Category Archives: religion

Faith Healing Government Miracles

Posted on August 24, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Sojourner’s Jim Wallis is America’s leading preacher of faith healing. Unlike his charismatic brethren, Wallis is preaching faith in government. In praise of the benevolent overlords of health care, Wallis calls on us to believe in the liberal’s health care plan for miraculous healing. Like the healing ministry of Jesus, Wallis proclaims the federal government will save the poor from a woeful lack health care and poverty as well.

Actually, his latest sermon didn’t include deliverance from poverty by government or anyone else. The likely reason is that neither government bureaucrats nor big business has any plans of raising the poor out of the dependency on their big government savior. I doubt that Obama does either.

I know my comments seem to border on the edge of intolerant blasphemy, but consider Wallis’ words:

We are calling on people of faith to carry on the healing ministry of Jesus by making sure your political representatives understand that the faith community will be satisfied with nothing less than accessible, affordable health care for all Americans, built on a solid financial foundation. (emphasis added)

People of faith need to be the steady, moral drumbeat driving the debate and keeping our politicians accountable. This is a critical and long-overdue opportunity to fix a broken and inequitable system, which must not be derailed either by powerful special interests or by those, on any side, who just want to score political points. It is up to all of us to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Like Wallis, the United Methodist Church believes it is the government’s responsibility to provide all citizens with adequate health care. I have to ask; where in the Bible does it say that? Where in the U.S. Constitution does it give liberal politicians in Washington the legal authority? Maybe they read the general welfare clause as being non-restrictive in such matters.

If so, why don’t they interpret it in a way that gives themselves the right to ensure that every working American earns a wage they can live on? It would be equitable for every working American to earn enough for a minimally independent life without welfare assistance. Isn’t it more important for individuals to earn enough to pay banks for a mortgage, pay GM for a new car every 3-5 years, to maintain clothing and housewares, to purchase government mandated new television and communication technologies, to buy healthy food, as well as adequate health care insurance?

The answer given by federal and state politicians as well as Wall Street funded corporations is NO unless you are fully dependent on Almighty Gov or on one of its Union bosses, AFL-CIO or NEA for example. One exception is if you have been blessed by fate with the right global market skills developed at the right university with a more marketable degree such science, computer technology, medicine, law, or business investment and marketing. Having been born or raised in the right family or have gained the right social connections helps too.

Wallis’ liberal propaganda jazzed up with religious hype makes right-wing theocrats look like Saint Theresa. At least she actually helped the poor, diseased, and the orphan. If as I suspect, Wallis is sincere in his effort to help the poor and needy, it appears he has wondered to far from the fold and has enter the den of wolves.

Jesus said, “The enemy comes to kill, to steal, and to destroy.” The gospel of government salvation has the serpent imprint. The glory health care reform being evangelized to America will not only help those kept in poverty with paying for government’s health care insurance it will insure the killing of the unborn and the useless elderly. The miracle healing promised by faith in government will also continue robbing many of an equitable income as well as the freedom from the tyranny of dependency on government or quasi-governments as Wall Street funded corporations. Many financial experts, economists, and even brave health professionals are claiming that the current government is destroying our economy, our excellent health care system, and our future.

Jesus also said, “The truth will set you free.” The truth is Obama, liberals, and wayward Christians are not telling the truth. Read the dag-gone health bills and committee amendments. Then consider this: medical science can only assist the human body to heal itself. That is how God designed it. Only the Creator can actually heal the human body. He alone can reprogram the DNA or other aspects of mutated organisms that destroy normal human cells. Maybe one day, medical science will actually discover all of the Designer’s secrets, but until then, only faith in God for healing is warranted.

Sources: Sojourner, August 20, 2009; United Methodist Church News, August 19, 2009; John 10: 10; and John 8:32.

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Genesis One Literally Speaking

Posted on August 15, 2009 by | 1 comment

The first chapter of Genesis has been a source of religious and scientific disagreement for centuries. In the 20th Century, Darwinian evolution became a foundational dogma of both secularism and science. Because it lends its weighty influence to atheism, many regarded Darwinian evolution as being antagonistic to the faith.

According to faithful adherents, Darwinian evolution is undeniable scientific fact, but a number of its key doctrines such as natural selection have been questioned with much skepticism by hundreds biologists, geneticists, chemists, evolutionists, and other scientists.

The most recent public contention has been between establishment Darwinists and intelligent design (ID) scientists. Darwinists call IDers names like religious fanatic, evangelists, and other words not worthy of mention. Yet, most leading IDers are either educated practitioners in scientific fields or science educators. IDers infer an intelligent designer from both their own scientific research (that apologists of Darwinism claim don’t exist) and from the research of other scientists. Darwinists see the inference as a religious threat to evolution science and many of them oppose ID based on their atheistic views.

Earlier in the 20th Century, the debate was between Creation science and Darwinian evolution. Today, many leaders in the scientific community regard ID as a renewed form of Creation Science, which means scientific findings biblically interpreted.

One of the hotly contested interpretations has been a literal seven day creation of the heavens and/or earth. It has been contested because the results of scientific dating techniques refute its claim. Carbon dating show the earth is billions of years old. Yet, evidence also exist that shows humans lived contemporaneously with dinosaurs–an evolutionary impossibility. There even exists a fossilized human sandal embedded in pre-dinosaur sediment, which raises a legitimate but unanswered question as to whether carbon dating is correct or whether human have been around throughout most of earth history.

If the Hebrew word for day in Genesis 1 is literally interpret as a 24 hour period, then Genesis 2 presents a terrible problem. In that chapter, the universe was created in one day. Overcoming this dilemma is not that difficult because the text also says that on the 7th day God rested. It is logical to infer that here is a summary reference to chapter one.

Nevertheless, literalists are not out of the deep waters. For covering the scriptures are the waves made by the prophets who said that a day (24 hrs.) is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day to God. Punching a few more holes in the literal boat are scientific scholars like Gerald Schroeder who claim that time being relative as proven by Einstein allows for a day being thousands if not billions of years, while at the same time, being merely 24 hours viewed from an earthly perspective. Schroeder is a proponent of the Big Bang theory of the origins of the universe.

The Big Bang theory lends itself to a triune God creating the universe out of nothing as explained by mathematical physicists Frank Tipler as well as to an evolutionary view such as quantum physicist David Bohm’s Implicate and Explicate Order.

A more important question concerning the Creation account than whether God created it in 7 days, 7 millenniums or 7 other periods is how and what did God create? Yet, science specializes in answering how questions. The author of Genesis only informs us that God made the power of His information the source of the Creation. Oddly enough, Bohm also believes that information guiding energy is the source of all matter and life in the universe.

Genesis gives us some additional clues as to how God created. One of those clues is the absence of any mention of God making or creating plant life. God’s involvement is mentioned in all other aspects of creation except plant life. The clue suggests self-organization and replication. Bohm’s theory is particularly useful on the third day.

Not only did plant come forth out of the ground on the third day but so did Jesus of Nazareth. His roots may have been earthly but his destiny extended to the heavens, which leads us to another clue.

In verse one, God began creating the heavens and the earth. A careful reading of the rest of Genesis reveals a clear distinction between heavens and heaven. This distinction refers to all planets, suns and stars beyond the living environment of the earth and its heaven–the airy atmosphere and its upper canopy of water–that God created on the second day.

On each day, God intervenes to form each part of our living environment and each group of species except for plants and humans. That’s right; humans are not a completely separate and distinct specie in the Genesis account. That is inferred by the lack of a new division, either a new day or a distinct body type from those animals of the earth. The uniqueness of humans is their likeness to God. It is true the human body has unique features enabling humans to reflect the nature of God or its opposite. Nonetheless, humans continue to bear a resemblance to other mammals that were also created on the sixth day.

The answer to the question about what God created would not be complete–if it can ever be completely answered–without the following observation:

The first chapter of Genesis is not primarily about God creating the universe; that is limited to the first verse. The focus of Genesis 1 is about God creating a planet capable of sustaining all forms of life. Most importantly, the one eternal creature that God created from the dust–whether by modifying a prior specie or by a special creation–is the only creature that resembles the Creator. The human body resembles the form of God as revealed to Moses, the elders of Israel, the prophets, the apostles as well as by the only perfect human representation–the only begotten son of God, Jesus Messiah. Most importantly, humans resemble the moral, intelligent, aesthetic, and creative being of God.

Literally, Genesis 1 (and 2) is the goal to which the history of corrupted humanity and the history God’s redemption of we humans is destined to attain. The end time is not a bleak account of God’s arbitrary cruelty but rather a judicial account of the final achievement of history’s goal for those who choose the path of God’s redemptive justice. That is also the meaning of chapter 21 of Revelation.

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Harp Huggers Hug Their Last On Cloud Nine

Posted on August 9, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Many people still believe heaven will be like an eternal yoga on cloud nine. That is for those who find peace and relaxation through meditation. Western tradition pictures heaven as reclining on a white fluffy cloud enjoying eternal serenity while hugging a golden harp. While hugging one’s golden harp, people believe that by strumming a lively golden strings to the divine rhythm of heaven they will experience greater joy. All of this bliss is magnified by the soothing radiance of heavenly light.

Yes, it is a boring vision of man as an island–a western view of autonomous man in heaven. Autonomous man is left alone in peace by everyone, even God, to enjoy eternal life without government interference. It is an egalitarian vision because everyone that is worthy of heaven gets to enjoy their own rest and relaxation to the same everlasting degree as every other person on their own cloudy oasis. What could be more fair that that?

I have bad news for all those harp huggers. It ain’t so. Sorry to have to burst another bubble–the current economic one is depressing enough; but turning a blind eye to a false vision would be a great disservice. Exposing the false hopes, false dreams, or blinding darkness–however bright with hope may seem–is supposed to be the duty of writers.

The puffy idea that people who do more good than harm are worthy of own their own cloud doesn’t hold water. The whole concept is merely evaporated hope based on a false premise of justice and fairness. As the gospels teach us, do-gooders are no more worthy of heaven than the scum of the earth. Why? One sin is counted as a bad as all sins. Because we all have or will sin, the stain on our do-goodism can not be removed–no even with White Cloud. The only detergent capable of removing that stain, the shame, or the statutory claim against our moral wrongs is the sinless blood of a lamb or rather of the sinless son of God, Jesus of Nazareth.

That’s the gist of the gospel preached by Pastor Jon.

Can preachers like Jon and their gospel be wrong? It is claimed that they are. It is claimed that there are many ways to heaven whatever it really is. It is claimed that the exclusiveness of the gospels is dead wrong, but is it?

If humans are made in the image of God (Gen 1:26), a collective of humans in society is likely to reflect divine justice as least a little. That being the case, do we humans merely forgive breakers of our great moral laws because we are all really nice guys whose love surpasses the need to protect others in society from breakers of those law? Actually, our system of justice forgives no one for doing more good than the last crime committed that has gone unpunished. Of course, I must give credit to the many secularists who have worked very hard to change our inherent sense of justice, but it stubbornly persists as does the persistence of moral evils performed by once upon a time do-gooders. We human do take into account past good behavior or good citizenship in the process of punishing the guilty, which is usually expressed by leniency. Nevertheless, neither God nor we humans forgive do-good lawbreakers until after they have been duly punished–if then.

The problem is God’s only punishment for sin is death. The soul that sins it shall die, declared the priestly prophet Ezekiel. The wages of sin is death, said the Apostle Paul. Because it is, only death can fully satisfy the demand of divine justice. Thus, the only cloud of serenity humans earn by greater good works than bad is a dark cloud of pending judgment. That is except for the fact that God initiated and accepted the willing sacrifice of sinless living souls on behalf of us guilty humans. (Gen 3:21; 4:4; 8:20-21, etc.) Sacrificed animals, however, are not sufficient to satisfy divine justice fully for one important reason: they are not culpable for sin. Only human commit moral crimes against God’s laws. Only the sacrificial death of a willing and sinless human could possibly satisfy divine justice fully, and only God would be qualified to offer such a sacrifice. The gospel of Jesus, his apostles’ epistles, and the testimonies of those who constitute the Church claim that Jesus is that effectual sacrifice we all need,and the evidence is their moral and God-honoring lifestyle.

Thus, the Jesus-oriented lifestyle is the only one that can lead to heaven.

Jesus freaks are weird dudes because they have given up the Western and Eastern illusions of heaven as either a cloudy bliss of liberalism or an antinomian* free ride to heaven’s gate as the Hale-Bopp comet followers proved. Even if the Boppers made it to the gate, they were likely turned away because they had failed to get the right entry tickets. Jesus freaks, on the other hand, live for the day when they will live in a renewed heaven and earth where God evidently dwells among them. Heaven will be like the new beginning that came at the end of the movie Knowing–only better. For some it will be even better than being able to eat of the fruit of the tree of life again. It will be a techie heaven where humans will continue to invent new technologies, according Pastor Jon. I must note here that Pastor Jon used to work for the computer technology giant IBM. In this heaven, we humans will also continue to enjoy music, singing, worshipping God, exploring and learning, eating good food while discussing with friends and loved ones whatever comes to mind, and other things God created us to do. There will be a great new heath care reform plan too. HMOs, Medicare/Medicaid, doctors, drug companies, their lobbyists, and legislative supporters will no longer exist. In this heaven, no pain will be regarded as great gain. Broken bones due to sports injuries or other forms of play will a thing of the past, and so will wild animals eating or otherwise harming us humans. There will be no weight loss programs or the pain of failure. Who knows, a five-day a week job in which we do work totally unrelated to our training or goals may be no more as well.

Yet, the reality of heaven is hell. At the present, we live between heaven and hell. Some of us experience as much of hell as we ever will. Others, however, experience as much of heaven on earth as they ever will, said Pastor Jon. Destiny is a choice given by God. What one chooses is the only fate there is. Eternal life in heaven or hell is the final consequence of our earthly choices. This is a fact backed by the testimonies of many who have died and who came back to life to share with doctors, researches, and us ordinary folk what they experienced on the other side. You may have heard of Don Piper who has discussed his ninety minutes in heaven publicly and who has been written down in a book by the same title. It is worth reading, and so is choosing to follow Jesus to heaven.

Those who will not be there include the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, immoral persons, sorcerers, isolators, and all liars. (Rev. 21:8) I wonder how many people in modern business, sales, education, media, politics, or mainstream religion will make it above the cloudy illusions of success, influence or wealth to heaven?

* Antinomian is the rejection of all moral law and human accountability for it. Those who hold this view are of the illusion that Christ as the end of the law for salvation means grace is the end of all accountability to moral law rather than the means to fulfilling it. As such, grace is the equivalent of lawlessness.

Paraphrased quotes of Senior Pastor Jon Young came from this my own less than perfect memory of his Sunday morning sermon at Dayton Avenue Baptist Church on August 9, 2009

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Spanking is now a criminal act according to the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child

Posted on July 18, 2009 by | 2 comments

Parents spanking their own children for breaking the rules and for other harmful behaviors may soon become illegal. According to the Parental Rights organization, [t]he United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was adopted by the UN in 1989. Since then, only two members nations, the United States and Somalia, have yet to ratify the treaty. This treaty is interpreted to mean parents’ corrective spanking of their children for bad behavior is a form of torture and abuse that must end. The result is that the Committee on the Rights of the Child – a panel of 18 UN “experts” gathered in Geneva, Switzerland – decided on their own that they should tell the entire world how to raise their kids. The CRC’s prohibition of spanking in the home will become the Supreme Law of the Land if Americans allow the U.S. Senate to ratify it. If ratified, spanking will be considered a criminal act. Every parent, who still practices the biblical injunction ‘to spare the rod spoils the child,” will become a criminal. Good parents will lose the freedom to raise their children as they deem best and they will loose their children. (Go to Parental Rights website to learn more.)

It is true other forms of punishment can be effective in correcting children’s bad behavior. Taking away the freedom to play, eat favorite foods, watch favorite programs, communicating with friends, using the car, and the like can be effective in enforcing the rules and moral laws. Those methods do not always work. And, the younger the child is the less likely they will be.

Spanking, in fact, produces more long-term benefits to both the child and society. Spanking is a form of punishment usually intended to teach children that bad behavior has painful consequences. People whose behavior lands them in prison know the meaning of painful consequences. Living in a society condoning bad behavior also results in painful consequences of at least two types. One is the result from doing wrongful behaviors. Bodily injuries, disease, guilt or shame, rejection or alienation, and the like are consequences of doing wrong in a permissive culture. Another is the reciprocation of others, which compounds the consequences. A recent example of this is the murder of the late term abortion practitioner George Tiller. The ultimate consequence of moral crimes (sin, unethical behavior, etc.), however, is death. Death is the separation of individuals from a mutually beneficial working relationship. A long healthy marriage exemplifies such relationships. Divorce is a form of death. Abortion often results in the death of unborn child and parent. Ultimately, as prison is hell on earth so is life after death for those whose moral crimes end in the eternal punishment biblical religion calls hell. Many a revived clinically dead patient have told practicing doctors about going beyond barred gates into a place the Bible calls hell.

I have heard men honor their fathers for what seemed at the time very cruel punishment. The benefits of those harsh spankings produced the fruit of self-discipline hat made it possible for them to achieve their goals and enjoy their lives. This simply means that the Biblical injunction is true: Withholding painful punishment for wrongs done spoils the child so he or she may never enjoy the benefits of a moral and productive life. It also supports the widely known problem with leaders of the UN and their legal conventions–moral corruption. Evil doing brats often grow up to be evil doing adults.

That is another reason why America does not need the secular left’s God and Christianity hating wisdom. Nor does America need them dictating to us about how to raise children, how to live, how to practice religion, or how to make and spend our money. As a matter of fact, America would be much better off without them attempting to spend all of our hard earned income on their global imperial agendas like universal health care, education, or economic development. They have ruined enough of the American culture and economy; we do not need them to destroy the family too.

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Bogus Complaint of Ohio ACLU Against Proposed Pledge of Allegiance Law

Posted on June 23, 2009 by | Leave a comment

The Port Clinton News Herald published the following report about a proposed change in Ohio school law that would “strip Ohio School Boards of the authority to decide whether students should says the Pledge of Allegiance.” The law gives teachers sole authority to “decide if students in their classrooms will say the pledge.” Individual students would still be “allowed not to recite the pledge, but the proposal would prohibit anyone from altering it, such as adding or removing words.”

So, what is so bad about that?

“Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU in Ohio, said the proposed law violates free speech rights. School boards should retain the authority to decide if the pledge is appropriate.”

Whose free speech rights does this proposed law threaten? It is not students for they still have the right not to say the Pledge. It is not teachers who will gain greater discretionary authority in the classroom. That leaves those local school district officials who have decided students will not say the Pledge of Allegiance at school. Seeing the state already dictates school policy anyway, the loss of discretionary authority at the district level is almost meaningless.

The real problem is this: It “is a transparent attempt to force all school districts into mandating the pledge to be recited in all classrooms,” according to Link.

In other words, the proposed law threatens the ACLU’s socialist control over speech in the public domain.

Let’s evaluate this issue further. Children attend school to learn how to be good citizens of the United States of America. Engendering loyalty towards their national homeland is one of the original goals of public education. Who would grow up even to consider defending their nation if they did not highly value it? Stating the Pledge of Allegiance is instrumental in accomplishing that goal.

It must be acknowledged that the religion of some families forbid such acts. The flag could be viewed as object of idolatry, and a pledge could be compared to a religious oath. I cannot imagine any other reason for not pledging allegiance to their nations and the values it represents.

I almost forgot that the few atheists like those in the ACLU justify editing out of our nation’s historic Pledge those offending words like God through a secular interpretation of free speech rights.

Is it possible to edit out the same offending words and their synonyms from our nation’s founding documents? Even the second Constitution included the word Lord, which meant God not King Charles. It must be terribly offensive from them to read the multiple volumes of the Constitutional Convention debates. That is assuming they have actually read them. God was not left out. Then there are those federal building in which us etched scriptural references and even the Ten Commandments in the Supreme Court chambers.

Over the edge are statements written into the Constitution of Ohio. For example, the Preamble states:

We, the people of the State of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and promote our common welfare, do establish this
Constitution.

Article 1 Section 7 of the Bill of Rights states:

Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass suitable laws, to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage schools and the means of instruction.

Ohio public schools are government institutions whose purpose is the inculcation of good citizenship in its citizens. It is the Constitutional responsibility of schools to teach children what a good government is, the essentials being religion, morality, and knowledge.

Requiring children to say the Pledge of Allegiance is not a violation of free speech whereas forbidding it is a violation of Constitutional law. When religion conflicts with offending practices, the Ohio Bill of Rights accommodates freedom of conscience. Even children of atheist parents have a right not to say the Pledge.

The intention of the proposed law is to eliminate politically incorrect censorship or denial of the Pledge in a nation under God.

Sources: Port Clinton News Herald, June 13, 2009.
                  The Ohio Constitution.

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Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s

Posted on June 13, 2009 by | Leave a comment

“Render unto Caesar” is a phrase taken from the synoptic gospels. Is has been used as Jesus’ opponents concerning payment of taxes. This phrase has been used as support for blind obedience to government edicts. It has more recently been used to justify laws advocated by gays and their supporters. The latter actually is merely an application of blind obedience or acceptance of government edicts. This particular application is may be classified as special interest law under the rubric of civil rights and equality under law.

Those who used this phrase to justify law including tax laws abuse the text for their personal interests and goals. For Jesus neither supported or opposed taxes or Caesar in this passage. He addressed his opponents in a way that forced them to confront where their allegiance was centered.

The immediate context of this phrase informs us that Jesus’ opponents–Pharisees and Herodians–came looking for some statement that they could use against him. Their goal was to find a legitimate accusation of anti-Roman radicalism in order to bring against his movement Caesar’s wrath. Israel’s leaders had seen–maybe even assisted–Caesar to exterminate would-be freedom movements and their hatred of Rome’s oppressive regime. Fortunately, Jewish delegate didn’t find such an accusation against Jesus.

Instead, Jesus asked his opponents to show him a coin that was used to pay taxes. Once produced, Jesus asked them whose likeness and inscription was on the coin. To which they responded: Caesar. Then, Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17, and Luke 20:25)

The point Jesus was making was this: Caesar made the coin. Give him his coins. God made you. Give God what belongs to him. Here, Jesus alludes to the familiar passage in Genesis 1:26-30, which states that God made man in his image and likeness, both male and female, with authority over all living creatures and plant life. They were to care for those lesser souls and consume the fruit of plant and trees. It is here that our natural law freedom and rights begin, according to John Locke’s Treatise on Government.

A lot more could be made of Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and Herodians. For example, because God made the heavens and the earth, the metal used by Caesar to make coins belong to God as well. What right did Caesar have to make them, use for trade instead of barter, and to demand some of them back called taxes? Here is a clue to another statement made by Jesus concerning paying taxes. Matthew includes an earlier encounter of the disciples with Caesarean tax collectors. The tax collectors wanted to know if Jesus paid the temple tax. Peter said, yes. However, when they met up with Jesus, he asked Peter this question:

What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll tax, from their sons or from strangers?

Peter gave the obvious answer, “from strangers.” To this Jesus replied, Then, the son are exempt. Jesus continued by instructing the disciples to go to the sea and take the shekel they would find in the first fish they caught and give it to the tax collectors for both himself and them. If he and they were exempt, then why did he have them pay the tax? “So as not to offend the temple tax collectors.

In essence, Jesus was telling his disciples that he and they were sons of God, the true king. Being members of His kingdom, they owed no one but God.

But wait, the issue was whether Jesus paid the Temple tax, not Caesar’s tax. This fact suggests one of at least three possible meanings: (1) Jesus regarded the Temple tax as illegal, which would coincide with how many viewed the Temple authorities as well as their corruption of the Temple service. 2) Jesus viewed the Temple-tax as an indirect form of taxation of Rome, or (3) possibly both.

However it was actually regarded, the fundamental aspect of Jesus statement was a reaffirmation of God’s original covenanted authority over Israel. That God is the only true king of Israel (and humanity) is evident in the Exodus account and more specifically in God’s statement about the Israelites’ demand for a king. They wanted a king like other neighboring nations. To the prophet Samuel, God said, “Listen to the voice of the people … for they have not rejected you, but they rejected Me from being king over them.” (1 Samuel 8:4-6,7, 8)

This may also be applied to America. With regards to the founding of America, some colonialists considered God as their king. The national seal proposed and explained by Thomas Jefferson and others contained allusions to God as king. Written in the Declaration of Independence is not only a covenant with God along with the social contract but also the implications of God as king being the source, witness and defending judge of America’s national freedom and statehood.

All of which, past and present liberals have rejected and have largely replaced with anti-religious secularism and socialism.

Does it then follow that we who acknowledge God as such are not obligated to pay taxes to government?

No; we are obligated by our voted agreement to pay taxes in exchange for the beneficial services rendered by government created first by our social contract, then by consent to the forms of government and their functions created by our Constitutions, and since then by our consent to taxes for additional services by majority vote.

Today, some relevant questions requiring an honest answers include whether particular taxes and their correlated services were voted in by common majority consent; whether they are beneficial rather than harmful to our rights and forms of government; whether Americans should continue tolerating the negative consequences of the liberal rejection of God’s rightful place in America’s public life; and what exactly is God’s kingship supposed to look like?

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Adventure with God to the holy city

Posted on April 26, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Deal bountifully with your servant,
That I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from your law.
I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide your commandments
         From me.
My soul is crushed with longing
After your ordinances at all times.
You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed,
Who wander from your commandments.
(Psalms 119:17-21)

Studying the word of God is a wonderful adventure. It is a journey of exploration. The journey is not unlike the kind portrayed in Indian Jones movies. It is life-long profession that is often perilous. Overcoming the terrible obstacles means getting to and possessing the treasure. The Lost Ark is the treasure. The Ark represented the presence of God. The journey is thus both with and to God. It is a progressive relationship with our creator-redeemer-king. Inside the Ark was deposited the covenant and testimony God gave to Israel and the world. Thus the treasure deposited inside the Ark is God’s word.

As Psalms 119: 17-18 states, the treasure is more than something to gain for personal profit. It is something learned and lived while on the adventurous journey called life. It is life lived by the bounteous provision of the divine King in His kingdom. God’s kingdom encompasses our world as well as the entire universe. Nevertheless, those invited chose to enter by choice not by coercion.

The Psalmist expressed his emotional attachment to God. As above, the Psalmist’s emotional bonds to God are mediated through God’s concrete laws, testimonies, and judgments–in other words, God’s covenantal word.

As we are on the journey, we too may keenly feel like a stranger in a secular world. The secular world does not know God. Even many religious communities or nations, do not seem to know God. At least not as we experience the living God. You, I, or the Psalmist are not alone in this sense of being in a foreign land. The gospels express in great detail how Jesus not only felt this but, according to Christian teaching, he was literally from another world–from heaven. Like other acclaimed prophets, the feeling of not being of the present world is typical. The 11th chapter of Hebrews gives us a list of how many of them were treated as aliens as well. A more contemporary version of such a list is the Book of Martyrs.

As for the Psalmist, the people of God living in a world of biological and social necessities often experience periods of distraction in which they feel like souls disconnected from the life-giving Spirit. This is often described as weariness but not necessarily physiological. It can be spiritual affecting our mental state. Spiritual fatigue can create an intense longing for the renewed vitality experienced by communing with God mediated through meditation on His word. It is a moving meditation because the time spent contemplating the word results in mutual human-divine acts along the journey. Genuine relationships are always lived through mutual acts of communication and support.

That is meaning of verses 19 and 20.

However, the Psalmist is right to remember the consequences for erring from the commandments of God. Is it any different in secular society? Does breaking the law not result in suffering the penalty for doing so? Can mates violate their sacred vows of trust and loyalty without doing harm to their once mutual trust, love, and future life together? The end result is best defined as death. Death is the severance of morally bonded relationships. Can there be any worse curse than such a death? (v.21)

One reason for believing Psalm 119 was authored by King David is found in verses 22-24. Here again we read expressions of one who must have experienced injustices similar to those suffered by king David. Although anointed as king by the prophet Samuel, the same prophets who had also anointed Saul, David’s ascent to the throne was met with violent attempts to kill him. His rival was then King Saul, who had both ordered others to kill him as well as attempted it himself many times. After divine providence saw fit to end the evil reign of Saul, David was finally made king over Israel. Yet, his son, Absalom, was later to counsel with others about taking over the kingdom. Even David’s son attempted to kill the anointed one. There were leaders of other tribes and kingdoms who schemed against David as well. Yet, God’s chosen one overcame them all.

It is reasonable to conclude that these verses were part of very intensely felt prayer for help from God by David. For consider their content:

Take away reproach and contempt from me,
For I observe your testimonies.
Even though princes sit and talk against me,
Your servant meditates on your statutes.
Your testimonies are also my delight;
They are my counselors.
(Psalms 119:22-24)

Our Lord Jesus seconded David’s prayer when he proclaimed:

Blessed are you when people insult you and
Persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of
evil against you because of me. Rejoice and
be glad, for your reward in heaven is great;
for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.

This is the last in a list of beatitudes and part of a summary of messages delivered by Jesus during his prophetic and redemptive ministry in ancient Israel. It is called a be-attitude for obvious reasons.

Because the Lord claims the sole right to vengeance for evils done against His people, we who are members of His kingdom must follow the righteous example David and Jesus. History has evidenced that both were victorious by doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. (Micah 6:8). Whereas David was a victorious king in his time, Jesus remains victorious for all times. His victory is eternal because he perfectly and fully accomplished God will and redemptive plan without violating the moral law of God. Because the redemptive justice of God was fully satisfied through the sinless life, death and resurrection of Jesus, Jesus resign over God’s kingdom is the prize of the adventure and treacherous journey to the eternal city of God.

Unlike David, Jesus was killed but God raised him from death and made him Lord over all. God made Jesus a winner of the prize of a sinless life that accomplished redemptive justice for all humanity, or, should I say, for whomsoever will humbly accept the divine terms.

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Purity in an impure world

Posted on April 19, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Last week I discussed Psalms 119:1-8. If in fact it is a psalm of David, this helps understand his inner tensions with his own impurity and his pursuit of living such a life. For David, the key to achieving a blameless life is by obeying God’s law. It is the same key to achieving and maintaining moral purity.

In verses 9-16 of this Psalm, how to maintain the moral purity of a legally blameless life is the question answered.

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
 

As we saw last week, the key to achieving a blameless life begins with seeking to know God. It is a genuine relationship with God that results in true holiness. That is, no human can become like God with knowing, learning from, and emulating God. Just as kids emulate parents attitudes and behaviors, so it is by imitating God.

David repeats it in verse 10:

With all my heart I have sought you;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
 

How in the world can anyone seriously expect to emulate God who they can not see? The answer to that question was answered by Jesus of Nazareth. As you have seen me you have seen the Father. (Jo. 12:45; 14:7-15) Jesus also said what he saw the Father doing, he did likewise. What God his Father taught him, that was what he taught others. The life of Jesus demonstrated was the holiness and everlasting of God. Therefore, we should emulate it too.

There remains a problem. After his resurrection, Jesus ascended to the throne of God. Since then, no one has seen or heard Jesus emulating God. The good news is the problem of no visible example of God-likeness is resolved by the succession of followers of Jesus. Apostle Paul told the followers of Christ to “[b]e imitators of me, just as I am of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1) Dr. Jon Young, pastor of Dayton Avenue Baptist Church, extends this is all followers of Christ. As we obey and live out the word of God, our lives will be living translations of the likeness of God and His way.

The point here is that Jesus did not come into the world to abolish the law (word) of God. He came to fulfill it. (Mt. 5:14-20) This was repeated by John, who put it this way: “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” (1 Jo. 5:3) Paul expressed essentially the same thing when he wrote: “The whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal. 5:14)

That is how purity once achieved is maintained.

As David answers the question in verse 1, purity is maintained by:

Seeking God and his righteousness with all your heart, soul, and strength; (v.10; Mat. 6:33; Deut. 6:5)
 
Safe guarding the treasures of God’s word in your heart; (v. 11; Mat. 6:19-21)
 
Speaking about how God has made the law and promises a reality; (v. 12-13; Dt. 6:5-7; Mat. 10:31-32)
 
Rejoicing in the rich adventure and process of the word made life; (v. 14; Mat. 13: 45-46; Prov. 3:13-24)
 
Meditating on the word in order to continue learning and to remember. (v. 15-16; Deut. 6:8-9; Jo. 7-11)
 

The underlying current of the above is religious or ritual practices; it is love. Those who love God commit to seeking God, learning of God, treasuring shared experiences with God, and the rejoicing with God in them. It is a personal life shared with God and Jesus. It is shared because it is the loving relationship initiated by God (1 Jo 4:10) and continued by our response and continued commitment to that God who first loved us.

Psalms 119: 1-16 is the expression of love towards God. The life of Israel and the Jews began as an expression of God’s love leading to freedom. David is here returning that love through his desire to live faithfully in that relationship. Prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah spoke of the failure of Israel to do likewise. They envisioned the day of a New Covenant in which love and faithfulness would be the enduring reality of God’s chosen people. Jesus has furthered that new covenant to all peoples of all races, languages, and nations. For he is that covenant spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. (Isa. 49:6; 53:1-12) Now, all who keep the commandments of God and Christ show their abiding love for the true and living God.

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Mr. Obama Manages to Offend Millions of Christians During Holy Week

Posted on April 10, 2009 by | 2 comments

By Chris Long, President of Ohio Christian Alliance

As a Christian first, American citizen second, I found many of President Obama’s actions and words during his recent foreign trip to be troublesome, bordering on appalling. To outline a few of the most egregious:

First, last Friday President Obama bowed to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah. No President of the United States has ever bowed before royalty. If it was a mistake of protocol, it is interesting to note that Mr. Obama did not bow to the royalties of England whom he first met with, but later to an Arab monarch who is Muslim. Many take great umbrage that a standing President representing the people of the United States of America would show obeisance to any royalty.

Second, he stated while on tour in the Islamic nation of Turkey that America is not a Christian nation, contradicting the belief of many of his predecessors and the writings of many founding fathers.

For instance, Harry Truman, in a statement to Pope Pius XII in 1947, stated, “This is a Christian nation.”

Woodrow Wilson at a Denver rally in 1911, stated, “America was born a Christian nation”.

Franklin D. Roosevelt described the United States as “The lasting concord between men and nations, founded on the principles of Christianity” in a mid-Atlantic summit with British Prime Minister Churchill before asking the crew of an American warship to join him in singing the hymn, “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”

Abraham Lincoln, in his March 4, 1861 inaugural address, stated, “Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulties.”

Theodore Roosevelt stated in 1909, “I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism.”

Third, President Obama, while at the G20 Summit, was invited by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to visit the graves at the Normandy beaches, which are the final resting place of thousands of U.S. soldiers who died liberating Europe during WWII. President Obama declined the invitation, but took the opportunity to visit a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey during his stay there.

President Obama has yet to find a Christian church to attend in Washington, D.C. even though he promised to do so after leaving the divisive controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s church in Chicago.

President Obama needs to be held accountable for his actions. His statements and his actions are offensive to many Christians in this country. The Ohio Christian Alliance is calling upon its members to write and let President Obama know that his actions and words are offensive to the Christian people of this nation.

America is a Christian nation, as attested by many Presidents prior to Mr. Obama. The message that President Obama has managed to send is that Jews and Christians are to move to the back of the Obama bus.

Source: Christian Newswire, April 9, 2009

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The blessing of faith’s law

Posted on April 5, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Psalm 119 is my favorite Psalm. This Psalm is intimately connected to the beginning of my relationship with God and Jesus Christ. This Psalm is full of precious gems of great value to life in both the present and the eternal future. Our marketing saturated culture should find this Psalm interesting. That is because it begins by extolling those benefits of the product being extolled. For teachers of grammar, this Psalms exemplifies methods of learning still effective today. It gives each letter of the Hebrew alphabet a lesson of moral and social value certain to impact the lives of those choose to live those lessons.

In this post, my observation will be limited to the first alphabet … sales pitch … and life lesson:

1How blessed are those whose way is blameless,
  Who walk in the law of the Lord.
2How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
  Who seek Him with all of their heart.
3They also do no unrighteousness;
  They walk in His ways.
4You have ordained Your precepts,
  That we should obey them diligently.
5Oh that my ways may be established
  To keep Your statutes!
6Then I shall not be ashamed
  When I look upon Your commandments,
7I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
  When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8I shall keep Your statutes;
  Do not forsake me utterly!

If David the Shepherd-King of Bethlehem wrote this Psalm, the last verse makes a lot of sense. His life story was one of being alone, betrayed, and forsaken, but not by God. As a boy, he was often alone in the fields with the family sheep. He learned to conquer his fear though his faith in God. He developed great courage and fighting skills through his trust in God. God revealed His powers as David learned to practice the law by faith. The same was true later in life when King Saul betrayed David’s loyalty with jealous attempts on his life, and when his son Absalom did the same.

Whether David is its author or not, the above verses explicates different angles the benefits of a vital relationship with God. Poetic parallelism is the structural form of the first two verses, which means they present very similar concepts. The blameless are those who observe the testimonies of God. They are blameless because they do no unrighteousness. They do no unrighteousness because they obey all of the God’s word–commandments, precepts, statutes. Thus they live a life exemplifying law of the Lord, which also means to live God’s way.

This is what the author wants more than anything.

The key to understanding the above verses is in the phrase: “who seek Him with all of their heart.” The greatest benefit of all that is implied in these verses is being able to know God. If a genuine relationship is not the end result of whole-hearted seeking, then the rest is meaningless. In a society governed by laws defined as originating from God, obeying them would beneficial to one’s freedom and health. However, God would be merely a synonym for the state, which the reality of secular states. Secular states like Russia and China did exactly that they made the state the god of all people. The politics of evolution seeks to erect a similar society.
To those who seek God with all of their heart, the Bible is a means of making history concrete reality in the present. It is the physical soul’s connection to the divine King who is spirit. Another related benefit is through the same process through which humans begin to learn about themselves, their whole nature, their disconnected purpose, and the empirical support of their eternal future. For such, the shame and baseness of past alienation and moral destitution fades out of existence.

That is why the Bible is a dangerous book in a secular society whose governing authorities have vaunted themselves to the position of everyman’s god. It is a vital threat because while looking into the word of God its creator looks back and speaks into the soul and spirit. The Supreme Judge calls the reader to justice while pointing to His provision of forgiveness and a new start. The desired end is a life blessed and blameless before gaze of God.

The first century writer, John, called Jesus the Word of God (Jo. 1:1-18). This perspective originated in two different experiences. The first was John’s relationship with Jesus. He witnessed Jesus life, his teaching, his works, his death, and his resurrection. (Jo. 18:24-25) More important perhaps was his continued relationship with Jesus as Lord after he ascended to the heavenly throne of God. (1 Jo. 1:1-10; 5:1-5) Jesus is the embodiment of God’s word because he witnessed its literal fulfillment. Moreover, John was given additional treasures when God gave him a cinematic overview of the world’s future. As recorded in Revelation, Jesus is called the word of God coming to destroy the enemies of God. (Rev. 19:11-16)

The significance of Jesus as word of God is this: He is the means to the blessing of a blameless life. God was in him reconciling the world to Himself. (2 Co. 5:19) God thus raised up for us all the way, the truth, and the life to follow into the blessing of blameless living with God. (Jo. 14:6) The law of faith in Jesus is the way. (Ro. 3:21-31)

By Daniel Downs

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