Elders and Deacons, Part 2: What Do Elders Do?

Last week we looked at the office of elder and saw that the terms “elder, overseer, and shepherd (pastor)” all refer to the same office.

Today I want to ask the questions, what do elders do? Understanding this will help us to have proper expectations of our elders.

Next week I want to answer the question, “Why and how should we pay pastors?” Included in this will be a discussion of why we pay some and not others.

But for today, let’s look at what elders do. There are 3 main texts that we must understand in order to know this. The first comes out of Acts and is actually the passage where the church first begins to understand the needs for deacons. From there we will look at the lists of qualifications in 1 Timothy and Titus.

There is a lot of overlap in the lists of qualifications in 1 Tim. and Titus, so in an effort to streamline these texts let’s look quickly at the character of an elder, followed by the work of an Elder. I will essentially give these to you in lists with minimal commentary and then sum them up at the end.

The Elder’s Character

There are many character qualities that are required of elders, but interestingly these 3 texts only reveal 3 activities that an elder must be involved in. Let’s look first at his character. I will combine characteristics across passages if they are similar.

• Desire-It is not wrong for a man to desire the office of elder, in fact he should. 1 Tim. 3:1

• Above reproach- This does not mean perfect, but it does mean that he is able to be an example in holiness. 1 Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:6, 8

• A one woman man- There is not separate words in Greek for “man” and “husband”, nor “woman” or “wife”. Some understand this to refer to marital status, some don’t (ie- not divorced), but either way his character is to be that of a one woman man. 1 Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:6

• Sober minded- this is a reference to temperance of disposition, another way to say this would be “able to show restraint.” 1 Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:7

• Self controlled- able to show restraint over one’s passions and desires. 1 Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:8

• Respectable- appropriate and modest. 1 Tim. 3:2

• Hospitable- welcoming of outsiders and strangers. 1 Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:8

• Not a drunkard- this word literally means “by wine.” Not given to alcohol. 1 Tim. 3:3; Tit. 1:7

• Not violent but gentle- kind. 1 Tim. 3:3; Tit. 1:7

• Not quarrelsome- inclined to peace and not argument. 1 Tim. 3:3

• Not a lover of money- not greedy or seeking satisfaction in worldly treasures. 1 Tim. 3:3; Tit. 1:7

• Managing his own household well- This involves many aspects of leadership and discipline. A man whose home and life are out of control will not be able to lead the church well or do some of the more difficult aspects of the job where courage is required. 1 Tim. 3:4-5; Tit. 1:6

• Not a recent convert- New believers are prone to fall for the snares of the devil. 1 Tim. 3:6-7

• Well thought of by outsiders- This one must be weighed carefully because some of Paul’s instructions in 2 Cor. indicates that at times those who herald the Word of God will not be liked. This is certainly true in Acts. But his conduct must be such that those outside the church should/could think well of him. 1 Tim. 3:7

• Not arrogant- in other words he doesn’t think of himself too highly or too often. Tit. 1:7

• Holy- morally pure and upright. Tit. 1:8

You can see that this is a tall list of character traits. No one except Jesus embodies them perfectly. But an elder must be one who is able an example in life and godliness to those who will follow his example.

The Elder’s Work

But what about the work of an elder? I’m glad you asked!

This is much simpler. The reality is that there are only two activities that the elder is called to…teaching and praying. There are several sub categories under teaching that we will briefly examine. But the elders main role is to pray and teach, teach and pray.

Prayer

We see the call to prayer mostly by example in the New Testament. Paul is constantly referring to his prayers for the saints in the various cities and churches in which he ministered and to whom he wrote. He also commands us to be in constant prayer, certainly a reality that the elders must model ( 1 These. 5:17)

Similarly James tells people who are sick to call the elders to pray. This means that the elders must be able and willing to pray for those in the church who are in need of prayer.

Teaching

In Acts 6, the text where we see deacons begin to emerge in the life of the church, the deacons are appointed because the disciples, who were the original elders in the Jerusalem church, knew that “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word…” Acts. 6:2. They then call for the appointment of deacons so that they can “devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word” Acts 6:4. Here we see both of the priorities in the life of the elder.

In the lists of qualifications of elders in 1 Tim. 1 and Tit. 1 we see that there is only one skill given among all of the other qualities that are listed, “able to teach” 1 Tim. 1:3, Tit. 1:9.

There are other sub categories of teaching that are included in the Scriptures as a role the elder must play. He must…

• “give instruction in sound doctrine” Tit. 1:9

• “rebuke those who contradict it (sound doctrine)” Tit. 1:9

• “Teach what accords with sound doctrine” Tit. 2:1

• “exhort and rebuke with all authority” Tit. 2:15

• “be…able to teach” 1 Tim. 1:2

• “Command and teach these things” 1 Tim. 2:11

• “Keep a close watch on yourself and the teaching” 1 Tim. 2:16

• “Persist in this” 1 Tim. 2:16

• “Preach the word” 2 Tim. 4:2

• “reprove, rebuke, exhort” 2 Tim. 4:2

There are more than these verses on the matter of the elder/pastor’s relationship to teaching truth, but I think you get the point.

Don’t get me wrong. An elder must do more than just pray and teach. He is commanded in 1 Peter to shepherd the flock of God that is among! Pastors must care for the flock, love the flock, be among the flock, etc. But he also must feed the flock! James 5:14-15 shows that elders/pastors must be available for visitation and prayer.

A church will never rise above it’s view of the Word of God and it’s understanding of the importance of the right preaching of the word.

So What Do We Do?

So how can churches play a role in making sure that elder is doing what is best for the church? Here are a few ideas…

• Hold your pastors and elders accountable to having a ministry of prayer and preaching/teaching. If they are not doing that, demand it. If they are, encourage them to keep going.

• Serve. If your elders are so busy “waiting tables” as in Acts 6 that they never has time to study and teach then you might have to step up in your willingness to serve so that they can do what they are required to do.

• Submit yourself to the word of God. The word will at some point step on your toes. It will offend you. It’s supposed to. When it does, welcome it as part of God’s refining of you. Don’t shoot the messenger (this isn’t permission for pastors to be bullies).

• Pay them salaries that free them to serve up the word. We will look more at this next week.

Elders and Deacons, Part 1: What Are Elders?

Questions abound about elders in the life of the church.

Who are they? What do they do? What is the difference between elders and deacons? What is the difference between elders and pastors?

These questions are good and important. I sat next to a swimming pool, eating a hamburger, with some friends last week while we had a wonderful about elders. This series of blogs is a result of that conversation. I pray that it will be helpful to you.

So What Are Elders Anyway?

In order to answer this question we have to understand the terms used for Elders in the Bible. There are three terms that we must understand, and I believe that these three terms all refer to elders. Those three terms are elder, shepherd, and overseer.

Let’s look at each of these terms and what they imply, then we will see why I believe they all refer to the same office in the church.

Elder

The word that occurs in the Greek text is presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος), you can hear this word in the English word Presbyterian. It is not the same word that would be used to refer to someone who is old, that would be presbutes (πρεσβύτης). There isn’t really much to say about this word in terms of the differences between greek and English. It simply means elder.

It does however matter in that it refers to the honor of the position. We have probably all heard the saying that you should respect your elders. This is precisely why the term elder gets used in Scripture. Of course, in English, this is primarily a reference to someone of older age. When the Bible speaks of elders in the church it does not mean that someone must be old in order to be an elder, it does however mean that the person and the office should be respected.

We can be sure that age is not a require meant because in 1 Tim. 4:8 Paul tells Timothy, and elder in Ephesus, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers and example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” You can see that though Timothy was young, Paul expected him to conduct himself in a way that was honorable.

It is a great honor to be an elder in the church that Jesus has purchased with his own blood. Thus the elder is to live honorably and the church is to treat them with honor.

Shepherd (pastor)

There are two words in the Greek that used here. In reality they are the same word but occur in different places as either a verb or a noun. The noun for “shepherd” is poimen (ποιμήν); the verb is “to shepherd” is poimaino (ποιμαίνω).

Interestingly, this word get’s translated in some versions as “pastor” in Ephesians 4. So the word that we tend to use most for church leaders is the word that the Bible uses the least, namely pastor. And what pastor means is really shepherd.

This term refers to work of the role of an elder. Shepherds led the flock, fed the flock, and protected the flock. These are the main roles that shepherds are given in Scripture. Elders are to preach the Word, protect the church from false doctrine, and lead people to God through his Word. (Rather than siting several passages here I would simply encourage you to read the pastoral epistles: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus)

Overseer

The third and final term for the elder is “overseer” and comes from the word episcopos (ἐπίσκοπος). It means exactly what it sounds like; the Greek prefix epi means “over” while scopos means “look” or “sight.” You can hear the English word “scope” in this word. It simply means to look over.

The elder is charged to look over the flock. This is a term that refers to the authority of the position. When the church appoints elders it gives them the authority needed to do the work of the ministry. I believe this authority rests in the group of elders and not in the individual elders themselves, but we will deal with that more in another blog.

Putting It All Together

Let me see if I can help you put all of this together. We see all of these terms come together in Acts chapter 20. The context of that chapter is that Paul is trying to get to Jerusalem. On his way, so as not to delay him any longer, he calls the elders in Ephesus to come and see him at Miletus.

“Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.”

— Acts 20:17

Note first that who he calls to himself are the elders of this church that he cares so much about. Then he gives them some instructions…

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

— Acts 20:28-30

You can see the confluence of all of these terms in this passage where Paul is speaking to these men. Let me give you these verse again but I will add the Greek words in parentheses so that you can see what is going on in the text.

“Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders (presbuteros/πρεσβύτερος) of the church to come to him...Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock(poimnion/ποίμνιον), in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (episcopos/ἐπίσκοπος), to care (poimaino/ποιμαίνω) for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock (poimnion/ποίμνιον); 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

— Acts 20:17, 28-30

Here is the bottom line… elder=pastor=shepherd=overseer.

What is the difference between these? Nothing.

In coming posts we will look more at the character and work of the elder. We will look at why we pay some and not others. And we will look at deacons and their role in the church.

Stay tuned.

I Struggle to Feel Loved by God, Do You?

I struggle to feel loved by God. I’m wondering if you do, too?

The reality is that my struggle is rooted in pride. That may sound weird, but I think it’s true. I don’t struggle to believe God can love anyone else, just me. I see myself as an exceptional sinner, beyond his love, my sin is greater than his grace…it’s truly pride.

But God has been faithful to use a few resources in my life recently to help me understand God’s love for me. I’d like to share those 3 resources with you now…

CrossPoint Ministry

I have been talking to a Biblical Counselor from CrossPoint. This ministry is focused specifically to Christian leaders. But if it encourages you to know that I have sought help from someone who can speak God’s Word into my circumstances then I’m happy to share that bit of info.

Gentle and Lowly

This book by Dane Ortlund has impacted me deeply. Maybe more than any other book besides Scripture. Here is a link to it at the publishers website, just click the box below.

A Podcast I Listened to This Morning

This is what I really wanted to share with you today. It may seem counterintuitive at first, but it certainly helped me to feel God’s love today. I pray that it does the same for you!

Jesus Never Addressed That!

There is a culture war going on all around us. Cultural warriors from all sides are pushing agendas in our schools, churches, on TV, in Movies, and even our commercials are loaded with forms of virtue signaling.

Our kids are forced to face ideologies that they may rarely, if ever seen, in generations past. Adrian Rogers said very well that “The sin that used to slink down back alleys now parades down Main Street.”

“The sin that used to slink down back alleys now parades down Main Street.”

— Adrian Rogers

One of the objections to a biblical understanding of cultural matters is the idea that “Jesus never addressed that.” People, wanting to justify their agendas, claim that the only thing that really matters are the things that Jesus said. The idea behind this is that the things Jesus said, maybe more specifically the red letters of the Gospels, are the most authoritative and binding parts of Scripture.

While I would agree that what Jesus said is of utmost importance…I think Scripture is clear that everything on the pages of Scripture is “what Jesus said.”

I think we can see this very clearly in Judges 6…

The Angel of the LORD

In Judges 6 “the Angel of the LORD” appears to Gideon to tell him to lead the nation of Israel against their oppressors, the MIdianites. The exchange between these two characters seems normal enough at first but it quickly changes.

In Scripture there is a big difference between “an angel of the LORD” and “the Angel of the LORD.” An angel fo the LORD is a messenger, exactly what we think of when we hear the term angel. But the Angel of the LORD is Jesus himself, the second member of the Trinity.

The Three in One

Jesus doesn’t just show up in Matthew 1 out of nowhere. From Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 Jesus is the central Character in Scripture. God has always existed as a Trinity, one God who is made up of 3 coequal and consubstantial persons.

So while Jesus takes on a body and becomes part of his own creation in Matthew…he had existed already from eternity past.

Lord vs LORD

In order to understand this passage as well we have to understand the difference between “Lord” and “LORD” in our English Bibles.

“Lord” is the translation of the Hebrew word “adonai” and is a term of respect used of someone with greater authority. Thus, just like in English, the word can be used of people in authority as well as for God himself.

“LORD” is the translation of the Hebrew word “Yahweh” and is the personal name of God. So while “lord” is a title, “LORD” is a name.

Interestingly the word Adonai occurs in the Old Testament 395 times when it refers to God, while Yahweh makes an appearance 6,828 times!

Back to the Angel of the LORD

Here is where all of this starts to matter. In Judges 6:13 when the Angel of the LORD first appears to Gideon the exchange seems very normal. Gideon says…

“Please, my lord (adonai), if the LORD (Yahweh) is with us...”

— Judges 6:13

The Angel here simply appears to be a messenger sent from God to tell Gideon what to do. But everything changes in verses 14 and 16. In verse 14 the Angel says…

“...do not I send you?”

— Judges 6:13

Here, the Angel of the LORD appears to be speaking of himself, in the first person, saying that he is sending Gideon. The question then emerges, is the Angel merely passing a message a long, in other words, is this just a quote? Or is he speaking as though he is God?

The question gets resolved for us in verse 16 when the text says, of the Angel of the LORD who is speaking to Gideon,…

“And the LORD (Yahweh) said to him (Gideon)...”

— Judges 6:16

In this passage when the Angel speaks, Yahweh speaks. And conversely when Yahweh speaks, the Angel speaks. This is incredibly profound! Whatever the Bible says, God says. Whatever God says, Jesus says. Whatever Jesus says, God says because Jesus is God!!!

All Scripture is God Breathed

Paul said it well…

“All Scripture is God breathed...”

— 2 Timothy 3:16

Jesus said everything in the Bible. The Bible is everything that Jesus says. No distinction can be made between the two.

Conclusion

The reality is that in Genesis 2 Jesus designs marriage. In Matthew 5 and 19 he defines it according to his design.

Jesus created people, marriage, gender, sex, etc. And his design has never changed.

From the fall of mankind we have been trying to define for ourselves who we are, what is good, and what our purpose is. But those are things that we can never define for ourselves. The imaginations and machinations of mankind will always try and invent ways to define us other than how God has designed us. But Jesus has addressed it all, and he has done so by showing us what the original design of his creation is.

Everything we need to live in a way that is pleasing to God and good for us in found in the Bible. All of it is God’s Word. All of it from Jesus, to us, for our good and His glory.

Where Is God When Life Is Hard?

Where is God when there are hard things in life?

This question matters, and it matters a lot. But over the years I have heard many answers that don’t necessarily line up with Scripture very well.

I think this question has scared many parents over the years. Maybe many Christians too have been scared to be asked this question.

But I believe the Bible answers this question and I am going to try to give you an answer that comes from God’s Word. It will not be an exhaustive answer, but I believe it will be true one.

Before we answer the question let’s recount something that happened to one man…

Jacob’s Encounter with God

In Genesis 32 we read the account of an encounter between God and Jacob. But the story that leads up to this point is really important too, so lets review.

Jacob was the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham. He was also the younger twin brother of Esau. Before Jacob was born God promised to his parents that Jacob, the younger son, would rule over Esau, the older. This is exactly what happened. Through some deceitful actions, Jacob stole the birthright that from his older brother; first having traded Esau for his birthright for a bowl of stew and then by tricking their father into believe that he was actually Esau, his older brother.

After this turn of events Jacob fled his home for fear that his brother would seek retaliation against him for his trickery.

14 years later with 2 wives, many children and incalculable wealth later Jacob goes to return to his homeland. Afraid that his brother is still angry with him and will want revenge (though this turns out to be untrue), Jacob divides up all of his family and possessions into groups to send in waves back to his home. He also sends droves of gifts ahead of them to give to his brother in order to placate him in the hopes that he won’t be angry.

But on the way, despite all of the concerns and worries that Jacob had to this point, he meets God. And the encounter that he has with the Lord isn’t an easy one. Jacob spends one whole night wrestling with God. At the very end of the wrestling match, when Jacob is no doubt exhausted, the Lord touches Jacob’s hip and causes an injury there.

The wrestling match comes to and end, the Lord blesses Jacob, and Jacob walks away limping.

The Problem

For many of us this story will leave us wondering about what seems like a problem. Doesn’t God desire to heal? Doesn’t he desire our good? Doesn’t want to give us blessings? Are we supposed to come away from an encounter with God healed and not hurt?

Some Considerations

Before we unravel that dilemma let’s consider some things from the text.

1. Jacob is no match for God. God will destroy cities, part seas, bring plagues and many other miraculous things through the family line that will come from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God didn’t wrestle with Jacob because he couldn’t prevail, he wrestled with Jacob because Jacob needed to go through the wrestling match.

2. God blessed Jacob. The end of the wrestling match concludes with Jacob clinging to the Lord and asking him to bless him. In other words, Jacob knew he needed something from the Lord that he could not provide for himself. He needed God.

3. God injured Jacob. But…in the process of being injured God revealed something to Jacob that he needed more than a well functioning body, he needed the Lord to provide for him what he was unable to provide for himself.

So Where Is God?

So where is God when life get’s hard? I think that Psalm 119 might give us a clue. Read the two following verses carefully…

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.”

— Ps. 119:67

“I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”

— Ps. 119:75

Sometimes we need the affliction of God to keep us from going astray, to keep us from getting lost. But notice that when he does afflict us, he does so in faithfulness. How could this be? How could God be both faithful and afflict us?

Romans 8:28 helps us out here. This verse is often used tritely and to dismiss the concerns of people. But Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t offer this as some trite pat answer to whatever may trouble us.

Romans 8:27 tells us that whenever life is hard and we are groaning under the weight of the sinful world that we live in (that is the context of Romans 8), that the Holy Spirit prays for us. Imagine that. The Holy Spirit, groaning under the weight of our struggles, prays for us from right inside us!

Then the very next verse says:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

— Rom. 8:28

The Conclusion

The reality is that we all live in a broken, sinful, and cursed world. All creation groans under the weight of what our sin has wrought. We groan under the weight of the result of our sin. And the Holy Spirit of God groans right along with us, all while praying for us, because of what our sin has caused.

But God is faithful! He is faithful to use the affliction in our lives to draw out our need of him. He uses it to cause us to see that we need from him what we cannot supply for ourselves. He desires to bless us, but also desires to so in the understanding of our need of him.

I don’t know about you, but I would rather walk with a limp and understand my desperate need of God than be ignorantly self reliant all my days.

Before God afflicted us we went astray. But like the psalmist, in faithfulness God has afflicted us that we might be brought back to him. And when we have returned, we will find that he is more satisfying than anything else we could imagine.

We Believe in What We Cannot See... but not Blindly!

The opening verses of Hebrews 11 make it clear that our faith is in what we cannot see. The author of Hebrews uses creation to draw out the point. We did not see God create the world, but yet it is here and so we can see him through what has been made (cf. Rom. 1). Similarly we cannot see God, except in the person of Jesus Christ (cf. John 1). We cannot see Jesus as he has ascended to heaven from where he came (cf. Acts 1).

But just as we did not see God create the world, there is ample evidence around us to believe that it was in fact created. And just as we cannot see that Jesus death, burial, and resurrection…there is ample evidence to show us that it took place.

This week is Easter week. Tomorrow is Good Friday, the day that Jesus died. Today is Maundy Thursday. The day that Jesus gave the disciples the new command to love one another (the latin words for new command are mandatum novum, hence Maundy Thursday). Tonight is the night that Jesus was betrayed, arrested, tried by night 3 times before Annas and Caiaphas. Tomorrow is the day he was tried another three times before Herod, Pilate, and Herod. Found innocent and yet condemned to death he died in our place. And Sunday we will celebrate his resurrection from the dead. He is risen, he is risen indeed!

But are we asked to believe that blindly? I think the answer is no, Scripture gives abundant witness to his resurrection. Sunday morning we will look at 4 witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus in 1 Cor. 15.

But today I want us to see 7 proofs of the resurrection from John 20.

Divine Patience

Before we do, let’s look at Jesus tender patience with us as we struggle to believe what only God can do.

At the end of John 20 all of the disciples have seen Jesus since his resurrection, except Thomas. Thomas declared to the other apostles that he would not believe in the resurrection until he was able to put his hands in Jesus wounds to ensure that it was truly him.

What does Jesus do? He patiently presents himself to Thomas and allows him to see and touch the wounds. The result was Thomas belief. Jesus did pronounce blessing upon those who believe without seeing, but his kindness towards Thomas…and us…should not be lost on us here.

Proofs of the Resurrection

I won’t elaborate on the proofs here, but I would encourage you to read John 20.

#1-Peter and John. These two disciples saw the empty tomb.

#2-The two angels. These two angels appeared in testimony to the Resurrection.

#3-Jesus himself. Jesus was the one who presented himself to Mary and told her that he had risen.

#4-The Burial cloths. These were not removed from the body but were left inside the tomb where they were having been simply emptied at Jesus resurrection.

#5-The face cloth. This was a small cloth used to cover the face, but we don’t really know why. Rather than being left where it was, Jesus carefully folded it and put it off to the other side of the tomb.

#6-The apostles except Thomas. Jesus revealed himself to the remaining apostles.

#7-Thomas. Even doubting Thomas received the necessary proof of life to trust in Jesus.

May you believe in the Resurrected Christ this Easter, for …

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” —John 20:29

Do I Really Have to Wash People's Feet?

If you’ve been around the church for any amount of time you may have heard of churches that have foot washing services. In these services you remove your shoes and a member of the church comes and washes your feet. While there is nothing wrong with this, I’ll tell you right now that I’m pretty sure I’d leave before it was my turn.

But is this really what Jesus was calling us to do when he washed the disciple’s feet and instructed them to do likewise?

The Scene

The night that Jesus was betrayed, which was the day before he was crucified, Jesus and the disciples gathered into the upper room for the Passover. The upper room was likely a large rented room on the upper level of someones home. The Passover was an annual celebration in Israel where the people of God recounted the events recorded in the book of Exodus when God freed the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. Each Passover celebration was one week long and included a very important meal where the events of the Exodus were remembered and God’s freedom was celebrated.

Dinner tables at the time were very low to the ground and there were no chairs. People would recline around the table which would often mean that your head was near to the person’s feet next to you. It was important therefore to have clean feet.

The Culture

It was not uncommon in Israel for people to have servants. God’s Word, the Old Testament, gave instructions to those who had servants to ensure that their treatment was kind and just. But the Jews had made a distinction in their mind between Jewish servants and non-Jewish servants. Non-Jews were called Gentiles.

The duty of foot washing was not pleasant. People wore sandals. They walked around dusty streets. Animals would defecate in the streets. Feet were dirty and foot washing was not fun. Because of this Jewish servants were not required to wash feet, that job was reserved for Gentiles.

Shock and Awe

Let’s now return to the scene. With no servants present, Jesus took off his outer garments and prepared to wash his disciples feet. You can read all about this in John 13, in fact I encourage you to do so.

But when it comes time for Peter to have his feet washed he exclaims “Lord, do you wash my feet?'“ Peter knew who Jesus was. He knew Jesus was the Lord. He knew that he was the disciple and Jesus was the master. Peter was shocked to find that Jesus was going to wash his feet. Peter then objects “You shall never wash my feet.”

The Confusion

One of the things we need to understand in this story is that Jesus told Peter that he didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about but that some day he would. What Jesus is telling Peter in this moment is that the foot washing wasn’t really about foot washing. But as Jesus said, Peter didn’t yet understand that.

The Shift

Jesus insists on washing Peter’s feet and tells him that if he doesn’t wash Peter’s feet then Peter has no part in the salvation that Jesus has to offer. Peter then shifts to the complete opposite end of the spectrum and says “Lord, no my feet only but also my hands and my head!”

Peter, still confused about what Jesus is really teaching the disciples, decides he wants as much of Jesus as he can get. With good intentions he invites Jesus to wash more than his fee.

But Jesus tells him that those who are clean and bathed don’t need to have their whole body washed, but just their feet.

What’s Jesus Really Talking About?

Though Peter did not yet understand what was going on, Jesus was showing them what he was doing for them spiritually. By faith, all of these men except Judas had been forgiven of their sin. They had been cleansed from all the wrong that they had done. But sometimes, as we go about life in this dirty world, our feet get a little dirty. And when our feet get dirty with sin, whether it’s someone else or ours, we might need to have our feet washed a bit.

Jesus closes this act of kindness to his disciples by telling them, and us, that what he has done we are also to do for one another.

The Disconnect

I think most Christians understand that Jesus wasn’t really talking about foot washing. He was really talking about being cleansed spiritually, cleansed from our sins. If we understand that Jesus was really talking about spiritual things, why do we continue to wash peoples feet?

Maybe it’s symbolic. It could be a gesture that shows ones commitment to serve others and to do them spiritual good. But I don’t think that’s the only reason. I think it’s also easier than what Jesus is really calling us to.

Washing One Another

I think what Jesus is really calling us to do is to help one another to be cleansed from the sin that so easily entangles us. We are called to be their for one another and help.

Matthew 18 gives instruction on how to correct others when they are caught in sin.

Galatians 6 tells us that we are to bear the burdens of other’s sins so that they might not be caught in them, paying careful attention not to get caught up ourselves.

The call on our lives is to be connected to people relationally. So much so that we know how to help keep each other clean from sin. We walk through life together calling out the pot holes and land mines that might get our feet dirty. And we do get dirty, we wash one another with the pure water of the Word…a washing that Christ has already done for us (see Eph. 5:26).

It’s easier to wash feet than it is to live life together.

It’s easier to wash feet than to be vulnerable to others so they know where we might get tripped up.

It’s easier to wash feet than to correct our friends when they go wrong.

It’s easier to wash feet than to receive correction.

It’s easier to wash feet, but it isn’t better.

May you be blessed by those in the church who love you enough to tell you when your feet have gotten dirty.

And may you love others enough to speak up as well.

A Method for Prayer: Part 4

Today we are going to finish setting up our prayer journals. If you haven’t read the first 3 posts on why a prayer journal is helpful to me, what you need to get one going, and how to start getting one set up… then you should start there. Here are the links to Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Last week you should have set up four pages in your journal on Praise, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Intercession. Today will will finish making the remaining pages in our journals.

#5 Family

I have this portion of my family broken up into two parts. First I pray for my wife. I pray the IOUS prayer that was mentioned in the previous post. I pray that my love, affection, and delight in her would grow every day. Then I have a list of things I pray for, and these I pray through one each day. As stated last week, I put a mark next to the one I prayed for today. Once they have all been marked I pray through them one by one and erase the marks that I had previously made.

Next I pray for my children, again praying the IOUS prayer for them. I pray that they they would be disciplined in their Bible reading and prayer, that they would have Godly friends that point them to Jesus, and various other things for them. Again, I don’t pray for every kid every day. I pray for them one by one. I also pray for other family members at this time.

#6 Petition

Petition is a generic list of prayers that people have asked me to pray for. If you come to me and ask me to pray for you it is likely to go on this list. As a rule, this sections is filled with request that are more short term. Long term requests go in another spot, I will explain that later. But if people are having surgery, going to a job interview, or any other request that has a time limit, I put it here. I do not limit myself to one request per day here, I usually pray for 3-4.

#7 Evangelism

This list is the simply the names of people that I am praying will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. It could be friends, family, neighbors, or anyone I am asked to pray for. I typically pray for 1-2 per day from this section of my prayer journal.

#8 Missionaries

Here I keep the names, location, ministry, and specific requests of missionaries and individuals that are support by my church or my family. Be sure to get regular updates from your missionaries and put their requests here. Then you can pray for one each day and pray with their specific requests in mind.

#9 My Church

Finally I pray for my church. Below is a picture of the first part of my prayer journal. At the top is a section of requests that are more short term requests. This is followed by a section of characteristics that I think the church should have/display.

In the first section I pray that the church would gospel centered, that we would be an evangelizing church, that the church would be marked by peaceful relationships, and that my ministry here would have a fruitful and joyful start (I have been at Trinity for less that three months at the writing of this post). The more long term requests are high views of God, obedience, humility, etc. In each of these sections I pray for 1-2 items a day.

After I have prayed for these things I pray for one elder, one staff member, and one ministry per day.

While I don’t keep it in my prayer journal, I also have a pictorial directory of the people in my church. Each page of the directory has eight families listed. I pray for one page per day. I use post it notes in this directory to keep track of the specific requests of each family.

Between these two things I get to pray for the church generally, but I also get to regularly pray for every family in my church as well!

#10 Answers

This is important as it is really encouraging to see develop over time. But when there is something that I have been praying for specifically and regularly that God chooses to answer according to my asking, I put that it in here. It is amazing to see how faithful God is to us, both in answering according to how we ask and answering according to his wisdom!

Conclusion

So to sum it all up… I read a Psalm, work through my prayer journal, and then when I am done with that I do my Bible reading for the day. All in all it takes me about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes.

As a last recommendation I would commend a little book to you called “The Valley of Vision.” It is a small book that is a collection of puritan prayers that was compiled by Arthur Bennet, an Anglican Priest. When my prayers feel anemic and repetitious, this little volume has served to often breathe substance in my prayers. I will often pray slowly through one prayer a day, using the prayers of saints who have gone before me to help inform my prayers.

I hope this series of posts serves to strengthen your prayer life like it has mine.

A Method for Prayer: Part 3

So you’ve read some of principles for having a healthy prayer life (found here) and you have all of your materials set up for starting your prayer journal (read about that here)… today we are going to start filling up the journal with the things you want to pray for. I will include some pictures along the way of my journal, which just happens to be digital. If you are keeping a written journal with Post-It notes then you could fill that the same way.

Note: I am not suggesting that you put all of the same stuff in your journal that I do, but if you find some of it helpful then feel free to use anything you like!

Reminder: I do not pray for everything on each of my lists everyday. In many of my prayer lists I pray for one item or one person a day.

#1 Praise

The very first thing I do before I start praying is read one Psalm (unless its Psalm 119, then I don’t read the whole thing in one morning). As I read, I am specifically looking for things about who God is and what God does for which I can praise him. Then I simply reflect on that attribute/work and express my gratitude to God. I also have a list of attributes that I do the same thing with.

Below is a picture of this page in my prayer journal. The little dot to the left of each word is the last attribute I prayed for. After I have placed a dot next to each one, I then begin to erase them one by one as I pray through the list again.

#2 Confession

Next I confess sins to which I am prone. If there is something that I am feeling conviction over specifically then I might pray for that. But I also always reflect on one of the sins that I find easily entangling and then think and confess it. I keep Psalm 41:4 written at the top of the page and often pray it as my own prayer.

“Oh Lord, be gracious to me, heal me for I have sinned against you.”

— Psalm 41:4

Some of the sins I ponder and confess are…

• Underestimating God’s holiness

• Overestimating my own goodness

• Pride

• Unforgiveness

• Selfishness

• Complaining

• Doubting God’s love and affection for me as displayed in Jesus

• Not confessing my sins quickly

• Self- Reliance

There are meany others as well. Take a few minutes each day to be reminded of the areas in your life that you need God to work on you. The word “confession” simply means “to agree with.” So I agree with God that these things are wrong and that I need a Savior, namely Jesus. This helps me to be mindful of things I need to work on regularly.

#3 Thanksgiving

This is easy and difficult all at the same time. The easy part is that I write down three things that I am thankful for. The hard part is not being overly repetitious in what I am grateful for. Ann Voskamp’s book titled One Thousand Gifts might be helpful if you struggle to find things to be thankful for. Once I fill the page then I erase it and start over. (It’s about impossible to get through the list without my wife’s name showing up on there several times!)

#4 Intercession

This is the page in my journal where I pray for myself. I start out by praying what John Piper refers to as his IOUS prayer. It goes something like this…

Incline my heart to you- Ps. 119:36

Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word- Ps. 119:18

Unite my heart to fear your name- Ps. 86:11

Satisfy me with your steadfast love- Ps. 90:14

After I pray that I have a list of things I work through one by one. I put character traits of Jesus that I want to emulate, the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5, prayers for daily provision, and anything else I want to pray for regularly here. And like all of my other lists, I reflect on and pray for one thing a day.

Conclusion

Take the opportunity to get these lists set up and begin praying through them. Resist the urge to over do it. We are going to add six more lists before we are done. You are more likely to get discouraged if you try to do too much.

Keep an eye out for another post next week where we will keep organizing and filling our prayer journals!

A Method For Prayer: Part 2

This week I want to help you start adding some content to your prayer journal. We will do this over several posts as it will take some time to get them all set up, but we can begin putting some things to prayer for in your journal now.

If you haven’t read the first blog post where I share some practical ways to enhance your prayer life, you can find that by clicking here.

If you have your digital journal (iPad, computer, phone, etc.) or your paper journal and Post It notes, then grab those and let’s get started.

Prayer Categories

I told you last week that I have 10 different lists that I pray through every day. Here is my “list of lists.” My journal has a page (or two) devoted to each of these categories:

• Praise - This is where I think about and thank God for who he is.

• Confession - Here I confess my own sin and ask God for help in avoiding those particular sins to Which I am prone.

• Thanksgiving - I thank God for things he is doing in/around me and for things that I get to enjoy in His good creation.

• Intercession - Here I pray for myself. I’ll explain later why I pray for myself first.

• Family - I pray for my wife, kids, and other family members here.

• Petition - This is praying for the needs/requests of others.

• Evangelism - Here I pray for people I want to know Jesus.

• Missions - Here I pray for missionaries that our church supports and the girl that my family supports in Haiti.

• Church - I pray for the ministries, leaders, and general characteristics that I want the church to embody at this time.

• Church Members- I pray for 8 families in my church by name and with specific requests here.

Setting Things Up

Whatever type of journal you use, go ahead and set up a note, tab, page, etc. For each of these categories. If you are using paper, then put some of the Post It notes that I recommended on the pages. The purpose of this is so that when your journal starts to fill up, get messy, requests change, etc… you can just peel the Post Its out and start again. Otherwise your journal just gets too messy.

Don’t Pray For Everything Everyday

That may sound strange. But I don’t pray for everything in every category every day. In some lists I pray for one thing a day, in others I pray for a few. God isn’t a curmudgeon who we are trying to pray things from His hand unwillingly. It is His delight to give us good gifts. He gives them in His time. In His ultimate wisdom he knows when not to give what we ask for. Shoot for faithfulness is your prayers. God will not be more likely to answer your requests if you beg Him every day. So feel free to work through your lists regularly, but don’t exhaust them every day.

30 Minutes

For some of us the idea of praying for 30 minutes a day seems daunting. But think of it this way… if you pray for each list for three minutes, then you have just prayed for 30 minutes. So if three minutes is a long time for you, push yourself a little. If two minutes is where your are at, wonderful! If five minutes seems better then start there. I think that you will find your prayer life growing immensely.

Short and Meaningful

Our prayers don’t have to be long, but they should be specific. God won’t answer us more if we use lots of words. But be specific about what you are asking. Don’t just ask God to bless you. Tell him specifically how you want him to bless you, your family, your church, etc. Short is okay for prayers as long as they are specific. Aim for short prayers that are meaningful and biblical.

More specifics to come soon! I’ll start helping you fill those lists as quickly as possible.

A Method for Prayer: Part 1

I have spent most of my Christian life troubled by prayer. I hear stores of people who pray for hours on end and then think that I should be more like that. I think something is wrong with me when I don’t pray that long. People throw around quotes about Martin Luther and how he spend hours in prayer and the more busy he was the more time he spent in prayer. All of these things led to me feeling like something was wrong with me.

To be sure, I could have done a lot better in my prayer life, and I still could. But the reality is that prayer is hard. It isn’t natural to talk to someone who doesn’t talk back to us, who we cannot see, who speaks to us through a book though we speak to him in spoken words.

Prayer is no doubt important for Christians. It is the source of power in our lives and in the church. We should give high priority to it. But it is also something that is learned and must be taught. For years I wished someone who prayed well would invite me into their prayer life to see and hear how they pray.

So that is what I want to offer you. I have learned through a lot of failure and frustration some things that have helped me to have a more meaningful prayer life. I have also learned from successes. I have read countless books on the importance of prayer, but not many of them actually helped me learn how to be a better prayer.

I would like to invite you in the coming weeks to learn a little from my experiences. What you will learn isn’t so much about the right or wrong way to do things. This is about what has worked for me. If something helps you then I would encourage you to use it. If it doesn’t, well then that’s okay too. The point is to have a plan and stick to it!

“The Master says (and the experience of His people has confirmed) that men of strong faith are men of much prayer.”

— Andrew Murray

Prayer has often been a struggle for me. I am easily distracted and my mind wanders. I have felt the burden to pray for some many things that I don’t know how to get them all prayed for. I have felt that it was selfish for me to pray for myself before praying with others. I have lived under the burden of feeling like I need to pray every day and that if I haven’t that God is disappointed with me.

I want to share a few thoughts with you that might help free you from some of these pressures if they have plagued you as they do me. But first…

I am going to strongly urge you to use a prayer journal. I cannot underestimate the value this has been to me. I use a digital journal on my iPad. I simply use the notes app and an Apple Pencil to write down items to pray for. You can do this any way you like. Use a tablet or your phone if that works for you. If you prefer to use paper then that is great too. If you are going to use paper then I would encourage you to have a paper journal, something to write with, and Post-It notes.

The Post-It notes might seem weird. However, a cluttered journal is hard to use. If you stick Post-It’s in your journal and wrote on those then it is easy to peel them out and start over as prayer needs change and as God answers your prayers.

Over the coming weeks we will set up several pages in your prayer journal. For now I would encourage you to get the supplies you need and then have them ready as we get them set up in the coming weeks.

With those things being said…

Let me share several thoughts with you that might encourage you in your prayer times…

• Know what works best for you

  I like to get up at 5:00 am and pray… but mornings aren’t for everyone. Jesus rose early to pray and so did the psalmist. I do think there is something to be said for starting your day out with prayer and Bible reading, but if that doesn’t work for you then figure out what does. Whatever time of day is your best, most focused time… give that to God. He deserves our best.

• Shoot for 5

  I have lived under the pressure of thinking that I was failing God if I didn’t pray and read my Bible every day. In an ideal world I would, but often times things get out of control. I shoot to pray and have my quiet times 5 days a week. This is usually doable and I end up less frustrated with myself.

• Don’t pray for everything every day

  I have 10 categories of things I pray for in my prayer journal. And every day that I pray I work through all 10. I do NOT, however, pray for everything on every list every day. I pray for one or two things on every list every day. I make a mark next to the things I prayed for today and when I have prayed for everything on a list then I start over again and erase marks as I go. But I don’t pray for everything and everyone every day.

• It isn’t selfish to pray for yourself first

  Often times we think we should pray for everyone else first and ourselves last because this is the selfless thing to do. The greatest thing you can offer your spouse, children, neighbors, co-workers, and church is a you that is right with God. I pray for myself early on in my lists and then I pray for others.

• Write things down

  The chief way that I keep myself from being distracted is to have a list in front of me of things that I am praying for. There’s a danger here as it becomes easy to just pray through the list without really meaning what you are praying. So be vigilant to be sincere in your prayers.

• Brief and Biblical, not lengthy and hollow

  Brief prayers that are biblical are better than long prayers that don’t mean anything. Check out Matthew 5 if this doesn’t sit right with you. God desires that our prayers reflect His heart. The prayers in the Bible are usually prayers that cling to the promises of God. Short prayers that are Scripture filled are far better thing lots of “God please bless…” There’s nothing wrong with asking God to bless people, but be specific about how you are asking Him to bless them.

• Give yourself some grace

  When you don’t pray like you want, or as often as you want, or something goes wrong… just give yourself some grace. When you get to end of long day and you hit the bed and haven’t got your prayer time in, then confess it to God, let it go, and go again tomorrow. But legalism is the sure fire way to kill you prayer life.

Get you supplies together and we will start this journey together. If you need help in any way please feel free to contact me at logan@trinitywallawalla.org.

Why So Many Bible Translations? And Which One Should I Choose?

Anybody who has spent any time around the church knows that there are many different Bible translations out there. With this comes a host of questions like…

• Why are there so many different translations?

• Are they all correct?

• Which ones are the best?

I want to quickly answer some of these questions today, but in order to do so we need to understand a few principles that will help us wade through this question.

Principle #1: Translation Isn’t Decoding

Many of us learned a language when we were in high school. Often these languages function very similarly to English. Languages like Spanish and French, the two most commonly taught languages when I was in high school, work very similarly to English. If you learn the coordinating words in one language to the same word in English you can start speaking the language very quickly. Spanish and English, for example, present the listener/reader with the same information, in the same order, and often in the same way. But speak to anyone who knows Chinese and they will tell you that there is nothing similar about these two languages.

the Bible was written almost entirely in Hebrew and Greek. Neither of these languages functions in the same way as English. Native speakers of these language don’t want the same information, in the same way, as we do in English. The languages don’t function the same way and you can do things with words and sentences that you cannot do in English…and vice versa. Translating the Bible involves much more than just decoding the text. It takes an understanding of the language so that it can be properly communicated when translating.

Principle #2: Translation Approach

Because the donor languages of Greek and Hebrew don’t work like the receptor language of English there are different approaches to translation (Donor refers to the language you are translating from, receptor is the language you are translating to). The two approaches are called “Dynamic Equivalence” and “Formal Equivalence.” Those sound like big ideas, they aren’t.

Dynamic equivalence seeks to convey the meaning of a text in a thought by thought manner.

Formal equivalence seeks to convey the wording of a text as closely as possible to the original.

In short, dynamic tries to say what the text means. Formal tries to say what the text says.

A Helpful Analogy

Dr. Bill Barrick shares a helpful analogy of why languages matter. He calls us to think upon our wedding day. Imagine your bride was coming down the aisle wearing a veil, or maybe better a Covid mask. Or maybe you are the bride wearing the veil/ mask. You go through the ceremony, excited to be wedded to your betrothed. You have made your vows and it comes to the end and the pastor finally says “you may kiss your bride.”

Now imagine that the kiss takes place through the veil/mask. The veil isn’t lifted. It isn’t removed. Oh how sad that would be. You want to feel the lips of you new spouse touch yours.

The only way to remove the veil between us and God’s word is to learn the original languages. Most Christians will not learn the original languages, and that’s okay. But if you don’t know Greek and Hebrew, the veil between you and the text exists. If you knew there would be a veil between you and your beloved from now until eternity you would want that veil to be as this as possible.

The Thinnest Veil

I believe that the thinnest veil possible comes from translations that formally equivalent. Let me explain why.

When a translator seeks to convey the wording of the text he or she is doing their best to give you what the text says as much as possible. They look at the text, ask what it says, and then try to give you what it says as close as possible to the original.

When a translator seeks to convey the meaning of the text they go through a different process. They ask what does the text say. Then they interpret the text by asking what it means. Then they give you a translation that reflects what they believe it means.

The more a translator seeks to convey the meaning of a text, the more he inserts his interpretation into the translation.

I believe therefore that the best translations are the ones that seek to convey the working of the text and not the meaning.

What About the Version I Use?

So where does the Bible you use fall in terms of these factors? I’m glad you asked…

Formally Equivalent Translations

• LSB- Legacy Standard Bible (Being released in 2020)

• NASB- New American Standard Bible

• ESV- English Standard Version

  I think these are the best English versions available today.

Middle of the Road Translations

• CSV- Christian Standard Version (update of the HCSB)

• NIV- New International Version

  These are probably the two most common translations in this category. The CSV is close to formal equivalence while the NIV is closer to dynamic.

Dynamic Equivalent Translations

• NLT- New Living Translation

• TLB- The Living Bible

  There are more in this category but I think these are the most common.

Paraphrases

A paraphrase is not a translation. It is a version that doesn’t involve a change in language. When Eugene Peterson published the Message he used an English Bible to write another English Bible. These should be seen as commentaries ad not as an actual Bible version to be studied or read alone.

Is There Value In Different Translations?

Yes! I see two main values here.

First, in helping growing readers. Young readers or those who don’t read well will benefit greatly from a translation like the NIV. But as they develop greater reading skills I would recommend using a version with a thinner veil.

Second, in helping with difficult passages. The committees who have given us the modern translations are usually vey capable linguists and theologians. If you are having trouble understanding what a text means, look it up in other translations and you may find help in understanding something that was tough at first.

Why I Use the ESV

In short, the ESV is both highly formally equivalent and highly readable. Because I am a pastor who reads the Word of God regularly in public I value the smooth and easy way in which it reads while maintaining a high level of accuracy in conveying the wording of the text.

There are many good translations out there. May God use those in your life to incite a passion, excitement, and love for Him…as well as a great love for others.

Only Christianity Can Explain the Fall of Its Leaders

It’s a sad thing to have to stand before your congregation and say that sexual sin and abuse should never be tolerated in the church. It’s heartbreaking to have to say that accusations shouldn’t be dismissed, that no person is above temptation to sin, and that the church should always investigate claims of this nature. But worse than all of that is the realization that there are lives left in shambles, devastated families, tarnished reputations, and unimaginable pain that the victims of these sins have to live with everyday.

DISCLAIMER: This is not coming from something going on inside my church. I am just seeing evangelical leaders fall at far too fast a rate.

Church, these things out not to be.

It is intolerable to God that the church leaders, or anyone for that matter, would behave in such ways. Intolerable, however, does not mean unforgivable.

The Seriousness of Sin

Let’s see how seriously God takes sin.

Try and picture what I am about to describe. Really picture it in your mind.

The Triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—create a perfect world and put mankind in it. He loves his creation, but most of all the people he created, his crowning achievement in creation. But he did so knowing that they will sin, knowing that they will break his law, despise him, reject him, betray him.

But this didn’t catch God by surprise. He knew it happen. And he knew that he would go on the most daring rescue mission imaginable. He would become part of his creation to rescue them from themselves, and from him.

So at just the right time Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, submits himself to being born into his own creation. He subjects himself to all the rules of humanity. He gets tired, hungry, and hurt. He is dependent upon his Father in all things.

For 33 years he lives in perfect obedience to God, to God’s law, to his Father and Mother. There is no sin in him. No cross word. No disobedience. No disrespect. No idolatry. No lust. Nothing but absolute perfection.

He is betrayed by one of his closest companions, tried by Jewish leaders, tried by Herod, and tried by Pilate. Herod and Pilate can find nothing wrong in him. The Jewish leaders had to pay people to bear false testimony against him. And even still he is committed to a brutal death.

He is beaten beyond recognition with a bag over his head. He has a crown of thorns jammed upon his head. He is whipped so severely that he likely would have died from his injuries if his torture would have stopped there. But it didn’t

He was nailed to a tree to die.

Can you see it? That’s how much God hates sin.

It’s also how much he loves you.

A Display of Love and Hatred

The cross is often spoken of as a symbol of God love. And it is! Infinitely so. But it is also a symbol of his hatred for sin. It shows us how much God hates what we have done.

But, oh how he loves us that he would bear that kind of consequence to rescue us from it.

Forgivable Doesn’t Mean Acceptable

Every sin will be punished. Not every sin will be forgiven.

Either we will bear the consequences for our sins for eternity, or Christ will have born them on the cross. But either way, every sin will be punished.

So how can Christianity explain the fall of its leaders and why such a big intro? All of that is to make the point that God takes these sins seriously and we should too. But no sinner is beyond the saving grace of God. These men should be removed from their positions of leadership in heaven, but they will not lose their standing with God in heaven if they were saved in the first place.

Finally, the Explanation

Christianity can explain its leaders failures because it can explain the fallen nature of people. Consider the following verses…

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

— Romans 3:23

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

— Jeremiah 17:9

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understand; no one seeks for God.”

— Romans 3:9b-10

Christianity can explain for the sins of its leaders because it understand that “no one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). We do not believe that people are fundamentally good. We believe that people are desperately wicked, though this does not mean that everyone is as bad as they could be!

We are all sinners. We are all prone to failure. We all stray from the truth and from righteousness. We all need a savior.

Jesus alone is that Savior. Jesus alone will never disappoint. He will never sin against you. He will never abuse you or take advantage of you.

What Can Churches Do?

So what can the average church do to help fight against this from possibly happening in your church? Here are some brief, practical ways that I can think of.

• Plurality of Leadership: In the New Testament there is no example of church that is run by one man. There is always a group of men, called elders, leading the church.

• Accountability in Leadership: In Galatians we get an account of Paul’s correction of Peter. This isn’t the only example in Scripture, but what it shows us is that the leaders gave and received correction. So should we.

• No Pedestals: We often put church leaders on pedestals because of the more public nature of the gifts they exercise in the body. But this shouldn’t be. They, like you, are recovering sinners saved by grace.

• The Power of Invitation: Invite your pastors into the ordinary things of life. If you treat them like ordinary Christians (which they are), it won’t take you long to see them as ordinary Christians. Note: I do not believe that seeing them as ordinary Christians is in any way a lack of honor

• Provide Counseling: Paul Tripp, in his book Dangerous Calling, suggests always making counseling available to your pastor or his family, to be paid by the church. Even if he never uses it, this is fundamentally a statement that you don’t believe he has to have his act together all the time.

• Don’t Invade Family Time: I learned long ago that church members will rarely ask you for your time if you already have an appointment scheduled, but they will ask for your time if it’s set aside for your family. Don’t ask your pastor for his family time.

• Grace and Truth: Do your best to ensure that every interaction in the church, including with your pastor, is an environment of grace where conversations of truth can take place.

This list isn’t exhaustive. Neither is it bullet proof. But the more you can see Christ as the head of the church and not your pastor, the better. The less you put him on a pedestal, the better. The more he can normally interact in the church as a receiving member and not just a giving leader, the better.

There is grace when we sin. May God’s grace keep us from such sins.

We're Not Battling COVID-19

That’s a bold statement. Let me first say that I believe COVID is real. I believe that it poses a real threat to some of our population. I believe that every death that has been a result of Covid is sad, as is every other death. So based upon all of that, let me explain what I mean.

I was listening to a podcast with pastor and author Tim Keller who some time ago was diagnosed with cancer. The host of the podcast, Kevin DeYoung, said that he had heard Tim say that he was “not battling cancer.” Tim went on to say that he believed that to be true, that he had cancer and was undergoing treatment, but that he was not battling cancer, he was battling sin.

I thought this statement was powerful, honest, and true. it got me thinking about Covid. Are we battling Covid? Or are we battling sin? I think the answer is that we are battling sin, and there are many sins that we are battling.

Sin Is More Dangerous Than Covid

In one sense Covid hasn’t cost anyone their life. Covid may be a secondary cause of death, but the real reason we will all face death one day is because of sin.

“For the wages of sin is death...”

— Romans 6:23a

There are many secondary causes for which people die, Covid being one of them. But ultimately there is only cause of death and that is sin.

Jesus is More Powerful Than Covid

The good news is that Romans 6:23 doesn’t end there!

“...but there gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 6:23b

Death is the deserved payment for anything we have done that falls short of the glory of God, which is how Romans 3:23 defines sin. Anything that lacks in perfect conformity to the character and will of God is sin. Certainly we have all fallen short of that standard. Certainly we all deserve to die.

But this is where Jesus is the best news ever! God became part of his creation, born of a virgin, sinless in his life and he died in our place. Receiving the wages that we deserved because of our sin so that we could receive the life that he deserved!

3 days later he was vindicated in his claims to be able to give eternal life when he was resurrected from the dead. All we have to do is put our whole faith and trust in his goodness on our behalf and not in our own and surrender to him and we are forgiven of our sins! This is the best news ever.

The Front Lines in the War on Covid

So where are the front lines? As important as healthcare is, the real front line in the fight against Covid is Spiritual.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

— Ephesians 6:12

Let me suggest some of the battle lines that have been drawn.

• Pride: Some of us are more concerned with getting our way than caring about our duty to the churches and communities we belong. (Eph. 4:15-16)

• Fear: To be sure there is a fear that is healthy. But when our fear begins to cause us to think that God isn’t in control, isn’t good, isn’t at work in the world, that he didn’t see this coming, that he is responding to what is going on, or that maybe he got this one wrong…then our fear has taken a dominant place over our faith. (1 John 4:18)

• Carelessness: You might not be afraid of Covid, but for some it is deadly. For others, their fear is existential whether you think it should be or not. Being considerate of what others are experiencing is a means by which we can love our neighbors. (Mt. 22:38-39)

• Selfishness: One of the reasons that the people of God are commanded to gather is so that we can do others good spiritually. If you find it easier to watch from home, not wear a mask, not participate in the gathering, etc. for reasons that are selfish or sinfully self-protective, then you are putting yourself in a position where you can’t do spiritual good to others. Get up a little earlier, get dressed, and come encourage others to love and good deeds. (Heb. 10:25)

• Complaint: I believe this is a sin that we way too often underestimate. But God’s word is clear, grumbling is sin. Why, because fundamentally complaint flows from a belief that you could have done better than God. (1 Cor. 10:1-6)

• Under/Over Obedience: I admit that feels weird to type. But the truth is that as Christians we ought to understand better than anyone that government is given to us by God for the ordering and discipline of society. But we also must understand that governments authority has boundaries that have been set by God. When the government forbids what God commands we must obey God and not men. (Acts 5:29; Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-17)

There are probably many other sins to which we are prone and this list is not meant to be exhaustive. I would encourage you to search your own heart and see how you are doing in the battle?

I will leave you with one thought, something that John Newton said. He said that he struggled with “inordinate attachment to the things of time.” May your attachments to the things in time be tempered by the treasure of our hearts being in heaven.

Food and the Fellowship

How we think about food can teach us a lot about how to be the church.

Whether you tend to be a hearer of the Word or a doer, this video is for you.

How Great the Father's Love for Us!

If you’re like me you may struggle to really believe that God loves you. I know he loves people. I know he loves you. I struggle to believe that he loves me. There are many reasons, most of them in my own heart and head where I am the only one who knows about them, for God to be angry with me.

God has been working on my heart a lot lately in regards to knowing his love for me. Some years ago I came across a quote from an old puritan writer named John Owen. He said…

“The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay upon the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him, is not to believe that he loves you.”

— John Owen

To doubt that he loves me is to not see love in the extent that he has gone to love us, redeem us, and reconcile us into a relationship with him. How far has he gone? How much does he love us? For that we must turn to one of the most well known verses in Scripture.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believers in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

— John 3:16

The Power of “So”

The word so gets used in many ways. One of the ways is to express greatness or immensity. We look at our children and say, “Do you know how much I love you?” And then opening our arms wide we say, “I love you SO much!” While this is what John 3:16 is expressing, that is not what the word “so” means in this verse.

The Greek word behind so is houtos, and it means “thus” or “in this manner.” The big idea in John 3:16, the main clause, is that God loved the world. The so tells us that he did this in a certain manner. What manner you might ask? Well the answer comes in the next clause in the verse…”he gave his only Son.”

God has one Son. He has eternally existed with the Father in a loving relationship. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit…three persons, one God. God the Father gave God the Son. How much does God love you, enough that he gave his Son…to die. He gave his Son so that we might crucify him. He gave his Son so that the Son might keep all of God’s laws in the place of lawless sinners like me. He gave his Son to die the death that I deserved.

God loved the world, even me, so he gave his only Son.

With Joy

Now if it isn’t enough of a stretch to believe that God loves me…it’s an even harder stretch for me to believe that he loved me enough to give me his Son and that he did it with Joy. But that exactly what he tells us.

In the beginning verses of Luke 15 there are two parables of Jesus that illustrate how God has saved us from ourselves and from our sin and has done so with great joy. These are the parables of the lost sheep and the parables of the lost coin.

In the parable of the lost sheep we are told of a shepherd who leaves 99 in order to find 1 lost. And when he finds the lost sheep he says…

“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.”

— Luke 15:6b

Immediately after this parable Jesus tells the parable of the lost coin. Here a woman had 10 silver coins and lost one. Now in that culture a woman would not have easily been able to provide for herself, so having 10 silver coins would not have been like having 10 quarters today. These coins were valuable and connected to her living. But upon losing one she cleans and searches the house until she finds the lost coin. She then exclaims to her neighbors…

“Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.”

— Luke 15:9b

Now here is where things get really interested. After telling these two parables Jesus sums up the point he making by saying…

“Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

— Luke 15:10

I’ll give you one guess what the Greek word behind “Just so” is in Luke 15:10. You guessed it, houtos. In this manner there is joy before the angels when one sinner repents and receives God’s forgiveness. Forgiveness that came at the price of the precious blood of Christ. Forgiveness that he died for. Forgiveness that he rejoices to give.

The Knockout Punch

Here’s what really blows my mind. I was always told in church growing up that the angels celebrated in heaven when someone trusted in Jesus’ for their forgiveness. This may be true, but if you look closely at Luke 15:10 you will see that this is not what it says.

Jesus doesn’t tell us that the angels rejoice. He says that “there is joy before the angels of God.” What is before the angels of God? Or better yet, who? God. God is before the angels of God. They cry out to him day and night…

““Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almight, who was and is and is to come!” ”

— Rev. 4:8b

He captivates their gaze. They delight in him. And when a sinner repents there is joy before the angels!

I once heard it said that the most simple way you can state the gospel is this: God saves sinners. I think this is true. But we should never forget that God joyfully saves sinners!

How much does God love you? He loves you so much!

The Dangers of the Equality Act

There are two notes that I would like to make at the beginning of this post.

First, I generally try to stay away from all things political as I consider what to write about. Today I am going to violate that. I believe that the so called “Equality Act” that is before the Senate right now is the single greatest threat to religious liberty that any of us have seen in our lifetime.

Second, Scripture is not silence on the matters of Equality. All mankind is created equal before God. No one, except Christ alone, has any greater intrinsic value than anyone else. We are all created in the image of God. The Bible leaves no room for any kind of discrimination against people for their gender (by which I mean biologically male or female), social class, ethnicity, nor any other possible division.

Rather than writing on the Equality Act, I would like today to share a podcast with you. This is from Albert Mohler who is the president of Boice College and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I believe he gives compelling reasons for Christians to understand the nature of this piece of legislation. The podcast takes about 25 minutes to listen to and I highly commend it to you.

It can be found by clicking the button below.

Hope, and how it helps!

“I hope that the Lakers win tonight.” “I hope I win the lottery.” “There’s hope for you yet!” “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”

The word hope get’s used in many ways. This is true in our everyday speech, but it’s also true in Scripture. So when the Bible speaks of hope, what exactly does it mean? And how does it help us today? I believe the book of Hebrews helps us greatly in understanding the hope that God wants us to have and I’d like to share that with you!

Definitions

Before we take a look at a couple verses in Hebrews we need to clarify a couple ideas. We need to understand the difference between an object reality and a subjective experience.

Objective reality refers to the way something actually is.

Subjective experience refers to how I relate to it.

Example

Broccoli is green. That is an objective statement. It is simply saying something true about broccoli.

Broccoli is delicious. That is a subjective statement. Some people may experience broccoli in a positive manner, some not so positive.

Similarly Scripture talks about hope in both an objective and subjective sense.

Objective Hope

Hebrews chapter 6 clearly shows us that there is an objective hope for Christians.

“And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end.”

— Hebrews 6:11

“...we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.”

— Hebrews 6:18b

You can see in these verses that there is an objective hope that the author of Hebrews is telling us about. It is a hope in which we can have assurance (that’s not wishful thinking!). It is a hope that we can hold fast to, that is set before us.

I believe that the hope to which the author of Hebrews refers is our great future in heaven with God!

Because Jesus has satisfied God’s law on our behalf by obeying it perfectly. Because his death is a death on our behalf that he didn’t deserve. And because he has been raised to life on our behalf, those of us who have trusted him for forgiveness of sin can be assured that our future in heaven is secure. So secure in fact that we can have “full assurance”, “strong encouragement”, and even “hold fast” to the hope that Jesus supplies.

Subjective Hope

But it is not just the certainty of our future that the author of Hebrews tells us about. He also wants his readers to experience that hope.

Assurance is the subjective experience of knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that because our confidence is in Jesus, our future is secure and certain.

Encouragement is the subjective positive feeling that accompanies knowing that whatever your experiences are in this world, there is a perfect eternity awaiting us in the presence of our Savior.

Holding fast is the subjective experience of holding out for something better than what we might experience here.

Our future hope (objective) is secured and guaranteed by Jesus, therefore we can have hope (subjective) no matter what happens in the here and now!

How it Helps

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope...where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf...”

— Hebrews 6:19-20

Hope anchors our souls in the future. Hope reminds us that what we experience here isn’t all there is. Hope assures us that even when life treats you rough there is a better future, a future where Jesus has already gone and has paved the way for us to go. A hope that does not, and in fact because of Jesus, will not disappoint.

Hope helps us endure. Hope helps us persevere. Hope anchors our soul to the future where there is no sickness, sadness, disease, death, or hardship. Hope gives patience because we know this won’t last forever. Hope reminds that death, eternal death, can’t touch us because Jesus took that on our behalf.

I hope that you think of eternity often. I hope you feel it’s assurance and encouragement. I hope it anchors your soul near to our Savior.

Jesus' Genealogies: More Fascinating than You Might Think

Pastor Thad posed an interesting question on this last Sunday in his sermon: Why are there two different genealogies for Jesus in the gospels of Matthew and Luke? Well the truth is that the Bible doesn’t tell us for certain. But there are some clues that might help us understand. And there are some fascinating implications to these two genealogies.

Big Truths

But first there are some truths we need to have in mind as we begin to look at why these authors thought this was so important.

1. As we celebrate Christmas we are celebrating the truth that God became part of his own creation. He took on actual human flesh. Truly God and truly man; the creator of all things becomes part of his creation.

2. God made some promises about the one who would come to redeem us, Jesus. We were told that he would be a descendent of David (2 Sam. 7, 23). We were told that he would sit on the throne of David as King (2 Sam. 7:12-13). We were also promised that Jesus would die in our place (Is. 53). Lastly, we were promised that Jesus would be born of a virgin (Is. 7:14).

3. Jesus was miraculously born of a virgin. The necessity of the virgin birth is probably too long to treat in this short blog, but it was both prophesied and necessary.

4. Crowns and thrones were inherited through ones earthly father, not their mother. Again this is a longer discussion than can be had here, but kings often had many wives (David had children from many wives. Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba, was not even David’s first wife). Some kings traded their wives at a whim (c.f. Esther and Queen Vashti).

Though these are only a few of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in the Scriptures, they matter the most as we consider Jesus genealogy.

Big Problem

This leaves us with one big problem that we need to sort out. Since thrones are inherited through fathers, and since Jesus had no earthly father, how could he be a king on David’s throne?

The solution can be found in the genealogies. Let’s look first at some clues regarding each one and then draw some conclusions.

Matthew’s Genealogy

The clue to understanding Matthew’s genealogy can be found in understanding his purpose for writing. Each Gospel writer presents Jesus from a bit of a different perspective. While Mark presents us with Jesus as Sovereign Servant, and John as Sovereign God…Matthew presents us with Jesus as Sovereign King.

Remember that thrones and kingdoms were inherited from ones earthly father. In order for Jesus to be eligible for the throne of his father David, his earthly father had to be of the line of David. So Matthews genealogy, which is abridged, end with Joseph. Here is how it ends…

“and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of who Jesus was born, who is called the Christ.”

— Matthew 1:16

Because Matthew wants us to accept Jesus as king he apparently gives us the genealogy of Jesus earthly father, Joseph, so that we might see Jesus as able to inherit the throne of his forefather David.

Luke’s Genealogy

Luke presents Jesus differently than the other three gospels, as Sovereign Savior. But Luke’s genealogy, found in chapter 3, traces a different lineage than Matthews. The hard part to understand here is that he also starts his genealogy with Joseph. But that is where the similarities end.

I think Luke’s genealogy is that of Mary, even though he doesn’t name her. He doesn’t name her because genealogies were never presented through anyone’s mother in that day. But Luke’s attention to detail in the two books he penned is tremendous. He gives attention to the lines of Jesus, John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Zechariah. He tells us that the census from Caesar Augustus took place before the registration that took place while Quirinius was governor of Cyria. Luke was very given to details.

Because Jesus had to be from the lineage of David, and because he was born of virgin, it seems that Luke gives us Jesus’ genealogy through the lineage of Mary.

Implications

There are some really cool implications that come as a result of all of this.

1. Jesus fulfilled an impossible amount of prophecies concerning his birth. Clearly God’s sovereign hand must have brought it about.

2. The authors of scripture were meticulous, but God ensured that his Word is both inerrant and infallible.

3. Adoption is real. Joseph contributed nothing to Jesus physical birth or DNA. But nonetheless it is through his line that Jesus is able to ascend to the throne of David. This means that though Joseph was not Jesus biological father, he was nonetheless Jesus’ earthly father.

All of this leads to the remarkable conclusion that when God tells us that he has adopted those who have trusted in the virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death, and victorious resurrection of Jesus…we can be sure that we are truly made real sons and daughters of a our sovereign, saving God!

Capitalism, Communism and... the Gospel?

Disclaimer: This is NOT a political post. Really, it’s not.

I recently read an article by Christian blogger Tim Challies titled “Is Soft Totalitarianism Coming to America” and you can find that blog post here. In the blog Tim reviews a new book called Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Ron Dreher. The book review is well written, but in it Challies identifies what is probably the core difference between capitalism, what America was founded upon, and soft communism, where American seems to be headed.

Both are founded upon the idea of equality. Both have been abused. Both have inherent problems… not necessarily in the ideologies themselves, but it the sinful hearts of people who are able to use just about anything for wrong ends. I say this because I am genuinely not advocating for either. Whether you believe that communism is superior to capitalism or capitalism to communism, fallen and sinful people will devise means to use either sinfully.

To get to the point, capitalism is built on the idea that every person should have an equal opportunity for success in the world. Whether or not this actually happens is beyond the scope of our attention today, but that is the goal of capitalism. Communism is built on the idea that every person should have an equal outcome in the world, thus all the resources in a community are used to provide everyone with an equal share. Equal opportunity vs. equal share.

As I am not an economist, I am completely unqualified to speak to which one is superior to the other. I will however say that there is something commendable about both. I have met, talked with, and read books by people on both sides of this equation, and both sides hold to their beliefs because they genuinely believe that their views are what is best for people.

But let’s get to the point, what do these two political ideologies have to do with the gospel? Here is the answer: neither capitalism nor communism ever truly result in equal opportunity or equal outcome, but the gospel of Jesus Christ does. In the gospel there is equal opportunity and outcome for all.

Equal Opportunity

Mark 16:15-16 record some of Jesus words to his disciples after his resurrection. As the risen Jesus appears to them he says:

“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.””

— Mark 16:15-16

Jesus words here are to be taken seriously by every believer apart from the outcome. Every person in the whole of creation is to be told by Jesus’ followers that Jesus is the eternal Son of God who took on flesh, lived a perfect life, died a substitutionary death, and was resurrected from the dead to offer eternal life to all who would believe in him. Everyone is to have equal opportunity to hear the gospel and believe the gospel regardless of the outcome.

Yet there is also promised equal outcome to all who believe.

Equal Outcome

In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus tells a parable of a landowner who hired workers to work in his vineyard. The landowner went out and hired three different groups of people. One group he hired at 9:00 am, one group at noon, and one group at 3:00 pm. At the end of the day they were all payed the same wage no matter how long they worked for.

The point of the parable is this, whether you believed the gospel as a child, a teen, young adult, midlife or even on your death bed, the gospel offers the forgiveness of sins and an eternity in perfection with God for all who believe.

What’s the Point?

The gospel of God far exceeds the beauty, worth, and value of anything on earth. In it God demands equal opportunity for everyone to have a chance to respond. And in it God gives equal outcomes to all who believe.

Who do you know who needs to have the opportunity to hear the gospel? Pray, tell them what Jesus has done for them, and then leave the rest to God.

May those to whom you share the opportunity partake in the outcome as well!