Monday, December 8, 2008
Should Same Sex Marriage be Legalized?
Proposition 8 in California was brought to a halt this past November in the very liberal California. With the state governments having to deal with the issue on a continued basis I believe I know the outcome of all this(The squeaky wheel gets the oil). At the bottom of the page is a poll that I would like to gather your thoughts on this issue. Thanks
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Continually Thankful
By
Shawn Thrasher
Greetings to everyone we reach through the ministry of this blog. We wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving. As you all know this Thursday November 27, 2008, we will celebrate another Thanksgiving. This in itself is a blessing, but as Christians we don't just make one day our time to be thankful. We as Christians should continually be thankful. Included are just some ways, times, reasons and places to be thankful.
The Angels are thankful: Rev 7:11
It's Commanded: Psalm 50:14
In Private: Daniel 6:10
In public: Psalm 35:18
In Everything: 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Before Eating: John 6:11
For the Gift of Christ: 2 Corinthians 9:15
For the Supply of our bodily wants: Romans 14:6-7
Monday, November 3, 2008
Pray for our leaders
By Ricardo Barber
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
Noted historian Will Durant wrote that he could find no case in history where a nation survived without a moral code and no case where that moral code was not informed by religious truth. Our country rests upon God centered values. Are those values fading away?
The election polls are just about open and you must make a choice. I hope you have prayed for and studied the candidates well. The text above exhorts us to pray for all men and for kings and all who are in authority. Respect for authority runs throughout Scripture. Responsibility to pray for those in authority is also the Christian’s obligation. So pray for our leaders because God desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Contrary to popular belief God does not separate religion and public life. Society needs religious influence and our prayers. Why? Verse 2 says so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. The purpose of prayer for our life is to live a quiet life. This means free from outward disturbances. Will the candidate jeopardize our way of life? We are to pray they don’t, why not vote for the one who won’t or the one who has the best chance of not disturbing our religious freedom. Powerful members of Congress are seeking statutory reenactment of the so-called “fairness doctrine”—a program of government regulation of broadcast speech that presents a grave threat to First Amendment guarantees of the freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion. In particular, it would substantially undermine the continued viability of conservative “talk radio” shows, as well as religious broadcasts that directly address such “controversial” topics as abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and varied sexual lifestyles. Read more at:
http://www.leadingtheway.org/site/DocServer/NRB_Fairness_Doctrine.pdf?docID=1861
Peaceful means inward tranquility. Ask yourself this as a Christian: Can I honestly lay my head down in peace and sleep with a stable and clear conscience after I leave the polls? Will the candidate I vote for enable me to live a peaceful life in all godliness and honesty? Are my moral concerns resolved by them or will they be in conflict with what the Bible teaches? Remember in all godliness and honesty. 4,000 babies being killed daily disturb me. How about you? Gays given the right to get married disturb me. How about you? The government entering into the family disturb me. How about you?
I will be in prayer before and after the election. I hope you will too. Remember the words of Charles Colson, "Our first loyalty is not to the kingdom of man but to the kingdom of God."
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 3:20)
VOTE BIBLICAL VALUES. DO NOT SUPPRESS THE TRUTH!!!!! GOD EXPECTS YOU TO.
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
Noted historian Will Durant wrote that he could find no case in history where a nation survived without a moral code and no case where that moral code was not informed by religious truth. Our country rests upon God centered values. Are those values fading away?
The election polls are just about open and you must make a choice. I hope you have prayed for and studied the candidates well. The text above exhorts us to pray for all men and for kings and all who are in authority. Respect for authority runs throughout Scripture. Responsibility to pray for those in authority is also the Christian’s obligation. So pray for our leaders because God desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Contrary to popular belief God does not separate religion and public life. Society needs religious influence and our prayers. Why? Verse 2 says so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. The purpose of prayer for our life is to live a quiet life. This means free from outward disturbances. Will the candidate jeopardize our way of life? We are to pray they don’t, why not vote for the one who won’t or the one who has the best chance of not disturbing our religious freedom. Powerful members of Congress are seeking statutory reenactment of the so-called “fairness doctrine”—a program of government regulation of broadcast speech that presents a grave threat to First Amendment guarantees of the freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion. In particular, it would substantially undermine the continued viability of conservative “talk radio” shows, as well as religious broadcasts that directly address such “controversial” topics as abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and varied sexual lifestyles. Read more at:
http://www.leadingtheway.org/site/DocServer/NRB_Fairness_Doctrine.pdf?docID=1861
Peaceful means inward tranquility. Ask yourself this as a Christian: Can I honestly lay my head down in peace and sleep with a stable and clear conscience after I leave the polls? Will the candidate I vote for enable me to live a peaceful life in all godliness and honesty? Are my moral concerns resolved by them or will they be in conflict with what the Bible teaches? Remember in all godliness and honesty. 4,000 babies being killed daily disturb me. How about you? Gays given the right to get married disturb me. How about you? The government entering into the family disturb me. How about you?
I will be in prayer before and after the election. I hope you will too. Remember the words of Charles Colson, "Our first loyalty is not to the kingdom of man but to the kingdom of God."
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 3:20)
VOTE BIBLICAL VALUES. DO NOT SUPPRESS THE TRUTH!!!!! GOD EXPECTS YOU TO.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The CULTURE OF DEATH ... And ITS CANDIDATE
by Voddie Baucham
As I have noted a number of times, I simply cannot comprehend why Christians (of any color) can support Barack Obama. As Robert George of Princeton University noted recently, “Barack Obama is the most extreme
pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States.” In fact, George didn’t stop there. He went on to say: “[Obama] is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress.”
Sadly, despite these facts, George observes that “there are Catholics and Evangelicals -even self-identified pro-life Catholics and Evangelicals- who aggressively promote Obama's candidacy and even declare him the preferred candidate from the pro-life point of view.” George’s piece is clear, passionate, well-written, and spot-on. He even makes the link between abortion and slavery that so few people are willing to acknowledge.
I think it is sad that both the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates have steered clear of the “life” issue (and the border issue, and the judges issue, and sodomy issue, etc., etc., etc.). There has been no real discussion of abortion, stem cell research, or euthanasia. Evidently, those of us who view these as important issues are in the extreme minority (or just don’t own media outlets). We have to stand in line behind people like the preacher who said to me, “I don’t care about abortion. That doesn’t concern me. I just want to see a black man in the White House.” Moreover, while the Republican Platform is clearly and vocally pro-life, the so-called conservative, pro-life candidates have chosen to give Senator Obama a pass on his blood-thirst. Everyone is screaming about Obama’s relationship with a terrorist who bombed a few buildings in the 1960’s (and he should answer for that), but what about the 3,600 unborn babies (on average) who are murdered every day in this country (disproportionately among minorities)? What about Mr. Obama’s insistence that that taxpayers be forced to pay for these assassinations of the unborn? Abortion rates have fallen slightly in recent years. However, the culture of death is no the march.
I’m grateful for voices like Robert George, and also for groups like Vorthos Forum (see the videos below). We need to be clear about what America is “choosing” in this election. This is what we have come to accept. This is what we are willing to do in the name of personal wealth and prosperity. Somewhere Margaret Sanger is rejoicing. Well.. maybe not. Watch these videos and pass them on.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Can you be Christian and vote for Obama?
As this election swiftly comes upon us, I have had many opportunities to speak to those who say that they are Christians and yet still will be voting for Obama. Some Christians are ignorant of what he stands for and some are clear as to what he stands for; neither group is deserving of a pass. My fellow co-laborers in Christ; Ricardo, Larry and myself (Shawn) all struggle with this to the point that we rent our garments!!! (utter discuss). So we want to put it out to the people; at the bottom of this page is a poll that I would like for all of our readers to take and please feel free to leave your comments on the page. We are extremely interested in what you think in the poll as well as your comments. Thank you.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Christianity and Social Responsibility Part 3
The Enemy Within
By Ricardo Barber
Amos 3:6
If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble?
If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?
Is there is voice in the wilderness speaking for God in this postmodern world today? Has the pulpit become a sounding board only declaring what people want to hear? I marvel at the politicians and media who always paint God as a blessing machine and protector neglecting His wrath and judgment. We dare not say God caused 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina. That would be politically incorrect. God only blesses America; He cannot possibly judge us. The trumpet has blown in our nation. Are we afraid? Yes, of an economic meltdown, money, the god of America, but in no way do we associate our current crisis with God’s judgment. God said that He was going to judge Israel. They failed to respond. It should have had an effect on their lives, but they did not listen to the prophet. Is our nation listening to the Word of God today or to Wall Street? Is there a preacher with enough boldness to step up warn our nation of coming judgment. “If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?” This word calamity means judgment. There must be a cause for the effect. God is in control of His universe, therefore when calamity strikes, there is a lesson to be learned from it. America’s love for money is what God is using to get our attention. Did we learn from the first depression? No, and we still are not listening to God. God will not let any nation dwell in peace and prosperity when it is in sin. There may be a brief period of it but judgment will come. Many years ago an article in the Wall Street Journal was produced at the start of the Depression:
What America needs more than railway extension, western irrigation, a low tariff, a bigger cotton crop, and a larger wheat crop is a revival of religion. The kind that father and mother used to have. A religion that counted it good business to take time for family worship each morning right in the middle of wheat harvest. A religion that prompted them to quit work a half hour earlier on Wednesday so that the whole family could get ready to go to prayer meeting.
America’s problem is the same today; it is a spiritual problem. Instead of new innovative energy plans, lower taxes, universal health care, and more jobs, America needs a spiritual awakening. An editorial from a major metropolitan had this to say:
This betrayal of Christ in the name of Christianity is one reason for the moral and spiritual malaise with which this country is afflicted. The melancholy fact is that the churches no longer influence the development of national character. People go to church mainly because of an impulse to participate in a service of worship, not because of any spiritual guidance they expect from the clergyman.
The historian Edward Gibbon in his book, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire gives five reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire:
The first step down is the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.
Second, higher and higher taxes, the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.
Third, the mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more exciting, more brutal, and more immoral.
Fourth, the building of great armaments when the great enemy is within — the decay of individual responsibility.
And fifth, the decay of religion, fading into mere form, losing touch with life, losing power to guide the people.
We are in serious danger as a nation. All the political pragmatism won't fix the problem. We see in this current election season the bashing of one political party against another. I hope the American people are not so simple-minded as to think if we can get a certain party in office or a certain candidate, our problems will be solved. If there is some success in solving the mess that America is in, will the American people do like Amos said Israel did, “You who rejoice in Lodebar, and say, "Have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves (Amos 6:13)? Will we continue to trust in the strength of military and money as Israel trusted in Jeroboam II? “Reverse natural laws, reverse national fortunes and the world takes note; reverse moral values and no one thinks anything significant has happened.”[1] It is obvious that there is a moral breakdown in America that is unprecedented in our history, or the history of any other nation, yet it is not treated as such. Economy, energy and war are at the top of the list of America’s major problems. In one year, Americans spend 65 billion dollars on alcoholic beverages. Sixty percent of the young people under age 25 have tried some form of illegal drug. 1 in 5 American over the age of 11 has a sexually transmitted disease. Everyday 8000 tenagers contract a sexually transmitted disease. Billions of dollars a year are spent on pornography. Homosexuals have banded together to form one of the most powerful, intimidating forces in politics.[2] Thirty percent of high school students have experimented with same sex activity. I get reports from the kids I minister to, that it is starting in junior high now. Every 2 minutes there is an alcohol related traffic injury and every 31 minutes there is a fatality. 16,885 people died in alcohol-related car crashes in 2005. Alcohol was involved in 39 percent of all crash fatalities in 2005. My prayers always goes out to our fallen soldiers that have lost their lives in Iraq, but no one is rising concern over the victims of drunk drivers (at least the media isn’t). One and a half million babies are aborted every year in this country. What about the consumers we are losing from abortion, 43 million consumers murdered since Roe v. Wade in 1973. The greatest threat America faces is ourselves and if we don’t speak up and own up our moral decay ultimate doom will come.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Can you see our nation fall?
Headlines scream of our decay.
Is there any hope today?
Smog doth blind and traffic choke,
Wages bind and buildings smoke.
Welfare roles are soaring high,
And hard drugs cause one young to die.
Villains are heroes on TV
While legal loopholes set them free.
“Morality” is a foreign word,
Love with marriage is absurd.
Campus riots, no win war,
Busing is a festered sore.
Candidates are often shot
When they seek a major spot.
Highjacked planes, a lefty press
Schools are in an awful mess.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Is there any hope at all?
-Author unknown
You will not see this poem on T.V. or in a newspaper today. What’s so striking about all of this is that our rebellion is not ignorance. We are a miniature of Israel; we have had God’s word more than any other nation besides Israel. Yet America is in the spiritual state that it is in. “Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth (Amos 9:8).” The enemy is within and change must first start with a repenting church if there is any hope for America. A former U.S. Senator states that the average life of the great civilizations of the world has been about 200 years. And they go through the following stages:
From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to courage
From courage to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to selfishness
From selfishness to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy back to bondage
What stage do you think we are in? How long is this nation going to last?
[1] J.A. Motyer, The Message of Amos (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1974), 146.
[2] J. Vernon McGee, America Needs a Declaration of Dependence, 8.
By Ricardo Barber
Amos 3:6
If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble?
If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?
Is there is voice in the wilderness speaking for God in this postmodern world today? Has the pulpit become a sounding board only declaring what people want to hear? I marvel at the politicians and media who always paint God as a blessing machine and protector neglecting His wrath and judgment. We dare not say God caused 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina. That would be politically incorrect. God only blesses America; He cannot possibly judge us. The trumpet has blown in our nation. Are we afraid? Yes, of an economic meltdown, money, the god of America, but in no way do we associate our current crisis with God’s judgment. God said that He was going to judge Israel. They failed to respond. It should have had an effect on their lives, but they did not listen to the prophet. Is our nation listening to the Word of God today or to Wall Street? Is there a preacher with enough boldness to step up warn our nation of coming judgment. “If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?” This word calamity means judgment. There must be a cause for the effect. God is in control of His universe, therefore when calamity strikes, there is a lesson to be learned from it. America’s love for money is what God is using to get our attention. Did we learn from the first depression? No, and we still are not listening to God. God will not let any nation dwell in peace and prosperity when it is in sin. There may be a brief period of it but judgment will come. Many years ago an article in the Wall Street Journal was produced at the start of the Depression:
What America needs more than railway extension, western irrigation, a low tariff, a bigger cotton crop, and a larger wheat crop is a revival of religion. The kind that father and mother used to have. A religion that counted it good business to take time for family worship each morning right in the middle of wheat harvest. A religion that prompted them to quit work a half hour earlier on Wednesday so that the whole family could get ready to go to prayer meeting.
America’s problem is the same today; it is a spiritual problem. Instead of new innovative energy plans, lower taxes, universal health care, and more jobs, America needs a spiritual awakening. An editorial from a major metropolitan had this to say:
This betrayal of Christ in the name of Christianity is one reason for the moral and spiritual malaise with which this country is afflicted. The melancholy fact is that the churches no longer influence the development of national character. People go to church mainly because of an impulse to participate in a service of worship, not because of any spiritual guidance they expect from the clergyman.
The historian Edward Gibbon in his book, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire gives five reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire:
The first step down is the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.
Second, higher and higher taxes, the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.
Third, the mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more exciting, more brutal, and more immoral.
Fourth, the building of great armaments when the great enemy is within — the decay of individual responsibility.
And fifth, the decay of religion, fading into mere form, losing touch with life, losing power to guide the people.
We are in serious danger as a nation. All the political pragmatism won't fix the problem. We see in this current election season the bashing of one political party against another. I hope the American people are not so simple-minded as to think if we can get a certain party in office or a certain candidate, our problems will be solved. If there is some success in solving the mess that America is in, will the American people do like Amos said Israel did, “You who rejoice in Lodebar, and say, "Have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves (Amos 6:13)? Will we continue to trust in the strength of military and money as Israel trusted in Jeroboam II? “Reverse natural laws, reverse national fortunes and the world takes note; reverse moral values and no one thinks anything significant has happened.”[1] It is obvious that there is a moral breakdown in America that is unprecedented in our history, or the history of any other nation, yet it is not treated as such. Economy, energy and war are at the top of the list of America’s major problems. In one year, Americans spend 65 billion dollars on alcoholic beverages. Sixty percent of the young people under age 25 have tried some form of illegal drug. 1 in 5 American over the age of 11 has a sexually transmitted disease. Everyday 8000 tenagers contract a sexually transmitted disease. Billions of dollars a year are spent on pornography. Homosexuals have banded together to form one of the most powerful, intimidating forces in politics.[2] Thirty percent of high school students have experimented with same sex activity. I get reports from the kids I minister to, that it is starting in junior high now. Every 2 minutes there is an alcohol related traffic injury and every 31 minutes there is a fatality. 16,885 people died in alcohol-related car crashes in 2005. Alcohol was involved in 39 percent of all crash fatalities in 2005. My prayers always goes out to our fallen soldiers that have lost their lives in Iraq, but no one is rising concern over the victims of drunk drivers (at least the media isn’t). One and a half million babies are aborted every year in this country. What about the consumers we are losing from abortion, 43 million consumers murdered since Roe v. Wade in 1973. The greatest threat America faces is ourselves and if we don’t speak up and own up our moral decay ultimate doom will come.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Can you see our nation fall?
Headlines scream of our decay.
Is there any hope today?
Smog doth blind and traffic choke,
Wages bind and buildings smoke.
Welfare roles are soaring high,
And hard drugs cause one young to die.
Villains are heroes on TV
While legal loopholes set them free.
“Morality” is a foreign word,
Love with marriage is absurd.
Campus riots, no win war,
Busing is a festered sore.
Candidates are often shot
When they seek a major spot.
Highjacked planes, a lefty press
Schools are in an awful mess.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Is there any hope at all?
-Author unknown
You will not see this poem on T.V. or in a newspaper today. What’s so striking about all of this is that our rebellion is not ignorance. We are a miniature of Israel; we have had God’s word more than any other nation besides Israel. Yet America is in the spiritual state that it is in. “Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth (Amos 9:8).” The enemy is within and change must first start with a repenting church if there is any hope for America. A former U.S. Senator states that the average life of the great civilizations of the world has been about 200 years. And they go through the following stages:
From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to courage
From courage to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to selfishness
From selfishness to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy back to bondage
What stage do you think we are in? How long is this nation going to last?
[1] J.A. Motyer, The Message of Amos (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1974), 146.
[2] J. Vernon McGee, America Needs a Declaration of Dependence, 8.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Christianity and Social Responsibility Part 2
How Do I Choose?
By: Tom Minnery
You know you should vote, but how can you tell whether you’re voting for the best candidates? Here are some thoughts and questions to consider:
Separate principles from policies. All politicians talk about broad principles (or goals): world peace, quality education, affordable housing. Achieving them, however, requires how-to policies. Would the candidate’s policies likely increase the size of government? Government spending is usually wasteful and does best when it sticks to public safety, roads and sewers, national defense and a safety net for the needy. New programs usually mean higher taxes and more waste.
Does the candidate have a Christian worldview? Is he pro-life? A clue is whether he knows the embryonic stem-cell debate and opposes the process. Does she firmly support God’s definition of marriage, and does the she oppose civil unions that give marriage benefits to same-sex couples? Does he believe that parents, rather than the state, have ultimate say over what a child learns in school? Is she hostile toward or silent on matters of faith? A candidate’s positions on all these issues are important indicators.
Political parties matter. You like the platform and value of a local candidate who’s running with the party you typically vote against. Should you cross party lines and vote for him? Don’t forget that whichever party is in the majority has control over which bills eventually reach the floor. You’re voting for more than individual candidates; you’re voting for which party sets the agenda.
Isn’t the lesser of two evils still evil? There will never be a perfect candidate; we’re all sinners. Think of it this way: How much that is good will protected by candidate A as opposed to candidate B?
What if all choices are bad? Write in a name, or skip that race, but there are other races on your ballot, so don’t stay home. The success of our form of government depends on the participation of its citizens.
By: Tom Minnery
You know you should vote, but how can you tell whether you’re voting for the best candidates? Here are some thoughts and questions to consider:
Separate principles from policies. All politicians talk about broad principles (or goals): world peace, quality education, affordable housing. Achieving them, however, requires how-to policies. Would the candidate’s policies likely increase the size of government? Government spending is usually wasteful and does best when it sticks to public safety, roads and sewers, national defense and a safety net for the needy. New programs usually mean higher taxes and more waste.
Does the candidate have a Christian worldview? Is he pro-life? A clue is whether he knows the embryonic stem-cell debate and opposes the process. Does she firmly support God’s definition of marriage, and does the she oppose civil unions that give marriage benefits to same-sex couples? Does he believe that parents, rather than the state, have ultimate say over what a child learns in school? Is she hostile toward or silent on matters of faith? A candidate’s positions on all these issues are important indicators.
Political parties matter. You like the platform and value of a local candidate who’s running with the party you typically vote against. Should you cross party lines and vote for him? Don’t forget that whichever party is in the majority has control over which bills eventually reach the floor. You’re voting for more than individual candidates; you’re voting for which party sets the agenda.
Isn’t the lesser of two evils still evil? There will never be a perfect candidate; we’re all sinners. Think of it this way: How much that is good will protected by candidate A as opposed to candidate B?
What if all choices are bad? Write in a name, or skip that race, but there are other races on your ballot, so don’t stay home. The success of our form of government depends on the participation of its citizens.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Christianity and Social Responibility Part 1
By: Ricardo Barber
Politics, what does it mean? According to the Pocket Dictionary of Ethics politics is, “the organized conduct of and various attempts to regulate relationships that exist within any form of human community.” In other words politics is how we live in a city or community collectively. It goes on to stay that, “politics is generally used in the narrower sense of denoting the science and art of governing human society.” Are we as Christians suppose to be involved in politics? What about social service? If one looks at the former definition of politics the answer is yes. Social involvement is evident in Scripture. Jesus himself was a political leader. Did he start a political party or attempt to overthrow Caesar? Certainly not. He was more concerned with the human community than with creating a program of governing a nation. It is hard to do anything socially without taking a political stand. If we believe mankind is created in the image of God and it is our duty to protect human life, a stand must be taken on abortion and euthanasia. Social responsibility and spreading the gospel go hand and hand. If we want to restore the dignity of the family and prevent further breakdown a stance on homosexuality is obligatory. Or we can sit back and not be involved at all. This world is getting worse and worse, only Christ can fix it is the pious cover up we use for our lack of political activity. Getting our hands dirty is out of the question. The priest and Levite thought the same way as they passed the wounded man on the way to their holy castles in the Good Samaritan parable (Luke 10:25-37). They must have thought that everything was okay as long as they going to their church to fellowship with their people. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s social concern. The Good Samaritan saw a need and took action. “Jesus and the apostles did not build hospitals, or require them to be built, but Christian hospitals are a legitimate extrapolation from Jesus’ compassionate concern for the sick.”[1] I am not suggesting a social gospel or creating political agendas by no means because we cannot bring Utopia on earth. Our social concern should draw from the first commandment “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.”
“The church should, therefore, not forget its primary calling to pray, worship, evangelize and call people to follow Christ. Politically, it also needs to be aware that even as it seeks the very best for human society and studies the Word of God in pursuit of a Christian mind, it cannot enshrine Christian thinking into a particular political programme.”[2]
Man is fallen. Freeing him from social and economic chains want change that. It takes both evangelism and social action and of course the power of God to spark revival in our nation. We must be committed to the eternal gospel of Christ and not to temporary programs that politicians campaign. We should rest on God’s principles for clarity on social involvement, not man’s agenda. This requires a biblical mind with a deeper understanding of the doctrines of theology:
Nature of God
Deity of Christ
Original Sin
Church
Salvation
Mankind
We need a biblical worldview (which is different from all other thinking) before we can enter the arena and battle for justice. The war starts in the mind. How is your thinking?
For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Cor 2:16
[1] Taken from John Stott’s book “Issues Facing Christians Today”
[2] Ibid.
Politics, what does it mean? According to the Pocket Dictionary of Ethics politics is, “the organized conduct of and various attempts to regulate relationships that exist within any form of human community.” In other words politics is how we live in a city or community collectively. It goes on to stay that, “politics is generally used in the narrower sense of denoting the science and art of governing human society.” Are we as Christians suppose to be involved in politics? What about social service? If one looks at the former definition of politics the answer is yes. Social involvement is evident in Scripture. Jesus himself was a political leader. Did he start a political party or attempt to overthrow Caesar? Certainly not. He was more concerned with the human community than with creating a program of governing a nation. It is hard to do anything socially without taking a political stand. If we believe mankind is created in the image of God and it is our duty to protect human life, a stand must be taken on abortion and euthanasia. Social responsibility and spreading the gospel go hand and hand. If we want to restore the dignity of the family and prevent further breakdown a stance on homosexuality is obligatory. Or we can sit back and not be involved at all. This world is getting worse and worse, only Christ can fix it is the pious cover up we use for our lack of political activity. Getting our hands dirty is out of the question. The priest and Levite thought the same way as they passed the wounded man on the way to their holy castles in the Good Samaritan parable (Luke 10:25-37). They must have thought that everything was okay as long as they going to their church to fellowship with their people. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s social concern. The Good Samaritan saw a need and took action. “Jesus and the apostles did not build hospitals, or require them to be built, but Christian hospitals are a legitimate extrapolation from Jesus’ compassionate concern for the sick.”[1] I am not suggesting a social gospel or creating political agendas by no means because we cannot bring Utopia on earth. Our social concern should draw from the first commandment “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.”
“The church should, therefore, not forget its primary calling to pray, worship, evangelize and call people to follow Christ. Politically, it also needs to be aware that even as it seeks the very best for human society and studies the Word of God in pursuit of a Christian mind, it cannot enshrine Christian thinking into a particular political programme.”[2]
Man is fallen. Freeing him from social and economic chains want change that. It takes both evangelism and social action and of course the power of God to spark revival in our nation. We must be committed to the eternal gospel of Christ and not to temporary programs that politicians campaign. We should rest on God’s principles for clarity on social involvement, not man’s agenda. This requires a biblical mind with a deeper understanding of the doctrines of theology:
Nature of God
Deity of Christ
Original Sin
Church
Salvation
Mankind
We need a biblical worldview (which is different from all other thinking) before we can enter the arena and battle for justice. The war starts in the mind. How is your thinking?
For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Cor 2:16
[1] Taken from John Stott’s book “Issues Facing Christians Today”
[2] Ibid.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
How Should We As Christians Vote?
How Should We As Christians Vote?
by
Shawn Thrasher
As we draw near the US Presidential election we, as Christians, need to know exactly in which direction to cast our votes. Regarding what some would deem a dilemma, you would think that as Christians, we would already have our answer. After several debates and interviews with people, all professing Christianity, there seems to be some serious ills among us . I could say that this is a very serious election but all elections are very serious. The main stream media tends to characterize this particular election as "one of the most important in US history" because there is an issue of race involved. Let me be very candid, race should be inconsequential to an election. If someone is of the same color as you are they obligated to do something specific or favorable for you and others that look like you? That would be an injustice to all people. So what should your disposition be? Answer Philippians 2:5; "Have this mind in you that is also in Christ Jesus". We should have the mind or attitude of Christ. What was the attitude of Christ? Philippians 2:1-8 answers the question as to what type of mind we should have. 1. Christians should be Unified. Unified in Christ. Christ did the will of the Father therefore; if we are in Christ we will do the will of the Father. 2.We will be intent on one purpose, bringing Heaven to Earth. 3.We will regard others as more important than ourselves; specifically the unborn children. 4. Do not look out for your own personal interests; so many people are waiting on the next president to fix the economy that they forgot that it is God who regulates an economy, not a president!!! In addition, if you're a poor steward it won't matter how good the economy is because you won't benefit from it. 5. Last of all, Jesus humbled Himself, till death, to authority. If we say that we obey God we must obey the earthly governments because He has commanded us to do so. That means pay your taxes, pay your tickets, keep your car insured, and whatever else the government deems as the law. It is not until the government violates the laws of God do we not have to comply. Have this mind that is also in Christ Jesus!! Below is a video that gives some great reasons as to how we should vote. Please allow yourselves to see past the messengers to a message that benefits us all.
The party does not make the individual nor is one party more righteous than the other. It is not the Democratic or Republican party that you will have to answer to in the end. Ultimately, we will answer to the King of Kings who, by the way, was not voted in democratically.
The party does not make the individual nor is one party more righteous than the other. It is not the Democratic or Republican party that you will have to answer to in the end. Ultimately, we will answer to the King of Kings who, by the way, was not voted in democratically.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Restoring the Historical Roots of American Education
By Ricardo Barber
Two Hundred years after the American Revolution, America is still governed by its first Constitution. We are now the longest running constitutional republic in the history of the world. To give some perspective, France has had eight constitutions in the same 200 years. Italy has had 54 constitutions in 200 years. Why have we survived so long? It is because our founding fathers built our constitution according to a set of ideals that are unparalleled in the history of the world. Abraham Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” If our founding fathers had a successful philosophy of government, which obviously they did, then it is very fair that we look back to the classroom to see what they taught.
Harvard is the oldest ongoing university in the U.S.; Harvard produced a number of our early leaders, including John Quincy Adams, John Hancock, John Adams, and Samuel Adams. Harvard’s original stated purpose for its students was: “To be plainly instructed and consider well that the main end of your life and studies is to know God and Jesus….
One requirement of students was that, “Everyone shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be able to give an account of his proficiency therein.”
Yale also produced many early leaders, men like Noah Webster, William Samuel Johnson, Abraham Baldwin. One of Yale’s requirements for its students read as follows: “Seeing that God is the giver of all wisdom every student, besides his private and secret prayer will be present morning and evening for public prayer.”
Princeton, founded in 1746, produced people like James Madison, Benjamin Rush and John Witherspoon. John Witherspoon became an ordained minister and was president of Princeton University (1768-1776) until New Jersey sent him to Congress. During those years at Princeton the average class was between 17 and 28 students per year. In the nine years that Witherspoon taught at Princeton the school graduated 1 President, 1 Vice President, 3 Supreme Court Justices, 10 Cabinet members, 12 Governors, 21 U.S. Senators, and 39 U.S. Congressman. About one-third of the early leaders were trained at Princeton University. What was the philosophy of an institution that produced so many national leaders? Princeton’s founding statement was: “Cursed is all learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.” It has been many years since we have seen this kind of vision of godly leadership within society set before us.
The Articles of Confederation, The Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution and The Northwest Ordinance are the four documents that are considered as the laws upon which all other laws are built in the United States. The Northwest Ordinance tells a territory specifically what it has to do in order to become a state in the United States. Article III requires that no territory could become a state unless the schools in that territory were teaching religion and morality as well as knowledge. As a result, many state constitutions contain the following: “Forever in the schools of this state, religion and morality will be taught as well as knowledge.” You may want to check your state constitution.
Look at Fisher Ames’ ("the forgotten founding father") philosophy of education, who by the way was the author of the First Amendment of the Constitution, which today is mis-interpreted to mean we must separate God and government.
“Why, then if these new books for children must be retained, as they will be, Should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a schoolbook? Its morals are pure; its examples are captivating and noble. And the reverence for the sacred book that is thus early impressed lasts long; and, probably, if not impressed in infancy, never takes firm hold of the mind."
When God was removed from American education it started the self-destructive results our nation is seeing now. Our students never become leaders in their communities, nations, and the world. Birth rates for unwed girls (15-19) have increased more since the removal of God from education and the number of dropouts as well. The only hope of America is for Christ-centered leaders to be trained and to rise to positions of influence throughout society and for us as Christ-followers to evangelize the persons we come in contact with everyday.
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7
Two Hundred years after the American Revolution, America is still governed by its first Constitution. We are now the longest running constitutional republic in the history of the world. To give some perspective, France has had eight constitutions in the same 200 years. Italy has had 54 constitutions in 200 years. Why have we survived so long? It is because our founding fathers built our constitution according to a set of ideals that are unparalleled in the history of the world. Abraham Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” If our founding fathers had a successful philosophy of government, which obviously they did, then it is very fair that we look back to the classroom to see what they taught.
Harvard is the oldest ongoing university in the U.S.; Harvard produced a number of our early leaders, including John Quincy Adams, John Hancock, John Adams, and Samuel Adams. Harvard’s original stated purpose for its students was: “To be plainly instructed and consider well that the main end of your life and studies is to know God and Jesus….
One requirement of students was that, “Everyone shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be able to give an account of his proficiency therein.”
Yale also produced many early leaders, men like Noah Webster, William Samuel Johnson, Abraham Baldwin. One of Yale’s requirements for its students read as follows: “Seeing that God is the giver of all wisdom every student, besides his private and secret prayer will be present morning and evening for public prayer.”
Princeton, founded in 1746, produced people like James Madison, Benjamin Rush and John Witherspoon. John Witherspoon became an ordained minister and was president of Princeton University (1768-1776) until New Jersey sent him to Congress. During those years at Princeton the average class was between 17 and 28 students per year. In the nine years that Witherspoon taught at Princeton the school graduated 1 President, 1 Vice President, 3 Supreme Court Justices, 10 Cabinet members, 12 Governors, 21 U.S. Senators, and 39 U.S. Congressman. About one-third of the early leaders were trained at Princeton University. What was the philosophy of an institution that produced so many national leaders? Princeton’s founding statement was: “Cursed is all learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.” It has been many years since we have seen this kind of vision of godly leadership within society set before us.
The Articles of Confederation, The Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution and The Northwest Ordinance are the four documents that are considered as the laws upon which all other laws are built in the United States. The Northwest Ordinance tells a territory specifically what it has to do in order to become a state in the United States. Article III requires that no territory could become a state unless the schools in that territory were teaching religion and morality as well as knowledge. As a result, many state constitutions contain the following: “Forever in the schools of this state, religion and morality will be taught as well as knowledge.” You may want to check your state constitution.
Look at Fisher Ames’ ("the forgotten founding father") philosophy of education, who by the way was the author of the First Amendment of the Constitution, which today is mis-interpreted to mean we must separate God and government.
“Why, then if these new books for children must be retained, as they will be, Should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a schoolbook? Its morals are pure; its examples are captivating and noble. And the reverence for the sacred book that is thus early impressed lasts long; and, probably, if not impressed in infancy, never takes firm hold of the mind."
When God was removed from American education it started the self-destructive results our nation is seeing now. Our students never become leaders in their communities, nations, and the world. Birth rates for unwed girls (15-19) have increased more since the removal of God from education and the number of dropouts as well. The only hope of America is for Christ-centered leaders to be trained and to rise to positions of influence throughout society and for us as Christ-followers to evangelize the persons we come in contact with everyday.
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Instant Replay Overcoming Guilt of the Past
Instant Replay
Overcoming Guilt of the Past
by David Jeremiah
Is an unconfessed sin replaying itself over and over in the depths of your conscience?
In His mercy, the Lord sent a friend to confront David. At last, the hidden thing was known, out in the open to be dealt with. Psalm 51 is David's prayer of confession and repentance. Here he accepts full responsibility for his sin, saying, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness. . . . Blot out my transgressions . . . for I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight" (verses 1-4).
The only way to eradicate guilt is to acknowledge what we have done, take full responsibility for it, and seek God's forgiveness. If you keep covering your sin-hiding it and pushing it away-you'll never know the relief David found. He didn't blame society. He just looked himself in the mirror and said, "I'm the one. It's my responsibility."
Biblical confession provides the world's only answer to guilt.
I noticed in reading Psalm 51 that, having described sin with great intensity, David went on to describe forgiveness with the same intensity. He asked God to wash him, cleanse him, make him whiter than snow, blot out his transgressions, create in him a new heart, restore joy to his life, and renew his testimony so that other sinners might learn about forgiveness and be converted. "O Lord," he cried, "open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise" (verse 15).
When I was in high school, I worked for a hardware store. One night I realized I had accidentally kept $20 without depositing it in the register.
I rationalized that I'd been working hard and deserved to keep the money, and save my dad a lot of embarrassment. As time went by it occasionally came to mind and I felt guilty about it.
Years later, I became overwhelmed with the guilt of what I'd done, calculated the interest on twenty dollars, and sent $60 to the hardware store owner. I felt a little better; but still, I had not confessed my sin or asked forgiveness.
Sometime later, I moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana; and during my pastorate there, the hardware industry had a convention in our city. One Sunday, as I was in the pulpit preaching, who should walk into the church but my former boss, Fred, the hardware store owner, and his wife.
As soon as the service ended, I took them back to my office and said, "I want to ask you a question. Do you remember several years ago getting an envelope with sixty dollars in it?"
"Yeah," said Fred, curious.
"That was from me," I said, breaking down in tears. "I want to ask you to forgive me because I took some money when I was working for you as a fifteen-year-old boy. I put it in my pocket and I took it home, and I never did repay it. I tried to repay it with the money I sent you, but I know that's not the way it's done. So I'm asking you to forgive me."
They put their arms around me and hugged me and told me they loved me and thanked me for the courage to confess my actions before them.
Forgiveness erases the tape and brings an end to the constant, tormenting instant replays of the conscience. Forgiveness brings freedom, and God grants forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. You don't have to live with guilt all your life. You can be liberated. God will forgive you, and I think most people will forgive you, too, if you ask them. But you've got to initiate the process.
"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit," proclaimed David in Psalm 32:1-2.
If you've never received the forgiveness of sin and the release of the guilt of your life, you can do it today by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
###
This article was excerpted from Turning Points, Dr. David Jeremiah's devotional magazine. Call Turning Point at 1-800-947-1993 for your complimentary copy of Turning Points.
Overcoming Guilt of the Past
by David Jeremiah
Is an unconfessed sin replaying itself over and over in the depths of your conscience?
In His mercy, the Lord sent a friend to confront David. At last, the hidden thing was known, out in the open to be dealt with. Psalm 51 is David's prayer of confession and repentance. Here he accepts full responsibility for his sin, saying, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness. . . . Blot out my transgressions . . . for I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight" (verses 1-4).
The only way to eradicate guilt is to acknowledge what we have done, take full responsibility for it, and seek God's forgiveness. If you keep covering your sin-hiding it and pushing it away-you'll never know the relief David found. He didn't blame society. He just looked himself in the mirror and said, "I'm the one. It's my responsibility."
Biblical confession provides the world's only answer to guilt.
I noticed in reading Psalm 51 that, having described sin with great intensity, David went on to describe forgiveness with the same intensity. He asked God to wash him, cleanse him, make him whiter than snow, blot out his transgressions, create in him a new heart, restore joy to his life, and renew his testimony so that other sinners might learn about forgiveness and be converted. "O Lord," he cried, "open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise" (verse 15).
When I was in high school, I worked for a hardware store. One night I realized I had accidentally kept $20 without depositing it in the register.
I rationalized that I'd been working hard and deserved to keep the money, and save my dad a lot of embarrassment. As time went by it occasionally came to mind and I felt guilty about it.
Years later, I became overwhelmed with the guilt of what I'd done, calculated the interest on twenty dollars, and sent $60 to the hardware store owner. I felt a little better; but still, I had not confessed my sin or asked forgiveness.
Sometime later, I moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana; and during my pastorate there, the hardware industry had a convention in our city. One Sunday, as I was in the pulpit preaching, who should walk into the church but my former boss, Fred, the hardware store owner, and his wife.
As soon as the service ended, I took them back to my office and said, "I want to ask you a question. Do you remember several years ago getting an envelope with sixty dollars in it?"
"Yeah," said Fred, curious.
"That was from me," I said, breaking down in tears. "I want to ask you to forgive me because I took some money when I was working for you as a fifteen-year-old boy. I put it in my pocket and I took it home, and I never did repay it. I tried to repay it with the money I sent you, but I know that's not the way it's done. So I'm asking you to forgive me."
They put their arms around me and hugged me and told me they loved me and thanked me for the courage to confess my actions before them.
Forgiveness erases the tape and brings an end to the constant, tormenting instant replays of the conscience. Forgiveness brings freedom, and God grants forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. You don't have to live with guilt all your life. You can be liberated. God will forgive you, and I think most people will forgive you, too, if you ask them. But you've got to initiate the process.
"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit," proclaimed David in Psalm 32:1-2.
If you've never received the forgiveness of sin and the release of the guilt of your life, you can do it today by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
###
This article was excerpted from Turning Points, Dr. David Jeremiah's devotional magazine. Call Turning Point at 1-800-947-1993 for your complimentary copy of Turning Points.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Worship, The Foundation for Loving God
By: Ricardo Barber
Worship is the expression of love toward God, bowing down inwardly in one’s heart. John expressed that love toward Jesus by revealing the majesty, wonder, work and uniqueness of Christ as the Son of God. Do we today express that same love? Do we really worship the Savior as he was revealed in the Old Testament and self-disclosed in the New Testament? He is the creator and sustainer of the universe. John said in his Gospel that it was Christ that Isaiah saw on the throne high and lifted up,
“But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them. “These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him (John 12:37-41).”
How are we not impressed with him? John had a close intimate commune with the Son that drove him to his face. He had an inner reverence that was rooted in his right thoughts about God and his visible actions reflecting God. True worshippers worship with their lives. This is the fundamental problem in the church.
The glory of God is not honored.
The holiness of God is not reverenced.
The greatness of God is not admired.
The power of God is not praised.
The truth of God is not sought.
The wisdom of God is not esteemed.
The beauty of God is not treasured.
The goodness of God is not savored.
The faithfulness of God is not trusted.
The commandments of God are not obeyed.
The justice of God is not respected.
The wrath of God is not feared.
The grace of God is not cherished.
The presence of God is not prized.
The person of God is not loved.1
Piper goes on to say that this disrespect is opposite of worship. “Worship is not a gathering. It is not essentially a song service or sitting under preaching. Worship is not essentially any form of outward act.”2 These are merely things we use to express worship. Jesus says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24).” Jesus is saying that worship is a lifestyle. The external part of the worship would be of no value if it is not agreeing with the internal state of the worshippers. Worship must be done from the heart, from the inside out.
The purpose of our worship is to glorify, honor, praise, exalt, and please God. Our worship must show our adoration and loyalty to God for his grace in providing us with the way to escape the bondage of sin, so we can have the salvation he so much wants to give us. The nature of the worship God demands is the prostration of our souls before him in humble and contrite submission.
Worship in Hebrew means to “bow down” with respect. It occurs 171 in the Old Testament. In the Greek New Testament this same word is used for worship. It occurs 26 times in the Gospels mainly when people would bow down before Jesus. The Book of Revelation uses it frequently (21 times) because the angels and elders in heaven often bow down before God. The interesting thing is that it only occurs once in the epistles, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. It doesn’t occur at all in the letters of Peter, James, or John.3 How is the church suppose to know how to worship if none of the epistles write about this subject. It started with Jesus teachings on worship in John 4:20-24. I first like to add that I am fascinated at the number of times in the New Testament that the statement “in him” or “through him” occurs in reference to Christ. Everything was and is fulfilled and found in him. The Jews main place of worship was the temple. The temple in the Old Testament pointed to him. He is now the place of worship. Jesus identified himself as the true temple. “There is One greater than the temple (Matt. 12:6).” In him is were we meet God, not in formal ceremonies, outward rituals, or localized activities but in a personal, spiritual experience with him at the center.4 In John 4:20-24 Jesus uses the Old Testament word for worship to move it from the outward form to an inward reality. He said the hour has arrived when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth in verse 23. How so? It has arrived in him. True worshippers would not be those who go from place to place and shows or uses all the outward forms. They only would be counted true worshippers who worshipped in spirit and in truth. Worship “in spirit” means heart worship in contradiction to all formal, material, carnal worship. Worship that is led by the Holy Spirit and is mainly an inner experience opposed to an outward experience. Worship “in truth” means that it must be done according as God has specified in the Bible. One writer says, “In spirit regard the inward power, in truth the outward form. The first makes strikes at hypocrisy, the second at idolatry." John avoided using the Hebrew word because he and the other writers wanted the essence of worship as Jesus taught to be clearly understood. We worship by our very lives. Our love for Christ should be reflected in our conduct. “If you love Me, keep My commandments (John 14:15).”
John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 206.
Ibid.
Ibid, 216.
Ibid.
Worship is the expression of love toward God, bowing down inwardly in one’s heart. John expressed that love toward Jesus by revealing the majesty, wonder, work and uniqueness of Christ as the Son of God. Do we today express that same love? Do we really worship the Savior as he was revealed in the Old Testament and self-disclosed in the New Testament? He is the creator and sustainer of the universe. John said in his Gospel that it was Christ that Isaiah saw on the throne high and lifted up,
“But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them. “These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him (John 12:37-41).”
How are we not impressed with him? John had a close intimate commune with the Son that drove him to his face. He had an inner reverence that was rooted in his right thoughts about God and his visible actions reflecting God. True worshippers worship with their lives. This is the fundamental problem in the church.
The glory of God is not honored.
The holiness of God is not reverenced.
The greatness of God is not admired.
The power of God is not praised.
The truth of God is not sought.
The wisdom of God is not esteemed.
The beauty of God is not treasured.
The goodness of God is not savored.
The faithfulness of God is not trusted.
The commandments of God are not obeyed.
The justice of God is not respected.
The wrath of God is not feared.
The grace of God is not cherished.
The presence of God is not prized.
The person of God is not loved.1
Piper goes on to say that this disrespect is opposite of worship. “Worship is not a gathering. It is not essentially a song service or sitting under preaching. Worship is not essentially any form of outward act.”2 These are merely things we use to express worship. Jesus says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24).” Jesus is saying that worship is a lifestyle. The external part of the worship would be of no value if it is not agreeing with the internal state of the worshippers. Worship must be done from the heart, from the inside out.
The purpose of our worship is to glorify, honor, praise, exalt, and please God. Our worship must show our adoration and loyalty to God for his grace in providing us with the way to escape the bondage of sin, so we can have the salvation he so much wants to give us. The nature of the worship God demands is the prostration of our souls before him in humble and contrite submission.
Worship in Hebrew means to “bow down” with respect. It occurs 171 in the Old Testament. In the Greek New Testament this same word is used for worship. It occurs 26 times in the Gospels mainly when people would bow down before Jesus. The Book of Revelation uses it frequently (21 times) because the angels and elders in heaven often bow down before God. The interesting thing is that it only occurs once in the epistles, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. It doesn’t occur at all in the letters of Peter, James, or John.3 How is the church suppose to know how to worship if none of the epistles write about this subject. It started with Jesus teachings on worship in John 4:20-24. I first like to add that I am fascinated at the number of times in the New Testament that the statement “in him” or “through him” occurs in reference to Christ. Everything was and is fulfilled and found in him. The Jews main place of worship was the temple. The temple in the Old Testament pointed to him. He is now the place of worship. Jesus identified himself as the true temple. “There is One greater than the temple (Matt. 12:6).” In him is were we meet God, not in formal ceremonies, outward rituals, or localized activities but in a personal, spiritual experience with him at the center.4 In John 4:20-24 Jesus uses the Old Testament word for worship to move it from the outward form to an inward reality. He said the hour has arrived when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth in verse 23. How so? It has arrived in him. True worshippers would not be those who go from place to place and shows or uses all the outward forms. They only would be counted true worshippers who worshipped in spirit and in truth. Worship “in spirit” means heart worship in contradiction to all formal, material, carnal worship. Worship that is led by the Holy Spirit and is mainly an inner experience opposed to an outward experience. Worship “in truth” means that it must be done according as God has specified in the Bible. One writer says, “In spirit regard the inward power, in truth the outward form. The first makes strikes at hypocrisy, the second at idolatry." John avoided using the Hebrew word because he and the other writers wanted the essence of worship as Jesus taught to be clearly understood. We worship by our very lives. Our love for Christ should be reflected in our conduct. “If you love Me, keep My commandments (John 14:15).”
John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 206.
Ibid.
Ibid, 216.
Ibid.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Are We All God's Children??
Are we all God’s Children?
By
Shawn Thrasher
Are we all God’s children? This is a statement that is made by many people who want to comfort themselves or make the lost feel comforted or they just have a misconception of the relationship between God and Man. This doctrine is known as Universal Fatherhood. The doctrine states that God is the Father to all and all humanity are related as brothers. Let me be quick and plain to say this is not a true statement!! God is the Creator of all but not the Father of all and we are not all brothers. Our best evidence for this argument is scripture itself. God is the creator of all humanity as stated in Genesis 1:27 “God created man in His own Image, in the Image of God He created him; male and female He created them”. From this statement from God we see that He created all humanity.
The Bible makes clear the distinction as to which family you belong to; after the Pharisees made the claim that they were children of God because of their ancestry Jesus refuted their claim in John 8:44, He told those who were against Him in verse 42 “If God were your Father you would Love Me”. He then went on to let them know as to what father they had come from; they were from their father the Devil “v 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father”. Jesus made it clear that those who did not recognize “Truth” because He is Truth, did not know God “v 47 He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God”
Adams’ sin broke the relationship we had with God. Sin made us contrary to Him in every regard possible. The Holy Spirit for those who are believers has delivered us from our past slavery to the flesh and has given us the spirit of Adoption as stated in Romans 8:14-17 “14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” We the believers have entered into an intimate relationship whereby we can renounce all previous formalities, we as believers approach God as Abba or “Daddy, Daddy” just like a young child.
How can we logically conclude that everyone is God’s child when so many deny Him as God before we can even get to them accepting Him as Father? There are those as Christians who like the Pharisees claimed that they know God as Father but disregard what the Father has to say to His Children. People deny Christ but still want God. You can’t have one without the other (John 10:30) only those who receive Christ will become children of God. John 1:12 makes this plain “12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. The Lord also makes it plain that the world does not even recognize us(Christians), we are the real extra terrestrial or aliens because we have been born again and we now have a heavenly origin (Eph 1:3-6). God has shown us the greatest love by calling us and bestowing upon us the greatest honor next to the forgiveness of sin and that is the honor of calling us children of God “1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God” (1 John 3:1) Please place your attention on the word “now” at the end of 1 John 3:1; the word now points to the fact that at some point you were not a child of God!!! But now after the Gift of Christ and to those who received the gift we are the Children of God.
In closing I leave you with these words from God as written down by the Apostle John;
“By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God” 1 John 3:10
By
Shawn Thrasher
Are we all God’s children? This is a statement that is made by many people who want to comfort themselves or make the lost feel comforted or they just have a misconception of the relationship between God and Man. This doctrine is known as Universal Fatherhood. The doctrine states that God is the Father to all and all humanity are related as brothers. Let me be quick and plain to say this is not a true statement!! God is the Creator of all but not the Father of all and we are not all brothers. Our best evidence for this argument is scripture itself. God is the creator of all humanity as stated in Genesis 1:27 “God created man in His own Image, in the Image of God He created him; male and female He created them”. From this statement from God we see that He created all humanity.
The Bible makes clear the distinction as to which family you belong to; after the Pharisees made the claim that they were children of God because of their ancestry Jesus refuted their claim in John 8:44, He told those who were against Him in verse 42 “If God were your Father you would Love Me”. He then went on to let them know as to what father they had come from; they were from their father the Devil “v 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father”. Jesus made it clear that those who did not recognize “Truth” because He is Truth, did not know God “v 47 He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God”
Adams’ sin broke the relationship we had with God. Sin made us contrary to Him in every regard possible. The Holy Spirit for those who are believers has delivered us from our past slavery to the flesh and has given us the spirit of Adoption as stated in Romans 8:14-17 “14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” We the believers have entered into an intimate relationship whereby we can renounce all previous formalities, we as believers approach God as Abba or “Daddy, Daddy” just like a young child.
How can we logically conclude that everyone is God’s child when so many deny Him as God before we can even get to them accepting Him as Father? There are those as Christians who like the Pharisees claimed that they know God as Father but disregard what the Father has to say to His Children. People deny Christ but still want God. You can’t have one without the other (John 10:30) only those who receive Christ will become children of God. John 1:12 makes this plain “12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. The Lord also makes it plain that the world does not even recognize us(Christians), we are the real extra terrestrial or aliens because we have been born again and we now have a heavenly origin (Eph 1:3-6). God has shown us the greatest love by calling us and bestowing upon us the greatest honor next to the forgiveness of sin and that is the honor of calling us children of God “1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God” (1 John 3:1) Please place your attention on the word “now” at the end of 1 John 3:1; the word now points to the fact that at some point you were not a child of God!!! But now after the Gift of Christ and to those who received the gift we are the Children of God.
In closing I leave you with these words from God as written down by the Apostle John;
“By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God” 1 John 3:10
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Steps Downward
By J Vernon McGee
I want you to notice a philosophy of history that we find in God’s Word. The three steps that precede the downfall of any nation are first of all, religious apostasy; second, there is moral awfulness; and third, political anarchy. These are the three steps downward that all the great nations of the past, lying this moment in rubble and ashes, have taken. Rome, for instance, is the classic example. The historian Gibbon gives five reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The first step down is the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society. Second, higher and higher taxes, the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace. Third, the mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more exciting, more brutal, and more immoral. Fourth, the building of great armaments when the great enemy is within — the decay of individual responsibility. And fifth, the decay of religion, fading into mere form, losing touch with life, losing power to guide the people. These were the downward steps that Rome took, Greece took, and which all the great nations of the past have taken. If God should call America into court today and specify His charges against us, where would He begin?
Political Anarchy
Would He begin with political anarchy? Certainly He could, for the press tells of the open scandal that exists today in high places. In spite of all the smoke, it is obvious to the average citizen that there is some fire. Today in America we have, as I’m sure you recognize, political anarchy. We are in grave danger as a nation. They are trying to doctor that up,trying to patch up the dike by putting in a little plastic here and a little there,and it’s all political expediency. We think if we get a certain party in and a certain party out,or if we get a certain candidate in, we’ve solved the problems of the nation. I do not discuss politics and I’m not doing it now. But, my friend, just changing parties is not what America needs — any more than you can cure cancer by putting on another suit of clothes. God could put His finger down on political anarchy, which is at work in our beloved nation today, but I do not believe that is where He would begin.
Moral Awfulness
Would He begin with moral awfulness? It is obvious that there is a moral breakdown in America that is unprecedented in our history,or the history of any other nation. In one year, Americans have spent 65 billion dollars on alcoholic beverages. Sixty percent of the young people under age 25 have tried some form of illegal drug. Eight billion dollars a year are spent on pornography. Homosexuals have banded together to form one of the most powerful, intimidating forces in politics. One and a half million babies are aborted every year in this country. Surely God could bring a charge of moral awfulness against our nation, but I do not believe that He would begin there. Now when the Lord Jesus came to Jerusalem, He could have spoken to them about the political situation. John the Baptist as a prophet rebuked Herod,the king, but did you notice that the Lord Jesus did not attempt to straighten out Herod? Other than referring to him as “that fox,”He had no word for Herod whatsoever. Have you ever noticed that He did not attempt to correct the moral condition of the city of Jerusalem? It was corrupt. Why,they even brought to Him a woman taken in adultery and He forgave her.
Religious Apostasy
But I’ll tell you where our Lord did put His finger down. It was on religious apostasy. He nearly took the hide off the Pharisees, and they were the fundamentalists of their day. They represented the best in religion. But because their hearts were far from God, they delivered Him to be crucified. Also, in Isaiah’s day, God put His finger down on religious apostasy. In a scathing way He denounced His people:
"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD; I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats." (Isaiah 1:11)
These people had a God-given religion. They had a God-appointed ritual in a God-constructed temple, but they were wrong in that which represented the very best in their religion. They were bringing sacrifices and going through the ritual according to the letter of the Law, but their hearts were in rebellion against God, and their lives were lived in sin. God says, “I don’t want your sacrifices anymore, I don’t want you to bring these vain oblations to Me. I don’t want these things, for the very simple reason that your heart is far from Me.” Oh, my friend, it’s easy to go to church, even be active in the services there, and still have your heart far from God. Where is your heart? Does God have it? Let me paraphrase what God says,“There’s no use coming to church, there’s no use going through the ritual. It’s all a sham and a show — unless your heart is right with Me.” What about your heart?
I want you to notice a philosophy of history that we find in God’s Word. The three steps that precede the downfall of any nation are first of all, religious apostasy; second, there is moral awfulness; and third, political anarchy. These are the three steps downward that all the great nations of the past, lying this moment in rubble and ashes, have taken. Rome, for instance, is the classic example. The historian Gibbon gives five reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The first step down is the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society. Second, higher and higher taxes, the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace. Third, the mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more exciting, more brutal, and more immoral. Fourth, the building of great armaments when the great enemy is within — the decay of individual responsibility. And fifth, the decay of religion, fading into mere form, losing touch with life, losing power to guide the people. These were the downward steps that Rome took, Greece took, and which all the great nations of the past have taken. If God should call America into court today and specify His charges against us, where would He begin?
Political Anarchy
Would He begin with political anarchy? Certainly He could, for the press tells of the open scandal that exists today in high places. In spite of all the smoke, it is obvious to the average citizen that there is some fire. Today in America we have, as I’m sure you recognize, political anarchy. We are in grave danger as a nation. They are trying to doctor that up,trying to patch up the dike by putting in a little plastic here and a little there,and it’s all political expediency. We think if we get a certain party in and a certain party out,or if we get a certain candidate in, we’ve solved the problems of the nation. I do not discuss politics and I’m not doing it now. But, my friend, just changing parties is not what America needs — any more than you can cure cancer by putting on another suit of clothes. God could put His finger down on political anarchy, which is at work in our beloved nation today, but I do not believe that is where He would begin.
Moral Awfulness
Would He begin with moral awfulness? It is obvious that there is a moral breakdown in America that is unprecedented in our history,or the history of any other nation. In one year, Americans have spent 65 billion dollars on alcoholic beverages. Sixty percent of the young people under age 25 have tried some form of illegal drug. Eight billion dollars a year are spent on pornography. Homosexuals have banded together to form one of the most powerful, intimidating forces in politics. One and a half million babies are aborted every year in this country. Surely God could bring a charge of moral awfulness against our nation, but I do not believe that He would begin there. Now when the Lord Jesus came to Jerusalem, He could have spoken to them about the political situation. John the Baptist as a prophet rebuked Herod,the king, but did you notice that the Lord Jesus did not attempt to straighten out Herod? Other than referring to him as “that fox,”He had no word for Herod whatsoever. Have you ever noticed that He did not attempt to correct the moral condition of the city of Jerusalem? It was corrupt. Why,they even brought to Him a woman taken in adultery and He forgave her.
Religious Apostasy
But I’ll tell you where our Lord did put His finger down. It was on religious apostasy. He nearly took the hide off the Pharisees, and they were the fundamentalists of their day. They represented the best in religion. But because their hearts were far from God, they delivered Him to be crucified. Also, in Isaiah’s day, God put His finger down on religious apostasy. In a scathing way He denounced His people:
"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD; I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats." (Isaiah 1:11)
These people had a God-given religion. They had a God-appointed ritual in a God-constructed temple, but they were wrong in that which represented the very best in their religion. They were bringing sacrifices and going through the ritual according to the letter of the Law, but their hearts were in rebellion against God, and their lives were lived in sin. God says, “I don’t want your sacrifices anymore, I don’t want you to bring these vain oblations to Me. I don’t want these things, for the very simple reason that your heart is far from Me.” Oh, my friend, it’s easy to go to church, even be active in the services there, and still have your heart far from God. Where is your heart? Does God have it? Let me paraphrase what God says,“There’s no use coming to church, there’s no use going through the ritual. It’s all a sham and a show — unless your heart is right with Me.” What about your heart?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Everyone must be a Theologian
by
John H. Gerstner
Christian laymen, the average persons sitting in the pew on a Sunday morning, sometimes think they need not be theologians. That, however, is a very great mistake. They do need to be theologians--at least they should be amateur theologians. In fact, that is the one vocation every man is obliged to follow. A layman does not need to be a plumber, a carpenter, a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, a laborer, or a housewife. These are all possibilities, but not necessities. A layman may be one or the other of these as he chooses. But he must be a theologian. This is not an option for him, but a requirement!
A Theologian Is One Who Knows About GodWhy do we say that a layman must be a theologian? Well, let us first realize what a theologian is, that is, an amateur theologian. A theologian is a person who knows about God. A lay theologian is a person who has a true knowledge of God which he understands in non-technical, non-professional, non-academic terms. However, such a person is truly a theologian.
Is it not clear why a layman must necessarily be a theologian? Is there anyone, layman or otherwise, who does not need to know God? Does the Scripture not say, "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3)? It is no mere option, then, with a layman whether or not he will be a theologian, or whether he will have eternal life or not; it is not an option with him whether he will know God or not. The knowledge of God is necessary to eternal life. And if eternal life is necessary for every man, then theology is also necessary for every man.
If a theologian is a person who knows God, then, by reverse reasoning, a person who is not a theologian is a person who does not know God. There is no shame in a layman's being told that he does not know carpentry, or plumbing, or medicine, or law, or teaching, or the ways of a housewife; but there is surely the greatest of shame in a layman's being told that he does not know God. Furthermore, there is more than shame: there is very great danger! The Scripture says that to live apart from God is death. And just as John 17:3 says that it is life eternal to know God and Christ, John 3:36 says that they who do not believe in Jesus shall not see life and, furthermore, that the wrath of God abides on them: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
""Well," the layman may say, "look here, you've slipped in a new term on us. That last passage talks about faith and not knowledge. It says that unless a person 'believes' in the Son. It does not say anything there about knowing Jesus."
True, the passage does not use the word "know." It speaks about "belief" or "faith" rather than "knowledge" or "reason." But have you ever believed in someone or something about which you knew nothing? Is it possible to have faith in Christ unless we know who Christ is? Is it not clear, then, that this passage, though it does not state expressly the necessity of the knowledge of Christ, certainly states it implicitly? So we say that if a person does not have a knowledge of God and Christ it is not only a shame, but a peril to his soul, not only in this life, but in the eternity which begins at death.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Sinnerama[1]
By: Ricardo Barber
If man happened to make a movie about the condition of mankind in this world. What would the title of the movie be? One would probably hear titles like: The Greatness of Man, The God who needs Man, The Goodness of Man revealed in Man, and Do no Evil. There are plenty more to name especially in this postmodern culture. What if God were to title a movie describing the condition of the human race? He already has and also has written the script for it. The Apostle Paul in Romans 1:18-3:20 sets forth the whole world and God’s charge against it. The world is guilty before a Holy God and is digressing away for God. In simple terms the title of the movie would read: Man is a Sinner. Paul is not attempting to prove that man is a sinner, he is stating the fact that he is. The argument statement of this section is the revelation of the wrath of God against all the sins of man and the certainly of its judgment. The brief outline of Romans 1 verses 18-32 are as followed: General Revelation of God revealing His power and Godhead (18-20), Graceless Response of Man revealing his unbelief in God (21-23), Glaring Results of Man from man’s unbelief in God (24-32).
Romans 1:18 reveals the wrath of God, his attitude toward sin is unchanging. Either the sinner will have the righteousness of God or God’s wrath; both are from heaven. Ungodliness denies God’s existence – the state of the soul and unrighteousness is sins against man- the action of the soul.This is how bad sin is, look at the cases of venereal diseases in America. I have statistics that show graphic numbers of great proportions. The CDC releases a report each year on chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, three diseases caused by sexually transmitted bacteria. Chlamydia is the most common. Nearly 1,031,000 cases were reported last year, up from 976,000 the year before.
Romans 1:20 reveal the power and deity of God. Creation is clearly seen and proves the power and existence of God. Paul said this, “ he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness”(Acts 14:17). Man’s sin is not by ignorance, the light of creation leaves him without excuse. There was and is willful rebellion in the presence of clear light.
Romans 1:21-23 shows 7 steps downward for mankind, it shows how man is moving away from God. This is the graceless response of man revealing his unbelief in God. Man goes from knowing God to changing his glory to corruptible images. First man starts off knowing God, he doesn’t improve, get smarter or behave better. The move is downward. Then he glorified him not as God- that’s self-sufficient. “Unthankful,” not recognizing and showing gratitude for what God is doing. Vain Imaginations, their foolish hearts was darkened, professing to be wise, they became fools and finally changing the glory of the incorruptible God into an image.
Now we see the glaring results of man from man’s unbelief in God. In verses 24-32 we see idolatry and gross immorality as the result of rejecting God’s revelation. Three times it says God gave them up which literally means God handed them over. This is abandonment; God is letting sin run its course. Sin is self- destructive and I mentioned earlier about the sexual diseases, AIDS and HIV is proof of the penalty of their error. Women is before man in regards to sexual perversion. Is this for a reason? I believe so. Women are more sensitive and compassionate, through childbearing they have more of a sense of what is natural then men. By Paul mentioning them first it shows the extent of depravity. This list that he states can be found in any newspaper today. Verse 32 shows once again that this is rebellion not ignorance. Is America in this state? I don’t know, a former U.S. Senator states that the average life of the great civilizations of the world has been about 200 years. And they go through the following stages:
From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to courage
From courage to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to selfishness
From selfishness to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy back to bondage
What stage do you think we are in? How long is this nation going to last?
[1] Arguments based on J. Vernon McGee’s commentary “Romans” (Nashville: Nelson, 1991), 35-42.
If man happened to make a movie about the condition of mankind in this world. What would the title of the movie be? One would probably hear titles like: The Greatness of Man, The God who needs Man, The Goodness of Man revealed in Man, and Do no Evil. There are plenty more to name especially in this postmodern culture. What if God were to title a movie describing the condition of the human race? He already has and also has written the script for it. The Apostle Paul in Romans 1:18-3:20 sets forth the whole world and God’s charge against it. The world is guilty before a Holy God and is digressing away for God. In simple terms the title of the movie would read: Man is a Sinner. Paul is not attempting to prove that man is a sinner, he is stating the fact that he is. The argument statement of this section is the revelation of the wrath of God against all the sins of man and the certainly of its judgment. The brief outline of Romans 1 verses 18-32 are as followed: General Revelation of God revealing His power and Godhead (18-20), Graceless Response of Man revealing his unbelief in God (21-23), Glaring Results of Man from man’s unbelief in God (24-32).
Romans 1:18 reveals the wrath of God, his attitude toward sin is unchanging. Either the sinner will have the righteousness of God or God’s wrath; both are from heaven. Ungodliness denies God’s existence – the state of the soul and unrighteousness is sins against man- the action of the soul.This is how bad sin is, look at the cases of venereal diseases in America. I have statistics that show graphic numbers of great proportions. The CDC releases a report each year on chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, three diseases caused by sexually transmitted bacteria. Chlamydia is the most common. Nearly 1,031,000 cases were reported last year, up from 976,000 the year before.
Romans 1:20 reveal the power and deity of God. Creation is clearly seen and proves the power and existence of God. Paul said this, “ he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness”(Acts 14:17). Man’s sin is not by ignorance, the light of creation leaves him without excuse. There was and is willful rebellion in the presence of clear light.
Romans 1:21-23 shows 7 steps downward for mankind, it shows how man is moving away from God. This is the graceless response of man revealing his unbelief in God. Man goes from knowing God to changing his glory to corruptible images. First man starts off knowing God, he doesn’t improve, get smarter or behave better. The move is downward. Then he glorified him not as God- that’s self-sufficient. “Unthankful,” not recognizing and showing gratitude for what God is doing. Vain Imaginations, their foolish hearts was darkened, professing to be wise, they became fools and finally changing the glory of the incorruptible God into an image.
Now we see the glaring results of man from man’s unbelief in God. In verses 24-32 we see idolatry and gross immorality as the result of rejecting God’s revelation. Three times it says God gave them up which literally means God handed them over. This is abandonment; God is letting sin run its course. Sin is self- destructive and I mentioned earlier about the sexual diseases, AIDS and HIV is proof of the penalty of their error. Women is before man in regards to sexual perversion. Is this for a reason? I believe so. Women are more sensitive and compassionate, through childbearing they have more of a sense of what is natural then men. By Paul mentioning them first it shows the extent of depravity. This list that he states can be found in any newspaper today. Verse 32 shows once again that this is rebellion not ignorance. Is America in this state? I don’t know, a former U.S. Senator states that the average life of the great civilizations of the world has been about 200 years. And they go through the following stages:
From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to courage
From courage to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to selfishness
From selfishness to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy back to bondage
What stage do you think we are in? How long is this nation going to last?
[1] Arguments based on J. Vernon McGee’s commentary “Romans” (Nashville: Nelson, 1991), 35-42.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Barak Obama: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Voddie Baucham Ministries
Barack Obama: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Friday, April 18, 2008
Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion candidate ever to run for President. He could not even bring himself to vote for the Born Alive Infant Protection Act which would have protected children born in the process of an abortion. That’s right, Mr. Obama cannot even bring himself to support a plan that simply says to doctors, “If they slip past while you are trying to kill them, you have to let ‘em live.” With this vote, Obama was more pro-abortion than the radical abortion group NARAL.
I am absolutely amazed that at a time when Margaret Sanger’s Darwinian, Eugenics inspired dream of eliminating the poor, the lame, and the inferior races through targeted abortion is being propagated at record rates, black people still support the man who epitomizes her murderous philosophy. Black and hispanic women make up less than 13% of the population, but account for nearly half of all abortions. The overwhelming majority of Planned Parenthood’s abortion mills are located in minority neighborhoods. Abortion is absolutely racist. Yet most blacks have no problem supporting people like Mr. Obama who want to make sure that the killing doesn’t stop.
In his article, “Shepherds Leading the Sheep to Slaughter,” Rev. Clenard Childress notes:
“Here are the birth statistics for African-American babies in the City of Philadelphia just a couple a years ago: 10,880 born, 9,259 aborted. Nearly half or 46% of all babies in the City of Brotherly love were dismembered and brutally killed by means of abortion. Moreover, there are twenty-five other major urban cities in America that report having a higher abortion rate than live birth rate.”
This is absolutely astonishing! The only thing more astonishing is the fact that black clergymen in Philadelphia are supporting Mr. Obama. Then there is the consistent mantra from black supporters of America’s first bi-racial candidate... “I’m just happy to see a black man in this position.” Amazing! That’s like Hitler hiring a Jewish doctor (on his father’s side) to run the human experiments at Dachau and hearing the Jewish prisoners hail the fact that ‘one of their own’ has ascended to such great heights in the Nazi regime.
America is slaughtering children at a rate of about 3,600 per day. Unfortunately, a disproportionate number of those children look just like me. I was born to a single, teenaged black girl in South Central Los Angeles, CA in 1969. I shudder to think about the pressure my mother would have faced were she to find herself in that position in the current moral climate. Today people consistently make the argument that people in my mother’s position would do better to kill people like me before we’re born.
But what about cases of rape? Well, as the father of an adopted son whose biological mother was a rape victim, I say, he didn’t deserve to die either. I praise God his mother realized that he was an innocent party in a terrible tragedy. I am also honored to call him my son. Our second adopted son was born to a fourteen year-old middle school girl who also bucked the odds and gave her baby life.
So many people are more concerned about gas prices than they are about the greatest moral crisis of our day. I’m afraid we are going to get precisely the leadership we deserve. I was just in Munich, Germany where people are paying over $8.00 a gallon and still driving over 100 mph on the Autobahn. Ironically, gas doesn’t cost as much as bottled water, but we are more worried about paying a few bucks at the pump than we are about genocide right under our noses. God help us! Or should I say, God Forgive Us!
Barack Obama: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Friday, April 18, 2008
Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion candidate ever to run for President. He could not even bring himself to vote for the Born Alive Infant Protection Act which would have protected children born in the process of an abortion. That’s right, Mr. Obama cannot even bring himself to support a plan that simply says to doctors, “If they slip past while you are trying to kill them, you have to let ‘em live.” With this vote, Obama was more pro-abortion than the radical abortion group NARAL.
I am absolutely amazed that at a time when Margaret Sanger’s Darwinian, Eugenics inspired dream of eliminating the poor, the lame, and the inferior races through targeted abortion is being propagated at record rates, black people still support the man who epitomizes her murderous philosophy. Black and hispanic women make up less than 13% of the population, but account for nearly half of all abortions. The overwhelming majority of Planned Parenthood’s abortion mills are located in minority neighborhoods. Abortion is absolutely racist. Yet most blacks have no problem supporting people like Mr. Obama who want to make sure that the killing doesn’t stop.
In his article, “Shepherds Leading the Sheep to Slaughter,” Rev. Clenard Childress notes:
“Here are the birth statistics for African-American babies in the City of Philadelphia just a couple a years ago: 10,880 born, 9,259 aborted. Nearly half or 46% of all babies in the City of Brotherly love were dismembered and brutally killed by means of abortion. Moreover, there are twenty-five other major urban cities in America that report having a higher abortion rate than live birth rate.”
This is absolutely astonishing! The only thing more astonishing is the fact that black clergymen in Philadelphia are supporting Mr. Obama. Then there is the consistent mantra from black supporters of America’s first bi-racial candidate... “I’m just happy to see a black man in this position.” Amazing! That’s like Hitler hiring a Jewish doctor (on his father’s side) to run the human experiments at Dachau and hearing the Jewish prisoners hail the fact that ‘one of their own’ has ascended to such great heights in the Nazi regime.
America is slaughtering children at a rate of about 3,600 per day. Unfortunately, a disproportionate number of those children look just like me. I was born to a single, teenaged black girl in South Central Los Angeles, CA in 1969. I shudder to think about the pressure my mother would have faced were she to find herself in that position in the current moral climate. Today people consistently make the argument that people in my mother’s position would do better to kill people like me before we’re born.
But what about cases of rape? Well, as the father of an adopted son whose biological mother was a rape victim, I say, he didn’t deserve to die either. I praise God his mother realized that he was an innocent party in a terrible tragedy. I am also honored to call him my son. Our second adopted son was born to a fourteen year-old middle school girl who also bucked the odds and gave her baby life.
So many people are more concerned about gas prices than they are about the greatest moral crisis of our day. I’m afraid we are going to get precisely the leadership we deserve. I was just in Munich, Germany where people are paying over $8.00 a gallon and still driving over 100 mph on the Autobahn. Ironically, gas doesn’t cost as much as bottled water, but we are more worried about paying a few bucks at the pump than we are about genocide right under our noses. God help us! Or should I say, God Forgive Us!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Importance of Worldview Thinking
By Ricardo Barber
A worldview is the way one sees the world, and from this understanding they think and act out their worldview. A worldview contains a person’s answers to the major questions in life, and Nash suggests that almost all of the questions contain significant philosophical content.[1] The philosophical systems of great thinkers of the past outline their worldviews. Based on these systems we can determine how they view life and the world around them. Since we can categorize personal beliefs and put them in particular worldviews, it helps us better understand a person’s convictions, so our approach toward them will differ from another.
It is a biblical mandate for the Christian to witness. The study of philosophy can help us realize what a person's worldview is and assist them by providing new information that will fill and eliminate inconsistencies in their conceptual system. By removing these errors we push the person closer toward a conceptual scheme that contains Christian theological beliefs by which they can interpret and judge reality rightly. Worldviews contain at least seven elements of beliefs, namely beliefs about God, external reality, knowledge, ethics, human nature, human history, and what happens at death. Worldview thinking has important connections to Christian Theology. “Instead of viewing Christianity as a collection of theological bits and pieces to be believed or debated, individuals should approach it as a conceptual system, as a total world-and-life view,” writes Nash.[2]
Worldview thinking also has significant implications in regards to religiosity. A person cannot separate his beliefs and use them when he pleases, it is rather a dimension of life that shapes and influences everything we do and believe. Religion is an inescapable given in life because all humans have something that concerns them ultimately, and whatever that may be, that object of ultimate concern is that person’s god.[3] No human is religiously neutral quotes Nash from Henry Zylstra’s book Testament of Vision:
"Whether the person in question is an atheistic philosopher offering arguments against the existence of God, or a psychologist attributing belief in God to cognitive malfunction, or an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer attempting another tactic to remove religion from the public square, no human is religiously neutral."[4]
There isn’t a dichotomy that splits religious folk from nonreligious folk. The world is composed of only religious people who have different ultimate concerns and different gods and who respond to the living God in different ways[5]. All persons are “incurably religious,” as John Calvin taught; we just manifest different religious commitments. Nash states that, “This point obliterates much of the usual distinction between sacred and secular. A teacher or a politician who pretends to be religiously neutral is not thinking very deeply.”[6] Christianity isn’t a part of life religion; it is an all of life worldview that has something to say about the whole of human life. Understanding these concepts about worldview thinking can give us a clear view of God and also put us in better position to rationally justify our beliefs and actions in every area of life.
[1] Ronald H. Nash, Life’s Ultimate Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 13.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid, 18.
[4] Ibid, 19.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
Monday, April 28, 2008
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