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Posts tagged ‘God’s Word’

Tony Evans says gov’t dividing Church, vitriol of Christians on social media is embarrassing


Pastor Tony Evans, the pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Texas, talks about God and conscience. | YouTube/Tony Evans

Two days before the general election, Pastor Tony Evans lamented that Christians “have allowed government to divide the Church.”

“What we are seeing today especially among Christians is us building walls against one another because of government. We’ve allowed government to divide the church and that is an agenda from Hell,” Evans said Sunday during his message on “God and Conscience” at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas.

“We’ve made government God or made it bigger than God because it can do something God wouldn’t do.”

Evans denounced the vitriol he often sees on social media as Christians argue over political issues.

Referring to Romans 15: 7, Evans said, “Therefore accept one another just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.”

“When your political vote causes you to reject, demean, ridicule, curse, cuss others who differ from you but are not abandoning Scripture to do so, they just have a different set of priorities … Everybody may not feel the same about Democrats and Republicans or this candidate versus that candidate. But … don’t let that issue get in the way of your fellowship in the program of God,” the pastor told the congregants.

“It is embarrassing, I mean, downright embarrassing, to read social media and see the vitriol, the hatred, the evil, the downright hellishness of Christians going at each other. We have become more pagan than the non-Christian world and how we talk to one another just because people are disagreeing politically. When you can have good on both sides and bad on both sides, … do not disregard one another because to do that is an embarrassment to God.”

When Christians are “going at each other, what do you think the world thinks when they see the hatred in the Body of Christ as though one candidate came from Heaven and another candidate came from Hell, one party came from Heaven and another party came from Hell?” he asked.

It’s not wrong to disagree or to vote differently, but it is wrong “to be contemptuous,” Evans emphasized.

“Democrats, you’re going to have to accept Republicans. Republicans, you’re going to have to accept Democrats because God has accepted them so when you attack another person in the family of God because they voted differently, you have attacked God,” he noted. “The Bible says that the mouth reflects the heart … The way you know how Christian you are is not about how you wave your hand or how you praise the Lord or how you flip a pew or how you sing a song, but what comes out of your mouth when you’re not in church, when you’re on social media.”

The Dallas pastor urged fellow believers to “allow for differences within the boundaries of Scripture when there is room for those differences.”

He pointed out that God allows Christians to “make your own play call” within biblical boundaries “because every Christian doesn’t start in the same place.”

“Some Christians vote the way they vote because of the experiences they’ve had. … That has colored how they perceive things,” he said. “Others are based on their perception of life … and that perception has colored their priority. Both are legitimate.

“Some families were taught one way, another family was taught another way … They’re operating off of their upbringing.”

For African-American Christians, they may have “extra sensitivity” when it comes to injustice and the dignity of life, while for Anglo Christians, they may be most concerned about the moral agenda and what their children are being taught in school, the pastor noted.

“Neither is wrong … but they’ve been affected differently,” he said.

He also emphasized, “You can’t cut them down, Scripture says. You can’t disregard them.”

“You don’t look down on one another because we belong to another King and another Kingdom.”

During the sermon, he explained the role of one’s conscience when it comes to voting.

“You are free to vote. Your conscience and everybody’s conscience won’t vote the same way when you’ve got two legitimate or two illegitimate forces at work.”

Evans then asked, “But what happens when there’s some right, some wrong…? Which way do you go?” He added that an issue may not be “perfectly biblically clear.”

“Your conscience is your heart regulator. It is the thing that regulates between right and wrong, good and bad, up and down. It’s the beeper that goes off when somebody comes into your house and the front door goes beep… It is the signal that God has built into every human being to govern and guide them if the conscience has been properly informed,” he explained.

But the Bible says “the heart is deceitfully wicked, so you can have uninformed consciences that make uninformed decisions but they’re still operating on wrong consciences.”

“That’s why, it is critical that your conscience gets the right data in order to make the wisest possible decision, but everybody’s consciences won’t register equally to every circumstance because every Christian is not at the same spiritual level.”

He called on Christians to be informed “of what God expects.”

“God expects you to be a Kingdom voter, not a cultural voter.”

And what a Kingdom voter does is: vote, pray, examine issues based on the Word of God, seek unity, look at both policy and personality, and look at how one’s decision will affect not only oneself but others, the pastor explained.

In the end, he said that “God’s going to decide the outcome … But it’s a partnership. He takes into consideration our choices. Your choice matters.” 

“God has a conditional will. These are the things He decides to do in concert with whether we do what we’re supposed to do or not. But He has a sovereign unconditional will. Those are the things He’s going to do regardless of whether you do your part or not,” he added.

The sermon was part of a series on “Kingdom Voting” that kicked off in September. At that time, he said that one may decide to vote for a Republican or a Democratic or a libertarian candidate, but “every Christian should be a Kingdom independent.”

God does not want to take sides, he stressed. He is there to “take over” because He rules the nations.

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The spiritual and moral bankruptcy of ‘progressive’ Christianity


Reported by Dr. Michael L. Brown – Guest Columnist | Tuesday, December 18, 2018 | http://www.askdrbrown.org/

Michael BrownI pray that someday they see the light, but zealous supporters of “gay Christianity” can have their “progressive” religion. I’ll stick with the Jesus of the Bible – the Jesus who liberates and transforms, the Jesus who doesn’t affirm us in our sin but delivers us out of it.

So-called “progressive” Christians love to bash conservative Christians. They call us dinosaurs. They mock us as outdated fundamentalists. They taunt us as “Bible bashers.” They claim to be the enlightened ones, and they celebrate their departure from the “traditional church.” But the reality is that they are simply following the spirit of the age, swimming with the current cultural tide rather than against it. In the name of conformity to Jesus, they are being conformed to the world. How ironic.

On Saturday night, while working on a major book project at my computer, I noticed a tweet from a “progressive” pastor. I had reached out him to several times before, but always without response. He wrote, quite out of the blue:

“When hopelessly phobic people of faith like @DrMichaelLBrown claim that God is against ‘homosexual practice.’ #ThatsNotAThing”

As soon as I spotted the tweet, I replied:

“Hey John, I’ve reached out to you on several occasions, always without response. Rather than engage in baseless (and silly) name-calling, let’s a have a mature, scripture-based, minister-to-minister dialog. You’re welcome on my show any time. Why not?”

For the record, he still has not replied to my invitations – not once, ever – and I continue to reach out to him. But despite his lack of response, I decided to engage some of his followers. Talk about enlightening!

The first thing that became immediately evident was this. There was virtually no substantive interaction. Instead, there was mockery and insult and misrepresentation, making me wonder out loud, “What’s so scary about the truth?”

It started out of the gate with this pastor maligning me as “hopelessly phobic” (for reaching out to the LGBT community with the truth of the gospel while opposing radical LGBT activism). And, remarkably, while the Bible consistently and categorically opposes homosexual practice (meaning, same-sex relationships and sexual acts) a pastor – yes, a pastor – came against me for standing with God’s Word.

How dare I – how dare you – do such a thing. How dare you agree with Scripture. How dare you affirm that the Lord’s ways are best. That is so 1950s!

Rather than interact with a single thing I said, he later posted:

“Michael thinks LGBTQ people can NOT be LGBTQ. Michael thinks you can pray the gay away. Michael preys upon already marginalized people. Michael thinks other people’s bedrooms and body parts are his business. Don’t be like Michael.”

'Progressive' ChristianityNow, you would think it would trouble a pastor to post blatant falsehoods about other people, but when you’re “progressive,” you’re morally superior, which means you are the judge of the motives of others. You determine what they really think and believe, despite what they say and do. In the name of not judging, you are now the judge!

Of course, the issue is not what “Michael” thinks but what God says. That’s why, later in the night, I posted this:

“To all professing LGBT Christians and their allies: Please give me just ONE explicit verse in the Bible where God sanctions same-sex relationships. Just one. You know already there are clear verses saying the opposite.”

Not a single one gave me a single supporting verse. How telling!

In direct response to the pastor’s tweet, I wrote:

“John, by God’s grace, I know MANY ex-gays and lesbians who are so thankful for new life in Jesus. And I continue to have fruitful ministry around the world, NOT focused on LGBT issues. I have simply responded to biblical deception and radical activism. You have accommodated sin.”

How did he reply? He tweeted:

“No you don’t. You know people who you and others have badgered into modifying their behavior to stay in community. You’ve squandered your time here and you’ve caused irreparable harm to already marginalized people. That’s on you.”

Are you detecting a pattern? This “progressive” pastor has the right to misrepresent me publicly because, well, he’s progressive, so it must be right. He has the right to put words into my mouth (like “pray away the gay”) and make inane and ridiculous comments (such as the bedroom remarks), no matter how farfetched they may be.

But since, in his eyes, I’m a Bible-bashing religious fundamentalist and he’s a liberated progressive, his perceptions are the truth. Who cares about facts? Who cares about Scripture?

Not only so, he claims the right to deny the very real stories of thousands of ex-gays, people who, with God’s help, have left homosexual practice and gay identity behind. They do not exist. They cannot exist. If they did, it would cause his house of sand to collapse in an instant. It would mean that Jesus can change anyone.

So, in the name of standing with the marginalized, he casts out and mocks the most marginalized group in America today: ex-gays. This is the heart of Jesus? This is pursuing righteousness? This is practicing mercy?

The “progressives” also fail to realize that they are joining forces with those who want to take away rights, who want to silence Christians, who want to impose their ideology, who want to penalize all dissenters. (Yes, I’m talking about LGBT extremists and their allies, sometimes known as the pink mafia for a reason. I and many others have documented this steadily for years.)

And when it comes to fealty to the Word of God, the Twitter interaction proved extremely interesting.

Queen James BibleA professing gay Christian tweeted with joy about his upcoming wedding to his partner, telling me the Scripture he would use at the event. When I came back to him with other scriptures about same-sex relationships, he told me plainly that the Bible was not his final authority and that God was bigger than a book. Fascinating!

When I challenged a zealous supporter of “gay Christianity” when she simply repeated the standard, LGBT theological talking points, she told me I was obviously not a scholar. How dare I set the record straight. How dare I share the fruit of decades of serious academic study of the Scriptures (in their cultural context and in their original languages, with due attention to the Spirit’s intent). How dare I rely on the best research by the best scholars. How dare I burst her bubble.

Of course, when I asked her for a verse to back her points, she had none. When I presented her with verses that rebutted hers, she had vacuous talking points and nothing more.

But she was progressive, and I was not. Of course she was right. Of course I was not a scholar.

What I experienced over the course of hours of interaction with scores of different people was a steady tide of condescending, name-calling, biblically-bankrupt, and morally-hypocritical rhetoric, and all of it devoid of a single substantive response.

So, these folks can have their “progressive” religion (although I pray they’ll see the light). I’ll stay with the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus who liberates and transforms, the Jesus who doesn’t affirm us in our sin but delivers us out of it.

He was good enough for the last 2,000 years. He’ll be good enough for eternity.

Dr. Michael Brown is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program.He is author of “Can You Be Gay and Christian? Responding with Love and Truth to Questions about Homosexuality.”

This column is printed with permission. Opinions expressed in ‘Perspectives’ columns published by OneNewsNow.com are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support the American Family News Network, OneNewsNow.com, our parent organization or its other affiliates.

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A detailed explanation of why Christians don’t accept gay marriage


waving flagPublished by: Dan CalabreseDan Calabrese on Monday June 29th, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.caintv.com/a-detailed-explanation-of-why

Image Credit: Keoni Cabral via Flickr

For those genuinely interested in understanding.

Given the nature of the discussion following the gay marriage ruling last week, one thing that’s clear to me as a Christian who opposes gay marriage is that very few secular people – and sadly, by no means all Christians – really understand why Christians take the position we do. That’s why there is so much being said that doesn’t really reflect what Christians think. Some say we hate or we judge. Others say we are against love. Some think we’re threatened by homosexuals. Some think we object too vociferously because we secretly want to join their ranks. Some even claim we don’t think God loves gay people.

None of that is true, but maybe it’s understandable that you jump to those conclusions if you’re not familiar with the Bible or with the details of Christian doctrine.

What I want to do here is lay out an explanation for the basis of Christian opposition to gay marriage. The intent here is not to convince you if you don’t agree, although I’d be glad if I did. If you come away from this feeling that you better understand the Christian position, but still disagreeing with it, then I’ve accomplished my goal.

First, a few caveats: This explanation is going to reflect my particular denominational bent, which is Pentecostal. I don’t think the substance of what I say will differ in a substantive way from any Bible-believing denomination, but I recognize, for instance, that Baptists or Lutherans may not put as much emphasis on the supernatural as I do. Noted. I still think they would mostly endorse the substance of how I’m going to explain this. Also, my target audience here is people with a genuine interest in understanding. The fire-breathing ideologue who is simply spoiling for a fight about anything and everything is going to do what he or she always does. That’s not my problem.

Finally, I understand that some of you don’t believe in God or in anything spiritual, and for you, all of this is absurd on its face. You’re still welcome to gain an understanding if you’d like, even though I recognize you will not accept the basic premise behind any of it.

With that said, let’s start by establishing a basic point about the Bible. The Christian (present company included) believes that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God. The various writers wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so we don’t believe it was merely “written by men,” and we also believe that God has protected His Word over the course of centuries with new translations to reflect modern language – by choosing godly men and women to lead those translation processes. That’s why, when we cite the Bible, we treat it as authoritative.

Also, since every writer of the Bible was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it doesn’t matter when people argue that “Jesus never said anything” about this or that. Just because an issue isn’t specifically referenced in the red-letter words of Jesus (although the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman actually is, which we’ll get to shortly) doesn’t mean Scripture had nothing authoritative to say on the matter.

Now, let’s establish beyond any doubt what Scripture says about homosexual sex. I have five passages for you, starting with Romans 1:24-28:

24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

This passage clearly establishes that God intended a natural order for how we would receive and engage in the gift of sexual activity, and it likewise establishes that homosexual sex is outside that established order. It also establishes that there is a penalty for this. Loving Christian people want to see gay people spared of the pain of that penalty.Picture2

Next, let’s look at Mark 10:2-9:

2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him.

3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”

4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”

5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Jesus is answering a question from the Pharisees about divorce – one of their typically pathetic attempts to trap him – and in the course of answering, Jesus lays out God’s clear plan for marriage, affirming that it is indeed between a man and a woman. There are people who argue implausibly that Jesus only phrased it this way because, in that day and age, He couldn’t have conceived of gay marriage. That’s transparent nonsense. As the Son of God, Jesus knew everything that would ever happen. And Jesus introduced lots of concepts into His teaching that were radical in His day. If He had been OK with gay marriage, this was the perfect opportunity to say so. Instead, he affirmed that marriage is between a man and a woman.

Next, let’s look at Leviticus 20:10-18:

10 ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. 11 The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall beupon them. 13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their bloodshall be upon them. 14 If a man marries a woman and her mother, it iswickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. 15 If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them. 17 ‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his guilt. 18 If a man lies with a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from their people.

Now I realize many will focus on the “put to death” aspect of this, and that’s where you have to understand the difference between moral law and ceremonial law. A lot of people cite prohibitions against things like eating shellfish as evidence that Leviticus is just full of random nonsense. No. Those are laws specifically for the Israelites about remaining ceremonial clean for entering the Temple and offering sacrifices to God. Those are ceremonial laws.

The death penalty proscribed for these sins is likewise a penalty under ceremonial law, but make no mistake, God views the actions described as moral sins, and the reason I included so many other examples is to establish that there is such a thing as sexual morality, and there are limits to it. God intends sex to be enjoyed within marriage between a man and a woman who are not closely related to each other, and He is very stern with those who engage in sexual immorality – as defined in great detail in this passage. That’s because God establishes that when you unite with someone physically, you also unite with them spiritually – and He only wants you to unite spiritually with one person. Your spouse. Of the opposite sex. Taking on the spiritual iniquity of others with whom you were never intended to unite is a very dangerous game, and God is trying to warn you against doing so.Picture3

Next, 1 Timothy 1:8-11:

8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

Just to be clear, sodomites are those who engage in sodomy (referenced in other translations as those who practice homosexuality) and fornicators are those who engage in sex outside of marriage.

Finally, James 1:14-15:

14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

I included that last passage not just to show that desires of the flesh are sinful, but also to show that sin has ultimate spiritual consequence, which is torment in your life and ultimately death.

Now, I know that’s a lot of Scripture, so let me pull it together. Every one of us is born into sin. For the homosexual who says, “I was born this way,” I will not argue. We were all born with sinful urges of our flesh. Some struggle with anger. Some struggle with heterosexual lust. Some struggle with gluttony or addiction to alcohol. And some struggle with homosexual urges. These are our desires. They come from the flesh and they war against the spirit.

God’s desire for each person is that they will repent of those desires and surrender to Him so that He can deliver them from these urges by the power of Christ. The Christian who loves as God loves certainly does not a hate another human being for having sinful desires of the flesh. We have them too. We need the power of Christ to be delivered from them. But crucially, we recognize that these urges are sinful and we want to be delivered from them so we can be in a right relationship with God, and receive the fullness of His blessings in our lives.

I understand why some Christians struggle with this. They know a gay person, or maybe have a gay family member, and they want that person to be happy. It’s enticing to accept the “love is love” argument and to believe that surely God wants that gay person to be in a loving relationship. But that argument wrongly conflates love with sex. There are a lot of different kinds of love. Hopefully you love a lot of people, but you only have sex with one person – the one to whom you’re married. If you want a gay person to know love in a romantic/sexual relationship, good, so do I. So I will pray that this person is delivered from those urges through the blood of Jesus so that he or she can find the mate of the opposite sex that God always intended for them to come together with.

For a Christian to encourage a gay person in the consummation of a gay “marriage” is to encourage their permanent indulgence in a lust of the flesh that Scripture clearly tells us God finds detestable, and to suffer all the spiritual consequences that come with that. It would be like encouraging you to go hiking down a path where we know a deadly wild animal is waiting to devour you. Far from hating you, we’re loving you by warning you of the consequences and urging you to repent – which literally means to turn back and change directions.

That’s why the Christian baker doesn’t want to bake that wedding cake, and why the Christian adoption agency doesn’t want to process those papers, and why the Christian church won’t perform the ceremony. And that’s why so many people like me won’t be cloaking our Facebook profile pictures in the rainbow colors. What we want for you is something better than your flesh is leading you to, and we’re praying for you to receive it. We’re not going to encourage you to follow the desire of your flesh instead of the light God wants to put in your spirit.

I hope that by reading this, some of you gained a better understanding of the Christian position on gay marriage, and why a Bible-believing Christian can never accept it. If you did – even if you still disagree – I did my job.

AMEN freedom combo 2

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It’s Time for Pastors to Enter the Battle Against Tyranny


waving flagPosted by

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://godfatherpolitics.com/22901/its-long-past-time-for-pastors-to-enter-the-battle-against-tyranny/#r5I4FzTFKcQmS8AP.99
ONE NATION

There are tens of millions of evangelical Christians in the United States, and millions do not participate in politics even though the Bible says that the civil magistrate is a “minister of God” (Rom. 13:4). Millions of these Christians don’t participate in the political process because their pastors are either afraid to address political issues or they believe that Christians would not get mixed up in politics.

Either reason is contrary to the Bible and the history of this once-great nation. “To the pulpit, the PURITAN PULPIT, we owe the moral force which won our Independence,”1 John Wingate Thornton wrote in The Pulpit of the American Revolution. Too many Christians don’t believe or know this history.APPROVED SCHOOL READING MATERIAL DIFFERENCES

Many Christians believe they can be neutral. But there is no neutrality. By not engaging culture at the political level, another worldview dominates and impacts all of us. We must then live under their standard, as we are doing today.

Founding American ministers of the gospel confronted the issues of their day by appealing to the people in terms of the Bible. The annual “Election Sermon” still “bears witness that our fathers ever began their civil year and its responsibilities with an appeal to Heaven, and recognized Christian morality as the only basis of good laws.”2 In addition, the clergy were often consulted by the civil authorities in the colonies, “and not infrequently the suggestions from the pulpit, on election days and other special occasions, were enacted into laws. The statute-book, the reflex of the age, shows this influence. The State was developed out of the Church.”3

The diminishing light of civil liberty in this land is linked directly to the lack of preaching on it in today’s pulpits. Dr. Alice Baldwin’s wonderful book The New England Pulpit and the American Revolution is a welcome antidote to the problem of a supposed neutrality, should we be willing to take it.

 

From American Vision — $14.95

Dr. Baldwin illustrates how the preachers of the early American era thought and practiced just the opposite as today. Mountains of research in colonial sermons, tracts, pamphlets, and other publications, reveals how the pulpits of colonial America rang constantly on all aspects of the public square: good rulers, good laws, good forms of government, and the blessings of liberty. We especially hear of those choice values of biblical order that became the battle cries of American independence.

Commenting on the classic paraphrase of “life, liberty, and property,” Baldwin proclaims, 

No one can fully understand the American Revolution and the American constitutional system without a realization of the long history and religious associations which lie behind these words; without realizing that for a hundred years before the Revolution men were taught that these rights were protected by divine, inviolable law.

Covering the entire revolutionary era, she concludes that the central force behind it all was the pulpit’s application of the Word of God to politics and government. She says, “It must not be forgotten, in the multiplicity of authors mentioned, that the source of greatest authority and the one most commonly used was the Bible.” And she proves that “from the law of God they derived their political theories.”

It is long past time to recover the great and powerful preaching of our founding era—a time when pastors did not fear to preach politics, resist tyranny, and found their governments on biblical precepts. Dr. Baldwin’s nearly-forgotten book is a powerful resource toward that end. We recommend it to every pastor and every Christian in hope that they follow the example of its subject matter even more.burke

You can order a copy of The New England Pulpit and the American Revolution from American Vision here. Order one for your pastor as well.freedom combo 2

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I would regret dying and knowing I did not use God’s gifts


Posted by Hobo John — January 25, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://joeforamerica.com/2015/01/regret-dying-knowing-not-use-gods-gifts/

I am going to ramble around a bit so as to make a point or two. It is Sunday after all and God and Christ are what I found at the end of my journey on the streets. They were both there the entire time of course watching over me as I examined my childhood wounds and learned my lessons about how to use God’s gifts, love myself and others.

Our society makes no time for reflection, we all work too hard and too long and give ourselves little time to chew over mistakes so we often repeat the same ones in vein, hoping for a better out come.

The economy makes it difficult as well, most folks work more and more while receiving less and less. A lot of that has to do with the greed of the rich and clever, and makes my heart hurt. Lots of folks have no time to think about and work through wounds, they are too busy trying to provide for families. I hold them in my heart with every tenderness.

Those seven years without a job, without family or friends was lonely at times to be sure. But it also allowed me to sit with my grief and my fears and to mull them over without anyone interfering with my thinking process and telling me what I should be doing. I count them as a true blessing.

As I said while on the streets I re-familiarized myself with the Bible and Christ’s teachings. I became particularly fond Bible-in-hand-300x150of the Book of James so many nuggets of wisdom and things to ponder.

“For what is your life? It is but a mist that arises for a while and is gone.” James 4:14. The implications of this are extraordinary. The things in this life we hold dear including our own breathe and body, merely temporary and as short term as a mist. The idea is to hunt for something more substantial than even your own life; that could only mean your eternal self. the one beyond time.

It is also refreshing. The things I worry so much about, things as simple as saying something stupid or out of line, where my next meal is coming from, will I make my deadline at work? Well from the point of view of my eternal self these things are a vapor indeed. He is saying we should not work to impress others or even ourselves, but to impress our creator.

Christ said the kingdom of heaven is within and James confirms this calling God’s word implanted. James also says that with patience, and holding to Christ’s teaching we can become, “whole and complete lacking nothing.”

James also tells us “pure religion” has nothing to do with churches or doctrine but is, “to visit the orphan and the widow in their affliction, and to remain untouched by the world.” To me he is saying take care of those who are traumatized and in today’s world you do not have to look to far to find those folks.

“To remain untouched by the world,” that is another phrase that really made me search for some understanding. Well, what runs the world? In my mind it is fear and the things that arise from fear: greed, jealousy, anger, violence, wrath etc. Along with fearful things, lust, or desire is perhaps a kinder word, it also runs the world.

Generally our desire is for stuff we do not have and the stuff other people have. To be untouched by the world means to dwell in God’s joy and peace no matter what happens, no matter what you have or do not have.

After I was molested I lost trust in others to take care of me, I also lost trust in myself. Over time God has restored my faith in myself and I am busy chasing the eternal.

I am genuinely a happy person and still desire many things in this world, a jeep for one thing would be very nice indeed. Lust, jealousy, greed, anger, hate arise in me every day, but when they do I do my best to turn them over to God or I invite God in to heal them.

When it comes to family and friends, well knowing these people are temporary makes them become very precious indeed, far more precious than anything than I could own or have. To hold onto jealousy and hate is something I would regret. In other words it inspires me to be kinder and forgiving of everything.

It also makes me strive to become as good as I possibly can at the things I do. I would regret dying and knowing I did not use God’s gifts to their full potential to better this temporary world. Peace to you folks. I love you with everything that I have; that is my motto, my mantra and the truth of things.

About the Author; Hobo John

Hobo John here, I am a fifty year old man currently living in a small town in Idaho, this is also where I grew up. Like any Idaho boy I love the outdoors, and am a sports enthusiast. But I also love the arts and paint a little myself. In Proverbs it says, “A man’s pursuit is his kindness, ” and that is my only true mission in life. I like to write about just about anything; songs , children’s stories, politics, short stories, however, I have not attempted a novel yet. I also consider myself a bit of a philosopher, after seven years of living the homeless life I actually started to enjoy it. I started writing little phrases that I hope contain some wisdom. I call them Hobo Metaphysics. “Gentle beats the hell out of aggressive,” being one of my favorites. Peace to you folks, “I love you with everything that I have.” That is my motto and the truth of things.

Freedom with Prayer

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Why Are LGBT People So Hacked With Christians?


 

http://clashdaily.com/2013/12/lgbt-people-hacked-christians/#7qgp4DhWrSsGxbbi.99

By / 30 December 2013

angry_eyes_by_benry-d4puyiz

[From the book, The Cross & the Constitution in the Age of Incoherence, 2012, Tate Publishing]

Perhaps secular ears will hear …

Not long ago a gay couple in West Hollywood hung Sarah Palin in effigy. That image will loom large in the minds of the Palin children for many years, perhaps for a lifetime. In recent days at demonstrations in Palm Springs we’ve seen gay protestors knock a cross out of the hands of a grandmother, stomp all over it, and scream in her face. She is filing charges.

We’ve seen homosexual protestors invade church services Sunday morning and rail against people, shouting threats. We’ve seen what appears to be Anthrax mailed to LDS churches. We have seen protests throughout southern California and threats of more violence and demonstrations. And we have heard LGBT leaders call blacks ignorant bigots for voting in favor of Proposition Eight in California.

All this is no way to build consensus, invite understanding, or forward the cause of mutual respect.

It appears we are incapable of engaging a rational discussion when it comes to the topic of homosexuality.

Many of us in the traditional faith community want to challenge those in the LGBT community to consider: perhaps Christians are not hate-filled homophobes but instead rational people with a legitimate point of view. Why are you so intolerant of our point of view? Why do you give yourselves permission to do violence against us?

Maybe gay marriage is unhealthy for everyone? Regardless, don’t people have a right to an opinion? Do they not have the right to vote their conscience on issues central to the organization of society?

The answer is no if we listen to contemporary gay activists.

For those more moderate in approach and sensibility, please try to understand where Christians are coming from. Quell the emotion for a time and try to come at this with hardcore objectivity and rational inquiry.

Our belief is God is very clear in his Word.

People have the freedom to accept his Word or not. Neither God nor man is forcing anyone to do, or not do, something or other. Is that plausible to you? We are simply following the dictates of our conscience. Do we have the freedom to do so? Do we have the right to do so? What does God’s Word say about homosexual behaviors and gay marriage?

Here are the most often cited passages from both Old and New Testaments. Please read carefully.

Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable. – Leviticus 18:22

If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. – Leviticus 20:13

Keep in mind laws in Leviticus were laid down for the Jews at a specific time for specific reasons. Obviously as Christians we do not believe people should be put to death today. We live under an entirely new covenant and dispensation, one governed by grace and mercy and love, not the law. However, God does not change his mind about the nature of sin or move from calling something detestable to calling it blessed or sanctioned. This should be obvious.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. – Romans 1:26–27

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. – 1 Corinthians 6:9–10

… knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine – 1 Timothy 1:9–10

[The Word is convicting on purpose.  The Gospel is an offense.  It is supposed to be, for only by conviction of sin are we led to repentance and salvation.]

Let’s remember the Word says all have fallen short of the Glory of God, all are sinners, and no one does good, not one. As Christians, we simply believe Christ and his Word, and the Word is obviously very clear. Demanding we act in ways contrary to what we believe is to attempt to force us to deny our Lord and deny conscience. Is that so hard to understand? Does our devotion make us homophobes by default? Of course not. Nor is it appropriate for members of the LGBT community to attack us, as we’ve seen in recent days in the wake of the passage of Proposition Eight in California.

No doubt gays will come back, saying, “You are asking us to deny our conscience telling us homosexuality is sin.” Well, somebody is wrong, and somebody is right. Logic alone disallows both parties claiming truth. Perhaps the following will help explain our point of view further.

I’ve had gay friends as far back as 1972. One old friend, who is long gone, once told me gay activism was entirely misguided. He said there was no point declaring war on the larger society. (Gays comprise 3–4 percent of the population.) He said it would only cause endless turmoil for no good reason. I think he was right. It is understood that flying under the radar is anathema to many people in the homosexual world, but this is where my friend concluded the matter for himself. The fact he was a college professor may carry weight with some people.

It pains me to think homosexual friends are headed for judgment.

What is the most loving thing I can do? Accommodate their sin as they stumble into hell or try to dissuade them from following a destructive and unhealthy lifestyle that ultimately leads to eternal separation from God? The answer is obvious. If I ignore the sin of a brother and let him fall, die, and go to hell, one of two things must be true: either I do not love that brother, or I do not believe sin will visit these consequences.

If my brother’s house is on fire, do I stand on the sidewalk and wish him well and walk away, or do I rush in to save him?

It is not an act of love to silently standby and pat people on the back while they destroy themselves.

And it is not discrimination to speak the truth in love.

We have always held to the idea of community standards of morality as defined by the majority. Several states voted against gay marriage this last go around. Is there any respect for voters out there?

So far, all states have voted against gay marriage except one. If the people in that state want to codify gay marriage, so be it.

Why must the LGBT community insist the majority submit to their vision of marriage? There is a distinct tyrannical flavor to it.

Otherwise, it is astounding to hear so-called pastors ignore God’s Word, accommodate sin—which is killing people—and bow to tyrants. Lord, help us.

As always, the Lord of love shows the way.

When the religious hypocrites threw the adulterous woman at Jesus’ feet, challenging him to give the order to stone her to death, the Master waited for a teachable moment, challenged the sinners to cast the first stone, loved the woman, and told her to “sin no more.” He restored her, not by accommodating her sin, not by looking the other way, but by protecting her and leading her into the light, by his grace.

With Christ as our example we must “go and do likewise.” We should neither condemn sinners nor codify sin into law, all the while recognizing we too are all sinners, saved only by grace, and that, “not of ourselves, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:9).

Pastors who prefer accommodation to salvation lean to their own understanding, lead people to destruction, and dishonor the Lord, all in the same breath.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3: 5,6

We can no sooner force gay people to be straight than we can force Christians to be atheists. God never forces anyone to do anything. He simply invites people to enter his rest and enjoy a loving relationship with him, thereby allowing the Holy Spirit to conform us to Christ, the personification of Truth. Entering this loving relationship allows a person to enjoy the essence of true freedom.

Christians should be able to take a stand for our beliefs, and we should be able to do so in this country without being assaulted. Any objective examination of the record shows Christians do not assault members of the LGBT community.

Hopefully members of the LGBT community will try to understand Christian beliefs and confront this ludicrous idea Christians are somehow filled with hate and out to get them. It’s a lie from the pit of hell, and, somehow people know this, but they let the lie goad them to violence nonetheless.

We continue to pray for peaceful resolution, asking for an end to hostilities and an embrace of understanding, even an understanding unto salvation. Most Christians I know are willing to live and let live but cannot, as a matter of conscience, sanction gay marriage. It appears more and more LGBT people are not willing to live and let live but are pleased to fight and fight some more.

If that is the case, we are in for a long fight.

Image: Courtesy of: http://benry.deviantart.com/art/Angry-Eyes-285299531

About the author: Allan Erickson

 Allan Erickson enjoyed an 11-year career in radio, television and print journalism as a reporter, talk show host, and operations manager. He then turned to sales and marketing for a decade. Ten years ago he started his own training and recruitment company in the Pacific Northwest.  Allan & wife Jodi have four children and live in California. He is also the author of “The Cross & the Constitution in the Age of Incoherence,” Tate Publishing, 2012. He is available to speak in churches addressing the topics of faith and freedom.  To contact him, email:  allanlerickson@gmail.com

Read more at http://clashdaily.com/2013/12/lgbt-people-hacked-christians/#7qgp4DhWrSsGxbbi.99

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