Jump Start # 999

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

  The forces of evil never quit. They never give up. They push and push until they get their way. The latest victim is Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty fame. He has been suspended from the show because of comments he made against homosexuality in an interview for GQ magazine. I feel that he was set up. There are certain topics that are sure to get the wrath of the godless society and intolerance of homosexuality is near the top of that list. I am a huge Duck fan. I like how every show ends with the family praying. I’m certain the forces of darkness hate that. A & E, the station that televises Duck Dynasty are in a tough spot. They are liberal toward the homosexual community however the Duck show is the # 1 cable show. It’s a huge cash cow for them.

It will be interesting to see if stores drop the Duck merchandise because of Phil’s comments. Have you noticed how much Duck Dynasty items are available? Think of just about anything and you will find a Duck Dynasty version of it. Grocery stores, hardware stores, Walmart, and up scale stores all sell Duck stuff. Right before Christmas, how interesting and what a dilemma this puts stores in. Paula Deen was dropped immediately because of racial remarks. What will they do with the Duck man?

All of this hoopla gives us a few things to talk about.

First, we are engaged in a spiritual battle. It’s time folks on God’s side woke up and realized this. Things are not getting better, they are getting worse. More and more people are intolerant of what God says. They will tolerate sin. They will tolerate judging from their side of the street, but they sure can’t accept it from the other side. These high profile stories will trickle down to people not being hired because of their views against homosexuality. The courts will continue to force the acceptance of homosexuality. Gay couples will push churches to accept them, have their weddings there and become silent about what they do. This is a battle. All wars are ugly, costly and good people get hurt. It’s time to put your helmet on, take up your sword and stand up, stand up for Jesus.

Second, Yeah to Phil Robertson for sticking with his beliefs and stating that homosexuality is sinful. His words were graphic and blunt, but that’s Phil. We need more to do the same. Don’t water down what God says. Don’t apologize for what God says. Believe. Stand up. Speak out. The world wants to change God and the Bible. God wants the world to change. God will win. Let us not be ashamed. Now, in doing this, don’t be a jerk. Don’t be rude or ugly. Don’t be mean. Don’t be hateful. God wants and we should want all to come to Christ and be saved. God hates sin. God wants all to repent and come to Him. Using off color, derogatory words and declaring that any who differ with us ought to go to Hell is not the language of the Bible. We do not represent God when we act like idiots. We do not build a strong case, nor convince others when we act like idiots. Correct with gentleness is the theme of the N.T.

Third, Some who claim to know what God says really do not. The president of GLADD, which is the official homosexual movement made a dumb reply to what Phil Robertson said. He claimed that Phil’s words were out of line with Christians. He went on to state that Christians accept homosexuality. The problem is too many churches have caved in and sold out to this movement. They lack backbone and conviction. Gay ministers fill mainline denominations. Their twisted and distorted mind lacks Biblical understanding. In Romans, homosexuality is called degrading, unnatural, indecent and wrong. The world sees the church as weak and voiceless and the puppet to the wishes of a sinful society. Put enough pressure on and most churches change. How sad that is. They would rather stand behind sinful behavior than stand with the Holy God. We need to speak accurately and fairly what God says. The world is quick to declare, “God loves.” He does. He doesn’t love disrespect nor rebellion. He doesn’t love sin. God loves. Do we? Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” You don’t hear Mr. GLADD saying that. He must have got a few pages stuck together when he read the Bible. God loves. God wants people to obey Him. Those are not opposites. They go together. Accepting what God declares is wrong, is wrong.

Finally, few things ever return to the way they were. We live in dark days. Many of us long for the innocence of days gone by. They are truly “gone by.” People don’t want that. We must never tire in standing for what God says. Some day this battle will be over. We are one day closer to Heaven.

I have written a Jump Start booklet about same sex marriage. I believe we are not in the position to define marriage, God is. We start with the wrong step when we think we can redefine what God has defined. We do not have that right. If you would like a copy, email me (rogshouse@aol.com).

We are the light of the world. That light seems to shine brighter and brighter as the world gets darker and darker. Let us never call good evil and evil good!

Roger

Jump Start # 804

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

Long ago, God saw that there were people in His nation that that abandoned Him. They were doing things their way and they were determined to influence others to go along with them. There is a series of woes strung together in Isaiah five that shows that God is aware of what these people were doing and that He was going to bring doom upon them. Whenever God declares, “Woe,” you can be certain that someone is in big trouble.

Our passage today, over 2500 years old, is fitting for our times. Look at the beer commercials on TV. Everyone is laughing, dancing, having a great time. Fun, fun, fun. They don’t show the guy throwing up because he was so drunk. They don’t show the guy pulled over for drunk driving. They don’t show the kids running from daddy because he’s dunk and abusive again. Good and evil have been switched. Light has been exchanged for darkness.

It’s not just beer commercials, it’s the thinking of society when God has been removed. There is no moral compass. Right and wrong become fuzzy. There is no standard. There is no voice calling for reason and righteousness. Wild and dumb ideas surface and take hold of people.

Look at any major college campus today. Students on the weekend act as if they have zero brains in their heads. Professors push liberal ideology that has not been proven and squash all thoughts that God exists. Young minds are twisted into thinking that dark is light, wrong is right. They leave those schools and become influencers themselves. More and more accept the idea that wrong is right and dark is light. A generation lives without any moral compass or godly reason.

Isaiah’s woes have become America’s problem. The substituting of wrong for right opens the door for the pleasures of sin. There is more to that. It breeds selfishness. It tramples hope, peace and joy. Depression, divorce, addictions, loneliness and emptiness fill vacant lives that are surrounded by stuff but have no purpose or meaning. And then the greatest fear of all, these lives some day come to a crashing halt. Death comes. Death always comes. What then. The fun, fun, fun is gone. The smiles that the beer brought are gone. The liberal teaching of the universities are realized, they have never believed in life after death and especially God. Now what? What a pitiful life. What an empty experience. What a defeated way. What fear takes hold of them. They want to believe but they don’t know what to believe. Empty, shallow existence is the greatest woe of all.

Is it any wonder that the prophet pronounced, “Woe.” It is woe. It’s not wonderful. It’s not getting better and better. It’s not a life to be envied or followed. It’s shallow. It’s superficial. It’s like the chocolate Easter bunny in stores. They look nice on the outside, but once you take a bite, you realize that they are hollow. There’s nothing on the inside. Woe is such a life. Woe is the destiny of such lives. Woe.

What’s the answer? What will change these things? What is the hope? The answer is back to God. It’s the only answer. Some have been tricked by churches who have given into this shallow and superficial way. They are convinced that people will not come unless you give them what they want. So worship has turned from being pointed toward God to pleasing a crowd that is just vaguely interested in God. Take away the rock and roll in churches. Shut down the coffee shops in churches. Do away with the plays and the concert atmosphere and do so old fashion Bible preaching and see what happens. Attendance will drop dramatically. Why? Shallow, superficial people are interested only in fun. Don’t talk about sin. Don’t mention temptation. Do away with accountability. Allow members to drink like the world does. Allow members to ignore God’s word. Change the focus from Heaven to here. Churches will do your taxes, walk your dog, wash your car, give you a cup of coffee, make you laugh, make you dance, but fail to tell you what will save you and keep you righteous. Has light and darkness been switched, even by churches? Has wrong been substituted for right?

The answer has always been the same, back to God. Back to God’s word. Back to God’s way.  Darkness needs to be exposed for what it is—darkness. Light needs to be shone. Light needs to be visible so all can see. Good needs to be upheld. Evil needs to be denounced. Call evil evil. Call darkness darkness. Show people what is right. Stand behind God. Stand with God. Those that mock goodness, woe to you. Those that substitute God’s ways for Satan’s way, woe to you. Those who hide behind elitism and arrogance, woe to you.

Back to God. Back to God’s ways. Back to righteousness, hope, love, joy and Heaven. Back. That is way! The way forward is back to God. Are you willing to go God’s way?

Roger

Jump Start # 650

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”

Our passage is taken from a series of several woes that God speaks upon Israel. The nation was a mess. Righteousness had been discarded and God had been replaced with idol worship. The idol brought to the nation a visible, tangible and manufactured god which was more to their liking. Jehovah was invisible. The idol stood before their eyes. The process of making this exchange, as it always does, included tossing out God’s word and substituting their own ways.

The woes found in our verse today are very revealing. They sound as if they were written just yesterday. Modern times are not so modern when we look at this verse. It shows that people had things twisted and backwards. They did not know what was right nor wrong. Things are no different today. To stand where God stands today is to be considered offensive and not accepting. The pleas to accept abortion, homosexuality and immorality as normal lifestyles is nothing more than calling evil good. There is no way around this. It has gotten so bad that liberal theology has made very loose interpretations of Scriptures and blasphemous claims about Christ. Why? Did good solid Bible study lead to these conclusions? Of course not. No way. It came from wanting to justify an immoral agenda that the Bible condemns. Rather than change the people, they want to change the messenge. In the process of all of this, they aggressively denounce anyone that does not accept their thinking.

Indeed some things never change. It was tough in Isaiah’s days and it’s tough in our days. Calling evil good does not make it good. Voting on legislation to make evil an acceptable law does not make it good. God is the one who defines what is good and what is evil. That cannot be changed.

The underling problem in Isaiah’s day, as it is today, is a lack of belief in the God of Heaven. Folks may be religious but they do not believe in the God of the Bible. If they did, they would understand that He has all authority and no one can change what He says. NO ONE. Churches that waste time voting on by laws, amending rules and having delegates and committees about the regulations and rules of the church simply don’t get it. None of that is necessary. None of that can be. God has ruled. God has stated. There is no changing, improving, or updating what God has said.

It seems that those who want to make evil good out number God’s people. They seem very vocal and pushy. They have little respect for anyone that objects. God’s people must stand their ground. They must stand with God. They must refuse to call evil good. Evil is not good. Evil is of the devil. Evil hurts, divides and enslaves man to all kinds of problems. Freedom is in Christ. It is in Christ that we have hope, future, and forgiveness. There comes a time when the people of God must be heard. This is not a call to be rude, mean, offensive nor violent. Never. Remaining silent can seem to be acceptaning, going along, or being a coward. The three Jewish boys in Daniel three refused to bow to the king and the nation. They faced serious consequences, but they would not go along.

Modern times have developed nice and pleasant terms for sin. Alternative lifestyle is like a menu item at a restaurant. It’s not. It’s calling evil good. God calls homosexuality unnatural, indecent, sinful yet forgivable. It is a behavioral problem that can be stopped and repented of. The Corinthians show that. They somehow did it without exit groups, intense counseling, or a ton of books on the subject. They had the Gospel and the desire to be right with God. It’s not the same as eye color or height. You can tell a tall guy to stop being so tall, but he can’t do anything about it. Homosexuality is not like that. Don’t buy the hype that a person can’t help it. The next natural argument is that a child molester can’t help it. Society already accepts that a drunk can’t help it. Can a thief help it? Can any sinner help it? Are we being pulled into the gospel of calling evil good? First, evil is tolerated. Next, it is accepted. Then it is called good. Finally, it replaces what is truly good. It’s happening right before our eyes. Do you see it?

Sin, any sin, can be stopped. It can be forgiven. A person can live a righteous life. God wants that.

The one part of our verse today that we have not mentioned is how it begins: Woe to those…God is warning those who are trying to make evil good that they are in trouble. Woes are not a good thing. When God says “Woe,” look out. God didn’t like it then and He doesn’t like it today. It is wrong to call evil good. What God has declared to be sinful is sinful.

There are layers of powerful lessons all connected here—the most important one is about God. There are some things that are just plain wrong because God said so. Doing them makes me wrong. I can be right, but I must stop doing what God calls wrong.

It’s simply, that simple.

Roger