Pastor Clegguart Mitchell

Necessary Offense

I recently saw a shocking video of a church group in Missouri being arrested and carted off to jail. To be honest I don’t know the church, the pastor, or any of the details or the circumstances (and context is always key). I did watch the video with interest and at first shock, sorrow, and a little anger. How can this be? How could it be against the law, in America, to stand on the street and plead with people to trust in Jesus Christ? Have we really reached a point in America in which our most basic freedoms are being totally stripped away?

As I have thought about that video and considered the implications of it, a few other “church” groups came to mind. One is from my home town. They are a small group of sincere folks who love the Lord and aggressively believe in the sanctity of human life. While I whole-heartily agree that every child conceived is precious and a gift from God, I fear that the methods these folks use (shock tactics and billboards) create unnecessary offenses.

I know of another church group who has traveled to Salt Lake City in order to share the Gospel with Mormons. This is a wonderful objective! In fact, we have dear friends who choose to live in that region for the purpose of sharing the Gospel and planting Bible churches. The group that traveled to Utah for a couple weeks of “soul-winning” spent themselves standing on street corners shouting, accusing, mocking, and ultimately being an unnecessary offense.

The third group that comes to mind is the church group that protests at military funerals. (I don’t want to give them inadvertent attention so I won’t name them.) Personally, I struggle to find any redeeming qualities or motives in this. It is just offensive. Which appears to be their primary objective.

I understand that the Gospel is naturally offensive. Whenever you talk to people about their sin and the exclusive “one way” to God through Christ, it is offensive to people. The Gospel is the “stumbling block” and Jesus Christ himself is the “rock of offense.” This is the necessary offense. We must never soften the message of the cross in order to appeal to the sensitivities of men. (See John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Peter 2:8)

It is necessary that we offend people. We must inform lost people that they are “condemned already” (Jn 3:18) or they will never understand (by faith) what it means that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16).

If we really want to reach people with the good news of the offensive Gospel, then we must learn to avoid all unnecessary offenses. I suggest we try something radical: Be nice.

(This article was originally published: HERE)

God is God

And the pain falls like a curtain
On the things I once called certain
And I have to say the words I fear the most
I just don’t know

And the questions without answers
Come and paralyze the dancer
So I stand here on the stage afraid to move
Afraid to fall, oh, but fall I must
On this truth that my life has been formed from the dust

God is God and I am not

I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God

And the sky begins to thunder
And I’m filled with awe and wonder
‘Til the only burning question that remains
Is who am I

Can I form a single mountain
Take the stars in hand and count them
Can I even take a breath without God giving it to me
He is first and last before all that has been
Beyond all that will pass

God is God and I am not

I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God

Oh, how great are the riches of His wisdom and knowledge
How unsearchable for to Him and through Him and from Him are all things

So let us worship before the throne
Of the One who is worthy of worship alone

~ Steven Curtis Chapman

A Poem for Difficult Days

Lord, Just today I read
That Paul and Silas were
Stripped and beaten
With wooden whips.
“Again and again the rods
Slashed across their bared backs”
But in their desolate dungeon
Their feet clamped in stocks
They prayed.
They sang.
They praised.
In this musty midnight of my life
Imprisoned in the dungeon of confusion
Bound by chains of anguish
Help me, please help me
To pray
To sing
To praise
Until the foundation shakes
Until the gates fling open
Until the chains fall off
Until I am free
To share the Good News
With other chain-bound prisoners.

—Ruth Harms Calkin,
Tell Me Again, Lord, I Forget

I am a minister.

My challenge is big. My vision is clear. My desire is strong. My influence is eternal. My impact is critical. My values are solid. My faith is tough. My mission is urgent. My purpose is unmistakable. My direction is forward. My heart is genuine. My strength is supernatural. My reward is promised.

And my God is real.

I refuse to be dismayed, disengaged, disgruntled, discouraged, or distracted. Neither will I look back, stand back, fall back, go back or sit back. I do not need applause, flattery, adulation, prestige, stature or veneration. I have no time for business as usual, mediocre standards, small thinking, normal expectations, average results, ordinary ideas, petty disputes or low vision. I will not give up, give in, bail out, lie down, turn over, quit or surrender.

I am a minister. That is what I do.

Author Unknown

Revelations and Vain Imaginings

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.” John 14:16

Take care never to impute the vain imaginings of your fancy to the Holy Spirit. I have seen the Spirit of God shamefully dishonored by people — I hope they were insane — who have said that they have had this and that revealed to them.

There has not for some years passed over my head a single week in which I have not been pestered with the ‘revelations’ of hypocrites or maniacs. Semi lunatics are very fond of coming with messages from the Lord to me, and it may save them some trouble if I tell them once for all that I will have none of their stupid messages. When my Lord and Master has any message to me he knows where I am, and he will send it to me direct, and not by madmen.

Never dream that events are revealed to you by heaven, or you may come to be like those idiots who dare impute their blatant follies to the Holy Spirit.

If you feel your tongue itch to talk nonsense, trace it to the devil, not to the Spirit of God.

Whatever is to be revealed by the Spirit to any of us is in the word of God already — he adds nothing to the Bible, and never will. Let persons who have revelations of this, that, and the other,  go to bed and wakeup in their senses. I only wish they would follow the advice, and no longer insult the Holy Spirit by laying their nonsense at his door.

From Charles Spurgeon’s sermon, “THE PARACLETE” No. 1074

For the time has come indeed…

“Ten Indictments Against the American Church,” by Paul Washer, is a long sermon that was preached on October 22, 2008 at a Conference in Atlanta, GA. It is a message that preachers and churches today desperately need to hear. . . again and again.

The Ten Indictments:

1. A practical denial of the sufficiency of Scripture.

2. An ignorance of God.

4. An ignorance of the gospel of Jesus Christ.3. A failure to address man’s malady.

5. An ignorance of the doctrine of regeneration.

6. An unbiblical gospel invitation.

7. Ignorance regarding the nature of the Church.

8. A lack of loving and compassionate Church discipline.

9. A silence on separation.

10. Lack of children being taught in the home.

May God stir His people with His Word, by His Spirit, because of His Son, for the glory of His name . . .

For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17

You can download the free ebook here:

Great Questions for Christian Teens

How would you describe yourself?

1. Are you on fire for God?

2. Are you for the first time realizing that you may not be a Christian?

3. Are you beginning to take your personal relationship with God more seriously?

4. Does your life resemble the values of the world more than the Word?

5. Do you love holiness and hate sin?

6. Do you strive to fight the sin of your heart and not simply address your sinful behaviors?

7. Do you like attending church?

8. Do you appreciate and obey your parents?

9. Do you enjoy reading and studying the Bible?

10. Are you prepared for the new freedoms in your life now that you’re getting older?

11. Do you have strong personal convictions?

12. Are you getting ready to head off to college and move away from your family for the first time in your life?

13. Are you experiencing significant anxiety as you think of the future?

~ Taken from “Growing Up Christian” by Karl Graustein

The Race

Part 1:
“Quit! Give up! You’re beaten!”
They shout out and plead.
“There’s just too much against you now,
This time you can’t succeed!”

And as I start to hang my head
In front of failure’s face,
My downward fall is broken by
The memory of a race.

And hope refills my weakened will
As I recall that scene;
For just the thought of that short race
Rejuvenates by being.

Part 2:
A children’s race – young boys, young men
How I remember well.
Excitement, sure, but also fear;
It wasn’t’ hard to tell.

They all lined up so full of hope;
Each thought to win the race,
Or tie for first, or if not that,
At least take second place.

And fathers watched from off the side,
Each cheering for his son,
And each boy hoped to show his dad
That he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they went,
Young hearts and hopes afire!
To win, to be the hero there,
Was each young boy’s desire.

And one boy in particular
Whose dad was in the crowd,
Was running near the lead and thought
“My dad will be so proud!”

But as he sped down the field
Across a shallow dip,
The little boy who thought to win,
Lost his step and slipped.

Trying hard to catch himself
His hands flew out to brace,
And mid the laughter of the crowd,
He fell flat on is face.

But as he fell, his dad stoop up
And showed his anxious face,
Which to the boy so clearly said,
“Get up and win the race!”

He quickly rose, no damage done,
Behind a bit, that’s all –
And ran with all his mind and might
To make up for his fall.

So anxious to restore himself
To catch up and to win,
His mind went faster than he legs;
He slipped and fell again!

He wished that he had quit before
With only one disgrace.
“I’m hopeless as a runner now;
I shouldn’t try to race.”

But in the laughing crowd he searched
And found his father’s face,
That steady look which said again,
“Get up and win the race!”

So he jumped up to try again,
Ten yards behind the last –
“If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought,
“I’ve got to move real fast.”

Exerting everything he had
He gained eight or ten,
But trying so hard to catch the lead,
He slipped and fell again!

Defeat! He lay there silently
A tear dropped from his eye
“There’s no sense running anymore;
Three strikes, I’m out, why try?”

The will to try had disappeared
All hope had fled away;
So far behind, so error prone,
A loser all the way.

“I’ve lost; so what’s the use,” he thought.
“I’ll live with my disgrace.”
But then he thought about his dad
Whom soon he’d have to face.

“Get up!” an echo sounded low.
“Get up and take your place.
You were not meant for failure here.
Get up and win the race!”

With borrowed will, “Get up,” it said,
“You haven’t lost at all.
For winning is not more than this –
To rise each time you fall.”

So up he rose to win once more,
And with new commit,
He resolved that win or lose,
At least he wouldn’t quit.

So far behind the others now
The most he’d ever been
Still he gave it all he had
And ran as though to win.

Three times he’d fallen stumbling,
Three times he’d rose again,
Too far behind to hope to win
He still ran to the end.

They cheered the winning runner
As he crossed first place,
Head high, proud and happy,
No falling, no disgrace.

But when the fallen youngster
Crossed the line, last place,
The crowd gave him the greater cheer
For finishing the race.

And even though he came in last
With head bowed low, un-proud,
You would have thought he won the race
Just listening to the crowd.

And to his dad he sadly said,
“I didn’t do so well.”
“To me you won,” his father said.
“You rose each time you fell!”

(Not sure who wrote this poem. It has been attributed to different people. For the sake of this post we’ll just say, “Author Uncertain.” – For our son Jordan, in his second year of Jr. High Cross-country!)

Hairbrush Hero

The Crisis: I was sitting quietly at my computer enjoying a cup of coffee and contemplating the deep things of God when Lydia approached me with sadness and fear. “Daddy,” she said, “Have you seen my little pink hairbrush?” Do you have any idea how much hair-brushing is required in a house that contains four females? Wow.

Initial response: I admit it. I was not very gallant in my response to the hairbrush crisis. In fact I was rather brutish. “Sweetheart,” I said, “Daddy doesn’t use your brush and daddy did not have your hairbrush. Now you go find it like mommy said.”

The interruption: Grace tapping my arm, waiting, tapping, waiting, “daddy,” waiting, tapping. Lydia walks away head down, disheartened, and unable to solve the mystery of the missing hairbrush. I finally looked at Grace and said, “Yes Grace. What is it?” “Umm. Daddy,” she says, tilting her sweet little face to one side. “Yes Grace. I’m busy. What do you need?” Grace, “Umm. Do I look pretty daddy?” Sigh. “Yes sweetie. You look pretty.”

The Hunt for Red October: OK, so I didn’t really organize the entire Russian fleet of nuclear submarines to find the hairbrush. Actually, I didn’t even get up from my coffee and computer. About an hour later I happen to be walking down the hall and saw the little brush underneath a chair against the wall. I have to be honest, I walked on by shaking my head and leaving it lay.

An opportunity lost, recovered: Another thirty minutes past and I overheard the troubled voice of little Lydia trying to explain that the little pink hairbrush was gone. Jenny, being much more considerate than I had been, responded with encouragement and counsel. In that moment I remembered seeing the hairbrush!

The moment: I leapt from my seat (not really), swept little Lydia into my arms (yes I did), whisked her to the top of the stairs like a knight in shining armor (in my head), crawled on my hands and knees under the chair, recovered the brush, and on one knee held forth the little pink brush to my now elated little girl. Hero.

You don’t have to defeat all of the host of Mordor in order to be a blessing to your family. You don’t have to be a Jedi Knight to be a hero to your wife and kids. You just need to give them your time, attention, and affection. You know, act like you like them.

Points to ponder: Psalm 127:3; Deuteronomy 6:7-9; Ephesians 5:25; 1 Peter 3:7

Got Issues?

It just so happens that I was standing in the perfect position to overhear myself talking the other day. What I heard was shocking! I still can’t believe it. It sounded just like, gulp, whining! Whining? Me? Whining? Yes. What’s worse I was whining about something from a situation so long ago, I’m certain few if any of the people involved would even remember it. Incredibly I discovered myself indulging in our modern self-justifying rabble of: “You must excuse my current sour attitude. My personal issues provide me with a much needed pass on responsibility.”

Is this not the attitude that so many people have today? We find it easy to complain, easy to express self-pity, easy to self-justify. So many people today see their life as full of loss, hurt, or betrayal that they honestly believe they have the right to whine. Like some kind of spiritual entitlement that says, “You don’t get to hold me accountable because someone hurt me.” It’s amazing how many people are held prisoner by the memory of those who may (or may not) have sinned against them. What’s more incredible are how many people who sincerely believe that their issue(s) free them from fulfilling basic personal duties.

It should be no surprise that the antidote for our narcissistic sour-grapes is not personal therapy. What is needed most is sound Theology. Seriously, what makes more sense to you, focusing time and attention on you and your own “issues”? Or concentrating on something, Someone, who is Himself far greater than you? I would like to take this opportunity to share with you the single most theologically sound reasoning that I can offer. Whether you have experienced mom-issues, dad-issues, sibling issues, financial issues, abuse issues, neglect issues, whatever your issues, past or even present. The single most theologically sound response I can muster is this: So what? Get in line.

My lovely wife and I have seven wonderful little children. We would not trade any of them for anything in the world. I’ve seen firsthand that each one of our children, adorable as they are, was born just like every other human being on the planet. They are selfish, mean, depraved little sinners. My point is this: people do dumb things because people are sinners. It’s in their very nature to do dumb. Whenever we do dumb things, others are affected and others feel the impact of our sin. In other words, you and I can cause others to have personal “issues” as well. (If you are uncertain at this point, just ask your wife or your kids.)

What we need most is a good healthy dose of humility. You are a sinner. I am a sinner. Was it not for the grace of God we would be utterly consumed with our own selfish desires and eagerly satisfying our fleshly lusts. And every time we do that, other people feel the devastating effects. Remember Achan?

Let’s be brutally honest here, it is time for Christian people to realize that there is no place for a victim mentality in the church. Our circumstances, however hard they may be, do not compare to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and the wrath He bore there. The cross of Christ forever stands at the center of all things crying out: “We are all guilty.” “We are all bad people.” “Get over yourself.” “You can do nothing to improve you or others.” But “God, in Christ, can!”

Remember friends, it is the preaching of the cross that is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). When your emotions need to be reminded of what you know is true – preach the Gospel to your own heart! Don’t allow your heart to feed the Me-Monster. Don’t listen to the wisdom of the world (which is foolishness). Unleash the power of God in your own life. Like David remind your emotions of what you know is true (Psalm 27). Get over yourself and confess with Paul, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, (or issue, or church member, or whatever) shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 italics added).

(Originally published in a recent edition of IFCA NEWS)