BAD NEWS/GOOD NEWS

The bad news is that there is no good man, only bad men. The good news is that there is a Good God. That Good God left heaven to enter the world as a Good Man and live among bad men so that He, the Good Man, could die for the sins of all the bad men according to the Good God’s good plan. Now, through faith in the Good Man, bad men can become good men just like the Good Man. Therefore, the Good God now sees bad men who believe in the Good Man as good men. That is called Good News.

JESUS LOVES ME (Part 2)

So, does Jesus love you? If He can love me, He can love you. God so loved the WORLD. That's you, too. If He can love Judas, the one who betrayed Him, He can love you. If He can love Paul the Apostle, the who persecuted the Lord's church and had one of His followers killed (Stephen), then He can love you. If He can love Jacob (liar), Moses (murderer), David (adulterer and murderer), and Peter (forsook Jesus), the I know He loves you.

There has never been a question about God's love for you, though. He who gave us His Son will freely give us all things (Romans 8). God demonstrated His love for us while we were sinners (not after we cleaned up our lives) by giving Jesus Christ to die in our place for our sins. There is no question concerning God's love for you. The question is, do you love God? Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ with all of your heart? With all of your soul? With all of your mind? With all of your strength? This is not love like you may love hamburgers. This is not love like love for friends. It is not the love we have for family. It is not even the love we have for spouses. This love described by Jesus is the kind of love that consumes you, drives you, changes you, motivates you, and inspires you, and causes you to turn from everything to follow Jesus. That's exactly the kind of love Jesus has for us.

So, do you love Jesus? I didn't ask if you went to church, if you were baptized, if you prayed, if you gave to charity, if you sang in the choir, if you taught Sunday School, if you were a minister, if you were a Missionary, if you were a good person, a good dad or good mom, if you never killed anyone, if you never told a lie, if you never cheated on your spouse, if you never drank alcohol or did drugs, or if you owned a Bible. I asked you, do you love Jesus? Before you answer, remember God knows your heart. He sees what's on the inside, not just what's on the outside. The following verses say it better than I ever could.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. If ye love me, keep my commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? (37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
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verses used in the following order: Romans 5:8, John 3:16, John 17:3, 1 John 2:3-4, John 14:15, 1 John 5:3, Mat 22:36-39

JESUS LOVES ME

It has been a couple of months since my last post. My apologies. I will post more frequently. I enjoy this and it is good therapy. Today, I would just like to focus on a truth that is very simple, yet very profound. It is something kids learn early and adults learn often. Jesus loves me. As the old song says, Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so. Amen.

JESUS love me!
The holy, eternal, perfect. sinless, righteous, pure Son of God and God the Son loves me. The sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, almighty King of kings and Lord of lords loves me. The sacrificial, atoning, merciful, gracious, compassionate Lamb of God loves me.

Jesus LOVES me!
Jesus loves me with an unconditional, everlasting, passionate, intimate, correcting, protecting, perfect love.

Jesus loves ME!
Jesus loves me right now. Jesus loves me enough to not let me stay in the same condition in which He found me. Jesus loved me when I was a dirty, rotten, ungrateful, unholy, unrighteous, profane, God-hating, sinner. So I know He loves me now that I am a sanctified, Spirit indwelled, serving son and saint.

Jesus doesn't love me because of who I am or what I do or don't do. Jesus loves me because of who He is and what He does!

More a little bit later...

A SCIENTIST LOOKS AT SANTA

As we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ this year, I would like to remind everyone, in a lighthearted way, that Jesus is the reason for the season. Many times we lose site of that fact with all of the attention to CHRISTmas shopping, CHRISTmas parties, family CHRISTmas, and the fact that we allow Santa Claus to rob Jesus of the glory Jesus is due. Please remember CHRISTmas is all about Jesus Christ.

Luk 2:10-14 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. (11) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (12) And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. (13) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, (14) Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

The following is an article I came across several years ago. I find it pretty amusing and hope you will, also. It is entitled "A Scientist looks at Santa" by scientist L. Harold Allen.

No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are about 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not completely rule out flying reindeer, which only Santa has ever seen.

There are 2 billion children (persons under 18 years of age) in the world. Since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Buddhist children, that reduces his workload to 15% of the total - 378 million children, according to the Population Reference Bureau. The census shows an average of 3.5 children per household. That's 91.8 million homes to be visited. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.

Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming that he would be logical in traveling from east to west. This works out to 822.6 visits per second! This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second within which he has to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh, and then move on to the next house.

Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but for the purpose of our calculations we will accept it), we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles. This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, which is 3,000 times the speed of sound.

The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized Lego set, weighing about two pounds, the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa. On land, a conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" could pull 10 times that of a normal reindeer, we can not do the job with eight, or even nine reindeer. We need 214,200 reindeer! This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons.

353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as a spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. Each of the lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy, per second! In short, they will burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing each reindeer behind them in turn, thus creating a series of deafening SONIC BOOMS in their wake! The entire reindeer team will be Vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second.

Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than earth's gravity. A 250-pound Santa would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.

In conclusion, if Santa ever did try to deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now! So, Santa could not be "the reason for the season".

And, as you may know, Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners by dying for their sins on the cross, not His own. So, if you will admit to being a sinner and turn from your sins and turn to Christ for forgiveness of sin and eternal life, and trust Christ only, the Bible says you will be saved. Then, each year when you celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, you can also celebrate your new birth in Christ. You will then fully understand why Jesus, not Santa, is the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas and may God richly bless you as you follow Him.

TODAY'S TOPICS - HOMOSEXUALITY

The question of the day is what does the Bible say about homosexuality. Or, more specifically, does God condemn homosexuality? Read the following verses and answer the question for yourself.

In Genesis 19:1-13 God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness, including the sin of homosexuality as we will see later.

Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Leviticus 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Deuteronomy 23:17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

Romans 1:24-28 (24) Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: (25) Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. (26) For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: (27) And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error [perversion] which was meet. (28) And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (emphasis and words in brackets are mine)

One commentator wrote concerning this passage, “In short, confusion about God breeds confusion about man, which breeds confusion about sexuality, which produces sexual confusion and chaos. Far from being, as was fondly imagined by many, an enlightened age of sexual freedom, Paul showed his contemporaries that they lived in a dark day of divine wrath.”

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [a person who allows himself to be sexually abused contrary to nature], nor abusers of themselves with mankind [one who lies with a male as with a female, sodomite, homosexual], (10) Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (11) And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (words in brackets are mine)

1 Timothy 1:9-11 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, (10) For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; (11) According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

2 Peter 2:6-8 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; (7) And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (8) (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

Jude 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Now, you tell me. After reading these verses, does God condemn homosexuality? The answer is obviously yes. Yet, there are many people who will read these verses and deny that God condemns homosexuality. Therefore, I thought it best to let them speak for themselves in order to gain insight into their justification of the sin of sodomy [this is the Biblical term; homosexuality is too benign]. This will also give me the opportunity to refute their arguments. I came across an online magazine that did an interview with a liberal Canadian politician who is also a former minister. I chose this interview because it demonstrates how people try to use the Bible to justify the sodomite lifestyle and because the woman being interviewed is well respected for her education and 'Christian' views.

The Turning "is an online magazine that examines how spirituality can enrich modern life. Specifically, we're interested in whether Christianity can be a path to compassion, or whether it is has run out of steam, over-burdened by an addiction to power and self-righteous judgmentalism. We don't claim to have the answers. As relatively new Christians, we are still willing to ask uncomfortable questions about the faith. If it can't stand up to serious cross-examination, it won't keep our interest for long." Now you know the perspective of the magazine. Let's be clear: Christianity and the Bible have stood up to much tougher scrutiny and much tougher cross-examination than offered by The Turning and has always proved to be reliable and relevant. Regardless of their conclusions in any matter, Christianity and the Bible have and will withstand any attack and attempt to destroy them.

The following is the interview from the magazine entitled "Does the Bible Condemn Homosexuality? An Interview with Dr. Reverend Cheri DiNovo." My comments are interspersed throughout the interview and are marked as so.

As the debate rages over the legality and morality of same sex marriages, many Christians rely on the Bible as their guide. Many believe that the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality, and they provide specific passages to back up their claim. We decided to give the other side of the debate a chance to answer. So, we interviewed Dr Reverend Cheri DiNovo, a United Church Minister who has performed a dozen same-sex marriages in Canada. She has also written a PhD thesis on the subject of how Christianity deals with the outcasts of society. In this interview, we asked Dr Reverend DiNovo to explain her perspective on three often-quoted biblical passages that seem to condemn homosexuality.

[the first question was about Genesis 19 and Sodom and Gomorrah]

DINOVO: Well, first of all it’s important to remark that this passage is not about homosexuality. In fact, it has nothing to do with homosexuality. It’s about welcoming, it’s about the theology of hospitality, which is the great theology, biblically speaking, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelations. So, always and everywhere, the bible tells us to be welcoming and hospitable to strangers, especially strangers who are not like us. So here come some strangers into your town, so what do you do with them. The great sin of Sodom, for which it was punished, is the abuse of the strangers. It has nothing to do with how they were abused. That is irrelevant to the story. Anything could have happened. It is the fact that they were abused at all that is the point of the story.

It is not a question of sexual ethics, because it is absurd to say that it’s okay to send your virgin daughters out to be gang-raped, but it’s not okay to have strangers gang-raped. And that would be an absurd reading of it, but that would be a literalist reading of it, if you want to take it at face value, without any thought involved. I think there’s a great deal of prevarication when talking about this. People just throw Sodom and Gomorrah out as if they know what it’s about. They either don’t know what it’s about or if they’ve actually studied the Bible in obvious detail, they’d see that it’s not about homosexuality. It’s a smokescreen.

[MY RESPONSE: Let’s let the Bible determine the sin of Sodom. God tells us exactly why He destroyed Sodom in Ezekiel 16:49-50, "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. (50) And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good."

It is obvious from these verses that Sodom’s chief sin was pride, which led them to all sorts of evil including self-indulgence, idleness, oppressing the poor, a haughty spirit that led them to shamelessly parade their sin before God. God adds to that they also committed abomination before Him, which is the sin of sodomy and those who practiced this sin were called sodomites (1 Kings 14:24, 15:12, 22:46; 2 Kings 23:7). Isaiah 3:9 reads, "The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves." Sodom had thumbed its nose at God. They had no restraints and plenty of idle time to do whatever their lusts led them to do. There was no shame and they paraded their sin before God and practiced their sin in the streets.

To say that the great sin of Sodom was the abuse of strangers is simply wrong. When God listed the sins of Sodom He didn't even mention their lack of hospitality or their attempted abuse of the strangers. Also, I have never heard or read anyone who said that it was right for Lot to offer his daughters. I cannot explain why Lot would even think of that, but no one believes it was right. Sodom, though blessed by God, threw off the restraints of religion and morality and God gave them over to reprobate minds. This led to all kinds of wickedness, the chief of which was the sin that now bears the name of the city, sodomy.]

DINOVO: …another thing to point out about the biblical period: there was no such thing as homosexuality in the biblical era, neither in the Hebrew scripture era nor in the New Testament era. Homosexuality did not exist as a term or as a person. Homosexuality as a person was invented in the nineteenth century, as a pathology.

At the time the Bible was written, both the Hebrew scripture and the New Testament, homosexual acts were just variations of sexual acts. We remember that during the Greek era when the New Testament was written, homosexuality between an older man and a younger man was seen as a very common form of mentoring. It was average; it was not frowned upon. Where we see Paul and others in the New Testament railing about what seems like homosexuality, what they’re actually railing about is manipulation of youth. It’s really more pedophilia that they‘re railing at in that context, especially among the Greeks themselves and the whole Greek mythic structure. They’re railing against the Greek way of life. And part of that way of life was this initiation procedure with young boys, and it’s really pedophilia, and the kind of power imbalance which that implies is really the problem.

So, homosexuality is really a bad translation in this context. There were no ‘homosexuals’ at that time, there were only adults having sex in various ways, and one of those was having sex with their own gender.

[MY RESPONSE: This is simply absurd. Men are abusing boys and Paul is railing against manipulation of youth. God is certainly against the manipulation of youth, but He is also against the sin of sodomy. To say that homosexuality didn’t exist until the 19th century is just plain dumb. People may not have called the act homosexuality or the person a homosexual, but the practice certainly existed and it was called sodomy and those who practiced it were called by the Biblical term of sodomite.

Notice Paul’s condemnation of the act in the NT. Does this sound like Paul is railing against manipulation of youth? 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [a person who allows himself to be sexually abused contrary to nature], nor abusers of themselves with mankind [one who lies with a male as with a female, sodomite, homosexual]" (emphasis and words in brackets are mine). God says that man who gives himself over to be abused by man and the men who abuse him shall not inherit the kingdom of God. That says nothing about manipulation of youth.]

THE TURNING: Okay, well, let's continue our march through the Bible, and get to Leviticus, where God says to Moses, among many other things, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman, it is an abomination."

DINOVO: Okay, so, here you have the Jews differentiating themselves from the other great cultures of their day. In Leviticus you will find another six hundred strictures as well, including against eating shellfish, as well as spitting on the floor, [etc…]. There's all sorts of stuff there that we would now throw out, with very little thought. We would say, this is a people with very little in common with our people who have prohibitions for all sorts of strange reasons, and this would be of interest to a cultural anthropologist maybe, but it is certainly not anything we're going to live our lives by.

This is Rabbinical wisdom, this is not mine: the ban against homosexual sex acts is of the same order as not eating shellfish. So, if the Religious Right condemned the eating of shellfish in the same breath as homosexual acts, then maybe they would have it in context.

What's really true about Leviticus, and what kosher is about, is being mindful. Mindfulness about what you do, how you do it and why you do it. Mindful about the fact that God is aware of what you are doing, and God is present in what you are doing, and so you do it in a spirit of holiness. That holiness is imbued in every moment of your life. So, when you’re washing your dishes, what fork you use, what you eat with, all of this has to do with God in some beautiful and brilliant way. So, it's not about what fork you use, it's not about who you sleep with, it's about the mindfulness in which you engage in sexual acts, it's not about eating shellfish, it's about the mindfulness of the food that you put into your mouth - where did it come from, what pain when into producing it. So, that's what Leviticus is about, and this is what gets lost.

[MY RESPONSE: Mrs. DiNovo would really like us to believe that eating shellfish is on par with sodomy. First of all, for the Jews there were acts that were not morally wrong but nevertheless barred them from participating in the rituals of Judaism. These acts included the eating of certain foods that God called unclean. These foods were considered off-limits, or detestable. The word translated 'abomination' as it relates to food meant that these foods were to be considered unclean or detestable by the Jews. The word translated 'abomination' concerning moral issues (idolatry, sexual sin) is a different Hebrew word meaning that the practice of the abominable sin was disgusting to God.

Also, the designation of unclean foods was abolished in the NT in Acts 10 when God gave Peter the dream concerning clean and unclean animals. God has never taken the label of abomination off of sodomy.]

THE TURNING: We've received a fair bit of mail at the magazine from people who read the Bible quite literally …

DINOVO: I wish they did! I wish they read it more literally, I wish they actually read it. My problem with literalists and fundamentalists is that they don't actually read it, because if they did, it would be very difficult to uphold these kinds of arguments, the hatred of homosexuals, for example. It simply isn't there. What they have done very successfully is taken one passage out of context, without studying it, and then used that to beat up their neighbors. I really wish people would study the bible more, it's not a question of studying it less, or being less literal. I wish people would actually study the words there, i.e., being a bit more literalist about it. That would lead to a whole different conclusion.

[MY RESPONSE: Us fundamentalists aren't the ones denying the Word of God. seeking to justify our sins, or taking these verses out of context. Born again believers do not hate homosexuals. In fact, we are the ones who really love all sinners, including sodomites, because we will tell them the truth. We will tell them that they have sinned against a holy God just as all men have and they deserve to die and spend eternity in hell. We will tell them God loved them so much He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for them and pay the penalty for all of their sins, including sodomy. We will tell them if they turn from their sin and receive Jesus they will be forgiven and receive eternal life and the Holy Spirit will indwell them and give them victory over their sin.]

THE TURNING: Well, let's jump ahead then to the New Testament. In Corinthians there is a section which reads: “Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived, neither fornicators nor idolaters or adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." ( 9-10) Homosexuals are clearly mentioned, at least in this translation. What is this text trying to say?

DINOVO: What if all of our emails which we sent to our friends would be saved for two thousand years, collated, put together as a series of letters, written basically as holy scripture? There'd be some pretty wacky stuff in them. And some of our emails were clearly meant for particular people at a particular time, for a particular situation.
The letter to the people at Corinth was exactly that - written at a particular time, to a particular people, in a particular situation.

At Corinth they were having basically orgiastic meetings, people kind of blending in an interesting (sexual) way, taking what was in the old pagan religions and in the new Christian story. Among the Greeks, there were temple prostitutes, and so here in Corinth you had this decidedly un-Jewish living out of the story! There were wild parties, fornication and all sorts of wild things happening. So Paul is kind of ranting at them here, saying clean up your act, this is not what church should be about. Now, again, we have to remember that Paul himself is a human, this is not the word of God. This is the word of a first-century male, and he is writing in a patriarchy, and he is writing to a culture that he finds loathsome as a Jew. He grew up with Leviticus, where you’re supposed to be mindful of everything you did, with rigid rules about everything they did. And although he railed against the Pharisees for doing that, he was also offended by the Greeks who had thrown all of those rules out - "Do what you want, let’s party, let's blast!" So, here he is trying to reign in what has become a little too Greek for him. He also says that women shouldn't speak at church, and he seems to support slavery in one passage. Again, do we need to accept that? Of course not, it's ludicrous.

[MY RESPONSE: No one is advocating acceptance of slavery, including Paul. Paul was not addressing slavery as we know it, but servitude - people who for one reason or another had become legal servants of others. As for the women speaking in church, that’s an issue for another day. Paul’s prohibition was against women teaching men and usurping authority, as well as causing confusion in the church concerning the issue of tongues and prophecy.

Notice how easily Mrs. DiNovo dismisses the Bible in two ways, (1) by saying it is irrelevant for today and (2) by saying it is not the Word of God. Both statements are wrong. The Bible is a timeless book. It is for all people of all time for all cultures. I am willing to bet that Mrs. Dinovo accepts John 3:16 as the Word of God. My guess is she accepts the crucifixion and resurrection accounts as the Word of God. How do we know they weren’t written for first century Jews who were expecting a Messiah? Why do these passages have relevance for us today, but Paul’s condemnation of homosexuality is simply a rant by a 1st century Jewish male? The whole Bible is relevant for today and all time. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is inspired by God and all Scripture is beneficial or profitable in one of four ways - doctrine, reproof, correction, and/or instruction in righteousness.

Also, it is indeed the Word of God. I may write 10,000 emails but not one is inspired by God. The writers of the Bible were writing under the inspiration of God. They were penning God's Words. If you compare 2 Tim 3:16-17 and 2 Pet 3:15-16 you will see that Peter called Paul’s writings ‘Scripture’. This is not the ranting of a Jewish man against Greek influence in the church. These are the very Words of God for all generations. We can’t pick and choose what we believe to be the Word of God. It’s God’s Word from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. To not accept every Word as God’s Word is to reject all of it.]

THE TURNING: I wonder if we can end this by talking about where Christ himself would stand on this. Christ to my knowledge doesn't say anything about homosexuality or homosexual acts. However, he does say quite a lot about judgment and whether human beings should be judging each other.

DINOVO: Christ basically says, 'judge not'. That sums it all up - 'judge not'. Love thy neighbor as yourself. Well, your neighbor in an adulterer; your neighbor is a fornicator; your neighbor is a homosexual. This is your neighbor. Who do you think your neighbor is? Sometimes your neighbor is your enemy, this is the person you must love as yourself. Your neighbor is not the person who looks just like you and thinks just like you.

So, in light of that, what does it mean to love your neighbor? Does it mean to judge them, to harass them? To force them to change to become more like you? Absolutely not. Does it also mean to accept everything that your neighbor is doing? Not that either, because clearly, at some point, one draws the line. Jesus drew the line many times. He drew the line at stoning the adulterous woman. He made declarations in terms of justice. Certainly when you look at his ministry, it is based on justice and love.

THE TURNING: I saw a man on CNN the other night who is the father of a homosexual son, and this issue had split his family in two. His son was no longer welcome in the house, he said with apparent sincerity that he loves his son, as all fathers do. However, he felt his son's homosexual lifestyle was endangering the young man's soul. He couldn’t stand by as a father and look aside. What advice would you give that father in light of your reading of the Bible?

DINOVO: I always find it interesting that Christians can read the passages about not judging and then immediately do exactly that. I would immediately call the father's attention back to his own life, his own lifestyle, who he really is, and what he really did. In the same way as Jesus said, it's not even what you do, it's what you think. Okay, let's look at your thoughts now, and see if there's any sin there. And if there is any sin there, you had better pack up your stones and go home. To be biblical about it, he is judging, whether he wants to admit to it or not. And that is what all people do who hurt their own children. I mean, how horrible is that, to turn away from your own child, how unbiblical is that? So, is it loving, is it just? One would think as a community that is sitting together, praying together, that one would say no, it is neither loving nor just.

[MY RESPONSE: You knew this argument would show up eventually. All of this is right out of the liberal playbook. Anyone who says that homosexuality is wrong is guilty of violating Jesus’ command not to judge others. HOGWASH!

This command not to judge others includes the following areas: we should not judge motives; only God can read them; we should not judge by appearance (Joh 7:24; Jam 2:1-4); we should not judge those whose conscience leads them to do things that are not in themselves right or wrong (Rom 14:1-5); we should not judge the service of another Christian (1Co 4:1-5); and, we should not judge a fellow believer by speaking evil about him (Jam 4:11-12).

Sometimes these words of our Lord are misconstrued by people to prohibit all forms of judgment. No matter what happens, they piously say, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” But Jesus is not teaching that we are to be undiscerning Christians. He never intended that we abandon our critical faculty or discernment. The NT has many illustrations of legitimate judgment of the condition, conduct, or teaching of others. In addition, there are several areas in which the Christian is commanded to make a decision, to discriminate between good and bad or between good and best.

For example, Paul told the Galatians that if anyone, whether angel or apostle, came preaching another gospel they should be accursed. How could they obey this if they couldn't judge a preacher. Paul told the Corinthians to kick a man out of the church who had committed sexual sin. Were they guilty of violating the Lord's command not to judge? Absolutely not.

Jesus tells us in John 7:24 to judge righteous judgment, not according to appearance. Therefore, the command not to judge is not a blanket statement against forming an opinion about one’s words or actions. The prohibition is against judging people by outward appearance, before one knows all of the facts, and by our own standards. Righteous judgment means the judgment is based upon the Word of God, not my own personal standards, not by outward appearance only, and after all the facts are determined.

Also, Mrs. DiNovo is saying that anyone who has ever sinned can never pass judgment against any sinful act. That’s preposterous. I disobeyed my parents when I was a kid. Does that disqualify me from speaking out when my kids disobey me? I got drunk before I became a believer. Does that disqualify me from preaching against drunkenness? Absolutely not!

The fallacy of this argument is that people stand on tainted moral ground. This is true, we do. However, this is why we do not stand on our morality. The moral high ground from which we call sin ‘sin’ and right ‘right’ is the Word of God. It is not me stating that sodomy is sinful and telling the sodomite that he is a sinner. It is God. And He has the moral high ground.

God didn't write His Word in the sky. He gave it to us in a Book called the Holy Bible. And He wants us to read that Book and He wants parents to teach this Book to their kids so they can judge right and make good choices. He wants us to tell others what is in His Book so they can judge right and make good choices. And, God has called men to preach this Book and pass along what He says about the people and culture in which we live so they can do right and make choices that please God.

God does indeed condemn sodomy, as well as all sin. But God can forgive the sodomite, as well as all sinners, if they will simply turn from their sin and tune to Jesus Christ, the One who has "washed us from our sins in His own blood"; the One who was resurrected from the dead; the One who is seated on Heaven's throne waiting to save the repentant sinner; the One who is the only way to eternal life!]

See you next time. Dare to live Godly!

TODAY'S TOPICS - THE GLOBAL WARMING HOAX

Let's get right to the point. Global Warming is the biggest lie since scientists claimed the theory of evolution was real science. It's right up there with "ye shall not surely die", "I'm from the IRS and I am here to help", and "I created the internet."

GLOBAL WARMING AND ITS EFFECTS
Global Warming, according to the EPA website, is "a term used to describe a gradual increase in the earth’s average ground and atmospheric temperatures across the whole planet. Measurements indicate that the global temperature has increased by about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the past century. This warming trend appeared during a period when human activities were beginning to increase the carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Although most scientists believe that a rise in carbon dioxide emissions will lead to further global warming, uncertainties remain about the timing and severity of resulting climatic change. Nevertheless, many are convinced that human activities are partly responsible for the long-term warming of the past century and that climatic changes caused by greenhouse gas increases will be a continuing part of our future."

What is the supposed danger of global warming? From The Natural Resources Defense Council website, which “works to protect wildlife and wild places and to ensure a healthy environment for all life on earth.”
Global warming is a complex phenomenon, and its full-scale impacts are hard to predict far in advance. But each year scientists learn more about how global warming is affecting the planet, and many agree that certain consequences are likely to occur if current trends continue. Among these: Melting glaciers, early snowmelt and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages in the American West. Rising sea levels will lead to coastal flooding on the Eastern seaboard, in Florida, and in other areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico. Warmer sea surface temperatures will fuel more intense hurricanes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Forests, farms and cities will face troublesome new pests and more mosquito-borne diseases. Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant and animal species to extinction.

Or, as Chicken Little once said, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling."

WHY IS GLOBAL WARMING IMPORTANT TO BELIEVERS
First of all, there is the issue of loving our neighbors. "Jesus cares about what we drive. Obeying Jesus in our transportation choices is one of the great Christian obligations and opportunities of the twenty-first century." So proclaims the Evangelical Environmental Network on their "What Would Jesus Drive?" website. The issue seems absurd, but has a serious point. If the way we choose to drive harms other people, then servants of Christ must do what they can to minimize this harm. Doing otherwise would not entail loving one's neighbor as oneself. How can an individual's transportation choices harm others? The Evangelical Environmental Network explains, "Pollution that causes the threat of global warming violates the Great Commandments, the Golden Rule, and the Biblical call to care for 'the least of these,' and therefore denies Christ's Lordship." If human activities cause global warming, then Christians have an obligation to avoid contributing to the problem.

Next, there is the issue of man’s stewardship over the earth. Notice these verses:
Genesis 1:28 reads, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Psalm 8:6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

Psalm 24:1-2, “The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. 2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.”

God gave us dominion over the earth for our benefit, not to destroy it. If the cars we are driving and our lifestyles are destroying the God’s earth, then we have a responsibility to do all we can to correct our actions and be good stewards of God’s planet.

Also, there is the issue of responsibility. Who is responsible for global warming? Humans, specifically us Americans who don’t care about anyone else but ourselves, are blamed for producing most of the gasses that lead to global warming. However, what if could be proven that natural causes are responsible for a majority of greenhouse gasses? Would that not make God responsible for global warming?

Finally, there is the issue of trusting God’s Word? Is the Bible trustworthy and reliable? Can I trust God’s Word completely, even in the face of so much ‘scientific evidence’?

I am not a scientist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night so I could act like a scientist. Actually, I am going to quote extensively from a speech given on the floor of the Senate by Sen. James Inhofe from Oklahoma who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. That speech, entitled “A Skeptic’s Guide to Debunking Global Warming Alarmism”, as well as others he has given on the topic of global warming, is available online by clicking on the title (it is well worth your time to read this article). In the booklet that contains these speeches one can find all the scientific references he would ever need on the subject.

IS GLOBAL WARMING REAL?
Yes and No. It really depends on whom you ask. Actually, the temperatures have risen globally about 1 degree Farenheit over the last 100 years or so according to most estimates, but this increase is within the norm of historical fluctuations. But the question we should be asking is, “Are greenhouse gasses (humans) responsible for the change or is it part of the natural cycle that has occurred since God created the earth? Here is where I would like to begin quoting from Sen. Inhofe’s speech.

Skeptic’s Guide to Debunking Global Warming Alarmism; Hot & Cold Media Spin Cycle: A Challenge to Journalists who Cover Global Warming by United States Senator James Inhofe - Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works; Senate Floor Speech Delivered Monday September 25, 2006 and Global Warming Related Materials

Since 1895, the media has alternated between global cooling and warming scares during four separate and sometimes overlapping time periods. From 1895 until the 1930’s the media peddled a coming ice age. From the late 1920’s until the 1960’s they warned of global warming. From the 1950’s until the 1970’s they warned us again of a coming ice age. This makes modern global warming the fourth estate’s fourth attempt to promote opposing climate change fears during the last 100 years.

SUMMARY OF LATEST DEVELOPMENTS OF MANMADE GLOBAL WARMING HOCKEY STICK
First, I would like to summarize some of the recent developments in the controversy over whether or not humans have created a climate catastrophe. One of the key aspects that the United Nations, environmental groups and the media have promoted as the “smoking gun” of proof of catastrophic global warming is the so-called ‘hockey stick’ temperature graph by climate scientist Michael Mann and his colleagues.

This graph purported to show that temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere remained relatively stable over 900 years, then spiked upward in the 20th century presumably due to human activity. Mann, who also co-publishes a global warming propaganda blog reportedly set up with the help of an environmental group, had his “Hockey Stick” come under severe scrutiny.

The “hockey stick” was completely and thoroughly broken once and for all in 2006. Several years ago, two Canadian researchers tore apart the statistical foundation for the hockey stick. In 2006, both the National Academy of Sciences and an independent researcher further refuted the foundation of the “hockey stick.”

The National Academy of Sciences report reaffirmed the existence of the Medieval Warm Period from about 900 AD to 1300 AD and the Little Ice Age from about 1500 to 1850. Both of these periods occurred long before the invention of the SUV or human industrial activity could have possibly impacted the Earth’s climate. In fact, scientists believe the Earth was warmer than today during the Medieval Warm Period, when the Vikings grew crops in Greenland.

Climate alarmists have been attempting to erase the inconvenient Medieval Warm Period from the Earth’s climate history for at least a decade. David Deming, an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Geosciences, can testify first hand about this effort. Dr. Deming was welcomed into the close-knit group of global warming believers after he published a paper in 1995 that noted some warming in the 20th century. Deming says he was subsequently contacted by a prominent global warming alarmist and told point blank “We have to get rid of the Medieval Warm Period.” When the “Hockey Stick” first appeared in 1998, it did just that.

END OF LITTLE ICE AGE MEANS WARMING
The media have missed the big pieces of the puzzle when it comes to the Earth’s temperatures and mankind’s carbon dioxide (C02) emissions. It is very simplistic to feign horror and say the one degree Fahrenheit temperature increase during the 20th century means we are all doomed. First of all, the one degree Fahrenheit rise coincided with the greatest advancement of living standards, life expectancy, food production and human health in the history of our planet. So it is hard to argue that the global warming we experienced in the 20th century was somehow negative or part of a catastrophic trend.

Second, what the climate alarmists and their advocates in the media have continued to ignore is the fact that the Little Ice Age, which resulted in harsh winters which froze New York Harbor and caused untold deaths, ended about 1850. So trying to prove man-made global warming by comparing the well-known fact that today’s temperatures are warmer than during the Little Ice Age is akin to comparing summer to winter to show a catastrophic temperature trend.

In addition, something that the media almost never addresses are the holes in the theory that C02 has been the driving force in global warming. Alarmists fail to adequately explain why temperatures began warming at the end of the Little Ice Age in about 1850, long before man-made CO2 emissions could have impacted the climate. Then about 1940, just as man-made CO2 emissions rose sharply, the temperatures began a decline that lasted until the 1970’s, prompting the media and many scientists to fear a coming ice age.

Let me repeat, temperatures got colder after C02 emissions exploded. If C02 is the driving force of global climate change, why do so many in the media ignore the many skeptical scientists who cite these rather obvious inconvenient truths?

SIXTY SCIENTISTS
My skeptical views on man-made catastrophic global warming have only strengthened as new science comes in. There have been recent findings in peer-reviewed literature over the last few years showing that the Antarctic is getting colder and the ice is growing and a new study in Geophysical Research Letters found that the sun was responsible for 50% of 20th century warming. Recently, many scientists, including a leading member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, predicted long-term global cooling may be on the horizon due to a projected decrease in the sun’s output.

A letter sent to the Canadian Prime Minister on April 6 of this year by 60 prominent scientists who question the basis for climate alarmism, clearly explains the current state of scientific knowledge on global warming.

The 60 scientists wrote: “If, back in the mid-1990s, we knew what we know today about climate, Kyoto would almost certainly not exist, because we would have concluded it was not necessary.” The letter also noted: “‘Climate change is real’ is a meaningless phrase used repeatedly by activists to convince the public that a climate catastrophe is looming and humanity is the cause. Neither of these fears is justified. Global climate changes occur all the time due to natural causes and the human impact still remains impossible to distinguish from this natural ‘noise.’”

So, you can see, the temperature has changed, but it is only do to the natural cycle that has occurred since creation. There are still honest scientists who aren't driven by any agenda who will admit this truth.

MEDIA BIAS ON GLOBAL WARMING
The driving force behind the alarmism concerning global warming is the media. The media, like many, has bought into the global warming hysteria because the Al Gores of the world promote it. In other words, it fits their liberal agenda so it makes the headlines. The only problem is that there is no real reporting, only propaganda from most of the major news outlets. Any real reporter could have done what Sen. Inhofe did in his speech and showed that this idea of global warming or cooling is nothing but natural fluctuations in temperatures. The following is from the same speech quoted above.

MEDIA COVERAGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Many in the media, as I noted earlier, have taken it upon themselves to drop all pretense of balance on global warming and instead become committed advocates for the issue.

Here is a quote from Newsweek magazine: “There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production – with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth.”

A headline in the New York Times reads: “Climate Changes Endanger World’s Food Output.”

Here is a quote from Time Magazine: “As they review the bizarre and unpredictable weather pattern of the past several years, a growing number of scientists are beginning to suspect that many seemingly contradictory meteorological fluctuations are actually part of a global climatic upheaval.”

All of this sounds very ominous. That is, until you realize that the three quotes I just read were from articles in 1975 editions of Newsweek Magazine and The New York Times, and Time Magazine in 1974. They weren’t referring to global warming; they were warning of a coming ice age. Let me repeat, all three of those quotes were published in the 1970’s and warned of a coming ice age. In addition to global cooling fears, Time Magazine has also reported on global warming. Here is an example:

“[Those] who claim that winters were harder when they were boys are quite right… weathermen have no doubt that the world at least for the time being is growing warmer.”

Before you think that this is just another example of the media promoting Vice President Gore’s movie, you need to know that the quote I just read you from Time Magazine was not a recent quote; it was from January 2, 1939.

Yes, in 1939. Nine years before Vice President Gore was born and over three decades before Time Magazine began hyping a coming ice age and almost five decades before they returned to hyping global warming. Time Magazine in 1951 pointed to receding permafrost in Russia as proof that the planet was warming. In 1952, the New York Times noted that the “trump card” of global warming “has been the melting glaciers.”

BUT MEDIA COULD NOT DECIDE BETWEEN WARMING OR COOLING SCARES
There are many more examples of the media and scientists flip-flopping between warming and cooling scares. Here is a quote from the New York Times reporting on fears of an approaching ice age. “Geologists Think the World May be Frozen Up Again.” That sentence appeared over 100 years ago in the February 24, 1895 edition of the New York Times. Let me repeat. 1895, not 1995.

A front page article in the October 7, 1912 New York Times, just a few months after the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank, declared that a prominent professor “Warns Us of an Encroaching Ice Age.” The very same day in 1912, the Los Angeles Times ran an article warning that the “Human race will have to fight for its existence against cold.” An August 10, 1923 Washington Post article declared: “Ice Age Coming Here.”

By the 1930’s, the media took a break from reporting on the coming ice age and instead switched gears to promoting global warming: “America in Longest Warm Spell Since 1776; Temperature Line Records a 25-year Rise” stated an article in the New York Times on March 27, 1933. The media of yesteryear was also not above injecting large amounts of fear and alarmism into their climate articles.

An August 9, 1923 front page article in the Chicago Tribune declared: “Scientist Says Arctic Ice Will Wipe Out Canada.” The article quoted a Yale University professor who predicted that large parts of Europe and Asia would be “wiped out” and Switzerland would be “entirely obliterated.”

A December 29, 1974 New York Times article on global cooling reported that climatologists believed “the facts of the present climate change are such that the most optimistic experts would assign near certainty to major crop failure in a decade.” The article also warned that unless government officials reacted to the coming catastrophe, “mass deaths by starvation and probably in anarchy and violence” would result. In 1975, the New York Times reported that “A major cooling [was] widely considered to be inevitable.” These past predictions of doom have a familiar ring, don’t they? They sound strikingly similar to our modern media promotion of former Vice president’s brand of climate alarmism.

After more than a century of alternating between global cooling and warming, one would think that this media history would serve a cautionary tale for today’s voices in the media and scientific community who are promoting yet another round of eco-doom.

Much of the 100-year media history on climate change that I have documented here today can be found in a publication titled “Fire and Ice” from the Business and Media Institute.

In his speech, Sen. Inhofe goes on to show how today's media hasn't learned from it's own "sky-is-falling" past. He quotes reports from the CBS show "60 Minutes" and NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw and cites articles from Time Magazine, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times to show continued media bias and propaganda. Sen. Inhofe also pointed that there were at least 12 errors in Al Gore's propaganda "An Inconvenient Truth." The truth really seems to be inconvenient for media and liberal politicians who are bent on promoting agendas instead of digging for and reporting the truth. It is obvious that global warming and the coming catastrophes associated with it are nothing more than scientific fable, much like Darwinism.

THE BELIEVER'S RESPONSE TO GLOBAL WARMING
Let's address the issue of loving our neighbors. We are not guilty of violating the Lord’s command to love our neighbors if we drive SUV’s, don’t recycle, don’t support Green Peace, and don’t vote for Obama. In fact, if they are so concerned with loving neighbors, help us support Mission work around the world. Pour a million dollars or two into our coffers so that Missionaries can build churches, start new works, train more people, and stay on the field longer. That's the kind of love for a neighbor that will matter for eternity.

Next, what about the issue of man’s stewardship over the earth? As has been shown already, driving cars and promoting industry are not destroying God’s creation, nor do they make us bad stewards of God’s earth. It does mean, though, that we ought to use common sense when it comes to recycling and replanting and taking care of our environment.

You may be surprised to know that God is responsible for greenhouse gases, also. Cows, due to production of methane gas (which is far more harmful to the environment that carbon dioxide), and forest fires are responsible for more greenhouse gases than human emissions from cars and industry. God created the cows, as well as the lightning, which start over half of the world’s forest fires. Therefore, God is just as responsible for greenhouse gases as we are. They are already trying to outlaw SUV's. What's next? Cows, forest fires, and volcanoes? Maybe we should outlaw God. Let me know how that works out for you.

Finally, there is the issue of trusting God’s Word. Notice Genesis 8:22, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

Why do you think God gave Noah that promise? He had just come off of the ark and been through the greatest cataclysmic event this world has ever seen. I am sure there were multiple climate changes leading up to, during, and after the flood. God was telling Noah, “I have everything under control. Don't be concerned when you see it rain; Don’t be alarmed when the temperature drops or you experience a heat wave or a natural disaster. As long as the earth is here there will be seasons, cold spells, heat waves, seed time and harvest, and night and day.” The only global warming people need to worry about is in 2 Peter 3:10-13: (10) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (11) Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, (12) Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? (13) Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
To rebut the alarmists, a group of evangelicals—researchers, professors, pastors, leaders—has banded together. It is the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance (ISA). The ISA is seeking to find an effective and sensible response to the possibility of climate change, using established norms of science and economics.

On January 17, 2007, a group led by representatives of the Center for Health and the Global Environment and of the National Association of Evangelicals sent out a letter titled “An Urgent Call to Action: Scientists and Evangelicals Unite to Protect Creation”. It was sent to political and religious leaders and the media. They claimed to speak for a broad consensus of scientists and evangelicals on a wide range of environmental issues.

The ISA letter stated that a look back at climate change over the past 30 to 150 years, as well as what may be projected with reasonable confidence into the foreseeable future, has resulted in the following conclusions:
(1) These climate changes are well within the bounds of natural variability, in which Earth’s climate has warmed and cooled cyclically throughout its history;
(2) These changes are largely natural in origin;
(3) These changes are unlikely to be catastrophic to humanity or the rest of the biosphere;
(4) These changes are not susceptible to significant reduction by any actions we take; and
(5) These changes are far from the most serious threat to humanity and the rest of our environment.”

LET'S KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING
Let us remain focused on the task at hand - not saving the environment, but doing all we can to get the Good News to unbelievers so they can be saved from the wrath to come.

TODAY'S TOPICS - TATTOOS

I have started a series of lessons on Wednesdays entitled Today's Topics. The idea being that we as believers ought to know what the Bible says about issues like tattoos, alcohol, global warming, abortion, racism, homosexuality and gay marriage, and aliens and UFO's. Many people will try to tell you that the Bible is not relevant and does not address these issues. However, God's Word endures forever and will be available to every generation. Therefore, there is a Bible verse or principle that will answer any question you may have about life issues. So, with that in mind, I give you what the Bible says about tattoos.

THE GROWING TREND
Tattoos have gained increasing prominence in the past decade. Life magazine estimated in 1936 that 10 million Americans, or approximately 6% of the population had at least one tattoo. A Harris Poll, done in 2003, nearly triples those numbers and estimates that 16% of Americans now have one or more tattoos. 36% of those ages 18 to 25, and 40 percent of those ages 26 to 40, have at least one tattoo, according to a fall 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center. The National Geographic News stated in April 2000 that 15% of Americans were tattooed (or approximately 40 million people)

There are an estimated 20,000+ parlors operating in the United States, according to a U.S. News & World Report article, which said, on the average, an establishment is being added in the country every day. The article ranked tattooing as the sixth fastest growing retail venture of the 1990s, right behind Internet, paging services, bagels, computer and cellular phone service. According to a news article out of Rochester, NY on October 8, 2003, "A recent Harris Poll finds that 16% of all adults have at least one tattoo. The highest incidence of tattoos was found among the gay, lesbian and bisexual population (31%) and among Americans ages 25 to 29 years (36%) and 30 to 39 years (28%). Democrats are more likely to have tattoos (18%) than Republicans (14%) and Independents (12%) while nearly equal percentages of males (16%) and females (15%) have tattoos."

HOW DO TATTOOS MAKE PEOPLE FEEL?
Among Americans with tattoos, 34% said having a tattoo has made them feel sexier. Interestingly, more tattooed females (42%) feel this way than males (25%). Additionally, those with tattoos said that having a tattoo has made them feel more rebellious (29%) while others said a tattoo makes them feel more attractive (26%). But tattoos apparently won't do much for your intelligence or your physique, as few Americans reported that tattoos make them feel more intelligent (5%), more healthy (4%), or more athletic (3%).

For the most part, tattoos used to be the mark of the rebellious, the drunkard, and the prisoner. Today, tattoos are found in every segment of society, and slowly, but surely tattoos are becoming popular for Christian young people. So, the question before us is, what does the Bible say about tattoos and body piercing?

OT LAW
We will answer that question by starting in the Old Testament (OT). Leviticus 19:1-2 reads, "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (2) Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy." Verse 28 of the same chapter reads, "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD." The context, according to verses 1 and 2, is the holiness (separation) of the people of God from their surrounding culture; they were not to adopt pagan practices and were to distinguish themselves as the people of God by holy practices.

It was a pagan practice to cut oneself to identify with the pain of one who died. In addition, it was a pagan practice to mark or tattoo their slaves to show ownership, much like a cattle brand. The practice became part of idol worship as people were tattooed or marked to show their devotion to their idols, or to show that they were slaves to the idols. Concerning piercings, I would encourage you to read Genesis 35:1-4 and Exodus 32:2-4. In Genesis, Jacob’s clan consecrated themselves to the Lord by removing their earrings and idols. Also, in Exodus, the Jews that left Egypt had apparently adopted the Egyptian (pagan) practice of piercing themselves. They removed their earrings and other jewels and made themselves a golden calf that they called their god instead of Jehovah. The pagans wore earrings and other jewelry with symbols of their gods on them. Apparently, the Jews did the same thing with a symbol of their God. They were upset with God about their journey so far and Moses' delay, that they turned on God and made their symbols into another god.

Now, anytime an OT Scripture is referenced regarding any issue, the common response from those whose practice is condemned is that the OT is no longer in force because Jesus Christ issued a New Covenant or Testament. The battle cry is, “We are no longer under law, we are under grace.” This is true, but only within context. The major emphasis in the New Testament (NT) concerning the OT and the law has to do with the means of justification, not the principles or restrictions placed upon God’s people. We are not justified by works or keeping the Law, but we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ apart from the Law. Does that mean that it is now ok to take the Lord's name in vain? Obviously not! Therefore, when we are talking about being under grace, we mean that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by our own works. As an aside, it must be stated that this was always true, even during OT times. OT people were under grace also and were justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It was just as impossible for them to keep the Law as it is for us today. But that is for another time.

Let's look at the verses surrounding the verse in question (Lev 19:28) to see if they still apply to us. Lev 19:29 says, "Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness." Does this prohibition still apply? Without a doubt! What about 19:26-27? "(26) Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times. (27) Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard." Is it ok for the Christian today to eat things with blood, practice witchcraft, or use omens to predict the future? Is it ok to cut our beards or hair to mark our allegiance to pagan idols? I don't think so. What about verses 19:3-18 that deal with teh way we treat our neighbor? The verses concerning sacrifices obviously don’t apply because the sacrifice of Jesus Christ put an end to all sacrifices. The other verses concerning how we treat our neighbors are still in effect. The verses concerning farming the land may not be in effect by the letter of the law, but certainly in spirit the principle still applies that we should help meet the needs of the poor and the stranger.

Another thing to remember when applying the OT is that the OT principle is still in effect unless overturned by the NT. For example, we don't keep Saturday as the Sabbath anymore because the Apostles and early disciples began assembling upon the first day of the week in honor of the Lord and His resurrection. Also, the prohibition against eating things that were deemed unclean in the OT such as fish without scales (catfish) and shell fish (lobster, crab) was lifted in the NT according to the dream that God gave to Peter. Therefore, the OT law was overturned in the NT.

Also, under grace it is the spirit of the OT law that applies, not the letter of the law. In other words, find the reason for the law or the principle behind the law. Many times, the NT principle is expressly stated for us. For example, notice Deuteronomy 22:5 “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.” Many people use this verse to say that women shouldn’t wear pants of any sort. However, what is the principle or spirit of the law? It was given to maintain distinction among the sexes. Men shouldn’t appear to look like women and women shouldn’t appear to look like men. This is repeated in the NT, as well in 1 Corinthians 11. The specific principle concerning what women should wear is given in the NT in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; (10) But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.”

So, to sum all of this up, the prohibition against marking the body is not overturned in the NT, and therefore, must still be in effect in the spirit of the law or in principle. Thus, we should be able to find a NT principle or two that deals with the issue of tattoos.

NT PRINCIPLES
We are told that we were made in the image of God in Genesis 1:26. This truth is repeated in the NT in 1 Corinthians 11:7. We, in some way, reflect the image of God by way of His special creation. Though fallen, according to Paul, man still bears the image of God. To mar that image with the marks of servitude (as tattoos were used for either servitude to man or servitude to idols) is to dishonor God.

We are also told that our bodies are God's temple and belong to the Him in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Let's think about that for just a second. Let's say we lived under Solomon's reign in the OT. He has just finished dedicating the temple and God moves in and shakes the place. It is a great moment in Israel's history. Would you have taken a paint brush and painted a beautiful cross on the outside of that temple? Would you spray paint a church today with graffiti? Most of us wouldn't because we recognize that these places are called the house of God in the Bible. We wouldn't mess with where God lives. Well, the Bible plainly declares that the believer is the temple of God and that God's owns him or her. What right do any of us have to put graffiti on the Lord’s temple?

There are more principles that apply to tattoos and many other areas of life. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 10:23 there is teh principle of edification. Is a tattoo edifying? Does it build me up in my service and worship of Jesus Christ? There is the principle of exaltation in 1 Corinthians 10:31. Does a tattoo glorify God or man? Finally, there is the principle of evangelism in 1 Cor 10:32-33. Will a tattoo be a stumbling block to anyone?

SIGN OF REBELLION
One final comment before we move to the next point. If you examine who gets tattoos and when most people get them, I believe that you will find that is a form of rebellion against the establishment, against the norm, against their parents, etc. Many young people get them about the time they are becoming young men and women. It is their way of showing that they can now do as they please. It is their way of taking ownership of their bodies.

THE MARKS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
I can hear the Christian teen or the young Christian adult saying, “What if I want a tattoo to show everyone my faith in Christ?” Well, there might be a better way to demonstrate your faith in Christ than getting a tattoo. Buy a t-shirt. Rent a billboard. Or, better yet, suffer persecution like the Apostle Paul - Galatians 6:17 "From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Or even better, follow the admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ in John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (35) By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

CONCLUSION
Based upon these facts (the Old Testament command against marking our bodies and the NT principles) I would conclude that God would rather I leave my body free from self-inflicted marks and cuts. We were made in "the image of God." Apparently God thinks that is good enough.

What if you already have a tattoo? Are you doomed for hell? Obviously not. Tattoos, just like alcohol, cigarettes, gambling, lying, etc., never sent anyone to hell. Rejecting Jesus Christ sends people to hell. We come to Jesus just as we are, with all our imperfections bodily, emotionally, and spiritually. If you have received a tattoo since becoming a believer and you now believe it is a sin, you need to do what the Bible prescribes for sin - and what every other believer does when he sins - confess you sin to Jesus and the Bible promises He will be faithful and just in forgiving your sin (1 John 1:9). Remember, we all bear scars from previous sins. Some just happen to be more visible than others.

Finally, if you are not convinced that getting a tattoo is a sin against God, I would simply ask that you continue to search the Scriptures and pray about the issue before making a choice that will affect you for the rest of your life.

That is just my 2 cents. It is now your turn to fire away.

HOME, SWEET HOME!

"There's no place like home. There's no place like home." Truer words were never spoken. It is great to be back home. It is great to be able to sleep in my bed on my pillows, eat my food in my kitchen, and prop my feet up on my couch to watch my TV in my living room. It is great to get my clothes out of my closet or my dresser instead of a suitcase. Don't get me wrong, the traveling was fun. We had a great time as a family. But it is great to be home.

Speaking of home, it was great to be back in my home church this past Sunday. I am still on sabbatical until Sept. 3rd, but my wife and I needed our church family so we decided to go home on Sunday and be with family. I love my church. Our brothers and sisters in the Lord welcomed us back with love. Lisa and I were put into the Refiner's fire this past week and we really needed our church. It was great just to be able to sit in the services and be ministered to. We sat in Sunday School with Bro. Ron and enjoyed his lesson on Choosing the Path of Full Devotion from our Discipleship Challenge workbook.

I am so thankful for our faithful associate, Bro. Chadd. He is a great friend and a real blessing to me and to Texas Avenue. He has done the majority of the preaching while I have been gone and God has used this time to mature him as a preacher. His message on love this past week is well worth your time. You can find it on our website. Also, our Deacons have been teaching on Sunday evenings. This past Sunday we were able to hear Bro. Jason teach from James 4 on not allowing the world to infiltrate our lives and our church. It was a great reminder of God's unwillingness to share us with the world. God wants all of our affection, devotion, and attention and He is more than worthy of it all.

I am not sure how people who are not active in church cope with tragedy and tribulation in their lives. Too many times we associate church with long sermons and giving away our money (yet we have no problem sitting through a four hour football game for $75 per ticket; but that's for another time). However, it is that long sermon that God uses to comfort our hearts and give us hope in tough times. And I would give every dime I had just to be part of a church family when troubles come our way. On top of the encouraging words, the warm hugs, and the shoulder to cry on, their is no dollar amount that can be placed on God's people taking your name and your circumstances to the Throne of Grace. There is not enough money in the world to replace the comfort and confidence that comes when God answers the prayers of His saints on on my behalf. You can have your pills, your psychiatrists, your psychologists, your secular counselors, your sleep-aids, your barroom buddies, and your whatever else helps you cope with life. I'll take my church home any day. And I won't just cope, I will overcome and live an abundant life as a result!

Speaking of home (again), won't it be great when Jesus Christ calls us Home! I was reminded again this past week of just how rotten this old world is. And, as the songwriter put it, I am glad "this world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through; my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue." As the Bible puts it, we are nothing more than strangers and pilgrims here. For the believers, our citizenship (way of life or standard of living) is in heaven. One of these days we will hear the Lord shout from heaven, then the voice of the archangel, followed by the trumpet of God. Then, according to the Bible, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead in Christ will be called out of the graves, then those alive in Christ will be caught up together with them into the clouds to meet the Lord, yes, to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, in the air! And so shall we ever be with the Lord Jesus Christ. We will be in that place the Lord Jesus said He was preparing for His followers.

What a day that will be
when my Jesus I shall see;
when I look upon His face,
the One who saved me by His grace;
when He takes me by the hand
and leads me through the Promised Land,
what a day, glorious day, that will be.

No more packing. No more pilgrimage. No more strangers in a strange land. No more SUFFERING. No more PAIN. No more HEARTACHE. No more CRYING. No more rotten SIN. Just God the Father and Jesus Christ in all of His glory. And his joint-heirs, His brothers and sisters. To enjoy Forever. And Ever. And Ever.

There's no place like Home!

HOME, SWEET HOME!

I MISS MY CHURCH!

GTT - Gone To Texas! This was a slogan posted on the abandoned homes of those who left everything to migrate to Texas in the early and mid 19th century. This is my new slogan. The Doucet World Tour finds itself back in the promised land today, praise the Lord!!!! We arrived in Lindale late last night and will be here through the weekend for Lisa's family reunion.

Can I tell you that I miss my church. I know it is the Lord's church. I know I do not own Texas Avenue. But TABC is mine in the sense that it is my family. I miss my brothers and sisters in the Lord. I miss your smiles. I miss your warm greetings. I miss your Amens. I miss your gracious comments. I miss hearing your prayers. I miss hearing our choir. God has used my time away to remind me how much I love every single member of TABC.

We had a great few days on Table Rock Lake in the Branson, MO area. In my opinion, Table Rock is one of the most beautiful places God has created. We were able to use a pontoon boat last Tuesday to spend a day on the lake. The kids really enjoyed being pulled around the lake on the tube. Tuesday night we took the kids to the oldest show in Branson, the Baldknobbers. Or, as Jackson calls them, the Bald Numbers. It was a very funny show and I picked up a few new lines like, "I had as much trouble as a woodpecker with chapped lips."

I really, really miss my church!

Wednesday night we went to the 40th annual Brumley Gospel sing in Lebanon, MO. We went with Ryan and Lilly Moses. Lilly was able to get us free tickets through a connection at KWFC in Springfield. We were able to hear the Primitive Quartet, Karen Peck and New River, The Gospel Enforcers, the Isaacs, and Greater Vision. Greater Vision debuted their new tenor. He debuted singing one of my favorite songs of all time, Little is Much. He almost did it as well as I do. Almost. It was a great concert and we had a great time with Ryan and Lilly.

Speaking of Ryan and Lilly, we went to church with them last Sunday morning at West Division Street Baptist Church. Their Pastor, Bro. Bell, preached a challenging message on being salt and light in the world from Matthew 5. Sunday evening we went to a church called Broadway Baptist Church in Springfield. Their Pastor, Eddie Bumpers, preached a great sermon on managing money from 1 Timothy 6. His sermons are available online and I would encourage you to listen anytime you can.

Have I mentioned that I miss my church?

Thursday, we had lunch with Ronn, Amanda, and Jace Herod. They are doing well. Ronn is looking for a new job so please pray for him. They are also waiting on the Lord for direction for their lives and the next step He would have them take on their journey to be Missionaries. Please be sure to speak to the Lord about them in your prayer time.

This weekend we will be in church at First Baptist Church of Lindale. We attend this church whenever we are here on a Sunday. I really enjoy the Pastor's preaching and I am looking forward to hearing him. Continue to pray for us. We love you and miss you.

Bro. Eric

p.s. - Have I told you I miss my church?

I'VE BEEN EVERYWHERE, MAN!

I've been to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.  If you say that real fast and put some music to it you can make a lot of money (or so I've heard).

I am currently (11:50 a.m. 8/2/08) sitting in a hotel in St. Charles, MO (suburb of St. Louis).  We are packing (again) and headed to the Branson area to stay for a couple of weeks.  We are having a great time.  We spent some time in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium.  It is a very famous place (I found out) because of its place in country music and blue-grass music.  It use to be a church. They now sell beer in the foyer.  It was a sad reminder of the spiritual battle we are in.

We also spent a day at the Creation Museum in Kentucky, just outside of Cincinnati.  It was a great learning experience and I highly recommend it as part of any family's vacation.

Last night we went to see the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.  I was very impressed with the arch and the museum underneath the arch.  I was too chicken to ride the tram to the top of the arch (630 feet).  I got queazy just looking up at the arch.  After seeing the museum, we went on a horse-drawn carriage ride along the banks of the Mississippi River.  We really enjoyed the ride. 

Last Sunday we were able to go hear one of my favorite preachers, Greg Locke, at his church just outside of Nashville.  We really enjoyed the service. The church is just 20 months old, but God has blessed greatly.

Tomorrow, we will be at West Division Baptist Church in Springfield with Ryan and Lilly.  I am looking forward to seeing them and meeting their Pastor. Please continue to pray for us as we travel.

I am praying for TABC.  I really miss all of you and I am getting homesick for my church home already.  I love you guys and will write again soon.

Bro. Eric