The Underestimation of Sin, Men's Edition

We had our first men’s night at church (9/27/15) on the heels of the Ashley Madison scandal. We entered that night by way of heavy hearts and pastoral concern for our men. Many Christian men this year have fallen and been publicly exposed online and/or in their communities because they underestimated their sin and never thought their unconfessed, unrepentant, or secret sins would be exposed and cause themself and others harm. I’m posting my message from that night to warn and encourage men as we are heading into 2016.

Some Fallen Men in 2015
I list these men not to tarnish or condemn them, but as examples of the seriousness of underestimating our sin.
     -Tullian Tchividjian
Tullian wrote, “I returned from a trip a few months back and discovered that my wife was having an affair. Heartbroken and devastated, I informed our church leadership and requested a sabbatical to focus exclusively on my marriage and family. As her affair continued, we separated. Sadly and embarrassingly, I subsequently sought comfort in a friend and developed an inappropriate relationship myself.”(1)
     “[Tullian] says having an affair really forces a pastor, a person, to look at themselves and ask, "What kind of person did I become for me to do what I did, my wife to do what she did, where did I fail? Did I become something, someone I didn't see I was becoming?””(2)

     -Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr.(3)
R.C. Jr. wrote, “In August 2014, in a moment of weakness, pain, and from an unhealthy curiosity, I visited Ashley Madison.”
     “The grace of God’s judgment bore its fruit, and by His grace I repented of my sin. By His grace, I have also received His forgiveness, the outworking of His love. Prophetic providence had done its good office. Jesus died for this sin, but there are still earthly consequences. With the revelation of the hack has come the revelation of my sin. I recently informed the board of Ligonier Ministries, which has handled the matter internally, having suspended me until July 1, 2016. I also informed my presbytery which is also handling the matter internally. And now the world is informed.”
     “My sin, sadly, has impacted those who are innocent––my colleagues, friends, and family. I have and will continue to seek their forgiveness. I covet your prayers.”

     -Josh Duggar(4)
Josh wrote, “I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have been unfaithful to my wife. I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family, and most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him. I have brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and the fans of our show with my actions. The last few years, while publicly stating I was fighting against immorality in our country I was hiding my own personal failures. As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences. I deeply regret all the hurt I have caused so many by being such a bad example.”

     -Seth Oiler(5)
“Seth Oiler died in the prime of his life. The 42-year-old pastor of First United Methodist Church (UMC) in Newark, Ohio, committed suicide in his church-owned home [in May]. His untimely death followed an adulterous affair with a church staff member to which he admitted.” The writer comments, “I can only imagine the guilt, shame and condemnation that was flooding his soul.” He left behind a wife and children.

     -John Gibson(6)
“New Orleans pastor and seminary professor John Gibson...can now be counted among the casualties of the Ashley Madison fiasco, [he committed suicide], and according to his wife, it illustrates the real and unnecessary human toll.”
     “For 25 of their almost 30 years of marriage, Gibson and her husband struggled with his sex addiction. She knew that he struggled and had relapsed over and over again. She did not know that he had used Ashley Madison until she read his suicide note... In it, her husband talked about his depression and his deep remorse and shame over having his name be among those found in the adultery website’s database.” The late pastor and professor Gibson said, “The shame is in the secrecy and the hiddenness and the lie of this.“

Ed Stetzer said that there might be up to 400 Christian men (all church leaders) whose secret sins will be exposed because of the Ashley Madison hack.(7) This is not counting the non-church leaders who may have an account; which means there may very well be 400+ families and communities impacted by unrepentant and secret sins!
     All of these men underestimated their sin and never thought their unconfessed, unrepentant, or secret sins would be exposed and cause themself and others harm. We don’t want this to be you. We don’t want the enemy ravaging you with bondage to sin, fear, and condemnation. We want you to know you are surrounded by other broken men, with sins & struggles like yours, and we also have a desire for those of you in sin/compromise to experience repentance, forgiveness, freedom, and restoration; because we have experienced it too.

5 Points of Caution
I believe God wants you specific men to hear these 5 particular points of caution—i.e. 5 points if taken seriously and followed will help to avoid the danger and mistake of unrepentant and secret sin.
1. God will put your unrepentant or secret sin on blast. (2Sam. 12:12, cf. 1Tim. 5:24).
     –Don’t assume that He won’t. And remember, God is perfectly righteous and just in doing so if He chooses to (Ps. 51:4). Instead, you need to recognize that the only reason your unrepentant or secret sin has not been blasted by God is because in His goodness He is patiently waiting for you to come to repentance (Rom. 2:1-4). It’s better that you tell on yourself and repent than God broadcast it and bring you to repentance the hard way.

2. Never forget your past. (i.e. don’t forget about your Egypt) (Tit. 3:3)
     -Don’t act like your past isn’t yours. Don’t fail to remember how cruel a master sin was. Don’t disregard the bondage/oppression/deception you were once under. Don’t fail to remember what God has delivered you from [and maybe still is]). The moment we forget about our past, we, like the Israelites, begin to desire the hazardous things of the past we just forgot about.

3. Remain ever watchful in your present. (1Cor. 10:12-13)
     -No sleeping on the job, ever. Always alert. Always inspecting. Be like the German soldiers during the Cold War, weapon in hand, standing guard at every hole in the wall so nothing slips by. There is too much at stake. Be constantly vigilant!

4. Confidently pursue your promised future. (Col. 3:1-4)
     -Your life is hidden with Christ. You are not your past or your present. You are your promised future! Pursue the transformed you, the you being made-over in the likeness of Jesus, the you being progressively sanctified in Jesus, the you controlled by the Holy Spirit, the new you "being renewed in knowledge according to the image" (v10) of God. Your promised future is one of wholeness and holiness. Confidently pursue what God has for you while remembering your past and being watchful in your present!

5. Remember the character of God. (Heb. 13:8)
     –He is just and merciful. God will justly judge our sin, and yet He will extend mercy when we cry out to Him in repentance and for forgiveness.
     –He is holy and full of grace. Anything unholy is offensive to God. Our sin is offensive to Him. Yet, He graciously pardons our sin and iniquities even though we never deserve to be pardoned.
     –He is jealous and loving. God despises sharing our devotion and worship with anything or anyone, but His love remains unconditional toward us despite our disloyalty toward Him.
     –He is sovereign. God is in complete control and works all things together for our good according to His will, and yet He still holds us responsible for our sin, and to repent, and to obey.

Conclusion
There are, what I believe, 9 common sins among men: (The list below is not in any significant order)

(i)Porn
     “64% of Christian men…say they watch porn at least once a month.” “Because porn use thrives in secrecy, many church members are trapped in a cycle of sin and shame, thinking that they're the only ones facing this temptation.”(8)
(ii)Masturbation
(iii)Fornication
(iv)Pride of heart (the attitude)
(v)Pride of life (the pursuit (why and what), the image [reputation])
(vi)Idolatry (putting something/one in the place only God belongs)
(vii)Anger (rage, outward aggression)
(viii)Lust (lust of eyes, lust for sex)
(ix)Selfishness (self-absorbed)

These 9 are seen and done so naturally that conviction decreases, and so does repenting of these things, and so does striving to be transformed from these things (i.e. deliverance, holiness, wholeness).

Three verses to ponder and obey:

Proverbs 28:13 (NLT)—“People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.”
Jam. 5:16 (NLT)—“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”
1Jn. 1:9 (ESV)—“If we confess our sins [to Him], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Do not be that man that underestimates his sin and never thinks that your unconfessed, unrepentant, or secret sins will not be exposed and cause yourself and others harm. Confess and repent and experience mercy, healing, forgiveness, and cleansing!

“Freedom means that on your worst day you are loved by the Father because your acceptance is based on the righteousness of Another.” “Freedom means you don't have to hide from God because Jesus took your rejection. Weary and broken you can run to His gracious arms.” –Paul Tripp

____________________
1. www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/06/21/billy-grahams-grandson-steps-down-from-florida-megachurch-after-admitting-an-affair/
2. www.charismanews.com/culture/51066-tullian-tchividjian-gets-why-pastors-caught-in-adultery-commit-suicide
3. rcsprouljr.com/blog/general/judgment-and-grace/
4. www.churchleaders.com/daily-buzz/260849-5-things-pastors-learn-josh-duggars-confession.html
5. www.charismanews.com/opinion/watchman-on-the-wall/49866-pastor-commits-suicide-in-church-owned-home-after-admitting-adultery | www.christianpost.com/news/married-pastor-commits-suicide-after-admitting-affair-with-church-member-he-loved-god-ronald-reagan-and-captain-america-139666/
6. www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/09/09/why-the-wife-of-a-pastor-exposed-in-ashley-madison-leak-spoke-out-after-his-suicide/
7. www.churchleaders.com/daily-buzz/261321-ed-stetzer-400-pastors-caught-ashley-madison-hack-may-resign-sunday.html
8. www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats

12/2/2015

Does God Approve of “Shacking Up”?

I have had many conversations with many professing believers who have argued to me that God does not disapprove of “shacking up” (i.e. a couple living together like they are married without actually being married). Their arguments have ranged from, “we're engaged so what's the big deal”, to “we're getting a feel of what it would be like to determine if we're ready for marriage”, to “the Bible doesn't say we can't live together”, and so on. Many professing believers do not see a problem or any carnality or compromise with “shacking up” (living together) with whom they're dating. Many professing believers may not even know how the Bible addresses this or if it even does or care if it does.

Let me say it first, the Bible does address this topic but not directly like a “Q&A”. You can find the Bible's view on this in it's pronouncement on marriage.

“18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”....21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.””
(Genesis 2:18, 21-25, NIV)

To physically move in and live together with your boyfriend or girlfriend is outside of God's design, and that is what makes it an error. God designed here in Genesis 2 that a man will leave his parents and be joined to “his wife” as “one flesh”. Living with your boyfriend or girlfriend purports becoming “one flesh”. How so? Because both people have left their separateness to live and be together as a couple (as “one”). A couple living together is a component reserved only for God's design in marriage. It is not meant to be done outside of this specific God-ordained relationship; for to do so is superseding God's design with one's personal view and preferences.

I have no need to address the potential and promising problems with couples living together before marriage to build an apologetic against it, because the greatest argument against it is that God ordains from the very beginning of humanity's existence that leaving, cleaving, and living together as “one” is for marriage only. To do otherwise, whether knowingly or unknowingly, is a clear defiance of God's design. One's ignorance or ignoring does not dismiss their violation of God's design. It will always be a violation––i.e. sin (falling short of God's standard).

So, to all the professing Christians that may read this, you have no biblical “omitted” basis for your defiance of God's design for living together as a couple; neither can you use the “cultural context” excuse to explain away the truth principles in this passage because there was no culture defined. This was humanity's inception. Thus, this principle is tied to all generations of mankind in every culture. There is no escape. The only reason you have to stand on is the real one, selfishness and pride––you want to do what you want to do and you don't want to be told that you can't. After this biblical response, to attempt to argue that it's not a violation to shack up (i.e. God does approve) further shows your selfishness and pride in your effort to justify your sin.

If you are a professing Christian shacking up with your boyfriend or girlfriend, God does not approve and you are in fact sinning against your Savior and Master. As always, there is grace––of which you've probably been receiving from God in the midst of you sinning against Him and have likely mistaken it for His approval. God will forgive, if you repent (1Jn. 1:9).

My final word to you, thank God for His grace and forgiveness, choose to obey Jesus and either get married, move out, or suffer the consequences of violating God's design (and whatever may come from that).

5/13/2015

Sin Nature: Fact or Fiction?

On February 19, 2013 I posted this status: 

"It is arrogant of us to think we don't need to repent/confess our sin to God every day."

I thought I was long done with online debates. But this status led another brother to respond, and before you knew it the debate was on. Now this debate was short compared to some of my other online debates. Also, it was a civil dialogue and I believe truth was revealed. That's why I am choosing to post this, because so many believers hear so many things that sound right but are biblically and historically inaccurate. It's hard and dangerous for believers. With access to all kinds of information, knowledge appears easier to grasp but so is confusion and distortion. So many believers are without sound biblical knowledge. Even with all this access to information, many believers still lack in sound doctrine/theology and properly interpreting Scripture. Sin has placed a veneer over our eyes from sound biblical teaching. The end times are truly upon us. Holy Spirit we need your help. Please guide us into Your truth and not our own. Give us discernment for falsehood, a desire for Your truth, and the grace and wisdom to know the difference!

This brother, whose name I purposely left out, believes that we can live without sinning here on earth. He rejected the biblical doctrine of our sinful nature. I hope my responses to him will help educate some others about this very thing as well.

__________
His response to my status -- "I disagree. The devil couldn't do worse than sin everyday. Jesus said "Go and sin no more." We may sin again, but it shouldn't be everyday -otherwise we haven't really repented."

Me -- "I can understand why u or another would think that. But let's look at one area, do u honor/revere/esteem God perfectly in your thoughts everyday? Since no one can answer this one question with yes, therefore we fall short of the glory of God and it is arrogant of us to not express that shortcoming to God. Let's not forget that sin is not secluded to that which is manifested in the physical, but also our thoughts and emotions.

My status was not to incur any negative reactions, but rather humble introspection of our utter dependency and submission unto Jesus and confrontation of our pride."

Him -- "Chris, as of yet I'm not, but that gives me no excuse according to Matthew 22:37. I don't think Jesus was joking when He said that in that passage. And how do you know no one can answer the question with "yes"? You have to be omniscient to know that.

No negativity here, just being real with what the Word says bro."

Me -- "I never said nor does my status imply that we have an excuse to sin bcuz we're sinners. Sanctification ensures us that over time we will continue to look more like Christ and better manage our sinful nature. Thus, we have no excuse to not confess our sins. Apostle John, writing to believers, said that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us and we call God a liar, and in confessing our sin Jesus is faithful & just to purify us (1Jn. 1:8-10).

And no I'm not all-knowing, but the Word says no one could answer yes (Eccl. 7:20, Prov. 20:9)."

Him -- "faithful and just to purify us...from all unrighteousness (gotta add that part in there when referencing that passage, its important)." And what about the next verses in 1Jn. 2:1-6? And all of 1Jn. Chapter 3?

Eccl 7:20 is comparable to Rom. 3:23, both of which reference sin in the past tense (which I agree, hence all need Jesus because all sinned). Why else would Solomon end it like in he did in 12:13-14? Regarding Prov. 20:9, only the blood of Jesus can clean our heart and purify us, not ourselves -so that passage makes sense.

Chris, what God has shown me recently is that its not a sin to obey Him. In fact, He requires it! Salvation is conditional upon ones repentance, faith, and walking in obedience until the very end. The "sinful nature" (which I discovered to be invented, coming from gnosticism) only gives people an excuse why they can't fully obey Him with a pure heart as He demands. I won't be offended if you don't believe me, but I would encourage you to check this out when you have the time (and others as well):
http://openairoutreach.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/did-augustine-corrupt-the-church-with-gnostic-doctrine/

Be blessed bro!"

Me -- "Yeah, I didn't add the last part of that verse bcuz its included in the "purify", we're being made clean from something...I.e. unrighteousness.

As for the other verses, they were to simply show that we sin, none of us are perfect. All of our perfection & righteousness is in Christ, not us. God sees us as perfect & righteous bcuz of Christ, not bcuz we're actually perfect & righteous.

And Augustine didn't corrupt the church with gnostic doctrine. Gnosticism was around long b4 Augustine. John was battling that belief in 1Jn (so was Paul when he wrote Colossians). That's why John wrote that we do sin, bcuz the gnostic teachers were teaching that matter was evil and spirit is good and freedom from bondage/control comes through special, higher knowledge (higher than Scripture). So they justified and dismissed their sin (and their continual sinning) bcuz matter is evil. But John spoke against that in the remaining chapters, he taught that while none of us are without sin, born-again believers do not continue on living in sin.

As for our salvation being conditional, there is only one condition God's grace! Yes it is us who respond in faith, but our faith is nothing if not for His grace first. And repentance isn't a condition of our salvation, it's the evidence. Our obedience is an evidence of the Holy Spirit. So yes we repent and we obey to the very end. Yes we have victory in areas of our lives. Yes we are growing & maturing each day, becoming more like Christ. But we still fall short every day bcuz we're not perfect, none of us can live up to God's standards perfectly. Plus, even though we're a new creation, we're still warring with our carnal/sinful nature (Gal. 5:16-17, Rom. 7:15-25). Our perfection is our glorification."

Him -- "I'd rather not prolong the discussion. I just want to highly suggest that you both at least watch the video that's on the site. Even the Early Church didn't believe in the sinful nature as you will see."

Me -- "I respect ur decision to not prolong this discussion. And I will end it here, after I respond to ur false statement.

To say the early church didnt believe in the “sinful nature” is a misnomer, since JESUS and the Apostles themselves (the 1st century church) are where we get the “flesh/carnal/sinful nature” from. Here are a few:

Paul says
1. ...our flesh serves the law of sin & sin is in our members (Rom. 7:21-25)
2...our flesh wars against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17)
3…temptations are common and not to be underestimated (1Cor. 10:13-14)

James says
1…temptations come from our fleshly desires/carnal nature (Jam. 1:13-15)
2…our tongue--which is among our members--is a world of iniquity and it CANNOT be tamed (Jam. 3:2-8)
3…it is a sin to NOT do all the good u know all the time (Jam. 4:17)
4…fleshly desires war in our members (Jam. 4:1)

John says
1…we are not without sin (1Jn. 1:8-10)

Peter says
1…fleshly lusts war against our soul (1Pet. 2:11)

JESUS Himself says
1…what comes out our mouth (our tongue) comes from our heart (our members) (Matt. 15:18)
2…it is “impossible” to “not” be tempted to sin (Lk. 17:1, Matt. 18:7)


Brother, I hope u can see that this teaching about the flesh/carnal/sinful nature finds it’s roots in the NT. They were writing these things in their letters to fellow believers (the 1st century church). It is a biblical reality. If u still don’t see it, then may the Spirit have His way.

Take care..."

8/13/13

Can there be a "gay Christian"?

Can there be a "gay Christian" is a question that is now controversial and provoking. Some people answer differently, and others simply want a reasonable answer for it. My answer may shock you. So, I am writing this article for no other reason than to answer this question clearly, concisely, and biblically. Some sincere believers and seekers out there may not know the true biblical answer to this question. And so I'd like to share it, hopefully without inciting a cyber-riot.

For Your Clarification
Before we go on, let's get the obvious question out the way. Does the Bible condemn homosexuality as a sin? Yes, God Himself says do not commit homosexual acts, and that it is an abomination (Heb. toebah)---that is, it is disgusting and immoral in God's eyes (Lev. 18:22; 20:13, cf. Rom. 1:26-32, 1Tim. 1:9-10). But it is a sin no different than any other sin. Does it have different consequences in an individual's life or society? Yes, but all sin still ends in further rebellion, lawlessness, destruction, and eternal separation from God.

Now, allow me to clear up a misunderstanding, one that is typically unaddressed but assumed to be the same, and that is between the concepts of "struggle" and "lifestyle". Some people may ask this question (can there be a "gay Christian"?) no differently than asking can someone be a fornicating Christian, or a Christian liar, or a prideful Christian, or a Christian addict, and so forth. This thought implies a "struggle" rather than a "lifestyle". So, someone asking this question in this context may very well be asking can there be a Christian struggling with homosexuality ("a gay Christian")? And the answer to this is...of course! The same way there can be Christians struggling with sin or carnal desires such as porn, or lying, or false teachings, or drugs and alcohol, or conceitedness, or idolatry, and so on, there can be Christians that struggle with homosexuality.

"Struggling" insinuates resistance, which means in order to call it a "struggle" one has to be desiring and striving against 'said' sin/temptation/carnal desire. On the other hand, "lifestyle" insinuates no resistance, which means one is living in 'said' sin/carnal desire (i.e. practicing it willfully/ presumptuously) with no desire to change or please God and no disgust for the sin/carnal desire. See the difference? So before we're quick to answer anyone who asks this question about being a "gay Christian", let's be sure to get more understanding of what they mean first. They may be speaking about something different than what we assume, and we may very well answer their question wrongly and cause harm in someway.

Fruit From Which Tree?
Christians "struggle" with many things, because we're in this body of sin/sin nature (Jam. 4:1, 1Pet. 2:11), but there will be evidence/fruit in a Christian's life that they have been truly born-again as a new creation in Christ (2Cor. 5:14-17, 1Pet. 4:1-3, Matt. 3:8-10; 7:21-23; 12:33-37, Prov. 12:12b). All true born-again Christians possess the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:16-17, Rom. 8:16, 1Cor. 6:11), and there will be evidence/fruit of the Holy Spirit in that person's life (Rom. 8:13-15, Gal. 5:16-18, 22-25, 2Tim. 1:7). If there is no evidence of the Holy Spirit (i.e. a desire for His desires, a desire to please God, the attitude that Jesus is Lord over your life, bearing His fruit, and a disgust towards sin) in a professing Christian's life, the Bible says that person is not truly saved (Rom. 8:5-9). You can "say" you're saved because you made "a confession of believing in Jesus' death and resurrection", but the Holy Spirit is the confirmation/the assurance of the sincerity of your salvation. So to think, believe, or profess to be born-again/a new creation in Christ, yet living/practicing a "lifestyle" of sin, and exhibiting no evidence of the Holy Spirit is a misnomer (Eph. 4:17-24, 2Tim. 2:19). It is biblically and logically incompatible, and for a person to continue to insist that this contradiction is not a contradiction but a true statement is deceived or *schizophrenic.

"4 Everyone who commits (practices) sin is guilty of lawlessness; for [that is what] sin is, lawlessness (the breaking, violating of God’s law by transgression or neglect—being unrestrained and unregulated by His commands and His will). 5 You know that He appeared in visible form and became Man to take away [upon Himself] sins, and in Him there is no sin [essentially and forever]. 6 No one who abides in Him [who lives and remains in communion with and in obedience to Him—deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] commits (practices) sin. No one who [habitually] sins has either seen or known Him [recognized, perceived, or understood Him, or has had an experiential acquaintance with Him]. 7 Boys (lads), let no one deceive and lead you astray. He who practices righteousness [who is upright, conforming to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action, living a consistently conscientious life] is righteous, even as He is righteous. 8 [But] he who commits sin [who practices evildoing] is of the devil [takes his character from the evil one], for the devil has sinned (violated the divine law) from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [has done]. 9 No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God. 10 By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and are His children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not practice righteousness [who does not conform to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his fellow believer in Christ)." (1Jn. 3:4-10, AMP)

Some may say, "What does this mean for the Christians that may fall into rebellion, are they really a true born-again believer or a misnomer?" True believers do fall at certain points in their life. This has happened to David, Peter, myself, and many other faithful people of God throughout the centuries. "The marks of a true believer will stand true compared to those of a poser. Though a true believer will fall---i.e. to certain temptations (lust, anger, pride, self-righteousness, etc) or at worse into temporary rebellion---they will get back up again just as the Bible says- Prov. 24:16, Ps. 37:23- 24. Repentance is ever present with a true believer, but not so with a poser."**

Can There Be...

So, can there be a "gay Christian"? Yes, a true born-again believer can "struggle" with homosexuality. Yes, true born-again believers can fall to temporary rebellion in a homosexual relationship the same way one can fall to temporary rebellion in a heterosexual relationship. But repentance (an evidence of the Holy Spirit) will be ever present with a true believer for the Holy Spirit's role is to convict and sanctify believers, and complete His good work (Gal. 5:17, Phil. 1:6, 1Thess. 5:23-24). However, to claim or sincerely believe oneself to be gay (and/or believe you were born that way) and to be living in/presumptuously practicing a homosexual "lifestyle", the answer is no, a true born again believer cannot be a "gay Christian". To claim to be a "gay Christian" (not a Christian struggling with homosexuality) would be equivalent to someone claiming to be a Christian Muslim or a Christian Satanist, it's oxymoronic. Two opposing identities cannot coexist as one agreeable identity, that is schizophrenia. It is God's will that His born-again children be pure from sexual immorality, and anyone who rejects this rejects God (1Thess. 4:1-8). You cannot be a "gay Christian".

I believe we have drifted too far from clearly understanding the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus, because of His amazing grace and unconditional love for His creation, came (when He didn't have to) into His creation to be crucified for God-hating, God-rejecting, rebellious, self-centered, and sinful humankind---that's all of us, no one is a good person in God's eyes, we're all sinners deserving of His judgment regardless of any "good things" we may do. Jesus received the full weight of God's righteous fury for our sin, that eternal wrath we all deserve. He didn't simply give His life for His enemies as an act of chivalry, He sacrificially stood in the place of His enemies' deserved eternal punishment. Think about that....He jumped in the electric chair for---murderers, rapists, molesters, that is what every sinner is, we're all the vilest things you can think of---us who deserved to be in the electric chair, while we're all spitting at Him and ridiculing Him and screaming at Him telling Him to move out the way and mind His business..."this is my life, I'm the only 'god' around here, I can live and do as I please", He was willingly strapped in and electrocuted (without limitations) for us. He became our sin for us, our scapegoat. Then, after being crucified and receiving the fullness of God's righteous fury for His enemies sin, He conquered death for those same enemies/sinners by rising from the dead. But only those who recognize their sinful and unrighteous standing before God and sincerely believe and trust in what Jesus did for them will be rescued/saved from this righteous fury of God on sin. This gospel is the power of God unto salvation! One cannot say they believe this and not be changed (1Pet. 1:13-25).

Choose Your Destination
So here's where we land...

1. If you are a professing or closet homosexual, this is your destination...a one-way trip to God's righteous wrath for eternity. If you die today you will find yourself in the face of God's judgment, unless you repent and believe (Jn. 3:36, 1Cor. 6:9, Eph. 5:5, Rev. 21:8). I hope and pray that you do.
2. If you are a professing or closet homosexual who believes you are a Christian, it is a psychotic*** thing to believe that you truly understand this reality of sin, sin's eternal penalty, Jesus redeeming you from sin's penalty and power, and the Holy Spirit which raised Jesus from death living within you and making you a new creation, and still believe or claim to be gay and live that lifestyle (Rom. 6:1-23, Gal. 5:19-21). You my friend are deceived and are destined for God's righteous wrath for eternity. If you die today you will find yourself in the face of God's judgment, unless you repent and believe (Jn. 3:36, 1Cor. 6:9, Eph. 5:5, Rev. 21:8). I hope and pray that you do too.
3. For my brethren who are struggling with homosexuality, remind yourself daily of the gospel which saved your souls, remind yourself what He did to save you and why He saved you, cry out to the Holy Spirit to give you a desire for His desires and to break you and make you more into His likeness by any means necessary, immerse yourself in His Word and prayer, and also connect with other mature believers who have experienced consistent victory in this struggle. Do not allow this struggle to pimp you out like it did before your were redeemed. You have the power and presence of the Holy Spirit within you, and you have been called to sanctification. You run and fight until exhaustion for the glory of your risen King and what you know is laid up for you (1Cor. 6:18-20; 9:24-27, 2Cor. 5:9-10; 6:14-7:1).

I know some will not like what I have written. I'm sure some may label it hate speech, and say I'm being intolerant, judgmental, and a fundamentalist. But I call this article "love speech", because I love you enough to tell you the truth. And if I am intolerant, my intolerance is toward the deception of the sin not you personally. I want you to be rescued from your sin, and bondage, and deception. I am not passing judgment either, I have no reason to judge nor am I the Judge, I'm simply explaining the truth. If you feel judged, then the truth is that which judges you not me (Jn. 12:48). Also, I know some may say, "God is love and well God loves me and accepts me just the way I am." And to you I say, yes, God is love, but God is holy love not unholy love. And yes He does love you, but He loves you to the point of transforming you into His likeness. God's holy love cannot nor will not allow you or enable you to remain the same sinful, rebellious enemy He was crucified for. God's holy love was the motivation which poured out His righteous wrath on His Son for your sin, not so you can continue to live in that sinful lifestyle and use His love as a justification for it (Jn. 3:16-21). That is a lie and it will cost you your eternity believing it. Repent and believe the truth.


I hope this article has answered this question clearly, concisely (ok, maybe not concisely), and biblically. I hope I have helped believers and seekers out there know the true biblical answer to this question.

__________
*1. Schizophrenic, in general usage, is a mentality or approach characterized by inconsistent or contradictory elements.
**2. Discipleship State of Mind, p. 114
***3. Psychotic: denoting or suffering from psychosis---a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality.

5/7/13

The Newtown Tragedy: A Reflection & A Response

I woke up on Friday morning, December 14^th, to the sounds of my wife gasping as she found out that an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut had been shot up. For the next several hours we sat, mouths open, watching the news.

We cried.

We were angry.

We vented.

We thought of that being our children.

We thought of the parents.

We saw for the first time in our lifetime a President cry on national TV.

We prayed.

We told our children, and then hugged them tight.

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is not the first school shooting, nor will it be the last. It is not the first national tragedy, nor will it be the last. There are mass murders of children, young folk, and innocent bystanders everyday in US low-income neighborhoods and in others countries. The only difference is they don’t get as much publicity as this recent tragedy. But that is not a reason to minimalize the Newtown tragedy. Twenty young lives were lost. Eight adult lives were lost (school staff, the gunman, and his mother). This is ample enough reason to be upset and saddened.

The victims and their families

It’s hard to think of dead children. Well, at least it is for me. I have three children. My two youngest are 7 and 5. That’s around the same ages of the kids who died at Sandy Hook Elementary. Thinking of never seeing my kids again makes my heart hurt. I can feel the pain deep in my chest. My children are my offspring. They are mini-mes. So I can only imagine what those parents must be going through. Or to lose my wife, who went to work only never to return. My state of shock and sense of loss would be paralyzing. Next to Jesus, my wife is my life. She is my rib. So I can only imagine what the spouses must be enduring. The pain.

Loss is the greatest knock-the-wind-out-of-your-chest blow. Loss has a way of K-O’ing us. Why? Because when God created us, He hardwired us for relationships and purpose (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:15, 18). Therefore, losing something we dearly love and dearly value never to have it again is the hardest thing for human beings to cope with. It’s the reason why depression and anxiety are so common and deadly. We have a hard time dealing with loss or the thought of loss. All of us then can empathize with these families, and we should. So weep with them and grieve with them. But let not their loss be in vain. Cherish the treasures that matter most: faith, family, and friends. And let not the heroism of the teachers and staff to put others before themselves be in vain. Fight selflessly for what matters most. Let us keep that in mind.

Reflection of a villain

I was humbled. This tragedy is a reminder for us…a reminder for me. As much as we may not want to admit it, this tragedy is nothing more than another confirmation of how mankind’s depravity has no limits. John Piper wrote about this as well,

“…the murders of Newtown are a warning to me — and you. Not a warning to see our schools as defenseless, but to see our souls as depraved. To see our need for a Savior. To humble ourselves in repentance for the God-diminishing bitterness of our hearts. To turn to Christ in desperate need, and to treasure his forgiveness, his transforming, and his friendship.”

If any of us believe that we are somehow different than Adam Lanza (the shooter), we have lost sight of our own depravity. If we remove Jesus from our life, we are no different. All we have to do is read passages like Ephesians 2:1-3, Titus 3:3, Colossians 3:5-9, and Galatians 5:19-21.

I can say personally I was Adam Lanza before Jesus rescued me. I murdered innocent lives with abortion, rape, drug dealing, and street violence…oh and I can’t forget the lives I’ve took with my selfishness, arrogance, deception, rage, and manipulation. I took innocence. I corrupted young minds. I terrorized families. I abused women and children. Adam Lanza is nothing more than a mirror of my old self. And that shook me, because my egregious sins have never been publicized like his. The lives I destroyed have never been nationally prayed for or comforted or mourned. I caused Newtown like tragedies for 16 years, and that’s just before Jesus. That’s not counting tragedies I’ve caused bearing the name of Christ. This is why I was humbled.

What about you? How many tragedies are accredited to your sin and selfishness? Have you forgotten your reflection as a villain before Christ and at times since being in Christ?

What can we do?

The Apostle Peter told us that “the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” (1Pet. 4:7, NKJV). We have to pray saints! Pray for those affected by the Sandy Hook school shooting. They need it. But also pray for everyone affected by sin and its effects. The voiceless. The unattended. The disadvantaged. And so on. My wife has a saying, “There is no such thing as a victimless sin.” How true! Sin rampages all of us in some way or another. And as we continue to get closer to “the end of all things”, sin will rampage all the more. Therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers. Beseech the God of all Creation and watch Him work.

Peter doesn’t end his point with a call to only be intentional in prayer. He ends it with a call to be intentional in love. 

“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.’” (1Pet. 4:8, NKJV)

Our greatest witness to a depraved and dying world is exhibiting God’s fervent, life-giving, sacrificial, undeserving love (Luke 6:27-36). We are to love the victims and the perpetrators. We are to love the abused and the abusers. We are to love sinners and saints. Why? Because we all were once victims, perps, abused, abusers, and sinners guilty before God, and it was His fervent, life-giving, sacrificial, undeserving love that drew us to Himself. Thus, it will be His love through us that will draw another to Himself. It will be His love through us that will help heal and mend the hurt and the broken. It will be His love through us that will help soften the hard-hearted, help settle the angry, help accept and embrace the misunderstood, help possibly rescue another Adam Lanza, or Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (shooters of Columbine), or Seung-Hui Cho (the Virginia Tech shooter). His love rescued me, and I was a killer before these killers.

We’ve all been tossed around, world flipped upside down from the rampages of sin and selfishness---whether that be of our own doing or someone else’s. And those of us who are born-again, who’ve been rescued from sin’s penalty and freed from sin’s enslavement, we therefore have also experienced the comfort of God. Hence, the reason why Paul writes in 2Corinthians 1:3-4 (NLT),

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”

As Christians, we’ve been on both sides of tragedies, the pain and the comfort! So we can come alongside those who are victimized and visited with tragedies and flood them with the same comfort we received from God. We can shower them with the fruit of the Spirit---which should sum up our loving manner of interaction, demeanor, and posture when around them. We can, at the right time and in a gentle and gracious manner, share with them the all-satisfying and eternal joy of the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Finally, even though we are not wrong to desire justice to be served when an injustice is present, we cannot forget to remember that our sin and injustices require justice as well. So as God forgave us of ours, so are we to forgive others of theirs. It’s not easy, but it is beneficial to all involved and a reflection of our Savior (and not the old villain in us). We have to forgive Adam Lanza, and any other Adam Lanza’s in our life too.

I hope my reflection and response will be of some help in some way during this time.

“The Lord is a safe place for the oppressed—a safe place in difficult times. Those who know your name trust you because you have not abandoned any who seek you, Lord.” (Ps. 9:9-10, CEB) 

“¹⁸ …God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”” (2Cor. 5:18-20, NLT) 

12/19/12

Sin & Infant Salvation

It is a difficult thing to talk to parent who just lost a child. What do you say? How do you console them? Do you say anything? It’s even more difficult when they ask you how could God do this or is their child in heaven. How as a Christian can we hold to the truth of inherent sin and believe as well as assure people that their infants and small children go to heaven when they die without sounding contradictory? This question is what I will be answering in this blog article.

Without thinking, majority of Christians and non-Christians believe infants and small children are essentially innocent of sin and guiltless. And someone would say, “Aren’t they? Infants can’t sin right?” You’re absolutely right. An infant would be “innocent” of committing a sin. And yet, someone else would say, “But, wait, how can this be when the Bible teaches that everyone is born in sin?”

David said in Psalm 51:5, “For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me” (NLT).
Job speaks on this as well, “So no one can be good in the presence of God, and no one born to a woman can be pure.” (Job 25:4, NCV).

Right here is where it can get tricky if we don’t understand sound theology. Yes, an infant would be “innocent” of committing a sin, but they are not without sin. Every human born is born “in” sin because Adam’s sin has been imputed (transferred, credited) to everyone born of the seed of man (Rom. 3:9; 5:12, 16-19). This means no person, infant to adult, is “guiltless” or “innocent” (Ps. 143:2, Prov. 20:9, Eccl. 7:20).

Now this begs another question, is the atoning work of Christ somehow applied to infants without their making a volitional decision to trust in Christ for salvation?
     This question is a much more difficult to answer. If I answer this from an Arminianist soteriological perspective, I’d say I believe God has some special grace for infants and somehow accounts the atoning work of Christ to them (cf. Matthew 18:14). If I answer this from a Calvinist soteriological perspective, I’d say only those infants whom God predestined does the atoning work of Christ apply to (cf. Ephesians 1:3-11). I do not identify as either an Arminianist or a Calvinist, but if I simply use both of the scripture references and arguments given I have a pretty good case for believing that the atoning work of Christ is somehow applied to infants without them making a volitional decision. Furthermore, David’s comment in 2Samuel 12:21-23 is very suggestive that he is speaking of seeing his dead child again in eternity. So between David’s story and what Jesus states in Matthew 18:14 is enough to make a case that in God’s sovereign plan, even though sin has been imputed to an infant, He--without violating His own law--makes some special provision for infants and small children who die.
     I believe this is one of those cases of Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belongs to the LORD our God” (NKJV). I’m okay with giving reasonable answers to this question rather than definitive ones in this case.

I hope this has helped us as Christians know and more certainly assure someone who’s lost an infant or small child that their infants and small children go to heaven when they die without sounding contradictory.

6/2/2012

From Chance to Choice

We've heard the sayings,

“She get it from her momma.”
“He’s just like his daddy.”
“The apple doesn't fall to far from the tree”?

Is there any truth to these sayings? Does our gene pool determine who we will become in life or is there a bigger picture? I believe there is truth in these statements. And the Bible agrees. There is a bigger picture, and if we have a proper perspective the truth we can learn from these sayings can help us in seeing our utter need for Jesus, in seeing our need for deeper soul transformation, and in releasing us from the bondage of our past.

Our Gene Pool

Our gene pool (which is a complete set of genes called a genome) is all within our cells. In each cell is a complete set of instructions or pre-stored information. This information completely describes a human being. So, biologically speaking on a molecular level, your gene pool does predetermine some things about you as a person pre-birth (e.g. hair color, eye color, skin color, sex [our sexual orientation is determined pre-birth according to what sex we are born as; same-sex/homosexuality is a sexual preference/choice not an orientation/determined], height, our nose, our ears, etc). So we can see from our gene pool that you do get some things from your momma and you are in ways just like your daddy. But it goes deeper than your parents. Your biology is not by chance, but by God (Ps. 139:13-15).

Is It All Because of Our Genes?

Is who we are all because of our genes? No. Our genes do not predetermine who we the person will become in life (e.g. promiscuous, homosexual, hateful, racist, prejudice, conceited, or reserved, kind, helpful, hard-working, analytical, romantic, etc). Our genes do not predetermine this. Who we become in life is a combination of 

(1)our own choices (decisions that we make––the good, the bad, the ugly), 
(2)our family of origin (i.e. how we were raised, our family environment growing up, and the family examples we saw growing up), 
(3)the environment we lived around growing up (neighborhood, school, friends, etc), 
(4)sin (both ours and others), and last but not least 
(5)God (Ps. 139:16).

It is these five things that play the largest part in who a person becomes, whether in the negative sense or the positive.

So we can see that there is no chance in who you are. You are who you are by bio-molecular choice, yours and others choices, and God's choice. And each of these choices has an ultimate destination in God's sovereign plan.

The Bigger Picture

"And He {God} made from one [common origin, one source, one blood] {i.e. Adam/one biological and spiritual gene pool} all nations {Gr. ethnos--peoples} of men to settle on the face of the earth, having definitely determined [their] allotted periods of time and the fixed boundaries of their habitation (their settlements, lands, and abodes), so that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him, although He is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17:26-27, AMP, with my added emphasis)

We've all gone through what we've gone through, both good and bad, to detour us to Jesus. And who we are in the grand scheme of things is either a child of Adam or a child of God. We don't have to do anything to become a child of Adam. We are already Adam's offspring, born from his seed (biological and spiritual gene pool), and thus his sin and it's penalty is imputed (legally and rightfully charged/billed) onto us (Rom. 5:12). This is who we are without Christ. However, if we follow God's detour in our life and come to Jesus and become born-again, we're then born of Jesus's seed (spiritual gene pool) and His righteousness is imputed onto us. In Adam we are not free to become anything other than a child of Adam, or as Paul says in Ephesians 2:3, a child of God's wrath. Regardless to how great, horrible, or somewhere in-between of an upbringing you've had, life you've lived, choices you've made, and so on, in Adam there is no freedom. You are pre-set as a sinner and accounted for sin's penalty. That is your lot in life. But in Christ we are free (Gal. 4:21-31) to become something new (2Cor. 5:17), healed and whole, and something so much greater than we can imagine (Eph. 3:20-21)! 

"Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete." (2Cor. 1:20-22, Msg) 

This becoming something new is called regeneration, and this becoming something so much greater than we can imagine is called sanctification. In Christ we do not have to remain the same! We can become so much more! Life is not about what we can obtain or achieve or how much pleasure we can experience or becoming famous, rich, or someone of significance. Life is about either being sin's puppet and paying sin's penalty, or becoming like the God who left His throne and came to earth and put on this fragile flesh and gave His life to redeem us from sin and its penalty. Life is about either fostering and nurturing characteristics and values to no avail. Or, life is about fostering and nurturing characteristics and values towards us being a demonstration of Jesus in a lost and hurting world so He can heal, restore, and transform our lives first and then through us more lives like ours, and also receiving an eternal reward––the reward being our God saying to us "Well done, thy good and faithful servant". This is what life is about becoming or else you have missed out on true life, and true life more abundantly.

Your Choice

Who you become in life is not by chance but who you choose to become, and who you become in life will reflect to whom you belong to, sin or Jesus, bondage or promise.

"When he [Jesus] died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living." (Rom. 6:10-18, NLT)

1/3/12

Exodus: Depart From Your "Egypt" Or Remain In Bondage

Exodus is not just the second book in the Bible. Exodus is the title of the historical event of the Hebrew people leaving Egypt on the strength of God’s coming out party. God was about to add onto His earthly resume with this historical and supernatural event. The exodus from Egypt for the children of Israel is a parallel for everyone God rescues from sin and bondage, or in other words everyone God rescues from “their Egypt”. The reason I entitled this EXODUS: DEPART FROM YOUR "EGYPT" OR REMAIN IN BONDAGE is, as we will see when we go through the Word, that God wanted the Israelite’s obedience to flow from the gratitude and thankfulness of His rescuing them from their place of bondage—–Egypt. Thus, God kept reminding them of their exodus. And the same is true for us. We have to daily remind ourselves that God delivered us from our Egypt and calls us to not be conformed again to the way we lived and thought in our old life, but be transformed and become holy as He is holy; or remain in bondage—–which is the very thing we cried out for Him to rescue us from—–and then die in the wilderness, not the promise land, but die in the wilderness ungrateful and deceived.

Let’s look at some passages that explain this for us:
Ex. 1:13-14—While sin presents itself as fun and something not to be missed, truthfully, sin is just like the Egyptians in this passage. Sin makes us serve its desires with harshness, and makes our emotional, psychological, and physical lives bitter with hard bondage.
Ex. 2:23—We are the same. We cry out to God to rescue, save, and deliver us because of our bondage, whatever that bondage may be.
Ex. 6:5-7—This is our salvation. This is exactly what God does for us through Jesus Christ, He brings us out from under the burden of sin and bondage.
Ex. 19:3-6—As I said, God kept reminding them of their exodus so that their obedience would flow from the gratitude and thankfulness of His rescuing them from their place of bondage. This is also true for us.
Ex. 20:1-2—Again, God kept reminding them of their exodus so that their obedience would flow from the gratitude and thankfulness of His rescuing them from their place of bondage. I keep repeating this because it's the sole purpose for me sharing this.

Remember what your bondage to sin was like. Remember how cruel and deceitful sin is. Remember how you groaned in your private time for someone to save you. Remember that God was the only One who saw and heard your groanings and responded with His Son’s death on a cross to pay for your eternal punishment for your sin and your deliverance from your present Egypt. I cried out to God from a jail cell. He heard my cry and saved me in jail. Remember yours.

Does your life show God how grateful and thankful you are for what He’s done for you? Because if not, you’re telling God, like the children of Israel did, “I rather go back to Egypt and die in the bondage I cried out for You to deliver me from.” And if you continue to live like this, God will do you just like He did the children of Israel: you will die in the wilderness and not enter His promise land.

I’ll close with this passage:
"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2Cor. 5:14-15, NIV)

Live your life no longer for yourself or sin; but live your life for Him who died for you, delivered you, and conquered the grave for you! Either depart from your Egypt (by following God's way) or remain in bondage (by following your own desires, rules, understanding, etc). Your choice! Choose wisely people.

Choose Wisely (Video)

This is a video of me at a church's "Transformation Youth Explosion" sharing a condensed version of my (before Christ) testimony and a word on reality and making wise choices, April 2, 2010, San Bernadino, CA.


Choose Wisely

Genesis Contemplations II

GENESIS CONTEMPLATIONS II

Curse of Cain, son of Adam:
Most of us are familiar with the story of Cain and Abel. Cain’s offering to the Lord was rejected while his brother Abel’s was accepted. I can go off and get into why that was the case, but I’m not. Cain goes on to draw his brother Abel out into the field and then kill him. This is where I want to meditate. Cain kills his brother. God confronts him about it. Cain denies even knowing what God is talking about. God then curses Cain, “So now you are cursed from the earth… When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” That’s it. God hit Cain right where it hurt the most, Cain’s gifting. The Bible says Cain was a tiller of the ground (Gen. 4:2). God said your gift will be useless now, the thing you love to do (or the thing you are great at doing) will no longer yield to you, and you shall continually wander among the earth. That’s it from God. His said His peace, He rendered His punishment.
     Cain, on the other hand, feeling the brunt of the punishment for what he did, says to God, “My punishment is greater than I can bear!” (Gen. 4:13-14). Separated from his family, soon to be separated from the presence of God (Gen. 4:16), living with the guilt of what he did to his younger brother, and in his mind a useless existence because the thing that identified him will no longer do so. Outcasted by the consequence of his action, just like his father Adam was, Cain in a depressed, guilt-ridden state of mind goes on to add on to God’s curse and curse himself, “…it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” (Gen. 4:14). Cain no longer wants to live. But God, demonstrating yet again—like He did with Cain’s father—what Paul says in Romans 5:8, adds a curse onto Cain’s curse, ““Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.” (Gen. 4:15).
     How wonderful is our God, that even when Cain cursed himself for the pain and affliction he caused his parents and himself by way of his selfish acts, God sovereignly intervened and saves him, not from the consequences, but from the added curse he put on himself. Not only did God do this for Cain, but for Cain’s grandson Lamech as well. Like his grandfather Lamech killed a man and possibly internally cursed himself (Gen. 4:17-19, 23). God perceiving something in regards to this put a curse on anyone who attempted or did kill Lamech for what he did (Gen. 4:24).

The takeaway
What can we take away from Cain son of Adam? One is to be honest before God and with God. Another is to know that we are our brother and sister’s keeper and God will hold us accountable accordingly. Also our life is not identified by our gift(s), careers, accomplishments, and so on, but rather our lives are to be identified with the Creator and Giver of all good things. It should affect and penetrate us more to know we can lose fellowship (not relationship) with our God because of our sin more than we are affected or penetrated by the loss of anything else. And finally there are times in our life where we curse ourselves for the pain and affliction our selfish acts have caused others and/or ourselves. What we need to know is our God sees and knows what the just consequence is for our actions (and will allow such), and in His mercy He intervenes and “sets a mark” on us to keep us from our own curses.

Curse of Ham, son of Noah:
The Bible says from Noah’s three sons the whole earth was populated (Gen. 9:19). Noah’s son Ham has a very interesting story and lineage, which had major implications on history.
     In Genesis 9:22 the Bible records Ham seeing his father’s nakedness and then telling his two brothers. Ham’s brothers Shem and Japheth covered their father without looking at his nakedness (Gen. 9:23). Because of what Ham did God cursed Ham’s son Canaan (Gen. 9:25-27). But back to Ham, we’ll get to Canaan later. Ham’s decision to look upon his father and not cover him caused lingering internal problems for his lineage. Ham begot Cush (Gen. 10:6). Cush is the father of Nimrod (Gen. 10:8). The infamous Nimrod built a kingdom from Babel (which is Babylon- Gen. 11:9) to Assyria (Gen. 10:8-12). In Assyria Nimrod built Nineveh, whom we know from the story of Jonah. Nimrod was the founder of the lands and nations that were future enemies to the Israelites. Ham begot Mizraim (Gen. 10:6). Mizraim begot the father of the Philistines (Gen. 10:13-14), a consistent enemy of Israel during the Old Testament. Ham begot Canaan (Gen. 10:6). Canaan begot majority of the “ites” the Israelites warred with in the Old Testament (Gen. 10:15-18). And that is because Canaan was cursed to be a servant to the lineage of which the Israelites came through, Noah’s son Shem (Gen. 9:26; 11:10-26). The border of the Canaanites stretched from Sidon to as far as Gaza to as far as Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 10:19). We know Sodom and Gomorrah as the most sexually vile city among the world at one point (Gen. 13:13; 18:20-21; 19:1-13). They were a straight descendant of the first person to look upon the nakedness of the same sex--his father at that. Should we be shocked by Sodom and Gomorrah seeing the lineage in which they descend from? I think not. Canaan is also the land promised by God to the descendants of Abraham (Gen. 12:4-7; 15:12-21).
     More can be expounded on, but for the point I’m trying to make this is enough.

The takeaway
We can see from one man’s act, a whole lineage was internally cursed (also displayed in Cain with Lamech). This may be the case in your life. Your parents (or their parents, and so on) passed on their lineage of dysfunction to you in someway—depression, promiscuity, alcoholism, drug abuse, status seeking, people pleasing, bad decision making, etc. Praise God for making a way for us to born from the Seed of promise and not from the seed of shame! Praise God for Jesus who can break our generational dysfunctionality from being passed on to our children (ref. Acts 16:31-34) as long as we follow His prescription on life (Rom. 6:10-23).* (Let me clarify something. I didn't say nor was I implying that all of our problems, struggles, or the affects/influence of sin in our lives will go away because we are saved. Paul prayed three times that God would remove the thorn from his flesh, but He didn't. There are "thorn(s)" God allows to stay in our lives so that we, like Paul, don't get to elated and we always have a reminder of our constant need for Jesus- 2Cor. 12:7-10).

Conclusion
To conclude on both, how great is our God! For while we were still sinners He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for us and redeem us from the curse of the law (and the curse of ourselves) and bring us into grace! This grace is available for us in every area of our lives and in every situation we come upon. Take away from these two whatever you can. I hope my contemplations have helped you in someway.

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* Just because Jesus can break any generational curse/dysfunction from being passed on by us to our children that doesn’t mean that our children won’t have any dysfunction or cause and pass on any dysfunction of their own (Jer. 31:29-30, Hos. 10:12-13, Gal. 6:7-8).

2009

Genesis Contemplations I

GENESIS CONTEMPLATION I

Adam & Sin vs. Evolution & Evil
In the beginning God made the first human being, Adam. Adam is the Father of mankind/humankind (Gen. 2:7). We all come from Adam’s sperm/seed. When Adam disobeyed God’s command (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-11), that act was what produced sin—the missing the mark of God, the erring from God’s way, disobedience to God—and death*, and because we all come from Adam we therefore are all born into sin and death (Rom. 5:12). Thus all the evil and chaos and bad crap in life, from Adam to the last day, is due to the sin and death consequence from Adam’s act of disobedience.
     Those who don’t believe that God created everything as it states in the Genesis account reject this origin of the problem of evil and so on as insufficient or unscientific. Ok, well let’s look at the only other theory for human life in this light then, evolution. The theory of evolution says, loosely, that we as humans evolved from other things, etc, etc. If we trace the “other things” back to its first beginning, some type of unformed substance, what eventually came from this—according to natural selection—survived by killing off (or outliving) its opposition or hindrance to survive (that’s an act of self-centeredness and violence). And so on the evolutionary process goes. From this we see, even the “in the beginning” of evolution an act we now consider an evil—violence—and a problem—selfishness—is integrated in the very fabric of this process. Evolution is secular science’s equivalent to Adam as the origin of humankind, and so we can deduce the same conclusion from Adam for evolution: Because we all come from the evolutionary process we therefore are all born into the evil produced from evolution. Thus all the evil and chaos and bad crap in life, from the beginning to the end, is due to the beginning acts of the evolutionary process (self-centeredness and violence).
     We can see regardless to which view one holds, the problem of sin/evil originates at the very beginning. The difference is, and it’s a big one, every ideology (aside from one) has no, nada, none, zero, zilch of an adequate answer or solution to this problem, except death—which without a 100% certainty there is no afterlife “death” may not even be an answer/solution but a greater eternal problem. However, I can say this with all the confidence in the world, one will find the only adequate answer to this problem in Jesus Christ*, if one looks without prejudice or discrimination to the good reasons and ample evidence that is available on His behalf.

A Talking Snake?
The Bible reports a cunning serpent as the culprit behind the deception of Eve which led ultimately to Adam’s disobedience to God. People who don’t accept the Bible’s account of the beginning think it is preposterous to believe in a talking snake, though it’s easy for them to believe that we evolved from this glob thing, and then another thing, and then more things, and then finally monkeys (so it is said and widely accepted in the secular scientific community but still debated). Yet it’s preposterous to believe in a talking snake, hmm. For all we know, especially because empirical science* cannot pose absolutes only probabilities, natural selection could very well have us evolving from snakes and we can talk, hmm. Doesn’t sound so preposterous after all now does it?
     Evolution doesn’t explain away God as so many atheists suggest. In certain cases the theory of the evolutionary process actually shows plausibility for God’s existence and the trustworthiness of the Bible. For example, Genesis 3:14—written thousands of years before the theory of evolution—records, “So the LORD God said to the serpent, “On your belly you shall go…all the days of your life.”” Evolution shows this as probable for the ancestry of snakes. So whether true or not, (though I believe Darwin’s theory of evolution is false and the Creation account in Genesis to be true), evolution does not necessarily explain away God or the credibility of the Bible. People simply choose to use evolution as a scapegoat for not accepting the Covenant God’s existence, to which the Bible attests (Rom. 1:20-21).

Take away whatever you can from these two topics. I do hope this was a help in some way. It was a simple contemplation of mine as I journey again through the book of Genesis. I will post more as they come along during this journey of mine.

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*1. There are 4 parts to the death consequence if Adam disobeyed God’s command. The first part of death is death by separation from God (Gen. 2:23-24). The second part of death is death by violence (Gen. 4:8). The third part of death is death by the natural (Gen. 5:5). The fourth part of death is death by destruction (Gen. 6:7).
*2. Jesus the Son of God and God the Son distinguishes Himself from the “Jesus” of Jehovah Witness, Mormonism, Christian Science, the Jesus Seminar, or any other beliefs spun off of the historic Jesus of Nazareth found in the Holy Bible.
*3. Science generally and largely makes empirical claims and deals with empirical issues, meaning there claims and issues can be solved by experience, either directly by observation or indirectly by experimentation. Empirical science is obviously verifiable, but an unspoken fact of empirical science is that it is also falsifiable (capable of being disproved). This is why empirical science can never deduce (assume, conclude) absolutes only strong or weak probabilities (e.g. theories, hypothesis).

2009