It hath been said, whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. Matthew 5:31-32

In 1969, future president Ronald Reagan signed a no-fault divorce law into effect in the state of California. This was the first such law in the nation, but today every state holds a similar statute. In its effect it declared that marriage was not a covenant before God but was simply an institution of man which was of no more significance than an agreement between individuals, which could be ended at any time, for any reason or no for reason at all. Reagan would later admit this was the worst mistakes of his career. 

The evangelical church in America largely allowed this change to go unchallenged. It was argued that this was a necessary step allowing a peaceful way to end a bad marriage without ruining reputations or incentivizing perjury in court.  

But there is no such thing as a peaceful divorce. 

Jesus declares that only fornication can end a marriage. There is either fornication before the divorce or there will be fornication after the divorce. By codifying into law that 2 people may divorce for no reason at all – the state lied about what a marriage is and sanctioned adultery. The state legislated sexual immorality. And this 46 years before the Obergefell decision. 

If there is no God above the state, then the state becomes god. 

But what about you? Do you tell the truth about what marriage is? Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. Do you profess this truth about marriage in your actions? Or do you allow days to go by in which you define marriage differently, telling yourself today I don’t need to sacrifice for my wife, after what she did or what she said, she doesn’t deserve it. That is not marriage, that is a lie. 

And likewise, wives, do you profess biblical marriage with your actions? Submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Respect your husband. The one you have right now, not the one you wish your husband became. Do this today, and tomorrow and until death do you part. And in this way, stand on the truth.

Zach Browning – January 28, 2024

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I want to draw your attention to the profound wittiness that is present in the narrative of the Golden Calf incident. The tale is familiar enough. The people grow restless as Moses meets with Yahweh atop Sinai. They insist on Aaron making them a god. He complies with their request, fashioning a Golden Calf out of the plunder which they’d gotten as they left Egypt.

But how the text (Ex. 32) describes these idolators is what I want to note. The people stoop down to eat and drink. They spring up to frolic. God calls them stiff-necked, we might say bullheaded. The language paints them as straying, running wild, quickly spooked, needing to be corralled. As one commentator, who first drew my attention to this, said, “[they are portrayed] as wild calves […] because they transformed into the very object of their worship.”

Here in vivid narrative is the truth of the proverbial saying: you become like what you worship. Worship isn’t an optional add on to the life of humans. It’s why we were made. It’s hardwired into our system. God made us to worship Him, and by worshipping Him we most truly bear His image. To be human is to imitate and image forth God our Creator.

If you determine to worship anything else, you are also bound to the imitation of that thing. If you serve a golden calf, you become like a wild ox. This is why the self-absorption of our age is so very destructive. If you become like what you worship, what happens when you worship a powerless and depraved creature in rebellion to his Creator? You get a human deteriorating into themselves. It’s moral radioactive decay. The only remedy for such a moral implosion is to repent and worship God alone according to His Word.

Ben Zornes – January 28, 2024

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The King’s Cross elders and deacons met yesterday for our annual vision meeting. This is an annual opportunity to review the previous year and make bigger picture plans for the coming years. One of the significant items to be thankful for is how many more of you there are this year, about 140 new members, including 66 baptisms. And with that, God has raised up 5 new elders, 2 new deacons, as well as 2 new deacons in training. God is very good. 

Related to that, one of the things we discussed yesterday was how we can continue growing in our elder care for you. As you hopefully know, when you become a member of King’s Cross, you are assigned an elder. You’re always welcome to talk to any of the elders or pastors about anything, but this is our way of making sure that at least one elder is keeping an eye out for you and occasionally checking in. The King’s Cross elders meet every Monday afternoon, and once a month one of the elders gives a short report on the folks on his list. With 8 parish elders, we get through the lists about 1.5 times per year. Elders have historically reached out via email, phone call, or offered to take folks out to lunch or coffee, or sometimes schedule a visit in your home. 

The elders specifically asked me to give you all a heads up that you should be expecting more requests for home visits. Some of you come from backgrounds where this has never happened, and if an elder reaches out to schedule a visit in your home, you don’t need to panic as if you’re trouble (unless you are). Others of you come from traditions where you might be used to a pretty regimented schedule of elder visits, perhaps with your name even printed in the bulletin for that week’s elder visit with everyone praying for you. We’re definitely aiming for something less rigid, but we really do believe that it will help us know you better and pray for you and shepherd you better. So be on the look out for that. And lastly, if you think you might have fallen through the cracks and can’t remember if an elder has ever reached out, please send up a flare. 

Toby Sumpter – January 28, 2024

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Anything worth doing is worth doing well. That is good old fashioned advice, the kind we won’t shake a stick at. But, that advice is missing a key ingredient, namely, the only way to do anything well is to do it unto the Lord.

I grant that pride and some natural stubbornness can motivate a man to climb Mount Everest or put in more hours at the gym than the next guy. But these sources of energy will fail you, deceive you, and at the end of the day, they don’t provide the horsepower that devotion to the Lord provides. 

Paul said, “whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). “Whatsoever ye do” means nothing is excluded. Whether you change diapers, plow driveways, run suicides, shoot jump shots, complete math homework, shuttle children from one end of town to the other, cook dinner, or answer e-mail, you must do it unto the Lord.

And this is no sentimental statement. You can’t do a lousy job and then claim to fix it by singing the doxology over it. “There is my lame work,” we say. “And now I will sanctify it with a benediction.” No, you may not do that. A benediction is not a bit of hocus pocus that turns the fruits of our laziness into the fruits of the diligent. “But I sang the doxology unto the Lord,” comes the reply. OK, fine and good. But the text said that your work was to be unto the Lord.

This kind of life is not like the one Israel lived when making bricks without straw for Pharaoh. We server our Father who loves us and gave His Son for us. He accepts C+ offerings so long they are offered up in faith. He then sends us back out with training to do greater works than before. And those works must be unto the Lord.

Jared Longshore – January 28, 2024

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