8/13/2023 0 Comments August 14, 2023Teaching | Mission Update & Prayers
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This Week's Teaching: "Are We Free to Do Anything?"
Paul wrote to the disciples in Corinth who were exercising their rights and claiming freedom to be sexually permissive. Jude also wrote about people who had "secretly slipped in among them" and were using grace as a license for immorality. I think the Church needs to be reminded of what they said. (This continues the thought from last week's teaching.)
<TRANSCRIPT>
Last week I asked the question, Why do Christians care so much about sex anyway? I treated sexual morality and immorality at length. Went to the scriptures and everything about why we care so much. This week I want to tag onto that five deceptions and five truths that I see in the church. I'm gonna name the deceptions. I'm gonna name the truths. And then I'm gonna jump into scripture for those of you who care enough to stay with me to the point of scripture. FIRST First deception that I see. This is in the world. This is in the church. This is everywhere. First deception I see: " Sexual intimacy is the pinnacle of love." That's a deception that, for some reason, we've come to believe this, that sexual intimacy is the pinnacle of love. " It doesn't get better than a great sex relationship." The truth is: " Laying down your life for your friend is the pinnacle of love." And when that friend is your spouse, laying down your life for another, for your friend, for your spouse is the pinnacle of love. SECOND Deception number two: " Sexuality is a core identity, and attraction is a fixed orientation that , if given full permission, will provide the greatest fulfillment in life." That's the deception. The truth is: " Lust, if given full permission, will fill your life with brokenness and ruin and ultimately darkness." THIRD Deception number three: " Chastity is an archaic form of bondage that you break by casting off all restraint." So I have to explain. Chastity isn't just celibacy. Chastity is sexual intimacy with only your spouse. And so if you're not married, yes, it's celibacy . If you are married, it's choosing only sexual intimacy with your spouse. No others. And regardless of your past, chastity is a present and future sort of thing, it's decision about how we live. Now the deception is that chastity is an archaic form of bondage that holds people trapped and that you break it by casting off all restraint. You just gotta be free from it. The truth is that " Chastity is the wisdom of the ages that allows for safe, healthy, fulfilling freedom of sexual intimacy." And it's the establishment of families. FOURTH Deception number four: " Sex is everything, and I am my own master." No one can tell me what to do. The truth is: " Love is everything. And Jesus is the Lord." FIFTH The fifth deception is that " It's a shame to live a life that's not true to your sexual desires." The truth is, " It would be a shame to die leaving behind a story of lust, a legacy of sexual escapades, having lived a life oriented and directed only by sexual desires." These are five deceptions and five truths. Now I ask, Why? Like just in my lifetime, I remember during the seventies and eighties there was sort of this sense of, "Hey, it's nothing. It's just sex." And yet now it's sex. It's everything. Like we've actually flopped from it doesn't really matter to, everything about sex matters. WHY? Why is it that people who have lived a part of their adulthood choosing chastity have suddenly gone off the rails? And by "going off the rails," I mean, started to step over the rails. And so some of the people would just be out there flirting with lust, flirting with temptation, not really doing anything, just kinda starting to maybe think about doing things. Or some have ended up in bed with lust. Why is it people that have been raised in the church have given into this belief that sexuality is their primary identity and they've gone chasing after all sorts of things. Why is it? I think oftentimes it's just that we're bored. But it's also that we're sad. It's that we're hurt; we're injured; we're angry; we're just unhappy; we feel dead inside; we're numb; we feel unloved; or maybe we're just hormonal. It may be fed by the forms of entertainment that we choose. We allow all sorts of things to come into our living room. And here's a test. If a couple rang the doorbell, knocked on your door, they came in while you're sitting there with your family, sitting there with your spouse, and they proceeded to act out in front of you the thing that you see them doing on tv-- like, how long would it be till you kicked them outta your house? Like even violently, with anger. Like, " Don't you desecrate my living room, my family room where my kids are! Don't you desecrate it that way!" Like, how long till you kicked him out? The things that we allow to just come into our living room, because it's on a tv-- I think those things have changed how we see life and how we see sexuality. And when we find ourselves bored or feeling unloved or unappreciated or overstimulated or understimulated or whatever it is, and we see these things being played out and we go, well, maybe that's something for me. And it, it normalizes it. Like these are all the different reasons why we might turn to this and fall into these deceptions. But they're bad things. Don't fall for the deception. Even if you have fallen for it, there's hope. Now, what I would say to the church and to pastors, we have got to stop elevating sexual intimacy as the pinnacle of love. And if you're a pastor and you've said this, I hope that it causes some embarrassment. Stop talking about your wife as your "sexy, hot wife." Stop denigrating her that way. And stop feeding that to your congregation because there are people out there who are saying, "Well, my wife isn't the hot, sexy wife, so I guess I kind of screwed up." Or there are people who are not married, whether widowed or divorced, or just never married, and you keep on sending this message to them -- and I know why you do it. You want to get past the "sex is dirty" thing that the church seemed to cultivate for a long time. I get it -- but when you keep on parading sexual fulfillment in front of your church there are people out there going, "Yeah, I guess until I get some, I'm not really gonna be fulfilled." and so you're, you're messing with him that way. So please just stop. But second, we have to stop demonizing sexuality. God created us as sexual beings. Absolutely. It's not wrong to be sexual. It's wrong to be sexually immoral. It is wrong. Like I said last week, there's a whole list of things you're not allowed to do sexually, if you wanna be sexually moral. Now, if you wanna be sexually immoral, you can do those things. But if you wanna be sexually moral, there's a whole list of things that you can't do. And basically it comes down to what you can do sexually is be sexually intimate with your spouse, with one person, for life, in love. This is how God designed it. SCRIPTURES Let's open up scripture. We have a perverted gospel of grace and freedom, and we have used it to give ourselves permission to do unthinkable things. The scripture is real clear about this. 1 Corinthians 5. "It's actually reported among you..." So, Paul's writing to these believers in Corinth, and he says, " It's actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and of a kind that even Pagans don't tolerate. A man is sleeping with his father's wife... And you're proud. Shouldn't you rather have gone into mourning and put out of your fellowship the person who did this?" And he goes on and he says, "I wrote to you not to associate with sexually immoral people... Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral..." I read this last week, but I'm just doing it again. "Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." And then Paul quotes something that they're saying: "'I have the right to do anything!' you say," and he says, "but not everything is beneficial. ' I have the right to do anything!' But I will not be mastered by anything. You say, 'Food for the stomach and the stomach for food!' And God will destroy them both." It doesn't matter. And he says, "The body however, is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord [is meant for] the body." 1 Corinthians 10:23. He repeats the same phrase. Reading into it, verse 22, he says, "Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?" Then he quotes them: "'I have the right to do anything!' you say. But not everything is beneficial." Exactly like he wrote in chapter six, verse 12. He says, "'I have the right to do anything!' but not everything is constructive." In chapter six he says, "but I will not be mastered by anything." In chapter 10 , he says, "but not everything is constructive." Verse 24, "No one should seek their own good, but the good of others." 1 Peter 2:16, Peter says, "Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a coverup for evil. Live as God's slaves." Jude, chapter one. (There's only one chapter in Jude.) Jude, verse four. He says, "Certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you." And this is my concern today. "They are ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only sovereign and Lord." They pervert the grace of God into a license for immorality. In verse seven, he says, "In the same way that Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion, they serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire" -- of everyone who gives themselves to sexual immorality. So here's my appeal. Here's my appeal. We have to stop perverting the grace of God into a license for immorality. I know that there are people in the church who are speaking into all of our lives and saying, "It doesn't matter, it's just sex." And then when you press them, it's like, "Oh! It matters totally. It's sex!" And they're perverting the grace of God into a license for immorality. And there are people among us who are falling casually to it, falling to it without a fight. And this is why I'm speaking to it right now. It's not trying to fix the world, it's just trying to give us understanding so that when we are tempted -- tempted to go along with what the world says, whether it's decisions we make about our own lives, or whether it's how we influence kids or other people who look up to us or how we relate to siblings, whatever that is. My goal here is to call us to sexual morality and to stop perverting the grace of God as a license for immorality. We have to choose to not be -- as Paul said, "I will choose to not be mastered by anything." Your sexual identity, your sexual orientation, your attraction, your lust, the things that seem it would be kind of neat, kind of cool, kind of dangerous, kind of dark, kinda whatever would make you feel alive, do not allow those things to master you. Do not allow those things to master you. Come back to God and say, Lord, I choose to be holy in every aspect of my life. I will not give my sexuality a pass on these things. Sexual intimacy is not the pinnacle of love. I will not give myself to that. Rather I will lay down my life for my brother, for my friend, for my spouse. That is the pinnacle of love. I will choose to not be mastered by anything, and I will choose to only do what is constructive. Sexual immorality -- giving into lust -- will fill your life with ruin and darkness. It will be destruction in your life. It will. Even if it feels good at the moment, it will. Choose that you will not be mastered by anything and that you'll only do what is constructive. Give yourself to holiness. Follow the rules, meaning follow God's rule. What he tells you, do that. What He tells you to not do. Don't do that. Follow him. Now, here's the joy of this. I already read it. I'll finish with it. 1 Corinthians 6. He says that if you do those things, you won't inherit the kingdom of God. He says, "And that is what some of you were." He's writing to people who've done all those things, and I'm talking to people who've done all these things. I'm talking to people who've done all these things. "That is what you were." It's not what you are. "You have been washed." You're no longer dirty. "You have been sanctified." You're no longer unholy. "You were justified." You're no longer condemned. "You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God." Give yourself to that. Give yourself to the Lord. Follow the Holy Spirit in this. And so my prayer for you is that if it's your desire to live a holy life, and to choose better than what you have, my prayer is that you would repent, with tears and remorse if necessary, but that you would turn your heart back to the Lord and say, even in this moment, Lord, I choose holiness. I choose you. I choose life. I reject the deception. I reject the perversion. I choose what is true. I choose life. And my prayer is that the Holy Spirit would fill you with a fresh fire and a fresh anointing to burn away all that doesn't belong, and to live a life energized by the goodness and glory of God. You've been washed, you're forgiven, you are sanctified, you are made clean. Live that way, and you too will enter the kingdom of heaven as those unashamed for the choices that we made while on earth. This is my prayer for you. This is my blessing Amen. Mission Update & Prayer Requests
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8/6/2023 0 Comments August 7, 2023Teaching | Mission Update & Prayers
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This Week's Teaching: "A Christian Response to the Sex Debate"
Why do Christians care so much about sex anyway? Why do we care so much about sex? It seems like we are anti-sex on everything. At least that's the sense outside the Christian faith, and maybe even some of us inside the Christian faith. We just feel like preachers just rant on sex and like we're so concerned about what everyone does in their bedroom.
And there's this sense of, "Just leave us alone. Let us do whatever we want to. Love is love. Stop speaking into our lives. Just stop correcting what you think is inappropriate behavior. Just leave us alone." And I wonder why is it that Christians are so preoccupied with sex? Why do we care so much about what other people do with their bodies? It seems like we are anti unmarried intimacy, anti voyeurism (pornography), we are anti same-sex intimacy, we are anti transsexual, transgender, transvestite, all those things. We're anti. Why is it we're so anti? And obviously we are against the prevailing culture in this. But we're also against forced intimacy. And we're also against intimacy with children, and with animals, and on that area, at least for now, like there's still a sense [that] we're with culture. We're pretty much all of us preaching the same message on that one. But why is it on these other things that Christians and preachers feel so concerned to speak into it? I believe there is a valid reason, and I want to explain that today. But I also have to say I feel like we've made ourselves obnoxious about it. Almost like in this culture, everyone has an opinion about everything. Is this just more opinion about everything? Everyone's trying to win the war on opinions, trying to win some ground so that our opinion counts more than another's? Is it the same thing as sort of like opinions about politics or opinions about whether someone should have a beard or slurp their coffee on their YouTube channel? I think it's more than that, but I do recognize we've made ourselves obnoxious in it. Part of that's unavoidable. If you tell a thief that it's wrong to steal, well that's obnoxious. But it's necessary. I've gotta admit that as a teacher, as a preacher, I have pulled back from this for two reasons. I felt that it was obvious, like enough people were already saying it. I didn't need to add my voice. And also it just felt obnoxious in a sense that it would mute my voice. But today I have to speak to it. And here's my reason. I know that people who disagree with me are gonna disagree with me no matter what. But I also believe that there are people who are inclined to agree with me, and the culture is winning the argument on this because people like myself aren't speaking into it. And there are scripturally valid reasons for why we speak against what we would call sexual immorality. And so I have to speak against it, not to try to win the people who are adamantly opposed to me, but to help those of us who are in the same conversation have a thoughtful conversation, so none of us slip away just for lack of someone speaking into it. And so today, I want to speak about this gently, but directly. So why is it that Christians are so concerned about sex? FIRST First, we've decided that we don't judge God as good or evil. He judges us as good or evil. And we don't judge scripture as right or wrong. It judges us as right or wrong. We turn to it not to judge it, not to condemn it, not to weigh it against our values, but to allow it to conform us to God's values; to teach us, to mold us. We come to Christ believing that left to ourselves we err, we go the wrong way. And so we come to him saying, "Save us!" Not just from Hell, yes, but also save us from waywardness. Save us from sin. Help us to live pure, righteous, holy lives. And so my preacher's burden about this, my preacher's burden is to remind everyone: we don't judge God. He judges us. We don't judge scripture. It judges us. God doesn't seek our counsel or our approval or our permission. We seek his. In the end, he will judge us because in the beginning he created us and he created all that is, and he decided what goes and what shouldn't go. He decided all this. This is his world, not ours. This is his call, not ours. When we get that backwards and sit in judgment over his judgments, we condemn ourselves by the very act. He has told us already explicitly to choose life, not death. And he says, if you choose life, you will receive life. If you choose death, you'll receive death. And he says, this is what it means to choose life: follow me, do what I say. To choose life is to choose righteousness and to reject wickedness. To choose death is to choose wickedness and reject righteousness. And so we are those who are choosing righteousness and learning our way through it and turning our attention to what God has already said about it. Now this includes every moral choice. What we do with our bodies is right or wrong. Whether it affects someone else or simply defies God, it can be judged as immoral. That's why we believe that it's wrong to lust even if you're not good enough at it to find another consenting adult. That's why we believe it's wrong to be greedy, even if you're not good enough at it to get rich. And it's wrong to nurture bitter envy, even if you're not good enough at it to do violence. It's wrong to hold those things in your heart and to act on them. Even if you're not good at it, it's wrong to do it. Our moral choices are judged not by their outcomes, but by the decision to do them, by the direction of our heart when we engage in them. It's measured not by the finish line. It's measured by the starting line. If we choose to play the game of immorality, it doesn't matter if we score. There is no score. You lose the game by playing the game of immorality because it's wrong to give into the temptation to do it. If you are a peeping Tom and you don't get caught, and if there's no one who feels violated by you, you have still done wrong by responding to the temptation of voyeurism, of lust. If you shoplift and then almost get caught, and so you put the thing back, you have still done wrong. Even though you didn't follow through on it, you have still done wrong because you gave into the temptation to do what shouldn't be done, to steal. And so that's where we come at this from. If the laws of the land are changed so that it's no longer illegal to do what God says is wrong, it's still wrong to do it. It's still wrong to do it. It's still wrong to do what God says is wrong. And so our concern is pursuing righteousness and rejecting wickedness in our own lives. And we recognize, if I can go back to the Garden of Eden, the problem is not how much of the forbidden fruit you eat. The problem is taking the bite of the forbidden fruit. And so, this is the first layer of why Christians are so concerned about sex. SECOND The second one is a bit touchy. We believe that God has called some people to be watchmen, to stand on the wall, figuratively, and declare danger. In Ezekiel 33, we read this. "Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: When I bring the sword against the land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet, but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. Since they heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes someone's life, that person's life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood." Okay? Figuratively. Then he says, "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel." This is a prophetic watchman. "So hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, "You wicked person, you will surely die," and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved. Son of man, say it to the Israelites: This is what you are saying: Our offenses and sins weigh us down and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live? Say to them: As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live! Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die people of Israel? Therefore, son of man say to your people: If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person's former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person's former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person whose sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous. If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. They will die for the evil they have done. And if I say to a wicked person, you will surely die. But they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right; if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life and do no evil, that person will surely live. They will not die. None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right. They will surely live. Yet your people say, The way of the Lord is not just! The way of the Lord is not just! But it is their way that is not just. If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die for it. And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so. Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not just. But I will judge each of you according to your own ways." And so this grabs me as someone who feels that call, and many others, whether we carry the call well or not, we at least have to say. We at least have to let people know. I'm in conversation with strangers every day. It's just how I do life. And often in the morning, I reflect on the conversations I had the prior day. And my fear is that I have allowed people to believe, to be reminded, yes, there are good people in the world. There are nice people in the world. To be encouraged and all. But I always go, but did I leave them in their sin? Did I leave them to their sin? Did I sound the warning? And it's against my nature, my personality, to cause the tension of that. And it is against my personality to even teach this publicly right now because I know that people are gonna jump on it. And I know that some people are gonna say amen to it with a certain sort of venom that I don't care for. It goes against my nature to teach this, but it is my choice to sound the alarm. And along with a whole bunch of other people, because of what we read in scripture, we have to sound the alarm about sexual immorality. As much as that gets framed as bigotry or forcing our way into people's bedrooms and all that kind of stuff. As much as it gets played that way, it simply is a warning to reject wickedness and to choose righteousness, to turn from death and turn to life. Sexual immorality is not giving you life. It gives you some moments of pleasure, but it is not life giving. It is death giving. And so, I gotta say, sexual immorality is wrong. It will sap the life out of you. Now what is sexual immorality? That's a part of the issue here because there are people saying that the rules have changed. Like culturally, it used to mean one thing, but now it means something different because we understand scientifically that this and that, and people are born this way and all that kind of stuff. And so we've redefined stuff. Culture has. And we've said things that were once wrong, that were once taboo, are no longer taboo because we have found freedom of sexual expression. And somehow we have said that freedom of sexual expression equates with life, with joy. But we don't do that with other things that the Bible calls wrong. And with the few things that we all have in common, we don't call that life giving. THIRD And so this leads me to the third layer of this. If the first layer is that we don't judge God, he judges us. We don't judge scripture, it judges us. If the second layer is there is a watchman sort of appeal, it's like, Sound the alarm, judgment is coming, and God is saying, Choose life now while it can be chosen. But the third layer of this is that there is such a thing as holy sexuality and unholy sexuality. There's sexual morality and sexual immorality. And I know that if you're not in the faith, if you don't even value the scriptures, you don't care what I'm saying and just listen to this as our perspective. I believe that it's what God says, like I'm not pulling back on that at all. I'm just saying if you don't value the same things, I value at least understand what I value. There is such a thing as holy sexuality and unholy sexuality. In fact, let me ask you a question: Is there a line for you that should not be crossed? I'm talking about sexuality. Is there a line that should not be crossed? For you personally? Like is it, "No, anything goes. Absolutely anything and everything having to do with sex is permissible. Everything." There are very few people who would say everything. I mean, they might qualify it as, as long as it doesn't hurt someone else. But I'm just talking about, is there a line that most people would say, okay, there is a line between holy and unholy. There is a line, and I'm just asking you, what is your line? Because for me, and for those of us who follow Christ, those of us who hold to scripture, that line actually is something that God determines, not just what I determine. Well, let me ask you this. Would you draw a line for someone else? Is there a line that you would step in and intervene with someone else if they actually crossed that line? And most of us can think of a scenario where we might do that. And so this is simply where we're coming at it, where I'm coming at it from. And if we read in Leviticus 18 -- which I'm gonna read this, and then I'm gonna summarize it, and then I'm gonna categorize it so that there's no mistaking why we speak the way we do about these things -- but Leviticus 18, actually spells this out. And there's other scriptures too. It's not just an isolated thing. But Leviticus 18, it's what Moses is giving the Israelites, when he gives them the law, he says, these are the things that must not be done sexually. He just lists them all. So I'm just gonna read it for you verbatim. "The Lord said to Moses, speak to the Israelites and say to them: I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and laws for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord." And then he says this. "No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord. Do not dishonor your father by having sexual..." Now let me say this, this is written to a patriarchal society, whether you like that or not, that's just what it was. It was written to the men and they were caretakers of the society. And so as went the men, so went the society. If you want to read this in a more Egalitarian way, then you can substitute some of the relationship equivalents. If you want to. I don't think that hurts the context at all. But I'm just reading it how it was put. "Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother..." Also, as I read this, does it make you squirm at all? Does it feel taboo? Like at what point do you go, "Blech! Ugh! Eww! Agh!." And is there any time you go, "Hmm. Well, maybe..." Like, just be aware of your own reactions to this. "No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord. Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother. Do not have relations with her. Do not have sexual relations with your father's wife. That would dishonor your father. Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father's daughter or your mother's daughter. Whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere. Do not have sexual relations with your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter. That would dishonor you. Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father's wife born to your father. She is your sister. Do not have sexual relations with your father's sister. She is your father's close relative. Do not have sexual relations with your mother's sister because she is your mother's close relative. Do not dishonor your father's brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations. She is your aunt. Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife. Do not have relations with her. Do not have sexual relations with your brother's wife. That would dishonor your brother. Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter. They are her close relatives. That is wickedness. Do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living. Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period. Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor's wife and defile yourself with her. Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek. For you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman. That is detestable. Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it. That is a perversion. Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways because this is how the nations that I'm going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled, so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you. Everyone who does any of these detestable things, such persons must be cut off from their people. Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came. And do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God." So that is Leviticus 18. Now, to summarize those, he's saying: Don't have sex with a close relative. Don't have sex with your mom, don't have sex with your stepmom, don't have sex with your sister, don't have sex with your granddaughter, don't have sex with your stepsister, don't have sex with your aunt, your father's sister, or your aunt, your mother's sister, or your aunt, your uncle's wife. Do not have sex with your daughter-in-law. Do not have sex with... Again, are you cringing on these things to even have to say this stuff? And is there a turn in your heart where you go, " Well, maybe not that one"? Like is there? What's your reaction? So don't have sex with your daughter-in-law, don't have sex with your sister-in-law, don't have sex with a woman and her daughter or a woman and her granddaughter. Don't have sex with two sisters, don't have sex with a woman during her monthly period, don't have sex with your neighbor's wife, don't give your children to be sacrificed to Molek, don't have sex with a man. (Again, talking to men.) Don't have sex with a man, and don't have sex with an animal. That's the summary way of reading that. And we can categorize this as forbidding incest, adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality. Now, there's two things in here that are difficult. Admittedly, I'm not sure what to do with them. And some people would say that since we don't know what to do with them, we should discount all of it. And I just don't think that's the way you should read it. Having sex with a woman while she's menstruating. Some people would say that has to do with cleanliness and everything, but it doesn't seem like the rest has to do with that other than some people would say this has to do with inbreeding and stuff like that. But "your neighbor's wife" doesn't have anything to do with inbreeding. So set that over here. Not sure what to do with it, and that's okay. And the other one is sacrificing your children to Molek. And there are places in scripture that talk about having your children go through the fire. Most people would believe that to sacrifice your child to Molek was actually to have them burned for a god. Awful things. And we could force this into saying, so the whole thing is about sexual relations here, and we could maybe force read something there that's talking about child molestation. I don't know. There's nothing conclusive that would say that. But at the very least it is sacrificing children to a god. And you could also make a case -- and I know this is a trigger thing -- but you could also make a case that in the abortion conversations where we sacrifice our children for convenience or for consequence-free sexuality, you could make a case that this applies. I don't think that's what he's saying here, but you could make an application there. But other than that, we're talking about incest, adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality. And God says, don't do those things. He says they are forbidden, they're wicked, they're wrong, they're detestable. They are a perversion. They profane God's name. They defile. Don't do those things. And so that would be the view of those of us who turn to scripture, not to judge it, but to let it judge us. We turn to it and say, okay, I'm not gonna do those things. And as watchmen, we have to say, don't do those things. What do you think? Was there a part when I was reading that where you went, "Oh, but that one's okay." "Taboo. Taboo. Taboo. Taboo. Taboo. Taboo. Eh, don't know why that's a problem. Taboo. Boy, that really sounds really bigoted. Taboo." And I'm saying that we shouldn't let the culture decide for us what is taboo. We turn to scripture and these are the things that we are not supposed to do sexually. There's another one that I have to read. It's in a different book. Deuteronomy 22: 5. This is more laws given by God through Moses to the people. It says, "A woman must not wear men's clothing nor a man wear women's clothing for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this." Again, you don't have to like that. That can make you angry, that can feel hateful, whatever. But that simply is what God has said about it. A woman shouldn't dress like a man in order to come across as a man. A man shouldn't dress as a woman in order to be presented as a woman. The Lord detests those who do that. And to be clear, the Lord detests people who make the decision to violate what's right by doing what's wrong. There's other passages we could read. Leviticus 20 tells more. Galatians 5:19. Ephesians 5:3. 1 Thessalonians 4:3. 1 Corinthians 5-6. And it all says "Flee sexual immorality." "Flee sexual immorality." It doesn't go into the same detail, but it lists adultery, it lists homosexuality, along with greed and slander and all those things. And it says, don't do these things! Flee those things! In fact, reading from 1 Corinthians 6, "Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not..." So this is new covenant stuff. This is under grace. This is sins washed away by belief in Jesus. This is under grace and still Paul is saying, " Do not be deceived..." And as a watchman I'm saying don't be deceived, "neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you were, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God." And he goes on and he says, "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, 'The two will become one flesh.' But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in Spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own" -- and hear this -- "you are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies." And so that's the appeal. That's why we care. That's why Christians care so much about sex. Now, if you don't care what Christians believe, if you don't care what God has said, or don't believe this is how God said it or what he meant and all that, if you don't care, you don't care. That's on you. But I've at least told you what God says. But if you do care, now you know. You know. If you care, now you know. And so my appeal is this, for those of us who do care: flee from sexual immorality. Flee from it. You are not your own. You were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. If you have opportunity to speak into the culture, if you have opportunity to give witness to others, let it not be a witness of condemnation, but a witness of life, that we can all choose life. We can all choose life, and you don't choose life by choosing death. So choose life. Choose life. This is grace. And truth. Amen. Mission Update & Prayer Requests
7/30/2023 1 Comment July 31, 2023Teaching | Mission Update & Prayers
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This Week's Teaching: "Stop Dividing the Church"
A gentle but heartfelt appeal: We have to stop dividing the church around petty human opinions.
A couple weeks ago, I was in a small town and I was looking for a place to fellowship with other believers. When Paul was on his missionary journeys and he would go into an area, the first place he went was wherever he expected to find God-fearing people. He started there. And so for him it would be going to the synagogue and then if he wasn't welcomed there, he would go perhaps to a place of prayer. One time in Acts we read that he went to a river expecting to find a place of prayer, and there he met with people and then ultimately, yes, he ends up in the marketplace and everything. As we travel across America, when we land someplace, I start thinking, where is the place of prayer? Where is the place of worship? And in this setting, for now, that's finding a place that we think of as church. When I go into an area, I think where's the closest, smallest church that I can find? We were in a small town. And I found one that I actually had some affinity with in my background, and I thought, well, I can go there. And as I looked into it, it was a church that was born out of division. Their story is that there were people who were suggesting change and they held out and now they have a new denomination. They wouldn't call it that, they wouldn't say it that way, but they have everything right. According to them, they were the ones who held their ground. They were the ones who still have men and women separate in worship. They're the ones who still dress the right way, who don't dress the wrong way. I decided not to go to that one. I found another one that was even a little bit closer but, as I looked at them, they were born out of division. The denomination, the group that they're a part of was born out of division. They believed that their baptism was the only true baptism. They actually divided over whether they could accept someone who is baptized by another church, would they accept them into their church? And their answer was, "No. Our baptism is the only one that counts." I didn't go to that one. I went to another church and there I found easy fellowship. I was welcomed as a brother and there was wonderful message on relationships and the selflessness of relationships. In fact, a message that I come back to often. And then I went to another church that wasn't as easy a participation for me, but I enjoyed the spirit there. And the message there was that suffering for the Christian is inevitable. Another message that I come back to often. But it started me thinking about Divisions in the church. And my appeal is that we must stop dividing the church around petty differences of opinion. Now, none of us would divide over what we think is petty. I'm calling it petty. I'm saying that it's non-essentials. It's differences of opinion, theological or cultural where we say we got it right, the other people got it wrong, so therefore they have no part of us anymore. We have no part of them. And we treat it as wickedness and it's just differences of opinion. I'm also a part of some house church discussion groups on social media and stuff, and I'm just as distressed by what I see happening there. It seems that some of the people who are caught up in the house church movement are more concerned about making sure that they condemn the institutional church than they are about just wanting to know Jesus, wanting to love one another. And it seems that their gospel is a combination of pro-housechurch and anti-institutional church. And so they're always just railing against pastors and all. And I would say to them, we have to stop sowing division. We have to stop dividing the church. 1st Corinthians 1. "I appeal to you brothers and sisters in the name of Jesus. That all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. And what I mean is this. One of you says, "I follow Paul," and another says, "I follow Apollos," another says, "I follow Cephas," and still another, "I follow Christ." And Paul says, "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?" Of course not. Of course not. Philippians 2. "Therefore, if any of you have encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any, common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others." Ephesians 4. "I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Skipping to verse 11. "So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers to equip his people for works of service." And I would ask you, Is there anyone that you're following right now? Any human leader? So Paul says, don't divide the church around human leaders, which one you follow? Here, "Christ gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Galatians 5. "The acts of the flesh are obvious..." If I read most of them, you'll get sidetracked. I'm just gonna read two of them. "Dissensions, factions." "Dissensions, factions." We have to stop dividing the church. And listen, we're not talking about dividing organizations or institutions. We're talking about dividing up the body of Christ. We're talking about cutting apart the bride of Christ. We're talking about separating the family of God and saying, you go over there. We'll stay here. We don't want anything to do with you. We have to stop doing that. Like I say, this is a gentle but heartfelt word, and I believe the Lord is indignant about this. So what's the solution? It is not just to force unity. If you try to force unity, you just end up diluting our understanding and our practice in the faith. It's not to force unity. It's not unity for unity's sake. The solution is love. Love one another. Love each other. Love in such a way that you prefer another's good over your own. Lay your life down for your brother and sister. Let God be the judge. Stop condemning each other. Yes, hold to your convictions. Yes, open up scripture. Ask the apostles what they meant. Yes. But stop dividing the church. Whether that's around a system that you like or whether it's around a doctrine that you believe is core, stop dividing the church. I know it's complicated. Paul told Titus, "Warn a divisive person once, then warn them a second time and after that have nothing to do with them." There is a time to go separate ways. But my challenge to you and my challenge to myself: Let's not be the ones pushing for that separation. When we split up the body of Christ, it causes him pain, and it should cause us pain too. Like I say, a gentle but heartfelt word. We've got to stop dividing the church around petty differences of opinion. Now, I don't know if I'm speaking to anyone with authority in any of these situations where churches have divided. If you are someone with decision making authority, here's my challenge. That group that you just split from, pray for them, lay your life down for them. Romans 12. "Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Ah, this does the Lord's heart good when we make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the of peace. My prayer over all of us is that we would become very tender toward each other and that we would stop separating over doctrinal differences. One day we will all bow before the Lord. Some of us who've been hardened toward the Lord will fall before him and it'll be a time of trembling. And I don't know if it will be regret or if we'll continue to be under delusion. I don't know. But those of us who have bowed the knee to Christ already will see him and will fall face down before him. And there we will experience such a great equalizer face down before the Lord receiving our reward, his promise, the salvation of our souls shoulder to shoulder with people that we dared to divide from on this earth, but find ourselves united with in our confession of Christ. One day we will bow down, face down before him. Yes, there are probably people in your circle, and I may even speak to this coming up. There are probably people in your circle who are trying to say that certain kinds of morality don't matter or are fine, or however they say it. I'm not arguing for tolerating wickedness. "Cast the wicked person out from among you." I am not talking about that. Those who persist in sin, who persist in wickedness, the Lord will separate them out and say, "I didn't know you." But let's make sure that we don't separate the church around our own opinions. Let's make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. My prayer for you is that you would find opportunity this week to extend a hand and to show grace and to be humble toward those who perhaps others in your circle have cut ties from. We've got to stop dividing the church around petty differences of human opinion. Finally, God always takes care of his church, God's got us. It's his church. It's not your church. It's not my church. It's not our church. It's his church. And here we are. Let's serve him well. Amen. Mission Update & Prayer Requests
7/23/2023 2 Comments July 24, 2023Teaching | Mission Update | Prayer
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This Week's Teaching: "God's Beautiful Creation is Reserved for Fire?! "
This is crazy.
We're here in the Badlands in South Dakota and just experiencing this absolute beauty. We're boondocking and we've been spending the last few days here. I feel in awe that we would be so blessed to be able to do it. And I realize that there's favor in that and there's privilege in that. And everything. But this morning I had an interesting interaction with it. I sat out here looking at the view behind me. And I'm reading in Second Peter right now. I can't get past first and second Peter. It shows up in my teachings and in my reflections, even if I don't name it specifically. I believe that it has something for these times. We need to be paying special attention to the message that Peter wrote a long time ago. It applies to us today. Now here's the tension that second Peter will cause you. Chapter two talks about false teachers. And I think it's good to spend time there. Let's not be so quick to just divide the church around like ticky tack fouls and differences of opinion that we call false doctrine or false teaching. But let's also not shy away from calling out what Peter calls "depraved conduct" and people who are led by greed and they "love the wages of wickedness" and all that. I'll let you read second Peter two. Actually read first Peter and second Peter. I'm gonna read second Peter three. I'm just gonna read it and with this as the backdrop, pay attention to when it causes you tension. "Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. Above all, you must understand that in the last days, scoffers will come scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this coming he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word, the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters, also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends. With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years or like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar. The elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation... Therefore , dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to him be glory both now and forever. Amen." Here's the tension this creates for me. Behind me is just this demonstration of God's creative majesty, of the beauty. It's incredible. And yet when God looks on the sinfulness of mankind and on the waywardness of all creation -- he designed it for one purpose and it's gone astray -- he looks at the beauty behind me and he says, I'm going to bring judgment. I'm gonna cause all of that to burn up in the judgment as I execute my wrath and my judgment; my final judgment on all of creation. If God is willing to destroy the beauty behind me, it must pale in comparison to the beauty of holiness and righteousness, and the new heavens and the new earth that he's preparing. Everything beautiful that we find in this creation -- that we're tempted to worship, to bow down to, to devote ourselves to -- everything that's confined to this creation that grows up out of the ground, that springs up from our ambitions and all that, all the things that we're tempted to devote our lives to pale in comparison to the holiness and righteousness of the new heavens and the new earth that he's preparing for us. And so I want to encourage you read First Peter and second Peter. Devote yourself to it these days. Just keep on studying it, chewing on it. Don't try to get through it, like do a once through, but then go back and just chew on things and you'll read things like, "God has given us everything we need for a godly life." He's called us and given us the ability to "participate in the divine nature." He calls us to "make every effort to add to our faith goodness, and to goodness knowledge, and to knowledge self control" and these things. And he talks about, suffering, and things that will put the hardships and the beauties in perspective for you. My prayer is that it puts it in perspective for you as it has for me. And so this is my message this week. Just an encouragement to read first Peter and second Peter. Turn off YouTube. Yeah, press like and follow and all that stuff. But then turn off YouTube, open your Bible, and spend time chewing on it. Amen. Mission Update
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7/17/2023 0 Comments July 17, 2023Teaching | Mission Update | Prayer
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This Week's Teaching: "Affirmations & Cautions About The 'Prosperity Gospel'"
Is it God's will to prosper you? Yes.
Is it his will to make you rich? Not necessarily. It's his will to give you everything you need. Is it God's will for you to desire prosperity? Yes. Is it his will for you to desire great riches? No. It's his will for you to be content with what you have. Now, with that comes wisdom that he gives us, so that we can make good use of the provisions that he puts in our way. In Proverbs 28: 19 we read "those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty." We read, "a faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished." We read, "the stingy are eager to get rich and are unaware that poverty awaits them." We read, "the greedy stir up conflict, but those who trust in the Lord will prosper." We read, "those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses." Chapter 24, this is just the wisdom of God: "put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready. After that, build your house." There are certain things that we can do to make sure that we cooperate with the laws of wisdom that God has sewn into the fabric of creation. If we do these things, it goes well with us. If we ignore these things, it's a foolishness and it doesn't go well with us. And so we might find ourselves struggling with what we believe is injustice. Sometimes it is injustice, but other times it's just that we haven't learned to cooperate with the laws of wisdom that God sewed into the fabric of creation. There's all sorts of things. Read Proverbs, read Ecclesiastes, and you'll find all sorts of things where it just says, this is how you do things. If you do these things, it will go well with you. If you honor God in these things, it will go well with you. Is it God's will for you to prosper? Yes. Is it God's will for you to be rich? Not necessarily. It's God's will for you to have everything you need. And along with that, he gives you wisdom in order to cooperate with the laws of wisdom that he has sewn into the fabric of creation. And sometimes injustice sweeps it all away. And other times it's just that we haven't done what we should. But here's my concern with our fascination with prosperity. Now, I'll also say this: in the past, I have taught that the prosperity gospel is a false gospel. I still believe that it teaches false things. I don't believe that it's God's will for you to be rich. I don't believe that it is always God's will to heal you. We all die at some point. This body stops living; the ultimate sickness or whatever. God doesn't heal that. He gives us a new body. He heals it in that way. And I believe that God doesn't just want us to have this overabundance of wealth. He wants us to be content with what we have. So in the past, I've called it a false gospel. Right now, I don't call it a false gospel. I call it an incomplete understanding-- and prosperity is not the gospel-- but I call it an incomplete understanding. I believe, yes, God wants to prosper you. But if that's the focus of it, it is an incomplete understanding of God's wisdom that leads people into deception, that allows people to chase after things like riches that God never intended for you to chase after. And so, "False Gospel"? Let's not talk about it that way. Let's just say it is incomplete, it is immature in its understanding of the wisdom of God. Paul, when writing to Timothy in First Timothy, he says, "Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." Hebrews 13: 5, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Because God has said, 'Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid" [of poverty, of anything]. "What can mere mortals do to me?" What can the things of this earth do to me if God is my helper? Jesus himself said in Matthew six. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. [It'll rot.] But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven... For where your treasure is there, your heart will be also." He said, "No one can serve two masters. You can't serve God and money." You can't. He says, "Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you'll eat or drink or about your body, what you'll wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes. Look at the birds of the sky. [They don't sow, they don't store away, and they're fed.] How much more valuable are you than they? Can any of you by worrying [or chasing after riches], add a single hour to your life." He says, "You of little faith, do not worry. Pagans run after these things." After the riches, after the excess. "I wanna make sure that I have enough, I wanna store it up and everything so that I don't run out." And he says, "The Pagans run after all these things and your heavenly father already knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Now, don't read that as if you seek his kingdom an abundance, an excess of all these things will be given to you as well. Jesus isn't saying that. He's saying, Make his kingdom, the Lord's kingdom, the center of your heart and your needs will be provided for. He will take care of you. It doesn't mean that you'll never have hunger pangs. Of course not. It doesn't mean that you'll always have new clothes. Of course not. He will take care of you. He is your heavenly father. He knows what you need. Now, in that, he will give you opportunity, and if you learn to cooperate with the laws of wisdom that he is sown into the fabric of creation, you will be able to prosper in ways that those who reject those laws don't. But that prosperity is not to amass wealth. It's not to live in gaudy excess. It's simply to have your needs met. Those who chase after riches will fall into temptation and into a trap. That never goes well. Philippians four. "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry," Paul writes, "whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, [woman of God, you who chooses to be a person of God,] flee from all this and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession." Don't chase after riches. Be content with what you have. Now to those of you who have cooperated with the laws of wisdom, that God sewed into the fabric of creation and you're able to cause abundance, or perhaps God has just given you a responsibility of excess so that you can help others, here's what I am obligated to say to you. Because I am told, "Command those who are rich in this present world, not to be arrogant, nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." It is a joy to have what we need. "Who richly provides us with everything for our in enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." Like Jesus said, don't store up treasures here on earth. Store up treasures in heaven by giving it to those in need. I heard a story recently of a prosperity teacher who was given opportunity to help get a plane for a ministry that flies supplies down into Haiti and places like that. They had lost a plane and he went to them and asked, " How much do you need for the plane?" They said, "A million dollars." And he got them a million dollars. Now I have my issues with the teaching, because I believe there is an over attention on money. Nevertheless, I must admit that when you take that money and give it away, you are storing up treasures in heaven. So here's my prayer. My prayer is that those of us who see differently on this wouldn't divide around it, but simply that we would press in toward God; that we would seek his kingdom and not anything about the kingdom of this earth; that we would crave his blessing and not the blessings that spring out of the earth; that we would see as our great wealth, the eternal kingdom of God, and not just the things that we call bank accounts and money and stuff; that we would actually crave his kingdom and his righteousness and be content with what we have. Be content with what we have. And so this is my message today. Does God want you to be prosperous? Yeah. Does he want you to be rich? Not necessarily. He wants you to be content. Does he want you to desire prosperity? Yes. Does he want you to desire riches? No. Does he want you to be content with what you have? Yes, desire him. Chase after his kingdom and his righteousness, trusting that he is a good father and he will give you all you need. Now, I welcome comments on this. Let's talk about it because it is a prevalent teaching in the church that is dividing many. And my prayer would be that we would be united around the clear teachings of Jesus, that we would be laying up treasures in heaven, not storing up treasures on earth. If God has given you an abundance, use it. Use it well to help those who don't have that abundance. I don't know. What do you think? Amen? Mission Update
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7/9/2023 2 Comments July 10, 2023Teaching | Mission Update | Prayer
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This Week's Teaching: "The End Is Near So Do This"
Here's the question I have for today: If you knew your life was ending tomorrow, how would you spend today? If you knew for sure that your time was short, that the end was near, that you were going to leave this life tomorrow, how would you spend today?
In first Peter, chapter four, he says, "The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray." You know, I hear people talking and it's a common thing. People say, "Ah man, I'd live it up. I'd party." And that's the language of foolishness. I get why people do that; we sort of catch it. But I wanna encourage you to be sober-minded and alert. The end is near. At the very least, the end is nearer now than it was yesterday. But the apostles have always held that the end is near. Now, in the context of first Peter, he's writing about suffering. We are going through much suffering. He says, don't be surprised at the fiery ordeal that you're having to go through. Don't be surprised. Like what I said last week: "After you have suffered a little while, the Lord himself will restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." And so that's the context of what Peter is writing. He says, "The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray." Now, I don't know about you. If I know that my life is over tomorrow, I don't know that I want to just get alone and talk with God. Too often we think of prayer as getting away and having a moment of concentration with God, and that's good. "Be alert and sober-minded so that you may pray." But I don't know that that prayer is necessarily "get away from the people in your life and just pray." I believe that it's "lean into the relationships." In fact, what he writes right after this is he says, "Above all..." So, "the end of all things is near so be alert and of sober minds so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins." And so this is the apostle that spent three years with Jesus, that denied Jesus, and then Jesus reinstated him and told him to take care of the other apostles, and of the church. And he says the end is near. So pray, don't just party hardy. Pray. But then he says, but above all, love each other deeply. And why? Because love covers over a multitude of sins. What are the reasons that you find it difficult to love other people? What are the reasons why you would just pull away from relationship and not invest yourself in love? Most likely is because of offenses that you have received or perceived that make it hard to wanna be in relationship with others. You've learned that to be in relationship with other people is to receive wounds, is to be frustrated, is to be disappointed, is to be made angry, is to receive injustice because others have received the same thing from you. It's the give and take of relationships that we end up wounding each other and then pulling away from relationship with each other. But Peter says, yes, you are gonna suffer much in this world. But listen, the end of all things is near so be alert and sober-minded so that you can pray. And then above all, love each other deeply, not just at a surface level, not just, "I like you." Not just hugs, not just the handshake of fellowship. That's great. But love each other deeply, deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. All the things that you have reason to pull back from people on. So Wendy and I are living in an RV on mission. I talked about it elsewhere. The last week we got to go back to Sarasota, where our home is and where we have family and close friends. And there was something about the reinstating of relationships, the sitting across from the table with dear friends, the looking each other in the eyes, the sharing stories, all that, that reminds me how much community, how much fellowship is a necessary part of a healthy faith, of a thriving faith. And that's key to what we're doing in X242, pulling people into closer fellowship, not just going to shows-- church shows-- and sitting facing forward and receiving a show. But actually facing each other in a room, facing each other where the circle is small enough that you can have chitchat, where the circle is small enough that you can actually know the people that you're making eye contact with. And they know you. And so that's what we're doing. The community, the fellowship, it's so meaningful. And for us to go back to Sarasota for a week and to have that fellowship was renewing. It's wonderful. And it reminds me: the end is near. I don't know if I will see them again. "The end is near so be alert and of sober mind so that you can pray, and above all, love each other deeply for love covers over a multitude of sins." I don't have any sense that I was wronged by anyone when we were back there. And I hope that no one feels wronged by me. But what I know is that loving each other deeply covers over those sins. As we read in Proverbs, " wisdom yields patience. It is to your glory to overlook an offense." And so he goes on: "Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins." And then he gives application. Practical application. "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling." Receive them into your space and don't grumble about it. Offer hospitality. "Come on in." "Hey, come over." "Offer hospitality to each other without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others." Now, this goes against the witness of the world. You use the gift in order to get ahead. You use the gift in order to serve yourself. In this world systems, you use the gift to get ahead, to establish a nest egg. But Peter says, and God says, "Use whatever gift you have received to serve others," to bow, to get on your knees, to serve others "as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." And so when you use the gift that you've been given from God to serve others, you are actually a steward of God's grace. You talk about grace and all these different ways theologically, but when you serve someone with the gifts that you've received, you are a steward of God's grace to that person! "Above all, love each other deeply for love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in his various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength that God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen." So for you, if you knew that today was your last day, how would you spend it? The end of all things is near. Be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. And above all else, love each other deeply. Cover over those multitude of sins. If someone has wronged you, forgive them. And if you have wronged someone else, go and seek their forgiveness. This is thoroughly Christian. In fact, it is unchristian not to. Love each other deeply. Love each other deeply. Use whatever gift God has given you to serve others. This is not only the will of God, this is the invitation of God to a life of incredible blessing. What if you did cover over the multitude of sins against you by loving deeply? The end of all things is near. Be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. And above all, love each other deeply. Get at it. Go do it. Do it today. Amen. Mission Update
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7/3/2023 3 Comments July 3, 2023Teaching | Mission Update | Prayers
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This Week's Teaching: "Revival is Coming But Not of Hype and Hubris"
Last week, I said, I believe hardship is coming and that when it does, many people will fall away from the faith. And I said that in the coming weeks, I would have additional thoughts. My thought this week that I just wanna follow up, is that, revival is coming.
(Sorry about the finger. I slammed it in my truck door.) Revival is coming, but it will not be of hype and hubris, like we tend to think. Now, before I say that , I had a conversation with someone last week. I presented that same message about hardship. I presented it live at a church. And someone came up and said, "You know, I'm willing to die for my faith, but these days it feels like I'm being persecuted for lies. Like people accuse me of being or doing things that aren't true." And, as he and I related, we realized -- and I've thought about this before -- I'm willing to take a bullet for Jesus. Like if it's, " Deny Jesus or you will die," of course I'm not gonna deny Jesus. Like to become a martyr like that, there's an honor, a dignity to it. But to be accused of being something that you're not. To be accused of being a bigot when you're not, to be accused of something that you said or believe about someone, when it's just not true, and then being persecuted for that, or being killed simply as a matter of convenience, like a convenient crime for someone, like no one wants to give up their life for that. No one wants to lay down their life for something that just seems untrue or insignificant. And so we talked through that and Jesus said in Matthew five, " Blessed are you when people accuse you falsely because of me." That's our lot. That's what Jesus said we could expect. Jesus said that this is how it would be. People would accuse us of things that aren't true because of our identification with him, whether they know it's because of our identification or not. So we talked that through and thought, well, yeah, that's hard, but it still is our lot. And so we take encouragement in it that God knows what is coming our way. Let me pull over here and I'll read some scripture to you. Still looking for a place to pull over. I wanna be a good example. Okay in scripture. I was just reading it this morning. First Peter five, verse eight. "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen." God knows what we're going through. He knows that hardship is coming. He knows that we'll be tempted to fall away. He knows that some of the hardship that we endure, that we suffer will be totally unwarranted, nothing to do with truth. And yet, after we have suffered a little while, he himself will restore us. His grace is eternal. Like I said last week, like it's an eternal reward that we're waiting for. It's not about what we get in this earth. So all that ties into actually that second statement. If hardship is coming and many will fall away, it's also true that revival is coming, but it will not be of hype and hubris. I say this because many of us have fallen in love with the sensational revival tent meetings and stuff. And it's fine if people are meeting under a tent and someone preaches the word and people come to faith, that's great. Like anywhere anyway. If people come to faith, that's great. And even if it's at such quantity that it feels like there's a revival happening. Great. Wonderful. Second chapter of Acts, was that a revival? Sure. But I think people have become accustomed to hearing the language of revival as something that happens when you have a bunch of people in a room, or in a tent, facing a stage where there's music -- which, music is great. I make music! When I'm playing guitar and leading worship that's a wonderful thing for me! I'm not cutting that! I'm just saying that we have made music into something more than what it is. And so we feel like if we're at this event where we have an emotional response, we call it revival. But sometimes our heart is moved by the music, by the experience, and it simply is a wonderful moment of prayer, or it simply is a reaction to something culturally, I don't know. And so we think that revivals are big, sensational things where there's lots of zeal, there's lots of jumping around, lots of screaming "hallelujah" -- and again, if you express yourself that way, amen, hallelujah. Do it. I'm one who can be pretty expressive at times. But I don't believe the revival that we're gonna see, if the Holy Spirit is really leading this, it's not gonna be a revival of hype and hubris. It's not gonna be gathering people together to go on marches, to do chants , to try and raise a ruckus, to try to raise the fever. Like, it's not gonna be that hype. It's not gonna be trying to gather attention for a movement, like a show of force. It's not gonna be any of those things. Or of hubris where, "We are special, we are somebody, we are kings, we are princes, we are the children of God and no one is gonna stop us because we have God's favor." Like, it's not propping ourselves up with how special we are, even if it's true that God loves us. But it's not gonna be a revival of hype and hubris. It's gonna be a revival of self denial. A willingness to pick up our cross, to lay down our lives. And we always flip that. We always, we pick up our cross and then we lay down the cross in order to pick up our lives because the cross is not fun. The cross is a death instrument. And so we lay down the cross to pick our life back up. Jesus says, "Lay down your life. Pick up your cross, and then follow me to the daily death of self, of the fleshly impulses, the temptations that I resisted in the wilderness, to feed my appetite, to satisfy my anxieties, to become somebody. Pick up your cross, lay down your life. Follow me." Well, let me read that. Luke nine. " 'The son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law. He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.' Then he said to them all, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me, we'll save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit their very self? '" Revival is coming, but it won't be revival of hype and hubris. I believe there are a number of us who are resisting the hype and hubris that we see in the church these days, and maybe we're going too far in it, but I just think it's a corrective thing. We're pulling back and saying it's not about the worship concerts. It's not about the celebrity pastors. It's not about the show. It's not about trying to impress people. It's not about big crowds. It's not about those things. It's being willing, actively, to lay down my life for Jesus, for each other, for my neighbor, for the least of these, and even for my enemies. I'm recording this right now 4th of July weekend, and we have a wonderful picture of the difference of hype and hubris, and self-sacrifice. If you can imagine people back in the day, totally up for this new thing, the United States of America, and they go on marches, they wave flags, they declare themselves independent, and they're so overjoyed at the thought of what's happening and that can be a revival of a sense. But on the other hand, there are those who actually risked their lives. Not just willing to risk their lives, but risked their lives in order to make it happen. Laid down their lives, not knowing if their lives would be given back to them again. That is an example of the kind of revival that I'm talking about. And please don't misconstrue that. I'm not talking about Christian nationalism or anything. I'm saying, as an example, to declare yourself, "I'm a child of God" is a whole different thing than to lay your life down, including all the royalty stuff, all the benefits. I will lay my life down for Jesus, for my brother and sister, for my neighbor, for the least of these, and even for my enemy. I believe revival is coming, but it won't be a revival of big worship concerts and motivational speeches. It won't be the revitalization of church institutions. And it won't be the restoration of America to Christian values. I mean, obviously, Christian values are good, but it won't be those things. It'll be the active, applied willingness to lay down our lives for Jesus, for each other, for our neighbors, for the least of these and for our enemies. So this is my prayer. I believe it is the prophetic witness of the Holy Spirit these days. That this is what he is leading us toward. So if you're a part of conventional church or something and you still enjoy those things, which again, please hear me, those things aren't in and of themselves bad. I'm just saying what we've done with the big worship concerts and stuff can be bad. If you're looking at what we're doing, pulling back from those things and thinking that we're naysayers and everything, think again: Are you willing to lay down your life? Are you actively laying down your own preferences? Are you following the scriptures in this? And when the scriptures say that hardship is coming and that you must lay down your life, do you resist it? Do you declare something better-sounding over your life? Or do you simply say, "Amen Lord. So be it. I am willing, let revival come." Hardship is coming; many people will fall away from the faith. Revival is coming, but not of hype and hubris, but of an applied, active willingness to lay down your life for Jesus, for each other, for our neighbors, for the least of these, and even for our enemies. Let's crave that revival. Amen. Mission Update
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6/26/2023 1 Comment June 26, 2023Teaching | Mission Update | Prayers
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This Week's Teaching: "Hardship is Coming and Many Will Fall Away"
I've been saying this for a few years now and I'm gonna say it again: Hardship is coming and many will fall away.
I've asked the question: if the above ground structures and systems that we rely on for the practice of our faith... -- meaning, if the worship services that other people plan for us, if the sermons that other people deliver to us, if the video platform that we log into to watch teaching, or the streaming services that we tap into to listen to worship music; if the songs that other people are writing and producing with all the lush instruments, which are great, but if the things that we rely on for the practice of our faith; if Zondervan and whoever else publishes the Bible, if those who have studied the original languages and are skilled in translating the scriptures into our modern languages, into our vernacular; if the people who pay the bills and do the maintenance on a building so that we have some place to go on a Sunday morning so we can go to church; if the bank accounts that allow us to pay someone that we call pastor to watch over us and care for us and be there when times are hard and to marry us, when things are great but if the finances, if the bank accounts that allow us to hire someone to take care of us, if the 501(c)(3) status, those things that we rely on; if the ability to worship publicly; if the freedom to tell someone else about our faith without suffering persecution; if all these things -- if the above ground systems and structures that we rely on for the practice of our faith were suddenly taken away. This isn't a political statement. If politics are involved, fine, but if they were suddenly taken away, all those above ground systems and structures -- If the above ground systems and structures that you rely on for the practice of your faith were suddenly taken away, would you still know how to practice your faith? Would we still know how to practice our faith? If we weren't church in the way that we think of as church, would we still know how to practice our faith? If church was about more than going to a worship service or volunteering or having someone coordinate a potluck, or having youth group to send our youth to, or a kids church to send our kids to. If all those things that we think about as church in the Western American early 21st century mindset, if those things were taken away, would we still know how to practice our faith? It grabbed me several years ago, when Covid hit and I looked around and I said, "No, we don't." Like, we don't know how to practice our faith. Because as soon as someone said, "Sorry, you can't meet in big groups," we went, "Oh no! Now we can't worship God!" We didn't know how to practice our faith. As soon as someone said, " You can't meet in a group to hear someone preach for you," we thought, "Oh no. Now how am I going to eat?" If the above ground systems and structures that you rely on for the practice of your faith were suddenly taken away, would you still know how to practice your faith? I believe hardship has come and hardship is coming, and that when it comes, many will fall away. Where I get this is Jesus's own words. Matthew 24. He says, "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name claiming, 'I am the Messiah,' and they will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places." We could probably put whatever the natural disasters that we're afraid of in there. "All these are the beginning of birth pains." Something is developing. When it gets bad something is ready to be born. When the pains are coming, when the fear is overcoming you, something good, something good is about to be born. "All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then you'll be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many -- at that time, many -- will turn away from the faith." The next time you're sitting in a group of believers that you think of as church look around. Many will fall away in the time of testing. Look around. Is it the person next to you? Is it the person across from you? Many will fall away. This should be sobering. "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear -- many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world is a testimony to all nations" -- during all this time, during this persecution, during all this hardship, when it feels like everything is just being shaken up -- "this gospel of the kingdom will be preached as a testimony" as we are enduring the suffering "to all nations, and then the end will come." I believe hardship is coming and many will fall away. Now it's tempting to think that that hardship is going to be persecution from the outside, and it will be -- and make no mistake, it always has been. There have always been those in power who have persecuted the church. Always has been. It's not a new thing. And so yes, the hardship will come from the outside but make no mistake, it'll also come from within. Hardship is coming and many will fall away, and even from within, " many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." Do you think false prophets come from the outside? Do you think that the church is going to be deceived by people who say, "I'm not even a follower of Christ? I think you should..." Like, obviously, some people will leave the faith. They'll say, "I'm done with Jesus. I'm outta here." And they'll chase those false prophets that are easy to recognize. But, do you really think the deception will come from outside? I believe the deception will come from inside the church. "Many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people." Hardship is coming and many will fall away from the faith. It's a hard word, but I believe the church has become idolatrous and adulterous. At best, it's just become fluffy and lazy. At worst, it's pursued this earthly kingdom as if it is our reward, as if this is our best life now -- the temptations that Jesus in the wilderness said, "No! I'm not gonna do that." We have become idolatrous and adulterous chasing after the things that this world promises, that Satan dangles in front of us and says, "You know what? If you just come and pursue these things, then you'll really enjoy life." We've become idolatrous and adulterous, and I believe God has brought the church under his discipline. And before you say, "God doesn't discipline us, he loves us," read Hebrews 12. I'm tired of people thinking that God doesn't discipline the church. " Do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you. Because the Lord disciplines those he loves and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. So endure hardship as discipline for God is treating you as his children... God disciplines us for our good in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline is pleasant at the time. But later on it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." First Peter. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded (from all this) by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." We're between the rescue and the reward. "In all this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith -- of greater worth than gold which perishes, even though refined by fire -- may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not yet seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and you're filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls... Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you. When Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming." Hardship is coming now. We are living through it and many will fall away. It's a testing. And it's also a refining. Because when God brings us under discipline, it is to refine us. He is trying to bring us to holiness so that we can produce peace and righteousness as we allow the hardship to train us. I have two more thoughts which I'll address in the coming weeks. But the thought today that I want to entrust to you, to your discernment, to the church, to you personally: Hardship is coming and many will fall away. Will it be you? Are you resisting the hardship? Are you still pressing past the hardship as if this is just something you've gotta overcome? Or are you allowing God to work in you a refining? Are you afraid of the loss of all the things in this world, the finer things which we all enjoy here in the West, are you dreading a loss of those things so much that you're clinging to it and God is saying, let go. Let go of idolatry. Let go of adultery. Become pure. God is saying, "When I test my church, I want you to prevail. I want your faith to be proven as genuine, believing in hope that it will result in praise, glory, and honor." Are you resisting it or are you submitting to God's loving discipline? Do you love him? Do you believe in him? Are you filled with that inexpressible and glorious joy? You are receiving the end result of your faith. Even though right now it's hard. You are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your soul. So lean into that. Hardship is coming and many will fall away. But you can be one who perseveres, who is refined. Your inheritance is kept in heaven for you. You haven't received it yet. Let go of the things of this world and cling to the things that are to come. This hardship is a gift to you. Receive the gift. Amen. Mission Update
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6/19/2023 2 Comments June 19, 2023Teaching | Mission Update | Prayers
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This Week's Teaching: "A vision of people crying out, 'We Didn't Know! We Didn't Know!'"
This is probably a complicated thought and I'm not sure I'll be able to do it justice. I just wanted to tell you something that came to me. I was in a worship service with other believers, and I had this impression.
Now I'm doing ministry here in Amish country in Ohio. And by doing ministry, I mean, I'm just being present to whatever situations God brings to me to encourage faithfulness and to strengthen the believers. And if I can plant and encourage microchurches, meaning little tiny expressions where people get together and study the scriptures, that is my heart. Like I want to do that and I'm having those conversations. Anyway, I was in this worship service, a conventional service, and we were singing songs, which I consider praying to God with a common voice. That's why we sing our songs. And I had this prayer/vision of all the believers of this area, in Holmes County, falling face down before the Lord in worship. Now, I'm not talking about in a worship service falling face down toward the stage or under compulsion of an emotional song. I'm not talking about that. I actually saw it out in the fields, in the farms, in the homes. Just this mass expression of worship. But not a "wow, Lord, we love you so much" worship. More of a dread, "Lord, we haven't totally caught vision of you as we should have" sort of moment. Worship. Falling face down. Trembling. And I saw the Amish falling face down before God. I saw the Presbyterians falling face down before God. The Lutherans, the Mennonites, the Pentecostals falling face down in dread. Face down before God. And in this prayer, in this vision, I heard them saying, with trembling, "We didn't know! We didn't know! We didn't know! We didn't know!" And that surprised me to hear that. That surprised me, that people who I would relate to as believers -- in general, they are followers of Christ, they are Christian -- falling down before God trembling, saying, "We didn't know. We didn't know. We didn't know. We didn't know. We didn't know." And that was jarring to me because how could they not know when their declaration of faith is that they do know: "We believe you are Lord. We believe we are sinners. We come before you in confession of our sin, in repentance from all that has alienated us from you, God. We come to you believing that you reconcile those who come to you in Jesus' name." Like, we know that. These are people who have fallen before him already, who have gone under the waters or had the waters of baptism poured over them. However they've done that. And they have identified with Christ. But I saw in this vision, "We didn't know. We didn't know. We didn't know." And it was jarring to me because I put myself in the same camp. And I do know. But in that vision, I didn't know. I didn't know. I saw in this vision of people falling down in worship before God ("We didn't know. We didn't know"), I saw this fear, this recognition that we didn't know as we thought we had known. And I'm not talking about doctrinal knowledge, I'm talking about the core knowledge. We didn't know as we thought that we had known. And I took issue with it in my prayer, in this vision. I took issue with it. "But Lord, we do know!" And he reminded me of the parable where Jesus said that many at that day will come to him saying, " We were followers of yours," and he'll say, "Depart from me. I never knew you." And he gently comforted me with the inverse of that. That at the end of the day, those of us who fall before Jesus, fall before him, in great humility, confessing our lack, our shortcomings, how far we are from him in our beings. Those of us who fall before him saying, "We didn't know." He says, "But I know. I knew you." And he reminded me of the parable where he welcomes in those who fed him and clothed him and gave him something to drink. And they said, "When did we do that?!" He said, "When you did it to the least of these, you did it to me. Come on in. I know you, I've known you, I have called you." And so there was a sense of dread to the vision, and I was reminded with such comfort that God knows those whom he has called. "The Lord" (this is 2 Timothy 2) "the Lord knows those whom he has called, and those who call on the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." This is our comfort. So my encouragement to you is be among those who fall down before the Lord even now. Not confessing your great knowledge, not confessing your great faith, not confessing how close you are to God, not like the Pharisee who stood up and said, "I thank God that I'm not like those worthless sinners," but being more like the the worthless sinner who said, "Lord have mercy on me. I'm a sinner." Let's be among those who fall before him saying, "We don't know. We wanna know, but we don't know." And receiving comfort that he says , "I know you. I know you." And let's be those who, through persistence and through tender great love and humility are doing good in this world, who are taking care of those who are overlooked -- feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothing those who don't have enough, sheltering those who don't have shelter, taking care of those who are easy to overlook. Taking care of those who, it's easy to say, "We didn't know." And we do know. Let's be those who fall before God saying, "We did our best." And hearing him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Well done. You cared for those that I cared about, even when it wasn't celebrated by those who celebrate the kingdom of this world." I would invite you to pray with me for this area, but also for all the areas, that all who have confessed the name of the Lord would fall down in worship, not in response to a glorious emotional moment, but even with a sense of humility and great dread that we may have missed it at some point -- not doctrinally, but in living out our faith -- saying, "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me." And hearing him say, "I have mercy on you. I have mercy on you." "We didn't know!" "But I know. I know you." Receive encouragement and comfort and strength today to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, confident that you have turned away from wickedness and confident that the Lord knows all whom he's called. The Lord knows you. He knows. Amen. Mission Update
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6/11/2023 0 Comments June 12, 2023Teaching | Mission Update | Prayers
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This Week's Teaching: "How Much Theological Disparity Should Our Microchurches Tolerate?"
Here's the question. Do our small gatherings need to be theologically homogenous? Do we need to all believe the same things, have the same orientation doctrinally in order to be a group together? And how much theological disparity can we tolerate or celebrate in our groups before it's just a nuisance, before it's unhelpful to the conversation.
I think it's a serious, genuine question. In the Christian Church, in the Christian faith these days, there is a breadth of theological difference. A doctrinal difference. And some of it you could describe as doctrinal disparity, and some of it could just be like bumping out at the edges and having conversations. If we could talk about it as one side being Catholic and the other side being Protestant, that's kind of obvious. That's a 500 year old thing. But within the Protestant side, then you have this other continuum that could be from Presbyterian to Pentecostal. And somewhere in there you would have all these different thoughts about how to live out our faith, and what is true, and how do we follow Jesus, and all that. And so within that you would have everything from just fundamentalists to word of faith or prosperity doctrine. You would have those two things. And if you put people with those two opinions in the same group and start studying the scriptures, you're gonna have some sparks fly. Is it disruptive to have people with different doctrinal positions in the same group? Or is it helpful to have all those views represented in the same conversation? I believe the church these days has fallen in love with certitude and, as I've taught before, has conflated certitude with faith. And so we don't really have faith unless we believe it, like to our dying breath, and I'm talking about even just doctrinal sorts of things. It's like "it happened this way, this is the correct way to talk about it." But when you get into things like atonement theory and end times and what the church should look like and all those things, you have differences of opinion that are not heretical. And once you call it heretical, you, I believe, have engaged in heresy because you're declaring with certitude something that the scriptures don't declare with certitude. When we talk about theological unity and disparity, it's helpful to think of a triangle and divide that triangle with two lines so that there's three parts, and at the top we have what we would call consensus. These are the things that all Christians believe. Consensus. We're not still trying to figure out these things. Consensus. The next one down, which gets a little bigger, we can call convictions. These would be like the personal convictions. These are the things that as I study it, I go, "Ah, this is what I believe." And groups of people get together and they say, "As we study it, this is what we believe; these are our convictions on the matter." But there's not consensus about it. There's plenty of Christians -- people who study the Bible from a sincere heart -- there are plenty of people who arrive at different conclusions about those convictions. And so we can't call it consensus. We can call it convictions. Then the lowest one, the widest, the biggest one is what I would call conjecture. And this is when we read something in scripture and it says this, and it says this and maybe those two things are up in the convictions category or maybe even up in the consensus, but there's something in between the two that scripture doesn't talk about with clarity, we feel the need to bridge the gap between these two truths. And we do that with a bridge that we can call conjecture or speculation. In the groups that I lead, frequently, when we have these discussions and we get into the scriptures, someone inevitably will say, "Well, I've always thought that it means this," or "I heard that it means this," or, "Hmm, what if it means this?" And what I ask when I'm leading those groups, I say, "What's the word that we call that?" And if they've been in my group long enough, they'll say, "Speculation." Conjecture. We are speculating how to bridge the gap between this and this. These two things that we hold to be true -- and that scripture says overtly, explicitly these two things -- we bridge the gap with something that is... we speculate. What if it's this? And what I'll always say is that the speculation might be spot on. It might be right, you might have just solved the whole thing, like you're the first one. You might have solved it. Your speculation might be spot on, but it's still speculation, because scripture doesn't speak to it. And so hold it loosely. Hold it in open hands. That's what I would call conjecture. Now, if you look at the Christian faith, those who follow Christ, and the different systems and the different doctrinal unions that we've established around our faith in Christ, you'll see that most of the doctrinal positions live in the area of conjecture. Now I'm talking quantitatively, like there are so many different beliefs about the different things -- and I'll say in a little bit why I think God has let it be this way -- but so many different beliefs, about so many different things live in this lower, broader, wider, deeper, vast thing we call conjecture. We don't agree [about] these things. We haven't found consensus. And oftentimes we haven't even found personal conviction. We're still just exploring. But even when you bump up a little bit and you get into the area of personal conviction and you have doctrinal positions, that whole groups of Christians will hang their hat on , even there, you just don't have consensus. You don't have consensus. Only when you get up into the smaller top of that triangle, do you have consensus. And those things are the important things. So the question I asked my pastor way back when. When I was young, I asked him, why didn't God just tell us everything that we're supposed to believe about everything? Just write all the doctrines down in the book. Why does it have to be, you know, so thick? Why does it have to be so long? And why does it have to be stories? And, why do we have to study it and search it? And he said, "I think God left it all open so that the only thing we can unite around is the belief that Jesus is Lord." Otherwise we will unite around our belief about all these little intricate things and then we fight and argue about it. And really that is what we try to do. We try to find people who agree with us about the details of things, and we forget that God's primary call is that we would know him. And that we would believe that Jesus is Lord. The lordship of Jesus. Now one tricky thing that we do in Christian circles which eliminates all the tension is we treat our own convictions as consensus. And if we do that, so if I gather you around me and like we all believe this one thing about -- pick a topic: hell or, or how to be saved, can you lose your salvation, what about faith and what about proclamations, whatever that topic is -- and we say, those who are of like conviction about this, we are truly in the faith and everyone else is outside the faith. You've taken those personal convictions and you've said, That is the consensus. If you don't have consensus about these details, you are outside the faith. And with that, we've alleviated that tension of having people push back at our beliefs, at our convictions. But we've also played the part of God. Now, Jesus said that in the end times the angels would come and they would separate the righteous from the unrighteous, those who are in, from those who are out. And he said that our temptation would be for us to do it, to decide who's in and who's out. And his message was clear: "You don't do that. I do that. I do that." And so we have to decide at what point do we say you have to believe the same things in order to be in. And I would even say, at what point do we even have to answer the question, are you in or are you out? And I believe there is a point where we say we are gathered around one thing that we all hold in common, and, as my pastor said years ago, that one thing is: Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. This is our theology. This is our spirituality. This is our mission. Jesus is Lord. Now I'm gonna put a link below to a book that I wrote. This isn't a sales pitch, this is just, if it's helpful to continue the conversation. I put so much thought into this book: One Together -- a Vision for Ending Division. And it develops this whole thought that our unity would be around the theology that Jesus is Lord, a common spirituality where Jesus is Lord and a common mission where Jesus is Lord. And so I'll put that in the link below. You can go get it if that's helpful to you. As it relates to when we get together, and the question, how much doctrinal disparity, how much theological disparity can we handle in a group before it just becomes a distraction? I personally believe that if we have the conviction that God has revealed himself to us in scripture, I think it's good to gather around that. And if someone has, like, grossly different interpretations about scripture, I still think it can be helpful to get together and read those scriptures out loud. And discuss them. Now, if someone comes in with an argumentative bent, trying to just advance their agenda, whatever that agenda is, whether it's very liberal, progressive, or whether it's very conservative or fundamentalist, if they come in with this, "you've gotta believe what I believe," and it's just pushing, I think that's the thing that causes destruction. That's the disparity that no group can handle. That's the thing that says you have to believe my convictions in order to really be in the faith. But if we can bring people together around scriptures... I'll say it this way: If I'm in a group of people who are decidedly reading the scriptures to learn from them and to adjust their life to the truth held out in and revealed through those scriptures -- if I'm reading those scriptures and discussing them with people who have the same conviction, then I believe it's good for me to be in that conversation, even if they have arrived at different convictions about the details of things. And at the core of that, there needs to be a common devotion to Jesus as Lord. If that's not there, then what are we doing? And so, like I said last week in my teaching, someone said that they're not convinced that Jesus is the only way for everyone. "He is for me, but he is not for everyone." And I would say even if they're not convinced about Jesus, they can come in and they can inquire. As Paul talked about in first Corinthians 14, they can come in as inquirers. Absolutely. But they don't lead the discussion. They can voice their doubts, of course. But we are gathered not trying to decide whether Jesus is the way, truth, and life. We are gathered to decide how we can best live out that truth, that consensus as followers of Jesus believing he is Lord. And we are gathered looking into the scriptures to see how we can best understand him. Paul wrote about it in Philippians two. He says, " Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love." Listen, he's not talking about doctrinal specifics. He's talking about the attitude of your mind, of your heart. "Then make my joy complete by being like-minded." If you've come into the faith, if you have been encouraged in your union with Christ, if you've found comfort from his love, if you've been drawn to him in the Spirit, if you have any tenderness and compassion from your faith, then "make my joy complete," he says, "by being, like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind," the attitude, the direction, the quality. "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others." I believe if we were to do this, and if we were to choose a common love, our devotion to Jesus as Lord, and a common love that leans toward each other saying, we are in this together; we want to know Christ together -- I believe this humility that says, " I don't have it all figured out," but I can genuinely and tenderly bring my convictions to the conversation and even my speculations, my conjecture to the conversation and inviting other people to do the same and saying, we have a common love for the Lord, we are practicing a common love for each other, we are choosing to be in union with each other in searching the scriptures, I believe that is the healthy place for a group to be. And I would even go so far as to say that a group that is only theologically homogenous, only has all the same convictions and conjectures, I believe that's a dangerous place to be. I'm not saying it sends you to hell. I'm saying it's a dangerous place to be because you are never pressed. When you have an experience in life that doesn't line up with that theological homogeny. If you have an experience and you bring it into the group and say, "But it doesn't work this way in my life," you will feel cast out. You will not have support there. And you won't be able to grow through that experience as God has designed it for you. I believe it's a dangerous place to be, to say we have to all believe everything alike doctrinally in order to be in fellowship. You just don't find that in scripture. But we do have to believe Jesus is Lord. That is the crux of our faith. We do have to be of like mind and like heart. We do have to love tenderly and with compassion and be humble toward each other, putting others' interests ahead of our own. And so the question, should our groups be theologically homogenous? No. No. Is there room for doctrinal disparity? Yes. What is the thing that we gather around? The conviction, the consensus that Jesus is Lord, and that the scriptures are here for our edification. As Paul wrote to Timothy, "All scripture, is God breathed," or inspired, "and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." If we bring that as our consensus, we're good. We're good. So my encouragement to you is if you're getting together with other people in a small group to read the scriptures, to devote yourselves to the apostle's teaching, to prayer, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread. If you're getting together with others to do this, don't despair when people believe differently. Lean in with humility. Go ahead and engage with zeal, but with humility, considering others' interests as more important than your own. Bow before Jesus together. There is something tremendously orienting about that. And so I'll leave you with that. Jesus is Lord. Amen. Mission Update
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AuthorRoger Shenk is the pastor of X242, a network of microchurches. Archives
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