Michael Clary
@dmichaelclary
Followers
11,794
Following
1,802
Media
648
Statuses
6,216
Pastor. Reformed. Conservative.
Cincinnati
Joined October 2008
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
FEMA
• 2219832 Tweets
North Carolina
• 1085458 Tweets
Joker 2
• 74814 Tweets
Dolly
• 58664 Tweets
#SmackDown
• 53114 Tweets
Oregon
• 17667 Tweets
Anda & Sky in Msia
• 11086 Tweets
Michigan State
• 10135 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
Amazon paperback:
Kindle:
Audible:
Canon+ (audio):
“Clary’s plain spoken approach is refreshing and helpful.” Michael Foster
@thisisfoster
“Michael Clary has written a profound and
15
6
62
My oldest son turned 18 this week. I wanted to give him something special that would last a lifetime.
So I asked some godly Christian men of all ages to write him a letter sharing life wisdom they'd acquired. I got 37 responses. Their answers blew me away. 🧵
255
2K
12K
My daughter’s scholarship application. Could they make their agenda more obvious?
941
2K
10K
There once was a certain kind of evangelical Christian I felt free to make fun of. I was pastoring a fast growing church in an urban environment, and a spirit of elitism had infected us. No one would correct me on it because they made fun of them too.
214
727
4K
The opening ceremony of the Olympics making fun of Christ and the Last Supper.
Is anyone out there still denying that LGBTQ is a demonic cult?
621
604
3K
Melchizedek is one of the most fascinating characters in the Bible.
He reveals who Jesus is in remarkable ways.
Melchizedek only appears 3X in the Bible (Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and Hebrews 7), but significance to the story of redemption in Christ cannot be understated.
1/
83
432
3K
A family visited my church this morning. They’ve visited several churches the last few months.
The mother told me what stood out was how many people at our church spoke to them.
That seemed odd to me. I asked, “is that unusual?”
She said in all the churches they’d visited,
182
266
3K
Watch the excitement on the faces of these Christians as they open a box full of Bibles.
Listen to their loud exuberance fall into a reverent hush as it dawns on them that they are holding God's word in their hands.
Hear what the woman says at the end, "this is what we needed
79
427
2K
Cool outreach idea my church did today.
A few guys decided to go to U of Cincinnati and give away free hot dogs and a drink if they’d simply “Ask a Christian a question.”
Posted up in a high traffic area. Tons of people came. It was simple and fun.
I had people ask me,
82
243
2K
These are the sorts of men that deserve our respect and admiration. Men who finished well and stayed true. Men of whom the world is not worthy. By God's grace, I want to follow in their footsteps and be like them. SDG
114
80
2K
Jacob is right. This church isn't loving people. They're lying to people. How can so many Christians miss this?
Modern Christians act like love means simply blanket affirmation of everyone's sexual desires. That just isn't true. Stop perverting the scriptures and calling it
141
597
2K
Meet Stephen.
Here he is in 2020, volunteering for Bernie Sanders at the U of Cincinnati campus.
At the time, he was an atheist, secular humanist, Democratic socialist, depressed, alcoholic, porn addicted drug abuser.
His life was a disaster.
98
299
2K
So we snapped another photo together. This time, he’s with his pastor and his new brothers and sisters in Christ.
Radical conversions of 35 year old men like this are rare, but nothing is too hard for God!
50
67
2K
I finished up premarital counseling for a couple last night and they said something that brought me to tears.
The woman has been in my church for over ten years but the man is from a different church. As they started dating, he expected to spend a lot of time convincing her of
88
171
2K
This past Tuesday, while on family vacation, I got to witness something beautiful that’s been 15 years in the making.
Around 2008, my sister’s first husband abandoned her with a six year old daughter and twin infant sons.
71
244
2K
Christians and Hindus do not believe in the same God.
Waheguru (if he actually exists) is a false god.
The scriptures say, "what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons." 1 Cor 10:20
"I believe in God, the Father
602
164
2K
Fathers matter.
If you had a good dad, let him know he matters. If you didn’t, put your trust in our perfect Father in heaven who will never let us down.
One faithful father changed an entire family. Good fathers do that. They can make legacies that last generations.
37
65
2K
Two practical markers of a healthy church:
1. Men singing
2. Babies crying
51
191
1K
So I repented. I repented of my arrogance. I repented of my self-righteous attitude towards "that old time religion" that sustained my grandparents who had so much less than me. I repented of looking down on faithful, older Christians who had passed on a legacy to me.
4
58
1K
I preached a weird sermon yesterday on Jesus descending to the realm of the dead.
There was an unbelieving woman there who visited for the first time.
I've been preaching through First Peter. My text was 3:18-22. I talked about evil spirits committing sexual immorality with
123
145
1K
Elitist Christianity cannot survive the rigors of hard discipleship. But my grandparents did. And they handed me a legacy to follow. There are many points of doctrinal disagreement that I would have with my grandfathers. But these were men who suffered & knew how to suffer well.
9
77
1K
How we got into this mess:
1. Gnosticism: "Who you are on the inside is all that matters.”
2. Feminism: “Women can do anything men can do.”
3. Contraception: “I want sex without babies.”
4. Abortion: "I’m willing to kill to have sex without babies.”
5. Obergefell: "let’s
140
288
1K
The pastor of our sister church told me this story. Some leaders were meeting at church a few weeks ago and they ordered pizza. One man invited the delivery guy to come to church the next day. The sermon that day was all about God’s forgiveness.
35
157
1K
It’s clear at this point that Disney has dug themselves a hole they can’t get out of.
This interview is for the upcoming “Snow White” - but with a “modern edge.” Wow. Innovative.
The young actress says…
“It’s no longer 1937” (cuz we’re so much better than they were!)
“She’s
“It’s no longer 1937… She’s not gonna be saved by the prince.”
How many billions will this Snow White remake cost Disney?
7K
2K
34K
123
192
1K
A friend who is a Christian educator just sent me a message about public schools.
He said a local PCA pastor in his city recently put his kids in the most progressive school in his large city.
This school literally has litter boxes in elementary hallways for kids who identify
846
120
1K
My wife works for a pregnancy resource center. She did an ultrasound on a woman a few months ago who ended up deciding to abort her baby.
Yesterday, she came back with a new baby in her arms to get supplies.
She’d changed her mind.
Stories like this happen all the time there.
47
85
1K
The Apostles' Creed says:
Jesus Christ "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, descended into hell, on the third day rose again from the dead."
The phrase "descended into hell" is the most disputed phrase of the Apostles' Creed, especially amongst
119
165
1K
Genesis 3 gives us Satan's basic playbook.
1. "Did God really say?" - deny God's word (v1)
2. "You will not surely die" - deny God's judgment (v4)
3. "You will be like God" - deny God's authority (v5)
Rinse. Repeat.
28
264
1K
My mom told me a story once. When he was filling out paperwork or writing something and didn't know how to spell a word, he would remember where that word was in his KJV bible, then look it up to see how it was spelled.
7
49
1K
I share all these things because my arrogance was cultivated in an evangelical subculture that produces a spirit of elitism. And I wanted to ascend the ladder and reach achieve notoriety within that subculture. What I have learned is that subculture is actually sub-Christian.
8
40
951
This is a general scholarship app that isn’t tied to a particular school.
39
24
883
God's love: "On your worst day, God loves you exponentially more than you could dare to think he loves you on your best day. That sentence, the one I just wrote, that is the one to remember out of this whole letter. Really."
3
108
929
In the course of one month, this man went from pizza delivery guy to top evangelist at his church.
Stories like this keep me going. God is sovereign over who delivers your pizza.
Pastoring a church is the best job on earth!
19
12
909
This happened to my truck yesterday evening from about 8:45-9PM:
* four young men,
* in broad daylight,
* in full view of my whole neighborhood where dozens of families live,
* spent 15 minutes climbing up and standing on my hood, trying to smash my windshield,
* less than 20
192
125
885
I learned an important ministry lesson years ago from an unbeliever I was trying to evangelize.
I was on staff with CRU & he was a brilliant & thoughtful student. Over the next few years, I shared the gospel with him many times, answering objections & using all the tools. 1/10
54
204
877
I just noticed another CRU friend from college now says “exvangelical” in his bio.
So many of my Christian friends from those days have now left the faith. It makes me sad. I’m seeing a pattern, though.
For all the progressive pearl clutching about how conservatives are just
237
116
882
The bride and groom should not write their own wedding vows.
71
22
870
But then it began to dawn on me: I was standing on the shoulders of giants. My grandfather was one of those country preachers. His provided for his family by working a physically demanding job in a steel mill his whole life. His family was poor, but he did what needed to be done.
2
27
843
I'm sure many will disagree, but I think mockery and ridicule is our most potent weapon to protect kids against LGBTQ propaganda.
Honestly, can we not laugh at the absurdity of a man dressing up as a girl? Can we not mock a man who breaks his marriage vows to play pretend?
145
56
773
A single woman from my church moved away many years ago, but we've stayed in touch. Her singleness has been a massive trial for her, and she's struggled with my teaching on the subject.
She's now over 50 years old - a godly woman who desires marriage but it hasn't happened for
32
15
749
The church planting craze of the 2000s and 2010s was a mess. We're feeling the downstream effects of it now.
🧵
85
76
734
In my office, I have this poem framed that my great-grandfather ("Popo Galley") wrote on Sept. 1st, 1928, about his call to ministry. He didn't really retire, he just slowed down. He remained faithful to that calling for the rest of his life. He died on July 1st, 2011.
12
29
727
He lived to be 102 years old and was healthy and energetic up to the very end. In his 90s, he would take fruit baskets to the "shut ins" of his church who were much younger than him. He married his wife she was 14. He remained faithful to her and they enjoyed 74 years together.
3
24
718
He stayed true to the Lord and to his calling for 80 years. EIGHTY YEARS!
And here I was, three or four years into my new church plant, attracting a few hundred people, feeling like I'd accomplished something. Feeling superior to men like my grandfather and great grandfather.
1
26
710
He had only received a 6th grade education. He didn't know how to read very well. He listened to the KJV bible on audio cassette on his 45 minute commutes to work. Up and back, every day, listening to the Bible. King James! Scripture got under his skin.
4
26
697
Priorities: "Your priorities are demonstrated by your actions. The actions you do (and don’t do) are evidence of your true priorities. You may say you value something, but unless there is evidence in your lifestyle, you’re self-deceived. Talk is cheap. Show me."
1
80
680
A small group of dedicated mothers at my church started a homeschool co-op called "Raising Oaks" a year ago with 4 moms and 12 kids.
Nothing fancy. Currently, they meet one morning a week for a few hours.
This morning, they started year two. The co-op has more than doubled in
55
81
684
One plain spoken sermon, that clearly laid out God's wrath against sin and the grace of the cross, had more power than my years of trying to reach him by the human means of appealing to his intellect.
In other words, the foolishness of God is wiser than men.
-end
46
37
669
How to perform a Jesus Juke in Four Simple Steps
1. Identify a natural human good that God gave for our benefit. For example, money, marriage, children, homes, governments, nations, etc.
2. Swap out the natural good for an abstracted, spiritualized equivalent. For example,
42
148
661
An international student visited church today for the first time. I'd guess he's around 20 years old. He lives right down the street.
After waiting around to speak to me, he came up and introduced himself. From our conversation, I got the sense that he's not yet a believer. But
56
104
660
Trusting God: "Don’t expect anyone except God to ever give you what only God can give. Putting that kind of pressure on a person is unfair, and will crush the relationship."
Church: "Know your pastor and let him know you. I can’t stress this enough."
2
57
653
My great-grandfather was the same way. He only received a 3rd grade education. He planted a church deep in the hills of WV and built a church building for it on his property. He ministered there for many years, preaching from his KJV Bible.
3
24
633
Should Christians smash idols or just "preach the gospel?"
That's a false dilemma, because ultimately they're the same thing.
234
47
613
One of my friends is taking a stand against a Pride promoting DEI initiative at his work. He's refusing to participate.
He's a top-performer at his work. He represents roughly 1/3 of their overall sales. He's very valuable to the company, and they know he's willing to quit if it
40
50
637
The pastorate is a masculine office. Here’s why.
Pastors who speak the truth of scripture boldly are putting themselves in harm’s way for the sake of God's people. Godly pastors run towards this danger, not away from it, because that’s how you protect the sheep.
A faithful
775
104
593
She presented a framed certificate to him while our whole family was together. We were all in tears. This little girl could have become a man-hating angry feminist, but instead she grew up to be a godly, humble, Christian young woman who can’t wait to start a family of her own.
16
10
595
On Good Friday, Jesus was crucified between two thieves. Three were condemned. Two were guilty. One was innocent.
The first criminal did NOT repent. He received justice.
The second criminal DID repent. He received mercy.
The third man, Jesus, was innocent.
These three men
21
180
563
Scripture: "Read through the proverbs. They are written from the perspective of a father to his son. Many of these things are likely ideas that your father has attempted to impart on you, but they take on a different weight when coming directly from the word of God. All of the
3
49
563
She wrote him this poem:
All I remember was his back walking away,
leaving us all in his past.
All my life I wanted him to love me. Begged him to want me
But he didn’t want to.
You never walk away
You never forget about me
You take care of me
You love me
6
10
559
Self-control (3): "Men with self control are a constant benefit to their wives, children, friends, and communities. Think of the best men you know - they possess a sense of calm and control over themselves. They are steady, solid, sure people who anchor those around them."
2
50
541
The people we felt free to mock were conservative, uneducated, backwoods fundies who still read the KJV. They lacked the theological sophistication and cultural insight I had acquired while doing campus ministry and studying at seminary.
16
37
531
I would not have admitted this at the time, but deep down, I felt superior to my hometown people and their country religion. My ministry "success" was at least partly driven by a desire to separate myself from them and prove that "I'm not one of those fundie Christians."
3
25
521
Self-control (1): "If you hear nothing else in this letter, seek out self control. Pray for it, love its, and look for its fruit in godly older men around you. The more you look, the more you'll see its fruit in those who cultivate it and destruction in those who do not."
2
40
520
I came from the hills of WV. Appalachian, born and bred. I knew these people well because I grew up around them. But I had moved on. I was better than them. I was more learned and cultured. I had "seen the world" and they hadn't.
4
23
512
Growing up with a father in the home is the single most important predictor of future success.
In 1960, about 10% of children grew up without a father in the home. It’s up to 40% today.
To win the future, we need to win at home. Men, let’s take the lead.
16
96
502
I once knew a church planter who apostatized, abandoned the faith, and shipwrecked the faith of many in his church as he became increasingly progressive and hostile to Christianity.
This is now his cover photo.
At this point, it’s so common it’s cliche. He’s an evangelist for
142
42
491
I'm on chapter 7 right now of
@megbasham
's book. Should finish it this weekend.
I've read some of the back and forth with various critics who take exception various details and claims. Whatever. Gnats and camels.
My question is this: can anyone reasonably deny the book's
33
63
497
He pulled my friend aside after church & asked him, “is it OK that I keep bringing all these people to church?”
This man’s joy at finding forgiveness in Christ and his love for his family has turned him into a wonderful evangelist.
1
7
472
My sermon that day was on Luke 24, "The Road to Emmaus." I remember where he was sitting, head down, clearly in tears.
That day, he confessed his sin, repented, and committed to following Jesus as Lord.
3
9
469
Some stats about divorce 🧵
(This is just a sampling of data and there’s plenty of nuance that could be added)
* The average marriage length is 8.2 years.
* An estimated 41% of first marriages end in divorce.
* The average age of people going through a first-time divorce is 30
24
120
449
A member of my church is from an Asian country where Christianity is illegal. As we've been working on some practical leadership decisions, he sent me this message:
"In my home country, you risk going to jail to listen to a solid sermon. So whatever decision you make, we will
11
42
459
I stared into the face of unmitigated evil and Ohio's Issue 1 is what I saw.
Don't be fooled by the word games and sophistry. This is a bloody amendment.
They saved the worst for last. Approving this change to our state's constitution would "always allow an unborn child to be
36
147
457
I was a successful church planter in an urban cultural context in Cincinnati. My sending organization flew me around the country to share my success stories and train younger planters in the "way it's done."
3
19
443
Diligence: "Start with small faithfulness in tasks and grow strong in them; from there God will give you more you can grow in."
"Some lessons require that we keep the scars we had to earn from learning them."
"When you are tired, learn to rest. Never quit."
1
36
443
Piece by piece you collected me up off the ground where he abandons things
Piece by piece you filled the holes that he burned in me at six years old
4
10
437
I did a little social experiment this weekend.
Set up a book table at a Christian conference. Left out a cardboard box and wrote the word “cash” on it.
Did anyone steal from it?
No. This was a conference of conservative Christians. I didn’t worry at all.
This is what a high
12
28
443
I'm not convinced all the baptists who defect to Presbyterian churches are due new convictions regarding infant baptism.
I just don't think most people operate at a level of theological sophistication that's sufficiently able to grasp all the doctrinal issues at stake.
Most
101
52
428
@jchasedavis
I planted an inner city church in mostly black neighborhood. I did the work. Read books by black authors. Networked with black pastors. Hosted “honest conversation about race” events at church. Hired black staff when possible.
I finally realized it wasn’t a “gospel centered”
12
27
430
Once my niece turned 18, she began the process of legally changing her name to Akers, my bro-in-laws name, to honor him for being the dad she needed. He thought it was still months from being final but she pulled some strings to get it completed in time for Fathers Day.
1
10
422
Our church recently did a college outreach where we passed out hotdogs & shared the gospel as ppl passed by.
Stephen pulled me aside to show me a photo from 3 years ago, where he stood in the exact same spot to campaign for Bernie.
Now, he was sharing Christ like a man on fire.
1
5
414
The change in his life has been glorious to watch. He is humble, repentant, and full of joy. He’s in a men’s group reading classics like Augustine and Calvin.
He’s mortifying sin like Owen, quoting Bible like Bunyan, and delighting in Christ like Edwards.
3
7
405
Self-control (2): "Men have a particular propensity to let their passions get the best of them, and you cannot focus on the characteristics given to older men without first learning to control your emotions, thoughts, actions, and words."
2
23
405
Their letters were packed with centuries worth of experience and wisdom. So I printed them all out, put them into a notebook, and gave them to him on his birthday.
He was overjoyed to received it. So he sat down right away and carefully read each letter.
4
20
394
In this clip,
@jdgreear
, pastor and former president of the SBC, talks about appointing "women" and "people of color" to committees in order to provide direction and accountability for our institutions.
Why? Because we can't see our "blind spots" without them.
Three
119
87
392
There is no such thing as "gay marriage."
Marriage is an exclusive, lifelong union, between one man and one woman, and God joins them together (Matt 19:6). God created marriage this way "from the beginning" (Matt 19:4). Humans have no right to change it.
God permitted divorce
113
68
376
Resilience (2): "You are never stuck. You have the power to make decisions. And you have power to make different decisions. You have to live with the consequences of the decisions you’ve made (or neglected to make). But don’t give in to the lie that you’re stuck. You’re not."
4
37
375
Some fascinating stats about singleness, loneliness, dating, and marriage, with some concluding counsel for singles at the end. 🧵
21
83
363
Child molesters have figured out they can get away with anything as long as they do it in public and call it “pride.”
Parents will even bring their kids to them and call it “diversity.”
Churches will even celebrate it and call it “love.”
This is our world.
53
98
364
Meanwhile, he began to see the value of the evangelical upbringing his mother gave him. He began to appreciate his mother’s faith he’d rejected years before. He began to feel grateful for the cultural Christianity he’d experienced in his Kentucky childhood.
2
8
364
Their lives were marked by a kind of masculine love, joy, strength, biblical knowledge, self control, and maturity that inspired him.
He said they were like a “different species of human.” This gave him a vision of who he could be if he followed Christ.
3
8
361
There is no good reason for a Christian to attend any kind of ceremony for gay/trans couples.
At the very least, it bears false witness about marriage, which violates the 9th commandment.
76
30
345
His response made me realize that this gift was much larger than I intended. These men took seriously the request to pass down their wisdom to a younger man.
So I went back through each letter and extracted a few of my favorite nuggets to share here, arranged by topic.
3
16
357
Toughness: "Life is extremely hard. And that’s a good thing. Take heart. Your pain has been/is/will always be a gift from God meant to make you more like his Son."
1
34
354
Decisiveness: "You can’t steer a parked car. Planning is important, but too much planning can get in the way of action. If you’re going to make a mistake, do it at full speed. Aggressive action can overcome a lot of mistakes. I’ve seen much potential wasted from inactivity."
2
32
353