"People are gonna do it anyway."

We're only human, right? So just do the best you can.

Jesus never said that. And neither did he ever offer any other excuse, either.

Wealth, Sex and ANGER

"What's sinful about wanting more money and a better life? What's sinful about expressing my sexual needs? What's sinful about getting angry and jacking up somebody who needs it?"

What makes all of those things sinful is The Inherent Focus on ME, The Importance of Getting What I Want and The Immediate Urgency of Having My Own Way. But but but ... doesn't scripture say that Jesus got angry at the temple money changers?

It does. So doesn't that mean it's OK to get mad and express righteous anger?

Well, scripture also tells us that Jesus healed the lame, made the blind see, cured lepers, walked on water, calmed the storms, cast out demons, was born of a virgin, was resurrected from the dead, was God's only son and lived his whole life entirely without sin.

Are you able to claim all of those things, too?

I deserve everything life has to offer

What's it like right now where you live?

Here, where I live (on a boat), it's 41 degrees with sustained 40-mph winds and a water temperature of 51.9 degrees. That's distinctly unpleasant, in other words. But you know what? I deserve to be happy.

And because I deserve to be happy, that means I have the right to wear short sleeves outside if I want to. I also have the right to jump off the end of my dock and swim around the harbor for as long as I want to without dying from hypothermia, because freezing to death would interfere with my choices and with me getting what I want.

Nothing ... and I mean no part of any thing ... has the right to interfere with my right to be happy or to keep me from receiving everything life has to give me. And because I deserve to be happy, nothing that makes me happy can possibly be called a sin.

Isn't that what the world would like us to believe? Nothing's more important than being happy, right?

Wrong. What I deserve from seeking happiness or satisfaction in this life ... or from jumping off the end of my dock in freezing weather ... is death.


For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Romans 6:23

When the greatest comes first

Hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. Several of them, all experts in religion, decided to test him with this question: "What is the most important commandment?" He replied: " 'Love yourself with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Do church the right way, and treat every one else with suspicion. Mistrust their motives, put your faith into your religion and then divide yourselves into factions as my example unto the world.'


Scripture doesn't say that. What Scripture says is,


Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

- Matthew 22:33-50

worldview

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

When you stop and think about it, that one verse ... the first verse of The Bible, puts everything else into real-time perspective.

Audacious

Not Buddha, not Mohamed, not Joseph Smith nor either did Jim Jones ever made such a bold and daring claim: "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."

What does that prove ... and what can anybody say about such an outrageous remark?

God keeps His promises.

Grumpy, complaining Christians

Ever noticed how some believers act like they're prisoners serving life sentences?

They express their faith by complaining, finding fault with fellow prisoners and griping about the least little thing that upsets their routine. Confined to their cells, not much changes. Every aspect of their lives feels controlled by malevolent outside forces, and yet their greatest fear is losing their miserable lives.

Compare their grumpy hostility and negativism to a different kind of a believer ... the kind who's more like a prisoner condemned to death, but who then received an unconditional pardon from the king.

They have no fear of death because their crimes have been forgiven: they've been set free from the confinement of their cells. They continue rejoicing with the good news and aren't afraid at all of telling others what the king has done on their behalf.

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That first group of believers, the ones who act like they're serving life sentences, are suspicious of everything and deny that kind of pardon ... and freedom ... exists.

They're so preoccupied with maintaining order, following prison rules and "just serving out their time" on earth that they can't see that the king's pardon has opened their cell doors and set them free, too.

They just lack the faith to walk through it.

The Sin Chokehold

I understand why so many un-churched people have a negative opinion about church: chances are that they've met church people who represent their faith as little more than a long list of YOU CAN'Ts.

Wonder why church folks who tend toward legalism aren't more concerned with sharing the Joy of knowing Christ ... instead of being killjoys?

This sounds harsh, but I think there's just one explanation.

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Sin isn't the same thing as fun.

It wasn't God's idea to hate fun or to make everything that's "fun" a sin: it was man's idea that sinning is fun. God commanded us to avoid sin because he HATES sin.

Sin separates us from following God's will and from receiving the blessings he promised.

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Why am I always having money problems? Because we don't put God in control of our finances.

Why is my marriage falling apart? Because Christ isn't at its center.

Why does something always go wrong with my relationships? Because you're always putting your priorities instead of Christ's.

Why do I feel so empty inside? Because you're living your life for yourself, and keeping Christ on the outside.

See, sinning isn't as much fun as it sounded like.

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Sin traps us, and keeps us held in the snare of believing that what we're doing, and the way we're living, is FUN. Sin isn't fun at all: sin is a chokehold that dulls and slowly strangles us from within.



"A Chokehold is a grappling hold that strangles the opponent, and may lead to unconsciousness or even death. "
- wikipedia

How Can I Make God Give Me What I Want?

Isn't that the truth? Isn't the reason that lots of folks even bother paying attention to God in the first place is because they picture him as a religious puzzle that, when solved, will eagerly drop blessings, favors and solutions into our lives?

Solving the religious puzzle is thought to include:

- finding the church that best agrees with our personal agenda (comfort, politics, social status, dating opportunities)

- praying (using the most solemn-sounding code words, like Thee, Thou and Art)

- temporary tithing (our way or pre-paying God for delivering the solution we need)

- scripture skimming (in hopes of finding quick n' easy answers hidden between the lines by the Creator)

- promising to stop sinning, just as soon as the solution we requested shows up on the doorstep

- Sincerity: "Lord, I really really really want this, so please give it to me."

No wonder so many folks give up on religion, and cite experiences from their own lives as evidence that "God must not exist."

What we lack is the Faith to put our self-serving interests and agendas aside; we should be asking God to forgive our selfishness and to teach us His will in every aspect of our ransomed lives.

What's in it for me?

It's funny, isn't it, how people will decide what they want and then figure out ways for God to agree with their choices.

Whether it's politics, finances or dating and marriage, folks feel like God's pretty flexible and will Flex in their direction: all the Creator needs is a little coaxing and convincing to see their point of view.

I've heard folks argue that Christ agrees with their political party. I've heard folks argue that tithing is Old Testament and need not be practiced under the New Covenant (I guess charge cards must be under the New Covenant, too?).

But mainly I hear folks argue that their romantic or sexual relationships are their private business, that sexual gratification outside of marriage is "only normal and natural," that pre-marital sex is "no big deal," often followed by the argument that "God loves me and wants me to be happy. He knows I can't be perfect."

What is that attitude saying, exactly?

It says God's not Number One in that person's life. It says that person hasn't repented and surrendered to God's will, but is actually asking God to surrender to their sin. It says that person looks at Grace, shrugs and wants to know, "What's in it for me?"

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Ever wondered what Jesus thought about while he was dying on the cross?

I have ... and I don't think "What's in it for me?" is one of the choices.