The Compassion of Being Judgmental

One debate that has been going on for many years among both Christians and pseudo-Christians alike is the question of how to deal with the sins of others. (Hopefully there is no debate on how to deal with our own sin. Hint: Repent!) There are so many varying degrees of responses that Christians feel are appropriate that it's gotten to the point where it's rare when any two Christians agree exactly on how these kind of situations should be handled. 

There could be many reasons stated for this but I believe this can be boiled down to two main reasons:

1. Christians are no longer using the Word of God to decide these matters.  In a previous post I looked Andy Stanley's complete lack of a Bible while preaching, and his subsequent erroneous remarks concerning the church.  Many Christians have come to believe this to be simply a matter of opinion, and that we should only do and say what makes us feel comfortable.
2. Christians desperately want to be liked.  Somewhere along the way we've let the attacks of the world weaken us into thinking that we must never say anything that could ever, ever offend anyone, ever. This second reason of course points back to the first.  If we were in the Scriptures like we should be we wouldn't be so quick to selfishly put our desire to be thought of us an "advanced Christian who has changed with the times" ahead of doing "thus saith the Lord."

So let us first deal with point number one.  

What does the Bible say about how we should handle the sins of others?  Let us begin with the most quoted verse in all the Bible over the last twenty years, Matthew 7:1:

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

So there, we can't judge anyone, therefore we are not allowed to ever point out the sins of another no matter what!  You got that!  You know someone who is drunk and beating their wife, leave them alone! Who are you to judge?  You know someone who is neglecting their children, well, who do you think you are?! Who are you to judge?  You know a man who leaves his wife for another man, so what?! You don't have the right to judge him!

This, sadly, is the distorted, and completely unChristian view that many come away with when they read this verse, and what's worse, many preachers who should know better, come away with the same viewpoint. This is, naturally, the completely wrong way of understanding of this verse. 

The judgement here is not talking about judgments made by courts, or by churches, or even by individuals about whether or not a certain behavior is right or wrong.  This judgement refers to a rash judgement.  Making a judgement before having all of the facts.  Coming to a conclusion based on "drive by" analysis.  Again, this verse is not telling us to not condemn any acts to be wrong or sinful, it's telling us not to judge someone to be a drunk if you never seen them drink.  It's telling us not to judge someone a homosexual until you know for a fact that it is the case.  Once sin is revealed it is never wrong to call it sin.

Which leads us into how to deal with point number two.

This will make some Christians extremely uncomfortable, but we are not to stop by simply identifying another's sin, but we are to act accordingly.  Consider the words of the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 5:

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 

1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 

1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 

1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

1Co 5:6  Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 

1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 

1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 

Interesting how Paul doesn't hesitate to not only call the acts in this passage sin, but he confidently asserts (and rightly so) the sin of the church by not dealing with the sinful acts.  Paul even (gasp!) says that he has already JUDGED the sin of the offending one as if he were there. How could he do that!?  Because the judgment was simple.  A member of the church had committed fornication, which is sin, therefore the church owed it to that member to punish them by removing them from the church. (double gasp!)  Paul even goes on to say the offender should be delivered to Satan! Paul then is comparing the sin to leaven, pointing out that it only takes a small amount to have an adverse effect on the whole.

This might be a good time for some Christians to walk away for a minute and catch their breath.  I understand if you've never been presented with Biblical church discipline that this may be a shock to you.  I'm sure some of you are thinking, "But I thought we were just supposed to love each other."

Let me let you in on a little secret; what Paul describes in I Corinthians chapter five is love; Biblical love.  You see, the best way to love a person who is in sin is tell them they are in sin, and hold them accountable for that sin. The worst way to show love to a person that is in sin is to tell them that their sin is no big deal, and that you're not going to "judge them."  The biggest thing we have to be careful about is HOW we approach the sinner.  We must do so gently, lovingly, but also firmly. Our only concern when confronting a sinner must be that sinner, NOT that we come away being liked. 

We should also note that when Paul is referring to "delivering him to Satan" he is talking about the fact that the offender may have to go through some trials in order to be brought to his knees. And while we would never want this for a fellow Christian, many times God prepares problems for us to bring us back to Him.  What Christians have to do is simply trust God.  If you confront someone and they tell you that they hate you or that they're never coming back to church, just stand strong and trust God. He might be about to take them through some battles, which we hate for the person about to enter into them, but again, we have to trust God.

Here is the Hard Truth.

Confronting sin is hard.  Confronting sin take courage. Most importantly, however, confronting sin is Biblically correct. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sin, and we know He gave Himself for HIS church, and He expects HIS church to be spotless.  Not messy, like the Andy Stanley's of the world would have you believe, but spotless and glorious.  Everyone sins everyday.  We wish this was not the case, but it is. What we cannot do is make it worse by allowing open wickedness to go unchecked. God demands that we act, with love, putting HIM first, and that is the Hard Truth.

When Life Gives You Scraps

Kristin EstesWhat are scraps? When we talk about scraps, we are normally dealing with leftovers. Most of the time it’s what’s left after you’ve used or had all that you need. Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with it other than the fact that it’s not enough to make anything of any real value, like the leftover scrap material used in making quilts. Sometimes it’s just the unwanted stuff like the peas we see children push off to the side of their plate, or maybe the pattern of material is not to our liking. Sometimes it’s so bad, that it is just completely unusable to us, so we throw it out, like the gristle or bones, or material that is just coming unraveled. Anyway you cut it, it’s the stuff no one wants!  

It seems like we get a lot of the stuff we don’t want in life! So many times we have things forced into our lap that we just don’t know what to do with or how to even begin to deal with it. These are the “scraps of life”, and when we are talking about scraps of material that have accumulated from every walk of life, it can be a tricky thing knowing how to arrange them together into not just a quilt that is not so ugly and thrown together that the only one that’s going to lay ANYTHING on it is the almost color-blind pooch; but one that is such a work of art that we would hang it over our mantle on display for all of our guests to gaze upon. Lord willing, I’m going to show you 6 things that can help you not only figure out what to do with these scraps, but how you can turn them into that beautiful quilt on display!

1. Seek God.- We must seek God, and we must do this FIRST!

Read Matthew 6:25-33 and Col 3:1-2 KJV

What we typically tend to do first is:

1. Question “Why are you doing this, God?” or “God, how could you let this happen?”
2. Become flooded with emotion and despair, or think we’d be better off dead
3. Get angry- at God, friends, & family
4. Seek advice of friends- they most often can’t relate, so it’s to no avail
5. Seek advice and care of Dr.’s

I have a friend, that to my knowledge is still battling depression.  She wasn’t always like this, but after years of complaining about her opinion that her husband’s spirituality was not as it should be, she began to struggle herself.  Unknown to me at the time, she was confiding in a few friends that she no longer had the desire to live or to take care of her 3 children.  She had even held a gun one night while her family slept, contemplating pulling the trigger.  She sought counsel from close friends, family, and her pastor, but even after all this she still made another suicide attempt, almost successfully.  I had talked and prayed with her several times, and the one thing I’d always ask was, “How’s your relationship with God? Are you reading your bible and praying everyday, or at least trying to?”  I would always get a regretful head shake, no.  Undoubtedly, the pastor and others I’m sure asked her the same thing.  It didn’t take long for me to realize her problem.  She was convinced that because depression ran in her family, the answer to all of her problems was in the form of a new medication or medical procedure.  Unfortunately, with each new and unsuccessful route her and her doctor tried, the more she continued to seek out new answers, incur more bills, and be depressed.  Although I continued to pray for her, myself as well as others grew frustrated, because she refused to take the godly counsel of those closest to her by seeking the answer through God. Instead, she was convinced the answer to her problem was found elsewhere.  We can’t expect to find answers when we refuse to practice the basic principles!

What we need to do is:

1. Be reading our bible every day, studying- before trials hit, that way when trouble does come our way, we may already have comfort from scriptures that we are familiar with. Even after hard times come, sink into our bible even more!  Comfort and instruction for our trials can be found in God’s Word.
2. Pray- James 5:13-18 KJV Troubled? Pray! Sick? Have the church pray! Got sin in your life? Pray! Pray for others!Do you see the power of prayer from the illustration of Elias? So when troubles come, get on your knees and pour out your heart, fervently & passionately! Don’t hesitate to ask someone you know that is godly to pray for you as well! It’s the sincere or passionate prayers of the righteous that are effectual or bring about results. If you are the one that has been asked to pray, PRAY! Someone has sought you out to beseech the Lord on their behalf. Don’t take it lightly! Read 1 Chronicles 28:9 KJV

2. Consider His Ways.- Before we dare question God, we need to understand that there’s a bigger picture.

Read Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV  

Let’s consider some people in the bible who went through great trials:

1.  Think of Joseph! He went through years of trials and discouragement, being forsaken and sold by his brothers into slavery, having his reputation tarnished by the wife of his master, thrown in prison, then forgotten by the butler whom he helped. Yes, he continued to serve God, but do  you think every day he woke up thinking, “Alright Lord, I’m ready, what’s your next move? If we play our cards right, Lord, not only will I end up as ruler, but I may even get to save all of Egypt from starvation! So who’s on your list to hate me next, Lord?” NO! I’m sure the only thing that got him through many, if not most days, was just trying to trust the same God that had been faithful to his father and his father’s father. He didn’t know the end of the story in the midst of his storms. He even said, “...ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
2. Others: Job; Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego; Abraham & Isaac; Daniel in the Lion’s den; Lazarus; and many more you could find! 

These are all great examples of trials that had GREAT endings. None of them knew what the ending would be, yet they still trusted God. The problem is that we want to understand why we are facing whatever we may be facing, but that’s not what God wants from us. He just wants us to TRUST HIM! There is a bigger picture that we are not seeing. We don’t know what lies over this mountain we may be climbing or what God may be using it for in our life.

So what may God be using this for?

1. To bring about something greater in our lives -like Joseph
2. To bring us edification -sometimes we need softened or toughened up
3. To teach us to trust Him -we need to be reminded sometimes that God will see us through
4. To allow us to be able to empathize and even counsel others -going through a storm can allow us to understand and encourage others going through the same thing.
5. To bring Him glory- even when the end finally came for Stephen as he was stoned to death in Acts 7, what a testimony he left behind for us to read, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Praise the Lord! When God is glorified, we as Christians can glory in that.

Gods ways are not our ways. Why? Because only He knows the bigger picture. We don’t get the courtesy of knowing every detail. When we get to Heaven, we can ask God, but for now, we must trust in Romans 8:28. Somehow, someway, if we’re saved, something that is for our good is going to result from this tragedy. But you may say, “How can anything good come out of losing your child or your spouse, or being diagnosed with cancer?!” To be honest, I can’t answer that question. I do know that if a lost loved one was saved or if we’re speaking of a child, then they’re doing far better in heaven than they’ve ever been on earth. We can also have hope of seeing them again one day if we’re saved. If they weren’t saved, understandably that is something to be pretty broken up about, but we still must trust God. 

After meeting a man named Terry Caffey last year, I learned about the tragic death of his family.  Upon finding out their 16 year old daughter had been seeing a 20 year old boy that was nothing short of trouble, Terry and his wife ordered the relationship to cease and did what they thought best to ensure it was over.  This situation is any parent’s nightmare, and I would know because I have put my own parents through this. However, for this Christian family that was serving God in their local baptist church faithfully, it would have a shocking ending.     One night after much planning, their 16 year old daughter waited in the car while her boyfriend and another man he hired to help went into the Caffey house, armed with guns and samurai swords, and slaughtered Terry Caffey’s wife, 13 and 8 year old sons, leaving Terry with 5 gunshots, and set the house on fire. Miraculously Terry survived and got out. I cannot think of anything more tragic than this for my illustration.  But do you know what the most amazing thing about this whole tragedy is? Terry Caffey was able to lead his daughter to the Lord in prison, and now he goes around to churches and schools nationwide sharing his story, and seeing souls saved as a result of what happened to him, AND, his daughter serving 2 consecutive life sentences, leads a prison ministry and has been able to lead many souls to Christ because of her testimony!  This story, in all it’s horror, is a wonderful example of forgiveness and how even the most horrible event can be used of God! 

3. Relinquish Control. Rest in His Love.- 1 Pet. 5:6-7 We must turn everything over to God, and let Him carry us through. So many times when things go wrong, we immediately try and think of all the solutions to fix the problem.  And yes, you could argue that God still expects us to take responsibility over our actions, but, we shouldn’t try and take control. Instead, we need to just let go of the wheel, and let God take over.

So how do we relinquish control?

1. Humble ourselves- “What do you mean?” Our pride is what convinces us that WE can change the situation, that WE can fix it, or that WE know what is better for us.  Humility is what allows us to realize that WE can do nothing on our own, that we NEED God, and HE knows better! Who are we to question God? Romans 9:20-21 KJV. We know Job never cursed God or sinned with  his lips but we know through reading on that he had a lot of whining and complaining to do and “why this” and “why that”, which we would do no different if not worse! But do you remember how God answered Job out of the whirlwind? Pretty much is was, “Oh I’m sorry Job, were you there when I created the world and placed the foundation and dressed it with the clouds and placed the stars in the sky? No, I didn’t think so.” God DOES love us, but we need to be reminded of our insignificance.
2. Let go, let God- Are you still struggling over a trial in your life, do you still have questions you want answered, do you have a bad attitude toward God over what you think He’s brought upon you or done to you? What’s holding you back? You haven’t obtained grace! You need to “let go and let God!” As it says at the end of verse 5, “...for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” Then you will find grace!
3. Give Him your burdens- The grace of God can give us peace in any storm, but you can’t obtain it until you fall before God and cast your cares on him. God will then lift the burdens or yoke off our shoulders, and bear them for us.
4. Rest in His Love- Once you get that peace, you’ll never want to leave. You can just rest there in the security of His love as He carries us through the storm.

I don’t know the reason you may be holding on to your fears, but God wants us to prove him, or test him. It’s like I told my 5 year old daughter in the pool.  She has a hard time trusting sometimes, and she did not want to trust in her life vest and floaties and just let go of the ladder.  I finally told her, “Noel, just try it once. Test them out, and it will prove to you that they work. They’ll hold you up.” It’s the same with God! When we let go and prove God, we’ll see we can trust Him!

4. Abandon Despair- We can give up hopelessness because we have an eternal hope of glory! 2 Corinthians 4:14-18 KJV

Should we mourn, yes we should mourn, but only for a season. Read Ecclesiastes 3:4,5 KJV But when we remain sulking in our struggles it is not of God. If we’re saved, we can have hope!

-Hope of what? Edification, Abundant grace, God’s glory, Renewed spirit, Eternal life, Eternal treasures, Eternal happiness- Revelation 21:4 KJV And when we KNOW there is hope, we can...

5.  Praise Him.- Ephesians. 5:19-20 KJV

A friend of mine was pregnant with their first at the same time I was with our first child.  My delivery came a little early, but we were blessed with a beautiful healthy girl.  A few weeks later, her delivery came. Unknown to them or the doctors, her baby was born with an inoperable complication in a main vein, and being quickly discovered, the doctors said it would only be hours before their Sydney would be gone.  They gathered the family around, filled with grief, and as their baby girl slipped away, they gathered hands and sang, “God is So Good”. You say, “I just don’t understand how can a person do that?!” Well, they had already reached that point. The point where they have (1) Sought the Lord, (2) Considered His Ways, (3) Relinquished Control, Rested in His Love, and (4) Abandoned Despair. Then, and only then will we be at a place where we are able to (5) Praise Him. This is a very difficult journey for many, but when we finally arrive, it is an amazing thing.  To be able to look back and see what God has brought you through, deserves praising and thanking Him!  Finally, if we’ve gone this far, we have to realize that none of it matters unless we...

6.  Still Serve Him.- God is refining us to make us an acceptable offering of righteousness! Malachi 3:2-4 KJV

More than likely, if you have no desire to serve God anymore, it’s safe to say that you haven’t found the right way through your storm. You’ve lost your way or have been clueless where to even start and your still standing in the overcast or wondering how to pick up the broken pieces.  God wants to use our trials to mold us and edify us and refine us into a beautiful, sweet smelling sacrifice that is to be used by Him.  We talked about how difficult it is putting these scraps together into anything that is even remotely appealing.  And on our own, we’ll always fall short or be unsuccessful. But the key is just handing them all over to God. God is the Master Quilter. When given to Him, the scraps in our lives are sewn together in a miraculous way.  We become the beautiful quilt God has created. Then, we can be used of God in a great in mighty way! So don’t run away from God, because your beauty and talent won’t reach it’s full potential.

How can we be used of God?

1. Be Saved- you’ll be stuck trying to piece the scraps of your life together without God’s help to no avail.
2. Join one of God’s church’s- God is pleased and blesses us uniting with other believers of like faith.
3. In all things, be faithful- no matter what, don’t give up on God! Be as active as you can in your church and in the work that your hands do for Him.

Do Saved People Sin?

 *Housekeeping note* This article is a part of a paper that my church puts out each month called "Bible Monthly", I'm going to be adding a new page dedicated to these papers that way if anyone would like to download a PDF version of the paper, they may.

This is a question that gets posed often by people that have either grown up in a religion that teaches sinless perfection once a person receives salvation or by one who tries to attack the Bible believing they have found some type of contradiction.  I once heard a man who belonged to a charismatic religion change the words of the song “I’m Just a Sinner Saved By Grace” to “I’m Just a Singer Saved By Grace” because he believed it was wrong to call himself a sinner after his supposed conversion.

The best way to attempt to answer any question of this sort is to go to the Word of God, and stay there throughout the duration of the discussion which is what we intend to do.

Saved People Sin

I John 1:8 says,

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  

The context of this verse is clear; anyone who says they don't sin is a liar.  Therefore all people, saved or not, sin.  And when you consider the magnitude of the Bible stating that if someone claims no sin, the truth is not in them.  The Bible is unequivocally clear on this topic, all people sin.

Saved People Don't Want To Sin

Consider the words of Paul, one of the greatest Christians who have ever lived, in Romans chapter seven:  

Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 

Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 

Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 

Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 

Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 

Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 

Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 

Even though the Apostle Paul is clearly saved at the time of this writing, we see that he struggles mightily with sin, so much so that he declares himself to be a “wretched man”, a statement that I’m sure anyone who knew him would have vehemently disagreed with.

Let me state this plainly, ALL Christians are sinners.  ALL of us mess up constantly.  All of us do things that we loathe ourselves for after we have done them. And this will not stop until the day we reach the pearly gates of Heaven, whether through death or the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Not only does the Word of God declare that we sin after salvation, but our conscience declares this as well.  What do you think you are doing when you lie, or cheat, or use language unbecoming of a Christian, or when you gossip?  Do you not know those acts to be sin?  Do you believe that God changes the definition of sin after you’re saved?  Every Bible-believing saved person knows that He does not.

The difference after salvation is that we no longer want to sin, and we wish with all of our hearts that we could stop, but we can't.

A Saved Person is a New Spiritual Person

This is where some "controversy" can come in.  Read what John said in I John 3:9:

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

The word commit here has to do with “abiding or living” in sin.  This statement is of course perfectly true.  A saved person will never be content to continue to take part in sin on a constant basis because the saved person no longer agrees with his sin, and because he knows the sin is displeasing to the Lord.

Another verse that has caused some confusion for those who believe in sinless perfection after salvation is II Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

I have heard people say, “If I’m a new creature, why would I sin?”  Well, because the new creature is spiritual, not physical.  Even though I’m a new creature, I still have the same body, personality, and mind, but it’s what lies within me that is new.  I now possess a spirit that is no longer happy with sin.  So, the Scripture is, as always, correct, I am a new creature, a new spiritual creature.

Here is the Hard Truth.

When we go to the Word of God we see three facts that become crystal clear: 

1. Saved people sin.  
2. Saved people don’t want to sin.  
3. A saved person is a new spiritual creature.

As Christians the ONLY place we should ever go for answers is the Word of God.  If you don't feel like you understand the Word of God enough to get the answers you are looking for, pray that God will grant you understanding, and I guarantee you He will. It's good to get advice from people who you believe to be more knowledgeable in the Scriptures than you, ESPECIALLY if that person is faithfully serving God, but never forget that God is no respecter of persons, and that He will teach you as well if you read His Word and pray, and that is the Hard Truth.

"Churches" Continue to Accept Homosexuality Because They are Turning Their Back on God's Word

Unless you've been living under a rock this past week you know that our president has come out in favor of gay marriage, citing of all things, the Bible as his motivation for doing so. Of course we know this to be a complete lie and that his only motivation was to raise money from these groups in order to help him win his re-election bid this November.  Since it is clear that our president is unsaved, it is also clear why he could come to this conclusion.  He's lost, never experiencing the new birth that comes when one receives Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

But why are more and more so-called "churches" joining him in his error?  Why do "churches" feel this need to not only reach out to homosexuals, but accept their open sin and wickedness?  I believe the answer to this question is also crystal clear, they are turning their back on God's Word.  There was a time in this country that when you went to church you were able to know, for the most part, what to expect.  There would be singing, praying, and preaching, usually in that order.  The songs would lift up the name of Christ, prayers would be prayed in Jesus name, and preaching would involve the Bible, God's Holy Word. It is sad to say that this is no longer the case, and churches like the one I just described are getting more and more rare, so much so that just hearing about one will probably move you to rejoice.

Which brings me to the motivation for this article; the North Point Community "Church." (I don't put church is quotes to be snarky, but because North Point and other groups like it simply are not churches) The pastor of this "church" is a man named Andy Stanley, and he preached a sermon on April 15, and to illustrate the love of Christ, he told the story of man who left his wife for another man.  Here is the video for this part of the sermon, it is about eleven minutes long, and highly recommend that you watch it.

(For the message in its entirety, go here.)

Before we get into the remarks themselves, did you notice something was missing? That's right, the Bible.  All that talk about this guy and his boyfriend wanting to represent that "church", and nothing of what the Bible says about the situation.  Calling what this man was doing "good old fashioned adultery" without once dealing with, you know, what the Bible might have to say about the issue of adultery.  He does go on at the close of his message to quote some things that he claims Jesus said, even though Jesus said NONE of things Mr. Stanley claims, and his representations of Jesus' remarks were nothing short of shameful.

All one must do to expose the sinful nature of Mr. Stanley's comments is go to the Word of God.  You can read Leviticus 18:22-28, or I Timothy 1:9-10, or I Corinthians 6:9-10, Romans 1:25-27, and there are many more.  No, Mr. Stanley doesn't deal with any of these passages in the Bible, and as a matter fact, he doesn't even offer up his own opinion on the matter of homosexuality. The fact that he doesn't state his belief has led some pastors of "churches" to believe that he doesn't deserve any criticism because he was quiet on the issue.  Look at what Pete Wilson, pastor of Cross Point "Church" has to say about Mr. Stanley's sermon:

Last week the internet was all abuzz (and I’m sure it still is) over some comments or lack of comments that Andy Stanley made in a recent message. Apparently there were some that thought he was “soft-pedaling” when it came to homosexuality. You can read a detailed explanation of the event HERE.

Man, if we’re going to start criticizing and denouncing pastors for something they “did not say” by trying to read their mind and predict their motives than I’m in REAL trouble.

Could any of you ever dream there would come a day when a pastor would come to the aid of another because he DID NOT take a stand for what he believes?  As a pastor, there should never, ever be any ambiguity about where we stand on any Biblical issue.  And for Mr. Stanley to give this illustration and not declare homosexuality to be wrong is, in fact, to declare homosexuality to be right. By calling homosexuality just "good old fashioned adultery" you are claiming that it would not be wrong if neither of the people joined in homosexuality were married.  To say the only reason that a gay couple could not represent your church is because one of the two were still married is to say they could represent your church if neither were married.  Mr. Wilson and Mr. Stanley have to face the facts; by not coming out against homosexuality, you are endorsing homosexuality. 

The other part of Mr. Stanley's words that I want to focus on were what he said at the very end, which was when he stated that this sordid picture of the sin that took place in this family and subsequent acceptance of that sin was a picture of the church.  First of all, this disgusted me, and second of all, he couldn't be more contrary to the Word of God. In Ephesians chapter 5, God is teaching us how marriages are to function, with the husband sacrificially loving the wife, and woman showing great deference, respect, and honor to her husband.  And all of these thoughts about marriage are intertwined with the institution of the Lord's church, because the two function the same way, with the church playing the role of deference to the Lord who sacrificially gave Himself for us.  This passage culminates with verse twenty-seven, which says this:

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Here is the Hard Truth.

The institution that the Bible calls the Lord's church is not a messy, wicked picture of Sodom where all sin is open and accepted.  A church is a place where the Jesus Christ of the Bible is preached.  A church is where sinners get saved.  A church is a place where saved members worship God, learn the Word of God, and are always invited to repent of their sin to God.  It is a place where sinners are accepted, but never is it a place where sin is accepted.  And you know what, I totally get why lost people don't understand that, but people who claim Christ has made a change in their heart?  Men who stand before large congregations supposedly representing Christ?  I have no idea why they think they have to accept the sin in order to accept the sinner.  The only conclusion I can make is that maybe, these men who stand before these crowds are also unsaved, which would explain their "church's speedy retreat from the Word of God, and that is the Hard Truth.

Hateful Atheists Make Me Thank God That Much More

Two days ago I posted on this blog some of my reasons for restarting Hard Truth.  I talked about the fact that doing this blog is a good way to keep myself writing on a regular basis, which is something that I think is important because I believe God wants me to write.  I discussed the fact that I believe God wants Christians to have a mindset of being on offense, not retreating in any phase of the spiritual battle we fight as Christians.  I also mentioned, as sprinkles that go on top of the icing on the cake that traffic over at Pharyngula, PZ Myers blog, is down by an amazing margin.  This was an encouragement to me because he spreads an anti-God message to his followers, and he uses those followers to attack any Christian voices that he comes across.

Evidently I awakened a sleeping giant.

Even though I mentioned in the post that I had no idea why his traffic was down, and only mentioned it as a side note to my larger point, PZ felt the need to once again attack me on his blog with all the personal attacks and insults we've come to expect from him.  I want to point out to all three of the people reading this that PZ claims his traffic is not down, and that it only looks that way because he has moved to a new web host, "Free Thought" blogs.  I tried to find out what his traffic was by going to his "sitemeter" link at the bottom of the page, but when you click on it you find that it's basically an advertisement trying to get you to sign up and buy their service.  To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what Pharyngula's traffic is, and I don't care.  As I stated clearly in my previous post, if his traffic was down, I found this to be VERY insignificant, but that if it was, I would have enjoyed it none the less.

But the fact that I thought his traffic was lower than it actually is was evidently so egregious an error on my part that his followers sent me many angry tweets on twitter, and they flooded me with vicious emails all day long, with this one being the "winner":

Your book has made you impossibly stupid. Die already, so you stop wasting oxygen.

So what I learned yesterday is that atheists are still angry, still on the offensive, and still looking to shout down anyone who stands for up for true, Biblical Christianity. But believe it or not, all the vitriol spewed at me yesterday actually made me feel something that I never felt when I was doing this blog a couple of years ago; thankfulness.

That's right.  I was actually thankful that I was under fire from atheists yesterday. You see, contrary to what they will admit, I know that I wasn't being attacked because I made a mistake about Pharyngula's traffic, but because I believe in something called TRUE CHRISTIANITY, and because I will say it publicly.

But you still might be wondering, "Ok, but why were you thankful?"  I am thankful because being attacked for being a Christian identifies me with Christ, which is where I want to be.  I'm ashamed to admit that this has not always been the way I have felt.  I think of times growing up when I was made fun of for going to church, and instead of not letting it bother me, it made me hide what Jesus had done for me, rather than being a force for the cause of Christ.

Well, I'm going to say this for everyone who accidentally lands on this page; I want to be identified with Christ!  That means, atheists will attack.  Pseudo-Christians will attack.  I say, good, let them attack, because that is what God wants me to do.  If you don't believe that, consider the apostles reaction to being physically beaten for preaching Christ in Acts 5:

⁴⁰ And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹ And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

⁴² And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

They rejoiced over being physically beaten!  If the apostles rejoice over being publicly, physically attacked, then surely I can rejoice over having a prominent atheist professor/blogger and all of his followers attack me.  

Being mocked by the world is also something that we should just come to accept as part of the life for a Christian. Consider the words of Christ in John 15:18:

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

Jesus told us it would be this way. And as we all know, Jesus didn't just talk the talk about being mocked, He walked the walk.  Consider this passage from Mark 15:

²⁹ And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,

³⁰ Save thyself, and come down from the cross.

³¹ Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.

³² Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.

If Jesus was mocked, I want to be mocked.  And I know is this, if you take a public stand for Biblical Christianity, the world will not only hate you, they will mock you.  They will laugh at you.  They will call you names.  As Christians, we need to remember the great joy that should come from knowing that we are being treated the way Christ was treated.  I know that we're not treated as harshly as Christ, for this is not possible considering that everything He endured was without sin, but being attacked does count us in with Him, which should be every true Christian's desire.

Here is the Hard Truth.

Atheists like PZ Myers and his followers are always going to mock Christians.  He's already done it to me several times, and I'm sure he'll do it again in the future.  I can't, and by God's grace, I won't let it stop me from doing anything that God wants me to do.  If this blog ends up being read by no one, so be it.  If this blog gets read by everyone, so be it.  If the only people who read this blog are atheists who want to mock me, so be it.  All that matters to me is that I please the Lord.  And if I please the Lord I can rejoice, regardless of what attacks come my way, and that is the Hard Truth.