Can a follower of Christ live an ungodly life?

Romans 1:21-23

Verse 18, begins in this way; “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”  What does ungodliness mean to many in this culture we live in, would it be defined as; “irreligious or immoral: ungodly lives of self-obsession, lust, and pleasure.”  (Dictionary)  I do not believe many who are regular church attenders would agree with that definition.  I am not sure how the worldly crowd would define unrighteousness, and I do believe it is clear that many in the church have no clear understanding of the word.  I believe this quote is the answer for all who follower Christ; “Stale godliness is ungodliness. Let our religion be as warm, and constant, and natural as the flow of the blood in our veins. A living God must be served in a living way.” (Charles H. Spurgeon) 

Maybe we the church have gotten so lazy, so busy with filling our days with good stuff that we forget that the Bible is a light to our feet and we are living in darkness with little understanding of where we are.  I believe this quote from Tozer is true of millions; “The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions.”  (Tozer)

With that said the apostle Peter gives the following insight in 2 Peter 2:4-10a, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.”

God is going to judge the ungodly, so a clear understanding of that word is something a wise person should desire, I believe Jude 4 will give us a clear understanding of the meaning; “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”  (Jude 4)  I’m fearful that many today are influenced by false teachers who push the lie that God is too good to punish sinners, and I’ve also come to the understanding that many in Christ have little understanding of how the flesh wants to run the show, each and every day.

If you are a follower of Christ watch out for the following in your life; sensual conduct, lust, despising authority, blaspheming, having a desire to sin, adultery, full of greed, or a desire to be the first inline.  If these are in your life it is time for a check up.

In the letter to the Roman believers the apostle Paul has this warning; “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:21-23)   Now in closing let me answer the question; “Can a believer, a follower of Christ live an ungodly life?”  The answer is very clear this letter is being addressed to the churches in Rome, not the non-believers.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

God is not Pushy

Romans 1:18-20

Has God dropped the ball, has He been quiet about Himself, is mankind without guilt in that they are clueless about the Creator, of a God who formed them from the dust of the ground, and breathed into them life?  Is mankind without excuse as stated in Romans 1:18-20; “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

In the USA only 4 out of 10 people believe God created the earth 10,000 years ago.  Tia Ghose a staff writer for Live Science published this June 4, 2014; “Four in 10 Americans believe God created the Earth and anatomically modern humans, less than 10,000 years ago, according to a new Gallup poll.
About half of Americans believe humans evolved over millions of years, with most of those people saying that God guided the process. Religious, less educated, and older respondents were likelier to espouse a young Earth creationist view — that life was created some 6,000 to 10,000 years ago — according to the poll.”  Note: I would error in not disclosing these facts, I’m in the older group and I do not have a paper from a college of the enlightened.
Tia ended her article with the following paragraph; “Americans' belief in creationism is at odds with scientific consensus. Almost all scientists who study human origins believe that we evolved from other life-forms over millions of years. In fact, humans, or individuals in the genus Homo, are said to have emerged on Earth some 2.5 million years ago.”

The deeper I’ve gone in my relationship with Jesus, the more aware I become that neither He nor His Father is pushy and the Holy Spirit does not force His will on anyone, inside or outside the Church.  In fact, the Father does not defend Himself, He is God and all other things are His Creation, believe or not believe we’ve seen all the evidence needed.   Do you recall John 10:10, Jesus states the thief wants to kill, steal, and destroy you, and He (Jesus) came to give you life in the now, not existence, but to live abundantly now.  For He has offered each one who comes to Him, and puts their faith in Him, peace and eternal life, best deal going!  Now where would you find this information, in Scripture, and so is it not reasonable that the evil one would attack the source?

“[T]he scripture worshippers put the writings ahead of God. Instead of interpreting God's actions in nature, for example, they interpret nature in the light of the Scripture. Nature says the rock is billions of years old, but the book says different, so even though men wrote the book, and God made the rock and God gave us minds that have found ways to tell how old it is, we still choose to believe the Scripture.” (Sheri S. Tepper, The Fresco)

News flash, Sheri, if not for the Scripture who would have told us “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  How would we have had the prophet’s writings of the Messiah coming to earth?  How would we have heard these words of Jesus stated in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believe in him should not perish but have eternal life.”   And how would we know that God had said in 2 Peter 1:21, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  And last, how would we know this warning found in Acts 17:30-31? “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”   Sheri, in that God is not a time critter like you and me, and he tells us the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, it’s not a big deal for God to create a rock a billion years old.

Two quotes:

“The world embarrasses me, and I cannot dream that this watch exists and has no watchmaker.”  (Voltaire)

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” (Plato)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A faith that overcomes

Romans 1:16-17

Six words on paper, “The righteous shall live by faith” and maybe one like me needs to understand the meaning of the word righteous.  My computer dictionary has this quote: (of a person or conduct) morally right or justifiable, virtuous.  Next, I looked to a wise man name Blaise Pascal, “There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous.”  It seems that Pascal is telling us something the dictionary did not and that is a righteous person does not see himself as righteous, but as a sinner.  Then we have Jesus Christ giving this insight about a righteous person; “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

When it comes to being a righteous and honest person one must do what I call the mirror check, yes, an assessment or examination of why God would allow you into His heaven.  A level is often needed, without one we believe something to be correct or straight when it is crooked, and my level is the Bible, God’s handbook on living life on planet earth.  When the apostle Paul addressed the issue of righteousness, he stated in Romans 3:10, “None is righteous, no not one” one must look at the audience that he was addressing.  It was people who wrongly believed they could, by keeping the ten commandments, be righteous in God’s sight and yet the Scriptures are clear that if one breaks just one, they are guilty of all.  The commandments are a mirror to show us the impossibility of meeting God’s standards and the need of finding a solution to that dilemma and Jesus, the cross, and His resurrection is God’s plan for redeeming all of mankind.

Romans 3:20, is the level a warped world needs, it makes clear that ones actions will not make straight what is crooked in the soul of mankind.  “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” 

God the Father is righteous (just); Jesus Christ his Son is the Righteous (Just) One; the Father through the Son and in the Spirit gives the gift of righteousness (justice) to repentant sinners for salvation; such believing sinners are declared righteous (just) by the Father through the Son, are made righteous (just) by the Holy Spirit working in them, and will be wholly righteous (just) in the age to come. They are and will be righteous because they are in a covenant relation with the living God, who is the God of all grace and mercy and who will bring to completion what he has begun in them by declaring them righteous for Christ's sake.  (Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology)

Now let us address verse 16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  And how should the righteous live?  By faith, and we are instructed in Scripture not to look to self but to the Father, Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Even faith is a gift from God and something we should always be asking the Father for is more faith.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Relationship & the Christian life

Romans 1:8-10

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.”  (Romans 1:8-10 ESV)

Very often, to my dismay, a pastor or teacher tells the group or class; now let’s have a quick word of prayer before we begin.  I do not know the heart of those who say such foolishness, but it conveys this thought in my mind; we have got to do it so let’s get it over with, or as if what is to come is of much greater value; their sermon or teachings.  This is never the example in the Scripture and it was common that letters to the churches began with a prayer.  Paul was thankful to the Father for these churches in the capital of the Roman Empire, he was grateful that God had given him the mission of teaching and preaching to His church.

As one who has taught, it seems God has put his finger on my life of prayer, in that when I was teaching as well as now, I was, and am an emergency prayer.  When someone called or brought up a request for prayer the norm was it was from a crises and it became my prayer focus.  Now that is not a bad thing but the example from the apostle Paul is a daily concern for those to whom God had given him the privilege of being in his circle of influence, and his hearts desire was to be in fellowship with them.  I am learning to pray for those who I send the “From the Back Porch” to, many I will never meet or know this side of heaven, but I’m praying for your faith to grow and your love for those inside and outside of the Christian faith to be shown daily.

My friend Paul Wendell often reminds me the Christian life is all about relationship, and that 

is the theme of verses 11-12, “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual 

gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, 

both yours and mine.”   If you are in the role of teacher or pastor and do not deeply enjoy 

the relationships the Father has placed in your care, you are in the wrong job.  You will not 

find in the apostles teaching or in the example of their ministry an attitude of my job is to 

teach or preach.  Leave me alone, is not in the manufacture’s handbook on living life on 

planet earth.

“Intense love does not measure, it just gives.”  (Mother Teresa)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Does God love only a specal few?

Romans 1:1-7

Paul a slave of God was set apart for the gospel and this is the gospel that was promised beforehand by God the Father.  It only requires one to read the Scriptures and be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into truth and one will see Jesus coming as God’s Lamb to redeem mankind.  He would be a descendant from King David and yet His bloodline would come from His virgin mother.  When one tries to by pass the cross and the victories that were won over sin, and then in death on the third day the resurrection comes to the Son of God in victory over death and the grave, as was shared with us by the prophet. 

And without the resurrection we have no victory, we have no redeemer, we only have a fable.  But because Christ is raised, and the grave and death had no authority over Him, you and I have received grace.  The apostle Paul tells us it was by that act of Jesus being raised from the grave he received grace and apostleship so he could bring others to the obedience of faith, and to all the nations, and that includes you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.  And how inclusive was it?  In that Paul’s letter is addressing the house churches in Rome, it is stated; “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7)

Some of you may be wondering, does God only love certain people?  Nothing could be farther from the truth, and it only requires one to look at the words of Jesus in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  The (whoever) is all inclusive and in John 17, our high Priest in His prayer to the Father is asking the Father to make known through you and me the love of Christ so the world will be drawn to God. 

The world even in Christian circles loves labels, where do you go to church, and then we think O’ you are one of those, or you believe such and such, where did that come from?  It comes from the spirit of one who likes division.  My doctrine seems to line up with what is referred to as Calvinism, but some have taken that doctrine and are referred to as HYPER-CALVINISM, and I would like to share these thoughts from my great uncle John R. Rice.

“Through the years there has been a conflict between the doctrine of eternal salvation by grace through faith, not of works, and the doctrine of salvation partly by God's grace and partly by man's works or by deserving it or by faithfulness. We know that all false religions teach salvation by good works, character, human merit, or rites, not the free salvation given instantly to penitent, believing sinners, wholly by grace. But many Christian groups tend to include works or mourning or faithfulness as the way to get saved and the price of keeping saved. Those who believe men must "hold out faithful" to keep saved and think they will never be surely eternally safe until they reach Heaven are of what is called the Armenian position because it was so insistently taught by Arminius. Wesley and his followers held to this position, as do all who think a saved person can be lost.” 

 WHAT IS HYPER-CALVINISM?

Those who believe in eternal salvation wholly of grace are usually called Calvinists simply because, in the Protestant Reformation, Calvin strongly emphasized that doctrine long contradicted under the Roman heresy of salvation by merit and church rites. So any person who is not Armenian in faith but rather believes in eternal security of the believer is likely to describe himself as a Calvinist. Or where Calvinism has not been carried to its more unscriptural, unevangelistic, arrogant extreme, one might probably call himself a "moderate" Calvinist. Most of those who might be called Calvinists do not believe in a limited atonement, for example, nor do they believe that some are foreordained by unconditioned election to go to Hell and so could not be saved, that salvation was never provided for nor offered for them. But they do believe in eternal salvation by grace, the principal truth Calvin emphasized.

Those who do believe a doctrine of God's limited love, limited grace, limited atonement, and unchangeable plan to damn millions, who could not be saved, are called hyper-Calvinists.

These extreme doctrines were first taught somewhat by Augustine. Then for about a thousand years no one found them in the Bible, of course, till Calvin developed such a theology. Adopting the theory men then persuaded themselves that they find it in the Bible.

Salvation by grace, eternal salvation, without works, is a Bible doctrine. I believe hyper-Calvinism is not a Bible doctrine but is a perversion by proud intellectuals who thus may try to excuse themselves from any spiritual accountability for winning souls. (By Dr. John R. Rice) Note: my dad’s second cousin.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Introduction to Romans

Introduction to (The Letter of Paul to the Romans)

It is of interest that the apostle Paul had never been to Rome when this letter was written from Corinth.  Paul was ministering in Corinth and on his way to Jerusalem to deliver an offering from the Gentile churches to the poor Jewish Christians (Acts 20:3; Romans 15:25-29).  The location or the origin of the Roman house churches is not known, but it is believed that these gentile believers had been in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost for it is recorded in Acts 2:10 that visitors from Rome were there.  We know that many of these visitors converted to Christianity on that day.

The letter to the churches can be divided into two main sections; chapters 1-11 or doctrinal and 12-16 are practical.  The main theme of part one is the plan of salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit living in you.  The second part is mainly exhortations, about living the Christ life on planet earth.

Romans 1:1

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,” (English Standard Version) Note: I believe to be an excellent translation, but I believe it is wise to look at more than one.  I also use the Holman Christian Standard Bible as a study Bible and I wanted to share the verse from it and the footnote listed from it.  The H C S B gives these insights; “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and singled out for God’s good news—“ So is a slave and a servant the same thing, not today and it seems not at the time of Paul.  On Page 1925 in HCSB it has this footnote: “Paul calls himself a slave.  The Greek word doulos is mistranslated in most Bibles as “servant or bond servant.”  A slave was owned, was bought for a price, received no wage, and could not quit.  A servant could quit, got paid, and was a free person.  Jesus Himself took the form of a slave (Philippians 2:7), and Paul reminded Christians that “you are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20).

When I worked in supporting the project business in Saudi Arabia a general manager for one of the Sheiks told me that all the foreign works assigned to him were more slaves than servants in that he had their passports and with out a passport they were dead meat.  They had lost their freedom to seek other work, to leave the country; they were his slaves.  The American Church has little understanding of the term slave, so how can such people understand what Paul is stating?

1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”  If by faith you have entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ, your body or temple is the home of the Holy Spirit.

He is your helper, your guide, and He is the small voice many refuse to listen to and incur many-bought lessons in that they have chosen to listen to the voice that is masquerading as your voice.  I call it channel One and the Holy Spirit Channel Two, but it matters not what name you give it as long as you are aware who is speaking into your mind.

The longer I live the more I am sure that many in the church and out have no clear understanding of the word “Christian.”  When Jesus left planet earth for His home with the Father, followers of Christ were called disciples, and they knew and understood  “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”  How would life change for you if you understood the implication of being bought with a price?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Soon Very Soon

Micah 7:11-20

I have some wonderful news Jesus Christ is coming back to planet earth and is going to reward His people.  I’m not referring to the Rapture of the Church but His second coming to planet earth.  This should be a time of serious thoughts as today we are closer than ever to our LORD’s return.  The Revelation is full of information on Jesus’ return trip and we should find great joy in what is written.  There is one small problem, there are many views about what John saw in his vision and like wise with the other prophets. 

So let’s keep it simple, I know no other way!  Revelation 1:7 & 8 gives this insight,

^“ Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.   “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who ^[is to come, the Almighty.”  Now that is not a mystery, in fact in Matthew’s gospel chapter 24:30 gives us the same account.

And I’m sure you recall the account in Acts 1:10-11, where Jesus is taken up in the clouds and the two angels ask this question, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?  This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”  Now this may be a news flash for some, but do you recall those brothers whose heads were removed by ISIS a few months back, they also will come back with Jesus, read all about it in Revelation 20:4-5, ^“Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.  The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.”

Yes, I’m guilty of carrying the ball all over the field before heading for the goal line, and yet I believe Micah 7:11-20 is telling us about a future date, a date where the nations will come to Jerusalem to see Jesus.  For one thing it speaks of the earth being desolate because of the actions of it inhabitants, and it seems to me the Father is telling Jesus to shepherd His people and it will be much like the promise land the people went to when they came out of Egypt the first time.

As you read verses 16-20, keep this thought in mind, God is a promise keeper, and He is faithful to all who come to him with repentant hearts.  Verses 16-20,

“The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf; they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God, and they shall be in fear of you.  Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?  He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.  He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot.  You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.  You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Called to love not Judge

Micah 7:7-10

Often in the middle of sorrow, temptation, or even trials it seems God is not listening?  Micah is experiencing the spiritual and moral collapse of the people chosen by God to be His people, and they had bought into a lie from the thief, the one Jesus tells us has come to kill, steal, and destroy.  If only they would have listened, if only they would have obeyed the words of God’s prophets.  In Psalms 50:21, God has this warning; "These things you have done and I kept silent; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.”

Our Father in heaven is holy, merciful, all knowing, all-powerful, ever-present and He is just.  His holiness requires Him to be both merciful and just, and that is why the apostle Peter states the following; “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”  (1 Peter 4:17)  As a follower of Christ, as one who desires to be known as a true disciple of Jesus, should I not prepare my house, should I not remove all that keeps me from meeting the requirements found in Micah 6:8, to act justly, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with my God? 

If we do so we are walking in the path of the prophet Micah, listen and take to heart these words: “But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.  Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.  I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me.  He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.  Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”  My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.”

A note from the Back Porch, my only claim to fame is “Christ in me the hope of glory” and yet the Lord has put into me the desire to share insights, things I have experienced and often defeats of my 45 years in Christ and He in me.  As I write this paper, I am observing that we as a nation and as a church are more like the people of Micah’s time.  As a nation and as a people we are arrogant, self-absorbed, full of greed, oppose authority, and as I was listing these 2 Timothy 3:1-5 came into my mind. 

Ponder this; “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”  (2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV)  And it is my opinion that the Church, you and I have tried to apply this to those outside of the church and that was never God’s directions. 

Listen to the apostle Paul, “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler-- not even to eat with such a one.”  We are called to love not judge those who are in the world.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

This Present Darkness

Micah 7:1-6

ABC News on September 9, 2015 gave this report; Christopher Ervin, 22, and Cameron Ervin,17, were arrested and each charged with aggravated assault and arson, after their mother and her husband were found bleeding and badly beaten up Saturday in the family house in Snellville, Georgia, according to police.

Christopher Ervin in a second-floor bathroom and Cameron Ervin was arrested as he left the garage, according to a police report, which also noted that Cameron Ervin allegedly told an officer, "I tried to kill my parents. Who does that?"

These are not poor kids from the hood they are from an up-scale neighborhood in the Atlanta-area.  The neighbors said they were good boys, and who knows what darkness was in their hearts to guide them into killing the parents for the insurance money.  This is the kind of darkness Micah is talking about in chapter 7:1-6, where society had deteriorated and he found no fruit of his ministry.  He found no one who sought God, no one who was righteous, the moral fabric of the society was no where to be found and it had degenerated to what is reported in verses 2-6; “The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net.
Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together.  The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.  Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms; for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.”

A high school friend Mike Mosel told me last year, Bobby, you do not have to be a Christian to know it’s getting real dark in this nation.  Well the report of these two boys living in what many in this country only dream of, wanted more, and working for it was not part of the plan, that path takes too long, so they were just going to kill and then burn down the house, what a plan, only a devil from hell would put such thoughts in a human mind.  Jesus calls the devil many names, and one is the thief who came to kill, steal and destroy, it can be found in John 10:10.

What should one who is a follower of Jesus Christ do in this present darkness?  I believe the answer is found in Jesus’ words recorded in the gospel according to Matthew chapter 5:14,“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Do you recall Jesus telling us; “You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  God did not call us to fix the world, but to show the love of Christ to all people.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

How to be Wise

Micah 6:9-16

Andy Stanley has a series on “Christian” and the meaning of the word, where it came from and the number of times it was used in Scripture is 3 times.  But his bottom line is “Christians” have tried to make non-Christians conform to rules both moral and religious rather than showing love.  And even worse, there is no place in Scripture where followers of Christ are told to do so.  The Church is only to police its own actions and to show love to outsiders.  That does not mean we are to accept evil, in fact we are to resist evil and to live godly lives so that by our love the world will seek Jesus.

Earlier this morning I was writing on wisdom and how to find it, and Proverbs 1:7 states; “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Being a fool is not a new thing, it has no limits, we witness fools with the highest of possessions to those with not one dime.  We witness fools in the highest offices of our nation to the very lowest of public servants.  Micah 6:9, states the following: “The voice of the Lord cries to the city—and it is sound wisdom to fear your name: “Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it!”  But fools do not learn wisdom, and if God instructed earthly fathers to not spare the rod, would it not seem reasonable that God would also use the rod on those who do evil.  And as long as we examine what is passable for God’s wrath, would you agree that it would first begin with His own people, both then and now.  That should make one fear, but you recall; “fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Micah 6:10-15, “Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed?  Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights?  Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins.  You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you;
you shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword.  You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.”

If you recall this is not directed to a non-Christian, but to one who is a follower of Christ, and many of you have allowed the evil one to speak into your life lies from hell, and if you find you have been using deceitful ways in your family, business, or marriage, payday is just around the corner.  I must ask is what you are doing bringing satisfaction, is there peace and contentment, or does it seem the more you acquire the greater is your fear of lose.  If so you are experiencing judgment.

God refers to two evil kings, Omri and Ahab and because of them God’s judgment fell on Jerusalem and its inhabitants.  Ahab had killed the LORD’s prophets and stolen Naboth’s family inheritance.  These two were full of greed as many of the leaders in and out of the church today, and greed’s sister is always lies and even the murder of others.

Quote from Voltaire: “It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

"What does the LORD require of me?"

Micah 6:6-8

What does the LORD require of me, it is all-inclusive what does God require of you, not your neighbor who worships his golf membership or boat, not your family members, not even your pastor or priest, but you?  It’s not a new question but it is one that the enemy of your soul, the one Jesus refers to in John 10:10 as the thief, the deceiver wants you to never ask yourself.  And if you do (the deceiver) has a lot of religion to share with you about how you can earn God’s acceptance.

We stated that it is not a new question, and yes, it is a question often asked when we are in more trouble than it seems possible to escape from.  The people of Micah’s time were in trouble much like we are today; they like us had corrupt, immoral, and dishonest leaders, in government, in business, and in their religion.  Few prophets saw the future more clearly than Micah, in that he prophesied the fall of both Samaria and Jerusalem.  He told the leaders and the people about Jerusalem being destroyed and the Babylonian captivity and the return from exile.

Can you imagine the anxiety that would come with a Billy Graham, a man with that kind of integrity telling the nation God had given him a clear message about the United States of America being taken captive by a foreign nation that was going to do with us as they wished?  I will bet the farm that the churches could not hold the crowds, and the question would be asked, “What does the LORD require of us”?

These are the questions they were asking: “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?  Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?  Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”  How can we make things right with a Holy God, is it enough to acknowledge your God?  That was the first question.  The second question is do I really need to meet the requirements of the Law of Moses?  The third question is does God really want my wealth?  And the fourth question is can I make restitution by sending my firstborn to the mission field where he is sure to die by some savage with a spear?

Now listen for these are God’s requirements, they are the same today as in the past, they are irrevocable, unchangeable and will come with great cost to all who follow them, but with that cost they will bring something you desire that money cannot buy, nor power, they will bring peace to your soul!

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  

My HCSB study Bible has this insight on page 1531; “The people already knew the good things that God required (see Ps 14:1,3, 37:31).  God’s interest was not in the offering but the offerer.  A person’s character and behavior mattered more to God than any gift they might bring.  People were to act justly under God’s standards.  They were to love faithfulness, treating one another with love and mercy.  They were to walk humbly with God as their constant companion (Gn 6:9), conforming their lives to His will.”

My testimony is religion will never get you to the place of doing this.  I was a religious Baptist, with no desire to love kindness and to walk humbly with God, till I entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  It is not I but Christ in me that gave my heart the desire “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice