Does Ephesians Really Teach THAT?

I recently listened to a woman describe her latest Bible study book and share some things she was learning from it. She was referring to a Bible study book, not the actual Bible. As with the vast majority of Christians, she was learning from a human author, not the Author of the Bible.

I digress.

This woman was very excited about her new Bible study book labeled "Ephesians." She said it was a verse-by-verse study of the Book of Ephesians and was enamored by what the author brought out. That day's "study" covered the first two verses of Ephesians chapter 1:

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The author of the book then proceeded to teach her readers what she thought the passage was saying:

"God has a will for your life. God has a plan for your life. How exciting to know that God has a plan and a will for your life! Be assured that if God has a will for your life, He will fulfill it in you!

In the notes section of this study, write down five things you will do this week to fulfill God's will in your life."

Ladies and gentlemen, this is wrong. 

These two verses are not teaching that God has a will for your life. What these verses are teaching:

Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus. 

Paul identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. 

He said his apostleship was by the will of God. 

He addresses the saints at Ephesus.

He addresses the faithful in Christ Jesus. 

He extends grace to them, and peace, from God. 

He identifies God as "our father," using a possessive plural pronoun. 

He includes Jesus Christ in the grace and peace. 

He identifies Jesus Christ as Lord. 

There is no application in these verses, yet they are just as powerful as all other verses in the Bible. 

Here's how to study the Bible:

Read what it says.

Do not read anything into it.

Do not filter it through past teachings you've heard.

Read it again.

Ask God to help you understand.

Read it again.

Read it again.

Determine the context of the words by reading what came before and after the verses you're reading.
Ask yourself who's writing, who they are writing to, where they are, where their intended audience is, whether they are writing to an individual or a group, if there is more than one person writing, who the writer is in relationship to the recipient(s), etc.

Read it aloud. 

Look up confusing words in a Bible dictionary (not a regular dictionary) or lexicon to clarify their meaning.

Read it aloud again. 

Memorize it.

Read it again.

Think of it as you go through your day.

Read it again.

Take no one's word for what the Bible says.

Take no one's word for what the Bible teaches.

Read only the Bible, not a commentary or Bible study book.

Read it again.

It will nourish your soul.

You will grow.
The Holy Spirit, not a human author, is your guide.

The answer to the blog title is, No. Ephesians, in these two verses, is not teaching what the book author taught, that God has a will and plan for your life. Do not be fooled by this teaching; it is Secular Humanism. 

God has so much more for you in His Word. Do not settle for shallow teaching that only fills the human ego and does nothing for the soul. Stop shortchanging your Christian walk with books and faux "Bible" studies that water down and filter God's Word.

I'll never forget when my son was deployed to Iraq for the first time. It was 2004, the war was hot and heavy and my son was so very young - just 19. Nineteen. I wrote him a letter every single day and he would often receive them in batches so I made sure I numbered them so he'd know what order they came in. He wrote a few letters to me during this time, too, and I remember being glued to those letters, taking in every word, studying his handwriting, looking for a hidden message that would tell me he's ok. I was breathless when reading his letters. I still have every single one. I realized I would never be satisfied if someone else read his letters for me then summarized them. I would never have taken anyone else's word for anything he said. I had to see for myself! I had to read each and every letter over and over and over till I had them practically memorized.

This is a good reminder on how to approach God's Word. Take no one else's summary or thoughts, but go directly to God yourself and see what He has to say to you.

~Tricia

Do You Love your Toothbrush?

"You own your spouse like you own your toothbrush." This is a quote from a sermon I once heard. This sermon was preached in a Regular Baptist Church by a pastor who serves on leading councils in his circles. His text was Ephesians 5:22, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Based on this verse alone, this pastor went on to preach a one-sided sermon filled with heresy and falsehoods. He claimed that this applies to both men and women in that they "own" their spouse like they own their toothbrush.

Another statement made in the sermon was, "The word 'own' is emphasized in the Greek, making it the focus of this verse. God wants us to know we own our spouses!"

Friends, this is heresy and I have found that people who teach heresy are getting away with it right and left. We do not own our spouse like we own our toothbrush!

Toothbrushes are disposable........People are not disposable.

Toothbrushes can be bought and sold.....People are not to be bought and sold. 

The word "own" in this verse is the Greek word "idios" which literally means "peculiar, individually, privately."  It is not emphasized in the Greek as was taught. In the context of Ephesians 5:22, it is used to show that a woman's husband is peculiar to her as a husband, not owned like a toothbrush. She does not "own" him in the sense of owning a possession.

Heresy creeps in a little at a time. A pastor misuses a passage like this, then a few weeks later misuses another passage, and that goes on for a while and before you know it, the church has gone down the slippery slope of false teaching. In another sermon, I heard this same pastor say, "The wife is just the husband in another body." Heresy. Clear as a bell.

God's Word, and the preaching thereof, is never a little thing. It is how God manifests His Word in our hearts. It's how He has chosen to make Himself known to man. I never take the preaching of the Word lightly and I will fight false teaching with all my might, no matter what the cost. Be vigilant. Search the Scriptures to see if what you are being taught is true and right.

~Tricia

You Wanna See Grace at Work?

I grew up living in fear. Between threats of harm, guns being held to my mother's head right before my very eyes, beatings that left me black and blue and the screams of my mother and siblings, fear was a constant companion of mine from as far back as I remember. My dad ruled with alcohol and terror, losing control so quickly that I would never see it coming.

So, I knew fear. Fear was my friend. It helped me, protected me, made me aware of impending harm and was as natural to me as my hands. I wouldn't think of going without my fear any more than I would think of cutting off my hands.

Then, when I was 18 years old, I heard about this man, Jesus, Who died for my sin....and I heard that he rose up from the dead.....and I was enraptured with that very idea. How could it be? How could it not be? I became a believer.

My fear remained.

I got married - to a Baptist preacher no less.

My fear remained.

I started having kids.

My fear remained.

By age 26, I had two kids.

My fear remained.

What did I fear? You name it. I feared everything.

I feared being home alone because I knew a gunman would know I was home alone and would strike at that time.

I feared going places because I knew a car accident could happen at any moment, killing me and leaving my children motherless.

I feared medicine because someone could have tampered with it and it would kill me.

I feared. Everything.

One day, I heard a news story about a couple who was killed by their disgruntled repairman. He left their 7-month-old daughter to fend for herself until her parents' bodies were discovered two days later. A horrid story, I took it personally. In my irrationally fearful state, I thought sure that same man could do the same to us. I had a 7-month-old daughter at the time. I grew increasingly fearful to the point where fear completely took over my life. I could barely function for fear.

It never one time occurred to me to pray about my fear. It didn't enter my mind that my fear could be wrong, irrational, unnecessary or "unChristian-like." It just was. My fear was there as much as my hair was on my head; it was part of me. I didn't even feel the need or desire to rid myself of it.

Enter grace.

One night, my husband was sick and could not get up and check the house for whatever noise I'd heard. While I hid most of my fear from him, nightly rounds through the house because I'd heard a noise were common. This one night, he was too sick to wake up. It was left to me to check the house. It took me an hour to check on the kids in their rooms then make my way downstairs. I started this trek down the stairs at 2:00 AM and ended up in the kitchen at 3:00 AM. I checked every door, every lock, every window, turning on all the lights as I passed them by.

Then, it was 3:15 AM, I was wide awake and scared out of my mind. I had no choice but to sit up all night for fear that my dreaded gunman would come because my husband was too sick to defend us. I sat up on the couch till 5:00 AM, totally alert and rigid, ready to protect my children from this awful gunman who would kill parents of babies and leave the babies alone for days.

At 5:00 AM, I thought it was finally safe to go to bed. After all, gunmen do their bloody work in the night. 5:00 AM is a safe hour.  I crawled back into bed, expecting to get three hours of sleep before the kids would wake up.

But, sleep would not come. Instead, I had an extremely startling thought. "What if a gunman killed you; you'd be in Heaven with Jesus; what's so bad about that?"

Ack! No, no! I thought aloud, "I can't leave my children motherless!!"

My next thought, "What? God cannot care for your children? He is God, after all; they are His children."

My thought-conversation continued with, "But we are just human! How could my children endure this?"

Then this:

"I will now lay me down in peace and sleep, for, Thou, Lord, only makes me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

"Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither the desolation of the wicked, when it comes." Proverbs 3:25

My next thought, "I don't need my fear! This is totally unnecessary! Whoa!"

Grace.

I have never felt the fear since.

If someone had suggested to me that I needed to rid myself of that fear, I would not have listened nor taken them seriously.

If someone has told me that my fear was sin, I would have thought they were out of their mind.

If someone had told me I needed to pray about my fear, I would not have listened but would have thought they didn't know what they were talking about.

Only God can change a human heart.

No amount of persuasion would have taken my fear like grace did. In one fell swoop, with no fanfare, God, in His unthinkable, unstoppable grace, took my fear and I have lived free from it ever since.

This, my friends, is the living God we serve.

This, my friends, is what our God can do in your life, no matter what you are struggling against......or as it was with me, not struggling against anything at all. I didn't struggle with my fear. I just accepted it as part of me and had planned to live with it for the rest of my life.

God had better plans.

I had nothing whatsoever to do with it..

"It is God Who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure."  Philippians 2:13.

Trust His grace.
No appointment necessary.
Read my full story here.
Praise be.
~Tricia

The Grace Path

Grace is a wonder. God is the Author of all grace.....I Peter 5:10. Grace is huge. At the end of nearly every letter written to the churches of the New Testament, the writers wrote of grace to the readers. "Grace be with you all," "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all," and my favorite, "But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (II Peter 3:18) 

But, how do we grow in grace? How do we access grace in our lives? How can we know we have grace?

There is a path to grace. For the sake of time and space limitations, I've summarized the path of grace into three steps. These are not steps you can take for a result, they are steps that God has already put in place and that He takes in your life. Grace is His. 

The steps of grace:

Learn > Desire > Action

First, we learn of grace.....meaning we learn of Him, our Savior Christ. In Matthew 11:29, Christ says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me..."  Step one: we learn from Him. Since He is the Author of grace, there is no better teacher of grace! 

Learning from Him and about Him has remarkable results. Just simply learning of Him changes our lives. This change can barely be defined as we go about our lives. We don't really see it happening, but one day, as we are going about our lives, we find old desires slowly being replaced by new ones. 

This is grace at work. 

This is God's work in your life. 

You did not create these changes by your strict obedience or anything else.

It is God. Even the very desire to learn of Him comes from Him. 

One day, you notice that your desires are filtered through God's Word, a system of thinking that you have never experienced before. You begin to change. 

This is grace at work.

It is God.

This change taking place in you has a mysterious focus. Suddenly, you want to tell others about your Jesus. You find yourself motivated to look for opportunities to share His love and grace with others. This leads to teaching, serving, prayer and a host of other actions. 

Service = a sign of grace at work in your life.

God's grace. Grace at work.

Philippians 2:13, "For it is God that works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."

God works IN you. 

My husband once said......"We are totally saved by grace, while totally depraved." I added, "In need of total grace."  

Totally saved while totally depraved in need of total grace.

It is God. 

Learn of Him.

Your desire to serve Him comes from that learning.

You will become driven to action by that desire.

Grace be to you.

~Tricia

The Devil Has Plans for You

I heard on the news about the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) wanting to remove the Name of Jesus Christ - and other references to God and Christianity - from their official literature, going so far as to tell people not to pray in Jesus' Name. The video linked here shows an excellent report on how and why this is being pursued.

This is the devil's talk. This is how the devil talks every time he talks. And he does not talk only within organizations like the DAR, he talks in church. A lot.

In a church building, in recent years, I've heard the following from lay leadership:

"It doesn't have to be about Jesus all the time."

"If you would just calm down about Jesus."

"I see no reason to study this passage (of Scripture)."

"You need to set aside the Word of God and have a passion for God."

"The Bible is like an idol to you. It's like you worship It!"  (Said to me, personally)

When I first starting hearing this kind of talk, I didn't know it was the devil talking.  A good friend from Togo, Africa, taught me that this is how the devil talks. Every time. Without exception. And his demons repeat this talk over and over and over until some ill-prepared or professing "Christian" falls for it and begins to repeat it themselves.

This should not take us by surprise, although being outraged is a good and appropriate response.  I Peter 5:8 tells us, in no uncertain terms, what is going on with this:  "Be sober; be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour."

Breaking it down, we see the following from the Greek:

Be sober................be self-controlled/sober-minded
Be vigilant..............be watchful/stay awake/be alert
Your adversary......accuser/enemy/slanderer/wicked person
Walks about..........imitates
Seeking.................trying to find information
Devour.................swallow

Well, will you look at that? We are to be aware of his methods; God has clearly laid them out for us to see, know and understand.  There is no guess work involved. Yet, many in churches tolerate the type of talk I quoted above. This is completely unconscionable to me. He, our adversary, is actively looking to find information about us so he can see who is vulnerable and unprepared for his attacks. He imitates us so as not to raise suspicion about himself. His words become quite plausible when paired with the human ego, which is not watching out for anything but its own good.

I hope the members of the DAR will rise up and protest this removal of Jesus to a very large degree and stop it.

But, more than that. Oh, so much more than that, I hope Christians will finally stand up and stop this talk of removing Jesus from the church!  I wish people would become outraged when a brother or sister in Christ is told to "calm down about Jesus" and accused of idol worship because they are wholly committed to God's Word. We have to be watchful. We have to be vigilant. We will be swallowed up if we are not.

Anything less is Ichabod.  Once you have seen and experienced Ichabod, you will not ever look at this issue the same way. You will be so watchful and vigilant that people will tell you that you are mentally ill (as I was told). I suppose I'd rather be mentally ill than swallowed up by the devil!

The devil has plans for you. What are you going to do about that?  I Peter 5:9 has the answer: "Resist steadfast in the faith." Staying steadfast in the faith is an act of resisting the devil.

~Tricia

One Conversation = Me Undone

I work part-time as our church's administrative assistant.  And when I say part-time, I really mean part-time... only 6 - 8 hours a week.  Every Monday, I prepare copies of our service dvd to send out to different people, and I also mail our weekly bulletin and prayer list.  The vast majority of people I mail these things to are shut-ins who can't get out to church any more.

Yesterday as I was preparing these mailings, one of our young deacons came into the office to use the dvd copier.  Since I was already using it, he had to wait, so we chatted while I prepared the envelopes for the mailings.  As I put the address labels on, he was asking about the work I was doing, then he looked at an actual label.  He saw a lady's name on a label, but he didn't recognize the name.  He asked me, "Who is that?" I told him her name, even though he could read it on the label. I explained how this particular lady is quite elderly and could not get out to go to church, so we send her a bulletin and things so she'll still know what is happening in her church.  He said, "I don't know her."

I said, "No, I don't suppose you would know her."

He said, "How long has it been since she came to church?"

Me: "Oh, it's been quite a while. Years."

Him:  "I have to meet her!  I have to know her!"

Me: "Of course!  That's a great idea! Pastor Dave will take you and you can meet her. I know she would love to meet you!"

Him: "If I go see her, she might feel good. She might think, 'Oh, he came to see me!' and be so happy and I could cheer her up.  I really need to go and meet her and visit her."

Me: "Yes!  Go see her. Cheer her up!  She would love it."

And he went on to ask me about each name on each label, wanting to know their stories and why they can't come to church. His heart was touched; he was nearly overcome with burden for these people, many of whom he'd never met.

And I was undone.  He has a real heart for ministry.  He has a real love for people. His heart is tender and open.  He feels a personal responsibility to each and every person on my mailing list and only saw what HE, himself could possibly do to lighten their load. He was overwhelmed with burden for them because to him, not being able to go to church is a devastating idea indeed.

James 1:27 says, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."  The Bible, Itself, does not mention the word "religion" very much at all.  That makes sense since Christianity is not a religion. But, in this verse, it is summed up very well.  The context is being hearers only of the Word, but not doers, thus deceiving ourselves.

As the preacher's wife, my perch beside my husband often has me viewing the not-to-pretty side of ministry. This conversation with this young deacon helped me reset my priorities. I do believe I have a lot to learn from this young man and I am humbled at the very idea. The focus is Jesus Christ. His focus is people in genuine need.

My word.
Praise be.
~Tricia

Beware Your Liberty...

I've heard people say, "Well, we don't have to go to church," or "We don't have to go" to this or that meeting at church just because it's scheduled when it is.  We don't have to go.........we don't have to give..........we don't have to work with difficult people...........we don't have to!

Beware this trend in your heart.  If, in the process of "practicing your liberty" in Christ, you find yourself using this liberty as an excuse for what you have grown weary of in your church, or in your life, you'd better wake up and check your salvation pulse. You might be dead.  No, it would not mean you have lost your salvation, but it might mean you were never a child of God's to begin with.

Our Christian liberty is not given to us to be exercised in freedom from service to Him; it is given to us so that we are free to serve Him.

The writer of Hebrews brings this home in a very real way.  In chapter 10, he admonishes us as follows:

²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ 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.

This does not mean  "Let us" as in a command.  It means "Let us" in that we are no longer hindered from doing what he has said.  It means to no longer be hindered. The tense of the verb is present - we ARE no longer hindered to consider one another.  

Our liberty in Christ is not a ticket to do what we want, or not do what we don't want to do; it's a ticket to serving Him unhindered.  

Praise be.

~Tricia

The Dilemma of Human Behavior

Oops! It happened again!

I recently attended a women's retreat and the speaker veered away from God's Word in a huge way.  In her opening introduction to her presentation of the weekend, she said, "You can memorize God's Word all you want, but unless you apply it to your life, it won't do any good!"   

And I sat in the audience and thought, "Hmmm.  Really?" 

Her entire presentation that weekend was all about application.  Verses were aplenty, but they were  nearly all taken out of context.  Quite frankly, the Word wasn't used during her talks, It was only presented to us in list format, with her supposed application following.  Not one time did this speaker ask us to open our Bibles.  Not one time did she open hers.  She had her notes neatly typed out in front her and that was her platform.  I was so disappointed I nearly cried.  Then I berated myself for not bringing my Kindle instead of my print Bible so that I could not only read the Bible on the Kindle, but I could play Scrabble during her presentations since they were of no value to me.

Instead, I sat there with my closed Bible on my lap and got beaten up the entire weekend.  And so did the ladies I took with me.  And that was the hardest part.

Herein lies the dilemma of human behavior.  Many teachers and leaders, pastors included, get an idea of what Christianity looks like and they tailor their teaching to that look.  They have to set aside God's Word in order to accomplish this, however.  They are so focused on human behavior, instead of God's Word, that they actually end up abandoning the Word to accomplish what they perceive as better results in the behavior of their listeners! Oh, my.

Let me tell you something about God's Word.  You cannot change Its effects on your life by any decision you may or may not make. God has plans for His Word.  It is God's Word and these are His plans.  Even in my great power and might as a human being (sarcasm dripping here), I cannot change God's plan for His Word.  God states, "So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth.  It will not return unto me void, but it will accomplish that which I please."  Isaiah 55:11  In this, He was comparing His Word to rain and snow and how they water the earth to bring forth fruit later on.  And rain and snow do that every year. We know this since we have not all starved to death.

Some might argue that we have to make the decision to follow God's Word, hence the importance of application.  Really?  Is that what Jeremiah did when he decided not to talk about God any more?  Yep, that's right.  He was being so horribly persecuted, belittled and mocked that he decided that was it, he just wouldn't talk about God any more.    What happened when Jeremiah made the decision to stop talking about God?  Jeremiah 20:9 says, "Then I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His Name."  So, that was Jeremiah's big decision. He had it all under control.  Human decision - the power within - you decide - it's up to you.  But, reading the rest of the verse, we see a different outcome, "But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding It back, and I could not."

Wow!  God's Word was like a burning fire in Jeremiah and he grew weary of NOT talking about It, even in the face of brutal persecution.  Jeremiah's decision had nothing to do with God, but it had everything to do with his humanity.  But, God's Word is too much for humanity.  Jeremiah could not fulfill  his decision. He could not hold back.  God was in control.  His Word had so sharply penetrated Jeremiah that he could not hold back even though he tried with all his might.

To teach a group of ladies that they can memorize God's Word without result is teaching them a lie.  God's Word is alive, and powerful, and will do what God sends It to do.  Jesus is the Word. 

Little by little, teachers and speakers such as this woman chip away at faith in Christ and put their faith in Secular Humanism, which causes them to focus on human behavior.  The dilemma of human behavior is that each person gets the freedom to be grown through sanctification at their own rate of growth, which God controls. We are to conform to His image, not one that a church or individual has outlined for us.  Human behavior is very deceptive; we see one certain action and reach conclusions from that action and those conclusions are not always accurate.  Actually, they are rarely accurate.

For example, I wear miniskirts - almost exclusively.  I have found them to be the most comfortable with the best fit, so that's what I consciously shop for.  Does that look like Christianity?  Aren't I being a little "non-pastor's-wife-ish" by doing that?  Aren't I ruining a testimony of Christ in my community?  Aren't I even being liberal?

Uh, no.

You see, I'm under 5' tall.  Miniskirts come all the way down to my knees, and even lower.  They are perfect for short people! (Well, not all short people, maybe, but certainly women who want to wear skirts.)

Teachers and preachers, stick ONLY to God's Word.  You, and your listeners, would be much better off if you abandoned the "application process" altogether and just give out the Word.  God will handle it from there.  He knows what to do.  He knows where It needs to grow.  Stick to the Word. Only the Word. Your faith will increase, your listeners will grow, and you will come to realize that your applications weren't all that great to begin with.

I appreciated Dr. Daniel Davies at the annual GARBC conference a few years ago. He was the main speaker of the conference and after each message, instead of making application, he said, "This is how this passage of Scripture impacted my life," and proceeded to tell us how he, personally, had grown by studying the given passage.  And then he closed in prayer.  And, ever since, I have gone back to the passages he taught again and again and learned and grown more. And, yes, I did thank him.  

~Tricia

Application....Do We Own the Results?

I struggle with people applying the Bible to my life.  I've heard preachers, workshop leaders and event speakers be very adamant about how God's Word "should" apply to my life.  I'm not against the application process; I hope, pray, wish, believe, etc., that God will apply His Word to my life and grow in me thereby.  However, the application process in the modern church, as well as modern Bible study, has taken a disturbing turn toward a humanistic trend.

The bottom line is this:  God will apply His Own Word to my life in His Own way.  We, as teachers of the Word of God, cannot own the results our students have.

Case in point:  I once attended a scrapbook and crafting retreat on a weekend in which I was under extreme stress in my personal life.  The things on my plate were so overwhelming that I had spent quite a bit of time in prayer, thanking God for the opportunity for me to go to the retreat and praising Him for all the details that had fallen into place to allow me to go.  I love to scrapbook and the fact that this was a Christian retreat where the Word of God would be focused on was just bonus to me.  Before the first teaching session, I recall sitting at my table, looking out the window and breathing a sigh of relief over the beauty of the lake outside and my opportunity to be there.

Then came the first teaching session.  The speaker had chosen to speak about remembering God's Word and His great works in the lives of His children, and the Israelites' reaction of murmuring and being ungrateful. Very little of God's actual Word was used, other than to read the account of the murmurings, then the speaker spent the next 20 minutes telling us how ungrateful we are and how grateful we should be and how we should not be like the Israelite people and that we are not grateful enough in our lives and God is not happy.

Hmmm.  Ok.  I fully believe the speaker had the best of intentions.  You might be thinking, "Hey!  Maybe some ungrateful lady in that audience needed to hear that!  It's not all about you, Tricia."  But, I would disagree that anyone needed to hear that.  I would agree that it's not all about me.  No one needed to hear this speaker's opinion, but we ALL needed to hear more of God's Word and more about God, Himself.

The speaker made a grave mistake in her presentation:  She "owned" the results.  She had decided ahead of time what we ladies should learn from her - and from God's Word - and that's what she presented.  She fueled her talk on the expected results - results that were extremely humanistic and filled with anti-Biblical concepts.  I was incredibly discouraged as we went back to our work tables and I was quiet, which is rare for me.  I didn't get peace until I spent time in God's Word back in my room, focusing on His attributes.  But, I was still disturbed because of all the other ladies who had just been put through that.

I fully understand the lean toward results.  Our schools are built on results. I approach my home school with a results-oriented focus.  I approached Kindergarten with the expected result that my children would learn to read and I tailored their studies to that goal.  As they get older, I approach each year with results in mind.  But, that is academic and academic goals are necessary to academic success.

God's Word cannot be approached purely academically.  There are times when we can teach it from an academic standpoint.  For example, memorizing the books of the Bible is an academic goal, reading through the Bible in a year is an academic goal, most word studies are academic goals.  But, preaching and teaching the Word of God to an audience is different. It's not academic.

God, Himself, describes His Word using food examples.  He calls His Word the "sincere milk of the Word, " (Hebrews) and "meat," (Hebrews).   Now, just think about that for a minute.  When we consume milk and/or meat, we do not have a talk with that milk or meat and tell it what to do. Nor do we talk to a body part and tell it how to absorb that milk or meat.  We do not say, as we eat our meat, "Meat, my arms are feeling especially tired today, would you please direct yourself to them?"  or "I'm having a bad hair day, milk, so would you please direct yourself to my hair?"  Nor do we say, "Hair, I'm going to drink some milk, so take this milk and shine up with it!  Stop being so dull and difficult to manage!"  or "Arms!  Get stronger as I eat this meat!  Take this meat and apply it to yourselves and strengthen yourself with it!"

How ridiculous!  We do not do that!  We cannot even do that!  But, that is exactly what someone is trying to do when they attempt to apply God's Word to another person's life.  The result does not pan out as they expect, frustration ensues and the person whom the expectations is thrust onto is left feeling worse than before, and much like a failure.

The great thing about the Word of God is that we do not have to direct It in any way.  God knows the hearts of the listeners, hearers, readers of His Word and He will see to it that His Word accomplishes what he sends It to accomplish!  What a relief for any Bible teacher or preacher!  The results are not ours to own.

So, how do we present God's Word without a results-oriented plan?  Just give the Word. Just like a mom gives her baby milk. She knows the milk will cause her baby to grow without her directing it and telling it what to do.  It will fuel that baby and the baby will grow.  The same is true for God's Word.  Give the Word, not your opinions of the Word.  Give the Word, not what you think the person listening should do, think, say or feel.  Just give the Word. It is enough all by Itself.  God owns the results and they will always astound!

More on this to come.
~Tricia

Mentioning Jesus/Giving the Gospel

Mentioning Jesus at the end of a funeral message is not the same as giving the Gospel at a funeral.  Just so you know.

My husband attended the funeral of one of our members this week.  Even though the person was a member of our church, my husband did not preach the funeral.  We have no idea why he wasn't invited to do just that; it's normally a given with a sitting pastor.  But, another man preached the funeral and my husband attended.  And this other preacher did not give the Gospel message - not even once - during his message.  He mentioned Jesus at the end of his message, but that is not the same as giving the Gospel message.

My husband is troubled.  His burden - as ANY pastor's burden - is to lead his flock in light of the Gospel at all times.  A funeral is always attended by those who do not know the Savior and they need the Gospel. Not only so they can know Him, but the Gospel eases the pain of their hearts at a time of utter human sorrow.  My husband always preaches the Gospel at every funeral, without fail.  He has preached literally to thousands through funerals over his 29 years in the ministry and he has given the Gospel at every single one of the funerals he's preached.

So, the saddest part of the day is not the fact that this family laid their loved one to eternal rest. She's in Glory with her Savior.  The saddest part of the day is that NOT ONE person heard the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ at her funeral.  So, so very, very sad.

Where does my theology come into this?  A deeper resolve to do the right thing no matter what.  A deeper respect for my husband for going to show respect for that member, even though it was humiliating to be ignored.  A firmer decision to live out the Gospel even in light of those who ignore it.

~Tricia

Reverential Respect?

Lately, I've heard the use of the phrase "reverential respect" when people are attempting to describe their "fear" of the Lord.  Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not enough!  I have reverential respect for a number of people. I would say I have that for several preachers and pastors that I know.  I would describe my feelings as reverential respect for the president, for our state officials and lawmakers. But the Lord, God Almighty?   Reverential respect?  Are you kidding me?  Nah. I have fear. Outright, undeniable, indescribable, bone-chilling fear.  I don't have a leg to stand on in His presence, and neither does anyone else.

Daniel, that great prophet who was described by God, Himself, as one who was beloved and righteous, quaked in fear before the presence of just the angel of the Lord.  In Daniel chapter 10, Daniel describes himself as "without strength" and "trembling" and "vigor turned to frailty"......fear.  He feared this angel of the Lord - and that was just an angel of the Lord, not the Lord, God Almighty Himself!  Daniel was without strength until the angel actually touched him and that touch strengthened him. Read Daniel chapter 10 and makes notes about Daniel's responses.

We want to talk about and dwell on the love of God - after all, He loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us.  However, He sent Christ to die because that was the only satisfaction for His holiness.  There was no other way to appease Him for our sin. Not only did He show mercy by giving us a Solution for our sin, He sacrificed Himself to make that Solution a reality for us.  Mercy. Love. Compassion. Grace. Salvation.  He is the Author of it all.  Reverential respect does not do it justice.  The only One Who is able to justify us requires much, much more than reverential respect.

What if He came to your house today?  What if the Lord, God Almighty stopped you on your way somewhere?  What if He came to your job?  Don't expect me to believe that you'd be swooning with reverential respect.......ah, no.  You'd be prostrate on your face in fear, without a leg to stand on, trembling, quaking, hoping beyond hope that you could gather the strength to run and hide......

...............until He touches you.

Even then, reverential respect doesn't do it justice.

The fear is turned to awe ................and we are silent from a mix of fear and awe and absolute wonder.  Nah, I see no reverential respect here.  That phrase minimizes His holy righteousness and that has repercussions that no one can live with.

~Tricia

Where's The Meat?

Give me meat to chew. The meat of the Word of God.  Hebrews 5:14 says, "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."  "Strong meat" literally translates "solid food."  We know that babies need milk and spiritual babies need the "sincere milk of the Word" as stated in I Peter 2:2. But, once we grow to a certain point, we need meat, not just milk, to continue healthy growth. 

For the most part, women's event speakers are lacking meat.  I've attended these events, whether it be a Mother/Daughter banquet at church, a workshop at a conference or an event designed and arranged just for women, such as a rally or seminar.  These events are geared toward women, but they often miss the mark when it comes to meeting the real needs of women.  I've been struggling with these events and have mostly avoided them for lack of substance in the content. Now, when I do go to a conference, I generally choose the same workshops and lectures as my husband, instead of the ones geared toward women, because the men's speakers have meat in their content.  I've never seen men in the women's workshops, by the way.

Women's needs are not specified in Scripture to be any different from men's needs.  We ALL need the Gospel of God. We ALL need a Redeemer. We ALL need the whole council of God by the preaching of the Word. Some might argue that women think differently than men, therefore, our needs aren't the same.  But, God does not specify a different type of teaching for women than men. The Word of God is sufficient to us all, regardless of our gender, place in life, etc. 

It's hard to write about this because women's events are very prominent, women's "Bible" study books are very prominent and women speakers at women's events are very prominent.  But, they have taken on what I believe is a dangerous practice and our women are starving.  But, they don't have to be starving.  The solution is at our fingertips.

Identifying the Problem

In order to solve the problem, we first have to specifically identify it.  I see two main issues:

1. Women generally address the perceived felt needs of their audience.  In doing this, they fail to present the Word of God as It is written, but they attempt to "help" women by making the Word fit their agenda. One fault with this approach is that the only help to any woman is the Word of God, yet it is essentially being "set aside" for the convenience of the speaker so that she can address felt needs.  We don't know the heart needs of the women in our audiences, but the Holy Spirit of God does . When we teach His Word the way He intends - as it is written - then the needs of every woman listening will be met because the Word is alive,  and powerful to do so.  Our words are not. God's Words are.  It's that simple.

Another fault with this approach of addressing felt needs shows lack of confidence in God's Word. If I think that I can take God's Word and improve upon it by taking it out of context, using it to tell women what they should do, think, say or feel, and twist it in any way to fit my own agenda, I have a worse problem than any of my listeners.  I would be far better off sitting down, shutting up and allowing my listeners read the Word on their own.  Then at least my empty, hollow noise won't block out what God is trying to say.

2. Women generally focus on application during their talks.  This is a huge mistake because the application of the Word of God is not our job....it is the job of the Holy Spirit of God.  Our job is to present the Truth as it is given to us in the Word.  The rest - what He does with His Word in the hearts of the hearers - is His business and He will see to it in His timing.  This, again, comes back to confidence in the Word of God and in the Holy Spirit to do what He has promised He would do.

Is this happening because women are treated as an afterthought?  Are they treated as secondary to the men, thus the importance of their doctrinal understanding is secondary?  Historically, women didn't used to go to seminary; that was a man's world.  Have we allowed ourselves to be put in a secondary position, which has led to compromise?  This trend could be a product of its own environment, no doubt, but if we sit back and let it happen, we are just as responsible as those who plan events and put women on the back burner while planning!  If, indeed, that is what is taking place.

Regardless of why or how it's happening, the lack of spiritual depth and Scriptural Truth at women's events is not good for women.  We need the meat of the Word of God, not the fluff & stuff of modernism, secular humanism and the result of catering to felt needs.  In Scripture, we find many examples of women who were very grounded in their faith, who did not settle for fluff & stuff and who were leaders in doctrine.

Look at Priscilla in Acts 18.  She, along with her husband, corrected Apollos in his doctrinal errors and he took it from her (them) and went on to become a great, eloquent preacher, reaching many with the gospel.  Priscilla was grounded in her faith, not filled with emotionally-charged fluff & stuff that had her trying so hard to live for the Lord.  Her doctrine allowed her - rather, caused her - to live for the Lord and she was grounded enough to recognize error.  She fit our starting verse well because she had had her faith exercised enough to discern good and evil.  She not only recognized it, she acted upon it so as to keep the doctrines of our Lord and Savior pure.  Priscilla did not have time for fluff & stuff.

The solution: 

Women need to stop being afraid of doctrine and, instead, stand firm on the doctrines for which our Savior died.  In my experience, doctrine has been a forbidden topic of discussion among many women.  They simply don't want to discuss doctrine because they feel it's controversial.  Well, it certainly is controversial when a person's doctrine does not line up with Scripture!  The solution is not to avoid doctrine; the solution is to make our doctrine front and center of our focus, our message, our reason for being.  He did not die for fluff & stuff.

Bold Faith

I've been thinking about the bold faith of a friend of mine recently and every single time I think about it, I'm even more amazed.  This friend of mine purposely provokes people to think about Jesus Christ.  He's relentless; he provokes people ON PURPOSE!  He said to me once, "Oh, I've been provoking my brother-in-law with the Gospel and I will keep on provoking him."  Can you imagine?  He's not from the US, so  I have to wonder if that's why he's so bold.  In his country, is boldness more required? Or is it a case of reception, i.e. how he's received?  Do people condemn him, start rumors about him, shun him, or lie about him because of his boldness?  In the US, that's what often happens when we speak boldly about the Gospel and provoke anyone.  It has happened to me and I wasn't even purposely provoking anyone!

Here in the US, we don't provoke people.  Oh, a preacher might - from his pulpit.  My husband has had people walk out on his preaching more than once because of his bold, direct message.  Yet, he continues to preach the whole council of God, with or without the hearers' approval.  But, as a general rule, the vast majority of the Christians I know don't purposely provoke people.  When people don't receive our message, we tend to tone it down to make it more palatable.

The main reason we don't provoke people seems to be fear.  We fear rejection. We fear being labeled. We fear losing a relationship.  We fear.  Ok, I get fear.  Fear runs rampant.  We tolerate even heresy within the church because of fear.  Is our fear bigger than our burden?  Oh, I hope not!

Most people don't think there's heresy within the church.  I see it all the time, however.  I see it when a preacher promotes a political agenda rather than a Gospel agenda.  I see it when major doctrinal heresy is tolerated in the church in the name of "Christian" love. If we first love Christ, we will not tolerate or allow false doctrine within the church.  We will stand against it, not openly tolerate it.  Is it hard to speak out?  As my fellow Minnesotans would say, "You betcha!"  But, as hard as it is, it's necessary for the Gospel message to get out and remain pure.

I recall once when a lady in a Sunday School class stated, as part of a discussion, "Well, it doesn't have to be all about Jesus all the time!"  I was shocked at a statement like that, but didn't say anything.....(fear).  A couple of weeks later, she repeated the same thing and that time, I did not stay quiet.

I said, "Yes, it is all about Jesus, all the time. If it isn't, we can all just go home now."  The lady who spoke out was not happy with me.  My boldness for pure doctrine cost me that relationship; she walked away.  So be it.   Another time, a lady stood up and said, "We need to set aside the Word of God and love one another." At the time, I said nothing, but the next morning, I called her on the phone to clarify what she said. I thought certainly she didn't realize what she had just said, or that I had surely heard wrong.  Well, not only did she reiterate what she said the night before, she got even bolder about it!  So, I knew where she stood.......she set aside God's Word.  Was I bold for calling her on it?  You betcha!  Did I have a choice?  I don't think so. Does someone who truly knows Jesus Christ openly and intentionally set aside His Word?  Oh, my.  She desperately needs the Gospel.

So, that is why I will continue to be bold.  Plus, on the day when I meet Him face to face, I won't be ashamed - at least of that.  I truly admire my bold friend and hope that I can follow his example and step it up.

~Tricia