Just one more bite

I have always been the one to get seconds at dinner, and possibly thirds. It was a way of life for me. I simply enjoyed eating. I would eat a little of something, get full, and then continue to eat. Eat I would, without stopping. Obviously, I was not gorging myself on salads. Burgers, steaks, fries, and anything deep fried was my typical diet. Along with my guy-friends, we would hit up Burger King and we all would get the largest meal, because we were men. I would make fun of my brother for getting wraps at McDonald's because I thought that was "so gay."

Now with a few more years of life experience under my belt, I have come to some realizations. Gluttony is not a typical sermon topic, but it is always coupled in the Bible with drunkenness. And gluttony is more than a health issue, it is a pride issue.

As men, we say, "I am man. Get me red meat. I will not eat that salad." We men have a misguided mindset that says because we are the hunter-gatherers, we must fill our fleshly desires in food. I do not think women understand how humbling and humiliating it is for a man to simply choose a salad, or have low-fat meat. We feel gay. But God wants our bodies healthy, for they are the temples of the holy spirit.

I have laid out our feelings. We feel gay when we try to eat healthy foods. But that is a humbling experience that we need to do. We need to swallow our pride, along with the vegetables.

United States of Zion

There are few things that annoy me more than the phrase, "We are living in the end times." There is no way to know that. But some people think they know by one piece of evidence: the moral state of America.

It is no secret that evangelical Christians in America fall on the far right side of politics, as do I. We do this because we believe that morality lies in sanctity of life, and marriage. We should fight for the state of our country. It is our civil duty. But there is a problem when we start mixing our religion with our politics. We should always bring our religion into our politics, but we have now dragged our politics into our religion.

As Americans, we believe that the USA is the greatest country in the world. I agree. Therefore, we think we are the best at everything: Equal rights, money, power, and... religion. Somehow, we have crafted the idea that the church in America is the apex of Christendom, and that it is God's masterpiece. We see ourselves as the base for all Christianity. When Christianity spreads away from America, we think that the theology is weakened the farther it gets away from us.

Where did we go wrong? This nation is not Zion. The Roman empire was "Christian," and it is dead. The Byzantines, the English, the list goes on. They have all fallen, or at least fallen to sin. Did Jesus come back? No! God did not plan history as a preparation towards His America. We could be destroyed tomorrow and it would not stop God's plan.

Does your faith rely on the never-changing spirit of God, or the amount of Socialism in the USA? If America falls, and Jesus does not come back, will you still believe?

It is time we realize that the church does not start in Los Angeles and ends in Boston. Let us join the global effort and join our brothers and sisters in the one true church of God. Pray for our persecuted brothers in China, because that is where the true action is happening. And I am not saying all this to propose we crown the church in China as the next Zion. We just need to remember that God is not partial, even if you and I are.