Discrimination in Oregon

I looked into a news article I saw today about a couple in Oregon who owned a bakery who had refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding.  They are facing massive fines for their decision.  Their attorney made the following statement:


“Put simply,” wrote Herbert Grey, the Kleins’ attorney, “they elected not to participate in an event that is not even officially recognized under Oregon law when doing so would violate their constitutionally protected conscience and religious beliefs.” --http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2013/02/gresham_bakery_says_oregon_con.html


In the fall last year, the Oregon Labor Commissioner, Brad Avakian, spoke about the states "goal" in the following comment.


"The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate," Avakian said. "For those who do violate the law, we want them to learn from that experience and have a good, successful business in Oregon." --http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2013/08/lesbian_couple_refused_wedding.html#incart_most-comments


I think it is important to look into what some of the terms being used in this blog actually mean.


Rehabilitate - to bring (someone or something) back to a normal, healthy condition
Operant conditioning - a type of learning in which an individual's behavior is modified by its antecedents and consequences.
Discrimination - unfair treatment of a person, racial group, minority, etc; action based on prejudice
Prejudice -

1. an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. 
2. any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
3. unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.

And lets see what the Oregon law actually says:


Oregon Law 659A.403
Discrimination in place of public accommodation prohibited
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, all persons within the jurisdiction of this state are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any place of public accommodation, without any distinction, discrimination or restriction on account of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status or age if the individual is 18 years of age or older.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section does not prohibit:
(a) The enforcement of laws governing the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors and the frequenting by minors of places of public accommodation where alcoholic beverages are served; or
(b) The offering of special rates or services to persons 50 years of age or older.
(3) It is an unlawful practice for any person to deny full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any place of public accommodation in violation of this section. [Formerly 30.670; 2003 c.521 §1; 2005 c.131 §1; 2007 c.100 §5]


With that out of the way, lets see what is going on.


Oregon is claiming that the refusal to create and sell a wedding cake to a couple for their same-sex wedding violates the law.  I would say they are referring to subsection 3.  I will go out on a limb and say that the violation must be because the bakery does create and sell wedding cakes to couples for their weddings who are of opposite sex.  There must be discrimination, right?  I believe there is discrimination here and I will explain why.


Discrimination as defined is unfair treatment based on prejudice.  And I listed three different definitions for prejudice above.  I believe the state of Oregon is discriminating against Christians generally and the bakery specifically because of their unfair treatment of them based on unreasonable feeling, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding the religious beliefs that define the group.  They are in effect stating that it is against the law to refuse to support same-sex marriage based on religious convictions and if you do not change and start supporting same-sex marriage you will be fined.  Brad Avakian goes even further by saying that this belief and the actions taken by the bakery to remain true to that belief is "unhealthy" or "abnormal" when he says that the goal is rehabilitation.


I had always thought that it was considered very normal and healthy to stand up for what you believed in.  I thought that was one of the things that made this country great.  I guess he means that not supporting same-sex marriage is abnormal and unhealthy then.  Yes it gets a little confusing, but I think that is because he (or the state of Oregon) is not really trying to rehabilitate this bakery.  I think that if he said the goal was a type of operant conditioning, it would make more sense.  I mean, they are trying to modify the behavior through by imposing sever consequences.  They are not trying to restore some healthy or normal condition if their definition of those never existed in the first place.


Listen Oregon, the bakery is not creating and selling a cake that would be used to support a same-sex wedding.  That is not discrimination.  There is no prejudice and if there is no prejudice, then there is no discrimination.  It is you who are practicing discrimination because of your unreasonable and hostile attitude against this bakery.

Christian Character - Conclusion

As I wrap this up, let us remember that these character traits are not meant to represent every Christian trait nor should they be used as some sort of test.  I just chose to focus on those first few verses spoken by Jesus that appeared to me to represent the character of a Christian.

First, let us list those verses from Matthew 5:3-9:

·        Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

·        Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

·        Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

·        Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

·        Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

·        Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

·        Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

From these verses we dove into what they mean and how they represent Christian character.  I believe that we can describe Christ Followers as those who are humble before God and mourn because of what sin does.  They are those who are gentle and exercise self-control who earnestly desire those things approved by God. They are compassionate and forgiving with a single-minded motivation, attitude, and desire for that which pleases God. They are ones who seek to establish a true God sourced peace.

It is hard for me to read what I have just written because I know of times where I have failed to demonstrate this Christian character and to my shame chose my own selfish ways knowing how I ought to behave.

Since we have been discussing Christian character in this series it would probably be wise to touch on just what “character” is.  Merriam-Webster defines character as “the way someone thinks, feels, and behaves: someone's personality.”

Notice that there are no conditions as part of that definition.  It does not say that character is someone’s personality only on Sundays or only in public.  Character is who we are every second of every day of our lives.  Character is who we are when no one is looking and when everyone is looking.

I have seen a person with two different characters in a given week; their “Sunday” character and their “rest of the week” character.  I see only two ways that someone could present more than one character over that short of a time span.  Either they are acting or have a personality disorder.  Speaking from personal experience, I think acting is probably the answer to most of these situations.  People are who they are until Sunday and then on Sunday they act like they think Christians should.

If we are regenerated and reconciled with God, then how is it possible to have more than one character without some significant internal conflict when we act contrary to who we are in Christ?  And if we have that internal conflict how then are we not making a conscious choice to do those things that are contrary to the character of a Christ follower?  Shouldn’t we feel guilt and shame for what is basically our sins?  Maybe that is why we are trying to eliminate all things that remind us of where we fail so we no longer feel any guilt or shame.  I will save that for another blog post.

I think Matthew 5:3-9 gives us a good idea of what the character of a Christ follower is.  I believe that these traits are very important because Jesus made a point to speak about them.  How many of these traits can you identify within yourself?  How many are missing?


Previous posts in the series:
Christian Character
Poor in Spirit
They That Mourn
The Meek
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
The Merciful
Pure In Heart
The Peacemakers

Christian Character - The Peacemakers

Previous - Pure In Heart
The Peacemakers

The last Beatitude we are going to cover is Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

“Peacemakers” is only used once here in the Bible.  In Strong’s it means peace-maker or pacific.  I had never used the term pacific in this context, so I had to look it up in the dictionary.  There are several definitions for it.  These include:

·        Tending to make or preserve peace

·        Not warlike; peaceable; mild

·        At peace; peaceful

·        Calm tranquil

This seems pretty straight forward.  Since we are talking about the followers of Christ, there is another dynamic to consider.  This peace they are after exists between people because those people themselves are at peace with God.  The peacemakers are seeking to make peace through sharing the Gospel and God’s Love.  They understand what true peace really is and desire that peace for others.  They know that a peace like that can only come from God.  Wherever they work for peace, they draw from the peace they have received from God.

The peacemakers are those who seek to establish a true God sourced peace.
Next - Conclusion

Christian Character - Pure In Heart

Previous - The Merciful
In Matthew 5:8 Jesus says “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”  This is the next Beatitude we will discuss.

When we look up the word “pure” in Strong’s, we see that it means clean and unstained (katharos).  Helps further defines it as “without admixture” and “what is separated (purged), hence "clean" (pure) because unmixed (without undesirable elements)”.

Before we can go further with the word “pure” we need to add context by defining the word “heart” as well.  Heart is never used in the Bible to describe the physical muscle that pumps blood throughout the body, but instead is used figuratively.  When we look in Strong’s we see it defined as “mind, character, inner self, will, intention, and center.”  It is basically who we are.

I think 1 Samuel 16:7 shows that God looks at who we are on the inside.  Samuel was told to go anoint one of Jesse’s sons and Samuel looked at Eliab and based on his outward appearance thought that this was who God wanted anointed.

“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”

Eventually Samuel anointed the youngest son David.  God chose David because of what he saw within David and not necessarily based on any outward characteristic man could see.  God chose him based on his heart.

In Matthew 15:11 Jesus spoke a parable; “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”  He later explained that parable to his disciples in verses 17-20 when he said:

“Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”

I think this is a good illustration of the word “heart” used to mean who we are.  When we talk about the heart, we are dealing with motivations and attitudes and desires.

We still do not have a clear picture when we look at pure in heart.  When we rephrase it to something like “unmixed or single-minded motivation, attitude, and desire”, we leave it wide open to mean anything.  We could easily take this to mean pure evil instead of pure love.  Therefore, we must also consider that Jesus was speaking here and included “for they shall see God.”

There is only one place where we can see God.  That is in heaven; the kingdom of God.  In Exodus 33:20 we read “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”  The Bible is pretty clear that looking upon God as a man is certain death.  In fact, the Bible says in Exodus 33:21-23 that God was so careful with Moses that God put him in a crevice and blocked him from seeing God’s glory as he passed by.

“And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”

We cannot see God and live.  We can only see Him where he is and that is in heaven.  Since sin does not exist in heaven and according to Romans 3:23 we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God the only way into heaven is through Jesus Christ.  His sacrifice, his blood, washed away our sin making it possible to enter heaven.

This sinless requirement rules out a purity of evil.  The motivation, attitude, and desire must be aligned with what God wants.

Those who are pure in heart are they who have a single-minded motivation, attitude, and desire for that which pleases God.
Next - The Peacemakers

Christian Character - The Merciful

Previous - Those Who Hunger and Thirst
Next we look at Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”

What is merciful?  As used in this verse, Strong’s defines it as “full of pity” and “compassionate”.  Webster defines merciful as “treating people with kindness and forgiveness: not cruel or harsh: having or showing mercy: giving relief from suffering”.

Let us address the elephant in the room.  Nowadays “pity” is seen as negative and in some cases it actually is.  When pity is shown in an “I am better than you” spirit, then it is a negative.  This is not the kind of pity being used here.  Instead we are talking about sympathy or sorrow born from empathy.  This pity is the understanding or trying to imagine another person’s feelings.  This lines up with compassion which is also used to define merciful.

When we talk about being merciful, we are combining a couple of things.  The first is being able to recognize and emotionally relate to another person’s circumstances and the other is a desire to help that person.  I think all of us can think of situations where we were able to really understand the pain someone is going through and tried to help that person through it.  Maybe it was understanding the dire straits a person was in after losing their job and what we did to help that person through that difficulty.

When I think of someone being merciful, I remember the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-39.  I think it is worth including that here.

“But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'

In reply Jesus said: 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.''

'Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?'

The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.'

Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'”

Samarians at the time were looked down on by the Jews.  They were a race of people that were a mix of Assyrians and Jews.  They did not believe everything the Jews believed and chose Mt. Gerizim as their “Jerusalem”.  They created a counterfeit religion and are an enemy to the Jews to this day.  This parable was definitely an attention getter and did not necessarily endear Jesus to the Jews.

It is not known if Jesus told this parable in response to a similar event that really occurred or if it was simply the way he chose to answer the question he was asked.  Regardless, the Samaritan was the hero of the story because he acted mercifully toward the injured man.  His actions went far beyond simply being a nice guy.  He dressed his wounds, allowed him to ride his donkey to the inn, took care of him that night, and then paid to have him looked after.  He even promised to return to settle any outstanding debt that may occur while he was away.  This was a man who truly understood this persons suffering and did all he could to help that man without any expectation of reward or repayment.

Now this Samaritan apparently had the wherewithal to do what he did.  Many of us are not in position where we could offer that much support to someone in need.  But I think the point here was that the Samaritan went out of his way to help this man.  He obviously had someplace to be and this changed his plans.  Rarely does compassion fit into our normal day to day plans.

Since we are talking about followers of Christ, will they obtain mercy because of the good deeds they have done?  I don’t think so.  I think they are merciful because they understand what mercy is because of the mercy God has shown them.

God’s mercy is in contrast to His Grace.  Grace is giving something good that is not deserved.  Because of Sin, we do not deserve eternal life, but God is willing to give it to us; “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Ephesians 2:8.  Mercy is withholding what we do deserve.  As sinners we deserve hell.  God did not give us what we deserved, but instead showed us mercy through Jesus Christ; “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 1:21.

As Christians we know that we do not deserve salvation and we know that there is no way in and of ourselves we can obtain it.  By ourselves, we are utterly helpless and undeserving.  It is mercy that has provided us a way to salvation.  We have come face to face with our depravity and unworthiness.  We know that we are utterly dependent upon God’s mercy through Christ.

I believe the mercy spoken of in this verse goes beyond acts of kindness.  I think at the core it is the ability to recognize your own sin and the mercy God has shown you and approach others from that perspective when in situations where you have the opportunity to show mercy.

It is easy to understand mercy as doing something helping someone that you did not have to.  The world is full of this type of example.  So let us look at mercy in a different way.

Maybe someone lashed out at you for something you did not do.  You understand that there is a deeper pain that contributed to that action.  You may feel that you did not deserve that attack and walk away justified from that person.  You say to yourself that you did not deserve to be treated that way and turn away from that person even though you know there is more to it.  Instead you act mercifully.  You forgive that person because you know of the forgiveness you have received.  You understand pain and how God has helped you overcome it so you show kindness and try to help with what the real issue is.  That help may or not be accepted, but mercy was still shown.  You did not withhold your forgiveness and compassion.

The merciful are ones who are compassionate and forgiving.
Next - Pure In Heart

Christian Character - Those Who Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness

Previous - The Meek
The fourth Beatitude is Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

In this Beatitude we see a difference from the previous three with that difference being desire.  In fact if we look up both hunger and thirst in Strong’s, we find “desire earnestly” as part of the definition for both of these.

I find it interesting that hunger and thirst are used.  Nothing satisfies those except food and fluids.  They are also recurring.  In time we all hunger and thirst again and seek things to satisfy those desires.  But it is not food or drink the followers of Christ are desiring in this verse.  It is righteousness; divine approval, what is deemed right by God.  It is only righteousness that will satisfy.

We can see David writing about this thirst and hunger in Psalm 42:1-3:

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?”

When we are hungry or thirsty, we desire to satisfy that desire.  Sometimes we ignore that desire for whatever reason, but eventually we are driven to find something, anything to stop that hunger or thirst.  I think that is what Jesus is talking about here.  These are people who are driven to be satisfied by those things God approves of.  And it is not just for themselves, but for the world around them.  They want to live in a God approved land.

In Colossians 3: 1-2 Paul writes “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”  As Christians we are told to desire and direct or mind to things above, heavenly things, and not worldly things.

Consider what Paul wrote about setting our desires on heavenly or earthly things.  Followers of Christ cannot satisfy their desires through seeking things of the world, only through seeking righteousness.    Romans 8:5-6 address what happens when we try to satisfy ourselves through worldly things:

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

Paul is talking about a spiritual death here as opposed to life (salvation).  I think this desire after Righteousness exists because followers of Christ know satisfaction only in those things that lead to life.  No one is ever truly satisfied by more money or more things or drugs and alcohol.  These things are counterfeits, deceptions, earthly things.  They never satisfy.

Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are those who earnestly desire those things approved by God.
Next - The Merciful

Christian Character - The Meek

Previous - They That Mourn
Next in the list of Beatitudes is Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”

When we look up the work “meek” in Strong’s Concordance, we find that it is defined as mild or gentle.  Webster defines meek as “having or showing a quiet and gentle nature: not wanting to fight or argue with other people.”

This specific usage of the adjective “meek” is found in just a few places in the Bible.

In Matthew 11:29, Jesus says this about Himself, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Jesus also quoted a prophet when directing His disciples on how to answer anyone asking about the ass they are supposed to bring him in Matthew 21:5 with these words “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.”

And finally when Peter talks about wives adorning themselves he writes “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” In 1 Peter 3:4.

Considering who (Jesus and wives) is being described as being meek, the word does not mean weakness or cowardice, but instead a gentleness and self-control.  True followers of Christ are not arrogant, conceited, or pompous.

The meek are those who are gentle and exercise self control.
Next - Those Who Hunger and Thirst

Christian Character - They That Mourn

Previous - Poor in Spirit
The next beatitude is Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

It seems counterintuitive that someone who mourns is blessed.  To mourn means to lament or feel guilt.  Usually one mourns over a death or lost relationship or any number of losses of something important to them.  I believe we need some context here to understand what was being mourned.

In scripture (Luke 4:17-21) we read where after Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He referenced the book of Isaiah and proclaimed that the scripture was fulfilled that day.

“And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

It appears that he read from Isaiah 61:1-2.  If we look back in Isaiah we learn that Isaiah was talking about a time in the future, the time of the Messiah and the Church.  This is a continuation of what Isaiah was saying about great sin and great grace.  I believe it would take a discussion of the entire book of Isaiah to fully understand the context of the time and all that he was saying, but you can begin with chapter 59 and go from there to get a decent picture.

If we look at Isaiah 61:2-3 we get an idea of who are those that mourn:

“To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”

In these verses, there are two distinctions of mourners; “…all that mourn…” and “…Them that mourn in Zion…” I believe that the former are those who mourn over any sorrow and look to God for comfort, but in the case of the latter, it would seem that they are ones who mourn in a holy way since they themselves have no troubles.

What are these two groups mourning or is it non-specific?  All people have experienced sorrow in their lives.  And those in Zion are not experiencing any type of loss so I don’t think we are talking generalities here.  God will only comfort His children who call upon Him.  Also, this part of Isaiah is dealing with great sin and great grace.  When considering these two points I believe that the mourning is for the sin that caused it.

I do not mean to imply that God would not comfort those who mourn over the loss of a loved one, or a relationship, or any number of things we feel important.  I believe He would and does.  But in the context of the Beatitudes and Isaiah, I don’t think we are talking about Jesus’s followers as people who mourn.  I think here we are talking about a specific mourning that destroys lives and separates us from God.

They that mourn are those who mourn because of what sin does.
Next - The Meek

Christian Character - Poor in Spirit

Previous - Christian Character
The first Beatitude is Matthew 5:3; “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Since all the Beatitudes begin with the word “Blessed”, it would make sense to take a moment to understand what that means even though we are addressing character traits.

According to Strong’s Concordance, “Blessed” is defined as happy, blessed, to be envied (makarios).  Helps Word-studies expands this definition as “a believer in enviable (‘fortunate’) position from receiving God’s provisions (favor) – which (literally) extend (‘make long, large’) His grace (benefits).”  In other words, it describes someone who is happy and fortunate because God extends His grace to him or her.

I believe that being blessed is not a reward for possessing one or more of these character traits we are discussing here, nor do I believe that the trait is a result of being blessed.  We cannot earn grace and even when we do receive grace it does not come with these traits as a byproduct or side effect.  I simply believe that God has extended His grace to those who follow Christ and the natural result is that we are blessed.

Let us move on to the topic “The Poor in Spirit”.

First, we need to break this into two parts (“poor” and “spirit”) and understand them both before we can use them together.  Again I will use Strong’s Concordance and Helps Word-studies to understand the original meaning of these words.

Poor (ptochos) is an adjective Strong’s defines as “poor, destitute, and spiritually poor, either in a good sense (humble devout persons) or bad.  Helps expands this by describing it as bent over, deeply destitute, completely lacking resources.

It is a little more difficult to nail down spirit (pneuma) because both Strong’s and Helps define it as wind, breath, or spirit and that the context determines which it is.  Since this verse speaks to people being blessed, we can rule out wind, leaving breath or spirit.  I think the context also rules out breath as in something we exhale since poor would not be used to describe breath.  This leaves us with spirit.

When not speaking of the Holy Spirit, spirit in man is something given by God that returns to God upon death.  In Job 32:8 Elihu says “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.”  In 1 Corinthians 2:11 Paul speaks of this spirit when he writes “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him…”  In Ecclesiastes 12:7 Solomon says of what happens when a man dies with “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” Paul writes in Romans 8:9-11 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”    And in Romans 8:16 Paul writes, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” 

Throughout the Bible spirit is used to talk about our mind and attitude such as Ephesians 4:23 “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind” and Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” and Romans 8:5-6 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

There Bible also mentions unclean spirits and ghosts but those do not fit in the context of this Beatitude.  Also, the spirit of man does not seem to work either.  It is what it is and there is no indication that it can be poor or great.

It makes more sense that spirit in this context refers to an attitude or related to the mind.  Blessed are the destitute in attitude and though makes more sense.  These are people who are humble before God.  They have no arrogance or self-righteousness.  They know they are nothing without God.

When we include the last part of the verse into the context I think we get an even clearer picture of this trait.  Who are the ones spoke of when Jesus said “…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”?  Only those who are saved will enter the kingdom of heaven.  I think this adds another dimension to the poor in spirit.

When taken all together, I believe that being humble in spirit means that one has fully given oneself over to God.  That person knows they have nothing to contribute, no way to earn God’s favor and everything they are is of God and for God.  This person has truly repented and relies fully on God for their salvation.

Those who are poor in spirit are ones who are humble before God.
Next - They That Mourn

Christian Character

Before proceeding, I would like to set some context here by defining a Christian.

It is understandable that it may be difficult to determine who a Christian is in this world.  It is label used by so many that the real meaning has been obscured.  Thankfully, however, it has not been lost.

In the original Greek the work Christian is Χριστιανός (Christianos) and is translated “follower of Christ”.  It may be surprising to learn that the term is only found three times in the Bible (Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, and 1 Peter 4:16), but I believe this is sufficient to establish that term “Christian” was attributed to  followers of Christ.

In Acts 11:26, the term Christian is used to describe the disciples teaching in Antioch.  Acts 26:28 shows that the term “Christian” was already commonly known based on King Agrippa’s response to Paul’s address; “…Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Finally, in 1 Peter 4:16 Peter is addressing the persecuted and tells them not to be ashamed to suffer as a Christian.

I don’t know that anyone could actually consider themselves as a follower of Christ without first acknowledging why Christ came, died, and arose.  I believe the following eight verses explain what his life, death, and resurrection means to us:

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” –Romans 3:23

“For God so loved the works that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not parish but have ever lasting life” – John 3:16

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy He save us.” –Titus 3:5

“Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish” –Luke 13:3

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” –Romans 10:13

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” –Acts 16:31

“If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness: and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” –Romans 10:9-10

I believe that those last two verses, Romans 10:9-10 are at the core of what it means to be a Christian.  Although they speak to salvation, I believe that the transformation that occurs is so profound and complete that it does exactly what 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 says:

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.  For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

Accepting Christ regenerates us and reconciles us with God.  We are completely transformed and our relationship with God is restored.

Since we are regenerated and reconciled to God, should there not be some way to identify the character of a Christian?  Are there any traits we can see that reflect the new person we are?  I believe there are and this series will dive into those.

This series is not trying to establish some type of litmus test that can be used to say whether a person is a Christian or not.  If it were, we would all fail because we all still sin and any snapshot of time in our lives would show where we failed to demonstrate one or more of these character traits.  Only God can know a person’s heart and only He can know the truth.

Instead, I hope that this series can be used to help the reader examine his or her own heart and better understand their Christian character and that of those around them.

This series will focus on Matthew 5:3-9.  It is the first seven of the eight Beatitudes that begin what has been called the “Sermon on the Mount.”  Those seven are:

·        Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

·        Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

·        Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

·        Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

·        Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

·        Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

·        Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

I believe that Jesus is highlighting the character traits of His followers with these Beatitudes, and these traits exist because of the regeneration and reconciliation found through salvation.

Are these the only traits?  I do not think so, but they are of such importance that Jesus began his sermon with them.

The next submission in this series will begin with the first Beatitude, the poor in spirit.


The entire series can be found at these links:
Poor in Spirit
They That Mourn
The Meek
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
The Merciful
Pure In Heart
The Peacemakers
Conclusion

GOD "Cha-Ching" (Part 1)

If you want to get rich today, all you need to do is create a product or provide a service that everyone wants, sell it for more than it costs to produce and distribute, and there you go.  Still, risk exists.  There could be liability issues, technical failures missed during testing, or competition that displaces your money maker.

But what if you could maximize your margins and eliminate the risk.  How much more money could you make and keep?  Well, there are many people out there who have found this ideal market of low risk supply and demand and are laughing all the way to the bank.  These people tell you beautiful things, create formulas for success, and if it does not work out, it is your fault, not theirs.

I am just going to jump right in the middle of this and try to bring things together at the end.  And I know this is not going to sit well with many who will read this and you are welcome to correct me if I am in error with any of this.  So lets just get started with one thing I hear so often used as a bedrock principle.

Matthew 18:19-20 "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Taken alone, this is used to show that God promises that if two agree and ask God for anything, God has to give it to them and He will be in the with them.  So if this were so, why aren't all Christians completely healthy, debt free, rolling in money, surrounded by the best of everything, and living the ideal life?  There are no restrictions here on what to ask for, so this is quite a dilemma.  I will talk about how the marketing geniuses get around this a little later.

First I would like to talk about a little thing called context and why these people are counting on your laziness and ignorance.

This verse is taken alone and used in their context.  They talk about how wealth, or health, or prosperity is promised to you and then presto, here is the verse that confirms this.  They are playing the numbers here.  The expect that there is a far greater majority of people who do not study the Bible then there are who do.  I believe that is a safe assumption because their audience consists primarily of those who do not study the Bible or their idea of studying the Bible is to read the latest best seller about things in the Bible.  I can say this in confidence because they maintain a huge market for what they are selling.

Ok, so some of you are saying to yourself how dare I talk about you like that because you also believe that is what that verse means.  Well, so did I at one time.  I would have argued against anyone who thought differently and probably written them off as a self-righteous bigot.  I did not study the Bible and I read the best sellers about the Bible.  I created and used all kinds of things to explain away any doubts I had and beat myself up over and over again for my failure to implement the principle that this verse supposedly confirms.

When I started prayfully reading the Bible and studying it, I discovered so many things I never once considered before and these included context and the time when the Bible was written.  Lets use the following as an example:

Matthew 19:24 "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

The first time I heard that, I thought to myself that since it is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, then a rich man could not be saved.  Someone then explained to me that during the time it was written, there was a small door in a main gate that was opened at night.  To get a camel through that door meant that it would have to be unloaded first.  To me, that explained everything and still made it possible for a rich man to be saved.

If we look at this from the perspective of the time it was written and the context, it takes on a completely different meaning.  To this day, there is no record found that refers to that door being called a "needle" or "eye of a needle".  Since Jesus was not near any city gates at the time, for this to mean the small door in a gate, it must have been common knowledge to all those he was speaking to as he had nothing nearby to help illustrate what he meant.  It seems even less likely that this is what the "eye of a needle" meant when there is no historical reference for something that would have been common knowledge.

Let us also look at the context; the verses around this one.  We will just stick to verses 16-26.  These verses begin with a rich young man asking what he must do to receive eternal life.  Jesus then lays out a few things and the young man responds that he has kept all these things since his youth and asks what else.  The Jesus says he should sell everything he had and give to the poor and he will have treasure in heaven and then to follow him.  Then the Bible says he went away sad because he had great possessions.  Jesus next talks about how hard it is for a rich man to enter heaven and makes reference to the camel going through the eye of the needle.  In the very next verse, the amazed disciples asked who then can be saved.  Jesus responds by saying that with man it was impossible, but with God all things are possible.

All of this is in a greater context of the kingdom of heaven and salvation, but I would like to focus on verses 25 and 26.

I do not believe Jesus was speaking about the "eye of a needle" being the small door in a city gate.  If He were, then the disciples would not have been amazed and ask who then could be saved as it says in verse 25.  It would have been apparent that it was possible but it took a lot of work to accomplish it.  This would also present a doctrinal problem.  If all that was required for salvation was some hard work, then Jesus is implying that His sacrifice was not necessary and we could all be saved by our own works.

Verse 26 also provides a big clue when Jesus says that "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible".  It would be possible for a man to get a camel through the small door of the gate if it was unloaded, but it would be impossible for a camel to pass through the eye of a sewing needle and still be considered a camel.

All this leads me to believe that Jesus was talking about an actual needle and it shows that man cannot save himself and only God can make that possible.

Now I went through all of this in hopes that using a well known verse would serve as a good example of why it is necessary and what it means to study the Bible.  It does not take a PhD, just a little effort and prayer.  Now back to the topic of this post.

If we look at the context of Matthew 18:19 we will find a much different meaning than what these people are using it for.

This context starts at Matthew 17:14. It starts when Jesus is brought a child the disciples could not heal and he heals the child.  This sets up several verses about His coming betrayal and crucifixion and resurrection.  After Jesus talks about this, the next set of verses deal with offense, separation and loss, and reconciliation.  Immediately after verses 19-20, Peter asks how many times he should forgive his brother who sins against him and Jesus says "...seventy times seven."(v 22).  I believe He using these examples to show the disciples how to deal with what is about to happen to Him and nowhere is there any mention of prayer.  Why would Jesus suddenly throw in two verses about prayer?  I don't think he did.

I believe that Matthew 18:19-20 are dealing with restoration.  He is explaining how to restore a relationship that was severed by offense.  He is talking about restoring a relationship in verses 15-17 and in verse 18 He is talking about the disposition of the trespassing brother talked about earlier.  Even if somehow we could show that Matthew 18:19-20 are talking about prayer, then why does Peter seem to completely ignore that and immediately ask about forgiveness?  I believe that the context does not permit those verse to be used in reference to prayer.

But still, these people use this verse to show that if you want something, you will get it if you pray in agreement.  How can this possibly be true.  I know there are those that did not get what they want when they prayed in agreement with others.  And how is it possible for God to give you something that would be against His Will for your life.  Do you only pray God's perfect Will in your life?  James 4:3 says absolutely not, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."  Even if you do pray for only those things that are God's Will for you, James clearly says that someone is praying for things that are lusts.  Since there are no Conditions in Matthew 18:19-20, then why would these people James is referring to not receive what they are asking for and it is not because it is only one person praying.  James is talking about groups of people in these verses.

And still there are many other situations where this is contrary to the scripture.  In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 Paul talks about praying to God to remove a thorn in his flesh.  God did not, and it was not because he did not have someone praying in agreement with him, but instead "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (v 9).  Even if there were a group praying in agreement for his healing, God would not answer those prayers with healing because it was not His Will.  God did not let Moses into the promised land.  God did not pick someone else to lead his children out of Egypt.  God did not pass the cup to anyone else when Jesus prayed to let it pass from Him.

These people are counting on you to just take their word for it when they use these verses.

Since there are no conditions in Matthew 18:19-20, how do they handle it when prayers are not answered?  That is the beauty of this scheme.  It is your fault.  You either did not pray enough, or have faith enough, or have unconfessed sin in your life.  Whatever the reason, it is all on you.  Talk about your win-win scenario.  They are either telling you the truth of God because your prayer was answered, or you are preventing God from working in your life.  But they do have the solution for this as well.

Did you know that for a "gift" of X number of dollars, you can buy the way; err sacrifice to get your prayers answered?  You can obtain pieces of anointed cloth, blessed trinkets, self help books and study guides, and special prayers by a highly trained and anointed prayer team.  Or you can plant seeds of faith with your credit card and the bigger the better; cha-ching.  They prey on your desperation and dangle the occasional person who had their prayer answered in front of you.  They show you all the good works your money is doing.  They live a lifestyle you aspire to and declare that God is using them as an example for what He has planned for you.  And all the while they are twisting God's word and spouting off special revelations God has shown only them to maintain the perception of legitimacy.

Before I going any further, I do want to say that I believe that God still performs miracles.  I believe that He wants to give you the desires of your heart.  I am not saying who should and who should not be healed and who should or should not be blessed.  This topic is about those who are twisting the Bible and making up doctrine to fleece those taken in and trying to show how this is possible.  I also believe that there are consequences for the things we do.  If you ate a gallon of ice cream every day and now have heart problems would God heal you if that shows there is no consequence for abusing your body.  If you went into debt buying what you wanted and not what you needed and could afford, should you expect that God will restore your finances?  If you murdered someone, would it be just if God kept you out of prison?  When we fail to live as God wants us to live and bad things happen, should we expect that He will just fix it all.  God's Grace and Love makes this a very real possibility, but no plan, program, or formula will force God to act against His Will.

I will continue this in the next blog post.

Heavy Heart

I shared a link today where an atheist group is suing to have the 911 cross removed from the 911 museum.  I can't say I am surprised to hear that and I find that I am a bit aggravated by it.  Instead of being angry, I am literally in tears because of what this is representative of.

"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." (Luke 16:22-28)

If even those who can admit that there is a God will go to hell without repenting of their sins and accepting Christ, how much more certain is it for those who refuse to acknowledge that God even exist.

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:21-23)

What is it that stops someone from coming to Christ?  Is it pride, or fear, or shame?  Does intellect get in the way?  Does one structure their beliefs around the hypocrisy they see in those who claim to be Christians?  I am sure there is some custom excuse for each and every one.

That hole you feel inside when your alone and no distractions remain is your separation from God.  No amount of money, or things, or adventure, or drugs, or alcohol, or escapism will ever fill that hole.  And living a life of constant distraction or living vicariously through reality TV will only comfort for so long.

The reality is this...

Everyone is a sinner
Romans 3:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one"
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"

We cannot save ourselves
Isaiah 64:6 "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"
Christ payed for our sins on the Cross
1 Peter 2:20-26 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."
Revelation 1:5 "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood"
Hebrews 9:22 "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."

Salvation is free
John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name"
Acts 16:30-31 "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

I plead with all of you to stop trying to fill that emptiness with things and activities and replacement realities.  Without Christ, you have no hope and your fate is an eternal tormented separation from God.  God will meet you where you are.  You only need to seek Him.

Context

I understand that it is common practice to use phrases to express oneself.  But this practice is only effective if a common context exists within the conversation.  Without common context, these quick little sentences can take on many different meanings within a group of people.  Even when a common context exists, however, that context can be wholly different than the one where the phrase originated.

As an example, lets use the common phrase "Judge not lest ye be judged."  I think I can safely say that most who use this phrase realize it is a passage from the Bible.  It is often used to instruct others that they should not judge other people.  Outside of the Biblical context, it may be a perfectly acceptable response to someone who is judging.  It really depends upon the setting.  However, when the discussion is how a Christian should act, the context is clearly identified as a Biblical one.  This is where this phrase is normally incorrectly applied.

If we look at the entire context of that passage, a different meaning emerges.

Matthew 7:1-5 Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

In context, this does not say Christians should not judge.  Instead it is in regards to hypocritical or self-righteous judging.  In fact, verse 5 addresses the hypocrisy by saying first remove your plank so you can clearly see how to remove the one in your brother's eye.  It does not say you are not permitted to remove the plank from your brother's eye.

If we continue reading to verse 6, we are actually instructed to make a moral judgement so we avoid vainly sharing the Truth of the Lord with those who have turned from God and find no value in Him and those who would viciously oppose Him.  There is and even deeper discussion here, but for brevity I will leave that for another time.

Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

If we were not to judge, then how would we know that we are giving something holy to dogs or pearls to swine?

There are many references in the Bible about judging and there are many more passages that are judgemental.  In John 7:24, Jesus says to Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.  So we are being told how to judge here.  In Matthew 4:17, Jesus says Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.  Jesus was judging them as sinners needed to repent.

I imagine I could go on for pages citing example after example, but I think the point has been made.  Without context, a phrase could mean anything to anyone.  It is important to know the circumstances before true understanding can be achieved.

The Identity Crisis! (Part I)

I was watching TV the other day and a Dos Equis commercial came on.  It is probably familiar to you as “The Most Interesting Man in the World.”  After the commercial I stopped and thought about it a bit.  As I dove deeper into the appeal and the message, I could see how this and a countless number of other messages being fed into the minds of people around the world help define their identity.

Identity is a very deep philosophical subject but I don’t want to write a book here so I am going to limit it a bit in this blog.  I would like to keep it constrained to a couple of ideas; who as a person we are to others and how our actions reflect how we and others perceive ourselves.

It seems to me that these ideas are more of a chicken or egg question.  I think that who we are to others is based on what we want to show them for the most part.  But what we show is determined by what we think would accurately reflect who we are and these decisions are influenced by external information.

Let’s say, for example, that we think we are a nice person.  Maybe that concept is based on holding the door open for someone, or helping someone cross the street, or serving on the local fire department, or countless other actions that are considered “nice.”  So, are we nice because we chose to do these things or are we nice because our actions are considered thoughtful or self-sacrificing by others or ourselves?  Put another way, do we do these things because we are nice, or are we nice because we do these things?  Or is it a combination of both?

I know this is a rather simplistic example but it illustrates how complex the idea of identity is.

Here is a simpler example.  Maybe I work on cars for a living.  I identify myself as a mechanic.  I do this because of a general understanding that someone who can make a living fixing cars is considered a mechanic.  My view of myself and the view of others are the same.  Now say I retire.  I still consider myself a mechanic, but others may not know what I used to do and would not call me a mechanic.  Maybe to them I am a Retiree.  If I wanted others to know me as a mechanic again, I would need to go out and get a job as a mechanic.

Considering all this, what shapes our ideas of success, or attractiveness, or how interesting we are.  Are these definitions part of our DNA and we “just know” them, or are these ideas shaped by the world around us?  I think you need look no further than advertisements and entertainment for an answer.

All these sources of media have one goal; to make money.  They all appeal to the ideas that make us who we are and attempt to show us how to be more, have more, and do more.  By my product and you will be more beautiful.  Follow my plan and you will be wealthy.  Take this pill and you will be slimmer.  Escape into this reality and you will be happier.  Buy this car and you will be the envy of your neighbors.  Drink this beverage and you will be like this interesting guy.

We are constantly bombarded with ideas that promise or suggest that we will be better, who we are will be better if we do what they want us to do, or have what they want us to have, or live like they want us to live.  What’s worse is that on the other side of the coin, we will be less or deficient somehow until we do or have or live like they want us to.  Can you see why there is an identity crises in the world today?

I think that creating your identity through the world around you is what Paul was urging Christians to avoid in Romans 12:2 where he wrote “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God”.  Instead of allowing the world to define your identity, allow God to show you who He created you to be.

Paul was not offering an alternative either.  In John 17, Jesus prayed for his disciples and all who believe in Him.  In that prayer in verse 16, He says “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”  Paul was showing that because we are not of this world, we should not be conformed to it but should instead be transformed by the things of God.