It seems to me that maybe I have been a little bold lately in some of my posts.  Commenting about controversial issues and even getting a little harsh is some responses.  Some of this stems from a passion for Gods truth while some may just come from that confrontational part of me that I just wrote about and am truly trying to tame.  But it is not tamed and there are good reasons for some of what I ask.  I really am still learning myself.  And one of the ways to learn what we believe is to bounce those beliefs off those that others hold.  So the questions for today may spark more controversy.  I hope not and I really do not want any heated arguments or words of offense.  But I do want to know what you think.

We also touched on this topic a while back in some of the comments.  That post was not about this exactly and really had another focus.  So if you replied there about this topic you can fell free to comment again here.

The bible is pretty clear about Gods views on drunkenness.  Most people do not see such clear lines about alcohol consumption though.

What do you think the bible says about consuming alcohol?

What do you personally think about consuming alcohol and why?

Please keep it civil but tell us what you think.

Love you all

Tags: alcohol, Belief, consumption, controversial issues, drunkenness, fruit of the vine, Personal, town hall, Truth, Tuesday

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Rom 12:1-2

My pastor used the text from Romans quoted above for his sermon this morning.  He focused on how a lot of us have not had our minds transformed.  Then I watched a video on Shannon’s site and read the comments there concerning homosexuality and how we react to this sin in ways that are very different from the ways we react to other sins.  (Another free plug, Shannon)

I agree with my pastor’s sermon this morning and I also agree with much of what was said on Shannon’s blog but I still have problems with all of this.

God did not make any of us the way we are.  We all come into the world through the act of procreation and not creation.  God stopped creating after He finished up the sixth day and then He has placed the rest mostly in our hands.  He still, I believe, steps in and works in this realm at times but it is mostly up to us.  We choose to be, do, say, and act out of who we are; which is a reflection of many things such as environment, how we were raised, the attitudes of our parents, culture, education, and lots of other things.  We live in a fallen creation and start out as slaves to sin.  This cannot be denied.

We need to learn to love.  We need to practice love.  We need to embrace each other as Christ embraced us.  And that includes homosexuals.  We have way too many fundamentalists in the Kingdom that are hypocritical and judgmental.  The sins that offend them the most are the sins that they believe offend God the most.  This is just not true.  So I would say that I agree with most of what I have read today.

But the problem I have is that most all of those trying to find another answer seem to want to just overlook sin in its entirety.  I am not saying this about those whose comments I have read today but I have been thinking this way myself a lot lately.  But is that going to do those in sinful lifestyles any better than the fundamentalist viewpoint?

Let’s say the fundamentalist is wrong and God loves everyone enough that no matter what they do He will not turn them away.  Then we really have to introduce these people to Christ so they can have a chance.  It is not up to us who is in and who is out.  It is up to God.

But look at what happens if those who want to say sin is alright and all things are forgiven and covered by the blood of Christ are wrong.  We may share some warm and loving moments while we reach out to those living in sin while we are on this planet, before eternity, and then have them turn to us at judgment and ask why we did not warn them.

I just don’t know.

This whole issue is tough.  I am of the opinion that neither side is right but I admit that I do not know where to draw any lines.  I do know that we must all, me, you, adulterers, homosexuals, liars, thieves, etc., present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.  We must also not be conformed to this world, but instead be transformed by the renewal of our minds.  And this is the only way that we can even begin to try to discern what the will of God is and what is good and acceptable and perfect.

One thing I do know is that we better get serious about finding out what God wants us to do about all this.  Just feeling good about our own beliefs is not the answer and there is more at stake than causing anyone to feel ostracized or unloved here.  There are eternal consequences to our answers to these dilemmas.

This is serious and I believe must be concluded but as I said, I just don’t know.

Love you all

Tags: attitudes, Belief, Culture, eternal consequences, Eternity, fundamentalists, Good, homosexuals, Judgment, living sacrifice, Perfect, procreation, Self, Sin

I just want to say Happy Valentines Day to you all and especially to Tammy.  I know I don’t always show it but she is the one person on this planet I can’t do without.

I hope all of you have someone as special in your life and if you do, let them know it.  Have a great day and spend some special time with your loved ones.

We can only learn to love by loving.
~ Iris Murdoch

Love you all

Tags: Life, Love, Tammy, Time, Valentine

I asked a question a couple of days ago and invited all of you to participate.  The response was not overwhelming and I kind of expected that.  The question, while simple, was a decidedly hard one to answer.  Not because most of us do not know the answer but because we are not that willing to share it.  The question was, “What is wrong with you?”

The simple facts surrounding the answer to this question is that most of us are unwilling to share with others what we feel are our deficiencies, flaws or defects.  And there are some who do not even recognize that they have any.  I know that I do and I also believe when we wake up to the fact that we have these shortcomings, we can begin to deal with them.  Further, I believe when we are transparent about them, when we share them with others in our Kingdom family, we can not only find help in dealing with them but we will find out we can help someone also.  A lot of us might think we are the only ones dealing with a certain flaw.  That is not so.  We all have them and there are a lot more of us than there are flaws.  So someone out there has the same problem that you and I have.

I am going to share one of my own here.  I am at times too confrontational.  I sometimes feel that I do not come across as the loving person that I want to become known as.  I teach a couple of classes a week at my church and I am sometimes too direct and always very plain spoken.  I might occasionally use a “big” word but it is usually because I am trying to incorporate it into my speech.  It is not to impress and definitely not to confuse.  If there is one thing I want it is that I want everyone to understand or “get” what I am saying.

I am also passionate about the things of God.  I get loud and even heated sometimes even when there is no one arguing, disagreeing, or even talking for that matter.  And I have told my class many times that I don’t care.

When I say those words, I don’t care, my wife hates it.  She is the one that cares about me the most and she does not ever want anyone to think less of me or see me in a negative light.  And I just don’t care.  She has scolded me and offered suggestions for better ways to say what I mean such as “it doesn’t matter.”  And believe me, I have tried.  But it doesn’t matter because I don’t care.

No one has to say anything to me to get me to declare this and it is not what you may think.  I blurt out those words when I think that some might have an objection to what I am saying.  I also use them when I am describing something a well known theologian or an early church father has said and I believe they are wrong.  An example would be; I don’t care what John Calvin concluded, God is not some sovereign, unloving toymaker in the sky remotely causing every act that people perpetrate on this planet.

Sure, it doesn’t matter might sound better in this instance but is there really any difference.  I don’t think so and I don’t really care if there is.  I am blunt sometimes, to the point and even a little hurtful.  I wish I wasn’t.  I have a friend, Shannon, that seems to be able to respond in a way that is not confrontational to everything and everyone.  He can comment about things that I know are directly opposite of what he believes in a way that lets you know he disagrees but you still come away with a smile.  With me it is probably a frown.

One of my flaws that I am working on is to be less confrontational and to not be quite as blunt as I am.  I am not overly concerned about this though because of one thing.  That is that my Lord and King could be blunt at times to.  I believe Jesus did not really care about Peter’s feelings when He said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” in Mark 8:33.  Or at least it didn’t matter.

Even if this is a flaw that I have, a defect in my speaking technique, it is something that I can live with while I try to change.  And as Jesus demonstrates, sometimes we just have to not care whether feelings are hurt when eternity is at stake.

When I am teaching or discussing the things that pertain to the Kingdom and I say that I don’t care it is actually because I do care.

Love you all

Tags: Calvin, deficiencies, Eternity, God, Kingdom, Love, shortcomings, Work