There is a Crack in Everything (Including Us)

By / Oct 19

The beginning of blessedness—and the beginning of real change—is not in realizing that we are okay, but in realizing that we are not okay.

It is not in becoming convinced that we are superior to everyone else, but that we are no better than anyone else.

It is not in believing that we are strong and capable and competent, but in accepting that we are frail and incapable and weak, while also being fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

It is not in thinking that God expects us to be awesome and prettied-up and all put together, but in gaining confidence that God has first and foremost, in Christ, caused us to be forgiven, loved, faithful and free. It is from this humble place—and only from this place—that we have any chance of growing into the virtues of Christ.

It is only when we can cry out, “God, have mercy on me, the sinner” that we are sent home justified, blameless in his sight, and confident in his love (Luke 18:9-14). As a pastor friend of mine has said, “God does not love us to the degree that we are like Christ. Rather, God loves us to the degree that we are in Christ. And that’s one hundred percent.”

It is essential that every journey in Christ begin with the realization that none of us has the ability to get better apart from the redeeming and restoring work of Jesus in our lives.

The first step in becoming like Jesus is acknowledging how unlike Jesus we are. We must not suppress the doubts we have about ourselves. Instead, we must start listening to those doubts and applying the truth about Jesus to them. We must not try to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Rather, we must realize that we don’t even have boots. We must not merely think that we have problems. Rather, we must understand that we are our own biggest problem, our own worst nightmare, our own worst enemy.

As Shakespeare quipped, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves.”

In his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shares a similar perspective on our human condition:

The first thing you must realize, as you look at that mountain which you are told you must ascend, is that you cannot do it, that you are utterly incapable in and of yourself, and that any attempt to do it in your own strength is proof positive that you have not understood it.

God’s call on our lives, then, is first and foremost not a call to action but a call to brokenness and contrition, for a broken and contrite heart he will not despise (Psalm 51:17).

So how do we grow toward holiness? As my friend and songwriter Tom Douglas often says, “We stumble on.” This may feel contradictory, but the call remains: In the midst of our being fractured and frail, we continue our journey towards becoming more like Jesus.

The Apostle Paul’s wish for the first-century Galatians is still our Lord’s wish for us today: that Christ be formed in us (Galatians 4:19) and that the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control—become the most dominant, visible, increasing, and operative attributes of our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).

Though we will remain less-than-completed and conflicted and beset by sin until our last breath, we cannot allow ourselves to ignore our pursuit of Christ and his Spirit-filled virtues. Even though we will never fully attain it in this life, we must continue to strive with all the energy Christ supplies toward the perfection for which we were made—recognizing that even the striving is a gift given to us by him.

And even our flaws and frailties and the acknowledgment thereof is a grace, a sign of God’s kingdom at work in us. As Leonard Cohen has said, “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

From beginning to end, our confidence is not in ourselves, but in God. He began a good work in us, and he will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). In the same way that he saved us, he will ultimately complete us—by grace, through faith, and in Christ, so that God alone might receive the glory.

And whenever God gets glory, we will get joy.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published at scottsauls.com. 



Episode 182: Having Difficult Conversations

By / Oct 19

On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson and Ross Ferguson talk about having those hard conversations we love to avoid with friends, family, and fellow church members.



Your Weird Church is “Plan A” and There is No “Plan B”

By / Oct 18

I’m not an old man, but I’ve been in churches for going on 45 years now, and I think this is the weirdest time to be a churchman in my lifetime. I’ve been in plenty of weird churches too. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a church that wasn’t weird in some way. I bet the same is true for you.

If we had our druthers, our churches would be more of something and less of some other things. We’d change the music, the architecture maybe, the sermon run-time, maybe even the deliverer of the sermon. And there’s the weirdoes seated around us. Who on earth thought of bringing these people together? As the old King James Version put it, we are a “peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9), aren’t we?

Well, it was Jesus who thought of that. And even during His earthly ministry, it sure doesn’t seem like He was assembling some kind of spiritual A-Team, does it?

It’s almost like He prefers losers, cast-offs, and ne’er-do-wells. Like He’s recruiting sinners, in fact. God is prioritizing broken people from broken situations to be His chosen emissaries to a broken world. Which means that as weird and messy as your church may be, you are exactly suited to this weird and messy time. There is no other church than your church to be the church to the people in your community. There is no other people than the church to be an outpost of heaven in your city, in your nation, in this world.

Once upon a time, I planted a church the same year as an older friend of mine. My church was predominantly young. We had a cool name (or at least, we thought it was cool). We had newer music. We had a cool space and did cool things. My friend’s church began with just a handful of old people. They were in a traditional space and did, well, “old people” stuff. I remember visiting in those early days and thinking, “How in the world is this going to work?”

A few years later, my church didn’t exist. I attended an anniversary service of my friend’s church, which had grown to several hundred. I remember my friend remarking, as part of their commemoration of the milestone, this way: “When we started this church, we didn’t have anything to offer but our brokenness. We were broken people gathering together and offering up ourselves to God. And when broken people offer their brokenness up to God, He does miraculous things.”

This is good news. As weird and messy as your church is, there is only a miracle to be gained by offering up your very selves to the Lord who made you and loves you. It’s no guarantee your church will grow numerically, of course. But it is a guarantee that the Spirit’s strength is perfected in weakness.

I think of that staggering exchange in Matthew 16:15-19:

“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

This is Peter that Jesus is talking to. The Peter who, doubting, sunk into the sea. The Peter who chops off ears. The Peter, by the way, that Jesus knows is going to deny Him three times. And it’s to this Peter that Jesus says, “Upon this rock I will build my church.” There must be something optimal about being sub-optimal in submission to Christ.

And this is why, by the way, I don’t think the most reasonable interpretation of Matthew 16:18 is that the “rock” immediately being referenced is Jesus Himself but rather the Peter who is confessing Jesus. I was always taught in my churches that the rock Jesus is referring to is Himself—and in a very vital way this is true—but that is not the plainest reading of the text. Jesus is saying, “I call you rock. And on this rock I will build my church.”

Now, Roman Catholicism of course base their system of the papacy in part upon this reading of the text and say Jesus is establishing Peter as the first pope. You have to piggy-back a whole lot of assumptions and a whole lot of extrabiblical theology into this verse to make it mean that. But I think evangelicals have often overcompensated trying to avoid that interpretation by saying the rock in question isn’t Peter at all. But if we understand the theology behind what Jesus is doing here, we shouldn’t have a problem with it.

In a way, this is a parallel to what Paul develops further in Ephesians 2:22, that “In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.” So is the church being built upon sinners? Sinners who confess Christ as Lord and their only hope for escaping hell and conquering death? Yes. With Christ as our chief cornerstone, the church is being made up of all kinds of sinners all over the world, Jew, Greek, slave, free—anyone and everyone who is able to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He builds His church up out of the redeemed.

This is simply another way of saying that you and I are part of the body of Christ.

So how can He say this? How can He say that He is building His church on “rocks” like Peter—and like you and me? Because anyone who confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in their heart that God has raised Him from the dead is an unconquerable, unstoppable person.

Brothers and sisters, we are a part of a kingdom that will demolish all pretenders and will fulfill in furious fashion the promise of redemption already sealed for us through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Not because we are strong, but because He is. Not because we’ve got it all figured out, but because He is “sustaining all things by His powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3b).

Isn’t that weird? You don’t have to be cool, big, strong, technologically savvy, politically fashionable, or culturally relevant. You just have to repent of your sin and commit your weird, broken church to its King. It’s the sinners He wants. It’s the losers He’s choosing. Your weird, messy church—in a pandemic or out of it—is God’s Plan A for your world. And there is no Plan B.



Political Gospel

By / Oct 18

Editor’s Note: This post is excerpted with permission from Political Gospel by Patrick Schreiner. Copyright 2022, B&H Publishing. This book is available everywhere Christian books are sold.

Christianity is political. Though it might sound crazy in our supercharged political climate, I don’t think the average Christian is nearly political enough.

It has become a truism to state that Jesus didn’t come with a political message. As the common trope goes, though Israel expected a warrior-king to come riding on a white horse to over-throw Rome, he came with a spiritual message about their hearts. Jesus simply wants a relationship with you.

The problem is, this is a half-truth.

Jesus made a political announcement. He declared himself to be King. We have one ruler to whom we are loyal.

Kanye West popularized this political message with his album Jesus Is King. However, many still think “Jesus is King” means, “He is Lord of my life.” We forget Jesus is more than that; he is the King of kings.

Jesus was not “conservative” or “progressive,” but we must not miss the politics of Jesus. The whole biblical storyline can be put under the banner of politics.

  • God put humans here to rule the earth.
  • Sin is insurrection.
  • Redemption is the offer of amnesty and citizenship in a new kingdom.
  • Restoration is the empire come.

Rule out politics, and you throttle the proclamation of God’s saving power. Almost all the vocabulary of salvation (justification, peace, faithfulness, and kingdom of God) has a political dimension. The substance of Christian hope at its foundation is political. Thus, Jesus was not merely urging a revolution in personal values. He was not aloof to political concerns; it was the very purpose of his coming.

I hope to show you that the spheres of religion and politics are not only partially overlapping, but completely and wholly overlapping. Yet, maybe not in the way you think.

Politics Defined

When you hear me arguing for a more “political” understanding of the gospel message, you might mistakenly assume a few things.

First, you might think I’m speaking about a partisanship. Many equate being political with being partisan, but politics is larger than partisanship. I’m not arguing we should do more wheeling and dealing along party lines, or that pastors should endorse candidates. I’m not arguing Jesus can be smuggled into one of our political parties or that preachers should be more like politicians. That is not what I mean by “political.”

Second, you might think I’m arguing for the merging of church and state. While instituting Christian law into our political processes is a complex topic, we need to recognize the authority of the church and the authority of governing officials are distinct. We must not imitate imperialist forms of religion: the Spanish Inquisition, Charlemagne, the cross-carrying conquistadors, the Nazi co-option of Christianity— these are all corruptions of Christianity’s political vision. We have seen through history that using political power to implement God’s law ends in disaster.

If I don’t mean these things, then what do I mean?

My subject is politics in the historical sense of the word. I mean politics in terms of public life, the ordering of society, enacting justice, and the arranging of common goods.

“Political” simply means the activities associated with the organization and governance of people. It has to do with rulership and who has the right to order our lives. It is what happens in the public domain. To paraphrase Augustine, politics is people bound together by common loves.[1]

Politics comes from the Greek word polis which means city, or politikia meaning the affairs of the cities. In some ways, “a political gospel” simply means a public reality, and the governance of that public activity, as opposed to a private or individualistic one.

God is sovereign over the whole world, not merely the inner reaches of the human heart. His project includes the ordering of society, of public life, the establishment of a coming city, and even its present manifestation in the church.

But I’m also not merely suggesting Christianity has political implications. Christianity is itself a politic.

It is an all-encompassing vision of the world and human life. This all-encompassing vision is meant to be enacted in the church, showcased to our neighbors, and spread to the world.

Politics answers the questions: How do we live together? How do we deal with money? How do we treat our enemies? What is authority? How should we love? Whom should we love? What does it mean to be human? How do we form communities? What is justice? Who is in charge? And how do we disagree?

Politics is simply how we partner together for the flourishing of humanity and the world. We must open the horizon of politics past partisanship and allow God to have his say again. Christian politics concerns how we integrate our confession that Jesus is Lord with our call to love our neighbors.

Many people wonder if Jerusalem has anything to do with Athens, but it should also be asked whether Bethlehem has anything to say about Rome? The answer is actually quite easy.

King Herod, the puppet of Rome, didn’t kill the baby boys in Bethlehem because a spiritual guru was born. He killed them because a new Ruler had arrived, and he knew his days were numbered.

That is why Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross. Why Peter was crucified by Nero upside-down. Why Paul was beheaded by the same Caesar. Their messages were the tremors of a new regime.

[1] Augustine, City of God, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1.



Day 17 – Patience in Times of Trials

By / Oct 17

”Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
– Romans 12:12

Day 17 – Patience in Times of Trials

As trials knock on our doorstep and enter our lives, Scripture gives us an idea of how to respond to trials: be patient. Be patient in trials. For all of us, patience in seasons of hardship and uncertainty does not come easy.

The same can be said for pastors, When families leave the church, death and disease are on the rise, criticism keeps coming, or personal matters are heavy, pastors are called to be patient and lead out in displaying patience.

Patience, especially in hard times, comes from being rooted in the precepts and promises of God, not in the preferences or perceptions of man. We can find patience in times of difficulty by trusting in the One who has overcome them all and who provides solace to the hurting.

As you pray for your pastor today, consider praying for him in these ways:

  • Trust in the promises and precepts of God
  • A heart that pursues patience and understanding
  • Ability to see seasons of trials as moments for God to rebuke, restore, or renew, or remind

Prayer Prompt

Lord, I pray that my pastor (for a church member)/ I (as a pastor) will find patience and understanding in the hard seasons of life and ministry. Remind him of your promises and allow your promises to strengthen and protect his heart through these seasons…

*These prayers are a part of our series of prayers for pastors during Pastor Appreciation Month. A new prayer will release every morning throughout the month for pastors and their members to reflect on and pray.



Day 16- Joy in Ministry

By / Oct 16

“Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!”
– Psalm 100:2

Day 16 – Joy in Ministry

Jesus Christ overflows with joy. So much, in fact, that He desires the fullness of His joy to be in us and fill us! In all we do, we should be motivated and moved by the joy that is in Jesus, delighting in nothing less than His very pleasure. And just as God delights in a cheerful giver, I believe God delights in us when we do everything we do with a joy that is rooted in the gospel. Imaging God with our lives, in part, means living in fullness of joy.

This is true for those in ministry as well. Pastors were not meant to pursue their calling begrudgingly, but with deep joy. While many may go through seasons of hardship and challenge, God is always at work to delight our hearts in the gospel.

As your pray for your pastor today, consider praying for him in these ways:

  • That no matter the circumstance today, God would fill him with inexpressible joy
  • That his joy would not be in worldly success, but in gospel faithfulness
  • That God would remind him of His own excellencies, causing his soul to rejoice
  • That the gospel would be the greatest joy in your pastor’s heart
  • That God would give a renewed joy in the task of pastoring

Prayer Prompt

Lord, I pray that my pastor (for a church member)/ I (as a pastor) would be filled with your own joy. Remind him of all that you delight in, and allow his heart to rejoice in nothing less than Christ and His gospel. Though there be many temptations each day to find his joy in lesser things or find a lack of joy due to circumstances, would you be quick to remind him that there is no greater joy than experiencing the fullness of life in your Son, and allow Him to minister out of an abundance of this joy…

*These prayers are a part of our series of prayers for pastors during Pastor Appreciation Month. A new prayer will release every morning throughout the month for pastors and their members to reflect on and pray.



Day 15 – Faithfulness to Wife

By / Oct 15

”Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth…”
– Proverbs 5:18

Day 15 – Faithfulness to Wife

When ministries and pastors fall, one’s faithfulness to their wife and children is often one of the first things to go. Therefore for pastors, remaining faithful to their spouse is crucial to fulfilling the qualifications of being an elder, building and maintaining credibility and longevity in ministry, and honoring Christ and the covenant they made to Him and their bride.

Unfortunately, ministry and our sinful flesh can tempt pastors away from being faithful, whether that’s emotionally, physically, or spiritually. Additionally, pastors may be tempted to prioritize ministry over their wife. This too is an act of unfaithfulness and should not be left unaddressed.

As you pray for your pastor today, consider praying for him in these ways:

  • Faithful in loving and pursuing wife
  • Diligence in guarding their heart
  • Ability to set an example for young men considering marriage
  • Self-awareness for when their prioritizing ministry over their wife

Prayer Prompt

Lord, I pray that my pastor (for a church member)/ I (as a pastor) remains faithful to his wife. I ask that you put a hedge of protection around their marriage and that you’ll remind them of the covenantal love you’ve given them. Let their love be an example of Christ’s love for the church and how Christian marriages should be. Guard their heart and keep them faithful to their family…

*These prayers are a part of our series of prayers for pastors during Pastor Appreciation Month. A new prayer will release every morning throughout the month for pastors and their members to reflect on and pray.



Day 14- Hope in Suffering

By / Oct 14

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope”
– Romans 5:3-4

Day 14- Hope in Suffering

Pastors have a unique relationship to suffering. Not only do they experience suffering in their own lives, but they are given the task of ministering to crowds in the deepest moments of their suffering as well. Oftentimes, pastors can struggle with burnout and depression as they feel the weight of suffering from their church. But remember, pastor, Christ’s shoulders are much stronger than yours. When you suffer and experience the suffering of others, Christ is near. For He is near to the brokenhearted. And your suffering is not pointless, but accomplishing all of His good purpose for you and your church.

Take heart, your suffering is transforming you more into the likeness of the Son, the man of sorrows, who alone has the power to fill you with hope beyond all comparison, the very hope that is impossible to experience apart from deep suffering. As you pray for your pastor today, consider praying for him in these ways:

  • That he would experience a hope in suffering that is only explainable by the gospel
  • That he would experience God’s nearness in dark moments
  • That God would give wisdom to minister to sinners and sufferers as a sinner and suffer himself
  • For patience in the trial and gratitude in all circumstances

Prayer Prompt

Lord, I pray that my pastor (for a church member)/ I (as a pastor) would be formed by his suffering and the suffering of his church. Be quick to remind him of your overarching purposes in the midst of suffering, even if he can’t see the tangible results immediately. Give him a deepened faith in suffering, allowing him to run first to you in faith for comfort and help. Allow him to be an example to all of how to live a life of suffering in hope in relationship with you, God…

*These prayers are a part of our series of prayers for pastors during Pastor Appreciation Month. A new prayer will release every morning throughout the month for pastors and their members to reflect on and pray.



Designed for Community

By / Oct 14

Several Sundays ago our church celebrated parent/child dedication. It is a ceremony where as parents you commit to raise your child in the ways of the Lord and in His truth. But there is another part- the community aspect. This is where the church body is charged with coming alongside and helping to support that parental endeavor. The community of believers makes a commitment to support the family as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to point their child towards God and to walk in righteousness. Often our focus is on the family and the child being dedicated- as it should be- but as a church we cannot lose sight of our responsibility as a member of the body of Christ to one another.

I jokingly say the Christian life is not an island. Think about what an island is by definition. It is defined as an isolated piece of habitat surrounded entirely by water. The key word being isolated. Islands are isolated, cut off from being connected to something else. The Christian community is the exact opposite of that. There is not only connection with people within your direct vicinity but there is connection with people half a world away. Once you are a believer you become part of a larger family and you have brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. We see this language used through the New Testament. (Romans 12:10, Galatians 6:10, Ephesians 2:19, 1 Timothy 5:1-2) For times of celebration, for life changes, the ups and downs, and the ugly of life. Christian community weeps with those who weep and rejoices with those who rejoice. (Romans 12:15)

From the beginning of time, God intended community to be a part of human existence.

  • God is community. We see that in the Trinity- Father, Son, and Spirit and we are created in His image. (Genesis 1:26-27)
  • In the context of Genesis, He created a wife for Adam so they could be in relationship with one another and in fellowship with God. (Genesis 2:18)
  • Paul ‘s letters often refer to “you” in giving admonitions but the majority of the “‘you” in Paul’s letters are referring to “you all” (or y’all as we say in the South). It is a community admonition and a community endeavor to walk the Christian life.
  • Romans 8 powerfully describes the groaning that takes place as we wait for eternity (Romans 8:22). The word Paul uses implies a community groaning. Even in our hope, in our wait on the Lord, we wait together, we groan together for the day of redemption.

Our design for community means we are wired to need others, to be in relationship, and most importantly to be in relationship with God. As the creator of human life, He designed us for human connection and relationships.

So what are some ways you can fill that need for community? There are three things that I have learned and tried to implement when finding community.

  1. Get involved! I can’t stress this enough. Make the choice to be intentional about your involvement in Christian community. I know from experience it is hard looking for a new church home or joining a new community but it is vital to your relationship with Jesus to make this a priority. Join a Bible study, start a discipleship group, and attend events at your church. These are fertile ground for friendships to grow and authentic community to happen. Sunday mornings are wonderful times of worship and fellowship but it is hard to make connections with others while listening to a sermon!
  2. Pray about it! It seems obvious that prayer would be a part of it but pray for Godly friends. Pray for people who are in your season of life that can understand where you are right now. Pray for a mentor who has been there and done that who can speak truth into those hard moments because he or she has walked a mile in your shoes. Pray for someone to disciple. You have a lot to offer and your gifts can be used by God to plant seeds of truth in someone else’s life.
  3. Understand theology matters- The theology of your community matters. The community of believers you become a part of needs to be grounded and pointing towards the One True God and recognize the Bible as the inspired Word of God. The wisdom behind their decisions and their guidance to you matters. Does it come from God (James 3:17)? Is their goal and pursuit to honor Him and to walk with you along the way in your journey to honor Him? Those are the people you want in your community.

Community is defined as a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. Christian community goes beyond that definition to entail worship, service, iron sharpening iron, and a true focus on honoring God.



Day 13 – Renewed Love for Preaching

By / Oct 13

”Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”
– 2 Timothy 4:2

Day 13 – Renewed Love for Preaching

The responsibility and weight of preaching the Word, in season and out of season, can cause a flurry of emotions for pastors. From feelings of anxiety and uncertainty to rote indifference for preaching, it can be hard for pastors to cultivate a love for preaching and prioritize it in their ministry. This is, of course, not the cause for all pastors, but in certains seasons it may be.

As you pray for your pastor today, consider praying for him in these ways:

  • Renewed love for the Word
  • Trust that the Word will not return void
  • Confidence to overcome anxiety or uncertainty about preaching
  • Ability to clearly communicate the truth of Scripture

Prayer Prompt

Lord, I pray that my pastor (for a church member)/ I (as a pastor) has a renewed love for your Word that pours over into their desire to preach and teach. That whatever uncertainty or rote feelings they have towards preaching will be overcome by the power of your Spirit and the truth of your Word in their lives. Give him the confidence and ability to clearly proclaim your Word to the church…

*These prayers are a part of our series of prayers for pastors during Pastor Appreciation Month. A new prayer will release every morning throughout the month for pastors and their members to reflect on and pray.