The Importance of Honoring your Marriage
In the book of Malachi (the last little book in the Old Testament section of the Bible) God is very upset with his people. Basically, the beginning of the book is God talking to his people and explaining how things got so bad.
Now sure many people might guess that God would be upset if they forgot about him, or if they didn’t fulfill their agreements, or if they lied about him (all of which we see in chapter 1&2) but in chapter 2 we see another reason that God is upset. God is angry because the men of Israel have not cared for their wives in the way that they had promised to. God says that the person who dishonors his marriage covers themselves in blood. God doesn’t mess around—he is saying: sure the religious stuff matters but the daily life stuff is just as important.
As I begin church planting I can see how I might spend tons of time on church stuff and end up neglecting my family, but if I do that I’d be covering myself in blood! I’m thankful for this warning, and I’m thankful for my family.
Calvin on Communion Frequency
“If we have careful regard to the end for which our Lord intended it, we should realize that the use of it ought to be more frequent that many make it…Therefore the custom ought to be well established, in all churches, of celebrating the Supper as frequently as the capacity of the people will allow…Though we have no express command defining the time and the day, it should be enough for us to know that the intention of our Lord is that we use it often; otherwise we shall not know well the benefits which it offers us.”
John Calvin as found in The Lord’s Supper
5 things I learned at General Assembly
Last Week Jo Gus, and I traveled to Nashville so that I could participate in our church’s national leaders convention (know to us as the General Assembly) For me this time of meeting is incredibly encouraging and incredibly draining.
In the last few days I’ve heard things said by church leaders that have made me cringe, but I’ve also interacted with folks that get me so excited about what can happen when people are honest about their need for God, and live out of that need. I even heard from a old white guy who planted a black church in Georgia in 1954. Think about that–White Dude, Black Church, Jim Crow, Deep South. That means this guy might as well be Jack Baur’s great-grandpappy. General Assembly embodies the best and the worst parts of being connectional all wrapped up into one very long week, but it’s well worth it.
Here are 5 things I learned at General Assembly:
- Sometimes Procedural stuff is good and sometimes it gets in the way of actual discussions – I wish we spent more time talking about our actually disagreements and less time wrapped up in procedural vortexes (Dave Snoke’s handy term). I hope next year is different.
- World Harvest Missions is legit – first off any group that foregoes the usual free luncheon to rent out a bar and gives away good beer, good cigars and great Christian material has my vote, but I also got a chance to hang out with some of the folks planting churches in London, and they are doing some cool stuff.
- Southern guys can bring it – I sat it on a lecture by Brian Habig Church Planter and Pastor down in Greenville NC and that dude was great.
- Disagreement and Disunity are different things – Some speaks were very gracious and winsome and even when I didn’t agree with their point, I was glad they had the chance to speak, while at other times guys spoke and even though I understand where they are coming from I wish they hadn’t said anything. All young pastors need to take some notes from guys like David Coffin, Bryan Chapell, Tim Keller, and Ligon Duncan.
- Face time is important – Email is great and twitter will help build connections but, nothing can replace good face-to-face conversations.
You can subscribe to either the entire site or to one of our three categories.
The DeSocios.com RSS Feed Faith RSS Feed Family RSS Feed Life RSS Feed