Pastor Jay McCaig

At Crossroads Baptist Church we are currently right in the middle of an original sermon series helping people strengthen their relationships. Part of that training is making sure we set aside time to have date nights on a regular basis. Now sometimes date night should be the time to put on your best clothes and spend a little money, most date nights are more about the company than the price. So, I thought I would take a moment and share some great cheap date nights for couples in Central Florida! BTW, if you are interested in watching the sermon series you can check it out on my YouTube channel.

1. Go to the Beach – You’re in Florida, take advantage of some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Looking for waves and sunrises? Try Daytona or one of the other 100 East coast beaches. Looking for calmer waters and romantic sunsets? Go west young man (or lady) Sanibel Island, Naples, Clearwater are all great choices and only a few hours from home.
2. Go to the Beach at night – When my wife and I first started dating I was dream rich but cash poor which made dating limited. Fortunately, we lived only minutes from the beach. So, our cheap date night was walking on the beach, in Delray Beach, FL, talking and dreaming. We got to know each other better walking that beach than we ever would have sitting in a restraint or movie theater.
3. Theme parks – I know, not cheap, but did you know that Walt Disney World and Universal Studios have lots of free shopping areas where you can experience the “magic”, see some entertainment and even watch the fireworks? You live close take advantage of it, but buy your souvenirs off property.
4. Walks at the lakefront – One thing we have more of than ocean beaches is lakes and most of the cities have safe, well lit lakefronts that are begging people to take walks on them.
5. Nature Walks – Don’t forget that you live in a diverse paradise that has more than beaches and theme parks to offer. Check out traillink.com for some of our state’s amazing hiking trails.
6. Pack a lunch – Parks are everywhere. Pack a lunch and make a lunch date. With my wife and my hectic schedules some days if it wasn’t for Publix subs and a picnic table at lunch, we wouldn’t even see each other.
7. Paddle a boat – Another benefit of living around lots of water is lots of water activities. Rent a canoe and make a day of it or visit Lake Eola Park in Orlando and rent a paddle boat shaped like a swan for $15 per half hour.
8. Go fishing – Not my thing, but to each his own. Florida has some of the best fresh and sea fishing in the world!
9. Go fly a kite – Hobby Lobby sells kites for less than $5 or make your own and spend the afternoon together flying it.
10. Take a class together – The library offers many free classes and you can find cheap classes at community colleges and online. Or, spend a little more and take a cooking or dance class together. The great thing about classes is that you not only spend time getting to know each other but you may also discovery a new hobby or business that you can experience for years to come!
11. Work out together – At home, at the gym or with a personal trainer exercising together is a great date time and you get the added benefit or getting healthier at the same time. My wife and I regularly work out together and it is a time that we both look forward to each week. The weigh-ins, not so much.
12. Play in the rain – When was the last time you ran to the rain instead of away from it? Playing in the rain isn’t just for kids but a great way to have some child-like fun with your spouse. Jump in a few puddles, dance a little or do your best Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds impersonation and   do a little Singin’ in the Rain!
13. Putt-putt around – Miniature golf is a cheap date night that is oddly more enjoyable than it sounds.
14. Go courting – You don’t really know someone until you play them in a little one-on-one on the basketball court! Dust off the ol’ basketball, lace up the shoes and have some fun!
15. Hit the range – Take advantage of the plethora of golf courses and visit the local driving range. Not only a great date time but you also get to relieve some stress by slamming some little white balls.
16. Hit the other range – Florida is still a 2^nd amendment friendly state and gun ranges give a great opportunity for date night! Bring your own gun or many ranges will rent you one for a low fee.

These are only small sampling of cheap date night ideas. I would love to hear some of yours in the comment section.

One of the greatest questions you can ask is simply; “Why?”. After a failure, instead of dwelling in the wreckage of the past ask the question; “Why did it fail?”. Look for what can be learned that will avoid failure next time and improve the odds for future successes. After a great Win ask yourself; “Why did this work?”. Look for what can be duplicated or made better.

But “Why?” isn’t just for you. When someone treats you poorly ask “Why?”. We often take criticism as a reason to change or stop working, but, often the “Why” of their criticism has nothing to do with you and everything to do with their own shortcomings.

There is great value to not taking everything at face value but instead looking for the “Why?” behind the curtain.  “Why?” moves us forward to a better understanding and a better success.

Your thoughts?

Be Good, Pastor Jay

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6 (KJV)

Paul gives us a warning of fact in Romans 8:6; to be carnally minded is death.  Notice it doesn’t say it could be or might be death, it states it “is death”. A stern warning that deserves more than just a cursory answer. But before we can answer the question, “Am I carnally minded?”, we need to better understand what it means to have a carnal mind.

A carnal mind is one that focuses upon the flesh more than the Spirit. Where a man keeps his mind and what he thinks about determine who he is and what he does. A man that keeps his mind and thoughts in filth, becomes part of the filth. If he keeps his mind upon the good, he becomes better. When a man focuses upon worldly success, he achieves success in the world. When a mind is filled with religious thoughts, that mind becomes religious. If his thoughts are focused upon God and righteousness, he becomes godly and righteous. A man becomes and does what he thinks.

A person with a carnal or “fleshly” mind often reveals itself in one of three areas of their lives;

1. The carnal mind may focus upon the immoral, the violent, the material, and the physical flesh. This is usually the life-style most people think about when a carnal or fleshly person is mentioned. Their minds are consumed with the lust for sex, power, money, houses, things, recognition, position—concerned and filled with the earthly and the worldly. More worldly pleasure is the goal, but the reward is empty, and the desire is never satisfied.
2. The second area of a carnal mind focuses on culture, morality, refinement in the worldly sense. Often this person desires a better educated and refined community. Social work and political activism is often born out of this carnal mind. They often try to mask their carnal mind under the guise of enlightenment, diversity or inclusion. And while the desire may seems good on the surface it is actually based in carnality, separate from anything of God.

3. The third type of carnal mind manifests itself in religion. Focusing on living a life of service, ceremony and good works. This type of carnal mind seems godly, but their mind is not focused upon God but upon themselves and this world. They serve to carry out a religious function or ceremony and any personal relationship with God is nonexistence. The stress of the carnal religionist is his religion and its rituals and ceremonies, its welfare and projects. Such a focus is fleshly and carnal.

The point is this: a carnal mind does not necessarily mean that a man’s thoughts are upon the filthy, immoral, and vicious. Any mind that does not find its basis in God is a carnal mind.

So, I must ask the question again – Are you carnally minded?

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

By now I am sure you have heard of the senseless act of violence that took place at Douglas High School in Parkland, Fl. As has become the norm, the smoke had barely started to clear before some politicians were calling for stricter gun laws and others were calling for more funding for the treatment of individuals with mental health issues. Unfortunately, none of them have chosen to identify the real problem or offer any real solution. Instead they pretend like the real problem isn’t a problem at all, leading they way to more and more destruction.

When I was growing up in the 70’s and 80’s (yeah, I know I’m old) the gun culture was very different. It was not uncommon to see guns displayed in the back windows of trucks sitting at the grocery store, banks, and even schools. Students had guns that stayed in their vehicles and the though of bringing them into the school or hurting someone with them never crossed our minds. It was easier to get guns back then. You could walk into a Walmart, K-mart, TGY&Y and a dozen other places and walk out that same day with a rifle, shotgun or even a pistol. Very little paperwork needed to be filled out and no background checks were ever done. I was working at TG&Y at the time and at the end of the week we would mail the one page of information to the ATF, what they did with it I have no idea. And about once a year someone would stop by from the ATF and look over our copies that we kept on file, thumbing through them and then leaving. Rare was the home invasion and rarer yet was the school shootings.

Today it is harder to buy and posses a gun is harder than it ever has been in the history of our country, yet violence continues to increase. It seems with every restriction placed on gun owners, gun crimes go up exponentially. I do not believe we can legislate ourselves out of the perceived gun problem for one very simple reason. We do not have a gun problem.

And, while I think that mental health is sorely underfunded, I don’t believe that even with full funding would it make a dent in the violent shootings. We have always had those around us with mental health issues, but rarely did they turn to hurting others in mass. Mental health makes a convenient excuse to distract us away from the voices trying to enact new gun laws, but the will not stop the killings.

America’s problem is not one of guns or mental health – America has a sin problem that has gone untreated for to long. As a nation we have turned our back on God and embraced everything He warned us about. We murder thousands of children a day and call it “Health Care” and there are many pushing to have the right of abortion to newborns as well, or former President and current political activist being one of them. We have chosen to embrace every perversion man can dream up and label any who resist as intolerant and bigoted. We have spit upon the gift of marriage and turned it over to perversions. We accept politicians that lie, cheat and steal as long as they say the things we want to hear. We pour our money into Hollywood who knowingly hid serial a serial rapists from the world because our entertainment is more important that the safety of women. Our churches are no exception, running to ordain men and women who do not hold the qualifications to be ordained, simply because of our desire to be inclusive. We look at Worship as a way to get some blessing or to be filled because after all, it’s all about us, right? We have Pastors standing in pulpits afraid to mention Hell or sin because they may offend some one and lose favor, yet they don’t have any problem offending God.

The solution to the violence is simple – Repent from our wicked ways and seek after God. It will require the 95% of people who claim to be Christians but who do nothing to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to do something meaningful for Christ. What would have happened if one Christian had reached the gunman with the Gospel?

When was the last time you invited someone to church or shared the Gospel with someone? A better question is who will you invite to church or share the Gospel with next?

I don’t read a lot of fiction, Christian or otherwise, but I Just finished Like A Flood, by Elizabeth Proske, and I’m glad I did! I really enjoyed this book! Having a very full schedule, I found myself looking for downtime to be able to read more. Pleasantly, it was much more intense and emotional than I expected. Having been on several Mission trips I can attest to the reality of the conditions and some of the obstacles faced, although I have never experienced the intense action detailed here. I was worried with the number of characters that it would be difficult to keep them all straight as I read, but the author overcame this with thorough, ongoing character development. There is a great diversity of characters and each is at a different point in their spiritual life causing each to respond to each other and the crises they face accordingly. I doubt you can read this book without seeing yourself in one or more characters. The times of doubt and spiritual struggles they faced seemed real and made the characters very likable and watching them live out their faith despite the adversity was very encouraging for me. I would love to see this turned into a screenplay, that’s a movie I would watch! I highly recommend for teens and adults.

You can memorize Bible verses. I wanted to get that out of the way upfront. It may be difficult at first, but you can do it. The brain acts a lot like a muscle in that it responds to exercise by adapting and growing stronger. Although it may be difficult at first, you will see quick improvement in your ability to memorize very quickly! Here are a few of the best tips to help you out on your journey:

1. Pray first.
As with any type of Spiritual growth you need to start with a receptive heart. Spend some time in prayer before you start repenting of your sin and seeking God’s wisdom and power as you study.

2. Choose a verse to memorize that relates your life right now.
Are you going through a trial, concerned about someone else, starting a new job, getting married or starting a family? Finding a verse that is relevant to your time in life will help fuel your passion to memorize it!

3. Start small and grow.
Start with a small verse or a portion of a verse and add a word or two each day. Each day repeat what you have already learned and add the new portion. Remember the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

4. Write it down.
A wonderful way to get your brain to visualize the verse you are working on is to write it down. I am a visual learner, and this helps me to see myself writing each word.

5. Read it out loud.
Many of us are auditory learners and reading the verse out loud will help trigger that portion of the brain that responds to sound to help you recall the verse.

6. Pray the verse.
Often in the Bible we see great men of God repeating memorized scriptures when the pray. Use the verse this way will help you experience the power not only of prayer but the verse you are memorizing.

7. Find a partner.
Find someone to memorize with or someone you can check in with at a certain time and share your progress. Each Sunday you can repeat the verse you memorized to each other. Take turns picking a new verse each week. Knowing that someone is expecting you to have your verse memorized by a certain time is a great motivator to stay on task.

8. Act like a kid again.
When teaching a verse to a child we often use games. Why not play a few of the games yourself? Write the verse on a piece of paper and then cut out each word, scramble them up and see how fast you can put them back in order.

9. Make it a “Pocket Verse”.
When I was first memorizing Bible verses I would write them on a piece of paper and put them in my pocket. Every time my hand touched the paper in my pocket I would repeat the verse. I still refer to these old favorites as my “Pocket Verses” when the Holy Spirit calls them to mind.

Well, those are some of my tips. What works for you?

In the wake of the horrific murders at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs Texas many conversations and debates have been spawned. One of those is the rising debate of guns in church. Should places of Worship be protected by guns? Should parishioners carry guns into the church building? Should Pastors carry guns while in the pulpit? Are just a few of the questions being asked. Within these conversations many false statements are being made, some due to ignorance and some to further an agenda.

Let’s look at a few false statements being made concerning guns and Church;

False statement #1 – The Church is Holy Ground and should not be tainted with guns.

This argument is caused by a failure to understand what the Church is, and what it’s not. The church is not a building. We are extremely blessed in the United States and most of our churches have a building they routinely meet in, but on any given Sunday’s there are hundreds of churches around our country that are meeting in houses, parks, back yards and hotels. You see the bible teaches that the Church is the called-out, born again believers that have gather together in an organized fashion to Worship God. Not a building. The church buildings that many of us meet in are blessings from God but they are not Holy, God is not present there in any greater proportion than he is at any other building in the world. God’s Temple today is the heart of the believers not a building. Buildings are not Holy places, but you are if you have repented of your sins and accepted Christ as your Saviour. God clearly declares this fact in 2 Corinthians 6:16.

False statement #2 – “Thou shalt not kill” means even killing in self-defense.

The command from God is specifically talking about murder – not all death. Murder is the taking of a life without a just cause. Self-defense, capital punishment, and acts of war, all of which are condoned by God in His Word, do not fall into the category of murder. Ironically the person that was using that argument is pro-abortion and abortion falls into the category of murder.

False statement #3 – America has a gun problem.

In short: America does not have a gun problem, America has a sin problem. We are living out the woe of Isaiah 5:20 and calling evil good and good evil. We not only sin as a nation, we are proud of our sins, celebrate our sin and even encourage our children to engage in sinful behavior. “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both” (Dwight D. Eisenhower).

False statement #4 – Jesus never condoned violent behavior in response to sinful behavior.

In John chapter 2 we read where Jesus made a whip and beat people and turned over their tables to cleanse His Father’s Temple that man had defiled. Enough said.

False statement #5 – Self-defense violates the command given in Proverbs 20:22

This scripture is dealing with vengeance and vigilantism, not self-defense.

False statement #6 – If God wanted Pastor’s to carry weapons He would of commanded it.

He did – Luke 22:36 (KJV) “Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.”

False statement #7 – The second amendment was about hunting, not defense.

I was shocked by this one because the person who said it is fairly intelligent, but he obviously has never read the second amendment. This is the Second Amendment “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” – not a word about hunting.

False statement #8 Gun-free zones keep us safe.

The truth is that gun free zones are the most dangerous places in America because the only people in a gun free area that has a gun is the criminal. That is why most mass shootings happen in gun free zones. I recommend if your church is a gun free zone that you look for a church that cares more about your safety and less about being political correct.

In conclusion there is nothing in the Bible or constitution that restricts a church body or individual Christian from owning, caring or using a gun for self-defense. I am not condoning violence for violence sake, but wisdom in protecting yourself, your family and friends. Our first line of defense should be a life lived fully in Christ. Our study of Scripture, time in prayer and expressions of love will always be greater than a gun. Never sacrifice your spiritual readiness for the sake of militarily readiness.

I know this article doesn’t cover every false statement being made or concerns you may have, if you want to share these in the comment section we can discuss it and reason together!

Be good, Pastor Jay

I will admit it, I made a lot of mistakes while writing my first book, FOCUS. Even though FOCUS is an Amazon bestseller, I could have gotten it in front of many more eyes if I had put a little more time and effort into certain areas early in the writing process. Mistakes are ok – when we learn from them. Repeating the same mistakes is foolishness. As I prepare on my next book I am spending a lot more time in these five areas:

1. Building my Platform – A platform is simply a group of people that may be willing to buy your book. On a limited basis this could be family, friends, customers and acquaintances. But to really be successful a platform should reach well beyond these, to a much wider sphere of influence. When you think of your Platform think of a stage where people stop to see what you have to say. You can build a platform on Facebook, Twitter, by starting a Blog or by cultivating a large email list. Michael Hyatt literally wrote the book on building platforms. I encourage you to read his book, Platform, as a starting point for building your own unique platform. Click HERE to see Michael Hyatt’s  book, Platform.

2. Researching my Topic – Amazon is a wonderful place to research your topic because it allows you to see what people are buying. Maybe you have a topic in mind, but a little research may help you focus into a slightly different topic that people are more interested in. For example – Maybe you have the desire to write a book about prayer, a great topic but very general. You would probably attract more attention and sell more books by drilling your topic down to; Prayers for women or Prayers during adversity. See what is already selling on Amazon and tap into that need. On their site Amazon keeps track of the top 100 bestselling books in a wide range of categories and updates it hourly. Spend some time looking at what people are buying. If it’s not already selling, then people probably aren’t looking for it. Keep in mind the world and needs change and what is not hot today maybe next year’s best seller.

Another great tool is the Google keyword tool. It will show you what people are searching for on the internet. You can find it in the Keyword Planner section of Google Adwords. You may have to set up an Adwords account to access it, but creating an account is free.

3. Creating a title that sells – I think I could have greatly increased the sales of “FOCUS” if I had titled it “FOCUS for Spiritual Growth”. I have toyed with the idea of relaunching with the new name just to test the theory but right now I am moving forward on another project. One title is just that a title but the other gives you an idea what the book is about ad works better to tap into a need. Think like the book buyer. As they are scanning dozens of books what about your title, and cover, will make them pause and look deeper?

4. Developing a Marketing plan – How are you going to market your book? Guest post on other Blogs? Email marketing? Sphere of influence? Past customers? Some of this will be dictated by the platform you build but it is something to be working on throughout the book writing process.

5. Founding a Launch Team – Ok, this doesn’t have to be done before you start writing but should be part of your marketing plan. A launch team is a group of people who, in exchange for a free preview copy of your book, agree to download another free copy of the book and write a review when the book goes live online. Amazon analytics loves activity and this will “prime the pump” to get your book positioned to be noticed by potential buyers as quickly as possible. Movement creates momentum. Want to be part of my launch team? Let me know in the comment section or send me an email!

Sermon Transcript – Let’s look at the life of Moses for a moment. Moses was handpicked by God for a specific purpose. From the time he was born, he was protected by God. You know the story, the Pharaoh came and said that a deliverer was coming and so the world did what the world does when they know a deliverer was coming, they started killing babies. That was the world’s response to Moses and that was the world’s response to the first coming of Jesus. By the way that’s why we have such a problem with abortion today. The world knows the deliverer is coming back and their only thought is we’ve got to kill the babies, but he’s not coming as a baby this time. Is he? He’s coming as a conquering King.

Moses was protected. He was kept alive when the other children were killed. He was not only kept alive, but through a series of events that God had planned, he ended up being raised in the Pharaoh’s own home by the Pharaoh’s daughter. He received the best education that money could buy in those days. He was protected and he was given a position of authority. And then when he was 40years old, he made a horrible mistake. He committed a horrible sin, he rose up and he killed somebody out anger.

He got angry and let that anger manifest itself and he killed somebody. Then he even tried to hide the body, but he was found out and he was punished for it. Do you remember what his punishment was for murder? He was exiled, he was cast out. He was sent out into the wilderness to live for killing somebody, but even this time in the wilderness wasn’t the worst because while he was there he found a new family. He got married and becoming prosperous as a goat herder.

So even this time in the wilderness wasn’t the worst for him and then after 40 years old, he’s 80years old by this time, God calls him again. God came and gave him a new command, go back and talk to the pharaoh. To tell the Pharaoh to “Let my people go”.

So fast forward a bit: he hasn’t fulfilled his purpose yet, he hasn’t stood before the Pharaoh yet and we come to Exodus chapter 4. We’ve see all these things happening, God has protected him, God has his disciplined him, God has moulded him and God has trained him for 80years for the purpose of delivering his people out of Egypt, to be a saviour, and to be that picture of the coming saviour. For 80years he’s been investing in him, 80years he’s been pouring into him and in Exodus 4: 24 says “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.”

God met Moses with the intention of killing Moses before he ever stood before the pharaoh. Is that shocking to anybody? Is this startling to anybody that God’s desire, God’s intention at that point toward this person that he had invested all this into was to kill him?
Do you know what his great crime was?
Do you know what he was being judged for?
Do you know why God was going to kill him now?

What was this great offense before God? What was this thing that’s obviously worse than murder because for murder he was just exiled and it wasn’t the worst of exiles? He didn’t circumcise his son. He gets somewhat of a pass for murder, but when he didn’t circumcise his infant son God desires to kill him.
Why didn’t he circumcise his son? We don’t know. It appears that in the following verses, his wife wasn’t too excited about the idea although she is ultimately the one that circumcises the son. Seem like she was kind of angry about it, but she did it with the knowledge that this was saving her husband’s life by circumcising the son. And this did save Moses’s life. This did change the mind of God so He didn’t kill Moses. But why was circumcision more important than murder?

And if circumcision is that important are we still judged by that today? No, this was a command that was given to Israel. This was an Old Testament command that went away when the New Testament came. Also, it was a command for the Jewish people, but never applied to Gentiles. Circumcision was a way to distinguish between God’s people and the rest of the world.
So why was he so upset with Moses? Let’s look at three things we can glean from this passage.

First, we have to understand, what is sin?
Was it a sin when he committed murder? Yes
Was it a sin when he refused to circumcise his son? Yes

They’re both violated commands of God. They were both an affront to God because sin is always an affront to Him. Sin is rebellion, simply sin is disobedience before God.

So why was God going to judge circumcision greater than he had judged murder? Circumcision or the lack of circumcision was an ongoing sin. The murder was a one-time sin. He was done, he was repentant and he even tried to hide the body to pretend like it didn’t happen because he was remorseful for it and he was repentant of it.

But the circumcision; He disobeyed God and every single day that he did not circumcise his son he was choosing to live in a state of disobedience. This is important for us as Christians, because as Christians we are all going to sin. And when we sin, we have an advocate with the father. The same advocate, that saved us in the first place will stand before the Father and when we repent of our sin he will tell the Father that sin has been paid for.

The problem with an ongoing sin in our life is there is no repentance and every day that we continue to live in that state of sin. We continue to thumb our noses to God. We continue to shake our fist to God and because we stand in direct rebellion by choice every single day. This is why addictions are so destructive. Addictions are so destructive to people because every time they make the choice to put the needle in or take the pill or put the cigarette in their mouth they make a choice. Every time they do those things they’re shaking their fist at God saying I know what’s better for me than you.

That’s why those things that are addictive should be avoided before they consume and take over our life by the way which is what all sin does in our life. We look at addicts as though they don’t really have control. They had control at one point and they can have control again with the power of Jesus Christ, but addiction is no different than in the other sin that you choose to let live in your life. Whatever that sin is; Whether it’s pride, Whether it’s greed or Whether it’s deceit.

Whatever that sin is that you allow living in your life, that unrepentant sin will destroy you and take you over just as quick as any addiction will. It will destroy you. It will rot you from the inside out. This is why God was so upset. He had given His command to Moses to give to the people and Moses wasn’t even doing what he was supposed to be doing, but he’s telling other people to do it.
He was a little bit of a hypocrite, wasn’t he? By the way Christians are hypocrites too. A pastor and I were out on visitation and we stop at this man’s house. I was a 13-year-old kid and when we get to the door this giant of a man comes to the door and the pastor invites him to church. The man says, “I’m not going to church, the church is full of hypocrites.” That pastor put his head down and says “yes, you’re right, but there’s always room for one more. Why don’t you join us on Sunday?” I thought oh we’re going to die.

Of course, we’re hypocrites, the world is full of hypocrites and Christians are hypocrites. Shocking, isn’t it? But hopefully if you’re living that Christian life you’re striving not to be a hypocrite, that you’re not saying things that you’re not actually doing in your life, that’s the difference. When we’re hypocritical, when we do things it should bother us, it should eat away at us because we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us.

Moses was living in that constant state of rebellion without repentance. Without repentance, there is no forgiveness. Without forgiveness, there’s that constant barrier between us and God. So, here’s God’s man, the one that is going to go represent him in the world, and he has built a wall between him and God and he’s going to go and tell Pharaoh what the Pharaoh needs do. You see the problem. Do you see why God wanted to kill him or why he sought to kill him?

Have you ever heard of the Chinese water torture? I don’t know if it’s accurate or not, but the stereotypical way the water was administered was to take the water and just drip it or drizzle it on the prisoner’s forehead. So, you’re leaning back and they just drip, drip, drip and they secure your head so you can’t move it. And that constant dripping of water drives people insane, drives to the point where they just they’ll do anything or say anything to make it stop and all of this is from a drop of water over and over.

If we were to take that same water and dump it over somebody’s head which was popular a couple years ago in the Ice Bucket Challenge, it was shocking, but it was over and life went on. But you take that same water and a little bit a little bit a little bit and it destroys the mind.

Sin is the same way. When we sin, we need to get that sin out of our life quickly. We need to separate ourselves from that sin quickly because that ongoing sin, that we allow to stay, will eat us away. It destroys us every single time.
Something else we can learn from this. If we look in Acts 10:34 it says, “of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons”. You know what else we can draw from this? God doesn’t play favourites. God judges us not based upon what we’ve done in the past. But what we’re doing right now. So, if you think because I did all this good so I’m entitled to this little sin. You’re lying to yourself.

Sin is sin. God does not play favourites. If He was going to play favourites, if He was going to overlook a sin this is probably the time, right? For 80 years He has been pouring into Moses. He has talked to Moses. He has given Moses the rod. He has exposed things to him. He has used him and has developed him for 80 years and now he is about to do one of the most amazing things with him. He’s going to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt. He’s going to free them, but Moses allowed sin in this life and God couldn’t play favourites he had to be judged.

This brings us to our 3rd and final point. God never ignore sin. We don’t have one example in the Bible where God overlooked sin. Sin is always dealt with. When Jesus Christ went to the cross he dealt with sin. John 7: 4 says “for there is no man that doeth anything in secret and he himself seek it to be known openly if thou do these things show that I self to the world”. You see not only does He not overlook sin, he sees every sin. Many people choose to sin when they’re alone. You know why? Because there are no witnesses, or so we think. God is always there.

He always sees and He always knows and He always deals with sin. Remember the story of the woman at the well. He dealt with her sin. He addressed her sin head on. Every time we see Jesus having interactions he first dealt with sin and then he offered something better. Whether it was that water so we would never thirst anymore or the bread of life he always offered better.

God never ignores sin. If God could ignore sin he would have ignored Adam and Eve eating that one little fruit. It’s a piece of fruit that can be ignored, right? It’s disobedience. It’s a sin of disobedience just like every single sin. I think we’ve gotten ourselves into a culture in Christianity today where we think that that God is going to judge other people’s sin more than he judges our sin. When God looks down He sees sin. He sees sin and it doesn’t matter who sin it is. It’s going to be judged, and most likely He judges His own children more harshly then He judges those that don’t even claim Him.

Jeremiah 23:24 says “can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him say it the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth say it the Lord”. God sees the sin and He deals with sin. That’s why Jesus Christ came to earth.
If you ask the world about Jesus they’re quick to point out that he was a great teacher. They’re quick to point out that he was a great healer. There’re quick to point out how he fed the 5000. How he cared for those that were less fortunate. But you know Jesus did not come here for any of those things. Those things were all part of his ministry because they pointed to the one true reason that he came. He said it himself that he came to seek and to save that which was lost. Not to feed the hungry, not to heal the sick, to seek and to save.

Feeding the hungry and healing the sick were just a means to an end. He came to tell the world what the prophets had told the world. What the judges had told the world. What Moses had told the world that they were all sinners and sin will be judged. Paul said, “the wages of sin is death” in the book of Romans.
The wages of sin is death. Which sin?
 Murder
 Not being circumcised
 Lying
 State of disobedience

Which sin is the sin of death? All sin, any sin. Because of that God left Heaven to die on the cross. Healing is a great thing and I’m sure the people that Jesus Christ healed he transform their life on this earth, but hopefully their life was also transformed for eternity. Because that is what He came for.
Feeding hungry people is an amazing thing it’s a great thing. We had the opportunity to do some of that when we went on our mission trip to Nicaragua. Feeding hungry kids is a great thing, but if all we’re doing is feeding kids we’ve missed the point. A full belly is good for today, but what about a thousand years from now. What about a millennium from now. Where those kids going to be?

It doesn’t matter how full their belly is if they’re burning in hell because we didn’t tell them. God never ignore sin, He always deals with sin. The Bible tells us that we are all sinners. None of us are righteous and since we’re all sinners we all have sin that we must deal with. When Jesus Christ came and he died on the cross, that was God dealing with sin not ignoring sin, but dealing with sin.
When Jesus Christ died on that cross he defeated sin for us. So now we can have sin removed from our life. Jesus died to give us the power that we need to defeat sin and he proved it by walking out of the grave after 3 days.
He defeated sin on the cross. He defeated death by walking out of the grave. He’s a Living God not a dead God and He lives’ today and it’s still his primary purpose to forgive sin today.

If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your saviour he is ready today to save you from your sin, to guarantee your place in heaven. If are saved, but you’ve allowed sin to creep back in your deal with. Don’t be embarrassed about that. Be embarrassed before God, but don’t be embarrassed before us because we’re in the same boat. We’ve all allowed sin back into our lives after we got saved.

Sometimes it takes a good kick to the head for us to wake up and realize that we’re living in a state of sin, but every Christian has allowed some sin back in their life. And it’s important if we want to keep those lines of communication open with God, if we want to continue to have him filling us with the spirit and controlling our moves and our minds in leading us and guiding us, if we want that constant connection with him here on this earth it’s important that we continually work to purge that sin out of our lives. No matter how minor it seems to be, no matter how little it seems to be to us.

Maybe you think, but I didn’t kill anybody. Moses did and he was forgiven, but the real affront was living in a state of sin, living in a state of disobedience. “Well my cigarette smoking doesn’t hurt anybody, but me.” That’s enough of a reason to repent.

So Christian maybe you have a temporary sin. Maybe it’s an on-going sin in your life. Whatever it is Jesus Christ has already defeated that sin and is ready to forgive you. It’s up to you to apply, make that conscious choice to apply that power to defeat that sin.