Marriage Workshop with Mark Broyles
April 25, 2010
Title: Marriage Workshop with Mark Broyles
Location: Hickman Mills church of Christ
Start Date: 2010-05-21
End Date: 2010-05-23
Grace–It’s Just Not Fair!
October 25, 2009
I caught a few minutes of one of those History Channel type programs about Hell recently. They survey the idea of hell in the Bible, in myth and literature. Various theologians chime in with their opinions. One of the ‘experts’ they interviewed made a very sensible sounding observation. I don’t believe, he said, that someone who has been evil and abused other people his entire life can escape punishment with a deathbed repentance. He continued, we will be punished for what we have done.
Now that sounds like the way it ought to be, doesn’t it? Imagine a Hitler or a serial killer, maybe someone who has molested and killed children, dodging his just desserts by a heartfelt appeal to God through obedience in baptism. In fact, reports were a few years ago that serial killer—and cannibal—Jeffrey Dahmer did just that. He was taught the Bible and baptized in prison. Later he was murdered while cleaning the prison bathroom by a fellow prisoner. Our sense of justice might conclude that his life ended properly, taken from him as he took it from so many others. But what about his eternal life? Surely God will give him what he clearly deserves—eternal torment for his unspeakable acts.
Scripture tells us that sin does trigger understandable wrath in God. We read that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Romans 1:18). But we also discover “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) I am faced with the suddenly uncomfortable realization that while I may not be a murderer—I’m even “a good person”—I am still a sinner, and God’s wrath of necessity will be directed at me.
Well, I’ve done a few things wrong, we might say, but I’ve spent years—even decades—serving God. And while I may not be perfect, I’ve certainly put my time in. Is it fair for someone to slide in at the last minute without doing the work that I’ve done?
Jesus answered that line of thinking with the parable of the workers in the vineyard. The owner of the vineyard hired workers at four different times of the day, the last at the eleventh hour. When time to be paid each worker received his pay: one denarius, the standard for a day’s labor. But those who had worked longer objected: “‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But [the owner] replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’”(Matthew 20:12-15)
Paul explained to us that our salvation—not mine, not yours—never comes as a result of our work: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8). The one who begrudges another “worse” sinner for gaining salvation has lost sight of not only the gravity of his own sins, but also that his sins forgiveness demanded the cross as much as the murderer’s did. All of us deserve God’s justice, which for us means God’s wrath, but none of us could possibly withstand it.
No, God’s grace is not fair. And for that I am, literally, eternally thankful.
Alan Cornett
Doing What We Want
September 20, 2009
We all like to do what we want to do. And, by and large, we’ll find some way to do just that. At the most extreme is the worldly motto, “If it feels good, do it.” Dressed up in respectability we call it “self-actualization”, a term originally promoted by psychologist Abraham H. Maslow. Beyond ultimate boredom in simply pursuing self—The Preacher of Ecclesiastes was frustrated by this himself—short term self-satisfaction, which inevitably leads to sin, has its own dire consequences: broken relationships, addiction, disease, bankruptcy.
Paul wrote to the Galatians that there was another course, that we could find real purpose, but that purpose would not be found by focusing on oneself. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) This act of putting the man of sin to death is symbolized by the action of baptism when we receive forgiveness of past sins. This is meant to be a clean break with our life of self (Romans 6).
Now our focus is to be different. Peter tells us that we are now “to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:2) At first our worldly self struggles against allowing this dominance by Christ, by the will of God. But maturing in Christ is to shape us so that our own self is put aside bit by bit. God’s will ultimately becomes our own.
But this process is not easy. Many of us are quick to recognize the things of overt worldliness and gross immorality. But we still resist letting Christ take over our lives in those “little” things. On what do we spend our money? What do we insist on wearing? How easy is it to put attending services with the saints below kids activities or that fun weekend trip?
G.K. Chesterton well summarized this reality in his book Heretics, “…whereas it had been supposed that the fullest possible enjoyment is to be found by extending our ego to infinity, the truth is that the fullest possible enjoyment is to be found by reducing our ego to zero.” Where do we find our enjoyment?
Alan Cornett
All Taking the Gospel to All
August 16, 2009
by Alan Cornett
VERY EARLY tradition holds that the Apostle Thomas—‘Doubting Thomas’—took the gospel to Persia and ultimately, to India. After preaching there, that same tradition tells us, Thomas was martyred for the cause of Christ. In keeping with this tradition, there is a Roman Catholic basilica in Chennai (formerly Madras) dedicated to him along with a tomb purported to be his. Is Thomas actually buried there? Did he even go to India at all? We cannot know, but we know someone—or several someones—certainly did.
Following the initial preaching of the gospel in Jerusalem, and the firm establishment of that church, the apostles would have followed the Great Commission of Jesus to make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:19) Some traditions contend the apostles cast lots to decide which apostle would take which area. However they decided, they would have gone; they would have preached. Many—maybe most—would have died in the process. But it wasn’t simply the apostles who took the gospel, but lots of people took it. In fact, Acts 8:1 makes the specific point that it was not the apostles who scattered to preach the gospel during the persecution by Saul. They stayed behind because they were still needed in Jerusalem. Contrary to the hopes of the Jewish authorities acting through Saul, the gospel was not stopped but rather exploded out of Jerusalem never to be contained.
Saul himself would be turned from an instrument of persecution into a great instrument of evangelism. And while he was dynamo of evangelistic energy, there are many names that creep into Paul’s letters, men and women who helped him. They were spreading the gospel, too, using their resources and contacts to go where he could not. Apollos perhaps stands out as the most prominent of these people associated with Paul. More are mentioned, certainly many more were not.
What can we learn from this? That evangelism is at its best a decentralized process. An older preacher recently spoke of a woman who became a tremendous spreader of the gospel when she, as he put, learned that she didn’t have to teach. ‘All’ she had to do was make contacts and set up studies.
We all have different talents, skills and opportunities. Can you invite someone to services? Can you mention a potential study to a friend?
Taking the gospel to all the world successfully has never been left to only a few. It must be done with small steps by a lot of people.
Due Affection
July 12, 2009
As Christians we have all seen an alarming increase in the number of marriages that are struggling or have failed. Why? We better not avoid the question. Instead we need to take a hard look at what is happening and what we can do on our part to try and change that trend. I believe every one of us needs to take a look at ourselves and see whether we are contributors to the problem in our own marriages.
Like it or not, what we say and do, or don’t say and do, sets an example to those around us. Does the way you treat your spouse reflect a Christian example of marriage to your children and others that see you?
Numerous resources and research is available that show the various reasons why most marriages fail. Of those, most typically list the lack of communication as the number one problem in a marriage, followed closely by the lack of affection. The lack of affection here includes all types of affection, not just what occurs behind closed doors.
In Titus 2:1-5, older men and women are told to instruct the younger . This includes older women who are to instruct “young women to love their husbands”. In 1 Corinthians 7:3 the Bible says to “let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.”
A popular theme today is to refrain from personal displays of affection while in public. As Christians we appear to have taken this idea to the extreme. As a result I rarely see couples holding hands let alone walking arm in arm, sitting side by side in the car or pew, and most would not think of kissing in public and especially not in front of their children. Our fear of going too far has caused too many to not show any affection at all. What example is that setting for the next generation?
Many of the same sources that list a lack of affection as a major cause for failure in marriage, also talk about one or both spouses growing up on a family that lacked affection. Unless we choose to change ourselves, we will keep repeating history.
Typically at this point one of the marriage partners will typically say that showing affection is just not their way of doing things. Unfortunately, selfishness and lack of affection go hand in hand. Failing to show affection to your partner is selfishness, whether it involves one or both. If you are not affectionate now, then you can choose to change. You have a choice.
In Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20 & 1 Thessalonians 5:26: the bible says to greet one another with a holy kiss. Isn’t that a pretty affectionate way to greet your brethren in public? Even though that is not a custom in this country, shouldn’t we be willing to set at least the same level of affectionate behavior with our spouses in public?
Keep in mind that it is the little things that can go a long way: a touch, a hug when your spouse is having a rough day, a tickle, a quick kiss. These things don’t cost any money, but in the end… PRICELESS!
Ron Ramage
Moonwalking Through the News Cycle
June 27, 2009
This week we have seen the passing of three different pop culture figures: Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, then, to the world’s dismay, Michael Jackson. Remember way back on Tuesday when everyone was talking about Jon & Kate + 8 and the announced divorce? Some of you may remember in the recesses of you mind the scandal from Wednesday, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and his Argentinean mistress. There was even some real news being covered at one point in the week: the protests and crackdown in Iran.
The 24-hour news cycle has increased exponentially both the perceived value of certain individuals as well as their immediate disposability. You’re important for as long as the media can squeeze something out of you or until you’re overshadowed by someone new or “bigger”.
But the movement from seeming importance to certain irrelevance isn’t a new one. It’s always been that way. The Preacher—Solomon—faced the same struggle 3,000 years ago. “A generation goes, and a generation comes,” he wrote (Ecclesiastes 1:4). The names change, but the famous, and infamous, keep churning through. He continues, “Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has been already in the ages before.”(1:10) Our generation is particularly guilty of the constant pursuit of the new and fresh. But Solomon assures us it’s been done. “There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.” (1:11)
It’s unlikely any of us are going to be the focus of the news cycle. From the world’s standpoint we don’t even have the hope of being important before we’re irrelevant again. If anything, however, we are better off for it. We should be able to see that wealth and fame are disposable. And the Preacher himself found that even if we did have them they would only bring limited and transitory satisfaction. “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money…, this is also vanity.” (5:10)
Yet so often we are attracted by the pursuit money, fame or just the pleasures of the world. We seek personal achievement, validation or, dare we kid ourselves?, some imagined earthly permanence. We are lured by the same lies Satan tempted Jesus with in the wilderness. But for real permanence we must we must turn away from the world, and from even ourselves. “Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?’” (Matthew 16:24-26)
God has created us for value and permanence. But it is not a permanence we will find by pursuing our own whims and desires. It certainly will not be a permanence found in any sort of worldly validation, no matter how intoxicating in the moment it might be. If we want our lives to have value and relevance that lasts it will only be found when we take up a cross.
Alan Cornett