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Idle: Be Still (Ps. 46) Chris Altrock – March 13, 2016

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No Health and Wealth

Kate Bowler is a professor at Duke Divinity School. She studies something called “the prosperity gospel movement.” That’s the movement so popular in America and elsewhere that says “God wants you to succeed,” and “If you have enough faith, you’ll be always be happy and healthy,” and “If you follow God nothing will ever go wrong,” And then Kate got cancer.

Well, it doesn’t take the thoughtful person long to realize the problem with the prosperity gospel. Just think about the people here at Highland. We have lots of genuine, authentic, sincere followers of God here. Yet they have cancer. They have unemployment. They have depression. They know if you follow God things still can go wrong.

Thankfully, the Bible’s pretty honest about this. Psalm 46 is one of those honest places. Following God is no guarantee that life will be sunshine and roses. No. The authors, “the sons of Korah”–temple keepers and temple singers during the time of David and Solomon–describe the world realistically.Read More »Idle: Be Still (Ps. 46) Chris Altrock – March 13, 2016

Idle: The Greatest Gift You May Have Never Received (Matt. 11:28-30) Chris Altrock – February 21, 2016

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When Normal is Abnormal

I played football in high school–running back. I know, based on my impressive size, that’s probably not surprising. My twin brother, whose body is a mirror of mine, was a lineman. Needless to say, we two puny players didn’t strike a lot of fear in the hearts of our opponents.

One of my strongest memories of football is how hard practices were. Our coaches believed in running hard. If one player did anything wrong in practice, the entire team was called to the goal line and we had to run sprints. If, while running sprints, the coaches deemed that a player was not running all out, the entire team had to run more sprints.

And to make matters worse, while our coaches did believe in running they didn’t believe in rehydration. No drinking of water was allowed at practices. If you had to drink water something was wrong with you.Read More »Idle: The Greatest Gift You May Have Never Received (Matt. 11:28-30) Chris Altrock – February 21, 2016

Thriving: Seeing in the Dark (Jn. 9:1-41) Chris Altrock – January 31, 2016

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1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Jn. 9:1-2 ESV)

Sometimes, when darkness falls in life, all we can see is the darkness. We are often blinded by the darkness. When faced with situations of suffering, it’s often difficult for us to see any meaning or purpose in it.

That was true in this case. This man has been blind from birth. And when the disciples see it, all they can see is darkness. They want to analyze it. They want to scrutinize it. They don’t even really see the man. They just see his condition. His suffering. They are blinded by the darkness.

We are as well.Read More »Thriving: Seeing in the Dark (Jn. 9:1-41) Chris Altrock – January 31, 2016

Thriving: What You Bring to the Table (Jn. 6:1-15) Chris Altrock – January 24, 2016

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A few weeks ago I was with some friends in Nashville. We hadn’t seen each other since early November, so we were catching up–sharing how things had gone for us over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

One friend showed a gift she had received. It was a piece of jewelry. She said the piece had been given to her by a friend at church. The jewelry was tiny. It probably didn’t cost much. But as my friend talked about the small gift, tears welled up and fell from her eyes. Apparently that tiny gift meant a lot.Read More »Thriving: What You Bring to the Table (Jn. 6:1-15) Chris Altrock – January 24, 2016