Josh Benner

Category: Commentary

  • 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.

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  • A priest, two goats, and salvation

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    Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons @fir0002

    Originally published September 29, 2017

    For observant Jews all over the world, this evening, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur in Hebrew) is celebrated. The Day of Atonement is the most holy of days in the Jewish calendar. It’s an annual picture of forgiveness that people could have. While Christians don’t celebrate this day, it’s one worth studying because everything about it points to Christ and the gospel.

    Atonement refers to God’s work of dealing with our sin. Because of sin, the relationship between man and God has been broken. (more…)

  • Newly published Reagan letter shows deep faith as he shares gospel with dying father-in-law

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    The Washington Post ran a 1982 letter written by former president Ronald Reagan to his dying father-in-law. His father-in-law, Dr. Loyal Davis had not been a religious man, and on the brink of eternity, Reagan felt compelled to stress the importance of faith.

    The most powerful man in the world pointing someone to the most powerful being in the universe.

    The newly published letter was discovered by Washington Post writer Karen Tumulty who was going through a box of Nancy Reagan’s personal effects in researching for a book on the former first lady.

    Reagan’s letter is a work of apologetics where he looks at Jesus as having come in fulfillment of prophesies. Using a similar line of reasoning to C.S. Lewis, Reagan talks of how Jesus either was who he claimed to be or a great con man (which would beg the question of why he would follow a “lie” to the point of dying for it). Reagan talks of the impact that this one man (who had such a short ministry) has had on the rest of the history of the world:

    The miracle is that a young man of 30 yrs. without credentials as a scholar or priest began preaching on street corners. He owned nothing but the clothes on his back & he didn’t travel beyond a circle less than one hundred miles across. He did this for only 3 years and then was executed as a common criminal.

    But for two thousand years he has … had more impact on the world than all the teachers, scientists, emperors, generals and admirals who ever lived, all put together.

    Reagan talks of the importance of faith in Jesus and ends the letter by appealing to his father to put himself in God’s hands.

    I appreciate this letter. Presidents are complicated individuals and Reagan’s faith is a subject of debate. But in this letter, his sincere desire is for his father-in-law to place faith in Jesus. He thought sharing the gospel with a beloved family member was worth doing.

    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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  • Heroism, sacrifice and what 9/11 documentaries can teach us about what matters in life

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    This week, as we remember the 17th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, I watched a new documentary on the history channel titled: “9/11: Escape from the Towers.” The documentary features firsthand accounts of people who were working in the Twin Towers that day.

    The stories are astounding. Aside from “9/11,” a documentary by two French filmmakers who happened to be with NYFD Engine 7 on the morning of 9/11, and which I consider to be the best documentary made regarding that day, “Escape from the Towers” is probably second. This documentary so vividly captures the human spirit and gives perspective on what matters in life.

    Spoiler alerts 

    Two of the survivors are Michael Benfante and John Cerqueira were on the 81st floor of the North Tower, just below the impact zone of where American Airlines flight 11 struck.

    As they were making their way out, they encountered a disabled woman in a wheelchair. Her normal chair was going to be too heavy and difficult to bring down the stairs. They found a special wheelchair for evacuations and helped the woman (whom they had never met) get down 68 flights of stairs and out of the building.

    They could have kept going. They didn’t. When they came to the 21st floor, there had been a triage unit setup. They could have dropped her off there. They didn’t.

    Jyoti Vyas was working on the 77th floor of the South Tower. She was 7 months pregnant on September 11. The documentary spends a lot of time focusing on Vyas and her coworkers and their efforts to help her (and her unborn baby) safely evacuate the building. Once again, the story is inspiring as you consider the selflessness, camaraderie, and love that coworkers had for her. Now forever a family in a shared bond of tragedy they experienced that day. I consider all of those coworkers to be heroes. They could have had an “every man for himself” mentality. They didn’t. They could have been more concerned for getting out to see their own families. They weren’t.

    In the documentary, one of them talks of how all of them were getting out or none of them were getting out.

    9/11 was a day where we saw the worst of humanity and true evil with what those highjacks did. But part of the reason why I watch documentaries is because they’re also inspirational snapshots of the good things which people are also capable of doing to help others out.

    They all bare the emotional scars. Many of them got emotional talking about the day, talking about the aftermath and the emotional trauma of that day, talking about the flashbacks that they’ll never be able to escape. There’s the survivor’s guilt and the harrowing experience of being a firsthand witness to so much loss of life.

    There are undoubtedly many more stories of heroism and selflessness from that day, stories of risking one’s own life to help another, stories of coworkers sticking together. Unfortunately many of those stories didn’t end happily.

    In the documentary, they talk of the firefighters passing them on the stairs, trying to keep everyone calm as they trudged upward.

    I think the documentary was also a sobering reminder of the importance of appreciating the people we have. Throughout much of the documentary, there are interviews from Dale Koster, who’s wife Anne worked on the 81st floor of the North Tower. Anne suffered from asthma. Her husband chronicles the helpless feeling of watching these events unfold live, knowing how far up she was and some of her health complications. When the tower collapsed, he knew she had perished.

    As a twist in the documentary, we find out that Anne had actually survived. I think that this was an important piece of filmmaking because it invited you into one person’s agony and aguish as he worried about a loved one. Something felt by thousands of relatives that day. Dale and Anne talk of their appreciation for each other and their closeness since the attacks.

    It’s sad as I consider the small things people argue over, the things friendships end over, the things that cause strain in families. There are precious people in our lives (also, the Koster’s seemed like they had had a very good marriage before 9/11, I’m just commenting on what I was thinking during the film). We never know when someone will be taken from us.

    It’s important to appreciate and cherish the people in our lives.

    I loved this documentary. I can’t say enough good things about it. Certainly it’s shrouded in tragedy but I also think that when we see the service of people to others, that we should all be inspired to live selfless lives.

    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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  • Bring your fussy child to church day

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    Christian comedian John Crist shared this photo on Instagram this weekend that’s gone viral. The photo is a card from a church, apparently meant to be distributed to parents of fussy children, instructing them that a “connection team member” would assist them in leaving the sanctuary during worship.

    It’s a sad commentary on the American church that we shame parents for bringing their kids and their kids…acting like kids in a church service.

    If the gospels were written today, and Jesus was teaching to great multitudes and a child was fussing, would he ask the parent and child to be escorted away from his presence? In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said: “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children” (Matthew 19:14).

    A baby has just as much right to be there as you do.

    It’s unfortunate that a parent who’s tired, who’s working, who’s doing their absolute best, and on top of all of the other hassles in life, knows it’s worth it to take their young child to church, and when they do that, has to worry about the eye rolls, the murmurs, the complaints for if their child gets fussy. That should be the last place where they’re going to be criticized. Those parents should be applauded, not judged.

    Can it be annoying to hear a fussy child? Yes. Obviously. But it’s more annoying to hear a fussy adult whining about a baby. There isn’t a Biblical mandate: thou shalt wait until thine child will behave before thou shalt bring them into the Lord’s house.

    Yes, if a young child is having an absolute meltdown, of course it’s reasonable to step outside of the room for a moment. A parent has enough sense to know that. But the fact that this church had a special card printed up and ready to hand out? Yes, I realize that card compliments the parent for bringing their kid but it’s underhanded when couched in “now please leave the corporate worship service.”

    Jesus spoke to multitudes of thousands during his ministry. Those parents weren’t dropping their kids off with the babysitter. There would have been fussy children then. Other parts of the world have livestock nearby making sounds. Worship in other parts of the world is done in secret at the threat of persecution. But heaven forbid a little kid sometimes cry or speak up.

    They’ll learn. Their behavior will improve. But what’s priceless is teaching them from a young age that church is important and something that should be part of life.

    If we’re going to want to make parents feel ostracized or unwelcome because of their children, I think we need to check our own hearts in that. What do we value? Can we put up with a little bit of inconvenience so that a young child can be included in the service too?

    The church isn’t a restaurant, it’s not a movie theater. If you want to complain about a fussy child in those establishments, go ahead. But we should not approach it like our satisfaction with every visit is the supreme end of the service.

    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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    Twitter
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