In step

[RiverOL]

Do You Believe The Gospel That Saves?​

The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart” (Ecc. 7:2). He tells that on those days we are faced with grief over the loss of a loved one, it is better than celebration. The reason he says this is that each one of us lives with the constant reality that one day we must also die. In light of that reality, we are take it to heart, understanding there are things worse than death. It fills us with a sense of sobriety and yet at the same time, an awareness that something is incredibly broken. Death itself is a constant reminder to us that something is profoundly wrong in this world. For us to understand what is wrong—why death, and pain, and sadness are all part of the world we know so well, we must look once again to Scripture for the answers.

The very first words written for us in the Bible is that in the beginning, God created everything in existence, whether seen or unseen, and He called it all, “very good.” By this, Scripture testifies to the fact that God is Lord over all creation, but more than this, everything He created was fundamentally good. It was not broken; it was not distorted; there was no sickness, pain, or death—everything worked as it was supposed to. This good gift was given to the first created man and wife, Adam and Eve, and they enjoyed walking with God Himself in those days.

As the story continues, we find that God had given them one simple command: they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because if they did, they would surely die. But a Deceiver came, one we know by the name of Satan, and he tempted Eve by the fruit of the tree. She took the fruit and ate it, and then gave to her husband Adam, and he also took of the fruit and ate it. It was at the moment, through one man’s disobedience to His Creator, that sin and death entered into the world. In a word: all of Creation fell. It plummeted into darkness and became broken, twisted, and cursed. Adam and Eve would be cast out of the Garden and separated from the presence of God.

No longer would they walk with Him as they once did; life as they knew it had changed in an instant and it would never be the same. All of humanity would now suffer under the curse of three great enemies: sin, death, and Satan. This is ultimately why we now live in a broken world filled with broken people and we face the pain of death. This curse that we all suffer from is the explanation given for why we have a constant awareness that things are not the way they are supposed to be; that we deal with things like heartache, pain, and even death. Yet in the midst of this curse brought upon mankind through Adam, God gave the promise that One would come to defeat these three great enemies of sin, death, and Satan.

Throughout all of the Old Testament we see glimmers of hope where men rise who call upon the name of the Lord, yet they too are plagued by the curse of sin. They too come and go; they too live and die; they too cannot defeat sin, death, or Satan. But all the while God continues to reiterate His promise through various kings and prophets, that a Savior would come who would die for the sins of His people, and free them from that great enemy we call death.

Many generations pass as the people look for this Savior and as they wait, sin and its destructive power continues to wreak havoc. The people fall into rebellion, they reject the prophets, and they ultimately come to reject God Himself—but God, being ever faithful to His promise, tells them once again that this Savior will come and make all things right. Then, 400 years of silence. The prophets no longer prophecy, the people no longer hear from God, yet the promise remains for a Savior to come. All the while, God continues to speak through His promises of old, that the God of all creation indeed will come in the form of a babe, born of a virgin, to take away the sins of His people.

As we come to the New Testament, that 400 years of silence breaks. Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, is born. Finally, the time had come where God’s promise would be realized. God Himself took on human flesh and lived a perfect life in obedience to the Father—and yet the purpose of His life on earth was to die on behalf of His people. The purpose of His life was to die, innocent and spotless, so that the Father would accept the sacrifice of the Son in our place.

The penalty of sin was death, and mankind could not pay the price owed to God to be free from that penalty because it demanded perfect obedience, and none could be found to be perfectly obedient. Only God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ could obey perfectly, and therefore, only Christ could satisfy the wrath of God and defeat our three greatest enemies. Thus, He went to the cross, willingly, to die on our behalf, paying the full penalty for our sins. Yet more than this, Christ took our sins upon Himself, and in exchange, He gave us His righteousness so that we would become holy and blameless before the Father—that we would be adopted as sons and daughters of God. Yet Christ did not stay dead. Three days later, He rose from the grave, securing our redemption and destroying the power of sin, death, and Satan.

Therefore, the promise to those who place their faith in Jesus Christ and His work is that they will be saved; saved from the wrath of God, and saved from everlasting death—and that their great enemy in Satan has been utterly defeated. And yet even more miraculously, the final word did not end in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He promised that one day He would come again to judge the living and the dead, and on that great day, that He would utterly destroy sin, death, and Satan forevermore.

On that day, there will be no more weeping, no more pain, no more death—all of it will be swallowed up in victory as Christ redeems all of Creation from the effects of the fall. He will recreate the heavens and the earth, and we will know absolute freedom from the broken and distorted world we now live in. We will once again walk with our God and see Him face to face, and on that glorious day He will not only wipe away every tear from our eyes, but He promises that even our misery—even our mourning, will be turned to joy.

It is in light of this that I will close in the same way I opened this brief writing. It is better for us to go to the house of mourning than into the halls of feasting, because in the here and now, we still live between two great days: the day Christ first came so that He might die upon the cross, to the day He returns and puts a final end to sin, death, and Satan. As such, this is a day we must look with sobriety upon the reality of death. We must recognize our life is here today and gone tomorrow, yet ultimately, that we shall stand before our Creator and give an account for our life.

We must not delay or put it off as if we will be granted time to make this decision when death comes for us. We must, as the living, take this to heart and consider what it will look like when we die and stand before our Creator to give this account. The Scriptures promise us that there is no sin too great to be forgiven—that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Scripture likewise proclaims that you can be free from the consequences of sin and death and experience the grace and mercy of the Lord in a way that you have never experienced before. Yet the Scriptures likewise promise that outside of Christ, all that awaits us is eternal death. All that awaits us apart from the saving grace of Christ, is the wrath of God.

In light of this, I invite you today then to examine yourselves with sobriety and ask: where do I stand with all of this? Do I believe that Jesus Christ died on my behalf and took my sins upon Himself so that I might be free from the wrath to come, and do I believe that He was raised on the third day? Do I call Him my Lord and my Savior?

Do I place my hope and my confidence in Christ and Christ alone—that on the basis of His work on the cross, I am forgiven and if I were to die today, I know I will spend eternity with Him? If this is your hope and confession, the Scriptures promise that though you may see death in this life, you will not face it in the one to come. Yet if this is not your hope, the Scriptures promise that the death you see in this life will pale in comparison to the everlasting death that waits for you beyond the grave.

 

[RiverOL]

What To Do When You Sin​

How to handle sin in a God-honoring way isn’t often clearly addressed in the church. So what steps should I take in order to deal with sin? First, I must admit my sin to myself. I need to call sin what it is: sin, not just a mistake or a little slip. I must quit rationalizing and making excuses. Jesus died for our sins, not our excuses for our sins.

Second, I must confess my sin to God. Since He knows about it already, the purpose is not to inform Him. It is to verbally agree with God that what I have done is, in fact, sin. Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
Though we are forgiven by Christ of our past sins, including some we don’t remember, we are called upon to confess our sins as we become aware of them: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). (This article assumes those reading have already accepted Christ’s offer of salvation. If you never have, I encourage you to read more here.)

It may seem confusing that we must continue to confess recent sins in order to experience new and fresh forgiveness. But while we have a settled once-and-for-all forgiveness in Christ, we also have a current ongoing relationship with Him that is hampered by unconfessed sin.

Remember, God has seen us at our worst, and He still loves us. Arms wide open, He invites our confession and repentance, which He always meets with His grace and forgiveness.
Third, as a part of my admission and confession, I must genuinely repent. True confession is not a begrudging or flippant admission of wrongdoing, but an expression of guilt, regret, and desire and intention to change. It always points us to Jesus, our Savior.

I’ve had people tell me they were sorry for adultery yet refuse to quit seeing their partner in adultery. Actually, their sorrow is for sin’s consequences, not for sin. They admitted something—but they confessed nothing.
Fourth, there is a place in the family and church to confess my sins not only to God but also to others (James 5:16). Two cautions should be exercised in such confession: first, it is made to those who have actually been hurt by the behavior (this may or may not include a whole church body), and second, details should be shared only as necessary. God has no problem forgetting the details, but people do. Why etch on their minds images that will be hard or impossible to shake?

But once confessed and repented of, sin should be put behind us. We should embrace God’s forgiveness. David described it this way: “Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Psalm 32:2, NRSV).

When I was a boy, I had a golden retriever named Champ. Whenever we gave him a bone, he’d chew it until it was bare, then take off to bury it. But once it was buried, he would never let it lie. Every day, sometimes several times a day, he would make his rounds, going to every buried bone—dozens of them—and digging them up to chew on some more. Then he’d bury them again, only to repeat the process until the day he died.

Unlike my dog, God buries our sins and lets them lie; He never digs them up (Micah 7:18-19). Like my dog, however, sometimes we do. We dig up old sins, chew on them, confess them again, and bury them—but in a shallow grave whose location we memorize for convenient access.

We do this not only to ourselves, but others. We piously say, “I forgive you,” but dig up old sins to chew on at our pity parties, wave in front of others as gossip, or use as weapons of revenge or tools to barter and manipulate. In doing so, we become obsessed with sin instead of the Savior. We give more credit to its power than to His.

(One clarification: the Bible teaches not only forgiveness of our sins but also consequences of our choices. Forgiveness means that God eliminates our eternal condemnation and guilt. But it does not mean that our actions in this life have no consequences on earth. Forgiven people can still contract an STD or go to jail for drunk driving, for example. And forgiving those who wronged us does not mean giving them opportunity to hurt or harm us or preventing them from experiencing sin’s built-in consequences.)

Once confessed, our sins should be forgotten. We should choose to dwell on them no longer:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14).
An evil man is ensnared in his transgression, but a righteous man sings and rejoices (Proverbs 29:6).

How secure are we in God’s love? Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).True happiness can come only in realizing sin, admitting it, and seeking the only solution—the forgiveness of Jesus based on His redemptive work. In forgiveness alone we can have relational oneness with God and, hence, enduring happiness

 

[RiverOL]

Christ Washed The Feet Of Judas (George Marion McClellan)​

Mary and Martha, prayer and labor, grace and justice: that is the balance we all must achieve. Labor without grace can degenerate to ideology: mother of tyranny. Grace without works transforms amazing grace to platitudes masking cowardice or cooption

God save us from academics who talk and do not do. God deliver us from works without grace. When weary, we should turn to good examples of the balance: Christians who knew ora et labora.

Prayer without works is dead, prophetic calls to justice without mercy is deadly. No man ever truly bowed the knee to God without laying down his life in service.

Educator, activist, minister: George Marion McClellan hated injustice actively. He knew that the greatest enemy of the Church was not external, martyrdom can be the seed of new Churches, but the injustice Christians do. We must fear the Judas more than the Romans. The Romans kill the body, but unjust Judas betrays the Lord and would (if he could) crucify the Son of God anew. The enemy within is more deadly, because though we often think in our arrogance we play the role of Peter (or God help us Jesus!) in the gathering of his disciples, we, all of us, have the capacity to be Judas.

Judas is an easy role to play, we just have to love gold more than God, and resent anyone who gets in the way of our grift. Yet Reverend McClellan, a prophet for liberty and justice, was also a poet, a man who could look within himself and see his own need for mercy. The prophet was also a man of prayer, a Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus.
We pass over the words of Jesus that we must love our enemies too easily if we are comfortable in our cooption by the plutocrat. Our enemies are the unwashed, those people who have nothing we wish to have. Our enemies become those whose sins are those we do not commit so can safely judge.

Against this canting cooption stands a whole Christian soul like that of Reverend McClellan. He had real enemies, because he identified with those who were oppressed and yet he had grace. He recalled that Jesus washed the feet of Judas: Jesus was there to minister cleanliness, service, and grace to Judas.
This was not submission to injustice, but one final chance for change from the Savior before Judas went out and hanged himself. Jesus did not serve Judas so the grifter could keep stealing. McClellan with beauty:

THE FEET OF JUDAS
Christ washed the feet of Judas!
The dark and evil passions of his soul,
His secret plot, and sordidness complete,
His hate, his purposing, Christ knew the whole,
And still in love he stooped and washed his feet.
Christ washed the feet of Judas!

Yet all his lurking sin was bare to him,
His bargain with the priest and more than this,
In Olivet beneath the moonlight dim,
Aforehand knew and felt his treacherous kiss.
Christ washed the feet of Judas!

And so ineffable his love ’twas meet,
That pity fill his great forgiving heart,
And tenderly to wash the traitor’s feet,
Who in his Lord had basely sold his part.
Christ washed the feet of Judas!

And thus a girded servant, self-abased,
Taught that no wrong this side the gate of heaven
Was e’er too great to wholly be effaced,
And though unasked, in spirit be forgiven.

And so if we have ever felt the wrong
Of trampled rights, of caste, it matters not,
Whate’er the soul has felt or suffered long,
Oh heart! this one thing should not be forgot,
Christ washed the feet of Judas!

This message would be easy to misunderstand from any man save a man like Reverend McClellan who lived a heroic life. He is not saying to let Judas keep stealing, to ignore evil. Instead, the Christ, soon to be crowned King of Glory, could forgive in Himself and so be free in Himself of the evil Judas would not allow to be purged in Him.
The prophet knows and forgives, because the reckoning is coming. Grace is offered because judgement is coming.
Judas had his feet washed by Jesus to condemnation. May I never be such, but instead like broken, flawed, beaten Peter repent my evils and allow the grace to triumph. When that happens, may I act and do good.
God help me to be like like Reverend McClellan and fight for justice with grace even to my enemies.

 

[RiverOL]

Jesus Peace, Not Hippie Peace; Or, “Let There Be Peace On Earth” Isn’t A Christian Hymn​

Business hands joined together teamwork

One of my favorite preachers, the Rev’d Dr. Jeffrey Hanson from Boston’s Church of the Advent, shared a helpful and amusing illustration on the peace of Christ in a 2019 sermon. The Gospel lesson for that day was John 14:23-29, which reads in part:
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” [NRSV].


Here’s what Father Hanson had to say:

“One of my favorite TV shows is the animated sitcom King of the Hill. It tells the story of Hank Hill, a conservative family man living and working as a propane salesman in a Texas suburb. Hank’s father, Cotton Hill, is an even more rigid reactionary, a proud and patriotic war veteran who constantly belittles his son Hank, whom he regards as totally inadequate even though Hank is truly a good and reliable husband, father, and friend. The extent of Hank and his father Cotton’s conflict over even trivial matters is revealed in one episode when they are shopping for Christmas tree ornaments. Hank selects an ornament for his father’s approval that bears the word ‘Peace.’ ‘How’s this one?’ he asks. ‘Peace!?’ his father sneers. ‘I bet you would like that. Why don’t you get one with a flag-burnin’ on it’ Provoked by his father’s derision, as he always is, Hank replies defensively, ‘Dad, it’s Jesus peace, not hippie peace.'”

“Let There Be Peace on Earth” is not a prayer for the kind of peace that Jesus gives. Certainly, the absence of conflict and hostility is a worthy goal, but it is not enough for the Christian. That’s the danger with little ditties like this. There’s not much that is inherently bad about it. Perhaps in some civic ceremonies they are completely appropriate. But the people of God need to not mistake the generic references to God and brotherly love for the kind of peace that the Bible, particularly Jesus himself, talks about. During times of intense conflict, such as our present day, it would be a grave error to turn to happy, trite, saccharine thoughts to get us through.

The holy Comforter sent in Jesus’ name is not sent to bring us hippie peace. Things are bad right now, and may only get worse in the future. Happy thoughts and superficial harmony will not pass muster. The only peace that will endure the worst of hardship will be that found in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
It is strangely fitting that we find ourselves in Pentecost during this time, with Trinity Sunday coming up. Bold reliance on the triune God for protection of soul and body is supremely relevant during such turbulent times. This hymn, attributed to St. Patrick, the “Apostle of Ireland,” proclaims this aptly, certainly better than a silly folk revival-era song:

I Bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever,
By power of faith, Christ’s Incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river;
His death on cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;

His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom:
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, his might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need;

The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, his shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.
Against the demon snares of sin,
the vice that gives temptation force,
the natural lusts that war within,

the hostile foes that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
in ev’ry place and in all hours,
against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me those holy pow’rs.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,

Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.

Of whom all nature hath creation;
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

That’s not a peace that can “begin with me.” Or any of you. But if we really do still trust in God’s promises of protection and ultimate victory, let us never settle for what the world calls peace, and let us never put its pseudo hymns in front of our congregations.
Or, as another hymn hauntingly puts it:

The peace of God, it is no peace,
But strife closed in the sod.
Yet brothers, pray for but one thing –
The marvelous peace of God.

 

[RiverOL]

What You Love to Do? Do That! ​ [ 1 min read ★ ] ​

Get away with me and you’ll recover your life . . . Learn the unforced rhythms of grace—Matthew 11:28-29 MSG ​

We’re all built by the same creator. And we’re built by him to "come home," every so often. This coming home is integral to the lives we're meant to live. God’s built us to need, and to receive, his loving care. He’s built us to be restored, by him. (Psalm 23:1-6; Matthew 11:28 MSG). The thing is, many of us men don't know how to come home. We’re each designed to do it uniquely, so it takes some discovery. Few of us do that. If we do discover how, though, and if we begin to come home regularly, we live in a condition of abundance. We get filled up—and are able to overflow onto others, onto spouses, children, friends, people in need. We are able to give, for we’ve first received. We’re able to love and serve as we were meant to. We’re able to be who we were created to be and to do the work we were created to do. If we neglect the task of discovery, if we fail to learn how to come home, we operate instead in a condition of depletion. We tend to try to pull what we (think we) need from other people. We tend to try to take from them, rather than overflow onto them. ​

Okay, so what do we do? Make a list of ten to twenty things—things you truly love doing. Avoid obligations or things you "love" because other people might think you’re cool for doing them. List things that move your heart, calm your heart, or make it beat fast. List things that restore you, excite you, connect you to God, things that allow you to truly worship him in the doing. Once you have your list, commit to inserting your things generously into your daily, weekly, monthly calendar.​

 

[RiverOL]

Tamar The Righteous​

Some observations about the story of Tamar and Judah, recorded in Genesis 38, inspired by a lively discussion of the narrative at the Theopolis Regional Course in Dallas last weekend.

1) The chapter has a chiastic structure:

A. Judah’s family, vv 1-5: take wife and conceive; births; replacement of firstborn
B. Sons die: Tamar returns to father’s house, vv 6-10
C. Judah sends Tamar back to father’s house, 11
D. Tamar prepares for her encounter with Judah by disguise as harlot, 12-14
E. Judah and Tamar, 15-18
D’. puts back on her widow’s clothes, 19
C’. Judah can’t find Tamar, 20-23
B’. Tamar pregnant, 24-26: harlotry
A’. Judah’s sons, 27-30: birth of twins: replacement of firstborn

The structure reinforces a fundamental theme of the chapter, the death and rebirth of the line of Judah. Judah’s line dies several times at the beginning of the chapter (as it does in the related genealogy in 1 Chronicles 2), but is finally revived.
Importantly, it’s revived by the incorporation of an outsider, Tamar, who is never identified as such but appears to be a Gentile (the same pattern reappears in Ruth and 1 Chronicles). The royal line rises from the dead only when the nations are incorporated.

2) Tamar’s deception is parallel to Rebekah’s deception of her husband Isaac. In both cases, a woman deceives an erring man in order to set him on track (see James Jordan’s comments on Rebekah in Primeval Saints).
Judah is a cad throughout the chapter. He separates from his brothers and marries a Canaanite. He mistreats Tamar at multiple levels. He denies Tamar marriage to his youngest son, Shelah. He sends her back to her father’s house, and treats her as if he has no obligation to her. Tamar not only loses husbands and the possibility of children, but the inheritance that should be hers through Judah’s sons. She is excluded from Israel’s line of descent, which seems to have been important to her. Why doesn’t Judah know his own daughter-in-law? Because he is, narratively if not literally, as blind as Isaac.

Tamar is clearly more concerned about the future of Judah’s family than Judah is. His ancestry is stillborn, but he does nothing to correct the situation. Tamar has to take things into her own hands, deceiving Judah into fulfilling his obligation to provide a seed for her and forcing him to recognize his sin. His confession “She is more righteous than I” shows that he, like Isaac, acknowledges his sin. He recognizes that he was responsible for ensuring that she had children, and Tamar has arranged things so that he fulfills this obligation in the most direct way imaginable. It’s a foreshadowing of Judah’s later transformation, from a brother-persecutor of Joseph to a brother-substitute for Benjamin.

3) Tamar’s conduct is scandalous; it’s not an example for women to follow! But Judah is right to judge her righteous. She’s a female Jacob, cunningly pursuing what is rightfully hers, cunningly seeking a place in the line of Israel’s kings. Her ploy is successful, as she secures a place in the ancestry of the Messiah (Matthew 1).
Typologically, she resembles the Bride of the Song of Songs, who seeks her lover in the streets, looking for all the world like Lady Folly of Proverbs. She is not a harlot, but she impersonates a harlot in pursuit of covenant blessing. She is willing to be mistaken for a prostitute, as Jacob was willing to disguise himself as Esau, if that was necessary for the fulfillment of promise.

 

[RiverOL]

Shame Is A Unique Solution To A Unique Problem​

When distinguishing guilt from shame, we can easily oversimplify what makes them different and not appreciate certain similarities. I began to make this point in Part 1 of this series. In this post, I want to add a few unique features of shame, compared to guilt, that are not only interesting but important.

A Unique Problem and Solution​

An interesting feature of shame marks it distinct from guilt. Shame is “contagious.” Gregg Ten Elshof has a fantastic new book (called “For Shame”) coming out this summer in which he explains:

Shame and its opposite, honor, are contagious. Guilt and its opposite, innocence, are not. We talk about “guilt by association.” But, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as guilt by association.… you cannot be guilty for something someone else has done merely by means of your association with them. Guilt and innocence are inherently individualistic. They accrue to individuals as a consequence of what they (and only they) have done or failed to do. (86)

Of course, the nature of a problem will determine the nature of its solution. If I have a math problem, don’t give me a baking recipe to solve it. The same holds with shame and guilt. One can perhaps make amends for the wrong done (guilt), but how does one fix a person’s being bad? The remedy for guilt does little to affect the shame felt by shame experienced by victims of abuse and rape.

A far more comprehensive, seemingly impossible, task is required to undo the problem of shame.
Consider also one of the most common metaphors associated with shame –– impurity or uncleanness. In Unclean, Richard Beck says,

most sin categories are structured by metaphors that entail rehabilitation. But purity metaphors have no such entailments. Recall that contamination judgments are governed by the attribution of permanence. Once a foodstuff is judged to be polluted or contaminated nothing can be done to rehabilitate the situation. The fly in the soup ruins it. Consequently, when sins are structured by purity metaphors there is no obvious route to repentance. The metaphor only entails permanent defilement and ruin. (49).

In short, shame presents unique problems requiring a unique solution.

The Moral Power of Shame​

But doesn’t guilt carry greater moral force? Does shame really have anything to do with morality? These are common questions I hear from people.
Teroni and Bruun give a detailed explanation why “there is no ground for regarding guilt as more ‘moral’ in any of these senses.” They summarize their conclusions in this way:

In relation to the moral quality of the action tendencies related to the two emotions, guilt may well be more closely correlated with a tendency to make up for wrongdoing. However, this is only a very narrow part of what can be considered morally valuable behaviour.
Shame in its prospective form helps avoid wrongdoing in the first place, and the self-regarding aspects of shame imply motivation to improve oneself that suggest a greater moral value for shame. In a word, guilt as it were only treats the symptoms of one’s moral defects; it is only concerned with the defects in our actions. The self-reforming tendencies associated with shame treat the cause; in shame we often focus on the faults in our character that dispose us to perform the misdeeds.

This aspect of shame is most apparent when we consider “Confucian shame,” or shame as a moral emotion. While feelings of guilt can be beneficial, they lack the potential moral force of shame to reform and direct our character.

I’ll close for now with a comment by John Rawls in his 1971 classic A Theory of Justice. Rawls says,

“In general, guilt, resentment, and indignation invoke the concepts of right, whereas shame, contempt, and derision appeal to the concept of goodness.”

Right versus goodness. Guilt versus shame. They don’t stand in opposition. There is much overlap between them. But they do appeal to different phenomena and shape us in different ways.

 

[RiverOL]

Jesus And The Dialectic​

Jesus was the master teacher, better at “Socratic dialogue” than Socrates. The Athenians began with (mostly) rich young men in one of the most educated cities in the Mediterranean world. Jesus walked with a much more diverse group of disciples, men, and women, rich and poor, and made them world changers. Socrates educated Plato, but the Lord Jesus walked with His students and gave Himself to them.


Jesus created the Apostles: renewed them by allowing them to choose to become different than they had been.

Jesus would not dispense easy answers that cut off learning, even waiting until the moment that a deeper understanding was possible. In John 6, Jesus feeds people. They eat the good food He provides and want more.
The Teacher says something shocking. He points to Himself. Jesus tells his listeners that they must “eat his flesh and drink His blood.”

They did not understand. His critics, who do not wish to learn, only find a pretext to reject Him and withdraw. Many of His disciples leave as well because Jesus was urging His students into a relationship with Him and they did not wish anything so difficult. Jesus wishes everyone to be “taught by God.”
This is a chance to dialogue with God.

His apostles do not understand, but they stay. When He asks them if they will leave, Peter says what every true student must when the lesson is hard to understand or even seemingly repulsive: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Your words are words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are God’s Holy One.”
Jesus looks at these disciples and the text reveals that even then He knew one of them would betray Him. Judas would desire the beauty of money, thirty pieces of silver, that he thinks he can possess but ends up possessing him.

On the road to Emmaus, the newly risen Lord Jesus came to two of His followers. They were going home in anguish. Jesus loved his friends and could have met their immediate need. He wished them to be happy, but He hid himself.
Why?
Scriptures say the two disciples were communing, talking, arguing with each other about all that had happened. They were trying to make sense of what they had believed about Jesus and what had happened. If Jesus had appeared, then dialogue would have ended immediately. The overwhelming sight of their dead teacher alive would have ended any act but worship. Jesus was the greatest teacher and so He wanted these two students to understand and then to see. He wanted to meet their deep intellectual need, clear up confusions about Scriptures and history.

Jesus asked them a question! He kept the argument going. He asked them, ‘What is it you are debating as you walk?’ Jesus lets them say things that are muddled. He teaches them. The Master Teacher meets them where they are, does not shut down their reason, but teaches them. They need to see Him alive, but not until they can better understand what this life means.

When the time came, Jesus revealed Himself to them in the breaking of the bread.
When I was a boy, I wondered why the Gospel writer did not include the teachings from the conversation. I wanted to know the details! One day while reading, I realized that Jesus wanted to walk with us (with anyone who would talk) and teach us. He did not wish to short circuit the process! We have our own questions, not exactly like those of Cleopas and his friend. We must break bread with Him ourselves.
The Creator of the cosmos, the maker of every beauty that was, is, or will be, shows Himself in the mysteries of the Lord’s supper. This splendid vision is the true light and by that light we see beauty rightly.

 

[RiverOL]

If AI Needs An Intelligent Creator, So Do We​

In his recent blog Erik Strandness discussed the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) in the hands of fallen humans. In this second blog reflecting on Nick Bostrom and Rosalind Picard’s Big Conversation on Unbelievable? he examines how AI has been used as an alternate creation myth and an integral part of the transhumanist movement.

I find it interesting that scientists, confronted with cosmological fine-tuning, biological information and irreducible complexity, find it necessary to invoke a primal intelligence behind it all. However, worried that too much talk of design may allow God to get a divine foot in the door, they make sure that this “intelligence” has an evolutionary pedigree.

Francis Crick, one of the discoverers of DNA, set the bar quite low for intelligent input with his theory of Directed Panspermia which posited a race of aliens who seeded meteors with the raw materials of life, sent them to earth and then let evolution work its magic. His theory tipped its hat to intelligence but limited its role to that of a quarry foreman overseeing the harvesting and distribution of the raw materials of life without any interest in architectural planning.



However, as we have accumulated greater scientific knowledge we see that the world is far more organized, coherent, predictable, complex, and information rich than we had previously recognized, suggesting that those raw materials required some assembly instructions.
The problem with Crick’s theory is that the story of a shipment of chemical cargo crashing to earth and then mutating lacks a certain algorithmic elegance, which can only be remedied by aliens with advanced degrees in computer science. It appears that the unmistakable appearance of design has led many scientists to conclude that a warm little pond pales in comparison to a technologically proficient Programmer.

Credentialing​

Once you posit a programmer you need to ask yourself about his/her/its credentials. Picard did just that when she asked Bostrom what kind of mind he thought would be behind it all?
“It would be some kind of superintelligence, presumably because creating simulations with conscious beings and where the virtual environment is indistinguishable from reality is very hard….regarding motivations we can imagine a range of different possible motivations for creating simulations and I think we are somewhat ignorant as to the relative preponderance of these motivations. You can ask why humans create simulations and imaginary worlds and we do it for all kinds of reasons.”


It seems that the programmer he describes would be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, intimately involved in the actions of the characters. A simulation therefore doesn’t necessarily rule out a God putting together the greatest story ever told, it just digitizes it. God could have created a virtual reality in which He made characters from every nation to live on the face of the earth, determining the allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, so that they would seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him even though He is actually not far from each one of them. (paraphrase of Acts 17:26-27)

It appears that the only difference between an alien programmer and God is that those who posit life as a computer simulation prefer that He have a degree in computer science so that our moral choices are reduced to 1s and 0s and not good and evil.

People or Pixels​

I think one could imagine a planet without humans and infer a computer simulation because of the predictable, instinctual behavior of the animals, but once you introduce beings who frequently go off script and are infatuated with making themselves equal with the programmer then you are no longer dealing with pixels but people. Algorithms may be able to search for food when their tummies growl but they are incapable of contemplating their belly buttons.
The very fact that characters in a computer simulation can have a conversation about being characters in a computer simulation would seem to suggest that the characters and the programmer are of like mind, or dare I say, bear the same image.

A Sporting Chance​

Once you entertain the possibility that our lives are part of a larger computer simulation, then it is small step to believing that with enough technology tokens you can acquire new super powers. We can fantasize about becoming a six million-dollar man or a bionic woman but when we do we are confronted with profound questions about the value of our current biological state. Are we fearfully and wonderfully made, or are we just inferior beings waiting in line for the next operating system upgrade?

Surprisingly, it’s not philosophy, science or theology that best answers that question but athletics. Sports has definitively stated that the use of performing enhancing drugs and technologies is cheating. We have record books full of asterisks indicating that achievements attained under clouds of performance enhancement are suspect and not to be considered true accomplishments. Why?

It appears that when the cleats meet the field we believe that it is more honorable to push our biology to the limits than take steroids, cork bats, or apply tar to a baseball. Sports recognize a set of rules and regulations that define the parameters within which competition occurs and defines excellence as achieving something spectacular within those limits based purely upon one’s biology.

It seems that there is something incredibly beautiful about accepting that which we were born with and taking it to limits we didn’t think were possible. It is one thing to live within the rules God established but quite another to make them up as we go. We are enormously inspired by the Paralympians and special Olympians who don’t see limitation but only possibility.

Feeling His Pleasure​

Adam and Eve’s desire to take their mortal abilities to God-like heights continues to plague us to this day. God kicked them out of the Garden for trying to acquire knowledge that was against the rules. Interestingly, athletic organizations do the same with athletes that eat of the tree of performance enhancement. The problem is that performance enhancement, like original sin, knows no limits and can never be satisfied, but maximizing biological skills within certain parameters allows us to experience the satisfaction of true accomplishment.

Eric Liddell, the long-distance runner featured in the movie, Chariots of Fire, uttered the famous line.
“I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast! And when I run I feel his pleasure.”
If we believe that our biology is inadequate and needs technological enhancement then we reduce the God who created us to a doddering old man who can’t log onto the internet – kind hearted perhaps – but technologically challenged. If, however, we believe that we are fearfully and wonderfully made then we feel His pleasure every time we push our bodies to the limits.

A Shell of a Man​

In our zeal to rebuild ourselves we become less and less human. We already replace knees and hips and limbs – how much longer before we are no longer flesh and blood but just tubes and wires? Are we so gnostically minded that we rid ourselves of the evil flesh only to find ourselves alone with our thoughts?
Interestingly, Jesus did many biological miracles but they focused on restoring shrivelled hands and not creating bionic arms, restoring eyesight and not conferring x-ray vision. Restoration ultimately honors God’s very good creation but enhancement calls his creational skills into question. Transhumanism, rather than building a better human, may end up leaving us a shell of a man.

The Low Down on Uploading​

Why stop at present enhancement when you can potentially achieve immortality by freezing your body until such time as technology can reanimate you to health? Why settle for a brain that frequently forgets where you left your car keys when you can upload your mind to a computer with a key finding app?


Bostrom has apparently enrolled in a cryogenics program where he will be frozen at his death and be thawed in the future when technology has advanced to the point where it can restore him to health. Brierley astutely asked him why he would want to prolong his life indefinitely. Bostrom didn’t really give much of an answer except that at a very basic level all humans want to live and anything that could extend that possibility would be a good thing. Picard, on the other hand, wasn’t much interested in prolonging her current life but was very excited about being a part of the one to come.

I mean personally, I don’t desire to live an infinite life. I do desire, however, to get to the next one, the one where I can see God face-to-face. I mean, what a mind-blowing idea… Where we can know the super mind: the true, super intelligence beyond all beyond all space and time and to me the opportunity to meet that superintelligence is so exciting that even if it’s just for a moment, I would like to see about getting there.

I suspect that the drive for continued existence depends on what you think about your present existence. If you think you are just a meat computer then the best you can hope for is to stay fresh longer. If you believe mind is an emergent property then you can upload it into a computer and live on in digital eternity. I suspect, however, that most people want an immortality of the whole mind/body package. It appears that deep down most people prefer resurrection to biological recycling or data retrieval.

Immortal Horrors and Splendors​

The very reason Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden was because God knew that immortality without wisdom was an eternal horror. C.S Lewis warned us that everyone we meet is a potential immortal horror or immortal splendor.

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare…There are no ordinary people . You have never met a mere mortal…But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” (C.S. Lewis– Weight of Glory)

We, therefore, need to be very careful about the type of immortality we are preparing for ourselves. What idiosyncrasies do you want to upload? Your OCD? Your pettiness? Your vanity? Your anger? Who will treat your digital anxiety and depression? It seems to me that we are better served by ridding the human race of sin before we end up immortalizing it.

Pulling the Plug on AI​

While the possibilities of AI are quite fascinating, we need to check our divine ambition at the door and proceed with great caution. We need to know our limitations before we supersize them to God-size proportions. If we can’t even cure brain cancer then I don’t think we should waste our resources trying to upload our brains.

Personally, I won’t believe that AI can become truly conscious until it calls in late for work, blames the dog for eating its data, or thanks God that it’s Friday. I’m not afraid that AI will take over the world because it seems to me that whenever it gets too full of itself all we have to do is unplug it from the wall. AI requires electricity and the only ones capable of harvesting it are humans, so AI had best not byte the hand that feeds it.
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The real question is not whether we can perfect AI but whether we can perfect man. It seems to me the future glory or evil of AI depends not on more gigabytes of RAM but less human sin. I think we humans are better served by investing heavily in Jesus rather than allocating resources to building Deep Thought.

 

[RiverOL]

Solve the Scripture Problem ​ [ 1 min read ★ ] ​

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path—Psalm 119:105 ​

We must read Scripture, brother. God chose those words for you and for me. "Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us" (Romans 15:4 MSG). God chose those words, carefully, so we could read them. And he designed us to need to read them. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Most of us can do better—reading Scripture more and with more regularity. Figuring out how is the problem. But it’s a problem we should approach with excitement and intentionality and optimism, not with guilt or reluctance or resignation. It’s a problem we should approach with creativity, recognizing our unique designs and identities, our unique preferences and tendencies—for the solutions to the problem are as unique and varied as we are. ​

Okay, so what do we do? Don’t know where to start? Try one of the many reading plans on the free YouVersion mobile app. Can’t find time? Try listening, in the car or at the gym, to one of the several audio versions on the free Bible.is app. Struggle with consistency or motivation? Try the daily reminder feature of the free BibleGateway app or the tracking and/or group accountability features of the free Bible Companion and ReadingPlan apps. Don’t like archaic language? Try The Message version, available free on YouVersion and BibleGateway. Can’t remember what you’ve read? Try the free Fighter Verses memorization app. Something else? Work those masculine problem-solving skills to forge your own solution. Then, execute it. And, remember, this is about a relationship, not about rules or the "right way." It’s about making a little room for God to speak to you through Scripture. It’s about connecting with God, today. * Gather Ministries has no commercial relationships with the makers of the mobile apps mentioned above.​

 

[RiverOL]

We May Not Long For Death, But We Long For Heaven​

Isaiah 25:8 says, “He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all tears… The LORD has spoken!” (NLT). God could have said death will cease or come to an end. Or fade away. But no, like a great lion, God is stalking Death as His prey. When the moment is right, He will attack, take death by the throat, break its neck, and consume it. Death will not die of natural causes. God will kill it once and for all. The work is already done. His death and resurrection will ultimately overcome. Yet death is still with us. Death is already defeated, but not yet—this is the “already and not yet” paradox.

When Jesus annihilates death, it shall be no more. We will not fear it, and it will have no hold on us. Don’t you long for that day?
Below are some quotes on death and longing for Heaven, our eternal home, that I cite in Eternal Perspectives.

I may not long for death, but I surely long for heaven. —Joseph Bayly, A Voice in the Wilderness
It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day. —Matthew Henry

Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us from this place and sets us free from the snares of the world, and restores us to paradise and the kingdom. Anyone who has been in foreign lands longs to return to his own native land. . . . We regard paradise as our native land. —Cyprian, Mortality

To come to Thee is to come home from exile, to come to land out of the raging storm, to come to rest after long labour, to come to the goal of my desires and the summit of my wishes. —Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

A man on his deathbed turned to his physician and mumbled, “What is Heaven like, Doctor?” How could the physician describe Heaven in such brief moments? As his mind searched for an answer for his friend, the doctor heard his dog scratching at the door. “Can you hear my dog scratching at your door?” inquired the physician. The sick man assured him that he could. “Well,” the doctor said, “Heaven must be like that. My dog does not know what is in this room. He only knows he wants to be with me. So it is with Heaven! Our Master is there. That is all we need to know!” —James Jeremiah, The Place Called Heaven

Christian, meditate much on heaven, it will help thee to press on, and to forget the toil of the way. This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country: this world of woe is but the stepping-stone to a world of bliss. And, after death, what cometh? What wonder-world will open upon our astonished sight? —Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. …There was something we grasped at, in that first moment of longing, which just fades away in the reality. —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Can you hear the sighing in the wind? Can you feel the heavy silence in the mountains? Can you sense the restless longing in the sea? Can you see it in the woeful eyes of an animal? Something’s coming . . . something better. —Joni Eareckson Tada, Heaven: Your Real Home

All of us are homesick for Eden.
We yearn to return to a land we’ve never known.
Deep is the need to go back to the garden,
A burning so strong, for a place we belong,
A place that we know is home. —Paul Smith, quoted in Homesick for Eden

O Lord,
I live as a fish in a vessel of water,
only enough to keep me alive,
but in heaven I shall swim in the ocean.

Here I have a little air in me to keep me breathing,
but there I shall have sweet and fresh gales;
Here I have a beam of sun to lighten my darkness,
a warm ray to keep me from freezing;
yonder I shall live in light and warmth for ever
Quicken my hunger and thirst after the realm above.
—The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers

One of the most disconcerting experiences which can come our way is to make a long journey, perhaps even to the other side of the world, and to discover on arrival that we have not been expected. The hotel reservation has not been made, or, even more devastating, the friendly home is all locked up and the warm welcome we have anticipated over the miles is not awaiting us, due to a mix-up of dates or the loss of a letter or e-mail. Heaven, however, is guaranteed not to disappoint…We are expected. —Bruce Milne, The Message of Heaven & Hell

The man who is about to sail for Australia or New Zealand as a settler, is naturally anxious to know something about his future home, its climate, its employments, its inhabitants, its ways, its customs. All these are subjects of deep interest to him. You are leaving the land of your nativity, you are going to spend the rest of your life in a new hemisphere. It would be strange indeed if you did not desire information about your new abode. Now surely, if we hope to dwell for ever in that “better country, even a heavenly one,” we ought to seek all the knowledge we can get about it. Before we go to our eternal home we should try to become acquainted with it. —J. C. Ryle, Heaven

One day when George MacDonald, the great Scottish preacher and writer, was talking with his son, the conversation turned to heaven and the prophet’s version of the end of all things. “It seems too good to be true,” the son said at one point. A smile crossed MacDonald’s whiskered face. “Nay, “ he replied, “it is just so good it must be true.” —Larry Dixon, Heaven: Thinking Now About Forever
I suspect that every saved soul in heaven is a great wonder, and that heaven is a vast museum of wonders of grace and mercy—a palace of miracles, in which everything will surprise everyone who gets there. —Charles Spurgeon, “Feeble Faith Appealing To A Strong Savior”
It is virtually beyond our power to conceive of a future as consistently delightful as that which Christ is preparing for us. And who is to say what is possible with God? —A. W. Tozer, Born After Midnight

 

[RiverOL]

The Emotional Abundance Of God​

Those who’ve read my other posts will know I often write about the need for breakthrough into the miraculous in the Church, and the importance of healing and deliverance. Wonderful though such things are, and much though they reflect the heart of God for his children, Christianity would be shallow if it were just a parade of victories over obstacles and circumstances. Today I want to write about the emotional blessings of knowing God, and particularly the emotional resources available to us when we walk closely with him. Jesus was clear that difficulties would come, after all. John 16: 33,


“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Though Christians are not guaranteed an easy, trouble-free life, we are guaranteed the company and leading of God in all our difficulties, and his help to overcome whatever assails us, if we walk with him. Victory is birthed in the heart, so that’s where we will linger today. What emotional benefits has God made available to his followers? Philippians 4:6-7:

‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’

This passage speaks of a transaction, where we place that which concerns us in God’s hands and leave it there without returning to worry. Worry is the application of thought as a solution, when thought is no solution at all. In other words, worry is going over and over the same stuff in our heads, as if by obsessing over our problems will make them go away. Abandoning worry is a discipline. This verse then, doesn’t speak of a nebulous, intangible peace that drifts around us after we’ve prayed; it describes supernatural peace, flowing from our renewed spirits into our bodies and souls, and changing how we actually feel.


This blessing of supernatural peace cannot be experienced if we continue to worry, because worry acts as a blocker to the divine flow. To enter this blessing, we must hand our needs to God completely, and then discipline our minds to turn away from worry, even when every instinct screams to grab hold of it again and continue to obsess. Only then, when we’ve truly given a matter to God, refusing to worry but dwelling instead on God’s faithfulness to bring us through, can we know divine peace. Let’s take Jesus at his word and refuse worry, next time it comes knocking at our door.

In the midst of tremendous difficulties, we can be supernaturally strengthened, and even know joy, trusting in the strength and power of God to bring us through. Colossians 1:11:

‘May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,’


We can walk through our days with the assurance that we are never left without supernatural help. Hebrews 13: 5-6,

‘Because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”’

Even as we age and our bodies fail, we can be renewed with all the spiritual (and therefore emotional) vigour of youth. When do we experience this renewal? When we believe with all our hearts that the blessings of Heaven far outweigh any troubles we may know in this life. If we truly believe that, to the point where belief runs so deep in us it changes our emotions, troubles that would flatten another person can seem ‘light and momentary’ to the believer. This is the essence of walking by faith and not by sight. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18,


‘Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’

When we face struggles of any type, our spirits within us, which were renewed when we gave our lives to Jesus, have all the power, guts and determination to see us through. We can tap into those divine resources and face difficulties with confidence in God. 2 Timothy 1:7,

‘For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.’


We can take further comfort from knowing that God will use every difficulty and challenge to strengthen us and develop our character. Romans 5: 3-5,

‘Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.’

Without God, suffering would just be misery, but God is rather efficient at taking that which was meant to harm us and using it for our good. When we suffer, he will develop in us perseverance, character and hope. God does not want us to suffer any more than you or I want our children to suffer (we are not better, more compassionate parents than he!) – let’s be clear on that. God is not the author of suffering nor the designer or instigator of tests for his children. But when we face a test, including those we’ve brought on ourselves, he will utilise it for our good, developing strength of character that will serve us well when facing other difficulties in the future. So sure can we be that God will do this, and that he will bring us through, that we can glory in our sufferings, knowing God will bring forth a harvest of blessing and strength that far outweighs any pain we might be experiencing. This is a tremendous emotional benefit of walking with God, enabling us to be positive, even in the midst of great trials.


When we feel overwhelmed, as human beings tend to do from time to time, including giants of faith like Elijah and Moses, even Jesus himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, we can bury ourselves deep in the comforting presence of God. In some of the most challenging periods of my life, I hid in God’s presence like a child in a blanket, letting him surround me with love. God’s love is ever-present; something we can take refuge in at all times and at any moment. Psalm 46: 1-3,

‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.’

From time to time, all of us are threatened by dire circumstances. Even when the walls of the valley loom overhead, and death casts its cold shadow on our hearts, God is with us. We can know his comfort, leading and presence all the way through to the other side, where a victory feast awaits. Psalm 23: 4-5,


‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.’

There are times when we’ve not walked as closely with the Lord as we might. Perhaps we’ve burnt ourselves out, doing what we can in our own strength without drawing on divine resources. Isaiah 40:31 speaks of how to turn that around.

‘But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.’


That word ‘wait’ does not refer to the kind of passive patience one needs at a bus stop. The Hebrew word for wait is qavah, and it means to intertwine oneself with (the Lord), as in the winding together of the strands of a rope. The Lord does not renew the strength of those who sit around hoping something will change; there is no faith in that for him to respond to. He renews the strength of those who intertwine themselves with him in an ever-closer bond.

Our renewed spirits within us are a force to be reckoned with, but they are also connected to the great tenderness of the Lord. Romans 8: 15-16,

‘For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God’


When we connect with the Holy Spirit, our spirits cry out ‘Abba,’ which is an intimate term for father. This is not something that happens in the background, of which we are unaware. All these emotional blessings of God are tangible; a felt experience, flowing from trust. We reach out to the Lord as a toddler for its parent, trusting the arms of our daddy to embrace and love us. In that place of divine assurance, we know we are his children. We feel and know that we were chosen, adopted, esteemed, desired. In my private times of prayer, this is something I take comfort in. The Lord speaks sweetly with his dear ones, and they hear his voice.

There are so many more emotional blessings of walking with God that I could list, but the point I want to make is this: God’s provision for our inner life is abundant beyond measure. He provides for us from his limitless riches in glory, and walking with him can touch and transform every part of our emotional lives. He makes us truly rich, but how often do we experience that?


We do not automatically live in these manifold blessings – we inherit the promises and blessings of God when we walk closely with him. If we want to know comfort in the midst of trouble, consolation in our grief, strength in our weakness, certainty when doubt abounds, confidence when the waves threaten to swamp us, peace in the midst of turmoil, and the tangible closeness of God in all circumstances of our lives, then we must do our part. Our part is not impressive, or difficult, and it does not earn God’s blessings. It’s merely our way of saying yes to God, and leaning in, just as we did when we first said yes to God, and gave him our lives. The following verses give a flavour of what I’m talking about.

James 4: 8, ‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.’

Isaiah 55: 6, ‘Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.’


Hebrews 11: 6b, ‘He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.’

Matthew 7: 7-8, ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.’

Psalm 42: 1-2, ‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.’

Psalm 84: 10, ‘Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.’

Proverbs 8:17, ‘I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.’


Jeremiah 29:13, ‘You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.’

Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Psalm 14:2, ‘The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.’

None of this is burdensome, because God is truly wonderful. The best decision I ever made was to seek the Lord with all my heart, at the age of nineteen. That choice, and the outworking of that choice, led to closeness with God that was beyond my wildest dreams. To this day, I feel his presence at every moment, and hear his voice every single day. He is my beloved, but not because of anything I’ve done – we love because he first loved us. Love flows from God, the source of all love, and in seeking him we’re simply saying, ‘I believe’.


Let’s have a heart like David’s, and make this our prayer. Psalm 27: 4-14,

‘One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple…’

 

[RiverOL]

4 Common Mistakes People Make When Trying To Fix Their Marriage​

When my marriage was in the tank, I got a lot of great advice that made it worse.
Sure, I read books and talked to people. But none of it helped.
So how do you deal with a failing marriage?
Seems like when you’re having a hard time, you’ll find there’s no shortage of people who know exactly what you should do. Everyone’s an expert on how you should fix your marriage.
The result? You grow more disappointed, frustrated and fearful.
Some of that “good” advice is bad. How can you tell the good from the bad? Well, you really can’t until you try it.
Here are four common mistakes people make when trying to fix their marriage. Save yourself some time. Don’t try them. They don’t work.

1. You threaten to leave so he can see how it feels to want you back​

This is a dramatic gesture. (I’ve tried it.) It’s a scare tactic. And scare tactics might work but not in the way you want them to.
When you threaten to leave, take the kids or give him the silent treatment, he may actually push you away instead of moving closer to you. Instead of pushing him away, you want to pull him towards you.
When you threaten to take the kids or give him the silent treatment, he’ll become even more distant. And you grow more frustrated. But you’ve made threats or demands and you feel like you need to follow through.

2. You let him know what he’s doing wrong and expect him to fix it​

“My wife sat me down and told me all the things that I’m doing wrong, and it really helped,” said no husband ever. You think if you just tell him how he’s screwing up, he’ll change. (I’ve tried this, too.) Makes perfect sense to you. So, you talk and talk, but he doesn’t change. You may try a subtle approach. You leave “How to be a Great Husband” on his nightstand or on the sink. You tell him what you’ve learned from podcasts you’ve listened to. You may even recommend counseling. None of it changes him and you grow more frustrated.

3. You think it takes two ​

You’ll commonly hear people say, “It takes two to fix your marriage” or “You can’t do it by yourself.” This is false. (I thought this, too.) The truth is it doesn’t take two. You can work on saving your marriage, whether your husband wants to or not. Make the first move. Let him know you’re in and you’re going to fight for your marriage. You may have to change some of your behaviors to bring him around.

4. You try to fix the symptoms instead of the problem​

Many times people focus on the symptoms instead of the problem. A symptom might be sex, money, neglect, kids, pornography, or alcohol. All symptoms. Even poor communication is a symptom. Not the problem. He drinks, watches porn or plays video games because he doesn’t want to deal with the real problem. You shop, eat or spend time with your friends, so you don’t have to deal with the problem. Focusing on the symptoms instead of root will never fix the it. When you treat symptoms, problem doesn’t go away. It just morphs into something else.
The more demands or threats you make, the harder he resists. And the more he pulls away from you.
The good news is a hard marriage can get better. You can get unstuck and have the marriage you want.
Sometimes you have to do hard stuff to save your marriage. It’s worth it.
Right now you may not have the skills to build a great relationship, but you can learn. You can learn how to restore tenderness in your marriage.

 

[RiverOL]

How Do We Say What Matters?​

Every man, woman, and child has a secret place within them where they store their treasures. You can call this heart or soul or whatever you want. It is the core of who we are, the thing that makes us unique and valuable.


By the time an emotion gets to our brain, a word to our mouth, or an action in the context of human community, it has passed from this secret chamber (its place of origin) through a series of tests and filters.





The result is we very rarely communicate what really matters to us. We communicate a safe, truncated version. One less likely to be rejected. Something less raw, less real. We get frustrated at others when they don’t understand our motives, what we are really trying to say.
How do we bust through the filters and say what really matters to us?

Navigating The Filters​

One important step is to understand what filters we have in place and why. We often call this self-awareness. Our filters are so good, so strong, so practiced. Often, our secret core is kept secret even from ourselves. We are masters at self-deception.


Why do we do this? It is easier, safer, more comfortable.
The most prevalent form of idolatry is our desire to control. We want to control the narrative, the perceptions of others, the outcomes. We want to shrink the world into something we can manage. And in (attempting) to doing so, we play to what we think others want, we adjust ourselves to fit in, to be safe. We change what we value to match what we see valued by others. Our secret place is so raw, so real. It feels so vulnerable, so exposed.
And so, we develop defense mechanisms, styles of humor, blame techniques, etc. to try to soften the exposure to our truest values. To present them carefully.
What too often happens is the values get lost and something different gets communicated, something altogether foreign to our true self.

Naming the Values​

Understanding our filters is not the true test of self-awareness. If we stop there, we will not be free of our filters, we will simply change or adapt them. We’ll jump from one shackle to another, thinking we are free because of the empty chain nearby. A new addiction is still an addiction. A new defense mechanism is still serving the same purpose.


What we really need is to dive into the core of who we are. We need to name, explicitly, what really matters to us. Only then can we communicate it to others.
I love it when people say to me, “I really value balance, so I need to say no to this because I’ve said yes to a lot of things lately” or “I really value excellence, so I need to take my time to do this task well”.

We’ve got to get at the truth of who we are. No matter how deep and effective our filters are, they will never erase the core value of our identity. They can negate and cover it, but it will always be down there, pulsing in our veins, begging to come out.
We are frustrated and angry because people are not seeing the truth of who we are. Even though we ourselves are not seeing it. After all, people see what we communicate. In a certain, superficial sense, we are what we communicate because it is the self we are presenting to the world, the self we are acting on. Truly victorious living is when our communicated self matches the values of our core identity.

 

[RiverOL]

5 signs your marriage is on the wrong track​

I often talk to couples who are in crisis and on the brink of divorce. Very often, I find that these couples ignored or minimized some “warning signs” along the way that should have been a wakeup call to make some changes in the marriage. If one of more of these warning signs is happening in your marriage, it may signal that you’re veered onto an unhealthy path and need to make some immediate course corrections.


1. You argue more than you laugh.
Laughter is a great indicator of a strong marriage. Even in difficult seasons, healthy couples will find ways to laugh together and keep joy alive. If there is consistently more disagreements than moments of laughter, that’s a serious warning sign. If you’re looking for some ways to get started, here are 5 simple ways to bring more laughter to your marriage.
2. You rarely touch each other.
I’m not just talking about sex here, although a stagnant sex life is a huge red flag in a marriage as well. I’m talking about the posture we have around each other. Have you stopped putting your arm around his/her shoulders? Do you no longer hold hands? Do you sit on opposite ends of the couch? A lack of affection is a big warning sign.
3. You criticize each other more than you encourage each other.
When we’re always drawn to our spouse’s flaws, it creates a toxic cycle where neither spouse can ever seem to do anything right. Healthy couples focus on celebrating the good in each other much more than pointing out the flaws.

4. You complain about your spouse online or to friends.
When you’re constantly tempted to vent about your spouse to co-workers, friends and anyone else who will listen, you are at the doorstep of divorce unless something changes very quickly. Publicly airing dirty laundry about your spouse has tremendous, negative effects on your spouse and the levels of trust within your marriage.
5. You fantasize about life without your spouse.
When our dreams and fantasies no longer include our spouse, we’ve mentally detached from the marriage, and unless action is taken, it won’t be long before we physically detach from the marriage as well. Divorce starts in the mind long before it gets to a courtroom. If your marriage is in crisis and you don’t know where to start, I’d encourage you to check out the resources at SaveMyMarriage.com.

 

[RiverOL]

4 Common Mistakes People Make When Trying to Fix Their Marriage​

When my marriage was in the tank, I got a lot of great advice that made it worse.

Sure, I read books and talked to people. But none of it helped.
So how do you deal with a failing marriage?
Seems like when you’re having a hard time, you’ll find there’s no shortage of people who know exactly what you should do. Everyone’s an expert on how you should fix your marriage.
The result? You grow more disappointed, frustrated and fearful.
Some of that “good” advice is bad. How can you tell the good from the bad? Well, you really can’t until you try it.
Here are four common mistakes people make when trying to fix their marriage. Save yourself some time. Don’t try them. They don’t work.

1. You threaten to leave so he can see how it feels to want you back​

This is a dramatic gesture. (I’ve tried it.) It’s a scare tactic. And scare tactics might work but not in the way you want them to.
When you threaten to leave, take the kids or give him the silent treatment, he may actually push you away instead of moving closer to you. Instead of pushing him away, you want to pull him towards you.
When you threaten to take the kids or give him the silent treatment, he’ll become even more distant. And you grow more frustrated. But you’ve made threats or demands and you feel like you need to follow through.

2. You let him know what he’s doing wrong and expect him to fix it​

“My wife sat me down and told me all the things that I’m doing wrong, and it really helped,” said no husband ever. You think if you just tell him how he’s screwing up, he’ll change. (I’ve tried this, too.) Makes perfect sense to you. So, you talk and talk, but he doesn’t change. You may try a subtle approach. You leave “How to be a Great Husband” on his nightstand or on the sink. You tell him what you’ve learned from podcasts you’ve listened to. You may even recommend counseling. None of it changes him and you grow more frustrated.

3. You think it takes two ​

You’ll commonly hear people say, “It takes two to fix your marriage” or “You can’t do it by yourself.” This is false. (I thought this, too.) The truth is it doesn’t take two. You can work on saving your marriage, whether your husband wants to or not. Make the first move. Let him know you’re in and you’re going to fight for your marriage. You may have to change some of your behaviors to bring him around.

4. You try to fix the symptoms instead of the problem​

Many times people focus on the symptoms instead of the problem. A symptom might be sex, money, neglect, kids, pornography, or alcohol. All symptoms. Even poor communication is a symptom. Not the problem. He drinks, watches porn or plays video games because he doesn’t want to deal with the real problem. You shop, eat or spend time with your friends, so you don’t have to deal with the problem. Focusing on the symptoms instead of root will never fix the it. When you treat symptoms, problem doesn’t go away. It just morphs into something else.
The more demands or threats you make, the harder he resists. And the more he pulls away from you.
The good news is a hard marriage can get better. You can get unstuck and have the marriage you want.
Sometimes you have to do hard stuff to save your marriage. It’s worth it.
Right now you may not have the skills to build a great relationship, but you can learn. You can learn how to restore tenderness in your marriage.

 

[RiverOL]

How Can Having a Narcissistic Parent Damage Your Child?​

There is growing concern among parents about the influence of a parent who have narcissistic traits upon their child. Many books and articles have been written about narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). While these publications have great merit, few have examined the impact on children of living with a parent with narcissistic traits.

However, there is some evidence that children raised by a narcissist can adopt some of their personality characteristics such as self-centeredness, inflated sense of entitlement, and lack of empathy. In fact, growing up with a narcissistic parent can be a strong predictor for the development of narcissistic traits, according to Wendy Behary.


Experts remind us that narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) exists on a continuum from mild to severe. Keep in mind that narcissism ranges from self-centeredness and other narcissistic traits to NPD. Narcissism is very hard to diagnose – even by experts. The following is a summary of NPD from the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) used by clinicians to diagnose and treat individuals with mental illness. Keep in mind, NPD can only be diagnosed by a person who is a licensed mental health professional.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder – A pervasive preoccupation with admiration, entitlement, and egotism. Individuals with this personality exaggerate their accomplishments/talents, have a sense of entitlement, lack empathy or concern for others, are preoccupied with envy and jealousy, and have an arrogant attitude. Their sense of entitlement and inflated self-esteem are unrelated to real talent or accomplishments. They feel entitled to special attention, privileges, and consideration in social settings. This sense of entitlement also produces a feeling that they are entitled to punish those who do not provide their required respect, admiration, or attention.

Before we take a look at how NPD impacts offspring, let’s take a close look at how this condition affects an intimate relationship. In her acclaimed book Disarming the Narcissist, Wendy Behary, a codependency expert describes a “perilous narcissist” as the type of narcissist who is unremorseful and devoid of a moral compass – as having a complete disregard and contempt for others. She writes, “There are certain circumstances where an intimate relationship with a narcissist isn’t worth fighting for, even if you have the leverage. The narcissist may even be a threat to your (and your children’s) security, safety, and stability.”

According to Behary, safety should be your first and foremost priority when dealing with a “perilous narcissist” – especially if their threats are increasing and they are violent or explosive. It follows that if your partner is perpetually verbally or emotionally abusive and becomes more callous or menacing, you may have to decide to put the safety of yourself and your children first and come up with an exit strategy.

Consequently, dealing with a narcissistic parent day in and day out can be devastating to a child, according to Dr. Lisa Firestone. She writes, “The problem with narcissistic parents is that, although the focus seems to be on their child, there is actually very little regard for the child in their parenting style.” How do narcissistic parents damage their children? Dr. Mark Banschick notes “For example, they may disregard boundaries, manipulate their children by withholding affection (until they perform), and neglect to meet their children’s needs because their needs come first. Because image is so important to narcissists, they may demand perfection from their children.”

From a child’s perspective, being raised by a narcissist can be damaging because they are unlikely to get their needs met by a parent who is aloof or unsympathetic. A child needs to feel protected and loved and a parent with NPD is likely to be too preoccupied with their interests and needs to give their child the love and attention they need to thrive.

What impact does a high-conflict home have on children? In her landmark book For Better or For Worse, eminent psychologist E. Mavis Hetherington highlights the results of her 30 year study of 1,400 divorced families and the importance of examining the type of conflict children experience. She notes that high-conflict that involves the child, is physically violent, threatening or abusive, and conflict in which the child feels caught in the middle, has the most adverse consequences for children. These effects include anxiety, depression, and low-self-esteem.

Consider these points if you decide to stay with your partner:
• Don’t let your partner off the hook. Practice empathetic confrontation which is showing compassion while setting limits. Wendy Behary writes, “While it is necessary to harness your understanding and emotional generosity, it’s equally necessary to hold the narcissist accountable when he or she acts condescending, selfish, controlling, or downright mean.”

• Avoid exposing your child to high-conflict that involves them, is physically violent, threatening or abusive; and conflict in which the child feels caught in the middle.
• Educate yourself about strategies to cope with a narcissist and set healthy boundaries. Encourage your partner to get counseling by someone who specializes in treating someone with NPD and seek professional help yourself.

If you decide to end your relationship, here are tips on how to breakup with your partner in the most caring, safe way:
• Write a script to use when talking to your partner and try to stick with it, using as few words as possible. You might say something like: “I tried to make this marriage work. Nothing has changed and it’s not healthy for me or the kids for us to stay together. I wish you well.”
• Show compassion toward your children and don’t bad mouth their other parent in their presence. Children are vulnerable to experiencing loyalty conflicts and shouldn’t be in the middle between their parents.

• Be sure that you and your children feel safe. Have a friend or family member on hand when you talk to your partner; and the support of a therapist and lawyer.
If you choose to preserve your relationship with a narcissist, it’s essential to realize that you can only control your own behavior and not his or hers. Focus on personal responsibility rather than blame and call attention to your needs. It’s essential to let go of feeling overly responsible and to stop putting your needs last at the expense of your own happiness.

 

[RiverOL]

The Importance of Positive Reinforcement in Your Relationship​

During our couples counseling sessions, Kylie, 48, complains about Justin’s, 50, lack of love and attention. She feels like they are roommates and that he rarely gives her praise for being a loving and supportive wife. Likewise, Justin, feels neglected by Kylie at times because she “shuts down” when she feels annoyed or hurt. This creates a vicious cycle of withdrawal and frustration. When this happens, neither one of them is getting their needs met.


Kylie puts it like this: “I know Justin loves me and I want our marriage to work but it seems like he looks for me to make a mistake or criticizes me more that gives me praise for all of the good things I do like cooking his meals and making sure our home is clean.”
In a recent article for the website Your Tango, writer Valerie Greene unpacks the importance of recognizing and reinforcing the positive qualities of your partner. Greene’s philosophy is simple: “What you appreciate appreciates.”

In other words, the often difficult undertaking of finding a compatible partner is helped by looking for the positive qualities in the other person, rather than focusing on their negative traits and behaviors. The more you are able to identify and consistently notice the positive, the more the positive will appear.
This principle is equally important when trying to find a mate who is a perfect match and when fostering an existing relationship. Greene’s approach requires mindfulness and applying an analytical eye to the overtly emotional dynamics of a relationship.

First, Greene advises readers to “look within,” identifying, developing and working to maintain your own positive qualities and behavior. In doing so, you’ll be able to support the same positive traits and actions in your partner.
Once you’ve worked on yourself and sharpened the skill of accentuating the positive rather than only noticing the negative, Greene suggests that mindfulness is the key to maintaining this healthy balance. And that mindfulness can become a practice — as Greene counsels, it may help to make a list. The act of writing down the rights and wrongs that you see in yourself and in your partner will help your relationship flourish.

Next, Greene offers that “flip[ping] your negatives into positives” will go a long way toward seeing the best in your romantic life. For example, rather than describing your mate as “not rude,” internalize that they are in fact “polite.” Another example Greene offers is understanding your partner’s listening skills in a positive frame — rather than noticing that they “don’t interrupt,” come to see them as waiting “for you to speak.”

The practice of creating a list and purposely framing qualities in a positive light will give you “time to reflect and let your subconscious figure out what you truly want.” Ultimately, as with an methodical approach to mindfulness, the very commitment to the practice is part of making good on a self-fulfilling prophesy. Know what you want. Notice what you want when you see it. And, in the end, you will see more of the wonderfully and positive things that will make you and your partner happy.

 

[RiverOL]

Living With Urgency ​ [ 1 min read ★ ] ​

The night is about over, dawn is about to break—Romans 13:11-14 ​

No question, a lot of us men are living in "I know, I know" mode . . . in "I’m gonna do it, but just not right now" mode. You see, we know what’s important; we’ve just convinced ourselves we’ve got all kinds of time. And, because life is crazy busy right now, we’ve resolved to get around to doing what we know we should be doing, later—when things slow a bit. We’ll change our ways, later. We’ll get around to actually living out our faith, later. But, what if there’s no later? What if this day, today, was our last day? It couldn’t possibly be. Waking up this morning was just like waking up yesterday. Tomorrow’s sure to be the same. There’ll always be plenty of time . . . right? Well, the Apostle Peter wrote that God’s right now "restraining himself," because he loves you and me (2 Peter 3:8-9 MSG). He’s "holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change" (2 Peter 3:8-9 MSG). But, warned Peter, it won’t last forever: ". . . when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief" (2 Peter 3:8-10 MSG). When the last day comes, the "space and time" God’s been giving us will vanish. So Peter made his appeal: "Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life?" (2 Peter 3:11-13 MSG). So Peter made his appeal: live with urgency. ​

Okay, so what do we do? Take a look at your life. Where are you spending money and talent? Where, and with whom, are you spending time? What’s being neglected? What needs to change? Are you willing, brother? It’s time—time to shift into "I’m on it" mode.​

 

[RiverOL]

What Is the Purpose of Preaching?​

Over the past many years of life as a theologian I have heard numerous sermons. Some were in churches I attended as a member or regular attender. (One would not let me become a member because I had only “alien immersion” so I attended but never officially joined.) Some were in churches I visited. I have visited numerous churches over the years for various reasons. Often that was because I was invited to speak to an adult Sunday School class. Often I stayed for the worship service or attended it after the class session was finished. I have attended hundreds of chapel services in the universities where I have taught over almost forty years. I have watched and listened to hundreds of sermons online.

Recently I chose to watch and listen to the online worship service, including the sermon, of an evangelical “mainline” church. I don’t want to give any clues such that someone could guess what specific church it was because of what I’m about to say about it. The sermon sticks in my mind as somewhat emblematic of the problem I want to muse about here.

The music was fine as were all parts of the liturgy and worship service. The children’s sermon was very good. The choir “number” sung by choir members together but in their own homes (I assume they used some conferencing technology such as Zoom to record it in insert it into the online worship service) was very good. Scripture was read; prayers were prayed. Even an offering was taken—online! Then came the sermon by a very jovial pastor in a robe.

The sermon was topical using a passage from Ecclesiastes as the “jumping off” point. It was about how people need people. It was a subtle criticism of individualism. I kept waiting for him to quote or sing “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world” because not once did he mention Christ or the church or the gospel. Any pious psychologist could have delivered that sermon. It was an example of what I call “good advice” pretending to be a sermon.

*Sidebar: The opinions expressed here are my own (or those of the guest writer); I do not speak for any other person, group or organization; nor do I imply that the opinions expressed here reflect those of any other person, group or organization unless I say so specifically. Before commenting read the entire post and the “Note to commenters” at its end.*

Now don’t get me wrong. A very good sermon can include good advice, but my point is that a good sermon in a Christian church ought always to go beyond generic good advice to gospel. A sermon that never mentions Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit or even the church cannot be a good Christian sermon. I have read many books saying what that preacher said. One was Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam (2000). Another was Habits of the Heart by Robert Bellah (1984). Both decried American individualism and argued that people need people—community—in order to flourish psychologically.

Again, don’t get me wrong. I’m not judging the pastor/preacher or the church by one sermon. In fact, I plan to visit that church as soon as it opens up again for safe attendance in the sanctuary for worship. All I am saying here is that this one sermon represented for me a trend I have noticed in even much evangelical preaching toward giving good advice without the gospel of Jesus Christ. I suppose I am partly agreeing here with my Calvinist friend Michael Horton’s book Christless Christianity (2008).

I could give numerous other examples of sermons I have heard that constituted good advice but not the gospel. Yes, true, the gospel is good advice, but it goes beyond what people think of as good advice to real good advice—repent and trust in Jesus Christ and dedicate your whole life in every part of it to him as Lord. Of course that can be said in hundreds of ways and not always that directly.

What I waited to here but never did, in that particular sermon, was something about communion with God through commitment to the community of God’s people the church—including setting aside selfish individualism and becoming accountable to the church. Instead the pastor talked about getting to know neighbors (with no mention of witnessing to them) and going out of one’s way to spend time with friends: “This week pick up the phone and call an old friend and renew a lost friendship.” (That’s my paraphrase of one of his suggestions.)

So what is the true purpose of preaching? John Wesley said it best. It is to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. Martin Luther said it is to present to hearers both “law” and “gospel”—you should but you can’t (by yourself) obey God completely. I say, in addition, not in contradiction, it is to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to a congregation and, usually, apply it to their lives.

Above all, I want to say, it must go beyond generic good advice in order to be a good Christian sermon. Unfortunately, in my experience, many even evangelical sermons are what I would call “good advice” more than and even often in place of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So, to pastor-preachers I suggest this strategy and habit. Always ask yourself after you have written your sermon (or composed it in your mind) whether it is just good advice or includes the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ that both convicts and comforts.

*Note to commenters: This blog is not a discussion board; please respond with a question or comment only to me. If you do not share my evangelical Christian perspective (very broadly defined), feel free to ask a question for clarification, but know that this is not a space for debating incommensurate perspectives/worldviews. In any case, know that there is no guarantee that your question or comment will be posted by the moderator or answered by the writer. If you hope for your question or comment to appear here and be answered or responded to, make sure it is civil, respectful, and “on topic.” Do not comment if you have not read the entire post and do not misrepresent what it says. Keep any comment (including questions) to minimal length; do not post essays, sermons or testimonies here. Do not post links to internet sites here. This is a space for expressions of the blogger’s (or guest writers’) opinions and constructive dialogue among evangelical Christians (very broadly defined).