Giving Answers (1 Peter 3:15)

" /doh " by  striatic  is licensed under  CC BY 2.0 . Have you ever had someone ask you a question that you should have had an answer to, but at that moment you drew a blank and just did the best you could?  Of course, afterward the answer seems so obvious and you wonder why you didn't say that to begin with.  That is what happened to me this past Sunday. What's worse...this question was about outreach. We had a new family visit the church and afterward began asking many questions about the church.  I, and a couple of others, introduced them to life groups and told them our philosophy concerning our life groups (that they are inter-generational on purpose).  They seemed genuinely interested in finding out about all aspects of our church. Toward the end of our conversation together, they asked the fateful question:  "What does your church do for outreach?" I thought and shared our current situation with the uncertainty of "3rd Street Ministry"....

There are many great articles highlighting the dangers of "deconstruction".  Some of the best recent posts can be found here , here and here .  Trinidad and I even did a livestream discussing the matter here a few months back.  All of these are great resources. One of the things that I believe is overlooked in the debate over deconstruction is the proper understanding of feelings from a biblical worldview.  Those who are trying to throw people into doubt and confusion are honing in specifically on feelings.  Their often pithy posts are made specifically to evoke an emotional reaction for the purpose of confusion, not clarity.  They do so because personal feelings under either the progressive Christian viewpoint or the current secular humanist viewpoint is their equivalent to absolute truth, having rejected absolute Truth that comes from God's Word and the person of Jesus Christ.  It fits well with the deconstructionists view that "questions are more ...

If you have been around me for any amount of time and asked me a question about the Bible or a Bible verse, you have probably heard me say the phrase:  "Context is everything."  Many people's answers concerning Scriptures in question are often found in the context of surrounding verses.  In today's meme driven culture that focuses on snatching singular verses out of context for the sake of producing doubt or shame in one's faith, this is an important truth to remember. However, faithful and well meaning Christians, who only wish to build faith in Jesus Christ, have erroneously done the same and caused unintentional harm to the body of Christ because of misinterpretation of Scripture.  This misapplying of the Scripture has a profound effect on a person's view of themselves, on their view of God, their ministry within the body of Christ and their worthiness of Christ's sacrifice.   Let me give a common example that is consistently misinterpreted: Therefore, ...

Recalling 9/11 If you were an adult 20 years ago, chances are you know exactly where you were when our world changed forever.  However, chances are you may not have realized what forces were put into motion following the tragic events of that day. Where was I?  I had just become a Youth Pastor in Albuquerque, New Mexico a few months prior (A position I still hold to this day.).   I remember being disoriented driving into work that morning.  I lived about 5 minutes away from the church at a local apartment complex at the time.  During my brief drive in, my radio was filled with chatter over a plane hitting one of the twin towers in New York.  I truly thought that it might be a radio drama that I had cut in on.  Somewhere during the drive it hit me that these were real reports.  At the time, the official word was that it was a tragedy and the cause of the crash was unknown. Shortly after arriving at work, the second plane hit the other tower an...

I have gotten a lot of things wrong lately.  Mostly, I have gotten things wrong because at the time I originally thought something about some current issue, my knowledge was incomplete.  However, I have learned not to put most of my immediate knee jerk reactions to every story out there on social media for the world to see.  (It only took me 15 years to learn that lesson). There is a scary danger in our instant world and self-created echo chambers...the truth suffers.  Not my truth or your truth but THE TRUTH.   Let me give you an example from our headlines today.   Troy Aikman was caught on a hot mic talking about the waste of jet fuel because of a fly over to a mostly empty stadium.  Immediately, the twitter storm raged.  People defended and people berated.  People turned it into a moratorium on Aikman's patriotism.   My initial reaction to the whole thing was the following: Maybe Troy Aikman had become an environmentali...

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.  --Proverbs 15:1 There aren't a lot of gentle answers today, are there? Our politicians, our news & entertainment media and our social media conversations and posts are filled with outrage and vilification.  People who disagree with us, aren't just wrong, they are evil.  And not evil in a Biblical sense that they have fallen short and are in need of redemption, but evil in a sense that they do not deserve the dignity or respect due their position or their humanity. In the wake of the recent shootings in El Paso and Dayton, we find ourselves asking the question again:  "What could we have done to prevent such a tragedies?"  Maybe nothing.  Maybe there was such evil in the heart of these individuals that no matter our actions, they would have still found their way to take revenge on people they deemed worthy of death. However, at the same time, I can't help but believe that the rhe...

Maybe you have heard the news, maybe you haven't:  Eugune Peterson, the author of the Message Bible, has recently endorsed same sex marriage, and even said that if given the opportunity, he would perform a same sex marriage .  By Clappstar (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons ...And it is sending a ripple effect through the Christian world.  LifeWay Christian Stores will be discontinuing the sale of the Message and Peterson's books upon confirmation of the statements made from his interview with Jonathan Merritt.   Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote a response to this news  worth reading. Many pastors have been captivated by Peterson's writings.  Some use the Message "translation" as either a primary Biblical text or supplemental text to Bible reading.  His book "A Long Obedience In The Same Direction"...

Repent!  It was the call of John the Baptist to prepare the way of Jesus (Mat. 3:1-2; Luke 3:3-4).   But repent of what? This seems to be the struggle of our modern day culture who want to have their salvation and their sinful life too.  It is the problem with many millenial Christians who want to reach a world for Jesus but don't believe that acknowledgement of sin and repentance of sin is necessary for salvation to the broken people they are proclaiming Jesus to.  Having been in the world and seeing the image of God in the broken people whom they have met, the idea of repentance seems so unloving and intolerant.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the churches that have popped up proclaiming that they are "open and affirming".  Any lifestyle is equally acceptable and blessed by God, even if it runs contrary to what God has revealed in His Word.  There are whole denominations that are doing Scriptural gymnastics trying to deny what the ...

By Canonreflex (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--for we are members of His body.  ...

In a fallen world, we have become obsessed with fairness .  While there are certain admirable qualities about being fair and desiring fair and equal outcomes to equal situations, we have taken things a step further:  We have decided to trace all perceived injustices back to their ancestral roots and blame the current generation for past misgivings and the benefits they may have received (or just assumed they have received) as a result of such injustice. It is understandable that the world is having a hard time reconciling the idea that while all men are created equal in the sight of God, not all men are born into equal circumstances because of the fallen nature of the world we live in.  However, this very plain truth should be evident for every Christian. As I search the Scriptures, I do not see God holding people responsible for sins of a past generation, even if there was gain by the current generation because of it.  To be sure, sins of one generation can affe...

If I were to ask you:  What is the one thing that you need in order to effectively disciple others?  What would you answer? I can imagine a great number of you would say "A knowledge of God's Word" or "Effective ways for reaching out".  And while these things are paramount, even necessary, they are but an outgrowth of something even more necessary than that. The one commodity needed for discipleship, above everything else, is TIME. If I take away time, then I can take away knowledge of the Word of God.  I can take away opportunities for outreach.  I can take away everything that has to do with discipleship, by simply taking away time. Take a look at the Great Commission: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.--The words of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20) ...