by Caleb Gordon | Aug 3, 2015
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20
Cecil the lion is in the news.
He was a tagged lion that got shot and killed by a hunter. Every type of celebrity is weighting in on this issue and all of them are calling this hunter a horrible names and are accusing of being a murder. Never mind the fact he was legally hunting this animal. People are even calling for this man’s DEATH!!!! So why is everyone freaking out? Because in the sinful and horrible condition of our country we cannot truly understand what is evil and what is not evil.
Common sense is completely dead.
We have Planned Parenthood leaders on camera talking about SELLING THE BODY PARTS OF DEAD BABIES to a potential buyer, there was no national media outrage!!! Jimmy Kimmel was not on his show crying over the fact that these BABIES were MURDERED!!! But yet he will get on his national comedy show weeping over a lion! We don’t know up from down. The reason this is happen is because we’ve turned our back on God. And as a result God has sent us strong delusions and causing us to believe a lie. Why?
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
We have pushed God out of our hearts and minds as a culture for so long and chased our sin rather than him, because we love that sin more than him, so God has given our culture a push in that direction. We look at evil and say it’s good and look at good and call it evil.
You know why people love animals so much these days? Because we don’t really know how to love people well. Animals don’t talk back. They really don’t have an opinion. So it fits our narcissistic wants perfectly. We put animals over people because it’s easy.
So you know what Cecil the Lion reveals about us as a culture? That animals have more rights than human beings (at least in the court of public opinion.) God please save us from this madness!
by Caleb Gordon | Jul 28, 2015
So many people in this country say all the time they are Christians. They say that they believe in God. Yet so many of these people wallow in sin and feel no remorse over that sin. We are quick to pull the trigger on homosexuality as a horrible sin (which it is), but we neglect to talk about anger, pride, idolatry, envy, and stuff like that….we sweep that stuff under the rug. If you read Gal. 5:19-21 God lumps all of the above sins in with being sexually immoral. He does not just lump those sins in with immorality, He goes further and says if we are chasing stuff like this we’re not going to heaven. Take a look:
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:19-21).
This is serious! We have people who sit in church every Sunday who are just bitter and hard hearted, and they think they are right with God. Based on the Word of God if you are chasing sin over Jesus, you’re not saved. So how do we avoid this? What is the fix? Is there good news?
1. Stay activated in God’s word, read it often. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
The more you read God’s word the more aware you are of who you are and what God expects.
2. Get and stay connected into a Godly community (The Church). “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:25). “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load” (Gal 6:1-5). A church is where you can find accountability, love, and reconciliation. Why would you not want this? A body of believers is where you can find a safe place to land and find true joy.
3. Seek to find and follow Jesus! He’s better. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt 6:33). “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (1 Chron. 16:11). “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (Lam. 3:25). “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6).
Stop chasing everything else. Chase Jesus. He’s better! If you seek Him and chase Him, He rewards those who seek Him! That’s good news!
by Caleb Gordon | Jul 1, 2015
So I was at a camp preaching when the news came down that Gay Marriage had been legalized. People started to get discouraged. I’ll be honest, I did too. Then I took a few moments to breathe.
Everyone said, “What is going to happen now? How do we respond?” Well here is what I think should be done.
1. Don’t freak out. God’s not freaking out so we should not either. This may have caught us off guard, but God was not shocked by what happened. Our sin is not surprising God…he saw this coming thousands of years ago…this is all under the sovereign control of our King. Don’t worry about it. He’s got this!
2. Clean up your house! Start today by looking at your own life, and repent of the sins that are going on in your heart and life. We are quick to rip apart homosexuality as an awful sin (which it is) but so is your angry bitter heart, so is your unforgiving attitude. Your sin is just as awful as their sin. It all needs to be redeemed. We start by leading out in the area of repentance. We bow our knee to the King of the universe and repent of our sins ( 1 John 1:9 ).
3. We Pray The reason we have such horrible things going on in our nation is because the church has not been on its knees praying the way it should. Revival starts in the house of God, not in the halls of congress. (2 Chron. 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.) If the church is not praying and repenting then don’t expect the rest of the nation to do any different.
4 Stay focused on sharing the Gospel. The only thing that changes people is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not pushing them to try and live out some type of moral standard. Because in all reality we can’t live out that moral standard. We’ve all fallen short (Rom. 3:23). Jesus has to live this thing out for us. I know it’s easy to jump in with the rest of the world and start to saying everything is lost, but this is when the Gospel can and will shine the brightest and best. The Gospel invades dark spaces and brings light. What we need to be focused on is not the issue itself. We need to be focused on Jesus, and as a result of being focused on Him, we become salt and light to a dark and dying culture.
Go and show Jesus to the world!
by Caleb Gordon | Jun 8, 2015
“Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written, ‘Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord’” (Rom. 12:19).
Have you noticed how quickly we can become enraged with someone if they ‘wrong’ us?
We can actually throw friendships away because we get mad so quickly. I mean we can be friends for years and years, and one thing can be said. That really is not the definition of that person’s charter, but nevertheless, they say something, and we get so angry that we just trash our relationship. What in the world is wrong with us?
I have to admit, I have tried to get revenge, and I never have felt good about it inside. I always end up feeling the horrific consequences of my actions, and it never fixes anything.
The fundamentals of forgiveness should be just as natural as breathing for you and me, as Christians. It should not look foreign to us. It should look and feel like a warm blanket to us.
Forgiveness has been on my mind as of late. Those people I’ve hurt or caused to stumble, please forgive me. I long for you to be free, free in Jesus!
So in order for me to find freedom I must seek forgiveness. So many times we think that keeping that bitterness towards someone allows us to be “one up” on them, but if you’re angry there is no true way to stay ahead of the game. Not only will YOU be miserable, but your health takes a turn for the worse. Instead of being consumed by thoughts of Jesus, your consumed with thoughts of getting even, and as a result, you commit idolatry.
So in short, don’t harbor anger and unforgiveness, rather allow Christ to rule your heart, and forgive as you have been forgiven. And just in case you don’t know, you’ve been forgiven of much.
by Caleb Gordon | May 21, 2015
I want to say, MEN ARE IMPORTANT!
We live in a culture that is tearing guys apart. On every hand we see masculinity being attacked. The sad thing is that MOST churches are not engaged in this fight to fix this issue.
We place our focus on other ministries (e.g. youth, women, or children). Now, I need everyone to understand I’m not against these ministries. I love those ministries too. But I firmly believe that every church should have a solid men’s ministry to encourage and challenge the men of the church and community.
If we get men healthy, we will have healthy families. The only way to get a man healthy is to cure him of the sickness of sin, and the ONLY way we do that is through the blood and power of Jesus Christ. The Gospel must be preached to men. I have four things I think every men’s ministry should be promoting.
1. Promote God’s Word as the primary blueprint. I know that sounds like a ‘no duh’ idea, but sadly, in our churches, God’s Word (The Bible) is becoming less and less important. We have pastors who stand in their pulpits and tell their congregation that the Bible is not inspired and not the final authority to our lives.
This must stop! We need to base our ministry on God’s Word! “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16).
2. Promote why each man should be investing in Kingdom work over everything else! We are not promised tomorrow, but you wouldn’t know that by what we act. We chase things that will have no impact or worth in 1,000 years.
We neglect our churches to the point where they are almost completely irrelevant. We would rather our children be involved in sports camps or organizations that have zero eternal focus. The Bible tells us to be focused on the things of God over the things of this world.
“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
“Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16).
We need to have men’s ministries that encourage men to focus Jesus rather than entertainment.
3. Promote that every man has a mission they are called to accomplish in their city. Being a missionary is NOT predicated on your zip code. Your pastor cannot do what you were called to do. Your city needs YOU as a man to step up and take the mission of God seriously. Every man has a calling; every man has something that God wants them to accomplish. What we need to do is figure out what the next step is for each of us and then actually do it. Our men’s ministries need to foster an environment that challenge men to reach further and look for opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19).
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isa. 52:7).
4. Promote that every husband and father should be their family’s primary spiritual leader. We live in a world where we hand almost everything off to a professional. This area of spiritual leadership does not need to be handed off to someone else.
You as a husband and father need to be leading, guiding and protecting your family spiritually. Our pastors and our churches need to be pushing this agenda. We need to encourage our men to raise up a Godly legacy, and that’s done by raising up a Godly family.
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Cor. 16:13-14). I firmly believe that if these four things are promoted in churches and men’s ministries across our country, we will see a major shift in culture and the way we think and act. I also believe that most of the major problems and issues we deal with as a nation would go away if we had healthy men loving and investing in their families.
When Jesus Christ is promoted everything changes!