Nine Types of Trick-or-Treat Houses

HAVE A GREAT EVENING:
 ...   BE SURE TO PREPARE FOR YOUR GUEST....

The NIght Jack Daniels met John 3:16

I remember one night at the end of my road
In a motel in Nashville searching for hope
In my hand was a Bible I read as a child
On the table was a bottle that was driving me wild

I poured the whiskey into the glass
And prayed it would help me forget my past
Then I read of how Jesus died on that tree
I poured out the whiskey, fell down on my knees

Chorus:
That night that Jack Daniels met John 3:16
God's Word broke the hold that he had over me
I traded Tennessee whiskey for Calvary's tree
That night that Jack Daniels met John 3:16

When I see my old friends that I used to know
Down at the old place where I used to go
They tell me I'm different than I used to be
Then I love to tell them what's happened to me

Chorus:
That night that Jack Daniels met John 3:16
God's Word broke the hold that he had over me
I traded Tennessee whiskey for Calvary's tree
That night that Jack Daniels met John 3:16

"The Night Jack Daniels Met John 3:16" was written by James Payne and he tells his real life experience of coming to Christ in 1968. when God delivered from drug addiction and alcohol.

How important to relationships are your words?

How important to relationships are your words? 

Their importance cannot be over exaggerated! 

“My dear brothers, take note of this:

Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak …”                                                                                                   James 1:19 

We’ve all heard the phrase . . . God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we should listen twice as much as we talk. Few things improve a relationship better than listening. That being said, there obviously comes a time we much talk. 

And that’s where we tend to get ourselves in trouble.   Why?

Because sometimes we:

Talk before thinking

Use words carelessly

Open mouth and insert foot

I love how the Message Version of the Bible words James 3:2, 4-6 . . .

“We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths.  If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life…A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything – or destroy it.  It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire.  A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that.  By our speech we ruin the world, turn harmony into chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.”

If we truly realized the power of our words I think we’d use them more cautiously. 

“The tongue has the power of life and death…” Proverbs 18:21

Today, you and I have the choice to use our words destructively to tear down or constructively to build up. 

Destructively . . .

Cursing

Lying

Boasting

Gossiping 

Constructively . . .

Teaching

Encouraging

Guiding

Praising

Here is one of the greatest verses in the Bible on the use of our words . . .

Speak the truth in love . . .                              Ephesians 4:15 

Here is a great test of our words . . .

Before you speak let your words pass through three gates.

Is it true?

Is it necessary?

Is it kind?

Who's Your Daddy?

This is a clip from Priscilla Shirer as she appeared in the Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed A Study of David. It is so motivating and powerful.

Where's Your Treasure

I read the other day about a Baltimore man named William Stammer who kept $1,200.00 in an old pair of shoes so it would be safe from burglars.  And it was.

Unfortunately, it was not safe from Mr. Stammer. Without thinking, he threw his old shoes in the trash and did not realize his error until after the sanitation workers carried them away.

After a two-hour search through the contents of the city trash truck, Stammer located both his shoes and recovered the money.

The person who told that story asked, “When you need to recover your treasure, where will you have to go? To the garbage dump?”

The strange scenario of putting money in our shoes and then throwing them away isn’t likely to happen to many of us. But Jesus did caution us to be careful how we invest our resources. He said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19 NIV).

In the first century, people didn’t have investment portfolios as they do today. So some people invested in fine clothes. However, silently, the moths went to work and destroyed the fine apparel.

Some people invested their resources in grain. Wait for a good price and then sell it, right? But while you are not looking, the vermin – mice, insects, worms – could get into the granary and do a lot of damage.

Others hid their money securely in a safe place in their homes. Or so they thought. But many homes in the first century were made of thin clay. While the homeowner enjoyed a meal at his neighbor’s house, a thief could easily chip through the flimsy wall and grab the treasure.

The fact is, you will leave everything you now have behind some day. So why not invest in things that are eternal? Enjoy this life but keep an eye on eternity. What are the things that never die? Invest in those things and keep your eyes on the Lord.


Source:

POSITIVE PERSPECTIVE    by Ron McClung

Friday Funny - Candy Corn

As the end of the month approaches and Halloween is a few days away – it is time to take a moment and consider a staple of the Halloween tradition.

Candy corn is a candy most often found in the United States and Canada, popular primarily around Halloween. 

The three colors of the candy – a broad yellow end, a tapered orange center, and a pointed white tip – mimic the appearance of kernels of corn, hence the name.   Each piece is approximately three times the size of a real kernel from a ripe or dried ear.

Candy corn is made primarily from sugar, corn syrup, confectioner's wax, artificial coloring and binders.

The church of today - a critical thought

From Henri Nouwen...

“Over the centuries the Church has done enough to make any critical person want to leave it. Its history of violent crusades, pogroms, power struggles, oppression, excommunications, executions, manipulation of people and ideas, and constantly recurring divisions is there for everyone to see and be appalled by.

Can we believe that this is the same Church that carries in its center the Word of God and the sacraments of God's healing love? Can we trust that in the midst of all its human brokenness the Church presents the broken body of Christ to the world as food for eternal life? Can we acknowledge that where sin is abundant grace is superabundant, and that where promises are broken over and again God's promise stands unshaken?

To believe is to answer yes to these questions.”

Andrew Brunson Released After 2 Years Prison Time

Two years after he was detained in Turkey, American Pastor Andrew Brunson has been released. A court in Aliaga, Turkey, ruled on October  that Brunson could go free.

“I am an innocent man. I love Jesus. I love Turkey,” Brunson said. The pastor, originally from North Carolina, has lived in Turkey for two decades, leading the Izmir Resurrection Church.

Prosecutors were seeking a 10-year jail term for Brunson on charges of “Christianization” and acting as “an agent of unconventional warfare” under the guise of being an evangelical church pastor. The court sentenced Brunson to three years and one month prison time but decided to release him due to his manner during the hearings and the time he has already served in prison.

Brunson was detained for 17 months before being placed on trial the first time in April of this year. He was accused of working with the FETO network of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party to overthrow the Turkish government. 

As ChurchLeaders reported in March:

Brunson was caught up in a sweep orchestrated by Muslim President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and was just one of many Christians who were arrested or deported after the failed coup attempt in Turkey back in 2016, when 161 were killed.

American Politicians Interceded on Behalf of Andrew Brunson

Attempts to free Brunson included various American politicians intervening on his behalf. North Carolina’s Senator Thom Tillis visited Bruson in prisoner earlier this year. Senator Tillis and Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador at large for religious freedoms, also appeared with Brunson in a second trial that occurred in July. After this trial, the court went back and forth a time or two before deciding to allow Brunson to leave the prison but remain under house arrest.

The latest ruling in Brunson’s favor occurs after it appears relations are warming between the U.S. and Turkey. In August, President Trump’s administration put pressure on the Turkish government to release Brunson by doubling steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey. In September, Edogan and Trump met while attending the UN General Assembly. After this brief meeting, Erdogan indicated relations would improve.

The morning of Pastor Brunson was released, President Trump posted a series of tweets about Brunson’s case.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Working very hard on Pastor Brunson!

9:42 AM - Oct 12, 2018

67.6K

19.7K people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

My thoughts and prayers are with Pastor Brunson, and we hope to have him safely back home soon!

9:59 AM - Oct 12, 2018

77.4K

18.4K people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

PASTOR BRUNSON JUST RELEASED. WILL BE HOME SOON!

10:26 AM - Oct 12, 2018

125K

39.1K people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

While Brunson was seeking permanent residence in Turkey before the incident in 2016 that landed him in prison, he will return to the United States for the immediate future. Before returning, however, Brunson will need to pay close attention to his safety while he is still in Turkey. CNN reports Brunson will also need to fly to the U.S. Air Force Base in Rammstein, Germany, for a medical evaluation before continuing on to the United States.

Source:

Megan Briggs

Megan Briggs is a writer and editor for ChurchLeaders.com. Her experience in ministry, an extensive amount of which was garnered overseas, gives her a unique perspective on the global church. She has the longsuffering and altruistic nature of foreign friends and missionaries to humbly thank for this experience. Megan is passionate about seeking and proclaiming the truth. When she’s not writing, Megan likes to explore God’s magnificent creation.

Did the Gospels Distort Jesus’ Life?

An interview with Craig A. Evans, PhD.
From In Defense of Jesus

How do the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—fare when subjected to a historian’s scrutiny? I asked Evans what he considered to be the best criteria for assessing their reliability.

“One criterion historians use is multiple attestation,” he replied. “In other words, when two or three of the Gospels are saying the same thing, independently — as they often do — then this significantly shifts the burden of proof onto somebody who says they’re just making it up. There’s also the criterion of coherence. Are the Gospels consistent with what we know about the history and culture of Palestine in the 20s and
30s? Actually, they’re loaded with details that we’ve determined are correct thanks to archaeological discoveries.

“Then there’s the dating issue. The Synoptics were written within a generation of Jesus’ ministry; John is within two generations. That encourages us to see them as reliable because they’re written too close to the events to get away with a bunch of lies. And you don’t have any counter-gospels that are repudiating or refuting what they say. We have, then, a treasure trove from any historian’s point of view. Julius Caesar died in 44 BC, and the historian Suetonius is talking about him in 110 – 120 AD. That’s about 155 to 165 years removed. Tacitus, same thing. The Gospels are much better than that.”

“When would you date them?”

“Very cogent arguments have been made for all three Synoptics having been written in the 50s and 60s. Personally, I’d put the first Gospel, Mark, in the 60s. I think Mark had to have been within the shadow
of the Jewish-Roman war of 66 – 70. Jesus says in Mark 13:18, ‘Pray that this will not take place in winter.’ Well, it didn’t. It happened in the summer. This statement makes sense if Mark was published when the war was underway or about to occur. But if it was written in 71 or 72, as some have speculated, that would be an odd statement to leave in place.”

I interrupted. “But whether Mark was written in the 50s or 60s, you’re still talking very early.”

“Absolutely. Jesus died in 30 or 33 AD, and a lot of scholars lean toward 33. That means when Mark’s Gospel was composed, some of Jesus’ youngest followers and disciples would be in their 50s or 60s. Other people in their 30s and 40s grew up hearing stories about Jesus from firsthand eyewitnesses. There’s a density of witness that’s very significant. And, of course, don’t forget that most of Paul’s writings were composed before the Gospels.”

Seeking to clarify a key issue, I said: “When you say Mark was written some thirty-five years after Jesus’ ministry, you’re not suggesting the author had to think back and remember something that happened more
than three decades earlier.”

“No, there’s no one individual who had to try to remember everything. We’re not talking about the story of Jesus being remembered by one or two or three people who never see each other. We’re talking about whole communities, never smaller than dozens and probably in the hundreds, that got together and had connections, villages filled with Jesus people in Judea and in Galilee and immigrating throughout the Jewish Diaspora — lots of people pooling and sharing their stories. People were meeting frequently, reviewing his teaching, and making it normative for the way they lived. The teaching was being called to mind and talked about all the time.”

“Then,” I said, “this would protect the story of Jesus from the kind of distortion we see in the children’s game of telephone, where people whisper something, one to another, until at the end the original message is garbled?”

Evans nodded. “Unlike the telephone game, this is a community effort,” he said. “It’s not one guy who tells it to one other guy, who weeks later tells it to one other person, and on and on, so that with the passage of time there would be distortion. This was a living tradition that the community discussed and was constantly remembering, because it was normative, it was precious, they lived by it. The idea that they can’t remember what Jesus said, or they get it out of context, or they twist it, or they can’t distinguish between what Jesus actually said and an utterance of a charismatic Christian in a church much later — this is condescending.”

Source:

Believing, Not Knowing

"To believe is to be moved upon toward action."

How Can Homosexuality Be Wrong if It Doesn't Harm Anyone? -Baucham, Gree...

Voddie Baucham, J. D. Greear, and Russell Moore discuss one of the most complex and pressing questions of our day.

Leadership and Pressure By David Graves

Several years ago, I read an article by Dan Reiland titled “Leadership and Pressure.” He wrote that every leader faces pressure. “How you handle that pressure matters. Do you attempt to avoid it and let it conquer you, or embrace it and use it to your advantage?”





We all experience pressure in ministry. Let’s look at a few types of pressure in leadership.

I. Internal Pressure - The pressure you put on yourself.
Internal pressure is not always bad; in fact, this kind of pressure helps you get things done. It is the pressure of knowing that Sunday is coming that helps you get your sermon ready. This is a good and healthy thing. However, all too often leaders put too much pressure on themselves — the pressure to perform at 110 percent at all times with little rest, the pressure to make people happy, to meet everyone's needs, to be at all places at the same time, and the pressure to achieve.


We want to do our best for God and the church. The million-dollar question is "How much is too much?" There are questions that may give us clarity.

• Do you take a day off?
• Can you relax and not feel guilty?
• Do you have trouble walking away from your phone, texts, and emails after hours? Do you spend time with your spouse, family, and friends, or are you always too busy? 

If you are not sure, ask your spouse or a couple of close friends or colleagues.
 

II. Transferred Pressure – The pressure to assume others' problems. 
Many times, I found myself unwisely falling prey to this pressure. Someone in the church, for example, tells me about a financial problem he or she is facing. Immediately I care — that is normal — but then something happens inside where I begin to feel responsible to fix it. That kind of transferred pressure is not good or healthy. Imagine if you or I actually had to carry the responsibility of solving everyone's problems! That is not possible! Instead, express your genuine care, offer counsel, and pray. If in that process you sense that you can help, or if the Holy Spirit prompts you to take action, then do it.

III. Peer Pressure – The pressure others put on you.
Most of us remember the peer pressure we felt in middle and high school. It was supposed to end there — just like your face breaking out — but often it does not. Leaders can feel the pressure to attend every event; visit every homebound member; pray more; fast more; preach sermons that are more challenging, humorous, engaging, serious, deeper — and in less time; to be in better physical shape, and the list goes on. The issue at hand may be something good, like praying more. However, when the demands and expectations of others become unrealistic and demanding, it becomes an unhealthy pressure. As a leader, there needs to come a time when you personally prioritize the most important things God wants you to do and be content with having His approval. Listen to God and your close advisors.

IV. Wasted Pressure – The pressure that results from lack of discipline. 
“Wasted" pressure is the most unnecessary and most avoidable. The most common form comes from lack of discipline and procrastination. You might wait until Saturday to start your sermon. You did not mail in a bill that you had for two weeks, and now it has late penalties. You waited until April 14 to do your taxes. Now you endure major pressure. I encourage you to make lists of things you need to accomplish, then discipline yourself to not waste time surfing the internet or looking at Facebook until your tasks are finished. It is not easy, but it can prevent much of this kind of pressure.

V. Personal Pressure – The pressure all families deal with. 
All families face pressure. If you are married, you understand. If you have children, you really get it. Having a good marriage and spending quality time with your children is hard work, but the good news is, you can do it. The reward is great! One of the best ways is to have more fun together. Play more. Enjoy each other! Put effort into fun – everything from playing games to a family vacation. Do not allow the television and electronic devices to steal your family time and create isolation from one another.

We have a high and holy calling that naturally comes with some pressures. However, there is nothing like the presence of God to help us handle the pressures. As you understand what they are and why you are feeling these pressures, do not hesitate to take them to God. 

 Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-18.

Source:

Dr. David W. Graves was chosen for the highest elected office in the denomination at the 27th General Assembly held in Orlando, Florida, USA, in 2009. At the time of his election, Dr. Graves was the senior pastor of College Church of the Nazarene in Olathe, Kansas, where he had served since 2006. Prior to College Church, he served as director of Sunday School Ministries for the Church of the Nazarene and had pastoral assignments in Kansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and North Carolina. 

Friday Funny - Supersized! Tim Hawkins - Liberty University Convocation

How To Walk By Faith - Pastor Marcus Martinez

Encouragement - Who will you encourage today?

Encouragement — Embedded in this word is “courage.”

Aristotle said, “Courage is the mother of all virtues.” One who demonstrated courage was Jesus of Nazareth. He showed courage to be Truth in a broken world, and courage in the face of persecution and death. Courage takes on many challenges, one of the most basic is the courage to change. That same Jesus can help us by doing for us what we can never do for ourselves: save us from ourselves, for His purpose, His glory and for eternal life. Back to the word encouragement.

 Paul says this: “encourage one another and build each other up.”

Ten Ways We Rely on God’s Grace

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”                                               (Philippians 2:13 NLT)

As Christians, we tend to think about grace when it’s connected to our salvation. But grace is about much more than just how we come to Christ. Our entire Christian walk must be fueled by the grace of God.

We can do nothing in him or for him that doesn’t ultimately come from his grace. The Bible says, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him."

                          (Philippians 2:13 NLT)

In fact, grace brings 10 great benefits to our lives:

• We’re saved by grace. The only way to heaven is through the doorway of grace. You can’t earn it. You can’t work for it. You can’t buy it (Ephesians 2:8-9).
• We’re forgiven by grace. Though we don’t deserve it, God wipes our slate clean by his grace (Isaiah 43:25).
• We’re sustained by grace. God will never ask you to do anything he doesn’t give you the ability and the power to do. That power and ability is called grace (Philippians 2:13).
• We’re healed by grace. God heals our broken hearts and binds up our wounds even though we don’t deserve it (Psalm 147:3).
• We’re liberated by grace. Our relationship with Jesus isn’t a bunch of chores to do. Instead it’s about resting in what the Lord has already done. If your Christian life is not a life of resting in Christ, you’re moving into legalism (Matthew 11:28-30).
• We’re given talents by grace. God has given each of us the ability to do something well, and we’re to use those abilities for him (Romans 12:6).
• We’re used by grace. God uses us to fulfill his purposes in this world, not because of anything we’ve done but simply through his grace (Ephesians 3:7).
• We’re kept saved by grace. We cannot lose our salvation because it’s a gift of God. If you could earn it, then you could lose it the moment you stopped earning it (Jude 1:24).
• We’re transformed by grace. Through his grace, God makes us new through the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2).
• We’re matured by grace. God’s work of making us more like Jesus happens not because we’ve earned it or by our own effort but by the grace of God (2 Peter 3:18).

God’s grace is real and powerful in our lives.

Source:  

Pastor Rick Warren

Stop procrastinating and do it!

“Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.’”                                              Luke 9:61 NIV

When you squander or lose your money, there’s a chance you can get it back. But not when you squander or lose your time. One of the saddest stories in Scripture is found in these words: “Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.’” But nowhere is it recorded that he followed Jesus. And procrastination and perfectionism go hand in hand. 

We say, “If I can’t do it right, I won’t do it at all!” No, before you get it right you’ll probably get it wrong. In every story of success there are chapters of struggle, but they are chapters of learning and growth. 

A study was done at Yale University. Graduating seniors were told of the dangers of tetanus and given the opportunity to get a free inoculation at the health center. While a majority of the students were convinced they needed the shot, guess how many followed through and got the vaccine? Three percent! 

Another group was given the same lecture, but also given a copy of the campus map with the location of the health center circled on it. They were then asked to look at their weekly schedules and figure out when they could find time to get the shot. Guess what? Nine times as many students got inoculated. 

Good intentions aren’t enough. You need to make the call, or make the move. You need to set the deadline, or set the appointment. “Today” is the tomorrow you were talking about yesterday. So stop procrastinating and do it.

Source:   

Batterson, Mark. All In. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013). page 111

Reputation Rehab | Pastor Steven Furtick

Last Sunday I posted a message that changed my life. This is the follow up message that confirmed the work of God in my heart and life.  I hope it will be meaningful to you today.

Stay Focused on God’s Plan for Your Life

“Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the kingdom of God”                                                       (Luke 9:62 TLB).

I have met thousands of people who’ve told me they want to be used by God but who will never be used by God. Why? They’re too busy. They’ve got their own agenda going. They’ve got their plans and dreams and ambitions, and they don’t have any time! In the midst of their busyness, they try to carve out a little sliver from the pie of life and say, “I’ll give this to God.” But it doesn’t work that way.

If you’re serious about being used by God, you have to say, “Lord, what do I need to let go of? What do I need to cut out? What barriers are holding me back and keeping me from running the race you have for me?”

Lots of different barriers will hold you back from God’s plan for your life. One of the biggest categories: distractions. Jesus said in Luke 9:62, “Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the kingdom of God” (TLB).

Here are a few of the many things that could distract you from your life mission:

The expectations of other people. You’ve got to decide whom you’re going to please first in life. You can only have one number one.

Hobbies. There’s nothing wrong with these things. But if they distract you from the most important things, then you need to let go of them.

Your past. Maybe you refuse to let go of your past—whether it’s guilt or resentment or grief. But if you’re stuck in the past, you cannot get on with the present, and you certainly can’t get on with God’s future for you. Your past is past. It’s over! You need to let it go.

What do you need to let go of? 

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “‘Everything is permissible,’ but not everything is helpful” (HCSB). 

What does that mean? It means this: A lot of things aren’t necessarily wrong; they’re just not necessary. Life often means choosing either “Am I going to do something good?” or “Am I going to do what’s best?”

If the Devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy. He’ll get you so busy that you don’t have time for the important stuff—time alone with God, ministry, and mission.

Source: 

Friday Funnies: Don't Forget Your Sister's Birthday

The Night Jack Daniels met John 3:16

I remember one night at the end of my road
In a motel in Nashville searching for hope
In my hand was a Bible I read as a child
On the table was a bottle that was driving me wild

I poured the whiskey into the glass
And prayed it would help me forget my past
Then I read of how Jesus died on that tree
I poured out the whiskey, fell down on my knees

Chorus: That night that Jack Daniels met John 3:16
              God's Word broke the hold that he had over me
              I traded Tennessee whiskey for Calvary's tree
              That night that Jack Daniels met John 3:16

When I see my old friends that I used to know
Down at the old place where I used to go
They tell me I'm different than I used to be
Then I love to tell them what's happened to me

Chorus:   That night that Jack Daniels met John 3:16
               God's Word broke the hold that he had over me
                I traded Tennessee whiskey for Calvary's tree
               That night that Jack Daniels met John 3:16

"The Night Jack Daniels Met John 3:16" was written by James Payne and he tells his real life experience of coming to Christ in 1968. when God delivered from drug addiction and alcohol.

How Firm a Foundation for Saints of the Lord

Christians struggle with issues of identity and self-worth. Thankfully, there’s a three-step process for re-centering our identity on Christ.

As a lecturer for Houston Baptist University’s Honors College, I have the privilege of shepherding each new freshman class through the Iliad and Odyssey. In the former epic, Achilles, the greatest soldier in the history of Western literature, suffers something of an existential identity crisis as he questions who he is, what his purpose is, and whether life has any meaning. In the end, he makes peace with himself and his community, but only by returning to the narrow parameters that define the good life, the good man, and the good society in the microcosm of the epic.

Within the context of the Iliad, the resolution is both powerful and satisfying, but it does not resolve the deeper question that all people must answer: not “How do I know I have value as a Greek warrior living in the Mycenaean Bronze Age?” but “How do I know I have intrinsic value apart from my profession, my gifts, or my family relations?” After all, we can lose our jobs, become physically incapable of using our gifts, and watch helplessly as those we love are carried off by violence, disease, or inescapable old age.

Surely, an identity that rests solely upon skills, awards, or people that can be suddenly and irrevocably taken away is tenuous at best. There must be a more stable foundation on which to build. Thankfully, the Christian gospel provides just such an unshakable foundation: that the God who created us thought us of such value that he not only sent his Son to die for us but sent him at the very moment when we were the most rebellious and unlovable                                                                                                                                                                        (Romans 5:8).

Given this great declaration of God’s unconditional love and our inestimable value, one might think that Christians would not struggle with issues of identity and self-worth. Yet struggle we do, particularly in the face of an incessant media onslaught that tells us we cannot be happy, successful, or even fully human unless we use a certain product, look a certain way, or measure up to a certain standard. Rather than define ourselves by Christ’s love for us, we allow society to define our identity in innumerable ways, all of which run us ragged and leave us empty.

A Much-Needed Antidote

Enter Identity Theft: Reclaiming the Truth of Who We Are in Christ, a simple but profound book that offers a much-needed antidote to the angst and confusion of our times. Edited by Melissa Kruger, an author, speaker, and editor for The Gospel Coalition, Identity Theftbrings together ten incisive, accessible essays from evangelical women that combine solid biblical exegesis with sound, common-sense advice. Though each of the essays is free-standing, framed by the life experiences and particular interests and emphases of its author, nine of the ten are structured around a specific three-step process.

Kruger describes those steps as follows in her introduction:

Identity theft: Expose our false notions of identity.

Identity truth: Understand the biblical truth of our identity in Christ.

Identity transformed: Reflect on what it looks like to live in our new (and true) identity.

While most of us would like to jump ahead to the transformation part, we cannot assume our true and full identity in Christ before first seeing through the false identity thrust upon us by society and then searching the Scriptures to determine what exactly it is that Christ desires to do in and through us.

In order to set the stage for this threefold process by which we can reclaim, and then strengthen and mature, our God-given identities from a world that would steal, twist, and pervert them, Jen Wilkin offers an opening essay built around a different triad. Wilkin, a popular Bible teacher whose books include Women of the Word, reminds us that we do not immediately become perfect Christians the moment we are saved. As she succinctly phrases it, Christian growth proceeds through three stages: salvation, which sets us free from the penalty of sin; sanctification, which sets us free from the power of sin; and glorification, which sets us free from the presence of sin. Only by understanding and working our way through this process can we hope to avoid what she identifies as the false freedoms of license, legalism, and escapism.

On the basis of this foundation, writer Hannah Anderson, author of Made for More, takes up the key biblical doctrine that we were created in the image of God and “are called to show forth the glory, power, and might of our King.” Alas, she argues, we too often “confuse our created identity with God’s identity as our Creator.” That is to say, we succumb to the temptation of the serpent in Genesis 3, believing that we can and should be like God rather than be his representative. When we do that, we become easy prey to the media’s siren song of self-actualization apart from obedience to our Creator.

How can we escape from this temptation? By understanding that when “Jesus willingly took on the limits of our human identity, when he became obedient to the Father, he restored our true identity as image bearers.” Only as we realize, accept, and embody this truth can God shatter our false identity and replace it with a transformed identity modeled on that of his Son.

Which leads naturally to the essay by Courtney Doctor, author of From Garden to Glory. What we truly long for, writes Doctor, is to know that we are God’s beloved child, “to know, and I mean really know, that [we’re] loved with a love that is so steadfast, so safe, so pure, so good, and so abundant that [we] can rest deeply in it.” While the devil seeks to convince us that we are slaves who must “work, and work hard, to secure and sustain the Lord’s love,” or orphans who are abandoned and alone, or illegitimate children who don’t belong, Christ promises that he has irreversibly adopted us into his family and that we can rest safe and secure in our new identity.

Children we are, but also saints, argues Kruger, highlighting a biblical truth that should inspire humility rather than pride. Contrary to popular perception among believers and non-believers alike, the fact that we continue to struggle with sin offers proof that we are saints rather than sinners. “As a saint, we’re uncomfortable with sin,” writes Kruger. “There’s a fight going on within us. While we may conclude the battle waging in our hearts points to the fact we’re sinners, it actually points to the fact we’re saints. The Spirit awakens our heart to do battle.”

Jasmine Holmes, who teaches humanities at a classical school, cautions us not to confuse being a saint with having a Type-A personality. While “our culture pretends to loathe, but secretly loves ... the control freak,” the Bible makes it clear that “true fruitfulness is found only by abiding in Christ” as the branch abides in the vine. Meditating on the good wife described in Proverbs 31, a portrait that too often makes Christian women feel pressure to exhibit Type-A traits, Holmes offers this sage advice: “It’s not a point-by-point guide to wifehood, but a picture of obedience expressed in all different aspects and seasons of life. ... It’s not a picture of a specific woman, but a passage meant to draw us into deeper reliance on Christ as we strive to be faithful in all of our duties at home and abroad.”

Pressing Forward

As I hope this passage suggests, Identity Theft is a book that, though written by and targeted for women, has just as much to teach men who have ears to hear. Indeed, most male readers will, if they let themselves, be especially challenged by the three chapters that call us to be active members of the church body, worshipers of God rather than self, and citizens who long for their true home.

“Though the world would tell us that church is an option, an irrelevance, or even an obstacle,” explains Megan Hill, author of Praying Together, “the church is essential to who we are.” Yes, our identity rests in Christ, but that does not mean we were made to be autonomous individuals cut off from community. Indeed, when we do cut ourselves off from our place in the Body of Christ, we are more likely to fall prey to a subtle temptation that Lindsey Carlson, who teaches and disciples women through her writing and public speaking, exposes in her chapter on worship.

We may claim our compulsion to perform is done only for the name of Christ, but as Carlson observes, we “also want to be recognized for these accomplishments for our own sake. We want to be praised for our unique insight, brilliant creativity, selfless sacrifice, and dogged persistence. Sought out for our excellence or expertise. We may not want to admit it, but we want to be worshiped. To that end, we’ve become public-relations managers tirelessly crafting our own lives into personal ad-campaigns to sell the product of ourselves.”

Needless to say, this temptation, though it has been with us since Eden, has been greatly magnified by a social-media world that pushes and prods us to define our own identities as we see fit, without giving thought either to our essential natures or our familial and communal commitments. I hope we will see more books like Identity Theft over the next decade. We need them if we are to stay the course, forsaking the false identities that lie behind and pressing forward to the transformed identity that awaits us.

Louis Markos is professor of English and scholar in residence at Houston Baptist University, where he holds the Robert H. Ray Chair in Humanities. His books include Atheism on Trial: Refuting the Modern Arguments Against God(Harvest House), From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics (IVP Academic), and On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis (Moody).

BOOK TITLE

Identity Theft: Reclaiming the Truth of our Identity in Christ

AUTHOR

Melissa Kruger

PUBLISHER

The Gospel Coalition

RELEASE DATE

June 1, 2018

PAGES   151

                             

                               PRICE      $14.39