Cage-Rage, Aftermath and Apologies

There are many things that I love about Calvinism, however, there are far more that I have developed quite a disdain for i.e. the angry Calvinist, or the snobbery that exist within the ranks. The point of this article is not to go through and identify everything that needs critiquing but rather to speak on a few personal notes, and issue some apologies to the people who have been wounded by my anger.

I went through a season of life that many Calvinist do, which is the "Caged Calvinist" stage. For those who are unfamiliar with this, it simply means, to lock the angry Calvinist (usually new) until he matures so that he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else. There's an old cliche that says, "hurt people hurt people". There is a great deal of truth to this, but it doesn't necessarily need to be true. 

I wrote a series of blogs that were harsh in tone, and directed at a very specific group of people with specific people in mind. This is where the apology is confusing, because I am not retracting the content of what was said, but rather the motive and the tone of what was said. I don't want this to be confused with the type of backhanded apology that we are all to familiar with, which is, "I'm sorry you took it that way" or "That isn't what I meant to do".  The apology is one a regret. Regret that I wrote the blogs in the manner that I did, with the desire to wound or inflict harm on people.

To those whom I harmed on a public level (meaning there are many of you and in no way can I apologize to each individual as I don't know the lengths of this) I want to ask that you forgive me. There is an additional note to this: I have had a personal conversation with the one that this was directed at, and sought forgiveness. 

When sins are done in a public manner they deserve to be confessed in a public manner, with forgiveness being sought in a public manner.

Note: I decided to delete the blogs that had a personal vendetta within them.

Coram Deo,

Douglas Herron

Inevitable Chasm

There have been many important distinctions that have been made throughout Church history. These distinctions have been used to set the Church apart from its surrounding culture. The fathers of the Christian Faith fought many battles to make these distinctions clear. The modern liberal church however, has long distanced themselves from Church history because the very historical documents would remove all credibility from their claims. This tactic quickly turned on the postmodern church so they have sought out a new tactic known as revisionism. Revisionism seems to be the ruling force in modern evangelicalism. 

One such revision is the gay agenda. The gay agenda is spreading through the Church like the Great Plague of London. However, unlike the plague London faced, this is necessary for the vitality of the true Biblical and Historical Church to continue in the future.  It is necessary because of the perversions the evangelical Church continues to place itself in as this agenda continues to advance for the Church to accept the gay lifestyle i.e. Gay Marriage and allow them full covenant member status, churches and denominations that maintain the biblical standard are going to further the great chasm. Before I continue any further I want to make something clear. This is not an article about how the Church should handle homosexuals, but let me say this simply, the Westboro Baptist people of the world is not what ministry should look like to the homosexual community. 

There are numerous shifts the modern/postmodern church has made of the last century, and the first part of the 21st century isn't looking any better. What makes this news encouraging is that the church is separating and fragmenting into very distinguishable segments. There have been at least a dozen prominent experiments that have all exploded onto the scene only to disappear as quickly as they came. There was the Jesus movement (1960-1970), Promise Keepers, the pesky liberal Emergent movement, Pentecostalism, the Charismatic movement (also known as the Second Wave), to name a few. Not all of these were damnable, but each one has made for itself a distinction from the Church at large.

Evangelicalism has been continually evolving over the many years with a wide array of reasons why the changes were necessary. Willow Creek is one such example of a church that created a massive chasm from the historical church. When they were questioned about their methods they simply responded by telling people to look at the growth and all the good they are doing - that is their great historical objection.  I've had numerous conversations with people about the overall damage that Pentecostalism has done to the Church, and the objection that is usually given from Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals alike is along the same lines as Willow Creek's, "look at all the good they've done" and, "they're leading the world in world missions". In fact, that is almost always their objection when they are challenged on pretty much anything regarding their methods and/or their theology.

It has long been difficult for outsiders to distinguish between the varying branches of evangelicalism, however, as evangelicalism continues to embrace the plethora of abominable lifestyles that scripture so clearly condemns, churches that continue to maintain biblical orthodoxy will continue to be the city on the hill (Matthew 5:14).

The point is, with anything that diverts away from the Biblical and Historical Christian truth will inevitably create a chasm in its wake.

The good news: Jesus is ruling, reigning, and He alone builds His Church. 

Matthew 16:18 I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it

America's Benign God

We live in a society that has created for itself an idol. I live in a suburb of Nashville, which is right smack in the middle of the Bible belt, with more than its fair share of every kind of Baptist that you can think of, plus a few more. The point to that isn't that Baptist are bad, or that even that living in the Bible Belt is bad, although there's some major drawbacks and hypocrisies that reach epic proportions, but that's another story for another day.

This idol that has been created is what I'm going to dub, "The feline of judah". The Church has made Jesus out to be an innocent, calm, gentle, totally incapable of destruction, little innocuous god. It is not very often that you hear of anyone being fearful of a God that is capable (and willing) to bring judgement. People who ought to be terrified of God's judgement, have no fear, no worries, and when something happens in their life that may very well have been judgement, or discipline, they brush it off as happenstance, that it was just the circumstances that allowed this to happen.

The Church has created a benign god that never judges.

Recently I had a conversation with a friend who had listened to a sermon from Paul Washer. In this sermon he was telling me that Paul Washer was making a point about how God didn't spare His own Son from His Wrath. During this conversation John 3:16 clicked in my headed in a manner that I've never had before.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

There's a rather large point that is missed here, I believe mostly because of how we have romanticized this text. However, Romans 8:32 sheds a great deal of light on this by saying, "He who did not spare his own Son". I believe that all to often we look at this and miss the big idea of what spare actually means. We interpret this to say that God sent his Son from heaven, all the while missing that the sparing was the very wrath of God (Isaiah 53:10).

Jesus took on himself the wrath of God; He satisfied God's wrath (Romans 2:23-25).


Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Here's the big idea: If God did spare His own Son, Jesus, then He isn't going to spare those who are outside of Christ. If we are not hidden in Christ, when the day of judgement comes (in this life or the next) we are not going to be spared the very wrath of God. When the people of Israel were preparing the first passover feast, they were doing so because they had to have the blood covering of an innocent lamb, because when it comes to judgement, there is no one who is innocent (Romans 3:23) outside of Christ. Had there been an Israelite who didn't do as he was commanded and shed the blood of a lamb and covered the doorpost with it, they would've been judged on that night.

I see this benign-god being talked about and preached from the mountain tops of the social world all the time e.g. the latest hit song Same Love is a great example of this. With lines like a "God loves all his children", and "Whatever God you believe in we come from the same one' strip away the fear underneath it's all the same love". It would take at least one long article to unpack those two lines, so I'm going to stick to the point, which is, this god that Mackelmore is talking about is a god that is only love, and according to his definition of love - it isn't love at all. This god has no judgement in him, and whatever you want to do, you are free to do because there is no judgement, only love.

As I pointed out earlier, if the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, according to scripture, then this is very bad news for anyone who has not put their trust in him. If God wasn't willing to spare his Son, He is not going to spare you eternal judgement.

The severity of God's anger, judgement, wrath, is what reveals his righteousness, grace and mercy.

The reality of this inoculated god that is preached in pulpits all over America has people who are totally unafraid of God. If you're not terrified about God's ability to judge you, in my opinion, you are in some very dangerous territory - Matthew 7:21-23 territory.

I pray that you put your trust in Christ, repent of you sins, pursue Jesus and let your life be hidden in him. (Colossians 3:3). When we put our trust in him we are justified by him and him alone (Romans 5:1).


Romans 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

What is Forgiveness

We hear of forgiveness and we are told to forgive those who have offended us, but what is forgiveness? Unfortunately it is presented as a mystical healing that happens when you decide you're ready for it to happen; just forgive them.

I’ve personally heard all kinds of arguments as to why someone isn’t capable of forgiving someone, or why they struggle with the issue of unforgiveness.

To make matters worse people, especially preachers, love to quote Matthew 6:14-15.

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

So, those who have been stuck with the issue of unforgiveness find themselves in a rather unfortunate situation. They don’t want to forgive the person or persons, but neither do they want to go hell because God won’t forgive them, because they don’t want to forgive the person. They still don’t know how to forgive, or what forgiveness really is, but they're going to forgive because they want God’s forgiveness.

They’ve now made the decision to forgive said person, they will probably call them, or send them a letter to let them know that they have decided to forgive them...  “whew, glad that’s over”, they say to themselves.

The sad truth is, there is no real forgiveness in the above example.

Colossians 3:13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Romans 15:7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

When we discuss the issue of forgiveness we must look to Christ. When we look to Christ we must have the understanding of our sinfulness. If you don’t see your sinfulness you won’t see the beauty of God’s grace, mercy, and the beauty of his forgiveness. Furthermore, what was required to gain that forgiveness.

We can all truly forgive someone when we look at ourselves and see just how sinful we really are, and that while we were enemies of God, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). You were an enemy of God and Christ died for you, and by His Spirit you were raised from the dead, and all yours sins have been forgiven because of Christ (Colossians 2:13).

Once you realise the reality of your sinful state, and the grievousness of your sin against God, and that he forgave it, then you are that much closer to being able to forgive someone.

However, we still haven’t addressed what forgiveness is, and what it is not.

Forgiveness is not a mystical act, where we decide to just evaporate the offense from our minds. We can't simply wave a wand and make it all go away.

God the Father has forgiven us in Christ. Christ died for our sins, the preacher tells us we are forgiven because Christ died for our sins. But what does that statement really mean? What happened on the “cross” that enables us to be forgiven? Why was this necessary for forgiveness? Why couldn’t God simply forgive us? After all that’s what people tell us to do, right?

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The word propitiation is a very important word, perhaps the most important word to understand forgiveness. So what is propitiation? To propitiate is to make peace with God. Jesus made peace with God the father by absorbing the full weight of his wrath. You and I are completely incapable of making peace with God because until we are in Christ, we are in Adam (Romans 5:12-21).

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the will of the  Lord  to crush him; he has put him to grief;  when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;  the will of the  Lord  shall prosper in his hand.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God made Jesus sin, and he poured out his wrath on him. Jesus didn’t just die on the cross, he absorbed the very wrath of God. He propitiated God. He took every bit of wrath for the sins of all believers, past, present and future.

We are forgiven and reconciled to God because Jesus, who is the head of the Church (all believers), took unto himself the sins of all believers. Jesus because he is covenantally the head of the Church (his bride) took the responsibility to reconcile his bride to the Father (2 Corinthians 5:18).

For us to understand the depths and difficulty of forgiveness, and to walk in true forgiveness we must understand what we have been forgiven. Paul commonly reminded believers of their sinfulness, and that they were forgiven. He would remind the churches to walk in love and forgive one another, because they have been forgiven in Christ; seeing their own sin, and forgiving others of the sins.

We are forgiven because Jesus Absorbed our sin.  Forgiveness is absorbing the offense.

When we forgive someone we are absorbing what said person has done to us. We are saying that we aren’t going to inflict the wrath on them that they deserve (I realize at this point I just opened up a can of worms, and it will have to be addressed in another article). In short this doesn’t mean that you petition the court to free the person who committed a crime against you, or your family. That would not fall under the banner of forgiveness.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Forgiveness is not easy, which is what the Bible reveals. We should never minimize what it takes to forgive someone.  When we forgive someone, we are able to do so because we realize (as Christians) that God has forgiven us of far more egregious sins against him. When we are struggling with forgiving someone, we must remind ourselves of what we have done, and what Christ did to forgive us.

In short we forgive because God has forgiven us, therefore enabling us to forgive us. The reality is, forgiveness is brutal.

2 Corinthians 5:18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation

Better Than Your Vice

Proverbs 26:11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.

When it comes to the issue of fighting sin, people get really dishonest with themselves, and with those who are in their community. There’s a number of reasons why we are so dishonest. The primary reason is self-righteousness, another is the shame, guilt, and fear of being cast out.

We convince ourselves that the issue really isn’t that bad. We tell ourselves that we are ok, and don’t struggle with it anymore, even though yesterday you were enjoying your vice. So we return to behavior modification, which has never worked, but we convince ourselves that it will this time. We do this because we convince ourselves that we don’t really want that vice anymore. The problem with this is, you do want it, and the best thing you can do is acknowledge that you want it, but know that Christ is so much better.

Christ is so much better than your vice. He is better than your comfort sin, your safe sin; your secret sin that you think no one knows about (people do they just aren’t telling you). Everyone has their vice (comfort sin) that they return to like a dog returns to its vomit (Proverbs 26:11, 2 Peter 2:22)

Peter argues, and he’s right because he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write canonical scripture, that it would be better for them to have never known the truth than for one to return to their former way of life (2 Peter 2:20). These people who Peter is referring to have seen, and tasted the goodness of Christ, yet they want to return to their own vomit (2 Peter. 2:22).

If we aren’t careful we will read passages like this one and just further our self-help and modify our behavior some more, which isn’t the point to this passage or any of them for that matter. Jesus is better than the latest self-help book. Jesus is better than anything this world has to offer. Jesus is the living water (John 4:10) who is better than the nasty busted cistern (Jer. 2 :13), yet we go to it looking for living water.

Christ is better than your sin. Christ has defeated your sin. Christ has forgiven your sin, more than that, he took on himself the full wrath of God to forgive the very sin you return to. Christ took it all, and he gives to you everything that you don’t deserve, and took on himself everything you do deserve. Look to Christ and rest in Him (Matthew 11:28-30).  

In Christ you’re forgiven, repent of your sins and trust in him for the hope of salvation that can only be found in him.

Are You Dead

Colossians 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Our sin crushes us. Under the weight of sin, we have no escape. The law condemns us, as we are powerless to overcome the consequences of being law breakers, which we all are. Even if you could obey the law, which you can't, now until you die, you are still condemned by the law you already broke.

However the gospel tells us a different story; a story that reveals we have died and been made alive by God (Ephesians 2:5), and in Christ our former selves are hidden away and Jesus has given us a new lease on life. This life however, isn't given for us to do with it as we choose. Rather the next verse reveals what we are given.

Colossians 3:4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

We are given Christ. Jesus is now our life, and he is our reward. He clothes us in perfectly, with the clothing that we could never attain for ourselves (Isaiah 61:10). God himself has done this work in you (Colossians 2:13), and it had nothing to do with you being special, But he did it for his own name (Psalm 106:8, Isaiah 48:11).

My friends we are brought to worship when we see and are faced with our own destruction, and that God has saved us from it. He saved us by taking on himself what we deserved, and made for us a path that we could not make.

Romans 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Nothing can be brought against you who are in Christ, because no charge can be brought against Christ himself, and you are in him.

Burnt S'mores

Summer camps are happening all over the world, specifically all over America, more specifically all over the Bible Belt. With that said, I want to look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

There are loads of good camps, with lots of good teachers, preachers, counsellors who really understand the gospel. Sadly, however, there are far more that don't get the gospel, and therefore look for behavior modification. Manipulating the emotions of adolescence has become a national pass time. Schools do it, peers, churches, books, Television, music, and parents. No one stops to look at the repercussions of what is happening, so long as the desired result is a different behaving child.

Lately my heart has been grieved and cut to the very core. Firstly, because I use to be one of these great manipulators. To anyone who ever sat under the false teaching, and use of manipulative tactics of my ministry, I am deeply sorry; I can only ask that you would forgive me.

Secondly, I am grieved because I've seen numerous post on social media outlets from parents, teens, and ministry workers posting the results of their camps. As I read these updates my heart hurts for anyone that is being described in the sentence or paragraph.

One such example is where I saw someone say, "I'm free from my hurt and pain" (Which is pretty much the common theme). Now that seems simple, and harmless, however, knowing the context of what is meant by this I realize that there isn't any freedom at all. Here's a few reasons.

1. What they mean is, the had an emotional outpouring where they went to the altar, cried, prayed, had someone pray for them, probably spent several days "counseling" and now they're all better.

2. They are referencing a mystical supernatural mental healing, where all their hurts magically disappeared.

• What happens when the pain, hurt, or sin returns and there isn't a camp to with all the chemical inducing endorphins to create the emotions necessary to by another week or two.

3. Then there is the call to ministry where students will flock to the altar to answer the call to be a pastor, missionary, or some other form of full-time ministry.  What about the person that wants to live a quite life, you know like the majority of us; One house, two cars, married with two and half kids.

None of these are necessarily wrong, as God does break us and this can happen at an altar call (sometimes), and we do need people to pray for us, and we do need wise counsel; God does heal our pain, God does call us to something.

Not Our Generation:

We live in a very different age. Today's youth groups are filled with students that have been sexually active since pre-teen age, many of them have sexually transmitted diseases, have had abortions, are pregnant, will be pregnant before the summer is over, have been sexually abused, will be sexually abused, might have been sexually abused by someone during the camp, have been involved in serious crimes, have been using drugs and alcohol for several years, and that's just scratching the surface. When I was a youth, which wasn't that long along, those examples would've been an oddity, and not the more likely scenario. Sadly the above list has become the new normal.

Take that knowledge and add it to some hapless youth counselor who is clueless of this kind of thing,. Furthermore, they are clueless as to how the gospel message ought to be preached, and you have a recipe for burnt s'mores. Burnt s'mores don't taste good, but people eat them at camp. However back in the real world no one wants one of those.

The truth is, the above scenario is far more prevalent than any of us would really like to believe, but there is hope, that hope is Jesus. The real gospel is so much better than anything this world has to offer. When the gospel is rightly understood it sets us free from the condemnation of our sin, it promises  us that all wickedness is taken care of. The gospel promises us that those who do evil will be dealt with, in this life or the next; it promises us  that our sin has been dealt with been the finished work of Christ, that he stood in our place and propitiated our sin, which means he absorbed the very wrath of God on himself, this wrath is the very wrath we deserve, and anyone who is outside of Christ will absorb it themselves, eternally.  The gospel reveals to us that we are sinners who are incapable of saving ourselves, incapable of pleasing God, incapable of coming to God apart from God bringing us to Himself.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that  while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

My guess is those whom I've explained have already fallen back into the guilt and condemnation of their sin, or the sins done against them, because they weren't dealt with by the blood of the Lamb, which was shed on the cross that he, Jesus, bore willing because of the will of God the Father.

Better or Not:

The truth is your pain may not get better; at least in the interim. The sin that you continue to do battle with may not go away in the blink of an eye. The best thing that anyone can tell you is, there is one who suffered who didn't deserve it and he did this that we might have peace with God the Father, that we can be adopted into the family, Jesus did it with joy, Jesus did it in obedience, and he did it with you r past, present, and future sins in view.

Does this brief summary come close to addressing the reality of suffering, sin, addiction, and over coming them? No. And that's the point.

We must look to the cross of Christ in a sin, suffering, times of doubt, times of sickness, and remember to give thanks in all circumstances. With that said, it is only by the grace of God that you will even be able to do that.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.


Coram Deo,

Douglas Herron

Ooey Gooey Sentimental Sandwich

American Christianity has long been dominated by sentimentalism. With that in mind, I believe that this is one of the single most dangerous things we bring into our worldview, friendships, relationships of all kinds, biblical interpretation--which ultimately builds our doctrine which makes up our foundational stones.

Nearly all christian churches today are filled with this ambiguous sentimental love, which isn't love at all, but an inglorious feeling. False unity is built around the idea that we all just love each other. If you're the poor sucker that disagrees with the majority, it's not the truth of the subject that is debated and worked through, it is your attitude. That's not to say that if you're being a jerk that you shouldn't be called into account for it. I'm talking about people who disagree on issues and want to dialogue them are discarded like the nursery's trash, "because they are not in unity with he rest of us."

Sappy feelings become the axiom to all truth in our lives, and that is what rules us. Feelings are then, in effect, the barometers to all decision making.

Sentimentalism causes us to interpret the bible through a sappy lens, which causes us to ignore the hard passages of scripture where Jesus, Paul and others rebuke people. If you're the unfortunate fellow trying to call someone to repentance, you'll be greeted with, "Judge not lest you be judge" or "remove the log from your eye then take the speck out of my eye." If you happen to cite certain passages where Jesus or Paul rebuked someone, then you are greeted with, "you're not Jesus" or "you're not Paul", but those same people would be happy to imitate Jesus on the more sentimental issues, i.e. love one another (which isn't sentimental at all)... lets just love everyone.  That is the result of a sentimentally viewing scripture.

Interpreting the bible sentimentally has plagued the American evangelical church, this is in my opinion one of the single most detrimental issues to our culture, which is ultimately a form of relativism.

Feelings are nature, but the are the reaction of decisions, and ought not to be the axiom to our decision-making.  Make a sandwich of substance, and not an ooey-gooey-sentimental, nutritionally void sandwich.


Coram Deo,

Douglas Herron

Good Father

Yesterday I posted an article titled Daddy Issues. Today is Father's day, and as I wrote yesterday, we, as a nation, have some serious daddy issues. This is unfortunate, as God chooses to describe Himself as a good Father;  Jesus also revealed God as a good Father.

We need to deal with our daddy issues, and pastors must overcome this, lest the become like author of the shack and choose to ignore God as a father, and portray God as a mother. However that is indeed a blasphemous thing to do.

There are many ways to reveal that God is indeed a good Father. One such way is to look at the very standard God set for Himself in Genesis 22:12. When we look at the story of Abraham and Isaac, God said, "seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." God set this as a standard for himself, to show us that when the Christ had come, we would know that God has not withheld anything from us, rather He gave the most precious thing He had to offer, His only Son.

John 3:16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son,  so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (HCSB)

Your personal story may very well include that of a poor earthly father; but God has revealed himself as a good Father. However this must be judged by what God defines, and not what our relativistic self wants it to be.

Abraham didn't withhold his son because of fear (Gen. 22:12), and faith (Gen. 22:8) that God was indeed good; he trusted that God would provide.

God loves the world; The Father loves His Son - Jesus. Jesus loves the Father. The Father gave his Son a bride; the Son loves the bride and took the responsibility to provide for His bride by laying down His own life in obedience to the Father, and He did it with absolute joy (Hebrew 12:2).

Coram Deo,

Douglas Herron

Daddy Issues

There are two holidays that Americans celebrate that I believe are two of the most painful days of the year. These two days have become reminders of our personal failures, the failures of those who were suppose to be there for us, those who were suppose to protect us, those who were suppose to love us, those who were suppose to play with us, those who were suppose to push us on the swing at the playground, those who were suppose to protect us from bad dates, etc. (I believe I could have extended that for an hour). Anyway, the two holidays are Mother's Day and Father's Day.

America has some serious daddy issues.

There is no doubt that there's probably ten-thousand Christian bloggers writing about Ephesians 6:1-4, and there will be probably triple that amount of pastors who will do the shame thing in their pulpits this Sunday.   Shame the fathers for not being what God has called them to be.... that will teach them.

Not really, but that doesn't mean that we don't use hard words in order to teach them the hard truths.  Personally I believe there is a big difference in shaming someone, and using hard words that are biblical truths.  Hard words that are built on real Truth will drive people to repentance, or further harden their hearts. There is a big difference in shaming someone and teaching them hard truths.

I want to focus briefly, although I would like for it to be much more exhaustive, on Psalm 127:3-5

Behold,  children are a heritage from the  Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of  a warrior are the children  of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.


I heard Pastor Douglas Wilson making a passing comment on this verse at a family conference earlier this year, "fathers who abdicate their responsibilities, will one day be ran through with their own arrows".  Pastor Wilson was making a simple yet profound point that your children are a blessing, but they can also be your curse. 

 Fathers who raise their children in the wisdom of the Lord, to honor their mother, this is done by loving their children's mother; fathers he love the children in discipline, who teach them, respect them, protect them, I believe can fully expect their sons and son-in-laws to stand with them in the times of trouble, defend them when they are too old to defend themselves.  However fathers that don't do what they are supposed to do as fathers can expect to own day be taken out by one of their own arrows.

Traitors are made and not born.  

If you've been that poor father,repent to your children. Whether they are young or they are old, God can restore the worst of any situation.  If you've been the good father, thank God and pray that you don't become puffed up with pride.

There are loads of things I could continue to say, but think this short post has said enough.

Here is a good read by Mark Driscoll 7 Ways Fathers Provoke their Children.

For those who find these two days to be painful reminders, I pray that you'll find peace and use these days as reminders to pray for your father and your mother.  No matter what your individual story is, you are still called to honor them. If you are a Christian, the best thing for you to do is honor them in even simple ways. This of course would take a book to cover, but lets just say, there are checks and balances, there are limitations to what this means depending on your individual story.

Grace and Peace,

Douglas Herron

Not Some Vanilla Truth

John 8: 32 and you will  know the truth, and the truth  will set you free."

The words of Jesus that you see in this verse is perhaps one of the most abused and misused verses in the bible. In Pulpits, or a stool and small table, all over the world will allude to, read or quote this passage, but the reason they use it is drastically different from what Jesus was saying.

It is all to common for a preacher to use this verse to mean what they are saying to you is truth, and the truth they are saying to you, will set you free. For example: if the preacher was preaching a four point sermon on how to share the gospel more effectively, he would probably give you four points that look something like this:

1. Don't smoke or drink: Those things are bad for you, and you don't want to die early do you?

2. Become active, eat healthy - because if you're in shape and feel good about yourself your more likely to share the gospel with others, because you will learn to love yourself, and you can't love your neighbor if you don't love yourself.

3. Be relevant: this one gets tricky, simply because we want to influence the world, so we want to look like the world without really looking , smelling, acting like the world.

4.  Just do it! The only way to do it is to just do it!


Most likely, somewhere in this topical and eisegetical sermon, the pastor will use John 8:32 to tell you that this shall set you free, and if they're charismatic they will probably shout that at least three times, but no more than ten.

However Jesus is making a very clear statement, one the early Jews would've understood immediately. When you look at the verse following Jesus' statement, "They answered him,  "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, "You will become free"?" (John 8:33). Immediately before Jesus says, "the truth shall set you free" he states, " So Jesus said to them,  "When you have  lifted up the Son of Man,  then you will know that  I am he, and that  I do nothing on my own authority, but  speak just as the Father taught me. (John 8:28).  Jesus is foretelling of his crucifixion, and at the same time saying that he is in fact God.  This is the truth that Jesus was saying, I am going to die and set you free from your burden of sin and death. This death is eternal separation and punishment for denying God, and your continued disobedience; the obedience that is required all of creation is incapable of fulfilling (Romans 3:9-11).

Jesus goes on to say in verse 34  "Jesus answered them,  "Truly, truly, I say to you,  everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin."

Our problem is quite simple. Our first parents sinned against God and God cast them out of the Garden, which was the first temple where they enjoyed God's presence. They rebelled against him by disobeying the only rule that God gave them. Since that time all of man kind has been under the curse that God gave to them, and no one has be able to please God apart from God working in them, on their behalf. Then in fulfillment of the prophecies, and the first prophecy in Genesis 3:15. Jesus, who is eternally God, comes in the flesh, born of a women, lived perfectly, fulfilling the law, and was perfectly obedient all the way to the point of death. Jesus knew the death that was coming to him and he faced the cross with Joy (Hebrews 12:2), endured it so that we can be at peace with God, resting in the promise land--who is Jesus.  Jesus was born, Jesus lived, Jesus was murdered, Jesus defeat death by being resurrected from the grave, and Jesus ascended to Heaven where he is now ruling and reigning until the day the invisible Church will become fully visible and the Kingdom of God is fully restored on earth, and the entire earth will be covered with the knowledge of the triune God and enjoy him forever.

That my friends is the truth that Jesus is talking about, not some simplistic vanilla truth, which says if you smoke you're more likely to get cancer. But rather, Jesus is saying, I am God, you are a sinner against me, and only I can fix the problem that you've created; apart from me (Jesus) you have no inheritance, no eternal life, no peace, no joy, and no hope because "I AM" the way, the Truth, the Door, the Life, and no one comes to the Father except by me!

These lazy preachers of pragmatism need to repent of their neglected study, and failures to preach the real Gospel, as the real Gospel is massively and dominantly present in this small yet over shadowed verse.

Rest in the Truth, who is Jesus.


Coram Deo,

Douglas Herron

Hoping For A Cup Of Coffee

This morning I broke my normal routine of reading, praying, writing (until now) and watched a number of documentaries on Ted Haggard.  This compelled in me a number of thoughts, and emotions. If you're not sure of Ted's story you can google it and find hundreds of articles about his scandal, at least that is what they refer to his sin as.  There are many disagreements I would have with Ted theologically and therefore practically, but his story compels me on a number of levels.

The first thing that I want to discuss is how they (his former church's leadership) handled his sin.  When Ted's sin became public his church acted quickly by contacting his family and informing them that they are to have no contact with the people of his now former church.  Ted's wife made a statement in an interview about that decision, saying, "these are our friends and we need them right now".  That statement put a great deal of weight on me, as I sat there and thought about it briefly, thinking what should be the response to such a horrible sin from the pastor of any church, let alone a mega-church of about 14,000 people.  Ted was the pastor of the church and member of that church, as was his family. That raises the question, should Ted have been removed? I believe the answer is rather obvious, and would simply answer it with a yes. But was ostracizing his family from the community the had been apart of for 22 years, was this best response to a very public failure, was this the best thing for everyone involved?

The Haggard Family needed community. Ted's wife needed her friends to weep with her, pray with her, and to share a cup of coffee.  Ted needed men to come along side him to share some hard words, and encourage him to love his family through his sin.  His children needed the support and friendship from the believers that had surround that family as long as they have been alive.  

I am not advocating that Ted should have remained on staff, and certainly not as the lead pastor. However I am advocating that the church has a responsibility to discipline its church members, and a responsibility to disciple, encourage, love, counsel, care for, protect and bring back into full fellowship with the Church body.

This was not a case of the leader covering up his sin, or blame shifting, but a man who owned his sin.  This takes on a whole new dimension, as we are not used to men owning their sin.

I was impressed that the Haggard family managed to stay together through Ted's sin, and very public "burning at the stake." as Ted likes to Call it.  That piece of information changes everything for me.

Ted has Recently started a new church called St. James. He chose that name because of the verse which says, "faiths without works is dead" (James 2:17).

TLC did a documentary of Ted and his journey to start a new church. One show that I watched, Ted got a phone call where the person on the other end goes after Ted by saying, "In the New testament, it strictly forbids you from ever holding a position of authority, ever again."  After his exile from the Church his Pastored, Leith Anderson, the man who was made president of the National Association of Evangelicals, stated, "a person at the highest level of leadership has failed with the standards he lifted up for himself."  Rebecca Cope, a church employee stated, "as a person at a high level of leadership, he has to fall harder." and Mike Ware, who was on the board of overseers for New Life church, which handled the departure of Ted said this, "He needs to just disappear".

I'm left with the question, should Ted start another church, lead, teach, pastor another group of people? To be quite honest I'm not certain how I would have handled a situation like this were I in a position to make decision about the Haggard's future and the future of New Life's Church.  But I do know this, we  (American Evangelicals) have affinity for watching people who are seated in the highest positions of authority fall. I believe mostly because of wrong views that anything large is corrupt, and David killed Goliath. But our hypocrisy is revealed when we love to watch some celebrity be restored i.e. Kobe Bryant and Michael Vick come to mind.  But for some reason we don't want to see someone like Ted Haggard Restored.

When Jimmy Swaggart had a very public fall, one that was similarly egregious, but was a heterosexual sin, he returned to the pulpit after just three months.

Those two men had similar sins that took place but were two decades a part, but had dramatically different outcomes. One is left with the question, why? As I stated above, I believe that in part, the problem is with what kind of sin there was. Jimmy's was with a female prostate, and Ted had the misfortune of being involved in a homosexual sin; and American Evangelicals still aren't sure how they are suppose to handle homosexual sin - if we are still allowed to say that publicly.

The main point of this article was to give us somethings to think about, not to answer questions, but to ask some.

There are several things I know. First many of those who raise to the highest places of power will surely fall, and when those titans fall  they crush everyone under them. Second, Jesus, on whom the Christian faith was built appeared to have failed, but truly he had conquered and that is the story of the Christian faith - Christ builds his Church and He doesn't fail. Lastly, Christ is seated on the Throne ruling and reigning because He didn't fail.

Be sure to meet that friend for a cup of coffee, the just might need it more than you could image.

Coram Deo,

Douglas Herron

7 Years of Unexpected Blessing

Today our family celebrates the birthday of daughter, who is now eleven-years-old. There is much that could be said, and someone is always quipping some bizarre cliché on their child's birthday that they don't truly understand, but today I am very thankful that we have had these wonderful years with her.

It has been nearly seven years since Faith was diagnosed with neuroblastoma age the ripe young age of three.  There really isn't a word that works well enough to describe the horror that was felt when the doctor came in to describe what the situation was for our daughter. There is much that could be said, but I'm not looking to stir up sympathy, rather taking a moment to reflect and count the years that God has given us with not only her, but our other children, extended family, and friends.

God knows the days we will all have, be thankful for each of them.

Job 14:5  Since his  days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,


Coram Deo,

Douglas Herron

Mother's Day Note Written To Men

This is a mother's day note written from a man to women, and it is likely to shock your system.


Mother's Day 2013: This is the day that the United States has chosen to honor mothers. While I don't want to discuss the honors of the varying stats, you can't hardly discuss motherhood, without thinking of how many women have murdered their child(ren). Moreover, how many of those women, will have the gumption to celebrate motherhood today? I'm going to guess millions, but secretly these women are very likely screaming and terrified on the inside - in the depths of their hearts.

Then there are those women who desire to have children, yet cannot have them or haven't been able to have them. These women who in all likely hood would take these children, were they not aborted, and mother them as their own.

Therefore, the gap between abortion and adoption must change. Millions of women longing to be mothers, with millions of babies needing a mother, only to have their spines cut, and their little bodies ripped apart inside their mother's body; the place that ought to be the safest place in the entire world... not any longer, I cannot not think of a worst place for a child to be today, than in the womb of a mother who doesn't understand what her purpose in life is.

Feminism has long taught that motherhood isn't to be valued, and that men are holding women down to keep them as inferior objects. We've all heard the argument for a very long time, "men and women are equal and there's nothing that men can do that women cannot do'. This however is intellectual dishonesty. Women and men from creation were made different, and it takes little to no brain power to realize this to be a fact. The Church has adopted the world's view of feminism, but has repackage this belief system to look and sound like biblical christianity and then, force fed it to the parishioners; they called it egalitarianism.  

Egalitarians have followed the world's template with women's liberation to the letter. One of the best tactics is, demonize anyone who seeks to challenge feminism by calling them a chauvinist. Any man who disagrees with an egalitarian is sure to receive a verbal tongue lashing, and that's just for starters.

Egalitarianism is simply a wicked imitation of feminism, that needs to be rebuked and destroyed within the church. The Church has always, and will always lead the world from the pulpit, until the Pulpit returns to biblical masculinity, we aren't likely to see much significant change in society regarding, well, much of anything.

While I could talk about this for a very longtime, I want to wrap this party up with an admonishment, and to sing the praises of mothers who have embraced their roles and the husbands who have freed their wife's to do so.

First, I want to invite Christian men to repent to God of our abdication, our absolute failures to our women, to our children, to our grandchildren and our generations for a thousand generations.  We must repent to God for being unfaithful to the Wive's of our youth, and not trying our sons to honor women, that they may honor the wife of their youth. May the Christian men raise up and honor their wife's their sisters, their mother's, the single mother in their neighborhood, the widowed mother down the road, the grandma how can no longer live on her own, may we honor these women in our deeds, in our service to them, and our words about them.  The world was allowed to pervert gender roles when men were to busy chasing the 'almighty dollar'; God was no longer sufficient therefore He wasn't to be taken serious on what he has commanded men, especially husbands, to do.

Men, Christ died for our sin, He died for our sin of allowing motherhood to be destroyed in this country, and in His death we are freed from the condemnation (Rom. 8:1). Men, raise up and serve your wife faithfully, free her as Christ has freed you (Eph.5:25), to live in her calling and service to the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Train your sons to honor women, to honor motherhood. Train your daughters to expect to be honored, and protect her from boys who don't desire to honor her but only seek dishonor.  Free the women in your church by training men to honor them, love them, serve them selflessly, and let us all collectively pray that God would restore our designed roles and seek to glorify Him in all that we do.

In closing, the world is in a mess because of rebellious pastors, and the men who followed them also became rebellious. Abortion won't end until men repent and come to Christ and honor the covenant that the Lord Jesus has established (Matt. 19:6).  Mothers Day is filled with grieve because countless husbands and fathers have dishonored their wives', they have dishonored their daughters', and they have trained their sons' to repeat the process.  Abortion exists because of men that meet the description in Malachi 2.  However, it doesn't have to remain this way we can come to Christ and repent and be restored by Him.

Coram Deo,

Douglas Herron

Ascension Day

Ascension Day 2013:

Christians ought to mark their days with days of remembrance; and Ascension day is one of those days. The ascension of our Lord, Jesus is a truly significant day to remember, because, if  Jesus never ascended into heaven, then He would've been a liar, as He continually said I'm going to my Father (John 14:28).

Had Jesus not ascended to heaven, then there would be a giant memorial and temple built over His grave site, thus Christianity would be like every other religion. However, 2,000 years later and experts still aren't certain what tomb Jesus was temporarily buried in. The reason for this is, Jesus rose from the dead, and no one cared to go visit an empty tomb. Jesus was most certainly popular, and were he still dead, and laid in the tomb, hundreds even thousands of people would've come to his tomb.  However we know this not to be true.

If you didn't mark ascension day on your calendar, next year take the time to remember this wonderful day, and celebrate with your family.


Acts 1:11 "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,  will  come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Next week is pentecost Sunday May 19th.

Be on the lookout for my blog on this important day.

Coram Deo,

Douglas Herron