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Fortune-Telling and God’s Word

by Josh McDowell
written by Josh McDowell

Most people are obsessed with the future. They worry, they wonder, they obsess about possible scenarios. And some, in desperation, seek to learn what is ahead by seeking fortune-tellers or astrological forecasts. Divination, or fortune-telling, is an age-old practice. The “diviner” uses various props to receive his knowledge, including palmistry, cartomancy, mirror gazing and psychometry. Some knowledge may come from demonic beings, and some is merely educated guessing and trickery.

In his book, The Fakers, Danny Korem writes that six tools in the con artist’s tool bag are often used:

1.  Observation of sensory clues.

2.  Prior knowledge of subject obtained secretly before reading.

3.  Ability to think on one’s feet and change direction of the reading without hesitation or detection.

4.  Understanding of human nature.

5.  Utilization of the cards or any other apparatus to pick up sensory clues or change the direction of the reading when off-track.

6.  An element of luck and a keen sense of playing the odds so that a well-placed guess my produce spectacular results.

When we seek to see the future through fortune-telling it is an abomination to God, because he fails to seek God’s direction for our lives. Satan has accomplished his purpose when they reject God’s Word. In (1 Chronicles 10:13,14) God’s punishment of Saul for seeking out a medium is recorded:

“So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.”

Is this passage about Saul our only warning against seeking a fortune-teller, even for fun or out of curiosity? The Lord calls the word of the diviners a lie (Ezekiel 13:8) and cuts them off from cohabitation with Israel (Ezekiel 13:9).

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord God. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.” ESV

The law of Moses made fortune-telling punishable by death (Leviticus 20:27)

“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.” ESV

Its existence always filtered into Israel through the pagan cultures around them (Ezekiel 21:21).

For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the seraphim; he looks at the liver.

Jeremiah calls divination a deception (14:14)

And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.” ESV

Isaiah says God will make them into fools (44:25).

“…who frustrates the signs of liars
    and makes fools of diviners,
who turns wise men back
    and makes their knowledge foolish” ESV

In the New Testament times, divining was a lucrative business at Philippi (Acts 16:16).

“As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.” ESV

Paul took authority over the demon that inspired the girl’s practice and cast it out (16:18), which shows us that not all divination is educated guesswork, but may be a result of demonic influence.

“And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.”

Is it important or even necessary to guard our hearts and minds from the persuasion of the world? Yes, it is. What some people considered unthinkable at previous times in their lives is what they so often bend toward in their moments of weakness. Jesus gave us some guidelines for protection in the Sermon on the Mount. “The lamp of the body is the eye,” He said. “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23). Our behavior needs to be guarded by the light of God’s Word, which also means we need to be careful about what we allow to enter our body through our senses-especially the eyes and the ears.

Trust your future to the God who made you.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a precious promise.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  The future belongs to God, and the safest place to be is in the center of His will.” ESV

The Occult: The Authority of the Believer Over the Powers of Darkness by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart, pp.42-44. Used by permission.

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Articles

How God Creates Your Brain to Grow and Change

by Caroline Leaf
written by Caroline Leaf

Materialists believe that the mind emerges from the brain and that the mind (soul) is an artifact of the brain. Like the Sadducees of Jesus’ time, they only believe what they can see, feel and touch (Matthew 22:23-31, Acts 23:8). This has been the prevailing paradigm in the western scientific world since Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution became the dominant scientific dogma. Recently, however, there has been growing dissent in the area of neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry because the result of adherence to the materialists’ philosophy in the lives of patients, where the rubber meets the road, has been devastating [1].

Interestingly the discovery of the baffling area of quantum physics at the beginning of the last century [2] marked the beginning the crumbling of materialist philosophy. Denial of the power of the mind, and by extension the spirit, in the treatment of patients with mental and even physical disorders, has led to poor treatment outcomes in many cases. The materialist position, therefore, is becoming increasing untenable.

Alternatively the Bible presents the view of the spirit, soul and the body as separate, but intimately integrated entities (Genesis 2:7, Matthew 26:41, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 4:12). Each of us is a spirit, having a soul (mind) and living in a body. Life is actually a spiritual force. The mind has the power of intellect, emotions and free will [3], and, if enabled by the spirit and, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can make good choices that can positively change the body, which includes the brain. The materialist view, however, in denying the existence of the spirit and soul, has held to the pre-eminence of the body. This mindset contributed to the view that the brain could not really be changed once we reached adolescence and that all we could hope for in many psychiatric and neurological conditions was compensation and reliance on medication rather than a total cure.

This was the prevailing view in the 1980s when Dr. Caroline Leaf started in research and clinical practice as a communication pathologist treating patients with various mental and neurological conditions in clinical and educational settings and research settings. Because of her belief in the biblical view, she set out to help patients, who the medical community had given up on, with remarkable results [4]. She also was able help transform destitute students in deprived schools even to international notice [5].  At the time clinicians and educationalists like her, who believed in the power of the mind to change the brain, were scoffed at. However, as the Sanhedrin discovered, when faced with the walking man who was once crippled (Act 4:14), it was difficult to deny her results.

Fortunately certain discoveries have led credence to the biblical view, Dr Leaf’s research included. It was discovered that the brain continually changes in response to mental and sensory signals throughout the human life span [6].  This process has now been termed ‘neuroplasticity’. It was once thought that, as adults, we had the full complement of nerve cells (neurons) and that we basically lost neurons until we died. Now we know scientifically that we continue to produce neurons in certain areas of the brain constantly, a process known as neurogenesis [7].

The growing medical specialties of psychoneuroimmunology and psychoneuroendocrinology [8] are bringing to light the intimate relationship between the mind, the brain and the immune and endocrine systems. Remarkably the eye-opening science of epigenetics is showing how our choices can profoundly influence, not just our own genes and those that we are in relationship with, but the genes of multiple generations of our descendants [9].  There is thankfully now a growing opposition to the materialist view even among mainstream scientists. In response to the growing evidence of the mind being able to change the brain, materialist have held the view that it is the brain that changes the brain [10]- this is akin to a computer reprogramming and redesigning itself.

Thankfully, in the face of growing recent evidence, the materialist view is losing some of its pre-eminence. There is growing dissent among a populace that is seeking answers to gnawing questions and cures to intractable mental and physical disorders [11]. Surveys show that the majority of lay people globally do not see themselves as biological automata, but as thinking human beings with the ability to think and choose making biological change [12]. Furthermore, the crisis in the education, over-labeling and over-medication of our children is crying out for a change of direction. It is time to return to what the Creator says about the nature of man in the Bible- He knows what we are made of and how we are made (Psalm 103:14).  The Mind definitely changes the Brain.

References

1. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2005 Jun 29;360(1458):1309-27. Quantum physics in neuroscience and psychology: a neurophysical model of mind-brain interaction.  Schwartz JM, Stapp HP, Beauregard M.

Nour Foundation: Mind-Body Connections: How Does Consciousness Shape the Brain? United Nations 9/11/2008- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwXhcyTe7qQ

Creation Ministires:’ Charles Darwin’s real message: have you missed it’ by Carl Wieland-http://creation.com/charles-darwins-real-message-have-you-missed-it

2.   Nobelprize.org – The Nobel Prize in Physics  1918. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1918/

3. The Spiritual Man – June 1, 1968 Watchman Nee  

4. Mind-Mapping: A Therapeutic Technique for Closed-Head Injury, a dissertation submitted for her Masters at the University of Pretoria, May 1990.

Mind-mapping as a Therapeutic technique, in Communiphon, South African Speech-Language-hearing Association No. 296, pg. 11-15,November 1990.

5. The Mind-Mapping Approach: A Model and Framework for Geodesic Learning, a dissertation submitted for her Ph.D. at the University of Pretoria, March 1997.

The Development of a Model for Geodesic Learning: The Geodesic Information Processing Model, in the South African Journal of Communication Disorders, Vol. 44, 1997.

6. Neural Plasticity Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 541870, 10 pages. Adult Neuroplasticity: More Than 40 Years of Research.  Eberhard Fuchs and Gabriele Flügge.

7. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2000 Oct;1(1):67-73. Neurogenesis in the adult brain: death of a dogma. Gross CG.

8. International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology- www.ispne.org/.                       Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society- www.pnirs.org/.

9.  Ethan Watters, “DNA Is Not Destiny: The New Science of Epigenetics Rewrites the Rules of Disease, Heredity, and Identity,” Discover, November 2006, http://discovermagazine.com/2006 nov/cover.

Nova- Ghost In Your Genes, 2006

Nat Rev Genet. 2012 Jan 31;13(3):153-62. Understanding transgenerational epigenetic inheritance via the gametes in mammals. Daxinger L, Whitelaw E.

10. The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science– December 18, 2007 by Norman Doidge

11. Med J Aust. 2004 Jun 7;180(11):587-9. The rise and rise of complementary and alternative medicine: a sociological perspective. Coulter ID, Willis EM.

12. Scientific American- Site Survey Shows 60 Percent Think Free Will Exists. Read Why. By Gary Stix | January 15, 2015  |http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/talking-back/site-survey-shows-60-percent-think-free-will-exists-read-why/

 

 

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Portrait of african girl writing solution of sums on white board at school. Black schoolgirl solving addition sum on white board with marker pen. School child thinking while doing mathematics problem.
Ask Roger

666 and Counting…

by Roger Barrier
written by Roger Barrier

 

Dear Roger,

You said in today’s post that you will post your answer to the meaning of “666” when somebody asks you. May I please be considered a “somebody” so that you will do so?

I, too, believe in “types and shadows” and do believe that the Bible is to be read both historically and predictively.  We are certainly living in some very frightening, scary times, aren’t we?  The antichrist knows his days are numbered . . . and so do we.

 

Thanks to Jesus of Nazareth . . . we know!

May you be greatly blessed.

Mary Kay

 

666 literally means a name. The number “666” is the number of the name of the coming Antichrist. Giving a number to a name is called “gematria,” which is the Greek practice of adding up the letters in someone’s name. In Latin this practice is called “isopsephism.” Each letter in the Greek language has a numeral equivalent. Add up the letters and you get the number of the name.

When Julie and I were dating I often wrote the initials, “RB + JT” in my notebook or in the wet cement of a newly poured sidewalk. Of course, the Initials stand for, “Roger Barrier plus Julie Tacker.” Young lovers in Greece and Rome used gematria to express their relationships. For example, one inscription on a wall in Pompei reads, “I love the girl whose number is 545.

Of course, it is quite easy to take a name and turn it into a number. It is much harder to take a number and turn it back into a name.

Turning the number into a name is the key to unlocking the name of the Antichrist. Revelation 13:18 is the applicable verse: “This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.” According to John, those who are wise can get an insight into the Antichrist’s identity by knowing the number of his name. 

In ancient Greek, Hebrew and Latin letters represented numerals according to their order in the alphabet. For example, in Greek, Alpha is one, Bata is two and so on.

The letters in Greek for “Nero” (Neron) add up to 1005. However, if the Greek letters for Nero Caesar (Neron Kaisar) are transliterated into Hebrew (nrwn qsr), the letter numbers add up to 666 (50 + 200 + 6 + 50 + 100 + 60 + 200 =666).

By the way, the “the number of the beast” was not written as a figure like “666.” Rather, the letters of the alphabet were written out in full.

Many interpreters consider the Roman Emperor Nero to be the “antichrist” of Revelation 13 because the number of his name is 666 and because he inflicted “Antichrist-like” horror upon the first century Christians. Some consider Nero to be a historical Antichrist and we that we are not to expect a future Antichrist. Yet, for the number to have any significance for a first century AD reader, it would have to refer to a contemporary historical figure.

Other interpreters, myself included, view the Book of Revelation as being both historical and predictive of coming future events (This is the double fulfillment principle of prophecy.) According to this view, Nero was indeed an “antichrist” as well as a type or picture of the coming future Antichrist—whose number-name will also add up to 666.

Nero was a despicable man who murdered his own mother. Nero fiddled the night Rome burned. By blaming Christians for the fire, he justified his tortuous murdering of uncounted hundreds of those who proclaimed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. He proclaimed his supposed divinity on coins, identifying him as the “Savior of the World.” Since Christians have only one Lord, refusing to burn incense and declare Caesar Nero as Lord was like signing your own death warrant. As an aside, since Nero ruled from A.D. 54-68 he would have been the emperor to whom Paul appealed his case as recorded in Acts 25:10-12.

For those who may be interested, I quote below a passage from Tacitus, the Greek historian (c. A.D. 60-120), who preserved in his Annals (XV.44) the viciousness of the Neronian persecutions which give us some idea of the horror the coming Antichrist will inflict on both Jews and Christians.

Nero falsely accused as the culprits [who started the fire] and punished with the utmost refinement of cruelty a class … who are commonly called Christians. “Christus,” from whom their name is derived, was executed at the hands of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius.… Accordingly, arrest was first made of those who confessed [to being Christians]; then, on their evidence [refusing to worship Nero as Lord], an immense multitude was convicted … Besides being put to death they were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clothed in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed…. All this gave rise to a feeling of pity, even towards men whose guilt merited the most exemplary punishment; for it was felt that they were being destroyed not for the public good but to gratify the cruelty of an individual.

The number “6” in the Bible is often associated with man; just as the number “7” is the perfect number and “3” often correlates to the Trinity. 666 is thus a number that consistently falls short of triple perfection: 777. The number also refers to the “unholy trinity,” Satan, the Beast and the False Prophet.

One day I got to wondering what Jesus’ number might happen to be. So I added up the Greek letter-numbers in Jesus name ( 10 + 7 + 200 + 70 + 400 + 200 =887). What a shame. 887 is only one digit short of “888” which would symbolize Jesus as consistently one better than perfection.

As I am writing my answer I wonder what “Christ” adds up to? Let’s find out ( –600 + 100 + 10 + 200 + 300 + 70 + 200 =1480). Well, I don’t find any symbolism in 1480, but it was worth a try.

By the way, some early manuscripts identify the number-name of the Antichrist as 616 (instead of 666). By omitting the final “n” in Nero’s name in Greek, transliterating that name into Hebrew, and then adding up the letters, the number of Nero and of the coming Antichrist both add up to 616. Regardless of the number, Nero is the only name that can account for both 666 and 616. But, 616 is a story for another time.

I hope my answer to what 666 means is both interesting and informative. Thanks for the question.

Love Roger

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Articles

Here Are Ten Bad Reasons to Be a Pastor

by Dave Bruskas
written by Dave Bruskas

Over the years, I have heard men give compelling reasons to be a pastor. I have also heard a few ridiculous reasons. But most often, I have heard reasons that just aren’t sufficient on their own to justify becoming a pastor. Here are 10 of them.

1. You like spending time with other Christians

This a very good thing. You should be really encouraged by this desire. According to Jesus, the clearest evidence of being a Christian is loving other Christians (John 13:35). And to love other Christians requires spending time with them.

But being a pastor requires you to spend considerable time alone in study and prayer. You will also give of yourself in knowing and serving non-Christians. Too many people mistake pastoral ministry for a never-ending summer youth camp. In reality, the two have very little in common.

2. You like to study your Bible

Again, this is a really good thing to like. All Christians should love to study the Bible in order to better know Jesus. A pastor must study the Bible. Preaching should be his highest priority and the foundation of influential preaching is focused study. But almost every pastor I know wishes he had more time to spend studying. It’s absolutely important and completely impossible to give yourself to it exclusively.

I have heard many reasons that just aren’t sufficient on their own to justify becoming a pastor.

3. You like speaking in public

Pastors must be able to clearly communicate the Bible. Most will preach anywhere from fifty to over a hundred different sermons in a single year. But speaking in public and preaching are two different things. The medium is the same, but the responsibility is not.

Making a compelling presentation to your co-workers and preaching the Bible are as different as a paintball competition and real combat. Both involve guns and helmets, but that is about all. Projects, products, and dollars can’t compare in worth to the souls and eternal destinies of human beings. And that is exactly what is at stake every time the pastor enters the pulpit. Being responsible to relay a message from God to people who desperately need him is an enormous task.

Being a pastor requires you to spend considerable time alone in study and prayer.

4. You like introducing non-Christians to Jesus

Connecting unbelievers to Jesus is one of the greatest thrills a Christian can know, and those who are fruitful in personal evangelism are a gift to a church. But a pastor has a responsibility to both evangelize and equip the church to share their faith with those who don’t yet know Jesus. It’s the role of equipping that makes the role of a pastor more like a player/coach than just a player. Be sure you want to coach before you retire from playing.

5. You want to be more devoted to Jesus

Maybe the most ironic aspect of pastoral ministry is how challenging it can be to prioritize your time with Jesus. I am not alone in feeling that my devotional life became far more challenging the day I began full-time vocational ministry. It is the number-one struggle for most pastors I know and have known. I think it has much to do with the constant demands and distractions intrinsic to ministry. That leads me to bad reason number six.

Almost every pastor I know wishes he had more time to spend studying.

6. You want to spend fewer hours working

Pastoral ministry isn’t so much a job as it is a lifestyle. The pastor is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. This doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t have some set hours, a day off, or vacation. It just means you’re likely to be interrupted by emergencies on a regular basis. The hours are long. The work may not be physical, but it is emotional and spiritual, and it is all-encompassing and exhausting.

7. You are looking for a more stable career

I wish I had better news for you here. I am a strong believer that longevity is important for pastoral influence. But the sad reality is that pastors change churches and churches change pastors. One trusted researcher found that the average tenure of a pastor in America is three and a half years.

Add to that factor the harsh reality that in many churches, financial uncertainties may result in interrupted pay cycles, salary reductions, and layoffs. Instability is the norm for most pastors.

8. You are tired of conflict

Much of pastoral ministry is about conflict. There is resistance to Jesus from within, and even from your own heart. Then there is persecution from without. Every inch that the Kingdom of God advances is tenaciously defended.

Maybe the most ironic aspect of pastoral ministry is how challenging it can be to prioritize your time with Jesus.

9. You want others to respect you

Respect is required for a pastor, according to Scripture. He is to be respected in his home, in his church, and among outsiders (1 Tim. 3:4, 7). But respect can be hard to come by, and the man who moves into ministry to win the approval of others is sure to fail miserably (Gal. 1:10).

10. You want to make a difference

You should want to be used by Jesus to draw attention to him. But how you go about doing just that is really important. You don’t have to have a pulpit. You don’t have to be loud. The best way to spread his fame is still the biblical way: “Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (1 Thess. 4:11–12).

Re-printed from The Resurgence.

 

 

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Articles

Marriage Insurance: Sure-fire Tips for Your Wedding and Beyond

by Julie Barrier
written by Julie Barrier

Bewildered brides. Gloomy grooms. Panicky parents. Cynical clergymen. Will this marriage really last? Or will it dissolve into devastating divorce? God has given us three biblical principles from Genesis to ensure success.

 

My husband Roger has performed 400 weddings and has forgotten four (oops!) One balmy Saturday evening, my hubby was glued to the tube watching the Muppets Take Manhattan and scarfing a chicken pot pie in his underwear. The phone rang, and a frantic bride screeched “Roger, where are you? The wedding is supposed to start in ten minutes!!!” We lived at least twenty minutes away and my Roger threw on his tux and roared out of the driveway. Most weddings do not start on time. Normally, I can noodle an organ prelude to buy the bride a few extra minutes to primp, but this nuptial was unique. The family had staged the stunning service in the rugged desert behind their home. Sunset had come and gone and the bride stumble down the gravel path in the dark with her father on her arm. The groom and the attendants squinted to see the lovely pair when Dad stumbled into a prickly pair cactus. The next half hour was spent “tweezering” thorny spines out of Daddy’s backside. Needless to say, there were no pictures and certainly no hefty honorarium.

 

Oh, the wedding disasters we have witnessed! One lovely bride couldn’t stop puking. Finally, Roger exclaimed, “Just say ‘I do” and I’ll get ‘er done.” He hastily pronounced the couple man and wife. They dispensed with the kissing part. One disastrous evening, Roger leaned over the unity candle to serve communion and his robe caught fire. Another wedding disaster occurred when the buxom bride sauntered down the aisle in a seductive strapless gown. Her two breasts were tattooed “Karen” and “Louise.” Roger giggled uncontrollably through the vows. The wedding coordinator wisely drafted a dress code after the debacle.

 

Did you have a wedding day disaster? No biggie. The real test is how the marriage is going months and years later. Did your vows stick?

 

One verse can change your wedding and your new life together. God said in Genesis 2:24:

 

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” KJV

 

God’s succinct three steps to marital bliss and longevity: we are to leave our parents, cleave to our spouse and become one flesh.

 

LEAVE + CLEAVE = ONE FLESH

 

What does leaving Mom and Dad look like?

·      Grieve the loss of unmet needs.

·      Come to terms with unrealistic expectations.

·      Mourn and comfort past hurts.

 

1.     Unmet needs.

 

Grieve the loss of unmet needs from your growing up years. Every child needs attention, affection, appreciation, acceptance, security and respect (among others). If you or your spouse did NOT receive these gifts, then your “emotional cup” is filled with unresolved hurt. You can’t give your loved one what you haven’t received! If you were not accepted, you may be rejecting and judgmental of your spouse. So that hurt needs to be identified, processed and comforted with your partner.

 

2. Unrealistic expectations.

 

Every family has its own way of doing life. For example, my husband’s Mom expressed her anger by loud volcanic eruption. Mom got mad, exploded (loud enough for the neighbors to hear) and then her ire subsided.

 

My mother NEVER expressed her anger or hurt in front of my sister and me. She hid in the bathroom or closet to cry if she and Daddy exchanged harsh words.

 

Can you imagine the atmosphere in our home when we tried to resolve conflict? We vacillated between shouting matches and crying jags. (Oh, and by the way, since we were a pastor-family, we weren’t supposed to disagree about anything!!!) NOT.

 

Leaving Mom and Dad means leaving behind our own expectations of what marriage looks like and forging a life together.

 

3.     Unresolved hurts from the past.

 

Our worst fight in early marriage was over white bread. Our unborn baby was not growing, so my doc instructed me to eat 6 pieces of white bread and come to her office for a glucose tolerance test. I was health-conscious, so I ate six pieces of multi-grain bread because it was better for the baby. When Roger heard what I had done, he freaked out. “Don’t you know the sugar content of white and wheat bread are different???” he screamed. “You are jeopardizing the life of our baby.

OK. So I ate the wrong bread. I’ll take the test tomorrow. But Roger was livid. What I didn’t realize is that his childhood was filled with life-threatening illnesses. When one struggles with health in early life, it’s a trigger for a deep emotional response later in life. Watch out for emotional mine fields. Find triggers from past hurts and heal them by comforting your spouse.

 

Leave hurts, expectations and unmet needs from the past. Cleave to your mate. Let them learn to identify your “soft spots” and scars.

 

Become one flesh by allowing God to unite your hearts and build your family.

 

Look down that aisle. Forge a future God’s way. It’s a match made in heaven!

 

Material taken from Dr. David and Teresa Ferguson, Intimate Encounters. Austin Texas: Intimacy Press, 1997, pp.126-142.

Great Commandment Ministries Used by permission.

 

 

  

    

 

 

 

 

 

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Sermons

God’s Intricate Design: The DNA Of The Church

by Leonard Sweet
written by Leonard Sweet

What is commonly known as DNA today was originally called “so pretty!” When DNA was discovered years ago, this divine design also informs Gods blueprint for the church. In this seminal work, he shares the woven strands that form the church: missional, relational, and incarnational. Far from a novel idea, Sweet shows how this structure is God’s original intent and shares the simply beautiful design for His church.

 47-PAGE STUDY GUIDE Buy book HERE.

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Articles

Transience, Your Church, and the Kingdom of God

by John Beeson
written by John Beeson

We live and do ministry in Princeton, a college town in New Jersey.  If you took a string on a map and connected New York and Philadelphia, right smack dab in the middle you’d find us, about an hour away from each.  Princeton may be a small town, but it has big city transience.  The average resident stays in Princeton for three years – which means our college students actually help boost that number upward.  Having lived here only seven years, I increasingly find myself in the strange position of being the ‘old timer’ in a crowd.

In all likelihood, Princeton is more similar to your town than different.  There is no question our world is becoming more and more transient: people change careers more often, leave home for college more frequently, and have traversed more continents than ever before.  Fifty years ago, it was unlikely the average person had more than one close friend living outside his or her home state, now it is the rare individual who doesn’t have a network of friends scattered all over the United States.

As church leaders, we have to be aware of this and willing to adapt to the new environment.  The congregant who is dedicated, baptized, married, and eulogized in the same church is rare indeed.  But how should this impact the way we minister?  Here are a few of my thoughts:

·       Teach your congregants how to find a new church.  Moving, for many, is inevitable.  So, educate your people on how to move.  Before moving a person ought to have an idea of the church they will attend.  Even if they are unable to visit the city, they can visit websites of churches, read up on the vision of local churches, and listen to sermons.  It is NOT a given that the town you move to will have a healthy church and that consideration should be key in making a decision to move.  How many of us know congregants who lament after a year in a new city that they have been unable to find any good churches?  Second, websites are a great tool, but they are limited.  A phone call to a pastor of a prospective church is a very wise move.  Such a call can help a person lay some very basic questions on the table and can establish a connection before he or she even arrives.  Of the several hundred new people who visit our church every year, I respond to only a few phone calls from folks before they visit.  It’s a real shame, because the calls I do take from folks who are looking for churches are always productive and encouraging to those who are moving here.  Finally, don’t expect your congregants will be with you forever.  Teach them to discern what core truths that are essential in a healthy church.  I can tell a lot about the health of the church’s folks are coming from by the theological or ideological drums they beat: make sure the folks who move from your church are beating the right ones and are making wise decisions based on these core truths and not merely preferences about peripheral issues.

 

·       Analyze the demographics of your town and tailor your ministry to them.  If you minister in New York City, where you have folks in your church for just a few years, your ministry ought to look much different than it did in rural Kansas where most of the folks in your congregation were there for decades.  Because the average person stays in Princeton for three years, all of our curriculum and vision casting is considered in three year chunks.  We always are asking the question: “How can we impact and grow someone in his or her discipleship in the three years he or she has been here?”  This influences our decisions on sermon series, seminars, adult education, and down the line.  You may have felt like you just preached on finances or the life of Jesus or depression or relationships or core truths… but if you live in a transient town and that sermon series was five years ago, in all likelihood, most of your congregation has not had those truths drilled into their hearts.

 

·       Make your assimilation process appropriate to the level of transience in your town.  Many churches would never dream of having someone who has only been in the church a year or two lead up a ministry, but if you are in a town with a lot of transience, you might be banging your head against the wall trying to fill your posts if your assimilation process isn’t realistic in light of your transience.  Don’t lower the bar for your leaders, but allow for the ability to speed up the ‘getting to know you’ process.  Make sure the folks who recruit leaders (including yourself) learn how to spend extra time up front getting to know folks.  With their permission, call up former churches of prospective leaders.

 

Transience for a minister can feel daunting, overwhelming, and exhausting, but transience is also a tremendous opportunity.  Christ’s call to the early church was to keep a move on: “Go, therefore” he said – “move!”  The gospel spread because the early disciples were men and women who preached the gospel as they were going, who touched lives in every corner of the Ancient Near East.  If seen in this light, our communities have the opportunity to be constantly sending missionaries from our midst, missionaries who will impact not only “the ends of the earth” but also “Judea and Samaria.”  May God use our churches as mobilization centers for his kingdom!

 

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Sermons

Particles and Progress: The Leap of Faith

by Glenn Barteau
written by Glenn Barteau

Science itself points to a non-physical reality. Making something from something is talent. Making something from nothing is miraculous. God Himself broke into our natural world in the person of Jesus Christ. We must come to a place where we choose to believe in God even if there are things that are beyond our understanding. That is the essence of faith.

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