Squeaky Clean

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived; neither …thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.  Such were some of you; but you were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”  I Corinthians 6:9-11

For some reason we all like it when the preacher unloads on someone else for their sins.  That’s what it sounded like the Apostle Paul was doing, and then he added, “Such were some of you….”

God does not rank sin by degrees.  The drunkard who goes to work every day is a drunkard the same as the drunkard who is passed out on the street.  No better and no worse are any of us in God’s eyes.  We are all sinners and we all are sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ.  God looks at us and we are squeaky clean.

God says you are good enough to come to Him.  Ask Him into your heart today.

The Word of God Never Changes

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.  And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.

And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

Luke 4:1-4

Jesus was tempted just like us.  The devil is a sneaky fellow who will try to make something that is wrong look right or even something that is legal, but that we morally oppose, into something we feel obligated to do to appease others or perhaps make our own lives easier. 

Jesus’ answer to the devil’s suggestion that He turn the stone into bread was from Deuteronomy 8:3, “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you manna which you did not know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”

The laws and social customs of men change, the Word of God never changes. 

Delivered from the Snare

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,

My God in whom I trust!

For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper

And from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with His pinions,

And under His wings you may seek refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.”

Psalm 91:1-4

We are thankful that God loves and protects us.  Amen.

Justice for All

“Justice is turned back,

And righteousness stands far away,

For truth has stumbled in the street,

And uprightness cannot enter.”

Isaiah 59:14

Who cares about all the people who get locked up in prison?  Who cares if they are guilty or innocent?

In the United States the plea bargain is the tool of choice to make sure suspected criminals are locked up, without a trial and regardless of whether or not they are guilty.  Most defendants are charged with multiple crimes, whether there is evidence of their guilt or not, and then the prosecutor suggests that if the defendant pleads guilty to a few of the charges, the rest will go away. The prosecutors’ logic is that plea bargains save money because the government does not have to pay the cost of a trial.   I am not sure what a trial costs, but it costs about $30,000 a year to lock a person up in a state prison. 

As rampant as injustice is in the United States it is worse in other parts of the world.

We pray that uprightness will enter into the justice system around the world, and those men and women who face prosecution and persecution will receive justice.

God Hijacks Hollywood

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

In 2005, I was completing my undergraduate degree at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.  I soon became aware that as a Christian I was in the minority.  In a community awash with intellectualism, there was a void of spirituality.  Morality was based upon popular cultural norms.  I could not see how God could use this environment for His good.

I took a women’s studies class that hit every hot button issue there was involving women, including abortion.  Initially most of the students said they saw no problem with abortion because it was a personal choice.  I said that the problem with abortion was not only the question of whether a fetus was human or not, but the long term psychological implications for the women.  The instructor and many of the students opposed my view as being pro-life rhetoric. 

Then the class watched the film “If These Walls Could Talk” (HBO NYC Productions, 1996; Directors: Cher, Nancy Savoca) which is billed as a pro-choice movie.  My first instinct was to skip the film and ask for an alternative project, but I felt God nudging me to watch the movie with the class.  I did and I prayed that something good would come of it.

The film had a dramatic emotional effect on the students.  After viewing the film many students were horrified by what they saw.  Several cried.  One young man said, “I may never have sex again.  I could never put a girlfriend through that.” 

What happened?  God opened His loving arms and embraced those students with His love and changed their hearts.

Who would have thought a secular film could accomplish that?   The truth is, God hijacked what Hollywood made and turned things upside down.