Friday, October 30, 2009

An Alabaster Jar


Yesterday two of the lead news stories were about pornography, specifically about child pornography. One of these disheartening stories was about a school teacher that had thousands and thousands of pornographic pictures stored on his computers. The other told of a father that, while in a drunken state, forced his two young daughters to watch porn on the internet.

Addiction to pornography may be as difficult to break way from as any other addiction. Substance abuse addiction will come with withdrawals once the addict decides to stop, withdrawals that cause the addict physical pain. For the porn addict there will be no pain, not for him anyway. The child-porn addict will only cause pain. One day he will cross the line and do the unthinkable, causing lifelong pain to a child, all because of a refusal to recognize that he is addicted to filth.

Is one addiction worse than another? Is one sin worse than another? Many addicts will infect the lives of the people they contact, infection through the pain they cause, through the anxieties they cause, and through the damage they cause. But the child abusing porn addict...is this beyond infection, do they bring a terminal illness to those they infect? Should we tolerate this behavior? The drunken father who forced his daughters to watch internet porn lives in Texas. In Texas, evidently it is legal for this father to do what he did, protected by laws that are thirty years old, written long before the porn-filled internet existed. Did our tolerance allow a school teacher to collect child pornography for years, undetected by anyone?

As I write these words I struggle with what should be done. My perspective as a father of six children clearly tells me that these addicts should be put to a swift and painful death. My struggle derives from my perspective as a Christian.

There is a wonderful story in the 7th chapter of Luke's gospel that tells of the anointing of Jesus by a most unlikely woman. Jesus had been invited to dinner at the home of a Pharisee. As Jesus reclined at the table this woman came with an alabaster jar of perfume and a desire for Christ. This woman stood behind Jesus at his feet, weeping. She then began to clean the feet of Christ with her tears, wiping them with her hair. Then the perfume was poured onto the feet of Christ. The Pharisee's words soon end the picture of this beautiful story when they say,
"If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him, and what kind of woman she is-that she is a sinner."
Luke's story does now tell us what sins this woman committed, but we know from his writing and the words of the Pharisee that she had lived a sinful life. Jesus then tells a parable about repaying of debt, and forgiveness. Jesus' parable teaches us that those that have fallen the furthest, will rise the highest when they turn to Christ.

This woman who came to Jesus cried out of a desire to change her life. She turned away from a lifetime of sin and knelt before the Lord. Jesus said to her,
"Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
If you are addicted to pornography and do not stop you will die...forever. You can know Christ Jesus today. You can seek His forgiveness today. You can know that when you lie your head down for the very last time you will be in the presence of Christ Jesus...forever. Kneel at His feet, have a desire for Christ instead of an addiction to filth.

As for myself, I will continue to struggle understanding how God can accept us just as we are. For me to accept that a person who treats children as sex objects can fall under the same grace and mercy as any other is difficult. I will pray for the families of the teacher and the father; I will pray that my own struggles never interfere with my own walk with Christ. I hope you will pray with me.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

"Follow me"


This letter is to Christian leaders, to godly men and women who today can begin a change.I cannot be eloquent in my words, but will strive to be sincere in my convictions. I am not a prophet or a preacher, just a man who loves Jesus Christ.

Every day I wonder if there is more I can do to help someone overcome a life of addiction. I spend time with God, asking for guidance and wisdom. I know God knows my heart, he is aware of my desires, yet for many years now I have felt that this battle will continue until His kingdom comes. I spent hours trying to remember the times I knew God had intervened, hoping again for His help. Page after page of scripture has been read and re-read searching for those words of comfort and hope, comfort and hope that can only come from faith that God is in control. Today God gently reminded me of His words that came early on in my search; “This is the message you heard from the beginning: we should love one another.” [1Jo 3:11]
I began to realize that what I perceive as “my world” is just a microcosm of what our nation is facing today. Without doubt, those that do not know God because of an addiction to drugs or alcohol or abhorrent behavior are numerous... no, more than numerous, there are millions, but there are ten-fold that do not know God because of circumstance.
Today we must begin to change those circumstances.
Today we must remember the message we heard from the beginning.

Christ told fishermen, “Come, follow me…”
Christ told a tax collector, “Follow me.”
Without pomp and circumstance, without hesitation, with only obedience…they followed.
You are a leader, Christ said to you, “Follow me.”
Today when Christ commands, “Follow me.”, our leaders must shout, “I am.”

I am not speaking of our political leaders, not our president or our governors, not our mayors our councilmen. I am speaking of our spiritual leaders, our pastors, our church leadership, our deacons and ministers, our priests and our rabbis. Leaders with a heart and a mind like that of of Spurgeon and Luther, Calvin and Graham, must rise up and LEAD!

Today our nation and our leaders are like Peter, denying Christ when we need Him the most.

Today a nation that was built out of the very desire to have the right to worship God is lead by those who deny His existence, all in an effort to be “fair”.
God’s not fair, God is just!
A nation, whose founding fathers, godly men, saw a future that promised freedom because of God, not from God.
Today we are a nation that denies God. We deny Him access into our schools. We deny Him access into our holidays, our days of celebration. Prayers are limited to a moment gathered around a flag pole. There was a time when we praised Him for a flag raised over a nation, a nation of people united by a fear of God.

An opportunity for reprieve came to the fisherman that denied Christ:
“…Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these...”Feed my lambs.”
An opportunity for reprieve has come to our nation. It is time as a nation to “Feed his lambs.”

Today we are a family that denies God. We have so distorted the very definition of family that it can hardly be recognized. We have become so afraid of hurting someone’s feeling or of not including them as part of the family unit, that now we can no longer see God’s design in the family. God’s design of a man and a woman, a husband and wife, a father and mother. A family held together by love, love for one another, and love for God; love for God that was expressed in prayer, prayer once spoken around a dinner table. Now we hope we can get through the fast food restaurant before prime time.
“…Simon, son of John, do you truly love me…take care of my sheep.”
It is time as leaders of our families to “take care of his sheep.”

Three times Peter denied Christ.

Sadly our third denial of Christ is in our churches.
Today there are churches that depict God as the generous CEO of a successful corporation. Preachers tell of a God that can be super-sized or downsized, depending on the needs of the followers. Churches where the bible is never seen, instead jumbo-tron televisions broadcast the preacher’s face in giant size images.
Three times Christ asked “Do you love me?”
Then feed my sheep.

It is time to change. It is time to feed His sheep.
There will always be sermons about Job and Abraham, sermons about forgiveness and sin. Now is the time to feed His sheep.
Now is the time to fill the churches with those that don’t come every Sunday. Open your doors and let the rejoicing sounds overflow into the neighborhood. Now is the time to fill the streets with those that have no place to worship. Now is the time to feed His sheep. There will be those that listen but do not hear,those that scoff and laugh at your words, but should you be the one that determines who hears? Feed them all with the Word of God, preach His promises, and tell everyone who He is.That may mean leaving the comfort of the church building and going into the streets to gather His sheep.That may mean telling the homeless, the addicts,and the lost the story of Jesus, and then when they ask you about a place to rest their head you invite them in, opening the church building as a place of refuge. When they ask you about food for their belly it means opening the coffers... to feed His sheep. Remember what Christ did with just two fish and five loaves of bread.
“Do you love me? Then feed my sheep.”
You are God’s chosen leaders. He said “Follow me.”
Shout “I am!”
Shout “I am!”
Shout “I am!”
If you are already feeding His sheep, then do more.
If you are already shouting His word, then shout louder.
Look around, our nation is falling, our God is being forgotten.
Sunday, November 1, 2009 marks the beginning of a season of Thanksgiving. Would it not be majestic if on this morning church bells rang across the land, church doors stood open, inviting all in to follow Him, united in one thought, "Feed my sheep". Then what if every day for seven days those same bells ring, inviting all to hear the gospel preached each night. Church buildings opened providing shelter, providing food,providing revival to a nation starved. What if?
You are the leaders.
Lead.
You must make the change.
Feed His sheep.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Just Stop


Mary,
You said “you can’t” and “”you don’t want to quit smoking”, but desire to lead a life that is pleasing to God. I had smoked for more than 35 years, when in 2008 a doctor told me that I have COPD due to emphysema, all because of smoking. I stopped smoking that day, scared by the doctor’s warning. A few weeks passed before the desire to smoke returned. I didn’t think I wanted to smoke again, so I prayed and read God’s word daily, looking for the encouragement I knew He would provide. Each moment became more difficult to resist a life long craving that would be easily satisfied by lighting up. I remembered the Apostle Paul’s words of struggle, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…for what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do –this I keep on doing.” Romans 7:15 and on. Paul struggled against something he did not want to do, but the reality was I did want to smoke!
I compromised and started smoking cigars. I played word games with myself, convincing myself that cigars could not be as bad as cigarettes, and would be easier to quit when I finally decided to do so.
Last Friday, just a few days before receiving your email, I was again facing the concerned look of doctors. I had entered the med-clinic with difficulty in breathing. The third breathing treatment in a matter of a few minutes would not raise the oxygen level in my blood. Three more treatments were provided before the doctors sent me on my way, prescriptions in hand and recommendations that I go to the emergency room should I not improve.
Paul wrote “but what I hate I do”, I do not know what Paul’s addiction was, the bible does not reveal it to us, we just know that he hated it and he did it. I enjoyed smoking for many years, Mary, you said “you don’t want to quit”, how much harder will it be for us to quit if we don’t even hate what we do?
I am starting over on quitting, with renewed hope. I am not afraid of dying, knowing my destination, but I am afraid of waking each night needing a breathing treatment because lying down allows crap to accumulate in my lungs. I am afraid of one day being that person walking around Wal-Mart with a bottle of oxygen, snarling at anybody that comes close to my breathing tubes. I am afraid that one day my nine year old son will find me lying on the floor dead. I have renewed hope that I will one day hold my youngest son’s son. I have renewed hope that with faith I can stop. Three days ago when I again came to God on bended knee, afraid enough once again to seek His help; I prayed for direction, I prayed for revealing scripture. Two words were His answer, “Just stop”.
Mary, each addict’s battle will be as unique as each of us. I learn as a child of God, knowing that God wants His family to share in each experience, to learn of His love through each other. I share with you Mary what you already know; God loves you and now is the time to “Just stop”.

Jim Hirtle

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