Why do people kill people?

An article today on Foxnews.com titled, "Jamaica's Bloody Lesson On Guns" talks about how banning guns for citizens does not keep them out of the hands of criminals. Even if the criminals are on islands with no easy access to areas where gun controls are not in place. Every time I see one of these articles it seems to me that they always overlook the most important part of this problem. People kill people because the heart of man is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9, Genesis 8:21). Taking away an evil persons means of producing evil does not stop the intent to produce evil. What must be dealt with is man's desire to do evil. There is only one person that can deal with man's evil desire and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. If we would see people stop their evil ways we must introduce them to the one who conquered sin, death and evil for all time. If we would seek to live a God focused life we would find that God begins to change us so that we might be more effective in helping to really help introduce the seeds of change in the hearts of others.

Grassfire or misfire???

I receive e-mails from a political action group called grassfire because I signed a petition at the urging of a friend a few years ago. I received a new request to sign a petition on May 17th. It was for another group called the Media Research Center. Here are the opening lines of the petition request.

The Media Research Center has just launched an important
petition opposing Comedy Central's plans to air a cartoon
series about Jesus Christ called "JC" where he would move
to New York to "escape his father's enormous shadow."

I'm urging all members of our team to read the details
below and then sign this important MRC petition.

Before you just close this window I really want you to read this and consider what our response as Christians ought to be. I looked up the source material on the Media Research Center web site. The first is an article called "Jesus, Mohammed, and Comedy Central". The second is the actual petition that you can sign called, "Petition Opposing Comedy Central’s New Faith-Bashing Show and the Anti-Christian Double Standard". These are links that will take you to these sites if you so desire.

To begin who are the people who are promoting this hatred of Jesus Christ. And make no mistake they are bashing the Jesus of Christianity not the Jesus of Mormonism or the Jesus of the Jehovah's Witnesses (I know these are both cults but this is an important distinction). If they were bashing the Jesus of these cults they would not cast Jesus as the Son of God. The people at Comedy Central that are planning on making this cartoon series are natural men. They are spiritually dead. They are pagans and we can expect them to do pagan things. The truth is they hate God and the idea of God for good reason (Romans 1:18-25). They are under God's wrath for their unrighteousness. They cannot truly understand a Christians reaction to these things because our reason for not liking them is we have been made spiritually alive and they are spiritually dead (1 Corinthians 2:14). They particularly hate Jesus because He will ultimately testify of the evil of their deeds (John 7:7). In short we should expect the unsaved pagan world to hate Jesus and ultimately to hate us (John 15:18-19, 1 John 3:13).

This presents a dilemma for us as Christians seeking to live a life that is focused on God. The unsaved world has a certain amount of respect for Muslims because their faith is not a true faith. Their faith is a faith that claims you can repent and do good works that will appease their god. In a sense they make man powerful and able to influence God. The Muslim makes demands that comedy central not do something and they capitulate because there is no real condemnation from Mohammed or Islam. We are called by Christ to be different. In Matthew 5:39 Jesus called us to not resist the one who is evil...but to turn the other cheek. The actions of Comedy Central are evil and have a blasphemous and evil intent. Surely they have slapped all of us as Christians. Should we be responding by demanding to be treated with the same respect as Muslims and other cults? Wouldn't Jesus have us turn the other cheek? Paul in Romans 12:19 calls us never to avenge ourselves but to leave it to the wrath of God. After all vengeance is God's and He will repay.

The second part of our dilemma is how do we love these folks at Comedy Central? In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus clearly calls us to love our enemies. He wants us to be different from the world. If you read the petition you will find that it is not different from the world. It is demanding that we be treated like the rest of the world. It asserts our rights and makes accusations. I do not see how anyone at Comedy Central will feel loved upon receiving this petition. We have an opportunity before us to do something different from the world and yet it looks like we are going to botch it. What we should be doing is seeing this as an open confession of their sinful hearts. Then we should figure out how to reach out to these guys and demonstrate the love of Jesus to them. At this point we would be demonstrating a trust in the ability of the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sins (John 16:7-11). Brothers and sisters lets not start a grassfire on this one. I believe it will only be a misfire that is bound to backfire. Lets instead seek to live a God focused life and realize that He has got this under control. This should free us to love those who are doing this evil in a way that perhaps might bring them to the feet of Jesus. After all isn't that what were here for anyway?

A lot can happen in a couple of days...

For those who may read on a regular basis. Sorry for the hiatus. My wife gave birth to twins and we were at the hospital from Wednesday until Friday. The birth went really well and we have two beautiful baby girls now in our family. Something happened on Wednesday that I thought would be relevant to the blog. For the last two months every sonogram has shown the twins to be transverse (That means that they were laying across my wife's abdomen). The problem with this is that the babies are considered undeliverable and it is an automatic c-section. We have been praying for some time that the babies would turn head down so that they could be delivered normally. We have also been facing a gradually increasing blood pressure problem for my wife. I am personally not sure what problem this poses but it is something the doctor did not like. So Wednesday a week ago because the babies were transverse and because my wife's blood pressure was continuing to rise the doctor scheduled her for a c-section for this last Thursday May 20th. With one week left we began asking a lot of additional people to pray that God would cause the babies to turn head down. Well when we went in to have the pre-op sonogram the first or presenting baby was bottom down and completely breach. We then headed over to the doctor's office for our pre-op visit and to get blood work done. The doc was not anxious to do a c-section on my wife because this was her eleventh pregnancy. So when he saw that the baby was breach he canceled the c-section and started some natural things that might throw her into labor (Her blood pressure was still high and he felt it best for the babies to get this done if possible). Her labor started and 3.5 hours later we had two new babies in our arms. I am convinced that God caused the presenting baby to turn. God caused my wife to choose a doctor years ago that would be willing to deliver a baby breach. God protected the second child from suffering any major problems even though she did end up with a little extra fluid in her lungs. What should have happened to us as a people who are sinners and have nothing about us that deserves God's favor? What should have happened I shudder to think about. What did happen was an abundance of God's grace was poured out into our lives. It happened not because we deserved it or because we did something right or because we merited God's favor somehow. It happened because God in His grace looked down through time and set His love upon me and my wife because of the work of Jesus on the cross. His death on my behalf is why God looks at my wife and I and delights in us (Isaiah 62:4, Jeremiah 9:24). He makes us righteous. He makes us steadfast. He sees us through Christ and so in us He delights. It is a work of His grace. His mercy pours out. He pours out grace in abundance (Ephesians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 1:5). We receive that abundant unfettered grace every time we receive something that we do not deserve. Which, when it comes to God is all the time. This is not a prosperity gospel. This is not a looking for more things but merely looking for more of God's hand of mercy and grace to be manifest on our behalf. An abundance of God (John 10:10) is what I have had a chance to see this last week and I thought I might share it with you. Then you can rejoice with me in the pursuit of a more God focused life.

Environmentalism or god complex

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Mt. St. Helens eruption. A few weeks ago an Icelandic volcano shut down all air travel over Europe with predictions of long term environmental repercussions. On Foxnews.com an article titled, "Scientist Disputes EPA Finding that Carbon Dioxide Poses Threat to Humans" appeared today.  I am amazed at how many of my Christian brothers and sisters are pulled in to the orbit of these issues. Now do not get me wrong I am all for conservation efforts, but that being said I think of several passages from the Bible that put the whole issue in perspective. I think that Hebrews 11:1-3 is a good starting place. Here we see that faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen. I hope for God's word to be fulfilled. I am convicted of the truth of God's word by the Holy Spirit living in me. What does God's word say about the world. Genesis 1:1 tells us that God is its creator. Psalm 24:1 tells us that the Earth and everyone that dwells in it is the property of God. Basically it follows that if He is the creator then the Earth belongs to Him. All of these things point to the fact that the world is God's. Any perceived ability of man to destroy or alter the earth is simply a vain imagination. God has proven time and again that the earth is incredibly resilient. God can open a few volcanoes up and in a very short time pump more particulate and bad stuff into the air than all the people on the earth combined can produce in a year or even 100 years. Man is a created being that likes to think more highly of himself than he ought. This is Jesus' world and no man can destroy it and no man can save it if God has set out to destroy it. In Psalm 33:8 the Psalmist called us to, "...fear the Lord...(and)...stand in awe of him!" If you are tempted to become an environmentalist and join the forces that think of man as god-like and able to save the planet remember 1 Chronicles 16:3. In this passage we are reminded to, "tremble before Him...the world is established; it shall never be moved." If that doesn't cause you to pause and consider then go on and pursue your god-complex. For me and my house we will continue to fight our god-complex by living lives focused on our great God and creator of all Jesus Christ.

Contemplating the incomprehensible

Tonight we had a prayer meeting during which we focused on the massive power and greatness of God. The topic was brought up because of the popularity of super hero movies. Movies with heros that defy the odds have always been popular. The super hero movies of today are about characters that have great powers. We find these powers exciting and intriguing. I think that one of the reasons these powerful beings resonate with us so well is that they represent a longing our flesh has for god like powers. We like to imagine what we might do if we were endowed in such a way (at least I do). But this kind of musing is physical and degrading because it causes one to desire autonomy or power apart from God. The better thing to do is to redirect our thinking to God (Philippians 4:8). After all the characters in the movies are not real anyway. God is though. All the thing that we like in these movies are merely poor shadows and dust falling from the great power and reality of God. Think of His awesome power. He called all that we see into existence with the word of His power. He breathed life into man and made him a living soul. While on earth as God in the flesh Jesus walked on water. He calmed the storm. After the resurrection He ascended into heaven. Think about it the disciples watched Jesus fly away. He really flew. Remember they weren't even sure that He wasn't just doing a demo for them because some angel showed up to tell them that He was gone for now but would come again (Acts 1:11). This is the God that we serve. The real hero. The truly unstoppable one. He will come again with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30). This is why a life focused on our great God and Savior Jesus Christ is the only life worth living.

Cultural indicators

An article titled, "Why God Is Dead at the Supreme Court"appeared on the web this week. It is written by a rabbi and talks about the religious backgrounds of the supreme court justices. With Obama's latest nominee the court will have no justice that is protestant. Does it really matter in a society that is more and more secular in nature? It matters in at least one way. What this shows us is that religious faith or background has become increasingly irrelevant. If the religious background of the current justices is any indication it shows us that protestantism is failing to have an impact on intellectually oriented jobs. Five of the current justices are Catholics. This points to the ongoing struggle that protestantism specifically and  evangelicalism in general finds itself in.
It seems to me that protestantism/evangelicalism has lost its heart. The whole point of protestantism was to protest the error of the Catholic church. One of the cries of the reformation was Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). This was meant to assail the Catholic position that Scripture and the Church were equal in authority. The leaders of the reformation immersed themselves in God's word and became experts at applying it to life and living. They sought to have their thoughts and actions brought captive to the word of God. This often made them good political leaders or judges because all that they did was rooted in God's word. This would still apply today if it still was applied today. The protestant movement fractured and split into many different denominations. These denominations have come to wear the badge evangelical in general (Some of you may protest this application but I believe it is fair). When I say that evangelicalism has lost its heart what I mean is that we have begun to become modern Catholics. We do not say that scripture is insufficient but we live like it is.

• We add programs to attract people to our services. (I guess that meeting with others who are pursuing the most magnificent and awesome being that has ever existed is not sufficient.) 
• We create slick market driven campaigns designed to attract people of a specific demographic. (Somehow Jesus making a way to bring a rebellious and sinful people back to himself is not enough.)
• We do not know how to share our faith effectively and we often do not want to. (Ask yourself how many times have you been approached by an evangelical with the gospel? How many times have you been approached by a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness or other group.)
• We prefer to let our actions speak the message. (If our actions are any indication then the message we are speaking is that we are ashamed of the gospel and don't want anyone to reject us because of it.)

You see the gospel is a message of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It is the forgiveness of our sins and our reconciliation back to God. This is judicial in nature. It is relevant. Those who follow Jesus should be the best informed to be justices. They should be attracted to a God who is just and preserves His justice by the exercise of grace given through Jesus. You see a God focused life will inform our decisions and actions and make us better suited to be justices and judges in the land.

When religious faith enters politics

There is an article on FOX news today about an Alabama candidate running for governor of the state. The ad titled, "Ad Questioning Candidate's Faith Jolts Alabama Governor Contest" deals with some comments that are apparently taken out of context. The candidate is really upset by this because he is a really committed Christian and takes his faith very seriously. As the story unravels through the article it begins to point out that there may be some collusion between this republican candidate's republican opponent and the democratic opponent. Of the two republicans apparently the democrats want this guy the least. What do we say about something like this? Well I for one would rejoice over the fact that my faith is so apparent that it matters. It would be great to know that Jesus has so affected my life that the unsaved world rejects me. In Matthew 10:37-38 Jesus talked about how people who claim to follow Him are not worthy of Him if they do not love Him more than all others. He then goes on to call His followers to take up their cross daily and follow Him. The question I see in the midst of this is: If we are living a God focused life, has it so affected our attitudes and actions that the world finds love flowing out of us, but rejects us because that love is so clearly rooted in Jesus Christ?

Heading off regrets

Raquel Welch who has been in the movie business since 1964 is now talking about morality in an article on CNN called, "It's sex o'clock in America." The article is good because it points out the problems that exist with sexual freedom that has become the norm. She laments the lack of commitment in marriage while lamenting the fact that she has had 4 marriages. I respect the fact that she had the courage to take this stand. But the real question is what expectations can we have for children when the example that they have had is sexual freedom and no commitment? Why are we surprised when they take it one step farther.
This blog is not about social commentary. It is about the reality of how far we have come from living lives that are focused on our Lord Jesus. Raquel is living in the secular community what many believers live in the Christian community. We live before our children a lack of commitment to God. We demonstrate for them an extreme commitment to sports, racing, hunting or any number of other occupations that eclipse our commitment to Jesus Christ. These things are little idols in our lives and our children see it. When our children grow up and leave home is it any wonder that they take the separation from church and God one step farther than we did? Proverbs 22:6 calls on us as parents to train up a child in the way they should go. What is the way that they should go that we are teaching them. Deuteronomy 6:7 gives us some clues. We are to do it diligently. We teach them when we sit down. We teach when we walk and when we lie down and rise up. This sounds like we are teaching all the time. Exactly! I don't know who said it but I think it is true. The most important lessons in life are often caught and not taught. We are teaching our children by what we do. Are they catching God from us? Deuteronomy 6:5-6 clarifies what we are teaching. It tells us in these verses that we are to love the Lord our God. Ultimately the way we want our children to go is to God. Are we training our children to pursue Him by our lives? Or are we going to be like Raquel spiritually looking back and lamenting our actions wanting better things for our kids? We can head off these regrets by living and teaching them to live God focused lives?

Evangelistic followup

I thought that this topic would be appropriate because it fits with this current series and is usually misunderstood. The person who has truly repented and has come to recognize Jesus as their Lord is going to be a different person. You will not need us to coax them to come to church or join a Bible study. They will have a hunger to know about their new Lord. You see Jesus has given them a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). We do not have to work to keep them in the faith. Jesus is able to keep them to present them and us before the throne of glory with great joy (Jude 1:24). The other thing that is often a concern is that they will fall away because some one will entice them away from the faith. This cannot happen because no man is able to take them out of His (Jesus) hand (John 10:27-30). I hear people talking about the person who has become a carnal christian (I think this is an oxymoron). They express concern that someone has backslidden and stopped coming to church. There is one answer to both of these situations and we fail to address the people who are in this as we should because we excuse them. John clearly says in 1 John 2:19 that they went out from us because they were not of us. If we really love people as we claim we do we will pursue them as people who have never heard the gospel.
What is it that we should do with the new believer. We should see to it that they are baptized and we should seek to disciple them. Discipleship is a Biblical concept that involves relational commitment. It is about training a person how to grow in Christ. Follow-up could be that but it often falls far short of that. The goal of discipleship should be to help someone understand how to bring everything in their lives into subjection to their Lord Jesus. In this we are helping them to live a God focused life.

Evangelistic fundamentals

This post I would like to look at a few things that are important when sharing the gospel. In order to show the importance of getting the gospel right I am going to bash what is probably a sacred cow for many people. Lets look at the, "Four Spiritual Laws". I personally used this method in the past and have seen many use it. There are several problems with the message here that are important because they put roadblocks to repentance in the gospel message.
It begins with God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. This is a problem. Everyone you talk to loves themselves and they have a wonderful plan for their lives too. If God has a wonderful plan for their lives then God is on the same page as they are. This is misleading at best. Romans 1:18-21 tells us that the unsaved man does not want God. They do not honor God or give thanks to Him. Malachi 1:4 says that God is angry with the wicked forever. So to tell someone that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life is a lie because if they reject God He will be angry with them forever.
So this brings us to important point number 1 which is ironically point number 2 in the four spiritual laws. Fallen man must first and foremost recognize that he has a problem with God. He has sinned against God and needs to be reconciled to God or face His wrath forever (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Jesus never shied away from talking about hell. He talked about it more than He talked about heaven. This is the present potential state of the unsaved person we are witnessing to. The other thing that is really important here is that Jesus pointed out to people that the sin problem was a personal problem. In other words Jesus made sure that His hearers understood that the problem of their separation from God was a personal one. They are not just a part of a group. They have personally sinned against God. It is not just an issue of being unable to know and experience God's love and plan. They are in very real danger of eternal damnation because of their personal sin and rejection of Jesus. It is only in recognizing their separation problem and the seriousness of it that we have any hope of introducing a real solution to them. It is like Jesus said He did not come for the well but for the sick (Matthew 9:12).
This brings us to point number two. When someone clearly recognizes that they are sick or in need then we introduce them to Jesus. Jesus is the answer to their separation from God. The 4 Spiritual Laws would have us looking to get God's love and this great plan. I think this misses the whole point of Jesus death. Jesus died so that we might be reconciled back to God. It is not about getting God's love or some great plan. We get God. Sure we get His love in the mix but the reason Jesus died was to reconcile man back to God (Romans 5:8). The Gospel is not about God accommodating Himself to men and their plans with a big showering of love. The Gospel is about taking men who hate God showing them they are sick and in need and introducing them to the one who can heal them and make them acceptable to God. This is the Gospel it is God focused and it brings people to repent of their sin and place their faith in the Lord of all Jesus the Christ (Romans 10:9-10).

Evangelistic motivation

As I reflected on the past two blogs and a thoughtful comment from Dwayne that added some great clarity I thought I might pursue some other aspects of this topic that I think are really important. From the perspective of living a God focused life what should be someones motivation to share the gospel. In many ways this is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to the focus of our theology. If you follow a man centered view of God then your motivation will be something like this:

Man is responsible before God for his sin and man is in need of a Savior. Jesus told us to be the ones to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19) so it is my responsibility. If I do not go then they will not hear and they might go to hell if I fail them so I must go. I don't want to see people in eternity looking at me and asking me why I did not tell them. 

In this scenario God is simply a responder to man. He stands on the sidelines and waits to be called in to play and do His part. In this situation if I fail to tell someone then their eternal damnation might be on my hands. The main motivation in this situation is guilt and/or fear.
In a God focused God centered scenario it might look something like this:

Man is responsible before God for his sin and rejection of God. Man is dead in his sins (Ephesians 2:1-3) and he hates God being presented to him in any way even though he desperately needs Jesus (Romans 1:18-20). The reason that the natural man hates God is because God would dethrone the god of self from our lives. The main way in which God does this is through the work of evangelism (Romans 10:13-17). The Holy Spirit uses the words of men to communicate the message of salvation found in the Bible to hearts of the fallen (Ephesians 2:5). This communicated word of God brings about a work of redemption that leads to repentance. It is through this manifest grace and faith that one comes to Christ and is saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). God began the work and he will complete it (Philippians 1:6). My role in evangelism is simply the sower of seed (Matthew 13:1-23). Truly if God did not intervene in preparing hearts no one would ever come to Him because no seed would ever take root (Ezekiel 36:26).

In this scenario God is the initiator and the central player. He does not stand on the sidelines but is in play in all people's lives at all times. He even sustains my breath as I write this (Daniel 5:23). What then is my motivation to share the good news? When I look at God's creation and realize who saved me it is incredible. Just think the one who made all of the most magnificent most majestic and most awe inspiring things that we see is more magnificent than all of them put together. This utterly inspiring and incomprehensible being not only has forgiven me and saved me but has adopted me as His child and desires for me to know Him. I can hardly contain the thought. He has others that He is calling. They need to hear. He has asked me to be a messenger just like He has asked all believers. He asked me! I used to be a rebel against Him and He wants me to represent Him. I feel completely inadequate to be that representative but He promises that the Spirit He has sent to indwell me will be the one to apply the word to the hearts of others. How awesome is that! So I prepare as best as I can, to be a faithful and good representative and I go because He has called me to. We have this incredible privilege to share this great news with people who are in desperate need. My motivation is a great honor that is bestowed on me that I do not deserve and a great love that has been poured out on me that I can't comprehend. There is no guilt. There is no fear. There is only the joy of sharing this news and the anticipation of the joy that someone else will get to experience as well. So join me in the God focused evangelistic quest as we share the marvelous message of redemption that is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Evangelism comaraderie

As I reflected on the evangelism confusion that seems to exist in the church I thought it would be appropriate to focus on the camaraderie that exist with others who share their faith. We seem to be a small group and I pray that God will burden more for the work that needs to be done. But there is a precious fellowship and joy that exist with those you run across who also share their faith with others on a regular basis. Last evening as we were handing out tracts and sharing our faith we were joined by people from at least 4 different churches in the area. It is excellent to share in the bond of fellowship with people who want nothing more than to help others discover the marvelous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. His exaltation is our goal and we pray that His name was magnified. So if you have a desire to share your faith, get some training in Biblical evangelism. There are several different groups you could get help from. The Way of the Master with Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron has a training that I think is available for free if you cannot afford it. They can be found at http://www.biblicalevangelism.com/. Find a friend and begin to team up to share with others. If you do not have a like minded friend begin to share and God will soon bring you in touch with others that share their faith as well. Keep your eyes focused on the King of kings because He is the one who brings the harvest. Ask Him to send forth laborers into the harvest (Luke 10:2) then go out there and join them. You will never regret it.

Evangelism confusion

Tonight we were out sharing our faith at a local street fair. We have a booth that our church pays for and the reason that we are there is to share the gospel. I thought I would relate one instance in particular. I shared the gospel with three young men. I use a very interactive question and answer type of dialog in order to engage them and walk them through the gospel. There was a young man who would come up from time to time and then he would go away. After sharing the gospel with them and making sure that they were clear on the salvation that has been offered to them in Jesus Christ I sent them on their way. The thing that makes me pause is that within a few minutes the guy from the edges of the conversation comes up to me almost crying in gratitude for me sharing the gospel with his friends. He was so glad that I had given his friends the gospel message. Now don't get me wrong. I am excited to be able to share the gospel. But there is nothing special or magical about me or my words. This young man who was so grateful could have been the one to share the gospel with these guys. I bet if I had pressed the issue I would have found out that he really did not understand how to share the gospel. Oh I am sure he could give his testimony. I do not doubt his genuine gratefulness. To be honest I do not think that the problem really is his.
What I have found is that there is an overwhelming rejection of personal evangelism among most people that call themselves evangelicals. This rejection has been initiated and fostered by pastors. Dozens of pastors have asked me with an air of incredulity, "Does that really work?!?" The resounding answer is yes it does. The other common thing is that people are claiming to go out to do evangelism but what they are really doing is name it and claim it theology on the street. They go out and pray for healing of headaches and backaches etc. So they spend a lot of time looking for just the right person and are not really equipped to share the gospel message. They may not even know how to share the gospel message. When you live a God focused life you are going to come to understand that healing evangelism and lifestyle evangelism are poor substitutes for evangelism. The God focused life causes us to realize that we have met and know the most incredible being that has ever existed. Why would I want to share anything less than the way to know Him. The gospel message in a nutshell is this: In order to know Jesus people must recognize that they have sinned against God and are in a desperate situation without hope apart from Jesus. People need to know that they must repent and believe on the Lord Jesus. People will not get this from watching us or having us pray for healing. Anyone can do it, you just have to have the reality of how magnificent Christ is burned into your heart by constantly gazing at Him. People really do need to hear this message and someone really does need to tell them. Who will tell your friends? Will it be you? Or will you wait for someone else and be really grateful that your friends finally heard? Will they ever hear? What's it going to be?

Why sin becomes acceptable

Roman Polanski broke his silence today. After 33 years from his Swiss Chalet house arrest he tells the world he just wants to be treated fairly. He sites technicalities that he believes gave him the right to flee. What is never mentioned are the facts of the case. He fails to talk about the crime of raping and sodomizing a 13 year old girl after giving her champaign and drugs. He was convicted of the crime. He underwent the evaluation at a psych ward and then split the country when they case was going to be revisited for additional sentencing. So now he says he wants to be treated fairly. Fairly!?! If it was my daughter that he did this to I would want him to be treated fairly too. Fairly severely for what he did. You see after time passes we start to add in all kinds of additional excuses and reasons that things are the way they are. The reality is that the unsaved world wants to do the same thing with God. I share my faith with people one on one on a regular basis. One of the things that always strikes me is how often people will say they are going to heaven without Jesus. When you ask them why the answer is almost always the same.
Well god is a good god right and after all I have done a lot of good things in my life...
Men fail to grasp the seriousness of their sin. The fail to look clearly at the facts of their case. There is a Holy God who cannot allow sin in his presence. They have sin. If the sin is not paid for there is no righteousness that can blot it out. We do not want to think about that. Just write the person off that is caring enough about you to warn you and then go your merry way in the safe haven of the fallen world. Our own extradition to stand before the judge of all men is coming when we die. At that point no justification or excuses will matter. At that point we will be dealing with facts. We made our own gods, we lied, we hated, we lusted and coveted things that were not ours, we violated the Lord's day and took His name in vain, etc.. The judge will judge righteously and fairly. Those who spurned the offer of salvation that was made available to them in Jesus will face a sentence that is based on their wages of sin that they earned. Let's realize that sin in any form is an abomination to our Holy God, Jesus the Christ. If we would know Jesus better we must come to grips with the awfulness of sin. A God focused life is the best way to become sensitive to the sin that so easily besets us.