their body to not get what it wants. They stop giving into their desires, so they are no longer controlled by them. Of course, being deprived of food is a form of suffering, but it’s a lesson in suffering with joy. It can even be a path to freedom. Comer brilliantly breaks down this concept of the world, and he does it using quotes from some great thinkers and theologians. The list of books I want to read grew significantly after this section. Ultimately, the church is called to be counterculture to the world. How do we do that? Comer again gives some really practical suggestions pointing to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Live No Lies Every time we sow to the flesh — or put another way, every time we give in to our flesh’s desire to sin — we plant something in the soil of our hearts, which then begins to take root, grow, and, eventually, yield the harvest of a deformed nature. . . . Thankfully, the same is true of the Spirit. Every time you sow to the Spirit and invest the resources of your mind and body into nurturing your inner man or woman’s connection to the Spirit of God, you plant something deep in the humus of your central fulcrum, which, over time, takes root and bears the fruit of a Christlike character.” Live No Lies is brilliant, deep, scriptural, and will equip you to face the enemy and fight."-Jennie Allen, New York Times bestselling author of Get Out of Your HeadAmid the revolution, the questions nobody seems to even be asking are, Is this making us better people? More loving people? Or even happier people? Are we thriving in a way we weren’t prior to our ‘liberation’?” (p. 28) The key is to influence the things that are in your control. That means adopting the right practices and habits – and even curating your thoughts. This is especially important for Christians living in secular society; they need to be careful about the culture they consume. Everything a person allows into their mind has an effect on their soul, so maybe the gratuitous sex and violence of a TV show like Game of Thrones is best avoided. It’s rare to have well-read, conservative voices in our culture who also have their pulse on our personal spiritual formation. That’s what Comer is doing in this book. We all know we’re in the midst of a spiritual war; we can feel it in our bones. We sense it in our distraction and daze, our longings and abandoned dreams. Some enemy is trying to pull us out of our allegiance to God, away from our first love. Comer presents this enemy with the traditional concepts of the early church: Satan, the flesh, and the world.
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