Sunday Message- being clear about love

So at one time I had a plan for this post, a plan in which I vented same old rage in a new package, put a nice, Easter-type bow on top, and passed it off as from God.


Thankfully, a sign of new maturity, I threw that away.

I don't want to join in the stupid wars on the internet anymore.  Everybody out there is getting their kicks sending out their hate wrapped in attacks on the people who they say are motivated by hate.

I want you to hear something else today.  I want you to hear about love.

Not love that says everyone goes to heaven, like spots in the eternal mansion are cars at an Oprah party.  Love in which One Creator God so loved His creation that He emptied Himself of Godhood and died in our places so we could join Him.

Not love that says, hey, you are a decent person, you'll make the list.  Love that recognizes that we have ALL fallen short of the perfection needed to be with a Holy God- and finds us a way there anyway, if we so choose.

Not love that says as long as you don't bother anyone, whatever you do is okay.  Love that recognizes that there is a moral standard that HAS to be met- and then offers us the chance to meet it.

I want to be clear on this.  Such love isn't cheap- it cost Jesus everything.  And it isn't easy- we have to be willing to give up this world for the reward of the next.  And it isn't for everyone.  There's one thing you have to do, and that is to recognize there is nothing you CAN do.  You need someone to do it FOR you- and that Someone has already done it.


Paul said, " that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)  Seems simple enough, right?  Except for that little 3 word phrase- in your heart.  Requiring sincerity, not just head knowledge.

Paul also said, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8) THAT means there are a set of rules, and a sincere believer has to follow them.  You don't get to cherry-pick out the non-PC stuff.

And Jesus told us, "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them." (Matt. 7:16-20)  And THAT means that it has to lead to a change in the way you see things and the way you act.  Not that you become instantly perfect, but that you begin to say no to the things that go against all the rest.  You feel guilt when you fail- or when you don't try.


So what brings all this up?  Well, as I may have mentioned, there is a "crack down on Chris" campaign going on here.  I am sick and tired of fighting the battle the world's way.  And one thing that has been laid on my heart in this is that I need to be CLEAR.  If I give people the impression that God grades on the curve, I am doing a garbage job on these posts.  Yes we fail, and God still loves us- He doesn't take Jesus back.  We repent, we slip up; God knew every time we would do that WAY before we did, and if He showed us today how many more times we had yet to fail, we'd probably wonder why He gives us the time of day.  But it still remains these three things:

Faith and confession

Learn and pray

Apply, apply, apply.

And that means I have to up the standards around here.  I have to make sure that every Sunday message shows that I believe that I am a sinner deserving of hell, except that Christ died for me.

Every Sunday message has to be grounded in the Bible- and my opinions have nothing to do with it.

And I have to go out and walk the walk.

So, continue praying for me, as anyone reading this knows that I am praying for you.  And we'll go on muddling through together- and with God's grace, maybe I won't be sharing as many, "and this is how I douched that up" stories, and more, "Here is the victory God won" stories instead.