39% of Americans say Marriage is Becoming Obsolete

A new Pew Research stat says 4 in 10 Americans say marriage is becoming obsolete and the U. S. census data says marriages hit an all-time low of 52% for adults 18 and over.

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse: "Without some basic structure... it becomes every person out for himself. The main [issue] is the deinstitutionalization of marriage. By making it so we're free of attachments and obligations and responsibilities, we don't have ... the structure that allows us to invest together over a long period of time." (interviewed by Marvin Olasky in World magazine).

The Uniqueness of God's Word

Scripture is unique because of its source, its use, and its sufficiency. Paul declares scripture alone to be the very Word of God. The content of the Bible is sourced in the character of a righteous, holy, loving, dependable God. It retains the humanness of the authors without their sin and error. God watched over the writing of God's Word to protect it from error. Because scripture is breathed out by God Himself, it is free from error. It is as reliable as the character of God Himself.
Scripture is also unique because of its use. It is profitable for teaching and understanding God's world, rebuking our errant ways, correcting us so that we get back on the right path, and molding us into the image of Christ Himself.
Finally, Paul tells Timothy that God's Word is thoroughly sufficient for every good work. God's Word can mold a man of God into one who is capable, complete, proficient, and able to meet all the demands of spiritual leadership in our world.

Paul's Last Words to Timothy

Sitting in a cold dark cell awaiting execution, Paul could have been considering recantation to avoid death. He could have been nursing his own wounds, feeling abandoned by men and God. But He wasn't. He was making sure his young disciple, Timothy, had some last words of encouragement before Paul was beheaded. Timothy, make God's Word the central focus of your ministry because "the time has come for my departure..."
*Rely on the simple faith you have known since infancy. God's Word has been valued by your mother and grandmother and you know their example of faith.
*Make God's Word your focus, no matter how you feel or what your audience wants to hear. Preach the Word.
*Preach the Word because time is short. Time is short because Christ is coming back. Time is short because error and apostasy are creeping in.
Faithfulness to God's Word in ministry was Timothy's only guarantee of effectiveness.

6 Dangerous Contemporay Attitudes toward God's Word

Ralph Turk, in his class on Contemporary Theology, outlined 6 dangerous trends in Christianity:
*Don't make love more important than doctrine. A permissive love that neglects the truth is never truly love. Better the wounds of truth than the kisses of error.
*Examine the motives of those who re-investigate or re-examine major doctrines to make them more relevant in our world. Truth is always relevant. Why do I want to question it?
*Question those who preach different messages to different groups. Acceptance, support, or even self-preservation are not suitable motives for changing the truth.
*Beware of those who substitute religious phrases for the Word of God. The Bible is large, rich, and robust. Trite sounding phrases that tickle our ears are no replacement for God's Word. Develop a mindset that everything must be examined in light of scripture.
*Be suspicious of those who do not trust God's Word as their sole authority. They want the Bible to share authority with church leaders, additional writings, or theological traditions. The Bible stands alone as God has put His own integrity in His Word.
*Be careful not to cooperate with just anybody for the sake of the gospel. They must know the gospel as truth and claim it as their own. On theological differences, we can agree to disagree, but we must both use scripture as our source. One or both of us may be wrong, but denying the authority and dependability of scripture is not the way to agree.

God's Word is Essential, Relevant

In this era of post-sophistication, when science and education have let us down, nothing is more important than God's Word. Why?

*Knowledge is growing at an exponential pace. In many fields, what Freshmen learn in college is obsolete by their senior year. There are so many things to know in our world that we desperately need wisdom to sort it out. God's word is a dependable source of wisdom.

*The tidal wave of information that overwhelms our culture is filled with opinions and half-truths and outright lies. We desperately need discernment to tell the difference between truth and falsehood. God's word is a dependable source of discernment.

*Our culture has lost the ability to discuss ethics. Moral concerns are matters of private opinion. Yet we see the consequences of immorality all around us and we despair of finding a genuinely good path for our children to follow. God's Word is a dependable source of morality.

*Pluralism has given us so many ways to God that we get confused over all the paths that vie for our attention. We become cynical that there is any one true way of restoring our relationship with God. If we want to restore our relationship with God, His Word is dependable guidance and light.

If we are looking for a dependable source of wisdom, discernment, morality, and guidance, then God's Word, the Bible, is the only dependable source. Beware of the pretenders.

Leadership and Seeing Around the Corner

One of my students in Personal Leadership Development once quoted Colin Powell as saying that Leadership is the ability to see around the next corner. What followed was an interesting discussion about planning for a future that is unknown.
I recently ran across a great quote from Patrick Henry. He said "I know of no other way of judging the future but by the past." Knowing history well helps us to see patterns in the affairs of men. Seeing the same patterns today can help us prepare for what is coming.
In the case of Joshua, we see the mistake at Ai and the deception of the Gibeonites and we ask how we could avoid similar mistakes. Both moves were made by using our own wisdom and not inquiring of God. Surely we can use our own wisdom in capturing a "dump" of a city or in making a treaty with a faraway people.
David leaves us another example. In his fight against the Philistines, God gives explicit instructions for victory. David follows them implicitly, and the battle is won. A short time after, the battle lines are arraigned in exactly the same way. For David, it is deja voux all over again (2 Samuel 5). Surely, God would have you use the same methods He outlined before to win another victory. But David is not taken in. He inquires of God and God outlines another battle strategy that brings about even greater victory. Lesson: Always inquire of God.

What Running from God Smells Like

The story of Jonah is not "Wayward Prophet Makes Good." God and Jonah are never on the same page. When God relents of the disaster He had announced for Nineveh, Jonah is incensed. He tells God he should have stayed at home. He accuses God of not following through on His word because of His unfounded compassion on the enemy.
In Jonah 4:1-3, we are treated to a great description of what running from God smells like:
*Lack of Compassion for all men
*Resentment of the way God does His business
*Understanding the character of God without rejoicing in it
*Preferring your own way to God's
*Discouragement and disgust with living

The Second Commission

"Then the Word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time." -Jonah 3:1

The hardest group of people to minister to in the local church are those who have felt a call to ministry but for one reason or another rebelled. They are frustrated at work and at home. They long to be doing something else, something more. Sometimes the fire begins to die and they become cynical, skeptical, belligerent.
For those who find themselves tossed on the beach, wrapped in seaweed, and staring up into the hot, blazing sun, there is hope. Ask forgiveness of God. Go to the elders of your church. Explain the passion of your past and the frustration of your present. Trust them, show honor to them and follow their advice. The Lord is gracious and the elders can help you find a place to serve again. Don't miss it this time around!

The Heart and Repentance

It was an incredible revival. The capital city, rich and poor, great and small, old men and children, repented. Led by the king, a nation turns to God and a city sees disaster averted.
So the recipe for revival is one part prophet, one part message, and one part hearer. Is this a dependable formula for revival? Not so fast. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.
What worked for the Ninevites did not work for the Jews. A "Greater than Jonah" came, preached judgment and repentance, but the Jews remained unmoved. In Revelation, the bowls of wrath are poured out, yet mankind refuses to repent of what had been done and glorify God(Rev. 16).
The heart is capable of great hardness. Ask Pharaoh, who sometimes hardened his heart and other times, according to scripture, found his heart hardened by God. Is there a line that the rebellious heart can cross that makes repentance impossible? Or, ultimately,is all repentance a supernatural work of God? "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh"(Ezek. 36:26).

By the Decree of the King

Who Knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish. Jonah 3:9

Much of the strife of this political season is wasted energy. However, there is much to be said for working hard to get godly men in places of leadership. Godly men will understand the times, listen to the word of God, and lead those whom God loves away from disaster.
The circumstances of Nineveh were dire. God had announced judgment- destruction of Nineveh in 40 days. Their violence, immorality, and guilt were catching up with them.
The people of Nineveh were blessed because they had a king who listened to the words of the prophet. He got up from His throne, exchanged royal robes for those of mourning and sat down in the dust. Then, he charted a course to plead for mercy for His nation.
The military security and economic prosperity of our nation, like Nineveh, does not depend on the power of men or government. Our security and provision depend on God alone. In the formative years of our nation, calls for national repentance, humility, and thanksgiving were common. They were common because our nation was led by leaders who understood that "unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labor in vain."
One decree of the king saved Nineveh. May God give us leaders like that.

Forfeiting Grace

"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. Jonah 2:8

Grace is not always spread about in equal measure. It is true that the goodness of God is available to all through the cross of Christ. It is also true that there is more grace available to those who will combine their faith with the promises of God.
In this verse, Jonah warns those who cling to idols (anything we consider more important than God)that their dedication will be useless. In the end, time dedicated to idolatry is worthless. Energy, resources and wealth are wasted.
This is not the worst loss, however. What was the potential of the time, energy, resources and wealth? What else did God want to do that didn't get done? What grace and reward might have accrued to our account at the Judgment Seat of Christ? Let us abandon our idols today and plead for grace. More grace.

Radical

Radical by David Platt is one of those books that make you want to beg for grace to live out the message. Augustine prayed- "Command what you will, but will what you command." I am praying for grace to extend God's glory in just that sort of way.

Teaching Dissonance

"Beware of the sound of one hand clapping." Most of our education is parallel monologue. Public education knows nothing of a Creator. Homeschooled children are never taught to wrestle with the real arguments of science. As a result, both cast aspersions on the other without really listening to what the other side says.
Ideas come together in a variety of ways. Some ideas naturally fit, some eventually resolve themselves. Some ideas are false and will always clash with the truth. Many church leaders and parents are afraid of the dissonance. This leaves the student to experience the clash in a college classroom when he is without support. I'd rather build dissonance into the curriculum so that the student learns to defend his faith against all comers without fear that the truth will one day let him down. Teach the dissonance, feel the sting, search for answers. Remember the admonition: "Beware the sound of one hand clapping."

"Well-Done Days"

Scripture teaches us that persevering in the good stewardship of our lives and resources now will result in an eternal commendation from Christ: "Well done, good and faithful servant!" I was reminded recently to examine each day at its end and ask myself in judgment, "Was this a well-done day?" A string of well-done days will issue in an eternal "Well done."

Views of God

Leigh Bortins made an interesting observation about contemporary evangelicals and their view of God. We see God as a "Nice God who does nice things for nice people."
I immediately remembered the testimony of R. C. Sproul. When he first became a believer and read through the Old Testament, he realized one thing clearly: "This is a God who plays for keeps."
Which view do you think is closer to the truth?

Curriculum and Nature

Today's educational curriculum begins with utility because the authors are agnostic about nature. The value and worth of a thing is tied to its utility, they would say. This explains debates about abortion, end of life care, and sex education. Beginning with the nature of a thing brings about far different ends. Education before Dewey had character development and wisdom as its ends. After Dewey, education was pursued for utilitarian ends. I fear the day when a man's value is discussed only by his contribution to society and not by who He is as a human being.

The Contemplation of Nature

Classical Conversations introduced me to Andrew Kern's CD "The Contemplation of Nature." I'll have to listen to it a dozen times to grasp the implications of his lecture on education, but I did learn this. Public, and sadly Christian, schools begin with utility- a holdover from Dewey. To really understand something, you must begin with its nature. Everything that exists began as an idea in the mind of God.
To know anything, Kern says you must follow a three step process:
1. Understand its nature
2. Discern its purpose from its nature.
3. Grasp its propriety.
For example, as a leader, I must understand the nature of those under my care. A follower is made in the image of God, a sinner, a male or female, and one whose ultimate purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Propriety tells me the moral and fitting ways for that nature to be fulfilled.

My Sheep Know My Voice

What is the difference between “Harassed and helpless” and displaying the great love of God? The wandering sheep has gone beyond the voice of the Shepherd. He no longer hears those calming tones, those assured directions, those tender affirmations. He directs his own way, searches for self-confidence, and tries to settle himself in the face of the Predator.
“My sheep hear my voice.” The sheep that is safe rejoices when he hears his shepherd. He runs to him because he knows the shepherd leads him to water, to food, to rest, to safety. He learns to love the shepherd not just for what he supplies, but for his faithfulness. Day after day, he has met the needs of one who cannot meet his own needs. He speaks clearly, lovingly, and with great affirmation. The Shepherd loves his sheep first, and sheep with good sense love him in return.

Show the Wonder

Jesus could see it. Those with spiritual eyes could see it as well. Harassed and helpless. It is not hard to see- the nervousness, the restlessness, the wide-eyed fear. There is another way to live. The Shepherd has another idea:
“I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; Give ear to me and hear my prayer. Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand, those who take refuge in you from their foes” (Psalm 17:6-7).
The Shepherd envisions a loving, compassionate relationship with his sheep. They will call and He will answer. Sheep take refuge from their foes in Him. They rest. They call. He answers. In the process, the watching world is awed by the shepherd’s care. God’s compassion for sheep like you and me should make the witnesses around us go “Wow! I want that kind of care.”
Lord, display your compassion in my life. Show your wonder. Let me witness the width and the depth of your great love. Use me to whet the appetite of others to seek after You. Keep me as the apple of your eye. In Jesus’ name.

Seven Steps to Giving a Testimony

Seven Steps to Giving a Testimony

1. Make Jesus the hero. Tell about his grace, love, mercy or help. The goal is to help others follow Christ better by your example.
2. Focus your testimony to one life lesson. What did God teach you through that experience, answered prayer, period of suffering, or miraculous intervention? Explain your testimony in a way that will help others learn the same life lesson.
3. Add a verse that briefly explains the biblical basis for your testimony.
4. Be careful with the past. Tell what God did. Don’t describe the past in such detail that the listener thinks you’d like to go back!
5. Talk about failures too. By sharing successes and failures, we give a hopeful picture to those who want to follow in our train.
6. Short is better than long. Share your life lesson, how God worked, and a Bible verse to show you have interpreted the lesson correctly. Most people wander because they feel like they need to fill time. Instead, stand and share confidently, then sit down. Practice with a friend. Have him check for clarity, focus, and time.
7. Pray. We share our testimony because we want to give examples of Christ’s faithfulness to us in our individual lives. We want others to be willing to follow him too. Ask God to help your testimony achieve the end of glorifying Him!

Harassed and Helpless

When Jesus watched crowds coming to hear the Good News, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). Anxiety, sadness, stress, weariness, and fear. The enemy was closing in on his prey. Collapse was imminent.
This is the natural state of the unbeliever. Satan pursues his kill with unrelenting zeal. There is a growing realization in the mind of his prey that all his energy, speed, and cunning have been expended in vain. The race is coming to an end.
Too often, however, it has been reflective of my own spiritual state. In the life of a sheep, the shepherd makes all the difference. Water, food, and protection all come from his skill, his rod and staff. The life and health of the sheep is in his hands alone. What does it say to the watching world if I appear harassed and helpless? Worse, what does it say about my Shepherd?

Public Consequences of Private Sin

Most people in our culture would argue that private sins have no public consequences. A Babylonian garment, a wedge of gold, and two hundred shekels of silver coveted are  taken. The city was going to be burned anyway. Who would be hurt?
36 people died. The hearts of the enemy were strengthened. Joshua foresaw the doom of the nation if they could not stand before their enemies. While Joshua was on his face mourning, God said "Stand up... Israel has sinned." The repeating phrase "liable to destruction" (Joshua 6:18; 7:1; 7:12) described their condition. Worse, God says "I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction."
Leadership is knowing where those under our care stand in relation to God. It is confronting sin, to rescue the offender when possible, to protect the body, and to restore a right standing with God. Now Achan, his sons, his daughters, and all the wealth of his house lie burned in a heap in the Valley of Trouble.
The "Valley of Achor" became a byword (Hosea 2:15). There is a new memorial, however grim, to warn the next generation against unfaithfulness. Like the rocks drawn from the midst of the Jordan, the valley is a teachable moment. Trust, respect, and obey the Lord who leads you. Personal disobedience is corporate trouble.

Even I Can Take Ai

The name of the city was "heap." The spies returned with great confidence. They had made a careful assessment of the city, considered the cost, and presented a plan. There were "few" men in the city. If they could conquer the power of Jericho, Ai was hardly a bump in the road.
Joshua rubber-stamped the plan and sent 36 men to their deaths. How could the spies have been so wrong? What did they miss? How do we, as leaders, avoid the same mistakes?
*Yesterday's victories are God's, not ours
*We are powerless in both big battles and small ones
*Prayer, even on the "easy" decisions, is important. The Lord of the universe is angry and his people are clueless. If they had sought God, they might have found repentance and restoration before lives were lost.

Father, teach us to walk with You so nearly that we know your heart before we find ourselves running from the enemy.

Liable to Destruction

Jericho was the first display of the Diving Warrior on the west side of the Jordan River. The battle plans, odd as they were, underscored the power of God. If trumpets and marching and shouting could bring about the destruction of the chief city in the promised land, then everyone would have to know it was God that did it.
Jericho was to be "devoted to God." It was to be totally destroyed as an offering. It would show respect for the Divine Conqueror- giving Him the first fruits of all the bounty they were about to receive. The obedience, submission, and self-restraint of each warrior would prove a solid wall of respect for God. Every warrior was expected to pass by the wealth of Jericho, leaving it in a fiery heap, in recognition that God would soon abundantly supply. Those who would steal from God, who could not wait out of respect for God, would make themselves liable to destruction. They, their families, and their nation would suffer the consequences of their private sin.
If the solid wall of respect for God had gaps, it meant that someone had contempt for God. We commonly think of contempt as words and actions that show we despise another. In the case of Achan, contempt for God lay hidden in a quick decision, a rash judgment to profit privately from items that were going to be burned anyway. It makes good sense if respect for God is not taken into account. And of course, that is the definition of contempt.

"Melting Hearts" and Rebellion

God does an unusual thing when he talks to Joshua about the upcoming battle with Jericho. He says, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands." In God's eyes, the war was already over. God was the deciding factor. The weapons and defenses and soldiers of Jericho do not need to be taken into account before an omnipotent God. It was time again for the nation to trust, to witness, and to prepare for building another memorial of faith.
While such faith is laudable (see Hebrews 11), God did not mean it to be rare. Such trust is the only possible answer when the circumstances are understood as they really are. The problem comes when our eyes fix on the circumstances of war and not on the Lord of Hosts. The people become big in our minds and God becomes small. And God calls that rebellion.
"How long will these people treat me with contempt?" he asks Moses (Numbers 14:11). God argues that refusing to believe in spite of the miraculous things he has done (Remember the Red Sea parting?) was equal in His mind to rebellion. God's glory and reputation were bound up in His activity. His people had seen miracles yet refused to believe. God says that first generation tested Him 10 times, the full measure of His patience, and that not one of them would see the land He had promised to them.
In the passage in Numbers, Caleb provides the laudable pattern of response. "My servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly." If we are going to see miracles, then we need a spirit of submission, humility, and obedience. We need a desire to follow Christ wholeheartedly. May God grant us a tribe of Calebs.

God, forgive the focus of my eyes. I did not mean to turn them from You. Remember my weakness. Restore a right spirit in me.

"Melting Hearts" and Faith

"When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites." (Joshua 5:1)

Memorials of faith serve two purposes in glorifying God. First, they display to the next generation that God is dependable. He fulfills all His promises. A lifestyle of faith serves to display to children and grandchildren in a powerful way that God loves and cares for His own.
Memorials also serve to warn the enemy. Who wants to fight an army blessed in a supernatural way by an omnipotent God? Defending yourself against such power is futile. You become desperate (ask a Gibeonite, Joshua 9). When you survey those who stand with you, their power and yours is wholly inadequate for the needs of the hour. "When they heard... their hearts melted."
It is here that the starkest difference can be seen between the first generation of Hebrews under Moses and those under Joshua who are standing in the promised land. When the first generation heard the report of giants in the promised land, their hearts melted: "That night all of the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud." Then they grumbled. The cries of Moses, Caleb, and Joshua fell on deaf ears: "Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us."
The second generation believed those words and saw them come to pass. The Canaanites fully understood their peril because they saw the hand of God at work. They felt the sting of being alone against a powerful Enemy, the despair of finding yourself without protection. It is ironic that the Canaanites of Joshua's time saw their situation much more clearly than the Jews of Moses' time. An inability to take God into account in their military strategies cost them the promised land.

Leadership Memorials -part three

Is it legitimate to ask God for memorials yet to come? May I ask for greater things? Impossible things? Things that shout the glory of God in my life? Things that witness the sovereign goodness and joy of God in the lives of my children? Experiences and provision that, like the stars, proclaim the glory of God? For what may I ask?

*mercy and pardon to cleanse me, free me, and cause me to rejoice
*Help to fulfill my roles as husband and father so that my children are godly seed
*Opportunities to display the Father's glory in my own life and to show myself to be Jesus' disciple.
*Anything that would mean buying up Jesus' invitation to "Ask anything in my name and I will do it."

When he does it, I have my memorial. Perseverance before a loving Father who withholds no good thing produces "amazing things". May God increase our faith.

Leadership Memorials- part two

What about my life? Does my life have Jordan River moments- experiences that are stone memorials for my children, examples for my daughters? Can I look at my past and see God's hand?

*I didn't like school much. I wasn't serious about study. I got by, but didn't try. Then, God took me to college and seminary for the next nine years (and I loved it).

*I went to Korea to teach and I found a thousand opportunities to minister, encourage, stretch, mature, and learn leadership. I met friends who loved Christ and gave themselves wholly to children close to God's heart. I served as pastor, chaplain, school administrator, Field Council chair, school board member, and KATUSA instructor. And I was never ambitious.

*I have pastored for 20 years and it has been an incredible opportunity to work, serve, persevere and love God and our local church body. And I'm shy.

*I have been married for 17 years to a beautiful, godly woman who turned me down the first 20 times I asked her out. Then, three years later, she asked me.

May God grant more stones...

Leadership Memorials

Elizabeth Elliot once asked, "What is there in your life that is unexplainable apart from the Lord?" God wanted to make sure they remembered His intervention in their lives. He instructed Joshua to have 12 stones removed from where the Ark had stood in the bottom of the Jordan river as the young nation passed by. The stones were stacked as a memorial and witness to the next generation.

The memorial was to inspire questions: "Dad, what is this for?" The door was open for a story about God. "Son, God is great, God is good... Without Him, we would not be free. Without Him we would not be where we are. God can always do what we cannot. He has proved Himself. You can trust Him..."

God had a special concern for the next generation. He created many memorials. Passover, a collection of stones, and in the current age- bread and wine. God remembers that we are dust so He builds into our religious experience opportunities to remember...

God-Centered Leadership

"Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you."

The most important thing about leadership is to be God-centered. God's people are to mark themselves as His people and recognize his authority in their lives. They are to put away sin and find in Him their joy and satisfaction. He is the One who will bring change and power and maturity. He is the One who has great plans for them to witness:

*The previous generation had the Red Sea parting; the new generation saw the Jordan River divide.
*The previous generation built the Ark of the Covenant. The new generation walked past it on dry ground in the bottom of the Jordan River.
*The previous generation celebrated the Passover and headed out of Egypt. The new generation celebrated the Passover as they headed into the Promised land.
*The previous generation saw manna begin to sustain them in the desert. The new generation saw the manna cease as they ate the fruit of the promised land.

God has amazing plans for all of us, no matter what generation. He has plans to give us a future and a hope. He has plans to show Himself strong on behalf of all those whose hearts are completely His.

My job now is to prepare my heart. Throw out the idols. Beg for holiness. Drop my self-assurance and depend on Him. Plead for mercy. Ask for faith. Wait and witness what only He can do. Amazing things.

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."