The Impact of Jesus' Resurrection by Tony Merida

 

Genesis ends with Joseph’s death. Deuteronomy ends with Moses’s death. Joshua ends with Joshua’s death. The Gospels end with Jesus’s resurrection. And that changes everything.

—Tony Merida

Be the church by Shane Pruitt

Don't just attend church.

Love the church. Serve the church. Give through the church. Invite people to church. Worship Jesus with the church. Encourage the church. Participate in the church. Pray for the church. Be the church.

Why I Chose the Church with Worn-Out Bathrooms by Jen Oshman

I’ll never forget one Sunday morning after our family had just moved back to the U.S. from living overseas. We had to find a place to worship. “Church shopping,” as it’s sometimes called, was tough for many reasons. But on that particular Sunday morning, I observed something that made me downright giddy: curled-up linoleum in the women’s bathroom.

A worn-out restroom wouldn’t normally give me joy, but the somewhat neglected flooring told me something important about that church. Combined with a crowd bustling in the sanctuary, the lively conversations that ensued as soon as the worship service ended, and the gospel-packed sermon we’d just listened to, it was obvious this church had a healthy outward focus.

As first-time visitors, we were greeted by the pastor, other church staff, and everyone sitting near us in the sanctuary. Volunteers met my kids at the Sunday school room door with huge smiles, and our pew-mates offered me tissues when I shed some tears during the service.

These people cared more about welcoming newcomers than they did about the bathroom floors. Their hearts and their budget were set more on people than on their facility. I’m not suggesting curled linoleum is a litmus test for faithful churches. But we’d visited at least a few churches with beautiful bathrooms but no obvious enthusiasm for newcomers or the grace and gospel of Jesus. Seeing those vibrant people and their service, alongside an imperfect building, gave me hope that this congregation would be a place of refuge in our transition—a people who would make space for us.

Externally Focused

And they were. After a couple of Sundays, a handful of conversations with church members, and even invitations to hang out with them during the week, we learned this church’s culture was very outwardly focused. They worked hard to welcome outsiders, serve their community, and make their church building a warm and welcoming home for anyonewho wanted to come in.

Their hearts and their budget were set more on people than on their facility.

Such a radical outward focus and commitment to welcoming others can feel risky and counterintuitive for both church leaders and members. Shouldn’t we focus on ourselves? we wonder. Will the people in here be OK if we keep extending a welcome to the people out there?

But here’s the crazy, countercultural, faith-requiring answer to those questions: To the extent we try to save or preserve or protect our churches for their own sakes, we will lose them. Jesus says to you and me and to every church family, “Lose your life for me and for the gospel and that’s where you will find true life” (see Matt. 10:39). The more we as individuals and our churches as a whole seek to lay ourselves down for others, the more joy, satisfaction, and true life we’ll find.

Rethinking Priorities

This upside-down spiritual truth is what my family observed at the church with the curled-up linoleum. Their priorities were evident: fixing up their church building came second to serving their community and inviting others in. One might think they needed to keep their facilities pristine so more people would visit and come back. It would certainly be a bonus for the church members who use that bathroom week in and week out. And please hear me, I’m not making a prescription for all churches to neglect their buildings for the sake of the gospel.

But this church’s example is provoking and worth considering. As church leaders and members, we’re wise to keep an eye out for signs our churches are too self-focused. Here are some questions worth asking:

• Does your congregation see the culture outside your church as an enemy to be kept away or as people to be welcomed in with the love and mercy of Jesus?
• Which are your church attendees more likely to ask: “What can I receive?” or “What can I give?”
• When presented with a plan to plant a new church or to provide a missional outreach activity, is your congregation excited or resistant?
• Does your congregation tend to idolize the past and the “good ol’ days,” or is there a fresh excitement about what God is doing today?
• Looking at your church budget and calendar, do you see evidence of spending time and money on outward-facing ministry?
• As a pastor or church leader, do you feel tempted to view people in the pews as dollars in the bank, thereby making yourself susceptible to catering to the people “in here” at the expense of the souls “out there”?

Laying Ourselves Down

If we’re honest, I think every Christian can detect in himself or herself an element of self-focus. Thankfully, our God is endless in mercy, and he’ll help us take up our crosses and follow him.

The more we seek to lay ourselves down for others, the more joy, satisfaction, and true life we’ll find.

The goal for you and me isn’t curled-up linoleum in our church bathrooms. The goal is to honor and proclaim Christ crucified, risen, and coming again. The goal is to lay ourselves and our churches down, again and again, for others, as our Savior did for us. As Jesus welcomed us in, may we too welcome others. Our Lord sacrificed his own comfort—his own life—that he might welcome us. By his indwelling power, may we go to great and sacrificial lengths to do the same.

This article first appeared here at The Gospel Coalition.

 

 

Christ in Every Book of the Bible by Charles Spurgeon

 

Is It Wrong to Have Sex Before Marriage? by Kevin DeYoung

 (This is the original post here)

Not long ago, an American politician found herself in an awkward situation when she mentioned at a prayer breakfast that she was running late for the event because her fiancé wanted to have sex that morning. From her public admission, it was clear that the woman and her fiancé were living together and were in a sexual relationship. What was also clear is that the woman—a professing Christian at an evangelical church (with her pastor in the audience)—didn’t realize she had said or done anything wrong. She mentioned her reason for being late with a smile and with a chuckling assurance to her fiancé that she would see him in the evening and that he wouldn’t have to wait long for his desires to be fulfilled. Later, after getting flack for her risqué remarks, the congresswoman explained that she goes to church because she is a sinner, not because she is a saint.

I mention this story not to draw attention to this particular event or to pick on this particular politician, but to illustrate the reality that sex before marriage, even for many Christians, has lost any sense of stigma. Watch almost any television show or any movie that involves dating or romance, and you will find that sexual activity between non-married persons is completely normal and utterly pervasive. Christians may still get upset when the culture pushes an LGBTQ agenda, but most of those same Christians won’t even notice when popular songs, shows, videos, or movies routinely show, describe, or assume sex before marriage. If worldliness is whatever makes sin look normal and righteousness look strange (to paraphrase David Wells), then the routine acceptance of sex before marriage is one of the clearest signs of worldliness in our age.

Is It Wrong?

The title of this piece asks, “Is it wrong to have sex before marriage?” so let me start by showing from the Bible that such behavior is clearly a sin. “Fornication” is the (now rarely used word) for sex between two persons who are not married. In traditional terms, adultery has often meant illicit sex once married, and fornication has meant illicit sex outside of marriage. The word “fornication” is used in the King James Version in 1 Corinthians 6:18, but the Greek word there is porneia which includes every kind of illicit sexual activity, from adultery to homosexuality to prostitution to sex before marriage.

The Bible doesn’t dwell on the sin of fornication because such behavior was, in the minds of the biblical authors, clearly and obviously wrong. We see this assumption in several places. According to Exodus 22:16–17, the man who has sex with a non-engaged virgin, should make her his wife, indicating that sexual intercourse is a covenant-forming activity not to be entered into apart from the covenant bonds of marriage. Likewise, according to Deuteronomy 22:13–21, if a woman has sex before marriage, she is put in the same category as a prostitute. The Torah does not allow for sex before marriage.

The New Testament carries forward the same sexual boundaries found in the Old Testament. When Joseph sought to quietly break off his betrothal to pregnant Mary, it is obvious that Joseph considers Mary to have done something wrong and that the whole community will also disapprove of Mary’s behavior (Matt. 1:19). The Bible also considers it important for us to know that Mary really was a virgin (Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:34). Most clearly, the logic of 1 Corinthians 7—that it is better to marry than to burn with passion (1 Cor. 7:9)—only works on the assumption that sexual activity belongs in marriage and not outside of marriage. The strong desire for sexual intimacy should only be fulfilled within the bonds of marriage between a man and woman (1 Cor. 7:36–38). Every other context for sexual intimacy is sin. This means that sexual activity before marriage—which includes sexual intercourse, and by extension, every kind of romantic activity involving one’s sexual parts—is prohibited by God.

Why Is It Wrong?

That fornication is sin should be obvious from even a cursory reading of the Bible. Why fornication is wrong takes a little more thought. As I said earlier, the Bible doesn’t say a whole lot about sex before marriage. We cannot automatically gauge the importance of a matter in the Bible, or the gravity of an offense, merely by counting up the number of verses used to discuss the issue. The sense one gets from reading the Scriptures is that the people of God knew fornication was obviously wrong and so there wasn’t a lot to say except to set forth the consequences of the sin and how to avoid and flee the sin. Nevertheless, if we think a bit broader and deeper, it’s not hard to understand why the Bible puts premarital sex outside the bounds of licit sexual behavior. 

Simply put, fornication is a sin because it is inconsistent with the nature of sex, the nature of marriage, and the nature of the family. Marriage is a covenant bond between a man and woman (Mal. 2:14), a covenantal bond sealed by the one flesh union of sexual intimacy (Gen. 2:24). In his book Marriage as Covenant, pastor and biblical scholar Gordon Hugenberger argues convincingly that marriage during the Old Testament period was typically formed by the swearing of a solemn oath (verba solemnia) and then ratified by the oath-sign of sexual intercourse. The two elements were meant to go together, with the public promise preceding the private ratification. As Hugenberger puts it, “because of the necessarily private, though no less binding, nature of sexual union as an oath-sign, the complementary verba solemnia were especially appropriate as they offer essential public evidence of the solemnization of a marriage” (p. 216). When couples have sex before marriage, they are engaging in private activity whose purpose is to consummate a public promise. Without the latter, the former is an endeavor to enjoy the benefits of the covenant without formally entering into the covenant.

We should not overlook the language of “one flesh” in Genesis 2:24. On one level, it can be argued that the language of “one flesh” means sexual intimacy should not take place unless the couple is ready to commit to “oneness” in every other area of the relationship. Sex is the final and most intimate of relational bonds, and it should not be entered into unless the couple has promised to be bound together for life. That is a fair inference from the language of “one flesh.”

At the same time, the more direct referent is not to the oneness of relational intimacy but to the oneness of biological function. The reason that same-sex unions do not constitute marriage is the same reason that couples do not commit fornication by merely holding hands or hugging. “One flesh” does not refer to any kind of activity that physically connects one person to another. A man and a woman become “one flesh” in sexual intercourse because their individual bodies come together for a singular biological purpose. Marriage is that sort of union which, if all the plumbing is working correctly and takes place at the opportune time, produces children. This doesn’t mean every act of sex must produce children, but it does mean that when we engage in sexual activity, we are opening ourselves up to the gift of children. The promises made in marriage matter not just for the bride and groom. The promises matter for the sake of the children that they hope to produce and for the sake of the wider community that benefits when children are born in wedlock and raised by their two biological parents.

Sex before marriage undermines all this. Fornication only “works” if sex can be divorced from the promises that constitute a marriage, divorced from the public dimension of marriage, and divorced from the children that normally come from marriage and flourish most in the context of marriage. The Bible clearly and explicitly says that premarital sex is wrong. The Bible just as clearly, if more implicitly, teaches that premarital sex is personally selfish and publicly subversive of the goods that marriage is meant to promote and protect.

What If I’ve Already Committed this Wrong?

I would be remiss if I didn’t offer a word of hope for those who already know that premarital sex is wrong and feel terrible that they’ve committed this sin. Fornication is not the unforgivable sin, neither does it consign a person to a life of second-class spiritual citizenship. Think of the second chance given to the prostitute Gomer in the book of Hosea. Think of the sexual sinners in the genealogy of Jesus. Think about the women who were sexual sinners who encountered God’s grace in Jesus. Most importantly, think of the cross where all our sins can be washed whiter than snow. Let us walk in the light as God is in the light (1 John 1:7). It’s true, sex before marriage is a sin, but if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). 

Kevin DeYoung is the senior pastor at Christ Covenant Church (PCA) in Matthews, North Carolina and associate professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.

Five Things to Remember about the Call to Preach by Dr. Brad Whitt (EXCELLENT ARTICLE)

I didn’t grow up dreaming about being a pastor. I had other ambitions—an attorney, an artist, even an archaeologist in third grade. But everything changed during my junior year at Union University, on a Wednesday night at the Pastor’s Bible Study at West Jackson Baptist Church. I had a personal and unmistakable encounter with God that night—so clear and convicting that I placed my “yes” on the table right then and there.

At first, I wondered if it might be music ministry (despite the fact I couldn’t play an instrument or read music), or perhaps discipleship or education. But within a week, it became clear—God wasn’t just calling me to ministry; He was calling me to the pastorate. That call to preach has shaped my life, grounded my steps, and become one of the greatest joys I’ve ever known. That’s why I say this: pastoring is not a profession—it’s a calling. You don’t choose it like a career path. You don’t weigh the pros and cons like you’re picking between job offers. You surrender to it. The call to preach is a divine assignment, not a vocational option. There are easier ways to make a living, and there are certainly safer ways to spend your life. But if God has called you to preach, there is no greater honor, no higher responsibility, and no deeper joy than opening the Word of God and declaring, “Here's what God says.” Here are five things every preacher must remember about the call to preach: 1. The Call to Preach Is Divine, Not Optional. You don’t volunteer for this. You don’t just wake up one day and decide you want to be a preacher. The call to preach comes from God alone. In Jeremiah 1:5, God told the prophet, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” And in Galatians 1:15–16, Paul speaks of being “separated from my mother’s womb and called... to reveal His Son in me.” A divine calling means you’re not in this for yourself. You’re not preaching to impress people, build a platform, or climb a ladder. You’re preaching because God has placed His hand on you and said, “This is what I want you to do with your life.” When you know that, it doesn’t matter how hard it gets or how few people notice—you keep preaching because God told you to. 2. Your Calling Must Be Internal—But Also Confirmed Externally. The inward call matters. You need to have that deep, undeniable sense in your soul that God has set you apart to preach the gospel. It’s the fire in your bones Jeremiah talked about (Jer. 20:9). It’s the “woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” that Paul described (1 Cor. 9:16). But that inward call should also be confirmed by others. God never calls in isolation. Your church family, your pastor, your mentors—they ought to see evidence of your gifting and affirm your calling. If you think you’re called to preach but no one wants to hear you preach, you may need to pray and wait. Calling is clarified over time and tested in community. 3. Your Call Won’t Protect You from Hardship—But Will Anchor You in It. Preaching doesn’t come with a pain-free guarantee. In fact, if you’re truly called, you’re likely going to face more hardship, not less. Ask Jeremiah how well he was received. Ask Paul how many times he was beaten, imprisoned, or rejected. But here’s the good news: when you’re certain of your calling, hardship doesn’t shake you—it anchors you. When the criticism comes, when the church votes don’t go your way, when the fruit seems small and the burden seems heavy, you won’t quit. Why? Because you know you were called to this. When your calling is clear, your footing is strong. 4. You Preach Because You Must—Not Because You Can. There are plenty of people who can give a speech. There are people who can inspire a crowd, tell a great story, or teach a great lesson. But preaching isn’t about any of that. Preaching is proclaiming God’s Word with God’s authority under God’s direction. When you’re called to preach, you’re not doing it because you like the spotlight or enjoy the applause. You’re doing it because you can’t sleep if you don’t. You’re compelled by the Spirit of God to deliver the truth of God. You may not be the best orator. You may not have the most clever outlines. But if God has called you, there will be power, because it’s His Word and His Spirit doing the work. 5. The Weight of Your Calling Should Humble You, Not Paralyze You. Let’s be honest: the call to preach is heavy. You’re handling holy things. You’re speaking on behalf of the God of the universe. That should humble you. But it shouldn’t paralyze you. God’s call comes with God’s empowerment. If He called you, He will equip you. Don’t let fear keep you from obedience. Don’t let insecurity drown out God’s voice. Get on your knees, get in the Word, and then stand up and speak with boldness, because you’re not speaking for yourself—you’re speaking for the King. Bonus: Five Signs You Might Be Called to Preach: * You feel a deep and growing burden to declare God’s Word. * You are affirmed by other faithful believers who recognize your gifting. * You cannot get away from the pull, no matter how hard you try. * You love studying Scripture and helping others understand it. * You feel more alive in the pulpit than anywhere else. As Dr. Adrian Rogers once told us: “If God has called you to preach, don’t stoop to be a king.” So preach. With all your heart. With all your strength. With all your life.

A Thin Line for Pastors from Caring for People and People Pleasing

The last thing a struggling, active pastor wants to hear is from someone who is no longer serving as a pastor.  So, warning...maybe you don't need to read this. 

This blog may be more self-reflection than directive for those who are still active serving.  Pastoring is tough and I failed far more times than I had any since of fulfillment.  But as I reflect, one of the areas of failure is walking the thin line between caring for people and people pleasing.

And I do mean it is a thin line.  I even thought of calling it a slippery slope.  

I don't know a pastor who does not care for people.   A pastor is a shepherd, and a true shepherd cares for his sheep.  So every pastor cares deeply for the people he is privileged and called to serve.  He cares for them when they hurt in their relationships, vocational issues, physical problems, financial challenges, and of course, spiritually.  When they hurt, he hurts.  This even goes beyond the person, but to their family and even friends.  I would pray for them, contact them, be with them, and walk with them through deep valleys and dark times of the soul.

While this is normal for a pastor, one of the dangers of being a pastor is to become a people pleaser.  While everyone faces that same challenge in one way or another, pastors are especially vulnerable because of their deep care for people.  They don't want to add to their sorrow or load of care.  We don't want people to be upset with us or speaking/thinking negatively of us.  

But it is almost impossible to be a true leader of people and at the same time wish to please everyone. Every leader in the Bible had times when the people were upset with the leader or even rebelled against them.  Every pastor has to deal with those same realities, but it does not mean we like it.  

I wish I had done better with this, but I will readily admit I failed.  But let me speak to what I wish I had done as a pastor in regard to this:

* Realize there will always be people disappointed with you and even flat don't like you.

* Set boundaries mentally and emotionally.  I can't tell you where those boundaries need to be, but they must be present.  Don't permit people outside of your immediate circle to go any further than a set place.  I did not do this well, if at all.  I can't tell you how to do this.  But it I do believe it is essential to survive.

* Find the good landing spot between your heart being tender and tough.  Again, you will often fall on one side or the other of this thin line. 

* Find times of getting away from people for a season (prayer retreat, vacation, etc).  Jesus did.  He would leave the crowd and go somewhere alone with God.  We are not better than Jesus, so we must do so as well.  

* Don't forget Acts 6:4 when the apostles said the needs of the people should never cause the man of God to forsake "prayer and the Word."  As important as caring for people is, the ministry of prayer and the Word is even more.