Base

When I was a kid a whole bunch of neighborhood kids would play tag. We'd run ourselves ragged chasing each other around and it was fierce! Nobody wanted to be "it" but in the game of tag somebody is always it. Someone was always on the offensive (chasing) and someone was always on the defensive (dodging and weaving). At times we could avoid getting tagged but everyone was "it" eventually. And then, the pursuer became the pursued. Whenever we got weary from the chase we could enter that magical place called "base."

While standing at base breathing heavily from exhaustion we had no worries! We could rest there and relax. And sometimes, our "enemy" would wander over and have a casual conversation with us at base! And for a moment all that rivalry, competition and relentless back and forth was suspended. We were just two kids standing around together catching our breath. But as soon as we stepped off that base the never ending game called tag was back on. No one evers wins in tag...it just goes on and on and on.

Our current political climate reminds me a lot of playing tag. The rivals are always pressing, always pursuing, always trying to tag the other side. And it goes on and on and on. No one ever wins. Parties take turns attacking and being attacked. In contrast with the good-spirited competition of tag; politics is mean-spirited rhetoric, bullying, fear-mongering and spin....FROM ALL SIDES. I sometimes find myself asking "where is base?"

Every Sunday I gather with people from all walks of life at my church. We have young and old, blue collar and white collar, middle class and poor, and a whole variety of ethnic backgrounds. We have people who are passionate about politics and opinionated on current events. Monday through Saturday many of these people are tagging and getting tagged. But Sunday, for one hour we come to "base". We sing songs of encouragement. We pray. At communion we remember we are all deeply flawed and yet loved by God. Instead of railing about what's wrong with everyone else, we study God's Word to see where we need improvement. We stand around with other people who are trying to catch their breath. It's just one precious hour and then...back into the fray. If you need to catch your breath this week, whatever your politics, you might just try your local church. Just got tagged, gotta go! www.adventurecc.net

Question: If I am divorced am I able to remarry and not be an adulterer?

Answered by Community Pastor Jae Alexander

Before I start my answer I want to be sensitive to the realities of the pain involved in divorce for everyone. Spouses and children. No one really wins. I also know that each divorce has contributing factors from both sides. It takes two to make a marriage work and two to make a marriage fail. (Granted, one may make extra contributions!) 

This is one of those topics that the Scripture is actually very clear on. However, just because it is clear, doesn’t mean it is easy to answer. So, please read the entire response because this is a complicated issue. 

In Matthew 19 Jesus address this topic specifically. We’ll let Him speak for Himself;

“Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”” - Matthew 19:3-9 NIV

Based on the scripture I have to answer your question, “If I am divorced am I able to remarry and not be an adulterer?” With a “no”, you would be considered an adulterer. 

But let’s keep a few things in view as a finish my response. In the beginning of this answer I implied that divorce is a no win, complicated issue. Jesus’ answer is very interesting if you think about it for a minute. Putting things in context, He was approached by some Pharisees for the express purpose of “testing” Jesus. They are testing Jesus’ fidelity to the Law of Moses. Jesus, starts His answer at Creation, prior to the Law of Moses being given and explains God’s heart in the matter. Then He references the Law that was given and points to the hearts of men. Which shows that men did not have fidelity to God’s law.

Why was the Law given in the first place? Are we saved by the Law. Now or back then? Absolutely not. Because no one was able to keep the Law. It was given to identify our need for a Savior and demonstrate God’s grace. Ironically, this is the point that Jesus is trying to make to the Pharisees! The subject is about divorce, but the lesson is about Grace or the lack thereof. 

God’s standards don’t change. Neither does His love. Being an adulterer doesn’t keep you out of Heaven. Rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior does. When you make Jesus your Lord & Savior you are not identified by what you used to do, you are identified by what He has done in your place. He died for the sins that you have committed and are going to commit until you stand in His presence at the consummation of your salvation. At which time you will give an account of all the things you have done. If you are in Christ you have no worries.

I say all this to make this point. I recognize that at the heart of the question given to me to answer, the subject is about divorce; but what is really being asked is, “I have sinned in the past, can I still be right with God today?” I believe the answer to be, “yes”. But, as Christians we live parallel lives. We still live in time and space battling the flesh now. Yet we are in Christ too. 

When I sit down with people who have been through divorce and they are wanting to remarry or are remarried I make it a point to understand what happened. Was Jesus their Lord & Savior at the time of the divorce? Did they leave or did their spouse? Was there martial unfaithfulness like Jesus speaks about in our passage? Have they been remarried multiple times? How these questions are answered will dictate how I counsel them. 

I will close with this statement, keeping in mind that this question was given to me anonymously and I don’t know any of the answers to the questions above. Sometimes the Church can do a good job of reminding people of who they were before Christ, instead of reminding them of who they are in Christ now. It should not be this way. However, people in the Church should also be pursuing Holiness passionately. Divorce and remarriage should not be common place within the Body of Christ. Jesus makes that clear. So, we need to make sure that we are speaking the Truth to each other in love. Walking in the newness of Life that we have been given through the Holy Spirit. Practicing confession and repentance, while honoring marriage as God intended. If these things were happening in the body I guarantee that less and less people would be asking the question that was submitted. 

I appreciate the question and the reason it was asked. I sincerely pray that you will find the peace that God offers and not wrestle with guilt or shame.

Question: Why did God create humans?

Question: Why did God create humans?

Answer submitted by Pastor Jae Alexander

Well, the short answer is because He wanted to. Seriously, He’s God and can do whatever He wants! 

But, I suspect that you might want a little more than that simple answer. I actually love this question. I have been asked it by 3 year olds and adults. I’ve kicked it around myself many times and plan on asking it to God when I see Him. 

Truth is the scripture never comes right out and states the answer to the question. But, I believe that we do see some clues dropped in the pages of God’s word. Before I go there, let’s talk about God as the Creator a little. Because it reveals something about His character that is important. The opening sentence of the scripture states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” 

First, we see that there is a chronological word in this sentence, “the beginning”. This indicates that God already existed before anything else did. This speaks of His being Eternal, without beginning or end. He has always been. Then we see that God did something. He created the heavens and the earth. Now, we are not just talking about the sky and our planet. We are talking about the Universe. This tells us that God is not a part of it, but responsible for it. The term used to describe this is called Transcendent. God is above and beyond His creation. It also reveals that He is Omnipotent or All-powerful. All the power that is in the Universe is derived from the Creator and nothing is beyond Him. 

Why geek out like this? Because, everything that is recorded through out the rest of the scripture is a record of God interacting with His creation. This flies in the face of such theories as Deism, Theistic evolution, etc… It also tells us something very important about God. He desired interaction or relationship with what He created. This didn’t come from something that God was missing, I believe that it comes from another characteristic of God that is revealed to us in the scripture.

“…God is love.”- 1 John 4:8

Love is not a feeling. Granted it can generate very strong feelings and emotions, but at its root it is not an emotion. It is action. It is wanting the very best for another and doing what is necessary to accomplish that end. So, I believe that one of the reasons that God created human beings was to be able to demonstrate His great love. 

Another reason that scripture implies is that He created us for His glory.

“everyone who is called by my name,

    whom I created for my glory,

    whom I formed and made.” - Isaiah 43:7 NIV

Now, I’ll grant that the prophet Isaiah had Israel in mind when he gave these words in the beginning but this does extend to the entire human race at the end of the passage here in verse seven. Well, what is God’s glory? This question has always been hard for me to describe and answer. The simplest way I can think to describe it is like this. It’s something that points to how awesome and great God is. Sometimes it’s from the natural world, sometimes it’s from the supernatural world. Sometimes it’s something from the supernatural world invading the natural world. 

Things from the natural world are things like the Universe, the human body, etc… The complexity of these things are amazing and they speak of the genius and the glory of the Creator. 

Things from the supernatural world would be like angels. We know of them due to their invading our natural world, which leads me to think of miracles that show the Glory of God. 

Why did God create humans? He wanted to. Because He desired to bestow His great love on His creation. In return, His creation would reflect His glory. Creating a perfect, beautiful, harmony between Creator and creation. Someday, because of Jesus, we will know this as reality. 

The devil made me do it and resisting temptation

“I grew up hearing that ‘the devil made me do it’.  I know that is just a saying but can Satan put thoughts in our head?

and

“How do you resist temptation”

By Pastor Stacey Weeks

I heard about the devil making you do things as I was growing up too.  Often it confused me, why did the devil care about that unauthorized cookie taken from the cookie jar or my yanking my little sister's braid and pleading no clue about why she was crying.  I knew it was me, right?

Well, to set this discussion into context, let’s talk about who is inside of you first.  If you are baptized believer in Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit inside you.  The Spirit serves as the voice of God in you and the voice of your conscience.  

Yet, we all sin.  We steal that cookie or harm others.  In doing so, we choose what our heart or or mind knows is not godly or of the Spirit but what seemed satisfying in the moment. That is the key here.  Sin is always a choice that we make.  Yes, sometimes we are overcome by the temptation to sin to feel better about ourselves, to ‘get what is ours’, or be part of the group, but the fact remains: sin is a choice.  

Your question asks if Satan can put thoughts in our heads.  According to Scripture, Satan uses all the tools at his disposal to deceive and lead people astray, so the answer is yes, he can.

In Acts 5:3. Peter asks Anaias why he withheld resources from the early church and in doing so asked why Satan had filled Anaias’ heart.

In 2 Corinthians 2-10-12, Paul writes about not being outwitted by Satan.  This verse gives us insight on how we are to treat Satan’s schemes.  Verse 11 reads, “ And we do this so that we may not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.”   We need to be aware that Satan schemes against the followers of Christ, that is what he does and he is good at it!   

This thought is reinforced by 1 Peter 5:8 where Paul writes again, “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.”

This is where the second question comes into play: How to resist temptation.  This is where the rubber meets the road in our Christian walk.  Just like sin, the temptation to sin is something we all face.  James 1:12 (NLT), tell us “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

So, how do we resist temptation?  Scripture guides us to pray about temptation.  In the books of Matthew and Mark, we are told to keep watch and pray (Matthew 26:41 and Mark 14:38).  The Lord’s Prayer, when Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, echoes this as well in that prayer when we ask not to be led into temptation (Matthew 6:13).   We have to armor up here people, that is our first line of defense!  Get those close to you to pray with you as well if it is an ongoing temptation or sin.  Your besties, your life2life group, your step group, the mature Christians in your life.

How else can you avoid temptation?  Practically, it means avoiding the environments where you are likely to sin.  Blocking that website, avoiding those certain situations, replacing that thought or word, even giving up your smartphone.  Did I really say those things?  Yes, I did because the Bible takes it even further.

Matthew 18:9  (NLT) says “ And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

That sounds hard doesn’t it?  It is. Some temptations and some sins are easier to walk away from than others.  However, before you begin to fear the work of Satan and temptation, remember who you belong to!

Jesus Christ is our advocate, our shepherd and the one whose blood washes away all sin.  Christ forgave all of the sins of your life in those final moments on the cross, long before you took your first breath.  He also loves us like children and stands ready to hear our cries, our confessions and His love for us is unwavering.

Remember that God wins on the final day and the schemes of the devil will be no more.  Take heart, pray on your armor, stand strong and be of good courage!  

If you confess sins to the Lord, do you need to confess to the one/others that you sinned against?

Question: If you confess sins to the Lord, do you need to confess to the one/others that you sinned against?

Answered by Community Pastor Jae Alexander

I love this question because I think confession is an extremely important and healthy part of the Christian life. 

I would answer “yes” to both parts of the question with the following explanation.

First, a reality of sin is that it separates. It severs relationships. It does relational damage. Every time. We see this first happen in the Garden between God, Adam, and Eve. The relationship was never the same after that even though God extended grace and showed mercy. The relationship between Adam & Eve changed too. 

Another reality of sin is that it is disobedience of God’s will, which means that every sin is against God. When I am leading someone to Christ or counseling a newer believer (and even some older ones), I teach them the importance of confession and how to do it. One of the things I tell them is when they realize that they have sinned, go to God first. Our tendency is to avoid Him. Because of our shame (a consequence of sin) we avoid Him. (Remember Adam & Eve’s initial response in the garden?) That is EXACTLY the opposite of what His word tells us to do! One of the greatest promises in all scripture that has probably saved my life many times is:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9 NIV

When we claim the promise in this verse, it can remove the shame & guilt that keeps us from turning back to our Heavenly Father. But, look where the verse starts, “If we confess…” God is All-Knowing. He knows you screwed up. You know you screwed up. Confess it! Don’t play games. Get your relationship with God right again through Jesus. 

Reality #3 about sin. It always, always has consequences. Now, unless you live in a vacuum or are a hermit. You have people around you. One of the consequences that I have seen or experienced over the years is that when I sin, I hurt not only myself, but those around me. When I lie, I compromise my integrity and mislead others. When I don’t show Christ like love to another person, I rob both of us from the blessings that God has for us. When I fight with my wife, it affects the whole family. That is why it is so important to confess to someone you have sinned against. Understand that your confession to them is not for them to absolve you from your sin. That’s God’s part. Confession to someone you have sinned against is for relationship repair. Reconciling. Consider Jesus’ teaching:

“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.” - Matthew 18:15 NLT

I recognize that this verse has the “sinned against” going to the “one that did the sinning”, but is showing clearly that the reason for confession to one another is for restoring damaged or potentially damaged relationships. 

I would also point out that the scripture often talks about forgiving one another and living in peace or harmony with each other. (Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:23 & 25, Colossians 3:13,  1 Thessalonians 5:13, 1 Peter 3:8)

Lastly, the scripture commands it. James 5:16 says:

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

I don’t think that James is just talking about physical healing here. I believe it can be physical, emotional, and relational.

So, in a nutshell always confess to God first. As you are confessing to Him ask Him to help you to deal with the consequences of your sins. Ask Him who you need to confess to in this particular case. 

Lastly, please, please accept the fact that He has forgiven you and don’t hold on to your failure. Just take care of your business and move on. 

Is there a sin that would keep me out of heaven?

Question: Is there a sin that would keep me out of heaven?

Answered by Community Pastor Jae Alexander

Great question and I think it is one that comes to people’s minds quite often. Short answer is yes, rejecting Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for your salvation. 

I would add this as well, God is not in the business of keeping people out of Heaven. We do a good enough job of that on our own!  Awhile ago Erik did a great job of touching on this the question a little when he addressed the question, “Once saved always saved”. I would encourage you to read that post by following the link below. 

http://adventuretoughquestions.blogspot.com/2014/11/once-saved-always-saved.html

Question: Can you please explain the Trinity? Part 2

Answer submitted by Community Pastor Jae Alexander

In this second blog post I will briefly touch on some common misunderstandings/heresies about the Trinity. Before I do that, let’s review what the the orthodox definition of Trinity is:

“God is three persons in one essence.”

Maybe a simpler way of looking at this would be: In God there are three WHOS and one WHAT. The WHAT is exactly the same in the WHOS.

Now, the common misunderstandings/heresies fall into three basic categories.

1. Philosophical/Reasoning
2. Tritheism (a specific type of polytheism)
3. Modalism

As I discuss these I will be quoting a lot from a book called the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics by Norman Geisler.

1. Philosophical or Reasoning misunderstandings about the Trinity.

The number one misunderstanding that I hear quite often from this point of view is that the Trinity is a contradiction in logic or reasoning. This is often leveled at Christians from Muslims, Orthodox Jews, and critics in general. However, there is no contradiction in the doctrine from a logic or reasoning standpoint. 

The philosophical law of non-contradiction informs us that something cannot be both true and false at the same time and in the same sense. 1

(A cannot be both A and non-A at the same time and in the same relationship.)

This is the fundamental law of all rational thought. Applied the the Trinity this can be shown by stating first of all what the Trinity is not. The Trinity is not the belief that God is three persons and only one person at the same time and in the same sense. That would be a contradiction. Rather, it is the belief that there are three persons in one nature. This is not contradictory because it makes a distinction between person and essence. Or, to put it terms of the law of non-contradiction, while God is one and many at the same time, he is not one and many in the same sense. He is one in the sense of his essence but many in the sense of his persons. God is one in his substance. The unity is in his essence (what God is), and the plurality is in God’s persons (how he relates within himself). 

This plurality of relationships is both internal and external. Within the Trinity each member relates to the others in certain ways. These are somewhat analogous to human relationships. The Bible’s description of Yahweh as Father and Jesus as Son says something of how the Son relates to the Father. Also, the Father sends the Spirit as a Messenger, and the Spirit is a Witness of the Son (John 14:26). These descriptions help us understand the functions within the unity of the Godhead. Each is fully God, each has his own work and interrelational theme with the other two. But what it is vital to remember that these three share the same essence, so that they unify as one Being. 2

Heresies are teaching that reject and attempt to replace orthodox views. They are the things of cults. The topic of the Trinity is subject to possible heresy. It happens when distinctions about God’s nature or persons are made into divisions or the distinctions about God’s person’s are ignored. He is what I mean. 

2. Tritheism (a specific type of polytheism)

The Bible declares emphatically: “The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deut. 6:4). Both Jesus (Mark 12:29) and the apostles repeat this formula in the New Testament (1 Cor. 8:4, 6). And early Christian creeds speak of Christ being one in “substance” or “essence” with God. The Athanasian Creed, reads: “We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons; nor divining the Substance (Essence).” So Christianity is a form of monotheism, believing in one and only one God. 3

No analogy of the Trinity is perfect, but some are better than others. First, some bad illustrations should be repudiated. The Trinity is not like a chain with three links. For these are three separate and separable parts. But God is neither separated nor separable. Neither is God like the same actor playing three different parts in a play. For God is simultaneously three persons, not one person playing three successive roles. 

Tritheism makes the One True God into three gods. That is simply not what the scriptures teach.

This heresy can be seen today in Mormon teaching with a twist. (They tend to lean into full blown polytheism, with a Trithiestic emphasis). 

3. Modalism

The heresy of modalism, also called Sabellianism, denies there are three distinct eternal persons in the Godhead. It believes that the so–called “persons” of the Trinity are modes of God substance, not distinct persons. Like water with its three states (liquid, solid, and gaseous), the Trinity is said to be only three different modes of the same essence.4 However, normally water is not in all three of these states at the same time, but God is always three persons at the same time.5 Trinitarians do not affirm a god with three different substances; they confess that God is three distinct persons in one substance.6 So, this analogy falls very short of teaching the orthodox meaning of the Trinity.

This heresy can be seen today in Oneness Pentecostalism or Jesus only movement churches. 

1. Geisler, Norman L. (2011-08-31). Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker Reference Library) (p. 732). Baker Book Group - A. Kindle Edition.
2. Geisler, Norman L. (2011-08-31). Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker Reference Library) (p. 732). Baker Book Group - A. Kindle Edition.
3. Geisler, Norman L. (2011-08-31). Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker Reference Library) (pp. 735-736). Baker Book Group - A. Kindle Edition. 
4. Geisler, Norman L. (2011-08-31). Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker Reference Library) (p. 735). Baker Book Group - A. Kindle Edition. 
5. Geisler, Norman L. (2011-08-31). Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker Reference Library) (p. 735). Baker Book Group - A. Kindle Edition. 
6. Geisler, Norman L. (2011-08-31). Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker Reference Library) (p. 735). Baker Book Group - A. Kindle Edition.