There Is No Faith Pill

When you go to the doctor, what do you want his response to be?

• You must change your diet? No.
• You must eat less and exercise more? No.
• You must slow down and rest? No.

Our society often expects immediate relief, a quick solution. All too often, we expect a pill to heal. And yet, most often the quick remedy is no remedy at all but an aid so the body can heal itself.

This kind of quick-fix thinking has bled over into Christianity. For many churches salvation is by faith alone, but a faith that is little more than mental assent to the deity of Jesus. Just ask Jesus into your heart, embrace him as your Savior, say a prayer and you’re saved.

That characterization will sound critical to some. And yet, Jesus did not call upon people for mental acceptance; He asked for more.

Yes, the gospel proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God. That, you must accept and believe!

Yes, the gospel proclaims that Jesus is the Savior of the world. That, you must accept and believe!

And yet, the gospel proclaims that Jesus is both Lord and Christ. He is King!

It is a startling realization for some that the cross of Christ was not the end, but the beginning. “It is finished” were the words of Jesus as He completed God’s will as a willing sacrifice for the sins of mankind. However, before ascending to heaven Jesus continued to teach His disciples. And what did He teach??

To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. 

— Acts 1:3

Jesus kept telling His disciples about the kingdom of God. His death on the cross was indeed for cleansing, but it was also to inaugurate a new covenant. The coming of the new covenant marked the coming of the kingdom of God on the earth.

At the end of Mark’s gospel Jesus…“was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” (16:19) Peter, in the first declaration of the gospel after the death of Jesus, declared Him to be both Lord and Christ. All these describe One who was enthroned as King!

There is no faith pill that magically makes you a disciple. The King of Kings demands allegiance!

Faith in Jesus demands a radical change of allegiance from all the things of this life to Jesus. Loyalties no longer lie with possessions, family, career, or country. Allegiance to Christ demands loyalty to the King, and only to the King. Allegiance demands loyalty in good times and bad, when life is easy and when life is difficult.

Allegiance to Jesus is first a call to bow in awe and submission, and then to rise up to action. Action may be the discipline of prayer; action may be that of restraining one’s desires; action may be the display of a godly frame of mind in demanding circumstances; action may come with enjoyable service; and action may come with costly and difficult sacrifice.

The cross marked the beginning of a new covenant. Your embrace of salvation at the cross of Christ marks your new beginning in the kingdom. You die to self promising allegiance to Jesus and it will not be easy. His death and your death mark new beginnings. You have died to yourself. Rise to allegiance to Christ where the promise is life everlasting.


Mark Stinnett

September 29, 2024

I Want to Overcome Anger

For many people the title of this article conveys an objective of little interest. In our society, and all too often in the church, people wish to excuse, justify, or even promote anger, not overcome it. Their rationale may sound reasonable: 

• “Anger is natural.” 
• “It is healthy to vent your anger instead of hold it in.” 
• “He/she needs to know how I feel.” 
• “God was angry at times.”

I have warned against anger in my blog because anger is a real problem and God is not fond of anger. In fact, “the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20)

So, if you embrace anger as acceptable, that is an obstacle. If anger is excused, justified, and/or advocated, only one outcome is to be expected: anger. Where anger is accepted and expected, there will be little or no effort for self-control. To overcome this obstacle, you must first adopt a different view of anger so that it is no longer valued, rather, you must value self-control.

Anger is an emotion that perceives an inequity in life and then reacts to it with passion. The perceived inequity may be personal or may be something half-way around the world. The passion within one’s spirit flares up to say, “It should not be this way!” That perception may or may not be correct. When I allow the passion of my spirit to take control, I set myself up as judge and jury...in place of God! That’s why God warned, “Vengeance is mine!” To overcome anger, I must trust that God is just and will bring ultimate justice in the end. For now, I must accept that there will be inequities in this life.

When I perceive that an inequity has occurred and my passions flare, what can I do? In some (many) cases, there is nothing I can do, such as in the case of injustices in places where I do not live. That is the kind of injustice I must give over to God in prayer. Continual anxiety and anger over uncontrollable injustices will only harm myself.

When things are more personal, the passions of the human spirit are often self-asserting and destructive. My spirit may tell my soul to lash out with words or become physical. However, “a harsh word stirs up anger.” In other words, anger produces anger. (Is that really a surprise?) 

When a person asserts himself in anger, he will at the same time devalue others. Jesus taught that very thing in Matthew 5:21-22 and showed that devaluing others opposes righteousness. In great contrast is the beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Peacemakers value people; anger-makers do not. Anger-makers are not sons of God.

Do you want to overcome anger?

• You must first make it your soul’s desire to overcome anger.
• Stop embracing the myths of our society.
• Accept God’s justice. Injustices may exist now, but in the end God will bring justice.
• Take control of the passions of your spirit. Your soul, the YOU inside of you, CAN control the passions of your spirit. Self-control, not anger, is a fruit of the Spirit of God.
• Make prayer the solution to uncontrollable injustices in the world. Let God be God.
• Do not devalue people. Recognize that our enemy is not flesh and blood, but powers and wickedness that are not of this world.
• Stop making life’s unfairness about YOU. Anger is rooted in YOUR perceptions. YOU are not always right. YOU are not as competent a judge as God. Stop being selfish.
• Consider being a peacemaker as a core value. “A gentle answer turns away anger."

If you are serious about overcoming anger, remember, God's Spirit is given to assist us as we follow Jesus. Ask for help.

Mark Stinnett

September 22, 2024

In Defense of Anger

“No, no, no! It is not a sin to be angry!”

And yet...

Jesus made a rather startling statement regarding anger. He was responding to the way the Jewish teachers had instructed the people concerning murder. Jesus emphasized the seriousness of anger toward another person:

You have been taught that you will bear the judgment of the court for murder. I am telling you that you will bear the judgment of the court for your anger. 

Matthew 5:21-22 (paraphrased)

To ‘bear the judgment of the court’ meant that a person was accountable to the local Jewish court. Jesus did not picture a court proceeding to determine whether a person was guilty, but rather, to hand down a sentence because of guilt. So, Jesus told the people that anger should be dealt with in the same way as a convicted murderer.

Consider what it would mean if the teaching of Jesus became a reality in our day.
If you became angry with your spouse or your parents; off to court to receive a sentence for your anger.

• If you did not get that promotion;
• A careless driver cut you off in traffic;
• Your in-laws said _________;
• The car broke down…again;
• The preacher, the song leader, the elders did (or did not do) something…

...and you are angry...Off to court.

By nature anger devalues another person. It belittles them by justifying one’s own perceived superiority. Anger judges!

In addition, everyone who calls his fellow man Raca will bear the judgment of the supreme court; and whoever says to his fellow man, “You Fool!” will bear the judgment of God. 

--Matthew 5:22 (Paraphrased)

‘Raca’ was an Aramaic word meaning: empty. In our day it would be equivalent to calling someone empty-headed or idiot.

‘Fool’ comes from the Greek word ‘moros’ (the source of our English word ‘moron’). To call someone ‘moros’ was not mere silliness like moron might be today. It was a humiliating reference that meant worthless. It was an expression coming from an attitude that looked on another person as having no value as a human being. They could justifiably be treated like household garbage, worthless. (That’s how you justify murder.)

The attitude behind anger, raca, and moros devalues people. Such an attitude is a slap in the face of God. By devaluing others it minimizes God’s sacrifice of his Son as something done in vain. 

The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 

(James 1:20)

Jesus was teaching us that murder ultimately begins with the attitude of anger. It comes from anger that is left unchecked and allowed to fester. 

The Bible never applauds the anger of man. 

Why...

             do...

                       we?!

STOP excusing the attitude of anger!

STOP defending the attitude of anger!

Anger is not the fruit of the Spirit, but the fruit of something else!

Mark Stinnett

September 15, 2024

Forgiven...Forgiving

Peter asked, “How often shall I forgive my brother?” Jesus replied with an immeasurable value of 70 times 7 times which calculates to 490 times. Jesus also taught his disciples that if a brother “sins against you seven times in a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

These are difficult teachings. No one imagines having to forgive someone seven times in one day or a total of 490 times. In short, Jesus taught that forgiveness has no boundaries.

We (humans) tend to make forgiveness rules. Perhaps it is because we really do understand the demand of forgiveness. The one who forgives bears the insult or shoulders the pain of the injustice that has been done. The one forgiven is released from his debt. Forgiveness is unfair!

Jesus dealt with forgiveness at the person-to-person level. He taught that forgiveness makes no restrictions; there is no limit to the number of times that you should forgive your brother/sister. If, with regard to his wrong, he says, “I repent,” accept him at his word and forgive him.

Yes, but...

Some folks have difficulty accepting the words of Jesus and then explain what they think He really meant. They suggest certain limitations. Some have tried to define every possible ‘sin situation’ in order to write rules for repentance. Then they use their rules to justify occasions to withhold forgiveness. In the end they create a system for judging whether a person is worthy of forgiveness or whether their repentance is authentic. In doing so they attempt to justify an unforgiving spirit.

It is true that Jesus acknowledged that we will know a person by their fruit. However, that is not some sort of forgiveness loophole in which forgiveness is withheld until the fruit is obvious or judged acceptable. Jesus taught that we are to take a person at their word. It might be the words, “I repent,” or “Would you forgive me,” or “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” or simply, “I’m sorry.”

Anyone who assumes the task of evaluating repentance in another individual has presumed to sit in the judgment seat of God.

Repentance is a change in one’s thinking. We must have patience with fellow Christians as they mature. A changed heart is may be sorrowful but desires to walk in the path of righteousness. However, old habits often linger, and the renewing of the mind takes time. We would do well to reflect on our own past, perhaps not so distant in time, when we stumbled and sinned...yet again. Did God forgive you each time you asked?

What if I am wrong?

What if I am unsure about someone’s repentance? I do not want to forgive where I should not forgive. Yet, neither do I want to withhold forgiveness where I should forgive.

Two facts are evident:

• I am not God, and
• Jesus did not give me magical insight into the hearts of others to know their intentions and their sincerity.

In reality, we may make a mistake where forgiveness is concerned. We never want to encourage sin. Yet, Jesus taught that we will not be forgiven unless we forgive our brother from the heart. When faced with a dilemma in which you are unsure about someone’s repentance, wouldn’t you rather err on the side of forgiveness?

After all, God will judge righteously. In addition, it is wise to remember the warning that Jesus gave his disciples: “If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

May each of us resolve in our heart to have a forgiving spirit toward our fellow Christians. And then, may we truly forgive from the heart.

Mark Stinnett

September 8, 2024

"The End Is Near!"...Again

A respected medical journal reported...
A respected scientific publication claimed...
A team of respected psychologists discovered...

There are many claims made by many people with well-deserved credentials. Yet, sometimes their reports, claims, and discoveries contradict.

Some modern-day ‘seers’ claim to know the future, claiming their source to be the dead. (Do the dead really know the future??)

We read about astounding claims, miracle cures, health scares, economic disaster, our nation’s future, cataclysmic world events, and even the end of the world or the universe.

Does anyone know anything for sure!?

Questions about the future have interested mankind for centuries? Old Testament prophets relayed God’s message to man, but there were also posers, those who claimed to be prophets but had received no revelation from God. The false prophets often spoke of peace while the prophets of God warned of His impending judgment due to sin and unfaithfulness. People wondered who was telling the truth.

God gave the Israelites a simple way to determine whether a prophet spoke from God’s or from his own mind: If the prophesy occurred as the prophet predicted, then he could be trusted. If the prophesy failed, the prophet was a false prophet. (Deuteronomy 18:15-22)

Our society has, in general, followed God’s strategy as an intuitive way of dealing with seemingly unbelievable claims. Many doom and gloom prognosticators have been revealed as false prophets by the passage of time. Yet, many in our society still line up neatly and follow any ’pied piper’ who plays the music of scientific research.

Science and research are excellent resources. Yet, not all science/research has revealed truth. One study predicts another economic depression; another predicts a catastrophic earthquake; yet another, a pandemic disease. Time passes and life goes on as it always has. New research sometimes reveals the flaws of earlier predictions.

Although the Bible is not a science book or a guide for economic planning, it often reveals truths that apply to the many claims made in our world. The key is to begin with God and allow him to reveal truths about mankind and his world. (Our human tendency is to begin with man’s thinking and then see if God’s word fits what we think we already know.)

As an example, consider ‘climate change.’ One theory concludes that the earth will become uninhabitable due to excessive heat. Another theory predicts a global freeze brought on by a change in ocean currents due to the melting of polar icecaps. These and other theories fly in the face of God’s promise to Noah:

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter and day and night, shall not cease. 

—Genesis 8:22

So, it’s great to be responsible by putting out the trash, recycling, conserving energy and even hugging a tree if you wish. But don’t be upset by “the end is near” environmental alarmists.

Not every claim made by people will have a clear and direct answer in Scripture. However the Bible will guide us so that we do not have live in fear of modern-day false prophets...even if research seems to be on their side.

Mark Stinnett

September 1, 2024