Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 198

Uncoolness, Tolerance, and Christ’s Bride the Church

I came to Christ at an uncool church (not the one in the photo, but built in the same era). Coming from the family of a tavern owner, and never having been part of a church, it was strange to hear the way people spoke, how they dressed (the men wore suits and ties) and what they sang, including occasional songs in Swedish. I remember one sermon when the pastor talked about taverns being places of darkness and “dens of evil.”

The intolerance toward taverns was pretty weird to me, since they were my favorite places to go as a kid. (My dad owned a couple and serviced others with cigarette and pinball machines and jukeboxes, and sometimes I went with him.) Everybody seemed nice; the men would let me shoot pool with them, and the barmaids would let me sit at the bar. Then they would give me Hoody Korn-Kurls, Bireley’s orange soda pop, and incredibly good fried chicken. (Right now I would trade my Kindle Fire for Korn-Kurls and a Bireley’s orange—I mean, if I weren’t an insulin dependent diabetic. Maybe on the New Earth…)

I didn’t drink the Hamm’s beer or the Olympia that was in most people’s hands, nor was I offered it. But I distinctly remember looking forward to turning 21 someday just so that I could go to taverns legally! I’m not suggesting that was the loftiest of goals, I’m simply saying that was my background, and it didn’t fit with my church. (Okay, I don’t care if you’ve never had a beer, but if you grew up in the Pacific Northwest and you’re, say, mid-fifties or older, you want a blast from the past? Check out the video below for what we used to see on TV when I was a kid.)

Though the church was odd and uncool and a bit uninformed about people of the world (like my family), it did offer one thing that compensated for all its shortcomings. It told me something I had never heard anywhere else: the gospel. The people there told me about Jesus. After eight months of attending the church, while reading my Bible one night, I came to faith in Christ. By then I knew people who would teach me the Bible, give me good books to read, and help me grow in my faith. And when I got to know them, most of these church people were kind, loving and caring and desired that people (even those tavern people) would come to Jesus (and one day also learn to sing Swedish hymns).

I associated that church with Jesus. I knew it was Jesus who changed my life. I was His follower. So when somebody at church was gruff and mean, it didn’t shake my faith. My faith had never been in church people. From the beginning, my faith was in Jesus. When I learned something from the Bible, when somebody taught me something, the fact that he didn’t think much of taverns didn’t keep me from learning and growing closer to Christ.   

Years later, at the same church, I was a youth pastor. When I was 21 years old I met a 19-year-old guy named Steve Keels. Steve had just come to Christ. He joined the college group I was teaching, and we spent many hours talking about God. Steve also came from a nonchristian home. His dad had been a professional baseball player and then a longshoreman. Like me, Steve didn’t know what to make of the “ladies trio”, the “singspirations”, the soloist who made the stained glass windows shake, and the guest speaker who spoke against rock music. But he too grew in his faith and came to love that church as I did.

Years later I was involved in a new church, and eventually Steve joined us. He and I are still part of that second church today. For both of us, the Swedish church and our present nondenominational church, where we’ve been for 35 years, are the only ones we’ve ever known.

But though Steve and I were surrounded by a lot of kids who grew up in that Swedish church, 35 years later many of those have left church completely. Not just that original church, but “the church” in general.

I find that the most severe critics of the church are those who grew up in it. Many of them have now left the church, and some seem proud to have done so. They like distancing themselves from “all those judgmental hypocrites,” and celebrate how amazingly tolerant they and their friends are.  (They are not very tolerant of Bible-believing churches, of course, but that’s different.)  If there is one thing they’re certain of, it’s that churches are uncool. And nobody wants to be uncool.

Meanwhile, people like Steve and me who grew up outside of churches, in families without Christ, are not so quick to throw out the baby of Christ’s bride with the bathwater of uncoolness.

Recently I was asked to endorse a book written by a young man calling young people to (or back to) the local church. I suggested he add one point to his list of encouragements: “Show to church people the same tolerance you advocate that church people show to the world.” In fact, Scripture goes a step further. We are to do good to all men (and to show them tolerance is to do them good), but especially to the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). You are family. Treat Christ’s people as family.

People who haven’t left the church but remain critical often fall into referring to church members as “they.” “Those church people are into doing this and not doing this. They preach at you and lay guilt on you and have music I don’t like. And they don’t do enough to help people.” But where is the “we”? Where is the “We don’t do enough to help people”? When the church you attend is “they”, your heart isn’t there and your body won’t be much longer.

Cool can only take us so far.  For example, it’s very cool these days for believers and unbelievers alike to stand up against sex trafficking and advocate for the victims of injustice. But it’s decidedly uncool to stand against killing those same children before they are born. So it’s not just that the church looks uncool or the music is uncool. It’s that they stick up for people that the world won’t stick up for.

I love it when young people and old people are part of the same churches, showing each other grace and tolerance and speaking the truth, but doing so in love. I love it when the old are not shaking their heads in disapproval of the way the young dress, their jewelry and tattoos, the way they speak, and the songs they sing. I love it when the young are not rolling their eyes at the way older people dress, the way they speak, and the music they sing.

I have a suggestion for older people (apparently I am one now, according to my birth certificate, even though of course I am still cool :). How about we lead the way and show young people that the exclusiveness of salvation in Christ and believing God’s Word does not lead to condemnation and expecting others to dress and talk and act like us?  And young people, I call upon you to respect and learn from older people as Scripture commands us to do (Leviticus 19:32, Proverbs 20:29, 1 Timothy 5:1).

A church is a gathering of people diverse in race, occupation, age and gender. When those who are already the same in these areas are united, it is not as great a testimony to Christ’s grace as when those who are very different are united in the same Lord.

If you want to go further on this subject, below is a short post by Ray Ortlund, who reminisces about the church he grew up in. And as you’ll see, he also talks about it being uncool…but offering something very cool.

      

I Remember When

By Ray Ortlund

I grew up in a healthy church in the 1950s and 60s. It was gospel-centered before we used those terms. I can remember some wonderful things.

I remember when churches were not commodities but communities. I grew up in a spiritual neighborhood, where the adults took responsibility to care for the next generation. I lived among hundreds of spiritual aunts and uncles who loved me, told me about Jesus, corrected me when I got out of line and generally sacrificed for me so that I could grow up to be a man of God.

I remember when the Bible was cherished as so sacred that we treated the very leather and paper as “The Holy Bible.” We read the Bible, sang the Bible, prayed the Bible, memorized the Bible, heard the Bible preached, and learned the Bible from cover to cover.  I grew up knowing my way around the Bible—and knowing that it mattered supremely and eternally.

I remember when this crucial question was always close at hand in our collective and personal consciousness: Is your life fully surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ? My spiritual teachers did not hope I might fit Jesus into the margin of my crowded life.  They confronted me, lovingly, gently, insistently, that Jesus is Lord. I needed to know that. No one else would have told me. Thank God they did.

I remember when we prayed together, the whole church together. I grew up listening to adults pray mature, adult prayers. They showed reverence and depth and faith that with God nothing is impossible.

I remember when we tithed. And in our home, if because of our tithing we didn’t have enough money ourselves to make it to the end of the month, we still tithed.  Jesus came first.  Period.  And with no self-pity but with privilege.

We were uncool.  We really did need some refreshing in our music and communication. But there was also something real and solid and powerful there.  We must never lose it.

Related Resources

Blog: The Church: Don't Give Up on God's Plan
Article: Because of the way someone at a church hurt me, I’m afraid to join any local church and currently attend one online. What are your thoughts about this?
Books: LifeChange Book Set

Trillia Newbell on Femininity, Motherhood, and God’s Word

Six months ago Trillia Newbell wrote a memorable blog about what kind of woman God calls His daughters to be. Here it is. Hope you enjoy it.

Trillia is a wife, mom, and writer. She writes about faith, family, fitness, theology and the African-American experience. To hear from her regularly go to her blog. She has some great stuff to say. Also follow her on Twitter: @trillianewbell.

Femininity: June Cleaver, Clair Huxtable, or the Valiant Woman?

by Trillia Newbell 

One of my female icons growing up was Oprah Winfrey. I dreamed of being like her one day. After high school, I went to college and did everything I could to be successful. I made good grades, took internships, studied abroad, and got into law school. Then something odd happened. I began to sense God calling me to be a wife and mother.

Yikes!

I remember sharing my desire to be a wife and mother with a research professor and not being well received. Apparently I was forfeiting all that the Civil Rights leaders had worked so hard for me to be able to do as a black woman. Without an understanding of how the Lord can change hearts and minds, I can easily see how my decision not to go to law school could appear foolish.

I felt pressure from the world that I needed to be “successful,” but here I was, desiring to be a mother. Where was I to look for guidance?

June Cleaver?

As God began to change my heart, I started to wonder what the application of this newly found desire for motherhood looked like. I was convinced that motherhood was a high calling, but did that mean I was called to be a stay-at-home mother? Thankfully I also had a husband to help me wade through these issues, and we came to conclude: yes and no.

That doesn’t sound like much of a conclusion. But yes, God calls women to pay close attention to their homes. As a matter of fact, the woman who is oriented to her home is called wise. “The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down” (Proverbs 14:1). The home matters, and throughout Scripture God makes reference to the home and its importance (Proverbs 24:3, 15:6, 3:33, Titus 2:5).

Yet are all mothers called to be June Cleaver? You remember the fictional character of the show Leave it to Beaver. The New York Times records June’s character as glamorous, a woman who wore pearls and high heels at home and helped her family get out of jams. June baked a steady supply of cookies, and used “motherly intuition to sound the alarm about incipient trouble.” June was seemingly joyful, agreeable, and content in her role. There is much to be commended about her character.

But I wonder if June was not also the product of a particular 1950s American milieu. She was at home in her white suburban neighborhood. She served her family well, but wasn’t always a good example of strength, initiative, or courage. Her activities in the community included social events like weddings and school fundraisers. June was ideal only in part.

Clair Huxtable?

In contrast, there’s another American icon who busied her life around caring for her family and work: Clair Huxtable.

Clair (played by Phylicia Rashãd) was witty and tough. She was a lawyer, and she was also the mother of five children on the hit TV show, The Cosby Show. Clair would make dinner, lovingly care for her husband, and listen to her children. And in 2004, her character was named “” by a poll conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation.

But I wonder if Clair was not the product of 1980s feminism. Clair was aggressive, and at times bossy. The saying, “if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” might apply to the Huxtable household. When the kids stepped out of line or didn’t meet her standards, it was judgment time (check out “The Night of the Wretched,” season 6, episode 22, for a good example).

Though she cared deeply for her husband, she often treated him like a child, not trusting him as he ventured into his many household projects. She worked hard for her family, which is commendable, but just like June, her fictional character falls short of ideal.

The Valiant Woman

June and Clair aren’t mutually exclusive. From all appearances, these fictional characters loved their homes, their husbands, and their children. But if we want to gain a biblical vision for the ideal woman, we should look at the wise words of King Lemuel’s mother in Proverbs 31. God does not idealize June Cleaver or Clair Huxtable, but holds up the Proverbs 31 woman.

I already know that many people are tired of the Proverbs 31 woman and are cringing, just by looking at that subtitle. No worries, I’m not merely going to talk about how excellent she is. I’m thinking about one thing, and that is God’s word. Paul gave us insight on the value of God’s word when he said, “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” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). God says his words are useful. That means that even if the “excellent wife” has been used and abused, his word still stands true. The woman is an ideal that we should look to; she is in a book dedicated to teaching wisdom.

The valiant woman, commonly known as the Proverbs 31 woman or the “excellent wife,” is noble. She is respectful to her husband, she is trustworthy and kind, she is brave, she takes initiative, she works hard with her hands, she works inside and outside of the home, she is wise and respected. She is generous and thoughtful. She is blessed by her children and her children blessed her.

In his commentary on Proverbs, Bruce Waltke writes, “The ideal wife in this Hebrew heroic poem . . . is diligent, ‘take charge,’ is engaged in profit-making ventures, and is also a wise teacher and philanthropist.”

A Radical Change of Heart

Most importantly, the Valiant Woman is a woman who fears the Lord (Proverbs 31:30). And that is what God desires for us. God wants our hearts. He wants to give us a new heart and a new purpose (Ezekiel 36:26–28). When he changes us, he changes us to the core. God’s desire is that we love him with all our hearts and love our neighbor as ourselves (and I’d argue the closest neighbor to me is my husband and my children). As we rightly fear God and honor his design for femininity, the details of how that gets worked out in our homes will look differently for each woman.

The radical change in my heart calls for a radical change in my pursuits, which brings me back to the decision my husband and I had to face. I personally could not be Clair and pursue my law degree while still trying to care for my husband, care for my home, and serve my children. Yet I couldn’t be June: I work part-time, I’m not ironing my husband’s underpants, and when I wake up I have a fight that the fictional character didn’t have. I fight my selfish flesh by the word of God and through his grace. I needed to look to God’s word for direction, not to the world.

A Miracle Only God Could Do

I didn’t first jump at the thought of having children, and I definitely didn’t jump at the idea of femininity as defined by Scripture. It took time for God to reveal his will and heart to me in the Scriptures. And now in marriage, because God has been so very gracious to me, I can and do submit. I also love to be home with my children. This is a miracle that only God could do in my heart. I had to (and continue to) fight not only the world, not only feminist thoughts, but a culture that would say I sold out.

This article originally appeared on Desiring God .

      

Related Resources

Book: Help for Women Under Stress by Randy and Nanci Alcorn (coming soon exclusively from EPM - learn more)
Blog: How does one gain the courage to make personal sacrifices for God?
Article: Needed: A Counter Revolution by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Photo Credit

Mother and child: Lars Plougmann via photopin cc

Humility: Recognizing Who We Really Are

In this 3 minute video and the following transcript, I share some thoughts about humility.

Romans 12:3 says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.” This is what humility is—it’s recognizing who we really are. What Scripture has to say about who we really are is not a great compliment. We’re sinners. Even before we were sinners, we were still small, finite beings, and we always will be.

But it’s okay to be small. What’s not okay is to be a sinner. But that’s the state that we’re in through our own choice. That’s our very nature. Yes, Scripture says we all sinned in Adam, but we are all sinners in our own lives.

Humility is recognizing our own unworthiness and the fact that I literally deserve to go to Hell for all eternity. If I come to grips with that, then I don’t have high expectations that everybody should celebrate how great I am, because I am not great.

Now, at the same time, we could go overboard with that and spend our whole lives thinking about what rotten people we are and not celebrate what Christ has done for us. In Christ, we are cleansed of our sin. Scripture says, “He has made him to be sin for us, he who knew no sin, that we may be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In this same context, Romans 12 goes on to talk about each of us having spiritual gifts given to us from God to serve for the good of the body. There is the humility of service that comes from using our gifts, so we’re not celebrating these great gifts that we have, but instead we’re using them to honor Christ and to serve as He did. He’s the One who came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

Christ is our model of humility. Philippians 2 talks about how He lowered Himself. This is our privilege: to be humble servants of God. If you’re a servant of God, and somebody treats you like a servant once in a while, you don’t claim your rights and get indignant about the fact that you were treated like a servant. Hey, you’re called to be a servant! And it’s a high calling. Jesus was called to be a servant and has given us an example that we should follow in His footsteps.

When a great athlete does something admirable, but they’re the ones to rave on and on about their greatness, it doesn’t appeal to us or to God. That’s not humility; that’s pride. Pride pushes us away from God; humility draws us toward God. Humility puts us on God’s side, so to speak, where we agree with God about our true condition and our true need for Christ. Even as Christians, we need Christ today just as much as we did the day we came to faith in Christ. That’s something we should never forget.

      

Related Resources

Book: Eternal Perspectives
Blog: A Life of Humility
Article: The Moral Perfection of Christ

Photo Credit

Ladybug: kovik via sxc.hu | Scrubbing hands: bark via photopin cc

The Poison of Ingratitude

I’ve mentioned before my appreciation for Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts. This passage from her book was one of many that stuck out to me.

Ultimately, in his essence Satan is an ingrate. And he sinks his venom into the heart of Eden. Satan’s sin becomes the first sin of all humanity: the sin of ingratitude. Adam and Eve are, simply, painfully, ungrateful for what God gave.

Isn’t that the catalyst of all my sins?

Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren’t satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for something more, something other.

Standing before that tree, laden with fruit withheld, we listen to Evil’s murmur, “In the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened…” (Genesis 3:5 NASB). But in the beginning, our eyes were already open. Our sight was perfect. Our vision let us see a world spilling with goodness. Our eyes fell on nothing but the glory of God. We saw God as He truly is: good. But we were lured by the deception that there was more to a full life, there was more to see. And, true, there was more to see: the ugliness we hadn’t beheld, the sinfulness we hadn’t witnessed, the loss we hadn’t known.

We eat. And, in an instant, we are blind. No longer do we see God as one we can trust. No longer do we perceive Him as wholly good. No longer do we observe all of the remaining paradise.

We eat. And, in an instant, we see. Everywhere we look, we see a world of lack, a universe of loss, a cosmos of scarcity, and injustice.

We are hungry. We eat. We are filled…and emptied.

And still, we look at the fruit and see only the material means to fill our emptiness. We don’t see the material world for what it is meant to be: as the means to communion with God.

We look and swell with the ache of a broken, battered planet, what we ascribe as the negligent work of an indifferent Creator (if we even think there is one). Do we ever think of this busted-up place as the result of us ingrates, unsatisfied, we who punctured it all with a bite? The fruit’s poison has infected the whole of humanity. Me. I say no to what he’s given. I thirst for some roborant, some elixir, to relieve the anguish of what I’ve believed: God isn’t good. God doesn’t love me.

If I’m ruthlessly honest, I may have said yes to God, yes to Christianity, but really, I have lived the no. I have. Infected by that Eden mouthful, the retina of my soul develops macular holes of blackness.

      

Related Resources

Blog: Choosing Gratitude: A Must Read
Book: The Grace and Truth Paradox

Photo credit: magalex via sxc.hu

What’s a Marriage? Does It Matter Whether There’s a Man and a Woman?

Mary Kassian answers the question of how a marriage is properly defined. I appreciate her thoughts. 

Christianity.com: Why must marriage be defined as being only between a man and woman?-Mary Kassian from christianitydotcom2 on GodTube.

      

Related Resources

Blog: Perspectives on Louie Giglio, the Homosexual Issue and What It Means to Be a Christ-Follower in This Culture
Booklet:  Sexual Temptation: Establishing Guardrails and Winning the Battle
Article: Is The Homosexual Lifestyle Worthy Of Minority Status?

What is your opinion of positive thinking?

In this 2.5 minute video and the following transcript, I share some thoughts about positive thinking.

Positive thinking is something that’s talked about a lot in this culture. Here’s what Scripture says:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things  (Philippians 4:8).

This passage could strike us as an example of positive thinking. But I think it’s actually an example of true, reality-based thinking. In other words, God says to us that certain things are true, and some of those things that are true are very bad news. It’s hard to think positively about sin, and let’s not try to put the best face on the reality of our sin that separates us from God. There’s no good face to that. That’s not positive thinking.

Biblical thinking says, “I come to grips with the negatives in life, and not by denying them.” I don’t deny I have cancer if I have cancer. I don’t deny I have struggles in my marriage relationship if I do. I don’t deny that I’m really struggling in my walk with God. Positive thinking is not what I can grab onto that gets me through these difficult things.

It’s God who gets me through. I need to place my faith in Him, and choose to focus on things which are ultimately and eternally positive. The promise of God in Romans 8:28—that He’s going to cause all things to work together for good for those who love Him—is a great thing to focus on. That’s not “positive thinking” as if I’m trying to convince myself that it’s really true. No, it really is true! Let’s meditate on that thing that really is true.

Ultimately, as Christians, we should be the greatest positive thinkers. Why? Because we believe in a God of sovereign providence, of redemption, who’s come into this world, who paid the price for our sins, and who promises one day He’s going to wipe away the tears from every eye and there will be no more curse. That is a very positive message.

      

Related Resources

Video: Romans 8:28—Why does God allow what He allows?
Blog: The Eyes of Faith
Book: 50 Days of Heaven

A 6-minute video drama based on Safely Home

I was very moved by this video produced by Matthew Holbrook and the high school ministry of Grace Church of Orange. Matthew writes:

I lead the high school ministry at Grace Church of Orange and our group has an outreach ministry where we share the gospel through a series of 4-minute musical dramas. Over the years, we have developed over 50 such dramas. A couple of years ago, we developed and performed one that was inspired by Safely Home.

I came to Christ while in high school, and it’s very encouraging to see high schoolers focus their attention on following Christ wholeheartedly. While the background songs you hear in this video have great words, the true power is in the wordless actions of the drama that tells the life-changing cosmos-shaking story. Not just one related to my novel Safely Home, but one lived out daily among God’s persecuted people across the world. Watching this made me think of Revelation 12:11-12 and its words about people of faith and courage:

And they have conquered him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!

Thank you, Matthew, and the youth of Grace Church. Hope the rest of you are as touched by this as I was:

      

Related Resources

Article: Is there still persecution of Christians in China today?
Blog: Safely Home the Musical Drama
Book: Safely Home Anniversary Edition

 

Bulging Wallet Syndrome

No, this blog is not about reducing wallet size by giving away your cash. A writer friend recently shared that he had been diagnosed with “Wallet Sciatica,” intense pain caused by his large wallet. It reminded me of something from my past. Maybe this blog will save you or someone you know from some pain. But for me, it just makes me smile remembering like it was yesterday the story my dad, a tavern owner, told me when I was a kid and first started carrying a wallet:

I had horrible back pain for years. It got to the point that I would twist around while driving trying to get relief. I couldn’t do heavy lifting, could hardly bend over any more. I went to the doctor and he couldn’t figure out what was causing it, and just gave me pain killers, with no hope of ever getting better. So one night a guy was sitting at the bar at my tavern. He was drunk, and getting drunker. He saw me wincing in pain and said, “What’s wrong?” I told him about my back problem. He said, “Show me your wallet.” I wasn’t going to pull out my wallet for a drunk, but he was a customer so finally I showed him my thick wallet. He said, “That’s your problem. Put it in your front pocket and in a few months you’ll be fine.” So I did. And it was. Haven’t had a backache since.

This was probably the most Proverb-like advice my unbelieving father ever gave me (he finally came to Christ at age 85). So I’ve always carried my wallet in my front pocket. It also comes in handy when you’re in crowded areas with pickpockets. And it goes to show that you can sometimes get good advice (without a doctor’s bill) from someone who’s drunk. But I wouldn’t count on it. :)

By the way, my dad never gave up his huge wallet, full of notes and newspaper clippings. It continued to bulge, but in a pocket where it no longer hurt him. As his son, I’ve carried on the tradition, occasionally finding in my wallet expired coupons and business cards given to me three years ago.

      

 

The Millennial Generation and Sexual Sin

The article I link to at the end inspired me to write this blog. It addresses the Millennial Generation’s acceptable sin—sex outside of marriage. For many years now I’ve seen this trend which is disturbing not only because God is dishonored, but also because young people’s lives are being destroyed. I know of evangelical churches where it’s a “given” that young people are sleeping around, if not in high school, by the time they’re in college.

In my book The Purity Principle I write:

Since the time we were young teenagers, many of us have heard lists of reasons for walking in sexual purity. God commands purity and forbids impurity. Purity is right. Impurity is wrong.

True? Absolutely. But it’s equally correct to say purity is always smart; impurity is always stupid.

There it is—what I’m calling The Purity Principle: Purity is always smart; impurity is always stupid. Not sometimes.

Not usually.

Always. You’re not an exception. I’m not an exception. There are no exceptions.

A holy God made the universe in such a way that actions true to His character, and the laws derived from His character, are always rewarded. Actions that violate His character, however, are always punished. He rewards every act of justice; He punishes every act of injustice.

That doesn’t mean God always intervenes directly. This moral law is like the law of gravity. God has set it in place. When a careless driver speeds on an icy mountain pass, loses control, and plunges his car off a cliff, God doesn’t suddenly invent gravity to punish the driver’s carelessness. Gravity is already in place.

In the same way, God doesn’t need to punish the pornography addict for every wrong choice. The punishment is built into the sin. Shame, degradation, and warping of the personality follow as a matter of course. Scripture describes those who have surrendered to their lust to live in immorality as “receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error” (Romans 1:27, NASB).

That’s the way God’s moral universe operates. We get to choose our own path. But with each path comes inevitable consequences.

The roads of life are sometimes hazardous. But God loves us enough to place warning signs: “Don’t commit adultery” and “No sex before marriage.” We don’t have to obey. We do have to live with the consequences.

This is something that young people, their parents and their churches need to come to grips with. One thing is certain—an unholy world will never be won to Christ by an unholy church.

Here’s the article I think all church leaders should read, and all leaders of church and parachurch youth groups:

The Millenial Generation’s Acceptable Sin

by Barton Gingerich

Every human institution and society has its own list of sins and virtues that contradict the law of God. With the rise of the Millennial generation in evangelical churches, a vice is creeping up into the realms of acceptance, indifference, or at least resignation: fornication (i.e. extramarital sex or unchaste living).

Continue reading

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18)

      

Road photo credit: Ben Earwicker, Garrison Photography, Boise, ID, www.garrisonphoto.org

Logos Hope: A Great International Opportunity for Short-term Service

My friend George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization (OM), recently shared about his visit to Logos Hope, a ship owned and operated by OM Ships. Logos Hope travels to ports around the world, acting as a floating bookshop. (They report that, on average, over one million visitors are welcomed on board each year.)

OM Ships also provides training for those who work onboard, as well as volunteer opportunities to serve by providing supply aid and community care in the places they dock. Their international crew represents over 45 nations.

George encourages those who are college-bound (and those of any age) to consider dedicating 1-2 years to volunteer on the ship: “If I were talking to an American thinking about going to Yale or Harvard, or a Brit thinking about Cambridge or Oxford, and they asked me, ‘Should I go to the ship or to the university?’, of course I would say both.”

He continues, “We believe the Bible is true…and this leads me to say that just the education and training aspect of the ship is worth more than anything you will get at some anti-Christian institution. So if you have to choose, I suggest the ship. …So many young people have no clue what the ship is.  It is not primarily for missionaries or those who want to be. Yes, it is for some and that’s great. It’s a life-changing, character-building work training experience to prepare people for whatever walk of life you going into.”

If you’re interested in learning more, go to www.omships.org.

      

Thanks to Stephanie Anderson for assembling most of the info in this blog.