Sermon Notes: The Need For Love Part 1

EPHESIANS 3:16-19 16May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality]. 17May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, 18That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; 19[That you may really come] to know [practically, [e]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses [f]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] [g]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and [h]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

"Love is a basic human need," says Dean Ornish, M.D., author of Love and Survival: 8 Pathways to Intimacy and Health. "When we don't get it, we pay a price in how long we live and how likely we are to get sick."
We may also pay a price if we don't give love. According to Stephen Post Ph.D. professor of bioethics and religion Ohio's Case Western University, research shows that loving acts neutralize the kind of negative emotions that adversely affect immune, endocrine and cardiovascular function. Studies published over the past five years show that loving and helping others has health benefits, says Post. There may even be a physiological response or "helper's high" that makes people feel stronger and more energetic and counters some of the harmful effects of stress.
Fifty years ago at the University of Wisconsin, psychologist Harry Harlow believed that affection and connection were the foundations of life. In a landmark experiment, Harlow took baby monkeys from their real mothers, giving them wire "moms" devised to deliver milk. But the youngsters would only cuddle when their surrogates were covered in a furry cloth. These monkeys thrived, while those with the bare-wire models didn't. The results proved Harlow's theory that attachment to another is as crucial a drive as thirst, hunger and sex.
A landmark 1945 study by René Spitz established that love is so vital to infants that those deprived of it may perish for want of it. The study looked at "a hospital where a group of children—all under three years of age—were fed and clothed adequately but, because of too few nurses, given very little personal attention. No one talked to them, carried them around, or cuddled them. The human results were devastating: within two years fully a third of the children had died and the rest were mentally retarded . . . The conclusion seemed to be clear: loving attention is as essential as food for the human infant" (James McKee, Sociology: The Study Of Society, 1981, p. 79).
That people need love is considered a basic truth by many scientists. In "Can't Do Without Love," U.S. News and World Report reported that biologists "know that love is central to human existence . . . The capacity for loving emotions is . . . written into our biochemistry, essential if children are to grow and thrive" (Feb. 17, 1997, p. 58).
From birth to death, love is not just the focus of human experience but also the life force of the mind, determining our moods, stabilizing our bodily rhythms, and changing the structure of our brains. The body's physiology ensures that relationships determine and fix our identities. Love makes us who we are, and who we can become. (A General Theory of Love, 2000, Lewis by Amini, Lannon, p.viii)
Recently I met a group of scientists in America who said that the rate of mental illness in their country was quite high—around 12 percent of the population. It became clear during our discussion that the main cause of depression was not a lack of material necessities, but a deprivation of the affection of others. Dalai Lama
Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs, or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues, confidants). They need to love and be loved by others.
The need for love lies at the very foundation of human existence. It results from the profound interdependence we all share with one another. However capable and skillful an individual may be, left alone he or she will not survive. However vigorous and independent one may feel during the most prosperous periods of life, when one is sick or very young or very old, one must depend on the support of others.
The need to be loved is exceptionally strong in all human beings. From childhood to old age, humans want to be loved by those around them. Love connects people in the strongest of ways. It produces care and concern, without which no one would take the responsibility of looking after others. Love makes the difficulties of life bearable, and helps ease the struggles of life. The love given to a child is more important than any material goods the family can provide.
Life cannot just run on cold and hard rules. The warmth of love is necessary to infuse spirit and joy in life. A home without love, however orderly and organized, has not fulfilled its true purpose. A family is not just a micro-organization where the material needs of its members are met. This could be done by a state run facility. A family’s outstanding characteristic is that members love one another, and this emotion binds them together. Love or the lack of it has a profound effect on the lives of children. Their mental capabilities, their fluency of speech, their observations and deductions on life, are all affected by it. That is why Islam emphasizes the display of love to one’s family. Imam Ja`far as-Sadiq

You don't need money, don't take fame
Don't need no credit card to ride this train
It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes
but it might just save your life
That's the power of love

  Huey Lewis 

All you need is love. 

 John Lennon

What you have just heard is the tip of the iceberg from the world of science, psychology, Buddhism, Islam and music that love is a need. Not a want or just a desire but a need. Love is as vital to our lives and survival as air, water, food, clothing and shelter. Without it we perish. With it we don’t just live, we thrive.
The only example that came from the Bible was the section from Ephesians. It just shows through research, common sense, science and even differing religions that love is recognized as a need. Of course God’s word has been stating the same thing for a long time now.
Paul in writing his letter to the Ephesian church prayed that out of the rich treasury of God’s glory that the Holy Spirit would reside in our innermost being and personality so that we would be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man so that Christ would make Himself at home and dwell within us so that deep within us we would be rooted deep in His love and that His love would be secure in us.
So that through His power and strength that we would be able to lay hold of and grasp within ourselves and along with one another the infinite dimensions of God’s love for us.
That we would REALLY come to know the love of Christ which is so much greater than mere knowing about it. He wants us to know the experience of His love. So that we would be people filled with His fullness and [h]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
Since all Scripture is given by inspiration of The Holy Spirit and is God breathed (meaning there is His life in these words) it is safe to say that this is not just the prayer of Paul but it is the heart desire and will of God Himself.
God doesn’t just want us to know the concept and idea that God loves us; He wants us to dwell in the reality and experience of His love. Because if science, psychology, other religions and the arts all recognize love as a human need then its safe to say that God recognizes it too.
And since God is the source of all things; of life itself then it is also safe to assume that He being the source of His divine perfect love makes it available to us just as He has made air, water, food, clothing and shelter available to us. For God has certainly and without doubt supplied us with all we need.
So if all of this is true then why is it that many of us know about His love but few of us dwell in the reality and experience of His love? Why is it then that so many Christians rarely if ever express and present to the world around them a person who has been fundamentally and radically changed by the experience of dwelling in God’s love? Why is it that we look and sound like those who walk around this earth speaking the language of the lost; complaining. Why do we have to fight so hard with our self absorption in order to even begin to consider what is going on with someone else around us, maybe someone in our homes and in our own beds? Why do we feel that we aren’t good enough Christians yet and that I need to do all this work for Christ in order to gain His acceptance and approval? How come I don’t have a clue about this so called victorious Christian life of rest and peace in Him? Why is my life being ruled more by my emotions instead of the eternal truth of God’s word? How come I haven’t learned how to be content in all things like Paul was able to learn? Why do I continue to believe the lies about myself that my inner man mumbles to me when I want to go to sleep that I am worthless and unlovable and that no one really cares about me because why would they?

Stay tuned for part 2...

An Important Question

I was on my way to an eye exam yesterday near where I work when I sensed the Lord instructing me to shut off Ravi Zacharias and talk to Him instead. I was praying about stuff going on with our kids, stuff going on with Sue being sick lately, stuff about stuff in general. And once again God led me down that path that winds way deep down within me to get to the heart of the matter. Once again it was something that I wasn't really thinking about or even feeling anything about but it was something that He knew that needed to be addressed. I say once again because this experience has happened to me more times than I really can remember. I think I'm going into prayer about this or that and it ends up being about something else entirely. It feels like God reaches His hand down from heaven and puts His finger upon the "something" that's usually buried way, way down somewhere at the innermost core of my being.

And what He placed His finger on was nothing new. In fact it was something that I've struggled with pretty much throughout my time as a believer. There have been times when this particular struggle was really not much of a struggle. And then there have been other times when it's been downright debilitating. Lately its been more like a nagging ache.

At my core was the question, "am I really Yours"?

In my last blog post I wrote something about how we can't allow our thoughts, feelings, opinions, philosophies and experiences to dictate what is and what isn't true about God's word. And in writing that it kicked up some stuff in me about my own failings in living up to that. All too often, I have allowed my perspective on my grossly imperfect walk as a Christian to dictate to me as to whether I am actually His or not. And I have also deep down inside just really wondered about my salvation. Was my conversion real? Was my repentance enough? I mean, I have no problem whatsoever believing that Jesus accomplished salvation for whoever believes on that cross but when it comes to me, sometimes I have really wondered if I really am included in this or not. Because I really want to be.

And also because I am also extremely intimately knowledgeable of my inner man. I'm the only one, other than God, who gets to hear my thoughts and feel my attitudes even if I mask them for the rest of the world, I get to have full view of them. And quite frankly, all too often, maybe even more times than not, those thoughts, feelings and attitudes have no place in the vicinity, let alone in the body, of Christ.

I disagree with Paul when he calls himself the "chief of sinners" because I know I can give him a good run for his money. I am at least a close, by a nose second. And also I know the ludicrousness and silliness of competing either for being the worst sinner or the best Christian and how that nonsense is not of the Kingdom either (see what I mean!). But the point is I have wondered many, many times if I am really one of His or not because when I see me I see a Christian failure. I don't see a giant of the faith at all. I see someone who just doesn't seem to really get it. In fact, when the non-believers call us hypocrites I can't help but think, "YES! I AM! YOU FOUND ME OUT!"

Deep down in my core for years has been this burning, nagging question. So yesterday when God pointed out the existence of the question within me I just asked Him, "am I Yours"?

I was still driving to the eye doctor and God didn't answer my question. Not yet.

I got there a few minutes early and I sensed God impressing on me to close my eyes and try to think of nothing but Him and to focus on His presence with me in my van. It was calm, peaceful, relaxing and just plain nice. No deep spiritual experience that solved the mysteries of the universe or even answered my question but just a kind of matter of fact, "I'm here and so are you" kind of thing. It was just a really nice little moment.

So I go inside to the eye doctors and sat in the waiting room. I pulled out my phone because I also sensed that I needed to look up 1 John on my Bible app and read it while I was waiting to get my eyes examined. I didn't hear a booming voice out of the sky proclaim, "READ 1 JOHN NOW". It was, once again (has happened many, many times) a simple, matter of fact kind of impression to just read 1 John. I thought, "well maybe I need to read about God's love for me" since 1 John deals a lot about that subject. But that wasn't what He wanted me to see. It was this instead;

(By the way this is from the Amplified Bible which is the translation I was reading it from) (and oh yeah, the Amplified Bible is the Bible turned up to 11) (get it?)

1 JOHN 2:3And this is how we may discern [daily, by experience] that we are coming to know Him [to perceive, recognize, understand, and become better acquainted with Him]: if we keep (bear in mind, observe, practice) His teachings (precepts, commandments).

4 Whoever says, I know Him [I perceive, recognize, understand, and am acquainted with Him] but fails to keep and obey His commandments (teachings) is a liar, and the Truth [[c]of the Gospel] is not in him.

5 But he who keeps (treasures) His Word [who bears in mind His precepts, who observes His message in its entirety], truly in him has the love of and for God been perfected (completed, reached maturity). By this we may perceive (know, recognize, and be sure) that we are in Him:

6 Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as [d]a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked andconducted Himself.

Hmmmm. I asked a question from the core of my being. A pretty important question. "Am I Yours?" And within the hour He leads me to Scripture with the clearest and most direct answer possible. Not a sign on the sky, not a voice booming from the heavens, not on a mountaintop or at a spiritual retreat but in a waiting room, waiting to get my vision checked.

I was blind to the truth about being His and He corrected my distorted and blurry vision with the truth of His word.

So the question from this passage is this, do I keep His word? Do I treasure His word? Do I bear His word in mind? Observe it in how I live? Practice it in my life? I guess I have to say yes I do but only by His grace. And keep in mind I am still "practicing" it. Thank God it doesn't say I have to do it perfectly. For the work of perfecting is all His. It even says that in this passage as well. The rest of the Bible bears this out and supports this; that He is the author and perfecter (finisher) of our faith; that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.

I'm so glad that he gets all the credit (glory) for the work because frankly, I don't want nor could I achieve that responsibility.

Then comes the challenge of verse 6. If I say I am in Him, if I believe what His word says in answer to this question, then as a debt to Him I need to be mindful to walk and to conduct myself in the same way that He walked and conducted Himself. Please be patient and bear with me on this one because I got a long way to go. When I fail at it do me and yourself a favor and don't gloat and point fingers. Be gracious (like Him) and pray for me. But we aim for the bulls eye. We will miss the mark many, many times but He has our failings covered too (read 1 John 1:8-10 and 2:1, I won't post it, get your Bible out or whatever you use and look it up!).

His mercies are new everyday. He prays for us when we don't have a clue on what to pray for and He completed the work of atonement on that cross. All He asks us to do is to believe and to follow and He shows us how to walk like Him through the supernatural power and work of the Holy Spirit.

And He reaches down from heaven and digs His fingers into the mess that is us and forces us to face what we'd rather ignore and He doesn't shy away from the hard questions but provides the answer in Himself and in the truth of His word. Every time.

Ask me today as I write this, "Jack, are you His?"

You betcha.

"Has God indeed said?"

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that itwas pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

"Has God indeed said...?"

Ladies and gentlemen, this is where it all begins.

And it is exactly as it is today. There really is nothing new under the sun, or the moon for that matter. The integrity and the authenticity of God's word has been under attack since this moment in the first garden. Many refuse to read this story and take it as a factual moment in history. Many proclaim it to be a metaphor in which gain insight into the eternal war of good vs. evil. Many just simply disbelieve the whole thing and that the notion of the existence of God is just pure bunk.

And since none of us have been given the means to prove the validity of the reality of the story, we are hard pressed on how to explain our belief in God's word.

There are many evangelical approaches to those not yet saved. Many of them are wonderful and some not so wonderful. For instance, the approach of Eve in her evangelical efforts to persuade Satan that God did indeed say ended up in a pretty extreme mess. So much can be gathered from these verses but I want to focus on what Eve did wrong. I don't mean the partaking of the fruit, although that was clearly wrong but instead lets focus on her efforts to proclaim the Gospel to the enemy.

Eve's first mistake is quite often the one we still make to this day. At Eve's disposal (and ours) is a hot line to the Creator. In the blink of an eye any of us who are saved can call on Him and get immediate help on how to answer the enemy whenever the enemy attacks the truth of God's word. But no, she and unfortunately we often take it upon ourselves to answer for God. even Jesus in His infinite wisdom knew better than to answer Satan with any earth born words or means. When tempted by Satan Jesus used the very thing that Eve should have used which was the word of God. Pay attention to the exact wording of Eve's first response; And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die".

Eve misquoted God. Here is what God said to Adam recorded in Genesis 2;
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Somewhere between Adam filling the wife in on this pretty important little rule and Eve talking with the Devil about it was a slight little misinterpretation. Was this misinterpretation, this little adding on about touching the fruit that big of a deal? Is focusing on her adding to the word of God really that big of a deal? Was it actually worse than her eating the fruit and then giving it to Adam?

The comparison of the mistakes Eve made isn't the point. The point is that whenever we change one dot or tittle of God's word we are setting ourselves up and those around us up for disaster.

This I imagine would seem to be pointless nitpicking to many. But think about it. If the exact translation of God's word was good enough for Jesus to use during His temptation by the enemy shouldn't it be good enough for us as well? Did Eve going to battle by herself and improperly without the exact truth of God's word not open the door for the enemy to put his foot in the doorway?

Paul writes to us in Ephesians to put on the whole armor of God. Out of all the pieces of armor, all meant for protection of the body, only one piece of weaponry is described. The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

In a day and age when the truth is not only up for grabs anymore but is openly being discarded and rampantly abused, we desperately need to be a people of His body who can wield this sword of His Spirit properly. The lines are being drawn in this war in their most distinctive and clearest capacity then they have probably ever been drawn before. When you have had such a vicious attack on God's word and His truth as we have seen in this day and age then you must know this; the enemy is gearing up and amassing his troops for war. This war is also nothing new. But what is new is the mind boggling, overt display of anti-Christian sentiments everywhere you look. You want to talk about people coming out of the closet to portray the truth of who they are; there has been nothing like what we are seeing before our very eyes in man's history of the extent and numbers of those who openly and wantonly attack the validity and authenticity of the word of God. And even more disconcerting are those who have been mounting these attacks from the pulpits and pews of so many churches. I read an article the other day about a Christian softball league that kicked another church's team off of the league because the pastor from that church was openly bi-sexual. Believe it or not many, if not most people that replied in a forum about the article, were offended that Christians would dare to kick a team out of their league just because Christians aren't supposed to perform such a judgmental act. Uh, what about the obvious offense of a pastor of a Christian church being bi-sexual? What is wrong with that picture? How can a Christian church be allowed to allow pastors to be gay? Well, not all "Christian" churches are in actuality Christian. Nor are they part of the body of Christ. I could build a hamburger joint and put some golden arches outside of it but unless I have the corporate backing of McDonalds, it's no McDonalds.

Many are being deceived. And it's so easy to see how this deception is occurring because many of the deceivers themselves believe their hearts are in the right place. What is being presented by so many is the common denominator that is within most human beings; the desire for justice and love.

It is partly understandable how this came to be. Most of us want to see justice prevail. We want to see people treated with love and grace. We cringe at the idea of people being abused and mistreated. And we cringe for good reason. Because all of us were made in the image and likeness of God. God hates it when we mistreat one another. You see this theme running throughout the entire Bible.

So it's easy to understand why so many see us as being intolerant and bigoted about this whole same sex marriage thing. They see it purely as an equal rights issue and here we come along with our history of wack a doos protesting the funerals of slain soldiers; Jim Jones and his horrors; the Crusades; Catholic priests sexually abusing children; the blowing up of abortion clinics; the embarrassing truth of the failures of so many Christian marriages and just the plain wackiness you see routinely on Christian television and then we proclaim that your wanting to legalize same sex marriage is wrong because our Bible tells us so. Let's keep it real folks. All too often the bad press that the church has gotten is well deserved. Of course all the good that the church has done (and it sure has) gets no coverage at all because that stuff just doesn't raise the ratings nor does it fall into the enemies missionary agenda. But the sad, pathetic truth is that we as the body have given them plenty of ammunition to shoot at us with and to roll their eyes at us when we try to proclaim anything about the truth of God's word. Be aware of why they react the way they do. Have they been deceived? Absolutely, but know that they don't want to just hear what we have to say, they need to see it being lived out in order for it to make any sense to them.

The failures of the church combined with people in the pews giving an ear to anything outside of the truth of God's word has not just allowed the enemy to get his foot in the door; it's invited him in and has fed him dinner on a silver platter.

The only way we get to where we need to be is when we allow God's word to overrule any thought, opinion, emotion, philosophy or experience that would persuade us to go in any other direction.

It is this simple. We are people who either trust completely the full counsel of God's word above and beyond everything else or we are people who are easily swayed by the winds of this day and age.

Back in the day when I knew that God wanted me to believe in Him through His Son, I was reluctant and extremely skeptical about believing in anything about the Bible. The idea of becoming one of those "Christians" frightened me. Part of my "reasoning" about not believing was how could anyone know what to believe in because of the vast marketplace of religious beliefs all claiming to be "it". Plus the fact that I thought you "Christians" were all a bit nuts. Plus I had a reputation as an agnostic with a chip on his shoulder to uphold. By the way, the chip is still there.

I've never heard the voice of God but I have gotten what I can only call as being clear, precise, exact impressions from God. And at that time the impression that was as clear as anything that has ever been communicated to me was this; "you think you know something about My word; you know nothing (ouch). In order to believe in Me, you MUST believe in Me through My son" (keep in mind this was way before I read John 14:6). And here was the kicker; " I want you to approach My word as if it were the truth and lets see what happens".

And so my reluctant and skeptical self submitted and did what I had been told.

I have seen so far what has happened. In a nutshell His word impresses me more and more every day with how it has weaved together a mind boggling array of threads that all connect to one another in the most cohesive manner in anything I have ever encountered. In it's infinite complexity there is found the most profound simplicity where all verses, chapters and books all lead to one destination and that is the person of Jesus Christ. It led me to "religion" but not at all in the conventional sense that word imparts but to a religion of His truth where what is at the very core of this "religion" is the revealed heart of God made manifest in the person of Jesus Christ.

I have watched and experienced what has happened as a result of my submission to His command and I am at a loss of words to really describe what it is I have experienced. All I know is that it makes the most sense to my mind and it makes the most sense to my heart.

And I watch a world being destroyed and I get to see so many precious lives being torn to shreds by the creator and father of lies. And I see a multitude of people buying into his "religion". And I see on a daily basis the earthly end result of what happens to those who buy into his religion when I see people who I have counseled for substance usage who end up relapsing over and over again and you can see the life and spirit just being drained out of their bodies; the addicts who have ended up with a family and a community of friends grieving over their dead bodies in a funeral home or the addicts who have given up all hope and end up taking their lives because they and so many around them have bought the lies that life has no meaning and it's all crap because don't you know that in the end we just die and end up in the ground and none of this means anything?

Well that's not what God's word says.

God's word says that all life is more precious than silver and gold. That the value of every man can be found on a cross raised up on a hill outside of Jerusalem where the Son of God bears upon Himself the price and penalty of all of us believing the lie instead of believing Him. God's word also says that when we look to the One on that cross and believe in Him that we are then granted eternal life with Him and with those who believe the same. We think too often of sin of being the bad things we do when at it's core it's our giving ear to the enemy when he whispers in our ears, "has God indeed said?" To believe that life is meaningless; that there is nothing after we die or that everyone regardless of belief or non belief goes to heaven is one of many lies of the devil. To believe anything that is contrary to God's word is to believe a lie. Is this nitpicking? I think not because lies kill. Truth gives life.

The only adequate and necessary answer to the enemies question of "has God indeed said" is found in the word of God. Not in human reasoning or persuasion of wonderful words but only in His word which is the weapon of choice for all Christians. If it worked for Jesus it can certainly work for us.

Even little children who attend Sunday school know this for they are taught this simple yet most profound of truths:

Jesus loves me! this I know,

For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
they are weak but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Armed with this truth you can withstand the assault and attacks in any and every capacity. Things may look bleak but remember what the Bible says about the end result;

God wins.

Dear Mr. President

Posted on Huffington Post on 5/9/12:
"This is something that, you know, we’ve talked about over the years and she, you know, she feels the same way, she feels the same way that I do. And that is that, in the end the values that I care most deeply about and she cares most deeply about is how we treat other people and, I, you know, we are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others.

But, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids and that’s what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I’ll be as a as a dad and a husband and hopefully the better I’ll be as president."

This is of course last week's statement from President Obama about his support of same-sex marriage. This recent stand has rocked our country in the last week and has polarized an already divided nation. The stand that President Obama made has caused us to have to make a stand as well; either for his stand or against it. Honestly, many of us have already made this stand but because of the publicity surrounding this historic statement from a United States President it has forced many of us to respond publicly as well.

Never before has a President made such a statement. It is historic because of it's content and because of it's implications. Never before has a President publicly backed such a sensitive issue which 5-10 years ago would have been impossible. And what has made it possible? Is it because we as a nation have become more progressive and modern in our tolerance and in our world view or is it because we have lost complete bearings of what used to be the moral compass of our nation? Many, if not most people (based on recent polls) would believe that we have "evolved" into a more caring and loving people who simply want everyone to have equal rights. It's pretty hard to logically argue against granting equal rights. Especially when equal rights and the "Golden Rule" become the pinnacle of what is of utmost importance. 

But there are many other people who see the continuing decline of morality as the barometer that indicates that we have not been evolving at all but have been become even more morally depraved than ever. The fact that we live in a world that not only accepts behaviors and attitudes that a short time ago were considered immoral and depraved but now celebrates has become extremely alarming to many. For the President to embrace same sex marriage in the name of "doing unto others as they would do unto you" is in my opinion, the death knell of morality as we used to know it. Many, many people applaud the sounding of this death knell and once again, believe it to be mankind moving progressively and lovingly into the future. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

Or rather, from The Truth.

President Obama stated that, "in the end the values that I care most deeply is how we treat other people". He then goes on to say about himself and Michelle Obama that, "we are both practicing Christians". And then, "but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated.

First of all, I never like trying to figure out who is a Christian and who isn't. I've seen others do that and it's a foolish and dangerous practice. God alone knows the heart and condition of salvation. But the Bible does tell us that "you will know them by their fruit" Matt 7:16. Obama calls him and his wife practicing Christians and they just might be. But what is glaringly obvious is that their theology is far from Christianity.

To place the Golden Rule above Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf is paramount to placing religion and legalism above the all in all of Christianity which is Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf all by it's self. Nothing whatsoever about the Bible, Christianity or any take on God's word supersedes the sacrifice of the cross. It doesn't matter what well intentioned preachers have preached about the "social gospel" of the Golden Rule and how many church goers have placed more emphasis on social programs nothing; absolutely nothing overshadows or replaces the thing that makes the Golden Rule possible! The atoning work of Jesus Christ is it! To minimize the sacrifice of the cross the way President Obama did by placing the Golden Rule as the thing at the root along with the cross is not of God. It is of God's enemy. And it is exactly what makes his support of same sex marriage possible. Whenever we place anything alongside of or above the cross we can then make room for calling evil good and good to be evil. President Obama displayed his fruit and his heart for all to see when he stated that, "in the end the values that I care most deeply about is how we treat other people". He cares more about how we treat one another than he does about the sacrifice of the cross. When anything else other than the cross becomes the primary focus of our minds, our lives, our very being then we have placed whatever that is above God. 

It appears noble and wonderful to place the Golden Rule above all else. It's hard to argue with a politician as he is kissing the baby and is feeding the homeless for the maximum photo op. Didn't Jesus care about His people? Absolutely. Isn't that a large part of what it means to follow Him? Absolutely. Didn't He say that the greatest commandment was tied to loving others as yourself? Absolutely. What is wrong about wanting to treat others as we would want to be treated? Absolutely nothing. 

What is wrong though is calling sin and evil right and good. Homosexuality is a sin. As is fornication, sex outside of marriage and people "shacking up". It is also sinful to steal, to lie, to cheat, to envy, to disrespect parents or those in authority, to engage in gluttony, to gossip, to do anything that falls short of the holiness of God. 

President Obama acknowledged that Christ sacrificed himself on our behalf. Mr. President, what exactly was that sacrifice on behalf of? To give us the ability to endorse, encourage, accept, applaud and to legislate sin in the name of doing unto others or was His sacrifice about Him taking upon Himself the penalty and wrath of our sin in order for us to be saved from our sin? Mr. President I mean no disrespect but you are wrong. If you have really been affected by His cross I doubt you would have said what you said. Imagine yourself standing before that cross and getting His approval of what you have said and done. It's just not possible. 

He died for and because of your sin. And mine too. He did not die in order for you or anyone else to make a mockery of His suffering and death by calling what is evil good and good evil. I am afraid that you and those who agree with you have brought unimaginable destruction and horrors upon this country. I pray that you reconsider your stance. Repentance is a wonderful opportunity. I wish you, your family and the whole country well. 

But some things come first. And it all begins at the cross. 

"How horrible it will be for those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn what is bitter into something sweet and what is sweet into something bitter." Isaiah 5:20.

Sunday thoughts

I have been hurt. Deeply wounded. Many times in my life. I am sure I have wounded others as well.  Wounding seems to go both ways; that it's a two-way street or actually an endless multi-lane highway. It's far easier to focus on the wounds received than the wounds handed out. Maybe because I can only feel the pain of my hurts and maybe some remorse and guilt over the wounds I've caused. But I cannot feel anyone elses pain. I've heard many people claim they can but I don't believe it. We feel our own feelings and obviously sometimes in response to pain that someone else is going through (empathy) but ultimately my own pain is what I am actually knowledgeable of and intimate with. I regret any pain I've caused and I am remorseful of it (more of my own pain) but as I stated, it's far easier to talk about my own pain than I can about yours. Even if I have caused yours.
Sometimes the pain lingers long after the events that initially caused the pain are but a distant memory. As a Christian I have been instructed to forgive which I have mistakenly assumed (as many have) that once forgiveness for the offense occurs then there will be no more of the pain associated with the act that caused the hurt. Not true. Those feelings are still there. What do I do with them?
I believe I have cast them onto the Lord and yet the hurt is still here. Many would say that means I haven't cast a thing onto Christ. That might be true and it might not be true. There are many who randomly throw out their opinions as if they know what they are talking about. We seldom do, especially when it comes to what others than ourselves have or haven't done. People commonly jump to conclusions about what someone has or hasn't done right about the situation and we tend to forget how often we too fail in these same ways. It seems that many view the Christian life as a thing to be grasped and attained in that once we have grasped or attained it then the answers to our issues and problems should be simple and straightforward. But the reality of life and as a human being is far from simple and straightforward. To reduce giving Godly counsel by throwing out misinformed tidbits of advice is neither Godly nor is it counsel. More often than not we should keep our mouths shut when it comes to telling one another what should or shouldn't be done. To be honest most of the instruction I have received from God has been to do just that; to shut up and trust that He'll let me know what to say and when to say it.
The hurt I referred to earlier occurred about 1 1/2 years ago. Without going into unnecessary detail, suffice it to say that my wife and I were once a part of a "family" (let's say) and when we shared a difference of opinion we were ousted from said family and treated as if we were lepers. The person responsible for the ousting told me that I had wounded that person by having this difference of opinion. That by questioning the handling of the situation that I had put a knife in that persons back. I can honestly say that putting a knife into this persons back was not at all intended but I have to acknowledge that this person did indeed feel that I had. For that person, their hurt was just as real as my own for being treated the way I was treated.
So who wins? Certainly not myself or the other person or all the other people affected by this event. Did God win anything by two church people splitting not just their own relationship but the subsequent relationships of more than a few? I have no idea what God won or even lost in this situation. God never lets me ni on these things and I am less prone these days to do any speaking for Him on any subject simply because I have learned not to make that presumption anymore.
But I am told and instructed by His word to trust Him with it. And I actually do because having the right amount of information about what is going on behind those scenes has nothing to do with choosing to trust Him or not.  
I went to the Lord and asked for forgiveness for my part and asked for help in forgiving the other person as well. I believe that God made good on both counts. And yet the hurt still hurts. It hasn't miraculously disappeared and in fact I have allowed it to make me gun shy of getting involved in any more church families because to be frankly honest I just don't trust the sheep or the shepherds much anymore. Ironically the person who taught me that sheep bite took the largest chunk out of me. And that person would maybe say the same about me.
But I can't feel their pain. I am remorseful over it and am deeply sorrowful about it not just because of being ousted from that "family" but mainly because I thought that person and I meant something to one another. At least meant enough to be able to work through any conflicts and be able to reconcile which has always been my desire but obviously not the other persons. If I have learned anything about God's love, mercy, grace and forgiveness it's that it can cover a multitude of sin and that with it any broken relationship can be healed and repaired. But as they say it takes two to tango and a solo tango is at best kind of funny and pathetic to watch.
As I said, it has been about 1 1/2 years and although an olive branch was extended the other really wanted nothing to do with it. This too can all lead me to make all kinds of assumptions but as I said who am I to really know what goes on with someone else?
Part of me wants to lash out and expose "stuff" but I have had to ask myself why and the answer really is to hurt back and of course God wants none of that. And so I keep it all to myself because I never wanted to cause harm in the first place and in order to not cause further harm I must do as I'm told and keep my mouth shut.
I guess I just needed to vent. I'm not looking for any response and certainly want no allies. My flesh would love some but I don't need any because as I have learned it is sometimes those that are the seemingly closest who are close enough to take out the biggest chunks.
I know little to nothing anymore which means I knew even less when I thought I knew what I thought I knew. But I know that God can be trusted despite the crap we cause each other because He continues to see fit to bless and do things that continue to astound me and give me deep appreciation for His hand in my life. Plus He did die on that cross and defeat death and create life in all it's splendor and wonder and all so He does deserve at least some trust. And He gives us a way to live with the hurt and loss along with the good and the even great.
I guess the problem has to do with trusting His people. Him I can easily trust but His people? Yikes! Them suckers can really make a mess of things. I should say "us" suckers. But this is the dilemma. Getting back in the ring after getting the crap beat out of you. This is where lots of prayer comes in. Obviously more than has happened already.
God bless all of you.
Even you.