The links to several articles (below) written by Brent Gideon at Alain's Newsletter are some of the best and most comprehensive articles that diligently expose and explain homosexual propaganda. A warning. No matter who you are, you will probably either be saddened or angered by what you read. But the truth needs to be told and shared with as many people as possible. I have chosen to do just that, despite the vilification and hate that will probably be spewed my way.
Have you ever wondered just what has truly caused, and led to, the current cultural wars that we are experiencing in America today?
Although homosexuality is just one topic of many, it is one that has caused such division and virulent, spewing of hate that many do not want to even become involved in the discussions. I run into this dilemma all the time. Many of my evangelical friends (as loving and well-meaning as they are) think that it is better not to fight against "flesh and blood" but just "let go and let God" (which is not very biblical). But I can't really blame them. One must have a thick skin to allow oneself to be constantly barraged with epithets and accusations of "hate", "homophobia", "bigotry" and any other adjective currently hurled ad nauseum towards Christians today.
Did you happen to see the news broadcasts about the awful spewing of hate that recently came out of the mouth of Mark Leno, a California homosexual legistator from San Francisco? When I find an article about it, I will post it. If you find one, please post it in comments section.
The facts are that our country of America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and ethics. However, there are those who adhere to a leftist, socialist, secular, humanistic mindset and worldview whose ultimate goals are to eliminate the influence of those of us who adhere to God, Jesus and His Word, the Bible! Have you ever wondered how and why they have advanced their cause(s) this far? Brent's excellent, well-researched articles will give you the answers.
I think that every person who calls himself/herself a follower of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior needs to read them! You will be awakened out of the slumber of indoctrination that homosexual activist groups have lulled many otherwise intelligent, rational, and thinking people into!
As I have often suspected, websites like Ex-Gay Watch are often used to directly, or indirectly, vilify and demonize ex-gay people and the ministries that many born-again believers in Jesus Christ have formed to help homosexuals do the following three things:
1. Discontinue unwanted homosexual behavior.
2. Discontinue associating themselves with homosexual identity.
3. Allow their faith in Jesus Christ to give His restorative power through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which can then lead them to the realization that believing they are born gay is a lie from the enemy of our souls. Their true God-given identity at birth is as male or female and this is an undeniable fact.
(Note: Though physical anomalies occasionally occur in some people, such rare cases should not be exploited in order to be used as excuses against the norm.)
I want to share an excerpt from Brent's latest article:
"As I stated in the introduction to this series of articles, a wise propagandist takes measures to ensure that his or her opponent’s viewpoints are suppressed: and that they remain suppressed. This may be effectively achieved by vilifying or demonizing the opponent. When simple disagreement is reduced semantically to the level of “hate,” it raises questions in peoples’ minds about the motives and integrity of those who quite rationally oppose “gay rights.”
Intelligent people recognize that mere disagreement over an issue does not necessarily constitute “hatred.” However, as the word hate has become such an accepted term in socio-political discourse, it doesn’t really matter. Under the purview of so-called “hate crimes” legislation, whenever someone states the truth today about homosexuality they are “guilty” of spreading “hate propaganda” that “promotes genocide.” In other words, telling the truth in some parts of the world has become “committing a crime.” (bold mine)
Those two paragraphs reiterate what I orginally stated about Ex-Gay Watch. No matter how the people there try to spin it, that is exactly what they are about!
And look at this quote:
"“At a later stage …. It will be time to get tough with remaining opponents. To be blunt, THEY MUST BE VILIFIED.”Hunter Kirk and “Erastes Pill,” The Overhauling of Straight America "
Another disturbing quote from Brent's articles:
“[H]OMOPHOBIA IS JUST A PROPAGANDA WORD that gay activists use to ward off attack. It’s an epithet, a scare word that activists use TO SILENCE anyone who does not automatically accept the ‘normalcy’ of same-sex sex. THEY MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A DISEASE, AND IT’S AN EFFECTIVE DEFENSE STRATEGY. If leaders of the gay rights movement can put that handle on anyone who has reasonable reservations about the gay political agenda, then they will turn the tables on critics of the movement.” Charles Socarides, Homosexuality: A Freedom Too Far
Part IV in the article series discusses the term "homophobia" and identifies it as actually being a non-word. Despite this fact, take a look at the end of the article and read what the EU has succombed to through believing and adhering to such blatant propaganda:
"The European Union recently passed a ban on “homophobia.” This means that the EU has the dubious distinction of being the first geo-political entity in the world to use a non-word that describes a nonexistent mental illness to criminalize a large group of people for merely acting on their natural human instincts. I can only imagine the kinds of thoughts presently going through the minds of neo-liberal politicians in North America. The message to these individuals from the conservative and Christian Right must be a resolute and unambiguous “Don’t even think about it!” Amen?
HOMOSEXUAL PROPAGANDA - PART IX: THE MYTHS
HOMOSEXUAL PROPAGANDA – PART VIII: BUZZWORDS, DOUBLETHINK, AND GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES
HOMOSEXUAL PROPAGANDA – PART VII: “FAMILY PARTNER” AND “SIGNIFICANT OTHER”
HOMOSEXUAL PROPAGANDA PART VI: THE “ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE” - OR IS IT A “DEATH STYLE”?
HOMOSEXUAL PROPAGANDA – PART V: “SEXUAL ORIENTATION”
HOMOSEXUAL PROPAGANDA - PART IV: JUST WHAT THE HECK IS “HOMOPHOBIA” ANYWAYS?
HOMOSEXUAL PROPAGANDA - PART III THE “SEXUAL REVOLUTION” AND HOMOSEXUAL ADOPTION OF THE WORD “GAY”
HOMOSEXUAL PROPAGANDA - PART II: THE LANGUAGE OF DELUSION
HOMOSEXUAL PROPAGANDA - PART I: INTRODUCTION
Friday, March 31, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Parallels Between Moses and Jesus
The new Ten Commandments T.V. movie will be broadcast in April. I sincerely hope that re-make of this timeless classic is good (and more importantly, biblically accurate). We shall see.
In preparation for viewing this movie, I thought I'd include a post on the Ten Commandments including a chart of the Scriptures where Jesus reiterated them. Finally, I will include an excerpt from a book I am currently reading, Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee, that shares fascinating parallels between Moses and Jesus.
Exodus 20:1-17
The Ten Commandments
(see also Deut. 5:1-22)
20 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."
The following is a chart that shows the Bible verses and references (from the NIV) comparing what the Ten Commandments said (TC said) in the Old Testament and what Jesus said (J said) in the New Testament Scriptures.
TC said: Exodus 20:3 - "You shall have no other gods before me"
J said: Matthew 4:10 - "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only"
TC said: Exodus 20:4 - "You shall not make for yourself an idol"
J said: Luke 16:13 - "No servant can serve two masters"
TC said: Exodus 20:7 - "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God"
J said: Matthew 5:34 - "Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne"
TC said: Exodus 20:8 - "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy"
J said: Mark 2:27, 28 - "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath"
TC said: Exodus 20:12 - "Honor your father and your mother"
Jesus said: Matthew 10:37 - "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me"
(Note & thought from Christine: Simply, God first, family second - in that order everything works; out of that order not much works.)
TC said: Exodus 20:13 - "You shall not murder"
J said: Matthew 5:22 - "Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment"
TC said: Exodus 20:14 - "You shall not commit adultery"
J said: "Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart"
TC said: Exodus 20:15 - " You shall not steal"
J said: Matthew 5:40 - "If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well"
TC said: Exodus 20:16 - "You shall not give false testimony"
J said: Matthew 12:36 - "Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken"
TC said: Exodus 20:17 - "You shall not covet"
J said: Luke 12;15 - "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed"
There are weeks worth of study that we could do with this comparison! Perhaps I could do a post once a week and discuss each commandment and what Jesus had to say in reference to the Laws stated.
For now, I want to share an excerpt from John Hagee's book that I'm sure you will find enlightening and fascinating!
*******
The Old Testament is filled with promises of many kinds, but "the promises" in Romans 9:4 refer to the promises of redemption to be fulfilled by Messiah, who is Jesus Christ. Saint Paul makes this very clear in Galatians 3.
It was Moses who gave us the first extensive prophetic portrait of the coming Messiah.
In Deuteronomy 18:18-19, Moses brings to Israel the following promise from God:
I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of Him.
In Acts 3:22-26, the apostle Peter explains how this prophecy of Moses applies to Jesus Christ of Nazareth as Israel's Messiah.
For Moses truly said to the fathers, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people." Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed." To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.
Moses' words established three facts:
1. God promised to send to Israel a particular Prophet as a later time. the language Moses uses is singular throughout: "a Prophet"..."Him you shall hear"..."whatever He says." These words cannot describe the later prophets in Israel as a whole. They referred to one special prophet.
2. This prophet would have unique authority! If anyone in Israel refused to harken to his prophet, God would bring judgment upon that person.
3. This Prophet would be like Moses in ways that would distinguish Him from all other prophets. A careful comparison of the lives of the two men reveals many distinct parallels between the lives of Moses and Jesus.
PARALLELS BETWEEN MOSES AND JESUS
(The following verses are the NKJV)
1. Both Moses and Jesus were born in a period when Israel was under foreign rule.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. - Exodus 1:8, 11
Christ Born of Mary
(see also Matt. 1:18-25)
2And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. - Luke 2:1-5
2. Cruel kings decided that both Moses and Jesus should be killed as infants.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live." 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. - Exodus 1:15-17
Massacre of the Innocents
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. - Matthew 2:16
3. The faith of both Moses' and Jesus' parents saved their lives.
2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. - Exodus 2:2-4
The Flight into Egypt
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." - Matthew 2:13-14
4. Both Moses and Jesus found protection for a time with the people of Egypt.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, "Because I drew him out of the water." - Exodus 2:10
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." - Matthew 2:14-15
5. Both Moses and Jesus displayed unusual wisdom and understanding.
22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. - Acts 7:22
46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. - Luke 2:46,47
6. Both Moses' and Jesus' characters were marked by meekness and humility.
3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. - Numbers 12:3
[Jesus said] Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden light. - Matthew 11:28-30
7. Both Moses and Jesus were completely faithful to God.
7 My servant Moses...is faithful in all My hous. - Numbers 12:7
The Son Was Faithful
3 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. 3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. 5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. - Hebrews 3:1-6
8. Both Moses and Jesus were rejected by Israel for a time.
The Gold Calf
(see also Deut. 9:6-29)
32 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." - Exodus 32:1
21 The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"
They said, "Barabbas!"
22 Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"
They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!" - Matthew 27:21-22
9. Both Moses and Jesus were criticized by their brothers and sisters.
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. - Numbers 12:1
5 For even His [Jesus] brothers did not believe in Him. - John 7:5
10. Bother Moses and Jesus were received by Gentiles after being rejected by Israel.
Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh [Egypt] and dwelt in the land of Midian...Then Moses was content to live with the man [Reuel], and he[Reuel] gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses - Exodus 2:15, 21
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us:
'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,
That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.'"*
48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. - Acts 13:44-48
11. Both Moses and Jesus prayed asking forgiveness for God's people.
Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin - but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." - Exodus 32:31-32
Then Jesus said [concerning those who were crucifying him], "Father, forgive them, for they do not know hwat they do." - Luke 23:34
12. Both Moses and Jesus were willing to bear the punishment of God's people.
Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin - but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." - Exodus 32:31-32
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. - 1 Peter 3:18
13. Both Moses and Jesus spoke with God face to face.
Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark saying; and he sees the form of the LORD. - Numbers 12:7-8
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son [Jesus], who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. - John 1:18
14. Both Moses and Jesus went up into a high mountain to have communion with God, taking some of their closest followers with them.
Then Moses went up [to Mount Sinai], also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. - Exodus 24:9-10
Now after six days, Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves...While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" - Matthew 17:1, 5
15. After their mountaintop experiences, both Moses' and Jesus' faces shone with supernatural glory.
34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. - Exodus 34:34-35
And He [Jesus] was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. - Matthew 17:2
16. God spoke audibly from heaven to both Moses and Jesus.
Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. - Exodus 19:19-20
17. Both Moses' and Jesus' places of burial were attended by angels.
Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" - Jude 9
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. - Matthew 2:2, 5-6
18. Both Moses and Jesus appeared alive after their deaths.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them [Jesus, Peter, James, and John], talking with Him. - Matthew 17:3
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were *assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. - John 20:19-20
These are a few of the scriptural comparisons of Moses and Jesus as God's appointed vessels to the nation of Israel. It is evident that God gave promises to the children of Israel and that those promises were kept.
In preparation for viewing this movie, I thought I'd include a post on the Ten Commandments including a chart of the Scriptures where Jesus reiterated them. Finally, I will include an excerpt from a book I am currently reading, Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee, that shares fascinating parallels between Moses and Jesus.
Exodus 20:1-17
The Ten Commandments
(see also Deut. 5:1-22)
20 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."
The following is a chart that shows the Bible verses and references (from the NIV) comparing what the Ten Commandments said (TC said) in the Old Testament and what Jesus said (J said) in the New Testament Scriptures.
TC said: Exodus 20:3 - "You shall have no other gods before me"
J said: Matthew 4:10 - "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only"
TC said: Exodus 20:4 - "You shall not make for yourself an idol"
J said: Luke 16:13 - "No servant can serve two masters"
TC said: Exodus 20:7 - "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God"
J said: Matthew 5:34 - "Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne"
TC said: Exodus 20:8 - "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy"
J said: Mark 2:27, 28 - "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath"
TC said: Exodus 20:12 - "Honor your father and your mother"
Jesus said: Matthew 10:37 - "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me"
(Note & thought from Christine: Simply, God first, family second - in that order everything works; out of that order not much works.)
TC said: Exodus 20:13 - "You shall not murder"
J said: Matthew 5:22 - "Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment"
TC said: Exodus 20:14 - "You shall not commit adultery"
J said: "Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart"
TC said: Exodus 20:15 - " You shall not steal"
J said: Matthew 5:40 - "If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well"
TC said: Exodus 20:16 - "You shall not give false testimony"
J said: Matthew 12:36 - "Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken"
TC said: Exodus 20:17 - "You shall not covet"
J said: Luke 12;15 - "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed"
There are weeks worth of study that we could do with this comparison! Perhaps I could do a post once a week and discuss each commandment and what Jesus had to say in reference to the Laws stated.
For now, I want to share an excerpt from John Hagee's book that I'm sure you will find enlightening and fascinating!
*******
The Old Testament is filled with promises of many kinds, but "the promises" in Romans 9:4 refer to the promises of redemption to be fulfilled by Messiah, who is Jesus Christ. Saint Paul makes this very clear in Galatians 3.
It was Moses who gave us the first extensive prophetic portrait of the coming Messiah.
In Deuteronomy 18:18-19, Moses brings to Israel the following promise from God:
I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of Him.
In Acts 3:22-26, the apostle Peter explains how this prophecy of Moses applies to Jesus Christ of Nazareth as Israel's Messiah.
For Moses truly said to the fathers, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people." Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed." To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.
Moses' words established three facts:
1. God promised to send to Israel a particular Prophet as a later time. the language Moses uses is singular throughout: "a Prophet"..."Him you shall hear"..."whatever He says." These words cannot describe the later prophets in Israel as a whole. They referred to one special prophet.
2. This prophet would have unique authority! If anyone in Israel refused to harken to his prophet, God would bring judgment upon that person.
3. This Prophet would be like Moses in ways that would distinguish Him from all other prophets. A careful comparison of the lives of the two men reveals many distinct parallels between the lives of Moses and Jesus.
PARALLELS BETWEEN MOSES AND JESUS
(The following verses are the NKJV)
1. Both Moses and Jesus were born in a period when Israel was under foreign rule.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. - Exodus 1:8, 11
Christ Born of Mary
(see also Matt. 1:18-25)
2And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. - Luke 2:1-5
2. Cruel kings decided that both Moses and Jesus should be killed as infants.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live." 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. - Exodus 1:15-17
Massacre of the Innocents
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. - Matthew 2:16
3. The faith of both Moses' and Jesus' parents saved their lives.
2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. - Exodus 2:2-4
The Flight into Egypt
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." - Matthew 2:13-14
4. Both Moses and Jesus found protection for a time with the people of Egypt.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, "Because I drew him out of the water." - Exodus 2:10
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." - Matthew 2:14-15
5. Both Moses and Jesus displayed unusual wisdom and understanding.
22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. - Acts 7:22
46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. - Luke 2:46,47
6. Both Moses' and Jesus' characters were marked by meekness and humility.
3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. - Numbers 12:3
[Jesus said] Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden light. - Matthew 11:28-30
7. Both Moses and Jesus were completely faithful to God.
7 My servant Moses...is faithful in all My hous. - Numbers 12:7
The Son Was Faithful
3 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. 3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. 5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. - Hebrews 3:1-6
8. Both Moses and Jesus were rejected by Israel for a time.
The Gold Calf
(see also Deut. 9:6-29)
32 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." - Exodus 32:1
21 The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"
They said, "Barabbas!"
22 Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"
They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!" - Matthew 27:21-22
9. Both Moses and Jesus were criticized by their brothers and sisters.
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. - Numbers 12:1
5 For even His [Jesus] brothers did not believe in Him. - John 7:5
10. Bother Moses and Jesus were received by Gentiles after being rejected by Israel.
Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh [Egypt] and dwelt in the land of Midian...Then Moses was content to live with the man [Reuel], and he[Reuel] gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses - Exodus 2:15, 21
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us:
'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,
That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.'"*
48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. - Acts 13:44-48
11. Both Moses and Jesus prayed asking forgiveness for God's people.
Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin - but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." - Exodus 32:31-32
Then Jesus said [concerning those who were crucifying him], "Father, forgive them, for they do not know hwat they do." - Luke 23:34
12. Both Moses and Jesus were willing to bear the punishment of God's people.
Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin - but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." - Exodus 32:31-32
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. - 1 Peter 3:18
13. Both Moses and Jesus spoke with God face to face.
Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark saying; and he sees the form of the LORD. - Numbers 12:7-8
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son [Jesus], who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. - John 1:18
14. Both Moses and Jesus went up into a high mountain to have communion with God, taking some of their closest followers with them.
Then Moses went up [to Mount Sinai], also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. - Exodus 24:9-10
Now after six days, Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves...While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" - Matthew 17:1, 5
15. After their mountaintop experiences, both Moses' and Jesus' faces shone with supernatural glory.
34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. - Exodus 34:34-35
And He [Jesus] was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. - Matthew 17:2
16. God spoke audibly from heaven to both Moses and Jesus.
Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. - Exodus 19:19-20
17. Both Moses' and Jesus' places of burial were attended by angels.
Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" - Jude 9
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. - Matthew 2:2, 5-6
18. Both Moses and Jesus appeared alive after their deaths.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them [Jesus, Peter, James, and John], talking with Him. - Matthew 17:3
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were *assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. - John 20:19-20
These are a few of the scriptural comparisons of Moses and Jesus as God's appointed vessels to the nation of Israel. It is evident that God gave promises to the children of Israel and that those promises were kept.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Illegal Alien Mobs Take to Our Streets
As I turned the corner at a busy intersection in town yesterday, there was a group of about 25 hispanic people standing there waving a huge Mexican flag. My first thought was, they are waving the wrong flag! This is America! Not Mexico!! My second thought was at least they were peaceable in their demonstration.
When I arrived at my Bible study class, my friend Tammy had witnessed a totally different scenario. She said that a mob of about 100 hispanic students and their supporters were standing on a street near the high school waving the Mexican flag and holding a sign that said, "[The f word] Bush." Some came up to her car window as she was waiting for the traffic light to change and she just shook her head "no" at them.
Tammy said, "These students should be so grateful for permission to be educated here in our country. They need to get back into the classrooms and learn English, history, math, science, etc. We need to pray about this situation."
I agree. Many may be doing this of their own accord, however, I have read that many such students are taking to the streets at the urging of adults with a political agenda. They shouldn't be pushed into being used as political pawns by adult radicals!
This is not right. There is something terribly wrong with these actions and when you read this comprehensive article, Illegal Alien Mobs Take to Our Streets...Demanding U.S. Citizens' Rights, you will understand how outrageous it is for them to demonstrate in this way and how crazy their demands actually are!
Tom Tancredo, a U.S. Congressman who has been on the front lines in the fight against illegal immigration said something similar to this: "... these demonstrations are angering most thinking Americans and will leave a bad taste in the mouths of most citizens. I think that these fraudulent demands and ridiculous demonstrations will only backfire against them."
I think he is right.
Not that any intelligent American would do this, but imagine if a group of Americans drove down to Mexico demanding amnesty for illegal immigration and citizens rights, waved our American flag and a sign that said, "[f-word Vicente Fox]"? Totally ridiculous you might think?
That's the point!
If they hate President Bush so much and our system of government that is based on laws that include correct and legal ways to immigrate into this country then why don't they go back to Mexico where they belong!!
When I arrived at my Bible study class, my friend Tammy had witnessed a totally different scenario. She said that a mob of about 100 hispanic students and their supporters were standing on a street near the high school waving the Mexican flag and holding a sign that said, "[The f word] Bush." Some came up to her car window as she was waiting for the traffic light to change and she just shook her head "no" at them.
Tammy said, "These students should be so grateful for permission to be educated here in our country. They need to get back into the classrooms and learn English, history, math, science, etc. We need to pray about this situation."
I agree. Many may be doing this of their own accord, however, I have read that many such students are taking to the streets at the urging of adults with a political agenda. They shouldn't be pushed into being used as political pawns by adult radicals!
This is not right. There is something terribly wrong with these actions and when you read this comprehensive article, Illegal Alien Mobs Take to Our Streets...Demanding U.S. Citizens' Rights, you will understand how outrageous it is for them to demonstrate in this way and how crazy their demands actually are!
Tom Tancredo, a U.S. Congressman who has been on the front lines in the fight against illegal immigration said something similar to this: "... these demonstrations are angering most thinking Americans and will leave a bad taste in the mouths of most citizens. I think that these fraudulent demands and ridiculous demonstrations will only backfire against them."
I think he is right.
Not that any intelligent American would do this, but imagine if a group of Americans drove down to Mexico demanding amnesty for illegal immigration and citizens rights, waved our American flag and a sign that said, "[f-word Vicente Fox]"? Totally ridiculous you might think?
That's the point!
If they hate President Bush so much and our system of government that is based on laws that include correct and legal ways to immigrate into this country then why don't they go back to Mexico where they belong!!
Want to be outraged even more?
See Michele Malkin's THE AMERICAN FLAG COMES SECOND
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Lower Nature vs. Higher Nature of God
David Kupelian, once again, has written another brilliant article. It is quite long in that it starts off explaining what is behind the current epidemic of teacher-student sex. You can go the the site and read the entire article. In the preface, we read:
"Editor's note: In light of the sensational dismissal of charges against Debra Lafave, the Florida teacher who committed statutory rape on her 14-year-old student, WND is publishing the following story, featured in the current issue of Whistleblower magazine in an issue titled "PREDATORS." David Kupelian's exposé is one of 15 in this groundbreaking investigative report on teachers who sexually prey on their students – a hidden scandal experts say is much larger than the clergy sex scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church."
I brought over the latter portion of the article because I found it quite enlightening and truthful. The fact that our sexual nature often succombs towards aberrant, sinful behavior (which is inevitably tied in with our Fallen nature) is nothing new. However, David's biblically-based explanation of why we currently have this huge explosion of sexual immorality and an epidemic of sexual predators in our nation today is the part that I want to focus on in this post.
Here is the excerpt from his article:
"Some people, wrongly believing mankind's universal embarrassment over their private parts (yes, "universal" – even in darkest Africa the natives wear loin-cloths) represents an unhealthy shame toward their own bodies, embrace nudity as a philosophy and lifestyle. But they have misinterpreted the embarrassment and abandoned a core truth, namely: The fact that humans have embarrassment over sex and need to keep themselves covered all the time is not some repressive Victorian hang-up over sex. Rather, it is evidence – a very important and powerful clue, and one we better interpret correctly – that our sexual nature somehow is tied in with our – gasp! – fallen "animal" nature.
You see, the truth is, we're not just animals, like goats. We have two natures – an animal nature that eats and procreates, and a spiritual, eternal soul that survives this life.
If we were only animals, then this article would be over and all the concerns expressed earlier about sexual predators would be wrongheaded, the prosecutions unjust, the incarcerations cruel, the stigma undeserved. If we are only animals, there is simply nothing at all wrong with 43-year-old teachers having sex with their 13-year-old students, as long as it is "consensual."
Moreover, if we are just animals, then all consensual sexual activity – any place, any time, any type – is fine, just like with my children's goats.
In that case, of course, when we die we just get buried in the ground and that's the end of us. No afterlife, no soul or consciousness surviving the dissolution of our bodies, no ultimate standard of right and wrong, and no ultimate accountability before the Creator for the way we’ve lived our lives. Just a nice meal for worms.
Is that what you believe? Many people do. That’s what ex-Beatle John Lennon was preaching in his New Age anthem: "Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky."
For many, this all-consuming obsession with denying God, Judeo-Christian values and our own immortal souls centers around one thing only. Do you know what it is? Do you know what most of the hostility we see toward Christianity in today's culture is actually based on? It's not because following Jesus Christ means we must love one another, feed the poor or comfort the sick. After all, no one is threatened by those things. Rather, at the root of so much loathing toward Christianity and the Bible is what they have to say about sex.
The Old Testament book of Leviticus, for instance, is full of detailed laws and prohibitions regarding sexuality and sexual behavior. Why is this so? What on earth did sexual behavior have to do with God setting the House of Israel apart from the rest of the pagan world so it could be worthy of His special blessing and destiny?
"Why can't we all just be nice to each other," you might wonder, "and have as much sex as we want, with whomever we want, whenever and however we want, as long as it's consensual? And why can’t we call that good, righteous and loving?"
Very simply, how do we know sex outside of marriage – whether it be adultery or premarital sex or homosexuality or teachers seducing kids – is wrong, a sin before God and an offense to our fellow human beings?
For one thing, God has provided some major clues for us, the obvious implications of which we somehow manage to ignore – just like the elephant in the parlor.
For some, the most persuasive clues are in the Bible. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are unequivocal and total in their condemnation of homosexual sex, of fornication (a term rarely used any more), of adultery. Jesus raises the bar the highest when He says: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28 KJV)."
But the Bible is not the only clue. As I tell my kids, biblical truths are reflected in everyday life. So, stealing and murder and lying aren’t wrong just because the Bible says so. Rather, the Bible says stealing and murder and lying are wrong because they are wrong. They were always wrong – and the Bible testifies to that timeless Truth that predates the Bible itself. (Remember, in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob's time there was no Bible.)
Thus, the wrongness of sexual immorality should also be as self-evident as the wrongness of stealing or murder.
What? You say you can see that stealing, lying and murder are wrong because they result in victims, but you can't see that premarital or homosexual sex is wrong because you can't see the victim?
Let's look at a few more clues.
Here's a stunningly obvious one: Sex has the potential to produce offspring. And since the evidence is irrefutable that children need both a father and a mother, as well as a stable, long-term, loving home life, this one clue alone leads inexorably to the conclusion that sex is meant only for a committed heterosexual marriage.
Another clue: A ghoulish smorgasbord of sexually transmitted diseases – many incurable, like AIDS, herpes and human papilloma virus (thought to be one of the main causes of cervical cancer), as well as hepatitis, syphilis, Chlamydia, gonorrhea and a host of others – is a pretty darn good indicator that we weren't meant to have wanton, rampant sex.
Still another clue: Millions of dead babies – over a million a year just in the U.S. Recent news reports document that in Zimbabwe dead babies clog up the sewers in the capital of Harare, so many are flushed down toilets and dumped in drains. Getting pregnant when we don't want children tempts us to kill our offspring.
Let's stop for a minute and ask: Just how obvious do clues need to be before we figure out the message? Horrible plagues and millions of unwanted babies seem like pretty good indicators that God didn't intend for us to use our bodies the way many of us do. And yet, in our cleverness we find ways to circumvent these divine roadblocks by way of artificial birth control, abortion, alternative sexual acts and so on. But we're still just making an absurd end-run around God and His obvious restrictions on sex.
Another way we know extramarital sex is wrong is simply because it's pure selfishness and self-gratification. In marriage, there is commitment, sacrifice, self-control, personal growth, mutual respect. In non-married sex there is nothing but use – using the other person in an attempt to fulfill ourselves. Without commitment, there cannot be love. Sorry, the truth hurts.
The Bible admonishes us mortals to choose sides, between life and death, between good and evil. Most often, that choice takes the form of choosing to side with our higher nature against our own lower nature. Satanism and other worldviews based on deception and seduction have always taught the opposite: Side with your lower nature against your higher nature, a conflict Satanists (and yes, they exist) blame on a vengeful, capricious and cruel God ("Why did he create us with all these powerful urges and drives, only to forbid their expression?")
In our culture today – like latter-day Narnia – the prevailing mindset is, increasingly, to mock and demonize those who rebuke our growing infatuation with our lower nature.
At the center of this struggle is sex – one of the greatest mysteries of life. If we never understand sex, we never understand life. For many of us, unfortunately, our understanding has been hijacked by the 1960s cultural and sexual revolution, which was based on lies.
Yes, lies. The sexual revolution glorified the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization and the morality at its core. Like all revolutions, it seemed sweet at the time. Do you remember?
It seemed so promising, so genuine, so liberating. Boomers will remember 1967's "Summer of Love" in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. A hundred thousand young "flower people" flocked to the West Coast mecca of the hippie revolution. Scott McKenzie sang, "If you're going to San Francisco, Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. If you're going to San Francisco, You're gonna meet some gentle people there." Free love and expanded consciousness (with the help of marijuana and LSD) would save our nation from the ravages of war and the greedy materialism that led to conflict. It was beautiful, otherworldly – or so it seemed.
But somehow, just a few short years later, the flowers had faded and Haight-Ashbury was transformed into a scene of crazed, meth-addicted hippies with human degradation and venereal disease and crime everywhere. Already, the toxicity of the '60s revolution was becoming apparent. Today, that cancer has metastasized throughout our culture to the point that children have sex in the school auditorium.
Funny thing about lie-based revolutions. They all turn out bad. Communist revolutions promise freedom and equality, but deliver despotism and misery and death. In the exact same way, the sexual liberation movement, which offered freedom, equality, self-fulfillment and pleasure, has just about destroyed America.
So, where do we go from here? Quo vadis?
If we just go along with whatever compulsions and drives we see rising up in us, and wallow in them, and justify them, and condemn anybody who says otherwise, we're living as animals, not humans.
And believe me, that's not truly living. Unless, of course, you're a goat."
*******
I love this quote from C.S. Lewis:
"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." – C.S. Lewis
The trouble today is that ungodly people focus on only the body and it's pleasures; to the detriment of neglecting their Creator, God and their eternal soul.
Jesus said,"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? " Mark 8:36 KJV
Titus 2:12 (KJV) - "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;"
Several verses in Titus are very valuable in describing how we are trained by saving grace:
"11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
15 Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you." Titus 2:11-15 (NKJV)
The current rejection of Judeo-Christian morality, ethics and values have created the cesspool of raging sin that currently grips our nation's young people into the bondage of "ungodliness and worldly lusts."
I heard a news story where teens and twenty-something year olds are "bored with regular sex" and desire new and more exciting versions. Ever hear of a cuddle puddle? There was even a scene on regular national T.V. that showed a teenage sexual orgie. Is this what we want for our children and grandchildren to grow up in?
Titus 2:1-8 tells us how good church conduct and the proper upbringing of children in the home can benefit them now and through adulthood:
2But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: 2 that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; 3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-- 4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
6 Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, 7 in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility,* 8 sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of *you.
Footnotes:
2:7
NU-Text omits incorruptibility.
2:8
NU-Text and M-Text read us.
Isn't it fascinating that the "NU-Text omits 'incorruptibility'? Isn't that what modern secular humanism would like to do?
Notice what the original KJV says on verse 2:7 -
Titus 2:7 (KJV) - In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine [shewing] uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
It's interesting to note terms that are synonymous with the term "corrupt" from a college thesaurus:
1. dishonest
2. dishonorable
3. crooked
4. shady
5. unscrupulous
6. fradulent
7. unethical
8. unprincipled
9. base
10. immoral
11. depraved
12. debased
13. iniquitous
14. mean
15. low
16. sinful
17. evil
18. subvert
19. lead astray
20. debauch
21. contaminate
22. poison
23. pervert
24. seduce
The antonyms of corrupt include:
1. honest
2. honorable
3. upright
4. ethical
5. principled
6. scrupulous
7. righteous
8. noble
9. high-minded
10. reform
11. uplift
The antonyms of corruption include (many of the above plus):
1. trustworthiness
2. integrity
3. goodness
4. good
5. righteousness
6. morality
7. purity
Scripture says it best. After all, it is the Word of God that lasts for eternity.
Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) - For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The physical world was created by God and His Word.
Hebrews 11:3 (KJV) Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
God's Word is incorruptible, unlike the words of deceived man:
1 Peter 1:23 (KJV) - Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Proverbs 30:5 (KJV) - Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
God's Word is even more important to our spiritual life than the food we eat is to our physical life:
Luke 4:4 (KJV) - And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
The importance of knowing the Word of God is indisputable:
Luk 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Luk 8:21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
Luk 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed [are] they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Jhn 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Faith comes as a result of hearing and knowing the Word of God:
Romans 10:17 (KJV) - So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Christ is Lord over all; even those who refuse to acknowledge Him:
Acts 10:36 (KJV) - The word which [God] sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
There are over 107 verses discussing the "Word of God." Here is one that emphasizes the importance of keeping God's Word:
1 John 2:5 (KJV) - But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Philippians 4:1-8, some of my favorite verses, share the importance of guarding our hearts in Christ Jesus and how to gain the peace of God:
4 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
Be United, Joyful, and in Prayer
2 I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 *And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Meditate on These Things
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.
9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
"Editor's note: In light of the sensational dismissal of charges against Debra Lafave, the Florida teacher who committed statutory rape on her 14-year-old student, WND is publishing the following story, featured in the current issue of Whistleblower magazine in an issue titled "PREDATORS." David Kupelian's exposé is one of 15 in this groundbreaking investigative report on teachers who sexually prey on their students – a hidden scandal experts say is much larger than the clergy sex scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church."
I brought over the latter portion of the article because I found it quite enlightening and truthful. The fact that our sexual nature often succombs towards aberrant, sinful behavior (which is inevitably tied in with our Fallen nature) is nothing new. However, David's biblically-based explanation of why we currently have this huge explosion of sexual immorality and an epidemic of sexual predators in our nation today is the part that I want to focus on in this post.
Here is the excerpt from his article:
"Some people, wrongly believing mankind's universal embarrassment over their private parts (yes, "universal" – even in darkest Africa the natives wear loin-cloths) represents an unhealthy shame toward their own bodies, embrace nudity as a philosophy and lifestyle. But they have misinterpreted the embarrassment and abandoned a core truth, namely: The fact that humans have embarrassment over sex and need to keep themselves covered all the time is not some repressive Victorian hang-up over sex. Rather, it is evidence – a very important and powerful clue, and one we better interpret correctly – that our sexual nature somehow is tied in with our – gasp! – fallen "animal" nature.
You see, the truth is, we're not just animals, like goats. We have two natures – an animal nature that eats and procreates, and a spiritual, eternal soul that survives this life.
If we were only animals, then this article would be over and all the concerns expressed earlier about sexual predators would be wrongheaded, the prosecutions unjust, the incarcerations cruel, the stigma undeserved. If we are only animals, there is simply nothing at all wrong with 43-year-old teachers having sex with their 13-year-old students, as long as it is "consensual."
Moreover, if we are just animals, then all consensual sexual activity – any place, any time, any type – is fine, just like with my children's goats.
In that case, of course, when we die we just get buried in the ground and that's the end of us. No afterlife, no soul or consciousness surviving the dissolution of our bodies, no ultimate standard of right and wrong, and no ultimate accountability before the Creator for the way we’ve lived our lives. Just a nice meal for worms.
Is that what you believe? Many people do. That’s what ex-Beatle John Lennon was preaching in his New Age anthem: "Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky."
For many, this all-consuming obsession with denying God, Judeo-Christian values and our own immortal souls centers around one thing only. Do you know what it is? Do you know what most of the hostility we see toward Christianity in today's culture is actually based on? It's not because following Jesus Christ means we must love one another, feed the poor or comfort the sick. After all, no one is threatened by those things. Rather, at the root of so much loathing toward Christianity and the Bible is what they have to say about sex.
The Old Testament book of Leviticus, for instance, is full of detailed laws and prohibitions regarding sexuality and sexual behavior. Why is this so? What on earth did sexual behavior have to do with God setting the House of Israel apart from the rest of the pagan world so it could be worthy of His special blessing and destiny?
"Why can't we all just be nice to each other," you might wonder, "and have as much sex as we want, with whomever we want, whenever and however we want, as long as it's consensual? And why can’t we call that good, righteous and loving?"
Very simply, how do we know sex outside of marriage – whether it be adultery or premarital sex or homosexuality or teachers seducing kids – is wrong, a sin before God and an offense to our fellow human beings?
For one thing, God has provided some major clues for us, the obvious implications of which we somehow manage to ignore – just like the elephant in the parlor.
For some, the most persuasive clues are in the Bible. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are unequivocal and total in their condemnation of homosexual sex, of fornication (a term rarely used any more), of adultery. Jesus raises the bar the highest when He says: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28 KJV)."
But the Bible is not the only clue. As I tell my kids, biblical truths are reflected in everyday life. So, stealing and murder and lying aren’t wrong just because the Bible says so. Rather, the Bible says stealing and murder and lying are wrong because they are wrong. They were always wrong – and the Bible testifies to that timeless Truth that predates the Bible itself. (Remember, in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob's time there was no Bible.)
Thus, the wrongness of sexual immorality should also be as self-evident as the wrongness of stealing or murder.
What? You say you can see that stealing, lying and murder are wrong because they result in victims, but you can't see that premarital or homosexual sex is wrong because you can't see the victim?
Let's look at a few more clues.
Here's a stunningly obvious one: Sex has the potential to produce offspring. And since the evidence is irrefutable that children need both a father and a mother, as well as a stable, long-term, loving home life, this one clue alone leads inexorably to the conclusion that sex is meant only for a committed heterosexual marriage.
Another clue: A ghoulish smorgasbord of sexually transmitted diseases – many incurable, like AIDS, herpes and human papilloma virus (thought to be one of the main causes of cervical cancer), as well as hepatitis, syphilis, Chlamydia, gonorrhea and a host of others – is a pretty darn good indicator that we weren't meant to have wanton, rampant sex.
Still another clue: Millions of dead babies – over a million a year just in the U.S. Recent news reports document that in Zimbabwe dead babies clog up the sewers in the capital of Harare, so many are flushed down toilets and dumped in drains. Getting pregnant when we don't want children tempts us to kill our offspring.
Let's stop for a minute and ask: Just how obvious do clues need to be before we figure out the message? Horrible plagues and millions of unwanted babies seem like pretty good indicators that God didn't intend for us to use our bodies the way many of us do. And yet, in our cleverness we find ways to circumvent these divine roadblocks by way of artificial birth control, abortion, alternative sexual acts and so on. But we're still just making an absurd end-run around God and His obvious restrictions on sex.
Another way we know extramarital sex is wrong is simply because it's pure selfishness and self-gratification. In marriage, there is commitment, sacrifice, self-control, personal growth, mutual respect. In non-married sex there is nothing but use – using the other person in an attempt to fulfill ourselves. Without commitment, there cannot be love. Sorry, the truth hurts.
The Bible admonishes us mortals to choose sides, between life and death, between good and evil. Most often, that choice takes the form of choosing to side with our higher nature against our own lower nature. Satanism and other worldviews based on deception and seduction have always taught the opposite: Side with your lower nature against your higher nature, a conflict Satanists (and yes, they exist) blame on a vengeful, capricious and cruel God ("Why did he create us with all these powerful urges and drives, only to forbid their expression?")
In our culture today – like latter-day Narnia – the prevailing mindset is, increasingly, to mock and demonize those who rebuke our growing infatuation with our lower nature.
At the center of this struggle is sex – one of the greatest mysteries of life. If we never understand sex, we never understand life. For many of us, unfortunately, our understanding has been hijacked by the 1960s cultural and sexual revolution, which was based on lies.
Yes, lies. The sexual revolution glorified the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization and the morality at its core. Like all revolutions, it seemed sweet at the time. Do you remember?
It seemed so promising, so genuine, so liberating. Boomers will remember 1967's "Summer of Love" in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. A hundred thousand young "flower people" flocked to the West Coast mecca of the hippie revolution. Scott McKenzie sang, "If you're going to San Francisco, Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. If you're going to San Francisco, You're gonna meet some gentle people there." Free love and expanded consciousness (with the help of marijuana and LSD) would save our nation from the ravages of war and the greedy materialism that led to conflict. It was beautiful, otherworldly – or so it seemed.
But somehow, just a few short years later, the flowers had faded and Haight-Ashbury was transformed into a scene of crazed, meth-addicted hippies with human degradation and venereal disease and crime everywhere. Already, the toxicity of the '60s revolution was becoming apparent. Today, that cancer has metastasized throughout our culture to the point that children have sex in the school auditorium.
Funny thing about lie-based revolutions. They all turn out bad. Communist revolutions promise freedom and equality, but deliver despotism and misery and death. In the exact same way, the sexual liberation movement, which offered freedom, equality, self-fulfillment and pleasure, has just about destroyed America.
So, where do we go from here? Quo vadis?
If we just go along with whatever compulsions and drives we see rising up in us, and wallow in them, and justify them, and condemn anybody who says otherwise, we're living as animals, not humans.
And believe me, that's not truly living. Unless, of course, you're a goat."
*******
I love this quote from C.S. Lewis:
"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." – C.S. Lewis
The trouble today is that ungodly people focus on only the body and it's pleasures; to the detriment of neglecting their Creator, God and their eternal soul.
Jesus said,"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? " Mark 8:36 KJV
Titus 2:12 (KJV) - "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;"
Several verses in Titus are very valuable in describing how we are trained by saving grace:
"11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
15 Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you." Titus 2:11-15 (NKJV)
The current rejection of Judeo-Christian morality, ethics and values have created the cesspool of raging sin that currently grips our nation's young people into the bondage of "ungodliness and worldly lusts."
I heard a news story where teens and twenty-something year olds are "bored with regular sex" and desire new and more exciting versions. Ever hear of a cuddle puddle? There was even a scene on regular national T.V. that showed a teenage sexual orgie. Is this what we want for our children and grandchildren to grow up in?
Titus 2:1-8 tells us how good church conduct and the proper upbringing of children in the home can benefit them now and through adulthood:
2But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: 2 that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; 3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-- 4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
6 Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, 7 in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility,* 8 sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of *you.
Footnotes:
2:7
NU-Text omits incorruptibility.
2:8
NU-Text and M-Text read us.
Isn't it fascinating that the "NU-Text omits 'incorruptibility'? Isn't that what modern secular humanism would like to do?
Notice what the original KJV says on verse 2:7 -
Titus 2:7 (KJV) - In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine [shewing] uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
It's interesting to note terms that are synonymous with the term "corrupt" from a college thesaurus:
1. dishonest
2. dishonorable
3. crooked
4. shady
5. unscrupulous
6. fradulent
7. unethical
8. unprincipled
9. base
10. immoral
11. depraved
12. debased
13. iniquitous
14. mean
15. low
16. sinful
17. evil
18. subvert
19. lead astray
20. debauch
21. contaminate
22. poison
23. pervert
24. seduce
The antonyms of corrupt include:
1. honest
2. honorable
3. upright
4. ethical
5. principled
6. scrupulous
7. righteous
8. noble
9. high-minded
10. reform
11. uplift
The antonyms of corruption include (many of the above plus):
1. trustworthiness
2. integrity
3. goodness
4. good
5. righteousness
6. morality
7. purity
Scripture says it best. After all, it is the Word of God that lasts for eternity.
Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) - For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The physical world was created by God and His Word.
Hebrews 11:3 (KJV) Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
God's Word is incorruptible, unlike the words of deceived man:
1 Peter 1:23 (KJV) - Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Proverbs 30:5 (KJV) - Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
God's Word is even more important to our spiritual life than the food we eat is to our physical life:
Luke 4:4 (KJV) - And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
The importance of knowing the Word of God is indisputable:
Luk 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Luk 8:21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
Luk 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed [are] they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Jhn 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Faith comes as a result of hearing and knowing the Word of God:
Romans 10:17 (KJV) - So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Christ is Lord over all; even those who refuse to acknowledge Him:
Acts 10:36 (KJV) - The word which [God] sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
There are over 107 verses discussing the "Word of God." Here is one that emphasizes the importance of keeping God's Word:
1 John 2:5 (KJV) - But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Philippians 4:1-8, some of my favorite verses, share the importance of guarding our hearts in Christ Jesus and how to gain the peace of God:
4 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
Be United, Joyful, and in Prayer
2 I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 *And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Meditate on These Things
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.
9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
The Madness of 'Sharia Law'
Two articles at WorldNetDaily indicate that Kabul may drop the case against Abdul Rahman who is a strong believer in Jesus Christ. The Afghan prosecutors are deperately searching for a way to drop the controversial case and seem to have settled on declaring Rahman "mad."
So, just who are the mad ones in this story? Just what is their so-called "Sharia Law" considered to be if not true madness?
Sheesh!!
According to reports, the man converted to Christianity over 16 years ago...now they decide to prosecute him and give him the death penalty sentence? They are the ones who are insane!
I received the following email message and was asked to pass it along to as many as possible, so here is what you can do to help Abdul Rahman:
ALERT: Sixteen years ago, Abdul Rahman, a Muslim from Afghanistan, converted to Christianity while living in Pakistan.
Six years later, the murderous Taliban took power in Afghanistan. Under their oppressive Islamofascist rule, those promoting Christianity in that country could be arrested... and anyone actually converting from Islam could be tortured and publicly executed.
In 2001, one month after the 9/11 attacks, American and allied forces liberated the people of Afghanistan in "Operation Enduring Freedom," marking the beginning of the War on Terror. The Taliban's religious repression was gone, and Abdul Rahman moved back home.
Last month, he was arrested by Afghan authorities for converting from Islam... and now faces the death penalty.
You read that right: in the country we liberated, they're preparing to execute a man for converting from Islam to Christianity.
Is this the "Enduring Freedom" our troops sacrificed so much for? Of course not -- something MUST be done to prevent this travesty.
TAKE ACTION: Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) has written to the government of Afghanistan, saying, "In a country where soldiers from all faiths, including Christianity, are dying in defense of your government, I find it outrageous that Mr. Rahman is being prosecuted and facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity." Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah says that the Afghan Embassy in Washington had received "hundreds of messages" on the issue.
Obviously, IT'S NOT ENOUGH. We need to join OUR voices together to protest this OUTRAGE of religious persecution. Click below NOW to send a message directly to the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C., demanding that President Hamid Karzai STOP these proceedings against Abdul Rahman, and move to ensure TRUE freedom of religion in this new democratic republic:
Send a message to the Afghan Embassy.
NOTE: The name "Abdul Rahman" is Arabic for "Servant of the Merciful". Abdul refuses to renounce his beliefs, responding "I am a Christian and I believe in Jesus Christ." Doesn't he deserve the support of ALL of us who cherish freedom?
Be sure to send this Alert to EVERYONE you know who wants to help save the life of a Christian in Afghanistan. Thank you!
Sincerely,
William Greene, President
RightMarch.com
So, just who are the mad ones in this story? Just what is their so-called "Sharia Law" considered to be if not true madness?
Sheesh!!
According to reports, the man converted to Christianity over 16 years ago...now they decide to prosecute him and give him the death penalty sentence? They are the ones who are insane!
I received the following email message and was asked to pass it along to as many as possible, so here is what you can do to help Abdul Rahman:
ALERT: Sixteen years ago, Abdul Rahman, a Muslim from Afghanistan, converted to Christianity while living in Pakistan.
Six years later, the murderous Taliban took power in Afghanistan. Under their oppressive Islamofascist rule, those promoting Christianity in that country could be arrested... and anyone actually converting from Islam could be tortured and publicly executed.
In 2001, one month after the 9/11 attacks, American and allied forces liberated the people of Afghanistan in "Operation Enduring Freedom," marking the beginning of the War on Terror. The Taliban's religious repression was gone, and Abdul Rahman moved back home.
Last month, he was arrested by Afghan authorities for converting from Islam... and now faces the death penalty.
You read that right: in the country we liberated, they're preparing to execute a man for converting from Islam to Christianity.
Is this the "Enduring Freedom" our troops sacrificed so much for? Of course not -- something MUST be done to prevent this travesty.
TAKE ACTION: Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) has written to the government of Afghanistan, saying, "In a country where soldiers from all faiths, including Christianity, are dying in defense of your government, I find it outrageous that Mr. Rahman is being prosecuted and facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity." Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah says that the Afghan Embassy in Washington had received "hundreds of messages" on the issue.
Obviously, IT'S NOT ENOUGH. We need to join OUR voices together to protest this OUTRAGE of religious persecution. Click below NOW to send a message directly to the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C., demanding that President Hamid Karzai STOP these proceedings against Abdul Rahman, and move to ensure TRUE freedom of religion in this new democratic republic:
Send a message to the Afghan Embassy.
NOTE: The name "Abdul Rahman" is Arabic for "Servant of the Merciful". Abdul refuses to renounce his beliefs, responding "I am a Christian and I believe in Jesus Christ." Doesn't he deserve the support of ALL of us who cherish freedom?
Be sure to send this Alert to EVERYONE you know who wants to help save the life of a Christian in Afghanistan. Thank you!
Sincerely,
William Greene, President
RightMarch.com
True Sexual Morality - A Book for our time
How pagan sexuality is destroying our society - and why only a return to Biblical sexual ethics can save us.
True Sexual Morality
by Daniel R. Heimbach
Is the traditional approach to sexual morality, originally found in Scripture, unchangingly true for everyone? Or is it a product of human imagination and nothing more? The answer, writes Christian ethicist Daniel Heimbach, makes all the difference in the world: "If the traditional approach was made up by men, then it makes perfect sense to reject everything it restricts in favor of doing whatever people want. But if sex was designed by a creator who assigned rules for how we should use it, those standards apply to everyone, and rejecting them is horribly wicked and dangerous."
Now, in True Sexual Morality: Recovering Biblical Standards for a Culture in Crisis, Professor Heimbach examines the biblical teachings on sexual morality as well as four counterfeit views that have crept into our "sexually revolutionized" society. He also gives an in-depth look at the moral relativism that has spread through our culture, and reveals the effects that nonbiblical sexual choices have on individuals, the family, the church, and the culture.
"Sexual morality," writes Heimbach, "is the most important moral-spiritual issue of our time because it is the pivot on which the foundations of American culture as a whole are being turned from genuine moral-spiritual truth to the complete reverse. And because the future of social and religious life in America, and perhaps even the survival of America herself, is at stake, powerful forces are battling in opposite directions -- one using sexual revolution to shift American cultural foundations in a pagan direction, and one resisting sexual revolution to keep the order we have from crumbling."
Among the topics covered here:
*Sexual Chaos in the Culture
*The Return of Sexual Paganism
* The Biblical View of Sexual Morality
* How Biblical Holiness Defines Moral Sex
* How Biblical Principles Shape Moral Sex
* How Biblical Prohibitions Guard Moral Sex
* How Biblical Promises Bless Moral Sex
* Counterfeit Views of Sexual Morality
* Romantic Sexual Morality: Sex as Affection
* Playboy Sexual Morality: Sex as Pleasure
* Therapeutic Sexual Morality: Sex as Wholeness
* Pagan Sexual Morality: Sex as Spiritual Life
* What About the Future?
"I have never seen anywhere this kind of compelling analysis. This may be the most important book written in our generation." -- Paige Patterson, President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
"This extraordinary book doesn't flinch or equivocate. It is comprehensive, practical and highly readable. What a breathtaking achievement!" -- Fred Barnes, Executive Editor, The Weekly Standard
"Here at long last is a strong, biblical, prophetic, and courageous corrective to the sexual anarchy reigning in our culture. It will frame debate and equip Christians to battle for moral sanity and for souls." -- R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
"Upholds high standards of biblical holiness, purity, beauty, and joy in clear contrast to the bankrupt, destructive immorality flooding our culture today." -- Wayne Grudem, Phoenix Seminary
"An uncompromising explanation of the Bible's clear teaching on God's design for our sexuality. It will be an enormously effective weapon against the pagan sexuality emerging in our culture." -- Richard Land, President, The Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission
"Comprehensive and thorough, and biblically and theologically sound. It fills a void in current discussion and will be a standard resource for Christians in the years ahead." -- Daniel Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
"A classic Christian critique of our age -- a sharp arrow in the Christian's quiver of essential weapons for spiritual warfare -- a tour de force for biblical truth and practice." -- Phil Roberts, President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
"All who care about the true good of men and women, and the upholding of truth and scriptural teaching, will find in this book enormous instruction, insight, vision, and encouragement." -- Bruce Ware, Senior Associate Dean, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
True Sexual Morality
True Sexual Morality
by Daniel R. Heimbach
Is the traditional approach to sexual morality, originally found in Scripture, unchangingly true for everyone? Or is it a product of human imagination and nothing more? The answer, writes Christian ethicist Daniel Heimbach, makes all the difference in the world: "If the traditional approach was made up by men, then it makes perfect sense to reject everything it restricts in favor of doing whatever people want. But if sex was designed by a creator who assigned rules for how we should use it, those standards apply to everyone, and rejecting them is horribly wicked and dangerous."
Now, in True Sexual Morality: Recovering Biblical Standards for a Culture in Crisis, Professor Heimbach examines the biblical teachings on sexual morality as well as four counterfeit views that have crept into our "sexually revolutionized" society. He also gives an in-depth look at the moral relativism that has spread through our culture, and reveals the effects that nonbiblical sexual choices have on individuals, the family, the church, and the culture.
"Sexual morality," writes Heimbach, "is the most important moral-spiritual issue of our time because it is the pivot on which the foundations of American culture as a whole are being turned from genuine moral-spiritual truth to the complete reverse. And because the future of social and religious life in America, and perhaps even the survival of America herself, is at stake, powerful forces are battling in opposite directions -- one using sexual revolution to shift American cultural foundations in a pagan direction, and one resisting sexual revolution to keep the order we have from crumbling."
Among the topics covered here:
*Sexual Chaos in the Culture
*The Return of Sexual Paganism
* The Biblical View of Sexual Morality
* How Biblical Holiness Defines Moral Sex
* How Biblical Principles Shape Moral Sex
* How Biblical Prohibitions Guard Moral Sex
* How Biblical Promises Bless Moral Sex
* Counterfeit Views of Sexual Morality
* Romantic Sexual Morality: Sex as Affection
* Playboy Sexual Morality: Sex as Pleasure
* Therapeutic Sexual Morality: Sex as Wholeness
* Pagan Sexual Morality: Sex as Spiritual Life
* What About the Future?
"I have never seen anywhere this kind of compelling analysis. This may be the most important book written in our generation." -- Paige Patterson, President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
"This extraordinary book doesn't flinch or equivocate. It is comprehensive, practical and highly readable. What a breathtaking achievement!" -- Fred Barnes, Executive Editor, The Weekly Standard
"Here at long last is a strong, biblical, prophetic, and courageous corrective to the sexual anarchy reigning in our culture. It will frame debate and equip Christians to battle for moral sanity and for souls." -- R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
"Upholds high standards of biblical holiness, purity, beauty, and joy in clear contrast to the bankrupt, destructive immorality flooding our culture today." -- Wayne Grudem, Phoenix Seminary
"An uncompromising explanation of the Bible's clear teaching on God's design for our sexuality. It will be an enormously effective weapon against the pagan sexuality emerging in our culture." -- Richard Land, President, The Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission
"Comprehensive and thorough, and biblically and theologically sound. It fills a void in current discussion and will be a standard resource for Christians in the years ahead." -- Daniel Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
"A classic Christian critique of our age -- a sharp arrow in the Christian's quiver of essential weapons for spiritual warfare -- a tour de force for biblical truth and practice." -- Phil Roberts, President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
"All who care about the true good of men and women, and the upholding of truth and scriptural teaching, will find in this book enormous instruction, insight, vision, and encouragement." -- Bruce Ware, Senior Associate Dean, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
True Sexual Morality
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Seven Gifts to Give Our Children
We had a very special guest speaker at our Women of Faith Bible Study today. Pastor Larry Osborn taught on the subject of Passing the Spiritual Torch on to our children. Within this topic, he shared seven gifts that last a lifetime.
Those of us from the baby boom generation who are now parents all remember that Cats in the Cradle song that could generate a lot of guilt in career oriented parents who may have been neglectful of giving their kids the right amount of attention. Then, there are all those books with eye catching titles that promise us great sounding ideas for raising kids. Did you find that in your own personal family life, some of those ideas worked and some didn't?
So, just how do positive changes occur? Do we witness a slow progression or regression? Good questions. Pastor Larry then shared a humorous story on how his particular talk on this topic has evolved over the years.
1. Before he had kids he gave it the title, "Ten Rules for Raising Godly Kids."
2. After having kids, he renamed it, "Ten Rules for Raising Good Kids."
3. As they were growing up, he renamed it, "Seven Principles for Raising Good Kids."
4. Next, he renamed it, "Five Guidelines for Raising Good Kids."
5. Then, he renamed it, "Three Suggestions for Surviving Parenthood."
Heh heh...
His dream as a father was to successfully pass the spiritual torch. Included in that dream was that his kids would:
1. Love my God.
2. Love their mom and dad.
3. Love the church we serve.
So, what was the organizing factor? What guided him? The answer might surprise readers. But as a pastor, he stated that, "I wanted to make North Coast Church a place where I would want to go even if I wasn't being paid for it." His goal was to see what God wanted to do with this church.
In preparation for the presentation of the seven gifts we need to give our children, Pastor Larry needed to expose a devastating myth. When you read it, you may either be puffed up with pride or devastated by it. He said, "a Godly home and wise parenting does not guarantee Godly kids."
Such a mindset ignores Ezekiel 18:1-20
A False Proverb Refuted
18The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 "What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:
'The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children's teeth are set on edge'?
3 "As I live," says the Lord God, "you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.
4 "Behold, all souls are Mine;
The soul of the father
As well as the soul of the son is Mine;
The soul who sins shall die.
5 But if a man is just
And does what is lawful and right;
6 If he has not eaten on the mountains,
Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor's wife,
Nor approached a woman during her impurity;
7 If he has not oppressed anyone,
But has restored to the debtor his pledge;
Has robbed no one by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
8 If he has not exacted usury
Nor taken any increase,
But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity
And executed true judgment between man and man;
9 If he has walked in My statutes
And kept My judgments faithfully--
He is just;
He shall surely live!"
Says the Lord God.
10 "If he begets a son who is a robber
Or a shedder of blood,
Who does any of these things
11 And does none of those duties,
But has eaten on the mountains
Or defiled his neighbor's wife;
12 If he has oppressed the poor and needy,
Robbed by violence,
Not restored the pledge,
Lifted his eyes to the idols,
Or committed abomination;
13 If he has exacted usury
Or taken increase--
Shall he then live?
He shall not live!
If he has done any of these abominations,
He shall surely die;
His blood shall be upon him.
14 "If, however, he begets a son
Who sees all the sins which his father has done,
And considers but does not do likewise;
15 Who has not eaten on the mountains,
Nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor's wife;
16 Has not oppressed anyone,
Nor withheld a pledge,
Nor robbed by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
17 Who has withdrawn his hand from *the poor
And not received usury or increase,
But has executed My judgments
And walked in My statutes--
He shall not die for the iniquity of his father;
He shall surely live!
18 "As for his father,
Because he cruelly oppressed,
Robbed his brother by violence,
And did what is not good among his people,
Behold, he shall die for his iniquity.
Turn and Live
19 "Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?' Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
The point is, each one of us stands before God independently. We, as parents, cannot force our kids to love God! Some Christians need to get rid of this kind of thinking.
What we do can influence them positively, but ultimately, their salvation choice is between them and God.
Remember the basic "programming" psychology of B.F. Skinner? Sometimes we mis-apply Proverbs 22:6:
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6
In the way he should go is better interpreted, "in the way he is made" and also contains a spiritual component. The term when he is old means as a young adult (bearded).
When thinking about the message of Proverbs 22:6, we sometimes forget the core passage of the Bible. That core passage is in Genesis 3. It is there where we read and come to the realization that we live in a fallen world.
Adam and Eve had no sin nature and lived in a perfect environment. What happened was they ended up in rebellion! That rebellion lives on in each of us. If your kids worked out right, don't be puffed up with pride; be puffed up with thankfulness!
Proverbs 21:30, 31 -
[There is] no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
The horse [is] prepared against the day of battle: but safety [is] of the LORD.
Our job, as parents, is to "prepare the horse." Such preparation is a huge influence but doesn't guarantee anything.
Pastor Larry shared that his grandparents were involved in "casual" Christianity. The cycles of sin were (sadly) greatly apparent in his grandparents lives. 1 Corinthians 6:9,10 described many of the sins they were involved in. In fact, the grandfather had pedophile pornography around the house and Larry was exposed to it at a very young age. It sickened this grandson so much that he never had any dealings or desire for such vile filth.
Now the positive part. He and his siblings determined to share what made their mom and dad special. They ended up having all three kids walk with the Lord; one being a pastor. All of the grandkids are saved through Jesus Christ, too.
The following are the Seven Gifts that the parents gave to their children; which, in turn, were then passed down to the grandchildren.
1. A strong marriage. The biblical model is a spouse centered marriage...not a kid centered model! Ouch! How many of us could plead guilty to that one? Your spouse shouldn't be at the bottom of the barrel of priorities! Pastor Larry's parents were so tight that nothing could separate them! He and his siblings never worried about their parents loyalty. Much security comes out of that.
One hint to discovering if your home is only kid-centered is if when the empty nest syndrome comes, it kills the home.
2. A united front. When questions came up about differing beliefs and ideas on proper parenting, 100% of the disagreement discussions were behind closed doors! The children were given a united front by the parents. They never knew conflict between their parents. They gave them security in this way. If an agreement couldn't be reached in private, they learned about the value of spiritual arbitration. This is different from spiritual counseling (which has its uses, too). But choosing a Godly mediator to choose between two conflicting ideas helped them pick the "idea" that would win. One example might be in discipline. Let's say that as children growing up, one parent was typically disciplined by being spanked almost every day when he/she was found doing the wrong thing. However, as a child growing up the other parent was only spanked once ...and even that one time ended up being done by accident! The mediator (agreed to by both parties) would choose which method of discipline would be used from now on. The other method would be dropped. In this, the children were again given the powerful example of a united front.
3. Spiritual consistency. Don't make the mistake of being overly zealous about your faith!
Ecclesiastes 7:16-18
16 Do not be overly righteous,
Nor be overly wise:
Why should you destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overly wicked,
Nor be foolish:
Why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you grasp this,
And also not remove your hand from the other;
For he who fears God will escape them all.
Public outward passion and zeal are embarrassing to your kids! Especially in the middle school and high school years. This is a profound principle. Let your kids be kids. Don't embarrass them. Do not allow hypocrisy to creep in, either. Let the children be themselves.
4. Respect for authority. Authority is not always fair, honest, or just. For example. Pastor Larry shared the story about a high school baseball coach that just didn't like him. He found out years later that the coach disliked him because he hated Larry's dad. Why? Because his dad was an upstanding Christian man and teacher. Larry never knew the reason behind why the coach didn't like him. Because of this, the coach chose to not let Larry play much baseball on his team that year. Larry didn't know the real reason why this coach disliked him until he was out of high school. This taught Larry that life isn't always fair, but he needed to respect authority anyway.
People even have such attitudes when it comes to dealing with God. This is typical when people think they know better and that God doesn't "have a clue." But God is the greatest teacher when it comes to learning the principle of authority. We may view circumstances in our lives as not being fair, but we obey God anyway. We need to learn about unfairness. We face it every day. Life is unfair. Remember Genesis 3; we live in a fallen world.
5. Character over performance. We're all over our kids about their grades in school. But do we desire peak performance kids or Godly kids? Some of us are making our kids hate us because we are pushing them to be performance kids. What are they called to be and what do they want to be? Is he/she a godly kid? That's what really matters!
Now, don't take this the wrong way. This isn't a license for them to lie to you about their homework. When they do such things, it's time for a "come to Jesus meeting."
But let them see that it's ok to do a good job and then take a nap. We don't want them to be workaholics...doing everything they can but then collapsing at the end of the day. In eternity, what does it profit them to gain the whole world and lose their own soul?
6. Genuine interest in their world. It is vitally important to take an interest in what is happening in their world. Remember not to critique everything afterwards! You don't have to like it. One example. A proud dad went to observe his son officiate as a line judge in a c-level (not good players) game. If you put down their world, then they won't want to know about your world.
7. Battles picked wisely. Pastor's dad wasn't proud of the way he looked in the '70's (long hair, clothes worn), but his dad focused on his son's heart. In 1972, going to a strict Baptist church dressed like a bum wasn't typical. But he wants to go to church! Does it really matter how he looks? Pastor Larry shared that he accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior before his senior year in high school. However, he didn't reject the culture. He shared the story of how he would sit in a jacuzzi, smoke cigars or drink beer and discuss theology. One person may only see the cigar or beer. The other person sees the discussion. His parents decided that "this too, may pass." It may be an overstated example, but many of the things he learned along to way into ministry may not have been developed otherwise.
These seven gifts were born in the fruit of his two sons, daughter, and many grandkids. That fruit is the fact that they all know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, love God, love their parents and love the church.
Those of us from the baby boom generation who are now parents all remember that Cats in the Cradle song that could generate a lot of guilt in career oriented parents who may have been neglectful of giving their kids the right amount of attention. Then, there are all those books with eye catching titles that promise us great sounding ideas for raising kids. Did you find that in your own personal family life, some of those ideas worked and some didn't?
So, just how do positive changes occur? Do we witness a slow progression or regression? Good questions. Pastor Larry then shared a humorous story on how his particular talk on this topic has evolved over the years.
1. Before he had kids he gave it the title, "Ten Rules for Raising Godly Kids."
2. After having kids, he renamed it, "Ten Rules for Raising Good Kids."
3. As they were growing up, he renamed it, "Seven Principles for Raising Good Kids."
4. Next, he renamed it, "Five Guidelines for Raising Good Kids."
5. Then, he renamed it, "Three Suggestions for Surviving Parenthood."
Heh heh...
His dream as a father was to successfully pass the spiritual torch. Included in that dream was that his kids would:
1. Love my God.
2. Love their mom and dad.
3. Love the church we serve.
So, what was the organizing factor? What guided him? The answer might surprise readers. But as a pastor, he stated that, "I wanted to make North Coast Church a place where I would want to go even if I wasn't being paid for it." His goal was to see what God wanted to do with this church.
In preparation for the presentation of the seven gifts we need to give our children, Pastor Larry needed to expose a devastating myth. When you read it, you may either be puffed up with pride or devastated by it. He said, "a Godly home and wise parenting does not guarantee Godly kids."
Such a mindset ignores Ezekiel 18:1-20
A False Proverb Refuted
18The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 "What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:
'The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children's teeth are set on edge'?
3 "As I live," says the Lord God, "you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.
4 "Behold, all souls are Mine;
The soul of the father
As well as the soul of the son is Mine;
The soul who sins shall die.
5 But if a man is just
And does what is lawful and right;
6 If he has not eaten on the mountains,
Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor's wife,
Nor approached a woman during her impurity;
7 If he has not oppressed anyone,
But has restored to the debtor his pledge;
Has robbed no one by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
8 If he has not exacted usury
Nor taken any increase,
But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity
And executed true judgment between man and man;
9 If he has walked in My statutes
And kept My judgments faithfully--
He is just;
He shall surely live!"
Says the Lord God.
10 "If he begets a son who is a robber
Or a shedder of blood,
Who does any of these things
11 And does none of those duties,
But has eaten on the mountains
Or defiled his neighbor's wife;
12 If he has oppressed the poor and needy,
Robbed by violence,
Not restored the pledge,
Lifted his eyes to the idols,
Or committed abomination;
13 If he has exacted usury
Or taken increase--
Shall he then live?
He shall not live!
If he has done any of these abominations,
He shall surely die;
His blood shall be upon him.
14 "If, however, he begets a son
Who sees all the sins which his father has done,
And considers but does not do likewise;
15 Who has not eaten on the mountains,
Nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor's wife;
16 Has not oppressed anyone,
Nor withheld a pledge,
Nor robbed by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
17 Who has withdrawn his hand from *the poor
And not received usury or increase,
But has executed My judgments
And walked in My statutes--
He shall not die for the iniquity of his father;
He shall surely live!
18 "As for his father,
Because he cruelly oppressed,
Robbed his brother by violence,
And did what is not good among his people,
Behold, he shall die for his iniquity.
Turn and Live
19 "Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?' Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
The point is, each one of us stands before God independently. We, as parents, cannot force our kids to love God! Some Christians need to get rid of this kind of thinking.
What we do can influence them positively, but ultimately, their salvation choice is between them and God.
Remember the basic "programming" psychology of B.F. Skinner? Sometimes we mis-apply Proverbs 22:6:
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6
In the way he should go is better interpreted, "in the way he is made" and also contains a spiritual component. The term when he is old means as a young adult (bearded).
When thinking about the message of Proverbs 22:6, we sometimes forget the core passage of the Bible. That core passage is in Genesis 3. It is there where we read and come to the realization that we live in a fallen world.
Adam and Eve had no sin nature and lived in a perfect environment. What happened was they ended up in rebellion! That rebellion lives on in each of us. If your kids worked out right, don't be puffed up with pride; be puffed up with thankfulness!
Proverbs 21:30, 31 -
[There is] no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
The horse [is] prepared against the day of battle: but safety [is] of the LORD.
Our job, as parents, is to "prepare the horse." Such preparation is a huge influence but doesn't guarantee anything.
Pastor Larry shared that his grandparents were involved in "casual" Christianity. The cycles of sin were (sadly) greatly apparent in his grandparents lives. 1 Corinthians 6:9,10 described many of the sins they were involved in. In fact, the grandfather had pedophile pornography around the house and Larry was exposed to it at a very young age. It sickened this grandson so much that he never had any dealings or desire for such vile filth.
Now the positive part. He and his siblings determined to share what made their mom and dad special. They ended up having all three kids walk with the Lord; one being a pastor. All of the grandkids are saved through Jesus Christ, too.
The following are the Seven Gifts that the parents gave to their children; which, in turn, were then passed down to the grandchildren.
1. A strong marriage. The biblical model is a spouse centered marriage...not a kid centered model! Ouch! How many of us could plead guilty to that one? Your spouse shouldn't be at the bottom of the barrel of priorities! Pastor Larry's parents were so tight that nothing could separate them! He and his siblings never worried about their parents loyalty. Much security comes out of that.
One hint to discovering if your home is only kid-centered is if when the empty nest syndrome comes, it kills the home.
2. A united front. When questions came up about differing beliefs and ideas on proper parenting, 100% of the disagreement discussions were behind closed doors! The children were given a united front by the parents. They never knew conflict between their parents. They gave them security in this way. If an agreement couldn't be reached in private, they learned about the value of spiritual arbitration. This is different from spiritual counseling (which has its uses, too). But choosing a Godly mediator to choose between two conflicting ideas helped them pick the "idea" that would win. One example might be in discipline. Let's say that as children growing up, one parent was typically disciplined by being spanked almost every day when he/she was found doing the wrong thing. However, as a child growing up the other parent was only spanked once ...and even that one time ended up being done by accident! The mediator (agreed to by both parties) would choose which method of discipline would be used from now on. The other method would be dropped. In this, the children were again given the powerful example of a united front.
3. Spiritual consistency. Don't make the mistake of being overly zealous about your faith!
Ecclesiastes 7:16-18
16 Do not be overly righteous,
Nor be overly wise:
Why should you destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overly wicked,
Nor be foolish:
Why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you grasp this,
And also not remove your hand from the other;
For he who fears God will escape them all.
Public outward passion and zeal are embarrassing to your kids! Especially in the middle school and high school years. This is a profound principle. Let your kids be kids. Don't embarrass them. Do not allow hypocrisy to creep in, either. Let the children be themselves.
4. Respect for authority. Authority is not always fair, honest, or just. For example. Pastor Larry shared the story about a high school baseball coach that just didn't like him. He found out years later that the coach disliked him because he hated Larry's dad. Why? Because his dad was an upstanding Christian man and teacher. Larry never knew the reason behind why the coach didn't like him. Because of this, the coach chose to not let Larry play much baseball on his team that year. Larry didn't know the real reason why this coach disliked him until he was out of high school. This taught Larry that life isn't always fair, but he needed to respect authority anyway.
People even have such attitudes when it comes to dealing with God. This is typical when people think they know better and that God doesn't "have a clue." But God is the greatest teacher when it comes to learning the principle of authority. We may view circumstances in our lives as not being fair, but we obey God anyway. We need to learn about unfairness. We face it every day. Life is unfair. Remember Genesis 3; we live in a fallen world.
5. Character over performance. We're all over our kids about their grades in school. But do we desire peak performance kids or Godly kids? Some of us are making our kids hate us because we are pushing them to be performance kids. What are they called to be and what do they want to be? Is he/she a godly kid? That's what really matters!
Now, don't take this the wrong way. This isn't a license for them to lie to you about their homework. When they do such things, it's time for a "come to Jesus meeting."
But let them see that it's ok to do a good job and then take a nap. We don't want them to be workaholics...doing everything they can but then collapsing at the end of the day. In eternity, what does it profit them to gain the whole world and lose their own soul?
6. Genuine interest in their world. It is vitally important to take an interest in what is happening in their world. Remember not to critique everything afterwards! You don't have to like it. One example. A proud dad went to observe his son officiate as a line judge in a c-level (not good players) game. If you put down their world, then they won't want to know about your world.
7. Battles picked wisely. Pastor's dad wasn't proud of the way he looked in the '70's (long hair, clothes worn), but his dad focused on his son's heart. In 1972, going to a strict Baptist church dressed like a bum wasn't typical. But he wants to go to church! Does it really matter how he looks? Pastor Larry shared that he accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior before his senior year in high school. However, he didn't reject the culture. He shared the story of how he would sit in a jacuzzi, smoke cigars or drink beer and discuss theology. One person may only see the cigar or beer. The other person sees the discussion. His parents decided that "this too, may pass." It may be an overstated example, but many of the things he learned along to way into ministry may not have been developed otherwise.
These seven gifts were born in the fruit of his two sons, daughter, and many grandkids. That fruit is the fact that they all know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, love God, love their parents and love the church.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Moral Authority or Hate Speech?
Several days ago, I made a post at another blog (a blog that obviously has an ideology that totally disagrees with Talkwisdom) on the question of moral authority. I decided to write a comment there because of the constant insults being hurled at a friend and his ministry at that blog.
Of course, I knew that I was allowing my views to be trampled upon and mis-represented. I knew that it would be skewered, mis-labeled and seen as a negative influence by people who hold opposing views. I presumed that I would be entering into a hornet's nest of disagreement, ridicule and disparaging remarks. But I was curious as to how people might respond to the moral authority question that I had posed. For clarity, I will bring the post over here. I think it may be helpful to the discussion and purpose of today's post.
"OK. I know that I am entering into the proverbial hornet's nest by posting here, but I couldn't help noticing your comment and authority ranking at the Technorati 'morality' blogfinder listing.
This ex-gay watch blog happens to be listed at #3. My Talkwisdom blogspot happens to be listed at #18. I'm not sure how they establish such rankings. Perhaps it has a lot to do with the amount of hits.
You will notice that our blogs are totally opposite as far as morality is concerned. Yours tends toward the secular-humanistic, morally relativistic realm while mine is geared towards the God-given Christian moral absolutes as contained in God's Word, the Bible.
Anyway, at the Technorati rankings page, I noticed this little blurb under your blog title which describes one of the reasons for your blog's existence:
"Offering news and analysis of ex-gay politics. Encouraging exgays to think outside the box."
Well guess what? I'd like to invite those who might be willing here, to think outside the 'gay activist/indoctrination box.' Anyone willing to do that?
Hopefully, we will be able to start and maintain a civil dialogue without the obvious name-calling that you constantly use towards Stephen's ministry and radio program. We'll see by the reactions to my posts, I guess...
Brokeback Mountain: A Christian Response
The Cross: Liberating Desire"
The first few reply posts accused me of being insulting and uncivil. I wonder what they call their mistreatment of my friend? Free speech seems to only belong to the liberal left these days. Sharing an opposing point of view is labeled as "hate speech." This leads into the subject of this post.
One person replied:
"but if exgaywatch was into moral relativism they wouldn't criticize the ex-gay movement, because they'd believe that there's nothing morally wrong with lying."
I answered:
"That's exactly why moral relativism is a hard concept to live by. The rules change so frequently. Must be a lot of truth to the fact that moral absolutes do exist.
Indoctrination could be a concept that exists 'in the eyes of the beholder'. Your view of Stephen's "lying" is debatable too. Is there absolute truth being presented here at this blog? Perhaps there is a lot of lying going on at this ex-gay watch blog...who is to judge?
OK. You label what goes on here then...
You must admit, we do come from totally polar opposite sides concerning the political, spiritual, and moral issues spectrum. So, don't you find it uncanny that Technorati rated these two opposite blogs as authorities in morality? It brings into question from where moral authority originally came from; does it not?"
Finally, amidst the various comment posts one person admitted:
"I'm not sure why you are asking for morality from a search engine - they work on how many others are reading and linking to each site."
Notice the they part. Someone PROGRAMMED the web crawler to CHOOSE which blog(s) are ranked in the moral authority realm of thought. And, what could be considered worse is that the person's ideology may have been at work in the process. So, again, who is the ultimate determiner of moral authority? What (or whom) does Technorati use as it's arbitor of such authority?
For arguments sake, let's take another subject. The subject of encouragement. At the Technorati site, Talkwisdom happens to be listed as #6 among 29 blogs that include topics of encouragement. From what (or Whom) does Technorati use as it's arbitor of such authority? Could it be that because of the many Bible verses and references to Jesus Christ that Talkwisdom got such a ranking?
Hmmmm....would love to find out! But then again, it's only a web crawler device that has done such a ranking. The arbitor is probably just some anonymous person out there in cyberland.
But the bigger question is, "Ultimately, from whom does our encouragement stem from?" People are imperfect, finite, and can (and do) disappoint us in a myriad of ways. How can we appoint one of "us" to be the truthful arbitor for this subject...or any subject for that matter?
One person at the disagreeing site tried to answer and the answer was almost there...except for one huge error.
"as a secular humanist I can assure you there is only one moral absolute I need to follow and that is to put fairness first, to follow the golden rule."
He went on to say:
"it should be painfully obvious where moral authority comes from and it isn't a supernatural source. Moral authority comes from an agreement of cooperation between people - it is entirely a human construct. With no agreement there is no moral authority."
Well THAT'S certainly dangerous. The Nazis had such an 'agreement of cooperation between people'; were an 'entirely humanistic construct' and 6 million Jews were viciously tortured and horribly executed during one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century...the Holocaust.
He was correct when he said, "With no agreement there is no moral authority." However, he leaves out the One with whom we need to agree in order to combat evil when it rears its ugly head and not let man's sin and evil behavior interfere with the moral good.
OK. We all know the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Well, one problem with that as the only basis in moral judgment is what if a person happens to think that it's perfectly OK to torture babies for fun (Greg Koukl's line) and also enjoys being tortured himself/herself? Whose to say that it is wrong? The golden rule is not a sufficient answer.
There must be more to it than that.
Where can the line between good and evil be drawn?
Who decides?
Why?
I'd like to segue into my new post, now. I have been noticing an increasing amount of posts/columns that have to do with what constitutes "hate speech."
The first that I want to draw attention to was written by Doug Patton at The Conservative Voice website. He makes the accurate point that hate speech is often viewed in the eyes of the beholder because someone, somewhere, has been offended.
"Everyone is offended these days. Muslins… Jews… Atheists… Blacks…Hispanics… Homosexuals… Native Americans… You name it. The list goes on and on and on. In fact, we are not even surprised any more when lawsuits are filed and complaints are registered over “offenses” real or imagined."
Near the end of his article, Doug reiterates the concept of certain groups being offended and states that Christians are the one group in which discrimination is still acceptable.
" 'I’m offended' has become the new national slogan. Everyone, it seems, is expected to be offended. Everyone, that is, except Christians, the last group against whom discrimination is still acceptable. From media to our public institutions, the prejudice is blatant, but nowhere more so than in our government schools."
He lists several examples, one of which involved the Columbine tragedy:
"At Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, site of the 1999 student massacre, ceramic tiles were placed above student lockers in tribute to those who died that day. Of the 2,100 tiles, 90 were systematically removed by school officials because they had messages written on them like “God is Love” and “4/20/99, Jesus wept.” These messages were deemed “objectionable.”
Next, we have this.
Alain's Newsletter site is labeled as "hate speech" by Google. Here are many additional articles about this incident:
Google's Golden Moment
Does Google Consider the Bible Hate Speech?
I Admit It; I Am Filled With Hate
There are probably dozens more that I could link here. But the ultimate question(s) still remain.
"From where, and Whom does absolute moral authority come from?"
"From where, and Whom, does all authority come from? "
Of course, I knew that I was allowing my views to be trampled upon and mis-represented. I knew that it would be skewered, mis-labeled and seen as a negative influence by people who hold opposing views. I presumed that I would be entering into a hornet's nest of disagreement, ridicule and disparaging remarks. But I was curious as to how people might respond to the moral authority question that I had posed. For clarity, I will bring the post over here. I think it may be helpful to the discussion and purpose of today's post.
"OK. I know that I am entering into the proverbial hornet's nest by posting here, but I couldn't help noticing your comment and authority ranking at the Technorati 'morality' blogfinder listing.
This ex-gay watch blog happens to be listed at #3. My Talkwisdom blogspot happens to be listed at #18. I'm not sure how they establish such rankings. Perhaps it has a lot to do with the amount of hits.
You will notice that our blogs are totally opposite as far as morality is concerned. Yours tends toward the secular-humanistic, morally relativistic realm while mine is geared towards the God-given Christian moral absolutes as contained in God's Word, the Bible.
Anyway, at the Technorati rankings page, I noticed this little blurb under your blog title which describes one of the reasons for your blog's existence:
"Offering news and analysis of ex-gay politics. Encouraging exgays to think outside the box."
Well guess what? I'd like to invite those who might be willing here, to think outside the 'gay activist/indoctrination box.' Anyone willing to do that?
Hopefully, we will be able to start and maintain a civil dialogue without the obvious name-calling that you constantly use towards Stephen's ministry and radio program. We'll see by the reactions to my posts, I guess...
Brokeback Mountain: A Christian Response
The Cross: Liberating Desire"
The first few reply posts accused me of being insulting and uncivil. I wonder what they call their mistreatment of my friend? Free speech seems to only belong to the liberal left these days. Sharing an opposing point of view is labeled as "hate speech." This leads into the subject of this post.
One person replied:
"but if exgaywatch was into moral relativism they wouldn't criticize the ex-gay movement, because they'd believe that there's nothing morally wrong with lying."
I answered:
"That's exactly why moral relativism is a hard concept to live by. The rules change so frequently. Must be a lot of truth to the fact that moral absolutes do exist.
Indoctrination could be a concept that exists 'in the eyes of the beholder'. Your view of Stephen's "lying" is debatable too. Is there absolute truth being presented here at this blog? Perhaps there is a lot of lying going on at this ex-gay watch blog...who is to judge?
OK. You label what goes on here then...
You must admit, we do come from totally polar opposite sides concerning the political, spiritual, and moral issues spectrum. So, don't you find it uncanny that Technorati rated these two opposite blogs as authorities in morality? It brings into question from where moral authority originally came from; does it not?"
Finally, amidst the various comment posts one person admitted:
"I'm not sure why you are asking for morality from a search engine - they work on how many others are reading and linking to each site."
Notice the they part. Someone PROGRAMMED the web crawler to CHOOSE which blog(s) are ranked in the moral authority realm of thought. And, what could be considered worse is that the person's ideology may have been at work in the process. So, again, who is the ultimate determiner of moral authority? What (or whom) does Technorati use as it's arbitor of such authority?
For arguments sake, let's take another subject. The subject of encouragement. At the Technorati site, Talkwisdom happens to be listed as #6 among 29 blogs that include topics of encouragement. From what (or Whom) does Technorati use as it's arbitor of such authority? Could it be that because of the many Bible verses and references to Jesus Christ that Talkwisdom got such a ranking?
Hmmmm....would love to find out! But then again, it's only a web crawler device that has done such a ranking. The arbitor is probably just some anonymous person out there in cyberland.
But the bigger question is, "Ultimately, from whom does our encouragement stem from?" People are imperfect, finite, and can (and do) disappoint us in a myriad of ways. How can we appoint one of "us" to be the truthful arbitor for this subject...or any subject for that matter?
One person at the disagreeing site tried to answer and the answer was almost there...except for one huge error.
"as a secular humanist I can assure you there is only one moral absolute I need to follow and that is to put fairness first, to follow the golden rule."
He went on to say:
"it should be painfully obvious where moral authority comes from and it isn't a supernatural source. Moral authority comes from an agreement of cooperation between people - it is entirely a human construct. With no agreement there is no moral authority."
Well THAT'S certainly dangerous. The Nazis had such an 'agreement of cooperation between people'; were an 'entirely humanistic construct' and 6 million Jews were viciously tortured and horribly executed during one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century...the Holocaust.
He was correct when he said, "With no agreement there is no moral authority." However, he leaves out the One with whom we need to agree in order to combat evil when it rears its ugly head and not let man's sin and evil behavior interfere with the moral good.
OK. We all know the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Well, one problem with that as the only basis in moral judgment is what if a person happens to think that it's perfectly OK to torture babies for fun (Greg Koukl's line) and also enjoys being tortured himself/herself? Whose to say that it is wrong? The golden rule is not a sufficient answer.
There must be more to it than that.
Where can the line between good and evil be drawn?
Who decides?
Why?
I'd like to segue into my new post, now. I have been noticing an increasing amount of posts/columns that have to do with what constitutes "hate speech."
The first that I want to draw attention to was written by Doug Patton at The Conservative Voice website. He makes the accurate point that hate speech is often viewed in the eyes of the beholder because someone, somewhere, has been offended.
"Everyone is offended these days. Muslins… Jews… Atheists… Blacks…Hispanics… Homosexuals… Native Americans… You name it. The list goes on and on and on. In fact, we are not even surprised any more when lawsuits are filed and complaints are registered over “offenses” real or imagined."
Near the end of his article, Doug reiterates the concept of certain groups being offended and states that Christians are the one group in which discrimination is still acceptable.
" 'I’m offended' has become the new national slogan. Everyone, it seems, is expected to be offended. Everyone, that is, except Christians, the last group against whom discrimination is still acceptable. From media to our public institutions, the prejudice is blatant, but nowhere more so than in our government schools."
He lists several examples, one of which involved the Columbine tragedy:
"At Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, site of the 1999 student massacre, ceramic tiles were placed above student lockers in tribute to those who died that day. Of the 2,100 tiles, 90 were systematically removed by school officials because they had messages written on them like “God is Love” and “4/20/99, Jesus wept.” These messages were deemed “objectionable.”
Next, we have this.
Alain's Newsletter site is labeled as "hate speech" by Google. Here are many additional articles about this incident:
Google's Golden Moment
Does Google Consider the Bible Hate Speech?
I Admit It; I Am Filled With Hate
There are probably dozens more that I could link here. But the ultimate question(s) still remain.
"From where, and Whom does absolute moral authority come from?"
"From where, and Whom, does all authority come from? "
How one answers such questions determines how we will live in this world and where each of us will end up in eternity.
The current culture war displays the reality (and consquences) of such polar opposites in worldview. One side wants to demonize Christian people of faith and label the greatest Book in the world as "hate speech." The other side knows the Person of Jesus Christ and recognizes Him for who he is...as the moral authority in their lives. Jesus said, "Your Word is truth" to God the Father concerning the authority of the Bible. Christians recognize the Bible as God's Word to all mankind. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is truth without any mixture of error.
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalms 12:6; 119:105, 160; Proverbs 30:5
No wonder Jesus told us:
John 8:32 - And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
When We Know We're Weak...
God calls each born-again believer in Christ into evangelism. It isn't a suggestion, but a command. Before his ascension into heaven, Jesus told his disciples:
Mark 16:15 - And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Why did Jesus make this his last command?
Mark 16:16 - He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
We know that God doesn't want anyone to perish:
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The secular humanistic environment that we often find ourselves in does not look upon evangelism as something positive. Rather, it is often labeled in a negative manner and called unwanted proselytizing. Therefore, sometimes it is necessary to pick and choose when, where, and with whom Christians should share the gospel. I could list many examples, but you probably could think of some on your own.
Christians often have the opportunity to plant seeds which might lead a person to the gospel. I have found that the Lord has placed many people in my path for this purpose. I have even had times where I have said, "No Lord, not him," as was once the case with a thug teenaged boy. But the Holy Spirit sometimes does not leave us alone when he plants someone upon our hearts for the purpose of sharing the gospel!
Christian friend, has this happened to you? I'm sure it has...many times in fact. I hope you will share your individual experiences here in the comment section.
John 16:28 tells us from where and from Whom Jesus came, and where he was going at the time of the ascension:
John 16:28 - I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
He then left the disciples and every born-again Christian the Holy Spirit who indwells our hearts.
Ephesians 1:13 - In whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Romans 8:9 - But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Romans 8:14 - For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
1 Corinthians 3:13 - Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1 John 4:2 - Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1 John 4:3 - And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1 John 4:4 - Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1 John 4:5 - They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them
1 John 4:6 - We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
There are many more verses that describe the Holy Spirit, His work in the world, and how one becomes indwelled with Him. The ones listed above are meant to convey just a quick summary.
These verses help us to better understand what is meant by the words "for when I am weak, then am I strong" in 2 Corinthians 12:10:
2 Corinthians 12:9, 10 - And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
When we know we're weak, we allow God to work through and in us as He desires.
Jamieson, Fausett & Brown have a great commentary on these verses:
"9. said--literally, "He hath said," implying that His answer is enough [ALFORD]. is sufficient--The trial must endure, but the grace shall also endure and never fail thee [ALFORD], ( Deu 33:25 ).
The Lord puts the words into Paul's mouth, that following them up he might say, "O Lord, Thy grace is sufficient for me" [BENGEL].
my strength--Greek, "power." is made perfect--has its most perfect manifestation. in weakness--
Do not ask for sensible strength, FOR My power is perfected in man's "strengthlessness" (so the Greek). The "for" implies, thy "strengthlessness" (the same Greek as is translated "weakness"; and in 2Cr 12:10 , "infirmities") is the very element in which My "power" (which moves coincident with "My grace") exhibits itself more perfectly. So that Paul instead of desiring the infirmity to "depart," "rather" henceforth "glories in infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest (Greek, 'tabernacle upon,' cover my infirmity all over as with a tabernacle; compare Greek, Jhn 1:12 ) upon" him.
This effect of Christ's assurance on him appears, 2Cr 4:7 1Cr 2:3, 4 ; compare 1Pe 4:14 . The "My" is omitted in some of the oldest manuscripts; the sense is the same, "power" (referring to God's power) standing absolutely, in contrast to "weakness" (put absolutely, for man's weakness).
Paul often repeats the word "weakness" or "infirmity" (the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth chapters) as being Christ's own word. The Lord has more need of our weakness than of our strength: our strength is often His rival; our weakness, His servant, drawing on His resources, and showing forth His glory. Man's extremity is God's opportunity; man's security is Satan's opportunity. God's way is not to take His children out of trial, but to give them strength to bear up against it ( Psa 88:7 Jhn 17:15 ).
10. take pleasure in--too strongly. Rather as the Greek, "I am well contented in." infirmities--the genus. Two pairs of species follow, partly coming from "Satan's messenger," partly from men. reproaches--"insults." when--in all the cases just specified. then--then especially. strong--"powerful" in "the power of Christ" ( 2Cr 12:9 2Cr 13:4 Hbr 11:34 )."
With that as background information, I am now prepared to share a recent incident where I was attempting to work on a weakness that I have. That weakness is knowing when to be silent!
I have several, wonderful Christian friends who have helped me immensely in this area of weakness. Tammy, Stephen and Susan are three who come to mind. Their advice has been wonderful. Although I sometimes fail to implement such advice, their words of wisdom are often recalled by me when I find myself in certain situations. The following is an example of such a situation.
My daughter was due to have new headshots done for two acting agencies. The last time we had them done she was only 15. She has changed a lot since then and now that she is 18 she can participate in older roles. For this, she needs a look that will capture and show the ability to portray the range of a 16 to 22 year old
We met at the photographer's home and the makeup artist helped my daughter with her makeup and clothes selection. One of the first things I noticed in the beautiful studio room of the home was a huge Buddha statue in front of the fireplace. I thought, oh boy...
Next, as I sat in a chair drinking a cup of coffee, I noticed a bookcase nearby. While scanning the titles, I saw two Bibles! I felt drawn to select one of the Bibles, but decided to choose the book on the history of Hollywood. I actually thought to myself that I wasn't really there for any other purpose than to support my daughter as she goes through the photo session.
We grabbed 5 outfits and headed to the car. The photographer took us to several different locations. We were gone for two hours and he took 350 digital shots!
The first location was an historic Christian church. The makeup artist made some comments about it, but I just listened and agreed that it was beautiful.
Next, we went to the Jewish section of this area and since it was the day of Sabbath, many Jewish men, women and children were exiting the two temples on the block. They appeared to be Orthodox Jews. Most of the men had beards, were dressed in black clothing with black top hats. The women were dressed modestly in black or dark clothing and the boys had yarmulkes on their heads.
I was a bit surprised by the photographer's comment to me. He said, "Isn't religion funny?" I wanted so bad to say, "It's not about religion, but relationship." But I kept silent.
When I told this part at my Bible study, my friend Tammy exclaimed, "That's huge! You don't understand how huge that was for Chris not to say anything!" Heh heh...I was doing well in her eyes at that point.
The third area we visited was near a main street that had a huge billboard across the street. It was announcing the return of The Sopranos on HBO. Karina, the makeup artist asked me if I watch the Sopranos. I told her no, I don't. She asked me if it was because they use the F word a lot. I said that was part of it. Then she asked why I refuse to watch such a popular show?
Uh oh. I could be silent no more. I told her that I am a Christian. I explained to her that vulgar language was not acceptable to me and something I don't want to hear on a non-stop basis. But what was even more disturbing is the cavalier way the characters in the show constantly take the name of the Lord in vain.
She said, "You're a Christian?"
The tone of voice was one of disbelief.
As I was sharing this story with the Bible study group, my friend Tammy piped up and said, "she probably thought that you don't have three heads so how could it be that you are a Christian?" Tammy doesn't even know how accurately she described the look on that woman's face!
After a moment of awkward silence, I said that one of the Ten Commandments of God is not to take His name in vain. People often don't even think about it when they say "Jesus Christ" as a curse word.
At this point, I thought I was doing well. But then...I added...
"You see, people find power in saying that name, even if they don't recognize who Jesus really is and are just using the name of Jesus Christ in the form of a curse word. Did you ever ask yourself why is that? There must be truth and power to His name. We don't hear people saying, "Mohammed dammit," or "Oh Buddha!"
Right after I let out that last comment my mind raced back to the vision of that Buddha statue in front of their fireplace! I thought, "oh no...went to far again!"
But my Bible study leader thought differently. After everyone was finished laughing, she elegantly pointed out that before she became a Christian she often said (or heard others say) the Lord's name in vain and never thought anything about it. When she learned that it hurts the heart of God and that as Christians we are commanded not to do such a thing, she worked on not saying God's name in anger ever again. Even the simple pronouncement of "Oh God" is offensive when not used in prayer or in a reverent manner. His name should be glorified and expressed in worship, not in anger or as a curse word.
Karina didn't say anything. In fact, right at that moment, Greg , the photographer, called us to the car so we could go to the final location for shooting pictures. I was grateful for the segue!
We drove to the final location, then back to Greg's house to collect all the clothes we left behind. I paid them for their services and they both hugged my daughter and I! We had spent 3 hours together and found that we knew a lot of the same people in the industry (i.e. acting coaches, acting agents, other photographers). Greg even mentioned that he thought my daughter has that kind of wholesome look and could very well play the part of Marsha in an upcoming Brady Bunch movie!
Back to the topic at hand. I felt better after my Bible study leader shared her comments. But I still thought that I blew it and possibly went to far. OK...share your thoughts!
Christine
Mark 16:15 - And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Why did Jesus make this his last command?
Mark 16:16 - He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
We know that God doesn't want anyone to perish:
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The secular humanistic environment that we often find ourselves in does not look upon evangelism as something positive. Rather, it is often labeled in a negative manner and called unwanted proselytizing. Therefore, sometimes it is necessary to pick and choose when, where, and with whom Christians should share the gospel. I could list many examples, but you probably could think of some on your own.
Christians often have the opportunity to plant seeds which might lead a person to the gospel. I have found that the Lord has placed many people in my path for this purpose. I have even had times where I have said, "No Lord, not him," as was once the case with a thug teenaged boy. But the Holy Spirit sometimes does not leave us alone when he plants someone upon our hearts for the purpose of sharing the gospel!
Christian friend, has this happened to you? I'm sure it has...many times in fact. I hope you will share your individual experiences here in the comment section.
John 16:28 tells us from where and from Whom Jesus came, and where he was going at the time of the ascension:
John 16:28 - I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
He then left the disciples and every born-again Christian the Holy Spirit who indwells our hearts.
Ephesians 1:13 - In whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Romans 8:9 - But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Romans 8:14 - For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
1 Corinthians 3:13 - Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1 John 4:2 - Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1 John 4:3 - And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1 John 4:4 - Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1 John 4:5 - They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them
1 John 4:6 - We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
There are many more verses that describe the Holy Spirit, His work in the world, and how one becomes indwelled with Him. The ones listed above are meant to convey just a quick summary.
These verses help us to better understand what is meant by the words "for when I am weak, then am I strong" in 2 Corinthians 12:10:
2 Corinthians 12:9, 10 - And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
When we know we're weak, we allow God to work through and in us as He desires.
Jamieson, Fausett & Brown have a great commentary on these verses:
"9. said--literally, "He hath said," implying that His answer is enough [ALFORD]. is sufficient--The trial must endure, but the grace shall also endure and never fail thee [ALFORD], ( Deu 33:25 ).
The Lord puts the words into Paul's mouth, that following them up he might say, "O Lord, Thy grace is sufficient for me" [BENGEL].
my strength--Greek, "power." is made perfect--has its most perfect manifestation. in weakness--
Do not ask for sensible strength, FOR My power is perfected in man's "strengthlessness" (so the Greek). The "for" implies, thy "strengthlessness" (the same Greek as is translated "weakness"; and in 2Cr 12:10 , "infirmities") is the very element in which My "power" (which moves coincident with "My grace") exhibits itself more perfectly. So that Paul instead of desiring the infirmity to "depart," "rather" henceforth "glories in infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest (Greek, 'tabernacle upon,' cover my infirmity all over as with a tabernacle; compare Greek, Jhn 1:12 ) upon" him.
This effect of Christ's assurance on him appears, 2Cr 4:7 1Cr 2:3, 4 ; compare 1Pe 4:14 . The "My" is omitted in some of the oldest manuscripts; the sense is the same, "power" (referring to God's power) standing absolutely, in contrast to "weakness" (put absolutely, for man's weakness).
Paul often repeats the word "weakness" or "infirmity" (the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth chapters) as being Christ's own word. The Lord has more need of our weakness than of our strength: our strength is often His rival; our weakness, His servant, drawing on His resources, and showing forth His glory. Man's extremity is God's opportunity; man's security is Satan's opportunity. God's way is not to take His children out of trial, but to give them strength to bear up against it ( Psa 88:7 Jhn 17:15 ).
10. take pleasure in--too strongly. Rather as the Greek, "I am well contented in." infirmities--the genus. Two pairs of species follow, partly coming from "Satan's messenger," partly from men. reproaches--"insults." when--in all the cases just specified. then--then especially. strong--"powerful" in "the power of Christ" ( 2Cr 12:9 2Cr 13:4 Hbr 11:34 )."
With that as background information, I am now prepared to share a recent incident where I was attempting to work on a weakness that I have. That weakness is knowing when to be silent!
I have several, wonderful Christian friends who have helped me immensely in this area of weakness. Tammy, Stephen and Susan are three who come to mind. Their advice has been wonderful. Although I sometimes fail to implement such advice, their words of wisdom are often recalled by me when I find myself in certain situations. The following is an example of such a situation.
My daughter was due to have new headshots done for two acting agencies. The last time we had them done she was only 15. She has changed a lot since then and now that she is 18 she can participate in older roles. For this, she needs a look that will capture and show the ability to portray the range of a 16 to 22 year old
We met at the photographer's home and the makeup artist helped my daughter with her makeup and clothes selection. One of the first things I noticed in the beautiful studio room of the home was a huge Buddha statue in front of the fireplace. I thought, oh boy...
Next, as I sat in a chair drinking a cup of coffee, I noticed a bookcase nearby. While scanning the titles, I saw two Bibles! I felt drawn to select one of the Bibles, but decided to choose the book on the history of Hollywood. I actually thought to myself that I wasn't really there for any other purpose than to support my daughter as she goes through the photo session.
We grabbed 5 outfits and headed to the car. The photographer took us to several different locations. We were gone for two hours and he took 350 digital shots!
The first location was an historic Christian church. The makeup artist made some comments about it, but I just listened and agreed that it was beautiful.
Next, we went to the Jewish section of this area and since it was the day of Sabbath, many Jewish men, women and children were exiting the two temples on the block. They appeared to be Orthodox Jews. Most of the men had beards, were dressed in black clothing with black top hats. The women were dressed modestly in black or dark clothing and the boys had yarmulkes on their heads.
I was a bit surprised by the photographer's comment to me. He said, "Isn't religion funny?" I wanted so bad to say, "It's not about religion, but relationship." But I kept silent.
When I told this part at my Bible study, my friend Tammy exclaimed, "That's huge! You don't understand how huge that was for Chris not to say anything!" Heh heh...I was doing well in her eyes at that point.
The third area we visited was near a main street that had a huge billboard across the street. It was announcing the return of The Sopranos on HBO. Karina, the makeup artist asked me if I watch the Sopranos. I told her no, I don't. She asked me if it was because they use the F word a lot. I said that was part of it. Then she asked why I refuse to watch such a popular show?
Uh oh. I could be silent no more. I told her that I am a Christian. I explained to her that vulgar language was not acceptable to me and something I don't want to hear on a non-stop basis. But what was even more disturbing is the cavalier way the characters in the show constantly take the name of the Lord in vain.
She said, "You're a Christian?"
The tone of voice was one of disbelief.
As I was sharing this story with the Bible study group, my friend Tammy piped up and said, "she probably thought that you don't have three heads so how could it be that you are a Christian?" Tammy doesn't even know how accurately she described the look on that woman's face!
After a moment of awkward silence, I said that one of the Ten Commandments of God is not to take His name in vain. People often don't even think about it when they say "Jesus Christ" as a curse word.
At this point, I thought I was doing well. But then...I added...
"You see, people find power in saying that name, even if they don't recognize who Jesus really is and are just using the name of Jesus Christ in the form of a curse word. Did you ever ask yourself why is that? There must be truth and power to His name. We don't hear people saying, "Mohammed dammit," or "Oh Buddha!"
Right after I let out that last comment my mind raced back to the vision of that Buddha statue in front of their fireplace! I thought, "oh no...went to far again!"
But my Bible study leader thought differently. After everyone was finished laughing, she elegantly pointed out that before she became a Christian she often said (or heard others say) the Lord's name in vain and never thought anything about it. When she learned that it hurts the heart of God and that as Christians we are commanded not to do such a thing, she worked on not saying God's name in anger ever again. Even the simple pronouncement of "Oh God" is offensive when not used in prayer or in a reverent manner. His name should be glorified and expressed in worship, not in anger or as a curse word.
Karina didn't say anything. In fact, right at that moment, Greg , the photographer, called us to the car so we could go to the final location for shooting pictures. I was grateful for the segue!
We drove to the final location, then back to Greg's house to collect all the clothes we left behind. I paid them for their services and they both hugged my daughter and I! We had spent 3 hours together and found that we knew a lot of the same people in the industry (i.e. acting coaches, acting agents, other photographers). Greg even mentioned that he thought my daughter has that kind of wholesome look and could very well play the part of Marsha in an upcoming Brady Bunch movie!
Back to the topic at hand. I felt better after my Bible study leader shared her comments. But I still thought that I blew it and possibly went to far. OK...share your thoughts!
Christine
Thursday, March 16, 2006
The Truth Will Not Be Silenced!
Coming up in April:
Day of Truth - April 27, 2006
visit www.dayoftruth.org
The Day of Truth was established to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective.
In the past, students who have attempted to speak against the promotion of the homosexual agenda have been censored or, in some cases, punished for their beliefs. It is important that students stand up for their First Amendment right to hear and speak the Truth about human sexuality in order to protect that freedom for future generations.
The Day of Truth provides an opportunity to publicly exercise our free speech rights.
Participating students are encouraged to wear T-shirts and pass out cards (not during class time) with the following message:
I am speaking the Truth to break the silence.
Silence isn’t freedom.
It’s a constraint.
Truth tolerates open discussion, because the Truth emerges when healthy discourse is allowed.
By proclaiming the Truth in love, hurts will be halted, hearts will be healed, and lives will be saved.
The Day of Truth is scheduled for April 27, 2006. This is the day after GLSEN (The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educational Network) will sponsor the "Day of Silence." GLSEN’s Day of Silence encourages students to remain silent throughout the day and not respond to teachers or school administrators. It is part of their overall strategy to change how our society perceives homosexual behavior.
But the Day of Silence is a misnomer, because what is truly being silenced is the Truth.
Visit http://www.dayoftruth.org/ to learn more and participate in this project.
*******
Speaking of the Day of Truth, there is THE Voice of Truth and that voice belongs to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Several months ago, I asked a question on this blog, "what should be our source for absolute truth?"
I often ask that very question when posting at other blogs that typically hold worldviews opposite that of the Biblical Christian faith and worldview. Most of the time, the question is met with silence.
I think that question is an interesting one to ask and have answered.
What "side" would a person end up on?
How would each side have most likely viewed the Bible?
Would their view be that the Bible is a 'living document' that is meant to be progressive, frequently updated and re-interpretated for the times with an evolving moral and legal structure to match?
Or, is the Bible to be viewed as God's Word to all mankind which was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit?
Is it the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living?
Think about it. How one answers that question determines how each of us will live as Christians. Both cannot possibly be correct.
It is precisely because the Bible is inspired by God that it is perceived as truth without any mixture of error. That is how absolute truth is determined.
(see 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalms 12:6; 119:105, 160; Proverbs 30:5)
God's Truth in the Bible is how we discern which representative voice, out of all the voices calling out to us today, is truly joining in lock step with the One and Only Voice of Truth, Jesus Christ.
As one portion of the Casting Crowns song lyrics called The Voice of Truth tells us:
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth
*******
The Voice of Truth (complete lyrics)
by Casting Crowns
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand
But the waves are calling out my name And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again.
"Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand
But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again.
"Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
Day of Truth - April 27, 2006
visit www.dayoftruth.org
The Day of Truth was established to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective.
In the past, students who have attempted to speak against the promotion of the homosexual agenda have been censored or, in some cases, punished for their beliefs. It is important that students stand up for their First Amendment right to hear and speak the Truth about human sexuality in order to protect that freedom for future generations.
The Day of Truth provides an opportunity to publicly exercise our free speech rights.
Participating students are encouraged to wear T-shirts and pass out cards (not during class time) with the following message:
I am speaking the Truth to break the silence.
Silence isn’t freedom.
It’s a constraint.
Truth tolerates open discussion, because the Truth emerges when healthy discourse is allowed.
By proclaiming the Truth in love, hurts will be halted, hearts will be healed, and lives will be saved.
The Day of Truth is scheduled for April 27, 2006. This is the day after GLSEN (The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educational Network) will sponsor the "Day of Silence." GLSEN’s Day of Silence encourages students to remain silent throughout the day and not respond to teachers or school administrators. It is part of their overall strategy to change how our society perceives homosexual behavior.
But the Day of Silence is a misnomer, because what is truly being silenced is the Truth.
Visit http://www.dayoftruth.org/ to learn more and participate in this project.
*******
Speaking of the Day of Truth, there is THE Voice of Truth and that voice belongs to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Several months ago, I asked a question on this blog, "what should be our source for absolute truth?"
I often ask that very question when posting at other blogs that typically hold worldviews opposite that of the Biblical Christian faith and worldview. Most of the time, the question is met with silence.
I think that question is an interesting one to ask and have answered.
What "side" would a person end up on?
How would each side have most likely viewed the Bible?
Would their view be that the Bible is a 'living document' that is meant to be progressive, frequently updated and re-interpretated for the times with an evolving moral and legal structure to match?
Or, is the Bible to be viewed as God's Word to all mankind which was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit?
Is it the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living?
Think about it. How one answers that question determines how each of us will live as Christians. Both cannot possibly be correct.
It is precisely because the Bible is inspired by God that it is perceived as truth without any mixture of error. That is how absolute truth is determined.
(see 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalms 12:6; 119:105, 160; Proverbs 30:5)
God's Truth in the Bible is how we discern which representative voice, out of all the voices calling out to us today, is truly joining in lock step with the One and Only Voice of Truth, Jesus Christ.
As one portion of the Casting Crowns song lyrics called The Voice of Truth tells us:
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth
*******
The Voice of Truth (complete lyrics)
by Casting Crowns
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand
But the waves are calling out my name And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again.
"Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand
But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again.
"Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
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