God Is Not Afraid Of The Dark:

Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. (1 John 5:4)

There is plenty of darkness in the world to make any of us tremble.

Cancer ravages our families, killing half a million more every year in the United States alone. Divorce continues to rip apart families, and leave young children frantically treading water emotionally. Pressures are mounting in our society to demonize and suppress Christianity. Racial tensions and conflict seem to be surging after years of perceived progress. One hundred thousand babies are aborted every day around the world.

And underneath all the darkness we can see lies an even darker, more terrifying darkness. The apostle Paul says, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). An entire system of spiritual darkness — spearheaded by Satan himself, carried out by hordes of demons, and influencing every corner of the earth — rages right below the surface of our everyday lives.

How do we live with any hope while we drown in all of this darkness?

Darkness Is Really Dark

If we have found Jesus, we don’t have to hide from the dark anymore — no matter how dark our days become. God sent his Son Jesus “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:79). His light doesn’t make the darkness any less dark; it just conquers every shadow with something stronger.

That means we don’t need to pretend the darkness isn’t dark after all — that cancer isn’t really devastating to a family, that divorce doesn’t really shatter everyone involved, that abortion isn’t really a decades-long genocide — that whatever darkness you’re facing personally isn’t really that hard or painful or scary. But we also don’t need to face the darkness alone.

“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). And in Christ, he has shined his light into every hidden corner of our darkness. He was not afraid of the dark, but came into our darkness. He left the safety of heaven to walk in the shadows with us — to die in these shadows, so that we might leave them behind.

And then he rose from the darkness to prove that the darkness had been stripped of its power — in the name of Jesus.

God Overcomes the Darkness

And because this Jesus, your Jesus, conquered the darkness, you too can overcome the darkness in this world. The apostle John writes, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome [the worst in the world], for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Jesus says, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Do you believe him? Even as you watch the stream of discouraging and depressing news in our nation and from around the world? Even when you stare at the trials and suffering in your life?

Your God has overcome this world. And in his name, you have overcome this world. “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith” (1 John 5:4).

Darkness in You

God is not afraid of the darkness in this world, and he is not afraid of the darkness in you. When he found us, we were not only trapped in darkness; we “loved the darkness rather than the light” (John 3:19). One reason the darkness around us is so terrifying is that we see so much of ourselves in it — our weaknesses, our fears, our brokenness, our sin. For many of us, no darkness is more intimidating than our own.

But if we have put our faith in Christ, “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts” — not just out there in the world, but in each of our hearts — “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). In the same way, he turned on the blinding sun in a galaxy of darkness, he opened the eyes of your heart to see his glory in his Son. He banished your darkness, and made you a lover of the light.

The remaining darkness in you trembles at the sound of his name. Sing “Jesus” over all of your fears and insecurities, over all of your guilt and shame. Enjoy the freedom and forgiveness of walking with him in his victory. And then run back into the darkness to call others into the light.

God Loves Messy Church:

The world is teeming with anonymous saints who labor unnoticed on their little plot of God’s kingdom. There’s nothing splashy about them. No one uploads a YouTube video about their cutting-edge ministry. Their churches aren’t towers of awesomeness. The ministers aren’t famous. But here, in the shadows, in the simple rhythm of song and response, prayer and praise, preaching and baptizing, the unimpressive church does Christ’s work.

And to see it, all we have to do is open our ears.

If you want to see what God is doing in his church, pluck out your eyeballs and stick them in your ears. One of my sainted professors told me that. And he was spot on. “Godsight” is different from eyesight. None of us, for instance, having walked by the scab-covered, dog-licked Lazarus, would’ve seen him as better off than the rich, well-fed guy. Obviously, our eyes say, that bum on the street didn’t make God’s friend list. But he did. Our eyes don’t tell us that; our ears do—ears tuned to the frequency of God’s Word.

So if we want to see the Lord at work, we need to put our eyeballs in our ears.

My ears saw the work of God in the hut of a Ghanian man in the heat of Ghana. A small group of bearded old men, university students, and this American huddled together. Up front was a table covered with a simple white cloth. On top sat an open Bible, a silver cup, a plate. On the wall hung a wooden cross. Our pews were folding chairs. During the reading of the Gospel, a meowing cat sauntered in and had to be shooed away by one of the worshipers.

Here, in the half-lit, mold-smelling bowels of the earth, surrounded by people the world doesn’t give a rip about, I stumbled on the splendor of the kingdom. This was none other than the house of God; this was the gate of heaven. In this unpromising place, colored with gray simplicity, Jesus radiated jaw-dropping glory. He descended among us not to be served, but to serve, and to pour his life and salvation and forgiveness into us. In this ugly-duckling church, the Lamb of God showed up to robe us with the beauty of holiness.

I saw it all through my ears.

God Makes His Home in Our Mess

Throughout the centuries—from Jacob’s Bethel to Moses’s tabernacle to St. Whoever Church—God’s workplaces have always shared one thing in common: they’re messy. Jacob himself was the mess at Bethel. A lying, thieving, heel-grabbing runaway whom God nevertheless loved. The tabernacle, which must have looked and smelled like a butcher shop, was a bloody mess. And churches today? I don’t need to tell you what a mess they can be. Just read the news.

God says to us, “Mi casa es su casa.” My home is your home. And we proceed to drag our messes inside. There is blood on the floor from those of us who crawl here after a week of battling addiction, grief, shame, failure. There are stains on the carpet from when we lost our lunch because we’re sick of abuse, sick of anger, or just sick of life. In God’s house are tiny fragments of broken hearts and tear-drenched pews. Here, echoing from deep within tortured souls, is the “roar on the other side of silence” (George Eliot).

In this mess of sinners, with jacked-up lives and crumbling dreams, Christ shows up week after week to do his thing: he gives us himself. Over and over, more and more. He rides into our midst Palm Sunday style: on the back of simplicity, astride normality. His home is our home. And he makes our messes his messes. Into the void of hopeless hearts he speaks words pulsating with life. He strips off the filthy rags of prodigals, washes us with pure water, puts sandals on our feet, rings on our fingers, and robes bleached white in the blood of the Lamb.

In this mess of sinners, with jacked-up lives and crumbling dreams, Christ shows up week after week to do his thing: he gives us himself.

All this he does camouflaged in the ordinary stuff of church. Hymns. Homilies. Baptisms. Prayers. Suppers. Nothing to write home about. Nothing really worthy of Instagram. But this is the way of the God of the cross. The Son who hung naked on that ugly tree, with nothing to attract our attention, and much to repel us, still walks into our assemblies in unassuming, even offensive, ways. He dares call us to repentance. He dares tell us we’re not enough. And, more surprising still, he dares to love us when we’re supremely unlovable.

What kind of God does that?

I’ll tell you: the God who is, and always will be, a bore in the eyes of the world. The God who isn’t big into bells and whistles, but loves full crosses and empty tombs. The God who labors among us far from the limelight. The God who works below the radar, where only ears that have been opened by the divine Word see what he’s up to.

God Is Doing Little, Beautiful Things

When we’re always on the lookout for the mind-blowing, new big thing God is doing in his church, we miss the old little things he’s been doing all along. And what he’s been doing all along is washing our feet when we’ve dirtied them in the pigpens of immorality. He kisses away our tears when we’ve been used up and thrown away. When, like baby birds, we open our mouth around the nest of the altar, he comes by and puts the food and drink of heaven into them. When we’re duped by the lie of greener pastures on the other side of the law’s fence, he leaves the 99, locates us, heaves us on his shoulders, and carries us home with a smile on his face. When we don’t know what to say, when words fail us, he prays in us and for us, and teaches us how to cry, “Abba, Father.”

All this he does in churches large and small, cathedrals and basements. He’s good at it. He’s been doing it for millennia. And he’s been doing it all for us. We see it through our ears. They peek behind the veil of the visible to see the invisible Lord at work among us.

The church doesn’t need to sexy herself up. She doesn’t need a membership at Gold’s Gym. She doesn’t need Botox. She might initially look unattractive. But our ears see the unseen. Our ears see the Lord of dance take her in his arms. Our ears see her as resplendent, without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. And on the dance floor of grace and mercy, she glides along in the arms of the God who loves her. We’re in that dance, we who are the body of Christ, the bride of Jesus, the church where there’s always more than meets the eye.

O Lord, give our ears 20/20 vision to see the glorious work you’re doing in the humdrum realities of our life together as your people.

How To Love Your Wife As Christ Loved the Church:

As a Christian husband, you are not left wondering or speculating about what it means to carry out your role in a way that pleases God and blesses your wife. To the contrary, the Bible provides clear guidance: You are to love your wife as Christ loves his church. In the closing verses of Ephesians 5, Paul describes how, out of love, Christ sacrificed himself to do for you what you could not do for yourself. Out of love he sanctified you to God’s purposes, to set you apart so you could live the life God created you to live. Out of love, he purified you, so he could put aside the sin that hinders you and instead give you his righteousness. He did this by the word of the gospel and through it all has a great and final purpose in mind. This is how Christ loved the church, so this is how a husband is to love his wife. Let me tease that out under these headings.

Love Your Wife with a Sacrificial Love

Husband, love your wife with a sacrificial love. I think every husband is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for his wife. Wouldn’t you? If someone was holding you and your wife hostage and said, “One of you needs to die” I’m sure you’d put yourself forward. “Take me, spare her.” Good! You’ll die for her, but will you live for her? This is not a one-time act where you get to go out in a blaze of glory and get written up in the newspaper, but a day-by-day dying to yourself for her sake.

Are you willing to make those day-by-day sacrifices? Will you hold loosely to your time so you can invest it in her? Will you hold loosely to your preferences so you can cede to hers? Will you let go of some of your dreams so she can achieve hers? Will you be utterly ferocious with your sin so you can be kind and gentle with her? Ultimately, will you live more for her good than for your own? This is not a difficult burden but a tremendous honor.

Love Your Wife with a Sanctifying Love

Husband, love your wife with a sanctifying love. Jesus died so that he could set apart his bride for service to God. You need to understand that your wife doesn’t exist first for your pleasure, your joy, or your comfort. She exists first for God. Yes, she has been set apart to you, but only so you can help her be ever-more set apart to God.

Your wife exists to bring glory to God by doing good to others. This means your task as a loving husband is to be committed and creative in helping her do this. It’s your task to help her unleash her gifts, her talents, her passions, her interests in doing good to others and bringing glory to God. Love her with a sanctifying love, a love that ensures she is being set apart to do what God calls her to do and to be who God calls her to be.

Love Your Wife with a Purifying Love

Husband, love your wife with a purifying love. If a wife is to submit it means a husband is to lead, and a key part of that leadership is leading, guiding, and assisting her along the path to holiness. This puts a call on you to grow in holiness first. How can you possibly lead her where you’ve never been or where you refuse to go? You need to identify your own sin and ruthlessly put it to death. It falls to you to lead the way in holiness, to lead the way in love, in character, in worship, in repentance, in maturity. And then you have the honor of accompanying her as she grows in holiness.

Now let’s be clear: Holiness is not about correcting all of those little flaws and foibles you find annoying. It’s not about perfectly conforming her to your will. It’s all about helping her grow in purity before God. It’s about helping her put sin to death so she can come alive to righteousness. It’s rejoicing in who God is making her to be. It’s identifying God’s grace in her life. It’s encouraging her in her spiritual growth and praising and thanking God for every bit of it. It’s helping her be as pure and holy as she can possibly be. Do you love your wife with a purifying love?

Love Your Wife with a Gospel Love

Husband, love your wife with a gospel love. Christ washes his church with the water of the word, which is the gospel, and in the same way, you are to wash your wife with the water of the word which is the gospel. This means your husbanding is to be drenched in the gospel. Your love is to be shaped by the gospel. Your voice is to speak the gospel. Your life is to display the gospel. You need to speak truth to your wife, to lead her to the Word of God, to remind her of those precious gospel truths, to pray with her, to worship with her.

Are you washing your wife with the water of the gospel? If you do nothing else in marriage, read the Bible and pray with your wife. Make this a daily discipline. There are few things God uses in richer ways than a husband and wife together in the Word and together on their knees.

Love Your Way with a Purposeful Love

Husband, love your wife with a purposeful love. Wedding ceremonies are occasions of great joy, but even then there is always just a hint of sorrow because we need to acknowledge from the very beginning that there will be an end. This is why we make vows to one another that say something like, “Til death do us part.” You may get 60 or even 70 years with that bride, but then one of you will die and in that moment, the marriage will be over. But she will not be over. Your wife will not cease to exist the moment she dies. No, if she is in Christ, her life will just be getting started. She has a glorious and never-ending future beyond the grave.

You need to keep that in view. Your task as a husband, and your great joy, is to help prepare her for what awaits her in eternity. It’s helping her become today what she will be fully then. It’s receiving glimpses of who and what she will be in glory. You, my friend, have the joy of helping her toward that great day. God has chosen and appointed you as the one who will accompany her, who will lead her, who will guide her, who will protect her, who will know her deepest, who will love her best, on her way to that celestial city.

So, Live For Her

So resolve to live for her, to sacrifice all you’ve got for her good. Love her with a sanctifying love that is committed to setting her apart for the great purpose God has for her. Love her with a purifying love that helps her put sin to death and come alive to righteousness. Love her with a love that is shaped by the gospel and whose content is the gospel. Love her with a purposeful love that fixes in your mind and heart the great day when she will be all that God has created her to be. Will you even recognize her in that day for all her splendor, for all her perfection? She will be perfect then, unblemished by even the smallest sin, undefiled by even the tiniest trace of depravity. She will be beautiful and radiant and glorious beyond belief.

Christ awaits the day when he will present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. That is his great goal and he longs for that day. Shouldn’t you then fix in your mind the image of you presenting your wife to Christ? “Here is the wife you entrusted to me. Isn’t she radiant! Isn’t she beautiful! I’ve loved her. I’ve sacrificed for her. I’ve washed her with the word of your gospel. I’ve seen her grow in righteousness and holiness. And now I present her to you.” What an honor, what a blessing, that God has chosen you to accompany her to that place, to that day.

Don't Be That Guy:

We can invest the rest of our lives plunging deeper into the writings of the apostle Paul to get a better view of the glories of Christ to delight our souls.

In Paul’s letters (as elsewhere in the Bible) we are told glorious indicatives of truth like Christ is the Creator and Sustainer (Colossians 1:16–17), who was incarnated and died as our propitiation (Romans 3:25), was raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3–4), and he inaugurated the new creation (Colossians 1:18), as he ascended to his sovereign throne (Colossians 3:1). And by faith we are united to him and his power!

In Christ all of these truths of grace are ours (2 Corinthians 1:20). And these glorious truths feed our souls and give rise to all the manifold commands from God that bring focus and direction to our daily lives in the form of apostolic imperatives.

Don’t Be [Blank]

Amidst all the glorious indicatives, some 30 times Paul tells us “don’t be” certain people. Don’t be this guy; be that guy. Don’t be this gal; be that gal. And every time he tells us what not to be, he’s also pointing us to what we should be, based on who we are in Christ. Here’s my paraphrase of the full list:

Don’t be strutting around arrogantly in life; learn to live in fear of God (Romans 11:20).

Don’t be conformed to this age; be transformed by the renewing of your mind to know God’s will (Romans 12:2).

Don’t be slack in serving Christ; serve the Lord enthusiastically (Romans 12:11).

Don’t be arrogant around others; associate with the lowly (Romans 12:16).

Don’t be conquered by evil; conquer evil with good (Romans 12:21).

Don’t be indebted to one another; except in the love deficit toward one another (Romans 13:8).

Don’t be divided by error; be united in the same conviction (1 Corinthians 1:10).

Don’t be deceived about sexual sin; immorality damns souls (1 Corinthians 6:9).

Don’t be a slave of man’s opinions; you are a slave of Christ (1 Corinthians 7:23).

Don’t be flesh-driven idolaters; be Spirit-guided delighters who reject temptation by God’s grace (1 Corinthians 10:6–13).

Don’t be overly concerned about your own good; seek the good of others (1 Corinthians 10:24).

Don’t be childish in your thinking; be holy but wise about the workings of evil (1 Corinthians 14:20).

Don’t be deceived about the influence your friends have on you; circle yourself with wise friends (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Don’t be married to an unbeliever; find a spouse who lives in the light of Christ (2 Corinthians 6:14).

Don’t be deceived by immediate gratification; sow wisely, knowing you’ll reap later (Galatians 6:7).

Don’t be deceived by empty-headed arguments; God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient (Ephesians 5:6).

Don’t be partners of those who live in the shadows of evil; walk as children of God in the light (Ephesians 5:7–9).

Don’t be foolish about your life; understand God’s will (Ephesians 5:17).

Don’t be drunk with alcohol; be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

Don’t be frightened by your opponents; stand firm in the God who will deliver you (Philippians 1:28).

Don’t be conceited toward one another; in humility consider others as more important than yourselves (Philippians 2:3).

Don’t be consumed with self-interest; be consumed with the interests of others (Philippians 2:4).

Don’t be a worrier; be thankful in everything (Philippians 4:6).

Don’t be bitter toward your wife; love and cherish her (Colossians 3:19).

Don’t be driven by the lust-filled desires of the world; be driven by desires fitting of your redemption in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:5).

Don’t be duped by people who say Christ already returned; keep anticipating the day (2 Thessalonians 2:2).

Don’t be quick to rebuke an older believer; encourage him like you would a father (1 Timothy 5:1).

Don’t be too quick to appoint and anoint church leaders; keep yourself free from confirming people in sin as you pursue your own personal purity (1 Timothy 5:22).

Don’t be ashamed of suffering for Christ; share in his suffering as you rely on the power of God (2 Timothy 1:8).

Defined by What We Are

In these dozens of ways, Paul paints the contours of the Christian life with darkened shadows of opposites — teaching us what to be by warning us what not to be. Again, the point of the list is not to find our Christian identity in what we’re not. Rather, our identity is rooted in what we are: united to our glorious Savior. Out of his work and power can we be told, “Don’t be that guy.” “Don’t be that gal.”

And in these juxtapositions we better understand the will of God for our lives, as we live out of the power of Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf.

Four Reasons It Is Important To Be A Part Of The Local Church:

4 good reasons it’s important to be part of a local church:

1) We tend to drift spiritually when not connected relationally:

A church is not required for salvation and spiritual growth, but without it, both become more challenging. Without the Church as the foundation (the organized body of Christ in some fashion), the message of Jesus travels much slower.

When we drift from a community of believers, the human mind begins to rationalize. “I love God, and He loves me, I don’t need to go to church.” That’s true, but it’s only a half-truth, and half-truths often lead us down a dangerous road.

The other half is the overwhelming evidence that when you are connected to a group of committed believers, the likelihood of your continued spiritual growth is exponentially higher.

2) Christianity was never intended to be an independent endeavor:

The nature of Christianity is essentially relational. The primary relationship is between God and man – God and woman. That relationship was perfect until broken by sin. (Genesis 3:1-19) The relationship was restored by a covenant (relationship), through Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3). That covenant promise was fulfilled through Christ, also a personal relationship.

Christianity was never intended to be a “Lone Ranger” proposition. We need each other. There is no perfect church, and there are no perfect Christians, but together we help each other become the persons God intended us to be.

3) Our shared gifts, talents and resources make us stronger:

None of us are as strong alone as we are together. The spiritual gifts listed in passages such as Romans 12:4-7, Ephesians 4:11-12, and I Corinthians 12:4-11 paint a great picture of how we work together and strengthen each other.

I can’t say it better than what is written in Ephesians chapter 4.

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

4) God ordained the Church as His organized plan for redemption:

Jesus is the sacrifice for redemption; the Church is the plan for redemption.

It’s a powerful thought that God ordained only two institutions. Marriage and The Church. That makes them both incredibly important, and it seems wise that we know what God has in mind for each one.

10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Ephesians 3:10-12

Redemption has always been God’s purpose, and He appointed the Church to carry out that purpose.
If Church is God’s idea, then for believers, it’s worth more than academic consideration or participation during the holidays. Your life becomes deeper and richer as you give your whole heart to the people and the mission of the Church.

Never Give In:

On October 29, 1941, Winston Churchill delivered one of his most famous speeches to the boys of Harrow School, his alma mater. And the most memorable lines from this speech are these:

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. 

We must to remember the context of this speech. War had been raging for two years. France had fallen to the Nazis, along with numerous other smaller nations. Soviet Russia was reeling under a massive German invasion. The United States was trying to avoid sending its boys to death (Pearl Harbor would occur in five weeks). Britain was standing largely alone as the bulwark against the violent tidal wave of Hitler’s ambition. The days were still dark (or “stern” as Churchill preferred) and ominous. There were some rays of hope, but victory was by no means certain. Germany still had the momentum.

As Churchill addressed an auditorium of frightened young school boys who might soon be facing bullets as soldiers, and a frightened British public who were traumatized by the devastating bombs of the German Luftwaffe and demoralized by discouraging reports in the press, he did not speak words of consolation, but of exhortation: never give in. This was far more than a call for endurance; this was a call for relentless courage and take-it-to-the-enemy moxie.

We Are at War

We are at war. When Jesus called us as disciples, he not only delivered us from the domain of darkness (Colossians 1:13), he drafted us into his war against the darkness (Ephesians 6:11–12; 2 Timothy 2:3). War is not a metaphor for the spiritual reality we experience; it’s what it is. If anything, the earthly war is metaphor for the spiritual reality, though more accurately, earthly war is one horrible way the spiritual war manifests in the physical realm.

If we don’t believe we are in a war, we will be ill-prepared for what’s coming or disillusioned about what has happened. In war, conflict, hardship, risk, and suffering are the norm. The Bible tells all faithful followers of Jesus to expect them (John 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:12), because we live like sheep in the midst of wolves (Matthew 10:16); we live in enemy territory (1 John 5:19). If we don’t believe we are in a war, we will keep trying to make peace with the devil, thinking we’re doing the right thing.

Despite Churchill’s continual warnings of the growing German threat throughout the 1930’s, most of Britain’s leaders lived in denial and excoriated Churchill’s “warmongering.” As a result, they led the British public to believe in a false security. In 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed an agreement with Hitler and came home proclaiming “peace for our time.” Less than a year later, woefully unprepared, Britain was forced to declare war on Germany.

We are at war, not peace. We must recognize the signs of the times (Matthew 16:3). We must watch with biblical discernment the movements of the enemy and not be ignorant of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). I of course am not speaking of people, but principalities and powers, “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). This is not a time to secure peace. This is a time to engage in war.

Expect to Fight

Those of us who live in affluent regions of the world will need to fight just to view life as war. Affluence conditions us for comfort. It conditions us to expect abundance and convenience and leisure and entertainment. It encourages us to aim for material security.

But a soldier doesn’t live a balanced or secure life. A soldier lives a focused life of strategic sacrifice. A soldier lives for one overriding aim: victory for the Cause.

In peacetime, we expect to live in peace. An enemy attack is an unexpected shock to those who expect peace. In wartime, soldiers expect to fight. An enemy might spring a surprise attack, but soldiers are not shocked that an enemy attacks. Such is the nature of war: enemies attack; soldiers fight. Fighting is the vocation of a soldier, wherever he’s deployed, whatever his individual assignment.

In peacetime, we give ourselves to civilian pursuits, whatever most advances our individual or family interests and prosperity. In wartime, we must not entangle ourselves in civilian pursuits because we are devoted to one overriding aim: victory (2 Timothy 2:4).

Jesus came to make peace possible between a holy God and sinful man, and between redeemed people of every ethnicity and background (Ephesians 2:14–16). But he did not come to bring earthly peace to the devil or those given over to him, but rather a sword (Matthew 10:34).

And those of us who follow Jesus must not only pick up our crosses (Luke 9:23), but also our swords (of the Spirit) and armor (Ephesians 6:10–17). Because we will fight.

What Encouragement Sounds Like

A year before his speech at Harrow, in even darker (sterner) days, immediately following the heroic deliverance of 335,000 British and French troops from German capture in the Battle of Dunkirk, Churchill encouraged the British Parliament and people, as well as the world, with these words of resolve:

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

This is what encouragement sounds like. Encouragement is not just tender consolation for the suffering, it is strong exhortation to the fainthearted. This is how we should speak to each other in wartime, especially when the shadow of evil is cast over us. This is not a time to give in to fear. It is not a time for despair. This is a time for resolve. It is a time, not for posturing and swagger, but for a humble, Jesus-trusting, Word-grounded, Spirit-filled determination. It is a time for holy Christian moxie.

Man Your Post

For we are at war. War with the forces and effects of the powers of hell is hellish. It’s ugly, cruel, disorienting, and violent on numerous levels. This present darkness is out to destroy us, those we love, and as many people around the world as possible, body and soul.

But we have far more reason for hope than Britain ever had in the early 1940’s. Victory is certain. The enemy is attacking on many fronts, yes, but he is also in retreat. The kingdom of Heaven has been advancing for two millennia, and will relentlessly continue until the full number of saints have been rescued from satanic capture (1 Timothy 2:4; Romans 11:25; Revelation 6:11).

And you have a post to man, assigned by our Lord. It does not matter how prominent your post is. It does not matter how difficult your post is, how intense the fighting at your place in the line. It does not matter if you survive the battle, for you will ultimately survive (Luke 21:18). What matters is the Cause. That’s what our lives now are about.

So man your post with all your might, whatever it is. Stay alert, and do not neglect your responsibilities. Do not defame the Commander, hinder his Cause, or harm your comrades by devoting yourself to civilian or sinful pursuits (2 Timothy 2:4).

Stay at your post till you receive orders for redeployment. When that happens, serve your replacement as best you can, then pick up your weapons and move to the next deployment, regardless of how obscure the post. Or patiently and prayerfully wait for your orders, regardless of how long. Remain in active service until you receive your divine discharge (2 Timothy 4:6–8).

And fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12). Fight! As far as it depends on us, let us be at peace with all men (Romans 12:18), but fight the spiritual forces of wickedness to the death — for we will never die (John 11:26). If the enemy takes the beach, let us fight him in the fields. If he takes the field, let us fight him in the streets, refusing to surrender.

And let us trust our Supreme Allied Commander with overall strategy and force deployment. He knows what he’s doing and will bring the enemy down. For our parts, let us be faithful at our posts and resolve to never, never, never give in.

Do The Next Thing:

Years ago, Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015) popularized an old poem—the commonsense simplicity and clarity of which have encouraged many anxious and weary saints.

From an old English parsonage down by the sea
There came in the twilight a message to me;
Its quaint Saxon legend, deeply engraven,
Hath, it seems to me, teaching from Heaven.
And on through the doors the quiet words ring
Like a low inspiration: “DO THE NEXT THING.”

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity, and guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, do the next thing

Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand
Who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,
Leave all results, do the next thing.

Looking for Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering, be thy demeanor;
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing.
Then, as He beckons thee, do the next thing.

The Pleasures of Sex Are for Christians:

In 1 Timothy 4:1–5, Paul confronts certain ascetic false teachers who believed that sex in marriage and eating foods freely were at best for second-class Christianity. Paul called these false teachings demonic.

First, the false teaching, as Paul summarizes it in verses 1–2 and the first part of verse 3:

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods . . .

Then, Paul’s response, starting in the middle of verse 3:

. . . that [that is, the marriage and the food] God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

For those who know the truth of the gospel and who revel in the word of God concerning the all-satisfying glory of God, and who pray (“Hallowed be your name!” Matthew 6:9) and dedicate everything to God, the sex of marriage and the pleasures of food are made holy — that is, they are set apart from the sinful use of the world and made pure and precious and beautiful by participation in the goodness of God.

Unembarrassed by the Bible

We are not supposed to be embarrassed by the forthright sensuality of sexual love in marriage as the Bible portrays it — sometimes graphically.

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. (Proverbs 5:18–21)

It is no shame that “a man’s ways are before the eyes of Lord” as her breasts fill him at all times with delight. This is why God made her that way and him that way. In fact, that this delight in her is “before” the Lord — in the presence of the Lord — points to the truth that all our joy in what God has made is meant to be a delight in God. There is something of his glory in all the glories of the world.

We are not meant to revel in his creation instead of him or more than in him but because of him, and because there is something of him in all that is good and beautiful. The heavens are telling the glory of God. We are to see it. And worship him. So it is with the breasts of our wives. The breasts are telling the glory of God, the goodness of God, the beauty of God, and more. We are to see it. And worship him.

Let the Song Stun You

The Song of Solomon is in the Bible, among other reasons, to make sure that we take seriously the exquisite physical pleasures between a bride and a groom as a picture of Christ and his church. The point is not that we nullify the physical pleasures of this Song by seeing it as a full-color image of Ephesians 5:22–33. The point is that we let the Song stun us that God would design such a relationship between man and woman — from the beginning — as the image of the covenant-keeping pleasures between Christ and his church.

Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. (Song 4:5–7)

Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus. Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses.

How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights! Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine.

It goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth. (Song 7:3–10)

This is part of what Paul had in mind in 1 Timothy 4:3–5, when he said, “God created [food and sex] to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. . . . It is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” Sex is for “those who believe and know the truth.”

The Pleasures of Sex Are for Christians

We might lose sight of this, since Hollywood has ripped the curtains off the sacred marriage bed and turned a luxuriant, holy pleasure into a cheap spectator sport. We might be tempted to think that, since sex is so sinfully misused and is so universally undermining to the all-satisfying beauty of Christ’s holiness, maybe we Christians should have nothing to do with it.

Paul says the opposite. It is the world that has stolen what belongs to believers. Sex belongs to Christians. Because sex belongs to God. “God created it to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” If it is used by those who do not believe and know the truth, it is prostituted. They have exchanged the glory of God for images (Romans 1:23). They have torn sex from its God-appointed place in the orbit of marriage. But they do not know what they are doing. And the price they will pay in this life and the next is incalculable.

The pleasures of sex are meant for believers. They are designed for their greatest expression by the children of God. He saves his richest gifts for his children. And as we enjoy his gift of sex, we say, by our covenant faithfulness to our spouse, that God is greater than sex. And the pleasures of sex are themselves an overflow of God’s own goodness. This pleasure is less than what we will know fully in him at his right hand. And in it, we taste something of his very exquisiteness.

When the preciousness and pleasures of Christ are supreme, all dimensions of sex, including experiencing pleasure, seeking pleasure, giving pleasure, and abstinence from pleasure, will all find their biblical and Christ-exalting expression.

Everything God made is good. Everything is for the sake of worship and love. And this is true both in the feasting and the fasting. In the sexual union and in abstinence. Sex is made for the glory of Christ — for the Christ-exalting glory of covenant-keeping faithfulness in marriage, and for the glory of Christ-exalting chastity in singleness. It is always good. Sex is always an occasion to show that the Giver of sex is better than sex.

Uncomfortable Church:

Seeker-friendly Christianity tried to revive the church by infusing it with the logic of the marketplace. Hipster Christianity tried to revive the church by obsessing over newness and relevance. Both of these approaches were efforts to address Christianity’s PR problem, attempting to convince an increasingly secular population that Christianity isn’t as weird, stodgy, traditionalistic, legalistic, homophobic, judgmental, anti-intellectual, regressive and conservative as they thought it was.

An admirable goal, to be sure.

Yet as typically happens the pendulum with these approaches swung too far in the other direction, to the point that Christianity became more about apologizing for itself and affirming the culture than about extolling Christ and transforming the culture.

Rather than pointing confidently to the way of Christ, the church has narcissistically critiqued itself and praised the culture, all while Christ is relegated to a supporting actor role. In our echo chamber we’ve busily churned out books and blog posts about all the things we’re bad at and all the ways we can learn from Breaking Bad, Buddhism, David Foster Wallace, and [insert a Zeitgeisty pop culture item here]. But apparently we’re too bored (or ashamed) to bother with what we can learn from the Bible (ugh, so clichéd!).

Instead of celebrating the fact that Christianity has contributed good things to the world for two thousand years, the increasingly unpopular church feels the need to talk only about the bad things she has done. Rather than drawing from her rich heritage of time-tested tradition, today’s church chooses to adopt last week’s fashion so as to be relevant again.

We’ve become bored with our story or just ignorant of it, and so naturally others have too. We’re a bride who forgets why she fell in love in the first place. We’re a bride who often takes off her wedding ring in public. We’ve lost eyes to see the loveliness of the covenant we are in because we’re too preoccupied with how skeptical onlookers see us. We assume the only way hipsters and seekers and anyone else might like us is if we offer a “safe place” Christianity, one with endless caveats, asterisks, apologies, and trigger warnings (and fair-trade coffee).

Yet seeker-friendly and hipster Christianity failed to invigorate contemporary Christianity because they’ve been too embarrassed to lead with the admittedly uncomfortable truth that a Christianity with no teeth, no offensiveness, no cost and no discomfort is not really Christianity at all. It attracts the masses to something vaguely moralistic and therapeutic, but mostly just affirms their “eat whatever fruit you want” freedom and status quo comfort.

On the contrary, uncomfortable church is what grows and stretches and builds the body of Christ to be effective in the world. It may be seeker unfriendly, but it will be friendlier to seekers in the long term because it will actually transform them.

Dear Other Millennial Youth Pastors:

Dear Other Millennial Youth Pastors,

I do not know about you, but lately, it seems as if many people these days have a lot to say about millennials and this specific generation. It does not take long to hear that others think that millennials are irresponsible, do not demonstrate commitment, live in their parents’ basement, do not like to work and the list could go on and on.

It is true, many millennials could fit into the different categories that people have given to us. At times, I am even eligible of some of the accusations that older people give to millennials, like being dependent in different situations on my Smart Phone. However, we must fight the temptation of becoming bitter toward these people who complain about millennials and stop partially blaming them since we could view it as they are the ones who raised our generation. Instead, we must set an example for them.

In the New Testament, we have a clear example of a man who was younger than most people he was serving. In today’s society, maybe this scenario would have looked like a millennial serving in a baby boomer congregation. The interesting thing is when the Apostle Paul wrote to this young man, he did not tell him to try to please those who were older than him or even to try to fulfill their expectations for him. Instead, Paul exhorted Timothy to set an example.

Paul commanded Timothy in his letter by stating “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” It is striking to consider that Timothy could not control other people’s decisions to look down on him. Does this sound familiar to how people view millennials today? Yet Timothy could, by God’s grace and strength, control how he chose to live. He had the opportunity to live his life in a way that set an example for the older people who loved Jesus by what he said, how he lived, the way he loved, his faith in Christ and the purity which could be evident in his life because of a relationship with Christ.

So, my fellow millennial youth pastors, let us not grow bitter toward others’ opinions about us. Instead, let us set an example for believers of all ages as we seek to live our lives and lead our ministries in a way which proclaim the greatness and glory of our savior Jesus Christ.

I hope this encourages you.

Sincerely,

A Fellow Millennial Youth Pastor

Week 4: SHARING OUR STORY

Parents, 

Good Afternoon. We have an exciting week in CREW.

1) Color Testimony Sharing. THIS WEDNESDAY. If your son or daughter is coming to CREW on Wednesday night, he or she will need a white shirt and be prepared to be covered in color dust (think color run dust). We will be using this as a way to share our testimonies on social media.

2) Camping Weekend in Galax, Virginia. Friday-Sunday afternoon. Cost: $10. We still have spots available just let me know if your son or daughter would like to come. Tents are provided.

3) Youth Service THIS Sunday night at 6:30 pm in the Sanctuary. ALL CREW students are encouraged to participate. We will meet in the Sanctuary at 5 pm to go over our songs. Dinner will be provided.

Below is the weekly email on what we are learning this summer in our SHINE series:

Dear Parents,

We are continuing to learn more about how to shine for Jesus! This week’s Shine episode is entitled “Sharing Our Story.”

In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus challenges us to be open with our lives and shine for Him. Here’s how The Message paraphrase says it:

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

Sharing our own faith journey toward Jesus with others can help move them to consider Christ, because it makes the gospel personal and relatable and demonstrates Jesus’ life-changing impact firsthand. So this week we’re learning how to briefly share our own personal faith story with others—this is often referred to as a “testimony.”

This week…

Pray! Pray for your teenager’s friends who don’t know Jesus. Pray for your student’s efforts to share their faith story with others.

Engage. If you’ve never shared your own faith journey with your teenager about how you came to trust in Jesus, this week would be a great time to do that! As you talk, consider asking them…

• How do you think sharing your faith story with others fits into being a “light-bearer” and “going public” like Matthew 5:14-16 says?
• Since you started the Shine series at youth group, do you feel like you’re getting better at being a light to those around you?

·         How can I pray for you?

Thank you for praying for and engaging with your student this week!