GraceNotes 2.3 (Winter 2017)

February 2017

GRACENOTES Equipping the Saints of Grace Bible Fellowship

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When Your Work is Unfulfilling

Serving Christ as a School Teacher

Derek Brown

Nikki Lee

How does a Christian cultivate joy in Christ when he or she is laboring in a job that is occasionally unfulfilling? This is a question over which many Christians will struggle at some point during their pilgrimage. Whether you are in a job that is outside your field of expertise or interest or you’re in a line of work that does not readily appear to lead to other opportunities that match your career goals, you might be someone who, despite your faith in Christ, wrestles with a nagging sense of dissatisfaction.

“I have some bad news. Mrs. Johnson passed away last night.”

These words, spoken by my headmaster four years ago, caught me completely off guard. In a blink of an eye, my director—the lady who believed in me despite all my mistakes, comforted me through painful critiques, and brightened up my days with her loud, vivacious personality—was gone.

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A (Brief) Theology of Work But before we engage the question of how we can overcome a sense of dissatisfaction at our jobs, we need to lay a little groundwork. The first affirmation we must make is this: work is good. Immediately after Adam was created, God set him in the Garden of Eden in order to “work it and keep it” (Gen 2:15). We then find Adam fulfilling Practicing his mandate to exercise Hospitality 7 dominion over the created order by naming the animals. A little furTestimonies of Grace ther into the narrative provides a wife Patricia Biehn 10 God for Adam—the perfect complement to the man who would help Meet the Deacon him fulfill his calling as Darren Terry 14 keeper of the garden.

In This Issue

Together, the man and woman would act as God’s vice-regents, overseeing and profitably using the created order for God’s glory and for the benefit of humankind. We can even safely imagine that their responsibility of managing the creation involved utilizing a multiplicity of skills, including but not limited to, cataloging, construction, planning, harvesting, collecting, sorting, and protecting. We can also safely assume that their work, because the creation had not yet been affected by sin or the divine curse, was always immediately fruitful, consistently pleasant, and purContinued on page 13

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Thus began the most difficult year of my teaching career, for she left behind not only a devastated faculty but also three grieving children, one of whom was a student in my class. After a two-week break to recover from her loss, Kaitlyn, my director’s daughter, returned to my classroom a completely different person. Instead of the talkative, hardworking student whom I had come to love, she had transformed into a sullen, despondent girl who refused to complete her assignments or answer my questions. Her grades plummeted drastically, and she had to meet with my headmaster multiple times because of accusations that she had carved swear words into the bathroom stalls and threatened to burn down the hospital where her mother died.

As her teacher, I tried to do all I could to help her: tutoring her after school, initiating heart-to-heart conversations with her, and just trying to show her love and support through my words and actions. Yet nothing changed. At the end of the year when I found out she wouldn’t be returning for fifth grade, I wrote her a note with some encouraging thoughts and a brief presentation of the gospel, and then I never saw or heard from her again.

Now this story has no perceivable happy ending. Kaitlyn, at least to my knowledge, didn’t put her faith in Christ and change her ways. Nevertheless, this experience was personally life changing. Before this incident, I had felt frustrated and confused over how to be a Christian teacher in a secular environment. Though I was teaching at a conservative private school, there were still limitations to how I could express my faith, such as the time the teachers were explicitly told by corporate leadership not to make any Christian references whatsoever when reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis with their students. Even the values we were instructed to instill in our students were sometimes unbiblical. For example, when discussing honesty and integrity, we were trained to teach our class that it’s acceptable and even commendable at times to lie and act selfishly. Subsequently, I grew concerned about how effective a witness for Christ I could Continued on page 12

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The Pastor’s Study Here in America, prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015, marriage had been defined as the union of one man and one woman. America did not create that definition; nor did any country or individual craft that definition. Secular anthropologists and sociologists attempt to explain the phenomenon of marriage by arguing that it is an artificial social convention that has developed over time. In other words, marriage is merely a byproduct of evolution. They would argue that 25,000 years ago there was no marriage, but at some point, through evolution and the development of societal convention and norms, this institution called “marriage” was established and fine-tuned until it finally became monogamous between one man and one woman.

Is that really how marriage came to be? Is it merely an artificial social convention and the byproduct of evolution? Is marriage essentially a western, white, Republican, Christian thing that we invented?

Scripture is clear. The answer is, no. So, let’s look directly at what the Bible has to say about this issue.

God Created Marriage Where did marriage come from? The answer is simple: God created marriage. This truth is basic, but it is something we cannot afford to overlook or take for granted. In Genesis 1, God creates everything in six days. God created everything out of nothing in six literal days. The Hebrew text is clear: this is not figurative language. The grammar, syntax, and the time references in the text indicate that Moses is referring to actual, historical events.

Throughout the Genesis narrative, Moses repeats the phrase “and it was so” after a series of creative events (see Gen 1:7, 9, 11, 15). Moses also repeats the phrase “And there was evening, and there was morning,” at the end of each creation day (see Gen 1:5; 1:8; 1:13; 1:19; 1:23). This is important Hebrew phraseology. The theological interpretation of these terms is “that’s the way it really happened.” So five times God says in Genesis 1 “that is the way it really happened,” and five times we are told that these events occurred over actual days.

On the sixth day, at the culmination of creation, God creates humankind. “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gen 1:26). Why the plural pronouns?

God is talking amongst Himself. We learn from New Testament revelation that this is the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (see Matt 28:19). God had chosen to make humans as persons: social, moral, religious, spir-

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God Defi

itual beings. That is what is involved in being created in God’s image.

Then, in verse 27: “So God created man in His own image.” How did God create man in his own image? The text explains: “In the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

We learn from this Genesis narrative that one man and one woman together fully reflect the image of God by virtue of the attributes He has given us. That is the general reference to how God created humanity—one man and one woman. Then He created and instituted marriage. We can see how God specifically created the first two people and how He created the first wedding and the institution of marriage itself in Genesis 2:18-24.

Prior to this first marraige, we see that Adam was by himself. But it wasn’t good for him to be alone because God never intended to just have one man. Why? Among other reasons, because he could not perpetuate the race by himself. When Adam died, nobody would be left!

So God would make that perfect complement to Adam the man. Adam fell asleep and God literally took one of his ribs, closed up the flesh in that place, and with that rib fashioned the first woman (Gen 2:21-22). Does that sound impossible? Well, God does miracles that seem impossible from a human perspective. Then God awakes Adam to bring this beautiful, flawless, sinless first woman to him, and Adam’s response is one of delight: “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of Man” (Gen 2:23). God created the first marriage. God officiated the first marriage. And the first marriage was between one man and one woman.

God Defines Marriage The definition of marriage needs to be addressed today because the vote that was taken among the United States Supreme Court Justices the week of June 26th, 2015 was a redefinition of marriage. Five justices—fallen, depraved, finite humans—have no business redefining things that God has instituted and defined. Marriage as an institution came before the creation of the church, and before the creation of the nation of Israel—it is the foundation of everything. That’s why this is such an important issue.

After He created marriage, God defined marriage. This is evident in Gnesis 2:24. God created marriage and performed the wedding, but He defined it as well. The prec-

GraceNotes

Volume 2, Number 3

ines and Defends Marriage

by Cliff McManis

edent will go on. This first wedding and the nature of its participants shall always be God’s pattern.

God lays out the very definition of marrage in verse 24. The text begins, “For this reason (or cause).” In other words, what you have seen occur today in this marriage between one man and one woman shall always be the pattern. This marriage is the standard; this marriage is the precedent; this reality is to remain unchanged; the nature of this union will be binding and universal for all of humanity.

This passage is cited several times in the New Testament by Jesus, indicating that what was instituted and defined in Genesis is still the way God intends it to be. About 4,000 years after the first marriage, Jesus specifically taught on this passage from Genesis, declaring that the definition of marriage involves one man and one woman for life (e.g., Matt 19:4-6; Mark 10:1-8). Paul quotes Gensis 2:24 when he tells us that marriage was a mandate given to the Church (see Eph 5:22-33). In other words, in God’s eyes, marriage hasn’t changed. It’s been the same for 6,000 years. Try as we might, man cannot usurp, undermine, or change the definition of marriage God established in Genesis.

Let’s go back to verse 24: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife.” Here we have singular man and singular woman. The man is to cleave to his wife so that they might come together as a married couple and as a new entity. They become an independent entity separate from their previous families, and they become one flesh. That is God’s decree, and that is what He desires. “And the man and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed” (Gen 2:25). This is the way it should be in a marriage relationship as it is blessed by God. God defined what marriage is. He declared that marriage is one man and one woman together in a lifetime covenent before God. That is the first part of God’s definition of marriage.

The second part of the definition can be found in Ephesians 5:22-33, where Paul, through the Holy Spirit, gives the directive to Christian husbands and wives regarding their roles in marriage.

Contents 1 When Your Work is Unfulfilling

By Derek Brown 1 Serving Christ as a School Teacher

By Nikki Lee 2 The Pastor’s Study | God Defines and Defends Marriage

By Cliff McManis 4 Meet the Members | The Salinases Interview with Breanna McManis 6 Review of Why the Reformation Still Matters

By Derek Brown 7 Practicing Hospitality

By Patrick and Helen Tsai 8 Theologial Foundations | The Glorious Trinity

By Derek Brown 10 Testimonies of Grace | Patricia Biehn

By Breanna McManis 14 Meet the Deacon | Darren Terry Interview by Breanna McManis 18 Staff Picks | Homosexuality from a Christian Perspective

By Derek Brown 20 ENGAGE | Should Christians Use Marijuana

By Cliff McManis

Pastor Cliff’s upcoming BTLB book on Marriage Editor-in-Chief Cliff McManis

In this passage, Paul first instructs wives to submit to their husbands. This submission is in terms of function and role, not in terms of inferiority or incompetency. Remember, both the man and the woman are made in God’s image (Gen 1:26). The husband is the leader and the woman is called to follow her husband’s leadership and to respect her husband. When a woman submits to her husband’s leadership, she will be a godly wife, a good wife, a blessed wife, and a fulfilled wife. And a woman who fulfills her role and submits to her husband will be a great blessing to him.

Associate Editors Breanna McManis J. R. Cuevas

Paul goes on to exhort the husbands: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph 5:25). The main imperative here is

Advisory Board Bob Douglas, Sam Kim, Tim Wong, Peter Lam

Managing Editor Derek Brown

Continued on page 17

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Meet the Members: The S Interview with Breanna McManis

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Where did you both grow up

Donna: We both grew up in Milpitas, about a mile from each other. We knew each other growing up—not well— but we did know each other.

Gary: I was in second grade and she was in third grade.

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What do you both do for a living?

Gary: I’m a district manager at Five Guys. I’ve been in the food service all my life—McDonald’s, Wienerschnitzel, and Five Guys. So I know all the ins and outs of food service.

Donna: I am a homemaker.

Were you both raised in Christian households

Gary: I wasn’t. Mine was a supposed Catholic household.

I went to catechism and all that.

Donna: I wasn’t until I was thirteen.

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When and how were you both saved

Donna: Even though I was not brought up in a Christian home, my mom dropped us off at church. When I was around seven, I got saved, but there wasn’t really much follow up at home. It wasn’t until our son was born when I was twenty-one and in a Bible study for myself that I was really walking with the Lord. I do think I was saved during that time, but my life was not showing it.

Gary: And I was saved on August 6th, 2007. I professed to be a believer during our dating time, but it was a false conversion.

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How did the two of you get to know each other

Gary: We both worked at McDonald’s together. I was a shift manager and she was a crew leader.

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What is the biggest blessing that you have experienced during your time at GBF

Gary: For me, I would say growing in the Word. Pastor Cliff and his teaching have really helped me compared to what we were exposed to before.

Donna: I would say that the teaching has absolutely been a huge blessing. But it’s also been a huge blessing for me to just make those female connections, too, both laterally with women my own age and then also to be able to come alongside younger women as well.

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When were you married

Donna: May 1st, 1982.

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When did you start attending GBF

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Why did you become members

Donna: November of 2010.

Donna: We tried it out because my brother-in-law, Brian Milam, went to seminary with Pastor Cliff, and when we were looking for a church he recommended GBF and we loved it.

My mom came first, and we followed her over eventually.

We became members because we love the church and love to serve and align ourselves with GBF.

Salinases ?

What ministries are you involved in

Gary: I’m in the Fellowship Meal ministry. I help send out updates on who’s on what, with Bob. Donna: I’m the director of women’s ministries.

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There are a lot of members of the Salinas family at GBF. For people that may not know, where do you two fit in the five generations that are here

Donna: There is my grandmother, Happy, my mother, Gerry, us, and my son and his family—Stephen, Jana, Dylan, Ryan, and Taylor.

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Why do you think women’s ministry is so important in the church

Donna: It’s very important for women to connect in general. I feel that just as women are the heart of the home, the women of the church are kind of the heart and warmth of the church. I think it’s important for women to have opportunities to be in the Word and to learn more deeply about being a godly Christian woman and walking according to what the Bible says. And as an older woman, I think it’s really important to be following through with Titus 2:3-5, which is part of ministry—that the older women would be teaching the younger women how to love their husbands and children. So I think it’s really important to have those connections, and then I also know that in this church it’s really important to have those connections.

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What is something that most people at GBF probably don’t know about you

Gary: I enjoy all sports activities, whether it’s male or female. Just the competiveness of it gets my interest.

Donna: I make quilts for all my grandkids. I’m on my seventh one.

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How can the GBF body be praying for you

Gary: I would ask for prayer for continued faithfulness to my family and the church. And wrapped in that is a more balanced work schedule.

Donna: For me too, I would ask for prayer in keeping a balanced schedule. I’m involved with my home, my church, and my family, and keeping that balance is sometimes difficult.

BIG TRUTH

LITTLE BOOKS ®

GBF Press’s Big Truth Little Books series continues to grow Below are the three Most Recent Books Available at the GBF Book Cart or Amazon

Ever since the Church’s inception 2000 years ago, Christians have wrestled with how to think about, relate to, and submit to the government. Answers to these important questions have ranged across a broad spectrum, with Christians often disagreeing with each other in significant ways. In this book, Cliff McManis looks to Scripture to help us think clearly about issues related to government, politics, and the Christian’s involvement in both.

By establishing his discussion first and foremost in the Bible, McManis provides common theological ground for all Christians to discuss and reflect upon these vital issues.

Do you pray for your pastor? Perhaps a better question: Do you know how to pray for your pastor? In this book, Derek Brown helps you understand your pastor's qualifications, responsibilities, and unique pressures so that you might pray effectively for those who shepherd your soul. You will be encouraged and challenged to pray for your pastor.

For centuries the problem of evil has posed a significant challenge to Christian apologists.

So how does the ordinary, everyday Christian approach this issue? With sharp exegesis and a careful examination of several popular approaches to this issue, Dr. McManis takes us deep into Scripture where we find clear answers for why evil exists and what God has done to solve the problem of evil once and for all.

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Review of Why the Reformation Still Matters

By Derek Brown Five hundred years ago this October 31st, a young Augusinian monk, disturbed about the Roman Catholic Church’s many pastoral abuses and doctrinal aberrations, nailed to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, a list of topics he wanted to debate with the local religious authorities. Although he didn’t realize it at the time, Martin Luther’s “95 Theses” would serve as the catalyst for a theological and ecclesiastical upheaval within Europe that would transform churches and whole communities around the world. By returning to the Scriptures as the fount of divine knowledge and rediscovering the doctrine of justification by faith, Martin Luther and those who followed in his footsteps opened a gateway of truth and life to those who had long walked in error and death.

rope. Because truth is often understood better and appreciated more when it is contrasted with error, studying these important doctrines in their biblical and historical context is especially illuminating.

Celebrating Our Heritage

Rich, Readable, and Edifying

This year we celebrate the Reformation’s Quincentennial. We celebrate the Reformation, not as something to be praised as the mere work of men, but as a means God used to re-establish the truth of the gospel among His people and around the world. Luther’s rediscovery of the Bible and of the doctrine of justification gave birth to churches and leaders who, in turn, sought to spread this life-giving doctrine as far and wide as possible.

Although this is a theologically rich and historically astute book, Reeves and Chester have made sure to keep their survey of Reformation history and doctrine accessible to the ordinary Christian.

This is no small feat.

Reeves and Chester have distilled the Reformation into its most basic distinctives and presented vital biblical doctrines within their historical context in a way that is informative and interesting, accurate and accessible, educational and edifying. The final product is a book, a little over 200 pages, that will feed the soul of Christians who are already well grounded in Reformation history, and inform the minds of the believers who only recently heard the word “Reformation” for the first time. †

Grace Bible Fellowship of Silicon Valley (GBF) is the fruit of the Reformation and the Spirit-empowered labor of pastors and theologians who gave their lives to defending and proclaiming vital Reformation truths. Our doctrines of Scripture, salvation, and God’s sovereignty in particular all have their roots in the Christ-centered theology that was re-discovered in Europe five centuries ago.

But to really appreciate our spiritual heritage and the doctrines that the Reformers bequeathed to us, we need skilled teachers to walk us through the history and, most importantly, the theology that transformed Europe in the sixteenth century. I consider Michael Reeves and Tim Chester to be such teachers. In their latest work, Why the Reformation Still Matters, Reeves and Chester focus on ten doctrinal distinctives of the Reformation: justification, Scripture, sin, grace, the cross, union with Christ, the Spirit, the Sacraments, Church life, and vocation.

Doctrine in its Historical Context These distinctives are each discussed in their own chapter and within their specific historical contexts. We find Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and others wrestling with the Scripture against the backdrop of Roman Catholic theological aberrations in order to establish true doctrine among the fledging churches in Germany, Switzerland, and elsewhere in Eu-

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For example, we see the necessity of a full-orbed doctrine of sin as Luther debates with Erasmus; we recognize the fullness of divine grace as Calvin upholds our union with Christ as the basis of our justification and sanctification; and we rejoice in the freedom granted by the gospel as both Luther and Calvin recapture a biblical vision of work over-against the Roman Catholic’s overly spiritualized clergy-laity divide. By stepping into the history of the Reformation, we are better equipped to enjoy the theology of the Reformation.

Practicing Hospitality

By Patrick and Helen Tsai We love having people come over to our place. Here’s how God has developed our convictions regarding hospitality and how practicing hospitality looks for our family.

We pray you will be encouraged.

Helen’s desire for practicing hospitality in an intentional way started soon after she was saved. She noticed that her friends would comment on how “hospitable” she was.

A spiritual gift test also confirmed that one of her gifts was indeed hospitality. As she grew in her faith and learned that she should be using her spiritual gifts for God’s glory, she began to plan more occasions to have people over in her home. She enjoyed hosting even more knowing it was from God and for God. She remembers thinking fondly of how the early church would break bread daily in their homes (Acts 2:46).

An example of hospitality that she’ll never forget was the time she was in Arizona, alone in a new place. One evening, at the end of her first visit to a church small group, as she was leaving the host’s home she was told, “We eat dinner every night at 6:30pm…so just come over whenever.”

She was blown away by this generous and kind invitation from someone she had just met. Other examples she has been encouraged by were friends who regularly hosted church-wide events, friends who opened their home every Sunday afternoon with homemade popcorn, and friends who hosted travelers better than a 5-star hotel.

planning our current home’s layout, we contemplate how it will accommodate large gatherings, visitors, or overnight guests.

With this mindset and God’s blessing, we’ve had many opportunities to open our home, whether it was our 1-bedroom apartment or 4-bedroom house. One of the ways we’ve been able to use our home is hosting GBF events.

It’s been a blessing, joy, and privilege to be a part of the various ministries in this way. To get involved initially, we reached out and sought opportunities. Then, as God provided, we discussed them together before committing.

Practicing hospitality does have its challenges because we are sinful. In our selfishness we often think wrongly.

We complain that hosting is tiring, think it’s inconvenient, get upset that the baby’s nap is being interrupted, or wish that we could keep all our resources for ourselves. We can also be discontent and wish our home were bigger, smaller, or cleaner. We may be tempted into thinking that we are too busy with work or our own family’s activities.

Thank the Lord that He gives us grace to overcome all these challenges! We actively fight off wrong thoughts and replace them with true ones through His Word. We often

Patrick has always enjoyed entertaining people as well, but it was after God saved him that he developed a desire to host as a means of edifying other believers and evangelizing the lost. During college he and his roommates enjoyed hosting Bible studies, prayer nights, and meals.

He’s also benefited from many different church families who have opened their homes for meals, prayer, discipleship, and Bible studies. These experiences along with encouragement from Helen have helped him grow in practicing hospitality.

We have been recipients of much hospitality, first from God who welcomed us as sinners to Himself, and then from His people. Many godly examples have helped us grow in our convictions, individually and as a family.

We are so thankful we can host together as a family now.

Even though it has looked different in each season of life, whether we were single, married, or with baby; or in a small home or big home; our desire has been the same: to be good stewards of the home and resources God has given us (Rom 11:36; Ps 24:1). We aim to be generous toward others and use what we have to bless others (1Tim 6:17-19). Whether we are considering a new home or

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(Gen 1:26).

Theological Foundations:

The Glorious Trinity

By Derek Brown How familiar are you with the Trinity? I’m not asking whether you believe that God is Triune. I’m asking how often you ponder and delight in the reality that your Creator and Savior is One God in three Persons. For many of us, the doctrine of the Trinity appears too lofty and complex for us to engage. We believe it, but we’ve never sought to think carefully through the theological nuances and practical implications of this biblical teaching. In this brief article, I want to reintroduce you to the Trinity and help you see how glorious and practical this doctrine is. Let’s start in the Old Testament.

The Old Testament and the Trinity While not giving us a detailed description and defense of the Trinity, the Old Testament provides hints that God is a plurality. The general emphasis of the Old Testament is on God’s unity, as over and over the prophets remind Israel that there is one and only one God. But even in the very first chapter of the Bible we find evidence that plurality exists within the One God. Speaking in the plural as He considers the creation of man, God says, “Let Us make man in Our own image, in Our own likeness”

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In several theophanies throughout the Old Testament we are acquainted with the Angel of the LORD who not only speaks for the LORD, but who also appears to be the LORD Himself (see Gen 22:15-16). We also learn that God of the Old Testament has a Son (Ps 2:12), whom Yahweh calls “God” (Ps 45:6-7) and that the LORD has an intimate relationship with someone who is higher in status with God’s earthly King David (Psalm 110:1).

Stepping back into Genesis again, we find that (1) God creates with (2) His Word, as (3) His Spirit actively participates in the creation (see Genesis 1:1-31).

Of course, we read these Old Testament texts as Christians with the advantage of a completed canon. Nevertheless, these Old Testament passages, while not proving the doctrine of the Trinity, lay important theological groundwork upon which New Testament authors were able to build their doctrines of Christ and the Holy Spirit in a way that was fully in line with previous revelation.

The Trinity is not a New Testament invention; it flows naturally out of the Old Testament.

The New Testament and the Trinity When we come to the New Testament, we encounter a Christ who is distinct from His Father, but who is called God (John 1:1; Rom 9:5; Titus 2:13) and Lord (Acts 16:31; Phil 2:9-11), who is the Creator (John 1:2-3; Col 1:15-16; Heb 1:3-4) and who receives worship from men (John 20:28) and angels (Heb 1:6). We also find that the Holy Spirit is not only a Person, but that He also possesses all the attributes and prerogatives of God. We also find several triad formulas in which the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are grouped together, implying their full equality (see Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2). What is slightly veiled in the Old Testament is now fully revealed in the New: God is One Being in three Persons.

Church History and the Trinity Immediately after Christ’s ascension, the first-century Church found itself confronted with heresy. Teachers crept into the Church and sought to undermine vital Christian doctrine with subtlety and sophistication. The Person of Christ was the primary area of attack in the first few centuries of the Church’s existence, so theologians labored in the Scripture through preaching, teaching, writing, and debate to fortify core doctrines. The early Christian creeds are the fruit of these labors and evidence of the Spirit’s work to establish a clear theological consensus for the stability and blessing of the Church.

What is the consensus? It is that the Bible presents God as One Being, existing in three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each Person of the Trinity is fully God and possesses all the attributes of God, shares fully in the Being (or Essence) of God, and is dependent on no other source for His existence. Church history also teaches us that if we drift too far in either direction—emphasizing God’s unity at the expense of God’s plurality or God’s plurality at the expense of His unity—we will fall into error. In order to maintain biblical and theological balance, we must confess with equal emphasis that God is One Being in three Persons.

Apologetics and the Trinity For complex historical-theological reasons, the Church in the West has come to view the Trinity more as a logical conundrum to be defended than a glorious Being to be worshipped. Because of this, Christians have come to believe that the Trinity is a topic we should avoid in our evangelistic encounters. It is high time we reverse this trend. The New Testament speaks unashamedly about the nature of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and so should we. Actually, because it is true, the doctrine of the Trinity provides us with effective apologetic resources that help us undermine non-biblical worldviews.

Worship and the Trinity But the doctrine of the Trinity is more than just a theological affirmation. The Trinity is a Living Reality that permeates every aspect of our personal and corporate life. The Father planned our salvation, the Son fulfilled the necessary requirements of our salvation, and the Holy Spirit applies the benefits of the Son’s work to us.

As we’ve already noted, each member of the Trinity— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is fully God Himself, so every member of the Trinity is worthy of worship and praise.

Take Islam for example. Islam begins with Allah, a solitary deity, and explicitly rejects any notion that God is a Trinity (see Qur’an 4:171). But this conception of a solitary deity wholly undercuts any doctrine of creation that Islam might propose. Because Allah is a monad, there is no basis in Allah for the creation of relational creatures.

Logically, all that a solitary being can create is more solitary beings that have no ability to relate to each other.

Islam, therefore, cannot account for humans who are inherently and inescapably social beings.

Nevertheless, the New Testament often presents a particular order: we worship and pray to God the Father, in the name of God the Son, by the power of God the Holy Spirit (see Phil 3:3). This is only a general pattern, however, for the Son receives worship (Matt 2:2, 8) and prayer (Matt 9:38), and the Spirit receives prayer as well (2 Cor 13:14: “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit”). We don’t find any instances of direct worship of the Holy Spirit, however. This lack of direct worship of the Spirit is not due to His divine status—He is equal in deity to God the Father and God the Son and worthy of worship.

But His role within the Trinity is to exalt the Father and the Son, not Himself.

It’s stunning to realize that within God there is a kind of love where each Person selflessly seeks the glory of the Other. The Father creates the world and plans redemption in order to glorify the Son (Phil 2:9-11). The Son gladly lays His life down for the glory of the Father (John 7:18). And the Spirit works behind the scenes in order to bring glory to both the Father and the Son (John 16:14). When we think of worship, then, we must immediately think of how we, as God’s creatures, can express these glorious realities in our own lives. At basic, the Trinity shows us how to live for the glory and benefit of others, even when it is most costly to our own lives and reputations.

The Trinity, however, is a community of eternal relationship. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit have enjoyed fellowship with each other for all eternity. The creation of human beings as relational creatures, therefore, flows naturally from God’s very nature. God does not create in order to supplement a deficiency in His Being (“I just really need some company in this dark and dreary eternity”); He creates out of the overflow of who He is as Triune God. An Islamic doctrine of God has no basis for relationship and, therefore, no basis for love.

Drawing out the deficiencies of Allah while depicting the glories of the Trinity will prove a powerful witness to Muslims. Besides, this is a divinely-sanctioned apologetic approach: “To whom will you compare me,” God once asked Israel (Is 40:25). The solitary deity of Islam can’t hold a candle to the Triune God of the Bible.

Conclusion The doctrine of the Trinity is not only central to the Christian faith; it is central to the Christian life. There are endless riches to be enjoyed as we meditate on God’s nature as One in Three and Three in One, and countless practical implications for our day-to-day walk. My prayer is that this brief article has refocused your attention on the God of the Bible in the fullness of who He is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.†

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Losing a loved one is perhaps the most difficult trial a human being can face. The grieving process that follows the loss of a beloved spouse, child, or friend is often a long and treacherous road, even for the believer. But the beauty of knowing the Creator of the universe is knowing the hope that is found in His sovereignty, His compassion, and His perfect will and glorious promise of redemption for those who know Him personally. Even in the midst of terrible loss, God will never forsake those who have put their trust in Him. In fact, He promises to be our comfort in times of grief so that we might be able to “comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted

by God” (2 Cor 1:3-4).

Patricia Biehn, a blessed member of Grace Bible Fellowship, became familiar with the devastating blows of grief when she lost her husband, Russ—the love of her life—after 56 years of marriage. But with this loss came the realization of the supernatural peace, comfort, and joy that can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Patricia’s story is one that she now hopes can be used as an encouragement to those who are struggling with loss, as well as a call to love Christ first and foremost.

Russ and Patricia met in high school, when he was fifteen and she was fourteen. “We came from two entirely different walks of life,” she explains. “He came from an alcoholic father and a mother that worked sixteen hours a day so that she didn’t have to deal with the alcoholism. So he wasn’t really raised; he pretty much grew up.”

Patricia, on the other hand, grew up with what one might call a more traditional nuclear family: strict house rules, a stay-at-home mother, and a father who led their home. As a result, Patricia says, “My parents became his parents after we started going together.”

When recalling their initial interactions, Patricia describes how a sweet friendship quickly transformed into a deeper connection, and how Russ began pursuing her more steadily after a surreptitious phone call, a dance, and a visit to her house to meet her parents.

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Testimonies of Grace: Patricia Biehn

By Breanna McManis “We got off to a really good start,” Patricia reflects.

Russ got a job as an accountant for Long’s, they had their first daughter, Deborah, and they were able settle down in a mobile home. But Russ’s career path took a turn following a visit from his cousins in the early 60s.

“His cousins came over one day and told him about an exam they were taking for public safety officer in Sunnyvale, and they all said it was the hardest test they’d ever taken,” says Patricia. “Well, that’s all Russ needed, because he loved a challenge, he loved to study, and he loved tests! He took that test, and he passed with the highest score of anybody who had ever taken it.”

Russ began working as a public safety officer in 1964. They had a son, Richard, and both Patricia and Russ were saved in the early eighties (Patricia in 1982 and Russ in 1985).

In 1984, Russ was diagnosed with kidney failure. He went on dialysis and got a kidney transplant, and could no longer serve as a public safety officer. Russ decided to go back to school to study the Bible, and eventually earned his Bachelor’s in Biblical Studies, his Master’s of Divinity, and his Doctorate in Theology.

“I worked during this time, but I didn’t mind,” Patricia says. “He loved school.”

Although Patricia says she didn’t necessarily have the same feelings for him in the beginning, his persistence eventually paid off when they started “going steady” on one condition: that he would abandon the devastating trap of alcoholism that had plagued his own father.

Upon graduation, Russ got a job as senior pastor at El Camino Bible Church, where he served for twelve years. When Russ and Patricia left this church, he had kidney failure and was on dialysis.

During this time, he went to work on a golf course before getting his second kidney transplant (from their daughter) in 2004.

“I think he was actually an alcoholic when I met him at fifteen,” Patricia reflects. “I told him, ‘If you want to date me, you need to make a choice. It’s either me or the alcohol.’ And he chose me.”

Russ and Patricia started going to Pastor Don Sheley’s church in San Bruno, where they were able to meet with Pastor Sheley every Saturday night for an entire year.

Russ and Patricia were married two years out of high school in 1962. They made a mutual decision to have Russ further his education studying business in college while Patricia worked and, eventually, stayed at home with their children. “Russ loved going to school—he was always going to school!”

“We got to know him very well, and it was a huge blessing,” Patricia recalls.

After Russ’s second kidney transplant, the church asked him to come on board as a pastor, with Patricia as his secretary. “They gave us a couple of options,” Patricia explains. “One was marriage pastor,

and one was family pastor. After we interviewed, they told us to pray about it and let them know. We looked at each other and I said, ‘I know which one I think you should do.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I do too.’ And that was the marriage pastor. God really used us during that time, and it was a great time.”

Russ and Patricia remained at that church for about twelve years, where they taught and counseled as a team.

It was a blessed phase of life for the couple in which they were greatly used by God as mentors to others, but it was the period that immediately followed these years that tested Patricia’s faith beyond what she ever anticipated.

“Life was beautiful, and then he got this cough,” she reflects. “I came from a medical family, and I said, ‘Honey, that cough is not good.’ He insisted that he felt fine. So we waited until his physical in October, and it was then that we found out he had stage four lung cancer. We did chemotherapy, and he did pretty well for about a year.

He still continued to pastor, and we still did the teaching together. He got really bad after that first year. He was too weak to work, so he didn’t go to work for the last six months. He passed away a year and a half after the diagnosis.”

It was only after Russ’s passing that Patricia was struck with the realization of how deeply she had depended on her husband over the course of their married life. The healing process, as Patricia describes, was a long and arduous one that was filled with all the painful and often unforeseen side effects of grief.

“I did not do well, because we were joined at the hip,” she says. “I’m not proud of it, but I just went to pieces. All our married life, I was the perfect little wife. I took pride in saying I didn’t want any regrets if Russ went home to be with the Lord before me, but then when he started to die what I said became a lie. I guess one could say the enemy got ahold of me, because the end result of pride is that we fall. After his death, I checked out. The thought of living life without him was just too much for me to bear. I was always a pillar through his many surgeries, but this was beyond me. My focus was on my circumstances and definitely not on the Lord, which was something I always used to say to all who came to me for counseling. I didn’t think I could live life without him, and it overwhelmed me to the point of being very depressed. Looking back, I think I loved him too much!”

About nine months after her husband’s passing, Patricia decided to go back to work, which did help in the midst of her grief. She continued to work for a year before retiring in December of 2014 and beginning the hunt for a new church family that was closer to home. Although the transition out of the role of pastor’s wife was a difficult one, Patricia was able to eventually find fellowship at GBF with likeminded believers, and more importantly, she was able to find peace and comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is

“close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

Losing the love of her life is still a trial that Patricia has to face every day, but it has tested and refined her faith and dependence on the Lord to produce a joy like nothing before. Now, she uses her story to encourage others to love their Savior first, because He is the only One who can truly restore and satisfy a grieving heart.

“It has been three years now, and by the grace of God I think I have learned how to live life without Russ,” Patricia says. “If I were going to give advice to anyone who might be going through a similar situation, it is so important to make sure you love God first. I thought I did. The grieving process has actually been a real blessing, because I’ve grown so close to the Lord during this time, and He is my best friend. I praise God for all the comfort He has bestowed upon me! I wrote this little rhyme so other widows won’t make the same mistake I did: Don’t love your man as much as you can; do yourself a favor and first love your Savior!” †

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Serving Christ as a School Teacher continued from page 1

be in a restrictive secular environment and wondered whether it would be best if I switched to a Christian school where I could freely and openly share my faith.

Counseling Kaitlyn, however, opened my eyes to the opportunities I have as a teacher to minister to my students individually and plant seeds of the gospel. For better or for worse, spending seven hours a day and 189 days of the year together helps you get to know your students quite intimately. Even while engaging in trivial conversations, I learn a lot about their beliefs, fears, insecurities, and family problems. One obvious detail I’ve noticed about kids is that the more care and interest you show in their lives, the more they’ll confide in you and ask for advice. Those are the moments I eagerly pursue, for it is in those situations that God frequently gives me the opportunity to share truth with them.

Sometimes it’s just little things like pointing out what’s most important when they feel depressed about a bad grade or giving them a different perspective when they have had a fight with their parents or friends. Other times, though, God has sovereignly placed me in their lives at a time of great difficulty and sorrow.

I’ve cried with a student who stayed up on numerous nights listening to her parents fight and threaten to get a divorce. I’ve watched a student go through a horrible custody battle where he had to eventually get a restraining order against his own father.

I’ve helped a student who lost everything, including her house, in a devastating fire. In those situations, I’ve sometimes had the opportunity to share the good news with them. Yet even when I could only listen and sympathize with them, my relationships with those students deepened, opening up more doors for me to share my faith in the future.

The Bible is clear that the unbelieving world is closely watching how we Christians act (Matt 5:13-16). Working at a secular school, I am fully aware that I am often my students’ first exposure to Christianity. Their impression of me will most likely affect how receptive they are to the gospel in the future. On top of that, being a teacher almost automatically promotes you to role model status, especially with the younger kids. Consequently, my students

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scrutinize every aspect of my life: how hard I work, what words I say, and how I respond to both the successes and failures of life. In the same way that I’ve watched them deal with hardships, they’ve similarly noted my reactions to daunting trials, such as my brother being diagnosed with cancer. Therefore, in both the inconsequential aspects of the day and the weightier difficulties of life, I try my best to live my life excellently (1 Pet 2:12). Unfortunately,

that does not always happen. I still say unkind things out of impatience, snap at them when they arrogantly point out errors in my lesson, and make unjust decisions out of pity or favoritism. Yet even in those moments as I seek their forgiveness, I pray that my words and actions reflect God’s humility and grace.

In his article “Planting Seeds of Truth in Your Public School,” Eric Buehrer notes that too often, teaching in a secular environment is viewed as a battlefield. The problem with that analogy is that nothing grows in that environment. Instead, we need to picture schools as gardens where teachers cultivate and nurture relationships, sowing seeds of truth in the hearts and minds of their students. Though we teachers may never see the fruit of our work, we trust in the fact that in the Lord, our labor is not in vain (1 Cor 15:58). *All names have been changed to protect their identities.†

When Your Work is Unfulfilling, continued from page 1 sued with eagerness by God’s two image-bearers.

But sin changed all that.

In response to Adam and Eve’s disobedience, God cursed the ground, the place where man was to derive his living. From now on work would be painful, difficult, sometimes futile, and often marked by frustration. And, although we are not told specifically in the narrative what Adam and Eve’s attitude toward work would be, we know that a tendency toward laziness, procrastination, and a general lack of desire would now afflict the man and his wife as they carried out their duty to exercise dominion over God’s creation.

Thorns and thistles. Pain and sweat. That sure doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun.

Locating the Point of Dissatisfaction It’s possible, then, that some of your dissatisfaction is a direct result of the curse. Futility and frustration will creep into the best of jobs, and you may be simply experiencing some unpleasant features of life in a fallen world. Even so, the ability to work and profit from our labors is an undeserved blessing from the Lord for which we should be thankful. Cultivating genuine gratitude for even the most difficult jobs, therefore, is the first step in mitigating our feelings of dissatisfaction.

But there is another possibility. It could be that you are attempting to locate your satisfaction primarily in the work itself rather than in faithfulness to your Master. It’s true that God has given man work as a gift and, like God, we can derive an immense amount of joy and fulfillment from our work. When we step back from a job well done and rejoice in a completed project, we are mirroring our Father who, at the end of a workweek long ago, beheld His own completed project and determined that it was very good (Gen 1:31). It is Godlike to work well and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

But it’s also true that our ultimate hope for satisfaction cannot reside in the work itself, for there may be times when we are faced with tasks that we do not find immediately compelling or fulfilling. From where will our joy come at these times? The Scripture draws us to a place where satisfaction is steady and reliable. Consider Paul’s

counsel in Ephesians 6:5-8: Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

Where do we ground our joy as we work? In faithfulness to Christ. We are to obey our earthly masters (our employers) as we would Christ, not for the sake of recognition, but as a way of serving God. Note that Paul links “obeying our earthly masters” to “doing the will of God.” When we complete the work we’ve been given by those in authority over us, we are actually doing God’s will! If you wonder what God’s will is for you during your workday, think first about the tasks you’ve been given by your employer and seek diligently to complete those responsibilities. As the old English minister Richard Steele once wrote, this kind of approach to work “will ennoble the meanest employment, and secure your highest end and truest happiness, whatever your success be in other respects” (The Religious Tradesman).

A Steady Source of Satisfaction In approaching your work the way Paul prescribes above, I trust you will find a steady source of satisfaction, even if you are in a job that you hope is not permanent. It may seem counter-intuitive, but on the days that I mostly pursue the things I want to do rather than the things I know I should do, I am left afterward with far less satisfaction than when I simply fulfill my obvious obligations.

None of this is meant to suggest that a Christian should never look for a job in which they are more interested or for which they are more qualified. But we must keep in mind that hopping from one job to another will never finally settle the satisfaction issue. There will be thorns and thistles in the most pleasant of fields, so we need to find a more consistent, stable source of fulfillment. When we prioritize our day according to those things we know we should do, we can have confidence that we are exercising faithfulness to Christ. And faithfulness will lead to true satisfaction.†

Hope House Summer Activities Camp

July 16th - 22nd 13

Men’s Ministry Activities

Men’s Breakfast

Colin Eakin is leading us through his book God’s Glorious Story March 25, April, May, and June

Men’s Reload & Rafting Trip July 28th -29th

Discipleship Groups

Fall 2017: We will be studying Derek Brown’s upcoming book on Manhood

Meet the Dea

?Darren Where did you grow up Terry: I grew up in Fremont, which is right here in

northern California. I was born in Sacramento, but my family moved to Fremont when I was about two or three years old. There was a brief period, a little over twenty years ago, when I lived outside the area for a time before I came back.

?Darren: When and how were you saved I did not grow up in a believing household. I have

four brothers and no sisters, and from a young age we were rambunctious boys. When my middle brother, Don, was a senior in high school, he got saved. I was in sixth grade at the time. He went from being a hell raiser to an evangelical preacher—it was just night and day. I was really into comic books and science fiction as a kid, and he had this series of comic books, The Crusader series, that clearly told the gospel. One of them had a caveman being chased by a wooly mammoth on its cover, and it was called “Primal Man.” I read that, and it demolished all my beliefs in science, including the Big Bang Theory and evolution, and at the end it presented the gospel. So that’s how I got saved: by reading a Christian comic book.

?Darren: What do you now do for a living I am a database developer. I build systems that help

Women’s Ministry

Events

Women’s Luncheon March 12 after Worship Service Women’s Retreat March 31 to April 1 BBQ after Worship Service June 11th Women’s Rafting Trip July 14th - 15th 14

companies run their businesses—from little mom and pop shops all the way up to Apple, Tesla, Adobe, and American Airlines, and pretty much everything in between.

?Darren: When did you start attending GBF The summer of 2011, so about five years ago. ?Darren: How did you find out about GBF I used to go to a church in Fremont with a bunch

of people that are now at GBF. Over time, people left that church, and it was finally time for me to leave that church.

I was invited to go to a surprise birthday party in the park for Gerry Solins, because we had all gone to the same previous church. When I showed up, all these people were there, including Pastor Cliff. The very next day, I found out where GBF was located and I showed up by surprise. I remember Robert and Misty Anderson were freaking out because they saw me, and so were Ken and Kim Medeiros. That particular Sunday, Pastor Cliff was preaching on what the Bible says about church leadership. That was the main issue I had been struggling with at my other church—the church leadership was not biblically oriented. It was like he was

acon: Darren Terry

Interview with Breanna McManis

talking to me; it was like I had found my home. And so I’ve been attending ever since.

?Darren: What made you decide to become a member I knew on that first Sunday that I was going to

be a member, but I’m slow to act. It takes me a while to do something because when I do it, I’m serious about it. I didn’t commit to being a member for almost a year, because I wanted to vet the church. But I knew from that first Sunday that this was the right church and that I needed to be a member here. And while it’s okay to be a regular attender, I believe that it’s a formal protection for both myself and the church to become a member. So I wholeheartedly believe in church membership.

gotten to know more and more people and I know what their issues are so I can pray for them and I know what their praises are so I can praise with them. So that’s also a blessing.

? What is something that most people at GBF don’t know about you

Darren: I was once a cowboy. I owned a horse, I had those spray-on Lee jeans and cowboy boots, and I had a horsehair belt. And I was a Gymkhana champion, which is horse-barrel racing. I won a big silver belt buckle at R. Wild Horse Ranch.

?Darren: When did you become a deacon June 30th, 2013. ?Darren: What does your role as a deacon entail It’s evolved over time. Right now, I’m one

of the deacons in charge of facility. My purview is Sunday morning set-up. So I’m the person that does all the scheduling for both the set-up team and the tear-down team. We use an online program called Service Center to schedule everybody and send out any notifications. I show up on Sunday mornings and I help organize and supervise the set-up, so that means all the Sunday school rooms, the nursery, the children’s church, getting the sign out by the street, and so forth. And as someone said recently, I’m the “cup guy,” so I also help organize communion. I help organize who is going to be serving communion, making sure there are enough people, and I help Jane set up the communion.

? What are some of the blessings that

you’ve experienced since your time at GBF, and specifically since you began serving as a deacon

Darren: First of all, just being at GBF has been a blessing because it has first and foremost been a time of healing from my experience at my previous church. Now, I’m thriving, and GBF is now a family that I can serve. That’s a blessing.

And specifically as a deacon, I’ve been blessed just getting to know everybody. Before I was a member, I knew maybe a third of the people at GBF. After becoming a deacon and getting involved in the prayer ministry and so forth, I have

?Darren: How can the GBF body be praying for you The biggest prayer request I have in my life right

now is for my sister-in-law, who has been married to my brother for thirty-three years. She’s like my sister. She has early onset Alzheimer’s, and she’s now operating at about a one-year-old capacity. She can’t really talk or feed herself, and it has taken a huge toll on my brother. My prayer is for her comfort and for my brother Dave’s encouragement, strength, and salvation.

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Marijuana?

continued from page 20 (3) Love God with all your mind (Matt 22:37) - Christianity is first and foremost a religion of the mind—thinking of God properly and meditating on truth clearly. God speaks to us through the mind. Smoking pot attacks the brain, impairs thinking, impedes memory, dulls the conscience and distorts perception and reality. All these facts about marijuana undermine God’s mandate for Christians to “think on things” that are true (Phil 4:8).

(4) Consider others as more important than yourself (Phil 2:3-4) - Most of the pot smokers I’ve ever talked to tell me they puff because they like to—“it feels good,” “it makes me relaxed,” “I dig the trance it puts me under,” “it makes my problems go away.” Smoking pot is the quintessential act of self-centered, self-indulgent behavior. Christians are not called to please self, but to please God and serve others. Jesus said a true disciple of His is willing to “deny himself” (Luke 9:23), not gratify himself. A corollary thought: when you drive high on pot, you become a fatal risk to other people on the road. That is the antithesis of loving your fellow man and being concerned with their good over your own.

(5) Your body belongs to God - The Holy Spirit lives in the believer, so the human body is the temple of the Spirit (2 Cor 6:16). A Christian’s body belongs to God—your body is not your own. Jesus bought the believer, body and soul, with His shed blood on the cross (Acts 20:28). Christians are called to honor God with their bodies, as well as their minds. When you smoke pot and jeopardize the physical health and safety of your body and pollute your brain through chemical intrusion from cannabis, you are not being a faithful steward of the body God gave you.

(6) God commands Christians to be sober - The Bible expects sobriety from believers—physical, mental and spiritual sobriety (2 Tim 4:5; 1 Pet 1:13). Being intoxicated with anything is a sin, as intoxication is the opposite of sobriety.

(7) God condemns drug use - Many argue that marijuana is not in the Bible. But in Galatians 5:19-21 God condemns drug use along with several other wicked and immoral behaviors: “sexual immorality [porneia], impurity, sensuality, idolatry, pharmakeia, enmities…drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” The eminent Greek scholar, A. T. Robertson, correctly notes that the word pharmakeia is “from pharmakon, a drug, the ministering of drugs” (Word Pictures, vol. IV, 1931). Using this same Greek word, John the Apostle also condemns drug use as a sinful practice in Revelation 18:23. Many English Bibles translate pharmakeia as “sorcery” because of the close association that drug use, including the ingestion of cannabis, has had with occultic religious practices for millennia. Today, pot-smoking goes hand-in-hand with sexual immorality, carousing, drunkenness and dangerous mystical experimentation, just as the Bible noted 2,000 years ago.

Don’t expect to make much headway with a pot-user, trying to convince them why marijuana is wrong and dangerous. But for a true Christian who wants to honor God in all things, the above seven principles are welcome reminders of how to live in light of 1 Corinthians 10:31, which says, “Whether then you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.”†

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GBF

Little July 1

F Camp

e Basin 1st - 3rd

Join us July 4th weekend. A wonderful time of fellowship in the outdoors. You have a choice of tent or cabin accommodations. All meals are provided.

Camp events include: • Evenings at the Bonfire • Team Competitions • Late-Nite Board Games • Worship Time • Great fellowship Sign ups begin in April

Pastor’s Study

continued from page 3 love. When the husband loves his wife, she will gladly submit to his leadership. When both the husband and the wife fulfill their roles, there is reciprocal blessing between them. A woman whose husband loves her will gladly follow his leadership. A man whose wife respects him and submits to his leadership will find it easier to lead and love his wife. As you can see, there is beautiful harmony in a Spirit-filled, Christ-centered marriage.

Paul then goes on to explain all the benefits of keeping these commandments. At the very end of the passage, he makes it clear that he is actually talking about Christ and His body, the Church. What Paul is unveiling to the Church is that the definition of marriage as God orginally gave it—one man and one woman—is to be a living parable throughout human history of a greater spiritual reality; namely, Christ’s relationship with His Church. Someday, in the future, there will be one last ultimate wedding (Rev 19:9). Despite their futile attempts, the Supreme Court justices cannot ultimately change God’s definition of marriage, because the greatest marriage of all is still yet to come: the heavenly marriage of Jesus and His Bride.

If you are a Christian, you will be there at this final, royal wedding as a participant because you will be part of Christ’s bride, the corporate Church. It is going to be a beautiful and glorious event. It is going to be a perfect wedding. And it is going to be a wedding that you’re not all worried and uptight about and thinking about all that could go wrong, because you are not the one in control—God is. Isn’t that a beautiful thing? Christ is preparing His wedding even now, which is a breathtaking reality.

God Defends Marriage These are comforting truths. If you are a believer, you might have felt as though you had been punched in the gut on June 26th, 2015 when five rogue human judges tampered with God’s holy institution of marriage. Maybe you haven’t even recovered yet, over a year and a half later. The greatest institution in all of humanity has been undermined, from a human perspective.

What do we do now? Well, we don’t panic. God knows what happened. God knew it was going to happen. Marriage is His institution. He is in control of it. He is sovereign; He’s all-powerful; He’s all knowing. He has a plan and it won’t be thwarted.

Not only is marriage His creation; it’s one of His most precious creations. That’s sobering to think about, because God is a righteous God, a holy God, and a jealous God, according to Scripture. God is jealous for that which is His own and that which is sacred to Himself. You don’t tamper with marriage and get away with it. If you do that, you are literally striking at the very heart of God Almighty. God defends marriage. He’s been defending it for 6,000 years now, and He’s not going to stop. He was not blindsided or surprised by what happened two summers ago. †

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GBF Staff Picks: Homosexuality from a Christian Perspective

By Derek Brown What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? | Kevin DeYoung –In part 1 of this accessible and well-written volume, DeYoung examines all the major Bible passages that address the issue of homosexual practice. In part 2, he answers several objections to the biblical position.

This is an excellent resource that all Christians should own and read. 153 pages.

Is God Anti-Gay? | Sam Allberry - Sam Allberry is a Christian who experiences same-sex attraction, so he understands the struggle that men and women like him face. But he is also committed to upholding the biblical vision for human sexuality, so his writing is both sympathetic and fully biblical. This book is much like DeYoung’s book only a little shorter. Allberry deals with all the relevant biblical texts and answers several objections. 90 pages.

Love into Light: The Gospel, the Homosexual, and the Church | Peter Hubbard – With compassion and biblical clarity, Hubbard seeks to help Christians who experience same-sex attraction by focusing on the issues of sexual identity and desire. This is a very useful book for understanding sanctification as it relates directly to matters of our sexual desires. 174 pages.

The Bible and Homosexual Practice | Robert Gagnon – This work is considered the foremost exegetical work on all the biblical passages related to homosexual practice. Comprehensive in scope, it provides excellent textual basis for the biblical position and answers all the major interpretational questions. While one can read it straight through, it is best used as a resource with which one can engage Gagnon’s commentary on specific passages when needed. 520 pages.

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert | Rosaria Butterfield – The first third of this book is the honest and moving testimony of how a former lesbian professor of feminist studies at the University of Syracuse came to Christ and was transformed by the gospel. The remaining section of the book is a narrative of post-conversion life in which she discusses her marriage to Ken Butterfield, their church life, and their multiple adoptions. 191 pages.

God and the Gay Christian: A Response to Matthew Vines | Edited by R. Albert Mohler – This free ebook (available for free download at SBTS.edu or for $0.99 on Kindle at Amazon) is a response to Matthew Vine’s recent book, God and the Gay Christian in which he argues that the Bible approves of same-sex sexual practice. The contributors to A Response each deal with a particular facet of Vine’s argument, demonstrating that his case is biblically and historically indefensible.

95 pages.

Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior is Changing Everything | Robert Reilly – Reilly is not writing from an evangelical Christian perspective, but he nevertheless provides abundant evidence for how the rationalization of homosexual behavior is affecting every major facet of American life and culture. Reilly argues for the immorality of homosexual behavior from Natural Law by pointing to the “design” and “telos” (goal, end) of our bodies and the harmful effects of homosexual practice. 234 pages. (Please see my review of this book at TheGospelCoalition.org).

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Practicing Hospitality continued from page 7

Christ to India (CTI) is the U.S. non-profit organization supporting Pastor Johnpaul and his brother Isaac Pinapati and the nearly 100 churches they have planted as well as the associated orphanages, widows home and elderly home. For more information, check out: ChristToIndia.org

need to encourage one another to think rightly through God’s Word. His Word reminds us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31), to be content with what we have (Phil 4:12), to consider others first (Phil 2:3), to remember that it is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), to serve by His strength and for His glory (1 Pet 4:11), to lay up treasures in heaven and not on earth (Matt 6:1921), to not neglect meeting together (Heb 10:25), to love our brothers with sincerity (Rom 12:9-10), to serve one another with zeal (Rom 12:11), to contribute to the needs of other believers (Rom 12:13), and to show hospitality (Rom 12:13).

We also need to pray for help to serve with a glad and generous heart. God is faithful and gives us strength, brings help from others, and gives us humility to be okay with serving simple meals and using paper plates and plastic utensils. Our place isn’t always clean, and with a baby, we sometimes need to get creative with cooking and ask our guests to be gracious with us.

God has not only helped us through these challenges, but He’s also blessed us immensely through each hosting opportunity. There is so much joy in seeing people meet new people, deepen relationships, serve and encourage each other, evangelize non-believers, and reconnect.

In terms of ministry, opening our home is a way we can serve and love others. Practically, hosting enables us to have fellowship with others and it sometimes challenges Helen’s cooking skills! Our marriage has been blessed because when we host we practice our communication and it is also something fun that we can work on together. Our home is warmer, kept cleaner, and utilized fuller when we have people over. It’s wonderful to see so much ministry happening in our home!

Pastoral Training

Orphan’s Home

All Christians should practice hospitality (Rom 12:13; 1 Pet 4:9; Heb 13:2). You can practice hospitality regardless of the size or cleanliness of your home. Whether you host one person or 100, you are practicing hospitality. We should all ask God for opportunities to serve and minister to others with the homes and material things that we’ve been graciously given by the Creator and Giver of all things.

Opening our homes helps us edify the church body and evangelize the lost. It sets us apart from our society that glorifies individualism and shuns strangers. May Christians be lights in this dark world through opening our hearts and homes to people for God’s glory. †

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ENGAGE

Scripture, Culture, and the Christian

In 1978 the Encyclopedia Americana declared, “in the United States no hemp [cannabis] products are recognized as having medicinal qualities or have official standing as drugs….Possession of any portion of the hemp plant or any of its products…without a federal permit is illegal in the United States” (vol. 14, p. 87). My, how things have drastically changed and in such a short period of time! Today in the US, marijuana is now legal (1) recreationally in eight states, (2) medically in twenty-one states, and (3) conditionally in fifteen states—leaving only six states where it is still illegal. And some of the remaining six states are considering decriminalization and even normalization for the use of the mind-numbing happy weed.

Ironically, the US Congress, or federal law, still considers possession and distribution of marijuana as illegal in all 50 states ever since President Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. So in a state like California, smok-

ing marijuana for kicks is both legal and illegal at the same time. Welcome to America, dude!

Marijuana (weed, pot, hemp, cannabis, wacky tobacci) was first formally outlawed in America on a federal level in 1937. Today it is estimated that over 20 million Americans use weed. And as more states are legalizing the brain-altering plant, marijuana use is now commonplace and even going public, thus proliferating its presence in our culture.

As a result, Christians are confronted by it everywhere, so much so that we are told by the world that pot should no longer be considered wrong, unhealthy or dangerous.

Should Christians Use Marijuana?

February 2017

By Cliff McManis

Marijuana comes from the cannabis plant, which is used as a psychoactive drug by inhaling smoke through a cigarette (joint, doobie), huffing its vapor or ingesting orally.

Psychoactive drugs are chemicals that impact or change brain function that results in alterations in perception, mood or consciousness. There is much debate on how to categorize marijuana as a drug and what its long-term effects are, but everyone agrees that its main appeal by users is its immediate physiological impact on the brain. Smoking pot has a direct, altering effect on brain function, which in turn interferes with how one thinks and how one feels. This should be a huge concern and major red flag for all true Bible-believing, conscientious, God-honoring, Christ-centered Christians.

I have talked with several church-going young people, teenagers and collegiates, who argue that smoking pot is not a sin, is not unhealthy and is not dangerous. Amazingly, there are many people calling themselves Christians today who hold the same view, which begs the over-arching question: How should Christians view marijuana, pot-smoking and popular weed ingestion? As always, the Bible has the answers.

God’s Word is sufficient for providing principles by which a believer can confidently live obediently in every area of life. So then, consider the following biblical principles that intersect with the nagging reality of today’s rampant marijuana movement being shoved in our face along with its second-hand smoke we are expected to passively swallow: (1) Obey the just laws of the land - In Romans 13:1, God commands us to obey the governing authorities. To disobey the law is sin. US federal law says possession of marijuana is illegal. Here in California, with our state’s double standard of allowed recreational use, there are still restrictions with marijuana—you must be 21 or older, you can’t possess more than 1 ounce, you can’t grow it outside, smoke it publicly or in a car. If you violate any of these rules, it is a sin.

If you live in Indiana or Idaho today, you can’t have pot at all—if you do, it’s breaking the law and that is sin.

(2) Obey your parents - Many of the ardent defenders among professing Christians are teens and collegiates, i.e. dependents. If you live with your parents, you must honor and obey your parents (Eph 6:1-3). If your Christian parents, who provide for you, say, “Don’t smoke pot!” yet you smoke pot, then you are in sin.

Continued on page 16

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