Category: Practical

What Does the Song of Solomon Teach us about Relationships and Sex? – Part 3

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, Practical1 Comment

Another thing our culture will tell you is that sex outside of marriage is fine, if not necessary. You wouldn’t commit to buying a car before test driving it, the idea goes, so why would you commit to someone in marriage before having sex. But the biblical idea is much different.

(3) While the world tells you to try it before you buy it, the Bible tells you to wait.

That means that sex should take place within the bounds of the marriage covenant. In the Song of Solomon waiting isn’t seen as a negative, but a positive. Just before they consummate the marriage, the groom says starting in verse 9 of chapter 4,

“You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed. Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices— a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.” (So 4:9–15)

Reading this, the first thing you’ll notice is that he’s definitely using different language than we would use, but what he’s getting across is his love for her and how much he values her purity. He compares her virginity to a locked garden, a sealed fountain, after which he lists a number of unique and valuable items that are set apart from everyday use in order to communicate her value. So apart from the world’s concern, we see that the groom was satisfied with his soon to be wife, even praising her for her virginity.

He was satisfied with her and will continue to be satisfied with her because he actually built a relationship with her. It wasn’t all about the physical act of sex. That wasn’t what drove their relationship. Instead, their relationship was driven by a desire for one another that transcended sex.

Their relationship, then, not only teaches us that we should reserve sex for marriage, but it also teaches us that we must build our relationship on something other than sex.

Question for Reflection

  1. How are you working to build a relationship that’s not centered on sex?

Resources

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Post developed from my sermon What does the Song of Solomon Teach us about Relationships and Sex?

What Does the Song of Solomon Teach us about Relationships and Sex? – Part 2

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical1 Comment

Not only has our culture distorted God’s view of a relationship, but it has also distorted the purpose of sex. Sex has become a way to elicit attention, to get what you want, or nothing more than a physical experience. Fashion magazines, T.V. shows, and movies are not only to blame for this trend, but also the accessibility of pornography.

Gone are the days where one had to purchase a magazine or VHS take to access porn. Nowadays it’s as easy as opening a web browser on your phone. As a result, the average age of those who are being influenced by porn is growing younger and younger with every passing year, which has had a major effect on how we think about sex. So with everything we have access to and are bombarded with every day you can see how easy it is for the world to distort the purpose of sex.

While the world has distorted the purpose of sex, the Bible, and specifically the Song of Solomon teaches us that sex serves a greater purpose.

(2) Sex is a way to increase intimacy that already exists in a relationship.

Without sex, a relationship will grow stagnant and cold. Sex, then, is important to the vitality of a relationship.

While it’s true that sex is an important part of a relationship, it’s just as important that a relationship exist before and after one has sex. That is what I want you to see from the Song of Solomon. A careful reading of the text reveals that their relationship wasn’t consummated until the end of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5. Everything before that is about their courtship and wedding. During their courtship, we learn some key ideas when it comes to building and even maintaining a relationship with our spouse.

In verses 5 and 6 of chapter 1, the bride confesses her insecurity and the groom immediately begins working at assuring her instead of tearing her down.

“I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept!” (So 1:5–6)

While it’s a sign of beauty to be tan today, in that day it wasn’t. It meant that you were a part of the working class and not the nobility. So we learn then that her social status was of particular concern. This was exacerbated because she was being courted by the king. But instead of keeping her concern to herself, she shared it.

Hearing her concern, notice what the groom says starting in verse 9,

“I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.” (So 1:9–10)

Comparing your woman to a mare might not win you many points today, but it did back then. His comment about Pharaoh’s mare meant that she was exceedingly beautiful. You see, Pharaoh only had the best, most beautiful and sought-after mare’s pulling his chariot. If comparing her to one of Pharoah’s mares didn’t assure her, he also compared her beauty to that of a string of jewels worn around one’s neck. Their exchange teaches us several things:

(1) We must be vulnerable, sharing that which makes us self-conscious. 

(2) We must build up and assure rather than tear our spouse down.

These are crucial if we want to further or maintain a relationship with one another. We need to know that we can share things with each other and that the other person will help us work through them.

(3) We must be attracted to more than their physical appearance. 

In verse 15 we read,

“Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.” (So 1:15)

Obviously, he thinks that she is physically beautiful. But her beauty goes beyond her physical appearance. His comment that her eyes are doves tells us something about her character — it’s pure and tranquil. He, then, is attracted not only to her physical beauty but her inner beauty as well. So while physical attraction is important, there must be other things that draw us together because believe it or not beauty will fade.

(4) There must be a certain level of protection — physical, emotional, and economic. 

(5) Our love for one another must be shown through various acts.

Look at verses 3 and 4 of chapter 2 and 7 and 8 of chapter 3.

“As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” (So 2:3–4)

“Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men, some of the mighty men of Israel, all of them wearing swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against terror by night.” (So 3:7–8)

The idea that she is sitting in his shadow and the mentioning of the army tells us that he is providing protection. As well as the banner at the banqueting house represents his public love and affection for her. So we also learn that if we want to grow and maintain relationship these two must be present – protection and affection.

(6) We must spend time alone

Look at the second half of verse 13 and verse 14 in chapter 2,

“Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away. O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” (So 2:13-14)

Basically, in the most poetic way possible, he is asking her on a date, to spend time with him alone away from everyone and everything else. This is something that has to occur not only when a relationship is just starting but all throughout our relationship.

Most of us didn’t have a problem going on dates when we first met our spouse. We were excited, we want to get to know the other person, so we carved out time to be alone with them. But for many, once they tied the knot all that changed. They became comfortable. They quit going on dates and spending time with one another. But that something you can’t do. You have to continue to date one another.

Now, I’m not saying I’m perfect at this. It is certainly something I’m working on. But while I might not be perfect at it, what I do know is that if I want to maintain my relationship with my wife and increase intimacy, I must spend time alone with her.

(7) We have to work on our problems

Look at verse 15 of chapter 2. She says to him,

“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”” (So 2:15)

Foxes have a tendency to be destructive, so her reference to these animals probably suggest that there were some problems in their relationship that she felt they needed to work on. She was asking him to take the initiative to begin working toward solving those problems. You see, we can’t just push our problems aside, ignoring them, hoping everything is going to change because it’s not going to happen. Problems have to be addressed in order for things to change and for the relationship to move forward or continue.

So those are 7 things you can apply today to either begin or maintain your relationship. What these 7 things tell us is that a certain level of intimacy must exist before sex occurs. And that level of intimacy must continue if we want our sex lives to be fulfilling. You see, emotional intimacy and physical intimacy go hand and hand, which tells us that one deepens the other.

Question for Reflection

  1. What would you add to this list?

Resources

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Post developed from my sermon What does the Song of Solomon Teach us about Relationships and Sex?

What Does the Song of Solomon Teach us about Relationships and Sex? – Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical1 Comment

Sex isn’t a topic that’s discussed often in the church, if at all. It can even be a taboo subject among Christians. Something they do but definitely not something they discuss.

When we compare the church to the world, we see that there is quite a difference between the two. The world talks about sex constantly. Movies, T.V. shows, the news, articles, and conversations with friends are often dominated by the subject. I mean you can hardly watch a television show without some random comment or scene thrown in there that’s really unnecessary, and the only role it plays is just to glorify sex.

But why is there such a difference? Why don’t we talk about sex in the church? Especially when we consider that almost the entirety of one of the wisdom books — the Song of Solomon — is dedicated to the subject.

Now, the Song of Solomon isn’t without its controversy. Many have questioned why it’s in the Bible. It’s been kept out of the hands of teenagers and young adults. It’s been allegorized, historicized, and misinterpreted in an effort to diminish the raciness of the book. But while all that and more has occurred throughout the centuries, it still remains a valuable book.

At its core, it’s about a relationship between a king, presumably Solomon, and his wife. It tells the story of their courtship, wedding, and relationship thereafter. It does so with vivid poetic imagery that at times leaves us, modern-day readers, guessing at the meaning and wondering why the woman is blushing when in today’s terms his comments would be taken as more of an insult than a praise and would probably warrant a slap. But for all its difficulties, the Song of Solomon is inspired Scripture that teaches us about God’s desire for sex and relationships.

What, then, does the Song of Solomon teach us about relationships and sex?

(1) Relationships and Sex should occur between a man and a woman (vs. Gen. 1:27-28; 2:24; Rom. 1:27-28; 32)

That idea — that relationships and sex should only occur between a man and a woman — is fast becoming out of step in our modern world. But while the traditional view is fast becoming out of step, it is the biblical view. One that’s upheld in the Song of Solomon. When you read the book, the love story, including the intimate parts, are portrayed between a man and a woman. That is the relationship that is celebrated by the book. That’s the relationship God endorses and promotes.

Lest someone claim the Song of Solomon only represents one type of relationship, God’s explicitly clear in the rest of the Bible what He endorses. In Genesis 1&2 we learn that a man and woman were created. Verse 27 of chapter 1 reads,

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Ge 1:27)

And in verse 28 we learn that:

“…God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” (Ge 1:28)

Then in verse 24 of chapter 2, we are told that,

“…a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Ge 2:24)

This tells us that God’s original plan in creation was for one man and one woman to be together for life. If that’s not clear that it’s God’s plan for a man and woman to be together, we also learn in Romans 1 that:

“…God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Ro 1:26–27)

God gave them up to these unnatural relations because of their refusal to recognize him as the one true God despite the evidence He has provided. He gave them up to homosexual behavior, which we are told in verse 32 is something that warrants God’s punishment.

You see, despite what our culture proclaims and trumpets as acceptable, the Bible tells us that it’s nothing more than an aberration, a departure from God’s original plan for creation. If those in our culture are honest, they know this too. They show they know that when they say things like: “This is the new normal.”

So one of the things we learn from the Song of Solomon is that God’s design and plan is for relationships and sex to occur between a man and a woman.

Question for Reflection

  1. What are your thoughts on the Bible’s plan and God’s design for sex and relationships? Do you agree or disagree? And why? (NOTE: Since this is an emotionally and politically charged topic, I’m looking for thoughtful, gracious, loving, and engaging answers/comments.)

Resources

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Post developed from my sermon What does the Song of Solomon Teach us about Relationships and Sex?

 

What’s Required to Have an Effective Mercy Ministry? – Part 3

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn PracticalLeave a comment

In the last few posts, we’ve seen that an effective mercy ministry not only requires compassion, but it also requires responsibility. Today, we’ll explore some guidelines by which to operate. Just as Paul gave Timothy guidelines by which to operate, we too should have guidelines by which we operate. It’s not ungodly or uncompassionate. Instead, it’s wise and helpful. It not only allows us to care for others, but it allows us to provide care in a way that is most helpful for them and best uses the resources of our church.

Just as Paul gave Timothy guidelines by which to operate, we too should have guidelines by which we operate. It’s not ungodly or uncompassionate. Instead, it’s wise and helpful. It not only allows us to care for others, but it allows us to provide care in a way that is most helpful for them and best uses the resources of our church.

Personal Guidelines

(1) Set aside a designated amount of money each month that can be used to help others.

When you run across someone needing help, you can help them without feeling like you have to break the bank or kill your budget.

(2) Pray with the person you are helping

I can’t remember if it is someone at my current church or another church that told me this. But basically, they said that the advice they were given in the past was to pray that the person would use the money you are giving them in a God-honoring way or face God’s judgment. If after praying that prayer they still wanted the money, then you should give that to them, leaving it between them and God as to what happens next.

(3) Designate a small portion of your income above and beyond your regular tithe and give that to a benevolence ministry each month. 

That could be the church’s benevolence ministry or another ministry like WARM or Wise Choices Pregnancy Resource Center. The point in doing that is that you know your money is going to be used to actually help the person. When you walk past a person begging for money, you don’t have to feel bad because you have already given to a ministry that is local and can meet their need. You can even take it a step further by stopping and pointing that person to that particular ministry.

So those are a few guidelines by which you can operate. Of course, there are more but that should get you started.

Church Guidelines

I’ll tell you what we currently do at the church I pastor. Hopefully, that will help you get the ball rolling at your church.

(1) We have a system of accountability.

Meaning that one person can’t make the decision to help someone. They have to call another pastor or deacon and run the situation by them first.

(2) We don’t give anyone money or gift cards.

Instead, we will directly pay someone’s bill, rent, or for their groceries.

(3) We have a tiered system of care.

If you are a member, regular attendee, or family or friend of a member, you can receive more assistance than someone who just randomly calls the church.

(4) We have limits on how often you can receive assistance.

Meaning that we aren’t going to continually pay someone’s bills every month without first really digging into the situation and their finances. If someone needs assistance multiple months in a row, then they have to be willing to open their finances up to us and follow a plan we develop for them based on their budget.

(5) We have a budget for benevolence 

We refer to that as our Local Mission’s Fund. A small portion of the general tithes and offerings goes into that fund every month. That is what we use to help those in need unless there is a special circumstance that requires more than that fund has. If that happens, we will take up a love offering or vote to use money out of the General Fund to help that family.

So those are some of the guidelines that we as a church operate under. We have put these in place because it allows us to be both compassionate and responsible, stewarding the resources we have as a church, as well as it also forces us to dig into the situation and provide the help the person really needs.

Conclusion

As you can see Mercy Ministry isn’t simple. It is complex. While compassion needs to be what motivates us, we also need responsibility to guide us. It’s compassionate responsibility that’s required in order for us to have an effective mercy ministry. I believe if we operate within that tension, we will be effective. As well as we will truly help those who are in need.

Question for Reflection

  1. What guidelines do you operate by personally and as a church?

Resources

Post developed from my sermon: What’s Required to Have an Effective Mercy Ministry?

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What’s Required to Have an Effective Mercy Ministry? – Part 2

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn PracticalLeave a comment

Last time, I laid out the idea that we have to be compassionate in order to have an effective mercy ministry. While it’s important for us to be compassionate, compassion left unchecked can, at times, do more harm than good. You see, meeting someone’s immediate need is not bad, and in reality a lot of times we need to do that. But if we blindly meet the immediate or presenting need over and over again, we aren’t really helping that person because we aren’t forcing them to deal with the underlying heart issue that may be causing their hardship.

Now, I’m not saying that everyone who is struggling has an underlying sin condition they need to deal with. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Health issues, natural disasters, the loss of a job, these things happen. When they happen, we may find ourselves struggling and in need of help, even though we have done everything right and our heart is in line with God’s Word.

But there are others who have needs, and those needs are the result of sin. In order for them to get to a place where they can be self-sufficient, we have to help them deal with their sin. If we are just operating on our emotions, we may not do that. Which tells us compassion can’t be the only driving force of an effective Mercy Ministry.

An Effective Mercy Ministry Requires Responsibility

Part of 1 Timothy 5 is centered around the care for the widows in the church at Ephesus. To give you some background information. Apparently, the church was facing a crisis. Their compassion had led them to enroll all the widows in the church and those loosely connected to the church into a welfare program. Providing for all these widows needs became a burden on the church.

Paul isn’t writing to tell Timothy and the church to quit providing for these widows. They were still supposed to provide care. They just weren’t to continue to operate as they had been. The church had to begin operating responsibly. They had to make sure these widows were cared for in the right way and the church’s resources used appropriately. Essentially Paul was telling Timothy that his compassion had to be balanced by responsibility.

He gave Timothy a set of guidelines by which the church should operate.

(1) The church is to care for those who don’t have a family to care for them (3,4,8,16)

Starting in verse 3 Paul says,

“Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.” (1 Ti 5:3–4)

Then in verse 8 Paul provides the motivation some family members needed to provide adequate care for their families when he says,

“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Ti 5:8)

So a person’s family should be the ones who care for them. If they don’t have any family, then the church should take over.

(2) The church is to care for those who have given themselves to God’s service and have a godly reputation (5-6)

Look at the text starting in verse 5,

“She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.” (1 Ti 5:5–6)

Now drop down to the second half of verse 9,

“Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, [and here is where we pick up] having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.” (1 Ti 5:9–10)

So the church isn’t just to enroll any widow. Only those who meet certain moral standards.

(3) The church is to care for those who are of age (9a, 11-15)

In the first half of verse 9, we are told that a woman shouldn’t be less than sixty years of age. Then picking up in verse 11 we read,

“But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. For some have already strayed after Satan.” (1 Ti 5:11–15)

So again, not just any widow, but only those who meet a certain age requirement.

Just as Paul gave Timothy guidelines by which to operate, we too should have guidelines by which we operate. It’s not ungodly or uncompassionate. Instead, it’s wise and helpful. It not only allows us to care for others, but it allows us to provide care in a way that is most helpful for them and best uses the resources of our church.

Next Time

Next time I’ll lay out the guidelines by which we personally and corporately should operate.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you exercise responsibility when dealing with those who are in need?

Resources

Post developed from my sermon: What’s Required to Have an Effective Mercy Ministry?

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What’s Required to Have an Effective Mercy Ministry? – Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn PracticalLeave a comment

As a pastor, I often interact with those looking to the church to provide them with assistance. Which means I have often found myself having to make a decision on how the church should respond to their need. I am sure you have also faced similar situations. Maybe not from a pastoral perspective. But I know we all have come across someone on the street or have had a friend or family member ask us for help or money.

How should you personally and how should the church corporately respond to those in need? In other words, what is required in order to have an effective mercy ministry?

What is a Mercy Ministry?

I see mercy ministry as a personal or church ministry that seeks to care for the physical needs of others. Whether that be those in our own church or those outside the church.

Providing assistance to those outside the church means that a mercy ministry becomes a vehicle we can use to reach the community for Christ. It is a way for us to not only share Christ through word but also deed. As we care for the needy and poor in the community, we are sharing Christ’s love, mercy, and grace with them. The same love, mercy, and grace that has been shown to us. So mercy ministry, while it’s primary focus is the physical needs of others, also has a spiritual component to it.

An Effective Mercy Ministry Requires Compassion

Our God is a compassionate God, who cares about the poor and oppressed. We see His care and concern in both testaments.

In Deuteronomy 15:11 we are given a picture of God’s heart for the poor and hurting when we read,

“For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’” (Dt 15:11)

His command for generosity was worked out in many different ways. One of which is:

The Gleaning Laws

God told “landowners [in the book of Leviticus that they] couldn’t gather all the grain their land produced. They had to leave some of it for the poor to gather themselves (Lev. 19:9-10; 23:22).”

Third Year Tithe

Tithing isn’t just a New Testament thing it was also commanded in ancient Israel. Its purpose was to provide for the Levites and priests, as well as for the upkeep of the Temple. However, every third-year tithes were diverted into a public fund set aside for the care of the poor, the immigrants, the fatherless, and the widows (Deut 14:29).

Jesus, who is God incarnate, also had compassion for the poor and needy. 

As we look through the New Testament, specifically the Gospels, we see that:

  • Jesus cared for the weak, the harassed, and the helpless (Matt. 9:35-36).
  • He moved in with the poor.
  • He ate with and associated with the socially ostracized (Matthew 9:13)
  • He healed the blind, lame, leper, and deaf (Matthew 11:4-5).
  • He raised a poor widows son back to life so she would have someone to support her (Luke 7:11-6)

Just from these limited examples, we can see clearly that God cares about the poor. He wants us, His church, to care about them too having the same compassion as He does. If we don’t, we either won’t do anything for those in need or we will do it for the wrong reasons. So it’s important our Mercy Ministry be motivated by compassion. Doing so helps us:

Avoid Giving for Personal Gain

I’m not sure if you are familiar with NPR. It stands for National Public Radio. As a public radio station, they receive funding from donations of people like you and me. Several times a year they have a fundraising drive. One of their tactics or arguments for why you should give to support the radio station is that it will make you feel good.

While there is nothing wrong with feeling good about helping others, that can’t be our primary motivator. If it is, we are only going to give when we need to feel good about ourselves. Not only is that selfish, but our need to feel good about ourselves and someone else’s need may not always line up, which means there will be times when we overlook those who legitimately need our help. So giving to make ourselves feel good isn’t the best motivator.

Nor is giving so that others in the community will think well of you. Generally, those who are generous are well known in their community. At times, they are even celebrated. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that. But if you crave the approval of your peers, you may find yourself giving for that reason. But that too is selfish and shouldn’t be the driving motivation for Christian giving.

Still another way we may give for our own personal gain is to relieve guilt. Maybe you have been blessed financially. When you look at the poor and needy, you feel guilty for what you have, so guilty you feel that you have to do something about it. So you find a charity, a church, or a person in need and give them some money. While giving to them might have been a good thing, it was selfish because you only did it to make yourself feel better.

So instead of being motivated by personal gain, we see that we should be motivated by compassion. It, not selfishness, should be what drives our giving to and care for those in need.

It’s important we give out of compassion because it helps us to:

Avoid an “Us and Them” Mentality

It can be easy to think about those we help as “them”. But this mentality isn’t helpful, nor biblical. Think about it. What if after presenting the gospel to those we are helping, they come to Christ. Then they start coming to our church. If we are operating out of an “Us and Them” mentality, it is going to be difficult to quit thinking of that person as a project or see yourself as equals with them. That’s because even though we have helped them, we have been using them. Using them to make ourselves feel good, accepted, or less guilty.

But on the other hand, if our motivation has always been compassion and not personal gain, accepting them into the church and working alongside them as equals won’t be difficult. It won’t be difficult because we haven’t used them for our own personal gain, nor have we elevated ourselves above them, thinking we are better than them.

So our motivation must be compassion.

Next Time

While it’s important for us to be compassionate, compassion left unchecked can, at times, do more harm than good, which is why compassion needs to be balanced by responsibility. We will talk about that next time.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you have compassion for those who need assistance?

Resources

Post developed from my sermon: What’s Required to Have an Effective Mercy Ministry?

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