There is a notion going around that Phil Robertson speaking out on sexual immorality in America is the same or even close to what Rosa Parks did. The Duck Commander spoke out against sexual immorality in America, including sex outside of marriage and homosexuality. It was met with resistance from the Gay community and he was temporarily suspended from A&E. The point he was making is one that I have said many times before. Sexual immorality in America is the biggest problem today. Now there are some that have likened what Phil Robertson said to that of Rosa Parks. I believe that to be so totally incorrect. What she did was special. She was a nobody. She had no TV show. She had no millions of fans. She had no millions of dollars. She had no million dollar business to help her. She had courage. She simply was tired of being pushed around for being black. In her autobiography she said she wasn't tired, just tired of being pushed around. So she was defiant. She was also arrested for not leaving her seat in the "colored" section of the bus to make room for more white passengers. She didn't set out to make history that day. She simply was going home. She didn't sit in the white section. She went to the "colored" section and simply took her seat. When push came to shove she had the courage to simply say no and the rest is history. She made history in that moment. She put events in action that effect us to this day.
The Duck Commander on the other hand just simply spoke a Biblical truth. He wasn't arrested. He wasn't humiliated. There will be no dogs turned loose on him. There would be no hoses turned on him. There would be no crosses burned in his yard. No friends or family hung. No churches blown up. No movement to change America. These two people are not alike. Their messages are not alike. Phil wasn't tired or trying to start a movement. He simply answered a question with no threat of jail or repercussions. Rosa Parks knew her defiance would lead to being arrested and repercussions.
It was a great moment in history.
They both however made Biblical stances. Phil on the sexual immorality and Rosa Parks on all being created equal. That's really why people got upset. Biblical stances that go against how you feel and think and even the lifestyle your leading, are controversial. Not wrong, just controversial. He never said he didn't love them, like them or anything like that. The media blew this up. Its about ratings and about keeping religion quite. There is a gay agenda in this country. I do not believe that all homosexuals support the gay agenda that is being forced on America. Just like I don't believe that the black community supports everything Jesse Jackson says. We are in the time of media controlling what America thinks. Its scary to imagine that. Just don't get the idea that what Phil Robertson said is anywhere near as important to what a little black lady did Dec. 1st 1955 in Montgomery. If you've never been to Montgomery to take the Civil Rights tour, I suggest you do.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Friday, December 13, 2013
What fruit are you producing?
I"m in a mood today. I got in this mood last night and its still on me today. Let me give you the backstory.
There's a couple that is living in sin, a good ole fashion term for shacking up, parading around like this wonderful little couple. It was brought to my attention that they were to play Santa and Mrs. Claus in their local church play and they were having the Sunday School class that they attend over for the weekend to practice for the play. They are in a married couples Sunday School class, yet they are not married, engaged or heading in that direction. In fact they are anti marriage as both have been divorced several times. They are always posting anti marriage post on their social media and make fun of others that are married. So why be part of a group that is married and seeking other Godly couples to spend their time with? This bothered me all night long last night. Why? Well I know them. I know who they are. I've seen the fruit they are bearing. I am concerned about the other couples in there being influenced negatively by them.
Matthew 12:33-37 tells us that a tree is known by its fruit. This is where my problem lies. This couple was in Las Vegas last week partying and drinking. I know this because of their social media post. Posting their pictures of their drinks and all the bars they are going to. Posting pictures of all the expensive shopping trips they are going on. These are for the whole world to see. This is where I get ill. What fruit is being produced? This in a nutshell is why people don't go to church. HypoChristians (patent pending) Those are people who are doing it all for show. We look the part, we go, we hang out with those, we sing, we tithe but we live our normal lives Mon-Sat. Jimmy Buffett said there is a "Thin line between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" in Fruitcakes. That is how the hypoChristian lives. Lives in sin all week but on Sunday they are playing the part. No relationship with God during the week but Sunday they are there just praising and worshipping. People see that and that turns them off. What people?
As Christians there are those unbelievers that are watching you to see how you behave in your life. They want to see what "fruit" you are bearing. They see you living one way but acting another. That turns so many people off. People are looking for genuine people and more importantly genuine Christians. Its ok to struggle with your faith and your salvation. The enemy wants you to. Thats good, look what your struggling with. God, Salvation, Christ and your part in it. Those are great things to be struggling with, to understand and learn to obey and have a relationship with. You cant have a relationship with someone you don't know. When you have a relationship, you will bear fruit. Its what the Holy Spirit does in us. Remember when you would stay up late on the phone with that person who set the butterflies loose in your stomach? You were spending time together? In reality you were getting to know that person. You can not have a relationship with someone you do not know. If you only spend Sunday morning with God, then you can't develop a healthy relationship.
Back to the couple that started this rant. Why do they care to even be involved in church? Why do they they want to be with married Christian couples? Why the show? Well in a nutshell its how we are made. We are made in God"s image. He has written his laws on our hearts and we deep down, long for a real relationship with HIM! The only way to get that is to see others doing it. To for a little while enjoy their fruit. The whole anti marriage is just a smoke screen to hide their own insecurities. They want to be married but are afraid to get married because their relationship with God is not right. They know that deep down that their marriage would fail because their relationship with God is failing and not genuine.
There's a couple that is living in sin, a good ole fashion term for shacking up, parading around like this wonderful little couple. It was brought to my attention that they were to play Santa and Mrs. Claus in their local church play and they were having the Sunday School class that they attend over for the weekend to practice for the play. They are in a married couples Sunday School class, yet they are not married, engaged or heading in that direction. In fact they are anti marriage as both have been divorced several times. They are always posting anti marriage post on their social media and make fun of others that are married. So why be part of a group that is married and seeking other Godly couples to spend their time with? This bothered me all night long last night. Why? Well I know them. I know who they are. I've seen the fruit they are bearing. I am concerned about the other couples in there being influenced negatively by them.
Matthew 12:33-37 tells us that a tree is known by its fruit. This is where my problem lies. This couple was in Las Vegas last week partying and drinking. I know this because of their social media post. Posting their pictures of their drinks and all the bars they are going to. Posting pictures of all the expensive shopping trips they are going on. These are for the whole world to see. This is where I get ill. What fruit is being produced? This in a nutshell is why people don't go to church. HypoChristians (patent pending) Those are people who are doing it all for show. We look the part, we go, we hang out with those, we sing, we tithe but we live our normal lives Mon-Sat. Jimmy Buffett said there is a "Thin line between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" in Fruitcakes. That is how the hypoChristian lives. Lives in sin all week but on Sunday they are playing the part. No relationship with God during the week but Sunday they are there just praising and worshipping. People see that and that turns them off. What people?
As Christians there are those unbelievers that are watching you to see how you behave in your life. They want to see what "fruit" you are bearing. They see you living one way but acting another. That turns so many people off. People are looking for genuine people and more importantly genuine Christians. Its ok to struggle with your faith and your salvation. The enemy wants you to. Thats good, look what your struggling with. God, Salvation, Christ and your part in it. Those are great things to be struggling with, to understand and learn to obey and have a relationship with. You cant have a relationship with someone you don't know. When you have a relationship, you will bear fruit. Its what the Holy Spirit does in us. Remember when you would stay up late on the phone with that person who set the butterflies loose in your stomach? You were spending time together? In reality you were getting to know that person. You can not have a relationship with someone you do not know. If you only spend Sunday morning with God, then you can't develop a healthy relationship.
Back to the couple that started this rant. Why do they care to even be involved in church? Why do they they want to be with married Christian couples? Why the show? Well in a nutshell its how we are made. We are made in God"s image. He has written his laws on our hearts and we deep down, long for a real relationship with HIM! The only way to get that is to see others doing it. To for a little while enjoy their fruit. The whole anti marriage is just a smoke screen to hide their own insecurities. They want to be married but are afraid to get married because their relationship with God is not right. They know that deep down that their marriage would fail because their relationship with God is failing and not genuine.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Deals, Decorations, Depression and THAT baby.
Its finally the Christmas season, always marked by the arrival of Santa at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Its a season of giving and spending time with family and wearing ugly sweaters with friends. So why do I see articles and speak to people that are miserable this time of year? Maybe its the pressure to give the perfect gift. Maybe its the pressure to make it to all the events. Maybe its the pressure to get those kids that toy. Maybe its the pressure to find the finances to pay for these things. Maybe its the pressure to keep up with the Grizwald's next door in the decorations department. We all have that friend who's house looks straight out of Southern Living. Christmas has become about the season itself. People will remind us the "Reason for the Season" but do we really understand that phrase?
How old were you when you found out there was no Santa Clause? How old were you when you found out Dec. 25th is not the day of our Lords birth? Can you recall what you got last year for Christmas? How about 2 years ago? How about 10 years ago? I myself can only remember a couple of gifts over the years and only still have a few of them. One is a 1986 Transformer Rodimus Prime, a Swatch watch and some cycling clothes. All those years and all those gifts and only a few remain. Its sad that people hustled to get those things, spent their hard earned money and now there is nothing to show for it. We get caught up in in the shopping and gift giving, mostly because we have been trained to shop at this time of year. Black Friday, cyber Monday, Christmas in July sales and the new Gray Friday. The retailers and media have conditioned us to spend at this time of year. As we get caught up in the frenzy, at some point somebody will say "Remember the Reason for the Season". That usually makes stop and reflect on the Birth of Christ and then we are off again.
Do we truly understand how magnificent this birth is? How far in advance it was planned and foretold? Do we understand what it really means? In Genesis 3:15 tells us that God will send Christ for us. In the beginning here is God telling us that he has a plan for our salvation. His coming is foretold all throughout the Old Testament. Then we see his birth in the Gospel but do we stop to think about it? There was God in human form born that night, so we could understand God better. The scripture tells us that a "multitude of heavenly host praising God". Are we praising God for that during this season? Are we praising Him for sending His Son, who would ultimately die for our sins, like those angels in the fields? People are lost tis time of year. Depressed and lonely. Hurt and frustrated. Happy and oblivious to what Christmas really is. Looking at nativity scenes but missing God in there, as THE savior to the whole world.
The truth is that it is so easy to overlook the baby in the manger this time of year. Churches have low attendance during the Holiday season. One of the reason we overlook Him, is America has censored Him. I was in Office Max making a purchase and the teller said "Thank You, Happy Holidays!" It caught me and I said "Merry Christmas and thank God for our Savior's birth!" She looked at me and said "Amen." I smiled and left but in my mind I knew that the "Happy Holidays " was a way to not offend anybody in our PC world. (Isn't PC wrong in its self? You are censoring real people and trying to conform them! I digress.) There in a nutshell is the problem, Christ less Christmas. Is a epidemic in our country today. Have you seen this sign? Happy X-Mas? Yeah I thought so. See? Christ less.
So this Christmas season take time to tell loved ones and family members about the TRUE reason for Christmas. That THE savior was born to free all mankind from death.
How old were you when you found out there was no Santa Clause? How old were you when you found out Dec. 25th is not the day of our Lords birth? Can you recall what you got last year for Christmas? How about 2 years ago? How about 10 years ago? I myself can only remember a couple of gifts over the years and only still have a few of them. One is a 1986 Transformer Rodimus Prime, a Swatch watch and some cycling clothes. All those years and all those gifts and only a few remain. Its sad that people hustled to get those things, spent their hard earned money and now there is nothing to show for it. We get caught up in in the shopping and gift giving, mostly because we have been trained to shop at this time of year. Black Friday, cyber Monday, Christmas in July sales and the new Gray Friday. The retailers and media have conditioned us to spend at this time of year. As we get caught up in the frenzy, at some point somebody will say "Remember the Reason for the Season". That usually makes stop and reflect on the Birth of Christ and then we are off again.
Do we truly understand how magnificent this birth is? How far in advance it was planned and foretold? Do we understand what it really means? In Genesis 3:15 tells us that God will send Christ for us. In the beginning here is God telling us that he has a plan for our salvation. His coming is foretold all throughout the Old Testament. Then we see his birth in the Gospel but do we stop to think about it? There was God in human form born that night, so we could understand God better. The scripture tells us that a "multitude of heavenly host praising God". Are we praising God for that during this season? Are we praising Him for sending His Son, who would ultimately die for our sins, like those angels in the fields? People are lost tis time of year. Depressed and lonely. Hurt and frustrated. Happy and oblivious to what Christmas really is. Looking at nativity scenes but missing God in there, as THE savior to the whole world.
The truth is that it is so easy to overlook the baby in the manger this time of year. Churches have low attendance during the Holiday season. One of the reason we overlook Him, is America has censored Him. I was in Office Max making a purchase and the teller said "Thank You, Happy Holidays!" It caught me and I said "Merry Christmas and thank God for our Savior's birth!" She looked at me and said "Amen." I smiled and left but in my mind I knew that the "Happy Holidays " was a way to not offend anybody in our PC world. (Isn't PC wrong in its self? You are censoring real people and trying to conform them! I digress.) There in a nutshell is the problem, Christ less Christmas. Is a epidemic in our country today. Have you seen this sign? Happy X-Mas? Yeah I thought so. See? Christ less.
So this Christmas season take time to tell loved ones and family members about the TRUE reason for Christmas. That THE savior was born to free all mankind from death.
Monday, November 18, 2013
A Tale of a Redheaded Step-Child named Thanksgiving.
The radio is playing Christmas music 24/7. The lights are already up and Santa has come to town. I know, unfortunately, that Lifetime is already playing Christmas movies. Friends already have their stockings hung by the chimney with care. Christmas shopping has already begun. Black Friday has seeped over to Thanksgiving day. Poor ole Thanksgiving, just sitting there being overlooked. People are looking at Christmas, worrying what they are going to buy with money they more than likely don't have. People are trying to find out what deals there are for Black Friday aka Thursday. Here in Alabama the majority are focused on the Iron Bowl. The outcome will effect church attendance on Sunday. Thanksgiving now is as a day to eat turkey and dressing, a favorite of mine by the way, watch football and relax. Thanksgiving is starting to feel neglected, like he's not important anymore, like he has no value. He is starting to feel like people are overlooking him. Thanks in part to the media, we just blow by Thanksgiving. Christmas is pretty, Christmas is sleek, Christmas is fun and Christmas is the superstar. I asked the school kids today what they thought of when I said "Thanksgiving". They gave the standard answers, turkey, pilgrims, Indians, corn, Mayflower, Macy's, football and even black Friday. No one said God. Thanksgiving is about thanking God for all his blessings in our lives. We have been blessed with so much that it would take us weeks to write them all down. Thanksgiving deserves all of our attention. It deserves to be held in a high regard. People complain about America moving further from God, well here is a perfect example. Instead of a focus on God and family, we as a nation have made it a focus on other things. It should be a day of prayer at churches and in homes all across this great country for the blessings that God has bestowed upon us and upon this great country. It will be like this as Christmas draws near. The lack of focus on Christ will be very well publicized.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Free Trip to Heaven?
On my way home from church today I saw a church sign that said " Free Trip To Heaven. Come Inside for Details" I thought to my self, my salvation wasn't free. It was paid in full with the blood and death of Jesus Christ. I find this to be a huge problem with the modern church. False advertisement. Its a good sugary message, Accept Christ and get to go to heaven, see how easy that goes down? In reality once you have become a Christian, there is a price to pay. That price is change. Change in behavior, in friends, in heart, in spirit and in priorities. These things are just some of what the cost will be. Friends will leave you, you may lose your job, your spouse may leave, all the things you hold dear may fade away but the gift of following Christ is worth it. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain but He washed it white as snow. Jesus paid a cost, it as NOT free.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Hey Negative Nancy.
Negativity seems to be the order of the day here in America. Whether it be Obama, Healthcare or BCS standings, everything is so negative. Why? We live in America where we have freedoms that other countries would die for. We just seem to be so negative as a society these days. People mad at people who have money. People mad at people on welfare. People mad at those with nicer things. Looking around we see it in our media and especially in our social media today. Why?
I think its about what we think about. I think that we see others having an "easier" time and become frustrated. We see those on welfare as living an "easier" life because they don't have a 9-5 job. Those on welfare see those with a 9-5 having it "easier" and the want that. Those things are what we think on and it effects us negatively. Its like that sweet and wonderful couple in your church that cant have kids but we see so many babies aborted and given up each year. It makes us frustrated. We see or perceive someone else as having an "easier" life but that may not be the case. Its all about perceived appearance, or how it looks. We don't know the whole story about anybody or their situation. We think about and it effects us negatively. Its root is in our mind. We feel like we are missing out. We feel like we must keep up with the Jones. What that does is makes us a Negative Nancy. More importantly it shows God how much we don't appreciate the blessings that we currently have in our lives. If we would spend more time focused on what God has done for us in this life, outside of the sacrifice Jesus made for us, we would be truly grateful. Philippians 4:8 helps us learn this for fact.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there anything worthy of praise, think about these things." I believe that if we would focus on these things our negativity would be removed from our life. If there is anything? There are so many things worthy of praise in our lives, that it would take days to list. So think on these things and be positive.
I think its about what we think about. I think that we see others having an "easier" time and become frustrated. We see those on welfare as living an "easier" life because they don't have a 9-5 job. Those on welfare see those with a 9-5 having it "easier" and the want that. Those things are what we think on and it effects us negatively. Its like that sweet and wonderful couple in your church that cant have kids but we see so many babies aborted and given up each year. It makes us frustrated. We see or perceive someone else as having an "easier" life but that may not be the case. Its all about perceived appearance, or how it looks. We don't know the whole story about anybody or their situation. We think about and it effects us negatively. Its root is in our mind. We feel like we are missing out. We feel like we must keep up with the Jones. What that does is makes us a Negative Nancy. More importantly it shows God how much we don't appreciate the blessings that we currently have in our lives. If we would spend more time focused on what God has done for us in this life, outside of the sacrifice Jesus made for us, we would be truly grateful. Philippians 4:8 helps us learn this for fact.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there anything worthy of praise, think about these things." I believe that if we would focus on these things our negativity would be removed from our life. If there is anything? There are so many things worthy of praise in our lives, that it would take days to list. So think on these things and be positive.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Laser Pointer vs. Spotlight
I stumbled upon a conversation today. It was in line at Walmart of all places. It was a discussion about Gay Marriage. As I listened, because the lady in front of us all had a buggy full in the 10 items or less line, I was mesmerized by their arguments for and against. Then they turned to me and seeing my school badge they said well what is your opinion on this. I told them this. "Your using a laser pointer on a subject that requires a spotlight." See it's not about gay, straight or whatever, it's about sexual immorality. These folks were judging based on their own personal thoughts on the matter. Instead look at the heart of the matter. Sexual immorality in America is such a big problem that we can not even fathom how to begin to deal with it. I said look at the magazine covers we are standing by. Listen to the music in the car. Pick a station or genre. Our teens are so exposed to sex they are saturated in it. It's a struggle for them to escape it. It's not just them either. Adults of all age struggle with it. Divorce rate is high, adultry rates are at an all time high and people have seem to just given up on the idea of marriage. Why?
I think Philippians 3:19 goes well here. "Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things." The belly is pleasures of the flesh. Lust being one of them. Also Romans 1:24-25 is useful here. "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! " It's a sin that we all know too well. We see that God knows our struggles and our lust. This is where we are as a society. It's not pretty but it is truthful.
As always I welcome your thoughts.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
The Doctrine of SELF
I was asked by a student in my Bible class what I thought was the biggest issue facing Christians today. It took me awhile to come up with an answer. I think that the Doctrine of Self is the one effecting most Christians today. Let me define this new and seemingly important Doctrine. It's about how important I am or how important my life is. It's about my things and my place in this world. It's about me. It's about how important I am to God and my society. It's about my outward appearance and the appearance of my family. It's about my wealth and being self made.
We are saturated in a Self society today. Christians get pulled into this trap too. It's very easy to get drawn into. It looks good and feels good. It appeals to our senses on a deep level. Oh how we love our toys and things but if we are not careful we can put these things ahead of our relationship with God. Remember in Matthew 19, Jesus told a young rich man to go and sell everything he owned and give it to the poor. When he heard that he went away sorrowful. He was wrapped up in his things and possessions. This is a problem that many Christians face today. Are we willing to sell everything in order to follow Christ? This is a hurdle that many Christians face today.
We are saturated in a Self society today. Christians get pulled into this trap too. It's very easy to get drawn into. It looks good and feels good. It appeals to our senses on a deep level. Oh how we love our toys and things but if we are not careful we can put these things ahead of our relationship with God. Remember in Matthew 19, Jesus told a young rich man to go and sell everything he owned and give it to the poor. When he heard that he went away sorrowful. He was wrapped up in his things and possessions. This is a problem that many Christians face today. Are we willing to sell everything in order to follow Christ? This is a hurdle that many Christians face today.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
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