forgiveness

How Should a Christian Respond to a “Woke” Person?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

If you watch the news or read popular news sites or blogs, it’s evident that the Christian viewpoint is in the minority these days. 

Everywhere you turn, we see alternative and “woke” lifestyles prevailing. Most certainly, there are many more people involved in these behaviors than there were in previous years.

I believe many faith-filled believers in Christ are simply silent on the social issues facing us today. They would rather not speak up and face ridicule from others who are perhaps more vocal and adamant in their beliefs. I hate to admit it, but I often fall into this category myself. 

It is more important now than ever for Christians to make our beliefs and feelings known, as many of the individuals caught up in alternative (and often sinful) lifestyles are doing nothing more than experimenting because it is the popular thing to do. 

They may not have made a definitive choice to fully embrace the lifestyle they’re “trying out.”

If these people were to hear the truth from a believer who is armed with biblical knowledge, they could very well accept Christ into their lives and make positive life changes in the right direction.

So, how do we go about relating to others who are living a lifestyle that is perhaps so radically different from our own? These people could be our acquaintances, coworkers, or even our own family members.

First of all, we should pray for them. Ask God to show them the truth that’s only found in the Bible. Pray that God would bring others (including yourself) into their path who can lead them to repentance and a relationship with Christ.

Then, when we encounter someone who is obviously living a sinful lifestyle and who needs the love and acceptance of Jesus, the first thing we need to do is approach them with love. 

We’re all sinners and have all fallen short in God’s eyes. They haven’t committed sin that is any worse in His eyes than we haven’t also committed. 

The only difference is that we, as Christians, have accepted Jesus into our lives, repented of our sins, and asked for forgiveness.

Without showing the lost genuine love and care, it is doubtful that your words will have any meaningful impact on them.

If you have a more-than-passing relationship with someone, and if the circumstances are right, you might ask them how their relationship with God is. 

You may get any of several types of answers to your question. 

They may answer that they don’t believe in God, or that God is our Creator but isn’t involved in our everyday lives. Or, they may give you the new-age answer that God is a part of everything, including us human beings and even inanimate objects. 

It’s then up to you to explain how God created us, but that the human race fell to sin and now lives in a broken world. 

The most important part is to convey that Jesus died and was raised from the dead to bring us into a right relationship with God again. His suffering, death, and resurrection were necessary to pay the penalty for our sin.

Depending on your relationship with the person and how the conversation proceeds, you may be able to ask them if they’re ready to turn from their sins and make Jesus Lord of their life.

Or, you may sense that that’s as far as you’re getting with them during this interaction and just accept the fact that you’ve planted a seed that will hopefully come up later on.

Pray that God will put someone else in their lives to water the seed and watch it begin to sprout.

I believe that it is of the utmost importance that when you talk to people about the gospel that they understand that Jesus (as well as you) accepts them just the way they are. 

Tell them that they don’t have to be perfect for Jesus to be Lord of their life. They just have to turn everything over to Him and let Him take the reins of their life.

Once they do, he will prompt them to make changes in their lives as they surrender their will to His. Sometimes that happens immediately, and sometimes it takes a while.

As Christians, it is our responsibility to show the world the love of Jesus. 

We may not see immediate fruit from our efforts, but rest assured, planting seeds of love and hope in a lost person’s life is the first step toward their eventual acceptance of Christ.

What We Learn About Jesus From the Adulterous Woman

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

The story about Jesus and the woman who was caught in adultery is the perfect example of how He saves those who trust in Him.

In John 8:3, the story begins with Jesus teaching in the temple as He often did. The scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish leaders of the day, brought a woman to him who had been found in the very act of adultery. Their plan was to catch Jesus caught in a trap to lessen His impact and influence with the people.

With the woman in front of them, the religious leaders referenced the law, which states that she was to be stoned for her sin. They then asked Jesus what He had to say about the matter.

After a pause and their continued questioning, during which Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger, He stood up and said simply, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her (verse 7).”

Upon hearing Jesus’s statement, the leaders slowly began to walk away.

When He was left alone with the woman, Jesus asked her, “Has no one condemned you? (verse 10)”. The woman replies that no one has. 

He then delivers these words to her, a dagger in the heart of religion: “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

This story has been told and retold for 2000 years. Besides His obvious forgiveness of the woman, is there anything else we should take away from the story?

We can also see John’s account as a living example of exactly what Jesus does for the sinner when they accept Him as Savior.

Under the guidelines of the Mosaic law, this woman would have died for her act, as no doubt many surely had over the centuries.

If you notice carefully, Jesus didn’t tell the religious leaders not to stone her—that would have been contrary to the law. 

What he did say made them stop and think. Whoever was without sin should throw the first stone. Of course, no one has ever not sinned, so none of the men were so bold as to step up first and cast a stone at her. In defeat, they merely walked away. 

The woman was left standing there in shock and gratitude. Then Jesus tells her that He doesn’t condemn her—the same thing He tells us when we come to Him in our sin. He simply forgives us and tells us to stop sinning. 

That’s how He perfectly fulfills the law, defeats death, and saves us from our sin. Jesus gives us a second chance. Rather than our lives ending in death and separation when we mess up, He offers us a new life and a new beginning. 

The woman in the story surely felt relieved and hopeful at Jesus’s words. She had the opportunity at a fresh start, just like we do when we put our trust and hope in Jesus. 

We don’t have to fear the law’s penalty because of our actions. We have the assurance that we can spend an eternity with God because Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected.

Take Him up on the offer of a new life today, and put sin and death behind you.

The Art of Practicing Forgiveness

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

As human beings, perhaps one of the hardest things for us to do is forgive those we perceive as having wronged us. 

We naturally want to hold onto a grudge, wrongfully thinking that somehow that we are “getting back” at that person.

In reality, this does nothing but create a bitter core within us and keep us from experiencing true joy and freedom from those negative feelings. 

Author Marianne Williamson is quoted as saying:

Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

When we hold on to that root of bitterness, it festers in our hearts, and we relive the offending event over and over, sometimes multiple times every day. 

It eats at us, and we can’t get the negative feelings off our hearts and out of our minds.

We should listen to God when He tells us to forgive. Ephesians 4:32 instructs us to:

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Mark 11:25 tells us that we should forgive others so that God can forgive us:

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

God doesn’t want us to forgive others so that we can just sweep all our feelings under the rug. He knows that harboring unforgiveness will only hurt us and keep us from experiencing true joy in our lives. 

When we forgive others and let go of all those negative feelings, we can begin to experience the life that God has intended for us. 

We can’t have true joy and peace in our hearts when we’re focusing on the hurts that others have inflicted on us. 

Even if we forgive someone for how they mistreated or wronged us, we may still bring that thought to mind from time to time.

However, if we have forgiven that person,  we won’t dwell on those thoughts. When they do come to mind, they can be quickly dismissed because we are no longer holding onto hard-hearted feelings toward that individual.

We let all that go when we forgive them, realizing that God has forgiven us of our many sins.

Jesus even says that we should forgive others multiple times. When Peter asks Him how many times we should forgive someone—even as many as seven times—Jesus replies:

I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Matt. 18:22 (ESV)

Following Jesus’s example will help us experience more joy and have a more God-focused spirit to love others, understanding that we all make mistakes.

Realizing that we’re forgiven ourselves, and that we should offer this same grace toward the people in our lives, should motivate us to forgive and live in peace and harmony with others.

How Christians Should Respond to the LBGTQ+ Movement

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

As Christians, how are we supposed to respond to individuals who believe that the LGBTQ+ lifestyle is completely normal? 

What’s more, what if a person professing to be a Christian believes that God made some people to be attracted to members of the opposite sex and others to be attracted to the same sex?

There’s no way to resolve this very complex issue in a short blog post, but perhaps I can put forth some opinions to think about how to respond to this challenge, especially as Christians.

I’ll say right out of the gate that I believe the Bible clearly tells us that homosexuality is wrong. It is a sin, just like lying, stealing, and murder are. I don’t understand how you can read the Bible and come away with any other interpretation than that.

I also believe that God made us either one of two genders. Either you’re born one or the other. The idea that you can somehow proclaim that you now identify as the opposite sex not only goes against what God teaches us in the Bible, it doesn’t make common sense.

Let me first say that it personally hurts me when LGBTQ+ supporters say Christians hate homosexual and trans people. 

I know that for me that is actually so far from the truth. While there may be the outlying Christian, I believe the large majority of believers hate the sin, but love the sinner. Our great hope is to point them in the right direction.

The same is true for other types of sexual sin, including adultery and fornication. Christians don’t as a rule hate the one who is the sinner, although they would like to help them forgo the life of sin they have become ensnared in.

All I want (and most believers I would say) is for LGBTQ+ people to see the truth, let Jesus into their lives, and begin to make changes in their beliefs and behaviors that line up with solid biblical teaching.

There is no hate involved, but just a genuine desire to see others put their lives in God’s hands and trust Him with everything.

With that being said, here are a couple of verses that are often used to help show practicing homosexuals and trans people the truth.

Matthew 19: 4-6 says:

‘Haven’t you read,’ he replied, ‘that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

In Isaiah 62:50, we read:

As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

There are many more verses in Scripture that show that God’s intention is for one man to marry one woman. No where in the Bible is it ever referred to that man should marry man or woman should marry woman.

In fact, we are told in Romans 1:26-28 that that sort of union is sinful and against God’s plan to mankind:

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

So, clearly the LGBTQ+ lifestyle is in direct violation of the kind of fruitful, joyful life God desires each of us to have. 

It’s not just because He wants to take our fun away and have us live a sterile, joyless life. He knows that sin (including sexual sin) will make us miserable in the long run and can bring about both physical and spiritual death.

He wants what’s best for us and will cause all things to work together for good in our lives (Rom. 8:28).

But how do we reach others who are steeped in this rebellious lifestyle? I believe it takes a lot of love and a great deal of patience. 

I believe the best approach toward people of the LGBTQ+ persuasion is to reach out to them with genuine love. Make an honest attempt to connect with them and try to understand their situation. They may be much more confused about their beliefs than they’re willing to let on.

Convey to them the idea that God loves them no matter what. He wants what’s best for them, including a relationship with the opposite sex that can potentially lead to marriage and children.

You may not see results for quite some time, if ever. You may be merely planting a seed, that other people will come by and water, and still other people will see the harvest come to fruition. That’s fine, as the Bible tells us that this is the normal course of events.

So long as you’re doing what you can to show others caught up in the LGBTQ+ lifestile love and understanding, you’re advancing God’s kingdom. It may be quite some time before a person makes a commitment to Jesus and begins to put that lifestyle behind them.

Don’t be afraid to spend time with others caught up in the LGBTQ+ lifestyle. After all, Jesus ate and drank with tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners. It is the sick who need the Great Physician, not the well.

Jesus Himself said in Luke 5:32:

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

We would do well to follow His example.

A Tale of Two Sticks

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

As I lay in bed I scratched the itch on top of my head. My fingertips grazed over the sore spot. Damned Bobby Watkins*, I thought to myself. 

How long had I been dealing with this sore area on my head? It’s been over 40 years, I realized.

The long-ago scene easily materialized in my brain. I’d been reliving the incident for over four decades.

I was yucking it up with a couple of my friends on the playground at school. It was September of our 8th grade year and the weather was perfect. We were on our lunch break and everyone was having fun outside.

All of a sudden, I felt a whack on the top of my head. It hurt some, but not a great deal like you might think getting hit in the head would.

Instinctively, I reached up with my right hand to rub the area. I felt blood. I looked at my hand and saw a significant amount of blood on my fingertips. At this point, I had no idea what caused my injury.

I knew this was not a situation I could handle on my own—not with all this blood. I don’t remember what my buddies did or said to me.

Leaving them, I began walking toward the door to the school en route to the office. We didn’t have a school nurse, so the secretary always took care of matters like this.

As it turned out, my injury was not something she could help me with. It was bad enough that I needed medical attention. The secretary called my mom at work to come get me and take me to the doctor in our little town.

I learned from my friends that Bobby Watkins had taken a good-sized stick he found on the playground and decided it would be fun to throw it straight up in the air; it came down smack dab on my head.

The nurse at the doctor’s office had to shave a quarter-sized hole on the side of my head so they could put a few stitches in and apply a bandage.

That was the worst part of the whole ordeal—now I had a bald spot on my head with an ugly white bandage on it.

I strategically combed my hair during this time to try to hide the spot. Eventually, the bandage came off and the stitches came out. Soon, my hair was growing out and before long it didn’t matter anymore.

Now, years later, every time my fingers touch that spot on my head, it is noticeably tender to the touch. Not so much that there’s true pain, but enough that I feel some discomfort.

As I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, I happened to scratch my head in that exact spot. The stimulus immediately made me think of Bobby Watkins and his senseless act. 

I knew he had died a few years ago, but I wondered what his life had been like over the decades since we graduated.

He had seemed to have a hard life when we were in school, so I reasoned that his adult life had probably followed the same path.

Serves him right for throwing that stick. I knew that was the wrong way to feel, but it was late, I was tired, and I didn’t care at that point. 

I actually did care. I’m not one to wish ill will upon anyone. Hopefully, he had had a good life, filled with joy and all the things that make life fulfilling.

I wish I could say that that was the only incident I’d ever had with Bobby Watkins and a stick, but it wasn’t. 

The other incident, which happened a few years earlier, actually caused me more pain, so much so that I had cried.

When I was younger, I played Little League baseball in the summers. I loved it, and it gave me something to do to alleviate any boredom I might have over the summer break.

One night during a game, our team was on the field and someone on the other team hit a foul ball. Apparently, Bobby got to the foul ball before anyone else did, hoping to make off with it for himself. 

The details are a little hazy, but I had seen him grab the ball, so I told one of the coaches or the umpire or someone in charge that he had it.

He had to surrender the ball and wasn’t too happy about it.

After the game was over, my mom and I were talking to others and making our way to the car to head home.

Well, here came Bobby walking quickly toward me with a branch in his hand. I don’t remember exactly what he said to me but it was something along the lines of, “This is for telling on me about the ball.”

He then swung the branch toward me. He hit me at least a couple of times on my neck and face. I was stunned to say the least, because he had come out of nowhere. 

I’m not sure my mom actually saw it happen, as she had been talking to some of the other moms at that time.

The assault hurt a decent amount and I began crying. I’m not sure if I cried because of the pain or just from the fact that someone would do that to me.

After my mom realized what had happened, she tried to console me, while simultaneously walking me to the car.

The lashes left big, red welts on my neck. I’m not sure how long they were there, but I don’t remember worrying about them the next day. 

The thing I was worried about, however, was running into Bobby Watkins again somewhere and his continuing to take his vengeance out on me.

Fortunately, that was all there was to it, and I had no further run-ins with him—not until that September day when he inadvertently hit me in the head with a stick a few years later.

So, those are my two incidents with Bobby Watkins.

One thing I might mention about Bobby is that one of his arms was paralyzed. He couldn’t move it at all I don’t think. 

When we were in elementary school—second grade, I believe—he had been in an accident where his coat got caught in the door of a car that was pulling away. He had been dragged for several feet before anyone realized what was happening. 

I still remember our class sending him get-well wishes. Ever since the accident, he hadn’t had any use of his arm (I don’t remember which one it was).

You might be asking yourself what the point of these stories is. 

I suppose the takeaway is that no matter how hard I might try to put the past behind me, every time I touch that tender spot on my head, I’m reminded of Bobby Watkins. When I think of him, I reacknowledge the grudge I’ve held onto for so many years.

After all, is it right that I still feel discomfort for something he did to me over 40 years ago? 

Perhaps I’ve never fully forgiven him for either incident. The branch lashing was mean and vicious, while the stick to the head was an accident. 

However, I believe that I hold more of a grudge about the latter incident because I am periodically reminded of it.

As I mentioned earlier, Bobby passed away a few years ago, so maybe the incidents shouldn’t bother me any longer. 

However, they do. I’m still dealing with the repercussions of his stick throwing even though he is no longer around.

To sum everything up, I know I need to forgive him at last. I don’t believe I’ve ever really considered the need to do so before now. But I know that is what God would want me to do.

He’s forgiven me for many sins and trespasses, so the least I can do is forgive Bobby.

Oh Lord, help me forgive Bobby for what he did to me so many years ago. Allow me to let go of the anger and resentment that I have held onto for so long. Let my heart and mind be free of any animosity toward him so that I can be unshackled from the bondage of unforgiveness. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

I feel better now. Thanks for listening.

*Not his real name

Are There Two Different Gods?

/ Clay D. / 1 Comment

If you only read the Old Testament of the Bible, you might end up concluding that God is mean and wrathful toward His creation. 

Admittedly, there are many instances in the Old Testament where God exacts some form of punishment. Throughout its narrative, Israel is constantly sinning and making God angry.

Up until the time I accepted Christ as a teenager, I had read Genesis more than any other book of the Bible. 

The reason is because it is at the beginning and you always start reading a book at the beginning, right? Every time I would decide to read the Bible, I would open it at the beginning, Genesis. 

Consequently, my view of God was strongly shaped by what we find in the book of Genesis. I naturally grew up seeing God as a stern authoritarian.

While God is certainly all about law and order, there is also much more to Him. He is full of love and compassion for His people. Over and over, he forgives the Israelites for their sin and helps them out of predicaments they get themselves into.

For the most part, it is more difficult to see God’s love in the Old Testament, but it is there. You just have to look a little harder to see it. 

Of course, it’s easy to recognize God’s love when we read the New Testament. References to His love for His creation are abundant, with the crucifixion of His son depicted as the epitome of this love.

It is almost as if there are two different Gods — the stern God of the Old Testament and the loving God of the New Testament. 

There is of course just one God, the one Creator of the universe. The two testaments of the Bible emphasize different aspects of the nature of God. To get the true picture of God, you have to read both parts of the Bible.

In fact, the New Testament completes the image of God that is begun in the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament., the law is given, and in the New Testament, we see how it is impossible for man to keep the law and that there must be a penalty for his sin.

Christ’s death and resurrection satisfy the penalty of man’s sin.

With the two sections of the Bible taken together, we get the full picture of God and His plan for mankind. You have to read the Bible in its entirety to understand God’s love and see the full scope of His plan.

So why is God seemingly presented so differently in the two testaments of the Bible? I don’t have a good answer to this question. 

The Jewish people, of course, only recognize and read the Old Testament. Does this skew their perception of God?

As a Christian whose Bible-reading time focuses more on the New Testament than the Old, I can’t help but think that the answer is yes.

I believe that as a believer in Christ, we are supposed to read the entire Bible. Doing so will help us develop our faith and become the people that God wants us to be. 

If we read only one of the two testaments, we will not end up with the right foundation. 

We have to see the judicial side of God depicted in the Old Testament so that we can fully appreciate the loving side of God that the New Testament gives us. Christ’s death and resurrection complete the law and put the believer in right standing with God.

As we’re told in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

The Father’s loving nature shines through in this verse, as He provides a way (the ONLY way, in fact) for us to become righteous in His eyes.

He loves us so much that He gave His Son Jesus as the once-for-all-time sacrifice for our sins.

Love doesn’t get more intense or deeper than that. 

And if you read only the Old Testament, you’ll never even begin to grasp the idea of this love.

However, if we don’t have the foundation of God’s justice laid in the Old Testament, we’ll never fully understand and appreciate how wonderful a gift it is that through Jesus’ sacrifice we stand forgiven in God’s eyes.

The two parts of the Bible work together to give us the full message from God. This message is that He loves us and has provided a way for us to spend eternity with Him.

All we have to do is use our free will to accept this gift by asking Jesus to be our Lord.

And that is the simple truth of the gospel.

You Can’t Out-Sin God’s Forgiveness

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

As believers in Christ, we’ll never be outside of God’s forgiveness. 

Think about that for a minute…

There’s nothing we can do that God will not forgive us for—so long as we’ve trusted Jesus for our salvation.

That’s the key. Without Jesus, there is no forgiveness. 

Instead, there’s a great gulf between God and us because no one is able to completely keep all tenets of the law that God gave to His people. 

That’s the reason for Jesus. God the Father knew that man doesn’t have the ability to follow the law completely, keeping even the smallest detail without sinning. As we’re told in James 2:10:

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

It doesn’t matter if we tell a so-called “white lie,” or if we’ve killed someone, guilty is guilty. 

However, the good news is that Jesus’ death and resurrection puts us right with God. God, being eternally just and good, couldn’t go back on the law He created, so He sent Jesus to fulfill the law. 

Through His crucifixion and subsequent rise from the grave, Jesus became the first fruits of all of us who believe in Him. All we have to do is believe in the lordship of Jesus and that He died and rose from the grave to pay for our sins. 

It’s that simple. Our works won’t get us into Heaven. Instead, our faith does. 

So, going back to forgiveness…once we become followers of Jesus, we have God’s complete forgiveness no matter how badly we mess up. All we have to do is repent and confess our sins and we can be confident that we have God’s forgiveness.

How great is that!

So, if you haven’t trusted your eternal destiny to Jesus yet, that’s the first thing you need to do. Your life will never be the same afterward. Take a moment now to invite Jesus into your heart.

Then you can rest easy, knowing that there’s nothing standing between you and fellowship with God.

Of course, as followers of Christ, we should want to avoid sin. However, being human, we will invariably fall short. When we do, thanks to Jesus we can know with confidence that we have God’s forgiveness. 

That should give each of us peace of mind!

The Essence of the Gospel

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

OK, here’s your tough question for the day…

What is the true essence of the Gospel? What is it all about anyway?

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Perhaps the Good News is about forgiveness. If we have placed our faith in Christ, then we know that we have forgiveness for our sins. Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

His death and resurrection atoned for our sin (a fancy way of saying that He paid the price for our sin).

Or, we could say that John 15:12 sums up the Gospel: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Surely, if we don’t have love, then we don’t truly have the Spirit of Christ living in us. 

We are even told in Matthew 22:37-40 that “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

So, love is definitely a big part of the Gospel.

But so is salvation. We learn in Romans 10:9 that, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

We have to conclude, therefore, that the Gospel is about salvation.

However, that’s not all. In arguably one of the most famous and often-quoted verses in the Bible, we are told that, “For God so loved the world

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that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Eternal life is a key part of the Good News for sure.

So, what then is the essence of the Gospel?

Simply put, it’s Jesus. He is the “pioneer and perfecter of faith,” as Hebrews 12:2 is rendered in the NIV. The NKJV calls him the “author and finisher of our faith.”

So, yes, the Gospel is about all those other things. However, it is undeniably, unmistakably about Jesus our Savior, the One sent by the Father to make us right in His eyes.

All we have to do is believe.