Perspective on Trayvon Martin Shooting

With so much buzz in the news regarding the shooting death of a 17-year-old black man, Trayvon Martin, by a middle-aged Hispanic man, George Zimmerman in Florida, I felt the desire to offer another perspective.  This incident has gone from being a local case to be investigated by police, to being a a national event that will probably be the target of a Federal investigation.  My good friend Frankie was delivering a study at my church last Wednesday and used this passage:

"These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren." --Proverbs 6:16-19 NKJV

When I read it, my mind instantly went to the Trayvon Martin case.

Many believe that Zimmerman shed innocent blood when he fatally shot Martin while on a neighborhood watch patrol; however, an eyewitness and police say that Trayvon attacked Zimmerman first.  Perhaps Martin exhibited a proud look when confronted by Zimmerman as to why he was in his gated community after dark.  Some feel that false witnesses have come forward or that police are falsifying evidence in favor of Zimmerman.  The New Black Panthers have devised wicked plans by putting a "capture" bounty on Zimmerman's head and threatened vigilante justice.  Upon this whole story breaking, race-mongers such as Jesse Jackson Jr. and Al Sharpton have sown discord among Americans to use this young man's death to promote a larger cause. 

No one really know what happened.  Lots of people claim to know, and are making assumptions based upon their own prejudices, based upon incomplete information, or based upon the spin put upon this story by race-mongers.  Only God really knows what happened.  If we could somehow speak to both Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, neither one of them could give us a 100% accurate and unbiased account of what transpired that night.  Perhaps both men saw a threat where none existed.

The point is that there's plenty about this whole situation that God hates.  Let's all back off and allow the people whose business this is (not us) to sort it out.  It's not the media's job to shape the narrative.  It's not the NAACP's job to make Trayvon a poster boy for White Hate victims.  It's not even President Obama's job to clutter this situation with his statements.  If Trayvon's family believes the police are not doing their job, let them use due process to pursue justice.

Defying Definition

This post goes out to my brother in Christ, Stanley M.  While visiting the church he attends, he said, "Hey--I've got a bone to pick with you."  I said, "Pick."  Stanley asked, "Don't bloggers blog?"  He had me there.  I was defying the definition of a blogger.  This was Stanley's way of saying that he wanted me to post again, since I hadn't all year.  So thanks, Stanley, for picking a bone with me.

Lately, for me to call myself a blogger would be inaccurate.  I really consider myself a writer, not a blogger, although the two are similar.  A writer is like a blogger who went to college.  Anyway, Stanley's point still stands.  A blogger who does not blog is like a runner who doesn't run--he defies the definition.

This got me to thinking about other definitions, specifically, the definition of a Christian.  The word "christian" in Greek simply means a follower of Christ.  On the surface this seems very simple, but in our Postmodern world, definitions are slippery things that people feel free to make up as it suits them.  This difficulty is compounded by the fact that people have been disagreeing for a long time about what it actually means to follow Christ.

But what does Christ say?  In John's Gospel, Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."  John 10:27 NKJV.  First, Jesus said His sheep hear His voice.  We know the voice of Jesus through the Word of God, the Bible:  "Jesus answered and said to [Judas (not Iscariot)], "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."  John 14:23 NKJV.  It's clear that only those who hear and keep the words of Jesus can claim to be Christians.  It's discouraging that many who are almost totally ignorant of the Bible make this claim, almost as if by default.

Second, Jesus said that He knows His sheep.  This indicates having a legitimate relationship with Him.  Many people know about God, but many do not know God.  I can read a book about George Washington, memorize every fact about him, find him interesting, and even imitate his life and character--and still not know him personally.  The same is true of Jesus.  Knowing Christ requires more.  We need a relationship with Him: "and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."  2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 NKJV.  Paul writes here that at the end of time, Jesus will come in judgment against all those who do not know Him; in other words, those who do not obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It takes a commitment, and the humility to approach God on His terms.  The Bible calls these terms the Gospel. 

Finally, Jesus' sheep follow Him.  Many people study God's Word to learn how to have a relationship with Him through Jesus, obey the Gospel of Christ, but fail to truly follow Christ.  Jesus warned in Luke's Gospel:  "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity." Luke 13:24-27 NKJV.  Being a disciple of Jesus does not mean eating dinner with  Him once and then demanding entry into Heaven!  It's a life of staying loyal and true to Christ, even when doing so becomes difficult or unpopular.  Jesus said that many who desire to follow His path him will be unable to.

If you claim to be one of Christ's sheep, you must fit the definition as given by the inspired writers of the Scripture.  Otherwise, you will be no more a Christian than I am a blogger.

Today is a special day; first, because it is the first day of the week, The Lord's Day.  Second, it just so happens that this Lord's Day is also Christmas Day.  I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas, but first, I want to tell you why.

After the Fall of Man in Eden, God allowed a separation to exist between Himself and a broken creation.  But, because God truly desires a relationship with us, He revealed the first prophecy regarding the Redemption to Adam and Eve:

Genesis 3:14-15 NKJV  So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.  15  And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

God promised to crush the Devil through the Seed of the very woman he deceived.  There would come a day when a child who is not the offspring of any man (only a woman) would deal a death-blow to the Serpent.  Until this day, the Jewish people would have a complicated relationship with God, as both parties slogged through the problems brought on by human sin.  Worst of all, a majority of us humans, the Gentiles, would languish in the night of pagan ignorance until the Child came.  Paul describes our plight in this passage:

Ephesians 2:12 NKJV:  that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Before the Messiah came, we Gentiles were without Christ, having no part in the promises made to Israel through Abraham.  We were outsiders, without hope and without God in the world.  That is WHY I want to take a moment to celebrate, to express gratitude to God, and to wish you a Merry Christmas.  Jesus' other name is Immanuel, or, "God With Us" (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:21-13).

Before the time came, we had no hope of having a relationship with our Creator.  But ever since Jesus came, we know that in this dark, cold, broken world--God is with us.  Matthew writes in the beginning that God has arrived on Earth.  In the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus assures us that He’s here to stay:

Matthew 28:20b: "…And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

May you be blessed by the eternal presence of Christ this Christmas!

Serving a Holy God

As the nation of Israel conquered and settled the region of Canaan, Joshua began to sense that his own death was imminent.  In Joshua chapter 24, he reminds Israel of God's salvation, and the miracles He performed to deliver their enemies into Israel's hands.  Joshua then issues a strange warning to the people in Joshua 24:19-21:

But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good." And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD!"  Joshua 24:19-21 NKJV

How strange--that God's chosen Israel could not serve Him!  Why was that?  Joshua said they could not serve a holy God because they were not holy themselves.  Here, we learn about God's definition of "holy."  It means a pure and undivided love for the living God.  It means rejecting anything that God hates and accepting anything God loves.  It means to obey all of God's Word, not just the parts we happen to like.

Sadly, Joshua knew that Israel would succumb to the temptation to adopt the religions of the cultures native to the region and provoke the grace of God.  In light of what they had personally seen God do, this breach would be inexcusable before God.  In Judges 1:19-36, we learn that some of Israel's tribes did not have the faith or resolve to utterly destroy or drive out the inhabitants of Canaan and subdue their inheritances.  In some cases, they just avoided certain areas they couldn't conquer or forced the Canaanites to pay tribute.  The Angel of the Lord later questions them concerning this trespass:

Then the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: "I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.' "  Judges 2:1-3 NKJV

The consequence of disobedience in this case was a spiritual snare to Israel from this day until the Babylonian Conquest.  This adoption of idolatry by God's own people did not fit His definition of "holiness."  God is not content to set in a pantheon of rock, metal and wood; He will have no other gods stand in His presence.  We easily see the foolishness in this approach, but often our lives resemble a different kind of pantheon.

God also calls all people to holiness today:

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."  1 Peter 1:13-16 NKJV

If a person wants to serve God, they must be holy.  Peter tells us this starts in the mind, where we decide what we will seek after and place our trust in.  Holiness in continued in our actions, where we choose to obey God's Word instead of yielding to our lusts and desires that God has warned us to stay away from.  It's completed in a lifestyle of imitating Jesus Christ; that our entire lifestyle aligned with God's will.  If we do this, we will be holy--as God is holy.

The problem is that I am not like that, and neither is anyone I know except Jesus Christ.  I can't serve God in holiness because I am not holy!  Just as Israel did not completely drive out and destroy evil influence in their territories, there are parts of my life that are still contested.  God calls me to root out and destroy anything in my life that stands against God:

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ...  2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NKJV

Any time we allow sin, idols (not just rock, stone and wood ones), or evil influence to lodge in our lives, we are not following holiness and can't serve a holy God.  Finally, let's actively pursue holiness as Paul suggested:

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
Hebrews 12:14 NKJV

 

Response To: "Churches Bear Witness to Nuclear Arsenal | Amarillo Globe-News"

After reading this short article from Dr. Charles Kiker of Tulia,TX, I felt the strong need to respond (link to full text below):

Churches bear witness to nuclear arsenal | Amarillo Globe-News

Dr. Kiker expresses what I feel is a genuine desire for a world more in line with God's ultimate will for men, and I respect that. Dr. Kiker supports his objections to the United States of America (or any country) having a nuclear arsenal based upon this passage from Scripture:

Exodus 20:13 KJV: Thou shalt not kill.

While I sincerely respect Dr. Kiker's desire for peace and nuclear disarmament, his positions and reasoning are too simplistic and do not provide sufficient consideration for a comprehensive Christian "worldview" approach. First, when God gave the command telling Moses and Israel not to kill, He is actually prohibiting murder. This must not be construed as a blanket prohibition against ending another person's life under any circumstances. God also commanded that no work be done on the Sabbath (Saturday). When a man was discovered gathering firewood as recorded in Numbers 15:32, God specifically told Moses that this man should be killed--stoned to death--by the community. So obviously, God draws a distinction between murder and taking of life as a function of government. So, Exodus 20:13 does not apply in such a case.

Secondly, by Dr. Kiker's reasoning, no government could have any type of armed defense force. If "killing" is wrong by nuclear bomb, it would have to be equally wrong by missile, mortar or small arms fire, too. However, the Apostle Paul teaches the exact opposite in this passage:

Romans 13:3-4 NKJV: For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

When governments use measured violence to restrain evil and pursue justice, it isn't against God's will. Paul says rulers actually serve God in this way. Making such a case against nuclear arms doesn't solve the important and fundamental question of deadly force--it just moves it to a different weapon.

I will concede to Dr. Kiker that causing indiscriminate death of a civilian population does raise serious questions in my own conscience; indeed this may be the point that he was trying to make. Today's military is much, much more sensitive to these considerations due to the more advanced technology available. Now, we can launch a cruise missile off an aircraft carrier from 500 kilometers away and put it through some terrorist's living-room window without waking the neighbors. I'd say that beats Vietnam-style carpet-bombing any day.

Finally, since the ability to violently split the atom can't be un-developed, nuclear weapons are here to stay. I wish that no weapons big or small of any kind were needed on Earth. However, if all the good guys make neat little treaties and agree not to have them, they face certain annihilation at the hands of the bad guys who have no qualms about destroying the lives of millions of innocent non-combatants. Here's where loving your neighbor comes in:

Matthew 22:39 KJV: And the second [command] is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself...

When countries who already have nuclear arsenals keep and maintain them, it makes the world a much, much safer place. The assurance of mutual nuclear annihilation raises the stakes of open war between nuclear states to an unacceptable level for the entire world. In other words, if everyone in the room is pointing a shotgun, then no one will start shooting. This forces countries like Russia, China and the United States of America to work hard to overcome tensions and prevent war at all costs. What could be more neighborly than that?

I will Joy in the God of My Salvation!

It's dry.  I mean, really dry.  I've never seen drought this severe in all my life.  They tell me it hasn't been this hot and dry since the 1930's.  After going for so long without meaningful precipitation, it's easy to give up hope that things will ever change.  I'm thankful in these times that everything in life is temporary--even our problems.  God promises us early on in Scripture that He will not allow Earth's systems to fail permanently:

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease."  Genesis 8:20-22 NKJV

God made an unbreakable covenant that He would not curse the ground because of man's sinfulness any longer, even though our nature is evil and rebellious.  While time continues, God will grant planting and harvest times, and the seasons will continue in course.  One bad year out of 100 should not cause us to doubt God's love and provision for us!

As my wife and I watch our grass and garden wither to nothing despite consistent watering, I wonder what the real farmers are experiencing this year.  Will food prices skyrocket?  Will we have an actual famine in America?  We've not seen that in a long, long time.  But, even if that did occur, it must not cause Christians to lose faith or be discouraged.  Listen to the words of the Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk:

Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls--Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.  Habakkuk 3:17-18 NKJV

Habakkuk describes a complete and total economic breakdown because of famine.  He encourages Israel to have faith despite hardship.  Even though my wife and I didn't grow any cantaloupe or corn, and my dad hasn't harvested much hay, and my father-in-law likely won't make much cotton, we can still take joy in God's eternal provision for us.  Many investments in physical things will not produce as we planned.  But, investing in spiritual things will always bring a harvest we can be thankful for:

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.  Galatians 6:7-9 NKJV

So, amid drought and heat, don't grow tired or give up.  God promises a bumper crop of blessing when we place our faith and trust in Him.  God bless!

Prayer for Mission-Mindedness

Lord God of Hosts,

Thank You for for Your mercy and Your grace.
Thank You for sending Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in my place.
Thank You for saving my soul and making me Your child, too.
Thank You for allowing me an opportunity to take part in the mission of Christ's Gospel.

Father, please forgive me for neglecting the work You have set before Your Church--to love and teach those who don't know You.
I ask that You help me to truly repent of my selfishness and preoccupation with physical distractions.

Please equip me with knowledge from You holy Word and wisdom from the Holy Spirit to accomplish Your will.
Please give me opportunities to teach those who need You.
Allow me to be sensitive to Your guidance and direction, and clearly show me the opportunities You have prepared.
I ask for courage to speak with love and humility; courage to never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Finally, Father, as I plant the seed of Your Word along my path, and water it with the influence of Your righteousness, I pray that You would give the increase to Your glory.

I ask this prayer in Jesus' name--Amen.