Was Reading

I was reading last night and time got away from me. I forgot to write a blog post for today.

Warning Against Worldliness

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

James 4:1-12

When was the last time you heard a sermon warning against worldliness? I suspect for most believers it would have been a very long time indeed. There are several reasons for this. Likely it is because we are in fact very worldly, and we don't like to speak to our particular sins, so we just drift along. Also, you are particularly unlikely to hear a sermon, or in this case read a Bible study, about worldliness and gay Christians.  First of all, most of us would start squirming in our chairs.  My first thought would be, "This can't be good."  The reason for this is that as gay Christians most of our naysayers consider homosexuality to be a sin of worldliness.  That as gay Christians, we want to sin, be a part of this hedonistic culture, and call ourselves Christians.  But I hope that if you are one of those who regularly follow my Sunday posts, then you will know that is not the message I will deliver here.  I write these posts as both Bible studies and as a way to deliver the truth.  Therefore, I want to study this passage in a way that brings to light the kind of worldliness that applies to LGBT Christians.

There is also another reason Christians don't tend to dwell on worldliness. We have tended to misunderstand what the warnings against worldliness actually mean, and/or have quite distorted the actual biblical teaching on this. That is, we have often thought that worldliness means having nothing to do with this material world altogether.  Or, as LGBT Christians we have been branded as worldly people because too many people believe that homosexuality is a choice.  The truth is, as I believe it (and I do believe that God helped me understand this after much prayer and meditation), God created us to be gay.  He had a purpose for us.  Whatever, that purpose is, we cannot deny God for creating us or leading us down this path.  We are all God's children and have his undying and eternal love.

James is not the only one to warn about worldliness.

John: 1 John 2:15-17 - Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

Paul: Ephesians 2:1-3 - And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

In the text from James above, these verses make me think of the person who tries to live in both the world and in the kingdom. It can't be done. Living in the kingdom means the Spirit dwells within us, and God reigns over us. It must be all or nothing. In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other."  Therefor, ask yourself to describe you in one word.  What would you say?  If you are worldly, then your answer might be your profession or an adjective describing how you feel or act, but truthfully, the answer should be very simple: Christian.  Whatever else you are, however else you might describe yourself, it is being a Christian that should come first.

James finishes this section of scripture we are examining with a warning about verbally attacking or slandering our brother. When we do this, we are not only attacking, but judging his character. In doing so, we are speaking out against and judging the law. Think about it. We are to love our Lord God with all of our heart, soul, strength and might; and to love our neighbor as ourselves. When we speak against our brother, we are not loving our neighbor as ourselves, and might as well throw the whole commandment out the window.

"...do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.... Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good." Romans 12:2, 9

As believers, we are not of the world. Worldliness is not a kingdom attribute.

If you're wondering if a behavior or activity is worldly, ask yourself these questions:

• Does this activity, thing, pursuit take my heart away from God?
• Does it sabotage my communion with God and my walk in the Spirit?
• Does it undermine or seek to displace my relationship to Christ as the power of my life?
• Does it attempt (is it designed) to do so?
• Does it feed the self-centered, appetite-driven, God-hating part of me called the flesh?
• Does it inflame my desire to disobey God's commands?
• Does it produce pride, contention, immorality, or any other behavior contrary to the love of God and the love of others?
• Does it lure me into obsession with what is earthbound and temporal versus what is heavenly and eternal?

In John 18, Jesus answers Pilate by repeating this phrase twice:  My kingdom is not of this world.

If you follow Jesus, then your kingdom is the Kingdom of Heaven, and it is not of this world.

Moment of Zen: Baseball

Mr. Happy

I wish I could be Mr. Happy, but I got some potentially bad news about my job yesterday. It's only potentially bad news, but it was enough to trigger my depression again. I had my depression under control, but occasionally there are setbacks and yesterday was one of them.

I've Got Nothing

Other than Barry Manilow coming out, I've got nothing to say today. I've never much cared for Manilow, but welcome to the family anyway.

Also 100 years ago today, the United States entered World War I.

Leave Me Alone

Politicians that is, not my readers. South Carolina and Alabama are both trying to pass a law that will make it illegal to get porn on and electronic device: computers, cellphones, etc. For a one time fee, you apply to get access back on your device, but you have to ask. I'm sorry but I love a little porn on my electronic devices every now and then and I'd be way too shy to ask for the filter to be removed. Porn to me is a private thing. It's where you can live out your fantasies through other people.

I'd also like these same politicians to stay out of my bathroom. I don't care if a transgender individual who is passing as their intended gender uses the same bathroom that I do. At the university where I work, we have a number of FTM transgender, not all have had all the surgeries and thus still have the biological functions of a woman. The reason I say this is because the other day I saw a tampon disposed of in the men's restroom. It did not bother me the least that I may have been sharing a restroom with someone who was born biologically female. And just for the record, many of these FTM transgendered persons are quite attractive and it would be hard to tell that they were not cisgendered men.

So my advice to politicians is this: leave me the fuck alone. I won't try to regulate your life and you don't try to regulate mine.

My Church

I’ve cussed on a Sunday

I’ve cheated and I’ve lied

I’ve fallen down from grace

A few too many times

But I find holy redemption

When I put this car in drive

Roll the windows down and turn up the dial

Can I get a hallelujah

Can I get an amen

Feels like the Holy Ghost running through ya

When I play the highway FM

I find my soul revival

Singing every single verse

Yeah I guess that’s my church

When Hank brings the sermon

And Cash leads the choir

It gets my cold cold heart burning

Hotter than a ring of fire

When this wonderful world gets heavy

And I need to find my escape

I just keep the wheels rolling, radio scrolling

'Til my sins wash away

Can I get a hallelujah

Can I get an amen

Feels like the Holy Ghost running through ya

When I play the highway FM

I find my soul revival

Singing every single verse

Yeah I guess that’s my church

Can I get a hallelujah

Can I get an amen

Feels like the Holy Ghost running through ya

When I play the highway FM

I find my soul revival

Singing every single verse

Yeah I guess that’s my church

Can I get a hallelujah

Can I get an amen

Feels like the Holy Ghost running through ya

When I play the highway FM

I find my soul revival

Singing every single verse

Yeah I guess that’s my church

Yeah I guess that’s my church

Yeah I guess that’s my church

"My Church" is a song by American country music singer Maren Morris. It was released in January 2016 as her debut single and serves as the lead single from her debut studio album, Hero (2016). Morris co-wrote and co-produced the song with busbee. The song won the award for Best Country Solo Performance and was nominated for Best Country Song at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.

The church in the song is used figuratively to describe the sanctuary that she feels is her car when she plays music on the Highway FM radio while driving. The song refers to listening to country icons like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams and is about "the simple joy that comes with turning up the volume, rolling down the windows and singing along to the radio at 65 miles an hour." She compares the experience to a church revival, saying, "Yeah, I guess that's my church." She co-wrote and co-produced the single with busbee.

Third Hill North of Town

I just finished The Third Hill North Of Town by Noah Bly, aka Bart Yates. Overall, I enjoyed the book and wasn't even upset with the ending. The book is quite a journey.

Set against the turbulent backdrop of the 1960s, Noah Bly's evocative The Third Hill North Of Town explores prejudice, loss, and redeeming courage through the prism of an unlikely friendship. 

When fifty-four-year-old Julianna Dapper slips out of a mental hospital in Bangor, Maine, on a June day in 1962, it's with one purpose in mind. Julianna knows she must go back to the tiny farming community in northern Missouri where she was born and raised. It's the place where she and her best friend, Ben Taylor, roamed as children, and where her life's course shifted irrevocably one night long ago. 

Embarking on her journey, Julianna meets Elijah Hunter, a shy teenaged African-American boy, and Jon Tate, a young hitchhiker on the run from the law. The three become traveling companions, bound together by quirks of happenstance. And even as the emerging truth about Julianna's past steers them inexorably toward tragedy, their surprising bond may be the means to transform fear and heartache into the strength that finally guides Julianna home. 

The Third Hill North of Town is a haunting, imaginative story of human connection and coincidence--a poignant and powerful novel that ripples with wit and heart. 

Wisdom From Above

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James 3:13-18

In verses 13-18, James addresses the subject of wisdom and understanding. He is concerned with demonstrating the sharp contrast which exists between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom that God gives.  Godly wisdom leads us along paths that lead to life. The alternative to following God's wisdom, choosing to live foolishly in God's world, is to risk our lives. Well clearly it's better to be wise than to be foolish. It's better to live a life that's blessed by God than to risk missing out on the good things God has planned for us. But how do we do it? How do we get wisdom, and once we've got it, how do we show in our lives that we have it? 

How do we show that we have Wisdom? If you want to be wise, you need to show your wisdom by the way you live. And how is that? By your good life. Through works done with the gentleness that's born of wisdom. James highlights what this means by showing the opposite sorts of behavior. "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice." Now of course it's not politically correct to be negative about someone, is it? There's some sense to that when it comes to talking about others. It's always easier to think of things to criticize about someone than things to praise. Not to mention that if you can criticize something in someone else, you feel justified in thinking better of yourself. But what we're talking about here is self-examination. Here James is asking us to look honestly at our own hearts, at our own actions and motivations, to work out whether we're truly acting with wisdom. 

What is it you see when you look at your behavior; when you listen to yourself talking? Are you envious of others? Do you envy them their gifts or their success, their family, their jobs, their looks, their new car? What is it that motivates you? Are you motivated by selfish ambition? By the desire to get to the top no matter what? Do you desire power in the roles you take on? Do you avoid positions where you know you won't be able to exercise the power you desire? When you make decisions, how much do you focus on the effect they'll have on you, or on your own agenda as opposed to that of others in the community? How about in your speech. Are you prone to boasting? To exaggerating for effect? Do you tend to emphasize how good you are, or your family is, or your church is, while downplaying others' successes or focussing on their failings?

Now I could say I've seen that sort of behavior in others, but that would be to fall into the very trap of foolishness that I'm talking about. No my job is to ask whether I've done any of that, whether I fail in any of those areas. Believe me, I will be the first to admit that I fail in many of these areas.  However, just because I have failed does not mean that I cannot do my best to correct my own actions and ask for forgiveness.  I need to understand my own behavior and understand where that sort of behavior derives. I know that it doesn't derive from godly wisdom.  This sort of wisdom derives from the fallen world in which we live. Far from being spiritually based it's the work of the devil. 

Well, enough for the negative, what's the positive side of wise living? "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere." It seems to me that this is a tough list to live up to. Purity has the idea of being morally upright, innocent, blameless, motivated only by the sincere desire to serve others, ignoring self interest. That's the first test. Then there's the test of peaceable, gentle behavior. This is in stark contrast to the bitter envy and selfish ambition of the worldly person. The wise person seeks peace above selfish desire. They're willing to yield to others even if their own desires aren't being met. They're full of mercy in the way they approach others. They bear good fruit, without any sense of partiality or hypocrisy. 

You've probably noticed that some people do lots of good works, but their motivation is actually self serving. They're working to boost their own sense of importance or they do good things for people they think might be able to do favors for them at a later date. But the wise person acts out of pure motives, not seeking their own welfare but only that of those they're serving. 

And notice the result: "And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." The result of wise living is that we enjoy the peace that only God can give. Wisdom is worth having. So how do we find wisdom? We begin by realizing that God is the source of all wisdom and then we ask God to give it to us. How do we show that we're wise? By our good lives; by works that are done with gentleness that's born of wisdom. By our purity of life, by behavior that's peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and goodness. Show that sort of behavior and there will be no doubt that you have the wisdom that comes from above.

Moment of Zen: Freedom