Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Sex: Purity vs. Idolatry vs. Adultery

1 Corinthians 6:14-17
14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.


My father-in-law gave me a wonderful book, “On the Frontline,” that I read in one week. The author, Tom Neven formerly served as a Marine and honorably separated from the service as an M-60 gunner and a couple of Embassy tours. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s in Philosophy from Wheaton College, then his Masters from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

My favorite section of the book he writes about is sex – but not in the sense that most would think about. It’s a charge to sexual purity, though the exhortation is by now cliché. So in his godly, mature, and insightful style he brings about a more savory perspective as he writes from experience in his many sea-tours to Subic Bay, Philippines; Hong Kong; or Amsterdam: places where the phrase, “Sun! Sand! Sex!” was coined.

What a perspective on the perverted nature of sex. What the world fails to realize and I as well until I read this, is that sex leads to a form of union. The way God designed sex was so that two people [of opposite sex] would come to know each other. Though we seem to allow mainstream to decide for us otherwise, it still is what it is – THE WAY GOD DESIGNED IT. He does not change, right?

An excerpt from the book:

“There is something about the sexual act that brings about a union of two people, whether or not they are married to each other. The apostle Paul wrote, ‘Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ‘the two will become one flesh’ (1 Co 6:16). That helps explain why sex outside of marriage is so damaging. It creates a one-flesh bond that the partners don’t intend to be permanent. And while fornication (sex between unmarried people) and adultery (sex when at least one partner is married, but not to the sexual partner) are both condemned in Scripture, adultery is a degree worse because it not only tears apart an existing one-flesh union, but it’s a unique act of unfaithfulness. That’s why God often refers to idolatry and unbelief as a form of adultery – spiritual unfaithfulness to God (Mt 12:39; Mk 8:38).

The one-flesh aspect of sex also helps explain why pornography is so damaging. Since pornography is almost always accompanied by masturbation, it’s an attempt to enjoy the pleasurable/physical aspect of a sexual relationship without biblical intimacy, the spiritual/knowledgeable part of righteous sex. Using pornography as asexual stimulant is an attempt to deny and avoid the biblical truth that sex results in a one-flesh union.

(here’s the key) Rachel Zoller, a counselor at Focus on the Family… says that sex and our perceptions about it are completely intertwined with our beliefs about God. For example, Christianity is our relationship. You start a relationship with God and build on it. As it matures and develops, you have moments of intimacy with him. Then there are times when it seems you’re just going through the motions. But the relationship is primary; the intimacy is possible only because you … [committed] yourself to a relationship with God.

The same ebb and flow is true of marriage. You start the relationship, and the sexual intimacy comes as a result of having first made the unbreakable commitment. The intensity of your sex life will wax and wane, but during a down time you don’t worry that you are no longer married. The legitimacy of your marriage and the bond that exists is not based on the intensity of the physical aspect of your relationship. It is established by the covenant of marriage.

The converse is also true, however. Sexual deviancy places the physical aspect above the relationship itself – elevating physical desire and gratification above the intimacy of a conventional relationship. Therefore, when something goes wrong in the physical realm, the partners worry that the whole bond might crumble. In such an upside-down approach to marriage, sex becomes the foundation and the relationship will always be secondary. There is a recipe for disaster for disaster, because you can never maintain a constant peak experience in your sex life.

The intimacy of your relationship, and the marriage commitment you made that makes intimacy possible is the basis for everything else that is good about your relationship. Not the other way around.”

Source: “On the Frontline” Pg 118-120

Monday, December 28, 2009

What About My Transgressions?

Psa 51:3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.


Another great article from the Raineys:

"I remember listening one night to a woman who told Barbara and me that she had finally had enough. She was right--her husband had pretty much given her zero in the relationship department. Years of being taken for granted had finally reached a breaking point. She was angry--really angry. And she needed a place to vent.

As I sat there, I couldn't help hearing in her diatribe some of the same mistakes I've made in my own marriage. As I told Barbara in a note the next day:

- It made me realize how hard I've been on you from time to time. Pressuring. Not appreciating your load and all that you've done for me. Not understanding your feelings.

- To sit there and listen to a woman express her need for a husband to care for her, to dream with her, to think with her about her future and her soul, was like watching the last bit of light go out in her heart. It was more than just her anger. It was her whole countenance, her lack of radiance, her feeling of being "tired" of him. To think that a man could look into his wife's eyes and not find a companion, a friend, a person who wants to be there with him, is a scary feeling.

But I know I've been self-centered at points, too, just like this man. And it wasn't easy to hear again the hurt it can cause. I am sorry. Really.

When was the last time you came face to face with your own shortcomings? When you realized that in the pressure and practice of daily living, you'd forgotten the value of some very important things? If that's where you happen to be today--especially in your relationship with one another--it's time to own up. Say you're sorry. And maybe write your own letter."

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

So Right and So Wrong

Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Matthew 7:3




Marriage seems to be the focus of the past few weeks. A great article from Dennis and Barbara Rainey's "Family Life Moments with You."

"I'm sure you've had a disagreement (or more than one!) with each other that turned into a stalemate or brick wall. You didn't really care if it came to a conclusion. You just wanted a truce. You wanted this thing behind you. You were tired of fighting. Maybe it started with an argument about the checkbook.

Maybe it had something to do with the in-laws. Maybe it was a difference of opinion on a parenting issue. But somewhere along the way, the conflict turned into much more. It took on a life of its own. Now you can hardly stand to be in the same room together.

Well, are you prepared to let reconciliation start with you? Are you ready to give up the notion that you're mostly right? Deeper still, are you willing to strive to recapture the reality of what your marriage is all about--the transcendent beauty of reflecting God's love on Earth?

I know that you may be thinking, When I'm hurt I don't care about God's glory. I just want to get even.

Don't be ruled by your emotions. Instead, do it Jesus' way: Take the log out of your eye. No matter what your spouse has done, no matter how misguided you think he or she has been, the key to real resolution is to start removing your log. Accept full responsibility for your part in this, and place the value of your mate and your relationship above the value of your own pride and your need to be right.
God wants more for you than being able to tolerate each other. He wants you to show forth His glory in the way you honor, love and respect each other.

Remove the logjam. And shoot for something higher."

Monday, December 21, 2009

Should Christians Play Santa? by C Michael Patton


You may have one of these encounters in the future with your children. We sort of have alreay experienced this with our two-year-old son who glorifies Santa during Christmas but loves Jesus very much. The following is a very interesting but somewhat of an authoritative contemplation from Parchment and Paper.

"Tonight we went to see my mother with my children and the subject of Christmas was naturally brought up being so close. We sang some Christmas carols to prepare for the season. While others were singing Santa and North Pole songs, I took it upon myself (playing the role of the faithful pastor) to balance our excitement with the good Christian Christmas songs. (Waiting for applause to slow down). My daughters were just wanting to sing the Santa songs. My wife asked my oldest daughter Katelynn (9yrs old now) before I started the balancing act, “What is Christmas all about”? To which she responded “Presents, candy, Christmas tree, presents [again], and Santa.” My wife looked at me with the I-am-about-to-laugh-because-I-know-how-much-trouble-she-is-going-to-be-in-from-daddy look. Then she said, “Katelynn, Christmas is about Jesus, not Santa.”

I know you THINK you know where this is going, but you don’t. At first, my reaction was the typical OK, this confirms it. We are not watching anymore Santa movies, cutting way back on the Santa fun, and not going to talk about getting presents anymore. But that never feels right. I quickly turned away from that and started singing the Santa songs with them. Why?

Well, everyone is going to hate me, but why not? I will just dive right in. I don’t have that much trouble with Santa, sleigh bells, Frosty, and presents being emphasized at Christmas. I won’t even get too uptight with situations where Santa becomes the priority. (Waiting now for boos and hissing to cease). Santa is fun. Frosty is silly. And presents give us a chance to teach to give and exercise the gift of giving (since it is more blessed to give than receive). My daughter did forget the true meaning of the Christmas and I could have gotten very angry. But here is the thing: generally speaking, she hardly ever forgets about Christ. Christ is part of her life everyday. She talks to her friends about Him, she reads her Bible, she asks great questions, prays with me, she often voluntarily gives her allowance for others, and she honors her mother and I. Heck, she is even having me teach her Greek (no, I did not force this!). Who am I to step in when she is singing Christmas carols that don’t mention Christ and say in a rather legalistic fashion that she can’t sing those because it dishonors Christ? I have looked through my Bible and I cannot find where Christ gave a command to celebrate His birth on a particular day of the year. Yet He did say to celebrate the meaning of his birth everyday of the year. Isn’t it the incarnational life that matters?

This Katelynn is doing. What message am I sending by mandatorily sanctifying a particular day or season when every day is sanctified? I know that there are some days that we set aside in special way, and I have no problem with that. Neither do I have a problem when we set aside particular times of the year to focus on God and what He has done. But if Katelynn is doing everything else right and not forgetting about God throughout the year, I should not get upset if she forgets about what the meaning of Christmas is. I should not demonize Santa and other “secular” Christmas cheer when it is the life throughout the year that is important. I would rather my daughter tell one of her friends about what Christ means to her in July than to have her focus on the manger in December. Telling others about Christ all year round is commanded in Scripture and is the true meaning of Christmas.

As well, [stepping higher on my box] it would seem that there are so many people who choose to set aside all their secularism in December and require that there be a moratorium called on all things not pertaining to Christ, but forget the rest of the year. This seems to evidence a loss of priorities. I have often heard it said by Christians that Santa has taken over Christ in December, but I would argue that December has taken over Christ for Christians.

Should Christians play Santa? I have no problem with it. Personally, I can’t bring myself to tell my children that he actually exists, but I have no problem with others who do and I have no problem singing Christmas carols that don’t involve Christ so long as Christ is the focus of our lives, not just our Decembers. If Christ is not the focus of our lives January-November, December is not going to make any difference anyway because, contrary to popular belief, December does not sanctify the rest of the year.

Moral of the story: To truly celebrate Christmas presupposes that we are living an incarnational life 365 days a year. Don’t be so hard on poor Santa.

Merry Christmas."

Theology Becomes Real

Intimate Theology is an off-shoot because of a daily devotional, "My Utmost for His
Highest,"by Oswald Chambers. The premise is based on John 11:1-44, a propos of Martha's theology & faith (whose sister Mary was "the one who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.") Martha, Mary, and Lazarus are a family close to the heart of Jesus,but laiden with the pain of Lazarus' sickness and following death [slumber] (11:3).

Martha's theology is realistic and comforting however grim and emotionally painful the current circumstance in her life and her sister's life (11:17-27).

Her correct faith moves her to believe that when Christ comes He will heal her brother. Martha also believes that Jesus has a special intimacy with God, and that whatever He asks of God, God will do. Her theology had its fulfillment in the
future (11:23-27) but regardless, Jesus draws her in until her belief becomes an intimate possession.

Is Jesus teaching you to have a personal intimacy with Himself? Especially in the West, in the personal problems that are present (sickness of a loved one, work issues, children, singleness, marital strife, family strife, church strife...),
perhaps that is when we realize our personal need. Perhaps these circumstances boil up to an overwhelming crossroads where your theology is about to become a very personal belief.

To believe in Christ is to commit to Christ. Then be changed by Christ. In the area of intellectual learning I commit myself mentally, and reject anything not related to that belief. In the realm of personal belief I commit myself morally to my convictions and refuse to compromise.

How personal and intimate is your theology? Your belief should be\MUST BE intimate and personal since I have committed myself spiritually to Jesus Christ (Luke 18:15-17; Matt 7:21-23). I am dominated by Him alone (Rom 5-6).

I am staggered: the more I believe in Him, how foolish I have been in not trusting Him earlier.

"Beware of an undevotional theology, and an untheological devotion." - John Stott

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

"God Comes Before My Wife" . . . And Other Stupid Statements

Put this into your marriage and practice it. Very important to consider the wages of simultaneously doing ministry and the wages of being married.

It was 2000. Or was it 1999? Not sure. My wife and I had been married for three years. Katelynn was two; Kylee was on the way. We lived in a little one bedroom apartment about ten minutes from campus. I was living my dream as I started the four year ThM program at Dallas Seminary (DTS). Kristie was ready to get in and get out, tolerating the time spent away from home in Oklahoma.

It was early on in Dr. Mark Young’s missions class that the epiphany came to me. It was from the Lord, I was sure. My passion for theology, truth, and changing the world was rising every day. Dreams were big, but they were about to get a lot bigger. Mark had been talking about the importance of missions (of course…it was a missions class). Contextualization, culture, redemptive analogies, and the like were all being discussed every day. Our passions were on the rise as Mark told his stories about his time in Poland. He could hardly hold back the tears and neither could we.

The next week he brought up a map. He showed us the break down of the world in relation to the Great Commission. “You are here.” You know how maps are. We were in Dallas. He showed us from there where all DTS grads were serving. I think that they were marked with a pin. There was a high concentration of pins around the Dallas area showing that many DTS grads stayed close. There was also a high concentration of grads in all fifty states. They were everywhere. Oklahoma, California, Nebraska, Washington, New York, Illinois, New Mexico, and every place else in the United States. When we looked beyond the United States, there was no famine for the need of pins. There were only a few, comparatively speaking, in other countries. Mark began to explain how 95% of the graduates from DTS stayed in the United States, while only 5% served abroad. However, as he explained, 95% of the need was in other countries that did not have the Gospel, theological training, or churches. It was alarming and Mark’s passion for missions made the alarm that much louder.

Well, I heard the call that day loud and clear. I knew what I was called to do. I was not sure before, but the Lord’s voice was coming through like a megaphone. I was supposed to go overseas. I was supposed to be a missionary!

When I got home, Kristie attempted to probe for the passion and the source of my excitement. I held back some naively thinking it was going to be a surprise. I wanted to walk her through all I had learned and let the excitement build in her as it had in me. I told her everything we had been learning doing my best to work without the pins. I explained to her how much of a famine for the Gospel existed in other parts of the world. Then, when the time was just right, I gave her the “good” news: “We are going to be missionaries!!!”

Let’s just say that the rehearsal in my mind did not mirror the actual events. I thought that Kristie would be excited. I thought that her heart would break for those less fortunate people. I thought that she would hear the Lord’s voice as clearly as I did. But such was not the case. She began to cry . . . and these were not the type of tears I wanted.

I struggled with this quite a bit. We discussed, argued, and strong armed each other for some time. It became a very difficult spiritual battle for me. Kristie made it clear that she was not going to go to another country. Her thoughts were on the children and the well being of the family. Her thoughts were on the community that she knew and loved. She would either stay in Dallas or go back to Oklahoma City. Those were the only two options. It was the very antinomy of our lessons on missions. To me, she was quenching the great commission. She was quenching God himself!

Thus began quite a struggle. Was I a follower of the Lord or follower of my wife? That was the question as I began to see it. In fact, I began to think that if Kristie would not go with me, I would go alone. After all, which is the greater good: staying married or saving souls? Or better, which is the greater evil: divorce or not following God’s call?

Then one day in class Mark had his wife Priscilla come and give her testimony of her life out on the mission field. I admired her so much. She was the perfect wife. She understood the priority of the call of the Lord. It broke my heart that my wife was not like her.

That night I decided to resort to some drastic measures. I decided to have an intervention. This was not a drug or alcohol intervention, but a spiritual one and my wife was the subject. This has to work, I thought to myself. I began to discuss these things with my wife once again and, as usual, things were not going to well. It was then that I pulled out my ace in the hole—the trump card. I called Mark Young at home. “Mark, this is Michael Patton from your missions class” I said. “Hello Michael, what can I do for you?” I then proceeded to explain how effective his course had been on me. I told him that I had been called into missions, but there was a hang-up that I thought he could help with. I told him the situation with Kristie and asked if he could talk to her. (Oh yeah…this was going to be good.)

However, the phone never met my wife’s ears that night. Mark immediately put me on hold. After a minute or two a woman’s voice came on the phone. It was Priscilla. Oh, good strategy, I thought to myself. Let’s let the wives discuss this together. However, Priscilla did not want to talk to Kristie. She wanted to talk to me. And it was not in a nice voice. She proceeded to . . . ahem . . . terrify me tell me how it really was and what I was going to do. For the next five minutes I listened to this wonderful woman as I shrank to the size of a peanut. She did not hold back either.

What was her message? In essence it was this: “Michael, God is not going to call you into something that he does not also call your wife into.” You can add about a hundred exclamation points after that and you will catch my drift. I would not even be surprised if there was not a curse word thrown in here or there. I can’t remember. “If God sovereignly calls you into something, do you think he is going to forget about your wife?” she continued. “If she is against it, it is not his will. Period!”

Well, so much for that idea.

That conversation changed me. It changed my marriage. I will never forget it and never be able to express how much of an effect Priscilla’s boldness had on me that night. She helped to re-prioritize this passionate and selfish maverick. She helped me to know that my first priority in ministry is to my wife and family. In a very real sense, Priscilla saved my marriage from my passion for ministry.

Paul tells Timothy, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever” (1Tim. 5:8). I lost sight of that. I was very immature. My idea that the greatest good was spreading the Gospel and the only way to do that was to go where I felt I was being called. I was almost ready to lose my testimony in order to testify for Christ.

Since then I have seen this situation more times than I can count. It is usually always the same: a zealous husband who has become embittered against his wife because she will not follow him in his zealousness. One good friend just got a divorce because his wife did not want to become a missionary. He thought it was the Lord’s will and he believed her unwillingness was keeping him from a “greater good.” Now, after the divorce, his immaturity has disqualified him from taking that step even by himself. Another friend is becoming embittered toward his wife because her focus is elsewhere. Their marriage is suffering. I could tell many more stories, but I don’t want to betray anyone’s confidence.

Friends (and especially young zealous husbands or soon to be husbands), don’t make the mistake of having your passion for ministry end your marriage. Your first ministry is your marriage. If you don’t get that, you are not qualified for ministry. In the spirit of Priscilla: Do you not think that God is powerful enough to call you both into ministry or do you think he only has enough power to call one of you? If so, then he is not a God worth your time anyway. In short, if God does not call your wife, he is not calling you. Period.

Thanks Priscilla.

Source: reclaimingthemind.org

Monday, December 14, 2009

Zealous Husbands Who Destroy Their Marriages For the Ministry





By Michael Patton

It was 2000. Or was it 1999? Not sure. My wife and I had been married for three years. Katelynn was two; Kylee was on the way. We lived in a little one bedroom apartment about ten minutes from campus. I was living my dream as I started the four year ThM program at Dallas Seminary (DTS). Kristie was ready to get in and get out, tolerating the time spent away from home in Oklahoma.

It was early on in Dr. Mark Young’s missions class that the epiphany came to me. It was from the Lord, I was sure. My passion for theology, truth, and changing the world were rising every day. Dreams were big, but they were about to get a lot bigger. Mark had been talking about the importance of missions (of course…it was a missions class). Contextualization, culture, redemptive analogies, and the like were all being discussed every day. Our passions were on the rise as Mark told his stories about his time in Poland. He could hardly hold back the tears and neither could we.

The next week he brought up a map. He showed us the break down of the world in relation to the Great Commission. “You are here.” You know how maps are. We were in Dallas. He showed us from there where all DTS grads were serving. I think that they were marked with a pin. There was a high concentration of pins around the Dallas area showing that many DTS grads stayed close. There was also a high concentration of grads in a fifty states. They were everywhere. Oklahoma, California, Nebraska, Washington, New York, Illinois, New Mexico, and every place else in the United States. When we looked beyond the United States, their was no famine for the need of pins. There were only a few, comparatively speaking, in other countries. Mark began to explain how 95% of the graduates from DTS stayed in the United States, while only 5% served abroad. However, as he explained, 95% of the need was in other countries that did not have the Gospel, theological training, or churches. It was alarming and Mark’s passion for missions made the alarm that much louder.

Well I heard the call that day loud and clear. I knew what I was called to do. I was not sure before, but the Lord’s voice was coming through like a megaphone. I was supposed to go overseas. I was supposed to be a missionary!

When I got home, Kristie attempted to probe for the passion and the source of my excitement. I held back some naively thinking it was going to be a surprise. I wanted to walk her through all I had learned and let the excitement build in her as it had in me. I told her everything we had been learning doing my best to work without the pins. I explained to her how much of a famine for the Gospel existed in other parts of the world. Then, when the time was just right, I gave her the “good” news: “We are going to be missionaries!!!”

Let’s just say that the rehearsal in my mind did not mirror the actual events. I thought that Kristie would be excited. I thought that her heart would break for those less fortunate people. I thought that she would hear the Lord’s voice as clearly as I did. But such was not the case. She began to cry . . . and these were not the type of tear I wanted.

I struggled with this quite a bit. We discussed, argued, and strong armed each other for some time. It became a very difficult spiritual battle for me. Kristie made it clear that she was not going to go to another country. Her thoughts were on the children and the well being of the family. Her thoughts were on the community that she knew and loved. She would either stay in Dallas or go back to Oklahoma City. Those were the only two options. It was the very antinomy of our lessons on missions. To me, she was quenching the great commission. She was quenching God himself!

Thus began quite a struggle. Was I a follower of the Lord or follower of my wife? That was the question as I began to see it. In fact, I began to think that if Kristie would not go with me, I would go alone. After all, which is the greater good: staying married or saving souls? Or better, which is the greater evil: divorce or not following God’s call?

Then one day in class Mark had his wife Priscilla come and give her testimony of her life out on the mission field. I admired her so much. She was the perfect wife. She understood the priority of the call of the Lord. It broke my heart that my wife was not like her.

That night I decided to resort to some drastic measures. I decided to have an intervention. This was not a drug or alcohol intervention, but a spiritual one and my wife was the subject. This has to work, I thought to myself. I began to discuss these things with my wife once again and, as usual, things were not going to well. It was then that I pulled out my ace in the hole—the trump card. I called Mark Young at home. “Mark, this is Michael Patton from your missions class” I said. “Hello Michael, what can I do for you?” I then proceeded to explain how effective his course had been on me. I told him that I had been called into missions, but there was a hang-up that I thought he could help with. I told him the situation with Kristie and asked if he could talk to her. (Oh yeah…this was going to be good.)

However, the phone never met my wife’s ears that night. Mark immediately put me on hold. After a minute or two so a woman’s voice came on the phone. I was Priscilla. Oh, good strategy, I thought to myself. Let’s let the wives discuss this together. However, Priscilla did not want to talk to Kristie. She wanted to talk to me. And it was not in a nice voice. She proceeded to . . . ahem . . . terrify me tell me how it really was and what I was going to do. For the next five minutes I listened to this wonderful woman as I shrank to the size of a peanut. She did not hold back either.

What was here message? In essence it was this: “Michael, God is not going to call you into something that he does not also call your wife into.” You can add about a hundred exclamation points after that and you will catch my drift. I would not even be surprised if there was not a curse word thrown in here or there. I can’t remember. “If God sovereignly calls you into something, do you think he is going to forget about your wife?” she continued. “If she is against it, it is not his will. Period!”

Well, so much for that idea.

That conversation changed me. It changed my marriage. I will never forget it and never be able to express how much of an effect Priscilla’s boldness had on me that night. She helped to re-prioritize this passionate and selfish maverick. She helped me to know that my first priority in ministry is to my wife and family. In a very real sense, Priscilla saved my marriage from my passion for ministry.

Paul tells Timothy, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever” (1Tim. 5:8). I lost sight of that. I was very immature. My idea that the greatest good was spreading the Gospel and the only way to do that was to go where I felt I was being called. I was almost ready to lose my testimony in order to testify for Christ.

Since then I have seen this situation more times than I can count. It is usually always the same: a zealous husband who has become embittered against his wife because she will not follow him in his zealousness. One good friend just got a divorce because his wife did not want to become a missionary. He thought it was the Lord’s will and he believed her unwillingness was keeping him from a “greater good.” Now, after the divorce, his immaturity has disqualified him from taking that step even by himself. Another friend is becoming embittered toward his wife because her focus is elsewhere. Their marriage is suffering. I could tell many more stories, but I don’t want to betray anyone’s confidence.

Friends (and especially young zealous husbands or soon to be husbands), don’t make the mistake of having your passion for ministry end your marriage. Your first ministry is your marriage. If you don’t get that, you are not qualified for ministry. In the spirit of Priscilla: Do you not think that God is powerful enough to call you both into ministry or do you think he only has enough power to call one of you? If so, then he is not a God worth your time anyway. In short, if God does not call your wife, he is not calling you. Period


Thanks Priscilla.

Source: http://purechurch.blogspot.com/2009/12/zealous-husbands-who-destroy-their.html

Friday, November 20, 2009

Praying in Jesus' Name

John 14:13,14
“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

To ask in Jesus’ name does not mean to tack such an expression on the end of a prayer as a mere formula. It means:



1. The believer’s prayer should be for Christ’s purpose.
2. The believer’s prayers should be on the merit of Christ and not any personal merit of worthiness.
3. The believer’s prayer should be in pursuit of Christ’s glory alone.

Pray without ceasing and petition in faith and without doubting.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The Trial of Faith


It's been refreshing to take a step back to assess my goals as a preacher of the Bible yet alone a 'finishing believer.' Today's devotional, courtesy of Oswald Chambers, found me in Matthew 17:14-21 and taking serious stock of the true essence of the kind of faith God has called us to. Wow I fall short.

OC states the following regarding faith:

"We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. Faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of our experience as His saint to get us in direct contact with Himself. God wants us to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings."

For many of us:

"The beginning of our life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew his conscious blessing to teach us to 'walk by faith' (2 Cor 5:7)."

"Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out in reality must experience times of unbroken isolation."

Monday, November 16, 2009

How to Read Proverbs



From: How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart

For convenience, listed below in summary form are some rules that will help make proper use of Proverbs and be true to theri divinley inspired intent.
1. Proverbs are often parabolic (i.e., figurtive, pointing beyond themselves).
2. Proverbs are intensely practical, not theoretically theological.
3. Proverbs are worded to be memorable, not technically precise.
4. Proverbs are not designed to support selfish behavior - just the opposite!
5. Proverbs strongly reflecting ancient culture may need sensible "translation" so as not to lose their meaning.
6. Proverbs are not guarantees from God but poetic guidelines for good behavior.
7. Proverbs may use highly specific language, exaggeration, or any of a variey of literary techniques to make their point.
8. Proverbs give good advice for wise approaches to certain aspects of life but are not exhaustive in their coverage.
9. Wrongly used, proverbs may justify a crass, materialistic lifestyle. Rightly used, proverbs will provide practical advice for daily living.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Maiden Post

"...the gospel...
...of first importance..."
1 Corinthians 15:1-3

If there's anything in life that we should be passionate about, it's the gospel. And I don't mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the gospel ought to be."

C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life, 20-21

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