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This morning I had a few minutes before an 8:00 appointment and with coffee near I opened an email from Focal Point Ministries. For those that have followed my writings it’s no secret I’m a fan of Pastor Mike Fabarez. He has a mega church in Southern California and, in my opinion, teaches the whole truth against the unmeasurable odds he undoubtedly encounters.

I had trouble focusing on my morning prayer before heading to scripture, my mind wanted to focus on the life I now live and the circumstances surrounding it. After three attempts to settle on the email from Focal Point I was able to glean confirmation of something that I wrote about not long ago. Yes, it’s what my itching ears needed to hear, but that doesn’t mean it’s not truth. Pastor Fabarez wrote:

Unless you are living in the perfection of the New Jerusalem, you will not be able to be godly and anger-free. Christ certainly wasn’t. A cursory reading of Matthew 23 or a familiarity with Christ’s temple-clearing rampage will remind us that godliness includes a righteous frustration with the sin and blasphemy that is so ubiquitous in our fallen world. Speaking of “godly,” it is enlightening to note that of the 358 times the words for “anger” appear in the Scripture, over half of them are attributed to God himself. – Mike Fabarez

As I sit here considering the path I’m moving along, I’ve paused on “righteous frustration” and “ubiquitous”. Several recent conversations came to mind when I considered part of the “frustration” I’ve been feeling is due to how I view “righteousness” and I had to go to Google for a better understanding when I read the word “ubiquitous”. (Present, appearing, or found everywhere).

Another point I had to pause at was when I considered “anger” and “hate”. God, as a father, got angry with his children. I don’t immediately recall the Bible telling us he ever hated a child of his, but I do recall reading the word “detest” (dislike intensely) in accordance to some of their actions, and how they were to view some of the actions of others.

I’m not living in the perfection of Jerusalem and being righteous in this ubiquitously sinful world is difficult. God loves me and he will forgive me, but that doesn’t give me a ticket to ignore righteousness. Wrong is still wrong.