GRIEVED

I am grieved.

Yesterday, the President of the United States affirmed his personal belief that homosexuals should be able to marry. This doesn’t surprise me or offend me. In America, people are free to believe whatever they want to believe.  I am also not making a statement as to whether or not the government should define the terms of marriage, plenty of others are doing that. No, I am grieved because our President used his “Christianity” as a deciding factor in his decision process.

To quote, 

“You know, we are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it's also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that's what we try to impart to our kids and that's what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I'll be as a as a dad and a husband and, hopefully, the better I'll be as president." - President Obama

President Obama’s statement is an indicator of something that is seriously wrong with the church in America today. That an endorsement of the homosexual lifestyle can come from “Christian” beliefs in our day and age under the guise of the “Golden Rule” is reprehensible. That the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ has become so watered down that a “Christian” could make such a statement with impunity is remarkable. That there are perhaps millions of “Christians”, “Churches” and thousands of “Leaders” in the church today that will support and have supported such a statement is the real tragedy. 

Sinners sin, it’s literally in their (sinful) nature. The depths of human depravity are well documented. But in the Gospel and with the people of God there is supposed to be a counterbalance to the darkness. Jesus called the church the LIGHT of the world. 

Put simply, homosexuality is a SIN. If you think or believe differently, you are WRONG. In fact, any sexual activity outside the covenant of marriage is called “fornication” and expressly forbidden by the God of the Bible. But sexual activity where men are attracted to men and women attracted to women is a perversion of God’s design and an abomination in the sight of God. 

In our culture today, to make such a statement makes me hateful, bigoted and “homophobic”. if that is the price of agreement with God, so be it. 

But in reality, I do not hate sinners, I love them. I love them so much in fact that I tell them the TRUTH. The truth is that if you continue to live in your sin and defy God with your lifestyle, you will go to HELL. That is the “Golden Rule” in action. If I was heading straight to hell because of my lifestyle, I would want someone to warn me!

I am not bigoted and I am certainly not “homophobic”. Just because I disagree with homosexuals does NOT make me afraid of them. If I am "homophobic" for denouncing homosexuality, YOU are "Christophobic" for not living righteously & standing for the truth!

I believe that It’s time we feared God more than the opinions of men. So I am going on the offense and not only calling out homosexuals, but also those that approve of their behavior. Not only is it wrong to sin and break God’s righteous standard, it’s also wrong to approve of sinful behavior. If you honestly think that you can approve of what God HATES and still make Heaven, you are sorely deceived. To call yourself a Christian while approving of what God hates under the banner of “grace” & “love” is high treason against Heaven.

Therefore:

• Any “Church” that endorses what God hates or embraces compromise in our sin-soaked culture is an apostate institution, long bereft of any true godly authority.

• Any “Leader” without the testicular fortitude to call out evil for what it is (evil) is a coward, deserving of the harshest judgment for leading the innocent to slaughter.

• Any “Christian” that claims to be a “Christian” while rejecting the standards laid down by God is a reprobate, far from God.

Real depravity or what the Bible calls a “debased mind” is not only found in sinning, but ENDORSING sinful behavior. Homosexuals are going to hell, no matter what Obama says (I Cor 6:9). But so are the cowardly "Christians" that endorse their sin (Rev 21:8).

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:28-32

September 1st – Proverbs 1: Word to the YOUNG

“The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;” – Proverbs 1:1-3

Is there anything wisdom from the Proverbs cannot do? The list of the benefits of wisdom is staggering, while the list of the consequences of NOT having wisdom is just as long. This Proverb tells us of some particular benefits that are available for the young and inexperienced.

“for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young… Proverbs 1:4

The word for knowledge here comes from the Hebrew root word “da‛ath” and it comes from another Hebrew word “Yada” which is used many times to describe worship. At its root it means “to know”, but not in cerebral head knowledge, but in experiential understanding. It’s the same word that is used here to describe sexual intimacy with a woman!

“And Adam knew Eve his wife. And she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from Jehovah.” Genesis 4:1

The wisdom contained in Proverbs will give the young man this kind of experiential knowledge. A young person does NOT need to bash his head against the wall, making the same mistakes that his father and his grandfather made before him! Wisdom enables us to avoid those costly errors in judgment and get straight to the good stuff! It’s asinine to suggest (as many do) that each young person has to make their way in the world and can only learn through mistakes. Only a great fool would ignore the clear warnings of wisdom and plunge headlong into the dark paths forged by his forefathers!

Unashamedly, when I met my wife I had NEVER had sex with, kissed or even held hands with another woman! Some might say I was sheltered and some might say I was inexperienced… and they would be right! But what I can tell you is that I was PURE and so was she! There are MANY things I have never done! I have never used drugs, smoked a cigarette, visited a prostitute or been in a strip club. To suggest that I need to “experience” these things before helping someone in bondage to drugs, sex or nicotine is ridiculous! The end result of that logic would say that Jesus couldn’t help us because He never sinned!

"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." – I Peter 2:22

Another great benefit of wisdom to the young is that it gives “discretion to the young”. This translation really doesn’t say what the word means. Discretion here is basically talking about a plan, a plot or a purpose. Wisdom gives the young a plan, a step by step guide to get where he is going. It gives us the plot, the point of our lives. It gives us the purpose for our existence and keeps us grounded in the eternal consequences of our actions, never letting us forget out ultimate purpose. We sometimes tell people without a lot of knowledge to “get a clue” and that’s precisely what wisdom will do. Wisdom gives you experiential knowledge you didn’t earn and a purpose you didn’t have to create yourself.

LIFE LESSON:

Wise people learn from others mistakes, fools make their own.

August 31st – Proverbs 31: Speak Up!

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." – Proverbs 31:8,9

My default is set to ALWAYS stand with and defend the poor, destitute and needy. I believe that it is the nature of God to always look to the needs of the weakest FIRST. If a couple comes to me with a marriage problem, I start with the assumption that the problem is the husbands fault or responsibility. Why? Because the bible tells us that the woman is the weaker partner!

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” I Peter 3:7

This doesn’t mean that it’s always the husbands fault (although it’s hovering near 95% for me), but it does mean the lion’s share of responsibility in the marriage falls on the man:

“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” – Ephesians 5:23

Men LOVE being in charge. They LOVE the authority that God grants them, sometimes reminding their wives to “submit” to them like the Bible tells them! But what they often fail to remember is that authority comes with a great price: responsibility. For example, we all know that the name of Jesus carries ULTIMATE power and ULTIMATE authority. The Bible tells us:

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Philippians 2:9-11

But like I love to tell people, whenever you see a “therefore”, go back and see what it’s there for! This passage begins with a “therefore” and we would be well served to see the genesis of Jesus’ power and authority. Many people like to believe that Jesus was granted His great power and authority from birth, but that’s not true! Jesus’ power and authority were not granted to Him upon birth, but upon His obedience!

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!” – Philippians 2:5-9

Jesus humbled Himself to the will of God and became obedient to death, even death on a cross! THIS is the basis of His power and authority! Jesus took the responsibility for the redemption upon man upon Himself, qualifying Him to receive the power and authority over all creation!

LIFE LESSON:

We must use our power and authority granted by God not to serve ourselves, but to defend the poor, the needy and the destitute.

August 30th – Proverbs 30: Exalt Not Thyself!

"If you have played the fool and exalted yourself, or if you have planned evil, clap your hand over your mouth!” – Proverbs 30:32

This Proverb tells us that it is foolish to exalt ourselves. The word for exalt means to: lift, to hold up. So if we find ourselves lifting and holding up our lives, exalting ourselves we are to quickly put a hand over our mouth and STOP! In an increasingly self-centered and self-aware society, self-exaltation is becoming the norm. Our insatiable need for affirmation has given us license to praise ourselves! Our culture has decided that this is an acceptable practice, but the Bible tells us a different story:

“Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips.” – Proverbs 27:2

It’s simply not prudent and not humble to exalt or praise yourself, even if you are amazing! It’s the price of greatness. You can be great; you just have to let other people recognize this. We’re all happy that you did a good job at whatever it is you do, you don’t have to tell us how awesome you are. I’ve known people like this and you probably do to; they are a legend in their own mind! Few things are as off-putting as someone who is enamored with themselves.

But there is another very real consequence to exalting yourself:

“Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence, and do not claim a place among great men; it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.” – Proverbs 25:6,7

It’s just the nature of things, when you exalt yourself; the only direction left to go is down. Likewise, when you humble yourself, the only direction you can go is up!  We’re promised in the Word of God that if we humble ourselves we WILL be exalted, but if we exalt ourselves we WILL be humbled!

“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12

I love that the Bible tells us the antidote when we find ourselves praising ourselves. “Clap your hand over your mouth!” When our tongue rages out of control we should take matters into our own hands and SHUT IT UP! This is because the tongue is a CRAZY thing and we need Divine help to keep it under control:

“All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” – James 3:7,8

LIFE LESSON:

If you REALLY are awesome, others will recognize it; you don’t have to advertise yourself.

August 29th – Proverbs 29: A Mutual Agreement

“The righteous detest the dishonest; the wicked detest the upright.” – Proverbs 29:27

Let’s be honest. We are to love ALL God’s children, good and bad. Why? Because Jesus loves them, that’s why! We can’t hate anyone! To hate your brother PROVES that you aren’t walking in the light (I John 2:9). Jesus loved us and died for us while we were still sinners and we must do the same:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

But yet, there is this little gem in the book of Proverbs that tells us a secret; the righteous detest the wicked and the wicked detest the righteous. It’s an agreement of sorts. We who live righteously can’t stand the lack of basic decency and morality the wicked display as a lifestyle and the wicked can’t stand the display of decency and morality that the righteous display.  We don’t need to fool ourselves. If we are truly righteous we have NOTHING in common with the wicked.

Several years ago I went out preaching in a tough neighborhood with a newcomer to our church. This guy was LILY WHITE. I’m talking pressed khakis, a tucked in IZOD shirt with a shiny leather belt topped off with perfectly white Adidas and KNEE HIGH tube socks! Wow! He looked white, spoke white and talked white perfectly enunciating every syllable. Now, I have nothing wrong with that, this is who this guy was. But when we got into the neighborhood, we encountered a couple of really rough guys. It turns out that they were drugs dealers and one of the dudes made no attempt to hide a very obvious bulge of a gun in his waistline.

So my VERY white "friend" walks up to these guys starts throwing some slang, “Hey man, how’s it hanging, BRO?” I looked at him in total horror. We were going to get stabbed, I just knew it. He went on, “So yeah man, we’re just hanging here in Da Hood and we wanted to shout at ya, WORD!” The guys recoiled with a look of disgust; they were getting angry. I elbowed my idiot friend to shut up and began talking to them, LIKE A NORMAL PERSON. I didn’t try to relate to them in the natural, what do I have in common with a thug from the hood? So I began to appeal to them on the only common ground we do have; we have ALL been sinners and fallen short of the glory of God at one time.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Romans 3:23

They heard me out because I was talking to them honestly from the heart. But real life, they DETEST the fact that I live right and probably see me as a goody two shoes. I in turn LOATHE their mistreatment of women, lack of responsibility to their kids and the immoral way they earn a buck. But I made a mark that day. Perhaps one day they can come into the light and we can have some real fellowship, but if not, we’ll just continue our little dance of detesting one another’s lifestyle. At least the battle lines in my life are drawn clear, there is NO GRAY AREA.

LIFE LESSON:

Stop trying to be relevant to the devil; just stay relevant to the Gospel.

August 26th – Proverbs 26: Fighting Fuel!

“Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.” – Proverbs 26:20

All fires require fuel to burn. When you want a fire to burn hot and tall you must add wood. If you want a fire to go out, all that you have to do is stop providing fuel and in a little while, it will go out. In the same way, every quarrel, every argument requires fuel to keep going. When a quarrel is REALLY blazing, when two sides violently oppose each other, there is a BUNCH of gossip going on. He said/She said from questionable sources is how arguments and fights persist. If you want to end the fight, normally all you have to do is STOP the chatter from others and sit down, face to face and work it out man to man. Rarely ever will you find a quarrel that can’t be settled like this.

So why don’t we resolve more conflict?

Well, the sad fact is that most people are chickens. It’s just easier to believe the lies and rumors and get mad than it is to go directly to the source of the rumors and resolve the conflict. That takes something that is all too rare these days, especially in the church, COURAGE. So many conflicts could be almost instantaneously resolved if we would just GO to the person that we have been offended by and actually DO what the Bible says:

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.” – Matthew 18:15

We mask our rebellion to the commands of Jesus with this veneer of “maturity”. We’ll say stuff like “I’m not offended, BUT…” What you forget is ANYTIME a “but” comes out; you can throw away whatever is said directly before that. If you came to me for a loan, let’s say you needed $20. If I said to you, “I can give you $20, BUT…” When you hear that “but” you KNOW you aren’t getting any money! In the same way, whenever someone says, “I’m not offended, BUT…” you KNOW they are offended. We need to stop playing games and start being real. You’re not so mature that you can’t be offended, sorry. When we are hurt and offended, instead of telling all your friends, dropping names and sowing your bitterness and anger wherever you go, you need to MAN UP and go directly to that person ALONE. Deal with the offense and it will likely go away, keep feeding it and it may consume YOU.

A word about gossips: the word here for “gossip” is; talebearer, whisperer. Isn’t it funny that gossip is ALWAYS told in secret, whispered from one party to another? Yet we cloak our “concerns” for the other party in this weird self-righteous attitude, like it’s our secret mission from Jesus to expose our buddy that hurt our wee little feelings under the veil of “concern” or better yet “prayer”. Talebearers or gossips always try to appear above the fray, but in reality they are the SOURCE of all conflict. If you can get them to SHUT UP, that fight will be resolved ASAP. 

So how do you spot a talebearer? Their mouth will be moving.

“A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.” – Proverbs 20:19

LIFE LESSON:

Man up, resolve your conflict like Jesus told you to.

August 25th – Proverbs 25: Peace > Pride

“Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.” – Proverbs 25:24

Coming from a man with all the wealth in the world, massive palaces that spanned acres and who also had 700 wives and 300 concubines, I think we can take this wisdom to the bank. Solomon KNEW what he was talking about! He says it would be better to camp out on the corner of a roof than to share a palatial estate with a contentious or brawling woman. I have seen grown men reduced to tears because they don’t know how to lead their wives. These are good guys, strong physically, strong in business and respected in the community that crumble when their spouse starts fussing.

Marriage can be tough, but it doesn’t have to be like this. Part of the reason it can be so tough is because some people like winning arguments more than they like peace. Those are the kind of people that are always fighting. They don’t like to fight, but they don’t like to humble themselves either. As men, we have GOT to learn how to lead our way through conflict. Early in my marriage I realized this. If I were to “win” every argument and “assert my dominance” we would fight all of the time! We started our marriage with a commitment to DO this verse:

“Be angry, and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the Devil.”- Ephesians 4:26,27

What that meant was that if we were having an argument or fight, we wouldn’t go to bed until that argument was resolved. Sometimes that meant LATE nights and early mornings. Many times in the first couple years of our marriage we would be up until 2 and 3am, having to get up around 6am the next morning. It made for a HORRIBLE day after, but at least we weren’t fighting!

One of these times we had STARTED an argument around midnight and I had the feeling this would be an all-nighter. I had a legitimate beef, but it was covered up in my bad behavior. She would NEVER hear what SHE was doing wrong while I kept being a jerk about it. While she was fussing at me I thought to myself: “Wow, here we go again. Man I SO don’t want to be up all night again… but I can’t let her win!” Then the Holy Spirit interrupted my thought process and said, “What’s more valuable to you? Being right? Or having peace in your home?” 

I knew right then and there that having a home with peace and joy and without contention was WAY more important than me being “right”. I wasn’t prepared to capitulate and compromise, telling her she was right for what I knew she was wrong in, but what I could do was take responsibility for MY bad behavior. So I interrupted her fussing with, “I’m sorry, you’re right, I was being a jerk. Please forgive me.” Her mouth fell open and she stopped talking. She was totally shocked. She kept at it for another minute or two, just to make sure I was “really” sorry and I ate humble pie, not telling her she was right, but owning MY failure. 

The fight was over in less than 5 minutes and a few minutes later we drifted off into a peaceful sleep, well rested for the day to come. 

LIFE LESSON:

That day, I learned that my PEACE was more valuable than my PRIDE.