1. Briefly review the the introductory questions and materials in Lesson 1 (link above).
2. Read Matthew 1-4. How do the events in these chapters lay the groundwork for Jesus to preach the Sermon on the Mount? What sort of overall context do chapters 1-4 provide for the Sermon?
3. As you read chapters 1-4, notice Matthew’s emphasis on prophecy fulfilled. Make a note of each fulfilled prophecy mentioned and think of them as points on Jesus’ “rรฉsumรฉ”. How do each of these fulfilled prophecies point to Jesus’ qualifications to fill the position of Messiah, thus giving Him the divine authority to deliver the Sermon on the Mount?
Besides these instances of fulfilled prophecy, list any other verses that demonstrate Jesus’ qualifications – as God, Messiah, holy, etc. – to authoritatively deliver the Sermon on the Mount. (Hint: Here are a few to get you started.)
4. Explain the various ways God protected and preserved Jesus’ life and safety in chapters 1-4 so that He would be able to fulfill His earthly ministry (chapter 5 and beyond).
5. Why, besides the fact that it fulfilled prophecy, was it necessary for John the Baptist (chapter 3) to “prepare the way of the Lord”? What were some of the things he did to herald and introduce Jesus’ coming, and how did this prepare the hearts of the people to receive Him? What was John’s message to the Pharisees and the people?
Carefully examine 3:7-10. Do any of these ideas or phrases sound familiar as something Jesus Himself later said? Use your cross-references and look up the passages in which Jesus said or taught the same things.
6. How were each of the following significant in laying the foundation for Jesus’ earthly ministry?
Jesus’ baptism
Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness
Jesus relocating to Capernaum
Jesus calling the disciples
Homework
Carefully examine 4:1-11. Which Scriptures does Satan quote to Jesus? Does he rightly handle those Scriptures or use them out of context to further his own agenda? Why is it wrong to use Scripture this way? How does Jesus combat Satan’s temptations and Bible twistings? What is significant about Jesus’ use of the phrase “It is written”? Think of a situation in your life in which you could use rightly handled, in context Scripture to fight temptation or to stand against false teaching. Find a way to put that into practice this week. Use Scripture like Jesus used Scripture, not like Satan used Scripture.
If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you know that, from time to time, I post biblically edifying, informative movies, videos, or documentaries on Tuesdays – ergo, “Movie Tuesday.”
Recently, my friend, Pastor Travis McNeely, released a six video series on Critical Race Theory featuring LSU law professor, Randy Trahan. In this series, Randy, a former proponent of CRT, describes his journey into – and out of – critical theory, explains what CRT is, and why it’s a danger to the church, particularly to Southern Baptists.
So, for the next few weeks, every Tuesday will be Movie Tuesday as we make our way through this video series. I would urge you to carefully watch each episode – especially if you’re Southern Baptist (if we actually have an SBC annual meeting this year, this issue is sure to come up) – so you’ll be informed and able to develop a biblical position on this egregious false teaching that is quickly spreading through the church.
Travis has developed a discussion guide to go with the videos, so as you watch, consider whether this might be a good series for your pastor to guide your church through, and pass it along to him.
Maybe you’ve been blessed in that you haven’t seen CRT in your church, your denomination, or any Christian organizations you’re connected to. Or maybe you have encountered CRT in one of these venues, but you weren’t aware of it because you weren’t exactly sure what it looks like “in real life”. Today, Randy gives us some real world examples of what CRT looks like as it has appeared in several well known evangelical organizations, including the Southern Baptist Convention.
Without further ado, here is part 4 of the series.
I was in a very volatile marriage to an abusive, lost man and I was also lost at the time. There was violence in the marriage which caused me to run away and divorce him out of fear. This was seven years ago and I have not seen nor heard from him since.
I have recently been saved and have repented of all my past sin and divorce1. I do understand that God hates divorce, and why, and that He would want me to reconcile with my ex-husband, if possible. But I am terrified about inquiring of my ex-husband because of the abuse I experienced. I donโt want to go back to him, if heโs even unmarried currently. I want to move forward in my new life as a daughter of God in the situation I am currently in โ where He called me.
Does my not wanting to go back to my ex mean I am not truly repentant? And subsequently not truly forgiven? I did write my ex a letter that I sent to his parents’ address asking for forgiveness (for sins I had committed against him) about a year and a half ago and I believe he knows where he could find me if he wanted to reconcile; I have heard nothing. I have had nightmares about all this. Part of the reason we donโt live in the same town is I didnโt want to be found. I was so lost in my sin until God opened my eyes and now I cannot change my past and that has left me feeling helpless and hopeless.
First, I just want to take a moment to rejoice with you that God has brought you out of darkness and into His marvelous light! Welcome to the family! I also praise Him for rescuing you out of such a terrible situation and placing you in a safe environment. I hope by now this wicked man has been brought to justice and is no longer able to harm anyone.
OK, let’s take this one step at a time, for you and for any others who may be in a similar situation…
I was unable to glean from your email whether or not you are now joined to, and faithfully attending, a doctrinally sound church. If you’re not, that’s step one for many reasons: a) God commands it, so you’ll want to be obedient to Him, b) all Christians need training in the Scriptures and fellowship with our brothers and sisters, c) you need to unlearn all the ungodly ways of thinking and seeing yourself and others that the abuse taught you and replace them with godly, spiritually healthy ways of thinking and seeing yourself and others, and d) you need pastoral counsel about this particular situation you’ve asked me about.
If you haven’t yet found a doctrinally sound church and need some help, I would encourage you to go to the blue menu bar at the top of this page and click on the Searching for a new church? tab. When you get there, study up on the resources under “What to look for in a church,” and then begin exploring the many church search engines to find a good church near you.
Once you find a solid church (or if you’re already in a solid church), step two is to set up an appointment with your pastor for counseling. You need a shepherd who can walk through this situation with you face to face, long term, and can take the time to listen to all of the details. Binding up the wounds of injured sheep and tending to them while they heal is part of a shepherd’s job.
Next let’s take a look at some of the biblical issues.
You are correct in saying that, if possible, it’s God’s desire for a husband and wife to reconcile. But the only way that would be possible in your situation is if your ex-husband:
has thoroughly and completely repented of all of his sin (including, but not limited to, the abuse and violence)
has trusted Christ as his Savior,
has joined, and is faithfully attending, a doctrinally sound local church
is bearing fruit in keeping with repentanceas witnessed by doctrinally sound mature brothers and sisters in Christ at his church (in other words, we can’t just take his word for it that he’s changed)
and all of this has been going on for a significant amount of time (like, at least year or two, not last week).
One of the things you should discuss with your pastor in counseling is whether or not, and how, to find out if your ex-husband has gotten saved and is living a repentant life that honors Christ. If he has not written you back or attempted any contact in the past seven years, chances are he is still lost and unrepentant.
This is another reason it’s important for you to be in a good church – you should not be the one to approach, or have any contact with, your ex-husband. Even if you’re not worried for your physical safety, clearly, contacting him would traumatize you at this point in your life. If any research is to be done into your ex-husband’s spiritual condition, it should be done by your pastor, elders, a deacon, or whoever your pastor designates as the wisest choice.
If it is discovered that God has graciously saved your ex-husband (and all of the items I bullet-pointed above are true of his life) and he has not remarried, then your pastor, his pastor, you, and he will have to put your heads together and figure out how to proceed biblically from here. And I imagine that will involve a lot of time and intense counseling before any decisions can be made.
You should not return to your ex-husband if he is unrepentant and/or still unsaved. (And if your pastor tells you that you should or you have to, you’re at the wrong church. That’s pastoral malpractice.) Notice I said “return to,” not “reconcile”. To be reconciled is for two people to be made right with one another. It’s for two people to come together in agreement to forgive past hurts and move forward together in a peaceful and harmonious relationship. Two people. That’s what the word “reconciled” means. In other words, you cannot be reconciled to someone who will not be reconciled to you because he still wants to hurt you.
Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
Amos 3:3
Returning to your unrepentant ex-husband is not only unwise for the sake of your own personal safety, but consider what the Bible says about you – a Believer – voluntarily2 entering into a marriage with an unbeliever:
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
2 Corinthians 6:14-15
While this passage doesn’t apply exclusively to marriage, marriage is one of the relationships it does apply to. If we are not to yoke with unbelievers in ministry, or enmeshed business relationships, or close friendships, how much more should we not yoke with an unbeliever in the most intimate relationship of all – the oneness relationship of marriage?
You alluded to “remaining in the state in which you were called,” which is an excellent point Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 7:17-24:
So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.
1 Corinthians 7:24
The basic idea Paul is trying to convey here is not that you shouldn’t make Zacchaeus-like restitution or apologies for sins you’ve committed whenever that’s possible, but that you can’t undo your pre-salvation, sinful past (just like Zacchaeus couldn’t undo the fact that he cheated people in the first place). And you don’t have to. That was nailed to the cross, and it stayed dead and buried when Jesus came out of the tomb.
You can’t undo your pre-salvation, sinful past. And you don’t have to. That was nailed to the cross, and it stayed dead and buried when Jesus came out of the tomb.
That’s precisely why you shouldn’t feel helpless and hopeless. That is our help and our hope: Jesus did for us what we so desperately needed and could not do for ourselves. He took our sin, our shame, our disgraceful past away – as far as the east is from the west – and dressed us in His royal robes of righteousness, making us clean and right with God to walk in newness of life! No one can change her past. Even God doesn’t change your past. God puts your past to death and changes your future.
No one can change her past. Even God doesn’t change your past. God puts your past to death and changes your future.
Not only that, this bit about remaining in the state in which you were called comes right on the heels of verse 15, which says:
But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.
1 Corinthians 7:15
Your unbelieving ex-husband is separated from you. Let it be so. “Let sleeping dogs lie,” you might say. Keep the peace that God has blessed you with by not opening up this can of worms and unnecessarily creating what could be a volatile situation.
You ask, “Does my not wanting to go back to my ex mean I am not truly repentant? And subsequently not truly forgiven?”. No, honey. It means God blessed you with good sense that still works. If this were a situation in which you divorced a godly (non-abusive, obviously) husband for your own selfish, sinful reasons, subsequently got saved, and still refused to be reconciled to him, there would probably be some issues of sin that your pastor would need to counsel you about. But getting saved, honoring all of the Scriptures mentioned above, and refusing to poorly steward the mind, body, and spirit God blessed you with by pointlessly putting them back in harm’s way? That demonstrates that you have repented and been forgiven and that God is hard at work healing you and renewing your mind.
Now, go make that appointment with your pastor.
1The reader stated that she “repented of…my divorce”. I did not deal with biblical and unbiblical reasons for divorce in this article because the focus of her question was, “Where do I go from here?” not, “Did I sin by divorcing him?”, and if she did sin in some way by divorcing him (and I’m not saying she did), she has already repented of it. But I do want anyone reading this to know that if you’re in an abusive relationship, it is not a sin to get yourself and your children somewhere safe. Getting to a safe place is not the same thing as getting a divorce. If you are being abused, get to safety immediately and call your pastor, and the police, if appropriate, for help.
2This is not a proactive instruction to currently married people to divorce their unbelieving (non-abusive) spouses. Paul deals with that in 1 Corinthians 7:12-16.
If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (Iโll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.
For a while now, I have been wanting to add a permanent tab to the blue menu bar at the top of the blog that clearly lays out the gospel in both text and video format. Well I’ve finally gotten a chance to add it, and I would encourage you to share it around on your social media pages as often as you can to help get the gospel out to the lost. Below is a copy of what you’ll find at the new “What Must I Do to Be Saved?” tab in the blue menu bar at the top of the blog.
โSirs, what must I do to be saved?โ And they said, โBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved… Acts 16:30b-31a
Are you like the Philippian jailer? Maybe you’ve never set foot in a church, but you’ve heard Christians talking about Jesus, and you’re wondering what it’s all about.
Or maybe you’ve been a decades-long member of an organization that calls itself a church but you’ve never heard the true, biblical gospel before.
Maybe you always thought you were a Christian, but lately, you’re not so sure.
Whatever your back story, you’ve come to the right place.
There’s good news and there’s bad news, but the bad news has to come first:
โฆ You are a sinner (you have transgressed God by breaking His law).
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned Romans 5:12
as it is written: โNone is righteous, no, not one; Romans 3:10
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23
โฆ The penalty for your sin is an eternity in Hell.
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. Romans 2:8
And if anyoneโs name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.Revelation 20:15
โฆ You canโt escape Hell by being a good person, having a good heart, or any other effort on your part.
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.Isaiah 64:6a
as it is written: โNone is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.โ Romans 3:10-12
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,Titus 3:5
But the good news is…
โฆ Salvation (being forgiven for your sin so you can be in good standing with God) is a result of Godโs mercy and grace, not something you can earn. It is a gift.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. Romans 9:16
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
โฆ The gift God offers you is that, on the cross, Christ took the punishment you deserve for your sin. He will take away your sin and give you His perfect standing before God in exchange.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, 1 Peter 3:18a
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Romans 3:23-25a
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
โฆ The way you receive that gift and have Christโs righteousness โcredited to your accountโ is to repent from (have the heart desire to turn away from and ask Godโs forgiveness for) your sin and trust that Christโs death, burial, and resurrection paid the penalty for your sin.
[Jesus said] โThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.โMark 1:15
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, Acts 3:19
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,Ephesians 1:13
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.Romans 10:9
This is the gospel. Turn from your sin and from trying to earn favor with God by your so-called good behavior and throw yourself on the mercy of God, trusting Christโs finished work on the cross to forgive your sin and make you righteous in Godโs eyes.
Thatโs what salvation โ or becoming a Christian โ is. Adding anything to the gospel or taking anything away from it is not salvation or biblical Christianity. It is a false gospel. Believing a false gospel will not forgive your sin, make you right with God, or take you to Heaven when you die. Unfortunately, many people believe a false gospel and there are many people who claim to be Christians, pastors, and Bible teachers who teach a false gospel.
What are some of those false gospels?
If youโre basically a good person, or your good deeds outweigh the bad, youโre OK with God, and youโll go to Heaven when you die.
If youโve been baptized at any point in your life and for any reason, youโre saved.
If you go to church regularly, youโre a Christian.
If you participate in communion or the Lordโs Supper, youโre a Christian.
The reason we come to Jesus is to have a better, more comfortable, or more successful life.
The reason we come to Jesus is to get healed from a medical condition, because He will make us wealthy, or because He will do cool supernatural signs and wonders in our lives.
Simply saying youโre a Christian, or believing that you are a Christian, makes you one.
If you were born in America and youโre not Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, or some other religion, youโre a Christian.
If you believe in God, youโre a Christian.
If you give mental assent to the facts about Jesus (without repenting and trusting Him), youโre saved.
If, at some point in your life you repeated the words of a โsinnerโs prayer,โ โaccepted Jesus,โ or โasked Jesus into your heartโ – even though you didnโt know what you were doing, and without true repentance and faith – youโve been born again.
You can become a Christian without repenting from your sin.
You can believe in a โJesusโ of your own making, rather the one described in Scripture, and still be a Christian.
Are you a Christian? Have you ever felt the weight of your guilt before God and asked Him to cleanse you and make you right with Him? Do you believe and embrace that Christโs death, burial, and resurrection satisfied Godโs wrath against you for your sin?
The Bible says we should examine ourselves to discover whether or not we are truly in the faith. Take some quiet, undistracted time alone with God today and search your heart. What do you really believe? Is it the true gospel of Scripture, or something else? Donโt put it off, itโs too important. If you need some help, try working through my study Am I Really Saved? A 1 John Check-Up.
If you find that youโre not in Christ, talk to Him. Confess your sin and your need for Him to save you. Ask His forgiveness and declare your trust in Him.
Donโt wonder and guess any more about where you stand with God. Know.
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, โIn a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.โ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:1-2
Once you’ve trusted Christ for salvation, or if you still have some questions, you’ll want to find and join a doctrinally sound church where you can sit under good, biblical preaching and teaching so you can grow in Christ. Check out the Searching for a new church? tab in the blue menu bar at the top of this page to find out what to look for in a church and to locate a solid church near you.
When you’ve found a good church, set up an appointment with your pastor to talk about being baptized. Baptism doesn’t save or absolve you from sin, but it is your first important step of obedience in following Christ. To learn more, read my article Basic Training: Baptism.
A while back, my husband and I were driving down the road on the way to the store discussing various aspects of ministry. At some point the conversation turned to a pastor with whom we were both vaguely familiar. Neither of us knew much about him, so we decided to look him up on Facebook to see if we could get a better handle on where he was coming from, theologically. Aside from a couple of mildly iffy posts that it wasn’t a stretch to extend the benefit of the doubt about, it didn’t seem as though there were any major doctrinal red flags. He just seemed like your average, Bible believing pastor who needed to brush up a little on his discernment. (Hey, who doesn’t, right?)
I was actually more interested in the pastor’s wife and what kind of ministries she was involved in that I might also like, so I clicked over to her page. I was pretty disappointed by what I saw. She had posted materials from several major false teachers- the female equivalents of people from Joel Osteen all the way down to Benny Hinn.
I remarked to my husband that I thought there might be some concerns about this pastor’s theology if he was OK with his wife following and sharing materials from high profile false teachers. And my husband gently reminded me that wasn’t necessarily the case:
“He probably doesn’t even know those women are false teachers.”
My husband went on to say that he wouldn’t have known that people like Beth Moore and Joyce Meyer are false teachers if I hadn’t done the research and filled him in. Not because he doesn’t care whether or not I read sound doctrine, but because pastors and Christian men in general don’t often pick up and read books written for Christian women to examine the theology we’re feeding on.
Until the last few decades, they haven’t always needed to. If your wife went shopping and came home with a book from LifeWay, it never crossed your mind to question whether or not it was biblical. It was LifeWay for heaven’s sake. LifeWay is run by pastors and theologians with years of experience and doctoral degrees from seminary. Of course it was biblical.
Well not any more, it isn’t. The majority (and that’s not an exaggeration) of the “Bible” studies and other materials marketed to Christian women by Christian retailers are authored by false teachers.
Pastors, on behalf of Christian women everywhere, I plead with you: check out the theology of the authors and bloggers (including me) your wife is reading and the Christian personalities she follows and shares on social media. Please thoroughly vet the materials your Sunday School/small group/Bible study classes and women’s ministry are using. Find out about the speakers headlining the women’s conference or simulcast your ladies are attending. Make sure guest speakers appearing at your church’s women’s event teach sound doctrine.
Why?
It’s not my place to instruct you (and I’m sure you already know, anyway) in what the Scriptures say about being the spiritual leader of your family, responsible for its theological health or your obligations as a pastor to guard your church against false doctrine. I’ll leave that to godly men, fellow pastors, theologians, etc. What I’d like to do is to offer you some practical insights (in no particular order) from the pink side of the pew that you might find to be helpful tools as you think about and pray through how to handle vetting the teachers your wife or church ladies follow:
1. Your wife’s decision to follow false teachers could cost you a job. There are women out there like me who are familiar with the “twisted sisters” your wife is sharing on social media. If I could wrongly make assumptions about the theology of the aforementioned pastor based solely on his wife’s Facebook activity (because wives can be a reflection of their husbands’ spiritual leadership), others could do the same – maybe even those on a pulpit search committee – and that could impact your search for a pastoral position.
2. You don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot. A pastor’s wife can have a huge influence on her church. She is often the one teaching the women’s Bible study or heading up the women’s ministry, and even if she doesn’t, her input on curricula, guest speakers for women’s events, etc., is usually seen by the women of your church as carrying the weight of your approval or preferences. If you’re up in the pulpit preaching sound doctrine every week while your wife or women’s leader is importing false doctrine into the women’s ministry, it’s like bailing water out of a boat with a hole in the hull.
3. Your wife or (women’s ministry leader) may be chasing off spiritually healthy church members. (If you’ve stuck with me thus far, what follows is unlikely to describe your wife, but I’m going to go ahead and throw it out there for awareness’ sake.) I have heard the following prototypical scenario from dozens of Christian women (and experienced it myself):
“My pastor’s wife is in charge of our church’s women’s ministry, and is a big Beth Moore fan. We only do Beth Moore studies in our small groups, and last year our church hosted a Beth Moore simulcast. I participated in a couple of the studies, but they just seemed “off” biblically, so I started doing some research.
I discovered Beth Moore was teaching false doctrine, preaching to men, partnering with false teachers, and doing other unbiblical things. I went to the pastor’s wife and very kindly, humbly, and patiently showed her the scriptural evidence of Beth Moore’s false teaching. I couldn’t believe it when she flew into a rage, screamed at me, and accused me of trying to create disunity in the church! My husband and I tried to talk to the pastor about it, but he seemed completely unaware of what goes on in the women’s ministry or any problems with Beth Moore, and backed up his wife. We are now looking for a new church.”
This is not an exaggeration or isolated case. I don’t know what it is about Beth Moore’s disciples, but they (especially the ones who are pastors’ wives) seem to be some of the most vicious defenders of false teachers out there. And if your wife or women’s ministry leader acts like this it could cost you godly, spiritually mature church members.
4. Your children’s spiritual lives are at stake, both at home and at church. As with any dad who works long hours, your wife probably has more of an influence in the moment to moment aspects of your children’s lives than you do, even when it comes to training them in godliness. If her spiritual diet consists of false teaching, that’s what is being imparted to your children on a daily basis.
The same goes for the children at your church. The majority of children’s Sunday School teachers and children’s ministry workers are women. The false doctrine these women consume today will be taught to the children of your church on Sunday.
5. When women are spiritually healthy, the whole family benefits. Statistically, women make up about 60% of church attenders, and, of course, 50% of a marriage. That is an enormous influence on your own family and your church family. You want those women spiritually healthy. It’s not only biblical and good for them personally, but everyone they influence and interact with benefits.
When women are taught sound doctrine, they grow to Christlike maturity. They exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. They want to share the gospel. They walk in humility, patience, love, repentance, forgiveness, and biblical submission. They encourage their husbands toward godliness. And you know what else they do?
They teach other women to do the same. They train up children who are godly. They’re self-replicating.
Spiritually healthy, mature, godly women make your life easier, more peaceful, and more of a joy, both at home and at church, because they’re working with you, not against you.
But your wife and the women of your church are not going to get the pure milk of the Word they need to grow in Christlikeness from the pantheon of divangelistas lining the shelves of your local Christian bookstore. And most of those precious ladies you shepherd are completely unaware of that fact. So they need your help, Pastor. Your bride, and the Bride, desperately need you to mind what they’re reading.