The Scarlet Letter

I had to read The Scarlet Letter in high school, and like most books I was forced to read, I didn’t like it.  It was drama, and I don’t like dramas.  Give me good comedy or action, and I’ll come back for more every time… but not drama.  My life has plenty of that.  The story followed Hester Prynn, a woman who was found out in adultery after giving birth to a child, Pearl, while her husband was not yet in the Puritan colony of Boston.  It was sad to see that she was forced to mark herself with a red “A” that showed all who saw her that she was an adulteress.  The story continues into the vengeful scheme of her husband and the pain of the minister who committed the sin with her.  The acts of the characters are certainly not in keeping with the love and desire for reconciliation found in Scripture, but the story does show the pain that can be caused by just one act fueled by lust. Dealing with the subject of lust can be uncomfortable for some, but it is part of our life here in this world.  God is interested in dealing with real life, not some sugarcoated facsimile, so the Bible deals with lust.  So must we.

What is lust?  Lust is the improper viewing of another person in a sexual connotation. How do we act against lust?  I can think of no better picture of how to do this than the story God gives us of Joseph and Potifar’s wife in Genesis 39.  After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, he was taken to Egypt.  He found his way into the service of the Egyptian captain of the guard, Potifar.  Joseph was a righteous man, and God was not only blessing him for it, He was blessing Potifar’s entire household for it.  It was a great situation until Potifar’s wife decided get a little too much Joseph for herself.  She tried to seduce him multiple times.  On the final attempt she even got grabby and found herself holding Joseph’s clothes while he scampered away.  “Flee from sexual immorality.  Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18).  We are told to run away from lust!  That should clue us in on the danger of it!  God knows that we cannot stand in a situation of sexual sin forever and be victorious.  So get out of there!  Remove yourself from the temptation, or you will be consumed by it.  That is why you must end a relationship if you are sexually sinning in it.  If pornography is a problem, get software to block it on the computer and/or only use it in a public place.

Sexual sin consumes.  It will literally become a chemical addiction in your brain.  Phenylethylamine releases dopamine during sexual activity and gives you feelings of bliss, excitement, and attraction.  That plus the release of adrenaline and endorphins cause sexual activity to become addictive, even if it is harmful.  It has been compared to the addiction level of opiates like heroine.  That is why Scripture says, “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases” (Song of Solomon 8:4).  This, of course, applies to guys as well.

Lust does not just exist in the physical realm, however.  It is pervasive in the realm of the mind.  Jesus said, ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28).  That means that we must control our thoughts in this area as well.  “I never actually did anything with her” or “I was only thinking about him like that” are not excuses.  Merely thinking about a person who is not your spouse sexually is deadly sin.

You might be tempted to ignore what I’m saying because I’m not a teenager, and I don’t know your life or what you’re going through.  The truth is that I was a teenager, and I made some of mistakes in this area.  The consequences remain to this day.  What is the good of staying pure?  Your love life is saved for your spouse.  You are all familiar with Velcro.  What happens when Velcro is stuck together and pulled apart too much?  It stops sticking well.  The same is true with people who have had a lot of different relationships.  They have given away their heart too many times.  It does not connect with another very well anymore.  When you do decide to get married, your past relationships will not just fade from your mind.  They will always be there.  You will have to tell your spouse about your past, and that is not a fun experience.  Do not give your heart away so cheaply; it is way too precious for that.  Also, your risk of STDs and pregnancy outside of marriage drops to a staggering 0%!  If you don’t have sex, there is no risk!

 So, how do we deal with the opposite sex?
Dating, as we know it today, is a relatively new concept.  It used to be a slang term referring to prostitution, and the modern concept is not far from the origin.  A man takes a woman out, spends some money on her, and at some level eventually expects her to “put out.”

What a Godly man and woman should be doing is called courting.  If you want more details about this I would direct you to a great book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris.  The major difference between dating and courting is that courting is looking toward one goal, marriage.  That’s it!  If a Christian man and woman are “going out,” they should be able to see marriage somewhere in the future.  If either of them cannot, they shouldn’t be in that relationship.

Why is it important for a Christian to only court another Christian?
For a believer in Jesus, who is your first love?  The answer is unapologically JESUS!  How can you be in a close romantic relationship with someone who does not share that love?  I could never court an unbeliever.  They would dump me by the end of the first month because they’d be sick and tired of me witnessing to them and talking about Jesus!  “You might be tempted to ignore what I’m saying because I’m not a teenager, and I don’t know your life or what you’re going through.  The truth is that I was a teenager, and I made some of these mistakes.  The consequences remain to this day.  When you do decide to get married, your past relationships will not just fade from your mind.  They will always be there.  You will have to tell your spouse about your past, and that is not a fun experience.  What is the good of staying pure?  First, your relationship with God is put first.  In every sin, He is the one chiefly offended.  Remember the woman caught in adultery?  Jesus did not go to her husband or deal with the guy she was sleeping with.  He looked into her eyes and said, “Your sins are forgiven.  Go and sin no more.”  Reconciliation must first come with Him.  Second, your love life is saved for your spouse.  You are all familiar with Velcro.  What happens when Velcro is stuck together and pulled apart too much?  It stops sticking well.  The same is true with people who have had a lot of different relationships.  They have given away their heart too many times.  It does not connect with another very well anymore.  Do not give your heart away so cheaply; it is way too precious for that.  Last, your risk of STDs and pregnancy outside of marriage drops to a staggering 0%!  If you don’t have sex, there is no risk.

So, how do we deal with the opposite sex? Dating, as we know it today, is a relatively new concept.  It used to be a slang term referring to prostitution, and the modern concept is not far from the origin.  A man takes a woman out, spends some money on her, and at some level eventually expects her to “put out.”

What a Godly man and woman should be doing is called courting.  If you want more details about this I would direct you to a great book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris.  The major difference between dating and courting is that courting is looking toward one goal, marriage.  That’s it!  If a Christian man and woman are “going out,” they should be able to see marriage somewhere in the future.  If either of them cannot, they shouldn’t be in that relationship.

Why is it important for a Christian to only court another Christian? For a believer in Jesus, who is your first love?  The answer is unapologically JESUS!  How can you be in a close romantic relationship with someone who does not share that love?  I could never court an unbeliever.  They would dump me by the end of the first month because they’d be sick and tired of me witnessing to them and talking about Jesus!  “For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?  What accord has Christ with Belial?  Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14b-15).  I am in Christ, and those in light have nothing to do with darkness except bringing light to it!  Darkness flees from the light of Christ within me.  If you are involved romantically with an unbeliever and they are not fleeing from you, you should ask yourself if you really are a light.

Be careful with your heart, Christian.  Don’t give it away cheap to bare scars that may never fully heal.  It is precious to your King.  Give it to Him completely.  Trust in Him.  Follow Him.  Obey Him, and He will show you the one person to give it to here.

Pride & Lust

The other day I got onto Facebook, and a wonderful friend of mine had this written this on her wall:

“Guys, if you're out driving and see a woman jogging, DON'T turn your head to look at her! She does see you, and she thinks you're a creeper.”

Then I looked at a comment made on it by another friend:

“Girls, if you’re out driving and see a man jogging, DO turn your head to look at him!  Make sure he sees you so that he thinks he’s AWESOME!”

It does not take much to get me thinking on a particular subject, and this comment is all it took to get me thinking again.  Why is it that the same act can promote such a different response from male and female?  I started thinking about my own response.  How have I taken it when I’m out on a run and a woman driving by takes a look at me?  Well, I have to say, I consider it a compliment.

I started thinking about my own response to this, and I started wondering how righteous this response was.  Is it in agreement with the standard of righteousness and holiness that God lays down for us in Scripture.  Some of you might be thinking, “It is just a little look!  Is it really necessary to bring in God?”  Well, YES!  God is the center of ever part of our life.  He is the God of the big things and the God of the small things.  Every thought, every emotion, every second in this world is part of the spiritual war waged between light and darkness.  Whether you think about it or not, this war is always a part of your life, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete” (2 Corinthians 10:4-6).

If every thought is part of the war waged, and we are to take every thought captive to Christ, where does it leave the thoughts occurring when we take a look out the window at the jogger?  What about the person at the beach or just that person walking down the street that catches your eye?  I am not willing to say that it is evil to look.  However, you have to know what is happening when you are looking.  Is lust going on?  “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).  I know that I have looked at a woman before and admired her beauty and strength apart from any lustful intent, but that is not always the case for people, guys or girls.  It is not always the case for any particular person either.  At some point or another, everyone lusts.  It ultimately comes down to the responsibility of the individual to regulate and take responsibility not to look if lust is there.

Let’s go even further.  It would be naïve of us to believe that this is just a one-way interaction.  As Lauren said, “She does see you, and she thinks you're a creeper.”  The feelings of the person being looked at must be taken into account.  Even if the look of the first is entirely pure, admiration free of any lustful intent, it does not mean it is perceived in that light by the receiver.  If it is not, the looker offends against charity, for it is uncharitable to make another feel uncomfortable by your actions, and I know that I don’t want to make anyone feel that way.

If we are to err on the side of safety and charity, it is just better never to look.  That would make it simple.  However, life is not that simple.  God has made women to be beautiful to men and men to be attractive to women.  Looks are not inherently bad.  If we never looked, it is hard to believe anyone would ever be in a relationship at all, and God instituted marriage from the beginning.  The context of the look is important.  There is a big difference between being drawn to a person you meet at work or church versus hanging your tongue out the window as your drive by.  A look from a car will never amount to anything.  I have heard a lot of love stories, marriage stories, etc., and never have any of them started with, “I was out on my jog, and this person came driving by looking at me…”

So, why do some people like the looks from the people driving by if they will never come to anything?  Honestly, it may be pride.  I may have to call myself out here because I do like the looks.  I also do not think it is just guys who like the looks.  I think there are some women who like being checked out as well, whether they will admit it or not.  I think it just has to do with the person.  


Why do you run?  I don’t run because I enjoy it, though I enjoy it now much more than when I started running.  I run because I have never found anything else that will keep the fat off me like running coupled with eating right.  I run because I want to be healthy, feel good, and look good. If I am honest with myself, looking good is at the top of that list.  Enter pride.  When a woman looks at me, from the car or anywhere else, I do like it.  The only situation which changes that is if she is married, then it makes me sick to my stomach.  If she is single, though, it really does feel like a compliment, but it can also be an occasion for pride, “Make sure he sees you so that he thinks he’s AWESOME!”  Once again, I am not willing to say that any positively received look is fully enflaming the pride of the receiver.  If that was the case, every relationship would include a big side of pride.  I think, once again, it becomes the responsibility of the individual person to make sure it does not become a pride issue.

That is probably a lot to come from two little comments.  As I said, it does not take much to get me thinking on things.

Theology of Blood

I followed my uncle down the trail.  It was just one foot after the other as the dry dirt was crushed under every footfall.  My dad and brother were right behind, and I could hear their steps kicking up the dust a few paces back on that path down near Uvalde, TX.  I always loved the hill country.  As I gazed across the uneven landscape toward the horizon, I would feel at home.  This was something new, though, because my uncle carried a shotgun today.

I had never gone hunting before.  I was old enough to have the basic concept down, but I really did not know what to expect.  Bob stopped in a clearing up ahead.  He set down the ammo case and began loading the weapon.  We didn't say a word.  Dad had told us to stay quiet, and I knew I didn't want to mess anything up.  The anticipation of the unknown made it feel like the ages of the earth were passing, though I'm sure it was only a few minutes.  Then, in an instant, he raised the weapon and fired two quick rounds into the sky, and I saw a dark form fall to the ground.  I remember marking the spot where the bird had fallen in my head, and I went after it.  My uncle said not to worry about it, he was just sighting the weapon, but I went anyway.  I vividly remember seeing the little sparrow lying on the rock where it fell, and I remember picking it up.  The pellets of buckshot had riddled its small body, and it looked at me while gasping for breath.  It died soon afterward.  I put it down on the rocks, and as I drew my hand back, I remember the blood.

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life" (Leviticus 17:11).

Under the Law, the Israelites were required to pour out the blood of animals on the altar of God.  There was no pleasure in it.  It was not just a ritual.  There was a reason that blood had to be spilled.

Mankind is a strange creature.  He can be strong, courageous, and valiant.  He can be kind and care for those around him, but he is also corrupt.  He lies and cheats.  He has evil thoughts of murder and lust.  He will steal if he can to get what he wants at times.  If you have trouble believing this, I have a question for you:  do you lock your doors at night?  Think about yourself even.  Have you ever lied?  Have you ever lusted?  Have you ever stolen anything?  Have you ever hated anyone?

Jesus said:

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’  But I say to you thateveryone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire" (Matthew 5:21-22).

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28).

If you're honest about it, by your own admission, you are a liar.  You're an adulterer.  You're a thief.  You are a murderer.  Maybe you're all of the above.  I am.  I'm pretty messed up, and because I did those things I was under the wrath and condemnation of God...  just as you are under it now.  I don't say this to put you down.  I say it so you will see why the blood is so important.

The Israelites lusted and murdered and lied and stole also, and those evil things caused a separation between them and God just like it has with you today.  It caused a debt, a blood debt, because there is only one way to pay for doing wrong: "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a).  Sin is a severe thing.  It is not causal.  It is not ok because "everyone does it."  It is a personal slap in the face to the One who created you and loves you.  When an Israelite did evil, it had to be paid for.  He paid for it in the blood of his animal on the altar.  It showed his faith and trust in God for the fixing of that separation that was between them.  Ultimately, though, "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4) because, "God made man in his own image" (Genesis 9:6b).  What that payment did was show how serious it is when we do evil as well as allow the person to show their faith in the true payment that was to come.

On the morning of the 3rd of April 33AD, Roman soldiers moved through the streets of Jerusalem.  With them a man struggled along as blood trickled from multiple cuts and lacerations.  His face was so bloodied and bruised that He no longer looked human, "His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the children of mankind" (Isaiah 52:14).  On His back, scrapping and splintering into His wounds, was a cross, the instrument of His execution, to be used when they reached the place, given in Scripture as κρανίου τόπος or Calvary.

The metallic ring and sickening sound of punctured flesh resonated in the ears of those who were present as they drove the nails through His hands and feet.  The smell of blood came on the breeze as it coursed over the hill outside the city, and the people looked up at the crucified Christ.  Darkness came over the land, and Jesus cried, "'It is finished,' and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit" (John 19:30).

God exists outside time, so He is not confined within it or limited by it.  The effect of the death of Jesus was a cascade that moved back through and forward in time itself, echoing through and shaking the very foundations of existence!  It changed everything!  It moved back through the centuries to the Israelite sacrificing His lamb on the altar, back to Abraham when he sacrificed the ram on the altar in place of Isaac, back to the very beginning when God Himself sacrificed the first animal to make clothing of its skin to cover Adam and Eve after the first sin at the very dawn of creation, and it has moved forward in time to you in this very moment as you read these words.

Jesus paid the blood debt for the wrong you have done, and the reparation of the separation between you and God that exists even now is ready to be had.  Do you believe it?  You can have it now.  It is given to you!  In that you will know Him, and in knowing Him you will truly live, bought by His blood...  and alive again in His resurrection as you look forward to everlasting life!

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.'  And He who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new'" (Revelation 21:1-5a).

I Am Judas' Kiss

"While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, 'Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?'" (Luke 22:47-48).


Through history Judas has been vilified as the worst of the worst.  How could someone who walked with the Christ suddenly turn on Him and betray Him into the hands of those who would murder Him for no reason other than preaching the forgiveness and grace of God?  If that wasn't bad enough, why would Judas choose a kiss, the universal sign of love and affection, to initiate a betrayal?  I have wondered that, too.  Just what was going through his head when he decided to hand Jesus over to the wicked?


The truth is that Judas has completely earned the reputation he has been given in history.  He is a self-serving and wicked person who is a natural infiltrator, "But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it" (John 12:4-6).  Judas would have made a great spy.  He completely fooled almost everyone he was with for years.  His only mistake was that he was attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of God, and the Son was never fooled, "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap" (Galatians 6:7).  Continue to the end of the story and you see that Judas certainly reaped what he sowed, "Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, 'I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.'  They said, 'What is that to us? See to it yourself.'  And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself" (Matthew 27:3-5).  The question of whether or not Judas repented and was saved is not the issue.  He certainly realized what he had done to some degree, but whether that was a true salvation experience will not be known in this world.  The point is that Judas was a wicked and vile person.  The point is that we are, too.

In order to bring the light of Christ into this world, we must have a proper view of ourselves.  Before we came to Jesus and were washed clean is the person the we are by ourselves.  Some of you were saved very young, so it is hard to remember who that person was, but the aspects of the "old man" still come through from time to time, so work from there.  That is you.  Is that person anything to be proud of?  Looking at myself, I can certainly say a resounding, "No" to that.  I was as wicked and self-serving as Judas was, and if you look honestly at yourself, you have to come to the same conclusion.  We all do.  So, is there any reason at all for us to look down on any other person for what they do?  

What about the murderer?  "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.'  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire" (Matthew 5:21-22).


What about the adulterer?  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28).


If you have hated anyone, even if they are the most rotten person to ever exist, you are guilty.  If you have ever lusted over another person, you are guilty.  **BEGINNING OF SOAPBOX**  By the way, it is not ok to talk about how good looking someone is to others (especially married people doing this).  It may seem perfectly innocent, but all it is doing is inviting lust in yourself and others.  This is true of both guys any girls.  There is no exception.  If there is something wonderful about them, that is certainly worth praise, but do not invite lusting eyes to feast on the physical.  **END OF SOAPBOX**


"For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it" (James 2:10).  We are as wicked and guilty as Judas.  The good news is that we are redeemed by the blood of Christ.  We need to remember that when we see the unsaved sin because we did it too before Jesus got a hold of us.  So, maintain purity, but interact with the unsaved like Jesus did, not the Pharisee that prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector" (Luke 18:11).  Love them.  Care for them.  Reach out to them, and show them the same redeeming power in Jesus that was once shown to you.  Jesus was willing to "get His hands dirty."  We should be, too.