Some thoughts regarding the Marriage and Obesity Article from CBMW

I recently posted in article from the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood regarding the relationship of marriage, obesity, and proper body care. You can scroll down for the original article. A quite lengthy discussion ensued.

And this discussion raised a lot of … emotions, didn’t it? It’s a touchy subject – and I think our emotions about it have run deep because this issue affects how we think about ourselves and our closest relationships.

So some passion is understandable. I want to suggest, at the outset, that much of what has been discussed has been based on assumptions – it hasn’t necessarily addressed the article as such, but rather the inferences that we made and the feelings we have about it.

So, in response to this discussion, I want to make a series of observations from Scripture, in reference to the article, and in application to Christ’s Church. (To those of you who followed the discussion on Facebook, this is not the 'theology' about which I spoke - merely a response to the discussion.) I hope this is helpful to your walk with Jesus.

1. Justification

One’s acceptableness to God is not determined by their physical fitness nor attractiveness. God forbid. But nowhere does the article imply anything like that.

Our right standing with God is also not determined by the ‘rightness’ of our hearts, since our hearts are wicked (Jer. 17:9) and we are unrighteous before God (Rom. 3:10-12). Our right standing before God is based solely on Jesus’ righteousness (Phil. 3:8-9) received by faith in him apart from works (Rom 3:28).

This article assumes the right standing of those who trust Christ. It is not advocating justification by fitness or attractiveness. That’s an absolutely absurd notion. But justification by the goodness of one’s heart is an impossibility as well. We must all look to Christ for our right standing – we can’t stand right before God, in whole or even in part – only Jesus can.

Be very careful here. You need to not have a knee jerk reaction when you feel a certain way – you misrepresent what people have said. Be very careful, also, that you not believe that your right standing is on the basis of your godliness! I don’t want to belabor the point – but it is vital that you get this: right standing is on the basis of the righteousness of Christ plus nothing, received by faith in Christ. Your heart is not good. Jesus’ is. When you see the glory of God, you will not enter his kingdom on the basis of your heart – but on the basis of Christ’s heart in your place, if you have trusted in him.

2. The place of obedience in the Christian life

That said, that doesn’t mean that we can do whatever we want. Just because our entry into Christ’s kingdom is based on Christ’s righteousness and not ours does not mean we can fail to pursue obedience. (Rom. 6:1-4; Phil. 2:12-13) It means quite the opposite.

Obedience does not mean being a supermodel, and the article says nothing of the sort. But obedience to God does have ramifications in terms of how we treat our bodies, as we shall see.

3. The idolatry of body image

One way that we can sin against God is to worship our bodies or what other people think of our bodies. Essentially, what happens, is that we become concerned about what people think about us (John 12:42-43, and we treasure things that belong to this world (Matt. 6:19-21) – a world which is going away.

We all know the things that those sorts of things lead to. The article doesn’t deny this. It just isn’t about these issues. They are not a small matter; they are the result of sin. Jesus deserves our worship – our bodies do not. People also do not. Jesus does. Period. Working out should not be god. Peoples’ opinions of how you look should not be god. And that’s because Jesus IS God.

If this is a struggle for you, you need to repent. Get your sin out in the open in the presence of some trusted friends, and have them help you, thanking God that you’re forgiven in Christ.

4. The idolatry of food

Here’s another thing we can worship instead of God – food. I’m reminded of the sentence in Philippians 3:19: “their god is their belly.”

Gluttony is bad (Proverbs 23:20-21).

I was just flipping through a cookbook, and there was a whole section on ‘comfort food.’ That is nothing less than the advocating of idolatry. I’ll return to why in a second.

Now, it’s certainly not wrong to enjoy food. As a matter of fact, if you control what you eat so much that you don’t enjoy food, you’re probably in sin, either trying to justify yourself by harsh treatment of your body, or refusing to enjoy and thank God for what he’s given, or because you’re worshiping your body and what people think of you.

But – God is our Comforter. God is our delight. God is our treasure. Food is not. You treat food like it is your comfort, your delight – you are worshiping an idol. If you spend a ton of time thinking about food, coveting food, desiring food, meditating what the next meal will be – you are worshiping food, not God.

If you don’t stop eating when you’ve had enough, if you are wasting God’s time eating food that you don’t need, if you are not using food for the glory of God, it’s using you, and you are worshiping an idol.

To be honest, I struggle here. Now, I usually eat healthy, and I do work out – but I have people holding me accountable in this area – because it is easy for me to make food into a god – usually for comfort or just as a waste of time.

Now, the article had to do with how we treat our bodies because that affects how we look. Granted, there is not a one-to-one correlation here. Not everyone on the same diet will look the same, and we shouldn’t automatically judge people as gluttons or anorexics based on how they look.

But the sin here we’re dealing with is idolatry – worshiping food. Regardless of how it affects how we look, this is a sin that needs to be taken seriously.

And it’s not as if this sin is the swinging of a pendulum to the ‘other side’ – where the one side is body-image issues and control. At the root, these things are the same – Jesus isn’t being worshiped, something else is. We all need to root the sin out and worship Jesus.

5. The superiority of godliness to physical attractiveness

1 Peter 3 exhorts women to focus on inner adornment – a gentle, quite, submissive spirit – as greater than how they look physically. Obviously. The article does not deny this, and it says nothing in which inner godliness is diminished.

But to say that godliness has no connection to making ourselves look good to our spouses (or future spouses), is wrong. See my next point.

6. The importance of physical attractiveness

Read Song of Songs. Do you realize that almost everything Solomon says to the Shulammite is about her physical appearance? And that much of what she says to him is also about physical appearance?

And that, in the picture that marriage is of Christ and the Church, the Bride is beautifully adorned? (Eph. 5:21ff; Rev. 21:9ff)

Now certainly, some of what constitutes beauty is culturally conditioned, and there are indeed different body types – I will never be tall! (Or even of average height!) And as we move towards physical death, our bodies change. However, there are many things you can do out of love for your spouse for the glory of God in making yourself a delight to the senses. And you should.

And these should not be done in fear (see the next point) but in love.

Let me suggest this- perhaps, far too much time is spent in considering how we look to people that are NOT our spouses. And perhaps you don’t seek to please your spouse with your looks enough. Perhaps the way you look should primarily be to serve your spouse!

Loving your spouse means seeking their happiness – and part of that is how you look.

Or let me put it another way – your job is to please your spouse. Not from fear, but from love. Both men and women. That should be something we work for. We should work to make ourselves look good to our spouses (or future spouses) not in exclusion to inner qualities – but as a result of and corresponding to those inner qualities.

This is not easy and it is not intuitive. But it is holy and good and we should do it.

EDIT: In saying this, I'm not stating that we should be placing demands on our spouses! Far from it. I'm saying that you should be working to please your spouse, not that you should be forcing your spouse to work for you.

7. The unconditional nature of a husband’s love

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church…” (Ephesians 5:25). The husband doesn’t get an out from this. His love for his wife should not be conditioned on how she looks.

And that includes if she sits around eating chips and brownies all day, doing nothing but watching TV.

It also means that he should love her regardless of how she treats him. If she publicly humiliates him, disrespects him, degrades him, and is constantly trying to usurp his authority in the household – he is still to love her, period.

The article says nothing different. To run with the inference that a wife’s not making herself look good for her husband somehow causes him to commit adultery is wrong.

But do you think a husband’s responsibility here is easy? Do you think there are things that a wife can do that make his responsibility to love her hard? Men are more visual than women, and a man will often take his wife’s care for her appearance for him as a measure of respect and love for him.

The fact is that women ‘letting themselves go’ does not cause their husbands to fail or to fall – but it sure isn’t helping them. And I’d hope that a wife’s desire to look good for her husband isn’t the result of fear of him committing adultery or getting addicted to porn – but that out of love she seeks to protect him from those things by making her body a delight to him.

And it goes the same way for men. Women – you are called to unconditionally submit to your husbands. Now, that is difficult, isn’t it? But what if your husband doesn’t make time for you? Doesn’t listen to you? Doesn’t treat you gently? Mocks you in front of his friends? Doesn’t love you? Doesn’t speak love to you?

It’s even harder, I’m sure. But you still have to do it – for the glory of Christ!

But ultimately – you don’t want your husband to act in an unChristlike manner. It makes your submission that much harder.

It boils down to this: failure to love your spouse is not an option; but there are things that you can do – both men and women – that make your spouse’s job harder or easier. They don’t cause his or her sin or obedience – but you can indeed help them and love them.

Part of how that should be done is intentionally, regularly, making an effort to make yourself look good for them and to them.

8. The connection of our physical bodies and spiritual lives

Ephesians 5:18-19 says this: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart…”

What’s this passage got to do with this topic? Simply this – your physical body is connected to your spiritual life. You make your body drunk, it’s going to affect your walking in the Spirit.

But so will it be if you’re not in shape, if you don’t sleep enough, if you’re eating so that you live in an insulin coma – your walk with God is affected by how you treat your body.

So yes – you can make an idol out of fitness and/or appearance. Don’t do that. But, you should be treating your body in such a way as to make yourself a better, more able, servant of Christ. Do that.

9. Final thoughts

I understand how reading an article like this one from CBMW could raise some ire. It’s a touchy issue. But a lot of the ire raised had very little to do with the article’s actual content.

I think such a long discussion happened because it is a touchy and personal issue for so many of us. Perhaps we feel judged. Or perhaps we are touchy about how we look (I am, and I know how that feels). Or perhaps there are other fears. Perhaps we fear people reacting and idolizing body-image instead of idolizing food and laziness!

Let me suggest a few things when we read articles like this, even ones which misquote a couple verses.

1) Read the article for what it says.

2) Do not make inferences about what the article says based on how it makes you feel.

3) Do use biblical discernment.

4) Even if the article uses a verse or two incorrectly, make it your goal to heed what is sound in it...

5) …because the fact is, we all need a little rebuking. Our first reaction to an article like this should be to see how such a thing could sanctify us personally. To be humble, and to examine ourselves for sin so that we can repent –even if there are some things that are wrong in the article. We need to be learners and repenters – not people who are characterized by the seeking to critique sources of exhortation. We should seek to be applying exhortation, though with discernment.

For the glory of God.

Coveting, Idolatry, and Desire

A friend of mine recently linked to this article by John Piper. Read it.

Marriage and Obesity

Don't worry, Beer and Jesus Part II is coming soon. But as I've thought about that subject, I've simultaneously been thinking about something else - a theology of physical fitness.

What's instigated that thought process? Well, I've noticed that Christians in our culture tend to take care of their physical bodies much less than non Christians do. I think there are reasons for it that reflect what we believe (wrongly!) about what Scripture teaches.

But I'm not going there yet. The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has just published an article on Marriage and Obesity, which you can read here. I highly commend it.

Edit: It's come to my attention that this article has raised a lot of ire. I understand why - it's a very sensitive topic. Plus, the article doesn't use Scripture incredibly well. That said, the article does apply biblical principles well, and from what I've seen, most of the criticism leveled at the article doesn't really apply to the article itself, but to inferences people have made from it.

So, God willing, soon I'll write my own - and ladies, it will be directed towards both men and women.

I'd encourage you - if you do find this article offensive, try to understand what the article itself is saying, and see how you can glorify God more by what you learn there. The article's purpose isn't to make you feel judged - but ultimately, if you're a woman, to help you glorify God more as a wife.

Beer and Jesus

The title of this article is very purposeful. Alcohol is a hot-button issue for a lot of Christians. There are a lot of opinions out there, and they tend to be held with fierceness.

Unfortunately, usually the conversations are couched in a background of asking this question: ‘what does God command?’ The reason I say that’s unfortunate isn't because commands are bad - it's because what is assumed in the discussion is the Gospel.

I absolutely refuse to do that. You and I both may know the Gospel, but we forget it. We forget it daily. And the moment that any of our obedience comes from something other than the Gospel, it absolutely disgusts God.

So let’s start here: Jesus is God. He became a man, always obeyed God, and was punished by God for our disobedience. He came back to life from the dead and now governs all of creation. He is at work giving people new hearts that want to obey him, forgiving their sins, and causing them to begin to obey his commands. One day he will return to earth to fix everything that’s wrong with it. Everyone who is longing for his return will get to enter into his new creation forever to be with him.

And so, believer, you stand righteous before the Father. You have a new heart. Your obedience is just acting like who God has already made you – and is an act of love.

So when it comes to alcohol, we need to start with this question: how do I, as someone who Jesus has saved, need to act with regards to alcohol so that Jesus will best be honored?

There’s the question we’re addressing. And here’s where we’re going: in this article, we're going to look at Jesus' commands. In, God willing, a follow up article, we'll be looking at the history of the American Church with regard to drinking alcohol.

Command 1: Don’t get drunk.

Easy enough, right? Ephesians 5:18 says, “Don’t get drunk with wine.” The question that people always ask here is, “Well, what does drunk mean?” And that question is usually asked because people either want to get as tipsy as possible without getting ‘drunk’ – or because they want to say that any felt physical effect of drinking is ‘drunkenness.’

Maybe you should go read the context

The problem isn’t drunkenness. The problem is a lack of being controlled by the Spirit – which results in heartfelt glory and thanks being given to God, verbally, in the context of community. So if drink affects what you say and how you feel and think – stop it. Don’t go there. Don’t even get close to it.

Frankly, some of you know that sometimes you drink too much. Maybe you don’t get ‘drunk’ per se – but too much. And you know you do. You need to knock it off. And if you need to stop drinking to do so, stop drinking. God is not cool with you sinning. He doesn’t think it’s funny. It’s damning. Jesus did not die for you to live like an idiot. His death gave you the Spirit, who produces worship to God in you. Live like it.

If that makes you mad, see command 2.

It’s funny, by the way, here, that some Christians say that ‘wine’ back in the day didn’t have much alcohol in it. Really? Then why the constant commands against drunkenness?

Those of you who don’t drink and don’t struggle with drinking too much – fine, good. What, you want a medal? Go do the rest of what the text commands, by the grace of God, for his glory.

Command 2: Don’t worship alcohol.

If you can’t give up drinking because you’re afraid of how people will look at you or because you just like it too much – even if you’re breaking other commandments with it (you know, like not getting drunk) – you’re worshiping alcohol.

Some of you are saying here that you don’t have a shrine to booze before which you bow. God, on the other hand, says every sin at its core is a worship problem -
God isn’t being honored, but something else is in this text. How might alcohol be being honored? By your acting like you trust in it for your happiness – as opposed to trusting God for your satisfaction.

That’s exactly why Paul calls ‘covetousness’ idolatry -

In other words – the moment you want something more than you want God – or for any reason other than wanting God – you’ve made that thing into a god, and you are worshiping it.

And if you can’t run from sinning with alcohol by giving it up, you worship alcohol. If you can’t stop sinning with it, you need to give it up.

Some of you have the opposite problem. You say that Christians should never drink because it will ruin our spiritual lives – or our witness.

As to the latter…. Really? Do you actually know any non Christians? Or maybe you do, and the Gospel you want to share with them is ‘we believe in Jesus and here’s the rules we made up that he wants us all to obey.’

That’s not the Gospel.

As to the former – if you think alcohol will ruin someone’s spiritual life – you are giving it far too much credit. That’s like saying the existence of women causes lust. The problem is your wicked, ugly, wretched, depraved, evil heart – not alcohol. Don’t give it more credit than it deserves. It can be used by wicked people for wicked things. But it isn’t a looming, sovereign, demonic ogre that can possess you.

Command 3: Don’t cause others to stumble.

Or in other words, don’t cause other people to sin. Here are the relevant passages:
Romans 14
1 Corinthians 8-9

Before we get into specifics, I just want to state the goal of some of how this command breaks down... or better, I'll let the Word do it. Click.

The goal is a community where people are loving each other. They’re really interested in each others’ happiness. There’s love and peace and joy between people, produced by God the Holy Spirit.

Okay, so you want specifics? Here are some specifics. If you don’t drink, don’t judge people for drinking. If you do drink, don’t judge people for not drinking. If you don’t think you do either, stop judging people for judging others.

If you drink and you’re around someone that isn’t sure whether they should or not, don’t act in such a way that they are pressured to act against their conscience. If they do, they’re sinning because they think they might be breaking a commandment (even though they’re not), and they’re doing it anyway.

If someone is tempted to get drunk, don’t drink around them.

You are not the judge of other Christians. God is. And God has accepted them into his family based on Jesus’ work and bloody death and resurrection. You have brothers that daily enter into a fight to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus with you. Help them. Don’t hurt them.

And don’t try to get people to act or think like you. Try to get them to see and think of Jesus.

Command 4: Don’t be proud.

Why? Well, because God opposes the proud?
I don’t know about you, but if God’s team captain, I’d rather be on his team than playing against him.

That’s a nicer way of saying that I’d rather be on the side of the all-glorious Creator who controls who goes to Heaven or Hell than against him.

Someone I know once said to me, “I’ve never had a drop of alcohol.” The problem with the previous sentence is that I could’ve easily written, “Someone I know once bragged to me, ‘I’ve never had a drop of alcohol.’”

Well good for you. I haven’t had lima beans in years. Do I get a cookie?

Again, what are we saying here? That your actions are worthy of praise? I’m sorry… you know what… I’m trying to see Jesus, and your glory’s getting in the way – could you move a little?

Some of you are proud that you don’t drink. Stop. Be proud of Jesus. You’re saved by his bloody death – not because you won’t drink a beer.

The opposite’s also true here, though. Some of you are proud that you DO drink. “Thank you, God, that I’m not like those Pharisees who obey rules they made up; but that I don’t make up rules.”

Wow, so let me get this straight – you’re being self-righteous about your lack of self-righteousness? That’s…. amazing. It’s a logical conundrum. A paradox. I’m not even mad; I’m impressed. It’s an amazing thing to be proud of not being proud.

But there’s the deceitfulness of sin for you. Don’t do that. You’re not justified by your lack of rules or your rules, you’re justified by Jesus obeying God’s rules. Love him. Love his people.

Now, here’s another way to be proud. Some of you drink for show. You’re afraid of what people will think if you don’t drink. Or, you want to have Christians see you drink so they think you’re cool, edgy, hip, and not legalistic.

And the kicker is that some of you don’t even LIKE what you’re drinking. You just like being thought of as ‘cool’ or whatever it is.

That is pride, my friend, plain and simple. You do that, and you show that you care about your image – not Jesus’. Knock it off.

Or in other words, repent, and believe in the Gospel. Please.

Command 5: Don’t let others judge you.

I’m getting this from Colossians 2 –


People were judging people in Colossae. They were saying that people didn’t know God because they were enjoying food and alcohol too much – and weren’t obeying rules they made up.

Don’t let people judge you by those standards. Don’t hate people enough to let them go on missing Jesus.

Drinking isn’t Jesus. Not drinking isn’t Jesus. Jesus is Jesus.

So if someone tries to say ‘you shouldn’t’ or ‘you should’ and they can’t point to Scripture, point them to Jesus.

Command 6: Everything needs to be set apart by the Gospel and prayer and thanksgiving.

I’m getting this from 1 Timothy 4:

If you drink – or if you eat food – you need to live the Gospel out. You need to think about your booze or burger in light of the Gospel. You need to pray for God to be honored. You need to thank God for what he’s given you.

Honor God, not what He’s made. Some of you worship alcohol. Some of you worship food. You run to it for pleasure and comfort. Either one.

You need to repent and worship Jesus. Period. No buts. Confess your sin, confess that it’s worthy of hell, and thank God that Jesus died for it.

Command 7: Whatever you do, do it for God’s glory.

I’m getting this from 1 Corinthians 10:31 –

I’m not going to give you the context. Here’s the bare bones issue: you need to stop looking at the particulars of what you can and can’t drink, and ask the question, do you love God? How you doing with that? Could be better, huh?

Every action in every moment needs to be evaluated in terms of intent. Are you doing whatever it is TO glorify God? Not ‘can you’ – ‘ARE you doing it to honor God’?

And to the extent you’re not, run to the cross, please. Run. Don’t try to say you are a good person, or that you’re better than other people, or that your sin is less bad.

So much of what we do, think, feel, and say is worth nothing but the eternal, hellish wrath of Almighty God. And that wrath fell on Jesus in our places. And he lives. And he reigns. So run to him. Ask him for help. Thank him for saving you. And as he creates love in you for him, love him.

So if you don’t drink – make sure you’re doing it BECAUSE you love Jesus.

If you do – make sure you do BECAUSE you love Jesus.

And to the extent that you don’t, run to Jesus.

This makes me sad...

I was listening to Piper's sermon, "He must increase, I must decrease"; and it struck me: I really am after my own fame. I want people to know me, love me, appreciate me, respect me, praise me, think high thoughts of me.

But Jesus... (click)

And thank God that I'm forgiven for trying to usurp his throne - by the Lamb who gave his up

and who now reigns from it forever.

Resource on Eating Disorders

You can find it HERE.

If you minister to women face to face OR from the pulpit, this is probably worth your time.

Is Anger Sin?

David Powlison answers the question HERE.

Powlison is with the CCEF, which is the best Christian Counseling agency/group/association/whatever out there. I couldn't recommend them more highly.

Am I really that disciplined...?

Every morning when I awake, I set it aside, that before anything else, I spend time reading God's word and in prayer.

Why? Because I'm really disciplined? Well, sometimes. I can be disciplined about certain things, I suppose. Not everything.

There certainly was a time where I wasn't really reading the Bible very often.

What changed?

I no longer read the Bible out of a sense of duty. And furthermore, I don't believe there's an explicit command in the Bible that you need to read the Bible regularly, though it certainly is hard to 'delight' in and 'meditate on' God's word 'day and night' if you're not reading it (see Psalm 1).

No, I read every day because I need to. I'm poor to the very core, blind to see God's truths, starving in my soul for satisfaction and happiness, incapable of right or even logical thinking, dealing with feelings of guilt that crush my spirit, not dealing honestly enough with my guilt to feel bad about it, unfocused on what matters, having feelings that are completely inconsistent with reality

unloving, uncompassionate, faithless, selfish, wretched, foolish

captivated by sin and thinking that it's anything less than pure evil.

And I just want one... just one... glimpse of my Lord, my Savior.

Don't you?

He wrote a book, you know...

A Rule for Decision-Making

Augustine said, "Love God, and do what you want," with reference to how to make a decision.

It's good advice based on sound biblical principle. Jesus said, "If you love me, you WILL keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

I fear, however, that we reverse the order far too often. We do what we want and try to squeeze Jesus into it somehow. We take for granted that we love God. We genuinely think we do.

But we don't.

And when we do what we want and try to squeeze Jesus into it, we're merely doing what we want - treating ourselves as gods in the seeking after our own pleasures. And squeezing spirituality into it is just us being religious - wanting to feel better about ourselves. We want to believe we're righteous and good.

This should not be. We need to first and foremost seek Jesus. And good desires will flow from that connection - based on the strength of that connection.

The point isn't do what you want. The point is seek Jesus. Repent of your sins and your connections to this world - your desires which are based on anything but Christ's coming Kingdom. Repent, and seek Jesus. Pick up your cross and follow him. Set your entrance into his eternal glory as your first and utmost priority in mind, affections and practice.

Then, do what you want.

I Like Democracy.

20 years ago, on June 4th, thousands of Chinese died in Tiananmen Square in protest of Communism's suppression of freedom of speech, and in promotion of Democracy.

In a BBC article, a man named Steve Chan is quoted: "June 4 was a time when a group of people sacrificed their lives for democracy. We need to remember their efforts."

We should be so very thankful about our very free lives. God has given us a political system that allows us much more peace and tranquility than so many have on this earth.

On the other hand - democracy will not transform the world. Democracy will not stop the spread of evil. Democracy cannot stop death. Democracy cannot forgive our sins. Democracy cannot satisfy our souls.

Democracy for now is probably as good as it gets, and let's thank God for it. But let's thank God more that it will be replaced by a Kingdom which already exists - as Jesus reigns in our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Your weak, faltering faith is NOT worthy of being rewarded- only Christ, who it receives, is.

Piper on Entertainment

THIS is definitely worth your reading and your following.

Jesus is Returning with a Sword, Jez.

I'm currently working through the beginning of the book of Revelation. In the letters to the seven churches, Jesus (in five of them) threatens to come judge the church because there are people there doing bad stuff.

In Pergamum and Thyatira, there were people who were false teachers. These false teachers were getting people to join in at idol-feasts and participate in sexual immorality.

The fact is, we don't have idol-feasts today. They were essentially parties; the food happened to be sacrificed to a false god. They were a cultural phenomenon. Everyone did it.

That got me thinking - we're far too individualistic a culture for that to really be a problem. Christians don't really get ostracized here; and idol-worship isn't really a cultural norm.

But... how do I... how do we... join in our culture's idol-worship? What does our culture worship? What do they value? What do they... do - since all they do is worship idols? How do we join in? C'mon, Church - we need to figure this out and hold fast to Christ's glory - because it's by that glory that we're saved.

Excellent Evangelism Tips

This is an EXCELLENT article on engaging people about Jesus. Read it.

God demonstrates his own love.

Romans 5:8 says this: "God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, the Messiah died for us."

First, the 'us' there is Christians - not everyone.

But second - I've often divorced that from the following verses.

In doing so - I've forgotten that God also shows his love in that his Son didn't STAY dead. The Father rescued him from death and showed him to be the Faithful Son - and likewise he will raise us who believed and rescue us ultimately as well. What amazing love God has for us! Look to the risen Christ and rely on him for your future life with God Almighty!

I am self-righteous...

I am a self-righteous one...

Today I spent time repudiating my self-righteousness before God, my Father.

I found that I've believed that I'm a good husband. That I think highly of myself because of time spent in Scripture and in prayer. That I think I deserve something because I sometimes do a good job in ministry. That I think that I'm not guilty because I've not cheated on anyone. That I think I'm okay because I don't lie, cheat or steal - even though I covet and am discontent and rarely give thanks.

I found today that I am a Pharisee. I am self-righteous. I try to earn salvation before God by my works.

But I came upon this in my reading: "...but if, by the Spirit of God, you kill the actions of your sinful body, you will live eternally. The reason you'll live forever if you do that is this: all of the ones who are led along by the Spirit of God are children of God." (Rom. 8:13-14; my dynamic equivalence translation)

Obedience comes from already being made a child; it doesn't make me one. That same Spirit in me that cries to God 'Father!' because of what Jesus did - HE leads me in obedience and gives me eternal life.

This made me grin...

From John Piper's blog - click!

Worship, Thanks, or Both?

I was thinking about the structure of the book of Romans today. (Some of you are probably chuckling at that...)

But I realized something. Before Paul moves to assuring US of our salvation - directing US to how great it is that WE are saved (beginning in 4:23) -

he merely celebrates that God is the God who justifies the ungodly.

That he has made his righteousness known.

That he has been propitiated through the redemption in the blood of Jesus.

That he is both just and the justifier of the ungodly one who trusts Jesus.

In other words, he teaches who God is before teaching who we individually are as a result.

I wouldn't mandate this - but I think there's wisdom in it - that we worship God for who he is and what he's done and what he is capable of doing (He is just, loving, the justifier, the life-giver - even towards the ungodly) - before we thank him for justifying us personally - for saving us personally.

Or in other words - perhaps it is wise to gaze into the glory of God before we gaze into how that glory has changed us personally.

Certainly we must make it personal. I think perhaps we just tend to do so too quickly.

God is the justifier of the ungodly!

And his dedication to his own glory has justified me.

He is risen! And I'm bored...

I don't know if you grew up in church, but I did, and so we celebrated Easter every year. And that's appropriate. But it wasn't a fun time of year for me: our family wasn't characterized by the character of Christ - his love - but by fear and dysfunction. So, to be honest, I don't really have good memories of Easter.

There's a huge upside to that, though. The cultural hang-ups of holidays - gifts, certain songs, food, family - were never in competition with my focus being on Christ. Those things are good, for sure, but our idols are very seldom intrinsically evil - it's that we, in our evil, replace God as the object of our delight with them.

And what was nice for me growing up - I didn't have those things to distract me from Jesus.

Unfortunately, that vacuum wasn't really filled with God and what he said about Easter when I was a child. I mean, I knew Jesus had risen. But so what? Maybe it was because I wasn't paying attention, but I had no idea why it was significant that Jesus had come back to life after dying.

Maybe you can connect with some of this. Maybe things you associate with the Easter holiday distract you from what the Bible says about it. Maybe bad experiences with family have left you emotionless in the face of the holiday. Maybe you just don't know what the Bible says about Jesus' resurrection.

But we should be happy about it, and we should worship God as a result.

Let me summarize a few reasons - then we'll look at some Scripture to really hammer them home.
1) Has your love for God got... emotionless? The resurrection shows off Jesus' glory.
2) Do you feel like your world - your family, relationships, finances - our out of control? The resurrection shows off Jesus' position and role and activity as Ruler.
3) Are you just living day to day? Maybe not really enjoying life? Hoping for things that may or may not happen - and that ultimately won't result in lasting happiness? The resurrection guarantees a future for us where we'll enjoy Jesus forever without hindrance.
4) Do you feel like you just can't live for Jesus at all? The resurrection has resulted in our having a new nature which obeys Jesus.
5) Do you feel guilty before God? Condemned? Like he's angry at you? The resurrection secures all of this previously mentioned goodness - because it shows that our rebellion has already been punished and can never be punished again.

Let's delve into this stuff about the resurrection.

1) It demonstrated the glory of Jesus' authority. He told Martha, "I am the resurrection"(John 11:25) - meaning that resurrection from the dead for all people was completely tied to himself. He also said, "I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again"(John 10:18).

Jesus is he who has authority over life and death - and he deserves to be worshiped for it. We don't, governments don't, armies don't, doctors don't - Jesus does.

2) Jesus' right to govern the universe for his pleasure was sealed by his resurrection. In other words, Jesus got a new title - a new position. He didn't 'become a god' or something weird like that - but his actions and role changed. God had this written: "[Jesus] was declared to be THE SON OF GOD IN POWER, according to the Spirit of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead."

His new title is 'The Son of God in Power.' That means that he has begun to reign - to do all his will. That's why the Scriptures make such a big deal about Jesus sitting down at God's 'right hand' after he rose.

But Jesus has a new role as of his resurrection - and he has begun a new era - remaking the world into what it's supposed to be.

Look around. The world's broken. Heck, your world is broken. Jesus has begun to fix this broken world by his resurrection. We need to credit him as such. He's the sovereign fixer - both in title and action. And he'll finish the job.

3) Not only is Jesus the Divine Fixer of the world - but his resurrection itself is what is fixing the world. God has it written: "He (Jesus) is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead"(Col. 1:18).

'Firstborn' indicates the happening that secures the rest. Or in other words, if there's a 'firstborn,' the couple isn't infertile. They can have more kids. Here, that means that Jesus was the one whose resurrection from the dead secured the resurrection from the dead of those who are connected to him through trusting him.

This might seem a little bit vague. Let me get specific. Jesus' resurrection did two things. First, it secured the physical resurrection of all who obey him. Death is certainly not the end. When Jesus comes back, every Christian will physically rise from the dead in a new, immortal body.

Second, when that happens, this world will be released from its bondage to sin and resulting suffering.

In sum - new bodies without any remnant or iota of rebellion against God or its effects. New universe that bears no stain of the effects of our sins.

No suffering, no pain, no sin - but all creation governed by the glorious love of God. Christ's resurrection secured that. See Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 15.

And by the way, don't skim Scripture. It's God's words. Every last one. Treat it as such.

4) Now that's all future, right? Seems like it in a way - but it's really not all future. Jesus' bringing new life has already begun. He's given us new hearts and minds and souls - a new nature. God said through the Apostle Peter, "[God] has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"(1 Peter 1:3).

And in Ephesians 2:5, Paul speaks from God, writing that He "made us alive together with Christ."

What's the result of that? He tells us a few verses later in v. 10: "For we are his workmanship, created (catch that! we're new creations! we're part of the new world!) in Christ Jesus for good works..."

A lot of times people read that and say, "Aha! See! You're forgiven as a gift - but now you should do works!" That is completely missing the point - and actually, contradicting the point. The point is that God recreated us - resurrected us - so that we'd do good works. Or in other words, he had an end in mind when he raised us spiritually - obedience to him.

He's not sitting up in heaven, wringing his hands, just HOPING that we'll actually obey for once. No. He's reprogrammed us TO obey. Yeah, our obedience isn't perfect. But it's present. And it's present because Jesus rose from the dead and brought our souls from the grave with him. He gave us faith and gave us the desire and ability to obey him. And so we do, imperfectly now, perfectly when he returns.

We need to thank him for that and grab a hold of the fact that he's the one at work in our lives. We obey because he's at work. If we obey because we think it depends on us - we're acting like Jesus didn't rise. But he did. And so did we. And so we do obey. So let's obey.

5) Jesus' resurrection shows that he's dealt with our guilt - and we'll never have to. Romans 4:25 says this: "[Jesus] was delivered up (killed) on account of our trespasses and raised for our justification."

Because we disobeyed - and continue to disobey - what God's commanded - Jesus took our death penalty. He stood in for us. He died in our places. He was punished instead of us. You deserve to suffer the infinite wrath, anger, fury of your Creator; and Jesus, who never sinned, did it in your stead.

But if he'd stayed dead, he'd have continued to bear the penalty for your sins. It wouldn't have been finished. But it was - and so death backfired. Death died. Death happened completely, and so its existence was completed - and over. And Jesus rose.

His resurrection shows that the punishment for sin is over. None awaits us. None. The entirety of your guilt, if you are a Christian, is GONE. Jesus lived a perfect life in your place - he died by God's wrath in your place - and he lives because your justification - your acquittal in his law court - has been completely, unalterably, unchangeably, irrevocably, permanently, eternally, gloriously secured.

And so because Jesus rose from the dead - you stand in God's sight - as if you'd obeyed. As if you'd lived Jesus' life and earned Jesus' reward.

When you feel guilty - and if you can't believe any of this stuff - look to the resurrected Jesus. All of this is yours - because he rose from the dead.

What do the words 'world' and 'all' mean in the New Testament?

People argue about theology, and often assume they know what words mean. I'm going to list possible definitions of these words from BDAG, the standard, scholarly NT Greek Lexicon

For 'world' (when translating the word 'kosmos') - beautifying adornment, orderly arrangement, the sum total of all existence (the whole universe), the sum total of all beings above the level of animals (including angels), planet earth, humanity in general (especially of a group of humans), collective aspect of an entity or totality (as in the tongue is a world of unrighteousness from James 3:6)

For 'all' (when translating 'pas') - each one of something, any entity out of a totality (any), marks the highest degree of something (greatest), a high degree of completeness, every kind of something

When you're reading the Bible, you don't get to pick which meaning you like for the verse. The surrounding context determines the meaning.