| Hope series |

* What Is Hope

* Why Did Paul Say YOLO?

* Hope in Heaven

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What is hope? How is hope different from faith? What are the benefits hope has to offer? Did you know that hope leads to joy and enables patience? I wouldn’t mind a little more joy and I know I could use a little more patience. As we kick off this new series on hope, let’s start with a solid foundation about hope.

Hope Is About the Future

Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:24-25

Let me start with a simple story. During advent this past Christmas, I sat my toddlers down to explain the concept of hope. I wanted them to really understand it, not just memorize a definition but be able to recognize it. I wanted them to experience hope and remember that experience. So, I started by telling them, “I’m going to give you ice cream”. I’m sure you can imagine the way a smile grew on each of their faces as they realized what I said. That is hope. Quite simply, hope is being excited about something that’s coming.

Don’t worry, I gave them the ice cream I promised; after all, I want them to know they can trust me when I say something. But let’s imagine for a minute that they didn’t trust me, that they didn’t believe me about the ice cream. Imagine if the first thought that crossed their mind after I promised ice cream was, “Suuuuuure, we’ve heard that before…”. Do you think their faces would have lit up in the same way? They wouldn’t have gotten excited because they didn’t believe it.

Hope Depends on Faith

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.(Romans 15:13, emphasis added)

Hope is built on the foundation of faith. In a chapter on the faith of Abraham, Paul explained this about Abraham’s hope:

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God,

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| Modern Idolatry series |

* Why is Faith the Answer to Sin?

* Why is Good So Good?

* Have We Idolized Reason?

* Can Society Be An Idol?

Society Can Be an Idol

We’ve seen that God alone defines good and evil. Anytime we decide for ourselves what’s good and what’s evil, we repeat the sin of Adam and Eve when they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Anything we allow to subtly influence our understanding of what is good, we allow to hold a position that’s reserved for God alone, making it an idol in our lives. Last time we saw that, in this context, we often allow our own reason to become an idol when we reason our way to choosing what’s good rather than relying on God’s definition and direction. In this way, we allow ourselves to define what’s good rather than looking to God.

We also often allow others to influence our definition of good. This is one of the most common forms of modern idolatry: allowing society to influence our understanding of right and wrong. The problem is that society is a blind guide for morality; only God, not man, has a clear view of what’s truly good for us.

We Get It Backwards

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!Isaiah 5:20

Earlier in this series, we saw why getting good and evil straight is so important because when God calls something good it’s because it’s good for us; when He calls something evil it’s because it does us harm. Last time we saw that when we take something that’s actually evil and call it good, we are endorsing something that’s harmful to us. We make the opposite mistake as well, condemning something that’s actually helpful. Make no mistake, society gets it wrong in both ways, let’s take a look at one example today.

Being “Nice” Isn’t Always Loving

Our culture has its own definition of love (something good) and hate (something evil). But, like we’ve seen, when people try to define these things, we inevitably get it wrong. Society’s definition goes something like this: “It’s loving to tell someone what they’re doing is good. By contrast, it’s hating to tell someone what they’re doing is bad.” More simply, society tries to indoctrinate us with these ideas of “nice” and “mean” as the definition for “good/loving” and “evil/hate”.

So much of our morality (especially what we’re taught as children) is based on this idea.

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| Modern Idolatry series |

* Can Society Be An Idol?

* Have We Idolized Reason?

* Why is Good So Good?

* Why is Faith the Answer to Sin?

We don’t often find ourselves tempted to bow down to a wooden statue but make no mistake, idolatry is very much alive and well in our culture. Idolatry happens any time that we allow something other than God to take on one of His roles in our life. As I’ve said before, because God plays so many roles in our lives, the temptations for idolatry are endless.

In this series we identified one of the most important roles that God has in our life: the definer of good and evil. In fact, we saw that the sin in the Garden was exactly this form of idolatry. When Eve chose to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, she did so to become “like God, knowing good and evil”. Every time we sin, we choose our own evaluation of good and evil over God’s, repeating the serpent’s words: “I will not surely die”. In this way, this form of idolatry is perhaps the most fundamental: making an appearance every time we sin.

Studying the knowledge of good and evil (a subject called ethics) sounds virtuous on the surface, but the story in the Garden demonstrates that it leads to death. Today we’re going to explore why our reason cannot define good and evil for us.

The Problem with Ethics

I can recall sitting in my college ethics class discussing how to make the right decision. The purpose of the class was to present tools we could use to help us decide between right and wrong. The main tool we were given was analysis (reason). We were taught to consider everyone who was affected by the decision and to weigh how the decision would affect them.

Here’s the problem: This type of analysis is where we use reason and knowledge to decide between good and evil. Sound familiar? It’s when we chose our own knowledge of good and evil, that we chose sin for the first time. Fundamentally, this is because we are choosing to reject God and put ourselves in His place. To make matters worse, when we choose for ourselves what is good and evil, the only possible option is that we will get it wrong. Why? Because we are not God.

To make matters worse, when we choose for ourselves what is good and evil, the only possible option is that we will get it wrong. Why? Because we are not God.

When we rely on our own definition of good and evil, we often so badly misunderstand something that’s good (beneficial) that it becomes evil (harmful). When we serve as our own guide, something valuable becomes harmful because wisdom is simply beyond our grasp. Let me give one example:

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| Modern Idolatry series |

* Can Society Be An Idol?

* Have We Idolized Reason?

* Why is Good So Good?

* Why is Faith the Answer to Sin?

More Than Righteousness

There are some verses in the Bible that challenge our use of the word “good”. I think we often get confused, thinking that “good” is the same as “righteous”. There are so many verses in the Bible that show us that there’s so much more to the story than rules and “righteousness”:

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.Romans 5:7

Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?Ecclesiastes 7:16-17

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.Colossians 2:20-23

Throughout the story of creation, God repeatedly declares that things are good without mentioning anything about rules. There is so much more to “good” than rules. God intentionally used a word that should get us interested/excited (“good”) not a word that feels weighty and difficult (“rules”). Whereas our idea of “righteousness” emphasizes following the rules as the goal, “good” instead is meant to emphasize our benefit as the goal.

What Happens When We Get Good Wrong?

We saw last time that God alone defines good and evil. Anytime we decide for ourselves what’s good and what’s evil, we repeat the sin of Adam and Eve when they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Whenever we try to take on God’s role and decide good and evil we will inevitably miss the mark.

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| Modern Idolatry series |

* Why is Faith the Answer to Sin?

* Why is Good So Good?

* Have We Idolized Reason?

* Can Society Be An Idol?

Sometimes it feels like the Scripture is full of paradoxes. Two things we know are true, that operate side by side but are hard to reconcile. Among the most fundamental of these is works and faith. We know that we are saved by grace through faith and not by our own works (Ephesians 2:8-9). But we also know that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). We have all read the sobering verses that if we practice sin, ranging from sexual immorality to lying, we will not receive eternal life (Revelation 21:8). But, ironically, we also know we would be lying if we said we don’t sin (1 John 1:8).

I have good news: this paradox is not some unanswerable mystery. In fact, understanding it flows very naturally when we have a proper understanding of sin and faith. When we see why faith is the answer to sin, we understand how faith and works are intertwined. I think that we have misunderstood the concept of “sin” as it’s explained to us in the Bible. Let’s go deeper, moving beyond quick answers so that we can receive revelation that transforms the way we think.

The First Sin

What is sin? What makes something sinful? What is the origin (cause or source) of sin? To understand the origin of sin, let’s start with the original sin. I want to read this story as if it were for the first time:

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying,

“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17

The first hint that there’s more to this story is the name of the tree. It surprised me that it’s not called the tree of sin or the tree of evil, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I mean… that kind of sounds like a good thing doesn’t it?

the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

To know good and evil, to know the difference between right and wrong: isn’t that what we try to tea...

| Pro-Life Family Planning guide |

* Pro-Life Family Planning Intro* Understanding Fertility* Pro-Life Options for Family Planning* Is Hormonal Birth Control Pro-Life?* Timing Intercourse to Avoid Conception

Birth control works using 3 mechanisms of action:

* Preventing ovulation (before conception) * Hindering sperm reaching egg through in crease in cervical mucus (before conception) * Preventing implantation through thinning of uterine lining (AFTER CONCEPTION)

Ok, sure but that probably rarely happens! NO! 1 million children die every year from the pill alone (not including other forms of hormonal birth control) and that’s only in the US! Watch to hear how including all the evidence and statistics!

This video is part of our larger Pro-Life Guide for Family Planning. Don’t forget to take a look at the other pages in that guide (outlined above). The information we cover in this video, including all of the references, can be found on one of the pages in that guide.

| Pro-Life Family Planning guide |

* Pro-Life Family Planning Intro (this page)* Understanding Fertility* Pro-Life Options for Family Planning* Is Hormonal Birth Control Pro-Life?* Timing Intercourse to Avoid Conception

Maybe you’re asking yourself, why are we talking about this? Does God really care about what we do for birth control? Does our faith really matter for deciding when we have kids and how many kids we’re going to have? So, let’s start with that: Does it matter and why?

Why It Matters

When conception occurs, a new person’s life begins. I’ve written elsewhere on conception’s significance scientifically and biblically. The scientific evidence is overwhelming that fertilization (conception) marks the point where an individual human [a person] is first alive (see When Does Life Begin Scientifically? and When Is a Person a Person Scientifically?). Perhaps more important for us though, the Scripture is even more clear. The Bible demonstrates that our life, our calling even, begins at conception (see When Does a Person’s Life Begin Biblically?).

In short, what matters is conception. Conception matters to God; after all the Father chose that Jesus would be conceived. More to the point of this guide though, what does this have to do with birth control? Some methods of family planning (birth control) operate after conception. In other words, the effectiveness of these methods depends on ending a life after conception. So, because conception matters, the decisions we make in family planning matter.

Before moving on, let’s double check this foundation. If you aren’t sure about this and find yourself wondering if an embryo is a baby from conception, that’s ok. It’s an understandable question, and it’s a question I want to help you resolve once and for all. But rather than recount all of the information here, I’d encourage you to look at our scientific overview and biblical overview of these discussions. From here on, this guide will instead focus on the application of this truth.

On another page, we’ll talk specifically about each of the methods of family planning and the relevant medical research. But I want to first establish the central guiding principle, the filter you can use in making these decisions. Let me also share our story so you can get to know my heart.

Our Story

When I was about to get married, a friend I respect brought up birth control and mentioned that he and his wife refused to use it. Without really meaning to, I just shut him down. Rather than let him explain, I just assumed he was going to tell me not to interfere with God’s plan for how many kids we would have. While I entirely respect that position and don’t want to talk anyone out of it, I don’t personally share it.

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| Don’t Judge…Help series |

* Don’t Judge.

* Don’t Judge… Help!

* Judgement That’s Loving

* What Does Judging/Helping Look Like?

What do we do when we see someone struggling with sin? In this series we’ve focused on Matthew 7, where Jesus calls us first to not simply pass judgement on them, to condemn them for violating God’s law. But He didn’t stop at what we were called to NOT do, but what we were called TO do. By contrast, He calls us instead to help them overcome that struggle, to help remove the speck from their eye. We’ve seen how this process starts with taking the log out of our own eye and developing a heart to help.

Last time we saw how Jesus demonstrated this in the way that He relied on the Father’s judgement to accomplish His purpose which was not to judge the world but to save the world. But what does this all look like? And does it look the same for believers as for unbelievers? Let’s start with the first question. Jesus illustrated it for us with an inspirational demonstration in John 13.

Washing Our Feet

Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”John 13:8-11

Notice how Jesus connects being washed here with salvation, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me”. In speaking to Peter (a believer), Jesus says that he is already cleansed (i.e., of sin), that Peter is already bathed (i.e., baptized). By contrast, in referring to Judas, Jesus says, “Not all of you are clean.”

However, even as a believer, Peter still needed his feet washed. Even as believers we still struggle with sin, our feet still get dirty and need to be washed. This is a process called sanctification. Ephesians 5:26 describes how Jesus sanctifies the church similarly: “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” (Ephesians 5:26)

After Jesus demonstrates this by washing the disciples’ feet, He tells us to do the same:

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| Don’t Judge… Help series |

* Don’t Judge.

* Don’t Judge… Help!

* Judgement That’s Loving

* What Does Judging/Helping Look Like?

How do we reconcile love with judgment? How do we balance mercy and judgment? Are we even supposed to make judgments? We’ve been in a series exploring Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 7 to “Judge not, that you be not judged.” In exploring this passage, Jesus illustrates this command by telling us to remove the log from our own eye so that we can see clearly to help our brother with the speck in his. However, in seeing this speck in our brother aren’t we making a judgment?

More to the point, how do we reconcile Jesus instruction to “not judge” with other verses in the Bible which instruct us to make judgements like 1 Corinthians 5:12: “Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?”, or John 7:24: “Judge with right judgement.” I’m excited to explore this together today as we find the reconciliation for these things in nothing less than God’s character demonstrated through Jesus’ life.

Did Jesus Judge?

So, did Jesus judge? In John 8:15, Jesus says “I judge no one”. But there are several examples where it seems that Jesus did express a judgement:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.Matthew 23:15

But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”Matthew 16:23

How do we reconcile this? Moreover, what was the nature of Jesus’ judgements and what does that teach us about what judgement is supposed to look like?

Not Our Judgement

Right after Jesus said, “I judge no one”, he went on to say: “

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| Don’t Judge… Help series |

* Don’t Judge.

* Don’t Judge… Help!

* Judgement That’s Loving

* What Does Judging/Helping Look Like?

As we talk through Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 7 to not judge others, we left off with this verse last week:

First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:5

In the first verse of the chapter, Jesus tells us to “Judge not”. We asked the question last week: Does this mean that we are supposed to “live and let live”? This instruction Jesus gives us in verse 5 gives a definitive “No” to that question. Jesus tells us not to pass judgement on someone, but He also tells us not to leave them alone. We aren’t called to judge; we are called to help! What does that mean and how do we do that?

Seeing Clearly

In order to help our brother, Jesus makes it clear that we must first be able to see clearly. Specifically, we have to remove the log out of our own eye to be able to see clearly. We talked about how to do that last time, but It makes perfect sense really. Whenever we are struggling with sin, possibly even the same sin, that sin clouds our perspective and twists our heart motivation in making a judgement about the situation.

Have you ever noticed that when confronted about something (maybe someone says, “you’re being harsh”) we often respond by saying, “well you do that too!” In that response are we really trying to help the other person be less harsh? Was that the best moment and way to bring that up to truly help them with something? Aren’t we just looking to justify our own actions? Sin in our own life drives us to justify and defend ourselves, to put others down to make us feel better, to pass judgement rather than help. When we have something in our own eye, maybe we can see they have something in theirs, but we certainly can’t see clearly enough to help them with it.

In exploring how to remove this log last time, we found that we must rely on and seek out God’s judgement. We need His help to be able to even see our own log clearly; how much more so then do we need His help to be able to see their speck clearly. Even in helping to take the speck out of our brother’s eye, we don’t use our own judgement, we ask God to show us His. In this way, what Jesus says in verse 5, to remove the speck, is consistent with what He says in verse 1, to not judge. Rather than judging, we look to God for discernment,