The Morning Drive / Driving Thought

02/02/2026

In a recent Bible reading, I was looking at what Christ said to the religious leaders of His day, including those who would be early leaders in His church. I began to wonder, "Should today's ministry leaders and church leaders pay attention?"

There is no accusation nor is there animosity in this post. As a minister, a Christian leader, a church leader, and especially as one who stands each week to teach and proclaim faith in Christ, this is for me first and foremost. This is a moment of self-reflection that the apostle Paul encourages, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:27) In another place he says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

I am going to refrain from any comment on what Jesus says in the following passages of scripture. I simply asked that you read them as a Christian and then look inwardly with the goal of aligning or realigning yourself with God in Christ.

But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:12-13)

And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. (Matthew 12:7)

You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" (Matthew 15:7-9)

But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." (Matthew 16:23)

And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)

And he was teaching them and saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers." (Mark 11:17)

Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-31)

And the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. (Luke 11:39)

And he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:9-14)

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. (John 8:34)

For extra reading consider what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:13-33.

01/23/2026

One of my other projects is a couple of podcasts. Developing Spiritual Habits releases every Friday - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Czwfuk8C2/

Developing Spiritual Habits · Episode

12/01/2025

Protecting Yourself from Danger.

There is a behavior that is common. To even suggest that this behavior is dangerous or even wrong is to risk receiving criticism and ridicule. But I am willing to risk the title of “Prude” and “Kill-joy” because I care. I care about you, your future, your health, and your eternity. So let me come right out and say it, pre-marital sexual intimacy is dangerous.

Premarital sexual intimacy is a counterfeit love. It will not last. You will not grow together intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually if the relationship moves to sexual in*******se before the maturity of marriage. You are giving part of yourself away, the most intimate parts of you emotionally and physically, and they are things you can never get back. The permanency that marriage is supposed to be is the place to share those parts of you.

Premarital in*******se carries emotional consequences. I listened to one speaker refer to study after study that demonstrate many emotional problems in adolescence and young adults that result from premarital sexual intimacy.

There are physical consequences to premarital in*******se. (Of which the probability of pregnancy is just one.) The other consequences include the five (5) incurable sexually transmitted diseases that may result from sexual immorality. When you are sexually active with someone, if they had other partners before you, by default you are involved with them and all those that they were involved with before they were with your partner and so on. Diseases pass through all those contacts.

Marital consequences also result from premarital sexuality. Your intimate past brings extra baggage into a relationship that is already difficult. How can each spouse know the other will be faithful if they could not wait until marriage? And the doubts along the lines of “what if I am not as good as the others before me?”

We also need to understand the spiritual consequences associated with this dangerous activity. Yes, God will forgive, but even in forgiveness the consequences of our actions often remain. Remember, the sword did not depart from David’s house.

The question that remains is, “How can I stay pure in a world focused on sexuality?” There are three simple things you can do to protect yourself and stay pure.

1. Protect your mind. Both the "eye gate" and the "ear gate" are important. Treat po*******hy, explicit literature, explicit video games, explicit movies, explicit shows, and explicit music as if they are gateway drugs. They are a gateway to the mind that often leads to acting on the thoughts and images they embed in your mind.
2. Decide in advance (have a predetermined decision) to stay pure! Do not wait until you are facing temptation to make that decision. Make the decision NOW to choose to avoid, no runaway from, sexual immorality!
3. Don’t date anyone that does not follow the same decision. Remember that Paul says, “Evil companions corrupt good morals” and “do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever.” Carefully choose who you are intellectually and emotionally associate with.

Maybe you are already active in this area and are thinking that it is too late. May I remind you of the words of Jesus to a woman whom others caught in the very act we are discussing, “Go . . . and sin no more.”

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