Bringing Revival to a Nation

 “Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord.” – 2 Chronicles 34:21

In the 1990s, 70 percent of the Colombian drug trade was controlled by a cartel in the city of Cali. The Cali Cartel was one of the largest and richest criminal organizations in history, exporting half a billion dollars of cocaine every month. As cartel members drove their shiny black Mercedes through the city, all other traffic would pull to the side of the road. Many drivers who defied this etiquette were blocked, then shot. As many as 15 people a day were killed—just for failing to get out of the way. 

By the early 1990s, Cali Cartel interests controlled virtually every major institution in the city, including banks, businesses, politicians and police. Like everyone else, Christians were weak and scared. But in the mid-1990s, all that changed. A few pastors started meeting for prayer. They prayed for the Christians in Cali, particularly the pastors, to develop a hunger for prayer, unity and holiness. Some of the pastors rented the civic auditorium to assemble their congregations for an evening of joint worship, repentance and prayer. The pastors prepared for a few thousand people. But at the “Cali Revival” event in May 1995, more than 25,000 people filed into the auditorium. They prayed for God’s active participation in their stand against the drug cartels. At one point the mayor proclaimed, “Cali belongs to Jesus Christ!” 

Forty-eight hours later, the headline in the daily newspaper was: “No Homicides!” For the first time in as long as anybody in the city could remember, 24 hours had passed without a single murder. The Colombian government declared all-out war against the drug lords. Over the next four months, 900 cartel-linked officers were fired from the metropolitan police force. One by one, the cartel leaders were arrested or killed. Tens of thousands of Christians were revived and countless unbelievers were saved. Revival had come to Cali, Colombia.

The Cali Revival gives us a taste of what could happen across America when God ushers in the next great revival. In the Old Testament, 2 Chronicles 34 tells of another inspiring revival: the revival under King Josiah of Judah. Josiah was descended from two of the most evil kings Judah ever had. But Josiah didn’t walk in the wicked ways of his father and grandfather. Eight years into his reign, King Josiah began seeking the God of his forefather, David. He set out to purge Judah and Jerusalem of all idols and pagan worship centers, and he repaired and purified the temple (vs. 3-8). Then, in verse 14, a high priest found an ancient scroll of the Torah (most likely the Book of Deuteronomy) hidden somewhere in the temple. When the high priest found it, he gave it to Josiah’s secretary, who read it to the king.

How did King Josiah respond? “When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes” (v. 19). This was a sign of deep sorrow … and, probably, fear. He said, “Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord” (v. 21). He sent messengers to ask a prophetess, Huldah, what punishment the people could expect for the sins of Judah—past and present. The news wasn’t good. Huldah replied that God would “bring disaster” on Jerusalem and its people. God’s anger “will be poured out and will not be quenched,” because “they have forsaken God” and “provoked Him to anger by all that their hands have made” (vs. 24-25). Judgment was coming.

However, because King Josiah had torn his robes, humbled himself before God and wept over Israel’s sin, God was going to delay His judgment. It wouldn’t come until AFTER Josiah’s death.

So, in verse 30, King Josiah gathered all the people of Judah and read the Book of the Covenant to them. And King Josiah led the people in a renewal of their covenant with God. They promised to turn from their sin and worship and obey God alone. And they kept that promise: “As long as [Josiah] lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their fathers” (v. 33).

Today, I think you’ll agree that America has a sin problem. So, if we desire God to bring revival to our nation the way He brought revival to the nation of Judah, we have to repent. The people of Judah had to turn from their wicked ways, and we have to turn from our wicked ways.

When we Christians confess sin and repent, we tend to just confess and repent from our own personal sin. And on the rare occasions when we do confess the sins of our nation, we tend to confess the sins that disgust us the most. But if we are serious about turning from our wicked ways and ushering in an extraordinary move of God, we cannot simply confess and turn from the sins of our nation that disgust US the most. We must confess and turn from all sin, because all sin disgusts GOD. (I encourage you to listen to my message, “Revival – part 3,” on YouTube for a list of national sins that you might not have considered.)

In the mid-1990s, God moved in the city of Cali, Colombia in extraordinary ways as the Church confessed and turned from the sins of their city AND the Church. God brought revival there, and He will bring revival here if we will humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. He WILL hear from heaven. He WILL forgive our sin. And He WILL heal our land. But turning from our sin begins with confessing our sin. And there’s no doubt: We have a lot of confessing to do. 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Beginning on Easter Sunday (April 9^th), join us at our great NEW worship location in Apple Valley (16209 Kamana Road) at 9am and 11am. You can also join us online at Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

How to Pray for Revival

 “I pray that you may grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”
– Ephesians 3:18

Back in 1857, a Christian businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier started a noon prayer meeting in New York City. He distributed thousand of flyers calling on businessmen to come to the Old Dutch Church on Fulton Street at noon on Wednesdays to commune with God. Well, on the first day of the prayer meeting, 12 p.m. came and went, and Jeremiah was sitting in the room by himself. 12:10—still nobody. Jeremiah started praying. 12:15, 12:20, 12:25—still nobody. Finally, at 12:30, one businessman came in, then another and another. Six joined him for that remaining half hour of prayer.

The next Wednesday, there were twenty. Then they started meeting daily, and within six months over twenty prayer meetings had sprung up all over the city, until 10,000 businessmen were gathering in New York City for prayer. Prayer meetings also popped up across the country: 200 towns in New York, 150 in Massachusetts, 200 in Ohio, 150 in Indiana, 50 in Missouri, and so on. Historically, we know it as the Fulton Street Revival, or the Prayer Meeting Revival of 1857 and 1858. It is estimated that at the peak of the revival, 10,000 people a week were becoming Christians in New York City alone—50,000 total per week in the United States.

The Fulton Street Revival was a small taste of what could happen across America when God ushers in the next great revival. God is always at work in and through Christ’s Church. But during times of revival, His presence and power reach a whole new level. During times of revival, the Holy Spirit of God FIRST does an extraordinary work among Christians in the Church, and SECOND, He works through revived Christians to do an extraordinary work among unbelievers outside the Church. Tens of thousands—sometimes even millions—of unbelievers get saved.

If you’re looking for an example of revival in the early Church, we see it in the apostle Paul’s time in Ephesus. For three years, Paul preached the Gospel, started a church and sent out missionaries. And according to Acts 19:11-12, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” What took place in Ephesus during those three years was very revival-like. God moved in extraordinary ways.  

A few years later, Paul wrote his famous letter to the Ephesian Christians, and his revival prayer in Ephesians 3 is an integral part in teaching the Church to reach its full potential in Christ. In verses 16-19, Paul prays four things for the Ephesian Christians:

#1: Paul prays for the Christians in Ephesus to have inner, spiritual strength (v. 16). It’s very common for Christians to say, “I want to know God better” and “I want God to use me in greater ways.” But honestly, most of us are too spiritually puny to know God better. And we’re too spiritually flabby for God to use us in greater ways. You and I may say we want God to bring revival to our church, families and nation, but, honestly, most of us aren’t preparing for it. We can’t remember the last time we prayed for more than five minutes at a time. We have no spiritual strength or stamina. So, Paul prays that we would bulk up spiritually. Those who experience revival on Day 1 tend to be those who have been prioritizing prayer, so they’ve been strengthened by the Holy Spirit to receive a greater outpouring of God.

#2: Paul prays for the Christians in Ephesus to have inner spiritual depth (v. 17). If we as Christians are serious about making a greater impact in the Victor Valley for Jesus Christ, there’s no way around it: We have to dig deeper and make sure we are solidly grounded in God’s Word and Christ’s love. One of the greatest prayers you could ever pray for me (or for any other Christian you know) is for us to be rooted and established in the Word of God and in the love of Christ. 

#3: Paul prays for Christians in Ephesus to have inner spiritual insight (v. 18). We talk, preach and even sing about the unconditional, never-failing love of Christ. But Christ’s love is immeasurably wide, unfathomably long, incomparably high and unimaginably deep. We have only begun to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. So, Paul prays that the Ephesian Christians—and you and I today—would grasp the love of Christ.

Why did Paul pray so fervently for the Ephesian Christians to have inner spiritual strength, depth and insight? Because, #4: Paul wanted the Ephesian Christians to be filled with the knowledge and fullness of God (v. 19). Paul’s ultimate desire for Christians is that they would know intimately the love of Christ and be completely filled with as much of God as possible.

That sounds like revival to me. Revival is “God.” During times of revival our eyes are opened, and we realize that, up to that point, we’ve barely known God. And any spiritual hunger we had for Him before revival came is only intensified when revival actually comes. We wanted to know God and love God more, but during revival our desire to know and love God intensifies.

If our culture is transformed, it will be on the heels of Christ’s Church being transformed. Christ’s Church is the hope of the world. The Church is Jesus’ chosen vessel for expanding His Kingdom of Heaven here on earth and bringing glory to God. So, won’t you join me in praying for the Church’s revival?

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

How to Prepare for Revival

 “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” - 2 Chronicles 7:14

On February 8th, something remarkable happened at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. Asbury University is a small Christian college with a little over 1,000 students. And the college has morning chapel services on campus every week.

Well, when their 10 a.m. chapel service began on February 8th, something strange happened. When the time came for the chapel service to end … it DIDN’T. The worship team kept singing, and the students started crying out in prayer to God. The service continued through the afternoon and through the night and into the next day … and the day after that … and the day after that. For two weeks, the prayer service continued.

Students from more than 260 Christian colleges and universities descended upon Asbury’s campus waiting for hours for space to open up in the chapel to join in the prayer and worship. The university estimates that in those two weeks, 50,000 Christians from across the nation and around the world had shown up. Something BIG happened at Asbury University. Many Christians are calling it revival. But the question is: Will it spread across this nation like wildfire? I certainly hope and pray it does.

You may not know this, but historically, major revivals have tended to happen in the United States about every 100 years. The First Great Awakening took place in the mid-1700s. The Second Great Awakening took place in the early 1800s. And there have been other smaller revivals since then, including the Jesus Revolution of the 1970s started the Calvary Chapel movement. But we’re overdue for a huge, nationwide move of God that sets the church of Jesus Christ on fire and spills into the streets so that millions of people are saved.

I’ve been praying for revival for over 23 years. I can’t tell you whether or not that revival has already begun in Asbury, Kentucky – but if not, I believe it's very, very close.

The shortest definition of revival is simply: “God.” “Revival” describes a season when God shows up. The Bible says that whenever two or more are gathered in Christ’s name, God shows up. But during a time of revival … God REALLY shows up. He works in incredible, extraordinary ways. Which leads to my favorite definition of revival: “the extraordinary work of God among His people causing extraordinary results in and through the church.”

It’s important to note that revival is a work of God -- not man. And historically, God’s revivals come unexpectedly. You and I can’t manufacture revival. We can’t produce an extraordinary move of God. But we can certainly open the door so that God can rush in. So, how do we do that? Thankfully, God has already told us: “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Let’s take a closer look at God’s 4 Steps for ushering in a revival:

Step #1: Humble yourself before God. You won’t find a single revival in history that came as the result of Christians calling out, “God, I’m the best thing that’s ever happened! Open up the heavens, Lord, because I’m here!” Remember, God didn’t save you because you deserved to be saved. He didn’t save you because you’re all that. He saved you because He loves you in spite of yourself. He saved you because HE’S all that. God hates pride. But He LOVES humility. In James 4:6 we read: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Step #2: Pray. You won’t find a single revival in history that didn’t have prayer at the center of it. You can find examples of revivals that didn’t include great singing. You can even find examples of revivals that didn’t include powerful preaching. But there’s never been a revival where Christians weren’t spending serious time and effort calling out to God in prayer. You will never experience an extraordinary move of Christ in your midst unless you make prayer a top priority.

Step #3: Seek God’s face. Did you know that most of the time, God doesn’t show up where He’s not wanted? More times than not, God shows up where His children are hungry for Him, where His followers are thirsty for Him, where Christians are desperate for more of Him. How long has it been since you’ve joined with the psalmist who cries out, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1-2) Do you seek God’s face?

Step #4: Turn from your wicked ways. When we speak of the need for revival, it’s vital to realize that the sin in America can’t be blamed on anyone but us. For years, Christians have been blaming politicians, Hollywood and law enforcement for America’s moral decay. But the problem doesn’t rest primarily with sinners. Sinners sin. That’s what sinners do! The greater blame rests with us. We are called by Christ to be the light of the world. So, if the world around us is dark, it’s not because the darkness has gotten darker. It’s because our light has gotten dimmer. Whenever sin has run rampant in society, it’s because God’s people have failed to repent of their sin and SHINE. As we come to Him humbly in true repentance, God sets His church ablaze. And as God’s people shine, a huge number of unbelievers are saved and society is transformed. When you have unconfessed sin that you refuse to get rid of, you’re not the light of the world. You’re not even a nightlight in the hallway bathroom. You need to get right with God: by confessing your sin, turning from that sin, and doing what Jesus told you to do.

We need to be humble. We need to prioritize prayer. We need to be hungry. And we need to turn from our sin. If we do, you can cling to His promise: He WILL hear from heaven. He WILL forgive your sin. And He WILL heal our land.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

What Does God Say About Divorce?

“They are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.” – Matthew 19:6

A married couple had their first big fight. They got so mad at each other that they started giving each other the silent treatment. Both of them were pretty stubborn, and this silent treatment went on for days. But then, three days into their standoff, the man realized he needed his wife’s help. He had to get up at 5 a.m. the next morning to catch a flight to Chicago, but he had a bad habit of sleeping through his alarm.

But he still didn’t want to be the first one to crack and break the silence. So, the husband wrote a note to his wife and set it in front of her: “Please wake me at 5 a.m.” The next morning the man woke up, looked at the clock, and saw that it was 9 a.m. He’d missed his flight! He turned toward his wife, about to yell at her. Just then a Post-It note fell from his forehead and fluttered into his lap. It read: “It’s 5 a.m. Wake up.”

That’s an example of a marriage that needed a lot of work. But is it ever okay to give up on a marriage? What does God think of divorce? In the book of Malachi, He’s as direct as He could possibly be: “‘I hate divorce,’ says the LORD God of Israel” (v. 16). Three different times in this chapter, God speaks of the sin of “breaking faith with the wife of your youth.” He says it most clearly in verse 14: “The LORD is acting as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.” You see, when a man and woman get married, they stand in front of God and each other and forge a covenant—a binding, lifelong commitment—promising to love, honor and cherish each other for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health. And that covenant is binding until one of them dies.

So in essence, God says in Malachi 2, “Husbands, when you divorce your wife, you are shredding your marriage covenant. You are abandoning your marriage partner. You are breaking the trusting relationship that you promised to her on your wedding day. And when you break your relationship with her, you break your relationship with Me. And I hate it!”

Fast forward 400 years. When the Pharisees ask Jesus about divorce in the book of Matthew, He takes His listeners back to the very beginning—Genesis 2:24: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” And then in Matthew 19:6, Jesus adds the words that have been repeated millions of times in Christian wedding ceremonies. “So, they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

Jesus’ critics ask a follow-up question in verse 7: “Why then did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” (As a side note, they’re twisting God’s words. Neither God nor Moses ever commanded a husband to divorce his wife in the Old Testament law.) Jesus responded, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery” (vs. 8-9). Why? Because in God’s eyes, he’s still married to his first wife. Their divorce might have been LEGAL, but it wasn’t BIBLICAL.  It might have been sanctioned by MAN, but it wasn’t sanctioned by GOD.

In Matthew 19:9, Jesus goes on to offer us only one reason for a divorce that is acceptable to God: marital unfaithfulness (aka, adultery): “I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” You may ask, “Does Jesus give a divorced Christian permission to marry someone else if there WERE biblical grounds for divorce?” If you look very closely at what Jesus says in verse 9, the answer appears to be, “Yes, He does.” If a husband commits adultery, God gives his wife permission to divorce him. God doesn’t command it. God doesn’t even encourage it. But He permits it. And if, after the divorce is final, she chooses to marry another man, God doesn’t command it. God doesn’t encourage it. But He permits it. She is not committing adultery with her new husband, because in God’s eyes she is no longer married to her first husband.

There is only one other acceptable reason for a divorce according to the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 7:15, Paul writes that a Christian spouse isn’t “bound” to a non-Christian spouse who physically abandons him or her. He seems to allow divorce in such situations, but he doesn’t address the question of whether or not re-marriage is permitted by God.

However, if in some way your marriage is struggling or broken, it’s not enough for me to just tell you, “God hates divorce, so don’t do it!” With good counsel and God’s guidance, I believe struggling Christian couples can build a brand new marriage. One that works. One that God has always wanted the two of you to enjoy together. I urge you to seek that guidance. For marriages that are hurting, unhappy or broken, I highly recommend Dr. David Clarke’s book, “I Don’t Want a Divorce: A 90-Day Guide to Saving Your Marriage.”

God HATES divorce, because God LOVES marriage. So, you’d better believe that He is willing to roll up His sleeves and work with you to make your marriage better than ever.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc. 

Can Sex Be Holy?

 “Make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.” – Ephesians 5:26

One night an elderly couple was lying on opposite sides of the bed. The wife was unhappy about the distance between them. She reminded her husband, “When we were young, you used to hold my hand in bed.” He hesitated a moment, then reached across the bed and grasped her hand. After a few moments, she said, “When we were young, you used to cuddle right up next to me.” The husband hesitated a bit longer this time. But eventually, with a few groans, he laboriously turned his body and cradled her in his arms as best he could. She still wasn’t satisfied. She said, “When we were young, you used to nibble on my ear.” Giving a loud sigh, he threw back the covers and bolted out of bed. Somewhat hurt, she asked, “Where are you going?” The husband responded, “To get my teeth!”

Physical intimacy can be an awkward topic. But it may surprise you to learn that the Bible doesn’t shy away from the subject of sex. In most cases, it’s tactful and discreet—but the Bible DOES have a lot to say about sexual intimacy in marriage.

When it comes to understanding true physical intimacy, we as 21st century Christians have two strikes against us. First, our culture is obsessed with sex. It’s everywhere. It’s in our TV shows; it’s in our movies; it’s in our music; it’s in our commercials; and in its most perverted form, it’s plastered all over the internet. But there’s a second strike against us: Churches tend to ignore the topic of sexual intimacy. Some churches ignore it because it’s uncomfortable. Others ignore it because what God has to say about it is unpopular and politically incorrect. Still other churches ignore it because they really don’t understand how important sexual intimacy is to God. Therefore, far too many Christian couples begin dating relationships and get married without having learned what God has to say about true sexual intimacy. And as a result, our dating relationships and our marriages suffer.

Well, I don’t want our relationships to suffer. So, let’s look at a few insights from God’s word. Many Christians wonder if God has a specific list of “do’s” and “don’t’s” when it comes to sexual intimacy within marriage. Well, the quick answer is, “No.” But He does give us some wonderful principles in Ephesians 5:25-33 that serve as a guide for Christian husbands and wives.  Chances are you’ve never viewed this passage as God’s guide for you in the area of sexual intimacy, but it is. It boils down to these three points:

#1: True sexual intimacy must be grounded in “agape” love, not selfish lust (v. 25). Guess which Greek word for love is used throughout this passage. It’s “agape”—unselfish, unconditional, Christ-like love. When sexual intimacy isn’t grounded in agape love, it can be like a hurricane sweeping through a mobile home park. It leaves a whole lot of damage in its wake.

#2: True sexual intimacy involves self-sacrifice—giving yourself up for the good of your spouse (v. 25). According to God’s word, your main focus during sexual intimacy should be pleasing your spouse, not pleasing yourself. I love the way theologian Warren Wiersbe says it: “Sexual love is a beautiful tool to build with, not a weapon to fight with.” Far too many wives use sex as a weapon to manipulate their husbands. And far too many husbands give their wives guilt trips about sex. That’s not conducive to intimacy. True sexual intimacy involves self-sacrifice.

#3: True sexual intimacy is holy and cleanses your spouse (v. 26).  According to God’s word, all sex outside of marriage is perverted, regardless of whether it’s heterosexual or homosexual. It’s dirty, and it makes both sexual partners dirty. You see, God created sex to be like the water in your washing machine. If it stays inside the machine, it makes your clothes clean. But if you toss it in the dirt, it will just make your clothes dirtier. Within a godly marriage, sexual intimacy can help cleanse your spouse of lustful thoughts. It can help cleanse your spouse of discouragement and insecurities. And it can help cleanse your spouse of feelings of rejection. No, sexual intimacy can’t cleanse your spouse of sin. Only Jesus can do that. But there is cleansing power in sexual intimacy, and that is by God’s design. So, is there such a thing as holy sex? Yes, there is, when we allow God’s word to be our guide.

One final insight: Sexual intimacy provides a living illustration of how passionately Jesus Christ loves us and desires to be close to us. Listen to what Paul writes in Ephesians 5:31-32 as he’s giving instructions to husbands: “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” You see, the very best marriages are a living illustration of Christ’s love for the Church, which in the New Testament is often called the Bride of Christ.

When we are intimate with our spouses and experience that agape love, we are closer than we can ever be to any other human being. Could it be that God designed this intimacy for us to better understand how much Jesus loves us … and how much He wants us to be close to Him?

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

What Makes a Compatible Marriage?

 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” - 2 Corinthians 6:14

Even if you’re not a basketball fan, you probably know who Shaquille O’Neal is. Shaq was one of the most dominant NBA centers of all time, helping to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to three NBA championships. He’s in the Hall of Fame. But have you ever seen a picture of Shaq standing next to his girlfriend? She’s a lovely woman—but Shaq looks like a giant standing next to her. The top of her head is barely higher than the crook of his elbow! I guess when you’re 7-foot-1, it’s hard to find a girl your height.

Have you ever looked at a couple and thought, “They just look mismatched?” You might see a woman who’s much taller than the man she’s with … or who’s so stunningly gorgeous that you might be tempted to say, “She’s way out of his league!”

My point is this: There are certain couples that we look at and say, “They’re just not compatible.” Sometimes we’re proven right when they have a bitter breakup six months later. At other times, we find ourselves 10 years down the road say, “Huh! I never thought that relationship would work, but I guess I was wrong. They’re still together and they seem happy enough.” Of course, we’re not the best judges of anyone else’s relationship—or even our own. So, let’s take a close look at what God’s Word teaches us about compatibility.

When we talk about compatibility in Christian circles, we usually quote 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.”  When the apostle Paul wrote these words, he was speaking to Corinthian Christians who had allowed false teachers to come into their church and persuade them to water down their teaching. So, first and foremost, he was warning the Christians not to get so chummy with false teachers who could lead them away from Christ. However, this verse provides a timeless principle that applies to every relationship Christians are in—including business partnerships, dating relationships and marriage.

So, let’s take a closer look at the term “equally yoked.” When Paul used the term, he was referring back to Deuteronomy 22:10, where God gives the Jewish people the law, “Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.” You might wonder, “What the heck kind of a law is that?” But as any farmer who doesn’t own a tractor can tell you, teaming up an ox and a donkey is a really bad idea. The average donkey weighs about 500 pounds. The average ox weighs about 2,000 pounds. How can you plow a straight furrow if you’ve got an animal on one side of the yoke that is four times heavier than the animal on the other side? You can’t. God knew they could not work together in harmony. So, He said, “Don’t yoke them together. You’re asking for trouble.”

Interestingly, there was one other problem with yoking an ox and a donkey together. According to Jewish dietary laws, an ox was a “clean” animal. The Jews were allowed to eat it. But they weren’t allowed to eat a donkey. It was an “unclean” animal. So, this obscure law about being unequally yoked wasn’t just for farmers.  It provided this timeless principle for all God’s followers: Those who are “clean” should never be yoked together in close relationships with those who are “unclean.” Or, to say it more simply, those who LOVE God should never enter partnerships with those who DON’T LOVE God.

When a believer marries an unbeliever, a game of spiritual tug of war begins, because they are unequally yoked. And guess who wins the game nine times out of 10? The unbeliever. Why? Because it’s the path of least resistance. It’s just easier for the believer to cave. It’s like the Old Sunday school illustration. One child stands on top of a chair while the other one stands on the floor. They join hands and start pulling. Who almost always wins? The child who’s pulling the other one down. What’s true of kids on chairs is equally true of Christians in marriages that are unequally yoked. The believer has already compromised by choosing a spouse who turned their back on God. So, it’s pretty easy for that believer to compromise a bit more by turning his or her own back on God. Remember, it’s always easier to pull someone down than to pull someone up.

There is no doubt that when it comes to choosing a spouse, God commands us in Scripture to choose a fellow believer. Now, if you are already in an unequally yoked marriage, you’re probably wondering what God wants you to do. If you were a Christian on your wedding day and you knew your fiancé wasn’t a Christian, you need to humbly admit to God that you sinned and ask Him to forgive you. And regardless of whether you were a Christian on your wedding day or became a Christian at some later date, you need to follow what God tells you to do in 1 Corinthians 7:12-16. Long story short: Don’t divorce your unbelieving spouse. Husbands, pray for your wife’s salvation. Wives, pray for your husband’s salvation. And ask God to open opportunities for you to lead your spouse to Christ so that you CAN be equally yoked.

Ultimately, a marriage is most compatible when we follow the principles established by God—the Creator of marriage. According to God’s Word, compatibility boils down to three things: values, beliefs and goals. The most successful, happy Christian marriages are those where a husband and wife are on the same page with their values, beliefs and goals. That’s what it truly means to be equally yoked.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

God’s Blueprint for Marriage

 “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
- Genesis 2:18

You’ve probably seen the classic animated Disney movie, “The Little Mermaid.” Early in the film, Ariel shows her sea gull friend Scuttle one of the treasures that she found at the bottom of the ocean: a fork. She asks him, “What is it?” Scuttle makes up a quick answer: “It’s a dinglehopper!” And he shows her the way humans use it … to straighten their hair out.

A little bit later in the movie, Ariel is all dressed up at the dinner table inside Prince Eric’s palace. She looks down at the table and sees one—a dinglehopper!—and she’s so excited. She picks it up and proudly combs her hair with it in front of the prince. Ariel makes a fool of herself.

Now, where did Ariel go wrong? Even a 4-year-old can answer that question. If she wanted to know what a fork was, she should have asked a human, because humans invented forks and humans use forks. But instead of asking a human, Ariel asked a dumb bird.

We Americans are more like Ariel than we like to admit. God is the Creator of marriage. He is the Grand Architect who dreamed up marriage and brought it into being. In the second chapter of Genesis, God shows us His blueprint for marriage. He tells us plainly what marriage looks like and why He created it in the first place. But most Americans today completely ignore what the creator of marriage says about marriage. Instead, they trust the warped opinions of “dumb birds” who pretend to be experts on the subject—our celebrities, political activists and social media influencers.

According to the Pew Research Center, in 2001, 35% of Americans supported same-sex marriage. In the 21 years since then, that level of support has almost doubled, to around 62% of Americans. According to the Barna Trends 2017 report, 65% of American adults say that living together without being married is a good idea. But God Almighty, the Creator of marriage, makes it very clear in Genesis 2 that marriage is between one man and one woman. And He makes it clear what the order of events should be: Marriage comes first. Then comes sex. Then come children. And according to God’s Word, changing the order of these three things is not only a really bad idea, it’s sin.

I hope you agree that it’s foolish to ignore what God says about marriage. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the Grand Architect’s plan for marriage in the Bible. God’s blueprint outlines three purposes for marriage:

#1: To provide a lifelong helper who is just right for you. Genesis 2:7 tells us that God created Adam before Eve. Then God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (v. 18), but although the garden was filled with living creatures, “for Adam no suitable helper was found” (v. 20.) And so Eve was custom-made by God to be a helper suitable for Adam. This term “helper suitable” literally means “corresponding face-to-face.” It does not in any way indicate that Adam’s wife was inferior to him. Even Adam’s surgery, as God created Eve from one of Adam’s ribs, demonstrates this. 18th Century Bible commentator Matthew Henry says it so well: “She was not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.”

#2: To provide unashamed sexual intimacy that will lead to bearing children. Genesis 2:25 tells us, “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” When a husband and wife are face-to-face, naked without shame, they become one flesh as their parts fit together like a perfect puzzle. And this physical intimacy between a husband and his wife is “just right” for bringing a new human life into the world. So we read in Genesis 1:28, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.’”

#3: To provide a living illustration of Christ’s sacrificial love for the Church. The Apostle Paul points out this third God-given purpose for marriage in Ephesians 5:25-33. This profound passage tells husbands to “love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (vs. 25). And it ends with the verse, “Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband” (v. 33). This model of marriage provides us with a beautiful, powerful, God-given opportunity to display the gospel of love and grace to a world that doesn’t want to HEAR Christians—but is always WATCHING Christians.

If you do a Google search on the definition of marriage, this is what you’ll find: “the legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship (historically and in some jurisdictions specifically a union between a man and a woman).” I hope that you’ll agree that this is a pitiful, watered-down definition of marriage. It’s a slap in God’s face.

God’s word has equipped us to offer this much more accurate and beautiful definition of marriage. Marriage is a life-long, covenant relationship between one man and one woman. God created marriage for the purposes of close companionship, physical intimacy, bearing and rearing children, and demonstrating Christ’s unconditional love to a watching world. Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is marriage.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.