Weekly Articles

One of the more destructive things to a marriage (or any relationship, for that matter) is when one person takes for granted that they are central to their spouse’s life and are, in fact irreplaceable.  R&B Singer Beyoncé sang Irreplaceable, a song about a woman who has a man for whom she did everything (bought cars, clothes, jewelry, etc), and who in turn used what she did for him to pick up other women.  The point of the song is summed up in a few lines (I separated the lines with “ / “, and excerpted the important content):

Everything you own in the box to the left / In the closet, that’s my stuff / Yes, if I bought it, then please don’t touch / And keep talking that mess, that’s fine / Could you walk and talk, at the same time? / And its my name that’s on that jag / So go move your bags, let me call you a cab / Standing in the front yard, telling me / How I’m such a fool, talking ’bout / How I’ll never ever find a man like you / … / You must not know ’bout me / I can have another you by tomorrow / So don’t you ever for a second get to thinkin’ / You’re irreplaceable  (Knowles, et al., 2006)

You can, I suspect, get the impression that this guy is an arrogant jerk for whom the relationship was only about pleasing himself.  No relationship that exists in this way is in any manner a healthy one; it certainly is not a Godly one.  Now this song is about an earthly, romantic relationship; but the concern raised applies to our relationship with God.

I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you.  …  So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth.  Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.  And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.  But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute  …  You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution.  …  And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them  …  Also the food I provided for you—the fine flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them.  …  Was your prostitution not enough?  You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols.  (Excerpted from Ezekiel 16:10-21 NIV)

In this passage from Ezekiel, God declares that the Israelites were chosen from nowhere and given everything, but instead of appreciating God and being true to him, they turned away and used all of his blessings to gratify their desires with foreign idols and wickedness.  He then continues in the passage in telling them how he is going to punish them by turning them over to those evil nations they had chosen over him.  This is similar to what Jesus said to the Jews living in Jerusalem:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  Look, your house is left to you desolate.  I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ “  (Luke 13:34-35 NIV)

God has always called out his people for rejecting him, and he has always made it known how long-suffering he is.  But there is a point at which God says “enough!”  This should not be the way the church acts!  The message for the church at Sardis is a great example of this:

Wake up!  Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.  But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.  (Revelation 3:2-3 NIV)

Just as the children of Israel were surprised when their enemies overtook them, and just as the Jews in Jerusalem were caught unawares by the turbulence that resulted in the destruction of that city, so too will Christians who try to straddle the fence between following Christ and belonging to the world be shocked by the disposition of their eternity.

God has never been less than absolutely faithful to us.  He demands from us the same commitment towards him.  As a person fallen and corrupted, I am totally replaceable; there is nothing that any of us do for God that he needs.  But as a redeemed son of the living God, I am so irreplaceable that he sent his only true son to die in my stead; God wants all of us to see him in this way – with gratitude and the love of complete dedication and exclusive devotion to him.  So the choice is ours:  do we depend on our useless efforts and walk in arrogance thinking that God somehow needs us?  Or do we become truly irreplaceable by surrendering our pride and approaching in humility and gratitude, knowing it is because he chose us that we belong to him?

-Charles Peterson

In the Church today there are few topics that are both more misunderstood and less difficult to understand than is the topic of giving.  We spend considerable amounts of time and attention on things that we feel are “weightier,” such as denominationalism, but we often shy away from talking about how much a member should give to the collection plate.  There are plenty of groups that practice tithing in one form or another, and we often use such phraseology as “in proportion with how we have been blessed.” 

But the Bible is fairly clear on the topic of giving – at least clear from God’s perspective.  The children of Israel were given specific amounts to tithe, but the New Testament deals with the topic differently for the Church.

There were no needy persons among them.  For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.  (Acts 4:34-35 NIV)

Now about the collection for God’s people:  Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.  On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.  (1 Corinthians 16:1-2 NIV)

Remember this:  whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  As it is written:  “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”  Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.  (2 Corinthians 9:6-11 NIV)

These three passages I have chosen because they illustrate what should be our central themes in any message concerning the topic of giving:  it is supposed to be about the needs of the Church; it is supposed to be deliberate; it is supposed to be strictly voluntary.

Our giving is not based on God’s need, but rather on the needs of the Church; this point should be obvious to us:  God has no needs!  We cannot give to God in any way that will satisfy a need such as shelter, hunger, or support – God gives those things, he doesn’t need them!  The Church does have those needs, however, and so we give based on needs within the Church.

Our giving is not based on a momentary whim but should be deliberative and purposeful in nature, having been carefully thought out.  The admonishments given by Peter to Ananias and Sapphira should come to mind here!  Our contributions must be planned and accomplished with a purpose in mind other than peer pressure.

Our giving is not based on a desire to look good in front of the other members, but rather should come from a desire to give back out of the bounty given to us.  God wants our giving to come from a cheerful heart just like he wants our participation in the Body come from more than a desire to avoid hell!  We belong to Christ out of love for him who loved us first, and so we give to him who gave to us first.

“Will a man rob God?  Yet you rob me.  But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’  In tithes and offerings.  You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”  (Malachi 3:8-10 NIV)

This passage should underscore that while it is given to the Christian to decide what to give, it is appropriate to point out that the Christian should be giving.  After all, God has given us everything and asks for us to give ourselves back to him.  Are we setting up our treasure here on Earth or there with him?

-Charles Peterson

I read an article about a Cambodian minister named Christopher LaPel.  The article was titled “Is there anything God can’t forgive” (Mary Murphy, Purpose Driven Connection, 2009) and reported on LaPel’s work with a man named Hang Pin; Pin had run the Tuol Sleng prison and was responsible for the brutal murders of over 17,000 people in the 1970’s.  LaPel got involved with Pin in 1996, knowing him only as a school teacher (later he found out about Pin’s past).  The article discussed some of the controversy surrounding Pin, who is in prison being tried in court for his activities with the Khmer Rouge in the 1970’s; since 1996 Pin has been preaching and teaching the gospel (including while in prison).  Some feel that his actions since the Khmer Rouge were overthrown in 1979, especially his conversion to Christ, should in some way mitigate the charges against him (or at least weigh in at the sentencing).  Others feel that justice should be meted out, regardless of his behavior since or of his conversion.

There are a great many Christians that are confused about the nature of redemption and justice.  It seems that there are many who call themselves Christians who view the gospel message as a “wipe the slate clean” sort of message.   But is that really what happens to us by the redemptive power of Jesus?

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written:  “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”  Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”  He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.  (Galatians 3:10-14 NIV)

Here we see that Christ redeemed us from the “curse of the law”, referring to the previous quoting of Deuteronomy 27:26 (”Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law”).  This “curse of the law” was that if at any time you broke the law, you were forever condemned as a lawbreaker.  We therefore are given the blessing through faith in Jesus, not in observance of the law.  But this is dealing with our relationship with God, not our relationship with the civil authorities!

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.  Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority?  Then do what is right and he will commend you.  For he is God’s servant to do you good.  But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing.  He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.  Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.  This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.  Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.  (Romans 13:1-7 NIV)

There is a difference between being redeemed from bondage to death through the law, and being punished by the government for having committed crimes.  Jesus has given us salvation, so that we need not any longer be slaves to a life of sin; but just because we are forgiven of our sins does not mean we are not responsible for them!  If I steal a car, I can be forgiven of the sin that I committed; but I still am guilty of the crime of grand larceny and will likely go to prison. 

Christians should not be lobbying to end the just punishment of criminals, nor should we be about the punishment or neglect of criminals – that’s what our government is for!  Rather we should spend our time reaching out to the prisoners so that they too can obtain redemption and forgiveness. 

-Charles Peterson