Hate Speech and The Bible

If you keep up with such things, this past week the mayor of Houston subpoenaed the sermon texts, notes, or speeches of five area pastors that preached on LGBT issues. Citing possible violation of an ordinance that was passed back in May of this year, she was concerned that the pastors were using their pulpits to influence people to sign petitions in order to get the ordinance overturned. Although this incident does not allude to what is being called hate speech it certainly raises questions as to what will be next in the attempt to control what pastors can preach to their people in regards to social issues. How much influence can be regulated when it comes to pastors leading their churches?

It makes no difference how many times we as Christians say that we love sinners regardless of what sins they may commit we are still labeled as haters if we do not agree with their beliefs. They will not accept the fact that these beliefs we hold are not our opinions but are based on what we believe to be the Word of God. I find it hypocritical that it is okay with society that we are against murder, rape, and incest but we should be tolerant of abortion and homosexuality. If we preach against murder the government is all for it. If we preach against tax evasion as stealing the government is all for it. If we preach against sexual immorality, in any form, we are haters. If Jesus were on earth today preaching His message in person He would be cited as using hate speech. He said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26 NIV). We understand that He was teaching that our love for Him must be first and foremost in comparison to our love for self or others. I have even heard some preachers say that Jesus never said anything about LGBT issues. The worst thing that happened in our translation of the Scriptures is when the words of Jesus in the Gospels were printed in red. It gives the impression that those words are the only ones Jesus spoke. I guess Saint John was wrong when he wrote, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:46-47). Or how about, “He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” (John 8:47). Then of course we have, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). [Underlines are mine]. This might be a newsflash for some of you; if it is in the Bible, Jesus says it. He is in total agreement with everything written in that Book; He, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are all One, and the Holy Spirit inspired men and women to put those words on the parchments.  

As a pastor I feel my responsibility to my congregation is to teach them what God says to all of us in this modern day society. Yes, He is a loving, merciful, caring, patient, and forgiving God. He is also a just God; that means He has standards that He requires of His followers and if we violate those standards (and we all have and do) the only forgiveness we have is found through faith in His Son; Jesus. At the foot of the Cross the ground is level. None are on “higher ground” or “lower ground” in His eyes regardless of what sins we need forgiveness for. I had rather someone be upset with me because I tell them they are headed for hell without Jesus than have Jesus be upset with me for not telling them should they end up there.

Ebola: Is God to Blame?

I begin this message with the following excerpt from an article on the Genesis© website.

“With the wickedness of this particular virus, people often wonder where God is amid all this death, disease, pain, and suffering. It is imperative to understand several key concepts as we approach an answer to this question. First, we must understand the goodness of God. The psalmist writes, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (Psalm 107:1). We must, therefore, also be committed to the idea of God’s goodness. The idea of God’s goodness emanates from Him in the Creation Week. God uses the word good to describe the original creation six times (every day was pronounced “good” except for Day Two) and the last verse of Genesis 1 describes the original creation as “very good” after God had created man in His image. God’s goodness can sometimes be difficult to see in some created things (e.g., viruses in general, but Ebola specifically).”     Dr. Andrew Fabich on October 13, 2014 © 2014 Answers in Genesis

I take notice of the words, “First, we must understand the goodness of God.” Now as far as my opinion goes the answer the doc goes on to give is not supported by those words. To quote him, “God’s goodness can sometimes be difficult to see in some created things,” such as viruses he says. Before you think I am bashing this guy let me say that is not why I am writing. The message I would have you get is this; we have abused God’s goodness. Let me quote you what someone else wrote in regards to God’s goodness being inspired by God Himself to have it written.

“However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.” The author was Moses. Read the entire chapters of Deuteronomy 28 and 29 to get the whole story. I know that God was talking to Israel but He is also talking to us as He gave us His word too.

This “goodness of God” message that we have all preached for years in order not to offend people in order to get them to come to Him has been misconstrued sometimes. What about the judgments of God? What about the wrath of God? If there is nothing attributed to God other than goodness then we would have no need for a Savior who came and took away the wrath of God upon sin, by way of the Cross, and then imputes His goodness unto those who are willing to accept that we have no “goodness of our own” and need His righteousness.

Ebola, Aids, Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Enterovirus, and all the other pestilences that Jesus spoke of in the last days are all the results of a corrupted human nature that began in Eden, or as Dr. Fabich also said, “Yet in this sin-cursed world, much has gone wrong, and many organisms not designed to be pathogenic have become so.”  All these diseases have one thing in common; they cannot “kill” the soul. Therefore if you fear catching Ebola or dying from cancer then focus your attention on your soul, because it will live on after death of the body. Here is another quote for you to consider: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he may die;  and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”   ~ Jesus Christ

It Still Ain't Right.

Psalm 12:8 (New Living Translation)

Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation, even though the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land.

If you are easily offended by having things that are wrong pointed out to you, then you may want to leave this blog and go read something that will tickle your ears. There, that is my disclaimer to those of you who will disagree with my facts. Yes, facts, not opinions.

It has always been apparent that American law has been moving away from Biblical law ever since the formation of the Constitution. Our forefathers never intended the government to conduct, direct, endorse, or interfere with a person’s choice to follow God or any other god they may choose to pay homage to, or even to believe at all. That was their intention of separating church and state. NO WHERE in the Constitution did they ever say that the government has the right to exclude God from public life. All that has changed; at least that is what many legislators and court officers think. Let me say this from the conviction of my heart; I don’t care what a person does in regards to obeying the Law of God. It is none of my business how an individual chooses to live their life unless it affects how I live mine. So why do certain people think that I have no right “legally” to live my life in submission to the Law of God?  Do what you want, but leave me alone to worship the One True God.

I just saw that Virginia has now begun to marry those of the same sex. I don’t care if someone wants to marry their pet bird or animal; it is none of my business. What I do care about is that those who govern the laws of our land, which are certainly not in line with the Law of God, somehow are under the opinion that what they “legalize” is okay to do. It is NOT OKAY to kill unborn infants any more than it is okay to kill a newborn infant. Now they have “legalized” same sex marriages. The “powers that be” think that somehow they have restored a freedom to Americans that they never had. Marriage is a legal, contractual agreement recognized by the government which gives two individual people the same legal ownership and decision making capabilities equivalent to what belonged to one individual person. Therefore now under civil law it makes no difference what gender these two individual persons are. But it still ain’t right according to the Law of God. God made man a helpmate; another human creature yet different than the man. A creature that would not be inferior to the man but would “help” the man achieve by unison what he could not achieve alone. Man cannot produce a man without a woman. Thereby what Jesus referred to as marriage was “that a man should leave his father and mother (male and female) and be joined unto his wife (male to female like mom and dad).  Jesus said marriage was not for everybody (Matthew 19:10 - 11).  

The Psalmist summed up our society today in the opening verse I chose for this message. Read it again; slowly and prayerfully. I know it is called the Supreme Court, but it really is not supreme. God is the Supreme Judge. The Court may decide what they feel is “right” in civil society and implement it but when it comes to the Law of God, they will answer to the real Supreme Judge just as you and I will. Fear not Christians; look up, our Redemption draws nigh!

We are not Good Guys!

Are you following the trend in America today of all the domestic violence and crimes that are being committed and the testimonies of the family or friends of the perpetrators? I just saw the mom of the guy that cut the head off a lady in Oklahoma in a news video and she said “That was not my son. There are two sides to every story and we have only one side.” Some of the friends of Ray Rice and former teammates, and even his coach have said, “He’s a great guy. He just made a bad decision.” Understand that I am just stating facts here and you can Google it yourself and find it to be true. I know it would be hard for a mother to believe that her son could do such a thing and I feel compassion for her; but he did it. I understand that Ray was a friend and teammate to many and may have never exhibited any such angry behavior toward them; but he did it.

Do you think maybe this is what Jesus was saying would happen in the last days when He said, “And because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold.” The lawlessness He is referring to is not secular law, we have plenty of laws so we are not lacking in that area, He is talking about God’s Law not being obeyed. There will be less of His law in the last days. We are beginning to see that evil is not being recognized as evil but rather “good people making bad decisions.”

We cannot make excuses for evil actions regardless of who it is that carries them out. Jesus said that these types of thoughts and actions come from the heart, not from the mind. In order for someone to carry out an evil attack on someone else there has to be a violent nature in the heart first, and then it overrides the rational thought in the mind that “I should not do that!”

The devil likes nothing more than seeing people succumb to evil and somehow getting other people to believe that it was not evil at all; it was just a bad decision made by a good person. Do you remember that Jesus said to a young man; “No one is good, only God?” (Matthew 19:17). Mankind has no goodness within ourselves. We may do good deeds but that is not out of our own goodness but from the influence of the goodness of Christ that is in the world. That is why it so important that we allow our hearts to be changed by Christ. Only He can overcome the evil thoughts and deeds that evolve in the human nature; we cannot do it by our own accord. Dr. Billy Graham said, “No matter how good we are, we will never be good enough to win our way into heaven.”

Therefore let us recognize evil behavior for what it is: lawlessness, disobedience to God.

Christian Runts

Growing up I was a runt. If you know me now it would be hard for you to believe that. Skinny as a fence rail I was. I could have stood under a clothesline in the rain and not gotten wet. When the gang would choose sides for our backyard football games I would have been chosen last every time had it not been for a neighborhood girl who was as rough as any of us were, and loved to play football too. I was chosen to make the teams even not for any athletic ability I had. Occasionally I would come up with a big play and that was all that saved me from not being picked at all. I was not a total liability so therefore there was some worth in having me on the team. Big Sam was one of my best friends. He was about 2 years older than we were and was always a team captain and he would pick me to be on his team about every time. Big Sam never considered my athletic ability when choosing, he just liked me. Eventually we all grew into adulthood and no longer played backyard football together. As adults we remain friends even to this day, those of us who are still alive that is. Several have gone on down the river.

Our society is a society of choosers. We choose to like or dislike people based upon different criteria. Nowhere else in society is that more of an issue than in Christian-dom. Those who have come to Christ and have forgotten from whence they came are quick to discount non-believers. Even new converts have a hard time fitting in or being picked for the right team sometimes. “Well, you’ll learn” they are sometimes told by seasoned Christians. They learn alright. They learn that they don’t want to be like most seasoned Christians! Especially those who are pious enough to think that because they attend a certain church, or hold down a certain position, or teach, preach, or pastor; that they are somehow closer to God than the Christian “runts.” Their degrees or the circles in which they network has set them above the average church goer. It is as if they almost seem to have a “pedigree in Christianity” because of family connections or belonging to a certain denomination. The Bible teaches; Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God, in chapter 15 of the Book of Romans.

 

As Christ accepted you! He chose you (and me) while we were runts. He died on the Cross for us while we were yet sinners. He never chose us for our “Christian ability” or connections. He never chose us because we could be of any benefit to Him. He chose us because like Big Sam; He likes us. He likes us a bunch. If He so chose us, should we not so choose others?

Lord, help me to never forget where you found me. Help me never to think of myself as any more educated, any more liked, any more talented, or any better than any of the rest of the people You created in Your image. Just remind me that I once was lost but now I’m saved.

 

 

 

We Don't Know Who She was or What She did.

She should have quit, told them all to “take their religion and shove it” that she did not need anything they had to offer, that she had made it just fine without them before and she would make it without them now; then, perhaps in her cultural behavior, spit at their feet and stormed out! But she didn’t. I am sure her feelings toward the group at the table that day were not at the center of her emotions as she was focusing on her mission. She was a sinful woman we are told. Not what one would consider a flattering title. The Pharisee tells us that she was a sinner so we read into it that she was more than likely a whore, or the politically correct term; a prostitute. But we don’t know that she was, all we know is that she was a sinner. Some speculate she was Mary Magdalene out of whom demons had been cast out. She did not act like a demoniac toward Christ when she entered and apparently she still had her sins, which were many Jesus said, before her act; so I don’t think that it was her.  I do not think God intended for us to know who she was because we would not take this incident personal but would read it as a historical account instead of a present day lesson for us. As psychologists and psychiatrists would say we would project our sin onto her. It is a theory in psychology in which humans defend themselves against unpleasant impulses by denying those impulses existence within themselves, while attributing them to others. For example, a person who is rude may constantly accuse other people of being rude. So, a person who is a sinful person would say "this woman was a terrible sinner, which I am not".

She never let what the Pharisee or others thought about her stop her from seeking out Christ. He made Himself available to her that day, or did you think He just happened to be near where she was? Jesus never did anything coincidentally. Every move He made and everything He said was planned; for us. Of all the things this woman may have done or been accused of there is one thing we learn about her that is not listed in her résumé; she knew in her heart that Jesus was worthy of her worship. Jesus knew what she was there for; forgiveness. The moment she came in seeking Him she was forgiven. When a sinner decides to come to the altar they are saved before they ever step out of their seat; because Jesus sees what is in their heart.

For all those who in the eyes of the religious authorities are “sinful men or women” learn a lesson from this lady. It does not matter what “kind of man or woman” you are in their eyes. What matters is who Jesus is in your eyes. Jesus never turned anyone away that came to Him. Learn a lesson from this woman; don’t quit, don’t give up, don’t give in to shame. Bypass all the religionists and go straight to Jesus. He will do for you what He did for her.

 Read about her in the Book of Luke, Chapter 7 starting at verse 36.

A Tribute to Sister Hazel

“It’s wonderful to wake up and see everything that God has given us to enjoy, but it is more wonderful to know that we are God’s" (children). That is what Sister Hazel told me one afternoon as we sat on her porch/patio watching the sun go down. Sister Hazel is our senior member in our church, her days will number 97 years in a couple of months. Her mind is sharp as is her wit and her demeanor is one of a true granny. I say granny because that was my intimate title for my grandmother and it carries with it the description of a woman whose number one goal was to make us grandkids happy; and she did it with love, just as Sister Hazel does. It is unknown how many preachers she has advised including me. Billy Graham would benefit from a session with her and I am sure he would relish the moment if he knew her. Her and her husband pastored several churches before his passing many years ago. She taught Sunday school at the churches and it is hard to tell how many kids she has influenced. In my travels today I will come across someone who asks which church I pastor. When I tell them they always smile and ask, “Is Sister Hazel still there?” To their delight when I tell them she is, they always have a story of how she has done something for them or taught them. There are many of you reading this now that has a story as well.

We owe a great deal to these elders. There are other Sister Hazels’ out there. The Bible tells us in Hebrews that we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses that we have no excuse for not progressing in our faith, as these Saints have proven that we can endure; if we just will. Sister Hazel is not an “old fogy.” She stays on the cutting edge of news and present day issues. She can discuss with you the economy, the politics, and the social unrest in the world. She will share Scripture with you too that tells these things would come to pass. I wonder if we are the generation that Jesus was talking about when He said, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” If He were to come before Sister Hazel departs He will most certainly find that kind of faith He expects us to have. She and those of her generation have had to endure hardships that many of us have only heard or read about. We have so many helps at our fingertips today that we do not need faith to a certain extent. “There is an app for that” is what our answer today is to getting help. We put our faith in our technology as these Saints did in God. They had to depend upon God more than we do. Sister Hazel can share stories of faith with you that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. Prayers that healed the sick when there were no doctors around. Prayers that were answered to put food on the table when there was no money to buy it and no credit cards, no social services or food banks. Prayers that were answered for protection when winter storms brought cold, snow and ice, and there was no emergency shelters, running water, heat pumps, or even electricity. There was no 911 to call. Yeah, they prayed the prayers of faith and God answered them. He was not their last resort, He was their Resort.

Let us learn from these witnesses as God has given them to us for a purpose. Let us put our faith in God as these Saints have done. Can we endure as they have? If we have the faith they do we can. Thank you Sister Hazel.

UPDATE: If you happen to run upon this post know that Sister Hazel went home to be with Jesus in March 2016. She will be dearly missed by those of us who loved and learned from her.