Saturday SelahFour Things You Cannot Recover. . .

Walking Away from TruthIn Other Words . . . Refuse to Mourn Sin & You Sacrifice the Joy of Salvation

“Is it possible we could experience the joy of our salvation

if we mourned [over our sin] as if someone had died?
We cannot experience joy without mourning.”

~ Pastor Robert Morris,
from Sermon: “Those Who Mourn Are Happy”

Here's the story:
. . . Jody (not her real name) says she left the church because the pastor preached that you cannot be saved unless you read the book of Romans.

Jody disagreed and just up-and-left. Walked out in anger. She abandoned her ministry in the church, uprooted her entire family and changed churches. And -- of course -- people started talking.

You know how it is in churches.

Before long the story also included this: Pastor told Jody she wasn’t a Christian because she listened to Christian radio. Other rumors were even more absurd. And ridiculous. And completely false.

You know how it is in churches.

Here’s the truth. . . the pastor preached a series of sermons from the Book of Romans and -- as is the case whenever the Gospel of Salvation is presented -- some people were offended and turned resentful.

Instead of accepting the truth of Scripture, some people choose to make a pageant of their pride, they get others all stirred up, and they eventually just leave the church. Sometimes they take others with them. They would rather sacrifice the true JOY of Salvation than to MOURN their own sin and depravity.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

~ I Corinthians 2:14

Sadly, there are many people in churches today who are "without the Spirit." They simply cannot "accept the things that come from the Spirit of God" through Scripture because it is "foolishness to [them]."

. . . See, it's not until we reach the third chapter in Romans that the plan of Salvation is even presented. The JOY comes three whole chapters into the book! It takes the first (l-o--n---g) three chapters to present the problem of SIN and depravity. SIN is the prerequisite to SALVATION. Without sin, what's the point??!!

Lost people do not want to hear that they're sinners! They just want to be "saved." They just want the joy and happiness and Love of God bestowed upon them. They skip the first three Chapters. They never really acknowledge their depravity and sin before God, yet they say they're saved. Are they? Are they really saved? Sometimes people hear the first three chapters -- get angry -- and just walk away.

Until we accept and mourn the fact that we are depraved sinners, we cannot experience the joy of salvation!

The truth is (and most of my readers will “get” this), Jody did not want to accept and confront the fact that she was/is a sinner. . .

No. The pastor did not tell Jody or anyone else -- from the pulpit or anywhere else that you cannot be saved without reading the book of Romans. What he did was [quite eloquently and straightforwardly] explain that. . .

More than any other book in God’s Word, the Book of Romans changes people’s lives. And Satan hates this. Satan is alive and well and kicking with great force in churches where the Bible is opened to the Book of Romans because Satan does not want people to change.

For the most part, Satan does not have a problem with the Bible. In fact, he likes passages about God's great love and acceptance and mercy. . . He likes verses about joy and promises of a full life -- Matthew 11:28-29, John 10:10, John 6:35, John 6:37, Revelation 22:17. Satan likes it when people believe they can be happy and joyful in Jesus outside of true repentance and true salvation.

You must remember that Satan is an angel of light. He is a deceiver. And he can and does use Scripture to deceive. This is why it is so important that we learn to "rightly divide the word of truth." (II Timothy 2:15)

Whenever the Word of God is opened to the Book of Romans, where Real Salvation is available if/when we acknowledge and mourn our sinful and depraved state, Satan always goes into immediate action to hinder and impede the message.

Until we accept and mourn the fact that we are depraved sinners, we cannot experience the joy of salvation!

There is no other book of the Bible which has been so instrumental in changing lives and in impacting the church as Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Most, if not all, of the great revivals and reformation in the history of the church have been directly related to the Book of Romans.

← In 386 A.D., Aurelius Augustine received Jesus Christ as his Savior after reading a passage from the Book of Romans. He went on to become one of the church’s most outstanding leaders and theologians.


A thousand years later, →
Martin Luther wrote, “Night and day I pondered Romans until I grasped the truth. I felt myself to be reborn. This passage of Paul became to me a gateway to heaven.”

← Several centuries later (May 24, 1738 to be precise), a minister named John Wesley wrote this about his study in the Book of Romans: “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins. . . . ”

In assessing the importance →
of the Book of Romans, John Calvin said, “When one gains a knowledge of this Epistle, he has an entrance opened to him to all the most hidden treasures of Scripture.”

← The famous sixteenth-century Bible translator William Tyndale wrote of Romans: “It is the principle and most excellent part of the New Testament... No man can read it too oft, or study it too well; for the more it is studied, the easier it is; the more it is chewed, the pleasanter it is. . . the more it is searched, the precious’er things are found….”

It has been said that Romans will delight the greatest logician and captivate the mind of the consummate genius, yet it will bring tears to the humblest soul and refreshment to the simplest mind.

Until we mourn the fact that we are sinners, we cannot experience the joy of salvation!

And Oh! How Satan hates the Book of Romans!

Satan doesn't mind simple sermons about love and happiness and kindness and living our best life now. . . .

Satan doesn't even mind sermons about Biblical history because he can always use science to confuse people.

But the Book of Romans is primarily a book of doctrine - this is where Satan meets God! It's the battle ground of Scripture. And it answers all our questions:

► What is the good news of God?

► Is Jesus really God?
► What is God like?
► How can God send people to hell?

► Why do men reject God and His Son?
► Why are there false religions and idols?
► What is man’s biggest sin?

► Why is there evil in the world?

► What is the standard by which God judges people?

► How can a person who has never heard about God be held spiritually responsible?
► Who is a true Jew?
► Can any person keep God’s laws perfectly?
► How can a person know he is a sinner?
► Where can people find real peace and hope?
► What exactly is grace?
► Why is living a Christian life such a struggle?

If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, you need to study the Book of Romans. Especially the first three chapters.

"Is it possible we could experience the joy of our salvation if we mourned [over our sin] as if someone had died?
We cannot experience joy without mourning.”

"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of . . . but the sorrow of the world worketh death."

~ II Corinthians 7:10

"Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . ."

~ Matthew 5:3

What is "poor in spirit?" It is the opposite of the haughty, self-assertive, and self-sufficient disposition that the world so much admires and praises. It is the opposite spirit of someone who chooses to walk away from the truth . . . .

~ Esthermay Bentley-Goossen

©2009 the Heart of a Pastor's Wife

This installment of InOtherWords in hosted by Michelle at Because I Love You.

The False Gospel of New Evangelicalism. . .

A great number of you are keenly aware (some of you zealously) of the diluted and false gospel of mainstream evangelical churches today. Here’s something I’ll venture you do not know:

Did you know that between fifteen and twenty percent of all churches in the United States have forced out two or more pastors? Slightly more than ten percent have forced out three or more pastors!

. . . and did you know that over the last ten years, the primary reason for pastors being forced out of their church was because they refused to “get-in-line” with the
"New Evangelical Movement?"

LOVE Lessons from First Corinthians 13 "Vaunteth Not. . . περπερεύεται"

This post is part of a series addressing the Apostle Paul's words in I Corinthians 13:4-8. The words Paul chose to teach the church at Corinth in 57 A.D. are just as powerful today. And just as necessary.

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. . . Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly. . . .

~ I Corinthians 13:4, 5

When Paul wrote I Corinthians, he alluded to the "super-spiritual" people in Corinth who boasted of their superior spiritual condition while exhibiting very little love in their lives. He said they were like "sounding brass" and "tinkling cymbal."

As noted earlier (see February 10, 2009), these particular phrases in the original Greek language refer to people who talk incessantly. It refers to people who annoy everyone around them with constant self-centered chatter.

In fact, the word translated into "tinkling cymbal," μακροθυμίᾳ - makrothumia (mak-roth-oo-mee'-ah), depicts the clanging of cymbals that announced the onset of a war.

This gives the word-picture and very clear impression that the bragging and non-stop self-centered talk that Paul was referring to made its hearers fighting mad!

Maybe this is why Paul makes a point of characterizing agape love by telling us that it vaunteth not. . . .

Sadly, the word vaunteth has lost its meaning in our vernacular, but in the Greek it is a very, very powerful word! περπερεύεται perpereuomai (per-per-yoo'-om-ahee) means a lot of self-talk!

In other words, it describes a person who endlessly promotes him/herself and exaggerates their own virtues. This person's self-promotion is usually nothing short of exaggeration that borders on flay-out lying. One Greek scholar has said that the word perpereuomai pictures a person who is full of hot air. Another has said this word refers to a windbag!

Even as I write, my thoughts focus on an individual who fits the description and if you know someone who fits the description, you're probably thinking of that person too. It's hard to forget people like this isn't it?

Okay. . . that said, do you know a perpereuomia? Who do you know that blows hot air? Wait. . . are you a perpereuomia? Do you blow hot air?

How does this apply to you and me?

Remember this: Paul was writing to people who thought they were spiritual. They were convinced that they were okay. They were religious and self-righteous. The self-righteous person does not realize they are self-righteous. What a conundrum!

If you were to confront a person who you consider to be a self-important "windbag," how would he/she respond?

Exactly! They'd deny it and call you judgmental.

What if someone were to confront you?

In what ways are we like the people of Corinth? In what ways do we vaunteth ourselves?

Do we vaunt in public worship? Do we vaunt in our dress? Do we vaunt by slighting others because of envy? Do we vaunt by filling conversation with our agenda and our accomplishments? Do we vaunt by overlooking others in need. . .

Agape love is so strong, so sure, and so confident that it does not need to speak of itself or its accomplishment, even if those accomplishments are great.

While I do not wholly agree with Rick Warren's all-inclusive ecumenical approach to Christianity, I do agree with the premise of his Book, The Purpose Driven Life:

"It's not about me."

It's about sharing Christ -- not ourselves -- with a lost world!

Part 1: I Keep Hearing the Word Tolerance . . . And in the same context as Agape Love!
Part 2: Love Lessons from I Corinthians 13 "Suffereth Long. . . μακροθυμίᾳ
Part 3: Love Lessons from I Corinthians 13 "Love is Kind. . . χρηστεύεται"

~ Esthermay

Thankful Thursday!

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exalts, and with my song I give thanks to Him.”

~ Psalm 28:7

It does require some quiet meditation and thoughtful reflection to be thankful for the little things in life. But there are a few things I don’t ever want to take for granted in life. They are:

► Christian parents!
► Godly husband!
► Healthy children!
► Minnesota's Four Seasons. Especially WINTER!

"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?" ~Job 38:22

► Housework. Yes – housework. It's easy for me to honor God by being a housewife and mother. I LOVE it, and I love being available 24/7 to my family. I am thankful for the opportunity.

► Bible Commentaries and Books by Puritan authors. There is Biblical wisdom and common sense out there!

► The fact that I can walk into any room of my home and find a BIBLE.

And then -- of course -- there are those little things in my life that I'm thankful for because they simply make me SMILE:

► Cash. That it’s still valuable in America and I can use it to buy SaltedNutRolls® so as to not have said candy bar appear on credit card statement.

► That zany groundhog. He keeps us Minnesooohtans humble. You betcha!

► SCRABBLE® Keeps me sharp!

► Socialism! As a SAHM, I am now equal in society to the pro-choice, feminist, career women who despise me. We can all join hands in unity now. YEA!

~Esthermay

Please visit Iris at Grace Alone to find more Thanksgiving!

Family: A World That Lives In Us . . .

You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.

~Frederick Buechner, in
Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale

My grandmother died in April, 1988. We don't know if she was eighty-six or eighty-eight years old. Grandma wasn't sure herself when she was born . . . . The story is that a very callous stepmother never told a pretty little girl when her birthday was. We never knew either whether her birth-name was Sadie or Sarah or Pearl. But she was my Grandma -- She had a family and no death leaves those left behind unaffected.

Individual and very specific memories of my Grandma Sadie return to me sometimes with a force they could not have had while she was yet living. And at the same time the threads of her life are woven so closely into my own life that I don't know her as a separate person, but a piece of myself that makes my own life and passions come more clearly into focus. We are family.

Do you see how this precious woman is cradling the dog like a child!!?? Oh my goodness! The animal-lover in me is thinking, "No Wonder! Clearly this is a genetic thing!"

Surely my husband will understand now.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Don't you agree that Family is one of the greatest gifts God gave ever us?
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Here's where things start to look bad: In a book entitled, The Death of the Family, a British physician suggests "doing away with the family completely because it is a primary conditioning device for a western imperialistic world view."

What???!!!

Kate Millet, is a very prominent feminist who wrote a book called Sexual Politics. In it she writes that the family must go because it oppresses and enslaves women.

Again, "What???!!!"

Dr. Armand Nicolai II of Harvard Medical School sees the trend to destroy the family as a "devastating trend." He points specifically to working mothers, the tendency for families to move frequently, an almost constant dominance of television and various media in the home, the lack of controls in society, the chaos of moral confusion, the lack of communication among families, and divorce. Let me quote from him. He says,

"These trends will incapacitate the family, destroy its integrity and cause its members to suffer such crippling emotional conflict that they will become an intolerable burden to society.

What about the future? First, the quality of family life will continue to deteriorate producing a society with a higher incidence of mental illness than ever before. Ninety-five percent of our hospital beds may be taken up by mentally ill patients.

This illness will be characterized by a lack of self- control. We can expect the assassination of people in authority to be frequent occurrences. Crimes of violence will increase, even those within the family. The suicide rate will rise. As sexuality becomes more and more unlimited and separated from family and emotional commitment, the deadening effect will cause more bizarre experimentation and wide-spread perversion."

Wow. Sound a little like the nightly news?

In graduate school, I studied the various approaches to family counseling: Contemporary Bowenian Family Systems, the Humanistic Approach championed by Virginia Satir, the Psychodynamic Approach that focuses on an individual's inner conflicts . . . and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. . .

Call me a skeptic of my own profession, but sociologists, psychologists, marriage and family experts, psychiatrists -- and even some who don't even have counseling credentials -- are scrambling all over the place to try to come up with some kind of solution -- some kind of "theory" or "counseling technique" to save us. They've been doing it now for a couple of decades with absolutely no impact at all!

There is no question that the family is under a major assault. There is no question that people want to redefine family in absolutely any terms they want. There's no question that we are watching a generation of young adults who have absolutely no socialization skills and no moral sense at all. It is chaos. This generation of young adults (and those behind them) have no idea what it's like to have a "world" of family living inside them.

Here's a newsflash for all secular family therapists -- AND the entire world: The idea and structure of the family comes from God's Himself and sets before us the example of a loving God to whom we are responsible. It begins and ends with FAMILY!

You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you. . . because that's the way God created it!

Satan knows that if you destroy the family, the nation will follow. Sadly, even Christians who believe they are living by God's Word have given way and accepted the world's godless and abnormal patterns for families.

Too many people live in a world, but have no world living inside them. They have no connection to family. They have no precious threads weaving in and out of their lives connecting them to something bigger.

They may be an animal lover and not know why. . . .

God has so much to say about the family. So when we think about this whole subject, we must to start with His Word.

From there, we can start to talk about specifics. God's Word is a far better counseling theory than anything Ellis, or Bowen or Satir have offered . . . Oh sure, these theorists have some effective techniques, but as C.S. Lewis has rightly observed, to have a universal law, you must have a universal law giver. As the Creator and ultimate Authority of Family (and life itself!) only God can be the source of such law.

In the realm of Family, only God can prescribe the appropriate theories, values and principles to guide us in creating a family that can become a world that lives in us!

~ Esthermay Bentley-Goossen
© 2009 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

This installment of InOtherWords is hosted by Nina on her blog: Mama's *Little* Treasures.

Today We Celebrate the Anniversary of Our Engagement . . . and Our First Kiss!

Project 365 Photo of the Week!

See the rest of our Captured Moments HERE at Project 365.

Google®, Darwin & True LOVE! A Valentine's Day Post. . .

Did anyone happen to notice the Google® homepage this last Thursday?

I do get a small portion of joy from the Google homepage artwork that appears on holidays. But last Thursday my heart was sad.

It was Abraham Lincoln's [200th] Birthday and the artwork offered up by Google to millions of computer screens was not a quirky little caricature of Honesty Abe sporting a top hat. It was, instead, an odd little drawing honoring Darwin's Theory of Evolution. I guess it was his birthday too -- and he's obviously a more contemporary figure whose remembrance clearly trumps the 16th President of the United States. That's sad.

However, last Valentine's Day - 2008, the artistic logo presented to us by the folks at Google showed an elderly couple -- a man with a cane and a white-haired women -- walking hand in hand as the woman held two heart-shaped balloons.

It really was a beautiful reminder that while our culture glorifies youthful romance [Insert Here: Recent mental flashback of annoying Vermont Teddy Bears® advertisement], True LOVE is comprised of anything but young lust and stupid, waste-of-good-money superficial gifts.

Google People: You're still not off the hook for the Darwin slip-up. That was just wrong.

The Apostle Paul's great essay in I Corinthians 13 celebrates the depth and tenacity of the love that can carry us far beyond self-interest and mere affection.

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."
~I Corinthians 13:4-8

Brian Wren is a hymnwriter and internationally published poet. His tender words in, "When Love Is Found," truly capture this reality:

When love is tried as loved ones change,
Hold still to hope though all seems strange,
till ease returns, and love grows wise
Through listening ears and opened eyes.

© Hope Publishing Co.

What are you doing today to share True LOVE with your loved one(s)?
Has you love grown wise?

~Esthermay

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Saturday Selah a time of encouraging one another with words that have touched our hearts or made a difference in our lives over the past week. . . a Scripture passage, a devotional thought, the lyrics to a song, or anything else that ministered to you this past week.

To be encouraged and to encourage others, link up with Patricia at TypingOneHanded.

My Blog, My Soapbox . . .

Our blogs are our soapbox. Psychologists who study societal trends and preferences might say that bloggers' have an insatiable need to control some aspect of their otherwise uncontrollable lives and surroundings and thus: Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, etc.

Better than cigarettes or eating disorders, right?

We can choose on our blogs to be silly or serious, spiritual or nonsensical. Some of us have a "Random Thoughts" label. (I find that funny.) As Christian bloggers we can choose to be random, unsystematic, even lukewarm in our effort to share Christ or we can be on fire. Which are you? And should this facet of evangelism matter as an expression of our personal blog?

I'm not judging. Just asking.

If you've followed my blog for very long, you know that I do not have a "Random Thoughts" category. Not that I don't have them! (i.e., Random thoughts.) I just have no talent at transforming them into an interesting blog post. Although, I do love stalking other people's random thoughts.

By-the-way . . . Linda@2nd Cup of Coffee is the Grand Marshall of Random Thoughts. Check her out!
*Linda is ALSO an gifted devotional writer. Read "First Love" HERE.

I've chosen my niche for blogging and I do -- through prayer, diligence and thorough proofreading -- try to stick to it. I have a passion for GOD's Word and a passion for other women (and men!) to share that enthusiasm!

I've met some wonderful kindred spirits through blogging and I've been blessed to have several readers share their own touching and tender testimonies with me. Thank you! . . . for entrusting me with your personal and sacred stories. I think there will be a very special reunion in Heaven for all the bloggie'-girlfriends, don't you?

Company Girls and God Stop Girlfriends: Help me out. I am hopelessly and dreadfully perplexed by blog-etiquette. If someone "follows" your blog, do you "follow" their blog? If you "follow" someone's blog, do you have to comment on every post? One post a week? Only your favorite posts? Or is having your picture on their blog enough? I dunno'. Under what circumstances -- and why? -- does one stop "following" someone else's blog? I just doN'T KNow!!

And when you put your name and blog address on a meme, are you supposed to visit everyone else on the meme list? I dunno'

Meanwhile. . .

♥ This week I turned on my computer after having our Internet service down for nearly a week to find that The Heart of a Pastor's Wife had been listed as one of the "Top 100 Christian Women's Blogs of 2008" by Christian Women Online's Internet Cafe!

I'd like to offer a really heartfelt "THANK YOU" to those readers who nominated my blog for this honor because it certainly humbled me.

♥ This week I changed the title of my blog ever so slightly and added the Apologia. To better match the mission of the blog.

♥ This week I discovered that Sean Hannity "follows" my blog. I must know who is kidding me -- or (in the delightful alternative) must hear from Mr. Hannity himself in order to authenticate that this is indeed the "RealSeanHannity."

♥ I've been ribbing my husband all week long about making dinner reservations for Valentine's Day as we (i.e, HE) has a running -- and fairly impressive -- record of putting off the reservation-making till there are no reservations left.

Gotta' love the procrastination feature of the spouse. Makes for fun memories!

♥ I'm still waiting (and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. . . ) for aforementioned husband to find sloppy-red-lipstick-smeared kiss in his DayPlanner.

♥ And finally, this week, I started a series of blog posts on LOVE Lessons from I Corinthians 13.

Part 1: I Keep Hearing the Word Tolerance . . . And in the same context as Agape Love!
Part 2: Love Lessons from I Corinthians 13 "Suffereth Long. . . μακροθυμίᾳ
Part 3: Love Lessons from I Corinthians 13 "Love is Kind. . . χρηστεύεται"

THANK YOU, my friends and readers for making blogging such a rewarding experience for me. I am indeed passionate about God's Word and I do wish that every reader could share my excitement!

Remember: If you're reading this blog and haven't yet read GOD's Word today, start with GOD's Word. It's far better!

~ Esthermay

LOVE Lessons from First Corinthians 13 "Love is Kind. . . χρηστεύεται"

This post is part of a series addressing the Apostle Paul's words in I Corinthians 13:4-8. The words Paul chose to teach the church in Corinth in 57 A.D.
are just as powerful today. And just as necessary.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Charity [agape love] suffereth long, and is kind;
charity envieth not. . .
~ I Corinthians 13:4

The word "kind" is the Greek word χρηστεύεται [chresteuomai], which means to be adaptable or compliant to the needs of others. That's a fairly straightforward definition that should get very little resistance, but. . .

When God's highest level agape love is present in our lives, kindness means that we demand nothing (nothing!) of others -- and specifically, we do not demand that others be like us. Instead, agape love makes us want to bend over backwards to become what others need us to be for them?

Thus, the word "kind" portrays a willingness to serve and to change ourselves in order to meet the needs of others. This is completely opposite of the self-absorbed culture we live in today.

My goodness! I'm trying to remember myself when was the last time I wanted to bend over backwards to actually become what someone else needed me to be?

Real agape love doesn't think of itself first. Instead, it is always reaching out, thinking and focusing on the needs of others. The person walking in agape love adapts to those around her/him in order to touch them, help them, and impact them in a meaningful way.

It's sort of sad that there are entire books written -- and entire "Bible Study Methods" -- that instruct us on how to better ourselves, better our lives, make our lives easier and even make God more powerful in our lives by our own thoughts, words, and self-focused actions.

Oh! puh-lease! How ridiculous. And how against God's Word.

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:11: "I have learned that whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. . . . "

And I Timothy 6:6 tells us that "godliness with contentment is great gain. . . ."

If you desire a deeper and more biblical understanding of God, His ways, and His agape love -- if you desire to see Jesus Christ exalted in your life as you follow His pattern of humility, self-denial, and agape love -- if you believe a Christian's greatest hunger should be for righteousness (Matt. 5:6) and not for self. . . you (we!) would do well to think about what kindness really means.

~ Esthermay

Part 1: I Keep Hearing this Word Tolerance. . . And in the same context as Agape Love!
Part 2: Love Lessons from I Corinthians "Suffereth Long. . . μακροθυμίᾳ "

LOVE Lessons from First Corinthians 13 "Suffereth Long. . .μακροθυμίᾳ"

This post is part of a series addressing the Apostle Paul's words in I Corinthians 13:4-8. The words Paul chose to teach the church in Corinth in 57 A.D.
are just as powerful today. And just as necessary.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Charity [agape love] suffereth long, and is kind;
charity envieth not. . .
~ I Corinthians 13:4

The words "suffereth long" are taken from the Greek word μακροθυμίᾳ (longsuffering or makrothumia) and can be translated as the words forbearance and patience.

A great word picture would be a good quality solid candle with a very long wick that is prepared to burn for a very long time. It is ready to forbear and wait patiently until someone changes - finally comes around, makes progress, or hears what you are trying to communicate or teach them.

OR - what GOD is trying to communicate and teach . . .

It is the picture of a person whose feelings for someone else are so passionate that giving up is not an option. It is the picture of a person who does not and will not give up. Ever!

Does this sound a little like God's love for us?

Agape love doesn't throw in the towel and quit. In fact, the harder the fight and the longer the struggle, the more committed agape love becomes. Like the candle it just keeps burning and burning and burning and burning . . . . It does not know how to quit. And this, of course, is contrary to human nature and this is why we see it so rarely.

I'll go out on a limb here: "It's the reason so many marriages fail!"

Romans 5:5 tells us that the agape love of God has already been "shed abroad" in your heart by the Holy Spirit (that is, IF you have accepted his sacrifice on the Cross and surrendered your life to HIM). This means you don't have to come up with this supernatural longsuffering love on your own.

God's love has already literally been poured forth -- already dispensed -- and shed into your life. You only need to ask the Holy Spirit to help you.

Are you in a relationship that tests your patience? Are you tempted to throw up your arms in exasperation? Are you ready to walk out on someone? If so, you need a good dose of agape love. Ask for it.

And if you're reading this blog and haven't yet read GOD's Word today, start with GOD's Word. It's far better.

~ Esthermay

I Keep Hearing this Word Tolerance . . . And in the same context as Agape Love!

Indeed. . . true Love never fails.

But does it tolerate?

Love needs to be based on character, if you know and love God you see He has a lot of character we are in love with. The best thing we can do . . . is to grow in character as listed in 1 Corinthians 13. It’s a love of choice. We choose to love God, He chooses to love us. Love of choice is the most powerful love, God calls that agape love, it’s a love that lasts, we should never settle for anything else between us and God and others. It’s a love that grows. Keep fervent in your love, allow it to stretch and strain as you watch it grow.

~ Wayne Corderio

In I Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul uses the word agape to describe the highest level of love in this world. While it is the kind of love that God expects every true believer to demonstrate in his or her life, the word agape itself describes a love so completely different from what the world offers that it is used in the New Testament only to describe God's love and the love that should flow from the hearts of believers.

In each expression of agape love, we find NO suggestion, reference or insinuation to Tolerance. Rather, we find that agape love underpins and strengthens every other attribute of God, including wrath, mercy, jealousy, anger and righteousness.

But let's back-up to the very beginning of the Chapter . . .

Paul had encountered a group of people in the city of Corinth who were "super spiritual." And Paul was quite unimpressed with them because of their obvious lack of love. Their deficit clearly bothered him and he alludes to this when he writes I Corinthians 13:1:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."

The words "sounding brass" are very important. The word comes from the Greek chalkos which refers to metal. But is wasn't just any metal. It was bronze or copper to which a small amount of tin had been added. This tin caused the metal to have a hollow, empty sound when it was beaten. That is why Paul also used the word "sounding."

So when Paul wrote about a "sounding brass," he was borrowing from the pagan world of Corinth to make his point about super-spiritual people who demonstrated no real love. They were hollow and empty.

Q:
Do you think a comparison could be made between the Corinthians of Paul's day and the "super-spiritual" Christians of 2009 who have adopted the Gospel of Tolerance (in the name of Agape Love), so as to appear god-like and loving and accepting while neither understanding or practicing true Love?

Do you think the First Century Corinthians became "tolerant" of the culture (and thereby accepting of it) because they feared the reputation of being intolerant?

Is it possible that these First Century Corinthians were the forerunners of the "emerging church," the "post-evangelicals," the "postmodernists," the attempt to replot New Testament Christianity into a pluralistic and secular world?

Just wondering. . .
Indeed. . . true Love never fails.
But does it tolerate?

. . . if you know and love God, you see He has a lot of character.

It is, however, a dangerous thing to emphasize one attribute of God at the expense of His Full Character. Love is but one of many attributes . To place Love at the top as a supreme or preeminent quality is not Scriptural.

Yes. We can rely upon, emphasize, and live by the words of 1 John 4:16, "God is love," but in doing so, we forget that:

♥ God is also Truth (I John 1:6,8;2;21).

♥ God is also Righteousness (I John 1:9; 2:1, 29; 3:7).

♥ God is also Eternal Life (I John 1:2; 2:17, 25).
♥ God is also Hope (I John 3:3).
♥ God is also Purity (I John 1:7, 9; 3:3).
♥ God is also Confidence (I John 2:28; 3:21; 4:17).
♥ God is also Wrathful (Exodus 32:9-10; Deut. 9:7-8; John 3:36).
♥ God is also Righteous and Just (Deut. 32:4; Isa. 45:19).

♥ God is also Jealous (Exodus 20:5-6; 34:14)

The Apostle John is a desperately needed voice of Truth in today's pluralistic and tolerant culture. His writing is bold. It is very direct. It is very dogmatic. I don't believe there is another New Testament writer that is as authoritative in his writing. John is committed to absolutes. Committed to black and white. I like him. I like him very much.

John does indeed write that God is a God of Love -- that God loved His Son -- that God loved the disciples -- that God loved the world -- that God is loved by Christ -- that Christ loved the disciples -- and that Christ taught that we should love one another -- and, finally -- that love is the fulfilling of the whole law.

Indeed. . . true Love never fails.

But does it tolerate?

John never slid into sentimentality. John never slid into tolerance masquerading as love. John never tolerated deception. He never tolerated lies. He was always committed to truth. He never tolerated sin of any kind. And in his second epistle (II John), he calls for complete separation from all those people who aren't faithful to the truth. His third epistle says essentially the same thing.

To live the Christian life refusing to acknowledge each and every attribute of God is to invalidate His Divine nature as GOD. To deny the "black and white'ness" of the Gospel is as incompatible in the Christian as it is in God!

To accept that God is loving is one thing. To deny that God is also a God of wrath and anger and vengeance because these qualities just don't match-up with his loving kindness (in our human thinking) is quite another.

No where is Tolerance equated with Love in John's writings. Nor anywhere in the New Testament for that matter!

Yet a great number of Christians have made Tolerance synonymous with Love! A great number of Christians refuse to believe God's Word if/when it contradicts their own rigid belief system. A system rooted in a false understanding of God's Love.

Indeed. . . true Love never fails.

But does it tolerate?

We choose to love God, He chooses to love us. Love of choice is the most powerful love. . .

Absolutely! But regrettably, there is this growing phenomena in today's churches. It's called Tolerance. It masquerades as Love. It is a choice, but the only "power" it hold, is the power to keep church members from knowing and experiencing God's True, Powerful, and Unconditional Love!

It is the fashion in churches today to tolerate just about anything in the name of Christian love lest we “Christians” gain a reputation of being intolerant. And in doing this we have totally sacrificed the spiritual health and maturity of the Church for years to come.

Q: What kind of things do we tolerate?

I think most of my readers can answer that. . .

. . . But I personally believe that most evangelical churches in America have become completely useless when it comes to sharing the True Message of Salvation and the True Meaning of Agape Love because they have chosen to practice Tolerance.

Indeed. . . true Love never fails.

But does it tolerate?

. . . agape love, it’s a love that lasts, we should never settle for anything else between us and God and others.

And over the next few posts, I want to address the Apostle Paul’s words in I Corinthians 13:4-8, where he speaks of love because they are powerful, powerful words. Paul lists fifteen points about the love of God and how it behaves. By peering into these verses, we can determine if our lives are indeed a reflection of this highest level of love.

Please come back!

Indeed. . . true Love never fails.
But does it tolerate?

~Esthermay Bentley-Goossen
© 2009 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

This installment of InOtherWords is hosted by Karen on her blog In Love W.I.T.H. Jesus.