Directed and Empowered

After His resurrection, Jesus promised the power of the Holy Spirit to be made available to those who would believe in Him - but this was not a new concept; in fact, in John 14, He said:
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

We have a mighty Helper who goes with us, but the pull of the flesh is strong, attempting to lure us to reject that help and to try to navigate this life on our own.  He has given us His Spirit to empower and equip us to walk in His way, a way that is shown to us by the "Spirit of truth."  So, the Holy Spirit directs us and He gives us the ability to fulfill what He has directed.  We can be bold and brave because Christ lives in us by His Spirit.

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It was highlighted recently on The Meeting House that the same power that resurrected the Lord Jesus 
dwells in the hearts of those who believe in Him. In the face of opposition, we can allow the Spirit to govern our responses...Romans 8 says:
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The tension over COVID restrictions on churches in Canada, specifically the province of Alberta, has had several flashpoints.  Just this past weekend, authorities entered the Street Church in Calgary, and according to the Christian Post website, "Pastor Artur Pawłowski...shared a video of an encounter he had with local police and government officials who entered the church during a Passover celebration on Saturday."

According to the article:

Pawlowski told the officials that he would refuse to speak with them “until you came back with a warrant.” He called them “Nazis,” repeatedly telling them, “Gestapo is not allowed here.” When they refused to leave the church, he asked them, “Do you understand English?”

Other instances of Canadian enforcement of coronavirus rules on churches were outlined in the article, which stated: 

A church in the eastern province of Ontario was fined $83,000 for holding a worship service with more than 10 people.

Canadian Pastor James Coates of Edmonton, Alberta, was arrested in February for holding worship services in violation of his province’s public health guidelines. He spent about a month in jail before his release last month. He is currently awaiting his trial set to begin in May.

This incident prompted Franklin Graham to write on his Facebook page, "...I appreciate his boldness and tenacity in standing up for the rights of his church when police showed up without a search warrant...This is a reminder that, if we’re not careful, the coronavirus pandemic could turn the entire world into a police state. I am not saying that we should break the law, but I am saying that we must be careful to defend our rights and our freedoms—or we will lose them. We have seen this happen throughout history, so let’s be on guard against it happening to us."

Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton, spent a month in prison for his church's COVID violations and awaits a May trial - his wife, Erin, went on Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News, and the FoxNews.com website quoted her:

"This is definitely not the nation that I grew up in," she told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Thursday. "For a while, I think our freedoms have just been slowly stripped from us, and so slowly over time that we didn’t even realize it."

Coates said that her husband, a pastor who’s "given his life to sacrifice and love other people," being behind bars is not shocking to anyone, illustrating how Canadians are becoming desensitized to their stripped freedoms.

Faithwire shared that Pastor Coates used his prison experience as an opportunity to share the gospel; he recounted to a reporter: “Just to kind of show the affection that we had for each other, in the moment I was leaving, I turned around … and I lifted up my hand to wave,” he recalled, “and the doors of the pod began to shake as the men in their cells just banged on their doors as a sign of support, love, [and] affection.” Coates said, "I would have guys often come to my door and want to speak with me and would share difficulties in their life with me, and I would share the Gospel with them,” he said. “We’d be talking through a door to each other, but I would share the Gospel with them. That happened often, where guys would just come to me.”

The subject of restrictions during the coronavirus has certainly been a controversial one, and there are certainly concerns about authorities who are hostile to or ignorant of the practice of Christianity using their latitude to harass, persecute, and prosecute Christians.  Religious freedom and public health have to be balanced, and there is certainly the sentiment that the Church has been kept apart for far too long.  This has prompted legislation that was signed last week in North Dakota to keep that from happening, and even the Alabama Legislature has sought to limit emergency powers of the governor's office. 

We know that power corrupts, and sometimes that forces people to make poor decisions.  Mix in partisan politics and the desire to punish ideological enemies and you have the toxic situation that we find in our land today.  But, even though physical and spiritual powers are aligned against the Church, we know that we have the power of the Holy Spirit that emboldens us - the power that enables us to speak truth to power, as Pastor Pawlowski did, and to speak the gospel to prisoners, as Pastor Coates did.  Remember that God is with us, and as Pastor Randy Frazee highlighted on The Meeting House recently, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us.  We can possess a determined reliance on His mighty power!

Why I'm Here

Because Jesus is alive, and if we have accepted what He did for us through His death and resurrection, we can have a life that is full of meaning and purpose. In Ephesians 1, Paul wrote:
11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise...

Life has meaning and we can have a sense of fulfillment because Christ has fulfilled the Father's will by dying on a cross and rising from the dead. And, He gives us the power to live a renewed life, made possible by our dying to self and living unto Him.  The presence of the Holy Spirit in us equips us to live the life that God intends, to experience what He has in store for us.  Because He is alive, we are empowered to live according to His purpose! 

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The apostle Paul addressed the topic of purpose in a passage in 2nd Timothy chapter 1, reminding us 
that we serve a risen Lord who suffered for us, so that we might be brought into a relationship with Himself. We can read these verses:
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

March 25, 2021 will be a memorable day for the community of Ohatchee, Alabama, which is located in Calhoun County in the northeast part of the state, south of Gadsden and to the northwest of Anniston.  It was struck by a powerful and deadly tornado that day, in which 5 area residents lost their lives. The Montgomery Advertiser reported that:

The tornado that hit the tiny northeastern Alabama town was categorized the following day as at least a "high-end EF 2" with winds of 135 mph that stretched at least a half-mile wide and likely wider, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Chris Darden.

The Advertiser story highlighted the impact and victims of the storm, as well as their families.  Joshua Farmer's plight was included in the story.  Farmer is described as the "caretaker" of Ragan Chapel United Methodist Church.  The article states:

For over 150 years the church had withstood the test of time and the wrath of God and that's where Farmer chose to seek refuge. Though, Thursday's storm would violently end that tenure.

Farmer, who lives behind the church and had been its caretaker for several years, first sat in an interior hallway but as the world got quiet around him, he turned to a storage closet, pulled the door shut and held a pillow over his head.

Surrounded by artificial greenery and linens, he listened as the building around him began to twist and rip apart.

The story related that the roof had been torn off the building, the steeple toppled, and "the cross on top was missing." The back wall was "pulled off," but the kitchen survived. So did a portrait of the Last Supper on one of the remaining walls. Farmer said, “I thought I was going to die. Like, legitimately, I thought that was it. I thought I was finished,” adding, “But I survived it somehow and I walked out of there. I walked away untouched. Not sure why I’m here.”  Farmer is adamant that people should heed their local weather warnings.

And, the rebuilding of the church has already begun, according to Birmingham television station CBS42, which reported:

Pastor Danny Poss said the community has been instrumental in helping them move forward in the recovery process. Throughout the week, the congregation has worked to salvage what it could from the storms, including many of their prized possessions. After all they have endured, officials say the cleanup progress wouldn’t have been made possible without the community and many other churches.

The article from the station's website relates:

The church is also planning to move the steeple torn from the church to the front of the newly built church in remembrance of those lost and what the community endured. On Easter Sunday, the congregation plans to hold service on the church grounds and this will mark their first service after the storm.

The headline from the Advertiser used the words from Joshua Farmer, "Not sure why I'm here."  I think that God will use the tragedies, the crises in our lives, to bring us closer to Himself, to think about the brevity and the value of life.  Perhaps Mr. Farmer will experience a fresh consideration of his life's purpose - all of us can use those times of difficulty to evaluate how we can grow closer to God. 

For 175 years, the church in Ohatchee has "been there," too.  And, despite the heavy damage, it is determined to stay there, to rebuild its facility and it even, as the article noted, planned to meet on Easter Sunday without a building.  Because, the church is not a building - certainly a facility is great to house worship and church programs, to be a central gathering place, but at a time in which this church is needed in the community more than ever, it is a time for the people to engage in ministry to others.  We come together at our churches in order to fellowship and learn, so that we are equipped to serve - as the church - each day.

Crucified

On this Good Friday, we can reflect not only on the love of Jesus expressed through His suffering, but also on the fact that He did it for you. We can ask ourselves how the cross makes a difference for us. Galatians chapter 2 states:
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

Jesus gave of Himself - motivated by His great love for humanity and by the necessity of a perfect sacrifice being offered to restore us to the Father.  Realizing that He died and rose again, we can think about the implications for our lives. A crucified life for the Christian believer is a new life - we lay down the ways of this world and adopt His ways, reliant on the Holy Spirit to carry them out.  Recognizing that Jesus died to forgive us of sin and rose so that we might enjoy His power over sin and death, we can put to death sinful impulses and acts, so that we may experience the fullness of His life.

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Through the cross, our old self was put to death and we can be free from it and live in the new life that Jesus purchased for us, bringing reconciliation with the Father. Colossians chapter 1 states:
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight...

The message of Good Friday is a message that brings hope - the hope of a new life, of a transformation by the power of God, the experience of the love of God, and freedom from sin.  On this Good Friday, I wanted to share a transformation story of someone who experienced the power of the cross in her life.

She is an actress named April Hernandez Castillo. CBN.com provides some insight into her journey.  In a 2011 interview, she recounted how her successful career came to a screeching halt after her decision to follow Jesus.  The article says:

Before accepting Christ, Hernandez Castillo was living her dream in Hollywood with guest-starring roles on several hit TV series, like Law and Order and ER. But her breakout role came in 2007 when she played "Eva Benitez" in the film Freedom Writers starring Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, and Scott Glenn.

But after she agreed to living a life obedient to God, she went through a "desert time" where she could not find acting jobs for three years. She told CBN that God was taking away her dreams so she could fulfill His plans for her.

She recognized his hand on her life; the actress says: "I believe that it was God. He really had to strip me of my character. He had to break everything that I had put in my mind. God said 'I can't be second, I have to be first.' And what made it so difficult was that I felt so alone like I didn't have anyone I could communicate with and have them tell me 'I know how you feel.'"

Castillo has written a book called, Embracing Me, which also includes her recollections about a particularly painful incident in her life - the CBN article relates that she told The Christian Post: "When it comes to the topic of abortion, it took me close to 20 years to feel safe to share that part of my life," and adds: "I am here to serve that woman who is terrified. I am here to serve that unborn baby," she added. "I pray that no one has to go through that."  She also says, "I want to talk about how can we prevent this moment, if possible. How can we support a woman if she does do this?"

Out of the pain of that abortion and an abusive relationship, God reached down and touched April's life, according to an earlier Christian Post article, which reported on some of her comments at a conference:

After her abortion, Hernandez-Castillo “swept it under the rug” and was a “new woman.” Her career was taking off and she was in a new relationship.

In 2008, her boyfriend began attending church and convinced her to go. She was still angry at God so she went to church with red lipstick, black sunglasses and sat in the back with her arms crossed (“because we always assume that the Holy Spirit won’t reach us in the back”).

As the pastor spoke about forgiveness, her body started reacting.

The article goes on to say: “I remember reaching my hand up into the sky as if to rip Heaven apart and just pull it open and bring God down because I was desperate to be forgiven," adding that she was overcome by the power of God and relates that she heard God say to her, "My daughter, I forgive you. I love you. But I need you to forgive yourself."

The cross reminds us that God has forgiven us through the sacrifice of our Savior - but we have to take hold of that forgiveness, to receive it into our lives and to walk in it.  Because unforgiveness is a cancer and will paralyze us - even the inability to receive God's forgiveness for ourselves.  That's the message that God has given to April Hernandez-Castillo...and to us!

This Friday is called "Good," but it's actually a day of pain and suffering - an innocent man brutally murdered.  But it's good because of what that means for us.  Our great and loving Savior loved us so much that He was willing to die, to pay a heavy penalty that we could never pay and by so doing, to bring us into a relationship with our Heavenly Father.  We are forgiven because of Jesus, and because He lives in us, we can forgive others and point people to a loving Savior, who gave His life so that we, by laying down our lives, might truly know His freedom.

Connect

Even though many churches have experienced physical separation over the past year, action has certainly been taken to keep us connected. We reflect Christ as we seek to function together in Him, according to Colossians 3:

15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Even when we are separated, we can have a sense of being one in Christ.  That involves seeking God in prayer and praying for one another, staying in communication with fellow believers, and using technology such as social media and streamed services to worship.  And, Faith Radio can keep you connected with the head of the body, keeping you strong so that the local church is built up and so that Christ is exalted.
 

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The Lord has called us to be part of an incredible community, the body of Christ - and even though the coronavirus has resulted in our being apart physically, I would say there is great anticipation about what will occur as we continue to come back together. Hebrews 10 states:
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The process will likely not be complete this weekend, but the level of confidence for church attendees returning to regular worship services has increased, according to Pew Research, which reports that, in a summary of a recent survey:

Three-quarters of U.S. adults who normally attend religious services now say they are “very” or “somewhat” confident they can do so safely, without spreading or catching the coronavirus – up 12 percentage points from when this question was last asked in July 2020. Over that period, there also has been a considerable drop in the share who say they think their congregation should be closed to help stop the spread of the virus.

And, regarding Easter this year, 39% of Christians say they will be at an in-person service this year; by contrast, 62% say they would typically be at church on Easter Sunday.  52% of Evangelical Protestants say they'll be there vs. 70% who usually attend.

Here's another tidbit for you: "Most people who say they generally attend religious services at least once or twice a month (58%) say they have not attended during the past month."

The survey also indicated whether their churches were opened or closed, with 12% of those who attend a religious service once or twice a month saying their church was open "as normal" - that's double the percentage from last July.  But, combine that with the 64% who say that their church is open, but "with COVID-19 restrictions," and you get three-quarters of Americans who attend church regularly who say their churches are open to some degree.  Still 17% of respondents say their church is closed; that's down from a third last July. 

But, there is alternative programming widely available for those who choose to stay home, with 8 out of 10 "U.S. religious attenders" saying their church offers some sort of way for congregants to watch online or on TV.

The statistics indicate that people are coming back to church and their level of confidence of attending church without risking catching coronavirus is up.  A big question has to do with what church is looking like when they return; for instance, over 50% of survey respondents said their church was requiring social distancing and a 50-50 split said that masks were required.  This is likely to decline in most areas over the next few months, if current trends continue, but I would project that the experience with COVID will result in some permanent changes in the way we do "church."  I plan to talk about that next week here on The Meeting House.

The virus has not only caused great illness and death, but there has been a general sense of instability and isolation.  We have suffered greatly - but we can know that Christ is with us in our suffering. He suffered to the point of death, and so He is not unacquainted with what we are going through. As we commemorate His death and resurrection, we can grow more reliant on Him and allow Him to restore what the enemy has wrought through the pandemic.  There has been much spiritual fruit even in the midst of this season, and we can trust Him to do great and mighty things as the Church returns more to a sense of normalcy.  

Trap

The wisdom of God is demonstrated through the power of the cross - His redemption plan, produced out of His great love, is a plan in which Christ had to die, that shows that we can die with Christ and live again in Him. 1st Corinthians 1 states:
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.

We have to be careful not to fall into an "us vs. them" mentality, rather, it's a matters of "us in Him." And, in Him, as we're told in Scripture, there is great wisdom that is available.  If we seek to live according to the patterns of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit, we can make good decisions and have good reactions to the challenges we encounter.  God enables to be people of conviction, of good conscience, and enormous credibility because we rely on the source of true wisdom.

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The wisdom of God triumphs over and confounds the wisdom of this world.  During Holy Week, in Luke chapter 20, which you could call the "trap chapter" or even "trapter," you see the world's feeble 
wisdom on display and how Jesus dealt with it. The chapter starts out this way:
1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him 
2 and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?" 
3 But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: 
4 The baptism of John--was it from heaven or from men?" 
5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 
6 But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet." 
7 So they answered that they did not know where it was from. 
8 And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

Jesus answered their questions with a question that short-circuited the reasoning of those who opposed Him, and I would contend that they knew the answer already; after all, He had been teaching on that authority and His relationship with the Father all along - He was plain with regard to who He was.  The series of challenges continued with taunts regarding governmental authority and the authenticity of the resurrection.

Notice the skill by which Jesus responded and remember that when we are challenged, we have the ability to respond by the Holy Spirit.

There's a baker in Colorado who has been facing challenges of his own.  Jack Phillips, who received a favorable U.S. Supreme Court ruling several years ago was back in court recently.  He had declined to provide a cake for a gay wedding ceremony, which is why he ended up before the Supreme Court, which cited the religious hostility of the Colorado civil rights commission, but legal experts have observed the ruling really didn't deal with whether or not Jack's actions were legally correct - issues surrounding free speech and religious freedom.  As a National Review article by David Harsanyi states:

While the 7–2 Supreme Court decision was a personal victory for Phillips, it did little to preserve religious liberty or free expression. Even today, a customer can walk into a business, with the force of government behind them, and demand a business owner create a product with overt political and religious messages that do not comport with that business owner’s sincerely held convictions.

Jack Phillips was on trial recently in a case from 2017 in which an attorney requested a cake to celebrate a gender transition.  Phillips is quoted on FoxNews.com as saying:

"This case started the day the Supreme Court decided they were going to hear our case. It was a very busy, very crazy day at the shop," Phillips explained. "In the middle of all of this chaos, we got a phone call from an attorney in Denver asking us to create a cake pink on the inside with blue icing on the outside."

The article continues: 

Phillips told Fox News that he was told "it was two colors, a color scheme, a combination, designed to celebrate a gender transition."

The customer, Autumn Scardina, an attorney, requested the cake in 2017 in honor of her gender transition.

"We told the customer, this caller, that this cake was a cake we couldn’t create because of the message, the caller turned around and sued us," Phillips told Fox News. "This customer came to us intentionally to get us to create a cake or deny creating a cake that went against our religious beliefs."

He said that, "This customer had been tracking our case for multiple years. This case was just a request to get us to fall into a trap."  FoxNews.com also reported:

Kristen Waggoner, general counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, told Fox News that this "was an obvious type of setup."

"At the trial, and in other testimony, this attorney confirmed that Jack was contacted in an effort to make a test case and to 'correct the errors' of Jack’s thinking," Waggoner told Fox News.

The National Review article also relates:

The director of the Colorado civil-rights division found “probable cause” in Scardina’s complaint but ended up dropping the case after being sued by Alliance Defending Freedom in federal court. After years of harassing Phillips, and a loss in the high court, Colorado almost surely would have lost.

Rather than appealing the commission’s dismissal, Scardina filed a lawsuit seeking damages, fines, and attorney’s fees. And here we are.

Here. We. Are. Jack Phillips, admittedly targeted for his religious beliefs and not finding any real relief at the high court - yet.  So, Christian believers who want to stand on conscience in the products they produce are still not completely legally protected, and people like Jack are even targeted by some professing Christians who believe that Jack should "bake the cake."  

But, Jack doesn't want to bake it.  And, he shouldn't have to be forced to. Paul, by the way, addressed this conscience issue regarding the consumption of meat.  But, here we are, and we have to rely on the wisdom of God to show us how to respond when the challenge of conscience comes, as well as when the consequences ensue.

Jesus was in a similar position - there were opponents who laid a trap for Him, yet He skillfully responded.  We have access to the wisdom of God, that will direct us in the steps that we take.  We have the mind of Christ, and we can think His thoughts, thoughts that are written for us, instructions that are given, in the Scriptures.  Even when the trap is set and perhaps we walk into it, we can rely on Almighty God to sustain us.

Cleanse

The Lord has given us the resources that we need in order to stand before Him clean and holy, and as we are clean, we can reflect His goodness and light to the world. Jeremiah 33 states:
8 I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.
9 Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.'

Sin separates us from God, but Jesus died on a cross so that our sins might be forgiven and that we could stand before God clean and whole.  We have the presence of the Holy Spirit within us to convict us of our sins and to enable us to be cleansed.  Jesus cleansed the Temple during Holy Week, and during this special time, we can be resolved to allow the Spirit to cleanse and purify us, so that we, the temple of the Holy Spirit, might better reflect the risen Lord.

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I want to go back into the book of Luke today and capture a snapshot from the final days of the earthly life of Jesus prior to his crucifixion. In Luke 19, we find that Jesus walked into the temple and proceeded to cleanse it:
45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it,
46 saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' "
47 And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him,
48 and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

The caretakers of the temple attempted to take action against Jesus, but they were prevented from doing so. In our lives, the "caretakers" of the temple of the Holy Spirit are charged with allowing the Spirit of God to cleanse us from the inside. 1 Corinthians 6 says:
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

In 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic, the Alabama Legislature voted to recognize pornography as a public health crisis. Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation is quoted at the organization's website; she said:

“Modern pornography—with its limitless quantity, speed, and violent or degrading themes—is a jarring new variable in human development. It’s not surprising that such a variable would have negative effects on brains and bodies built for person-to-person sexual contact. Medical professionals, elected officials, therapists and more are beginning to acknowledge the universal harms of pornography.”

The website says the Center has reviewed 99 studies on the "harms of pornography."  Here are two examples of the harm that porn does in the life of a human being:

• Pornography Has Detrimental Impacts on the Brain: There have been over 40 neurological studies which reveal pornography use has negative and detrimental impacts on the brain.
• Pornography Teaches Users that Women Enjoy Sexual Violence and Degradation: A recent study of PornHub videos found that 43% of videos included what the researchers categorized as “visible aggression” and 15% included “nonconsensual aggression.”

PornHub - yes, that is the site that has been in a bit of trouble lately, according to The Christian Post, and deservedly so.  The article says:

MindGeek, the parent company of several major porn websites, including Pornhub, is under investigation and facing its own lawsuits filed on behalf of child sex abuse survivors.

Last month, two unnamed plaintiffs accused Pornhub of hosting and profiting off videos of their abuse uploaded to the popular pornography website. They filed a class action complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

The Christian Post article adds:

In December, 40 women sued Pornhub. They claim that the company profited from their exploitation as victims of sex trafficking.

Last week, more than 70 Canadian lawmakers called for MindGeek to be investigated by police amid the mounting allegations that the company profited from the sexual exploitation of children.

And, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, according to the article, is one of the plaintiffs in a suit filed in federal court in California on behalf of an anonymous person known as Jane Doe against XVideos and its parent company. The story quotes from the Center's Legal Counsel Dani Pinter: “XVideos not only violated the law by hosting Jane Doe’s child sexual abuse material, it profited from her abuse given that each image and video of her was monetized,” adding, “This cannot be allowed to stand and remain unchallenged. Victims of childhood sexual abuse such as Jane Doe unequivocally deserve justice.”

The Post adds: "The lawsuit contends that XVideos not only 'benefited from a sex trafficking venture' and distributed child pornography but also failed to report child sexual abuse material."

There is a disturbing world that is centered around pornography, and we have to be aware that young people are being victimized by child pornographers and traffickers who are trying to profit from the abuse.  And, the consumers of this material and other forms of pornography are finding no shortage of opportunity to view this type of content. It's available and it is our responsibility to be aware and to protect ourselves, our homes, and our communities from this entering in and being used of the enemy to damage hearts and minds.

Since the body is called the temple of the Holy Spirit, we have to evaluate how well that we are protecting ourselves.  We have the power to regulate what is being taken into our minds through our physical senses, including our eyes.  And, if the enemy has built a stronghold in any area, we have to rely on the power of the Spirit to cleanse us.  Jesus cleansed the Jerusalem Temple; we have to let Jesus cleanse the temple of His Spirit.  He said that the Temple was to be a "house of prayer."  If we have been saved, we have been set apart for the use of our Savior and can consider how we are obeying Him.

The King Who Is a Servant

Jesus is our King - the One who was hailed as such who rode into Jerusalem less than a week before His death will return in all His glory and majesty. And, even though He was the Son of God, He was full of humility. In Mark chapter 10, Jesus says:
(43) whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.

He goes on to say:
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Even though His disciples were followers of Christ who swore allegiance to Him, He was telling them that His desire was to serve.  Jesus humbled Himself before the people to whom He ministered, and ultimately humbled Himself to the point of death. He is an example to us and empowers us to walk in the way He would intend.  He was God who came in the flesh, who came down to earth, so that we might be taken up with Him to heaven through salvation.

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As Jesus shared His final meal together with His disciples, He made some comments about servanthood, in advance of His incredible act of service in order to redeem humanity. In Luke 22, we find that He said:
25 And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'
26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.
27 For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.

One of the initial reports after the deadly shooting recently in Boulder, CO at a grocery store involved the death of a police officer who gave his life to save others.  ChristianNews.net had a portion of the story from TheDenverChannel.com.  51-year-old Eric Talley "was the first to respond to the King Soopers minutes after initial 911 calls around 2:30 p.m. He was shot and killed," according to Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold.  A total of 10 people lost their lives, and the alleged shooter is in custody.

The story says that Eric's father, Homer Talley, shared this statement with ABC:

“He took his job as a police officer very seriously. He had seven children. The youngest is 7 years old. He loved his kids and his family more than anything. He joined the police force when he was 40 years old. He was looking for a job to keep himself off of the front lines and was learning to be a drone operator. He didn’t want to put his family through something like this and he believed in Jesus Christ.”

Chief Herold said, "I'm grateful for the police officers that responded, and I am so sorry about the loss of Officer Talley..."  Another article at the same website quotes the chief as saying: "He's everything policing deserves and needs," adding, "He cared about this community, he cared about Boulder Police Department, and he cared about his family. And he was willing to die to protect others." The story also notes that Mayor Sam Weaver said, "Many are alive today because of the actions of Eric Talley and other first responders and their bravery is a blessing to us all."  Both leaders used the word "heroic" in their statements.

Eric Talley certainly demonstrates for us a man who was devoted to saving lives, even to the extent of putting his life on the line, as our law enforcement and first responders are willing to do every single day - and we should never take them for granted.  And, as it's been noted, Talley went into an active shooter situation, a life-or-death situation, and according to the mayor, his willingness to give of himself helped to save lives.

Yesterday, Christians around the world celebrated a moment in which someone who was willing to give his life put himself in harm's way and rode into Jerusalem into what became a dangerous situation.  Within the course of a week, our Savior went from being hailed as King to being scorned as criminal.  But, Jesus was intent on His mission - at the time of Passover, our perfect Passover Lamb, who said Himself that He came to serve and give His life, fulfilled that mission: not only to die, but to be raised from the dead so that we can have new life in Him.  Our King exemplified what servant-leadership is all about.

So, in this Holy Week, as we consider the King who gave His life, we can think about what that means for us, and how that can affect our attitude. Because of our Savior, we can live a fulfilling, selfless life.  And, we can demonstrate a willingness to give our lives so that others can be free. Our Savior calls us to present ourselves as living sacrifices.