The Sensation of Touch

I love to teach the principles and values found in the Bible. As 2 Timothy 3:16 states "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness...." Thus there is nothing in life the Bible doesn't address, it is always relevant. A common issue during military deployments is the mixing of males and females who are thousands of miles away from their spouses. Wives and husbands expect their counterparts to remain faithful and honor the commitment of their marriage covenant. That is why it is called Holy Matrimony, their is a covenant between husband and wife to honor one another. To be holy means to be set apart, couples are to honor one another by setting apart their marriage as holy and fully dedicated to Christ. For many they will emotionally disconnect from their spouse. An emotional affair can be even more threatening to a marriage than physical adultery. But what can be just as dangerous is physical touch.
What physical touch boils down to for the Christian is lustful thoughts, which Jesus tells us is adultery. Yes, lust is adultery in the heart and is just as sinful as the physical act of sex.

One of the clearest principles on this issue of physical relationships is Ephesians 5:3, "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people." You see, Jesus sees deep into the depths our hearts and minds, because "He knows what's inside of man."
Sexual immorality is not just sexual intercourse outside of marriage.  It includes sexual touching, lustful behavior, and even what we look at. The Bible says, to avoid even a hint of sexual immorality. This is the principle.  Our lives are to be free of even the slightest notion of sexual immorality.  There are obviously some behaviors which all people agree are ‘off-limits’ - I won’t even mention these! 
But when it comes to other behavior you must filter your actions through a biblical lens exercising godly wisdom as to whether it is sexual or not. Godly men and women should identify boundaries that will honor God and their spouse.  Take hugging for example. There is a type of hug that is completely non-sexual.  Then there are other hugs that begin to ‘hint of sexual immorality’.  We know the difference and we are called to avoid even a hint of sexual immorality.
In the movie Fireproof, Kirk Cameron refused to kiss the actress playing his wife because he wanted to honor his real wife, why? Because he is abstaining from the appearance of immorality by honoring his wife as the church is to honor Christ. He is refraining from the slightest appearance of immorality.
Finally, in 1 Thessalonians 4:4 Paul writes that we should abstain from sexual immorality, so that each of us knows how to control his own body in sanctification and honor..."

Undoubtedly this post will come across as too conservative or old fashioned, but with Christian marriages falling apart in almost greater numbers as non-Christians, physical touch must be guarded against. It's temptation that will lead to emotional and sexual feelings that quickly turn to lust.

In the Hebrew Talmud (essentially the Jewish Old Testament commentary) specifies a number of restrictions to prevent men from transgressing, such a man and a woman not being allowed to touch if they are neither related or married. This is because of the fear that touching might lead to sexual transgressions. As an extension of this, Orthodox Jewish men aren't supposed to sit next to women to which they are neither related nor married.
You will also find this teaching in Islam, which they borrowed from the Jews. During our cultural brief upon our arrival in Egypt, our speaker warned against touching Muslim women because of the sexual energy that can be released. These are just examples to say that this is a teaching and for Christians commands to prevent lustful and sinful transgressions.

Guard your heart above all else by guarding against sexual touching.

Consider the Cost

Have you properly consider the cost of following Christ?
Right after Jesus turned to the crowds and said "if you don't hate your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters-yes, and even your own life-you cannot be My disciple" and then says you must "bear their own cross and come after Him"(Luke14:26), He tells the crowds who want to follow Him to consider the commitment it will require.
Jesus provides two examples for people to calculate the cost of followership, building a house and going to war. Both the builder and the king needed to make all-or-nothing decisions before beginning their projects. Here in Egypt we see unfinished buildings scattered all over the landscape and the consistent comment everyone makes is how poorly this reflects upon Egypt. For those who have seen these unfinished homes, hotels, and buildings, they know first hand the sadness it brings to their hearts. Even in America, especially during 2007-2009 there were many homes that were under construction but were never finished. Homebuilders went out of business or individuals who began homes were unable to complete the homes for a variety of reasons. Everyone has seen an unfinished home, the weeds are overgrown, there is perhaps graffiti, broken windows, and that dark, gray appearance slowly becomes visible on the exterior of the home. There was undoubtedly great expectations when the plans were being drawn up and when the foundation was poured, but went the project was abandoned "the onlookers began to make fun of him, saying. This man started to build and wasn't able to finish" (Luke 14:29).

Jesus was telling the crowds that He didn't want a half-hearted commitment and some decision that didn't consider the cost of following Him. But He wants only those who will not shy away from hardships and suffering, and will ultimately stand firm in their commitment to Him to the end.

If you have never fully committed to Christ or considered the worldly cost of followership, then kneel before the King of Kings, genuinely repent of your sins, and surrender to Him. Don't end up like an unfinished Egyptian building or an abandoned American home under construction "where people will make fun of you."

Jesus loves you and will strengthen you no matter what this fallen world places in your life.

National Apologetics Conference

The National Apologetics Conference is coming to my church, First Baptist of Indian Trail this October.

Some of the speakers include:

Gary Habermas
Josh McDowell
Norman Geisler
JP Moreland

Please make plans to attend it will be well worth the admission.

http://conference.ses.edu/

 

Regeneration Means Perspective

Perhaps the two greatest failures in the church and in the lives of believers from my perspective as a chaplain is the lack of regeneration and the lack of discipleship. Everything comes back to the gift of salvation. We can read the parable of the sower (Matthew 13) and clearly see what happens when people respond to the gospel. Jesus even provides examples of what the lives of these people will look like or what kind of spiritual fruit they will produce. Did He provide this for us to judge people? No, He provided this information so we can see the difference between someone who superficially commits to Christ, perhaps out of emotion and remorse, and someone who genuinely responds to the gospel in faith and produces Kingdom fruit in their life. There are plenty of atheists who believe in charity work and doing good things for people, so good works alone are not sufficient to identify with Christ. There are movie stars who identify themselves as Buddhists, agnostics, and scientologists who give more and do more temporal good than many who identify themselves as Christians. That is why we are not saved by our works; we are saved by the grace of God when we placed our faith in Christ as our Lord and Savior. Paul says in Titus 3:5 that "He saved us not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit."



So what is the difference between a "good" Buddhist or a Hollywood actor who practices Christian Science and does charity work and a disciple of Christ saved by His grace and blood? Just that, we realized that we needed saved. If you don't understand how sinful you are you will never hate sin enough to ask for forgiveness from your Creator. You will never understand that your sins have separated you from His spiritual blessings and the Cross will simply become a lie and fairy tale to you. You must understand that the whole world is guilty before God, without Christ's righteousness a person will remain lost and remain as Paul described in Romans 3:9-18.

 

I come across people who identify themselves as Christians all the time who tell me they believe in Evolution. I simple explain to them that Evolution is in complete contradiction to biblical Christianity and to God. There is not one shred of evidence for Evolution and never will be, because God created man and woman in His own image. The primary issue with Evolution, other than there is no proof, is that it convinces a person that they are not accountable for their sins because they came from a monkey or primate, thus the fall of man never occurred and sin is marginalized in society and ultimately makes God out to be a liar.

 

So this Sunday in order to strengthen and build the biblical worldview of those here at South Camp I will be showing the new film: Evolution vs. God by Ray Comfort. It’s an amazing video!

 
Please come join us this Sunday if you are here at South Camp.

Who Has Control?

I wanted to share this statement from my morning devotion since it relates to my previous post.

Oswald Chambers wrote this:

"We gradually have to conform our walk and conversation to the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances. The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations - it is a picture of the life we live when the Holy Spirit is having His unhindered way with us."

Does the Holy Spirit have His unhindered way with you....or are YOU getting in the way?

Your Righteousness

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most spiritually transformative texts in the Bible. When a believer stops and reflects on exactly what Jesus is saying, their heart is shaken, but in a good way. A few verses after Jesus finished telling his disciples He had come to fulfill the Law, He spoke these words: "For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). A believer has to look within himself and also understand a little bit about the scribes and Pharisees Jesus is referring to if they are going to understand what He means. The scribes and Pharisees were known to focus on external obedience, meaning they were very concerned about their outward appearance and image as religious leaders. In the verses following verse 20, Jesus explains the significance of the law and shows that the spirit of the law involves an internal conformity, rather than proving you can obey the letter or word of the law.

Please understand just how shocking this statement was to those listening in the first century. How dare Jesus show contempt for the teachers of the law. The Pharisees were the model of righteousness. With that in mind, picture Jesus standing before this crowd of Jews and telling them that "unless your righteousness surpasses the scribes and Pharisees" your not going to heaven. These men were SHOCKED and I am quite certain they were some bashing him under their breath and whispering to each other about his insulting comments and arrogance. This statement, along with the entire Sermon on the Mount was turning their world upside down.
But here is what Jesus wanted them to know:
To enter the kingdom of heaven their righteousness wasn't going to come by their own efforts, because the righteousness of the kingdom of God operates from the inside-out. It's not what you can do, but what Christ has already done. Or for those on the Mount of Beatitudes what Christ was going to do for them.
Only the righteousness of God that is imputed to each person (sinner) who comes to Christ will enter the kingdom of heaven.
Reflect on that today.

Almost Done

I am receiving my MFO (Multinational Force and Observers) Medal. Don't be too impressed... everyone got one. It just means I have served at least 6 months in the MFO. For me it represented one more step closer to returning home to my wife and children. The man giving me the medal is Major General Whiting of the New  Zealand Army (MFO Commander). He is always smiling and in good spirits, although he has never heard of Ray Comfort, one of my favorite evangelist and apologist who is a native of New Zealand.