The Good Bishop Rev. C.W. Honeycutt

We were treated to a wonderful guest speaker today at TLC!

The Good Bishop Rev. C.W. Honeycutt (4th cousin twice removed) was in the house and boy, was he upset!

First off, there wasn’t a “proper pulpit” to set his King James Bible on (we found one backstage, thankfully!). Next, he pointed out there wasn’t any good “church music” provided for worship. After explaining that guitars (including those “bass fishin’ ” kind) were “of the devil”, he began leading the congregation into a brief rendition of “We’re Marching to Zion”. That didn’t go so well…

He also noticed a lot of the people there were dressed inappropriately for church! Blue jeans, t-shirts, hats… even women in pants!

His head was spinning… where were all the pews? The hymnals? The baptismal fount? This certainly wasn’t the kind of church he was accustomed to!

The Bishop was visibly “flustered” as he so eloquently put it. After reading scripture (with quite the animated delivery), he then turned the service over to myself. I reckon The Living Church wasn’t his glass of sweet tea…

Whether you know it or not, the Bishop’s kind of attire, music, and “church” was the norm for many years. It’s still like that to this day in some places! And you know what? God bless them because they’re our brothers-in-Christ and they’re still reaching others with the Gospel! (I’m thankful that there’s more than one way to “do church”!)

But what the Bishop embodies in a lot ways is the dark side of Christianity that misrepresents what we as believers should be about. You weren’t a “true Christian” if you didn’t wear your “Sunday best” to church. Long hair and sandals were for hippies (and pictures of Jesus). Facial hair? That was unacceptable, unless of course you sported a stylish mustache (like the Bishop’s!).

Not only that, but you made sure to throw your weight around towards others in righteous judgment if they weren’t just like you (forget that whole “being like Christ” thing). Conformity to these “rules” was practically a requirement for church membership anywhere you went. Unfortunately, many Christians around this time turned far more people away from God than closer to Him!

They were consumed with outward appearance, rather than how “the lost” perceived them to be.

What’s the point in all of this? That God doesn’t care about “looks”, but our heart instead!

1 Samuel 16 tells us:

⁶ When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Eliab (King David’s older brother) was noticeably “fair and tall”, yet God knew His heart and deemed him to be unfit to be King of Israel. He pointed this out to Samuel, who had thought Eliab surely must’ve been “the one” on his appearance alone!

What does that say for us? That not only can looks be deceiving, but the heart is what is most important! It shows who we truly are!

If your heart is pure, displaying love for God and His children (yes, all of them!), then people are going to take notice and desire for themselves whatever made you that way!

So while it’s perfectly alright to wear your “Sunday best”, what matters more is how your heart looks! Is it dirty? Prideful? Ugly? Not very appealing? Then it’s probably time to ask for the Holy Spirit to change it!

The same goes for the Christian church! Both God and our fellow man don’t care as much about how nice the building is, but rather what’s on the inside! If we show love and acceptance of people (not the sins that get dragged with them!) then that’s when we’re truly doing the Lord’s work and we start changing lives!

Remember that in God’s eyes, purity beats vanity EVERY TIME! “Putting up a front” will only get you so far, before you’re found out to be a fraud or worse… a misrepresentation of the God you serve!

Lastly, my apologies go out to the Bishop who was last seen at “Bob’s Country Chicken & Fish” somewhere on U.S. 1.  He loves that place!

What a cool service we had today!

After opening up with the third letter of John, I was ambushed… tied up, handcuffed, and my mouth was taped over!

You read correctly… (those handcuffs kind of hurt too!)

Hopefully it’s the first and last time folks see a pastor get such treatment on stage!

The point of this “stunt” (although us pastors refer to them as “illustrations”), is that we either support the ministry or we don’t!

But when we do support it, guess what? We become ministers in our own way… by helping make it happen!

John writes:

5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.

Always keep in mind that when you give, through tithes & offerings, volunteering, etc., you are spreading the Gospel! It’s no longer simply on the shoulders of the pastor or the church leaders, but everyone in the church!

However, we can hold back great things from being done in the lives of others when we fail to support the church. We can either be like Gaius, who gave shelter to the “brethren” who traveled around spreading the Gospel and growing the church… OR we can be like Dietrephes (another church leader, by the way) who discouraged others from showing such hospitality, much less display that himself!

If we’re like the latter, that means:
- We’re handcuffing the hands that reach out!
- We’re tying down the feet that go beyond ourselves and into the community!
- We’re silencing the voices that speak the Word of God to those who need to hear it!

So by all means… GIVE! Give like you should (as the Bible instructs us and the same manner that God gives to us)! We have plenty of great things coming up with TLC, but we need your support to pull it off!

Don’t restrain the work of the ministry! Instead, be a “fellow worker with the truth”!

This weekend our LIVING youth will be heading to one of my favorite places… Walt Disney World! But this is by no means your typical, “magic filled” trip! They’re going to be camping at Fort Wilderness Campground. Tents, sleeping bags, bugs, and all!

Now I’m not sure if you know of the summer climate there in central Florida, but let me tell you… it’s not exactly ideal. Instead, it will be hot, humid, and probably a bit rainy. (but I’m sure the kids will survive!)

Regardless of what the weather entails, fun will still be had and they’ll even get to see a costumed mouse or two! Aside from the theme park will be an opportunity for our youth to further connect with each other and grow deeper spiritually. Imagine if our students were to be solid, faith-filled believers at this point in their lives, what they could be like when they’re “all grown up”? This is the future of the church, we’re talking about… and if we can get them excited about their relationship with Jesus Christ right now, the church will be a long way off from dying!

In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, we see that “youth” are not second-class citizens in the ministry world, but potential equals! Paul instructs Timothy in chapter 4, verse 12:

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”

That is our approach to youth ministry… to make the next generation as authentic of examples in God’s love and righteousness as they can be! When we do that, we don’t have fear of what’s to come, but rather hope for the future! They can make their way into places, filled with the lost and hurting, that us pastors can only dream of impacting!

So, in some small way a camping trip at Disney World is a big step towards building His church! (just a really fun way to do it!) Instead of us adults being envious of the opportunity being given to our students (who worked long, hard, but happily many weekends this summer to help pay for the trip), we should be rejoicing in knowing that this will benefit them spiritually and later on, influence every person they encounter for the rest of their life!

I ask you to be in prayer for safe travel and for the students themselves as they enjoy the fellowship and time away from home, that their faith will be challenged and stretched to a point of genuine strength!

As a chaperone and leader of this trip, pray that I’ll get some sleep!

Like many other churches, we have “home groups” during the summertime and the one we have at our house is always a tough act to follow. Why? Because we make homemade ice cream!

Now, for anyone who’s ever had ice cream made in a wooden churn machine (and not one of those table-top contraptions), it’s pretty darn tasty! Not necessarily healthy, but hey… this is ice cream we’re talking about! It’s the perfect remedy for this hot weather we’ve been having (103 degrees!).

We shamefully promote this as a way to draw people in to our home groups. The ice cream itself doesn’t necessarily bring the people in… but the fellowship surrounding it is hard to miss!

Why is this nice Christianese term “fellowship” so important? Because it emphasizes conversation, support, and maybe even a little bit of fun for good measure. Christians don’t often “get out” as much as the rest of the world, because the world tends to socialize in unhealthy ways. This is why it’s such a need for the church to come together, whenever possible, and “hang out”.

God created man to be in community. That means we weren’t meant to be alone! Psychologically and spiritually speaking, we crave the company of others. Think of the prisoner in “solitary confinement”… they almost always go crazy and start talking to themselves!

It is also no surprise that most of the “big sins” people struggle with involve other people! Adultery, alcohol/drug abuse, crimes of all sorts, typically involve more than one person! So on the other side of the aisle, it’s a safe assumption that finding good company meets this need in a much more productive way.

In Genesis 2:18, God said,

“It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

The Lord recognized that Adam needed a helper. Notice it uses that word for a reason… that despite having paradise all to himself, Adam needed some help! (duh!) That’s what we as human beings should always remember that despite how “independent” we think we can be, sometime, somewhere down the road in life we will need a shoulder to cry on, a lending hand, thoughtful advice, and many other things that we simply can’t provide for ourselves!

Instead of being an island floating around alone in a vast ocean, we as a church body should be together and united in supporting one another! This needs to take place not only during “tough times”, but in times of personal peace/prosperity as well (in order to help prevent struggles!). So what are some ways we can grow as a group?

- Pray hard! Sounds simple enough, huh? Well, more than likely we don’t engage in prayer as much or as deep as we should! We should be lifting each other up and helping them fend off attacks from the enemy! Also, when we engage into an active lifestyle of prayer (not just sticking to a regimented schedule), we’ll be pleased at how well it works in our lives and for those we’re praying for! Praying = results!

- Study hard! If we don’t have the “answers”, we’re of little help to those with questions! (including the ones we have!) One of the best ways to grow stronger in your faith is to grow in your knowledge of God through His Word!

- Be transparent! No, not everyone has to know your “business”, but be open with those you know you can trust (not just in keeping secrets, but with providing good, experienced support). How can our brothers and sisters in Christ know what to pray for if you don’t tell them?

- Communication! This follows transparency, in that you need to let those you know what’s going on in your life when it happens. Don’t wait for days or weeks to pass by without telling someone what you’re dealing with! Firefighters don’t wait for a building to burn down before they try putting out the blaze! Neither should we stall in trying to answer life’s problems that come our way.

- Find a home group or Bible study! Our church offers several options for fellowship and discipleship, so find something that fits your schedule! If your workplace or school offers a Bible study, that works too!

- Invite someone out for lunch/dinner/bowling/golf/whatever! Take the time and get to know someone that’s new in town, or maybe someone that’s new to you! (Eating/playing by yourself stinks!)

- GO TO CHURCH! This would seem pretty obvious coming from a pastor, but a lot of times when we’re “down” we just don’t feel like “being social” and going to a place where other people are at! We also don’t want to “praise the Lord” and sit through a sermon. But you know what? The majority of the time when we go ahead anyways, we end up enjoying it! (imagine that, right?) So make it a point to attend services as much as you can, because it’s never a waste of time!

- Availability! Why attend a home group, Bible study, or worship service? Because someone there may very well need to see YOU for something… and that means you need to be available to them! Keep an open heart, mind, and schedule for those that want you in their daily lives! Lying to yourself by saying you’re “too busy” may make you miss a golden opportunity to bless or be blessed!

So while homemade ice cream has it’s share of fans, on it’s own it doesn’t have any real “power”. But what we do with it certainly does! (and I’m not talking about what it does to our body!) The ice cream is a lot like us… by ourselves we’re pretty insignificant, but when surrounded by a group of people, you really have something special!

Make it a point to spend time with your church family… believe it or not, they need you just as much as you need them!

I hate it when I’m trying to have a calm & clear discussion with someone and then… it turns ugly! What was once a nice chat, is now an argument because the other party just had to “bring a gun to a knife fight” in the form of a cheap insult. The introduction of the “gun” has ruined what was once a level playing field!

That’s kind of like what happens when we pray… we have a deadly weapon at our disposal!

In the book of Acts, chapter 12 tells us about Peter being arrested by Herod. This was not an uncommon occurrence for the early church, but it’s remarkable to see what happened!

Verse 5 says:

“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”

Sounds pretty simple, if not “uneventful”, right? But as we read on, we see where an angel sent from God rescued Peter despite being shackled and surrounded by guards.

6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches…”

So what’s the connection here? The church prayed, God listened, took action, and Peter escaped.

Now, could Peter have escaped on his own? Possibly, but not very likely.

Could God have sent an angel just on His own desire? Again… possibly, but not very likely.

Why? Because God wants to hear from us! (Imagine that, right?)

But there’s something else at work here! The enemy (that satan guy) attacks God by going after His children. Wherever God is (which for an omnipresent God means: everywhere) the battle is taken to Him! That means believers are walking targets. So why are we surprised when someone has a personal failure?

We answer these attacks by standing in the way, coming in-between our brother or sister in Christ and fending off the attacker! This is called “intercessory prayer” because it literally means “intervening” or “mediating”. When we pray, we’re armed with a weapon that outmatches anything the enemy has in its possession! The problem has historically been using it!

Notice back in verse 5… the word “earnestly” is used here. Earnestly is defined as “seriously” or “intensely”… the church was in constant, fervent, deep prayer for Peter to be rescued! And you know what? It worked!

Now, you might be like everyone else sending up prayers for your family members and close friends, but the question is this: Are you praying for your church family? For the worship leaders? For your pastor? For the person sitting near you? For your neighbors? For your co-workers? The list goes on…

There are many of our fellow believers in need of prayer for their health, finances, relationships… because these areas are all crucial “battlefields” where spiritual warfare takes place on a constant moment-by-moment basis. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 for believers to “pray without ceasing” and for good reason! The enemy never stops attacking, so neither should we!

Let’s take up arms and fight back! Find the time in your daily schedule to be an intercessor for God’s children!

The Fourth of July weekend is a time of celebration with our friends, family, and neighbors. We get to watch fireworks, grill some burgers, head to the beach, all-in-all fun stuff! We hear that Lee Greenwood song (you know the one) probably a few times too many. All the while, “God bless America” is displayed and repeated ad-nauseum to somehow tie Almighty God into this whole “good times” picture.

But when we examine the current state of our nation, that phrase “God bless America” seems to be a shallow statement. Why is that?

God has already blessed us (and still does)! Yet what do we do to show our gratitude and bless Him in return?

We promote debauchery (sex, alcohol, pop music), violence (movies, TV) and watered down witchcraft (Harry Potter, Twilight, True Blood). We allow the practice of abortion to continue killing millions of unborn children. We fight for “gay rights” and legalized marijuana. And that’s just the year 2010… but trust me, we’ve been at it for a long time!

The number one export of the United States isn’t oil, cars, or anything industrial… it’s our culture! Rock and roll, gangsta’ rap, Playboy, Budweiser, reality television, celebrity tabloids, double bacon cheeseburgers, all American creations… and guess what? The world loves it as much as we do!

That “freedom” we celebrate is oftentimes a double-edged sword because it gets abused! Freedom was never intended to be a license to filth, but that’s just what happened.

Believe it or not, our country, and many of the states within, were established on Christianity and at the very least, Judeo-Christian values were the foundation of it’s government. America quickly became the “shining city on a hill” for the faith, sending out missionaries to all ends of the earth. Evangelistic groups popped up and made untold impacts for the Gospel for Christ! Not to mention, the number of churches, clergy members, and Christian charities per capita far exceeds any other country. These are all things we can be proud of!

So yes, we still are a “Christian nation” but it’s balanced by all the other junk we’re famous for! This is the dichotomy of America… the sinner and the saint, which has been our Jekyll & Hyde persona for ages.

2 Chronicles 7:14 is a passage that is often quoted around this time, but usually with good reason. It succinctly shows that if we as a collective body would just drop all the nonsense we wrap ourselves up in, recognize the need for God in all areas of public and private life, and pray sincerely, what kind of results would we see? Let’s find out:

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

He will forgive our (nation’s) sins and heal our land (which needs it more than ever!).

So, what’s the problem? Oh, that’s right… we’re too consumed with ourselves to do that. And when things go south, like the economy, we start blaming God! (Funny how that works out!)

And guess what? It’s happened before! The Israelites did the same thing!

Exodus 16 tell us of the “grumblings” they had towards Moses and ultimately God, for leading them out to the desert, only now they didn’t have the supply of food their masters provided for them before! Here they were, freed from captivity from the Egyptians, but now they yearned for being “comfortable”. They took their “freedom” for granted! Does that sound familiar?

We can only answer for ourselves, but when other people see our sincere faith in Christ, where we joyfully celebrate the freedom from sin He gave us, they might just want that very freedom for themselves! Then after a few more get on-board, what do we have? Revival! A movement of God that flows into every corner of our daily life and culture. All of a sudden, things start to change: our priorities (personally and nationally), the economy, crime rates, and many other areas we may or may not notice. Let us not forget where these blessings come from!

God gave us this country, it’s liberty, His favor and His divine protection to be that light to the darkness! Let us keep this light bright (full of righteousness) and never dim (full of sin)!

Fast forward to today… I’m no Tiger Woods, (or for my father’s generation, no Lee Trevino… uhh, Google him!) but I learned a lot from golfing with my dad and the instructions he gave. However, I think the hardest thing for me to learn was the grip! Playing tee-ball, farm league baseball, etc., I was more inclined to grip the club like a baseball bat! Kind of like this (only facing down):

Of course, if I swung the golf club with a grip like that, I would be fortunate just to make contact with the ball! But to me as a young, dumb kid… it felt right! I was comfortable holding it like that! And of course I didn’t want to believe my dad when he said that it was wrong and I had to do it some other way.

A proper golf grip can seem foreign, awkward and uncomfortable to someone that is used to another form. Your right hand seems out of place, plus the whole interlocking-fingers-thing just feels odd! This is how it’s supposed to be:

This is much like our relationship with God (and life itself). We often want to do what feels right to us! Being comfortable takes precedent over what is correct.

In this case, when we listen to our Father’s advice, we are challenged because the feelings, instincts, etc. can’t always be trusted! What feels right doesn’t necessarily translate to being right. The perspective comes into place here, because young, prideful arrogance goes against the infinite wisdom of a great instructor, and of course the instructor has far more knowledge about it than we do!

So it becomes a matter of not just listening to the advice we’re given, but following through with it. This advice is not for us to fail, but to succeed! Quite simply, OUR FATHER KNOWS BETTER THAN WE DO! (duh!)

Years ago when my dad was teaching me how to play golf, he showed me the proper golf grip in order for my drives not to sail into someone’s living room. He wanted to see me hit right down the middle, the way it should be! That’s what God is crying out everyday to His children… this is how you’re supposed to live! The Bible clearly shows us what is right and what is wrong. Life’s Instruction Manual, authored by the Creator of the entire universe, is right under our nose!

Yet, what do we as human beings tend to do? Ignore the advice we’re given, and “do our own thing”. Guess what happens when we do that? We usually fail miserably… all thanks to that stupid thing we often rely on called pride.

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty (arrogant) spirit before a fall.”

Needless to say, it took me more than a few tries to get this grip down. The prideful temptation to go back to what I knew because it worked for me once-in-a-blue-moon was there for the taking. But I stuck with the instructions I was given, and sure enough I started playing a whole lot better! (imagine that!) This new grip produced a straight shot that was not attainable before when I tried doing it “my way”.

Another passage in Proverbs (3:5-6) tells us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

In other words, our Father knows best… we need to take His advice!

Give up the things/habits/sins that you think you “need” in your life! Start following the detailed instructions God has given us through His Word (the Bible), and experience a life with far less disappointment, discouragement, and failure. We get to find the fulfillment we’d never know otherwise!

As far as my golf career goes, it’s on hold for now… I mean, I’m far too compassionate to just flat-out humiliate those poor guys on the PGA Tour!

P90X is a strict, intense 90-day workout program designed to get you in the “best shape of your life” (or so they say in their ads). In order to combat the tolls of a lifetime of food-on-the-run, lack of dedicated time for exercise, and just outright physical laziness, I decided to enroll in my local YMCA’s version of P90X.

The trainer that leads the class attends TLC and he’s been a great help in keeping me accountable and focused. That support is something we all need in every area of our life! In regards to me getting “fit”, it makes all the difference because I know if I just relied on my own willpower, I might quit within two weeks!

Now, I’m not grossly overweight or anything… I just want to “tone up”. Isn’t this a lot like many people we know and their spiritual condition? Most of us don’t ever commit any “grave sins” (let’s say: murder, rape, robbery, etc.), yet we’re still “out of shape”!

Plenty of folks are completely “overweight” and are coming ever closer to reaching the obesity of the soul. We’ve loaded up on sin (just like junk food!) for so long that we don’t think we can get where we need to be (in good health).

Thank God for His mercy and grace that He doesn’t give up on us! In fact, He makes it much easier to get “in shape” (holiness) than by any other means. How? By the work of the cross!

Imagine enrolling in P90X like I have… you’re toiling every day, going “by the book”, yet you’re still not there! The results you want aren’t happening. This is a lot like the Jews of the Old Testament. Living by “the law” yet they couldn’t bridge the gap between them and God because of the enormity of sin! This would be like trying to lose weight, but you weight 800 lbs. and look like one of those stories on Discovery Health (where they have to cut a section out of your house to get you out!).

But with Jesus Christ, we have a much better path to righteousness. He did all the heavy lifting! However, we can’t stop exercising and forego a sense of discipline just because of what Jesus did! (In fact, it’s the opposite!)

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Paul uses this “race” reference again later in Philippians 3:13-14:

“No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.”

We still “run the race” because our reward is greater than anything we can get on our own! Our discipline comes not out of wanting to win the race, but it’s the result of knowing the race has been won by someone who’s at a level of “fitness” we could never obtain! Yet, this winner is right there by our side training us to get to His level! We aren’t running on our own, but God is right there with us for support! (much like a personal trainer) Temptations and obstacles we faced before, suddenly become a lot easier to handle!

All of the things we do in our faith journey are not for nothing… God sees our hard work and dedication and says “Well done!”. It’s when we’re spiritually lazy and irresponsible that He wants nothing to do with us! (Read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25)

I’m looking forward to being done with P90X, but I’m not stopping there! I keep going, running the race and perfecting myself. The reward will be great and well-worth my efforts. To “give up” and quit before the results are realized, just because we’re a little sore, makes it all a huge waste of time and money.

That’s why we can’t give up on the Lord either… while the enemy may frustrate us to point of avoiding God at every turn (church, fellowship, personal devotions and prayers), we have to fight past that feeling to quit and instead push through!

God loves this kind of stuff… hard work, dedication, commitment. Possibly it’s due to the fact that He shows all of those things towards us! (He never fails us!) It all comes as a result of a loving relationship between Him and His children. We’re most devoted to those we love!

So do an self-assessment right now: Are you “in shape” spiritually? Or do you need to change a few things that may require some hard work? If you’re “out of shape”, then ask yourself, why are you ignoring the very thing that will get you where you need to be? That is, connecting with the One who loves you and has given you a way to obtain a “body” better than you could ever have gotten on your own!

On a side note… my shoulders are feeling pretty rough today!

For those of you that care about my television preferences, I am typically not one for TV shows. If it’s a good football game or the occasional History Channel documentary, then sure. However, I don’t really care for what is offered on “prime time” television, with a few exceptions. One of those would be “LOST”, a sci-fi show on ABC that’s aired for the last 6 years, filled with diverse characters, confusing storylines, and just plain-old crazy stuff to shake things up.

Due to the nature of the show, the writers almost built it to fail in the sense that they couldn’t possibly ever answer all of the questions that arose during the series. Going by what we were given in the final season, it’s pretty obvious we’re never going to know the reasons behind a lot of the weird things that happened on the island.

But what was presented last night was a mixed bag of entertaining resolve, but disappointing in it’s execution. That is to say, I enjoyed the first 2 hours and 20 minutes (it was a 2 and a half hour series finale!), but the end was where they “LOST” me. (Oh look… a pun!)

Back in seminary we learned about this term, “syncretism“. What’s that? Simply put, it’s the combination of two or more religious beliefs and their practices. We saw this in it’s purest form last night.

Take a look at the “stained glass window”. What do you see? Multiple symbols of faith, that’s what. Keep in mind, this took place at a “church” that clearly looked like a church on the outside, with a statue of Jesus Christ on the outside and a cross on the steeple. But once Jack (the main character of the show) stepped into this room, it was full of pictures and religious items from across the spiritual board. It turns out this last season the characters were in an alternate reality/”purgatory” of some sort, which is kind of funny since that was one of the theories fans had all along.

Now some of you might be saying, “So what’s the big deal? It’s just a TV show!” And to that I would reply that yes, it’s just a TV show. But one that was watched last night by 13.5 million people in the U.S. alone. That doesn’t include international fans, or those that will catch it on their TiVo/DVR, Hulu, ABC.com, or later on DVD.

What it does is two things 1. Disappoint me and numerous other fans who were looking for something a little less obvious, but more importantly 2. Perpetuate some multi-faith concept of purgatory where the main characters all “move on” to the other side (guided by a blinding light). This sort of inclusion only causes more confusion in a show full of that already.

The syncretism (again, mixing religions) aspect is one thing, but the other is purgatory. To make this blog entry a fully realized Religion 101 class, I’ll explain: The word comes from the Latin purgatorium, which literally means “place of cleansing”. Purgatory is a “holding place”, between heaven and hell, to provide further purification to souls not fit for the splendor of heaven.

Once deemed “holy” (aided by the prayers and offerings of the person’s living descendants), they pass on. Sounds neat, right? The only problem is, it’s not found in the Bible. Anywhere…

Purgatory was a concept popularized by the Catholic Church centuries ago. It has been found in other religious systems (Chinese Buddhism, Judaism) but the belief was solidified and taught by the Roman-Catholics. One of the reasons Martin Luther lead the Reformation (another lesson for another day) was because of the abuses the Catholic Church made in regards to pushing purgatory, where if the parishoners simply gave more money, they could rescue their loved ones from further torment. Yes, believe it or not, the Church was quite corrupt at one time.

So not only did the writers of LOST go with the whole purgatory explanation, but they made it inclusive to people of all faiths. This is all good, politically correct, lovey-dovey type of stuff, but again… it’s just not Biblical.

What’s a good blog entry of mine without some scripture to back me up?

The first of the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:3 – “You shall have no other gods before me”. This means there is only one God in our life. Not one of many…

What did Jesus say? Matthew 7:13-14 – “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

and…

John 14:6 – “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Not to mention, the Apostle Paul said in Acts 4:12 – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

I think those passages clearly show that there is only one way to heaven and that’s through Jesus Christ. It’s not found in Allah or Muhammed, Joseph Smith, Buddha (which doesn’t even have a belief in the afterlife), Hinduism (the closest match to the concept that LOST was going for) or any other belief system around (that includes you and all of your Xenu-hatin’ buddies, Tom Cruise).

That all said, the television industry today is not controlled or even influenced by Christians. This despite the large majority of our nation considers themselves to be one. What’s more unfortunate is to take notice at how few viewers will find error in the syncretism and purgatory aspects themselves, instead just finding fault with how it ended creatively.

Is this a larger problem than we realize? That many people are so spiritually numb (or confused), that when they see blatant attempts at religious “inclusion”, they pass it off as entertainment and think nothing of it? That’s merely accepting an idea, without verbally acknowledging it.

Lastly, this article (link) praised the show for having a message of faith.

Again, that may seem “nice”… but it’s awfully dangerous if that message is mixed. You see, no one will drink a bottle of poison if they can clearly see that it’s got the skull and crossbones symbol on the label. They’ll drink the poison if it’s masked by something appealing (Kool-Aid has worked before).

That’s what’s going on here… a “beautiful” ending to a television series that has captured viewers’ imaginations for 6 years, mixed in with an unbiblical view on eternal life. They’re sneaky, I tell ya…

It’s one of the first things we ask about when we get a job offer: “What are the benefits?”

They are typically grouped into a package, which often includes: health insurance, vacation time, retirement/401k, a company car, housing allowance, maybe even a pension fund. All stuff we’d like to have in a perfect world!

But here in today’s “modern times”, people in increasing amounts ask themselves that same question: “What are the benefits?” (what am I getting out of this?)…

Of believing in God?

Of going to church?

Psalm 103:2-5 says:

2Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
3Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
4Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Those are some big ones right there! He forgives us for the sins we commit, heals us from diseases, saves us from going to hell (instead, we go to heaven), loves us compassionately, and gives us good stuff (blessings in many shapes and forms). I could stop right here and that would be enough to make my point!

Despite all of the goodies, most people choose to ignore the true God of the Bible (not the generic, passive one imagined up in our head). Not only do they tune God out of their lives, church has no place in it either. However, it’s hard to separate God from the church, seeing as that their married to one another! It’s kind of like when your buddy gets married… guess what? You have to start hanging out with their spouse too, whether you like them or not!

But the benefits of church outweigh any sense of “wasting time”. While we have to make that “great sacrifice” of an hour’s worth (or more) of our Sunday morning, what we get out of it is this: time spent in God’s presence (worship), fellowship with other believers (encouragement), and hearing God’s Word preached and taught (growth). These things can be hard to get just on our own!

Speaking of “hard to get”, let’s talk more about God… and the “fruits of the Spirit”.

Galatians 5:22-23 lists them:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control.

You see, when we enter into a relationship with God we have to nurture it like we would a flower or a fruit tree. If we neglect this relationship, ignore it, leave it alone, it will wither away. But if we “water it” and give it care, helping it grow, then we get to see the results of that growth! The same thing happens when we let the Holy Spirit take shape in our hearts.

These true forms of joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are “hard to get” anywhere else! Only a relationship with Jesus Christ can produce these things authentically and long-term (everlasting). We see where plenty of people chase down fulfillment in other places (bars, bad relationships, hobbies, self-help books) but none of it comes close to what God offers us!

All we have to do to receive these great benefits is just “sign on the dotted line” and commit to serving Him! It may seem hard and require more of our time (in comparison to the “quick fixes” of the world around us) but what we get back in return is well worth it!