A Time for War and a Time for Peace

Friday, September 1, 2023

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven….A time for war and a time for peace.  Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8b

“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth!  I came not to bring peace, but a sword.  Matthew 10:34-38

Timing is everything…so said my Dad, who was a certified bowling instructor, trying to teach me how to roll the ball towards the pins with effectiveness and the kind of repetitive consistency needed to score better.  I said:  What?  I’m certain Jesus was saying the same kind of wisdom to his disciples in that day (and getting the same kind of doe-in-the-headlights reaction). 

It is true (in a both/and sense) that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, as much as he is the Lord of Heaven’s armies.  He who self-described himself as “love” is also the author of Ecclesiastes.  It is a matter (as my favorite bowling instructor would say) of timing.  When Jesus came the first time, lowly, meek, and riding a donkey, we saw him as the submissive, perfect sacrificial lamb.  He demonstrated his love by taking our pain in his body.  The next time he comes it will be as a warrior, coming to clean up our mess. 

Question:  Does Jesus’ character change from loving-dove to unrelenting-hawk in the 1,000-year interlude between Ecclesiastes and Matthew?  Did he only come in peace the first time, and will he put that aside and be different the next time?  Did we get Ecclesiastes wrong?  God inspired Solomon to write those words, and God called him the wisest among men, yet Solomon says there is a time and place for peace, as well as war.  The Answer must be a resounding NO if you believe the Bible.  He said this:  I am the Lord, and I do not change.  Malachi 3:6a

So how do we reconcile all this…is Jehovah a God of war and peace, or just one,   and not the other?  When he shows up as Jesus we can expect love, kindness, and grace…but, when he shows up as the I AM, look-out? 

I think you know the answer to that, but let’s put it in another scenario:  Suppose it is the issue of homosexuality; is he the God of I love you – I’m ok, you’re ok – you aren’t in for any judgment?  Or is he the God who says that is sexual perversion, and if you buy-into that there is fire on the horizon for you, beloved?  Applying that to contemporary culture, the trend is to an absence of judgment on God’s part.  American culture is quite evenly-divided, but only because there’s a relatively even distribution of humans above and below 50 years of age.  But the trend is moving towards popular culture legitimizing and even applauding the practice of homosexuality.

A greater question then becomes:  If public opinion is moving in one direction, does that make it right?  Ultimately there is no fence upon which to sit, and that brings only two possibilities, both of which are supremely uncomfortable for those who want to reject Biblical precedent:  God will judge, or scripture is wrong.  We’re forced to obey God or popular opinion…there’s no in-between!  Humans mess-up, and must own our mess-up, or defend our beliefs.  You cannot do both.

Within the denomination I served the past two decades, the move has been towards popular opinion, with those disagreeing, jumping ship to band together with those holding Biblical doctrine.  And, among both those who are staying, or leaving, are some who are taking parting shots at the other side’s position as a lack of Biblically-moral character, preferring to judge motives and intelligence.   The God we’re talking about was not silent on that:

Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.  For you will be treated as you treat others.  The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.  And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?  Matthew 7:1-3

For You Today 

I take the stand for Biblical obedience to love other sinners, because I am also a forgiven sinner.  I will not compound my sins by judging others.  What say you?

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library. 

Title Images:  Pixabay.com Sword  Dove  Images without citation are in public domain.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Tough Choices

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant.  I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard.  If not, I want to know.”  The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham.  Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked?  Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes?  Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked.  Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same!  Surely you wouldn’t do that!  Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”  And the Lord replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.”  Then Abraham spoke again.  “Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes.  Suppose there are only forty-five righteous people rather than fifty?  Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”  And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous people there.”  Then Abraham pressed his request further. “Suppose there are only forty?” And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty.”  “Please don’t be angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—suppose only thirty righteous people are found?” And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty.”  Then Abraham said, “Since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me continue—suppose there are only twenty?” And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”  Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time.  Suppose only ten are found there?”  And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”  When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way, and Abraham returned to his tent.  Genesis 18:17-33

It was a tough decision all the way around.  For Abraham the problem was his nephew, Lot was living there.  For the Lord God, there were perhaps more than 100,00 of his loved ones, including Lot.  Abraham made his case, narrowing the decision from 50 righteous people to 10, probably equal to Lot’s family.

For the Lord, the difference between destroying a city, and even one person, did not change the ethical dilemma.  Ending a life is exactly opposite of the creative character of God; he gives life.  Yet, choosing against God’s ways of life-giving (we call it sin) is that dangerous freedom known-as free-will.  I’m as certain as a human can be that God, looking down on Sodom and Gomorrah, was torn with grief over what He knew would end in their destruction. 

The rest of the story tells us that God didn’t give up on them.  The Lord sent angels to Sodom, giving the entire city a chance to repent; they didn’t.  Every retelling of this account ends with God as the destroyer.  But that’s not the full story.  Destruction came upon the citizens of Sodom, because they used God’s gracious gift of free-will to choose their evil wickedness over God’s righteousness.  God had warned, and given them every opportunity to be saved; they wouldn’t, and the tough choice brought fire from above. In the end they committed eternal suicide, rather than confess their evil choice. 

That same thing has never ceased happening from the moment Cain lifted a rock against Abel, and it happens every day man draws breath.

For You Today 

The Holy Scriptures are often referred to as The Good News, because God’s mercy and grace gave us a Savior on a cross, taking our punishment so we could be saved.  But the “Good News” is only “good” because there is also evil.  The very definition of either good or evil is the dividing line between the two.  Hear and consider what Jesus said about all of it, and the choice we have:

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.  My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.  John 10:10

Satan, the thief, or Jesus, the giver…we all have that choice.

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

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Pyxis Points  and  De-Railed  and  Fifteen Minutes of Spotlight – at What Cost?                                        

 

Title Image:  via Wikimedia Commons   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

 

Devouring the Sheep

Thursday, June 8, 2023

These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind.  They are doomed to blackest darkness.  They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting.  With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.  They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption.  For you are a slave to whatever controls you.  And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.  It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.  They prove the truth of this proverb:  “A dog returns to its vomit.”  And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.” 

2 Peter 2:17-22

The backstory on this part of Peter’s letter is the Apostle’s warning about leading people away from God, and into a twisted lifestyle of sin.  It is proclaiming sin as holy, and is the upside-down version of what God desires for each of us.  Peter calls this kind of leader useless – slaves to their own sin; they lead others astray.  The metaphors, dog and pig, are always surrounded by filth.  Dogs cannot ignore what has come up from inside them, and pigs are hopelessly drawn to the mire.

A troublesome reality of the church’s marching orders is Jesus’ command to love.  I don’t disagree with the Lord, just saying:  we mess up what He’s saying.  Loving is not simply embracing everything and everybody.  If a person is a serial killer, we can love them; embracing their lifestyle is altogether a different matter.

Preacher, where did you come up with that notion?  Well, the seeming dichotomy of loving people, but rejecting their lifestyle is the example of God, Himself.  In many passages of Scripture we learn that God is the very essence of love.  Jesus proved that God so-loved everyone, he gave his life on Calvary’s cross.  On the flip-side of that are the many passages pointing to how this loving God will bring judgment for lifestyles that reject Him.  Listen to how another apostle, Paul describes God’s judgment for those who say they love God, but choose to prove just the opposite with their actions, their lifestyle of perversion:

Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God?  Don’t fool yourselves.  Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.  1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Leadership (bishops, and a predominance of clergy) of the tribe in which I have served the past 18 years (United Methodist) have moved closer and closer to accepting homosexuality as a valid lifestyle.  It is proclaimed as loving.  In practice, however, it is elevating perverted sexual desire over self-discipline, and honoring God’s command.  Those who do so are “loving” neither the churches they are leading into disaster, nor the ones who practice their sinful ways.  They are merely heaping up judgment on their own heads.

For You Today 

Question for those second-guessing a church, now in full-blown division/schism:

Is it a right decision to stay “united” and, without words, affirm a sinful lifestyle in rebellion to God’s way…or is it better to stand with God’s Word and separate?

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

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Living in Sodom  and  Legacy of Lies and Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire and                                     He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

When Judgment Falls

Monday

October 31, 2022

When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.  But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols.  You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.  I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people.  Don’t even eat with such people.  It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.  God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”  1 Corinthians 5:9-13

Paul was consistently misunderstood and criticized for his teaching on sexuality.  The apostle was even mentioned by his fellow apostle, Peter, as being somewhat hard to understand, but acknowledged that Paul’s revelations were from God, and delivered with the authority of Scripture.  Peter further stated that only the twisted mind (of false believers, not true Christians) mocked what Paul was preaching, and God would take them to task for it.[1]

So…what was it Paul taught that was so controversial?  It’s the very same thing you hear as a criticism (mostly from those outside the church), that Christians are judgmental, and critical of anybody who isn’t as holy as they consider themselves.  It is a blanket condemnation, by unbelievers, that all believers are blanket-criticizers.  It’s a little like the pot calling the kettle black!

Now, if that’s the misunderstanding of what Paul taught, what is it, precisely, that Paul did teach?  He taught just the opposite – that Christians ought not to judge those who are outside the church.  Paul said expressly that he left that to God.  The responsibility of judging (not of motives or ethical commitment) but behavior of Christians within the church is necessary, for the purity of God’s bride.

While Paul focused on sexual sins (sex outside of marriage, including unmarrieds, same-sex, and adultery), because that was rampant in the Corinthian church, he pointed to other gross sins that were demeaning to the character and moral ethic of the people called “Christian”.  Among those were greed, cheating and idolatry.

Without raking-over the lewd details of any of that list, let me cut right to the chase this morning.  I am not lambasting 21^st-Century culture for being immoral, and un-Christlike; the apostle Paul’s injunction against pointing fingers at those outside the church still stands.  It is the sin within the camp that strains credulity.  Today’s church (in large percentage) has identified more with the surrounding culture, than what Scripture identifies as the Bride of Christ.  It is the church’s lukewarmness in embracing those who profess Christ as Savior, but live in open, and unapologetic opposition to moral and ethical Christian standards. 

Sexual sins, including all forms of homosexuality, and heterosexual activity between unmarried people, along with every other kind of sin, must be held to accountability within the church before anyone outside the church will seriously take the church as something God-ordained.  You clean your own house first!

For You Today

I am not proposing a witch-hunt to weed out the church membership rolls.  I am suggesting, however, that pastors had better quit trying to fill the seats and grow a Corinthian-infested organization they call a church.  In place, it would be better to return to the practice of the mourner’s bench, to wait awhile until the fruits of true salvation are exhibited in the life of those who profess their faith.  Otherwise Pastors and elders who ignore this might hear from Jesus on that Great Judgment Day:  Depart from me…I never knew you!

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

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions libraryI.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

       The Third Day   and   Living in Sodom

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1]  See  2 Peter 2:1-22 and 2 Peter 3:15-16

Of Grace and Law

Thursday, September 8, 2022

The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.  But some people have missed this whole point.  They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions.  They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they speak so confidently.  We know that the law is good when used correctly.  For the law was not intended for people who do what is right.  It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders.  The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God.  1 Timothy 1:5-11

The current mêlée in the United Methodist Church is the division which centers around sexuality and gender identification.  Somehow Paul’s counsel to Tiimothy is not sacred advice to a young minister anymore.  Rather, it has become an inconvenient truth, dropped from the comfort zone of denominational managers.  When it comes to what drives worldly, culture-pandering leadership to twist what Scripture means, even when that means obtusely ignoring what Scripture has presented clearly, it is, sadly, a weaponized form of teaching false doctrine.  Paul advised Timothy to steer clear of it at all cost.

When dealing with the Pharisees, (supposed) teachers of the Law of God, Jesus tossed aside their pedigrees and prestige in two short sentences:

Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!  Matthew 23:24

Swallowing the camel of law, and doing it in the name of grace, is what is wrong with the current practice of swatting the traditionalist gnats in the sexuality/gender-identification standoff, fueled by a higher commitment to political correctness and denominational survival, than fidelity to Scripture.

In the name of “grace” progressive thought says all humanity is exempt from law; there is nothing to forgive.  Yet, that kind of thinking lays aside the very substance of grace, as being forgiving that which is unforgivable.  It says perverted sexual practices are not sin…therefore, there is nothing to be forgiven, only embraced.  It belies the very essence of our vows in confirmation, to confess our sinfulness, and reject evil in every form.  Without accepting the grace of God, admitting our sins, and accepting that we deserve death, not a parade, we do not belong to Him, let alone get to presume upon His favor.  And that “camel” of false presumption that God winks at sexual perversion, is swallowed by unthinking (so-called) religious leaders every day.

For You Today

Continue to pray for leaders who are trying their best on both sides of this morass of sexual misunderstanding, especially in the halls of United Methodist leadership.  May God’s will be served.

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

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Paul's Legal Review and De-railed

[1] Images:  via Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

When Your Choice is the Lesser of Evils

 

Monday, November 2, 2020

For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed.  For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.  It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.  For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.  Respect everyone, and love the family of believers.  Fear God, and respect the king.  1 Peter 2:13-17

Tomorrow is “Election Day”.  It sounds odd to proclaim that; probably more than half the voters in America have already cast their ballot, either in early voting or by mail-in ballot.  The early voting line last Thursday was an hour long.  My bride and I passed the time in the stiff winds, under our masks, still talking about the choices we would make in the voting booth.  Some are decidedly the lesser of evils.

The apostle Peter understood that condition.  In his youth the big fisherman was impetuous, idealistic, and brash.  By the time he wrote the words of our text he’d lived long enough, and sinned big enough, and been forgiven more than enough, to get his mind around what a Christian’s responsibility is when it comes to separating earthly authority from heavenly authority; you respect the king, and honor God.

I hoped I would get that right in this year’s general election; mature enough to respect those currently governing, and those running to replace them, all the while honoring God by my behavior and choices.  Considering the vitriol and outright mudslinging of campaign ads, which Peter would call foolish accusations, well, it wasn’t an easy fight!

For me, the choices always come down to the candidate that comes closest[1] to what Scripture proclaims is God’s ways.  Last Wednesday I watched a video sent to me by a friend.  It was Fr. Ed Meeks, a parish priest in Towson, Md, preaching about the non-negotiables of the Catholic church, which candidate Joe Biden, a self-avowed, lifelong Catholic, violates…proudly.

Biden is an enthusiastic supporter of abortion rights, disdaining church (and U.S. Constitutional) teaching of the sanctity of life[2]. 

He also leads a party that makes a mockery of the sanctity of marriage, even officiating the marriage of two men[3] in 2016 as the sitting vice-president of the United States. 

Fr. Meeks, in his homily of Oct 11^th also characterized Biden as a threat to religious liberty, also a non-negotiable teaching of the church.  Allowing that many policies and philosophies of governing, such as economy, national security, and much more, are debatable, and should be scrutinized, these three, sanctity of life, marriage, and religious freedom, are non-negotiable.

On the other side of the ballot stands Mr. Trump.  His is a personality that leaves little room for middle ground.  People seem to either love or despise him…profusely.  But personality is trumped[4] by ideology in the ballot booth.  The choices become a lot clearer for those who commit their lives to Jesus Christ.  The party to which Donald Trump belongs holds as sacred the sanctity of life, marriage, and free exercise of religion.  And the president may have some tall explaining to do (without spin) on these issues in his personal life when judgment day arrives.  But personality aside, the performance of his administration has tended to support the platform which protects the non-negotiables. 

On the other hand, Mr. Biden stands unabashedly with the Democratic party, which tends toward Socialist Marxism, a system that cannot help itself from becoming totalitarian, and, typically, an enemy of the church.  Ironically, Mr. Biden belongs to both the church and the party.  In the case of the church to which he proudly proclaims to belong, he also rejects their most sacred tenets, the sanctity of life, marriage, and religious freedom.  This is more than having your cake and eating it too…it is duplicity of the most dangerous sort.  I had little doubt standing in line last Thursday.  I still don’t; just a measure of sadness over a choice between the lesser of evils.

For You Today

Our elections are still free, and without coercion.  But what does compel, for a child of God, is the evidence generated over the last 6 decades of 61 million aborted children before they had a breath in their lungs, and the downward spiral of honoring God with our choices. 

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

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Title image: Pixabay.com   W   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on 1 Peter 2:13-17 see:  An Honorable Life and Honorable Behavior - Part 2

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[1] “Closest” is a good word here, because we do not live in a perfect world.

[2] Abortion may be legal in the U.S., however the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is interpretive.

[3] USA Today 8-2-2016

[4] Sorry…don’t unfriend me