Whatever Happened To Sin?

Have you noticed the trend in America to eliminate sin? No longer do we identify sin as that which leads to immoral behavior. No, we have become much to proper for that. Instead we blame our surroundings, our background, the people we hang with, our parents, some emotional instability, or call it deviancy. Today our society scratches its head and accepts the moral decay of America as a phenomenon that simply arises. This is not a new occurance. In 1979, psychiatrist Karl Menninger wrote, "I believe there is "sin" which is expressed in ways which cannot be subsumed . . . as 'crime,' 'disease,' delinquency,' 'deviancy.' There is immorality; there is unethical behavior, there is wrongdoing. And I hope to show that there is usefulness in retaining the concept, and indeed the word, SIN, which now shows some signs of returning to public acceptance."
Despite Menninger's hopes of the terminology of sin being once again prevalent in our culture, such is not the case. We continue to give it other, more acceptable labels that tend to distance us from the accountability of our actions. Unfortunately, many churches in America have chosen to follow suit and remove the terminology of sin from their pulpits. One prominent televison preacher who speaks to tens of thousands at every service told Christianity Today, "sin is not on the menu at our church." His reasoning was that people did not want to hear about their sin, they wanted to find words of hope and encouragement. The problem with this type of preaching is that there is no hope and encouragement until we acknowledge our sin, turn from our sin, and embrace Jesus Christ as our Lord.
In his book, The Disappearance of God, Albert Mohler calls this rejection of the notion of sin by our churches an abdication of the gospel. He remarks, "where sin is not faced as sin, grace cannot be grace." If we are going to have revival in our churches and across America then we must get serious about our sin problem. The church must lead the charge in once again calling sin, sin. We must recognize our sin and take responsibility for it, and repent of it. We cannot expect the world to take sin seriously until the church does. Whatever Happened To Sin? Nothing, it's still prevalent in our lives and separates us from a Holy God. Now is the time to confess our sin and be reconciled to God.

America In Crisis

We have been blessed over the years to live in a land of plenty. Americans are, by far, the richest people in the world. Our dilemma is not can we find something to eat, but rather what shall we eat today. We live in houses with air conditoning and heat, electricity and running water. We are indeed a very rich people. We drive to the grocery in our relatively new automobiles and walk down the aisles and choose what we would like to eat for the coming week. After we have purchased our groceries we stop by McDonald's, choosing not only to have a hamburger, but we pay someone else to fix it for us. Stocked with our groceries and filled with our hamburgers, we stop by the video store to rent a movie to watch on our television.
No wonder much of the world pays little attention to our cries of economic crisis. When 53% of the world survives on 2 dollars a day, its hard for them to muster up much sympathy for us simply because our choices have been adjusted from filet mignon to hamburger (still paying for someone else to fix it for us). While much of our world truly struggles to survive and deals with life and death struggles daily, we continue driving our cars, enjoying our latte's and watching our televisions. We may have a crisis in America, but it't not an economic crisis.
The crisis that America is facing is a spiritual crisis. We believe that the world exists for our good pleasure. We have been mistakenly taught that we have achieved our success. We are the reason that America has prospered. Good ole American ingenuity got us to this pinnacle of economic success. Decade by decade we have swallowed this lie and now we believe that everything that exists, exists for our pleasure. We believe we deserve the good things in life. We have taken the luxuries of life and renamed them "necessitiies."
We would do well to remember the words of Joshua to Israel for they are powerfully relevant to America today, "I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant. Now, therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness" (Joshua 24:13-14a). The crisis we face is one of our own making. We have forgotten who our God is. We have placed our trust in our own resources, intelligence, and wealth and have abandoned the God who has blessed us in the past. Christians, it's time to once again return to the Lord and place your trust in Him. Life is not about your pleasure; it's about honoring and glorifying God. We must quit crying about our economic "crisis" and take note of our spiritual crisis. Return to God and live for His glory!

The Church: Called to Display The Glory of God

In reading the Scripture we know that the task of the church is to display the glory of God to the world. This sounds like a clear answer until one begins to consider how one goes about doing this. How do we as individuals display the glory of God? What does it mean to display the glory of God? John Piper defines the displaying of the glory of God as holy perfection going public. I believe this is where the church misses the mark. No one would deny that we are to make Christ known to a lost world, nor that we are to display the glory of God.
The problem arises in that many Christians believe that these tasks are accomplished through our worship services. While it is true that our worship services must display the glory of God and should definitely magnify His Name; this is not what is meant by "holy perfection going public." I think what God has in mind is more in keeping with the statement of Jesus that we are to ". . . let your lights so shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify the Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:16).
The church is made up of baptized believers. Each one of us make up the church. If we are to display God's Glory then we must each take the holy perfection, that has been imputed to us through the blood of Jesus Christ, public. We must start walking worthy of our calling as Christians. We are called to be set apart, holy, different from everyone else. The church must begin living out the faith we profess. Its time for the church to take God's Holy Pefection public by walking in the Word and living our lives in such a way that the world sees Jesus in us. Our world has yet to see the glory of God manifested by His Church. Now is the time! The church must rise up and walk in holiness so that the glory of God will shine and the world will magnify the Father.

Whatever Happened to the Church?

I've been reading a lot lately about mission work and church planting across the world. As I read and study the strategies these missionaries and church planters use to try to establish a connection with their respective communities I began to wonder why the local church is not more effective in doing the same thing.
It seems everyone gets excited and pumped up about going on a short-term mission trip to evangelize an area in Africa or some Indian village in the Southwest, but very few will even take a small amount of time out of their day to come together and devise strategies to do these same things in their own ministry field. I know of many associations and churches that are really pushing establishing new church plants. While I am all in favor of planting churches, in fact, I am in the process of leading our church to plant a church in a surrounding community, it seems to me that we are quick to send our resources to help start a work in a different area, while dragging our feet in our own local churches.
When we think of church plants we think of discovering the community in which the church will be planted, planning carefully how we are going to go about reaching this community and engaging in numerous evangelistic efforts to reach these people. I want to argue that if we would stop what we are doing (or not doing) and seek the heart of God and pray over our present community just maybe God would reignite a passion for the people in our neighborhoods. The church needs to become the church again. We need to develop a strategy to reach the people in our own community, plan and implement evangelistic events to reach the lost in our neighborhoods. Once we become a mission-minded church seeking to reach our local community, then we will be much more effective at planting churches in new areas to reach another segment of people. Whatever happened to the church? We grew stagnant and lazy. Its time for the church to rise up and develop a strategy to reach our neighborhoods.

Cry Out For The Family

President Obama has signed a decree to make June Gay,Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Day. He has also made it abundantly clear that he is going to do all that he can to encourage legislation for same sex marriage. These two issues coupled with the president's strong stance in favor of abortion should cause the Christian community to cry out in anger. Instead, the Christian community remains mostly silent. Many Christians don't want to get involved in politics. Others believe we should just try to get along. Still others have deluded themselves into believing that these documents the president is signing are merely providing equal rights for different people groups.
The issue before us is not equal rights nor is it merely politics. The issue we are faced with is an outright assault on the family. We must never forget that marriage is not an institution designed by man, but rather one designed by God in the beginning. God ordained marriage as being between one man and one woman for ever. When we deviate from that pattern we are aligning ourselves against a Holy God. Likewise, when we as a nation begin taking pride in sin (homosexuality) we become an affront to God and again align ourselves against Him. Sin, whether its homosexuality, gossip, lust, etc. is nothing to take pride in. When our nation declares a Gay,Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Day we are thumbing our nose at God.
Make no mistake about it, our family unit is in dire stratis. Our nation's abortion policy legalizes murder and brings to a sudden end, the new life that our God has created. Its time for Christians to cry out for the family. Let you voice be heard. Our future depends upon it.

What Is Your Heartcry?

Jesus told the inquiring religious leader that all of the Law could be summed up in this statement: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. While this is well-known among Christians, this simple statement is profound in its implications. Truly our Lord is reminding us that the true cry of our heart belies our treasures. What is it that your heart truly yearns for? Is your utmost desire to please and honor God? Do you long to glorify Him? Is the Lord God the all-compelling thought that courses through your mind and the passionate obsession that makes your heart race? No, then what is your heartry?
What is that all-compelling obsession that governs your day? Is it your job? Maybe its your pursuit of wealth? If you were to take inventory of that which drives you by taking note of your dayplanner, your checkbook, your internet activity, and your free time; what would they reveal about your heart? You see, that which occupies first place in your heart always manifests itself: in your thoughts, your actions, your pursuits, your expenditures, and your time. If God is, indeed, our heartcry then this will be obvious to us and made manifest to all those around us becuase our love for God will color all that we think and do. When the Lord God is our heartcry then we will have just begun to grasp what it means to love the Lord God with all our heart, mind, and strength. What is your heartcry?

Remember The One Who Died . . . And Arose Again

Memorial Day is looming on the horizon. It's a time to remember those who have given their lives in battle for our nation's freedom. Family members pay tribute to loved ones who have lost their lives in the various wars our nation has fought. Those of us who have not lost any loved ones in battle, remember those who have lost their lives and pay tribute to them. All across our nation, people will pause on Memorial Day to remember those whose blood was spilled to purchase our freedom as a nation. It is a moving sight to see our nation praying and joining together to honor those who paid the ultimate price to give us the opportunity to thrive as a nation.

While Memorial Day is a very special holiday and thousands of people cherish the opportunity to remember their loved ones, there is a memorial that is of even greater significance. As Christians, we can never forget the blood that was shed for us at Calvary to purchase our freedom. This was not merely a freedom of speech, or freedom to pursue happiness, or other temporal freedoms. The freedom that Jesus Chrsit purchased for us is the freedom from our sins. Over 2,000 years ago, the Greatest Warrior the world has ever known journeyed from heaven to earth to offer His life upon the Cross as the penalty for our sins. He fought a battle we could not win, and won for us a victory we cannot lose. This holiday weekend, do not fail to remember the One who died upon the Cross to purchase our freedom from sin, hell, and the grave; and then arose victoriously to give us life.

Jesus provided us with a way to remember His sacrifice. On the night he was betrayed, he gathered with the disciples in the Upper Room and he took the bread and the wine and shared them with them. He used these elements to represent his body that would be broken on the cross and his blood that would be shed. He told us that as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup to do so in remembrance of him. May we never forget the price that was paid, the blood that was shed, and the life that was given.

Are You Really Thirsty?

When is the last time you've been really thirsty? I mean really thirsty! I'm talking about the thirst one experiences after running a mini-marathon. You've gone an extended time without water and you've been pushing your body to the limits. Your body is pouring out fluids and there have been no fluids taken in to replace it. When this happens, medical experts tell us the body becomes dehydrated and begins to shut down.

Could this be what is happening to Christianity today? We are teaching our Sunday School Classes on our left-overs instead of drinking from the pool of God's wisdom on a weekly basis. We attempt to raise our families and strengthen our marriages without continually coming into the presence of the Living God in prayer and drinking from His refreshing well. As a result we experience burn out in our ministries, tire of our relationships, go through the motions in our parenting, and find ourselves in a rut spiritually. What we really need is a deep and overwhelming thirst for God. The Psalmist expresses it like this: "I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land" (Psalm 143:6).

May the church once again thirst for the Living God and reach out to Him, drinking freely from His well that we might once again live powerfully victorious lives for the kingdom of God.

God's Arresting Grace

Times are difficult in 2009.  Everywhere we turn we hear of the economic recession.  Many families are struggling as more and more people lose their jobs, suffer cutbacks, and find themselves buried in debt.  The news media reminds us daily of just how bleak the economic picture appears.  At a time when people need to be encouraged our media continues to hammer them with news of increased unemployment, failure of economic stimulus plans to make an early impact, and the decreased value of the dollar.  It has become heartbreaking for many to read the morning newspaper for fear that one more economic light has burned out.  Many drive to work with fear and trembling, wondering if their job is still there.  Life surely seems to be cast in a dark and dismal scene.  However, in the midst of the economic instability let us not forget the sure foundation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God's Word does not tell us that God only loves us and cares for us when things are going well, but instead we are told that His mercy endures forever. Remember Jeremiah's letter to the Jews in exile in Babylon. They had lost their identity, their homeland, their religion, and their faith.  Life was as dark as it had ever been.  They felt like God had forsaken them and that thier situation was hopeless.  In the midst of this despairing situation Jeremiah wrote: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile" (Jeremiah 29:11-14).

While the world tells you there is no hope of a better tomorrow, God's grace stops us in our tracks and reminds us that we are His children and He has a perfect plan for us. When we acknowledge His arresting grace and stop following the mourning song of the world and seek the heart of God with all our energy and passion, we will find Him and He will restore us!