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Starting in the Middle…

It was the morning of February 24th, 2000 and I had already spent three hours at pornographic web sites, sitting in my cube at work. My stomach was wrenched in knots and I felt nauseous. I hated myself and felt a hopelessness that was beyond words. In desperation, barely knowing what I was doing, I opened a blank document and began to type. Tears streamed down my face as these words poured out:

All I want is to be free from sin.
I read that Jesus did that for me.
So what am I missing that I still struggle everyday?
Is there something I forgot? Am I deceived?

To continue in this manner is going to kill me.
I can’t stand to see myself living a lie.
Lord, I need to understand what I have done wrong.
I feel I love you, but I always turn and run.

While children’s safety from sexual predators in church is always on the forefront of my mind, having a grandchild has made this issue very personal for me once again. So, I thought I would remind us all of some very important questions. This is a revised version of an article I wrote about two years ago. 

There is a good chance you attend church with a sexual predator who is targeting the children who attend church with you.  That does not mean you should be suspicious of every man or woman who walks through the door on Sunday morning, but it does mean you should question the safety protocol your church has established to protect their youngest congregants.

“Why are you always judging me?”

“Jesus said, ‘Don’t judge, lest you be judged.’”

“I just want to be encouraged. You’re always focusing on my sin.”

These are just three out of a myriad of statements I hear in the course of my day, working with a man in a discipleship relationship. In fact, there is a mindset throughout the church in America that believes there is no place for the Christian to judge; everything we say from the pulpit or to one another should be loving encouragement that never highlights sin, erroneous thinking, or plain rebellion to God. I honestly have to ask myself if people are even reading the same Bible. Have they read even one of Paul’s letters, or Proverbs, or the Prophets, or the words of Jesus?

The ministry verse of New Brothers Fellowship is 1 John 1:7, which reads:

John 19:30
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar He said,
‘It is finished’ and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost.”

I said last week that I’d attempt to talk to you on the three most important words, I believe, in history - IT IS FINISHED. This is one of the seven sayings, as we say, of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Just three words - IT IS FINISHED.
The Greatest Words Ever Uttered
By the Greatest Man That Ever Lived.

In these three words I see the consummation of all the Old Testament truth and the germination of all New Testament truth. I don’t believe that ever in history, anywhere, at any time, by anybody, were three words more pregnant with meaning than these three words given by one Man at the end of His life - It is finished. It is finished.

"On September 2, Prison Fellowship chairman Charles Colson faced a situation that mirrors what the church as a whole faces. People of several faiths, many of whom were attending the Parliament of the World's Religions, gathered at Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago to hear an address on religious liberty. What do evangelicals have to say in a pluralistic setting? How do we talk about the cultural role of religion with those who worship other gods? As the winner of the 1993 Templeton Prise for Progress in Religion, Mr. Colson had earned the right to stand on the platform. What follows is . . . what he said when he got there." -- Taken from Moody magazine, November 8, 1993, page 31. Editor's Note (from the printed version of this message circulated by Prison Fellowship):

In March 1993 Charles W. Colson was named the recipient of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Established in 1972 by financier Sir John Marks Templeton, this prestigious award is given annually to a person who has shown "extraordinary originality in advancing humankinds's understanding of God."

There is a popular, Christian colloquialism that says: Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the Devil says, “Oh, no!” You may have seen this, or something close to it, on a mug or plaque. It’s a very popular meme* on social media. I guess it’s meant to be motivational, but every time I see it I get kind of bothered.

Why is anyone trying to impress Satan?

Hate to burst any bubbles, but even at our best—our most devout and faithful—Satan still thinks we’re easy prey.