What is Your Treasure?

Do you ever find yourself repenting of sin only to be met with another sin immediately following your act of repentance? Or do you ever wonder why you cannot shake that one particular sin that seems to rise up in you?

I can relate to that.

I hate sin. I hate that I do it. I hate when it is done against me. And I especially hate when I do it even when I know that I shouldn’t. John Piper has been preaching through the book of John for a little while now, and as I listened to part one of this sermon series on John 3:16 I was struck by this phrase:

“The reason we sin is because we have other treasures besides Jesus.”

It sounds so simple, yet it is so profound. This statement struck me immediately. I sin because I treasure other things instead of treasuring the greatest treasure of all—Jesus. Every day there are countless things beckoning me to seek my treasure in them, rather than the Savior. And the greatest force that seeks to reign in my soul is me. Ultimately I treasure Courtney over Jesus.

It is a war.

The reason we speak harshly to our husbands and family is because we see ourselves as the most important being in the universe. The reason we gossip is because we treasure acceptance and futile knowledge over Jesus.

If Jesus were my treasure then I would be freed to radically love and serve him because I would see the infinite worth of the Savior and the utter depravity of myself in light of him. I wouldn’t need to lash out at my husband or get angry at the other drivers on the freeway.

Understanding this truth about ourselves radicalizes the way we witness as well. The fundamental problem with people is not that they do bad things, although it is true that we all do bad things. It is that they treasure other things more than Jesus. People commit adultery because they treasure lust and instant gratification more than Jesus. People get high because they treasure fleeting pleasures more than Jesus. When we are giving the Good News to people we must get to the heart of the matter. You do these things because you love them. You treasure them. And you treasure them because your heart is evil and longs for them. What you need is a new heart that will make you long for the greatest Treasure of all—Jesus Christ. He is more valuable and more satisfying than any temporal pleasure can bring.

I was deeply convicted by Pastor John’s statement. I sin because I treasure other things besides Jesus. So, what are you treasuring? Is it the Christ? Or is it something else that will never satisfy your soul.

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.—Luke 12:33-34

Sexting and the Teenage Girl, Part 2

We cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend like these things are not a reality for many of the kids in our churches. Whether they are exposed to it regularly, tempted by it, or actively engaging in it, sexual immorality is not foreign to many teenagers. And in today’s culture it is even more prominent, and in some cases, celebrated. Ministering to young women will require an understanding of what they are up against on a daily basis, and will also require the biblical tools to fight sin. We must partner with them in the fight against sin, and the quest towards biblical womanhood. It is crucial that we help the young women in our congregations combat the lie that their bodies are their own, and their own to flaunt for anyone who would have them. God does not say this. Their bodies are to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, not the object of a hormonal boy’s gawks. Partnering with parents will be key as we seek to protect and lead the next generation of women to live in purity and holiness.

Mothers have a primary responsibility to shepherd their daughters in the ways of the Lord. Often this will mean protecting them at all costs from their own sinfulness, and the sin around them. No teenage daughter should have uncontrolled access to social networking, technology, or media. Allowing them this freedom will only open a door to an independence that they are often not ready for. If your daughter sends multiple text messages a day and you have no idea who the recipients are, then I encourage you to ask her who she is texting and ask her to show you the messages. Parents have an obligation to protect their daughters from predatory men, and this means boys who will use them for their sexuality. Teach your daughters what purity is at a very young age, and raise her to view her body as reserved only for her husband.

Growing up in today’s culture is not easy. Billboards and store displays scream that if I do not take it all off, I am not beautiful, or desirable. This is a lie. Beauty and desirability are not defined by how much we take off. Rather, in God’s eyes, purity until marriage is of the most value. Dear younger sister in the Lord, do not believe the lies around you that beckon you to give in. Believe the Bible, and believe your parents and your pastors, whom God has given you to protect you physically and spiritually.

We live in a fallen world. Unfortunately these horrible things are results of living in this Genesis 3 world. Some would argue that these acts of immorality are perpetuated by social media. And I don’t necessarily think that is true. I think social media serves a purpose but, like all good things, can be used for sinful purposes as well. The rise of sexting and other forms of pornographic leanings among teenagers is a call to be especially vigilant. It means we need to work desperately hard to protect our girls not only from the people around them, but from their own sinful hearts as well. We cannot pretend like it isn’t happening. But we can show them that Jesus is better than any temporary pleasure an explicit message can bring.

Sexting and the Teenage Girl, Part 1

In the chapter “Raunch Culture Rip-Off,” written in Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World, Carolyn McCulley assesses the devastating effects of feminism, and particularly third-wave feminism, on this generation of young women. Raised in a culture that preaches female empowerment, these young women now see their bodies as tools and assets to be used in their quest for power. But they don’t necessarily see it that way all of time. Mostly, young girls who are flaunting themselves are doing so because they can and want to. Pornography, which was once a tenet of the feminists (and Christians) fight, now is not simply an exploitation of women at the hands of men. Girls are proud producers of it too.

Her book crossed my mind again this week as I read a sobering article in USA Today about “sexting” among teenagers. “Sexting” is the act of sending sexually explicit pictures through text messaging. While this article is not the first I have read regarding this recent phenomenon, it reminded me of the need to think biblically about what this, and other forms of social media, means for our teenagers. Sadly, this article probably won’t be the last I read on the subject either.

According to the article:

A new survey on kids in cyberspace finds that one in five teens have "sexted" — sent or received sexually suggestive, nude or nearly nude photos through cellphone text messages or e-mail.

Most teens who sexted sent the photos to girlfriends or boyfriends, but 11% sent them to strangers, according to the study made public today by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Cox Communications. Of teens who sext, 80% are under 18, the survey found.

Initially, when I first began hearing about sexting, my first reaction was “that is terrible, but I can’t imagine that any of the youth in our youth group would be impacted by this.” Unfortunately, the sheer fact that many of them are either in public or private schools exposes them to the myriad of sexual experimentation that permeates so much of young adults’ lives.

As women how do we minister to girls who are exposed to, and tempted by, the lie of third-wave feminism? And as mothers, how do you protect your daughter from her own inclination towards sin, and from the evil that is seeking to lure her in? And as teenage girls, how do you learn to be “innocent in evil,” even when everyone around you is running straight towards sexual sin? And I will answer these questions tomorrow. So stay tuned!

One Month of Marriage

Today marks one month of marriage for Daniel and me. Everyone told me that things would fly by once we got married.

They weren't lying.

It feels like we just got married yesterday, but in some ways it feels like so much longer. Primarily because our relationship has grown tremendously just in the 30 days that we have been married. He is there when I wake up in the morning and go to bed at night. He is there for every bad and good day. And just the sheer "togetherness" aspect of our relationship has made me love him more, and know him better. So as we celebrate our one month anniversary I thought I would share with you 5 reasons why I am thankful for my husband.

1. He loves Jesus and challenges me to love Jesus more.


2. He randomly does things to serve me when I am tired because he loves me (even though he jokes that "it is his duty!")


3. He consistently leads us in family worship and takes our spiritual health seriously.


4. He loves the Church and leads us well in loving our local church.


5. He makes me laugh, even though I pretend like I don't want to!
   

There are so many more reasons why I am thankful to be married to this man. God has provided for me beyond what I could have imagined and hoped for.

I thank God for you, Daniel. You truly are a gift to me. Happy One Month Anniversary, Babe!

A Recovering Feminist Gets Hitched

It’s hard to know where to begin after being away from blogging for nearly two months, and away from significant amounts of blogging for even longer. But it would be impossible to re-enter the blogging world without a recap of where I have been. I got engaged on Christmas Eve, started a new job in March, and then got married on May 25 (just a few weeks ago). Needless to say, it has been a whirlwind the last few months. So that is where I have been. Wrapped up in a lot of planning and change—good change though. All this time I have longed to continue writing, I just couldn’t find the time to sit down and put my thoughts together.

But I am back.

Before I assume my regular blogging, though, I thought that I would recap a few things that I have learned in this prolonged absence.

1. Marriage is a good thing. Though I have only been married for almost a month, I have learned a lot about myself in this time. I am sure more education is coming, too. In light of all the truths that marriage is so much better than dating, and it is, I think the thing that has struck me most is that marriage is the greatest mirror into my soul that I will ever have. Suddenly I can’t sulk all day about something trivial. There is another person who loves me, and cares about the outcome of my faith, who wants to help me through it. And sometimes I don’t want the help. I just want to be a baby. And marriage is a great reminder of how very self-focused I am in these moments.


2. Change is a good thing. A year ago I was serving in a church and ministry that I was accustomed to, my life was planned out for me—by me, and all of my time was my own. But then I met a wonderful man named Daniel Reissig, and it all changed. I got a new job and then joined Daniel at his church, where he is the youth pastor. And I did not always respond well to the sudden changes. But God showed me, through this change, that I do not own my life. All of my plans were comfortable to me. I was able to be in control when I planned my steps. Change is a humbling thing, because it reminds us that we are not the rulers of our own personal universe. God is. I needed that.


3. Fellowship is a good thing. In the midst of a new job, new church, and constant planning of a wedding and preparation for marriage, I was not able to spend quality time with other people that I love (besides Daniel, of course). This left a tremendous impression on me. I missed the girls who drew me out of my sin. I missed the families I used to babysit for and see regularly. We are not meant to walk through this journey alone. The busyness of it all made me intensely grateful for the people God has placed in my life. And when I was able to spend an entire weekend with all of them as I joined in marriage to the man who is now my husband I found myself overwhelmed with gratitude to God for giving me such a wonderful life. The wedding weekend was a foretaste of the joys we will have when one day we are all together in glory, praising Jesus forever.

So those are a few things I have learned in these last few months. If anyone is still out there reading, I am grateful that you have stuck with me. And if you aren’t still reading, I can’t blame you! Who wants to read a blog that is never updated! Either way, I am back and blogging and looking forward to walking this Pilgrim road with you.

(Above is a picture of Daniel and me from our wedding day. It was taken by Denny Burk, his daughter was in our wedding.)

Where Would You Be?

Have you thought about where you would be this Sunday if Good Friday did not happen? Maybe you would be a businesswoman in a corner office, but now you are changing diapers, wiping snotty noses, and pouring the truth of Christ into the next generation. Maybe you would be a politician or a doctor, instead you are preparing to preach the Word to God’s people tomorrow morning. Or maybe, you would be coming down from a drug high or waking up with someone who is not your spouse, but now you are getting ready to worship the Risen King. At some point, all of us were somewhere else before the light of Gospel shone in our stony hearts and changed us forever. We have all come from the same place—darkness. And by God’s grace, we are all going to the same place—glory. For every one of us, who is in Christ, one single day 2,000 years ago, one cry of agony on a wooden cross finalized by a great cry of victory, changed the course of our lives forever. It is finished. We are free.

Because we are in Christ our old, sinful life died with him. It was crucified with the Savior. But because of the crucifixion we can gladly proclaim that He is risen, and through tears of joy, we can also say “So am I, so am I.”

May this Easter be a glad reminder of the work of Christ in your life. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body, and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”—Ephesians 2:1-7

Interview with Alex and Brett Harris

In March I had the opportunity to interview Alex and Brett Harris for Southern's newspaper. The interview also appeared on CBMW's Gender Blog. Below is a transcript of the interview.

What is the Rebelution?

It is a teenage rebellion against low expectations. It says that the teen years are not a vacation from responsibility before real life starts. These years are a launching pad and training ground for the rest of our lives. It is preparing for a life of service to God. It is also a blog where we write about this concept for teenagers (http://www.therebelution.com/).

What role do parents play in this cause?

Alex: The dedication of our book is to our parents, Greg and Sono Harris, and it says “this book is the message of your lives.” Now, they didn’t say, “do hard things” and they certainly didn’t call it a “rebelution,” but they modeled for us to do what was right for our family and encouraged us to do what was right—sometimes against our will—in order to do what pleased God. That was the biggest thing for us—that they modeled it for us, and we grew up seeing mature biblical manhood and womanhood in our parents living this way. The other thing is they encouraged us to step outside our comfort zones. In all those areas they pushed us beyond what we would naturally do, to the point where we had to rely on strength greater than ourselves—ultimately pointing us to the Cross. That was really the foundation of our understanding of doing hard things for God. It’s an important role that parents can play in the lives of their children.

How does this apply specifically to young men and young women?

Brett: Alex and I firmly believe that there are specific things that God has called young men to do, that he hasn’t called young women to do. And we also believe that there are specific things that God has called young men to do that he hasn’t called young women to do. So we challenge the young people at our conferences to go to their pastors or their parents—godly men and women in their lives—and ask them what specific things has God called me to as a young man and what specific things has called me to as a young lady. In our culture even recognizing the differences between men and women is a hard thing. It’s a challenge because it means standing up for something you see as important and going against the flow.

What do pastors need to be aware of when working with this generation?

Brett: Pastors need to be aware that young people can grasp big things about God. I would say that as you approach young people in your church you need to first recognize that there are low expectations. They are not used to being expected to do these things. And then the next step is to acknowledge the low expectations and know that they are not going to get that kind of challenge in other places, but say “I believe God has made you to be able to enter into who he is” and then proceed to really challenge them and give them meat—not just pizza.

How can pastors implement this vision of doing hard things among the young people in their congregations?

Alex: I think a big part of it has to come down to first living the message themselves. A lot of pastors have communicated to us that they see their role of doing hard things is not just taking the easy route, especially as they minister to the young people in their church. To really take the time to challenge and encourage them to step outside their comfort zones and also be willing to do that themselves, and not take the easy route.

Brett: I would just add to that, for pastors I think it really starts with teaching sound doctrine and really digging into God’s Word yourself and feeding the congregation, because it is really the truth of who God is, who we are, and the truth of the Gospel that motivates us, and gives us a reason to go out and do hard things. We do hard things because Christ did the ultimate hard thing that we couldn’t do for ourselves. As pastors, really just be faithful in teaching, and do not feel like you have to water that down, or entertain young people.


What is the most encouraging thing you have seen?

Alex: I think the most encouraging thing we have seen is that God is truly working in our generation. You can look at the statistics among young people today and it can be pretty discouraging—the picture can look pretty bleak, but we are reminded of Psalm 127 that says, “Unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches the city the watchman stays awake in vain.” And what that verse is saying is that unless God is at work, no matter what amount of effort you put into it, it isn’t going to succeed—but if God is at work, you can move forward with complete confidence that he will see it done. And we have just seen God’s hand working so clearly in our generation and for that reason we have so much hope as we challenge our peers that they will respond, and it will resonate and happen, not because of anything that we can do, but because God is working in the hearts and lives of a generation—and that is an exciting thing.