TEACHING & ARTICLES

In his first inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt said “…the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” While this was a great rallying cry for Americans to courageously fight back against the effects of the Great Depression, it is hardly a universal truth. It has not been our experience. We all fear with some regularity. Yet, the Bible frequently says that we should not fear. How do we process this when fear seems so natural and unavoidable?

Have you ever felt disrespected? Disregarded perhaps? In Respectable Sins , Jerry Bridges sends a reminder that God Himself feels those in response to our sins. Using everyday language, author Jerry Bridges gives the timeless truth that any and every sin committed, disrespects and disregards God’s holiness.

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:12–13)

New Year’s Resolutions? I can’t even remember what they were.

Spiritual Gifts: A Blessing to the Local Church

After our recent two-week series called Who Am I? Gender and Sexual Identity , we put together a short list of reliable resources to help encourage further thinking and study on this topic. We have included resources that are widely available on the Internet (as of the posting of this article) as well as some faithful books. We'll update this list occasionally as new resources surface.

What are the genuine marks of godliness in a man? Not just in a human generally, but in a man particularly? Our culture is filled with false and misleading ideas about the nature of genuine masculinity, but none of them offer lasting hope. Because God created men, God defines, in His Word, what godly manhood looks like. I would offer nine marks from the Scripture for how to define a godly man. First, a godly man is a man of the Gospel. Godly manhood begins not with strength but with weakness. Physical strength is one of man’s gifts from the Lord, but godliness starts with admitting our spiritual weakness apart from God. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul writes, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” A man who leads well leads from a place of grace-filled service. Consider our Lord Jesus, the manliest man ever, whose whole life was marked by submission to the Father. Second, a godly man is a man of repentance. If we understand the Gospel and thus our weakness, we know that we often fail and fall short of God’s ideal for us. Godly men know how to repent and how to turn from sin. Here’s a simple way to gauge whether or not you are practicing repentance: Take a moment and name a sin you committed in the past day or even the past week. If you can’t do that, then maybe you aren’t taking time to walk in repentance. Third, a godly man is a man of prayer. Godly men pray out loud with others, we pray quietly by ourselves, we pray with our families, and we pray with our wives. If, as Paul says, our strength is found in our weakness, then let your weakness be expressed through your dependence on prayer. Many of you may know that I lost my dad about a year ago. He was a massive influence in my life. He became a Christian about the time I was born, so as I grew up, he grew in his faith. My dad wasn’t one to talk about his emotions, but he was quick to pray. Some of my sweetest memories of my dad were hearing him pray out loud for my family and me. A godly man is a man of the Bible. Real men love the Word and know the Word. It is more manly to quote Scripture than to know the big game's point spread or to memorize your favorite ballplayer's batting average. I detest a culture that assigns the primary responsibility of teaching children the Word to mom while the father is distant, off working, playing golf, or whatever. Distance from the Word does not define manhood; closeness to the Word does. A godly man is a man of the church. Real men are active in church, not just at men’s gatherings, but in worship services, Life Groups, and classes. Men should be leading, teaching, serving, and loving when the church gathers. A godly man is a man of worship; in this case, I particularly mean worship by singing. No, not all men sing well, but all men who love Jesus should gather with the church and sing. Again, my dad stands out as an example to me in this way. He was a very reserved man, even in church. But he sang with his whole heart. You don’t have to be waving your hands around – honestly, I often don’t raise my hands in worship during the church service. But I am in the service every week, and when I look out at the congregation, I see many men who look like they had practically been dragged to church that morning. It would radically change our church if every man sang out this Sunday in worship. A godly man is a man of purity. Our culture has made sexual perversion a manly thing, such that masculinity is often equated with being a sexual predator. Real men protect and honor women; they don’t objectify and abuse them. Consider Ephesians 5:3–4: “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” Be a godly man by being pure. A godly man is a man of leadership. The Bible calls for men to lead in the home and at church. To be clear, women lead in many ways as well. But you and I, as men, must be ready and willing to lead. And as we follow our greatest leader, the Lord Jesus, we recall that authentic leadership requires service and sacrifice. Not everyone is an out-front, take-charge kind of leader. Some lead quietly by example, by service. But real men lead joyfully and do so in a Jesus-modeling way. And let me highlight another aspect of leadership by saying that a godly man is a man of sacrifice. In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Godly men follow the example of Jesus by laying down our lives. Let me close this article with another memory of my dad, whom I’ve mentioned several times already. My dad was always the last to serve himself at a meal. He was the type who wanted everyone else to have their fill and insisted on taking less for himself. He wasn’t perfect, but I was blessed to have a man in my life who exemplified sacrifice and pursued Jesus. I will close with a reminder of the passage I quoted earlier in 2 Corinthians. The essence of genuine manhood is found in the reality of dependence, not in a myth of independence. We pursue His strength by trusting God, looking to Jesus, and admitting our weakness. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

The fall season brings change. Kids head back to school, and adults return from summer leisure while new routines begin. The focus tends to be on children being good learners. But we sometimes forget the biblical reality that youth and grown-ups alike never stop being a student.

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of book recommendations from our Pastoral Body to the church family, so you can not only see what we've been reading but discern if it is a good option for your own reading. Enjoy!

The Bible contains some 20 to 30 "one another" commands, depending on how you count them. Some are similar and overlap. These commands form the bedrock of our discipleship ministries as they put gospel transformation into simple and practical terms. "One anothering" describes how we are to live everyday life as Christians. The most important "one another" command, love one another, links them all together. If you are in Christ, the command to love one another is not optional, and there are no conditions. Today, we will look at an often overlooked or misunderstood command: the command to bear one another's burdens.

You have most likely heard the words “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!” Perhaps you uttered these words yourself in a playground dispute or a spat among siblings. This is a flimsy retort suggesting that we didn’t really know how to respond to the conflict. At the same time, it is one of the biggest lies ever spoken out loud. We know full well that words can be very hurtful, even devastating. It is common and unfortunate that people who profess to be Christians perceive that they are doing well if they “talk nice.” As long as we don’t cuss or sound too mean in front of certain people, then it’s all good. That line of thinking is exactly how the Pharisees interpreted life and law, and that did not go well for them when Jesus showed up. If you are in Christ and desire to grow in Christ, then it is critical to understand that our words have purpose, and our words are indicators.

Prayer is a vital part of every Christian's life. It enables us to communicate with God through our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. We are privileged as believers to be able to "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16). God tells us, "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). Scripture provides many examples of the prayers of those who have gone before us and found our sovereign Lord to be faithful and true to His unchanging, eternal Word (Simcox, Thomas C., "Six Elements of Effective Prayer," Israel My Glory, March/April 2011, 22-21).

Song of Songs 8:8-9

Song of Songs 6:3

Song of Songs 3:1-5

Song of Songs is the book of the Bible that causes us to blush. It is the book we often avoid. What is erotic love poetry filled with strange metaphors doing in the Bible, and how does it teach us about God? If you have felt this way reading Song of Songs, you are not alone. Many have struggled throughout the ages with these same questions and proposed different interpretations to decipher this often confusing, yet beautiful (and a bit racy!) book of the Bible.

Song of Solomon 4:7