Men are called to be leaders. Men are called to responsibility; to go out and take dominion. This is part of the creation ordinance. The idea that some men are alpha males while others are beta males is a false Darwinian lie about man. No, all men are called to lead and be leaders. God created men to be men. 

A man not leading his family, is abdicating, and he hates his family. A man that is bulldozed by the woke regime at work hates the truth and hates his neighbor. That’s because being passive is not being neutral. This is what is referred to as the sins of omission, not doing what God has commanded you to do. And these sins will send you to hell just as fast as any other sin. 

Now you might say, what about Paul’s teaching on the parts of the body? We can’t all be hands; we can’t all be mouths. My role is to be the quiet man, who doesn’t say anything but loves God in his heart. I am not really good at leading. I don’t speak well. I get easily confused and don’t want to blunder. I just mess things up when I try to take the lead. My wife is so much more organized than me, she does things so well when I just stay out of the way. 

This is the same argument that has brought our culture to the place of thinking a man’s role can be a woman. He can just mutilate himself, take some drugs and “Presto!”, he’s a woman. No, the different roles or talents given to men in the body do not include no longer being a man. They do not include abdication of responsibility and they never include sinning. Men, you are to stand for and defend the truth. Every one of you. Husbands, you are to lead your wife and children, every one of you. Men, you are to rule over sin in your life, every one of you. 

Now each one of you should also prayerfully be considering whether you are called to lead in the church, serving as an elder or a deacon. This is a part of the body that you may or may not be called to. But whether you are or not, we are all called to strive to meet the qualifications for Church leadership. To be honest, blameless, a one-woman man, to be watchful, self-controlled, hospitable, able to teach, not drunk, not violent, not greedy, not quarrelsome, not immature, but patient, content, and one that rules his household well.

Zach Browning – May 19, 2024

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On Pentecost, like at Mt. Carmel, the fire of God fell. In both cases the Lord gathered the people called by His name together and demonstrated His power by sending fire on an unlikely place in order to bring them to a point of decision. That they might be holy and purge out the evil among them. When the Israelites saw the fire fall on Elijah’s altar, they executed the prophets of Baal. When the Israelites gathered for Pentecost heard Peter’s sermon, they repented of their sins and were saved, as Peter says, from the crooked generation.

This is an exhortation to zeal. Consider the logistics of Mt. Carmel: Elijah personally, it seems, slaughtered four hundred men in his zeal for the Lord and His holiness. But similarly impressive is the mass baptism after Peter’s sermon: three thousand baptisms. Which I’ve heard as an argument for sprinkling as opposed to immersion, but that’s neither here nor there. But regardless, in each case, the people hear and rush to obey.

The Devil would have us delay, slow down, don’t rush into anything, Consider all the implications of your actions. In general, while zeal without knowledge is bad, we are commanded to be zealous for holiness and more often than not caution is not a mark of the Spirit’s presence. Our inclination is to hold back, to not commit ourselves, to delay obedience to a more opportune time, but God requires us to take the prophets of Baal down to the Kidron valley and slaughter them as soon as we know them for the treacherous snakes they are. We must seek cleansing as soon as we know our sins for the cancerous blights they are.

When the Spirit’s conviction falls on you like fire, illuminating and purifying, know that fire goes on altars, i.e. things that are holy. So when the Spirit’s conviction falls on you, know that it is because you belong to God, and obey.

Joshua Edgren – May 19, 2024

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“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

When we think of our own battles with sin, particularly hidden sin, we often consider as a motivation for us the fact that God sees everything. As Hebrews 4:13 says, “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” 

It certainly ought to motivate us when we are in the throws of temptation, when no one is looking, when it is just you, alone and in the dark, it ought to motivate you toward holiness to consider and meditate on the fact that God sees all things, that God knows all things, that he is present with you watching everything you do. 

But here, Christ says the inverse of this must also be a present motivation for us. When you’re in throws of temptation, when you’re tempted to lie in order to present yourself in a better light, when you’re tempted to gossip and slander a brother or a sister, when you’re tempted to fully give yourself over to your anxiety about the future, when you’re tempted to click that link to the shady website in order to see forbidden things, Christ tells you that what should stop you dead in your tracks in that moment, is the promised reward ahead of you. 

Yes, God sees you in that moment. You are naked and exposed before the fire of his eyes. Everything you do, everything you say is before his face. 

AND if you would turn to him, if you would purify your heart, if you would confess your sin and cling to the cross of Christ, then you will see God. 

This is what you were made for. To behold your creator in all his splendor, in all his radiant holiness, to take in the sheer magnitude of his glory—like a thimble attempting to hold the ocean. This is what you were made for, to see him face to face. 

So do not let the fleeting pleasures of sin entice you. Do not let the cares of this world distract you. Do not give yourself over to the impurity of lust, and licentiousness, and anger, and envy, and bitterness. Purify your heart and you shall see God.

Zach Wilke – May 19, 2024

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It really is something that Jesus Christ told his disciples that it would be advantageous to them if he left them (John 16:7). Take this truth in as if you were there with our Lord and you will see just how outrageous those words must have seemed to them. Jesus tells them, “If I don’t go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you.” “Well, Lord,” they must have been thinking, “how can it be more advantageous for us? We have seen you walk on water. You have heald the sick. You’ve cast out demons. And then there was the time you raised Lazarus from the dead. We just don’t understand how your departure will make things better.” “Right,” our Lord responds, “you do not understand. But you can believe.”

Petecost reminds us that we live by faith not by sight, we live by faith, not by complete understanding. By all means, you can reason from the things Christ says. You can reason to your heart’s content from the Word. But you cannot sit in the swamp of unbelief and reason your way to the Word. Jesus smiles at one of the disciples, saying, “You don’t understand? Well, you’re definitely not going to understand if you don’t start by believing what I’m telling you.”

Pentecost kills the sin of stagnant, swampy unbelief. The Spirit is Living Water. And He will flow. It is not your job to keep up with Him. You could never do that. He’s not some stream running along beside you. He is a stream that has been poured out in your hearts. Your job is to trust the Word and ride the river.

Jared Longshore – May 19, 2024

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I had already picked where I was going to aim this exhortation before I realized it was Mother’s Day. Surely the Spirit was at work in this. The exhortation comes from 1 Peter 3 where Peter has just finished saying this- You were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls…and then there is a pause and a transition…In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands. Feel the weight of that first. Peter says people straying and being brought back by the shepherd is not unlike women being submissive to their husbands. Wives are to follow their husbands like sheep follow the shepherd. And then there is this safeguard. If any of the husbands are disobedient to the word- win them over by your submissiveness as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. So husbands, you have a massive weight of responsibility to lead the sheep in your home, like Christ leads the church. And women, you are to follow your husband like a sheep follows a shepherd. How are you all doing with this? Men with your responsibility and women with yours? For you women specifically think of all the things you could be doing for your husband. The laundry, the dishes, the cooking, working part time, all the things you could be doing. Good things. What Peter says is precious in the sight of God is a gentle and quiet spirit. How are you doing with that? This is what God desires. This is what pleases Him. Go ahead and do all the other things but if you are not doing them with a gentle and quiet spirit then you are doing it all in vain. A husband wants a wife that he can trust. He wants a woman who will do him good and not evil. He wants a woman who is diligent and wise. He wants a woman who opens her mouth in wisdom and kindness is on her tongue. He wants a wife who praises him. But above all, if he is a godly man, he wants her to have a quiet and gentle spirit. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. 

So women as you go about your duties taking care of your household and your children lay all of your vanity down at the foot of the cross and take up the righteous garments for your soul, the garments of being gentle and quiet in your spirit.

Joshua Dockter – May 12, 2024

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