Staring Death In The Face

I am going to begin posting my thesis next week. 

It's going to go over as subtly as a brick being thrown through a window.

Just so people know, it is not as if I take some sick, twist or warped pleasure in always confronting the culture head-on due to issues such as sexual immorality (adultery, homosexuality, etc), abortion/murder, capital punishment and other hot button topics. When I stand on biblical principles I am routinely viewed as a hater, hypocritical, prudish, misogynistic, homophobic and the list goes on ad infinitum. 

People that think I enjoy always being diametrically opposed to what most people find acceptable are sadly disillusioned. I do not enjoy being in conflict with the world and those that think I do enjoy it must also think I am a sadomasochist. I am not. It is just the way society is going. The farther afield the culture and society drifts from God and Scripture the more I find myself in disagreement with the culture and society. The more godless and immoral society becomes the more I as a Biblical teacher need to stand face-to-face with it. When I use the Bible to stare down sin I am literally staring death in the face and going toe-to-toe with the things that cause the demise of all. The wages of sin is death and we're all sinners. We either expose the sin or it will be allowed to continue to eat souls. The more I examine it the more I see sin for what it is. It is the embodiment of death or the antithesis to Jesus Christ. It is not life incarnate, it is death incarnate and evil personified.

It seems few truly understand the Bible or even care about it's truths anymore. To those that would bother to do a token reading of it, it is just a grab-bag of wisdom to take and leave as they choose. When I bring a correct exegesis and study of the text to people's attentions and it assaults their sensibilities (and I use that word loosely) I realize it is not those people that hate me but it is their sin confronting God and the truth of Scripture. I will admit there are some truths of Scripture that I myself find difficult to accept and assimilate but as a sinner it is the very nature of my sinful self that rejects those hard to stomach truths, just as it is other's sinful nature that causes them to reject the truths I will put forth in my blog posts.

Please note I will never stand on my own opinion in a culturally divisive situation as it is logical and philosophical suicide. I will solely stand on correct interpretation of Scripture. How do I know I am interpreting the Bible correctly? It is hermeneutics founded and based in history folks. Historical Theology and understanding of the text based on orthodox study that has its roots in the Apostles and Church Fathers. It has been this way since Jesus. In the case of the Hebrew Bible, even farther back.

So when people start coming out of the shadows and anonymity of the Internet to protest and attack what I am about to post in my series named "Cultural Crossroad," please understand I am not taking your insults personal. I realize that it is the sin in you that rails against the truths of Scripture. I pray that God blesses this endeavor. I pray I will at least reach a few buried in their sins. Odds are these posts will positively affect very few. The gate is narrow and most people's sin takes up an entrenched positions against God. 

It doesn't hurt to pray and hope.