I can watch as much porn as I want!

Something awesome about being a Christian is that I can do home and watch as much porn as I want. I can drink as much alcohol as I want!  Wait, are you confused? Is this some grace-type post? Nope! It's even better.

The Psalmist pleaded, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me!" (51:10)  So beautifully, God promised in Ezekiel, "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (36:26)

That new heart is invaluable. 20 years after starting in AA, an alcoholic will introduce himself as still being an alcoholic—the desire is still there.  As Christians, God's power can change our very desires, if we embrace it. We can go home and think, "There is no way that I'd want to drink. There's no way I'd want to ever watch porn!" Our heart can feel sick at the very thought. And that is a huge blessing. 

Rattlesnakes and salvation.

Want an antivenin for the Serpent's poison? In Luke 4:13, Satan kept trying his tricks with Jesus, but he failed, so 'he left Him until an opportune time." Notice that Satan is looking for opportunities. Have you ever failed again and again? Seen a brother or sister who keeps failing? Let's talk about our part in giving Satan opportunity, and what we can do about it.

Here it is again, opportunity for Satan: "For you brothers were called to freedom, but not the freedom for an opportunity to the flesh. Rather, serve one another through love." (2 Cor 5:17)  Ah ha! It's the counteragent to sin and letting Satan win, and it's serving one another through love!

Something so simple? Can it be? Yep! If you're busy studying with the lost, you won't be out DUI driving. If you're taking your brothers and sisters in Christ on a hike, you won't be getting an STD with someone you met at a bar. Jesus' entire life was characterized by service, and He was perfect. Are you ready and willing to serve? 

Becoming Someone Different

BQ: I knew of a Christian who became involved in promiscuity and drinking, and just had a hard time assembling with the saints. He got away from frequenting bars, yet still found himself at a bar as often as at assembly.

"For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation...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!" (II Corinthians 7:10-11)

Sometimes it can be hard to shake the image of sin from us, but to start, we have to make radical changes.  If we used to go the the bar three times a week, and got drunk every day, we can't allow ourselves to "just go to the bar once a week." The change has to be so radical that someone meeting us today would never know that we'd ever been like that at all.  

As soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her sons.

With thanks to Rio and Miriam, about something that has been on my mind.

I have personally watched Christian friends slip into the world, committing both spiritual suicide with themselves, and spiritual murder with the things they did with others, and encouraged others to do. And those times have been the most painful of my life, bar none.  And those times have been the most painful of my life, bar none. A lot of that pain comes from the pain of knowing what I've been, and the damage I've caused in the past.

Even if you don't personally like the person that much, the pain is devastating, because there is nothing you can do.  You cannot be the conscience for someone who wants his or her conscience to be seared.  Often, these people will apply a veneer of godliness, so that they can look at their fake reality and call it real, but the poison runs deep and is killing them.

What do you do? Do you delete such a person from your life? Do you utterly abandon them?  

I have often done that. I don't think it's right. It was my selfish way of protecting myself from pain. I once encouraged my mother and sister to abandon someone who caused them great pain and tears. They refused.  Instead of letting the person simply get off easy, they were loving but also truthful.  Their efforts were met seemingly forever with rejection and cruelty.

And yet God says, "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!" (Psalms 126:5)

Who wants to sow a field with such effort that it causes them to cry? Isn't it easier to just abandon that plot and more on to easier territory? 

My sister and mom didn't. They sowed in tears. Eventually, the person they loved changed. Hard times came. Rock bottom was hit. This person was abandoned. And suddenly, the person realized that through everything she had done, despite the evil of it, two people were still compassionate. Compassionate despite the way they'd been treated. And indeed, none of the person's actions had been more than passing pleasure.  And in the end, my mother and sister reaped with joyful shouting.

Compare that with two of my own examples. Both times, I saw someone reverting back to their old friends and old ways, including drinking. Both times, I said, "That hurts me and is repulsive behavior. You're otta' my life."  And both these people, now, are fully surrounded by the world, molded into it as a part of it, horrifically deep.  Attempts by me now to say, "Hey, I care about you," have no weight behind them. Because I gave up. Instead of being loving but correcting, I threw away anything, including hope, no matter how small.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." 

Are you like that? If you persist in love, will you not remain green? Are you afraid of the pain, and willing to wilt away from hope and caring? There is only one way to bear fruit, and it is through persistence. 

Sometimes, however, when you are persistent, people will reject you. It happens. As my friend Rio once told me as a wake-up call, and this is paraphrased "Sometimes nothing you do can reach people, and you'll be consumed."  You have to know when that point is, but you can also make the conscious decision to not simply and utterly reject them.

The truth with the person struggling is that we do not know if they will be overcome, or shall overcome.  We cannot make the call with their struggles, or with their future.  We cannot condemn their hearts, but can see their difficulties. 

And more importantly, sometimes people have to hit utter rock bottom. They have to be at the lowest, where the sun does not shine, before they decide they don't want to be in the pit. 

God tells us that a struggle is present, and that it shall not come without weeping. For our struggles, for our help, and for the struggles of others, it is often true that much pain must be endured before we conquer. 

In Isaiah 66:8, God confirms this and says, "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons."

New birth does not come without pain and persistence, but we have to maintain the hope of beautiful things to come. We must have the attitude that we would, "could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." (Romans 9:3)

And if you're sad, hurt, and damaged, remember, "Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD." (Proverbs 16:20)  When you're feeling darkest and down in the dumps, dwell even stronger in the Word.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Bottoms up!

BQ: According to the CDC, "Excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths and 2.5 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) each year. Further, excessive drinking was responsible for 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults aged 20-64 years. The economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in 2006 were estimated at $223.5 billion."  

That's a pretty staggering bunch of numbers to see! When I worked in EMS, it was always my lot to get the weekend night shifts, which meant dealing with lots of carnage from alcohol. God long ago noted the same thing, using Is 5:11-13 to describe an ancient party scene:  

"Woe to those who...stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord, Nor do they consider the work of His hands."  

Often people wait until night to start getting really wasted, and it's no surprise—alcohol degrades our ability to function. More important, though, is that alcohol in excess limits our connection to our Lord. If we want to be like Christ, we have to back away from drunkenness.

BQ: Isaiah mentioned an ancient scene of nighttime drunkenness, and it's pretty revealing that often drunkenness, theft, and other such degradation of the human condition occurs at night. I like how Romans 13:13 hints at this, saying, "Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy."

Often people are simply more apt to behave horribly at night. Why? Because darkness usually conceals the evil, at least in the minds of men. It's better to behave properly, as we would behave if we had an audience observing us in broad daylight! Always be upright.  

BQ: Rock Springs, WY was a hive of scum and villainy at times, at least for those of us working the late-night 911 shifts. One thing interesting about alcohol abuse is that it's often associated with sexual misconduct, too. This isn't anything new, and God noted in Habakkuk 2:15, 

"Woe to you who make your neighbors drink,

Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk

So as to look on their nakedness!"

Rock Springs featured a lot worse than that, but it was true that evil hasn't really changed. I saw a lot of rapes take place, to both men and women, that could only occur because of immersion in a really wretched culture. It's a good thing to stay away from places that feature the likes of what Habakkuk mentions, and worse. 

BQ: Peer pressure is a nasty, nasty thing, and one that we often convince ourselves that we're not susceptible to. What does God say about it? The most concise thing that I've found is Proverbs 1:10, which says, "if sinners entice you, do not consent."

It's really easy to be enticed to sin, and it's often an insidious, dark road to go down, without signposts to warn you how far you've gone. 2 Pet 1:5-7 has the entire way to counter this. Take a look at this full armor against peer pressure:

"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,  and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,  and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love." 

Notice the compounding nature of what's being mentioned, and look right in the middle at what's featured: self-control. If we give in to peer pressure, we're letting others control us. To fight against peer pressure, start off with diligence, faith, and moral excellence, and build on that foundation.

BQ: I'm still getting around to posting some older BQs, so these are somewhat linear. :) Alcohol and going to the bars is incredibly prevalent and accepted in American society, but does God want it to be a part of Christian culture? That's rhetorical, but let's consider some reasons why.  

Alcohol, and especially bars, have been called a "meat market" by some. It lowers our inhibitions and puts us in contact with people who are doing the same; it destroys our judgment and can alter our lives forever. In Gen 19, Lot would never have committed incest if he had not been drunk, yet because he was wasted, he did, "and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose." 

While all sin is sin, some sins can carry more permanent physical consequences. Sexual misconduct associated with alcohol and social drinking can wreck a person for a lifetime; when accompanied with driving, it can take innocent lives as well.

BQ: We've seen that alcohol perverts judgment, but Satan's done a lot of work to make it seem like a normal part of life, even to Christians—surely hanging out a bar and drinking a bit doesn't really hurt anyone, right?   One thing that's being missed is what God says that alcohol does to your heart (that is, the core of your very being). 

Proverbs 23:33 says, "Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things." Sometimes we try to write off drinking as "not that bad," but the fact is, it utterly destroys people from the inside out; it perverts the heart first and destroys from there. I know one man who doesn't drink, but goes to the bars. I asked him why and he said (paraphrased), "Because it's easier to take women that way, and you can take whatever woman you want, especially if you're not toasted and she is." He went on to tell me, "Those type of girls are good for a "cuddle," but aren't made to be wives, alcohol ruins them."  The sad thing is, alcohol can so ruin a person that not even a well-collected scuzzbucket wants anything to do with him or her. As Christians, we need to avoid perversion of the heart, and that means we need to avoid the alcohol scene. 

BQ: We saw that alcohol causes the heart to become perverted, and that's really not uncommon knowledge. People drink and drive, killing people and/or themselves, spend away all their money, and ruin marriages and relationships, all for another drink. When you meet someone who likes alcohol, it can be a horrific struggle for him or her to overcome. Often, they're dependent on it.

God warns us to be "not given to wine," in 1 Tim 3:3, yet for someone who likes their booze, they often wake up to say, "I will seek it again." (Pro 23:35) 

BQ:  Proverbs 23:35 says those who drinking steadily say, "When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”  Without alcohol, a core part of their lives are gone. What's wrong, though, with seeking a drink?

The problem is in what they're seeking. A song says, "Savior, in my joy or sorrow, I will ever go to Thee," and this sentiment is reflected in Phil 4:11-13 and several other passages of scripture. Compare that with someone who really enjoys alcohol. When they get off work, they go to the bottle instead of the Bible. In sadness they may seek a bar instead of their Christian family. If they want to be joyful, they may head out to party or bonfire with plenrt of beer instead of going to spiritually build someone up. The entire core of the heart gains a slight perversion as Proverbs 23:33 mentions, like water with oil on top.

BQ: Ultimately, alcohol destroys lives, marriages, and the heart.  God sums up his opinion on recreational drug use (and alcohol is a potent drug) by saying, "Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober." (1 Thess 5:6) We're in an army, and the devil is prowling about. If we're hooked on booze, we're easy prey.

If you have a chance to go out to a bar, think of something which will build Christ's body up instead. If you have a chance to get wasted in your own home, call a brother or sister and do something else. Have a Bible study, go appreciate the world God has created, or do something else productive. No matter what, though, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Pet 5:8

Satan's Serious Business!

BQ: Today many Christians take sin and Satan pretty lightly? Are you one of them? I used to be, but it began to occur to me that maybe it's a little bit more serious than I'd thought.  Why?  Here's a good example of when Michael the archangel was having a conflict with Satan:

"But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”" (Jude 1:9)

Notice that even Michael, a very powerful angel, understood that Satan was a supernatural and powerful evil, and not something to be taken lightly. I've heard people today make some pretty snide remarks about the devil, but it's important to realize that we simply can't take on Satan one-on-one and win. We have to have the Lord firmly on our side, and we have to realize that it's Christ's strength that's empowering us in the battle.  If even Michael treats Satan with great caution, shouldn't we do the same? Or as Barclay said, "If the greatest of good angels refused to speak evil of the greatest of evil angels, even in circumstances like that, then surely no human being may speak evil of any angel." 









BQ: We're looking more at the supernatural strength of supernatural evil, or Satan, and why we should sometimes take it more seriously than it is. I suppose the connection in my mind is that of casual sin (or sin that we want to keep around and pretend is ok) and Satan. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that we should, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

A roaring lion honestly isn't something that any of us would probably want to tussle with mano a mano.  Even Michael the archangel showed great caution around Satan and turned to the Lord and not his own strength when dealing with Satan. Gen 4:7 connects with the above noting that, "I you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Satan's power comes through sin, so this evil that even Michael took very soberly...is sometimes something that we don't take seriously. It can be the little sin that we want that leads to a bigger one. In a marriage, it might be a husband hanging out once or twice with a female coworker in a group environment, then enjoying that, then in a more intimate setting, and on and on until adultery occurs. The thing is, Satan is a clear and present danger, but he's a master of deception, too. More tomorrow.






BQ: We've been looking into the seriousness of Satan, and thus sin. Today we're going to look at 2 Pet 2, starting in verse 9, emphasis mine:  "The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,  and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.

Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.  But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,  suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong."  Jude 8 confirms saying, "Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties."

Satan is the most powerful of the fallen angels. Do the above verses make him seem like a being to be trifled with? Like he's just a chump? No way! Instead, he's a massively powerful being, and even angels don't revile him! I also can't help but notice that people that don't take him seriously are mentioned as "indulging the flesh" and "having no knowledge."  This can absolutely apply to us if we're not careful!






BQ: In looking at how we should treat Satan, we need to look at how Jesus treated him, too. Matthew 4:1-4 has a little bit of this:

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.  And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”  But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

Notice that even Jesus did not take Satan lightly, but instead was prepared with the Word of God in defense. Jesus actually had preparation for dealing with Satan. He took it seriously and wasn't flippant, and instead used the Word as a familiar weapon.  Can you use the Word in your defense when you're weak?  If Jesus and the angels all take Satan and his angels seriously and soberly, we need to, too. Satan and sin are just aren't things to be taken lightly! :)
 

Slipping back into bad habits.

BQ: What do you do if you're around those still captive to Satan and they're busy engaging in things that are evil? It's often tempting for us to think, "Man, I've got this. I won't stoop to that level," but what advice does God give us?

A: "A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, The naive proceed and pay the penalty. (Pro 27:12) 1 Cor 15:33 says the same, "Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."

When we lead ourselves to believe that we're impervious to spiritual danger, we only expose ourselves as being naive. Instead of choosing bad company, choose to hang around with those who will make you stronger!




BQ:  There's a book by Dr. Seuss called, "Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now?"  It has lines like, "The time has come, the time is now, Marvin K. Mooney will you please go now?" God has a similar plea to us throughout the Bible. People always want to delay putting off worldliness, yet God always  asks that we do it soon! Why? Because,

"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." (James 4:13-14)

Putting off changing assumes that we'll always have time to change in the future, but we don't know which moment will be the last future moment for us. Old, dead sinner, will you please go now? 







BQ:  Sometimes people become Christians and then decide that they can indulge in some bad habits, especially if they're not "too bad," as long as they don't go back into sinning "hardcore."  How does God feel about this? 

A: "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?" (Gal 4:9)

When we start that downhill slide, it's showing a desire to be enslaved again by Satan, so it's critical to not even step foot on that slippery slope. 






BQ: As a Christian, it's important to not return to worldliness. God's chosen people, the Israelites, repeatedly did this in the Old Testament, leading God to say such things as, "You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me." (Jer 16:12)

Often when we return to worldliness, it's a sign of our own stubbornness, which is a shame, because we could be stubborn for God as opposed to against Him. God always reminds us to avoid evil, and He explains that going back to the world after finding Him is a chancy thing to do.  "For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first."  (2 Pet 2:20) When you play with fire, it's easy to get burned. The "oh duh, Lucas," solution is not to play with fire at all!





BQ:  We've looked at slipping back into worldliness, and 2 Tim 3:13 is actually very much related to this sort of topic. It says, "But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." 

At first glance, this is only talking about evil men and fakes, right? The thing is, when we claim to be Christian, yet act like the world, what exactly does that make us? Yep! Fakes. Impostors. We end up both deceiving and being deceived, instead of edifying others and being edified. God ends up describing this sort of person as one whose "silver has become dross," whose "drink diluted with water." (Is 1:22)  

We all need to be very careful to avoid being cheap imitations of the real thing! 

To avoid temptation.

BQ: Have you ever met someone you really would have rather seen get hit by a bus than turn from his/her obnoxious ways? I think that most of us get that feeling at some point, much like Jonah did. What's a great way to overcome anger at someone?

A: Matthew 26:41 has a great answer: "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation ; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

There are all sorts of temptations that this helps with, but we'll stick with anger. When I feel myself getting angry at someone, I stop and pray for them to become more like Christ. When I keep my focus on hoping that the transgressor will grow into a great friend, it's hard to stay angry at them. 

Prayer helps with a lot of things. It really forces us to come out of the worldly mindset and to remember what our spiritual goals are. A side benefit is that, by putting away the fleshly reaction, your reputation will remain above reproach. : )