The Process of Sin & The Graciousness of God:

This morning I was reading Genesis 4 and examining the process of sin and the graciousness of our God. Genesis 4 records the famous story of Cain and Abel. You know the one where Cain beats his brother to death. It’s an intense story but also one that anyone who has spent any time in the church should be familiar with. What I noticed about the story this time around was the process of sin in Cain’s mind, heart and actions but also God’s role of offering a way out of temptation during the entire story. Let me further explain.

It is important to note that before Cain ever acted on the evil desires brewing in his heart, God showed up and spoke truth into his life. God’s grace preceded Cain’s sin, offering a way out of the temptation. Genesis 4:6-7, “The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” God encouraged Cain to kill the sinful desire within him before it killed him. I have read this particular Bible story a number of times and have missed the beauty of God’s intervention. God is not indifferent to sin, because God is not indifferent to humanity. Love intervenes. And the intervention in this passage shows us that God cares deeply about each and every act of sin in this world. Every unjust act matters and will be accounted for. No good or evil deed escapes His notice. God’s counsel to Cain was to reject the temptation and to master the sinful desires. Do right by ruling over it! Don’t obey its commands! Like Cain, we are well acquainted with the way these evil desires war against us and lead us to sinful actions. We, too, have ignored God’s counsel on countless occasions. In our sinfulness, we reject that counsel-and so does Cain. Evil desires give birth to evil deeds.

Cain heard God’s counsel to flee sin’s temptation, but he didn’t heed it. Genesis 4:8, “Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.” Cain committed the act he had contemplated, and he shed the blood of his innocent brother. Sin begins with evil desires and then ends with evil actions toward others, actions that deserve God’s condemnation.

But notice what happens next. Just as God came to counsel Cain before the sin, He comes to talk with him after the sin. Genesis 4:9-10, “Then the LORD said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? He said, I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper? And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.” God knew exactly where Abel was. His question was not offered in order to discover information, but as an invitation for Cain to respond with repentance. The same is true with us. Whenever we sin, God doesn’t first come with fierce accusations, but with a gentle invitation to repent. In the moment of temptation, God calls us to resist sin, and in the moment of sin, God gives us the opportunity to repent and turn back to Him.

In conclusion, there’s nothing in the passage that indicates Cain ever repented of his sin and received salvation. But everything in this passage points to a God who, in love, withheld the full extent of His just judgment toward Cain, at least for a time. God treated Cain better than he deserved. The God who shows mercy is the God who will keep His promises. God promised a son to Eve who would crush the serpent’s head. With Cain in rebellion and Abel dead, the situation seemed dire. But God gave Adam and Eve another son named Seth. And through the lineage of Seth, four thousand years later, the promised Son of Eve would be born. And at the cross, blood would be shed once again, but this time the blood of the promised Son would not just be shed by sin; the blood would be shed for sin.

Thoughts for Young Men & Women Preparing To Date:

Thoughts For Young Men Preparing For Dating:

1.      Don’t pursue girls, pursue Christ, then pursue a woman.

a.       I want to raise the bar for young men. Instead of going from girl to girl, pursue Christ. Focus on having a growing and vibrant relationship with your Savior. Find your identity in Christ alone. Guys pursue girls because of physical attraction. Instead, my challenge is to pursue Christ, and when you are ready, pursue a young woman who has been practicing something similar.

2.      Prepare Yourself For Dating By Pursuing The Marks Of Manhood:

a.       Know the Gospel

b.      Sacrificial Leadership.

                                                              i.      Leadership is sacrificial. It’s giving up yourself for those you are leading. Work towards that end.

c.       Hard Work

                                                              i.      Work hard in school. Work hard at being the best son and brother you can be. Work hard at being the best friend you can be. Work hard at your job. One day, you will be called to provide for your family. Will you do whatever you have to do to make that happen?

d.      Protecting Women and Children At All Costs:

                                                              i.      God has called men to lay down their lives, if necessary, for women and children. This is what is known as the mark of protection. Begin to see yourself as a protector of women-in all areas. This means you protect women not just physically, but also emotionally and sexually. This is a great and honorable task.

e.       Make Good Decisions For the Benefit of Others:

                                                              i.      Men must learn to become good decision makers. The opposite of a good decision-maker is someone who is passive. There is nothing worse than a passive-lazy man who refuses to do the hard work in making decisions. Become a confident decision-maker.

3.      Invite Other Dudes Into Your Life For WISDOM & ACCOUNTABILITY

a.       Don’t be a loan ranger. You will fail. Everyone needs to be accountable to someone.

4.      Pursue A Girl With Her Dad’s Approval

a.       If you really want to be counter-cultural, when you are ready to pursue a dating relationship, then ask her dad for permission. This will set you apart, and prepare the way for a smoother foreseeable future.

Thoughts For Young Ladies On Preparing For Dating:

1.      Don’t pursue boys, pursue Christ, and a man will one day pursue you.

a.       Instead of attempting to pursue boys, pursue Christ. Pursue Him. Chase after Him. Find your identity in Him alone. When you do this, one day a man who chases after Christ will pursue you-not the other way around. You don’t want to date someone who doesn’t have the guts to pursue you.

2.      Prepare Yourself For Dating By Pursuing the Marks of Womanhood:

a.       Know the Gospel

b.      Sacrificial Helper

                                                              i.      In Genesis 2:18 we see that God made woman as a helper for man. This does NOT mean women are lesser or weaker. Men and women are completely equal in dignity, value, and worth, but they are different in role and function. One way you can do this now is by seeking the welfare of others around you-your home, friends, neighbors, fellow church members, etc.

c.       Protector of True Beauty:

                                                              i.      Pursue mature womanhood by protecting what is true beauty. God made you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made by Him. Rest in that. Believe that. Preach that. Practice that. Protect that. Share this message with your friends.

3.      Invite Other Ladies Into Your Life for Wisdom & Accountability.

a.       Don’t be a loan ranger. One of the biggest lies you can believe is that you don’t need other people in your life. This is not Christianity. God created you to be in relationships with other people. God also created us to be mentored and disciples by others.

4.      Be Vocal About Who You Are In Christ When A Man Pursues You

a.       Before anything else, you are a daughter of the King. Be proud of that truth. Shout it from the mountaintops. Wear it on your sleeves. You are first and foremost a follower of the King of the universe.

5.      Allow Your Dad (Or Christian Community) To Be Your Leader, Provider, And Protector Until The Day You Get Married

a.       Until you are walked down the isle, your dad is your authority. If your dad isn’t in your life, then the Christian community is your authority-other healthy male and female figures in your life. Don’t believe the lie that you don’t need anyone speaking into your life. Furthermore, don’t believe the lie that it’s none of your dad’s business to be involved in your relationships. It’s more than his business. It’s his calling. Dads will stand before the King one day and give an account of how they shepherded and protected their daughters. Work together towards that end.

Thoughts From The Stage Of A Funeral:

A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.-Ecclesiastes 7:1

This past year as an Associate Pastor I have been to a number of funerals. The Senior Pastor is with the family before the funeral starts and I am typically seated on the platform waiting for the family to enter the Sanctuary. From my position on top of the platform I am able to watch the funeral home workers come down and close the lid of the casket and lock it. So far this experience has not worn off and is very surreal to watch them close the lid on the casket and lock it, never to be opened again.

Almost every time I assist in officiating a funeral I think of Ecclesiastes 7:1 and I am reminded that death is a teacher.

The day of death is better than the day of birth-not because death is better than life, but because a coffin preaches better sermons than a crib. “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death comes to us all, and the living should take this to hear”-7:2. “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure”-7:4. 

From my perch on the platform at funerals I have noticed two types of people. The fools, who shift in their seats, desperate to be outside in the sunshine and back to what they were doing; and the wise, who stare at the coffin and realize that one day it will be their turn. Such inattention or attention to death paves two very different roads through life.

Observe the fat cat at the top of the pile, seated at the best table in the exclusive restaurant. He has done it all, made it all, and he eats all alone in his discontent. Proud? Selfish? Perhaps-but why? It is because he does not believe he is going to die. He has never met death’s gaze with a steady eye. He has not met his death in advance and watched it pry open his hands and operate on his heart.

The wise, seated in the crematorium and riveted anew to their mortality, say to themselves: “If I am going to die, how then shall I live?” They rise, reborn by death’s answer: wine and work, sex and food, love and laughter, beauty and truth, and lots of each-that will do for starters (9:7-9). Death makes pleasure-seekers, not doom-dwellers or naysayers.

May I paraphrase? Death causes the wise to examine their life. Ride a bike, see the Grand Canyon, go to the theater, learn to make music, visit the sick, care for the dying, cook a meal, feed the hungry, watch a film, read a book, laugh with some friends until it makes you cry, play football, run a marathon, snorkel in the ocean, listen to Mozart, talk to your parents on the phone, write a letter, play with your kids, spend your money, learn a language, plant a church, start a school, speak about Christ, travel to somewhere you’ve never been, adopt a child, give away your fortune and then some, shape someone else’s life by laying down your own.

One day, working and planning and knowledge and wisdom will cease, so do them now while you can. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all you have. Dying people, who truly know they are dying, are among all people the most alive. They are not here to live forever. They are here to live for now, for today-and most of all they are here to live for others.

In conclusion, death trades in humility. It punctures the futile project of trying to be God. Death teaches the young to lose their life for something greater than life, and to risk all for Christ and His kingdom; it teaches the old why God beyond the grave is the hope of a world reborn in righteousness and equity. Death crafts a worldview dedicated not to the pursuit of gain, but to generosity and contentment. Death gives perspective in pain. It helps us lose, for one day God will put everything right.

Spend your death on living.

Theological Triage:

In every generation, the church is commanded to “contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” That is no easy task, and it is complicated by the multiple attacks upon Christian truth that mark our contemporary age. Assaults upon the Christian faith are no longer directed only at isolated doctrines. The entire structure of Christian truth is now under attack by those who would subvert Christianity’s theological integrity.

Today’s Christian faces the daunting task of strategizing which Christian doctrines and theological issues are to be given highest priority in terms of our contemporary context. This applies both to the public defense of Christianity in face of the secular challenge and the internal responsibility of dealing with doctrinal disagreements. Neither is an easy task, but theological seriousness and maturity demand that we consider doctrinal issues in terms of their relative importance. God’s truth is to be defended at every point and in every detail, but responsible Christians must determine which issues deserve first-rank attention in a time of theological crisis.

A trip to the local hospital Emergency Room some years ago alerted me to an intellectual tool that is most helpful in fulfilling our theological responsibility. In recent years, emergency medical personnel have practiced a discipline known as triage–a process that allows trained personnel to make a quick evaluation of relative medical urgency. Given the chaos of an Emergency Room reception area, someone must be armed with the medical expertise to make an immediate determination of medical priority. Which patients should be rushed into surgery? Which patients can wait for a less urgent examination? Medical personnel cannot flinch from asking these questions, and from taking responsibility to give the patients with the most critical needs top priority in terms of treatment.'

The word triage comes from the French word trier, which means “to sort.” Thus, the triage officer in the medical context is the front-line agent for deciding which patients need the most urgent treatment. Without such a process, the scraped knee would receive the same urgency of consideration as a gunshot wound to the chest. The same discipline that brings order to the hectic arena of the Emergency Room can also offer great assistance to Christians defending truth in the present age.
A discipline of theological triage would require Christians to determine a scale of theological urgency that would correspond to the medical world’s framework for medical priority.

With this in mind, I would suggest three different levels of theological urgency, each corresponding to a set of issues and theological priorities found in current doctrinal debates.

First-level theological issues would include those doctrines most central and essential to the Christian faith. Included among these most crucial doctrines would be doctrines such as the Trinity, the full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, justification by faith, and the authority of Scripture.

In the earliest centuries of the Christian movement, heretics directed their most dangerous attacks upon the church’s understanding of who Jesus is, and in what sense He is the very Son of God. Other crucial debates concerned the question of how the Son is related to the Father and the Holy Spirit. The earliest creeds and councils of the church were, in essence, emergency measures taken to protect the central core of Christian doctrine. At historic turning-points such as the councils at Nicaea, Constantinople, and Chalcedon, orthodoxy was vindicated and heresy was condemned–and these councils dealt with doctrines of unquestionable first-order importance. Christianity stands or falls on the affirmation that Jesus Christ is fully man and fully God.

The church quickly moved to affirm that the full deity and full humanity of Jesus Christ are absolutely necessary to the Christian faith. Any denial of what has become known as Nicaean-Chalcedonian Christology is, by definition, condemned as a heresy. The essential truths of the incarnation include the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who deny these revealed truths are, by definition, not Christians.

The same is true with the doctrine of the Trinity. The early church clarified and codified its understanding of the one true and living God by affirming the full deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit–while insisting that the Bible reveals one God in three persons.

In addition to the Christological and Trinitarian doctrines, the doctrine of justification by faith must also be included among these first-order truths. Without this doctrine, we are left with a denial of the Gospel itself, and salvation is transformed into some structure of human righteousness. The truthfulness and authority of the Holy Scriptures must also rank as a first-order doctrine, for without an affirmation of the Bible as the very Word of God, we are left without any adequate authority for distinguishing truth from error.

These first-order doctrines represent the most fundamental truths of the Christian faith, and a denial of these doctrines represents nothing less than an eventual denial of Christianity itself.

The set of second-order doctrines is distinguished from the first-order set by the fact that believing Christians may disagree on the second-order issues, though this disagreement will create significant boundaries between believers. When Christians organize themselves into congregations and denominational forms, these boundaries become evident.

Second-order issues would include the meaning and mode of baptism. Baptists and Presbyterians, for example, fervently disagree over the most basic understanding of Christian baptism. The practice of infant baptism is inconceivable to the Baptist mind, while Presbyterians trace infant baptism to their most basic understanding of the covenant. Standing together on the first-order doctrines, Baptists and Presbyterians eagerly recognize each other as believing Christians, but recognize that disagreement on issues of this importance will prevent fellowship within the same congregation or denomination.
Christians across a vast denominational range can stand together on the first-order doctrines and recognize each other as authentic Christians, while understanding that the existence of second-order disagreements prevents the closeness of fellowship we would otherwise enjoy. A church either will recognize infant baptism, or it will not. That choice immediately creates a second-order conflict with those who take the other position by conviction.

In recent years, the issue of women serving as pastors has emerged as another second-order issue. Again, a church or denomination either will ordain women to the pastorate, or it will not. Second-order issues resist easy settlement by those who would prefer an either/or approach. Many of the most heated disagreements among serious believers take place at the second-order level, for these issues frame our understanding of the church and its ordering by the Word of God.

Third-order issues are doctrines over which Christians may disagree and remain in close fellowship, even within local congregations. I would put most of the debates over eschatology, for example, in this category. Christians who affirm the bodily, historical, and victorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ may differ over timetable and sequence without rupturing the fellowship of the church. Christians may find themselves in disagreement over any number of issues related to the interpretation of difficult texts or the understanding of matters of common disagreement.

Nevertheless, standing together on issues of more urgent importance, believers are able to accept one another without compromise when third-order issues are in question.

A structure of theological triage does not imply that Christians may take any biblical truth with less than full seriousness. We are charged to embrace and to teach the comprehensive truthfulness of the Christian faith as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. There are no insignificant doctrines revealed in the Bible, but there is an essential foundation of truth that undergirds the entire system of biblical truth.
This structure of theological triage may also help to explain how confusion can often occur in the midst of doctrinal debate. If the relative urgency of these truths is not taken into account, the debate can quickly become unhelpful. The error of theological liberalism is evident in a basic disrespect for biblical authority and the church’s treasury of truth. The mark of true liberalism is the refusal to admit that first-order theological issues even exist. Liberals treat first-order doctrines as if they were merely third-order in importance, and doctrinal ambiguity is the inevitable result.

Fundamentalism, on the other hand, tends toward the opposite error. The misjudgment of true fundamentalism is the belief that all disagreements concern first-order doctrines. Thus, third-order issues are raised to a first-order importance, and Christians are wrongly and harmfully divided.
Living in an age of widespread doctrinal denial and intense theological confusion, thinking Christians must rise to the challenge of Christian maturity, even in the midst of a theological emergency. We must sort the issues with a trained mind and a humble heart, in order to protect what the Apostle Paul called the “treasure” that has been entrusted to us. Given the urgency of this challenge, a lesson from the Emergency Room just might help.

Article by Dr. Al Mohler http://www.albertmohler.com/2004/05/20/a-call-for-theological-triage-and-christian-maturity-2/

Our Pleasure To Please Him:

How we live, day in and day out, affects our relationship with Almighty God. It’s a stunning truth the Bible teaches plainly. God so cares about us as a Father, that he finds happiness in our obedience and sadness in our disobedience.

I’m catching a glimpse of this in parenting my two-year-old daughter. There is a static element of our relationship: Nothing she can do can make her less my daughter. She could run away, change her name, and say she’ll never talk to me again, but the fact remains — she’s my daughter. My love for her remains fixed and unchanged.

But there’s also a dynamic element in our relationship. When my daughter and I are playing together in the living room, my delight as a father is full. I have barriers in place for her and commands to be followed, but she can act like a wrecking ball in that fence of obedience, and it brings me incredible joy. And the more I laugh and delight in her, the more she works to keep me laughing. She’ll play the same games over and over again so that I keep playing; she’ll tell the same two-year-old jokes to keep me laughing.

My daughter sees that what she is doing brings me pleasure as her father, and so she wants to do whatever it takes to keep bringing me pleasure. Not because she’s afraid that I’ll stop loving her at any moment so she needs to earn my delight — I don’t love her any more during these high moments of joy — but because she is finding her own joy in my joy.

Grieved Because I Love Her

But then the dinner bell rings, and we need to shift from playtime to dinnertime. If my daughter throws a tantrum because she wants to keep playing, the joy that I had turns into grief. Why? She’s no longer concerned about pleasing me; now she only wants to please herself. No longer is she seeking to find her delight in my delight, but now she is seeking to find her delight at the expense of my delight.

As her father, I’m grieved at her disobedience — not because I love her any less — but because she has chosen to disobey one of my good rules (eating!) and has instead chosen to find joy in something that will not satisfy.

While my love is steadfast, my happiness with my daughter can ebb and flow based on her posture toward me. Her actions have potential to bring me delight, but they also have potential to bring me sadness.

Union and Communion

This difference between static and dynamic aspects of relationships is seen in how we relate with God.

Our union with Christ is static. Union does not ebb and flow; it does not waver; it does not increase or decrease; it is consistent. And praise God for this fixed element! We don’t need to lose our assurance as children of God every time we sin. We can look back to our union with Christ and repent, rather than question if we are actually saved or not.

Our communion with Christ is dynamic. Communion increases and decreases. If you are walking in habitual sin, your relationship with God may feel dry. If you are walking in regular obedience, your relationship with God may feel full. If you seek to please God — to find your joy in what he delights in — then your communion with God will be rich. If you seek to please yourself at the expense of God’s pleasure, then your communion will be dull.

The Pleasure of Pursuing Holiness

Pleasing God directly relates to our pursuit of holiness. When we say no to sin, and yes to righteousness, we do so as two-year-olds bringing their Father pleasure. God is not apathetic to our obedience; he has committed his own joy to it.

When sin sings its siren song, we can listen to another voice saying to us, “Well done; enter into the joy of your Master” (Matthew 25:21), and that inspires the motivation that we need to pursue holiness. Knowing that our obedience has the ability to bring happiness to the God of the galaxies is incredible motivation. And knowing that our disobedience can bring God grief and sorrow keeps us from treating sin lightly.

Two Good Guides

We see this element at work in both the apostle Paul and C.S. Lewis.

When Paul looked to motivate his readers to obedience, he focused on the dynamic reality of pleasing God:

So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. (2 Corinthians 5:9)

Walk as children of light . . . and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8, 10)

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. (1 Thessalonians 4:1)

And when C.S. Lewis thought about the promise of glory that is given to believers, he looked at how it relates to our pleasing God:

The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses . . . shall find approval, shall please God. To please God . . . to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness . . . to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son — it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is. (The Weight of Glory, emphasis added)

Every decision that you make, every choice that you have in front of you to pursue sin or to pursue righteousness, is a chance to bring happiness to God himself.

We need the static element of union to keep us from doubting. But we also need the dynamic aspect of communion to keep us pursuing. Both are for our joy. We make it our pleasure to please him.

The Sweet Designs of God

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace. . . (Galatians 1:15)

Ponder the conversion of Paul, the sovereignty of Christ, and what Paul’s sins have to do with your salvation.

Paul said that God “set me apart before I was born,” and then on the Damascus road “called me by his grace” (Galatians 1:15). This means that between Paul’s birth and his call on the Damascus road he was an already-chosen but not-yet-called instrument of God (Acts 9:15; 22:14).

This means that Paul was beating and imprisoning and murdering Christians as a God-chosen, soon-to-be-made-Christian missionary.

As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 22:6–7)

There was no denying or escaping it. God had chosen him for this before he was born. And now he would take him. The word of Christ was sovereign. There was no negotiating.

Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do. (Acts 22:10)

Damascus was not Paul’s final, free will yielding to Christ after decades of futile divine effort to save him. God had a time for choosing him (before he was born) and a time for calling him (on the Damascus road). Paul yielded when God called.

Therefore, the sins that God permitted between Paul’s birth and his calling were part of the plan, since God could have done Damascus sooner.

Do we have any idea what the plan for those sins might have been? Yes. They were permitted for you and me — for all who fear that they might have sinned themselves out of grace. Here’s the way Paul relates his sins to you.

Formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy . . . for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:13, 16)

O, how sweet are the designs of God in the sovereign salvation of hardened sinners!-John Piper

O, what encouragement I get from this devotion. God is in control. When the person I have been praying for refuses yet again to listen to the Gospel and respond I can trust that God is in control. When I share my faith with others, I can trust that God is in control using my feeble words to draw His elect to Himself. When I lay my children down at night I can trust that God is in control and will use His plans and purposes to draw them to Himself.

Praising God this morning that we do not worship a limp wristed Savior left powerless next to man's free will but we worship a God who is mighty to save. Praising God this morning that salvation does not depend on my words but is the power of God onto salvation. God is moving in this world and drawing His elect to saving faith. I praise Him today.

The Most Important Part of CREW (AKA Youth Ministry):

The Heart of Youth Ministry

What attracts people to ministry to youth? Why are they in this field? Is it the massive salaries? Probably not. Is it the promise of feeling impressive when they tell people at family gatherings or high school reunions about their career path? Unlikely. Is it easy hours and strict boundaries between work time and personal life? Not a chance.

Youth ministry can be a frustrating field of employment and a challenging volunteer calling. According to various studies, the normal tenure of a youth minister at a local church lasts approximately eighteen months. Ministry to youth attracts a diverse collection of people, in terms of personalities and backgrounds, but the motivation behind a person’s entry into youth ministry is relatively universal. Certainly, it is not for the money, the status, or the ease. Youth ministers generally work countless hours for third-world pay while often being regarded as adult teenagers. They rarely sleep at night without at least one late-night text from a troubled or overly social teen. Then, after working to the brink of exhaustion much of the time, they field questions from parishioners like, “When you grow up, what do you think you want to do with your life?”

Given the lack of glory associated with ministry to youth and the personal emotional and physical cost of serving youth, a person who stays in the field—either as a volunteer or paid staff member— must see something extraordinarily precious that outweighs every difficulty. Two themes drive our mission and passion for ministry to youth:

We long to see God heal, redeem, and free young people as they trust Jesus personally, and we long to see God birth something beautiful and redemptive in this broken world through their lives as they bear witness to their Savior.

Any person living in relationship with teenagers aches at the commonplace sufferings and intermittent traumas these young people endure. Witnessing the awkward, insecure, acne phases of middle school and the failed fashion experiments of high school makes me cringe. Seeing kids screaming for attention through provocative tweets and Facebook messages breaks my heart. Knowing the loneliness and alienation that comes in these years of self-doubt, religious questioning, and parental conflict causes me to lament. Yet these are the common experiences of almost every teen.

When I consider their exposure to divorce, pornography, drugs, alcohol, death, suicide, and violence, I long for the second coming of Jesus Christ. When I see the world in which these kids live, I begin to say to myself, They’re only children; this is just too much. When I witness the suffering of teenagers, my passion for youth ministry explodes because I want their hearts healed. I want them to have hope. My commitment to youth ministry ignites because I know that news of what Jesus has done through his life, death, and resurrection contains the power to set them free. I know that God can bring them alive through faith in his Son.

Never Forget the Foundation

The gospel of salvation points to the historic, complete, atoning work of Jesus and the mandate to spread this word of good news. The proclamation of the gospel of salvation constitutes one of the most pivotal functions of youth ministry. So often in youth ministry, we can become enchanted with good, but not ultimate, matters. Missional living, social justice, and Christian community all represent wonderful things that I desire students in my ministry to embrace. At the same time, we never should neglect the essential duty and blessed opportunity of making students aware of their need for salvation and offering Jesus as the certain comfort and solution to the only A-list problem life presents: What will happen to people when they die?

When we approach ministry to youth with this biblical clarity, the stakes are raised and our vocation takes on substantial meaning. Our work involves the eternal condition of the souls of the precious students whom God has shared with us. Regardless of the impression society may have of a youth minister, we know that we engage in serious business each day. We may visit amusement parks, play lots of Frisbee, and send thousands of texts per month, but do not be mistaken: when a youth worker or volunteer focuses on the gospel of salvation, his or her time addresses the single most critical matter in any person’s life.

Ministry to youth with the gospel at the center means we frequently take the opportunity to proclaim the good news of salvation through Christ. We pray fervently that the Holy Spirit will work in the hearts of our students. We equip volunteer leaders and students to share the gospel in their world. We go out into the world—including our cities and foreign lands—and proclaim Christ by word and deed.

Adapted from Crossway.com: The Most Important Part of Youth Ministry

Wednesday Worship:

Wednesday Worship:

Wednesday Worship:

Wednesday Worship:

Wednesday Worship:

Monday Morning Humor:

Monday Morning Humor

Monday Morning Humor

Monday Morning Humor

Tough Question: Are people born gay?

No adequate scientific evidence exists that suggests an individual can be "born" with a same-sex sexual orientation. Nevertheless, the testimony of those struggling with same-sex attraction reveals that the attraction and sense of sexual interest can come very early. Indeed, it can come so early that many people cannot pinpoint how early such an interest appeared.

Christians should not run from this question. Biblical theology reminds us that the consequences of the fall are so comprehensive that we should expect sin to impact everything from our self-centeredness to molecular structure. If a biological cause or genetic link explaining same-sex attraction is ever discovered, Christians should be among the least surprised. Such a finding would certainly inform our pastoral understanding and approach to persons with a same-sex orientation because we recognize that sin even affects our biology. Such a discovery would reveal what will likely be a lifelong struggle of sexual interest and personal identity, even for someone who knows Christ as Savior and seeks to live in holiness before him.

That being said, an analysis of the current data reveals no adequate scientific evidence for a "gay" gene. Furthermore, most geneticists believe that something as complicated as sexual orientation is not likely to be simply traced to a single gene. That is simply far too simplistic an understanding of human genetics.

While I believe no-one is born gay and there has been no scientific evidence to prove the claim that an individual is born gay we all have a broken sexuality. The Biblical narrative is abundantly honest about the brokenness of humaniy. The Bible is straightforward in its depiction of sexual sin-from adultery to incest and bestiality to same-sex behaviors.

Paul's classic statement in Romans 1 sets the issues squarely before us. Homosexuality is linked directly to idolatry, for it is because of their idolatry that God gave them up to their own lusts. Their hearts were committed to impurity, and they were degrading their own bodies by their illicit lusts. Their idolatry-exchanging the truth of God for a lie, and worshiping the creature rather than the Creator-led God to give them over to their degrading passions. For here, those given over to their degraded passions exchanged the natural use of sexual intercourse for what God declared unnatural. At this point, Paul was dealing explicitly with female homosexuality.

The women involved in lesbianism were not and are not alone. Men, too, had foreited natural intercourse with women and have been consumed with passion for other men. The acts they commit are without shame. As a result, they received the penalty for their idolatry within their own bodies.

The Biblical witness is clear. Homosexulaity is a sin against God and a direct rejection of God's intention and command in creation. All sin is a matter of eternal consequence. The redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ is the only hope for sinners. On the cross, Jesus paid the price for our sins and served as the substitute for the redeemed.

Our response to persons involved in homosexuality must be marked by genuine compassion. But a central task of genuine compassion is telling the truth, and the Bible reveals a true message we must convey. Those contorting and subverting the Bible's message are not responding to homosexuals with compassion. Lying is never compassionate-and ultimately leads to death.

In the end, the church will either declare the truth of God's Word, or it will find a way to run away from it. It ultimately comes down to trust. Do we trust the Bible to tell us truthfully what God desires and commands about our sexuality? If so, we know where we stand and we know what to say. If not, it is time to admit to the world that we do not have the slightest clue.

January Parent Newsletter 2016:

Upcoming Activities:

1.      Sunday, February 7^th: Super Bowl Party at 6:15 PM in the Youth Room. We will provide pizza and drinks. Cost: Side dish to share with everyone.

2.      Saturday, February 13^th: Serve Stanleyville 1:00-3:00 pm. We are in need of drivers to help deliver the baskets to the widows. If you are willing to drive please send me an email. Thank you.

3.      Wednesday, February 17^th. We will begin a 4 week study on Sex, Purity, and Holiness.

Dear Parents,

I want to begin this article with a shocking statement: I am not a fan of sexual abstinence pledges or True Love Waits. Allow me to explain.

You’ll have a hard time finding a more passionate advocate for sexual abstinence than I. Beyond the biblical parameters that confine sex within marriage, the practical benefits of abstaining from sex are innumerable. Can you conceive of the global economic, social, and public health benefits of a world where no person had sex, except with the one person to whom they were committed for life through marriage?

Because I am a champion of sexual abstinence and of adherence to God’s design for biblical sexuality, I have a recommendation for the church: let’s put the purity rings on the bench for a season. Better yet, maybe we should consider finding a cozy spot in the recycling bin for the virginity pledge certificates. Let’s declare a moratorium on the various forms of publicly committing to sexual abstinence.

I know this may sound antagonistic or counterproductive, but here are my reasons for urging Christian communities to reconsider this practice and why I will not be teaching True Love Waits or urging our teenagers to engage in purity pledges:

1)    Virginity pledges generally do not work.

Over the past decade, a number of studies have examined the efficacy of virginity pledges, showing that they have little to no impact among religious teenagers. The most publicized initial study, published by then Johns Hopkins doctoral student Janet Rosenbaum, found that religious students who signed virginity pledges both had sex before marriage and had their sexual debut at about the same rate as religious students who did not take the pledge. One study found that eighty-eight percent of pledgers had sex before marriage. Further research found that students who already had a deep religious commitment prior to the pledge succeeded in abstaining from sex, while pledgers without great spiritual devotion failed. In other words, the ring itself had no bearing on a child’s sexual behavior. Their spiritual maturity determined whether or not they would remain obedient to God’s commands in this area, irrespective of the pledging.

2) Purity pledges tend to focus on sexual intercourse and not overall sexual obedience.

At a 2006 Youth Specialties Conference, Real Sex author Lauren Winner emphasize the importance of not making intercourse the sole focus of sex education within churches. Two problems arise from such accentuation.

First, students may engage in an array of sexual sin- pornography, masturbation, oral sex, etc.- but dismiss this as acceptable because they have not crossed the coveted virginity threshold. Is a young person really better off entering marriage as a virgin but having looked at pornography every day?

Secondly, once a student breaks the pledge and has sexual intercourse, well, it’s all over. Why repent? Winner emphasized the notion among young people that once they have engaged in intercourse, they had less motivation to resist afterwards because they were no longer a virgin. The had failed in the purported goal of sexual obedience- to enter marriage as a virgin- and had little reason to repent down the road.

The New Testament condemnation of “sexual immorality” (Mt. 15:19, Rm. 13:13, 1 Cor. 5:1, Gal. 5:19, Eph. 5:3, Col. 3:5, etc.) uses the Greek term porneia. Porneia, refers to sexual intercourse outside of marriage and any way in which sex becomes an idol. God calls Christians, not only to abstain from premarital sex, but also to repent from the aforementioned manifestations of sexual idolatry.

3) They associate righteousness with external behavior rather than the blood of Christ.

The language of purity pledges very often includes talk of entering marriage “pure” and “clean” or with a “clear conscience.” Unfortunately, even if by God’s grace a person does enter marriage having abstained from premarital sex, they still are not chaste. Jesus makes clear in the Sermon on the Mount that any person who has lusted sexually after another person has committed adultery [1]. When we consider sexual sin at the heart level, rather than through a behavioral lens, no person approaches marriage sexually pure. We all have sinned sexually. Purity pledges imply that righteousness can be achieved through one’s ability to adhere to a code of conduct. In reality, “purity” comes only through the blood of Christ. Through Jesus, God makes sinners white as snow. We never should suggest to young people that their “purity” originates in their efforts. This message is particularly important for young people to hear, given that everyone will sin sexually and everyone will need to remember God’s forgiveness along the way.

4) Emphasis is usually on our effort rather than our dependence on God.

I cannot think of a more difficult temptation to resist than that of sexual temptation. Scripture validates the powerful allure of lust in 1 Corinthians by saying that we should “flee” sexual immorality [2]. Don’t resist, don’t fight, but we should physically remove ourselves from this type of temptation. Thus, we are no match for sexual temptation out of our own strength.

Purity pledges tend to emphasize the commitment of the young person. The decision, signified by the certificate or ring, is central. Given our desperate need for God’s help in such a challenging struggle, greater attention needs to be given to God’s commitment to us. When we face temptation, God pledges to give us a way out. When we are caving, God promises us the Holy Spirit to lead us away from sin. When we fall, God commits to forgive and restore us in our contrition.

conclusion, because I am a champion of sexual abstinence and of adherence to God’s design for biblical sexuality, I have a recommendation for the church: let’s put the purity rings on the bench for a season. Better yet, maybe we should consider finding a cozy spot in the recycling bin for the virginity pledge certificates. Let’s declare a moratorium on the various forms of publicly committing to sexual abstinence. Instead of focusing on sexual intercourse let us focus on overall sexual obedience. Instead of focusing our righteousness on external behavior, let us focus on blood of Christ. Finally, let us teach dependence on God as opposed to depending on our own efforts.

Beginning Wednesday night February 17th we will begin a study on God, Sex and Holiness. This study will not be a sexual abstinence study but will rather begin a discussion on purity, sex, holiness and God for you to continue to have within your homes. Instead of focusing on sexual intercourse we will focus on overall sexual obedience. Instead of focusing our righteousness on external behavior we will focus on the blood of Christ and finally we will focus on dependence on God in the battle with sexual purity rather than our own efforts. Please invite any and all teenagers out to join us. If you have any questions or concerns I would love to talk with you about this further please do not hesitate to email or call.