Rooted in Assurance

Paradigm Shift: noun. an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way. Hot take: I enjoy country music, but I think Luke Bryan is the worst thing to happen to the genre. Music, and media in general, often influences culture and the way we think and interact with others. We create paradigms, viewing the world through colored lenses which taint our perspectives and identities. Contrary to Luke Bryan’s song “Most People are Good,” nobody is inherently good. The Bible tells us our hearts are desperately wicked and beyond cure (Jeremiah 17:9). From birth, you don’t have to teach a kid how to steal from the cookie jar or lie to parents. You do, however, have to provide loving rules, consequences and rewards. It is also possible to be a nice person and not be good. God defines “good” differently than we do: the Bible also tells us that our best works are no better than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Filthy