How Do You Deal With Your Sin?

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

The Bible teaches that every person is born with a sinful nature. Just observe young children in a room full of toys with no supervision and this truth becomes quite evident. Our sinful nature causes us to think, feel and act contrary to God’s standard for appropriate conduct. Living in sin is in direct opposition to living by God’s Spirit which produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Have you ever asked the question, “Why is there so much evil in the world?” The answer is simple—human beings possess a sinful nature.

Even though the news stations validate this fact every evening, people still want to deny this reality. When humans don’t believe God’s diagnosis about the human condition, they develop in vain their own remedies to try to control behavior.

I have discovered that there are three ways to deal with sinful behavior.

(1) We can try to manage our sinful behavior.

Many support groups and psychotherapists operate with this philosophy. People are taught to identify their problem, and then they are instructed to follow some program or system to manage their behavior. These programs might deter bad behavior, but they never eliminate it. They are like putting a band-aid on a wound. A band-aid covers the wound, but it does not heal it. Similar to a dormant volcano that will eventually become active and erupt, it only takes the right circumstance or person to cause the sinful behavior in the person to manifest.

(2) We can try to medicate our sinful behavior.

All sinful behavior is detrimental to our health. More Americans report being depressed. We have had a revolution in the United States in identifying and treating depression, searching for its genetic causes and developing new families of antidepressant drugs. Yet we see no reduction in depression.

The nation's scales are going up...up...up...and it's clear that we have an obesity health crisis on our hands.

Mental disorders are common in the United States. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. More than 22 million Americans age 12 and older are addicted to drugs and alcohol.

The cover story of the December 1st, 2008 Time magazine issue was on the sorry state of American health. Despite advances in medicine, Americans are less healthy than we used to be, and the next generation may be even worse. It seems our solutions aren’t working.

(3) We can murder (crucify) our sinful nature.

The Bible not only teaches that humans are born with a sinful nature, but there is nothing we can do to remedy this condition. That is why we need a Savior! Jesus saves us from our sins. He does for us what is impossible to do for ourselves.

Galatians 5:24 says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” We murder or crucify our sinful nature by receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior, repenting of our sins, getting baptized in water and living life filled with God’s Spirit.

We can try our ways or God’s way to antidote sin. History has taught us that only one has proven to transform human beings for the better.

Guess which one it is.

Holy Bible: The Book of Martyrs

Martyr: (1) a person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her religion. (2) a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause.

The Holy Bible is the best selling book of all time. What makes this book so appealing and so intriguing? There are probably thousands of answers to this question. It is a book in which God reveals Himself to the world. It is a detailed book of history. It is a book that contains the most compelling love story of all time. It is a book of wars. I could go on and on with answers to why the Holy Bible is so amazing.

The Holy Bible is a book of martyrs. It is the greatest book because it was given to us through the greatest sacrifice. People shed their blood and lost their lives so we could read the truth of the Scriptures.

Some atheists have suggested that the disciples, during the decades following His death, simply invented their accounts of Jesus. Any fair-minded reader should consider the historical evidence. The apostles were continually threatened and pressured to deny their Lord during their ministry; especially as they faced torture and martyrdom. However, none of these men who spent time with Jesus chose to save their lives by denying their faith in Him.

History reveals that not one of these men, who knew Jesus personally, ever denied their testimony about Him despite the threat and reality of imminent death. Each of the apostles were called upon to pay the ultimate price to prove their faith in Jesus, affirming with their life's blood that Jesus was the true Messiah, the Son of God, and the only hope of salvation for a sinful humanity.

Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.

Mark died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.

Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos.

Peter was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross, according to church tradition because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

James the Just, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.

James the Greater, a son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem.

Bartholomew, also know as Nathanael, was a missionary to Asia and was martyred for his preaching in Armenia when he was flayed to death by a whip.

Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece.

The apostle Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the subcontinent.

Jude, the brother of Jesus, was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.

Barnabas, one of the group of seventy disciples, wrote the Epistle of Barnabas. He preached throughout Italy and Cyprus. Barnabas was stoned to death at Salonica.

The apostle Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67.

I think we should pay attention to a book that cost so much to be delivered to us.

What do you think?

The Significance of the Lord's Supper

As a young man, I often sat in church and participated in the Lord's Supper without truly grasping the meaning behind this sacred sacrament. In those earlier years, I am sad to confess that communion only meant three things to me. First, it was an opportunity to get out of my seat and move around. This was much better than staying in my seat bored to death. Second, I got to take a sip of wine without sneaking around or getting in trouble. And, third, it was an indication that church was ten minutes from being over. Soon, I would be outside playing with my friends on the nearest ball field.

Today, I am happy to confess that I have a much deeper understanding about the Lord's Supper. Communion is a holy meals that profiles the relationship of the Christian church to a Triune God and is also a means by which God is experienced as Father, Son, and Spirit. The Lord’s Supper is also a meal in which we celebrate the reign of God and communicate that we are a people who live in this reign.

In John 6:53-58 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

When Jesus said, “Take and eat; this is my body…Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant” (Matthew 26:26-28), He was not speaking in a cultural vacuum to consign His followers to cannibalism. Rather, His words were intended to lift the listeners from their barren, food-dominated existence to the recognition of the supreme hunger of life that could only be filled by different bread. It was in that very journey under Moses that God had first told them that physical bread had limited sustenance. He wanted to meet a greater hunger. (Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods)

1 Corinthians 10:14-17 says, "14Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf."

The human person is not designed to be alone; we are not wired to live in isolation from one another as spiritual monads or hermits. To be fully human, to live in the joy of all that we are called to be, requires that we are in fellowship with God and with others. This communion with God and others is fundamental to life.

The first and greatest command that Jesus gave in His proclamation of the gospel is to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We turn from autonomy and enter into fellowship with God and one another. Both dimensions of communion—relationship with God and relationship with others—are mediated, made possible, and sustained by Christ Jesus.

When Apostle Paul speaks of the Lord’s Supper as a participation in the blood and body of Christ, he is, in part, stressing that table fellowship is a significant and intimate spiritual event. In the ancient world, to eat with another was considered a spiritual act—a declaration of and a participation in a spiritual relationship.

The complement to our fellowship with Christ is our fellowship with one another. The Lord’s Supper is a rite of reconciliation: Our peace is with Christ and with one another. When we meet, we discern both the presence of the risen Christ, who hosts the meal, and also the body, the community of faith of which we are a part.

The Lord’s Supper, then, is never a solitary and individual event. It is always a meal of community of faith hosted by Christ as an event wherein we both declare and experience the grace that we are at peace with one another (Colossians 3:15).

I hope this blog stirs in you a desire to get your hungers fed by the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, and also a great anticipation to participate in the Lord's Supper--Communion.

Jesus, Water Baptisms and a Six Minute Mile

It was a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
Beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I'm not a hopeless case (Beautiful Day, U2)

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

At the beginning of the year, with total reliance upon God, I made three goals for myself in 2009. They were: (1) know Jesus Christ better, (2) make Him known better, and (3) run a mile in under six minutes.

I would like to update you on how I am doing in regards to accomplishing my goals.

(1) I want to know Jesus Christ better.

As I enter my forties, I feel closer to Jesus than I have ever felt in my life. I have a deeper revelation of His love and goodness. I recognize more and more how much I need His grace, mercy and guidance in my life. I have a greater faith that He is finishing the good work He began in me over twenty years ago. I have His peace that passes all understanding guarding my heart and mind. Finally, more important than anything else, I still want to know Him betteer!

(2) I want to make Jesus Christ known better.

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of water baptizing twelve people. One person in particular was a gentleman that I led to the Lord. Also, God has given me many opportunities to share Christ with new people this year. I am praying that these people will come to know Him before the year is over. It is so exciting to share the good news of Jesus Christ with people. I thank God for allowing me to participate in His work.

(3) I want to run a mile in under six minutes on my birthday.

Today was truly a beautiful day. The weather was so perfect I was convinced God made it that way just for me. I knew His providential hand was on me when I turned on “Spirit Way” to run my mile on the Florida State University track. I am happy to announce that I ran my mile in 5 minutes and 55 seconds on my 40th birthday. It was an awesome feeling to accomplish this goal. Thanks for your prayers, encouragement and support.

In these times of uncertainty, and on my birthday, I want to remind you that God is good all the time. I am going to celebrate God's goodness and my 4oth year of life all year long.

Make Jesus your Lord and enjoy the life He has given you by serving Him.

It's a beautiful day!