Pastor Matt Shackelford
613 posts
@Matthew_Shack
Husband, father, pastor @mycentralchurch
I had the opportunity to sit down with @TrevorSheatz and @AshleySheatz to talk about the marriage testimony that broke the internet. I encourage you to watch the full video before drawing any conclusions. youtu.be/Dc4Jm7UnMg8?si…
An open letter to @benshapiro, @andrewklavan, and @michaeljknowles: You have publicly wronged a good man, Trevor Sheatz. Each of you is a conservative leader. Many of us respect you for your contributions to public life in different ways. However, you have failed to honor the truth in this instance, and you have brought great shame to a young husband and his wife. You have held them up publicly to severe scorn, and people have sadly followed suit. Here is the truth, men. Ashley Sheatz has shared her conversion testimony for years. As one example, the screenshot below is from an article she wrote in May 2020 for a website I edited (it was called Reformanda and is no longer operating). I refer you to it for clarity. Of her own volition, Ashley shared about her deliverance from promiscuity, the occult, and doing hard drugs. These things wrecked and ruined her life. Again, Ashley was clear as crystal about her sexual sin, and said more about it in the 2020 article she wrote than Trevor did in the X post you tore to shreds on air. She has publicly talked about her deliverance from sexual sin on numerous occasions. (Nor did Trevor call his wife derogatory words--it's really disappointing that you all collectively presented him as doing so.) Ashley does all this--from what I know--not to be salacious or get clicks. (Nor does Trevor.) She does so to warn others about the destructiveness of sin, and even more than this, the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus. Ashley, with her husband Trevor, is a born again believer. I won't speak for her, but as a friend of her and Trevor, I know that she lives to magnify the mercy of God in her life. This letter is not written in fury or pique. I write it in love to each of you men to ask you to correct the record and consider the ungraciousness of your remarks about Trevor Sheatz. You are each a respected public figure; your words get carry a great deal of weight, far more than I have or Trevor has or Ashley has. You have wronged a good man, and you simply do not have your facts right about Ashley Sheatz's willingness to testify publicly to the power of Christ over her sin. You have passed judgment on a sweet young couple without taking the time to back up your pronouncements with research. In sum, you need the same forgiveness we all do. You need the blood of Jesus to cover you. You do not need to be a slightly better person, or a more committed devotee of religion. You need to be born again, to trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and to repent of all your sin. You and I are no different; we are great sinners all, but Christ is a great Savior. May God work in your hearts to lead you to this place if he has not. Best, Owen Strachan
My wife was formerly promiscuous. I was a virgin. She was then radically born-again. Committed to church, evangelized constantly, Puritan books in her bedroom, prayer journals, grief over past sexual sin, etc. We got to know each other well for over a year, dated for four months, engaged for two and a half, and didn't sin sexually with one another. Our first kiss with each other was at the altar on our wedding day (reaction pic attached!). We've been married for over five years now, and she's been the most wonderful and godly wife, mother to our three children, and homemaker you could imagine. She's more pure than most virgins, as biblical purity has less to with past sins (though they certainly matter) and more to do with one's current posture of the heart and daily decisions to honor the Lord (Matt. 5:8). We're far too quick to forget the story of the woman labeled as a known "sinner" (likely a prostitute) in Luke 7:36-50 who was washing Jesus' feet with her tears while kissing them too. The Pharisees were shocked that Jesus let a public sinner do this. Jesus responded with a parable about debts being forgiven and ended with this powerful conclusion: "Her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little" (Luke 7:47). Everyone seems to highlight the benefits of virginity, and it certainly is a blessing. But we forget to highlight the benefits of being forgiven much as well. My wife knows the depths of Jesus' forgiveness more than most people, enabling her to more easily live out a life of passionate love for her Savior. A woman or man's past sexual sin matters. But what matters far more when it comes to deciding who to marry is if the person is truly born again, if their repentance is real, if they truly have a heart for Christ, if they truly follow Jesus and obey his commands. "God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world — what is viewed as nothing — to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence. It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us — our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, — in order that, as it is written: 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'" (1 Cor. 1:27-31) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!" (2 Cor. 5:17)
If someone argues that a former promiscuous woman is "damaged goods" and questions whether a Christian young man should marry her, remember Rahab. She was a Canaanite prostitute but became a mother in the lineage of Jesus. God redeemed her, cleansed her, and Salmon married her.
JOY IS BACK. Matt Shackelford is a very gifted preacher and a faithful brother. He'll speak on “The Mindset of the Gospel: Unstoppable Joy” at the One Gospel conference. Joy is non-negotiable for Christians! Join us: onegospel.net
When life gives you lemons... ⛓️
