After leaving the problem of progressive and liberal Christianity with some elder members of this church, I left the issue behind. Frankly, I wasn’t confident that it was my role to carry this banner for church members who lived 150 miles away from me, attended a church of which I was not a member, and being a part of a denomination that I was not involved with. But the issue refused to leave my conscience. I thought about it often over the next three years.
It’s easy to rationalize, this problem of cultural tendencies and biblical truth, into co-existing, distantly related cousins, who can blend together to create an ideal, peacefully existing unit. Our feelings tell us this is what we should do. Why not? It just makes everything easier and respects the feelings, wants, and needs of others.
Before we do this, I mean walk the path of the world, we need to decide two things:
First, that we are going to read the Bible
Second that we are going to believe what it says
If we determine these two points are valid then we cannot walk the path the world asks us, or demands us, to walk. They are not compatible. If we embrace these two points, then the world is going to take offense of us and they will not like us. This, according to the Bible, should cause us to rejoice!
Homework: Read Matthew 5:11-12 and James 1:2-3.
Once, when I was preparing to send 1,000 Christmas cards that boldly proclaimed the saving grace and love of Jesus Christ to our company client list, my wife asked me if I thought I would lose some clients over it. My reply: “I hope so!” If no one is taken aback by the boldness we rightfully have in Jesus Christ, then we are not being bold enough. I don’t mean to run around intentionally insulting people. You don’t need to do that. Your faith and your love for Jesus will take care of that. That is if you let your light shine in the darkness.
Homework: Read Luke 6:26
This is what I found when I returned to that church three years later. The pastor told the only two children in the congregation that day, they were visiting by the way, that deep down inside they were “good people.” He basically planted the seeds that said they didn’t need a savior; that their goodness was good enough. Too picky, you say? I disagree. Our words and our doctrine hold power and have eternal consequences. The Bible says teachers of the word of God will be held accountable and judged with greater strictness. What he said to those kids was very bad doctrine and my wife and I were both glad our children were not present.
Homework: Read James 3:1 and James 3:2-12, and Mark 10:18
It was during the actual sermon when the fireworks of hell really exploded. The pastor said, and I do not quote this, “Have you ever had someone ask you how long you’ve been saved? I hate it when people ask that. It makes us look proud, like we are above someone else. I always answer, ‘No. I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it.’”
Let that sink in for a minute…
When he said this my wife and I nearly jumped out of our pews, and honestly, I think we were the only ones in the room who noticed. The pastor had gone from not wanting to touch on the areas where cultural and biblical worldviews collide, in fear of insulting someone, to refusing to proclaim, and even denying the reality of his own salvation and the power of our risen Christ, because he is afraid to sound too arrogant and proud. This is the fear of men and a complete lack of the fear of God.
Pastor, you’re not working on it! The arrogance you protect yourself from by denying what Jesus has done for you is actually arrogance for self. Here is some homework for you.
Homework: Ephesians 2:8-9
And here are some verses I will not save for homework, because you all need to read them right now. You are SAVED! You are saved by the work of Jesus Christ, and you are to be joyful in it. Never, ever, be ashamed.
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
Romans 10:13
For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:9
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
We are to never be ashamed of our salvation in Jesus Christ. On the contrary, we are to stand boldly in it. You can back that up, and everything I’ve said in this article, by the word of God.
And you, fellow believer, have a responsibility. You are responsible for reading the Bible, every day, and knowing what is in it. You need to be able to determine if what you are being told is biblical truth or not, or else this world will have its way with you. You also need to know what God’s will is for your life, and the only place you will find that information is by spending time in the Bible, alone, with God.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
To be forthcoming, this writing is about a pastor in the church. I won’t mention his name, but my conscience won’t allow me to stay silent any longer. I fear for the members of that church. I feel they do not see the watered down, works focused, fear of man preaching this so-called pastor of God is feeding them. I have a vested interest in these fellow brothers and sisters, not only because are we connected in Christ, but because I know them all personally; they attend the church I grew up in.
My first run in with this pastor was in 2020, when I provided worship for the church via Zoom during the Covid pandemic. I was booked to play four Sundays. On the third Sunday, knowing there was a doctrinal problem lurking in the shadows, I stated during Spirit led prayer in the middle of the song, “Lord, let our little boys be little boys and our little girls be little girls.”
The pastor called me that day and told me I could not continue serving (there was one Sunday left), because I was being “too political”. I asked him how he would draw the line between “political” and biblical truth. This is when the pastor revealed to me his fear of man and his lack of fear for God.
He told me he did not believe the Bible was inerrant or infallible, claiming the Bible had to be interpreted through the lens of modern culture, since it was written in the middle eastern culture over 2,000 years ago. He also defended gay marriage in the walls of the church and under the banner of our holy God. Through the struggles of a pastor friend who was gay, he came to realize there is nothing wrong with homosexuality in the eyes of God. He added the Bible is being misinterpreted whenever it mentions this issue in both the New and the Old Testament. I then asked him about abortion. He stated, and I will quote this, “Chris, you tell me when life begins in the womb.”
The pastor went on to tell me he would not preach these “political” issues from his pulpit because he didn’t want to offend anyone. He was worried if he mentioned these things some people would not come back to the church or reach out to him for counsel in their time of need.
Let me point out, in the book of Matthew, Jesus states, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Mt 11:6, NKJV). In Matthew 13:57 and Matthew 15:12, it is stated that the people and the Pharisees were “offended” by Him. You see, pastor, Jesus is offensive to this world. A stumbling block. He always was and He always will be. Unless of course that is either mistranslated or out of context with our anti-offensive culture.
Let me also point out that sin is offensive to our perfect and holy God, therefore, it will be offensive to the world when we talk about it for what it is. It is SIN and is offensive to God.
I had a conversation about this issue with four members of this church. I didn’t feel it was my place to lead a coup in the church, so I left it with those four people to decide how to proceed with this new revelation that their new pastor did not believe the words of the Bible and held extremely liberal and anti-biblical stances on every cultural and political issue we managed to discuss.
Then, on June 10, 2023, my wife and I attended a service at this church, and what we heard was shocking. Come back next week for the end of this tale.
Join us on June 2nd, 2023 for an evening of music and worship with Chris and his band.
Chris will be playing a half a set with his band, and will perform several songs from the new album, “By His Name,” during the second half of the show. The show is free, for we do not want to inhibit anyone to come join us as we draw closer to God through our music. Donations and love offerings will be accepted and CD’s will be for sale. All proceeds from CD sales will go back into the ministry to support the publication of Chris’ new book, “Every Step: Using God’s Word to Guide Us,” which is scheduled to release in November of 2023.
To listen to Chris’ music and lyrics go to https://singwriteread.com/music/, or to his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@chrislong1046.
Let’s start by answering the question, what keeps me sober? What is my highest motivation? When I am tempted I can honestly say there is one thing that helps me overcome, and it is not the love and respect of my family, the security of my job, or the opinions of those around me.
It is God. When I am tempted to fall, when I want to fall, God is the first to enter my meditations. Believing in and serving God is not something to be taken lightly, or to be treated as “a common thing.” We must understand who it is we serve and who we have bowed the knee to.
Fear of God
God is perfectly holy. He is perfect love and perfect judgement. He is the Creator of the universe, and of you! He is infinite and all-knowing. He loves me and He loves you so much that He came to earth to prove it. Knowing He would be crucified and would face a horrifying spiritual challenge that we can’t understand. Thereby giving you a way to enter into His perfect and holy presence.
Fear of God
God is awesome! He offers us salvation and eternal life, but only to those who fear Him and His judgement. I fear God’s judgment. I know when I see Him that I will be judged because I am not perfect. But I also know my penalty has been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.
This holy and respectful fear of God leads me to desire to be obedient to Him. To love Him back with my sacrifice. My sacrifice is to live a holy life. To walk as a living sacrifice to God. A life worthy of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Read 1 Peter 1:13-21
Respect for God
Even though God has saved me through His Son, Jesus Christ, and He has shown me without doubt that He loves me very much, I refuse to take that for granted. Again, as if it is a “common thing.” While I know I am saved, sober or not, I want to honor the gifts God has given me. Sobriety happens to be one of the least of those gifts, when compared to the sacrifice of His Son for my salvation.
Respect for God
It is truly my desire to honor God with my sobriety, and the fact that He gave it to me is enough for me to honor Him with it. How can I take His gift so lightly and behave so flippantly with it, and then say I have respect for God? I can do that with people and institutions, because I can lie and hide from them. Their ignorance is a salve for my conscience.
But it is not so with God. He is all-knowing and His Holy Spirit resides within me.
Read Hebrews 3:12-15
Love for God
The New Testament is full of God’s declaration of love for you. John 3:16 tells us God loves the world so much He sent His only Son to save us. Romans 5:8 tells us while we are still sinners He gave His life for us. Actually, Jesus gave His life while the people He came to save actively ridiculed Him for it. 1 John 4:19 tells us that we love Him only because He first loved us.
After being saved and becoming filled with the Holy Spirit, I can honestly say I have changed. The way I think about things, big things, like abortion, poverty, addiction, capitalism, and culture, have changed. This is an internal change, a change in the spirit and the soul. What I have more of is this: LOVE.
Love of God
My love for God pushes me to serve Him first, putting aside the desires of my selfish flesh. This includes alcohol and drugs. I don’t want to go back because I don’t want to lose sight of the love I have for God, or the love He has for me.
Ephesians 5:1-2 tells us to be imitators of God. Meaning to walk in love like Christ did. He gave Himself for us. He was a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. That’s what the Bible tells us to be, and that is what I want to be. If I start using again, even if I could control it, which I can’t, I would not be loving you like I’m commanded to. I would not be loving you like Christ loved you. Instead, I would be a stumbling block to you. Confusion to you. Even an enabler to you. That is not love. Sobriety is love.
Read Romans 14:14-23
Desire to Obey God
Fear of man can’t keep me from doing anything. Man has the ability to think, to plan, and to organize. If there is something man needs to get away with, he is able to at least convince himself he is smart enough to do so. My wife would be hurt if I started using again. My kids would be confused. As a person I would either be humiliated, or I would stand tall behind a façade of pride. But we would all get over it if we are all aware of our own imperfections. I don’t expect anyone to be perfect if I can’t. Therefor I can forgive an imperfection.
Obey God
But God is perfect. Although He understands and forgives my imperfections, I desire to please Him with my obedience. 1 Corinthians 9:24 and Hebrews 12:1 encourage me to run the race to the end, with the goal of winning it.
God also gives us His Holy Spirit, who in turn gives us the gift of conviction. Whenever I am tempted the Holy Spirit reminds me what He told me in that pizzeria years ago. It’s my choice if I want to give that gift back to God. I do not want to return anything God has given me, burdensome or not. I only want to obey Him. The conviction He gives us is positive conviction. It is conviction that leads us in the right direction and keeps us standing in the light.
Read Romans 12:1-2
In the end, any success you have over addiction, depression ,anxiety, anger, hate, will come from only one sustainable source, God. Here are some bullet points to get you on that track or put you back on it:
Accept Jesus as your Savior and ask for His Spirit to live in you and guide you. Your heart is the key here, not your words.
Read the Bible every day! Period. Ask God to speak and guide you as you read. Show up for God, every day.
Get involved with other Bible believing Christians. Search out and find a church that believes the Bible is the truth. Avoid liberal or progressive Christianity.
That should be enough to get you started. Reach out to me anytime.
Nearly 7 years ago in 2016 God gave me a miracle. After 25 years of chasing the dream through a bottle of booze, He freed me from alcoholism. I can’t tell you how I knew it was a reality. I just did. The miracle was delivered a few days after I completed an assignment given to me by my pastor. It was an assignment of forgiveness.
About a year later that miracle was tested. As I sat alone in a pizzeria that also sold craft beer, I was tempted to have some samples. Why not? I had been free for a year. I was closer to God than ever before. There was no threat of going back to what I was by sampling a couple of craft beers. Was there?
Sobriety
As I waited for the waitress to come back, God spoke to me. He said, “Chris, if you want to give back the gift I gave to you, then that is your choice.”
Ouch. I ordered water.
Late the next year, in 2017, I would give up drugs for good as well. This was done out of obedience to God, and the blessings of song that came from that will have to be told another time.
Recently I watched a young evangelist, who used to be an addict, tell the woman who was interviewing him that he was a changed man, fully and completely, from the inside out. She led him on by suggesting he had no desire for the old life. “None at all,” she stressed. “Nope.” He smiled and said he had no desire for those things. He was completely free and completely changed.
I can say I hope that was true for him, but it wasn’t. He lied. He relapsed years later and died young.
I have no doubt God freed that man from his addictions and used him for His glory. And I have no doubt God freed me from mine. But there is one thing we can’t overlook: Our flesh!
Being freed from your chains does not free you from the consequences of your choices.
We all have it in us to go back.
You might be asking, what keeps me sober? If God gave me sobriety, but He is not keeping me from going back, then what does?
First, I can tell you there is not a man or woman, no prize or possession, that can keep me from self-destruction. If I put my hope in anything of this world and staked my peace, joy, freedom and sobriety on it, all would be lost in moments.
The most awesome earthly blessing God has given me are my wife and my kids. But I’m not sober today because of them. Having them in my heart helps, but they will drive me to use quicker than they’ll keep me from it. Relationships are challenging.
My obedience and sobriety is possible only by these reasons:
Fear of God
Love for God
Respect for God
Desire to Obey God
Come back next week and we’ll expound on these principles.
www.singwriteread.com
In the meantime, check out some of our other posts, like this one about not letting our past, or our scars, define who we are today.
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