THE BIBLE AND THE ISSUE OF HOMOSEXUALITY (Friday Church News Notes, September 28, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Bible teaches that sexual relationships and activities outside of the holy bond of marriage are sinful. “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4). From the beginning, the Bible defines lawful marriage as a holy union between one man and one woman (Gen. 2:21-25), and Jesus upheld this as the divine standard (Mat. 19:4-6). Since sexual relationships outside of marriage are sinful and since the Bible nowhere legitimizes marriage between a man and a man or a woman and a woman, it is obvious that homosexuality is forbidden. It is nowhere legitimized by Scripture. The New Testament treats homosexuality as a moral abomination. In Romans 1, the apostle Paul described homosexuality as “vile affections” (v. 26), “against nature” (v. 26), “unseemly” (v. 27), “reprobate” (v. 28), and “not convenient” (v. 28). This passage warns that homosexuality is the corruption of the imagination. It is the product of a reprobate mind. Paul speaks of the homosexuality in the church at Corinth in the past tense -- “and such WERE some of you” (1 Cor. 6:11). The members of the church at Corinth had repented of their sins and had become new creatures in Christ. God can and will save any sinner, but he must repent of his sin rather than justify it, and when God saves, He changes (2 Corinthians 5:17). This doesn’t mean the believer is sinless; it means he is converted and he delights in righteousness even when he doesn’t always live up to God’s holy standards. Bible believers are not “homophobic” any more than they are “adulteryphobic” or “thiefphobic” or “lierphobic.” They do not hate homosexuals. They simply believe that the Bible teaches that men must repent of sin in order to be saved and be qualified for church membership. They also know that homosexuality is a special kind of sin in the sense that it is a sin against nature itself and a sin that is a particular attack upon biblical marriage and therefore has the power to corrupt society in a unique way.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Addictive America
I am a Coke addict.
You might be addicted instead to Pepsi.
I was asked what was the number one addiction in America in 2012. I guessed booze, gambling, pornography, or prescription medication. I was dead wrong.
The number one addiction right now in America is sugar. Most of us in America are a bunch of addicts and no one knows it because it seems harmless. 9 out of 10 dentists agree that they too are sugarholics. You likely are in denial if you think you aren't addicted to something.
Websters dictionary defines addict as someone who devotes time and attention by customary Think of how many people are addicted to caffeine. Texting. Checking your blog stats. (No, I don't know anyone like that). Fast food. Junk food. Organic Food. Comfort food. Timbits. Whenever a Tim Hortons donut and coffee shop opens in town, it is like our cars are on auto pilot. We drive through but somehow end up first in their drive-thru.
I think that the recovery place for caffeine addiction is known as the Maxwell House. At the very least think how much time and energy and money is wasted on our seemingly harmless addictions. When I was younger I loved a comic strip named Dilbert. There was this dog Dogbert, and this tech nerd, Dilbert, who worked somewhere in a cubicle. One day Dogbert asked Dilbert if he wanted any coffee.
Dilbert declined, and said, "No, I quit drinking coffee. I don't want to be dependent on chemicals".
To which Dogbert said, "Well, how are you doing this morning?"
Dilbert said, "Well, a little sluggish, but you would expect that for a Monday."
Dogbert replied, "Um, it's Thursday."
Corn syrup is like crack in the body. It is absorbed immediately and gets to the blood stream, and there is a sugar high very quickly. You crash and if you don't get more sugar you get irritable. Snickers satisfies. LIARS! The Bible commands us to fast, but when I am not watching my diet, I am absolutely miserable when I am fasting and off the junk cold-turkey for just 24 hours. I am supposed to be doing this spiritual endeavour yet I am about to tear everyone's heads off I am so irritable! Hypocrite! I need a sugar patch on my arm or something.
My one point is this ---you don't need to smoke crack to end up addicted. If you never try to run from your addiction and tell it no, you really don't know you have a problem. Most of us have politically correct addictions and will never realize we have a problem. Crack gets people into trouble fast. They quickly lose everything and it's destruction is almost immediate. The rest of the addictions are the old frog in the pot. You heat up a pot slowly with a frog in it, and it will boil to death and not realize anything was going on. Had you thrown a frog instantly in that same boiling pot at the end, it would jump out. When I was a lost heathen, I sold beer and cigarettes from an early age. Back then cigarettes were $1.99 a pack. If we suddenly raised them to $10 a pack, people would have a fit, and say, "No more cigarettes! That is ridiculous!" Yet, 20 years later, people pay $10 a pack and don't even flinch.
Imagine if tomorrow Tim Hortons started charging $25 for a Double Double and $5 a timbit. Then on Friday, the government read my blog and said, "Dolly Madison, we have a problem" and made a ban on sugar. And later Verizon had a change of heart and banned texting to help improve our social skills. And some terrorists launched an E Bomb and fried all our electronics. We would soon find out just how much junkies we really are.
In America, there are junkies and junkfoodjunkees. It is just our sugar addiction is legal and helps stimulate the economy. One Super sized Soda at a time. The Bible says I won't be mastered by anything. Our addictions do have a price to pay. The bible says the drunkard AND GLUTTON will come to ruin.
I found the answer 11 years ago when I met Jesus. He set me free instantly from many addictions. Now when I look to Him, I am not craving other junk. At our camp meeting, the Sutton Family sang a song that hit home. It is called HOOKED on JESUS. "I must admit it," they sing, "I'm hooked on Jesus. HE almost always on my mind. I got me a drink of that living water, and now I stay high, most all the time."
You might not be addicted to anything that is that obvious you need help. That I think is one of the devil's greatest tricks today. We are not in the gutter drunkards, and everyone else is doing it, and we must be ok. You can't swim to the lifeboat where Jesus is waiting with open arms, when you are calmly treading water in the River De-Nial. But do your soul a favor-- cut out sweets and the media for 24 hours and then a full 7 days and just see how addicted to this world you really are. Then cry out to the Lord for deliverance! He will be all you need once you see He's all you have. Taste and see that the Lord is good. The only cure is Jesus. Snickers left me hungry for more and so did everything else. Jesus not only satisfied, Jesus saved me! Get hooked on Jesus today and you will be freed from the devil's snares!
You might be addicted instead to Pepsi.
I was asked what was the number one addiction in America in 2012. I guessed booze, gambling, pornography, or prescription medication. I was dead wrong.
The number one addiction right now in America is sugar. Most of us in America are a bunch of addicts and no one knows it because it seems harmless. 9 out of 10 dentists agree that they too are sugarholics. You likely are in denial if you think you aren't addicted to something.
Websters dictionary defines addict as someone who devotes time and attention by customary Think of how many people are addicted to caffeine. Texting. Checking your blog stats. (No, I don't know anyone like that). Fast food. Junk food. Organic Food. Comfort food. Timbits. Whenever a Tim Hortons donut and coffee shop opens in town, it is like our cars are on auto pilot. We drive through but somehow end up first in their drive-thru.
I think that the recovery place for caffeine addiction is known as the Maxwell House. At the very least think how much time and energy and money is wasted on our seemingly harmless addictions. When I was younger I loved a comic strip named Dilbert. There was this dog Dogbert, and this tech nerd, Dilbert, who worked somewhere in a cubicle. One day Dogbert asked Dilbert if he wanted any coffee.
Dilbert declined, and said, "No, I quit drinking coffee. I don't want to be dependent on chemicals".
To which Dogbert said, "Well, how are you doing this morning?"
Dilbert said, "Well, a little sluggish, but you would expect that for a Monday."
Dogbert replied, "Um, it's Thursday."
Corn syrup is like crack in the body. It is absorbed immediately and gets to the blood stream, and there is a sugar high very quickly. You crash and if you don't get more sugar you get irritable. Snickers satisfies. LIARS! The Bible commands us to fast, but when I am not watching my diet, I am absolutely miserable when I am fasting and off the junk cold-turkey for just 24 hours. I am supposed to be doing this spiritual endeavour yet I am about to tear everyone's heads off I am so irritable! Hypocrite! I need a sugar patch on my arm or something.
My one point is this ---you don't need to smoke crack to end up addicted. If you never try to run from your addiction and tell it no, you really don't know you have a problem. Most of us have politically correct addictions and will never realize we have a problem. Crack gets people into trouble fast. They quickly lose everything and it's destruction is almost immediate. The rest of the addictions are the old frog in the pot. You heat up a pot slowly with a frog in it, and it will boil to death and not realize anything was going on. Had you thrown a frog instantly in that same boiling pot at the end, it would jump out. When I was a lost heathen, I sold beer and cigarettes from an early age. Back then cigarettes were $1.99 a pack. If we suddenly raised them to $10 a pack, people would have a fit, and say, "No more cigarettes! That is ridiculous!" Yet, 20 years later, people pay $10 a pack and don't even flinch.
Imagine if tomorrow Tim Hortons started charging $25 for a Double Double and $5 a timbit. Then on Friday, the government read my blog and said, "Dolly Madison, we have a problem" and made a ban on sugar. And later Verizon had a change of heart and banned texting to help improve our social skills. And some terrorists launched an E Bomb and fried all our electronics. We would soon find out just how much junkies we really are.
In America, there are junkies and junkfoodjunkees. It is just our sugar addiction is legal and helps stimulate the economy. One Super sized Soda at a time. The Bible says I won't be mastered by anything. Our addictions do have a price to pay. The bible says the drunkard AND GLUTTON will come to ruin.
I found the answer 11 years ago when I met Jesus. He set me free instantly from many addictions. Now when I look to Him, I am not craving other junk. At our camp meeting, the Sutton Family sang a song that hit home. It is called HOOKED on JESUS. "I must admit it," they sing, "I'm hooked on Jesus. HE almost always on my mind. I got me a drink of that living water, and now I stay high, most all the time."
You might not be addicted to anything that is that obvious you need help. That I think is one of the devil's greatest tricks today. We are not in the gutter drunkards, and everyone else is doing it, and we must be ok. You can't swim to the lifeboat where Jesus is waiting with open arms, when you are calmly treading water in the River De-Nial. But do your soul a favor-- cut out sweets and the media for 24 hours and then a full 7 days and just see how addicted to this world you really are. Then cry out to the Lord for deliverance! He will be all you need once you see He's all you have. Taste and see that the Lord is good. The only cure is Jesus. Snickers left me hungry for more and so did everything else. Jesus not only satisfied, Jesus saved me! Get hooked on Jesus today and you will be freed from the devil's snares!
Saturday, September 1, 2012
What if blessings come thru Rain Drops?
Friends, Here are the wonderful lyrics of a song sung by Kendall DuFour at our Camp Meeting. The song was a blessing to me, and many, and I thought it would be a blessing to you.
What If Blessings come thru Rain Drops?
We pray for blessings.
We pray for peace.
Comfort for family.
Protection while we sleep.
We pray for healing.
For prosperity.
We pray for your mighty hand to ease our sufferings.
And all the while,
you hear each spoken need.
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things.
Because what if your blessings come thru raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near?
And what if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom.
Your voice to hear.
We cry in anger when we cannot feel you near.
We doubt your goodnes.
We doubt your love.
As if every promise in your word is not enough.
And all the while you hear each desperate plea.
And long that we have the faith to believe.
Because what if your blessings come thru raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near?
And if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?
When friends betray us,
When darknes seems to win.
We know the pain reminds us that
This is not, this is not
It's not our home.
Because what if you're blessings come through rain drops, and your healing comes through tears, and a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near?
What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life,
is a revealing of a greater thirst,
this world cannot satisfy?
What if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights,
Are your mercis in disguise?
------------ Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
What If Blessings come thru Rain Drops?
We pray for blessings.
We pray for peace.
Comfort for family.
Protection while we sleep.
We pray for healing.
For prosperity.
We pray for your mighty hand to ease our sufferings.
And all the while,
you hear each spoken need.
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things.
Because what if your blessings come thru raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near?
And what if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom.
Your voice to hear.
We cry in anger when we cannot feel you near.
We doubt your goodnes.
We doubt your love.
As if every promise in your word is not enough.
And all the while you hear each desperate plea.
And long that we have the faith to believe.
Because what if your blessings come thru raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near?
And if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?
When friends betray us,
When darknes seems to win.
We know the pain reminds us that
This is not, this is not
It's not our home.
Because what if you're blessings come through rain drops, and your healing comes through tears, and a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near?
What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life,
is a revealing of a greater thirst,
this world cannot satisfy?
What if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights,
Are your mercis in disguise?
------------ Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Confessions of an Animated Dirt Ball
God made us from the dirt of the ground. Christianity is a 2 sided coin. Side 1 is Without HIM (Jesus Christ) I can do nothing. The other side of the coin is I can do all things through Christ which strengtheth me. I want to take a moment to sincerely apologize for something. I think I have shared some truths on this blog that God has showed me, but I 1) don't always handle the truth too well. and 2) my spirit has rarely had any charity or grace behind what I have written. God got ahold of my heart at our camp meeting and it started me getting right in several areas I was hurt about, disgruntled over, and confused about. I don't agree with everything I see, and in many ways circumstances of my life have not changed. What has changed however is my attitude toward everything. Christianity overall is in a mess, and I believe God has showed me a few things that can turn it around. My problem is ME. I have yet to grasp how to share the truth in love better, and because I fail and then see people reject me (when I think they are rejecting God) I isolate and don't give them the grace that is needed if I ever want to be listened to. Further, I have alienated myself in my circles, at least in my mind, by attacking everything and anything I saw I also cut everyone that was on my team as well. It is like a zealous solider with an AK47 shooting the enemy and then just firing all over the place and when he calms down, half his platoon is badly injured. I so much want to go beyond today's compromising and cold Christianity but in my observations, I too made some poor conclusions. The answer is not to just have a hatred of sin and a fear of God, but to have grace for people and love for the brethren and respect for authority who share similar struggles and frustrations. We are worn out, a lot of us. I got refreshed at our camp meeting and now have a burden and a wake up call during the week to not only be a better and more faithful church member and witness, but to be a stronger husband and father, and love and lead my family better. I had been prideful, and had been bitter at life that no one saw the amazing spiritual talents God has given me. I am kidding there, but I can now see what I did. I was unfriendly to people, I was selfish, I was cold, I was moody to be around. I had the truth, but no audience because of my attitude. And the truth I have is the same truth most of the brethren have in my circles. I am not this solo guru and I gave that impression that I am right and everyone else is wrong. I open myself up here-- If i have hurt you by anything I wrote in this blog, let me know. If I offended you, let me know. If you have seen things you are concerned about let me know. I want to be a man of God that has a teachable spirit and child like faith, not a caustic, critical windbag. I want to share the truth in love, not run and hide and keep everything in me. I want to get back to the vision for this blog, and get it more under the umbrella of the local new testament church I am a part of. Blessings, Mike.
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