An Apple Can't Confess. But You Can.

Mike Hosey, An Elder

I love apples. I especially love those that have been bred to be particularly sweet. They look so wonderful and apetizing on the outside. In fact, I eat one every day for lunch. The other day I took a big bite out of one. There was that initial sweet and crisp rush as my teeth broke it’s skin. But then there followed a bitterness, and a terrible aftertaste that lingered far longer than I liked. When I looked at my apple, I noticed that its meat was brown and mushy in spots instead of it’s normal white firmness. Although it looked perfectly fine on the outside, it was rotting on the inside. At some point in it’s development a fungus had gotten into the apple, and as the apple grew, so did the fungus in it’s core. It wasn’t detectable from the outside at all.

So much of your life can be just like that apple. Sin, shortcomings, and hurt invade your life, and if you don’t deal with them, then you begin to rot from the inside out. You may have a smile and a shiny glow, but your heart is slowly suffering, and dying -- your spirit failing into mushy brown spots. And when it is time for you to serve God and your fellow man, you risk leaving everyone with a bad aftertaste. You may be reading this right now, knowing full well the danger that your heart and spirit are in.

This rot in the human heart affects the most those who never confess their sins or their problems. Consider the wisdom of the Psalmist who cried out that when he kept silent, his bones wasted away inside of him (Psalm 32:1-3). He realized that he, too, was just like that apple. But there’s good news. He also recognized that God can and does take care of the rot whenever we confess it (Psalm 32:5). Even more interesting is that when we confess our sins and problems to trusted fellow Christians there is healing power (James 5:16a)! James argues that we should confess our problems so that we can be healed. Healed from what? The rot that our hurts, sins, and earthly problems cause us. The truth is that you can’t fix a problem until you acknowledge it. And one way that you can acknowledge it is to share it with God, and with one of his children with whom you’ve built trust.

An apple doesn’t have the ability to ask someone to remove it’s rot. But you do! So take the opportunity to get it out of you before it hurts your heart any further.

What is the Sin that Leads to Death?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

Among the most difficult passages in the bible is 1 John 5:16-17. The reason that it is difficult is that John doesn’t give us much clarity about what he actually means. In the passage John argues that there is a sin that does not lead to death, and if we see a fellow Christian committing that sin, then we are to pray for that person, and God will restore him or her. Then he argues that there is a sin that does lead to death. He does not command us to pray for that person. It seems kind of scary. Of course this passage has produced a lot of debate among Christians about what these sins are. The debate is rooted in many ideas, but the chief idea is that the bible seems to teach unequivocally that all sin leads to death (Genesis 2:17, Romans 6:23, James 1:15, Romans 5:12 . . . ). So what are these sins and how can we interpret these verses? Well, here are some possibilities. None are perfect, but perhaps they can give us something to study and pray about.

1) Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28-30). Disrespecting the Holy Spirit is a sin that cannot be forgiven, which certainly leads to a spiritual death in hell. However, in his difficult passage, John refers to the potential sinner as a brother or fellow believer. It seems very unlikely that a person who truly knows Jesus and has been truly saved would commit this particular sin.

2) Chronic or unrepentant sin. This seems to be a better candidate. No doubt, continuing to sin will lead to physical death. For instance, an alcoholic who remains in his sin of drunkeness will likely eventually succumb to liver disease, or death by bad decisions. But John tells us in chapter 3 that true believers don’t keep on sinning (1 John 3:9). And yet we know that even the best believers can struggle with sin in some way. Note the apostle Paul’s personal use of the present tense (Romans 7:19-20).

3) There is a difference between physical death and spiritual death (Matthew 10:28). It is possible that a person’s body can die, but his spirit be given a new body (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). In fact, this is true of every saved person (Philippians 3:21). We all will die, because our sins all lead to the death of our physical bodies. But some will also die a spiritual death in hell because they haven’t submitted their lives to Christ. The alcoholic who has submitted his life to Christ, but continues to struggle with his addiction is sinning unto physical death, but his spirit may be redeemed with a new body in Heaven because of his commitment to Christ. Then, of course, there are those sins for which God may proclaim immediate destruction of the individual body so that his church body can be kept healthy (Acts 5:1-11, 1 Corinthians 5:1-5). Notice how in that Corinthians verse that the person is turned over to Satan so that his sinning body can be destroyed in order that his spirit be saved. It may be for this reason that John doesn't ask us to pray for the restoration of that person. Perhaps such a person is so damaged by sin that God must deal with him drastically so that he can be protected eternally, and the community to which he belongs can be protected in the present.

In any event, we can all agree that John is making the case that all sin is serious, and must be dealt with.

Here's Why You Have to Know the REAL Jesus

Mike Hosey, An Elder

I know a guy in Mississippi, a family friend, who learned a costly lesson a few years ago. He’s an experienced man, old enough to have acquired plenty of wisdom. He is a man who’s knowledge of farm and rural life had endowed him with powers of discernment. One day, he pulled into a gas station and bought some items from the convenience store, then filled up his new truck. For whatever reason, he had not taken the time to practice the discernment he already knew how to use. As he pulled away from the gas station, he was confident that all was well and that his day would end comfortably as it always did. But it didn’t. A few miles down the road his new truck met its fate. He had put gasoline in his diesel engine.

It’s not an uncommon mistake. Diesel and gasoline are pumped from machines that are very similar in appearance. Diesel looks like gasoline. In their unburned states, they smell somewhat similar. The nozzles that dispense the fuels, on first glance, appear identical. But all of this is only appearance and not reality. A diesel nozzle is larger than a gasoline nozzle so that you can’t fit it into a gasoline vehicle. On the other hand, because it is smaller, a gasoline nozzle fits far too easily into a diesel tank. Diesel is also a lubricant in addition to being a fuel, so it will often have a black oily residue on it’s pump and nozzle. A diesel pump is almost always painted green, and labeled with big letters that say DIESEL.

But none of those differences matter if you don’t take time to discriminate.

The world of bible teaching is similar to the diesel problem, with one big difference. Diesel is a good fuel that is meant for running certain kinds of cars. False bible teaching, is destructive fuel meant to damage any person interested in learning about Jesus or true spirituality. Unfortunately, the bad bible teaching often comes from a “pump” that looks, smells, and feels o.k. at first glance. But the apostle John knew better, and warned his students to test every spirit to see if it comes from God (1 John 4:1). He gave them a test to help make that discernment (1 John 4:2-3). John argued that a teacher who didn’t pass that test wasn’t from God, but was instead a kind of antichrist. So look carefully at the pumps where you get your spiritual fuel. If you don’t practice discernment, you’ll break your spiritual engine.

4 Ways To Honor Your Mother Everyday

Mike Hosey, An Elder

One of the most important commands in the bible is to honor our mothers. It is one of the first direct commands the bible gives us, and it is repeated directly at least 8 times throughout scripture (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16, Matthew 15:4, Matthew 19:19, Mark 7:10, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20, Ephesians 6:2). It’s also repeated indirectly numerous times (Proverbs 1:8, Proverbs 30:17). Jesus himself modeled the concept (Luke 2:43-51). The Hebrew word for those Old Testament verses means to make something weighty. The Greek word for those New Testament verses means to place value or esteem in something. So to honor your mother means to place weight or value in her positional relationship to you.

So how can you honor your mother? Well first, don’t limit your efforts to Mother’s Day!

1) Adopt a Proper Attitude: Monitor your thoughts about your mother. Are they resentful? Are they resistant? If so, is this resentfulness or resistance justifiable? Or is it because you just didn’t get your way? Enough thoughts will coalesce into an attitude, and your attitude will then shape your behavior, and your behavior will reflect your level of honor. If your having a problem with your attitude, take it to God in prayer. He specializes in helping you through such problems.

2) Adopt an Attitude of Gratitude: Be thankful for the things your mother has done for you. Remember that she is human, and raising another human is easily one of the world’s most difficult tasks. She birthed you. She took care of you when you could not take care of yourself. And she probably raised you in a world that did not have the tools and luxuries that you have. Gratitude will also shape your behaviors.

3) Honor Her With Your Words: Tell her that you love her. Tell her that she looks nice in her new clothes. Tell her that you enjoyed the meal. Tell her that you are thankful for her. Everyone likes to hear such things, even if they won’t admit it. Remind her of the good things that have shaped the good parts of you. She gets discouraged, and often thinks of the mistakes she made while raising you.

4) Honor Her With Your Actions: Be committed to her well being. Love her dearly with your behaviors. Carry the groceries in for her. Wash her car. Fix the pipe under the sink. Give her a day off regularly. Hug her. Kiss her on the cheek. Help her when she needs help. Do all of it without asking.

Doing these things comes with a promise from God (Ephesians 6:1-3).

What Does Love Got To Do With It?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

The bible is a book of action. Rarely does it introduce a concept and not follow up that concept without its application in the form of some kind of real action. Just consider God’s first creative moments. In Genesis 1:3, God said, “let there be light,” and there was light. His words had real evidence behind their utterance. The bible famously declares in Isaiah 55:11 that the words of God shall not return to him void, but that they will accomplish his purpose. In other words, when God speaks, things happen. This shows that he means what he says.

James develops this idea more fully. He argues that a person who truly hears the word, acts on what he hears (James 1:22-25). He takes this a bit further in James 2:14-17 where he strongly states that a person who says he has faith, but then doesn’t do anything with that faith, is a person who has a defunct faith, or no faith at all. Faith, without works, he says, is dead. True faith always produces behavioral results.

Love, like faith, is measured in deeds and not words. Therefore, real love also produces behavioral results. If it doesn’t then it isn’t love. John presents this idea in no uncertain terms. In 1 John 3:16-18 he shares that the reason we know love is because Jesus laid down his life for our spiritual well being. The actions of Jesus demonstrated his love. He drives even harder, and tells us that we ought to lay down our own lives for the people who belong to our faith community. In other words, we are to show our love in the same ways that Jesus did. He then asks how can the love of God be in us if we aren’t willing to commit to the well being of those brothers and sisters around us. Finally, he sums it up by encouraging us to love in deeds and in truth, and not just with words (1 John 3:18).

Words without actions are just words. Faith without works is dead. And love that doesn’t produce sacrificial deeds isn’t love. Your love and your beliefs should produce behavioral results. And those behavioral results should be evidenced most in your families and in your faith communities. If they don’t, go to God and ask him what’s missing in your walk.