Time For a New String Of Lights

There has been a picture in my head; a scene from a movie lately. What I have been seeing is a very large ball of Christmas lights that are all tangled up and need to be unraveled. 

If you have ever seen the movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, then you will know what I am talking about.

Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to have a perfect family Christmas; including the perfect decorations and lights on the outside of his house. 

The plan is to install the 250 strands of lights (with 100 bulbs on each strand for a total of 25,000 light bulbs, enough to make the power company turn on their auxiliary nuclear generator…)

But, before he can install them, he needs to untangle massive balls of lights from the last time they were installed on the house. Clark enlists his son Rusty (Johnny Galecki) to help him in this endeavor.

Clark tells Rusty; “Come on, unravel these. You have to check every bulb”

“There’s a little knot here…you work on that!” he continues as he hands Rusty the world’s largest ball of Christmas lights.

“I’ll get the other box.” Clark says as he makes his way back into the garage to retrieve another set of lights.

That picture, along with a recent message I heard on ‘forgiveness’, has been on my mind.

Why, I ask myself, does Clark even attempt (or have Rusty attempt) to unravel that massive ball of lights? Why not simply throw out the ball and purchase another set of lights?

And it got me thinking; There are times in life when no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot untangle the mess that was created in the past.

Sometimes the best thing to do is simply throw out the old and admit that it is time for a new string of lights and go from there.

I will admit that I have lost countless hours, days, and weeks of my life trying to resolve things only to get further away from the end goal of reconciliation.

I will admit that I am hardwired to check every jot and tittle to make sure that every area and viewpoint has been looked at so that both sides can really know that everything has been discussed.

I will admit that I have done all this in an attempt toward reconciliation and so that it will never happen again.

I will admit that I had to come to the point of realizing that sometimes in forgiveness and relationships there are times when it is almost impossible to untangle the minutia and one simply needs to start over in the relationship.

That sometimes the best thing to do is simply do is throw out the old and admit that it is time for a new string of lights and go from there.

In first Corinthians chapter thirteen verse 4-7, the Apostle Paul wrote:

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

One version of the Bible translates verse five as;

“it keeps no record of wrongs.”

In other words; “Love keeps no record”. That doesn’t mean that we don’t remember, but in order to move on we need to stop trying to go over and over every detail. We need to keep no record.

Jesus expands on the seriousness of not letting go in Matthew chapter six verse 14-15

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

I will let His words speak for themselves and add:

Sometimes it is time for a new string of lights 

"What This Church Needs is a Good 5-cent Cigar."

community  

^{[ kuh-myoo-ni-tee ]}: 

a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists

The plan was pretty simple: Sell a successful restaurant (and the adjacent property that housed twenty tenants of a variety of businesses) to an investor who would tear down the properties and build a senior high rise that would overlook the Mississippi River.

In an effort to accommodate the sale, the twenty businesses that occupied the site were given notice that they would need to vacate and relocate elsewhere.

The tenants responded by securing new locations, packing up, and re-establishing their businesses in new locations with the hopes that their loyal patrons would follow them.

Within a few months all of the businesses found new locations and started once again to establish roots. Notices were sent out and patrons such as Cathy and I continued to support their favorite business by following them over to their new locations.

Or I should say most clients followed the businesses to their new location.

One of the businesses that needed to relocate was a cigar and pipe tobacconist store. Over the past forty years it has been recognized as one of the premier spots for aficionados and provided its patrons with a space both indoors and outside to satisfy their passion for enjoying cigars and pipe tobacco.

 

In the past, I have stopped in the shop to look through their ever-growing pile of cigar boxes to see if any of them would meet my need for manufacturing my next cigar box guitar.

I should note that although I tend to prefer to use antiques cigar boxes to build my cigar box guitars, the shop was a great place to search for a box that would inspire me. I also liked the sense of community that I observed and the hospitality shown to me, even though I was only (occasionally) purchasing a used cigar box.

In time, the shop relocated to another city, but they left behind a bunch of displaced patrons who continued to gather in the evenings to sit outside of the (closed) shop to smoke their cigars and pipes like they had for many years. Almost every week for the past eighteen months I would see this group of patrons sitting outside in the evenings no matter what month of the year it was.

Just this week, while driving past the site in the evening, I saw a group of them gathered as though the shop had never moved.

Now, I'm relatively certain that these patrons still purchase their tobacco from the shop in the new location which is only ten minutes away. But their need to gather seems to far outweigh the fact that the temperatures are dropping as the season is transitioning into winter (as they did last winter when these people sat outside).

My observation is that the need for community is stronger than we may realize and in many respects is part of the answer to what ails us.

For many years, some pastors and churches have thought that the reason that people didn't attend was due to a lack of interest. I disagree and submit that perhaps the visitors didn't return because they didn't find what they were really looking for; community.

In fact, when the church was established, the members gathered “daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart…” (Acts 2:46)

The problem is, the church doesn’t have a corner on the market for community.

Community is found in many other venues besides the church such as bars, beer leagues (bowling, softball, hockey, etc.), hunting clubs, coffee shops, support groups, barn raising, sewing bees, potluck dinners, sporting events, and many other venues. It can even be found in dark places such as sharing a needle for drugs or sultry affections under a bridge. 

These patrons of the (former) cigar shop found each other and a place to gather and they appear to have no plans on leaving until the bulldozers raze the buildings and they are forced to find a new place to gather.

If the church would capitalize on this, I know of at least ten people who would relocate on their property.

No, I'm not suggesting that churches build a smoking lounge.

I'm merely suggesting that if community is what attracts people to gather, then that might be part of the formula to keep them in church.

Then, and only then will the main message (the Gospel) be heard by individuals in which relational equity has been established through meeting their need for community.

Perhaps it is time to get back to our roots and once again be the church in which others can find gladness and simplicity of heart through community.

Tommy O's Guitars can be found on Facebook

Two Weddings, a Memorial Service, and a Tornado

Well, it wasn't a quiet week here in St. Paul, Minnesota, my hometown, out on the cliffs of the Mississippi. 

Cathy and I had settled ourselves on the love-seat in our family room to veg out watching TV when the call came un-expectantly in the form of a text message: a friend of the family had died and with it came the notification of a pending memorial service.

It was already scheduled to be a busy week after we came back from a min-vacation on the Northern Shores of Minnesota. The week included a fishing tournament with fellow pastors and ministry leaders, and a wedding rehearsal and officiating the wedding ceremony. 

Prior to our trip up north, we had spent three weekends up at the family cabin cleaning up debris left in the wake of a tornado; something that defiantly wasn't on our schedules!

I also had several other opportunities to fill my calendar which (for sanity) I turned down including a trip to Sturgis, South Dakota and a trip to California to go fishing in LA and then play hockey in San Francisco.

I decided that living out of a suitcase for that many weeks on the road would put too much stress in my life that would leave me (potentially) weary by the time I came to the wedding. This would prove to be wisdom from above.

I should note that this week I have another wedding rehearsal and am officiating another wedding ceremony....And then four more weddings after that.

Then as my schedule seemed FULL, my physical health was stressed in the form of a head or sinus cold; which arrived full-forced just in time for the day of the wedding.

With the cold came headaches, blurred vision, congestion, sinus pressure, flem, mucus, coughing, hacking up a lung or two, and a raspy voice; which was eventually lost. 

I should note that on a good day I have some memory issues due to taking too many knocks on the old noggin. With a head cold I am (without the Lord's help) clueless at best. So to say that I was in trouble was amplified by a night of no sleep.

I am not writing to solicit sympathy or empathy from readers who "have been there", but simply to say as much as we can possibly plan our schedules we are still vulnerable to things that come at inopportune times like death and tornadoes.

With all of the modern apps and the multitude of ways that we use for our calendars to schedule our lives, we are still unable to script our own lives.

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” (James 4:13-16)

And that includes other things that come up such a dinner invitation or a request to come outside to look at a sunrise, sunset, rainbow, or a flower. It includes spontaneous opportunities for free tickets to an event or to help pack food at "Feed My Starving Children"; simply because they need extra hands.

My point is that with life comes opportunities. How we choose to embrace them makes all the difference if we are to become better or bitter; it’s really our choice. We can either get through our busy schedules or we can slow down and smell the flowers. 

I am happy to report that the Lord came through and the wedding ceremony went off without any other surprises and then, the following day was the Memorial service where we gathered to honor the person whose life touched so many. Thank God for His faithfulness. 

I look forward to what comes next between this moment and this week's wedding. My prayer is that each of us will be open to the gift of each opportunity that comes our way; KNOWING that ultimately the LORD is in charge.

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” (Psalm 37:23)

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

That's the news from St. Paul, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.

Don't Be Cat Food

I came home to a present today. Actually, I think that the present was already on my back porch when I left for the store an hour before...because it had foot prints on it that looked an awful lot like the sandals that I was wearing!

When I arrived back home, I noticed that there was something squished on the mat at the rear of our house. Upon further examination, I discovered that it was a mouse head in a pile of vomit left by a neighbor's cat. 

Because we used to have cats as pets, I recognized this was the generous endowment from a feline who was offering it as a way of expressing its love for me.

Or else the cat thought that I wouldn't mind it if they puked on my back porch; thus affirming my reasons for no longer having any pets!

Either way, I was left to clean it up.

And I was grateful that it was from a cat on my back porch and not from the Corleones as a veiled threat, otherwise the cat would have left it in my bed! 

When I see gifts left in my yard from cats like half-eaten mice, shrews, bunnies, or birds, I often wonder; "Where is the rest of the animal?"

Or "Why did they want to share it with me?"

I know that they have their reasons. Cats are naturally hunters and seem to be wired to teach their young how to eat their food by bringing home dead or injured prey as well as to share their bounty with their family. 

So, I can deduce that when they are leaving a dead animal on my back porch, the cat is simply acting out its natural role as mother and provider and consider me to be a part of its family.

I also wonder how deceptive the cat had to be to sneak up on such unsuspecting animals who had no idea that their life would end so abruptly on that day. 

How was it that the animal had no clue that they were about to be killed? 

What could the animal have done to prevent its death being a forgone conclusion?

Perhaps it was unbalanced and undisciplined and didn't have a sober mindset. 

Perhaps it was because the animal wasn't alert; so self-focused that it didn't pay any attention to its surroundings. Or if it did pay attention and was alert and cautious, it didn't do it at ALL times.

Perhaps it was because it didn't realize that it had an actual enemy who prowled around fiercely hungry, seeking someone to devour. 

Perhaps the animal, when seeing the cat coming, didn't resist the cat against his/her attack by being digging its claws in; rooted, established, immovable.

Perhaps the animals didn't know that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by mice, shrews, bunnies, and birds (as well as other animals such as lizards) throughout the world.

Perhaps we would do well to learn our lesson from their mistakes if we don't want to end up as cat food.

“Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. But resist him, be firm in your faith [against his attack—rooted, established, immovable], knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world. [You do not suffer alone.]” (1 PETER 5:8-9 AMP)

Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.)

Go With The Flow

For the past fifteen years or so I have worn my hair cut short. In fact, I usually scheduled a haircut every month 'whether I needed it or not' because my hair grows very quickly and is thick and part of the haircut is to thin it out.

When I conversed with my stylist about wanting my hair a bit longer, she said that it was pretty simple; all that I would have to do is stop scheduling appointments with her.

I say all that to state that I grew out my flow this past winter for hockey season. Not a big deal and yet the response (myopically speaking) was 'bigger' than I had expected. What I lacked in skills that are diminishing, I made up in my flow.

Flow is the slang word for the hair of hockey players. Typically it is long and flows easily out of hockey helmets. Usually, it is un-kept and greasy...or at least heavily gelled. 

Although my hair curls when it is long, in years past, I have permed the back in true mullet fashion to get the party in the back; all the while keeping the business on top.

I scheduled my haircuts for every six weeks because I had to at least keep it groomed since I still met with people in ministry....and oftentimes wore a hat. 

Generally, I received loving compliments from a variety of people who had never seen me when (in the past) I had longer hair, and they encouraged me to keep it long.

Several of my teammates encouraged me to keep it long as they lived vicariously through me; since most of them had installed a marble top on their heads a very long time ago. 

I would occasionally be stopped by complete strangers who told me that they liked my hair longer. Several neighbors called me over and expressed their love of my longer hair. Even as I write this at a coffee shop, a friend who is a pastor said that he wishes he had my hair. I told him that when I get it cut I will drop it off at his house.

I was really shocked when the elderly women at church would tell me to keep it long. 

I say "generally" I received compliments because I did get some razzing; including being called affectionate names such as hippie. I was asked what year it was because someone thought that it was the seventies. One person, when he saw my flow, asked if I road my motorcycle; offering to give me a bowl-cut.

A friend who played his career in the NHL asked me if I was going through a mid-life-crisis. I responded "I hope not, or else that means that I would live to at least one hundred and twenty years old!"

Little did I know that by not cutting my hair would I generate such opinions. I was simply going with the flow.

It reminded me of when I came to the Lord and I received some comments about what I wore as well as the length of my hair. After I cut my hair, a leader at church thought he was giving me a "compliment" when he said to me; "Now you look like a real Christian..." as he quoted 1Corinthians 11:14 where Paul tells us "Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair?"

This scripture 'messed' me up a bit for a few years as I swallowed the Kool-Aid and believed the lie (although it wasn't intentionally said) that having long hair on a man was shameful. 

This affected my need for performance in how I dressed and kept myself, believing (subconsciously) that somehow my grooming was connected with my holiness.

Even this past year I was so aware of my hair being out of place when the wind would blow and mess it up; rendering me unpresentable.

Little did I know (at the time) that it was simply this leader's opinion. He, in no way, was trying to lead me astray. He was simply trying express his opinion in an attempt to disciple me.

And he had omitted to read the whole scripture in which Paul adds;

"If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God." (1 Corinthians 11:16)

Paul is the same one who said a couple of chapters earlier in the same letter to the Corinthians that he "become all things to all men that I might by all means save some." (See Corinthians 9:19-23)

What am I saying? Whether or not you like hair that is long or short, keep your opinions to yourself. This includes trends in society for men or women to shave or not shave their faces, armpits, or other areas of their bodies. It's simply your opinion.

Your words may be heaping shame on men or women who choose to grow or not grow hair; to shave it or not shave it. None of this means that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. It is (and always has been and always will be) grace and grace alone.

Your words may have more of an influence than you might think. Your words may come alongside someone's performance mentality and lead them away from the grace of God Who wishes that none should perish, but all would have eternal life.

After all; "He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16 AND 17)

As for me, as my hockey season comes to an end, I will contemplate when or if I get it cut. For now, I will simply go with the flow.

Fallacious Fasting

fasting

1. The act or practice of abstaining from or eating very little food.

2. A period of such abstention or self-denial.

3. To eat very little or abstain from certain foods, as a religious discipline.

During this year, Cathy and I have been fasting in a variety of ways.

We are not fasting as a religious or a superstitious exercise; hoping to gain God’s special attention, or to tip the invisible scales of blessing in our direction.

Our goal as a couple (and individually) is to deal with our hearts; which tends to want what it wants. We are longing to have a heart change as we long to be in deeper fellowship with Him.

And fasting things like sugar also has some health benefits such as feeling better and weight loss.

Individually, we have been noticing that when we stop eating something like anything made of sugar or fasting from social media, just how often we go to what we are giving up rather than to Him.

It has been amazing to me how often when my heart is wandering or feeling “blue” that my flesh longs for chocolate; rather than going to the LORD for His help.

It is my observation that too many people fast for wrong reasons. John Wesley said that “some have exalted religious fasting beyond all scripture and reason, and others have utterly disregarded it.”

Fasting is not to be thought of as a means of earning God’s favor or improving one’s status with God. The general purpose of it is to humble the soul before God.

The Bible asks the question in Zechariah 7:5-6 (NKJV):

“Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me? When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?

So it is possible to fast and not really be doing it for the LORD.

My favorite (heart exposing) scripture on fasting is from Isaiah 58. The prophet Isaiah (speaking for the LORD) is explaining to the people how their fasting is wrong. They had been fasting with no apparent success in reaching their goals.

Sounds like you and me doesn’t it?

The LORD lovingly rebukes them in an effort to correct their wrong theology and to share His heart on how He wants them to seek His face in a fast.

My prayer is that as you read Isaiah 58 from the Message version of the Bible, your heart will be corrected in areas where (perhaps) you too have been off during your times of fasting.

Remember, the LORD “did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17 NKJV)

Isaiah 58 

^1-3 “Shout! A full-throated shout!
    Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell My people what’s wrong with their lives,
    face my family Jacob with their sins!
They’re busy, busy, busy at worship,
    and love studying all about Me.
To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people—
    law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask Me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’
    and love having Me on their side.
But they also complain,
    ‘Why do we fast and You don’t look our way?
    Why do we humble ourselves and You don’t even notice?’

^3-5 “Well, here’s why:

“The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit.
    You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
    You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
    won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after:
    a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
    and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
    a fast day that I, God, would like?

^6-9 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
    to break the chains of injustice,
    get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
    free the oppressed,
    cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
    sharing your food with the hungry,
    inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
    putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
    being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
    and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
    The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
    You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’

^9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,
    quit blaming victims,
    quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
    and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
    your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
    I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
    firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
    a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build a new,
    rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
    restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
    make the community livable again.

^13-14 “If you watch your step on the Sabbath
    and don’t use My holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
    God’s holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’
    making money, running here and there—
Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!
    Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”
    Yes! God says so!

The Message (MSG)

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Plausible Deniability Clause

I am always amazed at how much the mind can retain and recall with only a hint to remind of us of an event from long ago. I say amazed because some days I can't remember why I came into the kitchen...one of the many joys of sustaining head injuries.

As I sit in a local coffee shop writing this blog, I thought of one such event that took place in this very building about fifty three years ago when I was eight years old. 

The coffee shop has had three different owners over the past twenty three years. Prior to that, the building had been a pharmacy that I would frequent when I was a young lad.

Periodically, my dad would let one or several of us siblings accompany him as he took a walk from our house to the pharmacy to make a purchase. This trip I was the one who went with him.

When we got to the store, my dad gave me some money so that I could pick out something from the candy aisle. I took the money from him and started the process of choosing an item that would meet the allowance given to me.

In short time, I was able to narrow down the wish list to two items; both which cost the same amount of money. I stood in the aisle pondering my decision. In one hand was a piece of candy; the other hand held a toy.

Both of the items together were twice the amount of money that I was given. So in other words, in order to make budget, I would need to choose ONE because that is all of the money that I had available. 

I'm not really sure what was going on in my young mind as I plotted how I could acquire BOTH items for the price of one.

I suppose I could attribute it to the damage that I had sustained when a few years earlier. I was horsing around and fell backwards off a chair and split the back of my head open on a cast iron radiator; requiring many stitches to close up and I had knocked myself out starting my long history of knock-out concussions.

Standing in the pharmacy, I rationalized that if I ate the candy item, then I would still be able to get the toy; thus paying for one but getting two. So, I proceeded with my plan to take the toy up to the counter after secretly eating the candy outside of the view of my dad or the pharmacist. 

I made my way to the counter to purchase the toy. The druggist asked me if it was just the toy or was it also the candy and made some veiled reference to the candy he had seen me holding. 

I told him that I had decided to just purchase the toy, not the candy; and did my best to look confused towards my dad as though to say; "Do you know what he is talking about? All I have is a toy..."

I had used the "plausible deniability clause". I had told the truth that I WAS only purchasing the toy; but not being honest that I had already consumed some candy without paying for it.

"Plausible Deniability" is being honest that I was only paying for the toy, all the while pretending that because the candy was consumed, therefore, I didn't need to pay for it. After all, how can you charge me for candy that I don't have? Did you actually see me eat the candy? 

‘Plausible’ simply means to have an appearance of truth or reason that seems to be believable, but often times is really deceptive.

‘Deniability’ is the ability to deny something, as knowledge of or connection with an illegal activity.

To this day I am somehow convinced that in spite of by best effort, the pharmacist knew what I had done and yet chose to not accuse me of theft.

And, for those of you who have taken the bunny trail and are now thinking; "Hey, Pastor Tommy, you shop lifted!" I interject that I DID confess my sin to a priest shortly after this experience to make amends with God.

So, as I sit here today writing this blog, I realize that there have been many times in the past when I have also used the "plausible deniability clause" in other areas of my life. 

For example, I have done it when I have changed the conversation as the person I had been talking about (like my boss or parents) came into the room.

Instead of continuing my comments or criticism, I gave the appearance that I had been talking (the whole time) about something else; something edifying and not at all slanderous towards him or her in any way.

Another example would be sneaking looks at someone other than my wife. After all, I only took the first look (albeit it was a LONG look) while I was giving the appearance that I was looking at something else as I made conversation about something in the background such as the sunset or a tree.

Another example would be when I had used a search engine on my computer to look up something that looked to the untrained eye like it was lovely, pure, and wholesome, so that if someone saw my screen, they would think that I was searching something that was OK.

But, inwardly, I was actually so close to the line hoping that something that I shouldn’t see might show up on my screen that was wrong or explicit or naughty. 

I could use the plausible deniability clause by stating that I’m not “technically” looking at pornography; after all it is only Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Amazon, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

Then, I could be shocked at what popped up on my screen…After all, I was just doing research…

But, the truth is that it still opens a door for lust, fantasy, or wasting time online, making it easy to tolerate these “harmless” activities.

Hidden behind the lies that we tell and the things that we do are evidences that our heart is wicked and deceptive and wants to be close to sinning, all the while giving the appearance as though it isn’t doing anything wrong. And, it shows how clouded our discernment can be.

It is no different than what Aaron told Moses that he cast the gold into the fire, and this calf came out. (Exodus 32:24).

Aaron had told the truth that he threw the gold into the fire. He omitted the fact that they had made themselves a molded calf out of the gold to make a ‘god’ for the people who had been grumbling in Moses’ absence.

The Bible says that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

The Bible warns us; ^“evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:13)

And finally, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)

Those verses communicate to me that using the plausibility deniability clause I can not only deceive others, but I can be deceiving myself.

They tell me that I may thinking that I am getting away with something ‘now’, but it will affect the future and how honest I will be.

Now is the time to change the path we are on if we want to break free from this lifestyle of deception and live honest and transparent lives.

Today is the day to look outside of ourselves to the only One who can truly set us free; His Name is Jesus.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1) 

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2)

Jesus said: … "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:31 & 36)

Have you had enough of how you have been using the plausibility deniability clause and want true freedom?

Call 1-888-NEED HIM. Someone is waiting to talk with you

All Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.