+ HOPE

Well I have not had any response from John MacArthur concerning the email I sent him about women preaching.  I can't say that I am surprised.  I think the biggest thing I got out of it was getting to rationally defend something in which I firmly believe to be true.  So Mr. MacArthur, next time you read this blog....No hard feelings.

I'm sorry I must have been daydreaming.

Now I still think John MacArthur is a good guy.  I know that he didn't respond because he secretly agrees me, but he doesn't want to end up on some Christian radio talk show defending himself for contradicting something he has preached about for years. 

As a matter of fact, I recently heard John MacArthur speak about something very near and dear to my heart, Love.  John is doing a sermon series called the Greatest of These.  It is incredible.  It is hard to believe how much time one man can spend on one chapter of the Bible (1 Corinthians 13).   I believe there are 6 CD's of sermons in the series.  Well the other day I caught the sermon on 1 Corinthians 13:7.

1 Corinthians 13:7 - (Love) bears all thing, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  8a Love never fails;

I have heard that verse thousands of times, but yesterday I had them smooshed in my face for the very first time. 

Throughout the sermon series, John has talked about the importance of Love.  Yeah I know it is the greatest commandment.  We always hear that and we always try to get along with the people in front of us in the grocery store line or the clerk at the department store.  Whoopee.  Let's really think about it.  God's serious about love.  Considering the example he provided for us.  Sending his Son to the earth in human form to show us how to live our lives and then watching his Son be tortured and crucified to die for our sins on the cross.  All in the name of love.  Its time we get serious about love.

So this verse, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Never fails.  What does it really mean.  Well John MacArthur says that these days we are too cyncical.  We find it too easy to doubt the ability of those who are lost to find their way.  We assume that the kid who goes out and does something stupid is just going to do it again next time.  We assume that the guy who continues to screw up is just going to keep on screwing up and he will never figure it out.  We assume that the cheater is always going to cheat, the liar is always going to lie, the abuser is always going to abuse.  You know I don't really blame us.  I mean I am numero uno at making these assumptions.  After all, I have my superior intellect and incredible ability to predict the future.  In fact, I don't tell many people this, especially not my wife, but I can actually read minds.  Amazing isn't it.  I rock.

Paul (you know, used to be Saul) says, that's not love.  If you are making these assumptions and giving up on these people you don't really love them.  Well that's fine and dandy if we are talking about some "loser" across the street or the outcast at work or school or church.  I think we are actually OK with being told we don't love those people.  Paul is not and neither is Jesus.  We all are aware that we need to get better at this.  I mean isn't that what he is talking about???

Well, Paul takes a little bit further.  When we continually believe that someone close to us is going to keep screwing up and we give up on them.  We are not really loving them.  Yeah, see, it doesnt' sound so OK when we are talking about family members or best friends.  Paul says we must "bear all things."  Basically it means, sweeping the mistakes and screwups and sins under the rug.  Isn't that what Jesus did for us.  Now that isn't easy to do, but Paul says if we aren't doing this then we really aren't showing love to the person.   
"Believes all things."  John MacArthur says that despite how many times we have been let down by someone, we have to believe that they are going to turn things around.  Believe that they will get it right next time.  Believe that they will stop their hurtful behavior.  Believe that they will figure out that they are hurting others with their behavior.  What an amazing sign of love it is to continue to believe in someone.  To continue to believe that they have what it takes to make things right.  To believe that things will all work out in the end. 
"Hopes all things."  So we keep believing and believing and they keeping letting us down over and over.  So now we just have to hope that it will work out.  Hope that this person can do the right thing, one day.  We have to have hope that God can fix this person.  Love continues to have hope.
"Endures all things."  This one really gets me.  John MacArthur says that the word Pauls used for endure was a military term meaning positioned in the middle of a batttle in a very violent opposition.  Love keeps fighting.  Love hangs in there and doesn't give up.  Because Love Never Fails.

I am first on the list of people guilty of giving up on people.  Not necessarily the ones closest to me, but definitely people in my life whether they be family members, co-workers, friends.  It has to stop.  Preconceived notions must become a thing of the past.  Stereotypes are no longer allowed.  Judging is not an option. 

So you have heard me say it.  I am going to ask God to help me overcome my inability to love like I should. 

OK so now I can stop writing.  I can never stop writing.

The title of my blog today is "+ HOPE."  I thought that would be a cute way to say Positive Hope.  You know you can hope that someone doesn't screw up, but I think it would be much better if we hoped that the person would make a change for the better.  We could hope that he wasn't going to lie to me today or we could hope he is going to understand the importance of being truthful and start being honest with me.

I honestly believe it makes a difference, having Hope and being positive. 

Ok I am not entirely sure how this fits in, but this morning as I was thinking about how terrible I am at thinking positive about others and having hope for those who continue to let me down.  I was listening to Third Day. I love Third Day, but I have found some new CD's that I like to listen to, but I have lent them out and today I am listening to an older Third Day CD.  The song is "Thief 2006."  Well, it is normally just Thief, but they added some cool stuff at the beginning and called it Thief 2006. It's still Thief.  And you can imagine who the thief is. The thief talks about how he has continually made a mess of his life.  He has stolen, killed and now he is being crucified for something and he doesn't even remember what it is.  The thief sees Jesus coming up the hill.  He sees how awful people are to Him and he seems to know that that don't believe Jesus is who he says he is.  But the thief recognizes that Jesus offers hope.  Hope for a better life.  Hope for mercy.  Here is the best part of the song:

Jesus when You are in Your kingdom
Could you please remember me
and He looks at me still holding on
the tears fall from His eyes
He says I tell the truth
Today, you will live with Me in paradise
and I know that my time is coming soon
and I know paradise is coming soon.

The soul of a thief and a murderer in his final breaths before dying believes in the Hope Jesus offers and receives His mercy.  Now that is Love.  "Oh, excuse me, you dying guy over there.  Ooh look out they are going to stab you in the side.  By the way, do you think you could remember me when you get to Your Kingdom."  In His dying breaths he shows love to one that deserved none, as far as the world is concerned.

Lord, thank you for continuing to show me Your love.  Forgive me for not having loved others.

John Macarthur, Beth Moore and Women Preachers

OK.  I am going to give my opinion this time and ask for yours as well. 

I really like John Macarthur.  If you don't know who he is you can go to his website at http://www.gty.org/ and read all about him and listen to all of his wonderful sermons spanning 30-40 years of preaching.  He has written countless books.  I have read countable books (3 or 4), but I really like them.  He is not a man of vanity.  He only refers to himself as John Macarthur.  Not Dr. Macarthur or Reverend or Pastor or President  or Dean.  Just John.  And he teaches about the Bible, just the Bible.  He is polite and peaceful.  He doesn't scream and yell.  He just teaches about the Bible and you can tell he loves every minute of it.

There are a lot of things to consider when looking for a church.  Does the preacher teach from the Bible or from the Inspirational section at Barnes and Noble?  Does the church have any weird ceremonies involving black cats?  Does the church permit children to attend worship service?  Is the church 100 miles from my house?  Do I feel like I am hearing a paid political advertisement when I listen to a sermon?  Does the pastor do things in his personal life that he wouldn't want you to know about in his pastor life? 

One thing to be considered is how strongly does the church feel about a women being a leader in the church or not being a leader. 

And once you discover the answer to these things.  How important are they to you?
Can you live with some things but not others?  You are OK with driving 75 miles, but the black cats just won't work out for you.

I believe that God gave us his Word and intended it to be shared with everyone.  I honestly don't remember Jesus telling the disciples just before he ascended into heaven, "Oh by the way, I want you to make disciples, but a woman cannot preach to a man." 

I recently sent this email to John Macarthur:

John,

Let me preface my comments and questions by saying that I thoroughly enjoy listening to your radio program, reading your books and perusing your website. I am a person that likes to get to the root of things and when I am trying to learn more about the Bible there is no better way. I say this not to flatter you, but to indicate that I respect you and I am seriously trying to understand this topic.

I raise a question regarding your teachings concerning a woman's role in the church. Tonight I read through your series entitled "God's High Calling for Women." It seems as though most of the supporting statements for the reason's that a woman should not be a leader in worship services or teach men are rooted in the culture of the time. I am talking specifically about the statements in which you say there is no record in the old testament or new testament of a woman being an apostle, or a "real" prophet or a church leader. I consider this statement about as valid as saying that a black man could not be President of the United States because there is no record of this occuring in American History books (until recently of course). As a record of history, a woman had not taken on these roles because I am assuming it was forbidden in their culture. Similarly I don't recall seeing anything in the Bible about a disabled person being a church leader (I could be wrong and I am certain you would know for sure). Was there a reference in the Bible of a slave being a church leader or a Roman soldier being a church leader? I feel confident that there are not these references. So the argument that there are no references in the Bible of a woman being a church leader or teaching the Gospel to men, is pretty weak.

So as I was reading I was really not buying in to your article. But then you went back to Adam. If you are going to get to the root of something it nevers hurts to go back to the beginning. Right to the source of all humanity. Adam was first then came Eve. Eve was subordinate to Adam therefore she should submit to him. But just prior to that in your article (God's High Calling for Women, Section IV under usurping authority), you give the example of Elisabeth Elliot. She taught the Auca man the sermons and then he preached it to the church. It seems that if God intended for a woman to not teach a man about the Gospel then this would not have happened. Really what is the bottom line. Which is it, a woman should not teach the Word to a man or a woman should not teach the Word to a church. All of your evidence that is not cultural has been dismissed by your example of Elisabeth Elliot. God used Elisabeth to teach a man. From her teachings, a man went and taught an entire church. If Elisabeth had not taught the man, which based on your argument is what she should have done, the church might not have heard the Word. If God wanted those people to hear his word, but did not want Elisabeth to teach His Word to a man, I believe God would have intervened in some other way. I also wonder if the Auca culture would have accepted a woman teaching men.

Here is where I am going with this. My wife really enjoys Beth Moore. Beth Moore holds fast to the belief that a woman should not be the preacher in her church. I will admit that I have sneaked into a room where a Beth Moore bible study DVD was playing and I learned a lot and I was inspired to dig deeper into my Bible. The woman has a wonderful ability to relate God's message. Isn't it a shame that men are missing out on opportunities to hear God's word because Beth believes it is not right for her to share the Gospel with men in church.

So I ask you what is truly important and God's will: Going out making disicples of all nations and baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit OR keeping a woman in her "place" and potentially hindering her from fulfilling Jesus' commandment?

I am curious about your thoughts; however, I will continue to pray to the Father for discernment in this area.


I hope John responds to my email, but honestly I don't think it is going to change my mind much.  I don't think I will be changing his mind either.  So what does that mean?  I mean honestly.  Do I stop listening to Johnny Mac because I simply can't get past his thinking about women being preachers OR do I have to let that one slide and plug my ears when he is talking about it on the radio.  Truly this is a perplexing issue. 

"We are perplexed but not driven to despair....what we proclaim is not ourselves." 
Tell me how you feel. 

A New Perspective

 A couple days ago I was in my reading/thinking spot (bathroom) and it suddenly dawned on me that I had it all wrong with my blog.  In my attempt to create a blog name that would remind me to think about Jesus, I instead took the title literally and began to lose focus on the message of Christ.  My blog became an 2-3 hour ordeal in which I would stay up until 2:00 in the morning typing away, when I should have been asleep. 

As you can probably tell, I figured this out in the middle part of last year and began to spend less time on the computer and more time asleep or with my family (depending upon the time of the day).  Now don't get me wrong it was not an obsession, but I definetly found myself having a sense of pride in what I had typed. 

Perhaps I should tell you why I started the blog.  A few years ago, I was muddling along in life.  Trying to do the right things and thinking that one day I would get more serious about God and learning more about Him.  Well, I went on a little 2-3 day church retreat and quickly realized that my priorities in life were way out of whack.  It really left quite an impression on me. One of the strongest memories I have from the retreat is a beautiful song that was sung to the men in my retreat.  It was sung to us by men and women who over several years had each attended the very same retreat.  Most I did not know, but some were there specifically to support me and to my surprise some were there to provide support that I did not deserve.

The song went like this...
Jesus
Jesus
Let me tell you how I feel
You have given me your Spirit
I love you so.

It is a memory that I could type all night about, but let's just say that I will remember it forever.

That song was my new theme song.  I sang it to myself all of the time.  My little girls soon new the song and they were singing all of the time.  I often would sing it to get myself focused on where my mind should be.
Unfortunately, I was supposed to be telling Jesus how I felt.  I don't need a computer to do that.  In fact, a computer makes it more difficult.

Perhaps I had a few good things to say and perhaps it was a bit therapeutic to reminisce about my frequent periods of idiotic (yet hu'man') behavior.  But as I sat thinking, I realized that I have much to learn and many to learn it from. 

So I came up with an idea.  I will continue to tell Jesus how I feel, but I would like for you to tell me and anyone else who stumbles on to this page, how YOU feel.  Now it is a bit scary to think about putting your thoughts out in the open for others to read.  But I can assure you that not many people read this blog.  In fact, I may be the only one reading this for quite some time.  My wife might read it, too. 

Let's lay some ground rules. 
1.  Voice your opinions and thoughts without degrading another person or group of people. 
2.  Be factual when applicable.
3.  Pray before you write something.
4.  Be real.

That's pretty easy.  I will not allow anything on my blog that I would not be comfortable reading to my mom or mother-in-law (they might be the only ones reading this), so use your comments to give others something to think about that they might not have considered otherwise.  Feel free to make your comments anonymous.

Let's kick this off with something intriguing...OK, here it is...(actually I stole this from someone)...

IS THE UNITED STATES A CHRISTIAN NATION NOW and WAS IT EVER A CHRISTIAN NATION?  BY THE WAY, WHAT EXACTLY IS A CHRISTIAN NATION? 

Why do I ask this question?  As I am trying to teach my girls about what is right and wrong, I am reminded of cultural advances our country has made that I am pretty embarassed had to be made in the first place.  Not because they are not necessary, but because it is appalling the way people have been treated by our country in the past. 

I hope you enjoy the new format.
Love,

Johnny