You Can’t Cover-Up the Truth!

12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

One of the first principles most parents teach their children is to tell the truth. Did you ever get busted by telling a lie to your parents? My little boys will sometimes try and cover-up from Mom and Dad when they have done something wrong. They are deceived thinking we don’t know the truth. It their attempt to be wise, they end up being just the opposite—foolish.

As I began to prepare to worship God and communicate His Word on this upcoming Easter Sunday, I started thinking about how foolish it is to try and cover-up the truth of God.

On Easter, Christians celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus is one of the greatest proofs that He is God. Apostle Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile (1 Corinthians 15:17).”

In order to prove something is true, you must have eyewitnesses. There were many who were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 says, “3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also.” Over 500 people witnessed the resurrection of Jesus and over 2 billion worship Him today. Is it possible that all those people are deceived?

Charles Colson, convicted for his involvement in the Watergate scandal as an assistant to President Richard Nixon, writes:

When I am challenged on the resurrection, my answer is always that the disciples and 500 others gave eyewitness accounts of seeing Jesus risen from the tomb. But then I'm asked, "How do you know they were telling the truth? Maybe they were perpetrating a hoax." My answer to that comes from an unlikely source: Watergate.

Watergate involved a conspiracy perpetuated by the closest aides to the president of the United States—the most powerful men in America, who were intensely loyal to their president. But one of them, John Dean, turned state's evidence, that is, testified against Nixon, as he put it, "to save his own skin"—and he did so only two weeks after informing the president about what was really going on—two weeks! The cover-up, the lie, could only be held together for two weeks, and then everybody else jumped ship in order to save themselves. Now, the fact is that all those around the president were facing was embarrassment, maybe prison. Nobody's life was at stake.

But what about the disciples? Twelve powerless men, peasants really, were facing not just embarrassment or political disgrace, but beatings, stonings, execution. Every single one of the disciples insisted, to their dying breaths, that they had physically seen Jesus bodily raised from the dead. Don't you think that one of those apostles would have cracked before being beheaded or stoned? That one of them would have made a deal with the authorities? None did. Men will give their lives for something they believe to be true; they will never give their lives for something they know to be false.

The Watergate cover-up reveals the true nature of humanity. Even political zealots at the pinnacle of power will, in the crunch, save their own necks, even at the expense of the ones they profess to serve so loyally. But the apostles could not deny Jesus, because they had seen him face to face, and they knew he had risen from the dead.

No, you can take it from an expert in cover-ups—I've lived through Watergate—that nothing less than a resurrected Christ could have caused those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive and is Lord. Two thousand years later, nothing less than the power of the risen Christ could inspire Christians around the world to remain faithful—despite prison, torture, and death.

Jesus is Lord: That's the thrilling message of Easter. It's a historic fact, one convincingly established by the evidence—and one you can bet your life upon.

HAPPY EASTER!

Are We Raising a Nation of Wimps?

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24

While reading “Culture Shift” by R. Albert Mohler, Jr., I was stirred after reading the eleventh chapter titled “Are We Raising a Nation of Wimps”. Mohler got his title for the chapter from the Psychology Today article “A Nation of Wimps”, written by Hara Estroff Marano.

The big idea in the chapter is—A Coddled Generation Cannot Cope!

I am the proud father of three boys. Two of my boys, Josiah (7) and Ethan (5) are playing team sports. There are many things I have experienced while helping coach their teams that drive me nuts. I will mention two of them.

First, in some of our games we did not keep score. Why do you play a game if you do not keep score? To me, to not keep score takes the fun out of the game and reduces it down to a glorified playground activity. Second, every team receives trophies at the end of the year. Even teams that did not win a game distributed trophies to their players. Since when was it advantageous to reward losing?

Marano begins her article commenting on how parents are giving their children a cushioned childhood. She points out how many parents are now spending a great deal of their time doing little more than protecting their children from life.

What is the result of all this? Our kids are growing up to be pampered wimps who are incapable of assuming adult responsibility and have no idea how to handle the routine challenges of life even though they have a shelf full of trophies.

My father taught me how to overcome adversity as a little child in one of the most simplistic manners. We used to play paper football every night on the kitchen counter after dinner. My father’s fine motor skills were much more advanced than mine, and as a result, I experienced defeat game after game. I do not think I ever beat him flicking the triangle football hoping it would stop on the edge of the counter.

After every defeat, I remember getting very upset and frustrated. My father would always make me shake his hand and say, “good game”. Learning how to overcome failure with a good attitude as a young child, while playing an uncomplicated game, was instrumental to my future success as a teenager and adult.

David Elkind, a prominent child psychologist, states, “Kids need to feel badly sometimes… We learn through experience and we learn through bad experiences. Through failure we learn to cope.”

That seems to be a foreign concept to many of today’s parents. Coddled by a generation of baby boomers, today’s parents have turned into hyper-protectors. Kids are not allowed to play, because they might get hurt. In today’s highly competitive environment, kids have to excel at everything, even if parents have to actually do the work or negotiate an assisted success.”Messing up” is simply out of style, Marano explains. “Although error and experimentation are the true mothers of success, parents are taking pains to remove failure from the equation.”

“Whether we want to or not, we’re on our way to creating a nation of wimps,” Marano warns.

Psychological distress is rampant on college campuses. Psychological distress—sometime evident in the mild form of anxiety and, in other cases, in binge drinking, self-mutilation, and even suicide—are now major concerns of college administrators.

As Steven Hyman, Harvard University’s provost and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health lamented, the problem “is interfering with the core mission of the university.” What is the source of this problem? Observers are zeroing in on parental pampering as the most critical factor behind this pattern of student “disconnect.” Smothered by parental attention and decision making during childhood and adolescence, these young people arrive on college campuses without the ability to make their own decisions, live with their choices, learn form their experiences, and grapple with the issues of adult life.

The article goes on to cite the experience of psychologist Robert Epstein of the University of California, San Diego. When Epstein announced to his class that he “expected them to work hard and would hold them to high standards,” he received an outraged response from a parent—using his official judicial stationery—accusing the professor of mistreating the young.

Mohler writes, “While we are charged to protect our children from evil and to guard them from harm, we are not to shield them from reality. As our children grow older, they should demonstrate an increasing maturity that allows them to deal with the problems of life—not to run from them.”

Unfortunately, the younger generation is also guilty. They must face the reality of a generation that seems, in all too many cases, unwilling to grow up, assume responsibility, and become genuine adults.

Let’s remember the words of Apostle Paul written to the church at Rome. In Romans 5:3-4 he writes, “(3) We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; (4) perseverance, character: and character, hope.”

And let’s be thankful for the lessons learned from skinned knees, routine disappointments, hard work, and the coach who refuses to buy trophies for a team without a win (I am always keeping score!).

Otherwise, we too will be raising a generation of wimps.

Is Your Sexuality a Choice? (Part 2)

My motive in this blog is to speak the truth in love in regards to the issue of homosexuality. As a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is my desire and my duty to make sure people know what God teaches about this topic. I feel the greatest way I can demonstrate love is by telling people the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes it contradicts our feelings and challenges our thoughts. However, truth will ultimately set us free if we will embrace it. Let me give you an illustration from my parenting.

I love my three sons. One of the main ways I show them my love is through discipline. They rarely like my discipline and many times wish I would let them do what they want. For example, my five year old wants to constantly ride his razor in the street. I’m sure it is fun for him to play in the street, but it is not safe. My love for him teaches him not to play in the street, and instructs him to stay in the driveway. If I did anything less as I parent, I would be negligent and irresponsible instead of loving.

As a parent or a pastor, one of the greatest ways I can express love to people is by telling them the truth.

In our “Choices” series, during the message “Is Your Sexuality a Choice”, Pam Ousley shared her testimony and answered many questions about homosexuality. I want to encourage you to listen to the message on our ENT Podcast. In this blog, I want to highlight some of the questions we talked about.

1. Is there any scientific evidence that proves homosexuality is a matter of birth or genetics?

No. Research indicates that there is simply no correlation between homosexual behavior and genetics. Studies conducted by Johns Hopkins University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, pro-homosexual scientist Evelyn Hooker and Masters and Johnson all deny a genetic link. They agree the connection between genetics and homosexuality is a myth. No scientific study affirming homosexuality has ever been replicated.

2. Is it true that 10% of the population is gay?

No. Even though this is a common myth purported by popular culture and flawed reporting to justify homosexual behavior, it simply is not true. We need to tell the person struggling with their sexual identity that they have been lied to by our popular culture. The truth is not that one in ten people are functioning as homosexuals. In fact, the number may be more like 1.5 to 2 people out of 100. For example, in 1994 the American sex survey, the most exhaustive piece of work that’s ever been done in this country about people’s sexual orientation, found that 2.7% of the population were homosexual men and 1.3 were homosexual women.

3. Is the homosexual lifestyle a normal, healthy “alternative” to heterosexuality?

• No. Over 50% of all homosexual men are carriers of the human papilloma virus, which produces anal warts and can often lead to anal cancer, according to Stephen Goldstone, assistant clinical professor of surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center, speaking at a 1999 Gay Men’s Health Summit in Boulder, CO.
• Male homosexuals are about 1000 times more likely to acquire AIDS than the general population (National Center for Infectious Diseases, 1992).
• A survey of more than 2300 gays in New York and three other cities found that 37% of men and 14% of women reported having a non-HIV sexually transmitted disease.
• Hepatitis B is about 5 times more prevalent among homosexuals than among heterosexual men, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1976-1994 (American Journal of Public Health).
• 78% of gay men have had or have an STD, according to H.H. Hartfield in “Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Homosexual Men” from 1981.
• The average age of death for gay males in the U.S. is 42 (only 9% live past age 65) while the median age of a married heterosexual man is 75 (Dr. E. Fields, “Is Homosexual Activity Normal?”).
• 40% of homosexuals report they have had more than 40 partners; 24% report they have had more than 100 partners (genre Magazine, 10/96).
• Homosexuals account for 3-4% of all gonorrhea cases, 60% of all syphilis cases, and 17% of all hospital admissions (other than STDs) in the United States (Lancet, April 25, 1987).

4. Do feelings and attractions to the same sex mean I’m a homosexual?

No. People who have same-sex feelings, urges, or fantasies does not mean in any way, shape, or form that they are gay. If a person is tempted to steal, this does not mean they are a kleptomaniac. Nor does it mean that they are a career criminal. If a person feels the urge to hit someone because they are angry, slugging someone does not become a legitimate and accepted behavior because of feelings. We all are contaminated with sin that causes us to feel and act contrary to God’s righteous standards. Our feelings must be dealt with according to truth.

5. Is it true that once someone is a homosexual, they are always a homosexual?

No. Pam Ousley and many others are great examples of people who have been set free from this lifestyle. Remember, a person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument.

Both extensive research and the records of many, many people who have come out of the homosexual lifestyle refute this premise. The greatest hope, though, is given to us in the Bible. In 1 Corinthians, after naming many of the sins that are an affront to God, including homosexuality, we are given one of the most hopeful and joyful verses of all Scripture. In verse 11 of chapter 6 we are told: “and such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God (NAS).”

Let us remember here that this was a letter to the church in Corinth. Corinth was the San Francisco of its day, with both male and female prostitutes in abundance. Within the city, a person could be involved in an orgy any time of the day or night, with their choice of sexual orientations.

As Corinthian citizens came to Christ, they had as much baggage ads any of us could imagine. These people were not just homosexuals, but adulterers, idol worshippers, thieves, robbers. They were people just like us; they were sinners. But Paul dismisses their past completely. At the moment they placed their faith in Christ, they were washed and sanctified by Him and made sinless before God. You see, the God of the Bible offers hope. Homosexuality is not a new sin, an unforgivable sin, or a lifestyle that can’t be changed. (Chip Ingram)

6. Are all Christians “homophobic”?

No. However, the tragedy of today’s dialogue between the gay community and the church is that this premise is too often true. Again, for this I deeply and sincerely apologize.

As Christians, we need to communicate to gays that we are willing to “step up the to plate” and speak the truth, but that we are committed to letting love, acceptance, and God’s grace rule our words and actions. We need to tell them that just as many of us have left sinful patterns and habits behind, and so can they. We must commit to stand with them, overcoming our own prejudice and fear. Together we will see God bring forgiveness and transformation to lives in need of healing.

7. Is there a church that will accept me and help me deal with my gay feelings?

Yes. Every Nation Tallahassee would love to help anyone struggling with this issue. Also, I would be happy to meet with anyone who would want to talk about this topic. I desire to extend the love and truth of Jesus to anyone seeking help. I am a person who has been changed by the grace and mercy of God. I recognize and have not forgotten my own need for God’s forgiveness. Once again, my motive is love.