Our modern Christian teachings drive the point of "the greatest command is to love." Jesus was friend of sinners after all. It is the greatest command, after all. We're told not to judge.
But what did the passage on judgement mean? If you read it through, it says to deal with the speck AFTER your own log. It doesn't say to never remove your brothers speck. Furthermore, we are told to rebuke sin. Lastly, we are commanded to preach repentance, wherever we go. Does the command of love contradict the command of demanding repentance? Absolutely not.
As magician Teller said, "How much must you hate someone, to watch them go to hell without doing something?" If you are not preaching repentance to the sinners in your life, you are not loving them. Jesus did it, everywhere he went. And crowds still gathered. None of the sinners he surrounded himself with, kept on sinning. They repented, turning from their sin. Giving it up. Just as he commanded.
Christ makes a startling declaration about people who twist scripture so it's pleasant to hear. They will be cast out on Judgement Day. Jesus was controversial. His message was uncomfortable. People did not want to hear it. But once they did, they repented and grew to desire spending time with Christ.
Repent, turn from your sinful ways. It's one of the most loving messages you can tell someone living in sin.
Day 40 of 40. Let's hope this isn't like a youth retreat
Well this is the last post of the forty days of prayer and fasting. That doesn't mean it's the last post, just that I won't be posting every day. It will be when things come to mind or to answer questions people have. I already have had one person reach out to clarify some topics, so I will likely do a Q+A post bringing those questions up, as they may not be the only ones.
Still, while I can say it's been a good, growing time doing this, I can't help but be worried I will fizzle as I have done so often. Whether it's the first iterations of doing this site or different events I have been to, being around the "spiritual high" is awesome, but often I make commitments that I don't stick to. It's extremely easy to promise God complete devotion when you feel His presence surrounding you. But it's when you feel like God may not be there at that second, that the true test of faith happens. Really, that's where my shortcoming has been these past five years. Going through crippling struggles, I felt unanswered by God, so I stopped seeking Him entirely.
Will it happen this time? I cannot say. I hope that's not the case. And now, I have been more open about it, allowing more to hold me accountable. I know I will have peaks and valleys still. I just hope the valleys are short and not quite as deep.
I thank everyone who has put up with my ramblings for forty days. I think each post has at least 5 unique readers. The one from Bell's #LetsTalk has over 30! While not numbers I can make blogging my day job yet, it is good to know that perhaps someone's life was changed enough to make a difference. Most of my traffic still comes from my typed out songs. So there is still a chance I can get more to read these over time. I just hope that I use the desire to become "popular" online to glorify God and not for personal pride.
Anyways, you will likely hear me being more open about depression, suicide, God and everything I've talked about this past month and change. I won't apologize for that. In fact, I hope others come around me, especially when it comes to mental health and awareness.
Still, while I can say it's been a good, growing time doing this, I can't help but be worried I will fizzle as I have done so often. Whether it's the first iterations of doing this site or different events I have been to, being around the "spiritual high" is awesome, but often I make commitments that I don't stick to. It's extremely easy to promise God complete devotion when you feel His presence surrounding you. But it's when you feel like God may not be there at that second, that the true test of faith happens. Really, that's where my shortcoming has been these past five years. Going through crippling struggles, I felt unanswered by God, so I stopped seeking Him entirely.
Will it happen this time? I cannot say. I hope that's not the case. And now, I have been more open about it, allowing more to hold me accountable. I know I will have peaks and valleys still. I just hope the valleys are short and not quite as deep.
I thank everyone who has put up with my ramblings for forty days. I think each post has at least 5 unique readers. The one from Bell's #LetsTalk has over 30! While not numbers I can make blogging my day job yet, it is good to know that perhaps someone's life was changed enough to make a difference. Most of my traffic still comes from my typed out songs. So there is still a chance I can get more to read these over time. I just hope that I use the desire to become "popular" online to glorify God and not for personal pride.
Anyways, you will likely hear me being more open about depression, suicide, God and everything I've talked about this past month and change. I won't apologize for that. In fact, I hope others come around me, especially when it comes to mental health and awareness.
Day 39 of 40. Small start for a big task
There's two more posts to make. And this will likely be the last on mental health. So what should I do? Well I've talked about a few things, and not sure what more to say, but the same again. Because being reminded of these things are needed for everyone.
First goal is to end the stigma of mental illness. There are several ways to do this. Awareness, education, all these things. Remember, someone with a mental illness isn't going through more than you are. They simply are unable to process the normal stresses of life in the same way. Just as we wouldn't expect someone with a broken leg to walk the same as we do. To hobble around they need a cast at the very least. To walk down a street, they need a tool, like crutches. To run a 5km they need to be fully healed. And likely training. You just can't go do it. Doing so, even on painkillers, destroys the leg. And the same is with mental illness. Pain killers, casts, crutches, these are all good things when healing when used properly. And there are things in the mental health that function the same. Video games can numb me. It can help carry me through times. But there's a point where it becomes bad. Just like using painkillers with a broken leg to keep walking. Coping tools, therapy, counseling, changing living arrangements, all these things are tools. Different tools for different people. Remember that. Don't try to force people through things. It only makes it worse.
The second goal is to talk about suicide openly. Desensitizing suicide is good, because that's ultimately what we are hoping to avoid. We often beat around the bush, asking questions that are easier to answer. We ignore the real issues. Then the person feels ignored. If you started asking people who are withdrawing, going through a tough time, and all these things straight forward if they've considered hurting themselves, the answers are hard. They make you think. Often times, people will do "underdosing" attempts. Where they take a lot more of a drug than normal, but still not lethal doses. Perhaps they aren't sure how much it would take. But psychologists also suggest a hospital visit forces it out into the open. Forces people to see how bad things are. And this is a terrible idea. Ask someone, before they end up in the hospital. Or worse, they succeed and it's their funeral the next time you see them.
Lastly, just exist with them. Don't use idle words or phrases. We've heard them. We know what can help. And if that's all you do, then it only makes it look like you don't care. It's like someone hanging off a cliff. If you tell them to hold on, that they will eventually pull themselves up, then do nothing, it's terrible. There are times to tell people to hold on. You're getting a rope, you're finding a way to reach them. You can tell them different strategies, but if they say they know about it, don't force the issue. Perhaps you see a foothold, but they've used it and their feet are now exhausted. Don't keep telling them to do something that they know all about. Get a rope, get help, stay there and help them hold on. Often times there isn't something you can do right "now." The processes are happening. They just take time. And while we're working through things, we don't need more guidance. We just need someone to be there with us. Existing with us. Not just letting us know we're not alone. But showing us. In action.
The problem of depression and mental health illness will not be tackled easily, quickly or completely. We're always going to have struggles. We're never going to know what exactly to do. And sometimes, even with the best efforts, people are going to succumb to the illness. But we can do our best. And doing our best is all we need to do.
First goal is to end the stigma of mental illness. There are several ways to do this. Awareness, education, all these things. Remember, someone with a mental illness isn't going through more than you are. They simply are unable to process the normal stresses of life in the same way. Just as we wouldn't expect someone with a broken leg to walk the same as we do. To hobble around they need a cast at the very least. To walk down a street, they need a tool, like crutches. To run a 5km they need to be fully healed. And likely training. You just can't go do it. Doing so, even on painkillers, destroys the leg. And the same is with mental illness. Pain killers, casts, crutches, these are all good things when healing when used properly. And there are things in the mental health that function the same. Video games can numb me. It can help carry me through times. But there's a point where it becomes bad. Just like using painkillers with a broken leg to keep walking. Coping tools, therapy, counseling, changing living arrangements, all these things are tools. Different tools for different people. Remember that. Don't try to force people through things. It only makes it worse.
The second goal is to talk about suicide openly. Desensitizing suicide is good, because that's ultimately what we are hoping to avoid. We often beat around the bush, asking questions that are easier to answer. We ignore the real issues. Then the person feels ignored. If you started asking people who are withdrawing, going through a tough time, and all these things straight forward if they've considered hurting themselves, the answers are hard. They make you think. Often times, people will do "underdosing" attempts. Where they take a lot more of a drug than normal, but still not lethal doses. Perhaps they aren't sure how much it would take. But psychologists also suggest a hospital visit forces it out into the open. Forces people to see how bad things are. And this is a terrible idea. Ask someone, before they end up in the hospital. Or worse, they succeed and it's their funeral the next time you see them.
Lastly, just exist with them. Don't use idle words or phrases. We've heard them. We know what can help. And if that's all you do, then it only makes it look like you don't care. It's like someone hanging off a cliff. If you tell them to hold on, that they will eventually pull themselves up, then do nothing, it's terrible. There are times to tell people to hold on. You're getting a rope, you're finding a way to reach them. You can tell them different strategies, but if they say they know about it, don't force the issue. Perhaps you see a foothold, but they've used it and their feet are now exhausted. Don't keep telling them to do something that they know all about. Get a rope, get help, stay there and help them hold on. Often times there isn't something you can do right "now." The processes are happening. They just take time. And while we're working through things, we don't need more guidance. We just need someone to be there with us. Existing with us. Not just letting us know we're not alone. But showing us. In action.
The problem of depression and mental health illness will not be tackled easily, quickly or completely. We're always going to have struggles. We're never going to know what exactly to do. And sometimes, even with the best efforts, people are going to succumb to the illness. But we can do our best. And doing our best is all we need to do.
Day 38 of 40. Why all the warnings?
There's a new wave of preaching in our modern times. An idea that God gives us our best now. That only good things will happen to those who believe. That if you seek God first, everything we could want will be added on to us. This of course is a twist of Scripture. The verse talks about basic needs, not earthly desires. Not only is it silly, but an outright lie. After all, Jesus talks against this very idea several times.
First we're told to give up earthly treasures and store up heavenly ones. Christ then flat out tells us that since he is hated, so we shall be. We're told the pursuit of wealth is the beginning of all manners of sin. We're told it's easier to do impossible things, than make it to heaven hording material possessions.
Yet now Christians are told that God wants the best material possessions for us. The best earthly pleasures. That when God wants the "best" for us, He means what we think is best. I've been told that living the way God wants us is drinking Starbucks, driving a Volkswagen and owning an iPhone. Because those are the best for their products. (which, not really, I do say) This isn't hyperbole, exaggeration or anything of that sort. This is a Christian director at a camp I worked at telling me.
While enjoying earthly pleasures isn't sin itself and there is some truth that taking pleasure in God's creation and what He allowed us to create is honoring, we cannot make it our life's goal. Jesus needed a fish to pay his taxes. The disciples are told they would only own the clothing they wore and the staff they carried. The poor and needing were often told to be content with what they had, not to seek more. A very common theme was on this exactly? So why are so many churches now saying the exact opposite?
Well, if you want to lie to yourself and others, you need big congregations. If you tell people following God gets them stuff they want, they're going to come to the church. You make others believe you are doing what God wants. And eventually you begin believing it, yourself. And this is why we have these warnings. The Bible talks about these churches. About a time coming after when people go to church to hear pleasing things and not Biblical truth. When the desire of the church becomes identical to the desire of the world. James goes as far to even say that being friends with the world makes us God's enemy.
This clearly means we need to take heed.
I'd love to be blessed on this earth. And some people are indeed allowed the riches of the world. After all, just as God calls people to travel with only their clothes, He tells them that there will be believers who will provide for them while they are visiting. So some believers will be called to have! This is nice too. But this provision is to serve God by serving others. Not to horde. Not to have a mass amount of savings. But to bless others. To serve others. To show them the love of God, so He may be glorified.
To know which you are, you need to be walking close to God. To know His plan for you. This is the only way to know if you are seeking God's will or earthly pleasures.
First we're told to give up earthly treasures and store up heavenly ones. Christ then flat out tells us that since he is hated, so we shall be. We're told the pursuit of wealth is the beginning of all manners of sin. We're told it's easier to do impossible things, than make it to heaven hording material possessions.
Yet now Christians are told that God wants the best material possessions for us. The best earthly pleasures. That when God wants the "best" for us, He means what we think is best. I've been told that living the way God wants us is drinking Starbucks, driving a Volkswagen and owning an iPhone. Because those are the best for their products. (which, not really, I do say) This isn't hyperbole, exaggeration or anything of that sort. This is a Christian director at a camp I worked at telling me.
While enjoying earthly pleasures isn't sin itself and there is some truth that taking pleasure in God's creation and what He allowed us to create is honoring, we cannot make it our life's goal. Jesus needed a fish to pay his taxes. The disciples are told they would only own the clothing they wore and the staff they carried. The poor and needing were often told to be content with what they had, not to seek more. A very common theme was on this exactly? So why are so many churches now saying the exact opposite?
Well, if you want to lie to yourself and others, you need big congregations. If you tell people following God gets them stuff they want, they're going to come to the church. You make others believe you are doing what God wants. And eventually you begin believing it, yourself. And this is why we have these warnings. The Bible talks about these churches. About a time coming after when people go to church to hear pleasing things and not Biblical truth. When the desire of the church becomes identical to the desire of the world. James goes as far to even say that being friends with the world makes us God's enemy.
This clearly means we need to take heed.
I'd love to be blessed on this earth. And some people are indeed allowed the riches of the world. After all, just as God calls people to travel with only their clothes, He tells them that there will be believers who will provide for them while they are visiting. So some believers will be called to have! This is nice too. But this provision is to serve God by serving others. Not to horde. Not to have a mass amount of savings. But to bless others. To serve others. To show them the love of God, so He may be glorified.
To know which you are, you need to be walking close to God. To know His plan for you. This is the only way to know if you are seeking God's will or earthly pleasures.
Day 37 of 40. Where is love in judgement?
One very common argument against God, is the He, especially in the Old Testament, is a wretched, wrathful, jealous, murderous and so many other type of negative things. That a god like that, not only cannot be love, but cannot be worth serving. As if that proves that all evidence that supports there being a designer, suddenly cannot have merit.
First, this falls short in several way. As I talked in my post about worthiness, you have to remember that God being who He is, the creator, designer, giver of life, deserves our servitude. Even if these things were true. It's not a dictating tyrant, who steals a country then demands complete submission. Rather, it's more as if someone built an entire city for you, then demanded you put garbage bags in the bins rather than strew is out on the streets. He gave everything, so using what He gave us with respect and wisdom is a small price to ask. And punishments where he limits or takes away what He gave, makes sense.
Then there is the issue of sin. Unlike after Pentecost, the Spirit of God was not yet given freely to all people. Sin wasn't something that was discerned on a personal level. Rather, rules had to be physically delivered, from God to Moses and the prophets, then to the people. They did not know what was good and what was not. Just as children have to be taught right and wrong. Yes, there would be cultural morality. Things such as murder and stealing might be frowned upon. But Israel lived in a time when child sacrifice, mutilations and even ritualistic cannibalism was still occurring in surrounding nations. These atrocities were seen as "good" and right to their peoples. Indeed, even with the Law, rape, murder, incest, adultery, idolatry, are all recorded to have happened among the people of God. And without the Spirit, there wasn't the dread of what sin does to your life. And so God needed a physical representation of the severity of sin. The list is extensive, but a common theme is death. There were several crimes that had the wrong-doer stoned rather than punished in another way. Why was God so severe?
Well, because the punishment of sin is even moreso. The idea needed to be realized just had terrible these things were. Not only that, but the Israelites needed to cut the sin out of their camp. They didn't have prisons as we do now. And exiles would have simply been a long, more torturous death. So it became necessary.
When we think about the steep cost of a single sin, we need to understand the steep price God paid to redeem us from sin. He sent His own son, who was blameless, sinless, perfect in every way. Christ died a horrible physical death and suffered spiritual torment in Hades that we do not fully know. All so we don't have to. When we read the Old Testament, it should not be with a revulsion of what God did, but rather of how wicked sin is. We should see the extreme punishments and recognize we deserve each and every one of them, several times over.
Yet God chose grace instead. He has given us a way to redeem ourselves from sin. And even better, He has sent the Spirit to guide us, so we can avoid it in the future. No longer do we have to wait for a word to be delivered to a prophet and hope we hear it in time. We can go to the throne room, on our own. The Spirit even prays for us, when we are in need.
The God of the Old Testament isn't a cruel God. He isn't one we need to ignore or hide. Rather, He is ultimate justice and judgement. He needs to be shown, because an even harsher punishment comes on Judgement Day for all who don't accept the grace given through Christ. And then we can show how He made a way to save us from it all. Blessing us in this life and in the one to come.
First, this falls short in several way. As I talked in my post about worthiness, you have to remember that God being who He is, the creator, designer, giver of life, deserves our servitude. Even if these things were true. It's not a dictating tyrant, who steals a country then demands complete submission. Rather, it's more as if someone built an entire city for you, then demanded you put garbage bags in the bins rather than strew is out on the streets. He gave everything, so using what He gave us with respect and wisdom is a small price to ask. And punishments where he limits or takes away what He gave, makes sense.
Then there is the issue of sin. Unlike after Pentecost, the Spirit of God was not yet given freely to all people. Sin wasn't something that was discerned on a personal level. Rather, rules had to be physically delivered, from God to Moses and the prophets, then to the people. They did not know what was good and what was not. Just as children have to be taught right and wrong. Yes, there would be cultural morality. Things such as murder and stealing might be frowned upon. But Israel lived in a time when child sacrifice, mutilations and even ritualistic cannibalism was still occurring in surrounding nations. These atrocities were seen as "good" and right to their peoples. Indeed, even with the Law, rape, murder, incest, adultery, idolatry, are all recorded to have happened among the people of God. And without the Spirit, there wasn't the dread of what sin does to your life. And so God needed a physical representation of the severity of sin. The list is extensive, but a common theme is death. There were several crimes that had the wrong-doer stoned rather than punished in another way. Why was God so severe?
Well, because the punishment of sin is even moreso. The idea needed to be realized just had terrible these things were. Not only that, but the Israelites needed to cut the sin out of their camp. They didn't have prisons as we do now. And exiles would have simply been a long, more torturous death. So it became necessary.
When we think about the steep cost of a single sin, we need to understand the steep price God paid to redeem us from sin. He sent His own son, who was blameless, sinless, perfect in every way. Christ died a horrible physical death and suffered spiritual torment in Hades that we do not fully know. All so we don't have to. When we read the Old Testament, it should not be with a revulsion of what God did, but rather of how wicked sin is. We should see the extreme punishments and recognize we deserve each and every one of them, several times over.
Yet God chose grace instead. He has given us a way to redeem ourselves from sin. And even better, He has sent the Spirit to guide us, so we can avoid it in the future. No longer do we have to wait for a word to be delivered to a prophet and hope we hear it in time. We can go to the throne room, on our own. The Spirit even prays for us, when we are in need.
The God of the Old Testament isn't a cruel God. He isn't one we need to ignore or hide. Rather, He is ultimate justice and judgement. He needs to be shown, because an even harsher punishment comes on Judgement Day for all who don't accept the grace given through Christ. And then we can show how He made a way to save us from it all. Blessing us in this life and in the one to come.
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