The Worst of the Sins

Drinking, smoking, drug use, swearing, loose sexual morals, some may even say dancing are sins that Christians should avoid. The idea is that these sins somehow have greater impact on us than other sins. That is these sins in particular prevent us from being Good Christian folk.  The truth is Christians often debate which sin is the greatest or worst or most unpardonable. And many hold to the answer that all sins are mortal sins in that they separate us from God and a chance at eternal life.  This however may not be entirely true, and may simply be an easy out. Proverbs 6:16–19 lists sins that God hates:

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

 You do not see drinking, smoking, or loose sexual morals listed among them, Indeed, the sins listed in this verse from Proverbs deal for the most part with things that we do to others.  Of them only haughty eyes might be a sin that we commit towards ourselves. There are other places in the Holy Bible that indicate not all sins are the same. John 9:41 seems to indicate that learning of Jesus and rejecting him warrants greater punishment than those who sin with no knowledge of the Savior:

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

That is the sin of non-belief is sufficient to keep one out of Heaven. You see it mentioned again in the following verses:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him

should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)

 Finally, there is one sin that is said to be unforgivable, a sin that falls outside God's Grace to pardon. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to commit an eternal sin, one that simply will not go away:

 "Truly I tell you, all sins and blasphemes will be forgiven for the sons of men. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin. He said this because they [the Pharisees] were saying, 'He has an evil spirit'." (Mark 3:28-30)

Going by the Bible then, there are indeed sins that are worse than others, although all sins separate us from God. Generally, those sins considered worse in some way are either those that express disbelief in Jesus as the Messiah, or the extreme of not believing in God or the Holy Spirit. These are followed by sins that deal with how we treat others. What many Protestant Americans consider unpardonable sins such as drinking, partying, smoking, drug use actually fall behind these other two sets of sin. Therefore when we want to think of a clean living life. we should not be concentrating necessarily on not drinking, smoking, or using illicit drugs, but instead look at our relationship with God and others.

We must ask the questions, do we truly accept Jesus Christ as our Savior? Do we truly believe in the Holy Spirit? Do we see God as our Father in Heaven?  And after those questions we must look to how we treat others. Do we truly love our neighbors as we do ourselves? Do we seek to treat others as we would wish to be treated? Do we try not to make judgements of others' sins and shortcomings?

One thing I have learned since returning to Christianity is that a good Christian is one that loves God, and loves others, and believes in all his or her heart that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. If one can do those things, I feel all sort of things people may feel are wrong, God will more swiftly forgive. I have said it time in and time out, it is how we treat others that  is at the heart of our religion. Throughout the New Testament Jesus talks about how we should help the poor, and be kind to others. My Church's mission I think sums it up all nicely:

Jesus is Lord!

Love God - Love Others!

The Question is not, "Do You Believe in Santa?"

Every year at Christmas time, one of the aching questions for children is, "Do you believe in Santa?" Believing in Santa is one of those hallmarks of childhood. That a child believes in Santa is a indicator that they are still indeed a child, naive with a bit of innocence, things we as parents want to keep as long as possible. As adults though, the most important question at Christmas should be, "Do you believe in Jesus?" Oh, I have no doubt many, if  not most of us would answer, "yes," but do we truly believe?

You see there is a difference between thinking someone is real, and truly believing in them. I know for a fact that President Trump is real, but do I believe in him? Since this blog is about religion and not politics I will not answer that question, but I will say that one can believe someone is or was a real person without ever believing in them. The word, "believe" comes from Old English,  belyfan "to have faith or confidence." It was the word that the newly converted Anglo-Saxons chose to describe their relationship with their new found Savior, Our Lord, Jesus Christ. You see they had faith in him, they had confidence in him as their Savior. They knew with their conversion to Christianity that their souls were saved from eternal damnation. And what's more they knew that their souls were saved by doing what Jesus asked of them. They knew if they did things Jesus' way, that they were being lead to an afterlife of bliss in Heaven.

So answering the question, "Do you believe in Jesus?" is not one so easily answered. Yes, I think many if not most of us think he is real, but do we truly believe his way is best? Look at the world around us. Look at how people treat other people. Look at how you yourself treat others. Can we truly say that any of us believe in Jesus? Can you say we are confident that practicing his teachings will make this a better world? Or do we believe that selfish opportunist practices are the best way to

lead life?

How many times have you seen people look judgingly down on the downtrodden? Instead of lending a helping hand, too many times people ask questions like, "Why don't they just get a better job?" or "They would be better off without all those children?" We do not see it as our place to care for others. We think they should look out for themselves.

America is a nation of Individualists, we are not a Union, or a Community. We are, I fear, a nation that encourages people to lookout for their own self interests. And this flies in the face of what Jesus taught. While we glorify those that have achieved wealth or fame by looking out for themselves in the drive to hoard wealth, Jesus told us instead to look after those who need it most.

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you (Matthew 5:42). 

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:12-14).

And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise (Luke 3:11).

By following those that have sought material gain, hoard wealth, and encourage us to do the same we are not believing in Jesus. To believe in Jesus is to hold dear to our hearts the Sacrifice He made for us to save us from our sins, and in holding his Sacrifice dear to our hearts, to practice what he taught. If we follow the ways of the World, we are saying that the ways of the Koch Brothers Charles and David H., and George Soros are better than those of our own Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are saying that stepping on the disenfranchised to get ourselves ahead is the way to live life, and that the way of Jesus is one for suckers and those gullible enough to believe all those hard luck stories of the poor, sick, and lame. And in doing so we are not believing in Jesus. We are not holding faith, being confident that what he taught is the way we should behave.Instead we have chosen the way of the World as being somehow superior in seeking our rewards. We are saying that those that encourage us to seek material gain at all costs and hoard material wealth know better than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And in choosing to believe in the World, we are also choosing not to believe in Jesus.

And if you consider yourself a True Christian, this is very sad as being selfish, stepping on others to get ahead may get us what we want in the short term (and that short term may be our entire lives), but in the long term, that is, all eternity it is the way of Jesus that will reap the greatest reward.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son (John 3:18)

Believing in Jesus means so much more than just believing he was a real person, or even thinking he is the Savior, it means having faith in that practicing what he taught us about leading our lives, about how to treat others is the way to eternal Salvation, and that the opportunist ways of the World are a sure path to Hell. So when you are asked the question, "Do you believe in Jesus?" ask yourself, "Do I hold faith, have confidence that Jesus' teachings are the best way to live my life? Or do I believe instead in the wicked ways of the World?" Do you BELIEVE in Jesus?

Christmastide Huntsville Missouri 2018

After my divorce, I found it very difficult to be happy at Christmas. Even though I was pagan, we celebrated a holiday at Christmas time called Yule. Many of our current Christmas traditions come from that pagan holiday. Things such as drinking wassail or eggnog, eating ham, decking the halls with greenery, even gift giving stem from Yule. So all through those years I was pagan I celebrated Christmas in a fashion. When I returned to Christianity Christmas took on a new meaning. It was the birth of my Savior Jesus Christ. Christmas symbolized leaving my sinful, pagan past behind, and looking forward to a life as a man reborn.

Those first few years as a Christian again, Christmas was all about the Christmas lights, Christmas dinner, Christmas carols, and giving gifts. I enjoyed helping decorate Downtown Huntsville for Christmas.I decorated the house for Christmas. I went around and looked at the Christmas lights. I listened to Christmas carols on my car stereo. Now, with a new job, new place, and new girlfriend I am finding I do not have time for many of those things. And you know what? I do not miss them. Many of these were things I also enjoyed as a pagan, and had little bearing on me as a Christian. They were just superficial trappings that come with a winter holiday. No, what I enjoy now is time with my church family, my friends, and my family. It is the sense of togetherness, of oneness with my Church and with Christ that brings me happiness. And it is not just that, it is also in the way I treat strangers.

You see, people behave differently at Christmas. It is the time for the highest giving to charities. It is the time when folks truly believe in Peace on Earth and try to practice Good Will to Men. People are kinder, gentler, and nicer to one another. Oh, you still get those rude individuals unhappy Wal-Mart is out of the toy their child wanted, or the one irked because someone got to "their parking space" before they did, but for the most part many people do do unto others as they would have them do unto themselves. And I am no different. My behavior changes. I treat people better as Christmas approaches.

So what do we have to learn from this? The way many of us behave at Christmastide is the way we should behave year round. In essence, we as Christians should behave as if Christmas were every, single day of the year. We should be kind and considerate to our fellow man. We should not judge others. We should take time out of our day to be nice to those around us. We should attend church. Think of how nice the world around us could become if we just believed in Peace on Earth and Good Will towards Men everyday of the year?

Currently, it is my "weekend." I put weekend in quotation marks because my weekend comes in the middle of the workweek, I work the weekend shift at my job. So I am spending this last "weekend" of mine before Christmas getting ready. Yesterday, I did the bulletins for the Last Sunday in Advent and the Christmas Eve services at the Huntsville United Methodist Church. I have planned out my last minute Christmas shopping. I am in the last stages of getting ready for my Savior's birthday. With Christmas Day all that work will end, but one thing I do not hope ends, is the joy I get from being kind to my fellow human beings whether they be Christian, Jew, Muslim, pagan, white, black, yellow... to me kindness is what being Christian is all about, and not just something we should do at Christmas time. We should act as if it is Christmas everyday with joy at the birth of our Savior, and the drive to be kind to others. I think everyone's New Year's Resolution should be, act as if everyday were Christmas, and carry the joy and kindness of the Christmas season throughout the year.

Bringing Christ into Everyday Life

Too many of us only think about the Lord on Sunday morning. We wake up Sunday morning, shower, fix breakfast, relax a little, and then get ready for Church. We attend the service, visit with friends, sing, pray, put money in the collection plate, listen to the sermon, and then we get out of church, and go on with our lives. By Monday morning our minds are on bills, car repairs, miscellaneous expenses, work, and what we are going to have for supper that night. The rest of the work week is pretty much the same. On Saturday, we relax, maybe play golf, go to the movies, go to the club, spend time outdoors eat out, go to a special event like a fair or concert, or just stay home and watch TV. By Sunday morning, our minds are finally back to God again.

This is how it is for millions of Americans. We make hundreds of things more important than Christ. Worshipping the Lord is something we just do once a week. The rest of the time we are preoccupied with other things. It doesn't have to be that way. We can bring God into our everyday life. The obvious is attending Church activities throughout the week such as Wednesday night Bible study, men's and women's groups, volunteering for a Church charity. Then there are also daily Bible readings and such publications as The Upper Room and Our Daily Bread,  not to mention various Christian programs on TV. But to be real Christians we have to move beyond such things. These are only the trappings of Christianity, things to keep our mind to be focus on God. To be truly Christian one must practice the teachings of Jesus Christ every - single - day.

It's all right there in the Bible, Jesus tells us how to live. I probably do not need to tell people these Bible verses. Any Christian worth his or her mettle knows them, but here are a few anyway.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Matthew 22:37-39)

 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you: do ye even so to them: for this

is the law and the prophets (Matthew 7:12).

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 6:1)

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you (Matthew 7:1-3)

Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away (Matthew 5:42)

He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise (Luke 3:11).

Christians are to treat others as they wish to be treated, love God and love others, not judge, and give to the less fortunate. There are many other verses on how to behave oneself, but to me these are the core of being Christian. Too often we get caught up in trying to get ahead, of thinking about ourselves and the ones we care for that we are mean or disrespectful of others, treat the less fortunate poorly, and otherwise focus on ourselves. We are, to quote a George Harrison song all about, "I, Me, Mine." We forget what Jesus has told us to do.

I am as guilty of it as anyone. I become focused on work. I do things to make my own life more enjoyable and comfortable without a thought of others. I am overly proud of my accomplishments, I step on other people to further my own ambitions. Then I have to remind myself, that is not what Jesus has told me to do. Please make sure not to do the same.

Sin

Here I am, sitting in my living room, waiting to go to work. I woke up early, and since I didn't write a blog post over the weekend, I decided to write one this morning. Trying to think of a topic, I decided on sin. Specifically, I cannot stop sinning. Oh, I do not do drugs, nor do I drink to access anymore. I have no sexual perversions. Those are not issues. My problem is being kind to people. Now most people will tell you I am kind to everyone, but I know that is not true. I have this problem of wanting to treat people as they have treated me, and not as I want them to treat me. And in the past year, some people have not treated me very nice. And so my reaction is perhaps that of most people, I want to get even, to hurt them as they have hurt me. I have tried to control it, tried to forgive, but it is so very hard to.

So I turn to the Bible, and use it as my strength to get me past these hateful thoughts. The Bible has much to say on hate. Here are a few passages:

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice

(Ephesians 4:31)

Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. (Proverbs 10:12).

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27-28)

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:15)

In addition to turning to the Bible, I turn to the Lord in prayer. By praying for those that have hurt me I am able to work through my hatred of them. I try to do this everyday. I really need to get into a routine of it, and with time I can get past my hatred of those that have wronged me.

Hatred is no doubt, my greatest sin, but I hope with time, clinging to the Bible and praying through to the Lord I can work my way through it.

When It is Hard to Forgive

Having been pagan for a couple of decades, forgiveness is something I struggle with. In Asatru, you did not have to forgive. Indeed, many saw forgiveness as a weakness.You were supposed to hold people accountable to their actions. That might sound all noble in that it made people responsible for what they do, but what it really came down to is getting even for every little slight, hurtful word, or even nasty look someone gave you. In the long run, I realized it was no way to live. Forgiveness is necessary to survive in the world, even when it is difficult to forgive. and yet I struggle with it.

Years of emotional abuse from a religious community that did not believe in forgiveness and lacked

compassion left me not just weary of forgiving those that wronged me, but also with thoughts of, "I must get even." Even now, years after returning to the fold, I find myself wanting to right some wrong done me. I had a recent situation in which an acquaintance was trying to take advantage of a young mother I care for. At the same time he was running me down, making jokes of me, and how I felt and thought. He somehow thought the very qualities that make me Christian, being kind, considerate, thoughtful, compassionate were weaknesses to be made fun of. The thing is he really doesn't know me, having not seen me in decades. In the end, I was a far stronger person that he ever will be. The situation is resolved now, not to my satisfaction, but the young mother is safe. Still, a part of me wants to hurt this guy in ways that are unimaginable, and put him through the same pain he did me. I had to force myself to forgive him, and to much lesser degree to forgive her for believing him.

There are many other situations like that one in the past in which I found it hard to forgive the people involved. Somehow though, I found the strength to forgive, and it does take strength to forgive someone.  It is far easier to brood over some wrong done you, to plot revenge, sometimes even act on it. If someone is saying bad things about you, then it is so much easier to say bad things about them, than to just forgive them and move on. Forgiveness means controlling one's feelings, thoughts, and actions. And that is why it takes strength to forgive. It is not easy to forgive. It goes against human instinct which is to fight back.

Jesus was very clear on forgiving others. Indeed, we can not expect to be forgiven by him without forgiving others. This from the Lord's Prayer:

"And forgive us our tresspasses, as we also have forgiven our trespassers (Matthew 6:12)"

He had much else to say about forgiveness:

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15)."

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? “Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times (Mathew 18: 21-22)"

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven (Luke 6:37)"

These are only three of the many, many passages on forgiveness in the Bible. If we are to expect to go to Heaven, we must forgive. But forgiving has its benefits in this world too. Forgiving others actually makes us experience less anxiety, hostility, and depression as well as lowers our blood pressure, and improves our immune system according to some studies. As for myself, I will probably have to struggle with forgiveness the rest of my life. Luckily, it is not in my nature to be a vindictive person anyway. Whatever, bad habits of not forgiving I picked up were while I was pagan. But I will forever have to guard against not forgiving others. As a Christian I must forgive! The Bible tells me so.

My (Second) Baptism

Yesterday, Sunday, July 29, 2018 I was baptized for the second time, this time as an adult knowing what I was in for. A little story here, I was baptized by sprinkling at age nine into the New Hope United Methodist Church. It was a little country church in a community known as Fort Henry about five miles west of Huntsville, MO. I went through confirmation classes, and for the next 15 years I was a Christian. I taught Sunday School, and at one point as a teen I thought about being a minister. But after high school I drifted away, but remained a Believer. But then amongst the worst things that can happen to a young man that is just starting out happened, my father died after a four year bought of cancer. I turned on God and the Church. In three years I was pagan, and years later I became a writer of pagan books. But God had a plan, slowly he showed me the flaws of what I believed, and guided me back to Christ. The turning point came while I was writing on ethics, and it occured to me that the Great Commandment and the Golden Rule were the answer to all my problems.

I started attending Church again. My own Church had closed years before so I attended Huntsville United Methodist Church. I knew most everyone there as I had grown up around them and was warmly welcomed. I never spoke a word of my pagan past. Then at my first Communion after returning to the Church, I accepted in my mind Jesus Christ as my Savior. I continued attending Church and slowly opened up about my life of idolatry. No one batted an eye, I was accepted with love and kindness. I was asked to be on the Admin Council. I hardly missed a Sunday. When Reverend Mike White became our pastor he preached often about the importance of baptism. One Sunday after Church I mentioned being baptized again. Rev. Mike is well awake of my pagan past, and was at the time, and said he thought given my past it would be a good idea.

And that brings us to yesterday. It started out as any Sunday, save I slept later than usual. I got up and prepared for Church. I came early as I had promised Matt, who usually runs the video screens I would do it to give him a break. That way he could for once sit and enjoy the service and not fret about getting the right hymn on the screens, It was Communion Sunday, my favorite service of the Ordinary Days ( a time when there are no major Church holidays). I went through the service doing my "job" and took Communion. After Church I ran to Dollar General after relaxing at home a bit, and then to Walmart to pick up some things, and finally to Taco Bell to grab something to eat. Once home, I composed a letter to a friend which I still have not decided whether to send as it is a touchy issue. And then fearing I would be late, I left for Rev, Mike and his wife Linda's beautiful home on Lake Nehai northwest of Salisbury, Mo. I made it there with time to spare, and slowly members of my Church family showed up.

Then the time arrived for the rites to begin. Another church member, Diane was also getting baptized, so it was quite an event for the church, Rev. Mike gave a short sermon on baptism, we sang hymns, and then Diane and I went out in the lake with Rev. Mike to be baptized. The water was at first cold, and I am no fan of water not being a good swimmer. Rev. Mike baptized me first. He had me cross my arms, inhale, and hold my noise. And then he plunged me underwater. Usually I close my eyes under water, but I left them open, and the feeling was exhilarating. I came up and had the most amazing feeling. It was not just the rush of the water, but the feeling I had been cleansed of my sins. It was am amazing feeling after a year of dealing with a whole host of problems ranging from rumors about my pagan past among other things, a prostate infection, a brief return to drinking, and trying to withdraw from an addictive prescription medication. All that along with issues among my circle of friends had brought bitterness, and some hatred or those that had wronged me. Now, though I was able to let that go. It was God that helped me make it through all of that, and now God had brought it full circle, and brought me back at last to Christ.

I feel like a new man. It has been a long process. I went from being a struggling writer to having a descent job since I returned to the Church. My family is healthy and doing better than they have. My circle of friends is smaller, but a much happier circle. All this I owe to God, and my choice to return to Christ. If you are a Believer, and have never been baptized, I strongly encourage you to do so. It is a life changer.