What is the default condition of a society which ignores God's word and does its own thing? The default is, high crime, rape, transgender trends, homosexuality, Satanic worship, child abuse, slavery, corruption, divorce, immorality, murder, cruelty, fraud, deception, etc.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." " Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord". God's desire for us is to have knowledge of Him and peace with Him as well as with others. He wants each one of us to know Him personally and listen to Him. A nation without God will fall apart. But there is hope.
"If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
The reason we have such a high rate of professing Christians, yet at the same time, so much chaos, is because we don't fear God any more. Our God is too little. We control Him with our wants and desires. We worship Him as if He were a Genie in a Bottle. We use God to get what we want.
Many pastors and Bible teachers believe the Bible is subservient to culture. Culture has the final word on what we believe is true. Is it any wonder that we can't hear God's voice any more? Perhaps this is the answer to the question of why we do not see miracles today. People in third world countries see God doing miracles. Americans generally don't. Could there be a connection?
Something to think about.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
To The Gay People And Homosexual Community
A couple of months ago, I had a great compassion for Gay people. I know God made them in His image and individually, they need to be respected as human beings. I have offered hope/help to people who are Gay and struggling with same-sex issues. God is powerful and able to save and deliver, no matter how strong the desire is for same-sex attractions. The church needs to be ready to help those who want out of the homosexual lifestyle.
But having said this, I realize now that there is more to this issue than struggling with same-sex attraction. I understand that Fred Phelps has done a lot of damage to the reputation of the church in representing who God is to the community. I am sorry for what this man has done, especially to the name of Christianity. Biblically speaking, this man did not have the fruit in his life that accompanies true believers. He appeared to have a different Bible than Christians have.
A couple of years ago, some Christians were standing in a line, praying. A homosexual came up and knocked one of them down. It was a woman. There is no reason this should have happened. Yet the LGBT marches on to promote their cause, and, TO TAKE AWAY THE FREEDOM OF OTHERS WHO DO NOT AGREE WITH THEM.
The law protects people from harming others. We have court systems set up for the protection of people when harmed by someone else. If a homosexual is harmed by another person, he or she can go to the court system if the case is serious enough, and be vindicated. But a homosexual is not harmed when a man who owns a company writes a statement saying that he holds to the traditional belief of marriage being made up of one man and one woman. He is NOT violating your rights, homosexual, and you don't have any right telling the world that he is harassing you and violating your rights.
I know people who believe that homosexuals are being 'bullied around'. I have to disagree. I think those who are not homosexuals are being 'bullied around' by those who are gay. You can't take someone to court for not marrying a gay couple. If it is against the person's conviction to marry gay people, then don't penalize them for their conviction. They could feel the same way toward you and want to penalize you, but they won't.
If you want to marry in a homosexual church, then go ahead. But don't be offended at me if I don't acknowledge your 'marriage' as a valid marriage. I am not going to take you to court or have you arrested, even though your convictions are entirely different than mine. Nor will I condone what you believe in. I will hold to what the Bible teaches and I will teach others what the Bible teaches about homosexual issues. But I will not take your 'right' away to be homosexual or to be in a homosexual 'marriage'.
If I speak what God says about homosexuality, you have no right to accuse me of being a bully. I am not speaking words I made up or want to say, or want others to believe, but God has already spoken on this subject. I am not going to cover what the Bible says on this, because I know every Gay person already knows what the Bible says on it, but is in rebellion against it and has twisted all the verses out to make them mean what they want to mean. (By the way, all people do this, not just gays).
I will not ever acknowledge homosexuality as right, nor will I change the Bible to make it say whatever I want it to say. I will not participate in homosexual marriages. But, I do believe in a person's right to believe in whatever he or she wants to believe in. We can know the truth, but it's God who changes the heart.
If you are a homosexual, I am not against you. I am really for you and want the best for you. Sometimes, the best is not what we think is best, but God always knows what is best. But this whole issue is way deeper than just homosexuality. It has to do with tyranny. It has to do with people taking the law into their own hands and using it against others.
We see this in the situation with the mayor of Houston, TX. Ms. Parker is demanding the sermons from 5 local pastors, and if she finds anything concerning homosexuality, she will try to penalize the pastors. This is absurd, nevertheless, it will happen if no one stops it. The pastors have a right to teach what the Bible says about homosexuality. Ms. Parker does not have the right to penalize pastors for teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality. If Ms. Parker doesn't like what the pastors are saying/teaching, then find a place that she does agree with. Don't take people's rights away because you don't like them or what they teach.
Finally, you homosexuals say that Christians and other people are bullying you around. Have you looked at the news lately? Who is doing the bullying? You talk about people having 'homophobia' but is seems like you are the ones who are obsessed with homosexual issues. I'm not afraid of Gay people. I have nothing against them personally. I don't know why they would think that we are homophobic.
Homosexuals are not a 'race' of people, so to speak. There is only one 'race' and that is the human race. Their claim about us being prejudiced against them is not valid. They are the bias ones.
I will repeat what I put above. If you are a struggling homosexual and want to be delivered from it, please find a church that can help you. This article is not about the problem of homosexuality, per se, but about the abuse that is going on legally because people have a political agenda and are taking away the freedoms of other American citizens.
But having said this, I realize now that there is more to this issue than struggling with same-sex attraction. I understand that Fred Phelps has done a lot of damage to the reputation of the church in representing who God is to the community. I am sorry for what this man has done, especially to the name of Christianity. Biblically speaking, this man did not have the fruit in his life that accompanies true believers. He appeared to have a different Bible than Christians have.
A couple of years ago, some Christians were standing in a line, praying. A homosexual came up and knocked one of them down. It was a woman. There is no reason this should have happened. Yet the LGBT marches on to promote their cause, and, TO TAKE AWAY THE FREEDOM OF OTHERS WHO DO NOT AGREE WITH THEM.
The law protects people from harming others. We have court systems set up for the protection of people when harmed by someone else. If a homosexual is harmed by another person, he or she can go to the court system if the case is serious enough, and be vindicated. But a homosexual is not harmed when a man who owns a company writes a statement saying that he holds to the traditional belief of marriage being made up of one man and one woman. He is NOT violating your rights, homosexual, and you don't have any right telling the world that he is harassing you and violating your rights.
I know people who believe that homosexuals are being 'bullied around'. I have to disagree. I think those who are not homosexuals are being 'bullied around' by those who are gay. You can't take someone to court for not marrying a gay couple. If it is against the person's conviction to marry gay people, then don't penalize them for their conviction. They could feel the same way toward you and want to penalize you, but they won't.
If you want to marry in a homosexual church, then go ahead. But don't be offended at me if I don't acknowledge your 'marriage' as a valid marriage. I am not going to take you to court or have you arrested, even though your convictions are entirely different than mine. Nor will I condone what you believe in. I will hold to what the Bible teaches and I will teach others what the Bible teaches about homosexual issues. But I will not take your 'right' away to be homosexual or to be in a homosexual 'marriage'.
If I speak what God says about homosexuality, you have no right to accuse me of being a bully. I am not speaking words I made up or want to say, or want others to believe, but God has already spoken on this subject. I am not going to cover what the Bible says on this, because I know every Gay person already knows what the Bible says on it, but is in rebellion against it and has twisted all the verses out to make them mean what they want to mean. (By the way, all people do this, not just gays).
I will not ever acknowledge homosexuality as right, nor will I change the Bible to make it say whatever I want it to say. I will not participate in homosexual marriages. But, I do believe in a person's right to believe in whatever he or she wants to believe in. We can know the truth, but it's God who changes the heart.
If you are a homosexual, I am not against you. I am really for you and want the best for you. Sometimes, the best is not what we think is best, but God always knows what is best. But this whole issue is way deeper than just homosexuality. It has to do with tyranny. It has to do with people taking the law into their own hands and using it against others.
We see this in the situation with the mayor of Houston, TX. Ms. Parker is demanding the sermons from 5 local pastors, and if she finds anything concerning homosexuality, she will try to penalize the pastors. This is absurd, nevertheless, it will happen if no one stops it. The pastors have a right to teach what the Bible says about homosexuality. Ms. Parker does not have the right to penalize pastors for teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality. If Ms. Parker doesn't like what the pastors are saying/teaching, then find a place that she does agree with. Don't take people's rights away because you don't like them or what they teach.
Finally, you homosexuals say that Christians and other people are bullying you around. Have you looked at the news lately? Who is doing the bullying? You talk about people having 'homophobia' but is seems like you are the ones who are obsessed with homosexual issues. I'm not afraid of Gay people. I have nothing against them personally. I don't know why they would think that we are homophobic.
Homosexuals are not a 'race' of people, so to speak. There is only one 'race' and that is the human race. Their claim about us being prejudiced against them is not valid. They are the bias ones.
I will repeat what I put above. If you are a struggling homosexual and want to be delivered from it, please find a church that can help you. This article is not about the problem of homosexuality, per se, but about the abuse that is going on legally because people have a political agenda and are taking away the freedoms of other American citizens.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
What Are The Real Issues We Are Dealing With At Present?
Lots of difficult situations are happening around the country today. A kindergartener is rebuked for praying. A teacher is told by the principal to remove her pin that says 'I love Jesus'. Students are reprimanded for bringing a Bible to school. A teenage daughter is taken away from her parents and given over to a medical team as her guardians. A mom is threatened to have her baby taken away because she gives him goat's milk. Clearly something is wrong here.
New situations come up every day, and these situations are all a threat to our freedoms. What are the real issues though and why are they so upsetting to us? Can we do anything about them?
The latest news is about a mayor in Texas, who is a lesbian, has ordered the pastors in that area to turn over their sermons to her, so they can be analyzed to see if there is anything that was taught concerning homosexuality.
What is wrong with all of these situations is that those who are ordering the steps that are limiting the freedom of people, are violating the Constitution. Yet, they claim that those they are reprimanding are violating the Constitution. So, who is correct?
What does the First Amendment say? It clearly says that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
So, how does the First Amendment tie in with the situation in Houston? Believe me, these people who are so aggressive will come up with a way to address this. But if you take it at face value, it is the pastors whose rights are being violated, not the mayor's.
But aside from all that, what can we do? If you recall, in the 1960s and 70s, Madeline Murray O'Hair took a bold step and made up a case based on a bogus belief supposedly in our Constitution, and brought her case to the Supreme Court and won. How could she have won? That is easy to answer. She won because no one challenged her. Ever since that time, people believed that there was something called 'Separation of church and state' which has become a bogus, man made law, made to keep God out of our schools, and eventually out of all of our government.
We have just bought into it. We assume, without even asking or thinking about it, that there is such a thing in the Constitution about 'separation of church and state' but I challenge you to try to find it if you believe it is there. This thing is so serious because it is actually taught as fact in law schools, so all our future attorneys also assume this is true. But it is bogus. I'll explain why.
In 1620, a group of people came over to America from England. The reason they came over was to escape the church/government relationship in England. Instead of having churches run by pastors and bishops, the church was run by the king. Not a good set up. The Pilgrims were tired of this and came over to what we now call 'America'. Others joined later on, and in 1776, America was begun. The big goal of American was freedom. No one wanted to have a church run by a king!
A document was written to help us understand the goals of our nation. We now have the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and the bill of rights. The words written on these documents/articles help us understand better the hearts of those who founded our country.
Now, back to the situation at hand. When Madeline Murray O'Hair did her thing, no one challenged her. By what she did, the laws, although unwritten, were changed. What Annisse Parker is doing is the same thing. She is acting out of a law that she made, and is enacting it, as if we are stupid enough to believe her. What she is doing is illegal. But here is the cruncher; are we going to respond to it? Are we going to challenge her on her man made law?
This is not an issue of gay rights versus straight rights. This is the same type of issue that we faced (and failed to respond to) when Madeline Murray O'Hair made her venture to the Supreme Court. I can get all mad at people in that generation because they sat back and did nothing. But we have to go on, and when we see History repeat itself, we have to act. We must act. This has nothing to do with bullying gay people around. If Ms Parker gets away with creating a law that will be in effect (even though it is against the Constitution) what will the next perverted person in a leadership position come up with?
It's time to 'pray for the church and pray for the country'.
New situations come up every day, and these situations are all a threat to our freedoms. What are the real issues though and why are they so upsetting to us? Can we do anything about them?
The latest news is about a mayor in Texas, who is a lesbian, has ordered the pastors in that area to turn over their sermons to her, so they can be analyzed to see if there is anything that was taught concerning homosexuality.
What is wrong with all of these situations is that those who are ordering the steps that are limiting the freedom of people, are violating the Constitution. Yet, they claim that those they are reprimanding are violating the Constitution. So, who is correct?
What does the First Amendment say? It clearly says that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
So, how does the First Amendment tie in with the situation in Houston? Believe me, these people who are so aggressive will come up with a way to address this. But if you take it at face value, it is the pastors whose rights are being violated, not the mayor's.
But aside from all that, what can we do? If you recall, in the 1960s and 70s, Madeline Murray O'Hair took a bold step and made up a case based on a bogus belief supposedly in our Constitution, and brought her case to the Supreme Court and won. How could she have won? That is easy to answer. She won because no one challenged her. Ever since that time, people believed that there was something called 'Separation of church and state' which has become a bogus, man made law, made to keep God out of our schools, and eventually out of all of our government.
We have just bought into it. We assume, without even asking or thinking about it, that there is such a thing in the Constitution about 'separation of church and state' but I challenge you to try to find it if you believe it is there. This thing is so serious because it is actually taught as fact in law schools, so all our future attorneys also assume this is true. But it is bogus. I'll explain why.
In 1620, a group of people came over to America from England. The reason they came over was to escape the church/government relationship in England. Instead of having churches run by pastors and bishops, the church was run by the king. Not a good set up. The Pilgrims were tired of this and came over to what we now call 'America'. Others joined later on, and in 1776, America was begun. The big goal of American was freedom. No one wanted to have a church run by a king!
A document was written to help us understand the goals of our nation. We now have the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and the bill of rights. The words written on these documents/articles help us understand better the hearts of those who founded our country.
Now, back to the situation at hand. When Madeline Murray O'Hair did her thing, no one challenged her. By what she did, the laws, although unwritten, were changed. What Annisse Parker is doing is the same thing. She is acting out of a law that she made, and is enacting it, as if we are stupid enough to believe her. What she is doing is illegal. But here is the cruncher; are we going to respond to it? Are we going to challenge her on her man made law?
This is not an issue of gay rights versus straight rights. This is the same type of issue that we faced (and failed to respond to) when Madeline Murray O'Hair made her venture to the Supreme Court. I can get all mad at people in that generation because they sat back and did nothing. But we have to go on, and when we see History repeat itself, we have to act. We must act. This has nothing to do with bullying gay people around. If Ms Parker gets away with creating a law that will be in effect (even though it is against the Constitution) what will the next perverted person in a leadership position come up with?
It's time to 'pray for the church and pray for the country'.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
The Ball is in Our Courts, But, We Are Sitting On The Sidelines Instead While The World Goes To Hell
I see it. I see it. I see it. I finally see what is happening in the world. Actually, I don't see the whole big picture yet, but every once in a while, I get a piece or two of the puzzle, and I put the pieces into the puzzle and get a little big bigger idea of what the big picture is supposed to look like.
My question has been, for ages, why is evil making progress in society? A bigger question I have is, why isn't anyone stopping this evil from progressing, especially since we have the tools to do so?
A partial answer to these questions is explained in two words; apathy and indifference. I think if we knew that God was going to destroy the world tomorrow by allowing a meteor to hit, we wouldn't even pay attention to the message. We would make our plans for Disney, the beach, the mall, or whatever the vacation is that strikes our fancy.
So, here's what's going on in our country. Are you paying attention? We have people out there who are making up cases that sound very plausible, but some of them sound silly to us. But what is happening, is that these 'cases' are becoming statutes. Let me give some examples.
In the 1970s, Madeline Murray O'Hair went to the Supreme Court and was able to somehow legally get prayer taken out of our school systems. The supposed law that somehow went into effect, was something to do with the 'Separation of church and state' which ironically is nowhere in the Constitution. Yet, I bet if you ask those who are studying to become attorneys if the term 'separation of church and state' is in the Constitution, you will get a resounding 'yes'.
The ball is in our courts, so to speak. What I mean by that is simply that we have the power to stop these kinds of things from being acted upon. Since there really is no place in the Constitution where there is a 'separation of church and state' clause, it would have been easy to disprove. But, do you know what Christians were doing when this was happening? Nothing. No one cared, really. I remember talking with one, and the attitude was, well, this will just help people to talk more at home together. NO, we needed to go to the court system and oppose Madeline Murray O'Hair with her supposed law that she made up and brought in to the court system. Obviously, those in the Supreme Court did not oppose her either. Their hearts were saying the same thing. 'Get prayer out of the school system'.
So, some territory was taken away from us. Are we concerned yet? Do you realize how many people today believe that the Constitution guarantees separation of church and state? Do you realize how many people are acting upon this as if it were true? And this is just one of many examples of things that are going on today, yet, we never challenge these things when they go to court. Why?
Today, in some schools, a teacher is not allowed to wear a pin that says I love Jesus. In some schools, students are not allowed to read Bibles. In some textbooks, the authors have a Muslim slant to what is taught in the book, giving Islam credit for things that Islam is not credible for. One kindergarten girl was praying and she was reprimanded by the teacher. These kinds of things are happening all over our country. The amazing part is, no one cares. No one is challenging these people. We are the moms and dads at the PTA meetings? Do they know what is going on? Do they realize that their children are required to read books like, 'Heather Has Two Moms"? Do they realize that their children could be suspended from school if they carry a Bible with them? Do you see what is happening? Are you concerned? Do you realize that it is in your power to change the course of all of this?
Here is how these things happen and take root: Listen carefully please. Someone makes a case out of something. It could be a simple thing, and out of that case comes a belief system relating to the law. An unwritten law comes about. For example, I could make up a law, and tell others about it as if it were true, and people would believe me. I could say, every dog that is loose is required to have a collar on and a name tag. I could tell all my friends about this 'law' and they would assume it is true. No one would probably research what I say to find out if it is really a true statute or not. The same is happening all over America today. People are spreading rumors of what they want to be true, or what they think should be true, and we assume it is true.
I was just looking at an article describing how a Kentucky Fried Chicken place is not going to use their hand wipes any more, simply because someone believes the hand wipes will offend Muslims. The hand wipes have alcohol in them, and I guess Muslims are resistant to using alcohol?
I guess if we want to be careful of not offending people, we pretty much would have to go into our homes and find a closet to live in and never come out. But, my question is, is there an agenda behind all this? Could it be that subtly, those who embrace Islam are behind a lot of these supposed and man made laws? Could it be a form of infiltration based on Muslim thinking and scheming?
I think Islam is behind a lot of what we are doing and believing in our legal system today. I also think that Liberals are doing the same thing to promote their cause. If Liberals get their way, they will take more and more freedom away from the people. They will gain power for themselves.
So, the point is simple. Don't assume something is legal or illegal simply because someone promotes it. Also, don't stop at that, but when the principles laid down in Scripture are being violated, let's challenge those who are lowering or changing the standard.
God is still God and never changes. But God does want us to be responsible citizens. Instead of being apathetic and indifferent when people go to the Supreme Court to bring a case that will break God's standard, let's challenge them. Let's challenge those who are creating new cases that will eventually turn into laws for people to use to promote their evil agendas.
If we would have challenged Roe vs. Wade, perhaps we wouldn't have to spend so much time arguing with people about abortion. Perhaps people would have a clearer understanding of what is right and what is wrong.
Where did this idea come from which states that a woman has a right to her own body? This 'law' makes no sense. First of all, none of us has 'rights' to our own bodies. If we did, then taking drugs would be ok. Having sex in whatever we way want would be ok. Pedophiles would be doing what is right for their bodies. How far are we going to take these laws, and why are they going unchallenged?
They are going unchallenged because we do not have eyes that are seeing God. Go to Isaiah 6, and you will see a man who was changed because he got a glimpse of God. The world is in darkness, and they will not see God. But why do so many Christians not see God?
We live out and talk about what we love. I am around Christians all the time. Much of what they talk about and live out has nothing to do with God. But they are enjoying vacations, cruises, beach trips, music, TV, movies, books, food, entertainment, parties, Disney, clothes, sports, games, videos, internet, Facebook, dating, social events, gambling, and a ton of other things. Where is God in all this? Where is love for people in all this? Where is love for church? What has happened to us?
My question has been, for ages, why is evil making progress in society? A bigger question I have is, why isn't anyone stopping this evil from progressing, especially since we have the tools to do so?
A partial answer to these questions is explained in two words; apathy and indifference. I think if we knew that God was going to destroy the world tomorrow by allowing a meteor to hit, we wouldn't even pay attention to the message. We would make our plans for Disney, the beach, the mall, or whatever the vacation is that strikes our fancy.
So, here's what's going on in our country. Are you paying attention? We have people out there who are making up cases that sound very plausible, but some of them sound silly to us. But what is happening, is that these 'cases' are becoming statutes. Let me give some examples.
In the 1970s, Madeline Murray O'Hair went to the Supreme Court and was able to somehow legally get prayer taken out of our school systems. The supposed law that somehow went into effect, was something to do with the 'Separation of church and state' which ironically is nowhere in the Constitution. Yet, I bet if you ask those who are studying to become attorneys if the term 'separation of church and state' is in the Constitution, you will get a resounding 'yes'.
The ball is in our courts, so to speak. What I mean by that is simply that we have the power to stop these kinds of things from being acted upon. Since there really is no place in the Constitution where there is a 'separation of church and state' clause, it would have been easy to disprove. But, do you know what Christians were doing when this was happening? Nothing. No one cared, really. I remember talking with one, and the attitude was, well, this will just help people to talk more at home together. NO, we needed to go to the court system and oppose Madeline Murray O'Hair with her supposed law that she made up and brought in to the court system. Obviously, those in the Supreme Court did not oppose her either. Their hearts were saying the same thing. 'Get prayer out of the school system'.
So, some territory was taken away from us. Are we concerned yet? Do you realize how many people today believe that the Constitution guarantees separation of church and state? Do you realize how many people are acting upon this as if it were true? And this is just one of many examples of things that are going on today, yet, we never challenge these things when they go to court. Why?
Today, in some schools, a teacher is not allowed to wear a pin that says I love Jesus. In some schools, students are not allowed to read Bibles. In some textbooks, the authors have a Muslim slant to what is taught in the book, giving Islam credit for things that Islam is not credible for. One kindergarten girl was praying and she was reprimanded by the teacher. These kinds of things are happening all over our country. The amazing part is, no one cares. No one is challenging these people. We are the moms and dads at the PTA meetings? Do they know what is going on? Do they realize that their children are required to read books like, 'Heather Has Two Moms"? Do they realize that their children could be suspended from school if they carry a Bible with them? Do you see what is happening? Are you concerned? Do you realize that it is in your power to change the course of all of this?
Here is how these things happen and take root: Listen carefully please. Someone makes a case out of something. It could be a simple thing, and out of that case comes a belief system relating to the law. An unwritten law comes about. For example, I could make up a law, and tell others about it as if it were true, and people would believe me. I could say, every dog that is loose is required to have a collar on and a name tag. I could tell all my friends about this 'law' and they would assume it is true. No one would probably research what I say to find out if it is really a true statute or not. The same is happening all over America today. People are spreading rumors of what they want to be true, or what they think should be true, and we assume it is true.
I was just looking at an article describing how a Kentucky Fried Chicken place is not going to use their hand wipes any more, simply because someone believes the hand wipes will offend Muslims. The hand wipes have alcohol in them, and I guess Muslims are resistant to using alcohol?
I guess if we want to be careful of not offending people, we pretty much would have to go into our homes and find a closet to live in and never come out. But, my question is, is there an agenda behind all this? Could it be that subtly, those who embrace Islam are behind a lot of these supposed and man made laws? Could it be a form of infiltration based on Muslim thinking and scheming?
I think Islam is behind a lot of what we are doing and believing in our legal system today. I also think that Liberals are doing the same thing to promote their cause. If Liberals get their way, they will take more and more freedom away from the people. They will gain power for themselves.
So, the point is simple. Don't assume something is legal or illegal simply because someone promotes it. Also, don't stop at that, but when the principles laid down in Scripture are being violated, let's challenge those who are lowering or changing the standard.
God is still God and never changes. But God does want us to be responsible citizens. Instead of being apathetic and indifferent when people go to the Supreme Court to bring a case that will break God's standard, let's challenge them. Let's challenge those who are creating new cases that will eventually turn into laws for people to use to promote their evil agendas.
If we would have challenged Roe vs. Wade, perhaps we wouldn't have to spend so much time arguing with people about abortion. Perhaps people would have a clearer understanding of what is right and what is wrong.
Where did this idea come from which states that a woman has a right to her own body? This 'law' makes no sense. First of all, none of us has 'rights' to our own bodies. If we did, then taking drugs would be ok. Having sex in whatever we way want would be ok. Pedophiles would be doing what is right for their bodies. How far are we going to take these laws, and why are they going unchallenged?
They are going unchallenged because we do not have eyes that are seeing God. Go to Isaiah 6, and you will see a man who was changed because he got a glimpse of God. The world is in darkness, and they will not see God. But why do so many Christians not see God?
We live out and talk about what we love. I am around Christians all the time. Much of what they talk about and live out has nothing to do with God. But they are enjoying vacations, cruises, beach trips, music, TV, movies, books, food, entertainment, parties, Disney, clothes, sports, games, videos, internet, Facebook, dating, social events, gambling, and a ton of other things. Where is God in all this? Where is love for people in all this? Where is love for church? What has happened to us?
Monday, September 29, 2014
Puzzling Politics and Dispensationalist Attitudes
I find it interesting when I read about people's responses to all the turmoil in the world today. But there is one response in particular that I am having an issue with. I will explain.
During the elections, I was on Facebook quite a bit, and reading people's posts about the election. There were some of my friends, interestingly enough, that weren't going to vote for Obama's opponent, simply because he didn't take a strong stand against abortion. As a result of their not voting (and there were some who didn't vote at all), guess who we end up with as president *again*?
But, the thing that distresses me most is the whole thinking of us living out the book of Revelation, at present, and giving up, or, at least saying that there is no need to do anything because Jesus is going to come back any day.
Please don't misunderstand what I am saying here. I believe the book of Revelation is included in the Canon. I believe it is truly God's word to us. What disturbs me is the whole doctrine of Dispensationalism.
Dispensationalism is fairly new to us. It didn't start in the book of Acts or with the church fathers. It probably came about around 1830, started by a man named J.N Darby, and was made popular by
Schofield.
There are different time periods in Dispensationalism, and many things in the book of Revelation are taken literally. Books like 'The Late Great Planet Earth' are examples of the theology of Dispensationalism.
In Dispensationalism, there will be a literal 7 year period of Tribulation. There will be a literal AntiChrist known as the 'Beast'. People will literally have a number on their forehead or hand. According to Dispensationalism, Jesus will actually return twice. Once before the Tribulation, and again after the Tribulation.
According to this web site, http://understanding-ministries.co.uk/origins-of-dispensationalism.html , History is divided into specific dispensations where God deals with men in a certain way.
As you can see, while in some ways, Dispensationalism seems to make things clearer as it puts things into categories, but it makes things more confusing at the same time. It brings up a lot of questions as well.
My point isn't to go into depth about Dispensationalism here, but instead I want to bring up the problems it has created in causing many Christians to become indifferent toward issues going on in our society today. For example, when the elections were going on last year (maybe two years ago now), I was reading a post on the damage that Obama would bring. A commenter wrote and said that it didn't matter anyway about voting because we are living in the last days and the AntiChrist will be here and Jesus will come back for His people.
Do we realize what harm this teaching is doing to us today? I can't believe someone would actually respond that way. First of all, if that were true, that would be all the more incentive to vote intelligently. But this woman had a defeatist attitude about the whole thing for in her mind there was nothing we could do since we are living in the last days and everything, according to her understanding, was written in the book of Revelation and would happen (on our timetable, of course) whether we took responsibility or not. In other words, since we are living out the book of Revelation right now, there's nothing we can do to change anything because all the evil coming from the government is God's plan and that can't be thwarted.
If I were that woman and believed that was true, I would be getting my family ready for the rapture and coming Tribulation. But I don't see these people doing that. That is what is so puzzling about it. Maybe they really don't believe it, or maybe they really don't care. I don't know.
If you really believe this is true, then you should be on your knees praying hard. You need to be praying for the strength to go through the Tribulation, or, for your loved ones to come to Christ at this time. You would be living like this is your very last day on earth.
Part of me doubts that they people really believe in this. I think they are just looking for the spectacular. Like one guy I talked to put it, 'I'm just going to sit back and watch the fireworks.'. Really? If Dispensationalism is true, you should be concerned. You just might even be afraid. Are you preparing yourself for the really hard times ahead for you and your family?
Don't misunderstand me again here. I am not saying that we won't face persecution or hard times because I believe we will. I believe we also need to be preparing for the coming hardships, not just sitting back waiting for the fireworks to happen.
Our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord/Savior could cost us our lives. But to categorize all the current events in a way that ties in with Bible prophecy in a literal way is dangerous. I just see these people either not caring or not really believing what is supposed to be happening, for if they did believe it, they would be responding differently. Something is wrong with this picture.
Anyway, if anyone can enlighten me on this, please feel free to comment. I just know that we still need to be praying for the church (first of all), and for the country. And we need to take responsibility for our part in society, even if Jesus comes back tomorrow. Didn't Jesus say 'occupy until I come'?
History is divided into specific dispensations where God deals with men in a certain way.
During the elections, I was on Facebook quite a bit, and reading people's posts about the election. There were some of my friends, interestingly enough, that weren't going to vote for Obama's opponent, simply because he didn't take a strong stand against abortion. As a result of their not voting (and there were some who didn't vote at all), guess who we end up with as president *again*?
But, the thing that distresses me most is the whole thinking of us living out the book of Revelation, at present, and giving up, or, at least saying that there is no need to do anything because Jesus is going to come back any day.
Please don't misunderstand what I am saying here. I believe the book of Revelation is included in the Canon. I believe it is truly God's word to us. What disturbs me is the whole doctrine of Dispensationalism.
Dispensationalism is fairly new to us. It didn't start in the book of Acts or with the church fathers. It probably came about around 1830, started by a man named J.N Darby, and was made popular by
Schofield.
There are different time periods in Dispensationalism, and many things in the book of Revelation are taken literally. Books like 'The Late Great Planet Earth' are examples of the theology of Dispensationalism.
In Dispensationalism, there will be a literal 7 year period of Tribulation. There will be a literal AntiChrist known as the 'Beast'. People will literally have a number on their forehead or hand. According to Dispensationalism, Jesus will actually return twice. Once before the Tribulation, and again after the Tribulation.
According to this web site, http://understanding-ministries.co.uk/origins-of-dispensationalism.html , History is divided into specific dispensations where God deals with men in a certain way.
As you can see, while in some ways, Dispensationalism seems to make things clearer as it puts things into categories, but it makes things more confusing at the same time. It brings up a lot of questions as well.
My point isn't to go into depth about Dispensationalism here, but instead I want to bring up the problems it has created in causing many Christians to become indifferent toward issues going on in our society today. For example, when the elections were going on last year (maybe two years ago now), I was reading a post on the damage that Obama would bring. A commenter wrote and said that it didn't matter anyway about voting because we are living in the last days and the AntiChrist will be here and Jesus will come back for His people.
Do we realize what harm this teaching is doing to us today? I can't believe someone would actually respond that way. First of all, if that were true, that would be all the more incentive to vote intelligently. But this woman had a defeatist attitude about the whole thing for in her mind there was nothing we could do since we are living in the last days and everything, according to her understanding, was written in the book of Revelation and would happen (on our timetable, of course) whether we took responsibility or not. In other words, since we are living out the book of Revelation right now, there's nothing we can do to change anything because all the evil coming from the government is God's plan and that can't be thwarted.
If I were that woman and believed that was true, I would be getting my family ready for the rapture and coming Tribulation. But I don't see these people doing that. That is what is so puzzling about it. Maybe they really don't believe it, or maybe they really don't care. I don't know.
If you really believe this is true, then you should be on your knees praying hard. You need to be praying for the strength to go through the Tribulation, or, for your loved ones to come to Christ at this time. You would be living like this is your very last day on earth.
Part of me doubts that they people really believe in this. I think they are just looking for the spectacular. Like one guy I talked to put it, 'I'm just going to sit back and watch the fireworks.'. Really? If Dispensationalism is true, you should be concerned. You just might even be afraid. Are you preparing yourself for the really hard times ahead for you and your family?
Don't misunderstand me again here. I am not saying that we won't face persecution or hard times because I believe we will. I believe we also need to be preparing for the coming hardships, not just sitting back waiting for the fireworks to happen.
Our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord/Savior could cost us our lives. But to categorize all the current events in a way that ties in with Bible prophecy in a literal way is dangerous. I just see these people either not caring or not really believing what is supposed to be happening, for if they did believe it, they would be responding differently. Something is wrong with this picture.
Anyway, if anyone can enlighten me on this, please feel free to comment. I just know that we still need to be praying for the church (first of all), and for the country. And we need to take responsibility for our part in society, even if Jesus comes back tomorrow. Didn't Jesus say 'occupy until I come'?
History is divided into specific dispensations where God deals with men in a certain way.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Recent Events of Darkness That Have Been Exposed
The Bible talks about a time when things that are good will be called 'evil' and things that are evil will be called 'good'. We live in such a time. But we live in a time and place where there are two opposite groups of people, so the one group is able to see activities being carried out that really are evil, and are able to identify those activities as evil. It's a good thing that we still have people who can discern the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, light and darkness, and, truth and error. If we didn't, our society would crumble rapidly. It is only being preserved because of the small amount of light we have left.
Some of the incidences that have taken place:
* Teacher instructs students to stomp on a paper with Jesus' name written on it.
* Student gets in trouble while in school for saying, 'bless you'.
* Two evangelists who were in Scotland were arrested for telling people what the Bible says about homosexuality.
* Christin Scarlet, a human rights activist, states that a doctor should not call a newborn baby a boy or girl, depending on its genitals, but, should let the child have the right to decide if it is a boy or girl when it is old enough to decide. http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/06/26/infant_gender_assignment_unnecessary_and_potentially_harmful.html
* Teacher wearing a pin that says, 'I love Jesus' was told to remove the pin by the school principal.
* A teenage girl who is sick/dying was taken away from her parents and delegated to health officials when the parents wanted a second opinion concerning her medical care.
I just find it very interesting to note that in some ways, we seem to be rather apathetic to what is going on. Perhaps we are just going through our own struggles. Maybe we are distracted with too many activities. Even so, something should be burning within us, concerning this trend.
There is a saying, probably by Edmund Burke, which says something like this, 'All the is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." That is exactly what we are doing. Nothing.
If my kid were in a public school, and he was directed to do something to promote the lie of 'separation of church and state', you better be sure I would make a trip to the school, and voice my thoughts!
The whole irony of this is that there is no such thing as 'separation of church and state' the way it is promoted in our culture today. In the Constitution, the First Amendment was written to protect the people and the church from being run or controlled by the government. That's not the same as taking God and prayer out of schools. But the Progressives would have you to think otherwise. Then again, they also would want you to believe that whenever a person accumulates wealth, it is because he or she is robbing someone else. How far fetched that is!
The phrase 'separation of church and state' actually comes from a document that was written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist church. It had to do with the concern of the government running the church, just as the Pilgrims and other early Americans came to America for, to escape the rulership of the king of England over the church. How would you like for the President of America to run the church? That would be unthinkable. That is what early Americans were concerned about.
But if you look at the Constitution and read the words of the Founding Fathers, you will find tons of references to God and the church. The goal was not to take God out of the government, but to protect the church from being controlled by the government.
So next time you hear people talk about the need for taking God out of government, go back to some old History books (new ones are being rewritten by the Liberals) and see what really took place in Early America.
The things we allow for today, will affect our children, grandchildren, and further descendants. We have lost the wisdom from God, and have turned to culture as the final authority. This is a spiritual battle between light and darkness, good and evil, truth and error, and, right and wrong. If these issues are not important enough for us to stand up for the truth, evil will take over. Not only will evil take over, but, evil will be called, 'good'. Good things will be called, 'evil'. For example, if you believe the Bible is true, and God is the authority behind the Scriptures, you will know that homosexuality is a sin. But if you try to promote healthy marriages between one man and one woman, you will be called a 'Gay Basher'. In some states, it is even illegal for a licensed counselor to teach what the Bible says about homosexuality. You are required by law (if you are a licensed counselor) to help a gay man to live in his 'orientation', and you are not allowed to tell him what God says about his condition, even if he wants Biblical help. The same issue happens concerning child discipline. The Bible says to 'spank' your children when they need discipline. There is a vast difference between child abuse and spanking your children because they have done wrong. But the culture won't allow for those differences, and if you are seen spanking your children (I don't think this should be done in public, but nevertheless) you could be arrested. A licensed counselor cannot teach what the Bible says about discipline.
Today, we are seeing many episodes of evil coming to the light. Social media has helped quite a bit with this. Social media has also destroyed people because it gives people the opportunity to slander others in a large way. So, we need to be careful how we use this opportunity to present the truth instead of hate.
Other things that have been exposed are people, particularly women, who have been held hostage by a man or by men for sexual purposes. Some are able to get out of the sex slave trade. There are people today who have experienced Satanic Ritual Abuse, and are able to tell others of what goes on in dark, hidden places, all over America today, and actually around the world. What's interesting though, is that people who practice these rituals are doctors, police, morticians, and other everyday people. So, when a person is being taken to be used as a human sacrifice, the cops will not get involved. Many already know and approve of what is going on. There are doctors in hospitals throughout America right now, that intentionally give patients too much medicine. When the patient dies, the coroner already knows what happens and just gives his approval by saying the person died of a heart attack. There is a whole network of people who work behind the scenes to enhance the powers of darkness. They are very well hidden though, and rarely caught or brought to justice.
The reason I write this is because we do need to pray. We see how God did expose those who were working in darkness. I ask myself, 'how did we ever get to this point?' and I think I know the answer.
I was talking with someone yesterday and she pointed out the years ago, children would be missing, but no one went to look for them. This ties in with what I heard from another person who knows that children were being used in governmental experiments that were cruel. Many children died while the Nazi doctors who were brought over to America in the 1950s, worked on them. These 'doctors' were experimenting on children and using mind control procedures on them. As a result, these children, who are now adults in their 50s-70s, and who have survived this ordeal, are either homeless, in mental institutions, or in prison. Some who have survived are able to tell of their horrific stories. But why did God allow all this to happen to us? Why in America where we are in a land of 'freedom'?
I believe the reason is simple. The church was asleep. Satan lulled the church to sleep and now the church is waking up and seeing what happened. Many things happened while the church was asleep. The Gospel message became one of simplification, 'Make a decision for Christ and really mean it'. What is that supposed to mean? Whatever happened to the Cross or the issue of sin? No wonder our churches are filled with people who can't wait for lunch, or who just daydream during the worship time!
That leads me to believe the reason why people aren't involved (in their hearts) in church. I've gone to churches where there is no zeal at all. Why? Probably because their hearts are not touched by the Gospel message. They are not experiencing a relationship with God, but, they are doing their duty to fulfill church attendance. It is much like joining a social club today, in many church circles. No one really gets to know the others who are members, that is, until someone does something to offend another person. No wonder so many people claim to be Christians, yet do not go to any church.
Salvation is expressed as a relationship between God and the human being, who has sinned before a holy God. Salvation required an atonement which was fulfilled when God sent His Son to live on earth, around 2,000 years ago. He not only lived a perfect life, but died the death that each person should die, because of his or her own sin. The penalty for sin is always death. That is why Jesus died. Either a person will pay for his or her own sin in hell forever, or, the person will receive the atonement for their sins by trusting in Jesus Christ as their payment for sin.
Much of the church today, believes in what is called 'Universalism'. All that Universalism requires for salvation is that a person believes the facts about Jesus in the Bible are true. It doesn't require a person to respond to God by repentance and faith. This doctrine says that God is all loving and all forgiving. People go to abortion clinics and say that God has already forgiven them for what they are about to do. The big problem with this is, the devil believes everything that is true about Jesus, yet he is not saved. He will pay for his sins in the Lake of Fire for all eternity.
Salvation is knowing God, not just believing facts about God. Having a relationship with God, through the Cross of Jesus Christ is what's necessary. The church has missed this for many, many years, and sadly, many have bought into a wrong understanding of the Gospel. As a result, we have a church made up of people who are still in their sins, trying to believe that God will take them to heaven anyway, after they die. There is no power in a church that doesn't know God.
And finally, the authority of Scripture is undermined. Colleges and Universities will see to that. Talk to almost any college age student, and you will find this person enmeshed with the culture, and believe that culture is higher in authority than Scripture is. Then there is another whole area of thinking that claims that the Bible was just written by men. Some also believe that the Gospels were written in the 4th Century, and then there are others who actually believe that Jesus never existed, and that the Bible is a book of fairy tales.
I'm not going to go into details here on that issue, but may cover that in another blog sometime. For now, this is a good reason to 'pray for the church, and pray for the country'.
Some of the incidences that have taken place:
* Teacher instructs students to stomp on a paper with Jesus' name written on it.
* Student gets in trouble while in school for saying, 'bless you'.
* Two evangelists who were in Scotland were arrested for telling people what the Bible says about homosexuality.
* Christin Scarlet, a human rights activist, states that a doctor should not call a newborn baby a boy or girl, depending on its genitals, but, should let the child have the right to decide if it is a boy or girl when it is old enough to decide. http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/06/26/infant_gender_assignment_unnecessary_and_potentially_harmful.html
* Teacher wearing a pin that says, 'I love Jesus' was told to remove the pin by the school principal.
* A teenage girl who is sick/dying was taken away from her parents and delegated to health officials when the parents wanted a second opinion concerning her medical care.
I just find it very interesting to note that in some ways, we seem to be rather apathetic to what is going on. Perhaps we are just going through our own struggles. Maybe we are distracted with too many activities. Even so, something should be burning within us, concerning this trend.
There is a saying, probably by Edmund Burke, which says something like this, 'All the is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." That is exactly what we are doing. Nothing.
If my kid were in a public school, and he was directed to do something to promote the lie of 'separation of church and state', you better be sure I would make a trip to the school, and voice my thoughts!
The whole irony of this is that there is no such thing as 'separation of church and state' the way it is promoted in our culture today. In the Constitution, the First Amendment was written to protect the people and the church from being run or controlled by the government. That's not the same as taking God and prayer out of schools. But the Progressives would have you to think otherwise. Then again, they also would want you to believe that whenever a person accumulates wealth, it is because he or she is robbing someone else. How far fetched that is!
The phrase 'separation of church and state' actually comes from a document that was written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist church. It had to do with the concern of the government running the church, just as the Pilgrims and other early Americans came to America for, to escape the rulership of the king of England over the church. How would you like for the President of America to run the church? That would be unthinkable. That is what early Americans were concerned about.
But if you look at the Constitution and read the words of the Founding Fathers, you will find tons of references to God and the church. The goal was not to take God out of the government, but to protect the church from being controlled by the government.
So next time you hear people talk about the need for taking God out of government, go back to some old History books (new ones are being rewritten by the Liberals) and see what really took place in Early America.
The things we allow for today, will affect our children, grandchildren, and further descendants. We have lost the wisdom from God, and have turned to culture as the final authority. This is a spiritual battle between light and darkness, good and evil, truth and error, and, right and wrong. If these issues are not important enough for us to stand up for the truth, evil will take over. Not only will evil take over, but, evil will be called, 'good'. Good things will be called, 'evil'. For example, if you believe the Bible is true, and God is the authority behind the Scriptures, you will know that homosexuality is a sin. But if you try to promote healthy marriages between one man and one woman, you will be called a 'Gay Basher'. In some states, it is even illegal for a licensed counselor to teach what the Bible says about homosexuality. You are required by law (if you are a licensed counselor) to help a gay man to live in his 'orientation', and you are not allowed to tell him what God says about his condition, even if he wants Biblical help. The same issue happens concerning child discipline. The Bible says to 'spank' your children when they need discipline. There is a vast difference between child abuse and spanking your children because they have done wrong. But the culture won't allow for those differences, and if you are seen spanking your children (I don't think this should be done in public, but nevertheless) you could be arrested. A licensed counselor cannot teach what the Bible says about discipline.
Today, we are seeing many episodes of evil coming to the light. Social media has helped quite a bit with this. Social media has also destroyed people because it gives people the opportunity to slander others in a large way. So, we need to be careful how we use this opportunity to present the truth instead of hate.
Other things that have been exposed are people, particularly women, who have been held hostage by a man or by men for sexual purposes. Some are able to get out of the sex slave trade. There are people today who have experienced Satanic Ritual Abuse, and are able to tell others of what goes on in dark, hidden places, all over America today, and actually around the world. What's interesting though, is that people who practice these rituals are doctors, police, morticians, and other everyday people. So, when a person is being taken to be used as a human sacrifice, the cops will not get involved. Many already know and approve of what is going on. There are doctors in hospitals throughout America right now, that intentionally give patients too much medicine. When the patient dies, the coroner already knows what happens and just gives his approval by saying the person died of a heart attack. There is a whole network of people who work behind the scenes to enhance the powers of darkness. They are very well hidden though, and rarely caught or brought to justice.
The reason I write this is because we do need to pray. We see how God did expose those who were working in darkness. I ask myself, 'how did we ever get to this point?' and I think I know the answer.
I was talking with someone yesterday and she pointed out the years ago, children would be missing, but no one went to look for them. This ties in with what I heard from another person who knows that children were being used in governmental experiments that were cruel. Many children died while the Nazi doctors who were brought over to America in the 1950s, worked on them. These 'doctors' were experimenting on children and using mind control procedures on them. As a result, these children, who are now adults in their 50s-70s, and who have survived this ordeal, are either homeless, in mental institutions, or in prison. Some who have survived are able to tell of their horrific stories. But why did God allow all this to happen to us? Why in America where we are in a land of 'freedom'?
I believe the reason is simple. The church was asleep. Satan lulled the church to sleep and now the church is waking up and seeing what happened. Many things happened while the church was asleep. The Gospel message became one of simplification, 'Make a decision for Christ and really mean it'. What is that supposed to mean? Whatever happened to the Cross or the issue of sin? No wonder our churches are filled with people who can't wait for lunch, or who just daydream during the worship time!
That leads me to believe the reason why people aren't involved (in their hearts) in church. I've gone to churches where there is no zeal at all. Why? Probably because their hearts are not touched by the Gospel message. They are not experiencing a relationship with God, but, they are doing their duty to fulfill church attendance. It is much like joining a social club today, in many church circles. No one really gets to know the others who are members, that is, until someone does something to offend another person. No wonder so many people claim to be Christians, yet do not go to any church.
Salvation is expressed as a relationship between God and the human being, who has sinned before a holy God. Salvation required an atonement which was fulfilled when God sent His Son to live on earth, around 2,000 years ago. He not only lived a perfect life, but died the death that each person should die, because of his or her own sin. The penalty for sin is always death. That is why Jesus died. Either a person will pay for his or her own sin in hell forever, or, the person will receive the atonement for their sins by trusting in Jesus Christ as their payment for sin.
Much of the church today, believes in what is called 'Universalism'. All that Universalism requires for salvation is that a person believes the facts about Jesus in the Bible are true. It doesn't require a person to respond to God by repentance and faith. This doctrine says that God is all loving and all forgiving. People go to abortion clinics and say that God has already forgiven them for what they are about to do. The big problem with this is, the devil believes everything that is true about Jesus, yet he is not saved. He will pay for his sins in the Lake of Fire for all eternity.
Salvation is knowing God, not just believing facts about God. Having a relationship with God, through the Cross of Jesus Christ is what's necessary. The church has missed this for many, many years, and sadly, many have bought into a wrong understanding of the Gospel. As a result, we have a church made up of people who are still in their sins, trying to believe that God will take them to heaven anyway, after they die. There is no power in a church that doesn't know God.
And finally, the authority of Scripture is undermined. Colleges and Universities will see to that. Talk to almost any college age student, and you will find this person enmeshed with the culture, and believe that culture is higher in authority than Scripture is. Then there is another whole area of thinking that claims that the Bible was just written by men. Some also believe that the Gospels were written in the 4th Century, and then there are others who actually believe that Jesus never existed, and that the Bible is a book of fairy tales.
I'm not going to go into details here on that issue, but may cover that in another blog sometime. For now, this is a good reason to 'pray for the church, and pray for the country'.
 |
| The Bibles which were placed by the Gideons, are now being removed from some of the motels. |
Monday, August 25, 2014
Why Divorce Is Harmful
Today, we live in a society where we believe we have certain 'rights' that belong to us. Many of these so called rights are really just our belief of entitlement. We think everyone owes us everything. Well, there is no teaching in the Bible of this way of thinking, but we also live in a culture which doesn't fear God, and believes that the culture shapes truth, rather than God's word.
In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve. He created a man and a woman to live in a special relationship called, 'marriage'. There bodies were created to match anatomically, and they were made to compliment one another. Out of that relationship, children would come.
Marriage was the first institution by God. The family unit is the foundation for any society. Throughout the Bible, you will find instructions from God on how the different members of the family are to relate to each other.
There are instructions given to moms and dads, as well as to children. Marriage has always been in existence throughout History, even in remote civilizations. I remember hearing of one such remote civilization where there was a stiff penalty for committing adultery. This was a society that didn't even have God's word, yet they knew intuitively that committing adultery is wrong. This verifies the fact that God's word is already written in our hearts.
So, why the phenomena of divorce, and why is it so bad? The phenomena of divorce goes back to what I wrote at the beginning of this article. We have an expectation of entitlement. Somehow, we missed the places in the Bible where Jesus tells us that whoever does not forsake everything he has, is not worthy to be His disciple.
The whole crux of what the Bible says about our problem is simply this; we are selfish. We are autonomous, and we will do whatever we want to do to get what we want, no matter who we hurt, or how much it costs someone else. We want to call the shots, and we don't want anyone telling us what to do.
God created the first man and woman without flaws. Of course, they were tempted by the Enemy of our souls, and fell. Now all of us think sin is great and we don't want to give up our 'rights' to ourselves. We think we have rights to do whatever we think will make us happy. If we are unhappy in a marriage, we think we should get out, because our 'happiness' is the most important thing around. What does God say about that though?
God created us to love and worship Him. We were made to have a relationship with Him, but because of sin, we don't have a relationship with God. God is in the light, but we are in darkness. Our selfishness causes us to want to get a divorce. We reason with ourselves that we can find someone better to take our spouse's place. God has a lot to say about that in His word.
God takes seriously the sin of committing adultery. When it comes to sexual sins, those are more serious in God's eyes. When we take vows to marry a person, God takes that seriously. We need to be very sure that the person we plan to marry is a person whom we will want to spend the rest of our lives with. We can't go into marriage thinking that if the marriage doesn't work, we can get out of it. We really can't. When we marry, we marry for life.
I'm not going to go into any kind of specific reasons that might be valid for divorce. The Bible talks about separating from a spouse if there is an unresolved conflict that would cause harm to a person. Now I am not talking about just being unhappy in a marriage. There are reasons, such as physical abuse, that would provide a valid reason for a person not staying with the abusive spouse. But today, we think that if we are not happy in a marriage, then we should get out of it.
Divorce breaks the family unit apart, and people suffer. Women are forced to go to work, and many cannot find jobs that pay enough to support the children. Sons need a dad to help them mature properly. Dads provide security for the family, while moms provide tender loving care for the family members.
In 1970, when Ronald Reagan was governor of California, he made legal 'no fault divorce', and ever since that time, the family unit has broken down. Society will end up crumbling if this is not remedied.
What's amazing to me is the group of men who divorce their wives and leave their children, and never even support their family after they are gone. Men commit adultery and leave everyone in the family high and dry. I know of one family where this happened, and the daughter became suicidal. This particular man was so set on leaving his wife for another woman, that he even looked upon his precious children with disdain. Why? Because they got in the way of what he wanted. He felt 'entitled' to have his way. Friends, this is so far from how God's word tells us to live.
Women are just as bad, I must say. I know of several who found another lover and left their husbands for the other man. Have you ever thought of how this affects children?
My parents didn't believe in divorce, nor did they really argue very much, but they had two very serious arguments that I can remember. I was about seven or eight, and I remember feeling devastated while the argument went on. I felt insecure and afraid. I didn't know what it meant. It was terrifying to me, and it was only an argument. I can't imagine how I would have felt if that argument would have ended in divorce!
Friends, we need to take our marriages seriously. We don't have options to get out of marriage once we are in it. But, God will give us wisdom and grace if we seek Him, in our relationships with our spouses.
Nobody's marriage is going to be perfect. No one will live 'happily ever after'. That is a deceptive lie that we subtly believe in. Marriage is hard work, and there is nothing wrong with hard work! Society will tell you to take the easy way out, but that is not what the Bible says! Anything that is precious, is worth fighting for.
The Bible says we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and we really do love ourselves already! Our love for God is measured by how we love our neighbor. In marriage, our spouse is our 'neighbor'. We cause divorce to happen because we don't love. Love is not self serving. Love is sacrificing our wants and desires so that others can be blessed and successful. But in America today, we think we love, when we really are just being selfish. Yes, we do love. We love ourselves, and if anyone gets in our way, we don't love them. Our spouses get in the way of our loving ourselves, and that is why there are so many divorces, even among Christians who say they believe the Bible is God's word.
The answer to the dilemma is simple, yet it takes a work of God, and a desperation of our hearts to want to be changed. We can love God and our spouse, but only with a new heart that God gives us, when we repent and come to Christ. That heart can persevere through marriage and relational difficulties. That heart can say, 'not my will, but Yours, O God'. God gives us the grace to say, 'no' to sin, and 'yes' to righteousness. Only with a new heart from God will we be filled with the love of God.
Of course, we can't be responsible for a spouse who has a hardened heart. But we can love him or her and faithfully pray for this spouse. I think if we pray for one another, and serve on another in humility, we could spare many marriages from breaking up.
So, when marriage becomes difficult, don't give up! Marriage is difficult, but God gives the grace for us to change. Our marriages can become beautiful pictures of Christ's relationship to the church. May we all learn to love our spouses and build a legacy for our children by creating a secure family unit for them to grow up in and develop in.
God doesn't give us relationships to make us happy. He gives us relationships to make us holy. If we think this is boring, we might want to check our hearts and see if we really do have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. If the love of God is not in our hearts for one another, we need to be concerned.
For more information on repentance and sin, please go to http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com
In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve. He created a man and a woman to live in a special relationship called, 'marriage'. There bodies were created to match anatomically, and they were made to compliment one another. Out of that relationship, children would come.
Marriage was the first institution by God. The family unit is the foundation for any society. Throughout the Bible, you will find instructions from God on how the different members of the family are to relate to each other.
There are instructions given to moms and dads, as well as to children. Marriage has always been in existence throughout History, even in remote civilizations. I remember hearing of one such remote civilization where there was a stiff penalty for committing adultery. This was a society that didn't even have God's word, yet they knew intuitively that committing adultery is wrong. This verifies the fact that God's word is already written in our hearts.
So, why the phenomena of divorce, and why is it so bad? The phenomena of divorce goes back to what I wrote at the beginning of this article. We have an expectation of entitlement. Somehow, we missed the places in the Bible where Jesus tells us that whoever does not forsake everything he has, is not worthy to be His disciple.
The whole crux of what the Bible says about our problem is simply this; we are selfish. We are autonomous, and we will do whatever we want to do to get what we want, no matter who we hurt, or how much it costs someone else. We want to call the shots, and we don't want anyone telling us what to do.
God created the first man and woman without flaws. Of course, they were tempted by the Enemy of our souls, and fell. Now all of us think sin is great and we don't want to give up our 'rights' to ourselves. We think we have rights to do whatever we think will make us happy. If we are unhappy in a marriage, we think we should get out, because our 'happiness' is the most important thing around. What does God say about that though?
God created us to love and worship Him. We were made to have a relationship with Him, but because of sin, we don't have a relationship with God. God is in the light, but we are in darkness. Our selfishness causes us to want to get a divorce. We reason with ourselves that we can find someone better to take our spouse's place. God has a lot to say about that in His word.
God takes seriously the sin of committing adultery. When it comes to sexual sins, those are more serious in God's eyes. When we take vows to marry a person, God takes that seriously. We need to be very sure that the person we plan to marry is a person whom we will want to spend the rest of our lives with. We can't go into marriage thinking that if the marriage doesn't work, we can get out of it. We really can't. When we marry, we marry for life.
I'm not going to go into any kind of specific reasons that might be valid for divorce. The Bible talks about separating from a spouse if there is an unresolved conflict that would cause harm to a person. Now I am not talking about just being unhappy in a marriage. There are reasons, such as physical abuse, that would provide a valid reason for a person not staying with the abusive spouse. But today, we think that if we are not happy in a marriage, then we should get out of it.
Divorce breaks the family unit apart, and people suffer. Women are forced to go to work, and many cannot find jobs that pay enough to support the children. Sons need a dad to help them mature properly. Dads provide security for the family, while moms provide tender loving care for the family members.
In 1970, when Ronald Reagan was governor of California, he made legal 'no fault divorce', and ever since that time, the family unit has broken down. Society will end up crumbling if this is not remedied.
What's amazing to me is the group of men who divorce their wives and leave their children, and never even support their family after they are gone. Men commit adultery and leave everyone in the family high and dry. I know of one family where this happened, and the daughter became suicidal. This particular man was so set on leaving his wife for another woman, that he even looked upon his precious children with disdain. Why? Because they got in the way of what he wanted. He felt 'entitled' to have his way. Friends, this is so far from how God's word tells us to live.
Women are just as bad, I must say. I know of several who found another lover and left their husbands for the other man. Have you ever thought of how this affects children?
My parents didn't believe in divorce, nor did they really argue very much, but they had two very serious arguments that I can remember. I was about seven or eight, and I remember feeling devastated while the argument went on. I felt insecure and afraid. I didn't know what it meant. It was terrifying to me, and it was only an argument. I can't imagine how I would have felt if that argument would have ended in divorce!
Friends, we need to take our marriages seriously. We don't have options to get out of marriage once we are in it. But, God will give us wisdom and grace if we seek Him, in our relationships with our spouses.
Nobody's marriage is going to be perfect. No one will live 'happily ever after'. That is a deceptive lie that we subtly believe in. Marriage is hard work, and there is nothing wrong with hard work! Society will tell you to take the easy way out, but that is not what the Bible says! Anything that is precious, is worth fighting for.
The Bible says we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and we really do love ourselves already! Our love for God is measured by how we love our neighbor. In marriage, our spouse is our 'neighbor'. We cause divorce to happen because we don't love. Love is not self serving. Love is sacrificing our wants and desires so that others can be blessed and successful. But in America today, we think we love, when we really are just being selfish. Yes, we do love. We love ourselves, and if anyone gets in our way, we don't love them. Our spouses get in the way of our loving ourselves, and that is why there are so many divorces, even among Christians who say they believe the Bible is God's word.
The answer to the dilemma is simple, yet it takes a work of God, and a desperation of our hearts to want to be changed. We can love God and our spouse, but only with a new heart that God gives us, when we repent and come to Christ. That heart can persevere through marriage and relational difficulties. That heart can say, 'not my will, but Yours, O God'. God gives us the grace to say, 'no' to sin, and 'yes' to righteousness. Only with a new heart from God will we be filled with the love of God.
Of course, we can't be responsible for a spouse who has a hardened heart. But we can love him or her and faithfully pray for this spouse. I think if we pray for one another, and serve on another in humility, we could spare many marriages from breaking up.
So, when marriage becomes difficult, don't give up! Marriage is difficult, but God gives the grace for us to change. Our marriages can become beautiful pictures of Christ's relationship to the church. May we all learn to love our spouses and build a legacy for our children by creating a secure family unit for them to grow up in and develop in.
God doesn't give us relationships to make us happy. He gives us relationships to make us holy. If we think this is boring, we might want to check our hearts and see if we really do have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. If the love of God is not in our hearts for one another, we need to be concerned.
For more information on repentance and sin, please go to http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com
Monday, August 18, 2014
Gideon Bibles Are Being Removed From Travelodge Hotels in the U.K.
I think this is happening in the U.K. and I am not sure that it is happening in any other country yet, but this is something we can be praying for.
Travelodge, a motel chain, has taken all the Gideon Bibles out of their rooms, due to the refurbishing of the rooms, according to Travelodge.
"A spokesman for Travelodge said: “The reason is because of diversity. With the country being increasingly multicultural, we didn’t feel it was appropriate to just have the Bible”.
The practice of placing Bibles in hotel rooms started over 120 years ago. Today, the Gideons International is continuing to carry on this tradition, and their work is spread out to over 190 countries world-wide.
Today, God is no longer feared, and we are in danger of living in a Godless society, with all the harm and difficulties that come with that. It will get increasingly harder as time goes on, to live in a place where God is no longer acknowledged. That is why we need to 'pray for the church, and pray for the country'.
http://www.christian.org.uk/news/travelodge-removes-bibles-from-its-rooms/
Travelodge, a motel chain, has taken all the Gideon Bibles out of their rooms, due to the refurbishing of the rooms, according to Travelodge.
"A spokesman for Travelodge said: “The reason is because of diversity. With the country being increasingly multicultural, we didn’t feel it was appropriate to just have the Bible”.
The practice of placing Bibles in hotel rooms started over 120 years ago. Today, the Gideons International is continuing to carry on this tradition, and their work is spread out to over 190 countries world-wide.
Today, God is no longer feared, and we are in danger of living in a Godless society, with all the harm and difficulties that come with that. It will get increasingly harder as time goes on, to live in a place where God is no longer acknowledged. That is why we need to 'pray for the church, and pray for the country'.
http://www.christian.org.uk/news/travelodge-removes-bibles-from-its-rooms/
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Thumbs Up on Dinesh D'souza's Movie, America
I missed seeing the movie, 2016, but I did get to see the movie, America, Imagine a World Without Her, a couple of weeks ago. It was sad that there were only 4 people in the movie theater, and that Costco decided to remove the book by D'Souza from their shelves (I have heard that they changed their minds).
It was so enlightening, because I have heard many people complaining about how America stole their land from the Native Americans and how Columbus killed thousands of people, meaning that America is a country that was established by conquest. The movie explains why this is a falsehood.
People have been conquering other nations since the time of the fall of Adam. That is the effect of the fall on mankind. God was angry with people and destroyed everyone, except 8 people. Once everyone got out of the Ark, and civilization started again, so did fighting and conquering.
Our current president wants us to believe that America is a nation that was started because of conquest. If you know anything about History, you know that this is not true. There were many conquerors who did try to win America, but were not successful.
America is a nation that was built upon the ambition of many people. People used their talents and skills and created a society where we could all live together and benefit each other. That is what free enterprise is all about. We use our skills to build and to serve, not to conquer and overcome other people groups.
Most certainly, there were people who lived in Early America, who were users and abusers. But they did not found our country. They did not have good work ethics. Their goal was to become rich by finding gold, not by working hard at a job which in turn helps build the community.
There were a lot of good points in the movie, and I was so intrigued, that I bought the audio book of America, Imagine A World Without Her. It's not hard to find the hidden agenda that is in the hearts of the united Liberals today.
It was so enlightening, because I have heard many people complaining about how America stole their land from the Native Americans and how Columbus killed thousands of people, meaning that America is a country that was established by conquest. The movie explains why this is a falsehood.
People have been conquering other nations since the time of the fall of Adam. That is the effect of the fall on mankind. God was angry with people and destroyed everyone, except 8 people. Once everyone got out of the Ark, and civilization started again, so did fighting and conquering.
Our current president wants us to believe that America is a nation that was started because of conquest. If you know anything about History, you know that this is not true. There were many conquerors who did try to win America, but were not successful.
America is a nation that was built upon the ambition of many people. People used their talents and skills and created a society where we could all live together and benefit each other. That is what free enterprise is all about. We use our skills to build and to serve, not to conquer and overcome other people groups.
Most certainly, there were people who lived in Early America, who were users and abusers. But they did not found our country. They did not have good work ethics. Their goal was to become rich by finding gold, not by working hard at a job which in turn helps build the community.
There were a lot of good points in the movie, and I was so intrigued, that I bought the audio book of America, Imagine A World Without Her. It's not hard to find the hidden agenda that is in the hearts of the united Liberals today.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
God Intended Us For Pleasure? Really? What Saith The Scriptures?
I'm going to put this article on this particular blog, as I have lots of blogs to choose from. I want to put it on the blog that corresponds best with the topic at hand.
I am troubled by something, and I can't quite pinpoint what it is. But, after reading an article a little while ago, I think I have come closer to identifying what the problem is.
The foundation of why I am writing has to do with the condition of the church. (By church, I mean the body of Christ, in general, not any particular church). I know I sound like a complainer, at times, but I want to communicate something on my heart, that I believe we could pray for and see God at work in.
The condition/health of our nation is related to the condition/health of the church. If the church generally believes that the Bible is no longer authoritative, in the way it used to be, then we are in trouble. If the church loses the 'fear of the Lord' it will no longer be the light in the community it was intended to be, and it will no longer be the salt that preserves what is valuable in society.
About 40 years ago, Madeline Murray O'Hair went to court and succeeded in having prayer taken out of our schools. Also, the 10 Commandments were no longer allowed to be in our school systems as well as in any governmentally owned buildings. This was unfortunate, for now, all kinds of chaos has been taking place in our society, and God is being mocked every day, while the authority of Scriptures declines.
Today, people commit all kinds of crimes, yet never get caught. Even if the speed limit is 50, and someone goes 75, police do not care anymore. Many of them will go 75 in a 50 miles speed limit zone. The standard of right and wrong is disappearing.
Let's get to what is bothering me though. I hear supposed Christians saying things like, 'When Scripture and culture are at odds with each other, Scripture must bow to the culture." No wonder people think it is ok to sleep together or get an abortion. In their minds, God must not have known how hard life would be in America, in the 21st Century!
Why is this thinking so prevalent? I will give you an example of something I read tonight, from an article in 'Christianity Today'. See what you think.
"To counter hook-up culture, Christians remind young people if they follow God's good design, it will actually be better for them. The hook-up culture promises freedom, excitement, and the occasional orgasm, Christians promise something more. Within the confines of a loving, committed, marital relationship sex is actually the most satisfying and enjoyable.
I am troubled by something, and I can't quite pinpoint what it is. But, after reading an article a little while ago, I think I have come closer to identifying what the problem is.
The foundation of why I am writing has to do with the condition of the church. (By church, I mean the body of Christ, in general, not any particular church). I know I sound like a complainer, at times, but I want to communicate something on my heart, that I believe we could pray for and see God at work in.
The condition/health of our nation is related to the condition/health of the church. If the church generally believes that the Bible is no longer authoritative, in the way it used to be, then we are in trouble. If the church loses the 'fear of the Lord' it will no longer be the light in the community it was intended to be, and it will no longer be the salt that preserves what is valuable in society.
About 40 years ago, Madeline Murray O'Hair went to court and succeeded in having prayer taken out of our schools. Also, the 10 Commandments were no longer allowed to be in our school systems as well as in any governmentally owned buildings. This was unfortunate, for now, all kinds of chaos has been taking place in our society, and God is being mocked every day, while the authority of Scriptures declines.
Today, people commit all kinds of crimes, yet never get caught. Even if the speed limit is 50, and someone goes 75, police do not care anymore. Many of them will go 75 in a 50 miles speed limit zone. The standard of right and wrong is disappearing.
Let's get to what is bothering me though. I hear supposed Christians saying things like, 'When Scripture and culture are at odds with each other, Scripture must bow to the culture." No wonder people think it is ok to sleep together or get an abortion. In their minds, God must not have known how hard life would be in America, in the 21st Century!
Why is this thinking so prevalent? I will give you an example of something I read tonight, from an article in 'Christianity Today'. See what you think.
"To counter hook-up culture, Christians remind young people if they follow God's good design, it will actually be better for them. The hook-up culture promises freedom, excitement, and the occasional orgasm, Christians promise something more. Within the confines of a loving, committed, marital relationship sex is actually the most satisfying and enjoyable.
In some ways, they're right. God intended us for pleasure. He created sex, and he made sex good."
Did you catch it? I hope as you read the excerpt, you will see it right away. If you didn't, here it is: "God intended us for pleasure". Really?? Where is that in the Bible? I thought the Bible says that God created us for His pleasure?
Here is another one. This one is written by a 'Christian' Blogger who is struggling with the CCM director on his decision to dismiss Amy Grant due to her having an affair, and divorcing Gary Chapman. The blogger is pleading with this director to allow Amy Grant to stay in CCM, but the director believes that divorce is not an option for people who want to get out of their marriage (except for the case of adultery).
"Amy Grant made a very bad choice in divorcing Gary
Chapman. But from what she says in the CCM piece that I linked, it seems
that her relationship with Gary Chapman had deteriorated to the point where
there were no good choices left for her to make. In our fallen world,
sometimes that’s how it is. Sometimes there just aren’t any good choices;
sometimes one is forced to choose the “least worst” alternative.
But whatever the case may be, God’s grace and redemptive power
is big enough to cover all of it. This is the big idea in Turner’s piece,
that Amy Grant had found redemption for her failure to fulfill her marriage
vows to Gary Chapman by leaning hard into the Gospel. Too bad that his
boss was blinded to this by his concern for upholding what he understood to be
God’s moral absolutes."
Really? Again? What is wrong with holding up God's moral absolutes? C'mon people. Do we really believe that God made us so we can have a blast and ignore His statutes when they violate our fun? Do we think God is some kind of cosmic Santa Claus waiting to bless us with pleasure and fun all the time? How have we gotten so far away from the truth? Who are we to not uphold His laws any more?
Do you see a problem here? Do you see that many in the modern church do not know God? They do not know what He is like. God doesn't change. He wants us to have a relationship with Him, but He is holy and we are selfish. These people think that God made us to be selfish and that He caters to us, but nothing is further from the truth!
What God has is so much better, and so much higher than any of us can imagine. First of all, God is uncreated. Everything in existence is here because He made it. God never had a beginning, nor will He have an end. God is all knowing. He knows the beginning and the end. He knows what will happen 20 billion years from now. God is all powerful. God is sovereign and in control. God is holy and perfect. God is love. God is judge. Every person will give account of his or her life to God.
God does not bend to the culture. If 100% of the people believe it is ok to sleep around and have abortions, guess what? God says 'no'. Culture will have to submit to God, if not now, it will in the future. Every knee will bow to God, and acknowledge that God is God. Richard Dawkins will bow one day and acknowledge that God is God. Hitler will face God one day. Every one of us will be before the throne of God, giving account of our lives.
If God commanded us to not commit adultery, 4,000 years ago, the same command applies to us today. We live in recycled sin. It is the same things people were doing from the time of the fall, until today, just repackaged differently.
If God says he will judge the sexually immoral, 2,000 years ago, the principle still applies today. It will apply as long as it is in existence. God's word will be valid throughout eternity.
This, of course, is why we need to 'Pray for the church, and pray for the country'.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Thoughts on D'Souza's Movie 'America; Imagine A World Without Her'
I love the idea of being an entrepreneur and have lots of ideas on how I can make this happen in my life.
I was talking with a young man yesterday who has a 'dream room' (which was a closet) filled with pictures he dreams of doing or owning in the future.
I believe God designed people to use their talents and skills to help build a society, and also the creative side of people is evidence of their being created in God's image.
Throughout History, nations have been lost due to being conquered by other nations. This has been going on since the fall of mankind, recorded in Genesis 3, and will continue until the King of Kings returns to earth to rule and reign.
In American History, situations have been written down of people coming in who have conquered other people groups and won. These would include the Native Americans, and also, in a sense, African Americans who were brought over to America as slaves. In American History, some connections have never been made, nor were they taught in our History classes that would be helpful for us to know. One of those things that needs to be brought out is the fact that, while people came over from England, primarily to be freed from a king who wanted to rule in the church, other people groups were coming to the New World as well. On the Mayflower, for example, half the people were the Pilgrims, but the other half were called, 'Adventurers'. The Pilgrims and the Adventurers did not get along well, as the Adventurers were coming to America to find gold and for adventure. They did not know the Lord, nor did they live out what the Scriptures taught. But both groups landed in America in the early 1600s.
Throughout our known History, America has always had people come to try to conquer the land. Spanish conquerers were always arriving on the shores, usually wanting to find gold. They were ruthless and heartless people. But they did not ultimately take over America. The ones who took over America did not take over the land by conquest! They settled here and built their kingdom based on peaceful principles. Unfortunately, the acts of conquest that others used are all woven into the story of the establishment of Early America, and this is an unfair understanding of what really happened and how our country came into being.
In the movie, America, D'Souza brings this out. He starts with the accusations that are used by our current president and other influential authority figures. Even college professors write books framing early America as a nation that is wealthy because of the supposed conquest of our Forefathers.
America has really been built on the work of industrious people who want to make a community work properly. There are two ways to build a kingdom. One of them is through conquest and the other is through industry. America was not built by stealing the wealth from others! America was built by people who loved to work and build their businesses. That is the way God intended for people to build their communities.
So, next time you hear the famous quote by Obama, saying 'you didn't build that', know that that statement is false. People are building businesses all around us and are being successful. They are successful because they are creating products and services that people will use. Obama's plan is to destroy all of that and build large corporations that people will have to work for instead. Pretty soon, the government will support all these large corporations, and people will not really have much choice of what they want to do for a career. Creativity will be lost. Entrepreneurship will be gone. Schools to train people for a trade will disappear. Those who grow vegetables and fruits will not be able to do so anymore, because large industrial farms will replace local farms.
This is why we need to be aware of what is going on in our government. This is why we need to pray for the church and the country. It starts in our own hearts first, then the church. The health of the church will determine the health of the nation. This is a good reason to be on our knees before the Lord of All today.
I was talking with a young man yesterday who has a 'dream room' (which was a closet) filled with pictures he dreams of doing or owning in the future.
I believe God designed people to use their talents and skills to help build a society, and also the creative side of people is evidence of their being created in God's image.
Throughout History, nations have been lost due to being conquered by other nations. This has been going on since the fall of mankind, recorded in Genesis 3, and will continue until the King of Kings returns to earth to rule and reign.
In American History, situations have been written down of people coming in who have conquered other people groups and won. These would include the Native Americans, and also, in a sense, African Americans who were brought over to America as slaves. In American History, some connections have never been made, nor were they taught in our History classes that would be helpful for us to know. One of those things that needs to be brought out is the fact that, while people came over from England, primarily to be freed from a king who wanted to rule in the church, other people groups were coming to the New World as well. On the Mayflower, for example, half the people were the Pilgrims, but the other half were called, 'Adventurers'. The Pilgrims and the Adventurers did not get along well, as the Adventurers were coming to America to find gold and for adventure. They did not know the Lord, nor did they live out what the Scriptures taught. But both groups landed in America in the early 1600s.
Throughout our known History, America has always had people come to try to conquer the land. Spanish conquerers were always arriving on the shores, usually wanting to find gold. They were ruthless and heartless people. But they did not ultimately take over America. The ones who took over America did not take over the land by conquest! They settled here and built their kingdom based on peaceful principles. Unfortunately, the acts of conquest that others used are all woven into the story of the establishment of Early America, and this is an unfair understanding of what really happened and how our country came into being.
In the movie, America, D'Souza brings this out. He starts with the accusations that are used by our current president and other influential authority figures. Even college professors write books framing early America as a nation that is wealthy because of the supposed conquest of our Forefathers.
America has really been built on the work of industrious people who want to make a community work properly. There are two ways to build a kingdom. One of them is through conquest and the other is through industry. America was not built by stealing the wealth from others! America was built by people who loved to work and build their businesses. That is the way God intended for people to build their communities.
So, next time you hear the famous quote by Obama, saying 'you didn't build that', know that that statement is false. People are building businesses all around us and are being successful. They are successful because they are creating products and services that people will use. Obama's plan is to destroy all of that and build large corporations that people will have to work for instead. Pretty soon, the government will support all these large corporations, and people will not really have much choice of what they want to do for a career. Creativity will be lost. Entrepreneurship will be gone. Schools to train people for a trade will disappear. Those who grow vegetables and fruits will not be able to do so anymore, because large industrial farms will replace local farms.
This is why we need to be aware of what is going on in our government. This is why we need to pray for the church and the country. It starts in our own hearts first, then the church. The health of the church will determine the health of the nation. This is a good reason to be on our knees before the Lord of All today.
Monday, June 30, 2014
When God is Left Out, We Feel The Effects
When I was pregnant in 1980, I thought it was just me reacting to morning sickness, but looking back, I know now that it wasn't.
It started when I noticed people breaking the speed limit wherever I went. No one was concerned about getting a ticket or hurting anyone else.
I would be seething because I knew something was wrong, but couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Why did I have to obey the speed limit, yet everyone else seemed to get away with breaking it?
As one friend pointed out, today there are not consequences for wrong doing. Very few cops are actually out there giving tickets. Plus, the speeders have radar detectors in their cars, even though they are illegal to use in many places.
I have recently been perplexed by the way people live. When I was a teenager, people slept together, but they knew it was wrong, and they did it in secret. Not many were doing that, but a few did. But today, this is just a way of life for people. What happened that makes it easy for people to do this today? What happened to the human conscience?
There are a couple of reasons. I figured out what one of them is, recently. I graduated high school in 1974, and right around that time, prayer was taken out of the school system. The 10 Commandments were not allowed up in school systems anymore, and a new concept of 'separation of church and state' came about.
Separation of church and state came about when the Pilgrims came over to America in the early 1600s. In the church of England, the king made the decisions in the church. There were many restrictions that the Pilgrims did not want to cooperate with, so, they came to America with the hopes of having a church which was run by a pastor, or pastors instead of a king. This would be a valid reason for leaving a country and going to a new land. Yet, as time went on, there was always a fear that the government would once again be in control of the church. Could you imagine Obama making the decisions which govern your church?
There was concern from a group of Baptist people who lived in Danbury, CT. They were corresponding with Thomas Jefferson on this issue, and in a letter back to these people, Thomas Jefferson assured them that they would be protected from ever having the government interfere with the life of their church and the decisions the church would be making. Here is an excerpt from his letter:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties
The government was not to make the decisions for the church, and there was a lot of fear that that would happen again.
How does this tie in with today? First of all, it has been established that the government will not interfere with the church, especially in the area of running the church and making decisions. That's not what the government is for, yet in England, that is what was happening, and why people escaped to be in a land where they could do church the way they knew God wanted it to be done.
But today, people want to take that out of text and reverse it. Instead of the government running the church, the idea has been twisted to mean that nothing of religious value is allowed to be in or part of the government, or of any governmental body or establishment. So, for a school system, that would be twisted to mean that nothing that has religious connotation can be in a school system, since the school system is supported by the government.
Madeline Murray O'Hair made a case, took it to court, and won. She made a case that ended up taking prayer out of school. It went further than that though. Now principals are telling the teachers that they can't wear a pin saying 'I love Jesus'. The 10 Commandments were taken out of the schools and aren't allowed to be put up because they have to do with 'religion' and religion cannot mix with government. How far do you think this is going to go?
It will go as far as we allow. The ball is in our court. We are either ignoring the ball, or not seeing the seriousness of the danger. We are more wrapped up in going to Disney or the beach than we are to see that our rights (as in the Bill of Rights) are protected. Some of us say that God is in control, and we give up our responsibility as stewards of what God gives us. That would be like letting our kids do anything they want, but believing that God will protect them and nothing harmful will happen to them.
Here is the connection: The 10 Commandments disappeared from our school walls. Today, a lot of people do not even know that it is wrong for men and women to sleep together outside of a marriage relationship. They are surprised when they find out. How could they know? We have kept the 10 Commandments out of view, because we have fallen for the silly lies that entered into our government about 40 years ago.
In the mid 1900s, most everyone had a Bible in their homes. Just about everyone knew what the 10 Commandments were. Almost everyone had either been a church member, or attended a church or synagogue in their lifetime. And almost everyone was familiar with John 3:16. There was a notable difference between right and wrong. But that is not so, today.
There are even 'Christian' groups who question the validity of Scripture. Some would say that when there is a conflict between Scripture and the culture, the Scriptures must bow to the culture. Some believe the Bible is outdated, or, that God wasn't aware of what problems that people in America would be facing in the 21st century. What does this say about God?
Is it any wonder people don't fear God anymore? If God isn't powerful enough or knowledgable about what we would be going through, then He isn't to be trusted. But the God of the Bible is all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere at all times, uncreated, Creator, sovereign, and a host of other things that people don't know, and churches don't teach today.
So, this is a good reason to 'pray for the church, and pray for the country'. Praying begins with us, and we must take responsibility for educating people on the truth of who God is and what His word says to us. We pray and follow God, and He produces the results.
It started when I noticed people breaking the speed limit wherever I went. No one was concerned about getting a ticket or hurting anyone else.
I would be seething because I knew something was wrong, but couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Why did I have to obey the speed limit, yet everyone else seemed to get away with breaking it?
As one friend pointed out, today there are not consequences for wrong doing. Very few cops are actually out there giving tickets. Plus, the speeders have radar detectors in their cars, even though they are illegal to use in many places.
I have recently been perplexed by the way people live. When I was a teenager, people slept together, but they knew it was wrong, and they did it in secret. Not many were doing that, but a few did. But today, this is just a way of life for people. What happened that makes it easy for people to do this today? What happened to the human conscience?
There are a couple of reasons. I figured out what one of them is, recently. I graduated high school in 1974, and right around that time, prayer was taken out of the school system. The 10 Commandments were not allowed up in school systems anymore, and a new concept of 'separation of church and state' came about.
Separation of church and state came about when the Pilgrims came over to America in the early 1600s. In the church of England, the king made the decisions in the church. There were many restrictions that the Pilgrims did not want to cooperate with, so, they came to America with the hopes of having a church which was run by a pastor, or pastors instead of a king. This would be a valid reason for leaving a country and going to a new land. Yet, as time went on, there was always a fear that the government would once again be in control of the church. Could you imagine Obama making the decisions which govern your church?
There was concern from a group of Baptist people who lived in Danbury, CT. They were corresponding with Thomas Jefferson on this issue, and in a letter back to these people, Thomas Jefferson assured them that they would be protected from ever having the government interfere with the life of their church and the decisions the church would be making. Here is an excerpt from his letter:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties
The government was not to make the decisions for the church, and there was a lot of fear that that would happen again.
How does this tie in with today? First of all, it has been established that the government will not interfere with the church, especially in the area of running the church and making decisions. That's not what the government is for, yet in England, that is what was happening, and why people escaped to be in a land where they could do church the way they knew God wanted it to be done.
But today, people want to take that out of text and reverse it. Instead of the government running the church, the idea has been twisted to mean that nothing of religious value is allowed to be in or part of the government, or of any governmental body or establishment. So, for a school system, that would be twisted to mean that nothing that has religious connotation can be in a school system, since the school system is supported by the government.
Madeline Murray O'Hair made a case, took it to court, and won. She made a case that ended up taking prayer out of school. It went further than that though. Now principals are telling the teachers that they can't wear a pin saying 'I love Jesus'. The 10 Commandments were taken out of the schools and aren't allowed to be put up because they have to do with 'religion' and religion cannot mix with government. How far do you think this is going to go?
It will go as far as we allow. The ball is in our court. We are either ignoring the ball, or not seeing the seriousness of the danger. We are more wrapped up in going to Disney or the beach than we are to see that our rights (as in the Bill of Rights) are protected. Some of us say that God is in control, and we give up our responsibility as stewards of what God gives us. That would be like letting our kids do anything they want, but believing that God will protect them and nothing harmful will happen to them.
Here is the connection: The 10 Commandments disappeared from our school walls. Today, a lot of people do not even know that it is wrong for men and women to sleep together outside of a marriage relationship. They are surprised when they find out. How could they know? We have kept the 10 Commandments out of view, because we have fallen for the silly lies that entered into our government about 40 years ago.
In the mid 1900s, most everyone had a Bible in their homes. Just about everyone knew what the 10 Commandments were. Almost everyone had either been a church member, or attended a church or synagogue in their lifetime. And almost everyone was familiar with John 3:16. There was a notable difference between right and wrong. But that is not so, today.
There are even 'Christian' groups who question the validity of Scripture. Some would say that when there is a conflict between Scripture and the culture, the Scriptures must bow to the culture. Some believe the Bible is outdated, or, that God wasn't aware of what problems that people in America would be facing in the 21st century. What does this say about God?
Is it any wonder people don't fear God anymore? If God isn't powerful enough or knowledgable about what we would be going through, then He isn't to be trusted. But the God of the Bible is all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere at all times, uncreated, Creator, sovereign, and a host of other things that people don't know, and churches don't teach today.
So, this is a good reason to 'pray for the church, and pray for the country'. Praying begins with us, and we must take responsibility for educating people on the truth of who God is and what His word says to us. We pray and follow God, and He produces the results.
Graceful Actions We Can Take To Bring Back Food That is Safe To Eat
I am writing this today because I see so many of us just sitting back complaining because of the way things are, and we are either just apathetic or defeated, and I don't know which one it is (maybe both).
Or, it could be a wrong belief system, which says that God is sovereign and whatever will be will be. This happens in the political realm often during elections where people won't vote because they assume the circumstances mean that Jesus is coming back tomorrow, so it won't matter anyway.
In spite of the reasons why we don't do anything to improve society in the spiritual realm specifically, people have spoken up and their voices are being heard.
There is an interesting dynamic when it comes to living a natural life, the way God originally intended, but has been distorted by technology combined with our desire for convenience. Some liberal groups as well as Biblical Christians are both fighting for protection for genuine food, and are opposed to the unnatural processes that are available to make our food stretch to feed many while losing nutritional value, such as GMO processing and industrialized farming (Big Ag).
Somebody is speaking up, for food companies are now pursuing ways that food can be produced naturally, without having to be genetically modified, and are seeking ways for food to be in its most natural form without having additives put into their products.
We are all greedy people, and left to ourselves, we could be controlled by greed. What we earn from our work will not be enough, and we will find ways to get more money from what we do for a living. The food companies, for the past several years, have not had a 'checks and balances' system in place, or if they did, the standard was not one that would serve people well. Those outside of the food industry had no idea of what was going on, and we were eating food that was bad for us, without having any idea of what we were eating. But people began to question why Americans are so sick today. Could there be a connection between what we eat and our health?
I think the answer is obvious, and many have taken steps to fight against food that is unsafe or unfit for us to eat, but is promoted by the FDA and other authorities as acceptable.
Here are some of the things which have been done to food, to make it unhealthful; genetic modification, irradiation, preservatives, growth hormones & antibiotics which are added to meat and affect milk and milk products as well, meat and milk that is fed with grain instead of grass, and food that has been sprayed with pesticides, such as produce.
Our current president appoints people who do harm, into our government, such as Michael Taylor being appointed to the FDA as head. Michael Taylor has also been the lawyer for Monsanto, in case you didn't know. Monsanto is the company which came up with creating the process of genetic modification, and has been known to sue those whom they would accuse of stealing their patent (a farmer went to jail because of his soybean crop which Monsanto accused him of using their patented soybean without having a license to do so). If Monsanto has their way, the local farmers will go out of business, and anyone who does farming will have to use their patented seeds.
There is a lot of talk about GMO products and people are stepping up to the plate, letting authorities know that they do not want to buy GMO products. Of course, the government is trying to keep people from knowing if the product in question is genetically modified, by not mentioning it. Also, the government is making statements that aren't true about the benefits of genetically modified food. 'Authorities' are writing articles and getting on talk shows defending Monsanto and genetic modification. Many of these 'authorities' are the same ones in the governments 'checks and balances' system.
But now the public are protesting and making their voices known that they want food to be labeled genetically modified, if it is, but the government is opposing that. People spoke up and now products sold in Hawaii must be labeled genetically modified if they are.
What will happen if food is labeled genetically modified and what will it mean for companies like Monsanto? Companies like Monsanto will lose money. The love of money is the bottom line for the products they sell, and we are the losers if we just sit back and say, 'whatever will be, will be'. People are speaking up and it is making a difference.
One well-known company is going to stop using food that has preservatives and artificial ingredients by the year 2016. This company is Panera Bread. I believe they are responding to the many voices who are proclaiming their reluctance to eat food that is not pure. I have seen a few other companies take steps to go in the right direction.
Here are some steps to take action with:
* Ask your butcher if he knows if the beef has been grass-fed, and if the cows were treated with antibiotics and growth hormones.
* Ask the produce clerk if the corn is genetically modified.
* Write to senators and representatives about your concern for unsafe food.
* Support restaurants and stores which intentionally do not carry GMO products.
* Grow your own food using heirloom or organic seeds
* 'Like' pages on Facebook that have to do with fighting against GMOs or Monsanto.
* Share articles on Facebook with others to inform them of the harm that is done to genetically modified food, preservatives, additives, antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides, herbicides, and food that has been irradiated.
* While at restaurants, request food that has not been genetically modified.
At first, these suggestions will seem radical. Store clerks will look at you as if you were talking in Greek. Don't give up. If enough people ask a clerk in the produce section if the corn is genetically modified, they will bring it up to the managers. After all, they don't want to lose money due to informed customers.
Of course, all this should be done with prayer. The devil wants us sick, and when we let our voices be make known, we are exposing the works of darkness. The devil would love nothing more than to destroy the whole human race. He hates us because we are created in God's image, and he hates God. If he can lie to us and feed our idols, he has us in his grip. But God wants us healthy, so we can serve Him and make His name known in truth. We can't do that very well when we are sick, although God can redeem our sicknesses and use them for His glory. God wants us to take care of our bodies so that we can have strength to serve Him with.
This is one thing we can pray for concerning the church and the country. Without prayer, nothing good is going to happen.
Or, it could be a wrong belief system, which says that God is sovereign and whatever will be will be. This happens in the political realm often during elections where people won't vote because they assume the circumstances mean that Jesus is coming back tomorrow, so it won't matter anyway.
In spite of the reasons why we don't do anything to improve society in the spiritual realm specifically, people have spoken up and their voices are being heard.
There is an interesting dynamic when it comes to living a natural life, the way God originally intended, but has been distorted by technology combined with our desire for convenience. Some liberal groups as well as Biblical Christians are both fighting for protection for genuine food, and are opposed to the unnatural processes that are available to make our food stretch to feed many while losing nutritional value, such as GMO processing and industrialized farming (Big Ag).
Somebody is speaking up, for food companies are now pursuing ways that food can be produced naturally, without having to be genetically modified, and are seeking ways for food to be in its most natural form without having additives put into their products.
We are all greedy people, and left to ourselves, we could be controlled by greed. What we earn from our work will not be enough, and we will find ways to get more money from what we do for a living. The food companies, for the past several years, have not had a 'checks and balances' system in place, or if they did, the standard was not one that would serve people well. Those outside of the food industry had no idea of what was going on, and we were eating food that was bad for us, without having any idea of what we were eating. But people began to question why Americans are so sick today. Could there be a connection between what we eat and our health?
I think the answer is obvious, and many have taken steps to fight against food that is unsafe or unfit for us to eat, but is promoted by the FDA and other authorities as acceptable.
Here are some of the things which have been done to food, to make it unhealthful; genetic modification, irradiation, preservatives, growth hormones & antibiotics which are added to meat and affect milk and milk products as well, meat and milk that is fed with grain instead of grass, and food that has been sprayed with pesticides, such as produce.
Our current president appoints people who do harm, into our government, such as Michael Taylor being appointed to the FDA as head. Michael Taylor has also been the lawyer for Monsanto, in case you didn't know. Monsanto is the company which came up with creating the process of genetic modification, and has been known to sue those whom they would accuse of stealing their patent (a farmer went to jail because of his soybean crop which Monsanto accused him of using their patented soybean without having a license to do so). If Monsanto has their way, the local farmers will go out of business, and anyone who does farming will have to use their patented seeds.
There is a lot of talk about GMO products and people are stepping up to the plate, letting authorities know that they do not want to buy GMO products. Of course, the government is trying to keep people from knowing if the product in question is genetically modified, by not mentioning it. Also, the government is making statements that aren't true about the benefits of genetically modified food. 'Authorities' are writing articles and getting on talk shows defending Monsanto and genetic modification. Many of these 'authorities' are the same ones in the governments 'checks and balances' system.
But now the public are protesting and making their voices known that they want food to be labeled genetically modified, if it is, but the government is opposing that. People spoke up and now products sold in Hawaii must be labeled genetically modified if they are.
What will happen if food is labeled genetically modified and what will it mean for companies like Monsanto? Companies like Monsanto will lose money. The love of money is the bottom line for the products they sell, and we are the losers if we just sit back and say, 'whatever will be, will be'. People are speaking up and it is making a difference.
One well-known company is going to stop using food that has preservatives and artificial ingredients by the year 2016. This company is Panera Bread. I believe they are responding to the many voices who are proclaiming their reluctance to eat food that is not pure. I have seen a few other companies take steps to go in the right direction.
Here are some steps to take action with:
* Ask your butcher if he knows if the beef has been grass-fed, and if the cows were treated with antibiotics and growth hormones.
* Ask the produce clerk if the corn is genetically modified.
* Write to senators and representatives about your concern for unsafe food.
* Support restaurants and stores which intentionally do not carry GMO products.
* Grow your own food using heirloom or organic seeds
* 'Like' pages on Facebook that have to do with fighting against GMOs or Monsanto.
* Share articles on Facebook with others to inform them of the harm that is done to genetically modified food, preservatives, additives, antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides, herbicides, and food that has been irradiated.
* While at restaurants, request food that has not been genetically modified.
At first, these suggestions will seem radical. Store clerks will look at you as if you were talking in Greek. Don't give up. If enough people ask a clerk in the produce section if the corn is genetically modified, they will bring it up to the managers. After all, they don't want to lose money due to informed customers.
Of course, all this should be done with prayer. The devil wants us sick, and when we let our voices be make known, we are exposing the works of darkness. The devil would love nothing more than to destroy the whole human race. He hates us because we are created in God's image, and he hates God. If he can lie to us and feed our idols, he has us in his grip. But God wants us healthy, so we can serve Him and make His name known in truth. We can't do that very well when we are sick, although God can redeem our sicknesses and use them for His glory. God wants us to take care of our bodies so that we can have strength to serve Him with.
This is one thing we can pray for concerning the church and the country. Without prayer, nothing good is going to happen.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Modern Day Molechs
Back in the days of the Old Testament, many practiced idolatry. Idolatry was one of the oldest sins and is addressed in the 10 Commandments. Idolatry is basically loving, trusting, becoming attached to, or being captivated by something other than God. In the Old Testament, one of the false gods who was worshiped was Molech. Who was Molech anyway?
Molech was a statue with a grin on its face. There was a fire inside and people would give their babies or small children to this statue, and the child would be burned up in a torturous way. I can't imagine whatever it was that this god promised the people if they gave up their children in such a horrible way. Whatever it was, they were captivated by it. Perhaps they didn't want their children because children interfered with whatever they wanted to do. I don't know, but many people did this to their children back then.
People do something similar today, in America. People bring their unborn babies to an abortion clinic to have the child sliced up so he or she will die. It would seem like anyone in their right mind would have no intention of ever going into an abortion clinic to have their babies murdered. Why would they do such a thing? Maybe generations down the road will be asking the same question.
Women have abortions because it is convenient. First of all, they are so bold as to think they have a right to have sex with whoever they want. Then, if they get pregnant, they just have the baby killed. Since it's legal, it must be ok, at least that seems to be their reasoning.
God never gave us permission to have a sexual relationship outside of marriage. He certainly doesn't give us permission to murder our children. Why aren't moms protecting their babies?
There are two reasons, I can think of, that women would think having an abortion is good. One of the reasons is simply because she has stopped her conscience from working. She did that when she decided to sleep with a man whom she wasn't married to. Once we say it is ok for us to do something wrong, we silence our conscience. When we do that, we sin in many different ways, and don't even realize it. Many times, a woman does end up feeling bad for what she has done. Nobody told her the truth before she went into the clinic to have an abortion.
The other reason I think that women have an abortion, and not feel bad about it, is because she isn't told the truth about what takes place during an abortion. Even more serious than that, those who work at the abortion clinic tell the woman that Jesus is pleased with her having an abortion. If the woman doesn't know the Scriptures, she just might end up believing that, at least for a time.
We can read about parents bringing their children to Molech, and be horrified. It doesn't seem like we are horrified about women going in for an abortion though. Maybe we think the baby doesn't feel anything. Maybe we have believed the lie in which the abortionist says that the baby is only a piece of tissue. I like what Mark Driscoll says about that. He says that he is a piece of tissue. All of us are a piece of tissue.
There have been babies who are born halfway through the gestation period, and they survived. There have been babies who have died while inside the womb, and we have funerals for them. Why is the baby who gets aborted any different? The only difference is the heart of the parents. Their idol is convenience, and the baby is interfering with their idol.
If you are a pregnant women and are considering an abortion, think again. Your baby feels pain. Babies, even in the womb, can sense rejection or fear on the mother's part. You are not dealing with a detached piece of tissue, but instead, your baby is a living soul. If you go through with the abortion, your baby will suffer. You will suffer as well, because deep down inside, you know that an abortion is murder. You will have to live with that the rest of your life.
In our society, we have let go of God's standard, and replaced it with man's standard. We have to bring back God's standard of right and wrong, in the church. The church is responsible for being the light and salt in the community. When the church does not take responsibility, the fear of God will be lost. When people don't fear God, they will turn to idols and worship other 'gods' but will forsake the true and living God. This is why we need to be praying for the church and for the country.
Molech was a statue with a grin on its face. There was a fire inside and people would give their babies or small children to this statue, and the child would be burned up in a torturous way. I can't imagine whatever it was that this god promised the people if they gave up their children in such a horrible way. Whatever it was, they were captivated by it. Perhaps they didn't want their children because children interfered with whatever they wanted to do. I don't know, but many people did this to their children back then.
People do something similar today, in America. People bring their unborn babies to an abortion clinic to have the child sliced up so he or she will die. It would seem like anyone in their right mind would have no intention of ever going into an abortion clinic to have their babies murdered. Why would they do such a thing? Maybe generations down the road will be asking the same question.
Women have abortions because it is convenient. First of all, they are so bold as to think they have a right to have sex with whoever they want. Then, if they get pregnant, they just have the baby killed. Since it's legal, it must be ok, at least that seems to be their reasoning.
God never gave us permission to have a sexual relationship outside of marriage. He certainly doesn't give us permission to murder our children. Why aren't moms protecting their babies?
There are two reasons, I can think of, that women would think having an abortion is good. One of the reasons is simply because she has stopped her conscience from working. She did that when she decided to sleep with a man whom she wasn't married to. Once we say it is ok for us to do something wrong, we silence our conscience. When we do that, we sin in many different ways, and don't even realize it. Many times, a woman does end up feeling bad for what she has done. Nobody told her the truth before she went into the clinic to have an abortion.
The other reason I think that women have an abortion, and not feel bad about it, is because she isn't told the truth about what takes place during an abortion. Even more serious than that, those who work at the abortion clinic tell the woman that Jesus is pleased with her having an abortion. If the woman doesn't know the Scriptures, she just might end up believing that, at least for a time.
We can read about parents bringing their children to Molech, and be horrified. It doesn't seem like we are horrified about women going in for an abortion though. Maybe we think the baby doesn't feel anything. Maybe we have believed the lie in which the abortionist says that the baby is only a piece of tissue. I like what Mark Driscoll says about that. He says that he is a piece of tissue. All of us are a piece of tissue.
There have been babies who are born halfway through the gestation period, and they survived. There have been babies who have died while inside the womb, and we have funerals for them. Why is the baby who gets aborted any different? The only difference is the heart of the parents. Their idol is convenience, and the baby is interfering with their idol.
If you are a pregnant women and are considering an abortion, think again. Your baby feels pain. Babies, even in the womb, can sense rejection or fear on the mother's part. You are not dealing with a detached piece of tissue, but instead, your baby is a living soul. If you go through with the abortion, your baby will suffer. You will suffer as well, because deep down inside, you know that an abortion is murder. You will have to live with that the rest of your life.
In our society, we have let go of God's standard, and replaced it with man's standard. We have to bring back God's standard of right and wrong, in the church. The church is responsible for being the light and salt in the community. When the church does not take responsibility, the fear of God will be lost. When people don't fear God, they will turn to idols and worship other 'gods' but will forsake the true and living God. This is why we need to be praying for the church and for the country.
 |
| Children being brought to Molech by their parents, to be burned up and tortured.
Molech
(king). The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon, and essentially identical with the Moabitish Chemosh. Fire-gods appear to have been common to all the Canaanite, Syrian and Arab tribes, who worshipped the destructive element under an outward symbol, with the most inhuman rites. According to Jewish tradition, the image of Molech was of brass, hollow within, and was situated without Jerusalem. "His face was (that) of a calf, and his hands stretched forth like a man who opens his hands to receive (something) of his neighbor. And they kindled it with fire, and the priests took the babe and put it into the hands of Molech, and the babe gave up the ghost." Many instances of human sacrifices are found in ancient writers, which may be compared with the description of the Old Testament of the manner in which Molech was worshipped. Molech was the lord and master of the Ammonites; their country was his possession, (Jeremiah 49:1) as Moab was the heritage of Chemosh; the princes of the land were the princes of Malcham. (Jeremiah 49:3; Amos 1:15) His priests were men of rank, (Jeremiah 49:3) taking precedence of the princes. The priests of Molech, like those of other idols, were called Chemarim. (2 Kings 23:5; Hosea 10:5; Zephaniah 1:4)
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/smiths-bible-names-dictionary/Molech |
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Families Are Forever
I love to see pictures of families in Facebook. I went to one person's page, and saw a big family. This is very common though, at least when I go onto Facebook, but it is not so common in the real world.
Today, we have an added feature of blended families. Now, children not only go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas, but they go to Grandma and Step-Granda's house, or, Step-Grandma and Grandpa's house! Very interesting. This happened years ago too, but the reason was different. Many people were widowed, and then remarried. Although that still happens today, sadly, many homes are affected by divorce.
Divorce is one of those weird things that is hard to understand in a Biblical framework. It's not hard to understand in our modern culture though. All of us come to the marriage alter with sinful, self-centered hearts, some of which are being sanctified and are growing closer to God, and away from self, while others still continue to enjoy being selfish and will use marriage to try to fulfill selfish wishes.
If life is to work right, and ultimately serve us well, we can't be selfish. We must learn to do hard work and not be afraid of doing hard things. There is no where in God's word that tells us that God created us to be 'happy'. Many think that God is here to serve us, and that we should be 'happy' because God wants us happy. It's not that God wants us happy or unhappy. That misses the whole point of why God created us. It is a trick of the devil to mislead us to make us miss the point of why God created us in the first place, which is to bring glory to His name, to be reconciled to Him, and to be filled with the 'joy of the Lord'. Simply speaking, we were created to worship God, not other things, including ourselves. Everyone is a worshipper. It is just a question of what or who is the object of worship.
If we are looking to marriage to make us 'happy' we are going to be disappointed. The Cinderella story is a lie. People don't get married and live happily ever after. God wants to make us holy, and it will not always be easy. But God promises to give us the help we need, if we want it and ask for it.
The main point though, that I want to bring out is that today, in our society, and sadly, in many of our churches, there are those who would counsel people to get a divorce. Not only for reasons of a spouse committing adultery, either. I was reading about a Christian musical artist who divorced her husband while having an affair. While she was having counseling, the counselor actually told her that her marriage had failed. The counselor also indicated that God wants us happy and if a person is not happy in the marriage, they need to get out of it. Now I ask, where is that in the Bible? If you were to ask the counselor, he or she would probably say something to the affect of, 'we see what is happening in society. The Bible was written many, many years ago, and it doesn't really apply to us today.' There are also Christians who actually believe that when culture and the Bible are in conflict, that the Bible must submit to culture. Culture is more relevant than the Bible. Can you see a problem here?
I must have my head in the sand or something like that because I am so surprised when I hear things like this, yet, this kind of teaching is rampant throughout the church in America today. This is not only contributing to the breakdown of the family, but it is leading people to misunderstand the Gospel and become false converts. How many times have you talked with someone about the Gospel only to have them tell you (with strong affirmation) that 'God is all-loving', or, 'God is all-forgiving'. While it is true that God forgives those who repent and is love, these people mean that to say basically, 'I can do whatever I want, and God will forgive me'. I run into this all the time.
We need to pray for the church and our country. We need to seek to restore what has been lost. We need to teach what the Bible says about marriage, divorce, relationships, and the Gospel. We need to know the truth, and we need to be proclaiming it.
Today, we have an added feature of blended families. Now, children not only go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas, but they go to Grandma and Step-Granda's house, or, Step-Grandma and Grandpa's house! Very interesting. This happened years ago too, but the reason was different. Many people were widowed, and then remarried. Although that still happens today, sadly, many homes are affected by divorce.
Divorce is one of those weird things that is hard to understand in a Biblical framework. It's not hard to understand in our modern culture though. All of us come to the marriage alter with sinful, self-centered hearts, some of which are being sanctified and are growing closer to God, and away from self, while others still continue to enjoy being selfish and will use marriage to try to fulfill selfish wishes.
If life is to work right, and ultimately serve us well, we can't be selfish. We must learn to do hard work and not be afraid of doing hard things. There is no where in God's word that tells us that God created us to be 'happy'. Many think that God is here to serve us, and that we should be 'happy' because God wants us happy. It's not that God wants us happy or unhappy. That misses the whole point of why God created us. It is a trick of the devil to mislead us to make us miss the point of why God created us in the first place, which is to bring glory to His name, to be reconciled to Him, and to be filled with the 'joy of the Lord'. Simply speaking, we were created to worship God, not other things, including ourselves. Everyone is a worshipper. It is just a question of what or who is the object of worship.
If we are looking to marriage to make us 'happy' we are going to be disappointed. The Cinderella story is a lie. People don't get married and live happily ever after. God wants to make us holy, and it will not always be easy. But God promises to give us the help we need, if we want it and ask for it.
The main point though, that I want to bring out is that today, in our society, and sadly, in many of our churches, there are those who would counsel people to get a divorce. Not only for reasons of a spouse committing adultery, either. I was reading about a Christian musical artist who divorced her husband while having an affair. While she was having counseling, the counselor actually told her that her marriage had failed. The counselor also indicated that God wants us happy and if a person is not happy in the marriage, they need to get out of it. Now I ask, where is that in the Bible? If you were to ask the counselor, he or she would probably say something to the affect of, 'we see what is happening in society. The Bible was written many, many years ago, and it doesn't really apply to us today.' There are also Christians who actually believe that when culture and the Bible are in conflict, that the Bible must submit to culture. Culture is more relevant than the Bible. Can you see a problem here?
I must have my head in the sand or something like that because I am so surprised when I hear things like this, yet, this kind of teaching is rampant throughout the church in America today. This is not only contributing to the breakdown of the family, but it is leading people to misunderstand the Gospel and become false converts. How many times have you talked with someone about the Gospel only to have them tell you (with strong affirmation) that 'God is all-loving', or, 'God is all-forgiving'. While it is true that God forgives those who repent and is love, these people mean that to say basically, 'I can do whatever I want, and God will forgive me'. I run into this all the time.
We need to pray for the church and our country. We need to seek to restore what has been lost. We need to teach what the Bible says about marriage, divorce, relationships, and the Gospel. We need to know the truth, and we need to be proclaiming it.
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| Besides the physical family unit, there are two basic families; God's family and the devil's family. Every person is in one of these two families. |
Friday, March 21, 2014
How Agriculture Becomes Political - Why We Should Pray and What We Should Be Praying For
You might wonder how food and politics come together in a blog. In everything I write, I am always trying to 1. not go past established boundaries, 2. not speculate too much, and 3. separate the truth from the lies. I want to be gracious as well as wise. So, with that in mind, I will attempt to write what is on my heart today.
In the olden days, people grew their own food, and ate their own food. Early Americans bartered for food and other products. The bartering system worked well and some places actually still use this method today.
Science and technology have brought about unbelievable advances in medicine, agriculture, and other necessities. One of the advancements is in our agricultural system.
Several factors are involved in this. We have a growing population of people. We have desire to expand our businesses. We have people starving in third world countries. We have an economy based on the principle of convenience. The human nature is greedy. The lust for money can never be satisfied, for when we make enough money, we always want to make more. Also, this desire, if allowed to develop, will require us to stop our consciences from working as we will have to compromise and make some unethical decisions at some point.
Farming is becoming passe. Even farmers are being discouraged. You are not cool if you are a farmer today. But really, all of this depends upon your perspective. If you base truth on what most people think is right, then you will not want to be a farmer. But if you understand a little of how the human body works, and how nourishing food helps the body stay healthy, you would reconsider your attitude about farmers.
We have a lot of people to feed, so agricultural authorities who are pragmatic are coming up with shortcuts to produce a lot of food in localized places, using as little money as necessary to feed the animals and plants. If we go a little deeper, we realize that many of these agricultural agencies are sponsored by the government. Before you decide to exit this page, realize I am trying to be objective in what I see. I believe we can critique things without being critical (although it takes a skill to do this properly).
In days past, we had small and large farms, run by skilled farmers who sold their food (or bartered) to either a middleman or to a local store. The food is grown with a lot of care. The farm didn't have to be overly huge either, because there were several farms. These farms produced enough food for everyone in the area to eat and be sustained by. The soil wasn't depleted much, and the food that was produced was nourishing. The farmers took pride in what they had done. And society was sustained by what they had done, as well.
Today, we esteem science. We hold science and technology in high honor. But in doing that, we have less appreciation for the farmer. Agriculture has now turned to science to help grow bigger, prettier, more uniform food. Much of what is being done in agriculture today is really an artificial way of producing food.
Big companies like Monsanto use methods such as genetic engineering, or genetic modification, which is a fancy way of saying that seeds are altered genetically to produce vegetables to have certain characteristics. I actually saw a blue strawberry in a magazine. At first, I thought that it looked really cool. I looked a little further though, and found that the way it was designed to be a blue strawberry was done by genetical engineering. It was a GMO product.
You are probably thinking, 'So what? a blue strawberry? Come on. What's the big deal?' Genetic modification began probably around 50 some years ago, and started with the idea in mind to produce a plant that was resistant to herbicides, and one in particular called, 'Round Up'. Soy beans were genetically modified in order that they would be resistant to dying from being sprayed with 'Round Up'. Other plants were also being genetically modified so they would be resistant to dying from being sprayed with 'Round Up'. Ultimately, this would mean that those who use Monsanto's patented soy beans could spray the herbicide around their plants and the plants will still grow, and the weeds around the plants would die. They also claim that Round Up is safe to use around food. But there are more problems with this than we could have ever imagined.
If the theory goes like Monsanto would have it, those farmers who bought the patented seed would ultimately be safe in growing their plants. Round up could be sprayed on all plants and only those that are patented by Monsanto will live. That means if it is possible to spray Round Up from a plane, the pilot could go all over the city and spray Round Up, and all the Monsanto patented plants will be ok, but others won't. Local farms will be destroyed. This might sound absurd, but the potential is there for it to happen.
Because we are a pragmatic people, and are used to convenience, we gladly use fast food restaurants as if they were going out of style. They won't go out of style though, because at almost any given hour of the day, there are long lines at the drive throughs. But all this requires a special type of farming, that can't be done on local farms. You have to have meat that will be a certain texture, and that will have a specific, appealing taste that everyone who patronizes these fast food restaurants will enjoy. So, commercial agriculture must be employed. That means that there will be big farms, with a lot of animals which have no room to move around in, and are tied up in one place. These animals eat and go to the bathroom in the same place. They are not necessarily healthy and unhealthful meat is produced as a result. But wait one second. They do spray the meat with bleach water. Do you want your piece of meat sprayed with bleach water? Animals that live on commercial farms are given antibiotics to protect them from getting sick. If you can add 2+2, you will figure out that if you eat meat from animals which come from commercial agricultural farms, you will be getting antibiotics into your body as well. Could this be a problem though?
Antibiotics can be good and life saving, if used right. When I was six, I caught Scarlet Fever and was very sick. The doctor came to the house and gave me penicillin. I was able to recover from Scarlet Fever because of the antibiotic, but once I was well, I stopped taking it. People should not take antibiotics unless they are sick and need to recover, and if there is no other means to get well. If a person continues to take antibiotics, a couple of things happen. One is that the antibiotics not only kill off the bad germs, but also the good ones. In a normal, healthy body, we refer to the good germs as our resistance. We build good immunity to fight off sicknesses. Our good immunity will be gone though if we are taking antibiotics. So if you take antibiotics, you are interrupting nature's way of staying healthy. If you eat meat from an animal which was given antibiotics, you will be compromising your immunity system.
Another thing done on these farms is to give animals growth hormones. They are given these hormones to help them grow big and fat, and to help cows produce a lot of milk. Once again, if you are eating meat or poultry which was given growth hormones, guess what? You now have growth hormones in your body as well. Could this be a reason why today, girls are going through puberty earlier than their moms did?
The problem with this also is that these subjects have been brought up to those in charge of commercial agriculture and they are unwilling to acknowledge these facts, nor do they want to do anything to change what they are doing. If they do change what they are doing, they will go out of business (and they know that). The fact of the matter is, you can't mass produce food, no matter how good technology is, and how much science you know. It just won't work. Or maybe a better way of stating this is that, it will work, but the price everyone is going to pay will be really, really high.
Commercial agriculture is much supported by the government, but it is also supported by the people. We choose to go to McDonald's, for example, even though we have seen the hamburgers that were left out for months. We choose to laugh at farmers and relegate them as primitive. Could there be a correlation between the way we eat, and the amount of sicknesses we are experiencing as a people today?
Years ago, diabetes and cancer were almost unheard of. Both diabetes and cancer have sugar as a contributor to their causes. Do you realize that almost all processed food contains some form of sugar, and many times sugar is the first ingredient listed? The FDA is who we trust to give us good guidelines on what kinds of ingredients should go into our foods and what should not be allowed. Once again, the FDA also is very liberal in their guidelines. Sugar is in almost all processed foods, yet sugar is addicting. Enough sugar and you will be sick with something. But the FDA already has your problem solved. They are always coming up with new medications to make you feel better. The FDA backs the pharmaceutical companies as well as food production companies. They seem to work hand in hand, if you can see what I am trying to say.
I can go on and on and make this post many pages, but for now, I will just leave it at this. This blog is to encourage us to pray, and I am trying to inform us of how we can be praying for the church and the country. We have allowed many wrong people into our government and now they call the shots on what we can do and what we can't. There are actually laws in the making that are going to try to stop people from being able to garden. We are ignorant of what is going on, because we are not inside the government, but as people report different things happening, the Internet is good at exposing these things. This is all stuff we can be praying for. We can pray for our farmers. We can pray for good crops and rain. We can pray that Godly men and women will be appointed into governmental positions where they can call the shots and make decisions.
If we don't pray, we could see the end of farming and gardening as we know it. We will not have any choices of what we eat. We will have to eat processed foods, and we will hear lies from authorities who say that processed food with dangerous ingredients is fine for us to eat. We could go to jail if pollen from a plant patented by Monsanto comes to our plant and produces a seed which would be a product of Monsanto, even though weren't aware of our plant being pollinated this way. Thousands of undesirable ramifications can come about, and many will unless we turn this over to God. I hope you will consider what I have written here, and I hope this article will give deeper insight into the potential problems we might have in the future.
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| Do you want to eat food sprayed with this stuff? Workers who spray plants must wear special clothing/attire for protection. Yet we eat the food they spray. Does this make sense?
This is not written to be critical of any group or person. We need to know the facts in order to be informed or life will go by, and we will wonder 'what happened?' We need to pray for those in governmental places. We need to pray for Godly men and women to run our nation and to run businesses and farms, as well as a number of other things people can be doing.
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