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.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
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/
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