Tried With Fire

I care deeply about the issue of domestic violence and especially when it occurs within the homes of professing Christians. I've previously stated that the church-at-large has not always handled this well, so I'm thankful anytime there is a discussion about abuse on the Christian intraweb. Here are some recent links, some of which you may find controversial. However, I believe in order for domestic abuse to be addressed, this requires examining one's position on divorce, headship/submission, and gender. These are tightly interwoven threads making the issue very complex. Without a doubt, examination needs to be done in the light of God's Word, but at the same time, the question needs to be asked, "Are we wrong?" This won't be an easy task. The problem of domestic violence isn't going to be solved in a naive or simplistic manner, but saving a life is worth the effort. Fooled by False Leadership - A sermon on domestic abuse by Jason Meyer, April 25,...

Trigger warning: Rape, violence against women, target/victim blaming, objectification. The Bible isn't a book of nice moral stories on how to be a good person. It contains very stark pictures of the sin and the brokenness of mankind after the fall. One of these depictions is in Genesis 34. Jacob's daughter, Dinah, is seen by Shechem, a prince in the city where they are sojourning. He takes her and rapes her. Then he wants to marry her. What follows is mutual deceit on both sides. Shechem's father suggests they strike a bargain and begin to intermarry, which is agreed upon by Simeon and Levi but only if the men are circumcised. The men of Shechem think this is a small price to pay because they will eventually assimilate Jacob's family and his wealth. But Simeon and Levi are plotting to kill them in their weakness and not only that - they have misused and abused a covenant sign from God to exact their revenge. Once the deed is done, Jacob's sons take the property...

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:22-25. "There is all the difference between the groan of death and the groan of life. Now, the apostle sets the whole matter before us when he said, "The whole creation groaneth," and you know what comes after that, "travaileth." There is a result to come of it of the best kind. We are panting, longing after something greater, better, nobler, and it is coming. It is not the pain of death we feel, but the pain of life. We are thankful to have such a groaning." C.H. Spurgeon, Creation's Groans and the Saints...

We're writing about the local church this month at Out of the Ordinary , and it's my turn again: I love the local church, and I stand by everything I've ever said or  written  about my faith family. But Christian community isn't always easy. It requires commitment, perseverance, and sometimes it's necessary to roll up one's sleeves and fight for it. But the fight may not be against another person. I've learned that the battle is often against myself. Read the rest of the post ...

Without "absolutes" revealed from without by God Himself, we are left rudderless in a sea of conflicting ideas about manners, justice, and right and wrong, issuing from a multitude of self-opinionated thinkers. We could never know who God is, how He is to be worshipped, or wherein true happiness lies. If virtue is sought above harm as a road to temporal happiness, the striving and the progress starts and ends in self - but selfishness is itself a vice! No attitude of mind which does not acknowledge dependence upon Almighty God and seek to glorify Him has any element of good or virtue in it. If the mind of a student is ensnared by these theories and speculations, he will find it a sore task ever to be free of them. Indeed, it is a dolorous task, and something beyond the potential of the slothful or careless, to root out mercilessly ideas and dogmas with which the intellect has long been nurtured. With the world, indwelling sin, and early education all arguing the same way, i...

Let it be admitted on all sides that God, by His right of creation, is the supreme Lord of all things. Then their very existence consists in dependence upon Him, and they conform to that nature which He has implanted in each one of them. All creatures, by the fact that they are created, each with its due proportion of capacity and talent, are equipped to worship their Creator and to serve him. "All Thy works shall praise Thee" (Psalm 145:10). For this reason, we see the psalmist frequently urging all of creation to praise God. The eternal and unchanging method of divine worship is preached and practiced by all of the Church, be it militant upon earth or crowned in heaven; that is, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasures they are and were created" (Rev. 4:11). with which sings in concert the entire throng of creatures, "and every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, an...