Decadence Is in the Chocolate?

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Sin is one of those issues that gets everybody in the hot seat. Whether we speak against sin, talk about it, or even sin ourselves, we face it every day. What I see is that people have taken on the job of trying to make sin not nearly as wrong as it once was. We try our hardest to believe that sin is not so bad. That's because we know that God's boundaries would make it so that "sin might become utterly sinful" Romans 7:13, NIV). So we deal with it by speaking of sin in at least 2 ways:

1. the "that's not so bad" way of thinking - That's when way we change our vocabulary and actions to reflect the current socially acceptable morals of society. for instance, we no longer deceive, we tell white lies. We don't commit fornication, we "hook-up." We don't commit adultery, we have an "affair." We don't steal, we help ourselves. And we don't get drunk, we're just a little tipsy. Every one of those ways of saying things reflects the changing attitudes in our society that helps us deal with the tinges of guilt we can face with our ongoing sinful lifestyles.

2. the "delicious made decadent" description - That's when we take something like a piece of cake, and make it taste really good. When we describe it, we say it is "decadent" or "sinful" or "heathen." When we do that it can belittle the intended use of the word, making sin not seem as bad. Having an "affair" is no different than having delicious piece of cake. Both are decadent, right?

To understand decadence, we need go no farther than the lifestyles of the First Century Romans. Their lives have been shown to be people that thought little of family commitment, less of human life, and indulged illicit sexual appetites on a regular basis (Ever heard of Caligula or Nero?) Believe it or not, even large portions of the worship of their gods was built around the cults of Venus and her sacred prostitutes. But, we can't stop there, mankind has always been guilty of sinful lifestyles and debased living. From the excesses of the royal French houses to the "Pornacracy" of the medieval church, we have seen sin rear its ugly head over and over again. I think we can all agree, we have all seen enough sin to understand the difference between a good piece of cake and a lecherous sexual appetite.

But, the question is not how we look at sin, but how God looks at it. When God sees sin, it is an absolute. It is not eating a good piece of cake, but it is getting drunk. It is not "hooking up;" it is fornication. God has moral absolutes. He has standards that He expects us to adhere to. He has defined right and wrong for us without any misgivings. Here's a few:

• unrighteousness (This is not being perfect)
  
• evil
  
• greed
• envy
• murder
• quarrels
• deceit
• gossips
• slanderers
• God-haters
• arrogant
• proud
• boastful
• inventors of evil
• disobedient to parents
• untrustworthy
• unloving (For more SEE Romans 1:29-31 HCSB)

And I'm just naming a few. God knows exactly what sin is and what it is not. He is perfect and cannot sin. The boudaries for life are well-defined. And when it comes down to it, our whining will ring hollow that we didn't really know what God expected, nor will the excuse, "no one's perfect" stand God's scrutiny. God expects perfection. He cannot allow sin in His presence.

We are even told what we already knew:

Although they know full well God's just sentence-that those who practice such things deserve to die-they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them. (Romans 1:32 HCSB)

So it begs the question, is there hope for me? With sin, there is no hope. But, suppose for a moment that there was a way for to God forgive sin, your sin. Wouldn't you like to know?

You can know. God wants you to.

Pastor Trey Rhodes

 

Core Work

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I remember one of the first times I ever tried to sit up after my past unpleasantness, known medically as a dissected aorta. It had been about 10 days after the event. I had begun to breath on my own. I was a few days out of ICU. I had begun to talk. But, I had not sat up. I thought I was lying down because I was recuperating. I had no idea that I was lying down because I couldn't do anything else. The nurse told me that she was going to help me sit up (like I needed help, I thought sarcastically). So, she and my wife got their arms under me, sat me up, and propped me at the edge of my bed. For a moment, I was doing fine...but only because they had balanced me. Within a few seconds, I had slumped back onto the bed and flopped onto my pillow. "What in the world?" I thought. So, they tried again, I must have lost my balance. I slumped and flopped again. This time I looked at the nurse and asked what was happening. For the first time in my life I heard, and I mean really heard the term, "core strength." As non-responsive as my nerves still were, I had none. The worst part...I didn't even know it!

It took me nearly a year to get my core strength back to a near normal level. It was grueling, hard work, but it was necessary so that I could start to function normally again. Believe it or not, during rehab, when I stood up in a harness for long periods of time, I became nauseated and almost blacked out on more than one occasion. It was because of my weak core.

I experience so many believers who are strong in their spiritual core. They had to work to get that way. They studied, served, learned, prayed, and invested themselves in the lives of others. They grew stronger and stronger as they invested time and energy into their spiritual inner core. Now, they are able to sit, stand, and walk spiritually. They have done everything to stand, and are able to "stand firm, then" (Ephesians 6:13-14).

I also meet at least as many Christians who are spiritually weak . The saddest part is, they don't even know it. Most of them think, as I did, I can do it if I want. Here's great encouragement though, they don't have to be.

That is why we are calling believers to inner core strength training this summer. This tends to be the time of year that we can get spiritually lazy. That is why you need to be with us every Sunday as we study the book of Romans together. The book of Romans is the core of who we are as believers. Without an understanding of the truths in this incredible book, we are destined to be weak and have no strength in the place we need it most, our spiritual core.

Won't you join us this week? Everyone who would like one gets a notebook with the book of Romans already in it. We have also designed the notes to fit in the notebook. in addition, there will be a place marker that has the Romans Road, the highlights of each chapter of Romans, and other tools to help you in your study of not only Romans, but any book of the Bible.

This is a no miss series. Romans: the Core of Your Spirituality. Begins this Sunday.

Let's start working on that core strength.

Pastor Trey Rhodes