Adultery...the 7th Commandment

"Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery." Exodus 20:14
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery: But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her committed adultery with her already in his heart." Matthew 5:27-8 (KJV)
"I have looked on many women with lust. I have committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me." Former President Jimmy Carter (Playboy Magazine November 1976 as quoted on www.notable-quotes.com...I don't read the articles or look at the pictures.)
As we continue out tiptoe through the "I am a Good Person!!"-minefield that is the Ten Commandments, I point us to the Seventh Commandment which forbids Adultery. I could start with some shocking statistics about STD's, huge numbers of sexual partners of typical Americans, or statistical similarities of those who go to church with those who don't (a topic for another day). I could beat you with a Golden Club for your past indiscretions, while hiding mine. I could just pull a Nancy Reagan and say "just say no!" All would be good ice breakers. All would in a way expose the subject. Ever the one to think outside the box, I will spin in another direction. I will aim my plea at two groups...just try to hide!
To the married members of the vast audience...can we talk for a minute? How much do you love your spouse? Remember the days when things were fresh, exciting, and new? Remember fighting over who would be forced to say Goodbye first on the phone during your calls. (Maybe I am the only one that started dating their spouse when I was 16?!?!) Remember (currently, too, I would hope) when the thought of someone hurting the one you love would make you shake with anger to protect them? Remember learning what she liked, what "Hair Band" he dreams of looking like with his mullet spruced up for you, or where she liked to eat ice cream? Remember the fear of losing the one you love after the first big fight? The same God who gave your spouse to you is using them to grow you today. Stop using any character trait of theirs as an excuse to commit adultery. Men especially, you don't have to physically cheat on her to commit adultery. Pornography rates are astronomical. Love your wife. Simple. Ladies...no more romance novels. We don't look like Fabio. (I look closer to Chris Farley.) We seldom sweep you off to the sunset. Love your husband anyway. God has linked you together for His glory as a picture of what your relationship with Him looks like. Live like it.
To singles... I can imagine that it is hard. Thank God that you have more time to devote to His service. You have a special gift...undivided love and attention for God, that many married people, regrettably, don't have. Stay pure. Stay accountable to others when things are easy and when they are difficult! You will grow from the position God has put you in and God will get a tremendous amount of Glory from your life!
Lastly, to everyone who carries the banner of Christianity...prepare to be annoyed with the slightly less fat writer. Stop dancing with the Devil. Pornography is not OK. Gawking at the other sex, or the same for that matter, is not ok! Other things in our life are a slap at God as well. Think of Christ like the Bible lists as our Bridegroom. We are, presumably, growing toward Christlikeness in a way to show ourselves a Bride to Christ when He returns someday. (I know, for macho men this concept can be a challenge. ) We, as one wanting to be spotless for our wedding day, have preparation to do. Given this, why would we do things that are effectively committing adultery on our Bridegroom? Why would we do Yoga? Yoga is a highly spiritual ritual to bring about a sense of closeness with a specific Hindu Goddess. Would you make eyes at the groom's brother on your wedding day? How about Horoscopes? I can find 21 instances of how angry God is at divination. Is Jesus Christ, your Bridegroom, not trustworthy enough to trust with the future? "Oh, chunky scribe, it is just for fun!" you might say. I say you are cheating on your first love. How about that cute, chubby Buddha statue? It's not a decoration, it is competition for your affection. Might as well be a Brad Pitt nude sculpture!
A special note to Jimmy Carter... Mr. President, we all struggle with sin. Many of us, including myself at times, struggle with lust. However, it is just that... a struggle. Your sad attempt at explanation in your infamous quote not only exposes your heretical, Universalist thinking (that everyone gets to go to heaven regardless of all factors), it exposes something much more sad. It shows that you are not sorry for your sin, a sin against primarily God (Psalm 51), and that you plan to do it again. I wish you were even as good with religious doctrine as you were with the economy (said in the spirit of kindness and generosity). Repenting of sexual sin means much more than sorrow for being caught or sorrow to look like a spiritual man. It means disgust at the old self. We may fall, but it will be against our will.
God is so kind to forgive us in this area. I see this as a huge area of hidden concern to most people. God can and will forgive from past sin and grant you His Holy Spirit to help along the way, if you are willing to repent (Turn away from) adultery, in all its forms. Questions, concerns, or accountability, email me. God Bless!
Weight update... 249.4! Through God's Mercy, I have lost 15+ pounds since last we talked two weeks ago. I have lost a total of 86.6 pounds. My goal is 177, so I have 72.4 to go. Moving right along!!!

Strawberry Swipecake

Isn't it kind of funny that we hit the Eighth Commandment this week, being so close to the National Day of Mourning, also known as Tax Day. The Eight Commandment forbids stealing. Whom is stealing from whom is a matter of opinion during this fun tax season. Regardless, I would like to examine this Commandment briefly so as not to steal too much of your time.
Have you ever stole anything, regardless of value? I have never shoplifted or committed grand theft auto. Does that make me exempt from thievery? Hardly. Allow me to count the ways...and see if you relate to any of these for yourself.
I ate nearly one thousand times the body weight of a pregnant yak of ripe strawberries from the commercial strawberry field across the street from my house in the early teen years of my life. Proverbs 9:17 (Revised Mark's Childhood Version) says “Stolen strawberries (NASB says “water is”)are sweet; shortcake (NASB says “food”) eaten in secret is delicious.” We, with the owner's knowledge, swiped enough berries to feed an African nation. Guilty!
I have goofed off for countless hours at jobs I have had over the years...all of which are stealing payroll from my employer. Colossians 3:23a says “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men...”. Guilty!
I, with a partner in crime, stole the goldfish out of the 10th hole water hazard at Putt Putt golf on Prom Night 1989.

I have stolen from God by not tithing for a large part of the early days of my Christian walk. Read Acts 5 for the story of a married couple's experience with stealing from God. Seriously guilty!!
We take approximately 24000 breaths of air each day, each comprising approximately 3000 gallons of air. In a 78 year life I will have swiped 85,410,000 gallons of air. Deut. 10:14 among other places, states that everything, including my stolen air, belongs to God... I haven't even said thanks for it! Exponentially guilty!
These are a few examples, some serious, some not so much, of my lifelong relationship to the sin of stealing. I strongly believe that nearly everyone, if honest, would recognize that they have stolen something in their life. Add this one to the previous two Commandments I am guilty of breaking from the last two weeks' column, and I am typical. Does God care? Yes. Does He forgive? Depends...have you repented of lifelong patterns? Are you sorry? Have you asked for forgiveness? If these are answered correctly, I believe God not only can but will forgive this and every other sin in our lives.
I would like to also address one other aspect of stealing this week. This is sure to make some grab stones to throw at me. Nearly every mainstream world religion, and some branches of Christianity as well as many a cult, requires some “work” of ours to go to Heaven when we die. Many well-meaning people believe we must clean up our lives and do more good than bad to go to heaven. We are weighed on a cosmic “good verses bad” scale and which ever side the arrow points is where we go. Like on the classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the geese that lay the golden eggs put their egg on a egg checker which determines whether they are good or bad, we are weighed as good or bad . Good eggs go to heaven, bad ones hell. This, my friends, is stealing glory from Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB) says “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” If you did anything to supplement the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, dying as a substitute punishment for the sins you have committed, you steal the credit from Christ. What kind of monster of a God would send His Son to die for you as one possible means of your salvation, to go with other potential ways? No, it took a perfect sacrifice, and He gave it. How dare we try to steal the Glory from the only one deserving! Pray honestly today... “What is my part of my salvation?”. If you answer anything more than “I submitted myself to a Holy God as an unworthy sinner”, examine yourself. Was Jesus' painful death on the cross enough? Did He need my help?
The reason I love to look at the Commandments, and will be working through them for the next month and a half, is that they make for a beautiful list of self-reflecting thoughts to consider. We aren't saved because of our skill in keeping them, that's for sure. Call out to God today, and ask for forgiveness and let Him be Boss. If you have questions, email me. I will be praying for you as always! I don't want your money, I just want to see you in heaven someday!
Weight Update...262. I lost 3.4 this week for a total loss of 74 lbs. Only 76 to go. Thanks for your prayers! God is so patient and good!
Memory Verse: 1 Peter 1:14-6.

Cookie...Me Want Cookie!!!!

“One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn't belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the others By the time I finish my song?”
I love Cookie Monster! I can relate to the furry blue, snack food inhaling resident of Sesame Street. Growing up I can remember vividly holding the thermometer to the light bulb on my lamp in my living room so as to appear to have a fever so I could watch Sesame Street, Electric Company, and Villa Allegre. Looking back, I wonder if my parents were concerned with my 150 degree fevers I would get at times...but boy did I outsmart them! Regardless, I sat watching PBS like most pre-cable, faking sickness-type school kids daydreaming as I learned with the colorful creatures on the show. Funny how we learn to lie at a young age. White lies are so natural, most of us don't even think twice. Starts young and gets easier as we get better at it.
Shifting gears clumsily, a relevant verse comes to mind. Revelation 21:8 (NASB) says “But the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” 1 Timothy 1:9-10 has a similar list with liars grouped in with a list of “worse sins”.
“One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong, Can you tell which sin is not like the others, by the time I finish my...uh, newspaper column?”
Today, with much clanging on cymbals, we delve into the Ninth Commandment from Exodus 20: Thou shalt not bear false witness. You ain't supposta lie, for those in bordering counties. A recent highly scientific study in Great Britain by the Daily Mail in conjunction with the WKD brand name alcoholic drink company (obviously a trusted name) asserted that the average person lies 4 times a day. 116880 times including leap days for an 80 year old lying at that rate. Please don't patronize me with your “There are some GOOD LIES” logic...we all know the difference...they are not all good and we all know it! Or consider your “Babies don't lie” rants...anyone who says that needs to put new batteries in their Wanda Wetsy doll, because their kid isn't real! They figure it out quickly! The numbers of lies start early and build quickly!
So, let's break the list from Revelation down and give a quick thumbs up/down as co-judge of the universe.
Cowardly...this is the same word as Jesus used to describe His “followers” when He calmed the storm in Matthew 8:26. Yes...they were too worried for their own well being to be a Christian.
Unbelieving...see cowardly.
Abominable...not a commonly used word beyond snowmen lexicon, but it means really bad!
Murderers...boo hiss.
Immoral persons...those sinners deserve what comes to them!
Sorcerers... take one cat whisker, one horny toad leg, and one tablespoon of Sweet and Low then throw them into the fiery pit!
Idolaters...chuck them with their little false altar to the hot place!
And ALL Liars. Wait...I lie sometimes. Hey, wait...one of these things is NOT like the others....or is it? If you are a regular of this column, like I know you four are, you know from my previous columns that King David sorrowfully announced in Psalm 51 that he had sinned primarily against God with his lulu affair with Bathsheba. The event resulted in murder, illegitimate and angry kids, and a host of other problems. David recognized that every single sin against God is a direct slap at our Creator. Multiply that 116880 times in our life. Yikes. Why God doesn't whack us after the first ten thousand or so is testimony to His patience and desire to have us in heaven with Him someday. Lying once is enough. James 2:10 (NIV) says “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” Jesus died for us knowing full well we would probably hit six figures in this sin category. Consistency says “Grab a stone...let's whack the sinner!” Christ's grace says “I'll take the stoning for you!” Sure God's system will punish those bad sinners...you know, murderers and rapists. It also makes it clear liars get lumped with this group along with the rest of us. Jesus' taking the punishment we deserved is the most amazing offer of our life. Consider it wisely, then give the rest of your life saying thanks for His amazing patience and kindness! Email me questions or concerns.
Weight loss update...current weight is 265.4. Lost 1.4 pounds this week. (Is it lying to try to stand skinny on a scale at your weigh-in?) Total weight loss... 70.6 pounds. God is patient and good!
Memory verse: Galatians 5:22.

Tsunami Warning!

This week represents a shift in focus in our little column from Psalm 51, the beautiful song of repentance of King David, to a look at Exodus 20's Ten Commandments. I think it a natural, if backward, progression, as, unless we see where we stand before a Holy God, it is foolishness to repent of (turn away from) what we are unaware that we are doing wrong. In simpler terms, if you were splashing on a sandy beach and I swam out, grabbed you by the armpits, and dragged you to drier/higher ground, you would likely use a taser on me. Add one piece of information-that a Tsunami warning was just issued and soon one hundred foot waves would usher you to your Maker if you didn't find higher ground immediately-and instead of zapping me with your self-defense device you would love and thank me. Here's your Tsunami warning...Hebrews 9:27a says “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment...” . We die once then are judged by God according to a standard of absolute perfection. If we are seen by a Holy God as perfect, we go to Heaven. If not, we go to a place as real as the IRS office called Hell. Big problem! The wave is tall, our chances are that of a sand castle without someone to take our punishment. As a reminder, we are not saved by keeping the Ten Commandments as we would all perish if it were to be so. If we have broke one law, we have broke them all (read James 2:10)! They (The Ten Commandments) do, however, make a beautiful reflecting pool into which to gaze at our futile attempts at self-righteousness and realize our desperate need for a Savior....someone to somehow pay for our sins and save us from drowning in our sin debt (Romans 6:23).
This week I want to briefly hit on the Tenth Commandment...Thou shalt not covet. (We, for the next two months, will do a countdown on Exodus 20.) Coveting is wanting (badly) someone else's stuff. In my life, this one is a sort of a toughie. It manifests itself in the usual ways... “Boy would I love that Plasma TV for baseball season”, or “I sure wish I had Ken Spurgeon's stylish hairstyle!”. A new way I fail on this one recently surfaced in my prayer time in addition to these normal coveting ideas. I am not a vain person, but I would like to be in great physical shape some day. At times subconsciously, I covet the slenderness of others. (Desiring a healthy body is different than over evaluating your appearance.) In fact, I have recently came under conviction on this one as I evaluate my diet in general. As a point of review for the one or two new readers of my column who will join the three or four regulars (Hi Mom...send money!), I have been on Weight Watchers since November 13th. I have lost exactly 69.2 pounds in this time. I came to see my need to repent on this sin (strongly desiring a cosmetically ultra fit body) recently after having prayed about how my diet relates to God. I prayerfully pondered “Is God involved in my weight loss?” . “Is He causing the success, or is my diet the reason I have lost so much?” The logical extension led me to ask myself “Can I say to someone interested in Christianity 'Become a Christian to lose weight', and keep a clean conscience?” Though His Word and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, God revealed to me that the answer is “yes”, but not how you might think if you watch televangelists on TV. Becoming a Christian to lose weight better is, bluntly, stupid. God is not a diet plan, He is a righteousness plan. (There is a one hundred foot wave coming, who cares about your weight anyway!) God showed me that my obesity is sinful. I won't trouble you with the plethora of verses speaking against gluttony, but trust me, they are there (Proverbs is full of them). Becoming a Christian helps you lose weight specifically because, like King David from our previous study, real Christians desperately don't want to sin. I hate my sin. I wish for all I am worth, I could eliminate it from my life! It is against the God who died to save me! Me wanting to look like a movie star is one of many violations of the Tenth Commandment. See how the mirror of the Commandments made me realize my need for Jesus? How do you look in this mirror? Have you broken this Commandment too? Remember what the James 2:10 passage said... If you broke one, you broke them all. You, like me, need Jesus. If we repent (turn from our sins and let Him be Boss) and trust Jesus alone for our Salvation, we are made to appear perfect to God when the wave of Judgment hits, not because of how great we were in our time alive on Earth, but because of how great Jesus is to take our punishment! He pays our fine, and gives us the keys to the Kingdom...what an amazing offer! Fellow Christians...Join me in repenting of this sin! Seekers...examine yourself in the mirror of God's moral standard found in a convenient way in Exodus 20. If you have questions, email me any time!
Weight Loss update I weigh 266.8. I lost a nifty 3.2 lbs this week. I passed losing 20% of my starting weight this week. God has been kind and gracious to me during this diet!
Memory verse: James 2:10.