Y.O.L.O? - Galatians 5:19-21

 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,  idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,  envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. - Galatians 5:19-20

    There is a popular mantra among young people today that is referred to as Y.O.L.O, or “you only live once.” You’ll see the letters emblazoning hats and tee-shirts. This ridiculous mantra now stands as the rationale behind one of the leading causes for hospitalization and death among these impoverished souls. Researchers from CDC´s “Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention” refer to a number of “games” played by young people as “Risky Youth Behavior,” (ya think?). Here is a short list of some such games (Note: I am merely going to list them. Google them for more detail as I don’t have the stomach to describe them here.)
1.    Choking Games
2.    Cinnamon Challenge
3.    Huffing volatile chemicals, paints, or fuels.
4.    Car Surfing
5.    Drinking Hand-Sanitizer
6.    Vodka Eyeballing
7.    Salt & Ice challenge
8.    Condom Challenge (You wouldn’t believe me if I told you . . .)
9.    Fire Challenge
10.    Gallon Challenge

    Apparently, many young people engage in such self-destructive behavior for the very same reason some of their parents did: there is an emptiness inside them that could only be properly filled by the word of God. And what a sad world-view to adopt as one’s personal mantra - You only live once? Really? Are their hearts so empty and destitute that risky behavior is the only balm they imagine will soothe them? Our title verse accurately reflects that mind-set of those who engage in risky behavior. These are people, both young and old, who have no concept of the love and mercy of God. They have no concept (or they don’t care) about the blood sacrifice Jesus made for them and unless they repent and believe in Christ before their natural physical death they will also die “the second death” - “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” - Revelation 21:8. Make no mistake about it: they will all die a second time when they are finally and eternally separated from the mercy, grace, and love of God!
     I’d like to clue my young brothers and sisters into another mantra which is a far cry older than theirs - “Born once; die twice - born twice; die once.” Look at John 3:3 - “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”
Rather than face an eternity where “their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched” I would implore these young people to come away from the world that inspires their risky behavior and seek Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior. So that rather than face the second death they can confidently look forward to everlasting life! “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Your lives are valuable to God; they should be valuable to you to and if they are valuable to you then treat them that way!
    Most of the irrational games these young people are playing are called, “Challenges.” I challenge them to do the unthinkable, the impossible, the unheard of . . .  I challenge them to seek God with all their heart and all their mind and all their strength. Let us all pray that our young people see the Way, the Truth, and the Life . . . rather than live only once just to die a  second death.

A Supreme Mistake By Any Measure - Romans 1:24-27

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. - Romans 1:24-27

    The Supreme Court has now decided to “back a dog” in the fight over same-sex marriage in America. Reviewing the case in April, their decision should be announced in June. As a Christian I strongly oppose such meddling in the affairs of the traditional family structure that has existed for the better part of 6,000 years. And while there have been periods of history in some cultures where the practice of polygamy was culturally acceptable no where in the world has same-sex marriage ever been acceptable, let alone regarded as a “right!” My point here is this: the government has no business attempting to “redefine” the human state of matrimony. It is a time-honored religio-sociological tradition that no nine judges should have any say upon regardless of the plaintiff’s grievance.
    The homosexual lobby has linked arms with traditional “civil rights” groups such as African-Americans and women. Even the devil knows there is strength in numbers. There’s one slight problem though - no one is born a homosexual. . . NO ONE! Suggesting that one is born a homosexual is like saying one is born a liar, an adulterer, or a thief. Homosexuality isn’t an innate characteristic; it is a learned activity, a behavior. Try as they might they have never been able to identify the “gay gene.” Never! Why? Because it doesn’t exist. Nor do “bestiality genes, necrophilia genes, or rape genes” exist. Now while on a rare occasion one might be born with both sets of genitalia or be born with an effeminate nature, no one is born a homosexual - that is a CHOICE ONE MAKES.  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. - Genesis 1:27.
    In addition, homosexuality is rightly defined as an aberration from the perspective of nature. Life, as we understand it, exists primarily because of the way the sexes compliment one another in regard to procreative activity. There are certainly “normal sexual roles” reserved for the healthier members of any species. This isn’t just a matter of perception or social bigotry: it is the reality of the sustainablilty of the highest form life on earth! Think about it for a moment: among other mammals there is no “natural homosexuality”maintained at a level we could ever call “normal.” Why? Obviously because if it were so their numbers would be decimated by the very behavior. They would simply fail to breed and cause their own extinctions. No where in nature do you see homosexuality as generally expected normal behavior among mammals under “normal” conditions! The defining reason for this is the human will. Animals don’t possess such a characteristic and so, under normal conditions, they behave as nature intended for them to behave. Animals behave normally. Therefore to practice homosexuality is a human choice, not a nature born into us!
    So where will the eventual verdict leave our culture? I suppose it depends on who you ask. If you were to ask the advocates themselves, the homosexuals and lesbians, they would tell you that they don’t care where the culture is left, nor the nation, nor the sensitivities of the people. All they care about is the high court’s declaration of their erroneously contrived imaginary  “right to marriage.” They don’t care if you are forced to have to explain to your child why the little boy or girl next door has “two mommies,” instead of a mommy and a daddy. And make no mistake: single parent families fare no better in many cases than do same-sex parents. Even in our divorce prone culture children of single-parent homes sense a disconnect with their friends who are blessed to have a mom and a dad at home. But that doesn’t make having a “two mommy home” a better developmental environment for children. (See: “Social Science Research - July 2012)
    As far as the percetange of Americans that are homosexual? “A survey released Tuesday by the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports:
Based on the 2013 NHIS data [collected in 2013 from 34,557 adults aged 18 and over], 96.6% of adults identified as straight, 1.6% identified as gay or lesbian, and 0.7% identified as bisexual. The remaining 1.1% of adults identified as “something else[]” [0.2%,] stated “I don’t know the answer[]” [0.4%] or refused to provide an answer [0.6%].
More specifically, 1.8 percent of men self-identify as gay and 0.4 percent as bisexual, and 1.5 percent of women self-identify as lesbian and 0.9 percent as bisexual.
The results are generally in the same ballpark as past estimates — and far below the long-debunked 10 percent estimate.” - The Washington Post (July 15th, 2014)
So all this hoodoo is coming from less than 5% of the total population of this country!
    So let me suggest how a favorable decision for the homosexual community will actually effect America.
1.    The traditional concept of the American family will be gone forever.
2.    The polarization of the American family will reach epidemic proportions.
3.    Mental depression and anxiety will reach unheard of levels.
4.    Studies have shown higher poverty rates, mental health issues, more drug-addiction, and higher suicide rates among members of such households.
5.    Christian ministers will face hate crimes charges if they preach from the Bible.
6.    Avowed Christian businesses, owned and operated by Christians would be forced to compromise their values and do business with homosexuals under threat of criminal action by state authorities and threat of civil litigation.
7.    By lending legitimacy to this deviant endeavor there is simply no way to avoid following suit with polygamy, beastialty, pedophilia, necrophilia and other rank deviant behavior.
8.    An obviously minuscule demographic would immediately be portrayed in the popular cultural avenues as a brightly shining majority. We would see homosexuals presented in every tv program, in every magazine and book, and every motion picture film as though they held a dominant position in society rather than the marginal place they actually occupy.
9.    The notion that the role of a father or a mother is expendable in this new society despite study after study that indicates homes with both a mother and a father are generally more conducive to raising a child who develops into a psychologically stable and happy adult.
10.    To use the Constitutional Right argument is pure drivel and completely disingenuous. None of the Founders ever imagined (let alone anticipated) a time in this nation’s future when homosexuals would protest for their imagined “right” to the union of marriage. The mere activity of homosexual relations was seen as an abomination by the civil leadership. In fact, Thomas Jefferson even authored a bill which called for “castration” as the penalty for the crime of sodomy! (The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew A. Lipscomb, editor (Washington, D. C.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1904), Vol. I, pp. 226-227, from Jefferson's "For Proportioning Crimes and Punishments).

    No, only three kinds of people could ever support and defend such a deviant and sinful lifestyle or it’s validation by law: the practitioners themselves, atheists, and those who are mistaken about the characteristics God’s mercy. The latter have designed a God in their own minds that is the antithesis of His Second Commandment: You shall have no strange gods before me! They have cherry-picked God’s most “seeker-friendly attributes” and formed a mental picture of a God who exists no where in the pages of the Bible . . . nowhere! They have made it clear that the true living God of the Bible is not the one they choose to follow. And neither is the Jesus of the Bible the Jesus they choose to follow! The God of the Bible, the true living God finds homosexuality an abomination, and so should we all!
    But I fear this sitting Supreme Court bench will rule in favor of the same-sex initiative. The homosexuals will have their day in the sun. And American will take yet another step away from the God who gave this once great nation its birth, its prosperity, and His providence. Now America enters its twilight to the cheers of the pagan hoards.
    “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place—on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.’” - Jeremiah 7:20. May God help us all.
                           

A Pope Worse Than Borgia - 2 Corinthians 11:14-15

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. - 2 Corinthians 11:14-15.

    The pope recently made the ridiculous statement that  "The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ . . . Even the atheists. Everyone! We must meet one another doing good. 'But I don't believe, Father, I am an atheist!' But do good: we will meet one another there." Yeah, of that I am certain; they will meet one another there. Although I’m just as positive that the “there” they are thinking of isn’t the “there” they’ll be meeting in. One doesn’t need to believe in God to go to heaven? Seriously!??
    Let me preface my defensive position here for those of you who don’t know me. I’m a former Catholic. I was raised a Catholic and attended Catholic schools from 1st to 12th grade . . . but I’m okay now. Please don’t allow my tone here to cause anyone to misconstrue what I am trying to say - I do believe that Catholics who put all their faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone are bound for heavenly glory. But their ritualistic religion will not benefit them because it is the grace of God alone that saves the sinner from his well-deserved punishment. Novenas, rosaries, Stations of the Cross, praying to saints, confessing sins to a priest - none of these have the power to save even one soul from eternal damnation. Only the blood of Jesus Christ has that kind of power. And as for listening to the pope? Please!  “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” - John 14:6. These are Jesus’s very words!
    Notice there is no where in the Bible that our Lord and Savior says anything about the way to heaven including the pope. And it’s a good thing because the current pope is worse that Alexander VI, the infamous Rodrigo Borgia. There is a darkness about this pope that permeates his whole way of thinking. From welcoming homosexuality into the church (July 2014) to this latest foible suggesting that one need not have faith in Jesus to be saved. Where this wolf in sheep’s clothing leads millions who believe in the notion of Apostolic succession is absolutely frightening. At least it should be to them.
    Many will defend him suggesting that he is only reaching out to the unsaved. Then I would suggest the pope read his Bible (possibly for the first time) and turn to  - “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” - Acts 4:12. That name is Jesus Christ, not Jesus Christ and . . . .” As for reaching out to the unsaved? We do that with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and . . . nothing else! All praise, honor and glory to Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Speed of Darkness - Proverbs 4:19

 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. - Proverbs 4:19

    Everyone talks about the speed of light. They even have it down to a speed of 186,000 miles per second. Scientists say that light travels approximately one foot in a nanosecond. That is one billionth of a second. We have all kinds of measurements for the speed of light. But how fast is the speed of darkness?
    Many argue that it is a nonsense question because darkness is merely the absence of light while others conclude that darkness is actually faster than light. Try this experiment: go into a room that is lit by a single bulb and close the door or pull the blinds. Do whatever you have to do to make sure that the single bulb is the only source of light in that room. Now, turn off the light. The darkness will envelope you immediately. That is exactly how quick darkness fills the void left by a light that has gone out. The speed of darkness is astounding and fearful . . . and it should be. But there is another grim reality about darkness. When used as an allegory for the absence of God in our lives it is both brutal and sufficient to bring condemnation upon those who dwell in it. “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” - Matthew 22:13.
    We know that before we have God in our lives there is a darkness that pervades every facet of our humanity. The negative metaphors for darkness are countless: blindness, confusion, ignorance, unconsciousness, obscurity, uncertainty, ambiguity, foreboding, sinfulness, fear, and the list goes on. Darkness reeks of instability. In fact, we instinctively “reach for the light,” when we enter a darkened room because darkness closes our perspective on things while light gives us the perspective we need to maneuver without stumbling. Analogically, we should all be reaching for the light. “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’” - John 8:12.
    We know that wherever there is no light all is darkness. In the very same way wherever there is no God, all is of sin - “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” - Romans 14:23(b).
    Prayer, Bible study, fellowship, more prayer, and faith in Jesus Christ keeps us in the light of God and out of the darkness of Satan! May we all be constantly “reaching for the light.”

In Christ - Galatians 3:28

 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. - Galatians 3:28

    “. . . in Christ . . . .” We sometimes overlook the importance, the value, even the significance of those words. We get caught up in the day-to-day chaos that envelops our lives and we lose track of who we have become - who we really are. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” - 2 Corinthians 5:17.  A new creation. We are no longer what we were; we are now what we have become in Christ! Gone are the old ways. Despite worldly pressure to go along to get along we have risen above the world as believers in the one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are above the dog-eat-dog world we live in. We are no longer separated by desire but united in our desire for God.  It is the one thing we all have in common with one another - in Christ.
    Physicality, ethnicity, color, ability, nationality mean nothing to the true children of God for we are “all one in Christ Jesus.” If we could just for a moment take off the worldly glasses we so often wear we would see that we are one in common with each-other. Gone are the differences instituted by God Himself in Genesis - “‘Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’”  So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” - Genesis 11:7-9.
    From that very moment mankind was the quintessential example of disunity and no where in all of holy scripture is mankind ever reunited except in Christ. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” - Galatians 3:26.   
    It is in Christ Jesus that we are again reunited as one family in God; and that in Him we have our heavenly reward and not through any human effort. We have no brothers and sisters outside the common bond of faith in Jesus Christ. “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?” - 2 Corinthians 6:14-15. Let us always remember it is by grace alone and faith alone that we enjoy our relations ship with our fellow brothers and sisters . . . in Christ alone.
       

The Trinity of Errors - Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” - Genesis 3:1

    Beginning this new year I hope we all would recommit ourselves to dragging the errors of the false gospel out into the light! The false gospel is, as Paul said, “any other gospel” than what we find in the Bible - the recognized cannon of God’s inspired word.
    I’ve heard many ask, “How do we know when the Bible is being perverted by a false teacher?” Initially there are three distinct ways the word of God is perverted: a trinity of errors, if you will -
1.    Redefining the terms used in the Bible, i.e. such as “sin” or the meaning of “life” (or indeed - when it begins).
2.    Re-interpreting the scriptures to take on an entirely different meaning than what we have traditionally come to understand. And -
3.    Dismissing the Bible altogether as an invention of man.
“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.
    Remember, Satan questioned God’s very words to Eve. Her naivety (and the doubt placed in her mind by Satan) led to the fall. We must remember that the greatest worldly force currently in use against the word of God is relativism. Again, this form of spiritual warfare comes to us directly from the father of relativism - Satan.
    First, Satan questions the veracity of God’s words. Next he will try to re-interpret them. Finally he will attempt to dismiss them as merely the words of mortal men. And he does all of this through the modern cultural phenomenon of relativism. I call it a phenomenon because relativism is the antithesis of the truth. The truth is evident to all those who are not spiritually blind. The truth is real and it is there for all to see. Just because we choose not to see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Our blindness is a choice, made by us to mitigate our culpability for our sin and our reliance on the world rather than the Word of God. When they redefine, re-interpret, or dismiss the word of God they are merely heaping fuel wood of the fires that await them in hell.
    It is incumbent upon us a s Christians to point out the trinity of errors that confound and condemn the world today. It is part of our ministry as given to us by Christ - “‘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 28:19-20.
    Let us start out this new year with the firm conviction that we will not sit quietly through the trinity of errors which dare to question the gospel of Jesus Christ! Let us be ready to preach in season and out.