Hold Strong

​When you get new tires they also suggest you get your alignment checked.  I'm not much of a car guy, but it turns out over time tires get out of alignment from all the bumps of the road and your steering will start to drift one direction or the other...not straight like it should be.  Unless you get it checked (and fixed) you'll wear your tires out or even damage your car.
 
We can also drift out of alignment if we aren't careful.  1 Corinthians 15:2 says we should "hold firmly to the word" and offers a warning that without this we will "believe in vain."
 
This month I grieved as I watched the denomination of my youth make decisions that directly conflict with Biblical teaching on their positions related to human sexuality.  They voted (overwhelmingly) to approve same sex marriages and to allow LGBTQ clergy to serve in their churches.  This vote was celebrated as a way to endorse inclusivity; but it is in direct opposition to the teachings of the Bible related to marriage.
 
These steps can only happen when we allow ourselves to drift from our commitment to God and his word.  If scripture is our authority, then we will choose to follow it even when culture says otherwise.  The Bible will be our guide even when it flies in the face of popular sentiment.  Culture will constantly be pulling us to the left or to the right, but the truth of scripture will keep us aligned with the heart of God on the narrow path.
 
This will be hard and unpopular.  So be it.  We will never be unkind or cruel; but we will be certain that we have not drifted because we have held firmly to the word and not believed in vain.  And that will be our reward.
 
In Christ,
Pastor Scott