Embedded in the Same Economy
As someone who works in business for a company as a sales consultant, my company is a regional distributor that sells products to facilities or janitorial products. I recently became aware of another rep who is selling products to multiple Planned Parenthood locations outside of the state I work in. Prior to this, I did not know that we as a company sold products to Planned Parenthood. My question pertains to how to handle that as a Christian in business…I am not targeting or selling to PP but the company I work for does. Since I have autonomy to pick my customers I will never pursue them as a customer and decline to do so if assigned or asked to by leaders. Now, since my company apparently sees no issue selling supplies to them and I am now aware of it, am I complicit?Jeremy
Jeremy, no, I don’t think this would be complicity. I don’t believe “separation from the world” requires total detachment from whatever sins might be committed with products you sell. If it were, then it would be unlawful to open a store that sold janitorial products.
A Weird Hat Tip?
Was the NQN trailer this year intended to reference the Backrooms?J
J, certainly not by me. I had never heard of said Backrooms until afterwards. Having heard of it, I made inquiries. Those who set up the script and the shoot were aware of the Backrooms and put that in as an Easter egg head fake, which then went off in a completely different direction.
What Makes a Baptism Legit?
In general, what makes a baptism legitimate? I’ve talked to lots of different people who have gotten baptized in various ways. One person was “baptized” in their bathtub upon hearing the gospel and believing after having a door-to-door Christian evangelist in their home. Others were baptized by their parents or a friend in a lake or a river when they believed. Or what about an individual who baptizes their children if he switches from Credo to Paedo convictions? At Christ Church, what are the general parameters where you would accept or reject a baptism and say, “no, you need to be baptized because you never actually have been?” Does being a layman disqualify a person from baptizing a person?JC
JC, we express our views on such things by categorizing certain baptisms as “irregular, but valid.” Baptisms performed by laymen would fit in this category. Something I would consider not a baptism at all would be something done, for example, on a movie set.
Books for Fathers
What are your top three book recommendations for new fathers? Specifically targeting the first year or two of being a father / parent.
Kind regards,Micah
Micah, I am going to stick close to the shore here, and just recommend three of my own—Why Children Matter, Standing on the Promises, and Father Hunger.
A Ploductivity Question
“Ploductivity” is always a timely read. I’m struggling to balance two verses in the book. Proverbs 14:4 “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.” And Proverbs 24:30-34 (with special attention to the first two verses) “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.”
Right now in our household, it feels like we can’t get ahead on the “overgrown” Proverb. There is always a mess. It does not feel like an example of “much increase.” When is it right to spend a certain amount of time decluttering and reorganizing, to avoid becoming the latter Proverb regarding the overgrown vineyard?AR
AR, what matters here is not whether the house looks lived in, or is messy at a certain point in time. What is essential is that it be a different mess. But if someone were to visit your house three months apart, and he noticed the same Cheerio on the kitchen floor, that would be the problem from Proverbs.
A Family Sitch
Need some advice. I’m praying and looking for insight on a situation with my 19- year-old daughter. She just graduated last spring, and she’s taking some time to figure out her next steps in life. She lives with our family still, and most of the time she is working. When she is not working she has found a group of friends, (girls and boys) about 40 minutes from home whom we do not know at all. On top of that they are all still in high school, and seem a tad bit rough. What they do together is somewhat benign, they spend almost all of their time at Hershey Park, Pa; it’s an amusement park. My daughter tells me they are all Christian, but from what I can tell some of them are foster children, and it doesn’t seem as if they ever go to church. Long story short my wife and I don’t have a good feeling about them.
My question is this, how much authority do I have now that she is 19. I’m trying to find the line between telling her what to do, letting her make choices as an adult, and just giving her guidance. We don’t want her spending time with these people anymore, but how does a father say this to a 19-year-old? Again, she lives in our house, and uses a car that is mine but she makes payments on each month. Hopefully this is not too jumbled. I figured if anyone would have insight it would be you.B
B, you are right, the situation does not sound healthy to me. A lot rides on what kind of relationship you have with your daughter. If she is still living in your home, supported by you, it is not a matter of authority, but rather of wisdom in how you exercise that authority. I would start with a conversation that began with guidance/advice, but with lots of discussion, so that she could ask all her questions and see your reasoning.
Government Largesse Again
I know you’re not a fan of taking government handouts or government involvement in education period. That said, would you advise Christians to steer clear of the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit and associated scholarships?
On the one hand, I wish the program did not exist and the government would just eliminate the spending and lower taxes instead. On the other hand, given that the program does exist, it seems like not participating is just letting the funds already allocated be spent in worse ways.Steve
Steve, I would discourage taking any payments directly from the government, including for educational purposes. I don’t think it is a good idea at all. Tax credits are in a different category—they are not giving you somebody else’s money, but rather rather agreeing to take less of yours.
Holy Division
I wanted to get your perspective on the necessity of division. I know the Scriptures often call us to unity in the body, and Christ called us to love our enemies and to give greetings to our enemies to be distinct from the non-believer so that we could be imitators of our Father. I’m thinking specifically of Matthew chapter 5 starting in verse 43. However I know at other times we are called to division, we’re called to be separated from non-believers in some sense, and I’m also thinking of being divided from our Christian brothers and sisters, I believe the apostle John calls us to this to not even greet those who deny Christ, I believe he states for if we greet them we are partakers with them in their bad theology essentially. I’m also thinking of Paul in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 6 where he discusses not even sitting to eat with Christian brothers who are leading disorderly lives or idleness. I know every situation is a bit different, where to draw the line whom to draw the line towards etc, it seems most of our focus in our Christian culture today is to love everyone but I know there are times when lines must be drawn, second Thessalonians in today’s culture seems very harsh to not even greet a brother or eat with a brother who is disobeying God’s word. I was simply wondering as a pastor do you have any advice to give to the followers of Christ as far as a road map of who we decide to no longer associate with, are there any particular sins or attitudes or does this require specific wisdom and guidance from the Lord? My wife and I are trying to walk closely with the Lord and we’ve had some issues with life groups with folks leading disorderly lives and we get confused where to draw the line, and when it might be time to find more committed believers that could keep our focus on Christ and his mission. Lately I’ve been meditating on when Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement with Mark, maybe sometimes the Lord has plans for a particular division, one party may not be right or wrong but God has reasons behind why one person might feel like they’re right or wrong? Anyway your wealth of experience as a pastor would be much appreciated. Thank you for all you do.Bruno
Bruno, you are absolutely right about the need for more division. But most of the time, when done right, the actions of separating should follow a disciplinary action by the church. But that means you need to find a church that actually practices biblical church discipline. I think a necessary question for the pastor, when you are looking for a church, would be “When was the last time someone was disciplined by this congregation, and what was it for?” When done privately, not as a result of church action, a dedicated Christian is simply choosing his friends wisely.
The Lutheran catechism says that, while baptism by the clergy is preferable, any Christian can baptize, and in some cases all Christians should baptize. All baptisms in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are valid, if done by trinitarian denominations. And if the baptism in a movie was positively portrayed, I would suspect in most cases the actor would have already been baptized for real! But play baptisms, as Shirley Temple did in one movie, wouldn’t count.
Steve, Doug’s cult took $150k in PPP “loans” during the pandemic. Do with that info what you will.