Why The Cross Is Not Enough

By Ray Hollenbach on Jul 24, 2021

Christianity without the cross is a sham, but the cross is not enough. You heard me: the cross is not enough. Before the cross came incarnation, and after the cross came resurrection: Jesus modeled all three, and so should we.

I’ve watched recently as an increasing number of teachers and leaders encourage us to follow Jesus’ example by going to the cross. Our Lord is a model—the only true model, actually—of self-sacrifice and humility. This much is true: he is our example, and he went willingly to the cross. He didn’t miscalculate, he wasn’t blindsided by people or events beyond his control. No one took his life from him: he laid it down freely, and so should we.

Before the cross, however, all of heaven gasped in wonder at the miracle of Incarnation. The Creator became part of creation. He did not stand afar off and offer advice; he became present in his world. He arrived in the usual way for a man and the most unusual way for God. Nor did he simply drop in for a weekend redemption spree. He lived life to the full and left a record of how we should live. This part of his example required humility and sacrifice, as well.

The Apostle Paul tells us the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. The cross, he says, is a scandal to the religiously minded and ridiculous to the wisdom of this age. The world does not value humility and sacrifice, but they are the calling cards of another realm. Still, Paul did not leave Jesus in the grave, nor did the Father. To win by losing is an oxymoron. But Jesus didn’t win by losing. He won by winning, and the winning came by the resurrection.

Jesus’ example did not end with the agonizing beauty of his tortured death. His final words on the cross were not his final words. He had much more to say and plenty for us to do. His work beyond the cross required the Father’s intervention in his life, and our work should require no less. Have you ever considered the humility and faith Jesus displayed by placing his future in the Father’s hands?

Jesus died in faith, trusting in the Father’s promise of resurrection, but he had no guarantee beyond the love and trust he exhibited that night in Gethsemane. In this, too, we can follow his example. The Spirit of God is hovering and poised to infuse our lives with resurrection empowerment even now.

No witness is complete without these three vital elements: incarnation, sacrifice and resurrection. Our attempts at ministry are incomplete without the three. We cannot stand far off and offer advice. We cannot follow Jesus without bearing the cross, and we cannot carry on his work without the Father’s intervention. Our tendency, though, is to prefer one of these above the rest. This week’s meditation asks of us: which is our default position, and how can we make room for the other two aspects Jesus modeled?

Scriptures: Matthew 1:1-28:20

https://www.sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/ray-hollenbach-why-the-cross-is-not-enough-1646?

AUDIO ‘A counterfeit of biblical sexuality’: Meet the counselor on a mission to help women overcome porn addiction

‘A counterfeit of biblical sexuality’: Meet the counselor on a mission to help women overcome porn addiction

By Billy Hallowell, Pureflix.com  Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Crystal Renaud Day is on a transformational mission to help women who struggle with pornography and sexual addiction, calling the former a “counterfeit of biblical sexuality.”

Day, founder of SheRecovery.com, recently shared her story on the “Politely Rude With Abby Johnson” podcast, explaining how she stumbled upon her powerful mission.

LISTEN: HEAR THOUSANDS OF FREE CHRISTIAN PODCASTS ON EDIFI

“I started doing this ministry out of my own struggle with it, and I didn’t expect to do this ministry,” she told Johnson. “It became my reality and it’s become my vocation.”

Day warned about the pervasiveness of pornography, calling it “100 percent, first and foremost, a counterfeit of biblical sexuality” — one that she said teaches a deeply skewed view of reality.

Listen to Day break down porn addiction and the ways in which people can overcome it:

The solution to porn addiction, she said, involves a plethora of components, including: accountability, community, and openly talking about people’s struggles.

And she knows this paradigm all too well from her own personal experience. Day said she was first exposed to pornography at age 10 when she saw an adult magazine, which was the spark that set off what soon became an addiction.

“At that point, I really hadn’t had a great conversation about sex … for me pornography almost became sex education and instead of turning away from that magazine … I engaged in it, opened the pages and just became consumed by the imagery,” she said. “I wanted to watch it more … [I] just really became consumed by this pornography.”

Day struggled for nearly 10 years, with her addiction causing her to place herself in troubling situations. By the time Day was 19, she said she had come to the “very end” of herself.

“I … had put myself in increasingly dangerous situations in order to get the hit, the high from this material,” she explained.

Despite Day’s desperation, things started to turn around when she encountered a woman at her church who had a similar testimony. Day was able to enter into accountability with this woman, and then started to seek counseling to discern the underlying causes of her addiction.

As time went on and Day experienced healing, she started helping other women who also struggle with pornography and sexual addiction; later, she launched her ministry.

“Thirteen years ago, I started leading my first recovery group,” Day said. “This thing they struggle with doesn’t have to be a life sentence and … there’s hope and there’s healing.”

WANT MORE ‘POLITELY RUDE’ EPISODES? LISTEN HERE!

She said many women who experience porn addiction “feel dirty” or as though something is wrong with them, but she offered a message of hope to those struggling.

“They’re cloaked in so much shame, because they’ve never told a soul about it,” she said, noting that they assume only men experience these issues. “They feel like they’re the only ones.”

But Day’s work lets these women know that they are, indeed, not alone. Find out more about her work here, and be sure to listen to more episodes of “Politely Rude” on the Edifi Podcast Network.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/counselor-on-a-mission-to-help-women-overcome-porn-addiction.html