The Last Bridge

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

My Sin, Ever Before Me - Psalm 51:17

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

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

                   

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

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

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

The Pope’s Conundrum - Galatians 1:8

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

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

Bookends - Luke 12:51

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

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

Sinners Anonymous - 1 Timothy 1:15

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

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

For the Fatherless - Malachi 4:6

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

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