No You May Not

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Jerry Sandusky is guilty. After listening to the morning talking heads, it seems that there is little if any hope that he will ever get out of prison. He was convicted on 45 counts of child sex abuse. Now the focus will be shifting back to Penn State's culpability in the whole situation. We still don't know the impact upon the legacy of Penn State as well as Joe Paterno's mystique.

Thoughts on Joe Paterno's Legacy

Weirdly enough, in January, in the middle of all the legal wrangling, Sandusky asked permission for visitiation rights for his grandchildren while he was under house arrest. He felt is was unfair for his grandchildren not to have their grandfather around as he was waiting for his trial for 48 counts of child sex abuse charges. I have no idea if the parents of his grandchildren were willing to give permission for him to visit with grandpa. I just know the judge was okay with it.

Regardless of what the judge decided, as a parent, if I was asked permission for a grandfather who has been accused of sex abuse of children...did you get that? ...children...sexually abused. This is as dangerous to these children as a Moon Pie would be at a Fat Farm. It's playing with fire. My answer would be "NO, YOU MAY NOT!"

In our Christian walk, we are also playing with fire. We think we can give ourselves permission to sin. Think of it this way, Sin comes to us and demands the right to run our life. Many times we answer with a question, "Do I have choice?" The truth is you do not. Here's the Truth: sin is no longer your master, and you never have to allow it access to your life ever again. Your only choice is to refuse sin access. That is the what the Bible lets us know with this exhortation:

Sin shall not be your master. Romans 6:14

So, here is how we can and should live as Christians, not in misery, but in joy. Sin delights in making us miserable. God never intended for our Christian life to be like that. This is why Jesus entered human history. Not only to free us from the guilt of sin by forgiving us, but also to deliver is from the power of sin by sanctifying us (the process of making us holy). When it comes to our salvation, there can be no distinction between forgiving us and making us holy. It is all a result of what happens the moment we ask Christ Jesus to be our Forgiver (Savior) and Leader (Lord).

Why then do so many Christians continue to be ruled by sin? They have not been given the information they need to live an overcoming life. It is Satan's greatest weapon against believers...just keep them in the dark.

That is no longer the case. We now know that Christ empowers us to live life joyfully and without guilt. Knowledge can be your quantum leap in weapon technology when it comes to defeating sin and living as God intended. That is why the next time sin comes to you with temptation and asks, "May I?" All you need answer is, "NO, YOU MAY NOT!"

Pastor Trey Rhodes

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Dueling Familes

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When I thought of a family feud, my mind immediately went to the old hillbillies fighting it out, pot shot after pot shot across the valley. That type of feud was immortalized on TV with the likes of the Andy Griffith Show. Now, the duel has opposite world views gearing up for a fight to the finish.

What is happening is this. Since the 1950's the family has been continuously re-defined by society. It now  seems to have devolved from a husband and wife with children into any group of people living under one roof. That definition is being accepted by what seems to be a large and growing plurality of people. As a matter of fact, 51% of people actually believe pets are family as well (does that include my Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches?) Accordingly, Brian Powell, a sociology professor at Indiana University, and his team tackled Americans' evolving definition of family. It was a landmark study surveying over 2300 households over a time period of 7 years. There seems to be a swing towards a complete liberalization as to what a family is. Powell shares this thought:

What we find is that people are moving away from a traditional definition of family and they're moving towards a modern definition of family. That includes a much greater array of living arrangements. They're including a much broader group of people, broader combination of people as families.

He continues:

by indentifying three clusters of Americans: "exclusionists" who hold onto a more narrow definition of family; "moderates" who are willing to count same-sex couples as family if children are involved; and "inclusionists" who have a very broad definition of family.

Here then is the rub...if we can liberalize our views of what the family without repercussions to our society, our nation, our communities, or our families, what does it do to the church? You see, the family is one of the major ways that the New Testament describes our forever family, our church family. So,if our physical families can be described in many varying permutations, then what does do to our view of the family of God?  The bottom line is the views of families cannot co-exist and will duel until one is triumphant.

Here's my point, for thousands of years before a word of the New Testament was written, when the word was used to describe how the family of God was to look and act and be, it was understood exactly what that meant. As we have re-defined the family, our happiness quotient has plummeted. Here's some number for you to think about. According to U.S mortality rates suicides among teens have skyrocketed 100% since the 1950's. Violence is at an all time high, increasing by 154% according to Donna Shalala, Health and Human Services Director until 1999. We now have unforeseen numbers of teens cutting, burning, and mutilating themselves to the tune of 1 in 200 girls in the US doing so.

Is that what you would call happy? Are these the results of a happy family? Or is this because we have moved our society and nations farther and farther away from the foundations of a family that was designed by God? God designed us to work a certain way. Every law/rule He gives us is not to spoil our fun, but to provide for us and protect us. It is high time we understand and respond to the obliteration of the modern family.

Wanting a godly family now more than ever,
Pastor Trey Rhodes