Bedrock Convictions - Part 3

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Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Christian living is a call to respond to a core of beliefs and values that are absolute – to live differently than the world, and to do it decisively.  I am always troubled by my proclivity to wait, see which way the wind is blowing, and then search for the Christian principle that will make me most comfortable. 

Decisiveness is called-for in the Christian walk.  Otherwise we settle for adjusting to conditions, instead of bringing Christlikeness to bear on a problem. 

Paul says the new creation God makes of us requires changes in FOUR DECISIONS about the way we live; these changes in our character and thought life honor God:

1. Decide for TRUTH

Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.  So stop telling lies.  Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.  Ephesians 4:24-25^(NLT)

Jesus said:  I am the... truth.  Without speaking we can lie, simply by allowing a false message to be received.  A Christian who tells white lies has no moral absolute regarding truth.

2. Decide for RECONCILIATION

And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”  Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.  Ephesians 4:26-27^(NLT)

Broken relationships are the very description of sin.  It was the break of fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden that was the prototype of all sin.  God has given to the Christian Church and all believers a charge, a ministry of reconciling. 

Most attitudes and actions that separate people and causes division is not of God. 

Unreconciled minds are the seeds the devil uses to destroy churches, families and whole nations.  Decide for truth, reconciliation, and... 

3. Decide for Honesty

If you are a thief, quit stealing.  Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.  Ephesians 4:28^(NLT)

The late Ferdinand Marcos, then President of the Philippine government, was a terrible golfer.  But his score cards?  Tiger Woods would love to have had those in last week's tournament!  Marcos couldn’t bear to be a bad golfer, so he cheated whenever it came to writing down his score. 

Christian values means you will lose out, rather than cheat or lie in any way.  The size of the prize, or the reasons we rationalize are simply not the issue – honesty is!  And also...

4. Decide for Graciousness

Don’t use foul or abusive language.  Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.   Ephesians 4:29^(NLT)

The filthiness that tumbles unashamedly out of mouths today is bad.  When it comes out of a Christian's mouth, it is sin!  What is it we are building up when we talk as if our mouths were connected to the bottom of a commode?

For You Today

Moral absolutes make Christians different from the world.  Decisions for truth, reconciliation, honesty and graciousness make us decisive.  It changes the way we live.  That's the bottom line...Christian values are better lived than talked.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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[i] Title Images: By NASA HiRISE camera, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, via Wikimedia Commons

Bedrock Convictions - Part 2

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Monday, October 17, 2016

With the Lord’s authority I say this:  Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.  Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.  They have no sense of shame.  They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.  But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.  Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.  Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.  So stop telling lies.  Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.  And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”  Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.  If you are a thief, quit stealing.  Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.  Don’t use foul or abusive language.  Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.   Ephesians 4:17-29^(NLT)

The Challenge to Live Differently

The Christian church is a called-out body.  Paul urges us to choose to live with moral absolutes, as opposed to the absence of morality he sees in the world.  Today the problem is a relative morality.  But we are to live differently than the world.  That means the bedrock conviction of moral absolutes.

William Barclay wrote about the difference Paul described: 

In the heathen world, Paul saw three terrible things.  He saw men's hearts so petrified that they were not even aware that they were sinning; he saw men so dominated by sin that shame was lost and decency forgotten; he saw men so much at the mercy of their desires that they did not care whose life they injured and whose innocence they destroyed so long as these desires were satisfied. 

What Paul described was petrified hearts.  I have seen wood retrieved from the Petrified Forest; trees that have long ago given up living.  The tree dies on the inside first, and then petrifies rock-hard over time.  You never know of the deadness, because the outside still looks like a live tree.  However, they are only images of what used to be.  Without moral absolutes we run the risk of becoming dead from the inside out.

What does it mean to have a moral absolute?  Consider the survey taken in the U.S. several decades ago.  The question asked American men and women was:  How much money would it take for you to agree to sleep with a stranger?  For men, the average price was $10; for women, $10,000.  Some said no, but when the price got to a million dollars almost everyone said:  Yes, I would sleep with a stranger.  The human problem was unmasked by the question.  The conclusion is the old punch line, we already know what you are; we're just haggling about price.

Are you for sale at any price?  Or are you committed to the moral absolute that you are bought with God's price, and not for sale to the things of this world?  That’s what a Christian value is all about!  Christians are committed to live differently.  Moral absolutes mean that we will make changes when our actions violate God's Word. 

Paul said:  Put off the old self – put on the new.  This is not faking it until you make it theology.  This is a conscious decision to let Christ determine how you will act, in spite of the consequences, or the conditions, or the relative values of the world.   

For You Today

Living differently means a willingness to change.  Moral absolutes will force you to make changes.  You live differently as a Christian!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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[i] Title Images: By NASA HiRISE camera, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, via Wikimedia Commons

Bedrock Convictions

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Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.  Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.   Ephesians 4:21-24^(NLT)

Life that is lived without bedrock convictions is not life, but simply survival.  A cork can float on the roughest sea, its direction and destination will not come from within, but without. 

Values are part of bedrock convictions.  Values are the inner core of who we are.  A bedrock conviction is a value that has been molded and shaped by the belief we hold about that value.  In short, it is what we are, coupled with what we believe about what we are. 

If I hold a value about my health, a bedrock conviction would be a combination of the value of health, and the knowledge that eating balanced meals (not including okra) will facilitate good health.  If I do not eat right, my conviction is not bedrock, or absolute, it is only relative.  Actually, when our value and knowledge are violated by our actions that do not match up, it is this square peg in that round hole that causes the guilt we feel. 

I never have guilt when I eat squash or salad.  They inexplicably match-up with values held about promoting good health.  But when I eat a ¹/₂ pound box of chocolate cherries, whoa…what a conflict of values and actions!

Most people do not like bedrock convictions.  It is a whole lot easier (in the short run) to operate on your feelings (like the cork on the ocean).  When you have bedrock convictions, they will force you to make tough decisions.  Like the church usher who was standing near the last row of pews, talking to the man who, during the sermon, was seated with his drink in hand, and his portable T.V. tuned to the Brave's game, He said:  Ralph, ol’ buddy, sooner or later you are gonna have to make some tough choices. 

What is a Christian value?  It is a response to this life based on the character of Jesus Christ.  It is a standard taken from the position of the absolute authority of the Word of God.  It is what makes us Jesus people. 

I have been asked before:  Why all the fuss, ranting and raving about Christian values?  Why can't you Christians just do your own thing, and leave everybody else alone.  My values are not your values.  I will tell you why the fuss.  The world cannot survive on anything less than the values of Christ.  That is the way God designed it.  Hitler thought his values were best, and it cost 12 million people their lives.  Under Stalin it was 30 million.  Oppressive Red China's total is still climbing. 

In America, Mother's Day loses some of its luster when we remember the holocaust of the unborn millions.  This is not Christian values at work.  This is humanism, which says:  I do my thing, you do yours; if we agree, OK; if not, stay out of my way.  Communism could not survive humanism, and neither can America survive, much less return to greatness.

The greatness of our country is not in its' resources or economy.  Those are the by-products of the blessing of God, which comes from serving and following Jesus Christ - Christian values!

The apostle Paul shared Christian values with a church that needed a new compass – a Christian direction.  Over the next few days we will discuss the bedrock convictions that reflect the values Christians should hold. 

For You Today

A believer, a person who follows Jesus Christ, who hasn’t taken the time to settle deep down the values of Christ in his own life is a Christian who is cheating himself (and ultimately his service to Christ) immensely!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

NOTES

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[i] Title Images: By NASA HiRISE camera, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, via Wikimedia Commons