Tag: faith

We Cannot be Sinning Christians

/ CD Hamman / Leave a comment

Imagine a convicted felon who has received a pardon, and the court has expunged his record. That person is no longer identified by his or her past crimes. If someone asks if they have ever been arrested, they can say “No.” And they can say this without being a liar because the record of their arrest and conviction has been expunged. What they CANNOT DO is choose to continue to engage in criminal activity. If they refuse to accept their new found position in society as a law abiding, free citizen, and instead choose to commit criminal acts, their continuing crimes will cause them to be arrested and convicted. And although their past crimes have previously been expunged, the prosecutor can use those past crimes to show a pattern of continuing behavior, and to ask the judge to enhance their sentence after conviction. That’s exactly what Satan wants to do to us.

1) Introduction

We live in a world where even those who claim to follow Christ have forgotten God’s command to “Be holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) Many churches have allowed the culture around us to dictate what is acceptable, instead of allowing God’s word and the Holy Spirit to guide.

To be honest, God’s people have always struggled with this in some way. Jesus recognized it among the Jewish religious leaders. Paul had to deal with it in his day, particularly in the Corinthian church. It has been this way throughout Christian history, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Church needs to address it today.

2) Following Jesus is more than saying a prayer

Not all who claim to follow Jesus are Christians. In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus gives a very somber warning; that on judgement day there will be many who call out, “Lord! Lord! Look at all that we did in YOUR name!” Jesus’s response will simply be “Go away. I have no idea who you are.” Good works, even when supposedly done in the name of Jesus, are not a guarantee that we are following Him, especially when we have refused to obey his commands.

Matthew 13:24-30 warns that even among the righteous there will be those who claim to belong to Christ, yet in the end they will be uprooted, separated from the righteous, bound and thrown into the fire. Why?

3) Do you want to be defined by your sin, or by Jesus

What do you choose to define you? Your desires or Jesus? It’s pretty simple, those who do wrong will NOT inherit God’s kingdom. (1 Corinthians 6:9)

If we allow our sin to continue to define us, then have we truly repented? Too many people who claim to be Christians have accepted the lies of Satan under the fallacy that, “God created me this way, therefore I can’t (or don’t need to) change.” If I’m honest, I have to admit that I have tried to hide behind this lie. We mostly hear this argument from those in the LGBT lifestyle. However, before we condemn them, let’s take a look at 1 Corinthians 6:8-10.

“Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers. Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.” (NLT)

Paul mentions several sinful behaviors here. Paul also mentions those who worship idols, thieves, the greedy, drunkards (we’d probably also include the drug users), abusers, and those who cheat people. Let’s make one thing clear, sexual sin is sexual sin. Too often I have witnessed Christians condemn LGBT, then in the very next breath they’re lusting after a member of the opposite sex. Many times these people are married. It’s still SIN.

How many times have we gotten angry and attempted to justify our lashing out at someone? Or maybe we’ve attempted to justify cheating others, or the government. Many attempt to justify greed by saying things like “God wants to bless us.” Thieves often claim they deserve what they’re stealing, because it’s owed to them. In Romans, Paul includes gossip in a similar list. How often have we participated in gossip, claiming that we’re “just sharing a prayer request”, or “passing on information.”

For every sin, we can create a multitude of excuses. While we all may have a tendency toward certain behaviors that God calls sin, we always have a choice. We can choose to lean into those tendencies, or we can lean into Christ.

Accepting the excuse that “I was born this way” to justify sin denies the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. Let me say that again, justifying any sin with the excuse that “this is just who I am,” or “God made me this way,” denies the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us.

4) God has called us to be HOLY

After going through this list of sinful behaviors, Paul continues in verse 11 reminding the Corinthians that some of them were once guilty of one of more of these sins. But now they are clean. Their records have been expunged. They have been made HOLY. They have been made right with God.

If we go down to verse 20, Paul reminds them that we were bought with a high price. That price was Christ’s death on a cross. So we must honor God with our bodies.

I go back to the example of the convicted felon who has been pardoned. He has a choice. And you and I have a choice. So I ask again, what defines you? Your sin? Or Jesus

5) Invitation

By His grace we can choose to ask for and accept His forgiveness, and receive the pardon that He is so eager to give us. We can choose to be identified as a child of God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we can reject our tendencies toward sin and allow Him to guide us into a new identify in Christ Jesus.

YOU are invited to accept Jesus, and begin your relationship with Him. And you don’t have to wait for a church service. You can do it right now, wherever you are.

There are no magic words, or special prayer required. It’s simply acknowledging to God that we have sinned, asking for, and accepting, His forgiveness. Accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you, and to change you.

Requiring ANY Religious Instruction in Public Schools is Wrong

/ CD Hamman / Leave a comment

Recently, Louisiana passed legislation requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in public schools. Shortly after, Oklahoma decided to require the Bible and the Ten Commandments be taught in public schools. And Christians across the country celebrated. I have no doubt that the governors of Louisiana and Oklahoma mean well. However, I must strongly disagree, even as a Christian.

Let me be clear, this nation WAS founded as a Christian nation. Even a casual reading of US history supports this conclusion. However, neither the state nor the federal government has the right nor the duty to favor one religion over another.

As Christians, we can not complain when any other religion is forced to be taught in public schools, then turn around and demand that Christianity or the Bible be taught in public schools. That’s hypocrisy.  We are the first to be outraged if any other religion is even offered as an elective in public schools. What are we going to say if a state with a large Muslim population forces the Koran to be taught in public schools?

I’m all for everyone having access to the Bible. I will even advocate it being freely available in the school library. But I have some questions: Who will be teaching the Bible curriculum? What qualifications will they have? What denominational or religious affiliation will these teachers have? Will they be teaching the Bible as literature? If so, will they also be teaching the Koran or the Torah as literature? Will the teachers be pushing one religious view over the other? These are just a few of my questions, and the answers may lead to even more questions.

One problem I see with forcing the Bible to be taught in public schools is, in my opinion, it shows how lazy we as Christians have become. We have become comfortable with leaving it to others to share God’s Word, even to our own children and grandchildren. Too many of us don’t even actually read and study the Bible ourselves. We’re content to go to church, send our children to Sunday school and children’s church, while we sit and listen to a sermon, allowing ourselves to be spoon-fed, without even reading what the Bible says for ourselves.

I am all for introducing children, and everyone else, to the Bible. But the more I have studied, and the more I have observed, even many pastors struggle to really understand the Bible in context. Again, this is partly because we have become complacent and are content to just read words on a page. We don’t have to learn Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. But we do need to learn to use the available language tools. In addition, we need to learn to dig in and research the culture and people of the day when each book was written, as well as who each book was written to.

The Bible has too often been twisted to justify, and excuse, some of the worst offenses in society by too many so-called Christians, and pastors. Based on that reason alone, I simply cannot believe that we have the right to force the Bible, or our faith on anyone. And the government definitely does not have that right. All these actions will do its lead to a waste of resources by the government attempting to defend what I believe to be a losing position.

It’s not up to any government to force the Bible on anyone or any group. We don’t have to hide our faith. It’s up to each of us who professes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ to be a witness to the power and love of God. We start by living a life that is consistent with a loving God who has made a way for us to have a personal relationship with Him, through Jesus. Then, when the opportunity arises, we might need to use words to help.

Gospel Shoes

/ CD Hamman / Leave a comment

Link to watch

Ephesians 6:15 (NLT) For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. (Or For shoes, put on the readiness to preach the Good News of peace with God.)

How many of you all run around bare foot, or maybe you just wear flip-flops? There’s nothing wrong with that, but I can’t stand them. I also hate not having shoes on. About 19 years ago I was introduced to a website called Fly Lady. She helps encourage Sidetracked Home Executives, or SHEs. Typically this may be a mom, but can also be a dad. One of the baby steps is getting dressed to your shoes. Why? Because when you have your shoes on, and tied, you’re more likely to do the chores around the house that need to be done. I have found this to be true for myself. Not wearing shoes makes it easier to put off getting things done, (household chores, run errands, even taking a walk).

Today’s Bottom Line is: Get dressed to your shoes.

1) Find peace with God

Romans 10:9-10 tells us that “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” (NLT)

We have to have this peace with God before we can do anything. It should be one the most important things we hold onto. If we don’t have peace with God, it is unlikely that we will have true peace with anyone.

I came across a person on tiktok who goes by the name “theformerthings”. This man’s testimony is awesome. He came out of a lifestyle that was totally against God’s will; A lifestyle where he allowed sin to define him. In one of his recent videos he shared his struggle and temptations. But he ended by saying that his peace with God was so much more important than anything else. We should all have this kind of commitment to our relationship with God.

Let’s try to get a mental picture of the Roman military caliga. It was a vital part of the Roman soldier’s equipment. It was an open toed, light sandal that went partway up the soldier’s leg. How high up it went depended on the soldier’s rank. The higher up the leg it went the higher the rank. These shoes also had to be thick enough to protect the soldiers’ feet as they marched over rough terrain. The bottoms were embedded with spikes to ensure a good grip even on slippery ground. These shoes protected the soldiers’ feet, and shins, and the spikes helped to ensure that the soldier was able to keep a solid footing, and stay standing upright.

2) Stand against the enemy

The Roman soldier wasn’t responsible for the entire battleground. He was only responsible to defend his position; the square where he was standing. The same thing goes for us. We have to hold our position. And the enemy is always ready to attack. He may bring up our past, bring financial difficulties, he’ll interfere in our relationships. But our task is to stand firm in the battle.

Romans 16:20 reads, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” (NLT)

Remember those spikes on the Roman soldiers’ shoes? They had another very important use. As the soldier marched across the battlefield, they would stomp on enemy soldiers who had fallen down, pretty much ensuring their deaths. Do your shoes have spikes in them to crush the enemy, and to stand firm in the battle?

3) Share Jesus

Are you ready to share the Good News of Jesus Christ? l have two verses I want to share for this point.

The first verse is Romans 1:16 (NLT) “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.”

Paul wasn’t afraid to share the Gospel. The guy on tiktok isn’t ashamed to share the Gospel. How about you? Are you looking for opportunities to share?

The second verse is Romans 10:15 (NLT) “And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, ‘How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!'”

Consider yourselves sent. We have all been sent to share the Gospel.

The shoes of the Gospel enable us to be ready to stand firm, hold our ground, and also be ready to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Bottom Line: Are you Dressed to your shoes? Are you dressed to the Gospel?

 

STOP THE HATE

/ CD Hamman / Leave a comment

This is not as eloquent, and thought out as I try to be, but, this is what’s on my heart right now. And I often say nothing. But, I’m tired of saying nothing. I’m tired of staying quiet for fear of offending someone. Three shooting sprees, in less than 24 hours, and my heart is broken. And I’m tired. I’m tired of the hate, which, by the way, politicians and people on all sides (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, whatever else you can think of) have been busy spewing for a long time. I’m tired of, and disturbed by, how easily people (again, on all sides) who call themselves Christians, and are supposed to be following Christ, have allowed their politics to drive their faith, and they so willingly twist, and manipulate, scriptures to fit their personal political views. And they continue to feed the hate.

These evil people who decide to murder others are going to do so no matter what, but the hateful rhetoric, gives them something to latch onto in a desperate attempt to justify their own evil actions. And everytime, we start the political finger pointing again.

Look, It’s not a gun problem. It’s not an immigration problem. It’s not an abortion problem. It’s not a gay problem. It’s not a skin color problem. It’s not an old people, or a young people problem. It’s not a constitutional problem. It is a SIN problem. It is a HATE problem. And evil people will use whatever excuse they can find, or make up, to promote hate. So please, unless, and until, your ready to calmly discuss, and work through the real issues, and work to be part of the solution, sit down, shut up, and quite frankly, keep your twisted Bible verses, and twisted constitutional rights to yourself.

Look, I wholly support our constitutional rights. But along with those rights comes responsibilities. Yes, we all have the right to free speech. However, no one has the right to incite panic or violence with their speech. Yes, you have the right to protect yourself, and even to carry. But in exercising that right you have a duty to do so responsibly, with proper training, and in such a way as to not cause concern. In other words, you don’t need to carry in such a way as to draw attention to yourself. Please understand, when you draw attention to yourself, or your weapon, especially in light of recent events, you are making yourself appear to be a threat.

So, please, exercise your rights. But do so responsibly. Share your opinions and views. But do so respectfully. And STOP THE HATE. And for those of us who claim to follow Christ, please stop letting politics dictate your faith. And everyone, for crying out loud, lets all pull our heads out of that deep dark tunnel, and quit letting the news media (regardless of the source) and politicians dictate how we behave, view others, and treat each other. Let’s start exercising our rights to actually do the right thing.

Thoughts on tithing

/ CD Hamman / Leave a comment

I don’t think I ever see myself preaching a lot on tithing. Why? Because I’ve never been good at practicing it. Truth be told, my money handling has not been the best over the years. And my tithing record, well, let’s just say that I owe God so much in back tithe that I’ll never catch up. Praise God that my salvation isn’t based on my tithing. 

So why bother then? Because our tithes are how the church pays it’s bills, so that we can sit in an air conditioned sanctuary in the heat of the summer, and in a warm sanctuary during the cold winter months. Tithes and offerings are what makes the various ministries of the local church possible. They also are used to help your church reach out to the community. And, because we are commanded in scripture to tithe. If we want to be legalistic, and follow the levitical law, then ten percent is actually the bare minimum. Then there are even more tithes and offerings on top of that. I use to feel like I just couldn’t keep up. Besides, I just don’t have enough money to tithe. That was my attitude for years. It was like saying, “God, I need to pay everybody else first. Then, if there’s anything left over, I’ll pay you.”

Again, then why bother? Why am I even talking about it? Because, I’m learning something new. And as I’ve been trying to put it into practice I can honestly see where God is truly working. Ten years ago I began to try to tithe faithfully. I didn’t start out at ten percent.I started with just trying to do a couple dollars out of each check. Then I slowly worked up to five percent, of net; then ten percent, of net. Then I stepped out and moved to ten percent of my gross pay. And God has blessed those efforts.

Now, I’m still not rich. God hasn’t just rained money down on me. But He has made sure my needs are met. I remember talking with an older pastor once about tithing. The first church he pastored only paid him $100 a week. He said that he and his wife tried to live on that $100, and there just wasn’t enough money. But when they tithed ten dollars, the ninety dollars left was somehow just enough. I’m finding that same principle works for me. I can’t fully explain it. But I do know this, when I give God what he asks for first, somehow, I’m able to budget the rest just a little bit better. 

Now, I’m no super saint. There are times I still struggle to pay my tithe; especially when the pay check is smaller than I expected. And, I even have to admit that there have been times I held back. But God brings me back around, gets me back on track and we move on.

Something that has helped me is how I view tithing. I use to see tithing as a duty. Now, I see it as a privilege. And those weeks that I see bigger pay checks, I no longer thinking “I have to tithe more.” Now, it’s “I get to tithe more.”

If you are not in the habit of tithing, I challenge you to begin. Now, some may not agree with my next suggestion, but baby steps are better than none at all. If you are just starting out tithing, I don’t think it has to be ten percent. Unless that’s how you feel God is leading you. (In that case, listen to God.) But if you’re just starting out tithing, start small. I promise that you will see God working in your finances, and eventually He’ll challenge you to increase your tithe.

And if you have no income, then tithe your time. Also, use your talents. One of the best testimonies I heard was from a young lady who is a single mom with no job. She wanted to tithe something. She likes making special chocolate dipped strawberries. She got orders for chocolate covered strawberries, and turned her skill into income. She was so excited to be able to tithe. The excitement she had was priceless.

So, what’s your attitude toward tithing? You might think that you can’t afford to tithe. I can honestly say that based on my experience, you can’t afford not to tithe. Do you see tithing as simply another obligation, or bill, that has to be paid? Or do you see it as an opportunity to give, and be a part of helping to build God’s kingdom? Who really comes first, God, or the bills, or you? It sounds so cliché, but more and more I see is true, you can’t out give God.

So, step out on faith. Take baby steps if you have to. But take the challenge. I dare you.