Does God Exist?

Another video made for my church.

Preparing our children for marriage

Yes, it is true. It’s in the Bible. Ruth watched Boaz from the cover of darkness and noted the place where he lay down on the threshing floor. Then, she waited until he was asleep and crept up beside him. She pulled the covers off of his feet, so the cool night air would awaken him. Then she lay down next to his feet, waiting for him to wake up and discover her there.

Not exactly the kind of things we teach our daughters to do, right? “Honey, find a farm and look for someone who is asleep under a tree after he’s finished his work and had a big meal. Pull his covers back and lie down next to his feet. He will tell you what to do.” No, I don’t think so. But, remember, we are not part of the Jewish society in 1200 B.C. The laws of levirate marriage do not apply to us, where a close relative would marry his brother’s widow. We do not practice arranged marriages in this culture. And, for the most part, women do not propose to men. This story of Ruth’s proposal to Boaz is descriptive, not prescriptive. This is true of many things in the Bible. For example, when was the last time you marched seven times around a car you wanted to buy at a local car lot and then blew a trumpet, expecting the dealer to turn over the car to you at no cost?

There is a common connection we can find here in Ruth’s brief courtship. Naomi worked a plan, however strange it may seem to us, so that Ruth could be in a position to marry Boaz. I believe we as parents should also work to help our sons and daughters be in a position to marry.

First, pray for your children and for their future spouses, if they are to be married. Marriage is a gift from God, just as singlehood is. Pray that your children would joyfully receive his gift.

Second, prepare them for marriage. The best way to do that is to have a good marriage yourself. Besides that, there are many lessons young people must learn before they say “I do.” Teach them those lessons and develop their character. As Gregg Harris says, “Train them until you like them.” If you do, there’s a great chance their spouses will like them, too. In fact, their spouses will thank you. Teach your sons to work hard and never to make excuses. Train them to take initiative, even in finding a wife. It’s a guarantee he won’t find character or a wife in a video game, nor will he develop responsibility there, so why should your son spend hours every week playing one? Challenge him to read good books, instead. Finally, teach your children to look below the surface when choosing a mate. The Bible says, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

Third, provide opportunities for them to meet godly young people. Now, there are silly ways to do this, like a full-page ad letting people know that your son or your daughter is available: Here’s a better idea. Invite the young people in the church and community to your home for volleyball or for a Bible study or for a cookout. Get to know your teenager’s friends, and help your children grow in discerning good character.

The world needs to see godly marriages. For that matter, so does the church. Let’s do our part, parents, to make that happen.

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man” and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can Tweet him @jmarkfox and can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc

Romans 8:1-2 - No condemnation

  Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Rom. 8:1-2)

No Condemnation

What awesome verses! We deserve condemnation because we disobey God - no human has, is or will be perfect but God is perfect and his standard is perfection (Romans 3:23). He is also just and must punish sin. We deserve that punishment. Yet, instead of giving us what we deserved, Jesus, who is God, came into the world as a man. He suffered and died in our place, taking our sin and God's wrath for it. He was perfect and therefore if we are Christians he has taken our sin on himself.

If sin results in death (Romans 6:23) and Jesus rose again, then that means that sin was dealt with in full. We are forgiven! He rose again and proved that he truly did conquer sin. And if he has dealt with our sin then we have the sure hope of heaven, of eternal life - Jesus rose again and so shall we! If we are Christians, we are completely saved! Jesus has dealt with our sin and therefore we don't need to fear death or feel guilty. We don't have to worry - we can completely trust in him!

What if you're not a Christian

If you're not a Christian then this message isn't true for you. You still stand condemned because of sin. So how do you turn to Jesus? Repent and believe! Repentance involves turning ‘away’ from sin and ‘toward’ God. Belief or faith is genuine trust in Christ as the only way to be saved - not trusting in ourselves or our good works or anything in this world, but trusting that Jesus is God and he saves all who turn to him (Romans 10:9, Joel 2:32).

Once saved, the Holy Spirit ("the Spirit that gives life") is in us. He gives us life, sustains, grows and teaches us. Through Jesus we are set free from sin and spiritual death, from God's wrath and condemnation.

What does this mean in our lives?

Based on the above, even if our lives are falling apart and everything is going wrong, if we are Christians we can and should be joyful. We always have the sure and eternal hope and of eternal life in heaven with God where there will be no hardship (Revelations 21). We have reason to be joyful even if we are not happy! (Philippians 4:4). We have reason to praise God and to trust him. Don't be discouraged! Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith because he alone saves. We have reason to be joyful!

I was struggling through this when I wrote this post the first time and as I prayed about it my ipod lit up with an email from Bible Gateway. Here's the verse which came up:

"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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jer. 29:11-13)

We serve an awesome, loving, caring, kind, merciful, gracious and faithful God. A just and perfect God who cannot stand sin, but a God who was willing to send his son to die for us, taking our place so that we can be forgiven and experience his mercy and grace. We deserve only wrath, but in Jesus there is now no condemnation!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Nathanael Muscat is in his last year of high school. He was brought up in a Christian home and accepted Christ as Lord and Savior as he was growing up. He started his blog, Only In Christ, about a year ago.

Our Worship Is Not Entertaining Enough

Some insightful reflections from Carl R. Trueman on contemporary worship:

The problem with much Christian worship in the contemporary world, Catholic and Protestant alike, is not that it is too entertaining but that it is not entertaining enough. Worship characterized by upbeat rock music, stand-up comedy, beautiful people taking center stage, and a certain amount of Hallmark Channel sentimentality neglects one classic form of entertainment, the one that tells us, to quote the Book of Common Prayer, that “in the midst of life we are in death.”

It neglects tragedy. Tragedy as a form of art and of entertainment highlighted death, and death is central to true Christian worship. The most basic liturgical elements of the faith, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, speak of death, of burial, of a covenant made in blood, of a body broken. Even the cry “Jesus is Lord!” assumes an understanding of lordship very different than Caesar’s. Christ’s lordship is established by his sacrifice upon the cross, Caesar’s by power.

...

Of all places, the Church should surely be the most realistic. The Church knows how far humanity has fallen, understands the cost of that fall in both the incarnate death of Christ and the inevitable death of every single believer. In the psalms of lament, the Church has a poetic language for giving expression to the deepest longings of a humanity looking to find rest not in this world but the next. In the great liturgies of the Church, death casts a long, creative, cathartic shadow. Our worship should reflect the realities of a life that must face death before experiencing resurrection...

Carl R. Trueman, "Tragic Worship", First Things June/July 2013

Naomi’s plan may surprise you

Read the book of Ruth for a great love story. But Naomi’s plan to help her daughter-in-law Ruth get a husband may surprise you at its boldness. It was a four-part strategy. First, she told Ruth to take a bath, put on some perfume and dress in her best. Now, that’s not a bad idea for a young lady who is looking for a husband, is it? Be clean, smell good and look nice. Dress attractively, not seductively. Women know the difference between the two, don’t they? So do men. The word that is used here seems to indicate Ruth was to dress in a way that concealed her identity.

One commentator said that she would have dressed almost like a Jewish bride did on her wedding night, with modesty rather than allurement. That would have protected Ruth from being identified if anyone did see her as she was hanging around in the dark, outside the threshing floor, waiting for all the men to finish their meal and go to sleep.

Part two of the strategy was important. Naomi told Ruth to wait until “he (Boaz) has finished eating and drinking.” When do a majority of arguments occur in the home? Right after the man, or the man and the woman, get home from work. He may have had a hard day. She may have, too. I can promise you that whether he had a tough day or not, when he walks through that door he has one thing on his mind: His stomach. He is hungry and is ready for a nice quiet meal with his family. The problem is, she may have one thing on her mind as well: Answers. She may want to know when he is going to fix something that is broken, discipline one of the kids or how they are going to pay a bill that has come in the mail that day. The husband and his wife have legitimate desires. But, the better part of wisdom is for everyone to be fed first. Get the blood sugar levels up to where they need to be. Get the stress level down to where it needs to be. Enjoy each other and the meal. Then address the issues of the day that need attention. Timing is important, and Naomi understood this.

Part three of the strategy was crucial. Naomi said, watch where Boaz lies down. Why? Because the last thing Ruth wanted to do was to uncover the wrong feet! No matter how dark it is, there would be no way to hide her embarrassment.

Part four was the key step: “Go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” What is going on here? Well, the story of Ruth is about more than one thing.

On the one level, it is the story of redemption. It is a picture of the humble sinner approaching the mercy seat of God, brought by his grace and being covered and protected by his Savior. On another level, it is a picture of a relationship between a Moabite widow and a Jewish man who was in a position to marry her if he chose to do so. She lay at his feet, perhaps, because she was humble, not presumptuous. She came to make a request, not a demand.

For the rest of the story, read the book of Ruth. You will see the humility with which Ruth responded to Naomi, the faithfulness of Boaz and the exciting way God brought a Gentile widow into the lineage of Jesus Christ.

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man” and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can Tweet him @jmarkfox and can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc

Racism has no place in Christianity

Racism attacks the very heart of the Gospel — the saving knowledge of Christ that is given to men and women from every tribe, tongue and nation.

Oscar Hammerstein II wrote a song for the musical “South Pacific” that went like this:

“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear, you’ve got to be taught from year to year, It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear, You’ve got to be carefully taught. You’ve got to be taught to be afraid, Of people whose eyes are oddly made, And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade, You’ve got to be carefully taught. You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, Before you are six or seven or eight, To hate all the people your relatives hate, You’ve got to be carefully taught.”

The bad news is that most of humanity has been taught very well. The good news is that in Christ, we can learn a new way. Peter, Jesus’ right-hand man, is a perfect example.

Read the story in Acts 10. Cornelius was a God-fearing Gentile, but not a follower of Jesus Christ. He was visited by an angel who told him to send for Peter. Peter, meanwhile, wouldn’t be caught dead going to a Gentile’s house. That just simply was not done. Until God gave him a vision. Peter saw a sheet lowered from heaven and on it were all kinds of unclean animals and reptiles and birds. God spoke from heaven and said, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or ritually unclean.” God responded with this statement that we need to have emblazoned on our hearts today, perhaps for the first time: “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times, and Peter came out of his trance just as the men from Cornelius’ house were arriving to see if he would come and visit. The Spirit again spoke and told Peter that he had sent them and that Peter should go. Peter did. He went to a Gentile’s house. He preached to a bunch of Gentiles. The Spirit fell on them and they were saved.

I see the same God working in the Old Testament, in the story of Ruth. As I preach through this little book, I am struck by this fact: On one level, the story of Boaz and Ruth is a story of racial reconciliation. Boaz, a Jew, ends up marrying Ruth, a Moabitess. Two races, one heart.

Believers, let me make it plain to you. There is no place in the heart of a Christian for racism. That was part of the message to Peter: “Do not call common what I have made clean.” God used a dietary issue to point to a heart change in Peter that the apostle needed. God renewed his thinking that day on the rooftop.

Why is racism so ugly for a Christian? Because it attacks the very heart of the Gospel. The Gospel, the good news, is the saving knowledge of Christ that is given to men and women from every tribe, tongue and nation. God is not a respecter of persons. Neither should we be.

Racism, an equal opportunity destroyer, comes in all sizes, colors and languages. You can tell if you have a racist heart by one telltale sign. It comes out in your speech. Ethnic slurs. Racial jokes. Barbed words about people of different skin color come from the heart and wing their way through our lips. The heart can sometimes keep things hidden, but the mouth rarely does.

Been carefully taught to hate? It’s not too late to learn a new way.

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man” and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can Tweet him @jmarkfox and can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc

Live quietly, mind your business, work hard

A study in the book of Ruth is so many things, but on one level it is a picture of diligence and initiative. When Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, she was an alien in a foreign land, and a widow. Her only connection in the nation of Israel — her new home — was Naomi, who was also a widow. That did not deter Ruth in the least from taking the initiative to go out and glean in the fields, so that she and her mother-in-law could eat. It was her diligence that caught the eye of the foreman of the field she “happened upon,” and that work ethic was reported to Boaz, the landowner: “She has continued (to work) from early morning until now,” the foreman said, “except for a short rest.”

A companion piece to this encouragement to work hard can be found in the New Testament in the book of 1 Thessalonians. Paul encourages the church to do three things. First, live quietly. Why not forget the foolish notion that to be useful you have to be noticed? Second, mind your own business. If we try to mind ours and others, we make messes of both. Third, work with your hands. The result is a good testimony with outsiders.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I had a summer job working in a factory at RJR Tobacco Co. in my hometown. There were other college kids like me working, and one stands out in my memory, but not because of his diligence. His motto must have been, “Never stand when you can sit, and never sit when you can lie down.” His job was to paint the guardrails in the factory, the ones that separated the floor where the forklifts roamed freely, and the walkways around the perimeter. The rails were probably 8 inches in diameter, and metal. He painted them yellow. With a brush. Lying down. Moving. His. Arm. Very. Slowly.

“I thought the boy was dead for a while there.” That was the comment of one seasoned veteran of Factory 51. I’ll call him Salty. He spit tobacco juice into the empty Pepsi can he was holding, and shook his head with disgust. “I tell you one thing,” Salty continued, as the others in the breakroom nodded, “If that was my boy, I would wear him out. He wouldn’t be too old to spank in my house, I can tell you right now. That boy is pathetic.”

Just as an aside, you may have figured out that this salty character from my past was not known for his timidity. His motto may have been, “Often wrong, but never in doubt.” One day, another man was complaining about his dog to the rest of us in the breakroom. “You want to know how crazy my dog is?” he asked. “When people ring the doorbell, he doesn’t bark. When they come inside and sit down to visit, he doesn’t make a peep or do a thing. But when they get up to leave, he bites them!” Most of us just laughed and shook our heads at the idea. Not Salty. He squinted at the dog owner and said with every ounce of sincerity, “You ought to shoot that dog.” Or actually, “that dawg.”

Well, the point is that whether you agree with Salty’s child training or his dog whispering, he was greatly offended by the college boy’s approach to work. If the college boy was a Christian, his testimony among outsiders was a lousy one.

It’s good advice: Live quietly, mind your own business and work hard.

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man” and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can Tweet him @jmarkfox and can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc

Tweetable John Piper

After trying to find a few tweetable words of wisdom last week (yes, "tweetable" is officially a word now) and failing to find much of anything that wasn't already on Twitter, I felt that was an injustice that simply couldn't stand. Thus began a new series we're calling 20 Tweetable. Feel free to make a few suggestions on who we should feature in future posts!

 20 Tweetable John Piper Quotes

1. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
2. All heroes are shadows of Christ.
3. Sin is what you feel and think and do when you are not taking God at His Word and resting in His promises.
4. Sin is what you do when you are not satisfied in God.
5. Prayer causes things to happen that wouldn't happen if the prayer doesn't happen.
6.  Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for.
7. Satan wants you, and God wants you. The one with sadistic hate. The other with sacrificial love.
8. God does not kill joy. He kills sin. That is, he kills what will finally kill all joy.
9. If you live gladly to make others glad in God, life will be hard, risks will be high, and your joy will be full.
10. A God-centered God created a God-centered cosmos that he saves by a God-centered cross.  
11. The end of the creation is that God may communicate happiness to the creature.
12. Boasting is the voice of pride in the heart of the strong. Self-pity is the voice of pride in the heart of the weak.
13. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon.
14. I measure Your love for me by the magnitude of the wrath I deserved and the wonder of Your mercy by putting Christ in my place.
15. The climax of God's happiness is the delight He takes in the echoes of His excellence in the praises of His people.  
16. The goal of preaching is the glory of God reflected in the glad submission of his creation. 
17. The cross is not a mere event in history; it's a way of life! "Take up your cross daily" Jesus said! 
18. Relativism no longer means: your claim to truth is no more valid than mine; but now means: you may not claim to speak the truth.
19. Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't.
20. Strong affections for God, rooted in and shaped by the truth of Scripture - this is the bone and marrow of biblical worship.   

Other posts in the series: 
Tweetable Tim Keller