Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

It is not that men do not speak of God. On the contrary, many speak much of Him. Yet their understanding is not informed by the clear and plain sense of Scripture, but by their own imagination of who they believe Him to be.

Have you ever sat outside a conversation and heard it unfold, where God is much spoken of? Your ear is drawn in, as the heart of the believer is naturally inclined toward such things. For a moment, it sounds as music to the ears. And then you hear it, that once beautiful sound now hits a wrong note and becomes a matter of discernment.

You just want to hear the truth playing beautifully but far too often the sound is not a little off but strikes a false chord and never returns to its once beautiful sound. Each man speaks of God in a way that is meaningful and personal to him, yet not as He has revealed Himself.

Have you ever sat among those who invite you to their table? You are their guest. It is not your table. They are kind, warm, and hospitable. Then they open a supporting text meant to aid in your understanding of who God is. You follow along with your Bible open, yours the only one visible. As you do, you pray for God’s help to see what the text says and means.

There, the text reveals the beauty and glory of God, and your heart rejoices. The words are read aloud. Every man agrees. And then, in the next breath, what was clear is filtered through each man’s heart, through what he feels about God. What stood firm in the text is quickly reshaped in conversation. God is brought low, and you feel the need to steady yourself again upon the text, as though regaining footing in a room that has shifted beneath you.

You are guided according to a god so low you could almost sit beside him, not clothed in the righteousness of Christ, but accepted as you are, as though your sin were no offense. No longer an enemy, but simply one already embraced. Not loved with an eternal, sovereign love, but pitied and remedied, as though God merely saw the problem of man and moved to fix it. What was true in one breath is obscured in the next. The clarity of the text gives way to confusion.

When you speak, some listen as though your words are foreign. Others take offense. Some agree, yet uneasily. Others agree quickly, though it is not clear they understand. And so you find not only error, but uncertainty, truth acknowledged, yet not firmly held.

Many will hear the reading of Scripture. They may even affirm what is plainly taught. Yet their hearts have already determined who God is to them. What they hear is not received with submission, but filtered through what they already believe. Their familiarity is not with the text itself, but with conversations about it, what they think it means, rather than what it says.

You have been trained, as many have not, to go into the text and draw out its meaning. To begin with God, not man. To see that the text does not bend toward the reader, but stands over him. And yet many have not been taught how to approach the Word in this way. They are given methods that subtly move them away from the text itself, so that they do not discover its riches by careful attention, but drift into error. You once were taught like them and even worse than them.

Even the simplest believer, even one of low estate, even the plow boy, may understand the truth of God when the Word is rightly handled. This is no small mercy. The Scriptures are not hidden in complexity but revealed in clarity to those who submit to them.

And yet, though access to the Word is abundant, many have been taught wrongly how to approach it. There is a real struggle in the task of making known the truth, not only because the world resists it, but because confusion often sits within the visible church itself. The bride is often taught to know God by methods that obscure rather than clarify, so that men do not dig for truth in the text, but drift toward error while believing they are near it.

They do not know how to go into the text and draw out its meaning. Instead, the text becomes a starting point, and from it they move quickly into reflections on life, experience, and feeling. What enters the ear as truth comes forth from the lips altered, sometimes subtly, sometimes plainly, because the heart has not yielded. They agree outwardly, yet remain inwardly unmoved.

Guided discussions quickly devolve into error once the words from the page are no longer guiding the discussion but the man who moves away from the guided text, with a closed Bible, speaks from his heart. Many men are not trained in sound doctrine and depend heavily on guided material and once that support is not there and it is on them to lead the way, error is soon to expose the man’s ignorance.

A man may hear, affirm, and even repeat sound doctrine. Yet when it passes through his mind and heart, it is not received as truth that reforms him. It is reshaped to fit what he already believes. When he then tries to teach it he can only distort it for his heart guides him and not the clear and plain meaning of the text.

Thus many hear and agree, yet what a man truly believes about God often proves resistant to Scripture. He will affirm truth in general terms, but when brought closely to the text, he reveals either ignorance or quiet resistance. His agreement is shallow because it is not governed by submission.

A man may improve his speech while his heart remains unchanged. The truth must first be rightly understood in the mind if it is to take hold in the heart. If a man loves God and grows in that love, it is not apart from sound doctrine, but by means of it.

God is who He is. He does not yield, change, or conform Himself to our understanding. We must yield. Our minds must be renewed according to His Word. And it is there, in the truth of who He is, that we find true comfort, peace, and assurance. Joy, grace, mercy, and hope do not follow from imagining God, but from rightly knowing Him.

He does not bend to our beliefs about Him. He reveals Himself. Where our thoughts align with His Word, they are confirmed. Where they do not, they must be cast down, humbly and without delay, lest we deceive ourselves and others.

Therefore, we must cast down our imaginations and set our minds plainly upon the text. There, and there alone, we behold His glory.

We cannot improve upon perfection. As He reveals Himself, He humbles us. He brings us low, and from that place causes us to behold Him rightly. True knowledge of God does not inflate the man, it lays him low and leads him to worship.

He is worthy of more than what we so often ascribe to Him. Praise Him, not for who you have imagined Him to be, but for who He is. Let your mind be instructed and your heart transformed by His Word, that your praise may be true, and that you may ascribe to Him the glory He alone is due.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Grow quietly. Grow slowly. For in this way you will grow deep, deep in character, deep in truth, alongside saints whose roots run far beneath the surface, whose wisdom has been proven over time.

Many are eager to proclaim what God has done. Their zeal is great, but it is not yet tempered by knowledge or shaped by character. They love the Christ who died and rose again, yet they know little of His sanctifying work within His people. They rush ahead in fervor, often to their own ruin, when they should instead sit among faithful saints who have long walked the path they are so eager to run.

Wisdom grants a man his place. It gives him a seat where his words are few, yet his counsel is of the Lord. His roots are deep. His scars are visible. His eyes may grow dim, yet his counsel remains steady, and his hands are faithful to the work God has given him. He has learned that there is greater fruit in quiet obedience than in chasing the things his passions once urged him toward, things that might have led him to think more highly of himself than he ought.

Many foolish men chase platforms and seek an audience. In their haste, they run past wisdom, past truth, past love, past godly counsel. They overlook men of deep character and instead gather around those marked by pride, ambition, and outward success, men ready to pass down not wisdom, but error, to the next eager voice in the race.

Friend, if your eyes are drawn to position, influence, and power, take heed. You may pursue these things and even attain them, only to find yourself empty, restless, or against God. Such desires are not from God when they are rooted in self-exaltation. A man may convince himself that he seeks these things for the glory of God, while all the while deceiving his own heart.

Beware the man who speaks much Scripture, yet whose heart is set on power, position, and influence.

Do not run after him. If you do, you will pass by those whom God has placed in your path, men of true wisdom, sound doctrine, and godly character.

Those who love the truth are rarely found in places of prominence. They are often hidden, faithful, steady, and planted by God in the paths of many who rush past them. Their warnings go unheeded. Their counsel is despised by those chasing what appeals to the flesh.

Many run after men who promise what their hearts desire. They follow those who are young, untested, and eager to make a name, and though such men may begin well, the platform often reshapes them. Over time, their message becomes more pragmatic and shaped by what appeals to and attracts man. What was once sound becomes compromised, then corrupted. In many cases, the decline is first seen in their doctrine long before it becomes evident in their lives.

Do not be dazzled by prominence. Sit instead with those whose roots are deep in sound doctrine. Grow in godly character. Learn from those who have watched many rise and fall, men whose platforms expanded while their character decayed, whose doctrine slowly shifted to preserve their influence.

Sit with the faithful. Learn from those whose roots are deep and whose lives have endured testing. Watch closely what time reveals, for both character and doctrine are proven there.

Be content to be unknown if God so wills it. Better to be hidden and faithful than seen and found wanting.

Grow where God has planted you. Endure. Bear fruit. And finish well.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Surrounding yourself with “positive people” who only speak about their love for Jesus, how much God loves them, and the great plans He has for them, who speak as though He is smitten with them, constantly thinking of them, how He just loves to shower them with blessings, and making them the center of all things, is not the same as being among those who are informed by Scripture, whose minds are shaped by truth, and who speak rightly of the love of God.

Such people have fashioned a god around themselves. Everything revolves around them. He exists to answer their desires. He created all things for them. He cannot imagine heaven without them because they believe His love has found something so worthy in them that He must set His affections upon it.

The sappy, weak, and impotent Jesus that many speak of and build one another up with is not the God of Scripture. It is a distorted, sentimental version of love, far beneath even what men would call shallow affection.

To hear some speak of God’s love provokes revulsion in anyone with a biblical understanding of that love. God does not love because there is something in us that attracts Him or draws Him to us. He is not compelled by something in us. He is not moved by human worth. Yet many will affirm this with their lips and deny it in every other word, bringing God low and presenting a god that is mocked by the world and rejected by those who refuse the true God of Scripture.

The issue is that many love certain attributes of God that they can twist to suit themselves. They reshape them according to their own desires and then encourage one another in the worship of what is nothing more than an idol. They love a god that His attributes can be brought low, manipulated and added to their human effort to achieve their desires. They love a god that serves them and delights to do so. They love scripture so long as they can manipulate it to serve their desires. They love putting words in His mouth that He did not say and they love claiming an intimacy with God that allows them to hear Him speak to them all the time what their sinful hearts desire. They take the desires of their hearts, isolated verses of scripture, and listen for God to speak to them confirming all their hopes and dreams. Why wouldn’t He? Their god is an idol. He bends and conforms to their will, their desires and lives to bless them and reward them for their “faithfulness” to what they are told they must do to receive what they desire. They take what is beautiful and holy and desecrate it. They fashion a god by the name of the God of scripture into their own idols and they know not that they are deceived and deceivers.

The attributes of God, His perfections, are not divided. He is not holy at one time and gracious at another, setting aside His justice, His wrath, or His righteousness. He is perfectly all that He is at all times. Yet men take the truth that God is love and redefine it according to their own affections. They imagine a god who is consumed with them, eager to give them everything they desire, eager to bless them as they define blessing, eager to fulfill their plans. This is not the God of Scripture. It is an Americanized gospel and a sentimental Christ.

They begin with themselves and bring God down. Scripture begins with God.

It is true that God has good purposes for those who are called according to His purpose. He does bless His people. He has set His love upon a people, predestined them, called them, made atonement for them, saved them, and is conforming them to the image of His Son. He will bring them to glory. He does all of this for His own glory. His decrees stand. He rules and governs all things. His providence extends over every detail. Even trials, suffering, loss, and persecution are not outside His sovereign will but are part of His perfect and purposeful plan.

It is not about us. It is about God, His rule, His reign, His sovereignty, His perfections, and His glory. And yet He does love His people. But that love is not drawn out by anything in them. It is a love set before the foundation of the world, a sovereign love by which He determined to display His grace, His mercy, His power, and His goodness upon an undeserving people. Those who understand this are humbled by it. They do not exalt themselves. They marvel that they have been made recipients of such undeserved favor.

The man-centered religion produces songs, sermons, and words that many love because they elevate man. They speak of a god who is trying his best to bless, who is hindered, who waits upon human effort, who needs men to speak things into existence or to act in order for him to move. This presents a god who is weak and dependent. This is not the Lord of Scripture.

The God of Scripture is sovereign. He accomplishes all that He purposes. His will is never frustrated. His decrees cannot be overturned. He does not attempt. He does not hope. He ordains and brings to pass.

Do you not despise the weak and pitiful Jesus of the modern pulpit? He is not the sovereign Lord who rules and reigns. He is a fabrication, embraced by those who prefer a god that serves them rather than the God who commands them.

Is your God the God of Scripture, or the powerless god proclaimed in man-centered pulpits, praised in emotional gatherings, and adored for how he makes men feel?

Friend, return to the God of Scripture. The whole counsel of God, from Genesis to Revelation. See His love rightly. It is not sentimental. It is not indulgent. It is a love that commands repentance because He is Lord. It is a love that sent the Son to take on flesh, to live in perfect righteousness, to die under the full weight of divine wrath for His people, to rise in victory, and to return in judgment and glory.

It is a love that draws sinners out of darkness, clothes them in righteousness, and conforms them to the image of Christ. It opens blind eyes, grants new hearts, and produces a hunger for holiness, truth, and righteousness. It is a love that does not set aside justice but satisfies it. Every man will either bear the judgment for his sin or have it borne for him in Christ. That is love.

Any man who sets one attribute of God against another reveals his ignorance and stands in need of correction. If the Spirit of God dwells in him, he will submit to the truth. If not, his profession is empty.

Do you know Him? Or do you possess a form of religion, speaking the language of Christianity, speaking of Jesus, the cross, and love, while holding to a Christ of your own imagination?

Many claim to love Jesus. But they do not love the Jesus of Scripture.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

In 1998, I lost my second child to miscarriage. I was not saved. I had no theology to ground me, no understanding of God’s sovereignty, no framework by which to process such a loss. I was surrounded by voices that did not help, and in some cases, only deepened the wound. One person had even expressed a desire that my baby would die. Another attempted comfort by saying, “At least it wasn’t a baby yet,” as though such words could lessen the grief of a mother.

My own mother bought flowers and placed them in the hands of my son, who was not yet two years old, and had him give them to me. Even now, that memory remains. The card attached to the flowers is a reminder of that very sweet moment my almost 2 year old son gave me so precious a gift in my grief.

Years later, after the Lord had saved me, I came alongside a friend who lost her little boy near the time of his birth. Her grief was deep, yet there was a light in it. At the time, our theology was not sound, but it was then that I began to bring such loss to Scripture. I began to search the Word of God for answers, for truth, for something more than what the world offers.

It would be years later, after the Lord brought me out of error and into sound doctrine, that I came to see more clearly that Scripture is not silent on these matters. In His Word, God has not left us without hope or understanding.

During that time, I read Safe in the Arms of God by John MacArthur. Through it, the Lord brought a measure of comfort into a sorrow I had never truly dealt with. It helped me to think rightly about the character of God and the hope that one day, I will enter into the same glory in which I believe my child now dwells.

Recently, my husband gave me a small gift as a remembrance of the child we lost and whom we trust is with the Lord. It was a quiet kindness, but one that speaks to a reality we both hold with conviction.

Today, many women are taught that the child in their womb is nothing more than a clump of cells. They are encouraged to end the life of that child if it is inconvenient, unwanted, or interferes with their plans. This is not merely error. It is a suppression of truth. Scripture is clear: God forms life in the womb. He is the author of it, and every child bears His image.

At the same time, many women who suffer miscarriage or infant loss are told that their babies are with the Lord, and that they themselves will see them again, regardless of their standing before God. While I do believe these little ones are with the Lord, it is not loving to turn that truth into a false assurance. A mother’s loss is not her entrance into heaven. At some point, as wisdom permits, she must hear the Gospel.

We do not need movements or awareness campaigns to address this kind of grief. What women need is the Word of God. They need the truth about the life within the womb. They need the truth that confronts sin and speaks to the conscience. And they need the Gospel, the only message that brings forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

Women are not served by being shielded from truth. Nor are they too fragile to bear it. Our souls depend upon it.

We need those who will come alongside women in both truth and love. We need those who will speak honestly about sin, while also pointing to Christ, who saves sinners. We need faithful men who will preach the Word of God without compromise, who will trust that God works through His Word as it is proclaimed.

As Mother’s Day approaches, it will be a time of joy for many, and a time of sorrow for others. Some will feel the weight of infertility. Some will remember children lost. Others will seek to suppress the memory of children they have chosen to murder while the world supported and celebrated them. In all of these cases, the answer is not sentimentality or carefully crafted messages designed to comfort without truth.

There is forgiveness. There is hope. But it is found only in Christ, and it is applied only through the true Gospel.

We do not need sermons tailored to flatter or soothe. We do not need to be set apart as though we require something different from the rest of the body. We need Christ.

Give us the Gospel.

Give us faithful exposition of Scripture.

And trust God to do His work through His Word.

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An additional resource is by Tim Challies, Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God

Written by: April J. Buchanan

God does not need your book. Your testimony is not anointed in such a way that souls are waiting upon its publication in order to be saved. Your book is not the instrument upon which God depends. The Lord is not restrained, as though He must wait for you to write before He can act. That notion is not humility. It is a subtle elevation of self.

God has already given His Word. He has spoken fully and finally in Scripture, and He has made plain the means by which He saves. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The Spirit of God works through the faithful proclamation of the Gospel, not through the elevation of personal experiences.

It should be humbling to recognize this, especially in a time when many are continually told how great they are, how significant their calling is, and how many souls are waiting for their step of faith in writing a book. Such language does not magnify God’s sufficiency. It diminishes it. To suggest that souls are dependent upon your testimony being written and published is to undermine both the power of the Word and the sovereignty of the Spirit in regeneration.

This helps explain why so many books are being produced. Many sitting under weak or misguided teaching are led to believe that their experiences must be shared as authoritative or necessary for the salvation of souls. But that claim, in itself, is an attack upon the sufficiency of Scripture and the Gospel. God does not need supplementation. His Word is not lacking. The Gospel is not powerless!

There is nothing inherently wrong with books. Faithful theological works have long served the church well. I gladly commend those that labor to explain and rightly handle Scripture. But that is not what fills many so-called Christian shelves today. What is popular is often subjective rather than objective, rooted in personal encounters, unverifiable claims, and supposed revelations that claim divine origin rather than faithful works that demonstrate a life governed by scripture as one writes in order to help men understand what God has truly said. Men would rather exegete their heart, their experiences, or their claims of what God said to them than going into the text and doing the real work of bringing out of the text what it really says and means.

Why is this so widely embraced? Because Scripture is true. Men are naturally drawn to what appeals to the flesh, what gives immediate gratification and feels personal, what promises insight apart from the hard work of rightly dividing the Word. They prefer what affirms their desires over what confronts their sin. But the faithful teacher does not lead others to himself or to his experiences. He leads them to Scripture and demonstrates its sufficiency.

If you are considering writing a book, it is worth sober self-examination. Many are encouraged to write who are not grounded in sound doctrine, and the result is confusion rather than clarity. Experiences may be sincere, but sincerity does not guarantee truth. Theology that is shallow or unsound will not help the reader. It will mislead.

And if correction comes, as it should when error is made public, the response will reveal much. If you publish a book that you feel like must be written because souls are depending on it, and your claims, teachings, and handling of scripture is shown false, you may get away with it because your book doesn’t sell well. That it does not have men of sound doctrine reading it and calling out its errors is actually not good for you. Such rebuke would have been for your good. Those who prize truth will warn you. Those who do not will applaud you.

As one who has been there, who has repented of it, and no longer endorses the book once written, consider this carefully before proceeding. We will give an account for every careless word. The world will not suffer for lack of your book. If you believe otherwise, that belief itself should give you pause.

Many who write desire to be helpful, yet the issue often lies beneath that desire. When a man begins to think that the church or the lost need his book, or that God has given him something the church cannot do without, he has already stepped beyond what is written. That is not a small error. It strikes at the sufficiency of Scripture and the ordinary means God has ordained. It is pride though deceived he cannot see his own pride.

Those who should write a book are far fewer than those who do. If what is sound were more desired, there would be fewer books, but they would carry greater weight for the soul. As it stands, publishing has become far too easy, and for that very reason, much is produced that ought not to be.

This may sound severe, but it is better to speak plainly now than to contribute to confusion later. Think seriously. Pray rightly. Examine whether what you are offering is rooted in the Word of God or in personal experience. The church does not need more subjective, shallow works filled with theological error.

Friend, you likely should not write a book. Many will. Few should.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

If my life remains familiar with the former weaknesses, knowings, and longings that the old man once loved, then my heart has not yet reckoned with that grace which works not merely in outward conformity, but in depths unseen by man and known only to God. It is there that He transforms the heart, makes it new, and produces new affections, new desires, and even the will to do what pleases Him, that which the old man could never do.

Yet there remains that which every saint longs to put off. Even this longing brings a sober awareness, for the desire itself is the work of God. The longing to cast off what cannot inherit eternal life, and to put on what is good and glorifies God, is not born of the flesh, but given by Him. The desire to glorify Him, this the heart has not known by nature. Known, not as the world claims to know, nor as false professors presume, but in truth.

Oh to know Him. The depths of His love, the riches of His grace, the wisdom, the mercy, the knowledge of God are far too high for me. Yet we taste, we see in part. And there remains in the saint a longing for that day when we shall know Him more fully, when we shall be parted from that which still dwells in our members, that which we no longer desire to be familiar with.

This world is seductive. Only a fool thinks himself beyond its pull. Let no man assume he is incapable of being drawn away by that which tempts his own soul. Be not such a fool, but be wise. Understand that though we are tempted, we are not without help. We are able to overcome, and if we are able to overcome, then we must expect to be tempted. Yet God has provided the way of escape. We are able to recognize temptation, to deny the lingering desire for evil, and to flee. This ability is not of ourselves, but is the gracious and powerful work of God in every saint.

And if we fall, let us not remain. Repent quickly. Rise, and flee to Christ. Do not draw back. The proud man imagines himself secure, supposing nothing can overtake him because of who he is. His fall, if unrestrained, will be great. Yet even such a fall, if God is merciful, may become the means by which he is humbled, brought low, and made to see the corruption of his own heart. In this, he may yet be led to true grace.

How well is our soul acquainted with such grace? Do we walk in it daily, or do we take it for granted? Fellow pilgrim, dear saint, acknowledge the wisdom, the power, the love, the grace, and even the corrective hand of God in your life. Let His discipline not be prolonged, that we may learn swiftly and walk in the strength of His might, in the grace that works in truth, guiding us in the way that is best. It will cost us much, yet it will be worth it. Today, dear saint, do you recognize His grace at work within you?

Sing, dear saint. God is at work in you, even now. It is He who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. And He is at work in the world. All things are under His sovereign hand. His providence cannot be thwarted.

Remember, ‘tis all of grace.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

If salvation is not by the exertion, will, or work of man, many struggle to understand how man can be held responsible for his sin, his rejection of Christ, or even how he can be saved at all. Yet they fail to see that these very questions point to the beauty, glory, sovereignty, power, wisdom, and mercy of God.

Man, born in sin under the federal headship of the first Adam, is without the will, desire, power, or ability to change his nature, either to put off sin or to put on righteousness. He is born in sin, and the curse of death abides upon him. Even his righteousness is vile before a holy God.

What man, born in Adam, can save his own soul? None. Not one. It is through the second Adam that any man may be saved.

Christ, truly God, took on flesh, adding humanity to His deity, and is truly man, born of a virgin, without sin. As the second Adam, He lived the righteous life we could not live and willingly went to the cross, dying the death we deserve, bearing the full wrath of God for His people. On the third day, He rose from the grave, conquering sin and death, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again.

Through the power of the Gospel, God takes the external call and makes it effectual, calling His own out of darkness into truth. He gives a new heart that responds in repentance and faith. The Father planned it, the Son accomplished it, and the Holy Spirit applies it. (Seeing the glory of the triune God at work in salvation still sets my heart to singing; I hope you see it and don’t miss it. The Holy Spirit gets blamed for a lot of false manifestations and His true work is so often missed because it’s not what sinful men want).

Man is responsible for his sin before a holy God. We have sinned against His perfect holiness, righteousness, and authority.

Yet God, in undeserved grace, has chosen to glorify Himself by showing mercy to an undeserving people. He sent His Son, who willingly bore the just and holy wrath of God for sinners and lived the perfect life we could not live, so that His righteousness might be imputed to us and our sin imputed to Him.

Do not let these truths become mere words we learn and rehearse, but realities that penetrate the heart. Many have heard that Jesus died for sins, yet have not been confronted with the truth of man’s depravity, nor taught the necessity of the imputed righteousness of Christ. Too many have turned the pulpit into a marketplace, appealing to the desires of men and drawing them by whatever means seem effective. The result is devastating, both to true evangelism in the pew and to the power of the pulpit, which rests upon the faithful preaching of the Word.

Man thinks far too highly of himself. Only when we understand our depravity do we see that our will, desires, and all our faculties are bound. Scripture testifies truly that there is none who does good. That any are saved is entirely of grace, grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Any who add to or take away from this do not understand grace.

We are all born in Adam, under sin and its curse, deserving of God’s wrath. We must be born again.

Many hear the external call of the Gospel, yet are deceived by shallow appeals to their desires, promises God has not made, and calls to merely ask Jesus into their heart. They remain ignorant of their depravity. They do not understand that unless they are born again in Christ, they will die in their sin and face the just wrath of God.

Our only hope is Christ. He is Sovereign, He is Lord and King, and He commands all men everywhere to repent and believe in Him. This is not a call to mere relief from guilt or suffering, nor a shallow assurance of heaven. True repentance and faith flow from a heart transformed by God, a heart that sees its own sin, trembles before His holiness, and flees to Christ alone for mercy.

Many sit under preaching that does not proclaim the whole counsel of God. They hear of love, yet do not know God, because His holiness, justice, and truth are not faithfully declared.

Unless you repent and trust in Christ alone, you will die in your sins. There is no hope beyond the grave, only the righteous judgment of God.

Repent. Flee to Christ.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Faith healers and those who teach that it is always God’s will to heal expose the emptiness of their doctrine when they themselves experience the same sickness, suffering, tragedy, and death common to all men.

We see this not only among well-known figures like Kenneth Copeland who has a pacemaker, Bill Johnson who wears glasses and whose wife sadly passed away from cancer, and Todd White who reportedly suffered from a serious heart condition, but across the movement as a whole and evident among many who aspire to such fame. Those who insist that healing is guaranteed now, and that its absence is due to a lack of faith or some personal failure, contradict their own teaching when they suffer just as others do. Their lives bear witness against their doctrine.

And yet, they continue. Why? Because men love the lie. They desire to be told that if they only believe enough, do enough, or give enough, they will receive their miracle, their healing, their breakthrough.

It is my sincere prayer that those who are deceived may hear the truth, as only God in His grace can reveal it, to the eyes of the blind, the hearts of the hardened, and the minds of the darkened.

I hold no ill will toward those who believe these things and suffer as we all do. But I warn those who walk in the truth to exercise discernment. Many who are given over to these teachings do not desire to test their beliefs by Scripture, nor to be corrected by it, but instead to draw others into the same error.

I know many who are fully persuaded of these doctrines. I know I cannot change their hearts or minds. No argument, however clear, can accomplish what only God can do. Yet this I also know, God saves His own, even out of false and dangerous systems such as these. His Word is sufficient. His Gospel is powerful.

Many will hear and remain unmoved, confident in themselves, convinced they serve God, and yet without truth, without life, and without hope.

My heart is grieved when I see such widespread deception, when falsehood is celebrated, and the Gospel, Christ, and His church are misrepresented. And yet, I rejoice in what God is doing. His work is often unseen, while error is amplified, dominating social media, “Christian” television, “Christian” bookstores, and “Christian” radio.

You may know a false teacher personally, and because of that, you may be inclined to defend them. But truth is not determined by relationship. There are times when speaking the truth feels like casting pearls before swine. Few will hear. Fewer still will test what they believe, and, if found false, forsake it.

Not many. For many will be deceived. Many will walk the broad path, convinced they are on the narrow way, only to hear the words of Christ that He never knew them (Matt. 7:22–23). Savingly. He did not know them. They did much in His name, and yet they were strangers to Him. This is a grievous reality.

Some will compromise conviction for the sake of relationships, choosing familiarity over truth. But Christ has made it clear, there will be a cost. There will be division. To follow Him is to choose Him above all, even when it severs what is closest to us (Matt. 10:34–37). It is not without pain. But we must choose.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Faith submits, it does not demand. Pray according to God’s will, trust His sovereignty, and find true hope.

Friend, pray and pray fervently in faith to the sovereign God for your need. But friend, faith is not manipulative, and it does not possess the power in itself to move the hand of God in accordance with one’s will. God is not compelled by our words, nor governed by our desires. Prayer changes us. It conforms our hearts to the will of God. We do not bring God’s will into submission to our own. We submit our will to His, our desires to His. So then, when we pray, we can ask anything in His name, according to His will, and we will have it. But we must ask ourselves, can we honestly pray, “Thy will be done”? Or do we cringe at those words and seek instead to take matters into our own hands, claiming an authority we do not possess, attempting to obtain outcomes we demand, and manipulating Scripture to make the will of God conform to our desires?

If we follow the error of those who manipulate God’s Word to say what they desire, turning it into promises He has not made, we deceive ourselves, we deceive others, we lead men according to their sinful desires, and we bring destructive doctrines into the church. Many are following the destructive doctrines of false teachers and are building upon them new and even more dangerous errors.

If our love is truly for God and is shaped according to sound doctrine, then our faith is not that He will do what we desire, nor that Scripture will conform to our expectations, nor that we can usurp an authority He has not given us in order to claim the outcome we seek. No. Faith trusts God. It trusts His sovereignty, even over our sufferings. It rests in the truth that He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. That is not a promise that He will work all things according to our will or our desires. We are not sovereign. Our words do not have creative power. We are not masters of our own destiny. God is sovereign, even over our suffering. We can trust Him. But we must ask, do we trust Him? Or do we only trust Him insofar as He does what we desire? That is not faith.

It is grievous how many are deceived by doctrines that prove false, and yet they still cling to them. Their faith is not in the sovereign God, but in their words, their declarations, and their twisting of God’s Word to make promises He has not made. The results reveal the falsehood, and yet they go on to deceive the minds of the willing.

We are not guaranteed physical healing now in the atonement. That is a mishandling of Scripture and an overrealized eschatology. And yet, the truth is far more beautiful. We who are being saved find a healing that we could not obtain for ourselves, that He has borne our sins in His body, and that by His stripes we are healed. Sadly, many quote that verse in part and exclusively in the context of claiming physical healing now. That is not what it promises. We shall one day have glorified bodies. That is not now. Now we suffer physically like others, but with hope. Our promise is greater. When we say, “By His stripes we are healed,” it speaks of His efficacious work on the cross, His power over the grave, and that He is seated at the right hand of the Father. We are healed. By His stripes we are healed. We who are in Christ.

And friend, to use 3 John 2 as Oral Roberts has led many deceived souls to do, claiming that verse as a promise that it is always God’s will for you to prosper and be in good health, is a gross abuse of the text. It has led many to claim healing and wealth that never comes, because God did not promise it. Some have even suffered greatly, and died, under such false teachings.

The world mocks because of these abuses, not knowing that they do not represent Christ, His Kingdom, His bride, or the inauguration or consummation of His Kingdom.

Pray always, but pray according to God’s will. It is not always God’s will to heal. It is not always God’s will to act in accordance with the desires of our hearts. Therefore, let us pray that God would change our hearts to desire what is in accordance with His perfect will.

Does God heal? Yes. Is it always His will? No. Can we trust Him with whatever it is His will to do? Yes. Can we trust Him in our sufferings? Yes. There is none other better than the sovereign God to trust in all things. We can trust Him.

Dear saint, grace be with you.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

The truth on men’s lips is often most offensive, not because it is untrue, but because it is men who are appointed to speak it. In response, some place women in the pulpit in direct rebellion to the clear commands of Scripture (1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:34–35). They reason that she is the better communicator, more capable of delivering hard truths with a gentler spirit. In doing so, they assume that they know better than God.

They look to real and imagined abuses in history, and to the failures of many men in the pulpit today, and conclude that the solution is to place women into those positions. But if you believe this, you are not rebelling against men, institutions, or some perceived cultural structure. You show yourself in rebellion against God. He is the One who has issued the command, and He has not changed it (Num. 23:19).

Men fail. They have failed, and they will fail. Women fail as well. But the failure of men is not a warrant to overturn the order God has established. We are not permitted to correct His design as though it were flawed. To do so is to say, whether openly or not, that His wisdom is insufficient and that we can improve upon it (Rom. 9:20).

There is not one sound argument for women preaching. Not one. Why? Because Scripture speaks plainly on the matter. Those who argue otherwise must go outside the text, appealing to experience, abuse, or cultural reasoning, and then return to Scripture only to misuse passages that do not address the question. The meaning of those texts is clear, yet they are bent to justify what Scripture does not permit.

Recently, I saw where a young woman was encouraged to preach to the gathered church, with the full support of her parents, one of whom has served, or may still be serving, in the office of a pastor. This was met with praise from many. Some show themselves to be biblically illiterate. Others know the Scriptures and yet choose to disobey them, claiming that God speaks outside of His Word, apparently speaking something new that nullifies what He has already spoken with clarity and authority.

This is not a small matter. It is arrogant, prideful, divisive, and destructive. Scripture makes clear that it is those who bring in different doctrines that are divisive (Romans 16:17).

Many women are deceived, and their hearts are set against the order God has established. Many churches are in disorder and, by that disorder, show themselves to be in rebellion against Him. Women lead other women further into that rebellion, often encouraged and affirmed by men who refuse to uphold the truth. There are consequences.

Many young men are reacting to this disorder, yet not in submission to Scripture. Instead of being led by the Spirit, they answer error with error, abandoning biblical fidelity in their response rather than restoring it.

Many are quick to say that this is a secondary issue, something to be set aside under the banner of unity. To each their own, they say. No. It is not to each their own. This is not a matter of preference. It is open rebellion against God. It strikes at the authority of Scripture, the sufficiency of Scripture, the God-ordained order of the church, and even the practice of church discipline (Titus 1:9). It redefines the church and supplants authority that God has not given.

You cannot reject God’s clear commands, hear the truth, be called to repentance, continue in disobedience, and encourage others to do the same, and then suppose that there will be no consequences.

Women have been given many gifts by God, good and beautiful gifts for the building up of the body (Titus 2:3–5). But the office of pastor, and the authoritative preaching that belongs to it, is not among them (1 Tim. 3:1–2; Titus 1:6).

If a pastor or a husband encourages you to step outside of what God has commanded, appealing to your natural ability or desire to communicate truth, you must submit to God rather than man (Acts 5:29). Use your gifts in the way God has prescribed. Honor Him in obedience, not in self-expression.

From the beginning, there has been a temptation toward disorder. The fall itself testifies to it (Gen. 3:16). That this inclination exists is not surprising. What is grievous is when men encourage women in that very rebellion, calling it empowerment, affirming it as good, and celebrating what God forbids.

Do not be persuaded by it. Do not be flattered into disobedience. Submit to God, even when obedience is costly, even when it is despised by the world and by those within the visible church who have abandoned His Word (Rom. 12:2).

Not every man in the pulpit is qualified. Not every man is faithful. Not every man handles the Word rightly. But this does not justify abandoning God’s design. We are commanded to test everything (1 Thess. 5:21). We are called to discernment. The answer to unqualified men is not disobedience, but reformation according to Scripture.

The problem is not with God’s order. If we find ourselves resisting it, the problem lies within us. And when that resistance is exposed, the proper response is not to justify it, but to repent, to submit ourselves to God’s Word, His authority, His wisdom, and His rule (James 1:22).

You may believe that you are resisting men. You are not. You are resisting God (1 Sam. 15:23).

You may step onto a platform with confidence, with excitement, even with a sense of sincerity, believing you are sharing something true and helpful. You may even speak words that are, in themselves, true. But the very act communicates something else. It communicates rebellion against God’s established order. That is the message being proclaimed, regardless of the content of the words.

And when others support and encourage this, calling it women supporting women, what is truly being supported is not faithfulness, but rebellion.

We will either submit in faith, trusting that God does all things well, even when men fail, or we will take matters into our own hands and follow our hearts into disobedience (Prov. 3:5–6).

You may twist Scripture, or claim that God has spoken to you apart from His Word, granting you authority He has explicitly withheld. You may be praised. You may be affirmed. You may be told that your words were needed. But none of these things justify disobedience.

And once Scripture is set aside here, it will not remain intact elsewhere. You have opened the door. Others will walk through it. Authority shifts from God’s Word to the heart of man, whatever seems right (Judg. 21:25).

Scripture is not a prop. It is not there to support what you already desire. It is authoritative. It stands over you, not beneath you.

The issue is not with the Word of God. The issue is with our hearts.

The question is simple:
Will we submit to what God has said?
Or will we reshape it to accommodate what we want?