07/07/2023
Summer Update:
Greetings to all of our dear Lighthouse friends and family. We pray you had a wonderful Fourth of July celebrating the great liberties we still have in our nation. What a blessing it is to be able to proclaim, in our time, what Jude wrote in his epistle:
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 1:3, NASB).
The “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Spurgeon, once said, “Controversy is never a very happy element for the child of God: he would far rather be in communion with his Lord than be engaged in defending the faith, or in attacking error. But the soldier of Christ knows no choice in his Master's commands. He may feel it to be better for him to lie upon the bed of rest than to stand covered with the sweat and dust of battle; but, as a soldier, he has learned to obey, and the rule of his obedience is not his personal comfort, but his Lord's absolute command. The servant of God must endeavor to maintain all the truth which his Master has revealed to him, because, as a Christian soldier, this is part of his duty. But while he does so, he accords to others the liberty which he himself enjoys.” What a powerful truth.
In the book of Jude chapter one verse three, we are exhorted to be defenders of the faith, to hold fast to the glorious transforming gospel message as followers of Christ. At Lighthouse Biblical Counseling Center (LBCC), we continue to uphold this mandate by the LORD our God by His grace since August 2015.
What We Are Witnessing At The Counseling Center
As we interact with Christian’s of different denominations, defending the faith has become our number one goal in counseling. The immutable Word of God is still relevant for the times we are living in.
What we are seeing, as many false teachers and teachings continue to arise on social media, and as AI technology is growing, the gospel message is becoming highly offensive to believers.
The writer of Hebrews tells us, ”For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is not a creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account, Hebrews 4:12,13.” God’s truth does cut deeply and point out things in our lives that we typically don't want to see about ourselves. BUT, if we desire to be conformed to the image of Christ, we must embrace the truth of God’s Word in our lives.
Sadly, there are some, who come to us, who do not desire this. What we are witnessing is there is much error abounding, in applying God’s perfect and absolute truth, in whatever situation that brings folks in for counseling. As God sends us different ones, we find ourselves contending for the faith in the way Spurgeon proclaimed in his generation.
On the flip side, we are encouraged that there are some who are embracing God’s truth for their lives. These are the ones that are experiencing His miracles especially in their marriages. James 1:21 tells us, “to lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” The saints that choose to do this, in counseling, are becoming contenders for the faith by boldly proclaiming what God has or is doing in their lives. It is so wonderful to link arms with these modern saints who desire to live out what Jude commissioned in his generation!
