Joy Beyond Description - Matthew 25:21

“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’” - Matthew 25:21

To hear our almighty God speak these words to us presents an indescribable glory reserved only for those whom God takes extreme pleasure in. On the day of His return are these the words we will hear? Were we to take the greatest pleasures of the world and aptly describe them in the most articulate way possible we would never even come close to what God has in store for us. “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’” - 1 Corinthians 2:9. The joy of the Lord resides in our eternal salvation in heaven.
A joy beyond human description can only be a joy that we share with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Christ as the cornerstone of our faith we will never know such joy. This is what Jesus brought to the manger. This is what Jesus brought to Calvary. This is what Jesus raised from the grave on Easter Sunday, a joy beyond description. Let us all share in the joy and the glory that began in a humble manger on Christmas Day!
                                                       Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
                                                       Let earth receive her King;
                                                       Let every heart prepare Him room,
                                                      And heav’n and nature sing,
                                                      And heav’n and nature sing,
                                                      And heav’n, and heav’n, and nature sing.

God’s Merciful Justice - Habakkuk 3:2

O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy. Habakkuk 3:2
                                       

The death toll continues to climb as Islamic Jihadists take one life after another. And like Habakkuk we cry out, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?” Habakkuk 1:2. And just as in Habakkuk’s day our nation is as foul and sinful as was Judah. When we wonder how much worse things can become we find a greater threat on the horizon: Islamic terror. We often think of Russia as being our greatest national security threat just as in the prophet’s day when Assyria seemed to be the threat of the moment. Yet God’s plan involved bringing Babylon to the forefront. It seems that perhaps God has also seen fit to bring radical Islam to the forefront in our time.
What we must remember is God’s infinite mercy. No matter how terrible the events that take place in our time. No matter how harsh the apparent wrath of God may be for us. We must remember three things. (1) We, as a nation, have abandoned God; it is not the other way around. (2) The world around us has always been the purview of Satan and his demons, and (3) it is incumbent upon us to return to God. “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” - 2 Chronicles 7:14.
The NY Daily News published it’s headline on December 3rd, 2015 - “God Isn’t Fixing This.” The paper’s point was that prayer is useless in the fight against violence. Prayer is never useless; we have become useless without prayer. Look at our schools, our culture, our government, and our place in the world. Prayer is not the problem; not praying enough is! Despite the News’s headline God is indeed fixing this, although not in the way they would expect . . . and perhaps not in the way we would either. If God is using the modern Babylonians to punish us for abandoning Him then nothing we will ever do will stop the onslaught. We must return to Him. This is His command to us. And we must pray! Then and only then He will be quick to forgive us and heal our land.

A Thanksgiving Prayer- Matthew 26:11

“For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.” - Matthew 26:11

Our sovereign Lord, Jesus Christ had long ago declared that we will have the poor with us forever. No charitable man-contrived effort will ever undo the will of God Almighty. (For more on how man-contrived efforts work out against the will of God see Genesis 11:1-8) Speaking of the Old Testament we see that here too God has informed us that we will indeed have the poor with us always. “For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’” - Deuteronomy 15:11. So the poor are with us forever. And therein lies the Christian’s commission to the needy: we are to open our hands to them!
It is easy to rest beside the security and fat of our own hearths on Thanksgiving Day but are we fulfilling our duty to the needy from the comfort of our tables? What have we done for them?
 “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” - Matthew 25:40. Have we indeed said to ourselves, “I will do whatever I can for these people during the rest of the year but on this day . . . I will not?” Shall we now say, “On any other day but this one?”
Honoring our God and risen Savior is paramount in the life of a Christian and we honor Him when we follow His simple but often times perplexing command, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” - 1 John 4:11.
Today, as we celebrate the provisions of common grace that God has granted all of us, let us also share our abundance with those less fortunate. Write a check; send a bag of groceries; open your doors; set another plate at your table; volunteer at a food bank or local church serving the homeless, but most of all - open your hearts to those in need. Yes, we will have the poor with us forever but they need not go without a gesture of true Christian kindness on a day that we will be giving thanks to God.

The Prayer Life - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

 
 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

We do many things in the course of a day that we must do. We do many that we want to do. We do many that we need to do, but how often do we do the things we should do? As I thought about my prayer life a while ago I sat down in a quiet place away from all the usual daily distractions and pondered the question: Do I pray as often as I should? In the Book of Daniel we are told, “ . . . he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” - Daniel 6:10. Psalm 55:17 states, “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.” Is three times a day truly the standard by which we should be judging the fervency of our prayer life?
In our title verse Paul seems to put forth a greater standard for prayer, one that certainly trumps the Old Testament standard. Paul’s submission is that we continually keep the name of God on our lips. I believer the apostle had good reason for his stand on prayer.
When coming to God with our words we must do so in a reverent and proper manner. “I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; be merciful to me according to Your word.” - Psalm 119:58. God Himself commands us to come to Him in this most holy way. “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” - Jeremiah 29:13.
But how often? Again, Paul answers us in the most exacting way - “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God . . .” - Philippians 4:6. Paul tells us that we are to rejoice and pray to God in everything . . . and with thanksgiving! Each and every day we must come to our heavenly Father with our concerns, our needs, our hopes, our joys and our gratitude. We must be prayerful all day and everyday. There is the standard by which our prayer life can be judged. May we constantly come to God in prayer as desert sojourners come to the well which brims with eternal life and let us ever be thankful to the God who gives and sustains our lives.

Anathema Maranatha - 1 Corinthians 16:22

 If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!
 - 1 Corinthians 16:22

Those of you who regularly read my posts will notice that the tone of this missive has changed. I have had to approach the meat of this letter in its raw state simply because the message of God’s grace is all too often rejected by those with whom we would share the good news of Jesus Christ. We are without doubt facing the greatest threat and practice of persecution Christians in America have ever had to stand up to. Our prayers are being squelched in the public sector. Our worship is being questioned by the secular powers as to its legality according to “political correctness.” Our symbols of faith are being torn down, removed, and desecrated by those who would see Christianity become a relic of history. How long will it be before crosses are ripped from the ground and forbidden in National Cemeteries? And their barbarous atheist behavior is protected by the “separation of church and state clause.” Yes, that which once protected worship in God is now being used to accuse and condemn us! We, who believe in the one triune God are now cast as villains. Yes, we are being vilified by our own governing authorities! Just to be a Christian has now become “anathema” to the world. In an article from “The Atlantic” (August 22, 2015) Hillary Clinton is quoted, “I don’t believe you change hearts,” Clinton told Julius Jones in an candid moment backstage after a campaign event. “I believe you change laws, you change allocation of resources, you change the way systems operate. You’re not going to change every heart. You’re not. But at the end of the day, we can do a whole lot to change some hearts, and change some systems, and create more opportunities for people who deserve to have them.”  They get it; all of them get it: no one, not anyone, is going to change the Christian heart! It is not merely our “evangelical exercises among the unsaved” that are coming under fire; our Christian hearts have now become the bull’s eye and center of fire for the secular world’s hatred.
As Christians we have always been told that we will face both hatred and persecution. “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”  John 15:18-20.
 But no where in the Bible are we commanded to become victims of our faith! We may become victims “for” our faith and because of it. But no where in the Bible are we commanded to lay our heads on the chopping blocks! No where are we called to martyrdom! If we must give our lives for our faith in Jesus Christ, then so be it. We will be in Paradise with Him on that day. But within the holy scriptures we have been told that we do indeed have not only the right to life and liberty but the duty to protect and sustain that right!  “Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.” - Luke 22:36   Jesus Christ Himself said to us that we may indeed need the sword! Never to be used in aggression, but to defend life . . . defend life!
Our heavenly award awaits us but in the mean time we must continue to preach the word of God to all. We must continue to recognize and worship Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior! And IF IT IS WITHIN OUR POWER, we are not to allow those who would persecute us to have their day. We will not be like sheep being led to the slaughter no matter what our persecutors say. As Christ’s sheep we are to spread His holy word. And we are to be wise in doing so.  “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” - Matthew 10:16. We believe in the word of Christ Jesus. It will enliven us. It will quicken us. And it will sustain us through the persecution awaiting us. And should we survive the day, then all praise and glory be to God Almighty for it is He who brings us through the Valley of Death, and He alone! And to the one who by his hostility and hatred of God would choose the prince of the world over the Prince of Peace, let them be accursed. Lord come quickly!

This Is Why! -1 Corinthians 15:30

 And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? - 1 Corinthians 15:30

    Paul is nearing the end of one of the greatest apologetic soliloquies for the resurrection of Jesus Christ ever written. He has broken down every conceivable objection to the idea of life after death that could be imagined. And during his articulate destruction of the opposition’s arguments he uttered one simple but gloriously powerful sentence as living proof of our faith. Why, indeed? Why would we as Christians place ourselves in jeopardy every hour.
    “Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” - 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 Yes. Paul is boasting here but he is boasting in Christ because now Paul proudly recalls the many times and instances when he faced persecution and death because he preached the resurrection of the elect, with Jesus Christ being the first fruit of that resurrection!
    In this day and age when we Christians truly are being persecuted for our faith in Christ. Christians are being stood up, asked of our faith, and summarily executed for being believers in Christ. Yes, yes! Why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? Why do we stand before our critics? Why do we stand before our accusers? Why do we stand before our persecutors? We do so because of the empty tomb of Christ Jesus, our Savior. We do so because we have the assurance of our Holy Father in heaven that we will share in that resurrection when the time comes. We do so because the Holy Spirit indwells us and gives us both hope and strength. We stand upon the rock of God’s assurance and if our blood should be spilled upon that rock we can look our critics, our accusers, and our persecutors in the eyes and say to them, “This is why!
    May our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and all the saints assure that our tribulations, our suffering, even our deaths will never be in vain.   

Perfect Assurance - John 10:10

 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. - John 10:10
               
    When I was young man, many, many, many years ago I was a boxer. Each Tuesday night I would go to the Miami Beach Auditorium, check in with my trainers and proceed to prepare for the night’s bout. And each night, before I walked out to the ring, my lead trainer would grab my wrists, hold my fists up in front of my face and growl at me, “It’s yours to win, kid!” I would nod stoically and go forth to meet my opponent in the ring. Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose, but as my trainer so aptly put it, as far as it was up to me, the responsibility to win, to persevere, was mine. It was quite a frightening supposition. At 18 years old I was given the task of securing the outcome of the fight. Quite a tall order, no matter how good you are.
    As an older man now (notice I said, “older,” not “old”) I am secure in my knowledge of my own salvation and I thank my God that the task of securing that outcome is not left up to me!
“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”- Romans 8:33-35 In a word, no one. No one and nothing can separate me from the love of God and therefore nothing can take away my assurance of salvation. I certainly can not earn it on my own nor can I lose it on my own! That is perfect assurance.
    Such assurance has been promised to us by our Savior, Jesus Christ. By His very words we are assured - “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” - John 10:28. This is Jesus talking. It doesn’t come with greater assurance than that! He said we shall never perish. Never means never! In this case we can say, “never.” My gratefulness is extended to God on two fronts: one, that I can never lose my salvation; and two, that it’s not incumbent upon me to keep it secure. To quote Dr. John MacArthur - “If I could lose my salvation, I would.” God preserves me and God preserves you. God preserves us all who are truly saved. And what of those who genuinely have lost their faith? “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” - 1 John 2:19. Truly, those who are genuinely saved will persevere through the love of Christ. Let us give thanks to God for our salvation and the perseverance of the saints.

Called To Judgement - John 7:24

Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. - John 7:24

    It is not a sin to make a judgment call. All too often Christians are accused of “judging others.” And in most cases this is probably true. The mantra for unbelievers and believers of the liberal vein has probably seen more use than a coffee cup. “Judge not, that you be not judged.” - Matthew 7:1. This is the most powerful weapon in their armories. “It’s in the Bible; it’s in the Bible!’ They scream with near hysterical conviction, as though these were the only words Jesus ever uttered. But we know that contention to be false. We need to remember the circumstances under which Jesus made the comment to judge with righteous judgment.  It was during the Feast of Tabernacles that He “secretly” arrived in Judea amidst the people who were strongly divided as to whether He was “good” or whether He should be killed. Remember that there had already been talk of killing him among the pharisees. Still He stood among them, teaching as He had before. Ultimately He would remove Himself from the scene as they once again attempted to take Him before His time had come.  Christ was referring to Himself when He called for the crowd to judge with righteousness. “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.” - John 8:15. Jesus was simply declaring that mankind, by its very nature, judges according to what it sees. The inference then is that we tend to judge others by an arbitrary standard that we put in place according to our specific “moral or ethical whims.” This we cannot do. We are told to judge with righteousness! From where does this righteousness come? “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” - 2 Corinthians 5:21 Yes, from Jesus Christ! Jesus is righteousness in the flesh. Our judgments need to be tempered by the righteousness that IS God. Therefore our judgments must follow the righteousness prescribed by God’s holy word. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” - 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Given by God, for righteousness, that a man may be equipped for every good work! The terminology is clear; the message is clear. When we judge, our judgments must be based upon the righteousness of God as given to us in the Bible. And when we judge, the measure that we judge others by will indeed be used to judge us, but we will have nothing to fear if we are living testaments to Jesus Christ, or Lord and Savior!
We are called to judge. We are called to be discerning in our lives. And discerning means making righteous choices, decisions, and judgments about others as we are guided by God’s word on the matter. Christ, Himself, calls us to make righteous judgments and there is no sin or danger of judgment if we do so according to His command. May we always remember that it is not what we see, hear, or perceive that calls us to judge but the word of God that demands a righteous judgment.

That Peaceful Easy Feeling - John 16:33

  
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33

How often I have watched the news and seen the worst that humanity has to offer us. Whether it’s ISIS beheading innocent Christians in the Middle East or just another local story about a cross being removed from its place in a county park because it offended someone. We will and we do have tribulations. How disheartening it can be when every where we turn, someone is out to get us simply because we believe in the one true God.
I have friends in whose company I can’t even bring up Jesus’s name! It’s not persecution I fear among them but their inconsiderateness for mentioning “a very controversial subject,” in their minds. So it is with the greatest joy that I am able to recall the words of Jesus when He says, “in Me you may have peace.”  In Jesus I have peace. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” - 1 John 5:4-5. Faith in our Savior brings us peace because we know with all certainty that He has overcome the world! All it takes is that we are born of God, children of God - “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” - 1 John 4:4. They cannot hurt us in the end. The victory is ours because of who we are - children of God, born of God.  “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 15:57.
They can harangue us, accuse us, try us, and ultimately convict us, but of what? Our faith in Christ? Behold! There is the victory! We are convicted, not by men, but by our faith in Jesus Christ! What greater victory can we have than to be convicted by the holy name of Christ, and therein lies our peace. “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” - Romans 8:37.
No matter what takes place in this Godless world we will always have the peace that Christ has given to us in Himself, accused, tried, convicted and crucified. We are to be of good cheer because in Him we overcome the world.

The Gates of Fire - 1 Peter 2:9-10

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. - I Peter 2:9-10

    A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and His own special people. All descriptions of a group of individuals that for all intents and purposes should stand out of the crowd. There should be no mistaking who this group of individuals is. There should be no question and certainly - certainly - no challenges or indictments against such a group. When we see these descriptions and look beyond the words to their meanings we get an even greater picture of what this group truly is.  Using Strong’s Concordance we see that “chosen” is reliably defined as “elected.” We need look no further for a more pinpoint definition. “Royal” is defined as “kingly” referring to our relationship to the Lord and King, Jesus Christ. “Holy” tells us we are “saintly” or “set apart” for God. Finally, “special,” which is better defined as “for His possession” defines us as a people acquired, purchased, and preserved as promised to us by our heavenly Father. All these things we are to God; yet, we are still at an impasse.
    As Christianity trudges forth into the 21st Century we face a Thermopyle all our own. And just as the noble Spartans were sorely outnumbered at the Gates of Fire, we too are in the minority. The secular provocateurs who wish to persecute and ultimately bring an end to us have all the worldly power in their hands. In fact, the only greater advantage they could have would be if we Christians were to shackle and betray ourselves by our own behavior. That would bring the secularists their greatest victory. It would bring the sweetest taste to their mouths if we would but help them complete their worldly crusade.
    Each and every year we see more and more attacks on Christianity. The secularists’ most recent victory has been in the realm of marriage, where they have successfully managed to turn history on its very head and proclaim to the world that marriage is no longer an institution between one man and one woman even as God, Himself proclaimed.  “He said to them, ‘Have you not read that He Who made them in the first place made them man and woman? It says, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will live with his wife. The two will become one.’ So they are no longer two but one. Let no man divide what God has put together.’” - Matthew 19:4-6.
    This victory has brought many a Christian public official into the field of battle. Most recently a Kentucky County Clerk, Kim Davis, was jailed for six days for refusing to issue marriage licenses to homosexual couples based on her “Apostolic Christian beliefs.” It soon became public knowledge that Mrs. Davis has been married four times to three different men. I am not going to get into a discussion of Mrs. Davis’s personal life. My only point in bringing this up is the fact that this is the very type of smear upon the Christian life that secularists thrive upon. They seek human weakness, fallibility, and sin among those who follow Christ. And in followers like Ms. Davis they find them then exploit them, and in doing so ultimately cast a dark shadow over all who claim Christ as their Savior. It is this type of scandalous “Christian behavior” that makes the secularists victories so much more spectacular!
    We must think about it. When the secularists see us, do they see a people chosen, royal, holy, and special to God? What do they see when they look at us? Do they see behavior that reflects the glory of God living within us? If not, then why not?
    As Christians, we must remember the words of Peter. We are chosen, royal, holy and special people to God Almighty. We were once not a people. We had not obtained mercy. But now we are and have! Let us go forward from here seeking not to please men but to please God, remembering that we were called out of darkness into His marvelous light. Let us walk in that light unashamed of our behavior before men, but more important let us pray and walk humbly before God, knowing our battle is a spiritual one. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”- Ephesians 6:11.
     Mrs. Davis is not perfect; we are not perfect, but let do all we can with the power of the Holy Spirit to rise above question, challenge, or indictment by the secularists even as we stand before the “Gates of Fire” to defend our God and our faith in Him.

Marching Orders - Matthew 28:18-20

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. - Matthew 28:18-20

    All authority in heaven and on earth? Who but God could ever possibly wield that kind of power and authority? And yet in exercising that power and authority He, Christ our King, gives us our nonnegotiable marching orders: make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to observe all the things He has commanded us! There’s no wiggle-room, no expansion or contraction of Christ’s parting command. Jesus not only gave us His command but described what the end result of a successful campaign would look like. “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” - John 14:15-17.  We will all show the results of successfully carrying out our orders with the obedience and the in dwelling of the Holy Spirit in those we have proselytized to. The end-game of successfully carrying out Christ’s Great Commission is the salvation of just one more soul. “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” - Luke 15:7.
    Turning souls to Christ is the focus of the Great commission. As Christians we are bound in our duty to do all we can, to preach in and out of season, to declare the glory of God to each and every person on the planet! To the extent that we do so our heavenly Father will say to us
“Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” - Matthew 25:21.
    May we all follow our Christ-given marching orders and enter into the joy of our Lord.

Everybody Must Get Stoned -Acts 7: 57

Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; - Acts 7:57

Stephen had just delivered a sermon so powerful that it cost him his life! He spoke openly about God’s covenant with His saints. He spoke without hesitation. He spoke without pretension. He spoke without anonymity. Those he had been speaking to knew exactly who Stephen was. When his audience had heard enough they did three things; they cried out in a loud voice, they stopped their ears, and they ran at him with one accord. That singular minded accord was to murder Stephen to keep him from further sharing the Gospel! And why not? They had already murdered the Son of Man for the same crime!
                           
They cried out in a loud voice-
“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity.” — John Lennon

“When I got untethered from the comfort of religion, it wasn’t a loss of faith for me, it was a discovery of self,” explained Pitt. “I had faith that I’m capable enough to handle any situation. There’s peace in understanding that I have only one life, here and now, and I’m responsible.” - Brad Pitt

I don't believe in Heaven and Hell," he says. "I don't know if I believe in God. All I know is that as an individual, I won't allow this life -- the only thing I know to exist -- to be wasted. - George Cloony

It's an incredible con job when you think about it, to believe something now in exchange for something after death. Even corporations with their reward systems don't try to make it posthumous. Gloria Steinem

"I`m an atheist... I regard religion with fear and suspicion. It`s not enough to say that I don`t believe in God. I actually regard the system as distressing: I am offended by some of the things said in the Bible and the Qur`an, and I refute them." — Emma Thompson

"I’ve often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction." - Ian McKellen

"I don't believe in the afterlife. I believe this is it, and I believe it's the best way to live."- Natalie Portman

This handful of opinions about Christianity comes directly from celebrity folks who are known as being in the “A List.” These are the celebrities who everyone else tries to emulate in some fashion or other. There are people who live for every word that proceeds from their mouths. I mentioned this situation because we face the same paradigm today. These celebrities ARE the high priests of today.

Stopped their ears- In a very general sense this is the modern day response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They don’t like it so they don’t listen! “But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’” - Luke 16:31.  I would appear that the myriad of worldly positions made by unbelievers have taken on that nihilistic tone. There are so many opinions out there that you need a crowbar and a pitchfork just to separate them. The only difference is Christianity. On that subject they all agree: they hate it; they don’t want to hear about it!

And ran at him with one accord . . .
    Persecution begins slowly like a well lit camp fire and burns and burns until it reaches it apex of might. Today I can say that we are merely feeling the sparks from the tinder. There are simply far too many examples of Christian Persecution taking place in America for me to recount them to you. If you’re a Bible-believing Christian you have probably already felt the sting of persecution at the hands of your employers or the school-board or the military establishment. Now, using the tentacled arms of anti-Christian groups like the ACLU, Freedom from Religion Foundation, GLSEN, Human Rights Campaign (they sound so “righteous” don’t they?), Americans United for Separation of Church and State, to name but a few, they attack private individuals who fail to comply with their sinful agendas. Charges are filed, judges become involved, and for the average Christian American there is no one to defend them. That is what persecution looks like NOW! There have been beatings. There have been Kristallnacht moments and the law turns its head. But we were told to expect this very thing. “‘If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.’” - John 15:18-19. Praise God the words are Christ Jesus’ alone!
We may not be suffering like those Christians in Muslim lands yet, but persecution develops by a matter of degrees. It is a slowly burning wick that will not go out. We may not hear the lions but they lie quietly, and attentively, in the grasses around us. And they are hungry.
    Fervent prayer for both ourselves and our persecutors is the strongest spiritual weapon that we have. May we enjoin with the Holy Spirit to use them often and effectively.

Diligence And Its Rewards - 2 Peter 1:5-11

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. - 2 Peter 1:5-11

    Diligence, said to be characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort. Some also refer to it as painstaking. Matthew Henry said, “Without giving all diligence, there is no gaining any ground in the work of holiness.” What Peter is suggesting to us then is that without diligence  in applying the gifts that Christ has made available to us we can never be certain of either our call or election. Living a life with Christ as our focus cannot be accomplished haphazardly. We must make our endeavor worthy of our Savior.
    Just knowing our Lord and Savior is not enough, unless you prescribe to the heresy of Antinomianism, It is all easy-believism from there on out. And we know from Christ’s words that we will not have an easy time of being Christians. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’” - Matthew 16:24-26.
    None of us can claim the Kingdom if we aren’t willing to give all diligence in following the perfect obedience of our Lord and Savior. Even then our obedience will not be perfect but our heavenly Father will see our hearts’ desires. He will see Christ’s perfect obedience within us and thereby declare us just. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” - Ephesians 2:4-5.
    May we always remember the need for diligence in our walk with Jesus and the rich reward we are called to by God’s grace and by His grace alone!

In Spirit and Truth - John 4:23-24

 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” - John 4:23-24

    “In spirit and truth.” Hardly an argument can be found in Christ’s words. Away with all the ostentation and pomp; we must worship in spirit and truth. Jesus holds nothing back. He declares it to all the earth, “the Father is seeking such to worship Him!” And if that were not enough, He doubles-down - “ God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Do we need more?
    The Jews and Samaritans had a long standing feud of sorts as to the proper place to worship God. Much the same way we today bicker over denominational “doctrines.” It was as if Christ had had enough of it all. He was setting the community of believers straight, once and for all. The veracity of the believer’s worship had nothing to do with where they chose to worship, whether on Mount Gerissim or in Jerusalem. The significance of worshiping in spirit and truth is firmly placed within the heart of the believer - “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” - John 14:16-17. The Spirit of truth whom Christ empowered to dwell within each and every true believer is the Spirit of truth whom has been indwelling believer’s hearts ever since the Day of Pentecost. Those who worship in truth and spirit do so without regard for where they worship or minor doctrinal differences. They worship without ostentation or dramatic pageantry or pretense because those who worship in spirit and truth worship from the heart! “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:17.
    May we always worship in the spirit and the truth as commanded by Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Submission To Love - Ephesians 5: 22-24

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.” - Ephesians 5:22-24

    The Greek word for “submit,” hupŏtassō , in its simplest translation means “to obey.” Countless disagreements have arisen from these three lines of scripture. With the rise of feminism in the latter half of the 20th Century to its highly fanatical form today, new antagonisms have reared their ugly heads suggesting that Paul was at the very least a condescending chauvinist if not a blatantly outspoken misogynist. Neither of which accusation is true. But the misunderstanding of the passage owes itself to two patently obvious errors. (1) That women are under no obligation to submit or obey any man, let alone their husbands; and (2) that men have carte blanch power over what their wives think, say, and do. There isn’t an element of truth to either of these relational errors. The lynchpin of the misunderstanding lies in our failure to properly understand  the word “submit.”
    Do we show our love for one another by the way we disagree with one another? By the way we intentionally ignore or defy one another? By the way we backbite, argue, and fight with one another? Do we exhibit our love for one another by blatant disobedience? Love truly is a demonstrable emotion. In other words we more easily exhibit it by our actions than with our words. Love is not defined by contention. It is more truly defined by cooperation and compatibility. Men and women who love one another do not exhibit it by expecting their demands to be met based upon conditions held over one another’s heads.
    “ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
    In fact, the only true submission we make to one another is when we submit to one another in love. We submit neither to command or demand; we submit only to love. This is the point of our title verse. Wives are to submit to their husbands AS TO THE LORD! Would the church flagrantly disobey Christ? To what purpose? Would the church suggest that Christ might demand or command something unholy of them? By the same token would a woman charge her husband with some unreasonable demand? Her husband must be at the task of doing what has been commanded by God - “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her . . .” - Ephesians 5:25 As Christ would never mistreat His church neither would a Godly husband ever mistreat or disrespect his wife! This speaks directly to the mutuality of love between a husband and a wife. This being said, a husband would just as surely “submit” to his wife were she to ask what is righteous and what is holy of him.
    To all of us who have been blessed in this lifetime with a Godly husband or wife let us submit to them as to the Lord. Let us submit to love.

Resisting the Fight - Romans 12:17

 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. - Romans 12:17


    If two sides were engaged in mutual combat in the middle of a field, how would we be able to determine the right side from the wrong side? The good from the bad? The moral from the immoral? If their tactics were the same, their anger the same, their violence the same, how could we tell? Without some symbol or uniform there would be no way to tell; they would all seem to be the same: simply two sides fighting one another. Our title verse seems to close out such options for Christians pacing for a fight. “Repay no one evil for evil,” is not a call to us to lay down our lives before violent men but a call to us to resist the use of violence to merely remedy what we see as “evil.”
    “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” - Romans 12:18. The command is clear - “live peaceably”, if it is possible and as much as it depends upon us. The mere presence of evil in the world is nothing new and certainly cannot excuse us for using tactics similar to those of unbelievers. Such behavior neither justifies us nor ingratiates us to our heavenly Father. His command is clear.
    “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” - Romans 12:19. Perceived wrongs, whether from the secular world or the state, may in deed be wrong in the eyes of the Lord, but we are not contracted by God to undue these wrongs. We must not support them but we must not take it upon ourselves to extract the vengeance that belongs to God alone!
    “Therefore, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” - Romans 12: 20-21. Our heavenly Father is the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. He is in no imminent danger of being “a king deposed.” There is no power in the universe, either physical or spiritual,  that can undo God’s sovereignty.
     Let our goodness heap coals of fire upon the heads of those who are evil and let us patiently remain faithful in prayer as we wait upon God’s holy judgment against those who deny Him. Anathema maranatha.

Dereliction of Duty - Job 12:24-25

He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and makes them wander in a pathless wilderness. They grope in the dark without light, and He makes them stagger like a drunken man. - Job 12:24-25

    Revisiting the recent SCOTUS decision on gay marriage one would be remiss were he or she to overlook the glaring fact that God’s all-powerful hand was at work in the chambers of the court and in the Oval Office. “Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” - Romans 9:18. And it would not be the first time in history that our heavenly Father hardened the hearts of those in power. One need only look back to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision to see another heinous example of our Supreme Court (I use the term lightly) over-stepping the grounds of common decency, in the least, and an outright violation of the 6th Commandment at worst.
    Throughout history God has hardened many a human heart. “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.’” - Exodus 4:21 The fact that God hardens one’s heart, however, does not mitigate the actions of the sinner. The sinner has still transgressed the laws of God. Each and every sinner intrinsically knows true moral right form wrong, yet he or she still makes the choice to sin. When a sitting President or Supreme Court judge chooses to do evil rather than good the sin remains with them! When these “chiefs of the people of the earth” commit such overt sins it is certainly a dereliction of duty.  And with their sin they will ultimately face the coming judgment of God - “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God . . .” - Romans 2:5
    In times such as these we must remain faithful and know in our hearts that God is still in complete control. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” - Romans 8:28.
    Let us continue to trust in His purpose and pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
   

Mission: Accomplished - Galatians 1:24

And they glorified God in me. - Galatians 1:24

    We often hear the stories of lost souls wondering, pondering, the “why” of their existence here in this life. I refer to these unfortunate folks as lost in the sense that they are seeking the answer to a question which for all intents and purposes should be readily available to them. If they but knew where to look. This is the part where we Christians come in.
    When Paul wrote Galatians, near the end of the first chapter he spoke of his former self - a persecutor of Christians. He was a man known and feared by the fledgling Christian community. So much so that when news of his conversion came to them they glorified God for His grace that Paul was the recipient of. They knew that the effectual grace God had bestowed upon Paul had changed his life. As a result of what these Christians saw in Paul they fulfilled one of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith: they glorified God! (WLC: - Q.1) But then how does this answer the seeker’s question, “Why am I here?”
    As Christians, are we living examples to those unbelievers around us? When they see us do they immediately recognize that we are “different” either from the world around us or from our former selves, for those who knew us before we enjoyed the grace of God? Let us look again at Paul’s admission - “And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ.  But they were hearing only, ‘He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.’” - Galatians 1:22-23. And they glorified God! Paul’s “new man” was so convincing that even the Christians he once persecuted glorified God because of the change in him. Do others watching our lives feel so inspired by us that they glorify God because of what they see? If not - why not?
     “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” - Galatians 5:22-23. If we are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in our lives both those who believe and those who have yet to believe will know that we are different. And that difference just might answer the question of  why we are here: we are here to glorify our heavenly Father.

By God It Comes To Be - Job 9:24

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, who else could it be? - Job 9:24

    There are endless discussions regarding God’s role in the existence and observable workings of evil in the world. Last week’s SCOTUS ruling in favor of homosexual marriage is just another outgrowth of the reality that God does indeed ordain all that comes about. From tsunamis to earthquakes to mass shootings to childhood cancer, God does indeed ordain the events. There is only one alternate explanation: that God is not sovereign and thus Satan holds power even greater than God! This is absurd, of course. We know for certain that “ . . . all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” - Romans 8:28.
    The question remains “why?” I would suggest an answer, but not to that particular question. I would ask, “why do we ( how dare we) question our sovereign God, using our limited human wisdom as the template for understanding His divine motives. How could we ever begin to understand why God ordains a good day or a bad day without possessing the one thing we will never possess: divine omniscience?
    We cannot possibly comprehend the divine plan that God has in place, nor the workings He has put into play to bring it to completion. We simply do not possess that knowledge - “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” - Isaiah 55:8-9. We are not humanly capable of possessing God’s knowledge so how could ever possibly understand His plan?
    So from this we must accept the fact that the abominable SCOTUS ruling, as terribly destructive to our nation, society, and culture as it is, has been ordained by God Himself and no other. We must stop trying to understand that which has been veiled to us by God and -  “Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord; let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven.” - Lamentations 3:40-41.

Teach You Children - Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
- Proverbs 22:6

Children. We love them, but one of the harsh truths about children is that they are a direct reflection of the mores and values that we have instilled in them by our thoughts, words, and behavior. Everything we do sets an example to our children, so Proverbs 22:6 is perhaps one of the most important of all the proverbs given in the Bible. But the impetus is upon us a parents, Christian parents -  “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” - Deuteronomy 6:6-8.
Have we forgotten what God had to do in our lives to get our attention? Is that what we want for our children? I know what God had to do to make me reach up for Him out of the sinful morass I put myself in. Would I have directed my children’s paths away from the Lord with my thoughts, words, and behavior had I been saved in my youth? “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” - Ephesians 6:4.
For those of you raising children now, in your and their youth, remember the words of one of God’s most faithful servants - “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  - Joshua 24:15.
    Lord, that I had held You in my heart when I was a young man, raising my children. I pray now that I may still help You effect a change in their hearts and the hearts of my beloved grandchildren. May Your words always be in our hearts.

An Encounter With Unbelief - Matthew 10:33

 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:33

    I was at the local home improvement store where I bought a new outdoor lounge chair. I struggled to get the chair in the trunk. No luck. I decided to try putting the chairs in the back seat. After ten sweat-filled minutes I’d managed to get it in. Now I tried to get it out. I said “tried.” After another ten minutes one of the store’s associates approached to see if he could help. He said he was a problem solver and almost came to the point of insisting he could get that confounded chair out of my car. I said, “Have at it, my friend.” A moment of careful maneuvering and there the chair was freed from the back seat. He turned to me and asked if I’d like him to show me how to put it back in and retrieve it as easily as he did. Of course, I said, “Please do!” After showing me how to put the chair back in I thanked him and said, “God bless you.” It was at that very moment that he made the most curious remark. He said, “Oh. I don’t think God had anything to do with it.”
    I mention the encounter here for a couple of reasons. For one, I thought even if he isn’t a believer he didn’t need to make such a remark. Sure, he certainly helped me and I in return merely asked a blessing upon him . . . not a curse. Yet as helpful as he had been he still could not resist the opportunity to deny God! Here the man had a chance to show a little class despite his feelings. He could have been gracious enough to say, “You’re welcome,” and leave it at that, but no, he just had to reject God. “But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” - Luke 12:9.
    This encounter cannot be compared to one where an unbeliever wishes us fortune through some satanic entity or Wiccan-type earth deity. The reason is simple: if someone were to wish me well with a phrase such as, “The mother of creation bless you,” it would offer me an opportunity to share the Gospel with that misguided person. The helpful atheist didn’t offer me an alternative gospel or blessing. He simply manifested his unbelief in God by making his crass remark. These are the unbelieving people who need our prayers. They aren’t arguing a case for another god per se; they’re denying God. Yet, whether they know it or not, in their denial they are decreeing another god: the god of this fallen world, the god of this age! “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” - 2 Corinthians 4:3-4.
    When one denies God it can be compared to one who has been warned about the dangers of the dark and ventures forth regardless. Their pride and their stiff-necked resistance to the warnings puts them in such a precarious place. Prayers, our prayers, are indeed what these lost souls desperately need!
    Let us always pray that the Holy Spirit will fill the hearts and illumine the minds of sinners like us.

The Last Bridge

    Let me begin by saying that we start with the Holy Bible. This is the alpha and the omega of our life study. And allow me to state emphatically that either you believe that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God or you don’t. If you don’t then read no further. If you are not drinking in the word of God then you are drinking in poison. And we all know what the end result of drinking poison is. If, on the other hand, you are willing to hear me out then by all means: read on.   
    To begin with we must start with the premise that we are all sinners. We are all sinners but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to sin! My inclination could be to steal or to lie or to cheat; it doesn’t mean I have to! One can call himself a glutton but that doesn’t mean he has to behave that way. He can resist the urge if he chooses to. He doesn’t have to give in to his particular predilection. He can choose not to. He does not have to sin!
    Homosexual behavior is constrained by the same rules as any other sinful behavior. One is not compelled to behave that way except by one’s sinful nature. Now to those who decry the idea that homosexuality is sinful behavior, please see paragraph one then drink your own poison or continue to read. For those who believe that they are “born that way,” let me say I heartily agree with your premise: you are indeed born that way, just as we all are born sinners. But unlike race or ethnicity we can choose to follow our sinful natures into dark territory or we can choose not to. We are only compelled to follow our proclivities as far as we are “willing” to go. This is the concept of free will.
    Liberum arbitrium, or freedom of choice, is the ultimate human freedom. No matter what other freedom we may aspire to we ultimately make our choices based on whatever inclination we are currently under the power of. There are those who will say that some choices are not in fact choices at all but compulsory actions taken under duress. But we still are charged with the making of that choice regardless of the particular compulsion. Even under the threat of death we will either give in to the conditions set forth to save our lives or we will resist . . . to the point of death. Sin is the point of spiritual death. And those who choose to resist God face spiritual death.
    Sin is any transgression against God, whether it be deliberately lying or stealing, murder of any kind, sexual sin in its various forms, or any of a myriad of other transgressions against our heavenly Father. Yes, homosexuality is numbered among those behaviors we call sin. And we know from scripture that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The death we speak of here once more is spiritual death. Again, the very belief in spiritual death rides on the fact that one either believes in the Bible or one doesn’t. If at this point you can still say you don’t believe the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God then why are you still reading this?
    The allure of sin is well known. In its most heinous form it presents us with the greatest pleasure our dark human hearts and minds can imagine. And then, once we have experienced the sweet almond taste of cyanide on our tongues the poison courses through of spiritual blood streams. No one ever said that sin was painful to begin with; if it were, no one would ever sin! No, at first we experience delight in whatever behavior our debased characters are inclined to, then, perhaps not immediately but eventually, we reap the very harvest we have sown - spiritual death.
    Warning sinners of their impending fate is not hate speech or bigotry. Calling for sinners to repent and accept the Lord, Christ Jesus as their savior is not a phobic reaction as has become the mantra of the day. Certainly there has been enough of this unproductive name-calling from both sides. Name-calling has never effected a lasting positive change. If any real dialog is to take place it must take place without the demagoguery and histrionics that have thus far defined the war of words. But the two sides cannot possibly come to any real understanding unless they come to an agreement on what sin is and what sin is not. If the holy Bible, the very word of God,  is not the measurement by which we can define sin then how, I ask you, can sin be defined? And that is the last bridge we come to. Will we use it to communicate truth or error because salvation comes only on the wings of truth, never error.

My Sin, Ever Before Me - Psalm 51:17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise. - Psalm 51:17

    Perhaps one of the most well known of David’s psalms, Psalm 51 brings the ultimate hardness of the human heart into focus. David not only confesses he is a sinner but even a sinner before his birth. This is the finest example of self-rebuke to man’s sinful nature among all the psalms. Think about it. Can we even for a moment imagine anyone coming forward to us in complete and utter confession and repentance, in complete and total admission of their darkest sins? In certain instances pastors hear some pretty volatile confessions as do some psychiatrists, but how many times have we ourselves heard such stunning admissions of sin? Yet here is the larger question: have we ever made such a confession ourselves? More important - have we ever made such a confession to God? “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”  - 1 John 1:6.
    A false devotion or piety put on among the churched audience is not what God wants. In fact, He hates religiosity. How many times did Christ call out the scribes and pharisees for their false piety? Our religious pretensions mean nothing to our heavenly Father - “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.” - Psalm 51:16.    With our sins ever before us there is but one offering God wants from us. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” - Proverbs 28:13.  Confession and forsaking (turning away from our sins, i.e., repentance) is what our Lord wants. A broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart is all the sacrifice God desires.
    Each and every night before I close my eyes to sleep I ask my Lord and Savior for the forgiveness that only His blood could purchase for me. It is, after all, for my sins that Christ died. It is for my inequities that His holy blood flowed!  How now then could I dare go forth with pretension, pride, or presumptuousness?
     Lord, may I never forget in my lifetime that there is no good in me but by Your grace alone I was saved from perdition. Amen.

                   

The Right Tool For The Job - 2 Timothy 2: 20-21

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
 - 2 Timothy 2:20-21

   
    In the truest sense are we all not tools in God’s hands? Does God not use as He sees fit? Ahh, the question then arises: does He indeed use us all? I believe our title verses speak directly to that point. If we are to useful to Him we must be cleansed (a key word here) vessels of honor, sanctified, useful, and prepared for every good work.
    The act of cleansing is indicative of our sanctification, a process of becoming more like Jesus, guaranteed to every one saved. As R.C. Sproul put it, “Sanctification is an inevitable consequence of justification.”Contrast that image with that of the un-cleaned vessels. God hasn’t sullied these vessels of the world; He simply hasn’t graced them with justification, ergo there is no cleansing. For God’s elect He has cleaned us with the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ - “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” - 1 John 1:7.
    Cleansed by the blood of Christ we become useful to God and prepared for every good work. God will use us as He sees fit. But we must first be cleansed - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” - Matthew 23:25-26.
    May God grant me the blessing of my cleansing so that He may find me prepared for every good work. Then, and only then, will I be the right tool for the job.

The Pope’s Conundrum - Galatians 1:8

 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. - Galatians 1:8

    Sunday, May 24th, 2015 - The New York Times, “Pope’s Focus on Poor Revives Scorned Theology.” The headline caught my immediate attention so I paid the price to see if the story supported the headline. It did. What exactly was this “scorned theology?” I read the article a second and a third time just to make sure I wasn’t taking it out of context. I wasn’t.
    After discussing the Catholic Church’s beatification of Archbishop Oscar Romero, a much loved martyr to the Salvadorian people, the article delved into the subject of Liberation Theology - the much maligned modern heresy of subjecting the Gospel to the desire of whichever “oppressed class, race, ethnicity, etc.” could shout the loudest. In this case it is the Pope, living in the Vatican’s splendor, who is shouting and oddly enough his particular plea is for “the poor.” Now before I am accused of being insensitive let’s take the words of the writers themselves and see exactly what they were saying.
    “Liberation theory includes a critique of the structural causes of poverty and a call for the church and the poor to organize for social change. Mr. Lee said it was a broad school of thought: Movements differed in different countries, with some more political in nature and others less so. The broader movement emerged after a major meeting of Latin American bishops in Medellín, Colombia, in 1968 and was rooted in the belief that the plight of the poor should be central to interpreting the Bible and to the Christian mission.”
    Allow me to break this down. “The broader movement emerged after a major meeting of Latin American bishops,” not some small radicalized sub-sect but the broader movement! I continue - “rooted in the belief,” not some nuanced little doctrinal difference but a root belief that “the plight of the poor should be central to interpreting the Bible (i.e. the Gospel) . . .” hermaneutically extrapolated to insist that the poor are central to the meaning and purpose of Holy Scripture. “ . . . and to the Christian mission.” That would be in direct opposition to the Great Commission as given to us by Jesus Christ, Himself!
    I suppose it would be in the interest of clarity if we first defined what the Pope means by “the poor.” Are we speaking about the poor, as in “poor choices,” or the impoverished? Because there is a decided difference. There are millions of people who have less than others simply because of the poor choices they have made (and continue to make). Whether it be pregnancy out of wedlock, disproportionately high drop-out rates, drug and alcohol addiction, or anti-social and criminal behavior there are many reasons that account for poverty. So are these the people the Pope is pleading for? And exactly what is it the Pope hopes to achieve, especially in an environment where the church is unwelcome in the secular arena? Does he really believe that by polluting and muddying the true message of the Gospel he can bring an end to poverty? “For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.” - Matthew 26:11.
    And why stop at poverty? Why not preach Black Liberation Theology, Gay Liberation Theology, the Right To Choose Theology, or Feminist Theology? If he’s going to corrupt the message of the Gospel why stop at liberation theology? Is he seeking political power for the Catholic Church? “Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.’” - John 18:36.
    There is but one Gospel and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, brought unto mankind for salvation through Christ and Christ alone. There is no economic equality promised. There is no political power promised. There is no health and wealth promised. There is only salvation by grace through Christ, our Lord and Savior! Any other promise is a false teaching - a false gospel.
    This pope is nothing more that a false teacher and we have been warned that false teachers would come among us. And we know how we are to respond to such wolves in sheep’s clothes - “As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” - Galatians 1:9.
    There was a time when the popes who spoke for the Catholic Church conducted their nefarious business with at least a modicum of propriety. Apparently those days are over.

Bookends - Luke 12:51

Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.
 - Luke 12:51

    In 1968 Simon and Garfunkle released an album called “Bookends.” On that LP (that’s ‘Long playing album’ for you younger folks) there was a sad song named “Old Friends.” The lyrics read, “Can you imagine us years from today, sharing a park bench quietly?” How quaint. How nice it would be if the words rung true, wouldn’t it? And perhaps they would were it not for the fact that truly faithful Confessional Christians will have to contend mightily for the truth. And therein lies the problem for old friends.
    From bitter experience I can testify to the fact that if you openly identify yourself as a Bible-believing Christian; preach the word of God in season and out, and vigorously defend the faith you will be the most unpopular member of your circle of friends! Even members of your own family - your own flesh and blood - will keep their distance from you. “For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;  and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’” - Matthew 10:35-36
    True, your own family and your oldest friends will turn their backs on you if they don’t share your belief in and your passion for Christ! Perhaps the answer to Paul Simon’s question is, “No, in fact I can no longer imagine sharing a park bench quietly.” I can only envision sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the people I love and cherish. “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18. May we always share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, especially with those we call our “old friends.”

Sinners Anonymous - 1 Timothy 1:15

 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. - 1 Timothy 1:15

    This utterly beautiful passage presents the living root of the Gospel to us. Within these words we have our very eternity! And this single verse is just a part of a greater doxology dedicated to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When read in its entirety it is one of the most inspiring praises ever uttered by man - “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” - 1 Timothy 1:12-17.
    Paul speaks to us like he is a new member of Sinners Anonymous. You can almost hear him cry out, “My name is Paul . . . and I am a sinner . . . .”  He claims his sinful status and owns his sin. He doesn’t run from his confession; He runs to it! There is no 12 Step Program here. It is clear by his very words that it is by grace alone that he has been saved. It is by grace alone that he receives mercy and he thanks not some clever man-contrived methodology but God who alone is wise.
    Paul speaks about a ‘pattern’ of mercy based on Christ’s longsuffering that is more than validated by holy scripture.  “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” - 2 Peter 3:9. The Lord understands the resistance of sinners and yet He is longsuffering toward us! No matter where sin has positioned us in this life God is ready, willing, and able to bestow His grace upon us for our redemption and salvation. Mercy toward sinners who believe in Christ; who were once ignorant in unbelief; who now believe.
    Let us all praise God with the enthusiastic gratitude that Paul sets forth for us. Let us all believe on Him for everlasting life.

For the Fatherless - Malachi 4:6

“And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”- Malachi 4:6

    Any clear thinking individual knows that children raised in single parent homes are more likely to suffer from social problems such as dropping out of high-school, teen pregnancy, alcohol or drug related problems, criminal behavior and/or suicide. As the research shows that the absentee fathers suffer from this epidemic as well (higher rates of drug and alcohol use, incarceration, etc.), the mothers of these children have their share of problems as well, but as is the case in the majority of circumstances the children live with the mother. So what of the children of these single-parent homes?
    “A study using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health explored the relationship between family structure and risk of violent acts in neighborhoods. The results revealed that if the number of fathers is low in a neighborhood, then there is an increase in acts of teen violence. The statistical data showed that a 1 percent increase in the proportion of single-parent families in a neighborhood is associated with a 3 percent increase in an adolescent’s level of violence. In other words, adolescents who live in neighborhoods with lower proportions of single-parent families and who report higher levels of family integration commit less violence.”
Source: Knoester, C., & Hayne, D. A. (2005). Community context, social integration into family, and youth violence. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 767-780.
    As we watch the violence unfold in Baltimore, MD. We must wonder if God’s words to the Prophet are not coming back to haunt us. “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch.”
 - Malachi 4:1. Root nor branch; father nor son?
    Baltimore in flames? Children running amuck? Attacking and fighting with the police? Yes, the signs are all there. But what is law enforcement’s role in all of this? They are certainly responsible for their behavior; are they not? Are we then without answer? Are we now without recourse or remedy? Our Lord God would not leave us without either; but we must listen to His words to the Prophet - “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.” - Malachi 4:4. Clearly, God has expressed Himself with a clearness that is hard to undermine. “‘Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.’” - Malachi 3:7.
     We know what fuels the hatred and anger in these fatherless communities. We can only wonder that if the fathers of these young men were present in their lives would these children still be out on the streets causing mayhem? And what of the law enforcement agencies involved? Is there no reasonable way to police a society without the unexplained deaths of our citizens? Let us all pray that the children of these absent fathers and these men who absently father those children return to God as we must too. “Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.”