Eric Ludy Sermon Podcast: Church at Ellerslie

Most people are held hostage to the notion that their joy-o-meter is wholly dependent upon a good turn in life. In other words, if the circumstances are rotten, then so is the atmosphere of their inner man. Paul the Apostle taught something wholly opposite that earthly notion. He taught Christians in the first century to rejoice always, to give thanks in all things, and to sing and make melodies in their hearts . . . in every single circumstance life threw their way. Is this even possible? Is this just hyperbolized poetry? Could this possibly be real? If it is real, then I say, let’s go after it! 

As the old phrase goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” And it’s true. The greatest technological advancements usually coincide with the greatest world crises. How often the same thing appears true in our own lives. When things are easy, we tend to settle for a lower quality spiritual luster. But, when things amp up in difficulty, we often get intimate with our God, and quick. There is a principle at work in all of this. Desperation often moves us to needed action. But, the question of this message is, “But, must we reach our extremity before we are ready to make the necessary changes in our life?” Today is the day to draw that line in the sand. Let’s not wait for the desperate hour to get on track. Because today is the day to move forward with God. 

In a time when burdensome and disturbing news is flooding into the psyche of the Church, how is a believer supposed to respond? Is it our job to be aware of all the maniacal and deranged movements of the powers of darkness? Is this what God assigned us to do? Knowing how to govern the thought life is the essential skill of triumphant Christians. This all-important skill of “thought superintendence” is the basis of maintaining strong faith and peaceful composure in the midst of social upheaval. Let’s make sure we are entertaining the most spectacular thought instead of the most despairing one.

A.I. technology is exploding. As a result, the church is facing ethical questions that we have never faced before. Is it okay to use A.I. technology? Should there be boundaries to our use of A.I.? Should we as the church mount an opposition to it? Should we just shrug our shoulders and say "Que sera, sera”? This is a challenging matter and one that will likely not be solved in and through this one sermon. However, maybe this sermon can be a first step for many of us to begin to think through these issues and find ways to preserve the Truth in the midst of an alternate reality world. 

Is there a point in our spiritual growth where our initial leaps and bounds forward in Christ-honoring devotion become “progress enough” and we can finally quit with all the radical enthusiasm? Is it okay to leave the work of grace in our lives a bit half-baked, after all, we are so much further along than most? So many of us have subconsciously succumbed to the classic “slow down and take it easy” bait of the Devil. We reason that if we are a bit ahead of the pagan pack of humanity in our virtue and in the cleanliness of our lifestyle, than we are probably just fine when it comes to the pending matter of judgment. But, that reasoning, robs God of His glory. He designed us to be marvelous and majestic pictures of His Person that this world could/should behold. Let’s get serious again about finishing this grand Castle construction project. 

Many of us are a far cry from being a “crazy yeller”. And to be quite frank, we would like to keep it that way. But, every single one of us should present ourselves before the Lord and say, “Lord, take my tongue and speak through me—even if I need to appear a bit crazy to the onlooking world.” When the world threatens to cancel us, or worse, kill us—there is a human propensity to self-protect, to hide in a closet, to shut our trap, and to bury our testimony in the catacombs of rationalization. But, example after example is supplied in Scripture for the construct of the “crazy yeller”—the man or the woman that is God’s workmanship, available to God to do whatever God requests, to speak whatever God needs spoken, at the very moment God needs it to be done. Would we be willing to be built after the pattern of the “crazy yeller"? 

They. We all know of the concept of “they” even though we often struggle to ever pin down who exactly “they” is. But, this we know: “They” is a powerful force at work in our world to counsel us, direct us, and intimidate us into heeding the code of cultural normalcy. It’s embarrassing to admit how successful “they” has been in this past decade in steering the Church of Jesus Christ. Especially since, there is a “They” that IS supposed to lead the Church of Jesus Christ—just not the one currently at the helm. It’s a divine “They” with a capital “T”—the triune God Himself. Let’s make sure we are following the “They” God created us to heed. 

Boxing and Christianity have a lot of similarities. They both demand similar strengths, similar perseverance, similar durability, and similar toughness. Both activities (boxing and Christianity) demand that you perform your challenging task with utmost precision while simultaneously being clobbered in the face. They are both extremely difficult. In fact, both are highly dangerous and even deadly. And both of the modern renditions of these sports are mere shadows of what they once were. The quality levels of both seem to have greatly deteriorated over the past thirty years. So, If the Christian life were likened to the art of boxing, it’s time to remake the boxer and rediscover the sweet science of boxing greatness.

Whether we ever speak it out loud, we tend to mutter inwardly to ourselves as believers about the all-out commitment our Savior demands of us. "Why so much?” We ponder. "Why can’t He just accept my pittance? Why must He require everything of me?" But, such inward questions only expose the frailty of our human perspective and uncover the deep lack in our spiritual fervor. For, against all logic, we genuinely think He’s asking too much of us. When in actuality, if there anything is too extravagant in the Gospel, it’s what He is freely giving to us. 

Faith seems so reasonable when you are sitting in a chair in your Bible school class. In light of Who God is, what God has done, and what He has promised—it’s totally logical to exclaim, “I trust Him! He can do anything!” But, it’s a bit more difficult when you find yourself at the edge of the Red Sea, in the Valley of Elah with a giant boasting, or, as this message explains—at the tomb of a brother who died and was buried four days earlier. Martha’s struggles in the eleventh chapter of John are a beautiful portrayal of how Jesus ever-so-gently cares for us when our faith trembles before the impossible task. He is faithful . . . always faithful.

The Devil is very good at what he does. He is amazing at the art of compromising the Christian. And yet, as good as our enemy is at seducing and sabotaging us, God is even more skilled at making Christians overcomes. If we allow our God’s Truth to be our guide, victory is assured over the snazzy speedboats of the Devil.

The European landscape has experienced many battles, but no country has endured the trauma of war like the small country of Belgium. And in Belgium, it is arguable that the city of Liege has taken the brunt of it. Likewise, the landscape of Scripture has endured many controversies. But the little passage of Hebrews 6:4-6 has experienced more than maybe any other. This small little portion of Scripture forces the question of God's judgment versus His mercy. Is He a God who is seeking any opportunity to cut us off or every opportunity to save us?

In 1911 one of the worst fires in U.S. history took place in the Asch Building in New York City. The doors were locked on the 8th floor, so everyone on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floor of the building were stuck. One man, the foreman of the building, had the key, but he ran to save his own life. May we not be as the foreman in the Asch Building, holding the solution for the salvation of others, but choosing to utilize our precious key merely for our own escape.

Many Christians are seasoned veterans at whooping at their televisions when their team scores that winning touchdown. But few Christians these days are adept at whooping heavenward when God does His God-thing and saves the day down here on earth. We seem to leap and dance at nonsensical things that matter little in light of eternity and yet sparingly supply God the ardent appreciation He truly deserves. What would happen if we flipped this thing around and began to celebrate the goodness, the faithfulness, and the victory of God as we ought?

Thirteen years ago, almost to the day, Eric delivered this message. It proved to be one of the most important messages in the formation of Ellerslie training and the Ellerslie church. With the Alumni in town this past week, Ellerslie has been strolling down Memory Lane. So, it seemed fitting to continue traversing Memory Lane all the way through Sunday morning. This is a fresh delivery of a life-impacting classic!

The Alumni Summit is finally here, and Ellerslie alumni, the world over, have arrived on campus. This week is always one of the most precious of the year and this particular year is sort of a retro-week at Ellerslie, where we go back to the first year of Ellerslie training and bring out of the mothballs some of the great classic messages that marked our beginnings. So, to kick off all the retro-fun, Eric dug in the sermon archives and yanked out this beauty. It's about Napoleon, yes. But more, it’s a profound meditation on the way a true King ought to be crowned—Jesus style. 

In sword fighting, striking with the ricasso part of the blade would be deemed a novice maneuver and one sure to find little to no effect in stopping ones enemy. In fact, it may prove the last swing that novice swordsman ever swings. As believers, we are commissioned to wield a sword. But, what if we aren’t very good at it. After all, when you first pick up the Sword of the Spirit, excellence in handling isn’t usually found instantaneously. There is training needed. So, what about the meantime? Are we to be buzzard food while we get our spiritual swordsmanship in order? Good thing to note, in the Kingdom of Heaven, our success doesn’t lean on our own personal perfection, it rests on our wonderful Savior’s perfection. If you are going to win this battle with the powers of darkness, you must know that the ricasso portion of your blade can devastate your enemy just like the sharpened blade can, if you swing it with childlike faith.

Being a Christian leader exposes you to things—things that are not always pleasant. But how one responds to these “unpleasant things” is key to the power and impact of the ministry. Jesus’ ministry was marked by gentleness. And it was with gentleness that Jesus responded to the unpleasant things in His own ministry while here. And, likewise, gentleness ought to be the response of every Christian leader that claims to be a follower of our great Leader, Jesus Christ. But, the idea of “gentleness” is often misunderstood today and sometimes even left out as an important and essential attribute of the Christian life, leaving many Christians bereft of a true understanding of both its function and its true power. Let’s remedy that. 

Water behaves in a bewildering fashion—in a way that is radically different than human behavior. It always goes to the lowest spot. Even if that spot is stinky, it will go there. Even if that spot is unseen, it will set its course for that hidden spot. And though this behavior is different than our instinctive human behavior, it is the precise way that God behaves. And it is God’s desire to plant this same “water-like” behavior in us, His Church. Because those caught in “The Low Spot” hold a special place in His Father’s heart and He desires His Church to go to find them there.[TECHNICAL NOTE: This audio was initially unusable due to an error that occurred during its original capture. After some intense audio rescue work, it is still imperfect, but it is surprisingly "decent" in its current form. We hope that the imperfections of this particular sermon do not hinder you from enjoying its powerful content.]

The time has come for the Church to stop, consider, refresh, and re-approach this battle. Our old methods for American Christianity are rusty and must be swapped out for freshly oiled Heavenly weaponry. There is a better way to fight this fight, to win this war, and to see a generation awaken to the power of the Gospel. And that is by doing it God’s way. But, to do this Church thing God’s way, we can’t be ruled by political faction, petty contentions, or partisan denominationalism. We need to freshly humble ourselves, forsake our old stodgy ways, and expect God to do a new thing in our midst. This “new thing” won’t violate God’s Word. Rather, it will be perfectly congruent with it. But it very well may violate our American religiosity. And that may make it difficult for some to swallow. God has an answer for this hour. Let’s listen. He is wanting to lead us to victory.

Brumus was a dog—a very famous dog. He once roamed the halls of the White House and the Halls of Justice in Washington D.C. To the old governmental guard that had strict rules prohibiting animals, especially big smelly ones, from roaming the halls of American government, Brumus posed a serious dilemma. But, to the young radicals that were eager to bring a fresh wave of hope and humor to the beleaguered capital city, Brumus was a symbol of breaking through the stodgy and dull. Many of us struggle with the muddy paws of Brumus in our own lives. When change comes, we often don’t embrace it. When change is needed, we often argue that things were fine just as they were. We tend to look back at the “glory days” of yesteryear, wishing we could go back instead of forward. But what if we were to embrace the arrival of Brumus in our lives and expect that our best days are just up ahead?

The Game of Chicken is a game typically played by rakish, foolish young boys that are old enough to have a driver’s license but young enough to still lack common sense. To win the Game of Chicken you must risk life itself. But, to lose this game, means to be called a “chicken”—and for most young boys, being called a “chicken” is simply not a digestible option. Like rakish, foolish young boys, the Devil loves the Game of Chicken. And he is very good at it to boot. And whether we want to play this idiotic game or not, as believers, we find ourselves constantly engaged in this life/death face-off with the powers of darkness. And if we as believers are going to prove victorious in our stand-off with this ancient foe, we need to know how to call our enemy’s bluff and keep our left tire on the white center line.

One of the most important building blocks in a strong and robust faith is knowing the unchanging nature of our God. Simply put, He doesn’t change. The world around us may prove fickle, but not our God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In order to enjoy a great relationship with God, a believer must get a clear grip on this beautiful truth.

God is in the business of making old things new. And His chief target for this masterful redemptive regenerative work is us. But, not all of us are as interested in new as He is. We tend to cling like Saran Wrap to the old. But, the Christian life is best understood and discovered when the old is forsaken and the new is embraced.

Oomph is a strange and fascinating word. Not only does it have an interesting onomatopoetic sound, but it is also toting around a deeply significant truth. The word “Oomph” has come to mean “exertion” or “strength invested into a task”—and that is an idea that is near absent in the modern Christian experience, but desperately in need of returning. Because Christianity that is worth its salt involves an active, aggressive, soul-sweating givenness to the multitudinous tasks of spiritual obedience. In other words, it doesn’t shrink back from doing hard labor for Jesus Christ, but courageously exerts and spends itself on assignments that would cause normal everyday humanity to blanche.

Smiles have been harder to come by since the pandemic era. And, at the same time, hope and the sense of a secure future have both taken a definite nosedive in their respective stock values. But, as believers, we can’t fall for this classic ruse. The Devil has always been in the business of fretting, foreboding, and fear. His plan is simple—to dupe the masses into transferring their investment portfolios of faith from “a strong anticipation in God's ability to save" into the worthless business of hell—dread, panic, and a dismal outlook. As believers we are in the business of smiling, laughing, rejoicing, and leaping for joy. It’s high time we get our game on.

Sharing Jesus with this world is not just a sizable task, it's a supremely difficult one. So, how do we do it? Do we start yelling from the street corner? Do we wait for someone to come up to us and ask us about the hope that lies within us? How exactly is this done? What is our role? When should we speak? When should we stay silent? The answer to these questions is a bit complex and has more than a few variables interwoven into it, but one of the keys to unlocking this mystery is understanding something known as jurisdiction. It’s a big word, yes, but even a child can understand it. And when you know your jurisdiction, you can more effectively know what your role is in this grand adventure of changing the world for Jesus Christ.

The Church is facing unprecedented challenges today. And the battle over gender and identity is one of the strangest problems in the mix, leaving many of us scratching our spiritual heads in total bewilderment. But, God has not left us bereft of wisdom. He has supplied us with everything we need for this hour in history. This message unpacks the challenge of gender confusion and supplies Biblical insight into how to potentially address this strange and befuddling issue.

The Good News is supposed to be exactly that—good news to the soul. But, many believers get their spiritual Ph.D. in the Devil’s opinion regarding themselves as opposed to God’s opinion. We must be experts on the Truth and not spend another moment meditating on the Devil’s nonsense. When we come to Christ via faith, there is a redemptive ripple effect that takes place in our lives—overwriting all the Devil’s false claims about our value, our purpose, and our destiny, and replacing these false claims with heavenly truths that are rightfully deserving the title, “Good News.”

So many today live out their Christianity with a limp. They don't run “The Race” given them with gusto. Instead, they waddle down the narrow way with a petering whimper. What’s needed is an understanding of Biblical Grace. And not just the grace that rescues from the penalty of sin, but the variety that rescues from the oppression of sin. There is a lost and dying world about us, but most of us are still so self-focused that we remain the object of need instead of the minister of grace to other’s needs. This pattern must change.

The Three-Day Test is a heavenly gift that few of us appreciate. In fact, most of us greet it with grumbling rather than rejoicing. And that is a transgression because the Three-Day Test is a gift of explosive growth, of radical breakthrough, and of spiritual Life. To NOT appreciate the exquisite possibilities baked into the Three-Day Test is to risk missing out on the true benefit and power supplied in and through it. We must learn to see the Three-Day Test as a gold mine and our rejoicing in it as the chief means of excavating the heavenly gold.

God designed us for a personal relationship with Himself. The enemy’s great plan is to hinder us from finding that personal relationship with Almighty God. But, if the devil fails in his devious attempts to thwart our relational encounter with Jesus Christ, his next best option is to subvert the entire idea of relating to God. Our enemy has two distinct tactics to bring about this distortion: 1) To try and convince us that such a God/Man relationship is merely a subjective feelings-based extravaganza detached from Scriptural definition, or 2) to try and convince us that such a God/Man relationship is merely a head-relationship with the Bible. Both extremes lead to a breakdown. But, when the believer discovers a relationship with the Most High God that is informed and empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit as well as discerned and maintained by a clear alignment with the Holy Scriptures—something wonderful takes place. God gave us two means of building and maintaining a relationship with Himself—the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures. If a believer accepts one and disposes of the other, an imbalance takes place that eventually capsizes a walk with God. But if the balance of "both/and" is struck—anything is possible.

This is the fifth and final part of Eric Ludy’s series on Spiritual Gifts. This message dives into the deep end of the pool and attempts to deal with the extremely challenging issue of modern-day apostles and prophets in the Church. With the startling emergence of self-proclaimed “apostles" and “prophets" in today’s Christian landscape, this message is of critical importance for the Bible believer—supplying a context for these strange and mystifying concepts and how to Biblically address them.

Please note: we had an audio issue at the beginning of the message, so there is a room echo for the first two minutes of the message. Sorry for the inconvenience.This is the fourth part to Eric Ludy’s series on Spiritual Gifts. This message addresses the cumbrous challenge of 1 Corinthians 14—talking about tongues and prophecy in a purposeful fashion as to not create division over the matter, but unity. This one chapter in Scripture has historically divided the Church of Jesus Christ right down the middle. And yet, ironically, the entire reason the Apostle Paul wrote it was to address division and to heal it.

This is the third part to Eric’s series on Spiritual Gifts. This message begins a journey into the difficult terrain of tongues and prophecy and helps enunciate the place these “sounds” have in the tapestry of Heaven. Whereas many Bible-loving believers secretly wish they could just delete the passages on tongues and prophecy from the Text in order to ensure a healthier Church—the answer is not deletion, but proper understanding. After all, God’s ways are perfect! And we mustn’t shy away from trusting His grand Revelation.

This is the second installment in Eric Ludy’s five-part mini-series on Spiritual Gifts. In this particular message, he focuses on what exactly “spiritual gifts” are, where they come, and what the Bible declares their purpose to be. Most Christians today shy away from both this topic and the functional benefit supplied by these gifts of grace. Ironically, Paul encourages us to have the complete opposite perspective on this matter. He exhorts us to “earnestly desire” them.

This is the first part of a five-part sermon series on Spiritual Gifts. Unfortunately, this topic is barnacled with controversy and many Christians would prefer just to ignore it altogether. However, the Biblical function of the Body of Christ together as one unit is essential to it actually succeeding in its purpose. And for that to happen, this topic can’t be ignored. There is a beautiful corporate coordination and exercise of Spirit-endowed grace that God designed us to walk in as the Church of Jesus Christ. But, first, we need to remove the barnacles from this awkward topic and freshly look at the ingenious plan God has for His people.

This message is all about identity. In today’s world it’s all too easy to passively accept cultural or sinful labels for ourselves and find our identity in those specific propensities. But as Christians, our identity is not meant to be defined by our proclivity, but by our position…in Christ! The “proclivity movement” is creeping into the Body of Christ and many believers are confused about who they really are. But in such a time as this, the Church must return to the Truth as its King, Counselor, and Guide. And only then can it help steer this misguided culture back in the direction of true identity.

The human propensity is to approach matters of the soul in an upside-down and backward fashion. Our instinct is wrong—there is something off in our understanding of spiritual matters. We believe that since it was human mistakes that created our problem, human good works will be our solution. And, in a distorted sense, we are correct. But, it’s not our good works, it is Christ’s good Work alone that solves the human riddle. Because of this upside-down and backward propensity, we often time spend a good deal of our spiritual lives attempting to fix things in our lives with human power that can only be fixed by faith in Jesus Christ. We fight battles in our own strength that can only be won by trusting and waiting on the Lord Jesus for victory. This can all be solved by making sure we enter the Door that Christ unlocked for us, instead of climbing in through the window of works, good deeds, and moral excellence.

Many people view difficulty as the antithesis of pleasure, happiness, and beauty. When in fact it is the catalyst for the most refined and exquisite version of all three. And this is what God explains in His Word. He reveals how He purposely leverages difficulty (trials, tribulations, and sufferings) in the construction of His saints. Just as fire can destroy, it can also warm. So, in like manner, difficulty can injure, but it can also strengthen. When difficulty is leveraged in faith and in agreement with God’s plans and purposes, it always strengthens. And, therefore, the Christian is exhorted by the Apostle James, to consider it pure joy when we face trials or difficulties of any kind. 

God gave us a grip. And with that grip we have to ability to grab ahold of things and not let go. It’s an amazing quality that God vested into His creation, but, when sin entered the picture, it corrupted this gripping ability and turned it into something that can lead to our destruction. For God designed us to use our grip to grab ahold of Life, Truth, Purity, and Love. Long and short, He intended us to grab ahold of Him and never let go. The Gospel introduces us to the power to let go of all counterfeit uses of our human grip and finally place it around the One who actually has Life to offer.

God has supplied us with everything we need to maintain the intellectual and emotional security of our souls. Oftentimes, it’s not knowledge of the Truth that the Christian is missing, but the wherewithal to practically implement that knowledge. This is a message about implementation—specifically in regards to taking every thought captive to the will of Christ Jesus.

There are a lot of things in this world to grab our attention and claim center stage in our thoughts and meditations. A successful Christian life is one that doesn’t allow the world to define the focus of the believer, but energetically and proactively exerts mental focus on things true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. The focal point of a believing soul defines the attitude and outlook of the believer. God has supplied each and every one of us with a superior Focal Point. But we must actively direct our gaze in this God-ordained direction.

When Jesus first declared Himself the Messiah in his hometown, He did so by reading Isaiah chapter 61. And this passage powerfully revealed His mission. It showed, along with many other things, that He had come to bring beauty out of ashes. In history, “Ashy" moments are quite common to the human experience. But the cultivation of triumphant faith in the midst of such ashy moments is quite rare. But, when triumphant faith presents itself in the midst of dark and formidable moments, God’s redemptive glory is revealed at the highest levels. In this message, Eric uses one of his favorite missionary stories about Papua New Guinea to reveal this ancient Truth of Christ’s Kingdom.

A long-distance runner knows the oddly satisfying rush of a second wind. When it appears the athlete’s body can’t continue another step, suddenly and surprisingly, an upsurge of strength courses into the body and rejuvenates the runner. God seems to have built this "second wind” phenomenon into the human body to help explain a spiritual phenomenon that a believer experiences while running the spiritual race. It’s a rejuvenating grace that floods the spiritual man when he needs it most (i.e. while in the prison cell, while being led out to die, when falsely accused, or when under the duress of a crushing responsibility). When the Christian attempts to supply a Biblical name to this “second wind” phenomenon, it’s hard, because it seems to be a mixture of a handful of key ingredients—faith, hope, joy, and patience. And when these four ingredients blend together, it lifts the believing soul up out of the mire and back into a full sprint. The Church of Jesus Christ could really use a fresh impaction of this four-fold phenomenon.

With use, pencils grow dull. And the same is true with Christians. And, in the Christian soul, deliberate attention must be paid to the art of keeping the soul sharp, ready, and able to perform at peak levels. As a result of this “dulling” phenomenon, messages like this can prove significant and important in our spiritual pursuits. They remind us what “sharp” looks like and they steer us in the direction of the “Sharpener.” For Christians to go the distance and truly fulfill the rich purpose, to which they have been called, they must learn to regularly “awaken the Yeti.”

There are many simulation orange drinks out there. These wanna-be orange drinks are a mixture of various chemicals that seek to mimic the God-created sweetness of the orange—and fail miserably. Plain and simple, to make true orange juice, you need oranges. The same is true with making spiritual revival. There are many things that masquerade as “revival" in the Church today like cheap imitation orange drinks, but there is only one genuine kind of revival. And that is revival instigated and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. So, if we as believers are dependent upon God to bring about true revival—what is our role as the Church in seeing authentic revival return?

On September 27, the Christian hero who labored under the code name "Brother Andrew” went home to be with Jesus. In his departure (at the age of 94), we lost a truly remarkable man. This message is a mix between a tribute to the extraordinary man and a spiritual exhortation gleaned from precious words spoken before he passed.

We often divide Christians along the lines of those that feel their way to Truth and those that think their way to Truth. This is an absurd division that has been sponsored by the Devil from the beginning. For actually both methods (thinking and feeling), absent the strength of the other dimension, leads to a deranged form of Christianity. Either to use your head and forsake the heart-dimension of the Christian life, or to use your heart and forsake the clear revealed Truth on the matter, are both foolishness. God designed us with a mind and a heart. And the truest form of Christianity must understand how to wield both in tandem and balanced concert. A form of modern liberalism has crept into the Church of Jesus Christ that has veered from the Truth in an effort to show the heart of Jesus to the ever-growing population of God forsaking oddities sprouting up on the world’s stage. But, the answer for these hurting people is not a flood of sincere emotion. It’s Truth. But this Truth must not be dished out absent the heart of God.

"What God has joined together, let no man put asunder." This is a line commonly repeated in the classic Christian marriage ceremony of today. And it's spoken for good reason. But the number of people that understand “why” it is traditionally spoken or, for that matter, “what it exactly means” are few. It’s a Biblical phrase—in fact, it’s a phrase spoken by Jesus Himself. And its rich meaning has certainly been lost on many young couples getting married today. But, this phrase has usefulness even beyond marriage. It’s also a Biblical Truth that can apply to a myriad of important topics. It would do us good as the Church to revisit this extremely important concept of “God’s sacred joining together.” Because when we understand that God's yokings are sacred and significant, it helps to better train us how honor those yokings and to keep them from being “put asunder.”