Weekly Articles

I am rarely ever surprised anymore when I hear of a divorce announcement concerning anyone associated with Hollywood.  If someone I know comes to me and announces that they are getting a divorce, my reaction would be a mixed bag of shock, sadness, and compassion; but when I hear of a Hollywood marriage breaking up, I simply react with “well, it lasted longer than many of those marriages” and I move on with whatever I am doing.  It is a pretty sad statement about the culture of that part of our society that nine years is thought to be a long-lasting relationship.  I was thinking about that this week, as my wife and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary, and I look back and see how short nine years really is.  Three things have proven to be crucial to the nurturing and growth of what has proven to be a wonderful marriage, and they are known collectively as the Way of Love. 

The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about the Way of Love when he instructed them about spiritual gifts; the Corinthian Christians had many problems dealing with pride and favoritism.  It is in dealing with these problems that Paul addressed spiritual gifts in the twelfth chapter.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.  So it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NIV)

As it is, there are many parts, but one body.  (1 Corinthians 12:20 NIV)

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.  Are all apostles?  Are all prophets?  Are all teachers?  Do all work miracles?  Do all have gifts of healing?  Do all speak in tongues?  Do all interpret?  But eagerly desire the greater gifts.  And now I will show you the most excellent way.  (1 Corinthians 12:27-31 NIV)

These Christians were dividing and discriminating on the basis of spiritual gifts; Paul wrote to them to show how everyone was supposed to use the gifts for the benefit of the body, not for themselves alone.  He then wrote in the thirteenth chapter about love.

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.  But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-10 NIV)

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.  (1 Corinthians 13:12-13 NIV)

Not only is the church the body of Christ (and a body must remain unified if it is to remain healthy), but all of those spiritual gifts that were getting most of the attention and causing most of the problems are but imperfect reflections of what the true gifts of our Lord are:  faith, hope, and love.  It is these gifts that truly bind us together and enable us to humble ourselves and serve others as we seek out the lost sheep.

Now, what does this have to do with marriage?  Everything!  The Way of Love is faith, hope, and love, and the only way to have a good marriage is to incorporate all three of these into the relationship and the life you build together.  A marriage must have trust between the husband and wife (faith), and it must have common goals and principles (hope).  But both of these will fall short if the husband and wife do not love each other – as partners, friends, companions, lovers, and as brother and sister in Christ.  Faith, hope, and love – the secret to a great marriage, and the secret to a great life.

-Charles Peterson

There is a great misunderstanding of the story of the Crucifixion, both in the world and among Christians.  Many see Jesus as an unfortunate victim of circumstance.  Some see his death on the cross as a historical peculiarity, such as the execution of King Charles II of England or the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

One of the things about this story that is greatly misunderstood is the statement by Jesus in the Garden:

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.  On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”  He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.  And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.  (Luke 22:39-44 NIV)

I have heard too many sermons and lessons in my life on how Jesus was having a lapse in faith, or was second-guessing God, or other such views.  This is complete nonsense, of course; such a lapse in faith would be totally out of character for Jesus.  Jesus (as perfectly demonstrated in the preceding chapters of Luke) had just finished engineering the event as it had been planned.  So it makes no sense for Jesus to say this, unless he was actually saying something different than the victim theory would allow.

Understanding this statement by Jesus requires studying the Old Testament, particularly the book of Isaiah.  This book reveals so much about the Christ and yet few people in the Church actually read it.  The fifty-first chapter especially deals with this dilemma that Jesus is dealing with.

Awake, awake!  Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger.  Of all the sons she bore there was none to guide her; of all the sons she reared there was none to take her by the hand.  These double calamities have come upon you— who can comfort you?— ruin and destruction, famine and sword— who can console you?  Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like antelope caught in a net.  They are filled with the wrath of the LORD and the rebuke of your God.  Therefore hear this, you afflicted one, made drunk, but not with wine.  This is what your Sovereign LORD says, your God, who defends his people: “See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again.  (Isaiah 51:17-23 NIV)

God in his nature is loving, kind, and merciful; but he is also fair, just, and honest.  So the question then is how to be merciful while also preserving his integrity in dealing with the accumulated wrath on account of everyone’s sins.  The answer is for Jesus to drink the cup of wrath for us!  By his statement, he is testifying that what he is doing is what the Father wants and is also pointing all of us to the passage in Isaiah 51; this shows us that Jesus is indeed the one true messiah!

So the next time that you think about Jesus’ death on the cross, remember that not only did he die to atone for our sins; but he also rose from the dead and ascended to God.  He as promised that we shall too.

-Charles Peterson

In a recent episode of the television show Eli Stone, the lead character Eli (a lawyer who receives prophetic visions through the effects of a brain aneurysm) handled a case in which a recently transgendered person sued a Methodist church to regain their position as pastor.  The person had been the female pastor of the church, then secretly led a cross-dressing double life, and then underwent the “gender reassignment surgery” (a sex change operation).  Then this person was fired; thus the lawsuit for discrimination.  Throughout the episode, it was interesting to note that the “congregation” was not upset about the gender change, cross-dressing, or any of the other glaring issues; what caused the upset was the double-life/lying to the congregation issue. 

Now of course this is a television show written by people with little desire to know God’s truth; but what I find fascinating is an exchange by one of the attorneys (of whom it is revealed used to be a member of this particular congregation in the lawsuit) and the client about a Bible passage:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  (Galatians 3:28 NIV)

The discussion summed up this passage as:  everyone has equal access to God.  The show was striving to show that being one in Christ meant that everyone was close to God.  This is common to what the “secular” world would like to believe, and it is unfortunately all too common in the church these days.

For some reason, more and more Christians are jumping onto the equal access to God message.  It seems that if there is something in your life that is keeping you from God, then the answer is to change the message to allow that something.  And then these same Christians wonder why God is not blessing his people!

Too many people spend way too much time and energy on attaining equality.  People see themselves disadvantaged or oppressed because of race, gender, sexual orientation, creed, economic status, and numerous other reasons.  Even in the churches, you can find men wanting to be women, women wanting to act like men, new converts asserting power and “mature” Christians submitting to bizarre new doctrines.  All trying to attain “equality”, which is seen as being synonymous with “parity”.  The difference between the two is seen in this passage: 

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.  (1 John 2:2 NIV)

Equality means that everyone has an atoning sacrifice in Jesus; parity means that everyone has the same atonement.  From this parity idea, we get groups that have opened up the church leadership to women and the membership to those who are not only living godless lives, but glory in it (such as with homosexuality); some have even made the transition to perverting the Gospel to encourage such perversion and godlessness!  But this is not what God wants us to teach.

While God is patiently waiting for man to repent and enter salvation, he is not compromising on righteousness in any way.  He has said from the beginning that certain things (including homosexuality) are sin and are condemned; Jesus did not change that position one bit!  While all homosexuals have equal access to God, there is no parity between those who will repent and obey Christ and those who will not.  What those who wrote that television show chose to ignore was the context of the passage that they used; the full passage is this:

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.  (Galatians 3:26-29 NIV)

You can only be “one in Christ Jesus” if you are a son of God through faith and baptism.  There is only one name that we can call upon – Jesus.  There is only one gate through which we enter salvation – Jesus.  There is only one message of truth and salvation – the Gospel of Jesus.

Many people love the analogy of a mountain, saying that there are many paths up the mountain.  That is actually true – but every one of them leads to death and destruction except for one: Jesus Christ.  Let’s lead people up that path!

-Charles Peterson