Someone has said that the two most important words in the English language are, “I’m sorry.” There is power in those words, power to heal and power to set free. Perhaps the second most important words in the English language are, “I’m forgiven.” But what happens when we ask for forgiveness and we don’t really believe we have received it? Or we say, “Well, I know the Lord has forgiven me, I just can’t forgive myself.” Friends, that’s an awful place to be, yet it’s home for many people who refuse to accept the sweet freedom of forgiveness that is offered in Christ.

C.S. Lewis said, “I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.”

I love the story of the young boy who was throwing rocks one day down by the barn and he decided to do the very thing his father had told him not to: He took aim and fired off a few rounds at the chickens. Then, he was horrified when one of his salvos hit his father’s prize-winning rooster, a bulls-eye to the head, and the rooster fell over dead. The boy was sick to his stomach with fear, and tearfully replayed the event over and over in his mind, hoping for a different result. The bird was still dead.

So, the boy tried to cover his sin by hiding the rooster, but that didn’t work. He was miserable with guilt, and in bondage like he’d never experienced. He couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t even play because of his guilt. So finally, he retrieved the evidence of his sin and went to confess to his father. To his surprise and great relief, his father embraced him, forgave him, and together they buried the rooster.

The boy was free again. He could eat, play, sleep and work without guilt. For a while. Then, he lay in bed one night and played back the tape in his mind of the rooster-slaying incident until, overcome with sorrow again, he went out into the moonlight and dug up the carcass. He carefully brushed it off, cleaned it up, put it in a box and carried it to his father, asking for forgiveness with tears. The wise Dad embraced his son once again and told him that he had already forgiven him, and together they buried the bird one more time.

All was well for a few days, until one of his friends began to ride the boy pretty hard about the rooster, reminding him of how many prizes it had won. The boy tearfully dug up the bird again, but it had decomposed badly in the summer heat. He cradled this object of his father’s past affection and went to pay for his sins once more.

You see, the boy had been forgiven by his father’s grace, though he didn’t deserve it. But he never released his guilt and accepted God’s gift. Because he was more me-focused than Godfocused, he fell right back into bondage by trying to “earn” something God had freely given.

The sweet freedom of forgiveness cannot come through the flesh, through our works, or through anything we do. The most precious of all freedoms can only come through the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross. Freedom and forgiveness are works of God’s grace! Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man,” his latest book, and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc

William Barclay said, “There may be greater sins than touchiness, but there is none that does greater damage to the Christian church.” I found that quote as I was studying what Paul wrote to Timothy in his second letter, instructing him that leadership requires thick skin, someone who is not easily offended. In fact, a leader is one who “patiently endures evil.” It could also be translated, “Bearing evil from others without resentment.” This is a rare quality, isn’t it? Let’s face it. There are lots of people who cannot bear anything without resentment, much less evil. They get resentful at the stoplight for staying red longer than they think is just. Look at them the wrong way and you are off their party-invitation list forever. Others will allow you a wrong look or a cross word or two, but they are adding your missteps to an invisible scale that they keep in their memory. Woe to you when you finally tip the scale in the wrong direction. This is illustrated in nature, I discovered, with camels. Who knew? In his book, “Zoo Vet,” David Taylor writes, “Camels may build up a pressure cooker of resentment toward human beings until the lid suddenly blows off and they go berserk. In Asia, when a camel driver senses trouble, he gives his coat to the animal. Rather like Japanese workers who are reported to work off frustrations by beating up models of their executives, the camel gives the garment (a fit) — jumping on it, biting it, tearing it to pieces. When the camel feels it has blown its top enough, man and animal can live together in harmony again.”

Talk about getting your hump in a wad. And, just wondering, how many coats does a camel driver have to keep on hand? The problem with that whole scenario is obvious. If Carlos the camel owner is off his game by just a little, and doesn’t correctly read the signs that Carl the Camel is subtly sending him, it may be that Carlos, not his coat, is torn to pieces. Same way with you, as you face the wrath of Ken or Kara the church members. You may never know when you say the very thing that sends them into orbit. Or out the door. They won’t even give you a chance to offer them your coat or your hat to jump up and down and spit on. They just bolt. You may hear some reasons why they exploded later, as a friend of a friend of theirs tells you what they said about you on Facebook. Or, you may never know.

Paul’s instruction to young Timothy is clear: Don’t be a pressure cooker of resentment yourself. When the camels are spitting and stomping all around, you are to remain calm. You are to be quick to forgive and slow to take offense, not the other way around. That doesn’t mean a leader is as silent as a post. No, he is to be skilled in “correcting his opponents with gentleness.” This is part of the problem: Leaders who are unable or unwilling to gently correct evil behavior.

There is power in the life that refuses to drink in bitterness when others attack. It is the power that Christ himself displayed as he was mocked and beaten and spat upon and finally crucified. There is no more beautiful picture of Christ than that of suffering servant. “Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearers is silent, so He opens not His mouth.”

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man,” his latest book, and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc  

Aristotle said years ago that a person’s credibility as a speaker is a product of his character and his competence. Someone said years later, “Your character is who you are in the dark.” When no one is looking, the choices you make reveal your true character. Your competence is your ability. When Aristotle’s students asked the famous philosopher which of the two was most important, he said, “If you can only have one, have character.” He explained that people will be persuaded much more readily by an incompetent speaker who is an honest man than by a skillful orator who is a liar.

Given the landscape of politics and business and even church life that we see today, would the Greek great say the same? Probably since the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s, when Richard Nixon was caught in a coverup that eventually ended his presidency, the nation has repeatedly asked the question, “Is there a connection between character and performance?” And, “Should it matter how leaders carry on in their ‘personal lives?’”

Kent Hughes said the comparison is often made between an airline pilot and a head of state. “Who would you rather have at the control of the plane? A competent pilot with moral weakness or an incompetent pilot with moral character?” The problem with comparing a pilot to a president is obvious, isn’t it? Flying a plane is not an intrinsically moral task. But piloting a nation is. That’s why the Bible says, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” If we do even a cursory examination of why various kings of Israel failed, we find it was always because of matters of the heart, who they were, and not matters of intellect or ability. Their character was tried in the balance and found wanting, not their competence. Leading a nation is a moral task. The Bible makes that clear. So is leading a church. And leading a family. Even leading a business.

Paul compares the church to a “great house” in his second letter to Timothy, and in every great house, Paul writes, are vessels of honor and dishonor. Timothy would have known immediately what Paul was talking about. I think we do, too. In our basement, for example, we have dog bowls that Buddy and Ginger used before they went to their great reward. We have never once used those bowls to serve guests their soup. We don’t bring them up from the basement and serve our grandsons oatmeal in them when they come over. No, they are dog bowls. We also have fine china that we pull out for special occasions. We never once let Buddy or Ginger use those. There is a clear separation in the big house between vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. It is the same in the church.

So, what does it take to become a vessel of honor in the church? Paul says it plainly: “If anyone cleanses himself …” The offer is to anyone. Tax collectors like Matthew. Sheepherders like Amos. Fishermen like Peter and John. The offer has a condition: The one who is most useful to the Master is a clean vessel. Before you run to get the soap, the kind of “clean” God is talking about here is of the heart, and only He can do that. And He does, with everyone who comes to Him broken and repentant.

Is character connected to performance? Inextricably. That should influence how we vote. More importantly, it should influence how we live.

      J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man,” his latest book, and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc  

My wife spoke at a conference recently and asked eighty women, “How many of you have heard of Elisabeth Elliot?”  Only twenty hands went up. Cindy proceeded to share Elisabeth’s story, which really began in earnest after her husband Jim was speared to death on January 8, 1956 by the same men he was trying to reach with the Gospel. After Jim and four others were killed, Elisabeth stayed on the mission field, saying, “It gives me a much more personal desire to reach them. The fact that Jesus Christ died for all makes me interested in the salvation of all, but the fact that Jim loved and died for the Aucas intensifies my love for them.”

Almost three years later, Elisabeth took her three-year-old daughter Valerie to live with the tribe of Aucas that had killed her husband. Elliot’s book, The Savage, My Kinsman, is the story of those two years living in the jungle. She wrote a letter on October 13, 1958 to the other widows about her experiences in the first five days: I have now met four of the seven men who killed our husbands. It is a very strange thing thus to find oneself between two very remote sides of a story. To us, it meant everything in life and continues to mean that. To these simple, laughing, carefree forest people, killing five men was little more than routine and they had probably nearly forgotten about it. The story as I have managed to get it thus far, is that the men were all on the beach. The Aucas leaped suddenly out of the forest from behind the tree house and killed them immediately.

Oct. 18 – Breakfast this morning was roast monkey. It is quite impossible to bite monkey flesh–you simply clamp your incisors on it and tear). It is a comfort to know that meat is easily digested even if not chewed!

Yesterday afternoon it rained and blew hard. I saw again how sensibly these people have adapted to their environment. Of course, the rain blows straight through the house. What does one do? One blows up the fire, hangs up one’s few possessions in a carrying net under the ridge pole and stretches out in the hammock. You get wet, naturally. What matter? The fire keeps you warm and as soon as the wind dies, it dries out your hammock.

…the first day we arrived, Valerie just sat down on the log which Kimu was squatting on and stared and stared. Then she said “Mama, who IS that? Is that my daddy? He looks like a daddy.” Somehow, in her child’s mind, she had associated Aucas and daddy–though I’d never told her till a few days ago that the Aucas had killed her daddy. I waited till she had met five of the men and then I told her that those men had killed daddy. She said, “Oh.” She prays for them and for the others she knows by name.

Elisabeth Elliot is suffering with Alzheimer’s in a nursing home. She is a treasure to the church and will be celebrated and missed when she is gone. But her legacy lives on in the books she has written, the radio show she hosted for years, and especially in the lives of the men and women who came to faith in Ecuador through the death of Jim Eliot and through the sacrificial love of his wife.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

J. Mark Fox is the author of A Faithful Man, his latest book, and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Rd. in Elon. You can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc.

As the story goes, a man was watching TV with his wife when the doorbell rang. He went to see who it was and found his friend on the doorstep . “What are you doing?” the friend asked. He said, “Watching a movie.” The friend said, “Oh, which one?” The man knit his brow and worked on that thought for a moment, then said, “What’s that flower called that smells good but has thorns?” His friend replied, “Rose?” “Yeah, that’s it.” The man then turned and called back into the house, “Hey Rose, what’s the name of that movie we’re watching?” Now there’s a man with a memory problem. His forgetter is working overtime.

It’s important to remember the names of our loved ones, and diseases that strip that ability away are cruel and unusual punishment. But what about those who forget the very reason for their existence simply because they are consumed with lesser things?Why would Paul write to Timothy, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead?” Surely that is the last thing this young pastor would forget. Not so fast.You might argue that the banner over Israel in the Old Testament was, “They forgot God.” Moses said it this way near the end of his life: “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.” It is one of the reasons why I believe Jesus gave us the Lord’s Supper. “Do this,” he said, “in remembrance of Me.” It is a regular reminder for the body of Christ that employs all of our five senses as we taste, smell, touch and see the elements, and as we hear the Words that he spoke, “This is My body, broken for you … this is My blood, poured out for you.”

The Taj Mahal is perhaps the most beautiful structure in the world. It was built in the 1600s by an emperor for his favorite wife after she died giving birth to their 14th child. It took 20,000 men more than 20 years to build this magnificent shrine. The sad irony is that by the time the building was completed, the favorite wife had been gone so long that most in the empire did not know her memory and had no idea why the Taj Mahal had been built. They marveled at the edifice, ignorant of the life it celebrated.

It can be true of a church, can’t it?We build magnificent structures and cathedrals that dazzle the eye.We spare no expense to have the finest architecture, the tallest steeple, the largest sanctuary, or the most “cutting-edge” educational program. Then we drift away from center.We forget the reason we started the church in the first place. The stained glass windows tell the story of the Gospel that we long since quit preaching. “The Gospel? It is just too exclusive,” we say. “We need a more tolerant message.” The church bells still play the old hymns through the week, songs that we would be embarrassed to sing on Sunday. Songs like, “We’ve a story to tell to the nations, that shall turn their hearts to the right.” Or songs like, “Jesus shall reign wherever the sun does His successive journeys run; His kingdom spread from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more.”

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.We may forget who is enshrined in the Taj Mahal, because she is long gone. Jesus is not. He is risen from the dead. The living Savior is the very reason for our existence.

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man,” his latest book, and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc

Paul offers three pictures of faithfulness in his second letter to Timothy, which are suitable for framing. The first, not surprisingly, is that of a soldier. The two things that mark a soldier’s life are suffering and obedience. Soldiers expect to suffer, or “take their share of rough treatment.” Not true of most Christians: An easy life is an expectation for some, and an entitlement for many. Secondly, soldiers are trained to obey. Therefore, they do not entangle themselves in civilian pursuits because their sole aim is to please the one who enlisted them.

As I studied this passage, I was convicted how easily I can become entangled in a civilian pursuit, namely, watching too much sports on TV. Some of you are clucking your tongues at me because you could not care less about sports. Not so fast, friend. Maybe you get entangled in the latest movies or TV shows. Or in checking Facebook 64 times a day. Or in talking on the phone for hours while you should be doing other things. Whatever our “entanglement du jour” happens to be, each one keeps us from effectiveness on the battlefield.

If the soldier is marked by obedience, the athlete is marked by determination. During the decathlon competition of 1974 between the U.S., Poland and the USSR, a friend of the U.S. coach asked him, “Who is the best athlete on our team?” The coach pointed to a slender man, muscular and athletic-looking. The friend asked, “Will he win today?” “No,” the coach replied, “that young man will win.” He pointed to another athlete. “He’s going to win because he has the strongest will to win. He is the most mentally tough competitor I have ever seen.” Sure enough, Bruce Jenner went on to win that competition, and then to become the gold-medal decathlete in the 1976 Olympics.

In order to “compete” as Christians, we don’t need to be the most gifted, or the smartest or the best. But we do need determination to train hard in His truth and compete according to the rules God has clearly marked out for us.

If it’s obedience that is needed for a soldier and determination for the athlete, it’s diligence that is needed most for the farmer. He works hard. He’s up before anybody else is up, and he’s still working when everybody else is watching TV or reading the newspaper. And, he often works alone. He is not afforded the camaraderie of the soldier’s unit or the teamwork of the athlete. It’s just day-to-day, almost every day the same, with lots of waiting and patience and hard work. But the Bible says his reward is coming if he is diligent.

No farmer can just go out and throw seed around and then go to his vacation home, expecting to come back three months later and reap a harvest. Neither can a Christian father or mother do that. Alistair Begg says he is afraid we are raising up a generation of young people who are experts in unfinished business. He loves to tell young people, “Finish the bowl of Rice Krispies. Don’t leave those little pieces in the bottom!” They ask why.

“Because you might not finish your marriage if you don’t,” he replies. Some laugh and say, “That has to be the greatest non sequitur of all time.” Maybe so. Or maybe it points to a serious character flaw that is trained into young people who are allowed to quit anything that is difficult.

Obedience. Determination. Diligence. Why not hang these pictures on your wall?

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man,” his latest book, and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc  

I will admit it. I don’t listen to many podcasts. In fact, I don’t regularly listen to any. But every now and then I hear about one, usually from my wife, that is a must hear. I would put Michael Hyatt’s latest podcast in that category. It is entitled “Four Commitments for Building a Successful, Long-term Marriage,” and it will take exactly 31 minutes out of your life. Michael is the former chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, and has spent his career in the publishing industry. He has also lived the last 34 years loving the same woman and with her, raising five daughters.

Michael usually speaks about leadership in his podcast, and he prefaced this one with these comments: “… your marriage has everything to do with your effectiveness as a leader. Whether you realize it or not, as people observe your marriage, they make several inferences about you and your leadership:

• They learn about your priorities and what matters most.
• They learn how you treat the people who are closest to you.
• They learn whether it’s all about you or you are a team player.

If your marriage is going to survive — and thrive — you will need to be intentional about it. Great marriages don’t just happen.”

His first commitment is, “Commit to continuing education.” Specifically, invest in the time it takes to get to know your spouse. Read good books on marriage. Go to marriage conferences. Get good, solid marriage counseling. Beware: Not all marriage counselors are created equal. Do your homework on this and get recommendations from people who have been helped through counseling. As for good marriage books, Cindy and I recommend “This Momentary Marriage” by John Piper.

The second commitment is, “Commit to spending time together.” There is simply no substitute for time alone with your spouse. It doesn’t have to cost money, but it will cost time away from the TV or the Internet or the cell phone or the myriad other things we can water while our marriage is withering on the vine.

The third commitment is, “Commit to following a specific set of boundaries.” Michael’s are the same ones that I have adopted for my own life and ministry. Do not go out to eat alone with someone of the opposite sex. Or travel alone with someone of the opposite sex. Or flirt with someone of the opposite sex. Those who regard these guidelines as rigid and restrictive may choose to ignore them. Many have, and the end result has sometimes been a marriage, family and career wrecked by an affair.

The fourth commitment is, “Commit to speaking well of your spouse.” Michael tells the story of going to a large and thriving church with his family years ago. The pastor was in his 30s, full of energy, a dynamic preacher and a warm, empathetic counselor. But whenever he and his young wife were together, they took shots at each other. At first it was all in jest, and others laughed. Then the comments got more biting. Michael and his wife ended up going to another church but heard later that the young pastor’s marriage ended in a messy divorce, and it was revealed that both spouses had engaged in a series of affairs. Here are just two benefits to speaking well of your spouse. One, “affirmation shifts your attitude toward your spouse.” Two, “affirmation wards off the temptation of adultery.”

The Bible says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all.” These four commitments may help us to do just that.

Go to www.michaelhyatt.com/thisisyourlife for more.

J. Mark Fox is the author of A Faithful Man, his latest book, and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc  

In his second letter to the young pastor, Paul says to Timothy, in so many words, “Do not be ashamed of Jesus’ name. Or of His people. Especially those who are persecuted because of their boldness to proclaim the very truth that you are also to proclaim!” There has always been a temptation to avoid association with Christ if it means we may be persecuted. How many of the disciples scattered when Jesus was arrested? All of them. How many believers stood with Paul in Rome when he was put on trial for his life? Not one. We may have a hard time understanding the context of severe persecution because people in the U.S. are not arrested for preaching the gospel and talking about Jesus. Not yet.

We all rejoiced over the release of Pastor Yousef in Iran two weeks ago. He had been imprisoned for three years, waiting to die for preaching the name of Jesus. I praise God that there was an international outcry. But the story may not have an ending yet. Last week, I read that a similar thing happened in Iran in 1993. A pastor was arrested and sentenced to die, and the bishop of his denomination initiated a successful international campaign to get the pastor released. The bishop was executed three days after the pastor was set free. Six months later, the pastor was also executed.

There are Christians all over the world who understand what it means when Paul says, “Do not be ashamed of me, His prisoner.” Michael Ramsden, who works with Ravi Zacharias, speaks about Christ in closed countries every year. Ramsden often says, “There is no such thing as a closed country if you are willing to die for the gospel.” Ramsden was recently invited to speak on Christianity in a country hostile to the gospel. The Christian organizers of the event prayed that there would be an opportunity to present the gospel, not just an academic lecture on the tenets of Christianity. While Ramsden was speaking, a young religious leader was standing in the back with his arms crossed, searing a hole into Michael with his eyes. At the end of the lecture this young man raised his hand and said, “There is something that no teacher or scholar in my religion has been able to answer for me. I want to know why you Christians think that Jesus had to die on the cross.”

Michael was ecstatic about the question. It was an answer to the prayer of the organizers. But he was nervous, too. Because he knew that to answer that question, he would have to say that their entire religion is wrong on a fundamental level about who Jesus is and what he did on the cross. As Michael Ramsden was about to answer, his host grabbed his arm and said, “Michael, answer very carefully. It is one thing to die for sharing the gospel. It is another thing to die for sharing it poorly.”

Perhaps some raw honesty is needed here. The vast majority of Christians in this country tend to be embarrassed when they see someone preaching on the sidewalk. Or witnessing to strangers and handing out tracts in the park. Or even bowing their heads at a restaurant to pray before a meal. We flee persecution of any kind, even if it means we compromise the truth of the gospel through our shame. Do not be ashamed of the name of Jesus or the truth and life only he can give. Without the gospel, there are no answers.

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man,” his latest book, and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc  

There’s really no way to describe it in 600 words. It’s one of those “you had to be there” things. I will serve up an appetizer in this short space and then tell you how you can get a bigger helping if you want it.
Sixty-five families came from 10 states, from as far away as Texas and Washington. One family from Indianapolis got up at 1 a.m. and started driving to make it here on time. Some stayed in hotels. Two stayed in motor homes. Many of them stayed with families in our church, taking over bedrooms or sprawling on couches or air mattresses. Then, for three days, they gathered with the Antioch family to hear about the family-integrated church. They wanted to know more about what a church looks like when it doesn’t divide the family at the front door. They wanted to hear about how dads are encouraged and taught to follow what is perhaps the most important principle in the whole Bible when it comes to the spiritual health of a family: “Fathers, teach your children.” They wanted to hear a mother’s heart as Cindy shared a message entitled, “Two ways women can serve with grace and creativity.” They wanted to meet others from around the country who have the same vision they do. They wanted to hear about discipling teens, helping them to navigate the dangerous waters in that time of their lives. They wanted to hear about how families can be more effective in evangelism, reaching the lost with one of the most powerful tools we have been given: hospitality. They came to hear about how they can plant a church in their own community. There were 26 families who said they live in an area where there is not a family-integrated church within driving distance. They followed that with, “We are willing, if the Lord leads and brings us other families who have the same vision, to start a church in our community.” The 65 families in attendance came from different denominations, rural and urban neighborhoods, southern, northern and western states, and were young and old, large families and small. They came to explore the theme of the conference, “Training for Faithfulness.”
The weekend was not without its challenges. One Antioch family that was hosting a family of 11 from South Carolina lost their power Friday night for several hours. They managed. We had to ask the people at the conference Saturday to “only flush the toilets if absolutely necessary, and bucket-flush them at that!” as the sheer number of people was putting a strain on the system. We managed … with the help of two hastily ordered Porta Johns. But mostly, the weekend was packed with one opportunity after another to grow in faith, to get to know brothers and sisters in Christ we had never met, to help answer questions, and to simply be the church, embracing and loving those whom God had sent to us.
A good friend and former member of Antioch gave the closing message of the conference, challenging us that training for faithfulness includes taking care of our physical bodies. Jeff Akin said, “Do what you can to live as long as you can,” by taking care of the one body God has given you. As Paul says, “I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

That’s a sampler. If you want more, keep an eye on the Antioch website (www.antiochchurch.cc) over the next month. All 15 messages from 10 different speakers will be added.

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man,” his latest book, and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc 

It was four years ago when I first met Brian and Karen. Like many people across the nation, they had the desire to be part of a church that doesn’t divide the family at the front door, where families worship together, and where young people are part of the body, not a separate entity with their own agenda. Many call this the “family-integrated church” model. I wrote a book about it in 2006, where I told the story of how God had transitioned Antioch Church from programdriven to family-integrated. Brian and Karen read the book (and other materials about the model), and it resonated with them. He was serving at the time as a college minister in Ohio, but a heart’s desire to be a pastor of a family-integrated church was growing in him. After serving as a pastor in New Hampshire, Brian and Karen moved to Burlington to join us. He said to me when they arrived, “We are hoping that we can start a new family-integrated church out of Antioch.” Some might hear that and read, “This guy wants to come in, get to know the people, and then steal a handful of families to take somewhere else … why, he’s a sheep rustler!” But that’s not the way we saw it. We had planted a church the year before when five families were sent out to start Cornerstone Bible Church in Asheboro. Two years before that, we sent two of our families to join with a new work that a church in Raleigh was planting in Pittsboro. So, we were excited that God was preparing us to give birth again. We told God in the early days of Antioch that we didn’t have any interest in seeing how big we could get. He gave us a desire to follow the model set forth in the church that was in the Antioch of the Bible, as described in Acts 13. They were a sending church. They believed in multiplication, not addition.
So, when the Spirit spoke and said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them,” they did not hesitate. They laid hands on two of their best men and sent them out to plant churches. Had those two men refused to go, or had the other leaders refused to send them out, would the church at Antioch have “exploded with growth” and become the place that everybody wanted to go to for miles around? Maybe. But that’s not what the Lord wanted. Not for that church, anyway. Not for us, either.
It took four years for the church plant to become a reality. Longer than Brian had hoped, and much longer than he had expected. There were earlier attempts to get the church plant off the ground, but the timing was just not right. Some families looked at it with interest in the beginning, but then they faded. Others said they were praying about it, knowing that it would mean leaving behind what was comfortable and established, and going to a place they did not know, where there would be months and maybe years of hard work to lay a foundation.
In the end, six families joined with Brian and Karen’s family to start Savoring Christ Church in Greensboro. They had their first meeting last Sunday evening at the Piedmont Baptist Association’s gymnasium — just off the Lee Street exit at 2009 Sharpe Road.
Want to go? I know Brian and Karen would love to meet you. They are grateful to God that their four-year journey has found a beginning.

J. Mark Fox is the author of “A Faithful Man,” his latest book, and the pastor of Antioch Community Church on Power Line Road in Elon. You can find all of Mark’s books on Amazon or other online sellers. Email Mark at markfox@antiochchurch.cc