Implementing the Bible’s statements on male headship in marriage has proven to be a great challenge to Christian people over the centuries. There is no question that the concept has been warped, distorted and abused to the advantage of males. We know that evil has warped everything within God’s creation and every aspect of His revelation of Himself and truth to humanity. So the distortions of this idea should not cause us to jettison it. The perversion of the truth, rather than causing the easy pendulum swing reaction, should cause us to carefully study, examine, and test it in order to discern truth from error.

The statements about the husband’s headship in marriage are present throughout Scripture in words addressed to fallen people in a fallen world. It must be possible to rightly implement them in a way that marginalizes no one. As people of the Scripture we feel the responsibility to reckon with these statements and come to an understanding of what God desires in our homes.

The term and concept of male headship comes from verses like this one in Ephesians 5:22-24.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Our essential task is to understand verses like these and their implications in 21st century American Culture.

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America has been collectively processing homosexuality in a very public way over the past three decades. There are diverse opinions being expressed on this subject in the political arena and in the religious arena. The tone of this conversation is varied as well, ranging from open hostility and violence to camaraderie and solidarity.

As we watch and participate in this conversation at Red Mountain Community Church we have four important commitments that we want to honor. They are commitments that we think are inherent in calling oneself a follower of Christ.

• We are committed to conveying to all the story of God paying for our sins through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. Conveying this story by word and deed is a trust that demands from us an open-heartedness to all people.
• We are committed to support any and all in their personal journey toward a fuller expression of the character of Christ. This demands understanding and tolerance of our imperfections, and patience as patterns of thought are wrestled with. We must foster the progress of all who wish to live as Christ desires them to live.
• We are committed to represent accurately what God has revealed in terms of his thought for humanity. Christ represented God to the very end, and it cost Him His life. We must follow Him in this.
• We are committed to a certain tone and rhetoric in all conversations. Our commitment is to speak our convictions with precision, but humbly, with loving, empathetic, and respectful words.

Bible Interpretation
We believe that God has provided for us a written record of His heart and mind with regard to our experience of human life and existence. While this record does not give us an exhaustive revelation of all we might like to know about God, it is a sufficient unveiling of His thought so that we can know with certainty His mind on many matters. We realize that interpreting this record, the Bible, is a challenge, but not in the sense that its meaning is lost or hidden. Interpretation is challenging only because our knowledge of the culture and usage of words within those cultures is limited. And so those of us that have chosen to live by the principles of the Bible know well and first hand the challenges of Bible interpretation. There are sections of it that are very challenging.

The Bible’s Teaching
Having acknowledged the complexity of Bible interpretation, we must say that the passages of Scripture dealing with homosexuality are not among those difficult to interpret. In the entire record of the Bible that deals specifically with this subject, there is no contradiction. Though different human authors separated by centuries of time recorded the words, the accounts of the mind of God on this matter speak as from one voice. The testimony of the Bible is this; homosexuality is not God’s will for humanity (Leviticus 18:22; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). To those involved in the gay lifestyle, those words sting. We must empathize with that feeling. All who are Christ followers know that feeling well. It stings when we read about things like deceit, anger, slander and so many other things we naturally fall into. But there is no doubt about what the message of the Bible on homosexuality is. Homosexuality is outside of the will of God for us.

Many in Christian circles have sought to refute the acceptance of the actual words of the Bible on this subject. Only lowering one’s view of the Bible and dismissing its words as the testimony of a certain culture from a certain era in history can lead one to do this. To us however, if the Bible were that unreliable, logic would lead us to abandon our entire faith. If the record of the Bible is not reliable, then nothing in it can be trusted, and we would be foolish to base our thinking on any portion of it. In that case, what we have in it is a quaint, cultural tale, not the revelation of the mind of God. We believe that all evidence points to the Bible’s reliability.

The Gospel and Homosexuality
What the Bible says about the practice of homosexuality is relatively easy to establish. How that message should be conveyed must be pondered carefully and prayerfully. We must remember that the grace and love of God must be communicated and demonstrated to all people. We all espouse that, but somehow when it comes to homosexuality, we have not practiced it. Some see no conflict in Christians carrying signs that say things like “God hates fags.” We must grieve at such things. We must not frontload the gospel with the demand that gays and lesbians lay aside their lifestyle before God can accept them. We would not be as quick to demand that of a liar, or of an arrogant person. Somehow we have come to view the gay lesbian community as having extra dues to pay. We must not project that the blood of Christ covers them only if it is combined with a promise never to practice homosexuality again! Our approach should be to extend the gospel to them as we would anyone else, with the deepest sincerity and love, as something freely offered by God. Once their spirits are united with God, effectual change in this matter is made possible, as with all other behaviors that are outside of God’s will. God will be faithful to bring inner conviction regarding truth.

Can one be a Christian and practice homosexuality? Yes. Can one be an obedient Christian and be practicing the gay lesbian lifestyle? No. Gays and lesbians who believe in Jesus are like all Christians in that we all share a common challenge. We must choose obedience on a moment-by-moment basis, conforming to the pattern of life modeled by Jesus Christ. Diligence and faithfulness are required of all of us in myriads of real life issues that God desires to change in us. At risk is our progress in the Christian faith, our personal freedom, our eternal reward, and our experience of God’s power and blessing. This holds true whether one’s natural behavior leads them into fits of rage, into bouts of anxiety, into substance abuse, into adultery, or into homosexuality. We each have battles that relate to who we are and how life has shaped us. We must fight the battles and make the choices each moment of the rest of our lives on this earth.

“But I Can’t Fight Who I Am!”
On the subject of one’s sexuality the statement is often made that it is naturally determined and we must be true to who we are. We believe that this is a flawed argument not because we understand all the genetics of the matter. It is flawed because who we are naturally is not where God wants to leave us. In a host of areas God’s heart is to take us away from natural, instinctive living and to lead us into supernatural living that is choreographed within us by the Holy Spirit. The point of Christianity is that many things have gone wrong in all of creation and our loving and gracious God is in the process of patiently bringing it back. Sexuality is just one area in which we are called to something other than what comes naturally (Galatians 5:15-26; Ephesians 4:17-32).

What We MUST Do
The journey to where God wants us in so many matters is just that, a journey. It is a process we must get good at supporting in all people, no matter what their particular patterns of behavior have been. By getting good at supporting the spiritual journey of others we mean making a personal investment in them. We mean coming along side of them, speaking the truth in love, extending grace, building supporting relationships with them, standing with them through failure and re-starts. This is part of the debt that the Bible says we owe to each other. We must face the fact that we have wrongly arrived at the point where we extend great grace and patience in helping people through certain sins. Other sins, homosexuality being one of them, we tend to govern by different rules—one strike and you’re out! We must squarely face this bias that is in us.

What then will our posture be in the conversation regarding homosexuality. First, we simply do not have the freedom to change what God has revealed to be His will for us. To do so is to take His place, and make ourselves out to be God. That means that we must when asked, speak humbly, lovingly, and precisely for God. His will is that we leave behind the gay lesbian lifestyle. We will likely be misunderstood when we state this truth plainly. We must do all we can to mitigate that, which leads to a second observation. While the truth is not up for negotiation, our tone must be. We must be confident that we will not change or endanger the truth one iota by changing our tone and our posture in this conversation. We must go overboard in projecting a tone of grace and love. In doing so we will find ourselves representing more of the heart of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We will increase the power of the truth by the tone of our words.

One of the most significant life investments you can make is to develop and strengthen your own personal devotional life. By building your own personal devotional life I mean intentionally engaging solo in the kinds of activities that strengthen your ability to know and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. You will find that this becomes one of the most fulfilling and meaningful things you have ever pursued. I want to help you begin or begin again to build a personal devotional habit.

A most important thing to understand as you begin is something I have already alluded to. The purpose of all the things you do as part of your devotional life is to help you know and follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit all day every day. The activities themselves are not the goal. So always remember that the purpose of an activity like Bible reading is not just to read the Bible. You will engage yourself with the Bible because it equips you to accurately hear the voice of God’s Spirit above all the other voices. The proof of a good devotional life in you will not be that you successfully put in a certain amount of time day in and day out doing certain activities. Your devotional life is successful if you find you are carrying out your various roles in life in God’s way because you are sensing the leading of His Spirit. If you do not understand this, your devotional life will become meaningless religious routine. It will make you arrogant instead of more like Christ. You will have a false sense of your own spiritual health. A strong devotional life is evident in the fact that it makes us think and act like Christ.

I am suggesting a beginning point for your devotional life. Don’t try to jump in the deep end immediately! Here’s what I mean by that. Very often we try to start where others have arrived over the course of many years. The result is usually disastrous. It is best to set modest and realistic goals. By goals I am talking specifically about time. I think that your first step is to identify a block of time that you know you have a reasonably good chance of protecting. It doesn’t matter when in the day it is. I would suggest a modest amount of time, 15 minutes to a half hour. I would suggest four or five days a week. You can always add time. Biting off too much will discourage you.

As you begin, there is something very important you need to know. You are destined to feel you have failed at this, many times. Your routine will be interrupted, maybe even set aside. Remember, the goal is not to faithfully stick with a certain schedule of prayer or Bible study. It is to become different. If you are seeing changes in your thinking and courses of action, you are succeeding, regardless of how well you’ve maintained the schedule. But keep restarting in terms of making it a scheduled event. That is the most important advice I would give anyone who is starting out. Keep on restarting. Don’t be paralyzed by the false starts along the way. It is not uncommon to work at this for a decade or two before it feels right.

Your devotional life should be centered on interaction with the Bible. Notice I did not say it should be centered on READING the Bible. Reading the Bible is something you should do and will do. But you need to remember that some of history’s most powerful Christian men and women were illiterate. Having a personal copy of Scripture is a relatively recent thing. So merely reading the Bible isn’t the goal. The activity that the Bible itself says transforms a life is meditation on the Scripture (Psalms 1:1-3; Joshua 1:8). In research done in the modern era, when people are asked to identify what they attribute their own spiritual growth to, the overwhelming majority point to personal interaction with Scripture. So your goal is not just to READ the Bible. Your goal is to process its words, to ponder their meaning and their implication in your life and relationships, and then to obey them. Reading is just the beginning. Your time in the Scripture should be aimed at taking something away to reflect on. Don’t focus it on reading through a certain number of pages.

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One of the most perplexing problems facing believers in God―one which has existed for eons―is the problem of pain. Philosophers, theologians, and others have discussed and written about this problem for millennia.

So, does it make sense to believe in a loving, all―powerful, good God given the terrible things that have happened through the centuries? Why would God allow all the pain and suffering to exist in the world―or in your life or mine? Are there reasonable answers to this dilemma?

The following are answers given by Dr Chad Meister, Director of Philosophy Program and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana at the recent Faith Articulation Workshop.

1. Humans have Free Will
   A world containing creatures who are significantly free (and freely perform more good than evil actions) is more valuable, all else being equal, than a world containing no free creatures at all. Now God can create free creatures, but He can’t cause or determine them to do only what is right. For if He does so, then they aren’t significantly free after all; they do not do what is right freely.

   To create creatures capable of moral good, therefore, He must create creatures capable of moral evil; and He can’t give these creatures the freedom to perform evil and at the same time prevent them from doing so.

   As it turned out, sadly enough, some of the free creatures God created went wrong in the exercise of their freedom; this is the source of moral evil. The fact that free creatures sometimes go wrong, however, counts neither against God’s omnipotence nor against His goodness; for He could have forestalled the occurrence of moral evil only by removing the possibility of moral good.

2. God may use the evil in the world for our greater good and the good of others.

Romans 5:3-5 – “…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…”

James 1:2-4 – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

3. The purpose of our lives on earth may not be for us to be as happy as possible, but rather to help us come to know God and to mold our characters into His image.
4. Our minds may be too limited to understand it all.
5. The Christian message is that the goodness of God will, in the end, engulf all evils which have been experienced in this life.

Pastor Bob Fox

Making spiritual progress is a matter of embracing specific practices that foster it. In addition to placing His own Spirit in us, God has provided certain things outside of us that become tools in the Holy Spirit’s hands used to reshape us. We have a choice in the degree to which we expose ourselves to these things. The degree to which we are engaged with these instruments of God’s Spirit impacts deeply our spiritual progress.

God knew that your spiritual progress would depend on a nurturing process. So He created something that you are a part of. It is a living organism that nurtures your spiritual health. You interact with the rest of that living organism and as you do you promote the spiritual progress of others and they help nurture yours. This living organism is an ingenious invention of God’s. It is the local Church. It is primary in His plan for your spiritual growth and so you must be fully engaged with it. It is not just a matter of attending Church, though that is where you must start.

Fully engaged means several things. Fully engage with the Church by officially becoming a member of it. Fully engage by being a regular part of its meetings. To be fully engaged means to establish and maintain healthy relationships with people in it. It means to join them in remembering the Lord’s death through communion. It means to join with a few such people that you trust and open your lives to each other for support and for accountability. Fully engaging with Christ’s Church means to serve in your local church by using your spiritual gift. It means shouldering responsibility for its financial support. It means to be accountable to it and submit to its authority. It means to pray for its leaders and its members.

In doing these things God’s Spirit will constantly be weaving your life together with others. Through supportive fellowship you will make progress together. God has no alternate plan for your growth. Don’t ditch the organized Church. He hasn’t. The things that follow do not take the place of the Church. In fact, being fully engaged with a local Church will enable you to draw more from the things below.

A second instrument of growth that God’s Spirit uses in your life is the Bible. The Bible reveals truth about God, the World, and you. In it you will find truths that you otherwise would not know. This truth is conveyed to you on its pages through history, through poetry, through prophecy, and through letters. You have in the Bible an ordered account of God’s thought for you that you can consult at any time. Read it on your own. Seek out opportunities to be taught by those who have greater understanding of it than you do. Involve yourself with others and discuss with them what you are learning. Learn from it at Church and study it away from Church.

Aside from fully engaging with your Church, a habit with regard to the Bible is one of the most crucial things for you to cultivate. Mature Christian people cite this as the number one thing that caused them to make spiritual progress. It is a good idea to start by simply reading it. Look up Matthew in the index in front, turn to it and begin there. Read a portion of the Bible each day until you have read to the end of the Bible. You have now read the entire New Testament. Along the way, begin to keep a pencil or pen with you to mark phrases that stand out to you as important. After you have read the New Testament go back and pick some sections that are of interest to you. This time read slower. Read each day until you read something that speaks especially to you. Write that thought down. Ask God what He wants you to learn from that. You are now hearing from Him, and that’s the purpose of this habit. In time, turn some attention to the Old Testament.

If your habit breaks down, or never gets started, pick up wherever you left off. Simply do a re-start. Don’t wallow in guilt and don’t become discouraged. Just keep trying. It may take years to become consistent, but everything along the way will be worthwhile. Just stay with it. That’s the best advice to give anyone who is seeking to develop any kind of devotional habit.

A third instrument used by God’s Spirit to shape you is meditation. Write down on a card a verse from Scripture that has stood out to you. Place that verse on the visor of your car, or on the refrigerator, anyplace you can look at it during time when your mind is free. Ponder the words in that verse and the concepts behind them. Use times when your hands are occupied but your mind is free. Ask things like “Why is that particular word used here?” Observe the details of the language. Force yourself to wring the full meaning of each word from the text. You’ll be amazed at the things you learn that never would have occurred to you if you had just read the verse. This activity of meditation is one that God says will lead to spiritual progress and blessing. He said to Joshua, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night , so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8)

A fourth instrument God’s Spirit uses in your life is prayer. It is a way for you to talk to God about any and every concern you have. It is a way for you to experience His leading as you pray for others. You will minister to many simply by praying for them. Don’t view prayer as just talking to God. Be silent before Him and sense what thoughts He might be placing in your mind as you are quiet before Him. He will speak to you in this way and nurture your growth. Pray with other believers and pray on your own.

Identify things you are anxious about and pray about these. Making a list can be helpful, but freshen it often or your praying will become mechanical. Put people on your list. Start with a few. Eventually ask them what’s happening with them that you can pray for. You may wish to start a prayer journal. This is a notebook in which you write down the things you pray for, and thoughts that come to you as you pray. All who have done this have found it highly rewarding. Don’t forget to worship in your praying. Worship happens when you commend God for who He is, for the great things he has done that describe what He is like. Praying for a period of time speaking only of Him, with no mention of words like I, or me, or we, can totally change your perspective on everything. Your problems shrink when you look at the greatness of God.

A fifth instrument in the hands of the Holy Spirit is ministry. Ministry is serving others with a view toward helping them make spiritual progress. Now you might ask, “How does my own progress come about if I busy myself with someone else’s spiritual progress?” An important principle regarding God’s family and kingdom is this, “Give and it will be given to you.” We find that in serving others, we ourselves are served. In ministering to them, we are ministered to. I cannot reach out to encourage someone else and not be encouraged myself. It is a very curious thing, but it is an axiom of the kingdom of God that in giving, I find that I am given to.

Some ministry is very direct, such as teaching children, or giving money to someone in need. Other ministry is more indirect, like serving behind the scenes while someone else “delivers the goods.” Both are ministry and you will find that as you minister and help push forward the kingdom of God in others, you yourself make spiritual progress. Ministry also becomes a catalyst for the other four things mentioned above. As we minister to others we become more engaged with our Church, with the Scripture and in prayer. So one of the most important things for you to do early in your spiritual journey is to begin to minister to the spiritual needs of others. You will experience great spiritual progress as you do.

There is very clear testimony that God has consistently used these five tools for centuries to bring about spiritual progress in his people. There are other tools, but these are key. These should be understood as what we have described them as, tools in His hands. They are not magical in themselves. Only as they are entered into with the anticipation and desire to hear His voice are they of value. He Himself is our source of nurture and growth, not routines. It is important to realize that our faithfulness in approaching these things in this way will largely determine our degree of spiritual progress. This is His plan and provision for us. He has no other plan.

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Pastor Bob Fox

There is no prayer that is guaranteed to be answered like your prayer for your own spiritual progress. You should continually ask God to help you grow up, and you should do so with great confidence. It is God’s will for every person at all times. Nothing could be closer to His heart for you than that you grow up in Him. But that raises a question. Since that is true, why aren’t more Christians experiencing spiritual progress? Why aren’t churches busting at the seams with people who exemplify phenomenal spiritual growth? The answer to this dichotomy is complex. It is important to wrestle with it so that we have right expectations of God, of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and of ourselves.

First, we must affirm that a lack of spiritual progress in any of us does not occur because stagnancy is somehow God’s will for us. It does not occur because God withholds His power from us. The reason for the shortfall when it occurs lies in us. It is certain that He has made available to us everything that pertains to life and godliness.

Second, we must understand that when spiritual progress happens in someone, we have witnessed both a miracle of God and something achieved as the result of that person’s effort. God has placed within every believer His Spirit. The super-natural is constantly at work and happening within them. Spiritual progress would never happen apart from this dynamic of His Spirit working within us. At the same time the individual’s will enters into the equation of spiritual growth. Are they listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit? Do they resist the Spirit? Are they ignorant of spiritual truth that relates to the situation they are in? It is important to understand that our spiritual progress is not automatic. In fact it is possible for any of us to fail miserably as a Christian in any moment of any day. And so the writings of the New Testament, all of which are directed at believers in whom the Holy Spirit resided, are full of specific commands and exhortations to be diligent. Our degree of spiritual progress is not predestined. We can and do retard it. To make spiritual progress, effort will be required of you. If you do nothing, your progress will be painful as God disciplines you. It will also be slow. So while your role in your own spiritual progress is secondary, it is still key.

Third, we must understand that spiritual progress is a process, a lifelong one that is hard to quantify along the way. It cannot necessarily be defined by predictable stages that occur uniformly according to the number of years a person has known Christ. Perhaps after a certain elapsed time with Christ a Christian should have learned certain things. That seemed to be an expectation of New Testament writers. But it was also their testimony that in a number of cases those lessons were clearly not learned. You must be patient with yourself on the one hand, and demanding of yourself on the other. It is right to expect and demand certain things of yourself. It is also right to extend grace to yourself as God does, and allow time. This process of growth toward maturity is referred to in Christian thought as sanctification.

Fourth, spiritual progress is impacted by sins of the past. In the course of our lives in an evil world we can incur some debilitating wounds. They can make faith and trust difficult. They can make all forms of self-denial and self-discipline elusive. They render relationships troublesome. It is certain that God forgives the past, completely. It is also true that He specializes in rebuilding lives. Spiritual progress involves battling past old thought patterns. They are not automatically dissolved. Undoing them and relearning can be complex. The damage done to some is greater than others and so they take longer to heal. You will find that your progress in some areas is very, very slow. You will wonder at times if you will ever get past certain things. You will, because His grace will be measured out to you each day in proportion to its challenges.

Fifth, making spiritual progress is a matter of embracing specific practices that fosters it. In addition to placing His own Spirit in us, God has provided certain things outside of us that become tools in the Holy Spirit’s hands used to reshape us. We have a choice in the degree to which we expose ourselves to these things. The degree to which we are engaged with these instruments of God’s Spirit impacts deeply our spiritual progress. The next article will deal with some of these specific tools that God wants to use in your life and how they can be implemented.

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Pastor Bob Fox

Do you feel like you are making spiritual progress? Or is your spiritual journey really just spiritual wandering? Spiritual progress is the sense that you are moving closer to the God who made you, that your understanding of life is increasing, that you are becoming wiser. Most people feel the need for this. A spiritual journey is one thing. Most of the world is on one. But the real deal is spiritual progress.

There are many things you should know about spiritual progress. It will eventually involve every nook and cranny of your life. God will leave no area of your life untouched. Spiritual progress will take time, and to a large degree you will determine how much progress you make in any given time period. God will do much in a short period of time if you are up for change at a fast pace. Spiritual progress will involve times of great victory and celebration. It will also involve faith on your part, which means risk, uncertainty, fear, and many other things that are uncomfortable. Spiritual progress will involve critical seasons and strategic crossroads. You will have to take high stakes action that will either propel you forward to a higher plane, or freeze your progress wherever you are, maybe even set you back. All of this you will experience over time. But there is a key first step to spiritual progress.

Because God is the key player in real spiritual progress, the journey begins with being right with Him. How does one do that? It is precisely at this beginning point that most spiritual journeys run amuck. People set about getting right with God by doing “good deeds,” things that they believe will put them in His good graces. They approach it as they would building a relationship with another human. They act out behavior toward God that they have learned pleases people. It’s what they know and it usually works well with people. But it’s different with God.

It’s different with God, because He’s different. Though He is a personal being, He’s not a human being. We don’t have to get His attention, He knows us. We don’t have to convince Him we’re valuable or worthwhile. He knows we are because He made us! The problem between ourselves and God is evil. It is the reason we are separated from Him and feel the need to set out on a journey. It is the reason for the disconnect. Evil is not just outside us, it is in us. Evil is an instinctive desire within us to be our own masters and have God serve us. God calls that sin. We may be polite, respectful rebels, but we desire to swap roles with Him and have Him bring about for us our own agenda. That makes us sinners.

As sinners we embark on all kinds of spiritual journeys. But our spiritual journey is about discovering power for ourselves, or at least making ourselves more fulfilled or happy. This self-centeredness is a deep character flaw in each of us that we cannot cure ourselves of. Knowing this, God realizes we cannot possibly rise by our own efforts to harmony with Him. Our currying of His favor will always arise from impure motives. We don’t fool him. He’s different than human beings, because He sees our motives and they reveal something defective in us. By His own standard of justice He cannot ignore what He clearly sees in us. So, He cannot join Himself to us even though He desires to do so. The reason we’re on a journey and not arriving is the presence of this instinctive evil in us, evil that God cannot ignore.

The good news is that God loves us anyway! And so what we cannot do for ourselves, He has done for us. He became a man, the man we know as Jesus. By becoming a man He accomplished a number of important things. A very important one is that in His death, He bore the punishment for our evil. He substituted Himself for us and bore the penalty His justice demanded for our sin. It is as if when the time came for us to pay for our sin, Jesus took us out of the game and stepped in for us. The result is that full payment of the penalty for all of our flaws is available. As a result, what He wants to do for us, He can now justly do. And so He has chosen to forgive all who simply believe the bad news about themselves and the good news about Jesus!

So then, the first step in moving from one who is simply on a spiritual journey to one who is making spiritual progress is belief. It is an incredibly simple but profound step. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—that’s the simple command of God to all who seek to be joined to Him. Your thought process in taking this step might be something like this:

I believe I am a sinner. There’s just something in me that makes me want to control my own life and have you fit in, God. I’ve seen and felt that in me. That’s bad news! But, I believe the good news—that You love me anyway. You became a man and You paid for my evil. You ask me to believe that, God. Since I do, I am now joined to You and can become who You want me to be. Lets begin God!

It is very helpful to express this thought as a prayer to God. You can and should do that right now. Just remember the prayer doesn’t save you. Your faith and trust in Him does. He knows your heart and the moment you believed He forgave you. His Spirit has now been joined to you. You made huge spiritual progress by that step of belief. Now you can make more progress, because you have been joined to Him in the deepest part of your being.

Remember that because of evil in the world and evil that is in us, everything is wrong until God makes it right. You’ve developed patterns of thinking in the years you’ve been separated from God. Now He wants to change those to make them right. Spiritual progress is a matter of allowing God to separate out from you thought and action that is not in harmony with what is true. Knowing His thoughts will require the use of your mind. Your mind will need to be directed to His thought for you. Your thinking will be reprogrammed over time. Part 2 of this article will help you understand some of the things God has provided so that we can think His thoughts and make spiritual progress.

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Pastor Bob Fox

Everyone gets the blues. They’re a normal part of being alive emotionally, maybe even a part of being healthy. Depression is different. It drags on. You feel stuck. You become unmotivated. Things that once lifted your spirits do nothing for you. You feel isolated from God. You withdraw, where you once engaged. In some this withdrawal is quite pronounced, and they would sleep all day if they could.

What causes depression? It is certain that we feel depressed because of body chemistry. However that does not necessarily tell us that the cause of our depression is chemical. Three factors about how God has made you help formulate an approach to depression in yourself or in those you love.

First, we are made for God. Depression was not his design for us, but became our experience as a result of separation from him. That doesn’t mean we can pray our way out of depression, but it does tell us that being right with him is part of the equation. Spiritual health may be the most important thing you strive for. It’s what we’re designed for.

Second, our moods are impacted by a series of chemical/electrical signals controlled by our brain. In response to what the senses of sight, hearing and touch take in, the brain generates signals that create appropriate emotional and physical reactions. This enables us to react in a way that is appropriate to our reality. That seems very straightforward and foolproof. However, at least two things can go wrong. Our brain sometimes interprets sensory data wrong. We have all experienced times when our brain sorted wrongly what the eye saw, or the ear heard, or the sense of touch felt. So, for example, we were frightened by thunder at night and crawled into bed with our parents. There are also situations in which the body just randomly overproduces or under produces a certain chemical, and the result is an emotional and physical reaction that is chemically correct, but does not align with real life events. For our responses to be healthy, we must correctly perceive our surroundings, and our body chemistry must be correctly balanced.

The third factor in our understanding of depression is what we might call the great human mystery. We are referring to the fact that we are physical, emotional and spiritual beings rolled into one. We can have a very emotional experience that can lead to physiological symptoms. We can have a physical issue that leads to emotional symptoms. The physiological and emotional intertwine with the spiritual as well. Something can start out spiritual and progress to a string of emotional and physical maladies. We should never forget that though we might understand ourselves in terms of certain compartments neatly labeled and organized, the reality is that these are all inter-related. So, even though God’s Spirit is working in us, our experience of that is perceived and experienced by imperfect senses, processed by a fallen brain, colored by emotional scars, all in an imperfect body.

The following summarizes what can be said about depression. 1) Depression can be caused by body chemistry. It can be that simple. 2) Depression can be caused by our spiritual condition, us being incomplete spiritually, or us being disobedient to God. 3) Depression can be caused by emotional damage of some sort that needs to be sorted out. 4) Depression can be caused by a combination of the previous three, and this is most often the case.

Remember the key symptom of depression is that you get stuck emotionally so that you never move “up.” If you experience it, here is some practical advice for you.

1. You should approach it holistically. Explore possible physiological, emotional, and spiritual causes.
2. Against all instincts, open yourself up to others. You must force yourself to do this even though it is the last thing you feel like doing.
3. Start with a visit to your doctor. Tell them plainly about the problem.
4. Talk with trusted friends. Ask them to pray with you and for you. Open up your life to them.
5. Visit a pastor. Be transparent about your spiritual life and the health of your walk with God.
6. On the advice of a pastor, visit a trained Christian counselor or Psychiatrist.
7. Do your assignments. Follow orders from Doctors, suggestions from friends, and advice from counselors. Don’t just expect them to “fix” you.
8. Don’t give up. That will be your instinct!

Now, what about the use of medication? Christians often ask, “Is it right for me to take anti-depressants?” Anti-depressants can be a valuable asset in dealing with your condition. If your issue happens to be a physiological one, they are the only means by which you will gain help. Remember, if any other organ in your body was malfunctioning, you would pray for God’s healing, but you would not think of ignoring medical advice. Christians should feel free to take anti-depressants at a doctor’s direction and under their supervision. Self-medication is always a bad idea. At the same time, just taking a pill may give you relief, but not really solve the problem. Remember how you are made. A physiological imbalance can be triggered by an emotional or spiritual issue. Because you are a fallen human being there are constant spiritual issues that need to be explored. Get help from others to explore them. Get help discerning possible emotional issues as well. There are quite likely emotional wounds festering within you as a result of living with fallen people in a fallen world. The truth carefully and gently applied will set you free from these things. Reach out for help in doing this.

In short, medication can be of significant value even if the root of your depression is not physiological. The relief of the symptoms can give you the mental outlook you need to face emotional and spiritual issues that have you stuck. God may bring you healing in time in these areas that allow you to set aside your medication. But this needs to be done with great care and the advice of your doctor. Always remember the old adage; “He who doctors himself has a fool for a patient.” Don’t medicate yourself, and don’t un-medicate yourself.

There is another aspect of our humanity that relates to this area of depression. It is one that needs to be faced squarely. None of what we have said above negates the fact that we do have ability and responsibility to manage, order, and control our own lives. It seems that in our society we want to simply be happy, or be content, without cultivating the things that lead to happiness and contentment. The reality is that happiness and contentment are not “found” in the sense of suddenly being laid hold of through some experience. Both should be considered fruits of what is planted, cultivated and nurtured. So what is true is that we eat the fruit of what we sow and hoe! If we do not sow and hoe, no amount of prayer, or medication, or thrilling experience will bring us the fruit of contentment or happiness. Counseling, medication, prayer, and the support of others are useful to help us plant and cultivate the things which yield happiness and contentment. But we must structure into our lives foundational things. We must plant and cultivate that which in the end will fill our empty lives.

Our understanding of depression is growing, but there are still pieces of the puzzle that are missing. The medical community isolates and treats physiological causes of depression. Churches acknowledge this and seek in addition to treat spiritual and emotional causes of depression. Counselors seek to get at the roots of emotional causes of depression. The reality is that there are likely multiple factors at work in any depressed individual, all of which must be addressed. Do not lose hope if depression afflicts you. You must reach out.