Erik Reed's Blog, page 6

Sunday Evening Reflections

It is the end of a great Sunday. I truly love getting to pastor this church and spending my life with all these wonderful people. 

Highlights of the day:

**Josh and Philip did an amazing job, once again, in leading the church in worship. We miss Robbie and we are grateful for all his leadership over the years. But it is wonderful to watch these two guys, as well as the whole band, step up to the plate and lead the church in worship. I can really tell they are settling in and growing more comfortable. 

**We also had communion following worship today, which is usually where we do the offering. I thought this worked well, and I especially enjoyed giving the kids who have made professions of faith an opportunity to share in that moment with us. 

**I felt the sermon went okay. I never leave church feeling like I've hit a grandslam. I'm always wondering if it connected with everyone. I'm always left praying God will take it and make it powerfully applicable to the issues people are facing. 

**The one thing I do pray is left in everyone's mind is the boasting box. I appreciate Frank Bishop and Chris Boykin being my participants this morning. I pray the image will always remain in our minds. We have no room for self-boasting. God's grace is a gift, along with the faith to apprehend it, that should leave us with only one boast - the cross of Christ. 

**We commissioned my good friend and fellow laborer, Todd Bates. Todd became an official elder at TJC today. He has patiently endured the process for several years, sharpening his character and skills. It was both an honor and a joy to share that moment at the end of service.

**We had Gospel Community tonight at my house. We had a great conversation around the dinner table about our personal relationship with God. We also talked about how the church can be more intentional in ministering to the hurting on Sundays. It was such an encouraging time. Everyone needs to be in community!! 

Important Reminders

**Don't forget about the new series starting in two weeks, Counter-Culture. Be sure to invite people to join you at church for this series. I would love to see us use Facebook and Twitter to promote this series. If you see the series logo be sure to share it with others. 

**The Student Ministry begins full board this Wednesday. They will begin meeting at my house. I'm really excited for this. If you have students 6th - 12th grade, we want them to be there. Refer others as well. See: www.tjcstudents.blogspot.com for more info. 

**TJC Men are taking a retreat. Guys, you need to get signed up ASAP. It is going to be a great time together. The dates are September 6th-7th. Go to the Connection Point Table to sign up next Sunday. 

I love pastoring this church. I pray today was a great day for you. May God bless and guide each of you this week. 

Question: what was the highlight of the day for you at church?

No Perfect People Allowed

The church is not for perfect people. The church is a gathering of imperfect people who have put their hope in a perfect Savior, Jesus. We all know in our minds this is true, but we often live differently.

In recent weeks, I have had a number of conversations with members and attenders of The Journey Church, which I pastor, who had not been around lately. In talking with them, I learned that these people had been experiencing various trials and pains in their lives. Some were struggling with areas of sin in their lives. Whether it was the experience of trials or struggles with sin, all the people felt inclined not to come to gather with the church for worship. This concerns me.

The first thing I wanted to know was whether their non-attendance was because they felt uncared for or judged by the church. In all cases the answer was "no." When I probed deeper into why these people felt the need to shy away from gathering with the church, it was a sense of guilt, shame, or lack of desire to be with people that emerged. They simply did not want to face other people. They reiterated that this was not because the church had done anything, but their own sense of guilt.

So what is behind their not coming?

This really got me to thinking about the paradigm that exists in most people's minds about the church. Many people view the church as a place where people have it together. One reason is many of our churches have turned into impersonal gatherings where we attend a service, say a few words to the people around us, and leave. There is very little interaction, so we all put on our happy faces. In this kind of setting, we do not let our guards down. We all put on a smile, look good, keep composed, and give our hour and a half of time.

The problem with this is that it gives the perception to everyone around us that our lives are great. Things are perfect. When this permeates the culture, even when things are not perfect, people will feel the need to fake it. In an environment like this, we send a message that struggles and pain are an inconvenience. When this is happening, people who are struggling with trials or sin, would rather not be in an environment that feels inherently judgmental or critical.

A Second Reason

So we see that one reason people may shy away from coming to church is that they do not feel that people facing problems are welcome to come. The illusion of perfection as a requirement keeps them away. A second reason, which is similar to the first, is many people choose not to gather with the church during seasons of struggle, is they do not want to "fake it." They feel conviction; they feel shame for their sin. Many simply don't feel worthy to come to church.

The reason this problem exists is two-fold. The first reason is that people forget that the church is a place full of imperfect people. If we realized that everyone is jacked up, we would have much more confidence in gathering with the body. The church is the body of Christ, made up of sinners who have been saved by grace. Our whole message as the church is that we are imperfect people serving a perfect Savior. People forget that Christ has forgiven them of their sin. They forget that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). There is no need to self-impose condemnation. If we realized this, we would gather freely with the body, even in the midst of struggles and sin.

The second part of this is that many church worship services are too chipper. What do I mean by this? I mean that many church services are too focused on being peppy and happy and chipper. While I am not against uplifting services, the reality is most people are not always feeling uplifted. If we read the psalms we see quickly that being downcast is normal for even the most God-loving people. Sorrow is a real part of the Christian life. Unfortunately, our services rarely reflect the lament and sorrow that accompany our lives. If our services were more intentional to reflect the different dispositions that many in the church feel, I believe we would have more people continue to gather with the body, even when they were downcast from trials or sin. 

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is this: church is not for perfect people. The church is a gathering of imperfect people, who have put their hope in a perfect Savior. If you are having struggles in life, you should gather with the body of Christ. If you are struggling with issues of sin, welcome, so are those gathered around you. Seek the Savior with other believers when the church gathers. Do not create an unreachable standard of perfection that is required before gathering for corporate worship. If you do, you are perpetuating the problem of making church a place for the supposed perfect people.


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Dating to Marry

The title of my post gives away the point I want to convey - Dating to Marry. This concept is foreign to most in our culture. In fact, marriage itself is postponed later and later by most people. Some will read this and think I sound archaic, unrealistic, or uncultured (or all the above). Others will read and think the idea is good, but go on doing what they have always done. They'll deem it unpractical. Regardless, I want to make my case.

The State of Dating Today

Unfortunately we live in a society which portrays behaviors from shows like Jersey Shore and The Bachelor/ette as normal. These shows, and many like them, encourage hookups and serial dating. We very rarely witness people approach dating with an eye on marriage. Most people date casually without the slightest bent toward evaluating if the person/people they are dating are marriage material. 

Most relationships today are built on sex. In fact, many relationships today started with a sexual encounter, a random hookup. Even when that is not how the relationship started, it often becomes why the relationship continues to exist. Is the sex good? Do we have it often enough? Are we sexually satisfied and compatible with each other? These are now the questions that get asked in the relationship. When they are not answered in the affirmative, the relationship is over.

So we date someone for a few weeks or months. We have sex with them. Things don't work out. The process starts over again. Throw in a few hookups that come on the heels of your latest breakup, and before you know it, you have experienced a few years with no relationships of any real substance and a long resume of sexual partners.

Sadly, this is the regular experience of many people. None of them feel satisfied or fulfilled in this vicious cycle, yet most keep repeating the cycle. 

A New Approach

I want to suggest a new approach - dating to marry. Dating to marry does not mean that on the first date you have to ask someone if they are ready to marry.  It is a commitment to date with an eye on evaluating whether the person is marriage material. What does this look like?

Some questions worth asking yourself: Can I have deep and meaningful friendship with this person? Are they responsible? Are they a person of character? Do they act mature? Would they be a faithful spouse? What kind of parent would they be? Are they generous and kind to others? Are we compatible with our faith and beliefs? Do we share a common vision about life and how we should approach it? 

These questions, along with many others, begin to help one evaluate someone through the eyes of a spouse. Why is this important? Because these questions are the ones that ultimately matter in real life. When you are casually dating or looking to score the hookup, you don't worry about these things. You are only in it for the fun, for the momentary pleasures. But you also get the unfulfilling results of the hookup relationship. 

Notice that I never asked a question about sex. The reason is because I do not believe that is the most important issue when considering a spouse. Life is about more than sex. Relationships are about more than sex. If you build a relationship on sex, and nothing else, that relationship with crumble. But this is how most teenagers and twenty-somethings are approaching dating. (Footnote: I think it is a waste of time for teenagers to date at all, but that is a different post for a different day) 

My Two Cents

Here is my advice to people, plain and simple. If you are not someone who is ready to marry, don't date. What is the point of dating if you are not in a place in life where you are ready to marry? You don't date so you can have a friend, there are plenty of people, of both sexes, that you can have a friendship with. Do you date for sex? According to God's Word, sex is most fulfilling and most satisfying, and most healthy, when it is experienced in the covenant relationship of marriage. Is that popular today? No. Is this looked at as outdated? Yep. But that does not change the reality of it. God's blessing is found in living God's way. 

So you don't need to date to have friends. And you don't need to have sex until you are married. In light of this, you should only date when you are willing to marry someone and you should date with an eye toward the person being marriage material. If you begin dating someone and you realize the person is not marriage material, you should gently and graciously end it.

This may seem crazy to people. But let me tell you what I think is crazy. As a pastor who sees and hears story after story of heartbreak, disappointment, and guilt from bad and ungodly relationships, I think it is crazy to keep approaching relationships in the same way, expecting to get a different result. That is crazy. So perhaps you should approach dating a different way. I suggest that it is God's way. And if you do it, I believe you will get God's results. That's my two cents.  


Knowledge hoarding is unkind. Don't be a knowledge hoarder; share with others.  :-)

Pastoral Traps: Tribal Arrogance

Last Thursday and Friday I had the privilege to attend the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit. This is an annual conference for leaders that aims to train and equip them for their church, place of business, or other organizations. It is led and hosted by a church, that if I were being honest, is not really the tribe I follow. What I mean by "tribe" is that group of people who I am like-minded with in areas of theology, church methodology, and other categories of ministry. Willow Creek is not really in my tribe. 

Interestingly enough, when I first entered into ministry, I attended the Leadership Summit. I was inspired and blown away by all that I was learning. I had no undergraduate or graduate training in ministry. In many ways, the Leadership Summit was my seminary training for ministry. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and was grateful for the training.

Tribal Arrogance

However, that changed after several years. I started to find myself drawn toward a different tribe. My lack of theological training made me hungry and eager to learn more about the Bible, my faith, and theology. I began to find myself drawn toward the reformed tribe. I gobbled up book after book, website after website, from this tribe. I still classify myself as a part of the reformed tribe.

The deeper and more entrenched I became in the tribe, the less time and desire I had learn from other tribes. All the books I read were from my tribe. All the conferences I attended were from my tribe. It isn't bad to read books and go to conferences that you align with, but in my mind, I started belittling and dismissing other tribes. I developed tribal arrogance. This comes with consequences.

Learning from Others

One of the great blunders of having tribal arrogance is missing out on the wisdom and skills of others. When you only read within your tribe, you are missing out on things God can teach you from other people. If you only attend your tribe's conferences, then you lose the insight that can be gained from attending others. 

This stood out to me last Thursday and Friday. I sat in the auditorium listening to men and women pouring out genius wisdom and insight on leadership. I needed this badly. I began thanking God for bringing me to the conference. I was thankful for the guy who invited me to go, for no cost. What a gift God was giving me. Leadership insights were flowing in. So were the convictions about my tribal arrogance. I realized quickly on Thursday that for nearly seven years I had been missing out on the gifts of others because I was too entrenched in my tribe.

Finding Balance

I share this post, of my own personal experience, because I imagine I am not alone. I imagine this is a natural tendency for many of us. We tend to run with those most like us. We tend to listen to those most like us. This will never change, maybe it shouldn't, but we must always remain open to learn from others. We need to find balance. I have shut out other voices and influencers from my life for seven years, because I had belittled the need I had for the things they could offer. 

It is arrogant to believe our tribe is the only place for us to gain wisdom. I would encourage my friends, in the reformed tribe, to be more open to those in other tribes. Be humble enough to learn from those who are different. There are many helpful leadership insights and strategies we could profit from those people. To my non-reformed friends, take time to learn from the reformed brothers and sisters. Learn from their rich insights into Scripture, theology, and applying Christian thought to cultural issues. You may have certain opinions of the reformed tribe, but do not be like me and discount what you may be able to learn from them. 

I am repenting of this attitude and approach I have displayed. I do not want to display tribal arrogance. I am grateful for my tribe. I am grateful for how much I have grown in my love for God because of my tribe. But I need to have the ears to hear from the voice of others. This week has reminded me of this truth. So I am turning from this arrogance and foolish behavior, and making the commitment to sit more frequently at the feet of other leaders, from other tribes. I think you would benefit from this too. 

Has this post been helpful? Share it with others below. I'd love to hear from you. Have you ever been guilty of this trap? Share your insights and stories in the comments section below. 

Pastoral Traps -- Building Personal Kingdoms

There are many traps that lie waiting for pastors. Over the next few weeks I'm going to write about those traps. One of the reasons I feel compelled to write about them is because, as a pastor, I have noticed my struggle with them. In talking with other pastors, I have come to realize that these traps are not isolated to me, but something many others deal with as well.

The trap this post will highlight is Building Personal Kingdoms. 

In Matthew 4 the Spirit of God leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. He is then approached by Satan at the end of the fast and endures a series a temptations. Jesus is weakened physically, but battling Satan with Scripture, he is able to withstand the attack. 

However, the third temptation Jesus experienced stood out to me specifically as a pastor. Jesus is taken to a high mountain and showed all the kingdoms of the world and their glory (4:8). Satan then tells Jesus, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." (4:9). The temptation Jesus is presented with is not worshipping Satan, it is having all these kingdoms and the glory that is associated with them. Worshipping Satan is the vehicle to getting the actual offer being made. 

As I contemplated this, I realized that this temptation lies at the feet of every pastor. If we are not careful, we will subtly slip into building and working for our own kingdoms. If not guarded, we will stand on the mountain peak daydreaming of those kingdoms of greatness that we are pursuing, and the glory that come with them. 

This trap is hard to see because the actions you are doing may not look differently than the person focused on serving God alone. The actions look the same, but the motivation and goal become different. So pastoring can be for personal glory. Writing can be for personal glory. Preaching and teaching can become about personal glory. The kingdom built can become the kingdom of self, and the glory sought can become the glory of a famous name. 

Not every pastor is guilty of this; however, every pastor should be on guard for it. Building personal kingdoms is a trap that lies waiting for every pastor. 

Jesus' response to Satan shows us the nature of the offer that was made. Jesus says, "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." (4:10). This is vital to see. Jesus counters Satan's offer by telling him that God alone is to be worshipped, not Satan, and not the glory of personal kingdoms. It is the Lord our God that we shall serve, not ourselves. 

Here would be three recommendations I would make for pastors to do:

1. Continually evaluate and prayerfully examine the motives behind the actions you are doing. 

I think it is good for a pastor to regularly ask, "Why am I doing this?" When you ask that question, avoid giving yourself the cheesy church answer. Examine your heart. Search your motives. And move aggressively when you notice seeds of personal kingdom building present. 

2. Remember that there is more joy and satisfaction in serving God and His kingdom than all the glory of serving your own. 

If we want true joy and satisfaction, it will never be found in making much of ourselves. True happiness and is found in making much of God and living for His glory.

3. Invite some other local pastors or current pastoral friends into conversation about this trap, and share honestly with one another the personal struggles in this area. 

Other pastors struggle in this area. This trap is something any person can be vulnerable to. Grab some local guys together and be real with one another in this area. It will be both refreshing and helpful to all involved.

I hope this will be helpful. I would love to hear other recommendations you have for avoiding this pastoral trap. Contribute your thoughts in the comment section below.

Counter-Culture

We will be taking a break from our Ephesians series in September and have a 5 week topical series entitled: Counter-Culture. We have subtitled the series: living for Christ in a world that hates Him . It may sound like abrasive language, but we believe it represents the situation Christians face daily. The world is hostile toward Christians and to Christ. This should not be a shock to anyone.

Jesus sums up the reality of being hated by the world, and why that hatred exists:

"If the world hates you, know that it hated me before hate you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (John 15:18-19)

The purpose for the break is two-fold. First, we want to teach our church how to deal with the tension and strife they endure in our culture for being Christians. They are labeled everything from bigoted, intolerant, judgmental, homophobic, to numerous other things. Are these accurate descriptors of biblical Christians? We want to help our people work through those questions and issues.

The second purpose for the break, is we want to invite people from outside our church. We want this to be a short-term opportunity for people to investigate and hear from the Bible why Christians think, believe, and hold to the positions they do. This series is going to be a big invitation push to open the door for people to experience and be a part of our community.

Here is our plan for teaching through this series:

September 1st (Week 1) -- The Authority of the Believer: this message will deal with our starting place for our worldview and why this runs against the grain of our culture. However, everyone has an ultimate authority. We will explore the faulty foundations of any worldview not grounded in Scripture.

September 8th (Week 2) -- Judgmentalism: Christians are frequently accused of being judgmental toward others. This is largely because of our willingness to declare there are moral absolutes. There is right and wrong. The non-believers, even some professing Christians, will claim the Bible speaks against such actions. But is this true? What did Jesus say about this?

September 15th (Week 3) -- Homosexuality: Starting in week 3 we will begin hitting the main hot-button topics in our culture that Christians run against the current. In this lesson, we'll look at what the Bible teaches about homosexuality and how we should approach talking about this issue in the culture.

September 22nd (Week 4) -- Abortion: Is this more than a political issue? How should believers view abortion in a culture that argues for it as woman's choice and right to choose her own healthcare for her body? Should the healthcare of the child be neglected? Should the voice of the unborn child receive no support? We will dive deeper into this issue.

September 29th (Week 5) -- The Exclusivity of Jesus: If you want to see how against the grain our faith runs to the culture, just begin talking about Jesus being the ONLY way to salvation. This tenant, which is central to Christianity, is looked at with repulsion by a culture that believes in the equal validity of all faiths. Is Jesus the only way? What about those who never hear? Is Christianity exclusive? Is it wrong for it to be that way? We'll look at all of those questions and more to conclude the series.

We are excited about this series. I believe it is going to be helpful for our church in understanding how to speak about these issues to people around them.

I want to hear from you: What issues are we missing? Are there any topics that are pertinent enough to make the series that are not already mentioned?

My Reasons For Being a Pastor Involved with Students

Me & Kaleb in Philly @Fuge w/ a Youth Group from the Pittsburgh area
I never had a youth group. I did not go to church during those years. I may have attended one lock-in at a church. That was it. I was too busy living for the approval of my peers and working to blend into the cool crowd. I was regularly involved in things that were against the law, damaging to myself and others, and rebellious against God. I do not glorify those days. I look back with disgust at my conforming, go-with-the-crowd, ignorant self.

I recently had a guy remind me of who I was during those years. He reached out to me via Facebook. He was on my high-school baseball team. He was a freshmen my senior year. He reminded me that I used to pick on him and his friend for being "Bible thumpers." Yep, that was your boy, right here. The preacher who used to make fun of people who went to youth group.

But God...

Ah, I love those words. If it wasn't for "But God" I would be doomed. Without those words there is no telling where my life would be at this moment. God rescued me. God saved me from my folly. What was once boring and unappealing to me, was now insatiably interesting. What was once considered a set of chains and shackles to keep me from doing what I wanted, was now realized to be the very path of liberation. I was already chained, I just thought I was free. Christ gave me real freedom.

When I look back at teenage Erik, I want to slap his pimply face and challenge his worldview and actions. I want to show him that his choices matter and shape the future he will live tomorrow. I cannot go back to teenage Erik; however, I have a church full of teenagers, and soon-to-be teenagers all around me. This is why I am committing myself to investing in students.

I'm Diving In

For the last three summers, I have preached to thousands and thousands of students at Fuge Camps. I have been reminded over and over again that students are not "kids," though that is how they are often treated. They can handle the meat and potatoes of the gospel, if we are willing to walk with them. However, most of the time, they are treated like older versions of our preschool kids. We give them a few stories about some Bible characters, we connect a moral lesson to it, play a game, give out cookies and juice, and call it ministry. This will not suffice.

Students are facing tough challenges. They are making real choices. They are forming a worldview and determining career paths. In addition to values and their future direction, they are making moral choices. They are faced with getting drunk, smoking pot, doing LSD, stealing from stores, cheating on tests, sleeping with their boyfriend/girlfriend, watching porn, and on it goes. These are vital choices. These decisions have real consequences. I have watched as many of my teenage friends have continued to struggle in life today due to choices they made in junior and senior high. I want to be involved in helping students work through these issues.

Many Churches Are Failing

Many churches would claim that they are already helping students deal with these issues, and that may certainly be true. But that is not always the case. A recent article in The Atlantic had an article by Larry Taunton on the profile of many college atheists. To the surprise of many, most of these college atheists revealed that they grew up in church. They attended youth groups. A common theme was that these student ministries gave trite answers to their difficult questions. They focused more on entertainment than dealing with the real issues students face. The Bible was secondary.

This does not mean having fun is wrong. It does mean entertainment will not transform anyone. You cannot base a student ministry on having fun. They need to be shown the life-changing truths of Scripture and be shown a glorious picture of God. Many churches are failing to do this, which is why we have a lot of teenagers in youth groups, but not a lot of students sold out for Christ.

TJC Student Ministry

I have been meeting with several of the existing student volunteers we have at The Journey and talking with them about student ministry. We have discussed doing everything we can to pour into students and ground them in the gospel. We are implementing a strategic plan for ministering to students. It has me excited. As a pastor, I do not have tons of extra time to spare. I am certainly not jumping into student ministry because I am bored. Rather, I am completely convinced that I, the pastor, must be involved in this ministry. This is not because I am the expert, but as the pastor, I set the tone of the church's culture. Additionally, I want to be involved in shaping the next generation of Christian pastors, nurses, teachers, police-officers, and college students. I want them to have a big, glorious, God-exalting view of the world.

I believe it can happen through a vibrant student ministry.

I want to be involved in seeing it realized.

Let me hear from you: why do you think student ministry is often marginalized to entertainment? What was your experience or non-experience with student ministry as a teenager?

Check out our TJC Student Ministry page & BLOG

New Beginnings

I woke up this morning with a sense of newness. I feel it is a day of new beginnings.

I got home on Saturday night after two weeks in Philadelphia. I had the privilege this summer to speak at Ridgecrest, NC, New Orleans, LA, Panama City Beach, FL, and Philadelphia, PA. During these six weeks of student camps, I have spoken to several thousand students from across the entire country. I consider it a special privilege to have that opportunity. When I woke up this morning, with nowhere to travel, I finally realized the finality of camp for the summer. It gave me a sense of newness. A new chapter and season for the year is beginning. 
Then yesterday at church, we had an all-day going away party for  Robbie and Tiffany Cheuvront. Robbie has been our worship leader since the Journey started eights years ago. He has been there through every up and down. He will always be a dear friend. He preached at the morning services, then we had a praise and worship night in the evening. Saying it was a great night is an understatement. We all sang praises to God, with gratitude in our hearts. We spoke a lot of words about our love for Robbie and the Cheuvront family. Those words cannot capture the actual sentiments. When I woke up this morning, realizing Robbie was not going to be leading worship this Sunday, I felt a sense of newness. I am sad, but today feels like a new beginning, a new chapter. 
This got my mind thinking about new chapters in our lives. We all have those seasons of change. It may be a new job, a new child, a new home, or some other change. There are two major things that I think are important to remember during these new beginnings:
1. Give thanks to God for the previous season. 
Take time to take inventory of the way God has blessed your previous season or chapter of life. Sit down and reflect on the different experiences that the chapter brought into your life. Before simply moving to the next season of life, it is helpful to contemplate the previous season. 
2. Anticipate what God has coming.
New seasons can be scary because there are a lot of unknowns. However, we must trust that God is in control of those new seasons, just as He was the previous ones. We need to anticipate what God is going to do in the new chapters of our lives.
Things do not stay the same. Things change. It is not always a fun experience, but it is a certain reality. Rather than resisting change, we should be grateful for the seasons. These are the chapters that make up the story of our lives. 

Ignorance Is Not A Redeemer

As a pastor of a church and occasional speaker at other events, I come across a common question regarding the fate of those who never hear of or accept Christ. It goes something like this: "Will God punish people in hell who have never heard of Jesus?" or another version of it is, "Will God send people to hell from other religions who were just ignorant about Jesus being the only way?" 
Many do not believe that people apart from Christ will spend eternity in hell. One of the reasons for their doubt is an appeal to sentimental feelings. We live in a culture that is slow to criticize or punish anyone. Children are often warned over and over again of potential punishments if they do not reform their behavior, yet they rarely do, and parents who follow through with their warnings is even rarer. Criminals are often relieved of jail sentences long before they have served the time they were sentenced. There is even a movement of people who want to get rid of jails and move toward rehabilitation therapy. The culture has grown less convinced of justice for law-breakers and rebels.
There is another reason for the belief that people apart from Christ will not spend eternity in hell. This second reason runs deep into the fabric of our misunderstanding of God's justice and our sinful condition. It is not a misunderstanding relegated only to those outside the church, but this idea is growing inside of churches. The idea: God would be unjust to punish people who have never heard of Jesus. Nobody likes the idea of God being unjust or cruel, so a growing theology is developing that denies the claim that only faith in Jesus saves us from sin and hell. 
So how do we answer the question?
There are two premises that need be firmly established before answering the question:
1. Nobody is innocent or without sin. 
There is no such thing as neutral people. We have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23). No one is good, not even one (Romans 3:10). Every person has a record of sin against God. This includes the person who grew up in home with a massive family Bible on the coffee table, to the young girl whose daddy was a preacher, to the old man who has only lived in Muslim-saturated environment, to the man in the dense jungle that has never been exposed to civilization or the Bible. None of these people are without sin. 
Some people would argue, "yeah, but the guy in the Muslim country or the guy in the jungle may not have ever heard about Jesus or had a copy of the Bible." However, Paul addresses this very argument in Romans 1 and 2 when he repeatedly makes clear that both the created universe and the moral law written on man's heart, serve to reveal God to man. Man both knows that there is a God, and that He is just and morally righteous. He knows this because God's law is written on his heart (Romans 2:15). Paul warns his readers that these people who never had the Word of God or never grew up hearing the teaches about God, are without excuse. Nobody is innocent. All we like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). I will demonstrate in a moment why this is such a vital premise to understand.
2. Only the blood of Jesus redeems us. 
The blood of Christ is mentioned three times more than the cross of cross, and five times more than the death of Christ in the New Testament (see Blood Work by Anthony Carter). The teaching of Scripture is that Jesus and his finished work on the cross is our only redemption. Nobody can have their record of debt cleared without a substitute, and there is only one substitute available - Jesus. The blood of bulls, sheep, or goats is no longer sufficient for our sin. God sent forth His Son to be our exclusive redeemer and to atone for our sin with his blood (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Romans 5:8-9; 1 John 4:10; Ephesians 2:13; Revelation 1:5).
Jesus addressed this issue. In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." These words are clear. There is no room for debate. If Jesus is indeed who he claimed to be (which the resurrection attests to), then this claim slams the door shut on any questions. Only through Jesus can anyone approach God. Only Jesus and his shed blood for sin, can redeem us.
Conversation
So how do we answer the person who questions whether God will punish those who were ignorant of Christ for all of eternity? Here is usually how my conversation goes:
Person: "When you say that only Jesus can redeem us, are you saying that people who never hear about Jesus will go to hell?" 
Me: "Yes."
Person: "Don't you think that it is unfair that God is sending people to hell who didn't know?"
Me: "No, because I do not believe that God sends people to hell for their ignorance."
Person: "But I thought you just said He did?"
Me: "No, God does not send anyone to hell for their ignorance. It is not about whether a person has heard of Jesus or not that determines if they are going to hell. The reason people go to hell is because they have sinned against God. That is why they are condemned."
Person: "But how would they know they have sinned against God if they don't have the Bible or haven't heard preaching of the gospel?"
Me: "Because the Bible teaches us, Romans 1 & 2 specifically, that everyone knows that there is a God and they know His moral law because it is written on their hearts. Paul says that they are without excuse when they stand before God. First, because they knew there was a God and didn't honor Him as such, but suppressed the truth. Second, they knew right from wrong, but continue to willingly do wrong. So they have willfully sinned against God, who has revealed both Himself and His law to them, and they have rejected Him." [THIS IS PREMISE #1]
Person: "Hmmm."
Me: "Let's imagine a scenario. Pretend you were driving through a town and you failed to notice the speed limit. Let's pretend that you were driving 20 mph over the speed limit and got pulled over. The officer gives you a ticket and a court date. You think to yourself, "I will tell the judge that I didn't know the speed limit." You go to court on your date and see the judge. You plead ignorance of the law, but he tells you that the speed is posted and that you should have known based on your surroundings that you were going way to fast. He finds you guilty and makes you pay the fine. Has the judge been unfair to you? The answer is clearly, "no." He has not been unfair. He has upheld the law. Your ignorance was not a way out. The law is the law. You are not declared guilty because you failed to see the sign. You are declared guilty because you broke the law and went over the speed limit. Does that make sense?
Person: "Yeah, it does."
Me: "Okay, let me give you one more scenario to wrap up. Let's pretend you have committed murder. There is another case just before yours. This person has also committed murder. However, this individual has a lawyer that has worked out a deal with the judge. He has committed to serve the sentence of his client. His client is guilty, but the lawyer is going to pay the debt owed for him. The judge slams the gavel, and the man walks out of the courtroom free. Now it is your turn to stand up in front of the judge. You are guilty and you are now standing before the judge. The judge declares you guilty and sentences you to life in prison. You are outraged and say, "But the man before me was guilty and he went free. Why do I have to go to prison?" The judge says to you, "That man had a substitute take his place." You say to the judge, "But I did not know you could get a substitute, this is not fair." The judge then looks at you and says, "Friend, you are getting exactly what you deserve. You may not have known about the substitute, but that does not mean you are innocent. Your ignorance of a Savior does not exonerate you from your crime." In this scenario, the judge has been just. Nobody would accuse him of injustice. Does this help you understand? Christ is offered as a gift for sinners; he is a substitute. But those who are ignorant of Christ are not somehow declared innocent. They are far from that." [THIS IS PREMISE #2]
Person: "Thanks, that makes sense."
Me: "You're welcome. Now you see why we must go with urgency to make disciples of all nations. We have great news to proclaim. This news is not the basis of their condemnation, it is the pathway to freedom from the condemnation in which they are already standing. So let's get busy"
Conclusion
Ignorance is not a redeemer. There is only one Redeemer of our sins, that is Jesus Christ, and his shed blood on the cross. Avoid temptations to get sucked into poor reasoning and false teaching because of sentimental arguments. We must be solid in the Bible's teachings on these issues and not let our culture lead us astray into wrong thinking. Jesus Christ is the exclusive Savior of men. Flee to him, and warn others to do the same.

10 Preaching Tips (Part II)

This is the second half of my two-part post on 10 Preaching Tips (part I here).

 6. Recognize Preaching as Spiritual Warfare

This is a point that I did not grasp or understand when I started preaching. We often prepare our messages in a bubble. We think about how good our content is going to be; we think about how if people would only listen, understand, and apply it, their lives would be great. But there is one issue: we have an enemy. We have a real enemy. He labors against our efforts. Do not think Satan is inactive when we are preaching. Do not think Satan sits idly by while you prepare your sermons. Preaching is an act of spiritual warfare. 
In Matthew 13, Jesus tells and explains the story of the sower. In the story Jesus highlights some seed that has been thrown on to the ground. The seed represents the Word of God. However, there are enemies to this seed taking root and growing and producing fruit. There are the trials and tribulations of this world that threaten to choke the life out of the seed. But Jesus mentions another enemy - the devil. The evil one comes and snatches the seed that has been planted (13:19). Satan wants to actively snatch seeds of the Word off the path as we are throwing them down. You are not simply exchanging ideas with people when you preach, you are engaged in a war. This battle we are in is not flesh and blood, it is spiritual in nature, and we have an enemy (Ephesians 6:12).
7. Avoid Adding Too Much Content
One of the temptations of every preacher is adding too much content. Too much information can be bad. We can leave our congregations and hearers confused, overwhelmed, or lost in a sea of content. This does not mean we should "theology-light" or shy away from digging deep; however, it means that we do not have to throw everything we know about a subject into one sermon. Take for example this post. I could list more than ten tips for preaching. There are countless things that could be said about preaching (some of you have probably thought of them as you have read this). But I kept the post to ten tips. I also broke the ten tips into two posts, instead of one big post with all ten tips listed. Do not overwhelm those who are listening to you preach or teach with so much content that all of it is lost. 
8. Balance Your Exegesis & Application
This has been and will always be, a constant point of emphasis for me. When I started preaching, I was application heavy. I would read a passage, skim over the surface of it with my explanation, and then move to the "so what" factor. But the more I learned about the Bible and theology, I went the opposite direction. The more knowledge I acquired about theology, the less application I gave my hearers. This is a dangerous seesaw. 
The healthiest approach to preaching is a balance of Scripture exegesis and interpretation, with pointed application for the hearers. Yes, we must dig into the text, and highlight crucial doctrinal issues that emerge, but we also must show people how this touches their lives. We cannot only talk about what the Bible says, we must show people how to incorporate it into their families, workplaces, thought-life, and the rest of their lives. Always check your sermons when you finish preparing them for healthy balance. 
9. Marinate Your Sermon, Don't Microwave It
This tip comes with two applications attached. The first, we need to prepare messages with time in between preaching them, that we can digest what we plan to say. Preparing a message on the weekend you are to deliver it is not wise. You may get away with doing that a few times, but if this becomes a habitual pattern, it will reflect in your preaching. Everything is better marinated and cooked slowly. I would rather have a pork tenderloin that has been marinated in a crock-pot all day, than a microwave dinner cooked in one minute and thirty seconds. The meals your congregation needs to be fed and healthy, are the ones you have been marinating for more than a few days, not microwaved. 
The second application of this tip: we need to marinate our messages in prayer. The is a neglected part of sermon preparation. We should be prayerful every step of the process. Sermon preparation should be filled with prayer. Thinking through application, working through the text, and preparing to deliver the message should all be bathed in prayer. As you are actually preaching, inward prayer groanings should be an accompaniment to your sermon. Marinate your sermon, don't microwave it.
10. Expect Some People To Dislike Your Message
Not everyone is going to be a fan of your messages. This is not easy for us to accept. One reason is that a sermon becomes like our child. We have nurtured, cared for, and labored over that message. We do not want anyone telling us our baby is ugly. However, we must understand the nature of our message causes many to turn away. The cross can be a stumbling block. The cross is foolish for some people. There are many professing believers who struggle with worldliness. Do not be surprised when you offend people with a call to repentance or holiness. People do not like having their sin pointed out, even when you are pleading with them to flee to the Savior. 
George Whitefield is one of my heroes of the faith. I love reading his sermons, and about his life. Whitefield is widely considered as one of the most gifted and anointed preachers to ever live. He had incredible ministry success. However, this gifted and anointed man had detractors. There were actually times when he preached where people hit him with rocks, mud, and even human feces. If you have not experienced that in any of your sermons, then you face less resistance than Whitefield. As preachers, we need to develop thicker skin. We often develop hard hearts instead of thick skin. We do not appreciate people disliking or questioning our messages. Friends, we must prepare our messages and deliver them knowing not everyone will love them. This puts us in good company, because not everyone loved Jesus' sermons.
This concludes the tips. These 10 Preaching Tips are not exhaustive. There are many more helpful things that could be said about preaching. I hope my list can be profitable for you and your growth as a communicator of God's Word. May we never forget, that we are proclaimers of the excellencies of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:9). We have the greatest message in all the world. Let's work hard to sharpen our skills, and pray for God's power to rest upon us as we teach the Scriptures.