Images and Impressions

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that hostility towards Christians and the Christian faith is on the rise. I'm not talking about people who just "get mad," but those who openly express their deep anger towards Christianity, God, the Bible and the Church. To them, everything associated with Christianity must be silenced, removed, marginalized and mocked. Anger that spews forth venomous wrath, vile language and actions of blind furry towards all that is sacred.

They seem to be on an energetic crusade to have anything and everything that is "Christian" stripped away and wiped clean from our society. WHY? I wonder why they are so adamant about stopping Christianity because it sure doesn't seem that they are overly concerned about stopping the message of other faiths.

I think I might know why! Could it be that we, as Christians, are setting a poor example to others about God? Are we REALLY portraying God the right way? According to Nehemiah 9:7, our God is a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love. God is very patient towards all of us as proven in Romans 2:4 (NLT), "Don't you realize how kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Or don't you care? Can't you see how kind he has been in giving you time to turn from your sin?"

I could never understand why some Christians feel like it is their god-given right to openly "condemn" others by using such vicious and condescending language towards those they feel are "sinners." Shaming someone out of a behavior or habit will never work…in fact, it probably will just make things worse. With the way most non-Christians are treated, I can better understand why they have such a bad taste in their mouths towards Christianity. Could the reason why they are so hateful to us is because Christians have been hateful towards them?

It is not our "job" to make the alcoholic sober nor the homosexual a heterosexual. We are not commissioned to change the liar into an advocate of truth. Our mission is still the same as when Jesus commissioned us in Matthew 28:19, to "...go and make disciples of all nations...."

I am calling on all Christians to chill out with all the name-calling, finger-pointing, Facebook “MEMES” and posts and all the legal and morality crusades towards the people caught up within the ills of our society. We are called to live out Christ-likeness. We love the sinner despite the sin.

Instead of wasting time pointing out the sins of others and quoting Scripture to try to get them to change, we should be loving and praying for them while working on our own sin-issues and be found investing our time dealing with those areas.

What image and impression of God are you sending to others? A patient and merciful God who loves them like crazy or one that is condemning, intolerant, and mean? Who will you begin to showing more love to this week?

Learn from Lydia

There are a lot of interesting mentions of women in the Bible. Whether it is the Old Testament or New Testament, there are many strong, yet oddly missed, lessons from women that we can familiarize ourselves with to strengthen our faith. One such woman is named Lydia. She provides a very powerful lesson for us. We find one particular mention of her in the book of Acts. Acts 16:14 , says that Lydia “reverenced God, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying.” Lydia is actually a significant person in the New Testament. She is described as “a dealer in purple goods” (Acts 16:14). Pointing that out is quite a clue. Dealing in “purple goods” was considered a luxury in the ancient world. It is probably safe to say that she was both a woman of great financial means and able to deal successfully with the influential people of her time. She was also noted as having a great gift of persuasion. I think she might have been the only perso...

Tetelestai!

Just before Jesus gives up His spirit on the cross, He utters a very powerful word. The word that He cries out is “ tetelestai” (tih-tellis-tie). When literally translated, this word means, “It is finished.” It can also refer to something completed or accomplished. The word occurs in John 19:28 and 19:30 and these are the only two places in all of the New Testament where it is found. In the John19:28 passage, it is translated, “After this, when Jesus knew that all things were now completed , in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, ‘I thirst.’” Two verses later, he utters the word himself: “Then when he received the sour wine Jesus said, ‘ It is finished ,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” Did you know that the word tetelestai was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill had been paid in full? The Greek-English lexicon (by Moulton and Milligan) sa...

Asking "What" Instead of "Why"

Life is not easy and it is not void of struggle, challenges, pain, sorrow, loss, grief, and suffering. I am sure I can come up with more words than that, but this article would soon blossom to two to three pages in length. I am sure we are familiar with the trials and frustrations of Job in the Old Testament. Some of us might even be familiar with the words of Habakuk in 1:2 , “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” When things don’t go well or something tragic or unfortunate befalls us, we are faced with the struggles of crying out to God, “why me?” “Why, God, did you let this happen?” Many times, we too, grow frustrated and angry at God, for how He chooses to work within our situations and circumstances. We sure do end up asking God a lot of “why” questions. I believe “why” could be the wrong word to be using. Asking “why” seems to imply a lack of faith, ungratefulness, and, somehow, that we think God owes us an explanation, an answer or reaso...

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