"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
Hebrews 10:24 - 25
 
Me, myself, and I. Unfortunately, we see this attitude on display all too often in our world today. That sentiment could be based around who is important to you or who you are most concerned about when making decisions. I will be the first to admit that I love to be by myself outdoors. Whether it is working on the farm, hunting, or just taking a walk, I love being outside in God’s creation by myself. That is not a bad thing. As most reading this know, it is not only good, but necessary to have time alone to clear our mind, open our hearts, and draw nearer to God in prayer and reading of His Word. However, while individual worship and meditation are an important part of each believer’s walk with Christ, it is not the only part. God did not intend for us to walk alone.  
 
There are several directions we could go here biblically on this subject. I chose this passage in Hebrews because I love the wording of stirring one another up. The NIV translation actually says "to spur" and the NASB says "to stimulate" which I think are even better illustrations of pushing each other to live a life pleasing to God through acts of love and good works. Since we are corporately worshipping in various capacities at the moment, due to the current circumstances, this can be challenging. However, if we cannot all meet in person we can still communicate with and encourage each other through conversation. Be it a message on social media, even better a phone call, and certainly interceding for one another in prayer.
 
Part of pushing each to live a life pleasing to God is holding each other accountable. Paul tells us in Galatians 6 to bear each other's burdens and restore each other gently. Rebuking each other, when necessary, is encouraging because it displays a true love and care for one another. When Jesus sent out His disciples he sent them out in pairs. This was not accidental. I am sure there are a variety of reasons why Jesus did this. From my understanding, it is not revealed in scripture exactly why they were sent out in pairs, but I think there are some pretty practical ideas of safety, encouragement, and differing spiritual gifts that we could assume, just to name a few. As believers we need the same things from each other today. I would encourage each of you to find someone within our community of believers to walk the road with. Hold one another accountable, discuss your shortcomings, and pray together to become stronger servants of Christ. 
 
 
Guest Post by Zach Massey 
 

Politics 

I must begin with a disclaimer. I usually try to stay away from online political discussions. This is not because I don’t have political opinions, and I hope it is not out of cowardice. It seems that oftentimes these political discussions can be unfruitful and not helpful for promoting the gospel of Christ crucified. However, the gospel and the implications of the real Lordship of Jesus means that politics belongs to Christ just like every other realm in God’s world.

The topic today is not so much political as linguistic. There is a term being used regularly in the political conversation that deserves some in depth thought and analysis. This term is ‘progressive’. The term has become synonymous with ‘liberal’ as a designation for those on the political and social left. Certainly, the argument could be made that the tribalism of right and left is a part of the problem. But what does progressive mean? Well, to progress literally means to move toward a goal, to advance in some way, to develop, or to grow. This is one of those areas where the words all sound good, but we must ask the question - progress toward what? What is the goal that we are moving toward? What truth or agenda are we seeking to advance? What are we developing?

Good and Bad

The idea of being progressive then is not good or bad on it’s own. Rather, we must think of being progressive in terms of what the end goal is, to determine if it is good or bad. For example, we could speak about how a student, maybe your child or grandchild, is progressing educationally. In this case, progress is a good thing. However, we could also speak of how cancer has progressed from stage 3 to stage 4, an obviously bad thing. So progress is good or bad depending on what it modifies.

Now think about the people of Israel in the Old Testament. They were supposed to be ‘progressive’ in the sense that they were to trust in the LORD and obey His precepts, decrees, and statutes. God would then bless them not as payment for their good works, but as a testimony to how great a God He is! So that the nations would know about Him and then could even know Him! While we do see some examples of gentiles recognizing the greatness of the LORD (for example Rahab, who even was included in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus) on the whole Israel broke covenant with God and did not advance in this way.

But progress is always being made one way or the other and since Israel was not progressing in advancing the fame of the LORD in all the earth we find them instead progressing in sinful practices. They fell into deep adultery and idolatry. They were progressing, but not toward freedom but rather slavery, not toward holiness but rather unrighteousness, not toward truth but rather a lie.

Where are we going?

If you have ever been on a long trip, especially with children, you know the inevitable question that will be asked, “Are we there yet?” But right now the most important question is, “Where are we going?” In a world with so much talk about being progressive, we must ask what are we progressing toward? Regardless of your political affiliation, what is the world we are heading for going to look like? The reality is that the Bible has answers for where we should be going and what our goals ought to be. Ultimately, we as individual Christians are called not to conform to the pattern of this world but rather, through renewing our mind, we are to be transformed (Romans 12:2) and that transformation is so that we can be conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). We will dive more deeply into the Biblical answers next week!

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Gender and the Church
    I want to begin by stating that I am not trying to offend fellow believers who simply disagree with me theologically. However, I think that perilous times such as those that we live in today call for loving but boldly frank discussion of the truth found in the Word of God. With this said, the issue I want to address is the culpability of the American church and of conservative evangelicalism in the moral mayhem know as the transgender agenda. It has been said that if you want to know the roots of any moral issue facing a CULTure then you just need to look at the predominant CULT which is, in America, protestant Christianity. I am not here using the word ‘cult’ in the common sense of a false religious group holding to heterodox beliefs. Rather, by cult I am saying that the primary religious worldview from the beginning of the American experience has been that of Christianity. So this issue has had at least some help in the things that have festered in the churches of our land.
    Now obviously, there has been a lack of gospel clarity and it would be easy to say that the fault of the church lies with not effectively reaching the population with the true message of repentance from dead works and faith toward the living God. But still, I think that there is more responsibility that lies at our feet. So what is it? What did we get so wrong? Well, I believe we failed to practically believe all that the scriptures teach about gender roles in both the home, society, and the church.

Any society where the church is predominantly either formally or functionally egalitarian will eventually and inevitably deal with gender confusion issues.
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This statement is phrased very carefully, and so I would now like to explain what I mean by each part. I will begin by explaining the term “egalitarian.” I am using this term to refer to the understanding that there is no difference between men and women in regards to the roles that God intends for them to fill in the home, and specifically in this article, in the church. I want to clearly state that the issue is not equality, or capability, or competency, but rather what has God revealed in the Bible. 1 Timothy 2:8-15 is quite clear about what the proper roles of men and women should be in the local church. This is not an issue of equality because the scripture never asserts that men are more valuable than women. Two examples that God deals fairly and righteously with both men and women, would be Numbers 27 where Zelophehad’s daughters received an inheritance alongside their kinsmen, and the general treatment of women by the Lord Jesus Himself. In no way does God esteem either men or women higher because of their gender, but He does give men and women different roles and works that He has prepared beforehand for them to do. (Phil. 1:21)
Next, I want to explain the use of the words “formally” and “functionally.” By utilizing these terms I am drawing attention to two different ways the church has made this mistake. First, the term formally refers to those churches who would openly state that the offices of the church are open to both men and women. Particularly, those churches that have or affirm women as pastors and elders. If the church cannot discern the biblical mandate for male leadership among the local congregation, what chance does the lost world have of maintaining biblical and natural roles for men and women.
But the problem is not only among those churches and denominations with female pastors but also denominations and churches who would not formally affirm female leadership, but who do functionally because of the lack of Godly men to lead their families and their churches. Just as Deborah’s leadership of Israel was a judgement on them because of the impotent and weak leadership of Barak so also many of our churches are withering and dying from a lack of godly male leadership. From the time of the fall the default sinful pattern has been for men to abdicate responsibility and for women to usurp authority. Thus, leading at least partially to the current state of the church and the culture.
I use the terms eventually and inevitably because without the church there is no other correcting or preserving system for society. Higher education, expanded literacy, capitalism, and democracy are all well and good but these are not sufficient to properly lead and direct the culture. WE ARE THE SALT! Only the biblical church can rightly and adequately preserve a people, WE ARE THE LIGHT! Only the biblical church can rightly light the way forward toward a godly glorious trajectory.
So what is the answer to the gender confusion we see in our culture? In short, it is to recover a biblical view of gender through repentance from our own ideas and obedience to the plain meaning of God in His Word. How? We as believers must read the Word, Study the Word, Preach the Word, and Obey the Word. God has established the roles of men and women and yet, He has not done so unfairly or without tender mercy. The Lord has fitted the way He has made us both male and female and the way He has created our roles in life to match His purposes.  It is not possible that we would be able to ever find true fulfillment and lasting joy while seeking to do what God has not made us to do. God has created us and He directs us through His word to do as He would have us to do for our good and His glory.

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Who’s in Charge?

Who’s the boss? Who’s really in charge? Even using these phrases brings to mind the classic TV shows starring Tony Danza and Scott Baio. Both of those shows, “Who’s the Boss” and “Charles in Charge,” are playing on the comedic effect of the relationships between the characters who are supposed to have authority, and the characters who seem to truly have influence. But when we draw back from the convenient caricature world of the 30 minute sitcom to consider the real world, both physical and spiritual, that we all live in then the question takes on greater significance. Who is really in charge? Who ultimately has authority and influence?

The God of This World

The scripture of the New Testament contains several titles for a being with some kind of temporal authority over the present world (at least the world present when those texts were written). In Ephesians, this figure is called the “prince of the power of the air.” Those who are dead in sin, walking after the way of the world, and labeled by Paul as “sons of disobedience” are following this prince. Then, 3 times in the gospel of John (12:31;14:30;16:11), Jesus refers to the “ruler of this world” who, in at least 2 of these passages, Jesus says is about to come under the judgment of God. Then, in 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul references “the god of this world” as the one who blinds the minds of the ones who are perishing. It seems that these are all referring to the same biblical character, namely, Satan the devil. Because of these texts, we see that the enemy does wield a certain type of power in this world. So does this mean that the devil is in control of the things that happen in your life? Well, no. 

In these passages, we see that the enemy does have authority, what we might call jurisdiction, over “this world” or “the power of the air,” but what kind of authority or power are we talking about? I would argue that the power that our enemy has is not that of brute force or autonomous freedom. Remember, he needs God’s permission to do anything (Job 1 & 2). Rather the power that our enemy has is the power of influence. Paul said in Ephesians that those under his power are following the prince of the power of the air. This power of influence is no joke. The power of influence means that we ought to expect that our enemy will attempt to deceive, manipulate, and coerce us to keep us under his influence and doing according to the dictates of our sin and his unholy standard. 

I am writing this because two dangers exist for us with regard to Satan. First, is that we would assume that as the “god of this world” he has sovereignty over us and our lives and so we would be fearful of him and his hordes of demonic subjects. But, we need not be petrified by this enemy because he is no sovereign, and his realm and jurisdiction are limited. The second danger is that we would ignore him and then fall prey to his subtle and deceptive ways. 

The True God of the Whole Earth

So if Satan doesn’t have absolute control over this world, who does? Well, Isaiah 54:5 says that the Maker, the Holy One of Israel, our Redeemer is the “God of the whole earth.” Also, in Psalm 24:1, David says that the earth is the Lord’s. The reality is that in a sinful fallen world things are not as they should be. Adam (& Eve) in the fall abdicated and relinquished the role that God had given them as image bearers, and that upset the governing arrangement in the world. However, we must remember that the Last Adam defeated the enemy by crushing the serpent’s head and all authority in heaven AND ON EARTH has been given to Jesus! So even though the enemy has influential power that he can use in this world he does not have sovereign authority over everything in this world that belongs to Jesus. The sovereign authority was given to Jesus by the Father, because at no time has the true and living God lost His sovereign authority over all that He has made, which is all that exists!

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Outage

I am sure we have all experienced the power going out in the most inconvenient times. Usually power outages happen when there are storms or extremely hot or cold temperatures. This means that at the point we most acutely feel the need for energy, our connection is compromised. I must admit that during these last few months of extraordinary circumstances I have found myself somewhat drained of energy. The onslaught of changing and challenging conditions- medically, socially, politically, and even spiritually; has taken a toil! And I don’t think I am alone. No doubt many, if not most, of us have experienced both emotional and physical fatigue in the last several months. But when we find ourselves in this situation what we must do is reestablish the lost connection and regain access to the power. When the power is out, the question on everyone’s mind is, “When will it be back on?” A sense of urgency grips the people as they realize their need for and reliance on the power!

The Power of God

When you think about the power of God what comes to mind? Do you think about the flood of Noah’s day wiping out the wickedness of humanity that had grieved God’s heart? Do you imagine the image of the red sea rolled back and a million plus Hebrews escaping the most powerful military force on the planet on dry ground? Or is your mind filled with visions of lighting bolts and ominous clouds rolling across an endless sky? 

Well in the New Testament the power of God is generally associated with one primary thing: the GOSPEL! That’s right the one thing that is called out as the demonstration of God’s power is the gospel. Paul says that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes! Paul states that this power is the source of his confidence. The apostle is not ashamed of the gospel not because the message is about power but because this good news is the power of God for salvation to all believers. I believe that Paul is using the word salvation here to refer inclusively to the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to make for Himself a worshipping people (Rev. 7:9-17)  for His own possession (Titus 2:11-14).

Notice this powerful gospel is to everyone who believes, which by process of elimination means that it is not for those who do not believe. Paul is explicit that it does not matter what kind of person you are (Jew or Greek). This power is good news to those who believe, not to the desperate and helpless souls who do not believe. But why don’t they believe it? Two reasons: First they don’t believe it because they don’t want to! That’s right, when people reject the message of the good news it is not because of a lack of eloquence or evidence, but because men love darkness rather than light, for their deeds are evil (John 3:19). Secondly, some haven’t believed because they haven’t heard the good news. Later, in this very letter, Paul will ask how are they to believe without hearing and how are they hear without preaching?! We must be the one’s preaching this powerful message because, as my friend Cary Cox reminded us this week, the gospel has been entrusted to the church!

Plugged In

So how do we get reconnected to this powerful gospel? We need to read it in the Word of God! We must keep seeking the Lord where He may be found in His word. Also, we need to hear preaching! We need the message of the good news about what Jesus had done for us to come to our ears as we listen to the faithful proclamation of God’s word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17). Finally we need to preach the gospel to ourselves and others! We need to rehearse to our own heart and soul the amazing realities of the good news. And we need to also pass on this message to those who haven’t heard and haven’t YET believed in the Gospel, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes!

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Believing Hearts

We often speak of our hearts in very fickle terms. We speak of “falling in love” and say that people or things “make us mad.”  Our heart, when being used in this figurative sense, is the core of our emotions. Love, hate, happiness, anger, and real sadness are felt in the heart. In John 14, Jesus tells His disciples to not let their hearts be troubled. It seems that Jesus is saying that there is a way that we can affect the state of our hearts. This way that we can affect our hearts is through believing in the Father and the Son. 

I don’t think Jesus is saying to just believe and that will make everything alright. This is especially true in the midst of real pain. Grief and sadness are right, appropriate, holy, and good in these times of true struggle and loss. Even the Lord Jesus wept at Lazarus’ death all the while knowing that He would raise him from the dead. 

But Jesus is instructing His disciples that there is a genuine benefit and hope found in believing in the Father and the Son. He has told the disciples at many points what is coming in Jerusalem. He is about to tell them again but still they do not seem to understand. Often the greatest pain comes in the midst of the most unexpected times. Jesus is going to give them precious promises to cling to in the hard hours and days from His arrest to His resurrection but before those promises can do them any good, what Jesus must press on them is the necessity of believing the Father and the Son. Without faith in God the promises of God do not bring hope, comfort, or peace. But with faith, even these seemingly impossible realities are possible. 

Prepared Peace

After exhorting His disciples to not let their hearts be troubled in light of what is coming, our compassionate King tells them about the spacious places that He is going to prepare for His people in His Father’s house. What I have never been able to get over is the reality that for every believer in Jesus there is a prepared place in the presence of God! In this holy real estate, around the throne of Almighty God, there exists a place prepared for all the saints! Once again, Jesus never meant for this reality to take away all the grief of His cross and death, but to sustain them for the resurrection to come.

In verse 6, Jesus reassures them (and us) that He is the way, the truth and the life. Because Jesus is the way to this prepared place, there is a real reason for hope for everyone who believes in Jesus. Because Jesus is the truth, there is a real reason for comfort for everyone who believes also in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). Finally, because Jesus is the life, there is a real reason for everyone who believes in Jesus to have the peace that passes all human understanding (Phil. 4:7)!

Prayerful Plea

I want to end this week’s blog asking everyone to continue praying for the Hannah Housley family. Scott & Brandi, words are insufficient for the moment, but I am praying knowing that our God is able to comfort where our words are not.

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Dangerous Dreams

This week I noticed a video going around where a pastor named Dana Coverstone recounts some dreams that he has had and gives dire warnings about what will happen in the rest of 2020. Now it would be easy to be sceptical of the validity of the dreams because just about anyone can tell that the trajectory of this crazy year is hurdling in a downhill direction. But this man claims to be speaking for God and he is appealing to a believing audience not a sceptical audience. So what should we do with his warnings? Also, regardless of this man’s claims, how should we evaluate the claim that someone has a message from God? 

Now I should point out that Pastor Dana states at several points that he “is not a prophet” but you can’t have it both ways. Either the message is from God (i.e. prophet) or it isn’t.  Which would mean that according to Deut. 18, he should die if every single word is not exactly accurate! But it’s not just Pastor Dana. There are people all around regularly claiming to speak a word from God that is NOT from the Bible. 

So does the sure word of the Bible give us any instruction on this matter? Sure! Today, we will look at the horrible consequences of believing a false word. Next week, we will look at a practical Biblical strategy for dealing with a suspected false word.

Word Up

In 1 Kings 13 we are told of a man of God who received a direct and certain word from God. I say direct and certain because often people want to equivocate so that if  the thing isn’t true they won't be held responsible. But this man of God had a word from the LORD that was sure. I might add here that you also, dear modern Christian, have the word from the LORD that is sure in your Bible!  This man of God was supposed to deliver a message of judgment to King Jeroboam at Bethel. His prophecy proved true but the interesting thing for our consideration today is that the LORD gave him the specific instruction to not eat or drink while on this mission and to not return by the same way. 

The man of God holds persistently to the instruction of the LORD even when he is offered a royal reward in verse 7 by the king. He knows that he has a sure and trustworthy word and that he must obey God. Now If you haven’t read this story you may be expecting it to end with the man of God returning home by another way and living happily ever after but that’s not the case.

The Old Prophet

There was an old prophet who lived in Bethel and when he heard about the man of God and all that had happened he chased him down on the road to invite him to come to his home to rest and eat. When the man of God tells the old prophet that he could neither eat bread or drink water in this place, the old prophet tells the man of God that he also received a word from the LORD, by an angel even, saying to bring back the man of God to his house to eat and drink. However, verse 18 ends by telling us that this was a lie! 

Unfortunately, the man of God believed the lying old prophet and went and ate with him. At this point the LORD does speak to the old prophet to tell the man of God that he will now be judged because he has disobeyed the sure word he had from the LORD. In verse 24, the man of God is met on the road by a lion that kills him. This is an amazing story! But we must be careful to notice the lesson that not every word that claims to be from God is actually from God.

The man of God ultimately is not judged for eating or resting but for not trusting in the authority and sufficiency of the sure word that he had from the LORD! Brothers and sisters, please let us not make the same devastating mistake!

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Communication!

Over the last several weeks we have learned that there are a variety of ways that we can engage one another in dialog. While I prefer to speak with folks, especially the saints of our local church, face to face, this era of social distancing has meant that we have necessarily had to find alternate ways to connect. Obviously, we have used calls and texts along with already familiar social media platforms. I had been off Twitter for a couple of years, but recently reengaged and probably would not have if this pandemic had not happened. Many of us have even begun to use platforms that we had never used before. As I write this I just got off a zoom meeting with the youth in our church and I have probably averaged 4 or more zoom meetings a week since the quarantine began, even though I had never used it before. 

Sometimes, we find that we have to communicate in the way that is best for those with whom we are connecting with. I have several older saints in our church that don’t use social media or the internet, so other avenues have had to be used. On the other hand, sometimes you must communicate according to the dictates of an authority. I had to renew my car registration the other day and so I had to interact with the state in one of the ways they offered to me. The Lord is obviously capable of communicating with us in any way. He is not hindered by His capabilities or our inabilities. However, we cannot just decide how we are going to connect with Him. God is the authority and so we must connect with Him according to the method or manner that He choses. 

Medium

In 1 Samuel 28, we see a startling example of how disastrous it can be when we neglect the God ordained revelation from God and go seeking after Him in a way that He has not sanctioned. In this passage, King Saul is frightened by the Philistine army. He cannot go to ask for the wisdom of Samuel because he has died. Saul seeks to inquire of God in the ways that he has in the past, but God has not answered him because of his sin. Saul had implemented strict restrictions on the mediums and spiritists because they were forbidden in the law of God. However, Saul, out of a combination of fear and impatience, disguises himself and seeks the aid of a witch at Endor. 

Saul is actually able then to communicate with Samuel but the answer is not what he wanted. The reality was that God had departed from him and become His adversary. His sin and disobedience had meant the loss of both his kingdom and the blessing of God. 

God's Way

Saul had already been told by Samuel what God's verdict was that the kingdom would now belong to David. But you see Saul does not repent, rather he only increases his guilt by seeking his advancement against the expressed command of God (Lev. 19:31). 

Brothers and sisters we must learn a lesson from this that we can approach God in whatever way we choose, but only in the way that He has made. I think that this means at least three things.

First, we must understand that our only access to God is found in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said that he is the door and that he is the gate. Everyone who tries to gain access by another way is a thief!  Jesus is the one who has torn down the middle wall of hostility between us and God (Eph. 2:14) so that we can have access to His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). 

Second, God has given us the privilege of prayer. We can go directly to God praying with faith and know that when we ask, He hears us (1 John 5:14-15). God is pleased to listen to the pleas of His children and He is pleased to provide for the petitions we bring.

Finally, God has given us a sure word from Him! In the pages of the Bible, God speaks to His people. The unbeliever cannot understand these things because they are spiritual, this was Saul's ultimate problem he didn’t trust the Lord. But we can understand the scripture when we are diligent and faithful to read and study. This is because the Spirit at work in us illuminates the word and our minds to think on the things of God. Beloved, we do not need mediums or human mediators to go to God for us or to bring God's word to us. We have His word in the Scripture that he has given us. I would urge you to reflect on this quote from George Whitefield, “Imagination is not the same as revelation”.

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