It is universally accepted that Christians should be Christlike. But you will not find universal agreement on what it is like to be Christlike. Many young boys have grown up being reminded by the church ladies that they should follow in the ways of Jesus, these church ladies being the type who will not abide a foul tongue and never miss a ladies’ luncheon to discuss The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Homemaking. But the boys eventually come across the gospel truth that Jesus came eating and drinking, and was accused of being a glutton and a drunk, only to have the church ladies look on in dismay as the young men’s bible study marches off to the local pub singing, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” The church ladies wag their fingers. The boys continue, “Though none go with me, I still will follow.”

The charges against our Lord were false. But they were reasonably false. His first miracle was turning water into good wine in order to keep a wedding party going. He multiplied fish and loaves to feed 5,000 and made sure there were leftovers. Of all of the sacraments He might have left us, He gave us bread to strengthen the heart and wine to gladden it. He had nothing to do with the self-made religion which flies the three banners overhead: Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. That self-righteous religion has the appearance of godliness and it is plenty tough on the body. But it isn’t the least bit tough on the flesh.

If you would truly crucify the flesh, and if you would genuinely be Christlike, then you must know what it means that the Son of Man came preaching the year of the Lord’s favor. Believe Him and you will be as new wine skins swelling with His new wine. Disbelieve Him and you will be as old wine skins burst apart by His fermentation.

Jared Longshore – July 14, 2024

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“You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Ephesians 2:19-22

Jesus Christ is the cornerstone and on him the apostles and prophets laid the foundation upon which saints of the church in Ephesus were put into place. And you saints of Christ Church Troy, 2000 years later are being built into that same building. But examining Paul’s description, our stone in the wall does not rest directly on the cornerstone. The building does not consist of just your stone on top of Jesus. No. just as the Ephesians were built on the apostles so we are fit together, chosen by God in our place in history. Down below us in the wall are the saints in Ephesus, Galatia, and Corinth, above them those in Constantinople and Rome, then above and to the side are Canterbury, Wittenberg, Geneva, Westminster, Northampton, and right below us you would find saints in Christ Church, Moscow Idaho, those who have laid the mortar on which we stand. Now these stones are being fit together by the Spirit lest anyone should boast that man did this. But likewise, the Spirit uses men and women throughout history to build his church lest anyone should think we arrived at the truth apart from the faithfulness of others. Man’s pride can find a pothole in any road. Are you different from other believers? Does Christ Church Troy have its own distinctives? Is it in a different part of the wall? Are we above some stones and below others? Maybe a different shape? If you have ever taken the time to look at a stone wall built by a master craftsman, you would see how rocks of all different shapes are perfectly placed. No two stones could be switched out without the wall losing integrity. But what foolishness for one stone to boast to another about its shape or placement or worse yet to think that it could stand as a wall by itself. If you are to boast, boast in this, that your cornerstone is Jesus Christ. That the Spirit took you, all of grace, and formed you and fit you into place together with all the saints into the temple of the living God.

Zach Browning – July 7, 2024

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We just celebrated our nation’s birthday this last week, and this conjures up many mixed feelings and questions. How do we celebrate a nation that has murdered babies by the millions? How do we celebrate a nation full of corruption and lies and scandals? And on the other hand, should Christians even celebrate our nation, since our citizenship is in Heaven and the Kingdom of God includes many nations? 

The short answer is that is a Christian duty to honor and celebrate everything good about our nation, as an extension of our duty to honor our father and mother. Just as we are to honor the law of our father and mother, and not remove the ancient landmarks established by our fathers, so too we are to honor the biblical laws of our land, as well as the good customs and traditions and true virtues of our history and people. And it is this honor and love of our particular fathers that teach us how to honor other people and nations. We can rightly love other families and nations only when we have learned to love our own. We love our neighbor as ourselves. 

The root of the word “patriot” or “patriotism” is “patria,” which comes from the word for “father.” Patriotism is love of fatherland. In other words, the root of Christian patriotism is honoring fathers. It is no accident then that as we have become a fatherless nation, our nation has reached a crisis. You cannot despise and hate the fathers in your family and church and then magically end up with faithful fathers in the public square. You get faithful fathers in the public square and a virtuous fatherland worth honoring because family fathers and church fathers faithfully lead and lay their lives down for its virtue. It is only by honoring father and mother that it can go well with us in our land. 

So we do not honor the corruption in our land, and understood rightly, every lawful means of resisting that corruption is actually true Christian patriotism. A true Christian patriot hates the evil in his nation because he loves what she ought to be. Likewise, we do not honor the failures and sins of our fathers and mothers, but we remember and celebrate all the good things in faith, asking God that it may go well with us in the land.

Toby Sumpter – July 7, 2024

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Any good leader will tell you that you want both form and freedom in an organization. The form without freedom approach sucks all of the life out of the room. Yes, the table is set perfectly. But the spirit of this dinner is such that all you can hear is the clinking of forks on plates amid those deafening silences. Everything is indeed in its place. But you should have seen the lash employed to make it so. In the face of this error, the libertine in us wags a finger and insists that freedom will be championed and all of that crusty form forsaken. But the freedom without form approach results in mom cooking no dinner, dad bringing home no bacon, and little Johnny throwing the steak knives at his sister’s door.

So form and freedom together is the target. But hitting that target is not simply a matter of balance. The goal is not 50% form and 50% freedom, as if you were cooking some soup putting in a dash of one or the other. After all, if you only have 50% form, then you’re left with 50% disorder, and only 50% freedom means 50% slavery. Yes, form and freedom must go together but in a way that you are entirely free and entirely formed. You’re looking for 100% form and 100% freedom. Our LORD said, “if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). And the same God said, “Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

This is not easy, of course, and we might want to echo the disciples who once said to our Lord, “This is a hard saying, who can hear it?” His reply to them at that time is fitting to this teaching as well. He said, “It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63).

Jared Longshore – July 7, 2024

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As we all know, the fourth commandment is a wonderful blessing from God where we are commanded to rest and worship 1 day out of the week as we remember our redemption in Jesus Christ. But what’s striking about this commandment is that the majority of these two verses is devoted to exhorting those in authority not only to rest, but to GIVE rest. The commandment is quickly stated and then God focuses on giving instruction on how this is to be done. 

Those who have children, those who have servants, we can compare that to having employees, and those who govern any institution, whether it be family or business, are to make sure that those under their authority get to rest. So not only is this an opportunity to be blessed yourself by resting on the Lord’s day, it is an opportunity to bless those around you by giving them rest as well. 

This means that as husbands you ought to be looking for ways to make sure your wife rests on the sabbath. This could mean striking a deal with your wife that you will take care of the dishes, dinner & diapers on Sunday. Or not lingering late into the night at a social event on Saturday night ensuring tired, squirmy, babies on the sabbath. 

This means as mothers you ought to govern the household with the Lord’s day in mind, taking advantage of the day of preparation to free up time for rest and worship on Sunday for your children. 

Now of course, things will happen. Your Ox may be stuck in a ditch more than a few times and it’s important not to be legalistic about these things, but with that said, we should strive to obtain the blessings available for us in obeying these commands. Not because by doing these things we earn salvation, but because by doing these things we get to delight in the salvation wrought for us by God Himself.

Jeremiah Jasso – June 2, 2024

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