As I said in Sunday’s 2nd service, I firmly believe that one reason why the church has lost its voice in the gender discussion in our culture is that we have compromised the gender roles in the church. We have failed to honor gender roles, protect gender roles, and deeply value one another.
So, when we look around the world today and see the confusion about any of the issues listed in Genesis 2, we need to realize that it’s because sin and Satan have clouded our vision of what God intended and why God gave us these things. There is no confusion with God. The confusion is with us. We want something other than what He lovingly gave us. That’s the issue with us and our world.
One point of clarity that I want to bring up from Sunday is that I believe there should be a time to discuss things like “old-earth,” “young-earth,” science challenges to the Bible, and so forth. I just don’t think that it has a place in the pulpit for a Sunday morning gathering. I think the point of that moment is to preach the author’s intent and draw conclusions for the congregation from the author’s intent.
Sunday, as I got up to prepare for our Sunday gathering, I knew that preparing my heart was more important than re-reading my sermon manuscript. The Lord was working on me, and I knew it. There were issues in my heart that needed to be addressed before my Maker, and He was already pursuing me. So as I bowed my head to pray at my kitchen table, He graciously reminded me that my identity was not in what I was about to do (preach and lead CLF), but my identity was found before Him. I was made to worship God and represent Him on this earth. I am a child of God before I am anything else. That’s my true identity.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THE FELLOWSHIP.