The Sin of Theft

May 10, 2015 in Bible - NT - 1 Corinthians, Creation, Meditations, Politics, Ten Commandments
1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (NKJV)
9 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 homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
Jesus has risen from the dead; and because Jesus is the firstfruits of those who believe, we know that we too shall rise from the dead. This mortal shall put on immortality – death has lost its sting. But not only does the resurrection give us hope for the future, it also gives us hope in the present. Jesus’ resurrection has broken not only the power of death but also the power of sin. For those who look to Christ in faith, He grants us, by the Spirit, His resurrection power so that we can overcome the sins that enslave us.
Today we consider theft. Paul tells us that thieves will not inherit the kingdom of God. A thief is someone who takes as his own that which belongs to another – whether possessions or ideas or relationships or credit. God is the Sovereign Lord – He is the Owner of all things. Everything in heaven and earth belongs to Him. Consequently, we are all stewards of what we possess. This has a number of implications.
First, because we are stewards, we will all give account to our Creator for how we use our possessions. We are to use that which He gives us – whether great or small – to the honor of His Name and the advancement of His kingdom. And we are to imitate His generosity with our own – being open-handed and generous, freely sharing with others. One day we will give account of our stewardship.
Consequently, second, we are called to pay tribute to God with our possesions. God claims the tithe as that which is His own – and to withhold the tithe is to steal from God. It is to act the thief – to take as our own that which belongs to God.

Finally, because God is the Owner of all things, He has the right to give things to whom He chooses. And when someone has lawfully obtained something by God’s gift, it is absolutely his own. He may give it away; he may use it to purchase something else; but it may not be taken from him without his consent. God commands, “You shall not steal.”
With this command, God establishes the glory and integrity of private property. God has given you and your neighbor the things you possess. And God wants each of us to look at the things that our neighbor has and to rejoice with him. But thieves don’t rejoice; thieves envy. Thieves think that what their neighbor has managed to acquire just isn’t fair. “He shouldn’t have that car, I should. He shouldn’t have that house, I should. He shouldn’t have that job, I should. He shouldn’t have that fame, I should.” This envy then gives rise to the act of theft.
So what of you? Do you rejoice with those who rejoice? Kids, do you rejoice when your sibling or your friend get a really neat toy? Or are you envious? Adults, do you rejoice with those who through ingenuity or hard work or frugality or inheritance have come to have more than you or something better than you? Or are you envious?

Reminded of our propensity to envy others and to steal from them  rather than to rejoice and share with them, let us confess our sin to the Lord; and let us kneel as we confess our sins together.

The Sins of Homosexuality and Sodomy

May 3, 2015 in Bible - NT - 1 Corinthians, Coeur d'Alene Issues, Creation, Homosexuality, Meditations, Politics, Sexuality
1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (NKJV)
9 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 homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
We find ourselves in Eastertide, the time of year that we celebrate the way the resurrection of Jesus has transformed the world and our individual lives. Hope has arrived: forgiveness has been achieved and new life has entered into the world. In our text, Paul catalogues a number of sins from which Jesus’ resurrection power frees His people.
Today we consider homosexuality and sodomy. These two terms express both the active and passive partners in homosexual liaisons. Unlike many of the other sins listed in Paul’s catalogue, homosexuality is being lauded and praised in our culture. While adultery and theft and drunkenness are still viewed as social ills, homosexuality is being celebrated as a social good. It is being used as the point of the spear in an attempt to refashion our societal norms. Even now the Supreme Court of the United States is considering whether homosexual unions should be considered a constitutional right.
But homosexuality is a perverse, unnatural and destructive practice that incurs the wrath of God both in this life and in the next. Today in our sermon text we enter the narrative of God’s judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah for their perverse sexuality. A thorough analysis of homosexuality reveals that it is a deeply religious practice. It is a refusal to listen to God speaking both in His Word and in the natural order. It is a rejection of the most basic distinction between male and female, a vigorous attempt to silence the voice of God revealed in the image of God – man as male and female. Peter Jones writes in his book The God of Sex: How Spirituality Defines Your Sexuality:
The pagan gospel preaches that redemption is liberation from the Creator and repudiation of creation’s structures. It offers the “liberation” of sex from its heterosexual complementary essence. The Christian gospel proclaims that redemption is reconciliation with the Creator and the honoring of creation’s goodness. This gospel celebrates the goodness of sex within its rightful, heterosexual limits.
Jesus took on human flesh, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose again bodily from the grave and ascended to the right hand of God so that we might learn to honor God with our sexuality. And the way we honor God with our sexuality is by remaining chaste until we, in God’s good Providence, find a spouse of the opposite gender with whom to enjoy sex.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6 that “the body is not for sexual immorality” – sexual immorality, including homosexuality, is not in the design plan. It produces emotional, physical, and spiritual breakdowns. While a married couple can make love to one another for decades and never contract an STD, a single encounter outside the marriage bed can leave one suffering for life. “The body,” Paul continues, “is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord is for the body.” The body, including our sexuality, is to be used to the glory and honor of God, in harmony with His design. And His design is for our good, not for our hurt.

God is the Creator of all and He has designed our sexuality to flourish in a monogamous heterosexual covenanted union. Reminded of this and that we as a culture are seeking to silence God’s voice, let us confess our sin to the Lord. And as you are able, let us kneel as we confess our sin.

What does your body have to do with your spirituality?

March 8, 2015 in Bible - NT - 1 Corinthians, Bible - NT - Romans, Coeur d'Alene Issues, King Jesus, Monism, Politics, Sanctification
1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (NKJV)
9 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 homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

How important is your body to your spirituality? Does what you do with your body reflect your relationship with God?

Many religious traditions say, “No.” The various forms of monism, the idea that there is no Creator but that the physical universe is all that is real; beliefs such as Hinduism, gnosticism, New Age thought, and Buddhism, declare that the body is really not that important. Spirituality has to do with the spirit not the body; it’s about becoming one with the universal all-soul. How? Sometimes drugs can help; sometimes illicit sex can help; sometimes severe asceticism can help; sometimes exercise can help. The means vary but the goal is the same: escape your body.

The fruit of this type of thinking has become increasingly evident in our culture. For what are homosexuality and transgenderism but radical rebellion against the body? Male and female anatomy are perfectly complementary. But if you hate the body, if you hate that you are a male or if you hate that you are a female, then just do what you want: exchange the male for the female. Escape your body.

Even modern femininists have shown a great disdain for the body, including the female body. “Biology,” they say, “does not equal destiny.” As the feminist Shulamith Firestone declares, “The heart of a woman’s oppression is her childbearing and childrearing roles.” Escape your body.

How utterly different, how completely contrary, is the message of the Bible. According to the Bible, what we do with our body is an essential part of our relationship with God. Paul writes in Romans 12:1 that Christians are to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Offering your body to Christ is your spiritual act of worship. Elsewhere he writes:

  • The body is… for the Lord, and the Lord for the body (1 C 6:13).
  • Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity…so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness (Ro 6:19).
  • Each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable (1 Th 4:4).
  • You were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body (1 C 6:20).

    Notice, therefore, that the message of Christ is not “escape your body” but “honor God with your body.” The Christian faith is about what you do with your genitalia, what you do with your knees and hands and mouths and stomachs. This is why Christianity and monism are completely incompatible: why Idaho Senator Sheryl Nuxoll’s declaration that Hinduism is a false religion is right on; Christianity and monism have radically different visions of the body. They cannot both be true.

    So what of you? Men and boys, have you given thanks that God made you a male and have you endeavored to learn what it means to have a male body and to be a man? The Bible does not denigrate your body but rejoices in it: I have written to you young men because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you (1 Jn 2:14).

    Women and girls, have you given thanks that God made you a female and have you endeavored to learn what it means to have a female body and to be a woman? The Bible does not denigrate your body but rejoices in it. Women will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control (1 Tim 2:15).


    Christ took on human flesh and dwelt among us; in this way, God broadcast to the world the glory, dignity, and wonder of the body. God created us, male and female, soul and body, after His own image, in His own likeness. So this morning let us confess that we have often despised the body. And let us use our bodies to kneel as we do so.

    Shouldn’t We All Just Get Along?

    February 4, 2015 in Church History, Coeur d'Alene Issues, Homosexuality, King Jesus, Mosaic Law, Politics, Sexuality, Ten Commandments

    A couple weeks ago, the Coeur d’Alene Press ran an article I wrote in response to the “Add the words” campaign being pushed by the LGBT group. It generated a bit of controversy and I wanted to follow up on a few comments that were made. I have submitted this response to the editor of the paper but he decided not to print it.

    It seems my recent My Turn piece has caused a bit of turmoil in some circles. How dare I condemn the LGBT community? How dare I create the acronym PIGLET to criticize their behavior? That’s so judgmental! Shouldn’t we all just get along? Shouldn’t we just be tolerant? So in the interests of genuine peace, permit me to respond.
    Don’t I think we should all just be tolerant? Well, frankly, no. But then again neither do you. The person who asks the question doesn’t really mean it. No one wants absolute tolerance. We want limits; we demand limits. Which of you will say, when your home is burglarized, “Well, that’s OK. We’ve got to be tolerant and big hearted”? No – we don’t want such behavior tolerated. We want it prohibited. Why? Because we know that if we tolerate such behavior we’ll get more of it.
    There’s an old adage – “You get more of what you subsidize and less of what you penalize.” Any teacher knows this. Start the school year as the permissive teacher and what happens come November? Pandemonium; frustration; chaos. In 1969 the state of California, that great bastion of societal wisdom, led the way in legislating no-fault divorce. “We’ve got to be tolerant.” And the result? Divorce has skyrocketed. So begin publicly tolerating perverse behavior and what’s going to happen? Well I think you can do the math.
    Regarding the issue of tolerance there are two questions to ask; and both are deeply religious questions – sorry, but I’m a pastor, and it’s my duty to point out such things. Just because certain people want to deny that the Creator exists doesn’t mean that He doesn’t; anymore than my dislike of chicken means that chickens aren’t real.
    So what are our two questions? First, what are the limits of tolerance? What types of things should be publicly tolerated and what should be prohibited? Some suggest that we should tolerate anything as long as it doesn’t harm others. But in the area of human behavior, how can we know what actually causes harm? Scientists can’t even agree which foods we ought to eat! Left to ourselves we simply cannot identify the proper limits of tolerance. The only One who truly knows what causes harm is the One who has created us, who knows how we’re intended to operate. And His moral law, revealed in the Bible, is the instruction manual and has been the framework within which our laws and rights have historically been applied. As President John Adams remarked, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” God’s moral law sets the limits of tolerance.
    Second, how should we define tolerance? Many are confused here. I think that what many mean by “tolerance” is simply compassion. And I have profound compassion for those who are caught in degrading sexual sins – both heterosexual and homosexual. I trust you do to. I have counseled numerous men enslaved to pornography and, thanks be to God, some have been freed from its shackles. But let us be clear – they are shackles. And how compassionate is it to tolerate behavior that will enslave yet more people? Does the father of the drug-addict say, “It’s okay son; let me help you with that needle”? Is that compassion? Should that father really tolerate his son’s behavior? Or should he not, in true compassion, urge his son to change?

    So let us indeed be compassionate as a people – let us publicly condemn all sexual perversion, let us rid it from our homes and object to it in our communities, while helping those ensnared by sexual sin to recognize what it truly means to be a man or a woman created in the very image and likeness of God.

    Add More Words

    January 23, 2015 in Coeur d'Alene Issues, Homosexuality, Politics, Sanctification, Sexuality

    Here in Idaho the LGBT group is in the midst of an “add the words” campaign to cordon off their actions from public censure and force the citizens of Idaho to publicly sanction their behavior. I have submitted the following to our local paper in response – you can read it on the Coeur d’Alene Press site here.

    Every time I read something supportive of the “Add the words” campaign I’m disappointed that the advocates are so timid. They are taking mere half-steps when what we really need is a bold and courageous sprint for the finish. I say let’s “add more words” not just “add the words.”

    After all, if we’re giving public sanction and blessing to perverse sexual expression, then why stop with LGBT? Let’s “add more words”! Advocates say that LGBT folks just want respect; just want the same rights as everyone else. But advocates of other practices could say the same. Some media outlets have already begun their relentless campaign to destroy all sense of civility and honor by sanctioning polygamy and incest. The TV show Sister Wives has shown how hip polygamy can be. And incest? Well Bianco Santos, star of the new MTV show Happyland, declared in July, “Incest is hot, and we’re going to have fun!” So let’s “add more words”!

    And since we’re wallowing in the mud anyway, why not rename “Bisexual” as “Either” and our new acronym could be much more effective: PIGLET (Polygamous, Incestuous, Gay, etc). For that gets to the heart of the matter, doesn’t it? You see, the problem with the entire LGBT movement is that it is built on sand; it has no foundation. What are we as human beings? Why should we even care about respect? Are we unique creatures made in the very image and likeness of God to pursue honor and dignity and virtue? Or are we mere beasts who’ve evolved to root about in the muck and act like barbarians? Our civilization was built on the former conviction; currently we’re being pressured by those convinced of the latter. Are you convinced? Incest is hot? How about despicable? Vile? Offensive? An affront to God and to every thinking man, woman, and child? Just as are LGBT and polygamy.

    Urge your state representative and senator to oppose this vile propaganda and to uphold the traditions that our fathers handed down to us. Thank Governor Otter for standing against the tyranny of our federal courts. And pray that God would lift His hand of judgment from us that we might not add any words to the unchanging moral laws which He has delivered to us in His Word (Deuteronomy 4:2).

    Christianity is NOT a Means to an End

    November 12, 2014 in Bible - NT - Luke, Bible - NT - Matthew, Coeur d'Alene Issues, Ecclesiology, King Jesus, Politics, Quotations

    “…Christianity refuses to be regarded as a mere means to a higher end. Our Lord made that perfectly clear when He said: ‘If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother…he cannot be my disciple’ (Lk 14:26). Whatever else those stupendous words may mean, they certainly mean that the relationship to Christ takes precedence of all other relationships, even the holiest of relationships like those that exist between husband and wife and parent and child. Those other relationships exist for the sake of Christianity and not Christianity for the sake of them. Christianity will indeed accomplish many useful things in this world, but if it is accepted in order to accomplish those useful things it is not Christianity. Christianity will combat Bolshevism; but if it is accepted in order to combat Bolshevism, it is not Christianity: Christianity will produce a unified nation, in a slow but satisfactory way; but if it is accepted in order to produce a unified nation, it is not Christianity: Christianity will produce a healthy community; but if it is accepted in order to produce a healthy community, it is not Christianity: Christianity will promote international peace; but if it is accepted in order to promote international peace, it is not Christianity. Our Lord said, ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ But if you seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in order that all those other things may be added unto you, you will miss both those other things and the Kingdom of God as well.”

    J.Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism, pp. 127-128.

    Are we anti-Zionists?

    September 15, 2014 in Ecclesiology, Eschatology, Politics, Postmillennialism

    My daughter is doing a research paper on postmillennialism. She asked me the other day whether ethnic Israel has a place in God’s plan and if we’re anti-Zionists. So here’s my quick response:

    Hah – you’re reading some interesting stuff. Ethnic Israel, like all the nations of the earth, shall one day bow the knee to Jesus (Ps 72:8-11). So long as ethnic Israel does not believe in Jesus, however, she sits under God’s condemnation and curse even as Gentile nations that don’t believe in Jesus do. But the glorious promise is that all nations shall worship the Lord – including special promises that ethnic Israel shall (Rom 11:28-32).

    But remember that the Church is the Israel of God in the NT – see Gal 6:16 and Phil 3:2-3 and 1 Pet 2:9ff and Eph 2:11-22. So are we “anti-Zionists”? Depends on what you mean: the Church is biblically Mt. Zion, the city of the Living God. So we are pro-Zionists in so far as we labor and strive to build up the Church.

    If the question is, “Should we support ethnic Israel as a matter of biblical and theological necessity?” then I think that the answer is NO. That will make me an anti-Zionist in some minds because they define “Zion” as the physical city of Jerusalem. But Paul makes clear that the Church is the heavenly Jerusalem, the reality to which the earthly Jerusalem only pointed (Gal 4:21-31).

    All of this is, in my mind, separate from the political question, “Should America favor Israel to the other Middle Eastern countries?” To that question I may or may not answer yes as a Christian – personally I answer Yes. But I do so because the nation Israel supports biblical values more faithfully than other Middle Eastern countries not because ethnic Israel is God’s elect people. The Church is God’s elect people (1 Pet 2:9-10).

    The Necessity of Labor

    July 30, 2014 in Church History, Politics, Quotations, Responsibility

    “…it is a constant law of human nature that the more a man has to indulge in, the less disposed he is to endure the discipline of toil-that is to say, the less willing he is to produce that which is to be consumed. Labor ceases to be functional in life; it becomes something that is grudgingly traded for that competence, or that superfluity, which everyone has a ‘right’ to. A society spoiled in this manner may be compared to a drunkard: the more he imbibes the less he is able to work and acquire the means to indulge his habit. A great material establishment, by its very temptation to luxuriousness, unfits the owner for the labor necessary to maintain it, as has been observed countless times in the histories of individuals and of nations.”

    Richard Weaver, Ideas Have Consequences, p. 15.