Protect Life

"You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord." -Leviticus 18.21

God is leading the people to the Promised Land, and in the middle of setting His standards for sex He gives an instruction about sacrifice. The Canaanites would engage in infant sacrifice. I can't get into the specifics of it, it's too difficult to think about. Just know that it was a horrible, barbaric practice, and God commanded His people to have nothing to do with it.

Already with Abraham, back in Genesis, we saw that human sacrifice was not something that God's Kingdom accepted, and here God says that it will profane His name. He has already instructed them about proper sacrifice and worship, and humans are to offer them, not be them.

As I've thought about this over the past 24 hours, I keep thinking about abortion, that would be the closest thing to infant sacrifice today. It's a barbaric practice that takes an innocent life, unable to defend itself. There is also a huge toll on the mother both physically and mentally, as I imagine there was back in the Canaanite times.

Men, we need to stand and defend the defenseless. I realize that this is another sensitive subject, but I think we handle it the same way we handle the sex issue, with love and kindness, but we can't sit by and do nothing. If you are the father of a child being considered for abortion, stand up and do something about it. Take your responsibility as a father and protect your child, no one else will.

Maybe you're not in that situation, but you can still do some things. One, pour into your children, and their friends. Teach them what God says about sex and life. Teach them to value these gifts that God has given. Let's work to raise up a holy generation that lives differently.

Two, you can adopt. I don't know exactly how this process works under these circumstances, but what if you and your spouse were to offer to adopt an unwanted child? You're saving a life, and putting faith in action. You're showing the love of God and living like Christ.

Let us stand up and defend the defenseless. Let us protect life, all life.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

What God Says About Sex

"Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you (for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled); so that the land will not spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you." -Leviticus 18.24-28

I didn't post the verses 6-20 and 22-23, simply because of how long it would be. But these verses capture the consequences behind the actions of these verses. Leviticus 18 talks about sex, and what God didn't create it to be. It goes on and on about sexual relationships that are not permissible. It talks about acts that are an abomination, and a defilement of what God created sex to be. Remember, Leviticus is God teaching His people how to live by His standards of holiness, and the things said here, though unpopular, must be something that a man of God lives with.

God created sex as a good thing, an act of worship to be expressed between a man and a woman within the covenant of marriage. Any sexual act outside of that is sin. Incest is sin. Adultery is sin. Fornication is sin. Polygamy is sin. Homosexuality is sin. Zoophilia is sin. And even though it is not stated here, Jesus later informs us that lust is sin (Matthew 5.28).

God instructs His people not to defile themselves by any of these things as the nations that He was driving out had done. His people were, and are, to live by His standards. Now here I need to say something, we cannot expect people who don't believe what we believe to live by the same standards we do. This doesn't mean that we approve of their behavior, it means we love them as people created in the image of God, show them the love and kindness of God, and pray that He convicts them and transforms them. But we cannot compromise, in any way, on God's standard of holiness in regards to sex or anything else.

Men, how are you living? Are you defiling yourself with any of these actions? If so stop, now. It won't be easy, but what is easy does not take a man to do it. Find a brother who will stand by you, pray with you and for you, and help you to overcome this struggle. If you have no one there is an email address near the bottom of this page on the left hand side. I believe that God has called me to help men, and I am here to do whatever I can.

Let us live as holy men of God. Let us resist sexual sin, and pursue God. Let us join together, and stand firm as the phalanx, protecting each other so that none are lost in this battle.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Live Differently

"Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'I am the Lord your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.'" Leviticus 18.2-5

Leviticus is God teaching His people how to worship Him. As this happens, He is teaching His people how to live for Him. He has laid out the sacrificial system, and laid out the ordination ceremony. There are statutes for dealing with leprosy and bodily discharges, and most recently He has laid out the statute for the day of atonement. Now He is laying out statutes for His people to live by.

He begins by telling them not to live like the people in Egypt, and not to live like the people in Canaan. They are to live differently because they don't serve the false gods of these pagan nations, they are God's people. If they live according to God's statutes, they will find life. These are God's instructions for His people.

Men, we live in a world that offers us many false paths to follow. It is easy to get caught in the destructive activities of the world. Some of them may seem innocent, but John Wesley once said, "There is no standing still on the Christian walk. We are either pressing forward or sliding backward." If what we are doing is not molding us more into the image of Christ, it is pulling us away from Him.

Let us live differently because we are different. There are activities we need to abstain from because we are men of God. There are phrases we need to refrain from saying because we are men of God. There are places we need to avoid because we are men of God.

Let us live differently because we are men of God.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor