I Can See Clearly Now…

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" And he looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking." Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village." Mark 8:22-26

This is an extremely unique miracle of Jesus, one that occurs only in Mark’s Gospel. Sure, some of the elements look familiar, in fact, look a lot like what we saw in Mark 7:31-37 when Jesus healed the deaf man.

In both cases:

• the afflicted was brought to Jesus
   
• they begged Jesus to heal the afflicted
   
• Jesus pulled the afflicted aside privately
   
• Jesus incorporated spitting into the healing
   
• the afflicted was healed
   
• Jesus told the newly healed person to keep it quiet

But something unusual happens with the blind man. Again, something that only happens here, in all of what is written about Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John - this is the ONLY time this happens - the man was healed in 2 stages!

The first time Jesus touched the man, Jesus asked him if he saw anything. The man saw something that looked like moving trees. Obviously, he saw people - just really out of focus. Then Jesus touched him again, and this time his sight was 20/20.

Jesus never asked questions of the people He healed, so why here? Why bring attention to this? Jesus obviously wanted the disciples to know what He was up to. What is it?

Last Sunday, we looked at the previous passage where Jesus warned the disciples to watch out for the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Herod. Upon their misunderstanding of Jesus’ point, Jesus rebukes them, verses 17-21, for being hard hearted, spiritually blind and deaf, and having a short memory.

The point was: the disciples saw some things, but they didn’t really see them clearly.

You and I can be just like that. We see God at work, watch Him provide, heal, restore - and we don’t see things clearly. We still are tempted to doubt and lose heart at the very next trial that comes. So how do we go from being spiritually blind, to having some sight, to being able to see the things of God clearly?

The same way this man physically went from blind --> having some sight --> seeing clearly. It’s only through repeated contact with Jesus.

You want spiritual eyes to see God at work? The more you are around Jesus, the clearer you will see.

p.s. - longs for clearer and clearer vision...

Lifting the Gay Marriage Ban is Just Part of the Story

Pay attention. You are watching the Bible’s message happen right in front of you, and you may not even realize it.

We heard one more line in the story of the Bible proclaimed this week in the lifting of the ban on same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania.

If you can put any strong opinions about this hotly debated topic on the shelf for 2 minutes, you can see it.

Can we take a look back at recent history? Even just looking at how things have accelerated in these last 2 generations. What have we seen?

Instead of embracing the truth that we were created by God and for God, evolutionists have, in the name of science, embraced and promoted a “God-less origin-of-man story” to completely crowd out even the option of a “God-driven origin story” in public schools. Remember when that was the hot topic? Seems like it was just yesterday it was all over the news. In short, we can say, REJECTING GOD.

Creation isn’t science. Evolution is science. We don’t need a story about God to explain how we got here. The Bible’s story is foolishness, the intelligent people understand that there is no God behind this all. In short, we can say: PROCLAIMING MAN’S WISDOM.

Evicting God resulted in a worship void. We were made to worship, and we will worship something. It can be man (athletes, musicians, politicians, myself) or even animals. There is little regard for saving a human baby (just abort the blob of tissue, after all, you have the right to do whatever you want with your body), but mention some endangered species or malnourished cat and everyone is ready to write a sad song and run a 5K for them. In short we can say: EXALTING MAN AND ANIMAL.

And as I said earlier, there has been much rejoicing this week over lifting the ban on same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. It’s Marriage Equality. No one should tell anyone who they can love and marry. If two women want to marry, or two men want to marry, I have no business objecting to that. In short: HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITY.

And we have not only accepted homosexuality as an “alternative lifestyle”, we have evolved into such forward-thinking people that we applaud the courage of those who have stepped out to declare their same-sex love. People like Ellen Degeneres, Ellen Page, Jason Collins, and Michael Sam are the real heroes. Let’s give them a standing ovation for their incredible courage, so long as it doesn’t interrupt any congratulatory calls from the man holding the highest office of our nation. In short, let’s say: HEARTY APPROVAL.

So, at the risk of oversimplifying things, we see a story of REJECTING GOD, PROCLAIMING MAN’S WISDOM, EXALTING MAN AND ANIMAL, HOMOSEXUAL UNION, and HEARTY APPROVAL.

And God told this story almost 2000 years ago in Romans 1:18-32:

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Rom 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

Rom 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Rom 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

REJECTING GOD.

Rom 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

PROCLAIMING MAN’S WISDOM.

Rom 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Rom 1:24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

Rom 1:25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

EXALTING MAN AND ANIMAL.

Rom 1:26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

Rom 1:27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Rom 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITY.

Rom 1:29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,

Rom 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

Rom 1:31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Rom 1:32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

          HEARTY APPROVAL.

(Emphasis added on Scriptural references.)

Keep your eye on the news. And your other eye on the Bible. It’s almost as if God saw this coming.

p.s. - as always, comments welcome below, whether you agree or disagree...

free

Last Sunday, Taylor Brown brought the Word to us regarding the freedom from sin we have in Christ. Powerful message from a great preacher! I have been thinking a lot about it this week. And here is the thought that keeps resonating…

Something I have found profoundly interesting is that, when you look at the way the world thinks / operates, it is almost always the exact opposite of the way God and His kingdom think / operate.

For example, your neighbor’s dog tears up your garden. What worldly advice would you get from your worldly friends? Tear up his garden, right? Get even!

But what is the opposite of that? Opposite of destroying your neighbor’s garden: help him build his own garden up. That sounds crazy!

And it sounds like the kind of thing Jesus would do.

Here is another opposite for you when it comes to the world’s way / God’s way:

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:31-36)

When worldly people think about Christians, they often think of us as people who have to live according to a strict list of rules. Oh you poor Christians. So restricted in the way you live.

First of all, we were not meant to live by a list of rules. Jesus saw to that. (Galatians 2:21)

But even more fascinating about this: take a look at what is really happening. We are thought of as being restricted, while worldly people view themselves as being free. They define freedom as “the ability to do whatever you want”. But such a mindset never leads to freedom - it always leads to bondage!

Sin is enslaving. And immersing yourself in sin in the name of freedom always leads to bondage. Name a sin that doesn’t trap someone in addiction. Name a sin that doesn’t hold people in bondage when they make it a practice. What sin does not lend itself to being "hard to shake" once it is started?

Pornography, alcoholism (or other drugs), lust, gossip, envy, greed, stealing, hatred, illicit sexual activity - the list goes on and on. All sin carries a hard reality of enslavement.

Jesus brings real freedom. Not merely “freedom to do whatever the heck I want to do”. But freedom to be who God created you to be. Not freedom to sin. Freedom from sin. Free indeed.

Have you been freed?

p.s. - needs to apologize to his neighbor for his dog’s behavior…

I Fought the Law (and the Law Won)

(This is a p.s. from last Sunday’s message on legalism from Mark 7:1-13, available to listen to on this site!)

Should a Christian get a tattoo?

Maybe that isn’t the best way to phrase that. Let me try again…

Is it okay for a Christian to get a tattoo?

Wait, that’s not great, either. Because you are like, “A tattoo of what? Donald Duck? A flaming demon skull?”

Is it a sin for a Christian to get a tattoo? (we‘ll go with this one.)

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for keeping their list of unbiblical rules, but doesn’t the Bible say something about tattoos? Yes, Leviticus 19:28 does. So obviously it is a sin, then, right?

Actually, no. 

Here is where people get confused. Christians are not bound by the OT Law. God gave Israel the Law for a season, and for a reason. God gave Israel the Law to show His standard of righteousness - and man’s inability to keep the Law.

Why would God give a Law that He knew we couldn’t keep perfectly? It was to show us our universal and absolute need for grace. If I want to be righteous, totally righteous in and of myself, I need to keep the Law perfectly. How is that working out for you? Just looking at the 10 Commandments (See Exodus 20)…

1. Is God always #1 in your life?
2. Have you ever had anything else be a priority over God?
3. Have you ever used God’s name in vain?
4. Have you always taken a day of rest?
5. Have you always obeyed your parents?
6. Have you ever murdered? (According to Jesus, Hatred = Murder.)
7. Have you ever committed adultery? (According to Jesus, Lust = Adultery.)
8. Have you ever stolen anything?
9. Have you ever lied?
10. Have you ever been envious of someone having something you want?

If you have ever broken any of these, even once, you are guilty of the whole Law, because you have rejected the giver of the Law (James 2:10).

So if you want to keep the Law, you have to keep ALL of it, and never violate ANY of it, not even once, or you stand guilty and condemned.

That’s bad news for me, how about you?

The good news is Jesus abolished the Law (Hebrews 10:9)! He fulfilled the Law by being perfectly obedient, died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, and rose from the dead to give us eternal life.

So keeping the Law, any Law - Old Testament, man-made, church-dictated… will not and cannot save you (or keep you saved), because you will fail. Only belief in the work of Jesus on your behalf will save you, and keep you saved (Romans 3:28), because Jesus will never fail.

So… rest, and live in Jesus‘ grace. You fought the Law, and the Law won. It isn’t a sin to get that tattooed on your face, but that doesn’t mean it is a good idea.

p.s. - If that song is stuck in your head now, I apologize.