Buying A House Without Looking Inside

Recently this house came on the market.  It is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom home located in the San Francisco area only minutes from the coast.  This seems like your average house for sale, but it is far more crazy then that.  What makes this house different is the fact that the owner will not post any picture or show anyone the inside of the home.  Naturally, the home is sold “as is.”  Anyone who wants to purchase it will have to buy it without any knowledge of its interior and deal with the unknown horrors it contains within.  But this isn’t all, “To sweeten the deal even more, the home appears to be bank-owned and tenant-occupied!  Addressing this, the listing adds: ‘The buyer assumes all risks associated with the existing tenancies after close of escrow.’  So to our understanding, this means that once you buy the home of mysterious interiors, you also have the responsibility of kicking out the tenants” (RealEstate.Aol.com).

(See Listing Add Here)

It doesn’t take a real estate expert to know this house is, what one might call, “a really, really bad deal.”  Wouldn’t it be nice if all decisions in life were this clear?  Unfortunately, it can be hard to figure out what choices are right in this life.  The good news is we have Scripture for this!

When it comes to decision guides, few Scriptures are better than Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

“Should I worship with this congregation?”  We need to see if what they teach is true, honorable, and right.  “Should I hang out with this person?”  We need to see if he/she is a person of good repute and a person who will promote what is honorable, right, pure, and lovely.  “Should I go to this movie?”  We need to see if the movie is pure and honorable.  Most spiritually important decision in our lives can be answered by this incredible passage.

Ignoring this verse is why we continue to fall victim to our bad spiritual choices.  The sooner we learn to use this Scripture as a guide to our decisions, the sooner we will begin making spiritually right choices.

Life is tough, but there is no reason to make it more difficult with poor decisions.  Buying a house without looking inside would be one such decision.  Living a spiritual life away from things that are “true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, and worthy of praise” would be a far worse decision.  May the Lord give us the strength, wisdom, and guidance to make the right decisions!

Tough Decisions

 

“One of the most famous trials in history was that of Benjamin Francois Courvoisier in London in 1840, who is now immortalized in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.  Courvoisier was a Swiss valet accused of killing his elderly employer, Lord William Russell.  What made this trial notorious was the argument for the defense.  The police had bungled the investigation.  The evidence against Courvoisier was entirely circumstantial or had been planted.  One of the officers had perjured himself, and the maid's testimony brought suspicion on herself.

“The defense attorney, Charles Phillips, was convinced of the innocence of Courvoisier and cross-examined witnesses aggressively.  At the beginning of the second day of the trial, however, Courvoisier confessed privately to his lawyer that he had committed the murder.  When asked if he was going to plead guilty, he replied to Charles Phillips, ‘No, sir, I expect you to defend me to the utmost.’  Phillips was faced with a dilemma. Should he declare to the court that the man was guilty, or should he defend Courvoisier as best he could?  Should he break the confidentiality of the client-lawyer relationship, or should he help a guilty man to possibly go free?  Which is more important -- truth or professional duty?” (Klyne Snodgrass, Between Two Truths - Living with Biblical Tensions, p. 11-12).

Before I reveal what the lawyer chose, what would you have done in this situation?  Would you be loyal to your profession and the guilty man, or turn him over?  As it turns out, Charles Phillips decided to defend the man.  Despite his efforts, the man was convicted.  However, when this decision became public, Charles Phillips was heavily criticized for his decision.

While this may not have been a tough decision for some, people are often faced with difficult decisions.   Consider the following: Can I be saved, and if so, how?  Which church is the right one?  Can I and should I fix my marriage?  Should I date this person?  Who should I be friends with?  Should I continue to watch this TV show or movie?  Do I need to stop doing something I enjoy?

All the answers to questions like these can be found in Scripture.  The Bible is more than just a good book, it is the ultimate instruction book specifically given by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  It gives us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 3:9).  There is simply no greater way to improve life than through Scripture.  We just need to take the time to read and study its divine contents.

P.S.  If you have been looking for some of the answers to the above questions, or others, please don’t hesitate to ask.  We can help show you what answers God’s Word gives.

Trying to Swim from Europe to the U.S.

 

Olympic swimming is incredibly exciting to watch.  Such as watching the young Missy Franklin come from behind to win the gold and seeing if Michael Phelps still has some speed left in him.  All of this swimming excitement has made some people (myself included) desire to jump in the pool and swim as fast as possible, just for the fun it.  One man took these excited feelings a bit too far.

A 34-year-old British man was overtaken with Olympic fever while at the beach in Biarritz, France.  He told his friends that he was going to swim across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City to show his excitement for the games.  His friends knew he was a strong swimmer, so they let him jump in the water thinking he was joking and would turn around soon enough.  Before long, the man was out of sight.

This man’s ambitious goal was soon interrupted by a rescue helicopter.  A diver jumped down, swam over to the man, and reminded him that the distance from Biarritz to New York City was 3,595 miles.  Despite the warning, the man boasted of his awesome aquatic skills and kept on swimming.  As a point of comparison, the average Olympic swimmer swims at about 5 mph (and they are swimming as hard as they can by the way).  Swimming 3,595 miles at an incredible 5 mph would still take 30 days!  Thankfully, the man eventually came to his senses and was rescued.

This man reminded me of the examples Jesus gave in Luke 14:27-32.  Jesus speaks of a man who tries to build a tower without calculating if he can afford it and of the king who takes his army into battle without considering if he can win.  Scripture consistently encourages us to think before we speak or act (Proverbs 3:5-6; 11:14; 15:22; etc).  Of all the advice given, some of the best is stated in Proverbs 16:1-3, “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.  All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives.  Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.”

It can be hard to remember to make good decisions, especially when that Olympic fever comes.  So, here is a little tip to guide us in making better decisions.  I call it the 3 P’s of good decisions: (1) Pray, (2) Ponder, and (3) Prepare.  Following these 3 easy steps can be the difference between a making bad decision and following God’s plan for you.  So, next time we feel like swimming across the Atlantic, changing jobs, moving, or even a small decision, let’s remember the 3 P’s of good decisions.