Skip to main content

Escape from the Curse of AIDS

This week, I happened to be in the company of someone who is dying of AIDS. The ravages of AIDS is well known in our world yet it never loses it’s devastating effects when you are up close to one who is in the grips of the disease and who is also very young. The gentleman is in his 20s or early 30s and is homosexual, so presumably he has contracted the disease during this activity.

As has been typical with homosexuals whom I have known, this young man whom I had only met on one previous occasion, comes across as a genuinely nice guy and one who certainly does not appear to deserve his current plight. But then again that is simply a very human response on my part. By virtue of our rejection of God based on our universal human behavior, we all deserve nothing short of death. Simply put: God made us and we have rejected Him. There are sure to be those who would take vehement exception to this statement, pointing earnestly to the virtues of their honest lives and absence of any “real bad behavior”. But the Bible is clear: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6 NIV parenthesis mine) This scripture suggest that at birth there is a way to turn…and for all of us we have turned to “our own way” and as the verse implies, away from God. That is why Jesus chose to be the sacrifice for all of us – who have turned to our own way: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed...this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus...yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand…God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood…For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:5; Romans 3:22-24; Isaiah 53:10; Romans 3:25; Isaiah 53:12 – all truncated - NIV)

What is my dying friend’s sin to perhaps have brought the curse of AIDS upon himself? The same general sin that I myself have committed throughout the course of my own life – that being going our own way and rejecting the will of God for our lives. But I accepted Jesus’ reprieve. I have thanked him for suffering on my behalf. I pray that soon, my dying friend will do the same. And that so too will those who happen to read this post, and who have yet to accept Jesus’ offer of the pain that He endured on their behalf.

Popular posts from this blog

Ignore God and Decrease Your Birth Rates

I read a very interesting article yesterday in the New York Times on the topic of the shrinking birth rate in Europe over the past few decades. The article outlines the demographic danger facing Europe with the high likelihood that several countries (Italy, Spain and Germany among others) will see their native populations decrease by up to 40% by 2050. According to the article, the replacement birth rate necessary to maintain an equal population size from generation to generation is 2.1 children born to each woman. In Europe according to the article the rate is well below 2.0, with some countries closer to 1.5 and dropping. It is a lengthy and very interesting read that sheds some light on a phenomenon that in all likelihood will reshape the face of Western Europe within 100 years. The interesting thing about the article is that it was published after extensive research and interviews with many experts and it offers various possible explanations for why this situation has developed.

Funerals for the Unsaved or Unbelievers

I am not a leader of a church, but I oftentimes wonder how does one lead a funeral service for someone who dies without knowing Jesus Christ as Lord ? Admittedly I have not been to many funerals in my lifetime, though they are appearing to come more frequently lately, but the fact is that funerals are held daily throughout the world and as such this is a pertinent question to someone just about every day.   I’ve been to the funeral where the person lived a fairly routine life, taking care of their families and other responsibilities as best they could, paying taxes and doing the average things that we as human beings do on a consistent basis. They however had no visible relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ. When this person dies, the surviving family members are oftentimes left scrambling trying to find a person and a place to officiate the funeral services – generally because the deceased did not have a regular church that they attended. Funeral homes sometimes serve thi

Mother Jesus?

The Episcopal Church USA continues to stake out their territory as a “church unto itself” as opposed to a part of Christ’s body of believers with such decisions as 2003’s approval of the New Hampshire Diocese's election of V. Gene Robinson, as the organization’s first openly gay bishop. This year the “church” elected liberal Katherine Jefferts Schori as their leader. Along comes this not surprising bit of information about Ms. Schori courtesy of Newsbusters.org . Most recently, she irritated some conservatives by speaking about "Mother Jesus" in a sermon....the website then goes on to quote Washington Post reporter Alan Cooperman who stated: To those who accuse her of heresy for referring to a female Jesus, she responds with a typically learned disquisition on medieval mystics and saints who used similar language, including Julian of Norwich and St. Teresa of Avila. "I was trying to say that the work of the cross was in some ways like giving birth to a new creation,