Tag: crime

1 Corinthians: That There Be No Divisions Among You (IX)

Unity And Lawsuits (6:1-6)

Neal Pollard

Apparently, brethren suing one another was a problem plaguing the church of the first century. James asks his audience, “Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?” (2:6). In context, these are not the rich from the community but rich Christians taking their brethren to court. It was a problem for the church at Corinth, and Paul takes the time to address it. 

This Practice Was Audacious (1)

“Neighbor” in this verse is “Christian neighbor,” which is clear from verses five and six. Paul shows his disbelief at this practice, using the word “dare.” We might say, “How dare you do this?” To take a matter of disagreement or division between ourselves “before the unrighteous and not before the saints” damages the image of the Lord’s church in the community. 

This Practice Was Ignorant (2-3)

Often, we get so off track and err because we “do not know” God’s Word (Paul says “do you not know” twice in these verses). I have known of Christians suing Christians, and it is the height of ignorance of the worst kind! When challenged by the Sadducees, Jesus responded, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Mat. 22:29). When we are ignorant of Scripture, we will wind up violating the will of God and breaking the heart of God.

This Practice Was An Abdication (4-6)

God has a definitive system for His family to handle whatever challenges it faces. If our brother offends us, He has a plan (Mat. 18:15-17). If our brother is overtaken in a fault, He has a plan (Gal. 6:1-2). If we offend our brother, He has a plan (Mat. 5:23-24). If we have seemingly irreconcilable difference, He has a plan. The plan is not to use earthly courts, but to solicit “a wise man” from “among you” (5). 

This Practice Was Damaging (6)

Paul’s bottom-line concern is inviting interference and unflattering insight into the precious bride of Christ. To have the world see the church’s “dirty laundry” can do untold harm to her ability to win souls to Christ. Incidentally, this is not about covering up abuses or crimes, but rather personal grievances brethren have between each other. If we act like the world in such circumstances, we offer the world absolutely nothing different from what it already believes and does. The world is hopelessly divided already. They should be able to look to the church and see a higher law! 

A Non-Religious View Of Alcohol

Dale Pollard

Not all kids will be killed or harmed in an alcohol related incident, but many are. Not all marriages will be destroyed by alcohol-fueled abuse, but many have been. Not every crime that’s committed will somehow involve alcohol, but many do. As a preacher, I don’t need the Bible to help me formulate my opinion on alcohol. Nobody does. While the Bible has a lot to say about a lot of things, one doesn’t need to crack open The Good Book to find out whether or not alcohol will improve lives— or make lives worse. Consider the following statistics pulled from non-religious and globally respected sources.

This is the reality. 

Youth And Alcohol Don’t Mix 

People ages 12 to 20 drink 3.4% of all alcohol consumed in the United States. Although youth drink less often than adults, when they do drink, they drink more. More than 90% of all alcohol drinks consumed by youth are consumed through binge drinking

In 2021, 5.9 million youth ages 12 to 20 reported drinking alcohol beyond “just a few sips” in the past month.

In 2021, approximately 613,000 youth ages 12 to 20 reported binge drinking on 5 or more days over the past month. 

What could possibly go wrong? 

The possibilities are endless, and none of them are good. Problems related to underage drinking include trouble in school, unsafe sexual behavior, drinking and driving, aggressive or violent behavior, and trouble with the law. 

It Could Kill Them: Alcohol is a major factor in the deaths of people younger than 21 in the US each year. This includes deaths from car crashes, homicides, alcohol overdoses, falls, burns, drowning, and suicides. 

It Could Harm Them: In 2011 alone, about 188,000 underage drinkers found themselves in the emergency room for alcohol-related injuries. 

It Could Permanently Damage Them: Underage drinking leads to a higher risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD) later in life. Adults 26 and older who started drinking before age 15 are 3.5 times more likely to report having AUD in just the past year. 

Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 

Alcohol And Marriage Don’t Mix 

Two-thirds of victims of spousal abuse report that the perpetrator had been drinking at the time of the incident(s). This doesn’t just apply to the United States. Global studies show higher odds of domestic abuse if one or both partners are dependent on alcohol. 

Around 50% of marriages end in divorce. When alcohol abuse is present in a household, the chances of divorce nearly triple. 

Source: Alcohol Rehab Guide (Apr. 20, 2023) 

Alcohol And Crime Don’t Mix 

Excessive drinking has the ability to lower inhibitions, impair a person’s judgement and increase the risk of aggressive behaviors. Because of this, alcohol-related violence and crime rates are on the rise throughout the country. 

Alcohol is a leading cause of traffic fatalities. Drinking and driving kills 28 people a day in the U.S. — about one person every 52 minutes — according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That’s more than 10,000 lives lost each year to drunk driving. 

Add. Source: National Institutes of Health (Mar 16,2023) 

These statistics speak for themselves. We should be careful as Christians what we say about alcohol consumption because it’s taken a lot from countless people. It’s taken health, wealth, children, spouses, and ruined otherwise bright futures. Alcohol simply costs far too much to fool with– and that’s not up for debate. 

Those Who Call Evil Good and Good Evil 

Friday’s Column: Brent’s Biblical Bytes

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Brent Pollard

Isaiah 5 is an interesting chapter. Isaiah tells the people how they’ve corrupted God’s vineyard (1-7). Isaiah then outlines Judah’s corruption (8-23). Lastly, Isaiah prophesizes that a foreign nation will punish Judah for her sins (24-30). As Isaiah speaks of Judah’s sins, he includes Judah’s political class in the middle section. It is hard not to think about how many of these sins given for Judah rings true for the United States today. 

Axios, not a news organization friendly to President Trump, hence “progressive,” wrote an article exposing the “relationship” between Representative Eric Swalwell and a Chinese spy named Fang Fang (aka Christina Fang). Fang began “associating” with Swalwell while he was just a city councilman in Dublin, California. Fang raised money for Swalwell’s campaigns for Congressional office. The question raised by those alarmed by Swalwell’s association with Fang, who left the country in 2015 after coming under investigation, is what information, if any, was leaked to China. Despite Swalwell’s assertion that it was not a “romantic” relationship, it is interesting to note that Swalwell’s brother and father likewise maintained social media connections with Fang until the story from Axios broke.  

Swalwell spoke to Politico and blamed President Trump for the Axios story. He says that the only crime committed was that someone leaked information to Axios. Swalwell is silent about whether he had a sexual relationship with the known Mata-Hari-type spy. As one commenter stated during a national talk show, though, it seems unlikely Fang would have “wasted four years drilling a dry hole” (an idiom from the oil industry). When money is involved, there is typically the expectation of something to be given in return. At least one news outlet, since the Axios story broke, has noted how “pro-China” Swalwell has been during his Congressional career. 

One of the signs of Judah’s corruption given in verse 23 was justifying bribery. Note that passage: “…Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!” (NASB) I do not mean to single Swalwell out. Nor do I wish to sound that only those sharing his political affiliation are capable of sin. The problem may well be how Christians view our democratic process. We continuously turn a blind eye to our political class because we are not a theocracy. Hence, we feel that we should stress their secular leadership qualities rather than their moral character. 

The older I become, the more I feel inclined to accept the judgment of brother David Lipscomb about the Christian’s political involvement. For those unfamiliar with brother Lipscomb’s view, he stated that since we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we do not involve ourselves in political affairs. Concerning voting, brother Lipscomb said that we don’t know the will of God concerning who the winner of a contest should be. Thus, to vote against the candidate that God has chosen to fulfill His purpose is to vote against God’s will. It is a complex subject falling within the realm of judgment rather than doctrine, however. While Paul shows us that one may utilize his citizenship rights (Acts 16.35-39;25.11), he did not live in a republic, as do we. Rome had already become imperial. Therefore, Paul was subject to the whims of an authoritarian leader. 

Thomas Jefferson famously stated that he feared that God’s justice could not sleep forever. The context of Jefferson’s words was the institution of slavery. Whether the American Civil War was of God or not, it took bloodshed to deal with an injustice ignored by our Founding Fathers. We might use Jefferson’s words out of their context, though, to warn that our God’s justice will not sleep forever when it comes to our rampant immorality from the ordinary citizen to those in leadership. In many respects, we have become a people who call good, evil, and evil, good.  Woe to us, indeed.  

Sources Consulted 

Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany, and Zach  Dorfman. “Exclusive: How a Suspected Chinese Spy Gained Access to California Politics.” Axios, Axios Media, 8 Dec. 2020, www.axios.com/china-spy-california-politicians-9d2dfb99-f839-4e00-8bd8-59dec0daf589.html. 

Bresnahan, John. “Rep. Swalwell Says Trump Criticism behind Spy Story.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 10 Dec. 2020,www.politico.com/news/2020/12/08/swalwell-trump-criticism-spy-story-443845. 

Steinbuch, Yaron, and Mark Moore. “Swalwell Mum on Sex with China Spy, but Family Remains Facebook Friends with Honeytrap.” New York Post, New York Post, 9 Dec. 2020, nypost.com/2020/12/09/rep-swalwell-wont-say-if-he-had-sex-with-chinese-spy/. 

Moore, Mark. “Eric Swalwell’s Brother, Dad Finally Unfriend Chinese Spy Christine Fang.” New York Post, New York Post, 10 Dec. 2020, nypost.com/2020/12/10/eric-swalwells-brother-dad-unfriend-chinese-spy-fang-fang/. 

Gertz, Bill. “Security Questions Raised about Swalwell and China.” The Washington Times, The Washington Times, 9 Dec. 2020,www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/dec/9/eric-swalwells-china-views-raise-security-question/. 

Oise-Aigne American Cemetery Plot E

Neal Pollard

My brother and fellow preacher, Brent Pollard, finds the most interesting historical facts—an ability which makes his preaching illustrations most interesting.  He sent me an article about the Oise-Aigne Cemetery in northern France.  Though I have actually visited that cemetery, I had no idea about the existence of an auxiliary burial plot known as “Plot E.”  While the 6012 military personnel buried in the four main burial plots lost their lives in World War I, the 94 interred in Plot E are infamous, disgraced soldiers who died for their crimes during or after World War II.  These men either murdered fellow soldiers or raped and/or murdered 71 people in England, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Algeria.  “No US flag is permitted to fly over the section, and the numbered graves literally lie with their backs turned to the main cemetery on the other side of the road” (warhistoryonline.com).

These men were supposed to be fighting for the freedoms and rights of American citizens, but instead they were most dramatically undermining the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness of the unfortunate ones who crossed their paths.  For their crimes, they not only paid the ultimate penalty but were buried in disgrace and immortalized with infamy. They are remembered as “the dishonorable dead.”

The book of Revelation refers to the “book of life” (20:12), implying that it is possible for one’s name to be blotted out of it (3:5).  However, those whose names are not found in that book will be “cast into the lake of fire” (20:15). Those who take away from the words of this revelation—and by application any other (cf. Gal. 1:6-9)—“God shall take away his part of out of the book of life” (22:19).  More specifically, John says, “And nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (21:27).  For the ungodly and disobedient, John lays out in apocalyptic terms how unthinkably horrible it will be to die unfaithful to Christ.  He says, “He also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night…” (14:10-11a).

Everyone will stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10).  The faithful will receive glory and honor and reward (Mat. 25:34-40).  The unrighteous, however, will go away into everlasting punishment (Mat. 25:46).  No one will deserve heaven, but will go there thanks to God’s amazing grace and his or her conscious effort to walk in the light (1 John 1:7-10). Those who know not and obey not the gospel will endure something eternally worse than a firing squad, a hangman’s noose, or blameworthy burial (2 Th. 1:8-9).  Though the world may believe less and less in the reality of hell, the Bible’s position on the matter has not changed. Knowing the terror of the Lord, may we persuade others and, ourselves, be persuaded (2 Cor. 5:11).