Cup A Joe

For Your Children's Children.

   About 14 years ago I was at my dad's house and I decided I wanted to go rummaging through his attic looking for "memorabilia"  from my younger years. I got up there and I found an old football helmet, alot of old photographs and scrapbooks. I also came across a few old report cards but I decided not to look at them. At the bottom of one old box I came across a thick green book that looked like a journal. It was about an inch thick and when I opened it up I could see that it was in my dad's handwriting.

   I began to read and saw that it was chock full of all kinds of information. There were parts of it that were all the different ways that he loved me. Other parts were rules for living that would insure that I would grow up to be a good man. There was advice on how to be a good son, husband, father, citizen and friend. It was a great deal of material and I wanted to read it all so I took it down from the attic and took it back home so I could read every last page. It would take a while.

  After I got home and got settled, I took out the journal and began to read it all the way through. There was alot more stuff in there. More great advice about how to handle money, how to control anger, how to be a man of your word, what humility looks like and kindness. But most of all, what it was about was Jesus and God. It described how Jesus is the example of all those things my dad wanted me to be. How I was going to sin because I was a sinner and that I needed to understand that God gave His Son to take the punishment for my sin if I would just believe and repent. My father wrote more about this than anything in this journal. It was obviously the thing he wanted me to know the most because he wrote so much about it. There was tons of stuff in their about Jesus. My father also really likes poetry and music, so there were several sections that was just songs and poems written about God. There was another section that was just a list of wise sayings and advice for right living.

 This journal helped me to understand myself, humans and this world alot better. I also had alot of strong and differing emotions as I read. Fear, awe, love, anger, sadness but most of all, incredible gratitude to my father for writing all of this down just for me. As the journal was quite large, it took me a month or so to get through it the first time. I also realized that one reading would not be enough and since there was an incredible amount of valuable information in it, I would need to read it again. So I did. And then I did it again. I even began to try to memorize some of the most important parts. In fact, like I said, this was 14 years ago but to this day I still read this journal every day. I do it because I don't want to miss anything that my dad wants me to know and I want to be the man my dad wants me to be.

   One thing I forget to tell you; When I read through this journal for the first time, I was a little angry. In many ways I had made a mess of my life by the time I found this thing. Why oh why hadn't my dad given this to me sooner. In fact, why did I have to find it myself. So I called my dad and asked him why he hadn't given it to me sooner. Well, he explained to me that he had tried to give it to me many times but I just wasn't interested. But he also explained that he knew I would eventually find it and cherish it as I do now. Ok. So I wasn't mad anymore. Just thankful.

    This whole story is hogwash.

    But I do have a Bible and the way I feel about it and what I have found in it is very similar to the things I wrote above. Including the part about my Father writing it.

  There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. There are 929 in the Old Testament and 260 in the New Testament. If you read only 10 chapters a day you would finish reading the Bible in only 4 months or you could read the New Testament in a little over a month and a half by reading only 5 chapters a day.

   The Bible is 66 books written by nearly 50 authors over the course of nearly 1600 years.

   The number of new Bibles that are sold, given away, or otherwise distributed in the USA is about 168,000 per day.

   The Bible devotes some 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but over 2,000 verses on money and possesions.

 You should give it a shot and see for yourself what the big deal is about this book. You couldn't possibly do a more valuable thing for yourself, your children and your children's children.

Gesundheit!!

  Just finished reading an excellent, excellent, excellent book called SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME. If you can get through the first 50 pages, it will be one of the best books any of you have ever read. I cried many times during the reading of this book, and I am a big strong man. Or at least big. My mom recommended it and she was oh-so-right. It is even better than THE SHACK. Click on that link and it will take you to the book at Amazon.com.

   I know I have been away for a while but life has just been very busy lately. I worked second shift for several weeks and also, my daughter Katie was in a play and she had to go to practice every evening for about  six weeks.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY:

 

  So anyway, things have calmed down somewhat as we head into summer and I will begin trying to write again from time to time. I just finished reading through the New Testament of the Bible again and believe I may have some interesting stuff to share the next few weeks. The Bible is such a unique book in that every time you read it, you learn something new or notice something you've never seen before. The Holy Spirit is such an excellent teacher.

   One thing that I have been thinking about is miracles. Lotsa folks don't have a problem believing some of the miracles that Jesus (God) performed. Take turning water into wine for example. Some might judge that one of the easier miracles (oh really? Try it). But when it comes to things like the Great Flood, six days to create the universe or Jesus rising from the dead, we tend to question those miracles because they would seem to be much more difficult. The reason for this is because we are seeing these things from our point of view and we don't understand what Omipotent means. God is omnipotent, meaning he has infinite or unlimited power. He doesn't get tired or perplexed. He doesn't have to learn how to do something. So from His perspective, creating a universe is no harder or more amazing than turning a little water into a little bit of wine. We couldn't perform either miracle but one seems more miraculous than the other. But not to Him. He could sneeze a universe into existence if he so desired. In fact Jesus once told some religious leaders, who were thinking they were special, (Jews) that God could make Jews out of the rocks that were on the ground next to them:

Matthew 3:9 (NIV) And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham (Jews).

 God's perspective is imperative in all things. One cannot understand anything that truly matters without faith in Him and some understanding of who He is. I know, I know. Man and his science have proven that many of the miracles described in the Bible could not have happened. But you know what? I have met alot of men in my day and thus far I haven't been too impressed. Knowing Someone who is omnipotent has that affect on people.

  Oh and a little trivia to end this write-up. Since we were talking about sneezing, the word Gesundheit is the word we often say to someone who has just sneezed. It is a German word that basically means "God bless you". Supposedly it started back when the black plague was killing millions in Europe in the 1300 to 1700's. The first symptom of this terrible disease was sneezing so that when someone sneezed they would say "Gesundheit" (God bless you) and boy they really meant it. Fershizzle!

  So there you go. More useless trivia from my head to yours.

Arnold Horshack??

  I've been away awhile but I am back. I just flew in from Chicago.

  And boy are my arms tired.

  STUPID!!

 Seriously. Uhhh...I had the Swine Flu!! Yeah... YEAH! And I got it directly from some pigs (swine). See, it happened like this:

"There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.  "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' " 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

 

   Ok. Ok. I didn't really have swine flu but I am always looking for a way to throw some scripture atcha, baby. By the way, the swine flu epidemic you have been reading so much about lately has thus far killed, I think, about 8 people in the U. S. of A. Did you know that the normal flu bug that comes around every year kills, on average, about 36,000 Americans every year? Am I missing something? I hope that the media and our government doesn't end up like the boy who cried wolf and when the BIG ONE really does hit, no one will take precautions. Just in case, my boss and I have been hording flu masks at work. You know, these things:

 

It will only cost you $4,000.00.....each, baby.

 

   While I have been away, Cup A Joe has still been visited alot. Weird. Alot of the images and photos I have put up over the last 2 years have been Googled alot so that Cup A Joe has been visited from all over the world. I have put up pictures of Jesus Christ, John Travolta, C.S. Lewis, Van Halen, Snoop Dogg, etc. A lot of very famous people but do you know which image has been Googled the most? This one:

 

 

And it ain't even close. I still get between 5 and 15 Googles for that image every day. Here is a short list of some of the places where the people lived that have visited us:

1. Cambridge, Massachuseets (Home of Harvard University)
2. London, England
3. Pleasonton, California
4. Jerome, Idaho
5. Singapore (Asia)
6. Anchorage, Alaska
7. Belgium

8. Pamplona, Spain

 How weird is this? It's got my head all screwed up. The Apocalypse can't be far away.

Anyhoodles, as I am prone to do, I had an imaginary conversation with one of these dudes, the guy from Singapore. I'll call him Achmed:

Me: So, Achmed. I see where you visited Cup A Joe. That's very cool but can I ask a question; Why Arnold Horshack?

Achmed: OOO!! OOO!! Mr. Kotter!! Mr. Kotter! Me laugh everytime I think of he. All time I think of he. We worship him in my country.

Me: Ok. Well, is there anything else I can put on the blog for you?

Achmed: Ooohh Jes! Jes you can. Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington. You know he, jes? Can you put picture up?

Me: Well Achmed, JES! Jes I can. In fact, I'll do better than that:

 

Me: There ya' go Achmed. Hope that makes you happy. And Achmed?

Achmed: Jes?

Me: Up your nose with a rubber hose.

 

  And one last thing that is both very sad and funny but I feel I must share it with you:

 

He was supposed to breath in it. It's a breathalyzer test to see if you are legally drunk. I breathed in one of those once and it melted.

APRIL HOUSE

  I'd like to tell you a true story about a close friend of mine and Cheryl's named April Moore. She and her husband, Chip, are in a Newspring (our Church, baby) sponsored Home Group that meets in our house every Wednesday night. This is in her own words:

I was raised in an upper middle class neighborhood in Anderson. I am my father's only child but I have a half-brother that is 8 years younger than me. I left home at age 16 and was in full-blown active addiction at this time. I had only drunk alcohol, tried pills and marijuana. I left home and moved in with a boyfriend (who happened to use and sometimes sell drugs). I became pregnant at the age of 19 with my daughter. I found out I was pregnant after my first stay in jail. I stopped using during the pregnancy and she was born healthy and normal. I became pregnant again two years later (age 21) with my son and again stopped using and had a healthy child. After my son's birth I found what became my drug of choice-methamphetamine. I used constantly for the next two years-doing whatever necessary to obtain the drugs; staying up for days and days on end. The week prior to June 21st, 2001 was when I hit rock bottom. I was held in my house against my will and beaten and abused for a week. The whole time I was up on meth and not allowed to eat. The children were in the house. I had never been allowed to leave the house with both children at the same time because the person who I was with feared that I would leave. I wanted to get out of the drug lifestyle but at this point I wasn't able to get free.

   At one point during this week, I was on the floor, physically unable to get completely to my feet. I mustered enough strength to get up on one knee. My then husband approached me with a 45 caliber handgun that was loaded with hollow point bullets and placed it between my eyes. He told me he was going to kill me and then kill himself. I wasn't raised in church, we didn't pray before meals or say bedtime prayers. However, I cried out in my heart to God with all sincerity and asked Him if he was there, and did exist, if he would give me a chance to get my kids out of there, I would sober up and find out who he is. I just talked to God from my heart- even though I didn't feel like I knew how to- and honestly begged Him to save me and my children. What seemed like about fifteen minutes passed and my husband took the gun away from my head and told me to take both of the children and go get him something to eat and more beer. Now I found the strength and I had the opportunity to pick up both of my children (then ages 3-1/2 and 1-1/2), put one on each hip and walk across a field to get to a phone to call police for help. It was June 20th, 2001.

   I went to a safehouse with the children, got into alcohol and drug treatment, eventually re-connected with my family (I hadn't spoken to them in 8 years, my mother didn't see my babies born), and began a life finding out who God is and what He wants for me.

   I later moved in with my mom and step dad, got a job, completed treatment, started going to church, saved money and got onto my feet. From there I have been blessed and blessed and blessed. God laid the vision for the APRIL house on my heart and has equipped me every step of the way. I am the most blessed girl ever!!

   Having been around Chip and April these past few months, I can truly say that they have been radically transformed by God Himself. They both have terrific, powerful testimonies of what God can do. There coming into our lives has been a rich blessing that gets richer by the day.

   Several years after April's escape she felt God prompting her to start a non-profit recovery house for men seeking a place to stay while they continue their recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. It is a place where they can get their feet back on the ground in the areas of learning to follow rules, accountability partnerships, gaining employment and in general to recover, manage and be responsible for their own lives. As in all 12 step programs, spirituality and worshipping a higher power is encouraged but of course in April's case it goes much, much farther than this as she will let you and anyone who will listen that this Higher Power has a name- Jesus Christ.

   For April, this house is a Ministry and she is carrying through on a promise she made to her Creator when she was on one bended knee with a gun between her eyes. It is truly an outgrowth of her, in her words, "finding out who HE is".

   The house opened in 2005 and has been successful in helping transform lives. The story of starting the APRIL house is much more complex than all of this so if you would like to know more, please let Cheryl or I know and we will be glad to explain more or we can put you in touch with Mrs. April herself. She would love to tell you more. And also, if you would like to make a donation to the APRIL house (I am encouraging you to do so) you can make your checks payable to:

The APRIL House

724 Anderson Street,

Belton, SC 29627

 

Following are some pictures from a few Saturdays ago, when most of our Home Group helped Chip and April have a "Clean-up" day at the April House. The first picture is of April.

Some of the men in the House:

 

Home Groupers:

 

Chip:

  

Two Beautiful Things.

 

I long for your embrace, every single day;
To meet you in this place, and see you face to face.

Will you show me? Reveal yourself to me
Because of your mercy, I fall down on my knees.

And I can feel your presence here with me. Suddenly I'm lost within your beauty.
Caught up in the wonder of your touch. Here in this moment I surrender to your love

You're everywhere I go.I am not alone
You call me as your own,to know you and be known.

You are holy and I fall down on my knees.

I can feel your presence here with me. Suddenly I'm lost within your beauty
Caught up in the wonder of your touch, here in this moment I surrender to your love.

I surrender to your grace. I surrender to the one who took my place.

I can feel your presence here with me, suddenly I'm lost within your beauty
Caught up in the wonder of your touch, here in this moment I surrenderto your love.

 

Lyrics from the song Here With Me by Mercy Me

He said WHAT!?

The following was first posted about 9 months ago:

 

John 14:6- Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

  This essentially says that all other religions on planet earth are currently leading billions of people to hell. And Jesus said it; Loving, lamb holding, children hugging, Jesus. In my opinion, this verse(above) is the most arrogant, intolerant, obnoxious statement that has ever been uttered. Except for one thing; it's true. Now, I've said I believe the statement is true so if you don't believe it's true, you may believe I am arrogant, intolerant and obnoxious. You see how that works? Christians are sometimes known to be arrogant, intolerant, hateful and divisive and the Lord knows we have a long history of not representing Him very well, however, we serve a sometimes intolerant, divisive Messiah:

Luke12:51-54- "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

   Jesus said that too. What is bringing this on is that I heard it again today; I heard someone saying that Jesus was a very good man but not God. Heard this from someone I know pretty well. Actually, I didn't hear the conversation but it was reported to me. What has always amazed me about the "Jesus is a good man" remarks is that you NEVER hear any disparaging remarks against Him personally. You hear bad remarks about Christians but never about Christ. You never hear people say Jesus was a jerk for asking a man that didn't even know him to come follow Him right now even though the man wanted to stay with his terminally ill father. Jesus essentially said, "To hell with your sick father. I am calling you right now." And no one ever calls Him arrogant for starting an argument with virtually every religious person he came across or that He called the greatest citizens, teachers and respected men of His day a bunch of caniving, hypocritical snakes. He did all of these things.

   For the three years of His Ministry and particular the last year Jesus time was spent pretty much getting in people's faces and saying, "HEY YOU! I gotta know RIGHT NOW! Are you WITH ME?! Or are you AGAINST ME?! Don't look around. LOOK AT ME !! You've seen the Miracles. You already know I am who I say I am!! It is ALL OR NOTHING! It is ALL about ME! YOU are worthless, USELESS and WEAK without me! WHAT'S IT GONNA' BE MAN?!!"

   Jesus was NOT a good man if he was not GOD. Thousands upon thousands have died for Him. His closest friends on earth were brutally persecuted, crucified, whipped and beheaded for Him. He was a rude house guest at times. He told people he was God and the only way to Heaven. He was constantly picking fights with religious people. He told people he came to break up families. His own family thought he was crazy. He told people to come follow Him RIGHT NOW. He was sometimes wild, angry, impatient and sarcastic. But all of this and people want to call Him a "good" man but only a man. BULL MALARKY!! If he was just a man, he was a terrible, horrible man. The worst of all men. But thank you Jesus for being EXACTLY who you say you are. You are God. So:

  What's it gonna' be man ?

  A C. S. Lewis quote from Mere Christianity to wrap things up:

   I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

More Snow

 

 

  

My brother Randy sent these from Asheville;

   

Snow photos and video

With thanks to the enormously talented director, producer and camera man, Taylor Smith:

 

 

 

Is my hair on fire?

 Hope none of you died since my last post. Of course if you are reading this you are not dead... unless you are extremely talented. Boy Howdee.

 In a disturbing coincidence, considering the last post, I have recently learned that the mortality rate in my town is 100%. THAT..is bad news. But if you'll remember, I said I had good news.

  The following little deal, I stole from a much older post of mine but if you don't mind, I don't mind:

  We humans prepare for everything. We prepare for tests in school that might not happen. We prepare for careers by going to college but that career might not happen. We prepare for athletic contests we might not play in (like, ya know, if you flunk off the football team in the tenth grade). OOOoohhh man! That still stings a bit. We prepare for weddings that might not happen. We prepare for a retirement that might not happen. We even prepare other people for our own death with wills and such. But there is only one thing that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt will happen. Our own death. And so many of us don't prepare for it.

   Gonna throw another Greek word at you, euangelion. That is where our word evangel comes from and it means good news. And evangelist is one who brings good news. When you think evangelist you may think of Billy Graham or some very angry man on a street corner yelling and screaming at you, doing more harm for the cause of Christ than he could possibly know. I once watched a pair of these folks yelling and screaming and starting fights for an hour in downtown Atlanta. Heartbreaking. I got real close and took a picture of one of them:

He almost bit me but lucky for me I was eating a bowl of my Alphabits cereal.... So I ate him:

 BUUUURRP!! Exsqueeze me. He tasted kinda' sour and bitter.

 Well today I am an evangelist; A bringer of Good News to you. And what is that good news? Pure and simple:

Romans 5:8 (NIV)- But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

  Do you understand what that means? As I have written in earlier posts, God demands judgement of sin...judgement of sinners. It's just the way it is, no matter how yucky or angry you may feel about it or no matter how unfair it may seem. But Christ, though undeserving, took our punishment on that hill and God has accepted his payment of the debt we owed. However, this gift must be accepted by you through repentance and faith(belief):

Acts 2:37-38A (NIV)- When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins..."

  You know, if you think about it, you all know he was there that day. The Crucifiction happening is a fact that can be proved outside of the Bible, if you need that. If you think about it some more, what the heck was He doing there...God was certainly very serious about something that day. What was it?

  So Peter said you must repent and be baptized (in that order) which means if you were baptized as an infant or too young enough to understand, it doesn't count. Sorry poopy pants. Just so you'll know, I was baptized twice. Once when I was 12 and didn't have a clue and once when I was 28 and understood. There is nothing magical in the water that "saves" you, the "magic" is in the Christ who died for you and then you truly understanding and truly believing it. And then getting Baptized is the symbolic act identifying you with Christ and showing that you agree with Him about you and ..about Him. You've changed your mind. You've repented. You've turned away from the old way of thinking and doing. I may explain more on that later. I don't want to split any (more) denominations over an interpretation of Baptism and/or repentance. I'll just shut up for a minute and let Paul speak:

Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)- That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved

  That's all really but there is a cost. I'll discuss that in the next post. We'll talk about someone the Bible calls "The Rich Young Ruler". One last brief word about belief.

Oh I believe. I BELIEVE!!

Hush up, you.

  This belief changes you. The following little word picture is also something I stole from an earlier post but explains true belief(faith) in a very good way, me thinks. I got it from my favorite pastor, Chuck Smith. Well actually, my second favorite pastor. My favorite pastor lives in Orangeburg and is the pastor at Northgate Baptist Church:

Pastor Chuck gave a good analogy of faith without works that has stuck with me for 12 years. He said that if he began to talk about there being a bomb underneath the stage from which he was speaking and was doing it casually, everyone would think that he was lying. “Hey folks, there is a big old bomb up under the stage that is big enough to blow us all to smithereens and it is going off in 60 seconds. Can you imagine someone doing that? That’s just not very nice, blowing people up. Oohhhh, the humanity.” Most people listening to that would think that Chuck obviously does NOT really believe that a bomb was getting ready to go off. However, if Chuck began running up and down the aisles like his hair was on fire screaming for everyone to “GET OUT!! GET OUT!! THERE’S A BOMB GETTING READY TO BLOW!!” Those listening would at least believe that Chuck thought there was a bomb. In both cases we could tell what he believed by his actions/works. This came from his teaching from the Book of James. Faith without works is dead.

 

Sometimes I feel like that.....Like my hair is on fire.

 

 

 

 

Hamartia for Hamartians

  Sin

  The word for sin in the Greek language is Hamartia. And that is important because the New Testament of your Bibles was mostly written in Greek. The translation literally means, "To miss the mark" or "To miss the target". The way we came to call it sin was because when English versions of the Bible began to be written in the 1500's and most famously with the writing of the King James Version in 1611, the word to describe "missing the mark" was Synn. Synn was an old archery (bow and arrow) term. Someone standing near the target would yell, "SYNN!" if an arrow missed the target. Eventually as the Old English faded out, the word became "Sin".

   WHO CARES!?

  Shut-up, voice inside my head. You should probably listen to this one because YOU are a bad one, my friend.

  Anyhoodles, when the Bible speaks of sin, what is the target? What is the mark that has been missed?

  Absolute and total perfection, in your actions and even in your thoughts. So you can see why Christ followers say we are all sinners. They say it because the Bible says it, baby:

Romans 3:23 (NIV)- For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

  Another way you could say you are "missing the mark" is by saying that the mark is "The Ten Commandments". You can read them here if you like. I'll just tell you straight up, I have broken all ten. Now don't get in a Tizzy, Thin Lizzy. I see that Adultery is on there and I have not cheated on my wife in the most obvious way. So chill out puddin' pops. That story is for another post.

  Now there is something we humans tend to misunderstand. We don't really understand our sin. I often hear people talk of something (or some things) bad they did that they can't seem to forget or that has bothered them for along time. They feel guilty about it and would generally agree with you that, yes, that was a horrible sin I committed. But on the other hand, if they could just be forgiven for those several things, they would feel like they were in pretty good spiritual standing, heaven wise. But you know, that one or few bad things is not what Jesus is really trying to forgive you of. Read these scripture verses and then we will continue:

James 2:8-11 (NIV)- If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery,"also said, "Do not murder."If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

    That was written by James, the half brother of Jesus. With an apology to my Catholic friends, he was conceived in his mother Mary's womb the old fashioned way. But what he is saying is this; You may as well imagine the 10 commandment were written on glass tablets. You can't break one off without shattering the whole thing. You are a "Lawbreaker" and I am a lawbreaker, a sinner. So that one big sin you are so worried about is no more significant or damning as the "little" sins that you commit so often that they no longer register on your I-just-did-something-wrong-o-meter.

  So I am sorry to tell you, Cup A Joe-ites but we are all sinners, lawbreakers. Now if we all lived in Joeytown and I was the mayor maybe I wouldn't be so tough in my judgements on all you sinners but this cosmos we all live in is Jesustown and HE is the mayor (the King). And in His perfect wisdom He has promised that the result of our being sinners is death, hell, eternal punishment; whatever you want to call it. That's just the way it is and that is bad news. But I have good news:

Romans 6:23(NIV)- For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

   It's not so much the SINS that you have committed as it is that you ARE a sinner. THAT is what Christ is after. Did you see that in the verse right above? It says sin not sins.

  So there is a solution to your problem. There is a remedy that will make you white as snow, despite your sin. You will not be counted guilty, despite your sin. In fact you will be counted as perfect in heaven, despite your sin...... But I'm not going to tell you until the next post.

 

  SO DON'T YOU GO DYIN' ON ME!!

Mark Driscoll

 

If you have a question about this, please send me an e-mail. I won't steer you wrong.