Good Vs. Evil

When I was a child (which was many years ago) I learned many of the evils of life such as playing cards, pool tables, dancing and drinking alcohol. Of course we shunned such desires as a child and learned to be judgmental of anyone who partook in such evils. When I became older and wiser I came to understand all of these evils were neutral objects, meaning they were neither good or evil, but what mattered was how someone might use them that would make them good or evil. I remember one day the pastor’s wife emphatically refused to let her children play the “Old Maid” card game with me simply because it was cards and she wouldn’t let her kids go to the movies to see “Bambi.” What are some ways these objects could be used immorally? Playing cards and pool could be used for gambling, dancing such as the Lambada could be used to sexually arouse someone and alcohol can be used for drunkenness which could lead to DWI or spouse and/or child abuse.

So, what is good and what is evil? How do we determine what is moral or immoral? Is there anyone on this planet that has the right and ability to dictate what is right and wrong? Are there some good people in this world and some bad? Is something that was immoral and wrong 3000 years ago still immoral? Yes! Sin doesn’t change with the times. Solomon said there was nothing new under the sun. Are you an evil person because you do or have done something wrong or sinful? Are you a good person because you have done some good things in your life? The answer to the last two questions is NO! You are neutral. You are neither good nor bad. In Isaiah 64:6 it says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”

For some time I’ve been telling people that they were actually good, but were doing bad/evil things. This was an inaccurate statement. The truth is the people were neither good nor bad, it came down to what they believed about themselves and they acted accordingly.

This is where this gets really interesting. From our childhood on Satan has distorted and corrupted mankind’s thinking. He is the father of lies (John 8:44) and he loves to twist us up in knots trying to convince us we are evil and bad. Therefore he knows we will bring him the fruits of pain, sorrow, guilt, fear and death. Here’s the good part. God is working even more diligently to bring us to him, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22) but He will not interfere with our free will. We have to choose the love He has demonstrated through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus and He will bring righteousness in us through Him. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. Romans 6:13

What about Charles Manson and Adolph Hitler? Were these evil men or were they used to do evil? They were men that submitted to evil, but they were just men. I have heard so many stories of people who had horrible atrocities happen in their lives, but some used this as excuse to commit crimes and others used their past to reach out and help others. It came down to choice.

So if you do good things, does that make you a good person and is this all we have to do to get to heaven? No matter how hard and diligently we try to be good it will never be enough to please a Holy Father. This has never been a matter of following rules because if it was, all of us would fail. As Max Lucado says, “If we only had one rule to follow to be allowed into heaven and that one rule was to jump as high as you can and touch the moon, we would all fail.” Even in my youth I might be able to jump four feet and of course it’s much farther to the moon.

Fortunately Jesus was willing to jump up and touch the moon (so to speak) for us so that we would and could have a chance of eternity with Him. The moment we accept Christ into our heart we instantly become everything God wants us to be. It has never been Jesus and good works, Jesus and sacrifices or Jesus and anything else. Just Jesus!

So as I said earlier, how do we determine what is good and evil? The only way I know is to go to the highest authority on the matter and see what His Word says. (The Bible) I have heard so many ridiculous forms of advice that come from people meaning well, but there basing their advice on what they saw in a movie or something. I’ve heard some couples say that God brought them together when they were involved in an adulteress relationship. How ridiculous! I don’t ever recall God advocating this. Many religions have been based on someone’s morality.

How can we determine what is good and what is evil? Was it a good or bad thing that I experienced several types of sexual abuse and was it a good or bad thing I was bullied the first few grades of elementary? Satan meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. (Romans 8:28) If it weren’t for those hurts in my past you can be assured I would not be writing these Bus Stops nor would I be working at the boot camp.

Joseph had several horrible things happen to him. First his brothers wanted to kill him. Instead they sold him into slavery. Has this happened to you lately? He was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and thrown into jail. Eventually he was made second in command over Egypt where he came face to face with his brothers. When they recognized Joseph the first words out of their mouth had to be “uh oh!” But Joseph said graciously to them in Genesis 50:19, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

I don’t know what has happened in your past, but I do know one thing. You can either let Satan torment you with this the rest of your life and destroy you or you can run to a wonderful relationship with God and let Him use these hurts to paint a beautiful picture.

Do You Know Me?

I’m fortunate to say that I have many friends and even if I don’t, let me believe I do. As I was pondering this thought, I feel I could safely say many don’t know me that well, then again you may know be better than I thought. I’m going to make a few multiple choice statements and let’s see if you get them correct.

A) I grew up in Lubbock, Texas
B) I played hooky almost half my senior year
C) I was an honor student
D) I had a dog named Champ

Let’s try another one.

A) I went to Texas Tech for 2 semesters
B) I was in the Army for 4 years
C) I have a pilot’s license
D) I was in the Air Force

A) I have a heart for helping people
B) I do a lot of volunteer work
C) I spend several hours on the phone coaching
D) I love to laugh

If you knew me well and grown up with me, (or my family) you would know the answers. You will not be graded on this. These are some things I’ve done in my past and also a look into my character. Many of you that have known me a few years know my character and some of you that I’ve met recently may not. Naturally those who have known me the longest should know me better. However, that’s not always the case. I know some of your deepest secrets and problems, but I don’t know much about your basic background.

Have you ever thought you really knew someone and then one day out of the blue they seemed totally different? I know what you’re thinking, “I married them!” This is just one example, but there are many others.

Over the last few years I had to really rethink the belief I had about God. I spent a big part of my life running from Him and the other part trying to appease Him. I lived in fear and always worried what was in front of me and regretted what was behind me. Many times I believed that God was out to get me until one day I came to the conclusion if He wanted to get me He would have. He wouldn’t have missed!

I grew up in the church starting in the nursery. I’ve learned all kinds of things about church and churches. I learned a lot about what was right and wrong and I experienced a lot of the wrong things. I feel like I’ve really just started learning who God really is and what He’s all about.

He’s not Santa Claus or a good luck charm we can pull out of our pocket when we’re in distress. The God that I’ve been learning about is Pure and Holy Love. This has been a difficult concept for me to understand. Many of us have been deceived in knowing what love really is. When love has been distorted by our background and we try to address it with human wisdom and understanding we will always fall short in knowing the truth.

A few years ago I was falsely accused of doing something wrong. This incident was totally out of my character. Because of this, the person I was accused to didn’t believe the accusation. I also had my wife next to me when I was talking to this person and she verified the truth. There are so many people out there spreading horrid rumors about God. I know I don’t have to defend God and that’s not my purpose. So, what would you have to do to get to know me or anyone else better? You would have to spend time with us. What I want to accomplish is hoping that you will get to know the real God so you won’t be fooled. The people spreading false rumors may be doing it intentionally or unintentionally. It really doesn’t matter. Do you know the real truth? This is our responsibility! Like me, is it possible what you have been thinking or taught all these years was wrong? So, do you really know God?

Good Intentions

Many of us have good intentions to do all kinds of different things in our life, but don’t quite get around to it. We had good intentions to pay that bill, but they didn’t care and charged us the late fee anyway. We had good intentions to get our tires changed, but that didn’t keep us from having that flat or call that friend and get that birthday card in the mail and didn’t realize that would have been the only card they got that day, but we failed even though we had good intentions.

Think back through history. What if they never quite got the Declaration of Independence completely finished or Dr. Martin Luther King had meant to march on Washington, but never got around to it. These are a couple of extreme examples, but what about the many times a day we have good intentions to do something that might of changed someone’s life but failed to do so, a simple phone call, a card or a visit.

We will not be judged on our good intentions, but on the things we followed through. I can’t help but think of the song that says, “The road to good intentions doesn’t lead to anywhere.” You may only get one chance to say what you needed to say, do what you needed to do or help those you needed to help.

Many times we believe we have all the time in the world to say or do what we need to do, but we forget to figure in the variables such as time, death, illness or many others situations. All of these could be you and not the other persons. If something happened to you today would your friends know how much you thought of them? Would you children and spouse know how much you loved them? Would you have gone to those places you keep telling others you are going to go to someday?

I know I have a problem with procrastination and putting things off as long as I can. I know this is my problem and if you can identify with me you can know you’re not alone. This is also something I continue to work on in my life. I don’t want to be a person of good intentions, but to be known as a person that didn’t let things go undone.

The Hostage

A man breaks into your home and holds you and your family hostage at gun point. He looks at you and says I’m about to make you a judge. You are going to decide which one of your children lives or dies. (If you don’t have any children, think of someone you love dearly) First you ask…Why are you doing this? What are you trying to accomplish or prove? He gives you no response. Again he demands you to decide and the only mercy he shows is to give you 5 minutes to make up your mind.

You scream at him, “This is crazy! We’ve done nothing to you! I can’t decide which of my children lives or dies because I love them all.” Then he says, “Then I will kill all of them and you have 3 more minutes.”

Then the man tells you that you have been making judgments all your life about people, about life and about God. So this should be easy for you with your experience. How many people have you destroyed in your mind? How many people have you looked down on because they were different than you? How many times have you told your spouse you were right? How many times have you told God something wasn’t fair or that He messed up? You see, you have been a judge for a long time and now I’m asking you to judge your children and decide which one lives or dies. You have 2 minutes.

All of them can’t be good kids. They have had to disappoint and even make you angry when they brought bad grades home from school, caused trouble with the neighbors or maybe they even sassed you. Finally you get to do something about it.

One child stands up seeing the anguish you’re going through and says, “You don’t have to decide, I’ll sacrifice myself if he will go away.” The man says this will be acceptable.

You have probably already seen the analogy, but if you haven’t let me help you. The man is sin and Satan. The accuser of the people and it’s by sin we are judged. Not by what we do, but by what we are. It ripped God’s heart out to see his people suffer because of his love for us. He didn’t want to decide which one lives with Him and which one didn’t. Jesus came forward and said, “I’ll sacrifice myself for them and make sin go away.” Some have declared they are going to figure their own way out of this situation by trying to look good enough to be accepted and others have been grateful for the sacrifice and accepted the gift. Ephesians 2:8-9 If you were to try to clean yourself up enough to be accepted by God is like giving a skunk a bath. No matter how many times you wash it, it’s still going to smell like a skunk.

5 More Minutes

How many times have we all said, “If I just had 5 more minutes” I could get to work on time, I could finish the project, we could win the game, I could make it to the gas station or I could pass the test. There are so many ways we could apply this statement.

There are so many things we could do that would take less than 5 minutes or may take seconds like…A kind word, to open the door, to listen or acknowledge someone. There’s probably not a worse feeling in this world than to not be noticed. How many times have we looked away to avoid noticing someone? Especially someone that isn’t pleasant to the eyes, in a wheelchair, walking on a cane or walker or maybe someone who is old. It would only take a few seconds.

So now, what could you do with people that come into your circle for 5 minutes? Many of us say we don’t have 5 minutes to spare. I know I waste more than 5 minutes a day so I can’t lean on that excuse and chances are you can’t either. I’m not trying to put anyone on a guilt trip. I just want you to think about it a little.

Yesterday my number 2 son Stephen (the paramedic) came home from work. He had been at the Hospital in McKinney where I had my surgery and he met the doctor who was in charge of resuscitating me. The doctor told him the policy for resuscitating someone was usually 15 minutes, but they had decided to go the extra 5 more minutes. The extra 5 more minutes would have decided my fate of life or death. My son thanked the doctor for saving his dad and for giving him the 5 more minutes. I learned some more interesting news from my niece this morning. My wife and the nurses were outside my room praying for me and the moment they said “Amen” I started breathing again.

None of us knows how much we impact the lives of others just by giving them a few minutes. I don’t know how many times I have said in the past that no one would even notice if I was gone. I know this is a false statement for me as it would be for you. I know my creditors would miss me.

Take a few moments and think what you could do with 5 more minutes.