I'll Be Honest

Dan discusses the ongoing conflict that he and his wife have had during their marriage.

Dan Pentimone pastors at http://ccclouisburg.org/

The Holy Spirit must be the believer's best friend in the battle to kill sexual sin. You cannot have victory against sin unless it is victory that is had by way of the Spirit of God. We don't have the power in ourselves and so we need the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin.

What makes you doubt your salvation? Many will say, "When I sin I doubt my salvation."

"When I sin there is the worst grief that comes in my heart. I have a heavy grief that I have grieved my Father and that I have grieved the Holy Spirit. But listen to me, my salvation does not depend on whether I sin or didn't sin. My salvation depends on what Jesus Christ did with my sins on Calvary's cross." - Mike Morrow

Mike Morrow passed on to glory in 2016 | http://illbehonest.com/author/mikemorrow

God calls us to call upon Him in prayer. When we cry to Him, He promises to answer us and show us great and hidden things that we have not known. Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to Me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."

Are certain hand signs satanic? Hand gestures can have a variety of meaning depending upon their use in a specific culture. So can a hand signal mean something satanic? Yes, it could to some in a certain culture. Yet some may unintentionally do a hand signal without meaning anything by it. However, as believers we should seek to remove anything that could cause an offense.

In the busy seasons of our lives we have to prioritize on how we use our time. There are seasons in all of our lives in which we will have more time than others to read and pray. Life looks different for each Christian. We must not fall into condemnation if we are not doing what we cannot do; we must do what we can do at that season in our life.

Believers once lived in the passions of their flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. All lost men are still enslaved to the desires of their flesh. Their lives are controlled by a lusting and craving for whatever will satisfy the flesh.

Surrendering to Christ is not drudgery. We are surrendering to His kindness and goodness. We should not fight against the Lord's will because He never puts us through anything that is not for our good. He always does what He does with a purpose. There is so much joy in truly surrendering to Christ.

By nature people are children of wrath and in trouble with an angry God who is a consuming fire. The lost must be saved from the just judgment of God that they deserve. It is only through Jesus Christ bearing our wrath for us that we can be justified before God.

Should a Christian sell or destroy the sports memorabilia that they idolized? If by selling it, would they be selling an idol to another buyer who would also idolize it? Tim considers some practical things to any who are facing this inner conflict.

Original question:
Pastor Tim, I had a conflict on my heart that I wanted see if you could shed light on in a Biblical manner. I used to be a huge Laker fan (please hear me out). I had accumulated thousands of dollars in memorabilia but realized that it simply promoted the idolization of other men and were idols in and of themselves. My conflict is whether I am able to sell them as a Christian, or would that simply be profiting by selling sin to another. I understand that you had a bike that you sold when you realized much of the same. Did you feel any conflict in selling it knowing that the buyer would likely also hold it up to some idolizing level.