I am a Murderer!

Posted on by kevinjandt

murder

Have you ever killed someone?  I have…   I’m a convicted murderer!

Most of you are going to say no and I suppose it’s possible someone reading this might say yes and they might have taken human life.

Can you define “murder”?  Here is the Merriam-Webster definition; the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought.  Most of us will think of famous serial killers such as Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy or even someone like Adolph Hitler, but would you ever consider yourself as evil as men like this?

Of course not!  We don’t have a tendency to think of ourselves this way; we think we are pretty “good” by our own standards.  But Jesus set the bar higher, and by doing so He told us we are every bit as bad as these men if our thought life is out of control.

Matthew 5:21-23 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will in danger of the judgment,’  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”

This past week I’ve been shown my sin of murder…  It’s not a pretty picture.  I won’t win any awards for this.  I don’t like to admit my faults, and I certainly don’t like to call my faults sin.  But this is what I must do.  I call myself a Believer and therefore I must confront my sin and I must deal with it.  I could ignore it and I could attempt to justify it.  But I would only be deceiving myself.

I’ve been reading a book called “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  If you don’t know anything about Bonhoeffer I really encourage you to investigate; he’s a fascinating man and as I’m reading this book it shakes me to the core of the reality of what a true disciple of Jesus Christ must look like.  I look around at those in churches and I don’t see very many disciples.

I see a lot of church goers, I see a lot of religiosity, and I certainly see a lot of deception, not because they are any worse than I am.   I see the ugliness of my sin and I hate it.  I detest the man I am in my flesh.  The only potential difference between me and them is a willingness to deal drastically with my sin when it appears front and center.  I don’t speak in specifics.  I speak in generalities about this, because I know many people that confront sin within their own lives and within the lives of others, but I can boldly make the statement that most won’t.

Bonhoeffer writes – The judgment he passes on others falls on the murderer himself.  In this context “brother” means more than “fellow-Christian”: for the follower of Jesus there can be no limit as to who is his neighbor, except as the Lord decides.  He is forbidden to commit murder under pain of divine judgment.  For him the brother’s life is a boundary which he dare not pass.  Even anger is enough to overstep the mark, still more the casual angry word (Raca), and most of all the deliberate insult of our brother (“Thou Fool”). 

Anger is always an attack on the brother’s life, for it refuses to let him live and aims at his destruction.  Jesus will not accept the common distinction between righteous indignation and unjustifiable anger.  The disciple must be entirely innocent of anger, because anger is an offence against both God and his neighbor.  Every idle word which we think so little of betrays our lack of respect for our neighbor, and shows that we place ourselves on a pinnacle above him and value our own lives higher than his.  The angry word is a blow struck at our brother, a stab at his heart: it seeks to hit, to hurt and to destroy.  A deliberate insult is even worse, for we are then openly disgracing our brother in the eyes of the world, and causing others to despise him.  With our hearts burning with hatred, we seek to annihilate his moral and material existence.  And the murderer will himself be judged.

When a man gets angry with his brother and swears at him, when he publicly insults or slanders him, he is guilty of murder and forfeits his relation to God.  He erects a barrier not only between himself and his brother, but also between himself and God.  He no longer has access to him: his sacrifice, worship and prayer are not acceptable in his sight.

So what do I do about it?  What do you do about it?  What do you think now, do you think you are a murderer on the massive scale of Ted Bundy.  These are the hard and challenging words of Jesus Christ that really separate people.  When the Lord called Believers to pick up their cross daily and follow Him, this is what He meant.  Have you ever sat down with someone and told them that you’ve murdered them.  It’s very humbling.

I found that out last week as I confessed my sins to a friend and told him I had murdered him.  I told him I’m seeking his forgiveness and I’ve sought forgiveness from God.  I confessed and I repented.  Now I must turn from my sin and do it no more.

How about you?  Certainly nobody has kept this standard, so what will you do with this now that you are no longer ignorant.  I suggest you make out a list of your victims.  Then you go to each one of them and sincerely seek their forgiveness.  Restore the relationship with them so you can restore your relationship to God, fully and without any hindrances.   Do it quickly while you have it fresh in your mind, be resolved to not let the sun set on your anger.

Look at what Bonhoeffer says again.  Therefore “go thy way, first be reconciled with thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”  This is a hard way, but it is the way Jesus requires if we are to follow him.  It is a way which brings much personal humiliation and insult, but it is indeed the way to him, our crucified Brother, and therefore a way of grace abounding.

If you don’t think you’re a murderer, you are deceiving yourself.

Repent, turn from your sin and be healed.   We all have an opportunity to deal with our sin here on earth, to do the humiliating work now, to seek Christ for His forgiveness or be accountable to Him for our sins at our judgment.  He is freely offering forgiveness if we will only humble ourselves before His throne.

 

Kevin

You are that man!

Posted on by kevinjandt

Maes_Nathan_David2

Have you ever been confronted with sin in your life?  How have you reacted to someone that loves you enough to point this out to you?

Your reaction tells you a lot about yourself.

Did you get angry?

Did you become defensive?

Did you deny it, or accuse them of being self-righteous?  That’s an old favorite.

Did you notice that I said someone “loves you” enough to risk your relationship to tell you about your sin?  Did it mean they are without sin?  Of course not, we all sin, but don’t pull “judge not…” out of your hat, unless they are accusing you of something they are embroiled in themselves.

2 Samuel 12:5-9  So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!  And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had not pity.”  Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!  Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah.  And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!  Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight?  You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword:  you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

David was a man after God’s heart, the king of Israel.  He was chosen by God to be of the royal lineage of the King to come.  How is it possible for this man to fall into such incredible sin; adultery and then murder?

The question before us today is how we deal with our sin, when we are confronted and how we deal with others sin, if we need to confront them.  I’ve appreciated a recent blog post by a friend as she is wrestling through her own judgmentalism.  Amy’s Blog Certainly, we must continue to check on our motives and we are not to be judgmental but we must be capable of discernment and judgements.

Brothers and sisters we must confront sin as sin.  We must call it for what it is.  If we really care for the souls of others we must be able to gently turn them from their sin (James 5:19-20).  Nathan skillfully but firmly showed David his sin, he didn’t hide from it or attempt to justify it.

Do you despise the chastening of the Lord? (Hebrews 12:5-6)  How does a believer react to sin?

2 Samuel 12:13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

This is a very straight forward and God honoring reaction.  No excuses, no justification, no buts…  “I have sinned”

David recognizes his sin.  He sees this as sin, how often do we excuse our sin as something other than what it actually is.  Do we realize when we are in sin?  Sin is deceitful; it blinds us to the actuality of what it really is.  We can so easily fool ourselves.

I’ve seen this recently from my last blog post on atheism.  Comments  She was offended that I would think to know what she was thinking.  I don’t know her thoughts by any supernatural power of my own.  I know her thoughts because the Bible shows me what she thinks.  Romans chapter 1 is a crystal clear example of this.  She is futile in her thoughts and in her wisdom she has become a fool.  So God gives them up and unless He grants her the ability to see her sin she will die in her sin.

Secondly, notice that David has sinned “against the LORD.”  When we sin my dear friends it is against a holy God.  Yes, we sin against others but ultimately our responsibility lies with God.  We’ve committed treason against the One who created us.  We are so arrogant and so self-righteous that we can’t even begin to see how offensive this is to God.  Does God really hate our “little” sins that much?  God hates sin so much that He would pour out His wrath on His Son.  Yes, God hates sin more than our minds can even possibly begin to understand.

Yet it also pleased God to crush His Son. (Isaiah 53:10).  Why?  Because God is love!  He loves those that love Him enough to provide a way out of the mess we are in.  We are in a mess even though we may not understand it.  Like a pig will go to slop before he’d eat a beautifully prepared prime rib dinner, mankind has no idea we love slop.

David recognized his desire for slop and out of that came one of the most beautiful Psalms ever written.  Psalm 51 should be a consistent and regular part of our reading.  If you dare forget God’s love or become sloppy in your worship of Him.  Turn to these words for renewal.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;  According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight…  Psalm 51:1-4

I’m humbled beyond words for God’s mercy in my life and I can only hope I continue to see my sin for what it cost the Son.

May God have mercy!

 

Kevin

 

I Don’t Believe in Atheism

Posted on by kevinjandt

“Atheism is a strange thing. Even the devils never fell into that vice.” -C. H. Spurgeon

Beautiful_Sunset_by_BradyB&W

I don’t believe in atheism.

I don’t believe people, when they say they don’t believe in God.

I don’t believe God is a mystery that cannot be known.  He’s real, He’s alive, and all are responsible to know Him.

Of course I realize people claim to be atheists; it seems to be somewhat popular these days.  Atheists say they don’t believe in God or a god.

For today’s discussion I’d like to say that nobody really believes what they say because the Holy Scriptures contradict them.  I realize this is a circular argument in their eyes but for me the argument ends there, it’s just that simple.

A so-called atheist might say, “you can’t prove there’s a god” and since I’ve come to this conclusion, I don’t believe it, or we can’t see God so we don’t believe it.

God has revealed himself to mankind and just because we say we don’t believe it doesn’t make it so.

Romans 1:19-23 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Pressing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the in corruptible God into an image made like corruptible man-and birds, and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Man is without excuse.   God has revealed Himself through nature.

Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…

Man is without excuse.  God has revealed Himself through His Son.

Luke 1:1-4 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and minister of the word delivered them to us.  It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainly of those things in which you were instructed.

Man is without excuse.  God has revealed Himself through His Word.

Opponents of God are free to believe or not believe as they wish but they must know that won’t release them from accountability.  Every human in all of history will stand before God and give account of their life.  Nothing will be left hidden.  Every sin you’ve ever committed will be brought before the Just Judge and a verdict will be rendered.

You might say well my sin isn’t that bad, or I’m a relatively good person compared to that guy….

You need to compare your life to the life of Christ and see how you measure up to His standard.  Perfection is the measuring stick by which you will be judged.  Every thought, word and deed for the entirety of your life must be perfect.

You may not like this, you may not believe this and you may not accept this as truth, but that won’t change it.

You can laugh, you can scoff, you can ridicule but what you can’t do is escape it.  I must warn you today not to take that chance.

Ezekiel 3:17-19 “Son of man.  I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel: therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:  When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.  Yet, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”

So why are there people that call themselves atheists?  Again the answer is simple.

No accountability.

If they say they don’t believe what the Bible says, they don’t have to give account for their sin.  They can live guilt free and never have to answer for how they lived their life.

Turn to Christ, see Him as the only One that can save and cast your cares upon Him.  Matthew 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock…

 

Kevin

Child warriors

Posted on by kevinjandt

Prepare-4-Battle-Land-Copy

Throughout history children have been used in warfare, through either direct combat roles or in support roles.  Can you imagine strapping an AK-47 onto your 12 year old and sending them out into the field to fight?  Seems crazy, yet this is not uncommon in parts of the world that are entangled in fighting for freedom, or at least what they view as freedom.

Today I’m asking Believers to do the same thing with their children.  Today I’m asking and telling myself, my children need to be engaged in war.  I don’t own much in the way of firearms.  I have a shotgun that I’ve missed a few pheasants in my day.  In fact I’m not sure I’ve actually killed anything with this shotgun, but my poor shooting is not the point of this article.

Today I hope we’ll consider the purpose of the training and equipping of our children.  Why did you have children?

Psalm 127:3-4 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.

The first thing we see is that children are a reward.  We recently attended a conference and one of the speakers was telling a story of his father and how his father had discussed this with a couple that were committed to not having children.  He said to them if God wants to give you a gift, why would you refuse that?

Most of society views children as a nuisance, not a reward.  Something we are obligated to have.  Two and out is the general rule of thumb, unless you have the same variety twice and then it’s okay to have a third to try for a boy or a girl.

Verse 4 tells us children are arrows in the hand of a warrior.  The first question to ask, are you a warrior?  If you’re not a warrior, there’s no need to have arrows in your hand, they will only hurt you.  Have you ever watched someone untrained try handling a weapon; they look clumsy doing it.  If you are not being trained for battle you have no business training your children, you are incapable of this without being this yourself.  Note: this does not absolve you of your responsibility, and if this is not you then I would encourage you to read my articles on A Sure Guide to Heaven.

Ephesians 6:4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

So what is the battle?

Ephesians 6:11-12 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

This battle, this holy war, is against things seen and unseen.   Our only offensive weapon in this battle is the word of God; verse 17 goes on to say, And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

To engage this battle we must be saved and we must be training in the word of God.  This word is sharp and it cuts and it divides.  It discerns the intent of one’s heart (Hebrews 4:12).   Have you experienced this before?

This article draws a clear line in the sand and I’m hopeful exposes our hearts before God.

Are you bumping through life with no clear purpose and no clear vision for your family?  Do you have purpose in your own life?  Please don’t pass over this question today.  Sit and think today about your purpose.

Society is training children very well for the playground of life.  A Believer should be training children for the battleground, to take ground for the Lord Jesus Christ.

What simple, practical steps can you take today if you’ve failed in this endeavor?

Repent.  Gather your family together tonight and confess your lack of vision and leadership and explain to them their new mission.

Create a vision statement.  Write something out on paper.  Have them help and develop a plan.  Have you heard the worn out financial advisor cliché, “nobody plans to fail, they only fail to plan”.

Turn off the television.  The word “amusement” means to NOT THINK!  How can you be engaged in a battle if you turn off your brain?

Have family worship consistently.  Sit around a table and talk with your family.  Have deep and meaningful conversations.  Learn to know your children and your spouse.   We’ve benefited from a study in Proverbs by Kevin Swanson.  Other ideas are going verse by verse through a book of the Bible; we’ve done this with most of Paul’s letters and parts of Matthew.

Today we were discussing Proverbs chapter 11 and with tearful eyes my daughter Grace said, “thank you Dad for reading this with us”.  Praise God for His grace.

Don’t be lazy.  Just do it!

This call is primarily to men.  If you are a man that is concerned about your family and wants them to be warriors for Christ, you must take action.  The world will quickly scoop them up and take their hearts if you don’t.

May the Lord bless you today as you fight for His kingdom!

Kevin

 

Born again?

Posted on by kevinjandt

Sunrise w man B&W

John 3:4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

What a strange thing to be born again, what does this mean?  Jesus tells us we “must” in order to see the kingdom of God but what is He talking about?  We certainly cannot enter the womb a second time so we surely understand this is not a physical rebirth.

Jesus goes onto say, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  John 3:5-6

Is Jesus telling us without a water baptism one cannot see the kingdom of God?  Many believe this but we know that Jesus welcomed the thief on the cross into the kingdom and he certainly was not baptized nor was he capable of any sort of works.  What does he mean by being born of water?

John Calvin gives a simple answer:

By water, therefore, is meant nothing more than the inward purification and invigoration which is produced by the Holy Spirit. Besides, it is not unusual to employ the word and instead of that is, when the latter clause is intended to explain the former. And the view which I have taken is supported by what follows; for when Christ immediately proceeds to assign the reason why we must be born again, without mentioning the water, he shows that the newness of life which he requires is produced by the Spirit alone; whence it follows, that water must not be separated from the Spirit  Calvin Commentaries 

Jesus affirms the doctrine of human depravity (Romans 3:10-12, Genesis 6:5), as he explains that in the flesh we cannot see the kingdom.  Again, there must be a newness of life (2 Corinthians 5:17), a change that is recognizable to us and to the others around, a newness that produces a difference.

This newness of life is generated or I should say regenerated by God’s Spirit.  The natural man is dead in sins and trespasses, all of humankind is dead from the moment they are born and without God’s work we will die in our corruption, and we are under the power of Satan.  (Ephesians 2:1-2)

Unless the Spirit breathes life into the dead… we will remain dead.

The word Spirit is pneuma a current of air, that is, breath (blast) or a breeze; by analogy or figuratively a spirit, that is, (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, daemon, or (divine) God, Christ’s spirit, the Holy spirit: – ghost, life, spirit (-ual, -ually), mind.

If one is to truly comprehend the magnitude of this miracle it must be understood that God does the work in the heart of sinful man.   Mankind cannot save himself…  Many or I should say “most” will say, what do I need to be saved from, I’m not that bad.  I’m a “good” person.

Unless you’ve been morally perfect your entire life, you are not a good person.  You might be a good person by your standards, or even by the standards of comparison against others in the world, but if you hold your life up to the perfect standard of Christ you are incapable.

Have you ever told a lie?

Have you ever stolen anything?

Have you looked lustfully at another person?

Have you loved God with all your heart soul and mind?

This is the standard by which you will be judged and no man has met this perfect standard.  In order to receive the Spirit you must recognize your need for the Spirit.

James 2:10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

If you’ve broken any of God’s law you are guilty of breaking it all.  This puts you in the same class as the worst villains in all of history.  Do you understand this; is it something you can really believe?

If you can recognize your sin you have an opportunity to be saved, to be born again.  Jesus tells us we must receive the Spirit, but how?  What causes His Spirit to come to us?

Repentance!

Acts 17:30-31 “Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.  He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Repent is the Greek word: metanoeō – to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): – repent.

This is a complete turning from who you were to receive a new life in Christ, recognizing the need for a Savior, calling out to Him, the only One that can save.  To recognize your sin has separated you from God and that separation has you dead spiritually.  There must be a newness of life and a change of direction.

If this is new to you I ask you to consider the words of Christ.  They are the words of life and without them you will not see the kingdom of God.  That’s clear.  Isn’t it?

Kevin