FLEE!!

Many times pastors point to passages of Scripture that tell us to fight the enemy. Put on the full armor of God! Take your stand! Storm the gates of Hell! You are more than a conqueror!

Those are all true, but

There is also a time to run away from a battle. 

Flee from sexual immorality … Flee from idolatry … (1 Corinthians 6:18; 10:14).

These two enemies usually form a two-headed monster. Look throughout the Bible and you will see that when the Israelites worshipped anything other than God, they did it with idols and illicit sexual practices.

The Greek word for “sexual immorality” is porneo. This is where we get our word pornography. And isn’t pornography nothing more than idolatry of the naked human body?

Porneo is defined as:

  • Prostituting one’s body to the lust of another
  • Unlawful sexual activity
  • Being drawn away by another into idolizing something illicit
  • Defiling yourself sexually

What do we do with this? FLEE!!

You cannot fight the two-headed monster of Porneo with your willpower. You must run away! 

Porneo is not something to be tamed or controlled. It’s a monster from which you must flee! 

This is not a temptation you can control. It’s one you must avoid at all costs! 

Look at Joseph: He left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

Don’t resist the urge—FLEE!!

Don’t take a cold shower—RUN AWAY!!

Get out. Stay out. Get as far away as possible from this two-headed monster.

You cannot win this fight; you must by all means avoid this battle. 

6 Quotes from “Porn-Again Christian”

Earlier today I posted a review of Porn-Again Christian: A Frank Discussion on Pornography and Masturbation. Here are some of the quotes from this book that really caught my eye

“Simply, according to God, marriage and sex are related, connected, and exclusive.”

“The cold hard truth is that most guys’ struggles are only known by their fellow Christian buddies and unless Christian dudes man up and stop arguing about stupid secondary theological issues and spend their energies holding one another accountable to get dominion over their underwear, then Christian friendship is nothing more than Christian fakery.”

“The act of lusting after the unclothed body of a woman is not a sin. The issue is which woman’s unclothed body you are lusting after. If she is your bride, then you are simply making the Song of Songs sing again to God’s glory and your joy. If she is not your bride, then you are simply sinning. It was God who clothed our mother Eve after her sin, and it is Eve’s daughters who undress themselves for themselves for the camera in violation of God’s desire that the female bodies he formed be seen only in their full glory by their husbands.”

“Pornography has the sad effect of objectifying people into objects with parts, thereby divorcing a person from their body and consequently diminishing their dignity.”

“The Bible is emphatically clear that God’s men should abstain from certain sins that war against their souls. First, God’s men should not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14). Second, God’s men should not covet their neighbor’s wife, even if her clothes leave little to the imagination (Exodus 20:17). Third, God’s men should not participate with prostitutes who use their bodies as a commodity to be rented for a good time or a good photo (Proverbs 23:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:15-16). Fourth, God’s men should not be polygamous, because their father Adam and Head Jesus each had one bride (Eve and the Church). Fifth, God’s men should not be fornicators who slide their hands, which God made to lift up in prayer (1 Timothy 2:8), up the shirt of their girlfriend, even if she asks (1 Corinthians 6:9-13).”

“Eve may or may not have been beautiful, but to Adam she was glorious because she was all he had ever known. Practically, he had no standard of beauty to compare his bride to—she was his only standard of beauty. In creation, we see the wise pattern that for every man his standard of beauty is not to be objectified, but rather it should simply be his wife. This means that if a man has a tall, skinny red-headed wife then that is sexy for him, and if his neighbor has a short, curvy brunette wife than that is sexy for him. Pornographic lust exists to elicit coveting and dissatisfaction that no woman can satisfy because she cannot be tall and short, endowed and waifish, black and white, young and old, like the harem laid out in pornography.”

Christian men, you MUST read this book!

Thursdays With Oswald—Heaven & Hell

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Heaven & Hell

     Hell is the place of angelic condemnation. It has nothing to do primarily with man. God’s Book never says that Hell was made for man, although it is true that it is the only place for the man who rejects God’s salvation. Hell was the result of a distinct condemnation passed by God on celestial beings, and is as eternal as those celestial anarchists. 

From Biblical Psychology

Jesus makes it quite clear that Heaven is my home— “…take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

He makes it equally as clear that Hell was not made for mankind— “…the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

Furthermore, Jesus is completely clear that He is the only way to Heaven, and that the rejection of the forgiveness that is possible by accepting His atonement on the Cross leaves only one destination for the unforgiven: Hell.

This is an important reminder. It reawakens me to be persistent in telling others this truth about Heaven and Hell.

Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die; save them as they stagger to their death. Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and He sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve. (Proverbs 24:11-12)

And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. (Jude 22-23)

A Beautiful Mess

I’m a neat-and-tidy guy. I like everything to be in its place, so clutter drives me crazy.

So you can imagine how this proverb initially stuck me…

Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest. (Proverbs 14:4)

A loose translation goes like this: If you want something to be productive, you sometimes have to put up with a mess.

Oh boy!

I’ve been learning that lately. In my interim role at the En Gedi Youth Center, in our own church’s Impact youth group, even around my house the “messiness” means people are there. I could have everything all spiffed up, but then that would mean no kids … no laughter … no ministry … no life-changing interactions.

So I’m learning that I’ll take the mess to get the interaction with others.

Lord, help me appreciate the beautiful messes in my life!

Helping Needy Families

The Bible is pretty cut-and-dry on this:

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them. (Proverbs 3:27)

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. (James 2:14-17)

So here’s an easy way for those of us in Kent County to do something within our power to help the needy among us:

Buy An Extra Bag Or Two Of Groceries

While the County-Wide Food Drive is going on, take an extra grocery bag or two with you, and fill them up. You will be making a huge difference in the lives of some needy families. You can get a list of needed food and staple items from Access Of West Michigan’s website by clicking here.

Food needs to be turned in to a collection site by Saturday, October 8. If you are in the Cedar Springs area, you can drop off your donations at Calvary Assembly of God, and we’ll deliver them for you.

Love Serving

Whenever you are able, do good to people who need help. (Proverbs 3:27)

I’ve found that it is a lot easier to do good to people when I love them. And the more I love them, the more I enjoy helping them. It’s not an imposition or a task. It’s a joy to serve.

Around Calvary Assembly of God, we have a simple statement: We Cedar Springs!

Because we love our city, we are happy to do good whenever and however we can.

Yesterday we pulled on our waders, took a generous supply of trash bags, and even secured a couple of trash grabbers so we could participate in the Cedar Creek Cleanup. We sloshed through the creek, and up and down the banks on each side, and found all sorts of interesting things. When we were done, we were wet and muddy (and probably didn’t smell too great, since creek water is not usually a favorite cologne/perfume scent!), but we were also happy. No one was complaining, because we were excited to serve.

Not only do we Cedar Springs, but—as I may have mentioned a few times before—I My Church! And I that they  to serve our community. We are always on the look out for more opportunities to show the love of Jesus as we do good to others.

If you’d like to see some more pictures from our fun day of service, click here to go to Flickr.

My People

The prophet Jeremiah is often called “the weeping prophet.” Perhaps if we wept a bit more over the lost souls who are staggering toward Hell, we would be compelled to do more to rescue them.

What I love about Jeremiah is his identification with lost humanity. God called Jeremiah to be His prophet, so if anyone could have the opportunity to feel special or superior, it might be Jeremiah. But when the prophet heard about the approaching judgment, he called the residents of Jerusalem my people. Did you get that: MY people.

Not only did he call them my people, but his heart broke for them:

  • My heart is faint within me (Jeremiah 8:18)
  • I am crushed (8:21)
  • I mourn … horror grips me (8:21)
  • I weep day and night (9:1)
  • I weep and wail and take up a lament (9:10)

In Soul Work, Randy Harris has a passage that has been pounding on my heart—

Why don’t we cancel all those [church] meetings and make a field trip to the laundromat and the bars and the streets and listen to what makes sinners tick until we love them. I don’t mean try to convert anybody; I mean listen to them until we love them. Listen until we find ourselves in them. Listen to what they’re afraid of, listen to what they hope for, listen to what hurts, until we love them. And then we can try to be the church again. (emphasis added)

Or as C.T. Studd famously said:

“Some wish to live within the sound of Church or Chapel bell;

I want to run a Rescue Shop within a yard of Hell.”

My Blind Spot

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible.

Blind spots can be deadly. I simply don’t see what’s right there until—wham!—it crashes into me.

These blind spots have been called our “unconscious incompetence” zone. I’m not doing well in a certain area, but I just don’t know it yet until—wham!

Up to that point everything seems fine, but wise King Solomon said, “Smugness will destroy fools” (Proverbs 1:32).

It seems there are two ways I could deal with my unconscious incompetencies. (1) I could wait until I get blindsided by one of them; or (2) I could ask the Holy Spirit to reveal them to me. Neither option seems very pleasant, but if I’m going to get hit—wham!—it seems like a better option to let Someone who loves me, and wants the best for me, to do it (see Hebrews 12:5-11).

David thought so too. He prayed—

Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

Or, how about Sir Francis Drake’s prayer:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push us into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

The wham! moments will come. The question is how do you want them to come?

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Don’t Become Illiterate

Wise King Solomon:

Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge. (Proverbs 18:15)

Futurist Alvin Toffler:

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot unlearn, learn, and relearn.”

Questions:

  1. What did you unlearn this week?
  2. What did you learn this week?
  3. What did you relearn this week?

Benefit Package

See if you can spot the common theme in Proverbs 10:

The Lord will not let the godly go hungry (v. 3)

The godly are showered with blessings (v. 6)

We have happy memories of the godly (v. 7)

The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain (v. 11)

The earnings of the godly enhance their lives (v. 16)

The words of the godly are like sterling silver (v. 20)

The words of the godly encourage many (v. 21)

The hopes of the godly will be granted (v. 24)

The godly have a lasting foundation (v. 25)

The hopes of the godly result in happiness (v. 28)

The godly will never be disturbed (v. 30)

The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice (v. 31)

The lips of the godly speak helpful words (v. 32)

I may not be a genius, but it seems like living a God-pleasing life has quite a few desirable benefits. What do you say we give it a try?

(For another look at Proverbs 10, check out this post.)