Category: marriage

cultural · gay marriage · homosexual marriage · love · marriage · Uncategorized

The Slippery Slope of Homosexuality Leads to Acceptance of all Abominations.

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So according to the immoral left, we must accept homosexuality as moral.  They insist that love is love, and question, “Who are you to stand in the way of love?”  For a Christian it is simple.  God says it is sinful in His word.  God defines true love in His sacrifice to pay for sin.  What you have is not love.  It is abominable narcissistic lust for a carbon copy of yourself.  Sure you have feelings for the person, but it is not God’s love that you have for them.  It is not the type of love demonstrated by Christ on the cross.  You can only know that love if you have been crucified with Him, if you’ve been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.

According to an article on, “The Daily Mail.com” There is a mother and son who are in an incestuous relationship.  They are quite unrepentant about it.  They even site homosexuality’s argument of, “Who are you to say what two consenting adults should do?” If you don’t believe me, read the article and watch the videos here.

So, you all remember that slippery slope we were telling you about? The country is sliding down it. If you affirm homosexual relationships from a purely pragmatic, natural, or emotional position you have no foundation to say this is immoral, or wrong. Whereas a Christian who believes in an external moral authority, who is supreme in authority, and declares what perverse abominations are, then you have a grounds to say if something is immoral or wrong. I happen to be one of those intolerant, Bible thumping, bigots, who will declare that this is wrong according to God’s word. Oh and by the way, here is why this is happening;
“Romans 1:18-32 NASB For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (19) because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (21) For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (22) Professing to be wise, they became fools, (23) and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. (24) Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. (25) For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (26) For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, (27) and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. (28) And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, (29) being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, (30) slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, (31) without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; (32) and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
We can see what God said to the Levites in the Old Testament concerning these things specifically. Since God is the same always and forever and never changes, we know that He still has the same will in regards to these abominations. “Leviticus 18:5-30 NASB ‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD. (6) ‘None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness; I am the LORD. (7) ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness. (8) ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. (9) ‘The nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover. (10) ‘The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for their nakedness is yours. (11) ‘The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, she is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness. (12) ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative. (13) ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative. (14) ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife, she is your aunt. (15) ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. (16) ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. (17) ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is lewdness. (18) ‘You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness. (19) ‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity. (20) ‘You shall not have intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. (21) ‘You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD. (22) ‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. (23) ‘Also you shall not have intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion. (24) ‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. (25) ‘For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. (26) ‘But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you (27) (for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled); (28) so that the land will not spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you. (29) ‘For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. (30) ‘Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the LORD your God.'””

gay marriage · gender dysphoria · homosexual marriage · marriage · Repentance · transgender · transsexual · Uncategorized

The Slippery Slope of Gay Marriage, as Evidenced by the Lawsuit Against Kim Davis, for not Allowing a Woman to Marry an Animal.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment


We all remember that not very long ago, Kim Davis was in the news.  She refused to issue marriage licenses to homosexual people.  Well, she is in the news again.  Can you guess what for?  Apparently she is being sued for not issuing a marriage license to a woman who wants to marry an animal.  She is also being sued by a man who wants to marry his computer.  Can anyone say, “slippery slope?”  When you have rejected the word of God, and replaced His laws with your own sinful desires, you are obligated to approve, and affirm everyone else’s.  Listen folks, I don’t know what her theology is.  I’m not putting this out there to endorse her.  I’m writing this to illustrate how the country lost its mind.  It is as if the entire country has read Romans 1 and said, “Yup, we’re cool with that.”  For those of you who are not familiar with the Bible, I’ll include Romans 1:18-32 so you can see what I’m talking about.  We are under God’s judgment as a nation people.  We need to repent of our sins.  Romans 1:18-32 NASB For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (19) because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (21) For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (22) Professing to be wise, they became fools, (23) and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. (24) Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. (25) For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (26) For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, (27) and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. (28) And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, (29) being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, (30) slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, (31) without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; (32) and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Church · cultural · God · love · marriage · Repentance · Theology · Uncategorized · under God

Men, Submit to God. Women, submit to God. He says, submit to your Husbands.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

Untitled

So, you are a modern woman, and you have heard, perhaps even said, “I can do what I want!  You don’t own me!  I don’t need a man!”  Well, if you are Christian woman, you should eschew such ignorant, godless, rhetoric.  It is prideful and selfish.  Very unbecoming of a Christian man or woman.  I am so sick of how the world has been portraying husbands and wives.  Let’s not allow the culture to define us.  Let’s be defined by God’s word.

Imagine a man who claims to be Christian, and won’t submit to God’s word.  Instead of doing what God has commanded, he does what he wants.  Is that a man who is at war with his sinful flesh, or is that a man who is giving into his flesh?

Imagine a man who claims that nobody has ownership of him.  We know that is wrong.   God tells us in His word that our bodies do not belong to us.  A husband’s body belongs to his wife.  A wife’s body belongs also to her husband, but God owns them both.  They are His creatures.  The ones who die in rebellion, will burn forever in Hell.  He will pour out His righteous wrath on them for eternity.

Imagine now, an arrogant, prideful, man exclaiming that he doesn’t need a woman.  That man is calling God a liar.  Why, the very first book in God’s word explains why He made Eve.  It was because it was not good for man to be alone.  God made for him a helpmate.  Everyone knows that men need women.  If we are to be fruitful and multiply it is obvious.  So, to subdue the Earth, we must have wives and they must have husbands.

Modern notions of gender are so diabolically satanic.  They defile, degrade, and mock what God has made for our good and His glory.  The enemy loves it every time a feminist howls in rebellion, every time a man becomes a selfish boy.  We need to embrace our roles as God has defined and ordained them to be.  We should reject what culture says.  The cultural hermeneutic says, “The verses in the Bible that tell a woman to submit to her husband, the verses that say a woman should not teach or have authority over a man, the verses that tell men to support their families, to be the spiritual leaders of their homes and Churches, the word of God that tells us how to live as godly men and women should not be applied as God intended because modern culture’s consensus is superior.”  Well, last time I checked, we don’t ask culture to explain God to us, we read His words and hear straight from God Himself in the reading of it.  I don’t have to consult the latest social pundits.  God has spoken, and He has done so with the ultimate authority that entails.

Want to know why your marriage doesn’t work?  Want to know why you are miserable in your Church?  Want to know why your children run your home?  Simple, you have forsaken God’s will as expressed in His word.  Rebels and scoundrels, each and every one of us!  Repent and believe the word of God and live to please the Savior who has bled and suffered for you on the cross of His crucifixion.  Christ submitted to the will of the Father to cleanse for Himself a bride.  That bride is the Church.  It submits to Christ.  Submit yourselves to His headship as Lord and master of your lives.  This means even unto death.  We must love our wives as Christ loved the Church.  Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.  We did not deserve His love or sacrifice.  We were, by nature His enemies, and He died to save us.  Men, love your wives when they don’t deserve it.  Women love your husbands when they don’t deserve it.  Men, submit to Christ.  Women, submit to your husbands, not because he says to, but because the one, true, living God, almighty says to!

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
[Ephesians 5:22-33 KJV]

Husband, head, protector, provider.  Not what T.V. says, not what the movies show.

cultural · God · love · marriage · Uncategorized

What is a young man’s incentive to get married?

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What is a young man’s incentive to get married?

In today’s culture, there really is none.  Think about it.  Because of feminism, promiscuity, abortion, birth control, and unfair divorce laws, a man has no reason to get married.  For a young man today, he has women exercising their, “equality” by approaching him for promiscuous sex outside of marriage.  He doesn’t have to court them, or win their affections.  No, he just has to be attractive, and willing.  He doesn’t have to worry about becoming a Father either.  Birth control, and abortion have him covered there.  Why become a Father when he can remain a boy?  Not to mention what he witnessed growing up.  His own Father was never in his life, because of the divorce his parents put him through.  He only got to see his Father on the court appointed days.  His buddies that have been divorced tell him of how they have to pay alimony, lose half their retirement accounts, take all of the debt, lose half of their assets, and only get to see their children when it is convenient for their ex.  So if he can keep having all of the sex he wants without being married, or even in a committed relationship, why would he want to go through the rest of that trouble?  This is why we need a Biblical world-view.  This is one of the ways the enemy has engineered to take down our culture.  Our culture was based on God’s word.  This is one of the ways the enemy has decided to defile us, and mock God.

cultural · God · love · marriage · Repentance · Uncategorized

Become Lowly Servants.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

welove-christian-graphics1

The world is crazy. People are unstable, and unreliable. They are selfish, and self-centered. They don’t care what other people need. They don’t care about other people’s feelings. They only think about their own problems, and their own feelings. They don’t believe in loving other people more than they love themselves. They don’t believe it is healthy to do so. They don’t love Christ above all. People around them are only there as extensions of themselves. Their egos are tied up in them, and when they aren’t rewarded, it is easy for them to destroy the relationships they have, without care for the other people. I’m sick of seeing this, and hearing of it. Being a spouse, and a parent is not for your fun. If you are a spouse or a parent, it is not an option to cease. If you are a spouse, you made an oath to God, and your spouse, in front of witnesses. How on Earth could you justify destroying that, just because you aren’t happy? If you are a parent of a child, how could you mistreat your child because they are interrupting your, “time” or perhaps they don’t give you what you want. Well, duh! They aren’t there to complete you, or make you feel loved, or better. You are the parent for crying out loud. God has given you a job to do. Train them up in the way they should go. Teach them about God, and His word. Preach the gospel of the grace of Jesus to them. Love them more than you love yourself. Sacrifice for everyone around you. You are NOT THAT IMPORTANT!!! Become everyone’s servant. Wash some feet, lower yourself! All of the self-esteem, feminism, everyone’s a winner, sexual liberty, no fault divorce, birth control, promiscuity marketed to women as women’s lib, defilement of marriage by divorce, adultery, and gay marriage, euthanasia marketed as dying with dignity, abortion marketed as a women’s choice under women’s lib/feminism, porn turning men and women into objects, defiling gender that is God given as a gift for the procreation of image bearers of God, that was to be for His glory, and on and on and on… I’m tired… I’m disgusted… Haven’t we had enough of us? Haven’t we had our fill of this delusion? We need God. We need repentance. We need to be broken so we can see the vanity of it all. WE NEED TO HUMBLE OURSELVES AND REPENT. We need to become lowly servants. That is my rant for the day.  Like Paul when he said, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” 1 Timothy 1:15 (NASB)  We are the worst of sinners, I am the worst of sinners, you are the worst of sinners.

cultural · forgiveness · God · hate · love · marriage · Theology · Uncategorized

Are Your Feelings Determining How You View God, Or Is God Determining How You Feel?

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Are Your Feelings Determining How You View God, Or Is God Determining How You Feel?Are you acting like a child?  Are you following people who act like unreasoning beasts, and encourage others to do the same?  A child allows his emotions to rule him.  He is without discipline and only knows want.  A false teacher promotes what is against God.  He acts like an unreasoning beast, “But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,” (2 Peter 2:12 NASB)

Do you let your feelings determine how you view God, and treat others?  Love is a big deal.  People go on and on about feeling like they are in love, wanting to feel love.  People also feel other emotions like, hate, impatience, greed, jealousy, envy, apathy, and pride.  People desperately want others to validate their feelings, by agreeing with them.  When we allow feelings to determine how we treat others, and how we view God, we are behaving like children.  All they know is what they want.  Their wants are not informed by anything else, just their will alone.  As they get older, hopefully their parents discipline them, and train them.  If you are an adult, and your feelings rule you, then spiritually speaking, you are a sinful little child.  If you believe all of the self-help gurus out there, teaching you how to get in touch with your feelings, and how to be happy.  God tells us how we should feel about others, about situations, and He also tells us how we should feel about Him.  When we obey our feelings that are against what God commands in His word we are definitely in sin.  

Viewing God through any other lense than His word is creating an idol in your mind.  When you just go by your fallen, sinful, emotions, to build a picture of God, it will most certainly be a false god, not the one true God of the Bible.  If you find yourself disagreeing with long-held orthodox doctrines, in favor of your own personal interpretation, chances are you are worshipping a god of your own making.  Repent, and worship the God of the Bible.  Let your mind be informed by the word of God, so that the God you worship is the true one.

As Christians, we are not to behave, think, or feel like the world.  We are to obey God in all things.  So when God tells us to love our enemies, that is what we must do.  Love needs to be thought of as an action as well as a feeling.  All of the emotions must be thought of as actions as well as a feelings, because they move us to action.  Unless God changes your heart and mind, in regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will not be able to think or feel rightly.  When you are truly born again, and you resist feeling the way your know you should or you indulge a feeling you know you shouldn’t, you are sinning.  Sinning this way is accepted by the world and encouraged.  We are not to be like the world.  

There are benefits to obeying God.  Yes, God gave us emotions, but they are under the effect of sin.  They are affected by the fall.  Knowing this, hopefully you can see how they need to be conformed to God’s will as expressed in His word?  Don’t reject the will of God, for your own childish feelings.  Bring your feelings into obedience to God.  You can do it with His help.  It will be a blessing to you and to all of the people you come in contact with.  God’s will is always better.  So next time you are feeling your way through life ask yourself if those feelings are sinful or are they in obedience to God?

Book Reviews · cultural · God · marriage · Theology · transgender · transsexual · Uncategorized

Dr. R. Albert Mohler’s new book, “We Cannot Be Silent.” is a must read for Christians trying to make sense of all the gender chaos going on around us.

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cannotbesilent
If you have been a regular listener of, “The Briefing” you’ll find Dr. Mohler’s newest book to be quite familiar, as he has addressed much of the subject matter on his program.  The book offers a fuller fleshing out of the history, and circumstances, that have lead to our current state, as well as a Christian analysis of it.

The chapter titles in the table of contents paint the picture of what you’ll read in the book;

1 In the Wake of a Revolution

2 It Didn’t Start with Same-Sex Marriage

3 From Vice to Virtue: How Did the Homosexual Movement Happen?

4 The Impossible, Possibility of Same-Sex Marriage

5 The Transgender Revolution

6 The End of Marriage

7 What Does the Bible Really Have to Say About Sex?

8 Religious Liberty and the Right to Be Christian

9 The Compassion of Truth: The Church and the Challenge of the Sexual Revolution

10 The Hard Questions

 

Dr. Mohler takes you step by step, setting the scene with historical information, about how the foundation for this revolution was put in place, so that in the right environment of postmodernism it could explode.  follow along step by step, to see how the plan of the enemy has been unfolding for decades.  Dr. Mohler cites the work of opponents, and proponents to Christian values effectively, and fairly in this book.  He uses their own words in thorough quotations from their published works.  You can trace a line from no-fault divorce, birth control, abortion, and now all of the gender issues.  As we deal with the consequences of these doctrines of death culture, Dr. Mohler educate and offers a Biblical analysis. He explains what these changes in our culture will mean for us as a nation, and for Christians.  

Dr. Mohler also explains what the Church’s response should be in light of our past failures to inform culture.  Bad theology, watered down truths, attractional models, moralism, and pragmatism have all gotten us where we are at today.  Real love, tells the truth.  We have to proclaim the truths of the Bible to the lost.  The things that seem difficult are often what are necessary.  The gospel is the only hope for the people of this nation.  Chapter 10 offers valuable Biblical responses to questions that are already being asked.  If you haven’t given these issues much thought and would like to, or if you are a bit confused and don’t know how we got to where we are today, I would recommend reading this book and referring back to it from time to time.

forgiveness · love · marriage · Uncategorized

Is there a heart so broken, soul so wounded, two hearts in a marriage so hurt, or scars so thick that God, the Creator of all things, cannot heal them?

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Yesterday I posted a piece about toxic relationships being a new age cop out.  It came to my attention that perhaps I didn’t stress the power of God enough.  People can feel extremely hurt and justified in maintaining their anger and resentment.  They can harden their hearts and sear their conscience, so that they no longer feel conviction when the Holy Spirit brings to mind all of their complicity.  We know from God’s word that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  We also know that none are righteous.  

For the person who is deeply hurt, this information doesn’t seem to help them, but it is the only information that will help them.  They have to see their own sin and see how much in need they are of God’s grace, mercy, and love.  When they can see their need, and it moves them to repent and believe in the work of Christ, then they can see the other person, and how weak and needy they are.  When you can look at someone who has wronged you, hurt you, scarred you, and then see how you have done the same thing to Christ, and yet know that He has forgiven you, given you grace, mercy, and love, in light of what you know you justly deserve, you can then love the other person in like fashion.

God, who created everything, things known and unknown by us, the seed from which a redwood grows, the highest majestic mountains, to the lowest, deep cut valleys, to the blue sky where winged birds fly, and beyond to the vast reaches of space where we lose ourselves in contemplation of our smallness, this very God who knows everything about us, He is all powerful, and to think that He cannot change your heart?  What hope is there if a sinner’s heart cannot be changed?  Therefore, there is no wound so great that the saving balm of the gospel cannot use it for the glory of God.

marriage · Uncategorized

Toxic People, Toxic Relationships, a New Age Cop out.

Bob Snyder5 Comments

toxic relationship
How many times have you heard from one of your married friends who is being left by their spouse, “We were just toxic together.”  Probably as many times as you’ve heard, “He/She was just toxic for me.”  People complain, “I’m just not happy.  I deserve to be happy.”  So many of my friends, as of late, have had these things said to them. Usually followed by, “I don’t love you anymore.”  For good measure they might even throw in a, “You are controlling, and abusive. I never loved you.”  These are some of the most selfish, and injurious accusations I’ve heard.  These are also very sinful, and rebellious.  They are definitely not Christian sentiments.  I believe they are selfish, and used as a cop out.  It is the lie they tell themselves, and others, to not put in the hard, sanctifying, and gospel exemplifying, work that is needed for a life-long covenant between them and God.  

I’d expect to hear this vitriol coming from the lost, but we often hear it coming from professing Christians.  I’ve even seen several articles on supposedly Christian websites that advocate divorcing a toxic person.  Have they forgotten that everyone is a, “toxic person?”  Have they forgotten the power of the gospel?  Have they forgotten that God hates divorce?  If they are saved, and acting/feeling like this then, they are in rebellion, and will be disciplined by God.  If they are false converts, they will receive their just punishment in Hell, where God will be just, and right to pour out His wrath on them, for all eternity.   

Of course you are in a toxic relationship.  You are a toxic sinner.  Of course your spouse is toxic.  They are a sinner.  When you put two sinners together in a room they are going to sin.  They are going to be selfish, prideful, arrogant, idolatrous, and petty.  Of course you aren’t happy.  You are expecting another person to make you happy.  Guess what…  a sinful person will always let you down.  You will never be fulfilled by another human being.  You can only find the contentment you are looking for in Jesus, and His gospel of grace.

Oh, and here is another big shocker, regardless of what you’ve heard, you don’t deserve to be happy!  You are a sinner, like everyone else.  God is perfectly just, holy, righteous, and good.  You have broken His laws, and are a guilty sinner.  You, and I deserve to be punished.  We don’t deserve to be happy.  You, and I deserve to be killed by God, and be sent to Hell for eternity, just like everyone else on the planet.  You see, it is a sin problem, not a relationship problem.  The only way it was a relationship problem is that as sinners we were enemies of God.  If we want peace with Him, we must repent, and believe in the work of Christ on the cross, to justify us with God.

We read all of the New Age drivel on websites, blogs, and social media.  We listen to podcasts, and self-help gurus on the radio.  It validates, and justifies, the selfish, idolatrous, sinful, thoughts.  Why do people consume these things?  I know why I am here.  I am here to combat the darkness that has been enslaving people, and ruining marriages, children, and families, for far too long in this country.  Why are you here?  Are you here to flirt with the darkness?  Do you want to hear something that will give you permission to give up, and give in to sin?  Are you being tempted by the New Age malarkey?  Are you setting up false teachers to tickle your ears?  Wake up!  We need to stop behaving like selfish children, and truly understand what this means, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  Do you think you are something special?  Do you think you deserved His love?  If it weren’t for His grace, we’d all be lost.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not telling someone who is getting physically abused to stay in the home.  If you are getting physically abused you should be separated.  “Separated” does no mean, “Oh goody, time to commit adultery.”  Being separated for a time can be necessary, but it is always supposed to be temporary.  If your spouse has committed adultery, you may divorce them, but it isn’t the optimal expression of a mature believer’s grace.  If your spouse is an unbeliever, and walks out on you, you may divorce.  If you really understand grace, even though you may divorce them, if they are repentant, you will forgive them, and give grace to them, just like the way Christ gave grace to you, instead of what you deserve.

I don’t agree with the modern definition of psychological abuse.  Pretty much any difficult thing you talk about with a person can be deemed abusive anymore.  Obviously if you are a Christian you should not hurt your spouse emotionally.  You should not intentionally, or maliciously hurt their feelings.  It is sinful to do so.  Your sin does not justify a divorce unless it fits the criteria mentioned above.  Christ endured our scorn, and ridicule while on the cross, dying for a bunch of sinners.  Do we think we deserve better than Christ?

We all want the romantic fairy tale marriage.  We all want to feel loved.  Some people are living the dream, but it might not have always been that way for them.  How do you think they got there?  It wasn’t by giving in, and giving up that is for certain.  They had to fight against their own sin, and forgive the other’s sins, while loving God more than anyone, or anything else.  They had to trust, and obey God, not their ever-changing emotions.  If you give up you miss out on the sanctification that God has planned for you.  If you give up, you’ll just take your sin problems with you to another sinner, and find some other reason to leave them.  You’ll never deal with the real problems as long as you use the cop out excuse of, “They were just toxic, it was a toxic relationship.”

Our only hope in marriage is Jesus Christ.  Our only hope in life, and death is Jesus Christ.  If we have been saved from our sins by Christ, then we are obliged to demonstrate the same type of sacrificial love for our spouse.  We love them without any expectations of return on our investment.  We love them because Christ loves us.  Our sins put Christ on the cross.  It is as if we had the hammer, and nails in our hands, and put Him up there ourselves.  He died for us, knowing that we hated Him.  He got nothing worth having in saving us.  By God’s sanctifying work, the Holy Spirit conforms us to the will, and word of God, to be Christlike to the world, including our spouse.  We love them even though they don’t deserve it.  We demonstrate grace to them, when they don’t deserve it.  Marriage is a covenant with God, you, and your spouse, for the rest of your life.  It is a picture of the gospel, to be lived out in front of the world.  The husband is the head of the wife, the way that Christ is the head of the Church.  Christ died to save the Church, His bride.  The wife is the representation of the Church, submitting to the Bridegroom who saved her for Himself.  So love one another sacrificially, and stop all of this selfish carnal nonsense.  Obey God, and glorify Him in your marriage.

marriage · Movie Review · Uncategorized

I Finally Watched the Movie, “Fireproof 2” Woops, I Meant, “War Room” and I’m Left Wondering, What Was all the Fuss About?

Bob Snyder7 Comments

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I know this is old news, so I won’t spend a bunch of time on this. I finally got around to watching the movie, “War Room.” It really did make me think that I liked it better when it was called, “Fireproof.” So many people were telling me how great it was and still others were voicing concerns. I didn’t want to waste my money on a bad movie so I waited for it to go to rental. I watched it mostly by myself. My Wife and Daughter would watch here and there. As I was watching it I became aware of a couple of scenes with really bad theology. However, I kind of expected it from Christian movies these days.
There was a scene where the main character is fed up with her life and prays out loud to the devil and then commands him to leave her house and go to Hell, in the name of Jesus. First, don’t pray to the devil, don’t talk with the devil, and don’t rebuke the devil. Even the angels say, “The Lord rebuke you.” Second, the devil doesn’t live in hell and he is not from hell. He is on the Earth and won’t be in Hell until he is sent there by God.
The other scene that was laughable was when a mugger confronted the older lady and the younger lady and attempted to rob them at knife point. The older lady commanded the thug to drop his knife in the name of Jesus… and guess what… He did. I had to laugh, but it also made me a bit angry. What if someone actually tried that? Disregard all of the Pentecostal mythology surrounding this type of thing. Honestly, it is not the way to handle that situation. Let’s see… Did it help the early Church Fathers when they were being martyred? Did it stop the Romans from using Christians as torches to light the streets? Does it help the Christians being martyred by the Muslims today?
The biggest problem I had with the movie is one that my 15 year old Daughter picked up on just from watching a little bit of the movie. She said something to the effect of, “Is this one of those Christian movies where everyone gets saved and their problems all go away?” The sad thing is that she was correct. This movie forwarded the, “life enhancement gospel.” This is a false gospel that goes like this, “Become a Christian, and God will make your life better.” This can be very damaging to immature Christians. This movie would have been so much better if the husband would have went to prison after repenting. The husband ends up repenting. He then takes responsibility for getting fired from his job as a pharmaceutical sales representative. He also admits to his bosses about stealing pharmaceuticals from the company. One of the bosses wants to have him prosecuted. Of course, because he comes clean and gives back what he stole they forgive him and then he gets a great new job closer to home. God makes everything better and life is peachy keen again…
What if he would have done all of the good things like repenting, returning what he stole, and he still ended up going to prison? They could have shown her praying for him and waiting for him to get out. They could have showed him accepting the difficult things as part of God’s will. If a person decides to become Christian for a better life, they are missing the point. We should become Christians because we sorrow over our sins and love Christ for His sacrificial work on the cross to atone for our sins.