Wretched

O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? -Romans 7:24 KJV

Amazing Grace

At a young age, he was a merchant sailor with whose reputation was so bad that it made other sailors blush. Before long, he became British slave trader. So wretched was he, that even his crew was disgusted. Once in a drunken stupor he fell overboard. To rescue him, crewmembers threw a harpoon through his leg so they could pull him back on board.

On another of his voyages, his ship nearly sank in a fierce storm. They lost most of the food, their ability to navigate, and were literally within days of cannibalism. By the time they reached land, John Newton finally recognized God's hand on his life. Newton left his ungodly ways, stopped slave trading, and became a pastor committed to ending slavery.

Saved by grace

John Newton was not being humble when he wrote "that saved a wretch like me." Slave traders are pretty low on the "sinners" list. The apostle Paul tells us in 1^st Timothy 1:10, that enslavers rate down there with those who kill their parents.

Wretch is a pretty strong term; To be wretched is to be hopeless, Despicable; hatefully vile and contemptible.

Q What goes through your head when you sing "a wretch like me"? Do you have an honest recognition of your state? Do you think, "That's me – Hopeless and despicable, in desperate need of God's grace." Or do you think, "That's putting it a little harsh." We should replace "wretch like me" with "wretch like Charles." If we're honest with ourselves, most of think we stack up pretty well in the grand scheme of things.

To those who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:

"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." – Luke 18:9-14 KJV

We cannot receive God's saving grace until we repent of our sins. I've had a chance to witness to a young man who has trouble understanding this fact. He freely admits that he has made a mess of many things in his life, but he thinks that he can make up for them by doing good deeds. In his case he plans to enter the military. Perhaps the military is where God wants to use him, but he cannot work off his sins in the military. He, just like all of us, must honestly and humbly admit his wretched state to God.

Grace alone can save a wretch like me. (Repeat that with me, but insert your own name.)

Not getting what we deserve

What exactly is grace? We use the word in so many ways: we say grace before meals, credit cards have a grace period, and people have been named Grace.

The grace Newton wrote about is God's saving grace. Grace is to not receive the punishment we deserve for our wretchedness.

Example 1:

Let say you got pulled over for doing 70 down Hospital Drive; not only that, but your tags are expired, your license is revoked, there's no insurance on the car, you're not wearing a seat belt, and to top it off, you swear at the officer and ask him why he isn't guarding Dunkin Donuts.

If he lets you off with a stern warning, you could call that grace.

Getting better than we deserve

But grace is even more. Grace is the application of Christ's righteousness to the sinner (GRACE = Gods riches at Christ's Expense). An undeserved blessing freely bestowed on man by God. It is this incredible kindness that He shows us, in ways both great and small.

Example 2:

Now say you're a server at IHOP and you're having a horrible day; you're late for work (which is why you were speeding earlier), you mess some guy's order, spill water and then pour coffee on him, and swear at him again (Again because your customer is the same officer who pulled you over earlier).

Now imagine he gives you a $200 tip – that's grace. Grace is getting better than we deserve.

Depths of grace

Now back to John Newton: I love stories of dramatic conversions, those 180º changes. We've had some come through our church with such stories. I love them, but I can't fully relate. Most of us have a "three steps forward, two steps back" walk with the Lord. We often mean well, but our actions don't quite match our intentions.

When I told you about Newton's conversion, I left a key piece of information: From the time from when he became a Christian until when he gave up slave trading was six years. And it took 25 more years for him to speak out against slavery.

Perhaps what makes grace so amazing is its depth. God is amazingly patient with frail and failing people, like John Newton, like you and like me.

• Q Do you know someone who has been "saved," but never changed?
  
• Q Are you that someone?
  

God's patience is often mistaken for permission to sin. Paul addressed this in Romans:

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? - Romans 6:15-16 KJV

When we, as genuine believers, take grace as permission to continue sinning, it shows we don't understand sin. Sin is a fatal disease, something to get away from, not something to get away with.

Sin is what destroys us, destroys others, and destroys our relationship with God – that's why God wants us to be free from it.

It is the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit that leads us to holiness, and away from sin, is a gift of grace, not burden.

Grace is freedom from sin, not freedom to sin.

As John Newton reached the end of his life and thought back on those six years he spent as a "Christian" slave trader, did he think, "Look what I got away with!"? Or, did he more likely think "Through many dangers, toils and snares, You, Lord, have lead me home; dangers I put myself in, toils and pain I inflicted on myself and others, snares that nearly snagged my soul."?

When it is our turn to stand before God, and we clearly seeing how much damage our sins did, will we say "Wow, look at all I got away with," or will we say, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me."

Lent – Day 15

Just an update on some if what I have been during over Lent.

First I continue to stay on the fast. I have been sticking to liquids only with the exception of last Friday, which had been planned in advance (the marriage counseling retreat that I mentioned in the previous update). There have been a couple of days where I felt moved by the spirit to really cut back even on the juices (drinking mostly water on those days). I can feel the Lord working in me. How? First, I couldn't on my own maintain a fast like this on my own. In the past I have been able to fast for short periods, and have done a juice fast before, but I am now going longer than I ever have in the past. If God was not in this with me, I couldn't make it this long, nor could expect to make it the entire time of Lent on the dietary schedule I am currently on. It must be God who is making this possible. And when Lent is over, it will be God who gets the glory for this.

Another thing I have noticed is that I am thinking more about things around me. I have been getting onto my son for his language, and have become aware of more of the things in my life that I have either allowed in my life that God wouldn't approve of, or taking note of the things I have done in the past (habitual things) that I never thought about and if those things are pleasing to God.

Another "odd" thing I have started doing this week is watching a different Christian movie each night and then considering what I have learned (if anything) from these movies. I will share briefly what I have seen so far and my thoughts on these.

The Nativity Story – This is a story about the events leading up to the birth of Christ. As a Christmas story, it is great. It have everything that you would expect. While not 100% percent accurate to scripture (example, the 3 Wisemen did not show up until possibly 2 years after the birth of Christ), it gives a lot of insight about Joseph and Mary. They portray Joseph as a man who sought after virtue, and while he was not perfect, was a man that lived his walk. Mary was the prime example of one who was willing to be a servant. The movie brings out the stigma of being pregnant and unmarried at that time. She was looked down upon the people she had grown up with, and Joseph joined into that once he declared that he would not turn his back to Mary. Both of them were willing to submit to God, accepting the ridicule that wispers about them. They were willing to submit to God and do what God told them to do.

The Book of Eli – I don't want to give away any plot twists for those who haven't seen this film, but it does show a man who is nowhere near perfect, but one who yet strives to do as God calls. One of the things that stands out most to me in this movie comes at the very end, when Eli is praying. He is dying, but has complete the task that had been set before him. His prayer is simple and can be summed up as follows: Thanks for giving me the strength to do what you needed me to do, thanks for the good things you allowed me to do and forgive me where I have fallen short.

Time Changer – The basic premise is that we cannot teach the things of God without and remove his from those teachings. For example, in one scene the main character catches a little girl who has stolen his hotdog. He asks the child if she knows that stealing is wrong. Her answer: "Says Who?" If we take god out of his teachings, then whatever we consider right or wrong is open to individual interpretation and debate. We can't take the teachings of the bible and treat them as just "good ideas". We need to remember that it is God who declares these things, and that He never changes. God is our authority behind these things, not us.

There are some more movies I plan to watch yet this week, as follows: Gospel of John, Passion of the Christ, and Left Behind.

I will write more later on how Lent is going, and my thoughts on the other movies.

Lent – Day 11

Our church has been having a marriage counseling retreat the last couple of days. I wanted to share a little on what was taught last night.

There is a hierarchy of priorities that we must always remember:

1. God – We are to keep God first and foremost.
   
2. Family – Family is second. Before the church was ever started, God created the family. A Father cannot expect his family to be right with God if he is not being the spiritual head of the household, being an example to his family.
   
3. Church – We are to be in a bible teaching/believing church, learning the word and supporting our church (tithes, offerings, helping where needed)
   
4. Others – This is a broad area, but it includes work (being a good workman, living a godly live as an example to others, helping and witnessing, etc.)
   
5. Self – We should be servants. We should be last on the list, but When we have the above four things in order, we will be right with God and we will be taken care of.
   

That's just a brief sampling, but one I wanted to post, not only to share with others, but to be a reminder to myself.

As to Lent, For the most part, things continue well. I have been fighting some weakness in the flesh by wanting to eat more, but have mostly fought that off. Not perfect, but when I make a mistake, I must remember to confess, seek God, and get back on the band wagon.

Lent – Day 1

Well, with yesterday being Fat Tuesday, I tried to make it a point to enjoy those things that I was going to be giving up during this time. I really enjoy both Coke and Mt. Dew, so I made it a point to have a couple of these. I also ate some of my favorite foods. I had hoped to have a steak dinner last night, but my son was sick, so I had to settle for a BBQ Chicken pizza from Papa Johns.
I have thought more about what I plan to do during this period of Lent, and will list these now:

1. Soda – No Soda (none, zero, zip until Easter. My son has been telling me how bad soda is, so hopefully I will lose my desire for soda by Easter, and not return to is (or at least drastically cut back on my intake).
2. Drinks allowed Monday – Saturday: Fruit juices, some milk, occasional Hot Chocolate, water, tea.
3. Foods allowed Monday – Saturday: Almost none, but I will allow limited fruits (banana's, apples, grapes, etc), vegetables (I hate most vegetables, so I will have to be very hungry to partake of these). I will also allow soups (plain soups such as tomato, no soups with meats or noodles, etc).
4. Sundays: Will allow for intake of any food and drink (no soda). I must remember to east responsibly (no pigging out, but enjoy the food I do eat, and no snacks or junk food).
5. Bible Study – I will at a minimum do a daily bible study (The Cross at http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/) . I have taken courses at this site before. The average time to complete one study will range between 35-45 minutes. I also have a Reese Chronological Bible. I plan to start reading the New Testament in this bible (this bible put the events of the bible in chronological order).
6. Prayer – Make a point of spending more time in prayer.
7. Internet access – As a computer tech, I essential need to access the internet for work. Outside of work, the only time I will access the internet is to complete my studies at http://www.settingsaptivesfree.com/, Update the church website (I run the website for the church I attend) and for occasional needs such as looking up movie times (for family events and so forth). There is to be no internet access for simple "browsing" or wasting time.
8. 
   
   Television – I will continue to allow myself television in the morning (I check the weather and local events to make sure there are no road closings or school cancellations). In the evening, I will only allow myself to watch television when:
   1. My Bible studies are complete
   2. Someone is watching with me (thus as a family event)
   3. No one is home (thus Television is not taking me away from my family)
9. Listen to the Holy Spirit – As this time progresses, I need to make sure that I am listening to the Holy Spirit, and adjusting my life as directed by the Holy Spirit during this time (and work to make sure that I continue to listen to the Holy Spirit in the future).

I will share that I have taken part in Fasts before. I have done water only fasts (up to three days) and I did 18 days once with Juices only. I plan to approach the Lent days (Monday – Saturday) with the same mindset as when I did the juice fasts in the past. I hope that I am able to avoid all solid food during these days.
I must remember that the whole purpose in the is to place Christ front and center in my life. I have for too long done things my way. And my way doesn't work. The following are the goals I hope to achieve during this time:

1. 
   
   Greater relationship with Christ: My son and I often have disagreements. Many times I have told him that if he was living his life the way scripture told him to live, then he would not have any problems with his family. I need to follow that same advice. I hope to get my relationship with Christ in order, so that I am living as He wants me to live. If I do so, then I believe that the following will take place:
   1. Peace of mind knowing that I am truly living as Christ would want me to live.
   2. By living as Christ would want me to live, I can be a better example to my family
   3. Growth in relationship with my family.
2. 
   
   Control of eating/weight loss: My weight issues cause the following:
   1. Lack of self control (gluttony) hinders my witnessing, by being a bad example to others, and affecting my self confidence to witness.
   2. Lack of energy prevents me from being all I can be for my family.
3. Gaining time: By getting away from my television and internet "addictions", I will gain time, Time for the family, time to do other things I know need to be done, and more time for prayer and study.
4. 
   
   Restoration:
   1. Restoring my relationship with God
   2. Restoring my relationship with my family

Anyone who reads this, please keep my in prayer during this time.

The Vomit of your sins…

Yesterday at work a students came in seeking assistance with formatting on a Microsoft Word Document. As we were working on the document, the student noticed that I had the following proverb written on the white board behind my desk:

As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
-Proverbs 26:11 (KJV)

Now where I work, I can't really get into deep discussions about the Bible, and sharing my faith is somewhat frowned upon, so while I had the text of the proverb upon the board, I did not identify that this was from the Bible.

As we worked upon her document, the student was more and more enamored by these words of wisdom. They held an even deeper emphasis for her as she is a veterinarian student.

I don't know how many of you have ever had a dog, but for those that do, I'm sure that you have enjoyed those times when you pet is sick. One of my favorite times (please read this knowing I am dripping with sarcasm) is when I awake in the middle of the night to the sound of a dog at the foot of the bed preparing to throw up.

When a dog throws up, for some reason they will turn around and try to eat what their stomach has just rejected. What is even worse is that our other dogs will run up to check out the "treat" just deposited on the floor, even attempting to partake of the just spewed "gastric delicacies".

I hope that by now your stomach is feeling just a little queasy about this topic. You see, our sins have the same appeal to God as dog vomit does to us. Both are disgusting. I have no comprehension of why a dog would want to eat its puke. When I am sick, I have no desire to follow in the wisdom of the dog. And fortunately, none of my friends will rush over to fight over my "expelled" food. The thought of it should turn your stomach.

Now let's put this in the view of the Lord. Just as I have no use for dog vomit, God has no use for sin, yet how many of us will continually return to sin, something that we know is wrong, something that sickens our Lord. And how many times have we lead others into sin?

But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.
- Numbers 32:23 (KJV)

If we do not turn from our sins, our sins will eventually catch up with us and expose us. In John Wesley's Explanatory notes, he puts it like this:

Sin will certainly find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us therefore to find our sins out, that we may repent of them and forsake them, lest our sins find us out, to our confusion and destruction.

Christians must repent of their sins. Christians must confess their sins to God and seek his pardon. In some cases it may be that a Christian must seek out and confess their sins to others also. But if we do not, our sins will hunt us down and destroy us.

Drugs will destroy our bodies. Alcohol can do the same thing (why do you think they call it being intoxicated? If you are drunk, you have in effect poisoned your body). Pornography (Adultery/fornication) will lead to the destruction of the enjoyment of marriage, and can lead to illness (AIDS, Syphilis, gonorrhea). The list goes on…

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The above was part of message that I had put together some time ago. I ran across it while digging through a backup of my old laptop files. Shortly we will be coming upon a new year. Many people will make Resolutions to change their life in some way, or set some goal to achieve, but before the end of the month most will have already broken those resolutions. Now would be the time to reflect back on the past year. Take inventory of those things you know are displeasing to God, and seek his forgiveness. That is what Christmas is all about. Jesus came to pay the debts we could never repay. Now is the time to turn from the folly of you old ways. Now is the time to stop returning to the vomit of your past sins.

Current and Starting weight: 261 (I am maintaining my weight through the holidays, then plan to take part in a fast. I will give further details on that come 01/03/10)

Where do you stand?

I was given the chance to share the following as a brief message at church last Sunday. While similiar to my original first post (Question with Boldness), it is more detailed. I hope this is a blessing to anyone reading this...

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Martin Niemöller was a German pastor and theologian born in Lippstadt, Germany, in 1892. Niemöller was an anti-Communist who supported Hitler's rise to power at first. But when Hitler insisted on the supremacy of the state over religion, Niemöller became disillusioned. He became the leader of a group of German clergymen opposed to Hitler. Unlike Niemöller, most gave in to the Nazis' threats. Hitler personally detested Niemöller and in 1937 had him arrested and eventually confined in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. Many of you may not know who Martin Niemöller is, but you are probably familiar with a poem he wrote:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
after all I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
after all I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
after all I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
His poem is well-known, frequently quoted, and is a popular model for describing the dangers of political apathy, as it often begins with specific and targeted fear and hatred which soon escalates out of control.

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
     - Esther 4:13-14

Both Pastor Niemöller and Mordecai are saying the same thing: Make a stand. But we can’t make a successful stand unless we know our world view, knowing what we believe and why we believe it. So how do we do this? How can I know for sure what my world view is, and that I am taking a Godly stand?

1) Question your beliefs.

“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.”
     - Thomas Jefferson

2nd Corinthians 13:5 tells us to examine ourselves. Are you standing firm in the faith? Are you sure? Our actions are based upon what we believe, but how often do we catch ourselves, or worse yet, someone else catches us doing the opposite of what we say we believe?

In this age of political correctness, how often are we afraid to question others about what they believe simply because we want to avoid confrontation? Worse is the fact that all too often we ourselves don’t know the answer, when we are confronted with doubt because we either fail to remember what we have been taught, both in Church and school, or, either accidental or on purpose, we were taught wrong.

2) Study - 2nd Timothy 2:15 tells us to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

This is exactly what the Bereans did. The apostle Paul had just been forced from Thessalonica because what he taught was different than the common thinking and teachings of his time. There were even plans to kill Paul. But when Paul arrived in Berea, he found a different mind set: here the people would listen to him, then consult the scriptures to see for themselves if what Paul taught was correct. Paul tells us…

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
     - Acts 17:11 (KJV)

These Bereans were considered “more noble” because they were seeking the truth. They didn’t not just listen to Paul and then say to themselves “Hey, he sounds like he knows what he is talking about”, accepting his statements at face value. Nor did they think to themselves “I like what he says better then what I’ve been told before” and then blindly follow Paul. They questioned with boldness, searching the scriptures to see if Paul was telling the truth.

So what are the benefits of questioning what we believe and what we are told?

1) We are approved unto God (2nd Timothy 2:15)
2) We are not deceived by false teaching and false doctrine (Ephesians 4:14), knowing the truth, and the truth shall set us free (John 8:32)
3) Ultimately, as 1st Peter 3:15 tells us, we are able to make a Godly stand, because we are able to give an answer for when others ask us why we believe what we believe.

So why is all this important? We live in a time of false profits and false teachers.

Isiah 5:20 puts it this way: Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

We find this not only in our churches, but in our schools, with the people we work with, with the news we listen to, and even with family members. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone tells me that our country was not founded on Christian values and principles. I always thought it was, but could never back up my views, because I didn’t know the truth. Partially because I had forgotten what I had been taught, or because what I had been taught had been twisted, I would avoid defending my views. I had to take the above principles and apply them. I had to question my beliefs, and seek answers. Only them could I now only know what I believed, but could defend it.

Here are just a few of the things I came across in that research:

Virtually every one of the 55 writers and signers of the United States Constitution were members of various Christian denominations: 29 were Anglicans, 16 to 18 were Calvinists, 2 were Methodists, 2 were Lutherans, 2 were Roman Catholic, 1 lapsed Quaker and sometimes Anglican, and 1 open deist--Dr. Franklin who attended every kind of Christian worship, called for public prayer, and contributed to all denominations.

In 1800, when Washington, D. C., became the national capital and the President moved into the White House and Congress into the Capitol, Congress approved the use of the Capitol building as a church building for Christian worship services. By 1867, the church in the Capitol had become the largest church in Washington, and the largest Protestant church in America.

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.
     - George Washington

“What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.”
     - George Washington, Speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs May 12, 1779 

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded assylum, prosperity and freedom of worship here.
     - Patrick Henry

"Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian."
     - United States Supreme Court, 1892.

"These and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation."
     - United States Supreme Court, Feb 29, 1892,  Church of the Holy Trinity v. US

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
     - John Adams

"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."
     - John Jay

"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built."
     - Abraham Lincoln

I’ll close with these two thoughts. Proverbs 14:34 tells us “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”

Alexander Hamilton, the First US secretary of The Treasury said: “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” My challenge today is, are you ready to take a stand? What will you stand for? And more important is, are you standing for the things of God?