Josh Benner

Author: the Josh Benner Blog

  • There’s no such thing as a Christian who has not been born again

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    Originally published September 5, 2017

    Being born again is another word for the doctrine of “regeneration.” It is a supernatural work that God does within a person who comes to faith. All Christians are born again because all Christians have experienced regeneration. There’s no such thing as an unregenerate Christian. That’s not a Christian!

    Being born again is about coming to Christ, turning away from sin, and trusting in Jesus as your Lord and savior. And when we come to him, there is grace. There is forgiveness for our sins. (more…)

  • Sometimes the “not my type” person is actually your type

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    So you’ve had one relationship after another (after another) fail.

    You meet someone else. And they’re unlike the previous people you go for. “She’s not my type.”

    Maybe the people who you think are your type aren’t really your type.

    I’m not saying to be like George Costanza in Seinfeld and just do the opposite of every inclination you have.

    But we can get into bad dating patterns. I’m not saying everyone needs to look for a different type of person when a relationship ends. But I think it’s good to be reflective of the factors that cause relationships to end.

    One important question to ask is: are the types of people I date bringing out the best in me? Or are they a constant source of stress and frustration?

    It can be to keep going for similar types of people and falling into similarly dysfunctional relationships.

    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. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • Kavanaugh, society, and the #MeToo movement

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    The past week has been a circus with allegations of past sexual abuse levied against Supreme Corut nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

    I don’t know what this man has or hasn’t done.

    I do believe people are fundamentally innocent until proven guilty and that there needs to be evidence.

    Some of the moves that the democrats in congress have taken in this process do make it seem like a bunch of political posturing (for instance, them sitting on Dr. Ford’s allegations for weeks and not revealing them until right before a vote. Was that out of their sincere concern for Dr. Ford and desire for her to be heard? Seems like they were very deliberate with that timing).

    The whole situation is immensely complicated.  (more…)

  • America’s idol: the unhealthy obsession with sports

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    Minnesota Vikings rookie kicker Daniel Carlson did not have a good game Sunday against the Packers. Carlson missed three field goals in a game which ended in a 29-29 tie. What made matters worse, two of those missed field goals came in overtime, including a lot second field goal that was basically a chip shot. On Monday, Carlson was released from the Vikings.

    It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

    It’s also life. It happens. We have bad days, it’s just that most of us don’t have bad days in front of millions of people.

    It’s interesting in the aftermath reading the comment online. I’m a sports fan so I understand frustration but what I don’t understand are the obscene tirades, the threats, taking shots at him as a person.

    Carlson’s most recent instagram photo was from September 11 and it was a collection of photos with him and local firefighters in commemoration of that day. A very nice thing. But it’s on that photo where “fans” are directing their venom and vitriol. I couldn’t help but read those comments and consider just how displaced someone’s priorities would have to be to think that that is an appropriate venue to criticize. The kicker later made his instagram private to avoid further online harassment.

    It’s not just Vikings fan. People harassing athletes and being over the top in the face of failure is common in sports. It’s also not unique to American sports.

    There is an unhealthy obsession with sports. It’s idolatry. The result of a game is not a person’s ultimate key to happiness and wholeness. People who curse out strangers in the safety of their parent’s basements because of a game are not happy people.

    If a person has so much anger in their heart that a loss makes them that mad, a win was never going to make them happy. Your team’s loss or an individual athlete’s failure isn’t the cause of unhappiness, it’s a symptom of underlying misery. We were made for infinite joy, and that joy is found in God. It is not something that is meant to fluctuate with the performance of our teams, our jobs, or even our health.

    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. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

    Let’s connect!
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  • The worst of sinners

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    In a letter to his protege Timothy, the Apostle Paul calls himself the worst (1 Timothy 1:15).

    I think we all need to look at ourselves as among the worst of sinners, because all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All of us have lied, have cheated, have harbored anger, have held ill will towards others, have acted selfishly, have manipulated. We sin.

    Our society likes to undermine sin, and call it freedom. We like to deny sin and blame other factors such as society and upbringing. We like to undermine the culpability for addictions and call them diseases.

    But we regularly, freely, reject to carry out the will of God.

    The higher the view we have of sin and of the cost of our sin, the greater the appreciation we can have for the grace of God. Because in the gospel, in spite of our sin and imperfection, we see Jesus dying so that we could be redeemed. We have a savior who died to save the worst of sinners. And on that cross, he shows that sin is costly. The cross makes no sense otherwise. Jesus died to make the ungodly, Godly.

    May we rejoice in that.

    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. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

    Let’s connect!
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Instagram