Having Done All, Stand. Eph 6:13

My wife and I recently refinanced our home to get away from an evil bank and have our mortgage at the bank we use. So I had to call the insurance company for some paperwork. I met the nicest lady on the phone. Her name is Pat. We were lamenting technology while we waited for her computer to catch up with her request and I mentioned that I still write with paper and pencil when I study the Bible. When she heard me say that, she asked if I was a believer, to which I replied, "Yes." So we talked about how the Lord brings people into our lives every day and how that can be so encouraging sometimes. When I mentioned that I teach a Bible Study at work, we started talking about witnessing at work. Apparently some of her friends get kinda militant and tell her she should be standing in the aisles shouting, "Repent!" She disagrees. Me too. My Bible sits on my desk and I read it during lunch, when I get a lunch. I don't tend to hit people with it. I'd rather be an example. Be the best employee I can be. Be compassionate to coworkers. Handle the stress without a meltdown.
That's what Pat is like. She was completely polite, helpful and cheerful while we were on the phone...and that was before she knew I was a Christian. And she left me with what she calls a Pat-ism. While her friends were telling her that she should be shouting from the rooftops, she reminded them that...
"I've never known a light bulb to make a sound."


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I wasn't going to go to church this morning. I'm really not feeling well. But, my middle son was singing a song with the Sunday School class, so I wanted to go. I'm glad I did (as usual).

Pastor is going through the Gospel of Mark. We're nearing the end. He was teaching chapter 15 today. Mostly concentrating on the utterly ridiculous "trial" of Jesus before Pilate. I mean, please. The chief priests violated nearly every rule of the Jewish law surrounding trials and accusations. Toward the end of service, Pastor talked a little about the scourging of Jesus.He didn't go into it much other than to ask, "Why the scourging when Jesus was going to be crucified?" Why did the Father allow him to be scourged as well? There's quite a bit of prophecy talking about it, so you know it has to happen. But why? Pastor gave the answer I have heard whenever the question is asked. "Because that is what my sin deserved." While I agree, I think there's more. When I watched the Passion - which I can't get through - I was sickened by the beating and scourging scene. Not the blood. With any movie which has a scene like that in it, there's one in Casino too where a guy gets beaten nearly to death with a bat, for some reason the part that gets me is I associate with the victim. You know, imagining what the person must be going through. Don't ask me why I do this, I have no idea. In the Passion, they show Jesus being beaten with rods and then the scourging. He's basically turned to hamburger. And at one point, I thought it was over until they show the guard (or whoever he is) motion to turn Jesus over and continue the scourging to his belly. When that part started, I couldn't watch. What came to mind was not only why did He do this for me, but, "How does one human being do that to another?" Pilate's motivation may have been to try to get the priests to relent, but the men doing the scourging simply didn't care. Perhaps they used the excuse that they were following orders. But scripture says they mocked, spit, punched, etc. They enjoyed it.
And I think that's one reason why Jesus was scourged. To demonstrate what man without God is capable of. We are NOT moral. We do NOT have any good in us. Only in the absence of God could a man disregard one of God's creations in such a way.
And then God began to point out to me how I treat my kids. Especially my eldest. I yell a lot. They misbehave, I yell. God told me that when I do that, I am scourging my kids. I am thinking of myself and what I want them to do or how I want them to act. They don't need to be treated that way. Yes, it's my job to discipline them and to raise them to be respectful, obedient, etc. But I am the grown up and a mature Christian. I should be demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit even in disciplining the kids.
They are God's creation and need guidance, not a scourging.


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I'm teaching a bible study at work. We did Jude first, so I thought I'd post my notes.

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This question plagues people. Especially those used to works-based religion. But I just read 2 Peter 1:1-10.
It seems pretty clear. We are given everything we need pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of him that called us. That's God. How do we know God? Through Jesus. Watch what He did, how He acted. He's the human definition of the character of God.
Verse 5-7 say to add to your faith in Jesus virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity.
Verse 8 says that if you have these things in you, you won't be unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus.

I looked up some of these things in the dictionary.
Virtue - a : conformity to a standard of right : morality b : a particular moral excellence. 
Knowledge -  the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association
Temperance - moderation in action, thought, or feeling 
Patience -
1: bearing trials calmly or without complaint
2: forbearance under provocation or strain
3: not hasty or impetuous
4: steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity
5a: able or willing to bear
Godliness - devout to God
Brotherly Kindness - putting others first (my definition)
Charity - Love



So, if we have things things in our lives consistently (v8 "and abound"), we will be getting to know our Lord and Savior and we can be sure that we are abiding in Him and have eternal life. I'm glad it says "and abound" because that works out whether I am trying to do this in my own strength. For surely if I do I fail.
Anyway, I read that and thought I'd share.


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 A couple of things have conspired today to make me write this post. Not the least of which was a friend who said, "I haven't seen anything new on your blog lately." Quite true. I haven't made time. Well, I am now.
Another friend, who I haven't seen in a while, posted a song for me on facebook. An amazing song by MercyMe entitled Be My Love. The song is about Jesus asking his disciples, that's you and me if you are a follower of Jesus, to be His love to this world. I would buy their new album just for that song. It's that good, or it is to me because it has a lot of meaning since my friend sent it to me. So then I got to thinking about the song and am I being His love. Certainly I study about it and have for many years. But it's been on my mind that I don't do anything about it. So, until I "do" something, which has to do with me getting involved at church, I can be His love to the people around me. In whatever way the Holy Spirit prompts me throughout the day.

Also today, God revealed to me that I have, or have begun, to experience Romans 8:28. A while back, I left a church that a bunch of people I was close to had started. Most of those people had already left for one reason or another. I don't see or talk to most of those people often. We all went in different directions. As I exchanged emails with the friend who shared that song with me, I was lamenting that I missed my friends and I wish we were all together still. But then the Holy Spirit showed me that perhaps we were being sprinkled like the salt we are supposed to be. So that rather than staying all huddled together, this bunch of mature Christians has been spread out to help the younger. I thought I was being kooky when I wrote it, but she says no...that's the Lord.

So, then I'm reading Jesus Freaks by DC Talk (stop laughing). And after one of the stories, it's about martyrs, was a question and a verse. Question: What does a Jesus Freak do when betrayed by someone close to them? They show them God's love.
Verse: Love [God's love in us]...takes no account of the evil done to it - pays no attention to a suffered wrong...Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances and it endures everything [without weakening]. 1 Cor. 13:5,7 (Amplified version).
How I read that is, "Get over it." Stop holding on to the past. Forgive, move on. Be used of God. Because, if you can't, how can you do the first thing I showed you - Be My Love?


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Here's the question:
Who is/was the most influential man in your life? Tell us about him? 

I'm going to answer this and then change a word and answer further. You'll see why. It's probably going to be a bit lengthy, but it needs to be.
Probably the most influential man in my life is my stepfather. That is simply because he was the one around during my formative years. My mother and father divorced when I was young and my memories of my father when I was a child are him tolerating our weekend visits. Those memories are likely viewed through foggy, skeptical glasses. But the fact remains that we weren't close until I was in my late 20's. We don't talk often, but he knows I love him because I told him nearly causing a heart attack and I know he loves me because he smiles when we're around each other. For me, that's a good story, but he's not much of an influence on me.
My stepfather was. And not for the good in most instances. He is/was an alcoholic and drug addict. He was mean. He was unable to be happy, so he made sure no one else was either. He said it out loud once that was his goal. There was constant fear and anger in our home. I didn't leave until I was 21 except for 2 years of college.
Gee, Mark. That's cheery. Thanks for sharing.
Here's why I tell you that small part of my youth. Because without that man in the house, I wouldn't have ended up in church or meeting the men who inspire me. I say inspire rather than influence because when I look at my life, I see more stepfather than these men. But I want to be more like them as they exhibit Jesus Christ in their lives.
My stepfather's family was very involved in their local church. So, we went. At some point, we stopped going to their church and began attending Calvary Chapel of the Finger Lakes. Bil Gallatin was the pastor then. He taught the Word of God straight up. Line by Line. Here's what it says. Here's what it means. Here's how to apply it. Never mind opinion...just God's Word. That's still the only way I want to hear the Bible taught.
My mother forced me to go to youth group. That's where I met Ray and Brian. Two men who are only a couple of years older than me, but always lived with integrity and honesty about who they are, making no excuses or compromises. They just love Jesus with all their hearts.
That's also where I met the Capozzi family. They basically adopted me. They called me their Sunday son. Nearly every Sunday after church, I would go to their home and do chores, play sports, just be part of the family. That family holds a big part of my heart. Their youngest son, Ken, is a couple years older than me and is my best friend. We are truly brothers from a different mother. I think we talk once a year. But we always just pick up where we left off. No offense, no "you'd call if you were my friend" nonsense. Brother's in Christ first. I watched Ken struggle with some of the same stuff I do. And he was victorious in areas I never was. He has an amazing family of his own with a wife and kids who love Jesus. He's hard working and honest. I admire him greatly.
Kens older bother I didn't see often. He was already married and had kids when I met him. In him, I saw some of the most amazing grace and mercy in parenting I've ever witnessed. He's a HUGE man. Real lumberjack looking...like he could break me like a twig. Watching him with his kids was amazing. More so now that I have my own and know how easily they can get under your skin. But he never lost his temper. There was always love, even in discipline. He's an inspiration for how I would like to be as a father.
Then there's Pa Capozzi. Godly, honest, forthright, funny, loving. His children and grand-children are a testament to his (and his wife's) success in this world. I love to remember him sitting in his kitchen listening to Under Midnight. It's a Christian band from the early 90's. Industrial Rock (think Nine Inch Nails). But the album tells the story of redemption. He listened to it and said he liked it...maybe not the music particularly, but the story. If it glorified God, he was in.

Those are the men in my life that inspire me. I pray that the qualities of Christ that they exhibit will become more of an influence in my life.

That wasn't so long, was it?


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I haven't written in quite a while. But this one's really interesting to me b/c I have similar questions that I can't answer.

Here's a link to the topic. There's too much to copy to this post.
http://tink38570.angelfire.com/familiesagain/index.blog?topic_id=1066106

Here's the gist:
Are there certain folks that should not be allowed into a church because of their sinful behavior?

My Response:
I actually do think there are people who shouldn't be allowed in a church due to their behavior. I am thinking of pedophiles. However, I should temper that by saying that the church I grew up in had an individual who was gay and worked in the children's program. The individual was confronted and removed from the ministry (not the church). After a period of time and counseling, the person said that things weren't going to change (unrepentant) so the individual was asked not to return to the church for the safety of the children. It was sad because that was a friend of mine, but it was done in a biblical way. Obviously, there's a ton of background that I won't go into, but suffice it to say that this was repetitive, sinful behavior that can't be tolerated and it threatened the kids.

So do I think that homosexuals, or any other person for that matter, shouldn't be allowed in church? NO! That's sanctimonious and ridiculous. The instance above was a specific situation of repeated, unrepentant behavior. And I think that holds for any sin. I don't like sin lists. They tend to imply that a murderer is worse than another person. But Jesus said that if you are angry with someone without cause, you are in danger of the same judgment Matt 5:21-22. All have sinned and missed the mark, Rom 3:23. And forgiveness is available to "whosoever shall believe in Him." John 3:16.

Here's what I think question is/should be...how long does the church tolerate the behavior? Forgiveness just keeps on a-comin', which is good, because we all fall and some of us fall for the same thing over and over again. The point is that there must be evidence of repentance and effort to grow in Christ. If that's not the case, certainly the person isn't fit for ministry in the church. You can read First and Second Timothy for behavior and qualifications for those who serve.
I have heard a lot recently about the "new Christianity" where showing love to everyone is the main focus. What I haven't seen is a direct answer from these people about their stand on sin and how it is to be dealt with in the church. You just get, "We just love everyone. We want people to know they are welcome."
I don't see that as new, really. That's what Jesus did. I would point out the woman at the well and especially the woman caught in adultery as relevant to this discussion. When Jesus met the woman at the well, he was treating her with respect just by talking to her. In that culture, a Jew wouldn't have spoken to a Samaritan. In fact, they would not have gone that route to get to Galilee, they would have gone around Samaria. In Mark 7:24-30, Jesus goes all the way out to Tyre and Sidon to heal the Syrophenician woman's daughter. His life was lived loving everyone, not just his friends or just Jews.
The woman caught in the act of adultery in John 8:1-11 offers, I think, a good answer to the question about whether certain people should be in the church and what it means to love others as it relates to this "new" Christianity. This woman was clearly caught in sin. Jesus doesn't really say much during this interaction. The Scribes and Pharisees want to stone her and they wanted Jesus to sanction it. Rather He asked them, in so many words, what gave them the right to judge and execute her? Then in Jn 8:11, He tells the woman that He doesn't condemn her and that she is to go and sin no more. In my opinion that is what's lacking in many churches and relationships today. The willingness to tell someone to stop sinning (in humility) and then of course the maturity of the person on the receiving end to appreciate the rebuke and learn/repent/grow from the situation. It's an extremely difficult thing to do well. And I have found that if you are going to be that kind of Christian, you will lose a lot of friends. But if God is telling you to warn that person, you need to do it.

I could go on and on as usual, but I will just net out my feelings on this. I think anyone should be welcome in church (Jesus came to heal the sick, not the well). However, if a person is living in open, unrepentant sin, it must be dealt with. Read 1 Cor 5:1-13. But be careful. Certainly Paul talks about removing the person living in sin, but the idea is to restore the person. What's at issue is living in sin and not being repentant. When there's repentance there must be restoration. And don't we owe it to people to lead them to repentance and a closer relationship with their Savior?



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