Pastor Sam's Blog

What Did Crawford Loritts Say at the Pastors Conference?

Sam Crabtree — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:05:31 +0000

Only one Voice matters.

A dad has a signature over a son’s soul.

Greatness has to do with closing the gap between what I say and who I am.

You have many targets, but only a few bullets. You must prioritize and not waste ammunition.

Don’t deify your dysfunction. Repent.

Hear Crawford Loritts’s full lecture.

Prez Says

Sam Crabtree — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:50:37 +0000

Jerry Sheveland, President of Converge Worldwide (Baptist General Conference), asked a rhetorical question when he recently addressed about 300 pastors and leaders in Orlando:

“God says, ‘How limited is the character and generosity of my grace? Be generous like I am.’”

Sheveland also asserted, “Jesus doesn’t want to be the figurehead of our movement, but the functional head.”

Husbands Should Do This, Not That (Part 2)

Sam Crabtree — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:58:58 +0000

Read Part 1 of this post.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.
—Colossians 3:19 (NKJV)

“Be not bitter” means more than putting a cork in the rising pressure. It means doing the opposite, be the opposite—be merciful and forgiving. I think this is a major part of what Paul meant in Ephesians 5 when he instructs the husband to love his wife as Christ loved the church. Christ is consistently, patiently, and tender-heartedly forgiving toward the church in her many failings and sin.

Husbands are to proactively seek ways to show mercy toward their undeserving wives (mercy is not deserved, or else it’s not mercy), not keeping record of wrongs. Yes, as already noted, all relationships should work this way. But there is meanwhile a unique responsibility on the husband to be forgiving this way. Husbanding is about responsibility, not mainly about privilege. Headship carries with it the mantle of mercy.

Headship also carries the mantle of responsibility when it comes to confession. Husbands should lead the way in confessing their wrongs. In the context of Colossians 3:19, husbands should be on the lookout for times when they should confess their bitterness, and quickly own up to their own sin.

Husband (Sam), do what love would do, not what bitterness would do.

Lord, give me a heart that is more than eager to overflow with love, not bitterness.

And thank you, Lord, for Vicki.

Husbands Should Do This, Not That (Part 1)

Sam Crabtree — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:07:34 +0000

Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.—Colossians 3:19 (NKJV)

It’s remarkable that Paul pairs these two things for husbands: 1) love, and 2) not being bitter. It’s as though bitterness is an especially likely threat, a more plausible marital hazard than other dangers lurking out there in the marriage minefield.

Paul could have said, but didn’t …

Love your wives, don’t hate them.
Love your wives, don’t beat them.
Love your wives, don’t commit adultery.
Love your wives, don’t be indifferent or insensitive toward them.
Love your wives, not sports television.

But no, he says husbands should be on the lookout for budding bitterness and nip it in the bud, as though bitterness is a greater risk than many other things he could have warned against.

It’s a short verse—only 10 words in English, and only 10 in the Greek. So without giving a lot of amplification or explanation, Paul is assuming that we understand the link between love and not becoming bitter. Do we? When husbands hear a reminder that they should love their wives, do they begin to formulate strategies against becoming bitter?

The word “bitter” is pikrai,nw (pik-rah'-ee-no) which refers to a bitter taste. But that’s not all it means. It also means exasperated, irritated, or rendered angry—even indignant. Aha! Those are things Paul was discussing just a few verses earlier (see verse 8)—anger, wrath, malice, filthy communication. In fact, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul lumps bitterness in with the rest of those terms: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you” (Ephesians 4:31).

Apparently, the nature of a relationship between a husband and a wife is a seedbed for bitterness. But isn’t that true for any relationship? Couldn’t wives just as easily be vulnerable to becoming bitter against their husbands? Yes. Who of us has not seen it? Yet I assume there is a special way in which Paul’s admonition applies to husbands more than to wives, or differently than it does to wives, and so he singles out the husbands for explicit warning.

Anger stems from expectations, specifically expectations and desires that don’t materialize. Synonymous with anger, bitterness stems from expectations, too. So Paul is warning husbands: “Watch out for your expectations!”

Expectations like what?

I won her; she is my possession, and she should operate the way I want my possessions to operate.
She should like my ideas and priorities.
She should think of me as wise and loving.
She should anticipate my desires without my having to spell them out.
She shouldn’t be sick, weak, tired, or crabby.
She should compare favorably with all other women.
She should be available to me when I want something from her.
She should submit to me (yes, “according to the Bible,” the husband might add). But not only should she submit theoretically, she should specifically and actually submit to my particular expectations as to how, when, and where she should submit. (Of course, this is not necessarily what the Bible means, unless the husband has purely righteous and perfectly wise expectations for his wife).

When a wife doesn’t live up to such expectations, the husband may feel justified in condemning her shortfalls, condemning her, blaming her for his upset. A root of bitterness springs up.

More tomorrow …

Miraculous and Providential

Sam Crabtree — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:43:39 +0000

From a recent newsletter from Bobby Parks, who is with the Christian Medical Ministry of Alabama: “God works in two general ways: 1) miraculously, and 2) providentially.

“Unfortunately we often confuse the two in our conversation. The term ‘miracle’ has lost much of its luster in our day. And it isn’t because we see miracles taking place so often that we no longer are sensitive to their meaning. It’s because our speech has evolved in such a way that today, if we find a parking place in an area where there usually are none, we say, ‘It was a miracle that we found this place to park.’ Well, it may have been unusual, but not really a miracle, though that does not take away from the fact that God is always at work.

“What is the difference between a miracle and providence?

“Providence is God’s work of preserving, controlling, and governing all things that take place.

“A miracle is a less common kind of God’s activity in which he arouses people’s awe and wonder and bears witness to himself through an event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature.

“God still does both works of providence and miracles. And he does them according to his own plan and his own timing. This is because he is sovereign.”

Friday Q & A #36

Sam Crabtree — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:25:59 +0000

Was Jesus eternally man before his incarnation? If so, what does that mean?

This question was answered by David Livingston, Lead Pastor, South Campus:

There are two questions here, but a negative answer to the first means there is no need to answer the second.

And the short answer to the first question is, “No, Jesus’ humanity began with his conception in the womb of Mary.” He was not eternally man before his incarnation, but only “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4–5). Recognizing that the name “Jesus” is associated with this virgin-born Savior of ours, the New Testament also makes it very clear that Jesus eternally pre-existed as God’s Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal “Logos.”

For instance, John 1:1–3 names him as the “Word” who was “in the beginning ... with God ... was God ... [and the Maker of] ... all things.” And then according to v. 14, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Additionally, the New Testament is clear that Jesus didn’t just temporarily become a man. The “enfleshment” (incarnation) of God’s Son is now permanent. Jesus’ divine nature is united to his human nature forever. To support this point, there are the angels’ promise that Jesus would return in the same way he left (Acts 1:11), Stephen’s seeing of Jesus at God’s right hand (Acts 7:56), Paul’s vision of Jesus on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9:5) and John’s bodily details of the glorified Christ in his vision on the island of Patmos (Revelations 1:13–17).

(See also Systematic Theology, by Wayne Grudem, p. 542, “Jesus will remain fully God and fully man, yet one person, forever.”)

See all Friday Q & A posts.

Two Words

Sam Crabtree — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:48:49 +0000

Doug Fagerstrom, Senior Vice President of Converge Worldwide (Baptist General Conference), said last week at the Transform 2012 Converge Network Gatherings that two words that should be heard often among Christians are “Let’s pray.” It was a theme he reiterated over the four days of the conference.

Good

Sam Crabtree — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:08:44 +0000

At the Transform 2012 Converge Network Gatherings, Dr. Richard Allen Farmer said, “Some may preach the gospel better than you, but none will preach a better gospel.”

He said, we execute a lifelong dance between what we do (“it’s annoyingly public”) and what we don’t do (“disciplines of abstinence”). A goal of that dance is so that one word will describe our ministries and lives: “good.”

Cruelty, Adultery, and Desertion

Sam Crabtree — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:54:38 +0000

I recently visited Celebration Community Church, in the Orlando area, pastored by Gregg Heinsch (former apprentice at Bethlehem). Printed on the worship bulletin was this sermon-related statement by Samuel Butler: “Christ and the Church: If he were to apply for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, adultery, and desertion, he would probably get one.”

The good news is that he will never apply.

Fill 'er Up

Sam Crabtree — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:53:34 +0000

To get divorced because love has died, is like selling your car because it’s run out of gas.
—Diane Sollee, Founder and Director, Coalition for Marriage, Family, and Couples Education