A Prayer For Our Nation

Lord God, today I seek your face to lift up the people of the United States of America before you in prayer.

God I want to begin by praising you and thanking you. You alone are worthy of our worship and praise (Ex 20:1-6). You alone are our source of true comfort (2 Cor. 1:3-7). You alone are over the nations both when they prosper and when they rage (Job 12:23, Ps 46:8-10). It is because of this I want to give thanks to the One to whom it is due.

God, you have done a mighty and unique work in this nation. From it's founding, you directed imperfect, yet godly men to create a government according to principles and statutes found in your Holy Word. In their writings, they quote you far more than any earthly man. Because of this, the work of America in history, and all other nations, is your work.

I thank you for our freedoms. Initially, men fought and died to be able to erect a government that accorded with Justice and Righteousness. A government where there was equality under the Law, as your Word commands (Lev. 19:15-16). God, as we know from studying history, that it took almost 100 years for this nation that you raised to fight another war. In this Civil War, it was anything but civil. Father against son, brother against brother, blood was shed to fully realize the words that were penned at the start, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Father, many men who claimed your name falsely believed that they could treat another image-bearer as mere property. Under the leadership of President Lincoln, this slavery that was an affront to you was abolished, and you were honored and glorified by this. However, the stain of slavery ran deep, and this war did not bring full equality. African-Americans were mistreated and discriminated against, something you repeatedly condemn all throughout your Word. It would take another 100 years for the Civil Rights movements to take hold and win systemic legal victories, another huge step forward toward achieving those words in the Declaration. God, as we know, we as a nation still are dealing with the after-effects of those deep sins against you and against your image bearers.

I thank you for directing our nation away from these sins and toward equality as your Word would have us. I thank you that we are all now free- free to worship, free to speak, free to defend ourselves from harm, among so many wonderful freedoms, the price of which is vast and immeasurable. I thank you that there is no legal discrimination against our fellow men of any ethnicity, and that there is finally equality under the law. You alone God can direct a nation is such a trajectory and I acknowledge before you that your goodness has triumphed and prevailed over a great many things in this nation. Thank you, I praise your name for this.

God I turn, now to concerns I see in this nation that you've raised up according to your will. God, there is so much division, strife, enmity, and confusion among the people. Over the past few years, there have been what might very well be dozens of high profile altercations between African-Americans and police officers. In some instances, justice was upheld, either for the victim or for the officer, but sometimes, as is likely to happen in this fallen world, justice was not upheld and your word disregarded, and we weep over this. We also take heart in that you will always judge evil, even if it reigns here on earth, you will judge it and it will be made right. My concern lies with how Americans deal with Truth.

Father, many worldly ideologies have crept into the minds of these people over the past 100 years. Ideologies that do not value the things you place value on. God, you say in your word that you abhor lieing and deceitfulness (Prov. 12:22). If we are to honor you, we must prioritize truth, truthfulness, and truth-telling. However, post-modern ideologies are rampant that state that truth is in the eye of the beholder. This is contrary to your Word, and it is a lie that Satan has used to corrupt many hearts and minds in this current culture. This has caused ethnic divides, men and women influenced my politicians and media outlets to view the same facts and come to opposite conclusions. Truth does not prevail, as we are swept away by our emotions, and carried further and further away from one another by worldly ideologies. Even many Christians have fallen prey to these ideas, setting false gods of ethnicity, anger, and division, on the throne of their hearts in place of you. I pray for these men and women to turn their hearts back to you, God.

Lord, I ask that your Spirit invade the hearts of the people in this nation over which you reign and place in our hearts and minds a commitment to you and to the truth. I pray that you give us a deep sense of guilt for the sins that we commit. Sins of responding too quickly without hearing both sides (Prov. 18:13, 17), sins of calling evil good and good evil (Isa. 5:20), sins of rejecting Truth for lies (Rom. 1:25) all must come under condemnation and contrition before your holiness, God. I pray that you embolden your pastors and teachers in this nation to condemn these errors, and bring unity to those to whom you have placed earthly care for your sheep. I pray your Spirit convict the people and open their eyes to their sin and pave the way to salvation.

God, once again, I turn this conversation to thanks, but this time I'd like to thank you for your plan of salvation for us, wretched sinners. God, you save us while we are enemies of you (Rom. 5:10). There is no God like you! We are all sinners, but more than that we are slaves to sin (Rom. 6:20) and enemies of you and your holiness and righteousness. Only a perfect sacrifice could ever make us clean before your eyes and you sacrificed Jesus Christ on the cross to be that sacrifice (Heb. 10:11-14). You did not leave us to our sinful demise, you made a way of rescue. Through Christ, the bonds of sin are loosed and we are free to glorify, honor, and worship you in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:24). As the Apostle Paul divinely inspired said: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me. God, these words are true, they happened! Jesus took our sins to the cross to die, and when he resurrected, he resurrected us into new life with him and with you! Praise you, for we do not deserve this! God, open the eyes of this people to the truth of Jesus, of his sacrifice for us, for the salvation he brings. In the church, we have all peoples worshiping you as one, unified, righteous people (Eph. 2:11-22).

I pray this for our nation, as your salvation is truly our only hope. The gospel of Jesus Christ reconciles us to you, but it also reconciles us to one another, all people as equal sinner, as equally in need, and as equally made righteous by his death, burial and resurrection. And this is the hope of all nations, including ours.

I pray all these things in the great and glorious name of Jesus Christ,

Amen.

Offered by Jesse Gruber

Science Makes A Bad God

If there is anything that we can glean looking at the state of the world these past few months, it is that our faith in human institutions is so often misplaced. It seems that our governing institutions and organizations have had no real grip on the reality of the coronavirus problem, giving the American people varying and even contradictory information on a daily to weekly basis. It is this phenomenon I want to examine in this article here. "Follow the experts," has been the motto since the beginning of the pandemic, but no one puts qualifiers on that phrase. "Follow" but for how long? On the basis of what? What happens when they say opposite things? These are valid questions, and we must analyze them.

The Limitations of Science

There has been an endeavor over the last 100 years to blot out any rationality of the supernatural in education in general, but particularly in higher education and elite circles. The rise of Darwinian theories provided man's evil heart with a scapegoat from the reality of God's existence, and drove generations into redefining reality based only on what we could experience with our 5 senses. Science never ceased to be an expression of worship- only the object of worship had changed from God, to man. With that endeavor, we have produced a class of elitists sitting on high, telling us what we need to know, and now, for the first time in the history of our nation, the people are ill-equipped to analyze Elitist decrees with any sort of authoritative rationality.

We must regain our ability to critique the elites. We must understand the limitations of the scientific studies our lives are now governed by and, when necessary, humbly reject bad ideas and practices.

The practice of science is laid out by the scientific method. As defined by Merriam-Webster, the scientific method is as follows: principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. This pursuit, as Brittanica notes, is applied to many different fields of study. No free-thinking individual has qualms over the scientific method. It is a useful tool that has helped us study and understand a great many things. However, science is not God, and because it is not God, we should not totally bow ourselves before those who practice the scientific method as having the ultimate authority. That belongs to God. Scientists must humbly stay in their lane.

In a wonderful debate, William Lane Craig is challenged by atheist Peter Atkins on the total sufficiency of science. Atkins actually describes science as "omnipotent," I'm assuming he did this as an intentional jab at Craig, for Craig, like all Christians, holds that God is the only omnipotent being. View the 2 minute clip below:

For your own benefit here are the 5 things Craig sites that science can't do:

1. Logical & mathematical truths cannot be proven by science. Science presupposes logic & math so that to try and prove them by science would be arguing in a circle.

2. Metaphysical truths like, there are other minds other than my own, or that the external world is real or that the past was not created five minutes ago with an appearance of age, are rational beliefs that cannot be scientifically proven.

3. Ethical beliefs about statements of value are not accessible by the scientific method. You can’t show by science whether the Nazi scientists in the camps did anything evil as opposed to the scientists in Western democracies.

4. Aesthetic judgments cannot be accessed by the scientific method, because the beautiful like the good, cannot be scientifically proven.

5. And finally, most remarkably, would be science itself, science cannot be justified by the scientific method. Science is permeated with unprovable assumptions. For example, in the special theory of relativity—the whole theory hinges on the assumption that the speed of light is constant in a one way direction between any two points A & B—but that strictly cannot be proven, we simply have to assume that in order to hold to the theory.

As you can clearly see, there are huge swaths of reality, including science itself, that cannot be subjected to the scientific method. Science is not all there is. It is not "omnipotent." Things that are not omnipotent make bad gods. It means you have to have multiple gods to make up for the deficiencies in the one, or the one is more like you than like a true God. Why believe in something that cannot even account for its own existence and processes? Science makes a bad god.

Real World Failures

We see the failures of science so poignantly in these past few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. With initial estimates of over 2 million deaths, scientific models were wildly apocalyptic, leading to the shut down of the entire world. Everything stopped. Everyone stayed home, afraid. Since that time, and as we have had more data available, models have been revised. Thankfully, 2.2 million is a gross overestimate. I do not feel the need to chronicle for you all the changes in the models on an almost daily basis- you've lived through it and experienced it. The Governor would get on the mic one day saying one thing, then two days later it'd be a different story entirely. Then Monday hits and we've got another story to add to the mix. It's been an emotional and scientific roller coaster for sure.

Models are not "omnipotent." Models and predictions fall in the realm of mathematical theory that attempts to predict what will come based on what we see now. This means that as we gather more data, and feed that data into the models, the results become more accurate over time. Not perfect. But more accurate. These models have been closely monitored by our policy-making officials, and have been used to dictate to us (the citizens) what we are to be doing on any given day.

Knowing that science is not omnipotent, knowing that models can be (and have been) wildly inaccurate, knowing that anything that involves a man's heart can be warped for their own personal agendas, why would we trust these models and policies?

There is only one true God

Science is not omnipotent. God is omnipotent.

Science cannot make accurate predictions of the future. God is omniscient- he knows the future with absolute certainty.

Science has limitations to its usefulness and application. God is bound only by his perfect character and nature.

Science cannot account for itself. God is eternal and timeless. Beyond that, God has revealed himself to us in the Bible so we can know him.

There is only one true God, and that is the God of the Bible. He never fails (Deut. 31:8). He is perfect and righteous (Psalm 18:30). He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things (Col. 1:17). He is not apathetic- he cares about the plights of mankind (Psalm 103:13-14). I could go on and on and on, but as the Apostle John mentioned, the world could be filled with books about Him, and it would still be insufficient. But here's a song that, if you pay careful attention, will cause you to bow humbly before our great and sufficient God:

God made science, you should place your trust in Him.

To view science as anything other than as a tool to learn and discover more about the world in order that we may give more and more honor and glory to God, the Creator is to view science wrongly. Please note what I am not saying: I am not saying that science is bad. I'll repeat myself from earlier- science and scientific inquiry is good, and we must acknowledge that. But we must keep science in its lane and not elevate it to a supremacy which it does not hold. If we do, we are committing a sin against a holy God.

In fact, it is because God is who he is that we can trust and use science at all. God's consistent character- his omnipotence, omniscience, goodness, etc- bears itself out in scientific methods of inquiry. The scientific method is reliable (when applied rightly to a thing), because the God above science is reliable. Therefore, we must not put science and God against one another as if the one didn't stem from the other to begin with.

Application

Now, the important question- What then must we do?

1. We must know and acknowledge the limitations of science. We cannot do the important work of identifying where science is being elevated to god-status if we cannot speak to what lane it needs to stay in- that is to say- it's limitations.

2. We must humble ourselves. We must subject ourselves to the truth of that saying "You have to know that you don't know what you don't know." We do not and cannot know everything, and anyone who claims total knowledge is probably trying to manipulate you. Additionally, we must do this step prior to moving on to the next step.

3. Engage the lies both humble and informed. This means you have to do the work to know and understand the limitations of science, then apply them to analyze the claims that are coming at you. Learn what the qualities are of a trustworthy study or paper. Learn how to spot a bad study. Learn how to spot the biases of the authors. This requires some digging, but is oh so important.

4. Question everything. I think that all scientists would actually agree with this statement, though I wonder how many would actually do it. As you learn more and more how to process and critique information coming at you, don't accept or reject it until you've put it through the process of critical examination. Learn to develop and ask the right questions to get to the truth of the matter.

5. Know when to disengage. The world's problems cannot be solved in Facebook/Twitter threads. We have to acknowledge and accept this. Before entering into a discussion, determine how much time you want to spend on it, then humbly bow out at that time. I've lost so much precious time replying to 70+ comment threads. It makes finding truth harder and pulls you away from truly fundamental endeavors.

6. Ask God for clarity, and worship Him when He answers your prayer. It amazes me how often we forget to pray, as if we could do anything on our own. All truth is God's truth, and he wants truth to be known. Asking for clarity is what I call a high-probability prayer. Some prayers have a high probability of being answered because the nature of the question falls squarely in line with God and his character. This is one of those.

Hopefully this has been a refreshing journey for you. As always, feel free to reach out to discuss or disagree with this post and we'll do our best to get back to you.

Daffodils Don't Care (Find Freedom From Worry)

This world, and our nation is in a panic. COVID-19 is a global pandemic, and has killed tens of thousands of people and infected hundreds of thousands more across the world. As a healthcare worker, there is much to be concerned about. Hospitals have been rationing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like surgical masks and N95 masks which help protect us from airborne illnesses. Many among my friends and family are concerned, worried, or even downright panicked. But as I walk into work each day, I walk by hundreds of daffodils, each displaying their own beauty without a care of the coronavirus. Seeing them reminds me of a fantastic lesson Jesus teaches his disciples.

Hundreds of daffodils line the entrance to Jefferson Hospital in Washington Township.

With headlines of impending death and trillions of dollars in economic stimulus packages, you might find yourself among those who are feeling a great deal of anxiety. I'd like to show you how to find peace. I want to show you God. So, let’s take a look at this wonderful passage on anxiety and worry straight from the mouth of Jesus. So put on your walking shoes and come outside. Jesus is going to take us on a walk.

A Walk In The Garden

Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life...

In Matthew 6:25-34 (see also Luke 12:22-34), Jesus tells us not to be anxious. Not to worry. About anything. How can that be? There is one answer to that question, and two examples Christ points to to help drive His point home. His point: God is sovereign over all things, therefore, you have no need to worry. His examples: birds and flowers.

"Consider the ravens," says Jesus, "they neither sow, nor reap, they have neither storehouses nor barns, yet God feeds them." Birds are not like us. They are far simpler then us. We plant crops. We harvest crops. We can manufacture food from ingredients. Birds can do none of these things. They can't store food in winter. They have to rely on what's in front of them- the things God provides for them.

Wildflowers are no different, and, in many ways, they must rely on God's goodness even moreso than the birds. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." Flowers do not control the sun. They do not control the water. They do not control the soil they are planted in. If they need more sun or more shade, they cannot walk and move to a better area. They cannot control the pollinators that come and help the plants raise up a new generation. They cannot control when they are harvested and used for food or dye for clothing. They cannot control who walks on them and tramples them. They cannot control the insects that eat them. But God does. "But if God clothes the grass," says our Savior, "how much more will he clothe you? O you of little faith!"

Ah, there's the word. Faith. This is where I may lose some of you, but you should keep reading.

Faith & Anxiety

What is the connection between faith and anxiety?

In what is perhaps the most poignant chapter on faith in the Bible, Hebrews 11:1 begins this way: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Immediately, before you get to lost in the "things not seen" portion of this verse, I'd like to quote Romans 8:24: "For in hope we have been save, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?" Two things before moving forward. 1) Faith brings assurance, not uncertainty and 2) we place our faith in things that are not seen, or else it wouldn't be faith.

Ironically, both the nature of faith and the nature of anxiety have to do with things we cannot see. In our post-Christian culture, faith, as it is, is looked down upon. Naturalistic worldviews would have us doubt in anything but our senses, but this is simply naïve. We have faith in a great many things on a daily basis.

• We live as though we will wake up every morning- we have faith in our bodies to not spontaneously shut down

• We don't second guess the numbers we see in our bank accounts - we have faith that the banking system will not spontaneously drain our funds

• We expect our cars to start when we turn the ignition - we have faith that the mechanisms in place in our vehicle are in good working order

• When we sit in a chair, we expect to sit in a chair (not land on the ground!) - we have faith that the chair will do it's job

All these things have something in common- we exercise our faith on things that we understand to have expected outcomes, despite our seeing or knowing how every detail of those things work.

I am not a biologist. I am not a banker. I am not a mechanic. I am not a physicist or woodworker. I have such limited or lack of knowledge about how any of those things work. Yet I use those things, enjoy those things, and rely on those things every single day.

On the converse, anxiety borrows trouble, not instills confidence (like faith does). Certain fears and anxieties deal with real threats in front of us (ie- a bear is charging at us straight away). These fears are good fears, God-given fears that He has trained our bodies to react to most often without us even making a conscious decision. But there are other fears- the kinds of fears and anxieties that grip us most often. And these fears are very rarely realized, rather they become anxious over the unseen "what ifs?"

• What if I don't wake up tomorrow?

• What if someone steals my identity and my bank account is gone?

• What if my tire blows on the highway and I get into a crash?

• What if......

• What if I or someone I love contracts the coronavirus?

Yeah, it just got real. Let me start providing some insightful solutions for you before you throw yourself into a panic.

Faith in God

To place faith in God is to place faith in the Ultimate Being controlling all things. There is not a single moving molecule that God does not have complete control over. There is no other person in whom we can place our faith that brings us the level of assurance like God does. Let's examine a short verse from Isaiah and explore several different characteristics of God that make Him the best object of our faith.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. -Isaiah 41:10

Here we see at least four attributes of God that give us good reason to hope in Him:

1. God is personal - "I am with you..."

2. God is powerful - "I will uphold you..."

3. God is good - "...with my righteous right hand."

4. God is reliable - "I am...I am...I will...I will...I will..."

GOD IS PERSONAL

God declares his presence first and foremost as the reason not to fear. No other god that man has ever thought of has been so close to their worshipers as the One True God. He walked with Adam in the garden (Gen 3:8), He pledged himself to Abraham (Gen 17:7). He was with Moses (Ex 33:14) and was in the midst of the people of Israel (Deut 7:21). He was with David (2 Sam 7:9) and his sons.

His presence only intensifies from there. As the New Testament account of John opens, "And the Word (Jesus, God) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth," (John 1:14). God comes to earth to save His enemies unto himself. Then, as he ascends, he promises, "...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you," (Acts 1:8). Not only the Apostles received the Spirit, all believers receive the gift of the Holy Spirit: "...when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory," (Eph 1:13-14).

God is with us. Always. And that is the first line of protection we have against fear and anxiety.

GOD IS POWERFUL

God is near, but he is not weak. He has the strength to carry us through. He knows we are weak, he knows we are needy, he knows we cannot carry on in this life on our own, and so he sustains. With words he spoke Creation into being, and by his power Creation is sustained (Gen. 1; Heb. 1:3). He floods the earth, and he dries it up (Gen. 6-9). He sends plagues on the unrighteous and parts seas (Ex. 7ff). He raises up nations and throws nations down for his glory. He made the Leviathan and the Behemoth (Job 40-41). The wind and the waves obey him (Mk. 4:35-41). This God, this Powerful One promises to uphold us.

Powerful without personal is terrifying. Powerful without personal would mean that his powerful, terrifying Judgement is indiscriminate. It would lend itself to a capricious God, unbound and without commitments. But as we saw in the prior section, God has bound himself to us in very personal ways. God dwells with His people. He loves His people. His desire is for us. He makes himself known to us so that we can know Him (Gal 4:9). And that effectively changes how we view His power. His power is not against us. It is against the unrighteous. It judges Satan, demons, evil, and the unrepentant hearts of man. The God who, in His power, made the supernova, shields His children like a mother hen shields her chicks with her wings (Prov. 25:4; Matt. 23:37).

GOD IS GOOD

You can have a bad friend. You can have uncontrolled power. God does not, because God is good. He is not just good, he defines good. Good is unfathomable apart from God; without Him, there is no moral compass. This is true of all peoples in all times. This may surprise you because of our postmodern, post-truth society, but "goodness" is not subjective. It is clearly defined, it's definition is unchanging, and it is not defined by us, but rather by the Good God. We need a trustworthy God. A God that won't backstab us. A God that is a faithful friend we can trust. A God that won't use His power against us for our detriment. God's goodness adds another layer of predictability to God. It speaks to us in our sufferings and anxieties because it means that what is happening to us and around us will ultimately work out for our good if we are truly a child of God (Rom. 8:28). This gives us hope in suffering. Without a good God, there is no hope in suffering. Every alternative is mindless, purposeless, meaningless, but not so with God.

GOD IS RELIABLE

Without consistency, these other attributes are less of a comfort. We do not make a practice of putting our faith in unreliable things. Only the foolish do such things (Matt. 7:24-27). Rather, we put our faith in things that are things that are evidenced, things we have confidence in, as per Hebrews 11 we read earlier. God pledges Himself to His people 5 times in the one verse in Isaiah 41:10. "I am...I am...I will...I will...I will..." these are not just empty pledges. No, God is pledging Himself, and teaching us that His Word is reliable and trustworthy.

In Genesis 12 and 15 we see such an amazing pledge of God to Abraham and to all his descendants- the Abrahamic Covenant. God had Abraham cut animals in half and set them on altars in two rows. Abraham descended into a deep sleep, and he saw God consecrate the covenant by passing between the two halves of the severed animals. It makes a statement- If I break this covenant to you and your descendants, let me become as these animals. God sets up a concrete visual that shows us how serious He is about keeping His Word. Consider this paragraph regarding the Abrahamic Covenant from gotquestions.org :

Five times in Genesis 12, as God is giving the Abrahamic Covenant, He says, “I will.” Clearly, God takes the onus of keeping the covenant upon Himself. The covenant is unconditional. One day, Israel will repent, be forgiven, and be restored to God’s favor (Zechariah 12:10–14; Romans 11:25–27). One day, the nation of Israel will possess the entire territory promised to them. One day, the Messiah will return to set up His throne, and through His righteous rule the whole world will be blessed with an abundance of peace, pleasure, and prosperity.

God made a promise to Abraham, and He was faithful to fulfill that promise. And if He is faithful in that, He surely is faithful to us. He is with us. He is our God. He will strengthen us. He will help us. He will uphold us. His Word is true and faithful.

So... (The Conclusion)

It is my hope and prayer that you'll take that walk with Jesus. Let him take you outside, show you His creation. Stoop down with Him, look at the flowers, and know that God cares for you. Lift your eyes to the sky, see the birds, and know that God cares for you. Wake up in the morning and take that first breath, and know that God cares for you. He is faithful. He is good. He is powerful. He is personal. And He takes care of you. Coronavirus or not.

Now, these are all conditional. It is also my hope in prayer that these truths make you curious. You, the reader, will fall into one of three categories.

1. You are a Christian, and know these things are true, and live them out. During these uncertain times, you live confidently, as you know your God reigns over all things, and will not let anything happen that He does not have control over.

2. You are a Christian, but you are stumbling, falling, forgetting who God is and what He has done for you. You forget that God keeps His promises. You think He is going to withold from you His presence or His goodness. You're forgetting, dear one, who God is. So for you, you must turn your eyes to God. Repent of your little faith, and become faithful again so you may find the peace to be a productive son or daughter of God, and with the comfort with which He comforts you, you also may comfort others (2 Cor. 1)

3. You are not a Christian, viewing these truths as an outsider, and are quite frankly confused by all this. You also must repent, but your repentance is much deeper. You can have this peace that God gives to His children, but first you must become His child. To do this, you must acknowledge that God is revealed in His Word, and that He acts as the final Judge and Jury of the evil in this world. You must acknowledge that your heart and desires are sinful- that you are a sinner, and that you cannot save yourself. You must acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God, and that He is the Father's rescue plan for all of humanity. Sid demands payment- it requires your life. On the cross, Jesus exchanges your life for His, conquering sin and death. You must believe this. You must believe that He rose again 3 days later, for what good is a dead God? He lives, and reigns over all things, according to the Word of God.

When you believe these things, confess your sins to God himself. You don't need a priest. Jesus is the Great High Priest. Talk to Him.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our ins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

"If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved...Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame...everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9, 11, 13)

Do this and find peace.

Modesty Q&A With the Ladies

These past few weeks we’ve been in 1 Peter at Missio Dei Church and we’ve covered some pretty sensitive topics when it comes to our roles as men and women of God. We found ourselves in 1 Peter 3:3-6:

3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

We did a good bit of work in the sermon itself which you can listen to here if you’d like to catch up on the context. We also have a link to the sermon notes you can access here. We ended with an Interview with Rebecca Gruber to give us some practical points on Biblical Modesty. As a method of deeper connection, we thought It’d be a great resource to have a written Q&A to reference as an additional resource. Bonus Content- we are having Patricia Gruber jump in on the action as well.

Rebecca Gruber is a wife, mother of a daughter (and two sons) and a woman. Patricia Gruber is a wife, mother of two sons, and a grandmother. Both women are so much more than these things, but these things offer some clear qualifiers on how they interact with this topic. Also, as previously stated and probably obvious from the qualifications, they are women. Most importantly they are women who love and serve Jesus with their lives. So here is our discussion:

Question: For some context, how did you interact with the concept of modesty growing up? How was it taught and how did you live out your understanding of it?

Becca:  I think the first thoughts regarding "modesty" came when i started at Christian school in 7th grade.  There was a strict dress code of long skirts, no shorts or pants. I kept pretty much to it pretty easily,  but got in trouble a few times for too short or too tight clothing. But in typical teenage form, thought they were being ridiculous.   I had an underlying desire to impress boys for sure, knowing early on that the way I dressed caught attention in certain ways. I remember sneaking clothes out of my older sisters closets. My senior year of high school into my years of college, I believe is when I really started to take my faith and character seriously. I think I started seeing the difference of being set apart from the crowd,  and started serving in youth group. I believe then,  I started taking ownership for myself and my actions,  and just didn't follow the crowd. Modesty became less about rule following and more about being a good Christian girl and setting a good example for the youth group kids i was serving. I still didn't get it right all the time though. 

Pat: Growing up, modesty wasn't much of an issue for me. I just didn't think about it. I lost some weight when I was a junior in high school. I can remember some of the clothes I wore were fairly immodest but not consciously. Then came the first really legalistic church I went to as a young mom in my mid twenties. I worked out like a fiend and, was fairly fit. My sister and I shared wardrobes and wanted to be super stylish. At the time this meant short shirts and leggings. I was taken aside by the pastor and asked not to wear leggings. I was teaching K through 2nd grades in AWANA. I was very offended. I felt like it was the man's responsibility to control his thoughts. My body was covered in my opinion. I was fit and I wanted to look good. The envious stares made me feel good about myself. I never thought about what God might have thought. I think some of my outfits were chosen out of rebellion against the legalism. 

Question: With some life behind you, and having physically and spiritually matured, how has your idea of modesty changed? What is modesty to you now?

Becca: Surprisingly, I think I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out.  I know modesty isn't about a dress code and it isn't about what others think of me.  I am a mom of 3, and struggle with how my body has changed after children and life has taken over, and I'm not really looking to get people's attention the way I did in high school.  My focus has shifted to now having a daughter that I not only need to be an example to, but also to teach her what God thinks of her and how she carries herself. It's tough raising kids to get them to understand there are rules,  but that there is rationale behind those rules. It's so easy to slip into the mindset that we need to dress a certain way in order to be modest, so easy to check the box and fall back into my legalistic ways. But God calls us to be holy and set apart,  that starts in our heart and desire to please him, and when we do that, the outward appearance will follow.  

Pat: My understanding of modesty changed first when Becca started dating Justin. They had been dating for a short time when I realized that Becks never drew attention to her body by the way she dressed. She was always beautiful but never overtly sexy. I remember actually offering her some of my clothes to wear out with Justin and she would put them on and they did not fit her the way they fit me. But even when pressured she wouldn't wear them or would wear something over them. It really impacted me because this young woman was dating my son. It dawned on me that I didn't want him tempted to think wrongly about her. I wanted him to honor her. The way she dressed showed she respected her body. From that point a light started to be turned on for me. At that time, I was clinically depressed for over a year. It was a turning point in my whole life. My heart was changed and my love for God became more love than duty. I was freed from the legalistic teachings I had known but I found myself wanting to be more modest as a result. I started taking cues from the way Becks chose to dress. With a second son growing up and dating I was definitely growing in love toward Jesus and away from myself. It's a long process. I'm still in it. But I turned my desire to be stylish into a challenge to be stylish but modest. I cringe inwardly when I think of how I used to dress and am ashamed. 

Question: When we think of modesty, it often is thought of as outward appearance. Is this thinking correct and is biblical modesty the same thing?

Becca:   When you look at context of these passage in 1 Peter, it talks about adorning the outside vs adorning the hidden person of the heart.  It's so easy to get caught up in necklines and hemlines, when really all Jesus wants is our heart to be towards Him. I personally struggle with still thinking that since I've covered up all areas, then that is what is pleasing to God,  when really God wants my heart, not my weak attempts at good works.  

Pat: I thought it was. But I learned that to actually dress modestly without being legalistic requires alot of work from the heart. When 1 Peter talks about it being the hidden person of the heart and a quiet and gentle spirit, I didn't think that fit me at all. I'm still not sure it fits me. It's so much more than how I dress. It's how I act and talk. It's what I make important in my life and how I communicate it. Clothes are definitely a form of communication. 

Question: When thinking through physical appearance, what is a Christian to use as a guideline? (Is there an actual dress code or something?)

Becca: I've had hard time thinking through this the past few days. I understand the concept of working on my heart first,  but I find comfort in rules and guidelines. I think we can look at other scripture passages of loving each other well to figure out what works.  I certainly wasn't loving the administration of my strict Christian school by pushing the limits, or loving my boyfriend by being a distraction to draw attention or make him feel a certain way.  My body shape isn't the way I would like, and sometimes I wonder if I would dress differently if it was, but I think regardless of insecurities, if I'm pursuing Jesus, then I wouldn't be comfortable in something that doesn't ultimately work towards His glory in me and others. 

Pat: Hahaha…. No. No dress code. It's like everything else when you follow Jesus. It comes from the heart. It's a heart project. Modestly transcends age and body type because it does come from the heart. Thinking through why am I wearing this? Do I just want attention? Does this reflect the value God places on me as His daughter? But you know, the weird thing is after awhile you don't have to think about it as much because those choices aren't even "in the closet". But modesty still involves things like: Am I too sloppy? Am I caring for my body in proper ways? Am I honoring my body? Am I trying to look like I'm younger than I am? 

Question: As two mothers, what is so important about teaching Biblical Modesty and how can the church do it well?

Becca: i don't know. I'll let you know how it works out in 20 years.  🤣 i definitely think I'm heavy on the rules right now in our house. This conversation and topic has really got me thinking of how we've got to always be teaching and showing our daughter how much her heart matters,  her faith, and her worship of God and not herself or some ideal. I think our church and community can do it well by praying for us, cuz parenting ain’t easy! But for real, I think by us all reinforcing the pursuit of holiness, it will be evident in our kid’s lives as well.  We also have two sons. I want my life and how I carry myself to be a good example of what they look for in friends and girl friends. We want to teach then where to look and that women are to be valued and honored as fellow image bearers. 

Pat: I think of it mostly regarding my grandaughters and the sisters in the family of Missio Dei. I want them to know the joy of loving Jesus and living the full call of being a woman that follows Him. I want them to be modest because they understand that God values them and their bodies have a real purpose. I want them to be so grounded in that that they don't need to feed on the attention of being sexy or flashy. I want them to be loving Jesus so much that all they are thinking about is serving Him and loving others. Both in how they dress and act. There is so much freedom and joy to be found in living like that. 

Question: From your perspective, how can God’s men interact with biblical modesty? Is this an important topic for them to understand?

Becca: I think when you look at Scripture as a whole,  we're all in the same boat. We are a sinful mess and we need a Savior,  Jesus. Men need to engage in this as brothers in Christ and dads or uncles or friends to us girls.  But, like any sin struggle, we need to try to engage each other's hearts and point each other to Jesus before we fix the outer issues.  I think guys are on a tough spot on this culture when dealing with how a woman dresses. But that's why being in community is so important. We're not alone in this. 

Pat: I think it's very important. Men should want modesty for the women in their lives, especially their church family. It should be encouraged and praised. In a group, men can appropriately express their thanks for women that cause Jesus to be seen in their lives even through the way they dress. It doesn't have to be some creepy thing. Men can  be aware they communicate what they value about women by remarks they make. Also husbands should encourage it in their wives and we should want to receive that from our husbands. Not in a way that a husband would make his wife feel embarrassed or ashamed by what she's wearing. But wives, please, invite your husbands into discussions of modesty. We all need to remember who we are, our identity in Christ. My body is not mine, it's been bought with a price and I'm to glorify God with my body. It's not for anyone to "catch a peak" of something private. It's not to be shown off cheaply. I'm to be a crown to my husband and glorify my Savior whether I have a husband or not. One of the sad things I think of sometimes is a man I knew who used to love it when his wife dressed very sexy. It made him feel envied by other men. I feel sad for a man who is willingly to put his beloved on display in that way. As I explained in the beginning I shouldn't want that kind of attention for my own gratification if I didn't have a husband. We want the men in our community to honor  women in a respectful and caring ways. We should want to receive that honor and reflect it by our actions and our words and our clothes.

In Closing

Thank you for taking the time to read some personal testimonies from two of our wonderful women at MD. We hope you’ve been built up and encouraged by their words. As always, you can find this sermon from 1 Peter on women at missiodeinj.com/podcast, along with a host of other great audio resources.

Ready Made, Already Finished - Easter 2019

But teach me that I cannot satisfy thy law,
that this effort (to satisfy the law on my own) is a resting in my righteousness,
that only Christ's righteousness, ready made,
already finished, is fit for that purpose

Christ's righteousness ready made, already finished. That is the message of Easter.

I want us to ponder those words. Meditate on them. Memorize them. This is the crux of our faith. Christ's righteousness, ready made, already finished.

For millenia prior to the cross, it was only the shedding of bloody sacrifices that could cleanse people from their sin. At the cross, the Bloody Sacrifice was made in our place. He took our sin, the cup of wrath that we so deserved directly from the Father's hand and poured it on himself on the cross. With his resurrection, he put the period at the end of the sentence. Satan sits, mouth agape at the empty tomb. The victory that was his, is his no longer. No grave can hold the Savior of the world. Jesus is not a still-dead sacrifice. He's alive! He rose, conquering not only the grave, but sin and death itself! A final sacrifice.

And yet, here we are, a church, a people bent on trying to save ourselves. Each time we rely on our own strength. Each time we neglect to pray "Lord, do this work." Each time we put ourselves above others. Each time we neglect to do what's right. Each time we do the wrong thing because if feels right. Each time we put things off til tomorrow. Each time we refuse to share our burdens. Each time we refuse to enter into each other's suffering.

Each time we say "I'm sufficient. I can do it. I don't need Him. I can do it."

The culture tells us this in bold faced billboards and commercials. Be you. You can do it. You are strong.

But we are not. Strength is not the state of natural man. Brokenness is. And it is because of this, we need to meditate on the completed work of Christ this Easter, no, every day.

Christ's righteous stands in utter contrast to our wretchedness. And he offers it to us so that we can stand before the Father Justified- never to receive the cup of wrath from the Father's hand.

Christ's work is finished. It is already here. We do not have to search for it in other things. It is in an open hand. It is in the pages of Scripture.

May we live each day fully grasping that only Christ's righteousness, ready made, already finished, is fit for that purpose of taking our dead hearts and making them alive. Not you. Not your spouse. Not your good works. Not your kids, your family, your job, your righteous works. It's not enough. But the Author and Finisher of our faith has done the work. It is ready made for you. Repent. Believe.

Spiritual Disciplines Resources- Stewardship

Another week, more resources for you. This past Sunday, Justin taught on the discipline of stewarding your time and your money. I say “your” lightly. It’s not “yours,” it’s all God’s.

1. Jonathan Edwards preached a wonderful sermon on the preciousness of time and our use of it. Unfortunately, there was no audio or video recording of this, as Edwards preached the sermon in 1734. However, we can be thankful for the art of written sermons. Here’s the quote from Edwards that was in this week’s sermon to whet your appetite:

Eternity depends on the improvement of time. But when once the time of life is gone, when once death is come, we have no more to do with time; there is no possibility of obtaining the restoration of it, or another space in which to prepare for eternity. If a man should lose the whole of his worldly substance, and become a bankrupt, it is possible that his loss may be made up. He may have another estate as good. But when the time of life is gone, it is impossible that we should ever obtain another such time. All opportunity of obtaining eternal welfare is utterly and everlastingly gone.

You can find the entire sermon here.

2. Tim Challies wrote a wonderful book on productivity called Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity. In it, he defines productivity as “effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God.” We’re currently studying this book in MD|men, and if you would like to learn how to steward your time in an effective way, I highly recommend picking up a copy. It’s a short read too, so there’s that.

3. Head on over to Crown to check out tons of free and paid material on taming your finances and career. According to Crown’s vision, they “Aspire to be the most effective organization in the world at training God’s followers to be good and faithful stewards.” So set aside some time and browse their site (click on the resources dropdown) for some good content.

4. This list wouldn’t be complete without a personal recommendation from yours truly. Perhaps the best (and briefest) book I’ve read on stewarding money comes in the form of Money: God or Gift by Jamie Munson (a former pastor at Mars Hill Church RIP). This book will guide you through both the theology and practicality of what stewarding your money means. All in about 150 pages of easy reading.

Spiritual Disciplines Resources- Worship

I’ve been struggling with specific “worship” resources this week because, as Justin taught, worship encompasses many of the Disciplines we’ve already covered. So today you’ll be linked to several albums that have launched my heart into worship of God. Music that holds God up high, placing him where he should be so that our worship flows directly from him in all his majesty.

1. Stephen Miller // Behold - I was browsing Instagram this week and a respected pastor I follow posted great things about Stephen Miller’s new album so I checked it out. Each song contains such wonderful lyrics in direct worship to God that I had to place this at number 1. I don’t often listen to worship music, but this one is definitely worth checking out.

2. Beautiful Eulogy // Worthy - I mean, the title of Beautiful Eulogy’s new album says it all. I’m not great at genres, but this chill hip hop-esque album will cause deep reflection in your heart, stirring it toward vertical worship of God. It’s also free to download, or pay to support their efforts.

3. Shai Linne // The Attributes of God - In a similar vein as Beautiful Eulogy, Shai Linne offers a lyrical examination of the attributes of God, who God is and what that means. I can’t think of anything better to focus on for worshiping God than on him and who he is. So check this album out. We also still have some copies available of Shai Linne’s new album Still Jesus available at church for you to have as well.

4. The Saving // Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - This one is for any metalheads like me. The Saving is a solo project by some guy in Florida, but his music and lyrics are so powerful. Each album focuses on a topic or concept and runs with it. This is his most recent release and it focuses on our relationship to God and is based on that famous sermon by Jonathan Edwards of the same name.

I’d love to hear from you what things help you focus on God in worship! Let us know in the comments if you have anything to add.

Spiritual Disciplines Resources- Prayer

This week we have numerous resources lined up for you on the Spiritual Discipline of Prayer. Let’s dive in.

1. First we have an article by John Piper called Tips for Praying the Word. Here, Pastor John gives us very practical steps and examples of what it might look like to pray through a passage, thus further linking prayer and the discipline of meditation. Give it a try this week!

2. Since we’re talking about praying the word, here’s the link to one of the Elder’s favorite messages from the Living Scripture CCEF Conference from 2018. I’s called Praying Scripture: The Cry of the Longing Heart by Joe Novenson. In addition, here’s the outline that accompanied the talk. We highly recommend giving a listen.

3. The third is one of my (Jesse’s) favorite books on prayer I’ve read thus far. It’s called A Praying Life by Paul Miller. It comes with an optional study guide to guide you through different practices and really getting the practice of prayer down to an efficient yet effective system. Plus is has a forward by David Powlison so that’s a big plus.

4. Next we come to the Prayer Mate app. If you want to digitize your prayer lists, this is a great, free way to do so. Here’s what Nathan has to say about it from his time with the app: “The Prayer Mate app is a great app to keep track of all of your prayer requests. It not only keeps your prayer requests, but it also reminds you to pray for them throughout the day. It even allows you to add Bible verses and biblical prayers. It’s a solid prayer app that can be a great support to your prayer life.” So what are you waiting for? It’s available on iOS and Android.

5. Finally, we come to another article, this time written by Don Whitney himself (he’s the man behind the “tome” Spiritual Disciplines). The article is called The Gospel and Prayer and it examines whether or not the prayers of an unbeliever are heard an answered by God. An interesting and tricky question handled by a skillful theologian.

Next week we’ll be examining the discipline of Stewardship so stay tuned for more resources.

Spiritual Disciplines Resources- Meditation

Well, new year, new series and we’re already through week 1! Throughout our Spiritual Disciplines series, we want to provide you with additional resources to help you as you apply the Spiritual Disciplines to your own lives throughout the week.

We have two resources for you this week for the discipline of Meditation: Streetlights Audio Bible and BibleMemory.com

Streetlights is a fantastic app that gives you high quality Scripture readings with relaxing ambient music in the background. Readers include many spoken word/hip hop artists, including members of Beautiful Eulogy, a band we hold dear to our hearts at Missio Dei.

I recommend this to you for this reason: You’ve been charged with reading the whole book of Titus every day of this series. We’re not against getting creative here at MD, so use your time wisely. Some people need to sit at a desk with their Bible and journal open as they read, others might be helped by this audio Bible. It’s completely free so give it a try.

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Additionally, we encouraged you to highlight certain verses that interest you and dedicate yourselves to memorizing them. Biblememory.com is a fantastic tool for you to utilize memorization techniques and couple that with the Word of God. They have a free app to use with multiple Bible versions available to use for a little bit of cash.

That’s all for this week! We hope to continue updating these spaces with resources for you each week!

God's Homeless People

I should wait until this whole process is over to post…

This has been the thought pervading my mind in regards to this very post. Many times, when I consider writing or posting something, I like to write from a more knowledgeable perspective. I don’t like writing about an experience or a life event as it’s happening. It makes me feel like I don’t have control. It makes me feel incomplete. It makes me feel like I’m not qualified to talk about said experience since I haven’t finished living it yet.

I think that’s the point.

My Housing Struggle

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of stress and activity. We have been looking for a new home for our family amidst the owners of our current (my in-laws) house selling the one we’re in now. Two separate families operating on two different timelines isn’t exactly a walk in the park. While we’re packing our stuff, we’re also trying to help get the house ready for sale: cleaning, fixing, adding, removing. It has not been an easy few weeks.

Amidst all this were some health complications and crazy children on top of it all, and it has honestly brought me to my knees on more than one occasion. God, what are you doing! I cry. You see, I do not enjoy feeling helpless. I struggle with confidence mainly because I don’t want other people to think I don’t know how to do something, or think that I’m incapable of doing something on my own. I like to be self-sustaining. Ironically, God does not like me to be self-sustaining.

God has brought me through the last few years at Missio Dei, and has retooled my heart with a desire for community and transparency. As elders, though we make many mistakes, we do try to lead from this perspective as well. In my discipleship circles, I’ve learned to share almost anything, from the mundane to the extravagant with them. It truly is the, perhaps overused, phrase doing life together. All that to say, I’m honestly not quite sure why I’m having trouble sharing with you today all that I’m about to tell you. I mean, I do know why, and it’s for all the reasons I listed at the beginning. But when I sit down and just think about it, I know I have no reason to neglect sharing these things with you. You all know how broken I am. I certainly don’t need to pretend like I have it all together.

God’s Homeless People

I’m currently reading Exodus for Lent from with the website He Reads Truth. The past week or so, God’s been giving Moses detailed instructions for the construction of the Temple, along with all that goes with it. The courtyard. The relics and silverware for the interior. The Ark of the Covenant. The High Priestly garments. Reading chapter after chapter of instructions on how to build these things, the length, width and height of these things, the color of these things, the material of these things all needed to be exactly as God commanded…or else.

Moses chose skilled craftsmen of every trade to get the work done, and done well, and they built God’s house in the wilderness.

Ever since the exodus from Egypt, God made his people to be mobile. They had to pack and transport the tent during the entirety of their travels, what would be over 40 years in the wilderness prior to their settling down in Israel. Throughout that time, God provided everything the Israelites needed in spite of their own grumbling, complaining, and profaning God and His love for His people. He sent manna for them to eat, water for them to drink, and guided them with pillars of cloud and fire. While they were living in a time of uncertainty, forced to live day after day of not knowing where they were going next, God provided for them in their homelessness.

Can you imagine if God had commanded Moses to build a permanent tabernacle as he charged King Solomon years later? That thing was not built for daily tear-down and set-up! Even in the construction of God’s own house (the tabernacle), He made it mobile and ready to move.

Let’s not miss the significance of this: God made his own house and dwelling place mobile so He could always dwell in the midst of His people and provide their needs on a daily basis.

Conclusion

So here I am. In the midst of weeks of daily turmoil and uncertainty, reading through Exodus, not actually learning and gleaning the true significance and application to my own life until I finish the whole book. God is with His people through daily uncertainty and turmoil. Truly, He will never leave me or forsake me (Deut 31:6; Heb 13:5) and so I don’t need to worry (Phil 4:6) or be afraid (Ps 118:6; Heb 13:6). God has been faithful to His people since day one, and His character certainly hasn’t changed since then.

So even in uncertainty, I can still trust in my God, that, though I can’t see, and though I think I have a better plan, He’s directing my life, and this was for a certain reason and, surely, His plan is better than mine.

Toys and the Redefinition of Childhood

Edited Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

This morning as I was waiting for the water to boil for my tea, I threw on the daily podcast The Briefing by Al Mohler. This is one of my go-to podcasts for engaging culture with a Christian worldview, and Mohler is a master at teasing out worldview themes in headlines from around the world.

There was one headline Mohler respun that caught my attention this morning: The Redefinition of Childhood as Sales of Lego Products Decline. The original headline reads Lego Will Cut 1,400 Jobs as Profit Dips, Despite Big-Screen Heroics.

I wanted to highlight Mohler’s headline because it got me thinking of my own childhood. What toys did I play with as a kid, and did it really make a difference in who I am today?

Even though I find myself designing almost all of what you see at Missio Dei, I do not consider myself to be a creative person. I cannot seem to picture something in my head and make it happen like my wonderful wife can. She is an artist from a family of artists who can make even a stick figure look life-like. My brain can’t do that, but it can rearrange shapes and patterns and colors into something like what you see here at MD. Some might consider that an “artistic style” or that I don’t give myself enough credit, but whatever. I just don’t see it in the same light.

I don’t have a terribly vivid memory of my childhood, but when I hone in on what I played with and what I liked to do, it does actually lead to some interesting correlations to my likes, interests, and passions today.

To put it bluntly, I can’t play with LEGOs for my life. I mean, I can follow directions for a model (I have fond memories of building the Millenium Falcon on my shore house table one morning), but I can’t create like other people can. However, I did like to play with action figures with various outfits and gadgets, toy cars would go zooming on the kitchen floor, and many many books would be read. However, I also grew up when console gaming was really taking off. I remember owning a PS1 and PS2 and even now in my adulthood, I’ve owned both a PS3 and PS4. I immersed myself in the gaming world probably just as much as I did in the real world. I played by myself, then, when online gaming was a reality, with a worldwide community online. Hours and hours of storylines, action fighting, puzzle solving, and exploration.

But what does that mean? Does it mean anything?

The article explains how LEGO is going to increase their efforts in smartphone and other digital technologies to keep up in the digital age, but Mohler argues that spatial, three-dimensional play helps wire the brain with spatial knowledge, and “That’s simply not going to happen on a smartphone.” That’s not just his opinion. It’s a well-researched fact that the way that children, even infants, interact with the physical world is vital to their growth and development. So it would seem that LEGOs first profit loss in 13 years might actually have implications in the way our children are growing up. What will the adults of the future look like?

Ultimately, it’s a great question and one we need to consider as we continue to grow older and change life stages. I do think there are benefits of technology that can and do help our children learn and grow, but I also agree with Mohler that three-dimensional play is crucial to their growth and development.

R E S P O N D

What do you think? Will more screens = better children? Or does playing with actual physical toys promote better growth and development? What biblical principles can help guide a parent’s decision-making in these areas? Let us know in the comments below or on social media!

Doing What the Church Does

I was done, and nothing was going to change that for me. Not prayer, not Scripture reading, not anything. Life was too hard. The kids were too disobedient. Work was too stressful. I was too impatient. And the all those factors mixed up did not make anything that resembled holiness or piety for me. 

Now, I know how writing works. This paragraph is usually the one that explains at what point in my life this was (far in the past of course) and what biblical truths have brought me through this season in some sort of life-changing way. But writing has never been my strongest strength.

All these factors of stress, difficulty, and frazzledness did not take place long ago. These took place last night, in the middle of Community Group. 

Yes, that time of the week I usually enjoy as one of the high points became a time of shutting down and frustration for me. A time where I could find solace and rest in my brothers and sisters in Christ became a time where I marched angrily upstairs to help Hannah try to bathe our crazy kids. Truth be told, I wanted to be upstairs. I didn't want to be like that in front of my friends! I'm an elder for gosh sakes! I should bear a more accurate representation of Christ-likeness than this, shouldn't I?

Shouldn't I?

How Quickly I Forget

Not 3 days ago from this writing, I sat down with a group of about 10 guys and we dove into a new MD|men study on ministry and the body of Christ. The first session highlighted our neediness. It described ministry in the body of Christ in such beautiful terms. The author painted the picture of a gaggle of his grandkids all wrestling, playing, and comforting one another in a mangled up ball of limbs on his bed one morning. He points out that it was "One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen." He goes on to mention that often we think of ministry as walking side by side with somebody down a straight, beautiful garden path, but that's not often how life actually pans out. It's more like that moving body of limbs, shouts, laughter, and tears. 

This teaching was very impactful to me (and what I assume was the rest of the group judging by the lively discussion we entertained for quite some time after). It comforted me to know that we are all to be transparent and needy with one another because it is our neediness before Christ that is the beginning point of the Gospel. Without our need, there is no Cross, no Resurrection. It is central to what we believe and central to how we are to live life together.

But I forgot all this last night. I felt compelled by my pride to pretend like I had it all together, and when that failed I wanted nothing to do with the people (my friends) in my living room. I wanted to be alone. 

God's Perfect Timing

Eventually, I carried my fussy 7-month-old downstairs to try to re-engage. Can you imagine how that went? Not well. My internals were still at a boiling point. I made no eye contact. I really wasn't even paying attention to what my friends were talking about at that time. Still shut down. They asked me if I was alright and if there was anything they could do to help. I told them no, I was not ok, and no there was nothing you can do. Perhaps I've been reading too much of Job recently, but I figured God would deliver me from all this when He saw fit. No need to fight it. 

It was then a dear brother invited the room to pray for me. "Great," I thought. "This is not what I want to do right now."

But they prayed. And I listened. And I was still angry. Nothing changed. I guess God answered "No" to that one. I got up and went into the kitchen to start cleaning up the mess from dinner. Almost immediately I was joined by the rest of Community Group. "We're going to clean your kitchen dude. Take a break." Normally, I'd resist, but I honestly didn't have it in me. I marched back upstairs to help put my screaming kids to bed.

The Whole Point

Perhaps you're wondering why I'm killing your buzz, telling you the depth of struggle and depravity in my own heart. You've got your own problems, right? You don't need to hear mine. Perhaps that's true. You noticed I titled the last section "God's Perfect Timing" but you don't get it. There was no redemption. No finality. No end to the story. What's the point?

The point is this. When I walked down the stairs this morning, I didn't feel much better. Nothing had changed for me. Sometimes, like in Job, suffering persists. But when I walked into my kitchen this morning, and saw the completed work, the fruits of my brothers and sisters in Christ, it uplifted my heart.

I'm not talking about "it made me feel happy" because that's a little too simplistic compared to what happened. I saw the work they did. I thought about their question last night. "Is there anything we can do to help?" I thought about my dismissive answer. Then, to think they didn't care. They didn't care that I didn't want help. They didn't think to just go about discussing the sermon from Sunday and leave things the way they were. They didn't excuse themselves quietly from the awkward tensions of my home last night. They thought to do something. They entered into the messiness to minister to a brother and sister who really had no idea what help even looked like.

And that's the point. It's the church doing what the church does. Entering into the tangled up ball of limbs, tears, and struggles to love and comfort one another. The helpers helping the helpless. And it is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time. 

On Legalism: Some Quotes

This past Sunday, Justin spoke on legalism and Acts 11. This morning I wanted to know some of the method behind the madness and took a peek at the Sermon Notes from this lesson and found some gems that would be helpful for me to share with you. If you haven't listened to the sermon, you can listen to it below. I'll then leave the quotes with no further comment. Please listen to the sermon for further edification and clarification regarding context!

“At the moment the really important thing seems to be that you were brought to realise (in the strictest sense) the impossibility of rejecting Christ. Of course He must often seem (to us) to be playing fast and loose with us. The adult must seem to mislead the child, and the Master the dog. They misread the signs. Their ignorance and their wishes twist everything. You are so sure you know what the promise promised! And the danger is that when what He means by ‘win’ appears, you will ignore it because it is not what you thought it would be—as He Himself was rejected because He was not like the Messiah the Jews had in mind. ”

— C.S. Lewis

“If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it; for it is hard to be sought out and difficult.”

— Clement of Alexandria quoting Heraclitus

“The Legalist places the Law ahead of the Lawgiver. In so doing, he fails to enjoy the the Giver because of the assumed weight of the holy law. He seeks the Fathers things instead of the Father, and trips over the rules on his way to building a tower to the sky.”

— Justin Gruber

“Joy comes from a mental shift first and the doing of things second. (Phil 4:8 [think], 9 [do])”

— Justin Gruber

Community Group Structure and Leadership

Recently as I've been learning and growing spiritually, both personally and as a leader, it struck me that we have very few outlets to actually develop leaders at Missio Dei church. We've been around for 4 years this November, and we have yet to implement any leadership development outlets at our church. I see that as a problem, and we elders are unified about this. However, I am excited about what the future holds in this regard.

Let me tell you about step 1, and then I'll tell you why I'm excited about the future as well. 

Community Group Facilitators

The first step is to roll out a new structure to Community Groups at MD, and to create a role in which those men and women who desire to grow and lead can learn how to do so in our local context. Enter: CG Facilitators. Now, you're CG may have had facilitators in the past, but the new CG Facilitator role has a new purpose and functions within the new structure of CG .

New Structure

1. Scripture
2. Article
3. Prayer Requests
4. Discussion Questions
5. Close

These 5 things provide a more structured midweek meeting, but they can also be rearranged and contextualized depending on the needs of the group. Let's go one by one and explain what will happen in each step, how the CG Facilitator role fits in, and what leadership lessons will be learned with each section. 

Scripture

The first section is dedicated to the Word of God. The facilitator will need to come to CG prepared to share something they have been reading and learning in Scripture with the rest of the Community Group. This has several purposes. First, it keeps the facilitator in the Word and actively engaged with it. This step is a crucial leadership lesson. Second, it provides an additional opportunity for the group to glean lessons from Scripture and engage and apply the lessons to their life in the context of accountability. Third, it keeps Scripture as a central focus for our Christian thought. 

Article

Next, the facilitator will share an article or reading they found helpful throughout the week. Perhaps the article pertains to Christian living, or then again maybe it addresses a current event or cultural topic. There's great leeway in this for the facilitator to get creative and drum up something helpful and useful. This will help the facilitator learn to engage with the content that goes into their eyes and ears on a weekly basis. It will also help them understand how to read a group of people and select content for where those people are at. It also provides another opportunity for the group to engage and learn from relevant context. Just think, if nothing else changed, and a member attends Missio Dei for 30 years, they will have had the opportunity to learn and grow from others at a minimum of almost 5,000 separate occasions! Fantastic!

Prayer Requests

One of the core ideas behind our Community Groups is that we grow closer to one another as a family, and prayer requests are a great first place to start. It requires the sharer to be open and transparent about the joys and struggles of their life, and it requires the hearers to provide loving prayer and accountability for the sharer. Truly the church at work! The facilitator is active and engaged with the prayer requests and directs the time to be fruitful and on track.

Discussion Questions

Traditionally the main event at CG. However, before the #askmdnj questions, the facilitator will lead a time of recap. This means the facilitator will have had to meaningfully engaged with the sermon on Sunday, as well as be able to communicate the main themes and points across to the group as a refresher. Each member has this responsibility, technically, but this will help the facilitator learn how to stay engaged at all times, as well as provide a small opportunity to "teach back" the content to the rest of the group.

After recap, the facilitator will then need to facilitate. They will lead the discussion surrounding the questions, guide each question to a close, and begin again with the next question. Facilitating meaningful discussion is difficult, however this will be a vital skill in both disciple-making and leading other small groups in the future. Once the discussion is over, the facilitator closes the night out.

Excited!

As I mentioned earlier, we're excited to get this ball rolling, as well as to offer additional opportunities to foster leaders in the future. Our new Town Square will be a public space bustling with activity. I'm fully confident that we will be able to leverage that space as a space for public teaching next year. It can be our own little incubator for leaders to learn and grow in teaching. 

We also have several in house opportunities being developed that will be a great outlet to learn the skills of leadership, so stay tuned!

If you're interested in becoming a CG Facilitator, please reach out to John or Justin at Wednesday CG or Nathan or myself (Jesse) at Thursday CG to pick which days you'll try this out!

Thanks, God bless.

Equipped: Are Christians Responsible for the Orlando Shootings?

Oh the insanity...

Sunday morning we woke up to news of a mass shooting in an Orlando, Florida nightclub leaving 50+ dead. As we learned more throughout the day, it looked more and more like a radicalized Islamic man targeting a homosexual nightclub. 

Today I woke up to see an article headlined "ACLU lawyers blame 'Christian right,' GOP for Orlando terrorist attack" For real? Yes, for real. Chase Strangio hailing from ACLU responded to people's heartfelt condolences by tweeting:

You know what is gross - your thoughts and prayers and Islamophobia after you created this anti-queer climate.

— Chase Strangio (@chasestrangio) June 12, 2016

This type of thing infuriates me personally. This past week, Justin made reference to a particular kind of injustice that infuriates him, the kind where the good guy is perceived to be the bad guy and is treated as such. But that's the story of the Gospel isn't it? Sorry. Rabbit trail. That's just to say that's where I feel Christians are this morning. Yet another thing that's our fault that actually has nothing to do with us. Yay.

I don't have much to say this morning. It's early, and I'm out of coffee which means there will be no waxing eloquent on my part at this point. However, I do want to equip my fellow MDers with some responses to attacks against Christianity in this vein of insanity.

Is the Bible a Book of Violence?

The following video is a debate between Christian apologist David Wood and Islamic apologist Shabir Ally. David beautifully defends the Bible (and therefore biblical Christianity) from some heartfelt attacks against its character. Please take some time to listen to it this week, and share  your thoughts in the comments below.

Switching Fridays

Luke 23:44 - It was about the sixth hour and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour

In our American Calendar there are two major Fridays we highlight. They are called by different names and I think they should be switched. On Thanksgiving we gather with loved ones (or friends or strangers) and enjoy (or make do or drudge through) interactions, and finally we overeat and then pass out, but we awake (or just don't sleep) to a Friday that is a very good day for businesses. We go out and spend way too much money on things that will end up trashed or obsolete within 3 years. The businesses call it Black Friday.

    Black Friday is an accounting term. It’s simple, when you balance your books and you are in the negative (owe money) it's called being in the red. On the flip side, if you end up with a surplus (make money) it’s called being in the black. Being in the black is a good thing. It’s overall good for the business and the economy and the person (provided you spent well and can get past the feeling of buyer's remorse).

    The Friday before Easter is actually an observation of a much more meaningful day. Before we have ham and deviled eggs. Before we search for candies and baskets. Before we wear new clothes with pretty pastel coloring. Before we celebrate new life. Before we remember Resurrection. There is what we call Good Friday. It’s the day we remember the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

    On this Friday, God the Son, who added humanity to His deity and walked the earth for 30+ years, was murdered. He was tried unjustly, spoke no lies, and sent to die by simple popular opinion in a horrific way (Luke 22-23). But none of these things were the real reason He was nailed to the Cross. 1 Peter 3:18 tells us that He suffered on the Cross to “bring us to God”. That Jesus, though He was righteous, carried our unrighteousness and bore it on the Cross so that we could receive His righteousness.

God wanted us to have peace with Him, and we couldn't reach it. He wanted us to be healed from our sin, but our medicine would never be enough.

In speaking of Jesus about 700 years before Jesus ever existed, the prophet Isaiah spoke of His sacrifice. In Isaiah 53:5 we find that He carried our grief and took our chastisement so that we would have peace and healing. It was His love and my unrighteousness that held Jesus to the Cross. God wanted us to have peace with Him, and we couldn't reach it. He wanted us to be healed from our sin, but our medicine would never be enough. So He had to come and He had to live and He had to pay the price for my selfish heart. His love for me and you and the world compelled the greatest rescue mission ever, and on “Good” Friday Jesus paid for our sins.

I propose a switch. Since “Black” Friday is good for businesses, let’s call that one Good Friday. Since on the day we celebrate the payment for our sin (Jesus death on the cross) God made it black, let's call this Black Friday. If you know the freedom of His Sacrifice, consider this day a great day to pull back and remember what what our rescue cost. It’s a great day for sober thankfulness and grateful thought to our loving Saviour. If you don’t know His sacrifice or have any other questions, then today is a great day to ask. Make this Black Friday a day that you’ll learn how significant Easter Sunday is as well.

Dear Rowan- 1 Corinthians Recap

Hey Rowan Students,

It was awesome to be a part of the Rowan Vendor fair again this year. We just wanted to take a minute to invite you into our little community in your community. We are a small church with big hearts for Glassboro, and we wanted to invite you to connect with us if there is anything you need. From counseling, prayer, questions, and community, we would love to engage you and care for you in any or all of those ways. Our regular meeting times are Sunday at 6PM for a church worship service and Community groups on Wednesday at 7:15PM (Dinner at 6PM) and Thursday at 900PM.

Last Sunday was our first week teaching through a book in the Bible called 1 Corinthians. It was the first of two letters written to the church that was in the city of Corinth. It was written by Paul or St. Paul as you might know him.  A quick catch up is that Corinth was a place of great wealth and idea. It was a very busy port City allowing other ports in the Aegean Sea and further west an efficient and faster path towards Rome and east. Bottom line: tons of money flowing through the city, mixed with lots of blue collar jobs and sailors coupled with some intense Greek Philosophizing. It was crazy. Open philosophical discussions like battle raps, prostitution everywhere for the sailors who enjoyed their short lived shore leave, gods of all kinds requiring all kinds of worship, and crazy wealth like Trump, all mixed in.

“Corinth was a place of great wealth and idea.”

Then the People of the Way came. That is how you would have identified someone who worshipped Jesus as Lord and Saviour at that time. As they reasoned together, and some started to follow the Way of Jesus, they had to decipher what their new lives would look like given all the stuff they were involved in previously. Jesus was calling them into some very different things and the changes and lifestyles got a bit mixed.

In our first week we highlighted the main issue that the church in Corinth was having was division (1 Cor 1:10-17). Division over who they listened to. They thought that, like Greek philosophy, perhaps different leaders of the Way had different philosophies on how to live life. They got stuck here and it affected their pride. They thought each one was better than the other because of interpretation, leadership, their own giftedness, etc.; it was leading to a lot of confusion. The rest of the letter looks at how a church can get totally nuts when it begins to worship everything except for God.

So join us as we continue this journey in the weeks to come, and don’t forget to hit us up if you have any questions or need anything. Ever.

We Are Not Our Own

We are not our own… 37 hours of ministry with some sleep breaks in between.

I have been doing ministry for a lot of years. Different churches, different locations, different types of work. But this week, I have witnessed something that is like nothing I have ever experienced.

This past week our little church got uncomfortable and we got tired. About 20 of us, give or take, moved approximately 500 Rowan students up and down 5 stories of elevators into their new “homes”. We handed out about 400 frisbees and magnets and letters sharing the Gospel. We talked to them, prayed for them, prayed for opportunities to share Jesus, asked them about their major, asked them about God, invited them to church.

We then went from the beautiful new building of 220 Rowan to a different scene altogether but not far away, in fact, just down the street. Kids running around in a field, older kids on bikes waiting not for a movie but for the free food that they were about to be given. Serving food donated to grateful (and some ungrateful) parents who finally get one night that they don’t need to provide entertainment or dinner for their kids. A movie played in the background while our little church kept working. Cleaning up trash, cleaning tables, unsetting what we had set up just a couple hours before. We got to hand out gospel tracts, pray for them, invite people to church, preach that God loves them out in the air and in the open.

I watched as our senior elder, John, struggled to stand on his feet at the end of the day as the labor of love for our Savior and His people weighed down on his tired feet. I cuddled my little infant baby whose schedule has been interrupted because his mommy has been busy loving on her community for the sake of her Savior. From the eldest of our church to the youngest, I witnessed something: ministry is hard. Serving Jesus and others is tiring, and frankly there are many moments where I don’t want to work anymore and I want to retreat with my little family behind the comfort of my own door.

Why then? Why wear ourselves out? Why sacrifice our comfort, our schedules, and our muscles? For what purpose?

Something that was shared this past Sunday has stuck with me these past few days.

I Corinthians 6:19-20

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

I am not my own. I am bought with a price. That includes my comfort, my schedule, my need for control, my sweet little family. We function under this illusion that we have control over our lives, and that we deserve to get what we want.  Jesus died for my freedom to love and serve Him instead of myself. His blood was shed so that I can live, but how often do we forget that. There are so many distractions in this world that can carry us away from doing what we were actually created to do, Worship God. But instead, we end up worshipping the creation rather than the creator. The blood that Jesus shed for us actually draws us TO him (Eph. 2:13).

I said earlier that in all my years of ministry I witnessed something different this week. Yes, I’ve been on mission trips that have been exhausting and tiring before. But this week? I got to see our little church actually do the hard stuff of ministry. They took off of work, they rearranged their schedules to help, they kept going when they were so done they could barely move. Ministry was LIFE this week. Serving our community was our LIVES for 3 days. We didn’t take a vacation for it, we didn’t set aside a couple hours here and there to check a box. Other things were sacrificed so that we could pour ourselves out. We got pushed a little bit more out of our comfort and towards the price and sacrifice that Jesus paid for our freedom from a sinful selfish life. My prayer this week has been that the community of Glassboro would see Jesus this week, that they would HEAR Jesus this week. I know seeds have been planted that God can use for His glory. But I also think something else has been revealed, we can do it. We can do the hard work of ministry. God can push us to the brink for His Glory to serve and love on His people. God can change the way we speak, He can give us the boldness to talk about Him, He can take our seemingly small acts of service and He can change lives, including our own. It makes me excited for what other opportunities He has for us to push us just a little bit more.

Are you ready?

Rowan Move-In: Why We're Here

It's simple...Glory

We are here for glory. No. Not our glory. God’s Glory. The glory is His to begin with. Consider, for a second, that the God of the Bible is real and is who he claims to be. Then it’s very clear that our purpose, and the only thing that fills us, is to glorify God, While we search for this purpose in the chasing of our comforts, pleasures, and relationships;  God is saying “I made these and here is how they work. If you want real joy, listen to me.” Suddenly, when we use them His way, these temporary, fleeting things can fill the  infinite void in our hearts. 

We here at Missio Dei want nothing more than to love and serve our communityi as an opportunity to show the Gospel. In that way we can glorify God by making much of Him to everyone, and in turn be a church that is pouring itself out for the Glory of God and the good of man. We understand that this may leave you with a thousand questions, questions we are more than excited about working through with you. We have a reasonable faith that is the best news for all people, and we would love to talk to you about who Jesus is and what that means for us, so approach us at an event, call, text, tweet. Reach out however you want. We’d love to start a dialogue

Summer Listening

Ever since High School, I've made a habit of devouring as much content as time has allowed me. Over the years, I've run into some pretty great podcasts that I thought would benefit our body if I shared them out for you guys. These podcasts are all different lengths, so no matter how much (or how little) time you have, you should be able to squeeze some good content into that summer brain.

5 Minutes In Church History

Category: Short, Information

RC Sproul's parachurch ministry, Ligonier Ministries, puts out a podcast geared towards getting church history into the hands of the modern church. Many reformed leaders would argue that if you're not learning from dead people, you're doing something wrong.

In this podcast, Stephen Nichols briefly covers a range of topics from creeds, to laymen, to church history icons in just 5 minutes. Great if you only have a short commute to work, or take a while to brush your teeth. 

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Reasonable Faith Podcast

Category: Medium, Apologetic

If you've been hanging around for the past year or so, you may have heard one of the MDers talk about William Lane Craig. He's a giant in Christian Apologetics and philosophy. Not only that, but he also has a podcast for us to listen to! Every Monday, Craig and his Co-host discuss varying topics centering around apologetics and theology.

If you listen for a couple weeks, you'll probably gain some valuable insight applicable to questions about Christianity you may have had for your entire life. A great gem.

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The Briefing

Category: Medium, Christian Living/Current Events

Probably my favorite recent discovery is put out by Albert Mohler every morning. This 20 minute program goes through headlines from various news outlets and picks apart the worldview issues associated with them.

This is an absolute goldmine for all Christians everywhere. I highly recommend this one. 

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Calvinist Batman and Friends

Category: Medium/Long, Informational/Christian Living

Every morning Batman comes home from working the streets of Gotham and starts producing the Calvinist Batman podcast. This is a weekly podcast where Calvinist Batman gathers some big (and some small) reformed names and chats on a range of topics.

I just recently started listening and already I've gained some valuable knowledge and different perspectives. Also, Batman.

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The Dividing Line

Category: Long/Looong, Informational/Christian Living

To wrap up, we come to James White's twice-a-week radio show/live stream/podcast, The Dividing Line. Dr. White is unashamed of the Gospel, and does not back down when pressure from cultural norms come storming our way. A master of exegesis, it's important to glean some fantastic snippets from Dr. White.