God loves true diversity. That is why he made man and woman and they became the first husband and wife, mother and father. That’s true diversity: man + woman = family.
Among other sins, 1 Cor states that people who practice homosexuality will not go to heaven. 1 Timothy stated that it’s against the law. And there are more passages including the story about Abraham’s nephew who lived in that famous city (you know the name). Even if someone doesn’t read the Bible, it’s scientifically and logically harmful towards mankind (family structure, population, hygiene, etc).
The Bible explains the spiritual implications for what we know in our hearts to be wrong/perverted.
Pastor John Piper preached this sermon on August 21, 2011. I was very encouraged by it. If you would like to hear more sermons and/or learn some deep and difficult truths about Jesus Christ, then go to his website DesiringGod.org
We all know that a naked body in certain situations, would not usually cause someone to lust. For example, if I stumbled upon a half-naked dead woman in an alley, I would probably throw-up before dialing 911. But if I saw a live woman wearing a bathing suit or a bikini, then the sight of her could trigger lustful thoughts in my mind. It’s the same for a man with his shirt off, he could also trigger lustful thoughts in a woman’s mind.
My point is this. As Christians, we should always be careful about how we present ourselves. We should be sensitive to each other so that we do not make it more difficult for people to keep their thoughts pure. If you’re a man, it wouldn’t hurt to ask the women around you if they’re okay with you taking your shirt off. If you’re a woman, it wouldn’t hurt to ask the men around you if they’re okay with you wearing a bathing suit are bikini. Most men would get lustful thoughts from a woman in a bikini or bathing suit because they resemble exactly or closely to women’s underwear.
Think of it like helping potential or recovering alcoholics to stay sober. You would ask if drinking around them causes them to stumble. Treat people as potential adulterers because we are all sinners and we need as much help as possible to stay pure in thought, word and deed. That’s why it’s dangerous to post certain pictures or videos online.
(NIV)Matthew 18:6-7
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. [7] “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
Let’s imagine that I did not know who Phil Jackson was and never even heard his name. I joined a basketball league and I’m practicing my jump shot, and then Phil Jackson walks up to me and offers to coach me for free – every single day of the week if I allowed him to. Not knowing who he was, I would consider his offer to be a generous one but I would not have deeply appreciated the offer. A smart thing for me to do would be to interview him and check out his resume.
After reading his resume and realizing that he is the most successful basketball coach in the history of the NBA, I would be unwise to decline his offer – if I truly wanted to be a better basketball player.
My point with that hypothetical story is that our ignorance about a person’s reputation or dignity can cause us to miss out on the good they have to offer.
Someone once told me that the Bible is sort of like God’s resume. The crazy thing about it is that the “resume” states that God used his creation to write his resume. The first sentence in his resume states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” It doesn’t explain where he came from, why he decided to create or where he learned how to create. But before we dive into what the Bible says, lets try to think about what would qualify a being to be called God – the supreme maker and ruler of all things.
For God to be truly God, he has to be eternal and perfect.
Eternal: Without beginning or end; lasting forever; always existing (opposed to temporal).
Perfect: Excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement.
As human beings we cannot fathom or begin to wrap our minds around God being eternal. Everything we have ever experienced in our lives has a beginning and an ending. We have no clue what eternalness feels like.
How about Perfection? If perfection means beyond practical or theoretical improvement, then we can honestly say that everything on Earth is not perfect. Now, some people may ask, “Then how or why did a perfect God make such an imperfect world?”. That will be discussed in the articles to come, trust me. In this article, I included an audio clip from a well-known theologian to help you get a better understanding.
God has always been, he has no beginning, he always was. He was always perfect, otherwise, he isn’t God – the supreme being. We have to push aside the brainwashing from all our superhero movies and superficial images we were fed from “Clash of the Titans”.
Where did Christians get the idea of the Trinity? The word is not in the Bible. If you want to get deep into the history of the term and its origin, click here. However, I will try to summarize/paraphrase what I’ve learned in lectures and verses in the Bible.
The God of the Bible is the only Trinity. No other religion describes their God as being three persons and One in essence. It was very confusing for me until I heard a lecture by Dr. R.C. Sproul entitled “Breath of Life”. You can listen to the lecture below:
Here is what I understood from the lecture.
See if you can follow my train of thought. Read carefully.
I am a self. I can make a distinction between myself and other people. My self-knowledge is far from perfect. Half the time I don’t even know what I want or what I’m going to do 10 minutes from now. I also could not tell you how many strands of hair are on my head. I don’t know how many times I’ve blinked today. There are so many things we don’t know about ourselves.
God can make a distinction between himself and other people. God has always been conscious and thinking – his thinking is eternal and perfect – without flaw and it is beyond improvement. When God thinks of himself, it is accurate and exhaustive. And God knows himself perfectly. And since God’s knowledge of himself is eternal and perfect, there is no difference between God’s perfect Self-Knowledge and Himself. So God’s self-knowledge is God, because it is so perfect and eternal that they have no difference in essence. We can make the distinction between God and his Self-knowledge. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:1-3, 14. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. “Word” was translated from the Greek word “Logos” which means opinion, reason or knowledge. The Word became flesh – Jesus. God incarnate is God’s Self-Knowledge in the flesh. He borrowed the womb of a virgin to miraculously bring himself into the world to teach, warn and to save those who believe in him. There are a lot of details too examine about the claims of Jesus, but for now lets continue thinking about the Trinity.
So far, we established that there is God – the Father, and God – the Son, but who is the Holy Spirit?
God not only eternally thinks, but he eternally Wills. He has an eternal Will/Desire. What does God desire the most? He desires the Highest Good. What is the Highest Good? God is the Highest Good. The eternal and perfect Desire/Will of God is God himself. There is no difference between God’s supreme desire and himself. Therefore, God’s supreme desire is God. The Holy Spirit is the Supreme Will of God who makes us desire God. The Holy Spirit transforms our hearts and gives us a desire to be holy (set apart) for God. That’s why we call the “third person” of the Trinity the “Holy Spirit” – he makes us holy.
The reason we say “first person, second person and third person” is because we humans are limited to numbers. The Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and Son. We say “first, second and third” because our finite minds can only understand the Trinity in the “Order of Being”. We would say – There is God, God Thinks, and therefore God Wills. That’s how we get, “first, second and third”.
We will talk about the Holy Spirit in the next article, but for now, just ponder on John chapter 1 and the nature of God’s perfection.
At the end of my last quarter in college, I met Nelson Laracuente. We both realized that we have the same passion. We became friends and began to collaborate in making games; one of them is called Remember James. You can play it now at RememberJames.com
The game was designed for casual gamers that want to remember the book of James found in the New Testament of the Bible. The words of James will stick in your brain after playing this game – if you play fair. Try it now – RememberJames.com
Song Title: When I Call
Artist: Chevy Thompson
Album: The Unpopular Appetite
Verse 1:
You’re irresistible LORD, more than physical and you made time and space.
You are invisible LORD, and some get cynical ‘cause they cannot see your face.
And so many people don’t even take time to think about
Your awesome works that make believers want to dance and shout.
You are the beautiful treasure I cannot live without.
You give me peace and erase my doubt.
Chorus:
When I call on your name, LORD you never leave my heart the same.
Since you’re molding me to be like you day by day, you’re irresistible; I can’t stay away.
Verse 2:
I wasn’t always like this; this talk about righteousness used to be boring to me.
I wanted fortune and fame; to me, love was a game; my sins I could not see.
You gave me so many chances and you waited patiently.
And since you flipped the switch, I really see some change in me.
I want my neighbors to share this joy that I have in you
So that the world cannot deny it’s true
Chorus:
When I call on your name, LORD you never leave my heart the same.
Since you’re molding me to be like you day by day, you’re irresistible; I can’t stay away.
Bridge:
Pray for the remnant and pray that the truth
Spreads through the world and reach all the youth
Da world a fall down and dem don’t have a clue
Dem need Jesus fi be dem parachute
I say this is more than music
It’s more than a vibe
God can use it and change some lives
It’s more than music
It’s more than a vibe
God can use it and change some lives
I say I am feeling good now
I’m feeling truthful
I’m feeling happiness
I’m feeling blessed now
Chorus:
When I call on your name, LORD you never leave my heart the same.
Since you’re molding me to be like you day by day, you’re irresistible; I can’t stay away.
The story behind the album is simple. I started to write songs shortly after picking up the guitar in 2004. It happened while I was working at a Salvation Army summer camp in Minnesota. I initially started to write songs to cheer myself up and also my friends/co-workers at the time. I was encouraged to keep writing new songs and eventually produced a home-made album and sold/gave a lot away in 2005. In 2006, I met up with Mark Michaud in St. Louis, MO.
Mark has been my friend since I was about 5 years old. He is extremely talented and encouraging so I asked for his help, but we didn’t get to colaborate because we lived in different states. By God’s providence, we currently live in Arizona, relatively close, so we were able to put a 5-song EP together called “The Unpopular Appetite”. Mark produced the music based on songs I had already written, except the song Appetite. He had already made the music for it before I decided to put lyrics to it. Mark and I hope you’ll be encouraged by our work on many levels.
To say there is no absolute truth, is to say there is no meaning to what you say.
There is absolute truth about whether you’ve read the previous sentence or not.
To say there is truth is to say there is meaning.
And to say there is meaning is to say there is purpose.
And to say there is purpose is to say there is a plan.
And to say there is a plan is to say there is design.
And to say there is a design is to say there is a designer.
And to say there is a designer is to say he makes the rules.
And to say he makes the rules is to say he defines right and wrong.
And to say he defines right and wrong is to say his is the judge.
And to say his is the judge is to say our fate is in his hands.
Seeking to know this judge, designer and ruler, is not a waste of your time.
We all know that a naked body in certain situations, would not usually cause someone to lust. For example, if I stumbled upon a half-naked dead woman in an alley, I would probably throw-up before dialing 911. But if I saw a live woman wearing a bathing suit or a bikini, then the sight of her could trigger lustful thoughts in my mind. It’s the same for a man with his shirt off, he could also trigger lustful thoughts in a woman’s mind.
