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Category: Religion

Discussions about RELIGION and THEOLOGY – as in the study, pursuit, and understanding of God. This category is everything that interests me about RELIGION and THEOLOGY.

  • I Am No Saint

    I have a sermon entitled My 10 Greatest Sins.  It is actually a discourse on The Ten Commandments, however I talk about them personally and how they apply directly to my life.  I explore them from the standpoint of how I am guilty of each.

    I’ve only preached this particular sermon a couple of times in two different places.  I ought to bring it out more.  The interesting thing about this particular sermon is, that it is illustrated (verb, definition 2) by sin in my life.

    And the thing that makes that interesting is that every single course on preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ that I’ve taken, every great preacher that I’ve discussed sermon delivery with, every instructional work I’ve read on the topic of sermon delivery, has told me (and will tell you) that you never, ever, talk about your own sin.  Let alone illustrate points of sin out of your own experiences.

    And I understand why that instruction is there, however, I have one small problem with it.  And that is Paul of Tarsus.  Paul did not shy away from informing Timothy that he was Chief amongst sinners (I Timothy 1:14-16).  Paul was straight forward with the early Church because he knew they were aware of his past (Acts 7:57-59).

    You may not personally be aware of my past (though there are those that are), but you should not assume that my sins are few and my transgressions lite (just as I do not assume that for anyone else in the world).  Paul of Tarsus may have been foremost amongst sinners when he walked the Earth, but today, I tell you that I am Chief amongst sinners.

    You may inquire of me who I have murdered and why I am not in jail for it, but you should consider that one does not have to physically end a life in order to take a life.  You and I impact people around us every single day.  And given the chance, we impose our will on others.  And where we win, we rob others.  And where we hate with an intense hatred, we murder those people in our hearts.

    So yes, I assure you, even though the breaking of God’s law may not meet your particular definition, I have broken them all.  And I believe that is by His definition, not mine, and I don’t believe I could stand before the Throne of God and defend any one of them were He to chose to charge me with any of the 10.

    So I am Chief amongst sinners.  You may ask, so what is my point?  How does myself being the biggest transgressor of God’s law in the world today have any meaning or effect in anyone else’s life or the world around me?

    Well you are (hopefully) reading this blog, are you not?  Are you not contemplating your own arguments, defenses, introspection, and evaluation of your own world view at this very moment in time?  I believe you are, whether you admit it or not.

    And it is important, because by doing so you evaluate my positions and arguments and use that information to conclude your own agreement or disagreement.

    You see, the dirty little secret is: I could really care less if you agree or disagree with me that I really am Chief amongst sinners.  That is really my position before a Holy God and how I approach my own world view.  I understand that when my sin is great, His Mercy is greater.  When my transgressions are  not loveable, His Love loves more.  When I am pathetic and hopeless, He finds Value and Hope.

    It is not that I make myself a great sinner in order that His Salvation becomes greater, it is I recognize that I am great sinner so that His Great Salvation is not diminished.  And I believe the great songwriter/theologian William R. Newell understood this principle when he penned the words (At Calvary):

    Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
    Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
    Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary!

    No, it doesn’t really matter to me much at all if you agree or disagree with my self characterization.  What matters to me is that you understand that I believe it, and that it then becomes part of your evaluation of your own understanding for the purpose of the discussion.

    Which brings me to the thing that is pressing heavily upon my soul, and that is the pending elections for the President/Vice President of the United States of America.

    Within the last 48 hours or so, we’ve now discovered the so-called October Surprise.  Donald J. Trump has expressed some pretty ugly views about women and used some very vulgar language.

    And now, apparently, the entire Republican Party leadership wants to abandon him.  Many prominent leaders have called for him to step down, to abandon the race (story here).

    And I have but one question: Has the entire conservative electorate (in the United States of America) lost their collective mind!?!  The election clock is ticking and we have less than 30 days until the people of the United States of America vote for (ostensibly) the leader of the free World and somehow the answer to lewd and insensitive talk (I am sure that there have been recent examples, but what is currently being put forth is 10/11 years old) is for the nominee to step down?  And do what?  Hold another Republican Primary?  Have those in charge place their presumptive candidate forward?  Less than 30 days before the election is to be held?

    AMERICA: If I, whom am Chief amongst sinners, am allowed by a Holy and Righteous God, to preach His word, to espouse on this blog, to represent Him here in this life, can we not find it in our hearts to be a little more civil towards the person the majority selected as their nominee?

    Consider the alternative.  The opponent doesn’t face her mistakes (sure she said she made a mistake having a private Email server, but that didn’t address the issue).  She has always skirted her own accusers and condemned those who have brought the spotlight to bear on her transgressions.

    The fact is, America just cannot afford Hillary Clinton as President.  The Nation is probably near bankruptcy as it is.  And she is certainly not the one to be casting any stones.

    Donald J. Trump has sinned in the past, and he will sin in the future, but he is still the best choice for America, and he is my choice.  And I pray that God will spare the United States of America by placing him in office.  And I pray you will join me in that prayer.

    By-the-way – I lied.  I titled this post I Am No Saint.  But I am a saint.  Not because of anything I’ve done, or will do, or ever could do, but because Jesus Christ has redeemed me through his work upon the Cross.  But when you look at me you will not see a saint.  You will see anything but saintliness and you would agree with my post title.

    Hopefully when you look at Donald J. Trump, you will not see the sinner, but rather a President.

  • Are You Good Enough To Get Into Heaven?

    A question that I have asked a few times in the past on this blog deals with exploring why there is evil in the world.  I’ve asked this question both from the standpoint of why God allows bad things to happen to good people and why God allows evil in the world if he is indeed a good and gracious God.

    However, a question that is seldom explored, and one that I have rarely, if ever, heard espoused from a theological standpoint is Can an evil person commit good acts?  Most purveyors of the Gospel of Jesus Christ seek to point out mankind’s sin.  That we are fallen creatures.  And that we are separated from a Just and Holy God.

    The Bible explains that we cannot have any hope of eternal life save from the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s Son.  And the entire reason that sacrifice was (and is) necessary is because we are a fallen creation.  That is, all of humankind is sinful.  We have violated God’s law, and are worthy of death, which is an eternity in Hell.

    And thus evangelists, those that seek to spread the Good News that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with the hope of winning souls (changing lives) for His Kingdom and His Glory, are apt to explain the state of mankind.  And that state is a separated, sinful state.  But the Good News is that we need not suffer the penalty of that state because the price has already been paid for us.  By God himself.  As only he could.

    I’ll return to that in a moment.  But before I do, perhaps you are one of the many who has wondered what in the world you have ever done to deserve God’s wrath.  Perhaps you have wondered, if indeed the Bible is true (and I assure you it is), why God’s standard is so high as to condemn all who have lived, who live, or who ever will live.

    In other words, why would God’s grand design be one in which we cannot win?

    The genesis of this question, whether we recognize it or not, comes from putting ourselves (humankind) at the center of the equation and not God.  We want to consider things from our point of view and not His.  But the creation should never try and explain the rules to the Creator.  Rather we should seek to understand Him and His purpose, His plan, and His grand design.  We can never understand it apart from Him because He is the one who put it all into motion.  Not us.

    And when we consider things from our point of view we begin to reason that yes, perhaps I have lied, but they were only little white lies.  No one got hurt by them.  They were not some atrocious acts of evil that altered the world.  After all, the vast majority of us who have ever lived can honestly say that we have not murdered anyone.  And therefore we are mostly good and only a little bad, and thus we are not really deserving of Hell, and if there is a God (and I assure you there is) He will look favorably on us because we tried really hard and did more good than we ever did bad.

    In doing so, we fail to consider things from God’s point of view.  God never, ever, once (that I am aware of) asked if we had told an egregious lie, only if we had lied.  Whatever that lie may have been.  And God never, ever, once applied some scale of good and evil to our state of sin.  Only whether we had, or had not sinned.  And the Bible clearly states that ALL have sinned (and thus come short of the Glory of God).

    This then creates what many may think is a paradox.  How is it, that humankind, who is sinful in nature, can do so much good in the world?  If I am so bad, why is it I am so good?  Can one who is evil in nature, find it in their heart to do good in the world?

    The Bible, not surprisingly, has an answer to that question.  No one would disagree that there is good in the world.  Of course there is.  But to place ourselves at the center of that good is a fallacy and leads us down a very dangerous path.

    Paul of Tarsus explained it this way in Romans 8:18-24:  We are told that it is God who shows mercy and lifts up those who falter.  Even when we sin against God himself, God works His plan for good: Genesis 50:20.  Paul further asks the question:

    21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonor?  22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:  23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,  24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:21-24, KJV).

    Paul, after telling us in Romans chapter 8 that we are all sinners who have fallen short of the Glory of God, tells us in Romans chapter 9 that we cannot even lay claim to the good that is in the world as it is God, and God alone, that shows His mercy in us by allowing His good works to be wrought in us.

    So are we good enough to get into Heaven?  Most decidedly No.  Not when perceived from God’s point of view.  But are we without hope, being placed in a no-win situation by the very Creator who set His great plan into motion in the first place?  Of course not.  You, and I, and everyone else, have been given the free choice of belief.  We simply need to believe in Him, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the great work he did upon the Cross in order to redeem us from our sin.

    Why?  Because it is all about Him, and not about us.  It is for His Honor, and His Glory, and for Him to receive Praise.

    We simply need to stop making it about ourselves, and start making it all about Him.

  • Are You Silent When Accused?

    For the vast majority of us, when accused of wrong doing, we are quick to voice our defense.  Even when we know we are wrong we are wont to profess our innocence.  It seems to be something about human nature that leaves us unable to not respond.  Few, if any of us, will stand before our accusers and remain silent.

    I learned a very valuable lesson years ago.  And that is, you cannot defend your own honor.  I was caught in a situation where a member of a church had been involved in a horrific accident and died.  The Pastor of the church was away at the time.  The nature of the tragedy was such that it caught the attention of the local news, who ended up reporting on the death and the horrible events that had befallen the immediate family for several nights (it was over a weekend as I recall).  The news stories prompted an outpouring of support for the surviving family members from the local community.  But no one knew where to send their gifts, that is until word got out that the family attended the same church that I did.  People began to send their gifts to the church.  The church treasurer, who had not encountered any similar situation in the past, took the monetary gifts, carefully logged them, and then deposited them into the church’s general funds.

    When the pastor returned from his trip the local news station stopped by for an interview with him.  Questions began to arise as to the disposition of the donated funds.  The pastor accurately reported the state of the funds, however, you may imagine how it sounded in the press when they relayed that the gifts had gone into the churches general bank account.  The pastor came under great scrutiny and there were many negative articles in the press.  The more the pastor tried to explain the situation, the more outrageous the nightly news became.  It was as if his explanations were falling on deaf ears.

    Finally, to get out from underneath the firestorm of the press, the church opened a charitable fund in the name of the family who had suffered the tragedy, placed all previously donated money into that fund, made a rather generous contribution to the fund itself, and then had a moderator (a third-party individual with nothing to gain or lose) hold a press conference and announce the fund, publically release the ledger of current donations, and request that all future donations go to that fund.

    No longer was the story a hot topic on the nightly news, and the pastor of the church was no longer under the spotlight.  I remember he came to me shortly thereafter and told me, “Paul, you cannot defend your own honor.”  And he was right.  When you try to defend your own honor it rings hollow in the ears of your accusers.  Yet we all seem to rush to do it anyway.

    However, today, I’d like to consider one who did not jump to their own defense.  So much so, that the magistrate who presided over the case was left in awe of the individual.  The story is found in Matthew 27:11-14 and goes like this:

    Matthew 27:11-14King James Version (KJV)

    11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.  12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.  13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?  14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

    One might wonder why Jesus stood silent before his accusers.  Indeed most people approach this passage with regard to what Jesus did, as can be found here.  I’d like people to consider this passage from another perspective.  And that is from the point of view of all the people who said nothing on Jesus’ behalf.

    Consider the great silence in the hall of justice as Jesus stood facing his accusers.  It was so great that Pilate was in awe (he marveled greatly).  Jesus said nothing in his own defense, but neither did anyone else.

    Where were the Disciples who had followed him all throughout the land for three years?  Where were the multitudes of people he had healed over that time?  Where were the lame, whom He had made to walk, the blind whom He had made to see, the sick whom He had healed?  Where was the woman, who caught in the very act of adultery, when brought before him heard the words “Neither do I condemn you.  Go and sin no more.”?  Where were all of the people who could have come to the defense of Jesus and testified on his behalf of the proof that they had been given that he was indeed the Son of the Living God?

    You see, I believe that Jesus stood silent before his accusers not only because he was obedient to the Father and was headed to the Cross, but also because he was waiting to see who would step forward to proclaim him Lord.

    And I believe he is doing the same thing today.  Jesus is silently sitting in Heaven at the Right Hand of the Father, waiting to see if you, and I, and others around us will come to his defense.

    And just like that court some two thousand years ago, the silence today is deafening.  We might as well stand in just as much awe and wonder of the silence as Pilate did when Jesus stood before him.

    Yes, Jesus could walk the Earth today and proclaim that he is indeed the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  But He would be met by skepticism and ridicule.  However, if those of us who have had our lives touched by Him step forward, one-by-one, and give witness as to how He has healed, how He has forgiven, and how He has saved, that builds a very powerful defense indeed.

    Will you?  Will you join me and give witness to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Christ, Jesus, the Son of the Living God, today?  I believe he is silently waiting for us to do so.

  • Does God Want Bad Things For You?

    A question that I have pontificated upon before, but nonetheless a difficult question in life is: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”  The basic premise is: If God is such a loving and kind God why is there pain and suffering in the world?  It is a concept that even the brightest minds and strongest of faith amongst us struggle with.  It is also a rather foolish argument that some use to reject faith, especially Christianity.

    I have considered these topics in several postings in the past, but always with reasoning as to why God would allow pain and suffering in our lives.  But the question still remains: Does God intend for bad things to happen in our lives?

    This question surfaced recently when I was asked the question “Did God intend for me to have cancer?”  I didn’t answer the question at the time it was posed because the question came from a close family member and it would not have been respectful to do so.

    However I know that many people have the exact same question in their lives.  They cry out “Why me?” and “What did I do to deserve this?”

    But have we considered the question from God’s perspective?  I have provided logic and reasoning in the past as to why we may expect a world of good and evil from mankind’s perspective, but does God really and truly design bad things for people’s lives?

    I think this is an extremely important question to answer because it goes directly to the question of God being in control.  If God is God, then is he really in control?  And if he is in control, then why do these things happen?

    I’d like to share with you my view by answering the question with a question.  “Did God intend for Job to lose everything he had?”  Remember the story of Job?  Job was the greatest man in the East – Job 1:3.  He was greatly blessed by God.  And yet in a single moment Job lost his donkeys, his oxen, his sheep, his camels, his servants, and even his sons and daughters – Job 1:13-19.  The question is: “Did God INTEND for Job to lose everything?”  We all know from the story that it was Satan who took these things from Job’s life, but consider the whole host of errors that God had to commit in order to get to that point:

    This first error God would have had to commit was to bring up Job in the first place: Job 1:6-8.  Notice that it was God who brought up Job in the first place, asking whether or not Satan had considered him.  Did God really and truly believe that bringing up Job to Satan would not, or could not possibly result in bad things?  Of course God knew that pointing Job out to Satan was going to result in Satan showing an interest in the subject.  Do you really believe that God is that bad of a Chess player?  Of course not, God knew full well what he was doing and what the outcome would be.

    The second error God would have had to commit was to taunt Satan with Job’s record – Job 1:8-10.  Note the second half of verse 8, God refers to Job as a perfect, and an upright man.

    I think it important to note here Satan’s reasoning for why Job was a perfect and an upright man – Job 1:10.  Satan places Job’s condition squarely at the feet of God.  God placed the hedge of protection about him.  God blessed his life and all that he had.  Satan basically said “God, you are the one who made him perfect and upright, of course he fears you.”  We need to consider this when accounting for the blessings in our lives.  If Satan himself acknowledges God as the source of all good things, maybe we should as well.

    At any rate, do you really believe that God did not consider the turn for the worse that things would take if he were to flaunt Job’s record in front of Satan?  Did God not believe that Satan would challenge him on that?  Of course not!  Once again God knew perfectly well what he was doing and what the course of events would be.

    But the third error God would have had to commit was to lower the shield of protection that he had placed around Job – Job 1:11-12.  Do you really and truly believe that God did not know that bad things would happen if he lowered his protection from Job and placed all that he had in the power of Satan?  Perhaps you would like to believe that this was a test for Satan and God was hoping that Satan would do the right thing?  But Job 2 implies a different story.  God knew what he was doing, and God knew perfectly well what the outcome would be.  God even told Satan that he had moved against him and that he sought to destroy him without cause.

    The answer to the question as to whether God wanted bad things to happen to Job?  Well I think God made 3 egregious errors that need not have been made if he truly intended to protect Job and all that he had.  And since I do not believe that God, being God, is capable of making mistakes, I am left with the alternative that Yes, God fully intended to allow bad things to happen to Job.

    And if God could have stopped all of the disastrous events in Job’s life, I know he could stop the cancer in the bodies of those around us today.  But he chooses not to.  Does God intend, really and truly, for us to experience bad things?  Well, let me say that God is completely, 100% in control all the time and that nothing happens that he does not want to happen and that nothing catches him by surprise.

    Why?  Consider the blind man in John 9:1-3.  Jesus answered his disciples that neither the man nor his parents had sinned, but that the man had been blind from birth simply for the glory of God.  And that is the answer for everything in our lives.  Whether it be great blessings or incredible hardships, or happiness, or sadness.  It is all for His Honor, and His Glory, and His Pleasure.  Praise be to my Lord Jesus Christ.

  • Are Your Decisions Based On Knowledge or Understanding?

    Job 38:36:  36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?  King James Version (KJV)

    Have you ever wondered how someone could purport to hold the exact same set of beliefs as you and yet seem to be on a totally opposite page?  I have.

    For example – consider the United States Democratic nominee for President, Hillary Clinton.  Former Secretary Clinton claims to be a Christian and hold with Christian values.  And yet she strongly supports abortion (a position opposed by nearly every major religion of the world, including Hinduism and Buddhism) and has even called on people of faith to change their religious beliefs and cultural biases (YouTube Video).

    Here is the quote from her speech:

    “Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth, and laws don’t count for much if they’re not enforced. Rights have to exist in practice — not just on paper. Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.“

    I think to myself, “Wait-a-minute.  Abortion is wrong.  It is murder.  It stops an innocent human life before it even has a chance to defend itself.  Furthermore, there is enough teaching in Scripture to clearly make the case that it is immoral and against God’s desires for our lives.  I understand it is the law of the land … BUT, I could never support it.  I will never change my beliefs about it.  I will never bend my cultural biases regarding it.  To do so would be to deny my Faith.  And my FAITH is foremost in my life.”

    Former Secretary Clinton, in her remarks calling on people to alter their religious beliefs, has, in reality, just discriminated against me on Religious grounds.  Supposedly a protected category.  Which is an interesting discussion in and of itself, but is not what I want to focus on today.

    What is just jaw dropping, mind-boggling, puzzling about this is: why in the world does someone who claims to hold Christian beliefs, call on people of the exact same set of beliefs to change them?  What does she understand that I don’t understand?  And why is she just as sure that her position is the correct one, as I am that my position is the correct one?  How can two separate people lay claim to the exact same moral code in their lives and yet draw two totally opposite conclusions and understandings?

    Most of my Christian life I have heard pastors and teachers refer to the (allegorical) 12 inch difference between an eternity in either Heaven or Hell.  What has often been referred to as the difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge.  It is the allotted distance between the brain, and the heart, in the average human being.  However I never gave it much consideration.  The illustration has always been given as a picture of the difference between an unsaved person, and a saved person.  I have never once seen a study that described it any other way, nor have I come across any study that has applied it to any other application.

    It is difficult to research common euphemisms or pithy sayings like this.  They almost always fracture into a myriad of directions the further back in time you go and it is almost impossible to source them back to single individual, time, or event.  However, that being said, I believe this one might have grown out of an understanding of Job 38:36, at least I would like to believe so.

    In Job 38:36, God asks Job a question.  His question is – who was it that gave you understanding and wisdom?  And in doing so, reveals that there is a huge difference between knowledge and understanding.

    You see, what Job 38:36 is saying in a nutshell, is that you put knowledge in your head, but understanding is placed in the heart.

    What’s the difference?  Well consider this, if we have a law of the land, say a speed limit placed upon a particular highway, I can learn the traffic laws.  I can know how to read and interpret a speed limit sign.  I can know how to properly operate a vehicle such that it remains within the confines of the speed limit as prescribed by law.  I may even know the reasoning that went into establishing that law.  All of that is knowledge that I hold in my head.  But it takes the understanding in my heart to actually put that knowledge into practice.  It is my wisdom and understanding that guide me to following and implementing that law.

    This now explains two things to us.  One is why in the world former Secretary Clinton and I can be on two totally opposite pages in life, and Two, why her call for those of us with different views to change our religious beliefs is so dangerous.  It is because the difference is between knowledge and understanding.

    So NO, former Madam Secretary.  I do not, and will not change my religious beliefs and cultural biases.  Because my religious beliefs are rooted in an understanding within my heart, and not just based on the knowledge that is in my head.  My wisdom guides me in this matter and I understand that God teaches that abortion is wrong.  And that is not what I say, it is what God says.  And for me to abandon that, is to abandon God.

    My prayer is that all of us would be careful with our wisdom and understanding.  You see, if God is not the one placing wisdom within your innermost parts and understanding within your heart, then who is?  Is it Satan?  Because he will step in and fill any void created by a lack of action on our part.  Our seemingly exasperating differences of opinion and our exhausting rhetoric is easily explained by the differences, not in our knowledge (the facts in our heads), but by our understanding of that knowledge (the wisdom in our hearts).

    I’m not worried about what is in your head.  I’m worried about what is in your heart.

  • Are You Too Big to Fail?

    One of the greater mysteries of all of creation is the understanding that God is completely in control and yet at exactly the same time, mankind has free will.  I’ve mentioned this before and called your attention to Louie Giglio who has also referred to it as a great mystery.

    The fact is, God cannot help but be God.  And God sustains everything.  Is there any part of creation, in all of Heaven or Earth, that can wrench itself away from God and stand on its own?  I would suggest that there is not.  Can any part of creation, either in Heaven or Earth, ever surprise God, change the course of God’s great plan, or circumvent the will of God?  Once again, I would come to the conclusion that there is not.  To do otherwise would be to rob God of being God.  Of course God is in control, one hundred percent and at all times.

    And yet we have free will. at exactly the same time.  And how do I know that?  Well one reason might be because none of us is too big to fail.

    Consider the Apostle Peter.  When Christ found Peter fishing on the sea of Galilee, his name was Simon (Matthew 4:18).  But Jesus Christ had great plans for Simon and changed his name to Peter (the Rock) and said he would build His Church upon this Rock and promised him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16:15-20).  Jesus Christ called Simon The Rock (Peter), said he was going to build His Church upon him (and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it), and said that he would have the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Obviously Jesus had great plans for Peter.  Obviously Jesus had great trust in Peter.  Has God ever entrusted you (or me) with the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven?  I don’t think so.  In the first place, I tend to believe they are still safely in the hands of Peter.  And no, I don’t think there are any copies.  And secondly, I think that God entrusts whom He will entrust.  And in this case, it was Peter.  Jesus Christ had great plans and great trust in Peter and he placed him in a position of great responsibility because of it.

    So here we have Peter, a greater human than you or I by any spiritual standard, and one who has been entrusted with much.  One would be led to believe at this point that either God would have a close eye upon Peter, lest he stumble and fall, or else that God would closely guard his path, lest the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven fall into the wrong hands.  Consider the fact that we don’t want Satan coming along and duping Peter into handing over the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  You would think that God would have a pretty vested interest in Peter remaining loyal and true to Him at this point.

    And yet consider just how far Peter’s loyalty actually went.  Jesus Christ had already placed great emphasis upon that loyalty.  He had stated that if anyone were to deny Him (Jesus Christ) before men, that person would be denied by Him (Jesus) before the Father in Heaven (Matthew 10:32-34).  Now consider the great consequences of that statement.  If you deny Jesus Christ before men, Jesus Christ will deny you before the Father in Heaven.  Probably not the best way to start eternity.  To be denied before the Father in Heaven is to not secure a place in the Kingdom of God for all of eternity.  Very, very serious consequences indeed.

    But that is exactly what Peter did, AFTER Jesus Christ himself had told him that he would do it (Matthew 26:33-35).  Peter adamantly proclaims his loyalty to Jesus and even goes so far as to say that the whole world could be offended because of Him, yet he would remain loyal to the end (and beyond).  And Jesus said, No, Peter, not even you will remain loyal to me during this time.  Not only will you not remain loyal, you will deny me before men three times in one night.

    And Peter does deny Jesus Christ three times that night (Matthew 26:69-75).  He even denies Jesus Christ with an oath.  And if you think about it carefully, Peter was in the palace of the High Priest, at a trial for Jesus, where witnesses were brought forth, for all intents and purpose, Peter was in a court of law (Matthew 26:58-66).  So you might consider that Peter was willing to take an oath in a court of law, and proclaim before the Judge that he never knew Jesus Christ.  He denied Jesus before men.

    The thing that I would like us to consider here is the very compelling turn of events.  Jesus Christ had called Simon, Peter, The Rock.  Essentially the Firm Foundation upon which He would build His Church.  Jesus Christ had also stated with great certainty that Peter would deny him before men, a most serious charge since Jesus himself had stated that those that denied Him before Men would be denied by Him before the Father in Heaven.  Jesus Christ had placed great trust in Peter, promising him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  You would believe at this point that Jesus Christ had a great deal invested in Peter and would do anything to keep him from failing.

    But he DID NOT.  Jesus Christ knew that Peter was going to fail, and yet he let him go ahead and fail.  Why?  Free Will.  You see I believe that for all of eternity Peter will remember that he failed (Luke 22:60-62).  And that will be a great lesson and testament to the Grace and the Mercy of God.

    So, do you think you are too big to fail?  Because if one in whom so much trust and responsibility had been placed, was allowed to fail, don’t think that God won’t allow you or I to fail as well.  But the great lesson for all of us is, God is a God of Mercy and Grace.  And it is because he has given us Free Will and allows us to fail, that His Mercy and His Grace may be manifest in all the world.  Praise Him!  Oh the Love that drew Salvation’s plan, Oh the Grace that brought it down to man, Oh the mighty gulf that God did span, At Calvary.

  • There Is No Honor In Death

    I lost my cousin today.  The son of my dad’s brother,  and the youngest of two children, he was known to the family as Little John.  I suppose from some throwback to the Robin Hood character.  But not to me.  To me he was always Big Bad John.

    John stood 6 foot 5 inches tall and for most of his adult life weighed more than 300 pounds.  He was younger than me, but he was a much bigger man than I ever have been.  Dad used to refer to him as the Gentle Bear.  John was intimidating in his size, but there was nothing at all intimidating about his heart.  John warmed up to everybody he came into contact with and was always looking for the good within people.  It is just the way he was.

    John passed away at 0500 EST this morning peacefully in his sleep after a short battle with cancer.  I have always been the rebel in the family, not seeking out relationships or contacts.  But not so with John.  These last few months, and really for the last couple of years, John confided in me maybe a little more than the rest of the family.  Almost to the point where the rest of the family was asking me if I had heard from him and if I knew how he was doing.  Perhaps to some extent, John was more respectful of our relationship than I was.

    Perhaps it was because I served in the U.S. Military and John never did and he always had such great respect for our Nation’s military.  Or perhaps he just cherished some of the moments we shared in our youth.  But whatever his reasons, Big Bad John wanted to share the last few months he had on this earth reminiscing with myself, his cousin.

    I’ve stated this before, but I’ll take this opportunity to say it again, Death is the antithesis of Life.  Jesus Christ said that he came to earth that we might have Life (and have it abundantly) (John 6:39-41).  God gave all of humankind Life from the inception of creation.  Death is the sin curse upon the world and Satan uses it as a feeble attempt to rob God of his created family.  And thus Death and Life are at odds with each other.  One brings joy and happiness, and the other brings sorrow and pain.

    I was at work when I got the call from my wife with the news that John had passed.  I must have been visibly shaken because my coworkers asked if I was OK, and one asked if the phone call was bad news after I had hung up the phone.  Even though I knew it was coming, and even though the family expected it at any time, the moment of the news was a point that shattered my soul.  Big Bad John was gone.  No longer may I take for granted his Skype calls or his IM chats, or the time that he wanted to share.  Those times are now past.  And the memories of those times are all that remain.

    If your world view is Atheistic, then I am saddened for you all the more. The one thing that evolution cannot answer for you is the emptiness in your soul at the passing of a loved one, a family member, or even a friend.  There is no science that explains the inexplicable bond that all of humanity shares over the helplessness of Death.  Even though as a good atheist you should know that it is all without meaning and that we are all just cosmic particles drifting in the vastness of the universe, there is still, to varying degrees in all of us, that unnatural feeling of loss that Death brings.

    If your world view is Agnostic, then you really should not care one way or the other at the loss of a life.  But the impact of Life and Death is still there and is still an unexplainable force that impacts us all.

    However, if your world view is Theistic, as mine is, then you should understand that God is still in control and that His Great Plan is playing out on the world stage and just how privileged we are to be a part of it all.

    Christians sometimes wonder why God allows Death in the world.  I believe that Christians shouldn’t wonder why God allows Death, but rather understand that God orchestrates Death.  God is the giver of Life and only He (and He alone) may take that Life away.  Consider the Life of Job.  When God asked Satan if he had considered his servant Job, and Satan accusingly challenged him on the blessing God had bestowed upon him, God allowed Satan free rein in Job’s Life but would not allow him to take Job’s Life (Job 1:1-12).  Because God, and God alone holds the keys to Life and Death.

    We like to depict Death as the Grim Reaper, as some evil character coming to take Life away, but in reality, the Angel of Death works for God, not Satan.  And Satan has no more say over your Death than what God allows within His plan.

    And thus, like Paul of Tarsus, we may proclaim, “Oh death where is thy sting, Oh grave where is thy victory?” (I Corinthians 15:54-56). Because the Theist, the Christian, has a great hope that this life is not meaningless, that there is order to it all, that there is a God who loves us and who has a Great Plan for His Honor and for His Glory and that we have the great privilege of being a part of that plan.

    I know that I know that I know, that one day Big Bad John and I will swap stories once again.  I know this because Cousin John told me that he was at peace with his King and his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  And I know that God is now holding Cousin John in His great hands, safely awaiting that day when we will all be united once again as part of God’s great family.  Not for me, and not for Big Bad John, but for His (Jesus Christ’s) own Glory.

    So Big Bad John, just know that in the meantime I will keep the faith, and as for me and my house, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD until that day that he either calls me home or He comes again to reunite all of His children in the ultimate culmination of this fantastic journey He has orchestrated for each and every one of us.

    John Keith Orman: March 24, 1965 – March 31, 2016image

  • Are You In Your Comfort Zone?

    So here is an interesting concept to me, people that are worried about their comfort zone.  I was chatting with someone today who was worried that God would move them out of their comfort zone.  Meaning that God would literally put them into an uncomfortable situation that they did not want to be in.  I asked them why they thought that God would do this to them and they responded ‘because you cannot grow unless you are outside of your comfort zone“.

    This is somewhat surprising to me since I grew up on a farm.  And I can assure you with no uncertainty at all that EVERY SINGLE TIME I ever put a seed into the ground (and I’ve put a lot of seeds into the ground) that the seed stayed right where it was planted, got comfortable, and GREW.

    That is the way God designed plants to grow.  And I don’t know why we think we would be any different.  God PLANTED Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  He PUT them into their comfort zone.  THEY were the ones that became restless and tried to uproot themselves.  God PLANTED the Nation of Israel in a land flowing with milk and honey.  He PUT them into their comfort zone.  THEY were the ones that became restless and tried to uproot themselves.

    It is God that desires the best for us.  It is we who are constantly trying to go the other way.  Are we to believe that God did not expect Adam and Eve to grow while in the Garden of Eden?  I don’t think so.  God fully expected them to grow in all aspects of life.  That is why God brought the animals before Adam to see what he would call them.  That is why God charged them with keeping (dressing) the Garden.  And that is why God told them to be fruitful and to multiply.  Are we to believe that God did not expect the Nation of Israel to grow after they had entered the promised land?  Once again, I don’t think so.  He gave them victory after victory and saw them through several generations of the wisest and greatest kings to ever walk the face of the Earth.  God desired for them to grow while PLANTED in the promised land.

    And the last time I checked, we were the branches and He (Jesus Christ) is the vine.  We are the one’s grafted into Him (not the other way around).  And I know of no greater comfort zone than to be grafted into the vine that is Jesus Christ.  However God the Father is the husbandry (John 15:1-2).  He is the one who determines what needs to be pruned and what needs to be grafted and where.   He is also the farmer that chooses the fertile soil where the seeds will be planted.  And as God, he chooses wisely.  The branches and the seeds get no say in this.  They are under the care of the Great husbandry and he desires for his children to GROW.

    Jesus said He was the branch and we are the vines (John 15:5) but we Christians today are not acting as vines.  We are too worried about which part of the branch we are on.  The branches at the top of the vine are worried about getting too much sunlight or the amount of time it takes for them to get nutrients.  The branches at the bottom of the vine are too worried about not getting enough sunlight and too much nutrients.  And all of us are worried about being pruned or grafted into another part of the vine that we may not be comfortable with.  And none of us are focused on the vine, which is where our focus should be.

    As a farmer, my dad considered the soil where he would plant the seeds.  He knew the soil that needed fertilizer and the type and amount it would need.  He considered the soli that would need to be watered and the soil that had an abundance of water already beneath the ground.  And he carefully chose each seed and planted it where it would have the greatest chance of success.  He PLANTED each seed within its own comfort zone so that it would grow into the plant he desired and would produce good fruit.  However, my dad, as a farmer, also knew that some plants needed to be pruned as they grew.  And he chose which parts of the plant would be pruned in order to produce the greatest outcome from that plant.  And yes, there were times when a plant needed to be transplanted to new soil, with different conditions in order to grow into a healthy plant that would produce good fruit.

    I believe that God the Father does the same with us.  He plants us in good soil, a comfort zone.  He grafts us into the good branch, another comfort zone.  And sometimes he prunes us, takes us out of our comfort zone.  And sometimes he transplants us, which takes us out of our comfort zone.  But we are the plants, and He is the planter.  He desires nothing more than to see that we produce good fruit for His Honor and for His Glory.  Not for ourselves, but for Him.  And we need to rest in the hands of the farmer.  We need to be willing plants and branches and to grow where He plants us, and where He prunes us, and even where He transplants us.  If the plant is more worried about where it is planted or where it is grafted into, it is not focusing on the vine and it is not going to become a healthy plant or branch.

    I believe too many of us today are worried about our comfort zones when we should be resting in the vine that is Jesus Christ.  So how about yourself?  Are you in your comfort zone?  Then good!  Stay there and grow!  Are you being grafted into a part of the branch that takes you out of your comfort zone?  Then good!  Rest in the knowledge of the husbandry and grow!  Are you being transplanted outside of your comfort zone?  Good!  The Great I AM has nothing but his Great Plan in mind and desires nothing more than good fruit.  Our job is to rest (abide) in the branch and stay focused on Jesus Christ and to follow Him wherever he may plant us.

  • Who Is Your Role Model?

    Recently, while talking with a young co-worker, I was told that she believed that God gave accounts of various people’s lives in order to serve as role models for us.  Which prompted me to think that it made an interesting question.  So let me ask you, Who is your role model?

    Actually, the more pertinent question I would like to ask is, Do you hold Biblical figures as role models?  Because if your answer to that question is Yes, then my next question would have to be Why?  You might have deduced by now that I am challenging the notion of Biblical characters being role models.  However, you are really astute if you have come to the conclusion that I am challenging any historic figures as role models.

    Before I present my reasoning for that, let me first say that there is nothing wrong with a role model in your life.  Most everyone should have a mentor or trusted advisor in their lives.  And if possible, many of them.  Role models can be a good thing in your life, but they may also be a bad thing IF not kept in the proper perspective, and if not carefully weighed against Scripture and one’s own understanding.  Keep this in mind as you read because I will revisit it near the end of this post.

    And to begin with, let me just say that I do not care what your world view is.  You may be Theistic (either Christian or non-Christian), or Atheistic, or Agnostic, there will be concepts here that can be valuable to your life.  Not that the Atheist or the Agnostic, or even some Theistic Christians, and probably most non-Christian Theists will agree with everything I put forward, indeed how could you?  But don’t let my reference to God rob you of being challenged on the concepts of how you apply role models within your life.

    Secondly, lets address my young co-workers question about whether or not God gives accounts of Biblical figures in order to act as role models to us today.  My short answer to this is: No, he did not.  In reality, God gave us accounts of Biblical figures in order to reveal some special aspect about Himself and to point to His Honor and for His Glory.  When it comes to Biblical figures I employ one simple rule: It is not about Adam, or Eve, or Noah, or Abraham, or King David, or Peter, James, or John, or Mary, or Martha, or Paul of Tarsus.  IT IS ALL ABOUT JESUS CHRIST, God, in the flesh, come to Earth to die on a Cross for my sins and yours.  Why?  Because we needed saving?  Well, to be sure, Yes.  But the ultimate why is for His Honor and for His Glory.  And thus if I allow my attention to tarry to long on one Biblical figure or another, without the express purpose of finding my way to Jesus Christ and giving God all the Glory, then I have allowed my eyes to stray from Him.  And quite frankly, I don’t see how you can be following after Jesus Christ if you have taken your eyes off of him.  But, but (you might say), can’t they be both?  Cannot a Biblical figure be both a role model and point to Jesus Christ at exactly the same time?  I suppose they could, but the real question is: should they?

    And this brings us to my third observation: Should any historical figure be a role model?  Why not Joan of Arc, or Plato, or Socrates, or Benjamin Franklin, or George Washington?  Can we not find admirable traits in the great figures of human history that we would want to emulate within our own lives?  Is it just because a figure appears within Scripture that they become a viable candidate for being a role model?  This goes directly to the heart of what a role model is (or should be/could be) in one’s life.  A role model is someone you want to emulate the behavior of in your own life.  In the here and now.  Today, in real-time.  Oh, you may say that Sgt. York was brave in the face of battle and that I need to be brave.  But don’t you already know you need to be brave?  The real question is How?  Sgt. York was brave on the battle field when faced with enemy forces.  You may never, ever be in a situation like that.  And quite frankly, you have no idea how Sgt. York, or any Biblical figure for that matter, would react to the situations you face in your own life.  Which is why I believe a role model in your life should be a contemporary.  A person you can go to directly and question and work through things with.  A mentor.

    And so I have a few simple rules that I employ with regards to role models in one’s life (and no, there are no Biblical role models in my own life save the person of Jesus Christ – however he goes far beyond a role model, even though there are Biblical characters I admire).  And those are:

    1. A role model should be a contemporary in one’s own life and should be within the circle of those known that you can easily get to.  A Pastor, a Teacher, an Eagle Scout (who may actually be closer in age to yourself).
    2. Public figures, like sports heroes or politicians, may teach us much, and while you may want to emulate some particular style of play for an athlete, or some political tactic for a politician, overall make poor role models.  Unless you are close to them and can question them, challenge them, hash things through with them, you are just using them as an excuse.  Meaning that when you act in some manner because “that is the way my role model would act” you have just made an assumption and placed them in a situation you are making up as you go along.  A role model must be available to you to say “You know, I wouldn’t have done things quite the way you did“.
    3. A role model should always be challenged.  Another big reason they need to be a contemporary.  You cannot stand before God and use the excuse “I was just emulating my role model“.  You must always act in your own understanding and because you have rightly divided truth and lie.
    4. Never confuse inspiration with emulation.  There may be people who inspire you who are not your role models, and there may be role models you emulate who never inspire you.  But never let either one allow you to take your eyes off of Jesus Christ.

    Honestly, with all the bad actors in sports these days, and with the really questionable forays in politics, and with the lack of honorable men and women in our educational institutions, and yes, even the less than admirable pastors and teachers in our churches, it is a wonder if anyone could find a role model to draw upon.  But it shouldn’t force us to go into the annuals of time in order to pull a role model out of some long-lost century and attempt to divine actions applicable to life today.

    Rather if Christians were a little more focused on following, which would require them to keep their eyes on Jesus Christ, we might find ourselves all going in the same direction for a change and a little less concerned with our role models.

  • Are You A Lover or A Fighter?

    In 1982 Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson made a very poignant statement in this song.  In the song Michael tells Paul that he is a Lover, not a Fighter.  Thereby setting up the premise that, at least when it comes to the love of a woman, you are either a lover or a fighter.  Of course this might beg the question: “Are you not willing to fight for those things you love?”  Certainly the WWII generation had a better understanding of fighting for love of country.  A concept, I’d dare say that has been lost on most today.

    We have been permeated in our cultures around the world today of these concepts, that if you are one thing then you cannot be another.  When in reality it is not quite so stark a separation.  You actually CAN be a lover and fighter at exactly the same time.  Today I’d like to address one of these either OR’s that I’ve already addressed in this earlier post.  And that is “Are you a Lover or a Hater?”  I know I’ve stated my position on this in the past, but it is an important point for many different reasons and it is a topic that is important because it affords a foundation for many other understandings.

    We seem to have this general understanding in societies around the world that you either love someone or something, or else you hate them (or it).  If you look them up in a thesaurus, you will even find that they are antonyms of each other (as is found here and here).  The idea is that they are opposite concepts of each other and are mutually exclusive of each other.  You either love, or you hate, but you cannot do both.

    We tend to believe this despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary around us.  Consider love of country.  As much as you probably love your country, there are probably some things you hate about it as well.  You love your country, but you hate it as well.  We tend to assign degrees of strength to one concept or another such that one side or the other wins.  For example, if you mostly love you country, even though there are a few things you hate about it, you would say you love your country when asked.  And we even apply degrees of love to those objects we love.  I love my country, but l also love my wife’s country.  I just love my country the most.

    Rather than considering the two concepts as complimentary forces, and in static degrees, we instead break them apart, make them competing forces, and add varying degrees of strength to them.  This does us a great disservice in understanding so many other Spiritual concepts.

    For example, the Bible states that God is Love.  One might then conclude that the opposite of God is then hate.  Of course you are screaming at your screen right now that I’ve made a false premise.  But we are logically carrying the thought forward, are we not?  If I am to believe that the opposite of Love is Hate, and then believe that God is Love, isn’t the opposite of God then Hate?  The logic is not quite so convoluted as you might think, except for the fact that we know that (1) the opposite of God is that which is anti-God, generally Satan and his evil forces, and (2) that God does indeed hate.

    But we don’t have to twist the logic to prove the premise to ourselves.  We only need to remove the degrees of strength we apply to love and hate.  If I say I love my country without any degree of strength, then I absolutely love my country.  I don’t have to say I mostly love my country EXCEPT for this grievance or that.  I don’t have to say I mostly love my wife EXCEPT for these minor annoyances.  No.  I love my country and I love my wife.

    But at the exact same time I hate where my country is headed, as a society.  And if I remove the degree of strength, then I absolutely hate my country.  So I don’t have to flip my argument around and say I hate my country EXCEPT for these things over here.  I just simply hate my country.

    In other words, Love and Hate actually do act as complimentary forces.  As to their degrees of strength, let me ask you this: “Does God love me more than he loves you?”  I don’t think so.  “Does God love you more than he does your parents?”  Once again, I don’t think so.  “Does God hate your sin more than he hates my sin?”  No.  Of course not.  “Does God hate the sins of all your friends more than he hates your sin?”  No, God loves (because he IS Love) and God hates (because he cannot stand to be in the presence of Sin), and each are equal parts.

    And with this simple understanding, we now have Tough Love explained.  I never have been a fan of that phrase ever since it has been introduced.  Love has always been tough.  Love has never been weak.  And (so-called) Tough Love is some weak philosophical attempt of mankind to resolve the conflict within themselves that they absolutely love someone, but hate the destructive behavior they are engaged in at the same time.  Well how do you think God feels?  He loves us (he created us in his image).  He absolutely Loves us.  And yet he hates our sin.  He most assuredly, absolutely hates our sin.  But you have never, ever, once, heard God say that he needs to employ Tough Love.  Because his love is absolute, and his hatred is absolute.

    We don’t need to sit around and come up with silly slogans like “Make Love, Not War“.  We simply need to let our love be Love, and our hate be Hate.  And let that be the balance and the guide to rightly dividing good and evil within our lives.