Transforming Identity - 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. - 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

    I never expected to witness the deliberate quest for personal expression that I have seen in the last sixty-years. Sure, it all started innocently enough with the delusional basket-weaving, incense burning, flower children. ‘Flower power’ was their chant. Turn quickly to the dizzying present and what started innocently enough has now become a Frankenstein-like monster with snake tattoos and self-mutilation that was once confined to Canaanites, Philistines, and savages. For the vast majority, these cases are merely the outward manifestation of trending fads. But for those spiritually void individuals, it is what devils are made of.
    Radical self expression has become an idol to the unbelievers. Scarification and tattooing are but two of the ways modern people idolize their own flesh. Multiple piercings serve the same purpose for many. And while these practices are not sinful in themselves (though of dubious benefit) they become sinful when they are done to enhance what God has created, as though God somehow failed to meet a human standard. If these same individuals were conspicuously ‘marked’ against their will, they would scream to high heaven and hate the stigmas and what they represented. Ask any Holocaust survivor.
    These individuals yearn to be noticed for their looks rather than for their good works or accomplishments. It is indeed about pride and belonging to a particular group that shares the same notion of individuality, presenting themselves and their body enhancements as though it raised them above the conventional crowd somehow. This conduct does not differ from bejeweled plumage, gaudy facial makeup, body sculpting, gender surgery, cosmetic surgery, or body-building for self-esteem rather than for health purposes. “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” - 2 Timothy 3. All these things exist because they don’t feel they are complete without this nonsense. Pride and covetous are the benchmarks of their sins. Is it not clear that we show what we treasure in how we adorn ourselves?
    I speak not of pierced ears or a tattoo ... or two. I speak of those who have so encrusted themselves in their vainglory that they have become indistinguishable from the crowd of the like-minded. They speak of group identity as though they can only find self-value in a community of people like themselves. They seek company among others who share their penchant for self aggrandizement and are seldom seen or associated with those who choose not to transform themselves in such a vulgar and ostentatious way.
    If what we seek is personal transformation, God is ready and willing to provide the means for it. But He will not make it His goal to transform the outer garment of mortality. In fact, He decries the very notion. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.” - Matthew 23:27.  Human flesh remains human flesh, regardless of how we present it. True transformation can only occur within the body, in heart, mind, and soul. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:2.
    If we're going to be seen as a member of a group, shouldn't we be recognized by what Christ has done in us, rather than what we have done to ourselves? Then we can truly glory in our transformed identity, bestowed upon us by the grace of God!

True To This Day - Luke 2:34

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed ...” - Luke 2:34

    The account of Simeon’s prophecy is one of the clearest statements on predestination ever recorded in the Bible. It also predicts the reaction of the unsaved to Christ’s revelations.
    The ‘fall’ of many refers us directly to those predestined for hopeless eternal damnation. Scripture is replete with passages describing unrepentant sinners and what they are to expect at the hands of God, who is a consuming fire. “Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.” - Psalm 21:8-9.
    The ‘rising’ of many speaks of God’s elect or those who are predestined to heaven. God knows the difference, and those He has appointed to be adopted into an eternal inheritance will find their salvation through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me” - John 6:44-45.
    As for the last phrase of the title passage, ‘the sign that is opposed’ is Jesus Christ Himself. The voices of unbelief will clang loudly against the Word of God. They will miss no opportunity to denigrate and despise the Gospel. They will even oppose the mere mention of Christ’s holy name. Ban it, censor it; they will do everything in their power to keep others from hearing about redemption and salvation because they hate Jesus and His words. “Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.” - John 15:23-24. They routinely hate Jesus and His Gospel.
    Many of the saved will first fall in unbelief or ignorance. But indue time, God will raise them up, through faith in Jesus Christ, to eternal glory while others He will leave in their unbelief to their eternal shame. It is God who will choose us rather than we who will choose Him. “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” - Romans 9:16.
    Think about it. If we could affect our sovereign election by our own efforts (our works) it would no longer be of grace. It would be payment owed to us by God. But God owes us nothing. It is only by His exceedingly gracious mercy that we receive redemption at all. God isn’t looking for our sacrifices or works. Our works are merely trash in the eyes of God. “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.” - Isaiah 64:6-7. This is what our works earn for us.
    What then does God want? “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” - Psalm 51:16-17.
    That many would fall and many would rise in Christ is true to this day.

No ‘Work-Around’ - John 15:14

You are my friends if you do what I command you. - John 15:14

    In recent times, there has been growing failure to rightly exegete the Bible in a God-honoring way. What I mean by that is many people, non-Christians and nominal Christians, skew the words of Scripture to support their erroneous declarations about what God’s words actually mean; or should I say what God’s words mean to them? We cannot deviate from God’s word nor negotiate our way around its true meaning. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” - Galatians 1:6-9.
    Recently, I have heard a great number of clearly fictitious and untruthful claims about what the Bible says regarding the hot topics of today. From abortion to sexual sin (and all its poisonous offshoots) to excuses for blatant racism and hatred in general, there seems to be someone who can misquote the Bible in a heartbeat, turning Holy Scripture on its head. The defenses and excuses for such pagan behavior shouldn’t boggle our minds; we should expect it, especially in this age of permissiveness. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” - 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
    They want to usurp the authority of God, so they misinterpret His words to support their barbaric inclinations. By incorrect exegesis of the Scriptures, they render the most despicable acts of man acceptable, if not desirable and noble. They even raise the sinful acts to a place of idolatry and refer to them as ‘inalienable rights’ accorded to them by the Constitution of the United States! Then they demand of us, “how dare” we choose the rightly interpreted word of God over their mongrelized and corrupted version of ‘the truth?’
    Make no mistake. There are no ‘work-arounds’ - Jesus Christ did not and does not bless the pagan practices of racists, homosexuals, abortionists, or sinners in general. He came to save sinners from the effects of their sins, not to encourage or validate the lives they have chosen for themselves or the destruction of the lives of their victims. Jesus is clear as to His position on sin. “Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’” - John 8:10-11. Yes, the woman was a prostitute, a sinner. Christ forgave her sins but specifically commanded her to ‘go ... and from now on sin no more!’ He didn’t wink at her and point her toward men who wanted to pay for her services. He didn’t tell her she had done no wrong. He didn’t tell her to make sure she showed up for all his sermons, but then she could carry on as usual. He told her not to sin anymore, period. So when anyone says abortion, or hating someone based on their race or ethnicity, or a life of sexual sins is excused by God, they are lying. And God has made His position clear. “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” - Proverbs 6:16-19.
    In this culture of self-indulgence and open sinfulness, we need to understand that God, in His majesty, should rule our hearts, minds, and deeds. We must come to terms with the fact that any alternative to Jesus Christ leads to condemnation and damnation, whether the culture accepts the truth of that statement or not.
   
 

Forsaking Anger And Wrath - Psalm 37:8-9

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. - Psalm 37:8-9

    Other than the very words of Jesus Christ, these words from Psalm 37 are perhaps the most convicting of any when referring to our anger getting us into more trouble that it was worth. The psalmist isn’t warning us about protecting human life; he’s telling us we should not turn our anger into active wrath. There is no mention of the fear for our lives or the lives of innocents.
    Let us first define wrath. According to Merriam-Webster, wrath is a strong vengeful anger or indignation or retributory punishment for an offense or a crime. And we can define retributory punishment as ‘revenge.’ The Scripture is categorical with humans and revenge; such a response to any wrongdoing remains God’s purview, and God’s alone.
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” - Romans 12:19. Both the Old Testament and the New are replete with warnings about humans avenging any wrongdoing.
    Not that Scripture proscribes us from preventing a wrongdoing if it should be within our power. What Scripture admonishes is the wrathful action of our uncontrolled anger. We must not worry ourselves about how we can get back at someone who has violated us in some earthly manner, but leave it to God to see the righteousness reigns. “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.” - Deuteronomy 32:35.
    Imagine all the heartache and distress we could avoid if in our hearts and minds we could just come to terms with the fact that God will make all things right in His own time. We could calmly walk away, knowing that God sees all things and forgets nothing. And while we are so busy concerning ourselves with the here and now, God is busy with our eternity! What we should do is pray for God’s strength to endure and persevere. This is God’s plan for us. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” - Romans 12:12. This is God’s plan for us when we face adversity and affliction. Hope, be patient, and pray. That is what our response should be under situations of duress and challenge.
    No one has ever said that turning the other cheek would be the easy thing to do. But as Christians, we are seldom called to do the easy things. We are called to carry our crosses ... and without complaint! “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” - Luke 14:27. 
    We simply cannot react to the ways of the world in a worldly manner. If we did so, how could anyone tell us apart from the world? When we counter-punch every assault; if we cursed every curse; and if we wrestle with every opponent, how are any different in the eyes of our observers?  How would we be any different in the eyes of our observers? The evil we accuse our enemies of, we will be guilty too. And we know by God’s own word that evildoers will be cut off.
    And do we still not know that for many of those who look upon us, we are the only ‘Bible’ they will ever see? How will they differ our angry cursing from the Gospel we preach? How will they ever know the difference between worldly words and the word of God?
    Of course, it is a challenge to refrain from anger and forsake wrath! If it was easy, anyone could do it. We can’t even hope to accomplish such a task on our own power. We need the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, to shut down our impulses. Jesus assures us of that much. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” - John 15:5. But we have great power when we rely on our Lord and Savior. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13. We must not only look like Christians; we must act like Christians. Let us refrain from anger and forsake wrath, knowing that our inheritance awaits us.







 

Fault Is Best Viewed In A Mirror - Psalm 66:18

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. - Psalm 66:18

    There is a constant hum among unbelievers, near-believers, and weak believers about the efficacy of prayer. We hear how these people have prayed and yet God has ignored their desires. In their minds, it is always God that has somehow failed to come through. Seldom do they ever consider that it might be their fault that God has seen fit to ignore their prayers. “Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” - Isaiah 59:1-2.
    How often have we heard the pangs of abandonment when tragedy takes place? “God doesn’t listen. God doesn’t care. Where is God when we need Him?” Assume the human-fold for a moment. Which of you would be quick to present someone with a gift who paid you no deference or ignored you? Who berated you and disparaged you? Someone who disrespected you and cast aspersions your way? Consider now the definition of a gift. A gift is something that has not been earned by the prospective receiver. Something that wasn’t due him or her. A gift is something that you bestow upon someone out of the goodness of your heart, not because they had it coming to them. Trust my words when I say that the last thing any of us wants from God is what is coming to us. Never has the adage, ‘Be careful what you wish for,’ been so apropos.
    “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” - James 4:3. These are the prayers of the unrighteous. It should come as no surprise that God ignores such plights. The prayers of the unrighteous are astounding in their audacity and presumptuousness. Yet when they go unanswered, the sinner shrugs his shoulders and points at God and swears, “He is the reason my prayers have not been answered!” Beside being absolutely absurd, only the cries from hell are more thunderous.
    So whose prayers will God hear and answer? The Bible is very clear about answered prayer. First, we must ask in faith. “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” - Matthew 21:22. Then we must ask according to God’s will, not ours. “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” - 1 John 5:14. We must obey His commandments. “and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” - 1 John 3:22. Finally, we must ask everything in Christ’s name. “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”- John 14:13-14.    All the above mentioned prerequisites have one thing in common: they are the traits common to all true believers in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So it is of the utmost importance that before we assign fault or blame for failing to receive gifts and blessings from God, that we look deeply into the mirror before we point the finger at God.
    God’s mercy is not due us otherwise it wouldn’t be mercy. It is God’s decision to show mercy to whom he will show mercy. “For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’” - Romans 9:15. We cannot demand mercy. The very thought of doing so is ludicrous. Nor we cannot expect it if we are determined to live our lives according to our own worldly wills and desires. God has no obligation to bless us. That is the Biblical truth. So if we are intent on having things our own way, then we should not find fault in God, but in ourselves.

Reservations Only - Matthew 25:34

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. - Matthew 25:34

    There are only two ways one can obtain an inheritance: by birth or by adoption. No one else is entitled to my inheritance, as it has been reserved for me through one or the other of these ways. The neighbor’s kids can’t receive it. A distant cousin cannot receive it. A perfect stranger cannot receive it. It is reserved for me and legally bequeathed to me by the grace of the testator. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you ...”- 1 Peter 1:3-4.
    Our inheritance awaits us upon our passing from the flesh into the spirit. Upon our deaths, we who have been chosen by God will receive the eternal life as promised to us by God Himself! “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” - Ephesians 1:13-14.
This is the Promise handed down to those who are faithful to God through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no other way to obtain the inheritance. We cannot work our way into it, nor can we cajole our way into it. God is not deceived. God cannot be pandered to by our base and fleshly desires for eternity in heaven. Our heavenly Father is above reproach and will not succumb to our devilish machinations, regardless of our ostentatious behavior. It is only through genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that our inheritance awaits us. “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13.
    The manner in which we become heirs of the promise is evident on every page of Holy Scripture. One cannot reasonably hope for salvation and the promise of salvation by thinking, speaking, and behaving like one who is ‘of the world.’ We must live in such a way that is exemplary of our place in the Book of Life. “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.” - Revelation 21:27.
    We must understand that we are forever at the mercy of our Almighty God and that a life lived in complete and utter disregard for His will can only lead to perdition, endlessly and eternally, without relief.    
    The scriptures are replete with warnings and cautions against walking in the ways of the world. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” - 1 John 2:15. This inheritance was reserved for us before time began and is guaranteed to all who love and have faith in His only begotten Son. It’s not a winning lottery or scratch-off ticket we can buy at our own expense. It is the gift of God that we obtain by His grace alone. “ ... he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” - Titus 3:5-7. This is the promise and the glory reserved for us if we but persevere in the faith.

What Kind Of Love - Matthew 27:22

Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” - Matthew 27:22

    The question is simple enough. I don’t mean bleeding in the sense of injuring oneself on the job we do to feed our families, nor do I mean sacrificing oneself for a nation during times of war or in law enforcement. Bleeding and dying in those instances isn’t the goal. It is incidental to the goal. No, I mean for whom have we deliberately bled our own precious blood. “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” - Matthew 26:28. This is the love of Christ beginning on the night of the Last Supper.
    What kind of love would be required for Jesus to die deliberately for someone else? I believe I would die for my wife or my children, a sibling, or a dear close friend. But what special set of circumstances would have to be present for me to bleed wilfully and die for a perfect stranger? For people who are estranged from me? For people who hate everything I stand for? For people who hate everything I am willing to die for? Could anyone of sound mind, knowing what awaited Christ, doubt the veracity of His Gethsemane prayer? “And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’”- Luke 22:41-42.
    His love must be beyond reproach if He was willing to sacrifice His own life for the lives of those who would blaspheme His holy name just days after they proclaimed Him their King.“And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” - Matthew 21:9. For those Jews who celebrated the coming of the Messiah, ‘hosanna’ meant, ‘pray for us, save us.’ And what of people today who will pray for financial gain, a new home, or any other worldly treasure then arrogantly deny the very divinity of Christ? Who were they praying to? The fickleness of man is absurd!
    On this Good Friday, let us never forget the love that has forgiven us; the love that has saved us; the love that comes only from God Himself. Let us raise our own voices as those in the past and sing, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
   

Where Christ Is Lord His Word Is Truth - 1 John 4:6

We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. - 1 John 4:6

    I drive an hour plus each way to the church service I attend on Sunday and any other event that may be featured during the year. That’s better than a two-hour drive to attend church. Many people ask me why I don’t elect to attend a church closer to me. I’m not sure they understand why I do so, even after I’ve tried to explain.
    In my lifetime, I have attended so many different churches that I cannot recall the exact number. I’ve sat through the services of every denomination, from Roman Catholic to some of the most ambiguous ‘non-denominational’ churches you could imagine. But every one of them failed to deliver the infallible and inerrant Word of God! They threw a Bible verse or two around when it suited them or they failed to apply proper hermeneutics to their exegesis. Some even dispensed with the entirety of the Holy Bible, claiming its strict adhesion to faithful doctrine divides people rather than bringing them together. And some even liked to make God up as they go along, being very careful to avoid offending anyone with the truth! “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” - 2 Timothy 4:3-4. Make no mistake about it: truth must never be compromised for the sake of peace.
    So you can probably imagine how grateful I was when I found a church that was a bastion of truth through Jesus Christ. And all I had to do was drive a couple of hours to fellowship as the Holy Bible recommended. “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them... I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people... For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”- Leviticus 26:3,11-12 and Matthew 18:20.
    The key to my satisfaction with my church rests entirely on the fact that I have long admitted that I am a sinner and that Jesus made propitiation for my sins to redeem me from an eternity in hell. And that is what my church professes.
    That may be a lot to digest, especially when most people aren’t even willing to admit they are sinners! Most folks say, “well, nobody’s perfect.” But that’s as far as they’re willing to go. The reason they take such a dim view of sin and its consequences can be narrowed down to two rationalizations: it is what they are being taught in their churches, or it is a self-contrived view of their state of depravity. But that is not what the Bible teaches. “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” - John 4:24. The acolytes of false teaching worship neither in the Holy Spirit nor do they worship in the truth!
    As true Bible-believing Christians, it is our duty to understand Christ as our Lord and by doing so we understand His word is truth. “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. This is the Christ of the Bible. This is the Christ of truth. This is Jesus Christ, in His own words! It is only when we see Him in this context that we can worship Him and fellowship according to the will of God. This is the church where we can feel at one with our brethren, our pastors, and the true Word of God. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
    Yes, I continue my weekly two-hour drive to church service each Sunday and will continue to do so as there is no substitute for the inerrant and infallible word of God delivered in both truth and spirit..

The Petrine Fear Factor - Matthew 10:32-33

   
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 10:32-33.

    There are many people who have a difficult time sharing the Gospel with family members and friends. It’s easy from a worldly point of view to understand this hesitancy by some brethren. It’s not a matter of avoiding religion or politics among polite company. Often, it comes down to the fear that sharing the word of God forthrightly will offend the friend or family member. And not without reason. Some of the best loved people in our lives are not just silent about God; they aggressively insult our beliefs and God Himself. “Don’t come in here, preaching to me” The comment, if not verbalized that way, often takes the place of the elephant in the room when the subject is broached. But Jesus Himself has warned us against such faintheartedness in the face of trenchant opposition and they are words we would be wise to heed. “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” - Mark 8:38. This sobering advice to any Christian.
    We shouldn’t forget the lesson of Peter in the courtyard when he denied Christ, not once or twice but three times; this even after Jesus had warned him of his cowering denials. “Jesus said to him, ‘Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!’ And all the disciples said the same.” - Matthew 26:34-35. We all know what happened to Peter’s bravado in the face of his own fears.
    Fortunately for Peter. His story didn’t end with his fall from grace in the courtyard. Eventually, he was raised from the ashes of his spiritual failure to become Christ’s ‘rock.’ Everywhere he went, he boldly proclaimed the name of Jesus.  “...let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 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 4:10-12. This was preaching in boldness; not something couched in hesitancy or fear of angering others.
    Peter’s restoration brought him to the pinnacle of spiritual faith, even unto death upon the cross under the order of Emperor Nero in approximately 64 AD. And we’re too reluctant to proclaim Christ as King to our own family and friends?
    Paul the Apostle issues the proclamation that we should go forth fervently with God’s word. “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” - 2 Timothy 4:1-2.
    These words aren’t simply advice on how we are to share God’s word if we feel no resistance from those around us. This is what we must do as Christians wherever we are and whenever we feel compelled by the Holy Spirit to do as Christ commands us. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:19-20. This is the command of Jesus Christ, no matter who the audience is. Our job as Christians is not to succumb to the fear of Peter, but to aspire to his boldness.
 

Madness! - Romans 9:20

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” - Romans 9:20

    It is incumbent upon all true Christians to speak out boldly against the madness that now permeates both our culture, our society, and even many churches. From media pundits to celebrities to athletes to government lawmakers, this festering insanity runs amuck in our towns and cities, in our books, television programing, movies, in our sports complexes, schools and libraries. Even the halls of our government and law drip with this pathological madness. This is nothing new in the history of mankind; it has been with us from the dawn of time and will continue with us to the end times. “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God ...” - 2 Timothy 3:1-4. I am speaking about the modern madness of transgenderism, which is the condition of the mind wherein a person (or persons) believe oneself to be of a gender different from that which they were biologically born. Madness!
    There are only two possibilities within the realm of reality: either they are psychologically delusional and require therapy, or they are being deliberately deceitful with the twisted intention of re-identifying themselves as victims of normal society. As we have seen in recent years, victimology has become a sacred status among the absolute fringes of moral and sane society. It is neither sacred, in the generally accepted understanding of the term, nor a true status except as defined within the parameters of psychopathology.
    God designed human beings His way, not in a state of constant flux, becoming and unbecoming whatever we choose. We are what we are by God’s design and any divergence from that is a direct violation of God’s will.
    Going back to our titular passage, we cannot use a clay jar as a hammer because it wasn’t designed to be a hammer but to be a jar. One cannot properly imagine a glass jar as a framing hammer no matter how hard one tries. To do so is an illustration of delusional imaginings. Such thinking is demented and destructive as well. Remember well the demoniac of Mark 5: “Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.” - Mark 5:5.
    To put it tersely - a refrigerator is not an alligator; a bowlful of broken glass is not cereal; and a boy is not a girl nor vise versa... ever! Now this position does not sit well with those promoting, encouraging, or making a living peddling such madness. We see from Mark’s Gospel that even after Jesus had cured the man of his demons, the crowd was not happy: “And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.” - Mark 5:15. Many apologists for madness say that the crowd was fearful because Jesus had sent the demons into the herd of swine, which then drowned itself in the sea. They argue, “Well, of course the men were angry, the swine was how they made their living!” To which I answer, ‘precisely’. Think about it.
    When we look at the continuing disorder in our world, we have to wonder why the authorities simply don’t put an end to it. We can come to a reasonably sound conclusion when we seek the wisdom of the old adage - “Follow the money.” From the monstrous fatality rates of opioid addiction to the ridiculous cost of life-saving drugs to the sickness of body mutilation to abortion, it’s easy to see that most insane self-expression related issues could be quickly solved by simply following the designs of our Creator: “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” - Isaiah 64:8. Let us all regain our sanity in this mad world of changing morals, changing ethics, changing desires, and changing sexes. If we return to God, He will return to us.

Give Us A King - 1 Samuel 8:6

But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. - 1 Samuel 8:6

    There is an old saying that warns, “Be careful what you wish for...you just might get it.” This adage applies appropriately to the Israelites at the end of the period of Judges. Dissatisfied with the way things had been going, they demanded the prophet Samuel appoint them a king “such as all the other nations have.” (1 Sam. 8:4) Upon this demand, Samuel approached God in prayer. God responded to Samuel in no uncertain terms: “And the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them...Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’”     - 1 Samuel 8:7,9.
    Since God is truly sovereign, we must remember that every ruler, from royalty to head of state to presidents to heads-of-household, has been ordained by God Himself. And the track-record has not been illustrious. Out of the 43 kings of the kingdom of Israel and the Divided Kingdom, starting with Saul (586 BC) and ending with Zedekiah (1025 BC), only 6 ‘did right in the eyes of God.’ Is it any wonder that since that time eons ago and right until today, that we have such a difficult time finding righteous leaders to rule over us? Samuel did as the Lord told him, and he warned the people of the dangers of having an earthly king over them. But the people were persistent. “But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, ‘No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.’” - 1 Samuel 8:19-20.
    What we seek in a leader today has sinfully drifted away from our primary purpose in life - “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” (W. C. Answer #1) which we may follow as we are intended to by adhering to what we are taught in Scripture - “The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.” - (W. C. Answer #3).
    The human leadership (and the electorate) in our own country is so inherently evil that we cannot elect God-fearing leaders who abide by God’s mandates for us. They perpetrate every conceivable evil in our nation from abortion to sexual immorality to the denial of God and transgressions against His holy laws. We are no different than those sinful Israelites who wantonly abandoned the God of their fathers and turned to open idolatry. The law of man supersedes the Law of God in every public forum and leaves morality to the whims of the current culture. But this should not be. We have a duty to God, whether or not we believe we do. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Romans 12:2.
    It is a basic desire among men to have a guiding light to show them the way. No rational human being wants to ‘do things the wrong way.’ To deliberately do so is evidence of our depraved nature. A nature passed down to us through the transgression of Adam. And that warped sinful nature guides us in darkness to follow the ‘ruler of this world,’ Satan. So now I ask, is it truly any wonder that our nation and our world are in their current state of wickedness?
    We have only one recourse and that is to repent and return to God as our spiritual and moral King. In the same Book of 1 Samuel, we are given the only means to return to the favorable sight of our Lord. “And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, ‘If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’ So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.” - 1 Samuel 7: 3-4. The foreign gods and Ashtaroth represent the idols we have chosen to serve rather than the one true Lord. Unless we return to God and put away all our idols, our worldly kings will never save us from our own darkened hearts. Let us worship and obey the one true King, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Give us Our King!

Tetelestai - John 19:30

  
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. - John 19:30

    Christians get their soteriology wrong the minute they say, “We are saved by Jesus, and (fill in the blank)” What I mean when I say this is simply that upon the cross, near the end of His life, Jesus made that statement that ‘it is finished.’ What was he talking about? What is ‘finished?’ And why on earth did He make that statement the moment before His death?
    The Greek word, ‘Tetelestai’ is variously interpreted as ‘it is finished’, ‘it is consummated’, and ‘the debt is paid in full.’ In a word, Jesus is telling us that because He perished upon the cross He had paid our debt for sinning against God... in full! That means there’s nothing else to add to Christ’s onetime atonement for our sins. The very word ‘atonement’ is often rendered as “at-one-ment,’ defining itself as the act of bringing two or more disparate parties together as one. This is, in fact, what had to be done if humans were ever going to be at peace with God.
    Sin stood between our gracious God and us. Thanks to Adam, all humanity has ever since been under the curse of the sin. The Old Testament sacrifices were mere precursors to the one and only sacrifice that could ever repair our relationship with our heavenly Father. We need to remember that no matter what we do, we could never repair the damage of sin in our lives. Even our greatest good deeds are nothing in the sight of God. “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” - Isaiah 64:6. So what was the one good and perfect sacrifice that could restore our relationship with God? The atoning act of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! When Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice to the Father, we were forgiven our sins and imputed the righteousness of Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus took our sins upon Himself and we are declared righteous in the eyes of God by His perfectly passive and active obedience to His Father. Without that atonement, we would all be facing eternity in hell.
    So we’re all saved from eternal destruction by Christ’s selfless sacrifice on our behalf? No, read what the Scriptures say - “... for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” - Matthew 26:28. “... so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” - Hebrews 9:28. Jesus died and redeemed ‘many,’ not all. The many are those who believe in Him, not everyone who ever lived or everyone on the entire planet. Many, not all!
    To suggest that the Scriptures guarantee the salvation of all people - everyone - is heretical. When I have people over for dinner and invite ‘everyone’ to sit down and eat, I don’t mean literally everyone on the planet. I mean everyone who is present in my home. The Scriptures assure us: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” - John 3:14-15. And again: “... because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” - Romans 10:9.
    This is the remnant of people who will be saved from hell - those who believe in and have faith in Jesus. These are the people for whom Christ declared from the cross - “Tetelestai” - it is finished.

The Promised House - John 14:2-3

 “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” - John 14:2-3.

    One of the most pervasive errors made by people regarding life after death is the idea that God could condemn no one to an eternity in hell regardless of the state of their souls at the time of death. And this has been the case throughout history, though not in the numbers we see today. Today, the popular culture suggests that each individual can personalize their own designs in everything from cosmetics, to diet, to body sculpting, to God and the hereafter.
    They hold to the erroneous belief that God is simply too good to do such a terrifying thing. In most cases the people who believe this nonsense are people who have never read the Bible or who have meticulously cherry-picked the Holy Scriptures for words they can use to convince others that God’s greatest attribute to the exclusion of all others is His love. There is no such isolated Scripture that guarantees this to be the case. It is poor exegesis and false teaching that inspire such unfounded delusions.
    Their alternatives are the heresy of universalism or the equally fallacious idea that the dead are simply annihilated. The Bible itself is abundantly clear as to the fundamental flaw in their understanding of the afterlife. “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” - Daniel 12:2.
    The Bible tells us that those who die Jesus will be raised to eternal life in heaven. “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” - Romans 10:9.
    On the other hand, the Bible tells us in many passages of Scripture what the alternative is - “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” - Revelation 21:8.
    There it is in plain and articulate language. There is life after death and it is not the same for sinners forgiven or unforgiven.
    The idea of annihilation is simply made of whole cloth for people who remain uncommitted to Jesus Christ in this life. Such notions reek of pride, autonomy, and outright sin! Suggestions that unrepentant and unforgiven people will somehow merit the same afterlife as those who have died in Christ are ludicrous. They suggest that both unrepentant serial murderers and St. Paul will either completely disappear from existence (annihilation) or that they will share the same dinner table in the afterlife (universalism). The latter assume these murderers turned to Christ in the moments before their deaths.
    We simply cannot customize or design our afterlife experience; there are only two! The Bible has gone to great lengths to describe God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as our one triune God. There is no other design for, or version of, God. There is only one!
    As we consider our lives in both this world and the next, let our faith in Jesus assure us we have a home in the glory that is Jesus Christ. “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” - John 14:2-3.
    This is the promise of Christ, not the meanderings of those who have no hope and no place of salvation.

Doing The Impossible - Matthew 19:26

 
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:26

    I have struggled over the years with my inability to show my Christian love to all mankind. I have been angry, outraged, and insulted by the very people Jesus commanded me to love. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...” - Matthew 5:44. After giving the issue much thought, it became clear to me that I have not been giving it my Christian effort.
    Certainly, it is easy for us to go around spouting off Scripture references to applicable situations, but how often do we actually walk the walk? It’s not ignorance on our part when we don’t seem all that Christian. And we must remember that often, we are creating an image for those around us who never pick up a Bible or attend a church service. Does our reaction to things that irk us illustrate how Christians are supposed to behave toward our fellow men and women? I’m afraid that in my case the answer has far too often been ‘No!’
     I tried to understand why it was so. I truly wanted to project a good Christian image to those around me, but failed to meet that godly standard. Why didn’t I have that kind of strength? I reminded myself of Paul’s frustration and exasperation : “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” - Romans 7:15. How could I accomplish this will of God for my life?
    Then, the very words that I had so often quoted to my family and loved ones came floating back to me. They were words I had used to encourage them in times of similar disappointments with varying issues and challenges they had faced: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13. I realized I could never love my enemies in my own power. I wasn’t strong enough in myself, but I could be through Christ Jesus!
    Obviously, there will be times when maintaining a godly attitude around troublesome people is going to be next to impossible. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” - Romans 12:18. Paul knew that there would be times of difficulty with people who didn’t have our best interest at heart. But even then, his words were not to pick a fight or walk away in anger. “To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” - Romans 12:20-21.
    Our calling in Philippians 4:13 is a strategic response that our tactical response can illustrate, and that should be: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” - 1 Corinthians 10:31. We cannot glorify God with hatred, anger, antagonism, impatience, or resentment, because none of those attributes exemplify love. As Scripturally responsive Christians, we should know by now what love is : “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. This is the love that Jesus is talking about when He tells us to “Love (y)our enemies and pray for those who persecute you (us). Can we do so on our own power? I wouldn’t even suggest trying. Go to Christ and plead with Him for the strength that only God can provide.
    “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” - 2 Corinthians 12:8-9.
    No matter what we must do or accomplish, we must grasp the fact that God’s will alone determines how our efforts turn out. Sometimes even the simplest plans go awry; sometimes the impossible happens, all to the glory of God.

The Fruit Of Babel - Genesis 11:3-4

And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” - Genesis 11:3-4

    There seem to be three benchmarks of this sordid story of man’s self-aggrandizement:
    1) Men believed they could trespass against a holy God.
    2) They believed they could do what they wanted and as they wished.
    3) They believed they could use every means at their disposal to do as they pleased.
    As we can see early on in Genesis 11, men were starting out on the same treacherous foundation that cost Adam and Eve their place in the garden. And just as with Adam and Eve, their slippery footing also ended in a fall. God does not look kindly on the excesses of man’s pride. ‘Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’ - Deuteronomy 32:35.
    God accomplishes His will despite everything that man can devise to thwart it. There is no moment in human history when God is caught unaware of man’s disobedience. No matter how often man has tried to get the jump on God, man is frustrated in his attempts. God might not move immediately to curb the diabolic plans of men, but He moves in His own time to do so. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.     People often accuse God of failing to stop ungodly behavior and evil in its tracks. “Where was God?” They scream, then bring up the 9-1-1 attacks, the Holocaust, the institution of slavery, to name but-a-few of the more graphic illustrations of man’s inhumanity to man. Among the more continuing issues of barbarism and brutality, they cite abortion, sexual depravity, and corruption to show that God is seemingly uninvolved in such pedestrian wickedness. But we must never make the mistake of assuming that God is aloof during such examples of depravity simply because He doesn’t hurl a lightning bolt to stop the violence. We must remember that God is patient, just, and wrathful. Think first of God’s enduring promise: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28. We too, must, therefore exemplify patience.
    And let us not forget that as for those who refuse to repent and are intent on enacting Satan’s iniquity in this world, God has made us another promise: “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.”: Revelation 19:20-21. God’s Word is often graphically harsh, and so it should be to those who would build themselves a city and make a name for themselves, transgressing God’s laws.
    Despite the lawlessness and evil in the world today, we must recall the words of Jesus Christ: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33. For those who are truly in Christ, peace is coming.

When The Gospel Is Rejected - Matthew 10:14

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. - Matthew 10:14

    “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” - Matthew 7:6. These seem like pretty harsh words coming from the mouth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. But Scottish Biblical scholar, F. F. Bruce explains that, ‘The general sense of the saying is clear: objects of value . . . should not be offered to those who are incapable of appreciating them.’ Bruce was referring to special objects, privileges, or taking part in sacred things; and there is no more sacred thing in our day-to-day lives than God’s Holy Word!
    Whether we are referring to Christ as the Word or Scripture as the Word, both are sacred. Why, tossing about the name of Jesus and His words in a crowd of those who neither want to hear it nor will listen to it is borderline blasphemy. Jesus Himself said as much in Matthew 7:6.
    So how do we reconcile the words of our titular passage with Christ’s Great Commission? The way to do so is by discernment. We must be wise enough to know where and when we are to share the Gospel, and with whom!
    I have found myself in many an instance where I shouldn’t have brought my faith to the fore. In fact, I shouldn’t have even been there in the first place. Another instance is our timing.“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . . ” - Ecclesiastes 3:1. We must be prudent to choose the right time to speak to our listeners about the glory of God and His Gospel. There are moments in life when the fields aren’t yet ready for planting. They have yet to be prepared for the sowing of the word. An old mentor of mine once told me that ‘timing is everything.’ Indeed, it is.
    Finally, we must even be careful about whom we bring the Gospel to because that requires judgment as well as discernment. The looks of a person are often deceiving, but not always. Sometimes a person’s countenance betrays their hearts in not-so-subtle ways. Therefore, godly discernment is of the utmost importance where, when, and to whom we present the Gospel.
    We can too often become victims of our own enthusiasm. Surely, we are excited about spreading the Word of God, but we can be too hasty in moving from thought to action when we sense there is a receptive audience awaiting God’s revealed Word. We must pray for the Holy Spirit’s intercession and direction before we rush head-long into conversation, regardless of the spiritual value of our discourse. Until we do, we can never follow the words of Paul to Timothy : “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” - 2 Timothy 4:2.
    I have found myself in situations where unbelievers made it clear: they were not agreeable to hearing the preaching of the Gospel. If we insist on speaking the truth at that moment, we may experience the audience simply getting up and leaving. In cases where we are the visitor, we might be asked to leave, and if we persist, we may be told to leave. Either way, they have rejected our Gospel message off hand and with extreme prejudice. Was it our approach? Possibly, but the chances are better that the intended audience is too worldly to care about eternal things. That is exactly why Jesus said, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs.”
    Many pastors and commentators will give varying advice on how we should handle these tense and tenuous situations. However, Matthew 10:14 is perfectly clear about how we are to react.

A Warning Against The World - 2 Corinthians 6:14-15

    
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? - 2 Corinthians 6:14-15

    At first glance this passage creates a bit of a paradox if we, as Christians, are to fulfill our duty - “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:19-20. How can we possibly do as Christ commands if we follow the mandate of our title’s passage?
    It does not direct its warning to the preaching the Gospel, but to keeping our hearts from falling into the black hole of secular culture. For us to be ‘yoked’ with unbelievers is to be bridled with them in our thoughts, words, deeds, and desires. Christians should share nothing common to the heathen culture at large, especially anything that promotes or encourages the same. No ads, video programing, music, books, magazines, fashion, organizations, or associations that promote an un-Christian worldview should be part of a Christian’s lifestyle. If we truly love God, our desires will reflect what God desires. “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” - 2 Corinthians 6:17-18.
    One look at the current culture immediately points to a lifestyle that habitually speaks of ungodly thoughts, words, and deeds. It has everything to do with the heart that drives the mind toward sinful transgression. It has become so bad that it is hard to find family programming on tv to day that promotes a godly world view. Even Madison Avenue pushed its diabolic poison into our homes via the cable, the internet, and radio. So one can see how difficult it is to separate oneself from the world, the flesh, and the devil. But separate ourselves, we must! “You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” - Deuteronomy 14:1-2. As the old adage goes - we should never give the devil a seat at our table.
    Christians should avoid the pitfalls of modern culture like the plague, doing nothing that directly violates the divine will of God. We must keep in mind that because we are of a fallen nature, our natural inclinations and predilections drive us toward the ungodly, but our feet need not slip. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” - 1 Corinthians 10:13.
    No, the mere act of peculiar hair-styling, body piercing, tattooing, or other self-mutilation is not sinful - it is the ungodly desire to-express oneself in any manner that is not of the Lord. We must constantly remember the words of the Apostle Paul - “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.” - 1 Corinthians 6:12. His words describe refusing to allow oneself to be conquered by or enslaved by any mind-set or behavior that cannot reveal a godly heart. It is the tainted heart that drives us toward ungodly attitudes and actions. We must always keep before us Paul’s admonition - “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” - 1 Corinthians 10:31.
    We have the strength and the power to defeat the assaults of the evil one and His name is Jesus - “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13. Let us always be sure to keep our eyes on Christ, our mediator, Savior, and Redeemer and we will not succumb to the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Doctrines Of Men? - 1 Timothy 6:3

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.- 1 Timothy 6:3

    I have heard some of the wildest expositions on the Bible come from people who stoutly condemn men like Luther, Calvin, or Knox, suggesting that they are pushing some contrived ‘man-driven religion’ over and above the Holy Scriptures. These folks like to use the Aramaic name for Jesus and consistently refer to God as Yahweh. And they almost always insist on quoting only Old Testament Scripture or the ‘red words’ of Jesus contained in the New Testament.
    Using these people’s erroneous interpretations of Scripture, it’s a wonder that they aren’t constantly condemning the words of today’s pastors as too dogmatic and ‘not the word of God!’ To be fair to these purveyors of convoluted thought, I would agree that no, the words of Luther and the Reformation giants are not the inspired words of God. They are simply human words based on the careful exegesis of the Holy Scriptures in all relative languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin. In fact, most of the reformers agreed to the consensus of men arrived at by the early church councils dating all the way back to Apostolic period.
    Again, I agree with the critics when they vociferously disagree with the importance of ‘church tradition’ as proposed by the Roman church. Church tradition takes a distant second to Scripture regarding the correct interpretation of God’s Word. Think: Scripture is never wrong; tradition can be and often is wrong.
    And neither are the words of today’s pastors and ministers equal to the very words of God. But to suggest that doctrine is purely man-made delusion is as patently wrong as saying that there is no doctrine within the words of Scripture. “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” - Titus 2:1. The very concept of non-doctrinal Christianity is a sham.
    The very words of Scripture have taught us to test what we are told and taught. We’re not supposed to accept every word that proceeds from the mouths of men as truth.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” - 1 John 4:1. The biblical writers were not naïve or stumbling fools; they knew that there would be surreptitious attempts by evil men to influence and reshape God’s words to meet their diabolic agendas. Even the honest readers of Scripture were convinced that every word had to be meticulously interpreted and their meanings derived from using proper hermeneutics and exegesis. “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” - Act 17:10-11.
    The Bible, even in its earliest manifestations, used the words of the original languages for ‘doctrine.’ Eventually, the term ‘orthodoxy’ would come to denote the understanding of ‘correct views.’ 
    Many people today are of the opinion that ‘doctrine divides.’ Well, it’s supposed to. It’s supposed to separate the wheat from the chaff. If we don’t know what we believe and why we believe it, then how could we possibly know that we have it right?
    I suspect that to suggest that the early church fathers, as well as the Reformers, were simply trying to make up doctrine out of whole cloth is just another way for false teachers to make their personal interpretation hold weight against blessed and more studied men; men who studied the Holy Scriptures in every conceivable manner before concluding not only on what it truly says but also on what it truly means.
    Proper interpretation of Scripture relies on the understanding that the Bible has as its thought two things: God’s relationship with man and our response to God’s divine plan for us. If we misinterpret either aspect of interpretation, we have wrongly interpreted the Word of God. And that is why we must rely on doctrine.


 

Would You Rather I Lied To You? - 1 John 1:8

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  - 1 John 1:8

    “Who has sinned today?”If you want to throw your next get-together into turmoil, just ask that question of your guests. Invariably, you won’t get many to admit their sinfulness. It just goes to show exactly how full of ourselves we have become. Scripture is clear on the issue -  “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” - 1 John 1:10.
    Obviously. That isn’t a very tactful way to approach the subject of indwelling sin in our lives. However; the spectacular nature of our sinful pride is so apparent that we have little excuse to even suggest that we are ‘without sin.’ We spend so much time making excuses for our thoughts, words, and deeds that we forget what David declared in his psalm of repentance and contrition - “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” - Psalm 51:3. Yes, and whether we’re willing to admit it, our sins are always before us, too.
    Of course, what many people think of as sin falls into ‘the most heinous of deeds’ category. In fact, most people don’t even consider their thoughts or words to be sins. After all, what does my thinking have to do with being overtly sinful and how do the words that come out of my mouth make me a sinner? Everyone has bad thoughts from time to time, and everyone says bad things from time to time. That doesn’t make us sinners; not if everyone does it, and not if I don’t act on my thoughts. Does it?
     Jesus Christ had a different opinion. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” - Matthew 5:27-28. The key to Christ’s interpretation isn’t as much in our actions, although they do count, but the well-spring of our thoughts, words, and deeds. Where, exactly, do they originate? Our hearts!
    In The Book of Jeremiah, God said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” - Jeremiah 17:9-10. This is one of the clearest statements made about the sinfulness of man in the entire Bible; but there are others.
    That anyone, even slightly versed in the knowledge of Holy Scripture, could miss the point of man’s innate sinfulness is astounding. That believers in Christ could so thoroughly miss the point of our sin is a clear sign that they are professors of a faith that they know very little about. “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’” - Romans 3:10-12.
    In our hypothetical, even if outrageous scenario, I can hear the door slamming and the car engines starting now. They’re fleeing from our get-together like there’s a fire! Have we embarrassed them? Offended them? We probably have. And if given the chance to ask them all just one more question as they angrily turned and sped away from us, our question should be - “Would you rather I lied to you?” Sadly, many would. That’s the world today. Even the most vociferous professors of the Christian faith dislike admitting that they are hopeless sinners without Christ. Confessing their sin is beneath them. Like politics; they just don’t want to talk about it. And their greatest excuse is that their faith is a private matter for them and no one else’s business. While tactfully approaching the subject remains our God-given command, there are those who would still brusqly push away any admission of or attempt to discuss the subject.
    Nothing within this short missive is a lie! The truth often hurts and is most insensitive, but it’s still the truth. And the truth is so important in the eyes of God that he commands it. If we lie, we will reap the whirlwind; if we tell the truth, we will have mercy. “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” - Proverbs 28:13. Some may prefer a lie to the truth, but Christian love demands we speak the truth. And I would rather offend someone with the truth than to let them slide unfettered into hell on the coat-tails of misplaced kindness.

A Miracle Everyday - Hebrews 2:4

   
. . . while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. - Hebrews 2:4

    Over the years, many of us have become jaded to the miracles that God performs right before our very eyes. In fact, some of us have become blind to them while we were or are still in our youth. How can it be that we no longer, and in many cases, have never recognized God’s phenomenal work in our lives? “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”- 2 Corinthians 4:4. This doesn’t mean we are constantly walking with the devil in our lives. But if we cannot walk with God and see His work in the world, then yes, it’s because we’re being influenced by Satan, and no other.
    But what of these ‘miracles?’ Shouldn’t they stand out from the normal and the mundane? Shouldn’t we too see the Red Sea part, the sudden restoration of a blind person’s sight, or our loved ones raised from the dead? Perhaps we have a mistaken idea of what a genuine miracle in our day looks like.
    Let’s look to determine whether the events that take place during our lifetimes are really just normal instances of chance or luck, or are they something else? The great American theologian, R.C. Sproul has said, “Chance does not exist. It is merely a word we use to describe mathematical possibilities.” Let’s face it; we would look pretty silly if we ruminated how chance played a role in the birth of a child. Chance has nothing to do with it. We know that a viable infant birth will take place after a healthy nine-month gestation period. Then, you say, “Well, that’s normal. There’s no miracle there.” Think carefully about what you are saying. In 21st Century America, the infant fatality rate through abortion, miscarriage, or early complications, while less than 100 years ago, is still with us, while your children were all born healthy. That is not chance; that is a miracle. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” - Jeremiah 1:5.
    God’s providential hand is evident in everything from a human birth to a safe drive home after work, to health after a serious illness, to recovery from an addiction. The problem is with us; we take everything for granted and assume our lives should be worry free, anxiety free, debt free, and sickness free. But we should know that our lives will be anything but free from tribulation. We live in a fallen world and often reap the whirlwind because of it.
    It is part of our human nature to deal with issues and problems during our lifetimes. There’s no avoiding it. With over seven billion people on our beleaguered planet, to have God making adjustments in our daily lives to keep us from constant and terrifying heartbreak, illness, and death is miraculous.
    The fatal car crash that occurred right in front of you but miraculously left you untouched. The spot in your breast that turned out to be just a fatty mass rather than cancer is miraculous. The lightning bolt that struck your front yard oak tree just after you finished pruning it is miraculous. Being found alive in the bay after your boat capsized is a miracle. Think of the many, many people who experienced these same events but with catastrophic outcomes, then consider yourself. That isn’t chance or luck; that’s a miracle!
    If you or someone you know has seen spectacularly terrible possibilities turn into blessings, then remind them that there are miracles every day. And don’t be grateful to chance or luck but to the God of our salvation - “As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number: He gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields; he sets on high those who are lowly and those who mourn are lifted to safety.” - Job 5:8-11.
    You are a living miracle; I am a living miracle; our children are living miracles. Be grateful for every common blessing and act of providence that He has ever shown us. He truly is an almighty God!