Transformed from the Inside
Listen now
Description
In the worst UK residential fire since World War II, fire engulfed the twenty-four story Grenfell Tower building in West London, claiming the lives of seventy people. Investigations revealed a primary reason the flames spread so quickly was the cladding that covered the building’s exterior. The material was aluminum on the outside but had an extremely flammable plastic core. How was such a dangerous material allowed to be sold? The product’s sellers failed to disclose poor fire safety test results. And buyers, drawn by the material’s cheap price tag, failed to heed warning signs. The shiny cladding looked nice on the outside.  Some of Jesus’ harshest words were directed at religious teachers He accused of covering corruption behind a nice-looking exterior. He said they were like “whitewashed tombs”—"beautiful on the outside” but inside full of dead bones (Matthew 23:27). Instead of pursuing “justice, mercy and faithfulness” (v. 23), they were focused on looking good—cleaning “the outside of the cup” but not the “greed and self-indulgence” inside (v. 25).  It’s easier to focus on looking good than to bring our sin and brokenness honestly before God. But a nice-looking exterior doesn’t make a corrupt heart any less dangerous. God invites us to let Him transform all of us from the inside (1 John 1:9).
More Episodes
Sell my late mother’s house? That decision burdened my heart after my beloved, widowed mother passed away. Sentiment drove my feelings. Still, my sister and I spent two years cleaning and repairing her empty home, resigned to sell it.  This was in 2008, and a global recession left us with no...
Published 11/22/24
On November 22, 1963, US president John F. Kennedy, philosopher and writer Aldous Huxley, and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis all died. Three well-known men with radically different worldviews. Huxley, agnostic, still dabbled in Eastern mysticism. Kennedy held to a humanistic philosophy. And...
Published 11/21/24
Paul had gone to the temple for the Jewish purification ceremony (Acts 21:26). But some agitators who thought he had been teaching against the Law sought to take his life (v. 31). Roman soldiers quickly got involved and arrested Paul, bound him, and carried him from the temple area—with the mob...
Published 11/20/24