An important phrase is peppered throughout all the narratives in the Exodus arc: “Moses did as the Lord had commanded him.” He spoke to Pharaoh like God told them to. He built the Tabernacle like God told him to. He set the Levites apart for service as God had told them to. We are told over a dozen times in the Torah that Moses simply, trustingly did what God said.

This demonstrates a powerful principle that God’s faithful ones talk about regularly, but which is often overlooked by the broad spectrum of all that calls itself Christian: respecting God’s authority.

Authority means the right to command. A person with authority is the person in charge; the one who can make decisions that affect others; the one whose words have the weight to make others obey. And in all of reality, no one has more authority than YHWH—the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, and of our lord and savior Jesus.

Our job, then, is to obey the ways of God, plain and simple. In church life and in our personal lives, we are called to obey God’s spoken word—the Bible. Has he said how he wants his church led? Then we obey that. Has he said that his people should be generous with our money? Then we do it. Has he said to flee from sexual immorality? Then we do it. Has he said to worship him in certain ways and not in others? Then we do as he’s asked.

Our hope is that, as simple as it is, when the Holy Spirit looks at the whole of our lives, he will be able to say something similar of us to what he so often said of Moses: “They did just as the Lord had commanded them.”

- Dan Lankford, minister

If I were to ask you if you had self-control, then you would probably give me an answer somewhere in the neighborhood of, “It depends on what we’re talking about.” Our ability, our willingness, to control ourselves fluctuates based on what trials and temptations we face. Maybe you have gluttony under control, but when it comes to gossip you struggle. Maybe you’ve got a handle on sexual immorality, but drinking tends to be a problem. Maybe you do a good job at keeping the rules and living out your faith, but you wrestle with forgiving those who sin against you and judging those who fall short or aren’t as far along. 

Do you have self-control? Well, it depends…

That’s why Peter tells us to add patience or perseverance to our self-control (II Peter 1:6). That word in II Peter 1:6 might read different based on your translation. NASB reads “perseverance,” CSB reads “endurance,” and ESV reads “steadfastness.” All of those words are translated from the Greek word, “Hypomone,” a word that means, “a patient enduring” or “a staying under.” I love that concept. What Peter is advising here is that we learn how to stay in our place. He wants us to be the kind of people who stay in our place regardless of what happens.  

It seems to me that in many cases the life of a Christian is characterized by wild fluctuation. This month we’re on fire for the Lord, but next month we drop off. When I’m tempted by sexual immorality, I do okay, but when I’m tempted by alcohol I tend to fail. When life is going well, I control myself, but if things are a little rocky, self-control goes out the window. That’s often the way it goes, isn’t it?

Peter encourages us to add patience, perseverance, steadfastness to our faith. We need to be people who stay in our places no matter what life throws at us. We need to level out those wild fluctuations. Our spiritual lives should be characterized not by flashes of spiritual brilliance followed by devastating failure, but by constant loyalty, devotion, and faithfulness.

For the next few weeks, we’ll talk about to add perseverance to our faith.

- Jonathan Banning

“And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves.” (Lev. 26:12-13)

The Exodus story is simple, yet it’s anything but simplistic. The complexity and beauty of the story is the kind of thing that a person could study for a lifetime and always be able to find fresh insights and teachings in it. Even the Ten Commandments, while they might seem like basic principles, have far-reaching wisdom as they reveal the very heart of God. They, along with the entire Exodus arc, are one of the main areas of the Bible where God has revealed a large picture of his nature and his plan to save and bless humanity.

I pray that our preaching theme for this year has been a blessing to you. I pray that it’s helping us all expand our view of God’s scheme to redeem mankind. I pray that it’s helping us see how we should rightfully respond to him—with humility, gratitude, awe, and obedience. I pray that it’s helping us to clearly see and sincerely embrace his eternal love. I pray that it’s helping us to be comforted by his divine, righteous judgment. I pray that it’s helping us to grow in our faith.

The core promise of all that we’re studying this year is the one quoted above: “I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” That’s the promise for us too, if we believe in him, obey him, and love him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

- Dan Lankford, minister

What are you going to do with your phone today? Especially while you’re here at our assembly?

A year ago, we ran a series of essays about Christians and smart-phones. Here, I’d like to just offer a little wisdom about how those devices should and shouldn’t be present in our church assemblies.

Basically, it comes down to this: When you’re here for worship, be here to worship. Keep your focus on the things of God—his nature, his word, his blessings, and his people. Let’s leave life’s lesser things to get our lesser attention. 

Texting—whether for fun or for work—can almost certainly wait until the service is done. Gaming can wait. Emails, to-do lists, and social media can all wait. Why? Because the things of God are simply so much more important than those.

We should also bear in mind that young hearts are being continuously formed by what they see in the behaviors of older saints around them. So if they see us choosing to be inattentive to the things of God, they learn from that. They learn whether God and his ways matter most to us, or whether those things can simply be ignored.

Obviously, with this writing, I’m not making a ruling that no one should bring a phone to church—there’s a QR code right here that has to be scanned with a phone, and I think there are other things that they’re useful for in this setting. But I do think that we need to be wise with all the ways that we do and don’t use them when we’re in a worship setting. The word, the worship, and the people of God should always come first.

- Dan Lankford, minister

It’s tough tolerating mystery and ambiguity. We like to understand exactly how things work. But sometimes, God asks us to be comfortable with a little ambiguity in spiritual things. In Matthew 4, Jesus says that when a farmer plants a seed, he doesn’t know how the seed grows. But he plants it and goes to bed knowing that it will, even though he may not understand how that works (Matthew 4:26-29). Just because we don’t fully understand something doesn’t mean we cannot make use of it or benefit from it.

That’s the principle we ought to keep in mind when we think about self-control and the Holy Spirit.

The scriptures are clear that Christians are strengthened by the Holy Spirit for greater self-control. Paul tells us that self-control is the fruit that the Spirit produces in us (Galatians 5:22-23), that, in baptism, we are renewed by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5-7), and he prays for the Ephesians to be strengthened with power in the inner man through the Spirit (Ephesians 3:16). Remember also that Paul tells the Romans that it is through the Holy Spirit that Christians put to death the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8:13). There’s no denying that the Spirit strengthens Christians.

Yet, there is ambiguity in that; we don’t fully understand how that works. That’s why we need to remember that principle: just because we don’t fully understand something doesn’t mean we cannot benefit from it. Of course, we must be careful not to abuse that ambiguity. Sometimes our attempts to clear up ambiguity lead us to false conclusions (e.g. being strengthened doesn’t mean that He takes over your body and overrides free will). Still, Christians ought to appreciate that we are strengthened by the Spirit and take advantage of that gift even if we don’t fully comprehend it.

Like the farmer who plants, waters, and trusts that God is doing his invisible work to bring about growth, we trust God’s invisible work in us, even if we don’t understand it completely. So let’s pray, “God, strengthen my soul in your Spirit.” And let’s be assured that as we add self-control, God will “keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful” (II Peter 1:8).

- Jonthan Banning

The questions have come up in my hearing a few times lately: “How can Christian women and young women dress modestly without being legalistic? And how can Christian men take ownership of their own thoughts about women and what they wear?” I’m thankful that some people are asking this question, because I think it reveals hearts that desires to serve God with purity and holiness.

As Christians, we live our lives under a certain set of guidelines. And sometimes, those guidelines must necessarily be set in ways the Bible doesn’t specifically address. The Bible doesn’t specifically address many of the situations and clothing styles that we might wonder about, so we have to make some good judgments based on what God has taught us. How can we apply his wisdom to those situations in order to serve him best? Remember, we’re not just called to the minimum moral behavior that is acceptable; we want to be fully pleasing to God.

So first, how can women and young women dress modestly without being legalistic?

Let’s understand that the word ‘legalism’ has a specific meaning; it’s not just “serious about following moral rules.” Since that’s the case, let’s note that a certain Christian moral sense must be applied to modesty. Each family, organization, church family, school, etc. must make some judgment calls about that. For instance, when Christian kids to go to camp, someone has to say ‘this way of dressing is acceptable and this one is not.’ That’s not legalism; it’s just an application of good moral sense. It’s an effort to set clear and wise boundaries for young men and women in effort to help them obey God’s will. And the same is true of other settings; some decisions have to be made, even where the Bible hasn’t made rules.

Now, the question still remains: How can women dress modestly? The answer is pretty simple: try to be modest. Don’t try to be ‘just modest enough.’ Try to be modest, entirely. Take ownership of your dress, and think of how you present your body. Does the way that you dress glorify God, or is it about flaunting yourself? Are you pushing the boundaries, or are you choosing the humble and conservative path that draws you close to God’s ways? Are you seeking to please Jesus, or are you seeking ways to ‘get away with’ a little more?

And now to the other question: How can men take ownership of their own thoughts about women and what they wear?

God is clear with his warnings about lust (see especially Jesus’ words in Mt. 5:27-30). Men and boys are commanded not to give ourselves to that. It’s the task of men and boys to follow Job’s example and make a covenant with the eyes so as not to look longingly at women other than our wives (Jb 31:1). To look at a woman with sexual desire is demeaning to her dignity as an image-bearer of God and is an act of unfaithfulness in the heart. Godly men, both young and old, must exercise self-control.

Every Christian has a responsibility to help other Christians. Christian women can help Christian men, and Christian men can take ownership of helping Christian women to live in the dignity and peacefulness that God has given them.

- Dan Lankford, minister

“What do you do for a living?” It’s a standard question when getting to know someone new because our jobs have an important place in our lives. Working a job is not unique to Christians, but believers are called to work in a unique way. God wants us to do everything with excellence.

Paul instructed the Thessalonian Christians “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” (1 Thess. 4:11-12)  He told them in a later letter: “you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day.” (2 Thess. 3:7-8)

Our work—and the quality of it—matters to God. Whether we are employed to teach children, to prepare and serve food, to provide medical care, to build, to administrate, or to mediate justice… Christians ought to be diligent to do all things well, giving God the glory for our best efforts.

And so while it might just seem like good advice, the reality is that if we live out the good news, we will be reliable employees. We will be there when we are expected. We will not leave jobs unfinished. We will look out for the interests of others in the workplace. We will think about contributions we can make to our organization’s goals. We will be honest with our employers’ accounts (cf. Lk. 16:1-13). We will not be idle. As Christians, we will always strive to do good work.

- Dan Lankford, minister

“I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Cr. 9:7)

Growth in self-control can often be greatly helped by a focus on the rewards that it will yield. Self-control is, in fact, not far removed from the concept of self-discipline—that same kind of mental drive that motivates athletes to get up earlier, push harder, dream up new challenges, and go back to the gym day after day after day. And that kind of self-discipline isn’t just punishment. Over time, it has a way of becoming an extremely important blessing to us.

I love meeting or hearing about people in their 60’s and beyond who remain exceedingly active and healthy—who are walking or biking or lifting weights or doing yoga every day, and who’ve been doing that for many years. In conversing with such people, they almost always end up saying the same thing: “At this point in life, my day just doesn’t feel right if I skip it.”

That little observation shows us one the blessings of self-control: That it’s not only good because it helps us obey God’s rules, but there’s a life-giving power about it. In the same way that self-disciplining the body brings helps us just feel better, self-controlling our spiritual life (which is to say, our WHOLE life) brings about a deep kind of joy—an underlying steadiness that is difficult to describe, but which leaves us “just not feeling right” when we neglect it.

Self-control in regards to our spending, our eating and drinking, our words, our sexual activity, our emotions, our time, and our thoughts… largely boils down to being deliberate. Decisive. Purposeful. Intentional. And in order to truly make the most of that and receive all of its accompanying blessings, we’d do well to take a disciplined approach to life. It leads to a peacefulness that runs deep—a life-giving peacefulness that some might even say “surpasses understanding.”

- Dan Lankford

This past Sunday, one of our brothers led us in a song whose lyrics have been known to Christians since the second century. Since it was probably unfamiliar to most of us, here are the lyrics again, to allow for some time to really reflect on them.

Shepherd of tender youth,
guiding in love and truth
through devious ways,
Christ, our triumphant King,
we come your name to sing
and here our children bring
to join your praise.

You are our holy Lord,
Christ, the incarnate Word,
healer of strife.
You did yourself abase
that from sin's deep disgrace
you might now save our race,
and give us life.

You are the great High Priest,
you have prepared the feast
of holy love;
and in our mortal pain
none calls on you in vain;
our plea do not disdain;
help from above.

O ever be our guide,
our shepherd and our pride,
our staff and song.
Jesus, O Christ of God,
by your enduring Word
lead us where you have trod;
make our faith strong.

So now and till we die
sound we your praises high
and joyful sing:
infants and all the throng
who to your Church belong,
unite to swell the song
to Christ, our King!

The Catholic pope is unquestionably one of the most powerful religious influences in the world. Of course, his power is as illegitimate as the strange fire offered by Aaron’s sons (cf. Lv. 10:1-3), but it does have enormous impact. And so, when a pope dies and his successor is chosen, it’s worth at least a few moments of consideration from Bible-believing Christians.

Pope Francis reigned (notice that I did not say served) from 2013 to 2025, and his reign will be remembered for a handful of things almost entirely related to his doctrinal liberalism, or at least his doctrinal ambivalence. The popes are considered the successors of the apostles and the authoritative source of all doctrine, which makes the most memorable statement of Francis’ administration all the more memorable: Early on, when asked about his position on homosexuality, he infamously said, “Who am I to judge?” The obvious answer is, “You’re the pope!” And yet, that sort of non-committal response became his usual way. He spent his time hinting that the Church needed to ‘catch up with the times’ and move in a more liberal direction. That, along with the seriously problematic concept of the papacy in general, is how almost all conservative, Biblically-minded Christians will remember him.

Whenever a Pope dies, the next question is always, “What will the next one be like?” And while there’s no way to know, it is worth thinking about.

The new pope—number 267—who has chosen Leo XIV as monarchial title, is a figure largely unknown. He may be a picture of stability, offering little or no change to the Catholic way. Or he may turn out to be noticeably more conservative or more liberal than his predecessor. We, along with the rest of the world, will have to watch and see.

And I think that we should. I think that we’re wise to at least pay attention to their activities, as the Catholic Church does contribute to global events and trends. It is an earthly kingdom with an outsized influence, and if we’re going to be “wise as serpents,” then we shouldn’t put on blinders and just act like it doesn’t exist.

Make no mistake: The pope’s authority is heretical and illegitimate. He is not the mouthpiece of Christ for the modern world. He is not a monarch of Christ’s kingdom on Earth—Christ himself said that he is king, and that his kingdom is not of Earth (Jn. 18:33-37). But it does have great power among religiously-minded people all across the globe, and knowing its trajectory can still help us reach out to them as we try to guide all people to a complete knowledge of the truth. Catholicism is a grand structure built upon a foundation of false teaching, and so we pray for its ultimate undoing. But in the meantime, we pray for it to accomplish some good in the world, no matter how small that may be.

- Dan Lankford, minister