Dear Roger,   Is it all right for family members to say goodbye with a short kiss on the lips? My father’s family does this, and it’s always made me feel uncomfortable. My daughter-in-laws family also has a custom of giving one another a short kiss on the lips when they say goodbye. So, my four year old grandson has been taught to do this. He always wants to give me a short kiss on the lips when I tell him goodbye. One day, I asked him to kiss me on my cheek instead, and it hurt his feelings. He told me he didn’t love me anymore and to never touch him again. Kissing him on the lips is very uncomfortable for me, but I don’t want to hurt his feelings. Plus, my daughter-in-law and her family take it as an insult that I don’t want to kiss him on the lips when we say goodbye.   Dear Bill, According to the Bible there is no prohibition against kissing anyone on the lips. Nevertheless, we must keep the Bible definition of kissing in line with the context and culture of the time. A kiss in Bible days was much like the type of kiss that we see in the Arab world today. The one being kissed turns his/her cheek and lets the one kissing give them a “peck” on one cheek and then the other. The roles then are reversed.   This type of kissing is still uncomfortable for me even though I have travelled extensively through the Middle East and kissed a lot of cheeks. If you are not careful, it is possible to miss the cheek and connect lips to lips. That is an awful experience.   The Bible mentions at least five types of kisses.   First, the time-honored kiss of greeting or good-by on both cheeks. Exodus 4:27 : The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.   Second, the kiss of seduction by a prostitute in seeking her prey. Song of Solomon 7:10-23 : Then out came a woman to meet him,dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent…She took hold of him and kissed himand with a brazen face she said: “Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;let’s enjoy ourselves with love!she seduced him with her smooth talk.All at once he followed herlike an ox going to the slaughter,… little knowing it will cost him his life.   Third, the kiss on the lips between married people.   Genesis 29:11 : Then, Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud. Song of Solomon 1:2 : Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is more delightful than wine.   Fourth, the dastardly, passionate, lovers’ kiss that Judas used to betray Jesus. Matthew 26:49 : Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Judas took the normal word for “kiss” and intensified it with a Greek prefix “kata” that describes the lovers kiss between a passionate husband and wife having sex. That is why Jesus said with great sadness in Mark 14 , “Did you have to betray me with a passionate lover’s kiss?” The Greek word would describe a kiss on the lips.   Finally, the kiss of greeting, on the cheeks, among Christian brothers and sisters. Romans 16:16 : Greet one another with a holy kiss.   Bill, I mentioned your letter to a newly, remarried woman who inherited two delightful, loving and well-behaved step-daughters. The seven and ten-year old have fallen in love with their new “mom.” In fact, it was not long in their relationship that the seven-year-old crawled into her lap and asked, “Is it OK if we call you, “Mommy.” The kids are expressing just how special it is to have two mothers while most of their friends have only one! Step-mom related to me that they had a problem with lip kissing in their new formed family. Biological mom liked to kiss the girls on the lips to say, “good-bye.” Biological dad always kissed the girls “good-by” on the cheek. When the seven-year old began observing dad kissing their new step-mom on the lips, she got really upset. She didn’t like this at all; in fact, she would cry at length whenever new mom and dad kissed. She wanted dad to kiss her on the lips, too. He refused. His custom was to kiss the girls on the cheek. Finally, after several weeks of tension, the real issue spilled out. The seven-year-old reasoned that people who were kissed on the lips were loved more than those who were only kissed on the cheek. She was afraid that dad loved new mom more than he loved her. Deep down she harbored the fear that dad was going to leave them behind for the new wife.   I asked how they handled the problem. Did he start kissing daughters on the lips like biological mom, or perhaps did he stop kissing mom on the lips?   “Neither,” new step-mom told me. “We began to teach the children that there is more than one kind of love and how to express it. Love between sisters was one kind of love. Love between parents and their children was another kind of love. Married love was love of another dimension. In married love kisses on the lips were all right. Kissing on the cheek is most appropriate between sisters or between parents and children. The appropriate expression of love might look different in different relationships. In this case the real issue was fear that dad loved new wife more than he loved his girls and was going to leave them. Kissing on the lips was the presenting problem. The real issue lay much deeper in the soul.   By the way, it important to remember the deep significance of family traditions. In some families, a quick kiss on the lips might be appropriate among all of the relatives.   Now, Bill, let me come to the bottom line in your case.   I would suggest that you restore relationships with all of the family by going ahead and kissing your grandson on the lips. Kissing on the lips is obviously one of their family traditions. I suggest that the relationships with your family are worth more than an uncomfortable moment for you. Besides, kissing your grandson on the lips may be the presenting problem. However, the real issue just may have more to do with fear, insecurity and rejection.   I hope these thoughts helps.   Let me know how it all turns out. Love, Roger

Dear Roger, Referring to the Lord’s prayer, when I say a prayer of thanks at meal time, and I don’t ask for forgiveness for my sins, does God still hear the prayer, or will He turn His back because of sin not be acknowledged? Thank you. Dear Brenda, Thanks for asking such a penetrating question. We pray the Lord’s Prayer so often that we many times run right through the words without pausing to contemplate their significance. All of the phrases in the Prayer are self contained and complete—except the one about forgiveness. This part of the prayer assumes that we have previously and actually forgiven those who have hurt us. God states that sin in our hearts impairs, if not prohibits God’s ability to hear our prayers: “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” ( Psalm 66:18-20 ). Therefore, I think it is proper for us to pause and be certain that we have forgiven others as we approach the Throne of God. We pray—not recite—the Lord’s Prayer. Then, we may eat! Let me give you a little more perspective. First, you asked me if God will hear our prayers while we harbor unconfessed sin. Of course, He hears our prayers. He is, after all, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. Nothing gets past His attention. However, praying with unconfessed sin limits their power. Fortunately, since we will never have perfectly clean hearts, He recognizes that if our hearts long for purity—trying to be right—He answers as if they really are. Remember when God refused David’s offer to build the His Temple in Jerusalem because his hands had shed so much blood in battle? Preparing to erect the Temple, Solomon declared, “My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a temple for my Name, you did well to have this in your heart,” ( 1 Kings 8:17-18 ). I love this passage because I turn to it often in my own spiritual life. Unconfessed sin can only hurt our prayers. However, if we are trying hard to put our hearts in the right place, God treats us and our prayers as if they already are! Second, let’s remember that freedom comes when we select a particular sin, admit that what we did was wrong, make no excuses and then ask God for forgiveness. He promises instantaneous forgiveness: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” ( 1 John 1:9 ). Third, we may feel embarrassed to bring up our sins in front of those sitting with us at the table. If all in attendance are Christians then I would hope that our relationships will allow us the freedom to confess our sins before them. James reminds us of the power behind open confession: “Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” ( James 5:16 ). On the other hand, if not all are Christians, then I would select another time to confess my sins with others. Finally, fully forgiving those who hurt us is most often a time-consuming process. We forgive them as a choice of our will: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” ( Ephesians 4:32 ). Nevertheless, the emotional forgiveness may be a long time in coming. God knows and understands our struggles and answers our prayers accordingly. Well, Brenda, I hope I’ve given you some good thoughts to consider as you pray the Lord’s Prayer. May God grant you the grace to greatly enjoy eating with your friends and family. Love, Roger

Dear Pastor Roger, I had a close Christian friend tell me that he believes in tithing your time. And I have been doing it for a long time. In the morning I spend 2.4 hours with God. But I don’t remember where in the bible he got that I idea from. I do believe we should read our bibles daily but what can you tell me about that. Is that idea biblical?” Thank you, and God Bless you ! Sincerely, Jose V   Dear Jose V, Never in the Bible do we find any sort of teaching that we are to give God a tithe of our time. All our time belongs to God. We give this to Him as we walk in the Spirit and live out the Christian life on a daily basis–whatever we are doing.   Nevertheless, the idea of time is important in the Bible—never the much so as in understanding the eternal principles of rest as demonstrated by the Sabbath (which means “seventh”).   The last half of this century has seen a non-stop flow of innovations that allow us to do more in less time than ever before. Unfortunately, we have not used the extra time to rest. We use it to cram more and more into shorter and shorter time periods.   We continue to compress more and more into life; but, I don’t believe we are getting more or better out of it!   We have filled our lives with: texting, twitter, tweeting, emails, Face Book, QR codes, I phones, I pads, Kindles, Nooks, phone cameras, instant messaging, mp3. mp4, beepers, satellite pagers, online services, 3G, 4G, call forwarding, and portable lap top computers—just to mention a few.   I heard a friend say, “If you have more than three ways people can get in touch with you, you are a really sick person.”   Have you ever noticed on a hot day that when you turn your gas grill on high, the propane tank gets cold? It’s because the tank is being decompressed, and when they fill the tank… it gets hot. The laws of compression and expansion are immutable. Compress a gas or a liquid and it becomes hot. Decompress a gas and you cause it to cool.   Life works the same way: the more we compress into our lives the more heat is produced, and that heat comes in the form of stress and anxiety.   Jesus did not live like this.  And we don’t have to, either. He walked for weeks and the phone never rang. He got along just fine.  He got everything done he needed to do.   Yeah, but that was Jesus! Does God have an answer for us? You bet He does! The answer can be found in the eternal principles of the Sabbath.   Notice that I wrote, “eternal principles” of the Sabbath. As New Testament Christians we are under no obligation to keep the 24 hours from Friday Sundown to Saturday sundown as our Sabbath.   Do we still observe the Old Testament Sabbath? No. The only commandment of the ten not repeated in the New Testament is, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” When did Christians begin worshipping on Sunday? In the first century. Sunday worship was a weekly celebration of the resurrection.   But there is no rule that we have to make Sunday our day of worship. Paul criticized those who say that we have to worship on any particular day ( Romans 14:5-7 and Galatians 4:10 ). We are free in Christ to choose the day that is best for us! Nevertheless, the way our churches and society is structured, most of us will choose to have Sunday as our “Sabbath”.   SO, LET ME MAKE SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.   1. Take a full twenty-four hours off every seven days.   There is an eternal principle here that goes right back to the creation. God created and worked for six days and then rested on the seventh.  If resting one day out of seven is good enough for God it ought to be good enough for us!   The original purpose of the Sabbath was twofold. If we analyze all the Old Testament verses we find two themes describing what the Sabbath is for. The Sabbath was for REST and for WORSHIP.  The idea of rest is emphasized more than worship.   Exodus 23:12 : “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.” The idea is refreshment, recharging our batteries, resting for our souls, our animals, and our servants.   Sometimes we think we can be like the Energizer Bunny—and just keep going and going and going. But, you do realize that the bunny is a fraud. They have to keep putting new batteries in.   We think we can take 20 minutes every day or so at Starbucks and be fine—not!   Twenty-fours off is not to leave work at noon on one day and go back to work at noon on the next. In this scenario we still worked every day. God says that we need to stop every six days for 24 solid hours. We need a full-day where no work occurs.   For most of us this means five days at our job, one day working at home to get all the chores done, and one day with no work whatsoever.   Several dozen master’s level students at MIT were sleep deprived for 48 hours. At the end of the study brain scans revealed that the scan of a master’s level student kept awake for 48 hours is remarkably like the brain scan of a schizophrenic.   2. MAKE YOUR “Sabbath” the most enjoyable day of Your week.   In the first century Sunday worship was a time of great joy! In fact the Christians had so much fun that the Romans suspected that Christians were guilty of orgies on Sunday.   Jesus said: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” ( Mark 2:27 ).   Fundamentally Christ saw the Sabbath (and by extension, all of life) as being a day of restoration and connectedness with God.   “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” ( Exodus 20:4-7 ). How do you make a day holy? By making it unpleasant, restrictive, and boring like the Pharisees did?) Or by making it fulfilling and joyous and special like Jesus did?  By making it as much as possible like Hell? Or as much as possible like Heaven?   I remember a youth spaghetti party at our church that fed several hundreds one Sunday evening. A family interested in attending our church went to the dinner. The next Sunday one of their children overheard the parents discussing where to go to church: “I want to go to the spaghetti church!” he said. And so they did.”   Do what restores on Sunday. For some it is to mow the grass. For others it is to go on a hike or play a sport like golf or tennis. Maybe it is to read or work on a hobby or get together for family dinners. Maybe like you like to cook out and make “Smores” which are graham crackers with peanut butter with roasted marshmallows on top. Of course you couldn’t make Smores in Jesus’ day because you couldn’t light a fire to cook the marshmallows!   The “Sabbath” was made for you. Rest and have fun.   3. SPEND SOME TIME IN worship during your “Sabbath.”   Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote: “I have in my heart a small, shy plant called reverence; I cultivate that on Sundays.   Like all other days, the entire day belongs to God. Use your “Sabbath” as an opportunity to enter into the divine relationship between experiencing God and rest (in other words, “worship”).   Isaiah 30:15 : “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says, ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,…’”   Some day take an opportunity to compare the godly line of Seth in Genesis 5 with the ungodly line of Cain in Genesis 4 . Cain’s offspring were too busy for God. His lineage is filled with sin, rebellion and murder. On the other hand, Seth’s offspring made time with God a priority. The contrast of delight and holiness in Abel’s live with Cain’s line is dramatic.   Rest must precede worship. We must leave activities long enough to create enough space in our minds in order to be able to worship. True worship is very restful! We don’t get rest from just stopping activities.   In worship we come into contact with the living God and many of life’s cares, problems, troubles, and anxieties disappear.   4. recognize that The Sabbath is not a catch-up day for what’s undone, it’s a rest-up day for everything to come.   Sabbath begins not when we wake up in the morning but with a night’s sleep and rest. We rest in order to work.  We must rid ourselves of the idea that we work hard and thus earn the right to rest.   Bishop Gerald Kennedy of California’s Methodist church told of two groups crossing the plains during migrations to California during gold rush days. One group was led by a Christian who stopped every Lord’s Day for worship and rest. The other party was led by a non-Christian who was so motivated with gold fever that he refused to let them stop and rest (first come first served in gold fields). The amazing thing is that the wagon train that rested and worshipped every seventh day arrived first in the gold fields.   Today’s society is arranged for most of us so that work is never finished.   On the contrary, Jesus was able to say from the Cross: “It is finished.”   Jesus worked hard and then called it quits for the day. Lepers still needed healing; but, He had done all He was going to do, and it was time to rest and pray. So He did. The time comes when it is OK to say, “That’s enough.” We rest, restore and worship and thus are able to keep life healthy and in balance.   Well, Jose V, I hope that you find my answer helpful as you live life wisely and restfully for Christ.   Love, Roger

Dear Roger,   Do you have to publicly become a Christian or can you do it in private? Sincerely, Anonymous  Dear Anonymous, When I was growing up every worship service ended with a call for people to “surrender their lives to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.” People were invited to walk to the front of the congregation and publically declare their commitment to Jesus. They were thus identified as “new Christians”! The impetus for giving this type of invitation to follow Christ was Jesus’ declaration in Matthew 10:32-33 : “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.   Again and again I heard our pastor say, “Every disciple Jesus called, He called publicly. There is no such thing as a secret disciple. If you come forward now Jesus will confess to His Father that you are one of His children. But, if you don’t come forward He will deny that He knew you!” My pastor was on the right track, but his focusing on walking the church aisle and on the now or never moment was quite obviously off the track.   I believe that my pastor was on the right track, but He didn’t carry the meaning of Christ’s words far enough. Walking down the aisle of a church never made anyone a Christian! Becoming a Christian is a deeply personal, carefully considered decision of life-time devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. This decision is made privately in the deep recesses of the human heart.   Following Christ is both a private and a public affair. Of course, the internal decision may be followed immediately by walking the aisle of a church and openly declaring faith in Christ. But, not necessarily. The internal decision may be expressed in a multitude of ways.   Jesus’ point is that the decision to follow Christ will not stay private. Following Christ results in an inner transformation which produces outward behaviors that reflect Jesus and His Kingdom on Earth.   If the private encounter is real, and our surrender to Christ is indeed a life-changing commitment, then Jesus will gladly declare to His Father that we are truly His children and welcome us into the eternal Kingdom. On the other hand, if the inner commitment is faulty or incomplete, then outside religious behaviors will not fool Jesus. With a broken heart He will tell His Father that we are not His. We will enter into an kingdom where we really don’t want to spend eternity at all!   The primary context of Matthew 10:32-33 is persecution. Jesus taught His followers that they would be called on to testify before powerful authorities to declare whether or not they followed Christ. On that day, true Christians will declare their surrendered relationship with Christ—even at the cost of their lives.   In practical reality, living under the iron fist of the Roman Empire, things were not nearly so clear-cut. There is little doubt that under intense torture the one being  pressured can be made to say anything.   A problem arose in the church during the first and second centuries. Some of the Christians broke down and denied Christ under torture. Many in the churches “kicked  out” of their churches those who denied that Christ by declaring that true believers would never for a moment deny Christ. Others wanted to forgive them and welcome their return. The issue was never resolved.   The Roman Empire in the early centuries was held together through the institution of Emperor Worship. People throughout the empire could worship as many gods as they wanted as long as they bowed down once a year and declared publicly, “Caesar is Lord,”  thus submitting themselves to the power and authority of the Roman emperor. The persecution was merciless for those who instead declared, “Christ is Lord.” I am reminded of Hebrews 11:32-40 : “And what more shall I say? …   There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.   Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.   They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—   the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” PERPETUA was a young married aristocrat who lived in Carthage, North Africa. At the age of twenty-two she was tried before the procurator who asked, “Are you a Christian?” “I am” she answered. Her diary is preserved: “Then he passed sentence on the whole of us, and condemned us to the beasts…. Then, because my baby was accustomed to take the breast from me, and stay with me, I asked my father for my baby. But my father refused to give him. And as God willed, neither had he any further wish for my breasts, nor did they become inflamed; that I might not be tortured by anxiety for the baby and pain in my breasts.” Then, she summoned her brother and spoke to him: “All of you stand fast in the faith, and love one another; and be not offended by our sufferings.”   The story is finished by an early Church father named, Tertullian: “For the young women the Devil made ready a mad heifer… Perpetua was tossed first, and fell on her loins….Then, having asked for a pin, she fastened her disordered hair. For it was not seemly that a martyr should suffer with her hair disheveled, lest she should seem to mourn in her hour of glory.”   Public Christianity may be costly but glorious! Private Christianity doesn’t cost much and is quite an ugly thing.   When we read of what they went through, our persecutions, if we have any, seem quite insignificant.   Well, Anonymous, thanks for asking the question. I hope my answer is helpful to you. May you shine like a city on a hill in the darkness of night. Love, Roger

I’ve seen it done wrong. I’ve seen it done right. Firing a pastor is a traumatic thing.   I’VE SEEN IT DONE WRONG.   From seven to seventeen I grew under the ministry of Brother Baker. He was a fine man with strong morals and values. He grew the church from about 75 people to over 500 in worship on Sundays. Five Hundred was a big church in the 1950s and 60s.   When I was in high school two very powerful and influential men decided it was time for the pastor to leave. Mr. Powerful and Mr. Influential decided that was time for Brother Baker to go. They schemed and manipulated to blame failure on the pastor. The church family was “hood winked” into believing that Brother Baker needed to be replaced.   I had an inside view. You see, I was best friends with Mr. Influential’s and Mr. Powerful’s two sons. I played golf with Brother Baker and my dad every Saturday afternoon.   I watched the pain and lived through the struggles as my pastor attempted to understand what he’d done wrong. I remember him on the golf course shaking his head in bewilderment wondering about just what he had done to deserve the personal tragedy that was inflicted upon him. He had three fine sons. They are now successful business men. I remember the day they drove out of town so angry and bitter. The hated the church for what it had done to their dad. At least two of them have not darkened the door of a church since.   These two divisive men had no business doing what they did. Brother Baker had done nothing to justify their behavior.   WHEN IS IT TIME TO FIRE YOUR PASTOR?   Let me say as we begin that the reasons that I give are the ones I observe in the Christian church today. They are no means the only ones.   Let Me Give You Several Guidelines.   1. MORAL FAILURE ( Exodus 20:14 ; 1 Timothy 3:1-13 )   This is an easy one. There are consequences to this sin for a pastor like no other. They are no longer qualified to serve as pastors.   I’ve fired people on the administration level and felt no need to tell the whole church.   On the other hand, the congregation must be told about church leaders who fail ( 1 Timothy 5:20 ). On too many occasions I’ve had say words like these to the congregation: “I want you to know that X can no longer work in our church. He has done something that violates our trust and compromises his ability to continue in his/her job. I want you to treat him/her and their family with love and grace as we work through this difficult time for both him and the church. I will not tell you what he/she did. But, I want you to remember that there is not one thing he did that many of you haven’t done, too.”   This kind of a speech stops the rumors, let’s the congregation know that leaders don’t get away with sin, and assures the congregation that the matter is not being swept under the rug.   2. FISCAL MALFEASANCE ( Jeremiah 2:26 ; 5:3; 1 Timothy 3:3 ; and 1 Peter 4:15 )   In other words they are stealing money, misusing funds, and loving it and what it can do for them too much. Pastors are fired immediately for stealing money. Misusing funds needs a little more scrutiny ( Acts 5:1-11 ).   My father served as church treasure for many years. Each Sunday, after the tithes and offerings were counted, the money and checks were locked in a floor safe in an office closet. He and several leaders set up sting operation to catch the thief. One Sunday afternoon about three o’clock the worship leader entered the office and went straight to the closet safe and began to spin the combination. The safe opened; he had cash in his hands. My dad fired him on the spot.   In some small churches the pastor puts the offerings in his own personal checking account or in a checking account which only he/her can access. The pastor must agree to a check and balance process to protect the church’s money from perceived or actual misuse. If the pastor refuses, fire him/her ( 1 Timothy 3:7 ).   3. FAILURE TO SHEPHERD THE SHEEP ( John 21:15-17 ).   A sacred trust exists between the pastor and his/her sheep. As we read the Gospels we are immediately struck that Jesus’ favorite name for Himself was not teacher or father, or Lord. He liked to think of Himself as a Shepherd. The good Shepherd knows his sheep by name. He leaves ninety-nine in order to search for one lost sheep. He is the door of the sheep pen; He lays down his life for his sheep. These things are the job description for a pastor. In fact, the Christian faith begins with Jesus commissioning Peter as a Shepherd (not a fisher man: “I am a Shepherd, you be a shepherd, too.”   Shepherds don’t parade sheep down Main Street. The Shepherd’s best work is done on the back side of the mountain when no one is looking. But, don’t kid yourself, news of the work when no one is looking gets around fast.   Andrew Blackwood used to say, “A house going pastor makes a church going people.   Shepherding involves caring for, protecting, nurturing, healing and feeding the sheep. Pastors in larger churches will organize meeting the needs of the sheep—both those inside and outside of the sheep fold.   One of my young pastor friends invested much more time meeting his own needs than the needs of his sheep. He didn’t last long before he was fired. And, tragically, he never understood why they let him go.   If pastors neglect pastoring , they ought to be fired.   4. LYING, DECEIVING OR MISLEADING THE CONGREGATION ( Romans 9:1 ; and 2 Corinthians 11:31 )   The issue here is trust and truth. One of my close associates used to say, “Telling the truth always turns out better than making up all sorts of lies to cover your tracks.”   One of our pastors failed to accomplish an assignment. That was not the problem. That happens to all of us. The problem was that he lied about it.   I knew he was lying and gave him multiple opportunities to admit the truth. I found the evidence of his deceit in his car. The church leaders and I let him go.   5. PREACHING FALSE DOCTRINE AND/OR NEGLECTING TO CONSISTENTLY SHARE THE GOSPEL ( Jeremiah 6:14 ; Ezekiel 13:10 ; and 1 Timothy 4:1-11 ).     As a pastor, these passages frighten me. God was accusing the religious leaders of telling the people that all was well when it was not well (saying “peace, peace” when there is no peace). I was afraid that I might minimize the claims and cost of following Christ. I was afraid that I would succumb to watering down the gospel by making it easy to receive while neglecting to teach people that “when Jesus Christ calls a man He bids him come and die” (Dietrich Bonheoffer. Following Christ means full surrender at any price. It is so easy to preach the first part and neglect the second.   I believe that in an effort to reach people at any cost in today’s Christian culture that we have forgotten (if we ever knew) that the gospel is not properly communicated until people have enough information to reject it. That is how Jesus did it. Remember the Rich Young Ruler ( Matthew 19:20-22 ).   I HAVE SEEN IT DONE RIGHT.   When I was six our church had a big “Good Bye” party for the pastor and his family. I remember the light-hearted atmosphere and the food and the singing and talent show and funny skits of entertainment. It was common knowledge that the church had decided to ask him to leave. He was fired and I was confused. How could they have a party, pretending everything was fine, when they were terminating the man?   When I grew older I found out the rest of the story. He was a Southern Baptist in name and a Methodist at heart. His preaching and doctrine reflected his true allegiance.     A group of church leaders sat down to discuss their concerns with the pastor. He was surprised at their observations. The leaders were in no hurry. Over time he concluded that he was more Methodist than Baptist. No one got angry or demanded his resignation. They talked it over for several months and worked out a plan of transition. The church was involved early in the process and the leaders told him that they would keep him as pastor until he could integrate himself into the Methodist system.   In less than three months he was pastoring a Methodist church and they had the party. No one got hurt. The matter was handled in a Christian way and peace reigned in the congregation.   Here is what I learned that was so right.   Spiritual men and women handled the issue ( Galatians 6:1-2 ).   The issues were dealt with up front and in a loving way. No one was manipulating anyone.   The pastor knew exactly what the problem was. Not like poor Brother Baker who was never told exactly what he’d done wrong.   The church doctrine was upheld. This is not to say that Methodist doctrine is wrong—it was just different from Baptist doctrine.   The pastor was given plenty of time to conform his preaching and teaching to basic Baptist beliefs, but they all finally agreed that changing his basic beliefs was not possible for him.   Christian fellowship was upheld. Everyone enjoyed the party.   FIRING THE PASTOR IS SELDOM SMOOTH BECAUSE A PASTOR WHO NEEDS TO BE FIRED AND CAN’T SEE IT USUALLY STRUGGLES WITH DIBILITATING DISFUNCTIONS.   I’ve fired sixteen paid staff (that I remember) in forty years of ministry. As far as I am concerned, that is about sixteen too many. But it had to be done.   Here is what I’ve learned about firing a pastor:   1. Give them time to improve their performance to well defined, acceptable levels. If they won’t or can’t succeed, it is time to let them go.   2. No one ever feels that they deserve to be fired.   3. There is no correct to way to let someone go.   4. However you do it they are never going to like you again.   5. Have them turn in their keys, clean out and vacate their office immediately. Not everyone needs to be dealt with like this.   6. People in the church who know and love the one being fired will often express displeasure in public ways.   7. Give a nice transitional severance package to help them pick up the pieces and start over. Let them know that if they start causing disunity or trouble in the church that the package will end immediately.   8. Remember that hurting people need comfort and care.   I have no illusions that anyone will agree entirely with my article. The subject is too complex and subjective.   Different situations require different solutions. Moral failure and fiscal malfeasance are rather clear cut. Everything else needs understanding, wisdom and care before proceeding and attempting to bring resolution.   I hope you never have to fire anyone—especially your pastor; but, if you do, may God give you a gentle and humble heart, like Jesus, when you start out on this slippery path.   I hope you find this topic helpful.   Sincerely, Roger   P.S. By the way, some studies show that 20% of the churches do 80% of the firings. As a pastor, there are some churches you really don’t want to go to. rb

Dear Roger, Have you ever given up on God?   Dear Jay, Yes, three weeks ago, for the first and only time in my life. It only lasted about ten minutes and I was shocked at myself. But, for a moment, I gave up on Him. I had just received news that one of my daughter’s esophagus was spasming backwards (backward mobility). She was throwing up everything she ate. Her vomiting had not let up for the past several days. Another medical procedure was the only fix.   “OK, God, I’ve had enough. When are you going to stop pouring it on!? If you can’t take better care of us than that, why should bother following You? I quit!”   I imagine that most all Christians have felt like this at one time or another. I want to give a little context to my outburst and then share some thoughts on how to survive the onslaught of doubt when times are tough.   (By the way, if you’re struggling with God’s care—or lack thereof—read Psalm 73 and see from how Asaph handled the same problem.)   I suppose you could say that our family has had its share of physical problems. To put my feelings in context, let me give you a short litany of physical ails. I was sitting on the hospital bed when I was thirteen. The surgeon entered the room and said, “I asked your parents not to tell you, but we made a mistake. There is nothing wrong with your heart. When I cut inside I couldn’t find a find the hole. I held your heart right in my hand. You have a perfect heart; so, I put it back in and sewed you up. I am sorry.” For the next fifty years, because of the scar tissue from that mistaken surgery, I struggled with an electrically malfunctioning heart. I have been in and out of hospitals and on all sorts of heart medicines for years. Finally, while literally beating itself to death, the surgeons cut all the electrical pathways in my poorly beating heart, and now, only my pacemaker, whom I’ve endearingly named, “Repeat,” keeps me alive. I had to stop preaching. The passion of my life. Now simply, I’ve had three knee surgeries. My colon removed because of ulcerative colitis. A brain chemistry, mood issue called cyclothymia causes my brain to operate way too fast and then plunges me into clinical depression. Thank God for Celexa and Lamictal. Julie has suffered all her adult life with manic symptoms. She finally had to leave work for a period of time until her meds got balanced. She suffered greatly. What an awful time that was for us all. Thank God for Dr. Griffin. Our first daughter, Jessie, died in our arms. Our second daughter has had the hardest time of all. She was shot in a drive-by shooting when she was thirteen. Her malfunctioning thyroid has resulted in untold health issues. She has suffered through life-threatening pulmonary problems. She has an auto-immune deficiency which, along with her pulmonary issues, leaves her in and out of the hospital. All it takes is the common cold to throw her once again into pneumonia. Last January, I stood outside the hospital room as her doctor told me that there was a good chance she would not survive until morning. In his words, “she may become a statistic tonight.” Our third daughter had 18 gall stones when she was a teenager. Imagine that! Gall bladder surgery followed. Finally, life altering bipolar symptoms are well balanced—after a decade of struggle. So, when my son-in-law called to tell us that her esophagus was swallowing backwards, and that she needed another surgical procedure to fix it, I’d had enough. “If you can’t do better than this, I’m through!” My God-rejecting moment didn’t last long—only about ten minutes. However, my outburst got my attention! In rapid succession I thought of Genesis three, Romans 8:28 , Philippians 4:10-13 , and Polycarp. These produced restoration and peace. I began where I often begin when troubles arise for others and me. The Genesis 1-3 passage details the reasons we have problems, sickness, and death in our world: sin and disobedience. Jesus told us that “in the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” ( John 16:33 ). One day Jesus will retake the title deed to the earth—and all will be well. Until then, we are all exposed to the pains of suffering, sin and death. Just deal with it.   Next, a life-guiding principle came to mind: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son …” ( Romans 8:28-29 ). As I imagined was God’s poor care of my family and me, I had to admit that the Father was using this misery to mold all in my family to be more like Jesus.   Then, I thought of how I always handle difficult times. Just like Paul handled his: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” ( Philippians 4:11-13 ). I’ve turned often to this passage. I turned to it once again. “OK, Lord,” I said, “I open my heart for Jesus Christ to pour in the grace and power I need to thrive well in this situation.” He did.   Finally my thoughts turned to Polycarp. I think of him often. Polycarp was a pupil of the apostle John who lived from 70 to 155 A.D. He bridged the gap between the Biblical apostles and the early church fathers. Polycarp wrote numerous letters to the church at Philippi encouraging the members to remain strong in their faith and to flee materialism. Polycarp served as the bishop of the church at Smyrna. He fought strenuously against early church heretics. Polycarp’s greatest contribution to Christianity may be his well documented martyrdom. During a time of intense persecution on the western coast of modern-day Turkey, Polycarp was arrested on the charge of being a Christian. Christianity was viewed as a politically dangerous cult whose rapid growth needed to be stopped. Amidst an angry mob, the Roman proconsul took pity on the gentle old man and urged Polycarp to proclaim, “Caesar is Lord” and he would let him go free. Polycarp responded, “Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” He was burned alive at the stake. I committed my life to Christ when I was seven. I have way too much invested to turn my back on Him now.   Sincerely, Roger

Dear Roger, What are your thoughts regarding the significance of government stymieing themselves in their ability to pass a bill to increase our country’s debt? Love, Julie Dear Julie, Democrats have a strong belief that a major responsibility of the federal government is to care for the poor by funding enormous entitlement programs. The best way to do this is to continue to raise taxes on those more financially fortunate. The Republicans, on the other hand, think that the federal government should stay out of the entitlement business and allow the private sector to produce jobs and the kind of stable economy which allows the poor the opportunity for financial advancement. Both sides have their flaws and both have their strong points. I do not fully agree with the following statement from Sir Winston Churchill, who served as England’s “secretary of the treasury” in his earlier years, and as the prime minister who led England to victory in WW 2 in his later years. This is a rather broad generalization but it does give those on both sides of the issue pause to consider. “If you are not a liberal when you are young you have no heart. If you are not a conservative when you are old you have no brains” (Sir Winston Churchill). Several thoughts come to mind in no particular order. First, when the federal government is $16,747,468,275,799.27 in debt common sense says that both increasing revenue and cutting expenses is the only possible way to solve our incredible debt load. Tragically, from my perspective, we will never catch up. America will eventually crush itself in the sin of materialism. Second, let’s not forget that taxation is often used for social engineering. “Taxing the Rich,” is one example. Third, we have all heard how Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor. Unfortunately, that interpretation is incorrect. Robin Hood did not steal from the rich; he stole from the Sheriff of Nottingham who was the federal government of his time. The sheriff was overtaxing all of the people. Fourth, today’s dysfunctional federal government is no longer concerned with what might be “best for the country” Their personal focus is obviously, “What stance can I take to get the most votes so that I can stay in office.” Once again the United States is forced to face the reality of an out-of control national debt. Fifth, for weeks the Democrats and Republicans have argued, dickered and called each other names while the credit rating of the USA is held hostage by their pettiness. The world has watched closely because a USA that fails to pay its debts could easily plunge the world into economic chaos. Most people I know are fed up with both President Obama and Congress for their inability to work together for the best of the country. Sixth, debt is spending money that you have not already earned. Our federal government is a master of this. Seventh, I believe that our out-of-control, constantly downward (upward?) spiraling national debt will bring down our nation. It is the biggest issue facing our country (except for poor leadership). Eighth, the Bible has a lot to say about borrowing and going into debt. Government entities at every level would do well to abide by the common sense wisdom of the Word of God. The Biblical goal for any government is not a balanced budget but a surplus budget. Debt on the scale that it is utilized today is a very recent development in our culture. I think that it comes about largely as a result of Keynesian Economic Theory which was first put forth by the English economist John Maynard Keynes in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money , published in 1936. In the early 1980’s, I sat with a friend and discussed the long-term implications of Keynesian economic theory. We both concluded that the long-term-economic future didn’t look bright. I will summarize parts of our discussion below. In my opinion Keynesian Economics is the misguided philosophy that the government can create and maintain permanent prosperity for its citizens by printing up money and extending credit to its citizens through its central bank—in our case through the Federal Reserve System. Let’s bring the problem of debt into focus with a few statistics: 1928 – The national debt was $0. 1935 – Debt of $60 Billion which is small compared with the size of our country and economy. 1946 – Debt quadruped to $270 Billion. Most of World War II is in that figure. 1966 – Debt only up to $400 Billion. Stable years of low inflation. 1976 – Debt doubled to 750 Billion. Most of the cost of Vietnam War is in that figure. Today – twenty-five years later: our national debt has soared past the $16 Trillion mark. The Private Debt has increased more than the national debt. 1928 – Only 4 Billion. 98% of all homes had no mortgage. No one borrowed money to buy a car in 1928. 1948 – Total private debt grown only to 50 billion. Small in comparison to size of economy. A few homes had 10 year mortgages. A few cars financed for an average of 8 months. 1958 – In 10 years the private debt went from 50 billion to over 1 trillion dollars. The seeds of inflation that we struggle with today were sown in those years. 1968 – Crossed the 2 trillion mark. 1978 – 3 trillion mark was passed. Today – Total private debt is $16,036,521,445,917. $2 Trillion, about the same as our entire national debt! Today most homes have a mortgage against them for 25-30 years. Most cars are in hock for three to five years. Both government and private citizens are piling up debt at record rates. We are passing through the Keynesian Economic Era. Under this theory, if business gets in a slump, or if the government spends more than it receives in taxes, then they just print more money to take care of it. It takes no genius to figure out what is happening. As they print more money it dilutes the value of the money in our pocketbooks. Printing more money creates the illusion of prosperity when all of that money hits the street. But, by increasing the supply of money and extending more credit in the economic system, prices ultimately increase. In other words, the government creates inflation. We all wind up getting less for the same amount of labor and capital. Inflation is nothing in the world but an immoral system of taxation (see Isaiah One). The government creates inflation by going into debt, by accepting deficit budgets, by spending more than they receive, by printing money – and this way they still get all the things that they wanted in the first place – like bombs… welfare… social security… new dams… salary raises… bureaucracy… etc… and they don’t have to legislate an unpopular tax increase. The ironic thing is that periodically they legislate a tax decrease and appease us by giving back to us a little bit of what they took away through taxation. But listen, the tax decreases are just a drop in the bucket to what we lose through inflation. How many people do you think that they are fooling with this device? Well, I am afraid that they are fooling many. I mentioned John Maynard Keynes as the Father of Keynesian Economics, which our world is practicing today. You may have gotten the idea that I am laying the blame for inflation at Lord Keynes’ doorstep. That is not true at all. The root cause of inflation—and I have never heard an economist say this—is the sin of materialism in the human heart. When I teach my classes on Biblical Economics I use a checklist to help people analyze whether or not they are struggling with the sin of Materialism which is making material resources our god ( Matthew 6:24 ). Notice that while the following symptoms are personal, the federal government is guilty of most of these characteristics as well. What are the symptoms of the sin of materialism? Overspending Compulsive buying Discontent with what we have Holding on to more wealth than we need (Hoarding) Failing to give God the top portion of our income Spending everything we make and saving nothing for the future Borrowing money for depreciating items Cheating on our income tax Using a credit card and not paying off or being able to pay off the balance completely at the end of the month Getting nervous or upset when the pastor preaches on money The Bible’s idea of what constitutes contentment is a far cry from ours. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:6-8 : “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” Food and clothing and shelter refer to the bare essentials of life. Therefore we can define “contentment”, primarily, as the strict essentials of life. One of the reasons we have trouble balancing our personal budgets (or the federal one as well) has to do with what we Americans consider to be essentials. Are iPhones essential? Not really. How about three cars in every garage? Hardly. Are people entitled to every handout the government can think up? Of course not. Consider our national debt. We spend all the money that we receive in taxes, and then we go out and borrow billions more and spend that! Then when some unexpected need arises, such as a war, we borrow money to fight the war! Now I want to share a Biblical illustration of how government finances are to work. In Genesis 41 Pharaoh had two dreams. In the first dream he saw seven fat cows emerge from the river. Then seven lean cows came emerged and ate the seven fat cows. In the second dream he saw seven healthy heads of grain and then seven thin heads sprouted and gobbled up the seven healthy ones. No one could interpret the dreams, so Joseph, who was in prison and had a reputation for being able to interpret dreams, was called forth and he interpreted the dreams. He interpreted the two dreams as representing seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt to be followed by seven years of famine. Joseph outlined his plan for saving Egypt from the upcoming famine in Genesis 41:33-56 : And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.” For the next seven years Joseph did just exactly that. The results were incredible as recorded in Genesis 41:53-57 . The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.” When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world. The plan saved Egypt from famine and not only that, Egypt wound up feeding all the neighboring countries. Go back to 1700 and follow a graph of inflation and you will see a bulge in the inflation rate every time that we have fought a war. We fight our wars on borrowed money and we do a lot of other things on borrowed money. We should not have one dime of national debt in our country. We should have a surplus—like Joseph did when he was running the show back in Egypt. Each year we should collect enough taxes to pay all the expenses of this country and put some surplus in savings. We should be lending or investing those savings instead of borrowing and paying interest. If we had a political party based on the Word of God that is exactly what would happen. It would not call for a balanced budget. It would call for a surplus budget. It would call for paying back every cent of national debt. Please note that according to the Bible not all borrowing is a sin. Borrowing for appreciating items can be a wise investment and a godly thing to do. On the other hand, borrowing for depreciating items like cars and refrigerators ultimately lowers our standard of living. It couldn’t do anything else! Julie and I do a lot of Biblical teaching in Peru. Peru is not a very exciting country. It is not a tourist destination by any stretch of the imagination. But, people are people, alike in every culture. We love going there. Over the years we began to hear about one of the most famous presidents in recent Peruvian history. Sorry, I have forgotten his name and am unable to identify on the internet just which one they refer to. A number of years ago the inflation rate in Peru was running over 3000% and the government was borrowing money to subsidize everything from bread to gasoline. The country was going “down the economic tubes in a hand basket!” With the support of both the government and the people the leaders worked out a deal that on a particular upcoming day the government would stop artificially propping up every product in the economy. And so, on that day, all the prices changed. A liter of gasoline went from 37 cents to six dollars. Bread cost four dollars instead of forty cents. The people put up with it because they knew it was the only way to save their country from crippling debt and economic chaos. The suffering was intense—but, their country is now economically stable—and they are pleased. It is a great story. Our USA is following in their footsteps—at least in the economic sense of borrowing trillions of dollars to falsely prop up our economy. The question is whether or not we will take a bold and balanced approach to reducing our debt or wait until chaos ensues when our economic house of cards collapses Well, Julie, I hope this helps. Love, Roger

Dear Roger, I have a hard time deciding when it is God who is speaking to me. So often I wonder if I am just making things up in my head. I know that God speaks to us but I was wondering if you could give me some guidelines so that I know that He is really speaking to me. Sincerely, Marcia   Dear Marcia, During the worship service a woman whispered quietly to Julie: “I have a word from the Lord for you. You will be like the prophetess, Anna, in Luke 2 . You will be widowed after seven years and spend the rest of your life ministering in sweet service to Jesus.   “Don’t you see me standing here? Julie’s my fiancé. We’re getting married in June.   I held my tongue and looked at the young girl who would soon be my wife. If this nosy woman were right, I’d be dead in seven years. On our seventh anniversary I stayed awake until midnight just to be sure that the voice she was listening to was not God’s.   God’s voice in not the only voice that speaks. Self and Satan can both wreak havoc in the lives of Christians who are unable to distinguish among the three.   Have you ever wondered why there are so few prophets in the Bible?.   God asked Hosea , “Do you want to hear me speak?” “I’d love to be your prophet.” “Then, go marry a prostitute.”   God asked Jeremiah, “Do you want to hear me speak?” “God, I’m too young to be a prophet; but, I’d love to hear you speak.” So God spoke to Jeremiah. But the price of hearing God’s message was high. The people cursed him, mocked him, tossed him in jail, and bound him in chains. They threw him in cisterns and beat him senseless. They humiliated him in stocks in the market places. Worst of all, the people never believed a single word he said.   One day God commanded Isaiah, “Take off your clothes.” “Why?” “Don’t ask me why. Just take them off.” “Well, for how long?” “Until I tell you to put them on again.” So Isaiah stripped off his clothes. Imagine the scene as He walked naked down the streets of Jerusalem? “Hey, Isaiah,” mocked the people, “where are your clothes?” “I took them off.” “Why?” Can you imagine the looks when he said, “Well, I heard this voice …” Finally, three years later, God spoke: “Isaiah, put on your clothes and declare this word from Me: ‘As I have bared your buttocks, so I will bare the buttocks of Egypt and let the Assyrians spank them.” Can you imagine that for three years he walked around bare bottomed and the message wasn’t even for Israel ( Isaiah 20 ).   Hearing God speak carries a high price tag. In Exodus 20:18-19 the Israelites refused Moses’ invitation to come to the mountain and hear God speak: “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘speak to us yourself and we will listen. But, do not have God speak to us or we will die.’”   When we hear the voice of God nothing is ever the same again. Hearing from God produces a dramatic-long-term calling which may well alter our choices, lives, values, focuses, and behaviors. This is a paradox. While hearing from God might cost us our lives, the voice of God opens the floodgates so that the Living Water of the Holy Spirit might flow from our inner most beings ( John 7:37-39 ) and open the door to abundant life ( John 10:10 ). Full love and intimacy with Jesus can occur only when we hear Him speak.   When is the last time you heard God speak? Some of us say, “Recently.” Others might say, “It’s been a long time. Tragically, others say, “I am not certain that I have ever heard God speak.”   In a day when the secular world is crying for answers, too many Christians are stuttering.   I count at least nineteen different ways in the Bible that God speaks into the lives of His people. You may think of some more. If we have ears to hear, we can’t miss what He has to say.   The Bible ( Psalms 119:105 ) Jesus Christ ( Hebrews 1:1-3 ) Sign and Wonders ( Acts 3:6-7 ) Tests ( Judges 6:36-38 ) Godly People (Proverb 8:32-34) Children At Bedtime ( 1 Samuel 3:8-9 ) The Creation ( Romans 1:20 ). Preachers And Prophets ( Acts 11:27-28 ) Donkeys ( numbers 22:30 ) Bushes ( exodus 3:1-4 ) Angels Luke 1:26-28 ) The Angel of the Lord ( Genesis 22:10-11 ) God’s Glory ( Exodus 33:18-19 ) Circumstances: ( Acts 16:6-8 ) Reasons ( Isaiah 1:18 ) Dreams ( Joel 2:28 ) Visions ( Joel 2:28 ) Failures ( Matthew 26:75 ) Holy Spirit To Human Spirit ( Jeremiah 29:12-13 )   The voice on the phone was familiar. I’d spoken with her before. She announced that she had a message for me from God. Without pausing she launched into a detailed pronouncement that my wife Julie and I would soon suffer a divorce. I had neglected my wife, she said, and failed to build the kind of marriage that God intended for pastors; and thus, the penalty would be the forfeiture of my marriage. I knew enough not to laugh out loud or tell her what she could do with her message. Later, I considered the implications of her words. What if she were right? After all, the pages of scripture are filled with stories of unusual people who did strange things as God led them to pronounce, “Thus saith the Lord says…(fill in the blank)!” After all, there was some truth in what she said. What pastor ever spends enough time with his family? Was God upset and getting personally involved? Surely not? I called one of my spiritual advisers. “Jack,” I said, “I need your advice. I’m ninety-nine percent sure that her message was not from God. Just help me verify for certain.” He responded, “Did the warning give any hope for reconciling the marriage and avoiding the divorce?” “No.” “When God warned of doom in the Bible, He usually provided a means for avoiding the consequences—often by repentance and/or restitution. Did the message provide any hope for averting the divorce?” “No.” “Then the message was not from God.” “Thanks.”   Whenever I sense what may be a word from God, I refuse to accept it until I carefully consider whether I am hearing from God, Myself, Satan or hard of hearing, misguided humans. When people say, “God told me…” I often respond, “How do you know the words were from God?” If they can’t give a definitive answer then I seldom consider the message they are delivering. I don’t want to make a mistake and follow the wrong voice.   Over the years, I’ve developed a Biblical checklist of what I think God’s voice sounds like. The list is in broad generalizations and is certainly not complete, nor foolproof. No one point is sufficient to prove or disprove the voice of God. Nevertheless, I believe that these principles are helpful when they line up in a sensible, godly fashion.   1. God speaks in my innermost human spirit. Self or Satan speaks in my Soul ( Hebrews 4:12 ).   2. God tends to speak with gentle leadings in contrast to what I often perceive to be the compulsive, clamoring, loud demands of Self or Satan ( 1 Kings 19:11-13 ).   3. God’s voice produces freedom. Self’s or Satan’s voice often produces bondage ( Matthew 11:28-30 ).   4. God tends to speak when we are consciously seeking Him. Self or Satan tend to speak with sudden intrusions of thoughts into the mind ( Jeremiah 29:12-13 ).   5. When God speaks there is a definite sense that everything is under control. When Self or Satan speaks there is an inner sense that something is out of control ( Psalm 37:4 ).   6. God gives clear-cut, specific directions. Self or Satan often communicates in confused, uncertain wonderings.   7. God convicts of specific sins. Self and Satan often accuse in broad generalities that leave a lingering sense of haunting and unfocused guilt ( John 16:8 ).   8. God speaks with 100% truth that can be tested by the Word of God. Self and Satan often traffic in lies, deceit and half-truths ( John 14:6 ).   9. God’s voice always leads to a deep, abiding sense of peace. Self or Satan often do not ( Philippians 4:7 ).   10. God’s voice is testable and confirmed by the wisdom of many counselors (Proverb 11:14; Deuteronomy 19:15 ; and Matthew 18:16 ).   We were considering the relocation of our church operations. Full parking lots and six weekend worship services maxed-out our site. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror one Saturday I almost dropped my razor at the thought that flashed into my mind. Instead of going to all the trouble and expense of relocating, why not purchase the eight houses surrounding our property? We could build a new worship center and expand our parking lots to make room for new growth. I thanked God for revealing this new course of action. I told our church leaders what God told me and led the church to make plans to purchase the adjoining houses. The surrounding subdivision deed restrictions required that a majority of the one hundred and fifty six nearby homeowners agree with the required rezoning and sale. Six months, numerous unpleasant neighborhood association meetings and well over one hundred irate neighbors later, we called off the deal. I was still licking my wounds when a wise saint said to me privately, “You ignored the Tenth Commandment: ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.’”   The most precious times I have with God are when we are communicating Holy spirit to human spirit. I often refer to my human spirit as my “knower.” Like, have you ever had those times when you just knew deep inside that God was talking to you?” Most Christians say, “Yes.”   The preacher was preaching on Jesus searching for lost sheep. It was like, all of a sudden, deep in my “knower” I heard the voice of God: “Roger, you’re a lost sheep.” I was only seven; but the voice seemed so real. I said to mom  and dad that night after church, “I’m a lost sheep, aren’t I.”Over the next several days my parents explained about lost and found sheep. I gave my heart to Jesus as my Savior and Shepherd and  was lost no longer.   Two weeks later it was like the preacher stopped preaching and God was speaking to me. Deep in my “knower” He told me that one day I would be preacher, too. And I did.   I am careful in listening for the voice of God. His is not the only voice that speaks. I don’t want to be misled by my own imaginings, and I certainly do not care to be fooled by Satan’s temptations, accusations, or deceits. Neither do I want to be led astray by human ignorance, stupidity or misguided spirituality.   Following the guidelines of Hebrews 4:12 , I quiet down my mind and allow the Word of God to “divide between soul and spirit.” As I listen I try to discern whether what I hear emanates from my soul (my mind) or from my deep, inner, human spirit where the Holy Spirit lives. The soul is the inner part of me which is my own mind or self. The soul is my “organ” for intellect, will and emotions ( Hebrews 4:12 . My human spirit is the center of my worship and communication with Jesus.   As we mature spiritually, our increasing spiritual experience and discernment allow us to distinguish between soul and spirits. The ability to distinguish between them is critical because God indwells and speaks in our human spirit while Self and Satan have access only to our souls. When we discern that the internal voice is coming from our spirit we know that God is speaking. When we discern that the internal voice is coming from our souls, we know that Self or possibly Satan is speaking.   When properly cultivated, our human spirit is most dependable and useful in hearing God speak. God speaks to us in the Bible and we speak to Him in prayer. This is described as praying in my mind. The Holy Spirit also speaks to us in our innermost human spirit. We speak back from out of our innermost  human spirit to the Holy Spirit. This what Paul calls praying in the spirit.   Whenever I sense what may be a word from God, I refuse to accept it until I carefully consider whether I am hearing from God, me, Satan or hard of hearing humans. I try not to do anything until I am certain who is speaking. Only then will I act upon what I hear. When people say, “God told me…” I often respond, “How do you know the words were from God?” If they can’t give a definitive answer then I seldom consider the message they are delivering. I don’t want to make a mistake and follow the wrong voice.”   Well, Marcia, I hope that I’ve been able to give you some help. Happy listening.   Love, Roger

While I was getting my hair cut my hairdresser related to me a question one of her young children asked about whether or not poop smelled in Heaven. The next day I received the following email. Dear Roger, Remember the question T asked? Does poop smell in heaven? Well I told her I asked you and she squealed “MOM!! That was NOT my question! My question was did poop smell before the “Fall”?” I’m still laughing….K Dear K, Isn’t it nice to have a precocious daughter who asks penetrating questions adults would never think to ask!   Like you, I was tempted to dismiss her question with an adult chuckle! But, upon further review, I realized that her question may well have theological and cosmological implications!   However, before we dive into an answer, may I first share a few common-sense thoughts about answering Tess’ present and future-childhood questions?   Take her questions seriously! They are certainly serious to her! Tell her what you know to be true in a way that she can comprehend for her age level. Only give her answers you know to be true—and avoid giving her answers you know little or nothing about! Make finding the answer a joint mother-daughter endeavor. Frankly, the time you spend with her is probably much more important than actually finding the answer. By the way, thank God for the internet in helping us find answers! Unfortunately, I have no idea what search word you would enter to find the answer to her question. A simple “I don’t know” is probably best. Then let her “ask roger.” Introduce her to another of the “Mysteries of Heaven”. There are some things we will never know until we get to heaven. We all have to live with mystery. The sooner we all learn this truth the better!   Again, my first inclination was like yours—to laugh. Then, I got to thinking. Trying to figure out whether poop smelled before the Fall of Adam and Eve into sin ( Genesis 3:1-6 ) depends on your view of creation! (Whether poop will smell in heaven is easier to answer. We will deal with that issue in just a moment.).   If you are a seven-day, twenty-four-hour creationist then you have to decide whether or not the animals had time to poop during the short time between their creation to the creation of Adam and Eve on the sixth day. You also must decide whether they ate and pooped before Adam and Eve had time to eat the forbidden fruit? If they did poop before the Fall, then poop did not smell because decay did not occur until after the Fall. But, then on the other hand, you have to consider the fact that poop by its very nature is decay. If the first poop came after the Fall then, of course, poop stank. Poop continues to smell as a residual reminder of the Fall into sin.   Seven-day-twenty-four-hour creationists must also consider that God invited Adam and Eve to eat of the trees in the Garden. Obviously, the fruit and roughage would have produced much poop—and they both had noses. When God pronounced the curses at the Fall the fact that Eve would have pain in childbearing means that their bodies immediately began to decay and die. We know that physiological changes occurred at the Fall which have direct bearing on the answer to Tess’ question.   If you are a theistic evolutionist who believes that God used evolution (or some process like it) over millions of years to create life on earth then you will answer that, of course, poop smelled because multiples forms of reptilian and mammalian animals produced a lot of poop long before God finally created man. If theistic evolutionists are correct then they must figure out when the first man and the Fall actually occurred. The window is probably sometime in the last 25,000 years as man morphed into homo sapiens sapiens. Some say that Adam was a special creation of God (Genesis Two). Others postulate that Adam was the first person who developed God consciousness! Nevertheless, the only possible answer to your daughter’s question for a theistic evolutionist is that poop smelled and its odor was unrelated to the Fall.   By the way, if you are a Gnostic, then nobody has poop to poop. If you are a Pharisee you sin if you say the word, “poop”. If you are an fatalist then “poop happens.” If you are a Calvinist, then these issues are already decided and you really don’t need to know. If you are a free-will Armenian, then you have a choice: to poop or to be constipated…. If you have a dog then you scoop poop!   Now, enough foolishness aside, may we consider the question she did not ask, but the one you thought she asked: “Does poop smell in Heaven?”   Based on Paul’s discussion of spiritual bodies, poop most assuredly has no smell in Heaven. In fact, there will be no poop. Therefore, let’s address Tess’ question in the light of spiritual bodies. She may find these thoughts intriguing. This is more than she asked but might provide a great teaching moment for you both—and generate many more questions!   Let me summarize Paul’s overall teachings regarding our spiritual bodies from 1 Corinthians 13:12 ; 1 Corinthians 15:35-54 ; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 :   Physical bodies are like seeds and spiritual bodies are like the plants that grow out of the seeds. They are related but certainly not the same.   God has created all sorts of bodies from human to stellar and each has its own form and features.   Spiritual bodies are perfectly designed for use in the spirit realm just as physical bodies are designed for use in the physical world.   At the resurrection bodies that were buried perishable, decaying and powerless will be raised imperishable, functional and filled with power and glory!   When the trumpet sounds at the Rapture Jesus will return from Heaven accompanied by the spirits of all the Christians who have previously died. Immediately their graves will open and their resurrected physical bodies will unite with their spirits to produce the spiritual bodies they will live in for eternity. By the way, I don’t understand how God will raise a body that has decayed dust to dust as mentioned in the Book of Job. I suppose one molecule of leftover body is all God needs to accomplish the resurrections!   At the moment of the Rapture those Christians who are alive will never die but will transition immediately from their physical bodies to their spiritual bodies.   Spiritual bodies are distinct from one another. We will know each other and have great fellowship with others in Heaven.   Paul is not the only one who teaches about the future state of our spiritual bodies: Let me share with you several more characteristics mentioned by John the Apostle.   We will look like Jesus. John wrote in 1 John 3:2 : “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Our spiritual bodies will reflect the nature, glory and imprint of Christ.   We may well know what is occurring with our friends and loved ones—and with the world in general—here on the earth ( Revelation 6:9-11 ).   Spiritual bodies can cry! God will eventually need to wipe away all the tears of sorrow and suffering in Heaven ( Revelation 21:4 ).   There will be no marriage or weddings in Heaven. Instead we will be like the angels ( Matthew 22:30 ). The reason marriage will be obsolete in Heaven is probably because the intimacy and companionship we experience in marriage on earth we will experience with others and with God Himself! (Of course, Kathy, she may ask you about the by-products after the Marriage Feast which occurs in Heaven after the Rapture. Good luck answering that!!)   The glory of the work of Christ on the cross and of our resurrection victory is triumphantly declared by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 : “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”   Well Kathy, I hope my answer gives some help and direction in responding to Tess.   Oh, and by the way, if any of you reading this letter are parents of young preschoolers you may find the book, Everybody Poops by Taro Gomi (Kane/Miller Book Publishers) a great resource in potty training.   Love, Roger

Dear Roger,   I was recently asked when people of skin tone other than white as an indicator of racial or ethnic affiliation first appeared in the Bible. Was it before the tower of Babel? Sincerely, Matt   Dear Matt,   The first time I rode on a bus there were “colored people” on it. I was only five. I’d never noticed there were colored people until my mommy warned me. “When we get on the bus,” she said, “colored people will be sitting at the back. Keep quiet. Don’t say a word about it. I’ll explain later.”   When we got on the bus I looked for the colored people. Sure enough, there they were in the back of the bus. I guess that I expected to see a rainbow of colors like in my crayola box. It didn’t take long to see that I only needed three crayons: black, brown and flesh colored. My introduction to racism had begun.   “Most Americans, white and black, see racism as a lingering problem in the United States, and many say they know people who are racist. But, just 13 percent of whites and 12 percent of blacks consider themselves racially biased” (“Most Polls See Lingering Racism in Others.” CNN.com , December 12, 2006).   Matt, before I answer your question about skin color and the Bible, I want to share a series of questions on how to determine if you are racially biased. Peter Scazzero, pastor of New Life Fellowship in Queens, New York, developed what he calls The Racism/Bridge Builder Test. 1. Is there a particular group of people/ethnicity/race that you simply can’t stand? 2. Is there any particular group of people/ethnicity/race that you wished your child wouldn’t marry? Or you wouldn’t marry? 3. Are there types of people who cause you to cross the street if you are walking alone? 4. Does anything happen inside you when you see interracial couples? What types or combinations of couples? 5. When was the last time you visited in the home or apartment of someone from a different culture or race? When was the last time you invited them to your home or apartment? 6. What is your attitude towards people/groups whose musical preferences are different than yours? (e.g. Classical, classic rock, hard rock, Pop, Jazz, Hip-Hop, R and B (rhythm and blues), gospel, heavy metal, etc. 7. What type of person would you most trust to invest or steward your money? What type of person would you least trust to invest or steward your money? 8. When you meet people from another race/culture who do not fit your stereotype (i.e. nicer, smarter, dumber, aggressive, passive, and/or more articulate) than you expected, are you surprised? 9. When a driver of a different ethnicity/race than yours is driving their car too fast, too slow, or makes a mistake, do you say to yourself, “Well that figures!”   During my last two years of college I pastored the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Penelope Texas. It was there that I first encountered “colored town.” My wife Julie and I were driving around one Sunday afternoon visiting people to invite them to come to our church. We drove down a dirt road we’d never been on before, crested a hill we’d never noticed before, and spread out before us was Penelope’s “colored town.”   I was shocked. I didn’t know Penelope had a “colored town!” We were delighted-a whole new set of prospects for our little congregation! We had a wonderful time playing with the children, petting the dogs, talking with people and drinking cokes in the kitchen.   Several hours later it was time to depart. We had an evening church service to lead. Mr. Green, our deacon (we only had one) was standing on the church steps waiting for us. “We hear you’ve been to colored town,” he said. “Those people aren’t welcome here.”   “OK,” I said.   I suppose that there are two ways to handle racism. One is to climb on a “high horse” and angrily judge and condemn those obviously racist. The other is to take time to work on their hearts.   I chose the latter. In fact, I set a goal. Every year our church sponsored what we called, “Vacation Bible School”. For two weeks each summer children came every morning for fun, games, crafts and Bible lessons. Bible School for this year had just ended. I decided that next year the colored children would be welcomed.   So, I preached compassion and love and acceptance—and worked on our hearts. One year later eleven African-American children attended our Bible school. Mrs. Beard was one of our Vacation Bible School teachers. The next Sunday two African-American families came to worship with us in or church. No one turned them away. In fact, the fellowship we had was sweet.   A curious belief has arisen among some Christians about the origin of black-skin coloring. In Genesis 9:20-25 Ham is cursed by his father Noah for dishonoring his dad during one of Noah’s drunken stupors. Some think that the curse placed on Ham and his descendants was black skin.   Some of Ham’s descendants, Cush and Put, for example, settled in Africa in the present-day countries of Ethiopia and Libya. These misguided people conclude that Cush and Put spread their black skin throughout Africa. Therefore, they conclude that black Africans are a cursed race and thus inferior to white races.   This awful premise was often invoked by white people in the Southern United States as Biblical “proof” to justify the institution of slavery. In fact, in “Dred Scott” v. Sanford in 1856 and a in a series of other cases the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that black slaves could not be citizens, were not real human beings and thus had no protection under the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, other rulings concluded that slaves were nothing more or less than the property of their owners—little different from horses and plows.   Horribly, many Southern preachers and Christians used this line of reasoning to circumvent the idea that slaves were to be treated as equals for whom Christ died a substitutionary death on the cross. This is not to say that all Southern Christians agreed with this concept. Some repudiated it fiercely! Many operated underground railroads to move run-away slaves to “safety” in the North.   The Southern Baptist Convention split off from other Baptists in 1845 because they wanted to continue legalized slavery in the South.   Thankfully, among most Christians, times and attitudes have changed.   Fighting racism is not easy. It’s built into our genes. In his book, “Genome,” Matt Ridley selects a gene or two from each chromosome pair and overviews the work of our genes.   Several things stand out in his book relating to racism.   First, we are genetically programmed by GOD to be wary of people not like us. This is a survival mechanism that contributes to racism. Second, skin color is not skin deep. It is less than skin deep. Of the 30,000 or so genes imbedded in human DNA, only a very few have anything to do with skin color. All races are basically alike in mental, emotional and physical make up. Skin color is only cosmetic. Imagine all of the pain and anguish that have come to mankind over things no more genetically important than blusher and eye shadow. Third, different skin colors are not a curse. They are in many ways life giving. For example, certainly you’ve noticed that as we move farther north from the sunny tropics, to the less sunny temperate zones, and on to the frigid and unsunny Arctic, skin colors gradually morph from deep black to pale white Think Ethiopia versus Sweden.   Skin color is due primarily to the presence of a pigment in the skin called “melanin.” Dark-skinned people who live in the tropics have more melanin than light- skinned people who live up north because they need it. Melanin acts as a sunscreen to protect against the sun’s ultraviolet rays which often lead to melanoma. The more melanin the darker the skin and the greater the protection.   (By the way, freckles, which occur in people of all races, are small, concentrated areas of increased melanin production.)   Light-skinned people up north don’t need sunscreen. They need vitamin D to prevent rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults.   Since approximately 90% of Vitamin D is synthesized in the skin, people up north tend to be light skinned with little melanin in order to soak in as much sunshine as possible. Since the higher latitudes get much less sun than the tropics, light-colored skin enables people to quickly absorb Vitamin D.   We teach, lecture and model to help overcome racism. We imprison and punish racist extremists in an effort to eradicate the problem.   We must do all we can to reduce racism in our midst.   But, when all is said and done, the love of Christ alone can bring ultimate healing to this sad racial sickness.   “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven” ( Matthew 5:43-44 ).   “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” ( Ephesians 4:15 ).   By the way, it’s been a long time since I’ve used the term, “colored people,” or some of the other terms which were so vulgar but normal when I was a child. But, times have changed and I’ve grown up. I know that people aren’t colored or black or white or brown or red or yellow or olive or whatever. They’re people; we’re all alike.   I remember the first time I preached overseas. Julie and I were in Rio and the people were poor and the slums smelled like pee. In a moment of panic I wondered if my stories and illustrations would relate.   Then, it dawned on me. These people were just like me. Their skin was darker than mine but our insides were alike. When they get cut, they bleed, just like me. They want their children to grow up and succeed, just like me. They wanted a job and security, just like me. They had the same hopes, fears and dreams just like me. In fact, they were just like me.   Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” ( Matthew 22:37-40 ).   Reorienting the human heart around the love of Christ is our only long-term hope for reducing racism in our midst.   Well, Matt, after all is finally said and done, let me answer your question.   As far as I know, varying skin colors are never expressly mentioned in the Bible. Inferences are made today, but no single skin color can be identified in the Scriptures.   Some assume that the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon was black because she was from the country of Sheba. But Sheba is not in Africa. It was Abyssinia which is located in southwest Arabia on the eastern tip of the Red Sea ( 1 Kings 10:1-13 ).   Others have taught that Solomon’s first wife was black because she mentioned her “dark skin.” She sang in Song of Solomon 1:5-6 : “Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon. Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun.” Notice that even a cursory reading reveals that her skin color was not black; she was deeply sunburned from working outdoors in the fields.   Others have taught that the Ethiopian Eunuch who was baptized by Philip in Acts 8 was black.  The Bible never says this. We just assume that he was black because he was from that African nation! He probably was black—although the Bible never says.   Both Esau ( Genesis 25:25 ) and David ( 1 Samuel 16:12 ) are mentioned as having “ruddy” or “red” complexions. This obviously refers to a reddening of their Middle Eastern-olive-skin tones. In fact, many say that both Esau and David had red hair and probably freckles to go with their redden skin. It is interesting to note that David’s son, Solomon, was also described as of “ruddy” complexion ( Song of Solomon 5:10 ).   The premise that “people of skin tone other than white as an indicator of racial or ethnic affiliation first appeared in the Bible” is false. The Bible never uses any skin colors or tones as indicators of racial or ethnic affiliation.   The table of nations is listed for us in Genesis 10 . By the way, this listing of nations (read races) occurs before the Tower of Babel story of the scattering of the races as related in Genesis 11 . The order here is of little significance. The list is given and then the next chapters details how the migrations began. In the listing we see that the descendants of Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, migrated to different parts of the world after the subsiding of the Flood.   We know from the countries mentioned that Shem fathered the Semitic peoples who are considered Jewish or Arabic. His descendants settled throughout the Mideast and southern Asia.   Japheth fathered the Japhethite peoples who moved northward into Turkey and Russia and then migrated into Europe and across much of Asia. Today, most of these people are identified as white-skinned Caucasian or browned skinned Asians and Mongolians or more yellow-skinned Chinese.   Ham fathered the Hamitic peoples. His descendants settled from Canaan southward into Egypt and Africa.   A curious belief has arisen among some people about the origin of black-skin coloring. In Genesis 9:20-25 Ham is cursed by his father Noah for his dishonoring Noah in a situation regarding one of Noah’s drunken stupors. Some think Ham and his descendants were cursed with black skin.   Some of Ham’s descendants, Cush and Put, for example, settled in Africa in the present-day countries of Ethiopia and Libya. These misguided people conclude that Cush and Put spread their black skin throughout Africa. Therefore, they conclude that black Africans are a cursed race and thus inferior to white races. The fact that Ham had many other sons who did not settle in Africa is ignored by them.   This awful premise was often invoked by white people in the Southern United States as Biblical “proof” to justify the institution of slavery. In fact, in “Dred Scott” v. Sanford in 1856 and a series of other cases the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that black slaves could not be citizens, were not real human beings and thus had no protection under the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, other rulings concluded that slaves were nothing more or less than the property of their owners—little different from horses and plows.   Horribly, many Southern preachers and Christians used this line of reasoning to circumvent the idea that slaves were to be treated as equals for whom Christ died a substitutionary death on the cross. This is not to say that all Southern Christians agreed with this concept. Some repudiated it fiercely! Many operated underground railroads to move run-away slaves to “safety” in the North.   Well, Matt, I hope this helps in understanding skin tones and the Bible. Have a good discussion with your friend.   Love, Roger

Dear Roger, I recently became a Christian and I have a question. The woman who led me to Christ encouraged me to start reading my Bible immediately. She told me not to start at the beginning and try to read it all from start to finish. She recommended that I start with the Gospels and also read some from Psalms and Proverbs every day. My question is that I keep coming across the term, “the fear of the Lord,” as I read Psalms and Proverbs. My friend told me that God is a God of love who loved me enough to give His life for me. She told me that I could love Him back with all my heart. She never told me anything about being afraid of Him. What is going on here? Sincerely, Britney   Dear Britney,   Most people who come to Christ do so because the one who led them to Christ focused mostly, if not completely, on the love of God (Read John 3:16 : For God so loved the world that He gave His only son … “)   Some others come to Christ out of fear. I trusted Christ because I was afraid of going to Hell. I was seven-years old when God spoke to me about my need to have a Savior to save me from my sins. I was sitting in church when the preacher talked about how people who die without Christ are in danger of going to Hell. This scared the daylights out of me. However, he also talked about Jesus parable of the shepherd who left his ninety-nine sheep to seek the one lost sheep. I realized that I was that lost sheep and that Jesus was searching for me–because He loved me.   In the beginning of our Christian lives we must balance our love for God with our fear of God . It is not a paradox to say that we can love God and can be afraid of Him, too. I loved my parents and I never doubted that they loved me. But, when I needed discipline I was afraid of mom or dad as they were coming down the hall!   Too many Christians want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a Grandfather in Heaven – a senile benevolence who, as they say, “liked to see young people enjoying themselves” and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, “a good time was had by all.”   That is not at all the God of the Bible.   Understanding the balance of what is going on in God’s heart in terms of His expressing love and fear is critical   One Jewish tradition tells of the time during the Exodus when the Israelites walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. After safely arriving on the other side, the water crashed down on the Egyptian army. All of Pharaoh’s men perished. Up in Heaven the angels were rejoicing over the miraculous deliverance. Then they looked over to see God’s reaction. God was weeping.   It is OK to begin our Christian lives experiencing the fear of the Lord. When you read the Bible you will discover that everytime someone in the Bible sees God it scares the daylights out of them.   In Isaiah 6 the prophet fell face down to the ground in terror when he got a glimpse of God in the sanctuary.   In Matthew 14:22-33 the Disciples were afraid of Jesus when He unleashed a bit of His Deity and stopped the storm on the Sea of Galilee.   In Luke 5:1-1 1 Peter fell down on his knees in the boat after Jesus supernaturally told him where to find fish. He said to Jesus, “Depart from me; I am a sinful man.”   In John 18:1-9 Jesus showed off just a little of His glory in the Garden and the soldiers who had come to arrest Him all fell down in terror.   A little fear of God can go a long way to keep most of us travelling the Christian life on the right path.   I remember a story that illustrates well the effectiveness of a little of the right kind of fear.   A schoolteacher injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast around the upper part of his body. It fit under his shirt and wasn’t noticeable at all. On the first day of the term, still with the cast under his shirt, he found himself assigned to the toughest students in school. Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window as wide as possible and then busied himself with desk work. When a strong breeze made his tie flap, he took the desk stapler and stapled the tie to his chest. He had no trouble with discipline that term.   Solomon wrote Proverb 9:10: “The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The fear of the Lord is the beginning; it is not  the end of wisdom.   John wrote 1 John 4:18 : “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”   We may begin with a fear of God and what He can do to us if He so desires. But, recognize that this fear is just the beginning. It is not the end.   God’s intention is that over time His perfect love will drive out any fears that we might still have of Him.   Let me share a story that illustrates this principle of perfect love casting out fear:   During the Revolutionary War, a young officer in the British Army, before sailing to America to fight, became engaged to a young lady in England.   In one of the battles of the officer was badly wounded and lost a leg. He wrote to his fiancé, telling her how he was disfigured and maimed, and so changed from what had been when she had last seen him that he felt it his duty to release her from all obligation to become his wife.   The young lady wrote an answer. In her letter she sad that whether or not they married had nothing whatsoever to do with had happened to him in battle.   She wrote, “I intend to marry you as long as there is enough left of your body to hold your soul!   Can you imagine that her declaration of perfect love drove away all of his fears of a life lost alone.   Now, Let’s Look At The “Fear Of The Lord” From A Different Perspective.   The “Fear of the Lord” sounds like a negative thing. But, according to the Word of God, “the fear of the Lord” is a term that describes a life style better than we can ever imagine. “The Fear of the Lord” is the lifestyle we all really want. It beats all the options.   Britney, as you read the following verses you will see that the fear of the Lord is not all what it sounds like on first blush. If you choose the “Fear of the Lord” lifestyle, here is what your life will look like.   A Life Lived With Knowledge And Wisdom Proverb 2:6-7: For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.   A Life Of Goodness and Rightness Proverb 14:16: A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.   A Life Of Security and Protection Proverb 14:26: He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.   Potential For A Longer Life Than Normal Proverb 10:27: The fear of the LORD adds length to life,   Security For One’s Family Proverb 14:26: He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. A Life Of Satisfaction And Peace Proverb 14:27: The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. A Life Full Of Contentment Proverb 19:23: The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.   For me, so much of the Fear of the Lord resolves around the idea of contentment as mentioned in the last verse above. Like you, like me, and like every one else, my life is full of twists and turns. Some are delightful; some are threatening and painful. Living the “Fear of the Lord” lifestyle has allowed God to pour in the power of Jesus Christ to handle any situation that comes into my life   One of my favorite pictures of contentment is, “Contentment is a small kitten following a leaky cow.” I am the kitten. The “Fear of the Lord” lifestyle is the leaky cow.   Britney, I hope that my answer has given to you some extra help in living well your new life in Christ.   Love, Roger

Dear Roger,   I was brought up in a Church that Baptizes children, way too young to understand the process. Is it important that I get Baptized as an adult? Sincerely, Britney   Dear Britney, Yes, definitely, Baptism is like a wedding ring. We put on a wedding ring as a symbol of our commitment and devotion. In the same way baptism is a picture of devotion and commitment to Christ. A wedding ring reminds us and tells others that we belong to someone special. In the same way, baptism reminds us and others that we are devoted to Christ and belong to Him.   The purpose of baptism is to give visual testimony of our commitment to Christ. It is the first step of discipleship ( Acts 8:26-39 ).   According to Romans 6:1-10 , baptism pictures at least three things.   First, baptism is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. As we stand in the water we are representing Christ on the cross. As we are dipped underwater we illustrate the burial of Christ. As we come out of the water we demonstrate the resurrection of Christ.   Second, baptism is a personal testimony to us of the washing away of our sins. As we go under the water we reconfirm that our sins are forgiven and as we come out of the water we are resurrected to live a new life in Christ.   Third, baptism represents our personal identification with Christ. Paul declared in Romans 6:3-4 : “We were buried with Christ in baptism and we are raised to walk in a new life” as forgiven followers of Christ empowered by the Spirit of God.   Being sprinkled or having water poured over your head when you were an infant, or too young to understand, missed the point of baptism on all three levels.   Why? Because the Bible teaches that commitment to Christ always precedes baptism. In fact, baptism is your testimony of surrendering your life to Christ. The New Testament order is not be baptized and then receive Christ. It is always first you receive Christ and then you get baptized. If you were not aware of submitting to the Lordship of Christ then it is impossible to think of your baptism as a personal commitment to Christ.   It is now important to be baptized as an adult. I recommend that you proceed with Biblical baptism as soon as possible.   Remember, baptism never washes away sins; the blood of Jesus washes away sins.   Perhaps you are wondering where infant baptism originated. Let me give you a brief overview of the source and the evolution of infant baptism. In essence, infant baptism arose from the teachings of some early second and third century church fathers that baptism washed away sin. This meant that if you died without being baptized then you died with your sins unforgiven and thus went to Hell (or purgatory as that concept developed over time). With the high infant mortality rate in the early centuries, the concept of baptizing babies as soon as possible came into vogue. Since it is not necessarily good to push baby heads underwater, the idea of sprinkling took hold.   The Greek word for “baptism” is “???????”. The English letters look like this: “baptidzo.” The word does not mean “sprinkle or “pour”. The Greek word “baptidzo” literally means to “dip” or to “immerse”. For example, when Odysseus was escaping from the Cyclops he took a stick and “baptized” the stick into the eye of the Cyclops. He did not sprinkle it in. He fully immersed it in.   The early translators of the Bible from Latin into English faced a problem with how to translate the Greek word, “baptidzo”. If they translated the word as “immerse” a firestorm would erupt because most of the church practiced sprinkling and not full immersion.   To understand the cultural and religious implication, think of the Anabaptists who were persecuted mercilessly (including death) for practicing baptism by immersion.   So, instead of translating the word, the early translators transliterated the word by simply taking the Greek letters and transposing them into English. The word “baptism” was not translated as “immersion,” it was transliterate as “baptize”. Crisis was averted and the early Bibles in English were less likely to be offensive to some and outright rejected by others.   You may find it interesting that early writings from some 2 nd century Christian desert communities dealt with the practical issues of baptism. They taught that if not enough water existed for full immersion then pouring on the head was acceptable. If not enough water existed for pouring then sprinkling was acceptable. And, if water was in really short supply then sand may be used. This practice was expedient and probably necessary.   On the other hand, the Ethiopian eunuch surrendered his life to Christ as he was riding in the desert reading the scroll of Isaiah. He didn’t choose to be baptized by sand. He waited until he found a body of water large enough for immersion ( Acts 8 ). There is no record that any babies or children were ever baptized in this manner. These were all adults.   Throughout the years of the Church, baptism by immersion has taken several forms. Some baptize by dipping three times in the “Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Others use the Jewish model for baptizing Gentile converts into Judaism. The initiates wear white robes and are dipped three times forward and three times backward. The most common mode of baptism is once backward which corresponds to portraying closely the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.   Well, Britney, I hope this sheds some light on the subject of baptism and I hope it is helpful to you in making up your mind regarding your own baptism. Again, from my understanding, baptism is the first test of obedience to Christ. Go get baptized. It will be a most meaningful and spiritual experience for you now as an adult.   Love, Roger