Tag Archives: god

Politics

President Trump’s First Week

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It’s been an eventful first week for President Trump. A lot of people have strong opinions how he’s doing at the start of his second term. I for one was overjoyed when he said in his inaugural speech that the federal government will only recognize two genders – male and female. I was also amused that a president had to make such a declaration. It would be like saying, “moving forward, the government shall recognize gravity to exist.” Alas, that’s where we are as a culture.

This common sense principle reflects the created order and honors God’s biblical design as outlined in Genesis 1&2. Whenever God’s plan is rejected, people inevitably get hurt. The Morning Wire interviewed Alliance Defending Freedom CEO Kristen Waggoner this morning. It’s ten minutes well worth a listen. She rightly states that “When the law doesn’t recognize biological differences between men and women, families get hurt, and most importantly, women and girls suffer. Not only from equal opportunities, but they will lose their rights.”

So what do we say to those who identify as something other than male or female, and view gender identity as something different than biological sex? These people still need our love and our patience, but one thing we cannot give is our affirmation or approval. Romans 1 warns against rejecting God’s law by doing or celebrating what is unnatural. “They not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).

This is not a time to be mean-spirited and triumphalist, but gracious, patient, and sympathetic toward a whole generation that has been taught to question everything. It’s no wonder so many are confused. May they see in Christians an unapologetic stance on the truth, but at the same time, the sort of tenderness that Jesus showed prostitutes and tax collectors as they learned how Jesus offered a new and better way when they surrendered to his lordship over every aspect of their lives.

Prayer

Grit and Gratitude

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In his book Revival, Baptist historian Michael Haykin traces some of the contours of the Great Awakening in the early 18th century and the British and Irish revival of the late 18th century.

One London pastor gave this exciting report in 1754, “more of our meeting houses have been [expanded] within the last five years, and built within the last fifteen, than had been built and enlarged for thirty years before.”

Another pastor described the divine phenomena this way: “Meeting-houses which had been deserted were crowded. Meeting houses which had been more than large enough for their congregations for two or three generations had to be made larger. New meeting-houses in great numbers were erected. Cottages were rented in villages; farm-house kitchens were lent; old barns were turned into chapels; and young men who had been hard at work all through the week at the smithy, at the carpenter’s bench, or behind the counter in drapers’ shops, went out in companies from the towns on Sunday mornings to conduct the services” (p. 143).

Imagine that! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see God do this again? Revival is a work of the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to predict or manufacture — just like the wind — and yet we can see its powerful effects (John 3:8).

You cannot predict when revival will break out. But certain conditions have characterized every revival throughout history. There has been an increased hunger for the Word, and there has been a renewed commitment to prayer. Anytime you see a revival in history, you see a return to these two things – the Word of God and prayer. If there is any hope of seeing a revival in our day, we must return to these things as well.

In Colossians 1, Paul models for us what it looks like to be a people of prayer. He prays that we will have both steadfastness and gratitude. I preached on this message a few months ago, and you can now listen online:

Other links:
Calvary Church Youtube channel
Calvary Church sermon podcast
Calvary Church website
Feed My Sheep podcast