Why Did Pastor Mark and Grace Write Real Marriage?

Here is a clip of Real Marriage session #1.  We are looking forward to the start of our marriage course on Feb. 3rd.  Enjoy.

What's holding you back? (John 3:22-36)

In the last service at Hill Country, we took a close look at John 3:22-36.  One of the overriding themes in this section of scripture is how selfish ambition and jealousy can blind us from what we are called to carry out in our walk with God.  I ask a couple questions at the end of each sermon for our people to contemplate and pray over, and this week one of those questions was "In what areas have we allowed jealousy (or any other unhealthy feeling) to hamper our growth in Christ?"
What I've discovered in my brief time as a pastor is that everyone struggles with this.  We are still sinful people that fight against sinful flesh, and one of the hardest things to overcome is feelings of anger, jealousy, resentment and hurt.  We tend to want to hold on to grudges, to slights real or perceived.  We tend to want justice for others and grace for ourselves.  This is a very difficult thing to deal with.

From a personal perspective, I was struggling with these same issues and what it took for me to get straightened out was the loving and kind but firm words of a fellow brother that I was in the wrong with my lack of forgiveness and for taking my focus off of what I was supposed to be doing, allowing these feelings to get in the way of me being a proper shepherd.  This was a difficult thing to hear, but I needed it desperately.  This is why church discipline is of vital importance.  Where would I be today without that brother's correction?  Bitterness continues to fester and effect every aspect of our lives, and without the heart of forgiveness, we cannot move forward.
John the Baptist's disciples were jealous of the success of Jesus' ministry, even though John himself continuously pointed out that his ministry was all about Jesus!  John rejoiced in the fact his ministry was decreasing and His was increasing, but his disciples were blind by selfish ambition.  John corrected them, then faded into the background gladly.  Are we willing to allow our ministry to run it's course and then fade into the background?  Are we the focus of our ministry or is He the focus?  We strive to make all things about Him, and carefully get rid of anything that takes that focus off of Him and puts it elsewhere.  If our goal is to make a big deal about Jesus, then our lives will reflect that reality.  It's when we allow ourselves to get puffed up and conceited that we become the hypocrites that Jesus loathed.

So the question is "What's holding you back?"  What do you have to repent for today?  What ill feelings are you harboring that is affecting your walk with Him?

We start chapter 4 this week.  Our new facility is beautiful and we're very blessed to be able to worship in such a place.  Our service starts at 10:30 with the message, coffee is served at 10.  Won't you come join us?

5 Evangelical Myths of Half Truths (RC Sproul Jr.)

RC Sproul Jr. has influenced much of my walk with Christ.  He is family-integrated, a church-planter, and a theologian.  The following is from his blog found here.

The Kingdom Notes

by RC Sproul Jr. 

Five Evangelical Myths or Half Truths

It can happen even in careful systematic theology. How much more so in popular parlance? We take what the Bible actually teaches, rephrase it so we can understand it, and end up believing our own phrasing, rather than the actual biblical truth.  It’s not malicious, but it is dangerous. What follows are five common thoughts, common expressions, within the evangelical church that just aren’t so.

“All sins are equal in the sight of God.” Well, no. It is true enough that every sin is worthy of God’s eternal wrath. It is true enough that if we have broken part of the law we have broken the law (James actually says this.) It is true enough that unjust anger is a violation of the commandment against murder (Jesus actually says this.) None of this, however, means all sins are equal in the sight of God. To say that because all sins deserve eternal wrath means they are all equal is like saying that all numbers over 100 are equal. The truth is that Jesus said of the Pharisees that while they rightly tithed their mint and their cumin, they neglected the weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23). No sin is weightless, but some weigh more than others.

“Hell is the absence of God.” Well, no. If God is omnipresent, and He is, is there anywhere He can not be? David understood this, and thus affirmed, “If I make my bed in Sheol, Thou art there” (Psalm 139:8). Hell isn’t the absence of God, but the presence of His wrath.  God is there, but His grace, His kindness, His peace are not. God is the great horror of hell.

“Jesus saves us from our sins.” Well, no. It is absolutely true that Jesus saves us. When we face trouble, He is the one we should be crying out to for deliverance. But the great problem with our sins isn’t our sins, but the wrath of God. The trouble I need to be delivered from is the wrath of God. Hell is not my sins, but the wrath of God. We don’t need to be saved from our sins. We need to be saved from the wrath due for our sins.

“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Well, not if your name is Esau. Okay, there certainly is a kind of universal love that God has for all mankind. And certainly all those who repent and believe will be blessed. And certainly God calls all men everywhere to repent. But it is also true that God has prepared vessels for destruction (Romans 9:22). Being prepared for destruction likely wouldn’t be considered “wonderful” by anyone. We don’t know God’s hidden plans, and thus should preach the gospel to all the world. But we shouldn’t, in so preaching, promise what He hasn’t promised.

“Money is the root of all evil.” Well, no. Actually this one is wrong on two counts. First, the text (I Timothy 6:10) tells us that it is the love of money, not money, and that it is all sorts of evil, not all evil. If money were the root of all evil, all we would need to do to bring paradise on earth would be to have no more money. If money were the root of all evil, the problem would be out there, rather than in our hearts. Sin is not an it problem, but an us problem.

The devil isn’t lazy. He will take the breaks we give him. Myths and half-truths are perfect opportunities for us to miss who we are, who God is, and how He reconciles His own to Himself.  Perhaps were we more faithful to His Word, we might just be more faithful.

We are almost set to launch our new and upgraded website.  It will still be at the same address, but way more bells and whistles.  Our church is encouraged in this new year as more and more people are asking very good questions and are searching for something more than the status quo.  We at Hill Country live by the Word of God, and the motto of "semper reformanda", Latin for "always reforming".  We strive to offer the best biblical teaching we can, to come along side fellow followers of Christ, and to preach the Word to the lost so that they might have salvation in Him.