Posts by Josh
Christians and the Casey Anthony verdict
Yesterday when the Casey Anthony verdict was issued, I half-jokingly sent out the following tweet…
I was driving when the verdict was announced on 104.5 The Zone today and, to be totally transparent, my gut-reaction was simple anger. To a largely-uninformed observer, it at least seems like a openly-dishonest mom killed her toddler for no greater reason than so she could party more freely and got away with it. A few hours later, it seems like there are basically two ways Christians are responding to the verdict…
- People who feel justice was not served and are very angry. To be honest, this was my first response. Many Christians with what appears to be a strong sense of justice are very angry and internally “in knots” (as one person I read put it), feeling that something must be done.
- People chiding other Christians for being angry. Many other Christians with what appears to be a strong sense of grace seem frustrated that Team A would want justice to be served. ”After all, you didn’t get justice but were forgiven for your crimes”, they seem to be saying. ”Who are you to want justice!?“
6 thoughts after some processing and prayer…
- I’m not saying that we know Casey Anthony killed her daughter. We don’t. But that possibility at least appears most likely to people wrestling with emotions so I’m speaking in those terms.
- Christians should care (a lot) about our emotions toward events like these. Cultivating a heart that feels what God feels toward people, things, and circumstances is CENTRAL to following Christ. This is what Scripture means when it praises David as being “a man after God’s own heart”. His holiness was bound up in having emotions like God’s own emotions.
- Grace and Justice are on the same team. Many people seem to think that there are “justice people” who desire crimes/sins to be punished and “grace people” who don’t. The last bullet will make the relationship between grace and justice most clear, but the concept of “grace” can ONLY be understood where there is a concept of “justice”. If someone doesn’t feel that wrongs should be punished (justice), they’ll never feel anything needs to be forgiven (grace).
- It is not wrong to desire justice. As we pointed out in the Osama Bin Laden post, being people who love justice is one of the most often-repeated commands in Scripture and the proportionate punishment of the wicked is part of justice. One of the God-appointed roles of human governments is to “be a terror to” bad conduct (Romans 13:1-7) and to “punish those who do evil” (1 Peter 2), ensuring that justice is done for the oppressed, or in this case “murdered”.
- It is utterly offensive to the gospel NOT to pray for and desire Casey Anthony’s salvation above all else. If our primary thoughts are “I hope she gets what she deserves” instead of “God, please save that girl who needs you“, it betrays us as having hearts that are not captivated by the gospel of grace in Christ. Startlingly, this attitude is more offensive to God than physical murder (Matt 5:21-26).
- If Casey Anthony did murder her daughter, our hearts can rest because justice either already has been done (at the cross) or will be done in the future (hell). Christian forgiveness isn’t a cheap “Ahhh, that’s no big deal, buddy!” forgiveness. It’s a deep and grave forgiveness based on a just God who forgives at the cost of his own Son’s life. Because God is just, all wrongs will be recompensed. If the murderer of Caylee Anthony trusts Christ, then God’s wrath for this murder was poured out on Jesus at The Cross and justice was done. Or if the murderer of Caylee Anthony resists God in unbelief, God’s wrath for this murder will be poured out in the eternal, conscious torment of hell. A deep faith in this God of Justice should give us hearts that can forgive others and rest.
Happy Birthday, Lindsey Mckown!
I feel safe posting this picture (which reveals a little something special about Lindsey’s B-Day) because her husband, Pastor Craig, posted it on his Facebook wall. Lindsey, if the publicity of this picture angers you, I’ll help you punish Craig 
We love you, Lindsey. You’re a great mother and wife as well as having a great husband that I’ve grown to love quickly. HAPPY BIRTHDAY 29 part B!!!
Read MoreLet’s redefine “work” and “obey”
One of the most startling things I’ve seen in the last 16-ish weeks of preaching through Galatians was how the gospel redefines how we think about the words “work” and “obedience” in the Christian life in Galatians 5:6-7. Here’s how we usually think about “work” and “obedience”…
- Work = do better, try harder to do the right things and avoid the wrong things.
- Obedience = actually doing the right thing and avoiding the wrong things.
Right? Pretty standard, I’d say. Not if you’re the Holy Spirit writing Galatians 5. Look at how Paul uses those two words here…
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
What’s incredibly ironic here is that because of the heretic Judaizers, the Galatian church was focusing MORE on “doing better, trying harder” by trusting in their religious performance for salvation. But Paul says that this focus HINDERED them from “obeying the truth”. In two verses, the gospel turns the words “work” and “obey” on their heads for every Christian everywhere. The gospel redefines how we think about work and obedience in the Christian life. Here are the gospel-definitions…
- Work isn’t doing better and trying harder to do the right things and avoid the wrong things. Christian “work” is the hard work of believing (“faith-ing”) the gospel at a deeper level (vs. 6)
- Obedience isn’t doing what the law says to do and not doing what it says not to do because this is what the Galatians were focusing on and Paul says it HINDERED them from “obeying”. Christian “obedience” is actually trusting that God’s love for us isn’t dependent on our obedience, but on Jesus.
Seriously. Is anyone else as mind-blown by this as me???
Read More
A quick note about upcoming HG Network upgrades…
This Sunday we have a meeting for all current HG Leaders and Apprentices as well as anyone interested in future HG Leadership. At this meeting, we’ll be pulling back the curtain on some of the significant upgrades for the HG Network we’ll be experimenting with that we’re REALLY excited about.
A few quick notes for you as you’ll be hearing more about this in the next couple weeks…
- A personal apology: I need to personally apologize to all of our current and past HG Leaders. It was a tremendous oversight for me to allow the most important area of ministry in our church body to have the least amount of staff leadership for the last year. We’re very serious about making disciples and training church leaders and I failed those goals in this decision. Guys, I’m sorry. This was a bad leadership decision and it was my decision. Thanks for your grace.
- A personal “I’m really excited”: What we’re planning right now, in many ways, is the realization of a dream our elders have had for years – a place for significant, challenging, on-the-ground training for kingdom leaders. Yes, we’re raising the bar… a lot. But MAN… this is going to be exciting.
- Have “communicative grace” with us through the process. For a lot of us, our HG is THE relational hub of our entire lives so it’s scary to hear that anything is getting adjusted. Please have “communicative grace” with us as we experiment with the upgrades. Humbly and lovingly communicate with us, but also give us grace if something is difficult or we make a mistake… because we will.
- Hold off on questions for a couple of weeks. Your HG Leaders will be communicating with you sometime next week about what the summer plan is and what’s coming. You’ll do us an incredible favor by holding off on questions until we get a chance to communicate church-wide after the HG’s have all been filled in next week.
That’s my “quick note” for today 
Guys, the future is going to be amazing. This is so fun right now
Name that Bridger.
I’ve been out of the loop for a week so I get two blog posts this Monday.
I can’t believe I haven’t posted this before now. A few months ago I was sent these incriminating photos of a Bridge hero in his… well… “vintage” years. Let’s play “Name That Bridger!” Who will be the first person to identify this Bridge hero in his vintage years?
Also, there are many things to admire here. Tell us your favorite thing about this picture
More Information
CLICK HERE