Is Chocolate a Sin? Part Two

The World
Let’s see how the world has affected this wealthy young fellow. First off, we know that he is wealthy and wealth was and still is considered by many to be evidence of God’s approval. This young man was accustomed to be treated as one who has been abundantly blessed by God, he has made it in this life and is a shoo in for the life to come.

He is greatly respected. Luke tells us he was a ruler. Now that term could mean he was a member of the Sanhedrin or a civic leader but it most likely means he was a member of the upper class. He would be treated accordingly. In the musical, Fiddler On A Roof, Reb Tevye explains this treatment perfectly in the song “If I Were A Rich Man”.

The most important men in town would come to fawn on me!
They would ask me to advise them,
Like a Solomon the Wise.
“If you please, Reb Tevye...”
“Pardon me, Reb Tevye...”
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi’s eyes!
And it won’t make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong.
When you’re rich, they think you really know!

This young man had the respect and honor and the approval of the world. He knew well how the system of the world worked. He loved the world and the world loved him. He ran up to Jesus and Luke tells us he got down on his knees and he said ‘good teacher’.

“Good teacher” was not a common greeting to a rabbi. This young man was going over the top in addressing Jesus. He was trying to flatter Jesus. He knew how it worked. People flattered this young man all the time. Jesus was drawing a crowd and this young man new the economy of popularity. “Good teacher!”

“Why do you call me good? Only God is good” This response has bewildered bible scholars for centuries because as a matter of fact the bible does speak of good men. So I believe the best explanation for our Lord’s response was to knock down the obvious empty flattery of this fellow. Jesus is letting him know that he does not march to the drummings of this fallen, pride-filled world.

There was another young man watching this scene play out who had given up everything for Jesus. He watched this rich young man, who the world had made great, putting on airs before the Christ and many years later the apostle John would write-

Do not love the world or the things in the world. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

At the time this was happening however, John’s response was bewilderment thinking ‘if it’s difficult for the wealthy to be saved then who can be saved.”

Now remember, when we speak of the ‘world’ we are speaking of that whole value-system which dominates society and it is contrary to the ways of God. The world puts very different price tags on things and thoughts than God’s Word does. Popularity, wealth, selfish ambition - these are the values of the world. If you want it, take it. If it feels good, do it. I’ve gotta be me. I don’t need to parade out examples of worldliness. We have TV and billboards that do that. Some of us will react in sadness and resoluteness against such worldliness but most of us won’t even notice, because we have been desensitized by the constant glut to our senses. Examine yourselves to see if you have been polluted by the world’s value system and repent of your love for this world.

Is Chocolate a Sin? Part One

The door to the local Christian bookstore was pushed open with such violence and drama that some of the books near the door tumbled to the floor. The creases in her forehead, the frightened rabbit look in her eyes telegraphed a message that this lady was in some trouble. She moved straight-way to the counter taking long strides and shallow breaths. The clerk behind the counter was trying to get a read of what was going on in life of this tormented soul. Had she suffered a the loss of a loved one or a house to fire? Had she received horrifying news from her doctor? Had she been in an accident? The expression on this poor woman’s face seemed to indicate that all these things had happened... and more. Perhaps she was a modern female version of poor Job. The clerk remained calm but took a quick glance at the phone and mentally practiced dialing to 9-1-1.

“May I help you find something?” asked the clerk. The lady spoke with the same breathless urgency with which she had pushed open the door.
“Yes, I hope so. You’ve got to help me. You’ve go to get me something... a book, yes, a book or a tape to get me through this.
“Get you through what ma’am?”
“Get me through the next forty days! Today is the first day of lent and I’ve given up chocolate and I’m going crazy.!”

Now this is a slight embellishment of a true story and when I heard it I laughed to think that someone could get so worked up over chocolate.

Let me set your minds at ease, chocolate is not a sin. Not usually anyway. If you were to put chocolate before your love for God then yes it would be a sin as would be anything we put before God. But in this little story it was not the giving up of chocolate that was difficult, it is change. Change is difficult.

The word the Bible uses for change is ‘repentance’. Repentance means ‘a turning from sin and self’. Repentance is the negative side of conversion. In conversion we turn in faith TO Christ but we cannot turn TO Christ unless we also turn AWAY FROM sin and self. This happens the first time when God regenerates us but for the believer, it must continue happening as we are sanctified, changed or transformed into the image of Christ. Repentance carries the action of ‘turning around and going the other way’.

This article attempts to address the things that hinder us from turning around, from changing.

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Matthew 19:16-22

This is a familiar story, it’s a sad story and it’s a puzzling story.

The Bible summarizes our hindrances to repentance into three categories and we see all three of these categories coming into play in this short story of the rich young man. Our three enemies to repentance are - the world, the flesh and the devil.

Christians should STOP bothering people!

Today's media is filled with debates on topics that touch the Christian worldview, for the Bible has much to say regarding:

•Financial Debt
•Divorce
•Pornography
•Same Sex Unions
•The Problem of Evil
•Assisted Suicide
•Evolution
•Abortion
•Fetal Stem Cells

The Bible is relevant because THIS proclamation is true -
Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

If this is not true, then Christians are wasting their Sabbaths in church and should stop bothering people!

But if Jesus Christ rose from the dead, then He is Lord and all authority rests in Him. If Jesus rose from the dead then in Him there is truth, life, love, transformation, purpose, destiny and real hope.

He has risen.... he has risen indeed!

It's Earth Day

Here are some Scriptures for your meditation on the occasion of earth day:

Psalm 57:5
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Psalm 33:8
Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

Psalm 33:1 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13 The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.

Psalm 57:5
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Hab. 2:18 “What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes speechless idols!
19 Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and there is no breath at all in it.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him.”

Psalm 57:5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Amen

The Right to Privacy: Not As Weak As It Looks (in the abortuary)

We are in the process of adopting three wonderful children through the foster care special needs program. It's been a long and grueling three year ordeal but well worth the wait. In order to become foster parents we have had the local police, the county sheriff and a federal agency conduct background checks of my wife and me. We've surrendered our finger prints and left no secret untold in interviews with the case worker.

We gladly give up our privacy for the sake of the safety of the children. We are all aware of the abuses within the foster care system that have made such bureaucratic vigilance necessary. It's not just foster care, homeland security has also given the government the nerve to ask us to give up more privacy for the sake of safety, especially the children. Our phones can be tapped, we may be searched, our identity is put at risk in order to keep America safe.

I was meditating on this disturbing trade off of privacy for safety and how privacy does not enjoy the level of importance it once did. In our present culture, privacy is worthy of discounting in order to preserve life. Unless, and this is a monstrously big 'unless', privacy is the excuse by which a baby is murdered by a doctor or clinician. "Hold on, full stop!", my brain cried, privacy is STILL very much protected and exalted and propagated in the culture of baby murder. Privacy is that painfully, thin thread that 'Roe vs Wade' hung the killing of an unborn baby upon. Privacy isn't eroding in the abortuary, privacy is sacrosanct and untouchable inside the abortion clinic.

Somehow, the 'liberty' clause of the fourteenth amendment was twisted and deformed by liberal jurists to mean 'right to abort'. As a result we hear people today speak of 'legal abortion'. Where? The lawyers and judges played with and changed the meanings of words - words like 'life', 'liberty' and 'privacy' but no law was passed that made murder legal.

I used to shy away from calling abortion murder. Calling someone a 'murderer' is not a very winsome technique for winning opponents but I've just grown tired of the word games. Murder is the taking of a life without just cause; that's a simple enough definition. I'm not anti-death or anti-killing. Death is a part of life and killing is sometimes necessary. There are those who justly deserve to be killed. I am anti-murder. Men, women, children and babies should not be killed unjustly.

I'm not pro-life either. At least I'm not any more pro-life than the average abortion supporter. Everyone is for life. For the believer life is an opportunity to serve and glorify God; for the unbeliever, as the humorist has said, life is nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Either way, life is a good thing.

I'm pro-dignity of mankind. All men are created in God's image and that image should be recognized, respected and protected (Genesis 9:6). Every human has a dignity that comes from God and should be treated as such. If one man murders another he has shown a total disregard for the image of God and should, himself, be put to death. Executing the murderer is the means for protecting and giving weight to the dignity of the image of God in man.

In as much as abortion is the taking of a life unjustly, it is murder. Murder has never been legal and therefore abortion has never been legal. Yes, there are cowardly lawyers and judges that will not prosecute murder that involves an unborn baby, but that doesn't make murder legal. We are just playing with words and murdering babies. In one room a doctor has delivered all but the head of a nine month 'fetus' whom he now kills with scissors to the back of his skull. In another room doctors work tirelessly to preserve the life of a 23 week preemie, a little person. Now tell me with a straight face that we don't play games with words.

I'm tired of incrementalism too. Pro-life groups spend millions of dollars to force legislation that certain things must be done before an abortion can take place. The pregnant woman must be informed about the development of the fetus; the parents of the pregnant girl must be notified, etc. You know what? I don't care how many hoops the pregnant girl has to jump through if it all ends with another baby being murdered. Do "a", "b" and "c" and then it's ok to murder the baby? NO! I'm not playing that game anymore! I will not play nice.

Abortion is illegal, always has been illegal, and I challenge the lawyers and judges to start prosecuting murder wherever it happens. Uncle Sam, please don't give me that argument about the rights to privacy protecting the mothers choice, you have lost the privilege to boast of privacy. Make a choice lawmakers, you are either for privacy or you are not - you will either prosecute murder or you will not. Until you choose, more babies will be murdered and privacy is dying the death of a million paper cuts.