Church

I recently shared on  my blog a message that I recorded for my home church on Romans 14, called When Christians Disagree About Beliefs and Actions. The following article from Kevin DeYoung is perfectly consistent with the primary v. secondary or first level/second level/third-level approach I talk about in my message.

The church has never had more issues to divide us and make us outraged at each other. There’s a pandemic of accusation and blame, and the result is Christians publicly attacking and berating each other, then remaining unrepentant for doing so. We have an unswerving certainty that we are right about everything, even secondary issues.

I have sometimes envisioned what it will mean for every tribe, nation, and language to gather together and sing the praises of Jesus, as is depicted in Revelation 5:9 and 7:9. I’m sure we’ll learn a lot of great new hymns and songs once we’re with Jesus, most of which we’ve never heard. But I feel nearly certain that one of those songs we’ll sing forever from this life is “Amazing Grace.”

I recently watched part of an interview that Keith Getty did where he challenges pastors, worship leaders, and parents to think carefully about what songs we’re giving our children to sing. What he has to say is great and important.

Don’t let the Coronavirus or anything else distract you from the promises of God, or rob you of living the life God has given you. Live for Jesus in the midst of this, and you may come out on the other side, as we do so many of the trials of our lives, saying, “God, you taught me more and drew me closer to you through this crisis than any other time of my life.”

Over the years Greg Laurie has become a dear friend. He has written a powerful article about what it means to be a pastor—specifically the difficulties and privileges. Knowing Greg and having dear friends who are pastors, I can attest to the truth of this article. I hope it helps you to understand and pray for your pastors.

This article is well done and is on a vital subject I’m deeply concerned about: the numbers of young people leaving the church, in what this article calls “the church exodus crisis.” I encourage pastors, parents, and those serving with youth to read this and take it to heart.

As I’ve shared before, the widespread perception among both unbelievers and believers in our culture is that conservative Bible-believing churches—especially those that are also politically conservative—are the last bastion of cultural chauvinism. We are thought to foster disrespect of women and, indirectly, abuse.

Periodically I write an unusually long blog because the issues are so far-reaching that I think they demand extra attention. I don’t like to break such blogs into multiple parts, so if you have the time to work this through with me, here we go. Many have reacted, both negatively and positively, to comments that John MacArthur made recently about Beth Moore. This happened at the Truth Matters Conference, held at MacArthur’s Grace Community Church in California.

I recently wrote about how “Famous Christians Are Losing Their Faith...and So Should You If Your Faith Is in Them.” The following article, by Nathan Tarr, is another reminder of the importance of not putting our ultimate trust in human leaders and of remembering that the gospel is all about Jesus.