The therapeutic worldview which prevails in our society views trauma as the operating system. Your every action is caused by underlying trauma. But the demand for trauma outstrips the supply. So, the priests of this new religion contrive new sorts of trauma. Everything becomes a tangled web of traumas inflicted upon you, and trauma for trauma you’ve inflicted on others due to your privileges. 

It’s hard to keep up with such a system, because, at its core, it’s an incoherent system. It’s a system which wants any evil in you to be pinned on someone else.

But evil doesn’t come from outside you. Each of us are quite capable of innovating some of the worst scum known to mankind. Have others wronged you? Most certainly. But in your response to that wrong have you always and in every way responded with innocent motives. Have you never harbored bitterness, wishing for evil to befall those who wronged you, lusting for revenge? 

God’s Word gives us an entirely different route for dealing with evil. Ironically, God calls you to pin all your evil on Someone Else. You must put all your sin on the only One who never sinned, but first you must also confess that all your sin is, in fact, yours. You can’t blame shift. You can’t pin it on your parents, your culture, your skin color, your socio-economic class, or anything other than you. Your sins, every last one, is yours, and God welcomes you to put it all on Jesus. He who knew no sin became sin, that we might be made righteous. Confession of sin, then, is taking responsibility for all the vile things you’ve done as well as all the vile things you’ve desired to do. And then Christ gladly takes it upon Himself, and pins it to His cross, that it all might die there.

Ben Zornes – July 14, 2024

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When contemplating the innumerable corruptions that exist in our country today, there are many legitimate reasons for us to be tempted to be discontent. Our society hates God, murder of babies is applauded, sexual degeneracy is promoted, inflation, wars, the IRS, and of course that presidential assassination attempt.

But despite all of these real evils in our land, we still enjoy great blessings that many others don’t. We’re here worshiping God openly every Lord’s day, we have the ability to work and provide for our families, we can give our children a Christian education, and we enjoy an abundance of comforts that we often take for granted. We have all been given much.

And even with all that we have been given, we so often can grow discontent. Discontent with what we have, or don’t have. Discontent with our job, our house, our health, or our spouse. Many times, the better you have it, the more discontent you can become.

When Jesus said “to whom much is given, of him shall be much required,” He was speaking of the reality that we will be held accountable for our use of the gifts that He has given us. There is a higher bar for those who have more. And considering the blessing that God has given each of us, this statement carries much weight.

It follows, then, that as we have been given much, it is required of us that we not only use our gifts well, but also that we have much gratitude for them. Much thankfulness for them. When we’re discontent, it’s because we think too highly of ourselves. We’re quick to protest against government entitlements, yet at the same time feel entitled ourselves to bigger and better handouts from God. You look upon another’s talents or position with envy, not because you don’t have it, but because you don’t realize what you do have. The remedy for this discontentment is found in Psalm 144:

LORD what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

When you’re discontent, ask yourself the question; who am I? Who am I? My life is a breath. I’m made out of dust. Who am I to receive such blessing from God?

When you consider the insignificance and unworthiness of yourself, it will magnify your perception of God’s goodness toward you. Even the recognition of how unworthy you are, is not natural to you, but it is a pure gift of His grace.

Think about this: God knows all of your sins, your failures, and your weaknesses. And He still loves you. He still floods you with more heavenly and earthly blessings than you can count. We don’t comprehend how extraordinary this is.

Meditate on this, remember this. Discontentment will die, and gratitude will rise.

Mike Niam – July 14, 2024

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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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