Monday, August 24, 2015

In Response to Elizabeth Esther

It's about American Christian culture as a WHOLE and OUR really messed up relationship with sexuality.  How wrong you are, E. E.  This is about our ENTIRE society and it's out-of-bounds relationship with free love.  Sexual freedom with no boundaries is the bottom line for liberals, the foundation of all they are.  Pornography, adultery, abortion, the hook-up culture, the constant striving for the destruction of innate modesty with which females are born, sex-trafficking, homosexual behaviour, HIV/AIDS, prostitution and divorce are evidence.  

This is about an American Christian culture that made insane promises like: "If you just wait until you're married to have sex, everything will be wonderful."  -  No, E. E., you are so off the mark, it's preposterous.  Actually this is about the Body of Christ teaching the precepts set forth in God's holy written Word.  It's about teaching the Truth which is Jesus.  If you wait until marriage to have sex, all facets of your being will be healthier!  Out of His great love for us, God has established a plan that is best for one and all.  He knows how broken one becomes when not following His plan for sexuality!  We live in a fallen world, populated by people whose hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.  God's best IS for us to wait to have sex until united in the sacred bond of marriage, but neither His written Word nor His Word made flesh EVER promise that if you do wait, all will be wonderful. Utopia, in marriage or elsewhere, is NOT possible on our privileged planet, for it is NOT supposed to be.  Otherwise, there would be NO need for Jesus!  What is so egregious to you and your "tribe" about remaining chaste until marriage?  It's easy to grasp what is not wise about living in sexual freedom:  STDs, unplanned pregnancies, broken hearts, shattered dreams, abortions, mental illness, infertility, HIV/AIDS. 

This is about an American Christian culture that turned purity into profit; using a 21-year old kid named Josh Harris to promote the fantasy that if you just "kiss dating goodbye," you'll end up with a faithful, godly, loving spouse for the rest of your life.  Most folks enter marriage with the intention of staying married until death parts them.  Given the opportunity to stray from that righteous determination can cause any one of us to fall, and we must be aware - but for the grace of God there go I!  No, E. E., purity as taught in the Bible has not been turned into financial gain.  Exemplary Joshua Harris did NOT promote any such fantasy!  Realistically, it has profited many by helping them make responsible, healthy, wise, loving, unselfish choices about their sexuality or by helping them find healing and redemption in Jesus.  All marriages are composed of many trials, challenges, sufferings, pain, heartaches and selfishness - guaranteed due to our humanness!  But with Jesus at the core, they are also comprised of forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation, healing and restoration.

This is about an ENTIRE culture of American Christianity that has wreaked havoc in the physical, emotional and spiritual lives of millions.  Do you truly stand behind this statement?  The havoc could not have been caused by the inhibition-free-for-all sexual permissiveness of our society at large?  All Christians are mere humans, E. E.  All fallible creatures.  All selfish.  All prone to rebellion against Jesus.  All prone to hurt one another.  There is only one answer to all the wrongs, hurts, slights, wounds, pain, suffering we cause each other - the Gospel of the Good News!  It affords the freedom, strength, forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption, joy, peace, comfort, guidance - everything we need to live victoriously in, for and through Jesus.  His followers, when denying ourselves, taking up our cross and daily following Him, choosing His will and His way over our own, do not willingly wreak havoc in the lives of others.  That is not love.

This is about an ENTIRE culture that has traded an authentic relationship with God for the trappings of "good Christian living."  How wrong you are, E. E., as we commit to living in obedience to Him, right living flows abundantly.  Only as we live with our allegiance surrendered to Him can we be holy as He is holy.  He knows of what we are capable when we follow His precepts set forth for our good, when we live with His Holy Spirit in us, to guide us.  That's why He sets the bar so high!  The Bible is our treasure map to Jesus!  Abiding in the love of God cannot be separated from walking in obedience to God. ~Tony Perkins on John 15:10

This is about an entire culture of Christianity that became so obsessed with 'looking like a good Christian' that it created an impossible standard of "purity" and made it completely unsafe to be a real, broken human being.  If you will, ponder these wise words from exemplary Eric Ludy of Ellerslie in Windsor, CO.  The GOSPEL has been reduced to a message merely about forgiveness while the idea of regeneration and transformation seems almost totally forgotten. GRACE has become simply a gigantic hug from God and is no longer the muscle of God brought to earth to aid the weakness of men and to give them strength. FAITH has morphed into this bizarre idea of "honest doubt" and has lost its essence of rock-solid unwavering confidence in the ability of God to perform that which He promises. HOLINESS has transformed into moralistic tyranny for the soul and something to be avoided at all costs. RIGHTEOUSNESS has been redefined to mean an unreachable standard of perfection. PURITY has become nothing more than a legalistic attempt to stay away from things and thoughts that God knows we won't be able to abstain from anyway. LOVE has become unconditional acceptance and tolerance of sin. ~from the BRAVEHEARTED GOSPEL

This is about a Christian culture that sets people up for failure.  What sets people up for failure is just what Eric Ludy said here:  
"When the Word of God in text is diminished, it leads to a diminishment of the Word of God made flesh." 

This isn't just about Josh Duggar, it's about our really sick, twisted relationship with sex, shame, self-loathing and perfectionism.  And the unearthly standards of perfection determined by the evil pornography industry could have nothing to do with your above statement, eh E. E.?  What is twisted, E. E., is how God's written Word and Word made flesh have been robbed of their glorious power by so-called progressives such as yourself.  You should be ashamed.  But wait.....you people don't believe in shame or guilt.  Therein lies a huge part of the problem!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Christmas 2007



Jesus – The Reason for Every Season
by Ginny Bain Allen


I pray for you all a Mighty Christmas this year!
Cling to Jesus each moment for He's ever near.

What's up with folks proclaiming, "Happy Holidays?"
Inquiring minds query, "Which happy holy days?

What's the point of the holiday tree, season, vacation?
It's all about lifting Him up, it's His celebration.

Becoming flesh to dwell among His lambs lonely and lost,
In a stable born, displaying humbleness at great cost.

To a carpenter born, a carpenter He would become,
With each nail that He drove, did He reminisce of His home?

Taking our sins upon Himself – a prophecy fulfilled,
That I should such a life destroy, yet live by Him I killed!

Arms opened wide for us, love alone would have held Him there,
Needing no nails, scars of obedience He'll always wear.

Wise, humble men seek Him as their Good Shepherd,
Daily time spent with Him in reading His Word.

Being still before Him, peacefully listening, seeking,
Allowing His Spirit to help us bide in His keeping.

In adoration we bow as our hearts are stirred.
Devoted to pure living in thought, deed and word.

Empow'ring us to live with Him through His grace
We now must stand firm to the end of this race.