​“Doing What It Says” means taking God at face value.    It means that God is still on the throne, holy and perfect and does not need our help in guiding the world toward holiness; we just need to accept His definition of it.   In becoming devoted Disciples of Jesus Christ, we need to accept God’s guidelines for what is acceptable behavior and what is not.   Just because we “feel” a certain way or because we were “born” a certain way does not give us the right to call it “normal” or “acceptable.”   We were born in sin and consequently many of our feelings, desires, understandings etc. are sinful in nature.  
 
I’m sure that Moses didn’t agree with God on many things.   Was it fair that God sent all of those plagues?   Was it right that God drown the Egyptian Army in the sea?   How about Abraham, asking him to sacrifice his son?   What about Adam and Eve, after all they had permission to eat of everything else in the Garden!
 
Regardless of where you stand on the many issues surrounding our obedience to Scripture, you always end up asking certain questions:
Is God’s Word really God’s Word?
Is the Bible really inspired by Him?
Is it relevant for today?
Why do some things no longer apply as they use to?
Would it be right for God to leave us guessing?
 
NOTE TO SELF: Jesus said that the faithful would experience opposition.   Are you ready for it?

​I was recently in conversation with a UMC Pastor that held the Bill Clinton approach to the homosexual issue in the United Methodist Church; “” Don’t ask, don’t tell.”   As the lead pastor of a growing church his answer was simply not to address the issue publicly, and in fact to skirt around it if need be.   The difficult part is that taking a stance on one side or the other could fracture the core of the church causing many to leave.   It can also fracture our family structure, especially when the issue involves a loved one in our own house.   It is an issue that sharply divides our hearts and culture.   So, to go back a few years and approach the issue; “what would Jesus do?”
 
Let’s break it down into bite size chunks: first, yes, God wants all of His creation to be with Him in an eternal loving relationship for all of eternity.   This includes all people, young, old, black, white, straight, homosexual, bi-sexual, questioning, whatever.   God never created one person that He didn’t want to include in His heavenly family forever.   Let the record show that God loves all people, through all time, in all states of existence.     But there is a condition called sin, or rebellion, or pride, and this condition separates us from a holy and perfect God.   God loves us but due to our sinful nature we are eternally separated from Him.   So now what?  
 
As a perfect God, he does not leave us alone in our fallen state, He offers us redemption.   The first step of taking God up on His offer of redemption is to admit that we need it!   If I don’t see or admit that I have sinned then how can I do my part which is simply to accept His sacrifice and repent?   To repent means to have a change of heart, to want to have not sinned, to desire to not sin if we had the opportunity to live those moments over again.   It would be absolutely wrong of God to create humankind in His image yet imperfect and not offer humankind the opportunity to be forgiven.   In reality, our decision to accept His sacrifice and repent is part of the creation process.   God is still “creating” you!
 
But where do we get our sense of what’s right and wrong?   What determines what is acceptable or not?   In other words, where is truth?   Where is the dividing line of acceptable behavior and sinful behavior?   Is it left up to each person, society or culture?   Has God given us the principles of righteousness and holiness somewhere or are we left in the dark to figure it out for ourselves?
 
For centuries Christianity has accepted that the Bible is God’s holy and perfect Word for humankind.   We have accepted the authorship of the Bible as being God inspired through various writers and have taken God’s Word at face value when it has told us of its perfect harmony with the holiness of God.   So why all of a sudden has our stance in the church changed?   Is it not telling us what we want to hear?   So, as an example, if the Bible is no longer correct when it comes to sexuality what else needs our attention?
 
NOTE TO SELF: decision time