Content Filters? Really?

 Remember when we were told to put content filters on our computers? We thought that it was the content that was harming us. You cannot have a TV because of the soft porn that you might see there. We were concerned that it was content that was hurting us and driving us into sin.

The prophet Marshall McLuhan said it a long time ago. The medium is the message. It turns out that it is not the content that is hurting us and our children, but it is the act of watching and scrolling and idly perusing that is making us dull and stupid and robbing us of all that God has for us.

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy...." John 10:10

Tech steals our time, kills our creativity, and destroys our future.

While we fret over content, people are going to Hell, glued to a screen, endlessly scrolling, while looking at nothing.

Maybe we do not need a content filter as much as we need a moratorium on Chat GPT.

What or to whom are you dedicating the best of your time, your talent, and your money? That is your God.

"...Nevertheless, when the son of man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8

Adam and Eve and Marriage

The Bible never tells us how or when Adam and Eve were united in marriage. But God refers to them as husband and wife. We take for granted that the first humans were married in some sense. And after the fall they engaged in marital sex.

One thing that leaves me puzzled is that I always believed that Adam and eve were like the angels, neither marrying or being given in marriage. See Matthew 22:30. But God first says that Adam is incomplete and lonely in the Garden. So God brings to Adam a helper who became his wife. She is called his wife in Genesis 2:24.

Adam is named right away as Adam. Eve is called the woman and is not named until Adam names her.

"And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living." Gen.3:20

Eve is not called by that name until after the fall.

Anyone who thinks the first few chapters of Genesis are basic and simple has never studied them.

As confused as this world is about marriage we need to be a light that shines in the darkness by being married and by teaching on marriage.

The Biblical Pattern?

We say that we want to follow the biblical pattern for our local churches. Here are a couple of things that might be hard for us in 2026 to follow. 

The Bible condones slavery. The Bible gives guidance on how to be a good slave.

The Bible makes concessions for polygamy. Especially if you are rich and powerful.

The Bible gave the people a king. We in America are anti king.

The Bible gives no guidance on big buildings. It does give guidance on a big temple.

So to follow the Bible pattern we would have no Bible, no organized outreaches, no church buildings.  All the things that we embrace and all of the tools that we use are fairly modern.

I suppose that we are following the Bible pattern in a very broad definitions. But we are following modern church history more than ancient Bible history.

It is our pastor's job to take ancient and archaic truths and make them work in the modern world. To cause the truth to become light to us.

Pray for your pastor to rightly divide the word of God.

Questions Without Answers

 Because we are a youth oriented church there is no ministry to the elderly except to do their funerals.

Because we are an evangelism focused church there is no ministry for those who cannot evangelize.

Because we think there is only one place to go to church we make it hard for those who need to move.

Because pastors are not allowed to retire we listen to them slowly fade away, telling the same old stories.

Because we think that warehousing the elderly is good we make no provision for taking care of our elders.

Because we spend so much money on bigger building is there any left to help people in need?

Because, because, because. I wish that I had the answers to these questions.

Support Your Pastor

Did you know that people who lose a lot of weight often feel angry about it? They seem to resent the fact that they had to work so hard just to be thin like those around them. That they had to suffer and sacrifice just to be accepted as normal.

I wonder if pastors ever feel an inner resentment over the sacrifices that they had to endure to build a work for God. They say it's a work of God and not a work of a man. But, they did a lot and they put in a lot of work to make that happen. The years of doubt and uncertainty, wondering if it will ever work. The fasting and praying and outreaching that they did at the beginning. They may wonder how it works when it finally does work. But they paid a dear price just to be accepted by their peers and their pastor as the real deal.

We need not only to pray for our pastors, but we need to join them and we need to accept their vision as our own. We will never work as hard for it as they did. But we are critical to the success of our church just like them.

We Can All Get Better

 Have you ever wondered why professional athletes need coaches? They are the best in the world. They epitomize excellence every time they take the court or the field. And yet every one of them has a coach or a manager. Is this superfluous, or is this necessary?

I listened to a professional surgeon address this idea of coaching. He hired a retired surgeon to be his coach. Not for a day or a week or even a month. But for a year. This coach did not find any glaring errors. But he found a list of small things that would make a professional surgeon better. Coaching made him a better surgeon.

In the ministry, we train disciples, help them get started. And if they are successful, we let them go on their own. Conference is not a time to learn how to be better at preaching or teaching. Conferences are public events, like a championship game. It is a time to shine, not a time to improve.

We are too young of a Fellowship to have retired successful pastors who could work as coaches. But could you imagine the excellence that could begin to be exposed if we did? How many times have you heard a guy preach who is a terrible public speaker? But because he is God's man, no one can correct his flaws or instruct him on how to get better. We think that anointing makes up for terrible conduct in the pulpit. If anyone says anything then they are rebels.

All professional athletes have coaches. Professional orchestras have conductors. Business professionals have managers or corporate officers. Pastors are on their own. God help the successful pastor who grows so big that he cannot be improved. We can all get better. It is a rare man who does not need coaching.

No church will grow beyond the ability of the pastor to preach and teach in public. He owes it to himself, and to his church, to be better. There is no virtue in remaining ignorant and unlearned if you can be better.

Random Thoughts

Is a church service for the sinners in the pews who are saved, or is it for the sinners outside who are unsaved?

Is church just an outreach, or is it a place where sinners saved by grace meet with God?

Is discipleship where we make guys better soulwinners, or is it a training ground to make new pastors?

When we have no visitors, our pastors almost do not know what to do.

What happens when young men choose careers over ministry? When our vision does not capture them?

The Tabernacle and the Temple were not seeker sensitive. 

Men look for better methods. God looks for better men.

To be much for God, we must be much with God.

That's all, folks.