Meg Basham on Twitter-X has been posting well-known Gospel songs sung in other countries in their language. They are terrific! I love listening because it is a wonderful and happy reminder the Gospel is being spread to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the rest of the world.
We will be greeted in heaven by people from all nations, tribes, tongues, and what a day that will be!
This Southern Gospel song “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” from Russia especially takes off when the male singer comes in. Simon Khorolskiy – When the Roll Is Called up Yonder – На небесной перекличке:
This is Kenyan singer Samson Maombi who covers famous country Gospel music hits in Swahili language. (Warning: He is Seventh Day Adventist- his song is good, his religion is not).
Southern Gospel by way of India! The Living Stones Quartet from Kerala India
The Kiffness x Gogo Gloriose – Everyday (I need the blood of Jesus)-Rwanda
The Kiffness x Rushawn – It’s a Beautiful Day (Original song by Jermaine Edwards)- Jamaica
The Lord reigns over all! His GOOD NEWS penetrates to the smallest corner of the world and in even the darkest heart!
Today on X (formerly Twitter), a theologian noted that Jen Wilkin made a nonsensical statement by twisting a biblical concept while on a Q&A Panel. He said,
I’ll have three points here: 1. In general, avoid Jen Wilkin, 2. Specifically, explaining the error of her statement that was posted yesterday, 3. Explaining what the ordo amoris is.
1. In general, avoid Jen Wilkin
I have written about Jen Wilkin several times here on my blog, once positively (long ago!) and then always negatively. Jen is a teacher and preacher out of Matt Chandler’s church, The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX. She has been the Director of Curriculum, she has been teaching pastors & missionaries, and she preaches as a guest in other churches. Of course, the Bible says a woman may not preach or teach men in the church. (1 Timothy 2:11-12). It is disgraceful for her to do so. (1 Corinthians 33-35).
She is an egalitarian, feminist, rebel, Bible twister, unhumble, unteachable, and in general, one to be avoided. She is false. Resources supporting my claims will be provided below.
2. Specifically, explaining why her statement today is error
The entire video from which this short clip is taken is available on Youtube. It is from a Gospel Coalition series titled Good Faith Debates, and the debate was “Should Christians Send their Children to Public School?” Wilkin’s stance is pro-public school. She believes in the “public school ideal” and thinks that Christian children, even kindergarteners, should be in public schools to be a witness and to be engaged in society. So that is her overall stance.
In this specific short clip Jen said, “The most common phrase I hear thrown out in these conversations is ‘well I just need to do what’s best for my family.’ I think that’s something that as Christians we have to push back on. Philippians tells us each of you should look not just to your own interest but to the interests of others.“
Something that dishonest debaters do is to make a generalization. Here, Jen said ‘conversations I’ve heard’. Normally, people have conversations with people who think and believe the same as they do. If she has heard conversations of people saying that 5 year olds need to be active witnesses in public school then I am positive this is a biased view of the situation. It’s also too narrow. Her statement is not based on wide-ranging, unbiased fact. Or the Bible in context.
Secondly, another dishonest debating trick is to restate the question as an either-or. She split what should not be split. Here, Jen subtly poses the question as ‘Christians either ONLY do what’s best for their family’ (and by implication, no one else). She makes it seem as if Christians in this debate are only concerned with their own family and are ignoring the needs of the rest of the world.
No one in their right mind is going to ‘push back on’ having a primary view of doing for one’s family. No one. In addition, most Christians are concerned with the needs of others. Philanthropy is alive and well among the brethren.
3. What is the ‘Ordo Amoris’?
The term originates from Augustine, if not the concept from the Bible. He wrote about it in the City of God. We know that we are supposed to love the right things; holiness, our spouse, His word, our neighbor, His name (Psalm 5:11), and so on. We also are not supposed to love certain things- we are not supposed to love violence Psalm 11:5, or worthless things (Psalm 119:37).
But in addition to knowing what to love, we are supposed to love in the right order. That’s where ordo comes from, it’s a Latin word. So is amoris. We love pizza, we love our football team, we love our home, our children, our spouse, Jesus. Not all of those loves are measured with the same weight. We don’t even love all the people in our lives the same amount.
“For whatever reason, Jesus had His Peter, James, and John, and He had His twelve, and He had His seventy. And so there are these concentric circles of intimacy, it seems, that mattered to Him.” ~John MacArthur
We love our family first, the nuclear family is the first priority. Our deep love and care goes to the people living under our roof. That is found in 1 Timothy 5:8. “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.“
It doesn’t say not to provide for anyone else except your family, it says to be kind to all, but especially one’s family, indicating a hierarchy. There are circles of responsibility. As pastor John Michael LaRue said on X,
“To add to this, Paul’s recognition in 1 Corinthians 7:33-34 of the divided interest of the married man undergirds the reality that the husband and father has responsibilities of protection and care for his wife and children that a single man does not have.“
Then a close second in love are extended family members, then our neighbors, then love our community, then our country, and then consider the interests of the rest of the world. Of course these can overlap and even shift. The concentric circles are not in stone.
Galatians 6:10 says “So then, while we have opportunity, let’s do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith“, again indicating a concentric circle of mindfulness when considering to whom we donate. Jesus said to love your neighbor and defined it as, well, anyone in whose proximity we can share God’s love with.
My view on this ordo amoris discussion is, I trust true Christians to do and to give wisely based on their good decisions, true Christians who are making unwise decisions will be dealt with by Jesus (not me), and if they are not true Christians, then when they face Jesus they will have worse things to worry about than who or what to whom they gave donations.
In an essay about the ordo amoris, not specifically commenting about Jen Wilkin’s either-or statement, Owen Strachan said not to be “confused by silly dichotomies. You can love your natural family AND love the global body of Christ AND seek the salvation of the lost among the nations.”
The point is to use wisely the means (money, expertise, energy) Jesus has given us. Being a wise shepherd means making wise decisions about how to deploy what Jesus has gifted us with. After settling one’s obligations for the month, there may be discretionary money to use to fulfill others’ needs. Even if there is no money leftover we can use our energy, time, expertise to help fulfill others’ needs. As Christians we DO help with needs, as Christians we do so wisely.
Conclusion
False teachers abound, and Jen Wilkin is one of them. False teachers use deceptive language to divide the brethren, to confuse them, and to advance their evil agenda. Third, the ordo amoris is just a fancy phrase for being wise in providing for the people in your circles and extending outward with care and attention, founded by prayer and biblical principles.
In 2002-2005 I went through a severe trial. It was in the middle of that time that I became saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, who extended His hand and lifted me from my sins and the muck I had lived in, thinking it was a palace. No, His hand grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and shook the mud off and He gave me His righteousness. As I grew in Christ, I was humbled, no, awed, but the fact that He absorbed the Father’s wrath for these very sins I’d been living in for 42 years.
Salvation came in the middle of the trial, so I had opportunity to view it from two vantage points. One was when looking back, from own worldly perspective having tried to overcome the pit in my own strength. The other was His heavenly perspective, HIS strength given to me to overcome those trials. After the cross punctuated my life and split my history, the trial was still hard but I had another viewpoint to deal with it: HOPE.
Beforehand, my mental/internal picture was of me in a deep pit. I was a struggling worm, trying vainly to climb out. Afterward, I saw myself climbing the steep, muddy bank of a shallow but raging brook, slipping and sliding, clawing and hanging on, but making upward progress.
After salvation, the embankment was still steep, and the mud was still very real, but my steps became surer. Like the hinds’ feet,
The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like deer’sfeet, And has me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments. (Habakkuk 3:19).
People have verses, quotes, and hymns or praise songs that they often turn to in times of need, in order to grab hold of something outside themselves to help them persevere. For me during that awful time, it was a song by Randy Travis,
Shallow Water, Randy Travis
I will not drown in shallow water. Not with your love within my reach. I did not come this far to falter. And will not rest until I’m free.
Through Your love my eyes are open Through Your love I’ll learn to see And in Your name my bread is broken By Your grace I’ll rest in peace
I had reached the breaking of day within the long dark night of the soul. The Light is beaming, the Lighthouse awaits. No, I will not drown in the mud and muck, what I learned was actually sin. I will not drown in raging waters of turbulence and strife. The water was shallow all along! I can climb the embankment because HE sets my feet on a sure path. I can persevere, now that I’m acting in His strength, not my own, which had only brought me lower, if I’m honest. I’m NOT a struggling, buried, insignificant worm dwelling in mud that blinds, I am a daughter of Christ, loved, and washed by His blood. I won’t faint. I will live!
I heard that song again recently after some years of it having sunk below the piles of newer songs. It all came tumbling back to my memory, as these things often do when they’re triggered by a smell…a sound…a song.
Shallow Water was published in 2000 as part of an album called Inspirational Journey. The album peaked in 2001, but the individual songs kept on, and were popular during the time I was undergoing the trial.
Friends, the water is shallow. The lions are chained.
“Now before he had gone far, he entered into a very narrow passage, which was about a furlong off the Porter’s lodge, and looking very narrowly before him as he went, he espied two lions in the way. Now, thought he, I see the dangers that Mistrust and Timorous were driven back by. (The lions were chained, but he saw not the chains.) Then he was afraid, and thought also himself to go back after them; for he thought nothing but death was before him. But the Porter at the lodge, whose name is Watchful, perceiving that Christian made a halt, as if he would go back, cried unto him, saying, Is thy strength so small? Mark 4:40. Fear not the lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for discovery of those that have none: keep in the midst of the path, and no hurt shall come unto thee.” John Bunyan Pilgrim’s Progress
Stay on the path and He shall make your feet sure, like hinds’ feet climbing to high places. O, what a day when we mount up on eagles wings!
But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31, KJV)
No, I will not faint. The Lord is with me. Nor shall I drown in shallow water.
What are your go-to verses or songs or hymns from which you receive solace?
God came to Moses in a burning bush. The bush was burning but not consumed. Moses saw the spectacle and his amazement awakened, He turned aside to view it. That’s when God announced His presence and said Moses was standing on holy ground.
Just think on that for a second. What if you were going about your daily life, and by the side of the road you saw a car that was burning but not consumed. Would you stop? Would you believe it if God said I AM to you?
Anyway, we know Jesus is not making appearances these days but we tend to take for granted the shocking biblical moments when we read about when the supernatural breaks into the mundane. ‘Oh yah, that’s the burning bush’ we think. But pause and consider what it was REALLY like for Moses.
God told Moses what Moses must do. Yet, Moses wasn’t too sure about these marching orders. He questioned God in Exodus 3 in a series of questions. He asked several reasonable questions and God patiently instructed Moses. It was only the last one, where Moses’ questions turned to objection, that God became angry. This is instructive for us.
1. But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). 2. Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” (Exodus 3:13). 3. Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say?” (Exodus 4:1) 4. Then Moses said to the LORD, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent…(Exodus 4:10a). 5. But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.” (Exodus 4:13). Other translations say that Moses said ‘Send someone else’.
NOW the Lord became angry. Moses’ questions, while initially reasonable, drifted to faithless objection. He wanted out from the responsibility. There was a consequence to his attitude, as Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary states,
“The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses—The Divine Being is not subject to [boiling] passion; but His displeasure was manifested by transferring the honor of the priesthood, which would otherwise have been bestowed on Moses, to Aaron, who was from this time destined to be the head of the house of Levi (1Ch 23:13).“
Mary asked a reasonable question to the angel Gabriel informing her that she would soon be pregnant. Very reasonable! She wondered about this, an event that had never happened before and never would again. “How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?“(Luke 1:34). In her innocence, she was not rebuked. Her question was sincere and pure.
Habakkuk asked God about the timing of God’s plan, and was patiently instructed. The Prophet was earnestly inquiring. More at Habakkuk Questions the Lord, a Ligonier article.
But Zechariah the father of John the Baptist questioned the angel Gabriel too. Why was he punished and Mary wasn’t? Because of all people, a priest of God should have remembered the same angel Gabriel brought a message to Daniel. He should have remembered that Abraham and Sarah bore Isaac in their dotage just as Gabriel said Zechariah and Elizabeth would bear John. Worse, Zechariah asked for a sign- “how shall I know this?” and thus, demonstrated his unbelief. Gabriel replied exactly that -“because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.” (Luke 1:20b).
Where Mary accepted the news in submission, Zechariah’s question showed unbelief, so he was punished. JC Ryle here on Zechariah’s question: Zechariah’s Unbelief .
The Pharisees asked a whole bunch of questions. Their questions were insincere, dishonest, and came with an evil agenda (they were trying to trap Him, test Him, and destroy Him.)
God encourages us to ask questions. If we are truly wondering, seeking, grappling with the enormity of it all, God understands. He answered Habakkuk and Mary. He was patient with Moses (to a point). Jeremiah, Job, and Elijah all asked God to let them die. They were not rebuked or punished. Instead, GotQuestions explains:
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God says, “Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come” (Jeremiah 33:3, NLT). How could it be wrong to question God when Jesus Himself encouraged, “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7–8, HCSB).
The point is, we can ask questions of God sinfully, thinly veiled queries which are really asking Him to justify Himself. We can ask questions sinfully like the Pharisees did, just to gather evidence that God is not worthy. Or we can be a Mary or Habakkuk and sincerely ask and give him worshipful praise when the answer comes- or not, as Job did.
All the articles linked to here are good to explore the question of whether it is OK to question God. Ultimately though, Mary’s and Job’s conclusion, “Let it be done to your servant as you will,” and “Shall we actually accept good from God but not accept adversity?” is the best thought to rest on as you await an answer- whether it comes or not.
The other day I came across a post on X (formerly Twitter) from The Transformed Wife/Lori Alexander/ @godlywomanhood, which stated flatly:
I erased the rest of the post so I could present the main focus, her outlandish statement. I left the date and time stamp if you want to look it up to see the rest of her sentence.
Lori plays doctor, making overgeneralizing claims that have no basis in reality. Ladies, sometimes it’s OK or even necessary to work. Circumstances vary from household to household. In Christian liberty, you and your husband should pray, discuss, and decide what is best for you.
“The workforce” doesn’t cause infertility. Activity such as a stressful work environment can impact a woman’s cycles. But so can intense physical activity. Some female athletes when intensely training for an event, can result in not having a period anymore, called Amenorrhea.
Avoid Lori, her counseling advice and her medical advice!
Point #1-
Lori is a Legalist. This means she puts burdens on people she declares as biblical mandates which are actually within the realm of Christian liberty. Legalism has several nuances.
1. Legalism is believing that salvation can be earned by obedience. 2. Legalism is believing that one can obey the Bible through his own will and power for the purpose of gaining a greater measure of God’s approval and favor.
And here is where Lori Alexander’s legalism comes in-
3. Legalism elevates man-made rules above the Scripture.“This third form of legalism elevates man-made rules, especially prohibitions, to the same level of authority as God-given commands and the belief that following these rules will aid you in your spiritual growth.” Source ACBC Biblical Counseling.com
There is no scripture that says a woman may never under any circumstances join “the workforce”. In fact you notice Lori rarely if ever attaches an actual verse to her commands and pronouncements. Not just Lori, but ladies, watch out for any “Bible teacher” who does this.
There are situations which a husband and wife decide the wife works- he is deployed, in jail, on medical disability, finishing college, trade school, or seminary. To save for a house to have large down-payment and low or no debt.
The Bible offers up women who DID work in “the workforce”. There are others mentioned such as prostitutes, servants, and slaves but I am not pointing to them. The ones in this list are women who had jobs or duties in some kind of work-for-pay outside the home or a job that took them from home, whether it was theirs or their father’s.
Rachel was a Shepherdess. Egyptian Midwives worked. Sheerah, a builder, was the daughter of Ephraim, son of Joseph, 1 Chronicles 7:24. Lydia worked, she had a business selling purple. Her work allowed her to have a large enough house to host church and guests for the propagation of the Gospel and the teaching of the saints. Deborah worked, she was a wife but also a Judge/Prophetess. Priscilla- was a Tentmaker with her husband. Esther, Candace, Sheba- Queens. Ruth- worked as a gleaner alongside Boaz’s women in the fields until the end of the harvests. (Ruth 2:23) Women were also patronesses & benefactors, such as Susannah and Phoebe, which required them to manage their means and likely an employee.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 says, For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.
I don’t see a gender prohibition in this verse. The verse doesn’t say, if any man is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either; But women must not enter the workforce’…
It’s true that we must be diligent to sustain ourselves and not rely on the church or others without being willing to pull our own weight. But the Lord was gracious to leave us room to manage our individual affairs in ways that would be consistent with His general principles in this area without making strict mandates in a one size fits all forcible lifestyle.
Point #2-
Christian liberty means where the Bible doesn’t command or deny some kind of standard for us, it is within the realm of the individual or the couple to pray and follow biblical concepts as best they can.
Believers are free to do any activity that is not expressly forbidden in the Bible, as long it it does not present a stumbling block to others or violate your own conscience. Romans 14:22 says,
The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is the one who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
There are many verses in Proverbs and elsewhere that talk about the busy ant, verses speaking against the slacker and the idle. Christians work.
EPrata photo
The Bible does not expressly forbid women to work outside the home. The women named above were not chastised by any person in the Bible or any verse that said they were violating a command.
However, there is a third, very important point-
Point #3
When the couple begins to have kids mom should do all she can to be a stay-at-home mother, though. God did give women a special role in childbearing and child raising. Strongly, if at all possible, moms should be at home with their children.
What are God’s priorities for women? Seven priorities of a godly wife are spelled out in Titus 2:3-5 … Whether or not a woman works outside the home, God’s primary calling is for her to manage the home. That is the most exalted place for a wife. The world is calling many modern women out of the home, but not the Lord. His Word portrays the woman’s role as one preoccupied with domestic duties. It is a high calling, far more crucial to the future of a woman’s children than anything she might do in an outside job.
The ultimate decision is a personal one that each woman must make in submission to her husband’s authority. Obviously, a single woman would be free to work and pursue outside employment. A married woman with no children is perhaps a little more restricted in the amount of time and energy she can devote to an outside job. A woman who is a mother obviously has primary responsibility in the home and would therefore not be free to pursue outside employment to the detriment of the home.
Conclusion
1. Some “Bible teachers” who sound good and biblical at first pass are actually expert at mixing in untruths with truth to the disservice of your walk. Not all that glitters is gold. Don’t let unwise and uninformed internet teachers put a burden on you that does not exist. (Or release you from restrictions that should exist). Test all things.
2. Keep in mind your Christian liberty- absent a command or a forbidding, always seek to align your decisions with the values that God has for you in your role at each stage of life. Always compare what you are learning from any teacher online or real life, with what the Bible says- and doesn’t say.
3. If you have children it is true that you and your husband should seek the Lord’s help in structuring your life to align with the priority of the mother at home managing the home, while husband provides.
Further Resources
Lori follows the stance of (false) Dale Partridge, which is that women should NOT teach any theology to any man or woman. Ever. His stance is here.
Partridge’s stance is rebutted biblically by Henry Anderson at The Cripplegate, here.
Does the Bible Allow women to work outside the home? Live Q&A, video by Dave Guzik, “We shouldn’t treat one Bible passage as if it says everything about a subject- we need to do what 2 Timothy 2:15 says to do, rightly divide the word of truth, and that means not taking one verse and acting as if that’s the only thing the Bible says on the subject.” slide to 3:43 to 17:24
Genesis 2:9 says, Out of the ground the LORD God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 3:6 says, When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.
Eve already knew that all the trees were good for food. Only one tree she was told not to eat of it. Eve added ‘nor touch it’ herself, or perhaps Adam had instructed her so. In any case, ‘nor touch it’ wasn’t in God’s commands. He does not like when His word is added to or taken away from. (Deuteronomy 4:2, Revelation 22:18-19).
But satan suddenly made her ‘see’ it in a new way, a way that touched her selfish desires.
Did you know that John Bunyan wrote a commentary on Genesis? He had completed commenting on 10 chapters of Genesis fully and partially on Chapter 11. It was discovered oin his study in his own handwriting by Charles Doe, and then published in 1691. You can find Bunyan’s Genesis commentary online here at Monergism.com or at BibleHub, among other places. Here is what Bunyan had to say about that scene with Eve in the Garden-
————begin Bunyan commentary————
This verse presents us with the use that Eve made of the reasonings of the serpent; and that was, to take them into consideration; not by the word of God, but as her flesh and blood did sense them:
This is a very dangerous and devouring to the soul, from which Paul fled, as from the devil himself: “Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood” (Gal 1:16).
Wherefore, pausing upon [the devil’s words], they entangled her as with a threefold cord-
1. “The lust of the flesh”; she saw it was good for food.
2. “The lust of the eye”; she saw it was pleasant to the eye.
3. “The pride of life”; a tree to be desired, to make one wise (1 John 2:16).
Being taken, I say, with these three snares of the adversary, which are not of the Father, but of the world, and the devil the prince thereof, forthwith she falls before him: “And when the woman saw” this, “she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.”
“And when the woman saw.” This seeing, as I said, is to be understood of her considering what Satan presented to her, and of her sensing or tasting of his doctrine; not by the word, which ought to be the touch stone of all, but by and according to her own natural reason without it.
God commands to self-denial.
————end Bunyan commentary————
Self-denial. Obedience. Submission. Three little words that meant the difference between Righteousness and the Fall of the human race. And so it is today. Not popular words. Admittedly very hard to do. Even in the Garden of Eden when all conditions were perfect, our human nature wants to rebel, disobey, fulfill self. It’s harder now with our fallen nature tempting us at all points.
There is One who was tempted at all points and yet mastered sin. The Holy One, Jesus, lived the perfect life of righteousness on God’s eyes. He died for us as the sacrificial (eternal) lamb so we may life. Resurrected and ascended to heaven, He reigns there now, receiving all who would repent of their sin.
Outside of Jesus, we sin daily, minute by minute our thoughts and intentions of the heart, our words, and our actions displease God. His wrath already abides on us. But if we repent, God then sees us as He sees His Son, as righteous and holy. To be sure, we still sin, but the Spirit in us given as a deposit of the guarantee, will continue to lead us into righteousness and help us resist temptation. Jesus will forgive our sins when we repent.
Jesus is the most wonderful person in the universe. Repent unto salvation if you have not already. If you have repented unto salvation, work at mortifying our daily sin, putting it to death.
In Genesis 3:17, we read that Adam listened to the voice of his wife.
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
The entire human race fell into sin with Adam’s disobedience- having listened to the voice of his wife.
In Genesis 16:2 we read that Abraham listened to the voice of his wife.
So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. (Genesis 16:2).
The entire Arab world is forever fighting because of Ishmael, the result of Sarah’s scheme to get a boy child, who ended up being a wild donkey of a man who raised up his fist against everyone. (Genesis 16:12)
In Genesis 12:7 God told Abraham he would have offspring. In Genesis 15:5 God told Abraham he would have numerous descendants, and specifically that Eliezar would not be the heir. And yet Abraham disobeyed and listened to Sarah who connived a better plan, or so she thought.
The results of both men whom God Himself charged with listening to the voice of his wife, reverberates throughout history.
Now let’s get one thing clear. Women/wives are created to be a helpmeet. (Genesis 2:18). One of the ways they help husbands is that they give wise advice and have good opinions. Proverbs 31:26-27 is a verse admiring the wife precisely because “She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
The difference between Eve/Adam and Sarah/Abraham is that their counsel directly contradicted God’s. It was unwise and unkind, the opposite of the Proverbs wife. And the men listened.
I mean, in Genesis 15:5 Abraham heard that he’d have offspring, and in Genesis 15:6, the next verse it was counted to him as righteousness that he believed and trusted God. But Abraham succumbed to…something. Impatience? Sarah’s beauty? Masculine weakness? Who knows. But Abraham was charged by God as having listened to the voice of his wife, and not in a good way. Adam too.
Wives, please make sure you are not pressuring your husband to do things that arise from your own carnal desire, as Eve’s was. Nor should we create schemes and machinations to further our own personal agenda, as Sarah did. Be a Hannah, who loved her husband and waited on God and appealed to God (not her husband as Rebekah did) to open her womb. A Lois or Eunice, teaching the young Timothy as they raised the boy to a man. Most importantly, be a Mary, who soaked up Jesus’ teaching every chance she got.
This is what makes a wise wife. A wife whose voice will help her husband and please God. When you open your mouth, is it in wisdom or folly?
I was thinking about the difference between wisdom and discernment, since I read Proverbs 4 today. Which is a good set of verses to refer to again and again!
Wisdom is the result of applying knowledge through discernment. There is a difference in knowing things and being able to use the wisdom gained to advance your holiness.
Abigail- is a good biblical example of how wisdom gained and applied thru discernment. Abigail was the wife of a brute of a man, that’s the Bible’s description. He was Nabal, a name that means foolish. He kept sheep near Carmel and he wasn’t well liked by anyone, including his servants or his wife. David had asked Nabal for food to feed his men and Nabal refused. Incensed, David swore to kill Nabal. Abigail pleaded with David, at no small risk to herself, I might add, and her gentleness and discernment, tact and wisdom calmed David. He was impressed. SO impressed, he married Abigail when Nabal died. (1 Samuel 25:1-42; 2 Samuel 3:3).
Hebrews 5:14 reminds us that discernment is a skill and as such, we must train ourselves in it.
Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that discernment is precise. There should be no reply like, ‘well nobody’s perfect’, or ‘eat the meat and spit out the bones’. If we train in discernment, apply it with tact and wisdom, it will do its job to hearts and minds, and in so doing will glorify the Lord.
Romans 12:2 tells us that discernment not only helps us train but it helps us find the will of God, which nothing on this earth is more important.
1 Kings 3:9- Solomon knew there was nothing more important, discernment was the one thing he asked for when given opportunity by God.
Hosea 14:9- discernment allows the God fearer to walk uprightly and it is something that makes the transgressors stumble.
But HOW do we train in discernment? How do we gain it? As Joseph said to the cupbearer, baker, and Pharaoh, it is not in himself, but God delivers wisdom (in Joseph’s case, to interpret dreams, but you get the point). We obtain discernment, according to Sinclair Ferguson at Ligonier, from his article What Is Discernment?
How is such discernment to be obtained? We receive it as did Christ Himself—by the anointing of the Spirit, through our understanding of God’s Word, by our experience of God‘s grace, and by the progressive unfolding to us of the true condition of our own hearts.
You knew I was going to say that, right? That gaining wisdom and applying discernment comes from steady study in God’s word? THAT is where all truth, knowledge and beauty lies. Add prayer, a constantly transforming mind, add alert to occasions where discernment can be used, then repeat. Just as a boxer trains his footwork repetitively, just as a basketball player throws the ball to the basket in practice again and again, so we train in discernment repeatedly.
Discernment is a skill and as the verse in Hebrews 5:14 says, we must train. Have you been to the spiritual ‘gym’ lately?
It is a day off from school and for that I am grateful, because I can watch the Inauguration and celebratory proceedings.
President Trump is about to take the oath of office shortly, for the second time.
It has been a long 4 years since his first inauguration. As one who is so active on social media, Biden’s term has caused me no small amount of anguish. I have had to avert my eyes often, guard my heart, and work at reducing the bitterness, outrage, and unhappiness of all that I have witnessed. At times I’ve felt that my beloved nation was imploding, reminding me of the verse where God had said, Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim, And like rottenness to the house of Judah. (Hosea 5:12). A moth silently eats away at the fabric, rot causes foundational collapse.
It seems that He has granted us a reprieve from the Alarics of the world from sacking Rome.
I’ve grown up as a political animal. My father ran for office and also helped in campaigns of others seeking office. From my earliest days I remember grange halls, bunting, that echo shoes make on the wooden floors, Sousa marching music, and more.
I love my country and participated in Project Close-Up as a freshman. We were taken to the Nation’s capitol and given a close up look at how our nation runs, and time with our senator and representative. Even a tour of the Supreme Court. I loved it.
I’ve always been happy and proud of our country. My grandparents immigrated from Europe, coming thru Ellis Island, made new lives, prospered. I’ve been able to speak freely, assemble, and practice my religion with no hindrances.
I’ve been able to vote. What a privilege. I’ve almost always voted third party. I have felt strongly that we need to be governed by someone with real world experience in business (and ‘community organizing’ doesn’t count). Someone who understands at the minutest level about the economy. Someone from outside the two parties, which increasingly to me looked like one party. My first election I voted for John Anderson, and then Perot, Forbes, and so on. (Not Nader though).
I stood on the shore of Newport beach in 1976 and was wowed by the Tall Ships passing, our national bicentennial was a superlative party and a great lesson in civics.
It has been a long slog just since July when Candidate president Trump was shot, his life spared by the One who governs all life, but by a hair’s breadth to our eyes.
As someone who loves my country and is proud of it (and I never forgot THAT comment, yes I’m looking at you, Michelle Obama) and someone who loves justice, truth, and beauty, the last 4 years have been difficult if not depressing. Perhaps it was to give us a minute glimpse into what it was like for 1st century Christians under Nero. Or 1st century Jews under Herod. And yes I am deliberately likening our immediate past president to Herod and Nero.
“It is He who changes the times and the periods; He removes kings and appoints kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, And knowledge to people of understanding.” (Daniel 2:21).
It is HE. I do not know why God in His sovereign will decided to give us this reprieve or what He has in mind for the near future. But for the first time in a while I have optimism, even while completely understanding that my hope is in Jesus.
I’ve been praying for President Trump’s salvation, first and foremost. Then, that he survives the swearing in, and the next 4 years. I’ve been praying for justice to be done. Oh what a balm to my soul that justice in all her glory would be served. What a grace if I don’t have to wait until Jesus returns to see leaders right some of these recent wrongs.
I also pray that Mr Biden will receive the elder CARE HE DESERVES. He is obviously suffering from dementia, and it is a grief to watch in real time a man used as a puppet, a prop, inhumanely manipulated for evil ends. I can’t wait for THAT injustice to be addressed by Jesus.
But still, my hope is in Jesus. However, I am excited for today. I pray our nation returns to its earlier vigor and founding values. My life is advanced but I do hope that this sojourn by President Trump in our Hall of History will establish something good and strong for the next generation.
According to several passages in the Bible, it is believed that angels may escort believers to heaven when they die, (Luke 16:22). We read about the poor man Lazarus who was carried to heaven by angels after he died. After all, Hebrews 1:14 says that angels are ministering spirits who serve those who will inherit salvation. It isn’t a stretch to surmise that they might minister to us as our flesh fades away and our spirit ascends to heaven, guided along by gentle zephyrs in the company of angels who tenderly bring us to our eternal place.
It’s a soft, comforting, lovely thought of the care that Jesus has for our souls, even at the end and beyond.
The difference of how the lost’s souls are handled is stark. Far from being guided in love to safely and gently dock in pastures so green in heaven, only the fires await those who are not in Christ. The lost are THROWN away (from the presence of Jesus). They are CAST into hell.
When you blow your nose and wad a tissue do you gently deposit it into the wastebasket? No, likely you toss it. A wadded up piece of paper? Throw it…score! When you deem something trash or waste, you don’t handle it gently. It is of nothing to you. Toss without care.
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The word ‘cast’ or ‘thrown’ is used repeatedly in the Bible referring to those whose destination is hell. Every time. Sin and Hades itself are also thrown or cast into the Lake of Fire.
Matthew 5:29, Now if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matthew 7:19, Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matthew 8:12, but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 18:9, And if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fiery hell.
Luke 13:28, In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.
John 15:6, If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Revelation 20:10, and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Revelation 20:15, And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
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The word used here is ballo with an ek in front. Ek means out. The definition isTo cast out, to drive out, to send out, to expel. Expel is to remove something by force.
We are so used to the notion put forth by false teachers that Jesus is a boyfriend romantically pursuing us, or that He is a ‘gentleman’ who wouldn’t not force Himself on us. Neither of these characterizations are accurate. He is meek, yes. He is compassionate, yes. He is never soft on sin. He is angry at sin. He has no use for those who did evil in His sight and there is no need to gently lay into the fire those who rejected His gospel. They are tossed.
Yes, He has compassion on those who are without a shepherd, but when it comes time for the judgment, it will be rough, hard, and a display of the ultimate rejection, them against Jesus and Jesus against them.
Why write this? To awaken a renewed sense of wonder at Jesus’ gospel. To spark a deeper gratitude that He saved us from this. We who are in Him will be witnesses to it. During the Tribulation there will be silence in heaven for ‘half an hour’. (Revelation 8:1). It is a solemn silence of profound expectation of the final and decisive catastrophe- wrath unknown and unexperienced until now.
And yet, the final judgment of casting souls inside fitted bodies into the fires will be worse. Isaiah 66:24 says
“All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the LORD. “Then they will go out and look At the corpses of the people Who have rebelled against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be extinguished; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
Most commenters take this as figurative language, of those viewing the bodies of the Jews who had rejected Jesus and lay rotting in abundance in their deaths in the aftermath of the battle at Gehenna. I personally think it is literal, that there is a literal lake of fire with literal bodies of the lost in a literal fire. It will be literally somewhere and occasionally the saved will view them and remember as a testimony to God’s mercy that there but for the grace of God, go I.
Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need says Hebrews 4:16. As we approach that throne of grace, let gratitude flow that He has dealt gently with us.
the-end-time.org 