Pastor's Words for Living

So How Do You Feel About Polygamy?

How should human beings make decisions about what is best for society?  Is it merely a matter of doing what seems good at the moment?  Are there circumstantial factors related to specific areas or people groups that should determine what is healthy?  Should morals be considered as an important component? Has mankind progressed beyond the need for moral standards?

It is disturbing to observe the trends in a society once morality is compromised in a particular area.  People tell themselves and one another that compromise is good and can in fact lead to a better culture. The truth is one breach can quickly grow into a massive deterioration of the culture.  Given that  the culture is eroding quickly enough, it seems a bit foolish for us to go out of our way to help it along. 

I ran across an article this week that grabbed my attention.  It is certain that this topic is going to gain some momentum in the coming days and years.  There are going to be more articles written and discussions among your friends about this subject.  What will be your position when you find yourself unable to avoid it?  What will be the reasoning behind your position?  It's worth thinking about. 

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/01/the_problem_with_polygamy.html

How Is An Antitheist Made?

Christopher Hitchens died recently.  He has long been a staunch opponent of God and Christianity.  He had been battling cancer for some time, so his death was not unexpected.  When I heard the news I immediately wondered if what Hitchens experienced immediately after death was unexpected.  Those of us who believe that God is indeed real and deserving of all worship know what Hitchens discovered.  And it grieves my heart that a man will only believe truth after it is too late.

Check out the link below to an article by Albert Mohler.  It's an interesting read on the man who was Christopher Hitchens and once claimed that he was not really so much an atheist as he was an antitheist.

http://www.albertmohler.com/2012/01/11/learning-from-christopher-hitchens-lessons-evangelicals-must-not-miss/

Pass The Salt

We live in a society where salt is not considered to be good for a person.  Ever notice the frowns and wrinkled brows around the table if you ask someone to pass the salt?  Certainly it has been demonstrated that too much salt can contribute to undesirable health issues and moderation is wise when it comes to the human body.  Still, salt is helpful when used with discretion.  

Salt creates thirst and can increase our desire for fluids which are very important, particularly if we consume water. Salt enhances the flavor of foods, even making some foods almost palatable.  Have you ever tried to eat brussel sprouts without salt?  Before refrigeration became commonplace, salt was a valuable preservative.

Jesus said that His followers were to be salt in the world.  As believers conform to His image, they appear distinct from the world's norm.  The evidence of His Spirit working in the lives of believers is noticed by those who do not know Christ.  The effect is that a believer's witness creates a thirst in the soul of those who are without Christ.  It is this thirst that can, and often does, lead to meaningful opportunities to speak the gospel into the lives of those who desperately need to hear it.

Dick Keyes, in his book Chameleon Christianity, makes the compelling case for Christians to be true to their calling by being salt in this world:

Sociologists tell us that dissonant groups within a larger society react to reduce the potential for friction in two predictable ways.  One is to compromise their distinctive beliefs and way of life and so reduce their conflict with society.  The other is to keep their dissonance and tribalize, retreating within their own group and thus losing contact with society.

It is easy for us to become intimidated by society's ridicule or rejection of the gospel.  Our natural bent is toward changing our beliefs to be more like the world, hoping that it will lead to being accepted.  Or, we stick to our convictions, but keep them hidden within the walls of the Church.  Neither of these options reflect Jesus' instructions for believers to be salt in the world.  How we are living our lives in the world requires careful examination and faithful prayer.  Those we encounter need us to be salty.

No Fault Sin?

Are we responsible for our sinful actions, or is sin not really our fault?  Greece's current problems are not limited to economic issues, but include important moral concerns.  Take a look at the following article at World Magazine to learn more.  Invest some time thinking about the real problem and how it matters in your own life.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GREECE_DISABILITY_DISPUTE?SITE=NCAGW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Don't Miss Christmas

The wise men or magi came from a great distance to see this one born king of the Jews.  We can speculate about how they came to discover prophecies concerning Christ’s birth and how they connected the appearance of a special star to His birth.

They came from the east.  People like to speculate about what that means.  Some think that they came from the Far East.  I like to think they may have come from what is modern Iraq, near the Persian Gulf.  My reason is that is where Abraham came from when he followed God’s call.  It makes sense to me that Abraham’s connections to his home area would have facilitated interest in the birth of a King to Abraham’s descendants.  But, that’s not what is important here.  The point is that the magi travelled a great distance.  They invested themselves in understanding the prophecies.  They invested themselves through time, energy, resources in order to come to Christ.  They came with expectation and preparation to genuinely worship the Christ.
 
Herod offers another perspective.  He was a king and he was king over the people of promise, in the land of promise.  He had the prophecies under his proverbial nose.  He had great resources in the form of the chief priests, scribes, so-called experts regarding God’s word.  Yet, there had apparently been no investment on his part to understand the prophecies concerning Messiah.  When it was brought to his attention by these wise men from afar, he feigned interest, but it was only self-interest that motivated him.  He had no desire to worship the promised king.  His desires were to guard his own position, power, and prosperity.  The magi travelled hundreds of miles, but Herod was unwilling to travel five miles to Bethlehem.  His dismissal of Christ is profound in his words to the magi, “You go and find him, then report back to me.”
 
When the magi found the Christ, they offered genuine worship to Him.  They brought expensive offerings to Him.  They rejoiced in the promise, presence, and glory of Him.  Herod missed Christmas completely.  It passed him by because life was all about him.  He was self-absorbed, intent only upon his own honor.  He ignored the word of God and the testimony of men that pointed to Christ.  He not only ignored them, but pretended, lied, and conspired in hopes of destroying Christ.  He could have gone to Bethlehem.  He could have worshiped Christ.  He could have humbled himself before the only One who could cleanse him from sin and regenerate his cold heart.  He chose to perpetuate his own unholy ambitions.
 
Matthew’s last word on Herod in verse 19 reads, “But when Herod died.”  Christ died too.  He died a horrible death by crucifixion, but He resurrected and He lives even now.  He ascended back into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you and for me by name.  The day is fast approaching when He will get up from that place of honor near His Father and He will return to earth yet again.  He is not coming as baby like we celebrate today.  He is not coming as only King of the Jews or even King of the Christians.  He is coming as King of kings and Lord of lords.  He is going to bring judgment for all who have rejected Him and unending life in His presence for those who reject sin and turn in faith to Him alone.
 
It’s a wonderful thing to remember and celebrate Christ’s first advent.  It’s a joy to give and receive gifts as commemoration of the greatest gift ever given, God incarnate.  We should celebrate with every breath the first advent of Christ and we should anticipate with every beat of the heart His second advent.  Be praying and looking for His return.  Allow the thought that He could come again at any moment prompt your heart to be vigilant and prepared.  Allow the love demonstrated by both His advents to cultivate perpetual worship and anticipation in your heart this coming year.  Let us join our hearts with that of the apostle John who wrote at the end of the Revelation, “Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.”

Is There Really Any Good In Suffering?

Scripture is very clear that suffering is a normal part of living in this world.  Is suffering a form of punishment we must endure when we take a wrong turn?  Is suffering something to be avoided as much as possible?  What is the story behind suffering?  How does suffering speak to us?

I think you will find some helpful thoughts in Michael McKinley's blog linked below.  Check it out.

http://www.9marks.org/blog/imperatives-suffering

Advent Thoughts

Christmas is easily the most meaningful and anticipated holiday of the year.  There are a host of opinions as to what Christmas is really all about.  Some see it as purely secular, a time for giving and receiving presents.  Some see it as a time for doing good deeds.  Still others see it as a measuring stick for our beleaguered economy.  For Christians Christmas is one of the most precious and important times of the year.  But, is it important enough?
 
If we were honest with ourselves, most of us would likely confess that Christmas is something we survive rather than relish.  For whatever reasons Christmas requires a great deal of preparation, seems to offer limited cause for celebration, and often leaves us with a sense of desperation as we sort through things like fatigue, debt, and loneliness.  Don’t misunderstand.  I am convinced we enjoy the traditions, the beauty, the good feelings, and all the other trappings.  Yet, if you are like me, it is easy to get swallowed up in the rapid-fire events while failing to embrace the significance of Christmas.  It is because we get pressed into various mindsets prevalent in our culture rather than what is revealed by Scripture.
 
Take a moment and think about how the past five or six weeks have gone for you.  Consider what is going to happen in the next few hours and days.  When the gifts have been opened, the food consumed, and the decorations put away, what then?  Most of us will take a deep breath and simply start the calendar over again.  And if we are not careful we will spend another calendar year racing from one event to the next without a great deal of genuine reflection about the advent of Christ into this world.

Too Smart For Our Own Good

Do you ever get the feeling human beings are not quite as smart as we like to believe?  Many smart folks spend a lot of time and energy trying to convince the rest of us that each new generation is more intelligent than the previous one.  I'm not sure there is any real empirical evidence to support this attitude, but it exists nevertheless.

While it is clear that each generation has the advantage of lessons learned and knowledge gained by previous ones, real intelligence has more to do with how we use what we know.  Sometimes we do great things with the knowlegdge we have acquired.  We develop incredible technology, medicines, and treatments to beat back the horrors of disease and to improve life quality.  On other occasions we misuse what we have learned and in the end fill our lives with more tragedy.

Consider the following article written by Marcia Segelstein.  Then you decide how smart you think we are, or are we simply too smart for our own good?

http://online.worldmag.com/2011/12/16/another-boy-becoming-a-girl/

Treasure These Things

Luke 2 has sparked the imagination of more than few of us through the years.  We are struck by how it can be gentle and powerful; rustic and majestic; startling and assuring.   We love this passage on so many levels, but the most intriguing part of it to me is verse 19, “But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
 
She valued what was taking place around her.  She kept on keeping together all these things.  They served as her sustenance.  A.T. Robertson says, “She was not astonished, but filled with holy awe.”  It was not something she could simply switch off or forget.
 
She pondered these things.  She placed them side by side for comparison.  She took the things that Gabriel had said to her.  She took the things that Joseph had shared from his dream.  She took all the things that were unfolding before her now.  She linked them together and compared them.  She meditated and brooded over them with a mother’s high hopes and joy.  There is a great lesson here for us as well.  There is a challenge that we might ponder them within the marvelous context of high hopes and great joy.
 
My true hope and prayer for you is that you may not be content to visit only the memory of Jesus’ birth this Christmas, but I hope your thoughts will be shaken loose from the default position.  I pray that when you think of the stable and the manger, that you cannot keep yourself from remembering the horrors of the cross and the jubilation of the empty tomb. 
 
Guard your hearts against the temptation to indulge in the present.  Encourage the reflections of Christ’s incredible incarnation … life … death … resurrection.  Ponder the assurance of the future in His everlasting presence.

How Important Is It To Believe In The Virgin Birth?

Many people argue that the virgin birth of Jesus is nothing more than a myth or legend.  They contend that it should be abandoned because it portrays Christians as less than intelligent and discredits their faith in the eyes of the world.

What do you think?  Is it important to believe in the virgin birth of Jesus?

Take a look at Albert Mohler's article from this week.  I believe you will find it worth your time.

http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/12/14/must-we-believe-in-the-virgin-birth/