Do we love the world or hate the world?

There is a tension that exists within the Christian mindset concerning our view of the world that we live in.  On the one hand, we believe that God is an awesome creator, that our world and this universe is marvelous in its wonder and beauty, and that his creation of humanity in his own image is a crowning achievement which gives each person on the planet a worth beyond reckoning.  On the other hand, we believe that our world is fallen, in slavery to sin and subject to a curse because of human rebellion against God.  Are we supposed to love the world, because God created it, or hate the world, because humanity ruined it?  The answer is not the either/or that some sadly choose and thus warp their understanding, but the more delicate to hold, both/and.  We must both love the world and everyone in it, and hate the sinfulness and depravity with which our eyes are bombarded each day.
In his book, Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton wrote, "what we need is not the cold acceptance of the world as a compromise, but some way in which we can heartily hate and heartily love it...We have to feel the universe at once as an ogre's castle, to be stormed, and yet as our own cottage, to which we can return at evening." (p. 63)
If you don't love the world, and each person living within in it, you will never understand the mind of God.  If God did not love this world, he would not have sent his one and only Son to die in order to redeem it (John 3:16).
If you don't hate this world, and each act of violence, lust, and selfishness, you will never understand the mind of God.  If God did not hate this world, he would not have flooded it in the days of Noah, nor would he have sent his Law to be a guide or his prophets to warn of the coming judgment.
God loves this world, and hopes to see each and every one of us return home in repentance to his loving embrace.  At the same time, God hates this world, as any parent would hate to see his own children hurting each other.
The tension that exists within the Christian mind about loving and hating the world is supposed to be there.  It isn't a fluke, or a mistake to be corrected, rather it is a reflection of the mind of God who loved this world so much that he was unable to sit idly by and ignore its injustice any longer.

A vote in favor of monogamy

Who is it that understands the value of sex?  Is it the man or woman, committed in the bonds of marriage to only each other, or is it the modern sex addict, indulging anywhere with anyone or anything?
In his book, Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton explains the simple reason why the murmurs against monogamy from a hundred years ago had no appeal to him, "I could never mix in the common murmur of that rising generation against monogamy, because no restriction on sex seemed so odd and unexpected as sex itself...Keeping to one woman is a small price for so much as seeing one woman.  To complain that I could only be married once was like complaining that I had only been born once  It was incommensurate with the terrible excitement of which one is talking.  It showed, not an exaggerated sensibility to sex, but a curious insensibility to it." (p. 48)
There is no way that Chesterton could have envisioned the wholesale swallowing up of modern culture to sexuality, but his observation that it is the monogamist that truly understands and values sex is all the more true in our culture which so very much devalues it.  What value is there in something that is not worth holding on to?  How can anyone say that a one night stand has any real meaning or purpose when the very name of the person with whom such intimacy has been shared is quickly forgotten?
There may be some who are reading this who think that I just don't understand the pleasure to be had in having sex with many women.  They're right, I don't understand it, nor do I want that type of "knowledge".  What I do know is the absolute value of the sexuality expressed between a husband and his wife.  I don't need to experience any lesser imitations to know the treasure that I already have in being bound by sacred oath to my wife.  I value sex far too highly to ever desecrate this gift by sharing it with another.  I only have two parents, they are amazing, what need have I for more?  I only have one nation, America is my home, what need have I for another?  I only have one faith, Jesus Christ is my salvation, what need have I to be saved by any other?  I only have one wife, what could possibly be gained by desiring sex with any other?
All such bargains that promise joy and pleasure beyond that which we have a right are hollow lies.  Those who partake of them will only learn, to their regret, when it is too late.
Sex is a Siren's Song in America.  It promises a veritable buffet of pleasure, only to dash us upon the rocks of venereal disease, unwanted pregnancies, broken hearts, exploitation, and violence.  Men, do yourself a tremendous service, find one woman, marry her, and learn what the real value of sex is.

Sermon Video: "worthy of the gospel of Christ" Philippians 1:27-30

What would your life look like if you lived one that was "worthy of the gospel of Christ"?  How can we, as believers, live up to God's expectations?  The answer begins simply with an imitation of Christ; be like him.
What will stop us from living as we should?  Most people might assume that persecution, like the imprisonment faced by Paul, would be our chief foe, but in reality, it is prosperity that is leading to empty churches in Europe and America.  The poor haven't walked away from God, they know they need him, and the rich have never been likely believers, but the middle class were once devoted to God until the lure of becoming like the rich swallowed up our time for God (and our families).
We need to return to full devotion to God, and we need to be prepared for persecution if it comes.  Being on fire for God often will result in troubles coming our way, but Paul reminds us that to suffer for the sake of the Gospel is truly a blessing and a sign from God.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Avoiding a "softening of the brain"

In his book, Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton has a quote that I thought worth sharing, "Thinking in isolation and with pride ends in being an idiot.  Every man who will not have a softening of the heart must at last have a softening of the brain."  (p. 34)  At that point he was referring to the willingness of Nietzsche, and countless others like him since, to doubt everything.  Yet those who doubt everything in the end doubt themselves.  On what basis can you doubt everything?  There must be some standard, some truth, that is beyond doubt or all expressions of doubt become meaningless.  "By rebelling against everything he has lost his right to rebel against anything." (p. 34)  In the same way, those who say that all paths are true are equally stuck in a quagmire.  If every path is equally valid, how can any choice be made?  If no outcome is more desirable than any other, what is the point of choosing at all?  Thus the rebel who rejects everything, and the man of tolerance who accepts everything find themselves sitting at the same crossroad.  Chesterton pictured Nietzsche and Tolstoy sitting there together, our world today isn't short of others willing to join them.  "They stand at the crossroads, and one hates all the roads and the other likes all the roads.  The result is - well, some things are not hard to calculate.  They stand at the crossroads." (p. 34-35)
It is amazing that in 1908 Chesterton clearly saw that these two forces in philosophy/morality/government were on a collision course that would leave both without anything meaningful left to say.  In the last hundred years his prediction has certainly proven true.  Today our world is convulsed by rebels who hate everything and everyone and idealists who profess to love everything and everyone.  In the end neither of them is leaving that crossroad.

Sermon Video: "to live is Christ, to die is gain" - Philippians 1:19-26

How can anyone live without fearing death?  What purpose or meaning to life can make even the worst misfortune bearable?  For Paul, the answer he shares with the church of Philippi from his own experience begins with the support his feels from their prayers on his behalf and the Spirit of Jesus.  Even while in prison, Paul knows that his life's work is worth the cost and that the outcome of his upcoming trial is in God's hands.  What's the secret to fulfillment?  Service to God through helping others.  What is the secret to confidence in the face of death?  Trust in the faithfulness of God. 
In the end, Paul was willing to continue striving for the sake of Gospel, if it is God's will.  Likewise, Paul was willing to meet his Creator and lay down his burden.
A life lived by faith in Christ, yet cut short for whatever reason, is worth living.
A life lived in vain self-service, no matter how long, is in the end meaningless.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video