Glenn Packiam: If Your Faith Is Real, You Will Fight Injustice

June 8, 2020

There is a tendency among evangelicals to misunderstand what following Jesus really entails. We think if we feel in our hearts that our relationship with him is good, it does not matter what we are doing in the rest of our lives. Pastor Glenn Packiam, however, says that true faith is inextricably linked to obeying God—and consequently to fighting for justice on behalf of others.

“Evangelicals are notorious for imagining that the gospels only contain a crucifixion story,” said Packiam in a sermon he preached Sunday evening. “The only thing we know about Jesus is that he died for our sins. That’s great, but he had a lot of things to say about how to live. He had a lot of things to say about caring for the poor and doing justice.”

What Following Jesus Truly Means

Glenn Packiam is the Lead Pastor of New Life Downtown in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In his sermon, Packiam emphasized the importance of recognizing “the goal of gospel proclamation is faithful obedience.”

Preached form the second half of James 2 tonight.

The goal of gospel proclamation is faithful obedience.

We will never see the connection between the gospel and justice if we don’t understand the connection between faith and obedience.

— Rev. Dr. Glenn Packiam (@gpackiam) June 8, 2020

James 2:14-19 famously says that “faith without works is dead.” But Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

These passages might appear to disagree, but they do not, said the pastor. Rather, both agree that while our works do not save us, they are a confirmation of the genuineness of our faith. Packiam went on to explain that Paul and James are using the word “works” in different ways as they explain how to go about following Jesus. When James uses the word “works,” he means actions such as caring for the poor and helping the marginalized. For Paul, “works” refer to what he calls, “works of the law,” e.g., circumcision, dietary restrictions, and observing the Sabbath.

These are practices that distinguish the Jews from other people groups, but Paul argues that God’s people are to be set apart by their faith. And far from disagreeing with James, Paul actually agrees with him that true faith will express itself in works of obedience to God. In Romans 1:5, Paul writes, “Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.” Paul reiterates this idea in Galatians 5:6 and in Romans 16:25-26. “What is the goal of Paul’s gospel preaching?” asked Packiam. “To bring people into faithful obedience.”

Faith resulting in obedience is also the desire of Jesus, as we can see from the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

If we are truly following Jesus, the result will be we will care about the injustices happening to other people. Said Packiam, “Faith is meant to work itself out. The goal of gospel transformation is not good Jesus-y feelings. It’s not personal piety and nice little inner affections. It’s transformation so that we become radical servants, radical lovers of people, the ones who serve and give and sacrifice and obey like Jesus did.”

When James explains what he means by a faith that is alive, the two examples he gives are pretty radical. First, he mentions Abraham, the father of the faith, who was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac out of obedience to God. Then shockingly, James mentions Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute who was willing to risk her life for God. James is actually implying that a woman who was not even Jewish and was not living a moral life understood more about faith in God than the people to whom he was writing.

So what does this mean for us as we pursue following Jesus? Packiam challenged the members of his congregation to evaluate what they are actually doing to accomplish justice. Earlier in his letter, James talks about the importance of there being no partiality in the body of Christ. If you agree with this, asked Packiam, what are you doing to tear down the walls of division that exist in the church?

“It’s very easy to say what you’re not,” he said. “It’s easy to say, ‘I’m not a racist.’ Good. But are you empathetic? Are you listening? Are you working towards reconciliation? Are you considering ways to work for justice?”

Referring to the protests and unrest sparked by the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and many others, Packiam said that even though he has lived 27 out of his 42 years in the U.S, “I feel like I’m walking in on a 400-year family fight.” We have a lot we can learn by trying to understand “what 246 years of slavery does to an entire group of people.”

Packiam also praised the congregation for their good works during the pandemic. “Faith in action looks like taking care of needs,” he said, “and I’m so proud of how you’ve rallied to this in these last 12 to 13 weeks.” The church has donated and delivered 12,000 pounds of groceries to people, and through their outreach to a correctional facility in Trinidad, Colorado, 160 offenders have come to Christ. The church next wants to send care packages to every inmate there. Living out one’s faith through good works could look like donating to that ministry, said Packiam, but it could also simply look like encouraging another person. “We’re all a little bit raw right now,” he observed.

The only way we accomplish any good work, stressed the pastor, is through the power of the Holy Spirit. Only God can produce the fruit of the Spirit in someone. And it is very important that we do not try to be the Holy Spirit for another person, but instead focus on how well we are listening to him ourselves.

Packiam closed with this challenge:

The invitation is for each of us to start each day and to say, “Holy Spirit, what do you want to do in my life today? Where do you want to lead me today? What step of obedience do you want to challenge me in today? What work of yours can I participate in today?” What if our invitation every day was, “Come Holy Spirit”?

Churches Take Cue From Bible, Mr. Rogers in Foot-Washing Ceremonies

Stephanie Martin

June 8, 2020

As Americans continue protesting racial injustice, churches in several cities are holding simple yet powerful foot-washing ceremonies. The biblically-based act symbolizes racial and community unity while the country grapples with tough issues such as police brutality and systemic racism.

Foot-Washing Ceremony Is a Way to ‘love on the city’

On Saturday in Dayton, Ohio, a foot-washing ceremony (plus the distribution of dry socks) was held in Courthouse Square. Joel Burton, pastor with Simple Street Ministry, opened with prayer for peace and a fresh start, adding that the event was an avenue to “love on the city.”

In a kiddie pool, Burton washed the feet of Israel Baxter, pastor of New Hope Life Church. Baxter, an African-American, says despite feeling frustrated by recent events, he clings to hope and goodness. “The darker the night, the brighter the light shines,” he says, adding, “If you have a voice of influence, your responsibility is to use that platform to influence people to stay on the right path.”

A similar ceremony occurred June 3 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, during a “Healing the Divide” service led by The Rock Church. White pastors washed the feet of African-American pastors, and then they switched roles. Mayor Bobby Dyer says the ceremony “defines the heart and soul” of the town. “We have the faiths coming together, we have races coming together,” he says. “This is about community; this is about unity. This is about not tolerating injustice in Minneapolis or any other place.”

A First Step Toward Healing

In Cary, North Carolina, Soboma and Faith Wokoma, pastors of Legacy Center Church, organized a Unity Prayer Walk and were “pleasantly surprised” when other faith leaders and the mayor wanted to participate. The couple were among the black community leaders who received foot washing—and words of forgiveness—from march attendees, including police officers.

“We want the body of Christ to come together,” says Faith Wokoma. Her husband adds, “Not just to protest, but also to talk with one another. To know exactly what the problems are…so that collectively we can come up with solutions that can help heal our nation, heal our land and our community.”

The event is just the beginning, says Faith Wokoma. “As a church, as a community, there have to be some hard talks. We have to get to the table and understand each other.”

After Cary Mayor Lori Bush tweeted about the “poignant” event, some people criticized it on social media. She replied that foot washing is “from Christian roots, to renew the cleansing that comes from Christ, and to seek and celebrate reconciliation with another.”

Honored to join the many at the Unity Prayer Walk in #CaryNC. Several stops to pray. Poignant moment when @Morrisville_NC Chief Andrews shares her family story & pastors and police stop to wash the feet of black community leaders. #BlackLivesMattter pic.twitter.com/oHt6fWJPuh

— Lori Bush (@loribush) June 6, 2020

Foot Washing Linked to Racial Unity

In addition to its biblical roots, foot washing also is linked to racial unity, thanks to children’s TV host and Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers. During an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in 1969, when many public swimming pools still were segregated, Rogers invited Francois Clemmons, the show’s black police officer, to soak his feet with him in a kiddie pool on a hot day. The pair re-enacted the scene in 1993, during Clemmons’ final appearance on the show. It concludes with Rogers drying his friend’s feet with a towel.

‘God’s Not Dead’ Filmmakers Being Sued for $100 Million

Megan Briggs

June 8, 2020

Pure Flix, the company that produced God’s Not Dead and God’s Not Dead 2, is being sued for $100 million. According to Kelly Kullberg and Michael Landon Jr., the company stole their plot.

In their complaint for copyright infringement filed on Monday, June 6, in California, Kullberg and Landon Jr. claim members of the company learned about their screenplay Rise and used it as a basis for “the most important creative elements” of God’s Not Dead.

God’s Not Dead was released in March 2014, and became “the highest earning independent motion picture of the year,” earning “more than $140 million worldwide.” Furthermore, “the profits Pure Flix earned were sufficient to enable the company to produce a sequel, released April 1, 2016.”

So why did Kullberg and Landon Jr. wait until now to take legal action? According to their complaint, they have been trying repeatedly to practice the road to reconciliation laid out in Matthew 18:15-17.

Here’s a brief summary of their attempts (explained in greater detail in their complaint):

In January 2014, just months before the release of God’s Not Dead, Kullberg met with Pure Flix’s President Russell Wolfe and Vice President Randy Maricle to “discuss the similarities” between her screenplay, Rise, and God’s Not Dead. After rebuffing Kullberg’s request to find a proper solution to the dilemma, Maricle told Kullberg, “The company felt that the similarities were ‘a coincidence,’ and there was nothing more to discuss.”

After the movie released, Kullberg again tried to reach out to the company. “They neither acknowledged her letter nor her follow-up email.”

Kullberg then took the next step by going to the church. Ten Christian and church leaders sent a “Letter from the Church to Pure Flix,” which asked the company to respond to Kullberg’s concerns.

This is when Pure Flix brought in legal counsel and started communicating to Kullberg via a lawyer. Kullberg and Landon Jr. followed suit.

Given the damages caused by the copyright infringement resulting in the loss of profit, Kullberg and Landon Jr. are suing Pure Flix for $100 million.

The Difference Between Pride and Confidence

Ben Reed

June 8, 2020

The decision I made to move into full-time vocational ministry was one of the most difficult decisions of my life. It took me nearly a year of praying, fasting, reading, and seeking counsel.

But when I made the decision, there was no swaying me. Not a chance you were going to convince me I was headed the wrong direction. I was sure that the direction my compass was pointing was the right one. I made the decision resolutely and began planning my life around it.

I wondered, though…was this a healthy confidence? Built on the back of the Truth of Scripture, the counsel of others, and God’s hand leading me throughout the previous 12 months? Or was it simply me trying to mask my self-centered, “I’m-right-and-you’re-not” pride?

The line that distinguishes pride and confidence is often indistinguishable.

From the outside, looking in, it’s like trying to find a fishing line in mid-air. You know it’s there, but unless you find yourself tangled up in it, it’s a line that’s not visible to the naked eye. A line that, if you don’t stand in the right spot, you’ll find yourself hooked by.

To see the fishing line, you need a piece of contrasting material. Hold up a black t-shirt to the line, and it instantly stands out. Take the t-shirt away, and the line seems to go with it.

It’s incredibly easy to slide from confidence into pride. To slide from a healthy view of self to an unhealthy perspective of your gifts and abilities. In fact, if you’re not careful, you won’t even realize you’ve made the transition. It takes intentionally holding up a contrasting material for you to see this invisible line.

Know this: if the line disappears, you’re in trouble. If you can’t tell when you’re moving into pride, your leadership will be damaged. You’ll make poor decisions. You’ll destroy relationships. And you’ll leave a pathway of destruction that will take years to rebuild.

Looking at pride and confidence contrasting each other can be the mirror we use to tell this important distinction.

5 truths about pride

The prideful person:

never says they’re wrong.
doesn’t accept input, but goes at everything alone. They makes decisions in a vacuum.
bristles when taking advice/correction.
doesn’t take others into account.
craves public and/or private recognition for the works they’ve done.

6 truths about confidence

The confident person:

measures their choices and actions with wisdom.
weighs input from others, and moves towards the Truth.
doesn’t proceed through selfish ambitions. (Philippians 2:3-4)
realizes they can’t do it alone.
knows who they are, and who they aren’t. They’re “confident” where God has gifted them.
works to build others up. (Ephesians 4:12-13)

Let not the wise boast of their wisdom

or the strong boast of their strength

or the rich boast of their riches,

but let the one who boasts boast about this:

that they have the understanding to know me,

that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,

justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight,”

declares the Lord. – Jeremiah 9:23-24

Question:
Have you seen a difference between pride and confidence? Have you seen these distinctions play out? Have you ever slid from healthy confidence to pride?

Where is the Faithful Biblical Preaching?

Jeff Baxter

June 8, 2020

I have a passion to preach the Word of God with purity and faithfulness. I resonate with Timothy when Paul gave him a strong commission saying, “Preach the Word; Be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2). It is a very weighty calling to preach the Bible. It is a calling to take very seriously. We are literally talking about God’s Revelation to humanity. This is not a light topic. As a result, I enjoy being a lifelong learner of good Biblical preaching, preachers and authors who have written on the subject.
I am in the middle of a great book called, Preach: Theology Meets Practice by Mark Dever and Greg Gilbert. I am greatly encouraged by their concern for solid Biblical preaching and seeing the lack of it in the average evangelical church.
In their introduction, they express three reasons for writing the book or concerns for the evangelical church today.

First, the authors and I can see a rising in the evangelical church over the loss of confidence in the preached Word of God.

They explain that some believe the Word of God should not be preached because our world is filled with pithy sound bites and immediate interaction including Facebook status and tweets. Some say that “conversation” and “dialog” are more important today. They believe, as do I, that “significant things are lost when a congregation never hears the Word of God delivered at length, with power, in an uninterrupted sermon.” God’s Word needs to be “proclaimed, not just considered.” Just as God spoke the world into existence and handed down instructions to His people, there is a unique calling and giftedness for some to proclaim the Word of God to the people of God. There is power in this place that you can’t get anywhere else. This is God’s design from the beginning.

Second, the authors and I can see throughout much of the evangelical church a lack of confidence in biblical exposition.

Exposition of the Word of God is exposing the Word of God to the listeners. Many evangelical churches are more interested in “topical sermons, sometimes character studies, sometimes even with things that strain the definition of preaching; but regardless of what replaces it, opening the Bible to a particular passage and preaching the meaning of that passage Sunday after Sunday is far from the normal practice in most evangelical churches.” I would agree. This is a tragedy! Much of the preaching today is more focused on entertaining as not to have the congregation be bored. The power is not in the preacher. The power and confidence we have is and has always got to be in the vary Word’s of God, His Revelation to us.

Third, the authors and I want to work against the bad name that even some expositional preachers have given to expositional preaching.

Some of what is filed under “expository preaching” is just not good preaching. Expositional preaching is not a “running commentary on first-century Jewish backgrounds.” We need to see good examples of solid and faithful preaching calling people to change into the people God longs for them to be based on the Word’s from God. Afterall, the Greek word for preaching means “to herald” or “to call for change.” It is Gospel-centered.

Later in the book, the authors write, “The fundamental basis of any person’s relationship with God is that we hear His Word and respond to it.” The faithful preacher opens up the Word of God, shares what it’s intended meaning is and the congregation responds in obedience. As we study any character in the Bible who followed God, this was the normal order of things.

God speaks.
They listen and obey.
God’s favor and blessing is on His people.

The calling of the preacher is to speak the Word of God with purity, praying for folks to listen and obey.

The local church must place it’s feet firmly on the foundation of the Word of God. Cool object lessons, backdrops, topics, flog machines, themes, music, fliers, programs, atmosphere or staging are not the foundation that changes lives. They might help or hinder. The Word of God changes lives. I am reminded of what the half-brother of Jesus said, “He [God] chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all he created” (James 1:18). We were born-again or saved by the Word of God in Christ Jesus. James goes on, “…humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you” (James 1:21).

The preacher is charged like Paul and Timothy with the humble calling to faithfully present the word’s of God as they were intended not “watering down” or compromising their clear message. When we preach expository sermons, we don’t miss anything God has for us. May we not be guilty of presenting half-truth which is really no truth at all. May we rise up to preach the “whole counsel of God” as Paul did (Acts 20:27).

This is a humble, sometimes difficult, but overwhelmingly joyful experience!

What do you think?

Ode to the Ordinary Pastor

Kyle Borg

June 8, 2020

One of the greatest privileges of being a pastor is shepherding people to the threshold of death — to read to them, to pray for them, and sing to them as they come toe-to-toe with the last enemy. Of course, that privilege is beset by heartache, and as an ordinary pastor you acutely feel in those moments your inability. You can shepherd to the doorstep but you can only go so far. Inevitably, the time comes when in faith you must give them up for it is the singular honor of the Great Shepherd who alone can pass through that gate with his sheep. Today, Jesus has tended another one of his sheep through the pasture of this life and into eternity.

Ode to an Ordinary Pastor

This morning I mourn the death of my good friend Pastor John Tweed. I know many who might read this would be unfamiliar with his name. That’s because John didn’t pastor on a worldwide platform or in the spotlight of notoriety. He didn’t write any books, speak at sold-out conferences, or stand behind the lectern in theological schools. John’s field of ministry was better than all of that. He pastored in the best of all fields — the local church. His ministry was carried out from the pulpit, in hospital and living rooms, with a birthday or anniversary call, at the bedside of those in hospice care, and with constant petitions to the Throne of Grace. It was there, in the everyday routines of people’s lives, that John wept with those who wept and rejoiced with those who rejoiced.

I remember hearing someone liken the ministry to the nighttime sky. Occasionally, a bright comet passes through our field of vision leaving a tail that appears for a moment and then vanishes. And in that moment all the eyes of earth are turned to see. But the dark canopy is also spotted with countless stars — each differing in their luminary glory — that constantly shine against the darkness. They may not catch the eye of those below but night after night with unending faithfulness there they are. Of course, the point was that we don’t need comet-like pastors, we need men who will faithfully stand against the darkness in the normal humdrum of everyday ministry. That was John. He was an ordinary pastor.

Earlier today as I sat with John’s widow I was shown a letter that his father had written him in 1940 when he was eleven years old. It read: “My dear little son: My prayer for you is that you may grow up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and some day you may become a faithful minister of Christ.” Fourteen years later that prayer was realized. John began his ministry in 1954 shortly after being married to his wife and life-long support Alta. Throughout the years he pastored churches in Ohio, California, Kansas, and Pennsylvania. He retired from the pastorate in 1996 and moved to Winchester, Kansas. However, his retirement wasn’t wasted. Over a span of seventeen years John ministered on thirty-one separate assignments in eighteen different Reformed Presbyterian congregations. During this time he encouraged the discouraged and strengthened the weak, and did so much to bring healing and help to those who needed it. His last interim pastorate ended when I was called to be the pastor in Winchester in 2013.

John’s ordinary ministry had a tremendous effect. Five years ago John was recognized by our denominational seminary, the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, for his decades of service in the church. Compiled at that time was a book with eighty-one letters written by family, friends, and churches from around the world. Reading over some of those personal letters (being John’s pastor has its benefits!) they testify to his life-long commitment of shepherding well. As one letter stated: “Few portions of the RPCNA have not known his tender care or kind touch.” Another said: “[You were] one of the brightest spots in my life.” Still another wrote: “[You were] a patient listener and a wise counselor.” And to capture it all in a few words: “[Your] whole being is a reflection of [your] love for God and His people.”

Personally, John has meant a lot to me. Though I was officially his pastor for the last seven years of his life, the truth is he was my pastor. I think that makes me the last person John got to pastor! His prayers, counsel, encouragement, and last whispered “I love you,” have held me up. His words of appreciation for every sermon (even the botched up ones!) have kept me going. His concern for the unsaved and his love for the simple gospel have been contagious. And his example of what a pastor is and does has taught me more than any book or class ever could. I guess this is a small way to pen my own letter of deep appreciation for this man whom Jesus has seen safely home.

But far more than letters written on paper are those written on the tablets of human hearts. As Paul once wrote: “You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all” (2 Corinthians 3:2). When at last we no longer see through this glass dimly, and we perceive more of the ways of God than we are now fitted to see, then we will gaze at the eternal impact of one ordinary pastor with an ordinary ministry.

The church of Jesus Christ is in need of those kinds of pastors. Men who forego the desire for power, the grabbing of influence, and building of platforms — men who don’t need the applause and approbation of this world. The church needs men of a different conviction. Men who understand that God works most through ordinary means, ordinary ministries, and ordinary pastors. As the Great Shepherd welcomes one of these men into the presence of his glory with great joy, may He be pleased to give His church pastors after His own heart.

“O then what raptured greetings, On Canaan’s happy shore;
What knitting severed friendships up, Where partings are no more!
Then eyes with joy shall sparkle, That brimmed with tears of late;
Orphans no longer fatherless, Nor widows desolate.”

This article about the ordinary pastor originally appeared here.

One of the Largest Churches in the World Doesn’t Worry About Church Growth Programs, Yet Keeps Growing

Phil Cooke

June 8, 2020

When Kathleen and I filmed in India recently, we attended the massive Calvary Temple church in Hyderabad, founded by my friend Pastor Satish Kumar. After many successful years traveling throughout India as a very effective evangelist, in 2005 Satish felt God leading him to start Calvary Temple church, and the growth has been absolutely phenomenal…even without a focus on church growth programs.

Just look at these numbers without church growth programs:

Within little more than a year of it’s founding, the church had nearly 1,000 members.
Within another year the church had reached 3,000 members.
In 2008 it hit 8,000 members.
2009 it was 18,000 members.
2011 – 40,000 members.
2013 – 80,000 members.
2015 – 100,000 members.
Today more than 225,000 people worship God in this church or one of its campuses every week.

According to church numbers, every month nearly 3,000 people are added to the church and every year 25,000 to 30,000 new members are added. The remarkable building and it’s overflow currently accommodates 40,000 per service and it takes 5 services each Sunday to fit everyone into the buildings.

It’s the largest church in India, and most likely, it’s the fastest growing church in the world…without a focus on church growth programs.

In light of this remarkable growth, I asked one of the leaders about their church growth programs. After all, explosive multiplication like that must be the result of some serious evangelism campaigns, marketing efforts, and outreaches to the community. He told me that although they have “service” outreaches like a free medical clinic, food distribution programs, and a retirement home for members, they don’t do any real church growth programs or outreach campaigns at all.

So why all the remarkable growth? He told me they have a powerful culture of invitation. Every Sunday, church members actively invite family members, neighbors, co-workers, and friends. He said rarely does he meet a church member on Sunday who doesn’t have multiple people he or she has invited to the church.

It made me think about the last time I invited someone to my church. How did we lose that “culture of invitation” in the United States?

If you’re a pastor, are you teaching the supreme importance of inviting people to church? And if you’re a church member, why aren’t you inviting more people? Are we afraid? Self-centered? Don’t care?

Much like social media, as a church grows, if each person invites just one each Sunday, the increase in attendance would be exponential. And yet we spend millions on church growth campaigns, marketing, and evangelism outreaches and at the same time, forget the enormous power of a simple personal invitation.

Apparently, the members of Calvary Temple understand that eternity hangs in the balance and have a burning desire to see people come to Christ.

What would be the impact if we all had that passion?

This article about a growing church without church growth programs originally appeared here.

Psalm 120 … Dwelling Among Those Who Hate Peace

Jonathan Cruse

June 8, 2020

Dear Christian, if the events of 2020 haven’t caused you to realize this world is not your home, I’m not sure what will. In my own state, the stay at home restriction was at long-last lifted only for a city-wide curfew to be enforced hours later due to potential rioting and looting later that evening. The other morning, I spent some time surveying the downtown damage from the previous night’s protests. Our city is just a microcosm of the disaster that has struck larger metropolitan areas such as Milwaukee or Philadelphia. Even so, the words of the psalmist struck me: “Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace” (Psalm 120:6)

Psalm 120: In the Wrong Place

Psalm 120 belongs to that compilation known as the Psalms of Ascent: 15 songs nestled towards the end of the psalter that were sung by Hebrews making their way to Jerusalem for worship. Psalm 120 is actually the first of these songs, and thematically it stands apart from the rest. It’s not so much a stirring anthem for the march onward as it is a cry for help—“in my distress I called to the Lord” (v.1).

What is distressing the psalmist? He tells us in verse 5: “Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!” Meshech and Kedar are two nomadic tribes, both to the east of the Promised Land. Elsewhere in Scripture, Meshech is associated with the sins of Magog and Babylon, and the Kedarenes come from the passed over line of Ishmael. Covenantally-speaking, these aren’t great places to be. They are metaphors for the wickedness of the world. They are stand-ins for any Gentile region that is far from the people and promises and peace of God. That’s where this psalmist feels he has been living. In essence he is crying: “Get me out of here!”

We all need to make that cry. The Christian life needs to begin with that desire to dwell somewhere else. It’s the only thing that will start us on our journey towards God. We should not feel settled here. That’s why Psalm 120 is the only beginning that makes sense for the series of psalms that follows.

Recording artists will tell you about the importance of what is known as “sequencing”—having good songs for an album isn’t the end of the project, putting those songs in the right order is just as important. The art of ordering the songs on a record is called sequencing; it’s what makes sense of the whole, it’s what brings cohesion and narrative to what would otherwise be 10 or 12 disjointed tracks. Note the sequencing of the Psalms of Ascents: for the pilgrimage to make sense, Psalm 120 has to be at the start. We all need to be fed up with this sinful world in order to begin our journey to the celestial one. Eugene Peterson captures it like this: “A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way. A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace.”[1]

I Aim for Peace

If you want to make the journey to God, you need to at first be thoroughly dissatisfied with the way the world is. In Psalm 120, the psalmist has noted that he is the wrong place, so now he needs to get to the right place. This is the start of the journey! His aim is stated in verse 7: “I am for peace.” Literally in Hebrew it reads: “I peace.” His aim is all-consuming that it becomes his identity. He is for peace, so where is the natural place for him to go? The city of peace—Jerusalem!

The psalmist’s distress is our distress; His aim ought to be our aim as well: we must recognize the emptiness of this world, how it offers nothing to console our hearts, how there is no shalom for our souls, and we must pack our things and head onward. Do you recognize that? Do you recognize that this world doesn’t have what you need? It may have what you want, but it doesn’t have what you need. It doesn’t have God. You must set your aim on Him. We must take the warning of C. S. Lewis, “Aim for heaven, and get earth thrown in. Aim for earth and get neither.”

Do your recognize that you are a pilgrim? We are passing through (1 Peter 2:11). In the words of an old folk hymn: “No tranquil joys on earth I know, No peaceful, shelt’ring dome; This world’s a wilderness of woe, This world is not my home.” There is no peace here, but there is peace in the City of Peace. For the psalmist that was a city in Palestine. For us it’s a city in heaven.

Looking to Jesus

How do we properly orient our maps for Home? How do we ensure our compasses are pointing True North? How can we have the same aim as Psalm 120? If you are anything like me, your aim is regularly off. You aim for earth and miss heaven. You find yourself too comfortable with the things of this world. Or you find yourself hopeless against the harm of injustice, forgetting that there’s something more than what we have here.

The answer is in the aim of Christ. When we look to his life here on earth we see he endured the same troubles as us. He was surrounded by sin (though He never succumbed to it). He knew this world was not His home, and where did He set His aim? Jerusalem. The city of peace, just like the psalmist. But for Him He knew it did not mean peace, but it would mean death. Jesus was heading for the cross (Hebrews 12:2). Luke 9:51 says, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” When the days drew near for him to die, He headed towards that death. He did not shrink from it. He headed towards destruction and curse to ensure that when we aim for Jerusalem we would have peace.

The cross is God’s answer to a world of violence. A world that hates peace. The cross is God’s answer to a world where injustice seemingly reigns supreme. We see how seriously God takes justice at Calvary. For those who do not repent of the consistent shirking of shalom, for those who are enemies of the church, for those who promote violence and wrongdoing, there will be a day of judgment. But the cross teaches something else: that day of judgment won’t come for me, though I deserve it terribly. For the Christian, our final judgment was brought forward in time and Jesus experienced it all in our place. So that when our aim is off, when we find ourselves forgetting about our true home, when I find myself too comfortable here, when I succumb to sin, I am still safe. Jesus died the death that I deserve for those sins.

And you know what that reality makes me want to do? It makes me want to be with Him. Don’t you feel it? Don’t you want to be with the God who would love you so much that He would make a pilgrimage of death for you? So we respond to that gift by turning, by endeavoring, by journeying, by making our aim our very identity, one with our God: peace.

This article about Psalm 120 originally appeared here.

You’re Already So Loved

Sarah Bessey

June 7, 2020

This article originally appeared here.

You don’t have to be productive and you don’t have to change the world. You’re already so loved.

You don’t have to be smart. You don’t have to be simple. You don’t have to read all the right books by the right people. You’re already so loved.

You don’t have to be beautiful and thin with an articulated and ironic fashion sense, not at all. But if you’re into that kind of thing, well, that’s OK, too, darling. You don’t have to be healthy in your mind or in your body. You don’t have to be in full-time vocational ministry. You can watch horrible television or you can be proud of your television-less home. You can be artistic or scientific. You can spend your life travelling to meet beautiful people, or you can live and die in the town where you were born.

You don’t have to be straight or white or powerful. You can be from the wrong side of the tracks or the gated community, suburbs or urban or rural. You can work with your hands and your mind, your back and your brain. You don’t have to be educated, not at all. You don’t have to have a degree or letters after your name. You don’t have to know the right people and boast a carefully curated Instagram feed with the famous and the beautiful and the influential. You don’t have to be conservative and you don’t have to be liberal. You don’t have to identify with certain political persuasions or ideology on sexuality or science or socio-economics or foreign policy. You can be a social justice warrior or, you know, not.

None of that moves the metre of your belovedness. God won’t say, OK now I love her just a bit more because, look, she is finally out of debt or thin or powerful or influential or tireless.

Your family story can be beautiful or terrible or, like most of us, it’s likely a bit of both. Perhaps you’re famous or well-known or influential, that’s OK. Perhaps you are quiet and unknown, maybe you hate that, maybe you love it. You don’t have to be a mother or a father, you don’t have to be married, you don’t have to be single, you don’t have to want children or raise children. You don’t have to be sober or clean. You don’t have to give away everything you own and take a vow of poverty, you don’t have to be prosperous either. Church or no church or a certain kind of church only, whatever.

You have nothing to prove. You have nothing to earn.

Sure, any one of those things might change because you are loved. You may know already where God wants to breathe change and wholeness into you, bringing your life more into line with the person you were meant to be all along.

Love can and does and will transform us in every way—our ideology, our opinions, our habits, our values, our priorities, our very names. But it’s not a prerequisite or a requirement, it’s not behavior modification, it never is, not for Love.

Paralyzed By Grace?

Andrew Hess

June 7, 2020

Richard Foster’s unusual phrase captures our attention and directs us toward true grace:

Is the Bible Clear? If So, Why So Many Denominations?

Andrew Hess

June 7, 2020

Tween Small Groups Part 3 – Building Community

J.C. Thompson

June 7, 2020

So this is part 3 of my series on our first year of our tween small groups. You can view the whole series on our C-groups by clicking here.

After finding programming structure that worked and seemed to be successful in accomplishing our purposes, it was time to focus on an aspect that is essential to groups: building community.

Community is something that should be searched for and managed throughout your ministry. Acts 2:46-47 provides a great definition of biblical community:

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts shows a few things that we try to work into our groups:

Regular Attendance
Hang Time -structured and unstructured.
Service

Regular Attendance

We talk numerous times about how importance regular attendance is, however talking about it won’t make it stick. We knew that if students were going to attend regularly they would need to know and be known by people. This is why the prayer time that we talked about in the last post was so important. It gives a tween the go ahead to let others know what is happening in their life. I think the number one thing that we did to build community was to take prayer requests as a group. Something about it just set the mood.

Because students began to get to know one another, they began to feel comfortable and so became regular attenders! Our C-Groups attendance rate was absolutely ridiculous when compared with our Sunday Morning attendance rate. I think this is because of the opportunities to get to know other students.

Hang Time

We did program in chill and gather time every Wednesday night, but we also had some just fun nights. Game nights, football, conversations, etc. They became times that students just hung out all night! They were a blast and all of our students enjoyed them. Again, just another way to build relationships.

Service

We also had the opportunity to do a few small in-house service projects. I hope to do this element a bit more next year. We wrote cards to local nursing home residents and we also helped fill our communion bags as well. Simple, projects that our church needed some help with at the time and our students made it happen.

Other Items of Community

I mean there are a ton of other things that built the community of students that we have at Switch. The groups themselves allowed us to dig deeper, the curriculum allowed us to ask questions, and there was food sometimes! Food brings people together, flat out!

But ultimately I feel as if the 3 factors listed above really pulled our students together. Some fringers in our Sunday services became staples at both. Hopefully all of our students begin to see the need for groups for the rest of their lives.

Phishing Attacks Keep on Coming: Are You Safe?

Jonathan Smith

June 7, 2020

It was a hot July 4^th in Washington, DC. I was speaking at a conference in the area and my family decided to attend A Capitol Fourth Celebration that is televised on PBS each year from the steps of the US Capitol. We arrived at the Capitol early, cleared security, got a great spot to view the fireworks and concert, and enjoyed what we thought would be a leisurely afternoon and evening celebrating our nation’s independence. Shortly before the concert began, I started getting odd alerts on my phone. Emails were being sent from our domain that didn’t make sense and the volume of email being sent, on a holiday, certainly didn’t add up. Using only my iPhone, from the steps of the Capitol, I realized someone was sending massive amounts of email from our domain. The email was poorly crafted, and the login page looked nothing like our login page, but a user fell for it and entered their username and password into the phishing site. in. We use Microsoft 365, so I wondered if we had been hacked, or worse yet, if one of our users had been the subject of a phishing attack.

As the concert starting time drew near, my goal was to figure out which account or accounts were compromised so the passwords could be reset to stop the flow of email. I was also trying to get a hold of others on our tech team who were also at BBQs and celebrations for July 4^th. Obviously, we had to plug the hole and then, once I could get back to a computer, figure out exactly what happened.

The concert started with me glued to my phone. If you watch the PBS broadcast, you can see me looking at my phone instead of enjoying the start of the concert. By the time the Beach Boys started playing the compromised user account had been shut off and the outgoing email flow stopped. By the time the cannons were firing for the 1812 Overture, all users had been made aware of what happened and been notified that thousands of emails had been sent externally from our domain and email addresses.

After the fireworks ended, and we navigated the crowds back to our hotel, I spent the rest of the night online cleaning up the mess and analyzing exactly what happened and trying to figure out how to make sure I was never caught on national television again cleaning up a mess like this.

What Happened

The bad actors sneakily sent a phishing email to our users pretending to be from Purdue University and asking our users to login using their work credentials to receive a message from Purdue. The email was poorly crafted, and the login page looked nothing like our login page, but a user fell for it and entered their username and password into the phishing site. Choosing a holiday like July 4^th was also devilish.

This allowed the bad actors full access to the user’s mailbox from which they immediately started sending tens of thousands of spam messages. The bad actors also had access to our full global address list, which they also spammed, phished, and spoofed.

It would appear their goal was simply to gain access to a valid email server to send as many spam messages as they could before being stopped. These bad actors were probably paid per message they delivered and simply needed an email server from which to send their messages. Fortunately, that is all they did as we found no evidence of file access, data deletion, or even malicious payloads in the emails. They just sent a ton of spam.

We spent the rest of the night cleaning up the bad emails across our Microsoft 365 tenant. Once all the bad emails were removed, we forced numerous password resets. We also had to communicate with those outside our organization who received spam messages from us through the bad actor’s access to our contact lists.

The Solution

Once the accounts were reset our attention turned to prevention. How do you prevent users from being tricked into giving out their usernames and passwords? What safety measures can you implement in case a user gets tricked again? We quickly implemented a 2-pronged strategy.

The first prong was 2 Factor Authentication, also called Multi-Factor Authentication. 2FA or MFA requires the user to login using their username and password and then validate their login using a code or another form of authentication sent directly to them. In the early days 2FA consisted of a text message with a number to your cell phone. Now 2FA can be a text message or any number of authentication apps.

If we had been using 2FA when the user got tricked the bad actors would have attempted to login, the user would have gotten a text message with an authentication code, and the bad actors would have been stopped as they would not have the code from the user.

2FA isn’t perfect, but having it is far better than not having it, trust me. 2FA isn’t convenient, can make support more challenging, and creates headaches for users but the line between security and convenience has to shift more towards security if we are going to protect the data entrusted to us, not to mention our online reputations.

The second prong was improved and increased user training. The person with their fingers on the mouse and keyboard is best positioned to protect your organization. User training would have hopefully prevented the user from being tempted to click the link and enter their credentials.

Up until this point we had sent out occasional warnings but were not using any sort of formal, accountable end user training. Today we are. You can read more about our use of the Human Firewall here.

The Moral of the Story

In this story’s version of happily ever after, don’t be like me. 2FA may be a hassle and may create all sorts of other challenges but it is worth it. Do it before you have to because if you do it when you have to it is already too late and you may have already been spotted on national television trying to cleanup a successful phishing attack.

Deep Cries Out—Bethel Music Kids

Megan Briggs

June 7, 2020

Please Pray for Tim Keller

Megan Briggs

June 7, 2020

Tim Keller cancer — Screengrab Facebook @Timothy Keller

Tim Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, made a sobering announcement on his Facebook page this morning. Keller, age 69, recently found out that he has pancreatic cancer.

“I feel great and have no symptoms,” Keller wrote. “It was what doctors call an ‘incidental pickup,’ otherwise known as providential intervention.”

Tim Keller: Cancer Diagnosis Came Unexpectedly

Keller told followers he is headed to the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, for additional testing today. He will begin chemotherapy next week in New York City, where he currently resides with his wife, Kathy.

The author and retired pastor, who has been speaking frequently in the last couple years about the problems of nationalism, prejudice, and partisanship in the church, asked those so inclined to pray for him and his family.

You can read the entire update, which Keller posted to his Facebook account this morning, below:

Less than 3 weeks ago I didn’t know I had cancer. Today I’m headed to the National Cancer Institute at the NIH for additional testing before beginning chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer next week back in New York City.

I feel great and have no symptoms. It was what doctors call an “incidental pickup,” otherwise known as providential intervention. I have terrific human doctors, but most importantly I have the Great Physician himself caring for me. Though we have had times of shock and fear, God has been remarkably present with me through all the many tests, biopsies, and surgery of the past few weeks.

If you are willing to pray for me, here are things to pray for:

For God to use medical means or his direct intervention to make the cancer regress to the point of vanishing.

For Kathy and me, that we use this opportunity to be weaned from the joys of this world and to desire God’s presence above all.

For my family to be comforted and encouraged.

For the side effects of treatment to allow me to continue writing and speaking.

Running the race set before me with joy, because Jesus ran an infinitely harder race, with joy, for me. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

-Tim

Please join us in praying for Tim Keller as he and his family navigate this next season of cancer treatment.

Barnabas Piper on Divorce—The Scarlet Letter of the Evangelical World

Joshua Pease

June 7, 2020

Barnabas Piper knows what you might be thinking. His divorce is not how God would want things to happen. Early in a Christianity Today podcast, Piper says “Let’s acknowledge the weirdness up front: this is not something that’s good. This is not something that’s supposed to happen in God’s kingdom. It’s like death: there’s treatment, there’s therapy, there’s things you’re trying to do to stop the disease. And then eventually those don’t work and you are just praying for a miracle. To the end I still believed God could save it.”

Barnabas Piper’s Thoughts on Divorce

Initially Barnabas Piper was best known as the son of the hugely influential John Piper, but for years has crafted his own legacy as a writer and speaker in the evangelical church world. On his blog on January 10, 2017, Piper wrote a post entitled “When a Marriage Dies,” in which he says despite years of struggling to stay together, his wife has chosen to leave the marriage and he is officially divorced. The post is both transparent and private, full of vulnerability and lacking on details. And it stirs up a question the evangelical church is often divided on: How should the church respond to divorce?

“A lot of what I do is put my finger on things in the church that don’t seem quite right,” Piper said on the CT podcast. “There seems to be a lid on things [in the church] that are not sinful but we are ashamed of. Divorce includes a lot of sin and doesn’t happen without sin, but someone being divorced doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve sinned. There’s a billion reasons why divorces happen, but we don’t talk about it. It’s scarlet letter-y. Part of what I wanted to do was bring it to light. I don’t want to be ashamed. There’s nothing for me to be ashamed of.”

Barnabas Piper said he struggled with knowing the right way to announce the divorce without demonizing his ex-wife or sharing too much; however, he felt like it was important to make sure people heard the news from him. “There’s a difference between privacy and secrecy. Privacy are the things you share with the RIGHT people in authenticity but in that context only. Secrecy is something you hide because you’re ashamed. I didn’t want some Christian watchblog stumbling on my divorce months from now and twisting it into me keeping something secret. As somebody who wants to have a voice to help people and speak truth, how can you speak truth if they question whether they can trust you?”

While Piper never directly says it, over the interview it becomes clear that at some point in Piper’s marriage his wife stopped considering herself a Christian. For a significant amount of time Piper and his wife attempted to keep the marriage together, until eventually Piper’s wife announced she was done and wanted a divorce. The question for Piper then became what God would want for his life moving forward, and how he’s dealing with having a different opinion on that then many in the church have … including his dad.

“My dad believes I should be in the persistent pursuit of a marriage that no longer is in existence. He believes I should only get remarried if my ex-wife does or if she passes away. If the possibility of reconciliation still exists, he believes that should be the aim of my prayers. And that is a sticking point for us.”

In many traditional, evangelical church cultures remarrying after a divorce—no matter what the reason—disqualifies them from leadership in the church. Other churches largely ignore divorce, not talking about it and minimizing its seriousness. In the podcast, Piper seems stuck in between, attempting to find a third way. While Piper clearly fought for his marriage up until the point his wife requested a divorce, he also now feels free to move on. He specifically states it can be harmful for a Christian who has been divorced to actively pursue reconciliation with someone who has chosen to leave.

“If you’re invested in a marriage those feelings don’t just turn off,” Piper said. The only way to turn off those feelings is to start hating—which isn’t good. I had to make the decision to stop praying for my ex once we were divorced. This is one of those things that’s going to make people scrunch up their eyebrows, but I believe the best thing to do once someone has divorced you is when they come to mind surrender them to God. It’s the prayer of Jesus in the garden ‘not my will, but yours be done.’ You may be letting go of them to experience God’s judgment for their actions or to experience a change or heart. But that’s not up to you anymore. You’re moving on.”

While Barnabas Piper is still recovering from his divorce, he says he can already see the good things God has brought out of a terrible situation. Counter-intuitively, Piper says he believes more in the beauty of marriage than he ever has. He says “it makes no sense” that until the last day he was fighting for a marriage that had become soul-wrecking for years before that. He talks about the freedom that comes as a father and communicator now that he’s not married to someone who doesn’t “have his back” when it comes to a commitment to Jesus.

He also says his approach to writing has changed. A prolific author who has released a book almost annually, Piper says he can’t write the same way anymore.

“One thing I’ve learned is the value of transparency. I view myself as writer—it’s what I love to do. One thing I’ve learned is what needs to be poured into my writing isn’t just ideas or persuasion. It’s soul and heart that brings life to it. I’m writing less because I can crank out idea pieces easily, but if I want to write with soul then there’s a type of steeping in experience and feeling that takes time. I think about David and Bathsheba. When their child is dying David prays and begs and mourns for the child’s life. But once the child has died David gets up, gives it to God, and moves on with life.

“There’s an element of realistic hopefulness to that. It sucks. It hurts. But you get up and eat something and don’t forget loss and you feel your pain and you live your life as best you can with relationships and faith and all the things that make life vibrant.”

Does Physical Attraction Matter In Dating?

Marshall Segal

June 6, 2020

How significant should physical attraction be in the pursuit of marriage? Or, what role, if any, does physical attraction matter in dating?

Guys have come to me over the years asking about this. Usually, he respects or admires a godly young woman (or, maybe more often, other people in his life think he should admire her more), and yet he’s not physically attracted to her. She’s not his “type,” he says. “Should I still pursue her?”

What would you say to him?

I would say, “No.” Or at least, “Not yet.” Given the common assumptions and practices in our society today, including the church, I do not believe a man (or woman) should begin a dating relationship with someone to whom they are not physically attracted. If he admires other things about her, I’m all for him befriending her and getting to know her in safe, unambiguous, non-flirtatious ways (probably in groups). But I believe physical attraction, at least in the vast majority of cases, is one critical piece in discerning whether to date or marry someone.

Does Physical Attraction Matter In Dating?

That being said, I also believe that physical attraction is far deeper and more dynamic, even spiritual than we tend to think. It’s not static or objective. Real, meaningful, durable attraction is far more than physical. A man or woman’s physical appearance only plays one role in what makes them attractive or appealing. Its role is massive initially, say the very first time you see someone, when all you know about them is what you see, before you even know their name or hear their voice. But its role will necessarily evolve the more you learn about someone. After you’ve learned more about them—by asking their friends, or by hearing them talk, or by watching the way they live—you’ll never see them again as just the person you saw at first.

The more we learn about them, the more their appearance is filled, for better or for worse, with new and deeper meaning—with their personality, their convictions, their sense of humor, their faith. The once stunning girl may lose most of her charm, and the easily overlooked girl may become undeniably beautiful. They each look exactly the same as before, and yet they don’t. You see them, even their physical appearance, differently now.

Physical (and Flexible) Attraction

Don’t believe me? Ask 60-year-old love birds if they’re still “physically attracted” to each other. Some of them are more attracted to each other than ever, and it’s not because they’re gaining weight, losing their hair or having more trouble getting around. It’s because their appearance, in the eyes of their beloved, is increasingly filled with a deepening appreciation for the beauty in the other. They see something different in each other’s eyes. The hands are worn, but familiar and safe. The wrinkles are the years of faithfulness and bliss spent together. Their love not only looks beyond the surface but sees the surface with new eyes.

On the other side, that celebrity you think is so hot right now can lose all of his or her appeal overnight, literally in one headline. It’s suddenly harder to even look at pictures of them anymore. They each look exactly the same, but they don’t. You see the same pictures differently now—same hair, same eyes, same figure—all suddenly unappealing, unattractive.

Physical attraction is real but flexible. God has wired us to appreciate beauty in his design—to find men (for women) or women (for men) physically appealing—and that is a real and important element in our pursuit of marriage, and eventually in our flourishing within the covenant. God gave us physical senses and desires for our good. But that’s only one piece of what makes people attractive, and it is not the main piece—nowhere close. Mutual faith in Jesus Christ should be the most arrestingly attractive thing about any potential spouse.

A.W. Tozer: Are You Amazed by the Holiness of God?

Andrew Hess

June 6, 2020

A.W. Tozer had a deep conviction that many in his day had lost their sense of awe and wonder at the holiness of God.? With just a few words, he reminds us how important God’s holiness is for every aspect of life. Enjoy this excerpt from one of Tozer’s sermons on the Holiness of God. For more from Tozer, check out his classic work, The Knowledge of the Holy.

“God is not now any holier than He ever was. And He never was holier than now. He did not get His holiness from anyone nor from anywhere. He is Himself the Holiness. He is the All-Holy, the Holy One; He is holiness itself, beyond the power of thought to grasp or of word to express, beyond the power of all praise.?

?Language cannot express the holy, so God resorts to association and suggestion. He cannot say it outright because He would have to use words for which we know no meaning. He would have to translate it down to our unholiness. If He were to tell us how white He is, we would understand it in terms of only dingy gray.?

?It was a common thing in olden days, when God was the center of Human worship, to kneel at an altar and shake, tremble, weep and perspire in an agony of conviction. We don?’t see it now because the God we preach is not the everlasting, awful God, ?mine Holy One? (Habakkuk 1:12), who is ?of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity? (Habakkuk 1:13).?

?We?’ve used the technical interpretation of justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ until we?’ve watered down the wine of our spirituality. God help us in this evil hour!?

?We come into the presence of God with tainted souls. We come with our own concept of morality, having learned it from books, from newspapers and from school. We come to God dirty; our whitest white is dirty, our churches are dirty and our thoughts are dirty ? and we do nothing about it!?

?If we came to God dirty, but trembling and shocked and awestruck in His presence, if we knelt at His feet and cried with Isaiah, ?I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips? (Isaiah 6:5), then I could understand. But we skip into His awful presence. We?’re forgetting ?holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord? (Hebrews 12:14).?

?O God, soon every person must appear before you to give an account for the deeds done in the body. Father, keep upon us a sense of holiness so that we can?’t sin and excuse it, but that repentance will be as deep as our lives. This we ask in Christ?’s name. Amen.?”

What comes to mind when you think about the holiness of God?

A Time to Listen

Jared Olivetti

June 6, 2020

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.
Ecclesiastes 5:1

Last Sunday, our worship began with the singing of Psalm 39, “I was mute and silent…” We reflected that there are times, as Barry has recently written, to speak up. And there are times–especially times of worship–when we listen. Isn’t it striking that so much of worship is simply listening? And if we gather every Sunday morning to listen, shouldn’t that be good practice for the whole week?

The murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbury seem to be sparking a revival of listening. As proof, many of you joined in #blackouttuesday out your instagram feeds yesterday, as an act of listening. There is no love without listening. No change without understanding. And this comes not a moment too soon.

How many countless protests have come before? How many books have been written on systemic racism? How many documentaries have been carefully crafted to lay it out before us? How many times have the darker and poorer people in our nation asked for attention, for an open ear, from the lighter and more wealthy?

This Is the Time to Listen

Yes, it is a time to listen. To listen to those who were silenced for most of our nation’s history. Even as I write this post, I find a strange relief in not having to speak to an issue I really don’t understand. I’m glad to listen. But instead of making that general, I thought I’d invite you to make it particular with me. To whom are you listening?

Here’s a short list of how we might listen more specifically. I would be glad for any suggestions you want to add to it.

-President Obama’s facebook post was a striking example of grace and wisdom, especially if you disagree with most of his political convictions. His focus on local politics is important and refreshing.

-Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy is well worth your time. It increased my understanding of what is meant by “systemic racism” and my appreciation for those working every day to pursue Christlike justice.

-Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns is a thorough and well-told account of the great migration of African-Americans from the rural South to the urban North after the Civil War and the ongoing ramifications. I’m only partway through this book, but can still recommend it wholeheartedly.

-“13th” – A documentary available on Netflix, which shows how both sides of the political aisle have contributed to the unjust systems which give rise to what we see around us. The title references the 13th amendment to the Constitution, which forbade slavery, but not totally: those convicted of crimes were still allowed to be treated as slaves. This is not easy to watch, but it is important.

-Finally, Pastor Charlie Dates preached a powerful sermon last Sunday, “I Can’t Breathe!” It will be inserted below. I can’t imagine anyone listening to this to be left comfortable or unchallenged or hopeless. “Pentecost keeps us from an old future!”

This article about it is a time to listen originally appeared here.

Quarantined Believers Lead Their Family to Christ

Stella McMillian

June 6, 2020

An amazing story about how these quarantined believers lead their family to Christ.

For almost a decade, Jess* and her brother David* had been praying for their parents’ salvation. As a new calendar year approached this past January, they felt an extra sense of urgency. So, they both agreed to set aside the first Saturday of each month to pray and fast.

When they made those plans, they never imagined they’d end up quarantined together as a family for almost three months.

Like many East Asians, Jess and David traveled back to their hometown to celebrate the Lunar New Year at the end of January. While they were there, COVID-19 began rapidly spreading. Municipal governments in many cities put lockdowns in place to help stem the epidemic, which meant Jess and David couldn’t travel back to the cities they worked in.

As the lockdown in their city began, they set aside an additional day to pray and fast together. Every time they prayed together, their mom walked into the room they were using at the same time.

After she’d walked in on them praying several times, David asked her if she would join them. She surprised both of them when she agreed and knelt beside them on the floor. David prayed a simple prayer of blessing over her.

The next day, Jess asked her mom what she thought and if she had any questions. Jess explained the gospel again, as she’d done many times before. This time though, something was different. Her mom was ready to follow Christ. She prayed with Jess and confessed her sin and her need for Jesus. Her mom was the first person to start the chain to lead their family to Christ.

“I will never forget that day,” Jess said. “It was the darkest time of our city but the brightest day of my family.”

Since then, Jess has been able to spend a lot of time discipling her mom while they’ve still been quarantined. They’ve been able to pray, read the Bible together, and grow closer than ever before.

Jess’s mom wasn’t the only member of the family who became open to the gospel as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown. Jess and David also had a chance to share hope with their grandparents, who worshipped idols and had never wanted to listen to the gospel before.

The lockdown limited how often they could visit each other, but Jess and David prayed each evening for God to work in the lives of their grandparents. One day just a few weeks after their mom professed faith, David went to check on their grandparents. When his grandmother saw him, the first thing she asked was, “Can I follow your faith in Jesus?”

She told him she hadn’t been able to sleep for six days and nights. Nothing had helped, not even praying to her idols. She was desperate for some help and thought that maybe the God her grandchildren talked about could bring her some relief. David was so surprised that he ran all the way home to tell Jess.

“I couldn’t believe it and thought he was kidding,” Jess said. “But it was real. She tried all her own ways and came to us with her last hope.”

The siblings began to pray earnestly. That same night, their grandmother was finally able to sleep.

Though they haven’t committed to follow Christ yet, their grandparents have begun to openly ask questions about what it would mean if they deserted their idols to believe in Jesus, something they’ve never done before.

East Asia’s coronavirus cases have begun to stabilize, so Jess and David expect they’ll be able to return to the cities they work in soon. But Jess said she is excited for what is ahead for her family as God continues to work.

Many believers in East Asia are first-generation believers just like Jess and David. Pray that God will work powerfully in their families during this season, and that many more East Asians will find new life in Christ.

This article about how quarantined believers lead their family to Christ originally appeared here.

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