This past weekend was our annual Missions Conference. I’d like to underscore why this event is on our church’s annual calendar. We’ve all got plenty to do, so it isn’t just another event to fill our schedule.

We believe that the church’s primary task is found in Christ’s commission to His disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. This command hasn’t been rescinded. Therefore, it’s the task of the church in every age to obey our Lord and bring the glorious news of His suffering and exaltation on our behalf to all nations, tribes, and tongues.

In some quarters foreign missions has either become simply an opportunity for adventurous Christians to see far off parts of the world, or it’s contaminated with the postmodern sludge of “all cultures are equal” and have abandoned, almost entirely, the task of proclaiming the Gospel of Christ’s Kingdom. 

Nevertheless, the banner of Christ will be raised over every citadel of human society: church, state, and family. But keep in mind that when the Great Commission says, “Go” it literally translates to “as you are going.” Meaning, this task of evangelizing the nations isn’t to be done as if it’s a Hail Mary desperation pass at the end of a football game. Rather, we’re to courageously and diligently seek to know Christ and make Him known to all inhabitants of the earth.

All this will take awhile, but we must not twiddle our thumbs. Spurgeon gives a fantastic reminder on this front: “If from this day for the next 10,000 years not a single soul should be converted to God by foreign missions—it would [still] be [the Church’s] duty with increasing vigor to thrust her sons forward into the mission field because her duty is not measured by the result, but by the imperial authority of Christ!”

Ben Zornes – March 10, 2024

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Millions of advertising dollars are spent every year on enticing you to embrace the vice of hastiness. What at first blush might look like a road to greater liberty, ease, and comfort, is instead a quicksand pathway which will quickly bog you down into the swamp of discontent, greed, and lust.

Porn is not a shortcut to sexual fulfillment, although that is what it disguises itself as. Sports betting is an alluring cheat code to generating fat stacks of cash, but the House always wins. Pinterest boards present a minimalist mirage of tidiness, but underpinning (pun intended) that minimalism is often an avoidance of diligence. Every other Silicon Valley start up is aimed at trying to part you from your money with the enticing promise of shortcutting hard work.

Proverbs, in particular, warns us of the sinister nature of haste. Hasty feet are described as sinful (Pr. 19:2). Hastiness in wealth building is unlikely to be paired with moral innocence (Pr. 28:20). Hasty speech is not just foolish, it makes you worse than a fool (Pr. 29:20). Starvation follows hastiness like ash follows fire (Pr. 21:5).

These warnings against a “get out over your skis” hastiness are not set in contrast to slothfulness. Rather, the virtue which stands opposite of this vice of hastiness is that of steady steps of diligence and faithfulness. According to biblical wisdom this is how you build a lasting foundation. Persistently ordering your steps to walk in the ways of God’s Covenant is how you enjoy the good life.

However, apart from Christ our feet our cinder blocks when it comes to obedience, and jet packs when it comes to gratifying our lusts. So, God freely offers to you, through Christ, a new heart which transforms your entire moral framework. By faith then, your feet can plod away at faithfulness.

Ben Zornes – March 3, 2024

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One of the most important spiritual vital signs is whether you have a low-grade fever of fear. Do you wince easily? Is your mind tangled up with nightmares of all the scenarios of things going wrong? Have you been fretting over all the bad things in the headlines, and letting your emotional state be dictated by oil prices in Saudi Arabia? This sort of fear is rightly described in Scripture as having torment.

Fear will sap your strength and will. It will rob your joy. Your voice will quaver in timidity instead of being raised in praise. Letting fear wander the hallways of your life unchecked will make it certain that you only do the safest of things. You won’t stand up against evil. You won’t venture out of your comfort zone. You’ll be confined to the small chamber of safety, as defined by all your fears.

But where God’s Spirit dwells, there His love dwells too. This love, we are told, casts out our fears. If you know that God has manifested His love to You through Christ, and your sins are forgiven and abundant and everlasting life is your birthright you can walk fearless.

Whereas fear confines you, God’s love is deep and wide and long. This is why the attribute which defined the early church was that of boldness. It is how Acts describes the early Christians, and it is what Paul asks the church to pray that he would have, even in his imprisonment. Now, this boldness doesn’t mean being a loud-mouth. Rather, this boldness is the straightforward declaration of the Gospel, and the fruit of a life assured of this Gospel. The security of knowing that God’s love is upon you and dwells in you, wherever you go makes you fearless regardless of any persecution, famine, distress, or peril you might encounter.

God’s people throughout history have been marked by their fearlessness. They have rebuked kings, faced down armies singlehandedly, put the enemy to flight, and preached righteousness to a stiff-necked people. They have done this because they feared not man, while reverently fearing God Almighty. When we get this backward it cripples our witness, confines our lives, and kills our joy. May God forgive us for trembling before the threats and worries of this world, instead of standing steadfast and certain in His love. And may He grant unto us a true evangelical boldness to live and declare His truth in this dark age we live.

Ben Zornes – February 25, 2024

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There is a nefarious lust within us as humans. It’s a craving for uniqueness, originality, and innovation. This is seen clearly in how insistent modern man is on society’s unquestioned acceptance of every person’s supposedly unique identity. It also shows up the erasure of great men and women from history. We don’t want to be reminded of the glories of past generations because that would cast a shade on our lame livestream.

No matter how dearly we believe in our individuality and uniqueness, there’s a truth that haunts at every turn: absolutely everything you are and do is imitative. Peter tells us that we receive a “vain tradition” from our forefathers; a tradition of conformity to sin (1 Pt. 1:14,18). Solomon tells us there’s nothing new under the sun (Ecc. 1:9). Generations rise and fall, but they invariably follow each other’s footsteps of folly.

This craving for uniqueness is a race to escape the reality of our human nature. You were made to mirror God’s glory as a free creature of a Sovereign God. To despise this truth is to despise your humanity, and to succumb to beast-hood; descending into the thoughtlessness of a herd creature.

Every glory of art, science, literature, music, and mathematics accomplished by mankind is a borrowed glory. It is a grain of sand on the shore of the brilliance of God’s creative decrees. Our sub-creations borrow every molecule from the Mouth which spoke it into being. Our symphonies are mere echoes of the vibrations of the Spirit over the waters. Our inventions are more accurately described as unveilings of God’s infinite innovation.

So then, to be truly human is to be humble before the Triune God. Acknowledge Him as Lord over all, and so make and be and do in the light of His splendor. Content in Him we find true goodness.

It was pride which drug Lucifer from his height, and so too our first parents were deluded with the notion of partaking of “god-ness” without first humbling themselves before God. Our cultural obsession with being unique and standing out and being different are all irritating notes that are too flat or sharp; this song of our arrogance carries no melody and will abide no harmonies. May God forgive us for rejoicing in the dimness of our own light, when everything we are and have and do come from the light of His glory. May we be humble, that we might be raised up in the glory of our union with Jesus, the true image of the invisible God.

By humbling yourself before God, confessing your sins to Him, you do not lose yourself, instead you find glory. Scripture makes it plain that the path to glory comes first through humility before God.

Ben Zornes – February 18, 2024

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Let me begin with a seemingly awkward question. How do you smell? Now, before you take offense, I am speaking metaphorically. Scripturally, our bearing is likened in many places to an aroma. Steadfast faith in the resurrected Christ will be the smell of a rotting corpse to those who are themselves spiritual zombies. Whereas communing with Christ is likened to having perfumed robes, dripping with the potent aromas common in the ancient eastern cultures (Ps. 45:8).

This image is a helpfully palpable one. If you spend time in Matt Gray’s garage for a men’s forum, you’ll come home with the scent of cigars clinging to you. If you go into one of those perfume shops at the mall you’ll come out smelling French. Spend an afternoon working at a coffee shop or working in a mechanic’s garage and you’ll bear the scent of beans or gasoline. Your aroma processes before you and loiters behind.

Where you spend your time, and what you spend it around, will be discernible by those around you. If you dwell in God’s presence you will bear a sweet savour. Now, this aroma will be simultaneously offensive to those who are spiritually dead but unmistakably wonderful for those who share in the new life in Christ. However, if you live as a hypocrite, God says your offerings are a stench unto Him.

Reflect for a moment, though, as to what sort of aroma your life has borne this past week. Was it the fragrance of nearness to Christ, or was it the acrid notes of deception, manipulation, seething enmity, or simmering unrighteous anger? You cannot abide in Christ and not bear the fragrance of His presence; peoples’ response to it is outside your control. You also cannot live duplicitously and imagine it is a delight unto the Lord. So, I’ll ask again, “How do you smell?”

Ben Zornes – February 11th, 2024

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