Marriage is a covenant, which means that it can be broken. Vows were taken. We vowed to love, cherish, cleave to, forsake all others, honor…when those vows are continually broken without repentance, divorce might be in order. The innocent party is free to make her (his) own decision without further control and abuse from outside parties.
I’ve been listening to Time for Three lately. A truly wonderful group. “Joy” makes my heart happy.
If a covenant by definition cannot be broken, then Adam would not have died and the death of Jesus would not have been necessary. The broken covenant is the tapestry on which the story of redemption is painted.
In 1 Peter 3:1, the apostle is giving practical advice to husbands and wives in the context of the spread of the gospel to Jews and Greeks alike. When you have thousands of converts a day, questions like “Do I get a divorce from my pagan husband?” abound. To apply that counsel to abusive or harsh husbands in the 21st century is like going to a chiropractor for a brain tumor. We need wisdom, people.
Life with fibromyalgia: “Oh! That one is new! I wonder if I have contracted a deadly disease or if it is just a fibro-flare?”
Those of you on Twitter who make it a practice to revile and mock women – you will someday stand before God with all of your Tweets open and you will have to explain to the Lion of Judah why you did not fear to speak about His co-heirs like you have.
If the salt has lost its saltiness, what will you salt it with? When the church sounds just like Fox News, is it distinguishable as the Bride of Christ anymore?
The sad part to me is that we as the church have forgotten how to think. We’ve become soundbites and caricatures of ourselves. Anyone who forces us to think through our positions is considered an enemy to be destroyed.
When the great commission is framed as a “culture war”, then it must be won by the weapons of the flesh by any means necessary. Disagreements cannot be tolerated. Enemies must be destroyed. Lying, harshness, reviling and slander are all necessary for the greater good. This has nothing to do with Christ.
My Only Comfort 
Great post, Pastor Sam. Thank you.
I saw on a FB post that someone mentioned listening to your sermons. Where can one do so?
You can find them all on sermonaudio.com
https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=reformedyubacity
“Disagreements cannot be tolerated. Enemies must be destroyed. Lying, harshness, reviling and slander are all necessary for the greater good. This has nothing to do with Christ.”
There were SO many times (and still are) when I was sincerely baffled by those that profess Christ opposing the very things that Christ Himself professed! And FYI, not about issues where there is any wiggle room.
The Bible is quite beautiful because it is NOT, repeat NOT, all about do’s and don’ts (although that does matter). It is also clear about what does and does not matter to Him; where “I am free to be me.” Example: celebrating holidays, foods and drinks, and other numerous cultural “norms” that are used to define Christianity. Certain things that you are described as do not determine Who you are defined by.
I like the phrase “weapons of the flesh” used here. Often they are used with justifications like: “I am being brutally honest” or “I am telling it as it is” (no you are not, you are being rude and crude). Or, “sorry you are so easily offended” or “sorry you are so sensitive” (that is not what “sorry” looks like, and excusing your ego with an untamed tongue is evil).
It is easy to cause confusion: if what you look like (on the outside) and/or what you are like (on the inside) are “different,” you tend to stand out and those around you might automatically feel some discomfort. It is easy to take that discomfort and use those visible or invisible differences, to be described as dangerous, difficult or divisive.
It happens so naturally, so narcissistically and is described as so necessary, in the name of feeling safe and secure. While there really ARE dangerous people out there, it’s fair to ask who are the truly dangerous ones: those who rush to assume the worst about others, or those who are eager to agree with and be allowed to assume the worst about others.