Sin - Like Weeds Need to be Plucked out Root and All

I spoke with a good friend today who told me that he was getting ready to mow his law when he spotted a weed. He thought he should pluck it out instead of just mowing over the top because the later would allow it to grow back.  When he bent down to grab the weed he noticed there wasn't just one but many other weeds amidst the blades of grass.  We immediately saw the hand of God in the one square foot plot of dirt.

Sin is like that weed.  It is insidious, deep rooted, destructive, and often well hidden.  We, like the lazy grounds keeper, either ignore the weeds of sin or we just trim off the top.  We allow a few weedy sins because our lawns looks better than the neighbor's lawn.  But beware friend because we only fool ourselves.  That little weed will grow and spread and destroy the beautiful lives that God has planned for us.  Not only ours but the lives of those close to us!  Have you ever driven by and seen a lawn full of dandelions and the nice lawn next door with a few dandelions growing along the common edge?  Sin is contagious.

When God sent Israel into lands inhabited by idolaters He had them leave no one alive.  Brutal? Cruel? Inhumane?  Maybe in the worldly sense but God knew that one weed would destroy the whole lot.  One cell of yeast would infiltrate the whole bowl of dough.

Examine your life.  Look for weeds.  Get on your spiritual knees, pull out the magnifying glass, and look really closely for the little weeds.  When you find one don't just cut off the top.  "Oh, I'll just look at the Swimsuit Edition and throw out the hardcore stuff." NO!  Pluck it out root and all!  Not just that.  Put the carcass in the fire.

Before you get the cart before the horse remember that it's the Holy Spirit in believers that gives them power over temptation and sin.  It's not brute force or will power.  If you don't know Christ call on his name.  As a matter of fact, if you know Christ, call on his name.  We can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength!  Visit our main site @ www.i61project.org

Peace in Him,  David

I Can See Clearly Now the Plank is Gone

When I was much younger I worked for a plumber and one day while I was in the shop cutting a piece of metal a very small sliver of hot steal shot right into my eye.  One blink and it stuck nicely into the inside of my upper eyelid so that every time I blinked it would drag the sharp shard of steel across my cornea and send intense pain all the way down to my left big toe.  The ER doc flipped my eyelid inside out and plucked the sliver of metal out, put it on a piece of gauze, and said, "Well, here is the little demon."  I could barely see it!  It was like half the size of a gnat.  I wonder what it must be like to have an eight foot 2x6 stuck in my eye.  Jesus said these words in Matthew 7:

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," When all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of our own eye, and then you will see clearly to  remove the speck from your brother's eye.

A couple weeks ago someone you know took a fall, a really big fall. He sinned against the Lord and against his wife and kids.  Since then much of the world, including many Christians I know, have taken out their red hot pokers and have mocked him, scorned him, and accused him.  His name is Tiger.  I have never met Tiger Woods but it seems that he has led a double life.  He has been unfaithful to his wife and has likely been addicted to the attention (physically and socially) of other women.  Yep he is a sinner.  Oh, yeah by the way, so am I.  And, so is this guy I saw a statue of in a church once.  His name is "Saint" Paul.  He said these words in Romans chapter 7:

"For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep doing.  Now if I do what I don't want to do, it is no longer I who do it but sin living in me that does it.  So I find this law at work; when I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.  What a wretched man I am!"

So I think it's time to pluck the planks out of our own eyes, take a look at what sin really looks like, and also reevaluate what our response should be to one that has fallen hard.  I'll go first.  OK, I'm slowly removing the lumber from my eye.  Ouch! Ok, that hurt but now I can actually see clearly.

I want to start by saying that what Tiger did was very serious and has caused his family much pain.  From experience I also know that he is also in a lot of pain now.  Sin does that.  James tells us that "Sin when it is fully grown gives birth to death." It sure does!  But Jesus reminds us that the sin isn't just in the final ugly act but begins in the heart way before someone crawls into bed with another woman.  Jesus said, if you look at a woman with lust you've committed adultery in your heart.  So how many of you guys have ever looked on a woman with lust?  Or you women looked on a man with lust?  If you said, "Not me!" then you also have to add lying to your list of sins.  So if you've engaged in pornography, the adultery is in your heart and from the God's perspective it is the same.  Maybe it's not pornography but looking longer at the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than Tony Romo.  Bottom line is that we have to examine our own lives for the sin in our hearts.

I don't know if Tiger is a born again believer but I would guess he likely isn't.  So, then there may be a chance that he is closer to a saving relationship with God now than he was when he was putting on the green jacket at the Masters.  Being humbled and fallen and seeing the "depravity" that the Bible reminds us we each share is often the first step towards seeking God.  Do I care if Tiger hits a 360 yard drive, eagles a 595 yard par 5, or wins another Major?  Nope.  Do I care if he earns another million dollars from Nike?  Nope.  Do I care that he comes to know the Savior of the world, the One who died for Tiger while he was yet a sinner?  Yep.

Look, he failed big time and so have I.  Tiger and I have a lot in common except  that I have a wicked slice and can't putt worth a darn.  So, let's each take a real close look at our own lives (and the planks in our eyes) and see where we are sinning against God.  Lust, greed, deceit, pride, coveting, gluttony,  cursing, cheating, selfishness . . . should I go on? Nah, I think we get the idea.

Lastly, I'd like to say to my brothers and sister in Christ that when we see someone fall regardless of the magnitude of the crash our response should be to find an opportunity to share the One who came to take away our sin, restore relationship, and to remove condemnation.  If we find ourselves making a joke at the expense of the man who is broken and his wife who is crushed we might want to stop, find a quiet place, and pray for them both.  They could sure use someone with the love of Christ to show them the way home.

Paul said, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.'

Thank God!

Peace,

David

Skin - God's First Covering for Sin

I know last week's post was long, complicated, and had some thoughts that are up for debate so I want to thank those of you who stood strong and read it anyway.  For those that got about four sentences into it then bailed out, "No worries."  With that in mind I'm going to cut you all a little slack and keep this a bit shorter but hopefully no less important.

I was reading Genesis the other day and then listening to a Christian talk show a couple days later when I realized that there was a statement in the third chapter of Genesis that I had glossed over and never gave much thought.  I want to share it with you then I want to show you how the Gospel (The Good News of Jesus Christ) is repeated over and over and over from Genesis (The first of the 66 books of the Bible) to Revelation (The last book of the Bible).

Here is the statement (Genesis 3:21):

"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."

You may recall that in the beginning of Genesis 3 Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which caused them to be separated from God.  It was the first sin and the first time man was no longer pure and walking in harmony with God.  For the first time Adam and Eve felt ashamed and saw their nakedness.  But as I recalled, they had sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves when they realized they were naked so why in the world did God make them "garments of skin"?

Here is the revelation!  As far as we can tell the very first physical death that occured in the Garden of Eden came at the hands of God.  It was the first sacrifice.  God provided for Adam and Eve a covering of skin, animal skin.  An innocent animal (maybe a lamb?) sacrificed to cover the shame and nakedness of the guilty.  The attempt of Adam and Eve to cover themselves must have been inadequate and the seriousness of the sin and the magnitude of its consequences so severe that God determined its solution necessitated the shedding of blood.  Wow!  So now I'll just give you a few scriptures as you journey from Genesis to Revelation that show God's plan of redemption (healing the broken relationship between man and God) is consistent all the way through.

Genesis 22:9-14 (God provides a substitute sacrifice for Abraham)

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.  Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.  But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.

  "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

  Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.  So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.

Genesis 7:7 (God provides a means of safety from his wrath against sin)

And Noah and his sons and his wife and his son's wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

Exodus 12:23 (The blood of a lamb protects the Israelites from the wrath of God)

When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

John 19:17-18 (Jesus "the Lamb of God" sacrificed for the sins of man)

Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (the innocent dying for the guilty)
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.

Revelation 19:11-13 (Jesus returns to make all things new)

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

God's beautiful plan to restore us to himself is consistent from the beginning to the end and today I am going to reflect on the incredible gift that Jesus gave me.  Himself.  Undeserved for sure but that is the meaning of grace.  We can't sew on our own fig leaves!  It's God's doing.  So, if you haven't experienced forgiveness then I invite you also to reach out and receive it from the one who died for you!

Peace, David

Love, Wrath, Love, Wrath - Which one is it God?

NEWS FLASH !!!!!!!

July 24, 2009 7am est.

The A.P. confirmed today that recent reports claiming that the God of the universe had "undergone a radical change" have been proven false! There had been a recent, growing number of religious leaders who had been reporting that the God of the Old Testament (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) was a God of wrath and judgment but had somehow mysteriously changed when he entered the time frame of the New Testament; that he no longer was engaged in wrath and judgment but had since decided to forgo the wrath/judgment thing, turning instead to a policy of love and mercy only. Upon intense investigation, however, it seems that God's nature is unchangeable and he appears to have displayed all four of the above characteristics from the beginning of time, continuing to the present day. There are also reports that God has set a day in the future when he will judge the whole human race but will, from then on, have no further need for judgement because the object of his wrath will no longer be present. It seems that his anger had been directed against a little talked about characteristic of man . . . sin. Stay tuned for more news as it comes in to our station.

Immutability: The doctrine of classical Christian theism that God can not change

This does not mean that he doesn't do different things or alter his actions but that his NATURE does not and can not change. The Bible says in Malachi 3:6 (Old Testament): "I the Lord do not change." and in Hebrews 3:8 (New Testament) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

My purpose today is to tell you the whole story (at least a blog sized version). As I said in a previous post, there are mega-churches and many other churches as well that are preaching a God who loves ONLY and doesn't punish sin, a God who is interested more in our happiness than our salvation, a God who is interested in our self-esteem, a God who created heaven but not hell, in short, a God of their own liking, but not the God of the Bible. My goal is to not pick and choose the parts I like and dismiss or discard the parts that are offensive or scary to me. God is who he is!

Those who preach ONLY a God of the Law, one of judgment and wrath, a God of fire and brimstone do so usually in self-righteousness and have become modern day Pharisees. They forget that Jesus came not to save the righteous but sinners. God has shown us grace through his Son. We, in Christ, aren't "appointed unto wrath"

However, those who preach ONLY God's love, failing to share God's intense distain for sin or those who preach a gospel of universalism (ie. Everyone will go to heaven) are doing so against the clear teaching of scripture and are leading many to an eternity without God. Paul said, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" Bummer, huh!

So to prevent my own eternal condemnation, here is the whole story (condensed for your reading pleasure):

God's nature is revealed to us in the truth of his Word (The Bible) and it tells us that God is a God of love. He loved us enough to create us and prepare a place of perfection for us (Eden) but we (Adam and Eve initially but all of us in our actions and hearts) rebelled against God and have sinned. God is perfectly holy and can not tolerate sin. In fact the Old Testament reveals to us very vividly how serious God is about sin. You may recall that God wiped out the whole world (except Noah and his family) with a 150 day, world-wide flood and he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire from heaven. Romans 6:23 tells us that "The wages of sin is death" and that, the often abrupt action of God against sin, is what the Bible labels "wrath". But, is God any less serious about sin in the New Testament? I think not! I would recommend that when you finish reading this post you watch the "The Passion of the Christ" then read the Book of Revelation.

The Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy describes God as a "Consuming fire" but the writer of Hebrews (in the New Testament) also says, " Our God is a consuming fire." God IS as serious about sin now as he was in the Old Testament. Paul wrote in Romans, "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed."

But here is the GOOD NEWS, God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sin. The Bible says that God's wrath was poured out on him. How crazy! How hard to imagine! Jesus, the one without sin, becoming sin for us. God himself being both the judge and the judged! "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." But look closely because it says, " . . . for those who are in Christ Jesus". That is where many churches fall dangerously short. If you are not in Christ Jesus, God is calling you home. You wouldn't be reading this if it weren't true!

You and I will never be good enough but Christ was. What God asks of us is that we turn from our sins (not that we become sinless, because we can't) and trust that what Jesus did on the cross was payment in full. The wrath goes away and grace comes in. Grace isn't deserved. It is a gift! This isn't written to scare people into the kingdom of God but to tell you how serious God is about sin but also how serious he is about his love for you and me. You've probably read or heard John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." That's where many pastors would stop. But, Jesus didn't! John 3:18 says, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." Jesus would never condemn anyone! "That is judgmental", we shout in protest!! But Jesus goes on in John 3:35-36, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." There is that nasty old word again, "wrath". Love, wrath, love, wrath, love, wrath . . .

So, which is it? The answer is BOTH. That is why the cross was the cross and not a spa. It was a place where justice was served, where penalties were paid. It was the electric chair or the gas chamber. It was a place of pain and of death. Don't let the fact that we wear it as jewelry rob it of its meaning. Both God's LOVE and his WRATH were revealed on that dark Friday on Calvary! In Christ you can have the former and be free of the later!

A wise old preacher and good friend of mine once said, "I'm only delivering the mail.". I pray that I delivered it faithfully and that God continues to work in your heart and in mine. Don't forget that God's nature doesn't change. The God of ancient Israel is the same as the God of Livingston, Montana and your home town today.

Peace,

David