Corby Stephens

Foxnews.com is reporting that a Washington State court recently ruled that it is not illegal for a teacher to have a sexual relationship with an 18 year old student because the student is not a minor. (link) A person can be charged with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor, and apparently Washington State does have a law specifically prohibiting teacher/student sex, but that law doesn’t specify an age. As a result, sex with an 18 year old student is and is not against the law.

The parents and community where this issue came up are understandably outraged. Yet, some of the quotes from the community and experts raise some interesting questions. Read the rest of this entry »

Genesis 9:15-16 God’s One-sided Covenant
Agreements, contracts, covenants, arrangements, deals, all of these usually involve at least two parties. These two parties enter into the agreement saying that they will each give and receive something as a result of the agreement. Additionally, there is something in the agreement that says is one party fails to meet their obligations, the agreement is cancelled. I don’t know if you’ve ever through about it this way, but God has made covenants with us little old humans. In Genesis 6 God made a covenant with Noah to protect him, and all that were on the ark, through the flood. it was a two-sided covenant. “If you build it and obey Me, you will be protected and live.” Here in Genesis 9, God makes a one-sided covenant. There is no expectation from God on the part of mankind. God promises to never again destroy all life on earth with water. I imagine that the first few times it rained after the flood that people got a little nervous! It will rain, the waters will rise, but God has promised that they won’t destroy the whole earth again. God is a promise-keeping God. He keeps His word in every covenant He makes. As you read through the word, keep your eyes open for the one-sided promises of God and how He has been faithful to fulfill them.

Psalm 13 Are We There Yet?
“Are we there yet?” There is nothing that energetic kids hate more than sitting in a plane, train, or automobile for hours on end. It’s torture for them, especially when the batteries in their gizmo are dead (it’s not that easy on the parents either!). As we get older and experience more of life’s more difficult challenges, the same kind of feeling surfaces albeit multiplied many times over. We essentially cry out to God, “Are we there yet?” “How long, O Lord?” It can feel like we are being ignored and that this “trip” is going to take forever. We can feel ignored at times. However, as with the long car trip, we eventually arrive at our destination. We do eventually hear the words, “We’re there!” The trouble passes, God answers us, He puts up with our impatience, and we again realize that God never stopped caring. Now if we could just remember that before we get into the car…

Matthew 7:1-2 Condemnation vs. Discernment
If there are any verses or if there is any concept that believers and non-believerse alike misuse when facing correction, it is this one. Remember Jesus’ audience. These were people who sat under, for the most part, very legalistic teachers. It was all about rules and performance. If you didn’t meet the standard you were condemned. You were judged. The kind of judgement Jesus is talking about is the kind that condemns. That’s what the language means. Pronouncing final sentence kind of judging and condemnation. That is a far cry from the thing we are commanded to do in the New Testament, which is to keep an eye on one another, to lovingly point out sin, to correct one another. That is called discernment. Yet, when we do approach a brother or sister who is sinning, they play the “judge not lest ye be judged” card. There is a difference between condemnation and discernment. To judge/discern someone’s behavior to be contrary to God’s will and approach them with love and humility is a Biblical mandate. To judge/condemn someone out of a holier-than-thou heart is what Jesus is addressing here. When the time comes for your to give or receive correction, check your own heart first and seek the Lord for the appropriate response.

Genesis 7:13-14, 8:20 Natural Selection is God’s Idea
The evolutionist explains the creationist view like this. “Creationists believe that God created all the animals in the form we see them today in the locations we see them today.” They then say that the reality is that animals have changed over time and we observe these changes today. Hence, evolutionism is true and creationism is wrong. If that is what creationists believe today, or believed in the past, then they would be wrong. But that is not what the Bible teaches. In the beginning, God created all living things with genetic variability built-in to their DNA. This variability would provide for all the combinations required to make different colors of eyes, skin, hair, fur, feathers, scales, different sizes and shapes of beaks (Darwin’s finches), any and all possible combination required for adapting to the various climates on Earth. Animals and humans didn’t gain the ability to adapt in certain ways, that ability to adapt based on environmental pressures was included in the original DNA of the creature in question. The scientific truth is that we have not gained information, we have lost it. When a kind of animal adapts, over time it loses the other traits that aren’t needed or are a hindrance in their environment. This is why dogs with long hair (like wolves) survive in cold climates and dogs with short hair (like dingos) survive in hot climates. People with light skin live closer to the poles and people with darker skin live closer to the equator. Isn’t God smart? This is actual natural selection. Certain genetic traits persevere while other are lost. It isn’t the gaining, it is the losing. Thank God for His wisdom and forethought in something as small as our DNA.

Psalm 9:9-10 Another Way to Test How Well You Know God
What do you do in times of trouble? When one of the hoses in your car breaks and the fluid is flying, when the collections agency calls because the doctors office was sending the bill to the wrong address for five months and you had no idea you even owed anything, what do you do? Those who know God’s name put their trust in Him. They seek the Lord in times of trouble. The don’t panic, they don’t stress out, they don’t let anger, sadness, or frustration take over as they can so easily do. They put, place, set, hand over their trust at the throne of grace. That doesn’t mean they are in la-la land and repeat to themselves, “Nothing is wrong, I have no problems, everything is perfect.” It does mean that the fist thing they do when the trouble comes is they seek the Lord. They seek Him for peace and comfort when the stress and frustration want to take over. They pray, “Lord, I’m in the situation and I need your help. I know you can get me through this. I know you can provide for the need that I have. I know you can work this out. Help me out. Teach me to trust you more through this.” It sound easy enough, and it seem easy to write. But when you are in the moment it isn’t always as simple. That’s why the more we go through the trouble, the easier it will be, and the more instinctive it will be to do. The hard part is having to go through it to learn it. But it’s worth it when the heavy stuff comes. 

Matthew 6:22-23 What You See Is What You Get
Obviously Jesus isn’t just talking about your physical eyes with pupils, retinas, lenses and all that. He’s talking about how what you see effects your spirit, your heart, and your mind. When you watch violence, your mind is filled with violence. When you watch soap operas, your mind is full of gossip and immorality. When you look at pornography your mind and heart are full of lust. You are what you eat. Garbage in, garbage out. What you see is what you get. What is it you want to come out of your life? That’s what you need to fill your life with. You need to be deliberate about it. You need to be careful about it. Fill it with God’s word. Fill it with love and compassion. Fill it with justice and righteousness. Your mind and heart are like a Tivo, but not so easily erased. If one were to plug your brain into a TV and hit the “play” button, what would they be watching? The reality is that God can see that at all times. If that scares you then you have some work to do. I’m not trying to get you with guilt, I’m trying to keep you on guard. You cannot have guilty pleasures and Godly pleasures at the same time. So check your specs. Clean the glasses of your heart and mind so that you will be full of light and not darkness.

Genesis 6:5 Herein lies the problem
While mankind is capable of some good and beautiful things, at his core, his nature is wicked and his heart and mind are bent toward evil. There are no “good” or “innocent” people. Our culture would have us believe that all people are basically good and learn bad behavior. If anything, the Bible tells us that all people are born bad and learn good behavior. Just watch little kids. Do you have to teach them to be selfish? Do you have to teach them to hit when they get angry or to take what they want from other kids? We have to teach out kids how to behave well, not bad. It’s our nature. It is because of this nature that our greatest need in life is not to try and earn God’s approval with good behavior, but to get a new nature. The argument, “I’m a good person. I’m not as bad as some.” is irrelevant. The Bible tells us that there is none that is good, no not one, except for God. Our need is for our old nature to die and to be given a new nature. We are incapable of doing this. This is what Jesus came to do. Do you have a new nature? Have you “put off the old man”? Are you being “transformed by the renewing of your mind”? Don’t numb the symptom, cure the disease. We are all born S.I.N. positive. The cure is Jesus.

Psalm 7:1-5 Accountability
While no one enjoys punishment, we have this built-in need for it when we know we have done something wrong. Sometimes stuff happens in our lives and it feels like we are being chased by the bad guys. Instead of trying to justify ourselves we need to seek refuge in the Lord. Instead of looking for man’s wisdom as to why this is happening to us, go to the Lord and reflect. Sometimes stuff happens because God is tempering us like steel. At other times it’s God trying to get our attention so that we will come to Him and He can deal with it in us. That is a much better alternative than having God deal with it without us. We need accountability. We need to do “heart checks” from time to time. Are you feeling pursued by something that want to chew you up into tiny little bits? Take refuge in the Lord. Let Him look you over and point out what you may have overlooked.

Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28 It’s not the “what” it’s the “why”
The difference between legalism and holiness is where your heart it. The religious leaders of Jesus time had taken the Law and made it all about the letter and not the Spirit behind it. It became all about what you did and it had nothing to do with one’s heart. What did God care about? The heart. “The heart is desperately wicked above all thing, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” God gave His law, not just to give us a list of do’s and don’t-do’s, but to show us our need for Him. Jesus is trying to communicate that it isn’t just the act of murder that is the problem, it’s the heart behind it. If it’s in the heart, whether the action is done or not, the sin is already a done deal. The act of killing itself isn’t an evil thing. (gasp!) After all, “the wages of sin is death.” What was the consequence of disobeying God in the garden? Death. After the flood God said that if one person murders another, that murder should be executed. So the problem isn’t the killing, it’s the reason, the heart behind it. The same thing is true of sex. Sex isn’t a bad or evil thing. God created it. But sex done with the wrong motives and in the wrong context is evil in God’s eyes. The one occupied with legalism asks, “Is this OK to do?” The one occupied with holiness asks, “Does this honor God?”  If it dishonors God, if the action and the heart behind it bring dishonor to God, it’s sin. If the thing doesn’t dishonor God, if the motives are pure and the context of the thing is Biblically appropriate, then praise God with it. Golf, dancing, music, sex, woodworking, car building, art, all of these things are just actions. They can all be done to the glory of God. But if the heart behind them and the context in which they are being done are contrary to God’s ways, it is sin. The next time you find yourself asking, “Is this OK to do?” Try changing the question to, “Does this honor God?”, see what God says, then act accordingly.

While flipping channels I came across one of those count-down shows. You know, top 50 child starts, top 100 80’s songs, top 20 sci-fi movies, like that. This ons was about the top 100 hard rock songs. I grew up in a musically eclectic home, my friends growing up each seemed to be into their own style, so I have a certain tolerance level for most kinds of music. But these kinds of shows aren’t so much about the topic, it’s the stories behind the actors, bands, etc. And like any good story, there is a beginning, there is the success and growth of the character, then there is that magical word; until.

With these bands especially, the “until” were so tragic. I had to watch for a while because this pattern emerged. “The band did well, until (fill in the tragedy here).”  The drummer over-dosed on cocaine. The front man died of alcohol poisoning. The bass player died due to complications with AIDS. And the legacy? “Man, those guys could rock.” “They were inspiring because they were all about the angst.” “They were pure expression.” “They were all about (expletive).” “They changed the world.”

No question people love these bands. No questions they impacted lives. I’m not trying to devalue what they did. It was just sad to watch the amount of influence these bands had, how that influence was used, and to hear about the “until” moments. People aspire to be like them in every way, to the point of dying like them.

As if these stories weren’t sad enough, there were the commercials for the reality shows. Young men and women throwing themselves at each other or some celebrity, competing for attention, fighting over who is the sleaziest sexiest, it’s just sad. What I kept thinking was, “That is someone’s little girl.” “That is someone’s son.” I wonder what their “until” moment was?

Everyone has an “until” moment. Even Satan had one. “Until iniquity was found in him.” We all have one. And it’s never too late to do something about it. That is, until death. If they were to include you in a top 100 list show, what would come after “until” in your segment?  Something to think about.