Category: Discussion / New Ideas / Thoughts

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A Call for a Return to an Ethic of Sexual Purity in the Church

Summary: God cares a great deal about sexual purity, but in the last decade or two, the standards for sexual purity have eroded in the American church. This post reviews what the Bible says on the topic, then urges people to change. The call goes out to those who love God and are in sexually impure relationships and to those who are leaders and influencers in the church and who have been tacitly approving of those practices by not lovingly teaching and mentoring in this area.

I want to begin by simply letting the Word of God speak to us about sexual purity. At the end, I will add some thoughts.

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality… and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21, NIV).

“Sexual immorality… must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints… For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure… has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them” (Ephesians 5:3,5-7, ESV).

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Videos, the New Kind of Vigilante Justice, and Ray Rice

The proliferation of video cameras, both for security in public places and on cellphones, have led to a wave of conflict and crime being caught on camera. The latest high-profile case is that of former Ravens running back Ray Rice, who knocked his fiancé unconscious in an elevator of an Atlantic City motel earlier this year. The initial video showed him dragging her off the elevator while she was unconscious. The case went to court, and he was put in a program designed to help him learn ways to avoid doing such things again. The NFL suspended him for two weeks during the regular season. And, he and his fiancé got married.

photographer-410326_640But then a second video of the same incident was put on the internet just recently (months after the incident), and this was more explicit, actually showing him punching her. After this video was released, he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens, and suspended indefinitely by the NFL. Many of those who saw the video reacted angrily towards Rice and agreed with the punishment meted out by the Ravens and the NFL, some even calling for greater punishment.

I have a different take on things. But first, let me say that it was wrong for Rice to hit his fiancé, right that it went to court, right that he is trying to change, and right that the NFL suspended him for a set period of time (the first suspension). Domestic violence is a huge problem in every country in the world (at least I’m not aware of anywhere it is not), and it is still a big problem in the United States. I’m not sure it can ever be solved completely, but we can do more to help.

Continue reading “Videos, the New Kind of Vigilante Justice, and Ray Rice”

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Septuagint Helps Refute Arguments in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage

I love the Living Word of God, Jesus! He has rescued me from darkness and hopelessness, and poured out on me kindness and love, giving me a promise that I will be with him forever! And I love the written Word of God, the Bible, without which it would be very difficult to know the Living Word of God, and likewise difficult to understand how to live this life of faith.

bride-54355_640I begin with that declaration because this article is meant for those who love both the Living and the written Word of God. If you do not fit into that category, we do not have a basis on which we can discuss the particular issue at hand, because the issue I am addressing here is how to understand the written Word of God so we may live lives pleasing to the Living Word of God.

The issue I want to discuss is what the Bible says about same-sex marriage, or closer to the point, same-sex sex. I want to declare up front that on a practical level of human relations including how to interact with gay people even in a church community, that I believe in loving all people, whether they are followers of Jesus or not, and whatever lifestyle they are living. I believe that love should be in both word and deed, not just called love, but love that is actually loving — wanting the best for other people, and treating each person with honor and respect. Yet I do believe that consensual gay sex is sin, though I don’t believe that it is the worst of sins, certainly no worse (nor better) than consensual heterosexual sex outside of marriage.

Continue reading “Septuagint Helps Refute Arguments in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage”

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Nelson Mandela was a Modern-Day Joseph

Nelson Mandela was one of my last living heroes. In my mind, he was a modern day Joseph (ruler of Egypt, a patriarch of Israel). Like Joseph, Mandela had a call on his life that was tested and tried by years in prison, after which he was Although the problem is widespread with millions of patients worldwide, but its impact cialis buy has made people worried about their sexual life as man fails to achieve strong erection at the time of intercourse, you should miss reading about the criterion that makes a good bed. It offers effective cure pfizer viagra tablets for sexual weakness. As the penis gets erect, the viagra online sample arteries and veins of the organ gets lots of space for flowing blood and for the effect of the medicine they takes lots of blood. These buying viagra in australia comes in the form of pills, powder and oral jelly as well. purified and empowered to lead a nation through difficult times. Like Joseph, Mandela could have gotten revenge or at least held a grudge against those responsible for his captivity, but instead practiced forgiveness and forbearance to invite former persecutors into the bigger plan of redeeming a nation.

The world has lost a great man!

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Using Incoming Text Messages to Remind Me of God’s Presence

screen-18870_640I have this tendency to get really focused on whatever I’m doing, so find that I can sometimes go for many hours without thinking consciously about God… But I want to learn the “practice the presence of God” like Brother Lawrence did, and I do take seriously the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to “pray continually” in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, which I take to mean to be aware of God’s presence at all times.

So I started thinking that if I could at least have some tool to help draw me back to God through the day, that would help. I decided to use my Twitter account, @PastorTimThomas, and I would set it up to receive text messages that that account posts. Then I made plans to upload 6 messages a day from Scripture, every 3 hours from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. I used the hashtag #PRESENCE with them.
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After only a week, this plan was, in fact, helping me refocus on God. But I had an unanticipated side-effect: every time ANY text message came in, I would think of God! So wondered if others might benefit from using this little “trick” of training yourself to respond to incoming text messages to recall God’s presence with you at that moment, which, in many cases, I hope like for me, will turn into praise and adoration.

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Grace Movement and Confessing and Repenting of Sins

As I have tried to figure out the war of words over the “grace movement”, it seems that one of the issues is that of confession and repentance. Do we need to ask God for forgiveness when we sin? Do we need to confess our sins to God, even if we are already part of His family? Many in the grace movement say “no”. We are already forgiven. They say that verses that people use to support these ideas are for those who are not yet following Jesus.

As for me, I would say that I do not believe in dwelling on my sin, because it is a poor strategy for walking victoriously over sin. Yet this is what I know: intimacy with God is like intimacy in any relationship. In present’s aroused and laboring occupational life more and more people sale levitra today are opting for the use of gel instead of tablets and they have even reported to the fact that the reason behind a man not facing proper erections is this. Some conditions like atherosclerosis can be very dangerous as they lead to poor free levitra samples bed performances as sexual arousal is necessary for the erection to take place. Take the medicine with one full glass of water but an hour before they make purchase tadalafil india love with their partner. Male erectile dysfunction buy levitra is a common sexual dysfunction found in men. If I do something to hurt the other person, I need to take steps to restore the relationship. God doesn’t stop being my Father if I sin, BUT, sometimes my sin makes the relationship awkward. Perhaps it is just me that feels awkward, but I think that sometimes God is offended, and He does want me to acknowledge how my actions have affected Him and our relationship. Confession and repentance seem to deal with that awkwardness and offense, and restores the relationship to normal.

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Tell Everyone God is Incredibly in Love with Them with a TShirt

I am taking orders for tshirts that are designed to help people take steps to get closer to God. The tshirts say “God is incredibly in love with you” and then they have “WowGod.org” on the bottom, so that those who want to find out more about the God that is incredibly in love with them can go and read more, including how to begin a walk with God by committing to follow Jesus.

God is incredibly in love with you tshirt

If you want a tshirt, please email me of your interest at dr.tim.thomas@gmail.com. Do not send money because I need to finalize the order (I do not have these in stock, so have to order them from the tshirt company). The price will be $12 (add $2 for 2XL and above). All the shirts will be teal and black ink on an ash-colored tshirt.

In smaller print on the shirt are several Bible verses that will remind you about God’s love, and can be further used to witness to others. The verses say:

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For Those Asking God “Why?”

I shared this in reply to a comment on another post, and thought this was too good not to share in general. I didn’t write this, but saw it… The link follows for the entire article by Al Andrews on Don Miller’s blog, Storyline.

“I’d like to suggest a prayer that the Benedictine monks pray during times the call ‘Desolation.’ Desolation is when things don’t work — when life, relationships, God — all seem disconnected at best. When that happens, our natural prayers are usually variations of the word ‘Why?’ Why? Why me? Why this? Why this now? Why God?”

You can also buy the medicine cheapest cialis canada to treat the problem. Ayurvedic practitioners of yester centuries have discovered specific herbs and compounds of nature that offer proven enhancements in sexual health of ED deprived sildenafil india online male personality. A trained health coach will not only educate you on the risks of hypertension and provide you with a good treatment but also tell you how prevent such neck pains. viagra for sale uk No man wants to admit that he has problems getting an erection.” “I’ve been dealing with this for levitra cheap online years now I have been utilizing Cardio Cocktail to help people with high blood pressure. “The Benedictines suggest a different question. They ask us to pray this simple prayer, God, what do you have for me here? Do you notice the difference? While honest, the why questions presume we are entitled to something and the current problem has no place in our life or the universe. ‘What do you have for me here?’ presumes that there is a larger story told by a storyteller who loves us and is far more creative in his telling than I would ever be.

From http://storylineblog.com/2013/05/15/when-faced-with-conflict/

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How the Gay Marriage Issue Gives Me Hope for Ending Legalized Abortion

While I have not been a fan of the progress that the legalization of gay marriage has made recently, it is amazing to ponder the speed at which it took place. In 40 years our nation went from seeing gay marriage as unthinkable and gay sex as illegal, to embracing the idea of normalizing gay marriage. A tipping point seems to have been reached, and the rate of acceleration toward that tipping point was phenomenal in the last 5 years. This reflects a radical shift in the views of the population, and it had surprising impact on the legal system.

While I will not discourage those who try to slow or reverse the trend, I think that for now further change and consolidation of the legalization of gay marriage likely will take place.

This rapid change in one arena gives me hope for rapid change in another arena. Why couldn’t the same rapid shift toward a tipping point happen in regard to abortion? Just as for the case of gay marriage, once a large number of people began to embrace it as an issue of basic human rights, the supporting legal structure changed. Why couldn’t a large number of people recognize human rights for the pre-born? Couldn’t that change the entire legal structure in a very short period of time? Certainly, a right to “choose” is trumped by a right to “exist”, isn’t it?

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Team Jesus Penalized for Taunting on Easter: “Where, O death, is now thy sting?”

I wanted to share one of the of the verses from the hymn, “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”, dating back to the 14th Century.

In the NFL, this would get a taunting penalty:

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
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This verse from the hymn comes from 1 Corinthians 15:55, which in turn appears to come from Hosea 13:14.

If you want to listen to the music or read all of the verses, go to Cyberhymnal.

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