In Revelation 3:14-22, Jesus diagnosed Christians in Laodicea as “lukewarm.”

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

In light of the call of 2 Corinthians 13:5, our question is a practical one: what does lukewarm Christianity look like? Why is it dangerous? And if I’m struggling with a lukewarm mindset, how can I rise above it?

This sermon was delivered on May 5, 2013.

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For more sermons, visit the sermons archive or subscribe to the podcast.

For further study on zeal, check out Phillip Shumake’s Lifelong Zeal: How to Build Lasting Passion for God, which proved to be a valuable resource for this series of sermons.

• CHEAP eBook Deals of the Day - The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus (Lee Strobel) – $2.99 (80% off); The Reluctant Entertainer: Every Woman’s Guide to Simple and Gracious Hospitality (Sandy Coughlin) – $1.99 (89% off); How to Debt-Proof Your Marriage (Mary Hunt) - $2.55 (64% off).
• All Pro Dad features 10 habits to break as a family.
• Roger Shouse focuses in on the Biblical expression, “Leave his father and mother,” giving some important advice to young married couples and their parents.
• Gary Henry’s Daily Family Bible Study reinforces that choices are the stuff out of which life is made.
• Dene Ward loves her garden and sometimes thinks that God must love gardens too.

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• CHEAP eBook Deals of the Day - Holman Bible Atlas - $4.99 (83% off); Help for Women Under Stress (Randy & Nancy Alcorn) – $3.99.
• Roger Shouse provides some good advice on dealing with drama.
• Ferrell Jenkins gives us a good visual idea of what the “three-pronged forks” used by Old Testament priests might have looked like.
• “I can see what you are saying, and I can see what the Bible says. But what you are talking about is just too simple. There has to be more to it than that.” Doy Moyer asks, “If God left it uncomplicated, isn’t that reason enough for us to stick with the simple, too?”

• CHEAP eBook Deal of the Day: Holman Illustrated Guide to Biblical History (Kendell Easley) – $4.99 (80% off).
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• Matthew J. Franck suggests, “Kermit Gosnell has a right to be the most surprised man in America right now. We, on the other hand, who have not wanted to notice the slave-dealers in our midst, have no such excuse.” Similarly, Albert Mohler reflects on what the Kermit Gosnell trial really reveals about America.
• “There are many reasons to abstain from sin,” writes Gary Henry, “but the most important is simply the thought that sin is an offense against the goodness of God Himself.”
• Craig Bradley asks, “Why did God make me?”
• Andy Sochor mines the Proverbs to discover what character traits we can gain from a pursuit of wisdom.

In 1 Corinthians 6:18, the Spirit of God straightforwardly commands, “Flee from sexual immorality.”

Keep living and temptation will keep coming. What’s your plan for your next encounter?

This sermon is an encouragement to remember a simple acronym drawn from 1 Corinthians 6:18 — F.L.E.E. It was delivered on April 28, 2013.

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For more sermons, visit the sermons archive or subscribe to the podcast.

Thanks to Trent Hunter for sharing F.L.E.E. as a helpful acronym.

• CHEAP eBook Deals of the Day: Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design (Stephen C. Meyer) – $2.99 (85% off); Your Girl: Raising a Godly Daughter in an Ungodly World (Vicki Courtney) – $0.99; Your Boy: Raising a Godly Son in an Ungodly World (Vicki Courtney) – $0.99.
• Does Abba really mean “Daddy?” Glenn Stanton checks the facts.
• Roger Shouse draws several practical points for the day from Genesis 6:6.
• Dene Ward reminds us, “Jesus wants us to leave all our baggage behind. Not just our lives of sin, but all those biases that keep us from seeing clearly.”
• Clay Gentry provides a word study on the Bible’s use of slave.

For a glimpse of the fruit of postmodernism on full display, here’s Rob Bell being pressed on the legitimacy of homosexual relationships within Christianity. (Warning: in a moment of apparent frustration, Bell uses some inappropriate language).

Bell:

“It is time for the church to acknowledge that we have brothers and sisters who are gay and want to share their life with someone. This is a part of life in the modern world. And that’s how it is. And cultural consciousness has shifted. This is how the world is.

“I am for monogamy. I am for fidelity. I am for commitment. I think the world needs more of that. I think that promiscuity is dangerous and destructive. Some people are gay and want to share their life with someone, and they should be able to. That’s how the world is, and we should affirm that. And we should affirm monogamy, fidelity, and commitment, both gay and straight.”

Paul:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:1-2)