Are You Merciful? Is Your Mercy Biblical?

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Mercy is a wonderful quality, commanded by God, demonstrated by Him in its utmost degree, and lauded by humanity.

But like every good thing, mercy can lose its power for good when it's wrested from its Biblical moorings.  So I must ask:

Is your mercy biblical?

There's a certain logic to biblical mercy, and since lots of folks like bullet-points, I'll use them here to show the flow of that logic.

• Basic Tenet of the historical Christian faith:  Christ saves only those who come to Him in faith and repentance.  
• Therefore, merciful Christians want to lead people to repentance and faith in Christ.  And, since they themselves also came to Christ in faith and repentance, and not with any merit of their own, they can (and must) lead others humbly.  Sinner to sinner.
• Therefore, merciful Christians cannot celebrate sin, for salvation is impossible without repentance, and sin cannot be both celebrated and repented of.  "Love does not rejoice in sin" (1 Corinthians 13:6).  The non-biblical "mercy" that celebrates sin may make life more comfortable in some respects, but it merely pads the seats on the Titanic.  The disaster is coming, with inevitably tragic losses to those on board.  The biblically-merciful Christian loves and warns and pleads in the face of sin.  He does not, cannot celebrate it.
• Biblically-merciful Christians know that every sinner's greatest need is the Gospel...the same Gospel that saved his own sinful soul.  While he doesn't hesitate to call any sin "sin," he refuses to make any peripheral sin the focus.  The biblically-merciful Christian learns from the example of the Apostle Paul, who encountered in ancient Corinth a moral atmosphere worse than our own.  And yet Paul was determined to meet that immoral culture with the Gospel alone (1 Co. 2:2).  When some Corinthians repented of their rebellion against God and received the Holy Spirit, then they began to change from the inside-out (See 1 Co. 6:9-11, especially noting v.11).  So the biblically-merciful Christian is Gospel focused.

So please, Christian, check your heart.  

• Are you calling your mercy "biblical" but undercutting others' hope for salvation by hiding their need for repentance?
• Which do you value more:  lost souls or cultural power?  In other words, are you more excited about evangelism, or about "winning our country back"?
• Do you value lost souls more than personal comfort?  Do you grieve for the lost souls in the gay pride parade as they glory in their shame...or do you grieve more for yourself that you have to see it?

May I humbly suggest that, if you and I don't value the souls more than our power and comfort, then we'd better not open our mouths on moral issues until we repent.  We won't be qualified unless we repent, and we'll do the Kingdom and our lost neighbors more harm than good.

When You Know the Ship Will Wreck

Photo by Petcook

When you know the ship will wreck...and you warn people...and they don't listen...what do you do?  Especially if they drag you into their mess despite your warnings?

And what if, in the midst of their mess that they dragged you into, you've been promised a personal just-for-you rescue...what do you do then?

Shipwrecks are a good topic in election years.  They're a good topic for Christians at any time, because we can always look around and see the world getting into messes that Scripture warned them against.  Often times we've added our voices to the warning cry of Scripture, and have been mocked and vilified for it.  And yet we know that, when the world gets itself into the very messes that Scripture foretold, they will blame God for it (Pr 19:3).  And, to make matters worse, the messes they make often spill over into our lives.

Now, it's not as if our lives were mess-free.  We have our own, for certain.  And that makes it even easier to resent the messes that others dump in our laps.  We don't need theirs on top of ours, do we?

Or do we?

What is a Christian to do?

If the world were to judge by American Christianity, it might conclude that the Christian response to an impending shipwreck is to sit back with arms folded, hollering warnings with an air of disdain for the fools that we know won't listen, and secretly gloating over the disasters that come.

In many cases they'd have good reason to feel that way about us.  Admit it.  Don't many of us just love mocking the fools who voted for the wrong guy, even while we resent the way the wrong guy messed up the country we live in?  Don't many of us just love "writing off" this group or that group whose sins finally got them what they deserve?  If you've been around long enough, you can remember how many Christians gloated over AIDS when it first appeared.

Ugly, isn't it?  And anything but Christlike.

When you throw in the belief in a promised "just-for-you" rescue, the so-called "Christian" response tends to become even uglier.  The attitude I see far too often (and used to embrace wholeheartedly myself) is a contemptuous sneer that says, "Fine, go to Hell and take the world with you.  What do I care?  I'm getting raptured out of here.  You're going to get what you deserve, and I'm glad."

Well, if that's not the right response (and assuredly it's not!), then what is?  Does Scripture give us a picture?

It certainly does, in many places, most clearly in the face of Christ Himself.  But the picture I want to paint for you today is from the Apostle Paul in Acts 27.

He was a prisoner in chains, bound for trial in Rome.  He had no choice but to get on that ship... a ship that he knew would wreck.  He'd been divinely warned, and he had warned those in authority.  But they wouldn't listen.  (Acts 27:10-11).

Sound familiar?

On top of that, Paul had a divine promise of personal survival.  In Acts 23:11, God encouraged Paul that he must not fear, because he was going to give his testimony in Rome.  Sort-of like a "Rapture clause," if you think about it.  The ship might wreck, and everybody else might die for all he knew, but he was going to make it to Rome somehow.

But the trip sure wasn't going to be pleasant for him.  Listen to the description by the physician named Luke (Paul's traveling companion, fellow apostle,  and the author of the biblical Books of Luke and Acts):

14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 

15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 

16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat. 

17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. 

18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 

19 And on the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 

20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

Yeah, just reading it makes me queasy.  And Paul was here through no fault of his own.

So, naturally, he hunkered down in the storm.  He spewed hatred on the fools who hadn't listened to his warning, because it was their fault that he was reeling and puking along with them for days on end. He spewed hatred on the religious and political systems that had chained him on this ship in the first place.  And he prayed for his personal rescue to come get him off that ship as soon as possible, so that he could be comfy while the others perished as they deserved.  Right?

If you know your Bible at all, and if you know what Christlikeness looks like, then you know that he did the exact opposite.  Let's pick up Luke's narration again.

21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, "Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss.

22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship.

24 and he said, "Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar.  And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you."

25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

26 But we must run aground on some island..."

33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing.

34 Therefore I urge you to take some food.  For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you."

35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat.

36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.

Think this through, and you’ll know how to respond to the impending shipwreck of our nation, or of that person who ignored your warning.

First – with honesty, but not spitefulness.  Paul did point out how it all began, but not to say “Nyah.”  Rather, he wanted to point people to the wisdom of listening to God.  He was always a soul-winner.

Second – with selfless, persistent prayer.  Notice the angel’s words.  “God has granted you all those who sail with you.”  The word “granted” indicates a kindness bestowed on someone who requests it.  Paul had not been content to get “raptured” off of that ship.  He prayed heartfelt prayers for the lives of everyone on board. And he prayed this persistently through two weeks...two WEEKS of tempest-tossed, vomit soaked, hungry, thirsty misery.

Third – with encouragement in the promises of God.  Unlike Jonah, who hated seeing God’s mercy extended to the wicked Ninevites, Paul was happy to give the good news of God’s grace to his shipmates.

Fourth – With personal hopefulness.  He ate.  And he shared food, even though the supplies had mostly been jettisoned.  No selfish hoarding here.  No siege mentality.  His faith was generous, contagious, uplifting.

If you read the rest of the story, you’ll see that Paul gained great credibility through all of this.  And after the wreck, God used Paul to perform miracles of healing for the natives on the island where they had run aground.  Because of this, the gospel continued to spread.

Do you suppose that God would have worked as many miracles and advanced the gospel so well through an unrepentantly self-centered, hateful jerk who just wanted to get out and let the others drown?  What about through a Gloomy Gus who sees nothing but disaster, and can't serve anyone because his hands are too busy pointing at people?  Paul’s faith made him available to move mountains.

Do I really need to say more?

One last thought from Acts 27, but from a slightly different angle.  If you've been reading my blog lately, you'll know that God has laid it on my heart to pray daily for my neighborhood.  And not just little, generic prayers, but bold prayers for the whole neighborhood to be saved, to become part of The Kingdom, and more.

This morning, as I looked out my front door and looked over the various houses to pray for them, the thought came to me.  C'mon, Betsy, do you really think that could possibly happen?  A whole neighborhood, for Pete's sake?

And that’s when the Spirit brought Acts 27 to mind for today. 

24 “God has granted you all those who sail with you."

37 (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) 

I haven’t received any such promises from God.  But I know that He CAN save them all, and more, in response to prayer.  So why in Heaven’s name wouldn't I ask in faith and hope and love?  Why wouldn't I offer my neighbors truth...not spitefully, but in loving hope that they will turn to the One who is Truth?  Why wouldn't I have the kind of hope and encouragement that are contagious (See 1 Peter 3:15)?

Why wouldn't you?

If You're Only Going to Sing One Note, Make it the Right One!

It's not about "gay rights."

It's not about abortion.

It's not about religious liberty.

It's not about the Constitution.

Don't get me wrong.  All of those issues are very important, even extremely important.  But if we make them the focus, then we can lose the war even while winning battles.

So what is it about?

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

on earth as it is in Heaven.

Luke 6:10

He is patient with you,
not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9

That at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth,

and every tongue confess 

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the father.

Php 2:10-11

Make no mistake about it, no matter how many arguments you can win, or how many people you can convince regarding hot-button topics, you will not lead a soul to Christ unless you take him or her to the heart of the matter.

And the heart of the matter is simply this:

Jesus Christ is Lord, and I am not. 

My sin separated me from God,

but Jesus died to save me from my sin,

bring me back to God,

and begin the lifelong process

of changing me into

the image of Christ,

and bringing me into

glad submission

to His will for my life.

All of humanity 

has the same problem

of alienation.

And all of humanity

is offered salvation

only through 

repentance and faith

in Christ.

If we seek to change people's minds about issues, and not change their mind about Christ, then we are not going to win any wars for the Kingdom.  Don't get me wrong...we may accomplish wonderful things that may matter for eternity.  Seeds may be planted that will bring someone to Christ later.  An unborn child may be saved and allowed to survive to birth, and may later find new birth.

I don't want to discourage anyone from pursuing Kingdom-related purposes regarding major issues, just because they're not able to witness to everyone they encounter.  But I do beg of you to remember what the biggest issue really is, and to prayerfully seek opportunities to reach people for Christ with the spoken Gospel wherever possible.

If people repent, confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and begin by His indwelling Spirit to bring all of their lives into glad submission to Him, the controversial issues will necessarily begin to look different to them.  When they see Him as Lord over everything...

• Their sexuality (how it was created, how it may be expressed)
• Their reproductive abilities
• Their obligations to their Creator
• Their obligations to their fellow man
• Their eating
• Their drinking
• Their playing
• Their working
• Everything else

...how could their lives not be changed?

Look at that list above.  Are you starting to squirm?  Am I stepping on toes?  I hope so, because mine are a bit sore.

If Christ's Lordship over ALL of life is really the issue, then we've got a lot more repenting and submitting to do, don't we?  We can't approach our neighbor with a haughty spirit when we look at that list.

And you can be sure, Jesus Christ does intend for His Lordship to extend over all of these intimate details of life, and more (1 Co 10:31, Col 3:17).

In my last entry, I pointed out that we often misinterpret what we see as "losing," even when it's not.  But is it possible that we've also misinterpreted "winning?"

Did we think we were winning when sexual perversion, pornography, etc were in the closet and we could ignore them?  Jesus didn't.  He looked at us ignoring our lost neighbors, and He grieved angrily over the fact that we were content to see neighbors go to hell as long as they kept their lifestyle out of our faces.  Maybe one reason He has allowed the homosexual agenda to gain such power, and to be so "in our face," is because we've been such losers.  We've failed to genuinely love.  

God forgive us!  Now we can see our neighbors more clearly. 

Help us to love them to You.

What about our lost "straight" neighbors?  Are we content with their lostness because their particular brand of sinfulness doesn't offend us as much?  Do we care for our neighbors with eternity always in view?  Do we see their sin as no better or worse than our own?

Will we consider the abortion battle "won" if we get Roe v Wade repealed?  It won't be won that way.  Even if we get the law changed, the battle is still lost in every heart that insists on abusing God's good gift of procreation.  It will also be lost as long as we love "winning the war" more than we love those who oppose us in it.

Will we kid ourselves that the battles are won "out there" if they haven't been won in our hearts?  What if the morality battles, the abortion battles, and the Constitutional battles INCLUDE the battle to love our enemies in the face of these issues?  

What do we expect to hear when we stand before the One who died for sinners?  "Congratulations, you hated all the right people?"  I think not.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  

If Christ is your greatest good, then Christ is your neighbors' greatest good, too.  Love Him, and love them.  Serve Him, and serve them.  Speak the truth about Him to them.  

Let me sing my one note again.  DON'T MAJOR on the other issues, because you will never save a soul by changing a behavior.  Lead people to Christ, and the behaviors will take care of themselves.

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Photo by Kristina R

On Fear, Anger, and Loving our Neighbor

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Fear is infuriating.  I hate it.

Nothing makes me angrier.

I don't want to live with you if I'm afraid of you.  I don't want to live in your neighborhood, or in your country.

I cannot love you if I fear you.  To the extent that I fear you, I can only hate you.  Any love I may be able to muster will stop at the boundary of fear and go no further.

Jesus has commanded me to love my neighbor, even if he's my enemy.  If I cannot love what I fear, then I have to work on my fear, don't I?

Jesus, in fact, commanded me to do just that.

“I tell you, my friends, 

do not fear those who kill the body,

and after that have nothing more that they can do.  

Luke 12:4 (ESV)

"Do not fear."  It is the most frequently written command in all of Scripture.  

And yet, at the same time, those same Scriptures never whitewash the horrific effects of sin and the damage it can do.  At no time does He say, "Do not fear, because they're really not so bad."  Look again at how He defines those whom we are not to fear in the verse above.

"Those who kill the body."  

He doesn't say, "Don't worry, they won't really kill you."  They will.  At least in some situations, they will.  So why and how are we not to fear them?

The first and most obvious answer to "Why" is, of course, the reason found in the end of the verse above.  "...and after that have nothing more that they can do."  They can only touch our bodies, not our souls.  But that's not our focus here.

The first and most obvious answer to "How" is also not the one I'm going to focus on, though I will tell you that it's based on the verse that follows the one above.

But I will warn you whom to fear:

fear him who, after he has killed,

has authority to cast into hell.

Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Luke 12:5 (ESV)

As I said, I'm not going to focus on that reason.  But suffice it to say, a proper fear of God can help deliver us from the fear of lesser things.

My goal here is also not to focus on deliverance from fear as an end in itself.  We all want to be free from fear, and there's nothing particularly praiseworthy about that fact. We've all seen fearless jerks who don't mind standing bravely and screaming their hatred with an attitude of, "I ain't afraid of you, cause you're gonna burn in hell, you scum!"  I trust that that's not who you want to be.

What I want is to be delivered from fear, to love.  And the verse that pushed this whole train of thought out of the depot this morning was this one:

For what shall it profit a man,

if he shall gain the whole world,

and lose his own soul?  

Luke 9:25

Few things scare me more than the sight of an "enemy victory."  I suspect that most Christians are the same way, because I see that fear propelling a lot of words and actions right now.  "They" look poised to win, and frankly, any honest assessment of the times can see that "they" will.  They will get what they want, and we will lose something precious, and things will never be the same.

And not only are we not to fear, but we are to love.  

If we say we believe in Jesus, then we'd better be straight on this.  No arguments.  Yes, hate the sin.  Yes, acknowledge all of the verses that speak of God's holy hatred, and those that speak of a believer's natural hatred.  But don't let any of those confuse you with regard to what Christ has clearly commanded you to do.

But I say to you,

Love your enemies

and pray for those who persecute you

Matthew 5:44 (ESV)

Even when they're "winning."  

In fact, if we're tempted to hate "them" more when they're winning, then we've proven that we don't even know what victory is.

Why?  Because there is no real victory outside of the Gospel of Christ.  It is through His death, burial, and resurrection on our behalf that we have our only victory over sin and death.  And those are the only victories that ultimately matter.

For what shall it profit a man,

if he shall gain the whole world,

and lose his own soul?  

Luke 9:25

We fear our enemies' temporary victories because we fear suffering, we fear having to live with the evil that we loathe, and we fear how a culture that worships evil will drag many souls to ultimate doom.  All perfectly understandable fears.

But darkness has never been able to extinguish light.  In fact, a tiny candle that will be unnoticeable in a bright room will look like a veritable star in a dark one.  If God has seen fit to withdraw His hand a bit and allow sin to flourish, it is so that sin may reveal its true ugliness, and so that His people may shine more brightly.  He's not losing here, folks.  Not at all.  Even if "they win."

If we are with Him, we cannot lose.  We know that, but what do we do with it?  Do we hold up a big "L" with our fingers over our foreheads and cop an attitude toward "Them," gloating that they're losers?  If so, we're losers too, because we've walked away from the Savior who loves His enemies and died to save them.

Who died to save us.  When we were his enemies.

Our enemies are losing.  Losing terribly.  Not just in spite of their victories, but because of them.  They are gaining the world at the cost of their souls. 

So we must not hate or fear them because of their "victories."  We must love them as Christ did...with a willingness to suffer as we love them, serve them, and speak the Gospel to them so that they might be saved.

NOT so that they might go back in the closet.  NOT so that they might agree with us on the definition of marriage, or on our right to Free Speech and Freedom of Religion.  So that they might be saved!

No one ever got saved by being a heterosexual.  No one ever got saved by being an anything except a repentant, blood-bought believer in Jesus Christ.  

No one will ever become a repentant believer in Jesus Christ unless the church shows the saving love of Christ to them.  

And no one will believe in His saving love if they see His people's neighboring hate.

As one who knows the victory of His love, you are commanded to share it with your enemies.  And as one who is guaranteed to win no matter what happens to you, you are free to share it without fear.

Offending People, Jesus-Style

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This morning I read a blog post by Al Mohler called, "The Osteen Moment – Your Own Moment Will Come Soon Enough." It discusses a recent televised interview in which Joel Osteen squirmed under Piers Morgan's relentless gaze. Piers had asked him the worst question you can ask a "Prosperity gospel" kind of preacher who craves public approval but still feels any allegiance whatsoever to the Bible. Piers asked, "Is homosexuality a sin?"

Dr. Mohler's blog entry pointed out that every one of us who claims biblical Christianity will get hit by that question soon enough. And it left me wondering how I should answer.

There's no question that homosexual activity is sinful and prohibited. The Bible makes that absolutely clear. The question is, how do we present that reality when challenged by the Piers Morgans of our world (or our homosexual next door neighbors, family members, or co-workers)?

Most of the time, we see only a few possibilities. We can evade the question altogether, we can couch it in the most squirmingly cowardly language, or we can barrel on ahead without caring about the feelings of those around us.

Given a choice in our culture, most of us would prefer not to offend. And yet, if we're true to our Bibles, we know that Jesus often chose to be offensive (Mat 15:12-14 , John 6:48-64 , just to name a few). And we know that Jesus did all things well, so it must be okay to offend, right?

Yet we've all met plenty of Christians who not only aren't afraid of offending, but who actually love it. They're arrogant, in-your-face, obnoxious people who give Christ a black eye even as they name His name. In our guts we know that they offend with a different spirit than the one with which our Savior offended people.

How will I answer that question when it comes to me? Most of us go round and round in our minds and end up coming to one conclusion.

I hope nobody asks me that.

Not exactly helpful.

Folks, we're sometimes going to have to offend people. There's no getting around it. The question is, how did Jesus offend people? If we're going to do it, we want to do it His way, right?

When it comes right down to it, Jesus offended people with the Gospel. Sometimes they were offended with the part of the Gospel that revolved around His Lordship. Sometimes they couldn't stomach the way He refused to be chained to their legalistic rules.

But if you boil it all down, the part about the Gospel that offended them most was this:

You are a sinner who needs a Savior, and I am that Savior.

When someone asks us, "Is such-and-such a sin?" and they're waiting with sharpened claws to rip us up as soon as we answer, we become very un-Christlike. We follow the rabbit trail, when Jesus would have gone straight to the heart. The offense of the Gospel does not revolve around whether or not such-and-such is a sin. It revolves around whether or not you and I are sinners.

Right now, homosexuality is the untouchable sin, the rallying point for those who can't bear the doctrine of sin at all. The world says, "Don't you DARE call it sin." To do so is political suicide.

Our Lord never got into politics. He got into hearts and souls. And this is where we lose our edge. We want to let people move the battleground to the arena of action only. The Gospel insists that the arena exists in a much deeper place.

The message of the Gospel is much more offensive than the fact that homosexual acts are sinful. The Gospel tells me that my BEST acts are sinful. That's why, of all the people in Israel in Jesus' day, no one hated Him more than the Pharisees, the religious leaders who were so sure of their own righteousness.

No matter what the question, don't get defensive. Go on the offense with the best offense the Gospel can offer. Because the best offense of the Gospel is one that you can't present arrogantly.

Here's what I hope I would say to Piers Morgan and all those who ask if homosexuality is a sin.

"Piers, you know what? I have something more offensive to say than that. What true Biblical Christianity teaches me is that sin is not just what a person does, it's who he is. Sin is part of my DNA. It infects everything I do, and not just the things that look bad. If I reach out my hand to give $5 to a homeless person, it was a sinful hand that gave the money, and a sinful heart that decided to do even that good act. The news of the Gospel is offensive not because it labels certain things as sins, but because it labels all of us as hopeless sinners in need of a Savior. Did you know that the Bible says that all of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags? That's all of the best things that you can do, Piers, and the best things that I can do. Filthy rags. That's why, though the word 'Gospel' means 'Good News,' it's only good news to people who are humble enough to look at themselves and say, "I am sinful and I need a Savior." The Gospel is the worst possible news, the most offensive news, to the proud person who wants to worship himself. God resists the proud. He gives His grace, His mercy, His forgiveness to the humble. So behind every heart that angrily asks, with fists clenched, 'Is such-and-such a sin?' lies a heart that is yelling at God, 'Don't you dare call ME a sinner.' But for those whose fists are unclenched, for those who see their own sinfulness and hate it, the Gospel is the best news of all, because it says, 'There is a Savior, and He came to earth and lived a perfect life and died a horrible death and rose from the dead to pay the price for all of my sin…ALL of it, no matter what that might look like when it's acted out. He came to die because of the sin that's in our DNA, that infects our very best acts and leaves us desperately lost. That's the Gospel. So don't waste my time with asking me, 'Is ______ (such-and-such) a sin?' No matter what you fill in the blank, the answer is the same. It's either an outright sin, or it's a good act that is still tainted with sin. We need the Savior because we are sinful to the core. All of us. I need the Savior…heterosexual, non-drinking, non-smoking, non-cussing, non-you-name-it me…I need the Savior. And Jesus Christ is that Savior. Those who believe that they are sinners, who know that they cannot impress a holy God, and who put their trust in Jesus to save them and forgive them and cleanse them and make them new, they are saved and forgiven and cleansed and made new because of His mercy. That's the message of true Christianity. And it's much more offensive than what you hoped I would say. Do you believe that you need the Savior, Piers?"

Quotables for 2/24/10

"A sermon 'zinger' used to encourage church plants instead of resuscitating old churches goes like this: 'It is easier to have a baby than to raise the dead!' Jesus, however, did only the latter. Evangelism is a bit more complicated than the sound bite conveys, simply because people are. Whether or not they are consciously aware of it, many non-Christians are seeking a deeper, ecclesial reality in their life, not a gospel that caters to their present one."

~ Matthew Milliner, "Attack of the Ugly Babies," Evangel

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“Never did the love of God reveal itself so clearly as when he laid down his life for his sheep, nor did the justice of God ever flame forth so conspicuously as when he would suffer in himself the curse for sin rather than sin should go unpunished, and the law should be dishonored. Every attribute of God was focused at the cross, and he that hath eyes to look through his tears, and see the wounds of Jesus, shall behold more of God there than a whole eternity of providence or an infinity of creation shall ever be able to reveal to him.”

~C.H. Spurgeon, quoted in Miscellanies.

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"If I were an unbeliever and I attended these [seeker-driven /purpose-driven] churches and listened to all their sermons week after week, how would I define the term "Christ Follower"?

Here's the answer I came up with after reviewing the sermons preached at these seeker-driven / purpose-driven churches over the last 24 months:

Christ Follower: Someone who has made the decision to be an emotionally well adjusted self-actualized risk taking leader who knows his purpose, lives a 'no regrets' life of significance, has overcome his fears, enjoys a healthy marriage with better than average sex, is an attentive parent, is celebrating recovery from all his hurts, habits and hang ups, practices Biblical stress relief techniques, is financially free from consumer debt, fosters emotionally healthy relationships with his peers, attends a weekly life group, volunteers regularly at church, tithes off the gross and has taken at least one humanitarian aid trip to a third world nation.

Based upon this summarized definition, I've come to the conclusion that the world is full of people who can fit this definition but who've never repented of their sins and trusted in Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins."

Chris Rosebrough (read the rest here.)

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I have decided to limit postings of "Quotables" to one day per week, to avoid the risk of becoming simply a compiler of other people's work to the exclusion of my own.  I deeply appreciate my readers, and ask for your prayer as I continue to try to find and follow God's direction in how I spend the time He gives me.

End Times Fatalism

Image by LuvataciousSkull via Flickr

I belong to a number of online Christian groups.  Someone recently posted an opinion on one of them, saying that people shouldn’t believe that the world is getting worse.  People should believe that the world is getting better, since the Bible ends optimistically.  He said that “end-times thinking” made people into fatalists who did not work for the kingdom.  I got the impression that he wanted Christians to stop looking at the foreboding “signs of the times” altogether.

Since I am quite tuned in to world events and how they fit with Bible prophecy, I had a few words to say on the subject, and I’ve expanded on them below.  I’d be interested to hear how others feel about this as well.  (Note:  I’m not asking for a debate about various eschatological views.  My point is whether or not we should be thinking about the end times and observing the signs at all.)

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The world is getting worse, and will continue to do so, until God steps in decisively and ushers in His kingdom.

Once He does that, of course everything will be incredibly better!  But humanity will not bring in the kingdom.  Humanity is marching lockstep towards all of the horrors of the book of Revelation which occur BEFORE God brings His kingdom to earth.

The problem is NOT that Christians recognize end-times events.  The problem is what Christians do with the knowledge they have.  Those who know that the end is rapidly approaching should be busy trying to win souls and fulfill whatever work God has given them to do.  That's what Jesus did (John 17:4), even though He knew that Calvary was inevitably coming.  He didn't sit in a corner and say, "Oh well, the end is coming, so I'll just pack my bags and wait for it."  He went about doing good, preaching the kingdom, and saving souls (Acts 10:38).

The Bible pronounces a blessing on those who "keep the words" of the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:3), and rebukes those who do not recognize the signs of the times (Matt. 16:3).  So we do not dare bury our heads in the sand about what is happening around us.  But you are right that too many people have become fatalists.  They forget that Jesus was no fatalist about the approach of His own personal apocalypse (Calvary).  Instead, He said, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work (John 9:4)."

If we are followers of Christ, we must walk as He walked.  We must work all the harder as we see the night approaching, knowing that Judgment Day follows, and people need to be ready (Heb. 10:25)!

One of the scariest things Jesus ever said is, “Out of your own mouth I will judge you” (Luke 19:22).  At least, it’s scary to me as a writer and generally wordy person.  It’s oh-so-much easier to say things than to do them!

How am I doing?  Is my end-times fascination influencing me to try to reach others more faithfully?  (That’s a rhetorical question.  I’m not asking for an answer.) 

It’s easy to hide behind my blog and say, “I’m really trying to reach people by what I write.”  That’s true, of course, and I’m not looking down on this ministry at all.  But I don’t think that God intended me to ignore the people around me…neighbors, store clerks, strangers on the street.  I’m not doing anything for their eternal souls, am I?

And yet, apart from having the Spirit move me toward a particular person (which He has done on rare occasions), how do I know who to talk to?  I’m not a street-corner evangelist.  Some (like Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort) are called to that sort of ministry, and I thank God for them.  But it’s not my calling.

Talk to me, readers.  Do you just “cold-call” people with the Gospel?  Hand out tracts?  Wait for the Spirit’s urging toward a particular person? 

How do you share Christ with people outside of the Internet?

Why This Jesus?

In the last entry, “Which Jesus?” we looked at the heresy which claims that it’s the name of Jesus that matters, not His actual identity. In other words, it doesn’t matter who you believe Jesus is or was, it only matters that you believe in someone called “Jesus.”
I referenced an article which showed alarming statistics about American Christendom’s view of Jesus (including the belief that He was a sinner), and then I made the following statement:

Whenever someone claims to believe in Jesus, it might be wise to ask, “Which Jesus? Why Him?”

The previous entry then went on to address the first question. Today’s entry will look at the second.

Why Him?

Why should people believe in the Jesus of the Bible, and not the Jesus of the New Age, or the Islamic version, or the Mormon version, or the Jehovah’s Witness version? If the above-referenced Barna statistics are accurate, many of America’s self-described Christians don’t take the Bible seriously enough to even use it as their source of information about who Jesus is.
Why should people believe in our Jesus, the one the Bible teaches?
I can almost hear the reply coming back, “Because He’s the true one, that’s why!”
I know, I know, and that works just fine when you’re talking to people who are already convinced of the truth. But it falls flat on the ears of those who are not convinced. My question is on behalf of those people, the outsiders, the ones who need a good reason to believe in the true Jesus Christ. What can we offer? On what can we base our appeal?
Can we appeal to tradition, to upbringing? Do we want “insiders” to stay true to Biblical teachings just because they were raised that way? Then how do we justify asking people who were raised in other faiths to convert to ours? Clearly, if we try to convert outsiders, then we don’t really believe that being raised in a faith is a good enough reason to be loyal to it.
Do we want people to accept the truth of the Biblical account because there are so many wonderful proofs of the historical and prophetic accuracy of the Word? Well…there’s nothing wrong with winning someone’s mind with a good argument. I’m very grateful for solid Biblical apologetics. But while convincing the mind may be important and helpful, I don’t believe it is sufficient. What happens when someone comes along with a better-sounding argument? Do we want people to be tossed to and fro with every new scientific theory or religious whim that can be presented convincingly?
On what can we base our appeal for their faith? Should we fall back on the “Cover all your bases” approach to enlightened self-interest, the fire-escape theology which says, “Hey, if I’m wrong, no harm done to me, but if you’re wrong, you’re going to burn in Hell, so you might as well play it safe and…” (Here the witness usually inserts some act that he wants the other to perform, such as repeating a prayer.) We can’t appeal to true faith with such an argument, since by definition those who are using “Jesus” to cover First Base are doubtless using others to cover Second, Third, and Home. Besides, every religion out there can use the same argument right back at us. The Jehovah’s Witnesses may not have a Hell to threaten us with, but they can tell us that we’ll be annihilated and miss out on Paradise Earth if we don’t believe in their version of things. The New Ager can threaten us with a loss of pleasure and power in this life, and a less-desirable reincarnation. I can’t really imagine a weaker appeal than the “just do it to be on the safe side” approach…especially since true saving faith can’t spring from it.
Ok, so let me ask you. Why do you believe in the Jesus of the Bible?
If it’s your tradition, that’s wonderful…but is that the only reason? What if you’d been raised some other way? Would you be just as loyal to that way, because your faith is just something handed down like old clothes?
Have evidences in science or convincing religious outlines led you to believe? Great! But do you feel a sick twisting in your gut when someone makes a logically appealing argument for another path? Could you be wrong? How do you know you’ve heard the best argument out there?
Or are you just trying to do whatever you can do to buy up fire insurance for the next life? Do you have a policy with someone named “Jesus?” Is that what faith means to you? How many other policies do you have? If this is the only one, do you find yourself wistfully hoping it will do the trick for you? What’s holding you back from buying more policies elsewhere?
Is it pride? Is there something in your soul that rises up in anger if someone dares to imply that you could be wrong? Is your faith in your own inherent “rightness” more than in Christ?
Why do you believe in the Jesus of the Bible?
Are you squirming now?
Or are you smiling?
If you find yourself described in one of the “shakier” reasons for faith above, please don’t push your concerns away. They could be the best things that have ever happened to you. The Lord is calling you to seek Him, so let your response be, “Your face, Lord, I will seek (Ps. 27:8). He is wonderfully good to those who seek Him (Lam. 3:25), and He will be found by those who seek Him wholeheartedly (Jer. 29:13). Immerse yourself in His Word. Ask Him to grant you a heart that hungers and thirsts for Him, that is possessed by Him, sealed by Him as His very own. Ask Him to make you new, and to give you a heart that loves Him. If you don’t sense His answer right away, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking (Matt. 7:7). His delays always have a good purpose, and His timing will eventually show itself beautiful (Ecc. 3:11). Hope in Him, because He will not always hide His face (Isa. 8:17). Know this: we are always seeking. Either we are seeking Him, or we are seeking idols. So no matter what, keep seeking Him!
If you were smiling through my probing questions, I know why.
You believe because of His Spirit in you. You know Him. You sense Him. You love Him. He convicts you of sin, convicts you of righteousness, and convicts you of judgment (John 16:8). He pours the love of God into your heart (Rom. 5:5). He is God’s “Seal of Ownership” on you (2 Co. 1:21-22 NIV), and He testifies to you that you belong to God (Rom. 8:16). These things aren’t mere points of doctrine to you. You know His touch.
New scientific theories, new clever-sounding arguments, new heresies cannot move you. You don’t appeal primarily to tradition, to intellectualism, to superstition, or to pride for your confidence. Those things may factor in, but they aren’t your main focus. You simply can’t help knowing the Spirit is there, just like you can’t help knowing there is air in your lungs.
You can say along with Martin Luther, “Here I stand, I can do no other.” Your feet are planted on the rock, because you can’t deny that it is under your soles. You remember how it felt to flounder on sinking sand, and you know that Jesus is the Mighty One who put you on the solid ground. Let all Hell be unleashed against you, and though your feelings may sway, and your confidence may have seasons of weakness, your overall conviction will stand firm. Why? Because you’re so strong? No, because it is God who makes us stand firm in Christ (2 Co. 1:21 NIV). You certainly do feel your own shakiness, but you also feel His omnipotence. And so you stand.
And it shows. (I’m telling you this, brother or sister, because you probably aren’t aware of how much and how often you affect others for Christ. Because it’s Him working through you, you aren’t self-conscious about it.) Others see Him in you, which is far more valuable than if they could just see you. The good works which you do are different from those untouched by the Spirit. You impact lives with something they may not even be able to name.
Help them name it. Help them name Him.
How? To go back to our previous question, to what will you appeal?
But of course that’s the wrong question, isn’t it? God forbid that we should try to manipulate others, trying to do in our flesh what only the Spirit can do. We don’t appeal to a thing, we appeal to Him. We may use whatever tools God leads us to use in any given situation, whether apologetics, or reasoning, or whatever. But if salvation is a miraculous work of the Spirit (and it is!), then we must first and foremost pray for Him to speak through us, and share Him with our lives and our words. Tell them who He really is. Tell them what He’s done for you. Tell them of a salvation that’s for here and now, not just for the future. Ask them if they have any sins that they hate, and if they’ve longed to be free. Those who are still in love with their sin will mock, but you will not have failed because of it. You will have succeeded, because in obedience to Christ you will have sown a seed that another may water. (If you lead an unrepentant person in a “prayer of salvation,” then you will have failed, because there’s no salvation without repentance.)
Others will listen to your witness, because the divine Gardener has been tilling up the soil of their hearts. Because you are speaking the Way, the Truth, and the Life to them, your words will resonate with the work that the Spirit is doing in them. You may not be saying anything fancy or impressive, but in cultivated soil the truth will take root. The Spirit will make sure it does.
Do not fret over your “inability to witness.” A witness is one who speaks of what they’ve seen, what they’ve heard, what they know. If you truly know Him, you can be His witness. If you truly love Him, others will be drawn to Him as well. If you are truly led by Him, then those who are also feeling His pull will recognize the direction you’re heading.
Do not fear, child of God. Just walk and talk in simple faith and obedience. God will use your witness in ways you may not know until you stand with Him in glory.

If the Spirit of Jesus

is shining through you,

Others will trust

in the true Jesus, too.

Insulting God: Organizing the Dead in His Name

Sixth in a Series

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 7 Part 8

When the Lord lays something on my heart to write about, sometimes I have no idea where it's going to lead. Back in Part 1, when I wrote down the three points on which I planned to base the next three entries, I didn't dream that it would take four additional entries just to lay the foundation for addressing point one!

Believe it or not, we're finally ready. (If you haven't read any of the previous entries in the series, please do so first...at least parts 2, 3, & 4.)

Here, once again, is Point 1:

We insult God when act as if we can and should expect unregenerate people in our society to live just like those who have been born again by God's Spirit.

(Photo from Stock.xchng by c_francis)

The fact is, our "Christian" churches are full of people who are not born again by the Spirit of God. That's not just in the pews, either. Often it's behind the pulpit as well. The Bible calls this phenomenon "The blind leading the blind," and it gives them a grim prognosis (Luke 6:39).

Frustrated church leaders respond to frustrated church members who want something more, something new, something exciting, something relevant. God Himself is none of those things, and neither is His Word... or so it seems to these modern, enlightened folks. They look at their religious experiences (which are nothing more than what their own flesh, and their fleshly leaders, can drum up), and they're dissatisfied. But instead of realizing that the problem is within themselves and their truly unregenerate hearts, they blame God and His Word.

More and more, the "church" agrees with the world in its disdain for the God of the Bible, and rushes to show that it can be "just as good" as the world is. Instead of repenting in dust and ashes like Job (Job 42:6), the "church" repents of its foolish attachment to old-fashioned notions of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, along with any notions of absolute truth.

But the natural man does not receive
the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness to him;
nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned
(1Co 2:14).

Many pastors have given up shepherding the flock of God, and have lusted after bigger and bigger flocks of goats. It's the numbers in the pews that count, after all. And since it is beyond the pastors' power to change goats into sheep, and they don't believe that such miraculous transformations are possible anyway, they can only congratulate themselves on accomplishing the same works that the world does, with their own culled-out, bleating flock.

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
Matt 25:31-32

"See, our flock can do anything that the world does! Come see how well we do it!" And when the world's goats come into the church building, they feel right at home.

Because they are right at home.

If you were of the world,
the world would love its own.
Yet because you are not of the world,
but I chose you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you
(John 15:19)

And the goats' comfort, the goats' acceptance, the goats' approval makes the preachers feel that they've done their job.

Woe to you
when all men speak well of you,
for so did their fathers
to the false prophets.
Luke 6:26

Many church leaders know nothing of the Master Gardener's work in their own lives, and do not see Him at work in their congregations. So they busy themselves running around helping dead, disconnected branches tie plastic fruit onto themselves so they'll look like they're abiding in the Vine. Worse yet, they spit on the Vine, declare that they do not need Him, and devise endless new programs for marshaling their resources and waxing their fake grapes.

Therefore by their fruits you will know them (Matt 7:20).

Honestly believing that one hundred walking dead are better than ten Spirit-filled sons and daughters of the Living God, churches devote massive amounts of energy to organizing spiritual cadavers into a marching army of do-gooders, determined to make the Titanic's passengers as comfortable as possible. And whenever anyone tries to tell them that they're on a doomed ship, they cover their ears and cry, "Judgmental!"

And the band plays on. At least the music is new, and relevant, and catchy, and loud. The goats will approve!

How can you believe,
who receive honor from one another,
and do not seek the honor that comes
from the only God?
John 5:44

Woe to us all! Because if the True Church, the blood-bought sheep of God's flock, were truly walking in the Spirit, truly abiding in the Vine, then no phony religion could usurp its place and call itself Christianity.

He who says he abides in Him
ought himself also to walk
just as He walked.
1Jn 2:6

If all of the sheep were walking in the Spirit, if all of us looked more like sheep than like goats, we'd be obviously out of place in this world. The world would hate us as it hated Christ. Instead it hates us in an entirely different way.

It hates the self-righteous, religious thing that we've become. It prefers the proud goats to the backslidden sheep.

Oh people of God, we need to repent! If the world will not own Him, will we leave Him to gain their approval? Does their love and acceptance mean that much to us?

Brothers and sisters, if the world loves us, then we are not of Christ.
We are goats, not sheep.

If we truly are sheep,
and the world hates us because of our fleshly religion,
then we are not walking in the Spirit.

But if the world hates us because of Christ Himself,
and because of His Spirit empowering us,
then we are blessed indeed.

Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
Heb 13:13

Let the dead bury their dead (Matt. 8:22), and let them march with their dead, and implement programs with their dead. But do not leave them unchallenged in their delusion that they do these things in the Holy Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The honor of His Name must be reclaimed by those who are willing to be hated for Him (Matt. 10:22), to be the offscourings of the earth for Him (1 Co. 4:13), to be persecuted for Him (1 Co. 4:11-12), to lose everything for Him (Php. 3:8), to love our enemies as He did (Rom. 5:8), to hate sin for His sake (Ps. 97:10), to love not our lives even unto death (Rev. 12:11). And most importantly, it must be reclaimed by those who will do these things in the Spirit, not in the flesh; who treasure Christ above all.

When the True Church takes up its cross, and Christ's reproach, and burns with holy passion for Him, He will bring many of those dead to life through our testimony. We won't need cleverly devised witnessing schemes, because we will speak with the very power of God (1 Co. 1:20-31, 2 Pet. 1:16).

If America had been blessed with such a church all these years, would we be in the dire situation we find ourselves in now?

Lord, please revive Your church! Please beautify Your bride! Grant us repentance, and teach us to walk humbly with our God. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

The God-Honoring Gospel

Part 5 in a Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

In Part 4 I told you about my son, and the dilemma I faced with wanting so badly to see him saved, but being unwilling to lead him in yet another "Prayer of salvation." If you haven't read that yet, or any other entries in the series, please do so. But I'm still going to copy the last little bit here, for the sake of continuity and clarity.

Like every misguided but well-intentioned Christian parent, I longed for something I could do to save my son. Something I could put my faith in for his salvation besides a miraculous work of Christ.

If salvation depends on the Holy Spirit awakening a dead soul, then what happens if He doesn't do that for my son? What is "Plan B?"

There isn't one. And finally coming to terms with that has helped me witness to my son more effectively than ever before, in a way that glorifies God instead of insulting Him.

At first it felt cruel, saying anything or reading any Scripture that might cause my son to doubt his salvation. But when the opportunities arose, I felt the Spirit nudging me to do it anyway. Not sitting my son down and bludgeoning him with my doubts, but rather giving brief, timely warnings as Scripture teaches us to (1 Co. 4:14, Col. 1:28, 1 Th. 5:14), and doing it in love. (I can't claim to have always had an exemplary attitude, but it's definitely something I'm striving for.)

• Son, you just lied to me again. You do that a lot. I hate to say it, but I don't see any love for Christ in you, or any love for truth or righteousness. I see a great love for lying, and God's word says that Satan is the father of lies.
• Son, you are very full of hatred for your brothers. Let's look at what the Bible says about those who hate their brothers (1 John 3:15).
• Do you hear the incredible disrespect that you just showed me? That's something you need to be talking to God about, and asking Him to help you with.

Do you think that sort of thing came out of my mouth easily at first? But after those brief warnings would sometimes come times of prayer. My son would hear me praying for him, that God would give him a holy hatred for sin, and a love for Himself, and a new heart. And I also began explaining to my son, in simple terms, the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And the more I did this, the more confident I felt that I was doing what God wanted me to do.

Then one day my son said to me, "I know I don't have the Holy Spirit."

My heart rejoiced to hear that! This precious boy was realizing that he truly needed to be saved!

Did I lead him in a sinner's prayer then? No way. Why quench the Spirit's work by pouring false assurance over it? Instead I told my son that this was a wonderful thing for him to realize, and that only the Holy Spirit could have revealed this truth to him. I encouraged him to pray for hatred for sin, for love for God, for a new heart.

"I've prayed that lots of times," he has whined more than once, "and it's never worked."

It would have been so simple to put my arm around him and say, "Oh honey, if you prayed that prayer, then don't worry about it! You're saved!" But that would have been the worst thing I could have done. Because, for one thing, my son's statement reveals where his faith truly was. It was in a prayer that would either "work," or "not work." It was not faith in the Living God, through Jesus Christ's atoning death on the cross (no matter whether or not those concepts were mentioned in this prayer on which he'd pinned his hopes).

So I began explaining to him that God might not give him a noticeable answer right away, but that that didn't mean He wasn't working to bring about changes. I explained that drawing someone is a process. Sometimes spiritual blindness takes time to heal (like what happened to the blind man in Mark 8:23-25.) "Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. If God is making you wait for answer, it's because the waiting, and the seeking, and the knocking are good for you. It's part of the process that He's using to bring you to Himself. If you're coming to Him in your desire to be saved, instead of looking to yourself or some other god, I believe that means God is drawing you to Himself (John 6:44). And Jesus has promised not to cast out anyone who comes to Him through the Father's drawing (John 6:37)."

Weeks and months pass. No major changes happen in his behavior, but conversation about the things of God becomes more real. He feels less and less need to be hypocritical, since Mom already believes he's not yet born again. Especially since Mom is encouraging him to keep seeking the Lord because the Lord is drawing him. Our talks fill with truth, and with hope. Real hope based on what God is doing, not the false kind built on religiosity.

Then new insights begin to come out of his mouth...not pompous pronouncements with spiritual emptiness, but sudden realizations of truth. We keep praying, thanking God for showing him these things, asking again for hatred for sin, for love for God, for a new heart.

He begins sometimes catching himself.

• "I feel like I need to tell you that I just gave you a big dumb excuse that wasn't true."
  
• "You know what my problem is? I always want to be in charge. That's why I was being so ugly with my brother."

This from a boy who never used to be wrong, never used to admit to anything! We praise God together for this evidence that He is at work. I don't tell my son that he's saved, because I don't know it yet. But I can tell him that God is at work in Him. He finds hope in that, and he seeks more and more because of that hope.

A little while ago we read from the Scriptures about godly sorrow that leads to repentance (2 Co. 7:10). My son pipes up, "Mom, would you pray for me that God would give me more godly sorrow?" He tells me he has begun praying for that as well. And we have begun to see some evidence of that work of the Spirit beginning in his life. Ironically, he's developing more joy and peace right along with it. (Though that's really not surprising at all, if you understand the truth of 2 Co. 7:10.)

Do you see how God is being honored here? My son is turning more and more away from himself, away from religious trappings, and toward God as the author and finisher of his faith (Heb. 12:2)! He and I are both finding our hope in God for his salvation, and what a beautiful place to find it! My son seeks God more, in joyful expectation. I've seen the joy on his face!

Do we still see plenty of rough edges? Of course! I've got plenty of those myself, and always will until the Lord takes me home. But the Gospel that honors God is the true Gospel, and this wonderful God is drawing my son to Himself through it. I believe the day will come when my son will tell me that he knows that the Holy Spirit has given him a new heart.

I'll see the truth of that in his eyes, and we will rejoice together, along with the hosts of Heaven.

(P.S. If you know any of my children, please don't mention this to them. I'm not sure the publicity/attention would be good for them...)


(Photo from Stock.xchng by jescobosa)