Monsters, Their Victims & Forgiveness

 I only just finished watching a documentary about the infamous "Co-ed Killer", Ed Kemper. At the end of it, one of the people who'd once interviewed the serial killer had to admit that there is a possibility that Kemper will one day be in Heaven.

That's tough for me as I stated in the comments.

At the very end of this, I had to agree that Ed Kemper will be in heaven one day. That he was so horrible and committed such horrific crimes doesn't mean that he can't ask for and receive the Lord's forgiveness. This was (and sometimes still is)  one of the toughest things for me to comprehend when I asked for forgiveness. I've never done anything truly horrible, but I was only "moral" and "good" by the world's standards. Without God's grace, I would not have a place in heaven any more than the worst killer. It's not levels of sin, but simply sin. It's not a matter of "good", "bad" or otherwise; it's a question of forgiveness but one has to want it as ask for it. That will never be easy for me to understand but there it is.

And that is a difficult thing to understand. My immediate thought about killers like Kemper is that they belong in Hell. However, I have to always stop and remind myself of something harsh: if I had been a victim of Kemper's before I came to the Lord, I would have ended up in Hell while Kemper still had a chance at salvation.

That's kind of cold, isn't it? Cold like ice water being thrown in the face of all our human arrogance.

I've never done anything exceptionally mean or horrible or hurtful. I've never been a "bad" person. But none of that would have saved me had I died before I came to the Lord, asking forgiveness.

The truth isn't always as palatable as we want it to be. Truth does not conform to us - it just is. God is Truth. He is Justice. And that grates on a lot of our fleshly hubris.

One of Kemper's victims was just fifteen years old. A beautiful, talented child. Where is she spending eternity? Kemper himself is, at this moment, still alive in his imprisonment. How foreign to our minds that he might be freer than some of the rest of us.

Truth is truth. We can't haggle with it. We cannot bully it into being what we want it to be. Truth is truth. Period. And that is such a hard thing to comprehend sometimes. 

Peace

--Free

Jesus' Love Is Not Approval

 People are celebrating Christmas this morning.

(By the way, I no longer make a big deal out of Christmas. I exchange gifts with loved ones - as we do all year round - and I do respond to wishes of good tidings. So I hope everyone has had a wonderful time with family and friends this day.)

Now. I have a bone to pick with a tweet I saw this morning. I went on to Twitter to send a message to the support team for an appliance I have and I happened to see this tweet from David Corn in my feed:

That looks like a nice and positive message for the day that some people choose to celebrate the birth of Jesus. (Or for the day that a lot of us choose as a reason to go consumer-crazy.) 

The problem I have with that message is that it is all kinds of shady and misleading. Let's take a look at some of the shade being thrown.

First and foremost, the message implies that followers of Jesus (you know, Christians) are nothing like Jesus because... we follow the teachings of the Bible? It's as if we are being shamed for holding a set of beliefs that come directly from the Bible.

All of this part is true about Jesus. It's also true of many Christians today. Many.

But it makes it sound as if Christians today (or at least the ones Mr. Corn knows of?) would never be seen hanging around with "lepers, hookers, and crooks". He doesn't acknowledge the Christians who spend time working with those who are outcasts (because of illness, deformity, or otherwise), working the streets, or in jail.

Then there is this part:

Jesus was not anti-wealth. It isn't being wealthy that Jesus has a problem with. He just does not want wealth to come between man and salvation. We are not to put wealth above all. 

Because Jesus is not only the Son of God but God Himself, he was not anti-death penalty. He believed in punishment, he just did not want the condemned to die unsaved and unrepentant. 

He was certainly not anti-public prayer, he just did not want man using prayer to call attention to himself by trying to look holy and pious versus being holy and pious. Our prayers are for and to Jesus, not for the approval or admiration of others.

As far as the "anti-gay" mention, Jesus was never against any sinner - gay or otherwise. If the Lord is against sinners, he would be against me. His problem is with sin. 

Remember that Jesus is not just the Son of God but God Himself. God is anti-homosexuality - not anti-homosexual (or anti-liar, anti-thief, etc.). God made man and woman for each other and to procreate together. Man with a man or woman with a woman cannot procreate. I would not be here, you would not be here in that case. (Of course, now science is creating life from life without the need for male-female interaction. But they have not and cannot create life from nothing as God did.)

On the abortion issue, Jesus (God) saw life as it began at conception and, in fact, knew us before we were born, as mentioned in Psalms and elsewhere in Scripture. Taking life before a child is born is murder. 

I'm pretty sure Jesus (God) is not good with the abortion of the unborn child - unwanted or inconvenient - any more than he would be with the abortion/killing of the unwanted or inconvenient child already delivered.

And the birth control? Well, that comes back to the issue of procreation. We use birth control so that we can have the joy of sex without the inconvenience of pregnancy. Aren't we picky? 

This last one was the slickest one of the lot:

No, Jesus most certainly did not "slut-shame". He did, however, tell us to "go and sin no more". 

Listen. God (the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit) is not the who or what, or why that we sometimes want Him to be. He is who He is. We either chose to follow the Son or not. We can't choose which of his teachings to follow. We can't twist his teachings to fit our desires. (Well, we can if we want to, but we aren't fooling the Lord.)

I might be wrong but I don't think that Mr. Corn was trying to point out the goodness of Christ so much as he was trying to make Christ's followers look or feel bad. I think that what Mr. Corn might be trying to say is that we all need to be better people. I agree with that. I pray every day for the Lord to "create in me a clean heart" and to "renew a right spirit in me".  There are days when I am a disappointment to myself. I can be horribly judgemental and wrong-minded. I tell people that I am a work in progress. We all are, I think.

We Christians are not all walking as Christ would want us to but we are individuals. It's not fair to lump all of us in with the worst of us. It's also not fair to try tarnishing Christianity by holding every "bad" thing about it up against your personal ideals. 

I am not Christ. I am his follower. I try to live more by his rules than I do by any other. Being a "good" person doesn't make me a Christian. Being a Christian assures my salvation. It doesn't ensure that I will always be nice, kind, understanding, etc. Ask any of my family or friends or go read some of my blog posts.

By the way, although Christ loves all of us, and doesn't push any of us away because of our sins, he does not condone sin. He forgives them. But to be forgiven, we have to acknowledge that we need forgiveness. One cannot ask forgiveness for things they don't believe is sinful. 

One cannot happily, readily, purposefully, and - most importantly - unrepentantly indulge in sinful things and want forgiveness. That makes no sense. Either we want the sin or we want the forgiveness. 

Now, I am not a theologian, Bible scholar, or any kind of an expert in debate. As a matter of fact, I struggle with an illness that affects my cognitive abilities. I am just a Christian. I am sure that someone could find a better way to get across what I am trying to in this post. I just had to address Mr. Corn's tweet. I hope that he does not think I am attacking him. I think that he has a good heart. But I did have to respond in some way to his post on Twitter.

Peace

--Free

Every Day Thanks and Every Day Behavior

While doing my Bible read-through, I keep being struck by how many times Israel fell back into doing "evil in the sight of the Lord". At first, I was feeling a little self-righteous, thinking "when do they ever get it?!?!?" 

Then I thought of my own habit of sliding back into sin on a daily basis. 

I was telling someone something my late auntie said about Thanksgiving and that every day should be one of thanksgiving for us all. It's not about food or even being together - thought that is nice It's about being thankful. People not able to be with their families still should be thankful; those who don't even have homes should be thankful, and those of us who are going through whatever life is throwing at us should be thankful. Thankful for our own wanderings and journey through this life to a reunion with our eternal family.

When I think of how loving and forgiving God is to Israel and all of us Gentiles, every moment is one of thanksgiving.

Sorry. Rant over.

Anyway.

Here is a list I culled using  eSword to find all the times the phrase "did what was evil in the sight of the Lord" is used. This doesn't cover all the variations on the phrase, but it is a reminder to me of God's forgiveness.

(Jdg 2:11)  And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.

(Jdg 3:7)  And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

(Jdg 3:12)  And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

(Jdg 4:1)  And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died.

(Jdg 6:1)  The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.

(Jdg 10:6)  The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him.

(Jdg 13:1)  And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

(1Ki 11:6)  So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.

(1Ki 14:22)  And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done.

(1Ki 15:26)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

(1Ki 15:34)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

(1Ki 16:25)  Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him.

(1Ki 22:52)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 3:2)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.

(2Ki 8:18)  And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

(2Ki 8:27)  He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab.

(2Ki 13:2)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them.

(2Ki 13:11)  He also did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them.

(2Ki 14:24)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 15:9)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 15:18)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 15:24)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 15:28)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 17:2)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

(2Ki 21:2)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

(2Ki 21:16)  Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

(2Ki 21:20)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done.

(2Ki 23:32)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

(2Ki 23:37)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

(2Ki 24:9)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.

(2Ki 24:19)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

(2Ch 21:6)  And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

(2Ch 22:4)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing.

(2Ch 33:2)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

(2Ch 33:22)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them.

(2Ch 36:5)  Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

(2Ch 36:9)  Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

(2Ch 36:12)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD.

(Jer 52:2)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

By the way, that is 39 verses. I love eSword so much for this. I am going to tape this list near my desk so that I see it every day. Instead of wagging my head at the hardheaded nature of my ancient Israelites siblings, I need to just do better myself. Every. Day. And I can take a lesson from Israel: they always repented and turned back to the Lord.

Therefore repent and return,
so that your sins may be wiped away, (Acts 3:19 NASB)

Peace

--Free

**BIBLE STUDY** Finding Meaning in Leviticus

Trigger warning: I am going to make a couple of statements in this post that I am sure will offend some people. My intent is not to offend. My intent, as always with my posts, is to share information and my viewpoint and opinions. But because I do want to share in love, please do read and think about anything I say before you dismiss it.

I will be honest and admit that I have trouble reading through books like Leviticus and Numbers. It's so tempting for me to skip over these "drier" books. 

Every word in the Bible is there for a reason, though so I refuse to take any shortcuts this time around. I have been taking notes and try to find something to think about for each section of the chapters I read. With Leviticus, I mostly have questions which means I have to look for answers. That's how I came up with so many links in my last post.

I have just struggled through chapter 7 in Leviticus. It wasn't until I got halfway through chapter 4 that something dawned on me.

We commit so many sins - intentional, unintentional; "small" sins, and "large" sins. I couldn't possibly even attempt counting how many times a day I sin in thought. If I lived during the Mosaic era, I'd have worn a hole in the path to the priest's door. 

When I started thinking about all those sacrifices people had to offer back then, I became ever so much more thankful for the Lord's sacrifice on the cross. His once-and-for-all sacrifice takes on more and more meaning as I think about my sins. People, I don't sin daily, I sin from moment to moment. On some days, my thoughts are a blur of sin.

So, I started paying attention to the types of offerings in Leviticus. Because of the repetition, there seem to be hundreds mentioned but I realized there were five of them. I still had trouble understanding them though so I was thrilled to come across this wonderful chart by Raymond K. Campbell on *Bible Centre:

Cambell (who has other contributions shown on Bible Centre) gives a sketch explanation of each offering type. I have printed this out to study while I skim back over chapters 1-7.

By the way, I found it interesting that a wave offering (ex: Lev 7:30) is a portion of a sacrifice waved in the air indicating that it is for the Lord. When I read that, I immediately thought of how music fans are often encouraged to wave their hands "in the air and wave 'em like you just don't care". A Redditor might tag this as being mildly interesting. Of course, when I got to Leviticus 10:2 and started reading about Aaron's sons offering up "strange fire" so I did a quick search for any lyrics and found something by The Indigo Girls (never listened to their music before) and they have a song called "Strange Fire" with this as the starting lyrics (my emphasis added):

I come to you with strange fire
I make an offering of love
The incense of my soil is burned
By the fire in my blood
I come with a softer answer
To the questions that lie in your path
I want to harbor you from the anger
Find a refuge from the wrath

Because I never heard their music or knew anything about this duo, I did some cursory Wiki lookups. I am surprised that they are gay but seem intertwined with ministries. Sort of like if I was a  proud and professional liar who claimed to follow Christ - who died for my sins as a liar, cheat, adulterer, etc. I am not proud of my sins and don't live unrepentant of them and I, for the record, would be afraid of the fire of God's wrath. Just saying so don't come for me with wagging fingers and the shaming. This is not a statement about hate for gays. This is a statement about my understanding of sin and repentance and salvation through Christ. I don't hate gays or anyone else for their sin but I do pray they find salvation.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that. I hope this helps anyone else reading through Leviticus.

Peace

--Free

*I have not visited Bible Centre before now and have not perused the site. I have not read their Statement of Faith. Please use discernment when visiting any linked site.

"You Are Going To Hell, My Friend"

 I'm not talking to you in that title. That is my conscience talking to me.

The other day, the thought popped into my head about whether or not I could only think I am saved.

Hmmm...

That's a thought that will keep you up at night. It sure did cause me to toss and turn. I immediately started checking some resources. I was so frantic that I went online and literally typed into the search: "can you only think you are saved". No question mark needed. 

After checking a couple of overly reassuring pages, I added "Got Questions" to the search and several choices popped up. I chose this one If you doubt your salvation, does that mean you are not truly saved?

I read it, re-read it, printed it out, and read the hard copy, and underlined some parts. The gist of it is:

• Belief alone is not enough. Even demons believe.
• Belief and faith are different things.
• If we have saving faith (belief), we won't willfully continue to sin.
• We will still sin because, well, we are human. As Chuck Missler put it, we are "born this way" and "S-I-N- positive"
• The point is: do we struggle with our sin? (I wasn't struggling with this one particular sin; it was a part of my daily life. I set time aside for it!)
• True belief transforms us from one who happily sins to one who struggles against sin.

So...

I sent an email to end a sort of relationship that I know is not right or honest (none of your business!) and then prayed right then and there for forgiveness and strength. I know that I am going to need to examine my life every now and then.

I am going to continue my Bible studies but, in place of the particular sin I mentioned giving up, I will be using that time to pray about any other sin I am possibly wallowing in.

I just wanted to share this and I hope that you share that Got Question link with everyone you know. I don't want any of us to end up in the Lord, Lord situation. You know, this one:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven..."

The fact that I could have died in my sleep, still in my willing and continual sins, hurts my heart. And it was a warning I needed.

Peace

--Free