3 Ways A Man Should Lead His Home: A man who loves Jesus and leads his family well has at least three roles in common with the man who is called to lead the church.

4 Ways to Love Those With Mental Illness: It is time to face the fact that there are millions of people who struggle with mental illness and the church must rise up and disciple them. Jesus Christ is greater than any mental illness and even though anxiety wins many of battles, I always remember that Jesus Christ has already won the war. We will be raised up. We will have new creation bodies. We will not suffer forever. He is the resurrection and life.

Blue Collar Man: On Financial Struggle and Working For A Living: In general, youngish-Reformed evangelicals tend to be a pretty affluent, heavily degreed, upwardly mobile lot with a surplus of time to read websites and grow their considerable book collections. [1] With “providing” often being a top priority for Reformed men, this group generally has a clear vocational plan and usually gets plenty of opportunities to implement said plan. And because we tend to be small-government capitalists, we tend to feel pretty good about ourselves when we’re making lots of bank–and don't feel conflicted about enjoying it. And in general (again), readers of TGC tend to be pastors, professors, seminary students, theology nerds, or wives of the aforementioned. But what about those who don't fit this social/cultural Reformed paradigm, including in their vocations? 

God's Will For Your Wait: Sometimes God calls us to wait, and that is hard. But waiting for God is not passive; it is active, purposeful, and spiritual.

Stuck In Relationships: I've spent thousands of hours in counseling sessions with people who are stuck in relationships. It wasn't always a husband and wife in a marriage gone bad; any two people in any type of relationship can find themselves stuck.

The Child Of The Future: Like college football, the world for young people has changed dramatically. High exposure to media via technology and the deluge of mixed messages in the culture have created an incredibly difficult landscape for parents and children to navigate.

The God Of Diverse Excellencies: Jesus is calling. Do you hear his voice? There is no voice like his. Only in Jesus Christ will you find a God who is both a strong Lion and a slain Lamb. Only in him will you find a God of so many beautiful and diverse excellencies.

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The Practice of Repentance: Most of us don’t naturally enjoy repenting when we’re wrong, but for leaders especially, repentance is a powerful, essential, and liberating practice.

9 Ways To Battle The Darkness: I love Jesus and he loves me. But I have struggled with fear, anxiety, condemnation, and even depression my whole Christian life. I actually struggled so much with these issues that I had to resign from my first pastorate. I wasn’t eating, I couldn’t get out of bed, I was having demonic nightmares, and I was thinking about suicide. I’m not out of the woods yet, but I have learned a few things in going through these struggles about God’s grace despite our failures to trust him. Though each of us faces unique circumstances, here are a few lessons I have learned that I pray will help as you, too, battle depression, condemnation and anxiety.

How Jesus Changes Motherhood: Trying to be the perfect mom can be a crushing weight, and sometimes Mother’s Day only makes it worse. We hope these stories from regular moms relying on Jesus in the midst of failure and imperfection will encourage you.

Offer Advice Very Carefully: Giving advice goes poorly so often, it is worth more careful thought about how we give it. We all need advice. We seek it every day. That is a wise and natural part of being a creature rather than the Creator. But we also know that advice can run from helpful to horrible, and it can bless a relationship or hurt it. 

What Kind of Church Should You Belong To?: Being in a healthy local church is critical to the spiritual health of men. But how do you know if you’re in a healthy church?

Miracles In a Modern Age: Anyone familiar with Jesus knows he spent a lot of time healing people. Those healings seem so foreign to modern disciples, as if from a far away land, the stuff of mythology or fiction. Yet, his healing ministry didn’t stick with him; Jesus spread his power to heal into the lives of his followers. Does this mean that we too, as modern disciples, should practice healing? What should we expect when praying for it? Let’s take a quick look at the 1st century to get our bearings. Then, we can turn to our response in the 21st century.

 "How should the Great Commission affect marriage?" 

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Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

Acts 1:5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

Acts 2:18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Acts 2:33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,

Acts 4:25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

Acts 5:9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

Acts 5:32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Acts 6:3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

Acts 6:5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.

Acts 6:10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Acts 7:55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Acts 8:15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

Acts 8:17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,

Acts 8:19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 8:29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

Acts 8:39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

Acts 9:17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Acts 10:19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Acts 10:44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.

Acts 10:45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.

Acts 10:47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

Acts 11:12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house.

Acts 11:15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.

Acts 11:16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

Acts 11:24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.

Acts 11:28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).

Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 13:4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Acts 13:9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 15:8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,

Acts 15:28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:

Acts 16:6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

Acts 16:7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

Acts 19:2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Acts 19:21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

Acts 20:22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there,

Acts 20:23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Acts 21:4 And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

Acts 21:11 And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”

Acts 28:25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

Restoring Shalom: While God is the only One who can bring Shalom to full completion, He invites His children to participate in the restoration process. What does our participation look like? I want to open to Revelation 21 and look at 5 ways you can approach your everyday ministry life.

The Twitter Disconnect: Why Christians Are More Loving In Real Life: Perhaps it’s time for Christians to reconsider how we use social media. What are we saying to one another that we wouldn’t say offline? Are we speaking to one another as humans, or as presumed enemies of whatever cause we most strongly believe in—even causes and beliefs that are of vital importance to the Gospel? How do we cultivate a persona of holiness in our daily lives and how can we carry that cultivation into our online lives? Why are our words online disconnected from the stuff of holiness?

Good News For Mother's Day: Striving to be the “Best Mom Ever” will leave you feeling exhausted and unworthy. Thankfully, that’s not your calling as a mom.

Christian Reflections On Mental Illness: Christians are right to want to provide all the help possible for these kinds of problems. If we want to provide real help, however, it will be important to know what we're talking about when we use the term...

How Do you Deal With Feeling Unloved?: Everyone feels the basic needs for love, security, and significance. But we should be wary of these psychological needs.

5 Lessons From The Life of Stephen: One of the outworkings of the gospel is that it will inevitably reorder your value system. This is exactly what we find in the book of Acts, in the life of an ordinary man name Stephen – he realized the value of the gospel and was willing to risk everything to preach it. It’s because of common guys like Stephen—much more than through the apostles—that the early church grew. I think there are 5 lessons we can learn from the life of Stephen.

Walking the Wedding Aisle Without Your Virginity: So what is the gift you do have to give to this fiancé with whom you have had sexual relations? What gift can you give her that God might be pleased to make so wonderful, the gift you can’t give her will not destroy? And here it is. You can look your fiancé in the eye and say this.

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Written by Brandon Adent

Why Not Membership?

In January, we wrote about reasons for membership, which you can see here. We talked about why it’s important, as well as a why people choose to become members of a local church.

This week, we’re going to take it in the inverse; we’ll be looking at a few reasons people object to local church membership. We’ll then briefly attempt to provide an answer to each one in turn.

Ultimately, our prayer is that you would see that membership is not just a cute idea or mere adherence to antiquated practice, but is rooted in Scripture, for your joy, and for your good.

 So, with that, let’s get started:

 1. You’re Unaware Of Any Biblical Basis For Membership

This is a reasonable objection. Membership - in the formal sense - doesn’t get much air time, and it’s not addressed as directly as other topics in Scripture (“You shall not murder”, “you shall not commit adultery”, etc). It can be easy to think that membership just isn’t that big a deal.

It is true that there is no 11th commandment: “Thou shalt be a member of a local church”.

We do, however, have a bunch of letters written to newly formed churches as part of the Scriptures, known as “epistles”. If you look at these letters, particularly 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus 1, you will find it hard to get around the issue of “order”: for authority to exist, there must be someone under authority; a particular “flock” entrusted to a particular group of shepherds; a particular group of Christians to a particular group of pastors.

I won’t take the time to unpack all this here, but if this is where you land on this topic, it’s worth looking at these passages to get a sense of the implications. I do think you will find that if you look for the answers, you will find that the Bible does uphold local church membership.

2. You’re Looking For The Perfect Church

Now, I want to be careful with this. To be sure, you should look for a church that preaches the gospel, where you agree theologically, where the elders are respectable, where you feel loved and appreciated.

But looking for the perfect church is like looking for a unicorn: Even if you found one, you should be skeptical.

There is no perfect church, because there are no perfect people but Jesus. And while all Christians are new creations in Him, (2 Cor 5, Eph 4.24), we’ve all got a lifetime of sinful thinking and habits to unlearn.

Some day, we will all be like Christ, but until then we keep going and growing as we seek after him. And God uses His Church as a means to grow His people to be more like His Son (Eph 4.11-16). There’s just no better impetus for growth than participating in a community of people who love Jesus, love you, will call you out on your sin, and will expect to be called out on theirs.

3. You’re Unsure Of Your Future Plans

This one especially comes up in college towns. Honestly, as a student, I felt the same way. All of these objections are matters of the heart. This one is particularly so.

Honestly, this can be a pretty lazy response, extending far beyond the subject at hand. Often, when it comes to subjects like membership, we just don’t want to do the work and devise a way out using our circumstances. Really, we should just be honest with ourselves and others about not wanting to do the work in the first place. Then, with the Holy Spirit’s leading, we can discern why we don’t think the good that may come is worth the effort.

Now, that said, this can be legitimate. If you’ve just starting coming to gatherings recently, will be graduating in six months, and aren’t sure where you’ll end up after that, that’s a different conversation. If you find yourself here, talk with one of the elders or a GC leader to figure out the best course of action.

4. You’re Afraid To Be Known

Often, I land here. Even having been a member for a few years (and attending for several), I worry about what people would think of me if they really knew who I was.

This is why we need to be reminded of the gospel continually. If you are in Christ, you are perfectly known by Him. In fact, He knows every wicked thought, word, and deed that has and will proceed from your being. And in full knowledge of this, Romans 5.8 says “…God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Because we have peace with God through Christ, we don’t have to be afraid to be known by other people, because ultimately they don’t define or own us. So we can be a part of a local church and not be afraid to be known.

Grace In And Through The Church

Whatever your reasons for not pursuing membership at a local church, you need to know that it’s okay to not know where you stand.

What’s not okay is apathy.

We really hope you’ll consider the motives behind your resistance to this teaching. Are you afraid? Proud? Lazy? Whatever the reason, subject it to the authority of Scriptures. Ask questions. Search for answers.

Ultimately, remember that the Church is a group of people bought by the blood of Jesus. If you are His, you’ve been made a saint, and saved into his church.

Covenant membership assures that you will be known, loved, and protected as a part of a community. We don’t get it perfect, and we may fail. But the testimony of the Scriptures is that God continually pours grace on people who don’t deserve it. 

And being a member of the Church is part of that grace (Eph 4.11ff).

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"I Used To Be A Christian, But...." And The Importance Of Questions In Evangelism: Of course, I am not saying everyone who tells you that sort of story is lying, confused, or only rejecting the gospel because they don’t understand it. Some have heard the gospel and have knowingly rejected it. That’s a real situation you’ll come up against. And that’s fine–God works in those situations too. I’d still encourage you to do feel free to do a little digging in your evangelistic encounters. A key question can make a world of difference.

Scripture Is About Our Shame: Because of sin, shame stalks us all. But from the beginning God has committed himself to abolishing shame by covering, cleansing, and including us.

Seven Things I Believe Jesus Would Say To The LGBT Community: I write this simply wanting to begin another denominational conversation, for I have read a great deal, thought and prayed long and hard on this and still do not see clearly either the biblical norms and how they actually apply, nor the way to really reach out in love and effectiveness to those caught within these sinful practices... May the following seven things begin to move us to thinking and action. The Lord seems to say in his word to all sinners, and that includes those in the LGBT community.

6 Types Of Grace: You see, God’s grace is the most powerful force in the universe, so I would have to argue that it's the most beautiful word in the universe. It reaches you where you are and takes you where God wants you to be. It has the power to do something that nothing else can do: transform you at the causal core of who you are as a human being - your heart.

A Secret Life Of Sin: “Nobody just falls out of a tree. They climb up in it, move around a bit, and then fall out.” Indeed. And here’s an implication: Where a secret life is present, a secret prayer life is absent.”

How The Gospel Changes Everything: Each of these texts refers to the gospel of what God has done for us in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ and each text applies that gospel truth to the particular problem noted. These, then, are just a handful of the ways that the gospel affects all of life, all of ministry, and everything we seek to be and do and accomplish as Christians and as local churches.

The Church And The LGBT Community: Is There A Way Forward?: There are many Christians who are leading the way on these points. I’m thankful for Jonathan Merritt’s piece in CT, telling his story of same-sex attraction and how it led to an encounter with God’s grace. On the progressive side, Andrew Sullivan has led the way in arguing for a truly tolerant society that makes room for traditional religious belief.

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