This article is a call to repentance, an earnest warning that we must return to our first love. The church has been anemic for so long, pursuing the spoils of a wicked world that it is now entering a full blown stage of apostasy. It will not be long before many, if not most, good Christians tumble forward into the pit of deception that has been quickly opening up. There is no great revival coming anymore, it is past that time.
The reason I say this is that scripture is clear that there will be a great falling away prophesied for this period in history. It is sad but it is true. The church herself has brought this final judgement of delusion upon herself and God is not going to allow the church, that he died for, escape his standard of excellence nor his justice. We are foolishly naive to think that God is going to judge the evil and sinful in the world and allow those in the church who continue to reject bearing the fruits of righteousness to be exempt.
While reflecting over some of the articles we have previously written I also realize that there have been many times in my life that I had great difficulty in truly embracing the cross of Christ. So many times when I would turn to scripture and read the words of Jesus and the teachings of the Apostles I had a tendency to overlook the failings and disbelief of the disciples we so highly esteem.
The disciples were not truly transformed into the what they had been taught until after they understood and embraced the cross. I then found much common ground with this group of twelve when I saw that in God's wisdom he allowed the failings of the disciples to be recorded just as much as their successes.
Man's understanding of good and evil is always in contradiction to God's
Dear Reader
This article is being written for us to look at the age old paradox of good vs. evil. For many people it is difficult to accept that good is not Godly, especially when it is present alongside the realities and expressions of evil, this is understandable. The more blatant forms of evil are easily loathed by most everyone regardless of culture or faith. The dislike of evil is not unique to those of Judeo/Christian culture, but actually resonates throughout all of humanity regardless of gender, color, or intellectual ability. Actually, in many cases, it is only as a society in general becomes more educated and academically oriented that the great dislike for the slightest displays of evil is diminished. The more that a society and/or religious group allows tolerance towards evil to persist the greater and more frequent the display of such evil and the less that good is found, yet paradoxically these activities are part of each other, a constant struggle from the same source, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Both results are from the same source, but neither are rooted in the Tree of Life.
This sermon is much different from the rest as you can tell from the title. Much of what I have written to date deals with re-aligning our beliefs so that they mirror what scripture teaches which is very important but at times it is also important to bring these teachings into everyday life and that is what we want to accomplish here.
In the summer of "08" we were blessed by finding a home to rent outside of town. The place has about two acres with a small shop/barn out back and also included a two car garage and ample space for our family. It gives us enough room to accommodate my construction activities as well as Diana's sewing and beeswax candle business. We are part of the local farmers market south of here in Marietta, Ohio where we are able to sell things that we grow and make and this keeps us very busy. This year were able to plant a large garden and there is such abundance that we are able to meet our own needs as well as sell considerable extra. So this is where the title of this sermon comes from so on with the beans.
Over the past several years there has been a fundamental change within in me when it comes to being exposed to sin. This applies to both that which I see within myself and even more so in how I relate to that which is around me.
In the past I found that it was easy to categorize the obvious outward blatant examples of sin and perversion that seems to be ever more obvious in the times in which we live, and instinctively was repulsed by it's display. Yet at the same time I made concessions to "smaller", less obvious examples of sin, simply because I myself was not willing for God to deal with them in my own life.
Sins of blatant evil are revolting to most humans regardless of their religious persuasion so in this context I wasn't any different than most people in the world. Mostly I felt good about this aversion to being in the presence of this kind of evil, and rightly so, but I found that my aversion to all things God considers sin was lacking.
One of the most challenging topics within the area of "christian liberty" is the topic of modesty. Included in this, is also the area of who establishes what is considered modest. As the church throughout history has veered away from a strong code of outward modesty so it's display of righteousness has also been left behind. One may not totally see ones heart when ones body is presented in modesty but it is difficult to see anything but carnality when one rejects the outward principle of modesty.
Written by Robert Cole | 
