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This quote hit hard. God has given humans the creative potential to imagine a possible reality and bring it into existence. The negative side of this power is that we can bring lies into existence as well.
This insight about “deepest vs. strongest” desires is similar to the “important vs. urgent” idea. We need to stop choosing something now at the cost of something better later. Here’s the key message: We reap what we sow, and the choices we make determine the people we become. Jesus highlights the extent of the devil’s power, to all the kingdoms of this world, not just a particular locality.The role of the church is more important than ever. Christians today should return to the idea of the church as a counterculture and live an alternative life on the margins of society.
These days, however, even many Christians are skeptical. People treat the devil as a myth or ancient nonsense. Contrary to popular artistic imaginings, the devil is not in hell; he’s here, on earth. If Jesus’s anthem is ‘On earth as it is in heaven,’ the devil’s is ‘On earth as it is in hell.’” And in this sweeping craze, so many people have been taken captive to ideology, which is a form of idolatry. A growing number of people are more loyal to their ideology or political party than they are to Jesus and his teachings. I feel this tug in my own heart, and we must resist it. It takes us into territory outside the kingdom of God and demagnetizes our moral compass, pointing us in a direction that does not lead to life and peace.” John Mark Comer is a gift to the church. He writes with adept cultural nuance, theological savvy, and refreshing spiritual depth. In Live No Lies, he’s taken on a multilayered, ancient topic and brilliantly rearticulated it for our generation. This is a gem.” —Rich Villodas, lead pastor of New Life Fellowship and author of The Deeply Formed LifeOne way to think about temptation is to see all temptation as the appeal to believe a lie, to believe an illusion about reality.”
Here’s the key message: To resist the devil and his lies, Christians should try to be more like Jesus. For nearly two decades, I pastored at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon. We started as a new community who were fascinated by the simple idea of discovering what it meant to gather and practice the Way of Jesus together in the heart of our city.Late in the fourth century AD, a young intellectual named Evagrius Ponticus went into the desert of Egypt to fight the devil. The Bible makes it clear that for Jesus, the devil was real – so Christians should be willing to keep an open mind. And if the devil’s real, that means he’s the one manipulating and deceiving people and making them miserable. The Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, immediately responded with antagonism:“We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone.” Anxious to avoid a repeat of history, Edmund Burke laid out the logic behind the American architecture in a letter from 1791:
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