Love Covers Over

"Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."  Matthew 7:1-5 KJV

"Judgmental."  A word many feel describes the church today.  Many use it as an excuse to get out of going to church, claiming the members judge them an that makes them uncomfortable.  And while an unbeliever should feel uncomfortable in church, it should come from God's conviction instead of the congregation.

See the Pharisees, Scribes, and religious leaders of Jesus's day judged people left and right.  Sadly, many members of the church today have taken to making others' sins into a platform to parade their self-righteousness on.

Jeff Beckth once said it well by stating, "There is no such thing as good people and bad people.  There's only bad people and Jesus"

It doesn't make sense for a criminal to be the judge of another criminal, yet that's what we do whenever we condemn someone just because of their attitude, manner of dress, lifestyle, or even any sin they might be in.  That's right, you heard me, it's wrong for us to judge people by the sin they have/are committed/ing.


So many times we as Christians simply look at someone in sin, who's hardened their heart towards God and condemn them.  
When really it should break our hearts. 


What if God had judged you before you accepted Christ?  You'd have really been up a creek then.  But in his abundant love he didn't come to judge you.  Instead he said 'I love you and no matter how much you break my heart, I still love you.'  


So today stop judging and start loving, for "Love covers over a multitude of sins."  And ask God to break your heart for what breaks his.

"Because I Know He Holds the Future"

          "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11


The other day while talking with my mother, our conversation drifted to our friends who are overseas in Belgium at the moment.  They had been to Belgium before but things were different this time.  With all the "Debt-Ceiling" talk in Washington, and our country's spending addiction, the public opinion on Americans has fallen greatly.  Most citizens in Belgium can speak English, but because of their disdain for America they refuse to speak to our citizens.  


They tried to contact the local Baptist Church there.  But because the majority of the population is Muslim now, the mission board wouldn't disclose the names of the church leaders or their contact information.  


They ran out of money because inflation is so bad.  And they couldn't use their credit cards because they weren't European credit cards.  Actually, the problem wasn't that their credit cards were American.  The problem was that unlike European cards, their cards didn't hold any medical, occupational, or personal record type information on them.  And being a "AA" nation, didn't help them any.  


We discussed this as something akin to "The Mark of the Beast."


End times prophecy seems to be a big deal in the church today.  There are the "Left Behind" books, countless sermons, and books all discussing the events prophesied in the latter half of Revelation.  People seem to be engrossed in all things "Anti-Christ." 


And there seems to be a recurring mentality in the church of, "I we can survive until Jesus comes back.  If we can hold America together until we're ruptured.  Then everything thing will be alright."


Friends, "survival" was never what Christ wanted.

He wanted a church that would go out and "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."  (Mark 16:15 KJV)  What's written in Revelation wasn't put there so we could say, "Wow, I'm glad I won't be there."  No!  God showed John what he did, so: 
A.) We could warn those that reject him.  
B.) Those believers that go through that time would know what's to come.
C.) His ultimate glorification through his word.


We get so caught up by the deteriorating condition of the world, as if we're shocked by what's happening.  We feel like we can stop what's going to happen.  And when we're not "crusading," we're preparing little persecution fallout shelters.  


In case you missed it.  WE CANNOT STOP WHAT'S COMING.  Like the old preacher said, "I read the end of the book.  And Folk's, we win!"


Worrying and fearing what's going to happen is sin in case you didn't know.  It's doubting God, he already has you in the palm of his hand.  He's got control over every situation.  The safest place for you, is in God's will, and in case you've forgotten, his will is perfect.  And he can't use us when we're cowering in fear.  


I was thinking about the old hymn, "Because He Lives" today.  More specifically the line that reads...


"...Because I know he holds know he holds the future..."


Let me leave you with this thought...


God doesn't owe, nor has he ever promised anything to America...  But he promised the Church, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  Hebrews 13:5