The day has come. Donald Trump has become the presumptive Republican Nominee for President of the United States of America. Due to the powerful influence of the two-party system, Christians who recognize how wicked Hillary Clinton is, feel they have no choice but to hold their nose and vote for Donald Trump. They are persuaded that to vote for anyone else, or to abstain from voting altogether, would be actively permitting Clinton to win the election. It is my uphill battle to convince these believers that that is not the case; rather, their responsibility is not to choose the lesser of two great evils but to faithfully represent Christ on election day and recognize that God is sovereign and will accomplish His divine decree.
The first order of business here is to show exactly why Trump is unfit to lead this nation. There are many reasons. I will bring up some of these reasons and then share some links to articles that provide evidence of the views he holds and/or actions he has taken that testify against himself in regards to qualifications. I will then share Scripture in response to these issues because, as believers, we are ambassadors for Christ, and so we must stand on a foundation of His Truth and act in accordance with that Truth.

The first topic I want to discuss is abortion. Many Christians use this as a litmus test to determine whether or not a candidate is acceptable and rightly so. If a man doesn’t value life, and the need to protect the helpless, then he can’t be trusted to rightly view other important issues. Now, Trump claims to be Pro-life, but how pro-life is he really? After all, we have seen previously credible pro-life politicians sell out the unborn as a matter of political expediency (i.e. the last Republican sponsored budget, also pro-life groups opposing abolitionist bills to end abortion immediately) Trump sponsored a Pro-choice fundraiser in ’89 (but didn’t attend himself due to death threats), then he claimed to hate abortion but still support choice in ’99, and then in 2015, when he wants to run for President, as a Republican, he is suddenly pro-life. Hmm. While on the campaign trail, he has praised Planned Parenthood on multiple occasions for the “good they do for women,” while promising not to fund them for at least the “abortion part” of their business. That, in itself, is absurd as any money they are given helps to keep the lights on and allow the slaughter of the innocent to continue. The Scripture I have shared here shows that the biblical position is that the baby in the womb is indeed a precious life and has protection under God’s law. Note the Exodus passage that claims the same justice for a baby as everyone else outside the womb. I shared the Deuteronomy verse as it is one that I quote often when I minister outside abortion mills. Accepting a bribe to shed innocent blood brings a curse from God, and yet it is the business model for PP and other abortionists. In addition, God judges nations for their sin, especially for blood-guilt. Sadly, our hands are covered with the blood of the unborn. We must repent, as a nation, and turn away from the sin of abortion. Any candidate who wants our vote must be solidly committed to abolishing abortion. Unfortunately, Trump appears to be pro-life in word only and not a trustworthy word at that.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trumps-evolving-stance-abortion/story?id=38057176

Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

Exodus 21:22-25 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Deuteronomy 27:25 Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Ezekiel 35:6 therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; because you did not hate bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you.

Psalm 106:37-42 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; 38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. 39 Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds. 40 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage; 41 he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them. 42 Their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their power.

Isaiah 1:15-17 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

Another major issue for Christians is gay “marriage.” Legitimizing these relationships, and calling them a marriage, is a direct contradiction to the word of God. It has also become a source of persecution for Christian business owners. Those who believe it would be sinful to take part in the ceremony, or celebration of such an event, have been publicly maligned, harassed, and threatened. Thanks to government involvement, in some cases, they have been driven out of business by fines and legal fees. In addition to the persecution, and possibly even worse, is the indoctrination of the next generation regarding this issue. Although, government schools did not wait for the legalization of gay “marriage,” indeed, for the last twenty years, government schools have been normalizing homosexuality to such a degree as to pave the way for its legalization. But now that it is legal, that will only drive them to increase their efforts in desensitizing children to perversity and deviancy, such as transgenderism. Trump claims to look to overturn the gay marriage ruling, but at other times refer to his friend’s gay wedding that he attended and the impossibility of getting an amendment passed. He has also referred to the changing public views on the topic and gave plenty of room for himself to change his view on it, as well. Obama also claimed to be opposed to gay marriage prior to election. We don’t have much reason to hope for better results from Trump. The Scripture I have shared speaks about the sinfulness of homosexual behavior, the intended framework of marriage, and the curse on those who call evil, good. When Trump offers the concession of being willing to change his mind on this issue, and willingly attended such a ceremony, he shows he lacks a true foundation for making the right stand on this issue.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/03/07/new-video-questions-trumps-stance-on-gay-marriage.html

http://thepulse2016.com/paul-dupont/2015/08/20/trump-planned-parenthood-videos-terrible-marriage-amendment-not-going-to-happen/

Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Matthew 19:4-5 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Somewhat related to the gay marriage issue, is the transgender issue. Bruce Jenner brought this issue into the limelight and the LGBT agenda has made it a priority to normalize this deviancy as well. And with the help of government schools, LGBTs are seeking to not only normalize it among children, but to also encourage parents to embrace any possible confusion or envy their child may have; their efforts may lead children to pretend, or desire, to be the opposite sex and possibly help that child begin mutilating themselves at an early age, even through it has been proven to be wrong-headed and dangerous. What does all this have to do with Trump? Most everyone is familiar with the transgender bathroom issue that has been making national headlines, from a righteous, but unpopular law in North Carolina to Target openly offering transgender people free use of whatever bathroom corresponds to their “self-identification.” This forces the public, including young children, to be exposed to the deviancy of a microscopic portion of the population, and even worse, gives predators a free pass into women bathrooms, which has already brought about crime. However, as we can see, Trump is on the wrong side of this issue. The Bible says that cross-dressing is an abomination. It also says it would be better for a millstone to be hung around your neck than for you to cause a child to stumble. And again, woe to those who call evil good. Trump supports transgenders in their deviancy and allowing them (and therefore predators) to use whatever bathroom they want. That is not love. Love does not encourage people in their sin. Trump doesn’t care at all about what Scripture says, but actively supports something that puts women and children in danger.

Deuteronomy 22:5 woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.

Matthew 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Donald Trump is a wicked man. The next few issues, I will be discussing, will not be just about his views, but his own personal actions that most definitely disqualify him from leading a nation. America became a nation after throwing off a tyrannical government that trampled the rights of the people. If there is one group of people that God has particular concern for, in the Scriptures, it is the fatherless and the widow. Those who lack a man as a father and husband, to provide and protect them, need to be shown extra attention and care by the people of God. In one fell swoop, Trump showed no concern for a widow, or for the rights of a citizen, who owned private property, when he tried to take her home by force of government when she did not accept his proposal to purchase her home. He wanted her property (and someone else’s as well) because of its proximity to his casino. When she was unwilling to sell, he attempted to get the local government to use eminent domain to take her home away from her, anyway. Fortunately, he was not successful, but what stress he must have put that widow through as she had to fight to keep her home. His willingness to use the power of government, to steal someone’s property, should be of concern to all of us. That is the act of a wicked man who cannot be trusted with authority. The Scripture, I shared, shows just how seriously God condemns those who would oppress others, including the fatherless and the widow.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/08/19/donald-trumps-abuse-of-eminent-domain/

Deuteronomy 27:19 ‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Isaiah 10:1-4 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, 2 to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! 3 What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? 4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

This next topic should be a huge red flag to Christians. Trump has claimed to be a Christian. He actually claimed to be a strong Christian who reads the Bible more than most people! Yet, when pressed, he would not even share his favorite Bible verse. He did quote a verse (that someone gave him) before a group of Bible college students, but when giving the reference, made the gaffe of calling it “Two” Corinthians, rather than Second Corinthians. Perhaps not as familiar with the Word as he claims to be, hmm? However, that is all relatively minor in contrast with what he said during his campaign, when asked if, as a Christian, he has ever repented or asked for forgiveness. Now, any genuine Christian (heck, even some false converts!) know that repentance and forgiveness is part and parcel of the Christian life. However, Trump not only couldn’t remember ever doing such, but he couldn’t think of a reason why he should have to. This is a man who has bragged about a life of fornication and adultery. He has bragged about his sexual relationships with so-called happily married women, and he even cheated on his first wife with the woman who would become his second wife (he’s now on wife number three). This man is currently being sued for fraud regarding his “Trump University,” he has oppressed widows, he has used filthy language when speaking of women and anyone who opposes him for any reason. He has supported abortion, has encouraged violence at his rallies against protesters, and the list goes on and on. Donald Trump has a great deal to repent for, and the fact that he hasn’t and can’t see his need to, shows he is not a genuine Christian, but rather, has a proud and rebellious heart that defies God and His Word. No Christian should ever vote for a wicked person like that. The Scripture, I have shared here, shows how seriously God views adultery, that it is worthy of death, and those who take part in it will destroy themselves. The First John passage talks about the self-deception of the person who says they have no sin.

http://www.dailywire.com/news/2879/trump-doesnt-know-why-he-has-repent-god-he-could-ben-shapiro

Leviticus 20:10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Proverbs 6:32 He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.

1 John 1:8-10 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The next topic goes hand-in-hand with the previous one. Donald Trump is a wicked man who is happy to exploit women to make a profit. He opened the first strip club in an Atlantic City Casino, and yet, he can’t imagine what he has ever done that requires repentance or forgiveness. Strip clubs objectify women, encourage lust, and generally help to destroy both women and marriages. This article also references his regular call-ins to the Howard Stern show (another filthy, wicked man) where he would speak degradingly of women. He also has suggested if his daughter weren’t his daughter, he would probably date her. How disgustingly inappropriate can a man get? The wife he has now has posed nude before, and he speaks glowingly of Planned Parenthood, even after, they were exposed for selling the body parts of slaughtered babies. Christians recognize how wicked Hillary Clinton is, but how can we possibly turn a blind eye to a mountain of evidence of the wickedness, even unbelievers can see, when they look at Donald Trump? How can we ever vote for this man to become one of the most powerful men in the world, knowing he has no moral foundation, whatsoever? The Scripture, I have shared here, speaks specifically to lust and evil thoughts and adultery and points to exactly what kind of character Trump possesses.

https://jtf.org/meet-donald-trump-the-king-of-sleaze/

Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

The Bible has much to say about evil of bribery and how corrupting it is. Donald Trump has confessed, often, to making large contributions to politicians that were nothing more than bribes, essentially. He knew they would do favors for him because of that money. He says the system is broken, and yet, he seems to not have any regret with being a willing participant in breaking it. This is more evidence of his wickedness, and while people think he is rich, and therefore above bribery, what they fail to realize is that there are many ways to bribe someone. The rich are not immune from the desire to become richer; people can also be bribed with favors of all stripes and promises of more power and prestige. A man who is willing to bribe cannot be expected to be above receiving a bribe.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430266/donald-trump-bribery-politicians-hillary-clinton-robert-menendez-solomon-melgen

Proverbs 17:23 The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.

Isaiah 1:23 Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

Micah 7:3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together.

It’s almost a forgotten fact that we started this nation as a Republic, and yet, our everyday polices are socialist in nature. When asked about the three major responsibilities of government, he tried: “security, security, security.” Not completely correct, but better than his second attempt, which was security, healthcare, and education. Those second issues are not the responsibility of government, and therefore, are rightly absent from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Trump’s policy proposals line up far more with Bernie Sanders than the Republican platform. Healthcare and Education are personal responsibilities that should find assistance in the Church, and not the State. As a result, God would get the glory, and Truth would be taught and upheld for the next generation. A secular government, that does not stand on the Bible, cannot rightly teach children without corrupting them. The Scripture, I shared, speaks of the responsibilities of parents, in regard, to education and outlines the role of government.

https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/03/is-trump-running-to-make-socialism-great-again

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Romans 13:1-5 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

For each topic above, I’ve given you a small sample of Scriptures so that you can clearly see how God views those issues. I also went through the book of Proverbs and will share a number of verses that speak to issue of Trump’s character. These verses also reflect on the danger of a wicked ruler, and they describe what kind of impact the wicked have on a nation. While I have shared quite a few verses here, this list is by no means exhaustive. A great deal more could be shared, not only from Proverbs, but from the entirety of Scripture. I would encourage you to meditate on these verses and consider how the candidate, you are considering voting for, measures up to God’s standards.

Proverbs 11:1-11 A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight. 2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. 3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. 4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. 5 The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness. 6 The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust. 7 When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too. 8 The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked walks into it instead. 9 With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered. 10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness. 11 By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.

Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

Proverbs 16:5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished

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

Proverbs 18:3 When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace

Proverbs 21:12 The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked; he throws the wicked down to ruin.

Proverbs 21:24 “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.

Proverbs 24:24 Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, (planned parenthood, transgender)

Proverbs 26:23-26 Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart. 24 Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; 25 when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; 26 though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

Proverbs 28:5 Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.

Proverbs 28:9 If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

Proverbs 28:15,16 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people. 16 A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor, but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.

Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

Proverbs 29:12 If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.

The links I have shared, above, point to real evidence of the wickedness of Donald Trump and shows just how untrustworthy he is on issues that are near and dear to the hearts of Christians. The Bible is far from silent regarding the qualifications of rulers and the impact a ruler will have on a nation for good or evil. If God has shared His views in great detail, throughout the pages of Scripture, with definitive statements in Proverbs, the book of Wisdom, then as Christians, we must wisely consider how a candidate measures up before we go to vote for him. If he is weighed and found wanting according to God’s Word, then we cannot vote for him in good conscience. I see many Christians acting like practical atheists when it comes to politics. Oh, we have a moral standard that we try to follow, but when we fall prey to the false dichotomy of the two party system, we forget that there is a sovereign God in heaven who has made a divine decree over all of history; God expects us to be faithful to His Word even if it’s to our own peril. When we understand we must entrust our own lives to His care, and be willing to live in such a way that might bring us persecution and even death, then we will understand that we must entrust the future of our nation to His care as well. We must vote for a Godly candidate. If we can’t find one, then we must abstain. We can’t continue to compromise and allow a political party to continue to offer someone “slightly less wicked” than the competition. God is not honored in that. We are just further endangering our descendants when we think that way. It is high time that we stop compromising our faith, in politics. We must be faithful to God on election day and trust in His sovereignty; we must pray for mercy, Revival and for Reformation in the land. Do not think you will achieve the righteousness of God by ignoring His word when you cast your ballot. Jesus would not choose the lesser of two evils and neither should you.

I wrote this awhile ago.  This started from a conversation on social media regarding women in authority in the Church.  I was sent an article that was intended to be a biblically based response to criticism of women to be in authority.  I spent a lot of time reading over the article and the Scripture references given and responding to the piece in its entirety.  As you will see, I broke up the article into bite-sized sections and then proceeded to respond to those sections.  Everything in italics is mine. I realize the italics are a bit hard to distinguish from the standard text, I apologize for that. 

I spent the day going through this article and I’ve copied it and pasted it into a document so I could break it up into sections and respond to each. I pray you will consider my thoughts and more importantly the Scriptures I share as you read through this. As I mentioned in a recent blog, we should always be willing to hold up doctrines for inspection in the light of the Scriptures. I think this is a great example and I appreciate you sharing all this information with me to consider. Everything in italics is my response.

This is exactly what I believe because it is scriptural and that is the bottom line. This is a great read. we must be careful not to twist scripture or to give it a meaning outside of its context. —-Old Testament history includes accounts of strong female leadership in many roles. The following are striking examples: Miriam was a prophet to Israel during the Exodus, alongside her brothers Moses and Aaron (Exodus 15:20).

 To start off, I want to say that of course I agree that God has and continues to use women in ministry. However, it was extremely rare occasions where He put them in authority. Miriam is a prime example of a prophetess who was used of the Lord, but clearly Moses was the one that God had put in authority. And in fact, when she thought too highly of herself (and Aaron as well) God rebuked her pretty severely. (Numbers 12:2-14)

Deborah, both a prophet and a judge, directed Barak to lead the army of Israel into successful combat against Israel’s oppressors (Judges 4 to 5).

God did use Deborah, but I would point you to Judges 4:8-9 specifically where Barak is rebuked for not being man enough to do as the Lord said, and a woman would get the glory for Sisera’s defeat.

Huldah, also a prophet, authenticated the scroll of the Law found in the temple and helped spark religious reform in the days of Josiah (2 Kings 22:14–20; 2 Chronicles 34:22–28).

Huldah was a prophetess, but Hilkiah was the priest. God used her to speak for Him, but even then she was not an authority figure. There are many prophets in the Old Testament. Many of the books of the OT were written by prophets, but there were many more who weren’t even named! Consider 1 Samuel 10:5, 1 Samuel 19:20, 2 Kings 2:3, 1 Chronicles 25:1. While some leaders were prophets, or at least prophesied, being a prophet did not automatically make one a ruler. The priests were actually the spiritual leaders, and only men could be priests. The prophets were many times, simply messengers for God. They brought the Word from the Lord, and then they left. The Word was authoritative, but the prophet themselves were just the messengers. God spoke to the people through the prophets because they did not have what we have today–the indwelling Holy Spirit AND the complete canon of the written word of God that tells us all we need to know. The early church also had prophets and prophetesses because they still lacked the authoritative word of God. In Ephesians 4:11-12, Paul mentions the different gifts given to the church for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. Some of these are positions of authority, and some are not. My focus here is not to exclude women from ministry, the Bible knows of no such thing. However, it does not permit women to be in authority over men.

The New Testament also shows that women filled important ministry roles in the Early Church. Tabitha (Dorcas) initiated an effective benevolence ministry (Acts 9:36). Philip’s four unmarried daughters were recognized prophets (Acts 21:8,9). Paul singled out two women, Euodia and Syntyche, as “women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers” (Philippians 4:2,3). Priscilla was another of Paul’s exemplary “fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (Romans 16:3,4).

We agree that women can and should be in ministry. None of these verses mention leadership or positions of authority. I realize that the idea of being a prophet or prophetess seems like one would automatically be an authority figure, but as I mentioned before, that’s not the case. As we’ve moved into the New Testament and the early church, let me point out the teaching of Paul regarding women prophesying–1 Corinthians 11:5-10. They were required to have their head covered, to show they were still under authority! Also consider Ephesians 5:22-32, with an emphasis vs 23 and 32. Paul is driving home the point that the relationship of husband and wife is to be an illustration of the relationship of Christ and the Church. Would we try to say that the Church should be over Christ? No, of course not, in the same way, women are not to be over men.

In Romans 16, Paul greets numerous ministry colleagues, a large number of them women. In these greetings, the word Paul uses to speak of the work (kopiaōo), or labor, of Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis (Romans 16:6,12) is one he uses extensively for the labor of ministry (1 Corinthians 16:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; 1 Timothy 5:17).

There is nothing in these verses that indicate or support the idea that women were put in authority over men. Women were extremely involved in ministry. And there are areas where they are called to teach and exhort–other women. Titus 2:3-4, is Paul instructing a younger pastor on some of the expectations of godly women. We started the conversation talking about Paul’s instruction to Timothy regarding women. Here’s Paul speaking to another pastor in another church about women’s roles. And of course, in Titus 1:5-6, he explains that elders are to be men. Another point to remember is the principle of sound hermeneutics. Whenever we have implicit passages, we must interpret them in light of explicit passages. Basically, we interpret the unclear in light of the clear. He mentions women as fellow laborers. He doesn’t say whether they are in leadership or not, he just says that they were ministering. Yet in 1 Timothy 2:12, he does makes a clear, unequivocal statement about women in authority. And throughout his other writings, he makes other clear statements regarding women and their requirement to be submissive. I mention some of these passages throughout this response. He never makes a clear statement permitting women in any situation to be in authority. This article references cultural expectations at times, which is actually another concept that boosts my position. There are many verses that command that men respond to women in a way that is fitting as a follower of Christ. This was a patriarchal society, and sinful man may be tempted to mistreat their wives and lord their authority over them. However, in both Ephesians and Colossians, we see a reminder to women to be submissive, and men are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. That’s quite a high standard! And yet in this patriarchal society we see nothing in regards to a clear command to men to submit to the authority of women in any form. Surely, such instruction would be needed for men, who need to be reminded to be loving to their wives!

Phoebe, a leader in the church at Cenchrea, was highly commended to the church at Rome by Paul (Romans 16:1,2). Unfortunately, translation biases have often obscured Phoebe’s position of leadership, calling her a “servant” (NIV, NASB, ESV). Yet Phoebe was diakonos of the church at Cenchrea. Paul regularly used this term for a minister or leader of a congregation and applied it specifically to Jesus Christ, Tychicus, Epaphras,Timothy, and to his own ministry. Depending on the context, diakonos is usually translated “deacon” or “minister.” Though some translators have chosen the word deaconess (e.g., RSV, because Phoebe was female), the Greek diakonos is a masculine noun. Therefore, it seems likely that diakonos was the designation for an official leadership position in the Early Church and the proper translation for Phoebe’s role is “deacon” (TNIV, NLT, NRSV) or “minister.” Moreover, a number of translations reflect similar biases by referring to Phoebe as having been a “great help” (NIV) or “helper” (NASB) of many, including Paul himself (Romans 16:2). The Greek term here is prostatis, better translated by the NRSV as “benefactor” with its overtones of equality and leadership.

Here’s an interesting point, that I need to correct what I said earlier in my initial response about elders and deacons being men. It’s true that Elders are only men. There is no Scripture referring to women as pastors /elders. However, a woman could be a deaconess. The Greek word in 1 Timothy 3:11, could be translated “women” rather than “wives”. What we need to remember, is that the biblical position of deacon was one of service, and not leadership. Originally, in Acts 6, the deacons were chosen because someone needed to wait tables so the Apostles were able to focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word. Phoebe was a deaconess, but her ministry was most likely caring for the sick, the poor, and instructing women and possibly children. This would be a huge undertaking, especially in the days of the early church which understood the importance of hospitality and community. The term Prostatis is defined by Strong’s Concordance as “a female guardian, protector, patroness”. The NAS Exhaustive Concordance defines it as “a patroness, protectress” The NASB is credited as being one of these most literal translations word for word available. A patroness, or even a benefactor, to use your word, would be someone who was a support to others. When I hear patron and benefactor, I think of monetary or material support. There is no indication…no overtones…of a leadership position that put her in authority over men in the church. It’s simply not there.

Junia was identified by Paul as an apostle (Romans 16:7). Beginning in the thirteenth century, a number of scholars and translators masculinized her name to Junias, apparently unwilling to admit that there was a female apostle. However, the name Junia is found more than 250 times in Rome alone, while the masculine form Junias is unknown in any Greco-Roman source.

Junia was very possibly a female, and if so, most likely the wife of Andronicus. Them being named together, similarly like Priscilla and Aquila, in no way gives any solid support that she (?) was a person with authority.

Paul clearly was a strong advocate of women in ministry.

Agreed! Ministry is a wide field of responsibilities, not limited to solely authoritative positions.

These instances of women filling leadership roles in the Bible should be taken as a divinely approved pattern, not as exceptions to divine decrees. Even a limited number of women with scripturally commended leadership roles affirm that God does indeed call women to spiritual leadership. A Biblical Survey of the Role of Women in Ministry Of primary importance in defining the scriptural role of women in ministry is the biblical meaning of “ministry”. Of Christ our great model, it was said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served [diakoneōo], but to serve [diakoneōo], and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45; cf. Matthew 20:28). The New Testament leadership modeled by Jesus portrays the spiritual leader as a servant, whether male or female.

I hope I have made clear that the women that were mentioned previously (with only the real exception of Deborah), were not actually in leadership positions. Yes, a leader should be a servant, but that does not make every servant a leader. And none of the Scripture used above proved that these women were in authority over men.

The question of human authority is not of primary significance, though it naturally arises as organization and structure develop. Genesis 2:18–25 Some expositors have taught that all women should be subordinate to adult men because Eve was created after Adam to be his “helper” (NIV; “help meet”, KJV). Yet the word ēezer (“helper”) is never used in the Hebrew Bible with a subordinate meaning. Seventeen out of the twenty times it is used, it refers to God as the helper. Eve was created to be a help (kenegdo) “suitable” or “corresponding to” Adam, not a subordinate.

Eve was created to be a suitable help meet to Adam. She was created for him. And she was to be submissive to him. Genesis 3:16 explains this (I go into more detail about that at the end of this article in response to the last statement.) 1 Corinthians 11:3-10 also explains it: most specifically verses 3 & 8-10. And as I mentioned, Ephesians 5:22-33 speaks of the relationship of the husband and wife as an illustration of Christ and the Church. The concept of submission is extremely biblical.

Some argue that God created men and women with different characteristics and desires, and that these differences explain why leadership roles should be withheld from women.

Men and women are created differently. They complement one another. But the answer to the question of leadership is based in Scripture and not just basic biology.

Others attribute these perceived differences to culture and social expectations imposed on children from birth to adulthood. Physical differences and distinctive biological functions are obvious; but it is only by implication that gender differences can be made to suggest leadership limitations.

Again, this is not about culture, social expectations, physical differences, or biological functions. This is about clear Scriptural Teaching regarding Leadership.

Ministry in the New Testament is charismatic in nature. It is made possible and energized as the Holy Spirit sovereignly distributes spiritual gifts (charismata) to each member of the body of Christ (Romans 12:6–8; 1 Corinthians 12:7–11,27,28; Ephesians 4:7–12; 1 Peter 4:10–11). While some gifts are a spontaneous work of the Spirit and others are recognized ministry gifts to the Body, all are given for service without regard to gender differentiation. For example, the gift of prophecy is explicitly for both men and women: “Your sons and your daughters will prophesy” (Acts 2:17). The New Testament confirms that women received and exercised this gift of the Spirit (Acts 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:5).

There is no doubt that all believers have at least one, if not more, spiritual gifts. And we are called to use those gifts to edify the body and help it to grow. However none of this supports women being in leadership, especially in light of the fact that there is clear teaching forbidding it. It’s clear that women did prophesy by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, but that does not equate to spiritual authority over the church. The only position of authority in the local church is the Elder/pastor. In 1 Timothy 3:1-7 (by the way, immediately following his forbidding women to have authority in ch 2), we see that the elder must be a man, husband of one wife (better translated as a one-woman man), and in vs 4&5 it says he must rule his own house well. This is another concept we must understand and apply to this discussion. While parents raise their children together, the condition of the family is the responsibility of the father. Looking at the Levitical law, the narrative of Proverbs, and other passages throughout the OT and the NT instructing fathers and husbands, you simply can’t escape the fact that God puts great responsibility on men. What is one class of people that God shows the deepest concern for? The fatherless and the widow! They don’t have the men in their lives and they required care and provision. So in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, when Paul says, look at their family to see if they qualify to be in leadership, he’s not simply saying man or woman, as long as they have been good parents; it’s really just further indication of what these people know to be the natural, created order. MEN are responsible for their families. If they can’t lead their household well, they should not be trusted to lead the church well. This is not just a generic use of man that could mean man or woman.

If Peter found certain statements by Paul hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16), it is no surprise that we, removed by nearly two thousand additional years of history, would share his struggle in interpreting some Pauline passages. While the original audiences were familiar with the problems that Paul addressed, we are left to reconstruct them and apply his prescriptions as best we can in light of the larger context of his letters and biblical revelation. And we, like Peter (2 Peter 3:15), must respect and love our brothers and sisters who hold alternative interpretations on issues that are not critical to our salvation or standing before God. We only request that those interpretations be expressed and practiced in love and consideration for all of God’s children, both men and women.

We should always be loving and gracious to our brethren with whom we are united in Christ. However, God either permits women to be in authority in Church or He forbids it. It’s one or the other, and it can’t be both. And while it might sound harsh, one of us is actually sinning by conducting the church in a manner that is contrary to what God intends. That is why we must contend for the truth.

First Corinthians 11:3–12 The statement that “the man is the head of the woman” has for centuries been used to justify the practice of male superiority and to exclude women from spiritual leadership.

I need to stop right here to say…shame on anyone who tries to justify male superiority. The bible doesn’t teach superiority of man over woman, but it does teach biblical roles that are specific to the genders. While there is plenty of overlap, there are distinctions. And spiritual leadership is one of them. For women to be in authority over men was viewed as a terrible thing. (Isaiah 3:12)

Two alternative translations for kephalēe (“head”), debated widely by contemporary evangelical scholars, are (1) “authority over” and (2) “source” or “origin.” Both meanings are found in literature of Paul’s time. Taking the passage as a whole, the second meaning fits as well as or better than the first meaning, leading to the summary statement of verse 12: “As woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.” Even the relationship between the eternal Son and the Father—”the head of Christ is God” (11:3)—fits better as “source” than “authority over” (cf. John 8:42).

This is actually one of the most dangerous comments in this article. The concept of God being the source of Christ rather than the authority over Christ is actually an unorthodox and heretical teaching that some have used to try to say the Christ is actually a “created being” and not part of the eternal Godhead. The connection they try to make between 1Corinthians 11:3 and John 8:42 is not there and that is terrible and dangerous hermeneutics. God identifies Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for our sakes. They are of the same essence, but with distinct roles. Jesus willingly submitted to the Will of the Father for our benefit and for His glory. If Jesus refers to God the Father as the authority, we should not seek to redefine terms in a manner we find more suitable.

We don’t need vs 3 to mean the same thing as vs12. They don’t. The point is that men are in authority, but in vs12, men are reminded that while woman came from man, man is born of woman, and we all come from God. We have different roles but one is not less important than another.

Without attempting definitively to resolve this debate, we do not find sufficient evidence in kephalēe to deny leadership roles to women (in light of biblical examples of women in positions of spiritual authority, and in light of the whole counsel of Scripture).

As I mentioned before, this debate needs to be resolved because we are either permitting or forbidding something that is contrary to the will of God. Also, their examples (with one exception) were not actually examples of women in positions of spiritual authority–they were simply women who were in ministry, and ministry is simply not limited to leadership positions.

First Corinthians 14:34–36 There are only two passages in the entire New Testament that might seem to contain a prohibition against the ministry of women (1 Corinthians 14:34 and 1 Timothy 2:12). Since these must be placed alongside Paul’s other statements and practices, they can hardly be absolute, unequivocal prohibitions of the ministry of women.

Might seem to contain a prohibition against the ministry of women? I must sound like a broken record at this point, but we should not equate ministry with leadership. Leadership is one form of ministry, but there are many others. The position of deacon is one prime example of a crucial ministry that is one of service. The position is one of responsibility that represents the Church and they had to be spiritually mature and an example to the congregation. This does not indicate that women are ever expected to be in authority over men, especially in the area of teaching. These two passages are extremely enlightening regarding clear commands as to what is proper in the context of the church. Consider the context of these passages. 1 Corinthians 14:36-37, challenges those who would take issue with vs 34. In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul actually contradicts every piece of evidence that was offered in this article that suggested that those women in ministry with him were teaching and in authority over men! He says, ‘And I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.’ He’s not saying, Timothy, you should not permit those particular women in your congregation who are teaching wrongly to not be allowed to teach anymore. He is saying in no uncertain terms that he does not permit women teaching men! That is his practice and he appeals to the created order and the fall of man (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he is writing) to explain why it must be so. If he says he doesn’t permit it and yet he mentions all these fellow workers in the ministry, it must be clear that these women who were involved in ministry were not in leadership roles over men. Otherwise he is contradicting himself and the Word of God. Now, the article says we need to consider these two passages in light of other statements and practices of Paul. I agree. Colossians 3:18 tells wives to submit to their husbands. Ephesians 5:22-24 says this, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands in everything.” That’s a pretty clear statement regarding submission and authority. Women are called to submit to their husbands. Men are called to love their lives as Christ loved the Church. This is consistent with what we see taught in 1 Corinthians 11:3. When we speak about headship, it’s about authority and submission and not “source” as was suggested. And as I mentioned in my earlier response on Facebook, authority and submission is in no way an implication of second class citizenship or inequality. God compares Man and Woman to God the Father and God the Son. Do we think less of Jesus Christ? Of course not, nor should we think less of woman for having a different role than man. So, considering these verses, it would be a very unnatural for a woman to be teaching and in authority over a congregation considering her husband would be expected to be in audience and now the roles are reversed in opposition to the clear teaching of the text.

Instead, they seem to be dealing with specific, local problems that needed correction. Therefore, Paul’s consistent affirmation of ministering women among his churches must be seen as his true perspective, rather than the apparent prohibitions of these two passages, themselves subject to conflicting interpretation.

There is a possibility that there might have been local problems that needed correction. Indeed, what church doesn’t have problems? However, his teaching is in the form of general principles grounded in the created order and not specific solutions for one specific congregation. There is no warrant to make the assumption that these commands are not applicable to the church at large. And again, his consistent affirmation of ministering women among the churches in no way suggests that these were positions of authority over men. Sound hermeneutics require that we interpret implicit passages in light of explicit passages.

There are various interpretations of what Paul was limiting when he said, “women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak” (1 Corinthians 14:34). Paul uses a word to limit the speech of women (sigatōo) that previously has been used to limit the speech of those speaking in tongues if there is no interpretation (1 Corinthians 14:28) and prophets if a prophecy is given to another person (v. 30). It is only under such specific circumstances that the speech of tongues speakers, prophets, and women are to be silenced in the church. Under what circumstances then, is the speech of women to be limited? Options include (1) chatter in public services, (2) ecstatic disruptions, (3) certain authoritative ministries (such as judging prophecies), and (4) asking questions during the service. It is apparent that Paul permitted women both to pray and prophesy in public worship at Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:5). Moreover, Paul advised that those who prophesy (evidently including women) should be among the ones to judge prophecies (1 Corinthians 14:29). Therefore, as with Paul’s constraints on both men and women tongues speakers and prophets, it may be that Paul’s additional constraints on women have to do with other forms of disruptive speech.

The word silent in 1 Cor. 14:34 would probably be better translated as subdued. 1 Corinthians 11:5 acknowledges women praying and prophesying, albeit with a covering on their head to show that they are under authority. As I look over all these passages again and again going through this article and considering it and considering my responses, it’s helping me to see things a bit more clearly myself. I would say 14:34, is more about women being out of order than about having authority. But that doesn’t negate the fact that they are still not permitted to be in authority. The rest of the Scriptures, by pattern and command make that really clear. The main pitfall of this article has been to equate ministry with leadership and that simply is not the case.

While the precise nature of Paul’s prohibition in this text is a matter of ongoing study, we do conclude that it does not prohibit female leadership, but like the rest of the chapter, it admonishes that “everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14:40). First Timothy 2:11–15 The meaning and application of Paul’s statement, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent” (1 Timothy 2:12), have puzzled interpreters and resulted in a variety of positions on the role of women in ministry and spiritual leadership. From the above survey of passages on exemplary women in ministry, it is clear that Paul recognized the ministry of women. There were obvious problems in Ephesus, some relating to women. Some women were evidently given to immodest apparel and adornment (1 Timothy 2:9). The younger widows were “into the habit of being idle . . . And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to” (1 Timothy 5:13). In his second letter to Timothy, Paul warned against depraved persons (possibly including women) who manipulated “weak-willed,” or “gullible,” women (2 Timothy 3:6). A reading of the entire passage of 1 Timothy 2:9–15 strongly suggests that Paul was giving Timothy advice about dealing with some heretical teachings and practices specifically involving women in the church at Ephesus. The heresy may have been so serious that he had to say about the Ephesian women, “I am not allowing women to teach or have authority over a man.”

This last line about heresy as a possible explanation to Paul’s prohibition to women having authority over man is simply wrong. The reason for his prohibition is found in verses 13-14 of 1 Timothy 2. Paul has no problem calling out false teachers by name and telling people to avoid them. He even does this in the previous chapter (1 Timothy 1:18).

Other passages show that such exclusion was not normative in Paul’s ministry.

They were not able to prove this. I am forced to disagree.

First Timothy 3:1–13 This entire passage has been held by some to confirm that all leaders and authorities in the Early Church were supposed to be males. The passage deals primarily with male leadership, most likely because of majority practice and expectations.

Most likely because of majority practice and expectations? No, but rather the created order of Man being formed first and being the head over the wife. This is evident throughout the world as the natural order of things that come from the biblical account of creation and Scripture’s constant patterns and teachings. I also mentioned earlier that considering practice and expectations due to the culture, if God really wanted women to be in authority in the church, He would have had to make an explicit command allowing it, because such a concept would have been so foreign. The silence on this is deafening.

But there is also significant support for female leadership. Typical of modern English versions, the New International Version translates verse 11, “In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect”. The NIV translators arbitrarily decided that the verse refers to the wives of deacons (even though there is no reference in the preceding qualifications of elders to their wives). However, the word translated “wives” is the plural of the Greek word gynēe which can be translated as either “woman” or “wife” depending on the context. Recognizing this, the NIV translators did include the word “deaconesses” as an alternate reading in their footnotes. But the NASB and the NRSV render the plural form of gynēe as “women.” Thus, literally, the verse is addressing the qualifications of women in spiritual leadership who, in this context, might easily be called “deacons.”

I spoke about this earlier, in response to the section about Phoebe. I agree with the statement women could be deaconesses. However, that was a role of service primarily and not authority. A deacon would be responsible over the affairs of the church, so that the apostles and later elders would be able to focus on teaching. This is not to say that deacons never taught, but within the purview of their roles. Women would not be instructing men. It was forbidden by Scripture, but also known by the culture (and keep in mind, it was a culture that God had established.)

Although the first-century cultural milieu produced a primarily male church leadership, this passage along with other biblical evidence of female spiritual leadership (e.g., Acts 21:9; Romans 16:1–15 ; Philippians 4:2,3) demonstrates that female leadership was not prohibited, either for Paul’s day or for today. Passages that imply most leaders were male may not be taken to say that all leaders were male, since the biblical record speaks approvingly of numerous female leaders.

These passages are not evidence of female spiritual leadership. Ministry, yes. Leadership, no.

Galatians 3:28 Those who oppose allowing women to hold positions of spiritual leadership place contextual limitations on Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Some interpreters restrict the meaning of this triad to salvation by faith or oneness in Christ. That truth is certainly articulated throughout Scripture. Yet the verse carries a ring of universal application for all our relationships, not just an assurance that anyone can come to Christ. “Neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female”—these are basic relationship principles to which faithful followers of Christ must give highest priority.

Contextual Limitations. They say that like it’s a bad thing. It’s not. Sound hermeneutical principles require holding fast to context. A ring of universal application? We are no longer holding to the confines of our basic roles? I feel bad for the slave who attempts to walk away from his job, because he thinks he has the same rights as the free man. That doesn’t work. That verse is about the glory of our equality in salvation, not about throwing off the constraints of the created order.

The God of the Bible “does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11; cf. also 2 Samuel 14:14; 2 Chronicles 19:7; Acts 10:34; Ephesians 6:9). He calls whom He will and gives gifts and ministries as He chooses; humans must not put limitations on divine prerogatives.

I read all these verses, although I couldn’t make heads or tails of the 2 Samuel reference. The rest are talking about God’s justice and salvation. Apparently, once they criticized “contextual limitations”, they felt free to completely release themselves from such requirements. The context of those verses doesn’t apply to this topic at all. The Bible is not a book with a bunch of magic words that people can just grab a few and claim it supports whatever they want it to.

He does call whom He wills and gives gifts as He chooses, but He does not contradict Himself. The ultimate authority we have is His Word. The Holy Spirit Himself directed men to write the very words we find in Scripture. He will not act within the church in a way that is contrary to what He commands in the Bible. We must rely on sound hermeneutics to interpret Scripture because if the Bible can mean anything, then it really means nothing.

The strained relationship between Adam and Eve, including the statement that “he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16), comes as a result of the curse, making it clear that this was not a part of God’s original and durable design for humankind. In Christ we are truly set free from sin and its curse, which separate us from God and each other and cause us to elevate or demean according to race, social standing, or gender.

The strained relationship is not over the fact that Adam will rule over Eve. The strained relationship is that Eve will actually want to rule over him, but God will not permit it. It is Eve’s sinful attitude that is the result of the curse. Consider the fact that God also tells her that she will have great pain in childbirth. That is a result of the curse. By the logic of this last statement, if we are free from the curse (and man will no longer be in authority over woman) than Christian women ought not to have any pain during childbirth! We know that is not the case. This argument doesn’t work. 　

I spent the day considering your reasoning for supporting women being in authority in the Church. I have read every line and read every verse (multiple times) and I have to tell you, that the evidence does not hold up. The clear pattern and teaching of all Scripture is that men are to be in authority and women are not. This does not make men better than women. They just have different roles. Another major problem that I’ve mentioned numerous times is the fact that this article constantly equates ministry with leadership. This misconception is a big problem in the Church today in general. People think that “ministry” is a higher calling, and yet we are all called to ministry. We are called to share the Gospel and to disciple new converts so that they are able to not only conduct themselves properly within the church, but also in their roles as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, and children. Also in the roles of servants and masters or employees and employers. New converts should be discipled so they can grow in this knowledge and so that they may also share the Gospel and disciple new converts. Much of the ministry of the Church is done outside of a building for meeting. It’s in the everyday lives of the believers. This idea is lost among many churches, and it needs to be reclaimed. There is plenty of work for men and women to do that doesn’t include teaching from the pulpit and exercising authority in that way and in the administering of church discipline. We should direct men and women to understand their God-ordained roles and to live them out. This is church life. I appreciate you sharing this article with me, and I hope that you will prayerfully consider my responses and especially the context of the Scriptures that we both have shared. I hope we can discuss this some more, when you’ve had a chance to go through it all. God Bless.

In light of the recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States, many Christians are up in arms over the ungodliness of the nations. Many, but not all. I am not surprised when I see unbelievers celebrating the legalization of gay “marriage”, but I’m very surprised when I see professing Christians showing support for something so clearly unbiblical. And unfortunately the blame for this, in large part, sits on the shoulders of the Church.

The Church is supposed to be salt and light in the world. It is supposed to be discipling the nations, teaching them all that Jesus has commanded. And yet, in large part, we have neglected to do that which is our duty before God. Abortion on demand, the slaughter of millions of babies over four decades is only a passion for some. We shrug our shoulders at the rampant divorce within the walls of our churches between professing Christians. We pretend we don’t see professing Christian couples living together outside the confines of marriage. We view the oppression of the poor and the immigrant through the filter of Fox News, rather than God’s Word. We expect the government to figure out and cure the ills of society rather than looking to the Church to lead the way to change by applying biblical principles through the power of the Gospel. I have been guilty of all of this myself.

Many in the Church pride themselves on teaching the “whole counsel of God”, but they really don’t. The fact that so many “Christians” are on the wrong side of this gay “marriage” argument shows that many churches have failed to teach the basics of what sin even is and have failed to effectively preach the power of the Gospel to deliver people from sin. Today we see many redefining sin to not be sin at all. Many in the Church today have allowed the world to define what love is, rather than follow what the Bible defines love as.

In having discussions with people on this topic, I see the impact of the Church failing to teach the whole counsel of God. Most churches are silent about the corrupting influence of government schools that takes our children for twelve of their most vulnerable and formative years. Those schools take the time to indoctrinate them in atheistic secular humanism. They teach them all they “need to know” in twelve years without ever giving God the glory He deserves, effectively teaching that He is unnecessary in our scope of knowledge. They teach that the highest virtue is tolerance and accepting everyone for who they are. The problem is that this virtue that has become so ingrained is opposed to the Gospel. Because God does not accept everybody. The Gospel is exclusive, in that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father, except through Him. Jesus all says that All Authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Him, and it is by that authority that we are to disciple the nations, teaching what He has commanded. And He has not commanded tolerance as the highest virtue, but rather love through obedience.

The Church also has failed to teach the whole counsel of God by ignoring the Old Testament to such an extent that younger believers (and perhaps older ones as well) think that the Law given to ancient Israel is either cruel and inhumane OR (apart from the abrogated ceremonial laws and some specific to that particular real estate) not applicable as a Good and Just standard by which to govern nations today (but consider Deut. 4:5-8). Indeed many think that the OT represents either an entirely different God from that of the New Testament or that God somehow changed and became more gracious in the NT. Some see the OT as all Law and the NT as all grace, and fail to realize that Law & Grace go hand in hand in both the OT and the NT. Sadly when push comes to shove, due the lack of teaching about the goodness of God’s Law in the OT, especially in regards to what seem to be very difficult passages, many believers are very dismissive of God’s Law and the OT. What they fail to realize is when they dismiss any part of God’s Word, they have unwittingly destroyed the foundation that allows them to stand with certainty on any issue pertaining to God and His standards for life and godliness. Because if one part of God’s Word could be wrong, all of God’s Word could be wrong.

As a Church, we have failed to be salt and light to our nation. We have failed to uphold God’s standards in our families, in our churches, and in the public square. And today we are seeing more clearly that we are reaping what we have sown. Our nation is mired in sin. We exemplify that which Paul talks about in Romans 1:18-32 and in 2 Timothy 3:2-5. There are only two options available to us. We must have Revival and Reformation or we will face Judgment. Indeed, the signs of Judgment are already upon us. However, while there is still hope, we, as the Church must repent, ask for forgiveness and pray God would stay His hand. And we must preach the Gospel, preaching the Truth in Love, and return to biblical living. We must preach the whole counsel of God and reexamine our lives in light of it. God has much to say regarding the roles of men and women that has been ignored. God has much to say about the education of our children that has been ignored. God has much to say regarding how a church conducts itself that has been ignored. God has much to say about how society conducts itself that has been ignored. We must return to Scripture. Isaiah 8:8 says, ‘To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.’ 2 Peter 1:3 tells us, ‘as His divine power has given to us all thing that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue’. And 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us that, ‘ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ We must return to Scripture, all of Scripture. May God have mercy on us and be with us as we seek to follow Him in all His ways.

This blog is based on my notes for a talk I gave recently. The outline including Scripture was my springboard for the talk, the italicized portion is the essence of my commentary, although it has been somewhat tailored to include recent conversations.

The Importance of a Christ-centered Education

I Introduction–“Rational Wiki” and the False Dicotomy

I had been involved in a few conversations awhile ago where the phrase “false dichotomy” kept coming up. In my desire to get better acquainted with the term, I used that wonderful resource, Google. I came across Rational Wiki, which appears to be the atheist version of Wikipedia. The following excerpt was what I found there:

A false dilemma, or false dichotomy, is a logical fallacy which involves presenting two opposing views, options or outcomes in such a way that they seem to be the only possibilities: that is, if one is true, the other must be false, or, more typically, if you do not accept one then the other must be accepted. The reality in most cases is that there are many in-between or other alternative options, not just two mutually exclusive ones.
“America — Love It Or Leave It” is a popular false dilemma. The dilemma suggests that a “true patriot” must embrace everything ever done by America, or become un-American. However, since America as a nation was founded on the concept of respectful political dissent, one must doubt the premise of this false dilemma very seriously.
President George W. Bush stated, in a speech about the War on Terror, that “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”[3] Nonsense. Believing that some measures taken by the Dubya (or Obama, or any other) government were unnecessary, excessive or morally suspect obviously doesn’t entail a murderous disregard for human life — quite the opposite, in many cases.
A false dichotomy similar to the last two surrounds discussions about Israel. One example of this is how some persons insist that being critical of the state of Israel or Israeli policies amounts to a) anti-Zionism and b) anti-Semitism. Another example is how persons both on the “pro-Palestinian side” and the “pro-Israeli side” claim that you cannot both support Israel’s right to exist and Israel’s right to self-defense and also support an independent Palestine.[4]
And lest we forget, Matthew 12:30-33. (For the Biblically challenged, it starts with “He that is not with me is against me” and continues in the same direction.)
“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”
WAIT–WHAT?! While we can be guilty of presenting false dichotomies, God cannot! If God says you are either with Him or against Him, then truly, we are either with Him or against Him. As Christians we must understand there is NO Neutrality when it comes to God.

II Education is Not Neutral

I would further submit to you that according to Scripture, education is not neutral either.

A) It is Either for God:

Proverbs 1:7, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

B) Or it is Against God:

Psalm 14:1-3 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There none who does good, No, not one.

Romans 1:18-32

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Romans 1 gives us a portrait of our society today. And what we must notice is that verse 18 tells us how it begins…by suppressing the truth of God, even to the point of denying His existence. And yet Scripture tells us that “In Him, we live and move and have our being(Acts 17:28)”! To address any area of knowledge without acknowledging God as the foundation for all we can know is to sinfully rob God of His glory. For years now, the Government schools that have “educated” the vast majority of Americans, have done so by imparting knowledge that has no foundation in the Lord. Not one day in those twelve years, not one hour in those 14,000 hours, is God given the glory. The impact on a society that is indoctrinated in an atheistic worldview can be seen everywhere we look today. We’ve suppressed the truth in ourselves and in how we raise up the next generation. And in America today, we are reaping what we’ve sown.

III Educational Environment is Not Neutral

In the same vein of there being no neutrality with God, we must realize that not only is education not neutral, neither is the educational environment.

A) The Culture We Are Immersed in is Either For God:
Prov. 13:20 He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the
companion of fools will be destroyed.

B) Or Against God:
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of
the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
1 Cor. 15:33 Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good
habits.’
2 Cor. 6:14-18 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

We are unequally yoked in the sense that we are sharing in the enterprise of educating our children with those who do not love God or seek to glorify Him in all that they do. We are putting our children under the authority of a godless system and allowing them unfettered access to our children for 12 years of their life. Let us not be under any misconceptions…when we do that, we are yoked to that system whether we like it or not. And as I’ve pointed out with Scripture already, any education that denies the Lord and seeks to impart knowledge that does not find its foundation in God and His Word, is Evil according to Scripture. Truly, anything done that is done apart from God is evil. Whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23), even the plowing of the wicked is sin (Prov. 21:4)!
In addition to the system that is made up of a godless curriculum and a teaching staff that is instructed to teach “values” without a biblical foundation and often times can even be opposed to biblical values; there is also the fact that we are plunging our children into a subculture of unsaved youth. For most of their waking day, they are surrounded by unbelievers acting like unbelievers. I’ve shared just a few of the verses that clearly show that the Bible warns us against such companionship. It is one thing for us as adults to have to deal with unbelievers, it’s something else entirely for our impressionable children to have to be not only surrounded by godless companions, with no one to give them proper guidance in those situations, but also to be under the authority of godless educators as well!

IV Scriptural Obligations Regarding Education

So if Scripture declares with absolute certainty that there is no neutrality with God, and that extends even into the realm of education, then the next question should be, what does the Scripture teach us about how we should educate our children? I’m glad you asked! First:

A) Do No Harm
Eph. 6:4a: fathers, do not exasperate your children!
Matt 18:6 Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
1 Cor. 8:12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against
Christ.
Col. 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and
empty deceit, according to the tradition of men,
according to the basic principles of the world, and
not according to Christ.

Some might be curious about my use of 1 Cor. 8:12 considering the context of that verse. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with education, but I believe there is most certainly a secondary application here. The idea of causing someone to sin, to betray their conscience, could definitely have application to a child who is still being trained to understand good and evil, but is under enormous pressure to conform to the actions and values of the godless. To cause them to fall into sin is considered a sin against Christ and ties together with Matt 18:6 very easily. Colossians 2:8 can certainly apply to more than just false teachers in the church, it’s quite an apt description of the indoctrination offered in the government schools.
And to comment on the first half of Ephesians 6:4, that instruction has broad application as do the other verses. For the purpose of this talk, I would suggest that having our children simultaneously instructed in two opposing worldviews would be extremely exasperating. Or worse, to allow the government schools to be the only one informing their worldview, yet expect them to follow our (hopefully biblical) worldview that we aren’t even properly informing them of. That would certainly provoke our children. I think we are seeing the fruit of that as many young people are leaving behind the beliefs and values of their parents and are following with more consistency that which was instilled in them with far more time and effort by the government schools.
The Bible is clear, we must do no harm to our children as we raise them up and educate them. To lead them astray or to allow them to be lead astray is a sin against Christ! Rather we should train them in a manner that is glorifying to God. How?

B) Instruct them Early and Continually
Gen. 18:19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”
Deut. 4:9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
Deut. 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (and Deut 11:19 says it again)
Prov. 4:1-4 Hear, my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding;
For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live.
Eph. 6:4b bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Psalm 78: 1-7
Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;

These verses are just a sampling of so many that clearly indicate that we ought to be instructing our children very purposefully. We should be teaching them about the Lord very early on and on a continual basis. That instruction should encompass all areas of life, both in academic subjects and everyday life situations. God has condescended to make Himself known to us by speaking to us through the prophets and then finally through His Son who lived and died and rose again for our redemption. We live only because Christ has redeemed us. For this fact alone, we must live to glorify Christ in all that we do and say. How else can we best do this except to have all our knowledge grounded in the firm foundation of God’s Word? What we teach our children, we want them to teach their children after them. We are commanded by God to bring our children up in the training and admonition of the Lord. And we can do that by building on the sure foundation of His Word. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:3)

V Conclusion

How we educate our children is not neutral. To say that education is either for God, or against God is not a false dichotomy. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. How do we know that? We were taught it. Not in a government school though.
Many of us should understand this already. I hope this has been an encouragement and I hope that we would share this truth with others when opportunities present themselves. I also hope that we will help our fellow believers overcome obstacles preventing them from giving their children a Christ-centered education.
As our society grows more corrupt, it’s important to realize how many of these problems have not only originated from an atheistic indoctrination in the government schools, but then it filters back into those schools, making the educational offering there even more evil than we remember it being in our own childhood. It’s an ugly cycle, and if we want to break it we need to find alternatives. Homeschooling has been a tremendous blessing for many, filled with countless benefits. Unfortunately, not everyone’s circumstances allow them to have that opportunity. There are Christian schools out there, but there are some issues there as well. The cost is often prohibitive. Some schools are using state provided curriculum which is a shame when so much good curriculum is available these days. Also there isn’t enough parental involvement and ownership. This can effect accountability and difficulty dealing with children who can be a corrupting influence to their peers. Smaller, family-run schools out of local congregations could help to alleviate many of those issues and have everyone on the same page and active in the process. However, in order for the Church to begin supporting one another in this goal, we first need to see education the way God sees it.
Children grounded in truth from an early age and raised to have a biblical worldview as opposed to a secular humanistic worldview or some combination thereof, will have a much greater potential to understand and effectively impact the culture around them for the sake of the Gospel. As a Church (universal–and local) we need to see the importance of education and understand it is not neutral. And then we must educate our children in a manner that glorifies our God.

What Should the Church be Doing?

In my last blog, I discussed briefly what the Church is. While that description was somewhat limited and there is a tremendous amount more that can be said on the subject, I hope the main point got across. Namely that WE are THE CHURCH. The truly saved can’t leave the Church because they are saved into it. THE Church is the body and bride of Christ. We can sinfully forsake the assembling of ourselves, but we can’t actually leave. That’s not to say that some local assemblies shouldn’t be deserted if they are not being faithful to Christ, but then it’s up to a believer to find one that is, or if there are none close, find the closest there is and request their help in starting a church plant in your area.

That brings up the next question. What are the marks of a faithful church? What is it exactly that a church should be doing? In his Systematic Theology, (p. 576) Louis Berkhof explains there is some disagreement over the number of marks. Some hold to simply the faithful preaching of the Word. Some also add the administration of the Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper). Still others add a third, namely the practice of Church Discipline. He points to Article 29 of the Belgic Confession as an example of this last group. ( https://www.rca.org/resources/belgic-confession-article-29-marks-true-church )

It is these three marks that I believe provide the Biblical framework of a true and healthy church.

The preaching of the Word is, of course, foundational. In Matthew 16:15-20, we see Jesus asking the disciples who do they say He is. When Peter responds that He is the Christ, Jesus tells him he is blessed because the Father has revealed this truth to him and then goes on to say that on this Truth, He will build HIS Church. And He also says that those in the Church will have the keys to the kingdom of heaven, but we will touch on that later. Later, in Matthew 28, we receive the Great Commission: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ We, the Church, are called to make disciples. Not merely converts, but we must teach them to observe all that Christ commanded. What did He command? Jesus commanded us to Repent (Matt. 4:17). To Repent is to change our mind, and therefore our behavior. He is commanding us to change our sinful ways and to follow and obey Him. How can we repent? Because of the Gospel (the good news). What is the Gospel? 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 gives it to us in a nutshell. Our salvation comes from the Holy Spirit regenerating us so we are able to believe the Gospel and our sanctification comes from the Holy Spirit working in us as we seek to apply the whole of Scripture that fleshes out Jesus’ call to repentance.

So, how do we make disciples? First and foremost by preaching the Word that contains these foundational truths (1 Tim. 4:2). I think everyone would agree that the Church is called to preach the Word. That’s pretty obvious. The next two should be obvious as well, because not only does Christ command it, we find it taught on in the epistles as well.

The second mark of the Church is the administration of the Sacraments (or Ordinances). The only Sacraments given to us by Christ and therefore required to be observed are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Jesus was baptized in order to identify Himself with the sinners for whom He came to die for. And then in the Great Commission, He clearly commands us to baptize new disciples. We see the Apostles obeying this throughout the book of Acts, starting in Acts 2:38 when Peter tells those who believed his gospel message that they must repent and be baptized. References to baptism are found throughout the epistles, ie. Romans 6:3-4, 1 Cor. 12:13, Gal. 3:27-28.

The second Sacrament or Ordinance given to us by Christ was the Lord’s Supper. We see this described in Matt. 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22. In Luke 22:19 He tells them to do this in remembrance of Him. In 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, the Apostle Paul gives a great deal of instruction on how we ought to conduct ourselves when coming to share in the Lord’s Supper. For the purpose of this article, I will highlight verse 26: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” This is an ordinance that is to be observed regularly until Christ returns. It should be clear from the Scriptures that Christ commands us to be baptized and to observe the Lord’s Supper. These are part and parcel of Church life. The true Church will not neglect these practices anymore than they would neglect the faithful preaching of the Word.

Now we come to the final, and sadly often neglected, aspect of Church life. That is the exercise of Church discipline. Remember, back in Matt. 16:19, Jesus tells us, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” What is He talking about? The answer is authority. What kind of authority? The authority to preach repentance and to be in authority over those who belong to the kingdom of heaven. Before giving the great commission, Jesus tells the disciples in Matt. 28:18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” And then He tells them Go therefore and make disciples….teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. He has all authority and in light of that we are to go out and make disciples of all the nations. How does the Church have authority over those in the kingdom? The keys to the kingdom that Christ references in Matt 16, He mentions again in Matt 18 in the context of Church discipline. It must be understood that the goal of Church discipline is repentance and restoration. There are times where discipline is unnecessary. 1 Peter 4:8 tells us that love will cover a multitude of sins. We should overlook certain failings at times, understanding that we are all in the process of sanctification and will fail at times. It will take wisdom to realize when is it proper to correct a brother or sister in the Lord. However, Christ clearly indicates that Church discipline will be necessary and He clearly shows us that He gives us the authority and the grace to properly administer such discipline. Let us look at Matt 18:15-20:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Here Jesus gives us clear directions on how to handle a brother who is in sin. The first step is to go to him privately. If he repents, you have gained your brother. If not, take one or two more and have them hear the case between the two of you. If they find him/her to be at fault, and he refuses to repent, then bring the matter to the church. Be aware that this process is meant to be as confidential as possible and if followed faithfully would eliminate gossip and enable that brother to be restored quickly. If he refuses to repent, then the matter should be brought to the church. Most practically, it would help to bring the matter to the Pastors/Elders who represent the body and as Hebrews 10:17 indicates rule over us as they are charged with watching out for our souls as those who must give account. ( as a side note…that fact that Scripture teaches that Pastor/Elders must watch over our souls, indicates that our souls need to be watched out for..more evidence that we ought to belong to a local assembly!) If the brother refuses to repent even then, then Jesus is clear, let that man be as heathen and a tax collector, in other words, as one who is unsaved and in need of repentance. No longer to be treated as a member of the Church. This is excommunication. And then Jesus repeats what He says in Matt 16: “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Christ is giving authority to the Church to determine who is permitted to be part of the Church and who is to be disqualified, based upon true Scriptural principles. This is an incredibly serious responsibility! He then says if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them, and where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there in the midst of them. In the context of passage, we see Christ promising special grace given when tackling the difficult subject of Church discipline. And it should be noted that Matt 18:21-35, Jesus gives instruction on the subject of forgiveness. Remember, the purpose of Church discipline is to bring about repentance and restoration. We should look forward to forgiving those who turn from their sins. After this important teaching by Christ, we see a rather extreme example that is spoken about in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. The Apostle Paul has to rebuke the church to follow through on their responsibility to exercise discipline against the man who is in sin. Later, in his second letter to them, he follows up on how they are to treat the man who has finally repented (2 Cor. 2:3-11). We are admonished several times in Scripture to correct and/or practice church discipline. A few examples are Gal. 6:1, 2 Thess. 3:6, 14, and 1 Tim 5:20 (be sure to read that one!). Indeed one of the purposes of Scripture according to 2 Tim. 3:16 is reproof and correction.

Scripture speaks with clarity on the issue of church discipline and yet this mark of the true church is the one that is most often neglected. And it has been to our own peril. Christ warned that there would be tares among the wheat. Paul warned of savage wolves that would arise from the flock and seek to carry people away. Indeed Peter, John, and Jude all warn against corruption and false teachers. We are responsible before the Lord to stand for truth and call all to repentance, but with special authority to judge those who claim to be part of the Church. Neglecting to do this has allowed the Church to fall into disrepute as many who claim Christ show no fruit of repentance and so slander His Name.

When local churches are not marked by these three essential aspects, they are failing to be true to their calling and they are in danger of Christ removing their lampstand, as He warned some of those churches in the opening chapters of Revelation. They must consider their ways and repent.

The Church must follow Scriptural principles in regard to preaching the Gospel, both in faithfully preaching repentance and in regards to the means of progressing in sanctification. The subject of some practical applications of what I’ve discussed here is one I’m chomping at the bit to discuss, but will have to be subject of the next blog. I hope this has helped us to realize the marks and obligations of the true church and consider how we stand in light of what God’s Word teaches.

There seems to be an increasing number of articles talking about people leaving the church or leaving the faith. Most of these articles attempt to explain the different reasons for this exodus. Some try to offer ways to reverse course and either bring people back or at least prevent more from leaving. When I read these articles I do see that some of the criticism is valid and there are certainly issues that need to be addressed. However, out of the articles I’ve read, all of them seem to be missing the biggest issue of all. That issue is the understanding of what the Church actually is.
The Church is known as the Bride of Christ and also as the Body of Christ. Which is it? Both. The Bible uses the marriage relationship to explain this. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become on flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.–Eph. 5:31-32.
There has been so much talk about Jesus Christ being our “personal” Lord and Savior, that the true doctrine of the Church has been either misunderstood or lost altogether for many Christians. The Greek word that is translated as “church” in the Bible is ekklesia. This word is made up of a prefix and a root. The prefix is ek or ex, which means “out of ” or “from.” The root word is a form of the verb kaleo, which means “to call.” Thus, ekklesia means “those who are the called-out ones.” (This explanation is found in an article by R.C. Sproul. That article can be found here: http://theaquilareport.com/ekklesia-the-called-out-ones/ )
The Church is made up of those who have been called out. We are saved as individuals, yes, but we immediately become part of the Body of Christ. And as such, we have responsibilities towards the rest of the Body. Consider the exhortation found in Hebrews 10:24-25: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” We are the Church and for us to “leave” the Church puts us in sin. I say “leave”, because the reality is, if you are truly redeemed, you can’t leave the body. All you can do is forsake the assembling of yourselves. Which puts us in opposition to God even more so than the Church.
As I mentioned before, the true doctrine of the Church seems to have been lost in the idea of having a “personal” Savior in Jesus. The tragedy of that is that the term “Personal Savior” is found nowhere in Scripture. And while there are lots of valid theological terms used today that aren’t actually used in the Bible, the concept of “Personal” the way many perceive it, actually stands in contradiction to the vast and overwhelming teaching regarding us being united in One Body. For example: Eph. 4:4-6: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”, not to mention the explanation about unity in our diversity found in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, and the instructions given to Timothy with the reason clearly stated in 1 Timothy 3:14-15: “These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God ,which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
These passages just scratch the surface. The church belongs to God (Matt 16:18) and WE are the Church. If we belong to God, we belong to the Church.
The purpose of this blog was to clarify the identity of the Church. The articles I’ve read have had the tendency to speak of the Church as an institution that people regard as something where you can take it or leave it. That somehow it’s a separate entity from individual Christians. The idea that the Church is regulated to the physical meeting places and the leadership found there, is one not found in Scripture. Unfortunately, the leadership–the Elders–the Shepherds, have in many cases failed to either understand or at the very least, communicate this truth to the flock. The predominant view of a “personal Savior” has led to a very self-oriented view of faith, theology, and the church. And that is a fundamental error that has begotten other errors that have helped lead to the predicament we see today.
While this blog is by no means exhaustive study of the identity of the Church, I hope it has helped to jog our thinking regarding who we are in the Church and now how should we conduct ourselves in light of this. My next blog will be on the subject of what exactly is the Church supposed to be doing.

Why am I blogging? What am I hoping to accomplish by adding another voice to the millions or billions of others that make up the cacophony that is the internet? Well, I have many views that are biblically based and yet not commonly practiced anymore; and so I like to use the internet as a way of reaching people who have different views than I do and engaging them, without forcing myself on them. I post on Facebook, and I use this blog to share these views and if it interests you, you can read it and discuss it with me, and if it doesn’t, then you can keep scrolling. Dialogue is important and it’s the only way to come to a consensus where there is division. The purpose of this particular blog is to address some concerns that people have shared with me about the types of things I am posting.
For starters, some people don’t understand the terms I’m using. I can appreciate that, and I will try to be clearer in the future. Please feel free to ask me to define my terms or you could also “google” them. Some of the terms I use these days were very new to me at one point, and I had to look them up just to figure out what people were talking about. Fortunately, with the technology at our fingertips today, it’s so easy to educate ourselves. We really are blessed with tremendous resources that are no further away than our computers or even our phones!
Another issue that seems to put people off is the implication that I am right and others are wrong. People find this offensive, but I don’t share these things to be offensive. The fact of the matter is that Truth is by definition, Exclusive. Contrary to the postmodern view that society tries to ingrain in us, truth is not relative. The Bible knows nothing of the idea ‘what is true for me might not be true for you’. Jesus in John 17:17 speaking to God the Father, says: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” There is only one truth, and it is God’s truth. What we need to realize is that when it comes to the teachings of the Bible, if people have opposing views on a particular topic, they both can’t be right. Obviously, both think they are right, but at least one of them is wrong! Now, it is very common for us to subscribe to the doctrines of the church that we either grew up in or first came to when we got saved. Naturally, you would expect that those who exposed you to the truth of the Gospel would also have the truth of the rest of God’s word. However, given the numerous denominational divides, we realize that can’t always be the case. The fact is, while the true Church is united because of the Gospel of Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit, we do divide ourselves into different denominations due to different understandings of what the Bible teaches on a variety of subjects. However, when God gave us His Word, there’s only one correct way to interpret or understand it. People sometimes say, ‘doctrine divides’, but that is not the case. It is doctrinal error that divides. In 2 Tim 3:16-17, it says, ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ God uses the apostle Paul to first tell us that all scripture is inspired by God, and the next thing He tells us is that it is useful for doctrine. Based on God’s Word, we should have a profound appreciation for doctrine!
In all these different denominations, the first and most important issue is having the gospel right, which indeed tells us whether they can even be considered part of the true church or not. When it comes to the teachings that separate us as a Church into different denominations, if it’s based on the word of God, it’s not about personal preference. It’s about a correct or incorrect understanding of what God wants us to know. I don’t think we should be content to sit in our separate denominations if we have not first studied the different teachings and come to an understanding of what we see scripture teaching. With all these divisions due to opposing doctrines, obviously some of us are wrongly interpreting Scripture. How do you know if you are being taught the truth? Just because a Pastor or teacher opens up the Bible and points to a verse does not mean he is teaching it correctly. We must be Bereans! In Acts 17:11 it says of those in Berea: ‘Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.’ They did not just take Paul’s word for it, but they searched the Scriptures to see if his message lined up with the rest of God’s word. We must be familiar with the entire Bible. This takes time. We must read it for ourselves and we must learn to understand what makes for good hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the science and art of interpreting Scripture. If we want to be able to faithfully read and accurately interpret God’s Word we must learn proper hermeneutics and apply it in our study.
How does this apply daily? When we hear someone expounding on a verse or a passage, we should be considering what they are saying in light of what we already know. And if someone has a different view than you and is sharing that, we should consider their biblical evidence for such a view. Proverbs 27:17 tells us ‘Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.’ It is good to evaluate doctrine, and one verse or passage does not necessarily a doctrine make. For example: Should women be allowed to be teach or be pastors? One could read Judges 4 and come to one conclusion, and someone else could read 1 Timothy 2 and come to a different conclusion. Who is right? There are other passages that come into play to help get to the truth of the matter. Reading or preaching from select passages does not automatically make one correct. We have to consider different things when reading a verse. One of the main principles is Context. One of the easiest ways people misinterpret Scripture is by using a verse with no regard for the surrounding passage. I could write an entire blog on this subject alone. Just a quick example: Matthew 18:20, ‘For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.’ How often have you heard this as a call for group prayer? The context is actually about the difficult area of church discipline. God always hears our prayers, however, He is promising special grace when seeking to faithfully administer an important aspect of church life. There are many, many examples of this. My point is that we must consider the entire passage and compare it with other passages that may have bearing and need to be reconciled, so that we have the “big picture” regarding the Truth.
This might all seem overwhelming, especially for those new to the faith or for those who have not been exposed to teaching that encourages deep study into the Bible. Don’t be discouraged! The life of a Christian is a life long process of learning. It’s never too late to start. And we are blessed to live in a time where we are surrounded by free resources that’s only as far away as our computer. There are books and commentaries out there that can assist you in your understanding after you have read the Scriptures for yourselves. Don’t be put off by those who would discourage you from the “teachings of men”. Ephesians 4:11-13 says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;” Christ gave us teachers to help equip us. To deny using these men to learn is to deny a gift for our benefit from Christ Himself! If we want to be sure that we are standing on truth, we should not be afraid of holding up our doctrine for inspection and considering the biblical support for opposing viewpoints. Just because great theologians disagree on major points does not mean that we should take for granted that we will never agree with other Christians on those points.
The fact of the matter is, some doctrines are more important than others, and what you believe is going to impact how you live your life, how you share the gospel, and how you disciple others. These are major issues and the truth is that the better we know God as He has revealed Himself in His Divine Word, the better we will be able to appreciate, worship, and serve Him. So we must realize that our entire Christian walk is impacted for better or worse on our understanding of what the Bible teaches.
In conclusion, my desire is to share biblical truth regarding a variety of topics. All I ask of you is to consider my views and the scriptural evidence I use to support them. And if you don’t agree or understand, please discuss it with me! I’m sharing truth to help edify and build up the body of Christ. If you think I’m wrong, I ask you to show me. Let us contend together for the sake of the truth! God Bless.

In my last blog, I gave our “homeschool testimony” and explained how it changed our life by bringing about a personal revival in our family and set us down a new path. The next thing I would like to address is the doctrines of grace, also referred to as Calvinism or Election, although that is just a part of it. Coming to understand the doctrines of grace was the first step that eventually led us to Reformed (or Covenantal) Theology. I feel the need to share this, because as someone who has been saved for roughly 25 years, I finally feel that I have a handle on the “big picture” aspect of Christianity because of Reformed (Covenantal) Theology. My faith is no longer “piece meal”, thanks to sound doctrine. This gives me more confidence to share and defend the Gospel. I also feel more humble and in awe of the God we serve.

I know many godly people who love the Lord and serve Him well. While I realize they don’t need to believe election in order to love God and serve Him, I would still say that all things being equal, the better we know and understand God, as He has revealed Himself in His divine Word, the better we can appreciate, worship, and serve Him. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, ‘The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.’ The doctrine of Election is not a secret thing. The words chosen, elect, and election are used many times in scripture and for a reason. We cannot ignore it, but must study and understand it because God is revealing something about His working in us for a reason!

So, how did this doctrine start to change my life? It was subtle at first. As this concept started to take hold, I realized that there were too many teachings I held to, that I just took for granted to be true because it was what I had been taught my whole life. It’s not that everything I was taught was wrong, much of it was right, and I’m grateful for having so much truth given to me in my formative years. However, now I’ve stopped taking doctrine for granted and started taking a fresh look at the Scriptures. Also, understanding the fact that God, for His own purposes, chooses those who He will redeem and He is the one who enables them to understand the Gospel and repent is incredibly eye opening and reassuring. It’s reassuring because now I realize it doesn’t depend on me to be persuasive, or eloquent to somehow convince people of their need for Christ. I only need to be faithful to the Truth of God’s Word and trust the Holy Spirit to do His work. I don’t need to beg or make emotional appeals or try to make the Gospel somehow more palatable. This happens so often and we have so many false converts who mar the name of Christ and His bride, the Church, because they profess Him with their lips and yet constantly deny them with their lives. They don’t understand the need for repentance and the process of sanctification, due to the fact that they’ve been given a watered down version of the Gospel. Too many are concerned with getting “decisions” for Christ, that they downplay how serious that decision is! Jesus told potential followers to count the cost! How often do we hear that kind of preaching today? The doctrine of election rests in the power of the Gospel, that it will be effective to draw the elect, without needing any gimmicks!

It’s also eye opening, because when we realize that true believers are only believers because God chose them before the foundation of the world, then we start to realize how God has very specific intentions for us and for this world, and He is not leaving the “fate” of this world in the hands of mankind. We start to see His incredible Sovereignty, and His Immutability (meaning He cannot change). He is perfect in His knowledge, He can’t learn, He’s not looking down the “corridors of time” to see what we are going to do, so He can react accordingly. For me, it helped me to understand the Covenants. There are three major covenants. There is the first one that we see implied in Scripture called the Covenant of Redemption. This covenant was between the Trinity to effect the salvation of man. The Covenant of Works was only offered to Adam, but this was not for salvation! It was only to stay in right relationship with God. Adam was created in good standing with God, and he was the only one who was “born” (prior to Christ) who had the ability to Not Sin. Once he did though, the next covenant was put into effect by God…the Covenant of Grace. It was God’s Grace that offered anyone salvation, and therefore reconciliation to Himself. God did the work!! Genesis 3:15 says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” At the moment after sin entered the world and God had every right to destroy mankind, He revealed that He would rectify the situation. He says ‘I WILL PUT ENMITY’–When man was created, he was made innocent. He was the first and last one (except Christ) who had the ability to CHOOSE God or Satan. After he chose wrong, he effectively sided with Satan and had enmity with God. Consider Romans 8:7-9 : 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. We see in vs. 7 that in our natural state we are enemies of God and simply can’t make ourselves subject to His Law. God called out Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob, then the nation of Israel to preserve His intention to bring about the Messiah promised back in Genesis to redeem His elect. His covenant with Israel was a physical example of a spiritual reality. They were also a lesson to us that we could never choose God and follow Him of our own accord. Left to their own devices, they would always fail and turn away. Jeremiah 31:31-34 explains the new and better covenant to come, where God does the work within us, by giving us a new heart. There is much to understand here. God CHOSE Israel, they did not choose Him. Even when Joshua tells them to choose who they will serve and they claim the obvious choice…the near future after that claim shows their hearts weren’t truly with God, because the knowledge wasn’t important enough to them to pass down and for most of the people, God became the one they turned to only after He brought judgment on them. For most of them, even this is only lip service and not true repentance.

When we go to the New Testament, we get more insight into this. Jesus tells the disciples in Luke 22:20, that the new covenant is here. The book of Hebrews explains how all of the Old Testament imagery is fulfilled in Christ and how even the sacrifices were not able to save anyone, but pointed to the One who could. The teachings of Jesus and the writings of the Apostle Paul tell us plainly that while we are all sinners and commanded to repent, we are so corrupt that we need God to quicken us to new life in order for us to accept the Gospel. I want to just share some of the references with you, so that you realize that only God gets the glory for our conversion. While some of us believe God in His “love and fairness” allows us to freely choose Him, they don’t understand the doctrine of Total Depravity (which I’ve been told is a better place to start from for this topic, and it probably is, but I see the teaching of election as being so clearly taught, I feel confident in the strength of the scriptural evidence to start here). The other issue that they must ignore, is that the Bible says we have no reason to boast. However, if we work synergistically with the Holy Spirit to accomplish that salvation, whatever small part we play, we are doing what the unbeliever does not, and for that small part, whatever you want to call it ..whether it be smarter, more spiritual, or more sensitive, makes us somewhat better than the next guy. The Bible gives us no room for that though. We are saved because God draws us to Himself with Irresistible Grace.

Jesus tells us plainly in John 6:44, 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” People want to say that the word “draw” means ‘to woo’. But Scripture interprets Scripture and the Greek word used here for “draw” is used several other times in the Bible. It is translated draw in not only John 6:44, but also in John 12:32, 18:10, and 21:6. The same Greek word is translated “dragged” in John 21:11, Acts 16:19, 21:30, and James 2:6. In all these verses, does the word indicate the idea that the object (person or thing) being acted upon is passive or active? I think the Word speaks for itself. And this is huge. We cannot rely on a poor English translation to excuse us from understanding the truth taught here and elsewhere. The original languages were inspired, the translations are not! But we are not dependent on one verse to understand election. Later in the same chapter, Jesus responds to the negative reaction His so-called disciples had to His difficult teaching regarding His flesh and blood. In verse 63, He says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” In vs. 65: And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” I shared above a passage from Romans about how those who are in the flesh cannot please God or be subject to His law. Jesus says the flesh profits nothing, it is the Spirit who gives life and He reiterates what He said back in vs.44, by repeating and further clarifying it by saying it must be granted. We need the Father to allow it and the Holy Spirit to give us new life. THEN, we can come to Christ in faith and repentance.

In Romans 9:11-16, we have another passage that teaches the doctrine of election with amazing clarity: 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Please note that Paul could have mentioned in vs11 that God knew that Jacob would be faithful and Esau would not. However, that’s not stated, but rather it seems to stress that regardless of what they would do, God chose Jacob over Esau according to His purposes. Then in vs16, we have the clincher, it is not of our will! I posit that is because our will is so corrupt, that the only way we could choose God is if, in His mercy, He gives us a new heart so that we can have the desire to choose Him. Scripture bears this out. These are only a few verses to whet your appetite to give this matter further study if you have never considered it before. These are some of the ones that I simply couldn’t in good conscience ignore and try to pretend they mean something other than what they clearly say. You will find an abundance of passages in Scripture of God telling people to choose, to repent, to obey and so on. This is our responsibility and our failure to do so is why we stand condemned on judgment day. And we would all stand condemned if God had not chosen to show mercy to some of us and quicken us to new life by the Holy Spirit to be able to turn to Him. As Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3, ‘unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.‘, and in vs6, ‘that which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.‘ Our first birth was not of our choosing, nor is our second birth.

This is long enough at this point and I’ve really only scratched the surface. As I mentioned, the pages of the Bible are filled with this doctrine. Once you see it, you will wonder how you missed it for so long. I pray this has challenged you to reconsider your views if you do not believe in election already. I may share more in the future, but if you are curious, I will be happy to further discuss this with anyone. I will also share some links to resources that you may find beneficial. God Bless!

Resources:

For a very in-depth study of the Scriptures regarding the doctrines of grace, you can go here:

http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/gracelist.html

For some great teaching you can listen to, you can go here:

http://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/chosen_by_god/?sort=popular

or here: http://www.ligonier.org/learn/conferences/houston_2003_conference/

What does a Christian family look like?  It’s a good question.  Some homeschooling dads were hanging out talking and one of them shared that as a first generation Christian, no one had ever told him what a Christian family should look like.  It wasn’t until recently, after he started homeschooling, that he started hearing about things like family worship and what his role as a father should be in the life of his family.  And that comment made me finally get around to starting this blog.  Because unfortunately, I think that is a really common problem today, even among second and third generation Christians.

I was fortunate to have parents who were saved and my father was passionate about Scripture and he would teach us and ask us questions and take us to Bible conferences and Creation seminars.  So, I was blessed to have a good foundation.  But I have to admit, when I first had my children, and we were sending them to public school, we thought the “Christian” thing to do was to get our kids to Church as much as possible; making sure they did Sunday School, AWANA, VBS, and all the rest.  We wanted to make sure that we were getting them plenty of “good stuff”  to counter all the junk we knew they would face at school.  Sure we prayed with them and stuff, but for us, a major part of being a Christian was being at church when the doors were open.  And I think many Christians feel that way.  But then something happened.  We decided to homeschool our kids and everything changed.  Now I’m not saying homeschooling will necessarily change your life or your kid’s lives.  It’s not a magic formula.  But as we started researching homeschooling, we came across several ministries that support homeschoolers and we began to learn a lot.  We were already feeling the burden that our children’s academic training was in our hands.  A lot was riding on us, we were responsible!  But as we researched, we realized something else we had always been responsible for and had not fully appreciated….our children’s spiritual training!  We began to fully comprehend that our children would learn from US what being a follower of Christ is all about.   They would be spending the majority of their time with us and for better or worse, they would first come to the understanding of what Christianity is all about through watching us.  Wow.  Suddenly Deuteronomy 6:6-7 took on flesh and blood:  “and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (ESV)

This is when revival came to the MacDowell house.  We began to think about what we wanted to instill in our daughters.  What were we showing them now?  What compromises were we living with?  What worldly and corrupting ways were we allowing in our home and lives?   Things began to change.  And when I share these, please realize that we don’t sit in judgment of others who may do things differently or have different convictions.  As we tell our children, this is how we do things because these are our convictions and every family is different.  But for us, we got rid of TV because we viewed it as mostly negative, or at the very least mind numbing and robbing them of their creativity.  After a few years we did get a new TV, but we use it sparingly and we don’t have Cable.  We also became very careful about what music we would let them listen to and what books they would be allowed to read.  We didn’t want them having a Secular Worldview poured into them as a form of entertainment.  We didn’t want them reading books that encouraged bad behavior or attitudes or made kids seem like heroes who had to put up with  “stupid parents”.  Instead we sought out books that called sin what it was, and championed the values found in God’s Word.  And because of our rapidly changing views on dating (that’s another blog), we also did not want them feeding into the dating mentality and being silly about boys, but rather to view purity as a high priority.

We just began to look at everything with new eyes.  We started to question why we did certain things and make sure that we were doing things purposefully. We changed our entertainment, like I mentioned, but also how we celebrated holidays. We got rid of some of the fluff and commercialization that distracted from Christmas and Resurrection Sunday.  We focused on Christ leading up to these holidays.  We also were much more careful about making sure we had our children’s hearts so that we could most effectively influence them in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord.  We sought to protect them from bad influences, knowing that their own sinful hearts was plenty to deal with rather than the added burden of people encouraging them to do wrong in ways they hadn’t thought of yet.  Some people might look at some of these things and say we are sheltering our children and they would be right.  Some would say it’s not good to shelter children too much and they would be right.  The question is how much is too much?  Gregg Harris is a homeschooling dad who uses the metaphor of the greenhouse to explain how and why we should shelter our children.  http://www.hslda.org/courtreport/V25N3/V25N301.asp

(This is a link to an interview that HSLDA had with him.  The Greenhouse, the Cold Frame, & the Field is right in the beginning.    I can’t state it any better and he certainly knows what he’s talking about, so I’ll just let him have the last word on that subject.)

To sum up, our standards and convictions had changed. Our priority was raising our girls to be godly young women. And we now realized we must live our lives in such a way that we were pointing them to Christ.  And one of the first things we did to point them to Christ was to make time regularly for family worship.  What is family worship?  It’s very similar to the corporate worship that we have on Sunday.  We take time to sing, to pray, and to read God’s Word and dwell on it as a family.  The purpose is for us to put Christ first and remember as a family that everything we have comes from the Lord and it should be our highest priority to continually give Him honor and glory.  This type of attitude really can set the tone for family life.  Primarily, it helps to set our minds on Christ.  But you are also showing your children that God is not just to be worshipped on Sundays, but everyday.   And  reading God’s Word always bears fruit, because we inevitably see areas that we or our children are failing in, and it is a time to confess sin and seek forgiveness, or offer instruction straight from Scripture.   It is also discipling our children and  ourselves as we read and learn from God’s Word, which we know is living and active and will have something new to teach us or remind us of.  In addition to all of those wonderful things, you are giving your children a pattern, an example, for how to conduct their families when they have them.

As homeschoolers, my wife does 99% of the teaching and we use curriculum that is Christ-centered.  And in the course of the day she is going to be teaching our children biblically.  It is one of the greatest advantages of homeschooling, and of course she should be doing that.  But for family worship, when we come together, I lead our family  because leading family worship is the responsibility of the father.  Why do I say the father?  Because the Bible says so.  In his book, Family Shepherds, Voddie Baucham says, “The role of men in their families is so important that God honored it by conferring upon us his own title, Father.” I find that simple statement to be very powerful.   The Bible clearly teaches male headship in the home.  The foundation is set in the very beginning of Genesis, and patriarchy is seen through the rest of the Old Testament.  And that design is seen clearly taught in the New Testament as well… 1 Cor. 11:3, Eph 5:21-33, Col. 3:18-19, Titus 2:5, and 1 Peter 3:1-7.  Fathers are responsible to lead their families spiritually.  In addition to the verses I just shared, Eph. 6:4 also addresses this, not to mention the pattern in Scripture as a whole.  The book of Proverbs is given in the narrative of a Father passing on wisdom to his son.  In both the Old and New Testament, God shows one of His greatest concerns is for the fatherless and the widow.  The role of the Husband and Father is a crucial one, and we must take that responsibility seriously and we should also be looking to help out those families who are fatherless, but more on that some other time.

Hopefully, in that last paragraph I conveyed to you the significance of the father.   But what if the father is newly saved?  What if he’s not, but he really doesn’t know as much as he should?  What if he feels unqualified?  There’s a saying, ‘God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.’  And if you’re a father, you’re called!  Proverbs 1:7a says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”.  If you are saved, you know the first key thing your family needs to know and be reminded of….the Gospel.  After that, to lead your family, you only need to be a day ahead of them.  As you learn by reading God’s Word and meditating on it, you share what you learn with your wife and children.  There are study Bibles and commentaries out there that can assist you in study and of course you should be part of a local congregation and developing relationships with mature believers who know the Word and can help answer questions that you or your family might come across.  Another great tool is Catechism.  I always thought of this as a bad thing.  I was taught that Catholics used it in the place of the Bible, and while that may be true for some, it doesn’t make catechism a bad thing.  It’s actually a great way to familiarize yourself with some basic truths and doctrines that the Bible teaches.  I found that while many people may know some Bible stories and some of the popular teachings in the Word, too many don’t have a big picture that connects all the dots.  Catechizing is a great way to lay a foundation for the whole family.

And while the Bible teaches the father is responsible here, if the father is unsaved or unwilling, then the mother of course should lead family worship to be the example of what Christianity looks like in the home.  Woe to that father, though, if he be saved, but unwilling to lead his family spiritually.  The  poor example he gives his children will be detrimental to their spiritual health and he will be called to account for that one day.

So, family worship.  Reading God’s Word, singing to the Lord together, and praying for each other and for others.  These are the components of  family worship.  The idea of leading the family in regular worship was seen first by the patriarchs who would build an altar to the Lord to worship Him with their family.  And while we no longer need to offer blood sacrifices because of Jesus, we still need to worship Him daily.  Deut. 6:6-9 teaches us that this is an everyday occurrence.  This is part of how we remember Him and disciple our children.  And, by the way, this should make times of corporate worship with the rest of the church body, just a natural extension of our family life.  We are simply just doing it in a larger setting with our “extended family” in Christ.

When you are putting Christ first in your family, you will be making His Word a priority…learning it, meditating on it, and memorizing it; you should be applying it to your life and to the lives of your children.  2 Tim. 3:16,17 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  Learning God’s Word as a family and using it to disciple the members of your family, will bear fruit, and will distinguish your family as followers of Christ.   As Christians we should have peace as we rest in the sovereignty of God.  We are called to love another, especially the brethren, and we are called to share the Gospel.  And just to remind you and myself…actions speak louder than words, but words are still necessary.  The Gospel is Good News…you can live because of the good news, but people need to hear it, or they’ll just think you’re really good and moral and not realize that we and they are lost without Jesus.

So what does a Christian family look like?  They look like people who live their lives in devotion to Christ, because He has given them life.  They live according to their roles as taught in Scripture.  This article was somewhat general, with only some specifics relating to fathers.  The reason being, it’s already long, and I wanted to offer a good starting point for families.  In a future blog I will address some specifics about the roles of men and women in the home.   But for now, if your main priority up to this point was getting the kids to church, I hope I have given you something to think about.  I hope this will help point you in the direction of how to start focusing on Christ at home as a family, and by doing that, I trust it will lead to the right things starting to fall into place.

I need to take a moment and plug Family Shepherds by Voddie Baucham.  Voddie also has other books that are very good, but I would recommend fathers to start with Family Shepherds.  I have drawn heavily from his teachings on a few topics.  While researching all this, I have listened to a lot of speakers and read a lot of authors.  Voddie is my personal favorite, because I think he is spot-on just about every time, and he makes these subjects easy to understand.  So, for further reading, Family Shepherds!  You can also find clips of him on YouTube and SermonAudio.

We will put on a page for additional resources regarding roles of Husbands/Fathers and Wives/Mothers and Christian parenting and homeschooling.  These have been a blessing to us in the last six years and we are sure it will be a blessing to others.

Hello, and welcome to my blog. This has been something I have been thinking of doing for quite some time. The title comes from Deuteronomy 6:6-7. These verses have helped to set the tone for our family since my wife and I began homeschooling six years ago. Since then we have experienced a personal revival and have began looking at everything with new eyes. The purpose of this blog is to share some of the things that have shaped our family life and also to discuss some issues that I believe the Bible speaks rather clearly on, yet are controversial today. It’s my prayer that you will be encouraged through this blog and hopefully might reconsider things you may have taken for granted up to this point.

God Bless,

Chris