Addiction

August 26, 2011 Leave a comment

A group of scientists set about to train a chimpanzee to talk. For fifteen long years they pampered the chimp and taught him different sounds. Finally the day came when he was to verbalize his first words. With anxious anticipation the scientists gathered around the cage to listen to anything he might say. As they all leaned in closely the chimp looked them squarely in the eyes and spoke actual words for the first time. He said, “Lemme out!”

No matter how nice the cage is, it’s still a cage. It’s not freedom. It’s not limitless possibilities. It’s not the way to live. Sadly, many people are trapped in life’s cages. These cages have names such as drugs, alcoholism, gambling, pornography, etc. Perhaps these people enjoy fleeting moments of joy in these cages. Perhaps they know brief waves of contentment. But in the end, a cage will always be a cage, and it will never be the way God intends for the person to live.

I don’t mean to undermine or devalue the good work that is done by any group who helps people deal with addiction. Still, with that said, a relationship with Jesus will always be the best way to conquer an addiction. If an addict objects and says, “I don’t need Jesus to be my crutch,” a good response is, “You’ve already got a crutch; you just need to trade it in on a far better one.”

In John 8:34, the New King James translation reads as follows:

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”

The fact is, though, this rendering doesn’t totally capture the full bloom of what Jesus said. Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest’s expanded translation of the New Testament gets more to the real point Christ was making. It translates the words “whoever commits sin” as “everyone who habitually commits sin.” You see, that more precise translation of the Greek takes us into the realm of addiction. Jesus isn’t talking about the man who sees a scantily clad woman on t.v., lusts for a moment, and then changes the channel (even though that moment of lust is a sin). He’s talking about the person who lives his life eaten up by lust and actively seeks out scantily clad women on t.v. or the internet so that he can stare at them for long periods of time and fantasize about them. Do you see the difference?

The good news is that right on the heels of talking about those who are such slaves to sin, Jesus gave the cure. He said:

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36, New King James translation)

You ask, “But how can Jesus offer such sure liberation from the addiction?” He can do it because He alone has the power to change the addict’s nature rather than just the behavior. In John 3:1-21, He explains how those who place their belief in Him as Savior are “born again.” To be “born again” is to have God the Holy Spirit literally take up residence inside your body (Romans 8:9). The Spirit will not obliterate your inborn, sinful, addictive nature, but He will bring to you a contrasting nature, a nature which is nothing less than the nature of God. 2 Peter 1:4 says that believers become “partakers of the divine nature,” and 2 Corinthians 5:17 describes this as becoming “a new creation.”

So, do you find yourself in some kind of cage right now? Is some addiction getting the best of you and ruining your life? Do you feel helpless to break free from its grip? If you answer “yes” to these questions, let me urge you to turn to Jesus. Maybe you need to genuinely place your belief in Him as Savior and become “born again.” Maybe you’ve already done that, but your fellowship and daily walk with Jesus have grown so anemic that you are severely limiting the indwelling Holy Spirit’s influence upon your life. Whatever your case may be, just know that your addiction is not bigger than Jesus, and that’s not just a cute little cliche that a preacher is supposed to say. Jesus stands ready right now to set you free from your cage. Will you let Him?

Filed under Addiction, Backsliding, Belief, Change, Homosexuality, salvation, Sin, Temptation, The Holy Spirit Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

The Spirit Is Willing, But the Flesh Is Weak

August 24, 2011 2 Comments

Let’s take a test. For years, a man makes a habit of going camping on Sunday rather than attend church. One Sunday he sees a mountain lion coming toward him. He says, “God, if you will get me out of this danger I promise that I will start going to church every Sunday.” As soon as he finishes that quick prayer, the mountain lion calmly walks away.

Now here’s the test question: Do you think that man will honor the “deal” that he made with God? The answer is: There’s a pretty good chance that he will go to church that first Sunday, but if nothing else changes he won’t keep up the attendance for long.

You see, it takes more than a quick moment of desperation to create a lasting turnaround in your life. As a pastor, I’ve seen so many people who were going through difficult times make grandiose boasts about what all they were going to do for the Lord if He helped them out of their messes. But how many of those boasts actually came to pass, even after the Lord gave the help? Maybe there were two or three, but right now I can’t even remember there being that many.

One Sunday morning I preached and gave an invitation, and a woman promptly made her way to the altar and knelt for prayer. When I went over and asked her why she had responded to the invitation, she told me something along the lines of she wanted to dedicate herself more completely to Jesus. She was crying hot tears and her face was something of a mess from the running makeup. I knew that she was sincere. I also knew that she was a good Christian woman who had some areas of her life that could have been more submitted to Christ’s lordship. So I prayed with her and asked the Lord to help her be even more devoted to Him. The emotion of the moment was almost palpable.

But did that woman even show up for the evening service that same Sunday? No. As I looked around the sanctuary that night and didn’t see her, I was in virtual disbelief. That was the moment when I truly understood for the first time just how fickle and inconsistent we are when it comes to serving the Lord.

Jesus knew us all too well. On the night of His arrest, He took Peter, James, and John into the garden of Gethsemane with Him. He said to them, “Stay here and watch with Me.” Then He walked alone a little further into the heart of the garden and prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). Following that prayer, He returned to where He had left Peter, James, and John at their watch-post. And what did He find? Rather than keeping diligent watch, they had all drifted off to sleep.

After a fairly strong rebuke, Jesus summed up the problem by saying, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). In my opinion, those words perfectly describe why that Christian woman didn’t come back for church that Sunday night. Her spirit was willing, but her flesh was weak. When she had devoted herself more fully to Jesus in the altar that morning, she had meant it. In that moment, she couldn’t have meant it any more. But, unfortunately, that moment had soon passed and the rest of her life had come crashing back in upon her.

I’m saying all of this to encourage you to work at eliminating the fickleness from your walk with the Lord. Try to avoid the roller-coaster devotion that marks the lives of so many people. I know that your flesh is weak. So is mine. But we can’t keep using that excuse to consistently fail the Lord and not live up to the commitments we have made to Him. And, by the way, we needn’t expect Him to keep sending mountain lions to keep us committed either.

Filed under Backsliding, Change, Church attendance, Commitment, Discipleship, faithfulness, obedience, Personal Holiness Tagged with , , , , ,

Examined Yourself Lately?

August 18, 2011 Leave a comment

Everyone today knows the name Billy Graham, the most well known evangelist of our time. But back in the closing decades of the 1800s the evangelist’s name on everyone’s lips was D.L. Moody. His quick wit and humor made him immensely likable.

Moody once met a drunk who was tottering along, barely able to walk. The drunk said, “Oh, it’s you, is it, Mr. Moody? Don’t you know me? I am one of your converts.” Moody put his arm around the man to steady him and said, “Well, my son, you look like one of mine – you’re surely not one of the Lord’s.”

Moody was merely pointing out the obvious fact that salvation should lead to godly living. The New Testament is replete with verses that teach this basic idea. It’s such a shame, then, that so many professing Christians exhibit so much unholiness in their conduct. We’re not talking about being saved by good works; we’re talking about good works inevitably flowing out of a true salvation experience.

And do we have a right to question the supposed “salvation” of someone who’s life is marked by obvious, undeniable, outward sin? Of course we do. Playing the role of fruit-inspector is not the same as playing the role of judge, jury, and executioner. Let us not forget these solemn words from Jesus:

Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. (Matthew 7:17-18)

We shouldn’t take these words to mean that the true Christian never sins. We’ll drop the ball every now and then as long as we are living out this sin-tainted existence. But there’s a big difference between dropping the ball every now and then and not even being able to find the stadium where the game is played. Do you see what I mean?

In Galatians 6:4, the apostle Paul says, “But let each one examine his own work…” In 1 Corinthians 11:28, he says, “But let a man examine himself…” In 2 Corinthians 13:5, he says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves…” You see, the life of the true Christian should always be able to bear up to examination. Again, we’re not talking sinless perfection here, just at least a reasonable amount of personal holiness that others can point to as evidence of you being a new creation in Christ. If you are “one of the Lord’s,” that evidence should be there. If it isn’t, could it be that you are a different kind of tree?

Filed under Change, Character, Doing Good, Personal Holiness, salvation, Sin, The Depravity of Man Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Carowinds

July 6, 2011 Leave a comment

Tonya and I took the boys to Carowinds theme park in Charlotte this past Monday. Yes, it was July 4th, but no the crowd wasn’t bad. The heat was a little bit of an issue, but I’ve never been to Carowinds when it wasn’t. Since my cousin and his family have season passes to the park, they got us in for half price for “friends day.” That saved us a sizable amount of money. So, all in all, we had a great time.

I did learn something Monday: I’m not the man I used to be. There was a time in my life when I could ride every ride in that place without any problems, but I only managed to ride two this go around. I had plans to ride a few more, but things didn’t work out as I intended.

My first ride was a deathtrap known as “The Drop Zone.” For this one, you get strapped into a seat that goes straight up into the stratosphere. Then it pauses for a few seconds at the top and let’s you survey the entire landscape of the United States of America, after which it drops you back down at about a million miles per hour to where you started. I think half my stomach is still up in my brain. I don’t mind telling you that when I got off that ride, I felt very blessed to still be alive. Ryan and Royce, on the other hand, couldn’t get to the next ride fast enough.

Well, it wasn’t too long afterwards that we came upon a roller coaster called “The Carolina Cobra.” Much to my surprise, Tonya headed straight for its entrance. (Keep in mind now that she hadn’t joined me and the boys on “The Drop Zone.”) From a few feet behind her, I called out, “Are you going to ride this one?” She said, “Yes, it doesn’t look too bad.” It’s main feature was an upside down turn, which I’ll admit did seem to be relatively harmless. So the boys and I joined her in line. Tonya and I ended up in a cart by ourselves, while Ryan and Royce ended up in another one. Needless to say, when the ride was over, they were in far better condition than we were. Oh, we made it through the first half of the ride okay. But the ride’s slogan is “It strikes twice.” That means that once it has completed its course going forward it runs it again backward. It was that backward run, not being able to see what was coming, that got us. You might say that just as “The Drop Zone” had taken my stomach, “The Carolina Cobra” took my equilibrium. Tonya didn’t feel much better than I did as we dismounted the thing. As for Ryan and Royce, their day of rides was only just beginning. Ah, to be young again.

It’s very humbling when you are forced to admit that you aren’t the man you used to be. Of course, I didn’t need a couple of Carowinds rides to teach me my new limitations. The fact is, I’m taking that course every day. My joints ache. I don’t have much strength in my hands. My back is dicey. You get the idea. Despite the laughable double-standard of the theory of evolution, science’s second law of thermodynamics states that everything winds down, not up. Things move from order to disorder. I assure you that my body is in perfect compliance with this law. If I get much more disordered, I won’t even be able to drive to Carowinds, let alone ride any of the rides.

But at least I have already begun making my peace with my age. Sadly, many people haven’t. I call it the “Peter Pan complex.” These folks simply refuse to grow up. The women are trying to hang on to their looks, and the men are trying to hang on to the vitality of their youth. How sad it all is. And how different such an attitude toward aging is from the one that is presented in the Bible. Consider the following passages:

1. “The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.” (Proverbs 16:31)

2. “The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men in their gray head.” (Proverbs 20:29)

3. “They (the righteous) shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing.” (Psalm 92:14)

Now tell me, do any of these passages paint getting old in a bad light? Of course not. Losing your physical strength doesn’t mean that you lose your spiritual strength. To the contrary, the older you get the greater your spiritual strength should become. We make such fools of ourselves when we try to keep up with the appearances and demands of youth. I was struck by this thought as I sat suspended in space, sitting in my seat of “The Drop Zone,” viewing people as little ants below. I thought, “Why did I do this? Have I lost my mind? What am I trying to prove here?”

So I guess you could say that I had something of an epiphany Monday. I realized that my days of riding the “big” rides are over. But I’m okay with that. I always thought that line, “Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse” was stupid anyway. As the Bible says, there is a glory and a splendor in gray hairs. I just need to remember that the next time I see my barber sweeping all that glory and splendor of mine up of the floor.

Filed under Aging, Change, contentment, Human Life, Personal Tagged with , , , , , ,

Your Penny

June 23, 2011 Leave a comment

Little Billy had his hand stuck in an expensive vase. His mother tried her best to pull the hand out but she finally had to resort to breaking the vase. Once it was broken, she saw that Billy had had his fist balled up the whole time. When she asked him why, he answered, “Because if I had opened my hand, I would have dropped my penny.”

Many a person is right now holding on to some “penny” of sin. Even when clutching the sin begins to complicate their life, they won’t let go of the sin. Even when clutching it gets monetarily expensive, as in breaking an expensive vase, they still won’t let go. Maybe the sin is drugs. Maybe it is alcoholism. Perhaps it is adultery or looking at pornography on the internet. Sometimes it’s greed, pride, or covetousness. The list of “pennies” can seem endless.

And please understand that the problem of “penny” clutching doesn’t just affect lost people. A lot of Christians are out there playing the role of little Billy too. I don’t know that repentance has ever made for popular preaching, but its popularity is certainly at a low ebb today. Many preachers today major on words such as acceptance, tolerance, mercy, patience, and love. Certainly these are Biblical themes. But we must be careful that our preaching doesn’t become so mush and gush that we downplay repentance into oblivion. You see, fists must always be released and pennies of sin must always be dropped.

So, I ask you, what’s that in your hand right now? Is it your personal penny of sin? Well, little Billy, you’re going to have to let go of it (repent of it) before God will help you get your hand out of that vase in which it’s caught. Don’t bother waiting on Him to break the vase for you. That’s not how He deals with sin. He’ll gladly set you free from your entrapment, but He won’t do it just so you can continue running along, having a death grip on your penny. But why hold on to the sin anyway? After all, isn’t it what has you in trouble anyway?

Filed under Backsliding, Change, Choices, Disobedience, God's Holiness, Personal Holiness, preaching, Rebellion, Repentance, Seeking Forgiveness Tagged with ,

Don’t Blame God

June 17, 2011 1 Comment

A barber and a minister found themselves having to travel through a rather seedy part of town. Disgusted by the conditions he saw, the barber said, “This is why I cannot believe in a God of love. How could such a God allow all this poverty, squalor, and disease? How could He allow these poor people to continue on in their addictions?”

The minister remained silent until they saw a man who was especially in a bad way. As a part of his deplorable appearance he had long hair and a half-inch of stubble on his face. The minister took the opportunity to use the man as an object lesson. He said to the barber, “You must not be a very good barber. How could you let that man go around in such need of a haircut and a shave?” Insulted, the barbed replied, “You can’t blame me for his appearance. He’s never given me a chance to fix him up.” To that the minister said, “Then don’t blame God for the state of this neighborhood. He is constantly inviting these people to come to Him through Christ and have their lives restored, but they refuse the offer.”

Filed under Attitude, Belief, Change, Choices, Dress and Appearance, God's Love, Rebellion, The Depravity of Man Tagged with , , ,

Can A Person Truly Change?

May 31, 2011 Leave a comment

Can people truly change? Mel Trotter did. Trotter was born to a Christian mother and an alcoholic father. By age 19, he was drinking heavily himself as well as gambling. He met and married a young woman and she gave birth to a son. Trotter, however, wasn’t much of a husband or father. He lost job after job and spent many nights out on the streets in the gutter while his wife and baby went hungry. Sadly, the little baby died. In a climax act of despicability, Trotter removed the shoes from his dead son’s corpse and pawned them for money to buy another drink. You talk about rock bottom!

After the death of the child, Trotter left his wife and ended up in Chicago where he soon found himself homeless and suicidal. During a blizzard, he sought refuge in the city’s Pacific Garden Mission. There he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and was marvelously transformed. He got a job, was reunited with his wife, and became active at the Mission. Ultimately, he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan where he and a group of community leaders opened a new Mission. Hundreds of thousands of people would be won to Christ and have their lives restored through that Mission, and even today, more than a century after its founder’s death, Mel Trotter Ministries carries on the work of ministering to the needy and telling them about the transforming power of Jesus.

And now I’ve got two questions for you. Question #1: If you find yourself at rock bottom today, what will it take for you to wholeheartedly and unreservedly give your life to Jesus? My prayer is that you won’t have to sink as low as Mel Trotter did before you lay your stubbornness and pride in the dust and accept Christ as your Savior. And then question #2: Have you totally given up that some “Mel Trotter” type in your life will ever change? If you have, perhaps you have given up prematurely. I’m not guaranteeing that the person will ever truly change, but I am guaranteeing that such a thing is possible through Jesus Christ. Think about that.

Filed under Belief, Change, Choices, Forgiveness, Gambling, God's Love, God's Work, Human Life, Husbands, Influence, Marriage, Ministry, Problems, Repentance, salvation, Sin, submission, The Depravity of Man, trials Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Young Man and His Condition

April 28, 2011 Leave a comment

A young man went to the doctor and said, “Doc, I get headaches. My eyes burn. I see spots before my eyes. And I can’t get my breath.” After an examination, the doctor said, “My diagnosis is that your brain isn’t getting enough oxygen. I expect you to eventually become completely unconscious and lapse into a coma. Sadly, there is no surgery or medication that can help your condition. I suggest that you quit your job and spend what few days you have left enjoying yourself.”

Well, the young man was devastated, but he decided to take the doctor’s advice and make the best of the days he had left. So he quit his job, withdrew all his savings from the bank, and booked himself for a flight around the world.

The day before he was to leave, he went into a men’s shop to buy a complete new wardrobe. As he was being fitted for his shirts, the salesman asked him, “What size do you wear?” “15 neck and 33 sleeves,” was the answer. Doubting that claim, the salesman slipped a tape measure around the fellow’s neck. “Looks to me like you wear a 15 and a half,” he said. “No,” said the young man, “I wear a 15, always have.” To that the salesman replied, “Okay, I’ll sell you 15′s, but they’ll be too tight, and that will cut off the circulation to your brain. You’ll get headaches; your eyes will burn; you will see spots before your eyes; and you won’t be able to catch your breath.”

The moral of the story is that sometimes our stubborn refusal to make an appropriate change creates unnecessary pain and difficulty for us. The old line has now been used so much that it has become a cliche’, but it still rings true: “It is a form of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results.”

So, tell me, where does this post find you? Are you beating your head against the same wall day after day and expecting that wall to eventually fall? Are you plugging in 1 + 1 each week and anxiously awaiting the time the total comes back 3? Pardon me for saying it, but maybe it’s time you changed your shirt size. Life is hard enough without you making it harder than even God would have it to be for you.

Filed under Attitude, Change, Choices, God's Will Tagged with , , ,

A Different Way To Preach The Gospel

April 4, 2011 Leave a comment

An army private became a Christian and began to come under some persecution from his fellow soldiers. One rainy night he came in very tired and wet, but before he went to bed he got down on his knees and prayed. That simple act greatly irritated his sergeant, and the sergeant launched two boots, covered in heavy mud, toward the private. One boot hit him on the right side of the head, and the other one hit him on the left side. But the private just went on with his praying. The next morning the sergeant found those boots beautifully polished and placed by the side of his bed. In his own words, “I was saved that day.”

In 1 Peter 3:1, the Bible talks about how a Christian wife can win her unsaved husband to Christ without saying a word:

“Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives.”

It is this same principle that we see on display in the true story about the private and the sergeant. Christians can win people to Christ “without a word” by way of their deeds. There’s an old quote that is attributed to Francis of Assisi, and it conveys the point very well: “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.”

Filed under Change, Character, Doing Good, Evangelism, Extending Forgiveness, Holiness, Humility, Influence, Mercy, Persecution, perseverance, Personal Holiness, prayer, salvation, trials, Witnessing Tagged with , , , , , ,

The Chain Is Off

March 31, 2011 Leave a comment

A mailman was given a new route. His first day he approached the mailbox of a home that had a big, bad German shepherd croached on the porch. As the mailman put his hand toward the mailbox, the dog went ballistic and leaped outwards about ten feet. The mailman instinctively braced for the impact of being eaten up. But once the dog landed it promptly returned to the porch and reassumed its croached position.

It was then that the homeowner walked out to see what had gotten the dog all stirred up. The mailman explained what had happened and asked, “Why did that dog go back to the porch?” The homeowner answered, “Oh, we took his chain off yesterday and he hasn’t realized it yet.”

You know, many Christians haven’t realized yet that Jesus has set them free from the power of sin. Jesus said,

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

Galatians 5:1 says:

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

So, Christian, what sin do you continue to struggle with? Well, don’t you think it’s about time that you started walking in the power of Christ and living like someone who has been set free from that sin’s bondage? Until you do, you aren’t showing much more sense than that dog.

Filed under Backsliding, Change, Choices, Christian Liberty, Disobedience, Holiness, Personal Holiness, Rebellion, salvation, Sin Tagged with , , , ,

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