Forgiven of ALL our Sins

Based on my Sunday message at the 55+ community: --- If Jesus did not die and then rise from the dead – then NOTHING anyone can say about God’s view of sin, forgiveness, heaven, and hell – None of it can be true. Of the many Biblical texts for the resurrection of Jesus, here is a brief excerpt from the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians: Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;  and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain . . . . your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15: 12-19) Listen! If you and I do not have confidence in God’s truthfulness  forgiving AND FORGETTING our sins because of our faith in the sacrificial death of His Son as payment for our sins, then we have nothing to look forward to after our death but an eternity of anguish in the lake of fire. God’s faithfulness to His promises is not an inconsequential subject. Let me share with you what I would like to think is an extreme example, but I don’t think it is too far off the path that many Christians travel. I copied this from a Facebook group to which I belong. This is part of what the man wrote:

-------- "Guys, I’m struggling. I don’t think I’ll be saved. In fact, I might be more assured of my damnation than my salvation. Getting to heaven seems to be the most difficult thing in this entire world. The road to heaven seems to be fraught with not only outward crosses, but inward trials. By that I mean the struggle with sin, the uncertainty of grace, the easiness to lose the state of grace, despair and discouragement mounting up and creeping in . . . . "I don’t understand how anyone cannot be discouraged at the prospect of these things. Heaven is so uncertain to reach and to get there takes the most arduous and strenuous effort. . . .  "If this is the requirement for heaven, then I know assuredly that I will perish. How can no one be discouraged to hear the words of St. Benedict Joseph Labre when he says, “Meditate on the horrors of Hell which will last for eternity because of one easily-committed mortal sin.” The writer concluded: “If that doesn’t bring despondency, then I don’t know what will.” This man’s terrible predicament in the Slough of Despond has troubled me since I read it last week. Here is someone who clearly wants to please God but is convinced he can never please God. But instead of focusing on what others say about God and His mercy, he and ALL of us – should focus on what God Himself says about His mercy through the writers of Scripture. Listen! Calvary’s cross did not happen in a vacuum. It did not catch God by surprise. He did not have to implement Plan B when Jesus fell into the hands of that mob in Gethsemane, in the Roman courtyard, and finally at Golgotha’s Hill. God the Son went willingly to that cross to pay the price of death that God demands for our sins. Most assuredly, if Jesus did not die for us and then return to life, then EVERYONE would have every reason to fear death. The substitutionary death of Jesus was planned long before Adam and Eve brought sin into the human race. As St Augustine realized, the New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament. And that concealment begins to unfold as early as the Books of Moses – Leviticus in particular, although we certainly can see images of the savior in the other four books of Moses as well. Here is what God the Holy Spirit had Moses write for us in Leviticus that has to do with our atonement – the covering of our sin made possible with the blood of a sacrificial animal. From the context of Leviticus 16 we learn Israel brought two sacrificial animals to Aaron, the High Priest. Starting now with verse 15: "Then [Aaron] shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil . . . and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins . . . Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the [other] live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness . . . . The [Scape]goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness." Sounds a lot like that wonderful Messianic prophecy of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, doesn’t it? "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on [Messiah] the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) And so, back to Leviticus 16. After the High Priest laid his hands on the head of the Scapegoat to transfer onto the animal ALL of the peoples’ sins, he then released it into the wilderness – never to be seen again.  That’s also a picture of God’s promise revealed to us in Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." ALL of them. The person who wrote that note I cited earlier lives in unnecessary fear that Jesus’ sacrificial death was not completely and finally sufficient to save him from eternal damnation. And I wonder how many others, perhaps even some of you reading this, live with similar and unnecessary fear of death and judgement – unnecessary because the penitent’s sins have all – ALL – all been forgiven and cleansed by the blood of the Sacrificial Lamb of God. Jesus’ mercy toward repentant sinners us quite remarkable and unfathomable, isn't it? Here are some examples of how He interacted with sinners: The son of man has come to save what was lost (Mt 18:11).  He has freed us from our sins by his blood (Revelation 1:5). The religious leaders of His day (and many today as well) grumbled: He is a friend of tax collectors and sinners and he eats with them (Matt 11:19). They were angry when He forgave the woman taken in adultery, telling her simply, Go and sin no more (John 8:11). The examples of his merciful encounters with sinners fill the pages of Scripture – and examples of His mercy continue to this moment as you read these words. That heart-rending note was not the first time I’d ever heard such despair rooted in the devil’s lie that God is not true to His promise of mercy.  And when I remind them of God’s mercy, their typical response is something along the lines of: “Yes, but you don’t know what I’ve done.” And I always respond: “I don’t need to know what you’ve done. All I need to know is what God has promised – and that is complete and total forgiveness for the penitent sinner. How could God make His vow any clearer?” And I remind them of St. Paul’s lament in the last verses of chapter seven of his letter to the church at Rome: For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. . . . . For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want . . . Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?  . . . (Romans 7:15-25) Now please read carefully what he says next: "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1). And then he continues in those last verses of chapter eight: "For I am CONVINCED that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now the crucial question for you and me. The vital, essential, key question: Are you convinced God loves you? Are you confident He has forgiven every single sin you have ever committed and then brought to Him in repentance and for His forgiveness? If you are not, why not? What is it about God’s mercy that you think cannot extend to someone such as you? Let me say it kindly, but also unmistakably: How dare we sit in the corner nursing our guilty conscience when the faithful, and utterly trustworthy God has said to the penitent: I forgive you? Paul wrote of Jesus’ historical and verifiable resurrection. It was precisely that resurrection that ought to prove to every Christian who struggles with the question of God’s forgiveness – Paul tells us Jesus “was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification.”  In other words, God raised Jesus from the dead to prove to us He has now justified – declared us to be without guilt – those who bring their sins to Him in repentance. Please, don’t go another moment believing the devil’s lying whispers that you cannot be forgiven for what you have done. If you confess your sins, God is FAITHFUL and just to forgive those sins and to CLEANSE you of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Thanks be to God for His most merciful gift!

Finally, I Gave My Heart

Before being received into the Catholic Church in 2011, my wife served Jesus with me in many Protestant churches. This is how she initially came to faith in Christ. I've posted her testimony before. It's good to post it again.

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I Finally Gave My Heart 

By Nancy Maffeo

For some people, accepting Jesus comes easily. For others, it takes time. Sometimes a long time. 

The morning I tried to crucify my mother, I discovered my sinful nature. I was five when I positioned the pointed end of a bobby pin against her hand. I thought, “If I nail Mommy to her bed, the baby will have to wait until I let Mommy go.”

“Pound, pound,” I said as my fist tapped the pin.

My mother awoke with a scream, grabbed the bobby pin, and shouted, “What are you doing? That’s what people did to Jesus.” Hot guilt flooded over me. I love Jesus. I’d never do anything to hurt Him! I ran into my bedroom, jumped beneath my blanket, and sobbed to Him, “I’m sorry.” 

But by the time I was eight, I no longer hid in my bed when I felt guilt. I ignored it. I didn’t know denial of sin was the same as denial of Jesus.

Then, later that spring, an evangelist spoke at our church. He asked, “If Jesus came to your house, would you invite Him in?” 

That thought frightened me. I knew I lied to my parents, sometimes hated my sister, and hid toys under the bed when they belonged in the toy box. I wouldn’t want Jesus to visit me. The next Sunday the evangelist offered us a way to welcome Jesus: We could sing, “Into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus . . . .”

I sang the song and meant it. But only for a while. 

One evening during my second year in middle school, I devoured a large pepperoni pizza. By 2:00 A.M. my overly full stomach rumbled and ached. I prayed, “Jesus, I’ll follow You if You will just keep me from throwing up.” Minutes later I felt a peace flow over me and my roiling stomach quieted. 

Thankful, I tried—really tried—to keep my end of the bargain in the weeks that followed, but my heart had not changed, and I forgot my commitment once again.

What I lacked in consistency I made up for in service. I attended church every week. I taught Bible classes and helped the youth director during my summer breaks from college. But when it came to making a formal declaration of faith, I stalled. I knew that any decision I made must be one of total surrender; I had to be willing to change.

After college I found a job as a kindergarten teacher in southern California. I no longer attended church, preferring to fill my life with a boyfriend, long hours in my classroom, weekend visits with my family, or trips to the coast. 

During that time, I joined a painters’ guild and entered art shows, fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming an artist. Outwardly, I seemed to be prospering, but inwardly I was lonely, fearful, and insecure.

In my third year of teaching, a fellow teacher mentioned that her daughter planned to attend a Billy Graham evangelistic series in the next state. The event would be televised in our area. The term ‘evangelistic meetings’ brought back long-forgotten memories of Vacation Bible School, church picnics, and sitting with my parents in the church pew.

I decided to tune in on a Friday evening. I set up my paints and turned on the television. The six-foot canvas titled “Homage to Hindu Thought” was almost complete. As I worked color glazes over the face of a Buddha, I listened to the music and the opening words of the evangelist’s address. 

The Holy Spirit caught my attention, and I laid down my brush.

I can’t remember what Billy Graham said that evening, but when he gave the invitation, an urgency charged me with purpose. And I thought: “Choose now!” 

I recalled the many times I had refused to put my life, hopes, dreams, and future in the outstretched hands of Jesus. This might be my last chance.

So, I bowed my head, asked forgiveness for my sins, and acknowledged Jesus as the one and only Savior. I knew that this time I’d made a binding promise. With all my will I committed my life to a relationship with Christ. 

I had no idea what wonderful plans God had for me. Nine months later I flew to Japan to teach in an elementary school on a navy base. There I met Rich, my future husband. 

God blessed our marriage with three children and impressed me to leave my teaching career and become a full-time mother and homemaker. 

Writing for publication is another opportunity I would never have imagined. God helped me, a poor speller, to write clear sentences and to encourage others through my published articles. 

I will be forever grateful Jesus kept calling me. I have never regretted the evening I gave Him my heart.
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And so my point in posting this? When was the last time you told Jesus you belong to Him -- that ALL of you belongs to Him?  I repeatedly tell Him I want to be fully His, and it is still difficult to walk the talk like I know I should. How much more difficult would it be to honor Him with my life if I contented myself with a one-time confession and confirmation of faith?

When the Tree is Green, and Dry

They spit at him. Pulled out his beard. Stripped him and whipped him. Then they forced him to carry His cross to that hill. As he lumbered along the Villa Dolorosa, women in the crowd wept for him.


“But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:28-31)


As I read this scene, I thought of God’s question to Israel through His prophet Jeremiah: “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? (Jeremiah 12:5)


According to a 2017 Fox News report, more than 900,000 Christians have been martyred for their faith since 2005. In 2015 Pope Francis is reported to have said there are more Christians dying for their faith today than in the early centuries.


Does God ask 21st century Christendom a question similar to that which He asked Israel? “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?


If in the relative safety Christians enjoy in America we are embarrassed to bow our head over our food in a restaurant . . . and if in the relative safety Christians enjoy in America we are reluctant to tell others what Jesus has done for us – then what will we do when active and deadly persecution comes to our shores?


If we are reluctant to stand for Christ when the tree is green, what will we do when it is dry?


Oh, Holy Spirit, help us be bolder witnesses for Jesus while we are still able to do so. Amen

An Agape Kind of Love, part two of two

Part one of this essay asked what love for God and love for others looks like. To answer that question, we looked at the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, and the “Love Chapter” in 1 Corinthians 13. (You can find part one at this link).

So, how will people know you and I are disciples of Jesus Christ?

For the sake of time we cannot now look at every point Paul makes in this 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians, but we can glean enough insight into God’s expectations of us as we look at only a couple of Paul’s points.

For example, the apostle tells us in chapter 13, ‘Love is not jealous.’ Yet in chapter three he criticizes them: “For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? (verse 3)

Is there jealousy and strife among the Christians in your sphere? You can answer that question better than I can. What is the solution to those sinful attitudes? The Holy Spirit guides us to that answer, for example, in Paul’s letter to the Christians at Philippi: Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2)

You might memorize this short text. Its principle can flesh out every day in dozens of ways – whether in the dining room, or in conversations with one another, or simply permitting jealous thoughts to take root in our hearts. But our true relationship with Christ is most likely noticeable in how we treat others here at Ashwood – perhaps especially how we treat Christians of other denominational labels.

I heard something very disturbing recently from a woman who lives in another 55+ community. At that facility the Christians of one denomination don’t much bother with Christians of different denominations because their theologies do not line up word for word and line for line.

The godly 93-year-old woman who told me this story was part of my Bible study for three years at the other place where I also lead a Bible study. One of the residents at that new place even had the chutzpah to tell her she is not going to heaven because of the church she attends.

I’m not talking here about false religions and non-Christian faiths. If you have listened to my Bible studies or sermons for more than two weeks you know that I know Jesus is very clear when He said no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). That means unless a person follows the Jesus of the Bible, he or she will not go to heaven after death.

But what I am talking about here are Christ-centered groups such as Presbyterian and Catholic and Methodist and Episcopalian and Pentecostal and so on – churches (unless the particular local church has fallen into apostasy) churches which have historically taught and believed in the deity of Jesus, His virgin birth, His substitutionary self-sacrifice for our sins, His resurrection, and soon coming again.

People who believe in Jesus and obey Him to the best of their abilities, and who confess their sins as often as necessary – whatever their label, the Bible is clear as spring water – that person is going to heaven after death. But to believe someone is going to hell simply because they do not dot their Is and cross their Ts the same way you do it is nothing less than ungodly divisiveness.

And that was another problem Paul addressed to the Christians at Corinth when he said: ‘Love does not brag and is not arrogant.’ We find earlier in the letter Paul had to rebuke them for their internal divisions as they boasted: “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”  Paul then asked, “Has Christ been divided?” (1:12-13)

Listen!  Satan knows Jesus said a house divided against itself cannot stand. That is precisely why he has used multiple strategies to divide and conquer, not just churches, but homes and nations.

I heard the other day there are some 80 million evangelical Christians in this nation. 80 million out of a population of something like 330 million. That’s roughly 25%.  One quarter of the US population!  Think how different things would be in this country if that monolithic group of 80 million united around Biblical values instead of engaging in the near constant attacking of their Christian brothers and sisters who belong to different Christian churches.

We would like to see revival in America, wouldn’t we?  Well, the devil does not want that to happen. And THAT is why Satan divides us in America and yes, even churches across this country. 

Paul writes further, “Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness.’ It does not, shall we say, turn a blind eye to open sin, as they in Corinth had done with the man who was committing incest with his stepmother.

Everyone knew about it. And it seemed no one cared about it. Perhaps they had fallen for the devil’s deception of ‘Live and let live,’ and ‘Who am I to judge?” 

Have you heard that in your own circles? Most of you have, especially when it has to do with sexuality – whether homosexuality or heterosexual sins such as fornication and adultery. How many churches ignore or even make excuses for those in the pews – and even in church leadership – who live in direct disobedience to the clear word of God and the historic teaching of the church?

Listen, it is NOT agape love to turn a blind eye or – worse – an approving eye on those who, if they persist in their sin, will not inherit the kingdom of God. It is not love, it is cowardice and it’s destructive of the very one we say we care for.

How does that affect us here at Ashwood? Probably not for most of us. But many of us will have conversations with others who have gotten caught up in the godless and unbiblical philosophies of the culture and we should not be surprised that we will be asked our opinions – because people know you are a Christian and want to know your views.  I urge you to not dance around the questions. You know what God’s word says. If they ask the question, tell them the truth.

People may not like your answers, but God Himself will like your truthfulness, and ultimately it is to Him alone that we must answer.

How then are we to live? God help us to re-double our efforts with 2020 vision of the value of salvation and the value of agape love in bringing souls into the kingdom.

Life is but a vapor. We all know that. In the blink of an eye people will be saying the eulogy over us as we lie in some coffin at the front of some church. And only what is done for Christ will last into eternity.

The night is far spent, the day is close at hand. Let us then walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, who has not only called us to be His hands extended, but who has suffered and died for us.

We each want to hear the Lord Jesus say to us when we open our eyes in His presence, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”

God help us to learn to love with a 1 Corinthians kind of love.  Amen.

An Agape Kind of Love, Part One of Two

This is part one of a message I delivered to those at a 55+ community where I minister each week. You can find part two at this link)

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”  (Luke 10:25ff)

Let’s stop here a moment. It’s important that we recognize the religious lawyer KNEW the Scriptures. That was not his problem. LIVING them was his problem.  And so the story continues:

But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  To which, the Lord answered with the well-known story of the Good Samaritan:

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. And by chance a priest [a category of religious leaders] was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite [another category of religious leaders] also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan [considered unredeemable sinners by Jews], who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’

Then the Lord asked the lawyer: Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”  (Luke 10:25-37)

The Lord Jesus said His disciples would be known by their love for one another. This story of the Good Samaritan, which begins with the lawyers initial question about inheriting eternal life, the story helps answer the question of not only who is my neighbor, but also what love for God and love for others LOOKS like.

It is that question of inheriting eternal life, and of love for God and others, which the Holy Spirit addresses repeatedly throughout Scripture. We focus today only on this parable as it dovetails with the 13th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Christians at Corinth – often called the Love Chapter of the New Testament.

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

The Greek language has three different words for ‘love.’ The first, eros, from which we get the word ‘erotic,’ is a self-pleasing love. That word, by the way, does not appear in the New Testament. Another Greek word for love is the word philia. That word describes an affection, or a camaraderie and closeness people feel in friendships. Philia describes a two-way relationship, of which David and Jonathan are good examples. You’ll find their story in 1 Samuel 18.

The last of the three Greek words used for love is agape (ah-gah-pay). This love seeks the highest good for another, regardless of the personal consequences or sacrifices. Jesus talks about this kind of love in John 15:13 when He says: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Agape love is more a decision than a feeling. It’s more a commitment than a relationship. It is love without condition -- like the love of a parent for a child.

John 3:16, of course, illustrates the ultimate expression of God's agape love – love for a humanity shaking its collective fist in His face: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Romans 5:8 also comes to mind: “God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Holy Spirit is not impressed by our religious activities or our spiritual gifts. That’s why He guided St. Paul to write: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned [as a martyr], but do not have love, it profits me nothing."

Without agape love, the most enthusiastic religious activities and the most ostentatious spiritual gifts are like the irritating gonging of a bell or a cacophonous clanging of a cymbal.

No wonder the Lord Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Agape love for one another. A self-sacrificing love. A ‘willing-to-lay-down-my-life-for-you’ kind of love.

How do others know I am a disciple of Jesus? How do they know YOU are a disciple?

Let’s look at that in part two of this message.

Abortion, Northern Ireland, and America

https://decisionmagazine.com/abortion-same-sex-marriage-decriminalized-northern-ireland/ I knew Northern Ireland passed an abortion law this past October which makes the country one of the most dangerous places in Europe for a baby inside the womb. What I did NOT know is that the Catholic and Protestant churches in Northern Ireland are DIRECTLY responsible for the demonic change in the nation’s abortion laws. Here is an excerpt of the report published by Billy Graham’s Decision Magazine (December 2019): “Northern Ireland’s government has been suspended for more than 2½ years due to clashes between its major Protestant and Catholic parties. In absence of a functioning government, Britain’s Parliament in Westminster stepped in, introducing new legislation called the Northern Ireland Bill. Westminster gave Northern Ireland lawmakers until midnight Oct. 21 to reconvene the Assembly and elect a new speaker. Otherwise, the bill’s abortion and same-sex amendments would take effect. “Lawmakers failed to come to an agreement by the deadline, making it impossible to block the bill.” Did you catch that? The two major (allegedly) Christian groups would not put aside their differences long enough to protect the unborn! But before we start throwing rocks at Ireland – let us not overlook the terrible truth that churches across America have their own despicable divisions. Listen! NONE of our national moral evils could ever have gained an inch if Protestants and Catholics in this country would have put aside our differences long enough to protect the unborn. But now, and because of our ongoing divisions, Satan has taken his inch and stretched it into miles. What is there to do? That’s an easy question to answer. A house divided cannot stand – so Christians – by whatever label you call yourselves – put aside your differences long enough to defend the unborn. We have a chance to do that at every election – local, state, and national. We have much to learn from Northern Ireland.

How Do They Know?

Agape (Ah-gah-pay) love is more a decision than a feeling. It’s more a commitment than a relationship. It is love without condition -- like the love of a parent for a child. John 3:16, of course, illustrates the ultimate expression of God's agape love for a humanity shaking its collective fist in His face: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Romans 5:8 also comes to mind: “God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The Holy Spirit is not impressed by our religious activities or our spiritual gifts. That’s why He guided St. Paul to write: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned [as a martyr], but do not have love, it profits me nothing." Without agape love, the most enthusiastic religious activities and the most ostentatious spiritual gifts are like the irritating gonging of a bell or a cacophonous clanging of a cymbal. No wonder the Lord Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Agape love for one another. A self-sacrificing love. A ‘lay-down-my-life-for-you’ kind of love. How to others know I am a disciple of Jesus? How do they know you are a disciple?

The Only Bridge

For decades I’d seen in evangelistic tracts and literature the drawn image of a cross spanning a chasm of flames. The flames represent hell. Heaven is on the other side of the chasm. There is only one way to get from this side to the other. Those who walk the way of the cross are safe from eternal destruction.

Only recently did I learn the image of the bridge dates to the 1300s when St. Catherine of Sienna first put forward the idea of the Cross as a Bridge across a powerfully flowing river, which represents sin and hell. 

Rather than think evangelicals borrowed that imagery from the Catholic saint, I believe what happened is the Holy Spirit used and uses the same imagery to everyone and anyone whose heart is restless for Truth and eternal life. 

Yes, and even now, Jesus, as a Bridge over trouble waters, Jesus is softly and tenderly calling, “Oh sinner, come home.” 

If you’ve never come as an adult, I hope you will come. And if you have come in the past, but need to do so again – please won't you do so, again? 

Dirty Pennies. Spotless Crowns

I’m not sure why I bothered to pick up the penny from the dirt along the curb. I don’t usually waste energy troubling myself for pennies. Perhaps I stopped because I needed to catch my breath. Heat shimmered off the asphalt in the mid-day sun and my sweat-soaked T-shirt clung like a second skin. Only 20 minutes into my daily jogging routine and I felt like falling onto the nearest shaded lawn.

Perhaps I stopped because I can’t escape half-buried memories of my mother’s lessons about money. She taught me the value of pennies years ago. Dad left us when I was five, and Mom, my sister and I skirted the edge of poverty for years afterward. I still remember her searching through drawers and pockets for so much as a few cents. Pennies were as valuable to us in those days as ten-dollar bills – and more readily available.

Whatever the reason, I held the coin until I returned home and tossed it onto the table by the front door. By the time I’d pulled off my running shoes, it had slipped from my mind. I couldn’t have known God was about to use that near-valueless coin to teach me a lesson in spiritual investments.

That evening I opened the Scriptures and turned to the place I’d left off the day before. My eyes skimmed the familiar verses of 1 Corinthians 5 and moved across the page to chapter 6. Then verse 9:

“Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Talk about dirty pennies. Some of the men and women living in Corinth were rolling around in the dung-heap of life. It would be easy to conclude no one – especially God – would waste the energy to pick them out of the muck.

That would be a wrong conclusion. The next verse continues, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

God is in the business of transforming dirty coins into spotless crowns, and history overflows with examples. Saul is one. The first century religious zealot burned with murderous rage against Christians. He hated their worship, loathed their gatherings and despised their Messiah. He dragged followers of Christ from their homes and tossed them into dungeons. When a mob gathered to murder Christ’s disciples, Saul stood by and watched with approval.

Then Saul – better known as Paul – met Christ, and the persecutor became the apostle. The man who tried to destroy the Christian faith now proclaimed it as mankind’s only hope for peace, forgiveness and eternal life. Nearly one half of the New Testament came from his pen. Millions of men and women have experienced life-transformation because of his letters of challenge, comfort, warning and exhortation.

Francesco Bernadone is another example. The son of a wealthy businessman, Francesco enjoyed a rich and easy childhood. But wealth and ease ate like a cancer at his moral foundation and he whirled through a dizzying lifestyle of wild parties and women.

Then God picked the dirty penny from life’s garbage heap, and Francesco Bernadone – better known as Francis of Assisi – devoted himself to the poor, ministering to them in Christ’s name.

John Newton is yet another example. An 18th century slave-trader, Newton packed human cargo into the bowels of his ship bound for the Americas. Many of the slaves, half-starved and surrounded by human waste and disease, died enroute. Newton, however, considered the loss merely an unfortunate business expense.

Then Christ grabbed hold of him. Shortly thereafter, Newton resigned his ship and devoted himself to serve the One he’d so long rejected. Christians around the world – many of whom are descendants of Newton’s slaves – still sing hymns the former slave-trader wrote to honor Christ. You might recognize the words to one of those hymns:

“Amazing grace/how sweet the sound/that saved a wretch like me/I once was lost, but now am found/was blind, but now I see.”

Dr. Bernard Nathanson is our final illustration of God’s mercy. Perhaps the most infamous champion of abortion during the 1960's and early 1970's, Nathanson co-founded the National Abortion Rights Action League in 1968 and performed or supervised more than 60,000 abortions. Nearly single-handedly, he helped shape the political and social landscape that made the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision possible.

But even he was not so deeply mired in sin’s quagmire that God did not reach into Nathanson’s gutter and pick him up. Through the prayers and ministry of Christians, Nathanson repented of his sins, received complete forgiveness and became a child of God. Though he could never undo the horror he helped create, he worked tirelessly until the day of his death in 2011 to protect the unborn from the fate he brought to others.

Who can ever understand the richness of God’s unfailing and unconditional love? Like the Prodigal’s Father in Luke 15, God scans the horizon and looks for those lost in life’s decay. No sparrow is so fallen, no coin so lost, no sheep so wayward that the heavenly Father won’t bend down, pick them up and carry them in his hand. Murderers, drunkards, adulterers, blasphemers . . . . the Church is full of the evidence of changed lives. 

But that should surprise no one. Where else but in God’s hands can dirty pennies become spotless crowns?

Is Mary the Mother of God?

I posted this a year ago. I fear there remains today a lot of shallow theology: -------- In a conversation I had with an online acquaintance about theologians, I wrote the following response. I share it again with my online communities because it remains distressing to me that such a prominent theologian would be so shallow in his understanding of theology: As I was preparing for a Bible study during the 2018 Advent season, I reviewed the Ryrie Study Bible of the New American Standard Bible. Charles Ryrie, Th.D., Ph.D., wrote this footnote at Luke 1:43: "The phrase 'Mother of God' is nowhere in Scripture." My mouth dropped open. OF COURSE that phrase is not in the Bible. But neither is the word 'Trinity' in the Bible. And neither did the Holy Spirit place anywhere in the Bible what the Table of Contents should be of what we call the 'canon' of Scripture.
I would expect such a disingenuous and specious argument from a lay person, but certainly not from such a well-respected theologian. SURELY he knows of the dialogue that went on up to and culminating with the Third Ecumenical Council in 431 at Ephesus. Just like the earlier Ecumenical Councils at Nicea and later at Constantinople which affirmed the deity of Jesus, the third council also reiterated the deity of Jesus. AND since Mary was His mother, the council concluded that Mary was the mother of the Second Person of the Trinity. In other words: Mary was the Mother of God. Why is that so difficult to grasp? Is it because Catholics believe it and so, therefore by default it cannot be true?  Is THAT a reason to reject a clear and unequivocal doctrinal truth? Sheeesh! No wonder there is such theological ignorance out here when respected and well-lettered theologians are unwilling to teach as simple a truth as that! While I was studying for my theological degree at the Assemblies of God seminary, one of my professors said something every Christian -- including Th.Ds and Ph.Ds -- would do well if they practiced it: "Truth, if it is truth, does not need to be held in a tightly clenched fist. If it is truth, it can be held in an open palm for all the world to see and to examine."

What Will You Do in 2020?

It took years before I felt comfortable wearing reading glasses. In my younger days – my 40s and 50s I call my younger days – I usually carried them in my shirt pocket and pulled them out only when absolutely necessary. 

That's where they were, in my shirt pocket, while Nancy and I enjoyed our meal at a local Italian restaurant many years ago. It wasn't until my eyes started to burn from the eyestrain that I finally pulled them from my pocket. 

And then – for the first time that evening – I saw them: Water droplets on my iced tea glass. Spots of tomato sauce beneath my plate. Creases in the tablecloth. 

How did I sit at the table for nearly an hour and not notice them? Stains and wrinkles which had blurred into nondescript shapes and patterns suddenly danced and shouted for attention. For a few moments I played with my glasses, shifting them on my nose, marveling at how different things look when you can really see. 

So, what is my real point? How many spots and wrinkles within the fabric of our lives blur into unrecognizable shapes and patterns because we neglect to wear our spiritual glasses? When our Bibles lie closed on the bookshelf and we view our world – AND our lifestyle – through the filters of friends and news broadcasts, sitcoms and movies, is it any wonder that the crisp lines of God's "Thou Shalt Not" blurs into "Why Not"? 

Which brings us to our text for today in 1 Corinthians at chapter ten and verse one: “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. 

Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were . . . Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.  Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction . . ..  

Read verse 11 again: Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

The Lord Jesus is coming for a people without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27; 2 Peter 3:14), and He warned those who claim to have sight – but in reality are blind – to receive from Him salve to anoint their eyes that they may clearly see (Rev 3: 17, 18). 

Listen!  When it comes to questions of morality, of righteousness, of justice, of sin and eternal judgement, the Bible alone is our eye salve. And if there ever was a time you and I need to see ourselves and our culture with clear vision, it is now. If there ever was a time to acquire Holy Spirit anointed eye salve, it is now. If there ever was a time to continually open His word and seek a 2020 vision of His truth, and turn from the culture’s, it is now. 

In early January I read a report about the new Anglican Archbishop of York regarding contemporary views of same-sex relationships.  The Bible, he said, must yield to the cultural beliefs of society on matters of sexual behavior.* 

In another corner of the church, the United Methodist church is planning to split into two major factions: the one teaching the Biblical mandates regarding sexuality, the other allowing homosexual relationships – even in their leadership.**

And if you have been following some of the things Pope Francis has said and done in the last few years – most recently to say true Christians do not proselytize others to the Christian faith,*** then you will know the days are growing darker.

As I said, if there ever was a time to acquire spiritual eye salve, it is now.

Please, listen. God demands holiness and obedience from His children. Nothing less. Our text in 1 Corinthians illustrates that Israel, as a nation, ate from the same spiritual food, drank from the same spiritual drink. Sounds like Holy Communion, doesn’t it? But their religious activity didn’t CHANGE them. That’s why many fell into idolatry and sexual immorality. 

Fourteen hundred years later, the Lord Jesus warned us with similar language.  “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; (sounds like Holy Communion, doesn't it?) and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; Depart from Me, all you evildoers.’ (Luke 13:24-27) 

Please! This is important. God is not at all concerned about our religious activity – whether we do good works or teach or pray or even receive holy communion – He is not at all concerned for ANY of those things if our HEART is not continually – continually changing and moving toward Him. He is not impressed with our outward religiosity if we do not come to Him with a proper disposition of heart.

Here is what God says through His prophet Amos (5:21- 24): “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” 

Justice and righteousness – not the culture’s idea of them, but God’s definition of them. 

In my nearly 50 years of walking with the Lord, I am convinced there is no better way to mature in our knowledge of God and our obedience to Him than to learn of Him though His Scriptures. It is through the Scriptures AND the historic (and not current) interpretation of the Church that God actually speaks His thoughts to us.

To that end, I often encouraged people to read two chapters of the Old Testament (OT) and two of the New Testament (NT) each day. Doing so gets you through the OT once a year and the NT three times each year. But I realize that reading plan might be too ambitious for some, so I have an alternate suggestion: Set for yourself a goal for the next 12 months to read only the following FIVE books of the NT: The Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of John, the book of Romans, the book of Galatians, and the book of Colossians. 

That’s it. Only five books of the 27 books in the NT. Reading them should not be a sprint. Plan for it to take a year to read them. As you read, keep a notebook and a pen with your Bible. Take time to reflect on verses or paragraphs that arouse your interest. Listen as the Holy Spirit speaks to you. Underline the verse(s) in your Bible or make notes in the margins. AND – if a particular verse really speaks to you, take several days to commit it to memory. 

It will be a year well spent.

The choice is always before us: The small gate or the wide one, the narrow path or the broad. And unless we are fluently familiar with His Holy word, we can easily follow others toward the wrong path and the wrong door. I urge you to renew your decision to live in obedience to Jesus, learning from the Scriptures how to know Him better with each passing year.  

Two thousand years ago the apostle James wrote words that remain timeless: “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 2:14).  And after the vapor disperses, Scripture tells us, we will each stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give account of our lives – and our lifestyles (2 Corinthians 5:10).

* https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/2019/december/church-of-englands-battle-over-sexual-morality-and-the-bible-continues

** https://religionnews.com/2020/01/03/leaders-announce-plan-to-split-united-methodist-church-over-lgbtq-ordination-marriage/



*** https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2019/12/22/pope-francis-tells-christians-not-to-try-to-convert-nonbelievers/