Roll Me Away!

"Took a look down a west-bound road,
and right away I made my choice,
Headed out to my big two-wheeler, 
I was tired of my own voice,
took a bead on those Northern Plains 
and just rolled that power on." 

- Bob Seger, "Roll Me Away"

Okay, I admit it. Over the past two months, I have come to understand the fascination with motorcycles that so many of my friends and family members have... freedom! Maybe it's the amount of time I spend at work, maybe it's summer and I have a house full of kids, or maybe I just need a real vacation... whatever the reason, I have found myself in a never ending Southwest Airlines commercial... "Wanna get away?"

I have friends who have itinerant ministries... they travel from place to place, from church to church, holding revival meetings, VBS events, camps, etc. What a life, huh? Be able to travel the U.S., or even the world, working for the Lord and having one big adventure. (Truth be told, they'd probably tell you it's not all it's cracked up to be.)

Meanwhile, every scripture I read, every radio sermon I hear, every conversation I have, seems to remind me of one fundamental fact... God is not finished with me in Brownwood... I am to stay right here, and honor my commitment to Him, and allow Him to work through me and Grace Pointe to minister to the people of Brownwood... oh, look at how pretty that sun looks setting behind Bangs Hill... maybe I'll just take a drive...

Basically, I just need to get my mind back on my business.

Romans 14:23 says "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Anything you do that is in disobedience to God, or that even disregards God, is a sin.

In this case, my sin is not being thankful for the blessings God has given me, and not being thankful for the things that He has done in Brownwood. Further, my sin is not completely trusting Him to bring Grace Pointe to a point where she is self-supporting... not trusting Him with the results... not trusting Him to bless His own work. There have also been times I have failed to recognize His hand in Grace Pointe's successes. I could confess more, but my father once told me that inner-most thoughts are called that for a reason, and many times, it's best that they stay that way. (Not exactly canonized scripture, but Dad does have a point every now and then).

I share this to warn you. Temptation doesn't always come in the form of an enticement to commit an act of immorality... it's not always an enticement toward sexual sin, greed, anger, theft or even murder. Sometimes, Satan tempts us by luring us into disobeying what God has called us to do with our lives.

When Satan tempted Jesus, he tempted the Lord to do three things. (1) Make the stones into bread. (2) Jump off the pinnacle of the temple to see if the angels would catch Him, and (3) to bow down and worship Satan. Each of these three temptations would have derailed God's plan of Salvation through the Gospel. Nevertheless, in Christ was no sin, and the Lord stayed obedient to the plan.

In the same way, Satan often tempts us to stray from what God wants us to do. If we fall for that temptation, we can derail our lives and miss God's blessings. To fall for this temptation is just as much of a sin as if you had fallen into immorality. Remember, after you are saved, the most Satan can do is destroy your testimony and render you useless in this life. If he can't get you to fall into immorality, he'll get you to do something that will silence your voice for the Lord. Be on guard.

Christianity is all about Healing

Folks, let's be honest. Sin is destructive. Despite the fact that our culture looks to excuse and legitimize sin, the harsh reality is that sin will destroy your life.

God does not define sin in the Bible with the intent to restrict you to a boring, miserable, self-less life. He defines sin in the Bible to instruct you to turn away from the things that will destroy your life. The Ten Commandments instruct us not to worship other gods, not to worship idols, not to take the Lord's name in vain, and not to profane the Sabbath. Why? Because rejecting God for more worldly things will eventually lead to eternal damnation.

The Ten Commandments also instruct us to honor our parents, not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie, and not to covet. Why? Because doing these things (or not honoring your parents) will lead to destruction. God gave us His commandments, and His word (which includes the Gospel) to warn us against the destruction of sin, and to teach us to receive eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal savior. God defined sin, and forbid it in His word for the same reasons a parent forbids certain behaviors (like playing in the street) for their children. The rules are meant to keep us safe.

I speak out against sin, not because I want everyone to conform to my lifestyle, and not because I want to force my beliefs on others. I speak out against sin because I have seen first hand the devastation caused by a sinful lifestyle.

During a recent conversation on Facebook, friends of mine were complaining about strict drug laws in the state of Texas, lamenting how it is unfair for certain possession charges to be labelled "felonies," which hurts a person's chances of finding gainful employment and recovering their lives in the future. To my friends, the cure (drug laws) was more devastating than the disease (drug addiction.) I disagreed, arguing that drug laws give local law enforcement the tools needed to intervene in a drug addict's life, to protect both the addict and his family.

The truth is, anytime there is drug addiction, there are victims beyond the addict himself. His children often endure neglect and abuse. His parents are often swindled out of cash, or bear the financial burden of paying for his mistakes. His wife has to endure a lot. Legal, or illegal, drug abuse is a sin that destroys a person's life. I have seen this first hand, so I am in favor of strong drug laws.

Nevertheless, whatever laws may be passed, sermons preached, and personal discipleship that takes place, eventually someone will make the mistake of sinning. Let's use drug abuse as an example. Despite the strong drug laws in Texas, where even the presence of methamphetamine residue results in a felony conviction, someone will become addicted today.

When that happens, their lives will begin to unravel. The drug will take over, and the addict eventually loses everything as he seeks to support his habit. In looking at situations like this, or a situation where one has wrecked his marriage with adultery, or a situation where a person is being sentenced to prison time over a burglary, it is easy to look down your nose and write the person off as a lost cause. However, to do that is to ignore the example Jesus gave us in the New Testament.

Throughout the four Gospels, you see Jesus healing various health conditions... leprosy, blindness, paralysis, coma, and He even brought Lazarus back from the grave. There have been many charlatans who have tried to recreate these miracles, and perform healing services by telling crippled people to "rise and walk," and declaring cancer patients to be "cured." Some of these snake-oil salesmen even have national TV shows, but I digress. Physical healing services miss the point altogether.

The healings Jesus performed (as well as those by His disciples in the Book of Acts) carried with them a Spiritual meaning, as well as a physical meaning. In other words, the physical healing was a picture of the Spiritual healing Christ performed in their lives.

A prime example of this is the healing of the man with palsy in Luke 5. Here, you have a man who is completely paralyzed, to the point that it took several of his friends to get him to Jesus (by cutting a hole in the roof and lowering him down, no less.) Jesus told that man that his sins were forgiven before healing him of his palsy.

In many ways, sin does to us spiritually what the palsy did to that man physically. It debilitates us and renders us helpless. We wind up stuck in a life where we are without hope, discouraged, and in pain. In those situations, if we repent and believe in the Lord, He heals us of the spiritual devastation caused by our sin.

Our goal as Christians is not to sit back and lament the fallen condition of our world, or those around us. Our goal is to see them healed. This comes in sharing the truth of God's word with them, and being willing to help them along as they rebuild their lives from the ashes left behind by their sin.

If you are reading this, and your life has been destroyed by sin, I am praying for you. My prayer for you is that you turn from your sin, and you trust Jesus Christ as your personal savior. He will heal you from your sin. After that, go find a Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching church, follow the Lord in Baptism, and lean on the encouragement and help from your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. May God bless you.