REVIVAL REQUIRES PURITY

Isn't it amazing that church-goers expect God to do whatever they want, whenever we want, and however we want; regardless of how they live. God wrote the rule book, so why would anyone think they don't have to live by His rules? Churches are filled with people who regularly attend, pray, sing, and give; BUT can't keep their pants up or the skirts down. That was the topic of my sermon yesterday, and YES, I used the word "sex" in church. Why not? God designed it; but all we hear about on the news are the perverts in the political, educational, and even the religious realms. What comes to your mind when I say "Catholic Priests" or "California?" What about when I mention names like Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, John Edwards, Elliott Dupree, Larry Craig, Barney Frank, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggert, Ted Haggard, Earl Paulk, and the list goes on! Why are we having to vote on what a marriage looks like? The simple answer is, America was built on biblical absolutes, but we continue to abandon our roots and buy into the philosophy of moral relativism.

Every man is doing what seems right in his own eyes, forgetting that God already established the standard. His Word instructs us to have nothing to do with any form of immorality (Ephesians 5:3-7) and it tells us to know our areas of tempation and avoid them (1 Thess 4:3-4). It sets the standard high and tells men not even to look at a woman with inappropriate thoughts (Matt 5:27-28). It's also blunt and states that those who fall into adultery are naive and foolish (Prov 7). The New Living Translation states... "They lack common sense." Fools are throwing away their families every day -- even in the church -- even in our church!

It's time for the church to live what we preach! We can rant and rave about homosexuality all we want to, but ALL sex outside of marriage (whether homosexual or heterosexual) is sin! That's not my opinion -- it's God's Word! When the church stops playing around, maybe we can really begin to impact the world.

I challenge every person who claims to be a "Christian" to be faithful to your spouse, stop flirting around the office, cancel your cable if necessary, block your Internet if you can't control yourself, marry the person you're cohabitating with, and stop doing whatever supposedly everyone else is doing. We better realize that the Church of Jesus Christ has a wedding to prepare for and our Bridegroom, the Lord Himself, wants a pure Church.