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Hey, did you catch what made the nightly news a few days ago on NBC, CBS and / or ABC?  Apparently there was a massive pro-gun control protest in Washington, D.C.  Massive anti-gun forces rolled out for it and these three big news networks made sure their camera's were rolling.

MASSIVE?  Not quite.  It was estimated by the big three networks that around 1,000 people attended the rally.  That's one thousand in a nation of over 300 million.  Yet, camera's were rolling.  This was big news!

Meanwhile, on the very same day, somewhere close to 1,000,000 (that's one million) people rallied in the March for Life.  Same city - Washington, D.C.  Same day.  Two rallies.  One rolled out a meager 1,000 people.  The other rolled out one million.  So, how much coverage do you think the March for Life received from the Big Three Networks?

One minute?  Two minutes?  Thirty seconds?  A sound byte?

Wrong!

The BIG THREE NETWORKS SAID NOTHING, NADA, NIL about the massive pro-life rally held this year.

Dear friends, Christians and others who hold views contrary to the "tolerant" left are being silenced and ostracized and snuffed out in our society.  Teachers and students are being silenced in public schools.  Employees are being silenced in workplaces.  Preachers in Canada are being silenced and even jailed, and the USA is next, no doubt.

Are we prepared for this, Church?  Are you preparing your children to live in a world where even holding, much less expressing a Christian or biblical viewpoint will be grounds for abuse?  What will our answer be?  Will we be silenced or shamed?

Or, will we stand in the long line of born again believers in the Risen Christ and answer, "We ought to obey God rather than men?"

Our digitally over-stimulated society has led to many benefits, but also many curses.  Among the curses, I believe, is the ability of nearly anyone and everyone to publicly "respond" to newsworthy (or not so newsworthy) matters.  And apparently we all, myself included, simply cannot not respond.  Bad English, but you get the point!  We just cannot help ourselves.  We feel compelled to make sure everyone knows how we feel or what we think when a deranged young adult guns down children, for example.

Well, I have been resisting the urge.  But as a Pastor, I do understand my calling from God to shepherd His flock here in Corydon.  So, I want to take just a few moments to help you wrestle with some of the things circling in all of our guts and minds.  Over and over again, I have heard people, many of them Christians, say "There just are no answers."

If they mean by that phrase that we finite humans have no good or acceptable explanations for how or why such an insane event happens, then I agree.  All answers that derive from human wit, will or wisdom fall woefully short.  The Darwinian evolutionist would perhaps point to the fact that we should have "weeded out" such an obviously mentally disturbed young man.  This is the goal of eugenics.  Make a "better" human via genetic alterations and abortions and sterilizations and such.  "Survival of the fittest.  Kill off the weak!"  And if you think that this line of reasoning is not prominent, you must get your news only from the major networks.  Recently in the Journal of Medical Ethics an Oxford professor named Julian Savulescu argued that parents should be able to screen out personality flaws in their children to ensure they will not harm themselves or others.  The professor wrote, "Indeed, when it comes to screening out personality flaws, such as potential alcoholism, psychopathy and disposition to violence, you could argue that people have a moral obligation to select ethically better children."  (www.telegraph.co.uk dtd 8/16/12).

Did you catch that?  Read it again!  This lab-coat wise guy wants us to abort unborn babies or kill off young children who exhibit whatever he and his lab rat buddies deem "psychopathy and disposition to violence."  Homosexual behavior was once considered psychopathy, but now lab-coat professors say it is not.  Definitions change among the scientific far too often, don't they?  So, we cannot look to our bio-engineers for answers to how and why those children in Newton were massacred.  Apparently, some scientists would have preferred many of those kids were never allowed to be born in the first place!  The Darwinist, if he is willing to stick to a pure evolutionary worldview, simply has no basis whatsoever for ethics.  It's insanity in our institutions of higher learning!  That gunman was just doing what he was "programmed" by his chemicals to do, and those children were no more than just well-organized pond slime.  Ho-hum.  That's how a truly consistent Darwinian sympathizes.  Touching, huh?

The relativist has no good answers, either.  She would have to say that the gunman who entered that school was no doubt just doing what he thought was right.  There really is no objective, absolute right and wrong.  So, it's just too bad those children had to be the victims of one man's notion of "right."  Well, that line of reasoning is sure to do nothing other than inflame and even more deeply hurt those families who are burying their precious dead loved ones.  There will be no convincing them that "right and wrong" is purely subjective.  They have been wronged and they know it!

Why am I going to all this trouble to discuss such matters?  Because I want you to realize that the worldviews of Darwinism and relativism lead us down a path to sheer chaos.  And, 98% of all Americans for the last hundred years or so have been educated in a system that has sold its very soul to those very worldviews!  But, even so, it is not acceptable to try and blame school shootings strictly on the schools themselves (though I do personally oppose the entire public education edifice).

You see, in the end, this tragedy like every other one before it, is really about Christmas.

While we pitiful humans have no answer for raw, untamed violence, God does.  The reason that man killed those people was because he was a sinner.  He had resident evil in his heart.  Sin was his master.  His mind was reprobate and his desires were degrading.  He was a truth suppressor and a self-worshiper (Romans 1:18-32).  He killed for the same reasons Cain killed his brother Abel (1 John 3:11-12).

Lab coat professors may say the Bible's analysis of the situation is overly simplistic.  I mean, we are all sinners, the Bible says, but we do not all open fire on 1st graders.  True enough.  But Jesus said we are all murderers at heart (Matthew 5:21-22).  While we should be thankful that God restrains the resident evil in most people to ensure most do not actually become as corrupt as they could be, the fact remains that "the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9).  The truth is, if left unchecked by God's grace, every one of us is capable of insane amounts of evil.  Paul the Apostle put it this way, "There but for the grace of God go I."  Amen.

The reason for Christmas is the mad gunman whose soul is caged in utter darkness.  The reason for Christmas is the 1st grader who had also shown his sinful depravity and rebellion towards God by repeated disobedience to parents and many other adult authorities even at such a young age (Rom 1:30).  While we like to build categories of those innocent and guilty, worthy and unworthy, God says all humanity is unworthy when compared to His holiness (Romans 3:23).  This does not mean the children "deserved" to become victims of this heinous crime.  But, we do need to remind ourselves that all those living apart from Christ's Lordship are under God's just wrath (John 3:36).

So, what has this tragedy to do with Christmas?  Simple.  "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6).  Jesus came because sinners needed Him!  The ungodly cannot reach God on their own.  So, God reached down to them.  Jesus came to make bad people good (not perfect this side of heaven, but good nonetheless).  Jesus came to give dead people life.  Jesus came to "save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).  No wonder the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest!"

Jesus does these things by giving sinners who repent and trust in Him alone His goodness, His righteousness, His wisdom, His life, His Spirit, and even His standing before Holy God!  There is no political solution to sin.  No amount of psychosis will eradicate sin.  No genetic "screening" can alter who a person really is in his very core.  Education cannot stop sin.  Our problem is who we are on the inside.  Our natures are held captive by this resident evil passed down to all of us by our very first parents - Adam and Eve.  We are born sinners (Psalm 51:5).  It is who we are that determines what we do (Mark 7:14-23).  And no human solution can ever change us from the inside out.

We need a Savior!  A Rescuer!  A Deliverer!  Someone to stand in our place before God!  Someone to give us a radically new disposition and heart!  The mad gunman needs a Savior.  The children need a Savior too.

The Christ of Christmas is that Savior.  Is He your Savior?  Has He given you "new birth"?  Has He made you new?  Have you trusted your whole life for all eternity into His mighty care?  Jesus is the Only Solution to sin.  Period.

God help Newton, Connecticut and Corydon, Indiana and all the ends of the earth look to Him and live, knowing one day He will come again and "make all things new" (Revelation 21:5).  Then and only then will murders cease!

I have been thinking today about the same thing you all have..this tragedy in Connecticut. It is really an atrocity..a massacre...a crime beyond belief. No matter how you describe it, you will end up at the same emotional place...to horrified for words. I have been thinking about all the people involved in that arena today. The mommas and daddies...the brothers and sisters...the grandmas and grandpas...the teachers and staff left behind....the wives and husbands and children left behind; and the grief counselors attending there onsite. As I began to hear about these grief counselors I found myself thanking God that I don't live there and do not have to attend to those massive, open bleeding hearts. I tried to think of words that I could say that would comfort and speak truth and life into the dead, lifeless hole that so many of the hearts there have become. I could think of none. I certainly cannot say I understand; I feel your pain; I know what you feel like. I do not know any of those things and I pray I never understand that kind of pain. I certainly could not discourse on how tomorrow will be brighter and how time heals all wounds because for them tomorrow will not come for their precious loved ones and time has been stopped in one horrible moment.  I could not offer wisdom because I have none to offer in this particular situation. What in the world could one say? What in the world could one even pray? I found my answer where I always find my answers..in my precious Bible. It is truly sufficient for every pain; it can answer every question; and it can fill every need. I am praying tonight the precious Word of God for Connecticut and its people and for our country in general.

Complete the following sentence:

It's OK to lie to your children when _____________________.

Seems every Christmas I find myself involved in discussions about whether or not Christian parents should perpetuate the "traditional" myths of Santa, reindeer and magical sleighs.  This Christmas has been no different, as some parents have just informed me that they do tell their children that Santa is real, drops down the chimney with gifts, and so on.  Others have come asking whether they should do this or not, and some have merely wanted my thoughts as a pastor.

Well, let me just say I do not think it matters much what you and I think on the subject.  God has spoken.

"You shall not bear a false report" (Exodus 23:1).

"You shall not . . . deal falsely, nor lie to one another" (Leviticus 19:11).

"Six things the Lord hates . . . a lying tongue" (Proverbs 6:16-17).

"Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices" (Colossians 3:9).

Clear enough?

Friends, it is not my intent to inflame parents at this time of year, but the truth is the truth.  My own Dad set an amazing example for me in this regard.  He never told me or my siblings anything other than the truth about things like Santa (we knew the presents came from real people), Easter bunnies, mythical fairies, etc.  His logic was impeccable.  He told us that he wanted us to know he was a man of truth and that we could trust him.  If he lied to us for years about Santa, then what reason would we have to believe him when he told of Jesus?  After all, we could "see" Santa in the shopping malls, but we could never "see" Jesus.  A child will be inclined to think of the one "not seen" as mythical.  I am afraid these issues are far more weighty than we like to let on.

So, is it ever OK to lie to our children, or anyone else for that matter?  God's answer is an emphatic "no."  There are no "little white lies."  There are no lies that are OK because they make for fun childhood fantasies.  It's one thing to teach these things to our children as myths.  It's another thing altogether to make them believe these myths are actually real or true.  That, plain and simple, is bearing "false witness."  It is lying.  It is sin.

So, what is the way out for Christian parents still foisting these myths on their children?  I offer these simple observations and recommendations:

1. Confess and Repent before God for lying.
2. If you have no conviction whatsoever about telling these lies to your children, closely examine what you are calling salvation (Revelation 21:8).
3. Confess and repent before your children.  Come clean with them and show them what it means to truly have a heart that desires to please God in all things.  Tell them you want to be a person of truth and that going forward, you will seek grace to speak truth to them.
4. If they cannot learn to trust your word, Dad and Mom, then it will prove difficult for them to learn to trust anyone, including God.  "Be imitators of God" (Ephesians 5:1).  Again, express how God has changed your heart and convinced you not to ever lie to your children again.  Begin to rebuild their trust.
5. Use the moment to teach them about truth and trustworthiness.  Teach them there are no "innocent" lies.  Teach them the source of lying (Satan, per John 8:44).  Teach them that their sinful hearts are inclined to lie, and that their only hope is to beg Jesus to give them new hearts that delight in obeying God.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I think the true meaning of Christmas is enough for our children, yes, more than enough!  Why do we feel the need to prop up Christmas with mythical fantasies and lies?  Why not urge your children this year to make sure they give away more than they receive?  Why not have them sell some old stuff or new stuff and give the money to a missionary or missions offering?  Why not have them clean out their closets and give the clothes to a needy family?  Why not take them caroling to neighbors who need to hear the good news of Jesus?  Our children are already inclined towards selfishness, so we should be extra careful not to feed that beast at Christmastime!  

Oh, to see a child's Christmas "wish list" filled with desires to see others blessed.  Oh, to have Christ truly become the center of Christmas again, and I mean in Christian homes!  Oh God help us turn our children upward to behold the majesty of the crucified and risen Jesus.  Oh God help us turn our children outward to a world that is so blinded by sin that they do not yet even know they desperately need this Jesus.  Oh God help us.  

As I write this, our nation is voting for its next President.  No doubt some of you reading this will be up late tonight to hear the results.  Others reading this are more like me . . . they will just go to bed like they have every night before.

It's not that I think elections don't matter.  They do!  And it's not that I think politics don't matter.  They do!  And, it's certainly not because I do not care who wins this particular election.  I do!

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior . . . He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their own hearts; He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate (Luke 1:46-47, 51-52).

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God (Rom 13:1).

So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:10-11).

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.  By its light the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it" (Rev 21:22-24).

These are the reasons I am not sweating any bullets or fretting late tonight.  God will either give us the leaders we deserve, or He will give us mercy.  I am asking Him for mercy, but either way, I bless His Holy Name now and forever!

Isn't it nice to know how this whole thing will really end?  Sleep tight, dear followers of the Lamb.  The Prince of Peace is the King of Glory . . . and He is the Only One whose reign shall never end!

Poor Richard Mourdock, candidate for Senate here in my home state of Indiana.  Poor guy.  He actually had the audacity to assert that God is the sovereign giver of life.

In a debate, a question was asked about abortion in the case of rape.  Mourdock basically said that even in those cases, the life of that child was something God intended.  His opponents immediately began twisting his words to try and make it seem like Mourdock said God endorses rape.  (No surprises there, since nearly all politicians on both sides of the aisle are eager to twist their opponents' words for their own gain.)  Mourdock has since clarified, however, that he did indeed mean only that God is the sovereign giver of life.  Apparently Richard reads His Bible!

Job said of his own personal suffering and calamity, "The hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing" (Job 12:9).

God told His Prophet named Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you" (Jer 1:5).

The Psalmist sang of God, "You formed my inward parts; You wove me together in my mother's womb . . . Your eyes have seen my unformed substance, and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me when as yet not one of them was" (Ps 139:13, 16).

James wrote that we should pray, "If the Lord wills, we will live" (Jms 4:15).

Jesus said not a single sparrow falls to the ground apart from the sovereign will and notice of God (Matt 10:29).

We could continue this exercise for a long, long time!  The Word of God is clear that God is indeed the One and Only Giver of Life.  No person has ever been conceived apart from the life-giving power of God.  There are no "accidental" babies or people.  This does not mean that God endorses every single circumstance surrounding every single human conception / birth.  But what it does mean is that God's gift of life is just that - a gift to be treasured regardless of the circumstances of conception (of which the baby is innocent, by the way).

Psalm 127 exclaims, "Children are a gift of the Lord!"  It does not say that some children are gifts from God, while others are not.  Nor does it say only children conceived under perfect and ideal circumstances are a gift from God.  Nor does it say only children who are conceived by parents who can "afford" to have them are a gift.  Nor does it say only children who are "wanted" by their birth parents are a gift.  Nor does it say only children who are perfectly healthy are gifts from God.  IT SAYS CHILDREN ARE A GIFT OF THE LORD.  PERIOD.

Now, this may not, indeed most likely will not get anyone elected to political office in our evil day and age.  But it has always been and shall always be the truth!  It does not matter whether Mitt Romney says he does not endorse this theology.  It does not matter if our President continues to cry out that women have a "right" to murder a baby simply because of the sin of the baby's parents.  God has spoken.  He is the Giver of Life.  Only He has sovereign rights over life.

His sovereignty repels sinners until out of that same kingly power God chooses to give those sinners new hearts.  Then, all of a sudden, nothing is sweeter to those sinners' ears than the sound of the Lion of Judah roaring and calling them to Himself by name!

"They will walk after the Lord.  He will roar like a lion; Indeed He will roar and His children will come trembling from the west" (Hosea 11:10).

"Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus" (Rev 22:20).

Each and every year, my family gets more and more turned off by Halloween.  Seems each year the TV commercials get scarier, bloodier, more gruesome, more dark.  Seems every year we become more and more determined as a culture to celebrate all things creepy, crawly, dead, rotting, or zombie.  And, as the Twilight Saga has shown us, we can even make these things "sexy."

One hardly needs to produce a wealth of research to support such a claim.  Just check out the box office big hitters each year and the conclusion becomes obvious - WE ARE ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED IN OUR CULTURE WITH VAMPIRES, GHOSTS, GOBLINS, ZOMBIES, WITCHCRAFT, WARLOCKS, BLOOD & GORE, AND ALL THINGS "DEATH."  Why, we even make the best-selling children's books and movies about these very things!

The trend is disturbing enough among the culture at large.  But, it plunges me into deeper concern when I see Christians diving right into this cess pool of all things "death."  Some believers in Christ find these things somewhat innocent.  I remain unconvinced that gawking Christians and their children and teens will arrive on the other side of this Vampire-Hooligan-Zombie parade unscathed.

My conviction on these things is biblically-derived.  When the Lord of all Creation was preparing His people to enter the land He had promised them, He gave them these instructions:

When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations.  There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.  And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.  You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners.  But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this (Deut 18:9-14).

Wow!  That list of abominable practices sounds like a "Who's Who" of Hollywood Blockbusters and Best-Selling Children's Books!  Just want to draw out a few obvious principles here from God's Word:

1. All these practices are seen by God as "pagan."  They are not for God's people.
2. These practices, such as witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy (fascination with the dead), mediums, and so on are clearly linked together by God with idolatry (offering your children as a burnt sacrifice to a false, dead god).
3. These practices are listed as the reason (at least one of the reasons) why God is going to allow Israel to defeat, kill and drive these people out of the land!

The reason these things are forbidden by God is given in the following verses of Deuteronomy 18 (vv. 15-22).  It goes something like this: I, God, have determined to speak directly to My people through the mouths and pens of My prophets.  Since I, God, am revealing Myself directly to you, you do not need to look elsewhere for any answers or any philosophies of how to live.  Hear My voice through My prophets.  And, O, by the way, I am sending you a prophet one day who will be My final word on all of life and godliness.  To reject that prophet is to reject Me. 

Of course, that Prophet came and His Name was and is Jesus (Heb 1).  Now, friends, I do not mean to tell you that if you take your kids trick-or-treating you are evil and dark.  But, I do mean to challenge this notion that you can continue to feast on zombie-type entertainment, and allow your children to feast on Harry Potter foolishness, and not eventually get burned.  Read Deuteronomy 18 a few times.  God sounds very, very serious to me. 

Maybe this Halloween we could all use a dose of the little Children's Song: "O Be Careful Little Eyes What You See."

Seems every presidential or national-level election for the last 20 years has been touted as "The most important election in our history."  How can this be?

Now, don't get me wrong, national-level elections are important, and recent ones have seemed to have enormous ramifications for our nation.  And, one suspects that if voters 50-75 years ago had treated presidential and congressional elections with the seriousness that many conservative evangelicals now do, maybe we would not be so anxious about every single election today.  [You do know that the slow churning of socialism and statism began several generations ago, don't you?  Some historians have traced it easily back to President Woodrow Wilson, while others take it all the way back to President Lincoln.]  We are suffering the consequences of multiple past elections, and both sides of the aisle have done their fair share to take America away from her Constitution and Representative Democracy and Capitalistic Economy.

Recently, I received a letter from the "Reverend" (using it loosely) Barry Lynn.  The letter was basically a threat and warning that if pastors do thus and so during an election year his organization will take you to court in an attempt to ensure your church loses its tax exempt status.  I was not and am not scared of Mr. Lynn.  "We ought to obey God rather than man."

This does not mean, however, that I feel any need to make specific candidate endorsements.  Week after week my passion is to preach the Bible with clarity and conviction, staying true to its original meaning and intent.  I want to be Christ-exalting and gospel-centered in my exposition of the Scriptures.  And, I trust if I and other Elders in our church are doing this well, along with the time we spend personally discipling members, believers in our church will indeed "vote their convictions."  And those convictions will derive from the absolutely authoritative Word of God.

Personally, I have been a "one issue voter" for my entire adult voting life.  I cannot and will not vote for any pro-abortion candidate.  Period.  But recently, I have added a second issue to my voting "plank."  I cannot and will not vote for any candidate who supports or promotes the agenda of sexual sin and perversion, be it adultery, homosexuality, redefining marriage, applauding promiscuity or fornication, etc.  These two issues are really the determining factors in how I cast my vote (and I do vote and you should to, even if you disagree with my views.  Our freedoms we take for granted may not be here tomorrow, so vote today while you can).

But what about the economy?  I happen to believe it's going to continue to tank so long as our leaders and people endorse and promote sin.  But what about foreign policy?  Yes, it too is important, but we are going to keep getting weaker in the world so long as we publicly and proudly endorse and export sin.

This election season has reminded me so much of God's commissioning of the Prophet Isaiah.  In the Book bearing his name, chapter 6, we read of God coming to him and anointing him as His spokesperson to Israel.  After being purged by God, Isaiah eagerly accepts God's call and says, "Here am I, send me."  That exciting response is immediately followed by sobering comments by God.  The Lord in essence tells Isaiah that the people simply will not listen to him.  They will continue in their spiritual blindness and deafness.  They will harden their hearts and reject God's Word.

This prompts the Prophet to cry out, "How long, O Lord?"  God's response is eerie when I contemplate the state of our own nation:

Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and house without people, and the land is desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

I am not an alarmist, dear friends.  But God judges sin.

At the end of this apocalyptic passage, however, we find these words from God, "The holy seed is its stump."  In other words, a stump who is holy will remain and be the very start of new life for the people.

America must return to the holy seed, her stump.  Do you know Him?

Yesterday, the voters of North Carolina did the right thing by voting for an amendment to their Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

But, how dare me claim this was "the right thing"?  How dare me be so "bigoted" or "unloving"?  My wife (who is our FB Rep) has told me that some of our friends and family do not agree with me on this issue.  Some have expressed embarrassment for the State of NC.  Others have tried to claim Jesus did not speak to the issue.  Some are saying "we" have no right to force our views down everyone else's throats.  (Of course, perhaps it has not occured to them that all laws legislate morality.  The only question is whose morality will become the law of the land).  I invite all readers of this blog to simply hear me out, realizing that when I have addressed this issue in the past responses come out of the wood works, and everyone suddenly is an expert on the Bible.  But friends, please just know that the Bible speaks as clearly to the sin of homosexuality as any issue in the Bible.  Major interpretive gymnastics must be done to avoid the obvious teaching of God in His Book, the Bible.

So, let me begin by simply reminding us all that God ordains all governments and He has ordained government to promote the good and punish the evil (Romans 13:1-7).  The ridiculously clear implication of this is that governments, in order to fulfill God's purposes for them, MUST KNOW GOOD FROM EVIL.  It is a crime against God for a government to reverse this and begin to promote evil and punish good.

But, that is precisely what advocates of so-called "gay marriage" want our governments to do!  While some have said we must not "force" our views on others, that is exactly what ALL LAWS do.  There is no getting around it.  Laws are the governments' way of telling citizens what is right and what is wrong!  Period.  So, if NC voters had chosen to continue to allow an "anything goes" definition of marriage, then that would have been somebody's idea of morality being imposed on everyone else in NC.  Every single law works this way.  So, what is most important is for us to determine whose ideas of right and wrong should be enacted as law.

Enter God.  He does not use fuzzy words or shady logic on the issue of sin, whether it is lying or sexual perversion.  Let's let God speak to this issue and ask for grace to think God's thoughts after Him.

"Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Genesis 1:28).

This is the very first command God gives to His human creatures, whom He has made "male and female" we are told one verse prior.  So, homosexual behavior violates the very first command of God to humanity.  If everyone in that first generation of humans chose to only live the homosexual lifestyle, NONE OF US WOULD BE HERE.

"Have you not read that He who created them in the beginning made them male and female and said, 'For this reason a man [singular] shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife [singular], and the two [not the three or four] shall become one flesh.  So they are no longer two, but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together let no man separate' " (Matthew 19:4-5).

These are the words of Jesus.  He clearly defines God's design for marriage here as one man + one woman for life.  Jesus surely did speak to the issue put before NC voters yesterday!

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effiminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Could the Holy Spirit of God have said it any clearer through the pen of the Apostle Paul?  [Please note these last two are New Testament quotes, and we have not even touched on Romans 1:18-32.]

So, ultimately it does not matter what any human thinks on this issue.  God has spoken clearly, and thus the NC voters did what was right in God's eyes by codifying His Divine view into law.

But now, we need to ALL notice how the verse above condemns us all to hell.  Jesus said lust in our hearts makes us adulterers (Matt 5:28).  And this is where the gospel comes into play.  While we Christians can and must hold out God's Word, and we must let God define what is sin (wrong) and what is pure (right), what we must not do is act like somehow sexual sin is more deserving of condemnation from God than other sins.

Every sin deserves God's wrath in hell.  "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).  This is what we have all earned with God (Romans 3:23)!  If we have broken one of God's laws we are guilty enough to be condemned forever (James 2:10).  So, anyone who accuses me of hating someone struggling with the sin of homosexuality simply does not know me.  I pastor a church full of sinners who are struggling with all sorts of sins, and their pastor is not exempted from this statement!

It is very possible that each Sunday someone sits in our pews who truly does struggle with homosexual attraction, or even behavior.  I will not, by God's grace, treat that person any differently than the man who comes to me and says he needs help being a more patient father to his children.  Sin in all its forms ruins us from the inside out (Mark 7).  Sin all stinks and it all has only one solution - the blood of Jesus Christ applied to the sinner's heart by the Holy Spirit of God.

The sin of homosexuality put Jesus on the cross.  God was metting out the punishment countless homosexual sinners had earned, and He was metting it out on the Perfect, sinless Substitute, Jesus.  Lying put Jesus on the cross.  Greed put Him on that judgment tree.  Worshipping false gods put Him there.  Selfishness, lust, sex outside of marriage, envy, lack of sacrificial love for wives and neighbors, failure to love God whole-heartedly, disobedience to parents - this and so much more put the precious Savior on the cross where He bore the wrath we had earned. 

And friends, we dare not for a second look down our noses at another sinner.  It took the same Jesus on the same cross to save the homosexual sinner as it did to save this old selfish sinner preacher.  This is what we hold out to ALL sinful people - the gospel which "is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).  The blood of Jesus can cleanse us "from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

So, Christians have no business either ignoring or neglecting God's clear words on right and wrong, and they should not want to see any other view of morality enacted into law other than God's (it is quite arrogant to think we know what is moral better than God does).  Christian, you do not have the option of thinking about things from your own perspective or your culture's.  Rather, you are called by the God who bought you with His blood to "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).  Christian, you are to "have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16).  Christ's mind on issues of sin is as clear as a moutain stream.  Jesus always condemned sin.  Think His thoughts after Him and never apologize for it!

On the other hand, Christians never have a right to ostracize a certain segment of sinners, or mistreat another human, or be unloving or unkind to any people or any person.  Rather, we are the ones who hold out the ONLY HOPE for homosexuals and liars - His Name is Jesus and He can change the heart of ANY sinner when His Spirit invades that person's life and applies the precious gospel truth.

Let's make sure we read the "rest of the story" from 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 quoted above.  Verse 11 goes on to say . . .

"Such were some of you [note the past tense]; 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."

Our culture tells people who you are can never change.  Once an alcoholic always an alcoholic.  And so on.  This is a bunch of demonic lies.  God says the blood of His Son and the power of His Spirit can wash any sinner clean and change the very disposition of his or her heart.  John Newton, the slave-trader turned Christian hymnist and pastor said it this way:

"I once was lost, but now am found.  Was blind, but now I see."

I urge everyone reading this to own yourself a helpless, wrath-deserving sinner before God.  I urge everyone reading this to cry out to Jesus for mercy and forgiveness and cleansing and a new life that seeks to please an Audience of One.  May you be given grace today to truly confess from the deepest part of you - "Jesus is Lord."

And by the way - this response is why I cannot be on Facebook!  FB lends itself to trite sayings that are shallow and careless and not biblically informed at all.  There is no way I could read the comments of people in my own family, and people who I know are in evangelical churches who actually thought NC should endorse homosexuality as a behavior and lifestyle, without giving a 1500 word answer.  Should we also get rid of laws against wife abuse?  Child pornagraphy?  Pedophilia?  Lying in court?  Polygamy?  Parental rights to raise children as they deem fit?  You see, laws always legislate morality.  It is always only a question of whose morality will be codified and enforced.  May NC voters continue to use the only true source of morality in this world - the Holy Word of the One True Holy God, the Bible.

One of the western world's most famous atheists, Christopher Hitchens, died this week.  He is no longer an atheist, assuming we define it not in the strictest terms (against God), but in the common vernacular - "a non-believer in God's existence."

Hitchens made lots of money writing books with titles like god is not Great (Yes, the actual book title does not capitalize "god").  He also enjoyed debating various Christian scholars or believers.  Last night on NBC, Brian Williams made the outlandish claim that Hitchens won most of his debates.  I personally never saw a debate that I thought Hitchens "won." 

You see, when you "debate" against God, you cannot win.  The Psalmist of Israel wrote, "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God."  That verse can mean one of two things, or maybe both.  It can mean that it is the ultimately foolish thing to do to try and claim there is no God.  It is not scientific, nor is it sound religion.  To ignore God's existence or to deny it is the height of folly. 

But, a more literal translation would be "The fool has said in his heart, 'No, God!' "  The difference is subtle, but perhaps important.  Not only is it foolish to deny God's reality, it is even worse to stand against God, to tell God "no!" 

Sadly, Hitchens fit both bills.  He was a fool in every respect and in every way meant by the Psalmist.  But, like every person before him, he died. 

The irony of me and many others taking note of his death is that if we followed Hitchens' worldview to a "T," we would not mourn his loss or even take any thought of it at all.  According to Hitchens' way of thinking, his death was no different than the death of a muskrat out in the unseen woods of Idaho.  Both Hitchens and the muskrat were just accidental combinations of atoms and chemicals, come together in an oddly organized way for a little while, and now dissolving back into the dirt from which they spontaneously arose many millions of years ago.  Both lives were, in the end, totally meaningless and without any overarching purpose.  Just another cosmic accident, a cog in the evolutionary wheel. 

How different this "blind faith" is from that of wise King Solomon: "Then the dust returns to the earth, as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it" (Eccl 12:7).

Now, Christopher Hitchens is no longer a disbeliever in God.  But, he is forever "against God," which is the truest sense of the moniker "atheist."  Hell is giving it to him his way, just the way he wanted it - godless.  And this must be one of the worst horrors of hell - though you now know that God is great after all, so infinitely good, glorious, beautiful and worthy, you cannot have Him.  Not ever.  That is, after all, what atheists and all sinners apart from God's saving grace in Christ desire.  As one mountain preacher put it long ago, "Hell is God saying, 'Have it your way.' " 

This torment of being forever cut off from God's glory in the face of Christ I would not wish upon Hitchens or anyone else.  I am saddened by Hitchens' death, as well as his sin-wracked life.  The death of this one who claimed to be an atheist has only strengthened my resolve to tell more people to "Repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). 

You see, there are no dead atheists. 

Who do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and His Messiah, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us."  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.  Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury saying, "As for Me, I have set My King on Zion, My holy hill" (Psalm 2:1-6).