Theologian Jaroslav Pelikan said: “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” Let me explain. Tradition is the “living faith of the dead.” It’s a reference to the dynamic and life-changing Christian faith of those who have gone on before us, and which we remember through certain … Continue reading The dead faith of the living?
Author: Matthew Ruttan
Your impact can last
Being a person of your word—a person of integrity who does their best to do what they say they’re going to do—has a positive impact that can literally last for generations. Skeptical? Think of someone from your past who had a really positive impact on you—someone who was a person of their word, someone who … Continue reading Your impact can last
When is being nice a bad thing?
My wife and I are in a small group. We meet weekly with people from our church to talk about Sunday’s sermon, the Bible passage, and pray together. One of the real benefits is hearing other people’s insights and ideas. Recently we were talking about how easy it is to over-commit. For a lot of … Continue reading When is being nice a bad thing?
Want to be steady for someone? Don’t be zig-zaggy
For the better part of a week I’ve been touching on the idea of being a person of your word. I’ve talked about keeping track of your promises, keeping your promises, what to do when you haven’t kept your word, and how your reliability can be someone else’s stability. Let me share another idea that … Continue reading Want to be steady for someone? Don’t be zig-zaggy
Your reliability can make an impact
Right now I’m in a teaching series about how to be a person of your word in a world of verbal mistrust. [See the 50-second preview video here.] It’s generating a lot of interesting discussions. And in today’s devotional, I’d like to dig into something I’ll be talking a little bit more about this coming … Continue reading Your reliability can make an impact
Punishment? Or consequence?
Today I want to address something that sometimes comes up in conversations. It’s kind of a big one. Someone will say, “Because of all this bad stuff happening in my life I feel like God is punishing me.” Have you ever said something like that? Have you ever felt it? I get where it comes … Continue reading Punishment? Or consequence?
When you haven’t kept your word
For the past two days I’ve been talking about being a person of your word—a person who is honest and trustworthy. In Matthew 5:37 Jesus taught about the importance of speaking with sincerity: “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” It’s a statement that … Continue reading When you haven’t kept your word
A light, even in your words
Yesterday’s devotional was about being a person of your word. I said that people who keep their promises keep track of their promises. It makes total sense. If you’re going to be a person who is trustworthy and who keeps their promises, you have to know what they are. You need to keep track of … Continue reading A light, even in your words
Can you remember what you promised?
Before the world of contracts and fine print, do you remember hearing about agreements that were made on the shake of a hand? Remember when someone could be trusted “at their word”? Nowadays, that seems rare. We live in an age of verbal mistrust. So many people break promises that it doesn’t even surprise us … Continue reading Can you remember what you promised?
God told me to _______
“God led me.” “God directed me.” “God told me to _____.” Maybe you’ve said something like that before. Maybe you’ve heard someone else say it. It’s often comes from a very sincere place: Someone (maybe even you) prays to God about something, and then has a strong feeling that they should act in a certain … Continue reading God told me to _______
