To Walk Worthy

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From the Morass to the Madness

The face-palm, head-scratching, bewildering events just continue, becoming ever more common and confounding. A man can self-identify as a woman and have it celebrated — yet a white woman can self-identify as a black woman and be castigated by the same crowd. A variety of leaders, journalists, media hosts, and celebrities can spew blather and lies — but only occasionally admit to having misspoken. Christians can be sued, fined, and ruined financially for choosing to not participate in the sacramental celebration of immorality — yet would a devout Jew or Muslim be sued, fined, and ruined financially for choosing to not participate in a celebration that conflicted with any of their food laws or holy days? And this barely scratches the surface!

How is it that truth and reason and justice seem to be increasingly absent from society? Quite literally — a plague of madness seems to be epidemic!

As perplexing as this may seem, it is perfectly logical.

Over the past century, society, by its actions, has progressively rejected God — denying and ignoring Him with ingratitude, dishonor, and disobedience. Over the past few decades, society, by its words, has more aggressively and purposefully removed God from the public forum.

Any clues yet? We simply cannot be surprised by this morass!

God is light (John 8:12; 1 John 1:5), wisdom (Dan. 2:20; Rom. 11:33), truth (Isa. 65:16; John 14:6), justice (Deut. 32:4), love (Ps. 136:2; 1 John 4:7-8), peace (Isa. 9:6; Phil. 4:7-9; 1 Thess. 5:23), and more! And His Spirit is not to be grieved or quenched! (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 4:19) Everything good is from God. (James 1:17)

No society can think to dispose of God and retain anything that is of Him. But for the grace and mercy of God, all that will remain will be darkness, foolishness, deceit, corruption, exploitation, hatred, strife, chaos, and worse.

Nominal Christianity should be well-understood as dead and defunct as it ever was. Jesus is purging and proving His Body — His Bride … the waste will be burned away and only the tried and pure gold will remain. He who is light will expose the darkness.

Pray and welcome the work of the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus. He will search the heart and convict and grant repentance and cleanse us from all unrighteousness — if we will but be faithful and confess and receive His repentance. Then, in the midst of a world starkly reflecting God's absence, as Christians we will shine forth in the image of our Father's Son, Jesus our Lord and King!

Oh, that we may walk worthy!

Suffering Forgiveness

"that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."

(Phil 3:10-11)

Have you ever considered the sufferings of Christ? How may we share His sufferings? We know that in the Incarnation Jesus laid aside His glory willingly, not clinging to it. Yet, even more than that, He willingly gave Himself into the hands of His enemies — both the readily apparent and the not so apparent. 

Jesus suffered the deprivation of all the comforts of His glory — having not even a place to lay His head. He suffered the hatred of the religious leaders of His own chosen people. He suffered the rejection of His own family and neighbors. He suffered the abandonment of followers who were easily distracted and dissuaded. He suffered the misunderstandings and weakness and selfishness and inattentiveness of His disciples — even the betrayal of and denial by His very own. He suffered the false accusations and injustice and mocking and condemnation … and then the horrific brutality of the Roman system that scourged Him into a bloody pulp and nailed Him to a cross to suffocate in agony. All of this, yes, Jesus suffered.

Let’s go a step farther — God the Father suffered the immeasurably exquisite anguish of watching … beholding … knowing it could all be stopped with a word … a breath. Indeed, ever since the fall, God has beheld as His creation turned against Him and upon itself in selfishness, pride, hatred, and vile wickedness — humankind, the very pinnacle of God’s creation, leading the charge to its own destruction. And then He beheld as His only Son took all the sin of all creation upon Himself — the pure becoming impurity — the lamb becoming the scapegoat.

But perhaps there is a suffering we underestimate — one that we may be unfamiliar with and possibly cannot bear to face.

“Father, forgive them …” (Luke 23:34)

The suffering of forgiveness … to forgive is to relinquish my rights — to be humbled — to let loose of my claim on just satisfaction for some loss or grievance — to give mercy in response to ruthless injustice — to give honor in response to humiliation — to give love in response to hate. You see, the deeper the wound — the more grievous and offensive the sin — the more spiteful and heinous the actions and words of the perpetrator — the deeper the suffering of the victim who chooses to forgive. This is a suffering that can be crushing — feeling like one's very soul is being torn apart. In this process, more and more of self dies as it is surrendered in obedience to the Cross. And what is that obedience to the Cross? In a very powerful sense, it is compassion — quite literally, to suffer with. And we may not suffer with Christ unless we will forgive as He did. To look upon the Cross with pity may stir up the most powerful feelings; but, unless we move beyond pity to compassion, there is no action and without action there is no obedience … there is no being … there is no “becoming like Him in His death."

There is only one motivation to move beyond pity to compassion — forgiveness itself. Jesus illustrated this for us in the parable of the unjust servant who, although he was forgiven by the king for his debt that was the equivalent of 200,000 years labor, refused to forgive the debt of another that was the equivalent of a day’s wage. No wonder Jesus said, “if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses.” (Matt. 6:15) When Jesus said, “he who is forgiven little, loves little” (Luke 7:47) I’m inclined to believe that He wasn’t speaking only of the quantitative measure of forgiveness so much as the recognition of the weight and consequence of forgiveness.

This forgiveness is for the meek, not the weak. It demands response, not reaction. A reaction is nothing more than that which naturally occurs when a stimulus is applied. A response is quite literally an offering (Latin: re- “back” + sponde “drink offering" ) — indeed, it is something poured out as an act of worship. Jesus describes the response of the Christian to wrongdoing in selfless and intentionally active terminology. "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." (Luke 6:27-28) Harboring unforgiveness or failing to seek reconciliation preempts any ability of the Holy Spirit to enable you to love and bless and pray. (Matt. 5:23-24) Forgiveness is essential to any reconciliation. God did not wait, but freely offered forgiveness — reconciling us to Himself through the Cross while we were still sinners and enemies. (Rom. 5:8-10)

Only as we come to fully know the forgiveness we receive as our own through Christ can we truly, completely forgive. Conversely as well — only as we truly forgive as we have been forgiven can we begin to grasp the fullness and power of the forgiveness we receive from God our Father. As we truly forgive, our self will continually be put to death — and therein, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be raised to new life with and in Christ and come to "know the power of His resurrection." That which is resurrected in us is indeed new life — life overflowing with joy and peace that even death cannot conquer.

Then we can proclaim with Paul, “to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21)

Jesus, my risen Lord, makes living worth dying for and dying worth living for!

Innately Desiring Sin

Such a cacophony of voices crowds the world theater — all vying for the mind and heart and soul of mankind — espousing innumerable versions of every possible rationale for redefining sin as anything but sin — excusing, practicing, normalizing, and even celebrating it (Rom. 1:26-32) — often in the name of diversity and inclusion. This is not new (Isa. 5:20-21); yet the selfish demands of scoffers (2 Pet. 3:2-3; Jude 17-18) are increasingly brazen and amplified by manifold of media.

Innate attraction or desire is germane to a discussion of Holy living only from the perspective of that which may need to be overcome by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God. So a man or woman is born with innate desires that God has declared to be sinful — innateness in no way alters or diminishes sinfulness; if anything, it’s to be expected (Jer. 17:9-10). Unequivocally, sin is to be repented of and its desires put to death, not entertained and practiced (John 8:11; Rom. 6; 8:13; Gal. 6:7-8).

Whether an LGBTQ individual appears to be living a happy, peaceful life or perhaps even what appears to be a Christian lifestyle, as some claim, by whatever standard may be chosen is entirely irrelevant. Any individual choosing to willfully continue in sinful behavior is tragically deceived, woefully ignorant, and/or arrogantly rebellious. Quite literally, this is pandemonium — the oppression of many demons seeking the utter destruction of all that God created good and all that Jesus came to redeem. Sickeningly, far too many who bear the name of Christ are among the deceived and some willingly so. Yes, this is spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:12).

If you do not know Jesus, the Son of God, as your Lord and Almighty God as your Father, repent — confess your sins — receive forgiveness — be made clean and whole by the Spirit and the Word.

Christian brothers and sisters — pray without ceasing! Stand courageously and contend for the faith! Love not the world, but do the will of God!

Father God, have mercy!

Lord Jesus, have mercy!

Holy Spirit, convict with power!

Come quickly, Lord Jesus, come! 

A Brief Testimony

So, how would you put into words a concise, yet comprehensive statement of who you were in sin, who you are in Christ, who you are becoming by His grace, and the glorious hope of who you will be? I’ve been rather verbose about it on numerous occasions :) although I’ve never taken the time to compose a synopsis. The pastoral residency I’m in calls us to respond to every facet of the Gospel and evangelism is perhaps the most essential call of every Christian. And that makes this effort rich for me in both substance and purpose.

Here’s what I would say if I had just a couple minutes of your time...

From the earliest age, I recall always being in church, seeing as I was raised as a pastor’s kid. I don’t remember not being a Christian — my faith as a child was strong and my heart was tender; but I do remember becoming increasingly and intolerably rebellious as I entered and began through my teenage years. A crisis of faith developed toward the end of high school when I knew I could no longer allow self-will to harden my heart and destroy the faith God had given me. I knew Jesus died in my place for my sin. I knew I could only live in Him. This was the beginning of a long journey back to God.

The personal, spiritual battles that continued into adulthood were often lost due to my preoccupation with self — achievement, satisfaction, fulfillment — all things that were sometimes merely secular, but for entirely the wrong motives, or even more often, blatantly sinful. I could never quite satisfy my desires — I was always left incomplete. Although guilt repeatedly led to what was often private confession, the secret shame and lack of true repentance left me a slave to the insatiable.

God allowed me much success in my career — perhaps in part to prove to me just how hollow it could be. Yet as I found myself being crushed by guilt and emptiness, the evidence of God’s love and mercy began to overwhelm me. I found that He was ever so patiently drawing me to Himself. I was filled with deep longing for true repentance and freedom — God wonderfully granted me that repentance and I found such freedom in the love of Jesus like I had never known! My guilt and emptiness were replaced with such joy and contentment.

The gracious gift of Jesus’ righteousness has begun a work in me that continues as I grow and am transformed by the Spirit and the Word of God. The Spirit of God living in me guides and directs me, convicts me of sin and righteousness, and makes me Holy, reminding me I am His own. As I confess my sin, He faithfully and justly forgives me as His child. God continues to strengthen me when temptations to lust and covet confront me — giving me perfect peace in His complete fulfillment of my every need.

As I continue to obediently seek and honor God and His kingdom, and to faithfully respond to God’s call on my life to minister the Gospel, no matter the sacrifice, He proves that His providential grace is perfectly sufficient. All my hope is in Jesus, my Lord—because He arose from the dead in the power of His Holiness, whether today or tomorrow I live or die, in Jesus I have life eternal.

How about you?

A Way Froward—NOT Forward

As I have friends and family with close ties to the United Methodist Church, I continue to be prayerful yet distraught over the worldliness to which this denomination and many others increasingly fall prey.

The message of “A Way Forward” indicates that the authors/signers do not affirm the authority and sufficiency of Scripture to address homosexuality as moral sin that the Christian is to abandoned. Further, public polling research favors treating immorality as normative—now there’s a headline for you! Moral sin does not fall within the the ranks of those things about which “each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Sin is sin—cease and desist from all the foolish equivocation. Is it not glaringly obvious whose voice is being headed? “Did God really say...?” 

As for the right response of the Body of Christ to a sinful world—we are to make disciples, proclaiming the true Gospel—truly loving both God and neighbor. Only the enemy of our souls would declare that sin isn’t sin or simply that sinful behavior doesn’t need to be avoided and abandoned. That’s not love or truth or the good news—that’s hatred and deceit! Jesus response to those bringing the woman caught in adultery to Him is often referenced when actions or words are identified as sinful—“neither do I condemn you”—yet the rest of His statement is ignored—“go…and sin no more."

“A Way Forward” simply resolves to plant one foot in the narrow way and the other in the broad way—and the UMC as a denomination is somehow to survive this? This amounts to nothing more than a froward way—a wayward way—that will lead to destruction.

No--Sin is Not Ok

It is a perversion of the Gospel to continually proclaim “love, don’t judge!” Seriously? Does it have to be explained that even to love involves judgment? Furthermore, Jesus never looked at sin and denied that it was sin. To the woman caught in adultery, His lovingly compassionate response to her concluded with, “Go and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:11) Not, “It’s ok, I know you just can’t help that you are [fill in the blank whatever the excuse of the day is]."

Were you born with a proclivity or tendency to sin? Yes—we all are! Are some more tempted to one sin over another? Yes. Are some weaker in one area than another? Yes. Are there influences (negative and positive) on our weaknesses due to people and circumstances? Yes. Are there spiritual forces at work oppressing different people in different ways and at different times? Yes.

Whether you are rebellious, immoral, unholy, profane, homosexual, murderous, deceitful, slanderous, covetous, idolatrous, drunken, abusive ...
NO MORE EXCUSES! In earnest prayer... Confess your sin. Mourn and repent of your sin. Receive forgiveness for your sin. Go and sin no more!

Excuses do nothing more than to deny the effectual, victorious, perfectly complete work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Sin and death have been defeated! We proclaim that victory by confessing and repenting and receiving forgiveness and being empowered by the Holy Spirit indwelling and cleansing us by the Word and in His blood—continually—until the day we are transformed and "the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality.” (1 Co 15:54)

But be warned, just as we proclaim Jesus' victory in our confession, we deny His victory on the cross when we ignore or hide or deny our sin by failing to confess it. And in that denial we are proclaiming Satan victorious. Hear the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah (5:20-21): “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!"