Jacob Crouch, Author at Refcast

Volunteer Mums

By Jacob Crouch — 4 months ago

I’m not about to write a book on the proper technique for keeping mums alive. It was just a seed planted in good soil. Honestly, there’s just not much to say about the sower. And so it is with evangelism. We throw the seed, and God grows the seed. Paul shifts the credit off of himself and Apollos by saying, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor 3:6-7). Do you hear that? “Only God.”

When we bought our house a few years ago, we noticed a nice retaining wall in the backyard that had some shrubs and plants scattered throughout. It was during the winter season, so most things were lying dormant. But when the Spring came, we were pleasantly surprised to find lilies, indigo, red clover. Beautiful shades of red, blue, white, and green. This year, when we looked out, we noticed a plant growing that we hadn’t noticed before. It was a healthy, beautiful white mum. What we realized was that at some point, probably a potted mum had reached the end of its life, and it had been dumped into the retaining wall. We had nothing to do with this plant surviving, and the previous owners probably didn’t know that it had found new life. It’s a beautiful addition to the greenery, but these volunteer mums also encourage me in evangelism.
Sometimes we can get lost in our heads. We want to share the gospel, but we’re scared. We want to talk about Christ, but what if we don’t have all the answers? We love the idea of evangelism, but it all seems so hard. And then we see these volunteer mums. Nothing fancy.
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In Honor of Fall

By Jacob Crouch — 4 months ago

God’s perfect order in the universe is a reminder that God is able to uphold His word. He made days and nights and seasons to happen in perfect routine throughout all of human history as a blazing reminder that He can, and will, faithfully bring His word to pass.

The air cools, the leaves fall, and the heat of the Mississippi summer begins to fade. Fall is here. My son, trying to explain his experience of the season’s arrival, said, “I feel like my whole chest is full. Like everything is happy. Like… pumpkin patch.” I get it! It’s hard to explain the joy that fills the heart when the hard summer leaves and the gentle weather of Fall shows up. I love the Fall.
I love the holiday season. Thanksgiving and the anticipation of Christmas. I love the smell of fire in the neighborhood and the yards covered in leaves. I love the piles of leaves too, with kids buried underneath. I love cool walks and long sleeves. My heart is even lifted up in meditation and praise more easily when Fall comes around. I love the look of the trees. There’s always a moment that my mind recognizes that something is different. The leaves have been slowly falling, but one day I see it. It’s wonderful.
And God made it. He made the seasons. He did it, “in the beginning.” “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night.
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Quit Playing Games With Sin

By Jacob Crouch — 4 months ago

The devil doesn’t want you to think that way about sin. He doesn’t want you to know about the “deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:13). He wants you to hide your sin. He wants you to secretly love your sin. He definitely doesn’t want you to kill it. He wants to convince you that all will be well if you just cut back on sin. He’s going to hide from you that sin is crouching at the door. He’s going to let you get away with sin and stop opposing you while you persist in sin. He wants to lull you to sleep. He loves a good hypocrite.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you… Colossians 3:5
When God calls you to deal with your sin, He has very specific instructions. He doesn’t tell you to maim sin. He doesn’t tell you to wound sin grievously. He doesn’t tell you to lock sin in a box and never look at it again. He tells you to kill it. We’ve got to quit playing games with sin.
The Games We Play
What are the games we play with sin? We hide sin from others in order to appear better than we are. We put sin away for a while and only entertain it in certain seasons. We disguise sin as a virtue. We dress it up in new clothes and call it by a new name so as to persist in it respectably. But these are the games that must stop if anyone is ever to see the Lord (Heb 12:14).
Sin Will Kill You
Sin is dangerous. Sin does not have light consequences. Before we come to Christ, we come to an understanding that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). John writes that the one who makes a practice of sinning has not been born of God (1 John 3:9).
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I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow

By Jacob Crouch — 4 months ago

He refines me and causes me to loosen my grip on this world that I might cling more closely to Him. He causes me to stop trusting in myself and causes me to trust more fully in Him. He answers the prayer for growth that I might say with the Psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25).

I asked the Lord that I might growIn faith and love and ev’ry grace,Might more of His salvation know,And seek more earnestly His face
I have often prayed a prayer like this. I need to grow in faith and love and every grace. I am weak, and I need God’s help. Praise God that we have the promise that we may come to Him to “receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16).
‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray,And He, I trust, has answered prayer,But it has been in such a wayAs almost drove me to despair
God answers these prayers. When we pray according to His will “He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15). But I often have a way that I think God should answer these prayers.
I hoped that in some favored hourAt once He’d answer my requestAnd, by His love’s constraining pow’r,Subdue my sins and give me rest
The way that I want these prayers answered is with ease and rest. I’m being noble to ask, right? The least God can do is make it easy for me. Surely He will pour that grace out on me in such a way that *poof* magically makes my sin disappear. Right?
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Church Discipline is Not Fun, But It’s Good

By Jacob Crouch — 4 months ago

So no, church discipline is not fun. It is hard and uncomfortable and often messy. But is is good. It is good for the one caught in sin, and it is good for the church as a whole. And as we seek to be faithful to the word of God, the world watches. May we be a repentant people. May God be honored in His church.

When you hear the words “church discipline” and “excommunication”, what comes to your mind? Maybe you grew up Catholic and they bring a variety of thoughts to your head. Or maybe you’ve grown up in a typical Protestant church and have never seen it done or heard it taught. Maybe you’ve heard of church hurt stories or abuse, and you don’t know what to do with church discipline. In light of all this, I want to say something: Church discipline is not fun, but it’s good. I want to give you three reasons why I think church discipline is good.
But before I do that, I need to say this first: Church discipline is biblical. In Matthew 18, Jesus teaches us that there is a proper sequence of events when administering church discipline. Go to the person one-on-one, then take others with you, then take it to the church. This is the proper flow. And if someone doesn’t respond to these pleas for repentance, then it is the responsibility of the church to carry out excommunication. I say all of this to say that church discipline is good, even without my three reasons. Church discipline is good, because God made it. And because God is also good and wise, following Him actually is beneficial! Now on to my reasons!
Church Discipline is Good for the Sinner
When church discipline is carried out correctly, it is really good for the one who is caught in sin. Imagine what a lack of church discipline communicates.
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It Is Good

By Jacob Crouch — 4 months ago

The promises of God are Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). That foundation is one that is sturdy. It will hold us. It is not overwhelmed by the waves. The river may rage, but the bottom remains unchanged. We may feel like the billows go over our heads, but be of good cheer, our great foundation is good.

They then addressed themselves to the water; and entering, Christian began to sink. And crying out to his good friend, Hopeful, he said, “I sink in deep waters, the billows go over my head; all his waves go over me.” Then said the other, “Be of good cheer, my brother; I feel the bottom, and it is good.”John Bunyan—The Pilgrim’s Progress
When we reach the day of our death, what will our response be? That day is coming, don’t doubt it. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb 9:27). John Bunyan describes this day like crossing a great river. And like he wrote for Christian, for some, the waters of that river will seem deep and terrifying. I’d wager that for most, when we face the idea of our own mortality, we still feel the knee-jerk reaction to fear that old enemy. I’d like to think that I’d handle it better than others, but I know myself too well. I know that apart from the grace of God, I will tremble on that day. And if it weren’t for the strong hand of God that upholds me, I know that I could never make it safely over on my own. I want to highlight the encouragement that Hopeful gives to Christian in his hour of despair: “I feel the bottom, and it is good.”
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The Best Encouragement You Can Give

By Jacob Crouch — 5 months ago

Let’s be those who give the word, not some cheap alternative. People need real encouragement, they don’t need self help tips. We need to give that which is, “like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces” (Jer 23:29). God’s word is the encouragement that people need.

Have you ever wanted to encourage someone, but you just don’t know what to say? You want to have a good word for someone who is sad, or struggling, or having a hard time, but the words just won’t come. Well, sometimes you should be quiet and not say anything that isn’t “good for building up” (Eph 4:29). But if you are gonna share something, let me tell you the best encouragement you can give.
The best encouragement you can give is not dependent on you being the most clever or the most unique. The best encouragement you can give doesn’t need to be witty or inherently profound. The best encouragement you can give actually doesn’t rely a whole lot on you. What am I talking about? The best encouragement you can give is God’s word!
God’s word is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword (Heb 4:12) and is wielded by the Spirit of truth (Eph 6:17).
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May I Share the Gospel With You?

By Jacob Crouch — 5 months ago

None of our good works could save us from the wrath to come. God will read from books containing all that we have ever done, and He will judge us based on what is written in the books. It will become plain on that day that there are none good, no not one. But God, being rich in mercy, knew of our helpless estate. He came on a rescue mission to save us from His wrath. Jesus came as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.

In the beginning (a good place to start right?), God created the heavens and the earth. When I talk about God, it’s important to know who I am talking about. God is the God of the Bible. He is the creator and sustainer of all things. He is the high and holy One who inhabits eternity, and who orders all things at His will. He is in the heavens and does all that He pleases. And He is also the King. He is the One who gives righteous laws and decrees, and the One to whom we must all give an account.
Which brings me to us. We were created by this holy God. And from the very beginning of our existence, we have sinned against God. He gives us righteous and holy and good laws, and we disobey Him. We rebel against Him as our King. And whereas He is eternal, we are finite. We will die. It is appointed for man to die once, and then the judgement. We have broken God’s law, and we will have to stand before Him when He judges all mankind.
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Stop Trying to Separate Friends!

By Jacob Crouch — 5 months ago

God’s Spirit is not at odds with God’s Word. God’s Spirit never contradicts the Word, and God’s Word never hinders the Spirit. If you want One, then you have to take the other. They’re a package deal. So stop trying to separate friends!

I’ve heard that there are people who are trying to cause a rift between two of my friends. People have been saying that these two just can’t work together. They’ve been saying that you have to choose between one of them, but you can’t have both. They’ve also been saying that they’re actually just too different to be in the same place at the same time. I’ve just got to clear this up, all of these things are untrue!
Oh wait, did I forget to mention who these friends were? I’m talking about the Spirit of God and the Word of God.
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Not Perfect, but Pressing On

By Jacob Crouch — 5 months ago

You are not perfect. Own it. See your deep weakness….We acknowledge our sin, and then we press on. We don’t roll over and give up. We don’t hide our faces. Instead we draw nearer to Christ through the cross. We pick up our Bibles and show up to the gathering of the saints. We press on.

As I hung up the phone, I realized how impatient I had sounded. Yes, this was the third phone call about the same thing. Yes, they were unwilling to process paperwork that had been previously submitted. Yes, it was going to take more time out of my day to do a frustratingly simple task. And in the middle of it, instead of having my mind set on things above, I decided to get frustrated. Just one example of how I’m not like Christ. I hate it, but it’s true: I’m not perfect.
And to be fair, neither are you. You might say, “You don’t know me!” I don’t have to. God has let me into an open secret: “None is righteous, no, not one…No one does good, not even one” (Rom 3:10, 12). You and I belong to the category of “none” in that sentence. And we belong in the “all” of the next group: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Each of us have sinned against a holy God, and none of us are where we would like to be. We have not been perfect.
“But,” you protest, “Jesus saved me.” And by God’s grace, I pray that’s true. And yes, God’s grace to Christians is that we are a “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17), “dead to sin” (Rom 6:11), and now “slaves of righteousness” (Rom 6:17). Real sanctification is happening for every true Christian. The Christian’s relationship with sin is different now. But even still, until heaven Christians have to deal with a flesh that wars against the Spirit (Gal 5:17). And though we are being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29), we are not completely like Christ yet. Even still it is right to say, “I am not perfect.”
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