Sin that Entangles

Many years ago, as a doctor was preparing to go to a medical conference in a distant city, his wife sat down with him to have a serious talk. She said, “I know that you will face temptations while you are gone. I just hope that you don’t do anything that we can’t talk about when you get home.”

More recently, the same doctor was once again getting ready to go to an out of town meeting. Once again, his wife sat down with him to have a serious talk. She said, “I know that you will face temptations while you are gone. I just hope that you don’t eat anything that will upset your stomach.”

The things that tempt us might change over the years, but we still have to be on guard against sin. Hebrews 12:1 says, “…Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles…”

How have your temptations changed over time?

What precautions are you taking to keep from getting tangled up in sin?

Posted in Christian Living, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

ThinkHoly

Louie Giglio

Louie Giglio

Evangelical preacher Louie Giglio was asked to give the benediction at President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony on January 21. However, Giglio will not participate in the event after a controversy arose over comments he made in the 1990s about homosexual behavior. The liberal website ThinkProgress posted excerpts of a sermon where Giglio criticizes homosexuality as unacceptable behavior in Christianity.

While liberals are shouting their tired and misleading refrain of “Homophobia!”, Giglio’s position is nothing new. Both Old and New Testaments consistently forbid homosexual behavior. Recent attempts to explain away these Scriptures have failed miserably.

(By the way, I understand that President Obama, who came out in favor of “gay marriage” during his re-election campaign, is planning to place his hand on a Bible as he is sworn in for his second term. What irony!)

I have not heard any recent comments from Mr. Giglio on his views, but I hope that he continues to stand firm on the truth.

Will you?

Posted in Christian Living, Culture, Current Events | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Legible

jacob lew

President Obama has nominated Jacob “Jack” Lew to become the next treasury secretary of the United States. The treasury secretary’s signature appears on the dollar bill, which is interesting, since Mr. Lew’s signature is completely illegible.

The president jokingly says that Lew promises to do a better job signing his name “in order not to debase our currency.”

Our lifestyle says more about who we are than our handwriting does. I suppose we could say that our lives are our “signature”.

Jesus says, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”—Matthew 5:16.

Make sure people can read your signature.

Posted in Christian Living, Current Events | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nearby Threat

FBI_New_agent_training

The FBI has recently made some changes in the way they train their agents to handle firearms. The agency once focused on long-range marksmanship training. However, studies have shown that 75% of shootings involving FBI agents consisted of suspects who were within 3 yards of agents when shots were exchanged. Therefore, the new training regimen will now focus more on threats from a short distance away.

Church leaders are aware of outside threats to the Lord’s work. However, the Bible also warns us about dangers that are nearby. David writes, “If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.” (Psalm 55:12-14).

In my 20 years in fulltime ministry, I have endured my share of “friendly fire”. Just to name a few–a Sunday School teacher who planned her lessons to contradict my sermons, a deacon who angrily rebelled against the church leaders in a public meeting and an elder who tried to turn the other elders against me.

We shouldn’t be paranoid, but we have to be realistic. Sometimes Satan gains influence over people in the church. We should be ready to respond, biblically and decisively, against any such threat to the Lord’s work.

Posted in Christian Living, Church, Leadership | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

One of Us

Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall

When Jane Goodall was in her 20s, she travelled to Africa to observe chimpanzees in Tanzania. Things didn’t go so well at first. As soon as the chimps saw her, they ran away.

Not to be deterred, Goodall decided to imitate the chimps’ behavior. She ate what she saw them eating. She spent hours sitting in trees. In time, the chimps began to see her as one of their own. After she had been with them for two years, they no longer showed any fear of her.

God decided that, in order not to frighten us, he would come to earth as a human. By living the way we lived, he identified with us, and we are able to identify with him. If he had done it any other way, it would have been too scary for us.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”—John 1:14.

Posted in Christian Living, Communion Meditations | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Loving Sacrifice

Beth Warren & Ben Pratt

Beth Warren & Ben Pratt

3-year-old Ben Pratt received an early Christmas present last year when the nurse who had cared for him since he was born gave him one of her kidneys. Beth Warren was Ben’s primary nurse while he was at Kentucky Children’s Hospital in Lexington, and she grew close to Ben and the rest of the Pratt family.

Family members had volunteered to donate a kidney for Ben, but none were found to be suitable donors. Warren said that the decision to give Ben a kidney was not a difficult one for her. She said, “I knew this was God’s plan for us.”

Ben is doing fine since the surgery. He feels better than ever, and will be able to live a much more normal life thanks to this loving sacrifice.

Ben’s mother, Shayla Pratt, says that what Warren did for her son was amazing. “We’ll be eternally grateful for that.”

We Christians will be eternally grateful for the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross, when he gave his life to save us. We know that this was God’s plan for us.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”—1 John 3:16.

Maybe you will never have the opportunity to donate a kidney, but we all have many chances in life to show sacrificial love to those who need it. As followers of Christ, this is what we are called to do.

Posted in Christian Living, Communion Meditations | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Crime and Punishment

capital punishment

Carl Rollins, a Democratic State Representative from Midway, Kentucky, will introduce legislation that would abolish the death penalty in Kentucky. His bill calls for the term “capital punishment” to be stricken altogether from state law.

Such legislation has been proposed from time to time in Kentucky in the past several years, but it has never gained enough support to pass.

Taking the opposing view, Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders points out that most Kentuckians favor the death penalty for some cases, and he argues that a sad truth is that capital punishment is a necessary punishment for society’s most evil criminals.

This is an issue that is being discussed all around the world, and even Christians are divided about what stance to take.

A careful reading of Romans 13:1-5 seems to justify the use of the death penalty. This passage of Scripture not only seems to allow the governing officials to put certain criminals to death, it perhaps mandates that they do so.

I’m open to listen to other opinions on this issue. What’s your take on it?

Posted in Christian Living, Culture, Current Events | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Best Comeback

Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning

It could be a close race for comeback player of the year in the NFL.

On the one hand, we have Peyton Manning, who has led the Denver Broncos into the playoffs after sitting out a year and undergoing multiple surgeries to his neck. Manning quickly regained his old form and had an excellent season at quarterback.

On the other hand, you have to consider Adrian Peterson. The Minnesota Vikings’ star running back went down with a devastating knee injury just a little over a year ago. However, Peterson returned from major surgery and came within 9 yards of breaking the all-time record for yards gained on the ground in a single season. With his spectacular effort, Peterson also helped his team make the playoffs.

However, the best comeback of all time has to be when Jesus came out of the empty tomb! That gets my vote!

“He is not here; he has risen!…”—Luke 24:6.

Posted in Christian Living, Communion Meditations, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unwanted Invaders

 

silver carp

silver carp

Asian carp were brought to the United States to eat algae in ponds and wastewater treatment plants, but these prolific fish have migrated up the Mississippi River and are causing quite a bit of concern. Besides threatening to squeeze out the native fish, the silver carp, which can weigh up to 70 pounds, have a habit of jumping several feet out of the water when they are startled. This has led to some unwanted surprises for many fishermen, boaters and skiers, some of whom have been injured when struck by these huge fish.

The invaders are spreading rapidly, and no one seems to have a good solution to the problem.

 

In a similar fashion, sin threatens to take over the lives of many people. It starts out in a seemingly innocent way, and then spreads relentlessly, causing unexpected harm along the way. It squeezes many good things out of our lives and injures us physically, emotionally and spiritually.

 

Fortunately, there is a perfect solution for this problem. Jesus Christ died on the cross to take away our sins. By trusting in him, we can stop the unwanted invader of sin from taking over our lives.

 

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”—Romans 6:6-7.

 

Posted in Christian Living, Communion Meditations, Current Events | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Flip Side

Patti Page

Patti Page

Singer Patti Page has died at the age of 85. Page had many hits, but she is probably remembered most for “Tennessee Waltz”, one of the best-selling recordings ever.

It was a fluke that “Tennessee Waltz” became a hit. Page loved the song, but Mercury Records, which had her under contract, wasn’t so sure about it. Finally, Mercury agreed to put it on the B-side of a Christmas song. Now, no one remembers that Christmas song, but “Tennessee Waltz” eventually sold over 10 million copies. That’s not bad for a B-side release!

God’s ways are not our ways, and sometimes he uses the “flip side” to accomplish his purposes. Abraham thought that Ishmael was a good idea, but Isaac was what God had in mind. Saul/Paul assumed that the church should be eradicated, but God wanted it to spread across the world. The crowds wanted Barabbas in their lives instead of Jesus.

There are many examples of how God’s plan ultimately turned out to be something completely different from what people had in mind.

Have you ever had this happen in your life? Do you have an interesting “flip side” story to tell?

Posted in Christian Living, Communion Meditations, Current Events | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment