A Boyfriend Is Not The Solution, And Not The Problem

Sometimes I sit through these counseling sessions where the girl goes on and on about her idiot moron unprincipled boyfriend: he doesn’t listen, he clips his nails in bed, he showers every three days, he forgets to call, how do I get him to hear me, I try so hard to express my feelings and it’s like he does not care, and –

I want to say the same thing, you know. I do not care, either.

If God were at that moment to tear the roof off over our heads and take a peek, I wonder how much she would care.

Even for five seconds, to see the glorious holy wrathful infinite epic universe-exploding face of God. Does anything else really matter then? We’d both burst into flames. So no, nothing else matters then.

Every selfish desire is predicated on a tangible, earthly treasure, and it always turns out to be garbage. William Law said so simply, “If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.” A hard truth, but standing before the face-melting presence of God, it’s the only truth.

At judgment you’ll only have one problem: and only one solution.

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Self-Dissociation: How A Christian Can Condemn The Very Sin He Loves Doing

We’re not surprised anymore when a famous preacher who blasts homosexuality gets caught in a homosexual affair doing meth. A governor who pursues ethics in Wall Street is busted for carousing with prostitutes. An actor turned governor turned actor hides a secret child outside his marriage for ten years, fully realizing his role as an actor. We’ve learned that Nazi doctors who ordered the deaths of countless people were also fathers and husbands, a phenomenon later coined “doubling.” At least a third of pastors are addicted to pornography. And half of Christian men are in the same boat.

Once you claim a standard, you’re claimed by that standard.

Even the reckless prodigal or the pseudo-reasonable atheist has claimed categories of superiority. They both sneer at the religious right. The only difference is a Christian works from a deficit: he is expected to be impeccably polite while an atheist lacks all accountability and likes it that way. The atheist has infinite loopholes when he falls — especially when he falls — while the Christian is ready to be hanged at any second for a single outburst.

It’s a sort of reverse bigotry. The non-religious gets in a scandal and it’s “business as usual.” The pastor destroys his marriage and he’s no longer qualified for ministry, or to be treated like a human being.

How far do we take this? If an atheist turned out to be an axe murderer, his atheism as a cover is as good as a cheap hooker’s dress. Try to call that the usual business and you’re likely to be called insane.

No matter who you are or claim to be, a standard has claimed you.

The late John Stott said, Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross … It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.

While no one has a valid excuse for hypocrisy, a follower of Christ has more reason to keep it real. He is held accountable even when others are not. And if we claim no superiority, then we have no right to judge outside the church. We have every right to confront each other in the church, to build and not to destroy.

But we cannot ask of others what we first are not doing ourselves.

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I Want To Read My Bible — But How?

You cracked open your journal, busted out your favorite pen, and finally opened your Bible.

Five sentences later, you have no idea what you just read.

Confusion, frustration, resignation: But the pastor made it so easy. It was better when he told it.

And the final excuse: At least I tried.

It’s happened to all of us, from rookies to veterans, when we catch the excitement of digging into Scripture and come out cold. Most of us will conclude the Bible is too hard, that we’re not mature enough, that we need to be spoon-fed, that something’s wrong with me, that we’ll try it again later. And with each pass at reading, we grow more bewildered.

Every pastor with the best of intentions is yelling at you to read your Bible, but they forget to tell you how.

Of course the simplest way would be to turn to Genesis and just rip right through it. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a little help in reading Scripture. If you genuinely want to read the Bible but have had some false starts, here are some ways to dig into the Greatest Truth in the universe.

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Question: What About Disease and Disasters?

themichaelwchen asked:
Hello :) Thank you for the follow! I have a question that I hope you may be able to shed a bit of light on. Actually, it’s a question that my friend asked me and I’ve been a bit torn on how to answer. Does God create disease and natural disasters? If so, why? If not, why doesn’t He stop them? I would appreciate your response greatly! -In Christ, Michael

Please first know that we tiny little human beings with our 3 lb. brains and stupid idol-craving hearts couldn’t possibly answer the huge question of planetary problems.  The Bible (not surprisingly) doesn’t say much about it, except that disaster and disease will happen.  In other words, God doesn’t need to defend Himself since He’s God.

But I’ll try to provide some biblical and logical reasons here. Please note that to an unbeliever, these answers will sound stupid.  But the Bible told us that would happen, even when Jesus died, and believers will reason it out through His Spirit.  So I’m not here to convince anyone, but rather humbly see things from God’s point of view.

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$10,000

Update on this post about donating half of my salary away.

Hello, friends!

First of all, thank you to the dozens of people who have shown support and encouragement.

Thanks to my friend Christine for sending me a $100 Starbucks gift card.

Thanks also to my mom, who is not a Christian, who lovingly understands what I’m trying to do.

After some discussions and ruminating, I thought I would be a little smarter about it.

- Each month I’ll put $900 or more in savings.

- This will accrue at least a little interest.

- At the end of the year, I’ll have at least $10,000.

- Over the year I’ll pray about an awesome charity.

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A Shameless Self-Promotion For The Podcast



Hello fellow bloggers and readers!

If the podcast has been a blessing to you, then I’d please like to shamelessly ask if you could write a review on iTunes or drop some star ratings.


If you’re not sure how, just click the blue button on the left of the page that looks like this:

From there in iTunes you can write a review or rate by stars!

Thank you to those who have already helped out.

And thanks again friends. Love y’all.

– J.S.



Guest Post: Goodbye “purity”, and good riddance

Had to share this one from my brother Unka Glen. If this were a boxing match with the devil, the devil got KO’ed in the first ten seconds.

—

Anonymous asked: A little over a year ago, I was raped by a good friend who I thought was a Godly man. Now I’m not sure how to tell a future boyfriend about the loss of my purity, or how it will affect our relationship. How would I go about talking to him? Sexual purity has always been a big deal to me, and I don’t want to disappoint my future husband.

Unka Glen answered: That does it. [blowing loud whistle] Alright, everyone out of the pool. It’s over. This “purity” thing? That’s over. We’re done. No mas. Has anybody out there had an impure thought, an impure sexual desire, or wandered over to a website you shouldn’t have? Okay, I see everyone’s hand. NONE of us is pure. None. So, WE ARE NOT USING THIS WORD ANY MORE.

Tell me, my sister, who it was that told you that you would “disappoint” your husband because of something that SOMEONE ELSE did that somehow makes YOU impure? Give me the name, give me the address, because me and a vanload of the brothers from my day job are going to “lay hands” on somebody.

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Question: The Cure To Lukewarm Is Doing More?

Anonymous asked:
Can you tell me more about being a lukewarm christian? I know it’s not prioritizing God as one should, but whenever I hear others talk about it, it seems like they’re saying that one has to do works to get to heaven and believing isn’t enough. I thought all one had to do was believe Jesus Christ is their savior? I’m not saying this so I can be lazy about my faith, I am just curious and a little nervous. Thanks! Have a great day. :)

So there are two discussions here.  The first is the good old-fashioned battle of Faith versus Works, where Christians unwittingly pit one against the other.  I believe it’s a hot issue again since the “I Hate Religion” video, but the answer has always been the same.  It’s never faith versus works, but as I’ve said before, true faith is a faith that works.  James 2 says it all. 

Some of us get confused by Ephesians 2:8-9, where it appears we only need faith, but we forget to read verse ten (and the rest of Ephesians).  Of course works by themselves do not save us, or else we’ve hit Pharisee-land, but you know the rest: works must flow from the wellspring of true belief.

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Explicit Gospel Tour — Matt Chandler

Matt Chandler is touring in six states for his new book, The Explicit Gospel.

He will also be touring with Shane and Shane.

I’ll definitely be catching him in Florida.


From The Resurgence:

Inspired by the needs of both the overchurched and the unchurched, and bolstered by the common neglect of the explicit gospel within Christianity, Matt Chandler has written this punchy treatise. He begins with the specifics of the gospel—outlining what it is and what it is not—and then switches gears to focus on the fullness of the gospel and its massive implications on both personal and cosmic levels.



For full size, here.


Book Review: ReThink


ReThink
By Steve Wright

Summary:
Youth ministry is messed up, don’t you know? So says every article on youth ministry, ever. Steve Wright is onto something here, but beats a dead horse so badly that it looks alive from the twitching of his unrelenting beatdown.

Weaknesses:
The ratio is about Ten to One: Ten complaints for every One solution. He never stops saying there’s a problem with youth ministry. We get it. By chapter four when he offers a way forward, he still keeps hammering that there must be change. This doesn’t let up to the final page.

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For Sale or For Lent

I’ve decided this Lent to give up online shopping for forty days.

Since I have Amazon Prime, I constantly make random impulse buys: pens, notepads, headphones, guitar accessories, and as many as a dozen books at a time. I get at least one shipment per week.

Since I also decided to cut my life in half, this will be helpful.

Here’s to no more impulse buying.

What are you giving up?


Quote: Individualism


Based on our research, I also worry that some of the Christian community’s teaching on abstinence focuses too much on the personal, individualist benefits of delaying sex until marriage. I am certainly not questioning the motives of those who urge the next generation toward sexual purity but I do wonder if some of the methods reflect a mindset influenced by individualism. ‘Save yourself for marriage and have fantastic sex with one partner, the way it’s meant to be. Sex as God intended will blow your mind. Be safe; avoid the risks of STDs and an unwanted pregnancy. Think about your future.’ Much of the abstinence messaging, however well-intended, capitulates to culturally cultivated individualism: sex is about me.

– David Kinnaman

“Give Up the Gimmicks, Youth Pastors”



An article about youth ministry by Brian Cosby at The Gospel Coalition.

Excerpt:

“All too often, youth programs have turned to entertainment-driven models of ministry in order to bring in youth. Success has become the name of the church-growth game. The devastating effects, however, are not only seen in the number of youth leaving the church after high school, but also in a spiritually and theologically shallow worldview among many American teenagers. The irony is that these same teens actually want to grow and learn hard truths. They want to know how to think about suffering, how to pray, and why Jesus had to die.

If there’s anything a youth pastor knows—even after only a few months in ministry—it’s that fatigue and feelings of burnout come with the task. The constant pressure from parents, youth, church leadership, the senior pastor, and even his own family can wear a minister out very quickly.”

Continue Reading at The Gospel Coalition


Read Related:

– Young People: Not So Young
– Question: Youth Ministry Struggles
– How To Lose God In Ten Days
– When Pastors Just Want To Quit
– Book Review: Speaking To Teenagers
– Book Review: You Lost Me


Secular Vs. Spiritual: How Do I Glorify God At My Desk Job? Part 2

A four part series on connecting Christ with your career, and how he owns it.
1) Restorative — 2) Creative — 3) Narrative — 4) Connective

Is being a pastor or missionary the only “real work” for God?

The church has missed sorely on exhorting believers to faithful living in their careers, instead lifting “ministry” as a first class calling and degrading a full-time job as bottom-of-the-barrel drudgery. This sort of false divide creates unnecessary tension for those desiring to “work for God,” thinking we can only do so through seminary or your Church Membership class.

We do a great disservice to artists, doctors, musicians, writers, and all the sciences when we relegate them to a dustbin of irredeemable secular scraps.

Here will be four biblical principles derived from the Books of Nehemiah, Daniel, and other places that outline how our individual vocations honor God. The first was Restorative. The second is Creative. The others will be in upcoming posts.

Continue reading →

“An Open Letter To Praise Bands”

An article by James Smith well worth reading for both praise bands and churchgoers.

Excerpt:

Without us realizing it, the dominant practices of performance train us to relate to music (and musicians) in a certain way: as something for our pleasure, as entertainment, as a largely passive experience.

In a concert, we come to expect that weird sort of sensory deprivation that happens from sensory overload, when the pounding of the bass on our chest and the wash of music over the crowd leaves us with the rush of a certain aural vertigo. And there’s nothing wrong with concerts! It’s just that Christian worship is not a concert. Christian worship is a collective, communal, congregational practice–and the gathered sound and harmony of a congregation singing as one is integral to the practice of worship.

Continue Reading at Fors Clavigera


Read Related:

- What About The Guy In The Back? – Why Bigger Worship Is Not Better Worship
- I Love That Song
- How To Lose God In Ten Days
- Sermon Fail: Unprepared In The Pulpit
- The Worst Sermon I Have Ever Heard