Taking Pleasure in our Troubles!

⁸ Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. ⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Is there something in your life that you wish wasn’t there?  Almost everyone I know has something or someone that is burdensome.  Sometimes these things involve weaknesses of our own, meaning, it’s related to an area in our physical, mental, or emotional being that is weak.  Other times it involves circumstances that are out of our hands.  Something happened to us.  We were in a wreck or an accident and now there is a burden to carry.  And still, other times it involves other people who are against us or worse, have no concern for us, as a human being with a heart and spirit. 

Any of these can be a thorn for us whether it is in the body, in the mind, or in our emotions.  It is a burden and it is difficult.  If we’re not weak, we get weak from carrying the burden constantly.  But the truth is this, we were never made to carry these burdens alone.  An African proverb says, “Two ants do not fail to pull a grasshopper.”  Or as John Heywood is credited with saying, “Many hands make light work.”  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.  For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.”  We are to help one another.  Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

There is still another who came to bear our burdens for us, in fact, He asks for them.  Psalms 55:22a says, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you.”  Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  God the Father and Jesus the Son asks for your burdens.  Remove them from your shoulders and lay them at their feet. 

Paul learned a lesson that I have had to learn and re-learn too many times.  God doesn’t want for us to have a life of ease so we can coast.  Through our struggles, our burdens, we first learn that we must depend upon Jesus, we learn to have faith.  We are made strong in our weakness because we learn to turn to God.  Then through more struggles, burdens, and in impossible situations or circumstances, we learn to have more faith – the kind of faith that says, “God, if you don’t do something, there is no hope.  It is You or nothing.”  We are made stronger in our nothingness because we learn that there is only God.  His strength is made perfect in our lives when we recognize and accept that we are nothing.

This is why Paul boasts in his infirmities so he can testify to the greatness and power of Jesus his Savior.  But further, he takes pleasure in the burdens hoping that they are more than he can bear so there is no option but for Christ to be lifted up.  Paul wants nothing less than for the strength and power of Christ to be evident and overcoming in every area of his life.  He seems to be saying, “Oh Lord, give me another burden, so You can bear it!”  “The battle is the Lord’s” David cried in 1 Samuel 17 in the face of Goliath “and He will give you into our hands!” 

What is my burden today?  Am I giving it to the Lord so He can fight for me?  Do I hand it over expectantly as Paul and David did so the Lord can be glorified in my weakness?  Do I have the kind of faith that rejoices in saying, “Jesus, my Savior, it is You or nothing!”?  Do I praise God for my burdens, my pain, my deepest hurts, because they allow me the opportunity to turn them over, for Him to show His power, and for me to testify to His saving grace?  May I thank God for the impossible situations today so I can learn and re-learn how to have complete and total faith in Him.

Thanks to Calvary

Today, I went down to the place where I used to go
Today, I saw the same old crowd I knew before
And when they asked me what had happened, I tried to tell them,
Thanks to Calvary, I don't come here anymore.

Thanks to Calvary I am not the man I used to be
Thanks to Calvary things are different than before.
And as the tears ran down my face I tried to tell them,
Thanks to Calvary, I don't come here anymore.

“Thanks to Calvary” by Bill Gaither, another Ol’-Time Religion song you don’t hear anymore.  This weekend while I watched and listened to Jefferson Bethke (author of “Jesus > Religion”) give his testimony, which is good but different, I found myself still coming back to this song and my own experiences.  Even though everyone’s experience or journey with Jesus is different, everyone I’ve ever met who knows Christ will agree that “Thanks to Calvary (they) are not the (person) (they) used to be.”

These thoughts led me to a paragraph early in R. A. Torrey’s book “The Presence and Work of the Holy Spirit” which says the following. 

“If it had not been for the love of God the Father looking down upon me in my utter ruin and providing a perfect atonement for me in the death of His own Son on the cross of Calvary, I would have been in hell today.  If it had not been for the love of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God, looking upon me in my utter ruin and, in obedience to the Father, putting aside all the glory of heaven for all the shame of earth and taking my place, the place of the curse, upon the cross of Calvary and pouring out His life utterly for me, I would have been in hell today.  But if it had not been for the love of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in answer to the prayer of the Son, leading Him to seek me out in my utter blindness and ruin, I would have been in hell today.”

Today, I am thankful that God never gave up on me even when I did.  I am thankful that he hunted me down like the animal I am and slayed me with an everlasting love.  I am thankful that when I called out saying, "If you won't kill me then do something because I can't!", He answered immediately, simply saying, "That's all I've been waiting on you to understand."

I thank God today for His forgiveness and His love which surpasses all my understanding and all of myself.

The Work of Patience

⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. ¹⁰ But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. – 1 Peter 5:8-10

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. – James 1:2-4

Most often, I pray for trials to go quickly.  I don’t like the presence of conflict, wrongs, insensitivity or blindness to Godly ways, intentional deception, unsaid emotions, and such.  Let’s just get it out and get over it.  I find that I am very sensitive to this now and when someone refuses to “get it out” I just get away from them.  They’ll figure it out when they’re ready because “ain’t nobody got time for that”. 

Yet, God instructs that although our adversary looks for ways to oppose us and purposely seeks our destruction, we should have patience.  We are to resist the ways of destruction, keep steady in our faith (unwavering), and be patient.  After we have “suffered a while” the “God of all grace” will “perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle” us.  The patience works to make us “perfect and complete, lacking nothing”. 

We know that we are not complete except in Jesus and are therefore not perfect until we are resting fully with Him.  Considering this, how then can the testing of our faith which produces patience make us complete?  It is through the nudging, pushing, and encouragement of a trial that leads our faith so that it is made full and rests in a state of complete dependence upon Jesus.  When we finally let go and decide that God will do this or it can’t be done; when our only hope rests in a miracle from Him; when it is God or nothing; then is our faith perfected and completed through the perfect work of Jesus Christ.  Oh, would we start everyday desperate for His perfect work in it and in us! 

Once our faith has been made whole, the patient work of Christ, with all our hope upon Him, begins.  The victory is His victory.  When we have a complete faith in our Savior, we lack nothing, because we quickly see that there is nothing else.

Be Still and KNOW that He is God

Ps 46:10  He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

I love the sentiment of this verse, but find it practically impossible to live it to the fullest extent.  What I mean is that for me, I have difficulty forcing myself to be still.  Being still requires discipline.  Discipline to stop the hectic activities of the day and center myself under God.  I struggle with that discipline.  Furthermore, if I KNOW He is God, I will allow Him to permeate every aspect of my life, truly making Him Lord of ALL.  Again, I find it nearly impossible to do so. 
Other versions state it this way:
New American Standard: Cease striving
Holman Christian Standard Bible: Stop your fighting
International Standard Version: Be in awe
Aramaic Bible in Plain English: Return
Young's Literal Translation:  Desist

These translations help me understand where God is coming from in this verse.  So often we get up and begin our day only to have it unravel in some minor or major disaster.  I find that in the major disasters, I'm quick to turn to God because I can clearly see that the problem is beyond my human abilities.  Sickness and death are two examples and our church prayer list is a testament that I'm not alone in turning the "big" problems over to God.  The minor issues, however are the ones in which I struggle to give Him control.  Job, career, hobbies, interests, even simple tasks like installing a ceiling fan. 
Last week during the HS Mission Trip, the "home" owner asked me to remove a ceiling fan from his sister's abandoned trailer and install it in his "home."  As I removed the fan, I dropped a mounting screw in the trailer.  Mr. Gilley had accompanied me next door and as he talked about his life while I worked, I frantically began searching for the tiny screw in the midst of a trailer full of junk knowing full-well that failure to find the screw would mean I simply couldn't use the fan.  As he bantered, not even realizing what was going on, I was frantically searching through the debris on the floor while I thought about what supplies I had and how I might work around the critical screw.  Then it occurred to me that God knew exactly where that screw was and I simply needed to be still long enough to hear His still small voice.  As I opened my eyes from that quick "9-1-1" prayer, my eyes focused straight on the screw.  I picked it up, put it carefully in the tray with the others and proceeded to rejoin the banter.  I don't think David ever realized what I was doing.
I state that to say that I don't always take time to pray my way through everything in life.  I find it easy to simply go about my life doing the best I can with the brain God gave me.  People have often told me that God gave us a brain and gave us common sense to use it.  Others have even said that God helps those who help themselves.  I don't see those admonitions in scripture (if you do, please point me in the right direction!).  Instead, I find direction to put myself, all of me, on the alter and allow Him to be Lord.  This means my intellect and common sense as well.  After all, He is the only one with perfect knowledge of all things past, present, and future.  We might know the past, and understand the present, but we can't know the future and only he knows the perfect decision in every circumstance. 
Lord I pray that I could be still BEFORE I totally screw things up.  May my every action be guided by your perfect will and knowledge.  Forgive my impatience, my stubbornness, and my self-reliance.  My worst offense is to open my mouth without first bathing my tongue in prayer.  My words are sometimes few, but injurious none-the-less.  May you bind my tongue today such that my words are only those you would speak.  May I be a source of love and encouragement to my wife, my children, my friends and co-workers not so that I am edified, but that you are glorified. 

Do You Know?

Considering that the physical world is of no consequence eternally and that life is only found in God … what keeps us from being completely focused on the depths of God’s Word, the rule of the Spirit of God in our lives, and living in the work of Jesus Christ?   If we believe and our faith is real do we have a different desire?  When we do not maintain this singular priority in our life, doesn’t this tell what our actual beliefs in the priority of God are?

Every moment we should ask these questions:
1. Do I know that there is one and only one living God?
2. Do I believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
3. Do I believe that His sacrifice bore my sins and I am forgiven by God’s grace?
4. Do I know that the Spirit of God dwells inside my innermost being?

If we know these things, what then should have a greater authority?  What should interrupt our faith?

The struggle of life, though presented in almost every way imaginable, is simply the fight for faith.  When we stop focusing on the salvation, Word and presence of God, we focus on a different authority.  Our faith fails.  There must be an intentional effort of study, prayer, and contemplation in focus on Jesus Christ since He overcame this world.  When we rest in Him the world notices, but continues towards anarchy.  Christians walking in full faith completely submitted to the Spirit of the one true living God are able to walk daily confidently expecting miracles of God.  The first being their very salvation and His purpose in them.

What about the Change?

Acts 2:38 And Peter said, Let your hearts be changed, every one of you, and have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will have the Holy Spirit given to you.

The chorus from Steven Curtiss Chapmans "The Change"
What about the change
What about the difference
What about the grace
What about forgiveness
What about a life that's showing
I'm undergoing the change yeah
I'm undergoing the change

For me, this years High School Mission Trip was outstanding.  I watched as our youth formed deeper bonds.  I reveled in the sharing that took place during our devotion time.  I was thankful to spend quality time in shared labor and deep discussion with adults I otherwise don't get to spend enough time with during the rest of the year.  I greatly enjoyed watching one of our former youth, take charge of our youth and lead them in effective discipleship and service.  I celebrated as I labored side-by-side with Reja.  I thanked my God as I watched Ryan mature into a competent worker, an effective worship leader, and an inspired young man of prayer.  I was moved as I saw the hard heart of a man who has lived a very difficult life melt with the love of God poured out through the sacrificial labor of youth. 
As I reflect, however, I believe God doesn't waste an experience and I'm still wondering what God was trying to teach me on this trip.  Perhaps it was simply encouragement to keep on with the labor of discipleship.  Perhaps it was merely to be a facilitator for the growth and maturity of others.  A couple of things are certain: I know God isn't done with me yet as I've got a long way to go to maturity, and being slow on the uptake as I am, it may take some time to figure out exactly what lessons God had for me on this trip. 
There is a cost to discipleship, and this year it was the transmission in my Avalanche.  Many question why I drive it when we have church vehicles.  Part of it is that I'm selfish and simply want what I thought was a more reliable vehicle there.  Part of it is that I want it available so Reja can make a run to the hardware store.  Part of it is that I've got so much stuff, it just won't fit in the van.  Mostly, I simply want to ensure that everything I have is available to God for His use.  I felt called to serve, called to offer my tools for use, and called to have a support vehicle.  I believe He will honor my obedience to His call with the supply needed to repair the truck.  I look forward to sharing how He will work that situation out.

The Person of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit.  I believe that most Christians just accept that this is a part of God but do not try to dive into what this is really.  Just considering the name alone, we would surmise that it is the spirit of God.  Spirit would be that unseen part of who we are that is not the body, therefore the spirit of God would be, if we are made in His image, that unseen part of God that is not in physical or some other form.  But what this gets translated into is a kind of energy source or some kind of invisible power that is in us but that we aren’t able to tap into regularly in our daily lives.  And it is precisely this translation that is the biggest problem in our spiritual life.

I think most Christians can relate to a time, or hopefully many times, that they were convicted of sin and the Holy Spirit sat with them as they were heart-broken over it and crying out for God to rescue them.  Many Christians can relate to some worship services where the praise and prayers were so powerful that they could “feel” an invisible God on them and all around them.  And a few Christians can point out a time when they had a peace about something they were being led to do from somewhere deep inside and afterwards they could see how it was the Spirit of God directing their paths, usually for others. 

However, every Christian I know will tell you that they do not live in the power of the Holy Spirit daily.  Why would that be?  Maybe a better question is how can that be?  Do Christians not want the presence of God in their life?  …  I think Christians want the power of God in their life, but they don’t necessarily want the authority of God in their life over everything in their life and they don’t want the absolute commitment of faith.  The absolute commitment of faith requires patience and trust.  It is knowing that God will work out what is best for others and yourself in whatever problem/event/occurrence you are aware of in your life and it most probably will not require any input on your part except to respond to how the Spirit is directing you to be the person God is leading you to be.  Most Christians have a difficult time with the simple “Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”  They want to do something.

We must know that we do not have to whip ourselves into some kind of emotional frenzy in order to have the presence of the Holy Spirit.  This is not Haitian voodoo.  We don’t have to have specific ceremonies and dance around a fire and such.  The Spirit is not there as a source of power for us to use if we just do the right worship and say or pray the right things.  In fact, any time we see ourselves thinking or saying that “if we do (fill-in-the-blank) then God will (fill-in-the-blank)” you can be sure we have something wrong. 

The Spirit is a person – yes, He is a person.  If He is in our lives then we should submit our life for His use.  We are not to live our life and use Him.  If we try this we will never ever see the power of the Spirit in our life.  We are to be used by Him so we can live our life.  When we openly and consciously realize that there is the person of the Holy Spirit, that is, the Spirit of the one and only God, in us ready to establish the power of God in our life if only we will submit our life to Him, our life will change.  The lives of those around us will change.

First, we will see conviction of sin and the need for a Savior in us and in the world.  This will overwhelm us and break our heart at the same time.  It will be so great that we will be unable to keep our eyes open to the extreme need as it hurts too bad to take it all in.  Second, we will have a love for people even with their quirks.  God loves people.  When the person of the Spirit is using our life in His power, we will love people.

Is your heart broken for the world today?  Where is your love for the others in this world, not just those you can help, but those who you … hate?  Yes, those you hate.  That father who abandoned you, the person who works against you, or the homeless who refuses to work and cusses you for trying to help.  In the flesh it is impossible, but submitted to the person of the Spirit, all things are possible.

The Need for a Savior

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, ²¹ to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. – Ephesians 3:14-21

This is an awesome prayer and one I want to keep near my thoughts as I am in contact with other brothers and sisters in Christ.  I want to make sure that this is my intent with everyone I meet:

     1.  God will strengthen their heart.
     2.  Christ will dwell with them through faith.
     3.  They will understand the extent of Christ’s love.
     4.  They will be filled with God’s Spirit.

Is there anything more than this that we should want for any other person on Earth?  Can we confirm within ourselves that this is enough?  If we are unsure as to whether this is enough we can be sure that we have a faith problem within us.  As much as I personally hate to say that there is a single answer to every problem, there is and that answer is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote in Romans 1 that this gospel message “is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes”.  Are you wondering where God is moving today?  Are you wondering why you aren’t seeing more of God in our society?  The simple answer is Christians are afraid to reach out and be a witness to everyone around them.  If Christians aren’t unashamed of their salvation and completely dependent upon for their everyday, their very life, how shall the power of God move in our culture?  How can God move if there is no conviction of sin?  For where there is no conviction of sin, there is no need for a Savior.  

The Uncritical Temper - Oswald Chambers

The following is from Oswald Chambers:

Judge not, that ye be not judged. –Matthew 7:1.

Jesus says regarding judging—Don’t. The average Christian is the most penetratingly critical individual. Criticism is a part of the ordinary faculty of man; but in the spiritual domain nothing is accomplished by criticism. The effect of criticism is a dividing up of the powers of the one criticized; the Holy Ghost is the One in the true position to criticize, He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into communion with God when you are in a critical temper; it makes you hard and vindictive and cruel, and leaves you with the flattering unction that you are a superior person. Jesus says, as a disciple, cultivate the uncritical temper. It is not done once and for all. Beware of anything that puts you in the superior person’s place.

There is no getting away from the penetration of Jesus. If I see the mote in your eye, it means I have a beam in my own. Every wrong thing that I see in you, God locates in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17–20 ). Stop having a measuring rod for other people. There is always one fact more in every man’s case about which we know nothing. The first thing God does is to give us a spiritual spring-cleaning; there is no possibility of pride left in a man after that. I have never met the man I could despair of after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

I agree with everything he summarizes and it is good to see it put together so precisely and condensed. There is an important discussion that has to take place in today's society's perception of Christians.  For example, yesterday the Southern Baptist Convention came out boldly and publicly to say they do not believe that a gay marriage fits in their interpretation of the Bible.  To my knowledge, they are the first organization of size to do so and I have to say I admired that.  But there was much opposition to such a statement that were quick to say the SBC was judging.

A good example is baseball.  Let's say that I'm playing baseball against you and we play through three innings where the player batting hits the ball and then runs to first base.  But then in the fourth inning you run to third base after you hit the ball.  When I ask you what you are doing, you say you are playing baseball.  I pull the rule book out of my pocket and show you that the batter is supposed to run to first base and its on the right side, not the left side.  You argue that the rule book says to run to the "first" base and that base can be on the left side if you want it to be on the left side.  I simply reply,"Sorry, you're out".

In this example, am I judging you?  Not at all.  I'm just playing baseball.  You are insisting that I play the game your way and not the way the creator of baseball formed the game.  If I don't play your way, you call me names and tell everyone that I hate and do not love.  But I love the game and I know it is best played when we play by the written rules.  If you don't want to play, get out of the game.  But I don't see why I must play by a set of rules you wrote because I want to play baseball.

Is the SBC judging gays by not accepting gay marriage?  Not at all.  They are simply saying the Bible, as written and accepted for millennium, doesn't condone it and they intend to follow it as final authority.

Haiti Trip - Thursday & Friday

I’ve neglected to comment on what Julie and Jasmine have been doing these days.  On Wednesday, we all went to the villages, but on Monday and Tuesday, they would spend the first half of the day helping Angie Bundy at the Cowman School organizing and preparing her office as the end of the school year had just occurred and the school was beginning some construction over the summer as it grows.  In the afternoon, they would help at the Bethsada Clinic organizing the pharmacy, counting medicine (pills) and separating them into bags of specific numbers.  They also got to tour an orphanage and take dresses that were made by my Mom and ladies from the First Baptist Church of Laurel, MS so the workers at the orphanage could give them to those who needed them.

Today, they are working at the clinic at “baby day” and are weighing babies and giving immunizations to the babies.  They find it surreal that they can work at a clinic as a pharmacy tech and nurse with no experience or training in this area; that they can handle the medical records of people; that they can be responsible to lock up the pharmacy room when they leave – all unimaginable things in the U.S.  Yet, I find a link in this to the “way it used to be” here.  This is the attitude of my Grandfather’s day, when you would give the keys of the truck to a 12 year old and tell them to drive to the store and get something.  America has lost something here.

By the end of Friday, we’ve got all the electrical gear in place that we have and we’ve tested two of the generators to verify that they start up and run.  We’ve tested the pedestals in one of the areas and then turned on that area so it is now powered by the new generator.  Then we “cut over” all of the house, office, and shop loads on it so the whole area is on the new generator.  Before we can turn over the other areas, we have to trace down short circuits in the loads.  Everyone was out until around 9:00 trying to find these shorts.  Finally, they’ve just been disconnected from the system.  Our goal is to leave with all parts of the new underground system turned onto the new system.  Unfortunately we don’t have time to “cut over” all their loads to the new system as much as we want to do that before we leave. 

In our work these days, Dan has made a new friend.  One of the Haitian workers who is helping with the exhaust system of the generators has his son with him and he has jumped in however he can to help us with anything he sees us doing.  He has taken up mostly with Dan and is a good helper.  Dan gave him one of his Auburn hats and the next day he brought Dan a pair of sunglasses. 

Haiti Trip - Wednesday

We traveled out of Cap to a remote village near the Dominican border.  The trip took about two hours.  I don’t remember the name of the village, but it was something like Laramure (?).  The pastor who was from the Dominican had come to this village after having a dream that he was to go to this village and be their pastor.  He had never pastored a church or community before.  But he went.  Teams reaching out into Haiti discovered the village in their efforts of handing out solar-powered radios.  We would be the 2^nd team to go into the village as a part of the evangelizing effort to reach every person in the village for Christ.

We pulled up to the village church first and when we got there, the people of the church had gathered and they were singing and praying for this evangelizing effort.  Some would stay at the church and pray while we went.

The village is very remote and has no electricity or running water.  The homes have dirt floors, but the people are receptive to listen even if they politely refuse.

Our group plus Zenobia separated into three teams.  Each team had three members plus an interpreter and a technician from the Radio station who keeps records of who receives a radio and what decision they make or don’t make for Christ.  Their intention is to only hand out one radio per family so as not to waste the resource since they are limited.

By my count, the teams talked to 26 people total.  Of those 26 who were witnessed to directly, nine accepted Christ, 12 said they already knew Christ, and five said they couldn’t or wouldn’t.  The reasons those who said they couldn’t gave: they would do it later, they had too many problems right now, or they owed a debt to Satan (witch doctor). 

The local witch doctors, knowing a team was coming in to witness for Christ, left the village for the day.  The Haitian pastor I was talking to said that the witch doctors know that Christ is the most powerful God, but they don’t want to give up on their source for livelihood or they don’t want to give up on their style of living (they want to do what makes them happy).  He said they don’t want to have to wait on God or live by His rules.  Sounds like he’s talking about most Americans to me.

Brett and Angie had a bible study in the home late in the afternoon for other missionary families.  Julie, Jasmine, Reed, and Jack went while Thomas, Dan, and I walked the entire campus to locate all the underground pedestals that we hoped to soon be powering up.  We also wanted a look at what it would take to “cut over” some of the campus buildings to the new system. 

Julie described some of the missionary stories to me.  She said the missionaries get very tired of the need because the need is just so great.  Many times the Haitians require an emphatic “no” before they quit asking and that is so very difficult to do as it is not part of the personality of the missionaries.  They don’t want to say no but sometimes have no choice.  One example was the school and who they can accept as students.  They have many, many more applicants than they can accept and maintain their academic rigor and performance.  Some just can’t be accepted, they may have discipline issues or be academically incapable.  You would like to say yes, but you have to say no.  In the U.S., this isn’t so much of a big deal because there are usually many other options, but here, there are no other options for schooling at this level.  That’s just one example.  Many would like power, many would like work, and many would like _____ (fill in the blank).  Most of us would consider these “likes” as needs.

Thank the Lord that we serve Him who said “Yes” to us before we knew the question.  Our God is the only God who can say “yes” to everyone who is willing to say “yes” to Him!  

Haiti Trip - Tuesday

By the end of Tuesday we had made pretty good progress.  All the panels were hung and the cables from the generators to the transfer switches had been run.  Also, the ground rods and connecting cables were in the ground.  However, this is a stopping point as we’ll spend all day Wednesday in a remote village handing out solar powered radios and hopefully evangelizing lost Haitians to Christ.

Tonight the whole Bundy family, along with a young woman from Ohio named Zenobia, came by our house while we were playing cards and we had a few huge game of Spoons.  This was followed by a game of Mafia that the kids taught us old people how to play.  It was a houseful and it was a great time.

Haiti Trip - Monday

Each morning after breakfast, Brett comes and meets us in the Holiday House and will lead us through a Bible study in Ephesians.  It’s a good study as he does a good job of including everyone and going through the Scripture steadily.  He’s a good teacher for our small group.

Today we started with a newly constructed generator building.  Inside the building are three new generators, panels and transfer switches in boxes, and unmarked underground feeders that serve the new underground distribution system for the campus.  Unfortunately, one of the generators was dropped and will not work due to the damage it received.  Further, a plastic fuel port on the fuel filter on the other two is broken and they won’t work.  But the same fuel port on the dropped generator is not broken (?) and if we move this one to one of the two that were not dropped then we can start one when we are ready.  This is very typical for Haiti, find and fix and make it work somehow.

All the walls are blank in the building.  There is no distribution, no connection between the generators and the distribution.  Our purpose is to construct the distribution inside the building so the power can reach those who need it.  We are, in a way, “filling in the gap”, to use spiritual parlance.  We plan then to test the distribution to verify that there are no shorts in the underground system prior to pushing the breakers to the “On” position.

We got some of the distribution from the generator breakers overhead to the manual switch locations and mounted most of the panel enclosures.  The ground rods are also all beat into the ground and a ditch is half dug for the grounding conductor.  We find out quickly that we don’t have enough 1 ¼” cable connectors and in order to use 1 ½” cable connectors we need to drill a 1 ½” hole in the panels and we don’t have a 1 ½” hole saw.  I’m sure we’ll find a way to make it work.

At night after dinner, our team gathers together and we play card games.  We do this until just before 9:00 which is about when the main power is turned off for the campus.

Haiti Trip - Sunday

My family and I just returned from a week-long trip to Cap-Haitien, Haiti to provide electrical distribution installation for equipment.  We had arranged and designed for a new generation system and underground distribution system for the OMS campus.  Other teams had gone before us and installed the underground cabling and the new generator building.  The generators had been ordered and shipped as well as the distribution gear.

The trip was from June 6th through the 13th.  This is the first day's journal entry.  None are as long as this one.

Sunday, June 7th, 2015

We unfortunately had to get up and onto the 6:00 AM flight from Pensacola to Miami as it was the only flight from our area that allowed for us to make the 2:30 PM flight from Miami to Cap-Haitien in the same day.  This caused for a 4 hour layover in Miami.  While no one likes a long layover, we were blessed to find an American Express lounge there and that made the time pass much better.

The American Airlines plane to take us to Cap-Haitien arrived to Miami two hours late on Saturday and thus, two hours late to Cap.  But Jeff with OMS was just happy it landed in Cap.  He related that planes have landed in Port a Prince or Dominican at other times.  So, although we were very late arriving, there was a great blessing in that it landed in Cap-Haitien.

We all seemed to sleep pretty good the first night since we were all so very, very tired from the long day of travel on Saturday.  It had started at around 3:15 AM in the morning and didn’t end until around 9:30 PM (EST).  We almost didn’t notice how hot it was – almost.  Julie and I had a very small fan on us, but Jasmine’s really small fan stopped working during the night.  The boys had a nice oscillating fan on them.  The next night we moved Jasmine’s bed to the boy’s room so they would all have a fan on them.  We were able to get an oscillating fan on Tuesday night.

It is so hot here.  It is the very first thing you notice, especially at night.  Although you might be dead tired after a long hot day of work, it is hard to want to lay down on hot sheets, because you sure don’t lay under them.  I’m sure we’ll get somewhat acclimated by the time we leave.  When I compare the temperatures to our home in Florida, there only seems to be about a 7 degree difference between day and night temperatures.  The difference is obviously that there is never a time to cool down.  The only exception is taking a cold shower at the end of the day.  But I find that I am almost sweating before I can even towel off afterwards.

We went to a Haitian church service this morning.  They were celebrating the 65^th anniversary of Radio 4VEH.  Radio 4VEH stands for “Radio For the Voices of Evangelism for Haiti”.  The anniversary, while just a number to many, was extremely important for those with some background or behind-the-scenes knowledge of just how close to closing the radio station had been just 18 months earlier.  Even when the station was non-operational during the oil embargo years in the ‘70s, it had never been so close to extermination. 

We got to the First Baptist Church of Cap-Haitien at about 9:00 AM and we left at 12:30 PM.  When we left the service was still going on.  The music, which Haitians take lots of time to perfect, was absolutely heavenly.  While I could not understand the message, I was brought near to tears many times.  There were at least three different preachers with messages with much music and prayer surrounding the worship service.  Attendance estimates were between 2,500 and 3,000.  Every doorway was 8 to 10 people deep.  Every window was 1 or 2 people deep.  There were so many chairs out that there was barely enough width to walk down any aisle.  The hallways not in the auditorium were lined on both sides with people sitting.  There simply wasn’t a space in the church not attended.  All without air-conditioning, without padded pews, without sophisticated lighting systems, without modern sound systems, and most of all, without a single complaint.  Everyone worshipped, everyone sang, everyone listened patiently.

Unfortunately, Jack got really hot and almost got sick.  I took him out of the service and was eventually led to a small room in the back where there was air-conditioning.  This space is a health room for anyone with a health concern.  A young girl with asthma was there using an inhaler until she could breathe well again.  They gave Jack a cold bottle of water and he drank some and put the bottle on the back of his neck.  The Haitians mothers are so motherly.  The woman there was named Carmen.  Even with language barriers, it is so very evident that she were genuinely concerned about him.  Jack got cooled off after about 30 minutes and we returned back to the service.

After lunch, Julie and I got to hear the story of the radio station and it’s near death from Storly and Kate Michel.  Storly is the radio station’s director and Kate is the central fund raising leader.  I had met them through phone and email conversations, but never in person.  I was so surprised to see them when we got to Haiti and it was just a great blessing.  Julie and I had taken a small part in a God-sized effort to resurrect the station and that is how I had come to know the Michels.

The story includes and was supported by Brett Bundy in a later conversation that the radio station was on the chopping block as a ministry tool.  The station had run in the red for years and was consuming about $80k more in operating costs than was being donated for its operation.  Then when the tower site was robbed and the AM signal was non-operational, OMS was rightfully taking a very serious look at whether the station should remain as a viable ministry tool.  The station was not self-sufficient and now non-operational. 

There were an unknown number of solar-powered radios across Haiti that were silent.  Many villages whose homes are dirt floored without running water or electricity, and now no signal to the solar radio – their only source of daily Christian influence.

Enter Storly and Kate Michels.  Storly determined that he would in the next three months show OMS that the station could be self-sufficient and in December of 2013 did just that.  The station was in the black.  But the transmitters at the tower site were still non-operational.  He then submitted to OMS a request to seek funding through contributed gifts and pledges to replace the 40-year old towers, cabling, and equipment for the AM signal so it could be back on the air properly and appropriately set for the next 40 years.  After much deliberation and prayer, OMS approved the project but only gave Storly and Kate TWO months to raise the estimated $450k needed for the project.  Two months.  A definite God-sized task.

After a lot of long nights and lots of conversations, it is two days before the due date and the project is 56% funded.  There was only two months and now there is only two days.  Storly retries to contact someone in Chicago they had previously tried several times to contact with no success, but this time they make contact.  The family goes to Chicago to meet this person with a sick child in tow.  After a quick meeting, the person makes the donation, not a pledge, of the remaining amount on the spot.  God delivers at the right time with the right amount.

Today there are two new towers, new cabling, new security and new equipment at the AM transmitter site.  Today all solar powered radios transmit the hope of Christ to everyone who will listen.  Today 4.5 million people are able to hear the gospel message, the power of God to all who believe.

We went to a banquet at the radio station further celebrating the anniversary in the afternoon.  There was a nice array of food that we were able to try (including goat – Thomas tried it but it wasn’t that good).  We discovered a watermelon soda drink that was good. 

Afterward, we took all our tools and equipment we brought to the new Generator Building.  We used a 3-wheeled half-motorcycle half-dump truck vehicle.  The manufacturer is Haojin and it seemed most of the motorcycles used in Haiti are by this manufacturer.  Reed and Jack (and Dan) had a great time learning how to drive this vehicle.  They had to learn to use a hand clutch to switch gears and how to maneuver the vehicle with the wide rear end. 

Tired

I'm tired.  Sick and tired.  I'm tired of not sleeping well when I travel and even more so when I'm home.  It's quite frustrating. But even more frustrating than many weeks connected together by many nights of restlessness, I'm tired of lazy, pseud-intellectual, make-believe, wouldn't-make-a-commitment-if-their-life-depended-on-it, , I'll-make-up-whatever-God-suits-my-lifestyle-of-choice, "Christians." 

I read an excellent article today by Jim Shempert who talked about the lack of real commitment by Christians in America today. He pointed out that although the vast majority of Americans claim to be Christians, one would not draw that conclusion by our culture and morality.  I've opined on many occasions that a person who is willing to commit murder to support their sex life is a sick person, clearly not bearing the fruit of a life dedicated wholly to Christ.  Likewise, a nation that supplements physician-assisted murder with its tax dollars is not a nation adhering to the principles of Christ.  We as a nation have not just approved of murder, but we in fact support it financially in the name of sexual "freedom" and "healthcare."  I will say that we've finally called it what it is. Abortion is a choice.  A choice by a couple to engage in unprotected sex that results in an unwanted life.  That couple makes a choice to commit murder to avoid the responsibility of raising that child.  The doctor makes a choice to aid them in that murder rather than take responsibility to protect life as is their Hippocratic oath mandates. These choices to avoid responsibility for ones actions are not new, going back to at least King David, and clearly are not the fruit of a nation or individuals who are making choices through a context of a life dedicated to Christ.  At least upon recognition of his multiple transgressions David repented and sought forgiveness.  Today we won't even call sexual immorality and murder what they are: sin.  Like David, since we don't recognize and call these what they are, we don't repent, therefore forgiveness cannot flow from God.  We are not a Christian nation and I'm tired of it.

I'm tired of other people telling me how I feel.  I've had multiple well-intended, but horribly misinformed people tell me in so many words that taking a stand against sin represents a problem in my love life.  In other words, they've told me that when I state that I'm against a political agenda that would support abortion, or change marital laws, I don't properly love people and am therefore an immature Christian if I am one at all.  I can tell you that these accusations have sent me to my prayer and study "closet" on countless occasions wondering if they're right and somehow I've totally misinterpreted the whole meaning and message of Christ.  As a result, the more I pray and study, the more firmly convicted I become that Rick Warren has it right.  He stated that we've bought into two lies: that to disagree with someone's lifestyle choices means we must fear or hate them and second to love someone I must agree with everything they believe or do.  Essentially, society demands that I accept their lifestyle and choices and all choices are equally valid.  This is clearly contrary to scripture. The Bible makes it clear what God considers sin, particularly sexual sin (Lev 18, Ro 1:18-32 just to highlight a few of many) and is full of stories of both earthly and eternal consequences of sin and extreme accountability to a high and Holy God who loves perfectly, but also is full of wrath for those who choose to live a sinful lifestyle of any kind.  Christ confronted many people living a sinful lifestyle.  He didn't condone their sin, he called them into repentance and upon receipt of it, sent them away forgiven, but with a lifestyle mandate to "go and sin no more."  God goes on to say that any truly loving parent disciplines their child which includes dire consequences for disobedience (spanking! - Pr 13:24).  Teaching personal responsibility, accountability, and having the courage to demonstrate the consequences of disobedience are essential forms of agape of a parent and a truly loving fellow Christian. 

Furthermore, we in America refuse to simply read and believe scripture and would rather rationalize some other "kinder and gentler" definition of God, his word, and agape.  We're getting it wrong.  Getting it wrong has eternal consequences.  We're locked in spiritual warfare and we're losing because we're content to ignore scripture or worse, attempt to modify Gods own definition of himself.  I don't like losing, especially when eternity is at stake and I'm tired of being defined as part of the problem. Here's a clue:  You don't get to define who God is or His character. He has defined that for us and provided a divinely inspired book with all the details we need.  Neither do you get to define how I feel. You can stand in judgement of my fruit (actions), but you don't get to define how I feel. 

I'm tired of lazy "Christians" who expect me to honor their laziness and take up their slack.  So very few Christians even attend church devotedly never mind read, pray, or serve regularly.  Because of our willingness to define love as a feel good emotion with no responsibility or accountability, we've allowed laziness and lack of commitment to Christ to become commonplace. Worse, as Americans it really takes no faith to get through a day. In our land of plenty, we don't have to work daily for food.  We ignore the intrinsic value Paul's admonition to the Thessalonians to be industrious and avoid those who are idle and disruptive (2 Thes 3:6-18).  Instead we reward idleness and claim that those values are old and don't apply today. Would someone like to quote me a chapter and verse from scripture on that opinion?  Kyle Idleman wrote a great book on this issue and labels such people as "fans," Christians who aren't in the game.  Essentially most Christians simply buy into the benefit of salvation without the cost of discipleship.  What they really want is the benefits of Christ's gift of salvation without allowing Him to be Lord over their life.  Once again today's political correctness feeds this shallow faith. I think the worst of it is that these are the folks that are too lazy to really read scripture, and assume that they know what it must say from a few sermons and the constant bombardment of lies in social media. These lazy Christians can vote and this is where our moral character erodes.  Paul warned Timothy that such a time was coming in 2 Tim 4:3-4, yet he charged Timothy to "faithfully preach the word, correcting, rebuking, and encouraging."  The problem is, lazy Christians only accept encouragement and categorically reject correction or accountability.  These are the people that look at me and hang labels such as Bible thumping, intolerant, right wing, bigot.  These labels, assigned by people who rage against labeling as another form of a love problem, are a tactic to marginalize my input on an issue so that they can ignore it and continue in their lazinss and misguided faith.  I'm tired of it and I'm tired of being tolerant in the name of unity.

Unity is a hot topic in today's church including my own United Methodist Church.  The political agenda of the Homosexual minority has bled over in a big way into the church and is causing splits in the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches among others.  A small minority of leaders who have bought into a theology of heresy over unity are threatening the Methodists stance on Homosexuality.  I know that scripture discusses life in the body in at least four places, Ro 2, 1 Cor 12, Eph 4, and 1 Ptr 4 and in every case calls us to unity within the body of believers. Clearly unity is important.  Nowhere, however, does scripture tell us to adopt heresy in the name of unity.  In fact, whereas those who would have us adopt clearly heretical standards in the name of unity quickly point to a "mandate" in 1 Cor 1:10-12, but cleverly ignore the clear direction in 1 Cor 5 to excommunicate those in the body who insist on living a sinful lifestyle.  These pseudo intellectuals claim to have command over scripture in three languages and cannot find clear direction in regards to homosexuality or life within the body. Clearly these people have an agenda that is self-centered rather than God-directed and centered and I'm tired of it.  More than just being tired of it, their baseless opinions and attacks on the church are making today's church irrelevant. A church that does not stand on scripture stands for nothing and is therefore irrelevant. That is why the church is shrinking and this makes me sick,  sick and tired.  The bad news is that pseudo intellectuals believe that if the church would adopt heresy (they would state it as being more inclusive), it would grow.  Irrelevance doesn't lead to growth, it leads to extinction and the numbers in the more liberal churches show it.  This backwards thinking by these pseudo intellectuals makes me sick.  Sick and tired. 

 

This isn't the end of a rant, it's the beginning.  If you think I'm misguided, put on your armor (Eph 6:10-20) and and be prepared to do battle.  But you'd better grab your "sword" and be prepared to "rightly divide" (2 Tim 2:15) it because I'm tired.  When I'm tired, I get grumpy.  When I'm grumpy, I lose that infinitesimally small amount of patience God gave me.  I'm out of patience with lazy, pseud-intellectual, make-believe, wouldn't-make-a-commitment-if-their-life-depended-on-it, , I'll-make-up-whatever-God-suits-my-lifestyle-of-choice, "Christians." 

Love One Another

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. – 1 John 4:7-12

Those who are quick to condemn you for judging them are also quick to pull out verses 7 and 8.  Their argument is that we are reading verses that state obvious wrongs in their life but by doing so we don’t love them.  We should be loving them first.  If we loved them we’d accept them even with their sin (and quit holding them to be responsible for it!).  At least, this is my understanding of it.  We then are called hypocrites for saying one part of the Bible but not living another in their minds.  The funny part of this whole argument is that it is often done by someone who professes they don’t believe in God.  Yet, we are the hypocrites!

This stance by those who work to slither out of the unmovable conviction of God’s Word can be corrected if only they’d read the verses following.  How did God show His love among us?  “He sent His one and only Son into the world”.  What did the Son do?  He loved everyone by giving God’s Message to them.  What did they do to Him for doing this?  They killed Him.  Yet, He died, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven so that those who killed Him would have another chance to choose God. 

There is a key element in this that is too often overlooked.  It should be noted that He did not change His Message.  Even though those who refused His message killed Him, He followed God’s plan whether they accepted it or not.  God said to Moses, “I AM”.  God is and so is His Word.  No matter how much some people might not like it, It is. 

Verse 11 tells us that we are to love one another the way God loved us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for us.  Applying verse 7 which tells us to love one another, we can then surmise that we are to love one another in a sacrificial manner.  That means putting the other’s needs or even wants above our own and being willing to sacrifice our wants or preferences.  This is love in action.  We may not want to confront one another over the other’s sin or to hear of our own sin, but if we love one another sacrificially, then we’ll do it.  Our love is made complete by our willingness to be nothing so those we love might be more.  

If all Christians loved in this way, the world would see God in us.  Verse 12 tells us that God’s love is made complete in us when we love in this way.  Seek to love others even when it is uncomfortable and even hurts.  Seek to love them even when you have to confront them and they refuse you.  Seek to love them when you are confronted.  See their spiritual needs and urge them, thereby loving them, so they might find the source of love, God Himself.

Spiritual Laziness

Romans 12:11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically(NLT)

For those of you who have ever worked with me on a mission trip of any kind, you know I'm not a lazy person.  Or am I?  When it comes to working, I tend to overdo (Kerianne says its because I'm an ISTJ on the Meyer's Briggs assessment and I'm always "Doing what must be done").  Yet in terms of discipline when it comes to spiritual things and physical fitness, I seem to find excuses to not have a normal regimen.  The problem is that the worse it gets, the worse it gets.  In other words, as I get more and more out of shape physically, the less I feel inclined to push myself physically.  In reality, its no different in terms of spiritual fitness. 
I need this time of centering and devotion every day.  To miss it because I'm out of town on business is to yield to laziness simply because my daily routine has been interrupted.  I need this time, little as it is, to remind myself that God is God and I am not.  I cannot "do what must be done" without Him!  Sure I can do many things, but nothing of eternal significance can be accomplished without God.  Without diligence in daily devotion, I lose my edge, if you will, and become much more inclined to at least useless distractions if not outright sin. 
As I learned in football, many injuries occur when we become tired.  We lose our control, and suddenly we are out of position and pull, strain, or break something.  So, physical conditioning was essential not just to play at a higher level, but to avoid injury.  Often I think I've failed to apply that important lesson in other aspects of my life and I try to play the game without devoting the time required to truly be in the proper shape to do so.  As I result, I'm not functioning at peak capacity.
There are many that work out or practice every day to improve skills or at least maintain fitness.  God is our only source of spiritual empowerment.  If we don't remain plugged into the source of love (agape) and true power, we become spiritually "out of shape."  How are you maintaining your spiritual fitness?   Do you work at it every day or just on the occasional Sunday? 

Clean Hands and a Pure Heart

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god. 

Psalm 24:3-4

While it is only natural for me to think that everyone wants to ascend to God and stand in front of Him, the reality is very few people do today.  In fact, our society seems to be pushing to make sure all the world knows that it is folly to think such and you are an old-fashioned traditionalist idiot not keeping up with the times for thinking such.  But, deep inside every person, I see that they want desperately to be fulfilled and know they have a purpose and are loved.  How everyone can so easily accept the pain of living and reject seeking Him which would be their fulfillment is difficult to understand.

The only way to “get to God” is to be cleansed and we are only clean when we have been “washed in the blood of the Lamb.”  I really miss those old-tyme religion songs sometimes.

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Refrain: Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

You want “clean hands and a pure heart”?  Then you need Jesus.  There is no other way.  And so my mind then rings with the more current song from Mercy Me, “Give Us Clean Hands”.  This song also speaks to the idol portion of verse 4.

We bow our Hearts
We bend our knees
Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
Oh Lord we cast down our idols

So give us clean hands
Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands
Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
And God let us be
A generation that seeks
That seeks your face
Oh God of Jacob
And God let us be
A generation that seeks
That seeks your face
Oh God of Jacob

Trust today in the purification of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus so that you might have clean hands and a pure heart.  Trust solely in Him as the one and only true living God.

Prepare Yourself

Luke 12: 35"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,

I find it difficult when travelling to get my devotions done and I can feel the distance that has grown between me and God.  Not that God went anywhere, I've been the one distracted.  I need to be better disciplined in many aspects of life including more dedicated to daily scripture reading and prayer.  I need to conquer the tyranny of the urgent with the discipline of habit. Only then can I be the disciple God requires, the husband my wife deserves, the parents my kids need, and the worker that the taxpayers demand. 

He Fights for Us!

¹ Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
  Fight against those who fight against me.
² Take hold of shield and buckler,
  And stand up for my help.
³ Also draw out the spear,
  And stop those who pursue me.
  Say to my soul,
  “I am your salvation.” – Psalm 35:1-3

As we get ready to leave for Haiti, it is becoming apparent that our accuser, ‘ol smutty face himself, does not want us to go fully charged.  Anywhere he can cause distraction to our thoughts and minds he is trying desperately to do so.  Today, I claim these verses as ours.  I pray for God to fight against those who fight against us.  I pray that God will stand over us with His weapons and His power against all who pursue us.  I pray that He will whisper reassurance to the foundation of my soul so that I know my salvation is in Him and Him alone.

Praise God in Whom we can trust and in Whom we put all our trust!  Deliver us our Savior!

Gay Marriage - The Other View

Here is a self-described conservative Christian who is gay counter-debating the traditional Christian view against gay marriage.  It is an interesting read.  It is written by Justin Lee, Executive Director of the Gay Christian Network.

https://www.gaychristian.net/justins_view.php

I believe it is imperative to try to understand everyone's view point.  However, the below is my counter conversation to his well-stated points.  These will be labeled: Tax Collector, 1, 2, 3, 4 and Additional Remarks.

Tax Collector:
I disagree with this argument.  As Steven Curtis Chapman sings, "What About the Change?"  A tax collector in Jesus's day could remain a tax collector and not be a bad person if he had a heart change and refused to lie, cheat, and steal from the people.  A tax collector could remain a tax collector but just be honest.  A homosexual cannot do this.  If they change, they are no longer a homosexual.  Therefore, this is an unequal comparison.

#1:
"I don't think anyone can deny that heterosexual sex is the way our bodies were built to function."  This is an incredible thing to say and I appreciate its sincerity.  That said, the comparison to a deaf person is again not an equal comparison.  A deaf person has parts of their body that do not work.  In fact, you could say they are deformed.  A person having open heart surgery has a part of their body that is not working correctly and needs to be repaired.  To make a comparison to either of these is to say that a homosexual person has something wrong with them and therefore they use their body in a way to make it work with their handicap.  If homosexuality is to be compared to either of those conditions, then I need for someone to name the part of their body that isn't working correctly. ... It's either the mind (intellect) or its in their heart (soul).

#2:
I do not disagree with this point.  In fact, I think the Bible book Song of Solomon supports it and could have been used effectively in his point.

#3:
"I think that sex should be reserved for marriage."  Again, another incredible statement.  If all gay persons took this position, I don't think there would be as many proclaiming gay people.  This argument goes a long way to pull out the homosexual reference from the Bible text or to describe it as something else.  All in an effort to say the Bible doesn't reference "today's homosexual" relationships.  Yet, all currently popular Bible versions disagree with him.  In my opinion he is reaching pretty far out there to make this argument.  But, let's say he's right.  The Bible still condemns sex between males, even if his argument is valid.

#4:
The rules and laws of Leviticus were made to keep the Israelites as a separate people.  As is the descriptions of character in the New Testament from Jesus, Paul, and Peter regarding Christian behavior.  Christians should be "a peculiar people".  They should not be as everyone who doesn't believe in Jesus.  Yet, to try to remove every direct or indirect reference from the Bible describing homosexuality so you can be a Christian with your homosexuality is to say you don't believe every word in the Bible and would prefer to pick and choose, which is exactly the argument made in the subsequent paragraph regarding women head coverings.  Unfortunately, you can't have it both ways.  You can't pick and choose what you want to believe from God's Word and condemn those who are of an opposing view telling them that they pick and choose.  If you are going to say you believe in the Word of God, don't point to others as a reference.  Tell me how you believe in it and what it costs you to believe, because all of us have to give up ourselves to believe completely.

Additional remarks:
The question is asked, "Why would God condemn a loving, monogamous Christ centered marriage between two people of the same sex?"  My answer to this question is to ask another questions, "Why would God condemn a loving, monogamous Christ centered marriage between a man and an animal?"

Maybe I love my dog/cat/sheep and God commands me to love it and care for it and it provides me with attention and love in return.  I am loyal to it and don't pet any other animals.  I cannot find any verses in the Bible that tell me I can't be in a relationship with my animal or that I can't marry it.  So, why can't I marry it?

I don't marry it because it is unnatural. It's not the way I'm designed by God to function and it destroys my purpose.  In the very beginning of this conversation, this author says, "I don't think anyone can deny that heterosexual sex is the way our bodies were built to function."  So he freely admits that homosexuality is unnatural.  That means that it is not a part of Creation.  That means it is man made.  That means it is an idol, or a deliberate act of defiance, or a deliberate act of rebellion, all of which is a refusal of God's authority.

Gay Christian?

In the ongoing conversation about homosexual marriage, I thought that it is important to answer this question, "Is it possible to be a gay Christian?"

Here is the best answer I've found and did not want to paraphrase it (copied from http://www.gotquestions.org/gay-Christian.html):

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). There is a tendency to declare homosexuality as the worst of all sins. While it is undeniable, biblically speaking, that homosexuality is immoral and unnatural (Romans 1:26-27), in no sense does the Bible describe homosexuality as an unforgivable sin. Nor does the Bible teach that homosexuality is a sin Christians will never struggle against.

Perhaps that is the key phrase in the question of whether it is possible to be a gay Christian: “struggle against.” It is possible for a Christian to struggle with homosexual temptations. Many homosexuals who become Christians have ongoing struggles with homosexual feelings and desires. Some strongly heterosexual men and women have experienced a “spark” of homosexual interest at some point in their lives. Whether or not these desires and temptations exist does not determine whether a person is a Christian. The Bible is clear that no Christian is sinless (1 John 1:8,10). While the specific sin / temptation varies from one Christian to another, all Christians have struggles with sin, and all Christians sometimes fail in those struggles (1 Corinthians 10:13).

What differentiates a Christian’s life from a non-Christian’s life is the struggle against sin. The Christian life is a progressive journey of overcoming the “acts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19-21) and allowing God’s Spirit to produce the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23). Yes, Christians sin, sometimes horribly. Sadly, sometimes Christians are indistinguishable from non-Christians. However, a true Christian will always repent, will always eventually return to God, and will always resume the struggle against sin. But the Bible gives no support for the idea that a person who perpetually and unrepentantly engages in sin can indeed be a Christian. Notice 1 Corinthians 6:11, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

First Corinthians 6:9-10 lists sins that, if indulged in continuously, identify a person as not being redeemed—not being a Christian. Often, homosexuality is singled out from this list. If a person struggles with homosexual temptations, that person is presumed to be unsaved. If a person actually engages in homosexual acts, that person is definitely thought to be unsaved. However, the same assumptions are not made, at least not with the same emphasis, regarding other sins in the list: fornication (pre-marital sex), idolatry, adultery, thievery, covetousness, alcoholism, slander, and deceit. It is inconsistent, for example, to declare those guilty of pre-marital sex as “disobedient Christians,” while declaring homosexuals definitively non-Christians.

Is it possible to be a gay Christian? If the phrase “gay Christian” refers to a person who struggles against homosexual desires and temptations – yes, a “gay Christian” is possible. However, the description “gay Christian” is not accurate for such a person, since he/she does not desire to be gay, and is struggling against the temptations. Such a person is not a “gay Christian,” but rather is simply a struggling Christian, just as there are Christians who struggle with fornication, lying, and stealing. If the phrase “gay Christian” refers to a person who actively, perpetually, and unrepentantly lives a homosexual lifestyle – no, it is not possible for such a person to truly be a Christian.