By: Zach Collins He brushed his teeth twice a day and he went to the doctor religiously – twice a year he followed through with a check-up. In favor of snack cakes, he treated himself to fruit. When it snowed outside, he always made sure to wear his boots.  He stuck to the proper diet. With great inspection, he overanalyzed every label on every product he digested. He identified all the fats – poly and unsaturated – and every other ingredient that might injure his body. He walked, jogged, and worked out at the local health club.  He slept eight hours a day. He never smoked, drank, used substances, or lost his temper. He prepared to live to be 100 years old.  His funeral will be held on Wednesday. He was only 53 years old. He is survived by 10 specialists – 4 health institutions – 6 gymnasiums – and a host of food manufacturers.  He followed all the rules and imposed upon himself the strictest of standards. He did everything he was told to do to live a long life – work, exercise, and eat healthy – but he still failed in attaining his goal of living a long life. He sought to be complete in this world.  Paul wrote, in Colossians 2:8-10, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of …

 By: Zach Collins Have you ever heard the story of the preacher who was trying to illustrate the ill effects of alcohol and tobacco? In one sermon, to illustrate this fact, a preacher decided to put a worm in some alcohol and a worm in a sealed jar of cigarette smoke. By the end of the lesson, the preacher showed the assembly that both the worm in the alcohol and the worm in the cigarette smoke were dead. So, to bring home the application in his sermon, the preacher decided to illicit a congregational response by asking the question, “Someone please tell me, what does this mean?” To which, a young boy replied, “If you drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes, you will not have worms.”  We can all reasonably conclude that this was not the message that the preacher was trying to elucidate to the congregation. Nevertheless, in the response of this little boy, we see a common struggle in the church today, the ability to communicate.   Though unintentional, I often find myself sticking the metaphorical “foot in my mouth”, not with the words that I use, but by the sentences that I form with those words. I suppose that it is just a characteristic that is innate to imperfect human beings. Peter often stuck his foot in his mouth. On one hand, Peter confessed Christ as “the son of the living God”, while on the other hand, he denied that Jesus would be resurrected from the dead (c.f., Matthew …