It's Not a Marshmallow World

by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Psalm 14

14:1 Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.
14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.
14:3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.
14:4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord?
14:5 There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the company of the righteous.
14:6 You would confound the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge.
14:7 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

Dean Martin used to sing about it being a marshmallow world; "It's the time for play, it's a whipped cream day ... It's a sugar date, what if spring is late." Nothing can go wrong in a marshmallow world. If only the world was like that, all sweetness and light. But instead there are bad people, ugly surprises, things we don't like with trends for good and evil going every which way. But at least watching trends can warn you.

I love trends, and as I read more news and information blogs, newspapers, magazines and watch more TV news than any human being probably has a right to, I'm always delighted when I see a trend developing that supports the Christin principles that were once so in evidence in the common good of American society. It's almost as if the angels all got together and said, "Father, this week we're going to be righting wrongs wholesale and watch the demons squeal!"

This past week was one of those weeks, and I could almost hear the squealing! Here are eight examples:

Judgment Vindicates Calif. Student Punished for Pro-Life T-Shirt

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081305.html

Pro-Condom Bishop Corrected by Southern African Bishops’ Conference

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081308.html

Canadian Gvmt Lets Off Pro-Lifer for Refusing to File Abortion-Funding Taxes

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081307.html

D.C. Admits Planned Parenthood 'Private Property' Sign was False

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081313.html

Majority of US Hispanics Oppose Abortion and Gay 'Marriage': Poll

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081317.html

Urban Oufitters Pulls Planned Parenthood Condoms

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081306.html

Russian Would Fire Abortion-Compliant Employees, Seeks 'Orthodox Transfiguration of Russia'

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081309.html

Atheists Answer Christians with Blow Dryer "De-baptisms"
http://indyposted.com/33511/atheists-answer-christians-with-blow-dryer-debaptisms/

These eight examples run the gamut from "Praise the Lord!" to the truly silly. No one seems to be without an opinion about Christianity, any more, although that is what you hear most, opinions. Few have bothered to "go to the Book" to see what God's take on these matters is, where He stands concerning our both licentious and legalistic society.

This has become especially true on the subject of Islam and the building of mosques. Far too few of us have bothered to educate ourselves about a religion that is followed by about 7 million of the people in America. We listen to "ghost stories" and colorful gossip, but we don't really know, so when confronted, we fall back on "Jesus loves everybody" and "everyone has a right to their religion." After all, this is America.

Before I go further, I want you to know that within our own U.S. Armed Forces there are 6,000 Muslims in uniform, serving our nation. They fight the terrorists just like the guy or gal beside them. They are also appalled with what Nidal Hassan did at Fort Hood; those were their fellow soldiers. And many of them are U.S. Marines who are my friends on the social network, Facebook. You can learn more about them at http://www.apaam.org/.

There are many "kinds" of Muslim Americans, just as Christianity has Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, Episcopalians, and so forth, not all of whom believe in speaking in tongues, immersion baptism, tithing or even supporting large church buildings. It is the Islamic extremists, the political terrorists against whom we must guard. So i say to those who paint everyone with the same brush, don't lump my Marines in with terrorists; it's easy to stuff everyone into the same box, but it's not smart. That's how you make enemies of friends.

But Islam in America has become a recent issue for three reasons. The first is that the 2,810 people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack -- including citizens of 115 different countries -- were murdered by Islamic terrorists. These extremists used the religion of Islam for their political terror.

Secondly, an Islamic Imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, is working to build an Islamic Center, which some say will include the worship center of a mosque, just a few blocks from what has become known as Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers stood, where so many died that terrible day.

Third, the President of the United States, at a Muslim dinner celebrating the beginning of the Islamic Ramadan, at the White House, interjected himself into the issue by announcing the Muslims had a right to build what is being called the Cordoba Building near the Ground Zero site. That has elevated the discussion to the national news level and caused many more people to choose sides than wanted to. Based upon elements of President Barack Hussein Obama's previous conduct with the Muslim world, this latest event has led many to question his claim of Christian faith, declaring he is Muslim by his actions.

President Obama may be the victim of the kinds of trends we were discussing. On the one hand he may be following the admonition from Jesus Christ to love our neighbor and is attempting to find common ground with them. If that's the case, his assistants are doing a terrible job of helping us to understand, and he is making no attempt to do so.

On the other hand, we have a young boy named Barry Soetoro, trained as a Muslim, of whom we know precious little before he became a politician from Illinois and then President, all under the name of Barack Hussein Obama. We know precious little because the President has gone to expensive lengths to hide from public view his school records, travel records, and even his birth certificate. Such actions do not inspire confidence in that person's fidelity. What is he hiding?

Criticism of the President and his office have even reached the point that what was at first circulated as a joke, took on such a sinister meaning among some people that a merchandiser with that punch line, a quote from Psalm 109:8 was taken off the market at the beginning of a holiday season. Psalm 109:8 reads, "May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership." Many people seemed to think it was some kind of code for violence against the President.

So we need to address the question, should Christians respect President Brack Hussein Obama?

First, yes, we need to respect the Office of President of the United States, as good citizens of this nation we love, honor, and respect. But when the person in that office abrogates his responsibility to We the People, we have a right and a responsibility to call that person to account and move to limit the amount of damage being done to this nation.

Now, some will immediately leap to Matthew 7:1 that tells us not to judge lest we be similarly judged. But the real answer is in the context. Jesus is telling us not to judge hypocritically, to make self-righteous judgments about people. Holy scripture cannot be read piecemeal, picking a line from here, a line from there, cafeteria style. We must study scripture in context.
Christians are often accused of judging by those under the microscope, those who know no more scripture than they found in a fortune cookie, no more than Matthew 7:1. But how are we then to discern and beware of those who practice evil, those who are false prophets, if we cannot make judgments about them? We can.

If we see someone caught up in sin, we have a Christian duty to lovingly confront them with their sin, and offer them the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. That requires a judgment on our part, so we can restore them to fellowship.

2nd Chronicles 19 and Ezekiel 3 both buttress Ezekiel 33:8, which tells us, "If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand." Before God Almighty, the action is ours, to correct, rebuke, and encourage, as 2nd Timothy 4:2 says, with great patience and careful instruction. We are to judge sin, always with the intent of presenting the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as the solution for sin and its consequences, according to John 14:6.

Would this apply to President Obama? It does in this pastor's eyes. I do not know Barack Hussein Obama personally, and I can only look at the fruit of his actions and how that affects the citizens of this historic experiment called America.

And I cannot share his stated value system for this nation, for example, his views on abortion, the murder of children; his radical Marxist views on re-distribution of wealth from those who have worked hard for it, to those who will not work.

I cannot agree with his plans to raise taxes for everyone who makes more than $250,000 a year, a figure that has changed three times since last August.

I absolutely cannot agree that the United States of America is arrogant and is not a Christian nation. This nation has shared trillions of dollars in aid to devastated nations, still provides clothing, food, water and volunteer manpower to countries around the world who are in need. The arrogance is in the person of the President, with an approach to people and problems that is almost regal in content, dictatorial, "my way or the highway." I feel certain people are taken aback by that. But it is his implementation of that arrogance as it concerns Muslim issues that truly frighten people. They are concerned about his fumbling approach to the economy, jobs, and the lot, but having his face set toward Islam is frightening for most of us.

To claim that America is not a Christian nation flies in the face of history and current facts. Speaking at a press conference in Turkey in May 2009, President Obama told the world, "One of the great strengths of the United States is ... we have a very large Christian population -- we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

That would have been a surprise to the 76.5% of Americans, 159 million, who consider themselves part of an historic and de facto Christian nation.

No one should have been surprised, however, for on the campaign trail in 2007 he told CBN's David Brody the same thing. He added, "When you have pastors and television pundits who appear to explicitly coordinate with one political party; when you're implying that your fellow Americans are traitors, terrorist sympathizers or akin to the devil himself; then I think you're attempting to hijack the faith of those who follow you for your own personal or political ends." From the campaign trail that was seen as a shot at those who were not aligning with his political party, apparently all those Christians no longer part of a Christian nation he said didn't exist.
But that's not all. Neither can I share his view on reducing our military by 25% while we are still under attack, throwing even more men and women out on a failing job market. Nor can I agree with his decision to give amnesty to all those in America illegally with no means to pay for their own healthcare, to make their own contributions to the Social Security system they are to draw from, who will play havoc with the job market by taking jobs at lower wages than those who are not on immigrant support can live on.

Also, I join those who see his healthcare system as a tragic mistake, the life and death impacting implications of which we are only now beginning to see.

I believe he is wrong on homosexuality, wrong on the definition of marriage, wrong about Radical Islam being our friend and Israel being our enemy, and that he is acting from a completely skewed strategic view of the problems in the Middle East. Neither I nor history agree with his intentions to appear submissive, obsequious, or servile towards those in the regimes of Iran, Korea , China or anyone else.

Perhaps most of all, I do not share his spiritual views, either those he claims as a Christian from 25 years of black theology rants against America, or his demonstrated support for Islam.

G. K. Chesterton was an English writer of whom it was said provided "common sense for the world's uncommon nonsense." Known as the "prince of paradox," in what has been called his "reasoned apologetics," Chesterton wrote, "It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong." Islam is a religion which refuses to allow examination of itself. As such, it takes itself off the table of consideration by reason, and makes itself an enemy of every other religion.

The current Islamic issue holding America's attention, a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, was neither a religious nor political issue, until Pres. Obama moved it up to such with his pontification about it at the dinner in the White House celebrating Ramadan, with other Muslims. But it still is not about one more mosque.

There are already Islamic mosques all over America, 100 just in New York City, so it is not that Americans are Islamophobic. Islam has been practiced privately and publicly in the United States for many years, and you can see where the mosques are all over America by going online to http://halalmaps.com/. But Islam does not allow for the existence of other religions, and this is a nation which allows exactly that. Americans are not Islamophobic. Islam is Christophobic. It cannot allow the existence of Christianity in order that Islam may flourish. Islam even forbids the building of a Christian church within the entire nation of Saudi Arabia. That is religious bigotry.

The Imam behind this Islamic building says it is not just a mosque, but it will be a cultural center. However, if the effort is to share the Islamic culture with others, then the question is do we need exposure to the Sharia Law culture of wife beating, jihadist activities, and religious extremists integrated into our society? Okay, maybe that is unfair. Then let's tone down the rhetoric and just ask if we really need the cultural influence of burka wearing, uneducated women held down and demeaned by their men, women unable to see a doctor unless the doctor is a woman, or who must look at her problem through a hole in the sheet separating them; women punished if they are in the presence of a man to whom they are not married, women who can be cast adrift in society at a man's whim; violent punishment for daughters, to the point of death, for a father's disapproval; temporary wives for men; and a societal approval of lying and deception to those not of your own religion. This all detailed, and allowed, in the Islamic Koran. If this is not to be the case, Muslims such as my military friends must speak up, and we must support them.

America is a nation that says all people are created equal, with the right to work to better themselves, with the right to worship as they wish. The relevant question is does the Islamic culture square with that?

The reason 70% of Americans do not want a mosque built near the 911 Ground Zero site in New York City has nothing to do with Islam as a culture or as a religion. It is because those extremists who kidnapped the people in those aircraft and destroyed their lives, and murdered all those people in the Twin Towers in a most horrendous way, it is because they were Islamic and creating that horrible tragedy for religious reasons. If those murderous thugs had been Christian, or Mormon or Hindu or whatever, the reaction would be the same accordingly; do not rub our nose in the religion of those who did this. To do otherwise is to show an incredible insensitivity to the victims' families and to their memories. To a reasonable person, that is easy to understand. Those who fly in the face of that reasoning will do so only for ulterior purposes, for their own unspoken agendas. That conclusion is so obvious it deeply offends the American sense of respect and justice.

This is not an issue of religion, not an issue of legality or rights. It is an issue of old-fashioned, deeply held American sense of justice and fair play. Jesus says to love our enemies, and we can do that if we can be assured the extremists will be made to put away their swords and play nice.

Here's a suggestion. Build the Cordoba Initiative next to the Kaaba, the Dome of the Rock, in Mecca, in memory of all those who died in the Twin Towers because of Islamic extremism. And let America know when that is to be accomplished. Then we can all celebrate, lest it be true, "They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one."

Amen.

Daily Scripture Readings for August 23-29, 2010
Monday -- Matthew 23:1-36
Tuesday -- Matthew 20:28
Wednesday -- Matthew 6:1-24
Thursday -- Matthew 6:25-34
Friday -- Matthew 5:1-11

Saturday -- Matthew 5:13-20
Sunday -- Ezekiel 18:1-9, 25-29; Psalm 15; Hebrews 13:1-8; Luke 14:1, 7-14

Lord Lord? I Never Knew You - Paul Washer

Anger Won't Save the Vinyard

Anger Won't Save the Vineyard

Sermon by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Isaiah 5:1-7
5:1 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
5:2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
5:3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
5:4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
5:5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
5:6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!

The book of Isaiah is rich with wisdom and information not only for those of its own time, but for this day and this age in which we live and move. In these passages, God is comparing the house of Israel to a vineyard. In the same way, these words can be applied to America. Is this national vineyard producing the fruit it was intended, full, succulent grapes from which will come a life-giving wine? Or is its purpose being lost in poor management, destroyed through bitterness, in-fighting and anger?

This past week I commented on Facebook about the growing sense of anger and frustration we see being fed by a sense of helplessness and hopelessness as our elected and appointed officials seem to go off the deep end in ways counter to the welfare of We the People. They are caring more for themselves than for the vineyard we know as our nation. There seems to be an anger growing more intense, and so widespread that it could eventually grow into violence that will kill the very rich purpose of the vineyard.

My initial comment about anger and helplessness came about when I learned that our own State Department is paying for Imam Feisal Abdul Rouf, who intends to build a Muslim mosque a couple of blocks away from the 9/11 Ground Zero in New York City, to travel to the Middle East to drum up more funding for this mosque most of America thinks is a travesty so close to the killing fields created by Muslim terrorists. There is so much anger evident about this across America that I felt led to urge people to turn it into fervent prayer to the Living God whose wisdom and strong hand can make a difference.

An angry shopkeeper in New York City was quoted as saying, "I feel like there is a ruling class in America who think they know better than I do, and they don't give a *blank* what I think."

Another person commented, "It sure is easy to become engrossed in the hatred that is breeding in this Country. Even amongst Christians. I began to act in a way that was unfamiliar to me and I had to really seek God on it. I do feel anger is appropriate to some degree but it must never interfere with our work for the Kingdom. I said just yesterday we need to storm Heaven with prayers for this country and for those deceived by Islam."

Truthfully, we are awash in anger in America today. Fear is most often the genesis of anger; fear of what know but can't control, fear of what we don't know or don't understand.

The news media is replete each week with new examples of fear and anger. Just this past week the Associated Press released a story about increasing fear of more violent patients in hospital emergency rooms, with recommendations for "24-hour security guards, coded ID badges, bulletproof glass and panic buttons." Many hospitals are now installing metal detectors, with one hospital in Ohio "confiscating 33 handguns, 1,324 knives, and 97 Mace sprays in the first six months of the program."

Fear and anger cause some people to go armed, even if it's only with Mace spray and an attitude.

The news media, of course, is not an innocent party in all this anger. For the sake of controversy that draws readership, which hikes ad rates and pays everyone's salary, their entire approach to the world is, "Let's you and him fight." Then they have a story. Their very greed and self-interest works against a healthy vineyard.

Sometimes we pole-vault into anger out pure and continuing discouragement. We seem to see no way out of our dilemma and this lack of power makes us angry. Pastor Charles Stanley recently wrote about the External Causes of Discouragement, based on Colossians 3:21.

" Discouragement can hit us from many angles," Stanley wrote, "depleting our energy and productivity. Wise believers will learn to detect its sources in order to avoid this paralyzing effect." He listed six common external causes:

1. Unresolved disappointments. This applies to letdowns caused by our own failed expectations or someone else's.

2. Constant criticism. When we are criticized frequently, it is natural to think, "What's wrong with me?" Yet, unless God reveals a truth in the comments, we must learn to let them go.

3. The feeling that no one's listening. The natural response to this is rejection.

4. The sense that we aren't appreciated after doing our best. We can get so tied to our work that someone's failure to acknowledge our efforts feels like a personal rebuff.

5. Bad working conditions. Many believers enjoy what they do but pick up on coworkers' cruelty, bitterness, or refusal to recognize their efforts. This can make it extremely difficult to get motivated about going to work each day.

6. Lacking opportunities to shine. A job that doesn't make the best use of one's gifts and abilities can wear a person down. So can tight-fisted management that limits freedom to make innovations.

Stanley points out that oftentimes, it's the people we see every day who seem to have the most power for causing emotional impacts in our lives. So if any of the above scenarios sound disturbingly familiar, we need to pray for the strength to face these external discouragers with renewed confidence, so we respond from a point of peace, and not anger.

Far too often anger is that out-of-control emotion that leads a person to take action they otherwise would not have. In New York City this past Monday, a flight attendant reportedly had taken enough cursing and battering abuse from an angry passenger while the plane was still on the ground, so he grabbed a beer from the galley, deployed the slide-for-life and left the plane in style, and in anger. Although he was arrested, arraigned on several charges, and put in jail under $2,500 bond, by the next date a Facebook page set up in his name had 20,000 supporters, with membership growing by the thousands each hour. One member had established a legal defense fund for the flight attendant. The angry passenger was not arrested. But at least 20,000-plus people felt a kinship with the flight attendant's anger.

Where does this anger come from? Are we not better off than the disease-plagued ages of yore? Is the very vineyard not much improved from olden times? Are not miracle medicines, instant communication, faster cars and boats and planes, world-wide entertainment, central air and heating, are they not enough to please our hunger for "the good life?" Enough so we feel we are being treated fairly?

And yet we see anger searing nearly every episode of life; both winning and losing sports fans destroying post-game stadiums and neighborhoods; petty arguments escalating instantly into gunplay and death, road rage on the highways that kills, maims and destroys whole families. Both losing and winning political opponents spew their agenda-driven rage while campaigning and even after the election. Anger in the supermarket lines, anger in bank meetings, anger in the boardrooms, in the kitchen, in the living room, and in the bedrooms. Even anger in the church as one faction takes another to court to exact their pound of flesh.

Where does such anger come from? It certainly doesn't come from worship, from praising God, from being filled with the Spirit of Almighty God.

II Timothy 1:7 reminds us that "God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and sound judgment." In most cases, when you have the power, you have the solid footing for sound judgment. There is no reason to be making snap judgments and bad decisions that come from not giving the facts and the context due consideration. God wants us to make decisions that honor Him. He wants our every word and action to be such that it honors His holiness.

It's when we act out of fear, out of feelings of powerlessness, embarrassment, humiliation, or out of anger and frustration that we step away from His guiding spirit, that we do things "our way," and we do not honor God, we do not act within His will. After 27 years as a U.S. Marine and 18 years as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there really isn't much I'm afraid of, except being one second outside the will of Almighty God. We are forever one second, one heartbeat away from eternity. The kind of anger we've been talking about will take us outside that second.

Pastor Dale Williams, Jr., has said there is another anger we should all be concerned about. He indicates the Bible says, "For we are consumed by your anger, and by your wrath are we troubled. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance (Psalm 90:7-8)." Adds Williams, "The world isn't 'troubled' by God's wrath. They are offended by the thought that He is angry at them."

Nevertheless, the Bible says that they are 'consumed' by His anger. It abides on them and envelopes them as a raging fire. This is because He has set their iniquities in front of Him, like a judge who places all the evidence of a heinous crime on the bench before him before he passes sentence. But more than that, their secret sins are in the light of His countenance. They are not at His feet. They are in front of His face. He sees every wicked thought and deed. No wonder Paul said, 'Wherefore knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. (2nd Corinthians 5:11)'"

Anger among men and women often has its roots in pride, in a lack of humility before God and before men. "I didn't get what I deserved." "I was not treated fairly." "I deserve better than this." Our self-pride pushes us to levels of what we tell ourselves is righteous anger."

Facebook friend Jeremy Kurth shared with me and others this verse from Obadiah 1:3, "The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?'"

Added Jeremy, "We live our lives a lot of the time with the attitude that we are better than other people, but the fact of the matter is the more we puff ourselves up the more we push others away. How can we effectively minister to people when we are always thinking of ourselves?"

In our moments of pride, self-righteousness, moments when our anger lashes out, that's the question we will have to each answer for ourselves. Let us ask and answer that question prayerfully for ourselves. God has no need to ask. He already knows.

We would do well to remember John Donne's admonition that no man is an island, that our emotional responses, whether out of love or anger, have an impact on the world around us, on the entire vineyard.

For in light of recent events it seems apparent we stand today where Israel stood in the time of Isaiah, and the Lord God has some specific pronouncements in Isaiah 5:5-7 about this vineyard, of His, in which we live and raise our families: "And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; He expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!"

Like Israel of old, the same remedy that would have saved Israel is the only one left to the Christians of America: "If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." -- 2nd Chronicles 7:14.

Amen.

Daily Scripture Readings for August 16-22, 2010
Monday -- John 14:1-14
Tuesday -- Matthew 11:1-5
Wednesday -- Hebrews 10:19-25
Thursday -- Matthew 8:18-27
Friday -- Luke 5:27-39

Saturday -- John 12:20-36

Sunday -- Jeremiah 28:1-9; Psalm 84; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:22-30

Whatever Happened to Sin?

Sermon by Pastor Ed Evans

June 27, 2010

Scripture: Gal. 5:1, 13-25
5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.
5:14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
5:15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
5:16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
5:17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.
5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.
5:19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,
5:21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
5:22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
5:23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Our sermon today opens with the story about an old preacher visiting in a small country church. He was asked what he was going to preach on. He responded, "Sin!" And what, they asked, was he going to say about it" His answer, "I'm ag'in it!" That's what we're going to talk about this morning. But first, some news from this past week.

A New England school district in Massachusetts has approved providing free condoms to elementary school students and they have directed teachers not to comply with parental wishes not to have their children participate. And the policy was approved with no age limit, which means children of any age ask for, and receive, free condoms. Mother and Dad, in New England you don't have a right to prevent your 7-year-old from receiving free condoms. This was approved unanimously by the Provincetown School Committee.

In Milwaukee, children beginning at age 12 have been able to get four-packs of condoms and tubes of liquid lubrication since last December from city clinical and health sites, as well as "partnering" sites such as entertainment/music stores and venues, retail clothing and shoe stores, coffee shops, barber shops and beauty salons and body piercing/tattoo parlors. Just walk in and ask for them, and you get a multi-language set of instructions on how to use them. No consultation, no counseling, no letting their parents know what is going on.

This is the kind of thinking that says if you can't seem to stop burglaries in your neighborhood, just take your valuables and set them out by the street so people don't have to become burglars to take your belongings. But what we miss here is that the results are the same. With the children, we have poisoned the well. We have put them in adult situations they may be physically equipped for, but are emotionally ill-equipped for. The collateral damage is often devastating for a lifetime. As in the case of our burglary example, your precious possessions are still gone, and you won't get them back.

Instead of raising the moral bar, instead of attempting to share the kind of loving information regarding the facts that early sex is not a good idea, and that children are often preyed upon by adults; instead of setting the example of what true, pure love can be between adults, we try to take the sting out doing what is immoral, what is wrong, what is unhealthy. And we can't. So why do we go down that path?

One of the worst things about that period of our history we call the Middle Ages is that children were treated as adults. It was devastating. Why do adults do that? Perhaps because they have not grown up themselves, and they project upon innocent, emotionally immature children the distorted desires and hungers those immature adults feel. But do we not learn from history? What can be our excuse in this day and age?

I believe part of the problem is that we have taken the edge off of sin. We make excuses for doing and permitting activities that are immoral, wrong, and unhealthy. The line, that firm point of departure, between what is right and what is wrong has become blurred. We have allowed it to become blurred.

This past Wednesday on a prime time Australian TV show ABC Q&A panelist Peter Singer talked about the joys of bestiality and wondered aloud why society has taboos on such things. The amazing thing is that no one booed him off the stage.

Christianity Today writer Bill Muehlenberg reporting on this incident, and others, wrote, "We live in very dark times. Indeed, it can be rightly argued that we are descending into a new dark ages. The moral freefall that the West is in is as alarming as it is certain. Everywhere the moral train wreck that is Western culture is gathering pace and becoming more pronounced. The examples of this moral decline are legion......"

There are growing numbers of us who want to deny there is a God. That way we can make our own rules. Rule No. 1, there is no sin. After all, if there is no supreme being who created us, there can be no absolute moral rule, and we are free to do and act as we wish. If there is no God, who has the authority to say there is a moral order at work?

But the fact is -- observed through several thousand years of experience -- that we are alive on this earth for a relatively short period. Then it's over. Or is it? Will we be responsible, after our death, for what we have done during our lifetime? Is there an after life to be determined by our actions during life? Those who refuse to know God, refuse to admit that God is God, will say no. Those who know God will assure you there is. In the first case there is no hope, no future, no reason for life. For those who know God, hope abounds, the future awaits, and the reason for life is that it continues.

However, both those who admit to God and those who deny Him share a blindside about the issue of sin. And there, at the bottom of all our problems, lies either a tragic misunderstanding or a total denial of what sin is.

So, what is sin, really? The top two definitions of sin by any measurement are one, estrangement from God, and two, an act regarded as a transgression of God's will. You can find further elucidation in online and offline dictionaries, but those are the two with which I believe most people can agree. That is, if you believe sin exists.

If you think about it, refusing to be reconciled to the fact of sin, not recognizing it and therefore not dealing with it, produces all the disasters in life. They all come back to these two definitions.

Those who don't want to be fenced in by a moral God will point out all the lofty virtues of human nature, what they term the basic goodness of all human beings. But if you have lived on this earth to the age of responsibility, you must agree that there is a wickedness and selfishness, and something downright wrong and hateful in human beings; in some more than others. And if you don't agree that sin exists in human beings, if you make excuses and fool yourself, then when it attacks your life you will simply compromise with it and give in to it, believing there is no use to fight against it. And evil takes charge of your life.

As the old preacher said, once you allow Satan in the car, he's going to want to drive.

If in your relationships and friendships you don't include the reconciliation to the existence of sin, then at some point, perhaps just around the corner, you will find yourself trapped by sin, and for reasons of your own survival, you will compromise with it. One wrong deed needs another to cover it. One lie needs another lie to cover it. One blind eye to the sanctity of life requires another foul deed to cover it. And it becomes lie upon lie upon lie until we don't know how to get out, and the price of either getting out of it, or staying with it simply gets higher.

On the other hand, if you have recognized the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately. You will know the price, you will know the consequences.

Now be careful here, for many new Christians misunderstand their position in the recognition of sin at work. When you see it in the life of others, when it is offered to you, those involved are not the devil's spawn, they are not evil incarnate. Like you and I they have the opportunity to be sinners saved by grace. So recognition need not destroy the basis of the relationship, but there must be a respect for the fact that the basis of a sinful life is disastrous. It would be even better if that were a mutual respect.

Having a respect for the dangers of sin is important in our life, important in our relationships with others. For it is sin that separates us from a loving God. When sin rears it ugly but often seductive head, we need to identify it as such. It is not an alternative perspective, an interesting proposition, or even a mistake to be endured. It is sin, and it is deadly. The bright light of recognition should be shined on it. It should be called what it is, and those involved in it called to repentance, if we value them before God at all.

How did Jesus Christ deal with sin? He brought the Word of God against it. He spoke scripture against it. When Satan tempted Jesus to draw Him off course from what the Father had laid out for Him, Jesus responded with the Word of God, and Satan didn't argue. 1st Corinthians 10:13 tells us, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." Speak scripture to it, and walk away.

If we look at how Jesus dealt with human nature, we see that He never trusted it. He knew sin for what it was, and he knew how vulnerable was our human nature. Still, He was neither cynical nor suspicious because He knew what He could do for human nature. We, too, know what the acceptance of Jesus Christ can do with the sinful heart of human nature. And there we have the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Son of God is that bridge across the chasm of sin that allows us to reunite with a sinless God. The shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha clothes us in his righteousness, since we have none of our own. So when God looks at us, He sees not the sins for which we have been forgiven, but He sees the righteousness of the Son, and we are free. Sin is what it is, but we are free. Praise God, we are free. Amen.

Father's Day and the Lost Glory

Sermon by Pastor Ed Evans

Father's Day, June 20, 2010

June 20, 2010

Scripture: Psalm 42 and 43

42:1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.

42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?

42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, "Where is your God?"43

42:4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help

42:6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

42:7 Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all your waves and your billows have gone over me.

42:8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

42:9 I say to God, my rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?"

42:10 As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, "Where is your God?"

42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; from those who are deceitful and unjust deliver me!

43:2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you cast me off? Why must I walk about mournfully because of the oppression of the enemy?

43:3 O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.

43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.

43:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

You might be interested to know that this is the Centennial for Father's Day. The original idea of Father’s Day was conceived by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington, to honor her father in 1910. She chose his birthday which was proclaimed as Father's Day on June 19, 1910, by Spokane’s mayor; the first Father’s Day.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved the idea of observing an annual Father's Day, in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day, and in 1972 President Richard Nixon signed the public law tht made it permanent. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, neckties have been the number one Father's Day gift ever since.

Stand up comics, late night show hosts and other comedians have great fun at the expense of fathers, and most fathers take the ribbing, and the recognition, good-naturedly.

Looking back at the 100 years that have elapsed since the first Father's Day, we know that the fathers of 1900 didn't have it nearly as good as the fathers of today; but they did have a few advantages. In 1900, fathers prayed their children would learn English. Today, fathers pray their children will speak English.

Comedian Bill Cosby says of fathers, "Fathers are the geniuses of the house because only a person as intelligent as we could fake such stupidity. Think about your father: He doesn't know where anything is. You ask him to do something, he messes it up and your mother sends you: "Go down and see what your father's doing before he blows up the house." He's a genius at work because he doesn't want to do it, and he knows someone will be coming soon to stop him."

It's been said some fathers are so inept at being fathers because there is no one expert book on how to be a father, and we're not trained for being a father before we find ourselves suddenly in it. It's almost true there is no one book on fatherhood, in that there are millions. Take your pick. I say "almost true" because in point of fact, there is one expert book. The book of Proverbs in the Bible carries excellent advice on fatherhood.

Our scripture today, Psalms 42 and 43 make it clear that we are what we are, as God has created us. We might long to be this or that, we might desire to be what we are not, in fact fleshly desires all too easily lead us away from what God expects of us, overwhelming us, getting between ourselves and the Living God. But as these two Psalms point out, He has already known and provided for our needs, and without Him, outside of Him, we cannot be what that for which He has designed us. Designed by God to be fathers, men find themselves adrift in a strange world outside of God.

Throughout the Bible we find advice for fathers and for men in general, such as in Colossians 3:21 , and similar advice in Ephesians 6:4 related to how we as fathers should deal with our children.

It is a sad fact that much of what is wrong in our communities today has to do with children raised in one parent families where there is no father. There is no male leadership in the family. This is something a caring, loving mother simply cannot do by herself, replace the father's influence on her children.

Basically, it is a matter of the leadership element lacking in that child's life. Whenever I conduct a wedding ceremony, I always reinforce the image of the father's leadership role in the marriage, explaining to those in attendance that the father walks his daughter down the aisle because he is coming to the end of his spiritual leadership and prepares to surrender that role to the man into whose hands he will place his daughter's hand. Also, that the groom says his vows first because at that moment, he becomes the spiritual head of this equal partnership for life.

And yet, today, even among families where there is both father and mother, I am sensing a reticence on the part of fathers to fulfill their leadership role. They seem to have a mistaken idea that there is no role for leadership in the Christian marriage. And yet women say that male leadership in a relationship is not only desired but necessary for the woman to assert her own role.

Pastor David Felts, leading the Appleton Christian Church in Johnstown, Ohio, writes, "As a Pastor I have had to address this very problem on more than one occasion. The simplest answer I can give is that with most of the men I talk to about this issue it is something which has been ingrained in them from childhood. In order for a man to have a relationship with Christ they will have to give up control of their life and submit to the spirit. This is not something men do easily or well. I think it is easier for women to submit to and be led by God's spirit. God's word tells men to be the leader of the household but when society teaches equality and blurs the role of men in the home it makes it more difficult for men to develop a spiritual mindset. Many churches fail to disciple men in their God-given role and responsibility due to a lack of Godly men to be the teacher and role model. This is a long term problem which will take a long term approach to resolve."

Many churches have established men's groups, and through these Christian associations men can hold one another responsible for their actions before God, discuss in private common problems and solutions within the family unit. And while our own association and willingness to approach and solve problems in creative Christian fashion is good, we must not count out God's influence and the factor of His presence in our lives as men and in our marriages as fathers.

As we observe the world around us, and being knowledgeable in the Word, I believe most will agree we are beginning to see the end of the time of grace approaching as the world moves further and further from recognition of the Living God, transferring the glory they gave God to the exploits and achievements of men. However, His Word tells us that God will not go from this age quietly, and the growing formation of men's groups within churches is testament to a move by God to get men back to doing those things He has created us to do, and being who He has created us to be. In all aspects of life, both men and women are finding themselves in situations where they must choose whether they will glorify God, or glorify the world; give recognition to the Creator, or the created.

Which side are you on? As Pastor Felts pointed out, it seems easier for women to submit to and be led by God's spirit. However, I believe we are going to see more and more men taking up a leadership role through belief in Jesus Christ. I believe God is preparing the fields of man to produce a great crop of new Christians. More and more men will be stepping up because of the calling that God is going to place in their lives.

For many years we have heard the scripture quoted from Matthew 9:37 where Jesus tells His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." But right behind it, in verse 38, Jesus tells them, "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Those who follow Christ have been doing that for many years, and I believe God has heard us. We are seeing just the beginning but as this crop matures and produces seed they in turn will sow that seed into the next harvest. For a long time that crop has not matured to the point where it produced seed. But as God says "Be still and know that I am God."

As I see the proliferation of sin in the life of our communities, as I see evil incarnate rising up to take control, I know by the Word of God Almighty that His will is going to be done, that He is still in control, that God is going to act. All around me I see men and women stepping forward to give God the glory, rather than to mankind; blessing others in the name of the glorified God; taking a stand against evil, against those who would glorify the adventures of mankind, to give God the glory.

In probably all of our lives there have been times we have all “exchanged” the glory of God in favor of the “glory of man.” But have you ever wondered, "What is the glory of God; what does that actually mean?"

S. Michael Houdmann, president and founder of GotQuestions.org writes of this issue of exchanging glory, "This is the mistake many people continue to make: trusting in earthly things, earthly relationships, their own powers or talents or beauty, or the goodness they see in others. But when these things fade and fail as they will inevitably do (being only temporary carriers of the greater glory), these people despair. What we all need to realize is that God’s glory is constant, and as we journey through life we will see it manifesting here and there, in this person or that forest or in a story of love or heroism, fiction or non-fiction, or our own personal lives. But it all goes back to God in the end. And the only way to God is through His Son, Jesus Christ. We will find the very source of all beauty in Him, in heaven, if we are in Christ. Nothing will be lost to us. All those things that faded in life we will find again in Him."

Of God's glory, Houdmann adds, " The glory of God is the beauty of His spirit. It is not an aesthetic beauty or a material beauty, but it is the beauty that emanates from His character, from all that He is. James 1:10 calls on a rich man to “glory in his humiliation,” indicating a glory that does not mean riches or power or great aesthetic or material beauty. This glory can crown man or fill the earth. It is seen within man and in the earth, but it is not of them; it is of God. The glory of man is the beauty of man’s spirit, which is fallible and eventually passes away, and is therefore humiliating -- as the verse tells us. But the glory of God, which is manifested in all His attributes together, never passes away. It is eternal."

For that matter, the very Word of God offers excellent information on the glory of God.
In Psalms 19:1-4 we read, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands; day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world.”

Isaiah 43:7 says that God created us for His glory. In context with the other verses, it can be said that man “glorifies” God because through man God’s glory can be seen in things such as love, music, heroism and so forth -- things belonging to God that we are carrying “in jars of clay” as 2nd Corinthians 4:7 puts it.

Psalm 73:24 calls heaven itself “glory.” It used to be common to hear Christians talk of death as being “received unto glory,” which is a phrase borrowed from this Psalm. When the Christian dies, he will be taken into God’s presence, and in His presence will be naturally surrounded by God’s glory. We will be taken to the place where God’s beauty literally resides -- the beauty of His Spirit will be there, because He will be there. Again, the beauty of His Spirit (or the essence of Who He Is) is His “glory.” In that place, His glory will not need to come through man or nature, rather it will be seen clearly, for as 1st Corinthians 13:12 tells us, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

What we know fully for now is that God intends there be fathers and mothers in the family unit, and that fathers are to take a leadership role in the equal partnership that is marriage.

As human beings and His creation, we glorify His purposes in our lives. We are to rest in Him and do the best we can do with what He has given us, to accomplish what He has set before us. But when our finite life here is over and our spirit returns to the infinite, that glory is not lost, but returns to God whose glory it is. Let us therefore on this Father's Day glorify the God-given role of fathers, living up to what He expects of us, that we might glorify God the Father in what we do, what we say, and who we are in Him, Happy Father's Day. Amen.