this hilarious clip of Eric Berry freaking out on the sidelines<\/a> because there is a live horse walking around. I\u2019ve watched this thing a dozen times and it never gets old. It\u2019s just so crazy to see one of the toughest players in the NFL completely controlled by an irrational fear of horses. It\u2019s so out of character for a guy that tough to fear some little thing. This is the power of fear.<\/p>\nIt seems as though everywhere I turn these days I\u2019m faced with fear. From the Fiscal Cliff, to the missiles raining down on Tel Aviv, Gaza, and the West bank I see fear. I have heard no less than at least a half-dozen times since the election that Obama will \u201ctake this country down,\u201d or that this is \u201cthe end of our nation as we used to know it,\u201d \u2026 fear. Politicians and power-brokers make their way in the world by fostering, fomenting, and leveraging fear. They tell us what to be afraid of and who to blame. Why so much fear?<\/p>\n
Some fear is obviously good. It\u2019s good to fear traffic. This keeps us from playing in the street. But too much fear in our society is irrational and useless. It\u2019s meant only to provide others with a means of control and a way to make money.<\/p>\n
Fear is not a characteristically Christian emotional response to the brokenness of the world. Christians refuse to live in fear. The bible says that perfect love casts out fear. If you are busy with fear, you have no room to love. If you are sowing the seeds of fear, you are not sowing the seeds of love, and you will reap what you sow. If you are controlled by fear, you are not controlled by love, and you make yourself an enemy of God.<\/p>\n
Why so much fear?<\/p>\n
What do we have to fear, death? Christians don\u2019t fear death. Will the peddlers of fear threaten us with resurrection? Go for it! I am not afraid of death. The Christian lives in hope of the resurrection. We stare death in the face and say, \u201cNice try!\u201d Death will not have the final word \u2013 that\u2019s the meaning of the resurrection. So we do have to live in fear, we can live in hope.<\/p>\n
Christians have a sacred duty to become the non-anxious presence in our culture. While everyone else is yelling, \u201cThe sky is falling!\u201d We say, \u201cNah \u2013 the sky isn\u2019t falling. All is well. I know who I believe in and am convince that he is able to keep\u2026\u201d God is the keeper. We are kept. I am not afraid.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our family went to see \u201cThe Guardians\u201d movie on a sneak peak the other night. It was brilliant. he whole movie is about the toxic nature of fear. Fear is deadly and so simple to counteract \u2013 simply don\u2019t give it any oxygen. This week I have been returning to this hilarious clip of Eric […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[211,209,212,210],"class_list":["post-1127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-eric-berry","tag-fear","tag-resurrection","tag-the-guardian"],"yoast_head":"\n
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