Monday, April 30, 2007
Divorce isn’t the unpardonable sin… but it ought to be!
If the “Act of Marriage” is sexual relations between a man and a women, many people have been married a number of times in God’s eyes even though they may not have had a legal or church ceremony. Therefore, to be critical of divorce for the sake of divorce is unfair when the criticizing individuals may have had sexual relations with a number of people but never legally marrying them. God’s perfect plan for marriage is for a man and women to have this sacred intimacy with each other and no one else until death parts them in this life. That’s why premarital sex is such a violation of God’s perfect plan for people’s lives.
Hmmm… does that mean that the person you have sexual relations with the first time in your life is your husband or wife in God’s eyes?!?!
Divorce isn’t the unpardonable sin… but it ought to be!
-Lyn Sahr
-Matt 5:31-32 NIV
“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
My wife is a nurse at a local hospital in our city, working the overnight shift. The day after she works can be hard, as many times she stays awake watching our young children. So every week or so I stop at her work and drop off a cup of her favorite Starbucks coffee to help her to face the day.
One morning while dropping off her caffeine surprise, I walked by a group of new nurses, waiting to begin their new nurses orientation to the hospital. Now at the hospital they affectionately call these people “newbies.”
While waiting for the elevator that morning, I couldn’t help but overhear their conversations and the excitement in their voices. This is what they were training for, and the excitement of the day was evident to them. Laughter, nervousness, and fear of the unknown were all evident, but they were ready to face whatever the day held for them.
Do you remember when you accepted Christ, and were a “newbie” to the Christian walk? Wasn’t it exciting? Did you bubble over with enthusiasm about Jesus, and share it with those around you like these new nurses? Sure there might have been some fear, but remember how it felt to know that your sins were forgiven and Jesus was the Lord of your life? You might not have had a “road to Damascus” conversion experience like Paul, but there was something different….and that difference was Jesus!
I’ve been a follower of Christ for well over 20 years, and I have to admit, sometimes I need to do an attitude adjustment to that of the “newbie” Christian. It’s so easy to get in the rut of life and miss the incredible blessings that are found in Christ. The daily stuff that gets in the way can take away the joy, but focusing on Jesus and the “abundant life” he brings can turn your attitude around.
Are you there today? Take time to focus on the joy of being a Christian, and what Christ has done in your life. How about writing down the answers to prayer this week, this month, or this year? What about hanging out with a “newbie” and catch some of their attitude? How about leading someone to Christ?
There IS joy in the Lord!
-Garrett Novak
-John 10:6-10 (MSG)
Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Divorce isn’t the unpardonable sin… but it ought to be!
To understand the painful effects of divorce one must understand the sacredness of marriage.
First, when God created Adam he created him and then He breathed into him the breath of life and Adam became a living being. Every person who has ever existed since carries that same breath of life making each and every person important and special to God. That’s why abortion is such an abomination to God, the breath of life flows in the veins of every child conceived.
Then God made Eve out of Adam’s own body; in effect the one flesh became two. The reunion of this sacred event is marriage, when a man and a woman once again become “one flesh.” Yes, this is a mystery, a spiritual mystery.
Marriage is a spiritual union. Unfortunately, most people think of it as a physical union. In other words, sexual relations is a spiritual act and when a man and a women have sexual relations they become “one flesh.”
And then there is the vow that a couple makes to God to live together until death separates them, a forgotten promise many make light of but God takes seriously.
So when divorce occurs there is a spiritual ripping apart of “one” spiritual bond making two again. This is a horrible spiritual annihilation that causes immense spiritual pain and suffering. Often this spiritual pain is confused with emotional pain. There is also the breaking of a sacred promise to God, to each other and to the church.
Divorce isn’t the unpardonable sin… but it ought to be!
-Lyn Sahr
-Gen 2:20-24 NIV
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Divorce isn’t the unpardonable sin… but it ought to be!
There are many things to consider in thinking about divorce in the United States today:
∙ The normal lifestyle of American young adults is to live together for a period of time in a type of informal trial marriage. These relationships frequently fail.
∙ Couples enter into their first marriage at a older age than in the past.
∙ A growing percentage of committed couples have decided to live in a common-law relationship rather than get married. This is particularly true among some elderly who fear reduction in government support payments.
The divorce rate in the United States is generally considered about 50% depending upon whose statistics you read. Some have proclaimed numbers as high as 67%.
A recent study by the Barna Research Group throws extreme doubt on these estimates. Barna released the results of their poll about divorce on 1999-DEC-21. 1 They had interviewed 3,854 adults from the 48 contiguous states. The margin of error is within 2 percentage points. The survey found:
∙ 11% of the adult population is currently divorced.
∙ 25% of adults have had at least one divorce during their lifetime.
∙ Divorce rates among conservative Christians were significantly higher than for other faith groups, and for Atheists and Agnostics.
George Barna, president and founder of Barna Research Group, commented:
“While it may be alarming to discover that born again Christians are more likely than others to experience a divorce, that pattern has been in place for quite some time. Even more disturbing, perhaps, is that when those individuals experience a divorce many of them feel their community of faith provides rejection rather than support and healing. But the research also raises questions regarding the effectiveness of how churches minister to families. The ultimate responsibility for a marriage belongs to the husband and wife, but the high incidence of divorce within the Christian community challenges the idea that churches provide truly practical and life-changing support for marriages.”
One reason for the discrepancy of beliefs about divorce rates among born-again Christians may be that their churches are unaware of the true number of divorcing couples in their midst.
∙ Many couples would find it difficult to continue attending services in the same congregation after their marital separation; meeting at church would be awkward. So, they drop out.
∙ Many probably find that the climate in their church is very negative towards divorcing couples. So, they move to other congregations that are either more accepting of divorce, or are unaware of their marital status.
Denomination (in order of decreasing divorce rate) % who have been divorced:
Non-denominational 34%
(small conservative groups;
independents)
Baptists 29%
Mainline Protestants 25%
Mormons 24%
Catholics 21%
Lutherans 21%
Variation in divorce rates by religion:
Religion % have been divorced
Jews 30%
Born-again Christians 27%
Other Christians 24%
Atheists, Agnostics 21%
*Data and information taken from http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htmm .
It appears quite obvious that church alone does not significantly reduce divorce but rather that God alone reduces the divorce rate provided husband and wife both seek him with all their heart, soul and might. Because we have been created as beings of “freewill,” it takes both “wills” to make a marriage work.
The Old Testament definition of sin still holds true today:
-Isa 53:6 NIV
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;”
Divorce is not the unpardonable sin… but it ought to be!
-Lyn Sahr
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Divorce isn’t the unpardonable sin… but it ought to be!
A series of TFD’s about divorce? Hmmm… now that is an idea which should raise some eyebrows. So let’s do it!
Starting tomorrow, I will write about divorce and I would like you to write about your divorce experiences. I will use your thoughts at my discretion and I will not use your name. But I will try to use multiple points of view from our readers.
I am a child of divorce. My parents were married in 1948, I was born in 1948 and they were divorced in 1948. It was a big year! My father died when I was four, either murdered or committed suicide. Through series of events I lived with my maternal grandparents until I was seven when my mother remarried. I had a step father that I had little in common with and we had a tumultuous relationship. I understand what it is like for a child of divorce. Divorce isn’t the unpardonable sin… but it ought to be!
“If I had to choose between feeling pain and nothing at all, I choose pain!”
-Lyn Sahr
-Gen 2:24 NIV
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
It was a week full of tragedy in the United States. From the Virginia Tech shootings to the hostage taking and shooting in Texas at the NASA complex. Some doubters would say that maybe God has “left the building.”
But what the enemy wants to use to destroy, God can and will use for good. Just pick up the bible and read stories of tragedy and how God used them for triumph.
Please pray for the families and lives that have been torn apart this week, that they would find comfort in Jesus Christ, and come to know him through their hurting. Don’t forget to lift up those hurting around you, there are more than you think.
By the way, God hasn’t “left the building.” The bottom line is, when things do not make sense, to remember that ”God is God….and I am not!”
-Garrett Novak
-Ezekiel 18:25-28 (MSG)
“Do I hear you saying, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair!’? “Listen, Israel. I’m not fair? You’re the ones who aren’t fair! If a good person turns away from his good life and takes up sinning, he’ll die for it. He’ll die for his own sin. Likewise, if a bad person turns away from his bad life and starts living a good life, a fair life, he will save his life. Because he faces up to all the wrongs he’s committed and puts them behind him, he will live, really live. He won’t die.
-Psalm 37:27-28 (MSG)
Turn your back on evil,
work for the good and don’t quit.
God loves this kind of thing,
never turns away from his friends.
Friday, April 20, 2007
In reflection of the staggering events that have taken place this past week, one can only wonder where the world is heading for. The violence that we see occurring here and around the world is an abomination to mankind. Perhaps we should not be expecting peace in these last days and be thinking more about tribulation. The lives of the most Godly and stable of our society are being shaken by the senseless violence that has become the lead story and headlines of every media outlet around our nation. Something has got to turn our society toward God and killing one another isn’t going to do it. If we don’t start hearing passionate preaching from our pulpits I tremble at the thought of the state of the church and our nation in a few short years!
Until Jesus comes as He most surely will.
-Lyn Sahr
-2 Peter 3:1-18
Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Monday, April 16, 2007
The summer I graduated from high school I won fourteen Teddy Bears at a nearby county fair. Even though I played the games by the rules they decided that I no longer could play. Isn’t it interesting that they never cut someone off because they lost too many times! Too often the rules of life are made to benefit those who make the rules.
That’s why it is so important to understand that God’s rules are made to benefit us.
Until Jesus comes as He most certainly will.
-Lyn Sahr
-Isa 29:13 NIV
The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
The day in-between! The disciples heard Jesus say he wasn’t going to be with them much longer. They know that he said that death wouldn’t keep him down. But yet there they were, wondering is this really the end? What now? They all saw him die on a cruel cross the day before. They were so used to experiencing life with Jesus, I’m sure they didn’t know what to do.
Then Easter Sunday came, and when the ladies went to anoint his body with oil, a surprise awaited them. The stone was rolled away, and the tomb was empty. Surely, someone wouldn’t have stolen Jesus’ body? But the man they met on the path, seemed so familiar. Could it really be Jesus? What about the angel?
They were ecstatic and ran to tell the disciples that He is alive. The new day had dawned, and God’s plan to redeem mankind had unfolded right there. Jesus is alive, death could not keep him down.
Maybe you’re facing the day in-between today and you are in between finding out about the terminal disease facing your family. Or you’re at the day in-between your spouse announcing that they didn’t want to stay in the marriage? Maybe your day in-between is after a child was taken to heaven prematurely? Or that dream job that you moved your family for just disappeared overnight?
No matter what your “day-in-between” might be….hold on. God promises in His word that he can take even the biggest sin or circumstance in our life and turn it into something good. I know….I’ve had many days “in-between” too!
Hang on…the promise of Easter is coming!
-Garrett Novak
-Luke 24:1-5 (NLT)
But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
There is a lyric to a song that says, “The older the violin the sweeter the music.” That’s the way people are supposed to become when they grow older, aged in beauty with words approaching that of angels.
The closer we get to death we should reflect how close we are to God.
Until Jesus comes as He most surely will.
-Lyn Sahr
-Rev 21:3-4 NIV
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Most churches today cannot find enough school teachers or children’s church workers. So I have a solution, pay them! I suggest a penny a Sunday. You see today in our churches everyone seems to want to get paid so what they get paid probably doesn’t make any difference. The idea is to “get paid.” For the year, that would be a grand total to file income tax on of $.52 (cents) providing they taught each week. And the church would maybe get back $.05 (cents) in tithe money. I know it sounds preposterous by certainly no worse than paying people to do things in the church that they should be delighted to do, to feel compelled to use their spiritual gifts. When we replace volunteer hours with dollar hours we turn passion into reason and the church was, is and will always be built on passion. Reason tells us to get paid, passion tells us to get the job done!
Until Jesus comes as He most certainly will.
-Lyn Sahr
-Eph 2:8-10 NIV
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Hate is a root that gets buried deep inside of people and grows daily into a spiritual cancer that eventually kills spiritually, emotionally and physically. Hate is so foolish. People fail to realize that the one who suffers is the one who hates. The one being hated often doesn’t even know it or doesn’t care! It’s never too late to quit hate. It is not a habit, disease or addiction, it is a choice!
Until Jesus comes as He most certainly will.
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 119:127-128 NIV
Because I love your commands
more than gold, more than pure gold,
128 and because I consider all your precepts right,
I hate every wrong path.
Friday, April 6, 2007
At first glance, there is nothing good about “Good Friday.” But then as the days go on we learn that Sunday is coming and it is a new, victorious day. In many people’s lives there is a dark day where nothing makes sense and the future looks not only uncertain but downright frightening. I am sure that is the way the disciples felt on that first Easter. But then there was the dawn of that new day, the new life was secured through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. That same resurrection power is able to give you a new day and a new life. Never underestimate the power of God! Jesus delivers!
Until Jesus comes as He most certainly will,
-Lyn Sahr
-John 11:25-26 NIV
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
It isn’t often that we get a chance to express ourselves as to what God is doing in our lives. We share this with close friends and perhaps family but little is said in public. I had an idea the other day. What would happen if we asked our church members to give a “progress report” of their spiritual walk in front of the congregation each year? Hmmm… what would happen? Could it be that people would actually grow and feel a sense of accountability to each other in the church?
Until Jesus come as He most certainly will,
-Lyn Sahr
-3 John 2-4 NIV
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Monday, April 2, 2007
I have been asking people if they were doing anything special for Easter at their churches. Most of them answered that they were doing an Easter Breakfast. Not that there is anything wrong with an Easter Breakfast but it seems like we should be doing something more. Make Easter special in your heart this week.
Until Jesus comes as He most surely will,
Lyn Sahr
-1 John 2:2 NIV
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Dear Friends,
A week ago at this time I was trying to rest from ten days of travel and ministry in Monterrey, Mexico. There were twenty in our team and we traveled in our two vans ministering in churches, schools and a feeding program for children in a rural community. This team was made up of twelve students, two teachers and a chaperone from a Christian school and two of our board members with their teenage sons and myself plus local interpreters and drivers. The Christian school team did eleven services and our two board members preached at seven different churches totaling 18 services in six days.
You might be asking what I was doing? I was with the students in every service but one and spent the week meeting with different pastors and others who we have a relationship in Monterrey. We are contemplating developing our staff there with the addition of at least three people to help coordinate with pastors, churches and teams coming in. We have a number of adult leadership teams and youth groups interested in a mission’s adventure!
I could write forever about what we do there and the experiences of what God did with the people and the team members. This particular group of kids had a lot of burdens. A large number of them came out of divorced homes and when they gave their testimonies the pain of the divorces was a forefront in their testimony. I found myself grieving for them as the week went on as their pain was evident as they saw the plight of the poor in Mexico. Emotionally it is difficult to see the poverty of the children and also humiliating as Americans have so much, and are so unhappy!
One of my favorite ministries there is a place outside of the city with a man has lived in his community for over 30 years. Around fifteen years ago, he started a little church. The original building was the size of a decent sized living room. When we first met Pastor Gonzales he had the cement floor and some of the walls up for a much larger church. Over the last several years he has finished that church, every year making progress. I remember looking at that building the first time I saw it and wondering why he was building such a big building, it will seat a couple of hundred people. Well, last year the government started building houses there. There could be as many as a thousand new houses already built and now the people are starting to move in. Ironically, his church is the only church in the area. Little did I know! It’s a good thing God doesn’t have me in charge of His planning.
At the end of July, funds permitting, I am assembling a team of people to do a series of special meetings in two locations, one for Pastor Iris, an Assemblies of God pastor in a very poor area north of Monterrey and Pastor Gonzales. Both are uniquely located in growing areas and have the opportunity to really impact their neighborhoods and they have been very, very faithful. We will do a children’s program in the mornings and women’s ministry at the same time. In the evening we will do evangelistic services. We may do these outside in a tent. We will do about 3 days in each location.
Both of these churches have large children’s ministries. Pastor Iris church has between 50 and 60 children who appear to be 10 and under. We hope to involve more of their families that week through the women’s ministries and the evening services as well as attracting new children in the neighborhood.
Pastor Gonzales feeds about 50 children one lunch a week, many of them living in a nearby neighborhood where the houses are made of tin, old boards and cardboard with dirt floors. Many of these children’s fathers are drug addicts or alcoholics and provide nothing for their families. The meal pastor Gonzales provides is the only decent meal most of these kids get all week long. They usually get one meal a day, on good days! By holding the services there for three days we hope to reach the families of these children, ministering to the mothers and leading the fathers to Christ. We also hope to attract people who are living in the new houses and plugging them into pastor Gonzales church. I want to tell you something else about Pastor Gonzales.
Six years ago we were at his house and he asked me to pray for his six week old grandson Jeremías who had severe asthma and was sent home from the hospital to die. There was nothing they could do for him. Our team wept and prayed for the little boy and walked out the door with broken hearts, far to familiar with unanswered prayer. But amazingly God touched Jeremías life and he has never been sick again, until now. At least once a year I like to go back and see him as a remind myself of the healing power of our living God. This past week when we went there the Gonzales asked us to pray for Jeremías again as he had been ill and they had him to the doctor who did tests believing that he had Leukemia. My heart sunk as the story wasn’t supposed to take this turn. Then Elizabeth, pastor Gonzales wife, told us that pastor Gonzales had a tumor behind his ear that the doctors wanted to operate on and remove but they had no money for the surgery. Then Pastor Gonzales told us that Elizabeth had been in bed for most days as she has a heart arrhythmia and, again, no money for proper treatment.
We gathered around Jeremías and prayed for him, then Elizabeth and then pastor Gonzales. It was so difficult that it brings tears to my eyes to even think of this moment. Again I ask God to bring forth more miracles as these are very special people in the Kingdom of God. When I left there I couldn’t help but wonder if the next time I come that one of them or all of them may not be alive. So, I decided to give Pastor Gonzales a hand in building his dream of filling that new church with people. So, the end of July we I will return and preach with an anointing that I believe God will provide for a time such as this. So we are believing that God will provide a team of people for children’s ministry and women’s ministry of His choosing. We will have a terrific Mexican praise band for the evening services.
So please be praying for the Gonzales’ and the upcoming services with Pastor Iris and Pastor Gonzales. Pray that God will provide the team for children and women’s ministries. They are responsible for their own funding but there are additional expenses for the ministry and my personal funding to make this trip possible. Please keep this in your prayers too.
See picture gallery at
http://www.homeandawayministries.org/GCA/outreaches/mex07_ccs/mex07_ccspics.htm
Until Jesus comes as He most surely will,
Lyn Sahr
