There are many factors at play in what has been dubbed “cancel culture”. Certainly, social media plays a role in the ways it turbocharges our outrage. But the existence of the outrage in the first place is a matter of the heart. It arises when enlightened souls feel compelled to enlighten others who are lost in the dark. It’s fundamentally an evangelistic zeal—there’s a preacher inside us all. You don’t need to be a churchgoer to feel it. Glen Scrivener
Scripture
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say, ‘Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! “
Observation
Jesus continues to push home His points about addressing the state of the heart and not just obedience to the law.
So He says that the principle of eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth must give way to a new law in which we do not resist evil people. We should go further than the law demands.
Rather than loving your neighbour and hating your enemies, Jesus says we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. When we do this, we are like our Father who gives sunlight and rain to evil and good people are like. Even tax collectors are kind to their friends.
Application
There is no law in the Old Testament that says we may hate our enemies if we love our neighbours. Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan to teach that we have to love people who might not be our natural friends.
Jesus tells us to do the opposite of what the world teaches and our natural inclinations want. To be a true follower of Jesus means that we learn to love people who are nasty or violent towards us.
This is hard, and in our own abilities it is impossible. But as christians we are connected to the Father, the God who is love. He will give us grace to forgive and to love our enemies
Prayer
Lord Jesus, these words are hard to accept. Please give me grace to love those who hate me. Amen.
From godreports.com
By Charles Gardner —
Top scientist James Tour is described as a genius inventor who has started 78 companies and spoken at every major university in the United States.
James grew up just outside New York City, but Judaism didn’t particularly excite him. He once tried to talk to a rabbi, but was brushed aside with very little explanation.
Then he went to college where he met a number of ‘born-again Christians’. He thought it an odd term and questioned what it meant.
One fellow student drew a picture of a man on a cliff edge with God on the other side of a great chasm, trying to explain how Jesus’ death crosses – or bridges – the gap created by our sin because he bore their weight, and we just have to trust in his sacrifice for us.
But James protested: “I’m not a sinner. I never killed anyone or robbed a bank,” adding that the modern Judaism of which he was familiar never really discussed sin.
His friend countered by showing him a verse from the New Testament: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
Then came the knockout punch. His friend pointed to Jesus’ teaching on adultery: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27f)
“Pow! I felt as though I had been punched in the chest,” James explained. “I had become addicted to pornography and I didn’t think anybody knew. Now someone who lived 2,000 years ago is calling me out on it. I felt immediately convicted and I knew I was a sinner.”
He also saw how Christ’s sacrificial death had been precisely predicted by Isaiah some 700 years before it happened. For he read in Isaiah chapter 53 how the Messiah would take our sins upon himself – “the perfect God comes and gives himself for us” – adding: “We Jews know better than anyone else that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
“I started to realize how Jewish the New Testament is. It’s all around Jewish people. Then, on November 7th 1977, I was all alone in my room. I realized Yeshua was the one who died on the cross. I said, ‘Lord, I am a sinner. Please forgive me.’
“All of a sudden Jesus Christ entered my room. Yes, Jesus was in my room. I started weeping, his presence was so glorious and this amazing sense of forgiveness started to come upon me.”
His cousins were shocked at his decision and his mother was not happy either. She didn’t blame the religious leaders for killing Jesus; he got what he deserved for calling them ‘whitewashed tombs’, in her view.
But then she read the Tanach (Old Testament) from beginning to end, and told her son: “God warned us over and over again.”
Later, through the influence of James’ 15-year-old daughter, she started reading the Bible again and, one day, aged 72, she rang her son to say: “Jimmy, it hit me; the way he gave his life. I believe it now. Jesus is the Son of God.”
Tour is a professor of chemistry, professor of materials science and nanoengineering, and professor of Computer Science at Rice University. He was named “Scientist of the Year” by R&D Magazine in 2013 and won the ACS Nano Lectureship Award from the American Chemical Society in 2012. He was ranked one of the top 10 chemists in the world over the past decade by Thomson Reuters in 2009.
More than any of his accomplishments, Tour says, “what means the most to me is that I’m a Jew who believes Jesus is the Messiah.”
James’ story can be viewed on YouTube, courtesy of One for Israel in partnership with Chosen People Ministries.
Nice ride out to Jacks Creek and Gun Club Roads this morning. #cycling #narrabri
In Christianity, the Victim, Jesus, suffered redemptively and offers dignity and hope to the oppressed. The danger nowadays is that our chief desire is not to honour and help victims but to become them. Glen Scrivener
Another hot day ahead. A pleasant enough ride to Haire Drive. #cycling #Narrabri
In Christianity the principle is that all sit equally at the same table. The modern goal is for all to climb equally high up their own ladders. Glen Scrivener
Scripture
“If your eye – even your good eye – causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”
Observation
Jesus takes the commandments and applies them to our thinking and not just our outward appearances.
The Law forbids adultery, but Jesus says if we even look at a woman with lust in our heart, we have already committed adultery. if our eyes causes to sin, we should gouge them out if necessary to avoid hell.
While the law allows for divorce, Jesus says that the only valid reason for divorce is an unfaithful partner.
We must not make a vow. Instead of swearing on something, we should simply say, “Yes” or “No.”
Application
God does not want us to be good just on the outside. He wants to transform our thinking so that the thoughts and desires that lead to sin will not happen.
He warns us of the reality of hell. Those who sin without the forgiveness of God will find themselves in such torment that losing an eye or another body part in order to escape sin seems like a good deal.
Jesus is clearly not advocating self-mutilation as a pathway to holiness. Holiness comes as we constantly commit our minds, hearts, and bodies to the direction of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, i confess that I still sin, at least in my mind. Please cleanse my thoughts and teach me how to submit every part of me to you. Amen.
Nice ride to Haire Drive. It’s a cool sunny day that is expected to turn hot later. #cycling #Narrabri
