Tag Archives: Sin

Message In A Minute: Get Rid of It

One summer, my wife and I, along with a few great adult leaders, took a group of teens to a summer convention in Denver, Colorado.

In this group of amazing young people was a young boy who simultaneously frustrated and inspired us.

This boy rarely ever seemed like he was listening to a lesson, but would be able to repeat back everything you said with an almost perfect display of comprehension. He would goof-off in some crazy ways. On this trip to Denver for example, he wore a “Joe Dirt” mullet wig almost 24 hours a day. But to balance out things like this, a few times he would quietly get tissues for other teens who were emotionally moved at the end of a lesson or devotion.

He is an awesome man today, we never doubted that, but it is nice to see the wig has been retired.

On the first day of the trip, the whole group stopped to get something to eat at an area restaurant. This particular young man didn’t finish his chicken strips, so he got a “to-go” container, placed the chicken in it and brought it with him. He placed the container of chicken strips under the bench seat in the rental van. Where it stayed.

For days!

The young man forgot about the chicken, the rest of us never knew the chicken was in the van.

Until around day 4 of the trip, there was an awful smell. We tried to air the van out, we searched for the source of the offensive odor in the seats and in the front of the van. By day 5 the smell was unbearable, the whole group was suffering from the mysterious cloud of spoiled chicken.

Once we found out the cause, we disposed of the chicken and we all were relieved. And I think this young man was kind of proud that he had pulled off an inadvertent prank on the group.

I’ve used this story as an example for years, when speaking about properly dealing with issues in our lives.

An unresolved issue in your life tends to linger and remind you of its presence. Make sure you deal with bitterness, lack of forgiveness, or regret in the right way as soon as you can.

Get that garbage out of your life. Or you may end up with an offensive reminder.

A fowl issue can turn into a foul odor rather quickly.

-Tom Wise

Message In A Minute: Check Your Distance

In my early twenties, I went on a beach vacation in South Carolina.

I had one of those cheap inflatable rafts out in the ocean. Even though I was on the raft, I always kept relatively close to the shore, just beyond the breaking point of the waves. I never wanted to be out further than where I was able to stand with my head above the water.

My raft started losing air, at first I didn’t notice. When I finally noticed it, I didn’t think it was such a big deal, I looked for the nozzle so I could fill the raft with more air. It wasn’t working, the raft began to lose air rapidly. But while I was trying to manage the small issue with the raft, I neglected to sense the bigger issue I would soon have to deal with.

While all this was going on, I was slowly being pulled away from the shore. When it became obvious that I was way too far out, I began to panic. The raft quickly became a deterrent instead of a help. I couldn’t touch the ocean floor, I could now feel the power of the riptide, and I started swimming as hard as I could, leaving the deflated raft behind.

I was doing all I could physically, but despite my effort I was drifting further out. I was absolutely terrified. Fortunately I had heard in a situation like that to swim parallel to the shore until I was out of the riptide. I did that, and when I finally made it to shore I laid on the sand for a long time. I was physically exhausted.

That personal incident reminds me of this famous truth from Ravi Zaccharias

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

The word “sin” may be a mystery to you, maybe it’s been defined by people you don’t trust. In some cases, it’s been purposely redefined by popular opinion. In its totality, sin is more like an underlying condition with byproducts that we label sinful, and it’s a deeper problem than we can cover here. But for our purpose you could substitute bad choices, selfishness, or willful mistakes for the word sin and Mr. Zaccharias’ principle still holds true.

Like a riptide, sin (or our substitute words) will pull us away from where we want to be. It will keep us away from better things, and cause us to pay a price we never see coming.

Many people assume the Bible gives us guidelines to take away our freedom or fun. But actually God establishes boundaries for life to protect us from awful consequences. If you aren’t a believer, I imagine you can still see the wisdom in staying away from destructive behavior.

The good news is we aren’t defined by our destructive behaviors, our addictions, or our bad choices. Even though we have the propensity to go astray, God calls us His children. He offers love, mercy, and forgiveness to all of us.

It’s healthy to check your distance from the shore every once in a while.

Don’t let anything pull you away from all the good God has for you.

-Tom Wise

CONFESS YOUR SINS WITH HUMILITY | THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON

Photo by Liane Metzler on Unsplash

Once again, we need to be mindful that this parable is the third in series of stories, that Jesus began to teach, in response to the scribes and Pharisees grumbling, because He was spending time with “those sinners.”

The Prodigal Son

11 And He said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. 13 And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. 14 Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 17 But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ 20 So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

25 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. 29 But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

– Matthew 11:15-32

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DO YOU TAKE SIN SERIOUSLY?

AN UNEXPECTED DANGER

On Wednesday, October 4, 2014 an Athens County Sheriff pulled up on the scene of four dead deer along the highway. At first he believed that the deer had been hit by oncoming traffic, but upon further inspection he found no blood, no torn fur, or any damage of any kind. The only conclusion he could come to was that the deer had jumped to their death from the overpass that crossed the highway.

It seems that the deer had ventured out onto the freeway as they often do without any concern for the possible dangers. The deer probably journeyed a little ways down the highway until they made their way to the overpass. It was then that they most likely encountered an oncoming vehicle that startled them. In their haste to escape the sudden danger the deer leaped over the rail and plunged to their death. In essence they jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Continue reading →