Josh Benner

Author: the Josh Benner Blog

  • Majority of surveyed Christians don’t believe church is necessary

    photo-1476455479340-25ee0cee09bf-1.jpeg
    Recently, Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research released their “State of Theology” survey. In the study, 3,000 American Christians were surveyed on various theological and moral positions.

    58% of respondents agreed with the statement “Worshipping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church.”

    It’s one thing for a non-Christian to believe that. But for Christians?! The Christian life is not a solo sport. There are several reasons why worshipping and  involvement in a local church is essential to our Spiritual growth and to Christian living. (more…)

  • GoFraudMe – Viral story of homeless man using his last $20 to buy gas was an elaborate scam

    171123233706-kate-mcclure--johnny-bobbitt-exlarge-169.jpg
    This story is a fantastic illustration of the power of greed.

    If they had just split the money, no one would have ever known!

    I remember hearing about this when it happened. A nice story of a woman running out of gas in a dangerous part of Philadelphia. A kind hearted, homeless veteran saw her plight and went to get gas for her, spending the last $20 he had to buy gas for the lady.

    And so the lady setup a GoFundMe account to raise money in order to help get this selfless veteran back on his feet.

    And so people donated to the GoFundMe. A lot of people donated! 14,000 people donated. More than $400,000 was raised to help this man get back on his feet.

    But things took a turn earlier this year.

    The homeless man (Johnny Bobbitt) sued the woman and her boyfriend (Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico) for not giving him the proceeds of the GoFundMe campaign.

    At the time, people had mixed opinions. “You can’t just give a drug addict hundreds of thousands of dollars,” to “it’s his money.” There were allegations of the couple using some of the funds for themselves. GoFundMe promised to make it right.

    And then today, the couple AND Bobbitt are being charged with theft by deception. After an investigation, the authorities claim that the whole thing was made up! If convicted, they face up to 5-10 years in prison, according to CNN.

    GoFundMe has said they’ll refund the money that people donated. While the average person spent just $28 in this scam, I feel that what these people did is just as bad as robbing someone. They took people’s money by creating a ruse that preyed upon the good nature of people.

    GoFundMe is not above reproach. It’s not a perfect site. And there are certainly frivolous things which raise money on that site. But it’s also been a life changing blessing to many people in need. And this scam hurts the credibility of GoFundMe.

    It’s poetic justice that people who scammed others also tried to scam each other. Like I said in the beginning, had they just split the money amongst themselves, no one would have known!

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. His hobbies include working out, watching sports, and photography. Josh and his wife Kari live in Minnesota.

    Let’s connect!
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Instagram

  • Wrath and judgment – did God command genocide in the Old Testament

    photo-1526404797061-471b58efc8ef.jpeg
    When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
    -Deuteronomy 7:1-2
    In Deuteronomy 7, the Israelites are just outside the land and the Lord gives a challenging command. The Israelites are told to wipe out the nations who inhabit the land.
    It’s not a popular idea. It’s a notion that many find reprehensible and immoral. For skeptics and people who believe in other religions, it’s fodder for them to undermine the teachings of the Bible.
    God is using Israel as a divine judgment for cleansing the land against wicked nations who lived totally contrary to the will of God. It was divine mercy that God had allowed these nations to exist as long as they did. But their sin eventually reached a braking point.
    The judgment was divine and righteous judgment.
    In this judgment, everything needed to be destroyed. The people, but not just the people. Also their livestock, also their crops, also their gold and possessions.
    It was all given to the Lord. The point wasn’t plunder for the Israelite’s gain because victory was from the Lord and everything was given to the Lord.
    Part of the reason why they had to be wiped out was that it was trying to preserve the Israelites from idolatry.
    It’s a very challenging idea. It’s a very unpopular idea.
    For a student of the Bible, I’d like to include a few thoughts on this challenging passage.
    God is just. 
    The fact that God doesn’t wipe out anyone immediately due to their sin is evidence of God’s grace and mercy. No one deserves grace. We willingly sin and transgress against the holy and righteous God of the universe.
    This judgment wasn’t Moses’ idea, or later, Joshua’s idea. It was God’s judgment. It wasn’t the Israelite elders who decided they should do this. God decided.
    And it was ultimately God who was enacting his judgment.
    Judgment for a particular time and place
    It was not meant to be a worldwide judgment. It was clearing out the land. Once the Israelites were in the land, there aren’t any indications that they were supposed to become raiders just attacking other groups or committing violence for its own sake.
    This command was for the Israelites in the specific context of the Promised Land.
    Israel never followed through at carrying out this judgment 
    While it might seem unfair or unnecessarily harsh, The Israelites never actually fully enact the devoting of their enemies to destructing in the land.
    And it is to their own peril and difficulty as they will historically be plagued by idolatry and turning away from the Lord.
    Picture of future judgment 
    For anyone who will not bend a knee to God, there will be a day of reckoning. This is a foretaste of the final judgment. There is an eternal consequence for rejecting the Lord, because without his saving grace, we are dead in sin.
    Opposing the Lord comes with severe consequences.
    God is just.
    And no one dies who would have otherwise repented. No one goes to hell because they didn’t have enough time.
    It’s not because God is mean. Not because he’s unfair.
    But because he is holy and righteous. And God cares about his own holiness.
    The good news is that God has made a way for people to avoid all of that. It’s a matter of trusting in the gospel. Believing in the Lord.
    We can’t be good enough, we can’t earn it. Our only hope is Jesus. God with us. Who lived a sinless life so that all who believe in him could be forgiven.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. His hobbies include working out, watching sports, and photography. Josh and his wife Kari live in Minnesota.

    Let’s connect!
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Instagram

  • Cal student withholds support for transgenderism. People lose their minds

    isabella-chow-mug-248x300.png

    Isabella Chow is a student at University of California, Berkley. She serves on the Associated Students University of California, the university’s undergraduate student government. Recently, the student government voted on resolutions which condemned Trump Administration policies regarding Title IX and recognition of transgenderism. One consideration of the Trump Administration is not recognizing a person’s preferred gender if it is contrary to the sex with which they were born. Chow is a Christian and does not support the resolution. Instead of voting against the resolution, she decided to abstain. She later elaborated on her decision.

    Her choice has not been well received.

    (more…)

  • Pete Davidson’s apology and society’s struggle with forgiveness


    Last week, Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson told a joke about congressional candidate-elect Dan Crenshaw. Crenshaw is a decorated Navy SEAL who lost his right eye fighting in Afghanistan in the War on Terror.

    Naturally, many were unhappy that Davidson made a joke about the appearance of a war hero.

    This weekend, Crenshaw appeared on Saturday Night Live. And after giving a couple of comedic jabs back to Davidson (Crenshaw had some pretty good timing on his jokes), he forgave Davidson. (more…)