april 11 piranha preachers

 Piranha Preachers.  I observe remarks from pastors on an internet forum for pastors. Occasionally a pastor will ask for prayer as he struggles with sin in his life.  One pastor confessed to going to a gay bar in town and engaging in homosexual sex.  He was asking for advice and prayers as he tried to turn from this sin.  How do you advise a pastor who is living in sin?  Many of the responding pastors immediately told him to resign his church and never preach again.  They were almost like piranha fish in their judgment.  They verbally pounced on him showing no mercy.  Perhaps they were right.  I did not comment.  I did and do pray for him.  Should we shoot the wounded?  Should we be quick to try to pull the splinter out of our brother’s eye and ignore the beam in our own?  Matthew 7:3-5  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Where is the line drawn between sin and bad sin?  I consider myself to be a poor example of Christianity.  How thankful I am for God’s grace.  I cannot tell this brother to resign unless I tell myself to resign.  No, I am not guilty of the sin he has confessed but there are other sins I commit. (I am so sorry to confess this). I am guilty of gluttony, neglecting the flock, neglecting prayer, study and writing time, lust, procrastination, pride, selfishness, exceeding the speed limit and much more.  The closer I get to my Lord the more displeased I am with myself.  WWJD?  What would Jesus do?  Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to “go, and sin no more.”   John 8:10  When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11   She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. Jesus knew her repentant heart. Whereas my sin of neglect is not as bad as some sins, sin is sin.  James 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.  Either we are guilty, or we have been redeemed.  None of us are perfect.  Sin needs to be dealt with in Christlike compassion and guidance.  Please don’t be a piranha Christian.   

 Slow Poke.  Some people in Texas are either ignorant of the slow poke law or they are just determined to break the law.  Left lanes on divided highways with a sign saying “Left lane for passing only” are oddly enough for passing only.  I observe many drivers in the left lane on such a highway doing the speed limit or less and causing cars to gather behind them.  Once a driver passes a slower vehicle in the right lane the law requires that driver pull over into the right lane. Some people seem to have the attitude “I am doing the speed limit and if you want to go faster, shame on you for breaking the law.”  Woe to the person driving that car especially in a large city like Houston.  People are getting shot for such aggravation.  Imagine the shock if they are pulled over by the law and given a $200 ticket for slowing down traffic in the left lane.  Even if they are going the speed limit! It is said ignorance of the law is no excuse to break it.  Now let’s consider the “slow poke” law in the church.  A person faithfully attends church and does everything they think a fine Christian should do.  They live a fine moral life.  They tithe.  They are dependable.  They are respected.  They work in the church.  They are just cruising along thinking all is well.  However, they do not understand that they have already broken the law.  Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”  The law of God states we are already guilty of being a sinner.  So they dismiss their sins comparing themselves to “sinners” and think that living right will make up for the wrongs already committed.  If they could cover up their past sins with right living then they could boast up in Heaven that they deserve to be there.  But the Bible says,  Ephesians 2:8-9  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.” No one in Heaven will be able to boast that they deserve to be there.  You can only receive citizenship in Heaven by repenting and coming to Christ. John 14:6  “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  If you do not repent of your sins and ask Jesus to save you Heaven will be missed.  Please don’t sleepily continue on your way trusting in your good works and leave this life without trusting the Lord.  Jesus will save you if you repent of your sins and ask Him to. Romans 10:13 ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Will you trust Him today?   

 “Thank you for getting our chairs.”  We were tent camping.  Returning to our campsite I discovered our two lawn chairs were at the bottom of the river.  Bringing them up on the bank our neighbor at the next campsite said, “Thank you for getting our chairs.”  I looked at him in disbelief.  I asked, “Are you serious?”  To which he said “Absolutely.  I wondered where they got to.”  I asked him his last name.  He told me.  I said, “How interesting.  My last name is Owen and if you look her under the arm rests you will see the name “Owen.”   He was caught in a lie.  He just turned and walked away.  If my name was not on the chairs, we could have had a serious disagreement.  How can people lie to your face?  Selfishness.  We are born that way. " Isaiah 59:2-4  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3  For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4  None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity."  Sounds like someone I know.  Me.  At least me before I repented and asked Jesus to save me.  Not that I am perfect now.  Far from it.  But I thank God for forgiving me and helping me today to have the power to resist the devil.  "James 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you". Now in Jesus we are to put away all lying." Ephesians 4:22   That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25  Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27  Neither give place to the devil. 28  Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you". What a challenge! Are you even trying to obey the Bible?    

 Dilemma. Jesus established the church for sinners.  ""   Those of us who are sick of living in sin can find forgiveness, peace, joy, and a loving family when we repent and ask Jesus to save us. At what point does the church welcome us sinners?  At all points.  No sinners, no church.  Those who sin much are welcome.  Those who sin less are welcome.  We all need the Saviour.  Since we all have a past, we must be careful to not make people feel uncomfortable about coming to church.  Then we come to the subject of church membership.  In a broad sense when we repent and receive Christ we are born again into His “church.”  "1 Corinthians 12:13  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit".  Local church membership however forbids on going habitual sin. " 1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."  The seed that remains in the Christian is the Holy Spirit.  When Christians sin, the Holy Spirit is grieved, and we are convicted of our sin.  If we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, He forgives us. "1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The Christian cannot sin successfully.  He will repent or die.  At what point can a saved sinner join the local church?  The church at Corinth had a church member who committed sexual sin with his father’s wife. (Probably his stepmother.) The church knew about it and looked the other way.  Paul told them to withdraw fellowship from him. "1 Corinthians 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." The church withdrew fellowship from him.  He repented. In the book of  2 Corinthians Paul instructs the church to take him back in since he repented.  People living in open sin should not be members in good standing.  Hence the dilemma.  We love them and want them to worship with us, however continued open sin prohibits membership. An example is a couple in a physical relationship but not married.  We love them but they must have separate households or get married to join the church.  It hurts when people are offended and refuse to come to church. How wonderful Heaven will be. In the meantime, may we welcome everyone to worship with us and enjoy the Lord’s presence.  The pastor who licensed me to preach said, “Tom, we are called to catch the fish.  But it is Jesus who cleans them.”  May our love and kindness encourage them to live in God’s Spirit.  

 Tax time.  Taxes are a necessary evil.  Our government, no matter how corrupt, ungodly  and wasteful it is, is better than no government.  Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. God has ordained (to arrange in an orderly manner) for us to have a governing body.  If we had no government our country would shut down.  Romans 13:6  For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.  Fortunately, in America elections are prescheduled and if we don’t like those elected officials in our government, we can vote them out.  If we can trust the election process.  About twenty-five countries put ink on the finger of persons who vote.  Some include the Bahamas, the Philippines, India and Iraq.  I would prefer to have my finger inked when I vote rather than get a sticker that says, “I voted.”  I also would approve of identification before a person can vote. But I digress.  The Jews in Jesus’ day hated being ruled by the Romans.  But paying taxes was the law.  Some religious leaders who wanted to trap Jesus asked Him if taxes should be paid or not. Matthew 22:17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?  If Jesus said “yes, pay the tax” many Jewish people would hate Him for supporting the occupiers.  If He said “No” He could have charges brought against Him for rebelling against Rome.  You know what Jesus said. Matthew 22:20-22  And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 21  They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.  Oh, the wisdom of our Lord!  If you desire wisdom read your Bible.  Now back to taxes.  Rome hired Jewish residents to collect their taxes.  One of Jesus’ disciples was a tax collector.  Matthew.  How he must have been hated for being a ”turn coat.”  Especially by Simon the zealot.  Luke 6:14-16 Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 15  Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, 16  And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.  Here one disciple wanted to assassinate Roman officials and another disciple worked for the Roman officials.  Awkard.  Sometimes people in church have to love each other even though they don’t see eye to eye. Jesus paid tax.  Matthew 17:27 … cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. Tax time may hurt, but it is necessary.