OUT OF THE BOX

People who are into porn and public nudity often proclaim that the human body is good and we should not be ashamed to show it. They also charge that Christians, because they believe in modesty, think the sexual aspect of the human body is evil. But to the contrary, Christians frown on public nudity and pornography because sex is sacred, not evil. After all, God created male and female, and said “it is good.” There are two things the scripture forbids us to flaunt in public—that which is evil and that which is sacred. The evil is forbidden because it is evil. The sacred is to be treasured. It is not for the public eye because it is precious and not to be treated as common. Sex should be reserved for the intimacy of a man and woman in marriage, and not displayed as a public spectacle. God is not an old fogy who sees sex as evil. A reading of Song of Solomon will show that the sexual aspect of marriage is God’s gift to mankind. Man did not create sex when God was not looking and then surp...

The Gospel of the kingdom proclaims God’s rule as well as His love. The nations are angry at God because they are deceived, and because they do not want His rule. Rebellion hates authority. Although God is love, He is also absolute power and authority. In Ps 2 the nations are angry because they reject His rule and want to be free to do their own will. In Revelation 11:17-18 they are angry because He has taken His great power and imposed His reign, which in this case also means judgment on rebellion and wickedness. Man going his own way in rebellion will resent the message of the kingdom of God. He will even reject the idea of God’s love. So how do we communicate the kingdom of God to a culture in which there are so many who are hostile to it. We must have faith that our communication when done in wisdom and love will reach those who are really looking for God. And we must also be prepared for those who will hate us and reject the message no matter how it is packaged. But still, there...

When the load cannot be lightened, we must be strengthened. The mark of spiritual strength is perseverance and endurance, not glory clouds and glitter. We are strengthened for war, not for exhibition. The enemy can not destroy and lay waste to the church unless the church has first laid aside the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. If the Bible is lost in a culture, it is because it was first lost in the house of God. If the Bible is to be returned to the culture, it must first be found in the house of God. To face the perplexities, anomalies, and enigmas of life, we must hold to our faith in God’s love and kindness, and His power and greatness. We must also trust His infinite wisdom. He is perfect in all His ways and righteous in all His judgments. Christians tend to naively believe they will have victory without battle, but when faced with adversity they tend to skeptically think they will have battle without victory. Unbroken and spiritually unresponsive people will not r...