Virtual Devotions

Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? – Mark 12:24

Dear Friends,

When the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead, tried to catch Jesus in a theological contradiction, he replied that their question was based on an incorrect understanding of the Scriptures and consequently was not worthy of an answer.

If you recall, their question was based on the law that if a man died without an heir to his estate, his brother should marry his widow and produce heirs for him thus keeping the estate in the family.  The question takes the situation to an extreme presuming seven brothers each marry the same widow in turn as the former brother passes away.  In the end, all have died and the Sadducees ask which one is the true husband at the resurrection.

The problem with their question is that they failed to recognize that death dissolves a marriage.  Consequently, the widow is no one’s wife at the resurrection and no one is her husband.  They also failed to recognize the power of God who is able to resurrect the dead.  In the end, their error is the result of not knowing the Scriptures.

While being illiterate of the Bible is a major concern of mine for the state of the church, I’d like to turn my attention to the state of historical illiteracy in our country.

I received a July 4 quiz from a friend and posed the questions to my family.  One of the first questions was, “What are the first words of the Declaration of Independence?”  Most answered, “We the People,” but of course that is the beginning of the Constitution.  This made me consider my own historical literacy so for July 4 I sat down and read the Declaration of Independence.   Having never read it before, I was glad I did.

If you know me well, you’ll know that one of my pet peeves is people who assign a label to themselves, yet know nothing of, nor ascribe to the beliefs or precepts of that label.  Ask a professing Catholic what transubstantiation is or a Lutheran what consubstantiation is and you’ll likely see what I mean.

With this in mind, I encourage everyone to assess the labels they have placed upon themselves not just theologically, but nationalistically and politically.  If you profess to be a Christian, read the Bible. If you profess to be of a certain denomination learn its doctrines.  If you profess to be an American, read the founding documents.  If you profess to be of a certain political party, know the party platform. 

If we chose not to educate ourselves to the labels that we apply to ourselves, then we will inevitably be in error as the Sadducees were.  In the end professing Christians will be unchristian, professing Americans will be un-American and professing Republicans will be un-Republican.  Unfortunately, I fear we may already be there in all three cases.

In Christ,

David

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. – Hebrews 13:7

Dear Friends,

The writer of the Book of Hebrews repeatedly emphasizes the superiority of Christ.  He tells us of the superiority of Christ to angels, to Moses, to the priests, in His sacrificial work and in the New Covenant.  Among these proclamations of Christ’s superiority are five warnings to the reader to remember God’s just punishment against those who ignored His commands in the past.  In the closing chapter, the writer encourages the reader to remember those leaders who preached the Gospel to them, to consider the way they lived their lives and to imitate their faith.

Yesterday, my girls and I spent the day in Washington D.C.  As we toured the monuments and museums, I reminded them of the importance of God as the foundation of our government and society.  Throughout the city there are references to God.  Even the mall is laid out as a cross with the Washington Monument at the center, the Lincoln Memorial at the top, The Capital building at the bottom and the White House and the Jefferson Memorial on either side.

But what is of most importance is the faith of our Founding Fathers themselves.  While the secular world is trying to rewrite history by telling us that the Founding Fathers were not men of faith, the truth is that they were.  And their faith shaped the direction of this country.  Here are just a few quotes from some of them:

“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of God and to obey His will.” – George Washington

“God governs the affairs of men.  And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, it is probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” – Benjamin Franklin

“I am profoundly engaged in reading the Bible.  Take all of this Book upon reason that you can, and the balance by faith, and you will live and die a better man.” – Abraham Lincoln

Then again, we are told that there were men like Thomas Jefferson did not let his faith guide his decisions.  After all, didn’t Jefferson profess the idea of the “separation of church and state” and didn’t Jefferson rewrite the bible to remove all the miracles retaining only the moral teachings of Christ?  This is partially true, but like most things these must be taken in the context of his time.

England, like most other European nations at the time, had an official state religion.  If you were an English citizen, you were expected to be a member of the Church of England, the Anglican Church.  At times, it was illegal in England to practice any other religion.  This is the context of Jefferson’s thoughts on separation of church and state.  He did not intend to remove faith from the government, but he did intend to prevent the government from imposing a specific faith.

As for the “Jefferson Bible,” while it is true that he dismissed the miracles of Christ, Jefferson was a product of his time, the Age of Enlightenment when anything and everything that did not have a rational, natural explanation had to be dismissed.  Unfortunately, this same rationalism of the 18^th century spills over into the disbelief of many people today.

But the best way to rebuke those who would speak ill of the faith of Thomas Jefferson is by his own words in which he stated that his views, “are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from the anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions.”

As the 4^th of July approaches and we begin to make plans for the celebration of our independence, let us remember the words of the writer of Hebrews in the context of his day and let us see if we can apply it to ourselves today.  Let us remember our leaders who indeed spoke so highly of God.  And finally, let us continue their work of keeping faith as a foundation of our government and society instead of entertaining the lies of those who wish to suppress the truth.

In Christ,

David

P.S. - I receommend “Rediscovering God in America” by Newt Gingrich.  It comes both as a short book and as a DVD tour of Washington D.C.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.  Psalm 103:13

Dear Friends,

Psalm 103 is a wonderful praise to the Lord.  The psalmist speaks of the greatness of God and the works He accomplishes for us.  We are reminded that the Lord has compassion for and loves those who fear him and God shows that compassion in many ways.  Proverb 1 says that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, and that knowledge is imparted to us when we need it most.

Yesterday was Father’s Day, but instead of having breakfast in bed I was out the door early to run to Wal-Mart to get some toiletries for my 11 year-old daughter who was leaving for camp that afternoon.  As I pulled out of the driveway, I could see that the lawn needed mowing, but it wasn’t going to get done today – nor would it get done for most of this week because I knew I would be on the road for work for three days.

When I returned from Wal-Mart, we were all rushing to get ready.  You see, for Father’s Day we rent a boat on Lake Norman and take my wife’s dad and family out on it.  It’s not something I enjoy though.  Being an introvert, I don’t enjoy being with nine people on a boat that has a maximum capacity of ten.  Plus, I neither like the water nor the hot weather and that’s exactly what you get on the lake.

Just before we leave the house, my wife informs me that the upstairs toilet is clogged.  That has to wait and we rush off.   We arrive at my mother-in-law’s at 10:10am, just ten minutes late, but then we wait another hour for my sister-in-law who is never on time.  We finally make it to the marina, do the day on the lake and by 5:30pm, we are on the way home. 

We walk into the house at 6:30pm and my phone rings.  It’s the seminary student who is going to be staying with us this week.  He tells me he is 30 minutes away.  Having just come off of the lake, we make a mad rush to get ourselves clean, straighten the house, and then of course there is still the clogged toilet upstairs.

I work on the toilet while my wife greets the seminary student.  After a half hour of filthy plunging and wrestling with the auger, I give up.  We’ll just have to call a plumber in the morning.  I shower and go downstairs to great our guest.  We have dinner at 9:00pm and relax for a few moments, but the day isn’t over.  As I said before, I’ll be on the road for three days, so I have to get my business files and computer together and pack my clothes so I can get out the door early Monday morning.  I finally hit the pillow sometime before midnight.

Now this was certainly a full and trying day, but there are two things that I left out which are of great importance.  First, my wife did give me a little Father’s Day gift bag with a few things in it, but what was best of all was the card.  She specifically went to the Family Christian Store to buy a card that spoke of the importance of God in our marriage and family.  That meant a great deal to me.

Second, as I pulled out of the driveway that morning dreading the day on the lake and seeing that I needed to add mowing the lawn to my list of things to do, I started to have those self-pitying thoughts of “what a rotten Father’s Day this will be.”  It was at that moment that God imparted to me the knowledge that the joy of Father’s Day is knowing that I am blessed to have two precious daughters and a son on the way.  I have been given the great responsibility by God to be someone’s father.  Though it is a daily chore, it is truly a work of love.

I am blessed to be a father, and I thank my Father in heaven for reminding me of the blessing He has poured upon me.  God gave me that message yesterday morning just when I needed it most and I praise Him for His Fatherly love towards me.

Happy Father’s Day!

In Christ,

David

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!   Galatians 1:6-8

Dear Friends,

After the greeting in nearly every epistle of Paul, the apostle gives thanks for God’s work in the lives of the people to whom he is writing.  In the thanksgiving, Paul touches on the topics or themes that will be found in the body of the letter.  But in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, there is no thanksgiving because Paul is furious with them.  He has nothing to be thankful for as far as they are concerned.  Rather than praising them, Paul chastises them.

What is the cause of Paul’s anger against the Galatians?  Why does he curse some and call the others fools?  Simply this, that the preachers are preaching a perverted gospel, which is no gospel at all, and the people are accepting it

The other day, while I was driving in the car listening to the radio, I heard a commercial for one of the local churches in Charlotte.  In the background was “Come Together” by the Beatles.  The ad began with the pastor of this church saying, “What do the Beatles and U2 have to do with the Bible?”  His answer, “Everything.”  He then offered an invitation to come to his church to hear a sermon series entitled, “The Gospel According to the Beatles.”  I almost drove off of the road.

I am terribly disturbed by the trend that the church has taken in recent years.  In order to attract more members, the church is becoming more like the world.  Is not the cross of Christ sufficient for your teaching?  Is not the Gospel the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes?  Is this not why the church exists?  To look at many churches today, I would say not.

Paul accused the preachers of Galatia of desiring to please men rather than God.  The same is true in many churches today.  With church membership growth being the hallmark of success, and feeling the pressures to try anything to grow a congregation, pastors are perverting the Gospel of Christ by mixing it with the common worldview as if the message of the cross was not relevant today.

And have the members of today’s churches become such fools?  Is the sanctuary of the church a place of worship or a place of worldliness?  Do we go to church to be edified or to be entertained?   And in regard to the Holy Bible, shall we be learned or shall we be illiterate?

If your church is similar to the one described here, then I am sorry.  Sorry not for the things I have said, but sorry that you sit under a pastor who has assumed such a low view of the Gospel.  Here’s my advice for those who will take it.  If your pastor quotes Bono more often than Jesus Christ, run to the exit and never look back.

In Christ,

David

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. – James 5:17-18

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, my 10-month-old niece, Abby, was in the hospital for almost two weeks.  She suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, SMA-type 1, a degenerative muscular disease that slowly takes away the use of her muscles.  Currently she has very little use of her legs, arms or neck.  She cannot swallow and must be fed through a tube in her stomach.  In her condition, she is vulnerable to the slightest illness.  That’s what happened almost two weeks ago.  Abby caught the rhinovirus, the common cold, but for Abby it was life threatening.

In the Epistle of James, James tells the believers that when someone is sick they should pray for that person and have the elders come and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.  James assures us that the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well, meaning that the Lord will raise him up.

Some may become discouraged when a loved one is prayed for and does not get well or in fact dies.  Does James promise that everyone who is prayed for will be healed?  Of course not.  James tells us that first we must pray in faith.  And what faith is that?  I would suggest that it is faith that the Lord will do what is best for our loved one be it renewed health or renewed life through physical death.  God makes that decision and we are putting our faith in God to make the right decision.  So the Lord may raise the person up in health or may raise the person up in glory.

Many of you knew of Abby’s condition and many of you prayed for her.  I thank you and my brother and sister-in-law thank you. And I believe the Lord did hear your prayers and I believe that it was His will to raise Abby up in physical health as a testament to His sovereignty.  Sometimes, we may wonder if our prayers are really of any use.  We look at the great figures of the Bible and consider that there is no wonder that God listened to Elijah’s prayers.  But who are we compared to Elijah?

James answers that as well.  Elijah was just a man, but he was a righteous man, a man saved by his faith, a true believer.  And James tells us that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.  You don’t have to be a Bible hero for your prayers to be powerful and effective.  You only need to be right before God when you approach the throne of grace.

So again, I thank you for your prayers and I ask you to continue to pray for Abby and her parents.  For the full story of Abby’s miraculous recovery, you can read the journal entry my brother made at her website, http://caringbridge.org/visit/abigailjudge/journal.

In Christ,

David

Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. – Romans 1:32

Dear Friends,

In recent weeks, I have tried to focus my devotions on current events.  This week, the event to discuss is easy, the murder of Dr. George Tiller.

This devotion will probably not be what you have heard discussed in regard to the murder, at least I have not yet heard anyone discuss it.  There have been discussions if this murder was justified, which it was not, and if Dr. Tiller was really a Christian, who by his livelihood I fear he was not.  No, this devotion is focused on the one thing that struck me as the most unusual of all the facts of this event.  That when he was murdered, Dr. Tiller was serving as an usher in his church.

Here was a man whose life was surrounded by controversy because of his career in performing late term abortions.   It was no secret. This man made a career performing infanticide during the week and then served as an usher on Sunday only to return to his murderous ways on Monday.  Talk about hypocrisy.  Yet it was his church that allowed him to serve.

There was a time, a much better time I will add, when the church actually took a stand against immorality and would have thrown a man like George Tiller out of the building no less remove him from his position as an usher.  Read 1 Corinthians 5 as the example of proper church discipline.  Paul tells us to expel the immoral brother from the congregation so his immorality does not spread in the church and so that he might actually repent and be saved. 

But instead many churches today affirm sin.  They fear executing proper discipline and instead of condemning and dealing with the sins of their members, they call what is evil good and in doing so approve of the sinful life.  They prefer man’s political correctness to God’s holy righteousness.  In many ways, I think that by doing this the church is committing a far greater sin than the sin itself.

I was so struck by the fact that Dr. Tiller was an usher that I researched his church, which is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.  I was surprised, but I suppose I shouldn’t have been, to read on the ELCA website that, “A developing life in the womb does not have an absolute right to be born.”  I can hardly imagine that a statement like this could be on a website of a church that alleges to be Christian.

For full disclosure, the second half of the statement says, “nor does a pregnant woman have an absolute right to terminate a pregnancy.”  But to say this is just speaking out of both sides of the mouth.  The fact is they are as lukewarm as the church at Laodicea and risk being spit out of the mouth of Christ.  They are seeking to please men, not God.

And this is where it is going.  Churches and denominations are moving so far away from the Scripture that they are no longer Christian churches.  The best book on this subject is Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen.  I encourage you to read it.

In closing, the only person responsible for the death of Dr. Tiller is his killer.  This man chose to execute judgment that is reserved for God alone and in doing so risks condemning himself to eternity in hell if he does not repent and turn to Christ in faith.  But Dr. Tiller has no opportunity to repent now.  And I wonder if the church had executed proper discipline against him, if Dr. Tiller would have repented, been saved and given up his sinful profession a long time ago.

In Christ,

David

“Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.” 1 Peter 2:16

Dear Friends,

In 1 Peter, the apostle is writing to Christians across the known world who are enjoying the freedom they have through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Though they are persecuted, Peter encourages them to live good and holy lives, and not to use the freedom they have as a cover-up for evil, but to live as servants of God.  In this way, even the pagans will glorify God for their good deeds. 

If you’ve never seem the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” it’s the story of a squad of WWII GI’s who are sent to find the sole surviving son of a mother of four boys, three of which had all been killed in action.  The fourth son is Private Ryan.  The mission is to find him and get him home safely to his mother so that she does not need to lose all of her sons in the war.

The squad, commanded by Captain Miller, finds Ryan, but by the end of the story nearly every member of the squad has been killed.  Capt. Miller’s dying words to Private Ryan are, “Earn this. Earn it.”

In the closing scene, the now older Private Ryan and his family are visiting the gravesite of Capt. Miller.  Ryan looks to his wife with tears in his eyes and asks her, “Am I a good man?  Have a led a life worthy of all those other lives?”

The message of 1 Peter and the message of “Saving Private Ryan” are similar.  As Christians, we are to live our lives in a manner worthy of the One who died for our sins.  As Americans, we are to live our lives in a manner worthy of the men and women who died for this country. 

Praise God that Jesus’ dying words were not, “Earn this. Earn it.”  We could no more earn the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice than Private Ryan could earn the benefits of Capt. Miller’s sacrifice.  But we do owe a duty to both Christ who died to assure our eternal freedom and those veterans who died to assure our earthly freedom. 

So today, do not use your freedom as an American as a cover-up for evil, but live as a servant of God.

In Christ,

David

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Exodus 24:7-8

Dear Friends,

The other evening I was watching the movie “Aliens.”  The basic plot is that aliens had infested a colony on a distant moon and all the colonists had either been killed or captured to be used as hosts for incubating baby aliens.  The sole survivor was a little girl named Newt, who had escaped by hiding in the ventilation system.

A squad of Marines along with the heroine, Ripley, was sent in to determine what had happened.  When Ripley finds Newt, she promises Newt that she will not be left behind.  Newt makes Ripley add to her promise the words, “hope to die.”  When I heard this I knew it was the perfect illustration for understanding what it means that Christ died for us.

Ripley had made a promise to Newt not to leave her behind.  The promise was only as good as Ripley’s word.   But by adding the phrase, “hope to die,” the promise is strengthened.  Now, if Ripley does not fulfill her promise, her death is her punishment for breaking the promise.

This idea of a punishment for not fulfilling a promise was as well known in the Ancient Near East as it is today. “Cross my heart and hope to die stick a needle in my eye,” is a phrase I think we are all familiar with.  When we say this, we are stating that if we fail to live up to our promise, the punishment is death and a needle in the eye (how horrible!)

When Moses sealed the covenant (promise) between the people and God, he did so with the blood of a sacrifice.  The symbolism of this ritual emphasizes that the people would suffer the fate of the sacrifice if they failed to obey the commands of God’s law.  In essence, if they failed to fulfill their promise, they would be slaughtered like an animal.

Of course, we know that the people did not keep the covenant.  They sinned against God as we sin against Him today.   Consequently, the price of failing to keep God’s law is death for all sinners.  That’s the bad news.

The Good News is that Jesus came to take our place.  As the Son of God, Jesus was born without sin.  As a man, Jesus lived a life without sin.  When Jesus’ blood was spilled and when he died on the cross it was not for his sins, but it was for our sins, for the sins of the whole world.  Jesus was the sacrifice, the shedding of blood to satisfy the Old Covenant.  The New Covenant in his blood is the forgiveness of sins through spiritual union with Christ.  In his death, we died.  In his resurrection, we live if we are joined to him in repentance and faith.

In Christ,

David

“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:29-30

Dear Freinds, 
 

In honor of Mother’s Day, I’d like to turn to one of the most beloved passages on womanly virtue in the Bible, Proverbs 31.  This passage is the last word on wisdom in the Book of Proverbs and certainly is worth noting for both men and women, young and old.

For men, especially young men, the Proverbs 31 woman is the type of Godly woman every believing young man should be looking for.  She stands side by side with the allegorical woman, Wisdom, and against the allegorical woman, Folly, found in the opening chapters of Proverbs.  The closing reminder that charm is deceptive and beauty if fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised sums up the matter for as we are told at the beginning of Proverbs, fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

For women, the Proverbs 31 woman may seem like an unattainable goal.  When I first introduced my sister to this passage, she told me she couldn’t live up to the Proverbs 31 woman.  But that isn’t the point.  While we are in our physical bodies, we will never attain the Christ-like nature we strive for, but as Paul tells us we should keeping “pressing for the goal.”  In the same way, the Proverbs 31 woman is a role-model to strive after. 

Proverbs 31 is especially important for those who claim the Bible is demeaning to women.  When I read Proverbs 31, I recall the old commercial where the woman sings, “I can bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan and never let you forget you’re a man.”  The Proverb 31 woman is a wife, an entrepreneur, an investor, a philanthropist, a mother, a teacher and above all, God-fearing.  The Proverbs 31 woman should make any feminist proud.

We can’t see it in our English translations, but the original Hebrew is written as an acrostic poem.  In an acrostic poem, the first line starts with an “A” (aleph in Hebrew) and each subsequent line begins with the next letter of the alphabet.   In this way, the poet can express the completeness of the woman in the style in addition to the words.  She is the perfect woman from A to Z.

Something else we do not have in our modern Bibles is the original order of the Hebrew texts.  Today, Ecclesiastes follows Proverbs, but in the original Hebrew Bible, Ruth followed Proverbs and Song of Songs followed Ruth.  What the Bible then presented was poetic words of wisdom describing a Godly woman in Proverbs 31, followed immediately by a narrative of a most remarkable and Godly woman, Ruth, who happened to be a non-Jew surprisingly enough, and finally another poem in the Song of Songs which exalts the virtues of purity before marriage and the pleasures of love in a marital relationship.

I encourage you to read Proverbs 31, Ruth and Song of Songs this week.  It will help you to prolong the importance of Mother’s Day all week long.

In Christ,

David

Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. – Acts 4:18-20

Dear Friends,

Shortly after the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and they began preaching the Good News of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, Peter and John were arrested for the content of their preaching.  Though the miracle that Peter performed in healing the crippled beggar was without doubt, the ruling classes could not stand to allow the two apostles to continue preaching in the name of Jesus and they ordered them to stop.

Peter and John knowing that obedience to God overrules obedience to civil authority told the rulers plainly that they would not stop preaching the Gospel.  A few days later, they were arrested and then beaten for their “crime.”

Last week, the House passed a hate crimes bill that adds gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability to the current list of protected classes; race, color, religion, and national origin.  While the bill has passed the House, the Senate has no scheduled vote and some believe it will go no further.  But this apparent death of the bill has not prevented the debate between “the Conservative Christian right” and the “liberal left” to reemerge over the issue of freedom of speech from the pulpit.

As the debate goes, “the Conservative Christian right” argues that this bill would put pastors who preach against homosexuality at risk of prosecution because their sermon content could be considered “hate speech.”  The “liberal left” claims that the bill expressly protects the first amendment right to free speech and the opposition to the bill is unfounded.

I am a member of the Conservative Christian right, but I believe those who are opposed to this bill are missing the point entirely.  Their argument shouldn’t be against the bill.  Their argument should be against the misunderstanding that preaching against homosexuality is motivated by hate when it is truly motivated by love.

The Bible teaches us that there are a great number of sexual sins that individuals can fall prey to.  Leviticus 18, which is the text most often citied in this argument, does not only teach against homosexuality, but also against every manner of incest, adultery and bestiality.  Yet these sexual sins never seem to make it into the discussion.

In an attempt to tie preaching against homosexual behavior to the acts of hate addressed in hate crimes legislation, the argument is made that the Biblical punishment for homosexuality is death.  Yet death is the Biblical punishment for all of the sexual sins in Leviticus.  So should a pastor be arrested if a dishonored wife runs over her unfaithful husband after the pastor preached against adultery?  And going even further, the Bible calls for children to be put to death for cursing their parents, yet I don’t see any pastors calling for them to die either.

The truth is that preaching against all manners of sin is motivated out of love for the individual.  When we sin, we sin against God and the severity of the penalty for sin is in proportion to the severity of the offense of sin.  If we think the penalty is too great, then we do not have a comprehension of the severity of the offense.   Our offense against God is infinite and the penalty for that offense is death. 

No true pastor wants to see any sinner suffer the punishment for his or her own sin.    So they preach against all manners of sin hoping that an individual will repent and turn to the Savior in faith.  The pastor hopes for the person to avoid the penalty of death by claiming the death of the Savior as his own.  As the apostle Paul wrote in the letter to the Romans, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

Biblical preaching against sin is motivated by love, not hate.   With this understanding, hate crimes legislation is not in opposition to Biblical preaching.  True, the punishment for sin is death, but that penalty has already been paid for by Jesus Christ and can be credited to us if we only repent and turn to the Savior in faith.

In Christ,

David