Sermon Video: A Depraved Mind, the Cost of Ignoring God - Romans 1:24-32

Having demonstrated that humanity is without excuse for failing to acknowledge God, Paul then explains the consequence of this rebellion: God lets humanity experience the consequences of their own lustful and depraved hears and minds.  This takes a variety of forms, one that stood out because of its connection to Ancient Near East pagan worship is Lust.  The mixing of worship of the gods with fertility rites of human sex is an example of this process in action as that which is intended for our benefit is traded for a self-destructive version.  Paul goes on to connect this to the larger issue of sex/sexuality apart from God's design, the variety of forms of which are also by definition perverse (that is, contrary to the intended purpose).  In the end, the picture is a difficult one, humanity in rebellion against God embracing all manner of 'things that ought not to be done', but the solution will always be the same: repent, receive grace, and believe.

Turning Point USA ignores the warning of Matthew 6:24

The money cannon being worked by 'Bang Girls' at the Turing Point USA conference

Every organization needs funding.  Compassion International has child sponsors, the Salvation Army has their kettle drive at Christmas, and your local high school sports boosters probably has a 50/50 drawing at home football or basketball games.  How an organization generates the revenue it needs to fulfill its mission is an important question, especially if that organization purports to be a Christian one or to champion Christian ethics.  Case in point, Turning Point USA, founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk, who has a partnership with Liberty University (the Falkirk Center along with Eric Metaxas: The Downward Spiral of Bonhoeffer biographer Eric Metaxas the person interviewing Metaxas is Kirk) which gave him an honorary doctorate.  At the Republican National Convention in 2016, Kirk said this, “I have never had the opportunity to visit a university that embodies the teachings of Jesus Christ better than Liberty University, If you decide to profess your faith and say you are a Christian, this world is going to make it difficult. For those of you who are believers in Jesus Christ, wear that badge proudly.”  It seems clear that Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA are seeking to present themselves as a 'Christian' organization, or at least one aligned with Christian ethics.

Which brings us to this extraordinary moment at the just completed Turning Point USA conference where the event sponsor, Bang Energy (they make energy drinks) utilized young women in skin-tight revealing outfits (whom they referred to as 'Bang Girls', itself a disgusting double entendre) to work a 'money cannon' shooting out into the crowd of (unmasked during the height of the pandemic, another troubling aspect of this event) screaming young people.  There is so much wrong with this moment that it almost seems self-explanatory why this organization should forfeit any credibility with, or access to, Christian universities or partnerships with Christian organizations {If you want to see the video of the event for yourself, or read Dreher's similar criticism: Charlie Kirk's Hooters Conservatism - by Rod Dreher at the American Conservative}

You can be a Christian conservative, or a Christian liberal, you can be a Christian believer in the Free Market, or a Christian advocate for a Planned Economy.  Being a Christian does not require that we adopt a set of beliefs regarding politics, or even become involved in politics at all {Some would disagree, but I believe that minority view to be in error: Beware of the Political Church: John MacArthur declares, "any real true believer" can only vote one way}.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

The Bible spends an enormous amount of its space discussing the morality of money and the danger of greed.  It is a topic addressed pointedly in the Law of Moses with the requirements to leave a portion of the field unharvested for the gleaners and the debt-relief program of the Year of Jubilee.  It is one of a handful of topics that Jesus repeatedly addresses, going so far as to tell his followers that they must choose between loving God and loving money.  Long story short, the ethics of how a Christian should act toward money is a field with a wide and firm foundation.

It is no secret that the Church in America struggles with materialism.  This nation is where the heretical Prosperity Gospel was invented, and where it continues to thrive.  It is also well known that many of the Church's worst abuses and most scandalous sins have involved the love of money (and/or earthly power, the two are intertwined).  The only other sin that has plagued the Church as readily as the love of money/power is lust, here too the Church has had its most shameful moments, especially regarding the failings of its leaders.

Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

From a Christian perspective, things like pornography, prostitution, and promiscuity are sins to be rejected and temptations to be avoided.  The Church certainly struggles with how it portrays the ethics of human sexuality, but we need to do significantly better than using sexuality to entice people to purchase products (the foundation of much of the advertising industry, I know, that's fodder for another post).

As I said before, if your study of the Word of God and your commitment to discipleship leads you toward advocating conservative political views, so be it.  If your study and commitment leads you toward advocating liberal political views, then do that instead.  Whichever direction our politics may take us, if the road is sponsored by the love of money and lust, it is NOT a Christian path.

Why take the time to write about Turning Point USA or Charlie Kirk?  Two reasons: (1) My Facebook feed is filled with memes and links that people share from the organization, (2) they claim to represent Christianity against their 'godless' political opponents.

The American Church needs to do better than this type of affiliation, for it only feeds our own failings of greed and lust and makes a mockery of the name of Christ.  Charlie Kirk believes he's fighting a Culture War to save America, the problem is that this version of America is the one that Christianity should be denouncing, not embracing.

Time-bound particulars or Timeless principles? David's sin with Bathsheba

When considering the interpretation and application of a passage of Scripture, it is necessary to evaluate it regarding whether it is an example of time-bound particulars or timeless principles.  An example debated within the Bible itself as recorded in the book of Acts is whether or not new Gentile Christians ought to obey the commands in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) regarding circumcision.  In the end, first Paul, and then the Jerusalem council agree that while the command of circumcision is normative for the descendants of Abraham (Jews) for all time, the time-bound particulars of it do not apply in the same way to Gentile converts operating under the New Covenant.  While the principle of being a sacred people, called by God to be holy, still applies to the Church (and its new initiation rite, baptism), the expression of that principle given to God for Israel did not apply to the Church.
Consider the case of David's lustful adultery with Bathsheba which is recorded in 2 Samuel 11.  On the one hand, the time-bound particulars of the situation might seem vastly different than any modern situational equivalent: David was a Jew (Law of Moses), living in ancient Israel, where he was a king, and his society still tolerated (wrongly) polygamy.  Where is the connection to your average Christian married man of Gentile background (Law of Grace), living in modern America, where he is an average citizen of no real power/wealth?  And yet, one need not find superficial connections between David's circumstances and those of a modern married Christian man because the timeless principles upon which David's actions are judged are not bound by his circumstances.  When David saw Bathsheba, lusted after her, sought her ought, had sex with her, and then conspired to have her husband killed so that he could keep her for himself, he violated the 6th and 7th commandments, "You shall not murder", "You shall not commit adultery", as well as the 10th, "You shall not covet your neighbor's...wife" {Exodus 20: 13,14,17 the numbering of the commandments varies by tradition}  If a modern married Christian man were to meet a woman, lust after her, have sex with her, and then conspire to have his own wife and her husband killed so they could be together, he too would be violating these same commandments.  While David was King of Israel, his actions were the same as thousands of other men (and women) who have befouled the sacred marital bed by allowing lust to lead to adultery.  While the circumstances surrounding a modern day affair (far too polite a word for actions that both anger God and tear families apart) bear little resemblance to David's palace intrigue, one need not struggle to apply the moral lesson given by the prophet Nathan to David when he rebuked him, "Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes?" (1 Samuel 12:9)  Times may have changed, but lust is still lust, marital infidelity is still marital infidelity, and conspiracy to rid oneself of a rival is still murder. 
In the end, there are certain passages of Scripture, commands and rituals, which either no longer apply in the New Covenant to the Church, or no longer apply in a modern world with free democratic citizens; at least not in the same way that they applied to our ancestors in the faith.  On these occasions we must seek out the timeless principles upon which these passages rest and then consider how to apply those principles to our situation; a more difficult task.  However, this may not be necessary as often as we think, for human nature has not changed in the past few thousand years, God's nature, in particular his justice, holiness, and righteousness, have never changed.  The people of the Bible were people just like us, facing the same temptations and trials (even if in different packaging), and needing, just as we do, the grace of God to overcome them.

Sermon Video: Put to death your earthly nature - Colossians 3:5-10

Having told the people of the church at Colossae that following Jesus Christ necessitates setting their hearts and minds on "things above", Paul then proceeds in strong terms to emphasize the need to "put to death" the earthly nature that Christians retain (despite their salvation and the receiving of the Holy Spirit).  After listing some manifestations of our "earthly nature" (sexual immorality, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language); all of which must be eradicated, not simply controlled, Paul then adds one further warning to those who follow Christ, we must not lie to each other.  In the end, in Christ we have put on the new self, we have been transformed by the Holy Spirit, and we therefore must abandon the attitudes and actions of our former fallen nature.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

The lust of humanity for gold that glitters

There's a line in The Lord of the Rings that reads, "all that is gold does not glitter" which is Tolkien's rearranging of the well known proverb from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, "all that glitters is not gold".  Tolkien was trying to emphasize that not all things of value shine on the outside, whereas Shakespeare's point is that not everything that looks good on the outside is worth it on the inside, but both metaphors utilize the fact that gold has a hold on the imagination of humanity.  It has been sought after, fought after, killed and died for, for as far back as we have records.  I just finished watching "Klondike" on the History Channel last night, a mini-series based on the actual experiences of miners who went to Dawson City in the Yukon during the gold rush that lasted from 1896 to 1899.  In those few years, an estimated 100,000 people headed for the Yukon with only about 30-40,000 surviving the journey and only about 4,000 of them finding any gold.  After Dawson City the gold craze moved on, just as it had before from California and before that North Dakota; the list goes on and on back into history.  The craze for gold continues to this day, it actually has intrinsic value now in the electronics industry beyond its age-old use for currency and jewellery.  The show "Gold Rush" on the Discovery Channel chronicles the lives of would-be gold miners, some of whom work like professionals and some of whom appear to be still amateurs.  The human stories behind the quest for gold are interesting, but the question of why man has been so fascinated with this substance remains.
Gold isn't the only rare thing that has caused empires to rise and fall in history, but it does seem to rise above more practical commodities and has certainly been a part of some of the worst crimes of humanity against itself from the horrid working conditions of the South American mines of the Spanish Empire to the gold extracted from the teeth of Jews killed by the Nazis.  The insatiable quest for gold over thousands of years has yielded roughly 377 million pounds of gold; surprisingly, that amount would only be a cube of 68 ft. on each side.  All that risk, all that killing and death, for a pool sized cube of metal?
If gold didn't exist, humanity would be fixated on something else.  Gold isn't the cause of the sickness that is associated with it, simply the window through which the human soul is illuminated.  The same attributes and potential terrors can be ascribed to the pieces of colored paper that replaced gold as the currency of humanity, or even the electronic money that doesn't even exist apart from the computers that keep track of it.
Which topic does the Bible spend the most time talking about?  Which human vice fills more pages of God's Word than any other?  To hear many preachers and Christian lay people talk, you think it would be sexual sin, whether that be pre-marital or extra-marital sex, pornography, homosexuality, or abortion.  We certainly have great troubles in society connected to our misuse of God's gift of sex, but it isn't the number one vice discussed in the Bible.  The Bible spends more time talking about the proper use of, and abuse of, money than anything else (over 800 times) except love.  So why are we so reluctant to talk about money?  Perhaps it is because we as Americans have so much of it.  Perhaps it is because we do such a lousy job of utilizing our money for the good of the kingdom of God and such a great job spending it on ourselves. 
How often do I preach about money?  I haven't analyzed each of my sermons over last seven years to have stats, but since I normally preach verse by verse through a book on the Bible once I start, I'm guessing that its pretty often.  Do yourself a favor, don't skip over the next part of the Bible you read about money, actually take some time and figure out if you're doing what the Bible says you should be doing with the money that you've earned through the blessings of work, life, and health that God has given you.