A Lifestyle of Peace

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Dear Salvation Army: Please don't change your stance on Marriage

marriage, stock photo via pixabay.com

The views on this blog do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Salvation Army, it's employees, or partners. The views on this blog are solely those of the writer.

Dear Salvation Army,

You rock. I'm serious. You're doing a great job reaching out to the least of these. You're really doing it. You're "Christianity in action" as Billy Graham said. You've got great people, great leaders, and great programs. You're on the cutting edge of culture and engagement. It's an honor to be a part of this army. So let me share something on my heart with you. Because you rock, at least in my humble view.

These are the opinions of one person, me, who would humbly encourage you in one area: Please stand firm on the issue of marriage.

There is a lot of cultural pressure in this day and age for churches, organizations, and movements to compromise in the area of marriage. Frankly the issue is that of gay marriage and Christian practice toward those of the LGBTQ community.

Jesus Christ was once asked about marriage and divorce. He replied in this way:

“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.” -Matthew 19:4-6 NIV

The biblical formula for marriage is between one man and one woman. The Salvation Army position statement on marriage is as follows: "The Salvation Army affirms the New Testament standard of marriage, which is the loving union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others."

There is mounting pressure in Europe, Canada, and the United States for Christian organizations to turn coat on the issue of marriage.

The Salvation Army's current policy is quite excellent regarding gay marriage and the LGBTQ community: The Salvation Army's mission is to carry the gospel and serve all people without discrimination. LGBTQ individuals are served, cared for, and invited to church just like anyone else. That is missional love and the showing of mercy to those in need. That's a good policy.

In addition, individuals who are homosexual or other gender identities may be hired by the Salvation Army. But here's the line: Like any other organization, for ministry leadership positions the individual must be in agreement with the core doctrines and values of the organization. Someone who practices homosexuality would not be eligible for officership or other ministry positions because that person would be living in contradiction to core army truths. However, if someone of homosexual disposition had committed to celibacy and God's mind on the issue, then that person would most certainly qualify for officership. That person, like all of us, have decided to do things God's way instead of their own. That person is not only qualified but highly qualified, given they have renounced old ways and put on Christ.

In recent years some Christian organizations and denominational movements have made moves to change their marriage doctrines to allow for gay marriage to be practiced. The arguments have been that this is about love, inclusion, tolerance, and equal rights for gay couples. The results have overwhelmingly been that there is a mass exodus from the movement. And with the core principles of the churches compromised, soon other compromises come about, and the movement dies off completely. I don't want to see the same thing happen to the Salvation Army.

We must never, never, never endorse a practice that the scriptures show clearly to be sinful. Regarding homosexuality, the New Testament writer, the Apostle Paul addressed this issue in the flagship book of Protestantism, the book of Romans.

Paul was writing regarding those who disbelieve in God, who refuse to obey His standards when he wrote: "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error."

-Romans 1:21-27 NIV

Critics say that this scripture doesn't apply because the context is that it's addressing idolatry. It is true that the context is how God deals with idolatry, which is that he then gives people over to indulge in sin. It makes sense, if people don't want Him, then he turns them over to their own desires; desires which God defines as sinful. And God indicates that these sinful desires include homosexual activity. Which means despite the context being idolatry, implicit in the scripture is the clear truth that homosexual practice is indeed sinful. Another attack on this scripture is saying that Paul was addressing the pedophilia practiced by men in Rome. But Paul doesn't say children, he says men. Which means he's talking about adult men. And he also talks about women indulging in sinful behavior with women. How could that have to do with pedophilia? Paul wasn't addressing pedophilia. He was addressing idolatry, and implicit in his description of idolatry is the truth that homosexuality is a sinful practice.

Another attack levied against biblical marriage is ceremonial laws of the Old Testament. The objector will start listing off ceremonial and judicial laws from the Old Testament, mainly from Exodus and Leviticus. They say: "Do you eat pork? Do you eat shell-fish? Should you stone your wife if she commits adultery? Do you think a woman who is on her period is unclean? How can you pick and choose!"

The answer to this is that the levitical laws were ceremonial rules for the ancient nation of Israel, mainly for their health and safety. These laws were for an ancient nation 4,000 years ago, to help them stay healthy and to eat the right foods, and so on and so forth. We are not under the ceremonial laws. The judicial laws in exodus were for the ancient nation of Israel once again, as rules for an ancient people to begin to learn to obey their God. They were the very beginning of government laws for an ancient people.

The Bible is what we call a "progressive revelation." Meaning over thousands of years God interacted with people by slowly revealing His will and plan in ways they could understand. We still look back to the Old Testament at things like the 10 commandments in Exodus, because those commands are spiritual in nature. We still look back to the OT in other areas for inspiring stories and wise teachings, but the ceremonial and judicial laws are no longer binding. We are directly under the teachings of the New Testament today. And time and again homosexuality is directly prohibited in the New Testament (1st Corinthians 6:9-11, Romans 1:26-28, 1st Timothy 1:10).

In fact during the spread of the early church in the book of Acts, the Jerusalem council meets to decide if Gentiles (non-Jews) should be required to keep the OT laws (See Acts 15:1-35). The decision is made that Gentiles must not be placed under the OT laws, because of the grace of Christ, but that the Gentiles should be taught to live holy lives, and it's specifically mentioned at the Jerusalem council that gentiles should be taught to abstain from sexual immorality. Included in the umbrella term "sexual immorality" is of course prohibited homosexual practices as described in the NT.

Look, I'm not trying to be mean, or judgmental, or unloving. But the Bible says what it says, and doesn't say what it doesn't say. And given the choice between the Bible and someones opinion, I'll take God's word every time.

There is a very simple question to ask: Is the Bible the word of God? Does the Salvation Army as a Christian church movement believe that the Bible is the true, real word of God? The answer is of course yes, given doctrine 1. So if the answer is indeed "yes" which it always ought to be, then we have absolutely no business encouraging that which God has forbidden. It's just that simple.

At the end of Romans 1 Paul also writes: "Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (v.32) Do we want to join the growing number who have decided to approve of those who practice such behaviors?

Additional scriptures dealing with homosexuality: Genesis 19:1-13; Leviticus 18:22;20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9.

Articles regarding the Bible & homosexuality:

Got Questions? - What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

CARM - What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

Christian Bible Reference - Should a Christian appose gay marriage?

Scientific, Logical, and Sociological Evidence against Gay Marriage:
Watch a presentation by the Christian apologist Frank Turek on the issue of gay marriage.

This is a very tough issue. Let me repeat that: this is a very tough issue. The culture is quite convinced that anyone standing for natural marriage is on the same level as the most demented, backwards, evil bigot. Human rights organizations have and will condemn anyone who dares to a take a stand on this issue. Those who stand for natural marriage have been and will be called hate-mongers, bigots, homophobes, and discriminatory religious zealots.

But it's worse than that. Sadly gay activists have taken to suing Christian businesses, slandering Christians who take a stand, and getting Christians fired from their jobs for standing for their religious values in the public square. Some in the government wage a war on religious liberty, demanding that Christian business owners be forced to participate in gay marriage ceremonies or be shut down and fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. That could very soon continue forward into the area of ministry and pastoring. Now the Department of Justice is demanding that all bathrooms in the country be open to anyone. If a biologically male individual prefers to be considered female, then he must be allowed to enter and use the female restroom. The same is being forced on public and private schools, for locker room use and restroom use. This agenda will only continue. We can't avoid politics, even if we aren't interested in politics, politics is interested in us.

Many top companies in the U.S.A. have taken to bullying states to push forward the redefinition of marriage. National companies may boycott you or your entire state, as Indiana was boycotted for attempts to protect religious liberty and how recently North Carolina has been boycotted by musicians, employers, and over 120 different major U.S. companies. Some of the companies involved include: The NFL, the NBA, Paypal, Starbucks, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Pepsi, Whole Foods, Hyatt, and many others. We may find ourselves attacked, boycotted, and slandered for defending natural marriage, but who do we want to be? God's people or the favorites of the world?

The Salvation Army has had to deal with attacks from the LGBT community, and the response of the Salvation Army has been excellent. The Salvation Army has reached out to LGBT individuals, despite hatred and vitriol toward a time honored charity. The Salvation Army is right to reach out. But there must also be limits in regard to this issue. These limits have been extended tactfully by army leadership. But some in the Army fear that leadership may begin to move to the left on this issue, and eventually adopt a full on position of support for gay marriage.

This would be a profound mistake, and a major departure from the shared meanings of the past. It would no doubt splinter the organization and cause mass resignations. The cost is high, but the Salvation Army must stand firm on the issue of marriage. Dare we change God's design for cultural acceptance only to find ourselves outside the will of God?

Let's think outside the box. How can we encourage a change of heart and mind in those struggling? How can we compassionately call people to repentance from harmful behaviors? How can we treat people with dignity and respect, yet also carry the full gospel message?

The Salvation Army is a conservative biblical Christian movement. All that means is that we take scripture to literally mean what it says: We literally believe Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead. We literally believe God is real. We literally believe that the teachings in the Bible apply today. Which is a good thing, because these are not just our beliefs, they are facts of life. God is in fact real. Jesus Christ is in fact, Lord. Thus we must never abandon that which the Bible teaches. Small compromises lead quickly to a pattern of compromise and that is very dangerous.

God is real. He is active in the world. God's Bible is real, true, and infallible. It is the description of God's timeless truths. Thus when the Bible tells us something is sinful, we must never call it anything but that. There have always been heavy pressures from the cultures we engage in. At the founding of the Salvation Army most churches hated the army, and people threw rocks at brass bands and those attending open air meetings. In the 1950s atheistic communists took control of Seoul, Korea and captured a Salvation Army officer named Major Noh. This Salvation Army officer was shot as he lifted his Bible in one hand and his song book in the other declaring, "Whether I live or die matters not, Christ lives!"

Should we change our marriage stance? Should we encourage that which God has forbidden for the affection of the LGBT community, for the acceptance of U.S. businesses, for the sake of "equality and inclusion?" Never. Because it doesn't matter what happens to us, live or die, fired or labeled haters, none-the-less Christ lives!

Our application of God's word adapts to the culture as it shifts. But the eternal truths found in God's word do not change. Marriage is a sacred union between man and wife, to the exclusion of any other combination. Let's carry the message of the gospel in the fullness of grace and truth, standing firm in His word despite what the culture demands. United, here we stand, God help us: One Army, a Christian army.

Please feel free to share this article and the pictures. If you're an adherent, soldier or officer in the Salvation Army please consider being an active advocate in your area for a biblical foundation of marriage, family, and core theology. We need voices like yours, standing firmly for the truth. Thank you!

From the Salvation Army position statement on marriage and divorce

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Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Living in the Fall of Man: On A Lonely Christian Walk

creative commons image, source

"The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone."
-A.W. Tozer

Are you feeling caught between worlds? Are you feeling troubled by an emotion you can't quite name? Are you desperately lonely? Cut off? Perplexed? Amazed? I know I am, more so than not. It is the cross to bear in this world. What an algid cross it seems to be, so unremitting.

Your an exile friend. Your on a lonely road. Did you think it would be all muffins, unicorns, rainbows and lollypops? Might you have been expecting an accolade or two? Perhaps a polished trophy for your endeavors?

There are none, no. There is only the flickering presence of God on difficult roads through an unaccommodating forest of trouble. This world is certainly of great trouble. If one dares to read of the troubles politically, socially, economically it would be enough to drive one mad! I've often taken that grim study and it isn't of particular joy. But there is such a fascination with knowing the truth, don't you think?

The truth shall set you free! And as the poster read on the wall of the Catholic retreat somewhere in the cow hills of Wisconsin: "The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable." Such a grim prognostication, yet also so hopeful.

Much like our Christian walk, through an unforgiving world. As Jesus said,"If you were of the world the world would love you as it's own. But you are not of this world." You are no longer of this world friend. You are a citizen of heaven. But I imagine the world didn't like you much even before the great transformation that changed your life forever.

When you met Jesus, the King of Kings, the President of Presidents, the Lord God almighty, you encountered the truth! The truth become a man! God almighty himself, came to you! And he changed you forever. And yet...

Yet here we are, in the world. But not of the world. John R. W. Stott referred to it as being "between worlds." Destined for eternal life, a perfected state of existence, a future we can hardly imagine. It's a beautiful future, a real future.

It's not a pie in the sky, leave that to the marxist utopian types. They pine for a utopia on Earth that at best would last them 107 years. Then they're gone. We will live forever you see. What a shocking thing, how ground shaking! No wonder it is so hated, such a despised message worldwide. No wonder the nations turn from it, no wonder secularism abounds. No wonder even in our own country they seek desperately, day and night, to strike God, Christianity from every sphere of life. They do so viciously, rabidly, and they never stop. What drives them so? They are driven by hatred for a message that transcends them. They're driven mad by moral accountability. It's within their own heart you see. It nudges them while they sleep, and the more they try to hide it, the more it comes out. In the night, in the dark, the truth of who we are as humans taunts them, and the need for forgiveness.

They cannot stand the fact that how they live matters. They are in permanent revolt against the shared meanings of the past. They've been at it a while now, to the point that it's now considered quite normal to be a raving immoral, uneducated, unborn baby killing, sexually liberated authoritarian dead set on self, self and self. It's even considered the American way.

But how long could it last, our Christian nation? There is a war on after all. It is a spiritual war. It affects us everyday. We read about it in the news. We see it on the television. And it drives us mad. Because we have the answer, Jesus Christ, but they can't and won't accept that. They willfully condemn themselves, make rebellion against God in how they live, but they refuse to face it.

It is mass madness on a global scale friends. The truth has become so darkened, so covered over, so removed, so stigmatized, so demonized that when I write these words one of the world reading them assumes that I am quite mad, that I am a backwards fundamentalist, entirely delusional, trying to force my backwards hokey myths on good and decent people. To those who have been brainwashed into the current cultural ethos, we Christians appear quite nutty. But the truth always appears like hate to those who hate the truth.

We are the hold outs, the Maquis, the french resistance, we are the saved, redeemed, reborn living in the fall of man. Can you fully appreciate that? Has it sunken into the depths of your subconscious?

This is the fall of man, and if you know Jesus, truly know him, you've found the escape route. And so many refuse it. They can't see it. They are evil, and they seek to remake the world in their own image. Their worldview drives them to try to create a worldview devoid of God, but the problem is that worldview is systemically contradictory. It is without foundation. It's like an unbalanced equation. When they look at the world they can tell it's broken. It triggers errors, paradoxes, and destructive behaviors. Yet they must, must, must keep a divine foot from sneaking in the door. They stand on the foundation of Christianity in order to subvert it.

And here we are in the midst of it all. We're desperate for change. Yet we know this world's fate is already written. It is destined for nothingness, to be remade into a restored state.

Those who so malign us everyday, those who bash us without end in the mainstream media, in academia, in the sciences, on the internet, well, they are destined to receive that which they so thoroughly desire: a world without God.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. -John 15:18-21 NIV

Remember that friends. We are destined for a kingdom greater than this one. As our enemies gain victories, as our foes multiply, as we feel estranged from the world, cast aside, when we feel lonely in our pursuit of God, remember that we are not of this world, yet we remain in this world. As a result our primary imperative must be the salvation of lost souls. And what a tiring, desperate, seemingly hopeless effort this seems to be at times. Cold, burnt to a crisp, like the starfish on the seashore. And your the boy tossing them one by one into the deep, and the world is the man accusing you of wasting your time. Your time is not wasted friends. You may be lonely now. You may feel the weight of glory now, the weight of eternity, and the longings of a infinite world in your heart, but today what you do matters.

We're touching on one of the many, many great paradoxes of life on Earth in it's current state. The fall of man when originally triggered by the first humans had an effect of dividing a perfect reality by darkness (sin), multiplied by free will. The outworking was a series of paradoxes, hundreds of them, thousands of them built into the framework of the fallen state. The paradoxes are constant, and best described within the Bible itself: We are dead yet living. We must humble ourselves to be exalted. The meek shall inherit the Earth. God made Him who committed no sin to be sin on our behalf. God almighty became a man. God died, to free man from death. God resurrected to give man eternal life. To be the greatest of all one must be the servant of all. We carry this infinite treasure in clay pots. In the world, but not of the world. Enemies of God, now friends of God. One could increase the list endlessly.

This is the fall of man friends! The deeds we do today, in service of our King will be remembered for eternity. Our proclamations of the gospel have the power to light holy fire in the hearts of mankind. We are called to carry the message that frees humanity from eternal chains that condemn untold millions to outer darkness, to disconnection from the God who wants to restore them, redeem them, and love them unlike any other! So continue forward, just as I must, unto daybreak. Carry the gospel, even when your heart aches. Endure the elongated sorrows of this world, day in and day out, for we are destined for a greater reality, a greater world, a more perfect union. We are destined for greatness. The world hates you for it, but take heart Jesus Christ has overcome the world.

"Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
-2 Corinthians 4 (NIV)

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Saturday, May 7, 2016

Friends and Strangers Who Transform our Lives

Along the road that is my life, time and again I've been impacted by friends and strangers. In our fast paced society many of us lost touch with something as basic as human relationships. We're glued to screens and our lives no longer make sense. But time and again great minds reflecting on their lives indicate that the most meaningful part were their relationships with others. I have to agree.

Of course my most meaningful relationship is with Jesus. Yet it is fundamentally a relationship built on an arrangement for rebirth, redemption, legal absolution, and eternal friendship.

I can look back and see people who helped lead me to this vital relationship. I can look back and see relationships that detracted from that journey. Inevitably we all find ourselves broken off from those we've previously loved, or aching for those who are gone. We wonder at those who have left our lives unexpectedly. We pine for romances that were destruction. We ache for people who treated us like trash. We can't stop thinking about someone we've never even spoken to. We want something until we have it, then we no longer want it. What an odd state it is, the heart of man!

In my life I've known many people. In my life I've been close with many people. In my life I've lost many people. And I've been betrayed by those who were close with me. I'm sure most of us can say the same. But the relationships I think of today are the friends and strangers who transformed my life.

Many of these people were there along the journey, pointing me in the right direction.

There were two cute girls who walked up to me. I was a young, hot shot journalist working at the college newspaper. A buddy and I were at the office joking around listening to music. These two girls asked me if I thought I would go to heaven if I died today. I said yes. They asked me why. I said what most people say to that question, "I'm a pretty good person." Then they told me the gospel. And I listened. I told them that I was open to the idea of God, but I just couldn't quite believe. I said there was really no way to know for sure. I said that there just wasn't enough evidence. They asked if they could pray for me. And I said, "sure." And I'm so glad they did. Because today I'm a rock ribbed follower of Jesus Christ. I bet as they walked away they thought they'd totally blew it. But they didn't.

God takes our most pathetic, awkward attempts and uses them for the blessings of his glory in the renewal of the world in the power of Jesus Christ. Very simple, they just tried their best. God did the rest. That was in 2008.

In 2011 I experienced a very powerful moment. It was a bright sunny day. I was staring out the big windows of my mom's house wondering why I existed. I was wondering why anything existed. It was just then that I looked out on the colored flowers and noticed a humming bird. I watched it's wings, moving so quickly all you could see was a blur. I observe it's beak dipping into the tips of the flowers. And at that moment I realized... there is a God. All of this couldn't come about by chance, or by accident. There is something more to life. There is a hidden orchestra playing beneath the surface. It was then that I really began searching for God. And occasionally I will see a humming bird. God uses it as a reminder, directly to me, to let me know I'm in the right place, right within his will. And in his hand.

I was feeling a bit crabby a few weeks ago. I was at a lunch with some people from the church. I suppose you could say I was feeling overwhelmed by the amount of human contact I was having to endure. I've been so often such a private person, preferring to spend not just some time, but the majority of my time alone. I looked up as Major Evelyn sat down and I noticed two humming birds on her shirt. And I smiled, and relaxed a bit. God has me exactly where he wants me.

One year ago I was at Salvation Army Territorial headquarters and I noticed a beautiful piece of art. It had been priced down, otherwise it would've been over $200.00. But it was 75% off, only $50.00. It was a painting of a beautiful road through the woods. I purchased it, and hung it in my new apartment, once I moved to Escanaba. I was following the road. And one day I looked up close on the painting, and noticed something I hadn't seen before: two blue humming birds flying across the trail.

I digress. After my parents divorced, my grandpa and mom started going to a baptist church. At the time I was a brutal miscreant, addicted to drugs and chaos. They started attending a Bible study, and those at the Bible study began praying for me. Ten years later I was at a small group at an E-free church in Wausau. I had become friends with the leader, a man named Ryan. Now I hadn't mentioned my family much, but eventually I brought my mom and grandfather, using my mom's maiden name. Ryan looked shocked for a moment when he connected the dots. Then he looked at me and said, "I went to that church in Mosinee. Ten years ago I was praying for you, with your mom and grandpa." I couldn't believe it.

His prayers, and the prayers of many others had changed the course of my life.

My grandfather gave me a Bible in 2010. It was a beautiful Bible. I started reading it. I really loved Genesis. I read Genesis over and over. For some reason I became increasingly obsessed with reading this Bible I'd been given. Things in my life didn't change right away though. I was still a depraved drug addict hippie stoner gonzo journalist psycho. But I was a depraved wretch carrying a Bible around with me.

My grandpa told me about Jesus. We sat down together several times and he shared about it. I listened carefully. I didn't really know what to think at the time. I could feel something special was happening. But I couldn't quite grasp it. And my own cares soon crowded those moments out. But then again, you never forget either. It becomes a part of your mind.

The experience builded for me, over years. It progressed carefully, along a dark road where my soul was toeing the line between redemption and total destruction. I was literally near death by 2011.

I had been admitted to the St. Clare's hospital for a serious drug overdose. I was in ICU. I had suction cups scattered across both my kidneys. An IV in my arm. And a special care worker sat with me consistently, so I wouldn't have to die alone, assuming I did pass. The first night the doctor told me flatly: We aren't sure if your going to make it through the night. Then he slammed the door brashly. Why? Because my life didn't matter. I was a drug addict who had finally destroyed himself. What a terror that night was! What an unquenchable fear that came over me!

I survived. The next morning father Marion, the lead chaplain came in to see me. He was an intriguing man. His face was like a wax painting, he looked like an Italian saint straight out of a french novel. He talked to me. I begged him for help. I said,"How can I break free from this addiction father? I've tried dozens of times, but I can never sustain it over a few months!"

He asked me if I believed in God. I said yes, I do. I told him about the Bible I carried around with me, and about the stories I was reading in Genesis. He looked at me and said,"Your my brother in Christ." And I never forgot that moment.

In late 2011 I was arrested and thrown in jail. I had nightmares almost every night. My only comfort was clutching a Bible I'd found. In fact I slept with it on my chest, and many times it would fall off my chest and hit the floor during the night. The other inmates in the cell block were getting angry because when it hit the floor the "slap" sound would wake them up.

I had been on so many drugs, been awake for so many days I thought the world was ending. It took over two weeks of my time in jail to come down off the drugs. During that time I was sure the world was ending. The other inmates tried to convince me that it wasn't. To add to the bizarre saga a Jehovah Witness friend at the time visited me in jail and told that the world was ending! Which only added to my confusion.

Reflecting on those times, is troubling. There was certainly something spiritually malevolent about those last two years. There was something darker, something almost demonic. Like I was under attack. And that very well may have been the case. If one is not under the dominion of Christ then one is under the dominion and spiritual control of Satan (Ephesians 2:2).

In 2012 I asked for Christian stuff for Christmas. We have an exchange system, and that year my cousin Kimberly was buying for me. And God was at work. She purchased me a movie called "The Gospel of John." The script of the movie is word-for-word the Gospel of John from the Bible. As I've commented in the past, I'm an audio-visual learner. I don't do well with reading. I do best with presentations, talking face to face, podcasts, radio, television, and movies. I watched the Gospel of John movie about two hundred times. I watched it over and over. I don't know why. Well, I do know why. Because God was getting a-hold of my heart.

During that time I was writing a book. It was a bizarre work I titled "Jacob and the Meadow." It was a very strange piece of writing. Looking back on it now, I realized the story was a spiritual exploration. And within that story God stepped in. God met me in a very powerful way, through my own writing. He interjected his truth into this story I was writing, that I kept writing and rewriting. Eventually as I read the Bible, the stories of Jacob, Joseph, Abraham, and Isaac I began incorporating scriptural references into the story.

The drug addiction got worse and worse at the same time. By the end I would sleep for several days after one trip, because my body was so devastated by toxins.

As many of you know, because I've told the story again and again, in November 2012 I fell to my knees, realizing I needed to call out to Jesus to save me. I did just that. I cried out. And he changed my life forever.

Flip over to the other side. Shift to the other side of the cross. Justin is reborn. Justin has cried out to Jesus. Jesus Christ has answered and set Justin on a new path. The addictions, they were gone, through hard work in recovery. But hard work fueled by Holy Spirit fire. Hard work fueled by the drive of a new Christian heart. Hard footwork energized by prayer and total surrender to the will of God. That's the difference. Because I'd tried before, in recovery, but without the fire of the Spirit, without Christ in the middle, it was doomed from the outset.

Thankfully after the cross, God brought person after person to speak into my life.

First off there was a man named Randy O. He helped me through a process called the twelve steps. The twelve steps are designed to help addicts to make contact with God. Randy O. did not listen to my crap. He didn't listen to my sob stories and rub me gently on the back and say, "Oh Justin, it'll be OK tell me more." Instead Randy told me to show up at his place five days a week, at 8 am in the morning. I actually did that. And everyday we sat there for 3 hours a day going through the steps, 1 through 12, one at a time. This was the beginning of hope in my life. There had been so much trauma, so much damage, so much PTSD, so much depression that I desperately needed a thorough house cleaning. Thank God for Randy, who took me through that process without apology.

Of course a man who spoke a great deal into my life was the man who baptized me. Very simply, he shared the gospel with me time and again at Sunday services. He preached the word. Thankfully my heart was willing to receive it. Eventually the formula of eternal life through Jesus Christ snapped into place in my mind. I was saved. The opportunity to be baptized was offered, I took that opportunity. And I was baptized publicly into the body of Christ.

Still another person, at that church, told me about Liberty university and how she was attending to become a minister. Ironically enough she knew Marion the priest at St. Clare's because she was interning under him at the time. The whole thing had an unmistakable symmetry. So I applied to LU and I was accepted. Today I'm finishing up two degrees at LU (We theology types save math until last).

I was looking for work a year later and I applied at a Salvation Army homeless shelter. My dad had worked for 25+ years at the Salvation Army in town as a teacher, helping the homeless work toward their GED. Once again I was noticing a symmetry. I was looking for work, little did I realize that through several odd shifts in events, I would become progressively more and move involved in the Salvation Army.

I was working full time, weekends, and I was not able to get to my home church because of the Sunday hours. The Social services director told me I could come to the Salvation Army chapel services while I worked on Sundays. I started doing that. And through that several new mentors showed up in my life; Lt. Jacob and Melinda, and Ed and Dee. They spoke into my life, and shined the light before me. I watched them quietly, learning and saying little. I had run my mouth enough in my life, I knew it was time to observe for a while. And they set an example, a wonderful example for me to follow.

Another man named Al became a mentor for me. He was a retired Catholic priest and he became a chief encourager and supporter in my life. He helped me in many ways to make peace with my Catholic upbringing and the disdain I had developed for Catholicism.

There has been so many people. Yet there have never been enough. The heart aches for these vital friendships, these connections. Here in Escanaba I've been blessed with wise leaders that I look up to. I've been blessed with a congregation that has become my family in a way I didn't think was possible.

People, friends and strangers, they transform our lives. But there is one relationship that keeps me through all of it: God with us, Immanuel, Jesus Christ, Yeshua, the great physician, the son of God: He is with me always you see. His Spirit guides me. He communicates to me through His good book, and He speaks to me through dozens of mouths. And even through sunsets, skylines, and green forests. Every single relationship leads back to Jesus. Every single time a Christian impacted my life, it wasn't even them it was Jesus. They were His body you see, speaking to me. They were His body to me, calling me to something greater. Now I've become a part of that body. My job is to be that body, especially when it's hard, and some scumbag who doesn't deserve it stumbles into my arms, it's my job to be a link in that chain, because because because friends, that scumbag is me. Even more so, that scumbag is Jesus in disguise. Little do I know how a few words from my mouth, a few prayers to God will cause a scumbag like him, like me, to someday know and glorify my dearest friend Jesus. Remember that when you think you blew it, you tried, God will do the rest.

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Monday, May 2, 2016

Sermon: Purity of the Heart & Holiness

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12 (ESV)

It's amazing how God lines things up. Because I've been thinking about this topic endlessly in the past 6 months. Purity. The further and further I get down the road of following Jesus, the more thoroughly do I become aware of my own failings. That's a good sign actually. In fact it was Charles Spurgeon who said that a sign of a growing Christian is an increasing sense of our own sinfulness, matched with an increasing comprehension of Christ's ultimate sufficiency.

I wonder at some of the thoughts that fly through my mind. I struggle and fight those thoughts, desperate for the meditation of my heart to be pleasing before God almighty.

Last time I preached I spoke on conduct. We talked about how our conduct is so vital, especially in the culture in which we live. Good Christian conduct is the external practice of our Christianity. In the same way, purity is the internal representation of our Christian faith. This internal expression will inevitably generate the outflow of everything we do.

According to Proverb 23:7 KJV "As a man thinks, so is he."

And again Proverb 27:19 NIV, "As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart."

That's what we're going to be inspecting today: purity in the context of the heart.

But before we can even begin to talk about purity, we have to talk about faith. There is no way to be pure, no hope of living in a pure manner, not a single hope in the universe of living a holy life aside from faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is what it’s all about. We live in a world where God is veiled from us. We live in a world where man has turned from God. God sent Jesus Christ, the son of God, to offer himself as a sacrifice, as an inversion to the problem of sin and death. Jesus turned the maw of death into a fountain of life. A positive, a perfect positive, became sin for us, became the negative for us to conquer the negative of death. What happens when you multiple two negatives? You get a positive. God died, to defeat death. God entered death, conquered death, resurrected from the dead as a message to us today: If you will believe in Jesus Christ, in your heart, that he truly was God come to Earth, and he died and rose from the dead to claim you, then you are a Christian. And as a Christian you are called to firm, unshakeable faith. You trust that Jesus really paid it all, for you.

I’ve been declared holy in the eyes of God. The apostle Paul describes it as wearing a garment of righteousness. That Jesus Christ himself gave us a perfect coat of righteousness to wear every day. God then sees us through the perfection of Christ.

When we talk about purity, every single time, we’re talking about our response to the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

If we were to ever talk about purity as somehow paving our own way to heaven, then we’d be in serious, serious trouble. God forbid any of us think that we can get to heaven by “doing the best we can.” Or by living a “pretty good life.”

We have eternal life, we will go to heaven, to the eternal city of New Jerusalem because of thing: the free gift of eternal life given by Jesus Christ. If we’ve received the gift of the cross, the resurrection, then we are heaven bound. In Revelation the holy city is described as a gorgeous golden city, of transparent gold, and a river flows through the center of the city, leading directly to the tree of life, this massive fruit tree, representing eternal life. Do you know what the river is? The river is Jesus. And we’re traveling on the river. Sometimes the river is smooth and gentle, sometimes it gets tough and rocky.

This painting is from a series by Thomas Cole, created in 1841. He depicts the journey of life along this river in four paintings, as a child, as a teenager, as an adult, and old age. For most of us, we’re here in the rough parts of the river. And you see what the journeyer is doing, he’s praying desperately as he prepares to ride the rapids. Ahead of us it looks brutal, desperate, uncertain, but above is God almighty guiding our way, shrouded, but accessible by faith.

It’s vital to remember that purity in our context is our response to the free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus. We’re so pleased, so honored, so humbled to be part of the family of God, we’re so awe struck by God our loving father we’re just desperate to respond to his gift with a life pleasing to Him.

Can we believe these things? Is there evidence to support our faith? And even more so, is our faith blind? Or is it reasonable faith, based on a reasonable God? As many of you know, I believe we carry a reasonable faith.

Apologetics are absolutely vital in our modern society. I really think it’s crucial, as young people are trained to disbelieve in God in public schools, that we be that much more vigilant about sharing logical defenses of the faith.

Astronomy: “The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way (evolution) is comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junk-yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein.” -Fred Hoyle, Hoyle on evolution, Nature, Vol. 294, No. 5837 (November 12, 1981), p. 105

Biology: “DNA is like a computer program, but far, far more advanced that any software we've ever created.” –Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft

History: “Today there survives more than 25,0000 partial and complete, ancient handwritten manuscript copies of the New Testament. These hand written manuscripts have allowed scholars and textual critics to go back and verify that the Bible we have in our possession today is the same Bible that the early church possessed 2,000 years ago.” –Charlie H. Campbell

Psychology: "Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.”
–E. Paul Hovey

Great mind, after great mind witnesses to the fact that faith in Jesus is reasonable. We worship a God who is real, and active, and is present with us at all times.

Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Time and again, the greatest souls in human history have chosen to trust in God despite what the world said: Noah, Moses, Gideon, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Elijah, Daniel, David, Solomon, John, Paul, Mark, Timothy, Peter, Barnabas, Justin Martyr, Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Mother Teresa, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, William Booth, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, William Wilberforce, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, presidents, scientists, Nobel prize winners, and everyday, average people like you and me.

We believe it is the believer’s privilege to be fully sanctified before God. Purity as a lifestyle. Purity can mean many things. It can mean our outward actions. It can mean our inward thoughts and attitudes.

We believe that our actions and our attitudes ought to be good and pleasing to God. We believe in holiness. Who is the greatest writer regarding holiness? Within the Salvation Army, it is Samuel Logan Brengle.

Just as I was contemplating holiness about 2 months ago, my commanding officers got back from councils, and they'd each received a set of Brengle's books. Major, reasoning that they didn't need two sets of copies, gave one of the sets to me. And I began reading "Helps to Holiness" by Samuel Brengle.

In regard to the very core of purity, the core of holiness he wrote this: "The last thing the soul has to give up is "an evil heart of unbelief" (Heb. 3:12). This is Satan's stronghold. You may drive him from all of his outposts and he does not care much, but when you assail this citadel he will resist with all the lies and cunning he can command."

Purity relates to our actions. And to our thoughts. And to our emotions and attitudes. But the very source and center of purity is the stronghold, the citadel of the heart. Our actions come from our thoughts, our thoughts are driven by our emotions and attitudes, and these are guided by our heart.

The default position of the human heart is an inclination toward sin. I know this first hand. I lived that life, as a drug addict, as someone who lived very selfishly, as someone always wanting satisfaction, to “feel good.” I followed my heart.

What do people always say? "trust your heart."

And as I began following Jesus I asked myself... trust your heart. Is that right?

Via Adam4d.com

Jeremiah 17:9 says in regard to the heart, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

The unregenerate heart is an unhappy aspect. It lives for pleasure, glorifies in whatever feels good, and leads us off cliffs.

That’s the problem. The broken heart. The Bible has a great deal to say about the heart. Just in my Bible, the Reformation Study Bible there are over 50 references to the heart in the index.

In the Old Testament…

The Psalmist cries, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. –Proverb 4:23

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. –Ezekiel 36:26

And in the New Testament…

These words from Jesus, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” –Matthew 5:8.

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 1 Tim 1:5

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22

Thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed Romans 6:17

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Romans 10:9-10

At some point as we attended church, as we studied the scriptures and listened to sermons, Jesus got ahold of us. We were transformed. God the Father drew us to his son Jesus. We fled to him, ran to him, and he met us along the way with outstretched arms. True, fatherly love.

Within the package of salvation in Jesus Christ we received many gifts:

1. The list of sins building against us, recorded in heaven is cancelled and we are declared innocent in the eyes of God almighty.

2. We are reborn. Our old self utterly dies and passes away, and a sort of hybrid self is born up. A new spiritual being is born with new desires, new hungers, yet still beset by the flesh and temptations of this life.

3. We receive the promise of eternal life. Our names are added to the book of life.

4. We receive the Holy Spirit, and He guides us into all truth. The Holy Spirit promises to be with us, just as Jesus was with his disciples on Earth. The Holy Spirit is our companion through life.

5. And finally, we receive the gift of sanctification. Included in this package deal is the gift of a new heart. (I will give you a new heart of flesh).

The gifts of Christ are many. The Holy Spirit begins to lead us, coming into our heart. He begins to change us.

I tend to see sanctification as a process of lifelong growth. That is the reformed view of sanctification. That is certainly true. I’ve grown out of sin after sin in my life, over time.

But within the Wesleyan view is the idea of the transformed heart, which is entered by the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of glorifying Christ.

Listen to how Samuel Brengle describes the purity of heart, matched with the Holy Spirit in sanctification:

“Remember, you not only gave yourself to God, but God gave Himself to you. You did receive the Holy Spirit. When He came in, self went out. You abhorred – loathed – yourself, and sank into nothingness while Jesus became all and in all.

That is the first thing the Holy Spirit does when He comes into the heart in all His fullness – He glorifies Jesus. We see Jesus as we never saw him before. We love Him. We adore Him.

We ascribe all honor and glory and power to Him, and we realize, as we never did before, that through His precious blood we are saved and sanctified.”
-Samuel Brengle, Helps to Holiness, pg. 44

Have Jesus saved you? Amen? Are your sins gone? Amen. Are you reborn? Amen. Are you going to live forever? Amen.

And now, since we have all these promises, let us also have a fully sanctified heart. No longer wicked, no longer desperately evil, but a new heart of flesh, soft, gentle, desiring to please God, a heart of purity.

We will always struggle in this life with the temptations of the flesh. That is certain. But we may have from God, a heart of peace and purity.

So then we must ask the question: How? Remember from Hebrews 12:3 We must: “Keep our eyes on Jesus.” My gut instinct when growing in the Spirit is to look down at my soul, and grab the wrench and the screwdriver and make some adjustments. I get into my soul. And no, that isn’t how we do it.

At times God will call us to do the footwork, prayerfully taking action steps, but the primary force of holiness, of purity is found by focusing our eyes on Jesus. Set Christ before your eyes. When I stare at my Facebook news feed, or Twitter, I can become just distraught with how the world is. I need to look upon Jesus.

Or as Brengle wrote:

“Having received Him into your hearts, continually acknowledge His presence, obey Him, glory in Him, and He will abide with you forever, and His presence will be powerful to you.” –Samuel Brengle, Helps to Holiness pg. 47

Now, the Lord is challenging all of us to put aside ourselves. And our ways. God is challenging us to be His people, through the assemblage of a pure heart.

Finally we have some applications...

-Realize that now is just the right time!
-Be willing to have God show us all the depravity of our souls.
-Acknowledge all the evil within us, and take God’s side against that part of ourselves
-Let our souls die to sin
-Renounce all unbelief & Give up all doubts
-Freely consent to be “crucified with Christ”

A prayer to God for the Heart of Purity: “Give me a heart like Yours, by Your wonderful power, by Your grace every hour, give me a heart like Yours. A humble, lowly, contrite heart, believing, true, and clean.
A heart in every thought renewed, and full of love Divine,
Perfect and right and pure and good, A copy, Lord, of thine.”

We expect things quickly. Even more so today than in Brengle’s time. Many, many Christians depart from the churches, depart from the faith, because they are in a period of waiting for God. God doesn’t work in hours or weeks often, like we’d like Him to. He often works over months, years, and decades.

"If I were dying and had the privilege of delivering a last exhortation to all the Christians of the world, and that message had to be condensed into three words, I would say, "Wait on God!" –Samuel Brengle, Helps to Holiness, Chapter 8, pg. 61.

Wait on God! Wait, and wait longer on God. He is at work. The present is not our eternity. Wait on God. And wait on God for this gift of the sanctified, pure heart. Maybe this is just the beginning. Wait on God. And wait on God. Keep waiting, patiently, petitioning him. Wait on God.

This is the text of a sermon originally preached at the Salvation Army of Escanaba on May 1st 2016, by Justin Steckbauer. Thank you for reading!