Anyone can point out faults or critique the church and how we’re doing ministry. But we as Christians are called to a changed life both personally, as Christ changes us, and to bring others into a changed life.
It’s not a new discussion. Ever since it hit the market, there’s been tense controversy over it. So why would I dare waste my morning writing a few thousand words that may only cause more arguments?
Because Plexus exposes something about the American church. Not the product itself, although I do plan to share a few statistics and resources concerning it. But rather, the phenomenon of Plexus Worldwide exposes something about the hearts of American christians.
This article is not about finalizing an opinion on the brand, but on what it exposes and how to deal with it. This issue has everything to do with the future spiritual life and health of the church. That’s why I feel compelled to address it.
Within the Christian culture, we don’t do well at caring for broken people, especially in a church mainly filled with multigenerational believers. We’ve known all of our lives how to live appropriately and so Christianity becomes more about living rightly than faith and transformation in Christ.
Requirements for church membership focus more on outside sins (smoking, dress, habits of leisure) instead of internal sins such as gluttony, gossip, self-righteousness, hypocrisy, anger, rebellion, materialism and many more. The idea is, once you have your outside life altogether you can become a member. And then, don’t show anymore imperfections after that.
The problem is, that only cultivates fake Christians.
We hear about God’s son all our lives and, yes, we can quote verses about who He is and why He came to earth and died and rose again, but it’s easy for the story to become rote and soon the deep, earth shaking truths glide over our heads while our hearts wrestle with the faith conflicts we experience every day while living on this earth.
Too many people are doing okay on the outside, but feel lost when they’re hearts ask scary questions. Questions such as, “Why Jesus?” “Who is God, really?” “Am I truly saved?” and “Have I ever actually known God?” aren’t that acceptable in Christian culture. We’re supposed to have that all figured out. Yet, the more I hear people’s stories, the more I realize many of us—those that look like good Christians—are wrestling with these very issues.
This Easter season I needed to take a look and remember who Christ is, what He did for us, how He did that, and how we can experience Him personally.
Some will tell you that “in God’s kingdom, up is down and down is up,” insinuating that what makes sense to our minds is not right in God’s kingdom and what is right in God’s kingdom doesn’t make sense to our minds.
They get this thought from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Jesus tells us that when someone slaps you on the right cheek, instead of slapping them back (as the world would do), turn the other cheek to them so they can slap it also. If someone takes your outer coat, instead of grabbing it back and yelling at them (as the world would do), Christ tells us to give them our sweatshirt as well. The Sermon is full of these paradoxical instructions calling us to do things differently than what comes natural in the heated moment.
But it gets taken out of context.
Every generation has to find their place in history. For one, morality may be the trump struggle they face. For another, it may be poverty.
For us, there’s never been a more Christian time in history. And that’s making us ask questions. How do we know what we’ve been taught all these years is right?
With as many faults as our parents may have, we have been given a lot. We have been given faith blocks to build on—will we building on them? Do we want more of God, and are we willing to take what they gave us and add to it?
Before I got married, I read as much as I could about marriage and relationships. That’s typical of how we humans do life, isn’t it? Get it all figured out beforehand so nothing surprises us and we can maintain control.
After I got married, however, I discovered some parts of marriage were drastically different than I had imagined as I read books about it. I think it’s awesome to be “ahead of the game” in learning about marriage before we’re faced with the in-moment difficulties of communicating and relating. Yet, I think it’s helpful to take it all in smaller bites. We don’t have to read them all before marriage.
In this post, I’ve made a list of the top ten books I’ve read so far that I believe are must-reads for every young couple. I’ve also listed my suggested time when you should read them. Following my timelines and reading each book in the order I have laid out here in this post will guarantee you a successful and happy marriage for at least forty-two years. (Okay, maybe I’m joking.)
I pulled in the driveway, parked the car, and shut off the engine. What an incredible night! We had eaten Subway (Teresa’s favorite fast-food) down by the river, then walked under the slowly setting sun until it was too dark to go any further. Since we weren’t finished talking, we decided to take a drive out towards Red Canyon Park. The moon was full and bright and I felt elated!
All I could think about was kissing her. She was so beautiful and I was completely enthralled with her.
At one point, I pulled off the side of the road and asked if I could hold her hand. I immediately retracted my request because I realized how it put her in an awkward place. She should not have to be the one protecting our sexual relationship. We had decided that we wouldn’t hold hands, not like that. It’s just that I felt such incredible desire for her I thought maybe we could do it for a little bit.
“Romance doesn’t work.” At least that’s what I told myself on January 12, 2013. Two months after our wedding.
We have a skewed perception of romance in our modern culture. What we consider romance really doesn’t last. It’s shallow, self-centered and conditional. Yes, even as Christians we say “I do” with very selfish motives.
Do we have to grow old and stale as so many couples do? If we pursue romance for the purpose of feeling affection, then at the point those affections are no longer appropriately met, we will probably withdraw and our romance will die. But there’s another way.
Many of you have said that I put into words what you’re feeling. That this blog is a place where someone is not afraid to talk about the deep, unspoken questions you wrestle with.
I praise God that I can be apart of his work in this way and I hope and pray that through writing many may come to know Him at a deeper, more meaningful level.
In today’s post, I’ll tell you about a way you can get in on exclusive content from viewing the posts before they go live to being a part of Facebook Group where we discuss the content in further depth.
Author Asher Witmer knows what it’s like to want freedom from sexual sin only to continually fail. We’re often told we need more personal discipline, that we need to think godly things instead of fleshly things.
What if I told you that discipline won’t solve your problem with lust?
Our male sexuality is given by God for advancing beauty and goodness. But somewhere along the line it becomes something that causes devastation and guilt. The good news is we don’t have to live with guilt. In Live Free, Asher Witmer shows us how we can find freedom from sexual sin, live with nothing to hide, and be able to fight for others.
