The Face of "Abomination"

No matter what you believe about same sex attraction, and same sex marriage, listen to this young man's testimony, and see if you can still call homosexual desire an "abomination." We can all have our opinions, but perhaps, as Christians we should temper our words with compassion.

No one has ever been drawn to Christ by angry, hateful words, and attitude. But everyone who came to Christ ultimately came because of His love.

This young man is an SBC pastor's son. His struggle is obvious. His "abomination" is not.

This isn't about gay people parading around in the streets. This isn't about politics, and laws. This isn't about rainbows and unicorns and abominations. And it isn't about you. It's about souls spurning the Gospel because of hate filled Christians. It's about young Christians filled with self hate and loathing and having no where to go for help. It's about our real job: 

SERVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS

Prayers and blessings,

Teapotjan

Steeping in the Scriptures

One of my closest friends shared a post earlier with me concerning how many pastors and leaders in churches tend to rehash old sermons and thoughts that they have had scribbled in their notes for years without revisiting the Scriptures sited and current applications.

Many lay persons, including me, do much the same. We live day in, day out applying principles learned months or years before, complacent in our practice. While I can't really authoritatively label this a sin, it is certainly a shame. God states that the Bible is the "Living Word" and that Christ is the Word (Jn. 1:1). I take this to mean that each time we look to Scripture for guidance we can apply it anew to the situation. Problem is many of us, particularly me, forget this and struggle needlessly to apply old solutions to new problems.

I know a few people who reach deep into Scripture. They have a certain peace and wisdom about them that can only come from God. There are others that may not reach as deeply, but they reach often and gain new knowledge for each new situation. They also possess a calmness, and eagerness for God's word. I know some dabblers as well, in fact many, many people I know may fall into this category. Actually, I think most of us dabble in the Scriptures from time to time applying what we want and kind of looking away from those things we don't want to deal with at that point.

Let's think about a tea bag and its uses. If a person buys a tea bag and never opens it, and never uses it for its purpose, they will never get tea from it. It won't help them grown strong, stay awake, and it won't really be anything to them. If that person takes the tea bag, opens it and kind of dabbles and dips it into water, they will get tea perhaps, but it will be very weak, and they may not feel like they've had any tea at all. Next we have a tea drinker that doesn't have time to let that bag steep for long, but they go back for another bag, and another, and another each time they want a cup of tea. It might not be super strong, but it is a steady supply of their favorite drink. Finally, we have the super steeper. They use the hottest of water, and the longest of time to steep that bag of tea.The tea bag gives all of its flavor to the tea, and the drinker savors the experience and plans to make the next cup the same and looks looks forward to yet another cup.

In our country, we have Bibles everywhere. We can stack them up. Download them. Upload favorite passages and toss about common stories that most people can at least reference, if not recite. But if those Bibles are never used, they might as well be doorstops, or computer glitches. If we reference Scripture only in stories, and give a nod to the literary value of a historic book, we have little or no knowledge of its power. Growth begins when we look often to the Living Word for wisdom and strength, even if we cannot spend hours at a time in its pages. We are still tapping the resource God gave us, and we will consistently be led by its words.

Finally, when we have the chance, we should steep ourselves in Scripture. Pastors, preachers, and counselors should always do this before sharing with others. Lay people should do it whenever they have the chance. God's word is rich and deep and living. He gave it to us in such a way that we can apply its principles in one way to our lives now, and in the future apply them again in a new way revealed to us as God sees our need. If more Christian leaders, and more Christians steeped in the Scripture, our churches would be stronger. Our testimonies would remain untarnished. It's hard for me to believe that a Christian steeped in the Scripture could have an affair, abuse another person, or willfully sin without immediate and fierce remorse.

Lord, I pray that you will call all of us to steep ourselves in your Word. Help us to bring our leaders and fellow Christians before your throne in prayer. Thank you for your Living Word. Thank you for grace. Thank you for your Son. Please bring reminders to our hearts and souls that you have provided the strength to go through trials, and answers to our questions through the Best of Books.

Trying to steep and not dabble,
Teapotjan 

Teapot's Resignation

For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God. . . .that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you. (2 Corinthians 1:12-14, ESV)

 I'm starting a new chapter in life. Due to circumstances I will not completely fathom until I reach Heaven, I no longer have a regular job. I spent the last two months or so at that job feeling like a square peg being pounded into a round hole, and I guess my employer saw the same thing. I left in good standing in character, but the consensus was that I did not "fit." Because of this, I was not fired, but rather allowed to resign. It truly could have been much worse.

Those of you who know me, or have read my blog probably already know my initial response. I cried. I also did not really experience all of the five stages of grief, but I did grieve. My pride suffered injury and is still recovering. The loss of income bears heavily upon me since we had a goal of becoming debt free in the next few years. And I became overwhelmed at the prospect of having to look for another job and source of income.

On the up side, some of my friends immediately contacted me, and wanted to catch up on some of the changes we had gone through in the last few years or so. I've had some great conversations, and brought away from all of this a renewed appreciation for Godly friends. I'll have another post soon about the value of that shortly.

But today, I want to consider the verses I placed at the start of this entry. I mentioned that I left my job with a good standing in character. Even those who felt I did not fit felt that I was a loving and caring person. I don't say that to boast of myself, but of the gift God gave me and of His continuing work of sanctification in my life. I had opportunity to share the Gospel with some of my coworkers, and I prayed each day for help to glorify God in my actions and speech. I did make mistakes even though I prayed I would not, so it seems that God used this adverse circumstance to move me from this job into another new phase of life. 

And so I write this entry not guided by earthly wisdom, but by the grace of God. I "boast" of my actions not because I am proud, but because when I stand before Him, I want others able to say of me that I served God simply and sincerely. And I want to be able to say the same of many of you. Use the grace God gives you. Do not deny the talents or gifts that God provided you. Embrace them and use them to glorify the Lord and share the Gospel. It isn't "boasting" in the selfish sense if you realize that all of your skills and talents are from Him, and you are merely the vessel He uses.

All in all, I'm doing much better. I guess I've hit the "acceptance" stage of the grieving process. I'm sure I'll regress from time to time because there are still scars from this and other hurts, but God willing I'll continue striving to live simply and sincerely for Him.

Unemployed by man, supported and loved by God,
Teapotjan

The Compromised Teapot

Okay, today I have two entries. Don't get used to it. 

Many things have changed for me on this journey from guilt to grace. A few decades ago I would have called the person I've become thus far in the journey a "compromiser." Maybe some of you would still call me that. It's okay with me. Pray for me whether you think I am wrong or not. Just don't turn away when you see me or look over my head or past me like I don't exist. I'm still me and I love the Lord more than ever before. Surely, we can still fellowship and share our love for Him. At least I'm willing. . .

Oh, the big "C" word. I heard it multitudes of times from,  my pastors, my teachers, my parents, my fellow believers. Those who did not dress, eat, attend church, worship, sing, wear their hair, or clothing the same or more conservatively that we did were all labeled with it. Really, back in those days I equated their compromise with a lack of salvation or at the very least a lack of understanding the Scripture.

I am cringing again at the memory of how I felt. But it did get me to thinking. What composes actual compromise? After searching for several minutes, the only Biblical way to use the word "compromise" in a negative sense was to use it as a term meaning "give into temptation and sin". . . . Please note that this does not include wearing a nice tee shirt instead of a shirt and tie, among other things. 

So what is sin? I don't think there are big, hidden mysteries involving sin. God is loving and just. Why would He murk up the list of things we aren't supposed to do? 

Many look to the Ten Commandments. As paraphrased by yours truly living in grace, here is how they go: 

1. There is no other God. Only the One of the Bible. Don't put any other thing, god, desire, person, etc. above Him. Period. 
2. Don't bow down in worship before ideas, inanimate objects, statues, idols. Bow down only to the only God from the first commandment.
3. Don't speak of or use God lightly. He is not a joke. He is not a curse. He is the Creator and the Only God. To disrespect Him shows contempt.
4. God blesses rest. Many folks believe this is a commandment involving not eating out on Sunday or not doing lawn work, etc. From my studies and research, I see this as a call to take care of your health, and to set time aside for personal communion with God every day, not just one. Remember, I'm living in grace, not under the Old Testament.
5. Honor your parents. What if they are scumbags? Pray for them. Honor their position as those who gave you life. They are not perfect, and honoring them does not mean allowing them to abuse you.
6. Don't commit murder. I think we understand that one.
7. Stay away from immoral sexual acts. Sex is for marriage, and for pleasure within marriage. Not for any other relationship. 
8. Don't steal. Okay, that's another one we probably understand.
9. Don't lie about your neighbor, your kids, your. . . Don't lie. Tell the truth.
10. Don't envy other people and what they have. That's putting yourself above others.

And then there are the two commandments Jesus used in the New Testament to sum up all of the above commandments. Love God with all your heart above everything else, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.   

Forgive me. I know I have sinned. I know I will again. But I don't see any of the things I use to think involved compromise listed here. I don't see them listed in the original non-paraphrased version either. It is fine to have standards. But as soon as those standards become symbols of "proper" spirituality, they become idols and dilute the love we have for others
and for God. Judging other's spirituality or salvation by man-made standards brings about division, discouragement, wrongful pride, and deception. In today's world, I don't think we need any more of these things.

As always, I welcome comments or ideas. Feel free to share. I'm not one for debate, so remember these are my beliefs and ideas. If you don't agree, that's okay. We can meet in the middle and agree to disagree. Hmmm. Now that's REAL compromise. 

In His Grace,
Teapotjan