Posted in encouragement, gay marriage, homosexual, judgment, lot, sodom, supreme court

Take comfort: God knows how to rescue the Godly from trials

Posted on by elizabethprata
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, John Martin, 1852.

if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. (2 Peter 2:6-10).

Imagine being Lot. A just and righteous man, he must have been greatly upset by what he saw all around him. We tease and laugh at Lot’s unwise decisions, choosing the city over the plain when separating from Abraham. We chidingly say, “Why didn’t Lot move out?” But by now he had a life there, economic entanglements, a family. He sat by the gate, which meant he was a town elder. Perhaps Lot thought he could do some good with what influence he had. Perhaps the slide toward almost total wickedness crept up on him. In the United States it really only took about 20 years for a reversal from east to west, from top to bottom, a change of nation-wide magnitude to happen.

Though many are mourning the Supreme Court’s decision to allow homosexual marriage in all the land, we aren’t righteous Lot. He had only two other truly righteous people around him, his daughters. His wife was later unmasked as false, unfortunately. Only Lot and his daughters. He did not have the Holy Spirit in Him, either, for comfort. Nor did he belong to the Body of Christ and thereby take comfort from fellow believers. It was just Lot, two daughters, and a city full of sodomites.

We are blessed! We have churches free and open (for now). We have blogs to express our thoughts and books we can be edified from and the Bible freely sold to learn about our holy God and brethren far away but as near as Skype to encourage and be encouraged by. We have prayer and a High Priest who intercedes for us!

SO! If the LORD God knew how to rescue righteous Lot, then He knows how to rescue the godly from trials. Our God is a God who sees the plight of the oppressed! (Genesis 16:13)

Our God is a God who hears!

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. (1 John 5:14)

But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. (Psalm 66:19)

Our God is not a distant, unaware, aloof God! He is intimately involved with His people and with the world!

Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” (Genesis 18:20-21)

The Lord going down is explained in Jamieson-Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible:

language used after the manner of men. These cities were to be made examples to all future ages of God’s severity; and therefore ample proof given that the judgment was neither rash nor excessive (Ez 18:23; Je 18:7).

God is patient, but aware. The righteous will be rescued and the wicked will be punished. I glory in both of these attributes, His long-suffering and His holy justice to come. His patience is so that many will come to repentance. Therefore, far from crying today I am worshiping our Great God. He hears the cries of the oppressed and of the righteous. He is omnipotent, all-powerful the great Amen. He’s got this!

Posted in gay marriage, homosexual, prophecy, supreme court

5 people v. 5000 years: Homosexual Marriage for all the land redefined, affirmed, and applauded

Posted on by elizabethprata
Source

Landmark: Supreme Court Rules Same-Sex Marriage Legal Nationwide (excerpts)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday made marriage for same-sex couples legal nationwide, declaring that refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples violates the Constitution. The landmark ruling will produce the most significant change in laws governing matrimony since the court struck down state bans on inter-racial marriage almost 50 years ago.

The majority opinion in the 5-4 decision was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.

“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were,” Kennedy wrote. “As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death.” Kennedy went on to speak directly to the type of criticism that often comes from conservatives in pushing back against marriage equality.

“It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves,” Kennedy said. “Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”

A total of 36 states now permit gay couples to get married, covering roughly 70 percent of the US population. Today’s ruling means the bans must end in the other 14 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.

The decision capped a remarkably quick turnaround in public and judicial acceptance of same-sex marriage. In the past 18 months, court rulings struck down marriage bans in rapid succession — nearly 60 separate decisions in more than half the states. Public opinion has shifted dramatically in recent years. The first Gallup poll on the subject showed only 27 percent approval for same-sex marriage in 1996. Gallup’s most recent poll, taken last month, showed 60 percent approval.

Those figures illustrate a remarkable slide into sin and apostasy. Remarkable. But it is what happens when a person or a nation worships the creation rather than the Creator. Once one sets aside the Creator, it is for all practical purposes, inevitable. Romans 1 shows the slide, beginning in verse 18. And once hardened, it is inescapable. Here is the salient portion of the Romans passage for today’s news:

Romans 1:26-32:
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

They applaud the perversity. Source

The vast audience applauding is significant. The conscience in suppression of righteousness must have a salve, and rejecting the salve of God’s forgiveness on their souls, they strive to dampen the effects of conscience by merging with like-minded sinners. Unrestrained sin from hardened perpetrators will lead to mass delusion, sin, hysteria… If Gentiles were seen as dogs, then this scene shows what hardened sinners are like when given societal permission to do their wickedness: they become as rabid dogs. See what happened in Sodom:

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” (Genesis 19:4-5)

Every last man in the entire city surrounded a house that contained fresh, attractive meat. Gang rape was on their mind. Of course, we in the US are not to the point of gay gang rapers marauding from house to house in search of victims, but today in our nation, our new name has become Sodom. Here is Ken Ham of Answers In Genesis, the Genesis apologetics site, offered his reaction to today’s news.

Ken Ham

Gay “Marriage” Affirmed By the Supreme Court

This ruling by the Supreme Court in regard to gay “marriage” is actually going to fundamentally change the culture in America and apart from a miracle of God—a special movement of God—this is going to be basically an irreversible situation. And I really believe that to understand what is happening to America now, read Romans chapter 1. That is really a picture of what is going on. We’re going to see increased persecution against Christians; we’re going to see increased antagonism toward Christianity. We’re going to see the restriction of the free exercise of religion, freedom of religion, and free speech in this nation, particularly in regard to Christianity. I believe we’re going to see the government move against Christian churches, colleges, institutions, and organizations that take a stand on biblical marriage as God commands us to in the Bible going back to the book of Genesis.

As Jesus stated in Matthew, “Have ye not read, that He that made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh’? Therefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4–7).

Just as the slide toward this moment was remarkably fast, the persecution of the church which seeks to maintain righteousness and call out sin and sinners will also speed up remarkably. Now I hope not to see (too much) woe is me hand-wringing from Christians over the SCOTUS decision. It is a sad day for a nation I was once and in many ways am still proud of. I trust the Lord my God, and He is in control. His holiness is unaffected by pagan men on courts with reprobate minds. I am sad for the many who will go the way of Sodom, their condemnation hanging over them, but I am equally joyful in God’s mighty plan of redemption. Satan means this for evil, but God will use it for good.

Perhaps He will release the SCOTUS proponents from their sin and they will repent. That would be a Good to emerge from this. Perhaps this hastened the day of the rapture, and that would be a good thing. Perhaps this will weed out false or waffling pastors when confronted with the local, legal reality of the decision, and perhaps would solidify others to a stronger biblical stance. Those would be a good things.

Don Green

God’s grace is available to any person willing to fall before a holy resurrected Jesus and repent of their sins. Pastor Don Green of Truth Community Church reminds us of this mercy, with his reaction to the decision focused on Jesus-

Commentary on today’s Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage?

Sure thing.

First, an inerrant analysis; then a personal promise.

1. The inerrant analysis (and it isn’t pretty):

24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper (Romans 1:24-28)

Analysis: simple.

This ruling is depraved and improper. Game over.

2. A personal promise (in complete reliance on God’s future grace):

I, and thousands of pastors like me, along with countless biblical Christians who have not bowed the knee to Baal, will never, ever affirm this decision or yield to its illegitimate demand on conscience.
I will gladly tell homosexuals that their sins can be forgiven through repentance and faith in Christ. I will show them human kindness and courtesy.

But I will never offer them false comfort about the eternal consequences of their lifestyle choices. “Do not be deceived: homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
I will never yield to their threats. I will not be silenced. “Do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled” (1 Peter 3:14).

For those who harden their hearts against this biblical truth, I say this: enjoy your legal victory today, but understand how fleeting and empty it is.

A transcendent Judge will one day reverse this Supreme Court. And the nakedness society celebrates today will be shown the nakedness God condemns.

Nary a fig leaf will give you cover in the searching presence of offended, omniscient Holiness. You will give account for your sin, and a transient 5-4 verdict from the U.S. Supreme Court will not justify you on that Day.

For those who belong to Christ: this world was never our home. Let us look confidently to our Rock and Refuge. He will yet have the final say, and He will never forsake or abandon us.

We will not bow our knee to Baal. We will proclaim a righteous and just Jesus who can and does redeem the wicked from their sins, whatever their sins are. The age of grace is not over.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Posted in adultery, discernment, morality, pastor, tullian tchividjian

Fallen pastors can still lead: here’s how

Posted on by elizabethprata

When a pastor or elder falls, it affects all of us and it hurts because it is such a reproach onto Jesus. I understand the pressures and the temptations, and that we are all standing on the same blood-soaked ground and it could happen to any of us. But Pastors are held to a higher standard (James 3:1) for a lot of reasons, one of which is that he is supposed to lead by example. (1 Corinthians 9:27, 1 Timothy 3:2).

A pastor who fails the doctrinal, moral and behavioral purity expected in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 disqualifies himself and he may not lead a flock again. He may be restored to fellowship, he may be forgiven if showing repentance, but not restored to leadership. He destroyed his integrity and that leadership kind of trust cannot be regained.

So what do I mean when I say a fallen pastor may still lead? He can lead by showing a good example of how to handle himself biblically in the aftermath of his scandal.

A fallen pastor can still lead by example in the aftermath by choosing to be spiritually mature, displaying honest repentance, sorrow, humility and a servant-like attitude. And not just the kind of sorrow that is sorry he got caught! We can tell the difference, you know. He can be honorable in showing how to honor Jesus while he is attempting to emerge from the sin by taking the expected biblical actions expeditiously and honestly. He can actively ask for forgiveness for his sin, and doesn’t call it anything else.

My issue with Tullian Tchividjian in the recent adultery scandal is two-fold. It’s not just that he fell, which is sad and a reproach, but that he continues to fail- this time in displaying how to humbly handle the fallout.

First, let us examine his press release statement to The Washington Post. A press release/statement given to the media in advance of or during a scandal is always a well-thought out, carefully constructed piece of writing. Mr Tchividjian did not make this statement verbally, under pressure, off the cuff, or any other way we can say was spontaneous and thus can be taken with a grain of salt. Apparently Mr Tchividjian had been struggling for months in leading his family. He had met with his elders several times and had met with another (famous) pastor who was flown in for counseling. Tchividjian apparently had not revealed his own adultery at that time but only days later when specifically confronted. This is what he released to the public:

“I resigned from my position at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church today due to ongoing marital issues. As many of you know, I returned from a trip a few months back and discovered that my wife was having an affair. Heartbroken and devastated, I informed our church leadership and requested a sabbatical to focus exclusively on my marriage and family. As her affair continued, we separated. Sadly and embarrassingly, I subsequently sought comfort in a friend and developed an inappropriate relationship myself. Last week I was approached by our church leaders and they asked me about my own affair. I admitted to it and it was decided that the best course of action would be for me to resign. Both my wife and I are heartbroken over our actions and we ask you to pray for us and our family that God would give us the grace we need to weather this heart wrenching storm. We are amazingly grateful for the team of men and women who are committed to walking this difficult path with us. Please pray for the healing of deep wounds and we kindly ask that you respect our privacy.”

In his press release he chose to call his act an “inappropriate relationship,” not what it was: adultery, (1 Corinthians 7:2, Matthew 5:27-28) or at the least, a “sinful relationship”. They separated, which is not biblical. He blamed His wife (a la Genesis 3:12). He used the passive tense for his resignation (“It was decided”), thus distancing himself from the decision by linguistic deflection. You just might as well say “Mistakes were made.” Then there were all the “woe is me” tweets and activity on social media, indicating a lack of humility in being mindful of how he hurt his church, his wife, his readers, and his Savior. His focus should have been on Jesus, and his wife, not himself.

In my own world, this is the kind of statement I’d love to see a fallen leader make.

I resigned from my position at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church today due to my sin of adultery. As many of you know, recently I informed our church leadership of my ongoing martial issues and had requested a sabbatical to focus exclusively on my marriage and family. Subsequent to that time, I wrongly chose to seek comfort from another woman. Last week I confessed this to my church leaders. I know that I have harmed my marriage, my church, and most of all my Savior. I failed the moral standard and I now step down, knowing I can no longer lead by example. I am heartbroken over my sinful actions and I seek your forgiveness for this hurt I’ve done to our church, my family, and to the name of Jesus Christ. I ask you to pray for us and our family. I know that that God gives us the grace we need to weather this heart wrenching storm, a storm of my own making. We are amazingly grateful for the team of men and women who have counseled us. I thank them for their love, diligence, and example during this time.”

Instead, we get drama.

Mr Tchividjian is playing the grace card here.

Oh, such dramatics…

 And on Facebook-

No you don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to be above reproach.

There were some other tweets and Facebook comments. I didn’t post them all. Absent from any of his public statements was asking for forgiveness. This is significant.

Falling into sin is one issue, how you handle it after exposure is another. So it is a #fail on two levels, he failed to lead by moral example in purity by remaining above reproach, and Tchividjian failed to lead in being an example of humble repentance afterwards.

When I was doing research on the rampant plagiarism from pulpits, I came across a 2006 report in the Christian Index of a Georgian pastor who plagiarized few times. Plagiarizing is a disqualifying offense, just as adultery is. Here is the CI account (the page at the Christian Index has gone dead, or I’d link to it).

One misstep can be disastrous. Consider the case earlier this year of a mid-Georgia pastor who was struggling under stress of personal problems and had trouble focusing on weekly sermon preparation. Over a six-week period he preached several sermons verbatim without giving attribution. When confronted he confessed and shared his problems and asked forgiveness from the church. It was not an act of laziness but pure survival, he maintained, trying to hold his ministry together in the face of seemingly insurmountable difficulties. While the church apparently extended the forgiveness, the pastor did feel his ministry had been severely damaged and resigned from the church. 

He is an honorable pastor. He explained why he did it, he didn’t make excuses, he did the honorable thing, the biblical thing, and resigned. He had integrity in understanding he had fallen below reproach, didn’t blame his wife or whoever his personal problems were with, didn’t go on a drama ride on social media saying woe is me, he asked forgiveness, and he resigned. I’d be likely to trust this man much more than I would Mr Tchividjian.

Any fallen leader can lead by example, from a biblically advised position of repentance that’s genuine, honoring Christ above all, taking responsibility without blame-shifting, and stepping down without fuss, drama, or a fight. Go quietly, humbly, knowing that-

we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

—————————


Further reading


(UPDATED) Tullian Tchividjian: It’s not the celebrity pastor, megachurch model that is the problem

Posted in creator of the universe, millennial kingdom, prophecy, sun, tribulation

Prophecy: A sun that will be seven times hotter but will not burn

Posted on by elizabethprata
In the Tribulation, agriculture will wither under a scorching sun.

Dorothea Lange, Abandoned farm north of Dalhart, TX. 1938.

At the end of the end days, during the Tribulation where all men living on the earth will be judged in wrath, there will be three sets of successively worsening judgments (or four sets, if the Seven Thunders of Revelation 10:1-4 are judgments).

There will first be the 7 Seal Judgments of Revelation 6, they open the Tribulation. Then the wrath of God is demonstrated through 7 Trumpet Judgments of Revelation 8-9. These are terrible judgments, but by God’s grace, some repent through them. After that there are the 7 Bowl Judgments. Revelation 15 opens with the 7 Bowl Judgments.

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. (Revelation 15:1).

These are the most terrible of all. They are so bad that no one is even allowed in the heavenly throne room sanctuary until they are concluded.

And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished. (Revelation 16:7-8)

One of the Bowl judgments God pours on the people of the earth the plague of a hot sun. By this point in the Tribulation, no one is repenting. They know that God is sending His wrath onto the world, but they shake their fist at Him and refuse to repent. By this time, battle lines have been set in eternal stone. In Revelation 13 people either took the mark of the beast and thereby signaling their worship of satan, sealing their doom, (Revelation 14:9-10), or they refused the mark, thereby signaling their worship of the Lamb who lives forever, sealing most to their martyrdom.

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. (Revelation 16:8-9).

God makes the sun hotter, so hot that men will be on fire if they are exposed to it. God is powerful and controls the sun!

Let us look to a happier time, the Millennial Kingdom. God’s Prophets had much to say about this period in earth’s history, also. The Kingdom will be set up on earth after the Tribulation is over, and the Old Testament saints and Tribulation saints have been resurrected. Those who refused the mark of the beast and lived will populate this kingdom, too. Because they are mortal, they’ll re-populate the earth. It is at this time the resurrected Old Testament saints whom Jesus promised land and an earthly kingdom with Him (the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Messiah) on the throne, will have all their promises fulfilled. This is Israel’s gift.

In Isaiah 30:23-25 we read that during this time of the Millennium Kingdom,

And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

John MacArthur says of this time:

In the Messianic Kingdom of that future day, agriculture, cattle raising, food production, and water resources will prosper. The prophet predicted the redemption of nature. (cf. Rom 8:19-21)

In Isaiah 30:26 we read of further blessings:

Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

The light of the sun will be seven times hotter?

MacArthur again:

The benefits from the natural bodies of light will be much greater. Increase of the intensity of their light will work to people’s advantage, not to their detriment as in Revelation 16:8-9.

In the Millennial Kingdom, a gentle, bright sun seven times
warmer will flourish the earth’s crops

When we read that God is sovereign overall creation, He is sovereign. He created the sun. As the Potter, He can make it do what He wills. During the Tribulation, it will be a mechanism for judgment, scorching men, who curse it. In the Millennium, the sun will be a mechanism for prosperity, and men will bless their Creator for giving them plenteous sunshine, healthful, glowing, and beautiful.

We groan, and cannot wait for redemption of our mortal bodies into glorified vessels worthy of seeing our Holy God. The creation groans too. When the creation is redeemed, it will rejoice also.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21).

This is how the creation will be set free. The sun will shine upon peaceable kingdom, over a flourishing agriculture, making men and crops thrive. Our Creator is majestic in power and sovereign over creation. He is to be worshiped, loved, praised. Our Jesus who was with God at the creation and who sustains all creation and without whom nothing was made that was made, is our hope. He is the hope of all creation. Our eternal Hope, who reigns forever.

—————————————-
Further Reading

 The Glorious Return of Jesus Christ, part 1

Devotion: Three reassuring Signs 

Posted in encouragement, God, praise, secret

Does God Keep Secrets?

Posted on by elizabethprata

He is God and He does have secrets.

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deut 29:29.)

However, God also reveals things to us. Sometimes all at once, (creation) sometimes way before the time, (Daniel’s 70 weeks) and sometimes incrementally (Adam’s protoevangelium of the Messiah’s coming).

He is God and He does have secrets. Here are at least 4 things known only secretly to God (according to Gill’s Exposition of Deuteronomy 29:29)

1. Gill: particularly the times and seasons of their accomplishment, which he retains in his own power, Acts 1:6.

1a. Amos 3:7 says, “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” So by this we know that He keeps His own counsel until the time He decides to reveal His plans to us.

2. Gill: “There are many secret things in nature, which cannot be found out and accounted for by men, which the Lord only knows;”

2a. As anyone who follows physics knows, the more that men search for the secret to the universe and believe they have found it, (quarks! neutrinos! Bosons!) the more they know that the secret to His creation is unknowable. God has revealed his creation to us.

Romans 1:20a says, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” So we can see His attributes revealed in creation but we cannot know fully the Mind that created it.

3. Gill: and there are many things in Providence, which are unsearchable, and past finding out by finite minds, especially the true causes and reasons of them;

3a. God will reveal Himself by making known His purposes and intentions for us if we diligently seek Him:

—But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice. (Deuteronomy 4:29-30)

—And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:26-27)

He is a treasure and you have to seek, dig, find treasure. It does take some work on our behalf to open the secrets of the Bible He has revealed to us. Fortunately, He has sent a Helper to illuminate these to us when we do seek!

Alternately, Parables were open secrets designed to illuminate insights about God and His kingdom to those who have the mind of God and remain hidden in plain sight from those at enmity with Him. In addition, Job searched for a purpose to the things happening to him, but as Gill said, there are many things in Providence which are unsearchable. Yet, though His purpose for troubling Job was never revealed to Job, God revealed His purpose for Job’s trial to us.

4. Gill: and there are many things relating to God himself, which remain secret with him; But those things which are revealed to us are revealed forever.

4a. Amen!

Some thoughts about God, our precious Jesus who came to seek and save the lost, make Himself known to us, and to bring us to His abode when the (secret) time is ready. Here is praise for our knowable/unknowable God:

O Lord My God, You Are Very Great
Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. (Psalm 104:1-4)

Posted in celebrity, fall, megapastor, prophecy, tullian tchividjian

(UPDATED & UPDATED) Tullian Tchividjian: It’s not the celebrity pastor, megachurch model that is the problem

Posted on by elizabethprata

Updates at bottom. And still more updates at bottom.

Here is a kind of a part 2:
Fallen Pastors can still lead- here’s how

Billy Graham’s grandson steps down from Florida megachurch after admitting an affair

Billy Graham’s grandson Tullian Tchividjian has resigned from his pulpit at Coral Ridge Presbyterian, a high-profile church in south Florida, after admitting he had an affair. He released the following statement to The Washington Post, saying it was on behalf of him and his wife:

I resigned from my position at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church today due to ongoing marital issues. As many of you know, I returned from a trip a few months back and discovered that my wife was having an affair. Heartbroken and devastated, I informed our church leadership and requested a sabbatical to focus exclusively on my marriage and family. As her affair continued, we separated. Sadly and embarrassingly, I subsequently sought comfort in a friend and developed an inappropriate relationship myself. Last week I was approached by our church leaders and they asked me about my own affair. I admitted to it and it was decided that the best course of action would be for me to resign. Both my wife and I are heartbroken over our actions and we ask you to pray for us and our family that God would give us the grace we need to weather this heart wrenching storm. We are amazingly grateful for the team of men and women who are committed to walking this difficult path with us. Please pray for the healing of deep wounds and we kindly ask that you respect our privacy.

source

Tchividjian is pronounced Cha-vij-in. It’s Armenian. His mother is the oldest of Billy Graham’s children. Tchividjian is the nephew of Franklin Graham.

The first public news of this broke late last night. I was saddened and my spirit was in turmoil. I slept restlessly, awakening to read a rousing chorus of mainstream news article and many bloggers joining the chorus of wh-at?!

Monday Morning, Mrs Kim Tchividjian released a statement to the same newspaper, that indicated she has a different version of events than her husband’s.

Monday morning:

“The statement reflected my husband’s opinions but not my own. Please respect the privacy of my family at this time, thank you. I do thank everyone for the outpouring of love for my family as well during this difficult time and we appreciate all the prayers and support we are receiving.”

I had wondered if the two of them wrote the initial statement sent to the Washington Post together, or if he had released it himself. I also wondered even if it was true, why the husband would not want to cover his wife and leave her behavior out if it in his own admission.

What can I, a quiet, non-seminary trained layperson in a rural part of a southern state contribute to the discussion? I’m really nobody, so not too much, but I’ll add a few thoughts. I was preparing to write about John MacArthur today, but this happening now will provide an even better bookend of the extolling I want to do regarding wise and solid pastors (best represented of living pastors in MacArthur). Then I’ll point you to some resources that I believe are better for shedding light on this dark situation.

First the personal. I have seen the effects of adultery in a marriage close-up. When two are married, especially under the Lord’s ordinance as Christians, they become one flesh. Adultery rips the one flesh apart, and it is painful. It hurts in a way that practically no other grief can hurt. Only spousal death is more painful (I imagine) but adultery is almost worse because it is not only a ripping apart, as death is, it’s a betrayal of monstrous proportions.

I can’t imagine the heartbreak in their family right now, and a double adultery is towering in its devastation. They have three children.

The Tchividjian family

For pastors the temptation is even worse. It seems there are always available ladies fluttering around, ready to fill in any gaps, real or perceived, in a pastor’s marital situation. And pastors are only men, just men, under stress and overworked and having weighty responsibilities. I understand we are all human and I am glad we have a Savior who understands our human frailties. (Hebrews 4:15).

However the danger of celebrity lifestyles is in view here. A pastor’s primary responsibility is to his flock. Period. This is a non-negotiable. Tied for that primary responsibility/calling is his responsibility to his family. Pastors who are “rising stars,” “prolific authors”, “sought after speakers” mix unbiblical responsibilities with biblical mandates and soon their perspective shifts from Jesus to self. The ones who start extra-biblical parachurches, movements, global outreaches. Tchividjian started the movement “LIBERATE” and his stated reason was “our big goal being to reform Christianity on a global scale” Is that a pastor’s job? To take his eyes of his own flock to reform Christianity? Even the great reformer Martin Luther didn’t have reformation as a goal. He simply asked 95 questions, he didn’t form a focus group, hire website designers, install contributors, then post the 95 questions on the Door at Wittenberg. It was a Spirit-led, organic movement. But today’s celebrity pastors sure do enjoy the book tours, conferences, speaking engagements.

I’m not saying a pastor should never write a book, nor am I saying a pastor should never fill another pulpit or speak at a conference. I’m speaking of the lifestyle and a slow but poisonous gravitation toward a shift in perspective when one shifts their eyes from their primary calling. Here is Joe Thorn on Dethroning Celebrity Pastors.

The “celebrity pastor” is now a thing. Maybe it’s always been a thing (1 Cor. 1:10-17), but over the past few years it has become a source of concern and consternation for many. On the one hand I do see a problem, and on the other hand I can’t help but feel that some speak against popular preachers out of a sense of jealousy. I do not think that a pastor whose “platform” is large, influence is broad, and following is numerous is a celebrity pastor. At least, not in a bad way. The real problem is leadership that loses sight of the glory of Christ and focuses on the glory of man. Or, at least one man.

But Celebrity Pastors do not simply build themselves. They are built with the help of fans. It’s not wrong or idolatrous to get a photo with a person you admire. Nor is it dangerous to love the preaching or teaching of a particular leader. But at some point admiration turns into allegiance, and allegiance gives birth to adoration, and adoration, when it is full grown, produces idolatry. I am not sure exactly when the line is crossed–maybe when we start asking well-known pastors to sign our Bibles. Maybe. But the line is well behind us when a leader’s word is more valuable to us than God’s word and when they become our authority.

Source

It’s the losing sight of the glory of God that is the downfall. Pastors who overextend beyond the pulpit will fall. We have seen this borne out time and again. Tchividjian is the fourth megachurch pastor in Florida alone just this year alone, to resign in sin. Then there’s CJ Mahaney, Mark Driscoll…the list goes on. In 2011 John Piper took an 8-month leave of absence from all his duties as pastor and media celebrity expressly to re-evaluate his life. He’d drifted, you see, from the primary goal. He wrote in part that his main goals were four-fold:

to enter this eight-month season of detachment from public exposure and public productivity with a view to serious biblical examination, assessment, nurture, and growth in four areas: 1) our own individual persons, both physically and spiritually; 2) our marriage; 3) our relationship with our children and their families; 4) our pattern of ministry on returning to Bethlehem.

He had begun to recognize the poisonous cup that fame and notoriety brings,

You could view this as a kind of fasting from public ministry. One of the goals in this kind of fasting is to discern levels of addiction. Or, as Paul Tripp or Tim Keller might say, levels of idolatry. The reality check is: What will happen in my soul and in my marriage when, to use the phrase of one precious brother on staff, there will be no ‘prideful sipping from the poisonous cup of international fame and notoriety’?

And that poisonous cup led to a wedge between he and his wife. Families need tending.

But on the other hand, I see several species of pride in my soul that, while they may not rise to the level of disqualifying me for ministry, grieve me, and have taken a toll on my relationship with Noël and others who are dear to me.

It remains to be seen whether his time away strengthened him or allowed the poison to continue but in a slower fashion when still riding the roller coaster of fame and notoriety.
Gross sin among Christian leaders is a signal that something is seriously wrong with the church.
~John MacArthur
Yet pastors who remain true to their primary calling will not fall, we have seen this again and again. There are pastors who lead megachurches, celebrity pastors John MacArthur, fifty years and not a hint of scandal. S. Lewis Johnson, David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Charles Spurgeon, all long lasting pastors who pastored their churches steadily without scandal. Each was just as busy as Tchividjian. Each were or are famous in their own right. MacArthur is busy, he started a college and seminary, has a global media outreach, a daily radio show, preaches several times per week in church, is a prolific author, and attends conferences several times per year. Not to mention the appearance on television (rarer nowadays). Spurgeon was busy. He started a college, and an orphanage, preached 10 times per week, read 6 books per week, kept up with correspondence and preached to thousands at a time. He worked 18 hour days. Was his the World’s First Megachurch?

As a case in point, Spurgeon preached regularly, often 10 times in a week to audiences of 6,000 and more. He once addressed an audience of 23,654 (without aid of amplification).

Actually, the world’s first megachurch was Peter addressing the thousands at Pentecost and the weeks and months after. And they were celebrities as 1 Corinthians 1:12 shows us. So what makes the difference between busy, famous pastors who fall and those who do not?

Ministry Mag: Why Pastors Fall into Sin

the pattern in their relationship that preceded the fall was similar. In earlier years, they had a call of God upon their lives, a passion in their marriage and zeal for the ministry. But somewhere along the way, misplaced priorities led to a gradual decline in intimacy, and ministry began to take precedence over relationship.

Ed Stetzer wrote in Christianity Today last year, When Pastors Fall: Why Full and Public Repentance Matters

Pastor scandals happen. Needless to say, I don’t say that with any enthusiasm. In fact, it is greatly discouraging to me, but it’s true nonetheless. Furthermore, this is not just a recent phenomenon, though the evangelical world has been filled with reports over the last few months. It’s just disheartening. … What’s more, unless we pastors engage in public repentance, our “bold” preaching about sin and grace often appears to be little more than window dressing. In other words, what we believe about God, sin and grace is proven true when we treat our own sin as seriously as we say others should. Too many leaders are not repenting in accordance to scripture and too many churches don’t know how to work through repentance to restoration. Both matter– and scripture provides a path for both.

It remains to be seen of Tchividjian professes a full and complete repentance, and submits himself to a long process of counseling and restoration at his church under the Presbytery. Given that he apparently hid his adultery from Paul Tripp who had counseled him a few days before and only confessed it when directly asked…doesn’t seem to give rise to immediate optimism. His use of the passive tense in his statement “it was decided” he should resign seems to indicate he has a less than full and thorough grasp of his biblical responsibilities of the situation. Again, time will tell.

Coral Ridge church, Ft. Lauderdale

Ultimately the loss of a pastor and the destruction of a family is something one heavily grieves over. More grievous is the blight on the name of Jesus. Pastors are due double honor, rightly so. (1 Timothy 5:17). They are to be respected for their calling, their office, and their work. However their accountability is doubly high (James 3:1) and therefore grief associated with them when they fall below reproach is also worthy of double grief.

It brings such reproach onto the faith and the name of Jesus! Just a few of the heathens’ comments:

  • Another member of the morality police falls from grace.
  • Most of us don’t run around demanding that everyone do whatever we tell them to though. And we don’t try to pass laws banning everything we don’t like.  They on the other hand are gigantic hypocrites
  • I’ll never trust anyone that peddles gods word for money. They’re salesmen. lots of money to be made in the god racket.

I’m not reveling in this. As I said, I had a restless night with little sleep. I thought about the Tchividjian children. However, there needs to be a perspective of the larger reality. Pastors sliding into sin is an age-old problem, because sin is an age-old problem. However, the problem of pastors falling into sin, particularly sexual sin, is by this point in today’s world endemic in our faith. It is practically a given, and it should not be.

Secondly, too many Christians are biblically illiterate. When a pastor scandal happens they  immediately call for a restoration- not to fellowship, but to their ministry, and worse, they believe this is helpful to the cause of Christ. It’s not.

Here is John MacArthur on fallen pastors. This was written some time ago and is not a response to the Tchividjian situation.

Should Fallen Pastors Be Restored?
By John MacArthur, September 28, 2009

Excerpts

It has always saddened me over the years as I’ve watched church leaders bring a reproach on the church of Jesus Christ. What’s shocking to me is how frequently Christian leaders sin grossly, then step back into leadership almost as soon as the publicity dies away.

Some time ago I received a CD that disturbed me greatly. It was a recording of the recommissioning service of a pastor who had made national news by confessing to an adulterous affair. After little more than a year of “counseling and rehabilitation,” this man was returning to public ministry with his church’s blessing.

That is happening everywhere. Restoration teams–equipped with manuals to instruct the church on how to reinstate their fallen pastor–wait like tow-truck drivers on the side of the highway, anticipating the next leadership “accident”. Our church has received inquiries wondering if we have written guidelines or a workbook to help restore fallen pastors to leadership. Many no doubt expect that a church the size of ours would have a systematic rehabilitation program for sinning leaders.

Gross sin among Christian leaders is a signal that something is seriously wrong with the church. …

What about forgiveness? Shouldn’t we be eager to restore our fallen brethren? To fellowship, yes. But not to leadership. It is not an act of love to return a disqualified man to public ministry; it is an act of disobedience.

What should you do in the current crisis? Pray for your church’s leaders. Keep them accountable. Encourage them. Let them know you are following their godly example. Understand that they are not perfect, but continue nonetheless to call them to the highest level of godliness and purity. The church must have leaders who are genuinely above reproach. Anything less is an abomination.

Please pray for your pastor. Pray for him to stay on the narrow path and energized by a renewing of his mind daily in the word. The sing of the last days is an increase in wickedness, particularly inside the church. (Mt 24:12, 1 Peter 4:17, 2 Timothy 3:1-5). Stay in the Word yourself, especially if you are in leadership.

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Cor 9:27)

This is the takeaway. As I read in one essay, satan works overtime in the bedroom of the mind, and pastors and leaders are especially vulnerable. It isn’t a celebrity problem. It isn’t a megachurch problem. It is straying from the primary goal, to stay within the narrow confines of a path that is only as wide as the letters J-E-S-U-S. It’s not about global reformation, it is not about publish or perish, It is not about getting a prime speaking deal. It is not, if you are a pastor of a small church, getting a bigger building, initializing another program. It is an issue of priorities. Jesus-family-flock. The pastors of a church of any size who maintained a healthy prayer and bible life stayed. The ones who didn’t, strayed.

Yet, as a layperson I am wearied by these successive pastor scandals. Come soon, Lord Jesus.

——————————–
Further Reading

Updated to add several other essays in reaction tot he scandal, plus two of MacArthur’s blogs on hypergrace, published prior to the scandal becoming public.

This esay addresses what I believe are the three elephants in the room, Tullian’s blame-shifting, his sinful decision on how he addressed his wife’s alleged adultery, and his free-to-fail grace stance,
An Open Letter to Tullian Tchividjian

By Marshal Segal, When Leaders Fall, All Are Punished, with this excellent quote, “Heaven is not thrown into crisis with a scandal, however shocking or hard the fall.”

Chris Rosebrough (Pirate Christian) over-wrought and emotional with some excessive hyperbole, (“I just witnessed one of the most elaborate satanic schemes pulled off in modern history.” Nooo, that would be the elaborate scheme of the Catholic Church), but important for the fact that Pastor Chris was invited to Coral Ridge to counsel in the days prior to the scandal breaking and thus truly has a unique perspective:
My Perspective on Tullian’s Sin

In this one from The Cripplegate, Jordan Standridge offers his view of Ten Lessons from the Tullian Tchividjian Confession. It is very good. I also enjoyed one of the commenters, Greg Pickle, who offered several wise insights, including this about the conscience-killing effects of hypergrace, and the importance of public rebuke. His entire comment is excellent and should be read in its entirety, as well as the essay itself.

Public rebuke makes people *fearful* of sinning (1 Tim. 5:20). That’s where this confession should lead, whether he is rebuked or not. Paul had no problem naming names when showing Timothy (and the Ephesian church) the deadly fruit of not fighting the good fight of faith and of rejecting a good conscience (1 Tim. 1:18-20).

When he has been happy to sell his books and spread his articles to people in the churches I have shepherded, I have no problem pointing out the devastating fruit of this kind of theology. I’m not going to gloat, but rather pray for him and those involved, while yet saying: “This is exactly where this theology leads.”

Regeneration & Hypergrace (MacArthur on Tchividjian and Coral Ridge are ground zero for Hypergrace Theology)

Abusing Grace (MacArthur on Tchividjian on overemphasizing the role of grace)

Tullian Tchividjian’s Sin and Resignation Attracts Prayers and Piranhas

On Living In Stained Glass Houses

Tullian Tchividjian stripped of ministerial credentials

Tullian Tchividjian files for divorce

There was little public information available about the divorce filing. Under Florida law, one party must establish that the marriage is “irretrievably broken” in order for the union to be dissolved. Tullian and his wife, Kim, married in 1994 and have three children.

And yet, God hates divorce and under most circumstances does not allow it. Grounds for divorce in God’s Law

Posted in commandments, encouragement, father's day, honor

How to honor the dishonorable father

Posted on by elizabethprata

It’s Father’s Day. I live down south. Fathers are big around here. There are many Facebook posts going up which honor Daddy and Husband. I like to see those, even when they’re not during Father’s Day. I love to see photos of happy families, children loving their Dad.

Respect and honor to the father is commanded in the Fifth Commandment. It is the first Commandment that comes with a promise, too. In listening to RC Sproul yesterday on RefNet radio, he explained The Fifth Commandment by saying the first four commandments define man’s relationship with God. Obeying the first four teaches us the magnitude of His power and name so that we can properly worship Him. The fifth commandment is the first of those that regulate man’s relationship with other human beings.

“Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16)

I’m glad for those children who have or have had great fathers, and for the wives who honor their husband as the father of the family. But when of the people who have not had a great dad? Who had one who was a divorcer, philanderer, adulterer, fornicator? Who was not saved by grace and sinned mightily with anger and violence within the family? One who was mean with words and chose to be aloof from the children, considering them a drag on his high life? Who absolutely and with finality repudiated all his children? Who was a vicious alcoholic? Abuser?

Here is Ligonier with an excerpt from a short essay about the fifth commandment:

Honor the Dishonorable

Intractable lovers of self, we find honoring others too difficult—actually, we find it impossible. So we cast about for a way out. Many have good reasons. An anguished young man once asked me, “How am I supposed to honor my father after what he’s done to my mother?” It was a good question. I knew what this father had done. He’d run off with another woman, leaving his pregnant wife to pick up the pieces of the domestic disaster created by his profoundly dishonorable behavior. Nevertheless, God tells this young man to honor his father.

The Pharisees thought they had landed on the ultimate exception clause to honoring parents. They had cooked up a tradition that said when they declared their resources given to God, they were off the hook on the fifth commandment. Jesus exposed the fraud: “So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me’ ” (Matt. 15:6–8).

Only hearts that have been brought near to God in Christ can truly honor mother and father, even parents who have acted dishonorably. Just as “children obey your parents” does not include obeying their sinful commands, so “honor your father” does not include honoring his dishonorable behavior.

Clearly, if Peter can urge first-century believers to honor everyone, including Emperor Nero (1 Peter 2:17), then the command to honor parents isn’t made void by having a dishonorable parent, any more than the command to love our neighbor is void when we have a neighbor who lobs beer cans over our fence. God’s commands still apply in a broken world of imperfect neighbors and dishonorable parents; they were gifted to us by our gracious heavenly Father for just such a world.

Yes, but how? Something that was helpful in the Sproul sermon The Fifth Commandment was this anecdote-

“At the heart of this idea was the dimension of respect.” …

Then Sproul explained when he was in Pittsburgh he worked with a man in labor mediation in the steel industry. Sproul was at one point in a room with people from all different political and spiritual stripes. He and this man had developed a labor-management program based on three principles: love, dignity, and respect. Sproul asked one question to the assembled people in the room:

“How many of you want to be treated with dignity?” And every single person would raise their hand. I could not get a crowd that big to have complete, unified agreement on any other topic, I don’t think. Some were Democrats, some were Republicans, some were Pirates fans, others weren’t. But what they all wanted was to be treated with dignity. And to be treated with respect. Nobody likes to be insulted. Nobody likes to be demeaned.

What we’re talking about here is honor. Because to honor someone is to be respectful of them, to show respect to them. Now this respect in the Decalogue begins with how children are to behave toward their parents. Honor your father and your mother. That’s where the whole concept begins with showing respect to human beings, and respect toward Divinely constituted levels of authority. It is an acknowledgement that God has delegated to parents a certain authority, by which the home is governed.

Then Sproul goes on for a while, then returns to this concept: adult children.

After a child is grown and is not expected to offer slavish obedience to parents, and no longer lives under their roof, at what point in our lives does the mandate to honor our father and mother end? Never. If you look at Israel in the ways the children showed respect to the matriarch or patriarch, whenever the father or head of the house walked int he room, it was the custom of all the children, even the adult children, to rise. They stand in the presence of the father or of the mother, to show respect and honor.

Sproul asks the question, what if my father is not honorable?

God doesn’t say ‘honor your father and mother only when they’re honorable. Theirs is a position. They hold an office. And even if they are unworthy of that office, the office itself is still to be honored.

If your father was a dishonorable person, abusive even, when you think of him, don’t think of the person. Think of the office of father. Honor the office. If it helps, if it is too hard to honor the father who sinned so greatly in adultery, alcoholism, abuse, rejection or abandonment, whatever it is, because you certainly don’t honor sins, but if it helps, honor the office. That way you will be honoring your Father in Heaven, God.

Posted in encouragement, sift, spurgeon

"Satan, like a drudge…"

Posted on by elizabethprata

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning Devotional for June 20

“For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.”
— Amos 9:9

Every sifting comes by divine command and permission. Satan must ask leave before he can lay a finger upon Job. Nay, more, in some sense our siftings are directly the work of heaven, for the text says, “I will sift the house of Israel.” Satan, like a drudge, may hold the sieve, hoping to destroy the corn; but the overruling hand of the Master is accomplishing the purity of the grain by the very process which the enemy intended to be destructive. Precious, but much sifted corn of the Lord’s floor, be comforted by the blessed fact that the Lord directeth both flail and sieve to his own glory, and to thine eternal profit.

Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening: Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

LOL, “Like a drudge”. That’s all satan can do before God, do with whatever crumb God allows him to have. Always remember the great truth in this devotional: “the Lord directeth both flail and sieve to his own glory, and to thine eternal profit.”

I thought this devotional was comforting in its word-picture and its implicit explanation of Providence. If you are being sifted right now, may this encourage you.