Posts tagged sin
Spicy Sin
Jan 25th
Spicy. That’s how I like it. No, I’m not talking about sex, although that’s good too. Food. Spicy Food. I put hot sauce on just about everything. I keep three different types of sauce handy at all times. Tabasco; typically for eggs and pizza. Cholula; for Spanish type of foods. And Sriracha (I call it rooster sauce because of the noise you make in the bathroom after partaking.); for anything that is just plain bland.
My wife on the other hand wants no part in spicy food. If we are eating chips and salsa, she dips her chip into sour cream and then puts the chip about millimeter into the salsa. Why not just use ketchup, right?
I notice when I am eating spicy food, especially really spicy food like Vietnamese or Korean, I combat the heat with more heat. It’s like an addiction. Instead of just stopping, I keep shoving. Usually until my tongue is numb or I’m sweating.
This reminds me of sin. If I can get away with the sin, I just keep on trucking. But just like spicy food, sins payback comes at a later date. What goes in must come out. You know what I’m talking about. The fecal position of hell. What’s crazy is that I know this beforehand. Yet I participate anyways.
Maybe I should pray, “God, make the punishment for my sin unbearable, so that I’m reminded not to do [it] again.”
Get a Job
Jan 4th
The book of Job is amazing. To be honest, I had to reread the majority of it. Here is what I learned, so far.
1. Job was not perfect. (Meaning at some point in his life he sinned (I’m assuming). Throughout this trial, he didn’t)
2. God does not always punish sin (Well, all sin is punished by death but all sin is not punished immediately).
3. God does not always reward faithfulness (Immediately.).
4. Job questioned God. (Who wouldn’t in light of Job’s circumstances?)
5. Job never blamed God. (Job just wanted to know, “Whats’up with this God?”)
6. God has ALL control. (We can’t explain, understand it, or describe it. Even though we try.)
I don’t know about you but I loved grasping number 2 and 3. Will I always find comfort in those statements? Probably not. It amazes me how much Christendom is wrapped up in these statements, incorrectly. I ain’t gonna lie and say that I have never wanted somebody who has blatantly sinned, to be punished by God. I’m also lying when I say I have never asked God to bless me because I have been “faithful.”
When will we get that? When will I get that? [That] being the stuff (wants, desires, possessions, dare I say-prayers) we acquire on the earth will never matter. None of it. Want to test your own faith? Ask yourself these two questions. Will you and I remain faithful when other people’s sin (Any/every sin that affects us directly or indirectly.) is NOT punished? Will we remain faithful when our faithfulness is NOT rewarded (Here on earth.)?
Skin on Skin
Jan 2nd
The book of Job has messed with my mind. Whenever I think about Job, as in the man with the weird name, I think about all the crap he lived through, yet he remained intent to worship God. Job suffered physically. Like with a full body blister. And all because God allowed this to happen. What? Why would God do this? God said this about Job, “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” And God said this to Satan. Satan was, I’m assuming, trying prove that He was as powerful as God.
Then Satan replied to God in Dog the Bounter Hunter like fashoin. “Skin on skin. Mano-y-mano.” Well, he didn’t say mano-y-mano but he did say, “Skin for skin! A man will give all he has for his own life.”
So, I’m questioning:
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Can I be like Job?
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Can I go “skin on skin” with Satan?
Sin sucks. Sin is nasty. Sin has caused to world to get worse and worse. (I’m no theologian but I don’t see that the world has gotten any better. Yes, Jesus came but He only offered the chance to be pardoned. I don’t think Christ came to make the world a “better” place. Christ came to give mankind an opportunity to have a relationship with God.) Even when this relationship begins, that sucky sin is still prevalent. Sin is always a possibility. It’s always [there]. Sin is always the easy way. It’s usually the more accepted way too.
The answer to sin is death. Death is the only way an individual will stop sinning completely. Until we die, we will be affected by sin, either directly or indirectly. The best I can do is to attempt to NOT sin. (Attempting to put these thoughts down is scary. Because I want to disagree with what I feel is the truth.) (It’s as if me head and heart agree but my heart is hesitant.) I want to be able to say that I am good. I will never say that I am not a sinner but I’m sure I will let you know when I do something good. But the effing sin is always there. Haunting me. I know God has forgiven me. I know it! People, including myself, don’t want to hear that they are “bad”. All I can say is, try to prove it.
Can I be like Job? I believe so. At least through the power of Christ, I can avoid sinning. Well, for a short period of time anyway (Hopefully it’s easier for you.). When I’m bloody and broken, I can always get back up and go another round.
Can I go “skin on skin” with Satan? I would love to have some Gladiator/Braveheart/John McClain in Die Hard moment with Satan. But the skin on skin encounter Job had with Satan, didn’t include any retaliation from Job. Job didn’t swing a sword, axe, or shoot a 9mm at Satan. Job trusted God. I don’t think you got that. Job trusted God! The most pain inflicting thing Job could have done to Satan was trusting God. So can I go skin on skin with Satan? Yes. Can I trust God? We’ll see.
God, pants me.
Dec 7th
I hate sin, yet I sin. I don’t want to sin but I eventually do sin. I wonder, if God exposed our sin like He did in the Old Testament, would we sin less? If I wore skirt, which I don’t and never would, (although I would were a kilt if I could throw a telephone pole) and I knew that God would expose my sin by lifting my skirt over my head, would I sin less? I wear pants, I wonder if God revealed sin by “pantsing”, would I sin less? Urban Dictionary defines pantsing as, “The act or practice of pulling someone’s pants down.”
Nahum 3:5 “I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame.
Naturally we want to keep our sin hush hush. We have plenty of excuses for our sins. As a parent I kinda see God’s viewpoint on sin. It’s funny how my daughter doesn’t want me to call her “naughty”. This upsets her to the point where she will start to cry. But if I do not let her know she is doing wrong, what kind of parent would I be?
God, reveal my sin. Pants me if need be. I want to sin less.
This Buds For You
Mar 5th
I have been to a bar three times in my life. I am not talking the local sports bar or your local Applebees. I mean belly up to an actual bar. Two of those times were with pastors. The other time was at a train station in Chi town. There is a lot of noise about reaching out to those who are in bars, clubs, lounges, and so on.
I am one hundred percent confident that God supports this outreach style. Paul says the feet of those who bring the message of Christ are beautiful. So, if I am on a bar stool indulging a Shiner Bock, are my feet beautiful?
Paul precedes his feet comment with talking about the people he is attempting to reach. He says they are good people. He even says they are zealous about the law (they are Jews). I would likely say the same about my community. Overall, they are good people. They are sinners like me. They do not break the law.
No, even though I am a follower and I am in a bar having beer, my feet are not beautiful. Faith doesn’t jump off of you and onto someone else just because you are close to them. Belief in Christ doesn’t magically happen. To qualify my feet as beautiful, I have to open my mouth. Paul says faith becomes relevant when it is heard. Something must make noise before someone hears that said noise.
So go ahead, buy him that beer but tell him, “my Christ is for you.”
