Tag: encouragement

How Should Christians React to Blasphemy?

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

You must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives- Jude 22-23 NLT

The Christian response to the opening ceremonies for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games exposed a deep and growing rift in Christianity.  When you get down to heart of the matter, the rift centers around how Christians ought to interact with a post-Christian culture.

 Some were angry, and not just at the weird display of crudeness and blasphemy. This group has had enough of Christianity being the one religion it’s okay to use as a punching bag. They point out (correctly) that there are no activists mocking or vilifying anyone else’s deeply held beliefs. Public scorn is reserved only for Christians. These folks believe it’s high-time Christians start standing up for themselves and fight back.

On the other side of the divide, are those who think Christians should ignore any blasphemy directed (deliberately or inadvertently) at the Christian faith.  These folks feel pretty strongly that any criticism, of any kind, directed at unbelievers sends the message that God (and His people) do not love them or want them anywhere near the Church. 

This group points out (correctly) that Jesus often associated with sinners and nearly all of His disapproval was aimed at self-righteous religious people who judged sinners mercilessly (Matthew 9:9-13).  They also note (correctly) that Christians are commanded to love everyone, including blasphemers (1st Corinthians 13:1-13, Matthew 5:43-44, Luke 6:32-35, Luke 7:36-47). Therefore, any and all disapproval of a non-Christians behavior should be hidden from view in the name of “kindness” and “love”. This group sincerely believes showing disapproval of sin will cause sinners to reject Jesus.

Yikes. No one wants that. 

So, is Christian disapproval of bad/blasphemous behavior really the fast-track to total rejection of all things Christian?

Well. 

I have some personal experience I feel is relevant to this discussion. 

I grew up in a messy non-Christian home, by the time I hit my teen years I was a jumble of chaos and sin. I knew nothing about God or the Bible. I never even thought about God or the Bible, I was a post-Christian girl long before post-Christian was even a thing. 

I was also a bit of a wiseacre.

I worked at a fast-food restaurant, mainly on the front register.  I almost never wore a nametag, mostly, because I didn’t want customers to know my name if I made a mistake or offended them in some way. One day, one of the managers happened to notice I wasn’t wearing a nametag. I was told to put one on, pronto. 

So, I did.  

However, I did not put my name on the nametag. To my (now) eternal shame I put “GOD” on my nametag in all caps (and YES, I am now VERY aware of how blasphemous that was). Some of the customers and all my co-workers thought it was hilarious, so I left it on. My idiocy started a bit of trend. Almost all my co-workers began putting crazy, absurd names on their nametags, stuff like “Big Bird” and “Abraham Lincoln”. The managers were oblivious, all they saw is that we were wearing nametags. No one bothered to look at what they said. 

It was all great fun.

Until one day, a lady came through my line, saw my nametag and went deathly pale. She looked me in the eye and said in the kindest, gentlest, most alarmed voice you can imagine: “sweetie, you need to take that nametag off. There is a real God who is very powerful and He is very offended that you put His name on your nametag”. I don’t remember what I said to her, I do remember feeling shocked she would care about something I saw as just silly fun. 

I did not become a Christian that day.

 However, her gentle demeaner and concern for my soul had a huge impact on me. For the first time in my life I thought about God, and what He was all about, and what else I might have done to offend Him.  All of a sudden, out of nowhere I felt super ashamed about the nametag (although at the time I had no idea why). I took the nametag off after my shift and never put it back on (1st Timothy 1:13). 

All that to say.

I do not think it’s a good idea to let people blaspheme God without some kind of a reaction. Silence indicates an absence of disapproval. Most people (not all) who blaspheme God have no idea what they’re doing (Luke 23:34). Some really do hate God and are doing their level best to be offensive (Acts 7:51, Hebrews 10:29), most aren’t. The vast majority are just attempting to be witty, or trendy, or outrageous. Very few actually understand how dangerous their behavior is from a spiritual perspective (Leviticus 24:16).  They are fools (Psalm 14:1). It is our job to gently guide them to the truth about God (Jude 22-23). 

However. 

When we talk to people we can’t be rude or hateful. We must communicate with our words and tone that we care about the souls of the people we are talking to. 

Nor can we make it about us. 

Our disapproval cannot be about our feelings, our firmly held beliefs or our rights. It has to be entirely focused on our God (1st Samuel 2:2). We have to tell people there is a holy, kind, patient God who loves them beyond all reason (John 3:16-18, Psalm 68:4-6, John 5:24). We also have to tell people that His patience is not without limits. People need to know there will come a day when all people will be called into account for their words and deeds (Matthew 12:36, Romans 14:12, Romans 2:15-16).  However, all this must be done in a spirit of gentleness and humility (Philippians 4:5, 1st Peter 3:15).

The Truth about Trials and Hardship-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison – 2nd Corinthians 4:17 NASB

Okay, so.

Unless you’ve been hanging out in a cave with no access to the internet for the last decade or so, you have likely picked-up on the fact that our culture defines love entirely in terms of “being nice”.

Love is not love unless it is expressed in a completely non-judgmental manner. It is no longer loving to show even a smidgen of disapproval. It is categorically not okay to rebuke or criticize anyone, nor, is it okay to ask someone to do anything hard.  

This whole messy muddle has impacted how we understand God. Many Christians see God as the ultimate gentle parent. God is typically presented as sympathetic, mild and super worried about the feelings of humans. Most believe God would never do anything insensitive or harsh. He for sure would not ask anyone to do anything they were not were super ready to do.

Well.

 I definitely had some of those beliefs challenged this week. It happened as I was reading through Matthew fourteen. I came to the story where Jesus (and Peter) walk on water in the middle of a violent wind storm (Matthew 14:22-26). 

Truth-be-told there were a couple of things in this story I had never really noticed before, despite having read it umpteen times.  This first thing that caught my attention is that Jesus made (NKJV, NIV, ESV) or insisted (NLT) the disciples get into the boat. I read it in a bunch of different versions and it’s clear: Jesus didn’t suggest, encourage or recommend their late day jaunt across the lake. Jesus literally compelled (NASB) them to get in and row. 

I also noticed that, after making get onto the boat, Jesus left. He jetted. Seriously. He flew the coop. The text says after getting the disciples settled in the boat He went up to the mountain to pray by Himself. 

As evening rolled around some brutal winds started to toss their little boat around. Jesus showed up sometime between 3:00 and 6:00 in the morning, He apparently just sauntered out onto the lake, scaring the bejeebers out of the disciples and then He (rather ironically) tells them not to be afraid. 

Then Peter, always the showoff, says to Jesus:

“Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water”

So, Jesus commanded Peter to go onto the water. Apparently, everything was cool for a little while, until Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, looked at the wind and got scared. His fear caused him to sink like a stone. The minute Peter asked for help Jesus stepped in and pulled him out of the water. 

However.

Jesus did not do what one would expect a gentle parent to do. Jesus did not give Peter a cookie and a hug and tell him he did awesome in spite of his lack of success. Instead Jesus says:

“You have so little faith,” “Why did you doubt me?” (NLT)

It feels a little harsh Jesus. 

This story got me thinking about all manner of things. 

Mostly, I spent a lot of time wondering why Jesus would force his disciples/friends onto a boat headed for a storm and then criticize them for their fear and lack of faith. After all, I would not classify Jesus as a big meanie, so, there had to be at least one reason for what appears to be a serious lack of compassion.  

I also wondered if there’s some personal application we might glean from this story. 

It occurred to me that because Jesus is God, He knows and knew EVERYTHING.  Therefore, it is logical there is more to the story than meets the eye.  It’s interesting to note that four chapters earlier Jesus explained to His disciples in no uncertain terms that tough times were coming and that they would need to be ready (Matthew 10:17-23). 

Maybe, just maybe, Jesus wasn’t being mean or insensitive or cruel. Perhaps, Jesus was simply preparing the people He loved most for some much harder things He knew were coming. Things like leadership positions in a messy new movement, opposition, jail time, harassment, persecution and even martyrdom (Acts 8:1-3, Acts 10-11). Maybe, as Jesus watched Peter flailing around on the water He was thinking to Himself: “dude, you think this storm is scary? Just wait till you’re standing in front of Nero”.  Maybe, forcing the disciples into a storm really was the best way for them to learn to trust Jesus in the even tougher stuff that was coming? 

Let’s say this is true.

Then the implications for us are fairly obvious. God is not the quintessential gentle parent, that said, He is the best parent ever. He sees what’s coming and he does everything in His power to prepare us for what lies ahead and like a truly great parent God is far more interested in what we become than in our immediate comfort and ease. 

It’s our job to cooperate with God. 

We do that by choosing to view our trials and difficulties as a gift from a loving Father rather than punishment or something to endure (James 1:2-4, 1st Peter 1:5-7, 2nd Corinthians 4:17, 1st Thessalonians 3:3). When we do, we willfully position ourselves to be transformed into someone truly glorious (2nd Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:28-30). 

The (Somewhat) Surprising Sin on God’s Super Naughty Sin List-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good- Romans 12:9 NASB

Anytime, the God who defines himself as love says He hates something we ought to make a careful note of what that thing is (Deuteronomy 7:9, Joel 2:13, John 4:8, 1st John 4:16). That thing (whatever it may be) is the very biggest of deals and should be avoided at all costs. 

For reals. 

Thankfully, the God of the universe is never shy about clarifying His feelings on any subject. Proverbs gives us a detailed list of all of the things God hates the most. 

It says:

There are six things that the Lord hates. Seven that are an abomination to Him:Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil,a false witness who declares lies and one who spreads strife among brothers-Proverbs 6:16-19 NASB

First on the lineup on God’s naughty list is, “haughty eyes”. “Haughty eyes” is just a fancy-pants euphemism for having a prideful heart (Proverbs 8:13, Proverbs 11:2, 1st John 2:16). God is opposed to pride because humans have no justification for getting all caught up in pride. Furthermore, it’s gross and a gateway sin for a whole heap of other really icky sins. 

Ultimately, prideful people consider themselves to be superior to and worthier than others.  A prideful person believes deep in their heart they are special and should be beyond rebuke—no matter how questionable or outright sinful their actions. As a result, prideful people have no issue skirting rules they demand others follow or inflicting emotional pain when it suits them. Prideful, arrogant, haughty people can justify pretty much anything. 

Nor, is it a surprise God is categorically not a fan of people who habitually go around devising evil schemes. All morally sane people agree evil schemes deserves to make the naughty list. It’s also no surprise God has issues with those who shed innocent blood or people who are eager to commit all sorts of evil deeds (Exodus 20:13, Jeremiah 8:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21). Those three issues are the low-hanging fruits on the morality tree. Even a lot of pagans understand why God has a problem those things. 

Perhaps, the biggest surprise (at least to me) is how much God has to say about what we say. Three out of the seven on the super-naughty list all have to do with lying and or strife—the natural fallout of telling lies. 

Which begs the question: 

Why is God so uptight about dishonesty?

Even morally questionable people fully understand God’s issues with big-giant-crazy-pants lies. It’s not difficult to grasp why lying under oath, in a court of law when someone’s life or freedom hangs in the balance is a big deal. It’s easy to understand why God would get bent out of shape over lies that effect someone else’s money, reputation or marriage. 

However.

It could be reasoned, that the vast majority of lies are harmless. What does it matter if I tell someone their hair looks nice when it doesn’t? Why would God have a problem with me telling someone I’m busy when I am not? God’s boundaries concerning this issue feel a bit restrictive to our twenty-first century, post-modern sensibilities. It feels like God is meddling in trivial issues that are none of His concern. 

However, God is not capricious. He does not make up rules for no reason. He knows the end from the beginning. He forbids any and all lying for at least four reasons;

Lying is a gateway sin-

Telling one little lie (even one that feels inconsequential) makes it easier to move on to bigger and more elaborate lies. It also makes us comfortable with other ugly sins that inevitably hurt others and defile us sins like jealousy, slander, hypocrisy and pride (Leviticus 19:16, 1st Peter 2:1, Mark 7:21-23)

If a person lies for long enough about enough stuff the lines between fiction and non-fiction become blurred in their mind-  

I have observed that is a liar lies for long enough, a moral transformation takes place and it becomes very difficult for the liar to know what is true and what is false anymore. Truth-be-told, I do not understand all the why’s and how’s of this process. I suspect it happens because when we lie, we literally affiliate or align with Satan. Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44) and the enemy of our souls. When we align ourselves with Satan in this area he gains a foothold and sees to it we forfeit our ability to discern truth from lies (Ephesians 4:25-27). Yikes.

Lying stunts our spiritual growth- 

Any sin we willfully hang on to will create chaos with our spiritual growth and hijack our spiritual effectiveness. That said, lying is a pernicious and sneaky sin. It’s easy to dismiss lying as a small, inconsequential issue and therefore not a big deal. As a result, the loss of growth and maturity goes unnoticed. Furthermore, partnering with God to accomplish His purposes in this world is the ultimate blessing a Christian can experience. Because, God cannot and will not partner with darkness of any kind, living a life of duplicity makes partnering with God impossible.

And finally,

God is a relational God who loves to see His people living in harmony with one another. Therefore, He hates anything and everything that divides people and creates strife. There is no faster route to creating strife and breaking bonds between people than telling a lie.

Responding to Gay Pride Month with Grace and Truth-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

 Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him- 1st John 3:18-19 NASB

The month of June used to be known mostly for weddings, graduations and the start of summer vacation. However, somewhere in the not-so-distant past, June became known mostly for gay pride. There are three common Christian reactions to gay pride month:

Fight, flight or fawn. 

The fighters are easy to spot, mostly because they’re kind of loud and they don’t mind being spotted. The fighters wear straight pride t-shirts, have a “Boycott Disney” bumper sticker on their car and play Buddy Brown’s Everything is Gay in June on repeat until the 1st of July. The fighters love a good fight and will loudly debate the subject with anyone, anytime, anywhere.  

The flighters are a little tougher to spot, mostly because they will do anything short of sin to stay out of the fray. The flighters are a mixed bag. Some are natural born peacemakers; who simply despise fighting over anything.  There are also some former fighters amongst the flighters who learned the hard way fighting this particular battle in this particular cultural moment is almost as futile as pushing water uphill with a spoon. The average flighter’s goal is to keep their head down. They spend a lot of time praying that July comes quickly.

The fawners, for the most part have good intentions. Fawners are good-hearted people who love people and want every human being on earth to know they are deeply loved by Jesus (John 3:16). In an effort to make every sinner feel comfortable and loved, they tell all sinners (regardless of their spiritual state): “it’s all good”: God loves them just the way they are. Therefore, there is no need for repentance or change. The fawners are deeply caring and loving. They simply do not want anyone, gay or straight to feel bad about anything. 

I do get where everyone is coming from.  

There’s a fighter girl who lives inside me. She desperately wants to see the word of God defended. She doesn’t mind making people mad, sometimes she even kind of likes it (sigh). However, because I also understand the nature of this issue (Ephesians 6:12), I know change will never be achieved through clever arguments, a good fight or legal wrangling. This is one of those battles that can only be won through spiritual means (Mark 9:29, Ephesians 6:10-19).  I also get that keeping quiet feels like a noble approach. The less said the less opportunity for offense and no sane person wants to offend on purpose. However, no sinful problem or issue in the history of forever has ever just gone away on its own. God calls His people to engage the world not hide from it (Matthew 6:13-16, 2nd Corinthians 2:14).  I also understand and even empathize with the fawners. I, too want sinners to feel love and accepted.   However, cutting corners where truth is concerned is a form of spiritual malpractice that generates much bigger problems in the long-run (John 3:21, John 8:32, 1st Corinthians 13:6, Ephesians 4:15).

There is another way that glorifies God without spoiling for a fight, hiding from the issue or minimizing the consequences of willful sin at the expense of truth. It takes a commitment to the following three things;

Prayer-

I do not have a problem with Christians getting involved in politics.  Christians ought to be involved in all aspects of civil life. Redeeming every sphere of life and culture (including the political sphere) is our calling as Christians. That being said, nowhere in Scripture are Christians told to fight for legislation that reflects Christian values. Nor are Christians instructed to use the legal system to change hearts and minds. None of these things are wrong but they are not what we are instructed to do. We are commanded to pray (1st Kings 8:44-50, Colossians 4:2, Philippians 4:6, 1st Timothy 2:1-3). Over and over again in Scripture impossible situations and evil people are transformed because God’s people devoted themselves to beseeching God for a miracle (Daniel 2:14-17, Daniel 6:1-28, Esther 4:15-17, Acts 12:1-10, Acts 16:25-30). If I had the power to do so, I would declare June the national month of prayer and fasting. Alas, I do not possess that power. However, I do strongly encourage Christians to pray and fast throughout the month of June. Pray for those you know who are in the homosexual/trans lifestyle. Pray pastors everywhere will love and shepherd people well. Pray pastors and Bible teachers will preach the word of God with a compassionate and gracious boldness that draws all people to Jesus. Pray for a movement of revival to sweep our world. Revival will solve many of our most vexing problems. 

Engagement – 

Get to know someone in the homosexual or trans lifestyle as a person.  Find a Christian family affected by this issue. Knowing people who struggle with a particular issue breeds compassion, inspires prayer and gives us all opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus. 

And finally:

Christians must commit to standing firm on Biblical truth. We stay true to what the Bible says about homosexuality and every other issue God’s word addresses. However, is equally critical we stand on the biblical truth that anyone, regardless of their sin problem can be transformed by the grace of God (Romans 3:23-24, Romans 5;8). Christians must use every opportunity to proclaim the truth that no one is stuck in their sin, no matter the sin. Thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit anyone can live life free from the power of sin and death. 

Where do you Fall in Matthew Chapter Eight?

Lisa M. Price5 Comments

So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple- Luke 14:33 NKJV

There are two kinds of Christians. 

There are Christians who mark up their Bibles and Christians who don’t. I am unashamedly the first kind of Christian. I can tell at a glance how impactful a chapter of the Bible has been to me by the sheer number of highlights, underlines and notes written in the margins.

I am currently working my way through the book of Matthew. The Bible I’m using is new enough that it’s more-or-less a blank slate at this point.  As I finished up chapter eight, I noticed an astonishing scarceness of notes, underlining and highlighting compared to the previous seven chapters. 

It was a little drab and dull in comparison.  

 I decided to go back and take a second look. Matthew eight tells the seemingly random stories of people or groups of people who all had encounters with Jesus. The first encounter is with a leper who is healed by Jesus. That encounter is followed by a story about a Roman centurion whose servant is healed by Jesus long distance (verses 9-13). Next up is the healing of Peter’s Mother-in-law (verses 14-15). 

 There is a departure from the healings theme towards the end of the chapter. Verses eighteen through twenty-two detail interactions Jesus has with a nameless teacher of the law and an anonymous disciple. The teacher promises he will follow Jesus wherever He goes. Instead he makes a bunch of lame excuses and goes his own way.  The unknown disciple also reneges on his initial pledge to follow Jesus (Matthew 13:18-22).

Immediately following those encounters the disciples find themselves in a nasty storm. The fierceness of the storm shakes their faith in a big way.  Jesus finds the disciples and their lack of faith in Him super annoying (verses 23-27). 

The chapter ends with Jesus healing two demon possessed gentiles. The demons come out of the men and after a brief conversation with Jesus, the demons agree to go into a herd of pigs. The demon possessed pigs immediately jump off of a cliff and die. The loss of the pigs ends up costing the locals a LOT of money. They frantically beg Jesus to leave their region because He wasn’t good for their bottom line. 

The end. 

Even after the second reading it still felt like a bunch of random stories. I wasn’t really feeling it.

 Then it hit me pretty much out of nowhere that all the stories had a common theme:

Response. 

The chapter records how different people respond to Jesus. The leper went to Jesus in faith and responded in obedience. The centurion responded to Jesus with such faith and humility, Jesus praised him for it in a way that almost certainly enraged the Jews present (verses 10-12). Peter’s Mother-in-law responded to Jesus’ healing touch with a life of service. The teacher of the law and the nameless disciple are both interesting. Both apparently understood who Jesus was but once they realized following Jesus might mean discomfort and/or a loss of status they responded by going their own way (verses18-22). The disciples are just sad at this point in the narrative. Even after watching Jesus heal scores of people (including some of their own relatives) they still struggled to respond with trust in Jesus when it came to the tough stuff of life (verse 23-27). 

Sigh. 

Then there’s the townspeople. These folks are the genuine sad-sacks of the chapter. They saw Jesus’ power and were so afraid of what following Jesus might ultimately cost them, they responded by begging Jesus to leave them alone. 

It occurred to me we all fall somewhere on the chapter eight spectrum. We might even find ourselves in different places in chapter eight at different points in our life. 

Perhaps you’re one of those individuals who started your journey with Jesus full of child-like faith. You responded to Jesus with a heart of obedience and you’re still keeping on. My prayer is that you have a heart like Peter’s Mother-in-law and you’ve invested your days in serving Jesus with everything you have (Matthew 25:21). 

I hope this is you.

But maybe:

After a long season of hard knocks, you may be questioning whether or not Jesus is worth the trouble.  Perhaps, the storms of life feel unrelenting. Your faith in Jesus and His ability to care for you is being challenged at every turn.  Maybe life feels uncertain and you’re just kind of terrified. 

Or maybe, you’re like those gentile townspeople. You know Jesus is real, but you’re afraid of what following Jesus is going to cost you. You’re just not sure a life of faith is worth giving up that habit, relationship or sin. Maybe you’re so determined to do your own thing you’re willing to risk hell simply to have your own way. 

Wherever you are on the Matthew eight spectrum:

 I know Jesus is worth it (Psalm 34:8, Psalm 84:11). I know He’s faithful, even in the midst of the toughest most brutal stuff of life (Psalm 27:13).  I have also learned that even in the worst moments He is busy working out all things for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28-29). 

Trust Him today (2nd Corinthians 13:14, 1st John 3:16). He’s got you.  

The Unintended Consequences of Refusing to Give it up and Repent Already-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Also keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins. Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be innocent, And I will be blameless of great wrongdoing- Psalm 19:13 NASB 

For most of us, our biggest fears besides spiders, snakes and germs are:

Fear of being judged. 

Fear of social shame or humiliation. 

Fear of the future. 

Fear we will not get our needs met. 

With all due respect to everyone’s fears, these are all the wrong things to be afraid of. The short-list of things the Bible says we ought to fear are: 

God (Ecclesiastes 5:1-2, Matthew 10:26, 2nd Corinthians 7:1, 1st Peter 2:17). 

Missing out on the grace of God (Hebrews 12:17, 1st Peter 5:5). 

Getting tangled up in some sort of sin (Hebrews 12:1). 

And:

The obstinate refusal to fully repent of a known sin (Jude 1:4, Psalm 19:13, Hebrews 10:26). 

There are all sorts of reasons why Christians choose not to repent. But, truth-be-told almost all of them go back to the list of all the wrong things to be afraid of. Folks resist repentance because admitting wrong (a crucial aspect of repentance) might lead to social shame or change how people see us. Sometimes we fear the confession that might need to go along with our repentance will affect our future or keep us from getting our needs met.  

So. 

 None of the above concerns are entirely irrational. Those are real issues. Sometimes there are consequences for coming clean and getting things right with God and people.  But we have to remember that all Christians sin.  Most Christians sin mostly on accident, a few sin on purpose but all Christians sin (1st John 1:8-9). There is grace for sin (Romans 3:24), but only when we choose to do things God’s way and repent. Choosing not to repent is effectively choosing misery. It will not result in a loss of salvation but it will create all sorts of other painful problems with unintended consequences, including:

We open ourselves up to all sorts of other sins- 

This is a real thing. Anytime we sin and refuse to acknowledge the sin, feel remorse for it and turn away from it our conscience becomes seared (1st Timothy 4:1-3). The human conscience is an oddly delicate thing. Once it is seared it becomes much less prone to feeling conviction and sinning feels like a lot less of a problem. This is why when a Christian is outed for some form of moral failure there is almost always a long list of their sins. They lied AND they cheated on their spouse AND they used drugs, AND they stole money AND they treated people like garbage. Nevertheless, the whole ugly muddle always begins with the very first sin they refused to deal with God’s way (Acts 3:19, Matthew 3:8, Romans 2:4)

We run the risk of making ourselves sick- 

Again, this is a real thing.  If someone is a genuine Christian refusing to repent always leads to feelings of guilt and even self-loathing (Psalm 32:3). Because there is a connection between our minds, hearts and bodies eventually those feelings of guilt and self-loathing create stress that damages our physical bodies. (Proverbs 13:12, Proverbs 14:30, Acts 2:26).  Symptoms of stress eventually affect every part of our bodies. 

It becomes very difficult to us to do ministry and life well–  

All Christians receive the Holy Spirit when they put their faith and trust in Jesus (John 14:16-17, Acts 2:38, Romans 15:16, Ephesians 1:13). Nonetheless, believers in Jesus are also told to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17). A continual filling of the Holy Spirit brings joy, peace, wisdom and insight which empowers us to do ministry and life well (Acts 4:31, Acts 13:8-10, Acts 13:52).  It is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit. We grieve the Holy Spirit anytime we live in a way that runs counter to the biblical truths we have been taught (Isaiah 59:1-2, Isaiah 63:10, Ephesians 4:30). Anytime we refuse to repent we forfeit the spiritual power and sense of peace that comes with having the Holy Spirit operating in our lives at full capacity. The net effect of this foolishness is we do life and ministry in our own feeble strength and power (Philippians 4:13).  This never leads to anything good or life-giving. 

Intimacy with God is broken-

Sin has caused human beings to run and hide from God (metaphorically speaking) since the fall of mankind. This inclination is literally part of our human DNA (Genesis 3:8-10, Romans 5:12). We hide from God because we understand intuitively sin breaks intimacy with God. This dynamic creates all sorts of problems and unintended consequences in our lives. The worst being that we no longer feel we can run to God for help with the problems caused by our sinful choices. The answer is always just give it up and repent already (Acts 3:19). 

Most of the time we hang onto sinful junk because we really want to maintain complete control of any consequences we might suffer. Control always comes at a high price in this life. God graciously gives us the abundant, joyful life Jesus promised when we make a practice of confessing our sin and repenting quickly (John 10:10). Choosing repentance always leads to peace, intimacy with God, a clean conscience and the ability to operate at maximum spiritual capacity. All of those blessings are worth giving up anything we have to give up.  

How to Abuse, Misuse and/or Cheapen Grace-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Do to others as you would have them do to you- Luke 6:31 NIV

Grace is a big stinking deal. Grace is central to the Christian faith and vital to all Christian theology. Without the doctrine of grace there is literally no Christianity.

Seriously.

Grace is the word we use to describe God’s love for human beings and His mercy towards their sin (Ephesians 1:3-8, Ephesians 2:1-5). Grace is sometimes defined as “God’s unmerited favor”. There is nothing wrong with defining grace as favor. However, grace is much more than simple favor, kindness or approval. God’s grace is best understood by what it has done for us. God manifested His grace in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus died in the place of all humans so no human would be forced to pay the penalty (eternal separation from God) for their own sin.  Jesus got death so humans can, if they so choose, have grace (forgiveness, leniency, mercy) for their sins. God gifts grace to human beings who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and repent or turn away from their sins (Matthew 3:8, Acts 3:19, Acts 17:24-31). No one can earn grace through good works (Galatians 5:4). People just aren’t good enough for that (Romans 3:23). Grace is a gift God gives those who choose faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:21, Hebrews 11:6).  

It has become a common feature of our Christian vernacular to say we ought to “give grace” or be “given grace”. This simply means we think someone should give or be given a break (leniency) for a sin or not be judged too harshly for something.  There is nothing wrong with looking at grace from this perspective. Grace is not just something we get. Grace is something we give to others. Once a sinful human has experienced the joy and peace that comes from being forgiven by God that sinful human is expected to turn around and extend the same favor to others and forgive like God forgives (Matthew 6:12-15).

All the wonders of grace aside, like all good things in life, the whole concept of grace can and sometimes is abused. We can misuse grace. We can cheapen grace. When grace is abused, cheapened or misunderstood Christianity becomes confusing to non-Christians and the Holy Spirit is grieved (Ephesians 4:30). Following are four common ways grace and be abused, exploited or misapplied: 

We abuse grace when we do not understand or care about the price paid for grace- 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote an entire book condemning the whole notion of “cheap grace”. We cheapen grace when we choose to live as if God puts no boundaries around Christian behavior (Ephesians 5:1-7, Hebrews 12:14, 2ndCorinthians 7:1).  Cheap grace is the belief people should be able to sin all they want as willfully as they please and then just assume grace will cover their premeditated, willful sin. This kind of thinking (whether conscience or subconscious) is a form of spiritual entitlement that clearly shows the person does not understand the high price that was paid for their sin and as a result, they do not value or understand grace (Luke 22-23).   

We abuse grace when we demand it from others as if it is owed to us-

Everyone wants to be extended grace (leniency for wrong behavior). However, any time a person demands grace from another there is a pretty good chance they are demanding it precisely because they have in some way violated the command to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Luke 6:31) or as James puts it: they have violated the “royal law of love” (Mark 12:31, James 2:8). It is categorically not okay for a Christian to have an affair, abuse their kids, slander someone or break any of the ten commandments and then loudly and proudly play the “you owe me grace” card. That is a clear violation of the law of love and an abuse of grace. 

We abuse grace when we stop being shocked by it-

The whole concept of grace should amaze us. Seriously. It should knock our socks off and blow our minds. The whole notion God (or anyone else) would simply let something as serious as sin go without some sort of punishment or at the very least a sternly worded lecture is stunning and beautiful and mind blowing. When we stop being shocked God (or anyone else) would forgive our sins there’s a decent chance we are taking advantage of the kindness of God and others. 

We abuse grace when we refuse to extend it- 

No one should ever sin intentionally and then demand grace. However, when we are forgiven we become fully capable of extending grace (forgiveness, kindness, favor) to others. Refusing to give someone else the gift of grace we have been given freely is in many ways the ultimate abuse of the gift of grace (Matthew 18:21-35). 

God’s grace is an amazing gift. Grace is amazing partly because it is about more than simple forgiveness. Grace does save us from the penalty of sin and death, but once we are saved grace becomes an empowering force in our lives that enables us to do more and endure more than we could ever imagine (2nd Corinthians 12:9, Acts 4:33, Acts 6:8). Grace gives us the power to live a holy life and fully obey God (Titus 2:11-12). Grace empowers us to forgive the unforgivable. Grace allows us to love the unlovable and live as Jesus lived. We show our gratitude for this gift by managing it well and extending it often. 

What’s Happening While we Wait on God?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

  Maintain kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually- Hosea 12:6b NASB

Waiting. 

It’s literally the worst.

Seriously.

Just hearing the word can make otherwise rational, mature people cantankerous, anxious and irritable. 

Okay, maybe it’s just me.

But still.

  Waiting is terrible. That said, some things are easier to wait for than others. It is not pleasant to wait for a barista to finish your latte. However, unless you have a childlike absence of self-control waiting for coffee will not present any real challenges to your faith.  Waiting on God can be another matter altogether.  There is nothing worse than being stuck in a bad situation that is one-hundred-percent outside your control and waiting for God to do what only He can do. 

Waiting on God is always bewildering and frustrating. However, if the situation is dire enough or goes on long enough, a protracted waiting period can and often does present some very real challenges to our faith. The story of Hannah in 1st Samuel 1:1-2:11 provides valuable insight into what goes on behind the scenes as we wait on the Lord. 

Hannah was married to Elkanah. Hannah and Elkanah loved each other.  The only real sticking point in the relationship was Hannah’s infertility. The text strongly implies (but does not say outright) Elkanah chose to take a second wife (Peninnah) in order to build a family. This plot twist is appalling to our modern sensibilities. However, Elkanah’s actions were culturally appropriate and even expected at the time. Having children (especially sons) was critically important to ancient people and they would go to great lengths to make it happen. 

All that being said. 

 It’s simply a fact that humans were not created to flourish in polyamorous relationships (Genesis 2:24, Mark 10:7-9). As a result this arrangement created all sorts of difficulty for both women. Peninnah appears to have effortlessly conceived children. However, she was (understandably) devastated by Elkanah’s lack of affection and care for her. She responded badly. She cruelly taunted Hannah for her barrenness. Poor Hannah had nowhere to run from her problem. It literally confronted her at the dinner table every night.  Year after year Hannah pleaded with God to change her situation and year after year she got nothing but crickets from the Almighty (1st Samuel 1:1-8).  First Samuel reveals God may have been silent in the face of Hannah’s pain but He was far from absent in her situation.  Anytime we are stuck in a holding pattern God is actively doing at least one of the following four things. 

Teaching us to live by faith rather than by sight- 

There are times in this life when we just don’t get what we want when we want it or think we need it. When this happens, we are left with one of two options. We can get mad at God, take matters into our own hands and see where that lands us. Or we can choose to believe God is good and He still loves us in spite of the fact life is hard and we are not getting what we want or need. When we choose the latter our favor with God increases exponentially because nothing in this world pleases God more than faith in the face of impossible situations (Hebrews 10:38, Hebrews 11, James 2:23).

Preparing us for the next thing-

God eventually answered Hannah’s prayer in a big way. She ultimately gave birth to three sons and two daughters (1st Samuel 2:21). Her first child was Samuel, a little boy who would grow up to be a Prophet, Priest and the final and most important Judge of Israel. Samuel led the Israelites faithfully, anointed the first two kings of Israel and mentored David, the man who would be called a man after God’s own heart and the great-great-great-grandfather of Jesus. In order for Samuel to become the man God needed in that moment of time, it was mission-critical he receive in-depth instruction from an early age. Hannah took Samuel to the tabernacle when he was about five-years-old to be trained under the Priest Eli. Hannah’s years of waiting, praying and trusting God for a miracle made her strong and prepared her to do what needed to be done so Samuel could become the man God needed in the moment. It was a big stinking deal with all sorts of blessings that Hannah would not have received if she hadn’t been ready.

Breaking strongholds-

A spiritual stronghold is an area of our lives where our flesh (humanness) or Satan has more control over our actions and attitudes than we do or God does. Just like everyone else Christians have spiritual strongholds in their lives. God wants to free us from our strongholds so that we can become more like Jesus and more spiritually productive in every way (2nd Corinthians 10:3-5, Matthew 28:18-20). Periods of waiting have a way of creating stress that reveal our strongholds. Sometimes God makes us wait so we will see the things in our lives that need to be transformed (Romans 12:2, 2nd Corinthians 3:18)

He’s working on the people in our sphere of influence- 

There are times when our pain isn’t all about us. Sometimes the way we handle our struggles has a huge impact on the people around us. Such was the case with Hannah. Through her faithfulness, persistence and trust in God Hannah showed Eli (the priest) what it really looks like to seek the Lord in the midst of a trial (1st Samuel 1:12-17). By following through on her vow, she also showed Eli what real obedience looks like (1st Samuel 1:9-24I. it was a lesson he needed to learn (1st Samuel 2:12-17)

If you are in a period of waiting I want to encourage you to make every effort not to give into despair during your trial (Psalm 31:24, John 16:33. 1st Peter 1:3-7).  Instead, do what Hannah did and seek God until you have peace or see transformation in your circumstances. Above all, trust God is doing something in you or through you cannot see or understand just yet.

Because that’s what He does in a period of waiting.

Doing this one Little Thing is Guaranteed to make you a Whole lot more Like Jesus-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

If you, Lord, keep account of sins Lord, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness and so you are revered- Psalm 130:3-4 NABRE  

Christianity is more than just a get out of hell free card. 

Ultimately, Christianity is the path to looking like and acting like Jesus (Romans 12:2, 2nd Corinthians 3:18). 

 When we put our faith and trust in Jesus, God forgives our sins and removes our guilt and shame (Psalm 103:12). In return Jesus’ goodness and righteousness is credited to us (Romans 4:5, James 2:23). When God sees us, He no longer sees the horrible, awful things we’ve done. Instead, He sees the righteousness of Jesus. Imputation of righteousness is the fancy-pants theological term for this incredibly beautiful exchange (2nd Corinthians 5:17) 

However. 

 We don’t wake up the day after our salvation experience looking and acting like a little Jesus. In fact, most of us wakeup the day after our salvation experience feeling somewhat different but with all the same problems, attitudes and behaviors we had pre-Jesus. The only difference is now we feel bad about those things instead of simply accepting them as a standard part of our operating system. 

That’s where sanctification comes in.  Sanctification is the lifelong process of becoming like Jesus (1st Corinthians 6:11, 1st Thessalonians 4:3). Paul called this process “working out your salvation” (Philippians 2:12-13).  We become sanctified (holy) by letting go of old behaviors that are normal part of our human nature and taking on new behaviors and attitudes that imitate Jesus (Colossians 3:5-14, Ephesians 4:1-3, Galatians 5:16-26).

  One critical step in the sanctification process is learning to forgive like Jesus forgave.  

 Forgiveness is hard. It is, perhaps, the hardest part of becoming like Jesus. It just kind of goes against the grain of our human nature to forgive wrongs committed against us. However, forgiveness is absolutely essential because we are never more like Jesus than when we are actively choosing to forgive (Psalm 103:2-4, Isaiah 1:18). In order to forgive we have to get past the notion forgiveness is something we do for other people. Most of the time, the people we forgive will never even know we forgave them. Forgiving others is something we do for our own spiritual, psychological and emotional well-being. Corrie Ten Boom spent nearly a year of hell in Ravensbruck concentration camp. She later said this about forgiveness: 

Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.

God longs for His people to be free of resentment, bitterness and selfishness because freedom is what transforms us into the image of Jesus and prepares us to do the ministry He has for us (Ephesians 2:10, Colossians 4:17).  

 Forgiveness is a process, not an event. In order to forgive we must:

 Understand the call to forgive-  

Forgiveness is not an optional activity or something we get to do when we feel like it.  Our willingness to forgive others is closely connected to God forgiving us and directly affects the level of freedom and joy we feel as Christians (Matthew 6:15, Luke 6:38, Luke 7:36-47).   

Acknowledge the genuineness of the offense-  

Unfortunately, forgiveness is rarely as easy as simply saying the words “I forgive you”. This might work in situations only involving minor hurts or social slights, however, in the case of a big hurt or a massive injustice this simply will not work. Instead, it is absolutely critical we acknowledge the wrong we suffered rather than attempting to stuff or pretend it was nothing. This means taking some time to process through the hurt we experienced in prayer and with a trusted Christian friend, a wise pastor or Christian counselor (Proverbs 11:14). Because some hurts are significant and not everyone we need to forgive is remorseful, God does not command us to be besties with the people we forgive. We are only called to forgive.  

Own our part (if there is one)- 

Oftentimes (but not always) we bear a certain level of responsibility for what went wrong in a relationship or a situation. “Our part” might be as basic as refusing to address issues and problems when they first came up (which always leads to more issues and problems) or as complicated as being complicit in a sinful relationship or situation.  Jesus is clear: truth sets us free (John 8:32). Telling ourselves and God (and in some cases the other people involved) the truth about our part in a situation will keep us firmly in God’s grace and go a long way in freeing us from the prison of bitterness (James 5:16, 1st John 1:8-10, Hebrews 12:15) 

Remember how much we have been forgiven- 

Forgiveness is easier when we are real with ourselves about our own level of sinfulness. We may not have done the awful thing that was done to us, but we all do and have done awful things (Romans 3:23). Recognizing this uncomfortable reality keeps us from becoming bloated with pride and it makes it much easier to forgive others (Psalm 51:10-17) 

And finally: 

The essence of genuine forgiveness is completely letting go of the right we have to punish and hate those who hurt us (Romans 12:19). This is the hardest of all the hard things and it simply cannot not be done without dedicated, intensive and repetitive prayer. Letting go of hate is hard because in a very real sense we all have a “right” to hold people’s sins against them, just like God has the right to hold our sins against us. Nonetheless, God in His infinite kindness chose to be merciful and forgive our sins when we were least deserving of forgiveness (Romans 5:7-8). 

 Can we do any less?     

Is Jesus Coming back Soon?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful- 1st Thessalonians 5:23-24 NKJV

Life has gotten so absurd it would be comical if it weren’t so dang crazy.

Lawlessness is slowly but surely morphing into a new normal. Grown adults are stumped as to how to identify their own gender.  People appear to be going feral right before our very eyes. Governments allow legitimately evil people to go free while prosecuting those attempting to aid the innocent.  Children can check porn out of their school libraries.  Many parents now openly admit in writing they wish they had never had children.  There is a novel new way to sin devised almost daily (2nd Timothy 3:1-5). 

Sigh. 

The nuttiness of it all has left many Christians wondering: When should we start expecting Jesus to come back?  And: What does He want me to be doing right now?

Fair questions. Practical questions. Questions that deserve a good answer. 

To be honest, I do not have a perfectly definitive answer to the first question.  No one does. Jesus wasn’t even given a timeline of future events. If God the Father saw fit to leave Jesus is in the dark, we need to be content with our own lack of clarity on this issue (Matthew 24:36). 

However, the Bible does give us some clear indicators to look for as well as some instructions as to what we should do while we wait. 

Daniel, the book we’ve been in is a classic go-to for end-times info. 

Daniel is where we get the first peek the anti-Christ, a one-world government and a season of intense suffering for Christians (Daniel 7:8, Daniel 7:20, Daniel 8:25, Daniel 9:27, 12, Daniel 11:21, Daniel 11:36-38). 

However.

The book of Daniel focuses on big-picture events. Consequently, it is not the best place to go to for clues that the season of Jesus’ return is here or approaching (Matthew 24:32-34).  Matthew is a much better book for those kinds of questions. In Matthew twenty-four Jesus gives at least four clues to look for and two directives we should follow as we wait for His return.  

The indicators the season is at hand are:

Insane levels of deception and lies about God-

Deception will be the defining characteristic of the end-times. Some deceptions will be fairly obvious and easy for believers to recognize, people claiming to be the messiah and whatnot. Most of the deception will be far less obvious. Subtly is at the core of every good lie and end-time lies will be so good even some Christians will be deceived (Luke 21:8, Matthew 24:4-5, Matthew 24:24). Most end-time deception will involve doubts about what God really meant by what He says in scripture and calling God’s goodness into question. This is already very normal. Even many church people are asking questions such as: “Did God really say certain sexual behaviors are sinful? Are male and female the only options when it comes to gender? Furthermore, hardly a day goes by when we aren’t presented with some stupid article (often written by a “Christian”) or meme calling God’s goodness into question (1st Timothy 4:1-3). It’s all end-times 101 stuff.

Unprecedented lawlessness, hatred and oppression-

The sinful nature of humanity will be on full display in the season of and prior to Jesus’ return. Jesus sums the behavior of the last days as “wickedness” (Matthew 24:12, 2nd Timothy 3:1-5). Apparently, wickedness so common many will become disheartened by the seemingly unending stream of evil and give up on God altogether (Matthew 24:12). 

Mayhem and chaos all over the place-

Relentless conflict between people groups, plagues, corrupt government and weird religious leaders will be all be increasingly common occurrences just prior to the return of Jesus.  Christians are told directly not to become alarmed by the changes they see taking place (Matthew 24:4-8) 

Christian leaders who abuse and exploit those they are called to lead- 

Near the end of His prophesy Jesus predicts there will be “servants” (Christians) who have authority over other “servants” (Christians). Some of those servants will lose their fear of God, behave shamefully and abuse the other servants (Matthew 24:48-49, 2nd Timothy 3:6-8).  This is a clear warning from Jesus not to allow the behavior of bad Christian leaders to shake our faith in the goodness of God. 

Alongside the clues Jesus gives a couple of clear warnings Christians must heed if they want to survive the chaos.  It’s critical we understand that just the lead-up to these times are going to be so perilous, confusing and discouraging if we don’t cling to Jesus we will be inclined to quit serving Jesus altogether (2nd Thessalonians 2:7-15, 2nd Thessalonians 2:3). 

Apostasy is not inevitable. We prevent it by doing two things:

Practicing discernment-

I do not know when Jesus is coming back. It could be tomorrow. It could be a year from now. It could be decades from now. That said, I do know for absolute certain it has never been more important for Christians to be thoroughly grounded in truth and walking closely with Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2). We are close enough to the end that Satan has power to deceive like he has never had before. The only way to keep ourselves from being deceived is to know truth, walk in truth and commune with Jesus daily (Proverbs 3:5-6).  Spiritual truth is the only truly effective antidote to the enemies lies. 

And most notably: 

We cannot let our love for God grow cold no matter how weird, scary or discouraging life becomes (Matthew 24:12)- 

We just can’t. We must be painstakingly careful to keep our love for God from growing cold. Evil people, exploitation, scary stuff, persecution and injustice are going to get worse (way worse). If we are in the end times, my guess is we are probably somewhere in the second or third inning of a nine-inning game. We simply cannot allow ourselves to become unsettled by the evil or disheartened by the persecution and hardship. Followers of Jesus have to play the long game by choosing daily to love Jesus, live righteously, speak truth and love even the unlovable like Jesus loved because those things are the things that prepare us for His return.