7 Deadly sins (Wrath)

Wrath; Vengeance or punishment as the consequence of anger.

Back in the 80's there was a Star Trek movie called "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".

It has a ring to it doesn't it?

Khan wouldn't have sounded nearly as threatening if the title was "Star Trek II: The anger of Khan", or "Star Trek II: Khan is really mad now".

That just doesn't work as well. That's because the word "Wrath" has some weight behind it.

When we hear the word, we get a picture in our minds don't we?

Wrath is something that we fear from others, but we fantasize about those that have wronged us, suffering under our wrath…….maybe that's just me.

So why is wrath considered a deadly sin? If someone has wronged you then they deserve your wrath right?

Well, there are a couple of problems with that.
1.) In the Bible, God says, "Vengeance is Mine". That's fairly self-explanatory.
2.) When Jesus was asked how many times we are to forgive someone who has wronged us, His answer was 70 times 7 (That's 490 times). Nobody has ever wronged you more than that……deal.
3.) When we seek vengeance on someone who hurt us, we never truly seek to just get even, it's always done with the intent of hurting them slightly worse than they hurt us just so they are certain that we got the best of it.

God tells us that He is just and He will deal with people on His terms. Wrath tells God that we have a better way of handling it than He does.

Do you see the danger?

If God created us (and I believe He did), then where do we get off telling Him that we have a better way of handling those that have wronged us. He created us. I think He should probably have the say so on vengeance.

What if you baked a cake and you made it exactly how you wanted it, and when you put the cake on the table it stood up and started telling you that you didn't mix the ingredients correctly, and the oven heat wasn't set right.

The first thing you should do is call a psychiatrist, but after you hung up the phone you would smash that cake and throw it in the garbage.

"No cake I made is gonna talk to me like that"!

I know it's a crazy example but it truly is the same thing when we tell God that our wrath is just what the doctor ordered.

Let's let God be God and we can just spend our time forgiving those who have wronged us, and trying not to wrong anyone else.

Wrath is a heavy word…….and I just don't think we have the strength to support it.

Forgiveness.

That has a pretty good ring to it as well.

7 Deadly sins (Greed)

My wife and I took the kids to this annual sale at the local high school this last weekend and my son found this Pac-Man game that plugs right into the TV, for $1.00.

Some of you reading this are like, "What's Pac-Man"?

If you said that, you need to wash your mouth out with soap, and not just any soap, Lifebuoy.

Pac-Man is one of the greatest video games ever invented.

We used to hang out at this corner store after elementary school and drop quarters into that game like our life depended on it.

We got to be fairly good at the game but I had a downfall.

It was no doubt a downfall that plagued millions of unsuspecting kids world-wide.

Some of you know what I'm talking about.

It was the fruit.

You see, on every level there was a moment when a cherry, or an orange, or some other random piece of food popped up on the screen and if you ate it, points were rewarded.

The goal of the game was to clear the screen, the fruit was just a bonus.

But the fruit was so tempting.

How many times had my Pac-Man met it's fate by my magnetic movement toward the fruit, when all I had to do was eat one more dot, and advance to the next level?

It's funny because it's a game, but all too often it's our downfall in the real world too.

Greed.

We seek more when what we have is sufficient.

The quest for one more is a dangerous quest because sooner or later we end up with more than we can handle.

Greed is an ugly sin too, because when greed comes to the surface in our lives, it reveals our heart to others.

Satan could have used any tactic to get to Adam and Eve in the garden, but he appealed to their greed.

Adam and Eve had it all.

They had everything they needed.

They were living the good life.

They didn't have to worry about bill collectors. When April rolled around in the Garden of Eden, they had no fear of the IRS.

They had it good!!

But Satan told Eve that he could give her more and just like Pac-Man, she went for the fruit.

The rest is history.

Satan chose to appeal to their greed because it's an innate characteristic....so it was easy.

Given enough time and a place where we think nobody can see us, and we will exhibit all kinds of greed, won't we?

The truth is that God's grace is sufficient for us.

We don't need anything above and beyond that, and when we start looking for more than we need, God is very good at teaching us that greed is not an attribute we should have.

He threw Adam and Eve out of paradise for it.

Allow God to be sufficient for you.

Just clear the level and forget about the fruit.

You will be glad you did.

7 Deadly sins (Pride)

Proverbs 16:18 - "Pride goes before destruction.."

Most people have a particular sin that continually trips them up.

For me, it's pride.

That's even tough for me to type. I don't get to watch much TV usually, but the other night I got to catch a show called "Bully Beatdown". It is basically a show about people who get bullied all the time and they bring the bully to this show to give them a taste of their own medicine. The Bully agrees to enter this cage with a professional MMA fighter in the hopes that they can survive the few rounds and win some money.

In the episode I watched, the fight was extremely one sided. The bully was just getting what we used to call back in the day, a "First class butt whoopin".

The professional fighter was just toying with the bully and basically kept closing the bully's windpipe, forcing the bully to "tap out" repeatedly. The host of the show kept asking the bully, "Do you want to quit now? Do you want to give up?", and the bully just kept coming back for more punishment.

He absolutely refused to just quit even though it was extremely apparent that he had no chance. In the second round the referee called the fight over.

Pride comes before the fall.

Pride is what got Satan thrown from the luxury of Heaven.

In my opinion, it is the most dangerous sin there is.

God says to humble yourself. Pride says, "God, get outta my face".

At least in my case, pride is attractive and something I tend to run towards because it feels good to get the credit and glory and recognition for something. That's the truth.

Maybe you struggle with pride like me. The following verse should make your knees buckle: Matthew 23:12 - But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

I don't know about you, but I do a fine job of humiliating myself, I really don't need God's help.

So it is my goal to be completely pride free.

You might be saying to yourself, "That is impossible".

But I would remind you as I remind myself what Paul said in Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Regardless of your struggle I hope this encourages you, that you too, can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

7 Deadly sins (Gluttony)

You won't find the seven deadly sins list in the Bible. It's not there.

All 7 are sins to be sure, but the list was conceived by man.

The 7 deadly sins are: Wrath, greed, slothfulness, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.

The reason that these 7 sins made a list is because they are thought to be the root for every other conceivable sin known to man.....and we know plenty of them don't we?

A friend of mine said, "why don't you blog about the 7 deadly sins and how they affect people and why we succumb to them."

So let me tackle the "why we succumb to them" portion first. This should cover the "why" for each of them. We succumb to sin simply because we are born with a natural bent toward sin. Think we aren't?

Have any of you ever had to teach your kid how to disobey?

No, you never had to do that. You had to teach them to obey, they already knew how to disobey.

We give into sin because we want to. Our human nature desires sin.

Now, I am not going in any particular order, but thought I would start with Gluttony because of something I saw this last weekend that struck me as odd.

Gluttony: Excessive eating or drinking -dictionary.com

First of all, the Bible says this in Proverbs 23:21, "..for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags."

I know there are non-believers that read this blog, but I don't think I have ever run across even a nonbeliever that looked at any proverb and said, "That's stupid".

So regardless, if you're a Christian or not, I think we can agree that there is a ton of wisdom in Proverbs, and this particular verse is saying that gluttons become poor.

How does this happen? How do you get from gluttony to the poorhouse?

Think about your last Thanksgiving dinner. After your third plate you unbuckled your belt and went and laid on the couch watching the football game.....occasionally waking up to see what the score was.

There was no work getting done around your house for the next 24 hours. Am I lying?

Maybe you drank too much beer or wine. You woke up the next morning with a hangover.

How much work did you get done that day?

Gluttony leads to a lack of motivation, and a lack of motivation can certainly lead you to the poorhouse, can't it?

The biggest problem with the sin of gluttony, is that you don't hear many sermons about it.

I think the reason is because it's acceptable by the world's standards.

America is one of the most obese nations on the planet. Many pastors are included in that statistic, and it's difficult to talk about the kettle being black when the pot is too.

The church has helped make gluttony acceptable.

This last weekend I drove by a church with a big sign out front. You have seen this church too. Maybe not the same one, but they are all over the place.

The sign simply said, "Friday night - ALL YOU CAN EAT fish fry."

Nothing like encouraging sin huh?

How well would it go over if the same church sign said,

"Friday night - ALL YOU CAN WATCH PORN."

Just because it's acceptable, don't make it right.

Try something today. Start paying attention to what you put in your body, and how often.

Cut back your calorie count. Cut back on your portion size, and see if you don't find some energy that you haven't had in a long time.

I would bet you would be a better parent and spouse for it.

More energy to play with your children.

More energy to do..........that thing with your spouse!!!

Now, that's what I'm talking about!

Caller ID

The most amazing invention on the last decade.....hands down....CALLER ID.

It's awesome isn't it? Don't lie! You know I'm speaking the truth.

That phone rings and you pick it up to see who is trying to reach you, and you have about 2-3 seconds to decide if this person on the other end is worthy of your precious time.

You know I'm right, that's why you're smiling right now!

So there are times you answer the call. There are times when you don't.

Either way, the call comes. Jesus calls each one of his children at some point.

If you are reading this, you are not exempt. The call has been placed to you.

At some point, the call has come.......and you have done one of four things.

1.) You didn't even bother to look at the caller ID, and kept on doing whatever you were doing.

2.) You forgot to look at the ID and yelled at the person on the other end and warned them of the danger they were in if they aver called you around dinner time ever again.

3.) You looked at the caller ID and decided not to answer.

4.) You have decided to pick up the call.

If you responded with #4, then you can stop reading.

If you chose #1, #2 or #3, then I hope you lean in and read this very clearly.

THE PHONE WILL KEEP RINGING UNTIL YOU ANSWER.

Jesus is not known for trying once and moving on.

He made you.

He is interested in you dropping what you are doing and listening to what He has to say.

Maybe you heard His call to turn to Him and you didn't even bother to answer.

Maybe you felt Him calling out to you and you yelled at Him for bothering you during dinner.

Maybe you felt Him calling you but you looked at the caller ID and it said: "Jesus, what up homie?", and you laid the phone back down and picked up the X-Box controller again.

I just want to share something with you.....JESUS HAS REDIAL!!

Sooner or later, when you least expect it, He is gonna hit that redial button, and you are gonna have to talk.

He presses the redial button because he doesn't have an option.

He loves you.

He is love.....and love never fails.

He will track you down, and when you finally answer that call, I pray that the conversation ends in conversion.

Stop avoiding the call. He can be a pest when He wants to be.

Just skip a few steps in between and engage in the dialogue He has been waiting to have with you you.

Caller ID.

Please just pick up the phone and save yourself the trouble of His redial.

Trust me. He is extremely busy and there are plenty more calls to make.

Don't write 'em off

I have this friend who I have known for around 4 years.

Before he was my friend, he was an employee.

He came into my office one day looking for work. Very blunt and very raw.

He said, "I'm a convicted felon, and I need a job".

Do I offer this guy an opportunity? What would he do with a second chance to get his life on track? Could I offer this guy a different ending to his story?

Hanging next to Jesus on the cross was a convicted felon. I'm sure most of the people walking past him thought that he was worthless.

Jesus thought differently though, and gave the man's story a different ending.

He was one of the best hires I have ever made, and through his employment I got to pour into him and help him figure out life.

He would call after hours with questions or concerns and it was the after hours conversations where I was able to share the Gospel with Him.

I was able to give him advice and give him scriptures to look up to help him on his way.

About a year ago though, trouble found him once again. We parted ways from a business standpoint and he was now living in prison.

My thoughts were: I really wanted to give him a different ending to his story and now this.

I received a letter from him though shortly after he went in, and it made a grown man cry.

It was one of the most beautiful letters I had ever received. I keep it in my nightstand.

The best line of the letter was, "Can you send me a Bible?"

I visited, we continued to write back and forth, and I even received calls over the months to come. He is out now. Again.

But something is different this time. He knows who Jesus is.

He comes to church now every Sunday. Sometimes to the main campus, sometimes to ours, where he helps tear down after service is over.

He still reads the Bible I gave to him, and he still has questions. He is helping others now that were once in his position and he is doing it with love and grace.

I am going to baptize him soon.

He has a new ending to his story. It is still being written but the ending is amazing and it goes like this:

He dies, and now stands face to face with his Creator, and Jesus smiles and says, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Maybe you have been trying to reach someone and you've had setbacks, or maybe it seems like no matter what you do, you can't get through to them.

Don't write 'em off.

They are gonna need help writing the end of their story.

And it's a beautiful thing to be able to help hold the pencil.

Get Kre-8-tiv

My cousin owns a company. It's a pretty unique business.

Party buses.

They are customized school buses for the most part. The seats as you remember them have all been removed to make way for long benches that go all the way around the perimeter.

For the most part as you would guess, the big business in these buses is done on the weekend. People will rent them out for bachelor parties or just to go bar hopping in the Cleveland area.

Some of them are even equipped with a stripper pole.

The business has been successful and has been expanding over the last several years, but I got a call from him the other day.....

In so many words he said to me, "I'm just getting tired of dealing with drunk people.......I am trying to come up with some ways to do something positive with the buses"

Yes sir.

He is trying to work out a way to use the buses to transport inner city youth to places like the Kalahari water park or other places that they may never get to experience otherwise.

How awesome is that?

Creativity. Using something at his disposal for something greater. Simply amazing.

We talked about holding and art competition where the winner, or the one with the most improved grades would be able to take their artwork and use the bus as their canvas to reproduce the artwork in a moving bus size piece of art.

He is still looking for more ideas. Feel free to send some of yours.

But more importantly, what do you have at your disposal that can be used for something greater?

You may not have party buses but you have something.

Get Kre-8-tiv. Change the world.