Archives For Christian Living

Dealing with People Who Don’t Listen: 5 Practical Ways to Demonstrate the Spirit

Luke Geraty —  April 9, 2013 — 4 Comments

5 Ways to Deal w/ Difficult PeopleWhen I first started pastoring, I was told by numerous people that it would take a number of years before people would respect my views. In many ways, the first few years of serving as a pastor is spent earning people’s trust. Can you be trusted? Will you be leaving soon? Are you really one of us or are you just someone who yells at us every week? Those are the types of questions initially running subtly through the minds of many people. So I just buckled up and focused on doing what I thought pastors do… pray, teach the Bible, answer people’s questions, and help where I could.

After a few years of being at Trinity Christian Fellowship, I noticed a peculiar thing happen. It took a few years for our church to actually start growing, but as new people started attending our church, I was their pastor. Yes, you read that right. I wasn’t their interim pastor or just their preacher, I noticed that I was a functional pastoral person in their life. They actually came to me with their problems and wanted counseling, as scary as that might sound. It was actually a bit overwhelming because it felt like it happened overnight. I went from spending all week studying my Bible and praying and having very little interaction with people problems to constantly hearing about broken marriages and relationship issues and parenting problems. And then, a little later, people who had been in our community for awhile transitioned from approaching me in a distant way to allowing me to pastor them too. These people, as I understand it, simply came to a place where they could trust me and understood that I was there to help.

But not everyone did and not everyone does.
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In Charismatic Theology, Christian Living, Conflict Resolution, Leadership , , ,
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You Might be a Pharisee if…

Luke Geraty —  January 10, 2013 — 2 Comments

Interested in a quick and easy way to reject a person who you don’t see eye to eye with? It’s quite simple… just call them a pharisee. If you think someone is being “legalistic,” than they are just a pharisee. If someone won’t embrace the “new move of God,” than they have a “pharisee spirit.” If someone likes traditions or deep high-church liturgy, they are a pharisee. It’s all the rage these days, you see, to simply call someone a pharisee if you don’t agree with them or they don’t agree with you. And there’s bonus points if you both call each other pharisees, especially if you get the first shot in.

Seriously, I think I’ve heard this throughout most of my life. Any time you wanted to dismiss someone’s opinion, you simply had to call them a pharisee. Never mind the fact that most of the time I think this was probably just a self-righteous way of trying to take a christological higher ground. After all, Jesus was 100% opposed to the pharisees because the pharisees were all so evil, right? So despite the fact that there’s a great deal of pride behind this self-righteous passive aggressive thinking, it’s also a bit misleading in regards to who the pharisees actually were.

You might be a pharisee if… Continue Reading…

In Christian Living, Conflict Resolution, New Testament , , , ,
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5 Ideas that Changed the Way that I Serve as a Pastor

Luke Geraty —  November 26, 2012 — 2 Comments

Victor Hugo wrote,

“One can resist the invasion of armies; one cannot resist the invasion of ideas.”

If that were true in the 1870′s, how much more accurate is it now! We are an influenced people. Television, radio, newspaper, the Internet, and so much more is constantly bombarding us with new ideas. In many ways this is unfortunate because our culture has increasingly given up critical thinking. Thus, whatever is seen or heard is assumed to be “gospel truth,” even though much of what we see or hear is simply one person’s opinion. That’s why I often find myself thinking, “Just the facts, ma’am.”

Ideas are powerful things, as Hugo eloquently stated. And while many of the ideas that I hear and see aren’t always that helpful, there have been some extremely influential ideas that have shaped my thinking, which has flowed into my praxis. I thought I’d share with you five ideas that literally changed the way I thought.
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In Christian Living, Leadership , ,
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Being Pressed Down Builds Character for Jesus’ Followers

Luke Geraty —  October 3, 2012 — Leave a comment

This morning our family started reading the Book of Exodus. I’m excited for us to recall the amazing story of God’s rescuing Israel from slavery in Egypt. What a wonderful picture of the sovereign work of God on behalf of sinners. God’s faithfulness to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is carried forward to a people who, if we’re honest, does not necessarily “deserve” to be rescued (if you read through Exodus, you’ll understand why I say that).

In chapter one, we find that “the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them” (v.7). I wonder if this is the author’s way of demonstrating that the commission given to the Patriarchs to be fruitful and multiply was continuing to take place (cf. Gen. 1:28; 9:1, 6-7; 12:2-3; 17:2, 6, 8; 22:17-18; 26:3-4, 24; 28:3-4; 35:11-12; 47:27; also see G. K. Beale’s JETS article, “Eden, The Temple, and the Church’s Mission in the New Creation”).
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In Biblical Theology, Christian Living, Devotionals, New Testament, Old Testament , , , ,
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A Plea to Parents: Teach & Model Church Participation

Luke Geraty —  September 29, 2012 — 1 Comment

I don’t want this post to come across as passive aggressive, so let me make several clarifications of what this is not:

  • This is not addressed to anyone in particular. I have no individual or couple in mind.
  • This is not intended to manipulate anyone into conforming to some sort of unwritten code.

Please accept this opportunity for me to take off my theologian hat and speak to you as a parent who also happens to be a follower of Jesus. To clarify, I’m a follower of Jesus who happens to be a parent and I do believe that having that sort of order helps me work out an important priority (more on that shortly). Parenting is hard work, but so is following Jesus. If it weren’t for his grace and the work of the Spirit, I’d be unable to do both of those things with any sort of effectiveness.

I’ve only been parenting for nine years, so I’m no expert. I have, however, read a lot of books on the subject and have spent a lot of time doing counseling related to marriage and parenting. On top of that, I’ve had the chance to kind of get a bird’s eye view of parenting as it happens in churches here in the western world (i.e., the U.S.). One of the biggest problems facing parents today: no vision.
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In Christian Living, Ecclesiology, Family, Parenting , ,
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Why We Don’t Need a Second-Blessing Theology (But We Do Need a Third- and Fouth- and Fifth-)

Luke Geraty —  September 20, 2012 — Leave a comment

D. A. Carson writes,

“In short, I see biblical support for the thesis that although all true believers have received the Holy Spirit and have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, nevertheless the Holy Spirit is not necessarily poured out on each individual Christian in precisely equivalent quantities (if I may use the language of quantity inherent in the metaphor of “filling”). How else can we explain the peculiar unction that characterizes the service of some relatively unprepossessing ministers?

Although I find no biblical support for a second-blessing theology, I do find support for a second-, third-, fourth-, or fifth-blessing theology.

Although I find no charisma biblically established as the criterion of a second enduement of the Spirit, I do find that there are degrees of unction, blessing, service, and holy joy, along with some more currently celebrated gifts, associated with those whose hearts have been specially touched by the sovereign God.

Although I think it extremely dangerous to pursue a second blessing attested by tongues, I think it no less dangerous not to pant after God at all, and to be satisfied with a merely creedal Christianity that is kosher but complacent, orthodox but ossified, sound but soundly asleep. (Showing the Spirit, 160).”

HT: Kevin DeYoung

In Charismatic Theology, Christian Living, Pneumatology , , , ,
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10 Things to Ask Yourself before You Give

Able Baker —  August 30, 2012 — 6 Comments

Yesterday I was talking with a friend about giving. While talking with him I realized there is a lot to consider when you feel you are ready to give something to someone. Here is a list of things to ask yourself before making the decision to give something to someone. I am interested in what you think and what you might add to this list.

  1. Avoid giving in order to make yourself feel better.
  2. Don’t give with strings attached.
  3. In most cases giving should cost you something. What will this cost you?
  4. Make sure you can give in a way that restores or maintains a person’s dignity.
  5. Don’t give people who need something that works, something that needs work.
  6. Don’t give someone something they can’t afford to keep.
  7. If you can’t let go of ownership don’t give it away.
  8. Give locally before you give globally.
  9. If you cannot receive a gift well you probably can’t give a gift well.
  10. Many times we can give our enemies what they will not give us.
In Christian Living, Money , ,
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Small Town Pastor: No Feedback IS Feedback!

Luke Geraty —  August 29, 2012 — 2 Comments

Being a leader can be really disheartening. The amount of slander and criticism that pastors go through has caused thousands of early retirements, I’m sure. Bearing the brunt of people’s focused aggression when you are doing your best to serve God and love people has caused more than one relapse into a former life of substance abuse and crime, I’m convinced.

Leaders can get an overload of “feedback” that is often just plain mean-spirited criticism. When the sound is “to loud” or the preaching is “to long” or the message doesn’t promote someone’s pet doctrines, or, even worse, when the sermon does address someone’s pet doctrines (in a negative light), people often feel absolutely zero reservation in letting leaders know their displeasure. Yes, the comment box is FULL! I, of course, experience none of these tendencies and can only pretend to relate to you pastors who are so stressed out and discouraged. *note to readers, please have your sarcasm detectors fully engaged*

But there’s a flip side to being a leader. Sometimes we don’t receive any feedback and we spend a lot of our time wondering what people think. Was that sermon helpful? Were those phone calls deemed unimportant? Did God use the ministry event in a positive way? Has all of the counseling and time invested bone unnoticed? At the end of the day, a lot of leaders are extremely frustrated because no one says anything or has any opinions or provides any feedback on anything! 

It’s really frustrating. I’m not sure what’s worse, mean-spirited criticism or no feedback. Feel free to share your thoughts on that one.

Anyway, a few months ago I was meeting with some leaders and they were giving me updates on how their ministry teams were going. One of the leaders started to express their frustration at the “no feedback” situation. After explaining the feelings involved with not having any clue about which way was up or down, they ended their update by saying:

“I guess no feedback is good though. No one is complaining so everyone must be happy.”

That’s when I, and several others, all about fell over in our chairs. Here’s why…
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In Christian Living, Church Planting, Conflict Resolution, Leadership, Small Town Church , ,
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“And it seems some people finished their tests in Seminary.”

Able Baker —  August 28, 2012 — 5 Comments

I recently received a letter from a pastor friend who warned me that I was being too critical of the Church lately on my blog.  The person said “I guess my big concern is that much of your criticism is leveled at Christians and the church, and while this may be deserved at certain points it will inevitably breed mistrust of you and your ministry, and ultimately breed antagonism toward Christ’s dear bride.”

Just a theory…
I wonder why the word theory is not used more among evangelicals. A theory is defined by one source as…

a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena: Einstein’s theory of relativity.

All one needs to do is pick up a solid book on Christian history and one will clearly see that we the church are beautifully pluralistic in our faith and practice because we are figuring it out as we go. Every major doctrine we hold to as biblical usually has more than three solid ways of seeing it and they have all been arrived at through divinely ordained conversation or argumentation.  I have had the all-to-naive assumption that Christian leaders, for the most part, believe that subjects like Atonement, Trinity, bibliology, etc. are all theories from our human end.  I have learned the hard way that this is not the case… to many theologians, theory is the enemy of faith.
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In Christian Living, Leadership , , , ,
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Striking the Balance Between Comfort & False Conversion

Luke Geraty —  August 19, 2012 — 6 Comments


As an advocate of what is essentially a Reformed perspective regarding issues related to soteriology, I fully subscribe to the idea that those whom God has chosen for salvation shall, in the end, be saved. I would gladly affirm what the Westminster Confessional describes concerning the Perseverance and Preservation of the Saints.

“They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. (Phil. 1:6, 2 Pet. 1:10, 1 John 3:9, 1 Pet. 1:5,9)” (Westminster Confession of Faith, XVII)

But I’m not a fan of the title “eternal security” because I don’t believe it rightly emphasizes the importance of both God’s sovereign work in carrying us to completion along with the fact that people are responsible to respond to God’s grace. And I absolutely deplore the term “once saved, always saved” because it has been used to undermine the biblical concept of sanctification and has polluted the water around the issue of salvation. Frankly, there have been innumerable people who have walked around believing that they can live however the want while doing whatever they want because they “made a decision” at some point and were “saved.” This is where I find a lot to commend with Scot McKnight’s recent book, The King Jesus Gospel. Yes, you can be a “Calvinist” and still love much of McKnight’s work and even say, “Amen” to his Jesus-centered theological constructs… especially when the kingdom of God is so prevalent in his writings!
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In Biblical Counseling, Christian Living, Gospel, Missional, Reformed Theology, Soteriology , , , , , , ,
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Heinrich Bullinger on Justification

Luke Geraty —  August 13, 2012 — 6 Comments

Heinrich Bullinger, the 16th century Swiss Reformer, wrote a book with a typically long title:

“The grace of God that justifies us for the sake of Christ through faith alone, without good works, while faith meanwhile abounds in good works.”

Would you agree or disagree with this definition of Justification?

In Christian Living, Gospel, Reformed Theology, Systematic Theology , ,
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The Chick-Fil-A Hoopla

Luke Geraty —  August 1, 2012 — 4 Comments

So I was going to write a long post about what I thought concerning today’s “Support Chick-Fil-A” reverse boycott. I planned on explaining that I’m sure the intentions of those who started this idea and promoted it and took part in it were probably nothing but good. I was going to say that if I were near a Chick-Fil-A, I might have even got myself a sandwich (maybe… not sure… I’d have thought that one through a bit). I was going to make sure to emphasize that I believe Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-Fil-A, should be able to share his opinion and not have to worry about some radical anti-constitutional politician threaten to keep his business out of a certain city. I thought I’d probably then spend some time writing about why I think Christians should avoid getting all public with their participation in this “Support Chick-Fil-A” day because I think it will end up hurting the cause of Christ, especially amongst the LGBTQ community, and others who are just supportive of that communities rights and feelings.

But then I read a recent post by Barnabas Piper, “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day: A bold mistake.”

Piper’s post has everything in it that I want to say, so I’m going to refer you readers to it. It’s excellent. For those of you who are too lazy or not yet convinced it’s worth your time, he writes,

“Homosexuality is one of the most defining, contentious, and complex issues facing this generation of the church. We cannot sacrifice our biblical convictions but neither can we sacrifice the church’s ability to serve people of opposing viewpoints and lifestyles. The 452,000 people supporting Chick-fil-A are delivering more than one message, and the message the homosexual community and its supporters see is “us versus you.” The event also sends a message of separatism and territorialism in the “reclaiming” of those restaurants that are being boycotted, a collective action easily seen as a shaking of the fist or a wagging of the finger.”

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In Across the Web, Apologetics, Christian Living, Gospel, Missional , ,
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Encourage Pastors by Giving Up Discouraging Language!

Luke Geraty —  July 29, 2012 — 3 Comments


I love pastors. In fact, I think pastors get a bad rap because of the foolish or immoral acts of a few. Sometimes it seems that our culture just assumes that the vast majority of pastors are all about manipulating people and making a lot of money. Yet the pastors that I know and spend time with are deeply committed to the gospel and building up the Body of Christ. Sure, there’s a bad apple here and there, but that’s not the normal.

There are virtually thousands upon thousands of pastors who have not had the opportunity to attend seminary or theological training who are simply doing all that they can to glorify God. And that’s not all bad. Theological education can be great, but more important is a passion for the kingdom of God and a commitment to learn.

So I have in mind those pastors who, despite no formal theological training, are laboring for the Lord. There’s so many of you. I hope you realize how important you are to the building up of the church. You are in Africa, Asia, South & Central America, North America, and Europe… and God is using you. Bless you. I appreciate you and pray for you.
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In Christian Living, Ecclesiology, Leadership , , ,
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What are the Privileges of Believers?

Luke Geraty —  July 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

Have you ever stopped to think about the privileges that believers in Christ have? Sometimes I think we take what we have for granted, so it’s helpful to have a reminder. Tonight I was reading through John Owen’s Lesser Catechism and found a great answer to our question. Owen has six general privileges for us to consider:

  • Union with Christ;
  • Adoption of children;
  • Communion of saints;
  • Right to the seals of the new covenant (sacraments);
  • Christian liberty;
  • Resurrection of the body to life eternal.

This echoes John Calvin, who writes:

“We must now see in what way we become possessed of the blessings which God has bestowed on his only-begotten Son, not for private use, but to enrich the poor and needy. And the first thing to be attended to is, that so long as we are without Christ and separated from him, nothing which he suffered and did for the salvation of the human race is of the least benefit to us. To communicate to us the blessings which he received from the Father, he must become ours and dwell in us.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.1.1)

Union with Christ is far more central to our Christian experience than we often give credit.

In Christian Living, Christology, Gospel, John Calvin, Systematic Theology , , ,
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Thoughts on the Vineyard “Healthy Lives, Leaders, & Churches” Conference (Duluth, MN)

Luke Geraty —  July 22, 2012 — 15 Comments

Last week I had the opportunity to head to attend the  “Healthy Lives, Leaders, & Churches” conference,  hosted by the Duluth Vineyard, featuring Phil and Janet Strout. Phil is the new Vineyard USA nation director, so I was looking forward to hearing Phil cast vision for the future and to especially hear his heart.

I found the conference to be extremely encouraging, challenging, and somewhat concerning. But those feelings where all good for my soul and I think good to work through and reflect on.
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In Charismatic Theology, Christian Living, The Kingdom of God, The Vineyard Movement
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“I need to schedule better… starting in two week.”

Luke Geraty —  July 11, 2012 — 1 Comment

This has been the busiest summer I’ve had in quite a few years. Summers are usually nice and relaxing. Not this year. This year has been busy with personal stuff and busy with church stuff. I define “stuff” in a myriad of ways, but you get my point.

Tomorrow morning my family is driving up to Duluth to attend a Vineyard conference at the Duluth Vineyard. We’ll be gone from Thursday until Saturday and then next week, on Tuesday, I’m heading to Philadelphia to speak at and attend the annual ACRC conference. I basically have two weeks of being busy, but I’m thinking a lot about whether that is something I can honestly say is going to change after those two weeks are up.

At the end of the day, I realize more than ever that I need to become better at (1) scheduling and (2) guarding my schedule. I think I waste a lot of time on things and in meetings that I probably don’t need to do. I need to prioritize better.

Yesterday I was thinking a lot about this and I think the Lord led me to the conclusion that I tend to try and fix people’s problems more often than I can physically do. Midnight phone calls and last minute requests to meet have controlled so much of my time that I think I’m probably tireder and more stressed out than I should be.

And whose fault is that? Mine. I can only take responsibility for my own actions.

So in two weeks… I’m making some changes… even though that sounds ridiculous (why not start now, right?).

But I am… you’ll see.

In Christian Living, General
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“What Does the Holy Spirit Do?”

Luke Geraty —  June 6, 2012 — Leave a comment

Gordon D. Fee writes,

“What does the Holy Spirit do? He acts as a divine personal agent in myriad ways. The Spirit searches all things (1 Cor 2:10), knows the mind of God (1 Cor 2:11), teaches the content of the gospel to believers (1 Cor 2:13), dwells among or within believers (Rom 8:11; 1 Cor 3:16; 2 Tim 1:14), accomplishes all things (1 Cor 12:11), gives life to those who believe (2 Cor 3:6), cries out from within our hearts (Gal 4:6), leads us in the ways of God (Rom 8:14; Gal 5:18), bears witness with our own spirits (Rom 8:16), has desires that are in opposition to the flesh (Gal 5:17), helps us in our weakness (Rom 8:26), intercedes on our behalf (Rom 8:26-27), strengthens believers (Eph 3:16) and is grieved by our sinfulness (Eph 4:30). Moreover, the fruit of the Spirit’s indwelling are the personal attributes of God (Gal 5:22-23).” (“On Getting the Spirit Back into Spirituality,” in Life in the Spirit: Spiritual Formation in Theological Perspective, 41)

Not sure if a better summary could be written.

In Christian Living, Pneumatology, Systematic Theology , , , ,
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“We Keep Our Hair Long Because it Glorifies God”

Luke Geraty —  June 1, 2012 — 7 Comments

Does the Bible teach that women shouldn’t cut their hair and that God requires a woman’s hair to be long? My wife and I were discussing this today.

Now as a point of clarification, I have encountered a lot of people over the years who interpret Scripture this way who I believe are Christians. It’s not that I am judging their salvation or their intentions. I simply cannot go along with an interpretation of Scripture that has so many problematic issues! Why? Simple…

This is a hermeneutical disaster! Yet there are entire denominations and churches that read Scripture in the same way and come to the same conclusions. Unfortunately, this is a dangerous way of misreading the Bible.
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In Christian Living, Gender Issues, Hermeneutics, New Testament, Practical Theology
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Speaking in Tongues as Spiritual Warfare?

Luke Geraty —  May 21, 2012 — 7 Comments

One of the theological backdrops to Pauline theology would be the Old Testament, right? After all, the apostle Paul quotes the OT quite a bit as an established authority for the early Christian communities (e.g., Rom. 1:17; 2:24; 3:4, 10; 1 Cor. 9:9; 14:21, etc.). So there’s really no doubt that Paul was thoroughly aware of the Hebrew Scriptures since it was common for Jews to be saturated in it, especially given that he was a Pharisee (Phil. 3:5).

This has got me thinking about whether or not there is a connection between Paul’s understanding of the nature of speaking in tongues and the OT narrative regarding how Jehoshaphat and the rest of Judah were delivered from the attack of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites by God (2 Chronicles 20:1-30). Furthermore, I wonder if this connects the gift of tongues (and interpretation!) with activity related to spiritual warfare. Here’s why:

  • We see a picture of God’s people, led by king Jehoshaphat, praying to God for salvation from the attacking armies (2 Chr. 20:5-12) and we see a picture of Paul describing the gift of speaking in tongues as a Holy Spirit inspired act of prayer (1 Cor. 14:2).
  • We see a picture of Judah singing praise to God (2 Chr. 20:21-22) and we see a picture of Paul describing tongues as Holy Spirit inspired praise (1 Cor. 14:15).
  • We see a picture of Judah giving thanks to God (2 Chr. 20:21) and we see a picture of Paul describing tongues as Holy Spirit inspired thanks-giving (1 Cor. 14:16).

I wonder if there is a connection, or if this is just a coincidence. What do you think?

In Charismatic Theology, Christian Living, Spiritual Warfare , ,
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“Always talking about their Jesus”…

Luke Geraty —  May 15, 2012 — Leave a comment

Bruce Shelley writes,

“Once the Romans discovered what the Christians were up to they were confronted by the problem of toleration in a more exhasperating form than even the Jews had presented. The Jews, after all, were “a sort of closed corporation, a people set apart from others by the mark of circumcision, who lived and worshiped largely by themselves, and did no active proselyting.” The Christians, on the other hand, were always talking about their Jesus. They were out to make Christians of the entire population of the empire, and the rapidity of their spread showed that this was no idle dream. Not only did they, like the Jews, refuse to worship the emperor as a living god, but they were doing their utmost to convince every subject of the emperor to join them in their refusal. From time to time, then, Christians felt the wrath of the empire and it’s people.” (Church History in Plain Language, 38)

In Christian Living, Church History
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Contextualizing Jesus Cleansing of the Temple…

Luke Geraty —  March 28, 2012 — 3 Comments

In preparation for this Sunday, I have been working through portions of Matthew 21. This is the passage dealing with Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple money-changers. Jesus kicked them out of the outer courts and this text is widely known and generally connected to Holy Week.

Anyway, I found a really interesting way of connecting the principles behind Jesus zeal (turning over tables and rebuking money-changers) in the New American Commentary, Matthew, by Craig L. Blomberg:

“Contemporary application becomes even more urgent in view of the nature of the religious corruption in this passage—financial profit at the expense of the disenfranchised of society. How many millions of dollars are poured annually into our church buildings and activities and thereby taken away from the poorest and neediest of our world? Instead of always embarking on costly building campaigns, many churches need to consider planting new congregations, meeting in alternate sites, adding additional times of worship, and transferring active members to dying churches to infuse new life in them.”

What do you think? This sure seems counter-cultural to how many churches approach issues related to building and growing, etc.

In Christian Living, Christology, Church Planting, Ecclesiology, New Testament , ,
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