The Point

One day the religious leaders of Jesus' day questioned his disciples about his practice of eating with despised tax collectors and despicable sinners.  How could one, speaking for God, keep company with such godless individuals?

Jesus' response was classic, "who needs a physician but those that are sick?" (Matt 9:12).  Who better for one calling individuals to God to be with the those who were separated from him?  Think about it; does an ARMY recruiter hang out with the troops in the barracks or with the civilians at the mall?  Where would one trying to reach out be if not with those on the outside?

This response would seem to be enough but Jesus presses the issue further in saying, "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matt 9:13).  He speaks to the heart of God's desire, that the Father is not really interested in all the religious stuff that the religious do but rather in the heart of what produces acts of righteousness.

It was not the sacrifice of bulls and goats performed by the priests or the worship and offerings of religious folk today that God desires - it is the heart turning to one's Father, becoming godly in the process that He seeks.  He isn't interested in us gathering in church buildings to discuss how righteous we should be but rather in us going into the market place proclaiming God's love and displaying His mercy to those who do not know Him.

Of course, as Christ followers, we will want to gather together for the purposes of encouragement and equipping but for the reason of then going out to share the love of God with those beaten down by life and feeling anything but His love.

Hunters need to hunt, fishermen need to fish and soldier need to engage.  Gathering around the fire at the deer camp, sharing stories at the fishing lodge or shinning boots back at the barracks are all well and good things to do, but they are not the point.  Those activities are down times in between mission activities, not the missions themselves.

God doesn't want us to focus on our religious activities or gatherings but instead to use both to better equip us for the relational activities of reaching out to a lost and hurting world, proclaiming with our lives the love of the Father as we follow in the steps of Jesus who "came to seek and to save that which was lost" (Lk 19:10).  Jus' Say'n.

Today's Trouble

I often here individuals, quoting from 1 Corthians 10:13, saying, "God will not give us more than we can bear," which I believe to be a biblical truth, but not from that passage.  The passage actually reads, "...God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

That God will not give us more than we can bear can only be loosely supported by this passage in an indirect way if we maintain that a difficult situation tempts us to sin and God is promising to give us strength to resist that temptation by empowering us to bear the strain of the difficulty.  I can buy the logic but it is not truly the point of the text.

A better passage is Matthew 6:34, which reads, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Here the Lord plainly says that each day has enough but not too much trouble.

God engineers and empowers us to deal with today.  Paul maintained that he had even "learned the secret of being content in any and every situation" (Phil 4:12).  But, we are not equipped to deal with the burdens of today if we pile on the worries of tomorrow and/or the regrets of yesterday.

It is not the weight of what we are facing today that overwhelms us, as difficult as that day may be.  It is in combining that weight with what we might face tomorrow that pushes us beyond our ability to cope.  And when we add the additional weight of our bad choices or losses of yesterday to the mix, we are really mixed up.

Here's the deal, God will "give us this day our daily bread" (Matt 6:11).  He will even do "more than we can ask or imagine according to his power at work within us" (Eph 3:20), but he operates in our lives today, not yesterday or tomorrow.  Yesterday is a cancelled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, today is the currency we have to spend.  He will provide enough for today.

So, "do not worry about your life.  The Father knows what you need and as you seek his kingdom as first priority, he will take care of all the rest" (condensed paraphrase of Matt 6:25-33).  Today may be very difficult but it will not be too much for God will not "leave you as an orphan" (Jn 14:18).  And, nothing will happen today that you and God cannot handle.  Jus' Say'n.

The Talk

In yesterday's blog, I ended with the summary statement, "If you talk the talk, you must walk the walk."  There are few things more important in the life of a Christian than that principle.  However, it is equally important that we accurately talk the talk.

Just because one is quoting from the Bible does not mean that he/she is actually talking the talk.  He/she may be in reality talking his/her own talk shrouded in biblical quotes ripped out of context in order to support or advance a personal agenda.

One example of this is seen in the politically charged debate over our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.  Those who seek to deny Americans that right will quote Jesus saying, "you shall not kill" (Matt 5:21), asserting that Jesus was a pacifist as should we be.   But that argument is not even close to the point of the passage.

Jesus was contrasting the Old Testament rule against murder with the New Testament call to refrain from the act of spiritual devaluation, calling one a fool (vv. 22-23).  I know that Jesus was not against bearing arms for self-defense because he instructed his disciples to do that very thing.  Really?  Really!

Listen to his actual words on the subject as he sent them out to evangelize: "He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one" (Lk 22:36).  The out cloak was a very important item of clothing for those traveling by foot and having to sleep outside, but a sword was even more important on roads filled with murderous thieves.

My point isn't to particularly advocate bearing arms but to show how even seemingly good motives can cause one to bend the Gospel to serve their agenda, especially if they have not actually studied it very deeply or with contextual consistency.

However, evil and motives are just as easily advanced using the Scripture.  For instance, the devil used it to tempt Jesus: “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone'" (Matt 4:6).

Many today advocate same-sex marriage, abortion, drug use and the like using biblical the biblical theme of freedom, which contextually is set in opposition to these traps of Satan, offering us freedom from this kind of destructive, sinful behavior.

Jesus never advocated for same-sex marriage, instead he insisted "from the beginning God made us male and female and for that reason a man shall...be united with his wife" (Matt 19:4-5).  Isaiah said, "Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name" (49:1).  Abortion's OK?  Really?  No, not really!

And drugs?  Really?  No, not even!  The Bible is very clear in saying, "Do not get drunk" (Eph 5:18).  So, how does one use pills or joints or needles without getting stoned?  Why would one use them if they didn't unless it was for medical purposes via prescription?  One can drink a glass of wine or beer with a meal without getting drunk but pills and joints and needles are only used for mind altering.

OK, enough of that, I'm not really wanting to wage a war today against the major vices of our nation any more than I want to get everyone packing iron.  What I want to drive home is the need for Chrisitans to actually know the Word in order to factually and actually talk the talk so that we can faithfully walk the walk.

I want to leave you with a biblical quote as a principle for Christian life and development: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15).  Jus' Say'n.

The Walk

I was reading from one of my favorite passages this morning - Romans 8:1, which reads, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" in the NIV but in the KJV the verse ends with "...who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit" - a significant addition or deletion, depending on which translation to one adheres.

This is one of those places where translation wars can erupt over the accuracy and/or faithfulness of the text, but not today, not with this writer.  I choose to bridge the gap between the NIV and KJV adherents by noting that the focus of those "who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit" is found in both as you reach the end of verse four - the exact same verbiage in both translations.

Knowing that the phrase is there is one thing.  Knowing why it is there is something else.  The fact that it is there adds a qualitative meaning to "in Christ" that equates it to "walking after the Spirit."  In other words, being in Christ is not something one can do and continue to live like those who do not accept Christ as Lord and Savior.

Being "in Christ Jesus" is not just a matter of accepting the fact that Jesus is who he claims to be but moreover it is accepting act of what he came to do: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (Jn 10:10).  He came to bring us the new life of the Spirit that brings life in contrast to the flesh that ends in death as Paul says in verse 2 of this passage.

The point is that being in Christ is not a status one achieves by agreeing to certain doctrine, performing certain rituals and/or accepting certain rules.  Being in Christ, where there is no condemnation is to be "in step with the Spirit" (Gal 5:25), which is evident by your life fruit of "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self- control" (Gal 5:22-23).

Being in Christ is the fact of choosing to take the path or way of life (Christ and f. Matt 7:14) over the way of death (v. 13).  It is to be a follower of Jesus Christ not just a fan.  As the apostle John put it, "Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did" (1 Jn 2:6).

There is no condemnation for one who is in Christ Jesus for that person, as imperfect as their effort may be, clothed in grace, follows the Spirit of Christ along the path of righteousness.

So, let me distill this entire article down to one sentence: "If you're going to talk the talk, you must walk the walk."  Jus' Say'n.

Having Hope

I came across a quote this morning that read, "Hope is putting faith to work when doubting would be easier."   While it's not a definitive word on hope,  it gives it a very practical way of approaching how we employ it in our lives.

When we say, "I hope I get to work on time tomorrow" or "I hope I do well on tomorrow's test" or "I hope I get that promotion," we are not challenging ourselves to believe but simply exercising wishful thinking for which we feel relatively good about the possibilities.

Biblical hope is something much deeper than that.  It is finding the power to believe in an outcome that our circumstnances and our power to control outcomes are not in our favor, when it seems that everything is stacked up against us and the odds makers would give us little to no chance of success.

Biblical hope lives in a place where it cannot be seen by simple observation nor is it found by weighing out the odds or getting a guarantee from someone in authority.  Biblical hope exists in the face of physical helplessness, financial powerlessness and social emptiness.

Biblical hope stacks everything we see in a fallen world, where sin and death rule (cf. Romans 5:12-21) against the promises of God to "work all thing to the good of those that love him" (Rom 8:28).  It rises in the face of the pain and loss and suffering we experience in this life, "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Heb 11:1).

Having biblical hope is to live in confidence under the banner of a good and powerful God, who has "overcome the world" (Jn 16:33) and has given "us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 15:57).  It exists when the pressure to give up and give in is great but the need to give over to Him is the only possible path to this victory.

An example of this hope is given in the celebration of Good Friday, where nothing good was being seen visibly as Christ went to the Cross but more good than could be imagined was realized on Resurrection Sunday when Jesus walked out of the grave and won the victory over sin and death forever more.  Jus' Say'n.

Brussels is on Fire

Using the same idiom as after the attack on Paris, today the radical Islamicists, following today's bombing in Belgium, are claiming "Brussels is on Fire."  The truth is that the world is on fire.  What we saw in Paris, what we are watching on TV today in Brussels are just small representatives of the global of Islamic Radicals to destroy Western Civilization in their quest take over the world.

While the United States is known as the Big Satan and Israel is known as the Litte Satan, to them, all of the non-Muslim world is devilish and in need of being cleansed by killing or subjugating all but the Muslims themselves.

We see the precursor of this plan not only in the attacks around the world but also in the no-go sections of many European cities, where Sharia Law is set up and the police are denied entrance by force from within the communities.  They are staking claim to Western land, setting up outposts for the expansion of Islam.

All political correctness aside, we are in a world-wide struggle against Radical Islamic Ideology, which follows in the teaching of Mohammed, who sought world-wide domination by force.  I am not saying all or even most Muslims agree with this ideology but enough do to make it a true threat to society.

So what?  What do we, as Christians do about it?  First, recognize the truth of the problem: Evil.  These Islamic Terrorists are not people to be understood and come to terms with, they are the evil outgrowth of an evil root.  Their beliefs call upon them to do evil because fundamentally, their beliefs are evil.  They must be opposed, for "what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Cor 6:14).

Second, we must pray to the. One true God, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to bring justice.  Only God can truly save, only He can bring an end to this threat, if indeed this threat is not a call for the end itself.  We could be seeing the beginning of the end and, if so, the end will come.  But until we hear the trumpet sound, keep praying "for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness" (1 Tim 2:2).

Finally, let the beauty of Christ be seen in your words and in your deeds.  As Jesus is lifted up in our lives, others are drawn to him, and as individuals are impacted by the love of God, there will be fewer spirits to support the evil of our day.  If we can reach people with the Gospel before ISIS can reach them with propaganda, we can turn heart's  away from the spreading evil.  For, when Jesus is lifted up, he will "draw all men unto himself" (Jn 12:32).  Jus' Say'n.

Dying To Sin

In answer to the criticism that a salvation by grace would promote an attitude allowing for an increase of sin among the faithful, Paul emphatically states, "By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Rom 6:2).

Paul's argument is that God's grace not only frees the Christian from the consequences of sin but also frees him/her from the control of sin.  The accepting of grace is not simply a pardon for our sins but moreover a power over them.  When we have died to sin, we live in freedom from sin.

This control over sin afforded by grace is so powerful that John would later insist, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God" (1 Jn 3:9).

But how can that be?  Doesn't Paul also say that "All sin and fall short of the glory of God?" (Rom 3:23)?  And doesn't John go on to say that "If we claim to have no sin that we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 Jn 1:8)?  Yes, both statements are true, and that is the very reason for grace.

If we were not guilty of sin, why would we need grace.  "On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" (Matt 9:12).  He did not come to call the righteous but sinner instead.   Grace and the fact of sin go hand in hand, which was exactly the argument made against Paul's teaching about grace that we began with.

So yes, sin remains.  And yes, we have to do battle with temptation to sin.  But no, we do not have to to give in to it for "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it" (1 Cor 10:13).  Grace gives us power over sin.

The power to live in the face of sin is, as Paul statement above points out, is when "we die to sin."  One's dying to sin separates him/her from that sin.  In fact, the Greek word for death means separation.  The challenge we face is in the how of dying to sin.

How does one go about dying to sin?  The simple answer is to start living for Christ and living in grace.  Whenever we choose His will over ours, we die to sin.  Whenever we do the right thing in the face of temptation, we die to sin.  Dying to sin is not simply a one time choice, it is a continual choosing in the face of temptation.

Will we always choose the right over the wrong?  No, but we can make it our aim that o always do so.  We can make our daily walk one characterized by the choice of light over dark and "if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 Jn 1:7).  We die to sin as we live to Christ.  Jus' Say'n.