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What Happens When You Hurt

A lot of people suffer in life. One of the greatest lies that we tell is that by accepting Christ, we will somehow be exempt from suffering and pain. We sometimes get the promises of heaven in Revelation 21 confused with the here and now. Revelation 21:4 says, "He [God] will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." This is the hope of every believer in Christ. It is the reward that we get when we are finally in our home. The only problem is that while it is a reality that we will one day get to live in a perfect world where there is no sickness, pain, or death, the present reality is that we are not there yet.

Currently, we live in a world that is plagued by pain and sickness. It is plagued by death. Many people suffer unjustly and curse God for allowing it. We do so without realizing that God is not the author of these things, but that they are brought upon ourselves through sin. We can blame Adam and Eve for introducing them, but have you ever stopped before you told that lie and said, "I'm so glad that my sin is going to cause pain." Have you ever thought about the damage that your sin causes to others when you violate God's commandments. We all sin and we all hurt those we love, but somehow when we are on the receiving end, we fail to realize that sin is the root cause of our pain.

However, not only do we fail to recognize that sin is the cause of our pain, but we also fail to realize that God, in His great mercy and grace, uses our pain to help us and others. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 says,

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. ⁶ If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. ⁷Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

God is there to not only comfort us when we are experiencing pain and affliction, but He is also able to use the trials in our lives to comfort others. Isn't it great how God plans things. This passage is further proof of the fact that Christianity is not an isolationist religion, but we are designed for community together with one another. God wants us to relate to one another, and when we experience pain, others come along side us to comfort us. But when we have been through a trial and come back out of it and we see our brother suffering, we can run along side of that person and provide comfort and help to them. Also, we can share in Christ's sufferings when we suffer. We can experience a taste of what He went through and we can rejoice that He bore our transgressions and our iniquities were upon Him and by His wounds we are healed (Is. 53). So when you feel like God doesn't care and you wonder what's going on when you suffer, remember that God is actively at work. He loves you and cares for you and one day there will be no more pain. While there is pain, let's work alongside of God and minister with Him!

Evangelicalism's Terminal Generation?

Evangelicalism's Terminal Generation?

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Missional Attractiveness

There is much ado lately among church planters and strategists that has arisen out of a wonderful awakening to the fact that the church is in crisis. The crisis is not wonderful, but the fact that we are finally realizing that we are on borrowed time as a church is. We are realizing now that we must take the Great Commission seriously if we are to survive as a church. Jesus promised that the church would always be around (Matt. 16:18), but He also promised that we would have trials in this world (Jn. 16:33). We also are reminded that man will not naturally choose to live a righteous life (Matt. 7:13-14). So what is all of the talk about?

Many have begun to argue over what the best model of “doing” church should look like. Many of the debates have centered on whether the church should follow the Missional Model (i.e. house churches, etc.), or the Emergent Model (make the church look more like the culture), or the Traditional Model (institutional church, etc.). These debates have come from men and women who earnestly seek to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples, but the concern has been over what the best way to accomplish this is. We are living in an age where fewer and fewer people are coming in through the church doors and fewer are able to tell you what the Bible really says. Biblical illiteracy has led to a crisis in the church, but we also need to realize that we very well may be approaching the last hours of the last days. I am not going to lay out a prediction for when the Lord will return, nor am I arguing for Millennial views here, but I do believe that as we approach the last days, there will be a great falling away (2 Tim. 4:3-4; Matt. 24:9-14). However, despite this belief that I hold, I have also read the end of the passage in Matt. 24:

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

This is clearly a call to fulfill the Great Commission. I believe so much in the Great Commission that I like Mark’s account the best:

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” – Mark 16:15

I say preach it to the cows and the chickens, as well as to every person you meet.

Having said this, we need to analyze why it may be that people are not coming to our churches. I don’t believe that the problem is the institutional church, as some like Allan Hirsch believe, or that we need to look like the culture, as others believe. I believe the problem really lies in the fact that we say we have tried the Traditional Model and it has failed us, but we have not tried the biblical model. What I mean is this. We have hordes of preachers who claim to be biblical expositors of Scripture, but they aren’t really doing anything more than reading the biblical text and then giving their thoughts or opinions on it. They are not truly expounding, or explaining, the text. In addition to this problem, pastor’s have lost their since of evangelistic fervor. The pulpits are not evangelistic; therefore the pews are not evangelistic. Perhaps the problem in our churches is not the model of ministry, but rather the motivation of ministry. We are so focused on self that we fail to focus on glorifying God. When we begin to have a proper view of God, we will worship Him on His terms as He describes to us in His Word, not as some cultural standard dictates (emerging church). We will also begin to study the Word of God as the Word of God and we will naturally make disciples and teach in our homes, while at the same time realizing our need for a corporate gathering to worship God. I don’t think you can look at the Old or New Testaments and say that a strictly house church model is the way God intended the church to be. The Israelites had corporate feasts and worship services and the New Testament saints regularly gathered in the temple and synagogues, until they were kicked out! They went into homes, because they had no choice! Maybe our model needs to rely less on man and more on God. What did Jesus use to reach people? He taught them the Word, speaking as the Word, and we have been given the greatest missionary tool available that has received the greatest attack from people in every generation, the very Word of God, the Bible. Let’s read it. Let’s do it. Let’s make disciples!

Article Review of "Sexual Sins and the Wider, Deeper Battle" by David Powlison

This is an article review that I wrote that deals with a major issue that people, men in particular face. The issue is that of sexual sin. Sexual sin manifests itself in many different ways, and you might be surprised what the root cause of many of these sins is. Read the review here.

What is Your Religious System?

In light of recent comments made by our president, I felt it necessary to bring out a few important things about religious viewpoints. This article is not intended to bash President Obama, but rather to use some of his speeches as an example to highlight the different views of religion.

Have you ever thought about what you believe? Have you ever wondered if what you believe is right? If it were wrong would you want to know it? There are several different belief systems out there. After reading this article, you will see that all of them cannot be right. The basic tenets of each religious system of thought will naturally exclude other systems.

What exactly do we mean by “religious systems of thought”? What is a religious system? There are several major designations for these religious systems. When we refer to them, we are not speaking simply of what religious belief a person holds to (i.e. Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jew, etc.). We are rather referring to how these other religious systems can be viewed within our own framework. One of the most popular religious systems is found in Christianity itself and that is the system of Exclusivism. Exclusivists hold to the view that there is absolute truth and to believe in anything else is to believe in a lie. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father, but by me.”We should note that not all Christians hold to an Exclusivist position. For example, Catholic doctrine teaches a belief in Purgatory where the impenitent will have an opportunity to atone for their less severe sins. They also teach that there is some value in other religious systems. Whether you belief this or not is for another article, but the point here is simply that Exclusivists believes that their beliefs point the way to the truth and any other way is false. On the flip side, Inclusivism believes that all people will be saved. This does not mean that they believe that every religion is correct, but they believe all men will ultimately end up in heaven. This is most akin to Mormon teachings on heaven and “outer darkness.” Pluralists believe that God is at the top of a mountain and the world’s religions are paths that lead up different sides of that mountain. They believe that everyone worships the same God in their own way. However, can this be true? Is Allah the same as Yahweh? Is the God Christians worship the same as the god (herself) that Shirley MacLain worships? Certainly not! Universalists believe that we can glean understanding from all of the world’s religions and all religions are valid as long as they uphold these universal principles. In a Universalist church service, you will find the pastor reading from the Koran, the Bible, and the New York times. He will ignore the contradictions because for him they don’t matter. We are simply trying to find the good in everything.

Why take the time to even care about these systems? The answer is simple. Right is right and wrong is wrong (what system is that?). Every one of us really holds to an exclusivist position. Take for example your bank account. Don’t you want to have an absolute standard for knowing exactly how much money is in there? Don’t you want to know for sure what the direction of a particular city is when you are traveling? Don’t you want the doctor to know for sure whether you have cancer or not? Of course we do! It is only when it comes to God’s truth that we begin to blur the lines to suit our fancy. As mentioned above, Jesus claimed to be the only way to the Father. That means all other bets are off. Islam claims to be the only way to Allah. These both cannot be true. We then must resort to which one has proven itself to be faithful and true. The Bible has been tested and tried and been found to be trustworthy. It lauds a Savior who has risen from the grave. What greater authority does He need? The Koran and every other religion have fallen short. Their texts of scripture do not hold water compared to the Bible and their religious leaders are still in the grave. Which one will you choose? The choice is of eternal importance!

When Justice Seems Perverted

Ever felt like the bad guys always seem to get away with stuff? Sometimes our lives can seem so unfair. It can seem as if justice is never served. That's how things were for the prophet Habakkuk. He was a watchman in his city and constantly saw evil being committed, even by the leaders of the city! It seemed as if everywhere Habakkuk turned, there was evil. God seemed to have turned a deaf ear to the problem and this brought some major questions for Habakkuk. Of course, we've all felt this way before. The important thing to understand is that God is still in control. Let's look at what God was doing in the story of Habakkuk.