DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
<
form action=&amp
;amp;amp;quot;https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; method=&am
p;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;p
ost&
quot; target=&am
p;amp;amp;quot;_top&
amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;&am
p;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &a
mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;input type=&am
p;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;hidden&am
p;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; name=&am
p;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;cmd&a
mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; value=&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot
;_s-xclick&a
mp;amp;quot;&amp
;amp;amp;gt; &am
p;amp;amp;lt;input type=&amp
;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;hidden&amp
;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; name=&amp
;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;hosted_button_id&a
mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; val
ue=&
quot;DKL7ADEKRVUBL&a
mp;amp;amp;amp;quot;&amp
;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &am
p;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;input type=&amp
;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;image&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; src=&a
mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;https://www.payp
alobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif&am
p;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; border=&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;0&a
mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; nam
e=&q
uot;submit&a
mp;amp;quot; alt=&am
p;amp;amp;amp;quot;PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!
&quo
t;&g
t; &
lt;img alt=&
amp;amp;quot;&am
p;amp;amp;quot; border=&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;0&a
mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; src=&am
p;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;https://www.paypalobjects.com
/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif&a
mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; width=&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;1&a
mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; height=&amp
;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;1&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;&am
p;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &a
mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/form&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
HTML https://3169.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Christian Threads
*****************************************************
#Post#: 37063--------------------------------------------------
Temptation and Lust
By: patrick jane Date: February 1, 2022, 5:43 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
3 Signs Lust Is Controlling Your Life (This May Surprise You)
10 minutes
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVD_L6IFSak
#Post#: 37162--------------------------------------------------
Re: Temptation and Lust
By: patrick jane Date: February 6, 2022, 7:58 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHTf__GHlWM
#Post#: 37178--------------------------------------------------
Re: Temptation and Lust
By: patrick jane Date: February 7, 2022, 9:51 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEe5cNABN4o
#Post#: 37270--------------------------------------------------
Re: Temptation and Lust
By: patrick jane Date: February 13, 2022, 3:30 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJvKoSI0Q2M
#Post#: 37479--------------------------------------------------
Re: Temptation and Lust
By: patrick jane Date: February 23, 2022, 12:13 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[img]
HTML https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/127819.jpg?h=528&w=940[/img]
HTML https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/evangelical-controversy-abuse-scandal-less-ambitious.html
Studying Great Evangelicals’ Lives Made Me Less Ambitious
To avoid hurting our marriages and families, we can learn from
our forerunners in the faith.
Back in 2015, while my wife played with our three children on
our neighborhood playground, I stared in dumbfounded disbelief
after reading a puzzling tweet by former pastor Tullian
Tchividjian: “Welcome to the valley of the shadow of death…
thank God grace reigns there.”
I quickly learned that this quote referred to the recently
revealed marital indiscretions of both Tchividjian and his wife.
This popular icon in the Reformed resurgence movement had, like
so many, been found out for disastrous misdeeds that led to the
dissolution of their marriage.
When the news broke, I had just accepted an associate pastorate
at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park and was a couple months
shy of beginning doctoral studies in Christian history at
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
For the next seven years, I went on to study the history of
evangelicals. All the while, I kept on the lookout for the same
historical pattern, one I didn’t want to ignore in the
literature—especially since its repetition and consequences
continued to play out in the 21st-century evangelical world I
inhabited.
The all-too-common pattern I discovered is this: Great
evangelical figures throughout history often had tragic personal
and family lives. This trope winked at me repeatedly as I came
across it in biographies and historical accounts of evangelical
pastors, revivalists, and activists.
Evangelical history happens to provide numerous cautionary tales
for what happens when ambition goes unbridled. And while some
evangelicals would rather gloss over these tales or conceal
them, that would be to our detriment. These warnings can be a
service to the future of the evangelical story—and heeding them
may prompt us to curb our ambition, set healthy limits and
expectations, and attend to the little church in our homes.
Personally, I want to learn from their mistakes by protecting my
family and guarding myself against tragedies of my own making.
Recently, while reading W. R. Ward’s Early Evangelicalism, I
came across a segment on the life of August Hermann Francke
(1663–1727), a figure who stood at the headwaters of evangelical
history. Francke was mentored by famous theologian Philipp Jakob
Spener and led the way for the second generation of German
pietism in the later 17th and early 18th centuries.
His public activism and institutional work circulated through
the evangelical press and social network of correspondence,
which gained him widespread credibility and regard among early
evangelicals. Later evangelicals, like John Wesley, repeated the
pattern of Francke’s work ethic and strategy in their own
ministries, sadly to the detriment of their personal lives as
well.
You see, while Francke engaged himself in marvelous kingdom
work, his marriage to Anna Magdalena Francke suffered from the
disappointment of unmet needs. By midlife, Anna and August
became estranged, and in 1715, their separation became public.
Ward also hints that August paid scant attention to their
daughter, Sophia, while he fulfilled his theological ambitions.
So while Francke’s public evangelical ministry and activism
flourished, the health of his household languished. Surely,
something was amiss here, I thought—there must have been a
disconnect between Francke’s public ministry and his private
interior religion.
Upon reading this historical recountal of Francke from Ward, I
tweeted, “As a historian who has read much about the tragic
private lives of great evangelical figures in history, I have,
as a result, become much less ambitious. No achievement is worth
the cost of a healthy family.”
But the Francke story that prompted my tweet was merely the most
recent tragedy among a litany of others I had come across in my
research.
One figure of this historical movement that has drawn my
curiosity is Abraham Kuyper. Much like the Anglican C. S. Lewis,
some historians would be reticent to portray Kuyper as a
self-conscious early evangelical forerunner. Nonetheless, both
figures have heavily influenced the development of the modern
evangelical mind, including my own.
Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920) was both precocious and ambitious. He
became known for his Protestant work ethic and commitment to a
Christian mission to transform all of society. Many evangelical
thinkers and their written works have lauded this pivotal figure
in ecclesial history—but the majority of them do not tell the
full story.
Kuyper is oft remembered by evangelicals for the following
quote: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our
human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all,
does not cry, ‘Mine!’” And yet the truth is, he struggled in the
domain of his personal and family life.
Kuyper suffered from debilitating anxiety and depression, which
at times left him bedridden. He learned to cope with the
symptoms of being overworked by frequently withdrawing for long
periods of solitude in holidays and hikes. As a result, his wife
and children hungered for his presence during these long
absences while he recovered from the rigors of his missional
work.
Unfortunately, Francke and Kuyper are just the tip of the
iceberg when it comes to the costs evangelical families have
paid for their loved ones’ Reformed Protestant work ethic.
Recently, someone asked me to offer some examples, and I
reluctantly gave a few names—some of which I know from my own
archival research and others I learned from other historians’
work. The problem with naming names and being fascinated by
“who’s done it” is that it can lead to a voyeuristic or
unproductive historical fascination rather than to a healthy
discussion.
I think what evangelicals actually need is less fascination with
the dark sides of our fallen heroes and more appreciation for
the quiet, daily faithfulness of pastors, professors,
revivalists, and activists who managed to swim against the
powerful social and cultural currents of their times that often
placed an unrealistic demand on their output and performance.
Evangelical leaders throughout history have carried a heavy
weight, and they continue to bear the unrealistic expectations
of many institutions, publishing houses, and ministries that
dominate the evangelical marketplace. Over time, some of these
leaders give in to the temptations that come with notoriety and
ultimately forsake their better judgment. And sadly, evangelical
organizations also have a history of giving into avarice for the
sake of success—and they too willingly eat the expense of their
leaders’ private failures and choose to keep them concealed.
When I observe the professional output of some evangelical
peers, I pray earnestly for God to protect them and their
families. While I’m thrilled for their successes, I recognize
and fear the cost that comes with always saying “Yes!” to every
opportunity. Far too often, it sets people up for failure,
especially if they do not remain accountable to their individual
or familial bodies.
For my part, I have become altogether less ambitious as a result
of studying evangelical history. As I’ve said, no achievement is
worth sacrificing a healthy family life. But this conviction is
not only built on my knowledge of the past and present downfalls
of evangelical leaders.
My caution toward ambition is also derived from my own lived
history. Just as evangelical ambition has slayed the credibility
of so many forerunners in the faith, I recall a time not too
long ago when it crouched at my own door.
I have been a burned-out pastor who stood at the crossroads,
looking down the potential path toward private tragedy. I have
experienced the grinding expectation to blog a certain amount,
gain a certain number of followers on social media, publish more
journal articles, curate the perfect CV, and make myself known
to the “right” people. I feel fatigued when I think back to the
many temptations I experienced and the various tactics I
employed to achieve my ambitions.
Some years ago, I had a personal crisis while attempting to be a
full-time pastor and full-time doctoral student. This crisis
caused me to reset myself and reorient my ambitions. My wife and
I went to couples therapy and to individual therapy for a year.
I reprioritized my schedule and set some professional limits on
my life. I started looking for ways to reinvest in time with my
children, and eventually we relearned how to value sabbath rest
together as a family.
I know that people are called to make sacrifices for the cause
of Christ. But even the apostle Paul argued that married people,
especially those with children, carry a certain worldly weight.
This requires them to have a balance—between how much of their
lives they lay down for the cause of Christ and how much time
and energy they reserve for their families.
That is, we should all seek to weigh our commitment to the
Protestant work ethic and the mission of God along with our
dedication to building little churches in our homes. And in this
area, evangelicals can learn from our forerunners’ failures—by
keeping our missional ambitions in their proper place and
spurring on our family’s devotion to God through selfless
service.
Joey Cochran is the husband of Kendall and the father of Chloe,
Asher, Adalie, and Clara. Presently he is guest faculty at
Wheaton College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and
coordinates social media for the Conference on Faith and
History.
#Post#: 37546--------------------------------------------------
Re: Temptation and Lust
By: patrick jane Date: February 25, 2022, 4:20 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8UnbMhzY44
#Post#: 37577--------------------------------------------------
Re: Temptation and Lust
By: patrick jane Date: February 27, 2022, 11:46 am
---------------------------------------------------------
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4jHABEmF1M
#Post#: 37811--------------------------------------------------
Re: Temptation and Lust
By: patrick jane Date: March 8, 2022, 6:20 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETa4pwAVPPw
#Post#: 37973--------------------------------------------------
Re: Temptation and Lust
By: patrick jane Date: March 13, 2022, 5:59 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGYPqctS5zc
#Post#: 38034--------------------------------------------------
Re: Temptation and Lust
By: patrick jane Date: March 16, 2022, 7:40 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCuiO7J_xW4
*****************************************************
DIR Next Page