Keeping it Spin Free

By Ricky Chelette, Executive Director

“Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God”

2 Corinthians 4:2

Previously in 2 Corinthians, we saw Paul admonishing the church to look to Jesus as the light; and when they saw Him as he is, they would be changed. But what does it look like to be a “seeing” person? How are we really any different?

Paul says that we have not only changed how we act, we have renounced our past for what it is. How often do we, as Jesus said, put our hand to the plow and look back? How often do we see the old self as something alluring instead of the shame that it is? 

We aren’t alone in doing it. Exodus is full of accounts of the people of God coming to Moses and, through the lens of time, claiming that slavery would have been better than the hardship of the wilderness. In Christ, we have been made free!

If we look at our past with joy, let it be in an understanding of what grace has saved us out of and the hope it has saved us into. 

Our Father spared us from his wrath through the blood of Christ, and has promised us an inheritance beyond what the mind can comprehend. In faith, we speak and act in light of that truth. We don’t fear accountability or reproof because we have nothing to hide. We have called our past what it is, seen it covered by Christ’s blood and then can live in the precious freedom he purchased for us. 

“Father, let us be children of the light. May we be consistent in our confession of sin, and diligent about our holiness. Guard our mouths so that we may speak the truth, for your word is truth.”

The Power of Our Story

By Ricky Chelette, Executive Director

We live in an age of story. Everyone wants to tell a story or hear one. Stories have become the new medium by which “truth” is transmitted. Not all stories are true, of course, but those that are truly move us and often have the power to convince us. 

At our annual LHM Young Adult Retreat, I was most impacted by the stories of two very different young adults: they were of different races and sexes, they had different socio-economic backgrounds, and they had very different outlooks on life. One grew up in a two-parent home, the other in a single-parent home. One completely embraced homosexuality and entered into that life with abandon, the other struggled internally, but never fully embraced a gay identity or a relationship. Their stories unfolded in very different ways and took each of them down very different paths. 

Both individuals were searching for something they didn’t have and thought they could find in the arms of others. Both had legitimate needs that weren’t being met. Both tried to meet those needs in ways that fell far outside God’s design for humanity. Both tried desperately to make their own way, only to discover that their efforts were futile, destructive, and life-altering.

Despite their differences, they both came to a singular conclusion: Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. As they shared their stories of tragedy, triumph, despair, and ultimate hope, we were all moved to tears. The power of the Gospel to rescue and redeem was so evident it was palpable. 

For each of them, Jesus isn’t a concept or an idea; He is a person who seeks to redeem His people and meet the deepest longings of our hearts. 

As I listened, I longed for every person to hear what I was hearing and to see what I was seeing. Over the years, I had seen both of these people transform before my eyes. I had seen Jesus at work in them to do what the world said was impossible. They were living out their lives as the man and the woman God had created them to be. They had faced the demons of their past and the consequences of their sins, and they were not only living but thriving in Christ!

In a day when change seems possible only if you want to go against the teachings of Jesus and orthodox Christianity, I witnessed the work of Christ transforming and conforming lives to the image of God’s plan for humanity lived out right before my eyes. 

It really should not be such a surprise. In Revelation 12:10-12 it says, “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.’”

The last days are nearer now than ever in our history. Those of us who have stories of God’s redemption must speak up. Those who have yet to experience His transformation and love need to know that Jesus is real, true, life-giving, and life-changing. God is at work among His people to bring redemption and transformation to all who will trust and believe. 

Do you have a story to tell? If you don’t, I hope you will seek the Lord and know that He is the only way, the only truth, and the only path to life everlasting. If you have experienced the goodness of God, I pray you will share it with others so they might find hope, Christ, and the transforming power of the Gospel. “The blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony” will overcome the darkness of our fallen world. Life. Lived. Shared. Redeemed. There is power in our God-stories!

Unrighteous Rule-Makers?

By D'Ann Davis, Women's Ministry Director

“If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

Colossians 2:20-23

In the pursuit of holiness most of us know there are certain areas of struggle to which we are more vulnerable. Often, we wisely set boundaries for ourselves that we might avoid temptation and stand firm in our convictions. Sometimes though, if we are not careful, we can begin to tie our salvation and standing before God to the boundaries we have set for ourselves in a way that becomes self-made religion. We often inadvertently develop a system of rules for ourselves and/or others that are neither biblical nor helpful.

The Colossians were struggling with asceticism, which is the idea that God is happier with us when we avoid pleasure. In many ways it is the opposite side of the prosperity theology coin. Asceticism, like Colossians 2:23 says, has an appearance of wisdom. Jumping from wise boundaries to depriving one’s self of any pleasure at all can seem pious and holy. In truth it is simply another form of works righteousness. It reveals a misunderstanding of the God at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore and in whose presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). God wants us to enjoy Him and the good gifts He gives us. He wants us to rest in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross and in His resurrection. He does not want us to pursue pleasure-less misery as a means of self-justification. He does want us to be smart and to flee from temptation and avoid sin, but we avoid sin through life in Him, not life apart from anything pleasurable.

Paul describes this to the Colossians as a fruitless pursuit saying, “self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body” are “of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” White-knuckling sin through man-made regulations against pleasure are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. This translates to us being miserable in our man-made religion we are ascribing to God while simultaneously indulging our flesh in the sin we originally sought to avoid. Life in Christ and walking by the power of the Holy Spirit through the grace of God is how we avoid sin, not man-made rules. And we must never forget, avoiding sin and/or pleasure was never the ultimate point in the first place. Christ is the point, and we avoid sin that we might have more of Him. Man-made religion is an inner prison that saps our joy and ultimately our strength. Thanks be to Jesus though that He died for this sin, too, and He is willing to deliver us and able to keep us from falling to it. Let’s repent of our pleasure avoidance and find joy in Him, the One who gives us every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.

Father thank You that You created pleasure and delight for us to find it in You and Your good gifts. Please forgive us for seeking to find righteousness on our own. Help us to know You as You are and find rest and salvation in You. Thank You for loving us and for being a generous God. Help us to trust in Your finished work on our behalf. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.