MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE: WHAT DOES GOD’S WORD REALLY SAY?

Before getting into this article, I think it is very important to stress something: God is a God of mercy.  Though the words you will read might cut you to pieces, please know that God does not want to leave you there.  His desire is to pour out His grace and mercy.  This has always been His desire.  However, God is also a God of Judgment.  The prerequisite to Him being able to pour out His grace and mercy is your repentance.  And in order to get you to that place, He will cut you in pieces with His prophets, kill you with the words of His mouth and flash His judgments upon you like lightning. For He desires mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.  (See Hosea 6:5-6)

Jesus came to proclaim this truth.  In Matthew 12:17-20, he quoted Isaiah, saying, “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.  He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.  A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.”  Just what , exactly, does that mean?  I’ll tell you what it means.  God has to cut us to pieces with His prophets, with His Word, and with His judgments, so that we can have the victory.  What is the victory?  Simple.  It is when we come to God, with a broken and contrite heart, confess who we really are and repent.  The moment you do that, you are forgiven.  Yes!  The moment you come to Him, everything changes!  You are forgiven.  Amen!

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE: WHAT DOES GOD’S WORD REALLY SAY?

Over the past couple of years, I have written several articles on how dangerous dating can be.  I wasn’t the first to say it, but over and over, I stressed that dating is nothing more than practice for divorce.  Unfortunately, both of these practices have become far too common in our culture.  And what is even sadder is that, when you examine the church, you will see that nothing changes.  As someone whose childhood was stricken with divorce, I cannot stress enough, the importance of a family that realizes that divorce is not an option.

Last Thursday, I visited what is already being labeled an “outpouring” at Morning Star Ministries in Fort Mill, SC.  Now, this article is not about this so-called outpouring, so I won’t spend time exposing all of the falsehood behind this movement.  But there is one thing that stands out above all others.  That being the lifting up of Todd Bentley; a man who cheated on his wife and then ran off with his adulteress; leaving behind his wife and three children.  This is a tragic thing.  It is a horrible thing; and totally tramples the marriage covenant.

I have a feeling that this “outpouring” will only grow from here, as they are bent on pumping it up into something that it is not.  This, I am sure, will put me in the position to explain to many why this is so degrading to biblical truth.  So, this article, more than anything, is meant to be a reference to those who don’t quite understand what the Bible truly says about marriage and divorce.  The best part about this is that the Bible is very clear on this issue.  So, let’s take a look at what the word of God truly says about it.

Malachi 2:10-16 says:

10 Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?

11 Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD cut him off from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings offerings to the LORD Almighty.

13 Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

15 Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring.  So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

16 “I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the LORD Almighty.  So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

Good places to cross reference this are Ezra and Nehemiah.  When the people of Judah came back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, they started divorcing the wives of their youth and marrying pagan wives.  So, God rebuked them.  It doesn’t get much clearer than verse sixteen.  God said, “I hate divorce.”

It’s unfortunate that we don’t hear this passage of scripture preached in churches today.  The reason it is not probably has to do with the fact that the preacher would likely be stepping on the toes of around half of his congregation.  That doesn’t keep him from preaching from Malachi chapter three, on tithing though does it?  Hmmm….that’s strange isn’t it?  Well, that’s another message altogether.

Let’s move on to the New Testament so you can see what Jesus had to say about this issue.  But, just so you know that God has not changed his stance on this, take a look at chapter three, verse six of Malachi, which says, “I the Lord do not change.”

So we know that God hates divorce, right?  Then, why is it we, as the church, are so accepting of the practice?  I’ll tell you why.  It is because of what has become known as “the exception clause.”  The exception clause is found in Matthew 5:31-32 and Matthew 19:1-12.  Now it is very important that you understand that Matthew was writing to the Jews, who were the only group of people that practiced “betrothal.”  That is why “the exception clause” is not found in the other synoptic gospels.  I’ll explain that later.  We will visit both of these passages from Matthew, as well as the parallel passages on divorce, and we will find that there really are no exceptions. Divorce is never, under any circumstances, permissible.

Let’s start with Matthew 5:31-32:

31″It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness (porneia), causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery (moicheia).

You’ll notice that I added the greek in this passage of scripture so we can better talk about the correct translation of a couple of words.

At first glance, it might seem that Jesus is contradicting what God said in Malachi 2.  How is it that Jesus lends legitimacy to something that God hates?  To answer that question, we have to first understand the book of Matthew.

First of all, unlike the other synoptic gospels, Matthew was written specifically to the Jews.  Why is that relevant?  Well, because the Jews had a practice called betrothal.  Betrothal was a legally binding contract, between a young man and woman, who had made a pledge to get married.  It’s kind of like an engagement, but far more binding.  With a betrothal, the only way out was if it were found that the woman were not a virgin.  In that case, the husband would write his betrothed wife a certificate of divorce.

The reason this is important is that Matthew uses a word in the exception clause that deals with breaking a betrothal, not a marriage.  He uses the greek word, “porneia” which means, “fornication.”  Jesus’ exact words were, “But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for fornication (porneia), causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery (moicheia).

For some reason this is confusing to many Pastors.  I don’t understand this, but I often hear something like this, “Oh, divorce is unacceptable, except in the case of adultery…or fornication.”  Hold on a second!  Jesus did not lump those words together and neither can we!  He was very clear in what He said.  Porneia means fornication and moicheia means adultery.  He used both words in the same sentence.  He meant what He said and He said what He meant.  And He never said that adultery is grounds for divorce.

To understand this better, let’s turn to Matthew 1:18-25:

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

First, notice in verse eighteen that Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph.  But, then look at verse nineteen.  The text says that Joseph is already her husband.  That’s how it worked with betrothals.  They were already seen as husband and wife, but they had not come together in marriage yet.  They would go through a year long betrothal period, when the husband would go and prepare a place for her.  Then, after a year they would have the marriage ceremony and the two would become one flesh.

It is vitally important to see that Joseph was going to “divorce” Mary.  That’s not a mistake.  That is exactly what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:31-32 and Matthew 19:1-12.  And the only reason Matthew even mentioned the exception clause was because he knew his audience (the Jews) would understand it.  And, of course, because Matthew is the only gospel writer that talks about the marriage of Mary and Joseph.

I want to make sure that you see this clearly.  So, let’s look at the parallel passages of this in Mark and Luke.

Mark 10:11-12 says:

“He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

Luke 16:18 says:

“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

Do you see how, if these were the only two passages about divorce, than there would be no exceptions?  Hopefully, you now understand why Matthew is different.  Again, it is because he was writing to the Jews.

The exception clause is also found in Matthew 19:1-12, so let’s take a look at that:

1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

The only thing covered here, that we haven’t already talked about is the Pharisees’ claim that Moses gave permission for a man to divorce his wife.  Jesus answers this very clearly in verse eight and nine.  Notice he said that Moses permitted them to divorce their wives because of their hard hearts.  He didn’t say that God permitted this.  He again says that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness (again, that means fornication or sex before marriage—not adultery), and marries another woman commits adultery.

So, now we have clarified what Jesus said about divorce, let’s look at what Paul said about it.  There is another passage that is used by those who would argue that divorce is acceptable.  They use 1 Corinthians 7:15 to say that God would permit you to divorce your spouse if he/she is an unbeliever.  That’s not true at all and a simple reading of this verse, in context, will clearly show this.

Look at 1 Corinthians 7:10-16:

10To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

12To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

A simple reading of this verse in context clearly shows that Paul did not permit divorce, despite a spouse being a non-believer.  All verse fifteen says is that if your spouse leaves, let him or her leave.  It says nothing about divorce.   You run into this all the time though.  A non-believing spouse leaves, and the believer just signs the papers and gets a divorce.  That is not permissible.  You are to remain faithful to the covenant you made.  If your spouse leaves, there is nothing you can do about it.  But you need to just stay faithful to the covenant you made.  Don’t get a divorce.

So, there you have it.  Indeed, God does not change, does he?  He has always hated divorce and he always will.  There is not exception to that.  Anyone that gets a divorce sins against God.  And anyone that remarries commits adultery.  And we know that no adulterers will enter the kingdom of Heaven (1 Cor. 6:9-10).

I understand that this is a truth that many have never heard.  But it is a truth that needs to be shouted from the rooftops.  The ways in which we have been doing things, as a nation and as a church, are in stark contrast to the truth of Scripture.  Just look at our churches.  We have families on one side of the aisle whose former spouses are sitting on the other aisle with new husbands and wives and precious kids who don’t even know what their last name ought to be.  This is flat-out wrong and a slap in the face to God.

What would it look like if the church were to repent of this mess, anyway?  Do we separate husbands from new wives as Nehemiah did.  No.  Absolutely not.  What needs to be done is an open confession, within the church, from the top-down.  We need to deal harshly with the sin we have gotten ourselves into.  Long ago, the desire to be accepting and loving, within the church, led to the twisting of Scripture so we can be soft on marriage, divorce and remarriage.

So the first thing that needs to take place is for the men of God to repent and return to preaching the Word of God.  Let God’s Word say what it says, and stop trying to soften it up for fear that it may hurt someone’s feelings.  Tell our Lord’s confused lambs that if they are divorced and remarried that they must repent and confess that what the Lord says about marriage is true – there are no exceptions!  Then be true to the covenant they are presently in – always confessing the truth about God’s design in marriage.  It is the first and most important institution God gave to man.  A child needs a father and a mother who remain true to their covenant, for better or for worse, because God desires Godly offspring.

Then men of God must commit to never remarrying any person who is divorced and whose spouse is still living.  It will take a generation.  But we can again have God’s blessing back.  If we will simply return to Him, He will return to us.

I am well aware that it is highly probable that some of you reading this are divorced, and maybe even remarried.  I hope you can look past any feelings of anger that you might have toward me right now.  Here is all that I would ask of you.  Examine the Scriptures for yourself.  If I am in error, I would like you to show me how.

Many of you will probably have questions, as this message is not common today.  Please, feel free to ask me.  And if I don’t have the answer, I will do all that I can to get it for you.

For His Glory,

Adam Tennant

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE…RIGHT?

Before reading this, I would highly suggest that you read an article my wife (Paige) wrote, called “Our Story.”  I posted it to my blog. http://ifmypeople.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/our-story/

In 1965, The Beatles performed the song, “All You Need Is Love” on a live global television link that was watched by 400 million people in 26 countries.

Isn’t that sweet.  “All we need is love.”  Don’t you hear that all the time?  What is it that is lifted up at weddings everyday?  Love.  Right?  Sure, because…that’s all you need…right?  WRONG!!!

John Lennon was flat-out wrong.  Their statement, which has been more than embraced by our culture is in complete contradiction to the word of God.  You can thank The Beatles for the sixties “love and peace” garbage.  We saw how that one worked out.  The truth is, though they meant to say it or not, The Beatles were declaring that you don’t need God to have peace.  You just need love.  Well, I would submit to you that you can have neither one without first having Christ!

Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” I wish it would become a requirement for this verse to be expounded upon at every wedding.  You see, we have bought into Hollywood’s version of love.  You know, the one where Cupid shoots you with an arrow and all of the sudden you “fall in love.”  Well, I’ve got news for you.  If you can “fall in love”, you can “fall right out of love.”  Love alone won’t cut it when the going gets tough.  That’s why we need Christ as the centerpiece.  Period.

Why have I started in this way?  Because you need to understand that, though Paige and I are madly in love with each other, it was not our love that brought us together.  Nor, is it our love that is keeping us together.  It’s the Third Cord.  When you read Paige’s story of how she was led to me, it is easy to think, “Awww…how sweet…the two little love birds.”  But if that’s how you read it, you missed something.  You see, though Paige and I have travelled completely different paths, there is one thing we have perfectly in common.  Both of us fully surrendered our lives to God…especially our love lives.

Many girls reach an age when they decide they are ready to pursue the opposite sex, so they do so.  Despite the cultural norm, Paige did something completely different.  She committed herself to God and to praying for her future husband.  She was putting her trust in God; that He would do what was right.  Praise God that He did.

As Paige said in her article, I had never met her when she committed to praying for me.  So, it was January 3, 2004 that she made this commitment.  I can honestly say, that the year of 2004 was life changing for me.

On February 24th of that year, “The Passion Of The Christ” was released.  In January of that year, my roommate at the time convinced me to go watch this movie with him.  I was a big “Braveheart” fan, so I figured it would be good.  He also talked me into reading the passion account from each of the four gospels.

I not only read that, but after watching the movie, I continued to read God’s Word.  It wasn’t every night, but I read it pretty often.  I knew there was something to this book.  The movie had really opened my eyes and I no longer viewed Christians in the negative light that I had in the past.  Oh, I knew that because they were emotional, didn’t dictate truth.  But, I knew I had better check into it for myself.

Over the next year, God used several key things to open my eyes to the fact that I was lost in my sin and my only hope was Christ.  Finally, in February of 2005, I crawled to the foot of a blood-stained cross and surrendered.  Jesus saved me.

It wasn’t long after that that I met Paige.  The first time we met, we shook hands and greeted each other and that was it.  I hardly had the time to put much thought into it, but I knew something was different about this young lady.  And, though she truly is the most beautiful woman in the world, it wasn’t her outward beauty that attracted me to her.  It was her walk with Christ.

Over the next few months, we became good friends.  I really needed a good friend at this point because, though I had been saved, I was still struggling with my sin.  And I was fighting for my life with a ten-year-old drug addiction.  I am so thankful that she did not let me know how she felt about me.  Because, had we gotten involved at this period in my life, the outcome would have been devastating.

Then comes August 19, 2005.  That night, as I was in a prayer meeting, I realized that I could not win my fight against my addictions.  So I threw my hands up and gave it to God.  That might sound trite to you, but that’s what I did.  You see, I didn’t understand that God was the kind of God that overcomes sin.  That night, I realized that my sin was not only hurting me and others.  My sin was hurting God.

I truly surrendered all of my life to Him that night, and He truly set me free.  The next day, I had to drive down to South Carolina for my step-brother’s wedding.  I was so full of the Holy Spirit, I could hardly contain myself.  It was on that trip, that God showed me that Paige would be my wife.  He also, clearly showed me that I was not ready yet.  As I was praying in my car, I realized that the only way a relationship with Paige would ever work is if I had the right relationship with Christ.

On the way back, I still remember buying Paige a little package of fireworks.  That was the first thing I ever bought her.  I was so excited to give them to her.  I know…that’s cheezy, but I really enjoy giving things to her and I knew that she loved fireworks.

So, that was August of 2005.  Over the next four months, God took me on quite a journey.  I’ll make this brief.  In October, I lost my job.  I was designing shirts with alcohol on them and I knew I could no longer do that.  When I told that to my boss, he fired me.  Well, I had a new job (my current job) the next day.  Let’s just say that God definitely blessed me on that one.

Before starting this new job, I went on my first pro-life mission trip to Wichita, KS with Operation Save America.  I followed men of God like Flip Benham and Scott Heldreth down there and met up with saints like Mark Hollick, Rusty Thomas and John Reyes.  Those are some special people.

I remember calling Paige from Wichita, telling her that revival had broken out.  One of the high schools that we had shared the gospel to, came to our church that Sunday to protest us.  Many of them got saved that morning.

On the way back, I spent a week helping Hurricane Katrina an Rita victims in Texas and Louisiana.  That was pretty fun too.

It was trips like this, along with going to the abortion clinic with Flip, that caused me to grow leaps and bounds.  Well, that and a heavy dose of daily Bible reading.

Finally, in December of 2005, I got clearance from God that I was ready to pursue Paige.  Now, this was no audible voice or anything.  I just felt the peace that I had His blessing.

So, the first thing I did was call my youth pastor.  He and I were pretty close at the time and he knew that I wanted to do things right with Paige.  I had listened to quite a few sermons on purity and I was fully convinced that God has a particular way in which he wants us to go about pursuing the opposite sex.

I asked Pastor Mark Miles if he thought I was ready and he said “yes.”  After that, my plan was to talk with Paige’s father, Allen, one night at church.  I didn’t have the chance to talk to him alone, so I decided to put it off until next week.

There is no telling how long I would have put it off.  Though Allen is a really nice guy, I was still very nervous about talking to him.  Finally, something happened that, as Paige said, lit a fire under my tail.

I saw another guy going after her, so I called Allen that night.  Yes, I wish I had talked with him face to face, but like Paige said, we didn’t do everything perfectly.

So I called Allen and told him that I would like to pursue a future with his daughter.  He gave me the green light, so I asked Paige the next day.  Obviously, she said, “yes.”

Like Paige said in her article, we were learning as we went.  I had listened to many sermons on purity.  I first heard the idea of not kissing until marriage from a pastor in Seattle named Judah Smith.  Instantly, I knew that that’s what God wants.  So, we agreed that we would wait until we were married for that.  And, yes, we talked about marriage early on.  That’s a major difference between courtship and marriage.  We weren’t just practicing for divorce.  We knew, before starting anything, that this thing was serious.

Early on in our relationship, I had to come clean about something.  I knew that I loved her and that I wanted to marry her, but I was scared to make any kind of commitment because, to me, love was something that could dissolve at the drop of a hat.  I told her about this.  I told her that I was scared to love her.  I feared that her love for me might wear off one day.  We committed ourselves to praying about it.

The next morning, I woke up humming a familiar tune.  I wasn’t sure where it had come from.  I was humming a verse from a Jason Upton song, which said, “What God has joined together, let no one separate it.”  That verse continued in my head all morning.  Then it hit me.  That’s not just a song!  That’s a Bible verse!  It was incredible.  God was showing me, through His Word, that He would not let anyone tear our love apart, as long as we made Him the center of our marriage.

From that point on, things were different.  I not only knew that Paige was the one, but I trusted God that He would hold us together.  Praise God.

Another revolutionary moment was when I first listened to Paul Washer.  He laid out for me what courtship really was, and also what dating really was.  I found out that, though we were doing many things the right way, we were also doing many things that could take us places we didn’t want to go.

So, we purposed in our hearts to do right and changed the way we were going about things.  Our main goal was to not spend time together at my house.  So, from then on, I would go to her house, when her parents were home.  That way, we were keeping ourselves from dangerous situations, as well as abstaining from the very appearance of evil.

Let’s go ahead and fast forward to October 21, 2006.  Around a week beforehand, I sat down with her parents and got their blessing to marry their daughter.  But, just so you all know that I’m not some romantic, “knight in shining armor,” let tell you about the day I planned.  This being the day I would propose to my wife.  First, I took her to the Lexington Barbeque Festival to go witnessing.  Then, I had to meet at the Mazda dealership to get rid of my sportscar, in exchange for a four door (I knew God wanted me to eliminate as much debt as possible before opening the next door in our relationship.)  Then, it got a little more romantic.

I cooked dinner for Paige at my house.  Yes, I know.  We were alone at my house.  Like I said, we didn’t do everything perfectly.  But, in this case, even if I had the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn’t.  The night, in my opinion, was perfect.

I had tried to conceal this night, by celebrating her birthday early.  So, after dinner, I gave her a tiled mirror as a gift.  At this point, I was more nervous than I had ever been in my life.  I just went ahead and did it anyway.  I knew I would trip over every word, so I prepared a poem for her.  Toward the end of the poem, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry her.  Of course, she said, “yes.”

Not long after that, we set the date to get married on April 14, 2007.  What a wonderful day.  I still remember that day sovividly.  As I paced behind the altar, and the worship music was being played, I felt so close to God.  I thought about the journey I had been on.  And I knew that what He was about to join together, no one would ever be able to separate.

I cannot tell you the joy of sharing our first kiss on the altar.  So, I won’t even try.

There you have it…our love story.  Now one thing I don’t want you to take from this is that we are, in any way, boasting about what WE did to make this happen.  Again, all we did was, in the best way we knew how, submit our lives to Christ.  He did it.  Not us.  We are boasting in Him.

I started this article with a Beatles song, and I’ll end it with another song that is a slap in the face to biblical truth.  There is a song, that they even play on Christian radio which talks about how God will bless the broken road that you travelled to get to where you are today.  If you don’t mind, I’d like to show you the biblical way to look at our pasts.  You see, Paige kept herself pure for me.  And that was the greatest gift she ever gave me.  Unfortunately, I did not do the same for her.  For many years, I walked down “a broken road” full of sin, sexual immorality and rebellion.  And, trust me, God never blessed it.

Just so you know, that “broken road” has a name.  It is the wide road that leads to destruction.  God will never bless that road.  But here’s what He will do.  He will take you, smash you to pieces, create a brand new you, and set you on the narrow road that leads to life.

So, I’m not going to sing about my past.  I hate my past because it was full of sin.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I have great family and friends from my past.  I’m not talking about that.  I’m talking about my sin.  I will never boast about it.  I am ashamed of it and always will be.

Let me finish with two very important lessons.

First of all, though God can wash all of your sins away and make you into a new creation, there are still consequences for your actions.  I have scars that will never go away.  So, if you are living in any kind of impurity, and think that you can just confess it to God and it will all go away, you are mistaken.

But, on the other hand, I know that for many of you reading this, it’s too late.  You’ve already stepped across that line.  Here’s my message to you.  God is a God of redemption.  When you come to him, poor in spirit, and mourn over your sin, he can take your life of ash and turn it into a thing of beauty.  He will, of course, smash you to pieces first.  But when He is finished, you will be a new creation.  And all things will be brand new.  So, though John Lennon penned that “all you need is love,” he was dead wrong.  All you need is Christ…

OUR STORY

By:  Paige Tennant (my wife)

I have been encouraged by some, to write a note on how Adam and I met, and the love story behind it. I do love to tell it, and am excited to be able to write it. There is a lot to it, so it may be kind of lengthy, and I am sure there are typos and errors, but I don’t have the time right now to do lots of editing.

Our Story

Growing up, when all my friends were dating in middle and high school…let’s just say the guys were not knocking down the door to get to know me! I was awkward, very insecure, and incredibly shy. While those aren’t godly attributes, I do thank God that guys weren’t just dying to talk to me…or this could be a very different story. I had crushes, like every other person. I got disappointed. And most of the guys that did approach me, well, lets just say I was FAR from interested in them. God kept me from having my heart broken. even before I learned what courtship was all about. Even though all my friends who dated, seemed to be having a blast, it sure wasn’t pretty when they broke up.

Let’s fast forward to when I am sixteen ( I think). My youth leaders did a series on courtship. It was a curriculum called “A Match Made in Heaven” by Richard Crisco. It discussed the dangers of dating and how dating is actually practicing for divorce. I won’t cover all the material because there is way too much. But, it was then that I realized that I wanted God’s best. It was hard. I didn’t necessarily commit to the courtship process, but I tried my hardest to keep my heart only for my future husband alone.

In the years that followed, I grew much as a person. I slowly came out of my shell. I was growing in the Lord, and accepting who HE made me to be. I wasn’t supposed to be like all the other girls. He made me different. He made us all different. It is so liberating when we realize this and just learn to be ourself! I devoured resources that encouraged purity. I will list them at the bottom if you are so inclined to read…for yourself or for your children.

So now to the really good stuff! Pay attention to the dates. It was the first Saturday night in January 2004. January 3rd to be exact. At that time, we had prayer on Saturday nights at the church. I was praying, and suddenly, the Lord impressed it on my heart to pray for my future husband, right then. I had no idea who this person was. I wasn’t interested in anyone, and I didn’t know of anyone interested in me. It was strange, but I prayed anyway. I had read about people praying for their future spouse on a regular basis. There had been times when I prayed about it, if it popped in my head, but nothing consistent. But, this night changed everything.

For the next two days, I pondered why God had me pray for this man. It was a feeling of urgency. So two days later, on January 5th, I began to journal heavily about all that I was dealing with. This journal saw many emotions. This journal saw a lot of growth. I was committed to this man I never met. I prayed for him as often as I thought about it…which was probably close to every day. Not fancy prayers. I would just breathe prayers of protection of his life, or that God would help him resist temptation. Things like that.

As I wrote, God showed me other things. It wasn’t just about praying for him. I needed prayer, too. I surely wasn’t wife material. There were things in me that God had to do before I could hope to be ready for the amazing thing called marriage.

So all of 2004 goes by, and nothing. No knight in shining armor for me! Then 2005 begins and…same thing. One night, I think late February, I was introduced to a visitor at our church, a guy named Adam. It was just kind of a quick handshake and “nice -to-meet-you” sort of thing. He begins attending our church on a regular basis. He is a nice guy…not to mention good looking…but that’s about it. Then he starts talking to me. Nothing major, just friendly stuff. I notice that he seems to actually LIKE talking to me, and sought me out to talk to me. I liked this. But, there were some problems. He had just become a Christian in February and was still battling an addiction to painkillers. It was tough, because in my heart, I really, really liked him.But, I knew a relationship with him just could not happen. Not then anyway.

In August 2005, things dramatically changed. Adam was miraculously delivered from his addiction to drugs. But, it was much more than just deliverance from bad addictions. He grew in the Lord by HUGE leaps and bounds. I really don’t think I have ever seen a transformation, with my own eyes, quite like Adam. He began to read the Bible everyday. Since that time, I think he has missed only one or two days of reading since 2005! Incredible. While I watched all this, I was so excited! I started to see qualities in him develop that I desired in my future husband. But, I still knew I had to give it time. Growing up in church, it was so common to see people passionate and on-fire, only to have them go back to their worldly ways and never see them again. I had to know that this change was real, and wasn’t a fleeting passion. We continued to grow as friends. Hardly anyone knew of my feelings toward Adam, though my flesh wanted at least him to know. I think the only ones who knew were my mom, and one close friend who I knew wouldn’t share this with anybody. I felt it was important to keep quiet about it, because the last thing I needed was some “friend” telling me to tell Adam how I felt. Or better yet, having that “friend” tell Adam how I felt. So, I continued to wait.

This next part is kinda funny. January 2 (I think) of 2006. I am attending a church meeting. My pastor introduces me to another young man and is speaking highly of him. Basically, this guy wanted to know if he could call me. This gentleman did not attend our church, but I knew of him. I did give the guy my phone number, but felt weird about it. While flattered, the whole time, I was thinking about Adam. That’s who I wanted! But, since he hadn’t voiced any feelings or anything to me, I couldn’t think of an excuse not to (though I could think of a few now!). Adam was also attending this meeting, and as it turns out, was in earshot of this conversation. This sorta lit a fire under his tail.

The next few days were very conflicting for me. This guy would call. He was nice and all, but I really wasn’t interested. And I didn’t know how to tell that to him, in a nice, honest way. One of my many flaws, is that I beat around the bush…and the person on the receiving end doesn’t seem to get the point. My heart agonized, because I did not want to, in any way, lead this guy on. But, then I thought, maybe I should give this a chance. Maybe this is who God has for me, and not Adam.

Then comes a really good day! January 5, 2006. Adam and I met up for lunch at the yummy K&W! We had met for lunch frequently prior to all of this, so this was not unusual. Earlier that morning, my mom told me it was going to be a good day. So I was expecting something. Not sure what…but something! We eat all of our lunch, and nothing. Just normal conversation. Finally, we both are getting to leave and head back to our jobs. I can’t remember exactly all he said. I think he just blurted out “Um, what are you doing Saturday night?”. Haha! Unfortunately, I really did have plans that night. But was quick to say maybe another night. When I told him, he then proceeded to tell me that he would like to begin a relationship with me and that he called my dad the night before to ask his permission! I’ve heard about young men asking the lady’s father for permission to marry their daughter, but not to begin a relationship. It was very honorable of him to seek my father’s permission before entering into a relationship. I was on cloud nine! The whole day I don’t think I could stop smiling. Shortly after, I realized the significance of this day…it was 2 years to the DAY that I began journaling about him! I was blown away! Talk about timing! God’s timing.

So begins our courtship. Like I said before, we weren’t perfect, and if we could go back, there are things we would do differently. But, early on we were committed to purity. It was awesome, because Adam was actually the one who thought we should save our first kiss for the wedding day. He was not interested in just dating. From the beginning, marriage was in mind. It was so great to not be physically involved, because we really got to know each others personalities really well. We were (and are) very different, but we learned how those things can complement each other.

My birthday is on November 7th. But, this particular year I was going to be away the on weekend of my birthday. Adam wanted to celebrate it early. We decided that we would get together to celebrate it on October 21.

He made dinner for me and gave me this beautiful mirror that I LOVE! Then he hands me this piece of paper and wants me to read aloud. I start getting a hunch at whats going on, but try not to go crazy in case I was wrong. The Paper read :

To My Beautiful Paige

To my beautiful Paige, I give my heart.
To explain my love, where should I start?
First of all; the day I saw you I fell in love.
Now, I know God sent you, like a gift from above.
Knowing you love me is such a blessing to me.
God unlocked my heart, but you were His key.
Knowing that I can love you and you’ll love me back;
I promise my love for you will never grow slack.
What a journey it’s been, falling in love with you.
I’m so much in love, I hardly know what to do.
I think about you all day; morning, noon and night.
I imagine our future what a beautiful sight.
Speaking of our future, I want to do things right.
I could hardly wait for this wonderful night.
I went to your folks and they said O.K.
Now I hope I don’t trip over the words I say.
Just the thought of this moment makes my blood pressure rise.
So just put down this paper so I can look into your eyes…

I wish I could remember verbatim what he said at this point! I know he told me that he loved me and asked if I would marry him. He then opened a box with an incredibly gorgeous ring in it! Of course, without even seeing the ring my answer was a big, fat “YES!” But, let me tell you about this ring. Us women love to look at pictures of engagement rings and wedding dresses and all that good stuff. I liked the princess cut, but I really liked the emerald cut diamond ring. I never told Adam what I liked, but I did tell my friend (now sister-in-law) what I liked and so he found out through her. It was a stunning ring.

After that ring was placed on my finger, he proceeded to tell me something I didn’t know about emerald cut diamonds. For that particular size and cut, the diamond has to be very pure, or it will be easy to spot imperfections. He added, that knowing this reminded him of me and my desire to remain pure! Wow! I was so blown away. What a beautiful gift!

Shortly after, we decided on a wedding date of April 14, 2007. During our engagement the Lord strongly revealed some areas that we needed to change. When we compare ourselves to others, its easy to justify certain actions. But when the Holy Spirit convicts us, no matter how good we think we are, we had better obey. Adam had his own home and had a roommate living there. And we hung out there a lot of the time. Again, we were strong and really would just hang out and talk or watch a movie. But, there are a few things very wrong about this. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says “Abstain from all appearance of evil”. In 1 Corinthians 8 it talks about not being a stumbling block to others. It just didn’t look good, me being there with him, many times alone. We were involved in youth ministry and how would this have looked to them? We may have been strong and in control of ourselves, but this was sending a message to them that they could do this with no problems as well. By the grace of God alone, we were strong. But, had we had one weak moment, things could have changed dramatically. It’s like playing with fire. I am not saying you can never, ever be alone. But there are principles in the courtship process that allow for that in a safer environment then your boyfriends home or apartment. My mom had even warned me about it not looking good, even though she trusted us, but I just shrugged it off (outwardly), though it was still deep in my thoughts. The kind of thoughts you just tuck away and choose not to think of. But in January of ‘07. God dealt with us and Adam decided that I shouldn’t come over anymore. He would start coming to my house ( I lived with my parents) a lot more. It’s hard when you know you have sinned against God, but such grace when you repent and do things completely the right way!

FINALLY- April 14th arrives! This was a perfect day in every way. I wasn’t nervous. I was sure and really happy! Of course, there was excitement and a little nervousness about the wedding and all those people watching me, and just the fact that I was getting ready to vow my life to another person. But I was sure and I knew this was the man that God designed for me to be with. The weather was perfect. Things ran smoothly. Well except for one part. I had read of a couple who had a footwashing in there ceremony. If you recall in the Bible. where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples as a symbols of servanthood and humility . We wanted to symbolically say, ” I will serve you”. It was a beautiful moment except for when it was my turn to wash his feet, trying to put a dress sock on a damp foot wasn’t easy! You had to be there….it was just funny! But it was a perfect ceremony. We exchanged rings, and vows. ” The pastor then pronounces ” Mr. and Mrs. Adam Tennant….you may kiss the bride”! That long-awaited kiss finally came! A beautiful kiss! Such a good kiss, I asked him for another one there at the altar! It was surreal and I felt like I was floating! God truly had the best for me in every way. Be encouraged to wait on the Lord and not take things into your own hands.

And that’s the beginning of our journey, The romance didn’t die at the honeymoon, either. He is still so loving toward me. We aren’t perfect and are still learning so much about one another. But I have to say it has been something I would do all over again in a heartbeat! He is an amazing man and I love him to death!

Sorry this was so lengthy, but I felt it was good to get it all down for my own personal use as well. Feel free to look at some of the wedding pictures in one of my Facebook albums!

Thanks for reading!

ON THE PATH TO PURITY…
Here are great resources to assist you on the journey

GUYS
” God’s gift to Women”-Eric Ludy
“Every Young Man’s Battle”
“Who moved the Goalposts?”-Bob Gresh
“The Purity Challenge”
“The Scottish Chiefs”-Jane Porter

LADIES
“Every Young Woman’s battle”
“Authentic Girl”-Leslie Ludy
When God Writes Your Love Story” Eric and Leslie Ludy
“When Dreams Come True” Eric and Leslie Ludy
“And the Bride wore White” Dannah Gresh
“Passion and Purity” -Elizabeth Elliot
“A Return to Modesty” -Wendy Shalit
“Wait for Me”-Rebecca St.James

GUYS AND GIRLS
“Choosing God’s Best”- Dr. Don Rannikar
“I Kissed Dating Goodbye”-Joshua Harris
“Boy Meets Girl”-Joshua Harris
“Sex is not the problem (lust is)”-Joshua Harris

WEBSITES
www.ericandleslie.com
www.authenticgirl.com
www.purefreedom.org

Ladies-Go to www.grantedministries.org, then click on articles and scroll down to “Becoming Esther” by Charo Washer…it’s Fantastic!

THANKSGIVING 2009 – IN WHOM WILL YOU TRUST?

Hello beloved,

Just this past Sunday, I found out some news that drastically changed the lives of many people.  One of the owners of the company I work for had a heart attack on Saturday and passed away.  My first thoughts were about the state of this man’s soul.  Today, he knows the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord.  I pray that, in his last moments, he repented and trusted in Christ, for  Jesus clearly said that those who don’t repent and believe in the Son will be condemned to eternal punishment.

All of these thoughts and emotions went through my mind extremely quickly.  I hope this doesn’t sound insensitive, but my next thoughts were about the company I work for.  This man had poured his life into his work, and now his responsibilities would have to be swallowed by someone else.  The major problem with this is that he never really shared his workload.  The procedure for much of what he did was only known by him.

My first reaction to all of these thoughts was asking myself, “How are we going to do it?”  I then called a co-worker.  He answered the phone by saying, “What are we going to do?”  An unexpected peace came over me.  I just told him, “Dude, it’s not in our hands.”  Of course, I can also look at all of the talented people that work with us, including the other owner.  I know that we have all the pieces in place to do what many in our industry are saying we can’t do.  But I realized after speaking with this co-worker that it’s really not in our hands.  It’s this simple, if we trust in our own strength and intellect, we will fail.  Despite our situation, our only hope will come from putting our trust in Jesus Christ.  That’s right, if we commit ourselves to bringing glory to God in all that we do, he will see us through.  I truly believe that.  It has not been our strength that got us here, and it won’t be our strength that keeps us going.  We need not forget that. (Read Deuteronomy chapter eight.)

In Deuteronomy chapter eight, we find the admonition that we had better praise God for blessing us and also that we had better not forget Him.  Of course, there are many examples of this throughout Scripture, but what better place to look, during this time of year, than the history of Thanksgiving.  Let’s take a quick look at providential hand of God that led our Pilgrim forefathers to this great land of ours, seeing them through every hardship they would experience.  And they were no strangers to hardship.

The Pilgrims, also called Separatists, were a group that had separated themselves from the Church of England because they believed that the Church could only be under the headship of Jesus Christ, not the Queen.  It’s not that they chose to separate themselves, but they were so persecuted for the stance they took, that they were eventually forced to meet privately in their homes.  The key leaders of this movement were Richard Clyfton, John Robinson, William Brewster and William Bradford.

In 1606, several of them joined together to start a church in the town of Scrooby.  After about a year, even more severe persecutions fell on them.  Bradford says that they “could not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were hunted and persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of those which now came upon them.  For some were taken and clapt up in prison, others had their houses beset and watcht night and day and hardly escaped their hands; and the most were faine to flee and leave their houses and habitations and the means of their livelihood.  Yet these and many other sharper things which afterward befel them were no other than they looked for and therefore were the better prepared to bear them, by the assistance of God’s grace and spirit.“

You might be wondering what this has to do with the situation my company is in.  Well, it has everything to do with it.  How’s that?  Because, as we stand at this fork in the road, we have a choice to make.  God has blessed us, and even, as he later did with the Pilgrims, whittled us down to a much smaller number.  We can look at the example that the Pilgrims set for us, and trust in God with all our might.  Or, we can do as the settlers of Jamestown did, and trust in our own strength and riches to see us through.  And we all know that that didn’t work out too well for them.

Back to the Pilgrims.  Due to the severe persecution, the Scrooby Church, under the Pastoral guidance of Richard Clyfton, made the decision to flee to Holland.  They first fled to Amsterdam, stayed there about a year and finally made it to Leyden.  Before they even got to Leyden, they lost their beloved Pastor as he was too old to make the trek.  So, much like the situation I find myself in today, they could either put their trust in the strength and intellect of their new Pastor, John Robinson.  Or, they could humble themselves and seek the face of God for guidance.  Of course, John Robinson was a great man, and they looked to him as their shepherd.  But you can rest assured that these Pilgrims knew good and well that their deliverance would not come from any man.  Pastor Robinson knew this as well.

After eleven years in Leyden, they once again were faced with the decision to flee.  This time, it was not due to persecution, but to their living conditions.  In Bradford’s “Of Plymouth Plantation” he lists four reasons for their deciding to leave, but one stuck out more than the others.  They were losing their children to the culture.  So, once again they sought the face of the Lord and were led to leave.

They initially set out on two ships, the Speedwell and the Mayflower.  God had other plans.  Apparently, he wanted to whittle them down some more so that he could get the saltiest of the salty to found this nation of ours.  And don’t fool yourself.  He was not looking for the strongest or the smartest.  He was looking for those who he knew would trust him.  He was looking for the few that he knew would make this nation of ours into, as John Winthrop said, “A city set upon a hill.”  That’s right, he wanted a nation that would spread the light of Christ all across this dark world.

It appeared that God had finally found himself a people that he could trust.  So, September 6, 1620,  Pilgrims set out from Southampton on the Mayflower.  Now, if you think the hardships were over, you’ve got another thing coming.  A total of 102 Pilgrims were all crammed into the tween-decks, no bigger than a volleyball court.  They went through seven weeks in a “rolling, pitching, stinking inferno.”  Those on board were unable to see the sunshine the whole way, due to the violent storms.  No doubt, many forgot what fresh air smelled like amidst all those that were constantly throwing up.

But, through all this, they still trusted in God and even sang praises to His name.  One of the deck-hands mocked them the whole way.  He even said that he couldn’t wait until he could seal up their body bag and toss those “psalm-singing pukestockings” overboard to the sharks.  Ironically, it was he that had to be tossed overboard. All of the sudden, he came down with a mysterious illness and died within a couple of days.  This, and the death of one other who refused to take lemon juice to fight the scurvy, were the only two to die on the entire trip.

Finally, on the ninth of November of 1620, they reached Cape Cod.  By the Providential hand of God, they had missed their landing by almost a hundred miles to the north.  After much prayer though, they decided not to go south, but to stay put.  On November 11, they set anchor in the natural harbor on the inside of the Cape.

Yet again, they were faced with a dilemma.  Being that they had blown north, they were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company.  And since the had no patent from the New England Company, they would be under…no one.  Thankfully, the few that God had assembled knew better than to go into a land with no authority.  So, right then and there, they sought the face of God and drew up the cornerstones of American Democracy.  They put their trust in the Word of God and drafted up The Mayflower Compact.  This marked the first time in history that free and equal men had voluntarily covenanted together to create their own new civil government based on biblical principles.

They finally made it.  Time to relax, right?  If you know much about this story, you know that’s not the case.  In fact, their hardships only got worse.  But all through it, the Pilgrims set an example for us that we should never forget.  No matter how horrible things looked, they always put their trust in God.  During the first winter, forty-seven out of a hundred Pilgrims lost their lives to sickness.  To put it in perspective, thirteen out of eighteen wives died.  They had hardly anything to eat, they were constantly cold, and constantly sick, yet they never lost their faith.  We can’t even imagine the horrors they experienced.  Just imagine how miserable we get when having to be in the cold for an extended period of time.  Well, they were always that cold.  And they had no place to warm themselves.  Yet…they never lost their faith in God.  What an example.

Now, I get to the part of the story which is familiar to most of us.  In March of 1621, an Algonquin Chief named Samoset arrived.  His first word was, “Welcome.”  It was he that introduced them to Massosoit, the Chief of the Wampanoags, who turned out to be a great friend to the Pilgrims.  Through Massosoit, they met Squanto; who Bradford describes as “a special instrument sent of God for their good, beyond their expectation.”  Then, of course, we have all been taught how Squanto taught them how to survive in this new environment.  Unfortunately, most of us have not been taught that Squanto truly was “a special instrument of God.”

God used Squanto to see them through.  And the Pilgrims were definitely not ignorant of this.  From 1606 to 1621, they had seen one hardship after another.  But through all of them, they never failed to keep the faith.  They fought the good fight and God saw them through with one miracle after another.  Therefore, in the fall of 1621, Governor William Bradford declared a day of public Thanksgiving to be held in October.

Oh, sure, they were thankful to the Native Americans, as we are taught in public school.  But, more than anything, these godly Pilgrims were thankful to Almighty God.  For they knew that they would have never made it, had it not been for His mighty hand.  Though this great day was a day of feasting and games, they put God first by beginning the festivities with a prayer by William Brewster.  They had so much for which to thank God: for providing all their needs, even when their faith had not been up to believing that He would do so; for the lives of those who passed away and for taking the home to be with Him; for their friendship with the natives–so extraordinary when settlers to the south of them experienced the opposite; for all His remarkable providences in bringing them to this place and sustaining them.

Just look at all the wonderful things we can glean from our Pilgrim forefathers.  It’s sad that we are public schools never mention the providential hand of God throughout American History.  It is stories like these that will, as you look back on them, teach you to fear the Lord.  The situation my company is in is a perfect example of that.  We are at a crossroads where we can either band together and look to our own strength for salvation.  Or, we can do as the Pilgrims did and humbles ourselves, putting our trust in God.

So, this Thanksgiving, though my company is facing a situation we must ultimately look to the God of our forefathers; the Lord Jesus Christ.  We must remember that things might get much worse from this point on, but regardless of that, we must continue to trust in him.  Though all of our reasoning will tell us that we are strong enough to make it, we will only make it when we admit that we truly are weak and cannot do it lest the Lord come to our side.

The same goes for all of you.  There are not many out there that have not been touched by this economic downslide.  You too, have a choice to make.  Will you trust in yourself, or will you trust in God.

Again, I would encourage you to read Deuteronomy chapter eight.

–

For His Glory,

Adam Tennant

If you do not know Christ as your Lord and Savior, and have questions about your eternity, either send me an email or go to http://www.wayofthemaster.com/goodperson.shtml

ARE YOU TRULY PRO-LIFE?

Dear Fellow Soldiers In Christ,

Many people today consider themselves to be pro-life.  It think it’s safe to say that most Christians would make that claim.  However, are we as Christians really living up to that name?  To answer that question, what really needs to be done is an accurate defining of the term, “pro-life.”  And, for that answer, there is no better place to start than the word of God.

This is pretty simple, so I won’t spend long showing you what God thinks about the issue.  In Genesis 9:6, the word of God says, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.” This is the establishment of civil government.  Capital punishment was set up to keep bullies like Lamech (Gen. 4:19-24) from going around ruling over everyone.  This should show you that life is very precious in the sight of God.

If that wasn’t enough, he clearly said in the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13) Notice, he gave no exception clauses, such as we do today.  God was very clear that He would not stand for the shedding of innocent blood, regardless of the circumstances.

And then you have, what is probably one of the most popular verses declaring God’s stance on life.  Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Do you need any commentary on that one?  I think not.  As I said before, God is very clear on this issue.  Notice, He didn’t paint anything gray.  The issue of life is black and white.

So, with that being said, can we now come up with a biblical definition of the term “pro-life?”  The Bible clearly shows you that life begins at the moment of fertilization, and even before that. (Job 31:15, Psalms 139:13-16; Is. 49:1, Jer. 1:5, Luke 1:39-44, Gal. 1:15)  So, here is what pro-life really is.  Pro-life is standing on the truth of God’s word and saying that personhood begins at the moment of fertilization.  Therefore, it is never, under any circumstance, acceptable to take the life of a baby inside the womb.  Period.  That is the pro-life stance.

Now, what exactly does that mean? Well, that means abortion is not acceptable even in the case of rape, incest, or life of the mother.  That means that abortifacients (methods of birth-control that result in the death of a fertilized egg) are unacceptable.  That also means that, if you are pro-life, you will never, under any circumstances, endorse or support a candidate that is not truly pro-life.  Period.

Let’s put this in perspective now.  What is the opposite of pro-life?  Pro-death or pro-murder, right?  Right.  Most who claim this stance call it pro-choice.  That’s a lie.  So let’s just call it what it is…pro-murder.  And what would be an accurate definition of the pro-death stance?  Simple.  Anyone who does not stand on the truth that personhood begins at the moment of fertilization.  Bold statement?  Yes, but true, nonetheless.  Think about it.  If you believe that abortion is wrong in all cases, except the cases of rape, incest or life of the mother, then you are pro-death.  In those instances, you believe that a woman should have the right to murder her child.  I’ll go one step further.  This one might sting a little bit, but you really need to hear the truth.  The pill, IUD’s, Norplant, and some other forms of birth control are abortifacients.  Abortifacients are forms of birth control that prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg, therefore resulting in an abortion.  For more information about abortifacients, go to http://www.pregnantpause.org/abort/untold.htm.

Now that we have defined the two sides of the fence, have you figured out on which side you stand?  Remember, you are either one one side or the other.  If you are undecided, than you can no longer claim ignorance.  You need to make a choice.  And like Mark Cahill says, “Satan owns the fence.”

In these last days, the battle for life is being won by those who are starting to see the truth.  And I’ve got some very exciting news for those of you that truly are pro-life.  We are finally seeing the Sword of the Spirit wielded in the battle for life, through the means of pro-life legislation that actually stands on God’s Word.  (unlike all of the incremental legislation that we have seen to this point.)

EDIT – Until recently, the pro-life movement has bought the lie of a failed pro-life strategy called incrementalism.  Incrementalism is the strategy to slowly but surely win a few battles here and a few battles there with the ultimate goal of ending legal abortion.  The problem with that is all of the compromise that takes place when using this strategy.

Let me explain.  The pro-life movement praised legislation, such as fetal pain, parental notification and parental consent.  However, there is a huge problem with these pieces of legislation.  All of these pieces of “pro-life” legislation have the same end, “once you anesthetize the baby, notify the parents, or get the parents permission…then you can kill the baby.”  None of them stop the shedding of innocent blood.  They only set parameters on killing children.  Can you see that?  I hope so.  We have been deceived for far too long about this beloved.

However, I’ve got some great news.  There is a new piece of legislation that stands firmly on the Word of God.  What is it?  Pure and simple…repentance.  It’s called the Personhood Bill.  The personhood bill would be an amendment to a state’s constitution defining a person as a human being at fertilization/biological beginning.  What does that mean?  A child in the womb, from the moment of fertilization, will have all of the rights as any human being.

Now that you have heard the truth, you have one of two choices you can make.  You can either accept these truths and repent of your current stance.  Or, you can just get mad at the fact that I would say such things and continue being pro-murder.  It’s up to you.  But the one thing I would stress more than any other is that you look into the things I have said to see if they are true.  Remember, the truth is the plumbline.  If what I am saying is true, and you find that you are actually pro-murder, you need to repent.  Repentance changes everything.  It’s time to stand on the word of God and forsake the lie of incrementalism.  It’s time to repent.

Well now, isn’t this exciting?  I can’t help but to see all of the parallels to the movement to abolish slavery.  If you recall, you will find that there was a incremental strategy that failed in that movement too.  Now, don’t you want to know what you can do?  I am attaching several links that can help inform you and a link to Personhood USA, where you can join the battle.  We are living in exciting times, beloved.  The question is, are you going to serve your King or not?  I say, “Let’s do this!”

Brochures on incrementalism:
http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/cms/assets/brochures/Incrementalism.pdf
http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/cms/assets/brochures/Sauls%20Armor.pdf

Brochure on how to end abortion in America:
http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/brochures/acrobat/ToEndAllAbortion.pdf

Link about abortifacients:
http://www.pregnantpause.org/abort/untold.htm

Personhood USA:
http://www.personhoodusa.com/

Find out which side of the fence people are on at:
http://prolifeprofiles.com/

–
For His Glory,
Adam Tennant

PREACH THE WORD…WHETHER THEY LISTEN OR NOT.

The sun started to rise as we traveled in Tom Cook’s Denali on our way to meet twenty other saints to deliver the truth to those attending the 2009 Atlanta Pride Parade.  It wasn’t long that the four of us(Tom Cook, Jason Dellinger, Dion Woolfolk and myself) decided to read some Scripture.  Jason had to catch up in his Bible reading schedule so we read from Saturday’s reading.  We quickly realized that it was no accident that we read these particular chapters.  No.  In preparation for the grueling day we faced, God had a specific word for us straight out of Ezekiel, chapters two and three.

Before I get to the exact scripture that stuck out to us so much, let me first set it up with another passage from the same book.  In Ezekiel chapter eight, The Spirit took Ezekiel to the temple so that he could see, for himself, the detestable things that were taking place.  Ezekiel’s eyes were opened to the wicked and detestable things that were taking place in the temple of the Lord.  The house of Israel was doing horrible things, but they were being led by the ruling seventy elders(the Sanhedrin).  Ezekiel was blown away by the things he saw, but the Spirit kept telling him that he would see things that are “even more detestable.”

You might wonder what this passage has to do with the 2009 Atlanta Pride Parade.  Well, here’s the point.  Ezekiel was a prophet called to deliver God’s mail to the house of Israel.  But, before he could go amongst them and proclaim His word, his eyes had to be opened.  Likewise, today, the church of Jesus Christ has been called to be watchmen and proclaim God’s word to all.  Therefore, we need to be able to see.

Hopefully, after reading this, you will get a glimpse of what goes on at these detestable events.  When a Christian hears what we do at these parades, the most popular response is, “Don’t you think you should be more loving?” There are many problems with that question.  But, instead of addressing all of them, let me just say that if they had eyes to see, they would not say such things.  And I also have to say that they obviously don’t fully grasp the biblical concept of love (See Leviticus 19:17).

That gets us back to the scripture that stuck out to us on our ride down.  There were several key words and phrases that stuck out to us.  The word, “rebellious” was mentioned eight times in Ezekiel chapters two and three.  God was also adamant in these two chapters that Ezekiel speak His words to the people.  He also, repeatedly, told him not to be afraid of the people to whom he would be delivering God’s mail.  All of those things were very applicable to our trip to Atlanta.  But, more than anything, verse seven of chapter two really spoke to us.  “You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.”

Beloved, we had been to this particular event in years past and we knew what to expect.  We were going to be speaking the word of God to a people that, for the most part, would not listen to the things we had to say.  Now, most of the church would say that we must not be going about things the right way.  But, remember this, it’s not about success.  It’s about faithfulness.  We must speak the word of God to all the world, regardless of whether they listen or not.  And trust me, for the most part, our message fell on deaf ears this year.  Oh, they heard it.  They just hated what we had to say.

Don’t get me wrong.  When we broke up into pairs of two at this event, we ran into one divine appointment after another.  When having these one-to-one conversations, it’s amazing to see the Holy Spirit breaking through the pride of individuals.  Those conversations are fun and are very necessary in ministering at these kinds of events.

But, there is another message that must be brought: the public proclamation.  And that’s where we get the message from the church, that we are not doing things right.  But make no mistake about it, this message must be brought.  While one-to-one witnessing is vitally important, so is this.  We cannot allow hundreds of thousands of homosexuals to parade their sin like Sodom in the streets of our cities without boldly and sternly confronting them in their sin.  Will you win many converts this way?  Probably not.  Not right off the bat anyway.  But that’s what the one-to-one witnessing is for.

When you are witnessing to a homosexual, you usually don’t want to start off by dealing with his sexual perversion.  No.  You want to make a connection and swing it to the spiritual.  If the conversation goes well, the Holy Spirit will open a door to deal with the specific sin of homosexuality (usually while you are going through God’s Law).  Then you will have a wonderful opportunity to talk to him about his childhood, his sin and, most importantly, the Savior.

But when you are making a public proclamation, confronting the sin of homosexuality, you need to bring it down hard.  Why?  Because many believe that they can practice homosexuality and love Jesus at the same time.  And what might that be called?  A false religion. So, when Christians say that Jesus would never do it the way we do it, they simply don’t understand the Jesus of the Bible.  Remember, it was Jesus who nailed the religious hypocrites of His day, by calling them hypocrites, vipers, whitewashed tombs, etc.  Jesus didn’t pull any punches and neither should we.  Especially, when you have churches participating IN the parade.  That’s right.  There are always a number of churches that actually march in the parade.  Where did you think they were getting their affirmation from?  None other than wolves in sheep’s clothing.  And when you deal with these guys(and gals), you don’t start by setting up a friendly dialog.  No.  You bust them!

Now, just to warn you, when you go with this message, you will not go without great opposition.  I am making no exaggerations when I say this, but had the SWAT team not surrounded us, I would not be writing this article today.  I would be dead (probably after being brutally mutilated by this blood-thirsty mob).  You can hardly believe the hatred spewing from their lips.  What’s so odd about it is that, on many occasions, someone would be screaming obscenities, with spit flying all over the place, shouting, “God is love! You are full of hate!”  I’m not joking.  Then, Craig Gross, the founder of XXX Church decided to lecture Flip on how to be more loving in his approach.  Craig Gross, aka the Porn Pastor, designed his emergent ministry to make the gospel more suitable for porn stars, porn addicts, homosexuals, etc.  By the end of the conversation, he made a wonderful display of this “luv” he was talking about, by pouring his water on Flip’s shirt (Flip had all kinds of stuff dumped on him).

But the attacks got worse.  In years past, we have been physically attacked, but one thing really got to me this year.  A young lady that came with us was threatened by two girls.  The threat?  One of them held an object in her hand and threatened that they would rape her.  But these same girls were also shouting about how WE were so unloving.

There are so many detestable things that take place at these events.  I could go on and on.  But why should I go on and on when you can come to see for yourself?  And don’t say it’s not your calling.  We are all called to confront sin.  When we make that commitment to Christ, we aren’t just gaining Heaven, we are losing our lives.  That’s right.  Our lives do not belong to ourselves.  And God is calling us to be the salt of the earth; to be watchmen over this once Godly nation.  Will it cost you something?  Yes.  And it might even cost you your life one day.  I have no doubt we would have lost ours had the SWAT team not protected us this year.  But, remember, my life does not belong to me and neither does your life belong to you.

MIRACLES IN CHARLOTTE!

An amazing thing took place yesterday (Wednesday November 4th).   Nine babies were saved from the clutches of death.  As two women ventured to two abortion clinics in the city of Charlotte, God showed up.  Here’s the thing though.  All they did was show up.  They are not great evangelists or preachers.  They are just two simple little Christians living out their faith at the gates of Hell.  It is absolutely incredible what God can do if we just, “show up!”

Flip called me yesterday and gave me this account.  He went to the Hebron abortion mill yesterday morning and met his sister and mother there.  Chrissy is sixty and Grandma is eighty-one.   Before he arrived, one mother had already chosen life for her baby.  As always, they rejoiced and praised God over the life that had been saved.

Chrissy and Grandma have been faithful since October 27, 2008, to go to the Charlotte abortion mills five days a week.  As a result, over 460 babies have been saved since that day.  I’m sure that, up until yesterday, they would have attributed much of that success to having Flip with them.  After all, he is the National Director of Operation Save America.  But, after yesterday, there is no doubt that they would attribute all of these miraculous saves to, none other than Jesus Christ.

After the save at Hebron, Flip needed to go into the office.  That meant Chrissy and Grandma had to go to the Latrobe clinic by themselves.  There is no way that they could have imagined what would happen as they went.  After seeing a baby saved at Hebron, they could have gone home knowing that they made a difference, but they hadn’t seen anything yet.  As these two women stood outside of the Latrobe abortion mill in downtown Charlotte, ministering to the women going in, eight of them changed their minds.  That’s right!  Eight women decided to choose life for their babies!  Eight!  Praise God!

Now, beloved, you need to know something.  That simply does not happen if these two women don’t show up.  But, thank God, they understand that they have a responsibility to be a voice for the voiceless.  God pricked their hearts long ago and they have faithfully rescued those being led away to death.

So, if two simple little Christian ladies can make this kind of impact, imagine what would happen if you showed up.  Just think about it.  You could make a difference too.  So, please obey the Lord and stand in the gap on behalf of these innocent children.  Heed the call.

SO, JUST WHY IS THERE NO BALM IN GILEAD ANYWAY?

There has been a video circulating on the internet from the Gamaliel Foundation of a bunch of community organizers that are apparently praying to Barack Obama.  I’ll admit, when I first watched it, I was shocked that the people were in a church chanting, “Save us Obama!” and “Deliver us Obama!”  Then, after watching it again, I noticed that only a few of them were saying, “Obama.”  Most were saying, “Save us oh God.”

This was pointed out to me by a liberal who was calling me out for posting this on my Facebook page.  Well, I had to agree with him.  But, after watching it again, listening a little closer, I picked out a verse that the priestess was using.  In order to bring validity to this abominable healthcare plan she quoted Jeremiah 8:22, from the New Revised Standard Version, which says, “Is there no balm in Gilead?  Is there no physician here?  Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?” I couldn’t believe that she would use this, of all scriptures to validate universal healthcare.  It was obvious that she could care less about the context of that verse.  And I felt that this was just as grievous a sin as chanting, “Deliver us Obama,” which some really did do, by the way.

So, why was there no balm in Gilead anyway?  Was it because the government of the day was not doing their job of providing affordable healthcare to all the people of Judah? (Not that that is the government’s job in the first place.)  To answer that question, you need to, first, go back to Jeremiah chapter seven.  This is where Jeremiah first gets called to deliver a sermon right at the gate of the Lord’s house.  What was his message?  Verse three says, “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.” His message to those who entered into the temple of the Lord was to repent.  And, by the way, the message needs to be the same thing today.

In verse four, we find the prophet warning them not to trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!” You see, the priests and prophets were telling the people not to worry, because God would never let anything happen to this temple or to his chosen people.  But those were deceptive words.  Unfortunately, the people gobbled it up.  And people are gobbling up the same nonsense today, believing that they can live in blatant sin and trust that a prayer they once prayed will save them on the Day of Judgment.

Jeremiah, then, spends a few verses naming specific sins; one of which was the shedding of innocent blood.  How fitting that this priestess was quoting from this sermon of Jeremiah, while she supports a man who vehemently advocates the shedding of innocent blood, through the abominable practice of abortion?  Then he says again, in verse eight, “But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.” Isn’t it ironic that we have the same problem today; deceptive words from the prophets and priests?  Look at the the response TD Jakes gave when he was asked to talk about the politics of the day.  “Tragically, this generation has limited its definition of morality to two issues, same sex marriages and abortion. Morality goes far beyond those two issues. Racism is immoral. I think racial profiling is immoral. I think not providing health care is immoral. To let someone die in a country that is as progressive as ours for the lack of something that is within our power to give them is immoral. It is virtually murder.” Then he went on to congratulate Barack Obama when he won the Democratic Primary in June of 2008.  You see, the problem today starts in the pulpit.  What we have, as Isaiah would say, are “dumb dogs, they cannot bark.”

In verses nine through eleven, Jeremiah busts the people in the temple up real good.  ” ‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known,  and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”-safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.” A den of robbers is the place where criminals would go to hide after they had committed their crimes.  That’s exactly what God’s people had become: criminals.  And they were falsely hoping that because they were children of Abraham; because they had the temple; they would be safe to continue in their wicked practices.

Is that not exactly where we are today?  Week in and week out, we meet women at the abortion clinic, going in to murder their own children. Many have Bibles in their cars and fish bumper stickers.  And what do they say when told that Jesus would never want them to kill their own children?  “Yes, but He will forgive me.” They are just like those who Jeremiah was confronting at the temple.  And the problem is, they are just repeating what they have heard from pulpits all over this land.  Many pastors are teaching that you can, “sin all the more and grace will cover.”

As I have been reading Jeremiah this year, two things have stuck out to me more than any others: God’s issue with hypocritical believers and false prophets.  And here’s the thing, he pins the blame of the believers’ hypocrisy to the deceptive words of the false prophets.  Of course, Jeremiah is not the only prophet of the Old Testament to deal with this.  Actually, they probably all address this at some point.  I know Isaiah and Ezekiel do.  But Jeremiah is chock full of it.

But to get around to answering the question posed in 8:22, let’s finish going through chapters seven and eight.  You see, in verses twelve through fifteen, Jeremiah proclaiming what will happen to the temple, giving an example of what God did in Shiloh.  This is where the evil sons of Eli (Hophni and Phinehas) thought they could take the ark into battle and that God would rout the enemy, even though they were living such evil lives.  But of course, they were slain by the Philistines, the ark was captured and Ichabod (the glory had departed) was written over the Tabernacle.  And now, the people of Judah could expect the same judgment to fall on them.

Then, we see something strange in verse sixteen.  God tells Jeremiah not to even pray for this people.  You see him saying this a total of three times in the book of Jeremiah (7:6, 11:14, 14:11).  This was because they had hardened their hearts to God and were not going to repent.  God’s call for Jeremiah was to preach to these people, not to pray for them.

In verses seventeen through nineteen we see something that has to break the heart of God.  “Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. But am I the one they are provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?” Instead of the families teaching their children the fear of God, they were teaching them how to worship false gods.  Are we not doing the same thing today?  In many Christian homes the altar of sports, entertainment and fashion is much more prevalent than any family devotion time.  And I am sure that this is just as upsetting to God as it was in the days of Jeremiah.

In verse twenty, Jeremiah lets them know that God has had enough.  He said, “My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched”

Then, in verses twenty-one through twenty-six God confronts them for their hypocritical sacrifices.  They were hypocritical because they were only following part of what God required of them.  They were offering up sacrifices yet ignoring God’s desire for obedience.  He goes back from the time he brought their forefathers out of Egypt until the moment Jeremiah was confronting them.  Throughout that time they refused to obey the Lord and they refused to listen to his servants the prophets.

Therefore, in verse twenty-seven, God lets Jeremiah in on a little secret.  Basically, he told him that when he delivered this message they were not going to listen.  They were a stiff-necked people, who rejected anything resembling truth.  All Jeremiah could do was continue to preach God’s word and take up a lament, because God was going to take them out.  I wonder how far God is from saying this very same thing today.

In verses Jeremiah 7:30-8:3, God again deals with the sins of the people and lets them know what’s coming.  This time, he specifically calls out child sacrifice (7:31).  It was such a horrific practice that God had never even allowed such a thought to enter his mind.  Yet it still goes on today.  And now we have the most pro-abortion president ever.  Do you think that God has had just about enough?  Is this nation about to become like the Valley of Slaughter?

In verses four through twelve of chapter eight, you find that God is dealing with the hearts of the people.  To sum it up, the people basically did whatever they pleased and, when confronted, would never repent of their wickedness (v 6b).  They had no idea what God required of them (v 7b).  Why?  Well, not only had they lost the law in the temple, but the prophets and priests were giving them a different law (kind of like the prophets of today are preaching a different gospel.)  But they didn’t have a problem with that.  After all, they had a chance to hear the true word of God when he sent them true prophets, but they would have none of it.  Like today, they just wanted to have their ears tickled.

The false priests and prophets were all alike.  They all practiced deceit and were greedy for gain.  They dressed the wound of God’s people as though it were not serious.  Though Jerusalem was surrounded by the judgment of God, the cry of the prophets was uniformly, “Peace, peace,” when there was no peace.

In verses thirteen through twenty-two God goes on to explain, in detail, how he was going to judge his people.  He showed them that their harvest would be removed, their cities would crumble, and they themselves would either be brutally slain or taken captive.  In spite of this, they still did not repent.  No.  They fled to their fortified cities!  Their cry in verses fourteen and fifteen went something like this, “Oh poor us.  Look what has happened.  How could a loving God have allowed such a thing.” Sound familiar (9/11, Katrina, etc.)?  Well, it happened because of their unfaithfulness and disobedience to the one true God (See Isaiah 59:1-2).

In verse twenty, the people quote the proverb, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” The people have finally realized that they had the opportunity to repent and be delivered, but they missed it.  It was now too late for deliverance.

That leads us to verse twenty-two; the same verse that the priestess was reciting in the house of God, using it as a cry for deliverance.  Yet she had no idea what she was actually saying.  “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?” So, why is there no balm in Gilead?  Why is there no physician there?  Why was there no healing for the wound of God’s people?  If you can’t already clearly see the answer, please turn to Jeremiah 30:12-15. (Well, turn there anyway)

12 “This is what the LORD says: ” ‘Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing. 13 There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you. 14 All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many. 15 Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.”

We see here that there was no balm in Gilead, there was no physician and no healing, not because the government had not been doing their job, but because the people of Judah had spurned the only cure.  Isaiah went before Jeremiah and preached for years that the people no longer trust in themselves and the government, but to turn to the Lord.  Yet, now, even in the midst of disaster, they still refused to repent and turn to him.  The Lord was their only hope and they had completely rejected him, making him their enemy.

So, does this apply to us today?  Over and over, God sends true prophets of God to proclaim these truths, not only to the wicked culture, but to the church.  What is the overwhelming response?  “What gives you the right to judge?” or, “You intolerant bigot!” The true message from God is being rejected and replaced by a lukewarm, seeker-sensitive, false gospel, which dresses the wound of God’s people as if it weren’t serious.  The popular message today is “Peace, peace” when there is no peace.

So what do we do?  Should we sit around and try to come up with a better healthcare plan to counter the liberals?  Or should we try to reach across the isle so we can work something out that everybody agrees on?  No.  Our only answer lies in us realizing that healthcare is not the issue.  Liberalism vs. Conservatism is not the issue.  No.  The issue is sin.  We need to repent.  And we need to preach repentance, not only at the gates of Hell, but also at the gates of the Lord’s house.

Only then will the people find balm in Gilead.

–
For His Glory,
Adam Tennant

THE GIFT OF BIBLICAL FEMININITY

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”  (Matthew 19:4-6)

This article is all about a precious gift that God has given women; the gift of authentic biblical femininity.  So, why did I begin with this verse about marriage?  This verse probably means more to me than any other verse.  Let me explain.

I, like many others, was raised in the home stricken by divorce.  After years of trying to find that special someone, I was left with the idea that I just wasn’t meant to be married.  And I felt very strongly about that.  To me, love was something that didn’t last.  I believed that love was something that you “fall into.”  Therefore, I reasoned that it was something that you could also “fall out of.”  And, unfortunately, this was not just my perception; it was my experience.

I praise God that He changed my heart on this matter.  In February of 2005, I surrendered my life to Christ.  Not long after that, I met Paige (my wife).  I had never met a woman of such purity.  Over the next few months, God took me to the cleaners.  He took me to a place where I realized that my relationship with Christ was the most important relationship I could have.  I decided that, if it was God’s will that I live a life of celibacy, I was fine with that.  Thankfully, not long after that, He clearly showed me that this was not His will; that He had set someone apart just for me.

Paige and I began courting in January of 2006.  Neither of us knew all that we know now about biblical courtship, but we definitely did things differently than the cultural norm.  And as we went along together, and learned more about this, we changed some things.  We didn’t do everything perfectly, but our hearts were following Christ, and by His grace, we kept ourselves pure.

Early on in our relationship, I had to come clean about something.  I knew that I loved her and that I wanted to marry her, but I was scared to make any kind of commitment because, to me, love was something that could dissolve at the drop of a hat.  I told her about this.  I told her that I was scared to love her.  I feared that her love for me might wear off one day.  We committed ourselves to praying about it.

The next morning, I woke up humming a familiar tune.  I wasn’t sure where it had come from.  I was humming a verse from a Jason Upton song, which said, “What God has joined together, let no one separate it.”  That verse continued in my head all morning.  Then it hit me.  That’s not just a song!  That’s a Bible verse!  It was incredible.  God was showing me, through His Word, that He would not let anyone tear our love apart, as long as we made Him the center of our marriage.

So, now that you understand that godly marriages don’t just happen, let me talk to you about biblical femininity.  After all, Jesus Christ has been the most instrumental in changing my life.  And of course, He set for us the example of ultimate purity.  But, other than Christ himself, I can think of no better example of purity than my precious wife.  And, as I love her as Christ loved the church, my daughter(s) will see how precious a gift it is to become a woman that embraces the gift of biblical femininity.  And, by the grace of God, my daughter(s) will grow up to be like my wife.

I’ve showed you that a virtuous woman is far more valuable than all the riches in the world.  But unfortunately, this is foreign to most parents in our culture today.

I don’t know if you went to any of the county fairs this year.  But if you did, I am sure you noticed how the young (and I mean young) girls dress when they go out.  Many of them resemble the hookers you see on the corner of Trade and Tryon.  You wanna know what is really sad about that?  These girls get out of minivans that their parents drop them off in!  Those parents are the ones I really want to strangle.  How could a loving mom or dad allow their precious little girl to go out dressed like that?  I don’t have to get descriptive.  You know exactly what I’m talking about.

It doesn’t have to be like this mom and dad.  It really doesn’t.  Did you know that there was a time in this nation when modesty was taught?  That’s right.  And there was a time that innocent little girls were taught that embracing biblical femininity was far more important than becoming a successful business woman.

I’ve been off work all week and have been able to spend alot more time with my precious daughter, Olivia.  I get to take her on dates.  I get to tuck her in at night.  I get to do many things that I’m not able to do when working all day.  After putting her to bed the other night, I went to exercise when I heard her crying.  By her cry, I knew she was not gonna go back to sleep, so I went in to rock her.  In the still of the night, as I was rocking her to sleep, she started patting the back of my neck.  I could tell that she felt so secure in my arms.  Things like that are so special to me.

I started to think of things like, “Will she ever have to experience a broken heart?”  I’m not sure why that popped in my head.  But, do you know the answer to that?  She, in no way, will ever have to experience that.  Many would probably think I’m crazy to say something like that.  But why does that sound so crazy?  Is it because what I said is untrue, or is it because our culture has trained us into thinking this way?  We think that a broken heart is something that children just have to go through.  We think that dating is just part of growing up.  That is a lie from the pit of hell.  You know why they have to go through that?  Because we think it’s cute when they have a boyfriend or girlfriend in elementary school.  We think it’s cute when they talk about their first kiss, that they experienced on the playground.  Well, you wanna hear something a whole lot cuter.  My wife experienced her first kiss on the altar.  You wanna know why?  Because she was not raised according to the standards set down by our culture.  She was raised according to the standards of Jesus Christ; the Word of Almighty God!

Anytime someone finds out that my wife and I experienced our first kiss on the altar, that person can hardly believe it.  That really bugs me.  Yes, I am grateful of this, but this should not be a freak thing.  This should be the norm.  And at one point in time, this was the norm.  Purity was held in high esteem.  Women were treasured far above rubies.  Now, it is the other way around.  If only we would once again begin to teach our girls that biblical femininity is a gift from God; that it is far better to be godly than it is to be wealthy or “successful.”  When little girls start to realize the value of this gift, we won’t have to worry about them just giving it away to any little boy that comes along.  No.  They will cherish it.

But this will only happen, dad, when you cherish it.  That’s right, I said, “dad”, because dad is far more responsible than mom.  Dad, you need to be the man that God has called you to be.  You need to set an example to your little girl(s).  Show her what a real man is like.  Open doors for her.  Take her on dates.  Kiss her on the hand.  And don’t stop hugging and kissing her, just because she starts growing up.  Let her know that her daddy loves her.  Let her know how much you love her mother.  But also let her know that you love Jesus Christ more than anything or anyone.  And let her know that she should never marry anyone that is not as godly as you are.  And Dad, it’s your responsibility to make sure that never happens.

Let her know that biblical femininity is a gift from God; that becoming a godly wife and mother is far more important than becoming “successful.”  And when I say, “successful”, I mean it the way our culture defines it.  Dad, if you do that, you won’t have to worry about her wanting to date.  Dating is nothing more than practice for divorce.  And, when she becomes a woman of virtue; a woman of God; she will glory in God’s wonderful gift of biblical femininity.  And God will give her to a man that He has raised up to lead her in love and righteousness.

And when this happens, living happily ever after, is no longer a fairy tale.  Will it be a bumpy ride at times?  Of course.  But when a husband and wife make Christ the center Thread in their marriage, there aren’t enough minions of Hell to tear them apart.

I hope that you will not just let this message fade away.  Training our children in the fear of God is the answer to overcoming this culture in which we live.  Don’t beat yourself up if this message sounds completely radical to you.  This type of message is as rare as a comet these days.  I would encourage you to read an article I wrote on biblical manhood.  Also, let me know if Paige or I can help you in anyway.  I have written other articles on this subject and have many resources that can prepare you to raise your children God’s way.

http://ifmypeople.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/is-there-a-scriptural-basis-for-courtship/

In Christian love,
Adam Tennant

RESCUE THOSE BEING LED AWAY TO DEATH

10 If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!  11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.  12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?  (Proverbs 24:10-12)

Every day, over 4300 babies are murdered through abortion in this country of ours.  That adds up to over 1.5 million little baby boys and girls that are slaughtered each year.  With our mouths, we claim to be pro-life, yet with our actions we are saying, “But we knew nothing about this.”  Why would I say such a thing?  Because we are not rescuing those being led away to death.  We are not holding back those staggering toward slaughter.  Yet, instead of confessing our apathy, and repenting, we justify our actions with every excuse in the book.  And I would submit to you that we – the Church of Jesus Christ – are responsible for every drop of blood that is shed through abortion.

That is a bold statement isn’t it?  Well, this is not something that I arrived at overnight.  Through a series of events, and with the urging of some men of God, I eventually saw that I was responsible to stand and fight for these children.  And, more than that, it would be sin for me not to.  But don’t take my word for it.  Tonight, I plan on showing you this through the Word of God.

On February 23, 2005 I came to Christ with a repentant heart.  That day, I was born again and all my sins were washed away.  I got all of the Holy Spirit, yet it took a little while for me to give Him all of me.  When I decided to put my trust in Christ, I also decided that the drugs had to go.  So, after a few months they were gone.  At least, for a while anyway.  Only six months after my conversion, I found myself just about as bad on drugs as I had ever been.

On the night of August 18, 2005 I went to a prayer meeting.  I was disappointed because the drugs I had taken had not kicked in.  That night, as I tried to pray, God convicted me in a way that I had never before experienced.  I realized that it was not just the drugs that I needed to repent of.  Everything I had ever done was an offense to a Holy God.  I cried out to God in a way that I had never cried out to him.  I surrendered all; not just my drug addiction, but my house, my car, my job…my entire life.  I died that night for good.  The next morning, I was delivered!  Everything was different.  And it’s been that way ever since.

It only took God a few days to take me up on all that I had surrendered to him.  I found myself heading to Wichita, Kansas in a fifteen passenger van with a family of ten for a pro-life mission trip.  It was on this trip that my eyes were opened to two things that I had never before seen.

One, that God had given me a gift to evangelize.  I found that it was easy for me to go up to strangers and share the gospel with them.  I’m not saying it’s easy, in the way that I don’t get nervous.  No, I still get nervous.  I mean easy in the way that God’s Spirit leads me through the conversation.

The second thing that my eyes were open to was the battle of abortion.  As I stood outside George Tiller’s abortion clinic, someone filled me in on the horrible things that took place behind those closed doors.  Not only do they murder the babies, but the parents can actually have their pictures taken with their dead child.  There is also a priest on site that will baptize the dead child, putting God’s stamp of approval on this abominable practice.  Then, they toss the lifeless body into an incinerator and burn the child’s remains.  Yes, my eyes were open to the fact that I had to stand and do something about this.

When I returned home, I was on fire for God.  It was different than the false fire I sometimes received when I would go to these youth conferences.  No, I had been changed.  I started going to the malls every chance I had to witness for the Lord and I was also going to the abortion clinic on Saturdays.  However, it wasn’t long that I began to follow my gifts, rather than the giver.  Oh, the fire hadn’t gone out.  I just decided that I was going to do what I “felt” I should do.  I knew that I was called to evangelize, but I wasn’t so sure about the abortion ministry.  I assuaged my guilty conscience by going to others that were like-minded, so I could get someone to tell me the same thing.  That wasn’t hard at all.  So, not long after I had received clear direction from the Lord, I ventured on my own path.

Over the next six months or so, I continued to spend a lot of time witnessing, while ignoring the battle at the gates of Hell.  That was until I followed Operation Save America down to Jackson, Mississippi for their 2006 National Event.  It was there that I saw something that forever changed my vision.  There were several things that took place that week that I will never forget, but there was one in particular that filled me with godly sorrow, which led me to repentance.

Every year, OSA has a memorial service for a little baby that was murdered through abortion.  This particular year, the baby’s name was Choice.  She was only about six inches long, laying in a tiny little casket.  I had heard that this would be a real child, but nothing could prepare me for what my eyes saw.  When I laid my eyes on that helpless little child, tears welled up in my eyes.  I fell to the ground and wept before the Lord.  Oh, it was a horrible tragedy, but that was not the direction of my sorrow.  No, I had realized, on that day, that all my excuses would not amount to a hill of beans when I stood before the Judgment Seat of Christ.  I repented of my apathy.  I promised that little baby; I promised God; that I would stand and fight…no matter the cost.

That day, my eyes were opened to this battle.  God showed me that I was responsible to stand up for my unborn neighbors.  I only hope and pray that your eyes would be opened to the same thing.  May God use His Word tonight, to show this to you.

Let’s look at Luke 10:25-37
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”  Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Let’s start by taking a look at the expert in the Law.  He asked Jesus a very good question didn’t he?  The problem was that he had only come to Jesus with the intention of testing Him.  So, he came with the right question, but had the wrong motives.  A good lesson we could take from this is that, anytime someone comes to us with the intention of testing the Lord, we should always take them straight to the Law of God.  It is always, always, always Law to the proud, grace to the humble.  No exceptions.

However, I would like to pull something else out of this.  What if someone comes to us with a question like this, but does it with the right heart?  Well, I would submit to you that, despite the motives of the person asking the question, we should never give an answer according to our own opinion, feelings, political correctness, or based on our emotional attachment to that person.  Let me give you an example.

A few weeks ago, a young lady (we’ll call her Lisa) called me and told me that she was in somewhat of a bind.  Here was her situation.  She and her husband had conceived a child.  Now, she already had an older child and told to me that they were not trying to get pregnant.  I shouldn’t have to say it, but that’s not the problem (that’s a blessing from God).  No, the problem was the report from the doctor.

When she went to the doctor, she was informed that she was not supposed to get pregnant.  Apparently, due to some surgeries, her cervix was not strong enough to carry this baby full term.  At most, she could carry him or her for five months.  Here were the doctors suggestions.  She could wait the five months and give birth to the baby, but have to watch him or her die.  Or, they could take care of this soon, by aborting the child.

This woman was a born again Christian and she knew that abortion was wrong, but you can only imagine the things that went through her mind.  She definitely did not want to have to watch her own child die in her arms.  She wondered if this would be an instance when the loving thing to do would be to go ahead and have the abortion, so the child wouldn’t suffer as much.  So, as most Christians would do, she consulted her Pastor.

Now, surely her Pastor offered her biblical advice, right?  Well, you be the judge.  He said to her, “Lisa, you have the responsibility to love this baby and to be a good mother.  Now, whether that means for one day, for six months, or for the rest of your life, you have to be a loving mother to this child.”  Did he give her the right answer?  Absolutely not!  That was the worst answer he could have given her.  He basically said that it would be OK no matter what she did, as long as she did it with loving intentions.  And, worst of all, being that he is a Pastor, he put God’s stamp of approval on it.

Finally, she called me to get my advice.  The first words out of my mouth were, “Lisa, the Word of God says, “Thou shalt not murder.”  And there are no exceptions to that.”  She actually thanked me for telling her the truth.  She said, “I was looking for someone to tell me the truth that had no emotional attachments to me.”  Beloved, whether or not you are emotionally attached to someone does not dictate truth.  No.  The Word of God dictates truth.

One good thing about this woman was that she was seeking the truth.  The expert in the Law was quite different.  He not only displayed this by his motives for questioning Jesus, but he also showed this by his response to Jesus when he was confronted with God’s Law.  The Law is meant to show us where we fall short.  Instead of confessing to Jesus that he did not love God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and he didn’t love his neighbor, he went where so many of us go when we are confronted with our sin.  He tried to justify himself by asking, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus was well aware of this, so He decided to bust him up even more.  Not only did he answer his question, and show him who his neighbor was.  He went on to show him who he was.

One thing I should point out here is that most commentators would say that this is not a parable at all.  We can’t say for sure because the text doesn’t really say.  But it would seem odd for Jesus to tell a parable like this because he would be setting Himself up.  The Jews would respond that it is an unbelievable story for a Samaritan-an enemy of the Jews-to save a Jew.  The reason I think that is important is because I believe that Jesus was using this story because the expert in the law had actually heard it before and He knew it would really bust him up.

So, right off the bat, in verse thirty, Jesus shows the expert in the Law who his neighbor was.  “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.” “There’s your neighbor, and he’s in the ditch.  Now, let me show you who you are.”

“A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.“ If anyone had excuses to pass by the man in the ditch, the priest did, right?  After all, he had this high calling of God on his life to perform all of his temple responsibilities.  It was his job to offer up the sacrifices to God.  His calling was clear.  Surely God wouldn’t have him get dirty and save his neighbor.  What if he tried to help him and he died?  Well, he would be unclean for seven days and couldn’t perform in his temple duties.

The priest saw his neighbor, in need, yet walked by on the other side of the road.  But, I’m sure he, at least, prayed for the man.  That’s all God would have him do, right?

Then you have the Levite.  “So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.“ The Levite had all of the excuses that the Priest had didn’t he?  But the Levite was also the worship leader of his day.  He was in charge of the praise and thanksgiving in the temple.  Now the Levite was gifted.  Nobody could sing or play music like him.  I’m sure he wrote songs about the mercy and justice of God.  Yet, when it came to put these things into practice, what did he do?  We passed by on the other side of the road.

Beloved, we have heard this story many times.  We know that the priest and Levite were wrong in their treatment of the man in the ditch.  But, let me give you a modern-day example of this.

Imagine I am witnessing to a lost man.  You know, I’m using my gift of evangelism.  This is my calling.  Out of the corner of my eye, I see a little toddler walking up.  Then, out of nowhere, a man grabs her and carries her to his car.  What do I do?  Well, I stretch out my hands and pray, “Father, in Jesus name, please put a stop to this horrible thing called child abuse.  Lord, send someone to rescue this child.  In Jesus’ name, amen.”  Then, I continue witnessing to the man and lead him to Christ.  Praise the Lord, right?  Wrong.

Beloved, that child’s father is going to come looking for me.  Why?  Because I am guilty of his daughters’ blood.  It was my responsibility to do something, yet all I did was pray.  I’m sure you would agree with me on that.  Just as you would probably agree that the priest and Levite would have been responsible for the blood of the man in the ditch, had he died.

Well, what should I have done?  I should have done as the Samaritan man.  I should have dropped what I was doing, regardless of what it was, to rescue that child.  I should have rescued my neighbor in the ditch.

When I was in Las Vegas a couple of months ago, for the 2009 OSA National Event, I was able to share this same message with a man I ran into at the Fremont Street Experience.  I was standing at the truth display, which shows the graphic truth of abortion, when a man walked up to me to thank us for being out there.  I greeted him and tried to give him a tract.  He said he didn’t need it because he was a Pastor.  I told him that he needed it all the more, because it would show him what he could do to help end abortion.  He took it and said he would give it to one of his members who is very pro-life.  Then he caught himself to reassure me that he was very pro-life too.

The man standing next to me asked the Pastor how many member he had in his congregation.  “300″, he answered.  So my friend asked him what he thought would happen if he took his entire church to an abortion clinic in Los Angeles.  At that point, he got very stern, and said, “God has not told me to do that, and until he does, I can’t do it.”

I asked him if he was familiar with the story about the good samaritan.  He said he was.  I shared, with him, the same message I have shared with you.  I even told him the hypothetical about me witnessing to the man on the steps.  He agreed with me the whole way.  Then I asked him a questions.  “Sir,” I said, “How is that toddler that was abducted anymore valuable, in God’s eyes, than this child right here?”  I pointed to a little boy that had been brutally murdered through a partial-birth abortion.  His head had been cut off.  The Pastor said, “Son, I understand what you’re saying, but God hasn’t told me to do that.”  I said very sternly, “Sir.  God just told you to do it.  He said, ‘Go and do likewise.’”  The conversation pretty much ended after that.

Let me ask you the same question.  If you believe it would be my responsibility to rescue that toddler from the hands of her abductor, why would you not say that I am just as responsible to rescue unborn children from the clutches of death.  Is not a child in the womb every bit as valuable as a child outside the womb?  In the answer is yes.  Or, at least, according to God.  The problem is, with our mouths we say that we believe life begins at conception, but our actions say that life does not begin until we can see the child, or if we are, in some way, emotionally attached.  Other than that, it’s just not your calling to do something about it, right?

You might be saying, “Well, I see what you’re saying, but what can I really do?  Do you really expect me to go out with you to abortion clinics?”  That’s exactly what I’m saying.  Then you might say, “But I’m just little old me.  What good will I do?”  Beloved, you might think that that is a weakness, but that’s exactly the attitude God is looking for.  He’s not looking for those who are proud.  No, he’s looking for the meek.  You’ve got to realize that you really can’t do anything apart from him.  You really are nothing.  And praise God, he will use you.

Just in case you don’t believe me, let me tell you about a couple of “little old me’s” that God has used to save many lives in the city of Charlotte.  After hearing the message that all Christians have a responsibility to rescue little babies from the grips of death, Grandma and Chrissy were cut to the heart.  Grandma is the mother of Rev. Flip Benham, National Director of Operation Save America.  He’s also a leader at my church.  Chrissy is his sister.

They went to Flip and asked him what they could do to help.  He told them that they could come to the clinics with him every day of the week.  This was key, because we had a presence at the clinics on Saturday, but not many came out during the week.  So, of course, their response was, “We’re just little old me’s.  What difference could we ever make?”  Flip told them that 95% of the battle is just showing up.  God would take care of the rest.

Flip told them that he would begin to keep count of all the babies that are saved from that day forward.  So, Grandma and Chrissy’s first day at the clinic was October 27th, 2008.  They have been faithful to go out nearly every day.  Since that day, there have been over 400 little babies saved from the three clinics in the city of Charlotte (I am writing this on September 25th, 2009).  Praise God!  Just think how many classrooms that would fill up.

Beloved, you have heard the truth.  You have a choice.  Will you continue to make excuses as to why you are not called to stand in the gap on behalf of the unborn?  Or, will you repent today?  Will you put all of your excuses behind you and begin to stand up for unborn children, no matter the cost?  I would ask you, beloved, to please soften your heart today.  If what I have spoken is true, than you have a responsibility to respond.

Thank you for your time.  I pray that you will, from this day forward, rescue those being led away to death and hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

For His Glory,
Adam Tennant