A little catharsis writing given the times...

Ed Stetzer recently has written about the death of “cultural Christianity” and in response to yesterday’s election results, writes a new blog post today in which he points out that the church is losing the culture war.  He goes further to point out that we should begin considering what it means to be the church in a “post-cultural war era”.   

Within his most recent article relative to election results, another piece of data I believe should be elevated for attention and recognized as an ominous bellwether of the state of the church.   Stetzer points out that only 57% of “evangelical pastors” supported the pro-life, pro-family candidate in the election.    We will no doubt following the election hear from sincere brothers and sisters in Christ that we are in need of a “revival” across the land…but that need for “revival” is not just a general one among the populace—it is a need at home within the sphere of evangelical Christianity when 43% of the leaders attending to pulpits and the sheep of those local congregations have thrown babies and the sanctity of marriage and families upon the altar of secular humanism.   

Revival comes when God grants it, and we certainly should pray for that among our Nation (and the world).   We must also give special attention to praying for a revival within the midst of the demographic hap-hazardly labeled as Christians.   Liberal theology and secular humanism has wreaked such havoc that within this group there are unfortunately many lost souls--worse yet some of these lost souls are even standing in pulpits selectively retrieving scriptures ala carte to support their idols or are ignoring scripture all together just to pass out pop psychology messages encouraging you to be all you can be as they seek build up their own personal earthly kingdom rather than seeking to build up the Father’s kingdom.

Where Biblical truth stands, it will divide and let it be so—we must stand for the entire Word of God as it is with the power of God’s Word that souls will be saved and it will be with the power of His Word that our spiritual backbones will stiffen when persecution comes—and persecution is coming and coming quickly.   Let us lovingly seek to disciple our fellow “Christians” in a way that helps them mature in their biblical understanding so that they will be able to withstand the challenging days ahead.   As we faithfully pursue this endeavor, should any of these individuals still be lost at this time may their hearts be pricked by the Gospel and drawn to repentance before the mercy of our Heavenly Father.

And for the church in the “post-cultural war era”, we should strive to be Biblically healthy churches.  It has always been important (Semper Reformada) and continues to be so as the temptation to cater to the populace will continue to fall heavily at the door steps of the church.   If the concern for having Biblically healthy churches strikes a cord with you there are a few things you can do or consider doing.   One, whole heartedly with prayers, words and deed support Biblically faithful pastors who exposit the Word faithfully and without reserve each week.    Two, study what the Bible has to say regarding ecclesiology.  A good guide for such a study is to start with the IX Marks.    Third, consider donating to this very unique ministry at IX Marks so that they can continue the process of helping to foster healthy churches both at home and abroad.  

Let us pray that God will use us as vehicles to share his Word as he draws home the lost and may He Bless and protect the shepherds He has chosen and placed over his people.

God Bless.

Family News

The year end IX Marks annual report has often reminded readers about the importance of being a member of a church within the community where you live.  That is very understandable because it is in your community in which you live that your daily walk can be commonly leveraged for the kingdom of God and you are in the best position to take advantage of mentoring possibilities provided among the family of God.   Further, having brothers and sisters within neighborly distance makes it much easier to call on each other for those short notice physical support needs.

As our home life increased in complexity over the last several years, the distance we lived away from our church home has become an increasingly heavy burden on our efforts to try to fruitfully serve the Lord with the gifts God has given us.   The distance also makes it hard to call upon the many loving people of RBC who would love to help us out in a moment’s notice when help is needed.   Two years ago, we acknowledged our heartfelt need for a church family nearer our home as we struggled to adjust to the additional responsibility of becoming care providers in our home for Kristin’s mother.  At that time, I was just finishing the first of a three year commitment to the Deacon ministry.  I feel strongly about completing any commitments made so we postponed seeking a new church home until after the three year rotation was completed.    That service is now completed.  

So dear loved ones of RBC, we will start to be physically absent from your presence as we try to find a church nearby our home so that we can serve and partake of the benefits of local membership.   You all will always be close by in our hearts and thought of in our prayers.   For anyone that lives in or nearby Reynoldsburg, I can’t recommend enough that you consider Reynoldsburg Baptist Church if you need a church home.    You will be richly blessed by the faithful proclamation of the Gospel and find joy and warmth in the love of the congregation.   It has been a privilege to serve for so many years in many various capacities and to grow in the love of God’s Word under the faithful stewardship of both Senior Pastor Steve Cavanaugh and Associate Pastor Greg Savage.  We look forward to continuing to keep in touch as time allows both virtually and in presence occasionally, and will rejoice with you as God continues to bless RBC.

Did I mention our home life is complex….

God’s timing in all things is often amazing and sometimes unexpected.   Just as the time has passed so that we are in a position to seek a new church home, we also have discovered a brand new stewardship blessing that the Lord has placed upon us.   By His grace should all things come to fruition under the weight of His sovereignty, next February we will become proud parents once again.   Literally, we just found out Tuesday – having no suspicions.  Having been unable to have kids for so long we had come to peace with the idea that Z would be an only child.   We doubted the signs and never presumed another child could be true. But it is true, as you can see in black and white below.   We look forward to celebrating yet once again the miracle of life as Z becomes a big brother.   We covet your prayers as we go forward day by day trusting in the Lord.

Pray for not just your pastor…

I have for a few years been attending some bible conferences aimed at pastors, and despite being an introvert, I eventually talk to someone I don’t know. Sadly, it is not uncommon to hear a sad story of how a faithful man of God is taking over a struggling church somewhere—a church that is usually dying due to the impact of either secularism, the poison pill of pragmatism, or from congregations filled with likely many unregenerate members due to years of number idolization by prior leaders. These men have an arduous task before them as they seek to shepherd these congregations back to a healthy spiritual state—pray for all faithful pastors, serving often in lonely situations and up against mighty challenges—may God’s Holy Spirit fill them with courage, conviction and wisdom as they seek to be faithful stewards.

The Problem with Potatoes

since I was scolded today for NEVER updating our blog anymore......

This has been on my mind and heart for awhile now, so I figure I might as well type it up and get it out. Let it be cathartic in some sense.

The problem with potatoes...
it's not that they pack on pounds, are a starchy vegetable, seem to have very little nutritional value (although some would argue against this), are hard to prepare, are pointless without bacon, or are difficult to store without them going bad, etc, etc....

The problem with potatoes...
is that they have eyes and yet do not see.

The problem with potatoes...
is that they clog garbage disposals in people's kitchen's sinks when their daughters lovingly try to help them out by peeling a bunch of potatoes and sending all the peels down the garbage disposal drain.

The REAL problem with potatoes is that they remind me of my sister and my dad. The above memory is of my sister within the last few years. She had tried to do something kind and loving for our mom in her house in Texas to try to help her out. Because my mom's hands bothered her often and she couldn't peel potatoes without her hands hurting her for days afterwards, my sister peeled a bunch of potatoes for my mom and sent all the peelings down the garbage disposal drain. The garbage disposal (much like most of the things and people who still resided in my parents' house) had long since been neglected or simply were not taking care of themselves. So...long story short...er... drains are all clogged up. Garbage disposal fried. All this while we (remaining family: brother, bro-n-law, husband, and maybe nephews) were working on rebuilding the deck on the back of my parents' house. Again, the deck had long been neglected and what boards there were around the concrete stairs at the top of the back kitchen door were rotting, not sound and certainly not capable of supporting the weight or providing stability for an elderly overweight top-heavy man (my dad) or an arthritic woman (my mom). Neglected, uncared for, not fulfilling its purpose. The house, the people and the potatoes.

This place was a death trap and they didn't see it. Just like the potatoes : they have eyes and yet do not see. There was danger all around and yet they just went blissfully through their lives living their meaningless daily routines without ever REALLY looking at the consequences. Things were rotting from the inside out. Hearts hardened to the realities of sin and the ultimate end, death, were dead. Rotting. Not seeing eyes were letting their owners stumble through life in darkness rather than strolling in the light. It was maddening! How can anyone stand to live like this? Yet when you live in darkness you get used to taking the next step without looking towards where you're going. They can't see the end coming. The next step after which there are no more steps. Just pain. Eternity without God and no rescue in sight because they'd already taken their last steps.

The problem with potatoes is that they remind me of a time when my dad was still alive and my parents both lived in their house in Texas. The problem with potatoes is that they remind me of one of the last times we were all together as a family working on something together. The problem with potatoes is that they remind me of that time when my sister was still alive and when got to share in one of those rare 'sister moments' of cooking in the kitchen together. The problem with potatoes is that they remind me of a time when I still had some hope that some of my immediate family members might not perish for eternity without knowing the completely undeserved salvation and grace of God through Jesus Christ.

The problem with potatoes is that they have eyes and yet do not see.