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The Focus
by Dennis Wheeler
Gather with your friends at lunch today and the conversation is sure to turn to Mark & Lori Hacking...the husband in Salt Lake City, Utah who has been arrested for murdering his pregnant wife. The details are just beginning to emerge...and certainly more is to come. It is shocking and seems so hard for us to imagine what would drive a person to purposely kill someone ... especially someone they love and is bearing their child! We just can't fathom that.
But then, take your Bible and take a look at Romans 1:24-32...it presents a rather unsettling description of mankind and reveals that WE are prone to idolatry, violence, unnatural passions and lusts, unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, envy, murder, deceit, gossip, slander...and the list goes on. This portrayal, though horrible, describes exactly who it is that God loves. And, although we do not often realize it - these characteristics describe each and every one of us.
"Now hold on one minute Dennis! I'm nothing like Mark Hacking or Scott Petersen! I may not be perfect...but I'm a pretty decent person!"
That may be true, but please consider this...
[list]First of all, the potential for every one of these corrupt, disturbing behaviors resides within every man, woman and child on this planet.
Secondly, the 'decent person' defense falls far short of God's perfect holiness. The Bible tells us that our best attempts at righteousness are merely 'filthy rags'. (Isaiah 64:6)[/list]
Take courage, have confidence, and cling to the good news that God has reached down and expressed His love to each of us not because of what He saw within us, but because it is in His nature to love with no limits, boundaries or conditions.
His love remains constant; our attempts at being 'decent' cannot impress Him into favoring us, and our sin and failures cannot cause Him to stop loving us. Instead, all honor and praise for His love are due to God alone!!
"God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." - Romans 5:8 (NLT)
He serves as the Senior Pastor with southwest Virginia church... a loving church family in Abingdon.
He and his wife Sharon have been married for over 27 years and are the proud parents of two beautiful daughters, one son-in-law, and two precious grandchildren, the second arrived arrived on the scene in September 2004!!
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