If you're like me, and you've been living in Boston for a while, you've done the touristy stuff, ad nauseam! Especially the Freedom Trail. No offense to our fore-fathers, but there's only so many times you can see the same old buildings, old churches, and cemeteries (although the U.S.S. Constitution is pretty sweet every time). So whenever I have out-of-town friends come visit, I warn them ahead of time: sorry (not sorry), but you're doing the Freedom Trail on your own! I'll meet you after, at one of the taverns.

C.S. Lewis famously wrote, "Christianity must be from God, for who else could have thought it up? ... This is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed." The more I study the Scriptures, the more I agree. 

You can't make this stuff up. 

The search for truth about God has always been a struggle, because Satan is the great counterfeiter. He has false gospels, preached by false ministers, producing false Christians. Satan plants his counterfeits wherever God plants true believers. Jesus warned: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." Therefore, every Christian must practice spiritual discernment. How can we intuitively spot false gospels? We need to know the true Gospel inside and out. 

Tomorrow, we finish up our "Adulting" series, by talking about wisdom and suffering. We've looked at what the ancient wisdom literature teaches us about navigating some of the most consequential areas of life: sex, money, relationships, self-control, and work. One of the things we learned about the book of Proverbs, in particular, is the wisdom literature gives us principles and probabilities, not necessarily promises. Tomorrow we ask the question: if I pursue wisdom in every area of life, why do I still experience setbacks, disappointment, and sometimes, even, suffering. Why do bad things happen to wise people? In order to live life as an adult, instead of as a pouty child when things don't go as planned, you need a robust practical theology of suffering.

Tomorrow, we continue our "Adulting" series by talking about work. Preparing for a job, getting a job, and keeping a job are all part of growing up. Since work takes up so much of our lives, and so much of our lives depends on our work, the ancient wisdom literature of Holy Scripture has lots to say about it. The ancient wisdom literature teaches that work is a good gift from God. Ecclesiastes 2:24 says "There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil." Do you find enjoyment in your work? 

I could bore you with a mountain of statistics proving that our society has a problem with self-control, but you already know. You know, because we all struggle with self-control. We struggle with controlling our impulses, urges, and desires. We struggle with controlling our emotions and feelings. We struggle with our appetites. 
 

Nothing has shaped you, and nothing will shape you, more than your family and friends. Just think about how much of who you are, and where you are, is a direct result of your family and best friends. Not only do the closest people in your life form the person you become, but they are also the source of your greatest joys, or your greatest sorrows.