A New Season

The Bible teaches that we are to live holy lives before the Lord - Jesus died to forgive us of our sins, and through His death and resurrection, He has made it possible to live a new life.  It's not a life predicated on Jesus somehow making us better people, but on being redeemed, which means we are different people. Titus 2 teaches:
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ...

That's the New King James translation; the NIV states verse 12 in this way:
12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age...

Appropriating grace is not just an act of positive thinking, of "putting our mind to it," although Biblical mind renewal is a key component.  We are to live out of the new nature, recreated in the image of Christ, who has given us a new heart, a new spirit, a new capacity to live a holy life.  God doesn't call us to somehow "do better," no, He desires to do it through us, by His power.  Christ died so that He might be our life.

+++++

We are recipients of the grace of God - provided for us through the death of our Lord Jesus.  And, we are not to receive that grace lightly, recognizing the high price the Lord paid for us. The apostle Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 15:
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

The administration of former Alabama governor Robert Bentley has now ended, and the circumstances leading up to his departure can provide some valuable lessons for each of us.

According to a USA Today piece that originated from the Montgomery Advertiser:

In his first public statement since the Alabama Ethics Commission found evidence Gov. Robert Bentley violated ethics and campaign finance laws — and hours before a report that could lead to his removal as governor — Bentley said he had faced major struggles in the last year, and asked Alabamians to "please forgive me."

“Once again, let me say to the people of the state how sorry I am,” said Bentley. “There’s no doubt I have let you down. All I ask is for you to continue to pray for me, and I will continue to pray for you.”

Fox News reported on yesterday's press conference, at which he announced his resignation:

Bentley stepped down as part of a plea deal that saw him admit to two misdemeanor campaign and ethics charges. The 74-year-old grandfather of six was given a 30-day suspended jail sentence and a year of probation. The agreement includes provisions that Bentley not seek elected office again, that he repay campaign funds totaling $36,912 within a week and perform 100 hours of community service as a physician.

In a brief statement to his staffers, who applauded as he approached the microphones, Bentley said, "there have been times that I have let you and our people down, and I’m sorry for that."

"I can no longer allow my family and my dear friends … to be subjected to the consequences that my past actions have brought upon them," Bentley added.

I think one of the apparent themes in the Bentley saga is his plea for forgiveness.  He is a professed Christian and I know is quite familiar with that concept.  We can be confident that when we confess our sins to God, He is "faithful and just" to forgive us and cleanse us.  But, there is a companion concept, and that is repentance.  One cannot know the heart of the governor; clearly, he has shown some contrition, and we can hope and pray he will experience the forgiveness of Christ.  We also know that as we sow, we will reap - just because you make a public declaration that you have done wrong and wish to be forgiven, that does not necessarily mean the consequences go away.  Think of all the criminals who would try to use an apology scheme to get off the hook.  If the law has been broken, then there is a restitution principle at play. God forgives us, but we are not guaranteed we will be spared the consequences of our wrong actions.  And, the "reaping" can sometimes help us to learn a lesson and have that reinforced.

We also recognize in this unfortunate series of events that we should not rejoice in another’s failures. No matter how much you believe someone should get what is coming to him or her, you can adopt an attitude of wanting God's best for that person. Because we are people of love, Christ's love, we can trust that He will work in a person's heart.

We can also remember that except for the grace of God, we are without hope.  We are all capable of sinful acts, heinous acts before Almighty God, because we were born with a sin nature, and even though our spirits have been renewed, we still live in the flesh.  And, the temptations of the enemy and the lures of this world can be powerful.  We might look at someone else and condemn him or her for his actions, but how have we violated God's standards?  How have we missed the mark?  We need the grace of God and power of the Holy Spirit each day to direct and strengthen us - no one is immune from temptation; we are prone to sin, but through abiding in Christ, we can know His victory.

And, you have to take the necessary steps to preserve character and glorify God.  I think it's telling that in this season in which people are debating whether or not Vice-President Pence should be alone with a woman who is not his wife, you have to think if Robert Bentley had observed that practice, he would quite possibly still be governor of Alabama.   Even though he and the former First Lady had been married over 50 years, he was not immune from temptation. We can be challenged to make sure we build a fortress, a wall around our marriages...whatever it takes.  And, relationships - with God, with our spouses, and others - are secure in an atmosphere of accountability.  Did the former governor have a circle holding him accountable?  Lack of accountability brings with it vulnerability.

Finally, we can be encouraged to pray for our leaders.  Yesterday, there were two swearing-in ceremonies in our land - a new justice for the U.S. Supreme Court and a new governor for Alabama. They - and their colleagues - need our prayers.  It is vital that we follow the admonition in 1st Timothy 2 to pray for those in authority.  These are tough times, and, whether they realize it our not, our leaders need our prayers.

Trivialization

The commemoration of Holy Week and the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus, give us the change to reflect - seriously - on the meaning of the message of salvation.  Hebrews 12
says:
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We have to make sure that we are not trivializing the weighty message of the cross, even though the world would want to do that.  There are many who do not understand about the importance of what Jesus did for us.  So...we have to be convinced in our own hearts about why Jesus had to die - we were sinners in need of a Savior, and Jesus has come to redeem us and rescue us from the power of sin and death.  Eternity is in the balance, and it is important that we take the message of God's love for us seriously.

+++++

In 1st Corinthians 1, Paul addresses the wisdom of this world vs. the wisdom of the cross.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
You've probably heard it by now - the protests about the way that protestors are depicted in a recently-pulled ad for Pepsi featuring Kendall Jenner.  Meleana Moore has a summary at Townhall.com:

The ad displays a major street protest, specifically displaying specific minority groups. Jenner is shown posing for a modeling shoot, and when she sees the protests, she joins, grabs a can of Pepsi, and walks over to hand one to a police officer. When the officer drinks the Pepsi, the mass of protesters starts cheering and the protest ends.

The protests started almost immediately, and Pepsi was forced to pull the ad.  In a statement, the beverage company stated, "Clearly, we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue," adding, "We are pulling the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position."

A piece on the Adweek website quoted from some advertising experts. It quoted Allen Adamson, long-time brand consultant and founder of Brand Simple Consulting: “It’s trivializing the seriousness of the issue, that merely a can of Pepsi could solve all of the problems on the streets of our country..."

Others were vocal in their criticism:

“Ridiculous ad,” said Edward Boches, professor of advertising at Boston University and a former partner, CCO at Mullen Lowe. “Shows no awareness of the protesters’ mindset or environment. Feels completely dishonest and contrived. Was clearly done by people who have not attended a protest or spent time on the streets and have no understanding of the pent-up anger.”

For some, the work was also reflective of larger issues in the advertising business. “This is what happens when you don’t have enough people in leadership that reflect the cultures that you represent,” wrote Eric Thomas, senior partner and brand specialist at Saga MKTG, in a LinkedIn post titled, “How to Make Millennials Hate You, The Pepsi Way.”

The article also refers to an iconic commercial from Pepsi's main competitor:

Given Pepsi’s message of unity many have pointed to Coca-Cola’s famous “Hilltop” ad. But what did Coke get right in 1971 that Pepsi didn’t in 2017?

“The ‘Hilltop’ spot wasn’t attempting to dramatize a real event,” explained Boches. “It was clearly contrived and invented as a moment. The Pepsi spot is attempting to recreate a protest march and in a very unrealistic way. Two, the promise of the Coke spot was a simple sentiment and a wish. ‘We would like to teach … as in ‘like to.’ It was a wish.”

The daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. even spoke out.  According to the People Magazine website, she "posted a tweet on Wednesday with a powerful photo of her father protesting: 'If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi,' she wrote on the photo from the March Against Fear demonstration in 1966.

So, the ad has been described as "tone-deaf," according to AdWeek.  And, I think the debacle offers some good principles for us to follow, especially as we have entered Holy Week.

First of all, even though you may disagree with the content or approach of those who are protestors, and I have not been silent about my concerns, still, people have a First Amendment right to express themselves, as long as they don't resort to acts of violence.  For the Christian community, we have to be careful that we don't just summarily dismiss the position of those who are legitimately protesting without having an understanding of the emotions behind their expressions.  Where there is anger, we can bring understanding; we have the opportunity to be peacemakers, and - yes - it goes beyond just handing out a can of Pepsi and everything will be OK.

And, that really gets to the heart of what I want to say regarding the message that Christians commemorate during this week.  I certainly do not want the world to miss the message or make light of it.  For each of us, we have to also make sure that we are not trivializing the powerful message of the cross and the resurrection.  This is a serious message with a life-or-death implications for people - the enemy would like nothing better than for us to "celebrate" Easter without really, truly reflecting on the risen Lord and what that means.  And, I'm certainly not against the celebrations that occur this time of year.  But, we can be challenged to communicate the seriousness of the death and resurrection of Christ.   We have the right message; now we can go in the power of the Holy Spirit to relay it in the right way.

So, this year, don't trivialize the message of the cross and look for ways to bring that message to those who don't understand.  The right message, presented in the right tone, can be used of the Holy Spirit to change hearts.

R-E-G-R-E-T

The apostle Paul had acquired quite a reputation for persecuting the church.  He was on hand at the stoning of the early disciple Stephen, and he was devoted to eliminating Christianity.  After He came into a relationship with Christ, it would be conceivable that he may have had a mountain of regrets.

But, he wrote this to encourage all believers - from Philippians 3:
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

It is documented that Paul, once known as Saul, was a participant in activity against the Most High God.  But, his attitude and admonition was to focus on the future, not the past.  When we have regrets in our own lives, we can confess our sins to Him, we can learn from our mistakes, and we can trust God with our respective futures.  No matter what a person has done in his or her past, it can be forgiven through the blood of Jesus, who died so that our future - on earth, as well as heaven - is full of great promise.

+++++

The Bible teaches in 2nd Corinthians 7 about the process that a person goes through in order to experience repentance.  Sorrow for our past failures is a first step, it seems, in order to experience the
redemptive presence of God.  And, the Bible teaches us that if we confess our sins, we can know that Jesus is faithful to forgive us.  Now, to 2nd Corinthians 7:
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

There is a story that has appeared in one form or the another on several Christian websites, and although there is not a direct faith connection highlighted, the story can provide us with some practical spiritual lessons to consider.

I will be quoting from Jim Denison's blog post at the website for the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture.  He notes that Wheel of Fortune is about to celebrate its 35th season this September, and that the famous letter-turner Vanna White gave a rather informative interview with Fox News.

So, before we get rolling, I'd like to reveal that we have a "word of the day" - it is in the category of "destructive emotion" and has six letters.  So, I'd like to choose the letter R.  I will say there are two of them in the word.

Now, according to Denison, this interview contained some interesting facts. For instance, "She has worn more than 6,500 dresses on the show." Also, "She realized she 'made it' when she saw herself on the cover of Newsweek while standing in line at a grocery store." Also, she "began supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after she became a mother."  And, even though she's 60 years old, she's not done yet and intends to keep working "as long as she can."

At this point, I'd like to add the consonant, T, to the 6-letter word.  That puts an R in positions 1 and 4 and a T at the end.

She also discussed with Fox News her posing for Playboy a number of years ago.  Here's the quote:

“When I first moved to Hollywood, I was too embarrassed to ask my dad for rent money. I was young and I wanted to do it on my own. So, I did these lingerie shots and from the moment I said I would do them, I thought, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this, but I’m not going to ask my dad for money, so I’m just going to do it!’ Once I got ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and some fame, Hugh Hefner then bought those pictures. He’s the one who put me on the cover of the magazine. I didn’t do it for Playboy. I didn’t want them on there, but it happened.”

Now, let's add a vowel - it's E.  There are two E's, as well.  So you have R-E __ - R - E - T.  Got it?

That's right, it's regret.  As Denison relates:

Vanna White made some money she spent many years ago, but she will regret her decision for the rest of her life. Her experience illustrates perfectly the paradox of temptation and integrity. Temptation seems to benefit more than it costs at first, but its disastrous consequences always outweigh their reward. Integrity usually costs more than it benefits at first, but its positive consequences always outweigh their cost.

He also points out:

Today it’s conventional wisdom that all morals are personal and subjective. We are taught to tolerate all consensual behavior that doesn’t hurt someone else. But to quote Dr. Phil, “How’s that working for us?”

The crisis of immorality is, however, an opportunity for the church. When we choose the long-term benefits of character over the short-term allure of temptation, others take note. The more sacrificial our integrity, the more persuasive our witness.

There are a couple of thoughts I had about Vanna and her regret.  She apparently thought her posing for the pictures was wrong - I don't know if that morality was fueled by faith or not.  But, she made a bad decision that she wishes that she had not.  According to the Relevant magazine account of the Fox News interview, she said:

And this is a lesson that applies today: Never do anything that you don’t want to do. Listen to your instincts and follow it. I said, “I made a mistake, I’m sorry and I just hope I don’t lose my job over it.” Fortunately, I didn’t. I could have, you know? It was a great lesson to learn, but what can I say? I did something I shouldn’t have done.

Regret is certainly a destructive emotion.  And if we are overwhelmed by those regrets, it can paralyze us emotionally and spiritually.  But, a regret can be a catalyst to repentance.  When we are willing to be vulnerable before God, admit our mistakes, and lay our regrets at the foot of the cross, we can experience His healing and restoration.  As 2nd Corinthians 7 reminds us, Godly sorrow - produced by the conviction of the Spirit - can lead us to repentance.  When we come face-to-face with our past, we can walk - or run - toward God and experience His restorative love.  There may be consequences, but we can know His strength.

I also am reminded how small choices can lead to large-scale calamity.  I think of Esau, who was willing to sell his birthright for a bowl of stew - a bad choice with long-term consequences.  I think of the homeless man who allegedly was smoking crack cocaine under a bridge in Atlanta and is charged with setting a fire that brought down the interstate, affecting multiple thousands of lives.  There's the man who was reportedly texting behind the wheel of his vehicle, causing him to drive erratically and run into a bus carrying a church group - 13 people are dead now, perhaps related to that small choice.

These are illustrations of errant choices, which can challenge us to think about how we need the Holy Spirit to direct our steps.  Sure, we are going to make mistakes - we are deeply flawed because we are human.  We need a Savior to redeem us, yes, but also to deal with the damage that comes from when we get off course. That may involve reversing or altering consequences, or it may involve reliance on God's strength - regardless, we need to learn what He is teaching us and experience His forgiveness in the aftermath of our wrong choices.

Reconciling

You might say that God's love is the glue that holds the body of Christ together - we celebrate how
He has created each of us unique and we can appreciate the distinct gifts and experiences that we bring into the Church. Colossians 3 says:
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Next week, we will commemorate what Jesus did for us on the cross.  And, that cross, which means redemption for us, can also mean reconciliation - for fallen humanity to God, and for those who call upon His name.  If we claim the name of Jesus, that means that we all are God's children, we are of the same spiritual family, bought by the same blood.  That can powerfully bring us together as a dynamic force in this world to bring attention to the glory of God and the name of Jesus.

+++++

I think we can admit that the Bible has a unique and effective way that leads to peace among people of different ethnic backgrounds. Ephesians 2 puts it this way:
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

He is speaking here specifically of Jews and Gentles, but I believe it indicates God's heart toward all becoming one through the cross.

Yesterday on The Meeting House, I featured a guest, Bishop Robert, who focused on the importance of Christian unity.  And, there's an area of unity that calls for Christians to take bold steps to get it right, and that is racial reconciliation.

LifeWay Research has conducted a new poll of senior pastors about that overall topic.  According to a summary of the survey at the Christianity Today website, "Nine out of 10 American pastors say they recently encouraged racial reconciliation. Their favorite method: Breaking bread with someone of another ethnicity."

The findings show that 72 percent of these pastors surveyed "have shared a meal with a diverse small group of people (less than 10) within the past month."  And, over 4-in-10, 44 percent, say they have experienced that sort of meal in the past week.  That, to me, is astounding - and encouraging.

Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, stated that a majority of pastors "have been socializing with other races and ethnicities and have led prayer on racial reconciliation,” he noted. “But less than a third have addressed economic inequity or publicly lamented injustice.”

But, pastors do seem to be speaking out in the overall topic area of racial reconciliation - 45% related that "they have preached on racial reconciliation in the last three months." They have by and large received little negative feedback. But, their congregation leaders do not seem to be asking the pastors to preach on the subject: Almost three-quarters of pastors say "they have not been urged by church leaders to preach about reconciliation, while about a quarter" have been.

But there is no doubt work to do - a study from 2015 indicated that about two-thirds of churchgoers felt their church had done enough to be diverse, and a 2014 study showed that most pastors indicated that they should pursue greater racial diversity, even though their congregations were predominantly one ethnic group.  Both those surveys were conducted by LifeWay Research.

Well, there is plenty to talk about here.  There is no doubt action being taken to bring understanding between the races - sharing a meal is what a surprisingly large number of pastors are doing, and why not?  It provides an opportunity for face-to-face conversation, and through talking - and listening - bridges can be built. 

We have different backgrounds in the body of Christ, differences of experience, and various approaches to the work of the Lord.  And, as I said in my conversation with Bishop Robert aired yesterday, diversity should not be divisive.   Actually, as some view the topic of diversity, it lends itself to causing division.  In the body of Christ, thinking with a Christian worldview perspective, we are called to celebrate our differences.

I think it's also important that our desire to pursue racial reconciliation is not largely symbolic. McConnell pointed out that a relatively small number of pastors had not addressed economic issues or injustice.  This is a different level, as I see it, on the racial harmony scale - but, it involves subject matter that the Church could feel confident in addressing.  If we believe the Scriptures speak to every area of life, then we certainly can be involved in trying to bring economic opportunities to impoverished communities, and speaking out regarding the proper meting out of justice in our cities.  The Church has been given a voice, and we can use the wisdom of God in order to show the world how people from different racial and cultural backgrounds can work together.

The Problem Within

God has called us to walk in His light, and that involves identifying the darkness that resides in our hearts and take the necessary steps to begin to walk in victory and eradicate, or at least reduce, these
harmful patterns. Romans 13 says:
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

The activity of "putting off" and "putting on" is instrumental in the Christian life.  We recognize that in our flesh, our humanity, we carry with us certain patterns that are contradictory to the Scriptures. It takes more than willpower or mind over matter to experience God's victory, won for us in Christ.  We must humble ourselves before the Lord, allowing Him to accomplish His work - from the inside - so that we can walk in a manner that pleases Him and so that we can have peace and satisfaction in our souls.

+++++

Throughout the Bible, we can see the call for believers to "put off" old attitudes and behavior - the 

flesh - and "put on" the things of the Spirit. Ephesians 4 lays this out simply and beautifully:
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

We are now approaching the end of the Lenten season, that time of year between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, 40 days which are designed by celebrants to focus on self-denial and greater religious devotion.

There are always some interesting things that people give up during this time period.  According to a Christianity Today article, Stephen Smith of Open Bible.info analyzed over 73 thousand tweets and compiled a list of what was given up. He said, “This year, alcohol topped the list for the first time,” adding, “It’s been hovering in the top five for the past few years, last year landing at a then-record No. 3." According to the OpenBible.info site, social networking, chocolate, twitter, and chips rounded out the top 5.

CT notes that in Smith's analysis, "Overall, food items were three times as popular to claim abstention from as technology items or personal habits."

There are productive ways to observe Lent, and what I would consider non-productive - in that category, you have an online writer, who is found in a number of places online, who seems to position himself as aligned with the evangelical community, but who has a definite progressive bent.  Read his material and he routinely exhibits sympathy for the LGBT community.  He says he's tired of apologizing for the church's bad behavior - now he won't define it in the same way that perhaps you and I do, and he enlisted a progressive church leader to lend credibility to his contention.

In a Religion News Service article, he quotes this kindred spirit, who once felt a need to "apologize" for ways that the church has behaved badly, in her estimation.

I found myself in the checkout line at Marshalls, apologizing to a total stranger in a Sikh turban for every bad thing that had ever been said or done in the name of Christianity. He seemed surprised that I could be responsible for all that.

But that’s how I used to talk about Christianity, constantly apologizing, in advance of anyone even asking, hoping to beat them to the punch...

So in one sense, I would say they definitely need to give up this critical spirit, but the whole article came across to me as an expression of what they were talking about giving up.

Far more productive, I think, was the declaration by author and blogger Annie Downs, who writes:

It’s not a complicated story.

I gave up makeup for Lent.

And it’s terrible.

It’s about control. I knew it as soon as the idea was dropped into my heart the week leading up to Ash Wednesday, the start of the season. It’s about how I try to control everything, including what you think of me. And what you think of my face.

She continues:

And it’s terrible. This no makeup thing? It’s a daily struggle. It’s not like every person I see I get to explain, “by the way, I know what you’ve seen in pictures but I’m not wearing makeup right now but it’s really me hi will you still be my friend?”

Sigh.

It hurts. It’s bringing up all sorts of muck from the bottom of my emotional ocean that I never intended to be stirred up. Old insecurities. Fears. Worries. And it’s constant...

She says, "I never escape it. It never leaves my mind. In every place I go, in every face I make eye contact with, including my own in the mirror."  She had a photographer take her picture to reinforce the point.  So, except for conference speaking, she is makeup-free, and God is using that act of sacrifice to do an inner work.  Annie says, "I’ve never found the best things in life to be free or easy or without struggle."

So, you can make the choice - you can exhibit a critical spirit toward others, or you can look within you and allow the loving Holy Spirit to do a profound work in your life.  And, that's takeaway number one for today: we are prone to look to others as the problem; as pastor Kynan Bridges highlighted on The Meeting House the other day, we can become caught up in gossip, slander, and offense, even become a provocative force to stimulate that behavior.   Sure, there are problems in need of solutions, but if we tear others down to get to what we feel is the resolution, I have to question whether we have accomplished anything.

I am sorry that there are individuals who are "embarrassed" by the Church.  And, in the case of the article I cited, it seems that the root of this embarrassment is that Christians aren't tolerant enough, not inclusive enough.   The way I see it, and as you'll hear on my radio show over the next week or so, the message isn't necessarily politically correct - people don't get it right, there is something wrong with humanity - it's called "sin."  Identifying sin certainly may not appear inclusive or loving, but it's Biblical, and the power and promise of the gospel message is that Jesus came to fix things, to set things right, to change us into people who exhibit His character.  If we tolerate everything, we set up a construct where there is no need for the radical transformation He wants to bring.

Finally, I think it's an ongoing struggle to look at ourselves.  We need to ask the Lord to shine the light of His Spirit in our hearts, and take the necessary steps, by His power, to address the issues of selfishness in us. Fortunately, the Spirit Who illuminates is also the Spirit Who empowers. If we take our eyes off our own hearts and denigrate others for their shortcomings, we miss the blessing of that inward work that God wants to do.  We have to humble ourselves, not set ourselves up as the judge of other people's behavior and be embarrassed for how "they" are not living the Christian life.  How about us?  How are we doing?  God wants us to put our eyes on Him and allow Him to accomplish what He has begun.

Reality

God wants us to experience the reality of a relationship with Him - it is predicated on His love for us,
expressed by Jesus on the cross. Ephesians 2 says:
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...

We are alive in Him!  We have died with Christ, and now are raised in Him to new life. That is the reality of the new birth, the relationship we have with Jesus through His sacrifice.  That reality is not based on works, i.e. we cannot accumulate enough good works to enter heaven, and we don't get it because our good outweighs our bad on some sort of cosmic scale.  Grace means there is nothing we can do to deserve God's love, but He has shown it to us anyway and enabled us to become His children and His disciples.  It's a free gift - and we have the capability to experience what He has in store!

+++++

We are all sinners, and we need to be transformed - to be brought out of darkness into light, out of the control of Satan into the glory of God.  And it's not by works!  Romans 3 reminds us:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...

While we can attempt, in our humanity, to choose our own reality, the only one that actually counts is the reality determined for us by God - unfortunately, we can be prone to construct "fake news," you might say.  I've heard it said that our life with Jesus in heaven is more real than anything we experience here on earth.  God wants us to experience what He has in store for us, and to apply His principles to the human condition.

Historian Yuval Harari wrote a well-received book several years ago called, Sapiens, and his latest is entitled, Homo Deus: a Brief History of Tomorrow, which is, according to the founder of the Vox website, Ezra Klein, "about what comes next for humanity — and the threat our own intelligence and creative capacity poses to our future."

Klein interviewed Harari recently, and the piece begins with a happy thought:

In 300 years, Homo sapiens will not be the dominate [sic] life form on Earth, if we exist at all.

Given the current pace of technological development, it is possible we destroy ourselves in some ecological or nuclear calamity. The more likely possibility is that we will use bioengineering and machine learning and artificial intelligence either to upgrade ourselves into a totally different kind of being or to create a totally different kind of being that will take over.

T. Becket Adams at the Washington Examiner reviewed the article, and said, "They talked about the sort of stuff thinkfluencers like to talk about, including robots, 'the most cerebral humans,' falling in love with robots, Artificial Intelligence and robot emotions."  And, as Adams writes, "Then came the part where Harari attempted to describe Christian theology. It was not enlightening:

This idea of humans finding meaning in virtual reality games is actually not a new idea. It's a very old idea. We have been finding meaning in virtual reality games for thousands of years. We've just called it religion until now.

You can think about religion simply as a virtual reality game. You invent rules that don't really exist, but you believe these rules, and for your entire life you try to follow the rules. If you're Christian, then if you do this, you get points. If you sin, you lose points. If by the time you finish the game when you're dead, you gained enough points, you get up to the next level. You go to heaven.

Adams goes on:

You know, for a historian and academic, one would think Harari would have cracked at least one book explaining the basic theology of a 2017-year-old religion practiced by an
estimated 2.2 billion people.

There are literally thousands of easy-to-read explainers, many of which date back to the earliest days of Christianity. The source material, which says nothing of a supposed points system, is also readily available in libraries, online and in multiple languages.

Maybe one day the "most cerebral humans" will program the source material into robots so that it can be read back to us when we don't know what we're talking about. Dream big.

Commentator Erick Erickson was rightly critical, writing in an Instagram post, "At Vox, Yuval Harari 'explains' Christianity and gets every detail wrong. That's not how Christianity works at all."  He highlighted the part about the "points system."  You might say that people choose that reality and live their lives this way, but it is not the reality of the Scriptures.

So, let's think together about some takeaways centered around this interview story and the responses I mentioned.  First of all, we have to be grounded in reality, that is, Biblical truth.  The Bible is, as this Washington Examiner writer says, the "source material."  If we want to truly experience the reality of a relationship with Christ, the Word teaches us the principles of it.  And, the Scriptures do not teach that there is a "point system" - earn enough points, go to the next level in heaven.  That's works-based salvation, and it doesn't square with the teachings of the Scriptures.

We also can think about our own human capability.  This guy, Harari, indicates that essentially humans will destroy themselves, but will be replaced by something having to do with artificial intelligence, which we programmed.  And wrong programming will lead to the wrong outcome. It all originates with human beings. Humans are the pinnacle of God's creation - we were deemed "very good" on the sixth day of creation; we are "fearfully and wonderfully made," as we read in the Psalms.  We have incredible capability in our humanity, but with God's supernatural ability flowing through us, that means that we can see Him do beyond all we ask or think, as Ephesians says.

But, humanity has a problem - we were born in sin into a fallen world.  And, in our humanity, we can become conditioned to try to determine our own reality.  Satan did this when he deceived himself into thinking he could be like God.  He now tries to do it to us by planting lies into our minds, causing us to buy in to incorrect thinking.  If we are not careful, we can make decisions based on his falsehoods, rather than the truth of the Scriptures.  That is why we are instructed to take every thought captive - those strongholds present a danger to us, in that we can be caught up in the destructive patterns in which Satan would want to entrap us.  God enables us to break free from desperate non-reality into the glorious reality of His presence.

A Safe Zone

We can know that God provides us the resources in order to resist temptation, and when we are tempted, it's critical that we follow the direction of the Holy Spirit.  2nd Peter 2 says this, and we pick up in verse 7, where we read that God...

(7) delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked
8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)--
9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment...

1st Corinthians 10 tells us that God provides a way of escape for us when we are tempted.  We recognize that His power is great and His presence is with us.  We also know that the enemy will attempt to get us off course, so we have to be aware of what he is up to.  We can also take preventative measures in order to stay out of potentially compromising situations.  This calls for wisdom and flows from a desire to keep ourselves pure, to not give the devil an opportunity, and to keep from placing ourselves in a situation that could harm our spiritual walk and even our reputation.

+++++

There is a principle that I want to discuss today, and it's based on an aspect of a moral code embraced by evangelist Billy Graham.  There is a Scriptural basis, and it's contained in this passage from 2nd
Timothy 2:
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.
21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

So, what's it going to be today?  There are news outlets that seem devoted to post or print the negative story of the day, undermining the credibility of the President of the United States.  Recently on The Meeting House, a representative of an evangelical Christian publication described the "Def Con" position of one particular news outlet.  Another is in the midst of a four-part series about the dishonesty of the President.  I am by no means a Trump apologist, but can this guy get anything right?  His Supreme Court nominee seemed to be a slam dunk - now a major party leader is calling for a more "moderate" candidate; where were the cries for a so-called "moderate" when the Senate confirmed liberal jurists like Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor?

Well, the hue and cry is also directed at the Vice-President, in a story that has been making the rounds that has a distinctly Christian connection.  The Washington Post ran a story on the Vice-President's wife, Karen, which, according to an analysis at The Atlantic website, included the admission by Pence to the publication The Hill in 2002: "Unless his wife is there, he never eats alone with another woman or attends an event where alcohol is being served."  Writer Emma Green does point out that it is unclear whether or not this is still his practice.

I'd say, let's assume it is.  Green writes:

Pence is not the first contemporary public figure to set these kinds of boundaries around his marriage. He seems to be following a version of the so-called Billy Graham rule, named for the famous evangelist who established similar guidelines for the pastors working in his ministry. In his autobiography, Graham notes that he and his colleagues worried about the temptations of sexual immorality that come from long days on the road and a lot of time away from family. They resolved to “avoid any situation that would even have the appearance of compromise or suspicion.” From that day on, Graham said, he “did not travel, meet, or eat alone with a woman other than my wife.” It was a way of following Paul’s advice to Timothy in the Bible, Graham wrote: to “flee … youthful lusts.”

Now, this practice has its critics and quite a few showed up on Twitter over the past few days.  The Atlantic writer states:

Some journalists on Twitter quickly pointed out that Pence’s rules may function, in practice, to perpetuate professional and political disadvantages against women. If men in power can meet alone with other men but not women, they’ll just keep doing the business of being powerful in an all-male world. And it parallels critiques of the Billy Graham Rule that’ve been leveled within the evangelical community, as well, where it’s also been blamed for subjecting professional relationships to the logic of a sexually permissive society.

I like this quote that is cited in the Atlantic story from the 2002 article at The Hill site:

Pence told the paper he often refused dinner or cocktail invitations from male colleagues, too: “It’s about building a zone around your marriage,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a predatory town, but I think you can inadvertently send the wrong message by being in [certain] situations.”

Consider these comments from the Family Research Council website:

With tweets too insulting to repeat, liberals accused the vice president of everything from misogyny to sexual compulsion. These days, I suppose the simplest morality is the most confounding for liberals. I've known Mike for 20 years, and I can tell you that his marriage and family have been a consistent priority before he was even a member of Congress. When he was elected to the U.S. House, he intentionally moved his family here to DC so they would be close -- a choice some politicians, Mollie Hemingway points out, probably regret not making. "Many folks on the Left," David French writes, "find this entire line of thinking absurd. They don't see men and women as ‘men and women' (what is gender anyway?) but as ‘people.' ...So [to them] it's thus strange and sexist to argue that men and women can't live and work side-by-side in any number of close and intense circumstances without causing sexual tension and drama."

That doesn't mean Christians never succumb to temptation, but it does mean they have a greater awareness of it. What the Pences have done -- out of respect not just for each other but for his female staffers -- is create an extra line of defense against the weaknesses of human nature. Not only is that admirable, it's advisable. "He sounds like he's a smart man who understands that infidelity is something that threatens every marriage and must be guarded against..." Hemingway writes. "Pence's smart tactics for avoiding the kind of marital failure that could destroy him, his wife, their family, and the lives of those around them [shouldn't be mocked -- they should be commended]!"

There are so many implications of this story, and one of them is obvious - people who desire to live holy lives are not understood by those who do not possess spiritual understanding.  However, it is true that many unbelievers live by a certain moral code - it's just a matter of whose making up the standards.  As believers in Christ, we can go to the Scriptures and find principles to which we can adhere.

And, some, like the so-called "Billy Graham rule" on male-female relationships, are not accepted by all believers - it falls in the "preference" category.  The point for Graham, like Pence, is to build a "safe zone" around a marriage, to guard against temptation.   I think we all can be inspired to fervently and passionately fight to preserve our marriages and not open them up to situations that could be detrimental.

Also, think about the way that rumors can spread.  I heard a commentator the other day who described a scenario in which the Vice-President was dining in a DC restaurant with one other women - imagine what happens when a photographer snaps a picture.  Or, perhaps the wave of gossip and even slander that could occur because, "Pence was out with another woman."  You can't prevent rumors from spreading, but you should not provide fodder for them.

We can consider a key question: what are our standards?  You may not be a fan of the "Billy Graham rule," but many are.  But, in a world that is full of temptation, we have to consider actions that we can take to prevent temptation.   The enemy wants to destroy our witness, and we recognize that he is at work to harm the people of God.