Six Biblical Responses to Halloween

Article by Rick Thomas

Halloween, from a degree of difficulty perspective, is the most challenging of all our holidays. A few days out of each October we are asked to give mental energy to this tradition.

The good news is that this makes Halloween no different from any other thing in your life. It is just another discipleship opportunity–a privilege the Lord gives you to bring a right response to this annual interruption. And God does not leave you alone.

1. The Spirit of God gives you clarity on all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

2. His authoritative and sufficient Word comes alongside you to guide your thoughts (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

3. You have others to bounce off your ideas (Proverbs 11:14).

This inter-connectedness of God, Scripture, and community provide you with unassailable wisdom to formulate a biblical response to Halloween, which is great news because like every other secondary issue in life, collective perspectives and approaches can be all over the map.

What Shall I Do?

Here are six of those approaches:

#1 – Flight Approach – Howard leads his family by declaring Halloween as movie night. He herds his family upstairs. The lights are turned off, and the family is huddled around the TV watching The Sound of Music…for the 14th time.

#2 –  Engage Approach – David calls Howard a legalist. David allows his kids to dress in costumes for a night of harmless fun. “You only live once; let them enjoy it. Besides, they can share Christ with the other kids.”

#3 – Ignore Approach – Luann pretends it does not exist. She is a single mom, multitasking at a level that few of us can comprehend. She does not need another battlefield to walk onto with her children.

#4 – Succumb Approach – The Smiths struggle with the fear of man: “What do others think of us?” (Proverbs 29:25). Though they do not care for Halloween, they typically succumb to their nagging children, as well as the pressure they perceive from their friends.

#5 – Passive Approach – Then there is George. He is your stereotypical lazy, passive dad. He does not care. As long as it does not interfere with his life, he’s good. “What’s the big deal? When I was a kid…(blah, blah, blah).”

He then goes off on a rant about how hard he had it as a kid and then ends with, “…look at me. I turned out okay.” Leah (wife) has never been courageous enough to honestly tell him what “turned out okay” looks like from her perspective.

#6 – Arrogant Approach – In the men’s group, Paul is waiting for the discussion to turn to him. He loves throwing down the Reformation Day card because he is pretty sure most of his friends have not thought about it.

Though his answer is logical, the self-righteousness that flows out of him, and the disdain he has for those who do not see things his way, is stifling.

Little Bit of Halloween In All of Us

Here is a short test for you: What did you think about when you read the brief stories regarding the different responses to Halloween? I am asking you this question for two reasons:

1. You probably have friends who represent most, if not all, of those people.

2. How you think about them will affect how you engage them.

Emoting about Halloween in non-constructive ways is easy. Passion is fantastic, but humble self-awareness–an awareness that reminds you of who you were without Christ in your life–should temper enthusiasm.

• Who were you before Christ found you (Ephesians 2:1)? Dead in sin.

• What are you apart from His persevering grace (1 Timothy 1:15)? The biggest sinner you know.

Without humility, passion will create disunity, which is why it’s helpful to consider that even if you are categorically opposed to Halloween, you need to remind yourself that you have a little bit of Halloween in your heart.

We all do.

You should not speak about evil as though you do not participate in evil…in some way. The darkness of Satan impacts your life throughout the year, not just on October thirty-one.

My appeal is for you to guard your heart before you pontificate about Halloween. If you do not sprinkle your mind with grace, your communication can be harsh and non-redemptive.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. – Ephesians 4:29

Halloween should not be about winning arguments, splitting hairs, or flaunting theological knowledge. Your primary goal is to position yourself to be used by God to redeem lives, which makes Halloween an opportunity to put Christ on display by your attitude, words, and actions.

Dear Lord – I have an opinion about Halloween, but you know me. Will you guard my heart and control my tongue as I speak on this subject? I want the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart to be acceptable in your sight (Psalm 19:14). I also want to help, not hurt people.

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Different Strokes

With humility ruling your heart, God will give the grace and wisdom you need to redemptively engage your culture and friends regarding Halloween (James 1:5-8, 4:6). As you know, you cannot cookie-cutter your responses to your friends. You interact with each one differently. Individualized care is how the Savior engaged people (John 2:24-25). He discerned the person and situation and then customized His approach accordingly.

If I were close friends with Howard, David, Luann, the Smiths, George, or Paul, and had the context, time, and relationship to speak with them, here are a few things I would want them to consider:

#1 – Flight Approach – Howard is going to have to deal with Halloween. He cannot bury his head in the sand and pretend it does not exist. While his kids are young, he can herd them upstairs, but his children will not be young forever. And they will eventually tire of The Sound of Music.

He needs to be wiser in his parenting approach, which includes incrementally introducing his children to the world. Howard needs to lead his children by teaching them about life and culture. Halloween is an excellent opportunity for him to do this.

If he does not do this, the culture will not only teach his children their ways, but the culture will put pressure on his kids to follow them in their ways. It could be that some of his children may not be able to withstand the pressures placed on them by their culture, mainly if they have not received teaching, encouragement, and discipleship, or if they are susceptible to fear of man (Proverbs 29:25).

Though they may be able to recite and even act out The Sound of Music, they will be at a loss when it comes to cultural engagement.

#2 – Engage Approach – Immaturity is not a good answer for the Halloween dilemma. David is over-reacting to Howard’s unwillingness to engage by letting his children become the anti-legalist poster children.

I have encountered many David’s in my life. They usually come out of legalistic environments and are easily tempted to over-correct their practices through misuses of grace. This problem is a “grace mistake” where grace becomes an excuse to live how you want to.

Sometimes people like David are saved later in life and have not had enough Christian training to reflect on Halloween wisely. In cases like this, it would be wrong to expect him to be mature about Christian perspectives (2 Peter 1:3).

You should not expect the things you have learned from walking with the Lord for several decades to be the preferences of those who are just beginning their faith walk. This perspective does not mean you should leave David just as he is. A close friend should come alongside him to help him work through some of his comments.

• Harmless fun – It is not benign in that he is teaching a worldview to his kids. Halloween, like all things, comes with a worldview–a presupposition. Van Til taught us how there are no neutral facts. He is right. Halloween is not neutral.

• You only live once, let them enjoy it – This statement is tied to the former, in that David has a fun worldview, which could stand a little God-centered reshaping.

• They can share Christ with other kids – Unless his kids are little apostles, I am pretty sure their fixation will be on the candy they receive, rather than the Christ they could share. Even if they were going to do evangelism, surely David could find a better venue and time for them to do it. The “hit and run” shove a Bible tract at someone and leave has seen better days.

His overly spiritualized, fun-centered worldview is more of a justification that releases him from the hard work of parenting.

#3 – Ignore Approach – Being all alone in this world is asking too much from anyone. This problem is part of the reason there is a local church. Luann needs the body of Christ surrounding her, helping her to parent her children.

She is too overwhelmed to think about Halloween while hoping it will not be a big deal this year. Her local body needs to perceive her struggle and come alongside her to care for her family.

#4 – Succumb Approach – Somebody needs to come alongside the Smiths too, and carefully walk them through the underlying issues in their collective lives.

How to respond to Halloween is not their primary problem. Halloween is a temporary seasonal litmus test they fail each year. But this failure points to the broader issue of insecurity, which leads to their frail relationship with God.

Like Luann, they need friends–biblical friends who love them enough to help them mature in Christ. You can bet if they cave to the cultural expectations and pressures surrounding Halloween, they are failing in other areas too.

#5 – Passive Approach – George is slowly losing his family, and he does not see it. He may not care. George will be difficult to help because he needs a compassionate kick in the seat of the pants.

Motivating a passive person is hard. George is the anti-gospel man. The gospel is about going, giving, intruding, impressing upon, and getting to the heart of the problem, while seeking to transform lives. George is not doing any of those things. George is about George.

#6 – Arrogant Approach – Paul is George’s opposite. He loves being right, being in control, and coming across as impressive. Pursuing, creating, and sustaining redemptive relationships are not his strengths.

From the outside looking in, he appears to have the best answer, but his heart is in dire need of gospel-centered transformation. The apostle Paul spoke to people like this in 1 Corinthians–those who were more about being right than being redemptive (1 Corinthians 8:1-3).

Some people in Corinth knew it was not a big deal to eat meat, but their attitudes were wrong. Having the right answer is only part of the solution. Having the right attitude is essential.

Knowledge can puff up the inflatable mind, while love can build up the needy soul. Our friend Paul should be more careful, more engaging, more involved, and most definitely more humble.

Call to Action

Trick or Treat Questions

1. Do you see Halloween more as a point to be right or as an opportunity to be redemptive?

2. Are you willing to engage your friends redemptively or are you tempted to refrain because of fear?

3. How does your self-awareness govern your perspective?

Halloween Is a Discipleship Issue

Like all things in our lives, Halloween is a discipleship issue. It should not be a divisive issue. We are to divide over the gospel when there is an error as Paul taught in Galatians 1:8-9.

A few years ago one of our small group members humbly asked us about our views on Halloween. We had different opinions than them, which they were aware. Rather than making them feel dumb, unusual, or wrong, it was an opportunity to walk through what we believe, why we think what we believe, and how we practice it while anticipating the Lord to work in their hearts in whatever way He wanted to.

Addendum

I chose a different approach for this Halloween article. There are many arguments circulated during this time of the year about how Halloween is of the devil and why you should steer clear of it.

I could have done a piece from that angle, but it would have been rehash-ad-infinitum. That information is public domain and easily accessible. I typed in “Christian perspective on Halloween” and got over 3.5 million possibilities in 0.17 seconds.

If you want to gain a Christian perspective on Halloween, please take the time to do the research. It will benefit you. My point in writing this article is to talk about how your attitude toward others who differ from you find submission to the mind of Christ.

If you are living out humility, you should be redemptively positioned to compassionately and competently enter into church and cultural engagement on any issue.

Posted at: https://rickthomas.net/a-biblical-response-to-halloween/

God's Sovereignty and Meaningful Human Choice

God’s Sovereignty and Meaningful Human Choice: Why Is This Tough and Controversial Issue Worth Studying and Discussing?

By Randy Alcorn 

What good can come from studying the mysterious and often upsetting subject of God’s sovereignty and human free will?

In small-group Bible studies, at colleges and seminaries, on blogs and radio programs, sovereignty and free will are bantered about. Some recognize these issues as hugely important. Convinced of their position, they look for opportunities to make their case.

Others shrug and say, “These doctrines cause division and are impossible to understand. Why even try?”

I believe one compelling reason to study them is to better understand what we cannot fully understand. And in the case of God’s sovereignty and human choice, while it’s not imperative that I understand everything, it is important that I believe in both. If I don’t believe in God’s sovereignty, I’ll either despair or imagine that I must carve out my own path. If I don’t believe in my freedom to make meaningful choices, I’ll either give up on life or not take responsibility for my decisions.

1. To develop a deeper appreciation for God and His Word, which reveals Him to us.

Following are six other excellent reasons:

When the United States announced its intention to send a man to the moon, it mobilized untold resources. By the time Neil Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface in July 1969, the US space program had done much more than reach its objective. Along the way, countless advances were made in medicine, engineering, chemistry, physics, and numerous other fields. NASA aimed at the moon and got a whole lot more.

Likewise, our pursuit of godly wisdom and understanding will not only deepen our perspective on a specific passage or topic, but will also help us in countless other ways, as we give extra effort to diligently and prayerfully meditate on God’s Word (see Psalm 19:8; 119:30, 105; 2 Peter 1:19).

2. To help us mirror Christ’s humility.

True humility and wisdom consist of recognizing how little we really know. The Bible insists we “know in part” and we “see but a poor reflection as in a mirror” (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12).

True humility and wisdom consist of recognizing how little we really know.

However, God is honored when we go to His Word to learn more about Him and His ways. We’re to bow to the wisdom of Scripture, even when its mysteries are hard to wrap our minds around. Humility requires that we not think more highly of ourselves than we ought (see Romans 12:3) and that we realize how much we have to learn from God.

When the Ethiopian eunuch was puzzling over Scripture, Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). Asking God to enlighten us and give us insight from His Word will go a long way toward benefiting from this study.

Bible study is exciting when we come expecting to learn, to be challenged, and to be transformed.

3. To embrace all of God’s inspired Word, not just parts of it.

“The first to present his case seems right,” says Proverbs 18:17, “till another comes forward and questions him.” Our families and churches and the books we’ve read may have presented their cases first, but that doesn’t mean they are right.

The Message paraphrases Ecclesiastes 7:18: “It’s best to stay in touch with both sides of an issue. A person who fears God deals responsibly with all of reality, not just a piece of it.” God inspired all of His Word, not just parts of it, and He calls us to embrace it all.

We should compare Scripture with Scripture to discern the whole counsel of God.

Large dogs can get two tennis balls in their mouths at the same time. Not our Dalmatian, Moses. He managed to get two in his mouth only momentarily. To his distress, one ball or the other always spurted out. Likewise, we have a hard time handling parallel ideas such as grace and truth, or God’s sovereignty and free or meaningful choice. We need to stretch our undersized minds to hold them both at once.

A paradox is an apparent contradiction, not an actual one. Sovereignty and meaningful choice aren’t contradictory. God has no trouble understanding how they work together. In His infinite mind they coexist in perfect harmony.

A paradox is an apparent contradiction, not an actual one.

As you may have noticed, however, our minds are not infinite. And while our brains can never fully grasp sovereignty and meaningful choice, by affirming what Scripture says about both, we can avoid the mistake of denying one in order to affirm the other.

4. To foster unity in the body of Christ.

In my new book, hand in Hand, I bring a respect for brothers and sisters in Christ who believe God’s Word but understand it differently than I do. I encourage you to carefully examine your own positions and inconsistencies before subjecting fellow Christians to blistering critique. Puritan Thomas Brooks stated, “There are no souls in the world that are so fearful to judge others as those that do most judge themselves, nor so careful to make a righteous judgment of men or things as those that are most careful to judge themselves.”

Let’s bear the fruit of the Spirit, which includes both peace and patience (see Galatians 5:22). Unity has an evangelistic power that needless division undermines (see John 17:20–21). When we seek to become peacemakers among Christ-following Bible believers, we please Jesus (see Matthew 5:9).

Let’s recognize our core areas of agreement, making an honest attempt to understand one another while refusing to let peripheral issues separate us. If we love the same Jesus and believe the same Bible, let’s start and end there.

5. To avoid both fatalism and crushing guilt.

Church history shows us that leaning heavily toward a particular set of verses can result in apathy and passivity: “God is going to do whatever He wants to do anyway, so why bother doing anything ourselves?” Leaning heavily toward another set of verses can result in something close to frenzy and unrelenting guilt: “We have to save the world! It all depends on us!”

What is God’s role and what is mine? Is my life in God’s hands, my hands, or the hands of demons or other people? What we believe about God’s sovereignty and human choice has a significant impact on how we live.

6. To prevent us from becoming trivial people in a shallow age.

The times we live in are in no danger of going down in history as “The Era of Deep Thought.” In our world, feelings overshadow thinking, and sizzle triumphs over substance.

Taking their cues from the culture, Christians who hear about the paradox of sovereignty and free will might say, “It’s a mystery; we’re never going to solve it.” But this can just be laziness, a spiritual-sounding way of saying, “I don’t want to think too hard. Let’s watch a movie instead.”

How can we keep the shallowness of our culture from turning us into trivial Christians? “Reflect on what I am saying,” Paul writes, “for the Lord will give you insight into all this” (2 Timothy 2:7).

Though surrounded with sweeping superficiality and slavery to what’s trending on Twitter, we must learn to think deeply. Paul warned, “The time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3–4, NIV2011).

If we devote our lives to dealing only with trivial issues, we can’t help but become trivial people.

If you want truth and depth, you have to spend time in God’s Word, allowing it to make the crucial sixteen-inch journey from your head to your heart. Yes, the question of how human choice and divine sovereignty can coexist is big and difficult, but it’s also vitally important. If we devote our lives to dealing only with trivial issues, we can’t help but become trivial people.

The relationship of God’s sovereignty and our meaningful choice is both intriguing and beautiful.

Of all the dilemmas we confront in life, none is more enigmatic than God’s sovereignty and human choice. So why do I find the perplexing question of God’s sovereignty and human choice beautiful rather than frustrating?

It all depends on perspective.

When astronomers gaze into deep space they’re confronted with the universe’s puzzles. One of them is dark energy, which is “thought to be the enigmatic force that is pulling the cosmos apart at ever-increasing speeds.” How and why is it doing this? Another unknown is how dark matter, “thought to make up about 23 percent of the universe,” somehow has “mass but cannot be seen”; its existence is deduced by the “gravitational pull it exerts on regular matter.” What exactly is it?

Cosmic rays are highly energetic particles that flow into our solar system from deep in outer space, but where do they actually come from? It’s been a mystery for fifty years. The sun’s corona, its ultrahot outer atmosphere, has a temperature of “a staggering 10.8 million degrees Fahrenheit.” Solar physicists still don’t understand how the sun reheats itself.

These mysteries and countless others have not so much frustrated scientists as fascinated them. Watch their interviews and read their articles; their wonder about things they don’t comprehend is palpable. You don’t have to be able to wrap your mind around something in order to see its beauty.

This is how I view the conundrum of God remaining sovereign while still granting His creatures the gift of choice. The immensity of the marvel itself should move God’s children to worship.

Human beings are capable of inventing nonliving machines, including computers they program to do complex tasks. But God goes far beyond that by creating complex beings with choice-making capacity, including the freedom to worship or revolt.

For God to fully know in advance what billions of human beings could and would do under certain circumstances, and to govern our world in such a way as to accomplish His eternal plan—is this not stunning?

If we can gaze at the night sky or a waterfall or the ocean with hearts moved at their sheer beauty, should we not be able study the metaphysical wonders of God’s universe with equal or even greater awe?

Surely our lives are greatly enriched when we recognize the mysterious beauty of the interplay between God’s ways and ours.

God’s choices come first, and ours second.

I do think it’s reasonable to look at God’s choices as being more foundational than our own. Why? Because we’re made in His image, and His choice-making precedes and empowers ours. The universe is first and foremost about the purposes, plan, and glory of God. Because He is infinite, His choices naturally hold more sway than those of His creatures. As His power exceeds ours, so does the power of His choices.

That doesn’t mean our choices don’t matter—they certainly do. He gives us room to make choices according to the prevailing disposition of our will and within the limits He imposes in his sovereign plan. My perspective is simply that everything about God, including His choices, is greater than everything about us.

A. W. Tozer said, “Every soul belongs to God and exists by His pleasure. God being Who and What He is, and we being who and what we are, the only thinkable relation between us is one of full lordship on His part and complete submission on ours.”

That’s the spirit in which I’m approaching this subject in hand in Hand: eager to acknowledge His lordship and willing to submit to whatever He has revealed in His Word. I invite you to join me in exploring this fascinating topic…and experiencing the joy of discovery.

Posted at: https://www.epm.org/resources/2014/Nov/11/gods-sovereignty-and-meaningful-human-choice-why-t/

How to Ruin Your Life in Your Twenties

Article by Jonathan Pokluda, Pastor, Dallas, Texas

No one ever plans to ruin his life. Nobody makes failure a goal, or a New Year’s resolution, or an integral part of his five-year plan. Kids don’t dream about growing up to be an alcoholic; students don’t go to class to learn how to be bankrupt; brides and grooms don’t go to the altar expecting their marriage to fail.

But ruined lives do happen — far too often. And they happen because of the choices we make. Many of our most influential choices take place when we are relatively young — old enough to be making important decisions, but young enough for those decisions to have disastrous consequences. In other words, these are choices of young adults.

How can we avoid making such mistakes? We can start by listening to God’s wisdom through King Solomon. Although Solomon faced major challenges later in his life because he stopped taking his own advice, he was one of the wisest men who ever lived, and God has preserved some of his best counsel in the book of Proverbs.

Below are seven ways you can ruin your life while still in your twenties — based on the opposite of Solomon’s counsel — along with a resolution for what to do instead.

1. Do whatever you want.

This was the biggest lie I believed in my twenties. I thought I could do what I wanted and get away with it. I thought, I’m young, and I’m not hurting anyone. But I’ve since learned otherwise.

Right now, you are in the process of becoming what you will be one day. You are preparing either to be a great spouse, parent, employee, and friend, or to be the opposite of that. Everything you do now will lead you down one of those paths.

The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps. (Proverbs 14:15)

Resolution: Do what God would have you do.

2. Live outside your means.

I live in the city that practically invented the term $30k millionaire. But when you spend more than you can afford, you still have to pay for it — plus interest. By living “the good life” now, you ensure you’ll be living the bad life of debt payments, downsizing, and financial worries in your future decades. Many people today are still paying for experiences that happened many years ago, long after the “instant gratification” has been forgotten.

Resolution: Live below your means.

3. Feed an addiction.

Whether it is alcohol, money, drugs, pornography, shopping, or another attraction, most people have an addiction of some kind. These addictions bring death: either literal death, or death to relationships, freedom, and joy.

How do addictions happen? You feed them. When you feed something, it grows. The more you feed an addiction, the stronger it grows, and the harder it is to stop. Wisdom is stopping now, not later. It only gets harder and harder after each “one last time.”

The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust. (Proverbs 11:6)

Resolution: Starve your addictions.

4. Run with fools.

Fact: you are becoming, in some real sense, who you hang around. It’s been said you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You do what they do (because you’re doing it together), you pick up on their ideas and beliefs, and you even learn their mannerisms and language.

So, if you hang around fools, you will become one. But if you hang around wise people, who are committed to following Christ and to making a difference with their lives, then you’ll become wise.

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. (Proverbs 13:20)

Resolution: Walk with the wise.

5. Believe this life is all about you.

You are one of nearly 7.6 billion people alive currently, and though you arespecial, so is each of the other 7,600,000,000 people in the world — and the billions and billions who have come before but are now long dead and forgotten. You are not the star of this show. You have a cameo that very few people will see and that will be forgotten as soon as the screen changes.

People who become the biggest reality in their world are dysfunctional. They always end up either disappointed or delusional. And when they leave this life, their world disappears; they don’t actually leave any deep impact. If you want to be important and make a difference, live for God and serve others with your life. Jesus was our greatest example of this. He served us by willingly dying for our sins on the cross. The most powerful person who has ever lived used his power to serve (Mark 10:45; Philippians 2:5–8). And by dying, he rescued us from sin and bought the power we need to serve others with our life.

People who become the biggest reality in their world are dysfunctional. They always end up either disappointed or delusional. And when they leave this life, their world disappears; they don’t actually leave any deep impact. If you want to be important and make a difference, live for God.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

Resolution: Serve others with your life.

6. Live for immediate gratification.

Almost nothing truly worthwhile comes quickly. It takes time and discipline to become an Olympic athlete (or to simply get in shape), to get a degree, to become a CPA, or to become a good husband or wife. And many of the things you truly want long term can be derailed by indulging yourself in the moment. Do you want an amazing marriage, or just one amazing night? Do you want to retire in 36 years, or drive a luxury car for the next 36 months? In each case, choosing the latter makes it more difficult (or impossible) to have the former.

Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it. (Proverbs 21:20)

Resolution: Hold out for God’s best.

7. Avoid accountability.

We all have the tendency to screw up, or be blind to our own failings, or convince ourselves that we can change on our own, even though it’s never worked in the past. That’s why God created us to live in community with others: so we can encourage each other, point out blind spots, and have help in times of weakness.

Are you running to community and accountability, or running away from it? The reason people avoid accountability is that they don’t want to be corrected, even though that means they will continue to do what is ruining their life. If you really want to change, and really want to put God first every day, then do one simple thing as a first step: find Christ-centered community.

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. (Proverbs 12:1)

Resolution: Do not do any of this alone.

Who You Become Tomorrow

People don’t resolve to ruin their lives. We hope to be great employees or business owners. We hope to be great moms, dads, husbands, or wives. We hope to be successful and contribute to society. We hope to be faithful in our walk with Jesus. But all faithful walks start with small faithful steps. Great mature adults are created through the faithfulness of young adults.

You are becoming something, and the resolutions you make and keep today will shape who you become tomorrow. Who do you want to be when you grow up? You will be that person much sooner than you think. What are you doing to become him today?

Jonathan Pokluda is the leader of The Porch, one of the teaching pastors at Watermark Community Church, and the author of the book Welcome to Adulting. He and his wife, Monica, live with their three children in Dallas.

Article posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-to-ruin-your-life-in-your-twenties

Don’t Trust the Peace in Your Heart

Article by Matt Rogers

It’s become a go-to answer to justify our actions.

Sarah is a high-school senior trying to determine where she will go to college. After four campus tours, she tells her parents that she “just feels a peace” about a certain school. Or a businessman considering a new career venture might quip, “I know it’s risky, but I just feel a peace that this is what I should do.”

When an internal sense of peace becomes the ultimate rationale for decision-making, no one can question you. It’s the ultimate mic drop—akin to saying God told you to do something.

Who’s gonna say God didn’t, or that your sense of peace is wrong?

Important Decisions

This might not be a big deal in morally neutral decisions, like selecting a college or our next entrepreneurial venture. But it’s a massive issue when it bleeds over to choices in other areas of life—which it almost always does.

What about when a sense of peace serves as the basis for choosing a church, even if the church preaches an impoverished gospel or lacks godly leadership?

Or when we justify a decision to end a contentious marriage because we simply “feel peace” when we’re apart?

Or when we assume a homosexual relationship must be God’s design because we have peace?

It sounds like a virtuous practice. After all, doesn’t God want us to experience peace? Isn’t internal clarity a sign of his blessing? Would he really want us to make a decision that didn’t yield immediate peace? Surely not.

Broken Compass

Unfortunately, our internal compass is fundamentally broken due to the fall. Apart from Christ, our feelings are wildly deceptive (Jer. 17:9). Our depraved natures can align feelings of peace with actions that betray God’s good design. We feel peace when we embrace our fallen nature, because we are acting consistent with that nature when we sin.

Responding to the gospel through the power of the Spirit, our nature is transformed. We are given new hearts that long to obey God and worship him rightly. When believers sin, then, they are acting against their new nature. Sin will increasingly feel grotesque and will fail to bring peace.

So, does this mean that those of us who claim to be Christians can trust our sense of peace? Maybe. But maybe not—for at least two reasons.

1. We may not actually have a new heart.

A sense of peace about ungodly actions may reveal that a person hasn’t undergone the radical heart reorientation that comes through genuine conversion. Regardless of someone’s religious pedigree, if they remain dead in sin, their internal compulsion won’t be in the direction of righteousness. Peace, then, becomes an ungodly fruit that unmasks a person as a false believer.

2. Christians may be deceived by sin that clings closely.

Regenerate believers should find a distaste for the sins that once brought joy and peace. Yes, they will remain susceptible to sin, and will often fall prey to its lure, but they will also respond differently. Sin will bring pain where it once brought pleasure. It will produce genuine repentance where it once brought mere momentary change.

Imagine a true Christian who rationalizes a certain sinful practice. At first the sin may bring conviction, but over time this inner sense of disquiet begins to wane. Sin may even seem justifiable, particularly if obeying God brings discomfort or pain.

Take the classic case of a Christian teenager dating an unbeliever. She knows the relationship is doomed—he doesn’t love God, and he’s leading her down the wrong path. But to not date him is to be alone, and who wants to be alone? The pain of loneliness outweighs the pain of an ungodly relationship, so she travels down the path so many have walked before her. Over time, she sears her conscience to the Spirit’s urging, and trains her heart to feel peace in an unhealthy relationship. We all know how that story ends.

There must be a better foundation for the decisions we make. Two questions are far more helpful in decision-making than simply “Do I feel peace?”

1. Does God’s Word Speak to This Issue?

If the Bible authoritatively speaks to an issue, then it doesn’t matter how we feel—the Bible is always right. Certainly, those who desire to pursue aberrant behavior will seek to reinterpret Scripture to justify their situation and the moral uprightness of their actions. But God’s Word must trump every sense of exceptionalism we feel.

For example, since Scripture speaks clearly on issues of sexuality, we must heed its counsel, deny our longings, and repent of our sin—even if embracing sin gives us peace. Since the Bible speaks clearly on issues of Christian love, we must seek our enemy’s best interests and love them as Christ loved us—even if doing so brings heartache and pain.

2. Do God’s People Speak to This Issue?

Christian community is a second checkpoint to help clarify our actions. We must be careful here, though. Just as we can always twist and distort the Bible to rationalize our actions, so we can always find a professing Christian or two who will justify our actions. Ironically, such support may come from those seeking greater comfort for their own sin.

If mature believers challenge our actions, we should heed their warning—even if doing so doesn’t bring peace to our hearts.

And yet the church is where believers train their hearts to find joy, peace, and contentment through obedience to Christ, where they can walk alongside one another to encourage holiness and discourage sin. In the church, we should find others who love us enough to point us to the forgiveness found in Jesus. If mature believers challenge our actions, we should heed their warning—even if doing so doesn’t bring peace to our hearts.

Right Order, Right Peace

This is where our internal compass may come into play. If the Bible encourages our choice (or at least doesn’t forbid it), and if fellow believers say it’s in our best interest, then we can ask, “Do I have a sense of peace about this decision?” or perhaps better, “Does God’s Spirit within me confirm this is the right thing to do?”

The problem isn’t the question, then; it’s the order. If we first ask what brings us peace, then we will make Scripture say what we want and find other people who agree with us. But, if we first ask what God’s Word says, then what his people support, we can put our sense of peace in its proper place—and walk confidently into decisions that will shape our lives.

Matt Rogers (MDiv, PhD, Southeastern Seminary) serves as pastor of The Church at Cherrydale in Greenville, South Carolina. He is the author of three books, including Aspire: Develop and Deploying Disciples in the Church (TIPS), Seven Arrows: Aiming Bible Readers in the Right Direction (Rainer Publishing), and Mergers: Combining Churches to Multiply Disciples. (Equip to Grow Press). Matt and his wife, Sarah, have four children. Follow him on Twitter.

Article posted at:  https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dont-trust-peace-heart/

Evaluate Your Day Before It Begins

Article by Matthew Westerholm

“Was today a good day?” I crawled into bed and prepared to sleep, my mind anxiously evaluating the previous 24 hours. Using a haphazard set of metrics, I interrogated myself, “Was today a success? Did I accomplish my goals and get what I wanted?”

I never fall asleep quickly when my thoughts spiral like this. And any sleep that I get is not particularly restful. My problem is that I tend to overanalyze my day once it has ended.

Instead of this end-of-the-day anxious spiral, the psalmist provides believers with a confident prayer that flips worry on its head. Psalm 90:14 says, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” It is easy to read these nineteen words quickly, but this verse contains glorious truths that enable us to evaluate our day before it even begins.

Our Ultimate Request: Satisfy Us

That first word, satisfy, might be the most important word in this verse. At the start, the psalmist asks God to satisfy him, giving us both an example and permission to ask God to make us happy.

While our long lists of dissatisfactions often cause sleepless nights, our neediness and dependence unmistakably reveal the truth that we are not meant to achieve satisfaction on our own. In every circumstance, this psalm calls us to turn to the Lord and ask him to satisfy us.

What might a prayer for satisfaction in God look like in different circumstances? If we are disinterested or lethargic, we should ask God to fascinate and animate us. If we are bored or distracted, we should ask God to delight and captivate us. When we are lonely or miserable, we can ask God to accompany and comfort us.

Morning by Morning

While the others spend the entire day searching for satisfaction, God satisfies his children at the start of their day. Having received satisfaction from God in the morning, believers are liberated each day to glorify God.

This satisfaction of God sets us free to navigate our lives in faith. The world uses work to chase satisfaction through personal accomplishments. We are freed by God’s satisfaction, liberated to glorify God with our work and provide for our families.

The world uses recreation to chase satisfaction through the pursuit of pleasure. We are freed by God’s satisfaction, liberated to find joy whatever the circumstances. The world uses people to chase satisfaction through approval. We are freed by God’s satisfaction, liberated to glorify God by loving people — genuinely interacting and caring for them.

God’s love helps us receive and interpret our circumstances instead of having our hearts controlled by them. Rather than looking at our schedules and hoping for a good day, or creating a plan to make a good day, we look to the satisfying love of God that he generously offers each morning.

Steadfast and New

And we don’t need to wonder whether God’s love for us is going to fade or fail; God’s love is just as steadfast as he is. As Jeremiah wrote, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.” God’s love and mercy, the prophet tells us, are “new every morning.”

We describe God’s love as both “steadfast” and “new” — a confusing pair of adjectives. But because God’s eternal nature never changes, his love toward his children is steadfast. And because God upholds the universe through new, creative energies that he inexhaustibly sustains (his gloriously plural, “mercies”), his love for his children is new every morning.

“The Lord is my portion,” the prophet concludes, so we can “hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22–24). God gives us his merciful love each day; this is our daily baseline for hope.

Daily Satisfaction, Eternal Happiness

Normally, Hebrew poetry uses parallelism. That means that the Psalms make their point by using two (or more) closely corresponding lines. A strictly parallel reading leads us to expect the verse to say something like, “Satisfy us in the morning, that we may be glad till the evening.” If God satisfies us at the start of the day, we expect to remain happy until the day’s end.

Here, however, the psalmist surprises us. In a twist of gospel math, a daily(“in the morning”) prayer for satisfaction is answered by a lifetime (“all our days”) of joy and gladness.

How can one morning’s worth of satisfaction provide a lifetime of joy? Certainly some of the answer rests directly in the verse — God’s steadfast lovewill last our entire lives.

On Easter Morning

But the rest of the Bible explains this equation even more fully. One morning, the Lord Jesus Christ walked out of his grave, conquering sin and defeating death. And the resurrection power of the Son of God has been given to all God’s sons and daughters (Romans 8:11). So, now, because of that greatest morning of all, we can rejoice and be glad all of our days.

We don’t need to wait until an evening of anxious evaluation to determine whether today was a good day. God loves us with a steadfast love. The Lord Jesus conquered sin and death on Easter morning. And because we belong to him, today is a very good day.

Matthew Westerholm (@mwesterholm) is the pastor for worship and music at Bethlehem Baptist Church and assistant professor of music and worship at Bethlehem College & Seminary. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and three sons.

Posted at:  https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/evaluate-your-day-before-it-begins

The Greatest Thing You Can Do with Your Life

Article by Jon Bloom Staff writer, desiringGod.org

One of the most wonderful and hopeful things you can know about yourself and your life is captured in a rather unassuming, simple sentence:

Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. (1 Corinthians 7:17)

The verse might hit us as a bit constrictive, perhaps even oppressive, especially if our circumstances are difficult or painful. But that would miss the heart of God’s intention for us.

Your life is a gift and an assignment from God. This should infuse our life — its good and evil, its sweet and bitter, its health and affliction, its prosperity and poverty, its comfort and suffering — with an unfathomable dignity, purpose, and glory. You are not an accident. Neither are you a ruined potential, run off the rails because you were dealt a poor genetic hand of cards, suffered others’ abuse, or made foolish and sinful choices, putting you beyond the hope of a useful calling in Jesus’s kingdom.

No, you exist because God wanted you to exist. And you are who you are, whatyou are, how you are, where you are, and when you are because God made you (John 1:3), wove you in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), called you to be his own (John 10:27; Romans 8:30), and assigned you a place to live (Acts 17:26).

The greatest thing you can do with your life is to live to the hilt the adventurous assignment God has given you.

God Has Called You

“Jesus doesn’t want us to spend the life he’s given us today absorbed in the unreality of an imagined tomorrow.”

Think about this for a moment: “Let each person lead the life . . . to which God has called him.” God has made your entire life your calling!

We tend to think of our callings as our vocations, some significant job God gives us to do with an identifiable and preferably esteemed title. Perhaps it’s a career vocation or perhaps it’s a noncareer vocation in a church or ministry. But that’s too narrow. Of course, vocations should be vehicles for our calling — ways we fulfill our assignment from the Lord. But our calling encompasses more than our vocations.

Our primary core calling is to love God with all we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27). And this calling incorporates everyone we interact with, or perhaps comes to mind, in everything we do from morning till night. Which is why John Calvin said, “God commands each one of us to consider his calling in every act of life” (Institutes, 821).

This means that our calling isn’t behind that door we’re waiting for God to open someday (though that may be part of tomorrow’s calling). Our calling is to love God today, to love the neighbors God places in our “road” today, and to do well what God gives our hands to do today.

That’s one reason Jesus tells us, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34). Being overly preoccupied with tomorrow’s calling, as tempting as that can be, is often a way we are deceived into being disengaged from today’s calling. Jesus doesn’t want us to spend the priceless gift of life he’s given us today absorbed in the unreality of an imagined tomorrow.

Now, it is true that our callings change over time. We move through different phases of life, we might be deployed to different places at different times, and we experience various circumstantial and health changes. All these alter our calling. And as the Spirit gives us light, we should seek to anticipate and plan for changes as befit good stewards.

But God wants us focused primarily on the life he’s called us to, which is the life we have today.

Be Faithful to Your Assignment

“The greatest thing you can do with your life is to live to the hilt the adventurous assignment God has given you.”

The Spirit tells us through Paul, “Let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him.”

Perhaps you’re thinking, You don’t know my circumstances. Without wanting to be insensitive, it doesn’t matter what your circumstances are.

The circumstances of the Corinthian Christians to whom Paul was writing were all over the board: married, betrothed, and single, widows and bondservants, circumcised and uncircumcised. That’s just a sampling.

Think of the bondservants. They were the physical property of a human master. And yet Paul says to them in 1 Corinthians 7:21, “Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.)” What Paul meant was circumstances, even very difficult ones, don’t disqualify anyone from God’s assignment. If we can extricate ourselves honorably from such circumstances, we ought to do it. But if not, let us consider it God’s assignment, at least for today, and be faithful,

not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. (Ephesians 6:6–8)

Assigned to Affliction

Think of Paul’s own various circumstances: imprisoned, violently persecuted, ill, exposed to the cold, hungry, shipwrecked, betrayed, homeless, poorly dressed, mocked, maligned, distrusted, spiritually opposed, afflicted, sometimes despairing of life, and finally killed (2 Corinthians 11:23–28). And it was glorious! All of it! Because Paul’s life was hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3) and since the Life (John 14:6) had given him eternal life, death could only gain him a whole new level of life (Philippians 1:21).

As John Calvin said, “we should all regard our particular situation as a post assigned to us by God, lest in the course of our lives we flit to and fro and drift aimlessly about” (Institutes, 821). See your life today as an assignment from God. And stay faithful at your post until the Lord moves you.

Your Greatest Adventure

“See your life today as an assignment from God. And stay faithful at your post until the Lord moves you.”

Here’s the bedrock truth beneath 1 Corinthians 7:17: God — the Creator and sustainer of all that exists — is the one who has chosen us and bestowed on us the exceedingly rare honor to live here and now. He has assigned us a life to lead. And there is no more wonderful, exciting, hopeful, fulfilling, joy-producing sense of life purpose than to realize that we are who we are, what we are, how we are, where we are, and when we are by the assignment of the Lord.

You have been given the unfathomable gift of life. You have been given the infinitely more valuable gift of eternal life. And you have been given the astounding and extremely rare privilege of receiving an assignment from God. There is no higher calling than to lead the life that the Lord has assigned to you. Embrace your assignment, this great adventure chosen for you, and press it to the limit.

Jon Bloom (@Bloom_Jon) serves as author, board chair, and co-founder of Desiring God. He is author of three books, Not by Sight, Things Not Seen, and Don’t Follow Your Heart. He and his wife live in the Twin Cities with their five children.

Posted at:  https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-greatest-thing-you-can-do-with-your-life

Four Warnings for Your Twenties

Article by Marshall Segal : Staff writer, desiringGod.org

How far do you get into the Old Testament when you start to feel the friction of daily Bible reading? We know the resistance is good for us, like we feel when we exercise, but we often don’t enjoy it — like when we exercise. For many, it’s simply harder to wake up for Numbers in March than for Genesis in January. The days can begin to feel like a season in the wilderness.

Even though 2 Timothy 3:16 echoes in the back of our heads, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable,” the experience of reading our Bibles can be a little like watching grandma use a smartphone. She knows it can do a lot more than she does with it, but she’s at a loss without someone showing her (seven or eight times) how to take a picture, turn on Bluetooth, or listen to a podcast.

These Things Happened for You

In 1 Corinthians 10, the apostle Paul sits down with us, like a room full of grandmas, to explain how to read Moses in our daily fight against sin and for joy. He begins by reminding his readers of the Exodus and Israel’s wandering in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:1–5). He explains that their hope was ultimately in Christ, even though Jesus would not be born for more than a thousand years (1 Corinthians 10:4). Then he writes, as if speaking to a crowd of twentysomethings today, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6).

Entertainment, sexual immorality, impatience, and discontentment: temptations that date all the way back to Moses.

I say twentysomethings, because the next four things he says are remarkably relevant for the rising generation of Christians. The same temptations that were murdering the believers under Moses are waging a spiritual war against believers today: entertainment, sexual immorality, impatience, and contentment. Paul finishes the paragraph by saying, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

These four warnings were lived out by Israel, but meant by God for you, and for me.

1. Do You Distract Yourself with Entertainment?

Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” (1 Corinthians 10:7, quoting Exodus 32:6)

Paul quotes (or alludes to) Moses for each of these. He clearly has particular passages or events in mind as he pastors the churches of his day. In this case, he quotes from Exodus 32. Moses is meeting with God on the mountain — he was meeting with God. The meeting ran longer than the people expected, and they got bored and disinterested (Exodus 32:1).

They asked Aaron for another god, he made them a golden baby cow, and they “sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play” (Exodus 32:1–6). They ordered delivery, turned on Netflix, and scrolled through social media at the same time.

Unwilling to wait for Moses (and God), they decided to entertain themselves instead. We’ll deal with impatience later, but the point here is that entertainment is an easy and empty god. Have you given up waiting for God to move — to reveal himself in his word, to help you make an important decision, to bring the healing or reconciliation you’ve been asking for — and decided to distract yourself with something fun instead?

2. Are You Experimenting with Sexual Sin?

We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. (1 Corinthians 10:8, referring to Numbers 25:1–9)

We tend to think of today’s America as the most sexually promiscuous and degenerate group in history. And we’re probably wrong. Sexual immorality was enticing and enslaving long before pornography was online or so-called same-sex marriage became legal.

“To grumble against God is to despise him. That’s a sobering message for us today.”

In Numbers 25, the men of Israel began sleeping around with forbidden foreign women (Numbers 25:1), to the point that one man boldly brings his sexual immorality before the whole congregation (Numbers 25:6). He knew God had forbidden this relationship, and yet, not only did he indulge in it, but then flaunted his immorality before the people. He experimented sexually, against God’s clear commands, and then bragged about it.

He and the woman were speared to death (Numbers 25:8). Seem too severe? Moses wants us to see that we deserve that, and far worse, from God if we indulge in sexual sin.

God brought a plague against the people because of their sexual immorality, and 24,000 died (Numbers 25:9). As a point of reference, there are 24,000 students currently enrolled at Auburn University. That many, all dead because of sexual immorality.

Moses said that all that death happened for your sake — a spear through a stomach, a plague wiping out thousands — so that you and I would feel the awful offense of sexual sin, and flee from it.

3. Do You Refuse to Wait?

We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents. (1 Corinthians 10:9)

In Numbers 21, the people have escaped Egypt and been to Mount Sinai. Now, they are on the way to the Promised Land. Moses tells the story, “From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses . . . ” (Numbers 21:4–5).

How would you do on that long, hard road from Egypt to Canaan? Does your life feel like that some days (or months, or years)? God had saved Israel from cruel and violent slavery. And he promised to bring them into their own land of safety and prosperity. But they could not wait.

How did God respond to their impatience? He sent poisonous snakes into the camp, and many died (Numbers 21:6). They repented (Numbers 21:7). Will we? Having been rescued by God from never-ending judgment and destruction, are we willing to wait another week, another year, or another ten years for him to answer our prayers?

God heard their pleas for mercy and made a way of salvation (Numbers 21:8–9). Jesus tells us that scene was meant to help us wait for him. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). God is waiting to save and satisfy you, if you are willing to trust him and wait.

4. Are You Always Unhappy?

[Do not] grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. (1 Corinthians 10:10)

“When we are tempted, God creates the way of escape and waits to reward us with more of himself.”

Israel complained about everything. They complained about not having anything to drink (Exodus 15:24). They complained about their food (Numbers 11:4–6). They complained about being in the wilderness (Exodus 16:2). Then they complained about leaving the wilderness (Numbers 14:2). They complained about their enemies (Numbers 14:3). They even complained about not being in slavery anymore (Exodus 16:3).

How does God respond to their grumbling?

“Truly, as I live, . . . none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.” (Numbers 14:21–23)

To grumble against God is to despise him. That’s a sobering message for me today. God wiped out the wilderness generation to describe to every generation after them the seriousness of faithlessness, to show us the consequences of complaining about how and when God works in our life.

The redeemed endure difficulty and inconvenience differently. Paul writes, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:14–15).

In a world filled with complainers, people that are “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10) will shine brightly and garner attention for the glory of their Provider and Keeper in heaven.

Flee from Idolatry

Can you sum up the four warnings in one? “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:14). He says it at the beginning of the paragraph (1 Corinthians 10:7) and at the end (1 Corinthians 10:14). We learned from Israel in Exodus and Numbers that idolatry can be entertaining. That it can allure and entice you. That it can make you impatient and unhappy. And that it can kill you. Flee from it, and run to God.

With the severe warnings, Paul gives us an invitation and a promise.

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:12–13)

God is faithful. He stands ready to walk with you and keep you through every circumstance and inconvenience. He doesn’t just stand nearby watching to see what you will do, but promises to provide a way out of temptation and into the joy of being made like him. He creates the way of escape and waits to reward us with more of himself.

Marshall Segal (@marshallsegal) is a writer and managing editor at desiringGod.org. He’s the author of Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness & Dating (2017). He graduated from Bethlehem College & Seminary. He and his wife, Faye, have a son and live in Minneapolis.

Article posted at:  https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/four-warnings-for-your-twenties

Parenting and the Cultural Pressure to Conform

FROM Albert Mohler 

The cultural pressure to conform just isn’t as new as we think. Many evangelicals want to think it’s new today. All of a sudden a lot of evangelical churches and parents think we now have to break glass because we face an emergency. Guess what? Go back to Canaan. All those parents were panicking—how in the world are we going to be faithful in this? Well, how in the world did a Christian mom send her 15-year-old son through the streets of Rome past public orgies in order to bring back bread? Somehow, Christian parents had to be faithful in Rome, and Israel’s parents had to be faithful in Canaan, and now Christian parents have to be faithful in the Rome/Canaan in which we live today.

God is up to this. I’m not saying we’re up to this, but God is up to this. That cultural pressure to conform, we have to recognize, however, is so pervasive that most Christians, even though they exaggerate the newness of this, underestimate the urgency of it. It’s a vortex into which we are all being pulled. The cultural pressure to conform is not a symptom of America, uniquely, in our time. It’s a symptom of the cosmos inhabited by human beings after Genesis 3.

This goes to Acts 20:27 and the whole counsel of God. The problem for many in that verse is the word God— the fact that there is a God. If there is a God, then what He says is binding. I love the way B. B. Warfield put it in his little book, The Plan of Salvation, when he said, “If there is a God, He’s God.” If you actually believe there is a God, you better sit down and think about what you actually believe. It’s the whole counsel of God. If there is a God, He is God, and that changes everything.

The word “whole” is another problem here. Nobody is upset with the golden rule. You’ll even notice liberal impulses in Christianity with people saying, “I want to be a Red Letter Christian.” Whoever says that needs to go and read “the red letters” because Jesus had more to say about hell than about heaven. Jesus preached the love of God in terms of demonstrating it in his teaching and fleshing it out, and of course showing what love means in “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Look at the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said, “you’ve heard it said…” He didn’t take anything back, but He said, “I say unto you,” and He took it right to the heart. It’s the word “whole” that’s a big problem here because we have to understand that where the culture has the biggest problem is where our children are most vulnerable.

Our society is going at anything that suggests that there is one God, one Gospel, one Savior. Just imagine what fortitude it’s going to take for children to hold to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in light of the understanding that we really do believe we are accountable to Scripture. In many ways that’s the most revolutionary, the most incendiary Christian belief that is at stake right now—the fact we actually believe that we are bound by Scripture.

At the Diet of Worms, Martin Luther said, “Here I stand, I can do none other. God help me. My conscience is bound by Scripture.” The very fact we believe we are bound by Scripture is increasingly going to be a public scandal. This is the thing: Unless our children develop a love for the Word of God, and unless the Word of God gets into their hearts and penetrates them, then they’re going to see the Word of God as the problem. They’re going to see us as the problem for, in their view, basing prejudicial, hateful, exclusionary beliefs upon an inscripturated claim to revelation.

When we look at our children and our grandchildren and the church’s children, when we look at any child, let’s pray that they see Christ, and seeing Christ, believe in Him, and believing, they are saved. Let’s pray that they’ll be raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

This post is excerpted from the book Indestructible Joy for the Next Generations, published by Truth78 (formerly Children Desiring God). For a limited time, the book is available as a free download at Bit.ly/IndestructibleJoy.

4 Things to Remind those Graduating

Article by Sara Barratt

Graduation is a time of paradox—excitement combined with fear, beginnings blurred with endings, plans riddled with uncertainty. But it’s only the start of the rollercoaster called adulthood.

It’s been two years since I received my high school diploma. I’ve been on a learning curve about life, God, and navigating the culture as an “official” adult. Since graduation, I’ve messed up, made mistakes, and grown a lot. I’ve gained experience and knowledge I wish I’d known years ago. But I’ve also seen the handprints of wise individuals upon my life who shaped and molded me before graduation day.

Here are four pieces of life advice that can support and equip the grads in your life as they venture into the world.

1. Plans and Dreams Change (But God Doesn’t)

Inside one of the many graduation cards I received, there was a small but power-packed piece of wisdom: “God’s plan will take you places in your life you haven’t thought of yet.”

Unlike many other graduates, I didn’t have a perfectly mapped out four-year plan, complete with college, degree, and subsequent successful career. I graduated two years early (homeschooler’s perk) armed with a desire to minister to teens and a passion to follow Jesus. Unfortunately, I didn’t know exactly how that plan would unfold.

The pressure for a new graduate to appear successful and confident is excruciating. This is intensified by the well-meaning individuals who ask, as a form of small talk, “So, what are your plans now?” Not having a ready answer—or a traditional one—can turn a simple question into an agonizing struggle for grads who feel the pressure to perform according to everyone’s expectations.

One of the most encouraging truths you can share with a graduate is that even if their plans falter, God’s vision for their life is still secure. His purpose may (or may not) be different than what they were anticipating, but he will lead and guide them every step of the way.

That’s a truth they’ll be able to hold onto throughout their entire lives, even when graduation is a distant memory.

2. A Degree Is Optional (But Integrity and Maturity Aren’t)

In our culture, college has increasingly become a prerequisite for success. Going on to higher education can open a world of possibilities. Yet often we’re so busy caring about our grad’s career goals that we forget about their soul.

Colleges and degrees help graduates navigate the world of business, finances, and to get (and hold down) that little thing called a job. But there’s more to the substance of our lives. Grads need to consider their future work, but they also need to remember their souls.

Grads need to consider their future work, but they also need to remember their souls.

Integrity, honesty, compassion, self-giving, and spiritual disciplines uphold graduates through the trials and tough times every adult faces. Focusing on the heart and pointing them to Jesus, we will encourage grads to be giving, sensitive, Christ-following individuals throughout their lives.

3. The World Will Tug at Your Heart (So Stand Firm)

A few months after graduating, I scribbled a few sentences on a scrap piece of paper:

Do I need their applause, approval, or acceptance? Should I alter my life to impress them, even if it’s not what would impress the Lord? Should I be swept into the current of what’s popular and lauded?

I don’t recall what I was referring to, or who “they” were. It’s a snapshot, though, into the mind of someone struggling to be accepted in a culture unaccepting of anyone who varies from the status quo.

As teens head off to colleges and jobs, they’ll encounter a whole new level of peer pressure. New classmates and co-workers will influence—and perhaps change—them. Post-graduation is a season where commitments are tested and integrity tried.

That’s why it’s vital to send them off strong and equipped, committed to standing firm on truth. Point them to Scripture. Hold them accountable. Encourage them to find—and join—a local church. Model integrity. And most importantly, pray fervently. As you do, you’ll help them stand strong.

4. Keep God First (Always)

The most powerful way you can help set grads up for success is by pointing them to Jesus Christ. Our human counsel can, and will, fall short. His never will.

As I think about the comments I received during graduation, I mostly heard things along the lines of “Reach for the stars” and “You’ve got this!” My friends wanted the best for me, and I’m thankful they cared enough to encourage me. But most of the words were hollow.

What if, instead of, “Reach for the stars,” we told our grads, “Reach for Jesus”? What if, instead of, “You’ve got this” we reminded them, “God’s got this”? What if we created with our words, and actions, a climate of desperate dependance on Christ? What if we prompted them to keep God first, no matter what?

We would have a generation of graduates more passionate about Jesus and more devoted to the things of God.

We only have so much influence over our graduates. So in addition to supporting them and cheering them on, point them to Jesus. And don’t forget to pray for their endeavors and successes. Pray they don’t give up after failure. Pray God leads them every day of their lives. Pray God places wise and godly people—and a healthy church—in their path. Pray they’ll stand strong and fix their eyes on Christ.

Those beloved grads are in God’s hands, and he’ll never let them go.

Sara Barratt is an 18-year-old lead writer and editor for theRebelution.com. She’s passionate about pointing teens to Christ and reclaiming truth from the lies of the culture. Connect with her at sarabarratt.com and on Facebook.

Article originally posted at:  https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/4-things-to-remind-the-grads-in-your-life/

What's My Calling? And is that Even a Good Question?

Article by Kevin DeYoung

Graduation season is upon us.

And that means in addition to much pomp and circumstance, many young people are thinking about what’s next. They are asking the question (and probably will for years to come): what is my calling?

As the Just Do Something guy, it will come as no surprise to hear that I think the language of “calling” is vastly overdone in Christian circles. Here’s what I find in Scripture:

We have an upward call in Christ to be with Jesus and to be like Jesus (Phil. 3:14). We have been called to freedom, not bondage (Gal. 5:13). God has saved us and called us to a holy calling (2 Tim. 1:9). He has called us to his own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:3). Not many of us were called to noble things (in the world’s eyes), but, amazingly, we have been called to Christ (1 Cor. 1:26). And if called, then justified, and if justified, then glorified (Rom. 8:30).

In other words, I do not see in Scripture where we are told to expect or look for a specific call to a specific task in life.

And that includes pastoral ministry and missionary service.

Although I’ve told the story of my “call to ministry” hundreds of time, I do not see biblical warrant for thinking that God picks up the phone in a special way to dial up pastors and missionaries for their life’s work. Moreover, I worry that by emphasizing the need for a supernatural hear-from-the-Lord call to ministry, we end up convincing some people that ministry and missions are for them (when they aren’t), while unintentionally leading other people (who should be serving a church or overseas) to conclude that they can’t sign up without a special word from God.

Does this mean we should abandon the language of “calling”?

Not necessarily. There’s no rule that says we can’t take a word from our English Bibles and then use that word in a different way in normal conversation (e.g., it’s tilting at windmills to think we are going to outlaw “church” in reference to a building). But if we are going to use the language of calling outside of the biblical pattern, let’s be careful about how we use the word.

I love talking with seminarians about discerning a call to ministry if we mean, “How do I know this is a wise, appropriate step for me to take?” as opposed to, “How do I know that I’ve received a special word from God himself that I must be a pastor?” Most ministry books talk about three aspects of a call: an internal call (I desire this), an external call (I have recognized gifts for ministry and discernible fruit of maturity), and a formal call (I have been offered a position by a particular church or ministry). Those three elements make good sense as a prudent approach to making good decisions.

In fact, these three factors can be used to determine almost any kind of “call.” Should I be a doctor? Well, are you really interested in medicine and in helping people? Do your trusted friends and family members think this is a good fit for you? Is there an opportunity for you to enter into this profession? Of course, at times we push ahead in the face of opposition and try to pry open closed doors. But in general, in a society where we have many choices in front of us, it’s good advice to find something we like, something we are good at, and something that others are asking us to do.

In short, if this is what is meant by “calling”—know yourself, listen to others, find where you are needed—then, by all means, let’s try to discern our callings. But if “calling” involves waiting for promptings, listening for still small voices, and attaching divine authority to our vocational decisions, then we’d be better off dropping the language altogether (except as its used in the Bible) and labor less mysteriously to help each other grow in wisdom.

Article originally posted at:https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/calling-even-good-question/