Category: Sin

Faith, Gospel, Salvation, Sin

Risque Business: Or, How an Adult Product Company Provided Some Very Interesting Content for my Blog

Michelle Lesley

10900047_932153883492213_7491827866857274193_o

I received a hilarious e-mail today. Was it a video of a cute and bumbling puppy? No. A clever joke or anecdote? No. A funny political cartoon? No.

It was actually a piece of spam from an up and coming …shall we say… “adult” products company.

Normally, I would just roll my eyes that my spam filter didn’t catch it and simultaneously click delete, but due to the fact that there were no pictures in it nor a subject line that would raise a red flag, I didn’t realize what it was until I started reading it.

This company wasn’t trying to sell me one of their products, they wanted me to review one of their products.

On my blog.

Which sent me into hysterical fits of laughter.

The company wants to provide me “with the opportunity to write interesting content for [my] site.” And, “If this project goes smoothly, there are probably other ways we could work together as well.”

Do tell.

No, on second thought, don’t.

Sorry, my friend, I’ve already got the most interesting content on the planet for my site.

I’ve got a God-man who came to earth, lived for three decades without ever committing a single sin in thought, word, or behavior, turned water into wine, healed blind eyes, deaf ears, crippled limbs, and broken minds, fed tens of thousands of people from one plate of food, and spoke the wisest words that have ever been uttered.

And to top that all off, He willingly let His own community butcher him. Why? For billions of rebellious people who hate Him. So that He might set them free and rescue them from an excruciating eternity.

Oh, and then there’s that bit about Him coming back to life.

My reply to the spam e-mail I received was this:

I’m just curious, have you actually read my blog? Take a look and let me know whether you still think it’s a fit for your product: (web address)

I truly hope my e-mail makes it through and is actually read by someone. Because it turns out that “Brian” at the adult product company was right. They did give me the opportunity to write interesting content for my site: the Gospel.

And, Brian, if you want to discuss this interesting content more, get in touch and we’ll chat. I believe you have my e-mail address :0) “If this project goes smoothly, there are probably other ways we could work together as well.”

Faith, Heaven, Salvation, Sin

Andy Walks with Me, Andy Talks with Me…

Michelle Lesley

Image

 Actor Andy Griffith died last week, and in the wake of his passing, I’ve seen several cartoons like these, depicting him entering Heaven.

From everything I’ve heard and read, Andy Griffith was a nice guy. A loyal friend. A hard worker. A caring person. All qualities to be admired and emulated.

 But is being a “nice guy” enough to get somebody into Heaven?

Answer: No. No, it’s not.

The truth is, the question itself is fundamentally flawed. From God’s perspective, there’s no such thing as a “nice guy.” We’re all born sinners in a state of rebellion against God, and things just get worse from there as far as our “niceness,” in God’s eyes, goes.

as it is written, “ THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
Romans 3:10

Image

Many people hope that when they stand before God after death, the good things they’ve done in life will outweigh the bad things they’ve done.

That’s impossible.

The Bible tells us that even the good things we do are dirty.

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah 64:6

Image

A “filthy garment.” Ick.

My husband owns a home maintenance and lawn care business, and does almost all of the labor himself. Frequently, that heavy physical labor has to be done outside.

It’s July.

In south Louisiana.

A.k.a. “hell’s armpit.”

There are days when my husband comes home from work so sweaty, dirty, and nasty that he strips down before coming in the house and leaves those disgusting clothes on the back porch until they’re ready to be picked up and put straight into the washing machine.

I’m familiar with the concept of a “filthy garment.” And those are the good things we do.

Giving money to charity. Helping at a soup kitchen. Letting somebody else go first in line. Visiting your grandmother in the nursing home.

That’s the stinking pile of rags we’re going to lay before the King. And that dirty laundry isn’t going to buy a single day in Heaven.

Why are those things a stench in God’s nostrils? I mean, they’re all good, noble things to do, right?

Imagine that I went to Tiffany’s and bought you the most exquisite diamond ring they had. But, before I gave it to you, I took it home, went out into the back yard, and rolled it around in some dog poop. Would you reach out for it eagerly when I offered it to you? I doubt it. Nobody wants a poop covered ring, no matter how nice it is.

That’s how our good deeds look to God. They’re made so gross by our sin that they’re not appealing to Him, they’re repulsive.
Image

Fact is, there was only one truly “nice guy” who ever lived. His name was Jesus, and He died on the cross and was resurrected so we could be made clean from all that sin.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5

Being a “nice guy” won’t get you into Heaven. The only way is to confess and turn from your sins, accepting, through faith, that Christ paid the penalty for those sins for you.

We can’t assume that Andy Griffith is in Heaven just because he was a nice guy. But if he repented and placed his faith and Jesus, book it. He’s there. And if you do the same, Heaven will be your eternal home, too.

Whenever they “may bury” you.

Faith, Hell, Salvation, Sin

Are you a Bin Laden?

Michelle Lesley

bin laden

Osama Bin Laden is dead.  Across the globe, people are celebrating.  There’s a general sentiment, even amongst non-Christians, that he is in hell, because that’s what he deserves.

I’m guessing that, some of those people, if you had shared the Gospel with them two days ago, would have said they didn’t believe in hell.  Or that a loving God wouldn’t send people to hell.  Or that God just forgives everybody when they die, and everybody goes to heaven.

If you hold any of those beliefs, the law of non-contradiction requires that they be applied across the board to everybody.  In other words, you can’t say you don’t believe in hell and at the same time believe that Bin Laden is in hell.  If it doesn’t exist, he can’t be there.

So I’d like to pose two questions to people who hold the aforementioned beliefs:

1. If God decided not to send Bin Laden to hell, but rather allowed him into heaven, has justice been done?

2. Do you think it’s fair that you will have to spend your own eternity in heaven with Bin Laden?  And Hitler, and Nero, and Mussolini, and Caligula, and Jack the Ripper?

As broken and messed up as we are, even we humans demand that there be justice –punishment– for people who have committed such heinous crimes.  If God doesn’t punish these awful people, what does that make Him?  How could He be perfect in every way and let such people off scott free?

I can tell you how.  Because I used to be Bin Laden.  And Hitler, and all of those other people rolled into one.  Me.  A good little Sunday School girl.  Guilty.  James 2:10 tells us:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

In God’s eyes, when I broke curfew to stay at Bible study just a little bit longer, I was as guilty as a serial murderer.  When I said, “Oh my G-d!” I was on par with a child molester.  When I refused to forgive someone, I might as well have flown one of those planes into the Twin Towers myself.  And I deserved the same punishment as all of those horrible people.  Hell.

God is perfect.  He’s perfectly holy and perfectly just.  And that’s why He can’t let any sin slide, no matter how small.  But He’s also perfectly loving and compassionate.  He knew none of us would measure up to his standard for us –perfection, no sin whatsoever– so He made a way for us to escape punishment, yet still serve justice: Jesus.

God Himself came here and lived out His perfection as a human being.  And when it was time, on the cross, He took the punishment for our crimes against God.  He got our sin and our punishment, and because of His death and resurrection, we can get His sinless perfection.

We can get it, but it’s not an automatic thing that just happens to everybody when they die.  As I said in a previous post, you can’t have it both ways.  If you decide to get married, you give up the single life.  If you decide to become a star athlete, you give up being a couch potato.  And if you decide you want God’s forgiveness for your sin, you give up a life of embracing sin, and, instead, embrace Christ and the new life He has for you.  Here.  Now.

Is Bin Laden in hell?  I can tell you with certainty that if he did not, in the last moments of his life, sorrowfully turn from his sin and bow his knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, yes, he is indeed in hell.

And there, but for the grace of God, go I.  And you.

Faith, Salvation, Sin

Good Friday Freebies

Michelle Lesley

I’m into couponing.  Not pathological couponing like some of the people you see on TV, but enough to do well by my family’s budget.  So on Facebook, I belong to a lot of couponing pages that tell me where the deals are.  They also alert me to free samples and give-aways at various businesses.

Today is Earth Day.  My coupon blogs are letting me know that I could go to this store and get a free re-useable grocery tote.  I could take my favorite LSU coffee cup into that cafe and get a free cup of coffee.  I love getting freebies.

But nowhere in my Newsfeed have I seen anybody giving away any freebies for Good Friday, which also happens to be today.

Well.  That’s about to change.

In honor of Good Friday, I want to tell you about the most amazing freebie you could ever hope to score– it’ll cost you nothing.

You can find it at the foot of the cross.

It’s forgiveness…
                              grace…
                                          love…
                                                    joy…
                                                            peace…
                                                                         adoption…
                                                                                           life.

And it’s all free.  Paid for with the infinitely invaluable blood of the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus.

But it’s going to cost you everything.

How?  If those things have already been paid for, how could there be a cost?

Because you can’t have everything.  When you get married, you have to turn your back on the single life.  If you decide to become a star athlete, you give up your right to live as a couch potato.

And when you come to Jesus for a new life, the old one has to go.  All of it.  Everything.

Make it a truly Good Friday.  Come to Jesus.  Turn your back on your way of doing things, your sin, what you want, and reach out and accept the gift of cleansing and forgiveness and life He’s offering you.

You’ll never get a better offer.

Church, Faith, Sin

Jesus Wept

Michelle Lesley

It was hardly a day for tears.

It was a day that should have been the high point of His ministry.

As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen,  shouting: “BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Luke 19:37-38

After three years of hard work and harder prayer, miracles, and countless hours of teaching, the people were finally getting it.  They recognized that Jesus was the Messiah.  His people were giving Him the praise He was due.

Or were they?

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,

Luke 19:41

What’s this? This isn’t part of the Palm Sunday pageant. In every Bible, commentary, and Sunday School lesson, this scene is called “The Triumphal Entry”. Why is Jesus over there crying?  What’s that He’s saying?

If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

Luke 19:42-44

Once again, Jesus sees through the outer display of behavior and lays the heart of the people bare.

They’re praising Him because He multiplied bread and fish.

Because He healed diseases.

Because they think their Messiah has come to set them free from Roman oppression.

They don’t get it after all. And that’s why He’s weeping.

They don’t get that Jesus didn’t come to give us stuff. They don’t get that the bondage of sin is far worse than enslavement to Rome. They don’t get that taking up a cross and following Jesus will get them something far sweeter and deeper and more satisfying than all the miracles and riches and healings in the world. It will get them Jesus. And that’s what He wants to give them.

And as I watch my Savior’s heart break over His people so many years ago, I wonder– is He still weeping today?

Every Sunday, we, Jesus’ people, offer Him loud Hosannas. We lift our palms in celebration of His goodness and blessings. We sing out His praise. We kneel before Him.

But is He weeping?

Does He see through our outward behavior to a heart that just wants worldly trinkets from Him? Does He see a church that draws near to Him with its lips but whose heart is far from Him? A stiff-necked people who deign to physically bow the knee but not crucify the will?

Are we the new Jerusalem?