Jacob’s parents gave him up for adoption when he was born. Over the next few years, he was bounced around the foster system, never staying with any family long enough to put down roots. This was partly because Jacob had a hard time letting anyone get too close to him. Being an orphan had left Jacob with a sense never being good enough. So in attempts to protect his heart, Jacob built walls to keep everyone at arms length. Because in his mind, sooner or later everyone would see his inadequacies, and then they would surely abandon him, just like his parents did. Jacob chalked up the rejection of his parents to some kind internal flaw that he must have possessed that would render him unloveable to everyone in his life. And that wound to his soul grew deeper with each passing year.

Eventually Jacob grew into a man. He had a steady job, a beautiful wife, and three great kids. From the outside looking in, he appeared to have a wonderful life. But internally, Jacob was still haunted by his past. No matter how successful he was at his job or how attentive he was to his family, two burning question still lingered in the back of his mind. “What if my best is not enough?” “Will I once again become an orphan?”

Jacob was known by his coworkers to be the hardest worker in the company. And he poured his heart into his wife and children, never letting a day passed where he did not shower them with his love. But no matter how hard he worked, or how extravagant his love was for his family, it was never enough for him. Regardless of how hard he tried, Jacob could not outrun the wounds of his past. Because the question always lingered in the back of his mind; “What if one day, my best is not enough?”

During the time that I have been in vocational ministry, I’ve known many people who have what I would call an orphan spirit. I currently know people who are living in this reality. They carry with them a wound from their past that has never fully healed. Years ago, I met a very successful business man who had a beautiful family and had done very well for himself financially speaking. But as a young boy, his father was not loving towards him. No matter how hard he tried to impress his dad, nothing he did was ever enough to earn the embrace of his father. And so he worked hard all of his life, in part, to quiet the whispers in his head that would tell him that he would never be enough for his family.

Similarly, an older lady once came to the church that I pastored in need of biblical counseling. After many years of marriage, out of the blue, her husband told her that he was leaving and wanted a divorce. Much time had passed since the trauma of her marriage ending took place, and this lady was now in a relationship with a wonderful man who loved the Lord. But she found herself constantly trying to earn his love, wondering if the day would eventually come when she would no longer be enough for him, and if the past would repeat itself.

Like our opening example of Jacob, these former wounds tend to prompt the same internal question; “What if one day my best is not enough?” So men and women who possess an orphan spirit start to work harder in every aspect of their lives, never feeling like they quite measure up in any area. They begin to overcompensate, trying harder and harder, only to always come up short in their mind. And it creates an exhausting cycle where the bar of acceptance and love continually seem to be unattainable.

I've known both men and women who fell prey to this mindset. However, men seem to struggle with this much more than women. Men are wired differently than women. Instead of talking to others about the wounds of their past, men tend to bury their trauma. They tend to hide their fears. Because they tend to think that if others knew about their wound, it could show weakness in them. If others knew about their wound, it would make them unlovable. If others knew about their deep seeded wounds and fears, it would somehow make them less of a man.

And so their past begins to define their present reality as well as the way they view themselves. They become driven in every area of their life in order to outrun the past. They become driven in order to earn acceptance and love. But no matter how fast they run, their best never seems to be enough. Every day is a sprint towards what they see as the finish line of affirmation . And they never seem to be able to win the race. Therefore, everything in life, from praise in their job to love from their family begins to be viewed as something that they can lose in a moments notice. The fear of failure takes control, and it slowly crushes their spirit.

But the orphan spirit has it’s roots in the pit of Hell. Satan desires God’s people to define their present by the past. He wants both men and women of God to be continually reminded of their fears and failures. The enemy wants God’s people to live in fear, not faith. And this mindset takes hold when people begin to believe the whispers of the enemy rather than the truth of what God says about them.

If you struggle with an orphan spirit, it is time to come out of the darkness and into the light. It is time to start believing the truth of God’s Word rather than the lies of Satan. You are no longer a slave to your past. It has no hold over you and in no way does your former life define your present reality.

“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15.

Regardless of if your past has made you feel like an orphan, Christ has given you have a new title. You are now called a son or daughter of the King of Kings. Due to your past, you may have labeled yourself as unlovable. In Christ, you are unconditionally loved. In Christ, we do not work to be accepted. We flourish in every area of our lives because we are accepted by our Heavenly Father. And the fear of failure begins to be crushed by the weight of faith in Christ.

When Jesus endured the trauma of the cross, He was wounded and unjustly killed by ruthless men. But in the Lord’s providence, the cross was the plan of God so that the perfect Son would be eternally glorified and our sins would be forgiven. The traumatic pain of the cross could not hold Jesus, for He has overcome the grave. God is sovereign over the wounds of our past in the very same way. He has a purpose for everything under the sun that His children endure. And every circumstance, both the good and bad, God uses for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).

The wounds from the nails that pierced our Lord’s hands and feet have healed, and all that remains are His beautiful scars. On the cross, Jesus didn’t just overcome our sins. He overcame and brought healing to our past iniquities, both those that we caused and those committed against us. And like our Savior, for those in Christ, all that remains are fully healed, beautiful scars. In Christ, we are not our past, but completely new creations.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.

Satan hinders women from flourishing and men from leading by keeping them chained to their past. Many will praise the Lord for their spiritual adoption, but live as if they are still spiritual orphan’s. Their identity is found not in what Christ has done for them, but rather in a past event that wounded them. And instead of walking in the light of the Savior, they see their lives as a wilderness where they need to continually strive to meet an unattainable mark that only exists in their minds in order to survive each day.

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness, and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19.

Before Christ, we were all prisoners of sin (John 8). We were bound to the shackles of our past, our iniquities, our transgressions, and our fears. But for the believer, Jesus has unlocked the door to our prison and set us free. The problem is that many have yet to realize that the cell door is now open because they are still looking at the prison walls.

In Genesis 19, God command Lot and his family to flee from the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. As they were leaving their past lives behind and walking towards the future that the Lord had for them, Lot’s wife looked back towards the place which God intended to save her from. And she was transformed into a pillar of salt, incapable of moving forward.

In the original language, the phrase “looked back” can imply two different meanings. It can mean that she simply began to dwell upon that which she was called to leave behind. Or it can mean that she attempted to return to the place God commanded her to flee from. Either way, the outcome remains the same. It is impossible to enter into fullness of life when your focus is on what is meant to bring death.

“Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.” Proverbs 4:25-26.

For those who have truly placed their faith in the risen Christ, you are no longer under the yolk of fear. Christ has brought peace to the soul of all who will let go of the past and find their identity and rest in Him. You no longer have a spirit of fear, but the Spirit of truth now lives within you. And you no longer abide under the spirit of the orphan, but the spirit of sonship.

Due to the fallenness of this world, no one gets out of here unscathed. Life is filled with trials, heartbreak, persecution, and pain. But in Christ, we have hope in the midst of our trials. We have healing in our adoption as the spiritual children of God. In Christ, there are no orphan spirits, because the Spirit of God has called us sons. It is impossible for scars that testify to the grace of God to form if you continue to pick the scab from the wounds of the past.

Your past is not indicative of your present or your future. You are not your former circumstances. And you are no longer defined by your sins, afflictions, and past failures. Jesus brings healing to the orphan spirit, and hope to the wounded heart. Fix your gaze upon Him, and enter into abundance of life. What the enemy meant for evil, God uses for the good of those who love Him. Stop looking to your works for acceptance and look to the finished work of Christ. Trust in Him, and believe not the lies of the devil. You are no longer an orphan. In Christ, you are home.

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14.

The founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, lost his life yesterday in a horrific act of violence due to his unwavering stance upon truth. Whenever Charlie spoke in public and fielded questions from the public, he always filtered all of his responses through a Biblical worldview.

Charlie was in Utah yesterday speaking out against gender issues. He was defending the Biblical truth that men are men and women are women and there is no in between. Charlie was defending the truth of God’s created order. One of the last things that Charlie said before he was shot was to give a defense of the resurrection of Christ. He cited 1 Corinthians 5 and 15 as proof texts that Jesus was crucified, died, and rose on the third day. And Charlie concluded his defense by saying, “And now Christ is Lord over all.”

Ultimately, the person that pulled the trigger did not have a problem with Charlie Kirk. This deranged person had a problem with God. Charlie Kirk was not murdered. He was martyred. This was not so much a political assassination as it was a spiritual attack. And this is not the first senseless act of violence that we have witnessed from some on the extreme radical left. Their goal is not necessarily violence just for the sake of violence. Their goal is violence against those who hold a Biblical worldview with the aim of silencing them.

I have seen videos on the internet of radical leftists engaging in debate with Christians. And many of these interactions end with the radical leftist screaming, plugging their ears, and running away in anger. This is what happens when people who hate God and love their sins are confronted with truth. They know God’s ways are true, and they hate it. All their arguments fall flat against God’s truth. And so their only course of action is to scream, plug their ears, or react in violence.

“For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’” Matthew 13:15.

And this kind of childish, cowardly reaction from those who hate truth is nothing new. Over two thousand years ago, a young man named Stephen preached the Gospel before the Jews who hated Jesus and hated His truth. Eventually, much like what we are seeing from modern day leftist, the Jews reaction to Stephen was childish and cowardly anger that left them speechless.

“Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.” Acts 7:54.

When the Jews heard the truth of the Gospel flowing from the mouth of Stephen, they were left speechless. Because they could not deny it. And they could come up with no argument that wouldn’t fall flat. And so the only recourse of action that they were left with was to become enraged with anger. Sounds very similar to the reaction we see from the modern day left doesn’t it?

And when the Jews had been silenced by truth and had nothing left to do but stew in their anger, they decided that killing Stephen was the best thing to do. Because once again, they could not silence truth. And they could not argue it away. So killing Stephen was a viable option for the Jews. Their reasons for killing Stephen were two fold. One, they wanted to silence the truth that they so hated. And secondly, the Jews wanted to instill fear in other Christians, so that no one else would preach Christ for fear of death.

However, the plan of the Jews to silence Christians backfired. As a result of the killing of Stephen, the Christian dispersed and scattered out of Jerusalem and they went into all the world preaching the Gospel. Year later, a disciple of John named Polycarp was accosted by Caesar for preaching the truth of Christ. Polycarp was threatened with being thrown to be devoured by wild animals and burning at the stake should he not stop preaching the truth of Christ. His response was basically to say this; Bring it.

“You threaten with fire that burns for an hour then soon is extinguished, for you do not know about the coming judgment and the eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly. So why do you delay? Bring on what you want.” -Polycarp

Darkness will never be able to snuff out the light. The cowardly Jews were unable to eradicate the light of the Gospel by killing Stephen. Their evil actions actually served to make the light shine brighter. And believers who profess the truth of Jesus as Lord will never be silenced by cowards like the person who killed Charlie Kirk. It will only cause us to preach the truth more boldly and passionately.

Those who oppose truth and love death need to realize this is not a new narrative. Christ followers like Stephen, Polycarp, Charlie Kirk, and so many others down through history are not afraid of cowardly men or death. Because the worst men can do is kill them, and all death can do is deliver them over to be with King Jesus in glory.

Charlie Kirk is one more man of truth who stands in a long line of courageous men who proclaimed the truth of Christ and refused to back down. And historically speaking, whenever we have seen one man of God killed for his proclamation of truth, numerous others have come forth to take their place.

When a Godly man like Charlie Kirk is tragically gunned down, it is a natural reaction to want to question God. In our despair and confusion, questions arise. When Lazarus died, his sisters Mary and Martha were devastated at the passing of their brother. When Jesus arrived at the house of Lazarus, Martha said this to the Lord;

“Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:21.

Essentially, Martha was blaming the Lord for allowing her brother to die. She knew that Jesus had the power to save him from death. And her basic question to Jesus was, ‘Where were you when we needed you, and why did you allow this to happen?’ And the answer that Jesus gave to Martha is a hope that we can cling to as we mourn the death of Charlie Kirk.

Jesus answered Martha, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” John 11:25.

Charlie Kirk is no longer physically with us, but he is not dead. He is more alive than he has ever been. Although we mourn his death, it was not an accident. All things flow through the providential hand of God and are occur for the good of those that love Christ and His glory. You may be asking, “How can the death of a Godly man be good?”

Consider the crucifixion of Christ. The most horrific and unjust execution in the history of mankind. The perfect, spotless, Son of God delivered into the hands of lawless, truth hating men to be killed for no other reason than the Jews hated Him. When the crucifixion of Christ too place, there is no doubt the disciples considered it to be devastating. And as they gazed upon the lifeless body of their Messiah, the question in their hearts must have been, “God, how can this possibly be used for good?”

Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. And the death of Jesus and His resurrection made it possible for sinful man to be reconciled with a Holy God. Through the worst tragedy in human history, sin and death were defeated.

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good,” Genesis 50:20.

I don’t know the good that will come from the tragic death of Charlie Kirk. Im too close to the loom to make sense of the beautiful tapestry that God is weaving. But I do know that for those who love Christ, the tears will result in triumph. God will use this tragedy for the good of His people and for His glory. The truth of Christ as Lord will only be proclaimed more loudly. And more Stephens, Polycarps, and Charlie Kirks will rise up from the ashes to proclaim the Gospel.

There is a God. His name is Jesus. He was crucified and killed for being the literal embodiment of truth. On the third day he rose from the grave, defeating death. And Jesus now is seated at the right hand of God the Father as Lord, God, and King over all. And to those who would believe upon Him and turn from their sins, Jesus gives them the right to be the adopted children of God. Their sins were placed on Jesus, and he bore the punishment that we deserved which is the wrath of God. And Jesus lived the perfect life that was required of us by God.

And to those who bow to His Lordship, Jesus takes their sins and covers them with his perfect record in this great exchange. And when the sinner saved by grace stands before God the Father, they are justified. Not due to anything they have done, but fully due to the perfect blood of King Jesus that covers them.

This is the Gospel that Charlie Kirk died preaching. Proclaiming the truth of the Christian worldview and the Lordship of Jesus was his great legacy.  And this Gospel that Charlie preached is one that no man will ever be able to silence. Charlie carried the torch of truth boldly and unapologetically. And he finished the race that the Lord gave him to run with overwhelming success. Now that torch has been passed on to countless others who proclaim the name of Jesus and the Christian worldview. Silence is not an option.  For the redeemed in Christ, the truth of the Gospel is like a fire in our bones that must be fearlessly proclaimed. May the Lord continue to raise up even more beacons of His truth like Charlie Kirk. Well done Charlie. Well done, good and faithful servant.

What should a Christian look like?

Too many times we answer this question by evaluating our doctrinal leanings, evangelical circles, or by the pastor’s who we listen to. We can be so influenced by the surrounding Christian culture that we begin to look more like other believers who think like we do and less like the spiritual marks of a Christ follower that we see in scripture.

Sadly, I am beginning to see more and more division among believers than unity. Granted there are times that we should distance ourselves from others who call themselves Christian when it comes down to doctrinal differences over primary issues such as the deity of Christ, the Gospel, the virgin birth, the Trinity. Issues such as these are non-negotiable bedrocks of our faith.

However, I also see a lot of Christians dividing over trivial matters. Christian internet chat rooms are filled with professing believers who are ready to draw their swords and engage in verbal battles over why their personal conviction should be raised to the level of preeminence. And anyone who disagrees with them is either looked down upon, or excommunicated from having fellowship with them. I am not talking about ecumenism. There are those such as Mormons, Catholics or Jehovah’s Witnesses who profess the name of Christ, but worship a false version of Him. Therefore they are not truly Christians, and we must have lines of separation.

If a fellow brother in Christ does not share the same eschatological views, lines are drawn. If we have different views on worship music, lines are draw. If believers have different views on the topic of where they choose to educate their children, lines are drawn. Let me say again, if someone is touting a view that is clearly heretical, we should engage in loving correction and if they are unrepentant, separate from them. But Im not talking about people who hold heretical views. Im talking about Christians who hold differing views on certain issues within the realm of orthodoxy.

When it comes to issues such as the study of end times, contemporary vs. traditional music, soteriology, or where children are educated, these are secondary issues and by no means grounds for brothers and sisters in Christ to draw lines of separation. Can we discuss our differences? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, Christians should respect the secondary views of others and still be able to come together.

Are there secondary issues that would prevent believers from worshiping together in the same church? Yes there are. Take for example modes of baptism. Credobaptism, which baptist hold to, is the act of baptizing a person by submersion under water. On the other hand paedobaptism, which the presbyterian church holds to, is the act of sprinkling a person or an infant. It would be difficult to worship together in a church where the leadership was divided on how a person were to be baptized.

But even this issue is not one that separates Christians from non-believers. My two favorite pastors are the late R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur. R.C. was a presbyterian pastor and therefore, believed in paedobaptism. MacArthur is a baptist pastor and believed in credo baptism. They had their differences on important matters of doctrine. But they were best friends and very often preached at the same conferences. Their differences were never became a fellowship breaker.

I have grown so weary of hearing about brothers in Christ looking for any opportunity to critically and maliciously nit pick each other to death over their trivial little differences in matters of doctrine. I recently read article about a pastor who viciously attacked John MacArthur for his decision to invite Dr. John Piper to speak at his Shepherd’s Conference. When it comes to the topic of signs and wonders, Piper is a continuationist, meaning he believes certain spiritual gifts such as tongues are still active. MacArthur is a cessationist, meaning that he believes these gifts have now ceased. These men have differences in their theology. And they probably could not serve in leadership at the same church due to these differences. But they can still come together in brotherhood, fellowship and friendship. Because they are unified by their love for the Biblical Christ.

Shortly after Pentecost in the book of Acts, we read in chapter 2 that the early church was composed of believers who “had all things in common (Acts 2:44).” Now we know that they literally did not have all things in common. They most likely did not all have the same taste in foods. They did not all have the same hobbies. And with the incorporation of Gentiles into the church, they surely had doctrinal differences. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8 that there were some that believed that if you ate meat that had been sacrificed to an idol, you were in sin, even though it was not sinful. But Paul instructed the church to be careful when exercising their Christian liberties like this, because it could lead others astray. In Paul’s words, ‘Everything is permissible, but is it beneficial?” (1 Corinthians 10:23).

This is just one proof that people in the early church did have differences, even in matters of doctrine. So why did Acts 2 say that they had all things in common. Simply put, they had all things in common because their one commonality in Christ made all the secondary issues trivial in comparison. They did not look for reasons to divide unless their views were heretical. They looked to Christ to find their bond, and in Him, that was more than enough to bring them together despite other trivial differences.

So what does a Christian look like?

Well, Christians don’t all believe the same way when it comes to the non-primary doctrines of our faith. You cannot determine if a person is a follower of Christ based on if they share the same secondary views as you do. But the true Christian looks to Christ. They look for their commonality in His death, burial and resurrection. They find their commonality in their belief in His deity and Lordship. And like the early church, they may discuss their differences in an iron sharpening iron kind of way, but they do not divide over them. True Christians have all things in common, because in the light of Christ, secondary differences are seen as trivial in the light of His great glory.

There is something wrong with the world.

This is no secret or groundbreaking revelation. We all know it. Everyone on the planet knows that things are not as they should be. There are wars, diseases, crimes, betrayals, lies and death. It is an inescapable reality that things are just not as they should be.

Both Christians and non-believers will attribute these problems to things like politics, poor education, or lack of morals in general. And although these are certainly factors that play into the problems with the world, they are merely the thorns, not the seed. And that seed from which every wrong proverbial thorn sprouts is sin.

As Christians, we know this to be true. We know that the root problem with the world is sin. The cure to our sin malady is God. It is salvation in Christ and Christ alone. We know this as followers of Christ. Yet still so many believers grow frustrated with the problems of the world and will cast a judgmental eye towards those who do not know Jesus and live in sin.

Ive often heard preachers and evangelists tell people who are lost, “Stop drinking. Stop fornicating. Stop chasing after the things of the world and turn to Christ!” And when the lost person in question obstinately refuses to change, the preacher will begin to speak judgmentally to the sinner regarding their poor choice.

In essence, they are surprised when a lost person continues to act like a lost person.

Let me use an example that Spurgeon once gave to his flock in a sermon. Imagine that you visited a farm and ran across a pig in a fence. And you notice a pig rolling in the mud and filth and eating garbage that had been thrown into the trough. You are disgusted at how the pig likes rolling in the mud and how it delights in eating garbage.

Finally you just can’t take it anymore. You look at the pig and say to it, “Stop rolling around in that mud and eating that garbage!” In order to help the pig you even place a tub of clean water in the pen for the pig to clean off with and you place a nice steak dinner with fresh vegetables inside the pigs fence.

But the pig pays no attention to the tub of clean water nor the plate of fresh food. The pig continues to roll in the mud and find his trough of garbage delicious to eat. No matter how hard you plead with the pig, he will not listen.

Question and application time. Would it be reasonable for you to be upset with a pig for eating garbage and rolling in the mud? Of course not. To get upset with the pig for doing these things would be ridiculous. Because everyone knows that the pig is just doing what it by nature is inclined to do. This behavior is to be expected of a pig. A pig does not desire the same things as a human because it is a pig. So telling a pig to change would be against its nature and utterly useless.

Now imagine that same pig is supernaturally changed into a person. This person would find himself to be kneeling down in a pig pen, covered in mud with his face in a trough full of garbage. This new creation of a man would immediately begin to vomit up the filthy that was in his belly. And he would be embarrassed and ashamed of his nakedness.

In an attempt to remove the mud the same man who was once a pig would jump into that clean tub of water to clean himself up and he would desire then to be clothed. And that steak dinner that he once turned away from as a pig, he now sees it as irresistible.

Ive just described a picture of salvation.

The scriptures say that apart from Christ we are enslaved to sin (John 8:34). By nature, we have a sin loving nature. And a person in their natural sin loving state does not desire freedom from their slavery to sin. Like the pig, they love the filth of the world. They love their sin. And like the pig turned away from the clean water and food, the lost person will not desire the righteous ways of Christ.

Therefore, telling a lost person to stop acting like a lost person is futile. Furthermore, for believers to get upset or be disgusted at a lost person for loving their sin is like getting mad at a pig for doing what a pig does. By nature, we are lost, sin loving, children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3).

Something is definitely wrong with the world.

And the seed of all wrongs is our depraved, human nature.

And I was once part of that problem. And so were you.

So how is this problem remedied? We just come to the conclusion that pleading with the lost person to just change their ways is useless. Even telling them that Jesus is better than their sins will not suffice. Because as in the example of the pig, you couldn’t tell that pig clean water is better than filth, because by nature, it desired the filth. And by nature, so do we.

So as believers in Christ, what are we to do? First, we need to understand what we are up against. And we must realize that we are not as spiritually able as we sometimes think. We were once enslaved to sin, and we could not have freed ourselves. Jesus did that. Jesus said in John 15 that apart from Him, we can do nothing. Jesus is speaking in a spiritual sense. As in all things, the scriptures need to be our guide in this process. And unless we are in the practice of dying to self, this can be very offensive to our flesh.

One of the most debated and discussed topics I tend to hear from Christians is on the subject of free will. Ive often heard well intended believers describe salvation like this; “We are all born in sin, but when the Gospel is presented to us we are given the choice to use our FREE WILL to either accept or deny Jesus.”

Question; Does a pig have the FREE WILL to decide to change itself into a person? Of course not, that would be impossible. The pig would have to supernaturally be made into a new creation! This is how the apostle Paul described salvation, as become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). But many do not see salvation as a supernatural work of God causing us to become something that we were not. Rather, they see salvation as a choice that they have to make with their free will.

One more question to consider; Is salvation made possible only by the supernatural working of God? How is it that a person becomes born again? Is the salvation of a man or woman truly a miracle? Or is salvation initiated by human decision and man's self exerted free will?

"children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." John 1:13

If someone makes a decision to follow Jesus, it was only made possible because God first regenerated their hearts and gave them new desires that prompted their submission to Christ. If we love Christ, it's because He loved us enough to save us first (1 John 4:19). God always acts first, not us.

Back to the topic of free will. We all agree that Jesus said in John 8 that everyone (apart from Christ) is a SLAVE to sin. Jesus goes on in John 8 to say that the slave cannot set himself free, but the SON must set him free. The lost person cannot use their free will to change themselves into a new creation follower of Christ. Because they are enslaved to sin. They don’t just need to make the right choice for Jesus. In order to do that, they need to be given a new nature and set free from their old nature. And this is a human impossibility.

Paul described our state before Christ as being spiritually dead. Can you tell a skeleton to stop lying in the rotting filth and just get up and follow Jesus. No, because dead things do not respond to human requests. However, dead things do respond to God’s call. And the Lord Jesus can speak things into existence, even making new creations.

Ezekiel 37 and the passage of the Valley of the dry bones is the best example of how God saves in scripture. The Lord gives Ezekiel a vision of standing in a valley full of very dry bones. And the Lord asks Ezekiel how the bones can live. Ezekiel does not converse with the bones and tell them that living is better than being dead. He knows the bones would not respond to him. So Ezekiel says, “Lord only you know.”

Then the Lord tells Ezekiel to prophecy (preach) to the bones. And God gives Ezekiel the words to say. His words. And as Ezekiel speaks the words of the Lord over the bones, God supernaturally brings them to life. They no longer are bones, they are a newly created army for Him.

In the spiritual sense, free will does not exist. The free will debate is nullified if we read the scriptures, because Paul and the Apostle refer to themselves as ‘slaves to Christ.’ The scriptures tell us that we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. And there is no in-between. And this should not be an offense to anyone, but rather it should be like a breath of fresh air.

What is our role in bringing lost people to Christ. As Ezekiel, we are commanded to preach His words to the lost. We don’t preach our preferences. We don’t preach self help. Our words have no authority or power. We are commanded as His royal priesthood to preach HIS WORD to all men.

God has placed us in the world full of trouble and sin. We are living in a real life valley of dead bones. And these bones are all around us. Our friends, neighbors, and even family members are as the walking dead. They are like pigs in a trough that love the filth of the world. And we are powerless to convince them to change. How can these bones live and be created anew? Lord only you know.

You see, there is a supernatural element to salvation that many professing Christians often neglect. Paul said in Romans 3 that no one understands God and no one seeks for God. Why do men not seek for God? Because their nature is enslaved to sin. And due to their nature, they love their sin prison.

But when we preach the Word of God, through our preaching God brings the bones to new life. He frees them from the shackles of sin. He changes the desires of a man who once loved sin to now have a love for righteousness. Salvation is 100% attributed to the work of God and God alone.

As a pastor, this is such good news. Because I don’t have to fret over my delivery, or if I was convincing enough, or if I gave the wrong examples to draw the lost person in. If salvation is dependent upon my ability to convince, then I would fail every time. But all I have to do…and all you have to do, is be faithful to preach the word of the Lord, and He will give life to whom He will.

What is wrong with the world? The totality of human depravity. Sin.

What is the solution. Christ. And Christ alone. Because in Him is the only power to save. We don’t shake our heads at the lost in judgement. Rather, we remember that the cage that they are currently in was once our home. And in love and compassion, we preach Christ and put our trust in Him to recreate, and bring salvation. Our hope is not in ourselves, but in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16.

This morning I received the very sad update that Dr. Josh Buice, pastor of Prays Mill Baptist Church and the Founder of G3 Ministries, was asked to resign from his position at G3 due to many unfounded slanderous remarks that he has made against other church leaders. This is very concerning for the great many churches that are affiliated with the G3 Church Network. Our church is one of such churches that are in ministry partnership with G3.

The resignation of the leader of G3 has left many pastors feeling like a crew on a boat without a captain. Against the waves that arise in the midst of such shocking news, those who are in the proverbial G3 boat are left asking questions like; "Where are we going from here?" Who will lead us now? And should we abandon the ship altogether?"

I can't answer the first two questions. Only time will give those answers. But I can address the question of should churches now cut ties with G3. I believe the answer is no. To use the boat crew analogy, if a ship is rocked by a storm that takes down their captain, the most foolish thing to do in that moment is to jump overboard. The captain was not strong enough to stand against the storm, but that man's weakness is not indicative of the boat itself being able to stand against and even overcome the storm. Again, time will tell.

Our church was formerly part of the Southern Baptist Convention. Around 2015, the convention began to show signs of weakness. Leaders emerged within the convention that were attempting to steer the SBC as a whole towards liberalism. This was very concerning, especially as one of the pastors who had a church affiliated with the convention. But my initial reaction in 2015 was not to jump ship immediately. I hoped for the best, prayed for the leadership, and attended the annual conventions to make my voice heard in regards to fighting against the surge of liberalism.

I kept our church affiliated with the convention for three years in hopes of a course correction. But eventually it got to the point where we felt that we had no other option but to remove our membership from the SBC due to their errors. Our church stayed in the boat, fighting the storms until we felt that the boat itself was going under. Let me add that I have many great friends who are pastors still fighting the good fight in the convention and I applaud them. For our church, we just felt it was time for us to end our affiliation.

We are now affiliated with the G3 Church Network. And the news this morning of Dr. Buice's fall is so disheartening. But in my opinion, now is not the time for affiliate churches to push the eject button. Now is the time to start rowing against the storm. G3 has been very transparent in the unfolding of this unfortunate situation, and they have stated that no one within the G3 organization neither defends or was in the know regarding the sin that Dr. Buice was involved in. G3 appears to be taking the proper steps to discipline and restore Dr. Buice. Although G3 stated that Josh will no longer be associated with G3, they do not believe that his sin will disqualify him from serving in pastoral ministry in the future.

The effects of sin are far reaching and devastating. Especially when a well respected leaders within the Christian community falls. But our reaction as the church should not be to pass judgement for throw stones. For without the grace of God sustaining us daily, any one of us in pastoral leadership could be next.

In Matthew 26, just hours before His crucifixion, Jesus is with His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Lord told the disciples that they would all fall away from Him due to the persecution that was coming. Peter was the first to speak up. Peter told Jesus that although the rest of the disciples may fall away, he would remain strong beside the Lord unto death. In essence, Peter told Jesus, "You are wrong Jesus, because I am stronger than the others in the midst of temptation." And then Jesus declared that it would be Peter who would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed twice.

We are all so much like Peter.

Like Peter, how easy it is to see other followers of Christ fall into temptation, and to look on with disgust as we throw our stones while telling ourselves that we would never do such a thing. In our human nature, we are so prone to react first, think later, and pray last. All the while we forget that were it not for the grace of God, there go I. Were it not for the grace of God, there go us all, headlong into sin and rebellion.

Our reaction to Dr. Buice's resignation from G3 due to his sin should be one of humility. We should be quick to pray, slow to act, and remain watchful in the coming months to see the course correction that G3 takes. Now is not the time to abandon the ship. Now is the time to start rowing together. Now is the time to pray for and encourage Josh Buice towards repentance and restoration.

And now is the time to engage with and pray for the current leadership of G3 Ministries. The sin of one man is not indicative of the entire organization as a whole. And the track record to date of G3 Ministries has been one of heralding the Gospel, upholding the proclamation of right doctrine, and being a beacon of light for the name of Jesus Christ. G3 has many Godly men at the helm currently, and they need our prayers and support.

My advice to churches who are reeling in the midsts of this unfortunate news is to not make any permanent decisions right now. Its way to early, and although the man steering the boat has fallen in a moment of weakness, the ship appears to be strong. Pray for Dr. Josh Buice. Not from a position of casting judgement. But pray earnestly for Josh, realizing that any one of us is just as prone to make the same errors.

Secondly, for the pastors now associated with G3, drop any stones that you may have and instead, pick up an oar and start to help row. Now is not the time for gossip and rash decisions to be made. Now is the time to come together with our eyes on the glory of Christ..

G3 affiliated church pastors should take part in the monthly online pastors meetings with the leadership of G3 and engage in questions aimed at course correction and restoration. And remain watchful as to the direction G3 Ministries takes in the aftermath of this situation. Instead of thinking the worst, take the advice of Paul in Philippians 4:3 and think and hope for the best in all situations.

Finally pray for one another. Encourage the pastors of your church. And pray for Holy Spirit to empower us all to stand firm when the waves of temptation come upon us. Because as Jesus said in John 15, apart from Him, we can do nothing.

Jesus spoke more harshly to religious people than to pagans when He walked the earth. The reason for this is that the religious had been exposed to the light of God’s word and to the teachings and miracles of Christ Himself. Yet they still refused to believe. Although they knew God’s word, they did not believe in Jesus of whom Moses and the prophets had written of in the Torah. Instead of obeying Christ, they honored and followed their own man made traditions.

“He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” Matthew 15:3.

It’s easy for us in our 21st century context to read about the tradition loving Pharisees and to condemn them as to how they could be so blind. How could they read the living word of God and completely ignore it’s commands and exchange them for their own man made traditions? It can be easy for us to scoff at these traditionalists in the Scripture and praise God that we are not like them. But just like the Pharisees, even in our day, many Christians have become blind to their neglect of scripture and their love of their own traditions.

The scriptures tell us that the only way that a person can be saved is that they repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance is not just a turning from our sins, but also to have an internal brokenness over them. And that brokenness is not something that we fabricate or muster up within ourselves, it is a work of God changing our hearts to Christ. This heart change is something that God must first do in us. Our genuine repentance is then the overflow of His work in us. And our faith and believe flow from the regenerate heart of the believer.

“The time is come the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe.” Mark 1:15.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.

Jesus as well as the Apostles preached repentance and faith as the only means to salvation all throughout the scriptures. However, there are many pulpits today that preach faithfully on the love of God, to the neglect of preaching repentance and faith. And in place of these Biblical calls, they replace the true means of salvation with the sinners prayer.

Countless Baptist church websites will even have a link with a title like, “How Can I Be Saved?” And once this link is clicked on, it goes to a page that has a sinners prayer, prompting the person to merely ask Jesus into their hearts. At the end of many churches services, Pastors will ask people to bow their heads and close their eyes and pray the sinners prayer. Then the pastor will ask those who prayed the prayer to raise their hands before he bids them a warm welcome into the family of God. All the while, biblical repentance has not been explained.

I once preached in a church where it was common to end the service with a sinners prayer. I explained to the leadership that I would not recite such a prayer. One of the leaders then said to me, “But how will we know who has been saved?” And I responded, “You will know when their lives begin to change.” The unbiblical tradition of the sinners prayer is so popular today because preachers do not patiently wait to see the fruits of God’s work and instead, they demand immediate results that only God is privy to.  

Just like the Pharisees, they have neglected the word of God in favor of their own traditions.

Another example our modern day traditions replacing the commands of scripture can be seen in the ecclesiastical structure of many churches. 1 Timothy, Titus, as well as the book of Acts make it clear that God has a certain way that He has commanded the church to be structured.

The first thing that Paul charged Titus to do when he was planting churches on the Island of Crete is to raise up spiritual leaders called Elders. Elders are men that have been gifted by God to preach and teach the Word of truth. There are some churches today that would say that the pastor is the elder and no other elders are needed. But the scriptures clearly say that elders (plural) are to be appointed in every church. This does not mean a single elder in each church.

“Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.” Acts 14:23.

A great majority of churches today have exchanged the office of elder for deacon boards. The scriptures do command the church to have deacons. But the deacons job description given in 1 Timothy 3 is not to be spiritual leaders of the church, but rather servants to the church. In neglecting to implement elders in a church, pastors stray from the task of raising up men who are able to proclaim and preach the Gospel and instead, rely on unqualified men to lead the church.

Just like the Pharisees, they have neglected the word of God in favor of their own traditions.

One more example of how our current Christian culture gravitates towards tradition can be seen in many Christian homes. In both the Old and New Testaments, God commands men to disciple their children and their wives on a daily basis through family scripture reading and prayer.

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,” Ephesians 5:25-26.

This is not a mere suggestion regarding how a Christian man should lead his family, it is a command from God. Yet in many Christian homes today, these commands are exchanged for the tradition of more time in front of the television or social media scrolling.

Just like the Pharisees, they have neglected the word of God in favor of their own traditions.

You see, we cannot be so quick to wag our fingers at the traditional fallacies of the Pharisees unless we have first given a close examination to our own sins. We are all prone to fall into the trap of traditionalism, just like the religious elite of Jesus day. The difference between true believers and the Pharisees is not seen in our sinlessness. Because we all have blind spots and fall short. Rather, the difference is seen in our repentance once those blind spots have been identified.

The Pharisees justified their traditions. The question we must ask is are we like the Pharisees? Will we ardently defend the religious traditions that we have clung to for so long? Will we make excuses for them as a way to continue to cling to them? Or will we turn from the error of our ways, and run to the commands of Christ? It is easy for us to become modern day Pharisees who are blind to our traditional strongholds. And it is the word of Christ that has the power to break them and change us more into His great image.

The beauty of God’s grace is immeasurable. In Ephesians 1:8, Paul wrote that in Christ God has lavished grace upon us. This is not just a teaspoon of grace given to God’s redeemed. This is abundant grace. As former rebels against God we all carry the guilt of our former lives before Christ. But this is a weight that God does not intend for His children to carry.

Part of this lavish grace is that we are set free from the shackles of our past sins. The main character, Christian, in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress displays this reality in great detail. Before his sins were forgiven, Christian carried an extremely heavy bag on his back that was representative of his burdens over sin. When Christian finally made his way to Christ, his burden fell from his back and tumbled down the hill out of his sight. This is the beauty of grace.

In Christ, our burden’s and grief over past sins is gone. Psalm 103:12 says that God casts our sinful pasts as far as the east is from the west. Yet so many believers who are set free from their past spend much time gazing behind in attempts to locate the burdens that God separated from them. Instead of running forward in the newness of Christ, they remain stuck in place, acting as if they are still under the weight of sin. Oh how easily we forget the beauty of His grace.

We all like the Apostle Paul can lament that we were worthy of the title ‘Chief of sinners’ as we recount our many transgressions. And looking back at our lives before Christ can at times become paralyzing as we sink lower into the heartbreak and guilt of the sinful ways that we once walked in. This is a tool of Satan, to cause Christians to forget the abundance of grace God has bestowed upon them in Christ, and to become stuck in regrets of the past. For the redeemed in Christ, there is no more guilt or shame. Because they are literally not the same person as they once were.

“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.” Isaiah 54:4.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

“He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19.

If God has cast our former sins into the depths, then what right do we have to look back to them in guilt? To His elect, Christ has made them into literal new creations. Ezekiel 36 tells us that God has given the Christian a new heart that is filled with new desires that reflect Christ. In Christ, the old nature is gone and He has replaced it with a new nature that desires His ways.

Yes, when we think back to our sins before Christ there is hurt and regret. But Jesus took those sins to the cross and paid the price for them. In Jesus, there is no more condemnation! In Christ, there is no more shame. In Christ, there is no more guilt. Our sins have been paid for in full and crucified with Christ our Savior. Christian, realize that you are not the same person as you were before. You have been made new and completely different in Christ. You are redeemed and washed clean in His blood. In Christ, you are spotless and without blemish (Song of Songs 4:7). Therefore there is no need to look back except to glory in His amazing grace and marvel at the new nature that He has given you.

““Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19.

“Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Isaiah 42:9.

This is abundant, lavish grace. God is doing a work in all of His children, that is on going and supernatural. Consider for a moment the stars in the night sky. Where do they go in the day time? They don’t go anywhere, but we cannot see them for all the light. It is only against the black backdrop of night that the stars shine so brightly. In like manner, our former shame only serves to magnify the grace of God in our lives. The blackness of our former sins only serve to make His grace more precious to us who are now made new through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

As we look back to our former lives without Christ, the only tears that should flow are tears of joy regarding the work of Jesus in our lives. And because we are so moved by His grace towards us, we now strive to live our lives to make Him known! Paul Washer was once asked how he is so devoted to Christ with such passion and zeal to make Him known. His answer was, “Because He saved me!”

How precious is your salvation? How amazed by grace and by your own redemption are you? If someone professes Christ as Lord yet have no desire to walk in His ways, no repulsion over their past sins, and no desire to make Him known, then that person has no understanding of grace. The abundant grace of God produces a heart of extreme gratitude in believers. And this grace causes believer to forget the former things and strain forward to the glory that lies ahead.

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,” Philippians 3:13.

In Christ, our past shames become trophies of His grace. Our guilts become a testimony of His amazing grace. And our hurts become beautiful scars that point to the nail scared hands and feet of Jesus, who bore the guilt, shame, and pain of our sins. It is no longer ours to carry, our sins have been crucified with Christ. And He has cast them as far as the east is from the west. We are new creations in Christ, no longer chained to our former ways, but set free from our burdens of sin so that we may run forward in the freedom and joy of our Lord. This is one of the many beauties of God’s grace.

“Grace, Grace, God’s Grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, Grace, God’s Grace.

Grace that is greater than all our sin.”

Everyone has a worldview and no one is neutral. We all experience the world and filter the information around us through our worldview. The atheist lives inconsistently with their worldview. The atheistic worldview stems from Darwinian evolution. At it’s core this is the belief that the universe and all of creation is the result of a cosmic accident. All that exists is merely the byproduct of time and chance acting upon matter. Therefore the appropriate motto for the atheist is, “The strong will survive and prevail.” According to the atheist, existence is purposeless and meaningless. This is a worldview of hopelessness and futility.

However, most atheists would agree that murder is wrong. They would agree that rape is wrong. And if someone stole their car, they would cry out for justice. But according to their worldview where the strong will survive and there is no ultimate authority, why is anything wrong? If they truly believe that their existence is merely the result of a cosmic accident and humanity has evolved from space bacteria, then there is no right or wrong. The strongest bacteria will survive. That is their worldview. So given that worldview, why is anything declared evil or wrong in a universe that is just the result of chaotic random accidents?

The atheist will also claim that they do not believe in God, they believe in science. They believe in things like evolution and the theory of induction, which is the belief that we can know things will be the same tomorrow based on what we saw yesterday. Induction is the belief in a consistent universe. For example, induction says that we know the sun will rise tomorrow because we saw it rise today. Scientific terms like induction state that there is a rhythmic consistency to the universe based on patterns of the past.

However, the science believing atheist also believes that the origin of all creation was an unexpected, random cosmic explosion. An atheist scholar named Michael Langford once stated that all that exists is the result of one big accident. The belief of an accidental big bang is not consistent with the scientific theory of induction, which many atheists claim to believe. According to the atheist, the universe is not consistent, it is extremely unpredictable.

Neither does the agnostic live consistently with their worldview. The meaning of the word agnostic literally means ‘without knowledge.’ The agnostic would say that we cannot know for certain that there is a God, because we cannot really know anything for certain. And to the agnostic that would make this assertion, I would ask, “Can you know for certain that that statement is certainly true?” The agnostic’s worldview falls apart within the very definition of their belief.

You see, the atheist who cries out for justice is actually living inconsistently with the worldview that they profess to live by. Justice is a Christian concept. Morality is a Christian concept. Induction is seen in the created order of God, not in evolution. The atheist and the agnostic have to borrow from the Christian worldview in order to make sense of their own. The profession of their lips is inconsistent with the worldview that they claim to believe in.

However, many times professing Christians also live inconsistently with their worldview. I have met so many professing believers who claim to believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. But they live their lives as if there were no God. They have little to no prayer in their lives, no pressing into to read the scriptures on their own, no desire to repent of their sins, and a love for the vanities of the world. For lack of a better phrase, they live as functional atheists.

There are even churches that claim to glorify Jesus, yet they promote and give approval to practices of sin that the scriptures clearly speak of as grievous abominations before God. In Matthew 15:8, Jesus said of these kinds of people, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” They profess that Christ is their worldview, but they live by the ways of the world.

In the case of the person professing Christ yet living in rebellion, there are only two explanations. Either they are liars, or they are self deceived and have never known Christ. If Christ is our worldview, then we filter everything in creation through the lens of the word of God. This is not to say that the Christian never sins. But when the true Christian sins, it breaks their heart. They do not love their sins, but they hate them and desire to repent of their transgressions.

The most misunderstood doctrine in the Christian church is the doctrine of regeneration. It is the doctrine of what takes place when God saves a man or a woman. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Spurgeon described regeneration like this; He called his readers to imagine that there was a fat, dirty pig. The nature of the pig is one that loves filth. The pig by nature loves to roll in mud. It loves to eat the slop, which is basically garbage, that the farmer feeds it in its trough. Again, this is the pig’s nature. It is what it loves from birth. And if you were to give the pig a choice between eating a clean steak dinner with all the fixings and eating slop, the pig would choose the slop every time.

Spurgeon then asked his readers to imagine that something supernatural happened to this pig. All of the sudden, the pig was transformed into a man. Immediately the man would notice that his mouth was full of garbage, and vomit in disgust. This man would be confused as to why he was lying in mud and desire to be clean. And he would devour the steak dinner instead of the slop. The man’s nature is not like that of a pig. He had become a new creation with new desires that accompanied his supernatural transformation.

In the same way, the natural desires of a lost person are focused on the flesh. Psalm 58:3 says that the wicked go astray from the womb. We are born with a sin nature. Like the pig, we do not naturally desire to be separated from the filth of the world. Rather, the lost man or woman loves it. If they were given a choice to indulge in the sinful pleasures of the flesh or to feed on the words of the Lord, they would choose their sins every time.

But as the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, something supernatural happens to the person that God saves. They literally are made into a new creation. They are given a new heart with new desires. In Christ, they no longer desire the slop of sin. The regenerated person now desires the righteousness of Christ.

Everyone has a worldview. Sadly, most people live inconsistently with their worldview. Even many who would profess Christ as Lord. If you are a Christian, does your worldview match the profession of your lips? The scriptures call us to examine ourselves in light of God’s word. Do not ask, “Have I made a decision for Jesus?” Ask yourself, “Have I been supernaturally recreated? Do I have new Godly desires and a distain for my sins?” And if not, cry out to the sovereign Lord of the universe to save you.

Salvation is a supernatural work of the Lord. And true regeneration results in a transformed life that has a worldview influenced by Jesus Christ.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus preached primarily to those who thought themselves to be religious. The Pharisees were the main targets of the rebukes of Christ. They followed the laws of God, but also added their own laws and religious requirements to His word. The Pharisees not only added their own laws, but they imposed them on others. And anyone who did not follow the laws of the Pharisees, they deemed them to be sinners.

The most hilarious example of their self righteousness (in my opinion) is when Jesus dined with the Pharisees in Luke 11. The Pharisees had a law that stated a person must wash their hands before eating. In the passage, the Pharisees were astonished that Jesus did not wash his hands before the meal. And knowing their self righteous hearts, Jesus responded to their shock.

“And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.” Luke 11:39.

Jesus dismantled their self righteous attitude. He said that they were more concerned with the outside of the cup (how religious they appeared to others) than the inside of the cup (their true standing before God). As 21st century Christians, it is easy for us to shake our heads in disgust at the self righteousness of the Pharisees. But in all actuality, we are all very prone to falling into the trap of becoming Pharisees.

Phariseeism, as I call it, is at it’s core, making laws where there is no chapter and verse to support it. I’ve known Christians who would declare anyone who smoked a cigarette as being in sin. Although the practice is not healthy, smoking is certainly not sinful. Ive known Christians who have demonized anyone who has a tattoo as being in sin. Again, there is nothing in scripture (in the right context) that forbids a person from getting a tattoo. These are examples of making a law where there is none. And this is being a modern day pharisee.

Sadly we are still prone to make laws where there are none. Particularly in the church. I have begun to see this more and more in the areas of youth groups and children’s church. Especially within reformed baptist circles, this issue of having a youth group or children’s church seems to be an ever evolving in house debate.

The concept of youth group and children’s church has come under scrutiny in the last few years due to a growing concern over proper discipleship. We’ve all heard of those youth groups that are more about fun and silliness rather than actually teaching the scriptures. And I have known children’s church programs where it is really more of a day care center than teaching children foundations of the faith. These man centered ministries to youth and children are unfortunately a reality in many churches. And I will be the first to condemn those kinds of ministries.

However, because there are many wonky youth groups and children’s ministries, the knee jerk reaction by many has been to just dismiss the idea of youth groups and children’s ministries all together. In attempts to avoid these pitfalls, for many Christian, the pendulum has swung to the side of frowning upon the mere idea of having a youth group or children’s church.

Some have gone so far as to verbally say that the ideas of youth group and children’s church are unbiblical. What they mean is that no where in scripture do we see a youth or children’s discipleship group. But on the other hand, we do not see anything in the scriptures that forbid age related discipleship groups either.

Just because there are unbiblical youth and children’s ministries in our world does not mean that every one of them is therefore bad. Just as there are many churches that are unbiblical, you cannot dismiss the idea of church altogether based on a few bad apples. You cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Because of this stigma, there are parents that have chosen to completely remove their youth and children from discipleship classes geared towards their age, and instead keep them in adult classes or in the main church services. Although they would never say it, many who make this decision proudly inform others that their children will only be discipled in the adult services, almost like some kind of badge of their righteousness. But let me press back just a little and ask, could the decision to shun all age related discipleship groups actually be to the detriment of the child’s spiritual growth?

Lets consider children’s ministry first. Most children do not have the mental capacity to understand the majority of preachers in the pulpit. Big words and theological concepts that many adults struggle to understand are being unpacked in most orthodox Christian churches on Sunday morning. And most of the children that I see sitting in church are either coloring a picture, playing with toys, sleeping or visibly upset. I have nothing at all against children being in the main service at church. So long as they are actually learning, understanding, and growing in their spiritual walk. And granted, there are some children who can grasp these big concepts. But most below the age of 8 cannot.

I know some will bristle at what I have said. I have been told by some who disagree with me that all that is needed to bring salvation to our children is to have them placed under the reading of scripture. And God will supernaturally bring them to new spiritual life. I agree that salvation is indeed a supernatural act of God. However, the person who is receiving the spoken word must not only hear the word, but they must also be able to understand what they have heard.

We have a biblical example in Acts 8. There was an Ethiopian Eunuch who was reading the book of Isaiah. Philip saw him reading the word of God and asked him if he understood what he was reading.

“So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.” Acts 8:30-31.

The text does not say that the eunuch read the word of God and automatically just from reading the words, he was saved. He did not understand what he was reading. It took a teacher like Phillip to explain the passage in Isaiah so that he could understand.

When the resurrected Christ walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, it was clear that the disciples had read the Old Testament. But they did not understand that all things written by the prophets and Moses pointed to Christ. Then Jesus, beginning with Moses, walked them through the Old Testament, explaining it to them so that they would understand.

The ultimate question we should ask is, ‘Are my children comprehending what they are hearing?” If they are, wonderful. But again, most children require a lot of explanation, and things must be explained in a way that they can understand. At a conference, a man asked Paul Washer his view of children’s church programs. Washer responded by saying that he knew of children’s church programs where the children were actually learning and comprehending more biblical truths than the adults.

I’ve known parents who have told me that the reason they keep their young children in the main church service as opposed to sending them to children’s church is because they are teaching them to be able to sit through the church service. But I would much rather my child walk out of church having learned more about Jesus than using that time to train them to sit still.

If a children’s church program is not teaching the Bible, then yes, that is a major problem. But if the program is teaching the children Biblical truths and right doctrine in a manner where the kids can actually understand and are growing in sanctification, then I fail to see the problem. It all comes down to determining where which setting the child will best understand the scriptures that are being taught. Personally, the church that I pastor is blessed with very biblical sound Bible teachers who lead our children’s church each Sunday, teaching doctrinal truths in ways that our children are comprehending.

Now let us consider youth groups. I have heard the argument made that in the first century, there was no age segregation in the local church. However, Josephus (1st century historian) once wrote of parents in the early church sending their youth out to sit under certain rabbis, along with other youth, in order to be taught the scriptures. Before one can argue examples from church history, they must not be ignorant of church history.

Let me say that I do believe that our youth and children should be part of the collective body of Christ, and should in no way only be with those that are their own age. That is where the body life of the church comes in. We need older men pouring into young men, and older women pouring into younger women. Also church outreach and gatherings should include people of all age groups, not just some. But there are times when it comes to discipleship where there are great advantages in having the teaching geared towards certain age groups.

As with children’s church, the question that must be asked is, “Are my youth growing in their knowledge of the Lord?” If they are in a youth group that is heavy on fun and light on discipleship, then that is a major problem. But if the word of God is being properly expounded in the context of a youth group, then again, I fail to see the problem.

Once more, I am in no way against children or youth being included in classes or setting where the teaching is primarily geared towards an adult audience. What I am against is placing a child in a class setting where they are comprehending little to none of what is being said. On another personal note, our church is blessed with a wonderful youth minister who teaches our youth in a verse by verse manner, giving explanation to the passages as he unpacks biblical truth. There are many youth ministers and children’s ministers who labor in study each week in order to rightly proclaim the word of truth in a manner where those under their teachings can understand and comprehend.

Most especially in reformed circles, there is a strong tendency for people to jump on bandwagons and plant hard and fast flags. There is a tendency for people to make up laws where there are no laws. There is a tendency to attempt to say, “Thus saith the Lord” where the scriptures are silent.

And most. of the time, this is done in all good intentions to guard right doctrine and create guardrails to aid in sanctification. But that is exactly why the Pharisees created extra biblical laws. So that they could better enforce the laws and commands of God, they created new laws in attempts to strengthen what was already written. And in doing so, the Pharisees went outside of the bounds of inspired scripture, and added to the commands of God.

Children’s and youth ministries are not unbiblical in the sense that they are sinful and or frowned upon by God. That is, unless they are not actually proclaiming the word of God. In fact, I would say that these ministries are a necessity for relating to those who need help in understanding the scriptures given their given age. It’s great to have children in church. As long as they are actually comprehending what is being preached. And a mid week youth bible study is in no way sinful, as long as the youth are comprehending and growing in their study of God’s word.

“For this is the will of God, that you be sanctified…” 1 Thessalonians 4:3.

God is less concerned with the location where an individual is taught and more concerned with them growing in sanctification. It is up to parents to determine where that spiritual growth happens best, and where the child or youth is best comprehending and understanding what is being taught.

Be vigilant to guard right doctrine. Be watchful to make sure that your children and youth are growing in their faith. But be cautious of making laws where there are none. Be weary of jumping on a bandwagon, simply because everyone else in your theological circle is on it. Let the scriptures be your guide in all things, not the opinions of man.

Sola scriptura is one of the five solas, which were the war cries of the Protestant Reformation. The term is latin for, ‘scripture alone’. It was one of the central doctrines held by the reformers and many evangelicals to this day that hold fast to the  authenticity of Scripture. It is the truth that the Word of God, governed by the Holy Spirit, is all that is needed to open the eyes of the lost and bring people to saving faith in Christ.

It is the reality that the scriptures are their own interpreter, and nothing on the part of man is needed to be added to them in order to make them more effective.  In short, it is the Word of God that brings people to faith. And it is the Holy Spirit’s working in the heart of man through the knowledge of the scriptures that keeps them eternally.

One of the major battles of the reformers in the early 1500’s was over the sufficiency of the scriptures. At the time, the church in Rome was taking away from the scriptures and adding their own doctrine of works to them. They didn’t teach by grace alone through faith alone are you saved.

Rather, an element of works was added to their doctrine. Particularly in the form of the selling of indulgences. The church would sell indulgences to the people as a means of penance for their sins, and as a reduction of time spent in purgatory, which is another false teaching all together.

And in the midst of this great apostasy, the Lord used men such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, John Knox and many others as a mega phone to cry out truth and stand firm on the authority of the scriptures.

The reformers were used of God to bring the culture back to the knowledge of the sufficiency of Scripture. They exposed the false doctrines of the Catholic church and shattered the teaching of adding works to the Gospel. And with them came light in a period of darkness.

The Protestant Reformation continues even to this day. Now perhaps more than ever, the church needs men standing on the authority of Scripture to cry out against the pervasive myths that are infiltrating protestantism at large. Our culture is in need of a reformation just as much as it was in the days of the original reformers.

Only today, it is not only Roman Catholicism that seems to pervert the doctrine of sola scriptura, it is secular humanism. It is religious cultural fads that become a normal part of our American society that are leading people away from the Gospel in droves.

And one of the biggest platforms, aside from the pulpit, that seems to be leading people away from Biblical orthodoxy and into man centered heresy is social media. Professing Christians would predominantly agree to the teaching of sola scripture.

They would agree to the statement that the Word of God is all that is needed to sustain the believer. Yet some of the most popular social media postings of professing Christians looks more like witch craft than true Christianity.

Sadly it is more common to see a social media post that leans more towards mysticism with a little Jesus sprinkled in rather than posting the Word of the Lord. Chain messages and internet pictures of Jesus arm wrestling Satan with the tag line, “If you love Jesus repost, and if you don’t just ignore” have replaced our belief in sola scriptura. It is as if our present day evangelical culture has come to believe that salvation can be lost or gained by merely posting a picture of Jesus.

Jesus is not looking down from Heaven waiting for you to affirm to the world your love for Him by typing “AMEN” in the comments under the post. And Jesus is not planning to shower your life with blessings simply because you shared a picture of a man dressed like Him that in all honesty looks more like a Star Wars Jedi than Jesus.

Our culture is more obsessed with promoting self (as seen in our overwhelming obsession with posting selfies) than with promoting God. That is clearly seen in social media posts that seek to gain things from God rather than to know God Himself.

Satan has used the most popular tool of 21st century communication which is social media to water down the Gospel. And it is no different than the people in the time of the Reformation believing that purchasing an indulgence would make them more favorable in the sight of God.

Our love for Jesus is not shown through responding to a post that says, “Type YES for Jesus and NO for Satan.” If we desire to know how we show God that we love Him, we let the scripture be our guide, not Facebook.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35.

“Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” John 14:21.

Our love for Christ is shown through our love for others, and through our obedience to His commands. The greatest command is to love the Lord God with all of your heart, mind, and strength. And the second greatest is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:36-40). Matthew writes that in these two commands, all of the laws of God can be fulfilled.

So in order to both exalt Christ to the utmost as well as love our neighbor as ourselves, we must ask two questions. First, what is it that God desires more than anything. Answer; His own glory.

“For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” Isaiah 48:9-11.

Secondly, what is the greatest need of our neighbor. Answer; to know the one true living God and the depths and riches of His glory.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;
 at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11.

It is not wrong or sinful for God to desire that we glorify Him above all, because the greatest and most fulfilling thing in the universe is God Himself. So God’s desire to be glorified is intricately tied to our greatest good. It would be unloving for God to withhold the privilege of glorifying Him from us, because only in Him can the fullness of joy be found.

Therefore, if what pleases God most is His glory, and if the greatest need of our neighbor is to know Christ, then what is the most loving thing we could do for God and people?

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Matthew 28:19.

Our highest calling on this side of Heaven is to be a Royal Priesthood. To share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. And sharing the Gospel goes much deeper than sharing a raise your hand for Jesus post. These efforts are shallow and powerless when it comes to proclamation.

Only the Word of God can pierce the hard hearts of men. Scripture alone has the ability to open the eyes of those who are lost in spiritual darkness. Only the preaching of the Word can bring about true regeneration.

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” Romans 10:14.

In Nehemiah chapter 8, Ezra did not tell the people to sign a paper saying they loved the Lord and then pass it on to their neighbor. Ezra opened the Word of the Lord to share with everyone, and their hearts were supernaturally opened to worship in Spirit and truth.

Social media has become one of the most effective and far reaching ways of communicating in our world today. And it can be a powerful tool for reaching others for Jesus Christ. But in order to do that, the truth of scripture must be proclaimed, and in our 21st century social media context…posted. Scripture alone is all that is needed to reach the masses with the Gospel and transform our society from a culture with a love for selfies into one that has a love for scripture.  Give them truth through the Word of God.

When God saved me, He did it through my hearing a sermon on Matthew chapter 7. Particularly one portion of that chapter.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

I had grown up in a wonderful church. I regularly heard the Gospel proclaimed and I had the head knowledge of Christ crucified. But there was no transformation present. I had no real love for God or for His word. In my mind, I was saved because I had walked an aisle and said a prayer.

That is why Matthew 7 crushed me. Because it completely demolished the view that I had of my salvation and works righteousness. At age 33, I realized for the first time in my life that I was that man who would have heard Jesus say to me, “I never knew you.”

God saved me through that brokenness. God called me to proclaim the Gospel to the nations in Panama out of that brokenness. And eventually, the Lord called me into full time pastoral ministry out of that brokenness.

And to this day, that passage in Matthew chapter 7 still haunts me. Because I never want to wear a religious garb in the pulpit and be a different person outside of the church. I don’t want to be one of those preachers that nit pick the lives and Christianity of others in order to make myself look more pious.

Because of Matthew 7, I am consistently made aware of my own sins and need of repentance. And it makes it almost impossible for me to hold a self righteous view of others. I believe the Apostle Paul realized this in his own life. He called himself the chief of sinners. God saved a terrorist like Paul so that no one could ever say, “My sin is too great for God’s grace to overcome.”

Even in writing this, I do not want it to come across as me saying, “I have arrived.” As Paul would say, by no means. I see more and more of my great need for God’s grace and forgiveness in my life daily. I am so prone to forget the promises of God and the goodness of the Gospel and to seek fulfillment in my own ways. As Martin Luther once said, I need to preach the Gospel to myself every day, because I forget it every day.

Recently, I began to ask myself why Christianity in particular was filled with so much extreme hypocrisy. Why do we hear so many stories of pastors who disqualify themselves from ministry because of moral failures? Why do we see so many people file into churches each week with smiles, saying things like “God is so Good” and “Jesus is my rock” only to get in their cars and not open their Bibles again until the next Sunday?

Over and over in the Gospel, we read Jesus preaching on repentance and belief as the only means to salvation. As Christians we understand repentance, or at least the definition. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of action. It is a turning from sin.

But we often skim over the believe portion of Jesus commands. It is so easy for us to say to ourselves, “I believe in Jesus.” But we have to ask, what does it mean to truly believe something? Imagine that you were relaxing in your home one weekend. All of the sudden, you realized that your home was on fire. You believe that your house in going to burn down, because you see the proof of the fire right before your eyes.

And because you believe that you and your family are in danger, your actions change. No longer are your lounging in your recliner, but rather you are frantically exerting all of your energy to see that you and your family get out of the house safely. Your actions follow your belief.

Now imagine that you run into your living room and scream to your spouse, “The house is on fire!” And your spouse replies, “Wow, I can smell the smoke and see the fire, and I agree we need to evacuate!” But instead of moving, they continue to lay there watching the television. You would have to say one of two things; Either your spouse is going insane, or they truly do not believe what they have professed to have seen with their eyes.

This is sadly the pattern we see in Christianity more times than not. People who will say all of the right things about their belief in Christ, but behind closed doors, they live their lives as if there were no Gospel at all. Their profession of believe is in word only.

In Mark 1:15, Jesus commands us to repent and believe the Gospel. He commands us to change our actions. And our belief that the Gospel is true becomes the catalyst to our repentance.

Here is what I am saying. If we truly believe that the Gospel is true, then our lives, my life, will look radically different. If we believe that the Gospel is true, then no longer will we justify the lack of prayerlessness in our lives. If we believe the Gospel is true, then we will desire obedience to Christ and become horrified at our sins. If we believe that the Gospel is true, then we will see eternal souls in our interactions with others and be concerned over their salvation. If we believe the Gospel is true, then our obsession with materialism and worldly trinkets would fade, and the great commission and making Christ known would become our obsession.

Do you believe, I mean truly believe, that Christ is risen from the dead and that He now rules and reigns over all things at the right side of God the Father? Do you truly believe that the day will come when you stand before Him to give an account?

Before answering yes too quickly, ask yourself if you are professing belief, yet still sitting comfortably in a burning house. We can so easily deceive ourselves. If we truly believe the Gospel, then actions such as repentance, prayer, and pressing in to His word will be the natural actions that follow.

We all go through times of spiritual dryness. We all go through times of putting on the mask of belief while living a life that does not match that confession. But in those times, we need to be reminded of the truth of the Gospel. We need to be reminded that Christ died for our sins. And that we are not justified by our religious activities, but we are saved by Christ and Christ alone.

And in that salvation, something supernatural takes place. Jesus changes our hearts to actually be concerned. In Christ, we now have a heart that desires to walk in obedience to Him, and that grows more and more to hate the sin in our lives. True belief is accompanied by a change of heart that leads to a change in thinking and in action.

Jesus said in Matthew 7 that many people would stand before Him claiming Christ as their Lord, expecting to be granted eternal life in Heaven. These people justified their profession with their external religious activities. But Jesus responded and said, “I never knew you.”

Matthew 15:8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;”

I never want to be the man who professes Jesus with my lips, yet possesses a heart that is far from Him. I don’t want to profess a belief that holds no passion. And I don’t want any one else to be that self deceived person either. As the Apostle Paul said, we should be those who constantly examine themselves to see if they are truly in the faith. To see if their profession of belief in Christ has the fruit of daily repentance to back up their claim.

When you read the commands of Christ to repent and believe, realize that repentance can never be genuine unless your heart has first been pierced that a belief in Jesus that has dramatically changed how you think about your life.  If you do not get the Gospel right, then what you have done is restrain the hearts of people, and their hearts will not be transformed. Someone with a belief that is in profession only without a real change of heart is a person that has conformed to a pattern of religion but has not been transformed by the Holy Spirit. If your belief in the Gospel is merely an empty profession, then you have given yourself just enough of Jesus to never truly know Him. There is a distinct difference in knowing some facts about Jesus, and truly knowing Him. And if you truly know Him, your life cannot help but be transformed.

You can learn a lot about a person from bumperstickers. When someone places a bumpersticker on their vehicle, its usually to relay something about how they view the world. From politics to overall worldview, bumperstickers give others a window into the guiding principles that the driver holds in high esteem. And when it comes to governing principles, there is a reason why our country was founded upon Christian principles. Christianity gives us a standard to live by. God’s standard. Christianity defines truth for us. Truth in regards to God, man, and the world at large. Christianity gives us freedom as well as guardrails to keep us from destroying ourselves.

In the late18th century, a movement called romanticism arose in arts and literature that highlighted human inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual. Romanticism rejected conventional norms and promoted individualism as the great goal of humanity. Romanticism eventually gave birth to postmodernism in the 21st century. Like romanticism, postmodernism carries the idea that truth is subjective, and feelings override objectivity.

Postmodernism along with romanticism have chipped away at the Christian foundation that our society was built upon. And when the pillar of truth that is Christianity is removed from a society, all chaos ensues. These two ideologies have given rise to these bumpersticker philosophies that encapsulate this secular worldview. Slogans like;

“Follow Your Heart.”

“Live Your Truth.”

“I Only Believe What I can See.”

In Genesis chapter 3, the serpent deceived Adam and Eve with the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat. At first glance, the forbidden fruit was appealing to look at. But once they believed the lie and partook of the fruit, it brought sin and death into the world. And although these catch phrases may sound appealing to some, the results of following and living these words out ends in chaos and heartache. Let’s serious consider the implications of what living by these worldview slogans looks like.

“Follow Your Heart”

This slogan has been inserted into more big screen Hollywood love stories than any other. It sounds romantic. It sounds bigger than life. The problem is that the heart is never defined. In a secular worldview, the phrase, ‘Follow Your Heart’ really means, ‘Follow Your Feelings.’ To the postmodernist, the heart is directly correlated with human feelings. Feelings are temporary. They are unstable at best. And feelings can change like the wind.

If every marriage is based on each individual spouse following their feelings, then no union is safe. The moment a husband or wife doesn’t feel loving or forgiving towards their spouse, the marriage ends. Why? Because they believed the cultural lie that they should follow their heart/ feelings.

Furthermore, the individual who is living in a sinful homosexual lifestyle would claim that they are merely following their heart/ feelings when it comes to sexual partners. And that opens the door for the child molester to justify their transgressions as crimes of following the heart.  Following your heart/ feelings is not romantic, it’s dangerous.

God warned us of the dangers of following the heart. Whereas the world romanticizes following the heart, the Bible says that such foolishness will end in destruction. Love is not a feeling. It’s a willful choice. Jesus did not sacrifice Himself for the sins of many because He felt like it. Christ set His affections upon a particular people before the foundation of the world and chose to redeem them, regardless of their rebellion and the cost. Jesus love for His bride was not led by temporal feelings, but rather it was an act of the will. That is true love. To settle for following your heart/ feelings is not love. It’s a cheap imitation of the real thing.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9.

The fruit in the garden of Eden was deceitful. It’s beauty was misleading. In the same way, the slogan ‘Follow Your Heart’ is deceitful. It’s romantic appeal is misleading. And it leads to wickedness and death.

“Live Your Truth”

This is the war cry of the 21st century postmodern society that we live in. It implies that truth is relative. Truth can vary from person to person. And no one can ever be told that they are wrong about what they believe. Because for them, no matter how far fetched their belief is, it is true for them. And therefore, society must affirm each individual’s truth.

But in order for truth to exist, there must be things that are not true. Otherwise, truth has no meaning. Furthermore, for someone to claim that all truth is subjective, one would have to ask, “Is that statement subjective?” They would have just made a truth claim. To which if the person wanted to be consistent, they would have to answer in the affirmative. And to that end, their whole worldview collapses upon itself.

Under this umbrella of ‘Live Your Truth’, biological gender has no meaning. A man can claim to be a women and vice versa. And no one is allowed to tell them they are wrong, because again, it’s their truth. Because of this worldview, we have seen things that would have been considered insane twenty years ago accepted as a social norm today. Let’s carry a live your truth mindset to it’s end.

What if someone’s truth is that they are Superman. Last year, a young man actually climbed up to the roof of Grace Community Church in California and proclaimed that the could fly. That was his truth. He jumped off of the building and was killed instantly upon impact.

Politically, the postmodern worldview made a push a few years back to actually defund the police in many states. Some people actually tried to flip truth on it’s head and began to propose that the police were the bad guys and criminals were the oppressed. In place of police that were governed by the guardrails of the constitution, it was proposed by some states that the people act as law enforcement. When wicked people are given the power to decide what is right in their own eyes, the culture crumbles into anarchy.

If there is no truth, then even civil laws can be viewed as subjective and open to each individuals interpretation. You cannot pick and choose. You cannot say that truth is relative in regards to gender, but objective when it comes to governing laws. Either there is absolute truth that applies to gender, laws, God, and reality, or there is not. And if the slogan, ‘Live Your Truth’ is followed to it’s logical end, it results in a Godless, lawless, wild wild west society.

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

This is a truth statement. It is not subjective. And if this is true, then the words are Christ (the scriptures) override our feelings and desires. There are not many genders, because Jesus tells us that God created man and woman. And there are not multiple God’s but one, and He is Christ the Lord. His word gives us truth on issues of law, morality, the sexes, and reality as a whole. The world was created through Christ and for Christ (Colossians 1:15). Therefore there is no truth outside of Christ.

“I Only Believe What I can See.”

Empiricism is the view that all concepts, beliefs, or propositions are based on or justified by experience. It relies on our five senses, sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell. Primarily, empiricism says if we cannot see or touch something, then it cannot be real. But empiricism, drawn out to it’s end, falls flat.

For example, we cannot see math, but we know it’s a reality. We cannot see laws of science, but we know that they exist. We cannot see gravity, but we see it’s effects. In the same way, when it comes to God, we see the proof of God all around us in creation.

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Romans 1:20.

Furthermore, we know that there is a God because humans have a conscience. If we are the result of a cosmic accident, and have evolved from space dust, then there is no right or wrong. As Darwin said, the strong will survive. There can be no moral absolutes. As one pastor put it, what’s wrong with star dust bumping into star dust?

But humans know right from wrong. Even the atheist knows that murder is wrong. Why is that? It’s because man is made in the image of God, and because they are made in His image, they know right from wrong innately. And God has written His word, His image, on the heart of every man no matter if he professes belief or not.

“They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” Romans 2:15.

Creation and even the human heart itself attests that there is a God. Just as we know that gravity exists due to it’s effect, we know that God exists, because the proof is all around us as well as in us.

 “Follow Your Heart.”

“Live Your Truth.”

“I Only Believe What I can See.”

These three slogans have been popularized by our world, but they were seeded in philosophical antiquity. Romanticism gave way to what we know as postmodernism. These secular ideologies promise freedom, but lead to shackles. They promise a happy life, but lead to heartache and slavery to sin. And they promote a life apart from God in exchange for following our own ways. Just like the fruit in the garden, their appeal is only surface deep. Don’t live your life by cheap bumpersticker philosophies. Live in light of the Lord Jesus.

Follow Christ, not your heart.

Live for Him, for He is the Truth.

Believe, because He has made Himself undeniably known.

Burger King had a slogan back in the early 90’s that they used on most all of their advertising. ‘Have it Your Way.’ However you wanted your burger, this was Burger Kings way of saying, “Whatever you want, we will make your preferences our priority.” And they made a bundle off of their willingness to give their consumers what they wanted.

Many churches have adopted Burger Kings slogan in order to to draw a crowd. When it comes to repentance, ‘Have it Your Way.’ When it comes the worship service, ‘Have it Your Way.’ When it comes to contemporary music verses traditional music, or the way the pastor preaches, ‘Have it Your Way.’

The reason there are churches that have a ‘Have it Your Way’ mentality is because they view the church primarily as a business, not a movement. And they view their members as customers who need to be kept happy, not souls that need to be saved. Therefore the pastors and elders begin to play the role of CEO’s who focus on numbers and not spiritual shepherds who focus on leading people to the Lord.  

But the church is not a business, it’s a family of God’s redeemed people. And the questions that many Christians need to ask themselves are these; Is the church primarily about me, or about God? Should God be concerned with meeting our preferences? Is worship about us, or is it about God? How should our worship be directed?

To answer these questions, we need to look to God’s word and what it tells us about worship. In Leviticus, the sons of Aaron went to worship the Lord. In our modern day context, they played some part in the worship service. They were church folk.

And the sons of Aaron would have claimed to love the Lord. God had given guidelines for how He was to be worshipped. It was clear that worship was to be about God, and not man. But Nadab and Abihu decided they wanted to add fire to the altar.

Maybe they thought fire would spice up the worship service. Maybe fire was just their preference. Regardless of their intentions, God had never told them to get creative with worship and add in whatever they felt was best. Here is the account and how God reacted.

“Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them.And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.” Leviticus 10:1-2.

God was not pleased with their attempts to change His worship to conform more to their own preferences. God killed the sons of Aaron in church. God killed them while they were worshipping Him. God does not care about marketing tactics or making the worship service more palatable to the people so that they are pleased. The church is not a ‘Have it Your Way’ organization. Worship is all about Him.

Worship that is centered around man’s preferences will draw a crowd, no doubt about it. But worship that is led by what we want is ultimately us worshipping ourselves. It’s not enough to just be in the church building. It’s not enough to go through the motions of worship. God looks at the intentions and motivations of our hearts in worship. Are we motivated to praise by what we want? Or are we motivated to worship because of how great God is?

In Malachi, we see again the issue of God’s people offering insincere, man centered worship. And we see in passage this the example of the people of God coming before Him yet again and kindling fire upon the altar as an act of worship. They were worshipping God by their own standards, with no regard to honoring the Lord. And God says something shocking to His people who worship Him in vain.

“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.” Malachi 1:10.

In essence, God says to His people, “I wish you would bar the doors to the church building and not even come.” Because their worship was more about them than it was the Lord. They wanted to have it their way, not God’s way. And then the Lord says that even if they do come before Him in worship, He will not accept it. Because the Lord sees the self centeredness of their hearts.

‘What if I don’t like what the pastor is saying?”

Your opinions are unauthorized fire. The question is not do you like what he says, but is what he is saying backed up with the truth of God’s Word? If that man in the pulpit speaking the word of God, nothing else matters.

‘Contemporary music or traditional music?’

Your preferences are unauthorized fire. The question is not ‘Does the music make me feel like worshipping,’ but rather, ‘Do the words that I am singing serve to draw my mind to who God is and to make His glory known?’

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” Proverbs 29:5.

The problem is that our default position is to fear man more than God. And the snare is the temptation to compromise on the issue of prioritizing God in worship. And when we compromise in order to please man rather than God, it is ultimately the sin of not trusting God. And so many church leaders fall prey to this snare, because they fear man more than God.

I was called to pastor the church that I am currently at almost six years ago. And at that time six years ago, it was a church that epitomized worshipping the Lord with unauthorized fire upon the alter. The worship music was for the most part, man centered. The leadership model was comprised of what they called the PAT, or Pastor Advisory Team rather than Biblically qualified elders. And I was told on more than one occasion that my practice of preaching verse by verse through books of the Bible was something that I should change. As I was told by one leader while I was preaching through the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, “We are not an Old Testament Church, we’re a New Testament Church.”

Did I have a fear of man? With five kids and a wife to support, you bet I did. Was there a strong temptation to just compromise and go with the flow? Absolutely. But I chose to trust God. Not because I am so spiritually strong, but rather because I saw how spiritually weak I am without God. And I knew that if our congregation was to ever experience the power of God, then I would have to refuse to go along with the status quo, even if it cost me my job. I was forced to trust God.

I did not come in as the new pastor and make any immediate changes. For the first year, I just loved on the people and just observed as continued to preach God’s word. After about two years, I began to see the Lord using His word to bring about changes. After a string of sermons on Biblical worship, some congregants began to voice their problems with many of the man centered things that were going on in our services. Then after going through the book of 1 Timothy, some of our deacons approached me and said, “Eldership is clearly in scripture, so why don’t we have elders?” To which I replied, “That’s a great idea.” We began a two year process of teaching on the Biblical leadership structure and training future elders.

I wish I could say this road was paved with silver and gold. But it was not. As these changes began to take place, many others in the congregation voiced their anger at the church beginning to deviate from what they preferred. And as a result, a great many people ended up leaving the church. Those who wanted a worship service to fit to their preferences left the church. Those who did not like verse by verse preaching left the church. And those who lost their control of the church after the PAT was disbanded left the church.

On more than one occasion, I had irate individuals make threats to my job security if I continued to preach things like eldership and promote changes in our worship service. I had two choices before me. I could have fallen to my knees before these individuals who wanted a ‘Have it Your Way’ church and pleaded for their forgiveness, and said if they would only stay I would make sure to do whatever they wanted. Or, I could trust God along with the small handful of people in the church who desired to stand firm on God’s word and to make our worship more about Him. From a business standpoint, the first option would have been the obvious one. I was scared. I was tempted to compromise for fear of man. But I, along with other Godly men and women, chose to trust the Lord and stand on His word.

Throughout the following years, the Lord has continually brought people to our church that do not want a ‘Have it Your Way Church.’ The Lord has continued (and is continuing) to lead people to our church who desire the pure and unaltered word of the Lord and nothing else. And I take absolutely no credit for any of it. I did nothing. I merely stood and read the scriptures each week. The Lord brought the change, and He has been faithful to those who resisted the temptations of man centered worship.

You can have it your way in worship. But don’t expect God to be there. Unauthorized fire is still placed upon the altar in worship service today. It just comes in the form of our preferences and opinions. When it comes to worship in the church, we are to lay our preferences at the door, and place our eyes upon Christ, not ourselves.

A few years ago, I went to a high school track meet to watch my son throw the shot put. If you have ever been to a track meet, you know that it is an all day event. And there were a good many races before the shot put started. So I found my place on the bleachers, and settled in to watch the races. The first event was the mile run. The competitors lined up and as soon as the gun fired, they were off.

Out of the five runners, two of them left the others in the dust. And these two runners were neck and neck for most of the race. On the last lap, one of the runners pulled slightly ahead of the other. As they approached the finish line, the lead runner turned his head to look back at the man behind him. When he looked back, it caused him to slow his pace just enough for the runner behind him to take the lead and win the race. If he had not taken his eyes off of the finish line to look back, he would have won.

Satan’s greatest distraction for causing believers to stumble and take their eyes off of Christ is to tempt them to look back to their past instead of prize of Christ that lies ahead. Maybe it’s a past sin that causes regret. Or perhaps it is a sin that was committed against them that causes the person to reply the hurt over and over again in their minds.

Dwelling upon and constantly looking back to the past can derail the future. And dwelling on the past is a byproduct of an unforgiving heart. For the person that dwells upon their past sins and says, “I just cannot forgive myself” you are declaring yourself to be more righteous than God. For the one who repents of their sin and trusts in Christ, the Lord says that he casts our sins as far as the east is from the west (Proverbs 103:12). The same way God has forgive us, we are to forgive ourselves.

And for the person who dwells on a hurtful and tragic sin committed against them, the real issue is forgiveness. I have heard it said by people who cannot let go of someone hurting them, “I have forgiven them, but I will never forget what they did to me.” God says something much different. He says that He will remember our sins no more (Hebrews 8:12). This does not mean that God no longer has any recollection of our transgressions. Rather, it mean that He will no longer dwell upon them. He will no longer bring our sins to His mind. To harbor any form of unforgiveness is to consider ourselves to be more Holy than God.

Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

In Isaiah 43, God is telling Israel to forget a future tragedy that has not yet happened to them. In a nutshell, Israel was very wayward in their relationship with God. So God is about to allow the Babylonians to enslave the people of Israel for approximately 70 years. And after 70 years, the Lord tells Israel that He will restore them and bless them greatly. And before this takes place, God tells them not to dwell on this tragedy that will befall the nation in the future, but rather trust in the blessings that will come out of that hardship.

Remember Not the Former Things

This is the first portion of Isaiah 43:18.  We are to forget the former things. But how can we forget painful events in our life? When the Lord commands this, He does not mean to erase the past from our minds. That is impossible. Rather it means to no longer give your past weight in your life. Whatever happened, it is now over and done. And the weight of that sin has been placed upon Christ, rendering it completely powerless. It is choosing to no longer hold the past again yourself or someone else. It is making the choice to no longer let the past control the direction of your future.

Nor Consider the Things of Old

This is God’s command not to dwell on the past. Don’t keep rehearsing or replying it in your mind. If it is something you have done, repent and ask for God to forgive you. And if it is some sin that was committed against you that you cannot let go of, consider Christ on the cross. And the fact that it was your sins that He bore so that you would be spared from the wrath of God. ‘I can never forgive’ is a phrase that no true Christian can utter. It is to say you deserve God’s forgiveness for your many sins, but others do not. We are commanded to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us. And if we do not forgive others, Christ says that we will not be forgiven (Matthew 6:14-15). Do not consider the things of old. Look forward to Christ, not backwards to what has been done. And for the Christian, do not look backward to what has been forgiven.

Behold, I am Doing a New Thing

When we hold on to the past and keep looking back, we are in danger of missing the new thing that He is doing in our lives. We are to look for the good that God is doing in our lives. Notice in the verse, God asks the question, “Do you not perceive it?” If you are still dwelling on what has past, you will likely not perceiving what He is doing in your present and future.

Remember the wife of Lot. As Lot and his family were fleeing from the city of Sodom and Gomorrah which was being consumed by God’s firey wrath, his wife turns around to look back. The original language actually uses words that indicate that she may have been going back to the burning city, not just looking at it. And she was turned into a pillar of salt. She could not perceive the future blessings that God had in store for her. And she ran back to her past.

Satan desires to remind us of our past so that we miss the blessings of God. The great German reformer Martin Luther often felt the temptation to look back at his sinful past. He felt that Satan tortured him with memories of his past transgressions, reminding him that he deserved separation from God for his sins. And Luther wrote this;

“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: “I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!”

The Apostle Paul was a great sinner before his conversion to Christ. He was not only an enemy of Christ, he also was a persecutor and murderer of Christians. No doubt Paul had much guilt over his past sins, and there were most likely other believers who had loved ones that he had put to death. But Paul did not spend his life looking backwards. Nor did the disciples and leaders of the first century church hold Paul’s sins against him. In Philippians, the Apostle Paul wrote;

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14.

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was said to be a very handsome man. As the myth goes, he walked by a pool of water and caught saw his reflection in the water. He spent the rest of his life staring at his reflection, missing out on life, because he could not lift his gaze from his looking at himself.

I believe there are people who are no different than Narcissus. They are deeply cut or injured by some tragedy in their life. Immediately, they look down at their wound and lament at the pain. But over time, the wound heals and eventually becomes just a scar. The immediate pain is gone, and the wound is no more. But many still spend their time staring at the scar, and dwelling upon the pain once was. Like Narcissus, they spend their lives gazing at themselves, all the while completely missing out on the blessings that God has given all around them.

Imagine a man who committed a terrible crime. He is sentenced to years in prison, and after he has served his time, the jail door are opened and unlocked. He is free to leave. However, the man cannot move. Instead of running towards freedom, he sits in his cell with his head in his hands, replaying the events that led to his incarceration. This is unforgiveness. No matter if it is neglecting to forgiving yourself, or refusing to forgive others, unforgiveness is a self imposed prison. The door to the cell is open. But the one who refuses to forgive chooses to sit in the cell, and look at the past instead of walk out of the prison.

God can turn your pain into His purpose. He can transform and use your past by His providence. Paul greatly regretted His past as an enemy of Christ. But God used it for good. Once saved, Paul ’s past gave him a greater understanding of the religious leaders who opposed Christ. Because he once was them. Nicky Cruz was a violent gang member in the 1950’s. As an adult he heard the Gospel and was radically saved. Cruz went on to create a ministry to the gangs that he once ran with and wrote his testimony in a book called ‘Run Baby Run.’ God desires to use our painful pasts for His glorious future plans. Remember Joseph who was abandoned by his brother and sold into slavery. Eventually God restored Joseph’s reputation and made him second in rank next to Pharaoh. When Joseph finally confronted his brother who had betrayed him, he did not tell them that he would never forgive them. Joseph forgave his brothers, saying to them, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good (Genesis 50:20). God does not want to constantly remind you of the pain of your sinful past. He wants to redeem it to be used for His present and future glory.

For the Christian, the emotional scars that you bear should be a reminder, not of the pain that once was, but of His amazing grace in your life. Our past should be a reminder of how we are forgiven in Christ, and how in like manner, we are to forgive those who once sought to do us harm. God is creating rivers where there was once a desert, and sunshine where there were once storms. The question is, can you not perceive it? Don’t listen to the Satanic lies of the devil who desires to sow seeds of pain and unforgiveness in your heart. Satan whispers, “God cannot use you due to the sins of your past.” But it’s a lie. Just ask Paul, David, Joseph, or practically any of the other men and women in scripture. God always has a purpose for allowing pain in our lives. And God can always redeem our past sins for His purposes. And His purposes always resound to His glory.

Look to Christ, who we all have sinned against. Yet those in Christ will never have their pasts held against them by the Lord. The agony that Jesus endured at Calvery etched scars on his hands and feet from the nails that pierced his skin. But the scars of Christ are not a merely a reminder of His pain, but of the great glory that came out of it. Without the pain of the cross, there would not be a resurrection. And without a resurrection, there would be no redemption for mankind. Jesus overlooks our transgressions, He forgives our sins, and He calls us to look ahead to the future that He has for us. Don’t look back to the past without seeing how the Lord has turned what was once an emotional wound into a beautiful, God glorifying scar.

I was a bodybuilder in high school. Granted, I was not some muscle bound freak of nature. In fact, I was quite skinny. But in every sense of the word, I lived the bodybuilding lifestyle. I trained religiously everyday in the weight room for hours on end. I consumed a diet of high calories and protein, and very little fat, sugar, or carbohydrates. I even competed in a small bodybuilding competition my freshman year in high school. I was a bodybuilder in every sense of the word. The only problem was that I did not fit in with the majority of other bodybuilders that I knew in the gym where I worked out.

There were a few things that bodybuilders did that I did not do. And these things that I did not do separated me from the others. Most of the bodybuilders in my gym at that time took anabolic steroids. This helped them make huge muscle gains and they looked the part of a bodybuilder. I on the other hand was lean and very low in body fat, but I was small compared to them. And because of that, although I was a bodybuilder, I was not viewed as a bodybuilder by some.

When it comes to my theological leanings, I am reformed. I believe fully in the sovereignty of God in all areas, including salvation. I believe in the five points of Calvinism. I believe that salvation is not a mere human decision, but a supernatural transformation wherein God literally makes a person into a new creation. I believe in the five solas of the reformation. And I confidently affirm the 1689 London Baptist Confession of faith. These are all tenants of the reformed faith.

However, as I have gotten older, I have come to see that much like my bodybuilding venture, I don’t check all of the boxes and fit in with many others who would call themselves reformed. It seems that a great many in the reformed community have added other criteria that one must adopt in order to call themselves reformed.

When I was newly reformed in my theology, I embraced many of these check marks that I will mention. But over time, I began to ask myself why. For example, many preachers feel that in order to be truly reformed, we must do away with any kind of age segregation in the church. Meaning that there are no youth groups and young children should always be with their parents in the main worship service.

Ive met some preachers who will proudly tell others that they do not believe in youth group and that their children do not go to children’s church, but sit in the main service. Its almost like a boasting right or badge of honor. And let me say that by no means am I saying that children should not ever be in the main worship service. But to mandate that in order for them to learn they must be in the main service is an over reach.

The real question we must ask is, “Are the children learning and growing in their faith?” Some genuinely may be, and praise the Lord. But many times very young children who are forced to sit in the main worship service every Sunday instead of going to a children’s church hour are not paying any attention to the preacher. And many times, its because the preacher is more concerned about being viewed as some great theological giant than he is actually relating and applying the Word of God to those whom he preaches to.

It is a fine thing for families to worship together in corporate worship. But it is also not a sin for families to allow their children to attend a class designed for their age group with peers of their own.

There seems to be what I call a theological snobbery within many reformed circles. To be truly reformed, you must do church a certain way, the puritans must be your favorite choice of books, and the preachers that you listen to must all be Calvinistic. You must attend all of the right conferences and have all the right theological leanings on secondary issues of the faith. And if you do not do these things, then you are viewed not truly being reformed.

One of my favorite preachers is Leonard Ravenhill. And he did not have a Calvinistic bone in his body. But that man preached more truth than some of the more famous modern day Calvinist preachers that I hear today. We give our eight year old daughter the option of sitting in big church or going to children’s church each Sunday. Sometimes she wants to sit in the service. And other times she wants to go to children’s church. And I can tell you that every time she goes to children’s church, she comes home talking about what she learned from scripture.

Im not saying that there is anything wrong with churches who decide not to have a youth group or children’s programs. If that is what works for your church, and disciples are being made, then praise the Lord. But on the other hand, we need to be careful about pointing a chastising finger at churches who do utilize children’s church or youth group. If that is what is working to bring their people to Christ, then to God be the glory. There is no where in scripture that tells us exactly how these things should be. The true test is the spiritual growth of those in the church.

The pharisees were really good at patting themselves on the back for their high knowledge of the scriptures and they often criticized and looked down upon others who would not abide by their man made rules. We must be very careful not to become modern day pharisees in our reformed circles. And I do not say this as an accusation. As I said opening up, I am reformed. And I am just as much prone to puff up with pride. I have to diligently guard my own heart daily.

Proverbs 26:12 “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.”

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that knowledge puffs up a man. Now as Christians we are to pursue knowledge and wisdom from scripture. But in this pursuit, we can easily become puffed up and wise in our own eyes. We can easily start to believe that our way is right, and everyone else is wrong.

I am reformed. But I am no longer concerned about being accepted by or conformed to what many believe it means to be reformed. In fact, I never tell people that I am reformed or Calvinistic unless they ask me. Because those words do more harm than good to those who are not of those belief systems. My greatest aim is not to check all of the modern day boxes of what it means to be reformed. Rather, I want to be biblical. And I want to meet people where they are and see them come to know the Lord Jesus as their Savior.

There was a time when I tried to check all of the boxes in regards to being reformed. But the older I get, I no longer care what other men or even preachers think of me. I only want to be pleasing to the Lord, and to be used by Him to shepherd His people to know Him. I am still prone to stump my toe on the rock of theological snobbery. All of us are. But in those weak moments, I am reminded that He must become more, and I must become less. When it comes to church, do not design your programs to fit neatly into what the majority do within a theological circle. Do what is best for your people to grow in their sanctification and in the grace of Christ.

What we prioritize in life is a great indicator of what we worship. At times, our profession of Christ as the greatest desire of our life is betrayed by our actions. And many times, we attempt to justify the very actions that accuse us of being idolators. Because if you want to see someone go into defense mode, just try and take away their idol. I know that to even think about speaking or writing to people about rethinking their priorities is akin to trying to take a piece of raw meat away from a hungry animal. However, I believe that as Christians it is crucial that we contemplate this issue.

An idol is anything that we place more value upon than God. And one of the biggest idols in our world today is sports. Particularly when it comes to our children. Thankfully, by His grace, the Lord saved my wife and I when our children were very young. Lacy and I made a commitment to the Lord that our children’s extra curricular activities would not ever take precidence over the worship of God.

We were put to the test fairly quickly. Our son Andy was playing his first year of football on the 3rd grade team. After his tryout, the coach told us that Andy would most definitely be one of his starters. He said he saw that our son was very athletic at a young age and would have a bright future in football. We later found out that his football practices were held on each week day afternoon at 6 PM, including Wednesdays. This happened to be the exact time that our mid week evening church Bible studies began.

We had a choice to make. We could have justified letting Andy practice by saying, “It’s only for a few months. And besides, it’s not like he will be missing Sunday morning.” But that was not the path we took. At the next practice, I met with the coach and shared with him that Andy would not be able to attend practices on Wednesday, because we had church at that time. The coach seemed to be understanding.

However, when game day came around, Andy did not start the game like the coach said he would. In fact, he did not get to play at all. As the season progressed, Andy would get to play maybe for a minute or so each game, but that was it. It was clear that our son was being punished for not being present for Wednesday night practices.

As our children have gotten older, they have continued to be involved in many different sports teams and activities. And we have seen the heartbreak on our children’s faces at times when they have been slighted by coaches due to our decision. We have even had Christian friends at times attempt to convince us to compromise our stance. And most of the time, their justification is, “It’s not like they are missing Sunday morning.”

Jesus said many times that believers would be persecuted for following Him. In fact, I would say that persecution by the world is one of the identifying marks in a Christian’s life. The definition of persecution is to be ill treated or treated in hostility by someone. So within those parameters, persecution has a broad spectrum. Persecution can be not being accepted or cast out of a group for your profession of Christ. Or in the most extreme cases, it can lead to death. Persecution marks the life of a true Christian. That is why Peter said that we should rejoice when we are persecuted for the name of Christ.

“But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” 1 Peter 4:13-14.

Jesus said that persecution was something that was to be expected by believers. And that when persecuted, we should be joyful. Because when persecution comes in the life of a Christian for standing firm for Christ, it is because they have chosen to swim against what is popular in society, for the glory of God.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.” Matthew 5:11-12.

Granted, Christians are not to look for persecution. Honestly, I think anyone who went around looking for ways to be persecuted would need to check into a funny farm. Because persecution is not pleasant. Rather, persecution for a believer comes, not because they seek it, but because they choose the path less traveled in Christ instead of the Vanity Fair of the world. Christian persecution usually comes any time that believers place the things of the world second to Christ.

But when Jesus says that believers will be persecuted for His name, what exactly does He mean? What does it look like to be persecuted for Christ?

There are many believers who view Christian persecution as sickness, job loss, financial hardships, and a lack of material things. But if these maladies do not come about or have been caused due to living for Christ, then they are not persecutions, but just the effects of living in a fallen world. The rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). It is important to make this point, because the persecutions that Jesus said believers would experience are not just hardships, but they come solely from a believers life of obedience to Him.

With that distinction made, there are very few professing Christians living in the United States who are experiencing true persecution due to their obedience to Christ. Keep in mind, we are not talking about hardships. Because unfortunately, we all experience hardships in this life. We are talking about hardships that are brought on because of living for Christ. And the reason that we see so few Christians experiencing this type of persecution in our nation is because there is little to no separation from the world in their lives. The world does not desire Christ to be the top priority in life. And unfortunately, neither do many professing believers.

Christians are commanded to be in the world, but not of the world (Romans 12:2). That means that there are to be lines of separation in our lives. We are not commanded to disguise ourselves to look like the world in order to win the world. Too many churches today have bought into that lie, and their church services, which look more like a rock concert than true worship, bear the proof. Rather, Christians are to be in the world, but there is to be a noticeable difference. That is to say that the way that believers live their lives should be a contradiction and a curiosity to the world.

The true Christian cannot listen to or watch the same entertainment as the world, because of their love of Christ. The true Christian cannot dress the same as the world, because of their love of Christ. The true Christian cannot use the same crude language of the world or take part in sinful pastimes, because of their love for Christ. And the Christian will at times, forbid their children from attending certain events that are scheduled during times of worship, due to their love for Christ.

Is it a sin to occasionally miss mid week church or Sunday services? Absolutely not. Sometimes there are things that prevent us from temporarily gathering with the church. But compromise is a slippery slope. It’s always a struggle for those who love Jesus to ever choose to neglect any opportunity to gather with the saints and worship our Lord. Because for the true believer, gathering with believers and worshipping Christ is the heart cry of their soul. But the struggle gets to be less and less the more compromise is let in.

I know that in the world’s eyes, it is a praiseworthy thing for parents to do anything possible to promote and seek the advancement their children’s opportunities in sports and education. And these pursuits in and of themselves are not bad things. The problem arises when these pursuits become ultimate. Meaning that they are seen as a top priority.

Ive heard Christians attempt to justify neglecting the worship of God and gathering together with other believers for worship by calling the ball field or the dance recital “their mission field.” And while it is a good thing for believers to go to unbelievers in order to be a light for Christ, when it comes at the expense of breaking God’s command to not neglect gathering with the saints, it is not missional, but disobedient.

“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25.

“It’s only a church service, so whats the big deal?”

This is the familiar rebuttal that I hear all the time, even from professing Christians. Our own children have even expressed this same justification in hopes of being able to play in games that conflict with church gatherings. But it all comes down to priorities. And what you prioritize will serve as a testimony to those who oppose your decision. Do you want to reach the world for Christ? Ask yourself, “What does the world see as being a priority in my life?” You can profess to be a Christian that loves Jesus all day long. But the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.”

I want my children to have a great education and excel in the sports that they love. I want them to be involved in and a part of the pastimes that they love. And I do not want them to be penalized or seen as an outcast on their teams or extra curricular activities due to missing a practice or a game. But I want them to know Christ more. If they experience rejection due to choosing to gathering with the church over their sports, therein lies a teaching moment to explain to them what it is to experience worldly persecution for Christ, and the spiritual joys associated within that decision. I want my children to see the prioritization of Christ and His church as the focus of how we lead our family.

If you model to your family that sports and recreational pastimes are things that regularly take precedence over the church, don’t be surprised and dismayed when your children grow up and do not prioritize Christ. They may agree or disagree with your decisions, but know that your children are watching how their parents lead.  Know that your community is watching how you lead. And it will impact the way they view the world, the church, as well as how they lead their own families. All Christian parents would say that they want their children to know the Lord Jesus and to be saved. But many of those same families see Christ and the church as a secondary part of their lives.

Some of the coaches and parents in our community who know that our family makes Wednesday night church a priority may disagree with our stance. But at the end of the day, no matter if they agree with us or not, they know that the Lord is the most important part of our lives. Our children may at times disagree with our decision to prioritize the church, but when they are grown they will be able to say, “Our parents never wavered in their commitment to make Christ preeminent in our lives.”

When it comes to our Christian witness, we model what the priorities in our lives are to our community and to our families by what takes precedence in our weekly schedules. Again, we can say to others that Jesus is preeminent in our lives. But is that what others see as being true? It’s easy to say that we are Christians. But talk is cheap. And if at times the world does not shun you for putting it second to Jesus, then just might want to take stock of your priorities.

In conclusion, this is not a legalistic plea for believers to make Christ and His church the priority in their lives. In Malachi 1:10, the Lord told believers who were gathering regularly with the saints for worship that He wished they would lock the church doors and stop coming. Because although they were coming to worship, their hearts were not in it. So to the person who may grumble or scoff at making church a priority in their lives, I would say keep living your life the way you want to. I’m not asking anyone to do something that they do not want to do. Im simply asking that we all evaluate our priorities in life, and for us to snuff out any and all idols in the process. The Lord is not after our burdensome submission, He wants our prioritization of Him in our lives to be the desire of our hearts.

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” 1 John 5:3.

We prioritize the things which we are most passionate about in life. Sports and dearly loved hobbies are not at all a bad thing. The question is, are they of first importance in your life? Are the preeimanent, even over the Lord and His bride? And for the believer who has truly been regenerated, they have been given a new heart which now desires the things of the Lord more than anything. For the Christian, it is not a burden or a struggle to make Christ and His church their top priority in life. Rather, it is their hearts desire.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.

“And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” Colossians 1:18.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33.

When I was in college a buddy of mine and I went to have dinner together at a Mexican restaurant. I have always loved Mexican food, and I was looking forward to my usual order of three tacos and one burrito. We enjoyed our meal together and then I returned back to my apartment to settle in for the night.

About an hour after I had settled in bed, I began to have terrible stomach cramps. I also noticed that I was sweating profusely, even though it was very cool in my apartment. I tried to get out of bed but noticed that I was dizzy. I had never felt this sick in my life. I managed to get to the phone and call my friend. I knew I could not drive myself to the hospital, so I call him to come and get me. I can recall my buddy picking me up in his car, but that is the last thing that I remember.  I woke up three days later, still in the hospital.

The doctor told me that they had performed a spinal tap on me and many other numerous tests while I was unconscious. They told me that if I had not come in to the hospital when I did, I would have died. Apparently, one of the cooks at the Mexican restaurant forgot to wash his hands after he used the restroom. And when he made my meal, whatever filthiness was on his hands went into my food.

What was once a delicious meal of tacos and a burrito become literally uneatable when a foreign, contaminated substance was added to it. Do you know what the main ingredient in most rat poisons is? Wheat. Wheat is wholesome. Wheat is good and nutritious. But add just a little poison to that wheat and it becomes something totally different. What was once nutritious now becomes deadly.

King Solomon wrote, "Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor." Ecclesiastes 10:1. Perfume gives off a delightful smell says Solomon. But add a dead fly into the mix and what was once a pleasing arouma becomes an unbearable stench.

Unfortunately, the same thing is being done to Christianity. I once attended the funeral of a man who I had known for a few years. He left behind a sweet wife, two daughters and a few grandchildren. The funeral service began with a few hymns and scripture readings, so it was clear that the family professed to be followers of Christ. But what started out as a celebration of life that appeared to be pointing to Christ quickly turned into a train wreck of mysticism and folkish myths.

One of his relatives stood to give a speech. And this lady began by talking about her great love for Jesus and for the peace that the Lord gives in times of grief. Then she told the congregation, "I woke up to a God wink this morning." I immediately began to ponder where in scripture God winks were taught, but nothing came to mind. She then went on to say, "My daddy's favorite bird was a Red Robin. And this morning when I woke up, I looked outside of my window and saw a Red Robin singing sweetly on a nearby tree." She concluded by saying, "In my sorrow, that Red Robin was daddy's way of letting me know he is just fine."

This speech was met with applause from those in attendance and tears of joy. But what this lady did was corrupt the words of the Lord by added to it her own spin on how God gives comfort to those in grief. No where in scripture are God winks mentioned. And no where in scripture does the Lord imply that He will send our loved ones back in the form of a bird or even send a bird to give them comfort. In fact, scripture tells us the opposite. That after death, no one can cross over back to the land of the living.

Remember when Jesus told of the poor man Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man had no love for the Lord, but Lazarus was a man of God. And when they died, Lazarus went to paradise (Abraham's bosom) and the rich man went to Hades to be tormented in flames forever. The rich man asked if he could be allowed to return just to warn his unbelieving brothers of the torments of Hades. And the rich man was told;

"And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’" Luke 16:26-29.

There is a great chasm between the afterlife and the physical world. And this is so that no one can cross back over from here to there. The rich man was told in regard to his unbelieving brother, "They have Moses and the Prophets." Plainly put, if the rich man's brothers want to know the Lord and escape the fires of Hell, they need to read their scriptures. Salvation does not come from the testimony of man, but from the supernatural regenerating power of the word of God.

Furthermore, God does not give comfort through sending a dead relatives favorite bird, or making their favorite song play on the radio. Ive had many people try to argue about this. They use their feelings, what they think, and their opinions as justification to hold on to strange beliefs. But one thing that they don't do is use scripture to promote God winks. Because there is no scripture that supports that belief. God winks are a fly in the ointment. They are as poison in the wheat. Because it attributes an act to God that God plainly says that He does not allow.

Some may say, "What is the problem with someone believing that God sent them a God wink if it brings them comfort?" The answer is that when we look for assurances outside of the promises of God's word, then we are basically saying that God is not enough to bring us comfort and peace of mind. It is saying that we need mystical fables to calm our souls, and not the fount of living water, which is Christ. It is as the Apostle Paul said in Romans, exchanging the truth for a lie. And lost men love a lie more than they love God.

Another closely related danger that professing Christians fall into in times of grief is thinking that God spoke to them outside of His word. They may flip on the television and hear something that gives a comforting thought, or a song on the radio that brings them peace. And they will say something like, "That was God speaking to me through that media." Even scarier, Ive known people who claim that God has spoken directly to them. It's not that I doubt their testimony. Because some of the people who have made such claims to me are God fearing people. But if they truly heard God speak to them verbally, it was not God. Because God has said through His word that in the last days (which began at the coming of Christ) God only speaks through His Son.

"In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe." Hebrews 1:1-2.

We have the words of Christ. There is nothing else needed. God is not giving new revelations. Many times in scripture, the Lord warns against adding to his word. If someone is truly receiving a new word from God, then it would need to be added to the Bible. Because God does not speak authoritatively in one place and not do so in the other. Again, for someone to say that God has spoken to them outside of His word is to say that the scriptures themselves are not sufficient or enough. As Justin Peters once said, "Do you want to hear God? Read His word. If you want to hear him audibly, read it aloud."

Lastly, in times of grief it is very common for professing believers to say things like this of their dearly departed loved one; "Well, Heaven gained a new angel, because daddy got His wings." This sounds nice, but it's not at all biblical. Angels are servants of God. People who are redeemed have a different title; children of God. Although we will serve the Lord, we are His family. His adopted children. His loved ones.

Furthermore the Scriptures give us a glimpse into the separation between children of God and angels in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Apostle Paul said of one of the duties of the children of God in Heaven;

"Do you not know that you will judge angels?" 1 Corinthians 6:3.

Paul does not elaborate any more on this subject. But it is clear that the children of God will in some way, have authority over the angels, serving under the authority of God. The belief that our loved ones become angels in Heaven is yet another poisoning of the wheat.

When we add to Christianity our own experiences, hopes, and beliefs that do not directly come from scripture, we no longer refer to the God of the Bible. The moment that anything extra-biblical is added to scripture, it is no longer Christianity, but mysticism.

The book of Revelation is full of many judgements that God unleashes upon the wicked and unbelieving world. Many of those judgement come in the form of horrible plagues. God will not be mocked or have His word changed in order to bring some form of temporary comfort that does not come from Him. And He gives this warning in Revelation to all who would add to His word.

"I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book," Revelation 22:13.

No one would wear a perfume that had a dead fly in it. And no one would eat a meal that was contaminated. Why then would anyone want a gospel that had been robbed of its truth and power? Unfortunately there are many such tall tales and myths that Christians believe. But let the scriptures be your comfort, your security, and your source of how God brings comfort to His children. Because the comfort that comes from the Lord is rooted in what is true, not what is a lie.

It was always the strange stories that tended to stick in my mind. My grandfather was always full of wisdom. As a child I loved going to visit him and my grandmother. We would sit out on his front porch as he lit his pipe and I ate whatever sugary sweet delight my grandmother had made for me. And grandad would proceed to tell me some of his home spun parables to make me laugh or to teach me life lessons.

My grandfather told me that the best time to hunt for snipes was at sunset. We would walk through the woods at sunset whistling for those snipes until bedtime. I never caught one of those snipes. I found out years later that those elusive snipes didn't really exist. Snipe hunting was just an excuse for me and my grandfather to spend time together. Grandfather taught me that the early bird gets the fish, and the fish get the worms. And we early birds would wake up at the crack of dawn, grab our worms, and spend the mornings catching as many fish out of the pond as we could before lunch.

Out of all the tales of wisdom that my grandfather told me, the one that still sticks out in my mind to this day is the one about boiling a frog. Now I still have yet to figure out why anyone would want to boil a frog. Nonetheless, my grandfather did not neglect to teach me this very important lesson just in case the need for frog boiling ever presented itself. My grandfather said that the only way one should ever boil a frog was by putting it in a pot cold water and very slowly increasing the heat. Because if you increase the heat too fast, the frog would jump out of the pot. But if you incrementally increase the heat very slowly, the frog will not notice the change in temperature, and he will even grow to love the warmer temperatures.

Ive never used this information to boil a frog. But I have applied it to ministry. In fact, the parable of boiling a frog has become one of the most important lessons that I have learned as a pastor relating to his congregation. I have known many young pastors come into leadership of a church, and to use the analogy of the frog, begin to turn the heat up too quickly. They begin to immediately implement massive changes in the church which causes the frogs to become hopping mad.

I spoke with a member of a church who had just hired a new pastor. This church was a small country church that had been deacon led since its inception.  I was told that on day one of his job, this pastor called a meeting with the deacons and told them that they were no longer the leaders of the church. He went on to tell the deacons that he was going to raise up elders who were capable of preaching and teaching to be leaders, And this pastor told the deacons that until elders were raised up, he would assume sole leadership of the church. That pastor turned the heat up way too fast. And the frogs began to hop on him so quickly that he was forced to resign within two weeks of his hiring.

Another young pastor noticed that one of his congregants had been absent from attending church services for months. He reached out to the man to convince him to come back to church. The man assured his pastor that he would begin attending once again, but he didn't follow through on his promise. Because of this, the pastor decided to enact church discipline on the man and remove him from being a member. The pastor knew that this man was struggling with severe depression and anxiety, but he still decided to oust the man from the church. And once more, the frogs began to hop.

And yet another pastor that I know very well took his first church in South Georgia. the church was a very traditional which had not been taught many deep doctrines of the faith. In particular, the church had never been taught the doctrine of predestination in the reformed vein of teaching. This pastor decided to set them straight and on his very first Wednesday night Bible study, he took the church through Romans 9 and force fed them the doctrine of predestination. The frogs began to hop so fast that the pastor almost found himself without a job.

Did the pastor who wanted to immediately implement elders have a biblical precedence to support his change? Yes, he did. But he failed to first earn the trust of his congregation before introducing such a radical change. Is applying church discipline to a church member who refuses to attend biblical? Absolutely. But that pastor failed to have understanding, compassion and sympathy for why the man was not coming to church. And is the doctrine of predestination important? For sure. But his people had not been taught and prepared to grasp such a deep doctrine.

Just because something is biblical does not mean it should be applied immediately. Even Jesus said to His disciples, "“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now (John 16:12)." The Holy Spirit had not yet revealed the things that Christ wanted to teach the disciples. And also as our Lord said, they were not yet able to bear many of the truths that Jesus desired for them to know.

I had the privilege of knowing David Miller as a mentor and friend. Brother David was paraplegic and unable to move any part of his body from the neck down. Yet he was one of the most powerful evangelistic preachers that I have ever known. I had brother David come to the first church that I pastored to give a series of sermons to our congregation. And I was able to spend a great deal of one on one time learning from him. As a young pastor I had many changes that I wanted to make in my first church. I asked brother David, "What is the best way to implement much needed biblical change within a church?" And I'll never forget his answer. David said, "You just focus on loving on your people and preaching the word faithfully with no agenda. And the Lord will bring the changes that are needed."

In other words, don't turn up the heat too fast. Or your frogs will either jump all over you or jump right out of your pot (church) and into another where the heat is not so intense.

I embraced brother David's advice. And as a young pastor, I never forgot the parable of how to boil a frog. In fact, I use it as a constant reminder whenever I see the need for change. I ask myself, "Is there a biblical precedence for turning up the heat? And if so, go slow." The church that I currently serve at was deacon led and light on its depth of Bible doctrine when I became its pastor almost eight years ago. It took almost four years for the church to embrace eldership. And when that happened, it was unanimously embraced. And eight years later, our church has a love for learning biblical doctrine and truth. And I did not do anything except turn the heat up as slowly as possible.

As brother David told me, I preached the word of God, and I loved on our people. I did not have to push or fight to change anything. When the congregation saw that I had no agenda, that I loved them, and the word of God was lovingly placed before them, the biblical changes that were needed came naturally and were received joyfully.

I don't know everything and I have so much to learn even now as a pastor. But one lesson I wish to pass on to every new and aspiring ministry leader is the parable of boiling a frog.

Young pastor; do not force change, even when you have a Bible verse to support your reasoning. Spend the first few years of your pastorate focusing on just loving your people and preaching faithfully the Word of God. Leave your agenda at the door and humbly seek to earn the trust of your spiritual family of frogs (I say that with the utmost respect). Let the love of God bring the change that is needed. Granted, if there is a change needed due to something heretical being embraced within the church, then immediate change is warranted. But most times, that is not the case.

My grandfather would have been a great pastor. And I firmly believe that a class on frog boiling should be taught in every seminary. Because it is not only sound biblical knowledge that makes a pastor. It is also the ability to lovingly lead and Shepard his saintly frogs and keep them from jumping out of the pot. Love your people pastor. Your job is to preach the Word faithfully. Trust in the Lord, and let Him bring the change.