Matthew C. Mitchell's Blog, page 103

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"Fire and Stone" - New Album by the Gray Havens

We are rejoicing with our friends, Dave and Licia Radford, who are also our favorite band, The Gray Havens, on the release of their new album "Fire and Stone" on iTunes.

"Fire and Stone" consists of 10 new songs written by the Radfords. It's consistent with the style and themes of their first album "Where Eyes Don't Go" but also develops new evocative sounds, more energy, and even deeper lyrics.

Introduction Video




1. Inheritance

Nautical allusions and allegory with a strong declarative chorus:

We will treasure and we will hold on.
To the light, the light before us.
We'll be confident, we'll be bold
If we know that the Light is for us.

2. Songs in the Night

A searching song about the heart-breaking love of our Savior.



3. The Stone

This was released last Easter season. The "stone" in the song has at least two meanings.

I love how Dave takes that first and last stone and carries it 100 yards for the touchdown!



Get all the lyrics in this video:



4. Sirens

Hold on, my heart!
You've tasted joy that's more than this!

A anthem about defeating temptation by the power of a greater promise. The animated video creatively captures both the feel and the message of the music.



5. Jack and Jill, pt. 2

This is my second favorite song on the album. I first got to hear it at our church when the Radfords first visited us. It's a whimsical feel good song with a glorious message about what Tolkien called "eucatastrophe."

We were feeling new. As if everything sad came untrue. 

The Radfords were kind enough to give us permission to use snippets of "Jack and Jill, pt.2" in each episode of the Resisting Gossip Video Teaching Series. In the blooper video below, we got to play most of the song.



6. Music, They Call Me

Dave loves to write stories and images into his songs. Here he got to personify music itself and tell its story. They go places musically in this one that they weren't able to ever before.

7. Stole My Fame (To: Grace)

This is easily my kids' favorite song on the album. We love to turn up the car radio when it comes on and sing along. It's catchy and fun but at the same time gets across the boast-defeating power of grace. I think that this is the song that makes the most of Licia's voice and shows her range.

I love their recently released video for "Stole My Fame." It's all done in one take and features some musicians from other well-known bands.



8. Under the Mountain

I can't say that I understand all the lyrics in this one, but I know it's about the wonders of heaven and when they soar in the song, I long for "the home of righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13).

Alleluia, welcome home!
Yes, I was home.

9. If the Walls Move

A completely different metaphor for the Christian life.

10. Far Kingdom

My favorite song--full of longing and the anticipation of ever-increasing joy.

There’s a river we will know
Ever clear and ever full
From the fount that overflows
In the light of the King
And when we drink it we will find
That this joy, ever full, will ever rise
And it’ll rise on, in the kingdom
In the kingdom





Have you bought your copy yet? What are you waiting for?!

Congratulations, Dave and Licia, on this milestone. Thank for you "Fire and Stone!"

[Matt's Messages] "New You"

“New You”
All Roads Lead to Romans
January 4, 2015 :: Romans 6:1-14 

Today, I want to pick up where we left off in our ongoing series “All Roads Lead to Romans,” but it’s been a whole month since we were in Romans together, so it may be difficult to just jump right in without a review.

On the other hand, we’ve seen so much in the first 5 chapters, it’s difficult to summarize all of it. I thought about preaching a message today just on “what we’ve learned so far in Romans.” I could easily fill up a whole sermon time just on that.

In the first chapter, the apostle Paul lays out his desire to share the gospel deeply with the believers in Rome. Some of the believers in Rome are Jews and some are Gentiles. And there is some tension between those two groups. But the gospel is for both of them, and Paul is not ashamed of it.

Paul said (say it with me), “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

This letter is the fullest statement in the Bible of Paul’s understanding of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

And the good news begins with...what?

The bad news, right?

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness...”

We are bad, and God is mad.

And, even worse news, this problem of unrighteousness is universal. The bad people are bad, and the good people are not really good. They are also bad. (Read chapter 2)

And, the worst news? We cannot work ourselves out of our problem. Left to ourselves, we will all perish.

Say it with me: “...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” Romans 3:23

That’s the bad news.

But the gospel is good news.

Paul said in Romans 1:17: “...in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith.”

God has solved our righteousness problem.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...(say it with me), “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Justified!

That’s been the biggest word to enter our vocabulary last Fall.

Justification by ... what?

By faith!  Not by works.

“For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”

Father Abraham (Rom 4) believed and it was credited to him righteousness.

And it’s the same for us!

God justifies the ungodly.  The unrighteous are declared righteous by God’s grace.

Do you remember that?

That’s a dangerous thing to believe.

But it comes with incredible blessings.

Romans chapter 5 was full of the blessings of justification.

We couldn’t hardly wrap our minds around them.  Peace, grace, hope, love, salvation, and God Himself.

All flowing to those who have faith. Not to those who clean up their act, but to those who believe in Jesus.

The last part of chapter 5 went even further to describe those blessings. It contrasted Adam and Christ, the two heads of humanity.

Do you remember this?

What it meant to be in Adam and–how much more–it meant to be in Christ.

And the list was a-maz-ing!

Super-overflowing grace, super-effective justification, super living reign forever, and super-increasing grace.

Romans 5:20. “...where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Now, that gets us caught up, and it paves the way for the question that Paul is going to start chapter 6 with.

Paul is anticipating and answering a potential objection to his gospel of grace. Chapter 6, verse 1.

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”

It’s a new year.

And with the new year often comes near year’s resolutions.

How many have made a new year’s resolution for 2015?
How many are not making a new year’s resolution for 2015?
How many have already broken their new year’s resolution for 2015?

There’s something about the beginning of a new year where many of us feel compelled to try to recreate ourselves.

To make a new person of ourselves. A New You.

The marketing whizzes out there try to sell that to us.

“If you join our gym, there will be a new you.”
“Give us 6 months on this diet, and you will become a new person.”
“Open this account, and there will be a new and better financial you in 2015.”

A New You.

And that sounds good, but it often does not pan out the way it was being sold to us.

This section of the book of Romans, however, is also about a new you, but it’s completely true and trustworthy.

And it’s not about a new you for 2015. It’s about a new you forever.

And how the fact of that new you will change your life in 2015 and forever.

I said a minute ago that the gospel of grace is a dangerous thing to believe.

That we are saved and declared righteous not by becoming righteous, by doing good works, by obeying the law, by being a good person, but through faith alone in Christ alone. Just by believing in Jesus.

That could be dangerous.

Paul’s enemies sure thought that it was.

Some of them were doubtlessly saying, “Well, if that’s true then we should just sin some more.”

If God’s grace (Romans 5:20) kept increasing no matter how bad sin got, then maybe we ought to just sin some more so that grace may get even awesomemer!

I told you a couple of weeks ago about a guy who said directly to me, “Jesus died so that we can sin.”

That’s the question that Paul is asking.

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”

Doesn’t this good news thing sound just a little too good to be true?

“Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”

How would you answer that?

Some of us might say, “Yeah. I mean, I wouldn’t say it that way or out loud, but I’ve gotten a little complacent about sin.”

Jesus died for my sin, and I trust that.

So, yeah, I’m planning to just go on sinning.

It’s kind of working for me. I sin, God forgives. What a deal!

He just looks better and better as He forgives me again and again.”

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”

Paul says (v.2), “By no means!”

That’s unthinkable! That’s crazy talk!

The Greek word here is again, “May genoita.” Seriously?!  No way.

“By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”

We can’t. It’s unthinkable. Everything has changed.

We can’t go on sinning so that grace may increase! It’s the exact opposite. Because of grace, we’ve got to stop sinning.

Why?

Because we died.

The first new you that we discover in Romans chapter 6 is a dead you.

#1. DEAD YOU.

Are you surprised to find out that you died?

Probably not what you expected to hear at church on the first Sunday of 2015.

Unless you were reading ahead.

You died.

Verse 2 says that we who are believers in Jesus died to sin.

That’s to the penalty and power of sin.

Our relationship with sin has gone through a major transformation.

Because we died to it.

Now, when did that happen?

We did you and I die? V.3

“Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

Paul believes that his readers all should know this.

When they were baptized into Christ Jesus, they were baptized into Christ’s death.

And I believe that he means their spiritual baptism (their incorporation into the body of Christ) illustrated by their water baptism, the outward sign of that inward reality.

I don’t think that he means, literally, that their getting baptized in water would spiritually connect them with the death of Christ.

But that spiritually, they were baptized, incorporated into Christ by faith, and that was  the very thing that their water baptism symbolized.

This is the only place in Romans where baptism is mentioned, and I don’t think that Paul is trying to sneak in salvation by water baptism here. He believes in justification by faith, not justification by baptism.

But baptism stands for faith. And water baptism is a declaration of faith.

So, when you or I became a Christian, put our faith in Christ (which our water baptisms symbolizes), that’s when we died.

Dead You and Dead Me.

Why is that good news?

Because of the second new you in this passage:

#2. RISEN YOU. V.4

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

There it is. A New You.

Not a new you for 2015, but a new you forever.

To “live a new life.” Literally, “to walk in newness of life.”

Why? Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection. V.5

“If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”

To be resurrected, you have to die first.

And so, when Christ died, we died.

We are united with Christ.  Union with Christ is so precious.

Because if “we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”

We died with Christ, we are made alive in Christ and someday will rise from the dead and have a new body like His glorious risen body.

Now, again, why is that important?

I, mean, besides the fact that we’ll live forever in new bodies?!

What does that have to do with the question of v.1 and remaining in sin? V.6

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

That’s really important.

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him...” That’s Dead You.

You were crucified with Christ. Not physically, but spiritually and forensically, that is, legally.

Because you are united to Christ by faith, you were counted as crucified with Christ.

He went through it, but you were united to Him in it.

Why?

“...so that the body of sin might be done away with...”

Now, that’s a hard phrase to interpret. There a couple of different things you could think that it means. One might be that it means “the great mass of your sins” (a body of sin), but that’s not the way that Paul normally uses the word “soma” or body.

It might mean the physical body as the place where sin dwells.  And “done away with” would mean destroy to be replaced with a resurrection body.

I tend to think it basically means the body as a helpless tool of sin.

And “done away with” or the Greek word “katargathay” means here to nullify or render ineffective.

The point of the verse is where it ends up, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin...”

Here’s the third and last new you in this passage.

#3. FREED YOU.

Emancipated you. V.6 again, “that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

Doesn’t that sound good?

You were united with Christ in His death and resurrection so that you could be freed from the penalty and power of sin.

How do we know that this is true? V.7

“...because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

Literally–has been justified from sin.

Death severs sin’s hold.

Let’s say that I murdered someone, and I went to prison for it, and then one day I got executed for it.

I’m lying there on the table, lethal injection, and I die.

At that moment, could I be tried and executed again for that crime?

No, I would be justified from it.

I would have paid my debt for that crime.

I would be freed from that crime with my death as far as our legal system is concerned.

Do you see how that works?

And I would never do that crime again. I would be dead to that sin. It would have no power over me. I would not have to obey it.

Do you see how that works?

Now, you died with Christ. You were crucified with Christ.

And when that happened, your sins were paid for. They are no longer yours.

“Anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

The penalty and the tyranny of sin.

And hear how powerful Christ’s death and resurrection are. V.8

“Now if we died with Christ [and we did!], we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. [No lordship. Christ only submitted to death once and will never submit again for all eternity!] The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.”

This is glorious stuff, and I know that I’m really doing it justice in trying to explain it.

Do you see how all three of the new you’s are in here?

“Now if we died with Christ [Dead You], we believe that we will also live with him [Raised You]. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.”

So that’s Freed You.

Because you and I are united with Christ, we have died, we will rise, and we are freed.

How did Jesus die to sin?  He never sinned. But He was tempted.

And when He died FOR sin, He died TO sin once for all.

And we are united to Him!

So the life He lives is a perfect one, a righteous one, a life to God.

And that’s our life now!

A New You.

That’s who you and I are now.

We are in Christ.

We have died, we will rise, and we have been freed!

Amen?

But it doesn’t always feel that way.

You see, even though it’s a spiritual reality, and even though it’s true, true-true, it doesn’t always seem that way.

Because we live right now in the time between times.

We live in the already but not yet.

We live in a time when sin remains even if sin does not reign.

We live in a time when sin is still resident even if sin is not still president.

We have been saved from the penalty of sin and the power of sin has been broken by that, but we still have the presence of sin.

Until the resurrection, sin is still hanging around. It is still in us and tempting us from within and trying to exert its old power over us.

Sin is still trying to call the shots.

And it’s easy for us to think that we still have to obey.

That’s one of the big reasons why our new year’s resolutions fail.

Because we let sin continue to exert power over us.

We say, “Yes, master,” when it beckons.

We grow complacent and say, “I’m glad that God is forgiving this” as we commit sin.

Or we try on our own to defeat sin and change ourselves in our own power.

As if nothing decisive has happened in our justification and union with Christ.

We act like we’re on our own not joined to Jesus.

But we are in Christ.

We have died, we will rise, and we have been freed!

And that makes all the difference.

Two points of application as Paul closes this section:

#1. COUNT YOURSELF ALIVE TO GOD. V.11

“In the same way [as Jesus lives to God], count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

That’s an mindset. That’s a telling yourself the truth kind of thing.

Reckon like this.

Think about yourself this way.

Remind yourself of the truth.

Preach to your heart.

You are dead to sin but alive to God IN CHRIST JESUS.

That’s the key. If you are in Christ Jesus, you have died, you will rise, and you are freed from the penalty and power of sin.

Maybe every day this year, you should say that to yourself.

“I have died. I will rise. I have been freed from sin. I am alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Count on it!

Too often we listen to our hearts instead of talking to our hearts.

Tell your heart this in 2015.

“I have died. I will rise. I have been freed from sin. I am alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

#2. OFFER YOURSELF TO LIVE FOR GOD.

You are alive to God, so live like it. V.12

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life [because that’s who you are!]; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments [literally: weapons] of righteousness. For [here’s the promise] sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”

Live like it.

That last verse is a surprise because he hasn’t mentioned the last since the last chapter.  And it will take a couple more messages to get more into that idea.

But you can see that it’s a promise. Sin shall not be your master.

So, don’t live like it is.

Live like a freeman. Live like a freewoman.

Don’t let sin reign. Offer yourself and your body parts and all that you are to God and live for God. Live for righteousness.

So, “No” to sin. It’s not your master any longer.

Say, “Yes” to God. He is your master now.

That’s what we’re going to see next week.

Offer yourself to live for God.

And fulfill what verse 4 said that Christ had died and risen for. So that you and I can walk in newness of life.

A new you in Christ Jesus.

***

Messages in this Series

01. All Roads Lead to Romans
02. I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel
03. The Bad News
04. Hope for Holy Sexuality
05. The Even Worse News
06. The Worst News
07. Justified
08. Father Abraham
09. The Blessings of Justification
10. How Much More
11. New You

"Stole My Fame (To Grace)" by the Gray Havens

I'm like a kid in a candy store. Our favorite band has done it again.

Here is a live version-- in one take! --of The Gray Haven's new song "Stole My Fame (To Grace)" from their very-soon-to-be-released album Fire and Stone.

This is one of my favorite songs from the album (my first favorite is "Far Kingdom" and the second is "Jack and Jill (pt. 2)."  It's a song about how grace works and it's super-catchy and fun while getting across an important message.

Enjoy!

Eglantine or Sweet Briar Rose and Bumblebee

Books I Read in 2014

The tradition continues!

Matt’s Books Completed* in 2014:

1. The Spy Who Came In the From the Cold by John Le Carre
2. Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung [review, my top 5 for 2014]
3. Love Into Light by Peter Hubbard [review]
4. Maigret Hesitates by Georges Simenon
5. Maigret and the Hotel Majestic by Georges Simenon
6. Maigret Bides His Time by Georges Simenon
7. The Pastor’s Family by Brian & Cara Croft [review]
8. Maigret Goes Home by Georges Simenon
9. Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie
10. Maigret’s Pickpocket by Georges Simenon
11. Si-Cology 101 by Si Robertson
12. Preparing Your Teen for College Alex Chediak [review, my top 5 for 2014]
13. Maigret in Exile by Georges Simenon
14. Deceived by James Scott Bell
15. Maigret and the Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon
16. Standing Tall After Falling Short by Emily Chase
17. A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
18. Dorothy L. Sayers: Her Life and Soul by Barbara Reynolds
19. Dead Man’s Ransom by Ellis Peters
20. Flight of a Witch by Ellis Peters
21. A Godward Heart by John Piper
22. Maigret’s War of Nerves by Georges Simenon
23. The Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters
24. Maigret in Holland by Georges Simenon
25. Fallen Into the Pit by Ellis Peters
26. Maigret in Vichy by Georges Simenon
27. Maigret’s Rival by Georges Simenon
28. A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs by Ellis Peters
29. A Time to Mourn & A Time to Dance by Derek Kidner
30. The Piper on the Mountain by Ellis Peters
31. Kildee House by Rutherford Montgomery
32. Black Is the Colour of My True Love’s Heart by Ellis Peters
33. The Grass Widow’s Tale by Ellis Peters
34. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
35. Is God Anti-Gay? by Sam Allberry [review, my top 5 for 2014]
36. Lord Peter by Dorothy L. Sayers
37. Maigret and the Killer by Georges Simenon
38. The Hermit of Eyton Forest by Ellis Peters
39. Maigret and the Gangsters by Georges Simenon
40. The House of Green Turf by Ellis Peters
41. Risen by Steven Mathewson [last year's top 5, read again]
42. The Heretic’s Apprentice by Ellis Peters
43. Maigret’s Revolver by Georges Simenon
44. God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines
45. God and the Gay Christian? A Response to Matthew Vines by Albert Mohler et al
46. Maigret’s Failure by Georges Simenon
47. Maigret in Society by Georges Simenon
48. Maigret and the Lazy Burglar by Georges Simenon
49. Mourning Raga by Ellis Peters
50. Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson
51. The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith
52. A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh
53. The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh
54. A Rare Benedictine by Ellis Peters
55. Empire of Bones by N.D. Wilson
56. The Martian by Andy Weir
57. Gray Matters by Brett McCracken [review]
58. Maigret at the Gai-Moulin by Georges Simenon
59. Minecraft by Daniel Goldberg and Linus Larsson
60. The Basket Case by Ralph McInerny
61. Don’t Leave Me by James Scott Bell
62. Slaves of Socorro by John Flanagan
63. City of Gold and Shadows by Ellis Peters
64. Rainbow’s End by Ellis Peters
65. Maigret and the Nahour Case by Georges Simenon
66. The Holy Thief by Ellis Peters
67. Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carre
68. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
69. Maigret and the Spinster by Georges Simenon
70. Maigret and the Calame Report by Georges Simenon
71. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger [all time favorite]
72. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon
73. The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
74. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
75. Heaven Wins by Don Richardson
76. Maigret and the Apparition by Georges Simenon
77. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
78. Maigret and the Saturday Caller by Georges Simenon
79. The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh
80. Despite Doubt by Michael Wittmer [review, my top 5 for 2014]
81. Lila by Marilynne Robinson [review]
82. Gray Mountain by John Grisham
83. Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh
84. Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic by Peter Green and Rory Jones [review]
85. Did The Devil Make Me Do It? by Michael McKinley [review]
86. The Older Brother Returns by Neal Lozano
87. 2 Samuel: Out of Every Adversity by Dale Ralph Davis [review, my top 5 for 2014]
88. 1-2 Samuel by Bill Arnold
89. Washed and Waiting by Wesley Hill [review]
90. 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart by Dale Ralph Davis [review, my top 5 for 2014]
91. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton
92. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
93. The Poverty of Nations by Wayne Grudem and Barry Asmus [review]
94. What Do I Say to a Friend Who Is Gay? by Emile Chase
95. Young Men in Spats by P.G. Wodehouse
96. Good: The Joy of Christian Manhood and Womanhood edited by David Mathis [review]
97. 1-2 Samuel by Robert Bergen
98. Maigret's Christmas by Georges Simenon
99. The Will and the Deed by Ellis Peters
100. The NIV One Year Bible


* These are books I finished reading in 2014, not the ones I started or the ones I didn't get done. I read a bunch of them for fun, some for homeschooling, and a lot of them just to learn and grow. This year, I lost track a couple of times and had to reassemble them, so the order may be off.

As I say each year--I'm not endorsing these books just because they are listed here. Some of them are really good and some are really bad. Most are somewhere in between. Read with discernment.

[Here's the post where I explain why I post these.]

Previous Years:

2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008 (first half, second half)
2007 (first half, second half)
2006 (first half, second half)
2005 (first half, second half)

A Sermon on Resisting Gossip by Gerhard deBock

This week, I got to listen to "Giving In To Gossip," a sermon by Pastor Gerhard deBock of Trinity Fellowship EFC of Big Rapids, Michigan.

This sermon was part of his "Stop Banging Your Head" series about the greatest mistakes Christians continue to make and how to avoid them.

Pastor Gerry has read and recommends Resisting Gossip, but the last part of my definition gives him reason to pause. He points out that most of us too readily assume that we have good hearts. I agree and appreciate his warning us against assuming the best for our motives (what he calls "The Judgment of Charity") and the worst for others.

Gerry is a funny guy and easy to listen to. I liked the way he interacted with the material from my book. He summarized the three kinds of bad new in chapter 1 as "lies, judgmental speculation, and shameful truth." He took the three parts of the definition and turned them into diagnostic questions of "Who," "What," and "Why."

– Who? Is the person being talked about present?

– What? Is what being said a betrayal of confidence? Based on hearsay or first hand knowledge? Merely speculation? True, but destructive to a person's reputation?

– Why? Is the listener being asked to take action with the talker? Is the talker looking for counsel on how to take action? Is the talker looking for help in regaining the Judgment of Charity before taking action? 

More:

     - View his sermon slides.
     - Access the sermon note page.
     - Check out Pastor deBock's well-stocked toolbox website, as well.

Series

What a joy to learn how the Lord is using Resisting Gossip in local churches!

     3 Sermons on Resisting Gossip by Marty Schoenleber 

     2 Sermons on Resisting Gossip by Jim Larson

     2 Sermons on Resisting Gossip by Jim Stewart

Virginity, Chastity, and Christianity

Recently, a good friend sent a link an article at thoughtcatalog called, "I Waited Until My Wedding Night to Lose My Virginity, and I Wish I Hadn't."  [My Covenant Eyes filter won't allow me to view this link, so there may be other material on the site that is suggestive, objectionable, and/or problematic. Use discretion.]

This autobiographical article is about a young woman who had fully embraced her church's strong emphasis on the importance of virginity before marriage and then was woefully unprepared for the painful realities of sex within marriage. She tells her story which is fairly raw and angry and then concludes:

I'm now thoroughly convinced that the entire concept of virginity is used to control female sexuality. If I could go back, I would not wait. I would have sex with my then-boyfriend-now-husband and I wouldn't go to hell for it. We would have gotten married at a more appropriate age and I would have kept my sexuality to myself. Unfortunately, I can't go back but I can give you this message as a culmination of my experiences: If you want to wait to have sex until marriage make sure it's because you want to. It's your body; it belongs to you, not your church. Your sexuality is nobody's business but yours.

My friend, who is not convinced of biblical Christianity right now, wanted my take on it because he hadn't heard this perspective shared before and wanted to know what a pastor would make of it.

When I shared the contents of my response letter to my friend with my wife, she suggested that it was worth posting for others to read.

***
Dear [X],

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Life has been very full recently.

Thanks for sending me this link and asking my opinion. It sparked a lot of thoughts for me and it took me a while to put them into a coherent form. Hope this is helpful to you.

My main feeling after reading “I Waited Until My Wedding...” was sadness.

First, I was sad because the author had such a painful experience. I feel bad for her that she experienced shame, pain, and confusion. I’m sorry to hear how difficult her first few years of marriage were.

Second, I was sad because her church had done such a poor job of teaching her the biblical truth about sexuality. Either she wasn’t listening very well or they had sold her a different story than the Bible tells. For example:

- She talks about a double standard for men than women. She got the idea that chastity was only for women and not men. Apparently, her church taught her this.

- She indicates that her church taught her that God was obligating Himself to give her a perfect life if she remained a virgin until marriage. Like it’s a contract that God signed and something is owed to her. That’s a very unbiblical notion of how God operates. Though she could expect blessing to come from her obedience, there is no promise in the Bible that it would take the “fairy tale” forms that she thought she had been promised. The Bible is messier, grittier, and truer than that.

- She seems to have been taught that sexual sin would have sent her to Hell in a way that other sins wouldn’t. Perhaps her church didn’t teach the wickedness of other sins. It also seems like they didn’t emphasize the gospel of grace which both forgives believers of sins and empowers them to say “No” to temptation.

- Nobody seems to have prepared her for how sex within marriage will actually be. It’s important to do that, but difficult, too. I try to do this to some degree in pre-marital counseling, but it’s hard to find good places to do it. I’m not going to teach on it very often with a mixed generation and mixed gender audience. But, at least her Mom should have been preparing her for that. [I have no idea why she waited so long for marriage, either. She doesn’t say how what she was taught plays into that decision.]

- The focus seems to have been on virginity not chastity. That’s a big mistake that her church apparently made. She should not have felt dirty when she got home because her virginity was gone. She should have felt some joy that her sexuality was being fulfilled in a God-honoring way. Our sexuality is a wonderful, God-designed reality embedded in a broken world. It seems like her teachers missed that balance almost completely.

Third, I was sad that the author had exchanged one set of lies for another. Instead of going to her Bible to see what God really says about sex, she has left God behind and embraced the religion of self. Having sex before marriage wouldn’t have solved her problems but would have created other ones including alienation from God, probable promiscuity, loss of specialness of their marriage bond, and selfishness in sex. For every one story like hers, I believe that there are thousands of testimonies of shame and regret for having forsaken biblical chastity and given up too much too soon.

It’s really sad to hear her say that her body belongs to herself. No, it doesn’t belong to the church of her youth. But her body is a stewardship from God for which she is accountable to Him some day. I’m happy that she’s currently happy in her relationship with her husband, but I have very little hope for it to remain that way if her focus is completely upon herself and her “needs.” And I’m very concerned with what she is teaching others now. I’m sad that she both doesn’t properly see what happened to her and that she has swung so far away from the truth.

That’s my two cents. Thanks for honoring me by asking.

-Matt

[Matt's Messages] "God With Us" Christmas Eve 2014

“God With Us”
Christmas Eve Candlelighting Service
December 24, 2014 :: Matthew 1:23

Advent means “coming.”  Christmas is coming...tomorrow!

Jesus has come and is coming again...soon.

This year, our Advent Readings have centered on the name Immanuel which means, “God With Us.”

In fact, not just our advent readings but the last 2 sermons were also about the name, title, and idea of Immanuel in the Bible.

The angel that appeared to Joseph in Matthew chapter 1 and told him to go ahead with marrying Mary also told Joseph that the miraculous child that she was carrying will be called Immanuel to fulfill what the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 7:14, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”  Which means “God with us.”

The last four weeks, we’ve been meditating together on what that means.

“God With Us.”

And we’ve considered four applications.

It’s kind of like a little poem.

Not Alone
Not Afraid
Not Abandoned
Not Ashamed

Would you say that with me?

Not Alone
Not Afraid
Not Abandoned
Not Ashamed

[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE]

On the first Sunday of Advent, the Beveridges lit our first candle and reminded us that because Jesus is Immanuel, we are not alone.

Humanity has been visited by Deity. God became one of us. He has moved into our neighborhood. As the Gospel of John says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

We are not alone.

[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE]

And because we are not alone, we are not afraid.

God with Us means that we need not fear.

On the second Sunday of Advent, Rick and Edie Sipe lit this candle and reminded us that because Jesus is Immanuel, we are not afraid.

They read from Hebrews 13, verses 5&6. Which reminds us that “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’”

Do you hear the logic in that verse?

If God is with us, then who can be against us?

If Jesus is Immanuel, and we belong to Him, then what do we have to fear?

Yesterday, I was in the hospital visiting Dottie Isaacson. On Sunday night, she got a major pain in her chest and was taken by ambulance early Monday morning to Mt. Nittany.

She had just been getting over pneumonia, and now she had an unexpected, unexplained blot clot.

And as the doctors were treating that and looking for any others, they found a little nodule that looked suspicious.

So, this morning she had a biopsy of that.

From pneumonia, to blood clot, to biopsy of suspicious little thing in her lung.

But she said to me yesterday, “Pastor Matt, I’m not afraid. I know that God is with me.”

Immanuel.

What are you tempted to be afraid of right now?

Is it other people?  What they will do or say or think about you?

If God is with you, then what can they do to you?

Or maybe it’s trials like finances or health concerns or a job or security.

What are you tempted to be afraid of right now?

The little baby born in Bethehem carries the name Immanuel because His very existence says to God’s people, “I am with you.”

“Do not be afraid.
Fear not! For I am with you.”

Immanuel.

[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE]

On the third Sunday of Advent, Davey and Kelly and Kiersten and Brayden lit this third candle and reminded us that we are not abandoned.

I told this story just last year, but it really gets across the idea.

It’s the story of the time I abandoned my daughter Robin.

I didn't mean to!

She was really little back when we had 4, count-em 4 car seats, and none of them could unbuckle themselves, and we went to the Philipsburg library.

Back when it was on Pine Street.  We parked on the street.

We unbuckled everybody (or so I thought) and got everyone across the road and went into the library.

Mommy and the boys went to the children's section. I carried little Isaac in his carseat to the children's section, and then went up and down the adult stacks looking for something to read.

And then I circled back and counted my children. 1-2-3.

Where's Robin?

"Where's Robin?"

Oh no!

I ran back out across the street and opened the van door, and there was my little girl bawling her eyes out.

She had been left alone. Forsaken. Deserted. Abandoned.

And it hurt.

I apologized then and I'm still apologizing for that.

I scooped her up in my arms and carried her into the library and just about never left her side the rest of the day.

Well, God is a much better Daddy than I am.

He says that because Jesus is Immanuel, God Is With US FOREVER.

Romans 8. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Not Abandoned.
Never Abandoned.

Forever.

That’s what that name, Immanuel, means.

Do you feel like you’ve been abandoned?

I was talking on the phone this week with someone who said something like, “I feel like God has made a mistake and has let me down. God seems far away.”

Sometimes, it feels like we’re alone. Like God has left us behind.

But that’s never the truth.

Because Jesus is Immanuel, God is with us always.

He says, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

Immanuel.

[LIGHT FOURTH CANDLE]

Ildiko and Dottie lit our fourth candle this last Sunday, and they said that it shines to remind us that we are not ashamed.

They read from Hebrews chapter 2 which says, “Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.”

Here’s what that means.

Jesus joined our family at Christmas. Our human family.

He took on human flesh and became one of us.

And He did that not just as a cool trick. “Hey, look at me, I can become a human,” but so that He could identify with us fully and take our place as a substitute sacrifice.

He was born to die.

And He died to make us holy.

“Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.”

He would have been ashamed because we are sinners.

We are, natural born sinners. We are rebels.

We are born as enemies of God, separated from Him and needing to be reconciled again.

But because He took on flesh and then died in that flesh for us, paying our sin-debt, then we are made holy so that He need not be ashamed of us.

And we need not be ashamed any longer!

God with us means that our sins are forgiven and washed away because of Jesus.

Immanuel is our salvation.
God is no longer against us.
God is for us.
God is with us.
Immanuel.

[LIGHT CHRIST CANDLE]

We have all done things of which we are ashamed by every thing that’s right.

We have broken God’s laws.
We have hurt others.
We have sinned.

But as the angel told Joseph, “‘What is conceived in [Mary] is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’–which means, ‘God with us.’‘”

Not ashamed.

Not Alone
Not Afraid
Not Abandoned
Not Ashamed

Say it with me.

Not Alone
Not Afraid
Not Abandoned
Not Ashamed

Because God is with us.

Now, that’s what it means for Christians.

But if you are not yet a Christian, a faith-follower of Jesus Christ, then it doesn’t mean that for you YET.

You are alone. In fact God is against you because of your sin.
You should be afraid because the wrath of God comes on those who are not with God.
You will be abandoned. One of the most terrible things about Hell is that it is place where the inhabitants can truly say, “I am not with God. God is not with me.” Forever.

If you don’t yet trust and love Jesus, you should be ashamed.

You are still in your sins. And you will reap the consequences.

But you don’t have to be!

Jesus has come.

Immanuel has come.

Jesus has come and died and risen again from the dead to fulfill the meaning of His name, Immanuel.

Trust Jesus tonight. Put your faith in Him and Him alone.

And you will be saved and you will be able to say.

Not Alone
Not Afraid
Not Abandoned
Not Ashamed

Immanuel – God with us.

Winter Squash Leaves