Confessions of a Forgiven Hypocrite

 Do you ever feel like such a huge hypocrite? You get hit with something out of nowhere- you know exactly where that road goes- and you get on it anyway and make it even worse- and before you know it, you're sinning up a storm over the weekend. And you know it's wrong because you blow off Bible reading and prayer for the day because you're definitely not in the right frame of mind for that. You're having way too much fun with sin right now- you can't face God right now. And it gets to the point where you feel like such a failure and jerk heading off to church.

   (Confession: This was a good portion of my weekend, except that this portion was anything but good. For a single guy striving to follow Christ but failing a number of times, while seeing victories at others, the battlefield of the mind and maintaining sexual purity there is such a struggle oftentimes. Even if it's not straight up pornography, there are a plethora of images readily available online that help satisfy curiosity for a time. The problem is the eyes never get their fill of seeing. - Ecclesiastes 1:8 

As James 1:12-18 tells us, sin always grows exponentially into more and more with a neverending appetite for destruction, even if it seems like Paradise City at the time.)

     When you feel like that, don't run away; run to God. Go to church anyway. You're not a hypocrite- you're a sinner admitting your need for Jesus The Saviour and Lord. And you'll find that you haven't messed up beyond the measure of grace after all. When you come in faith and repentance, you'll find The Lord is right there waiting for you with open arms, ready to forgive and absolve you of all sins once more. The Father is always watching for us. 1 John 1:9 is still true for Christ followers who have run off that narrow trail over to the hollow pursuits of the broad way and gotten sick on its short-lived pleasures. He puts us back on the path, clears the guilt from our consciences and restores to us the joy of our salvation in Christ once more and reminds us how much infinitely better Jesus is than sin!

      It's crazy how the worship music and the sermon was targeted right at me today at church and spoke to just what I needed. (Not so crazy- hat tip to The Holy Spirit for His work. :-)) The pastor quoted from "Love Lifted Me" and we sang "How Great Thou Art" at the end, both of which I could happily sing after confessing my sins to God, asking His forgiveness and help to not do it again. And we also sang this beautiful, new-to-me worship song I have linked below. The lyrics are amazingly powerful and just what I needed today, along with the sermon from Ephesians 4:17-24, reminding me to put off my old self that's corrupt through deceitful desires and to instead be renewed in the spirit of my mind and put on my new self, created after God's likeness in true righteousness and holiness. That's what He has called me to do and that's what I want to do all the time.

    I am sorry for the many times I fail God in so many ways. I confess that I am far too often a lazy, undisciplined, gluttonous, lustful, lascivious, prideful, jealous, wrathful, fearful, lying, cheating, thieving, covetous old sinner- and likely much more could be named if everyone saw the depths of my heart and soul like The Lord does. For those of my friends who see the man of God I want to be on here and in my life, please know that I have no place to be on any pedestal or to cast any stones. I struggle with the old man of sin constantly and while I know Jesus has won the war already, it still hurts to lose battles along the way. Yet I continue on in the fight knowing it's not I but Christ through me. There is no good in me of my own. Any good in me is Jesus. Pray that I might continue to fling aside the garments stained by the flesh and instead put on the garment of praise that is the new robe of righteousness God The Father gives His prodigals who repent with an amazing Grace and love that overwhelms me.

     May this encourage you to keep standing with God, even enduring mistreatment over the fleeting pleasures of sin, as Moses did. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. (See Hebrews 11:23-28) Let's also go to Christ outside the camp and gladly bear the reproach He endured as we look for the lasting City to come! (See Hebrews 13:10-16)  And when we fall and start to sink like Peter, let us immediately turn our eyes back unto Jesus and cry out to Him for salvation- He's always there to pull us back up and set us on the narrow path again because He loves us with an everlasting love! (Jeremiah 31:3) And He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west! Bless The Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- He forgives all our iniquities when we ask! He heals all our diseases and redeems our lives from the pit! Praise God for His love and forgiveness! If you don't know this kind of Love, put faith in His death and Resurrection that pays for all sins for all time and follow Him in faith and repentance to receive His Grace and salvation today! If you do know Him and His love, be encouraged today as we traverse the narrow road together, fellow brother and sister pilgrims. Be blessed, be a blessing and most of all- be God's. (Romans 14:8) :-)

https://youtu.be/zundjUFazfg

("Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me" by City Alight) 

Biblical Sexual Purity Culture

 (Note: This is in response to a critique of what is referred to as "purity culture", posted on this blog.  

I can appreciate the points made and I do think the church needs to consider how best to Biblically address the issue of sexuality, especially with youth groups.)

Interesting blog post. I think the main problem there is that so much of what Is described as "purity culture" is not Biblical. If a church is teaching these things, then it needs to repent and correct its teaching.

To address them one by one:

1. Women are responsible for their sexual sin and men are responsible for their sexual sin.

It is worth noting that Romans 14 does warn about being a stumbling block for others and thus, it is worth considering that factor in the way we dress, along with everything else. 1 Peter 3 speaks to this point for women. Both men and women should be cognizant of how our dress- and everything else we say or do- can either turn someone towards Christ or repel them.

2. Neither women nor men should feel shame about their bodies. We both cover up appropriately according to the Spirit's leading out of love, both for our own bodies and for other people. It should not be a shame-based thing.

3. Both men and women have sexual desire (for the most part- I recognize that some identify as asexual and honestly have no libido). Both men and women are sinners. This is why both fail to control their sexual urges at times. Men are equally prone to be deceived as are women. Sexual desire is not the sin- lust is, along with sexual abuse, and sexual relations outside of the marriage of one man to one woman for life.

We all struggle with sin- and that's why we all need Christ.

4. Every single girl, boy, man and woman Is eternally valuable and loved by God because we are all made in His image. Women are more than just their sexuality, as are men. Our worth is found in Christ, not in our virginity. If a man or woman has fallen into sin with pre- or extra- marital sex, that value has not changed one iota. They are not damaged goods. They are sinners who are still eternally valuable. And Christ restores us when we come to Him in repentance. We must find our value and worth in Him. And because we love Him, we will obey His commands.

5. I'm not sure what this has to do with anything. I am pretty sure I can safely say, for the most part, men and women both enjoy sex equally. I am pretty sure most people find sex to be fun. I am also bewildered that women are evidently not familiar with their anatomy. It would seem to be a failing on the part of biology instruction in schools. Both men and women should have a basic understanding of human anatomy.

6. If men and women have sex before marriage, yes- many things can go wrong. Thankfully, God is still willing to forgive us when we come to Him in repentance. This sexual sin does not ruin one's entire life forever. God can still bring restoration and forgiveness. The lives of those who fall to this sin are still infinitely important and valuable.

7. There is no difference between sexual abuse and sex before marriage in the sense that both are sins. That aside, of course there's a difference between these acts. Consent should certainly be in place before any sex act and it should come in the form of a two word phrase that both man and woman repeat before man and God- "I do". (And yes, even within the context of marriage, the husband and wife should have each other's consent before engaging in coitus. Your spouse is not your sex toy.)

If a woman is raped, then the man is guilty of rape. The woman is not guilty of pre-marital sex here. The Bible speaks to this point in Deuteronomy 22.

I agree that these teachings can and have been used to marginalize and subjugate women. This is not right.

The church needs to teach Biblical teachings on sexual purity and encourage love and respect for all people. There is no male or female in Christ- we are all one in Him. (Galatians 3:26)

The Truth's Lying in Plain Sight

         As a precursor, I want to note that I generally strive to avoid political posts and this one is no different. I don't hold to any particular party (just Jesus above all)- and this is not about parties and politics- it's about purity.
         I was thinking earlier today about the truth and how it has so many interesting manipulations, particularly by American presidents in recent memory. President Nixon- "Tricky Dick"- claimed boldly, "I am not a crook." Maybe not, but he was unfortunately a liar. (He was smart enough to resign before he got impeached.) President Clinton- "Slick Willy"- needed clarification on the meaning of the word "is" during his impeachment hearings. (He was eventually acquitted, as there were not enough votes for the perjury and obstruction of justice charges to stick.) Of course, President Bush (I'm not aware of pejorative nicknames for him, though I'm sure people assigned him some) sold the whole Iraq war on what was shown to be a false presumption about the presence of weapons of mass destruction there. Numerous charges of questioned truth claims were leveled at President Obama and I suppose his biggest faux pas would be the whole debacle over the handling of the healthcare bill. President Trump's administration talks about the plethora of "fake news" floating around, but also talks about the existence of "alternative facts". How does that even work?
          In years past, we had President "Honest Abe" Abraham Lincoln and President George Washington, who had the famous story about cutting down cherry trees- "I cannot tell a lie. I chopped down the cherry tree." Of course, I'm sure one could find untruths true of all political leaders and people in general at some point or another. The point here is that we are all sinners and all in need of The Truth. Romans 1:25 says that we exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. That is indeed the problem- we've moved from a picture of grace and nature being held as the ideas guiding our society to non-rationality and rationality being the two guiding ideas- and we escape from reason as the basis for truth to embracing feelings as the basis for truth instead. [Note: I've been reading Francis Schaeffer lately. ;-) I have to credit him for a lot of this post, and ultimately to God for inspiration for both of us.]
As Relient K said, "Sometimes when you're trying to sleep and all your doubts and your faith don't agree, it's cause sometimes the hardest thing to believe is the truth."
         It's important to note that Jesus identifies Himself not only as The Way and The Life (in John 14:6) but also The Truth. When we come into relationship with Him through faith in His death and Resurrection, we find ourselves in The Truth and come to understand that our identity in Christ is our true selves that the Fall has driven us away from. We live now as shells- men with hollow chests as T.S. Eliot said and C.S. Lewis alluded to as well. Colossians 3:1-4 says that when we come to Christ, we die and our true life is then hidden with Christ in God. His Way of Life really is the only Life- living in line with the design God had for us all along- to be loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Romans 2:9-18 makes it abundantly clear that none of us are righteous- none of us are pure. Yet it's the pure in heart who shall see God, according to Jesus in Matthew 5:8.
        That's exactly why Jesus, the pure and spotless Lamb of God, had to intervene and live out the requirements of the Law that we could never keep. And when we put all our faith into Christ's righteousness and completed work, our falsehoods are recognized for what they are and our eyes are unveiled and we can see the Truth of Jesus for Who He is- and know The Truth who sets us free. (John 8:32-36) "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4)

Hypocrisy, Honesty and Heavenly Father

"Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him He said, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man?' He answered, 'And who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?' Jesus said to him, 'You have seen Him, and it is He who is speaking to you.' He said, 'Lord, I believe', and he worshipped Him. Jesus said, 'For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.' Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to Him, 'Are we also blind?' Jesus said to them, 'If you were blind, you would have no guilt, but now that you say, 'We see', your guilt remains.' " (John 9:35-41)
I have been thinking on this passage in relation to a claim that is often levelled at Christians and one which I've seen brought up increasingly now, particularly due to the very sad and shameful Ashley Madison scandal. (That scandal being that such a service even exists and that anyone signed up for it- not that people have now been caught at it. Briefly on this point- for anyone involved with it, God forgives and so must we. See 1 Samuel 11 and Psalms 51 and 1 John 1:9 for great reminders of God's grace and forgiveness, as well as His judgment.)
      Non-Christians are quick to point to such incidents and label Christians as hypocrites whenever they fail in keeping Jesus' commands, especially in such a public way. However, assuming Christians are honest in admitting their faults and struggles and faithful to confess them and repent of sins, I don't see such failures of Christians as hypocrisy necessarily.
It would be hypocritical if any Christian claimed to be perfect and no longer susceptible to falling to sins after receiving Christ. (Though as my father would often say, after receiving Christ as Savior, we need not sin anymore because of the power of The Holy Spirit working in us. That doesn't mean that we won't sin anymore necessarily- we obviously have examples of the New Testament Christians that sinned and were forgiven. See Peter for instance in Acts 10-11 and Galatians 2:1-14.) I think public sins like this just demonstrate the main realization that Christians must come to first in order to receive Christ's forgiveness and love- we are all sinners and we all need God to forgive us of our sins. He has done this through Jesus' death and Resurrection- it is available to us by faith. We must place all our faith in Jesus' work and receive it. (Thus, Matthew 5:48 and Leviticus 11:45 are fulfilled- we are declared righteous because of Jesus' righteousness- not our own. We must be perfect as God is perfect- but we can't do that on our own. Christ had to do it for us- and He saves us, not because of anything we have done, but because of His grace. See Titus 3:5 and Ephesians 2:8-10.)
   Yes, such fallings definitely weaken our witness for Jesus- but they need not defeat it. As I alluded to earlier, King David not only entertained such notions as the members of the Ashley Madison site, but he also acted upon them and committed adultery with Uriah's wife. On top of that, he had Uriah killed and then took Bathsheba as his wife. God sent Nathan the prophet to bring God's judgment to David- the baby wound up dying and David's family life was a wreck ever since then. But God still forgave David and David still got listed in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11- he was a still a "man after God's own heart".
       We may not have such failings in these matters of sexual immorality, but we are just as equally susceptible and guilty in other sin matters. (Romans 2:1-11 and James 2:10) But as God reminds us and invites us in Isaiah 1:18, though our sins be like scarlet, He will make them white as snow- if we will let Him. Praise God! His grace is greater than all our sins.

Trending World-Wide: Jesus Christ is Lord of All

“The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the Giver of all good things.”- Rich Mullins

"And all of our hopes and our dreams of worldly pleasure won't amount to anything of any measure. And all the world will fall to its knees- His Name forever. All the world will fall to its knees...And He'll take me Home."- Kevin Ludwick

I was just thinking that I get so tired of seeing "news stories" online about trending topics of transient, banal things. (This is not to denigrate the concerns of anyone, as Philippians 2:3-4 commands me to think of others as better than myself and to be concerned about others' affairs and not just my own.) However, I am not overly concerned about the trivial fluff that seems to make up so many news stories. (I suppose I'm particularly thinking now about some dress with inconclusive color patterns apparently. But there have been plenty of other stupid things that have occupied quite a few bytes of memory on computer screens and phones- and more importantly, brain cells in people's minds and space in their hearts. The shark at the SuperBowl also comes to mind.) I am not against fun at all- some things are just funny and it's okay to laugh about them.
        And I can't say I'm always perfect about keeping my thoughts and mindset on things above and not just below. But Colossians 3:2-3 commands me to set my thoughts on things above and not on the stuff of earth. 'Cause I've died and my life is hidden with Christ in God. According to Romans 8:1-11, if we set our mind on the flesh- that's death. But to set our mind on the Spirit- well, that's life and peace- 'cause then we walk according to the Spirit and when we obey the Spirit of God, He makes peace out of our chaos as we know we are pleasing God and walking with Him. As 1 Timothy 6:20-21 says, "O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called 'knowledge', for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you."
Paul reiterated this in 2 Timothy 2:16-17 which tells us, we must "avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene." Ugh!
        Note that the concern in both cases is that such foolish talk can lead people to swerve from the faith and into ungodliness instead. And with the fickleness of our minds and particularly our sinful human nature, it's quite easy to take a detour on the straight and narrow road of life into the crooked, broad way of destruction. Those off-ramps always look so inviting though! But we have to remember that the road they take us to is a dead end. The only way of life is on that straight and narrow road Jesus told us about in Matthew 7.
        What should we do instead? "But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in His testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will display at the proper time- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:11-16)
          But wait a second! Aren't we called to be salt and light in this world? Certainly. Jesus Himself commanded us to do that in Matthew 5:13-16. He prayed for us in John 17 and asked The Father not to take us out of the world but that He would keep us from the evil one. He also clarified that we are not of the world, just as He is not of the world. (see verses 15 and 16). And then see the next verse. Jesus asked God to sanctify us in the Truth; His Word is Truth. And just keep reading while you're at it. Christ goes on to say that as God sent Him into the world, He has sent us into the world. And for our sake, Christ consecrated Himself that we may also may be sanctified in truth.
         That's our daily spiritual bath right there. Christ has already permanently cleansed us through His death and Resurrection and our faith in Him- but that is where the healing started. It is completed when we reach Heaven. (Philippians 1:6) All along the way, we undergo the sanctification Jesus talked about in His prayer. And part of this means unlearning all the old things we had learned. God has to redo our minds, hearts, bodies, spirits and souls- He's power-washing the whole system until we take on His likeness in completion. "As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with Your likeness." (Psalms 17:15) That's what I want to see; not only when I gaze upon the glory of The Lord in His creation and in His Word- but also when I look in the mirror. Genesis1:26-27 says that He made males and females in His image. We tainted that image in Genesis 3 with sin and the fall of man. Yet God is working to restore that image back to what it was meant to be all along. And it's a continual process working in us, which is ultimately the work of The Holy Spirit in the end. Yet God still calls us to submit to Him in this work and, as our spiritual act of worship, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices and thereby be no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:1-2)
          How do we effectively do this? God does call us to be separate from the world in one sense. "Come out of them and be clean and separate." "'Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,' saith the Lord, 'and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.'" (2 Corinthians 6:17)
But we can’t effectively run away and hide from the whole world. And I don’t think that’s what God has called us to do. However, there are some things of the world that we can separate ourselves from- we don’t have to keep up with every trend of the world. We don’t have to keep up with all the entertainment of the world (especially since so very little of it is worth watching. That is a separate matter for each believer, of course, as The Spirit leads them. I’ll just say to check Philippians 4:8 and seek to find entertainment that fits those guidelines. Of course, there are some things that pretty blatantly go against all those guidelines- thus, don’t take this quick summary to excuse things God expressly forbids, like say- looking lustfully at people. That alone might eliminate the vast majority of television shows today.) And we don’t have to be consumed with the same things the world consumes its time with, as we have weightier matters for our concern. We have the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison that our light and momentary afflictions are preparing us for, as 2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us. And again, verse 18 reminds us to look not to the things that are seen but rather to the things that are unseen. What’s seen is transient, but what’s unseen is eternal. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry echoes in “The Little Prince”: “What’s essential is invisible to the eye.”
            We can’t avoid everything sinful in the world though. We still have to go to school and go to work and go to the grocery store and bank and post office and live life. We have to associate with some people- how else are we going to obey Jesus’ command to take The Gospel into all the world? (Matthew 28:18-20) As Paul instructs the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, we can’t get away from every sin and sinner in the world- we’d have to sign up for that mission to Mars and literally go out of this world to do that! (And of course, if human beings do one day colonize Mars, then we’ll just spread the sickness of sin there since we carry that death in our bodies anyway. Of course, when we’re saved through Christ, then we carry the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our bodies! [see 2 Corinthians 4:10]) Now if we go on to read 1 Corinthians 5:11-13, we will see that Paul is talking about addressing the sin that is within the church- confronting those who claim to follow Christ yet continue in sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, reviling, being a drunkard or swindling, etc. That is a place where we do need to lovingly confront such people and if they refuse to listen, then we need to purge the evil from among us.
            I suppose the thing that frustrates me so much in the labyrinth of distractions and delights that tempt and ensnare us is not the fact that there is so much of it. That is only to be expected in a fallen world that’s blinded by the god of this age because the God of the universe, who is the same from age to age, has allowed us to be free to make choices. (See 2 Corinthians 4:1-6). And that sinful choice in Genesis 3 is still playing out. And it has a final end that will be reached one day. One day the final count will be tallied, the tares and the wheat will be separated, the lambs and goats divided and sent to the right and left and Christ will reign over all. He and His people will enjoy eternal life in Heaven, where there is eternal fullness of joy in His presence and pleasures forevermore at His right hand. (Psalms 16:11) And all those who reject Christ will be in Hell for all eternity. That is the only two destinations. No, the thing that frustrates me is how quickly I and others of Christ’s flock trade those eternal joys for the fleeting pleasures of sin. And let’s be honest- there is some amount of pleasure that comes with sin. And sometimes we even still hide that longing for the forbidden, even as we seek to have our minds retrained and aligned with God’s Spirit- and desire what He desires above all. Indeed, if we delight ourselves in The Lord, then He will give us the desires of our heart. (Psalms 37:4) And we must continue in the struggle- it’s the paradox and balance of Christian life, as Paul described it in Romans 7. The old man of sin continues to battle the new man of the Spirit. And, in moments of Spirit-led clarity, we are reminded that there is no greater joy than The Lord Jesus Himself. May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I forget Him and if I make anything other than Him and His kingdom my highest joy! (To paraphrase Psalms 137:6) C.S. Lewis said it quite well in his classic “The Weight of Glory: "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (emphasis added)
          Here is a scene I would love to see occur on all the online news sites, social media and on television news shows and the radio programs and newspapers.
 World-wide trending: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save it.” (John 3:16-17)
I’d love to see people posting about how much today they have been enraptured and captured by God’s love. I’d love to see people talking about the majesty and wonder of the God of the universe, Who created everything, yet loves us so much out of all His creation! (Psalms 8). I’d love to see people marveling in amazement at the grace that God has bestowed upon us through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the salvation He has made freely available to all through faith in Him!  “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3)
     And praise God! This is a scene that we will see one day. Philippians 2:10-11 promises that there is coming a day when every knee will bow and every knee will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, to the glory of God the Father! Even those who deny this now on Earth will one day confess it in eternity- but it will be too late then and they will be taken into judgment in Hell. And knowing this truth and knowing that we serve The soon and coming King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16), then we should all the more seek to think about Him and His goodness and righteousness and praise Him and declare Him, His love, righteous judgment and salvation to all the world! We can enjoy the pleasures God gives us in this life- our family, friends and the beauty of creation and recreation that He gives us that is pleasing to Him. (As James 1:17 reminds us, every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights.) But let us not become so consumed with the temporary things of this world that we forget to keep our thoughts centered on the eternal- on Jesus and His kingdom. As Matthew 6:33 tells us, we must keep His kingdom and His righteousness first- and then He will add all the things we need unto us.  “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of The Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life- is not from The Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”(1 John 2:15-17)  Amen.
     
These two favorite Rich Mullins songs sum up some of what I'm trying to say in this post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jj0ZTzgmGM
("If I Stand" by Rich Mullins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiXrRmtDIk
("Land of my Sojourn" by Rich Mullins)

And this totally awesome song by my brother of the same descriptor also sums it all up very well (This may well be my favorite of his songs):
http://kevinludwick.bandcamp.com/track/come-home

         

What Can Wash Away My Sin? (poem)

Okay- and now I want to present a poem I wrote the as kind of a follow up in some ways to a poem I wrote some years ago that I called “What Can Make Me Whole Again?” Both that poem and this one follows the same format- a series of questions. I hope that in them everyone can truly see The Answer who holds an exclamation point for every question mark. :-)

“What Can Wash Away My Sin?”
(original poem by Nathan Ludwick 9/6/2013)
(Romans 1, Hebrews 2:1-4, 2 Peter 3:8-18, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21)

When did sex become so casual?
When did we start having friends with benefits?
When did baby daddy become a family member?
When did partners and special friends get united in holy matrimony?
When did sexuality become our god?
When did we reinvent its meaning?
When did we begin experimenting with new sexual identities, partners and acts?
When did rape, lust, pornography and torture devices become aspects of love?
When did the world and life itself become our personal centerfold for masturbation?
When did clothing become optional?
When did streaking exhibitionism become inhibition freeing expressionism?
Why can’t we censor anything at all?
When did free speech become our excuse for any vulgarity?
When did our quest for natural and artificial highs trump everything else no matter how low we have to go?
When did it become me and not us?
When did hedony become our manifest destiny?
When did violence become our common expression of feelings?
When did murder become our aversion to boredom?
When did ridicule and sarcasm become our native tongue?
When did babies become an inconvenience to be disposed of instead of a gift?
When did life itself become ours to give and take, whether our own or those we’ve grown tired of caring for anymore?
When did our self-actualization become our empowerment to think, say and do as we please?
Who died and made us god?
Why do we assume the mantle and assume there is none higher to judge us?
Why do we do everything to avoid our funeral instead of prepare for it?
When did our barns become so full of stuff that we have to rent storage sheds to hold it all?
When did our wallets get so fat and our hearts become so small?
When did we trade discipline and responsibility for our perceived personality and personal freedom to do anything we can possibly think to do?
When did we reject all authority but our own?
When did we become such scoffers of truth, justice, love and redemption?
When did we exchange the truth for a lie?
When did we become cynical misers seeking only to save ourselves?
When did we fool ourselves into believing we have?
When did the love of God poured and flowing through a bloody cross and empty tomb become such an outdated and laughable story in a book of fairy tales to us?
Why do we tremble at we don’t even claim to believe?
How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?