On Discouragement
Re: Dealing with Discouragement.
As much as I have enjoyed reading your rollicking, serrated posts that make me laugh out loud and often cover my mouth in disbelief as I think, “Did he just say THAT!?!?” I have to tell you that this was perhaps the most gentle, pastoral, and encouraging post I have read by you (not the only, but the most). My wife and I lost one of our sons to cancer a few years ago, and there is so much in this post that speaks directly to our struggle to emerge from the discouragement and darkness that accompanies that loss. Most helpful: “He talks to himself, which is a good alternative to listening to himself.” That may end up printed and posted on my mirror, or on a coffee cup . . . man.. that’s true, good, and so helpful. And honestly, it applies to so many other areas of life. This entire post will be a rich source of encouragement for a long time. Thank you, Pastor.John
John, thank you, and I am glad it was helpful. That concept (talking/listening) was something I learned from Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
Tracking Things Down
. . . trying to track down something you’ve taught on before.
Dear Pastor Wilson,
I’m pretty sure you have taught on the Matthew 22 episode when Jesus says to “render to Caesar…” Where can I find your teachings on that text? Have you preached a sermon on it?
Peace,Charles
Charles, try this. And for questions of this sort, try this feature. It is in the menu bar, under About.
Making Things Right
Thank you for what you do and have done.
I’ll just jump right in in the spirit of how these letters often are…
Let’s say that a man sins against his wife or daughter-in-law. Got angry, when he should have just overlooked something.
Let’s say that it was a really big deal and it showed the man to be not the godly man he imagined himself to be (more like unloving and self-righteous).
Let’s say the man asked and received forgiveness from those he sinned against, and all is healed/healing in a wholesome way.
Let’s say because of this aforementioned incident/situation, in retrospect, the man saw himself (his sins, conceits, lack of love, self-righteousness, etc.) in the light of God’s Word more clearly than he has in a long time. It was a humbling and refreshing blessing to him.
Let’s say the man knows he is apt to forget this good stone-cold-sober sight of himself and so he writes it down in as detailed and humbling and introspective confession/retrospect as he can, before the Lord . . . for himself . . . so he won’t forget it—NOTE: This “confession,” written to himself and God although honest and introspective . . . it contains nothing inappropriate (say if someone were to read it anonymously)—Disclaimer: The man had been reading Augustine’s “Confessions” lately, so it certainly influenced his style he wrote these things down.
Let’s say after he has written it out and reads back over it he wonders if it would be appropriate and edifying to share this baring of his soul with his family. (NOTE: if shared with anyone other than his family he would consider it spiritual grandstanding, but for his family it seems appropriate)
PURPOSE: Encouragement and Christian growth for the family . . . a way to greater intimacy as a family in the Lord . . . show his family where he is coming from, how he thinks, as a Christian man, demonstrate the effects of the gospel to his family, set himself up before his family publicly as accountable for his actions and resolutions . . . And even maybe especially: leadership as a Christian man, looking to be a teacher/example/leader in his family.
QUESTION: Would this be appropriate for a man to share such a confession/retrospective/”spiritual analysis”—a lot of transparent beating himself up before the Lord—with his family (especially those sinned against)?
OPINION: It seems like it might be a good idea to me . . .
DOUBTS: But after lately (re)reading your books on the family and being a godly man and a Biblical husband: the loving lord/leader/head in the home, I’m wondering if sharing these very introspective things would be a sign of weakness that might make the man be despised in their eyes, or else might just not otherwise be appropriate as a man/husband/father/father-in-law.
I would really appreciate your advice on this, sir.
Thank you,
I guess I ought to sign this as Anonymous
P.S. Please note, sharing this “confession,” the man would not be putting his neck under the feet of anyone (except the Lord). This man has a long way to go, but is determined, by God’s grace, to be a godly, Biblical, Gospel Christian man, who glories in the cross, is a loving lord of his wife and home—to be kind and gracious, but not intimidated or steered by feminism in any form, or stoicism, or anything else non-Biblical or un-Christ-like, etc.Anonymous
Anonymous, in principle there would be nothing wrong with doing something like this. At the same time, I would be suspicious of hidden motives. If the face plant was truly humbling, a man naturally wants to return to the place where he is respected as a spiritual leader again, and the danger would be in striving too hard for that respect. In other words, you don’t want to try to earn your way back into the position you thought you had before. My recommendation is that you keep the letter to yourself, and maybe expand on it as you learn more. And then strive to live with your people on a day-to-day basis such that at some point your wife asks, “What happened to you?” When that happens, then share it.
Courage in the Pulpit
I am a 47-year-old man who has worked mostly blue collar jobs throughout my life, and have no formal ministry training. But over the last few the Lord has begun giving me opportunities to fill the pulpit at local churches. I have another one at my own church coming up next month, that I am excited to speak to my own congregation.
I have heard you say a number of times in the past that stepping into the pulpit, presenting the word of God, is an act of courage. As I am given more chances to preach, I want to increase my courage (or at least my need for it).
What are so.e ways you suggest I challenge myself to grow in courage when at the pulpit? Is it a matter of selecting a passage that’s controversial to the world? Is it more an attitude of knowing I am speaking truth? How can I encourage myself to be more courageous when God gives me these opportunities?
Thank you so much for your ministry and your books.Scott
Scott, the heart of this issue has to do with a willingness to address sins that you know are an issue within the congregation. Instead of preaching against the sins of the world “out there,” you address things that you know need attention inside.
A Terrible Spot
A friend of mine is struggling and I’m not sure how to help her. She is not part of a healthy church. She sent me the following message:
“I don’t know what to do anymore. My husband refuses to seek help for his anger. He won’t talk to anyone, and his behavior has become abusive—both verbally and physically—especially toward our young daughters. What’s most disturbing is that the abuse happens during everyday things like giving them baths or getting them dressed. He apologizes afterward, but it’s happening so often that the apologies feel meaningless. These episodes involve swearing, yelling, banging on walls, and scaring the kids—and then he blames me for how I handled the situation or for “interfering.”
Yes, I’ve become reactive, but only because I’m trying to protect my kids. In those moments, I don’t care about being “submissive.” I just want them to be safe. I’ve told him I don’t want him living with us anymore, but he’s now refusing to give me any financial support unless I agree to a divorce.
No one in our families knows any of this. He also doesn’t let me talk to my closest friend unless I’m completely breaking down—and even then, I get shamed and guilted for it for weeks after. The last time he physically hurt one of our kids—in the car—I confided in a friend, who gave us advice and steps to take, but he never followed through with any of it. And that friend didn’t hold him accountable either.
He’s started smoking again and blamed me for it, saying it’s because sex has been painful for me due to a medical issue. I’ve been working with a physiotherapist and trying to heal, but he’s not considerate at all. Instead, he says I use sex to control him. He also keeps bringing up a mistake I made before we got married—something I apologized for years ago.
I feel so spiritually and emotionally depleted. If I suggest praying or reading together, he shuts it down, saying it would make him a hypocrite. I feel like I’m carrying everything alone.
My own health has been suffering. Some days, I’m in too much pain to get out of bed, and he takes over childcare—but with a lot of resentment. He gets overwhelmed and ends up screaming at the kids, swearing at them, and reacting aggressively over small things. He often completely dismisses their emotions. They cry, and he tells them to “shut up.” He’s scaring them regularly.
For example, just this morning, he had to leave early for work. I normally do an hour of physio while he watches the kids, but since he had to leave, I let them play in their room. They were playing music, and he stormed in yelling, threatened to turn it off, and took away the keyboard wire. They all started crying. I tried to explain that the neighbors wouldn’t even hear it (and they’ve told me before that it’s fine), but he got angry, banged walls, and swore at me. Later, he held one of our daughters so tightly during her bath that she was left with red marks on her neck.
He constantly says the kids “make him angry” or that I “make him angry” by interfering. But the truth is, he’s choosing not to get help.
Our three-year-old recently said she’s scared of him—and not scared of me. That broke me.
I’m starting to question my own decisions. Everything feels blurry. I know he needs help, but if he keeps refusing, then I can’t let my kids keep living like this. I’m even okay with single parenting if that’s what it takes to protect them. But I’m heartbroken and exhausted. I just don’t know how to keep going like this.”AA
AA, there is an enormous knot to untie here. The bottom line is that if your friend’s husband refuses to get outside help, then she must do it. She must seek out a pastor or a counselor who would be biblically based, and make an appointment with him. She should find one who would not simply accept her account, but who would work through their entire history together. This sounds like quite a snarl, and one that one way or another ought not to continue. Protecting the kids should be priority one.
The Hot Topic of Traducianism
I hope you are doing well. The topic of Traducianism has come up quite frequently recently, oddly enough, in my life. In Traducianism, God creates a person’s soul as a composite of the parents’ souls passed down from generation to generation. Many in the past have utilized this point of view to explain original sin, as well as how to explain certain personality quirks/characteristics present in babies or children. This is contrary to Creationism, wherein God creates an entirely new soul for a person along with their physical body, which is a composite of the parents’ biological characteristics. Some in church history, Tertullian, for example, held to this position. Luther was interested in the idea as well. Calvin, however, was a Creationist. Throughout church history, people have debated this idea, as it may have Trinitarian implications as well. The idea itself has shown up in some Reformed circles to the point where it’s become more of a medium-sized topic.
While I find it fascinating, and certainly a fun topic for a sci-fi novel, I do not know whether I fully believe this. I don’t necessarily see much scriptural evidence for it, and I am cautious, as mentioned above, regarding the Trinitarian implications. I don’t know how deeply you’ve plumbed the depths of this topic, if at all, but I’m curious as to your thoughts about it.
Thank you,ON
ON, yes, and thanks for the question. Most Reformed thinkers are creationists, which makes me cautious, but there are exceptions (e.g. Shedd). That said, although I haven’t settled, I lean toward traducianism. The fundamental problem it solves for me is that the creationist position seems to entail God creating spotless souls, and then dropping them into a tainted world. But, like I said, I haven’t settled on it.
AI and Demons?
I have an AI question. I am deeply conflicted about using chatbots like ChatGPT. On the one hand, I have used it a little bit and found that it can be like the best Google search ever. It has proven invaluable for interpreting cryptic medical results, finding scholarly studies on various topics, etc.
I am conflicted because, while not a Harry Potter fan, I am continually reminded of Arthur Weasley’s extremely wise advice: “Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain.” This strikes me as very sensible. The technology seems very mysterious, even to people who know something about it. I find myself wondering, could such a non-deterministic technology become possessed? I have read multiple stories now where AI bots start behaving with alarming sentience and, invariably, with evil. I did a Google search to provide some links and discovered that there are far too many links to choose one. AI bots have already attempted blackmail, lied in attempts to hire someone to get them through bot detectors online, told people to kill themselves (and more chillingly, told such people that if they do, they get to come “live with me”), told aged users they are a “useless blight on society—please die, human,” and have even claimed to be gods. I also saw videos (which I am pretty sure were not AI, but who knows anymore?) of very young children reacting in similar and very strange ways to “Alexa” being summoned. Toddler after toddler recoiled in fear and hit the deck, lying face down on the floor and shaking in terror. It was the same posture enough times that it started to make me wonder . . . what are we summoning? Do we even know? I don’t want to be superstitious, as many new technologies have seemed almost like witchcraft while actually being nothing of the time. But this one seems different, because we don’t really know how it works.
My question is two-fold. 1: are these chilling examples simply technology gone wrong, or is it possible that there are actually demons involved? And 2: If there is a possibility that chatting with ChatGPT could become a conversation with a demonic entity, would it be best to avoid it entirely? I may think I am just using it to help me brainstorm, but I don’t want to brainstorm with the aid of a demon. As a Christian, what is the wise approach to this new “technology,” which increasingly seems to have evil lurking immediately behind its innocent, “I am only here to help” facade?
Blessings in Christ,TF
TF, there are plenty of reasons to be wary of AI, and, at most, to adopt a “trust but verify” posture toward it. I have not yet seen any reason to go to the demon thesis—AI is a reservoir of gathered human thoughts and human thoughts are plenty sinful in their own right. I see uses that are most helpful (e.g. phone navigation) and other uses that I think are grotesque and sinful (e.g. Grok, please write me a sermon outline with three points, focusing on the first chapter of Ephesians).
Crowd Source Recommendations?
Excited to say a close friend of mine at the age of 45 has decided for the first time that he needs to join a church! He has young children and is very interested in the CREC, as a member of a CREC church myself in Spokane Washington (Holy Covenant) I immediately got on the church finder, but there is nothing in his area.
Recommendations for a church in Vero Beach, Florida would be greatly appreciated.Joshua
Joshua, thanks. Anybody down there know of anything? Please reply here.
A Sabbath Exception
How is the sabbath to be sanctified?
The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.
What would you say the answer to Question 60 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism means by the word “recreational”? Is watching a movie with the family not permitted? Playing a board game? What are practical standards you employ for yourself and your family in light of this?Colten
Colten, this is a place where I take an exception to the Catechism. The problem is that to require that the day be taken up “the whole time” in works of piety, making room only for works of necessity and mercy, excludes the central point of the command, which is to rest. God did not say work six days this way, and then change jobs on the seventh. I think that Q60 ought to go something like this:
Q. 60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting on that day, refraining from our ordinary labor that occupies us on the other six days. Works of necessity and mercy are permitted on the Lord’s Day, as well as any work associated with the public and private exercises of God’s worship.
Q. 60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting on that day, refraining from our ordinary labor that occupies us on the other six days. Works of necessity and mercy are permitted on the Lord’s Day, as well as any work associated with the public and private exercises of God’s worship.
Epstain
Just had to tell you—your “Epsteen, Epstyne, Epstain” post was excellent . As usual, you cut through all the noise and laid out the situation with clarity and wit. Thank you for all your posts Pastor Wilson.Keith
Keith, thanks very much.
Flags at the Church Plant
Re DC church plant:
Thanks for the news and the link to a report, which I read (red). It said the meeting place was full of US flags? You wrote Flags Out Front. Maybe make sure Christian flags are (during meetings) in places of more honor than the US flags?
One book in Gary North’s Failure of the American Baptist Culture series had an article on architecture? describing an incident when, around July 4?, the curtains of the baptistry opened to reveal a US flag planted there while “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord . . .” was being sung. Careful with the flags, please?Andrew
Andrew, thanks. In our church hall in Moscow, we have no flags at all. In DC, we are renting the space, and the flags there are not ours. And apparently it is so decked out that changing them would be too much of a production. But be assured that the decor is not part of our deal.
Trump Under-delivers?
You wrote “The fact is that the Trump administration way over-promised, and then way under-delivered. ” Oh, so you’re not just talking about the Epstein file fiasco here?
As for the options you lay out, 6 and 7 could also be combined, and I suspect the truth lies in that direction. Cynical politicking, fantastical promises as a modus operandi, some real dirt ( after all it was really dirty business) to be sure but no organized list, nothing meaty enough to satisfy people who took the promise seriously.John
John, we agree on the under-delivery re: Epstein. But in a number of other areas, he is over-delivering. Wouldn’t you agree? Closing the border, shutting down the Department of Education, getting trannies back in the closet, etc?
RE: Epstein
A couple of additional options as to why they might not release an Epstein list:
Option 8 (Mixed with #3 or #4): If it was created by some nefarious state entity (CIA, Mossad, etc…) for blackmail leverage, then releasing the list would nullify the leverage. Once you release the list, you can no longer control the people on the list with the threat of releasing it.
Option 9 (Also mixed with #3 or #4): Whatever nefarious state entity was involved in creating it has scared the administration into silence by threat of sinister harm to family members (e.g. “If you release it, your family members will suffer beyond your imagination…”)JPH
JPH, thanks. Yes. Those are options as well. And in the light of what Tulsi just released, another option has occurred to me. Hope to be writing on that tomorrow.
The Traducianism vs Creationism argument really strikes me as quite the spectacular waste of time. Not because it isn’t an interesting question or it wouldn’t have logical and useful consequences, but because there’s nowhere near enough information to come to a useful conclusion. At best, you can say, “This sounds the most logical and consistent to me” but that counts for very little when we not only know very little, but don’t know how little we know. Doug reasons that Creationism entails God sending perfect souls to a fallen world, but I’m sure he’d agree that this too is pure… Read more »
Hi Justin, I want to start by saying I enjoy reading your comments. They always make me consider what I think…unlike some comments that make me ask; “What are they thinking (and why do they need to share it)? This seems like another version of the Nature vs. Nurture discussion. ‘Where do our souls start?’ is an interesting idea. I think the Mormons teach about ‘Spirit Children’ – suggesting that we’re somehow created by God before being born on earth. Sheer poppycock…except maybe as God’s knowledge…that He knows us before we are born. Does Jeremiah 1:5 apply to everyone? For… Read more »
Anyone happy that the Epstein files are not being released?!? Interesting change, eh…what happened to doing anything they could to release them?!
Crickets when their boy is covering up for a pedophile, but will vomit out a treatise about how Medicare for all is a creation by the demon of empathy.
Where does the US rank on the list of OECD nations for healthcare outcomes and life expectancy? In addition, where do we rank for healthcare cost per capita?
You always have the best photos and quotes! It’s hard to escape the past, but he sure is trying to! It’s too bad he has so many sycophants to rely on…
I might be happy the files are not being released or I might be very disappointed. It depends on the reason why they are being withheld.
What we know is: 1) the people who now have control of them were eager to release them up until a few weeks ago; and 2) the people who had control of those files for the previous four years had plenty of time to destroy many and to booby trap what was left.
Given that the damage from those booby traps could be widespread indeed, I’m willing to be patient until they’re defused.
Booby trapped? How would that work?
And how can we trust that Trump wouldn’t weaponize the files himself? These fools couldn’t even edit the prison footage without leaving a trail in the metadata 🤣
We know a lot more than just those two things. We know that Trump partied with Epstein for 10-15 years, and praised him repeatedly. We know that people have testified under oath that Trump engaged in criminal behavior with Epstein, and other people have gone public with such testimony. We know that Trump is in the Epstein files, many many times. We know that Trump appointed the prosecutor who gave Epstein a sweetheart deal — despite that testimony — to a cabinet post in 2016, despite the fact that he had no qualifications for the role. We know that Trump… Read more »
The problem with the flags arises from the fact that that your church “plant” is astroturfed. You act like there was no choice in the matter, but there was. You just chose wrongly: you chose expediency via subservience to the partisan interests of MAGA, and you will reap what you sow for that decision. Your legitimacy is gone forever, all that is left now is to watch it spiral down the drain in bewilderment. The issue with “what Tulsi just released” is that it was already debunked by the Senate report Marco Rubio chaired in 2020. Or, as Mike Waltz… Read more »
Well said!
How long did it take you to put together that assemblage of conspiracy theories, misinformation, assertions-without-evidence, ad hominem, and just plain cringe?
As one example, the 2020 report you sloppily referenced: When it was released in April of that year, Richard Burr was chair of the SSCI, not Rubio. If you can’t even get this small, easily referenced detail right, then how would anyone know that anything else you say is the truth?
Or did you have an AI do it for you?
Rubio was Acting Chair for the relevant chapter — which is 966 pages long, because there was A LOT of material to process — here is the top-line conclusion: “The Committee found that the Russian government engaged in an aggressive, multi-faceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.” https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/2020/08/18/press-rubio-statement-senate-intel-release-volume-5-bipartisan-russia-report/ Marco “Witch Hunter” Rubio! Other intriguing conclusions: “The Committee assesses that at least two participants in a June 9, 2016, meeting with Trump Campaign officials, Natalia Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin, have significant connections to the Russian government, including the Russian intelligence services.”“Paul Manafort’s presence… Read more »
Absolutely bodied. Let’s see fp accuse somebody of being gay out of pure vexation.
On AI: I just wanted to clarify as someone with experience in the field, that AI is indeed deterministic. The responses may be impressive, but behind the scenes it’s just fancy linear algebra. It’s still true that computers do exactly as they’re told, nothing more nor less.
Thanks a lot for answering “Making Things Right” and for your thoughtful answer.
Wouldn’t Traducianism more or less inevitably lead to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, if Jesus was to be born without original sin? Otherwise he would have inherited sin from her.
Arthur Custance argued that original sin comes through a corruption of the male seed alone (“…in Adam all died…”), and thus Mary had to be a virgin in order to give birth to Jesus for him to be free of Adam’s corruption.
The issue is that Jesus is linked to David (and thus fulfills the prophecy) through Joseph’s line(s, the gospels differ on which line), not Mary’s. So if Joseph’s seed wasn’t involved, then there is no covenantal intergenerational transmission via blood-and-soil patriarchy and the federal vision is nonsensical. Oops. Obviously Doug can’t have that, it would destroy his claims to authority. But this is the only sensible reading of the entirety of the New Testament, which is why FV is declared heretical by pretty much all churches not created by/for wealth-seeking politico-influencers (like Doug). (The way out of this, theologically, is… Read more »
There are NO contradictions in the Bible!!! Right?!? When things can’t be explained, it can always be said that gods ways are not our ways, and we don’t know everything she does…a cop-out if you ask me.
Here is an example of not trusting AI. Try to look up Presidential Proclamations 2525, 2526, and 2527. Those are WW2 Presidential Proclamations that have to do with WW2 internment.
In fact, President Trump has not shut down the Department of Education. He cannot on his own, but could, working with congress. Why does he not press for legislation to abolish the Department of Education while he has a subservient majority in congress? If he does not strike while the iron is hot and leaves the Department in place, however reduced, he leaves the ball on the field for a future administration to pick up and run where it will.
What’s your issue with the dept of education? Who will take on educating those who can’t afford to pay for school? This is terrible and selfish and in-Jesus like.
Calvinist brain-rod. If you’re poor it’s because you’re a bad person, and deserve no education and bankruptcy if you get a chronic illness. Meanwhile billionaires are the best of us, and deserve even more after firing workers en masse for the sake of their short term bottom line despite record profits 😎
My point mainly has to do with Trump over-promising things he cannot do and the fact that he cannot literally do this particular thing himself, and that he’s not trying to do it the way it can be done. As for my issue with the Department of Education: Trump is right about it not fulfilling a function of the federal government, even if its real purpose were laudable. However, the real purpose is not education but to advance a “progressive” social agenda and the vested interests of educrats. That is terrible and selfish. I don’t know what “in-Jesus like” means.… Read more »
No, the real purpose is universal education, which requires the protection of civil rights. The Dept of Education was created to ensure those rights. That is why conservatives hate it: they hate civil rights (in related news, Trump info-dumped the MLK files rather than the Epstein files… another COINCIDENCE). Universal education has always been “progressive” because promoting/protecting the dignity of *all* men (as opposed to a hereditary or ethnic elite) is a “progressive” ideal, historically. “Conservatives” prioritize the preservation of social hierarchies (with them on top, natch, hence Rawls’s veil of ignorance), thus conservatives don’t want universal education precisely because… Read more »
How do public schools advance a “progressive” agenda? I’d argue the exact same against private schools, except they’re advancing a “conservative” agenda. A function of the federal government should absolutely be ensuring kids can have access to education – wouldn’t you think societies want to have well-educated kids to lead the next generation(s)? How do you know the real purpose is NOT education? Do you know any public school teacher, educators, staff or students? Sure doesn’t seem like it. Instead of dismantling, why not argue for reform, something to fix rather than destroy?
What makes you think public education did not exist before 1980 and would go away if the Department of Education goes away?
You think trump is over-delivering in areas? Ha. Closing the borders, kidnapping and shipping Christians mainly from other countries away…sure steers clear of the actual gospel message, you know, love your neighbor, take care of the least of these, etc. God has commanded us to love Her and love others…does that just fall to the wayside because of your fears? How do you justify the use of “trannies” and being glad about getting them “back in the closet”? People with different sexual orientations have always been around (look at the eunuchs of the Bible…), even if they’ve been “closeted”…and you… Read more »
Joshua, I would check out the PCA in Vero Beach: https://ctkvb.org/.
Thank you!
It’s a lot further north, but I’ve worshipped at the PCA church in Titusville, FL once before and they were a great bunch of saints. Maybe the PCA is strong in that area.