Unloving Tolerance

It is very sad to realize that many people now believe tolerance for evil doing is a demonstration of love. The truth is, tolerating sin in someone we care about is exactly the opposite of love. To lovingly and honestly confront somebody you cherish concerning violating God's commands is the most loving thing you can do.

I see it like this, your child wants to cross the street, but there is a red light. Would you say he has the right to choose to violate the law concerning red lights? Of course not! Tolerance is being taken way, way too far. It falls into the "peace at any price" and, the "live and let live" category. Mind your own business all right, while someone you love is being destroyed by sin. But, you are being tolerant and that is so very important!

What does the scripture say about such actions? Jude tells us in verse 23 to"...snatch others from the fire and save them." These others he spoke of had been fooled by false teachings like the new "tolerance" that allows everything evil and corrects nothing and calls it the loving thing to do.

In fact, it is now the mantra among some intellectuals that, " there is no good or evil, everything is relative". We've all heard it. But, making such a statement is a confession of gross ignorance. It defies common sense and, of course, challenges the LORD Himself who said, "the heart of man is evil, who can fathom it."

The way of undiscerning tolerance without real love or considering what God requires of us, is a dead end. It is a free-for-all, an invitation to mindless chaos and disorder, and finally, to eternal death. Surely that is not what we want! So the next time you are told to be tolerant of evil, use your spiritual sword to cut away the ruse and find the motive. Get to the truth of the matter. Do the loving thing and admonish, encourage and pray with the people you love. It's the right thing to do! There are eternal consequences. Doma

The End of Questioning

Are you asking difficult questions that seem to have no answers. If you had all the answers, you would be God. And, you know you're not!

Satified with answers
Reasoned out with care,
I continued smuggly
As long as life was fair.

But cruel circumstances
Struck me here and there,
And now more questions stop me cold,
Reason fails me and I know,
All my questions will fade away
When I see Your face.

All my questions will be gone
Like morning mist on a summer's day.
When I see Your face,
When I see You, LORD, face to face.

The Work of Repentance

I have been examining the concept of repentance. Since it has often been defined as agreeing with God about our sinfulness and need to change, what would this agreement look like? To what standard must I hold myself if I want to be in agreement with God about my life style, my behavioral choices, my thought life?

In nearly every book of the Bible, we are told to be obedient to God and what His requirements are. He has clearly set the standard. The commandments were given by God Himself to Moses. Those same commands were summarized by Jesus when He said, "... love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind and spirit and love your neighbor as yourself". These are the warnings we must heed in order to be obedient and truly repentant. "By them (the commands of God) is your servant warned and in keeping them there is great reward." Psalm 19:11

So did God understand how difficult obeying would be and how often we would have to confess our failures? Of course He did! The laws teach us what sin is and the Holy Spirit helps us understand our need to repent. I see repentance then as an ongoing process. I am no theologian or Biblical scholar, but I read so many scriptures which point out as Paul did that "What I want to do, I don't do and the evil I don't want to do, I keep doing." (My paraphrase of Romans 7:19.)

The absolutely terrific news is the conclusion Paul came to; the same answer that is our answer. "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" This is what Paul asked as he lamented over his sin. The answer is still the same - Christ Jesus our LORD! Repentance leads us to the cross. The cross leads us to the empty tomb and the ultimate victory over both sin and death which is ours in Jesus. He is God's perfect answer and our answer to the sin problem.

Can we change? Can we turn away from sinful habits and agree with God that He is right about us, that we desperately need Him? Yes, we can do that, through faith in Christ whose kindness leads us to repentance every day, every hour until we see Him face to face. Doma

A Look at Repentance

I am exploring the idea of what it means to repent. Looking at scripture helps immensely. Repentance, in the Old Testament appears to be a condition of God's favor. It makes sense to me, for if we want to please God and be in right relationship with Him, (have His favor), we must repent. However, lest we get caught up in the idea that obtaining God's favor means we DO something mainly for the purpose of getting Him to Do something for us, we need to examine the If/Then statements that appear throughout scripture.

"If you turn to the Almighty, you will be built up, you will put iniquity far from your tabernacles."Job 22:23. And also "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways: then I will hear from heaven..." II Chronicles 7:14. These are all things His people should have been doing already; turning to Him, humbling themselves, praying, seeking His face, turning away from sin, (repenting) as their response to the Almighty One.

When Jonah finally quit running away and preached his message to the people of Nineveh, God had prepared their hearts to repent in advance.We need to understand that it is God, the LORD alone, who leads His people to repentance. So, one way to come to repentance is through heeding God's warnings. Another way to come to agreement with God about our sinful condition and need to change is through God's kindness. "It's your kindness that leads us to repentance..."

What greater demonstration of the great and bountiful kindness of our God than the Savior's death on the cruel cross!

Now, if the work of repentance in us starts with God and ends with God, what is our part? It is just as II Chronicles says: humble yourself, pray, seeking His face and turn away from your wicked ways.

So, next time I will explore what that will mean to you and to me. Until then, I will be praying from Isaiah 37:15 that He will "...revive the spirit of the humble and revive the heart of the contrite ones ." Doma

Try a different "R" Word

This is the time of year we think about doing something new. We talk about resolutions and starting fresh. I want to suggest you join me in a more exciting pursuit. Instead of making resolutions we often fail to keep, let's try the other "R", repentance.

It is far more than saying you will not do ___ again. It is much more involved than tearful regrets and confessions. The real meaning of repentance is: Agreeing with God on the condition of your heart and turning away from the routine of sin that has become habitual. We need to examine what the actual process of repentance is; where it begins and where it leads us.

In the next few posts we will explore this topic and learn together what it really means to repent and why we have to do it to grow in our faith and be truly obedient to God.

Will it hurt? Will it be worth it? Do we really have to change? How will all this work and whose idea was this anyway? We will answer all these questions using scripture, the brains God gave us and some timely quotes from Christian teachers and thinkers like Oswald Chamber, for one.

Until next post, be thinking about and looking for examples of repentance in the Bible. Blessings to you. Doma