From the Pastor's Study: Let's remain a church planting church!

This past weekend we went down to Baton Rouge to see two of my brothers and their families (Hurricane Delta unfortunately cut our trip short by a day). On Sunday morning we visited South Baton Rouge Presbyterian Church, a PCA congregation that was planted in 2000, a couple years after I graduated from LSU. When I was growing up nearly all the Presbyterian churches in Baton Rouge were in the PCUSA, and the only PCA churches were on the outskirts of Baton Rouge or in surrounding towns. I was brought to Reformed convictions during college, and attended Plains PCA (where the Kwasnys were members) - about a thirty minute drive from LSU and downtown Baton Rouge. So when I heard that a PCA church was being planted near LSU, I rejoiced. 

Church planting has been in the DNA of the PCA from its inception, and it has also long been in the DNA of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church. A church plant ourselves out of First Presbyterian Church Jackson, in our brief lifetime as a congregation we have supported dozens of church planters around the country, partnered with Highlands Presbyterian Church to plant Madison Heights Presbyterian Church, and been a founding church of the Mid-South Church Planting Network. The three senior pastors before me were committed to church planting, and I want to follow in their train. I want our congregation to continue to be a church planting church, a church that sends its money and its members into areas of our community devoid of solid Reformed Presbyterian churches centered on the gospel of God in Christ - for planting new churches is one of the best ways to reach the lost for Jesus and to energize the evangelistic fervor of established churches.

If you looked at a map of the Jackson metro area, you’d see several places where there are no PCA congregations: Gluckstadt, Canton, Richland/Florence, southwest Jackson near JSU, the Northshore/further out Lakeland - and soon the 39211 zip code. For at the end of January 2021, for a variety of reasons, Trinity Presbyterian Church will be closing its doors after 70 years of service to Christ and His people. You have likely seen several Trinity families visiting among us on Sundays and Wednesdays, as they consider where the Lord might lead them to transfer their membership. But as those families disperse into congregations across the metro area, a hole will be left for gospel ministry in one of the most diverse and populated zip codes in our region. 

Let’s be praying that the Lord, who is never slow but never in a hurry, would raise up a new church in due time in 39211, to reach His elect there with the gospel of Jesus. Very early initial and exploratory conversations about what this plant might look like and how it might come about have begun in our Presbytery, and it excites me to think about ways that Pear Orchard might be able to play a role in a new work to our south one day. And one day in the future, who knows what other churches might be planted around us - as the saying goes, we often overestimate what can be done in five years, and underestimate what can be done in twenty years. God is at work! And we are privileged to join Him in the harvest fields. 

——————

This coming Lord’s Day I will be preaching from Genesis 38, the story of Judah and Tamar. I encourage you to read it ahead of time (especially if you have children) so that you won’t be caught off guard and so that you will begin to think through how you might discuss it with your family. It’s a shocking and sordid story of sexual sin, and depicts the reality of life in a fallen world without sugar coating any of the raw and awkward edges. But it also reveals the shocking grace of God, who saves a sinful people and brings good out of evil. Be praying for our time together in God’s word. 

From the Pastor's Study: The way up is the way down - thoughts on Luke 18:9-14 as we come to the Lord's table

1. From the Pastor’s study…

The Christian life is full of paradoxes – things that seem contradictory but really aren’t. Consider Paul’s declaration in Philippians 1:23, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better,” in relation to what he says about Epaphroditus’ near death in Philippians 2:27, “Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.” At the same time the Christian desires to die and be with Jesus, and yet can be filled with sorrow upon sorrow when loved ones die. 

Benjamin Morgan Palmer, a 19th century Presbyterian pastor in New Orleans, noted four more paradoxes in a series of articles in 1870. First, Christians possess deep reverence and awe before God, and at the same time a childlike confidence and boldness toward Him. Second, Christians are keenly sensible to the sorrows of this life, and at the same time have a great composure and peace of heart as we trust in God’s providential control over all things. Third, Christians are dead to this world and do not love the world or the things in the world, and yet have the truest enjoyment of the world. And finally, because we are forgiven sinners, Christians are filled at the same time with a profound humility, and a profound dignity in Christ.

Related to that last paradox is the one we find in Luke 18:14, the punchline in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Another way to say put it is that in Jesus’ kingdom, the way of advancement is the path of humility – the way up is the way down. The proud are out, while the humble are in.

But we don’t often think this way, do we? Like the Pharisees to whom Jesus told his parable in Luke 18:9-14, we tend to believe simplistically that that the good are in and the bad are out - and thus we  “trust in ourselves that we are righteous, and view others with contempt” (Luke 18:9). Religious Jews would not have been amused by the idea of the Pharisee being rejected in God’s sight, and the tax collector being accepted by Him. But Jesus is clear: those who think they are good are out, while those who know themselves to be bad and cry to God for mercy are in. 

Jesus’ parable shows us what true humility looks like: acknowledging God’s holiness and our sinfulness (as opposed to the Pharisee who compares himself to other people and focuses on all the supposed good things he has done); trusting in the mercy of God alone (the Pharisee trusted in his law-keeping and acted as if God owed him for his obedience, while the tax collector knew he needed a substitute to be the propitiation for his sins - to bear God’s wrath in his place); freely loving the sinners around us (unlike the Pharisee who despised those whom he imagined he surpassed in godliness). The two things always go together in pride - when we trust in ourselves that we are righteous, we will always view others with contempt. 

Of whom do you think the way the Pharisee thought of the tax collector? “Lord, I thank you that I am not like _________.” To whom do you consider yourself superior, whether because of your theology, your skin color, your nationality, your cultural background, your wealth, your education, your intelligence, your political views? As you come to the Lord’s table this coming Sunday, remember that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. Never stop being amazed at the fact that you are a Christian, and never think that anyone is too lost to become a Christian. 

From the Pastor's Study: Why Do We Want to Resume Collecting the Offering in Worship?

Fall in the air feels good, doesn’t it? We even jumped the gun out of excitement last night and had a fire in our fireplace (I forgot to open the flue - I don’t recommend burning a fire in your house without using the chimney). It’s hard to believe that we’re nearly in the last three months of this wild year. God has been so good to provide for His people through these difficult times, and I know each one of us as individuals and as families can testify to the many ways that we have experienced His faithfulness. 

Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church has experienced God’s faithfulness as well, through the faithful generosity that He has worked within you. Thank you! And thank our gracious God with me! It has been truly remarkable to see how He has provided for His gospel work here through the saints, even though we haven’t taken up a physical collection in corporate worship since early March. You have given online, mailed in your gifts, or sought out the offering plate at church, in spite of a downturn in the economy, the loss of jobs or hours, and an uncertain future. Be encouraged as your officers have been, that ministry is being supported, our facilities are being maintained for ministry, and the spread of the gospel is being funded around the world.

As we continue to reopen and resume our ministries, the elders have approved beginning once more to receive your tithes and offerings during the worship service. The deacons will be discussing soon when exactly to restart this familiar practice. The plan is that like the elders did as they served the Lord’s Supper, our ushers will hold the offering plates while walking down the empty rows in the Sanctuary and between the rows in the Gym (assuming there are enough ushers in the Gym), so that the plates are not passed from person to person.

We want to resume the giving of tithes and offerings in worship soon for a variety of reasons:

• Because giving is an act of worship. Throughout the Scriptures (i.e., Deuteronomy 16:16; Malachi 3:7ff.; Mark 12:41ff.; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Hebrews 13:16) God’s people give to the Lord as they gather for corporate worship. Even if you have given to the Lord online during the week, or if you give at a different frequency than weekly, in the gathered assembly you worship as you acknowledge from your heart that God is the owner of all your wealth and has allowed you to be a steward, and as you rededicate to Him yourself and all that He has given you.

• In order to give everyone a ready opportunity to give to the Lord during corporate worship, including those who don’t have online accounts or who prefer to give cash.

• So that our children and others will have the opportunity to worship the Lord with their dollar bills and coins (Mark 12:42), and to see the adults around them also honor the Lord with the firstfruits of their wealth. The lack of a time to give within the worship service has meant the lack of a teachable moment for our youngest worshippers. More is caught than taught, as the saying goes, and there is little more important to catch at a young age than the necessity of giving at least a tenth of your money to the Lord. 

Whenever the passing of the offering plates is resumed, let it be an opportunity to remind yourself of the gospel of Jesus: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (II Cor. 8:9).

————

This Sunday morning we will have a guest preacher in our pulpit: Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, a friend of Pastor Dean, and a prolific author and teacher. He has been a ruling elder in PCA and OPC congregations, as well as a professor at Covenant College and Knox Theological Seminary, and is currently the President of The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, a network of evangelical scholars dedicated to teaching about Biblical earth stewardship, economic development for the poor, and the Christian gospel and worldview. Dr. Beisner will be preaching what is turning out to be the last of our sermon series on idolatry - the idol of science. Don’t miss this chance to think about what the Bible has to say about our culture’s (and our) propensity to worship the creature rather than the Creator. 

The "Sex Positive" Movement (Walt Mueller)

This article is very helpful to understand what’s going on. You might be shocked at what’s happening in culture but we need to know about this. Here is an excerpt:

Psychologist David Yarian, a proponent of the sex-positive movement, says, “Fundamentally, I think sex positivity is about looking at sex through the lens of natural playfulness and curiosity that has no strict agenda, judgment, or pressure.” Another proponent, sex therapist Vanessa Marin, says, “Being sex-positive means you get to declare, ‘This is my body. This is my life. These are my desires.”

With sex-positivity being taught both implicitly and explicitly as foundational in today’s school-based comprehensive sex education, the beliefs our kids hold are being shaped in ways that will yield behavioral evidence, now and for the rest of their lives, that they personally choose sex-positive. And with pop culture reinforcing the sex-positive message, along with elevating the self to a position of final authority on all matters of life, the message is convincing and clear. Sadly, the sex-positive movement sees traditional biblical sexuality as sex-negative.

The movement holds that “sex-negativity has been a yoke upon civilization for nearly ten thousand years, hoisted upon us by dominator/patriarchal culture as a system of control and exploitation.” But nothing could be further from the truth. The Christian knows that true human freedom and flourishing come when we live into and under the authority of God, choosing to see sex and gender as good gifts from a God who offers a resounding and celebratory “YES!” to sex and gender as He established them at creation. The reality is that God is completely “sex-positive”!

For the full article, click here.

From the Pastor's Study

This coming Lord’s Day the fast becomes the feast. For six months we have not been able to eat and drink the Lord’s Supper, and now we finally get to feast with and upon our Savior. I trust your soul has been famished, longing and even yearning for this covenant meal in the courts of our King, to use the language from Psalm 84:2. It will be rejuvenating to draw up our seats together around the table of our Savior to feed upon Him together by faith. 

Jesus has appointed the Lord’s Supper to be observed by His church “until He comes” (I Corinthians 11:26). In eating bread and drinking the fruit of the vine, we remember Jesus and His finished work on the cross, and we proclaim His death to ourselves, to one another, and to the world. It’s easy to make too much of this sacrament, and give it powers it does not possess; this is the error of Romanists. But evangelicals are much more often tempted to make too little of the Lord’s Supper, and disregard it as unnecessary and impotent in the Christian’s life. I believe the Westminster Standards help us to steer clear of both errors. 

According to our Westminster Larger Catechism (WLC), the Bible teaches that the Lord’s Supper “is a sacrament of the new testament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine according to the appointment of Christ Jesus, his death is showed forth; and they that worthily communicate feed upon his body and blood, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace; have their union and communion with him confirmed; testify and renew their thankfulness, and engagement to God, and their mutual love and fellowship with each other, as members of the same mystical body” (WLC #168).

• Jesus doesn’t advocate cannibalism, so feeding upon His body and blood is of course a spiritual action - by faith and by the power of the Holy Spirit we receive and apply unto ourselves Christ crucified, and all the benefits of His death (WLC #170).

• To borrow language from the Heidelberg Catechism, the tangible elements of bread and the fruit of the vine assure us “that we are as really partakers of his true body and blood by the operation of the Holy Spirit as we receive by the mouths of our bodies these holy signs in remembrance of him; and that all his sufferings and obedience are as certainly ours, as if we had in our own persons suffered and made satisfaction for our sins to God” (HC #79).

The Lord’s Supper replaced and fulfilled Passover as the sign and seal of our fellowship and communion with God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Passover meal remembered with joy the Exodus, when God rescued His people of old from Egypt (see Exodus 12).

• By killing and eating a lamb each year, the Israelites remembered how their ancestors had sacrificed a lamb, and painted its blood on their doorposts and on the beam above their doors. When God passed through the land of Egypt striking down every firstborn male, He passed over the houses covered by the blood.

• By introducing a new meal for His covenant people in the middle of the Passover feast, Jesus was saying, “I am the Lamb of God, whose blood protects you from the wrath of God. And I am the firstborn of the Lord, who dies in your place. Those who feed upon Me, spiritually, by faith, have salvation and rescue from even greater taskmasters – sin and Satan and the flesh. Be assured that if you are trusting Me, your sins are forgiven and you have my righteousness reckoned to your account! Be strengthened by my body and blood to grip the gospel even more firmly and to serve God and neighbor with joy.”

As you’ll see here, we are adjusting how we serve the sacrament in light of COVID. But as concerned as we need to be about physical safety as we come back to the Lord’s table, Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 11:27-34 that we should be even more mindful of spiritual safety.

• If we eat the bread and drink the cup in an unworthy manner - that is, without preparing and examining ourselves before we sit down at His table, without discerning or recognizing the significance of the members of the body of Christ and the call to sacrifice for one another - then we are in danger of eating and drinking God’s discipline unto ourselves.

• So spend time before Sunday morning meditating upon all the glorious themes that converge in the cross (borrowing the words of The Communicant’s Manual by Jacob Jones Janeway): the apostasy of our race—the superiority of the Christian dispensation—the glory of God shining in the face of Christ—the  divine person of our Redeemer—his infinite condescension and profound humiliation—his holy life, and painful sufferings and agonizing death—his triumphant resurrection and glorious ascension into heaven—his session at God’s right hand and intercession there—his coming again to judge the world, and consummate the salvation of his people—the all-sufficiency of his atonement and righteousness, and rich and invaluable benefits—his free and boundless love—the evil of sin—and so much more.

• And as you return home, remember those members of our congregation who were not able to be physically present with us, and thus were not able to share in this meal that is for the gathered assembly of the saints. Serve them in love; visit them with whatever degree of physical presence and deeds of mercy they might need; pray for them; encourage them with your words. 

May the Lord God Almighty be exalted as we remember our Savior’s death, to our growth in faith, hope, and love!

Should My Child Have A Phone?

It’s that time of the year again where many parents are asking whether their child should have a phone or not. It needs to be clear that this question falls in the realm of Romans 14 and Christian freedom. My job is not to make your decision. My job is to help you think through certain questions and facts to help you come to your own decision.

I have my own personal opinions but, let’s be honest, I’m sure that by the time I have teenagers that my opinions might change. Also, who knows what the newest technology will be in 15 years? The point of this is to help you think about what a phone does, how necessary is a phone for you child, and what can be accessed through a phone. I will offer some wisdom based on what I have seen other parents do well in and what I have seen that doesn’t work very well. In all this, I am speaking from experience of looking at our own students from close up for 5 years, from looking at another church’s students for 2 years (the church I was at before coming to POPC), and from hearing countless accounts from other youth workers across the country. This is also taking into account the rising stats in youth culture from books such as Jean Twenge’s seminal work iGen. For another helpful article by Jean Twenge, check out “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”

The question is not: Are phones bad or good? We also shouldn’t be going to the extreme and never letting them get acquainted with a cell phone. Sooner or later, they will and they need to know how to rule over it (Gen. 1:28). It’s not about saying no to everything in the world. It’s about showing them how to tame the things in the world through a gospel-centered worldview. If we are going to help prepare our kids for college, where they will have complete access to everything, then we need to think wisely about how we prepare them for the use of technology.

Ask Yourself…

1. Is this the right time for my particular child?
   Don’t look at what other kids are doing. Think about your particular child in their particular situation. Your child will certainly give you the “but so-and-so has a phone” speech. Matter of fact, they will most certainly hound you with that speech. You need to hold strong and ask if this is the right time for your child (not what others are doing). You need to ask if this is the right time for this particular child of yours. Are they ready?

2. What kind of phone should they start out with?
   Learning to use a phone is like learning how to build and maintain a fire. It wouldn’t be wise to hand your child a can of gasoline when they’re first learning how to build a fire. Sin is worse than a physical fire and it burns much worse. Kids are getting burned by sin coming by the use of cell phones constantly. It might be wise to start them out slow. Make them earn your trust. Maybe start them out with a “dumb phone”. Maybe start them out with an iPod that can text on Wifi. Figure out what works for you and your family. Plus, it might not be most wise to break the bank buying the latest smartphone. What kind of precedent with that show your child? Speaking from experience, I have seen many students (at several different churches, including ours) fall into grievous sin because their first phone was a smartphone that had no restrictions on it. These kids are not those who grow up in godless homes. They are the kids who have godly parents and care about their children. All kids are totally depraved. Anyone is capable of any sin, including those in godly homes. It is very sad to see students who have hardened their hearts and draw away from the church because of the sin that they indulge in via their cell phones.

3. What restrictions should they have on their phone?
   One night at a session meeting, I was giving a presentation on youth culture to the elders. One elder asked me about phones and what restrictions worked. Another elder then asked, “Should my child have a dumb phone at first?” I decided to answer by giving a visual example.
   In front of the whole session, I opened up my phone for them all to see. I showed them that I didn’t have any Web Browser on my phone. I didn’t have Safari, Google Chrome, or even Covenant Eyes. I didn’t even have access to the App Store to download one of those apps. There is not a single app on my phone that will take you to a Web Browser. So, it seemed.
   I opened up a harmless app—the Premier League Soccer app. I scrolled to the bottom of the app where there was a hyperlink to Twitter. Once again, I don’t have Twitter on my phone. I don’t even have a Twitter account anymore. Regardless, when I clicked the link, a window opened up within the app that gave me access to Twitter. From there, I could search any profile I wanted and even get to Google so that I could search all that I wanted. There is no web blocker that could keep a history of what I look at. There was nothing stopping me from getting there. And the kids know how to do this.
   Here is the thing: You can do this on many apps. The kids know how to do this too. So, why do I tell you this? I tell you this to remind you that restrictions are important. Do not neglect restrictions. But, restrictions can’t keep everything out. Kids are so smart with how to work around an app to get to the Internet. As a youth staff, we are constantly hearing about how kids can get around the latest restrictions.
   This is what you need to keep in mind. Merely having restrictions on your child’s phone won’t change their heart. You need to pray that the gospel changes their heart. It’s not enough merely to put up restrictions and never check their phone. You need to be asking them questions and taking up their phone to look at what’s going on. Don’t give them any warning about it. Their conscience is going to be the ultimate restriction. If their conscience isn’t bound by the gospel then they will find a way to get to what their sinful heart wants.

   By the way, don’t forget that they know their friends who don’t have restrictions and they can see things off their phone too.

4. Should I let them have their phone in their room at night?
   Based on what we’ve seen and when kids typically look at pornography, send or receive nude pictures, or send scandalous messages, I would say that it’s not wise to let your child keep their phone in their room at night by themselves. You know your child but make sure you don’t forget that temptation is very powerful and can attack any child. It only takes one image to cause someone to lust. It only takes one suggestive picture, video, or song to send them down a trail hunting for my teasing images that lead to sin.
   Nowadays, students don’t have to ask for nude pictures. In many cases, they just appear in your inbox. It’s crazy, but this is happening and it’s happening with people you least expect it from.
   My advice would be that you take your child’s phone up at night. It not only protects them from temptation but it also helps them rest. I cannot tell you the last student I have come across who tells me that they consistently get 8 hours of sleep at night (which is the minimum of sleep they should be getting at their age). More often, students are getting only 4-6 hours of sleep. Matter of fact, it’s seen as a bragging right to other students if you only sleep 2-4 hours a night! It makes you look like people always want to talk with you or that you work really hard. Taking up your child’s phone at night will help them sleep. Sleep will help them battle against anxiety and despair.
   For many different reasons, take their phone up at night and put it in a place where they can’t just come out of their room to get it. That’s my advice. Whether you do it or not is up to you and we are not to judge. My advice is to think wisely about how to help your child most.

Conclusion

It’s helpful to ask what other parents are doing. It would be good to ask many parents what they’re doing. Don’t try to copy and paste what someone else is doing into your family but think about how those good practices might be applied to where your family is and what they’re going through. Some will be more strict and some will be more relaxed. Be careful when you make judgments. Wrestle with every view, including mine, and figure out if it works for your family or not. The biggest thing is to be thoughtful with your child’s eternal soul. It is not to be taken lightly.

If you have any suggestions or insights, send them my way. I would love to continue the conversation with you. If you think I’m wrong, then please come sharpen me as someone who is trying to help parents out with their children. We need to continue to learn from y’all! We would welcome your feedback on ways in which you think you have done it well and not so well as it comes to technology.

But, remember this: There is grace for failures. All of us are going to fail in this realm. We are not immune to this. You need to remember that even if you failed there is grace and redemption for you. You have to remember this or your failures will bury you with guilt and shame. There is forgiveness, cleansing, and new life in Christ. Run to Him!

Luke 1:1-4 (A Devotional Commentary)

Intro

No one is like Jesus. The man that lived 2,000 years ago has everything to do with us today. God deserves to be praised by the whole host of angels and the elect for all eternity merely for the fact that He preserved for us the Gospel according to Luke. Here, we see Jesus the Son of God who came for sinners and sufferers. No, Luke is not the only Gospel account but there are those distinct flavors that Luke gives us that leave us in a holy awe. Luke loves to set forth a Jesus who comes for the poor, broken, outcast, and sinner. He loves to highlight biblical-theological themes such as the Sabbath, the Gentiles, and the Holy Spirit. Beale & Gladd, in The Story Retold, say that the purpose of Luke is to show that Jesus is “the Spirit-anointed king, [who] overthrows Satan and his minions that enslave Israel and the nations in bondage of sin” (Beale & Gladd p. 100).

In this devotional commentary, I have decided not to comment on every word or phrase but simply those that seem to stand out and contribute to the main point of the text. The goal is that you might be able to take this and use it for your own devotions. I have tried to provide some exegetical insights but in such a way that is edifying. In other words, I’m trying to ask the question, “Why does it matter that this word is written in this way?” After the commentary, I have written an application section that you can use to apply to your own life.

Commentary

• (v1) Luke writes with certainty that the things of Jesus happened. It’s almost as if he takes it for granted that they’re historical. There is no sense of questioning whether these things happened or not. It’s a matter of what they mean and what they mean for the world. This word for “have been accomplished” is a perfect passive participle meaning that what has definitely happened in the past has everything to do with us today. In other words, the things of Jesus that happened thirty years prior still have massive consequences for Luke, his audience, and even us today. It’s like he’s saying, “Buckle up because everything that I am about to tell you about what was accomplished back then has everything to do with you right now.”

• (v2) The fact that Luke mentions that there were eyewitness accounts strengthens what he is trying to say. There is no doubt that these things happened. It’s not a matter of if they happened but rather how will we respond to them? Luke lived in an eyewitness world. That was their main source of documenting historical events. It was a reliable way of telling the truth. These eyewitness accounts were not to be hidden so that no one could back up what Luke was saying. They were to be sought out, as Luke himself sought them out, in order for everyone to see that this really is true. Remember, as Joshua Foer talks about in Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, that the art of memory recall was essentially a virtuous trait back then. It was something people highly valued. “A strong memory was seen as the greatest virtue since it represented the internalization of a universe of external knowledge…Indeed, the single most common theme in the lives of the saints—besides their superhuman goodness—is their often extraordinary memories” (Foer p. 96). In other words, if you had a good memory of true events then you were a very important person.

• (v2) These “ministers” are more so “servants” of the word. They serve the truth to us like faithful butlers in the master’s house. 

• (v3) “It seemed good to me also” → This seems to piggyback off of the fact that there were others who “served” the word. Luke is wanting to serve as well. He is not doing this for selfish gain or political power. Indeed, this would most likely only endanger his life. When he says “it seemed good”, he means really that “it seemed best”. What could possibly be better than writing down an account of the most important person who ever lived on this earth? Even more so, what could be better than to write a Gospel account of the only Savior for wretched sinners? It’s so good that we could look over and over and over at Luke’s Gospel account and never get bored. 

• (v3) Also, notice this. Luke says that he has followed all things closely for some time. What does he mean? The BDAG lexicon says this word has been used in phrases such as: “to pay careful attention to something in a segment of time, to follow a thing, to follow a course of events, to take note of”; “one well acquainted with the affairs from the very beginning”; “I bring my charges as one who has accurate knowledge and has followed everything”; “personal acquaintance as opposed to information secured second-hand”. Isn’t that beautiful? Luke is saying that he is not making this stuff up. This word is a perfect, active, participle which conveys to us, once again, that these are past events that have everything to do with us in the future. This Gospel account is not just a history book in which people may approach it with a “take it or leave it” mentality. You are confronted with its truth. You are compelled to make a decision. You are face to face with the ultimate reality of all things. How awesome must this Jesus be?

• (v4) Why is Luke writing to Theophilus? He wants him to have “an orderly account...that you may have certainty”. Theophilus seems to have heard some of this already but Luke is giving him more certainty that it’s true. Luke thinks it’s worth all his hard work to compile this account so that Theophilus might have a thorough understanding of Jesus. Luke wants him to grow in his knowledge of Jesus. Isn’t that eternal life (Jn. 17:3)? Our problem is not that we know too much. Our problem is that we know too little about Jesus. We need to grow in our knowledge of Jesus!

Application

Isn’t this where spiritual warfare from the dark lord can come in? He can tell us that the works of Jesus back then don’t apply to us today. He can say, “That was just for them back then. You’re a different case. You can’t trust what you see in this gospel account.” Doesn’t the world tell us the same thing?

Doesn’t the world say, “How can you know that’s true? You can’t trust that Bible. Our Enlightenment gurus have already shown us that the Bible isn’t accurate.”

Isn’t this also what the flesh tells us? We throw our own doubts and unbelief in the mix as well. “Jesus may have forgiven that woman in Luke 7:36-50 but I don’t know if He will forgive me. I know Jesus told the parable of the Father running after His sinful children in Luke 15 but I don’t know if that applies to me today. I’ve done too much. I’ve used my last straw.”

Don’t you see how important these verses are for us? These things have everything to do with us today. They don’t wait for us in heaven. They apply to this life and this realm. It applies in this world with these people. In other words, by faith, you can claim these. Even more so, by faith, you must claim these! They are yours in Christ! The dark lord knows they are yours and that’s why he wants to keep you thinking that “maybe, just maybe” they don’t apply to you. 

From the Pastor's Study

September 4, 2020

This Monday we Americans celebrate Labor Day. Until doing a search on the Internet, I couldn’t have told you that the first Monday in September has been a national holiday since President Grover Cleveland signed it into law on June 28, 1894. Work has changed a lot over the past 126 years! So much work now takes place online, or at home, or in the gig economy, or in the sharing economy, or in a plethora of new jobs that no one could have imagined in 1894 - or even in 1994 as the internet was just beginning to connect the world. Think how much COVID alone has changed the ways some people work.

But one thing has not changed: what God thinks about work. The Bible has much to say about labor, and we ignore it to the dishonor of our Creator and Redeemer, and to our own sorrow.

• Work is not a result of the fall into sin. Genesis 1-2 teach us clearly that Adam and Eve worked in the Garden of Eden before Satan tempted them to rebel against their Maker (Genesis 2:15). God commanded Adam and Eve to fill the earth and subdue it, and to have dominion over all creatures (Genesis 1:28). I love how John Murray expounds this dominion mandate: “When we consider the manifold ways in which the earth is fashioned and equipped to meet and gratify the diverse nature and endowments of man, we can catch a glimpse of the vastness and variety of the task involved in subduing the earth, a task directed toward the end of developing man’s nature, gifts, interests, and powers in engagement with the resources deposited by God in the earth and the sea” (Principles of Conduct, 37). For God’s glory and his own good mankind was made to work, imitating his Maker, as we see implied in the Sabbath ordinance of Genesis 2:1-3. So we must recognize that work is a blessing, not a curse; it is part of the “very good” of Genesis 1:31. Manual labor and mundane labor are not undignified, and the wide variety of our various callings is built into the very fabric of our humanity.

• Work is difficult because of the fall into sin. After Adam sinned, God cursed the arena of man’s work (Genesis 3:17-19). Now the creation works against us, and thorns and thistles are our constant companion. Work is hard, sweaty, toilsome, painful, and frustrating. Things fall apart. Futility sets in. Not only is the arena of work affected by the fall, but we workers have been impacted as well. Our motivations have been skewed by sin: we struggle with discontentment, envy, working merely for the weekend or retirement, or just to get rich. Sometimes we are just plain lazy. We bow down to the idol of comfort and convenience. Professor Murray helps us again: “The Christian ethic strikes not only at conspicuous idleness; it strikes also at the sloth, the laziness, which is too frequently the vice of professing Christians. It strikes at the dissipation of time and energy of which we all must plead guilty. The principle that too often dictates our practice is not the maximum of toil but the minimum necessary to escape public censure and preserve our decency” (Principles of Conduct, 85). At other times we make work itself an idol, seeking our identity and satisfaction in our accomplishments on the job, being ruled by our callings rather than by the one who has called us to them. 

• We are still called to work. In spite of our fallen nature, work is still a part of our calling as humans - and as Christians. The creation mandates have not been revoked. Work, though hard, is still a blessing. We only eat as we toil and labor. “If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat,” writes Paul in II Thessalonians 3:10. We are to make it our ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to our own business and work with our hands, so that we will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need (I Thessalonians 4:11-12). We are also to work so that we will have something to share with the one who is has need (Ephesians 4:28; see I Timothy 5:8). 

• We must work in the ways God tells us to work. God’s word tells us how we as redeemed sinners in Jesus Christ are to approach our work. Here are just a few of God’s instructions for His people:

  1) Work six days, and rest one. The fourth commandment is still binding upon God’s people, though the day of rest has changed to the first day of the week in light of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead on that day. We are commanded to work - in all its forms, whether at our places of employment or around the house - for six days, and then to take that blessed God-given day off from work to remember His mercies in the gospel alone with Him and together with His people.

  2) Work for Jesus. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Colossians 3:23-24). Jesus is our ultimate boss. So whether anyone recognizes or notices our work, we know that He sees it all - thus we strive to please Him in all we do (I Corinthians 10:31). 

  3) Work with all your might. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Whatever God has called you to do, glorify Him in it by doing it to the very best of your ability. If you have retired from your lifelong employment, ask the Lord to how you how you might continue to be used of Him to be a blessing to your neighbors and your brothers and sisters in the church. 

One of the tragedies of the pandemic of 2020 has been the number of people in our country who have lost their jobs or seen their hours reduced. Many who want to work are not able to do so. As you enjoy your holiday this Monday, continue to pray for God to provide us and our neighbors with work, the ability to work, the will to work, and the skills to work. Pray that God might continue to use the labor of man to give us what we need and what we enjoy. Pray that we as His people would show forth the goodness of labor in all that we do, so that we might bring forth honor to our Savior, and the fruit of our labor for the benefit of our fellow image-bearers.

How Should Christians Approach Sports?

After preaching this past Sunday night, I received several questions that had more to do with the particulars. There is a reason why I tried to stay away from particulars. My goal in the sermon was to ask one question: Do you have an idol of sports? The entire goal was to put us before the Law of God (specifically, the first commandment) and to see how we need Christ.

I don’t think it’s helpful to give personal opinions in a cloudy area in a sermon but I do think it’s helpful in other platforms. After all, as Haddon Robinson says, “More heresy is preached in application than in Bible exegesis." That language is pretty strong and I might disagree with some of what he says, but I do understand his point. We need to be careful about how we apply the Bible whenever we preach, “Thus says the LORD.”

This is a more appropriate follow up for some of those particulars. The following are my personal opinions on some of the more popular questions I have been asked over the many years of playing sports.

1. What about the Sabbath and sports?
   There are tons and tons of questions that fit under that principle. What about professional sports? What about travel sports? What about youth sports on Sunday? That is a totally different blog. All I will say is this. There are many good solid Reformed theologians who take different views of the Sabbath. You will have to embrace your view as well. But, to be sure, do not adopt your view based on what is most convenient for you. What does the Bible say? If the Bible says that, embrace it and apply it to sports.
   The overall rule: If sports are consistently taking you away from worship and the life of the church then you need to rethink the way you approach sports.
   To be sure, we need to be careful when we make hard and fast rules. For instance, think about your view of the Sabbath and how it pertains to professional athletes and coaches. Professional sports do not determine the doctrine but the doctrine should determine the Christian’s approach to sports but make sure you think graciously and wisely about that. But, also think about this: How does that same view apply to our military when they are deployed and away from church for many months?
   Be careful about making this about certain rules and merely getting in line with the rules. Make it about the heart of the Sabbath.

2. Can I spend money on trainers to help my child improve?
   Yes! Matter of fact, send them to me! (Shameless plug.) I love training athletes. I am constantly trying to train guys and girls. Why? Because I know that’s an opportunity to help them in sports and to apply the gospel to sports.
   I have had many conversations with athletes about their gospel identity while I am training them hard. Plus, I love to have an excuse to yell really loud. If you want to be entertained, come watch me train Wide Receivers.
   In all seriousness, yes, you can spend money on trainers. It is not an ungodly thing to do. The question is: Why? Why are you wanting to do this? Is it because you have to have a child who is successful in sports? Is it because your child has to live in light of your athletic prowess? Why do you want to do this? Is this training taking them away from church?
   Also, how much money are you spending? Is it hindering your tithing? Is it hindering your responsibility to pay bills and support your family?
   Yes, it is totally fine to pay for training but just be wise. Search your heart and your child’s heart for the why question. Matter of fact, that’s really how I will answer a lot of these questions.

3. Can my child play football or an extreme sport?
   Depends. What condition is your child’s body in? How old are they? What extreme sport is it? This is not a moral or ethical decision but rather a situation-by-situation decision. I played football. My son most likely will play football. Will I force him? No. Will he want to? Maybe. Is he allowed to be a defensive back? Absolutely not! (I say that facetiously. If you know me, you’ll understand my love for “Wideouts”.)
   Think about how big and how fragile your child is before they enter that sport. For my parents, I waited until 6th grade. I broke my collar bone that year. That’s why I hated to play defense. But seriously, I had an injury in an injury-prone game. Was I ready to play football then? I think so. Should I have waited? Maybe? Who knows? Each parent must come to their different conviction. This is not a moral issue. This is a wisdom issue.

4. What does it look like to be competitive and work hard as a Christian?
   There is a grand difference between hard work and idolizing. As Mark Brown so wisely said to me yesterday, “You can just smell it when it’s there.” I think he’s right. It’s not always the easiest to tell to the naked eye but when someone is idolizing sports, it just seems to stand out.
   Athletes should work hard in sports. We dishonor God and don’t love our teammates when we slack off. But, there is a difference between being competitive and hard-working versus idolizing sports. You need to search your own heart. You need the gospel continually before you. Here are some probing questions: If sports were taken away from you, would you be really sad or would you be full-on depressed? What makes you most anxious in life? Is it how you perform? What gives you your identity? Is it Christ or your performance?

5. What if sports is your job? How does that affect time, thoughts, and money?
   We need to be careful whenever we make hard and fast rules about how much time and thoughts we put into sports. Does this apply to coaches or athletes when it’s their job? The real question is: Can you stop thinking about sports and think about the gospel? Can you bring the gospel into your working world? Are you preoccupied more with your performance than you are with the Person and Work of Christ for you? Is corporate worship still prioritized?
   If sports is your job, you should be thinking a lot about sports! It’s honoring to God that you do so. But, like any other job, if it grabs your affections more than anything else then you’re idolizing it. Is God really God to you? Or, is sports? That’s the heart question. What really controls your life? Who do you really answer to?

6. How do I know when sports is becoming an idol?
   I’ve been answering this in each one. I think there are many indicator lights to answer this. Once again, Mark Brown was spot on when he said to me, “Who do we answer to?” That’s the question. In the end, who do we answer to? Do we rest in our sports performance or in Christ? Do we give ultimate allegiance to Christ or to sports? Who do we obey? Who do we follow? What is our confidence in? When sports is said and done, can you really give it up? Do you live in the past? Are you inseparable from your identity on the court?

7. What if my child is on a team that is filled with very ungodly people?

   Awesome! What an opportunity! Now, be careful though. Make sure you keep talking to your child. Watch their heart. They still need a godly community. But, what an opportunity! Show them how to live out and speak the gospel to their teammates. Often times, teammates are very vulnerable in the locker room. There are so many opportunities to give someone gospel hope whenever things don’t go right for another athlete. This shouldn’t be their primary community but must be an important one. Take advantage of this! Your child shouldn’t get to the end of a season without their teammates knowing they’re a Christian. That doesn’t mean they’re obnoxious about it. Rather, we need to be winsome. We need to speak the truth in love.

8. Is it wrong to play multiple sports?
   No. Playing multiple sports is great! They can learn so many different things playing multiple sports. The real questions are: Are the multiple sports keeping them from the church? Why are you playing multiple sports? Is it for self-glory?
   Is it wrong to play multiple sports? No. But, make sure to keep a gauge on your child’s heart. Is this teaching them that sports are the most important thing in life? This differs from child to child. Also, maybe playing multiple sports is actually hurting your family. Maybe it’s not the most practical thing. Maybe for other families, it’s very practical. There are some kids who should be playing sports all year because it’s not very good for them to stay idle.

9. Is it wrong to be an avid supporter of a sports team?

   Absolutely not! I love Tulane, Troy, Manchester City, and the New England Patriots. The question is: Is your identity in these teams? Here are some questions you can ask yourself: Do I get inordinately angry when my team fails? Am I treating the players and coaches as real people in need of Jesus or are they animals playing a sport for my slavish delight? Is my week more determined by the schedule of my favorite sports team or by the covenant community? Does my love for a sports team cause me to hate supporters of other teams? Am I spending too much money in support of this team?
   Supporting teams is a great thing! Matter of fact, I think it’s a common grace that should teach us about supporting our local church through the highs and lows.

At the end of the day, who is Lord of your life? What is the gospel? Is it that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose from the dead? Or is it sports?

If The Bible Is The Word Of God, What Should We Do With It?

This is a star without a speck; a sun without a blot; a light without darkness; a moon without its impaleness; a glory without a dimness. O Bible! it cannot be said of any other book, that it is perfect and pure; but of thee we can declare all wisdom is gathered up in thee, without a particle of folly.

-Charles Spurgeon

The Bible is amazing. I, myself, wish I knew this more. The Bible is the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God. It is sufficient, relevant, and applicable to all of life. The fact that is has withstood thousands of years of the most intense persecution and only multiplies gives forth its supernatural character. Someone is behind the preservation of it.

But, what is our attitude towards it? In an age of increasing biblical illiteracy among solid evangelical churches, what is our relationship with the Bible? If the Bible is God’s Word, what should we do with it?

1. Read It!
   It is stunning how many Christians profess that the Bible is God’s Word and yet how few of us know it! If the Bible is God’s Word then we must read it. There is no other application more important than this. At the most basic level, what does every Christian do? They read the Bible. The Bible is how we grow in faith. The Bible is how we come to know God.
   Christians in centuries past who didn’t have access to Bibles were dying that people would read it to them. Men and women died to have the Bible accurately translated into their native tongue. They would commit it to memory if they didn’t have 24/7 access to it. They would study it zealously. But, in the 21st Century, it’s hard enough for us to get off Instagram and Facebook merely to open up the Bible.
   There is no book that contains the beauties and wonders that the Bible contains. No book has the rich spiritual gold that the Bible has. The Bible does not contain the Word of God; the Bible is the Word of God. Read it!
   What other book tells us so much of Jesus? What other book is so pure of the gospel? Other men and women merely write books about the Bible. The books that light our hearts on fire most are books that explain the Bible best.
   Let me give you an explanation of what one of my seminary professors recently told us. What’s the difference between man and dust? The breath of God. God made man from the dust and breathed life into him (Gen. 2:7). The breath of God causes something inanimate to become dynamically animate. The breath of God brings life, purpose, identity, and joy. It brings a relationship with God.
   Now, what is the difference between the Bible and other books? The breath of God. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” Robert Mounce says, “Scripture is ‘God-breathed.’ The word occurs nowhere else in the Bible. It means that Scripture is the product of God’s creative breath. As God formed man from the dust of the ground and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” so that “man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7) so it is that God’s breath has turned lifeless words on paper into a living utterance. Had God not breathed life into the words of the prophets they would have been no more than the words of men. As it is when we read the prophets we find ourselves confronted with God Himself who speaks to us directly through what was written by chosen men of old.”
   There are no devotional books, no Christian living books, no doctrinal books, and no commentaries that replace the Bible. Authors are only worth their gold if they explain what The Author has said. We are living in an age where anything that remotely smells of pseudo-Christianity is adopted as something inspired. There is a reason why John Kwasny is teaching a Sunday School class on “Bad Books” because it is so rampant even in the best churches.
   Nothing matches the Word of God. If it is God’s Word, read it!

2. Meditate On It
   That which is most sweet to us stays on our minds. Those experiences that are so meaningful to us are the stories we tell most. If the Bible is the Word of God, we must spend time meditating on it. The Bible is a rich dish of food. It’s not something you shovel into your mouth so that you can get it over with. The Bible is something that should be savored. You should try to point out all the different flavors to it. It’s when you meditate on the Bible that you turn to your neighbor and say, “You’ve got to try this!”
   If the Bible is God’s Word, one of the most important things we can do in life is find times (whatever works for you) to slow down and limit distractions so that we can meditate on God’s Word. Practically, what does this look like? One thing that has often helped people is to take a portion of the Bible and write down 20-30 thoughts on that one portion. Many times, when you get to about 10-15 it gets much harder. This requires you to meditate even more on the truth.
   Ask these questions of the Bible: What is the Bible trying to say? How is the Bible saying it? Why did the author want to say that truth to those people back then? How does that apply to us today? How is the text leading me to the Person and Work of Jesus?

3. Give It To Others
   If the Bible is God’s Word, give it to other people. Don’t let them just assume what the Bible says. If they have questions, show them what to read. If the Bible is no ordinary book, if the Bible is God’s Word, if the Bible is heavenly dynamite then give it to someone for them to read. Read it with them. Let the Bible speak for itself!
   There are countless of conversions that happen merely because someone has to read the Bible for themselves. Matter of fact, no one is ever converted without the truth of Scripture. Don’t you see this? If everyone is converted by the Bible (in one way or another) then give them a Bible!
   To be sure, not every is converted when they read. It’s not in the mere physical and mental act of reading that converts them. It’s when the Holy Spirit takes the living and active Word of God and causes a spiritually dead person to come alive to the truth is when conversion happens. Dead people read the living Bible and come alive by the infinite power of the eternal Holy Spirit.
   What is one of the best evangelistic activities you can do? Offer to read the Bible with an unbeliever. We worry too much about making sure we know all the answers to apologetics, worldview, and ethics. We want to make sure we can answer questions in a scientifically true way. We are so easily distracted. Knowing apologetics, worldview, and ethics is very important but let the Bible speak. Apologetics never converts someone. Worldview never converts someone. Ethics never convert someone. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation. The Bible tells us of this gospel.

6 Reasons Why We Need A Reformation In The Sports World

Few things are as untamed by Christians as sports. Few areas of life have the gospel unapplied to it like sports. We are desperate for thoughtful Christians to reform their approach to sports. Without wasting any more time, here are 6 reasons why:

1. Prosperity Gospel
   Much of the “Christianity” and “gospel” that is presented in the sports world is of a genie-like God (more like “god”) who wants nothing more than for you and your team to be successful. He wants you to stay safe and uninjured. He wants you to win every game and always be a good sport. And, of course, He likes your team more than He likes the other team—but, we’re still going to be nice to them.
   I’ve been around it, heard it, and still witness it. From parents to team chaplains, from players to coaches, this is rampant in the sports world. It’s amazing how evangelicals so quickly adopt a sports version of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel as soon as they step onto the field.

   When is the last time you’ve heard a pregame prayer when someone prayed: Father, do whatever it takes tonight to cause us to be less self-reliant and more dependent on you. Do whatever it takes to make an eternal impact on our souls. If we win, if we play well, don’t let it take away our love for Christ. If we lose, if we don’t play well, expose our idols and cause us to love each other even when we lose.
   Often times, not all the time, far more work is done for eternity when someone gets hurt, plays bad, or gets benched. One of the most dangerous things for someone’s heart is if they always succeed, only win, and are nothing but beloved by the fans.
   For high school sports, it’s often the parents (and even Christian parents sometimes) who can be the worst. God is always good when their children are doing well. Yes and amen when God gives us victory! But, when we lose, God isn’t talked about. If He is, it’s often in a pseudo-Christian way of thinking that God wants us to suffer a little loss first before He puts our team and career back on top. We don’t like a God who allows us to lose every game.

2. Identity Issues
   I have seen teammates who put their identity in sports react in different ways whenever sports fails them. First, they go off the deep end into alcohol, pain killers, sex, or other drugs. Second, they dig even deeper demanding that sports satisfy them. They cannot stand to think of life without sports or without succeeding in sports. Third, they fall into despair and anxiety quicker than the dew evaporates in a New Orleans summer. Fourth, they are bitter towards teammates and slander them in front of others. Fifth, they have no clue who they are whenever sports are done.
   Countless athletes and coaches put their identity in their performance (only another form of works-righteousness). I have been there numerous times too. One of the best things that God can ever do to an athlete is to strip them of their athletic identity so that they must cling to Christ. When is the last time you’ve seen a Christian coach encourage one of his players who has been struggling on the field and yet simultaneously is growing in shifting his or her identity from sports to Christ?
   When I was at Tulane, I went through a “chiseling” season in my identity. I went from being the number one receiver the year before to immediately being the number seven receiver under a new head coach. My performance was my idol. I was my performance on the field. I idolized sports. Then, God broke me.
   Why did this happen? Ultimately, because God loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for me, and therefore He would also send the Spirit to purge sin out of me. At one point, my prosperity gospel believing coach looked at me and said, “You’re not a Christian! I’m a Christian.”
   Safe to say, I was losing everything of a self-made identity in that season. Jesus loved me so much that He stripped it away so that I would have to learn to look away from myself and onto Him. I have seen so many other solid Christian men go through these seasons as well. Are we going to encourage this?

3. Horrendous Pre-Game Sermons
   I was beyond blessed to sit under a BCM Pastor, Corey Olivier (who was also our team chaplain at Tulane), for four years. Corey preached the gospel. And when I say Corey preached the gospel, I mean it. I also had the great opportunity to spend four months with Jack Easterby, team chaplain of the New England Patriots, in 2014. That man also preached the gospel. Week-in and week-out, these men showed us Jesus. But, here is the truth: Not everyone does this.
   I have been around other team chaplains, seen clips of, and heard from other people about the vast majority of what’s preached in sports circles. It’s an offense to God. To put it bluntly, it’s turning the gospel into a whoring mechanism after sports glory. That’s strong but that’s how bad it is.
   There are men who prostitute God’s Word for their own agenda to get “amens”, head nods, and retweets. Athletes LOVE it whenever they can take something in Scripture as a guarantee that they will win or have a successful career. These “sermons” are some of the most man-centered things I have ever heard. There have been men who twist Scripture to say what it clearly doesn’t say in order to pump up the team they preach to.
   Praise God for men like Corey and Jack! We need more of them. We need men who are saturated with the biblical gospel who proclaim a true gospel and make gospel-centered applications. We need more men who will proclaim a God who is so infinite that all of our sports must be centered around Him.

4. Horrendous Pre-Game Prayers

   When I was in High School, I was playing travel basketball for a couple of years. We had a phenomenal basketball coach. But, before each game, he did something that unfortunately is done all too often. He would lead us in the Lord’s Prayer and immediately after begin to curse and take God’s name in vain to pump us up.
   I have been in so many circles where people use the Lord’s Prayer as if it’s a cult-like chant rather than a somber and holy moment to speak to our loving and Holy Father. There are many in the sports world who quote the Lord’s Prayer as if it’s some magic incantation that will guarantee them Samson-like strength to defeat their opposition.
   Because God isn’t seen as God, many pray to a god who might manipulate the game in their favor for their glory. It’s quite the scene to see adamant unbelievers who want nothing to do with Jesus pray the prayer that He Himself modeled for us before every game. Even Christian athletes themselves use that prayer as if it’s a magic potion. These prayers are far more about us and far less about Christ.

5. Missing the Point
   Sports exist for the glory of Christ. The joy of playing sports should trace us back to a greater joy of knowing Jesus. The lessons we learn in sports are lessons that we should use for growing in the Christian life. The trials we go through and the perseverance we learn in sports should be training for persevering in Christ.
   Everything about sports is meant for us to grow in Christ. If we’re not growing in Christ while playing sports then we’re not doing sports rightly. Coaches aren’t taking advantage of what they should take advantage of. Athletes are not applying the lessons to their walk with Jesus the way they should. We’re missing the whole point of sports if there is no Christ in sports.

6. Missing Church
   I wonder how much our church attendance might go up this Fall. I wonder how many college students might actually wake up on Sunday morning. I wonder how many parents won’t have to travel to sports tournaments weekend after weekend this year. It’s amazing how we are so determined to never miss a game or be late to practice but we’re fine showing up late to church or just catching up on a podcast later. It’s amazing how zealous parents are for their child to make the baseball or cheerleading team but could care less if they go to youth group or Sunday school (it’s clearly too much to ask for Sunday evening worship). How will we ever teach our kids what it means to be a Christian if we only teach them over and over that church is optional?

   ***Parents, are you more concerned with your child’s growth in sports than you are in their growth in Christ? You can tell by how much time, money, and passion that you put in sports compared to what you put in the Christian life.***

   It’s amazing how many of us are more influenced during the week by what happens on Saturdays in the Fall than by what we hear proclaimed from God’s Word on Sunday.

   Scenario: It’s Tuesday afternoon. The coffee is wearing off. You’re almost done with a second workday in the week. Do you find yourself remembering the score of the game on Saturday? Could you summarize the game to a co-worker who didn’t see it? Can you remember the stats of how many yards your team’s quarterback threw for? Let’s try another test. Can you remember what text was the preacher preached from this past Sunday (a more recent event)? Could you summarize the sermon to a co-worker whose curious about Christianity? Can you remember what the preacher said about how that text changes the way you live on this Tuesday afternoon?
   It’s not only about physically missing church. It’s about spiritually missing church. You sat in the pews going through the motions because you’re preoccupied with reminiscing last night’s game and what it means for you and your team this week. We love to spend more time talking about church at sports than talking about Christ at church.
   And here is the thing: I am part of this problem.
   

I love sports. We should love sports. We should care deeply about sports. But, sports is not God. Every game matters. Every loss, win, injury, touchdown, timeout, roars from the crowd, boos from the fans, and joy experienced from an upset win matters. God is sovereign over every single detail of everything in the sports world. But, He is sovereign over it for His glory. He is jealous for His glory, not ours. In other words, if we’re not taking advantage of the entirety of sports for our glorifying God and knowing God’s love for us then we’re idolizing sports. We’re not using it for what it’s meant for.

How many are led away from Christ in the name of a “Christ” who cares more about their sports career or their team winning than he does with them knowing Him!

Lord Jesus, come quickly!

From the Pastor's Study

August 20, 2020

This past Sunday night's installation service was joyfully humbling for me and my family. The turnout was so encouraging (even my mom was there!), and many who weren’t able to make it have told me that they were delighted to be able to watch it online (including my father and brothers!). Before the service, I have to admit I was feeling a bit anti-climactic, since I’ve been functionally serving as Senior Pastor since the day after the installation was originally scheduled (March 22).

But then I remembered that I’m a Presbyterian not merely by pragmatic convenience, but by Biblical conviction - and an installation is not a mere formality, but rather the final step in a process of confirmation of God’s call that progressed from the recommendation of the Session as search committee, to the affirmative vote of our congregation, and to the approval of the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley. In keeping with Scriptural pattern and precedent (Acts 13:3; I Timothy 4:14), the council of elders from the churches in a particular region (the Presbytery) is the body that places a man in that work to which they recognize God has called him. An installation is the formal and official acknowledgement of their approval, and the lack of that formal installation is like a diploma without a university seal. Thus I thank God that this final step in this long journey is complete.

So many thoughts have been swirling around in my head. Here are three:

I am standing on the shoulders of the three men who formally served as Senior Pastor of this flock: Bill Whitwer (1978-1986), Chuck Frost (1987-1993), and Carl Kalberkamp (1994-2020). These men paved the way for me to serve a flock that is knowledgeable of the Scriptures, passionate for the lost at home and abroad, led by faithful elders and deacons, and filled with love toward one another. What a privilege for all of us to still have Carl minister among us, and for me to have him forty feet across the hallway, for wisdom, counsel, and encouragement.

This is my fourth call as an ordained teaching elder: Solo Pastor of Columbia Presbyterian Church in Columbia, MS (2003-2007); Senior Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Cookeville, TN (2007-2014); Associate Pastor of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church (2014-2020); and now Senior Pastor here. There were also three churches/ministries I was privileged to serve even before ordination: volunteer and staff youth leader at First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge during high school and college (1993-1997); intern with Reformed University Fellowship at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN, after graduating from LSU (1998-1999); and senior high youth intern at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, MS, while in seminary at RTS (1999-2003). Each one of these previous calls has contributed toward making me the man and pastor I am today by the grace of God, equipping and preparing me in a variety of ways for this new field of service.

At each of those stops along the way, my biography has been intertwined with that of godly men and women who have left their imprint deeply upon me. One of those men prayed for Carl and me this past Sunday night: Mr. James “Bebo” Elkin. He was the Mississippi Coordinator of RUF from 1983-2011, and poured much wisdom into me through staff training during my RUF internship, in his home garage auto repair shop, on drives around Mississippi, and over the phone and lunch table on innumerable occasions. He was the first one to teach me through the Westminster Confession of Faith and to present a Biblical philosophy of ministry. He is the human reason I came to RTS-Jackson, with the simple question of how I was going to cover living costs while in seminary leading to the encouragement to consider applying for the youth internship at FPC. Throughout my journey he has been alongside me, and the truths he has taught me have by now become so ingrained I probably don’t even remember that I learned them from him. If I can be half the insightful questioner and godly exhorter that he is, I will consider myself a blessed man. Needless to say, it was a rich privilege to have him present Sunday night.

God has been undeservedly good to me and my family, not least through you the flock that I now have the privilege of pastoring. I love you, and I pray that Paul’s words to the Thessalonians will continue to set my course: “Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us” (I Thessalonians 2:8). I want to share God’s truth and my life by the power of the Holy Spirit, spending and being spent so that you might be grounded in and transformed by the gospel of grace. I want Colossians 1:28-29 to be written over my ministry here, as long as God gives me the opportunity to preach and pastor: “We proclaim Christ, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

Pray with me and for me, that Jesus might be my strength in weakness, the content of all my spoken ministry, and the compassion of all my personal ministry.

The Invitation of Jesus

The Story of Invitation

God is a God of invitations. Virtually every book of the Bible could be summarized with one command in response to who He is: “Come to God.” The contents of each book either are saying it, implying it, or wanting you to come to the conclusion in light of what was written.

To be sure, when I say invitation, I don’t mean that God is a “take it or leave it” type of God. His invitation is a kingly command. It comes with the highest of authorities. It contains the most wondrous of destinations. It has the utmost aroma of love to it. To reject this invitation is a death sentence. It is an offense to His glory, to His reward, to His grace, to His love, and to Him. Rejecting God’s invitation is rejecting God. It is the epitome of foolishness and wickedness. To accept this invitation is life in the highest sense.

God created with an overflowing invitation for man to have a relationship with Him. He was the One who initiated that relationship. Even immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God quickly invited them to come to Him for covering. As we trace the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we see that it is God inviting sinners over and over to come to have fellowship with Him even as He draws near to them.

Think of the story of Moses. God initiates the invitation. He sees His people in captivity and bondage and He sends Moses to “invite” them out into the wilderness to live with Him. The story of Joshua is similar. We see a people who don’t have a home. God is still passionate about His invitation for them to come and dwell with Him not merely in a land but in a relationship.

The story of Judges and Ruth shows what inevitably happens to us when we reject such an invitation. Nevertheless, this didn’t take away God’s heart for His people. The story of David, Solomon, and the history of Israel and Judah reveals the same message. God is inviting His people into a covenant relationship with Him. Even when He removes His people from the land there is still a covenant promise in Jeremiah 31 that God has not forsaken His people. Ezra and Nehemiah, Zechariah and Malachi were all calling the people to return to God. It’s an invitation!

Then, it “seemed” as if God didn’t care. Silence filled the prophetic office. The covenant appeared to be nullified. Silence vibrated through the spiritual air. Was God finally tired of inviting His people?

The Inviting God in the Flesh

Here is where we meet Matthew 11:28. Remember who Jesus is. Jesus is the God of the Old Testament in the flesh. He is not a different God. How serious was God about inviting His people into a relationship with Him? He was so serious that the Son took on flesh and was born of the virgin Mary into poverty. In other words, He invited Himself into our world.

He went from the throne to homelessness. He went from a crown of glory to a crown of thorns. He went from unapproachable glory to being spit upon while carrying His cross. In other words, He invited Himself into our world.

It’s this Jesus in Matthew 11:28 who sounds exactly like Isaiah 55:1 when He says, “Come.”

Why does a President, Governor, or Mayor invite someone to a meal or a meeting? Most of the time, it is to get business done or for their own public appearance. The invitation goes to someone who is important or to someone who can further their cause or power. Even if one of these men or women invites someone they don’t agree with, it is still for their political purpose and pursuit of peace.

When is the last time you heard or saw someone in one of these offices pull up in their limousine to a downtown gas station and invite a homeless man to come to eat an extravagant meal? When is the last time you saw someone in one of these offices go to the lowest of the low or the societal reject and ask to be their friend? If this happens once or twice, you might read some heart-warming news stories. If this happens consistently, you will probably begin to be suspicious or get worried about the competency of the person in power.

But, this is exactly what Jesus does. From the moment He started His public ministry, He was constantly inviting poor sinners to come to Him. He was tenaciously tender in His invitations to the worst of the worst. “Come” must have been one of Jesus’ favorite words.

Authoritative and Gracious

The marvelous feature of this invitation is that out of his overwhelming authority (v. 27) Jesus encourages the burdened to come to him because he is “gentle and humble in heart.”

D.A. Carson

Matthew intends to paint the picture of a Jesus who is the King of Kings and also someone who is the most approachable Person in the history of humanity. He wants to show you someone of such unrivaled authority and yet unimaginable grace. It’s this Jesus who we see go from preaching the Sermon on the Mount that leaves people astonished at his authority (7:28-29) to coming down the mountain to touch an unclean leper.

Matter of fact, the leper cautiously comes and kneels down before Jesus and takes a gamble to see if Jesus would be willing to heal him. Jesus meets this man at the location of his unbelief. “Lord, if you will (or, we could make it more clear: “if you are willing”), you can make me clean.” Jesus responds with, “I am willing; be clean.”

Jesus is pulsating with passion for poor sinners. If all you knew was the Old Testament, and you knew it well, then you would immediately identify this Jesus as being someone similar to that same God. Indeed, the Holy Spirit awakens us to show us that He is the same God.

Isn’t this what we see in Isaiah 55:1? “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The same God of Isaiah is the same God here!

Jesus vs Others

Other religions say, “Go and do.” Jesus says, “Stop doing and come.” Other worldviews say, “Do good and then come.” Jesus says, “You are not good and will never be good. Therefore, come to me for I am good.” Even Christians who forget the heart of Jesus fall back into the default works-righteousness mode. They tell themselves, “I must keep up a performance so that Jesus will still accept me.” Jesus says, “You have failed more times than you even know. That’s why you must not stay away from me any longer and come to me.”

When you play the game of Monopoly, there is a “community chest” card you can draw that says, “GO TO JAIL. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.” Jesus is saying something similar. “Come to me. Come directly to me. Do not try to deal with your sins on your own. Do not try to beat yourself up enough over your sin before coming to me. Do not try to go and do enough good deeds before coming to me. Come directly to me. Waste no time in this. Do not linger. Do not hesitate. Do not worry about my response. Come to me.”

You know you’re growing in the Christian life the quicker you run to Jesus when you’re convicted of your sin, when you’re ashamed of your mistakes, and when you’re exhausted from trying to be good enough. Go to Jesus.

He is not saying, “Just come to this worldview.” Or, “just approve these doctrines.” Or, “just be apart of this community.” Or, “just pick up some of this grace.” He is saying, “Come to me.” The destination is Him! In Him, you will find all you need. If you miss Him, you miss everything. Everything outside of Jesus is counterfeit. Jesus is the real thing.

What Makes A Christian A Christian

The reason someone is a Christian is that they have Christ. Romans 5 tells us that our fundamental problem is that we were enemies with God. We were cut off. We were estranged. We were irreconciled.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us… For if while were were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.

Romans 5:6-8, 10

So weak that we could never make it to God. So ungodly that we didn’t even want God. Such sinners that we can’t be in His presence. Such enemies that the very thought of Him made us boil in anger.

This is when Jesus died for us.

But, you also see what happened because Jesus died for us, right? It’s because of Jesus’ death that He bridged the gap. This isn’t a bridge where we are able to come to God on our own power but a bridge where God comes to us! He is so eager to invite us to Him that He comes all the way to us to grab our hands to bring us home with Him.

In high school, one of the most interesting sights was during football and basketball games at half time. The home cheerleaders would almost always run across the field or court, grab the hands of the other cheerleaders and bring them over to their side to have a short time of fellowship with them. This is a picture of the invitation of God to us. He desires to be with us. He desires to bring us to Him. He won’t live without us.

This is the Jesus of Matthew 11:28. Jesus must have been overflowing with love when He said, “Come to me.” It was His most natural invitation.

The Heart of Jesus for You

This is Jesus’ heart for you. It’s an inviting heart, not a stingy heart. He doesn’t give you a spiritual stiff arm but extends His arms as wide as they were extended on the Cross. He is pleading for you to wait no longer. There are no steps before coming to Jesus. The first and only step is to come to Him! This He enables you to do.

If Jesus is truly good, if Jesus is truly wise, if Jesus is truly loving, then if He invites you to Himself He is saying that He is where you find all you need. Jesus would be sinning if He invited you anywhere else. Jesus would be the biggest fool if He told you to go to someone or something else. Jesus would be the most hateful being in all creation if He persuaded you to go to some other destination than Himself. Jesus is who you need.

Spiritual Warfare: Forgetting Our Identity and Standing in Christ

Discerning the dark lord’s tactics

The moment we remind ourselves of our identity in Christ, especially that of our righteous standing, the dark lord swoops in to say, “No you’re not.” It isn’t always that blunt. His responses can be:

• “You have to first live a holy life.”

• “Well...not quite yet. You need to do just a tad more and then you’re good.”

• “You should doubt that because of what you did in the past.”

• “You still haven’t repented or confessed enough of this sin.”

• “You forgot about this sin in your life. You need to deal with that first before you can truly embrace this identity and standing.”

• “You’re only semi-holy. Other people are truly holy. You’re on a lower level and that level isn’t sufficient.”

• “Don’t you see all your mess? Are you telling me that Jesus just decided to forget about that? You think you can really call yourself holy?”

• “If other people knew what I know about you then you would never be able to call yourself holy.”

• “You say that it only matters what Jesus says but, let’s be honest, it really matters that the super-spiritually mature people declare you holy. And, if you are not like them then I don’t know how you’ll ever be holy.”

He is skillfully subtle. You must remember that everything the dark lord does is filled with some level of truth. He never comes to you flying the flag of hell so that you clearly know it’s him. He wants to sound like the Holy Spirit. He wants to sound like Scripture. He wants to sound like your conscience that is in line with the truth.

When Jesus was tempted, why was it so difficult for Him? The dark lord was skillfully subtle. He is a professional pretender and provoker. He knows what he is doing. When you forget that, you’ll be overwhelmed. He approached Jesus the same way. He used the truth, not outright obvious lies. He sought to go after Jesus’ affections, desires, and wants. He wasn’t trying to knock down the front door. He tried to sneak through the back door quietly and friendly.

This is how the dark lord uses truth to attack you:

• He uses a truth out of context.

• He applies truth to an extreme.

• He uses a half-truth.

Notice that he is always using truth. He manipulates truth. This is what he does with us whenever we try to embrace our righteous standing in Christ. He uses beautiful truths about confession, pursuing holiness, and repentance and he just ever so slightly tweaks them. 

He often does this by taking a common Christian cliche and makes it sound so right but applies it so wrongly. Did you notice above how he whispers these lies? He is using the truth about confession, holiness, and repentance but in extreme ways, out of context ways, or half-truth ways.

He wants to do anything he can to keep you from saying, “Yes! This is who I am in Christ.” He wants to get you to default into a works-righteousness mindset. He loves to put the Ten Commandments before “I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex. 20:2).

He says that you’re not doing enough. You are not enough. You haven’t dealt with this sin sufficiently. If you don’t deal with the sin to the fullest extent then you’re quenching the Spirit. Oh, you don’t want to quench the Spirit. That’s a big time sin! He is the Holy Spirit. You better be holy like Him or He might leave you. You have to make sure you deal with your past perfectly or else that righteous standing should be called into question. Did you just remember some way in which you just sinned recently? Did you just remember that one horrible sin from the past? Well, if you want to be able to say, “I am righteous before God” then you better go and make sure you deal with it to its fullest extent first.

The ways in which he attacks here are endless. He aligns his army to attack us here more than anywhere else. He knows that if we embrace Christ then he must retreat. He wants to keep us thinking that we have to earn Him. He wants to get us to go back to trying to be good enough. He wants to keep us focused on doing enough before resting in Jesus.

How to fight by faith

Why does the dark lord want to keep you from embracing your righteous standing before God? Because if you knew who you were in Christ, if you really knew, then you would assault his kingdom with more force than 10,000 angels. When we know who we are in Christ, we experience joy and not shame. Joy, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones often said, is what the world needs to see in Christians. 

The dark lord wants to keep you in shame as you see your sin. If he can keep you in shame and keep you focused more on your sin than Jesus than he knows you’ll be timid to walk in faith. He knows you’ll be scared to be bold He knows you’ll be too ashamed to share your faith. He knows that if he can keep you focused on your sin then you’ll stay in the Slough of Despond (or spiritual depression as Martyn Lloyd-Jones called it) rather than moving closer to Jesus. Knowing your identity in Christ, your righteous standing before God is what casts away the cold darkness of shame.

How do we fight? We fight with God’s Word. This is why the doctrines of inspiration, inerrancy, and sufficiency are so crucial to the Christian faith. Is the Bible God’s Word? If it is, that is our reality. Our feelings aren’t our reality. Our conscience isn’t always our reality. Our personality tests aren’t our reality. God’s Word is our reality. God makes an authoritative statement about who we are in Christ. This is not sometimes true and sometimes false. It is always true. We need Scripture to rework our thoughts and to readjust our feelings. 

This is actually what the Psalms do. The Psalms are not a book merely about learning how to express our emotions to God. Rather, the Psalms are about expressing to God what we really feel and then learning to realign our feelings, affections, emotions with God’s truth. It is a collection of the Christian’s experience of living a life of faith in a fallen world par excellence. 

If you notice in Psalms 32 and 51, the two most popular psalms about confession of sin, they both move so quickly from conviction and confession to the reality of who they are by God’s grace. They do not stay in this phase of trying to beat themselves up. They do not say, “I cannot embrace God’s grace until I deal with this sin to its fullest extent. I cannot experience God’s grace until I make things totally right. I cannot draw near to God unless I first handle this on my own.” They move towards God’s grace and their righteous standing.

Must we deal with our sins? Yes. But, the subtle danger is to think that we must do that before embracing God’s grace. It’s only when we embrace God’s grace that we are enabled to deal with sin. God’s grace is not merely for forgiveness but for our ability to walk in His ways. Anything that keeps us from coming to God is a form of works-righteousness. 

I was once told that “we will never find closure if we merely seek justice; We will only find closure if we rest in grace.” Is this hyper-grace? Is this antinomianism? No. Grace is not opposed to justice. Grace comes through justice. But, if we seek to only rely on justice then we will never be able to rest.

Why is this? If we only seek to justly deal with our sins then we will never find an ending. We are so deeply depraved, so deeply shattered, so littered and polluted with sin that we will never come to the bottom of it. If we have the mindset that we cannot rest in grace until we deal with our sins in totality then we aren’t actually acting in obedience and in faith. We’re disobeying God because we’re not running to Jesus.

Typically, the people who are afraid of being antinomian are usually those who are struggling with legalism. Those who are afraid of being legalistic are usually those who are struggling with antinomianism. Every person has a default leaning and all of us go through seasons where we struggle with each one. As Sinclair Feguson’s book The Whole Christ says, the only way to fix this problem is to embrace the whole Christ. You don’t fix legalism by embracing more antinomianism. You don’t fix antinomianism by embracing more legalism. You embrace Christ!

We have made so many mistakes. We have sinned so much. If you think that you have to go back and deal with every instance of sin then you will never rest. Every memory will cripple you with shame. Every reminder will overwhelm you with guilt. It is not quenching the Spirit to rest in grace and embrace forgiveness in Christ. It is obedience. 

As Chase Maxey, Executive Director and Counselor with BCTM Ministries, once asked me, “Who told you that you were so much stronger than the Holy Spirit?” The dark lord tempts us to think we’re quenching the Spirit at times by taking that truth from 1 Thessalonians out of context, to its extreme, or making it a half-truth.

To be sure, the dark lord can use even this truth to keep us from our holy duties before God. He can take this out of its own context or take it to its extreme or half-truth. This does not mean we ignore our sins. This does not mean we don’t repent or confess. As Paul says in Romans 6:1-2, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” It means that if we have the mindset that we have to turn over every stone and make everything right in our lives then we are no longer resting in Christ’s atonement but we are trying to atone for ourselves.

It is obedience to rest in grace. It is obedience to stop trying to fix and start resting. When God wants you to deal with something in your life, He will give you the opportunity and the power to do so. Look how patient He was towards Jonah. Look how He took His time to work in Jonah’s heart. He will do it with you too. What you must do is rest in your righteous standing. You must hold onto this righteousness in Christ. You must let that determine your reality.

Every time we repent of something, at some point we must stop confessing and saying “sorry”. If we think we must continue to confess our past over and over then we aren’t trusting that God is faith and just to forgive and cleanse us (1 Jn. 1:9). Jesus never said, “Go and fix your past.” Rather, He often said in one way or another, “Go and sin no more” (Mk. 5:34; Lk. 7:50; 17:19; 18:13-14; 18:42; Jn. 5:14; 8:11). He knows that fixing our past isn’t the answer. He knows we can’t re-live or re-write our pasts. He knows we must move forward living differently.

We seek holiness because we are holy. We seek to progressively grow in holiness because we are already positionally holy (Rom. 1:7; Eph. 1:1; 5:3; Col. 1:2,12; 3:12; Heb. 2:11; Jude 3; Rev. 13:7). We don’t receive the position of holiness because we worked hard to become holy. God graciously brought us into the definitive position and that compels us to go and live in light of who we are.

We fight by getting the gospel logic straight in our heads. We fight by embracing God’s grace. We fight by dismantling the attacks of the dark lord and his minions. We fight by resting in Christ.

From the Pastor's Study

August 13, 2020

The first week of school is almost over, and I’m happy to report that old habits have thankfully not been too hard to break. After homeschooling for many years, we have had our children the last two years at St. Augustine, a university-model school which in the elementary years meets only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. One of the advantages of homeschooling or hybrid schooling for this particular pastor’s family has been the flexibility it has afforded over the years to fit the variable schedule that ministry brings. Beginning this year, however, while our older three remain at St. Augustine, Caroline (5th grade) and Ezra (2nd grade) are attending Christ Covenant School. It’s our first foray into a five-day school, and we’re excited to be a part of our church’s largest ministry with its emphasis upon a Biblical worldview and Christ-centered education. But drop off starts at 7:30 a.m. - so the old habit of a flexible wake up time depending on the previous night’s activities has been broken by necessity and by force.

Habits and customs are strange and powerful things. They can be easy to form (sometimes without our realizing that’s happening), but hard to break. Or they can be difficult to form (even when we’re trying our best to do so), but easy to break. Either way, habits are important to us, both as humans, and as Christians. Indeed, our Lord and Savior was a man of habit and custom. 

• It was His habit/custom to teach the crowds that gathered around Him (Mark 10:1).

• It was His habit/custom in Jerusalem to spend the night on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39; see Luke 21:37).

• It was His habit/custom to go to the synagogue to worship on the Sabbath Day (Luke 4:16).

We all have good habits and bad habits. The Bible teaches us that it should be our good habit to gather for corporate worship on the Sabbath Day, which since the resurrection of Jesus is the first day of the week (Leviticus 23:3; Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2). Unfortunately, even since the days of the early church, some Christians have had the bad habit of neglecting the gathering together of the saints with God for worship and fellowship. The command is clear: “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). 

The pandemic in which we are living has had a profound impact on Christian habits with regard to corporate worship.

• Some habitually gathered with the saints on the Lord’s Day, but have had to become shut-ins due to a proper concern about the risk of catching a virus that would very probably  take their life. Rather than putting the Lord to the test by throwing themselves off the top of tall buildings (see Luke 4:9-12), they have decided it is wisest to watch church services online. Their habit of faithful church attendance has been constrained by a frowning providence.

• Others were in the habit of coming to worship on the Lord’s Day, and though they are not at high risk of dying of the coronavirus, they are caring for or are frequently in close proximity to someone who is - so they too have chosen to quarantine themselves for the sake of protecting life.

• Some had the custom of being in corporate worship, like Jesus, but COVID-19 has filled them, not with proper concern, but with sinful fear - they refuse to come to worship even though there is a low risk that they would die from this disease, and even a low risk they would catch it if they took appropriate precautions of masking and distancing - which they very likely do every day at work, the grocery store, restaurants, the school, etc. 

• For others, the good habit of actively attending the means of grace on the Lord’s day has been broken by the comfort and convenience of watching church in pajamas in the living room, so that a new bad habit of active neglect of the fellowship has been formed. Their sin is not fear, but apathy.

• Some, unfortunately, didn’t have good habits in the first place when it came to gathering for corporate worship - and so the past five months have been just the excuse they needed to forsake all the more the gathering together with the saints. 

These are just five situations that God’s people who are absent from worship may find themselves during this pandemic, and surely there are combinations and permutations of these and more. There are a variety of reasons why someone must be or chooses to be absent from corporate worship. God sees the heart, which man can never see (I Samuel 16:7). He knows our thoughts, intentions, and desires (Matthew 9:4; Hebrews 4:12). He sees why we do what we do. In all five scenarios above, however, whether from godly motives or sinful motives, the fact remains that many Christians are absent from the assembly of God’s people for worship, and so are missing out on the holy and joyful reverence that a physical gathering of the saints together in a particular place for corporate worship evokes (see I Corinthians 14:24-25; Hebrews 12:18-29), the physical presence and encouragement of the saints, and (when we resume it in September, Lord willing) the physical sign and seal of our communion with Jesus in the Lord’s Supper.

From the beginning of this pandemic we have encouraged the sick and those with underlying health conditions that put them in a high risk category to join us via our live stream, and not to feel shame or guilt in doing so. Clearly, though, it is right to feel sorrow at the loss of the great privilege and delight of worship! My heart aches to think of a scenario in which a vaccine is longer in coming than we hope, or not as effective as we hope, so that many who in all other respects would be able and willing to gather are prevented from doing so for an ever-increasing length of time. We are  live streaming our morning worship service in the gym so that those who are appropriately concerned but are willing at some point to take a small degree of risk can come gather with the saints, yet at a large distance in a wide open space with masks on (we’ve been averaging around 10 people recently in the 8:30 gym service, so this is a great place to start if you are hesitant but at some point do want to come back to corporate worship). May those of us who are able to be present in worship not allow these absent brothers and sisters to fall off our radars, even though we don’t see them at church on Sundays. Whether by phone, by letter/email/text, by video chat, or social distanced driveway visit, let us seek to pursue those who are shut out from the blessings they enjoyed before mid-March, but wish with all their hearts they could be present with us.

But to those who read these words and hear their conscience say that their habitual neglecting to meet together with the saints and with the Lord is sinful, I exhort you to return to corporate worship. I want to stir you up to love and good deeds - and what deed is better than corporate worship? The ordinances of Christ are present on the Lord’s Day - the preaching of the word, the sacraments, and prayer. They are the outward and ordinary means by which the Lord communicates to His people the benefits of redemption (Westminster Shorter Catechism #88). Pray that the Lord would break your few-months old bad habits and give you renewed habits as this new school year gets started. Certainly this virus reminds us even more clearly that the Day of the Lord, the day of judgment, is nearer and nearer. So let us commit by his grace to join in worshiping our Savior King with His body - especially this coming Lord’s Day…

From the Pastor's Study

August 6, 2020

Our trip to western North Carolina last week was wonderful - thank you for your prayers. Usually spotty cell phone signal is a decided negative, but on a vacation it can be a feature rather than a bug. It was nice to unplug and disconnect, read some Agatha Christie novels, put together a puzzle, take in the vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains, play in waterfalls, and enjoy the rest and refreshment of cool evenings and ice-cold water. 

But down the mountain, back on the flatland, school starts in less than a week. Which means the temptation to grumble and complain has reared its ugly head in our family’s hearts (and probably yours?) in spades - especially during a pandemic-induced mask mandate and new health protocols everywhere you go. Complaining is a “respectable sin” - everybody’s doing it, and you can commit it without anyone knowing, with a smile on your face and a bitter scowl in your heart - though eventually it seeps out in our words and attitudes. 

God is not unclear regarding His thoughts on complaining: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing . . .” (Philippians 2:14). So how does a Christian put to death the sin of complaining? There is no magic bullet - but by remembering these three truths, God by His Spirit enables us to strangle the life out of this enemy of our soul.

1. Remember the evangelistic impact of an uncomplaining spirit. Paul goes on to write in Philippians 2:14-15, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…” When we refuse to complain, particularly during a time like the one in which we live, Paul says we stick out like a star in the night sky. A quiet spirit is provocative – it provokes attention, it provokes questions, so that in the words of I Peter 3:15, we are able to share the reason for the hope that is within us with boldness and gentleness.

2. Remember that your complaining is always against God. If you know the history of Israel, its Exodus and wilderness wanderings, then you know that complaining and grumbling was one of the besetting sins of God’s people of old. In Exodus 16, when Israel complains for its lack of food, Moses tells them something vitally important: “. . . the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him – what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord” (Exodus 16:8). To kill complaining, you have to see it as ultimately against the Lord. 

   — It impugns the love of God. If you really loved me, God, you wouldn’t make me go through such hard circumstances! That’s what Israel said when refusing to enter the Promised Land: “Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us” (Deuteronomy 1:27). 

   — It assails the power of God. In Numbers 11, when Israel complained about not having meat, God tells Moses that He will provide meat for a month. And Moses talks back to God: “The people among whom I am number 600,000 on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them?’” God answers, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not” (11:21-23). Complaining accuses God of being powerless to change our situation.

   — It questions the wisdom of God. In Numbers 21, Israel spoke against God, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” There was food – but they were sick and tired of it. God’s wise provision for them wasn’t good enough for them. His ways were stupid, only leading to death.

   — It attacks the justice of God. Israel forgot that the reason they were wandering in the wilderness was due to their own sinful rebellion. They thought they deserved far better, when in actuality they deserved far worse. “Why should any living mortal, or any man, Offer complaint in view of his sins?” (Lamentations 3:39).

   We must strive to see the sinfulness of our sin, so that we will hate it enough to kill it. 

3. Remember that Jesus died for your complaining. In Mark 14:36, we read this: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus affirms the love of God His Father, the power of God who is able to change His circumstances, and the wisdom of God whose will is always right. He submits to the God who is able to change His circumstances, but who sometimes isn’t willing. He was the spotless, sinless Lamb of God. Yet notice what Jesus wanted removed from Him: a cup - the cup of God’s wrath. Jesus knew that God was completely just – and that He was about to have the sin of His sheep reckoned to His account, imputed to Him, and then God was going to punish Him as His people’s substitute. He was about to bear the sins of His people in His body on the cross. It’s as we remember that Jesus died to forgive our complaining and grumbling and to free us increasingly from a complaining and grumbling spirit that we are enabled more and more to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, and so refuse to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies, to obey its lusts and passions.

It will be easy to find things to complain about in these coming days, weeks, and months. But remember the words of the great Puritan John Owen in his classic The Mortification of Sin: “Make [killing sin] your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Let the poetry of Henry Francis Lyte fill your heart: “Soul, then know thy full salvation, Rise o’er sin and fear and care. Joy to find in every station, Something still to do or bear. Think what Spirit dwells within thee, Think what Fathers smiles are thine, Think that Jesus died to win thee, Child of heaven, canst thou repine?”

Race, Justice, and the Christian (Part 2)

August 6, 2020

In early June, Pastor Caleb and I attempted to answer several questions which were submitted to us by members of the congregation. Those questions and the forum we held in order to answer them were directly related to the race relations issues that continue to be the subject of many of our conversations. Because our videotaped forum was limited with respect to time, we were not able to answer all the questions that were given to us. In light of that fact, we will be providing answers to some of the remaining questions via a series of online blog posts. The following answers do not necessarily represent the views of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church. They represent my thoughts and opinions concerning the submitted questions.

Member: I have many concerns about the “protesters” demanding others to “take a knee.” Often they are demanding this posture to show subservience and to apologize for “white privilege.” Sometimes they couch it with showing solidarity to the “social justice warriors.” I would take a knee to pray with others, but should Christians be “taking a knee” to anyone other than our Lord?

Dean: In some contexts, the individuals (Sheriffs, other law enforcement individuals, white Americans…)  have been/were voluntarily kneeling in order to communicate their agreement with the “concept” of Black Lives Matter. They were in no way bowing, or knowingly genuflecting, to the underlying agenda held by those with ties to organizations such as Black Lives Matter, Inc. It is always wrong to worship, whether through symbolism or any other form, anything or anyone other than our Lord. Guided by this principle or understanding, I would fight for the right of others to kneel, but I personally will not be engaging in any such behavior, especially as it relates to our American Flag. I would personally prefer that no one kneels during the playing of our national anthem, in any and all forums/venues.

Member: After days of riots and violence in the country and specifically violence in DC when the church across the street from the White House was set on fire, the President announced if the mayors and governors didn’t call up the guard to regain control, he would nationalize the guard if necessary. He then walked across the street to that church and held up a Bible. I viewed it as a perfectly appropriate show of strength as the leader of the free world that burning buildings and churches would not be tolerated and that we are still a nation built on Christian principles. Franklin Graham thanked the President for holding up the Bible saying “God and His word are the only hope for our nation.” I agree with Franklin Graham. However, not only did the liberals criticize the President, some pastors, including some in our denomination, questioned the use of that church and a Bible as a publicity stunt. Should we join liberals in criticizing our President for holding up a Bible?

Dean: First, the narrative that led to the question acknowledges that there were also conservative voices who were in disagreement with the President’s action (some of the reasons extended beyond just holding up a Bible). Secondly, there are quite a few Christians who identify as liberal (I’m not one of them). So, it might be more instructive for us to ask the question, “Should Christians criticize our President for holding up a Bible?” My answer to that particular question would be “Absolutely not!” My reason for that position is this: even if I don’t agree with the actions or speech of a person, I would rather have them subscribe to an objective source (Scripture) that could enable us to reach a God honoring consensus, than have them subscribe to some secularist or existentialist source or platform which absolutely contradicts Scripture, and therefore, leaves no place to achieve a good, right, and proper, God honoring consensus which can then be reflected in that person’s policies or decision making.

Member: Should we generally say: blacks, people of color, or African American?

Dean:  The question begs for a generality where one may not exist. I suggest the best way to approach this is through the context of your relationship with a particular individual or group. Some understand “black” to be a polarizing label, initially established to create a societal status gap between blacks and whites, whites being superior and deserving of privilege, while blacks were labeled as lower class, and even property, not worthy of much, except the opportunity to serve the interest of whites.  Some have embraced “black” as a proud marker which connects them to “their” people. Some are concerned about the well-being of people of all ethnic persuasions, and therefore prefer to use the moniker “people of color”. Finally, there are some who are proud Americans who also embrace their African heritage, and therefore prefer to be called African Americans.  So, my counsel here would be to use that which is consistently utilized by those in your sphere of influence. And please don’t allow yourself to live with trepidation over the use of one or the other.

Member: It is so hard to find truth in such a sea of information. A Christian friend posts pictures of black children killed by police. The descriptions are horrifying; are they true? Are they spin? Another friend talks to a black friend who is frequently stopped and questioned by police just for driving through white neighborhoods. A black Christian friend writes a book dedicated to her young son, mourning that some will fear him, just because he is black, as he grows to be a man. Others like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson list published statistics that clearly illustrate that police killings of blacks are rare, less common than police killings of whites. We read and hear drastically different perspectives on Black Lives Matter from trusted Christian friends. We want to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. But how can we promote justice without truth? How do we recognize truth among so many voices? How do we know whom to believe?

Dean: A common illustration is aptly applied here. It’s the illustration concerning the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Counterfeit Bill Recognition Training. The investigators are initially limited to only viewing authentic U. S. currency (bills). They become so well trained in recognizing that which is authentic, that when they get exposed to that which is false, they’re immediately able to recognize that fact. Now let’s take a look at two particular verses found in Scripture:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16).

What do we have here? In summary, just as the FBI agents are trained in that which is truth (authentic) and nothing else, Christians are called to first and foremost know God’s Word, the ultimate source of truth and authenticity, and how it applies to every situation, circumstance, ideological framework. We are to engage everything else with a firm grasp on that which is God’s truth. That truth should serve as our guide as we negotiate the marketplace of ideas. It is by the power and enabling of God’s Spirit that we are able to discern agendas and ideologies which do not conform to God’s Word. That’s one of the reasons Jesus could say, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

Your alignment with other individuals/organizations (Owens, Carlson, news networks…) should also be guided by the same principle. The degree to which what they’re saying or doing is conformed to our rule of faith and practice, is the degree to which you can embrace or act upon it. As always, the ability to act in this manner requires a commitment to Scripture (Psalm 1:1-6).

James communicates one of the greatest principles to be mindful of when engaging the marketplace of ideas, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” People today, without employing any level of the above-mentioned discernment, are often immediately and emotionally steered towards supporting agendas that might very well be antithetical to Scripture. In other cases, we should get engaged, but are emotionally turned off by what we see and hear.

The Reason Why Your Personal Ministry Is Pivotal For The People

Matthew gave an incredible view of Jesus’ own ministry. He shows us the preaching ministry of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He shows us the teaching ministry of Jesus in such places as Matthew 21-22 where Jesus speaks about the Temple, his authority, and different parables. He shows us the healing ministry of Jesus in chapters 8-9 where Jesus heals ten times in only two chapters. What we see is that Jesus’ ministry is one of preaching, teaching, and healing.

Jesus’ Ministry Through The Disciples

In Matthew 10:1-15 (particularly in verses 1 and 7), we see Jesus send the disciples out on mission. They were to go about to minister to the people as well. But, whose ministry would this be? Was it their own ministry? No. The ministry is not theirs but rather it is Jesus’ ministry through them.

When Jesus sends them, he sends them out to proclaim the same gospel and to heal the same broken people. Jesus sends us out to do His ministry as well. No, this is not only ministry work for paid church staff or really committed volunteers. All Christians are sent out to do ministry (Mt. 28:16-20; Eph. 4:12). If you are a Christian, you have a ministry. But, here is the thing. It’s not your ministry. It’s Jesus’ ministry through you.

The reason Jesus gives you the gifts that He gives you and the reason Jesus has you living in the place where you are living is that He seeks to minister to the people around you. It’s His ministry, not yours. He desires to reach those people much more than you ever will. Do you have the gift of teaching? Do you have the gift of service? Do you have the gift of compassion? What gifts do you have? He wants to use your gifts, the gifts He has given you, to bring those people to Him.

The Ministry of Jesus Through You

You might be thinking, “I don’t have any supernatural gifts but only natural gifts.” You need to remember that these gifts have been given to you by God our Creator. We are to do all things for the glory of God and the mission of Christ. Are you a doctor? Are you a lawyer? Are you a stay at home parent? Are you great at administration? Are you passionate about hosting others at your home? Do you have finances that you can wisely give to the ministries that need your help? What are your gifts?

These gifts are for the ministry of Jesus. It is not your ministry; it’s Jesus’ ministry through you! This means that you can have complete confidence that where you are and who surrounds you that Jesus is there and He is at work. You can have the boldness to go out into your work, neighborhood, school, and community because you know you have been equipped by the Holy Spirit. You can get excited because no one is more passionate about the ministry than God Himself! Your ministry is not yours. It’s Jesus’ ministry.

The Church Needs YOU

That’s what makes your personal ministry pivotal for the people. Jesus has equipped you with the gifts He wants you to have so that He can minister in that way through you. Here is why that’s encouraging. No gift is small or insignificant. The world may say that there are more important gifts than others but that’s not true. As Francis Schaeffer says, “There are no small people.”

In our celebrity culture, we are lead astray by thinking that only the “up-front” gifts are what builds the church. God loves working in the small and humble gifts. He loves working in the ordinary day-to-day acts. He does more in the “small acts of kindness and love” than some do with their more public gifts. We need people like Martha who find their primary calling in serving others. Not everyone is called to speak, write, and lead. Everyone is called to something. Jesus doesn’t need celebrities. He uses you.

What if you having people over for a nice dinner and godly conversation is one of the ways in which God builds His kingdom through you? What if Jesus wants to minister to others through you by your giving a Christian book to someone? What if Jesus desires to change someone’s life simply through your godly character and counsel as a school teacher? Don’t underestimate Him.

How might this encourage you? How does this make you bold? How does this motivate you to use your gifts? Ministry is not about us. It’s about Him. It’s about Jesus showing His glory through the gifts He has given us. Jesus wants to minister through you. That’s the reason why ministry, the ministry of Jesus through you, is pivotal for the people.

What Jesus' Earthly Father Teaches Us About "Cancel Culture"

No one is safe. No one can hide their past forever. If you have messed up, everyone will eventually know about it. Whatever you do you better make sure you don’t get on anyone’s bad side so that they don’t dig up your dirt. That’s what our world is telling us right now.

I remember seeing a comment on social media after Alabama Wide Receiver Henry Ruggs ran a stunningly fast 40 yard dash (4.27 seconds!!!). Ruggs had dominated at the NFL Combine to establish himself as a sure top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. When the news of Ruggs’ time was released, there was one person who posted on social media (very sarcastically I would add) a statement like this:

Well, now it’s time to go back through his entire Twitter history to see what dirt we can pull up on him so that we can make him look like he has questionable character.

This is “Cancel Culture” and this guy nailed it with that summary. Cancel Culture is unraveling society right now. It is highly destructive. In actuality, it is really just a power play by others to get what they want by hanging people’s faults over their heads. This is what Cancel Culture does:

• If someone disagrees with you just go and dig up their dirt and show it to the world.

• If someone has done something wrong make sure you show them no mercy.

• If someone has messed up in the past make sure they live in fear that you might blackmail them.

• If someone has sinned in a way that isn’t socially acceptable make sure they go to the bottom of our society and never influence anyone ever.

• No matter if someone has changed and confessed, destroy them for the one instance they slipped up.

What Happens In Response To A Cancel Culture

It’s no wonder then that iGen is the generation with the most anxiety and depression that we have seen in a long time. It’s no wonder that shame is the most crippling and debilitating sensation in our culture today. It’s no wonder that millions live in fear of “being found out” or being misrepresented. Youth are living in a mental hell every day hoping that their shameful past might not revisit them.

We are at a point in history where we are pulling out our spiritual mircoscopes to find the specks in others eyes and proclaiming them to be unforgivable sins. We are throwing out the proverbial baby with the bath water. If our culture had a self-given name it might be the name from Hosea 1:6 “No Mercy”. It’s not the name of us not receiving mercy from God but rather the name we bestow on ourselves as we relate to each other.

If a forefather was an ardent follower of Christ and yet still had slaves (even if he did treat them well for the most part in that system), we must refuse to let him teach us anything today. If a politician messed up sexually in the past then we must “out” him and tear down his entire life (even if he has confessed and sought forgiveness). If a coach, teacher, pastor, businessman, doctor, writer, celebrity, or whoever has done anything, said anything, or failed to support something then we must start an outrage to ruin their lives. It doesn’t matter what good things they have done. It doesn’t matter what benefits they have brought to our society. If they are not perfect in our eyes then we must shatter them into thousands of irrepairable pieces. Oh, and let’s make sure we get their friends and families and anyone who associates with them as well. We demand perfect. Even in the Church, we demand that our forefathers and foremothers in the faith be more perfect than Jesus Himself (as if that is possible!) or else we will seek to destroy anything they stand for.

It’s not unbelievers alone who do this. Plenty of Christians do this. We do this with politics, sports, denominations, and friendships. We post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in hopes that we might add to the destruction of another. Do we realize that God Almighty will judge us for everything we post, repost, and like on social media? His judgment will be even more strict than our culture.

Safe No More

No one is safe. No one is secure. The Internet is your worst enemy. If you messed up in college, you better watch out. If you said something racially insensitive, sexually discriminating, or politically incorrect then you’re essential done for in this society. It doesn’t matter if you’re genuinely sorry. It doesn’t matter if it was 45 years ago. It doesn’t matter if you have repented and changed. It doesn’t matter if the other person has forgiven you. Once you’ve sinned in this country, you’re damned for eternity. Get ready to experience social hell.

If we had a choice, we would create our own pits of despair and round all those people up so that we don’t have to live amongst them or be influenced by them. We would punish them. We would shame them. We would make them look out into our world with jealousy. We would want them to never bring their disease into our culture ever again. Oh wait, that’s what we’re already doing on social media.

No wonder there is a lot of suicide today.

This is what Cancel Culture feels like. Once again, if we’re not careful, we’ll shame ourselves into our very own self-destruction. No one can stand for long under this. This is where an evolutionary worldview has brought us. We should have evolved by now. We should be better. We should be past this. This is 2020 people!

No one wants to remember the fact that we are sinners living in a sinful world. Matter of fact, the only sin is to say that there is such thing as sin.

What Does 1st Century Jerusalem Have To Do With 21st Century America?

What does the Bible have to do with this? Everything.

I heard something phenomenal the other day from RTS professor Miles Van Pelt (I mean, who hasn’t heard something phenomenal from him?). He said something that rocked my world.

You’ll never find closure if you only seek justice. You’ll only find closure if you rest in grace.

If I had a Twitter still, I would tweet that. It’s almost worth it to create a Twitter and just tweet that one thing right now. Did you read that? He said, “You’ll never find closure if you only seek justice. You’ll only find closure if you rest in grace.”

Right now, our culture has gotten rid of all grace and mercy. There is only justice and wrath.

Listen. Justice is crucial. Let’s make no mistake about that. Justice is central to a society and it’s central to Christianity. Justice is an attribute of God. God would not be God if He were not just. But, justice is not the only thing we receive. Justice is not the only attribute of God. Grace is what we receive. Grace is what we need.

Can I just say something? What our country needs most is the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are fools if we think our country is Christian. We are fools if we think our churches know enough of the gospel (let alone our country). What our churches and country needs most is the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don’t need less gospel; we need more gospel.

So, where do we see this grace in the Bible that might apply to the Cancel Culture?

Jesus’ Earthly Father

In Matthew 1:19, we find something absolutely stunning. I’ve read over this portion of Scripture hundreds of times. I’ve never seen what I just saw. Thanks to Roy Ciampa in Devotions on the Greek New Testament: 52 Reflections to Inspire & Instruct, I saw the light in a dark world.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Matthew 1:19

This verse is not necessarily a verse you tell your kids to memorize. It’s not the verse you might post as your “Verse of the Day” post. It’s not the verse you would get framed or put on your Christmas cards. It’s probably not the choice text for you if you had to teach a Bible study. Let me tell you something. There is more light in this one verse than there is in 10,000 Suns. Let me show you.

Joseph thought Mary had broken their engagement by sinning sexually. We now know that she obviously didn’t and Joseph would soon realize that too. But, there was a point when he looked at her pregnant belly and was heart broken that she had an affair. After all, virgin births are not a natural event! It required a miracle for the Son of God to come into this world! If she was pregnant and he wasn’t the one who slept with her then it must’ve been another man.

Joseph was torn over this. He was heart broken, ashamed, anxious, and in despair. Some of you might know this pain. But, here is the thing about Joseph. He was a just man (lit. “being righteous”). So, what would a righteous man (who obviously cares deeply about justice) do in the face of someone committing great sin against him?

To be sure, I am not saying that Mary wasn’t a virgin. I am not saying that Mary slept with someone else. We are only looking at this through the experience of Joseph before he received word from the angel (v20-25) that Mary was going to be the virgin who would fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14.

Responding To Sin With Righteous Compassion

How would righteous Joseph respond in the face of such heinous sin? I know what our culture would do. Our culture would put on a shame show. They would parade her sin and guilt on Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Facebook. Late night talk show hosts would include her in their jokes. She would turn into a “meme” of shame. Some Christians would unfortunately wag their heads at her as if she weren’t a Christian at all. “If she was really a Christian then she would’ve never put herself in that situation.”

If Mary lived in the U.S. today and eventually decided to run for a political office, her childhood friends who didn’t agree with her political views would find her medical records and show them off to the world like she is the worst human walking since Adolf Hitler.

How was righteous Joseph going to respond? Well, we can see more clearly how he might when we look at the next phrase. Joseph was righteous and unwilling to put her to shame. Joseph didn’t have two opposing qualities in himself that were fighting over what to do in this situation. There wasn’t the “good angel and bad angel” or the “righteous angel and the compassionate angel” on either shoulder whispering to him what he should do. “Should I do what would be culturally acceptable during these times and make it publicly known to the proper Jewish and Romans authorities? Should I write her off and start a campaign to have her removed from the Temple? Should I expose what she has done to everyone I know so that all might shame her with me? Or, should I have mercy on her? Should I keep it quiet? Should I not divulge that information?”

Joseph was not playing the either/or game. Actually, what this text is saying is that because Joseph was righteous he was also unwilling to put her to shame. It’s not about whether to show justice or compassion but rather to show justice and compassion.

To say it another way, Joseph shows his righteousness as he shows compassion for her.

The present participle (“being a just man”) indicates not that he had been righteous but (now) thought of acting unrighteously in this instance, but rather he was righteous even as he decided on his plan of action.

-Roy Ciampa

***With my emphasis to make the wording a little more clear.***

What is Ciampa saying? He is saying that the Bible is saying that because Joseph was righteous he was also compassionate. And look at the context. Joseph thought that Mary had sinned greatly! And what did this righteous man decide to do in the face of great sin? He decided not to put her to shame but rather to show her compassion.

The Gospel of Justice and Grace

My friends, this is the gospel. This is what Jesus does to us. In the face of such horrendous sin and betrayal against the King of Glory, He came to earth and died in our place out of compassion. Jesus didn’t “cancel” us. He came to us. He had compassion on us.

The gospel of Matthew seeks to transform our understanding of the true nature of righteousness in light of its redefinition by Jesus and by Matthew’s telling of his story. In this gospel it becomes clear that for Jesus (and Matthew), mercy and compassion are not at odds with righteousness, but are crucial marks of righteousness, just as they are in the Old Testament. Jesus demands not the same righteousness as the scribes and Pharisees but a greater righteousness (5:20), one that will lead his disciples to show mercy to the least of his brothers (25:34-40). Jesus emphasized the theme of Hosea 6:6 [that] God prefers mercy over sacrifice (Matt. 9:13; 12:7), and he demonstrated what that preference looks like by befriending tax collectors and sinners. His sacrifice on the cross is about extending mercy to us sinners rather than leaving us to our own destruction.

-Roy Ciampa

This is what Joseph is doing. In the face of great sin, he is acting righteously! He is pressing into righteous living. He is living out what Jesus would live out. He is imaging God the Redeemer. That is why he decided to treat her with dignity, love, compassion, and grace. He cared about justice and grace and he realized that justice and grace are not rivals but best friends.

How This Could Change Our Culture

People are dying for hope. Everyone has sinned. Everyone has baggage. Everyone has said horrible things. Everyone has treated someone in unspeakable ways. No one is exempt. Was Paul not clear enough about this in Romans 3:10-12 when he said:

None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.

The people who do the most shaming tend to have a lot of shame. The people who point out the specks in others eyes tend to have logs in their own. We’re all truly depraved and soaked in sin. When we forget that we get into these spiritual shame shows so that we can make ourselves feel better.

Here is where the gospel comes in. The gospel says that we are worse than we could ever dare admit and yet more loved than we could ever imagine. This gospel is a gospel of grace and righteousness. Jesus didn’t sacrifice justice in order to give us grace. He gave us grace through justice. He went to the Cross to absorb the wrath we deserved for our sins so that we might receive grace and compassion. That is how we can have spiritual closure.

Repentant Sinners In Heaven

Our country, believers and unbelievers, are holding their breaths hoping that maybe they can just make it to the end of their lives without their worst mistakes being exposed. We mentally and emotionally murder others a thousand times over whenever we hold their sin over their heads. We destroy them time and time again whenever we don’t accept someone’s confession or genuine repentance. We sever all hopes of change whenever we fail to celebrate the work of change that the Holy Spirit has done in us.

Did we forget that former sinners will be in heaven? Jesus came for the sick sinners and not for the healthy self-righteous ones. There will be former racists and rapists in heaven. There will be former sexual abusers and drug abusers in heaven. There will be former slave traders in heaven. There will be former Nazis and Neo-Nazis in heaven. There will be former murderers, drunks, hookers, atheists, homosexuals, liars, cheaters, swindlers, and anarchists who will be in heaven. There are scores of people who once lived this way who have now found life and grace in Jesus Christ. He took their wrath. He dealt with their sin. Who in the world are we to shame them with what they repent from?

They are not only being sanctified right now but they will be so glorified that even those in heaven who were victims of their sinful lifestyle on earth will see so much beauty in them because of the work of the Holy Spirit within. The bond of joy and friendship between former enemies will be stronger than any friendship on this earth. This is what Jesus does to saved sinners.

We need Christians who proclaim this gospel. This country is DYING for hope. Don’t believe me? Just any youth you know who have been through or have had friends go through these social shame fests whenever they fail in the smallest way. Just go into our schools and ask middle and high schools students what their biggest fears are. Just read literature of youth culture and see the staggering stats and interviews that talk about this issue.

We can learn a lot from Joseph here. We need to learn a lot. Only grace can transform us. Only Jesus can make us new by the power of the Spirit.

What Paul Might Say To Christians About Wearing Masks

It is very disheartening to hear what people have been saying. It is very discouraging to see what people have posted. Have we lost sight of who we are as believers? Have we lost sight of what Scripture says? Have we lost sight of how Jesus treated others? Why does it seem like sheep are hurting other sheep so much in the church over this issue of wearing masks?

What Paul Says About Christian Freedom

Romans 14 is the fundamental chapter in the Bible about Christian freedom and winsome love towards fellow Christians even when (especially when!) they disagree with you. Paul was writing to a group of people who were divided over non-essential issues. He was writing to a group of people who were dividing over things that could tear the church apart if they were not careful.

How does this affect us today with mask-wearing? There are some who think that masks represent political views. There are some who think that masks represents your view towards science. Others think that masks is about asserting your right. So…what might Paul say about this issue if he was pastoring our churches today?

What follows is a word for word reprint of the ESV translation of Romans 14 but phrases such as “eating”, “observing days”, and “drinking” are replaced with “mask-wearing”.

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions (such as whether to wear masks or not). One person believes he may not wear a mask, while the other person only wears the mask. Let not the one who does not wear masks despise the one who wears masks, and let not the one who wears masks pass judgment on the one who does not wear masks, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person esteems wearing masks as better than not wearing masks, while another esteems not wearing masks as legitimate. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who wears masks, wears it in honor of the Lord. The one who does not wear a mask, should go about it in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who wears masks, should wear it in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother for wearing a mask? Or you, why do you despise your brother for not wearing a mask? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall confess to God.”

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that neither view is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by you not wearing a mask, you are no longer walking in love. By you not wearing a mask, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of wearing masks or not wearing masks but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Do not, for the sake of wearing or not wearing masks, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what how he views wearing masks. It is good to wear a mask so that your brother does not stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he does not wear a mask, because the not wearing a mask is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Key Verses

Listen to these key verses again:

v1 “but not to quarrel over opinions”

v4 “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?”

v10 “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?”

v12 “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

v13 “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.”

v15 “For if your brother is grieved [by your view of masks] you are no longer walking in love.”

v19 “So let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

The Problem

How many of us have seen Christians assert their right to not wear a mask in such a way that it hurts other Christians? How many of us have heard others make comments about those who do not wear masks as if they may not be Christian at all? We are using our freedom to beat people over the head. We are using our convictions to shame others who don’t agree. Brothers and sisters, this should not be!

If we are not careful, we will see this build-up into strife and division. Where are the servants in the church? Where are those who want to use their Christian freedom to build others up? Where are those who won’t impose their beliefs on someone else? Where is the grace-hunting? Where is the encouragement? Where is Jesus being seen through us?

The Solution

The only way to come together as the body of Christ is to press further into the gospel. We don’t need less gospel; we need more gospel. We can’t assume the gospel or even just throw the word gospel around. We need the explicit gospel. We need to know that the Son of God humbled Himself to voluntarily take on human flesh to be thrown into the thick of temptation, sin, and sinful culture. We need to know that He remained sinless and perfectly loving and compassionate while pursuing utmost holiness. We need to know that He went to the rugged cross where He absorbed an eternity’s worth of hell for a countless yet definite number of people on their behalf. We need to know that He died a death’s death and when He died He put death to death. We need to know that He rose from the dead and crushed the head of the Serpent with His first step of resurrected life. We need to know that He ascended into Heaven where He reigns and rules with utmost love, sovereignty, compassion, power, justice, and grace. We need to know that we can be saved by grace through faith in Christ alone according to what the Scriptures alone declare to God’s glory. We need to know that He is coming again to judge the righteous and the wicked and that an eternity’s worth of hell or heaven awaits all people who have ever lived.

Do we really know this gospel? Or, do we just assume it? Are we ok with having a short and quick definition of the gospel or is it the very life we live by? Are we ok with hearing sermons that merely mention the word “gospel” or do we long to see the ins and outs of the “heavenly dynamite” (Rom. 1:16) that God has given to us? Is the gospel merely what we embrace to be converted or do we see that it is God’s plan for the entirety of our salvation and the main theme of an eternity’s worth of heaven? Do we just throw the word “gospel” around like it’s a filler word in our Christian sentences or do we cherish the thought of the fact that Jesus is now ours and we are His?

What Now?

Our rivalry over this issue shows that there is a gap between head and heart for the Church (not merely POPC). This is not something that non-PCA churches only need to think about. This is about us. This is about all who call themselves Christians and walk in our doors each week. This is about everyone who looks at what we post and hear what we say.

Brothers and sisters, we must be thoughtful with our posts on social media. We must be compassionate and gracious with our words towards each other. We must stop asserting our rights at the expense of loving another person.

You might ask:

• At what point do we assert our right?

• At what point do we stand for our viewpoint?

• At what point do we stop “giving in”?

• When will it ever end?

• What’s going to be the next burdensome step we’ll have to take?

• Isn’t this just a government issue?

There are thousands of ways to come to the conclusion of those questions but there is one question that weighs more.

The most important question is this: What do you think about Jesus?

That’s it.

To be clear, thoughtful Christians will have different opinions about this issue. And you know what? That’s fine if stays in the realm of a non-essential non-divisive conversation. We should have these conversations.

We will disagree with each other but that should never sever our love for each other.

That’s the most important question. Is Jesus so lovely to you that you would do anything to show Him to others? Where are the Hudson Taylors who wanted to love the people in China so much that he laid down his own “rights”. Where are the John Patons who went to minister to cannibals in the New Hebrides rather than forcing them to become Scottish just like him? Where are those who feel so strongly over a non-essential issue and yet (even if it bugs them internally) will take an act of love for those who might not feel the same?

Yes, there is a point where we must stand in our Christian freedom. Yes, there is a time when we should not let people determine how we live. But my friends, we are a long way from there. There are churches in China who are doing all that they can to merely meet together to worship without being arrested and we are over here arguing with each other about our view of mask wearing.

“But this is a bigger issue than just wearing masks. This is about [science, politics, the future of our country, the health of others, etc.].” There are holy men and women who take both sides to this. Let us not let this non-essential matter divide us. If wearing a mask is better for your more sensitive neighbor then wear a mask. If not wearing a mask (in a more private setting) around someone who is absolutely against wearing masks is more advantageous (and yes, you can keep yourself and others you come in contact with safe) then maybe it’s better to not wear a mask. Whatever we do, let’s do it out of intelligent love.

What we are really seeing right now is what our idols are.

***IF I CAN TAKE A BRIEF PAUSE. THIS IS WHY WE ARE DOING A SUNDAY NIGHT SERIES ON THE IDOLS OF THE HEART. WE NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SHOW US OUR IDOLS SO THAT WE CAN GROW VERTICALLY AND HORIZONTALLY. FOR THE SERMONS, CLICK HERE.***

Who Needs To Respond?

It doesn’t matter if you’re more conservative or liberal politically. It doesn’t matter what your ethnicity is. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor. It doesn’t matter if you’re in medicine or if you’re not. It doesn’t matter if you think this is a hoax or if this is the next Black Plague. What matters is this: What do you think about Jesus?

Paul rooted this doctrine of Christian freedom in the gospel. Jesus didn’t assert His right. He gave it up. He wanted to love us in the way we needed to be loved (be very careful with saying that your “not wearing a mask” stance is the way in which you are loving people in the way they need to be loved). The fundamental issue is showing Christlike love.

If we are not careful, we will see people grow bitter towards others because of what some post and say.

Dear Christian, what do you think about Jesus?