61 Sermon Illustrations on Lust

"Sexaholics Anonymous" is a program of recovery for those who want to stop their sexually self-destructive thinking and behavior. A (partial) list of warning signs pointing to sexual addiction:

1. Have you ever thought you needed help for your sexual thinking or behavior?

2. Do you feel it controls you?

3. Do you resort to it to escape or relieve anxiety?

4. Do you feel guilt, remorse or depression afterward?

5. Has your pursuit of sex become more compulsive?

6. Do you keep going from one relationship to another?

7. Do you turn to a lower environment when pursuing lust?

8. Have you ever been arrested for a sex-related offense?

Sermon in Ephesians series: Spiritual renewal.

I. What we have been saved from.

A. Thrill as a young Christian - hearing sordid testimonies.

B. Christians must make a complete break from their former life.

II. Three characteristics of the pagan life:

A. Hearts are hardened. 4:18

1) The process of decay begins with hardening, according to

2) Hardening leads to ignorance. (related to "agnostic") 4:18

3) Hardening leads to insensitivity. 4:19

4) Hardening leads to separation from life of God. 4:18

B. Thinking is futile. 4:17

1) Note emphasis on the mind: thinking, understanding,

2) The way we think deeply influences how we live.

C. Actions are impure. 4:19

1) Sensuality as a sign of society's decay.

2) "Every kind ... continual lust for more." 4:19

III. The difference in being a Christian. 4:20-24

A. The old self has to be discarded. 4:22

B. Our thinking and attitudes must be "made new." 4:23

C. The new self has to be "put on." 4:24

IV. The tragedy of a compromised Christian.

A. Jimmy Swaggert and enslavement to lust.

B. There should be harmony between how we think and how we act.

C. Is Christ in charge of your inner life? [1654]

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Sermon in 1 Peter series. Make a clean break with paganism. 1 Pet 4:1-6

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DON'T DO WHAT THEY DO

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I. It's party time!

II. Think like Jesus.

A. Christ suffered.

B. We need to have the same attitude.

III. He who has suffered in the body is done with sin.

A. Several interpretations possible.

1) Jesus as one who suffered.

2) Christians are purified by suffering.

B. Do you live for evil desires, or for God?

IV. Remember what you were saved from.

A. What pagans choose to do.

B. It can be hard to leave.

V. Called on the carpet.

A. Everyone has to get an account to God.

B. Believing now makes a difference later.

#1837

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Our culture confuses love with romance (or even more basic drives).

1) Movies and songs glorify romantic love.

2) On way to mission conference, two of the most spiritual women

in our church (who shall remain unnamed) admitted they watch

soap operas.

I doubt a single episode of any of them forgets to put in a

steamy romantic love scene.

3) Personal experiences.

Autumn, 1978.

Crowded lunchroom at my seminary.

I didn't realize a Sunday School convention was being held.

I wasn't even supposed to be in line.

I sat down at the only empty space at a table.

One young lady sat across from me.

She had on a Jolly Green Giant green dress and green leotards.

Not love at first sight, but I was desperate for a date.

I forgot her name, so had to pull some strings down at the

registration office.

I called up Celeste Triehy (with my light conversation written

down word-for-word on paper) and set up a time to visit her.

When I arrived, she had forgotten who I was.

God works in mysterious ways!

Tract passed out at Billy Graham crusade by fundamentalist group. They believe genuine Christians must produce works of righteousness to be saved.

One area of change is lasciviousness, the provoking of lust. Swimsuits, tank tops and bare chests on men cause lust.

All activities should glorify God and not waste time. Sports are a huge waste of time, as is television. TV is opposed to Christian morals.

One area of repentance that is avoided is head coverings. Not just a small Mennonite cap but a Moslem-like covering. 1 Cor 11 was written “to all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." [basic of sermon]

I. Most perplexing phrase in Lord's Prayer.

A. Would a holy, loving God consider leading us into temptation?

B. Questions asked since 2nd century.

1) Tertullian bristled at suggestion.

a) Echo of James 1:13-14.

b) What are similarities // differences?

II. Meaning of Temptation.

A. Peirasmos. Matt 6:13; Luke 11:4

1) Variety of meanings in Greek as well as English.

B. Trial or testing.

1) James associates term with perseverance. Jam 1:2-3,12

2) But even trials usually involve some sense of

enticement to sin.

a) Painful circumstances may make us doubt God's

goodness.

C. Enticement to sin.

1) In James 1:13-14 meaning shifts to enticement,

which is stated explicitly.

2) But this enticement comes from devil or ourselves.

III. God's role in temptation.

A. God's part is indirect - "don't LEAD us into temptation."

1) Is this different from tempting us?

B. Even if God won't entice us, will he lead us to a place

where we will be?

1) Temptation of Jesus shows he can do just this.

2) Note that Spirit led him into the desert. Matt 4:1

C. Evidently temptation - whether testing or enticement -

can be used redemptively by God for his glory and for

our good.

IV. How God can use temptation.

A. It reveals what is in our hearts.

1) Temptation is a test of character.

a) Abraham & Isaac.

1> He overcame temptation to disobey.

2> God gave him a commendation and a promise.

b) David & Bathsheba.

1> Showed extent to which lust ruled his heart.

2> He repented, and so showed that he also desired

to please God.

3> He failed his test, but God used it to correct

him, as shown in Psalm 51.

c) King Saul.

1> Tempted several times, and failed.

2> Nation could see God's wisdom in dumping him and

choosing another. 1 Sam 15:28

B. It allows us a choice that clarifies significant issues.

1) Temptation of Jesus.

a) Enticement to worship and preserve self pinpointed

the ultimate issues involved in Jesus' mission.

2) Martin Luther - "My temptations have been my masters

in divinity."

C. It fortifies our will.

1) Our commitment is strengthened each time we overcome.

2) Train self to be godly. 1 Tim 4:7

D. We can provide an example for others.

1) Also we can be a witness of God's grace before enemies.

a) Job.

2) When we maintain faith despite suffering, we present

Satan with a frustrating enigma and unbelievers with

a reason to ponder.

V. Why pray against a good thing?

A. Jesus has us pray to escape it. Why?

1) Comparison with doctoral exams.

2) They are good for us, but we may not be ready for them.

a) We have limitations.

B. Petition protects us from pride.

1) It is an (implied) confession of our weakness.

C. Lord's Prayer teaches us about God, and ourselves.

1) Daily bread shows our dependence on the Lord.

2) Forgive our debts assumes we are sinful.

3) Lead us not into temptation says we are weak.

D. We tend to make ourselves the focus of our prayers.

1) Lord's Prayer keeps focus on God.

2) Our most subtle temptation is to put ourselves in

God's place.

[See also HolwickID #3901]

The current debate over what happened to Bathsheba forces us to think deeper about motives and power.

________

As a kid growing up in the church, I certainly heard a lot about Jesus. But just short of the Savior, I heard countless stories about King David: stories of bravery, courage, power, trust, risk, battle, war, triumph, and conquest.

Christians have always recognized David’s brokenness to an extent, particularly his pursuit of Bathsheba, which has typically been considered (and decried as) adultery. Lately, there has been quite the debate over what exactly happened between David and Bathsheba, and whether it should be characterized as rape.

This is not a new conversation, which is always important to remember in our age of hot takes. Denny Burk, Boyce College professor and president of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, points to a journal article by Alexander Abasili that addressed this question in detail in 2011, years before the scrutiny of the #MeToo movement.

Not all interest in this issue is a result of current cultural pressure or capitulation; there is a legitimate, significant question over how we understand David in this story.

I agree with Abasili’s analysis that the story doesn’t include the details that seem to be specific to instances of a Hebrew understanding of rape — namely, the use of direct physical force and the victim crying out in anguish for help. And yet, the story of David and Bathsheba appears to many modern readers, including me, to meet contemporary definitions of rape.

So how should we think of it? Did David indeed rape Bathsheba? And why does it matter that we, as Christians, get this right today?

Jesus Expands the Law

While Abasili establishes that the David and Bathsheba story does not meet the criteria of rape detailed in biblical law, Old Testament professor David Lamb previously wrote for Christianity Today describing a basic argument that David was guilty of “power rape rather than adultery” since Bathsheba had no choice.

But the question is not just a matter of whether we go by the Old Testament laws or our own modern ones. Scripture itself points us to a deeper look at the heart behind David’s behavior.

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ doesn’t diminish the impact of the law, he expands and intensifies it: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).

According to a basic reading of Old Testament law, looking upon a woman with lustful intent doesn’t meet the criteria of adultery. But, when we read the command against adultery through the lens of Christ’s instructions on the law, we find that looking upon someone who is not one’s spouse with lustful intent is, and has always been, adultery.

Jesus moves the focus from the details of the law to the intent and motivation of the heart. And Jesus doesn’t just do this with adultery. He does it every time he discusses the law.

If we approached the Old Testament law on rape the same way that Jesus addresses various aspects of the law, we would have to look beyond the explicit details enumerated in the law code and ask: What is happening in David’s heart and mind when it comes to Bathsheba?

Thinking of the question this way, the defense that David’s actions don’t meet the criteria for rape weakens considerably, and in fact, misses the point.

A Prophet’s Rebuke

Using the basic hermeneutical principle that Scripture should interpret Scripture, we find further context regarding David’s motivations just a few paragraphs away, in 2 Samuel 12, when he is rebuked by Nathan the prophet.

Nathan describes an imbalance of power between a rich man and a poor man, where the poor man had one precious lamb that he loved dearly, like a child, and the rich man took the poor man’s sole lamb to prepare for a guest (a way to accrue further social capital by hosting this guest well) because he had no pity.

Nathan tells him, “You are the man!” in the story, and then expands on David’s self-condemnation: God made you King, he delivered you, he gave you all that you have, and this wasn’t enough. You stole, you exploited, you killed, and you did it “secretly” for selfish gain. Even according to David and Nathan, David’s sin isn’t merely that he slept with Bathsheba, but that he did so in a way mired by his exploitation of power, deception, and self-gain. The power imbalance is clearly called out.

Nathan goes on to describe the fate of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah: “You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites” (2 Sam. 12:9).

Nathan uses conquering language that positions David as a murderer, the one who “struck down” and “killed him.” And yet, we know that Uriah didn’t die by David’s own sword, but by proxy after being sent to the front lines. While his actions would not constitute murder according to the detailed terms set out in the Old Testament, we absolutely see him as responsible for his death.

When the issue is whether David murdered Uriah, readers generally feel free to expand how the Old Testament murder law should be read. But when we ask whether David raped Bathsheba, then some readers push back demanding precision around what the law says explicitly about rape.

Both Jesus and Nathan’s focus on the intent and motives of the heart give us good reason to look beyond the letter of the law. The story of David and Bathsheba is not a story of adultery or an affair, but one where a powerful man is sexually exploiting a vulnerable woman and is willing to use coercive power to call her to his chamber and cover up his actions.

Our Defense of David

Perhaps more intriguing than determining David’s motives is our own determination to spare him from disrepute. We don’t want David to be a rapist. We actually find it easier to stomach him being a murderer of a man than an abuser of a woman.

And, if the preponderance of sermons is any indication, Christians have historically been willing to slut-shame Bathsheba to keep any stink (beyond adultery) off of David. It’s nonsensical, particularly because in Scripture, Bathsheba is never accused, indicted, or even maligned in any way for what happened.

David, though, is not just another figure in the Bible. He is the “man after God’s own heart,” championed both as a heroic figure for young boys in Sunday school and the subject of Christian studies on manhood and masculinity.

The phrase we so often associate with the biblical king is not a blanket endorsement for David’s example, nor the idea that he represents what it means to be like God as a man. It means that David was God’s chosen man as king of Israel. John Woodhouse says this phrase “is talking about the place the man has in God’s heart rather than the place God has in the man’s heart.”

Scripture is full of broken people, and King David, for all his virtues, is a broken man. So why has this particular story become such a contentious one for us? I’m convinced that we don’t want David to be a rapist because we don’t want to reckon with the sin of abusive power.

If David was merely a weak man who fell prey to a tempting woman on a lonely night, then we don’t have to grapple with the far more insidious reality: David was one of many (mostly men) throughout history who used their power for sexual exploitation. He leveraged his position as king to have an innocent man killed after using his power to summon and sexually exploit that innocent man’s wife.

Is it any wonder that this great evil has largely remained unexplored in David’s story when the majority of those entrusted with telling the story stands to profit from not pointing it out? When we get to the story of David and Bathsheba the ones who would benefit most from sitting under the sobering impact of the story are those who are responsible for the telling. The spiritual leaders in our churches, mostly male pastors, must be willing to tell the story the way it is written: as an indictment of the spiritual abuse of power for exploitation. They must measure their life and the culture of leadership in their church in its scales.

We have to consider that we may have misread this story in a major way. Our misunderstanding and misrepresentation of what happened with David and Bathsheba may result in a truncated understanding of God’s good vision of power and sex, just when we so desperately need a holy vision for these things.

Perhaps the story of David isn’t just a cool story about giants defeated and battles won, but also a cautionary tale about the way that power can corrupt even the noble. And that the same power that a king had earlier used to defend the vulnerable could be turned to exploit the vulnerable.

The story of David and Bathsheba is an invitation to all of us, but particularly those in place of spiritual authority and leadership, to consider if we are making use of God’s gift in the way he intended. Power is a gift from God, but the temptation to use it for our own selfish gain is ever-present and endlessly enticing. Those entrusted with power must look to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as the paradigm for faithful practice of power.

He, who possessed everything by right, surrendered it all for love. Christ, to whom the whole world belonged, approached the vulnerable with care and honor. Christ used his power to dignify the vulnerable and defend the shamed. What will we do with the power we’ve been given?

________

Kyle Worley planted and serves as one of the pastors at Mosaic Church in Richardson, Texas.

Back in the 50's there was a well-known radio host/comedian/song writer in Hollywood named Stuart Hamblen who was noted for his drinking, womanizing and partying. One of his bigger hits at the time was “I Won't Go Hunting With You Jake, But I'll Go Chasing Women”.

And along came a young preacher holding a tent revival. Hamblen had him on his radio show and let him plug the revival, and Hamblen himself showed up at one of the meetings.

Early in the service the preacher announced, “There is one man in this audience who is a big fake.” There were probably others who thought the same thing, but Hamblen was convinced that he was the one the preacher was talking about (some would call that conviction of sin), but he was having none of that. Still the words continued to haunt him until a couple of nights later he showed up at the preacher's hotel door around 4 a.m. and demanded that the preacher pray for him. One witness reported the singer was “broken up and crying as the evangelist said, 'We've been praying for you for weeks.'”[1] They talked until 5 a.m. at which point Stuart dropped to his knees and with tears, cried out to God.

But that is not the end of the story. Stuart quit drinking, quit chasing, quit everything that was “fun”. And he began to lose favor with the Hollywood crowd. He was ultimately fired by the radio station when he refused to accept a beer company as a sponsor. He began to write Christian music.

One day an old friend named John took Stuart aside and told him all your troubles started when you “got religion” and asked if it was worth it all. Stuart answered simply, “Yes”. Then his friend said, “You liked your booze so much. Don't you ever miss it?” And the answer was, “No.” John then said, “I don't understand how you could give it up so easily.” And Stuart's response was, “It's no big secret. All things are possible with God.” To this John said, “That's a catchy phrase. It sounds like a song.”

As they say, the rest is history. The song Stuart wrote in 1950 was “It Is No Secret” –

It is no secret, what God can do.

What He's done for others, He'll do for you.

With arms wide open, He'll welcome you.

It is no secret, what God can do.

By the way, the friend was John Wayne, and the young preacher who prayed for Stuart Hamblen was Billy Graham, at his famous 1949 revival in Los Angeles. And even though Hamblen lost his radio job because he objected to an ad for alcohol, the Prohibition Party nominated him as their candidate for President of the United States in 1952. Hamblen finished fourth, despite appearing on the ballot in only twenty-one states. And now you know “the rest of the story.”

________

1. The original internet version says Hamblen was drunk and begged the evangelist to pray for him, but he refused, saying, “This is between you and God and I’m not going to get in the middle of it.” The above version is from the eyewitness account of Grady Wilson quoted in Mikkelson’s article. Mikkelson's "Urban Legends" verifies the validity of the above story.

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BreakPoint Commentary, April 14, 2015, Eric Metaxas

"The Story behind ‘It Is No Secret’: What God Can Do"

I never thought I’d get to talk about Billy Graham, Elvis Presley, and John Wayne all in one BreakPoint commentary. Stay tuned for the amazing story behind a famous gospel song.

We’ve all had the experience of getting a song stuck in our head for an extended period of time. If you’re really unfortunate, that song may be one by Christopher Cross or Air Supply.

But sometimes these “earworms,” as they are dubbed, can lead to good things.

That recently happened to one of us right here at BreakPoint. While reading a biography of the early 20th century evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, my colleague and friend Roberto Rivera found himself humming and singing the gospel song “It Is No Secret (What God Can Do).”

He’s not sure why the song popped into his head; he couldn’t recall ever singing it before. But once it entered his consciousness, it didn’t leave. While driving the next day, he searched for the song on Spotify and listened to two very different versions: the first by the great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson and the second by Elvis Presley.

At this point, he looked up the song on Google to find out who wrote it. And what he found was the kind of story that you can’t make up.

Fittingly, Roberto found the story on Truth or Fiction.com, which like Snopes.com, verifies and/or debunks rumors or urban legends floating around on the web.

As the site tells, “It Is No Secret” was written by Stuart Hamblen, who is regarded as one of radio’s first “singing cowboys.” Hamblen, the son of a Methodist minister from Texas, didn’t handle his fame very well. As Wikipedia tells us, his drinking, and the brawling and “destructive behavior” it produced, landed him in jail “many times.”

This all changed in 1949 when Billy Graham appeared on Hamblen’s show as a way to publicize what would become the historic Los Angeles Crusade. While on the show, Graham invited Hamblen to attend the crusade, and Hamblen accepted. Later, Hamblen contacted Graham and asked if they could meet and talk. And it was then that Hamblen committed his life to Christ.

Sometime later, a friend of Hamblen asked him about the rumor going around Hollywood that Hamblen had changed his ways. Hamblen replied that it was no secret what God had done for him and what God could do for his friend, too. The friend then replied that Hamblen should turn those lines into a song.

That friend’s name was John Wayne. No kidding.

So Hamblen followed Wayne’s advice — he wrote it. “It Is No Secret” became the first song to reach #1 on the Gospel, Country, and Pop charts. Think about that: a song that tells us that “with arms wide open, he’ll pardon you” reached #1 on the Pop chart. Thank you, John Wayne.

It’s been recorded many times, arguably most famously by Elvis Presley. Also by Johnny Cash. Perhaps the greatest illustration of the song’s lasting impact is that “the original manuscript of the song ‘It Is No Secret’ is buried in the cornerstone of the Copyright Buildings of the Library of Congress.” Wow.

Singing cowboys, Billy Graham, John Wayne, Elvis and a song about God’s restorative power. As I said, you can’t make this kind of story up.

But God can. And that is the point of Hamblen’s song. God longs to, as my friend Thomas Howard wrote in “Christ the Tiger,” (great book),”restore to you the good which your own foolish mistakes have cheated you.”

That’s no secret. That is the good news.

________

Copyright (c) 2015 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

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[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]

LOVE REVISITED — by Glenda Lynne

The search for love is unending. Yet few can follow its path, for the path of true Love is as difficult as it is rewarding, and most of us fall along the wayside somewhere. Even at the beginning of a relationship, when we experience the nirvana of discovery, we simultaneously feel the pang of losing it. This duality feeds fear and blocks the way of true Love. Yet, we cannot deny the duality, or we will not love with all our hearts.

To truly experience Love, we must first be willing to look fearlessly into our own hearts and minds. For Love will open us up as nothing else in life can do, and any part of ourselves that we have been hiding will suddenly come skidding into the open to taunt and intimidate us. The moment Love walks in, the shadow part of our self begins to grow. That is because the most exquisite purpose of Love is to force and nurture the growth we have been avoiding. Love pulls out all the stops and slams us into the reality of ourselves.

This is all a part of divine purpose. God intends us to become a part of one heart, a part of the whole. Yet God also intends us to remain totally true to ourselves and to the integrity of our own individuality. It is another one of the dualities that throws many of us off of Love’s path. If we would love, we must be willing to be true to ourselves while being a part of the whole. Love, then, is a microcosm of Life.

In my search for love, I have discovered many things that Love is NOT. Usually, it was a painful process, but as I have grown, it has become a more joyous course. Life is all about learning, and when you learn to love the learning, all of Life becomes joyous. By arduously weeding out the NOT-love, I have come to know much more about what true Love IS. Of course, I am still learning, but here is some of what I’ve discovered.

1. Love is NOT a promise of peace and pleasure everlasting. We do NOT find our soul mates and live happily ever after. That is the biggest fairy tale of all. If we enter into love expecting to find nothing but happiness and peace for the rest of our lives, we are actually entering into a devious place… a place where the beloved exists only to reinforce our present best image of ourselves. The true beloved will do that but will also gently help us to pry free from images that no longer have a relevant purpose in our lives.

2. Love is NOT sexual lust and passion. Sexual lust and passion are a part of love, but they can also be experienced apart from Love. And Love can be experienced in its deepest forms without sexual lust and passion. Sexual lust and passion exist to open us up to the true lust and passion of LIVING. Sexuality and lust and passion activate our vulnerability, and vulnerability is a precursor to growth. If we are to grow, we must be vulnerable.

3. Love is NOT static. Love has seasons and moods and changes. It is the never-ending catalyst to growth. It catapults us into a lifelong series of chrysalis and butterfly. Love is constant rebirth. The only thing we can depend upon in this life is change.

4. Love is NOT possession. We draw close, then apart, then close again, then apart. We exult in one another, then withdraw into our caves. We glory in our togetherness, then go our separate ways. Ceaseless change brings new perspective, new birth, and a constant renewal of ourselves. And sometimes it leaves us alone on our path, grieving and full of self absorption, because the beloved one chooses to move onto a path without us. Deep Love allows the separation of individual purpose and goals.

5. Love is NOT a right. It is a responsibility. We are not born with the innate right to be loved by others. Love is something we earn. It is always here for us to experience, but it will not force itself upon us. We must be willing to walk to the door and open it. Then we must be willing to invite Love in and encourage it to stay.

6. Love is NOT dependent upon one particular person. There is no one soul mate, though we may know only one of them in a particular lifetime. If one soul mate leaves, another will come, when the heart is open and ready to grow again. Being “abandoned” by a lover means only that we are ready for a new experience of Love. We do NOT die of a broken heart. If a loved one departs, and we feel like dying, we are dying of a CLOSED heart. The heart and mind may stubbornly refusing to open to Life’s new possibilities, thus we close off all nurture, and that is a choice to begin to die. It is pure stubbornness, pride, and fear that makes us feel like dying. Why would Life, in all its glory, suddenly abandon us? Love and life do not leave us. People do. That is the nature of this mortal life.

7. Love is NOT desire. Love is sufficient unto itself. It simply IS. It is what it is. If we want to experience true Love, we must let our desire be to flow like a river, to feel the pain of understanding, and to allow the course to take us where it must. We must bless God for each moment of loving and recognize that when we love, we are in the heart of God, and that is a place our minds are too finite to comprehend.

8. Love is NOT a goal. It is a process. It is a part of living, but it is NOT the goal of living. Living is the goal of living. Life is what matters. If we would love, we must first know how to live. For living each moment to its fullest potential IS Love, and that is the goal of Life. As Love is sufficient unto Love, so is Life sufficient unto Life.

9. Love is NOT destructive. Though Love reveals our hidden shadow selves, it does so to illuminate them. Shadows can dance and play with our enlightenment, giving depth and true character to the inner and outer spirit. If the shadows appear to overtake and bury us, then we are no longer experiencing Love. We are experiencing obsession.

10. Love is NOT obsession. When we love with our deepest selves, we never lose our own way. If the beloved’s path and goals become more important than our own, that is not the intention of Love. That is obsession. True love asks only that we ALLOW the beloved to be loved (beloved). When we obsess, we actually shut the process of loving down.

11. Love is NOT completion. We are not here to complete the work. We are here to continue it. The same is true of Love. It does not complete our lives. It continues our lives. Love, as Life, is constantly growing and changing. It is an entity unto itself, and each time we Love, we perpetuate its vision for the Love of God.

12. Love is NOT found outside of ourselves. It comes from within. When we open our deepest self, Love pours out and floods the world around us. Then that very Love we “give away” becomes the seed that blossoms into the Love we “receive”. Love only APPEARS to be coming from outside sources. In actuality, it comes from our own spirit. What we feel is our own Love expressing itself. All of Life is but a perception of who we are.

13. Love is NOT just for lovers. Love is sharing, learning, growing. It is the ultimate Leap of Faith, the willingness to hold a vision for compassion and solicitude for ourselves and our lives, even when all the rest of the outside world would seem to deny it. When we can Love each aspect of ourselves and our lives with the peace that comes from supreme inner knowing, then Love enjoys its finest hour. The lover appears only to share and broaden this hour. Ultimately, it is the Love we feel for ourselves and our own lives that is the truest expression of God’s plan.

14. Love is NOT finite or mortal. It is infinite, immortal, and undying. Love that dies was never Love at all. When we feel true Love, we know that it is never-ending and always available. Anything that is called Love that dies or goes away, is not Love. It is emotion.

15. Love is NOT emotion. Emotions come and emotions go. Emotions are but the ripples upon the surface of our lives. They appear and disappear without touching the depth of our real selves. Love is locked into the essence of ourselves. It is integrity of spirit and purity of intent. It is the truest expression of our God selves, and it is everlasting. If you would experience Love, allow it to flow from the depths of your soul and feel its presence all around you. Lovers leave, but Love does not. Feelings change, but Love remains.

16. Love is NOT controlling. Love is experiential in nature, and control seeks to define and structure experience. Yet Love will not be controlled, nor will it seek to control. The nature of Love is to embrace and allow. It cannot be guided, nor will it be defined. For each of us is an individual expression of God’s infinite wisdom and variety, and each of us experiences Love alone and in our own way. Love is ours to give, but we cannot control its path.

17. Love is NOT something we can share. The final irony of Love’s great gift is that it is experienced ALONE. Sharing Love is an illusion. Love flows, and the instant it moves, it changes. Each thing it touches changes its nature. Each receptor continues its path in a very unique way. Since we can only experience that which we know, we cannot share our love. We can only allow it to flow. When we speak of sharing Love, we are speaking of sharing this unique perception of Love’s flow. Love is an expression, an outpouring of the essence of our God selves, and it is beyond sharing. It is what it is.

Lovers of Life, seek love within. Then open your spirits with no regrets, and allow your Love to pour forth in abundance upon all it may touch. Seek not to direct its path nor follow its course. Seek only to continue its possibilities.

#4700

*

I still remember my sadness on hearing that an old friend and someone I believed was a sincere Christian, was leaving his wife of many years. I was shocked and disappointed. I wondered: How could this man, committed to both his spouse and his Lord, fall in love with another woman?

An essay by the late Sheldon Vanauken helps answer the question and reminds us that such temptations are all too common.

Vanauken, best known as the author of the powerful love story titled "A Severe Mercy," also published a collection of essays called "Under the Mercy," which explores these feelings.

In one essay called "The Loves," Vanauken describes how a Christian friend named John shocked him by announcing that he was leaving his wife to marry another woman. John explained his sudden change of heart by saying, "It seemed so good, so right. That's when we knew we had to get the divorces. We belonged together."

Vanauken then describes a conversation with a friend named Diana, who left her husband for another man. Diana defended herself with virtually the same words: "It was just so good and right with Roger that I knew it would be wrong to go on with Paul."

As Vanauken explains, both John and Diana were "invoking a higher law: the feeling of goodness and rightness. A feeling so powerful that it swept away ... whatever guilt they would otherwise have felt" for what they were doing to their families.

When Christian couples marry, they often say, "till death us do part." But what many unconsciously mean is, "till failing love do us part."

In reality, many people love their spouse, not as a person but as someone who evokes certain feelings. Their wedding vow was not so much to the person as to that feeling.

So when such people fall in love with someone else, they transfer that vow to the other person. And why not? says Vanauken, "If vows are nothing but feelings?"

Vanauken dubs these thrilling emotions "The Sanction of Eros." When John and Diana spoke of the goodness of their love, they were appealing to something higher than judgment, higher even than their own desires. But as Vanauken points out, "the sacred approval they felt could not possibly have come from [God,] whose disapproval of divorce is explicit in Scripture. It is Eros, the pagan god of lovers, who confers this sanction upon the worshippers at his altar."

"The pronouncement of Eros that this love is so good and so right that all betrayals are justified is simply a lie," Vanauken writes. But worst of all, few people are prepared "for the amazing sanction of Eros." Those caught in its thrall are convinced that their love is different, even sacred. They do not dream, the writer says, "that every other lover has the same assurance."

And that's why pastors have to work hard to warn engaged couples about this deadly appeal. At some point, Eros will almost certainly beckon with an exciting new love -- and the feelings of rightness, and even sacredness, may be overwhelming.

Couples need to know that it is only when Christ is at the heart of their marriage that they will be able to resist this ancient pagan call.

___________________

Copyright (c) 2000 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

When you've driven as much as I have over the years, you know when it's time to stop. I've been driving along at night, for example, and suddenly I'm enveloped in this thick fog, usually in the mountains. Semis are pulled over to the side of the road. They are professional drivers. They know well enough not to go on. It's definitely time to stop before I hit something. Same thing when I suddenly find myself in one of those driving rainstorms - or I've been in a snow storm "whiteout" - those times when you literally can't see a car length in front of you. It's like you're temporarily blind, and you'd better not keep pushing ahead.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Blindness that Makes You Crash."

Fog can make you temporarily blind. So can rain or snow. And so can your hormones. It happened even to King David, who God called "a man after God's own heart." David's hormonal blindness - which led to so many devastating crashes - is described in one of the saddest chapters in the Bible. In 2 Samuel 11, beginning with verse 2, our word for today from the Word of God, the Bible says, "One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her." Right about here you feel like screaming at the Bible, "David, don't do it, man!"

But he did do it. "The man said, 'Isn't this Bathsheba ... the wife of Uriah the Hittite?'" Uriah, by the way, was one of David's most trusted and most loyal soldiers. The Bible goes on: "Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her." Here's David - God's man, God's king. But his sexual desires started pumping, and he followed them all the way to disaster. From these few moments of sexual pleasure will come a baby who dies, David's murder of his loyal associate to cover up his sin, rape and incest and even an attempt to overthrow him among his own children, and an agony of soul David could have never imagined.

That's what is so dangerous about lust, about sexual fantasies, about pornography, about flirting with sexual sin - your hormones blind you, just like they did David. You let your lust keep pulling you toward a crash, and it makes you blind to so many things you can't afford to forget - the consequences, what you stand to lose, who you're going to hurt, the agony of a broken relationship with God. But you don't care much about all that - you just care about satisfying your sexual desires, about following your passions.

But God has sent you this way today to send you a wakeup call. Please, consider where your passions and desires are taking you. Count the cost. Think about all you have to lose if you keep driving down this road. Think about the price you'll pay in your soul - maybe the price you're already paying. Think about the hurt this can cause. And don't make the deadly mistake millions of people have made - underestimating the power of sin and overestimating your power to control it.

Sexual desire can blind you like a thick fog. Please, don't keep going this way. Pull over and stop - now ... before you crash.

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

*

I was eating supper in a church home about an hour before I was to lead music in a revival service. The lady of the house was urging more helpings of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and rolls on me, and I couldn’t imagine how I could breathe, much less sing. But the food was wonderful, and I didn’t want to offend her.

Several years and many such meals later, it occurred to me that we Baptists had turned gluttony, once counted a deadly sin, into a virtue. Hail to the pastor who can cut a trail of destruction down the potluck table. Shame on the one who ignores some saint’s dish.

And what of the other "deadly sins" - pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, and lust? Have we made them virtues too? Well, you have to admit they read like program notes for a week of THE JERRY SPRINGER SHOW. Come to think of it, they read like the news coverage of Britain’s Royal Family. They seem endemic to our culture.

Before going on, we should clarify a few things. Protestants have never been keen on classifying sins as greater or lesser. All and any sin can wreck you. And by "deadly," the writers don’t mean "physically fatal." You can live a long, lustful, prideful life, and then die at a train crossing because of the non-deadly sin of worry. Worrying that you’ll miss a flight, you take a fatal risk. No, the sins are deadly in the sense that they can ruin your Christian joy, fruitfulness, and witness.

We should recognize that we attach different senses to some of these words today. For us, "sloth" means "laziness." In earlier days, "sloth" meant "spiritual slackness." Also, remember that anger in itself is not wrong. It’s what you do with it. And, as C. S. Lewis taught us in SCREWTAPE LETTERS, being finicky over food can be a form of gluttony. Both obsession with the details ("That tastes more like a twist and a half of lime than a twist of lime.") and engorgement are unholy at the table. Finally, let’s note that each of these seven can be seen as the trunk of a family tree of sin, and the branches intertwine with those of other trees. For instance, pride might make one susceptible to peer pressure toward substance abuse, and the idle mind of sloth becomes the devil’s workshop of envy.

That being said, let’s look at their status today. Have they become virtues in the popular mind? Allan Bloom suggested something like this in his THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND. He observed that traditional virtues such as chastity, industry, loyalty, honesty, and sobriety were in low regard on the college campus. And their opposites - promiscuity, laziness, betrayal, cheating, and drunkenness - were compatible with BMOC status. Only "intolerance" could ruin you.

The same certainly seems to be the case in politics and the media. Our president’s ratings seemed to improve with demonstrations of his lust. And this year’s Emmy nominations give special honor to programs which celebrate and dignify homosexual lust. The world is working hard at being the world. But the church can find plenty of slippage in its own ranks.

As professionalism grows among the clergy, you find the fruit of ambition at play. Pastors on the make ENVY their more celebrated colleagues. Their PRIDE is wounded, and they become GREEDY for more money and attention. They FUME over those who would hold them back. They fall into spiritual dryness or SLOTH. Some turn to FOOD and PORNOGRAPHY to ease their pain and fill their emptiness. And, of course, laymen have their own version of this cycle of spiritual destruction.

It’s interesting that some lost folks are leading the way in countering these tendencies. They’re making fitness tapes and touting diet plans. They’re giving up high-pressure corporate life for the relative poverty of jewelry manufacture near Taos. They’re learning meditation, taking cues from Phil Jackson and Richard Gere. They’re mellowing out in Buddhist fashion, letting go of as much envy, pride, lust, and greed they can.

Contrast this with sweaty, overweight, pugilistic Pastor Bob down at No Hope Baptist Church. Are the Buddhists the modern heirs to our spiritual tradition of attention to the humility and peace? Are they beating us at our own game?

Not really, for theirs is a counterfeit of Christian grace. It is based on killing desire and not bridling it. As G.K. Chesterton taught us in Orthodoxy, the Buddhist ideal is serenity on a lotus leaf. You rub Buddha’s belly as he placidly observes with half-closed eyes. The Christian saint, on the other hand, is passionate, stretched out in service and sacrifice.

You see, there is a tension in the Christian’s virtue. He thanks God for his passions - his desire to make a mark, to procreate, to unseat evil, to provide for his family. And he cares enough to flirt with depression when things go awry. Because he has the Holy Spirit, he is susceptible to the peculiar dryness and sorrow which come when he is not Spirit filled.

I think it is important to add that there is another counterfeit of virtue in the Christian camp. You can become a passionless smoothie, knowing that departures from Buddhist amiability can land you in conflict. It is said that when Paul came to town, he started either a revival or a riot. Smart guys know that this is counterproductive to their annuities, so they do the Buddha thing, and everyone thinks they’re nice. But Zen can be sin.

Whatever happened to the seven deadly sins? Five things come to mind. First, some of the lost have embraced them, as in the movie ANIMAL HOUSE. Second, some of the lost resist them in a fleshly way, drawing heavily on the self-help sections of their local bookstore. Third, some of the saved "baptize" them, calling envy "holy zeal," calling greed "concern for family," or slothful indifference "freedom from anger." Fourth, some of the saved merely pose as virtuous inasmuch as it gains them standing in the church. They hide their lust or simulate humility in order to gain or hold standing in the church. Fifth, some of the saved, driven by the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin in these areas, cry out for God’s mercy and help. And, of course, it is only in this fifth vein that we honor the honorable tradition of concern with the "deadly sins."

It seems as if every summer there are raging fires in the American West that destroy hundreds of thousands of acres of timberland, and sometimes homes, businesses, and even lives. When a major fire broke out near an Indian reservation that our Native team had ministered on only a few months ago, I paid pretty special attention. Sadly, that fire spread to parts of the reservation, consuming the timber that is a major part of their already impoverished economy, along with homes and property outside the reservation. It's going to take many years to recover. The cause of that very costly fire made the whole thing even sadder - it was started by a government firefighter who was hoping there would be a small fire that would give him some work.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Uncontrolled Fire."

A man let a fire start to help meet a personal need he had. It raged out of control and did more damage than he could have imagined in his worst nightmares. Well, that is a mistake many a man has made - and even some women - with a deadly fire that the Bible calls lust.

In a passage that warns against the costly mistakes we can make when we follow our sexual passions, God vividly describes what lust is really like. It's in Proverbs 6:25-28, our word for today from the Word of God. He says of misguided passion, "Do not desire her beauty in your heart ... Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?" Lust is fire ... it's hot coals. In the previous chapter, God described the way sexual passion was created to be. He says, "Rejoice with the wife of your youth ... be ravished with her love." (Proverbs 5:18-19) In other words, save it for your wife!

It could be, though, that you're playing with the fire of sexual lust - maybe thinking, like that firefighter, that you can keep it under control. For a little while, perhaps. But lust is a fire that will suddenly take you over and it will engulf you - and things and people that you care about as well. You may just be trying to meet a personal need, but you have no idea what a blazing inferno this can become - and the damage it will do.

You may be playing with fire on the internet, in magazines you look at or movies you watch, or just in the way you look at the opposite sex, or the way you push all the boundaries in what you're doing physically with someone. If you'll be honest with yourself, you'll see increasing evidence that you're not controlling your passions. They're beginning to control you. The fire is spreading.

The first thing they do to stop a fire is to burn the ground ahead of it so it will run out of fuel. You've been feeding the fire of lust. Now, while there's still time, you've got to start to starve that fire. No more fuel. Get rid of it all! And get some help to put out the fire - confide in a spiritually mature person you trust - tell them you want to beat this and meet with them regularly as an accountability partner. And every new day, give this battle to your all-holy, all-powerful Lord to help you win it one day at a time. You have His promise in Romans 6:14 - "Sin shall no longer be your master!"

Before the fire spreads, before it does any more damage - please, turn and fight it with everything you've got. The landscape is scorched and scarred with the desolation of those who didn't.

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

*

Have you ever given or received the advice, “Trust your heart?” It is a motto we hear often, in various forms and across various mediums, isn't it?

Now listen to John Calvin speaking worldviews away on that very same subject. He vehemently warns against trusting your heart. Calvin writes, “It is no small profit to be robbed of our blind self - love so that we become fully aware of our weakness; to have such an understanding of our weakness that we distrust ourselves, to distrust ourselves to such an extent that we put all our trust in God...” [1] How does that sound? My guess is that many of us prefer trusting our hearts!

The Postmodern heartbeat has pumped cynicism through the veins of our culture; we are distrusting of everything. There is no truth, no meaning, no certainty. Yet, even in such a distrusting worldview, trust of the self is one thing left unquestioned. Why is this?

When God is dead, someone or something will take His place. Self, interpretation, and taste are the rulers of the postmodern worldview. Trusting your heart has become the religion of choice. But the question is this: Can you trust your heart simply because it feels? Can you trust your eyes simply because they see?

Ravi Zacharias has told this story many times, but it is so revealing. Malcolm Muggeridge tells of a time when he was a journalist in India, and he left home one evening to go for a swim. As he entered the water, across the river he saw a woman bathing. Impulsively, he felt the allure of the moment. He had resisted this struggle before, but this time, he felt compelled to cross the line of his conscience. Swimming toward the woman, his mind fed him fantasies of stolen waters. Finally, only a few feet away, he looked again. At once he realized that he was looking into the eyes of a leper — a toothless old woman was grinning at him. Gripped with disgust he thought, “What a dirty lecherous woman!” when suddenly the rude shock dawned upon him. It was not the woman who was lecherous; it was his own heart.

The Bible reminds you and I that the heart is more deceitful than anything else. “Who can fathom it?” asks Jeremiah. “God alone, who searches the heart and tests inner motivation.” (Jer. 17:9,10)

You can define life by feeling and interpretation or you can start really living by first dying to the self - centeredness that blinds you. The good news is that God has a history of opening blind eyes. Read His book and you will see.

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1. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, Ch. 8, sect. 3.

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Copyright © 2002 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

*

There's this old camp song, “Little cabin in the woods, little man by the window stood.” That was me last summer. Some friends had given us the wonderful gift of vacationing in their mountain cabin, surrounded by woods. One morning we got a call from a neighbor notifying us of a visitor they had that morning - a mother bear and her cub. Since I was going out every day for a vigorous walk in the woods, I had mixed emotions - “I hope I get to see those bears. I hope I don't see those bears.” I'd rather eat lunch than be lunch. Well, we never saw the bears. But it was interesting to see the pictures our neighbor snapped of her furry visitors. There seems to be a special attraction for those bears - garbage. When people have seen those bears, they're usually doing whatever it takes to get the lid off a garbage can - including standing on top of the can, rocking back and forth on it, trying with both paws to pry it open.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Dining From The Garbage Café.”

An appetite for garbage - I guess it's OK if you're a bear. It's not OK if you're a child of God. That's why God says in 2 Corinthians 7:1, our word for today from the Word of God, “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” In other words, stay away from any garbage that can contaminate a son or daughter of the holy God they belong to.

The promises God says He's basing this challenge on tell us that we are “the temple of the living God” and the “sons and daughters” of “the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:16, 18). Sadly, too many of His sons and daughters have allowed themselves to develop an appetite for garbage. Like TV shows or movies that either glorify or minimize behaviors that break God's law and God's heart. Or music that's about doing some of the very things that Jesus died to deliver us from.

Maybe you've wandered where you never should have gone on the internet - or in magazines or things you've been reading. Oh, it may be attractive, but the wrapping paper doesn't change the fact that it's garbage. Often the trash that pollutes our soul and lowers our guard comes wrapped in something that's very entertaining, very magnetic, very popular, very funny. But garbage comes in other forms, too. Like negative talk or gossip or backstabbing that you allow yourself to soak up. Some of us just can't walk away from something juicy about another person - verbal garbage.

If you're wondering why you feel defeated so many times, why you don't feel as close to Jesus as you used to, or why your dark side keeps winning and bringing you down. Well, consider your diet - what you're watching, what you're listening to, who you're spending time with, the things you laugh at. God tells us in Ephesians 5:11 to “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness.” And He tells us in Philippians 4:8 to think instead about things that are “noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise.” Fill your mind and heart with things that will build your soul, not tear it down.

Honestly, have you allowed yourself to gradually develop an appetite for garbage? It has no place in a life that's been bought and paid for with the precious blood of the Son of God. Walk away from the garbage can. There's nothing in there that belongs in you.

__________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #16589]

James Michener, writing in his book, THE SOURCE, tells the story of a man named Urbaal, who was a farmer living about 2200 B.C. He worshiped two gods, one a god of death, the other a goddess of fertility. One day, the temple priests tell Urbaal to bring his young son to the temple for sacrifice — if he wants good crops. Urbaal obeys, and on the appointed day drags his wife and boy to the scene of the boy’s “religious execution” by fire to the god of death.

After the sacrifice of Urbaal’s boy and several others, the priests announce that one of the fathers will spend next week in the temple with a new temple prostitute. Urbaal’s wife is stunned as she notices a desire written more intensely across his face than she had seen before, and she is overwhelmed to see him eagerly lunge forward when his name is called.

The ceremony over, she walks out of the temple with her head swimming, concluding that “if he had different gods, he would have been a different man.”

*

Thomas Montgomery, 48, of Buffalo, New York, posed online as an 18-year-old in attempts to get dates with younger women. After finally catching an 18-year-old girl on his hook, Montgomery, the father of two teen girls, was trying to reel her in when an online rival, Brian Barrett, 22, got in the way -- so Montgomery shot Barrett to death.

But Montgomery, a married church deacon, never got his tryst: not only has he been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the killing, the 18-year-old girl turned out to be Mary Sheiler, a 50-year-old woman from West Virginia who used her daughter’s photo in her online profile.

________

Buffalo News

Have you ever wondered why, despite your sincere desire to walk with God, you still struggle with one sin issue that continually causes you to stumble? I’ll confess that has been my own experience -- though I hope you’ll understand if I don’t share the details here.

It’s a question that has perplexed me for years, and I’ve recently gotten an intriguing answer from what many of us would consider a most unlikely source.

John Owen was a leading 17th-century theologian, author of detailed commentaries and theological treatises that fill 24 volumes. He is, for most of us, an unlikely source of insight not only because he was born 390 years ago (we think only our own generation truly understands), but also because his writing was filled with the old-school “thees” and “thous” that made us so glad to see modern translations of the Bible.

Now two intrepid editors have “translated” Owen for our generation, publishing three of his classic works in one volume, under the title “Overcoming Sin and Temptation” (Crossway Books, 2006). The reading still is a challenge, but the result is that now I have benefited from the profound insights of a spiritual giant almost no one remembers -– on a topic our generation almost completely ignores.

Owen pointed me to Isaiah 58, in which God says that although his people “seek me day after day and delight to know my ways,” the Lord nonetheless turns a deaf ear because the people otherwise do what they please and society is filled with injustice. If the people would humble themselves before God and help the hungry and homeless, then God would give healing and cause their light “to break out like the dawn.”

The problem, Owen says, is that, like the Israelites, many of us worship God out of self-love and our obedience to Him is incomplete. The insight I found so intriguing is that God may refuse to give us victory over one sin, in Owen’s words, “to admonish us, and to humble us, perhaps to chasten and correct us for our general loose and careless walking.”

Owen writes: “God says, ‘Here is one, if he could get rid of this lust I should never hear from him again; let him wrestle with this, or he is lost.” Owen suggests that perhaps the reason I plead with God to free me from that sin is more because it distresses me, than the fact it grieves the Lord who died to set me free. Because some areas of my life are not lived God’s way, my soul remains weak and selfish and constantly provokes God, Owen says.

“Without sincerity and diligence in a universality of obedience, there is no mortification of any one perplexing lust to be obtained,” Owen asserts.

Those are challenging words for any individual whose culture tells him the goal of life is self-fulfillment, rather than serving God’s purposes. We all know how difficult it is to be completely obedient when society bombards us from every side with promises of money, power and sex. We want to honor God, but we also want to be accepted by others and to enjoy the good things our society offers. We find reasons to “go along and get along” -- convincing ourselves it doesn’t really matter.

Obedience, however, is complete or it is not obedience. The apostle who most struggled with his impulses wrote: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:14-15 ESV). Those impulses, Peter said, “wage war against your soul.” (2:11)

When we teach and preach about salvation, we do not often mention obedience. In a society that places ultimate value on individual freedom, the Bible’s teaching that we are slaves goes against the grain. But the truth is that we all obey someone –- either God or his enemy -– and that obedience makes us slaves of one or the other. (Romans 6:16) Like a slave, I do not belong to myself, because I was bought with a price. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

It is not enough to cultivate private devotion and give ourselves to church work, to participate in whole-hearted worship, even to witness to others and participate in missions projects. If we in other areas of life are still pleasing ourselves or following our society, God rejects our religious activity, however well-intentioned. If we are ignoring the needs of the hungry and homeless, we will hear Jesus say, “Depart from me.”

That’s not easy to hear -– and God knows our hearts –- but if I want to experience freedom from that unrelenting sin, I have to give myself completely to living life God’s way -– and thoroughly root out the accommodations I have made for a culture that rejects the one who died so I could be free.

While the loss of love is a disheartening experience in any area of life, there is one area in which the consequences are most serious: when we lose our spiritual love for the things of God. I have seen this happen to many Christians in my years as a pastor, and, like all Christians, I have even felt the temptations myself. Without diligence, the fire of love that burned brightly when we first met Jesus Christ can begin to fade and provide lesser and lesser amounts of light in this world.

There is no greater love than the love we have for Christ. But, regardless of the object, love is love. The way we leave our love -- whether love for Christ, the Scriptures, prayer, our family, or our ministry -- is the same in every case.

• We leave by lusting. If we do not guard against the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life (1 John 2:16), we can leave the things of Christ in pursuit of the things of this world. Money, position, power, influence, possessions -- these are powerful enticements for the one who has not maintained a close walk with Jesus.

• We leave by lack of attention. It stands to reason that what we ignore, we will eventually care little about. If we ignore the Bible, our spouse, our responsibilities as a parent, our life in the church -- it will only be a matter of time before we find little or no love for those parts of our life. It takes years for a woodwind or brass instrument player to develop the embouchure in his mouth and lips that allows him to produce beautiful music. But it only takes a few weeks of inattention to the instrument for it to be lost.

• We leave by lack of perseverance. The greatest myth about sacrificial, heart-based love is that it is easy. The truth is, nothing could be harder because true love is the opposite of human nature. Love takes work, diligence and perseverance. It’s easy to sleep in instead of rising to pray and read the Bible, and easier to take a spouse for granted than to practice acts of kindness. And it’s easy not to take up our cross and follow Jesus as His disciples when the way gets hard.

• We leave by laziness. Sometimes it’s not temptation or trials or time or the world -- it’s just us! We can easily go through life as a couch potato, surfing the channels on TV or surfing the web on our computer. We can while away an hour, a half day, a weekend ... we can while away a lifetime by living an unfocused, self-centered, lazy life. It’s human nature to do so, and the quicker we recognize that pattern and correct it, the sooner we’ll find love returning.

• We leave by lapsing. Finally, we can leave our love by lapsing into sin -- and staying there. We’re going to sin in this life. But if we don’t confess and repent of our sin when it happens, we are opening up the door for that sin to become a lifestyle. Jesus told the church at Ephesus that unless they repented, He would remove the lampstand -- the light of His presence -- from their midst (Revelation 2:5).

HOW TO KEEP YOUR LOVE

God calls us to love Him, our spouse, our children, the church, the lost -- there are many objects worthy of our sacrificial love. But if we ever leave our first love -- our love for Jesus Christ -- we will not be able to love anyone or anything else as we should.

The way we rekindle and keep our love for Jesus and others is by reversing what we did to lose it. In short, stay close to and focused on serving those you should love. Rekindling the flame of love for Jesus will cause that flame to spread and burn brightly for everyone and everything in your life.

What is the case of Anthony Weiner really all about? Well, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat has an insightful and profound take on the whole sorry affair.

Douthat writes, “In the sad case of Rep. Anthony Weiner’s virtual adultery, the Internet era’s defining vice has been thrown into sharp relief. It isn’t lust or smut or infidelity, though online life encourages all three. It’s a desperate, adolescent narcissism.”

Douthat is absolutely right. Weiner wasn’t out for sexual thrills. Opportunities for that kind of misbehavior stalk the halls of Congress.

No, Weiner, according to Douthat, was on a “pathetic quest for quasi-public validation.” Weiner’s Tweets and emails don’t reveal a man who wanted a relationship with women other than his wife. He simply wanted to show off. “Whether the congressman was tweeting photos of his upper body or bragging” about some other body part, Douthat observes, Weiner’s focus was “squarely on himself.”

Now, the Internet didn’t launch us into the age of narcissism. But it sure makes it easier to engage in self-absorption. A “growing body of research,” Douthat writes, “suggests that American self-involvement is actually reaching an apogee in the age of Facebook and Twitter.” Citing well-regarded sociologists, Douthat claims that “younger Americans are more self-absorbed, less empathetic and hungrier for approbation than earlier generations...

“The rituals of social media,” Douthat claims, “make status-seekers and exhibitionists of us all.”

We live in a culture of narcissism, as one sociologist famously put it some years ago.

But there’s another point that I need to make. Congressman Weiner recently announced that he was seeking a leave of absence from the Congress so he could undergo therapy. Therapy for what? For repulsive behavior? For the inability to refrain from taking lewd photos of himself and sending them to innocent people?

I don’t know what psychologists would call this disorder, but I would call it sin. Something we are all prone to and guilty of.

And while some doctor will prescribe psychotherapy or some drug to control the Congressman’s urges, the proper prescription would be taking responsibility, repenting, and asking forgiveness.

But in today’s therapeutic culture, people too often try to explain away their sins. “I really have a drinking problem,” someone protests, or, “it’s a chemical imbalance,” or “I was picked on as a child.” Well, all that may be so, but those things did not drive you to sin. I do not want to discount the existence of grave psychological illnesses, but the vast majority of us choose to behave the way we do.

Those feelings of guilt and shame that so many of us nowadays try to medicate or explain away are absolutely essential to our moral and spiritual well-being. They are warning lights that all is not well with our souls. We ignore them or disable them at our own peril.

I suppose if any good is to come from the Weiner episode, it may be that people can see where the me-centered, post-modern worldview leads us: To narcissism and to the therapist’s couch.

Here are two worldview lessons for us. First: The cure for narcissism is stepping away from the mirror and looking at someone else -- especially at Him who is the true desire of us all.

Second: Taking a pill or undergoing therapy will be no substitutes for forgiveness. The good news is that forgiveness is only repentance and a prayer away.

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Copyright (c) 2011 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Within each of us is the potential to do good or evil; we have the freedom to choose whether we do and say what is good and godly or those things that are destructive and evil. The problem is, most do not realize when they are giving in to evil since evil usually rears its ugly head very slowly and subtly.

I can’t recall who told me this, but I heard getting involved in behavior which God would regard as ungodly or sinful can be likened to feeding a terrible monster. The monster pokes and prods at our weaknesses. It is only through us giving in to these temptations that the beast can survive. Each time we give in to the monster’s requests to feed him with ungodly behavior, he increases in strength and size. With each passing day, it becomes increasingly difficult to harness the monster. The more we feed him by giving in to evil, the more the monster tries to dominate our life. Perhaps you have seen some of these monsters? I have seen a few named Hate, Greed and Lust.

Thankfully, there is a secret to ridding one’s life of such terrible beasts. The secret is to starve them. Without their constant supply of giving in to sinful behavior, the monster quickly begins to weaken and lose its hold on one’s life.

Through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, it is possible to have the strength to starve any “monsters” within whose purpose is to pull us far away from God. To these monsters, God and His word is like a giant sword. The question is, will we reach for the sword, or let it lie untouched?

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Contributed by Melanie Schurr (Copyright 1997 Melanie Schurr) Comments/feedback welcome. DWwriter@webtv.net

As a kid, I saw a movie in which some shipwrecked men are left drifting aimlessly on the ocean in a lifeboat. As the days pass under the scorching sun, their rations of food and fresh water give out. The men grow deliriously thirsty. One night, while the others are asleep, one man ignores all previous warnings and

gulps down some salt water. He quickly dies. Ocean water contains seven times more salt than the human body can safely ingest. Drinking it, a person dehydrates because the kidneys demand extra water to flush the overload of salt. The more salt water someone drinks, the thirstier he gets. He actually dies of thirst.

When we lust, we become like this man. We thirst desperately for something that looks like what we want. We don't realize, however, that it is precisely the opposite of what we really need. In fact, it can kill us. (Craig Brian Larson)

Sex outside of marriage is a woeful breech of one of God's Ten Commandments, but it is not the lone definition of adultery, a former marriage and family therapist said.

"We come as a total package -- mind, heart and body. I'm afraid that many people feel that physical infidelity is the only definition of adultery," said Betty Hassler, a former marriage and family therapist and now a design editor for LIFE support products at the Baptist Sunday School Board. "When we are not faithful in our minds and hearts, there can be devastating consequences to the marital bond," Hassler said.

"Just because you're not having sex with anybody else doesn't mean you're necessarily being a faithful partner. If I am only physically faithful, I can still picture myself intimately involved with someone outside my marriage relationship. Jesus said lust is just as destructive as committing the physical act because you have betrayed the oneness of the marital union."

Hassler was reacting to a University of Chicago poll which indicates couples seem to be taking a turn toward righteousness.

The survey conducted about America's sexual practices found "more than 80 percent of women and 65 to 85 percent of men of every age report that they had no partners other than their spouse while they were married."

According to the book, "Sex in America: A Definitive Survey," which reports the University of Chicago findings, "no matter how sexually active people are before and between marriages, ... marriage is such a powerful social institution that essentially married people are nearly all alike -- they are faithful to their partners as long as the marriage is intact."

While Hassler believes married couples are, for the most part, faithful physically to each other, she said she's not completely convinced moral reasoning is the root of the loyalty.

"I think the trend toward monogamy is partly based on survival instincts," she said, indicating couples are more worried about deadly sexually transmitted diseases and about what divorce does to their children.

"I think people are afraid to be promiscuous because of those reasons, not necessarily because of religious reasons."

Hassler, co-author of the LIFE marriage enrichment series "Covenant Marriage," said God cautioned Israel against worship that was only the physical exercise of sacrifices. "God wanted their minds and hearts as well," Hassler said, pointing out faithfulness in the Bible is always associated with the totality of our being.

"In our sexually explicit society, it is very difficult to avoid sexual temptation," Hassler stated, acknowledging physical attraction to a person other than one's spouse will occur.

"We don't want to set people up for failure in counseling by making them think they will never be sexually attracted to anybody other than their spouse. It's not that you will not be physically attracted to another person. God made us with the capacity to be attracted to the opposite sex.

"But it is at that point that you guard your heart. It's like having that extra discipline to say 'no' to that piece of pecan pie even though it's very appealing. That's the point that often doesn't get communicated in premarital counseling."

While Hassler supports the premarital counseling many pastors are requiring before performing a marriage ceremony, she said she feels more caution "needs to be given to the issue of what faithfulness means."

"Couples need to be told that when you take this man or woman to be your spouse, you are really giving up a roving eye. You are promising to be faithfully committed to protecting that sacred union until death.

"If I don't understand what I am giving up when I get married, then I don't really have a good basis for making that leap of faith into marriage. I think counselors need to emphasize that couples who get married are giving up license to certain relationships with the opposite sex. And that doesn't mean we just don't go to bed with them."

Hassler has counseled couples where infidelity started with seemingly harmless office flirtations. "In many situations where people are unfaithful to their spouses, it starts out innocently enough. Because of the sexual freedom today, we don't seem to be as wary and protective of what we say to each other because there is a lot of flirty conversation passing as innocent that would not have been there a generation ago.

"It's a sexual mine field out there," Hassler continued. "People are being bombarded with sexual situations in the media, which can lead to mental, if not physical, unfaithfulness.

"Hollywood sets up this false image of sexuality. Those people on the screen rehearse scripted love-making scenes. Marital sex, however, is not all bells and whistles. Sexual satisfaction takes time and patience."

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Copyright (c) 1995 Baptist Press

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Tract passed out at Billy Graham crusade by fundamentalist group. They believe genuine Christians must produce works of righteousness to be saved.

One area of change is lasciviousness, the provoking of lust. Swimsuits, tank tops and bare chests on men cause lust.

All activities should glorify God and not waste time. Sports are a huge waste of time, as is television. TV is opposed to Christian morals.

One area of repentance that is avoided is head coverings. Not just a small Mennonite cap but a Moslem-like covering. 1 Cor 11 was written “to all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;” (Romans 1:26-28 NKJV)

The Effect of That Abandonment

• vile affections [passions] — bestial lusts — Eph 5:12, Jude 10 — Base passions (Stuart)

• women…nature — dark picture of heathenism, fully verified from writings of what has been called the most brilliant age of most intellectual nations of the world (Wordsworth, who names in proof of this Aristophanes, Catullus, Horace, Sallust, Suetonius, Tacitus, Juvenal, and Martial)

• and…men, etc., — 1 Cor 6:3, 10, Jude 7 — sodomy not only practiced but countenanced by law — Plutarch says, Solon and Zeno both practiced it. Horace and Martial confess it without a blush. Seneca speaks of troops of unhappy youths brought together at banquets for the purpose. [sadly, we do not today need any ancient examples of such being the case]

• and…knowledge — these crimes traced to Atheism (See Robert Hall’s Sermon on Infidelity); Recognition of God, conserving principle of morality

• reprobate [debased] — undiscerning

• convenient [fitting] — befitting rational creatures. “Not agreeable to nature or reason.” (Whitby)

Recompense of their error — Rev. T. Robinson

I. In the lusts themselves.

II. In their effects :-

1. Health impaired and bodily frame debilitated;

2. Mental faculties enfeebled;

3. Conscience seared and moral sense weakened and degraded;

4. Finer feelings and delicate sensibilities blunted and extinguished;

5. Incapacity to appreciate the natural affections;

6. Insensibility to the noble and good, the beautiful and true

Thoughtlessness of infidelity — “It is much to be feared,” says the Rev. William Innes, “that the language which Dr. Johnson applied to Foote, the comedian, is too applicable to many. When Mr. Boswell asked him if Foote was not an infidel, he replied, ‘Foote was an infidel, sir, as a dog is an infidel; he never thought on the subject.’”

The creeds and men of the old heroic age — Thus writes modern scepticism, speaking through one of her poets:

A stalwart man,

Limbed like the old heroic creeds,

Who stands self-poised on nature’s solid earth;

Not forced to frame excuses for his birth,

Fed from within with all the strength he needs.

Back to old Paganism is that which the fool is now saying in his heart: and old Paganism is with such but the highway to Atheism and man deification. The old heroic creeds of Greece and Rome are more congenial than the creed of Apostles, or the older creed of Prophets. What is Paul when compared with Plato? what is David when compared with Homer? The Bible era is a dark parenthesis in human history; we must get back to Pagan days, and

creeds, and heroes.

“What can ’scape the eye of God, all-seeing, or deceive His heart Omniscient!” — Milton.