Deserve

I have a challenging question for you today. Can you think of something that you deserve? Coming up with a correct answer is not as easy as one might think. I can think of a few things I deserve but not all of them are good.

"I deserve better than this."

Have you ever heard anyone say that? How about this one.

"He got what he deserved."

Companies like McDonald's think that we deserve something. Do you remember their slogan from the 80's? "You deserve a break today." We do? Do we really deserve a break? And from what? Do we really deserve all the things we think we do?

Some people think that we humans deserve to be happy. Others are quite sure that God Himself wants us to be happy, no matter what we do. "Hey, if it feels good, do it!" Is that right? Is that true?

What if killing another human being makes us feel good? If it feels good God would want us to do it, right? Is there such a thing as right or wrong? Are there moral absolutes? Who determines the penalties? Who determines what truth is? What do we really deserve?

I entered the word "deserve" in the search engine in my on-line Bible (ESV version). I found two basic uses for the word "deserve."

The first was about receiving payment for our labor. We deserve our wages. That makes sense. It's the American way! We earned something by performing a service for someone. We have a right to be paid for it. We deserve it.

The second use of the word deserve has to do with our sins. We have earned our payment there as well. However, according to Romans 6:23, "the wages of sin is death." Everyone of us deserves death. Nice. Where is the happiness we thought God wanted us to have?

So does that mean we humans don't deserve to be happy? Yes, I'm afraid it does. Happiness is situation dependent. Happiness is always fleeting and depends on many emotional variables.

There are several pastors preaching in very large churches these days who will tell you that we all deserve happiness and that we deserve your best life now. To put it rather bluntly, and in the words of the apostle John, "they are liars and the truth of God is not in them" (1 John 2:4).

So, if we deserve death and God is just and righteous in handing out exactly what we deserve, what possible hope for happiness can we have? Let me introduce you to a different and a better feeling than just plain old happiness . . .

Joy.

Joy is the feeling we get when, although we are deserving of death for the things we have done or left undone, Jesus paid the price for our sins with His death on the cross. He took the penalty that WE deserved. And He willingly paid that price because He loved us.

"Greater love has no man than this: to lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13

 The joy that we feel when we come to realize just what Jesus did for us makes us incredibly humble. Our sins caused the death of God's only son! Where is the joy in that you might ask, and rightly so. The joy came on the third day, when Jesus rose from the dead. He died so that we might live (1 Thessalonians 5:10).

There is great joy to be found in Christ. And we don't deserve any of it. It is a free gift, available to anyone willing to surrender themselves and become a child of God.

The choice is ours. We can live like the world wants us to - feeling that we deserve this and that we are owed that. Or we can surrender our hearts to Jesus and find joy that last until the end of time. Easy choice if you ask me.

Valuable?

I saw a post on Facebook a few weeks ago that made me stop and scratch my head. Perhaps it's just me and my way of looking at things but in my mind I questioned what the text in the picture was saying. It was a nice, warm picture with some writing about God on it. So it has to be good, right? Right?

The text read, "We don't shine because of what people say and do. We shine because God sees us as valuable."

Is that true? Do we shine because God sees us as valuable? The answer to that question is . . . no. We shine because we are redeemed sinners, grateful to be given the gift of salvation through our belief in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for OUR sins. So where did this picture come from if it is untrue?

If we look a little closer at the image we can see a name in the lower right hand corner - Victoria Osteen. Hmm, Osteen . . . where have I heard THAT name before. Have you ever heard of JOEL Osteen? He is the pastor of America's biggest church. Victoria Osteen is his wife. It appears that Joel's "feel good" Christianity is rubbing off on his spouse. That is NOT a good thing.

I have written about Mr. Osteen before. He is what's known as a FALSE TEACHER. He only tells PART of the story when it comes to Christianity.That whole sin and repentance thing? Yeah, he doesn't say too much about that. He definitely is encouraging though! He's encouraging his followers straight to hell! Well, that wasn't fair. I should have said he preaches a false gospel. I don't KNOW if his followers believe him or not. I DO know that the apostle Paul feels that false teachers should be accursed by God.

"6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel -  7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." - Galatians 1:6-9

Along with her picture, Victoria Osteen had some other things to say. Here they are, along with some comments by yours truly. She writes . . .

"God chose you before the foundation of the world . . ."

That's true. Ephesians 1:4

". . . because you are valuable to Him."

No, God chose us because He has plans for us (Jeremiah 29:1). She makes it sound like God NEEDS us. That's not true.

He chose you because He knows your worth, and He’s not willing to let you perish!

Wrong. The actual verse is from 2 Peter 3:9 and it says that God WISHES that none of us would perish. He is perfectly willing to let us die. That is what sin is all about! He was willing to let Jesus die . Are we more special than Jesus? No!

There were many other Biblically-questionable statements made by Victoria but I'm getting a little nauseous, knowing that there are many who follow these false teachers and are not hearing the TRUE Gospel. Isn't the Bible sufficient for us anymore? Some people feel we need to take out the bad parts, the condemning parts, because we want everyone to be happy and feel good about themselves. The fact is we are all sinners, deserving of death on judgment day, but through the grace and mercy and sacrifice of Jesus, we can be saved from all that.

I commented back on Victoria's Facebook picture. I'm guessing she probably doesn't read the comments. Too busy feeling good about herself. This was my reply:

"If we shine, it is because we are reflecting the grace and love of Jesus Christ in our lives, not because God sees us as valuable. Read your Bible. God sees us as sinners. It is only through our belief in His Son that we appear righteous in God's eyes. God does not NEED us. We need HIM!"

We must pray for Victoria and her husband Joel, that they might preach the TRUE Gospel. In only bring forth part of the Gospel their followers are only learning about an edited, customized God . . . a different god. And that is breaking the very first commandment. Please, say a prayer for them today and all those who worship false gods.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." - Exodus 20:2-6

Pastor Steve Lawson on Joel Osteen's Larry King appearance

Frustrated

This morning I find myself feeling frustrated. Have you ever felt that way? Some days it seems like absolutely nothing can go right. But today, for some reason, I feel especially frustrated. I actually woke UP feeling frustrated. And what's really frustrating is . . . I'm not sure why. Frustrating!!

It's easy to get frustrated in today's world. Just turn on the news. The economy, although it seems like we are making a comeback of sorts, is still shaky. Our government is still printing money it has nothing to back it up with. The U.S. dollar is losing respect around the world. More and more countries are switching to the petrocurrency, rather than relying on the U.S. dollar as their common standard.

Muslim extremists frustrate me too. They are VERY frustrating. There is nothing like blowing up random people to show the stupidity of their actions . . . and, if I may say, their "faith." I listened to a recent sermon by Pastor John MacArthur the other day and he laid out who he felt the Antichrist was. Guess who. It's Muhammad. You can listen to his message here. It's excellent.

Another thing that gets me frustrated is television. I've written about that before. Nothing gets me frustrated like wasting time. To me anyway, television's whole purpose seems to be occupying our time - as much of it as they can get. TV networks will do anything, stretch any envelope possible to get more people to waste their time watching their shows over someone other network. Frustrating.

Political correctness? Don't get me started.

But the one thing that frustrates me the most are churches that don't preach the gospel. Whether it is during "normal" worship services or during Wednesday night youth groups. It is frustrating to me that people are walking out of the doors of their church without the complete truth.

I've written about Joel Osteen before. That guy has the biggest "church" in the country and he is probably responsible for send more "Christians" to hell than anyone. He preaches an incomplete Gospel. He refuses to talk about sin and repentance. He can't even find the words to agree with Jesus when our God said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me." Listen to this interview with Larry King.

False Teacher Joel Osteen on Larry King

The caller has more knowledge of the Gospel than Mr. Osteen, yet he is the one leading America's largest church. Frustrating!

I see so many people walking around saying the same things these false teachers are saying - that all roads lead to heaven, that there is no hell. They will find out soon enough I guess. But what can be done in the meantime? Like I ask the youth in our church - "What are you going to do about it?" This is what I would recommend.

1. Pray. Take all the frustrations and place them at the foot of the cross.
2. Read. Spend time reading the Bible. The best defense is a good offense. Increase your knowledge about what God says so that when someone else tells you differently you can discern truth from lies.
3. Pray. Pray for opportunities to speak to others about Jesus. Pray for boldness to jump into conversations when you hear something "not quite right." Our silence can easily be construed as agreement.
4. Speak. Get the words out about the lies that are being taught by some of these wolves in sheep's clothing.
5. Pray. Pray that these false teachers would repent and follow Jesus. That they would then lead the flocks they shepherd to the promised land, just like Moses led God's people, Israel.

When I hear false teaching the first thing I do is shake my head, followed closely by prayer. There is really nothing I can do BUT pray. Pray for people's eyes to be opened, including the eyes of these pastors. Pray for the sheep, blinded by false teaching, that they might awaken from their slumber and follow THE ONLY TRUE WAY to heaven, Jesus, the Christ.

The following is a video by one of my favorite bands. They too are rather frustrated and "sick of it." Their solution is the same one I offered in  - to "raise your hands" to the only one who has the answer. Watch what happens in the video when people get frustrated to the point where they search to help. They "raise those hands" and turn to God.

Sick Of It - Skillet

Lemmings

Do you know what this furry little animal is? A mouse perhaps? No. What about a hamster? Nope. A Vole!! It has to be a vole!! Wrong.

This fuzzy little varmint is known as a Lemming. They average about 3-6 inches long and live way up north, near the arctic circle. They like to eat leaves and grasses, roots  and bulbs. They sound innocent enough, right? Did you know that, if provoked, they will attack? Even humans!! Keep THAT in mind if you're ever up by the arctic circle and wanting to pet THIS cute little creature! Dey be mean!!

Lemmings, however aren't known for their voracity. They are actually known for something about themselves that isn't true. For years we humans have thought that lemmings occasionally commit mass suicide by jumping off cliffs into the sea. Even today, if you go to Google and search for "lemmings" you will see numerous cartoons depicting this very thing.

In 1985, Apple Computer ran a Lemming commercial during the Superbowl as they launched The MacIntosh Office - a direct competitor of Microsoft Office. It featured humans (most likely representing PC/Microsoft users), as they walked blindfolded off a cliff, just like the fabled lemmings were thought to do. You can watch the commercial here.

The commercial implies that PC users, just like the suicidal lemmings, don't know any better and are doomed to perish unless they buy the latest Apple software. Hmm. Those lemmings kind of remind me of something else I've seen on television.

I have another picture to show you. Do you know who this man is? His name is Joel Osteen. He looks like a nice enough guy. He smiles a lot. And I do mean a lot!! He kind of reminds me of a used car salesman. But actually? He's the leader of a rather large church, Lakewood Church, in Houston, Texas whose average weekly attendance is 43,500. Whoa?

Why is Mr. Osteen so popular? Why would his weekly messages be broadcast to an audience of over 7 million viewers? Well, he is popular because he tells people exactly what they want to hear. He's all about us baby! And that makes us feel Grrreat! And he tells us that God is all about us too! He wants you to have "Your Best Life Now." That's actually the title of one of his books. I kind of thought that our "best life" was going to be in heaven. But we can have it now? Umm, no. Mr. Osteen preaches what is known as The Prosperity Gospel.

What IS the Prosperity Gospel? Well, it is the belief that our words have the power to make our dreams come true. Pray harder and you'll get more. Oh, and it will happen quicker if you donate money to their ministry. Yeah . . . Hmm.

The following is from an interview with Christian Post: "There is a part of Christianity that says you’re supposed to suffer and be poor and downtrodden,” Osteen said. “I don’t believe that’s how God wants us to live. I think He wants us to excel and be happy and be a blessing to others.”

You mean we can be Christians AND have all the material possessions we want? Cool! (sarcasm warning). I thought we had to give to the poor and think of others before ourselves and other selfless acts of kindness. Stuff like that. Hmm. (sigh) This guy is leading thousands down the wrong path.

One of the signs of the end times is that a large number of false teachers will appear among us. They will preach a false gospel and lead many astray - "even the elect." That's you and me my brothers and sisters. Don't be fooled by these guys. There is one God and He is the God of the Bible. When we decide to pick and choose only the things we like about God's character we are creating a "false god." And that is breaking one of the 10 commandments. The very FIRST commandment. "You shall have no other god's before me." And when Jesus told us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," He wasn't talking about the god WE created. Jesus was talking about the uncreated one, His Father in heaven.

Who put the blindfolds on those PC users in that commercial you just watched? Apple would have you believe it was Microsoft. And who are those putting blindfolds on our brothers and sisters in Christ these days? Sadly, it is often those we'd least suspect. People claiming to be shepherds but who are really wolves in sheep's clothing.

Many will come saying "Look! There he is!!" but it is our duty as followers of Christ, to be good Bereans (Acts 17:11) and compare whatever we hear to God's Word. It is the only source of truth in a world that offers many different varieties of so-called truth. Whatever our itching ears want to hear.

So, what do we believe? Do we believe everything we see and hear on television and on the Internet? Or do we believe God's Word? The living, breathing, infallible Word of God.

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." - 2 Timothy 4:3