It's Legal... but is it Moral? Is it right?

Ponder this: "legal" and "moral" are not the same thing. If this were true, genocide under the Nazis, under Stalin, under Pol Pot, under Mao Tse Tung, in Rwanda, Somalia would not be immoral - it was legal. Thus, legal and moral are NOT equivalent. Just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's right (moral). Corrupt people produce corrupt laws.

Look around around the "land of the free and the home of the brave" today. A judge struck down the "will of the people" as it relates to the "special rights" that the severely minority gay population seeks to secure. There are a variety of great articles written by smarter men than I on this topic, so I won't take the time to unpack it here today. (go to str.org for some great resources on this topic).

Infantcide - the murder for convenience of innocent, defenseless human persons - we call it abortion - justified as "choice."

The Homosexual Agenda - the absolute relentless assault against what is clearly "natural." I don't need to quote a single Scripture to demonstrate that this is an aberration and perversion of our clearly evident biological order.

Are there other moral issues? Yes there are. In my estimate, these are two of the most egregious issues off all time. Are they legal? Yes they are. In fact, living as a homosexual and even receiving the same "rights" as a married couple are ALREADY GIVEN to homosexual couples. What they are after is the name "marriage." It forces cultural acceptance. That's what they hope to accomplish - forcing their view on all the rest of us and then outlawing free expression to disagree. Freedom to disagree and publicly express it is a hallmark of the American nation. They are not concerned with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, however.

Let me be clear. I stand against the sin of homosexuality with the same fervor as I do against heterosexual adultery. I stand against abortion the same way I stand against gossip. Sin is sin. Sin always robs us of God's perfect plan - AND - in the process it rapes, pillages and plunders our own lives and the lives of those around us. I stand, as a prophet to a culture gone mad, shouting for them to turn around as they paddle their boats ever closer to the falls called Niagra. Don't kill yourselves - don't kill your children! You may like the luxuries of this cultural ship, but that which lies beneath will strike you down and all the splendors of sin will go down with you, O Titanic culture!

Love God - Love People - Reject that which ultimately ravages people...for the sake of people. All the unjust can rule, but they will rule unjustly. It is not moral to kill babies. It is not moral to commit adultery. It is not moral to commit sodomy (homosexuality). You can say it is legal, but your moral intuition tells you it's wrong and lamentable.

Here's some good news. If we confess (call "sin" what God calls "sin") our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We've all sinned even though it was "legal." Jesus joys to wash our immorality and issue us His own morality.

Run with Endurance...is there any other kind?

I've taken to running three times weekly. And, no, those legs on the right are not mine! My route is closing in on four miles. When I was in the Army it was like pulling teeth to get me to run the two miles required. That was about 50 pounds ago, by the way...when it would have been much easier! Now, I'm approximately 20 years older and suddenly able to do such a thing. Is it the ability to do it or the willingness coupled with the endurance to keep it up?

Endurance is an interesting issue. As I was running this morning, there's a long stretch of road with a slight incline that is the end of my route. It requires some endurance to keep going because my breath grows faster and more labored and my muscles are wearing out. "Maintain a tight, proper form - keep your eyes up." These things I remind myself.

Endurance requires faith. Faith that sees the run OVER ALREADY! :-) Faith that sees pounds coming off, a healthy heart, feeling better physically over all. Faith "sees." It sees a preferred future - ah, now that's "vision." Proverbs says that "without vision people cast off restraint." Trust me, if I can't "see"[vision] I can't "believe" [faith] and hence I cannot "endure." See how one fuels the other?

"Do not become weary in doing well, for in the right season you will reap the reward if you don't give up." Do you see endurance, faith and vision in that verse in Galatians 6:9?

How about Hebrews? 1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [VISION], let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us [ENDURANCE AGAINST THE FLESH], and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith [FAITH/VISION], who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God[ENDURANCE ILLUSTRATED AND VISION]. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls [THE RESULT OF NOT ENDURING].

Whatever you're pursuing today, don't give up. Don't stop praying, believing (faith-ing), working - don't stop! You can stop once you enter Heaven's Gates to hear, "well done, my good and faithful servant." One last Scripture?

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Wanna Lead? Get Down!

Mt. 25:25 "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 YET IT SHALL NOT BE SO AMONG YOU; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave-- 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Just prior to this statement, a mother had asked that her two sons be given seats on the right and the left of Jesus' own throne. They felt they were up to the task to drink the cup He was going to drink. This whole conversation infuriated the other disciples, probably because they wanted thrones next this his also! But, Jesus, as usual, redirects.

He tells us how power/authority works in the world. Power has a tendency to force itself on others. "Because I said so" is the last bastion of "positional authority." Jesus says, that the way Kingdom leadership is captured in the phrase "because I DO so." The Bible says of Jesus that He emptied Himself of all His well-deserved glory and took upon Himself the form of a servant. Who can forget the picture of Jesus kneeling before the disciples' feet to wash them?

By extravagant service and the loving heart it flows from is influence, leadership, given. They follow because you have served them well. They listen because you have listened well. Ultimately, they will die well, because you showed them how to die well...spiritually and then physically.

"Because I DO so" - "Follow me as I follow Christ"