Kudos to Tekeme Studios

A few of you on Facebook have commented on the nice, new blog "makeover" - I have George and Ashley Weis to thank for all the creative work (from concept to finishing html code touches) for the amazing work they've done.

Tekeme Studios is their graphic design company, based in Pennsylvania. This dynamic duo works together to design and create webpages, logos, blogs, book covers and other publications and has an impressive portfolio, which you can view here. (There are four categories of their projects - be sure and check out the creative blog templates they've designed)!

Ashley is also a talented Christian writer, who has been published in Brio, Susie Mag, and has completed a Christian novel dealing with the porn industry. While she credits George with all the creative concepts of their work, Ashley is a very thorough "market researcher" in figuring out what will catch the target audience's eye. You can read her blog here.

The Weis' creative work speaks for itself - spend five minutes perusing Tekeme's site, and you'll see the creative and professional level of their design work. In addition, their prices are extremely low for the quality of work they deliver, and these folks are constantly running discounts and give-aways on Twitter and Facebook. If you look up "generous" in the dictionary, you'll see Ashley and George's mugs staring back at you.

Generosity and commitment to their clients seems to come with the territory - these two are devout Christ-followers. Not only does their faith show up in their business practices (and as you can see, many of the blogs they've designed have been for Christ-centered ministries), Ashley and George are passionately commited to social justice. Some of the worthy causes they support are listed on Tekeme's homepage, and Ashley writes blogs frequently about ways to help.

If you write, blog, sell online, or are considering any graphic design work at all, I would highly recommend Tekeme Studios to you. The painstaking attention to detail in all of the projects they complete combined with their inate talent and natural goodness makes this couple's business a gem. I can honestly say that if I end up self-publishing my book, "Redeemed from the Pit", having these two design the cover will take some of the sting out of it! Great job, y'all.

When Eating Becomes Sin, Part 2

Continuing the series by Jack Hughes from earlier this week, here is Part II of his message:

In our last Calvary Review we discussed eating and the times when eating becomes sin. Not all eating is sin, but when food masters or controls us so that we are unwilling to say no to our desire for food or if our eating harms our bodies or if it causes a stumbling block to others because we are being hypocritical, showing partiality, or being insensitive to their convictions, then eating becomes a sin. We also learned that obesity is a serious problem in America being the second leading killer of Americans. Overeating is also a major contributor to other deadly diseases like cancer and heart disease.

Finally, we discussed why sins of indulgence, and overeating in particular, need to be addressed. Some of the reasons are as follows: 1) overeating is harmful to our bodies and the Scriptures tell us to take care of our bodies, 2) the Bible says we are not to be mastered by anything, 3) the Bible says we are not to show partiality, condemning some sins and ignoring others, and 4) we are to avoid hypocrisy in condemning sins of indulgence in others when we ourselves are engaging in those same kinds of sins.

For this Calvary Review we want to examine more closely what the Word of God says about eating in general and indulgence and lack of self control in particular. Once we understand what the Scriptures say in these areas, then we can begin to apply the biblical principles to our own eating habits.

Scriptures Addressing the Purpose of Food

In Gen. 1:29-30 God said Adam and Eve could eat “every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you.” Later in Gen. 9:3 God said, “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.” These texts tell us that God created all edible plants and animals for us to eat. When the law of Moses was given, later in Israel’s history, God declared some foods to be unclean. God did this for some reasons we are not sure of, but part of the reason is that He wanted Israel to be separate or distinct from the pagan nations around them. Later, after the church was started, God again declared all foods to be clean (Acts 10:8-15). In fact God desires us to enjoy all foods again and describes those who teach abstinence from certain foods as teaching the “doctrines of demons” (I Tim. 4:1-4).

The next question we might seek to answer from the Scriptures is “why” God has given us food to eat. Psa. 104:14-15 says God, “causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine which makes man’s heart glad, so that he may make his face glisten with oil, and food which sustains man’s heart.” Here we learn that God has given us food as a blessing to enjoy, to make the heart glad, and to allow us to survive. In Eccl. 9:7 Solomon says the same thing, “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works.” These verses teach us that food and eating is a blessing from God that we are to enjoy and give thanks for.

Though eating is a blessing from God, we must also realize that if we ever had to choose between obeying God or eating, we would have to obey God. In Job 23:12 Job says, “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” Jesus said in Jn. 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” Daniel, when taken captive as a young man, refused to eat the king’s choice food, knowing it was first offered to idols (Dan. 1:8). He was forced to choose between eating the best food of the land or obeying God. So while eating may be a blessing and necessary for physical sustenance, we must never make eating a priority above obeying God, for when we do that, eating becomes a sin.

Scriptures Which Address the Sins of Indulgence

Now that we have looked at some of the Scriptures which speak to the blessing and the priority of eating, let’s focus our attention on Scriptures that tell us how we are to regulate our eating. First let’s consider Scriptures which address fleshly indulgence and being mastered by things that appeal to the flesh. In Rom. 16:17-18 the Apostle Paul tells his readers to “keep your eye on … and … turn away from” false teachers who “are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites.” In Phil. 3:18-19 Paul, speaking of false teachers again, says, “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”

A distinguishing characteristic of false teachers is that they are enslaved by their appetites or fleshly desires. What that means is that they are mastered by their flesh and cater to their fleshly cravings rather than submitting their fleshly desires to the will of God. In reality, their slavery to their lusts is a form of idolatry as they choose to satisfy their flesh rather than God. Obviously, our lives should not follow or exemplify the lives of false teachers.

In I Cor. 6:12-13 Paul speaking of his liberties in Christ, that is his freedom to do things not specifically forbidden by God, says, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.” Here Paul says that though he could eat food, he was not free to be “mastered” by it or anything else. The two sins of the flesh Paul mentions in the text are being mastered by the pleasures associated with food and the pleasures of immorality. Both eating indulgence and immorality are sins which cater to our fleshly desires. Both food and sex, when engaged in outside of God’s will, become sins. It is Satan’s desire to enslave us to blessings God has given us so that we place them before God.

Surely out of control or indulgent eating is forbidden by the texts above. Godly people should never be characterized as being mastered by anything, including food. Of course it is difficult sometimes to determine if someone is eating for pleasure within the acceptable limits of God’s Word or not. We will discuss this in another Calvary Review in more detail, but what we must not escape is that indulgence and over eating are serious sins as they are a form of idiolatry. Placing our appetites before obedience to God is sin. Because of the indulgent nature of the culture we live in, every Christian needs to prayerfully consider their eating habits in light of what the Scriptures teach.

Though we might be tempted to move on to other issues, we need to look at some more specific Scriptures which address indulgence. In Mt. 23:25 we find Jesus condemning the self righteous Pharisees saying, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.” Notice that the Pharisees tried to look one way on the outside but Jesus, knowing their hearts, said they were “full of … self indulgence.” The Greek word translated “self-indulgence” comes from a word that means “to have power, lordship, or dominion over.” In the case of sinful eating habits, our desire to please ourselves with food dominates or lords it over us, so that we submit to our flesh rather than God.

In Gal. 5:19 & 21 the apostle Paul lists some of the deeds of the flesh “i“mmorality, impurity, sensuality, … envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” All of these sins are sins of the flesh and one of the sins covered in the phrase, “like these” are sinful eating habits. The scary part is that Paul goes on to say he has warned them before, “that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (see also I Cor. 6:9-10; Eph. 5:4-5; Rev. 21:8).

Gal. 5:19-20 is not saying we are saved by our good works or eating habits, but what it is saying is that those who are characterized by a life of fleshly indulgence reveal that they are not saved. Those who consistently display slavery to their fleshly desires declare by their slavery to sin that they are not the children of God. Think of the implications this has to the local church in the area of eating! There are some people who call themselves Christians who think, talk, and live for food. They are consumed, mastered, enslaved with the pleasures of eating. Paul makes it clear that these kinds of people “do not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Now if you think this verse is a fluke and maybe it doesn’t mean what is says, consider Eph. 2:1-3. In this section of Ephesians Paul is discussing the unsaved, spiritually dead state of those he describes as “sons of disobedience.” In vs. 3 he includes his pre-conversion self in this category and says, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Paul says that before he repented and placed his faith in Jesus Christ he was characterized by fleshly indulgence and describes all who are as “children of wrath.”

The author of Hebrews reminds us in Heb. 12:16 of Esau, who was more concerned about his stomach than the blessing of God. He exhorts his readers to make sure, “that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.” Peter, in II Pet. 2:9-10, describes the “unrighteous” who are “under punishment for the day of judgment” as “those who indulge the flesh.”

John, in I Jn. 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh…, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” All of these texts warn against fleshly indulgence and slavery to our lusts.

Food is a blessing and is good. God wants us to enjoy and receive pleasure from eating as long as it doesn’t cause us to sin. The Scriptures tell us much more, but for now, ask yourself this, “Am I in control of my eating for the glory of God or is my desire for food in control of me for the pleasure of self?” May we strive to be holy even in our eating.

When Eating Becomes Sin, Part 1

The following is the first in an excellent series of messages by Jack Hughes of Calvary Bible Church in Burbank, CA. Originally posted in 2005, this series is a superbly biblical, easy-to-understand discussion that helps eating disordered individuals (as well as those who simply need more discipline) see their problem as sin. See the original article and entire series here.

Possibly the most frequently overlooked sins in the church are the sins of indulgence, lack of self control and discipline in the area of eating. While the church is quick to condemn other sins that result from a lack of self control and personal discipline, overeating is like the proverbial elephant in the living room that everyone sees but no one talks about. Part of the reason is that eating, in and of itself, is not a sin. In fact it is a blessing from God.

Other sins of the flesh such as adultery, fornication, pornography, and drug abuse are clearly wrong. Yet all of them are perversions of things acceptable. Sex was created by God to be enjoyed in the context of marriage between a man and a woman. Yet, when sex is taken outside of the biblical context and purpose that God created it to be enjoyed in, then it becomes a sin. Medications are wonderful gifts of God used to help cure various diseases and relieve suffering. Nevertheless, when drugs are taken in excess, without prescriptions, or for the purpose of merely indulging the flesh, then taking drugs becomes a sin.

These are all manifestations of what we might call “sins of the flesh” because they give us pleasure. Eating is one of the things God has created for us to both need and enjoy. By His grace, He has created foods like the colors of the rainbow with an infinite number of tastes. The problem is when a person allows his lust for food to cause him to violate the Word of God, master him, or harm him, then eating becomes a sin.

Bulimia, the sin of binging and then vomiting what was eaten, is a good example. The person with bulimia lusts after the pleasure of eating and so they binge on food, but they also fear being overweight or having others discover they are out of control in their eating, so they cause themselves to vomit up their food in an attempt to hide their slavery to it. But they never succeed in hiding their problem from God. Overeating is another example. Overeating is when we allow food to master us. We fail to use self control and discipline and let our desire to have pleasure from eating rule our life. The consequences of this are usually visible for all to see.

The church is often reluctant to deal with sins related to eating for some of the following reasons:

1. Fear of not knowing how to tell if someone’s eating is sinful indulgence.
2. Fear of adding extra-biblical regulations to the Word of God like “godly weight,” “godly diet,” or “godly amounts of food to eat.”
3. Fear of offending the many indulgent and/or obese people in the church.
4. Fear of being accused of legalism.
5. Fear of confronting someone about sinful eating habits.
6. Fear of wrongly judging someone based on the fact that they are overweight.
7. Fear of addressing a sin that may condemn the leadership of the church.
8. Fear of being unable to tell if someone has repented of their sinful eating habits.
9. Fear of going against our culture which promotes indulgence in almost every area. Many diets even promote indulgence of certain foods saying you can “eat as much as you want” of certain food items.
10. Fear of creating a Christian eating Gestapo that goes around second guessing others spirituality based on their eating habits or body weight.

Fears like these have kept most churches from addressing sins related to food, eating, and indulgence. Nevertheless, because the Bible addresses eating, indulgence, self control, self discipline, gluttony, and other related sins, we need to be able to address this topic without fearing men. If we don’t address these issues we will be guilty of showing partiality by condemning some fleshly indulgences and ignoring others. It is for these reasons that in the next several Calvary Reviews we are going to examine what the Bible says about indulgence, lack of self control, an undisciplined life and how these sins relate to eating.

Problem of Obesity in America

First, let’s start on an extra-biblical note. Obesity is one of the fastest growing health risks in America. It is one of the major causes of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, sleeping disorders, breathing problems, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, and fatty liver disease. A small investigative effort will quickly reveal that obesity contributes to highest health risks in America.

Realizing this, doctors have tried to find a standard by which they can measure obesity. There are many body types but the most widely accepted method is to compare lean body mass to body fat which gives what is called a body mass index (BMI). If the body mass index is 25 or more, a person is considered overweight. Presently, 61 percent of adults and 13 percent of children are seriously overweight.

According to the Center for Disease Control, the problem of obesity is costing Americans $33 billion dollars a year in efforts to lose weight.

The greatest health concern for Americans today is cancer. The three personal life style choices which contribute to contracting cancer are 1) Physical inactivity, 2) Diet choices, and 3) Obesity. Of course inactivity and diet are related to obesity. According to a CBS news report, “Obesity is fast becoming one of the world’s leading reasons why people die… a new enemy is emerging in the 21st century; our appetite. Around the globe, about 1.7 billion people should lose weight, according to the International Obesity Task Force. Of those who are overweight, about 312 million are obese, at least 30 pounds over their top recommended weight.” According to a CNN report obesity is the second leading killer of Americans.

Even from a worldly perspective, lack of self control and discipline in the area of eating leads to obesity and obesity is a significant health risk. While the Bible tells us “bodily exercise profits little” (I Tim. 4:8), it does profit some. While we are not to obsess on trying to keep our bodies in perfect condition knowing they are destined for decay (II Cor. 4:16), we are also told to avoid those things that will harm our bodies (I Cor. 3:17). Of course many things harm our bodies to one degree or another, but for our discussion we will focus our attention on sins related to eating.

The Reason We Need to Address Sins Related to Eating

Let’s say a man came into my office because his wife discovered that he was struggling with and indulging in the sin of pornography. Pornography being one of the “sins of the flesh.” Now, if I was out of control in my eating and was visually fifty pounds overweight, could I counsel that man to stop indulging in pornography without being a hypocrite? If I was not using self control and discipline in my eating, how could I tell someone else to use self control and discipline in what they look at? The man would have every right to ask me, “Why are you showing partiality? Why are you trying to take the spec out of my eye while you have a log in your own?” Being out of control and mastered by anything other than the Lord is wrong, regardless of what it is.

Dr. Robert Smith, a Christian doctor and biblical counselor, speaking of how our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit which we are responsible to care for said, “In 1 Corinthians 3:17 believers are commanded not to defile their bodies, which are the temples of the Holy Spirit. This admonition would include the injunction to take proper care of the body. Taking proper care of our bodies includes getting sufficient sleep, exercising daily, and disciplining ourselves to maintain a balanced weight.”

After addressing the issues of sleep and exercise Dr. Smith goes on to address weight and says, “Maintaining a balanced weight level is also an important health factor. For many counselors who have desk jobs that do not require much physical exercise, this requires extra measures of self-discipline and determination, not only in choosing a balanced low-fat diet but in burning excess calories through exercise. Keeping our weight under control is a necessity, for how can a counselor insist that a counselee be disciplined in various areas of his or her life when the counselor is not disciplined in the very basic areas of diet and weight control? (John MacArthur, Wayne Mack, Introduction to Biblical Counseling, p. 152)

One of the major motivations for addressing sins related to eating is that we can’t ignore sins in our life while trying to help someone else with the sins in their life. The log in our own eye disqualifies us to take the speck out of our brother’s (Mt. 7:1-5).

Jerry Bridges in his classic work The Pursuit of Holiness, quotes I Cor. 9:27 and then comments, “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” He then says, “True holiness includes control over our physical bodies and appetites. If we are to pursue holiness we must recognize that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and that we are to glorify God with them. Twentieth century Christians, especially those in the Western world, have generally been found wanting in the area of holiness of body. Gluttony and laziness, for example, were regarded by earlier Christians as sin. Today we may look on these as weaknesses of the will but certainly not sin. We even joke about our overeating and other indulgences instead of crying out to God in confession and repentance.” (Bridges, The Pursuit of God, pg. 110).

“Okay! Enough!” you’re probably thinking to yourself, “I am convicted. So what can I do about my lack of self control in my eating?” Well, I would love to tell you but we have run out of space. For the next Calvary Review we will look at what the Bible says about eating in general and indulgence in particular. Then after surveying what the Scriptures say, we will try to offer some practical help for those who struggle in this area. Until then, think, pray, and consider everything you eat first before putting it into your mouth.

"How Do I Repent (from Bulimia)?"

Last week, I posted a humorous clip of Bob Newhart exhorting a counselee to "stop it"! While there was more than a grain of truth in that funny video, it did not pretend to be an exposition on repentance.

Please, stop whatever you are doing right now, and WATCH THIS clip of Tim Conway explaining repentance and how YOU can, and must, come to the end of yourself. The application to bulimia (he even mentions food addictions in passing) is unmistakable. Readers, this is EXACTLY how I, and countless of others, have been freed permanently from the bondage of bulimia and myriad other sins. Trust Christ - HE will give you the strength you need to do what you need to!

How do I repent? - Tim Conway from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

An Interesting Approach to Counseling...

I am currently reading John Macarthur's "How to Counsel Biblically" for my biblical counseling studies (well, duh, right?) and found the following passage too intriguing not to share with you.

In the chapter entitled "Rediscovering Biblical Counseling", Macarthur is making the case (quite convincingly) that not only is psychology not a "hard science", its own practitioners admit that the various theories and experimental treatments the field(s) invent are largely hit-or-miss. After quoting several well-known "experts" from the psychoanalytic world, Macarthur says,

"Among therapists there is little agreement. There is no unified science of psychotherapy, only a cacophony of clashing theories and therapies.....One specialist [at a Phoenix conference], Jay Haley, described what he called his "shaggy dog" technique. Evidently he means it is like a fluffy animal that appears to be fat until it gets wet; there seems to be more substance than really exists. This is his approach to therapy:

Get the patient to make an absolute commitment to change, then guarantee a cure but do not tell the patient what it is for several weeks. "Once you postpone, you never lose them as patients," he said. "They have to find out what the cure is." One bulimic who ate in binges and threw up five to 25 times a day was told she would be cured if she gave the therapist a penny the first time she vomited and doubled the sum each time she threw up. Says Haley: "They quickly figure out that it doubles so fast that they can owe the therapist hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few days, so they stop."1

And people will pay upwards of $100 per hour for this "counseling"? In the end, one must have a motivation to stop - but in order to correct the underlying lies and idolatry behind the eating disordered behavior, the motivation must be based on Truth.

This "counselor" clearly cared nothing for the woman he was "treating" (notwithstanding the fact he was able to get her to stop her behavior). Contrast this to the passage I read this morning, the words of Christ:

All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:8-15)

What stands out to me in this passage, Jesus' familiar characterization of Himself as the Good Shepherd, is the affirmation that Jesus cares for His sheep. This is, of course, implicit in the fact that He gave His life for us; but very often in the day-to-day struggle we forget how very much and very personally He cares about us. The followers of Jesus during His earthly ministry knew how deeply He cared about them. Repeatedly, the Gospels make note of His exceeding compassion towards individuals - even those who had yet to become His followers.

Contrast this attitude with the "false" shepherds, who care only about self-protection, reputation, or profit. A good nouthetic counselor is one who takes seriously the calling to be conformed to the image of Christ, and will reflect a Christ-like compassion to his or her counselees. Exhorting a fellow believer on to stronger faith, love and obedience is a solemn duty and privilege; not a job description limited to clergy.

If you are a counselor, be sure your counselees know you care about them and empathize with their plight. If you are struggling and need counsel, be sure it is the Truth of Christ you are seeking - and not the world's "wisdom", which will take your money and leave you emptier than before.

1 (Quoted by Macarthur from Time Magazine's article, "A Therapist in Every Corner", December 1985, p. 59)