I was asked two good questions by a couple of different co-workers today.
1. Is sex sin?
No, sex is not sin. In fact, it is good for a husband and wife to please and enjoy each other sexually. God wants husbands and wives to enjoy sex with each other. This passage explains the biblical viewpoint very well:
"Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations?
"Certainly--but only within a certain context. It's good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder. The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality--the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. Marriage is not a place to 'stand up for your rights.' Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out. Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it's for the purposes of prayer and fasting--but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it. I'm not, understand, commanding these periods of abstinence--only providing my best counsel if you should choose them" (1 Corinthians 7:1-6, The Message).
2. I was thinking about going to a fortuneteller to get my palm read. Do you think that would be a good idea?
God warns us in the Bible against getting involved in witchcraft, sorcery, astrology, and other forms of the occult. He is concerned that we will be deceived by satanic forces. He does not want us to trust in spiritual authorities other than himself, because he knows that only he is completely trustworthy. God wants us to come to him with our deepest concerns, rather than going to someone who may be deceived by demons. Here are a few passages about the occult:
"Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons" (1 Corinthians 10:19-20).
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21).
"But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).
Showing posts with label Satan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Satan. Show all posts
Friday, February 06, 2009
Sunday, May 04, 2008
The Need for Biblical Teaching
"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things" (Mark 6:34, NIV).
At http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=17, you may read the results of a survey of Americans about their religious beliefs.
The survey reveals that only 8% of Americans agree with all of the following statements:
*Their faith is very important in their lives today.
*They should share their beliefs about Christ with non-Christians.
*Satan exists.
*Eternal salvation is possible by God's grace rather than their works.
*Christ lived a sinless life.
*The Bible is accurate in all its teachings.
*God is an all-knowing, all-powerful deity who created and rules the universe.
At http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=92, you may see how members of various churches responded to the survey.
At http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=17, you may read the results of a survey of Americans about their religious beliefs.
The survey reveals that only 8% of Americans agree with all of the following statements:
*Their faith is very important in their lives today.
*They should share their beliefs about Christ with non-Christians.
*Satan exists.
*Eternal salvation is possible by God's grace rather than their works.
*Christ lived a sinless life.
*The Bible is accurate in all its teachings.
*God is an all-knowing, all-powerful deity who created and rules the universe.
At http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=92, you may see how members of various churches responded to the survey.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Jesus and Justice
In 1994, Gary Haugen was a Harvard-educated lawyer working for the U.S. Department of Justice when 800,000 people in Rwanda were slaughtered in an 8-week genocide. He was loaned out to the United Nations to direct its investigation of the murders.
His investigation changed his life. His eyes were opened to suffering and injustice in our world on a scale he had never seen. A few years later, Gary Haugen founded the International Justice Mission, an organization committed to freeing victims of oppression, prosecuting perpetrators, securing safe places of caring for victims, and changing communities so that injustice is no longer acceptable.
In his book Terrify No More, Mr. Haugen wrote,
"In former jobs I had traveled the world, witnessing the results of injustice, from abusive and murderous police and soldiers in the Philippines to South African apartheid to genocide in Rwanda. I had frequent conversations with attorney friends from church about a gap that existed in the great humanitarian efforts established worldwide. Wonderful organizations addressed many needs of the poor---providing comfort, housing, medical care, and food. But an obvious question emerged: Why don't we rescue them when they are being abused?
"There were, for instance, efforts in Cambodia to feed the hungry, heal the sick, shelter the homeless, and preach the gospel; some of these ministrations were offered within yards of the brothels of Svay Pak. Although some of these efforts might reduce the risk of some children being sold as sex slaves, what about the kids who were inside the brothels and getting abused now? Who was going to get them out? And who was going to do the most powerful thing to prevent it from happening again; that is, who was going to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice? What were we doing when the poor suffered because of the abuse and oppression of other people?
"The question became even more acute as I considered the commitments of my community of faith, and especially as I considered the teachings of Scripture on the matter. When I was directing the UN's genocide investigation in Rwanda, it became clear in the aftermath of those massacres that at the point of most critical need, as blood-hungry mobs circled the churches in which the victims huddled, those victims were not crying out for food, medicine, or housing. They were crying out for someone to restrain the hand of the oppressor. And likewise for the girls in the brothels of Svay Pak; their very souls were crying out for someone to rescue them from the hands of those who, day by day, abused them in ways that cannot be described in polite company. Who was going to respond to that need and see that the purveyors of such brutality were actually made to pay a price for their crimes?" (pp. 33-34).
Today Gary Haugen and his team of private investigators, attorneys, and social workers risk their lives to rescue victims of abuse and oppression around the globe.
In many ways, he is following the example of Jesus Christ. At the beginning of his ministry, Christ announced,
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19, NIV).
At the cross, Christ gave his life to rescue us from the abuse, oppression, and slavery of sin. He defeated Satan and his co-conspirators of injustice. He built a church to provide a safe place of caring for victims. His actions continue to change the world as more and more of us are no longer satisfied in doing nothing while our neighbors are being oppressed by sin.
His investigation changed his life. His eyes were opened to suffering and injustice in our world on a scale he had never seen. A few years later, Gary Haugen founded the International Justice Mission, an organization committed to freeing victims of oppression, prosecuting perpetrators, securing safe places of caring for victims, and changing communities so that injustice is no longer acceptable.
In his book Terrify No More, Mr. Haugen wrote,
"In former jobs I had traveled the world, witnessing the results of injustice, from abusive and murderous police and soldiers in the Philippines to South African apartheid to genocide in Rwanda. I had frequent conversations with attorney friends from church about a gap that existed in the great humanitarian efforts established worldwide. Wonderful organizations addressed many needs of the poor---providing comfort, housing, medical care, and food. But an obvious question emerged: Why don't we rescue them when they are being abused?
"There were, for instance, efforts in Cambodia to feed the hungry, heal the sick, shelter the homeless, and preach the gospel; some of these ministrations were offered within yards of the brothels of Svay Pak. Although some of these efforts might reduce the risk of some children being sold as sex slaves, what about the kids who were inside the brothels and getting abused now? Who was going to get them out? And who was going to do the most powerful thing to prevent it from happening again; that is, who was going to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice? What were we doing when the poor suffered because of the abuse and oppression of other people?
"The question became even more acute as I considered the commitments of my community of faith, and especially as I considered the teachings of Scripture on the matter. When I was directing the UN's genocide investigation in Rwanda, it became clear in the aftermath of those massacres that at the point of most critical need, as blood-hungry mobs circled the churches in which the victims huddled, those victims were not crying out for food, medicine, or housing. They were crying out for someone to restrain the hand of the oppressor. And likewise for the girls in the brothels of Svay Pak; their very souls were crying out for someone to rescue them from the hands of those who, day by day, abused them in ways that cannot be described in polite company. Who was going to respond to that need and see that the purveyors of such brutality were actually made to pay a price for their crimes?" (pp. 33-34).
Today Gary Haugen and his team of private investigators, attorneys, and social workers risk their lives to rescue victims of abuse and oppression around the globe.
In many ways, he is following the example of Jesus Christ. At the beginning of his ministry, Christ announced,
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19, NIV).
At the cross, Christ gave his life to rescue us from the abuse, oppression, and slavery of sin. He defeated Satan and his co-conspirators of injustice. He built a church to provide a safe place of caring for victims. His actions continue to change the world as more and more of us are no longer satisfied in doing nothing while our neighbors are being oppressed by sin.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Evil
"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:13, NASB).
Sometimes I forget about Satan. He usually works in such subtle ways that I fail to notice. Then something happens to remind me that Satan exists and that he is a powerful leader of strong spiritual forces.
I remembered Satan yesterday after hearing about the mass murders that took place on the campus of Virginia Tech. A young man chose to murder over 30 fellow students and professors. I do not know what was going through that man's mind, but I recognized the influence of the one called a "murderer from the beginning" by Jesus.
When we returned home from our Monday night Bible study, Janet showed me an e-mail from the prayer ministry of the Jenks Church (our former congregation and a supporter of one of our ministers at the Contact Church of Christ). In the e-mail, Lynessa Yeats forwarded a prayer request from her brother-in-law at a Church of Christ in Connecticut. The daughter of one of his congregation's elders had been attacked, beaten, raped, and cut for 19 hours by a "Satanic thug" (as one newpaper apparently described the man) over the weekend. Then, the thug left the young college student in her apartment as he set it on fire. She is in intensive care at a hospital in New York, and we have been praying for her since learning of her situation.
Satan is real, and sometimes we can see that truth with perfect clarity.
Jesus knew it, too. He dealt with him face-to-face. And he knew that we would need the help of God, so he taught us to pray, "Deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:14, NASB). Thankfully, God is real, too.
Sometimes I forget about Satan. He usually works in such subtle ways that I fail to notice. Then something happens to remind me that Satan exists and that he is a powerful leader of strong spiritual forces.
I remembered Satan yesterday after hearing about the mass murders that took place on the campus of Virginia Tech. A young man chose to murder over 30 fellow students and professors. I do not know what was going through that man's mind, but I recognized the influence of the one called a "murderer from the beginning" by Jesus.
When we returned home from our Monday night Bible study, Janet showed me an e-mail from the prayer ministry of the Jenks Church (our former congregation and a supporter of one of our ministers at the Contact Church of Christ). In the e-mail, Lynessa Yeats forwarded a prayer request from her brother-in-law at a Church of Christ in Connecticut. The daughter of one of his congregation's elders had been attacked, beaten, raped, and cut for 19 hours by a "Satanic thug" (as one newpaper apparently described the man) over the weekend. Then, the thug left the young college student in her apartment as he set it on fire. She is in intensive care at a hospital in New York, and we have been praying for her since learning of her situation.
Satan is real, and sometimes we can see that truth with perfect clarity.
Jesus knew it, too. He dealt with him face-to-face. And he knew that we would need the help of God, so he taught us to pray, "Deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:14, NASB). Thankfully, God is real, too.
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