Justifying Sin Is A Sad Task

Regular readers of the humble ramblings know that I am a recovering legalist. I spent about three decades trying to find the right set of performance tools to become righteous. Guess how that worked out? I have such mixed feelings about my first church. I am grateful for the Gospel message they preached that led me to trust Jesus as my Savior. I am sad that they lived a joyless life of self-effort, guilt and self condemnation. In this particular theological flavor you could achieve a second stage of sanctification where you would not sin anymore. This was particularly tough for a young cynical teenager who saw “sanctified” people doing things that smelled and looked suspiciously like sin. I watched with frustration and sometimes amazement at the semantic hoops they jumped through to remain sinless.   They simply developed new language and rules for themselves. Here is a partial listing that I observed. When I gossiped it was sin….When they gossiped it was “sharing.” When I stood up
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Why Aren’t His Arms Reaching?

(Here is this week’s iPod Devotional. A new one is posted every Monday at theFish.com) I am a huge fan of the group Casting Crowns. So it is no surprise that a song from the Atlanta based group would come up in this series. The lyrics from the song “If We Are The Body” are convicting. It’s crowded in worship todayAs she slips inTrying to fade into the facesThe girls’ teasing laughter is carrying farther than they knowFarther than they know But if we are the BodyWhy aren’t His arms reachingWhy aren’t His hands healingWhy aren’t His words teaching And if we are the BodyWhy aren’t His feet goingWhy is His love not showing them there is a wayThere is a way We are the Body of Christ. So why aren’t His arms reaching? Why aren’t His hands healing? I am afraid the answer is a hard truth. We don’t care enough for the lost. We don’t ache for the hurting.
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Redefining Gossip

There is a little saying that I have heard all of my life. If you can’t say something nice about them…then don’t say anything. Had I practiced that very wise advice I would have had many more “quiet times” in my life. I have not always practiced that simple principle even though I have read and nodded solemnly in agreement as I read James and Paul warn of the dangers of gossip and an uncontrolled tongue.  Whether you call it venting or sharing it is always perilously close to gossiping. That is one of those “fine line” challenges. Like Dave Barry’s quote that “there’s a fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness’.” I would submit that there is a fine line between venting/sharing and gossip. Gossip is one of the favorite tools that Satan has in his toolbox. Brooklyn Tabernacle takes gossip very seriously. New members hear this charge as they become members of the church.  “And now, I charge you, as pastor
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