Love and Consistency

Understandably, many Christians are upset about the recent Supreme Court ruling to legalize homosexual marriage throughout the United States. It appears that there are those in positions of power who are doing their best to steer us further and further away from God and His law.

How are Christians to react? In what way should we respond? We are at a point in time where the Christians have a great opportunity to let our light shine. It is my hope that each of us will prayerfully consider how we respond not only to the homosexual community, but those engage in any sinful lifestyle. I want to offer a couple of suggestions on how we should respond to those engage in a homosexual lifestyle.

1. With Love - God loves those who are made in His image. That being said, every single person on earth is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27, John 3:16). God loves those involved in homosexuality, murderers, thieves, liars, cheaters, adulterers, etc. There is not a sinner on the planet that God didn't send His Son to die for, and He wants them to repent. God desires that every human live a life which will allow them to spend eternity in heaven (2 Peter 3:9). We must answer this sin and all sin the way God does, with love for the sinner and a desire to help them leave the sinful lifestyle.

2. With Balance - Social media has exploded over the last week or so with the news of the Supreme Court decision. People have rushed to their keyboards to express their support for traditional marriage and their desire to maintain it. That is right and it is good, but we must be consistent. Are we as passionate about helping those in unscriptural marriages understand the errors in their ways? What about those engage in sexual activity outside the marriage bond? We must be consistent when defending God’s plan for marriage. Without consistency our voices become smaller to the world around us.

Christians, let us be upset about sin. Let us be upset about all sins, including our own (Romans 3:23). The church is at a point where she can do much good in the world. Purpose to be a light to this lost and dying world today and each day God allows the world to stand!

Exposing The Deceiver - Tolerance Equals Love

tol-er-ance (noun) – willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own.

To be loved is the one thing every human being has need of. While we all have a need to be loved, recognizing what love is often proves difficult. Satan has used society to twist the meaning of love so severely, that many people cannot truly identify when someone is showing love toward them. There is a pervasive thread that has been woven into the fabric of our culture which claims that, in order to love someone, we must be tolerant of every aspect of their lifestyle.

Is it possible to love a person without condoning aspects of their life which the Bible calls sinful? Without hesitation, I suggest it is not only possible, it is commanded! First, God calls us to love all of humanity, not just those who look, talk, or act like us. Consider what Jesus said in response to the Pharisees question about the greatest commandment. First Jesus said, you must love God with all of your being, and in the very next breath, He said, “the second is this: ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:31).

As Christians, we are to love even the vilest of sinners. You might be wondering why God would command us to love people who we might consider the worst of the worst in regards to sin. Simply put, they were made in His image, and He loves them just as much as He loves us (John 3:16, Romans 5:8). God wants His creation redeemed from their sins, regardless of what those sins are (2 Peter 3:9). Their sin and our sin have the same consequence, separation from God. The good news is, not only does God desire for all mankind to be saved, He has provided a way to make it happen, Jesus Christ (1 John 2:2).

We must hold the same view as God does when it comes to humanity, love sinners and hate sin. It is important to understand that we cannot tolerate sin in our lives or in the lives of others. When Christ on the cross was made to be sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), God turned his face from Him, causing, Jesus to cry out “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). This scene serves as an example as to the destructive nature of sin when it comes to our relationship with God. God never stopped loving Jesus, yet he could not look upon Him as He bore our sins on calvary.

Satan is crafty and ever working towards making Christian truths seem more and more unreasonable and uncaring. The truth about love is this, tolerating sin is not love. Love is meeting someone where they are, and caring enough about them to not leave them there. To truly love someone is to share what God expects of them. To truly love someone is to help them know how to take advantage of the wonderful gift of Jesus Christ. Show some love to the world around you today!

Exposing The Deceiver - Porn...It's No Big Deal

You know, pornography really isn’t that big of a deal when you compare it to other problems in the world. I mean, it’s something that consenting adults agree to be a part of for the purpose of making a living by entertaining others. As for the folks who consume pornography, it’s their own private decision, it doesn’t bother anyone else. Isn’t it better for someone to watch porn than to go and cheat on their wife? Isn’t watching porn just as valid as any other form of entertainment? Isn’t watching porn better than living a promiscuous lifestyle? It simply cannot be that big of a deal.

Pornography isn’t really that big of a deal, unless you consider…

• It Leads To Spiritual Death – Make no mistake about it, sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2) and lust is sinful. Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 5:28, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” We must be honest with ourselves, one cannot watch pornography without being found guilty of the sin of lust, it is just not possible. We will not get to be in heaven with God if we use pornography (Romans 1:29-32).

• 68% of Adult Men and 18% of Adult Women Use It – According to one study, this staggering percentage of our population are involved in viewing pornography. With numbers like this, the pornography business affects all walks of life, teachers, counselors, moms and dads, preachers etc. These numbers serve as a snapshot of just how powerful this tool of Satan’s is.

• It Destroys Trust Between Spouses – When a man or woman is caught (or admits freely to) using pornography by his or her spouse, it severely damages the bond of trust. The spouse who finds their loved one using porn is left feeling inadequate, insecure, and insufficient. When they made their vows before God and witnesses they promised to keep themselves only for each other, pornography shatters that promise.

• Porn Cheapens The True Beauty of Women – Women, like men, were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Their beauty as God would have it comes from within (1 Peter 3:4). Pornography sells women (and men) the lie that their total worth comes from their sexuality which is directly opposed to what God says.

Friends, pornography is the elephant in the room. It is the subject that nobody likes to talk about, but we need to be talking about it because its effects are disastrous. Satan has done a masterful job selling us the lie that porn is no big deal. Make no mistake, it is an eternally big deal. If you are struggling with pornography, you are not alone., There are many other people who struggle as well. Get help. Pornography will ruin our relationships with others and more importantly, our relationship with God.

10 Reasons I Love God (#1)

Have you ever thought about why you love God? Can you think of 10 reasons you love Him? I hope you can think of a thousand! Exploring our love for God is a worthwhile venture, and doing so should cause us to have a deeper love for Him in the process.

The first reason I’ll offer as to why I love God is, He loved me first. Can you imagine that? Christ was not crucified to convince God to love us, God loved us from the beginning! Think about it this way, the love God has for you and for me existed in the heart of God before the foundation of the world was in place. God loved us so deeply that when the fall in the Garden of Eden happened, there was a plan in place, a plan which would cost Him His Son, Jesus Christ.

But why would God choose to love people who would (sometimes purposefully) hurt Him by sinning against Him? The fact that man is sinful (Romans 3:23), does not change the truth of man being created in His image (Genesis 1:26). You see, we have an eternal soul which has an eternal destination, that’s where the love of God comes in! The Father desires that each of us be with Him someday in Heaven (2 Peter 3:9).

The fact that God loves sinful and fallen man should give us all the incentive we need to love Him as we should! It is because God first loved us that we have the hope of eternal life with Him. Instead of condemning us to being eternally lost without Him, God had a plan in place to redeem fallen man, and that plan came from love. Without God first loving us where would we be? Lost.

The question becomes this, do you love God because He first loved you? That should be all the motivation we need to love Him, yet He offers us so many more reasons! It is my prayer that as you learn more about God through His word, and His plan for your life, it will cause you to love Him more each day. “For God so loved the world…”