Sin

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Suffering for our sins...

Native Americans attacked Fort Casco (Maine) in May of 1690. Along with her children, Hannah Swarton was taken captive. Her husband had been killed when the fort was taken and her eldest son was killed several months later. Early in her captivity, Hannah was separated from her three remaining children.

Over the course of the following year, Hannah traveled with her Indian captors. Poorly clothed, often freezing, and just as often famished, she learned to eat foods she was not accustomed to. Once, there was nothing to eat but a moose bladder which...


Teaching obedience to those struggling with their sexuality...

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I recently had a counseling appointment with a young inmate—a drug addict raised by drug addicts. His only sister is in jail. His nephew is dead. His mother is in jail, and his father died from a drug overdose. In jail, this story is not remarkable. The only thing that made this meeting somewhat unique was the timing. He had just been informed about his father's death. As he walked in the door, his eyes were still red from crying. The last relative he had "on the outside" was gone. 

There was no question in this young man's mind about where the path of his life was leading. He saw death and misery before him, and he hated it. However, two things still stood in his way of turning to Christ. First, he still wouldn't take responsibility for his sin, blaming others, blaming his situation, and ultimately blaming God. Second, he did not believe there was any hope for him to change...


What Christians should learn from Rob Bell and the psychologists…

5352592011_fff4a2dce4_z.jpgHow Stories Deceive is a worthwhile read. It tells the story of a con artist who claims to be a sexually exploited underage teenager. But what the article is really about is the power of stories. Of course, it would have to be in story form to prove the point, and it does a good job. First, some excerpts, then I’ll make a few comments:

“Stories bring us together. We can talk about them and bond over them. They are shared knowledge, shared legend, and shared history; often, they shape our shared future. Stories are so natural that we don’t notice how much they permeate our lives. And stories are on our side: they are meant to delight us, not deceive us—an ever-present form of entertainment.

“That’s precisely why they can be such a powerful tool of deception. When we’re immersed in a story, we let down our guard. We focus in a way we wouldn’t if someone were just trying to catch us with a random phrase or picture or interaction. (“He has a secret” makes for a far more intriguing proposition than “He has a bicycle.”) In those moments of fully immersed attention, we may absorb things, under the radar, that would normally pass us by or put us on high alert. Later, we may find ourselves thinking that some idea or concept is coming from our own brilliant, fertile minds, when, in reality, it was planted there by the story we just heard or read.

“Give me a good story, and I can no longer quite put my finger on what, if anything, should set off my alarm bells. When the psychologists Melanie Green and Timothy Brock decided to test the persuasive power of narrative, they found that the more a story transported us into its world, the more we were likely to believe it—even if some details didn’t quite mesh. The personal narrative is much more persuasive than any other form of appeal. And if a story is especially emotionally jarring—How amazing! How awful! I can’t believe that happened to her!—its perceived truthfulness increases.”

This is what allows scam artists to make a healthy living, whether they are small-time or in the big leagues. Psychologists and others have studied this, and Rob Bell seemed to grasp it intuitively. Why do we fall for lies, whether theological or otherwise, when there’s a good story?


Dealing with sexual predators: objections answered...

Let's dive further into the discussion of how to deal with God's people concerning sexual abuse, both the perpetrators and their victims, but also the weak, potential victims and potential predators. Why now?

Because it just so happens that this is a giant problem in the church today, whether reformed, evangelical, libertarian, homeschool, credo or paedo, family-integrated, or program-central. Of course, somebody might object that right now is not the best time because there's a war on. Or maybe they'll say that discussing it now is going to cause undue pain to a particular perp or victim. Consider this your trigger warning, if you're that sensitive, and stop reading now. 

Cross-fire and friendly fire are part of the terrain in war. We don't stop fighting the war out of fear of such things. And yes, we correct one another and redirect our friend's attention to bigger problems even while screaming orcs are trying to kill both of us. Remember when Aragorn yells at Legolas in the middle of the battle of Helm's Deep? Legolas doesn't respond with "Can't you see orcs are attacking me?" Both of them know full well that orcs are attacking everybody good on all sides. He assumes, rightly, that if his friend is yelling a warning at him... 


Setting Captives Free repents of focus on sin and repentance...

The problem with my original writings was the focus on sin, the labeling of people according to their sin, the sharing and discussing of sin, and the constant reminders of the sin. This is Old Covenant law-oriented, problem-focused doctrine and not according to biblical truth, and it hurt many people to whom I’ve recently been apologizing.

- Mike Cleveland, announcing his repudiation of thirteen years of work with Setting Captives Free

One change in the past quarter-century that has been terribly destructive within the Church and Her households is the ubiquity of the internet through smartphones, tablets, and laptops. These tools have enabled the private consumption of horrendous moral filth and Christian men and (increasingly) women have found this wickedness almost irresistible. The percentage of young Christian men who have succumbed to internet fornication on a regular basis is likely close to ninety percent, and now women have joined men and are consuming thirty percent of the internet filth.

At Clearnote, we've given ourselves to working closely with men and women repenting of this sin. A critical part of our work with those repenting of this sin is that each man and woman has been required to enroll in an internet discipleship program called Setting Captives Free (SCF).

For this reason we were quite sad to be notified recently by several men of our congregation that SCF is now repudiating and will no longer be offering their former courses, including the Way of Purity (for heterosexuals who are struggling with sexual sin) and Door of Hope (for homosexuals in the same position). After a preliminary investigation, one of our elders wrote "it would appear [they] are watering down the gospel by shifting focus away from sin and the need to repent from it."

We contacted SCF to express our concern and this was their...


It's all too difficult...

[Note: Original post on the Christ Church Cincy website written at my fathers suggestion and reposted here at his request.]

Ross Kaminsky, a radio personality in Colorado, recently received an email from a Christian man tempted by same sex attraction. As the email comes to its conclusion, this Christian man says, "...sodomy is a deviancy. The healthiest thing for me is when a wise man can warn me of the horror, perversion, and abomination of the practice, and save my soul..." Kaminsky responded by email, "I feel terrible that society or the Bible, which I call an old book, are making you feel terrible about yourself." After sharing this response on the air, he then added the following comment:


Homosexuality in the PCA: on the road to affirmation...

The second key area identified by the PCA's Cooperative Ministries Committee was "Homosexuality and related issues" (for commentary on the first issue—"the role of women"—visit my previous post)...

Homosexuality and related issues – particularly, how the PCA may best minister in a fallen world to homosexual persons, graciously sharing the Gospel and maintaining biblical standards of conduct and biblical marriage.

As we were reminded repeatedly throughout the PCA's 42nd General Assembly, committees do their work carefully, thoughtfully, and intentionally. So I take it that the particular wording of these five key areas is not just a mumble. To be fair, I did not hear the CMC's report and have not seen the document, so I am going out on a limb by trusting the writer of the byFaith article. If the byFaith staff is faithfully reporting the CMC statement, I've got a bone to pick.

Notice that the CMC stated they want to help the PCA to minister to "homosexual persons." They did not write "persons tempted by homosexuality;" or better, "persons tempted to commit homosexual sin" or "persons tempted by same-sex intimacy." Intentionally using the label "homosexual persons" shows their hand...