That’s a pretty good point, isn’t it? After all, I was born a sinner and had no role in that situation. I didn’t cause it, but now I have to kiss God’s fanny to get out of this mess. How is that free will?

I totally love that question because it shows that people are thinking about hard things. Here’s the answer, there is no answer! Well, not a really simple one. Lets answer it in several ways.

First, while none of us are the direct cause our sinful nature, none of us can stop it either. Suppose God were to say to you that He was going to cancel out the penalty of original sin. That’s the part we aren’t directly responsible for causing. How long could you go without sinning?  Remember, zero sin is allowed in heaven, so one sin and you’re out. How far could you get?  Really? What if the thoughts in your head were played on a big screen for everyone to see? I wouldn’t make it 5minutes. Probably less. So it seems that if God started all over with us, we would do no better than Adam and Eve. It isn’t really that someone else was bad and we’re stuck paying a penalty for them, its that sin is part of our nature. God wouldn’t make us think bad thoughts to be displayed on the screen, we own that. We aren’t really the victim of someone else’s issue, someone else just got to it before us.

Secondly, consider this. Suppose a particular family line had long suffered from a genetic birth defect. How it started is simply a matter of history, the immediate situation is what needs to be done today to save the living. Now suppose a doctor was able to come up with a shot that would save the living, would the family be grateful for the doctor or angry with him? After all, they may feel that they have a right to be angry because they didn’t do anything to need this shot, it was all beyond their control. They didn’t cause it but are still afflicted. They could be thankful that there is a cure. I suppose they could simply deny that they have the problem, even though the symptoms are overwhelmingly obvious. Perhaps they could deny the rigid test methods like a good moral relativist.

See, we’re stuck with the condition of sin. We couldn’t get rid of it on our own if we had the chance. Jesus provided that cure and it cost Him a lot. Grace is easy on our end, but it was pretty brutal for Jesus. If there was another way, He was slaughtered for nothing. Could it be said that our free will is limited to two choices? Yes, I think that would be fair. You only have the choice of being saved or being doomed, you don’t have the option of not participating. You are forced to decide. Just like if you had the winning lottery ticket, your choice is to cash it in or throw it away. Why would anyone throw away eternal salvation? Why would anyone wait?  Keep thinking hard friends.

Most of us have rented an apartment or home at some point in our lives. Generally most rentals are out of style and eventually clean, but a person would never put any of their own money in fixing up the place. Its just to get you by till you can afford your own place.

What if I were to tell you about a man that had a monthly lease on a home, but put a lot of his money into fixing it up? He’s nuts right?  It gets crazier. This fellow spent 65 years in this month to month rental. Here’s more crazy, he spent all the money he made and all his time fixing this rental place into quite a spectacle. It really became an obsession with him, consuming most of his time, while he neglected his family. Mind you, it was very nice and his dysfunctional family did enjoy the luxury, but the man couldn’t enjoy it because his obsession was insatiable. He’d no more get done with one room and the next room consumed him. It never ended. At least till the day that his landlord kicked him out. Now all those things that he put all his passion in were gone and his family despised him. Not only did he waste his life but he left his family in a horrible position. Nothing he did even mattered.

Pretty sad and pathetic story, isn’t it? If you want to learn more about this person, go grab a mirror. Yes, ladies too. We are all that foolish man! If you are a Christian, this is not your home. You don’t own this or anything in it. You didn’t make it and it can be taken away in an instant. Actually, it will be taken away in an instant. Atheist’s too, you aren’t taking anything with you either.

You have to ask yourself a few important questions. First, what are you devoting your life to? Are you devoting your life to acquiring a bunch of stuff that wont last? Do you have to work 80 hours a week to keep up the payments on all your crap? Most of your stuff will likely go to auction and sold to greedy little people for pennies on the dollar. Your treasures will be sold off to other “renters” who likely have the same useless covetous passion as you. No one cares. Imagine asking someone from 300yrs ago how hard they worked for “stuff” and where it is now. Excepting a few trinkets in a museum, all their stuff is gone, all laid to waste.

Lets change the question a bit. How could you make a positive difference in peoples lives, if you devoted all your time, energy and resources into helping the people? Not like a government program, but really getting together with some folks and lift them up. If we truly believe that Jesus loves everyone, why aren’t we passionate about loving them too? If you’re too chicken to talk about Jesus, but aren’t afraid to go to the bank and humble yourself for another loan, brother, your priorities are out of line! You won’t impress Jesus with your Escalade, but standing up for the weak and lost IS impressive. Jesus told us to do that. Live humble and share the kindness that Jesus shared with us. Refocus your vision on what you can do to help folks out and share with them how Jesus saved you. Take your focus off the sales ad and put it on a hurting brother or sister.

Friends, look around you right now. Everything that you see, does not belong to you. All you did was trade a piece of your life to hold on to it for a little while. This is not my home. Repeat it out loud, this is not my home. Say it often. Make financial decisions  only after saying that. Say it when you are at the store. Say it when you meet troubled folks. Say it when you are the troubled folks. This is where my brothers and sisters are right now, but we won’t be here long. Trouble won’t last. Jesus showed me the way and this is not our home.

I’m really looking forward to meeting my loved ones who have passed before me, and loved ones I’ve never even met. I’m looking forward to meeting you and bringing some lost friends home with me as well. Pray hard friends and I’ll see you back home.

One of the criticisms of Christians today is that they’re rigid and wont change with the times. After all, the rest of society is changing, so why don’t Christian want to keep up?

Its important to realize that the reason Christian world view doesn’t change because our playbook doesn’t change. While societies, cultures and governments have come and gone, the Bible that we base our belief system on hasn’t changed for at least 1800 years. Significantly further back if the Torah and Old testament are considered. Even detractors should find some comfort in our stability.

So what about the latest “modern” societal ideas?

The real danger is in their foundation, they don’t have one. Liberalism and moral relativism that is getting shoved down everyone’s throats these days has no foundational belief at all. Nothing is absolutely true. If I make an error or I behave badly, someone can show me in Holy Scripture where I was wrong and tell me to straighten up. I am accountable to my standard of belief, the Bible.  Moral relativism militantly enforces the policy that there are no absolutes. Absolutely! There is no truth or absolute so nothing can really ever be wrong. The only sin they wont tolerate is offending someone and hurting their feelings.  What’s true for you is true for you and what’s true for me is true for me. You can never say someone else’s version of the truth is wrong. They have no accountability. They can also change what is true for them at any time. If truth is that adjustable, truth is the wrong descriptor. Truth cannot be a “temporary condition” based on opinion. Truth says if you jump off a barn, 100 times out of 100 you are gonna hit the ground. It isn’t based on my opinion or yours. Truth is true because its true, and there is a basis for that truth. When a Christians makes a statement it can be and should be, verified.

Forgive the poor example, but would you be more likely to vote for a Christian or a moral relativist? Even if you disagree with the Christian, you know where she/he stands today and tomorrow. A liberal moral relativist could tell you their stance on all the topics to get you to vote for them and totally do the opposite when elected. What did you expect? What was true for her yesterday isn’t true for her today. You have no basis to criticize, because you knew they had no foundation of truth. Quite a modern picture of our government, isn’t it?

We live in a fast evolving society that is based on never offending anyone but Christians(their feelings don’t count). So they have built a world view on the shifting sands of feelings. Its a world view that’s tough to pin down, other than the fact that you just cant be too liberal. Its like trying to nail Jello to the wall.  Since many folks want to live like wild dogs, to avoid moral conviction they simply become liberals. They’re like a puppy playing in the street, thinking how fun it is and laughing at all the folks trying to save them. We know that wont last  and its going to end badly.

Friends please examine the foundation for your beliefs. Christians learn about yours and liberals find some. The stakes are so high, for yourselves and generations of people around you. Don’t blow it, you don’t get another shot at this. This isn’t a dress rehearsal, this is the real show.  Study hard