"How Do We Respect Others While Rejecting Their False Beliefs?"

The Ask Pastor John podcast tackles the question of how we respect others who have false beliefs. This is an important issue and one which we encounter regularly. I hope you'll take the time to listen to John Piper's answer. 

"When Is It Time to Break-up?"

I recently listened to this podcast from Truth in Love on the topic of some various reasons a Christian might need to or consider ending a dating relationship. I am sharing it because I think they do a good job giving a concise explanation of the issues to consider (and by extension, it helps you consider if a relationship is healthy). This is not some back channel way of me telling anyone in our group they should consider ending a current dating relationship (I would talk to you directly if I thought that was the case).

"Do James and Paul disagree on grace and works?"

I found this article helpful from Dr. Tom Schreiner on the issue of faith and works.  He is a New Testament scholar. On a personal note, when we lived in Louisville, Tom was one of our pastors and we benefited greatly from his preaching.

His summary on the topic is,

"In the beauty and completeness of God’s Word, Paul and James teach complementary, not contradictory, truths."

A Christian View of Work

I recently listened to a "Help Me Teach the Bible" podcast episode entitled "Peter Orr on Teaching about Work." I found the interview that Nancy Gutherie did with him, in this podcast, to be helpful. Orr helped me to see how work is important and a means of glorifying God while at the same time clarifying that "the work of the Lord" is something all Christians are called to do and it is not (usually) the exact same thing as our jobs. Check it out if you have some time.

What Does Pride and Humility Look Like?

This past Sunday, Pastor Rod spent some time talking about the danger of pride. Pride is one of those sneaky and subtle sins that we often can't see in our lives just as a when you are flying through a cloud and can't see how high you are off the ground. Our Christian growth does not happen in fighthing sin in its abstract (ie. I will put off pride). Rather, growth comes as we fight sin in its specific manifestations in our own hearts. You have to fight the enemy where it is entrenched.

One resources I have found helpful in identifying the sin of pride and manifestations of humility is Stuart Scott's little booklet From Pride to Humility. You can buy a copy here. And here is a link to a handout that includes the manifestations of pride and humility (a good tool to evaluate your own heart and where the battle and potential for growth is).

"Solomon's Twitter Guidelines"

Kevin DeYoung posted this about a year ago and I rediscovered it recently. Great thoughts on how we might apply Proverbs to our social media posting.

Click here for the article

Male and Female, He Created Them

Here is a link to the Sunday school class I taught last Sunday on Genesis 1:27-31 on the topic of God's good design of creating the human race as male and female. Below is the outline (sorry it isn't formated nicely, there is a cleaner downloadable version at the link with the audio):

I.                   God’s Very Good Design – Man & Woman Gen 1:26-27, 31

A.     Men and women equally made in God’s image

B.      Men and women distinct as male and female.

C.      This is the design – God’s blueprint.

Matt. 19:4-5 “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

D.     This is “very good.” (Gen. 1:31).

II.                 Current confusion in our culture

A.     The confusion of the day

                                                             1.      Some terms

a.       Sex – biological and physical make-up

b.      Gender – our attitudes and feelings and behaviors that fit with our sex.

c.       Transgender is when someone identifies or expresses a gender identity that does not match their physical / genetic sex.

                                                             2.      Cultural examples of transgender issues.

                                                             3.      Example of Family Policy Institute of Washington institute questioning students[1]^,[2]

B.      How we got here

                                                             1.      Fall into sin and consequences of curse.

                                                             2.      Worldview Issues

a.       Either Creator and Creature (Gen 1:1 & Ps. 24:1-2)

a.       God is the authority

b.      Source of all true knowledge (even about ourselves)

c.       And Is trustworthy to do and call us to what is truly best for us.

b.      Or, we are

a.       the authority

b.      and source of knowledge

c.       and trustworthy guides who to what is best for us.

                                                             3.      Cultural climate  (Adapted from Andrew Walker, God and The Transgender Debate, pg. 21-26)

a.      Relativism Meaning and truth are relative

b.      Radical Individualism Downstream from relativism. It says “everyone gets to write their own script.”

c.       Sexual revolution

a.       If it feels good do it…our bodies are our own and for us to enjoy in whatever way we want.

b.      Assumption that sexual freedom is the highest of all freedoms and the only path to true fulfillment.

d.      Gnosticism  Idea that material world is bad (or unreliable) and what really is important is the spiritual

                                                             4.      The 2 unforgivable sins in our culture then are

a.       First to judge someone else (say they are wrong).

b.      Second to fail to fulfill your desires.

III.              How Should We Respond to the Confusion?

A.     Speak the truth, and live the truth

                                                             1.      The truth is God has called our sex and the corresponding maleness or femaleness as “very good” in Genesis 1:31.

a.       “Our identity as man or woman is not the result of a biological accident. The doctor at our birth does not impose it on us. It is not foisted upon us by our society’s social expectations, moral habits, and cultural meanings. Our identity as a man or woman is who we are .” (Mohler, We cannot be Silent, pg. 79)

                                                             2.      Is it loving to affirm every self-perception someone has as accurate and true even if it is clearly not?

a.       What about someone who is anorexic because they believe they are overweight (when they really are thin and starving themselves)?

b.      They need compassion and help which requires the truth.

B.      Love others – “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy”

C.      Avoid stereotypes of manhood and womanhood; instead, emphasize the biblical picture

D.     The Gospel

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[1] “Do college kids know the difference between men and women?”   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4S0gHlKiho

[2] “Do college kids know the difference between men and women?”   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfO1veFs6Ho