Sin is never alone

"If a solitary man sins, he destroys himself.
If a family man sins, he destroys his family.
But if a Pastor sins, he unravels his whole church."
~ anon

"A bishop then must be blameless..." ~ 1 Tim 3:2

Have you been impatient lately?

"There are no sins God’s people are more subject to than unbelief and impatience; they are ready, either to faint through unbelief, or to fret through impatience. When men fly out against God by discontent and impatience, it is a sign they do not believe “that all things work together for good, to them that love God.” Discontent is an ungrateful sin, because we have more mercies than afflictions; and it is an irrational sin, because afflictions work for good…. The devil blows the coals of passion and discontent, and then warms himself at the fire." ~ Thomas Watson

Playing with sin may seem sweet - but it is deadly

"A fly lights on a leaf to taste the sweetness that grows there. Instantly three crimson-tipped, fingerlike hairs bend over and touch the fly’s wings, holding it firm in a sticky grasp. The fly struggles mightily to get free, but the more it struggles, the more hopelessly it is coated with adhesive. Soon the fly relaxes, but to its fly-mind “things could be worse,” because it extends its tongue and feasts on the sweetness while it is held even more firmly by still more sticky tentacles — just as happens when we swill our besetting sins. When the captive is entirely at the plant’s mercy, the edges of the leaf fold inward, forming a closed fist. Two hours later the fly is an empty sucked skin, and the hungry fist unfolds its delectable mouth for another easy entanglement." ~ R. K. Hughes

You Choose

Sin will keep you from this Book,

(or)

This Book will keep you from sin.

~ D. L. Moody

Wise Counsel from Pastor Charles Spurgeon

"Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins." ~ Psalm 19:13

Such was the prayer of the "man after God’s own heart." Did holy David need to pray thus? How needful, then, must such a prayer be for us babes in Grace! It is as if he said, "Keep me back, or I shall rush headlong over the precipice of sin." Our evil nature, like an ill-tempered horse, is apt to run away. May the Grace of God put the bridle upon it and hold it in, that it rush not into mischief. What might not the best of us do if it were not for the checks which the Lord sets upon us both in Providence and in Grace?

The Psalmist’s prayer is directed against the worst form of sin—that which is done with deliberation and willfulness. Even the holiest need to be "kept back" from the vilest transgressions. It is a solemn thing to find the Apostle Paul warning saints against the most loathsome sins. "Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." What? Do saints need warning against such sins as these? Yes, they do. The whitest robes, unless their purity be preserved by Divine Grace, will be defiled by the blackest spots.

Experienced Christian, boast not in your experience! You will yet trip if you look away from Him who is able to keep you from falling. You whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, whose hopes are bright, say not, "We shall never sin," but rather cry, "Lead us not into temptation." There is enough tinder in the heart of the best of men to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest Hell unless God shall quench the sparks as they fall! Who would have dreamed that righteous Lot could be found drunk and committing uncleanness? Hazael said, "Is Your servant a dog, that he should do this thing?" And we are very apt to use the same self-righteous question. May infinite wisdom cure us of the madness of self-confidence!

Sin: The Ultimate Outrage of the Universe

What makes sin sin is not first that it hurts people, but that it blasphemes God. This is the ultimate evil and the ultimate outrage in the universe.

The glory of God is not honored.

The holiness of God is not reverenced.

The greatness of God is not admired.

The power of God is not praised.

The truth of God is not sought.

The wisdom of God is not esteemed.

The beauty of God is not treasured.

The goodness of God is not savored.

The faithfulness of God is not trusted.

The promises of God are not relied upon.

The commandments of God are not obeyed.

The justice of God is not respected.

The wrath of God is not feared.

The grace of God is not cherished.

The presence of God is not prized.

The person of God is not loved.

The infinite, all-glorious Creator of the universe, by whom and for whom all things exist (Rom. 11:36) – who holds every person’s life in being at every moment (Acts 17:25) – is disregarded, disbelieved, disobeyed, and dishonored by everybody in the world. That is the ultimate outrage of the universe. ~ John Piper

Bravo Zulu!

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday he considers homosexuality to be immoral and the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace likened homosexuality to adultery, which he said was also immoral, the newspaper reported on its Web site.

"I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way," Pace told the newspaper in a wide-ranging interview.

Pace, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, said he based his views on his upbringing.

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." ~ 1 Co 6:9-10

Why shall ye return to sin and bondage?

"Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice’s den a second time? Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler-be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again!" ~ Charles Spurgeon

"...For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." ~ 2 Pe 2:19-22