Let Love Rule

February is the month of love. At least that’s what the greeting cards say. In 2024, the Valentine’s Day industry was expected to reach around 26 billion dollars. That is a lot of flowers and candy. It’s America’s 9^th favorite day of the year. But did you know Valentine’s Day has Christian roots?

The Feast of St. Valentine is a celebration that takes place on February 14^th. It was originally a Christian feast that honored Valentine, a 3^rd century clergyman, who ministered to persecuted Christians. Valentine was arrested and later martyred. His body was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14^th. 

Sometime in the 14^th and 15^th centuries, the feast turned into a celebration of love between two people. That is when the rise of courtly love took place. Courtly love emphasized nobility and chivalry. In other words, show me how much you love me. It’s where we get the idea of knights going on adventures to earn their ladies love. For us today, men don’t have to slay dragons, just fight the lines at the flower shops and gift stores. 

Love is the main theme throughout the Bible. The word appears in some form over 500 times. Loving your family, thou shall honor thy mother and father, to loving your neighbor, as thyself, it’s all about love. That is because God is love. It is who He is, His inner being, His essence.

We are also supposed to be about love. “Let all that you do be done in love.” – 1 Corinthians 16:14. Everything. Every action and word should be wrapped up in love. I know. It’s hard. But that is who we are supposed to be, reflecting the light and love of God. 

What we do is reflective on the church, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and God. Either we are reflecting something that is loving, which attracts people to Jesus or we are reflecting something that pushes them away. 

Make loving others a part of your character, your inner being, your essence. Together, by showing the love of God, we might see some become saved.

- Pastor Glen

Bishop Wilke's Heresy Teaching of Homosexuality

Author Notes:

I briefly talked about homosexuality recently in a sermon. Afterwards I was approached by someone who asked me, “Why is everyone in the church talking about homosexuality?” I said I only speak on it when it comes up in scripture or when someone else is trying to get the Church to make changes in its doctrine and change our understanding of homosexuality when it comes to scripture.

I liken it to Trump. I have no idea what Congress is doing because all I hear about is Trump, how bad he is and his possible impeachment. Right now to the lost world it may seem all the Church talks about is homosexuality, they aren’t really seeing the Church for what it needs or should be. A body of believers loving on a lost world in order to show the love of Christ.

I wrote this because of what I see as false teaching by someone who has the ears of a lot of people in Methodist circles. I don’t expect it to get back to him or change his mind. I don’t expect it to really change anyone’s mind. I wrote it to correct wrong teaching. It’s just that simple.

Also, the point of this article isn’t to say that those who are homosexual or who have different views shouldn’t be allowed in church. All are welcome who want to know more about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. However, someone who is living in a homosexual relationship should not be allowed to serve in the leadership of the church, they should not be leading or teaching. To understand why, study 1 and 2 Corinthians where Paul addresses the open sin of a church member.

Finally, please do not take what I have written as hatred. I do not hate. It’s not what I was called to do. Do not read this article with an angry voice, because I was not angry when I wrote it. As a matter of fact, I read his article several times and took a few weeks to study the subject a little more in depth before I wrote this.

I have homosexual friends and family. I love them. I’m excited to see them when I see them. I hug them. I love on them. I do not treat them any different than I would treat anyone else. God calls us to love all people, all the time. God is love.

The definition of heresy is “a belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious doctrine.” The early church was no stranger to heresy. False teachers were spreading all types of misinformation, many we can read about in Paul’s writings. After all, many of those writings were written in order to dispel the false teachers. Today, just like then, the church is facing heresy, false teachers who are trying to convince the church to accept homosexuality as normal and within God’s plan that homosexuals should be allowed in church leadership.

One such person is Richard Wilke. Wilke is a former Bishop with the United Methodist Church. He is well known in UMC circles. He has developed discipleship curriculum for UMC and he and his wife have worked hard for UMC and God’s kingdom. While I am about to write about how wrong Wilke is in his teaching of homosexuality, I have the utmost respect for him and his family and the amount of work they have put into reaching people for the kingdom.

Years ago, Bishop Wilke’s daughter came out to him and his wife as a lesbian. According to a recent article he wrote about his daughter coming out and his understanding on homosexuality in scripture, he was “amazed at my lifelong ignorance about homosexuality.” Bishop Wilke continues to give points as to why he feels the way he feels now. I am not going to address every single point but there are a few that I believe are important for us to understand and that deal specifically with scripture.

Bishop Wilke points to Leviticus and Deuteronomy where Old Testament scripture speaks against homosexuality. He writes, “This code was designed for the specific purpose of setting the Jews apart from the Canaanites. It was not intended as a universal morality.”

Leviticus chapter 18 deals with sexual immorality. Before God mentions homosexuality, there is a laundry list of people you are not to have sexual relations with, they are people related to you. God calls this depravity. Then homosexuality is mentioned which God calls an abomination. Finally, God rules out sex with animals, which He calls perversion. Four more times in this chapter, He uses the word abomination in reference to all of the above sexual immoralities.

In Bishop Wilke’s reasoning then, since homosexuality was not meant to be universal morality that means we are free to have sexual relations with anyone and anything. You see, in his reasoning incest and bestiality are ok too.

Bishop Wilke defends his position by using food, food that was once banned by God to be eaten is now ok. Keep in mind God gave Peter a vision that he then shared and that Paul later help teach, that foods seen as unclean before were ok to eat now. However, nowhere in scripture is homosexuality taken off the sexual immorality list.

As a matter of fact, In Acts 15, the church is faced with one of its first biggest challenges in false teaching, that a gentile must first become a Jew through circumcision before becoming a Christian. The Jerusalem council decided this was not the case and sent a letter to the gentile believers. In the letter the council encourages the new believers not to eat of food given for idol worshipping, not to eat food that has been strangled and not to participate in sexual immorality. The council, which contains the likes of Peter, John and other apostles, tell the gentiles not be sexually immoral people. By Wilke’s reasoning, sexual immorality no longer exists. So if it no longer exists, why would the council feel it important to mention it here?

So let’s say Bishop Wilke is correct, since the council simply used the phrase “sexual immorality” without defining what sexual immorality is, how would the gentiles know the definition? How would they know what was or was not permitted sexually? Because there was a universal understanding of sexual immorality.

If you reason out homosexuality from the list given in Leviticus, then the whole list of sexual immorality must go as well. Remember, nowhere in scripture is homosexuality taken off the list of sexual immorality. Nowhere in scripture does God reverse his decision that homosexuality is an abomination. And it is His decision to make, not ours.

One more thing that Bishop Wilke attempts to reason out, is why Paul speaks about homosexuality. He says Paul speaks of homosexuality because of wealthy Greeks who would buy young slave boys for the purpose of having homosexual relations. In order to stop this practice, Paul makes a blanket statement about homosexuality.

What Wilke fails to mention is that the act of homosexuality was an accepted practice in ancient Rome. Roman men were not only permitted, but expected to be interested in sex with both genders. For Romans, it wasn’t about the gender, but about being conquered. Those who were submissive were looked down upon, while those who were considered conquerors were given high societal status.

Again, with all due respect to Bishop Wilke, he subverts scripture by explaining why it is irrelevant do to historical facts or by trying to explain away Paul’s text by telling us what Paul really meant by his writing with no other scripture to back up his claim.

The Gospel is painful. It illuminates who we really are, a disobedient creation that falls short of the glory of God. Human beings who do not have the ability to live up to God’s standards.

But in the midst of the pain something miraculous takes place. In the pain we feel love. We feel a love that brings us into a right relationship with God.

In that right relationship comes truth. As God begins to transform us, we begin to realize the most important relationship that deserves our total focus is our relationship with Him. All other relationships pale in comparison. 

The Church today is splitting because the focus is on human relationships rather than Godly ones.

Sin is a selfish act. It’s putting your own wants and desires above what God wants for you and out of you. When we come into a right relationship with God, He wants us to put away the selfish acts and become a living sacrifice. Humbling ourselves to live the life He needs us to live in order to do the work He needs done.

No excuses. No justifying our actions. No complaining.

Just living for Him and Him alone.

(If you would like to read Bishop Richard Wilke’s article, I have included the link: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/bishop-gay-daughter-sent-him-back-to-scriptures)

Honoring God, with our time.

Ok, math time. Try to follow along.

There are 24 hours in a day that means there are 168 hours in a week.

If you work a normal 40 hours a week, that leaves 128 hours in a week to do whatever we want.

It’s recommended that we have 8 hours of sleep a night, that’s 56 hours a week, which leaves us with 72 hours a week.

You have to eat. Let’s say you eat three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner with an accumulating time of 3 hours. (That includes prep and cooking time) That’s 21 hours a week, which now leaves us with 51 hours.

A study finds the average American watches five hours of television a day. That seems a little high to me, so let’s knock that down to 4 hours a day, which is 28 hours a week which leaves us with 23 hours.

Let’s assume you go to church on Sunday mornings and let’s assume you go to Sunday school. Let’s also assume you don’t go to Sunday night or Wednesday night church. That means you spend, roughly, 2.5 hours at church a week.

That leaves us with 20.5 hours a week to do whatever we want. Oh wait we forgot something, social media. The average American spends up to six hours a day on social media. That's 42 hours a week which leaves us with a -21.5 hours a week.

Essentially, when we wake up on Sunday morning we are already in the whole for the week. Which means we have to make adjustments to fit everything into our daily routines. We could spend less time sleeping one day, more time working another or less time eating, This is a pretty accurate account of where people spend their time.

When asked what is the greatest commandment Jesus responded “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.”

Do our lives reflect this commandment or reject it? Now you may say, 'woah bro, I am not rejecting anything Christ said.' But aren't you? If you're life doesn't reflect this commandment aren't you saying you reject it because you don't see the importance of living it out on a daily basis?.

We prioritize our lives by what we are most passionate about or what is our greatest desire. Whatever we put at the top of that list receives the most attention while second on that list will suffer because we put more time and energy into number one. Number three suffers even more because it gets what is left after one and two get theirs.

We keep going until eventually we run out of time or energy. So if you have 10 priorities in life, 5-10 will suffer the most because you may not get to them in a week or maybe two or three. 

If we truly love God with all of our heart and all of our soul, is 2.5 hours a week enough? Would your spouse be OK with just spending 2.5 hours a week with you? Would your kids?

At the beginning of this New Year evaluate your time and your priorities. How can you make God number one on your list? How can you give Him the time He deserves?

Socially awkward.

I am socially awkward, I admit it. I can sometimes have a hard time speaking one on one, but put me in front of a few hundred people and I have no problem speaking. It's weird I know, but it is how God wired me. God wired the church to be a certain way too, it makes us socially awkward, but there is a reason for it. 

Certain social topics that are no longer up to debate is making the church look even more socially awkward than it should. According to society, homosexuality is ok, gay marriage is ok and now changing gender is ok. These topics are spilling over into the church and the church is not reacting well

I am not a psychologist, psychiatrist, or sociologist. I cannot speak to someone’s mental state. I do not have the educational background to speak about why people make certain choices. 

What I am is a pastor, a Christ-follower, who has been called upon to share the Gospel, to make disciples and help lead some of God’s sheep. 

So a few random thoughts. First, we should never start a sentence with, “Well I believe…” without being able to back it up with scripture. Are there times that we may not find the answer in scripture? Sure, but those are few and far between.  If we seek a truthful answer, God will provide it.  And, by the way, we should be prepared for the answer. In other words, be prepared to admit you were wrong.

Second, let’s be consistent. I am floored by the number of people who voice their opinions about a mistake a Christian makes and has repented for, but then will hold up someone who is clearly going against the will of God and is leading others down a sinful path. (Yes, I said clearly. There are many passages in scripture that are clear. It is what it is.) We are to abhor what is evil and hold on to what is good. Abhor doesn't necessarily mean we have to know what you are thinking. Sometimes the best way to love someone, is to just not say anything at all.

Third, my finally but not really finally, it’s easy for us to sit back and call people freaks and say how disgusted we are for their decision, but it takes someone special to go find that person, befriend them, love them and share Jesus with them. Jesus did not call the woman at the well a whore or freak. He did not call the sinners he hung out with names either. He called out the religious leaders of the day who made a mockery of their office and God’s law. 

It is not the job of a pastor, elder, deacon, Sunday school teacher, lay-leader or any Christ-follower to weave social issues into the church. It is our job to weave the Church into society in order to see people come to know Jesus Christ as Lord.

I am Goliath

This has been quite the week for me. I flew down to San Antonio to attend a conference for electric cooperative communicators. So the week is full of seminars and meetings designed to help us do our job better.

Wednesday of the conference was my best day. On top of great, informative seminars, I accepted 3 national awards for our use of social media and photography. To top off my day, I got to go watch the San Antonio Spurs clinch their spot in the Western Conference finals. My day could not have turned out better and it didn’t. It got worse.

Smiling, on cloud nine coming back to the hotel from the game I met David. David was in front of my hotel and approached me. David was about my age, clean cut, very nice, dressed nice with a shoulder bag. He was well spoken. David is homeless.

During the conversation I learned that David had lost his job some time ago and has been homeless for several weeks. The Salvation Army has a local shelter where he stays. He was excited because he had a new job that he was starting in a few days, but that did not help him this night. David was hungry.

David weaved a story about his hard luck. But he was not giving up. He does not desire to be homeless. He wants to be useful. He wants to work and make a living. He does not want to call his family for help, but he is on the brink of having to swallow his pride and make the phone call he so desperately does not want to make.

I know what you are thinking. How do I know he is telling the truth? How do I know he isn’t pulling a scam? I don’t know, but there was something different about David. I could tell the last thing he wanted to do was ask me for the money. It pained him to ask and I could see the pain on his face as he told his story.

I gave David what money I had in my wallet, we prayed and he walked away. Then I started feeling the pain. In the midst of my great day God brought be back to reality. As I was enjoying myself in all of worldly things, there are people out there hurting in a life that is not what they dreamed about when they were a kid. The dream of being what ever they wanted to be when they grew up did not come to fruition.

All night and all morning David has weighed heavily on me. So heavy that I came to a realization today, I am David’s Goliath. I am not the reason why David is without a job and on the street. However, I am the reason he continues to feel pain. We all are.

I am reminded of a speaker I once saw at the Missouri Baptist Convention in Cape Girardeau when it was held at the Show Me Center. The speaker, whose name escapes me, said “When you see what Jesus sees, you will feel what Jesus feels.”

Look what is says in Philippians 2:4,

“do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

That means take off the blinders and look around you. Who needs to be helped? More importantly who needs to be loved? Isn’t that after all, what we as Christians are suppose to do? To love everyone especially those who no ones wants to love? If we truly love God then that has to be our objective. Our mission in life.

“But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” 1 John 3:17

Time will tell how this will affect me. God is not done with me on this subject yet. I am still processing what he has shown me, but I do know this. I can no longer be a Goliath. No more excuses. No more turning a blind eye.

My hope in sharing is that you take away a positive, not a negative. My hope in sharing this story and how God is speaking to me right now will be a motivation for you. That you recognize you are a Goliath  and that it is time to love David. If you come to this recognition, do me a favor. Go on social media, Facebook, Twitter, what ever you use and put the following; I am Goliath. #loveDavid. Let’s start a movement today to take off the blinders and love the David’s of the world.

The Guardian

As a man, husband and father protection is a very important word. In my home I am to stand between my family and harm’s way. Today, I want to add to that definition.

I have come to realize, especially with a daughter near completion of high school and a son who will soon be a freshman, it is also my job to protect their reputation.

Many of us can think of someone from high school who did not turn out to be the person the rumors told us they were. We can name girls we thought got around, were stuck up or dingy. Guys who hit girls, drank too much or were doing something harder than alcohol.

While some of those rumors might have turned out to be true, many were not. The rumor mill fuels high schools.

Some would say I am too strict when it comes to my children. Not allowed to date, if they go to a dance, the movies or just somewhere to eat and there is a person of the opposite sex with them there has to be one or more people there too. Our daughter wasn’t allowed to wear make up until she was 16. If they are with friends on the weekends we have to know where they are at all times. These are just a few of our rules.

While these rules may seem harsh, they are meant to protect the reputation of our children. Even the most obedient child slips up from time to time. Without thinking they make a decision that stays with them the rest of their life.

When young men look at my daughter I want them to see a young woman rooted in a Christian foundation, pure, joyful and a heart so big that it breaks when she sees someone in need. When young women look at my son I want them to see a young man, rooted in a Christian foundation, pure, humble and who goes out of his way to help those in need.

Yes, my children may not get to experience certain things that other teens experience at their age. They may not get to watch certain movies, listen to certain music or get to go to all of the parties. But at the end of the day I won’t have to worry about an embarrassing picture or video finding its way to Youtube, Facebook or Twitter.

God does the same for us. Through-out the New Testament we are taught not to quarrel, fight to use good words not words that are harsh or offend, not to act on revenge and to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Basically we are to live a life that is as blameless as possible.

Our reputation has a direct effect on our ability to witness. Every time we tarnish our image we make Christ a little less visible. If we are to be beacons who shine in the darkness we have to keep the lens clear of any dirt or grime that blocks the light from shining through.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2

Have Fun, Live Free, Hope Strong

Pastor G

Perception vs. Weakness

Writer's note: This blog is not aimed at one particular church. This is simply an observation of what I see happening as a whole. I see even in myself and the church I serve lots of room for improvement.

Have you heard this before?

"We have the best worship music"

"Our youth group rocks"

"We are authentic"

"Our churches children's program is great"

Some time ago churches began to market themselves in the same way secular businesses have for several years. Cool color schemes, an awesome logo, a good tag line and unique names for the church in order to be different became the norm. Churches have become more concerned about their perception in the community. In the process of trying to be "different" in order to grow, churches have set the wrong expectations for possible church members.

Have you heard this before?

"I would go to church, but its just full of hypocrites."

As a pastor I have heard this excuse many times. Why do we hear this so much? Because of the expectations we have laid out. We make church more about what we are doing rather than what the church can help fix.

Of course it is full of hypocrites. It's also full of liars, drunkards, adulterers, idolaters, thieves, child abusers, people hooked on pornography and drugs. The church is full of bad, sinful people and that, hopefully, is why they are there to get out of that life.

Paul, writing to the church in Corinth was dealing with false apostles and teachers who took the spotlight off of God and put it on themselves. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 Paul acknowledges that Satan has put them there and he has asked God to take them away. But God answers Paul with this, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (v9)

When we set expectations based on ourselves, I.E. best music, youth group, children's program, etc., we set ourselves up to fail. What if people come and don't like the music, the youth group or children's program? What if they see people that they have had bad dealings with before? What if they come and don't feel like they were welcomed at the friendliest church in town? Then they walk away feeling like they have succumbed to false advertising.

Paul makes it pretty clear that our boasting should be about what life God helped us leave behind. We need to acknowledge our weaknesses and make it known only because of God's grace, mercy and strength are we able to rise above the former life. This has to begin with the pastors of the church. Taking themselves off the pedestal, the church van and the church sign. Showing they are human and sinners saved by grace just like everyone else. We have to lead by example.

Do we want church members talking about all the great church programs, community projects and the great people? Or do we want members sharing how God delivered them from excessive drinking, how God helped their marriage, saved their children, or move away from what ever sin was keeping them apart from God?

Paul was content with his "weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities." (v10) Why? Because in all of that it was God who was receiving all of the glory, not Paul.

Nothing in your life is about you. Not even your salvation is about you. It's all about God and His glory.

What are you doing that shows God's glory to the people around you?

Have Fun, Live Free, Hope Strong

Pastor G