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There are times when we the best of our logic fails to understand the worst of other’s behaviors. It’s part of the oddity or maybe complexity of the human psyche that we sometimes make choices that defy any shred of reason or seem void of even the slightest hint of sensibility. More times than we can count we stand in awe of the choices that some people make, standing at some distance shaking our heads in disoriented disbelief and wondering what in the world they were thinking. Sometimes our own choices are perplexingly confusing, defying our own logic and leaving us patently bewildered and entirely befuddled at who we are and what we just did. Clearly, we can be our greatest puzzle and most mysterious mystery. Yet, the most inexplicably confounding situations are those when these rather irrational decisions are made at the expense of others. Sure, we can make wildly poor choices that effect ourselves in ways slight or significant. I suppose it’s within our rights to chart spurious courses that descend to dark places as long as the only person that ends up in those dark places with us is ‘us.’ It would seem that we can “shoot ourselves in the foot” as long as it’s our foot and no one else’s. Yet, far too frequently we shoot a lot of other’s feet other than our own. And so the pressing and rather incendiary question becomes, why would we take someone else down with us? What in the world behooves us to make choices that reach out with arms either long or short, grab someone else in whatever way we do that and drag them down? Why is it that we just can’t leave others alone? To the contrary, we find ourselves incessantly goaded by some potent force that’s sufficiently compelling to override any sense of responsibility and silence any voice of morality to the point that we pull others in and push them down with issues that aren’t even theirs? What compels us to make choices that are certain to seize the course of the life of another and set their path on some dizzying descent? Self-Preservation When life presses us with an unnerving intensity we are reflexively prone to revert to defensive position of self-preservation. Sure, it’s quite easy to be graciously gracious and heroically selfless when the cost of doing so isn’t all that significant. We can look quite the part when we don’t have a lot of skin in the game or when we know that we’re not likely to be skinned while we’re in the game. We live within limits that are long on self and short on others, so it doesn’t take long before we take the shortest route to the closest place of safety. If we ruthlessly strip away all the pleasantries and pretenses that we gaudily wrap ourselves in we will find that self-preservation lays seated underneath it all as the irreparably non-negotiable objective that is so core to the base side of ourselves that we will instinctively sacrifice others to insure it. Therefore, as the cost/benefit analysis swings away from us we’re more likely to gradually or not so gradually swing the cost over onto others. We’re noble, but noble to a point. We’re generous, but only to the degree that what we’re getting sufficiently offsets what we’re giving. We will extend ourselves in ways that appear magnanimous and philanthropic as long as we don’t have to extend ourselves beyond arm’s reach of ourselves. And these points where we pull up and stop are most often based on our tolerance for sacrifice and the degree to which we’re willing to absorb pain. There comes a point where the responsibility of accountability is just a bit too revealing, where the selflessness of putting ourselves aside is pinching our egos a bit too hard, and where the concept of sacrifice and the ‘good of our fellowman’ hasn’t given us all that much in return, if it’s given us anything at all. Our Expectations When the world around us doesn’t reciprocate our simple acts of simply being a ‘good person’ in the manner in which we feel it should, we begin to become toxically jaded and we take a darker turn into ourselves. When the world is perceived by us as intrinsically greedy, when it seems that every action is driven by a darkly covert agenda, and when the rampant selfishness appears wholly unrepentant and entirely irreparable we pull inward and we put up impenetrable walls. And in putting up the walls we would be quite wise to ask if the things that we find so aberrant and awful are indeed the very things we ourselves engage in. It may well be that our own greed is worse than those that we condemn because we too often demand that we dictate what we give to those around us, we demand how the they will respond to what we have given them, all the while condemning the world of the very offenses that we ourselves are equally guilty of. If we are not aware of such caustic distortions, we will make it about us. And in making it about us we’re foolishly led to believe that all of our many cherished expenditures are never expended because they never move outside of us. It’s all about us investing all of ‘us’ back into all of ‘us.’ This self-sabotaging, self-absorbing cycle creates an ever-hardening pattern where the deepening pain that we are inflicting on others and the manner in which we are blithely diminishing their lives begins to go entirely unnoticed. Often we are on the receiving end of such behaviors, and sometimes we’re the ones dishing them out. We’d be keenly wise to recognize it in others so that we can more prudently deal with the behaviors as we cope with the impact of them. But, we’d be ever wiser to recognize such behaviors in ourselves. We Are Too Expensive When we make it about us, someone, somewhere is going to go down simply because the cost of being about ‘us’ is a cost that will always extend itself beyond ‘us.’ We don’t have the life currency to make it about us, so we borrow or steal that ‘currency’ from other places and other people. Despite our frequently supercilious arguments to the contrary, we simply do not have the inherent capacity to generate everything that we need. However astounding we might perceive it to be, our capacity to independently generate resources will perpetually fall short of the resources that we actually need. Therefore, as our accumulated needs swiftly exhaust our scant resources we are forced by our limitations to reach outside of ourselves to obtain those resources. And in either borrowing or stealing those resources from someone else, that ‘someone’ is going down as we attempt to push ourselves up. Need We Dare Remember We’ve regularly failed to realize that being a good person pays exceedingly generous dividends far beyond anything we can borrow or steal. Riches born of sacrifice fill the coffers of heaven. Yet we miss those dividends because they’re not exactly the ones that we’re looking for, or they’ve come at some cost when we’d much prefer to receive them free of charge. Often the riches generated are held until time or attitude would render the delivery of them as far more meaningful for us, yet delayed gratification feels much the same as no gratification. And so, cynicism wins the day, pessimism reigns and we’re going to take others down with us without even recognizing that we’re doing so. It’s quite sad enough that we do things to take ourselves down and shoot ourselves in the foot. Yet, it’s infinitely more tragic that we do that to others. We cannot control the actions of others as they perpetrate such behaviors upon us. Yet, we can control ourselves. So to avoid taking others down we’d be wise to look at the state of our heart, take the temperature of our attitude, and see if our soul is still breathing because we may find that they are all in some state that we’d much prefer them not to be. And once we’ve inventories them alive again, maybe we’ll realize that to sacrifice is to fill the coffers of heaven which will spill over into the vault of our soul. When that happens we have no need to push others down because we, by virtue of our sacrifices, have pushed ourselves up without stepping on anyone in order to do it. © 2015 Craig Lounsbrough, M.Div., Licensed Professional Counselor

There’s been much hand-wringing over ISIS’s success in recruiting young men from the West to join their holy war. Contrary to the stereotype of the poor, disadvantaged youth acting out his rage by joining a jihad, many of ISIS’s male recruits hail from middle class homes in prosperous communities. Why would these men exchange safe, comfortable lives to fight for a bloody death cult? Even more disturbing – some ISIS fighters grew up practicing the Christian faith. Many are African-American, and attended church regularly as boys. Among these men is Douglas McArthur McCain, one of the dozens of native-born American and European men who have joined various jihadi groups. In 2014, McCain became the first U.S. citizen killed fighting for the Islamic State. McCain was an American-born Midwesterner. He was a 33-year-old father, a rapper and a caregiver to special needs patients. McCain was raised in church. His mother attended faithfully. McCain was said to be a practicing Christian prior to his conversion to Islam several years ago. Why did McCain choose the mosque over the church? He’s dead, so we can’t ask him. But I’m guessing his church experience had something to do with it. Assuming McCain grew up in a typical African-American church, here’s what his weekly worship experience would have been like: Up to 75% of adult worshippers are female. The service lasts approximately 3 hours. The sermon lasts approximately 90 minutes (or more). Worship services are highly emotive. Worshippers cry out regularly during the sermon. Décor features quilts, banners and flowers. Lots of flowers. The sanctuary is outfitted like a theater, with a stage, lighting, sound equipment, podium and pews. Worshippers are expected to “dress for church.” The offering plate comes by several times until sufficient money is raised. The Sunday school system emphasizes reading, sitting still and memorizing. His mother is the spiritual leader in the home. Compare this to the mosque. As a Muslim, McCain’s worship experience would have been completely different: 100% of adult worshippers are male (women are not required to attend, and do not worship alongside men). Friday prayers last less than an hour. The sermon is divided into two parts and lasts just a few minutes. Islamic worship is devoid of emotion. Worshippers must remain totally silent during the sermon. Most mosques are sparsely decorated with high ceilings and carpeted floors (to accommodate kneeling) Worship spaces are simple and spacious. There are no chairs. No stage. No band. Little artificial lighting. Worshippers are expected to wear clean clothes. They worship barefoot. There is no offering plate. Alms may be given before or after prayers. Worship is a full-body experience; a quasi-military exercise featuring standing, kneeling, bowing, etc. Men line themselves up in ranks as if preparing for war. Women (with few exceptions) are not allowed to lead men in prayers. Now, which worship experience seems better suited to young men? Which suggests battle preparation — and which suggests a stage presentation? One time I pointed these differences out at an event for African-American men. One man tried to explain to me why black churches worship the way they do: “When we were slaves, Sunday was our only day off. We put on our best clothing and spent all day at church. That’s why we have long services. It’s our culture.” He continued: “We weren’t allowed to be educated, so Sunday school taught us to read. We had no voice in society, so we expressed our emotion and anguish in worship and song. And church was the one place we could meet socially, talk politics and organize for a better life. So we needed a stage and pastors who were gifted orators.” OK, I get this. Given our nation’s appalling history of black oppression, it’s not hard to understand why African-American churches have evolved the way they have. And there’s nothing improper about a three-hour worship service, a 90-minute sermon or a sanctuary filled primarily with ladies in hats and gloves. But when you compare this to Islam, it’s easy to see why significant numbers of young African-American men, desperate for a masculine worship environment, might reject church and find a home in the mosque. And a few find their way into ISIS. How do we put a stop to this? One of the best ways to fight Islamic extremism is to provide a robust competitor. Christianity is the obvious alternative. Significant numbers of Muslims are reportedly coming to Christ in the Middle East – even in countries where it’s illegal to follow “the Nazarene.” Secularists who are waiting for religion to disappear may be waiting a long, long time. Religion is not going to go away. In fact, evidence suggests the world is becoming more religious – not less. Men will always pursue God. The only question: will they seek a God of love and peace — or a God of hatred and violence? I believe a strong, assertive Christianity will be the most effective bulwark against jihadism. Our worship services must reflect the militant aspects of our faith. Men must understand that Christianity is not just a stage show – it’s a dangerous faith that demands our total allegiance. How can we strengthen churches to them more appealing to young men of color? Here are six suggestions: Restore battle imagery to worship. In response to the Vietnam War, many churches stripped their hymnals and liturgy of any metaphor of war or conflict. This was an enormous mistake. Battle imagery does not make men violent – it galvanizes their resolve. Redecorate. If a church looks like a grandma place, then young men will avoid it. Decorate your worship space according to the tastes of young men, not old ladies. Relax dress codes . Men enjoy dressing informally, so let them. Men-only events. Men need opportunities to gather and disciple one another – without women in the room. Shorten worship services. It’s 2015. People have things to do. If a black church advertised a one-hour worship service, you wouldn’t be able to keep men away. Give young men a meaningful role. Older Christians need to hand ministry over – and give young men a meaningful place in the church. I have been working with a black church that has done all these things. In just five years the congregation has nearly tripled in size by focusing on men. And the number of active men has increased fivefold. In my next post I’ll share an interview with the pastor of this church. www.churchformen.com . Used by permission. To read the original article, click here.

This article was authored by Ben Driver, a guest contributor to Covenant Eyes. When dealing with porn we need to look at the big picture and the little picture. We need to fight the small battles in order to win the war. Over the years I’ve become convinced that to win to war of lust we need to learn to live out the greatest and most important commandment of Christ: love. When we love God and love others we begin to win the war. Love conquers lust. Porn teaches us a distorted view of love, intimacy, other people, and even God. Love teaches us to value our neighbors; porn teaches us to objectify them. Love teaches us to serve others; porn teaches us that others exist to serve us. Love teaches us that nothing matters more then knowing God; porn teaches us that nothing matters more then immediate temporary pleasure. When we choose to love God and others, we choose to war against lust. But how do we fight in the daily battles? I believe this begins with love as well. Consider the concept of love as an acronym. We must fight with L.O.V.E. L – Leave your sin. If we ever want to see lust defeated in our lives, we must make the choice to leave our sin behind. Jesus often told people “Go, and sin no more.” Jesus calls us to the same. Have you made the choice to leave your sin? We must make the choice to leave our sin every time the temptation strikes. The Bible tells us to flee from sexual immorality. Just like Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife, we must run from our own temptations. Sometimes this means getting ourselves far from temptation before it even happens. Things like limiting your Internet access and Internet filtering are helpful tools here. Sometimes this means physically leaving when temptation strikes. Go do something else. Ride your bike, cook a meal, call a friend, clean your house, just do something to leave the temptation. Leaving your sin is the first step to winning the battle. O – Open yourself up to others. Accountability is all about being open with others. It’s about following the Biblical commands to confess your sins and your struggles. Do you have someone who you can be honest with? If not, find someone. Just as we need to love our neighbors as ourselves, we need someone to love us enough to hold us accountable. In the moment of temptation, one of the best things you can do is open up to someone else about your struggle. Hebrews 3:12-13 says, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” In other words, one of the key ways we fight sin is by hearing the encouragement and exhortation of another. You need someone in your life to love you and to make sure you do not become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Sin thrives in the darkness so expose it to the light of love. The battle will never be one alone. V – Value the right things. What do you really value? Porn teaches us to value temporary pleasure. The pleasure of porn only lasts as long as the time spent viewing it. God offers something better and He invites us to value the right things. In Matthew 5:29, Jesus commands us to value our eternity even more then our physical bodies. He says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” Do you value freedom from this sin? We must make the choice to value the things of God. E – Engage with God. Jesus simply says in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” The more we “see God” the more pure we become, and vice versa. The cycle of porn is one of shame and more impurity. The cycle of engaging with God is one of love and purity. Have you been engaging with God lately? To win the battles we must engage with God. Make the choice to love. Win the war by fighting the battles. The amazing truth of God’s word is that God loves us even in spite of our sin. If we strive to love Him and others I’m convinced that the chains of lust will be broken. Let’s defeat lust with love! ---------- Ben Driver, guest author, is the minister for the Bellevue Church of Christ in Bellevue, Ohio. He is passionate about Christians fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. He cares deeply about the issue of pornography and wants to help others find freedom through Christ.

The Holy Spirit has an amazing ministry in the life of the believer. You should know exactly how He blesses your life. 1. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). 2. He guides us into all truth (John 16:13). 3. He regenerates us (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5). 4. He glorifies and testifies of Christ (John 15:26; 16:14). 5. He reveals Christ to us and in us (John 16:14-15). 6. He leads us (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18; Matt. 4:1; Luke 4:1). 7. He sanctifies us (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 5:16). 8. He empowers us (Luke 4:14; 24:49; Rom. 15:19; Acts 1:8). 9. He fills us (Eph. 5:18; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17). 10. He teaches us to pray (Rom. 8:26-27; Jude 1:20). 11. He bears witness in us that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16). 12. He produces in us the fruit or evidence of His work and presence (Gal. 5:22-23). 13. He distributes spiritual gifts and manifestations (the outshining) of His presence to and through the body (1 Cor. 12:4, 8-10; Heb. 2:4). 14. He anoints us for ministry (Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38). 15. He washes and renews us (Titus 3:5). 16. He brings unity and oneness to the body (Eph. 4:3; 2:14-18). Here He plays the same role that He plays in the Godhead. The Spirit is the life that unites Father and Son. He plays the same role in the church. When He is operating in a group of people, He unites them in love. 17. He is our guarantee and deposit of the future resurrection (2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5). 18. He seals us unto the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). 19. He sets us free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). 20. He quickens our mortal bodies (Rom. 8:11). 21. He reveals the deep things of God to us (1 Cor. 2:10). 22. He reveals what has been given to us from God (1 Cor. 2:12). 23. He dwells in us (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14; John 14:17). 24. He speaks to, in, and through us (1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 2:11; Heb 3:7; Matt. 10:20; Acts 2:4; 8:29; 10:19; 11:12, 28; 13:2; 16:6,7; 21:4,11). 25. He is the agent by which we are baptized into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). 26. He brings liberty (2 Cor. 3:17). 27. He transforms us into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). 28. He cries in our hearts, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6). 29. He enables us to wait (Gal. 5:5). 30. He supplies us with Christ (Phil. 1:19, KJV). 31. He grants everlasting life (Gal. 6:8). 32. He gives us access to God the Father (Eph. 2:18). 33. He makes us (corporately) God’s habitation (Eph. 2:22). 34. He reveals the mystery of God to us (Eph. 3:5). 35. He strengthens our spirits (Eph. 3:16). 36. He enables us to obey the truth (1 Pet. 1:22). 37. He enables us to know that Jesus abides in us (1 John 3:24; 4:13). 38. He confesses that Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:2). 39. He says “Come, Lord Jesus” along with the bride (Rev. 22:17). 40. He dispenses God’s love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5). 41. He bears witness to the truth in our conscience (Rom. 9:1). 42. He teaches us (1 Cor. 2:13; John 14:26). 43. He gives us joy (1 Thess. 1:6). 44. He enables some to preach the gospel (1 Pet. 1:12). 45. He moves us (2 Pet. 1:21). 46. He knows the things of God (1 Cor. 2:11). 47. He casts out demons (Matt. 12:28). 48. He brings things to our remembrance (John 14:26). 49. He comforts us (Acts 9:31). 50. He makes some overseers in the church and sends some out to the work of church planting [through the body] (Acts 20:28; 13:2). Summary: The Holy Spirit unites us to Jesus Christ and to His body. He reveals Christ to us, gives us His life, and makes Christ alive in us. The Spirit takes the experiences of Jesus . . . His incarnation, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension . . . and brings them into our own experience. Because of the Holy Spirit, the history of Jesus Christ becomes our story and experience (see Jesus Manifesto for details).

“Blessed is the person who is not offended by me.” ~ Matthew 11:6 To be offended means to stumble or trip. The Scripture tells us that Jesus is a rock of offense . . . or a rock of stumbling . . . to the disobedient (1 Peter 2:8). In His earthly days, the Lord Jesus was constantly offending the religious establishment. But in the above text, Jesus has someone else in mind. He’s speaking to His followers: “Blessed are you, my followers, when you are not offended by me.” The context bears this out. John the Baptist was utterly loyal to Jesus. He walked a life of total self-denial. He gave everything up for his God. And now he finds himself in a cold prison. We have no record that the Lord ever visited him there. So John is questioning and doubting. He’s probably thinking, “Was it really worth it? I lived my whole life to pave the way for the Messiah, and now I’m in prison. The kingdom hasn’t yet come.” John is wondering and wavering; he’s tempted to stumble at his Lord. So he sends word to Jesus asking, “Are you really the one who was to come? Or should we expect another?” Again, Jesus doesn’t visit John. He instead sends this answer to him via his disciples: “Go back and report to John what you’re seeing. The deaf hear; the blind see; the lepers are cleansed; the dead are raised; the good news is being preached to the poor . . . and happy is the person who is not offended in me. Peaceful is the man who doesn’t stumble over me. Blessed is the person who doesn’t fall away on account of what I do or not do.” Over the years, I’ve watched Christians take offense with the Lord. Some of them were passionate followers of Jesus in their youth, but later ended up renouncing Him. Why? Because they chose to be offended by Him. “Blessed is the person who is not offended by me.” This is the forgotten beatitude. In this post, I want to share three reasons why Christians become offended by their Lord. In part two of the series, I want to discuss the issue of Christians being offended by others. The two are distinct, but not separate. Reason 1: He demands too much. In John 16:1, Jesus tells His disciples that He’s sharing “all these things” so they won’t be offended by Him. Some of those “things” were stern warnings that they would be hated by the world and persecuted (John 15:18ff.). Jesus made clear that following Him won’t lead to a bed of roses. Suffering and loss are involved. Unfortunately, some present a gospel that leaves these parts out. The result: Christians get offended when they realize what they’ve gotten into. But Jesus lets us know up front what following Him entails. Even in His own day, some of His followers stopped walking with Him because they regarded the cost too high (John 6:53-59). Reason 2: He doesn’t meet our expectations. The Lord often works in ways that we don’t understand. I’ve heard some Christians say, “My life would have been much better today if I didn’t follow Jesus in my youth. Look where it’s gotten me.” In Finding Organic Church, I talk about the Catch-30 crisis. There comes a point in all our lives where we reassess the major commitments we’ve made in early adulthood. And we either dig in deeper or we abandon ship. Isaiah says that God’s ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). The Lord works on levels that we cannot fathom. Paul says that God works all things for our good (Romans 8:28). “Why hasn’t God answered this prayer? Why didn’t He fulfill this promise? Why did He let this happen to me? Why did He let this happen to him/her? Why is God silent when I need to hear Him most?” These are the questions that plague the mind of the serious believer. If you’ve not yet met the God who refuses to meet all your expectations, you will. And how you react in that day will reveal whether you are worshiping Jesus Christ or Santa Clause (see John 6:26). It will show whether or not you love God more than His promises (or really, your interpretation of those promises). Jeanne Guyon once said, “I will still serve Him, even if it sends me to hell.” Job said, “Shall we receive good from the hand of the Lord and not evil?” Recall the three Hebrew children. They had lived a life loyal to their God. And the pagan king said to them, “Worship my golden image or else you’re going to die in my fiery furnace.” Their answer is telling: “We’re not going to worship this image or serve your gods. The Lord is able to deliver us, and He will deliver us from your fiery furnace. But even if He doesn’t, we’re still not going to bow down to your false gods.” What an attitude. What a posture. What faith. “God will deliver us. But even if He doesn’t, we will still follow Him.” Those words contain thunder and lightning for every child of God. If I can use an illustration, we mortals are living on pages 300-400 of a 2,000 page book. Only God can see the whole book. And He’s only given us the ability to see pages 300-400. We have no capacity to understand what’s in pages 1-299 or pages 401 to 2,000. We can only speculate and assume what’s in them (hence we create all sorts of intricate theological systems to explain mysteries we don’t understand). Here’s a lesson to learn: Life always comes down to trusting in the Lord rather than trying to figure out His ways via our finite, limited understanding. Yet together, we can better discover and understand what’s in pages 300-400, and thereby learn to live more effectively within them. (I hope blog posts like this contribute to that goal.) Reason 3: He doesn’t show up on time. He works too slowly. He reacts too late. His deliverance takes too long. God’s clock is a lot slower than ours. We can text or email our prayer to God, and He doesn’t text or email back when we expect. In fact, sometimes we never hear back from Him at all. The screen is blank. Sometimes we’ll pray for an important matter in our own lives . . . . or we’ll pray for someone else . . . for years. And the dial doesn’t move. Waiting on the Lord can become weary. And it can lead to offense. But God always keeps perfect time. To sum up, here’s how NOT to offended by the Lord: Remember that He demands everything, and He has promised suffering and tribulation along with blessing and eternal life. So don’t sell out for a cheap, easy gospel. Such is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. He told us what we were getting into and exhorted us to count the cost ahead of time (Luke 14:26ff.). Remember that His ways are higher than ours, and He doesn’t always show us what He’s doing or why. We may not always understand what He does or allows, but He can still be trusted. This is the nature of walking by faith rather than by sight. Even when His grace isn’t sufficient, it is always sufficient. Remember that God is always on time, but His clock ticks differently from ours. He’s a Lord who sometimes shows up long after the hour of healing has passed and we are dead for four days. Just ask Lazarus. Being offended by God is a choice. You can choose to take offense at the Lord and stumble over that which you don’t understand. Or you can “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). www.frankviola.org . Used by permission.

If the church doesn’t read the signs of the times, we will be right where we evangelicals were after Roe v. Wade—caught flat-footed and unprepared. Thankfully, the Catholics were there to supply an ethical framework and a sense of justice until some evangelicals—such as Francis Schaeffer and Jerry Falwell—emerged to rally for the lives of the unborn and their mothers. So what should we do? Well, precisely what we should have done before and after Roe. We should recognize where the courts and the culture are, and we should work for justice. That means not simply assuming that most people agree with us on marriage. We must articulate, both in and out of the church, why marriage matters, and why its definition isn’t infinitely elastic. We must—like the pro-life movement has done—seek not only to engage our base, those who already agree with us, but to persuade others who don’t. That doesn’t mean less talk about marriage and sexuality but more—and not just in sound bytes and slogans but in a robust theology of why sexual complementarity and the one-flesh union are rooted in the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 5:22-33). We must—also like the pro-life movement—understand the importance of a Supreme Court that won’t will into existence constitutional planks by force of its own will. That requires a persuasive public witness, and a long-term as well as a short-term strategy. That means fighting—as we are doing—for the Court not to invalidate state definitions of marriage and for the culture to recognize that a state that can force people to participate in what they believe to be sin is a state that is too big for the common good. Above all, we must prepare people for what the future holds, when Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality aren’t part of the cultural consensus but are seen to be strange and freakish and even subversive. If our people assume that everything goes back to normal with the right President and a quick constitutional amendment, they are not being equipped for a world that views evangelical Protestants and traditional Roman Catholics and Orthodox Jews and others as bigots or freaks. Jesus told us we would have hard times. He never promised us a prosperity gospel. He said we would face opposition, but he said he would be with us. If we are going to be faithful to his gospel, we must preach repentance—even when that repentance is culturally unwelcome. And we must preach that any sinner can be forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ. That means courage and that means kindness. Sexual revolutionaries will hate the repentance. Buffoonish heretics, who want only to vent paranoia and rally their troops, will hate the kindness. So be it. Our churches must be ready to call out the revisionists who wish to do away with a Christian sexual ethic. And we must be ready to call out those who tell us that acknowledging the signs of the times is forbidden, and we should just keep doing what we’ve been doing. An issue this culturally powerful cannot be addressed by a halfway-gospel or by talk-radio sloganeering. The marriage revolution around us means we must do a better job articulating a theology of marriage to our people, as well as a theology of suffering and marginalization. It means we must do a better job articulating to those on the outside why children need both a Mom and a Dad, not just “parents,” and why marriage isn’t simply a matter of court decree. It means we must start teaching our children about marriage “from the beginning” as male and female when they’re in Sunday school. It means we may have to decide if and when the day will come in which we will refuse to sign the state’s marriage licenses. Long term the prospects for marriage are good. Sexual revolutions always disappoint, and God has designed marriage, biblically defined, to be resilient. But, short term, the culture of marriage is dark indeed. That’s why we have a gospel that is the power of God. This post originally appeared at Moore to the Point.

Understanding the distinctive characteristics of your offspring because of their birth order can dramatically affect your parenting. Here is a concise description of unique birth order qualities. I hope you will see your children in a new way. First Born Newscasters and TV talk show hosts tend to be first born or only children. Prominent examples include: Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, Ted Koppel, Oprah, Donahue, Geraldo, Arsenio Hall and Rush Limbaugh. Over half of U.S presidents were firstborns. Clearly, firstborns are natural leaders. They also tend to be reliable, conscientious and perfectionists who don’t like surprises. Although, firstborns are typically aggressive, many are also compliant people pleasers. They are model children who have a strong need for approval from anyone in charge. Only Children Only children are firstborns in triplicate. They are even more responsible and even bigger perfectionists. They usually get along better with people older than themselves. Middle Child These kids are the most difficult to pin down. They are guaranteed to be opposite of their older sibling, but that difference can manifest in a variety of ways. Middle children often feel like their older brother gets all the glory while their younger sister escapes all discipline. Because the middle child feels that the world pays him less attention, he tends to be secretive; he does not openly share his thoughts or feelings. Middle children may not feel they have a special place in the family so friends and peer groups become much more important. They can usually read people well, they are peacemakers who see all sides of a situation, they are independent and inventive. If a firstborn is a company’s CEO, the middle child is the entrepreneur. Last Born Babies of the family are social and outgoing, they are the most financially irresponsible of all birth orders. They just want to have a good time. Knowing that these kids love the limelight, it’s no surprise to discover that Billy Crystal, Goldie Hawn, Drew Carey, Jim Carey and Steve Martin are all lastborns. While lastborns may be charming, they also have the potential to be manipulative, spoiled or babied to the point of helplessness. The last born is the one who will probably still have a pet name although he’s 29 and has a masters degree. Exceptions? Some variables can affect the above descriptions. For instance, if there are several years between the first and second child, the second child will have some characteristics of a firstborn. Or, if the firstborn is a girl and the second a boy, the son will have some first-born characteristics because he is the family’s first male offspring. Sibling deaths, adoptions and blended families can also upset the traditional birth order. Children are all different and have to be parented in different ways. You need to parent kids differently depending on their birth order. Parenting The First Born Don’t Be an Improver: Your child already feels the need to be perfect in every way. “Improving” tasks your firstborn attempts on her own will only increase the pressure she places on herself. For instance, let’s say you ask your oldest son to make his bed. Being a firstborn he will, of course, seek your approval and want you to see the finished task. If you tell him it looks good but then proceed to fluff the pillow and straighten out wrinkles in the bedspread, you send the message that he could have done better. Take Two-On–One Time: “Firstborns respond better to adult company than children of any other birth order. Firstborns often feel that parents don’t pay much attention to them because they’re always concentrating on the younger ones in the family. Make a special effort to have the first born join you and your spouse in going out alone for a treat, or to run some kind of special errand. Don’t Pile On Responsibilities: Older children often feel as though they do much more work around the house than their younger siblings. Share the duties and errands as soon as young children are capable. And, stay away from making your first born the family’s instant baby sitter. Check with his schedule, just as you would an outside babysitter. Parenting The Middle Child Make Time To Listen: Remember that middle children tend to avoid sharing how they really feel. Although it’s important to set aside time to talk to all of your children, it’s particularly important to make this happen with the middle child because he is least likely to insist on his fair share of time. Allow Child to Make Decisions: Empower your middle child and make him feel special by allowing him to make choices such as who gets to bowl first or what the family will eat for dessert. This will help alleviate feelings of always being overshadowed by older and younger siblings. Update the Family Album: This may sound silly but it truly is important. There tend to be a billion photos of the firstborn and about six of the next child. To a child flipping through the family album, this is a sure sign that he’s not loved as much. Be sure to have photos of the middle child alone, not always paired with the older sibling. Parenting The Last Born Stick to the Rules: The saying “he gets away with murder” is based in reality. Statistics show the lastborn is least likely to be disciplined and the least likely to have to toe the mark the way the older children did. You can be sure your older children are watching you closely! Hand Out Responsibility: Lastborns often wind up with less to do around the house for two reasons. One, they are pros at ducking out of work. And two, they are so little and “helpless” that the rest of the family decides it’s easier to do the work themselves. You want to raise a confident, self-reliant child so don’t promote this helpless image. Applaud Accomplishments: Lastborns are well known for feeling that nothing they do is important. Make a big deal out of accomplishments (you may have seen two other kids learn to ride a bike but it’s the first time for your baby) and be sure he gets his fair share of “marquee time” on the refrigerator. Parents’ Birth Order We’ve been discussing children’s birth orders, but it’s important to realize that parenting style is also influenced by the parent’s own birth order. Parents subconsciously identify with the child who holds the spot in the family they occupied themselves. A lastborn dad might think his youngest antics are cute while mom sees them as irresponsible. Also, firstborns are perfectionists their whole lives. As parents, they may set standards that are difficult for a child to reach. This makes them frustrated and their children unhappy. Find the valuable resources Kevin Leman offers at www.drleman.com/store/.

Maybe this is your journey. Here’s the scene: You’re in a battle with sickness, oppression or some similar need. However, you seek God and, in some way, the grace of God touches your life. Your victory may have come through God’s Word or prayer or some other encouragement, but you absolutely know the Lord delivered you. Using the five smooth stones of divine grace, you defeated your Goliath. But then, a few weeks or months later (or perhaps, years), suddenly all the old symptoms return with a vengeance. If you were struggling with an illness, it manifests now worse than ever; if your battle was regarding a relationship, it seems like all progress has been lost and you are back to square one. Have you ever been there? These negative experiences can drain the faith from your heart to such a degree that you feel you’ll never recover the anticipation of faith again. A spiritual paralysis immobilizes your soul. You may still attend church, but your faith is unresponsive; when others testify of a healing or deliverance, you secretly wait, measuring the time until they, too, lose their healing. For many, the result is one of severe disillusionment. The scripture says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov 13:12). How can you trust God when it seems like He let you down? You wonder: Did I lose my breakthrough or was I only deceiving myself and never really had it? But it is very possible that what you are experiencing is an entirely new spiritual battle, not a loss of God’s blessing. This new war is a very clever and effective deception that Satan uses to try and worm his way back into the lives of those delivered by God. I had been praying about this very thing, this returning battle, when the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, “Goliath had a brother.” I was immediately reminded of David’s war against the Philistine giant. We all know that David became a great hero by trusting God and defeating Goliath. However, later in his life other giants showed up to war against the Lord’s servant. Amazingly, all of them were related to Goliath! Three of these giants were Goliath’s actual children; one, was Goliath’s brother (See 1 Chr 20.). So, after defeating a giant once, David suddenly had to face another giant. Get this point: Goliath had a brother that looked like him. We can imagine that the giant talked like Goliath, fought like him, and probably even smelled like him. Other than saying David was weary, the Bible is silent as to what might have been going through the king’s mind. Perhaps he wondered, “I thought I killed you. What are you doing back?” But, Goliath hadn’t come back. It was the giant’s brother and children that returned; it just looked like the same battle! The truth was, Goliath was dead. Likewise, you also have had many successful victories. JUST BECAUSE THE CURRENT GIANT YOU ARE FACING LOOKS LIKE ONE YOU DEFEATED IN THE PAST, DON’T BUY THE LIE THAT YOU NEVER REALLY WON THE FIRST BATTLE! By the strength of God’s grace, you trusted the Almighty and conquered your Goliath. The first giant is dead. Satan is masquerading as your former enemy so he can slip past your faith and regain entrance into your life. Resist him. Stand in faith (Eph 6). Don’t accept the lie that you were never delivered. The victory that overcomes the world is our faith (1 John 5:4). The Living God who helped you conquer Goliath will empower you to overcome his brother as well. Father, I bring to You Your servants. Lord, some have fought battles that seem to have reoccurred. Like David, they have become weary with fighting this enemy. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, I expose the lie that they had not previously conquered this enemy. In Jesus’ name, I rebuke the enemy. I ask You Lord to send angels to strengthen supernaturally Your people, just as angels often strengthened Jesus. In the name of the Lord. Amen! www.frangipane.org

In John 8:44, Jesus speaks of Satan as “a liar and the father of lies.” Deception is his preferred tool as he attempts to rob God of His glory. Like any other vandal, he seeks to mar all that might reflect the glory of God, and make it unattractive to those searching for truth and relationship. However, he is clever enough to package his lies in appealing ways. Just as he did in the garden, he puts just enough “truth” in the lie to make it plausible. Then he repeats the age-old question, “Did God really say … ?” One such lie has birthed a commonly held misconception in our culture, and many others. On the surface, this misconception seems appealing because it appears to promote peace and harmony. Over the past couple of decades, “tolerance” has become a social dogma so firmly ensconced in our culture, that questioning it can lead to mandated “sensitivity training” or worse (if there is worse!). On the surface, tolerance appears virtuous. After all, doesn’t the Bible teach that we should love all people, and accept them where they are? Yes it does, but tolerance doesn’t teach us to love anyone, only to “put up with them.” It says, “ I won’t mess with you, if you don’t mess with me.” In contrast, love compels me to get involved in other’s lives, to leave my comfort zone, even at my own expense. Tolerance falls short of Jesus’ commission “… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:20). Tolerance is content to leave someone where they are, no matter how harmful their situation. That’s not love, that’s apathy! In essence, tolerance is a form of selfishness that allows me the comfort of ignoring the spiritual condition of others, as long as I “tolerate” them. Casas Assistant Pastor, Darin Hoffman, puts it this way, “I’ll let you be selfish, if you let me be selfish.” A popular bumper sticker spells out the word “coexist” using various religious and ideological symbols. • C – Islams’s crescent and star; • O – Wicca’s pentagram; • E – (=mc2) for science; • X – Judaism’s star of David; • I – Buddhism’s Karma Wheel dotting the i; • S – Taoism’s Tao symbol; • T – Christianity’s cross. The message ? – “All systems of thought and belief are equally valid. It’s OK for you to believe in one of them, as long as you accept all the others.” This is no different than “moral relativism”, the belief that there is no absolute truth; “I have my truth and you have your truth.” And it does nothing to tear down walls. Rather it allows me to build up strong walls with large signs on them that say, “Don’t preach at me and I won’t preach at you!” The technical term for this is “henotheism” A term coined by Max Müller, to mean devotion to a single “God” while accepting the existence of other gods. Müller stated that henotheism means “monotheism in principle and a polytheism in fact.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henotheism) A henotheist may exclusively worship one god, for whatever reasons, while accepting that there are other gods worthy of worship even if he or she chooses not to worship them. From a purely pragmatic point of view, this may appear to be the only path to world peace. It may well be the basis of the false peace the book of Revelation says will be imposed upon the world in the final days. It is only a small step from henotheism to the “truth” of a new god who embodies all of the “truth” from the lesser historical gods. A henotheistic world view requires some difficult re-interpretation of foundational scriptures. What do you do with the following? “You shall have no other gods before (or besides) me. (Exodus 20:3, and Deuteronomy 5:7) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, italics added for emphasis) At best, henotheism reduces Christianity to nothing more than a belief system, a way of thinking. But Christianity is more than that. Unlike any system of thought, Christianity is about relationship with the God who created the universe and everything in it. No other religion teaches that God desires a relationship with us, that he created men and women for communion with Him. No other system of thought teaches that God delights himself in us (Zephaniah 3:17). And no other religion teaches that God Himself sacrificed to buy us back, when we had sold ourselves into sin. The uniqueness of Christianity does not allow it to stand alongside any other as an equal. A difficult paradox for henothesim to address is that Christianity, like several others, identifies its God as the creator of the universe. There can only be one creator of the universe, all others must have been created by that creator. The only way they could all be equal would be if they were, themselves, all products of a “Darwinian creation”. Then, none of them would be the creator, because by Darwinian definition, there is no creator. However, if there is a creator-god, all others must be subservient to that god. And if any subservient god demanded man’s worship, that would be robbing the creator-god of the worship due. Who does that sound like? Again, the devil took him (Jesus) to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8-9) We should answer as Jesus did! Our defense from such subtle deception is to cultivate an intentionally-biblical world-view. It needs to be intentional, or it will never happen. It needs to be biblical, because it needs to be based upon objective truth. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. (Ephesians 4:14) And it needs to be a world-view, in that it is all-encompassing, applied to every facet of life. Henotheism only works if I compartmentalize life. Only then can I ignore contradictions between various thought systems, because they belong to different life compartments. How then, if we are not to embrace “tolerance” as the world preaches it, should I respond to others with differing world-views. A Biblical world-view shows that we are placed in the midst of darkness as lights, beacons to guide the lost to the one true God who loves them and sacrificed His Son for them. We are to do this with compassion and understanding, yet with an urgency prompted by our concern for their eternal destiny. We are to do it with gentleness and patience, never tiring of their dullness of hearing, but constantly holding them up in prayer. And like our God, we are to lovingly sacrifice ourselves for them – that they might see a glimpse of the love God has for them. Adapted from an article written for Casas Magazine

Is Christianity Dying? Christianity is dying. At least, that’s what major newspapers are telling us today, culling research from a new Pew Center study on what almost all sociologists are observing these days—the number of Americans who identify as Christians has reached an all-time low, and is falling. I think this is perhaps bad news for America, but it is good news for the church. The lead editor of the report tells The New York Times that secularization—mainly in terms of those who identify as “nones” or with no specific religious affiliation—isn’t isolated to the progressive Northeast and Pacific Northwest. He notes, “The change is taking place all over, including the Bible Belt.” This is precisely what several of us have been saying for years. Bible Belt near-Christianity is teetering. I say let it fall. For much of the twentieth century, especially in the South and parts of the Midwest, one had to at least claim to be a Christian to be “normal.” During the Cold War, that meant distinguishing oneself from atheistic Communism. At other times, it has meant seeing churchgoing as a way to be seen as a good parent, a good neighbor, and a regular person. It took courage to be an atheist, because explicit unbelief meant social marginalization. Rising rates of secularization, along with individualism, means that those days are over—and good riddance to them. Again, this means some bad things for the American social compact. In the Bible Belt of, say, the 1940s, there were people who didn’t, for example, divorce, even though they wanted out of their marriages. In many of these cases, the motive wasn’t obedience to Jesus’ command on marriage but instead because they knew that a divorce would marginalize them from their communities. In that sense, their “traditional family values” were motivated by the same thing that motivated the religious leaders who rejected Jesus—fear of being “put out of the synagogue.” Now, to be sure, that kept some children in intact families. But that’s hardly revival. Secularization in America means that we have fewer incognito atheists. Those who don’t believe can say so—and still find spouses, get jobs, volunteer with the PTA, and even run for office. This is good news because the kind of “Christianity” that is a means to an end—even if that end is “traditional family values”—is what J. Gresham Machen rightly called “liberalism,” and it is an entirely different religion from the apostolic faith handed down by Jesus Christ. Now, what some will say is that the decline in self-identified Christians is a sign that the church should jettison its more unpopular teachings. And in our day, these teachings are almost always those dealing with pelvic autonomy. First of all, even if this were the key to success, we couldn’t—and wouldn’t—do it. Christianity isn’t a political party, dependent on crafting ideologies to suit the masses. We received this gospel (Gal. 1:11-12); we didn’t invent it. But, that said, such is not the means to “success”—even the way the sociologists define it. The Pew report holds that mainline denominations—those who have made their peace with the Sexual Revolution—continue to report heavy losses, while evangelical churches remain remarkably steady—even against some heavy headwinds coming from the other direction. Why? We learned this answer 100 years ago, and it reminds us of what we learned 2,000 years ago. Two or three generations ago, Christians who held to the Virgin birth of Christ were warned that their children would flee the faith unless the parents redefined Christianity. “If you want to win the next generation,” they were told, “you have to make Christianity relevant, and that means dispending with miracles in favor of modern science.” The churches that followed that path aren’t just dying; they are dead, sustained by endowments and dwindling gatherings of nostalgic senior adults with a smattering of community organizers here and there. People who don’t want Christianity, don’t want almost-Christianity. Almost-Christianity looks in the mainline like something from Nelson Rockefeller to Che Guevara at prayer. Almost Christianity, in the Bible Belt, looks like a God-and-Country civil religion that prizes cultural conservatism more than theological fidelity. Either way, a Christianity that reflects its culture, whether that culture is Smith College or NASCAR, only lasts as long as it is useful to its host. That’s because it’s, at root, idolatry, and people turn from their idols when they stop sending rain. Christianity isn’t normal anymore, and that’s good news. The Book of Acts, like the Gospels before it, shows us that the Christianity thrives when it is, as Kierkegaard put it, a sign of contradiction. Only a strange gospel can differentiate itself from the worlds we construct. But the strange, freakish, foolish old gospel is what God uses to save people and to resurrect churches (1 Cor. 1:20-22). We do not have more atheists in America. We have more honest atheists in America. Again, that’s good news. The gospel comes to sinners, not to the righteous. It is easier to speak a gospel to the lost than it is to speak a gospel to the kind-of-saved. And what those honest atheists grapple with, is what every sinner grapples with, burdened consciences that point to judgment. Our calling is to bear witness. We don’t have Mayberry anymore, if we ever did. Good. Mayberry leads to hell just as surely as Gomorrah does. But Christianity didn’t come from Mayberry in the first place, but from a Roman Empire hostile to the core to the idea of a crucified and resurrected Messiah. We’ve been on the wrong side of history since Rome, and it was enough to turn the world upside down. The future of Christianity is bright. I don’t know that from surveys and polls, but from a word Someone spoke one day back at Caesarea Philippi. The gates of hell haven’t gotten any stronger, and the Light that drives out the darkness is enough to counter every rival gospel, even those gospels that describe themselves as “none.” _________________________ For more on this, see my new book Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel. Re-printed from www.russellmoore.com. Used by permission.

Share 0 The Tolerance of Jezebel in Thyatira (Rev. 2:19-24) people? 19 ‘I know your deeds: your love, faith, service, and steadfast endurance. In fact, your more recent deeds are greater than your earlier ones. 20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and by her teaching deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. (Rev 2:19-20) The followers of the Jewish Christ in the congregation in the city of Thyatira were situated in a very interesting place. This particular congregation was told by Christ Himself that he knew their works. God’s knowledge of the people of Thyatira could have been a dreadful beginning of a merciless charge; instead, this knowledge justified Jesus’ praise. The list of their works is fairly long and explicit. Jesus took notice of love, faith, service, and endurance in their congregational life in very difficult circumstances. He also praised them for increasing the level of their commitment to righteousness. Nevertheless, verse 20 somewhat unexpectedly tempers this celebration by words of stern warning. The image of Jezebel is evoked and it is not easy to untangle the chain of logic. For Israelites, “Jezebel” was a code word for the events associated with her and her husband Ahab. After the split of the Israelite Kingdom into South (Judah) and North (Israel) we are told “Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.” (1 Kings 16:30) He had the distinction of being the most wicked king who ever reigned over Israel. For political expediency and because of his deep distrust of the Lord God of Israel, he married a daughter of a Sidonian king – her name was Jezebel, which in Hebrew ironically means something like “he will trash.” (1 Kings 16:31) Ahab’s excessive ambition for power was coupled with his extreme weakness in the face of the manipulative strategies of his pagan wife. Though Jezebel appears in variety of stories, one of the greatest achievements of her wickedness was her introduction of the worship cults of Baal and Ashtoreth to Northern Israel through her dedication to the program of religious education and temple construction under the watch of Ahab her powerful and, at the same time, reluctant husband. During Ahab’s reign, all the faithful prophets in Israel went into hiding. Elijah was the only prophet who had the courage to oppose Ahab and Jezebel publically, in spite of the threat to his life. The Lord took care of Elijah and God’s people, but he judged both Ahab and Jezebel with violent and dishonorable deaths. (1 Kings 22:34; 2 Kings 9:33) It is not possible to know what or who exactly was referred to by this warning in this passage in Revelation. What was the identity of “Jezebel” who practiced wickedness without opposition or deterrence from the congregational participants in Thyatira? However, what she is accused of doing (deceiving people into sexual immorality and forbidden food consumption by her teaching) matches perfectly with all the previous negative addresses to the other congregations in the letter of Revelation that we have already witnessed. Incidentally (this will become important later) sexual immorality and worship of idols were, according to the ruling of the Jerusalem Council, among the major things forbidden to non-Israelites in Christ. (Acts 15:28-29) 21 I have given her time to repent, but she is not willing to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Look! I am throwing her onto a bed of violent illness, and those who commit adultery with her into terrible suffering, unless they repent of her deeds. It is doubtful that we have here a case of a woman who was simply sexually promiscuous. It is likely that the idea of sexual promiscuity is symbolic of idol worship. We see this clearly in Hosea 1 when immediately after the calling of Hosea, the God of Israel directs him to take a symbolic prophetic action: 2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD.” (Hos 1:2) From this, we see that the harlotry of Hosea’s wife symbolized Israelite idol worship practices at the time of Hosea’s ministry. Just like Jezebel, in this passage in the book of Revelation, Israel’s enticer to sin is given time to repent. (vs. 21) Just like Jezebel, the woman in view (vs.22) will meet a violent death. 23 Furthermore, I will strike her followers with a deadly disease (lit: I will kill with death), and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay each one of you what your deeds deserve. Jesus also threatens not only to judge the Jezebel figure, but also to judge all those who followed her. As in all the other cases prior to this, it is likely that the honoring of the Greco-Roman gods is in view here alongside the worshiping of Israel’s God in Christ. All those who promoted this kind of worship – Israel’s-God-in-Christ-plus-other-key-Roman-deities approach – would be judged swiftly and publicly. Everyone would receive what they deserved; both those who did well and those who did evil. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, all who do not hold to this teaching (who have not learned the so-called “deep secrets of Satan”), to you I say: I do not put any additional burden on you. 25 However, hold on to what you have until I come. It is likely that the “deep secrets of Satan” taught by the Jezebel figure in Thyatira and the things that were discussed under the category of “Nicolaitans” in Pergamum and Ephesus (Rev.2:6, 15) are essentially the same. These are most probably literary ways to refer to the professing followers of the Jewish Christ that were not fully committed to the Lord God of Israel in the context of the Roman Empire’s god-congested universe. Visit eTeacherBiblical.com. Used by permission.

Revelation 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” Once again, like the two previous calls, the one who hears is called to obey. Hebrew has no word for obedience. To hear someone means to obey him. He who obeys is described as conqueror and overcomer. To this particular overcomer, Christ is promising something very special – hidden manna and a white stone with a new secret name. First promise is easier to interpret than the second one. Manna is a symbol of God’s sustenance and provision for the people of Israel in the wilderness as they came out of Egypt in obedience to God’s call, risking their own lives to go to a land they would only later be shown. When Jesus spoke with the Samaritan Israelite woman (John 4), his Judean Israelite disciples were returning from a nearby town with food acceptable for consumption by the Judeans (Ioudaioi). The disciples asked among themselves if perhaps someone already had brought Jesus food. He then answered them that he had something that was now, in this passage in Revelation, also being promised to the one who overcomes – the hidden manna. He said: “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” (Jn.4:32) This secret food that “the rest” did not know about is nothing less than divine energy that is able to provide sustenance in the most unimaginable and perilous circumstances. This characterized the-soon-to-be reality for believers in Pergamum. Jesus promised this energy to the one who obeys God’s words. This is why the one who obeys also is the one who overcomes. As to the identity of the white stone things are more complicated. Among the most-likely interpretations that may fit the context is a suggestion that the white stones, with names of the recipients inscribed, were given to contest winners of the Roman sport races. The white stone inscribed with a personal name presumably served as a pass to a prestigious banquet only attended by the winners. This stone would have been received upon completion of the race. While this is not a particularly Jewish cultural reference, we do know of many biblical examples of the use of Greco-Roman cultural references as illustrations for and by the Jews. For example, the Apostle Paul used many Roman sports metaphors to make his points (Phil. 3:12-14; 1 Cor. 9:24-27; 2 Tim. 4:6-8). The writer of the letter to the Hebrews also employed Roman sport imagery of running a race and receiving a winner’s wreath (See also Hebrews 12:1). This kind of imagery was well known in Judea that housed elaborate sports arenas. This kind of analogy much more closely matches the culture of the Roman city of Pergamum. No doubt the persecuted believers, both Jewish and former pagans, were aware of this practice and the elaborate banquets of honor for the overcomers/winners of the race. Most of the believers did not take part in these games by the virtue of the fact that the games included a dedication to the Roman gods. Christ tells them that in all reality they have not missed out on anything. The real race is the race of perseverance dedicated to Israel’s God. Whoever perseveres in this race and overcomes will receive a pass into the heavenly banquet of eternal honor. Another intriguing possibility continues with the theme of priestly attire as was already used in the letter of Revelation. The high priest’s robe had 12 stones with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. One of the stones was actually white – Yahalom (it was a stone number 6), signifying the 6th son of Leah – Zebulun. What’s important about Zebulun? We read in Is. 9:1-7, quoted in Matt. 4:15 that: “In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” According to this interpretation, the sacred white stone is a symbol of Greco-Romans residing in Galilee who would receive light through the birth of Jesus. Could the secret here be the Messiah himself? Could the white stone point to Jesus through the yahalom stone once adorning the breast of the High Priest of Israel? Perhaps. Used by permission of eteacherbiblical.com.