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PURE: Why The Bible’s Plan For Sexuality Isn’t Outdated, Irrelevant, Or Oppressive

“I fear we are experiencing an overcorrection to the failures and flaws of purity culture. Missteps of fallible human people do not erase or alter the infallible design of the holy and perfect Creator. I have always thought the saying “don’t throw out the baby with the bath water” sounded weird, but it is the appropriate expression to describe what is happening among certain Christians regarding sexual ethics. We’re not simply correcting the flaws of purity culture and pursuing a different path of truth and grace. No, professing Christians are living with their boyfriend or girlfriend, affirming same-sex marriage, laughing at any call to modesty, and agreeing with a surrounding sexual revolution that God’s design found in the Bible is outdated or even oppressive. The church has a challenge in front of her if we are going to be faithful in not only declaring the whole counsel of God but also walking as faithful disciples, pointing a lost and broken world to a design that is for God’s glory, and for their good.” -Dean Inserra on page 21-21 of his book “Pure: Why The Bible’s Plan For Sexuality Isn’t Outdated, Irrelevant, Or Oppressive”

I would HIGHLY recommend THIS book to you. In my opinion, Christians are becoming fearful when it comes to communicating what the Bible has to say about our sexuality. I appreciate Dean Inserra writing clearly and biblically about these important issues. Here are some the topics that Dean explores in this book:

Lie No.1: “Sex Is Expected”

Lie No. 2: “Marriage is a Capstone, Not a Cornerstone”

Lie No. 3: “Porn is the Norm”

Lie No. 4: “Gay is Okay”

Lie No. 5: “My Bedroom is My Business”

Lie No. 6: “Nobody Has to Know”

Lie No. 7: “Cohabitation Just Makes Sense”

Are you a teen? Get this book. Single, married, old or young? Maybe it is even more important if you are a parent! You should get and read this book. It will point you to the truths in God’s Word and give you the boldness and grace you need to tell the world that God is the One who designed sex and his plan is best.

Responding to Progressive Christianity

“What happens if you eliminate anything from the Bible that offends your sensibility and crosses your will? If you pick and choose what you want to believe and reject the rest, how will you ever have a God who can contradict you? You won’t! You’ll have a Stepford God! A God, essentially, of your own making, and not a God with whom you can have a relationship and genuine interaction.”–Tim Keller

I recently finished up teaching a 6 week class called “Responding to Progressive Christianity.” HERE is the link to all the audio teaching and the corresponding notes that I handed out.

Below you will find the intro that I wrote for the class:

There is a growing movement that is working to redefine what Christianity is all about. This movement is called Progressive Christianity. The impact of this movement is that people, who used to call themselves Christians, are now deconstructing and walking away from the church and the orthodox beliefs that are found in the Word of God. In this class you will learn the main points of Progressive Christianity and how to interact in a loving and gracious way with people who have been caught up in it. Parents, the world your children are living in will be absolutely filled with Progressive Christian ideas. You need to know what the Word says.

The world seems to be on fire. What do we do?

How do we live in the end times?

Self-Help Is Not Enough (“When Strivings Cease” by Ruth Chou Simons)

“If we believe Jesus is all we need, then why do we live our days worn out, fearful, and anxiously striving as if we are lacking and unable to measure up?” -When Strivings Cease

Let me begin by saying that “When Strivings Cease” Replacing The Gospel of Self-Improvement With The Gospel Of Life-Transforming Grace” by Ruth Chou Simons is fantastic. Ruth’s website can be found at THIS link.

There are so many Christian books targeted at woman, and in my opinion, many of them are not very good. This book is filled with honesty about Ruth’s own struggles but most importantly it is filled with the truths from God’s Word.

The attempt to keep all the plates spinning, keeping up appearances, acting like we have it all together will drain the life out of you. Ruth points us to the one place where we can find the deep rest, peace, and contentment that we are all looking for; the good news of Jesus Christ. I strongly recommend buying and reading this book!

HERE is a podcast where Collin Hansen interviewed Ruth. Great stuff!

“If there is a gospel of self-improvement, it is a damning one. It is a gospel that is not good news at all; it will wall you off, shrivel you up, and destroy your sensitivity to God’s pursuit. This is why it must be utterly destroyed and replaced with the true gospel of life-transforming grace. Only the grace of God is enough to bring us home, make us worthy, and keep us in the love of God.” -When Strivings Cease

First Love

Man, this song hits me hard. I love it. I continue to pray that my love for Christ will burn brighter. So many distractions and temptations seek to pull me away from my first love. And at the same time the song causes me to reflect on the many people I know who have strayed from the Lord. Loving Father, bring them back to your side.

VERSE 1:
This is all I want
That the love I have for You
Doesn’t fade along with youth
Can You help with that
The reason that I ask
I’ve seen far too many friends
Walk away and not come back
I want more than that

PRE-CHORUS 1:
I won’t wash away
Like branches in rain
I’d rather be kindling in the light

CHORUS 1:
Set me on fire like I’ve never known
I want to love You more as life goes on
So all of my days I’ll place
My first love first again

VERSE 2:
This is all I pray
Over everything I ask
That my friends one day come back
Can You help with that
God I know You can
‘Cause the fire won’t mean a thing
If it ends right here with me
You want more than that

PRE-CHORUS 2:
The river runs fast
But You wait at the banks
And pull us like driftwood from the wild

CHORUS 2:
So set me on fire like I’ve never known
I want to love You more as life goes on
So all of my days I’ll place
My first love first again
Once I was drifting but You called me home
So I’ll give my life for the ones still lost
And I’ll see my friends reclaim
Their first love first again

CHORUS 3:
So set me on fire like I’ve never known
I want to love You more as life goes on
And all of my days I’ll place
My first love first again
Once I was drifting but You called me home
So I’ll give my life for the ones still lost
And I’ll see my friends reclaim
Their first love first again

TAG:
You’ll see this world return
And Your first love love You first

The Unsaved Christian (What is Cultural Christianity?)

“Do not flatter yourselves of being good enough, because you are morally so; because you go to church, say prayers, and take the sacrament, therefore you think no more required; alas, you are deceiving your own souls.” -George Whitfield

Have you ever been troubled by the claims that some people make of being a Christian but there seems to be little evidence of Christ in their life? I am going to argue in this video that there is such a thing as cultural Christianity. What is a cultural Christian? What do we do when we have family and friends who fall into the category of cultural Christians? Should we warn them? What is the most loving thing we can do? I talk about all of this in this video. Would love to hear your thoughts and idea so please feel free to comment.

I will also be referencing this excellent book “The Unsaved Christian” by Dean Inserra. If the topic of cultural Christianity interests you I would highly recommend you purchase this book. Challenging and biblical.