Tried With Fire

In Unfollow , when Megan Phelps-Roper and her sister, Grace, left the Westboro Baptist Church and, by extension, their family, one of their struggles was with their relationship. They loved and supported one another, but they never learned how to disagree. In most families, kids learn to compromise and work things out, but not so in their family. Total agreement was expected. "We had never learned to "agree to disagree ," because to church members, such a concept was blasphemous. Can two walk together, except they be agreed? What communion hath light with darkness?"  At Westboro,  every decision had moral implications. Every question had a single correct answer. Miscommunication required blame, and mistakes required punishment. My sister and I knew how to cajole, issue ultimatums, attribute ill motives, and assign moral failure to the other party in a dispute, but we couldn't compromise and we couldn't move forward without a resolution as to which one of...

"Fellowship with Him."—1 John 1:6. When  we were united by faith to Christ, we were brought into such complete fellowship with Him, that we were made one with Him, and His interests and ours became mutual and identical. We have fellowship with Christ in His love. What He loves we love. He loves the saints—so do we. He loves sinners—so do we. He loves the poor perishing race of man, and pants to see earth's deserts transformed into the garden of the Lord—so do we. We have fellowship with Him in His desires. He desires the glory of God—we also labour for the same. He desires that the saints may be with Him where He is—we desire to be with Him there too. He desires to drive out sin—behold we fight under His banner. He desires that His Father's name may be loved and adored by all His creatures—we pray daily, "Let Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven." We have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings. We are not nailed to the ...

I just finished Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of Fred Phelps. This isn't solely a book review. I will give a synopsis with some quotes for reflection because it should be a caution to us all.   After being steeped in the culture of Westboro Baptist (WBC) her entire life, Phelps-Roper took on the task of being the Twitter arm for WBC. But exposure to those who disagreed with her began to chip away at all she had been taught. Some of her opponents tried to befriend her and discuss the issues at hand, not just trade insults The more she realized their humanity, the harder it became for her to toe the family line. She became more aware of the inconsistencies with the Scripture they professed to uphold, self-justifications, and mistreatment within the church and of those outside. Her whole sense of reality was shaken because Westboro's mission was her life . This internal conflict reached a point where...

For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. (Psalm 94:14) No, nor will He cast even so much as one of them. Man has his castoffs, but God has none; for His choice is unchangeable, and His love is everlasting. None can find out a single person whom God has forsaken after having revealed Himself savingly to him. This grand truth is mentioned in the psalm to cheer the heart of the afflicted. The Lord chastens His own; but He never forsakes them. The result of the double work of the law and the rod is our instruction, and the fruit of that instruction is a quieting of spirit, a sobriety of mind, out of which comes rest. The ungodly are let alone till the pit is digged into which they will fall and be taken; but the godly are sent to school to be prepared for their glorious destiny hereafter. Judgment will return and finish its work upon the rebels, but it will equally return to vindicate the sincere and godly. Hence we may bear the rod of chastis...

The Torrey Gazette is running a series this month on the importance of theology for women. I am honored to be one of the contributors, and my post is up today. You can follow the hashtag #TheologyforWomenMatters on Twitter to stay up to date with this series. Infusing myself into the stories of the Bible was all I ever knew. I grew up in a Christian home. I loved Jesus. I loved the Bible, and I thought I knew the Bible pretty well. But when it came down to it, the point was to find myself in the text. Doesn't everyone do this? After all, this is how we can find out how God is going to take care of us in a given situation by putting ourselves in the sandals of David, Abraham, Joseph, etc.  Read the rest here.

"Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are My people, saith the LORD God" (Ezekiel 34:30). To be the LORD's own people is a choice blessing, but to know that we are such is a comfortable blessing. It is one thing to hope that God is with us and another thing to know that He is so. Faith saves us, but assurance satisfies us. We take God to be our God when we believe in Him; but we get the joy of Him when we know that He is ours and that we are His. No believer should be content with hoping and trusting; he should ask the LORD to lead him on to full assurance, so that matters of hope may become matters of certainty. It is when we enjoy covenant blessings and see our LORD Jesus raised up for us as a plant of renown that we come to a clear knowledge of the favor of God toward us. Not by law, but by grace do we learn that we are the LORD's people. Let us always turn our eyes in the direction of free grac...

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry" (Habakkuk 2:3). Mercy may seem slow, but it is sure. The LORD in unfailing wisdom has appointed a time for the outgoings of His gracious power, and God's time is the best time. We are in a hurry; the vision of the blessings excites our desire and hastens our longings; but the LORD will keep His appointments. He never is before His time; He never is behind. God's word is here spoken of as a living thing which will speak and will come. It is never a dead letter, as we are tempted to fear when we have long watched for its fulfillment. The living word is on the way from the living God, and though it may seem to linger, it is not in reality doing so. God's train is not behind time. It is only a matter of patience, and we shall soon see for ourselves the faithfulness of the LORD. No promise of His ...