Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Friday, March 11, 2022
Monday, March 17, 2014
Live Before You Die - day 6
God's kingdom is intended not to be confined behind the stained-glass windows of beautiful churches but to permeate the planet. The kingdom of heaven is designed to grow, multiply, and infiltrate all that it comes in contact with........
That can never happen if the only ones doing the work of the ministry are the apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists. Instead God's plan is for the real work of the ministry to be done by the plumbers, the high school teachers, the landscapers, the lawyers, and the doctors. We need men and women who carry the glory of God and the gospel witness into the White House, Hollywood, Wall Street, Main Street, and every other area of culture and society.
The New Testament pattern is for those in fivefold ministry offices to serve the body of Christ by equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12). The real ministers and ambassadors of God's kingdom to the world, the real players on the field, are the hundreds of millions of blood-washed saints who make up the body of Christ. What a tragic loss we have incurred by perpetuating the mentality that the few of us in fivefold ministry are the "real" ministers and the rest are just spectators.
In reality, most Christians are called to serve God in "secular" spheres of influence. But one thing is certain: no matter what God calls you to do, it is for His glory and for the expansion of His kingdom. This is not about personal satisfaction.
Whether God calls you to full-time, vocational ministry or calls you to be His ambassador in the world of business, science, government, entertainment, or wherever, the principles are the same, the keys to discovering God's will are the same, the challenges and pitfalls are the same and, in the end, the reward will be the same. Contrary to what many people believe, God does not reward us based on how many people we lead to Jesus. He rewards us based on our obedience and faithfulness to His call and will. May you be faithful and obedient in whatever field He calls you to so that in the end you will hear those words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matt 25:21).
Daniel Kolenda, Live before you die
That can never happen if the only ones doing the work of the ministry are the apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists. Instead God's plan is for the real work of the ministry to be done by the plumbers, the high school teachers, the landscapers, the lawyers, and the doctors. We need men and women who carry the glory of God and the gospel witness into the White House, Hollywood, Wall Street, Main Street, and every other area of culture and society.
The New Testament pattern is for those in fivefold ministry offices to serve the body of Christ by equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12). The real ministers and ambassadors of God's kingdom to the world, the real players on the field, are the hundreds of millions of blood-washed saints who make up the body of Christ. What a tragic loss we have incurred by perpetuating the mentality that the few of us in fivefold ministry are the "real" ministers and the rest are just spectators.
In reality, most Christians are called to serve God in "secular" spheres of influence. But one thing is certain: no matter what God calls you to do, it is for His glory and for the expansion of His kingdom. This is not about personal satisfaction.
Whether God calls you to full-time, vocational ministry or calls you to be His ambassador in the world of business, science, government, entertainment, or wherever, the principles are the same, the keys to discovering God's will are the same, the challenges and pitfalls are the same and, in the end, the reward will be the same. Contrary to what many people believe, God does not reward us based on how many people we lead to Jesus. He rewards us based on our obedience and faithfulness to His call and will. May you be faithful and obedient in whatever field He calls you to so that in the end you will hear those words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matt 25:21).
Daniel Kolenda, Live before you die
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Should Christians Boycott Boycotting?
We as Christians are supposed to be different from the rest of the world. How we operate should be a reflection of that. Others should be able to observe us and note there is a difference. Not because we are perfect, holier than everyone else or morally superior. But because we love when it's not normal to love. When the rest of the world hates, we love. When the rest of the world rejects, we accept. When the rest of the world condemns, we embrace.
The following article on boycotting is interesting because it first defines what boycotting really is. Choosing not to spend our money somewhere or on some product is not a boycott. By doing that we are simply making a decision based on our convictions. Joining others to try and coerce an outcome is what constitutes a boycott. Are Christians doing something biblical when we engage in a boycott? Is this what Jesus taught us to do? And what about our faith in God? Are we forgetting He is sovereign?
by Joe Carter
In 1873, a retired British Army captain became the agent for the 3rd Earl of Erne's estates in County Mayo. It didn't take long for the old soldier to find that he had taken the wrong job at the wrong time. Local tenant farmers, enraged at the high rents being charged by their English landlords, had begun to organize into a group called the Land League, and the movement was spreading across the Emerald Isle.
When the captain refused to reduce rents after a poor harvest season, the Land League began applying an unconventional tactic. Local residents refused to sell him supplies, tend his fields, or even to speak to him in passing. The landlord was reduced to depending on his wife and daughters to pick the crops while being protected by local constables. Eventually, he gave in and fled Ireland altogether.
The tactic was so effective that newspapers in Britain and America were referring to it by the landlord's name: Charles Cunnigham Boycott.
More than 130 years later, boycotts have become a staple of nonviolent resistance and economic suasion. Christian groups, in particular, appear to have an affinity for the measure, often using it to apply pressure to wayward corporations. In recent years, conservative Catholics and Protestants have punished Disney for various sundry offenses. More recently, liberals activists have targeted the Komen foundation for defunding Planned Parenthood, while conservative activists objected to J.C. Penny because the company hired a homosexual woman, Ellen DeGeneres, as its spokeswoman.
When deciding whether to use the tactic of boycotting, we tend to fall back on the pragmatic question, "Will it be effective?" Rarely do we weigh the more pertinent consideration: Should Christians even engage in boycotts? And, if so, when can they be legitimately used?
For many Christians in America, to even ask such questions is absurd. Because of their association with the era of civil rights and other laudable movements of the 1960s, boycotts tend to have an air of romance. But while the causes were just, Christians must always be mindful that nonviolence, like just war, can only be considered a necessary evil. As political philosopher Glenn Tinder has explained, the concept of nonviolent resistance never would have occurred to any of the ancient Hebrew prophets. It is worth remembering that while Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian, he learned his principle techniques from the Hindu leader Gandhi rather than from the founder of his own religion.
The tactic affirmed by Jesus, as Tinder correctly notes, was nonresistance, a way of refusing all power, and completely different from nonviolent resistance, which is always stained by the moral impurities inherent in the use of power. Nonviolent resistance also rests on the assumption that human evil is not so deeply ingrained that it cannot be overcome by a display of profound moral courage. The way of nonviolence requires only strength, fortitude, and a naive view of humanity. By contrast, the way of Jesus requires a willingness to be weak, reliance on his redeeming power, and a realistic eschatological hope.
Yet in our fallen world, uses of power---both violent and nonviolent---can sometimes be legitimate and necessary. If boycotts have any lawful role, it would be as part of a greater nonviolent resistance against a government or other institution that has a coercive control over a people. The boycott of public busing in Montgomery during the 1960s is a prime example.
Using such a tactic on a corporation trivializes whatever legitimacy the tactic may have. While Disney and J. C. Penny may be in the wrong, they are not committing evils that justify the use of coercion for their correction. Nonviolent resistance should be weighed carefully, especially in situations when violent resistance would be considered an absurd option. Unless we think that Mickey Mouse and Ellen are legitimate combatants, we should carefully consider why we believe it is necessary to use such a drastic coercive measure.
The righteousness of a cause cannot be imputed to the tactics. Even when we have legitimate concerns about a corporation's activities, boycotts are almost always an improper abuse of power. Rather than being a loving rebuke, boycotts become a form of moral extortion. By cutting off economic ties with a corporation or business, the boycotters are using coercion to force people to do something they would not willingly do on their own. While Christians may have legitimate reasons for not using a certain product or associating with a particular business, banding together to cut off commerce to an otherwise licit venture has no obvious biblical warrant.
To clarify, the term boycott here refers to the act of refusing to use, buy, or deal with a business as an expression of protest or as a means of economic coercion. The concern, for Christians, should be with the coercion part. Simply refusing to participate in an economic transaction with an individual or company is not a boycott. Our choosing not to spend money on lottery tickets is a values-based economic decision, but it is not a form of coercion. As Alan Noble recently said, "Whether it is through votes or dollars, coercing someone to accept our position is nihilistic: it suggests that real change---change of heart and mind---is impossible, or unlikely, and so the safest bet is to make it profitable to adopt our beliefs."
Forcing someone to adopt our beliefs---whether by violence or economic threat---is a questionable use of our economic power. "Nonviolent resistance," Tinder writes in his book Political Thinking, "is a way of using power and is thoroughly political." Tinder's claim brings to mind the claim of the brilliant Prussian strategist Carl von Clausewitz: "War is nothing but a continuation of politics with the admixture of other means." Nonviolent resistance may sometimes be a legitimate political act. But by mixing in the coercive tactic of boycotts we may be turning away from righteousness toward an unjust form of economic warfare.
When the captain refused to reduce rents after a poor harvest season, the Land League began applying an unconventional tactic. Local residents refused to sell him supplies, tend his fields, or even to speak to him in passing. The landlord was reduced to depending on his wife and daughters to pick the crops while being protected by local constables. Eventually, he gave in and fled Ireland altogether.The tactic was so effective that newspapers in Britain and America were referring to it by the landlord's name: Charles Cunnigham Boycott.
More than 130 years later, boycotts have become a staple of nonviolent resistance and economic suasion. Christian groups, in particular, appear to have an affinity for the measure, often using it to apply pressure to wayward corporations. In recent years, conservative Catholics and Protestants have punished Disney for various sundry offenses. More recently, liberals activists have targeted the Komen foundation for defunding Planned Parenthood, while conservative activists objected to J.C. Penny because the company hired a homosexual woman, Ellen DeGeneres, as its spokeswoman.
Who Would Isaiah Boycott?
When deciding whether to use the tactic of boycotting, we tend to fall back on the pragmatic question, "Will it be effective?" Rarely do we weigh the more pertinent consideration: Should Christians even engage in boycotts? And, if so, when can they be legitimately used?
For many Christians in America, to even ask such questions is absurd. Because of their association with the era of civil rights and other laudable movements of the 1960s, boycotts tend to have an air of romance. But while the causes were just, Christians must always be mindful that nonviolence, like just war, can only be considered a necessary evil. As political philosopher Glenn Tinder has explained, the concept of nonviolent resistance never would have occurred to any of the ancient Hebrew prophets. It is worth remembering that while Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian, he learned his principle techniques from the Hindu leader Gandhi rather than from the founder of his own religion.
The tactic affirmed by Jesus, as Tinder correctly notes, was nonresistance, a way of refusing all power, and completely different from nonviolent resistance, which is always stained by the moral impurities inherent in the use of power. Nonviolent resistance also rests on the assumption that human evil is not so deeply ingrained that it cannot be overcome by a display of profound moral courage. The way of nonviolence requires only strength, fortitude, and a naive view of humanity. By contrast, the way of Jesus requires a willingness to be weak, reliance on his redeeming power, and a realistic eschatological hope.
Yet in our fallen world, uses of power---both violent and nonviolent---can sometimes be legitimate and necessary. If boycotts have any lawful role, it would be as part of a greater nonviolent resistance against a government or other institution that has a coercive control over a people. The boycott of public busing in Montgomery during the 1960s is a prime example.
Using such a tactic on a corporation trivializes whatever legitimacy the tactic may have. While Disney and J. C. Penny may be in the wrong, they are not committing evils that justify the use of coercion for their correction. Nonviolent resistance should be weighed carefully, especially in situations when violent resistance would be considered an absurd option. Unless we think that Mickey Mouse and Ellen are legitimate combatants, we should carefully consider why we believe it is necessary to use such a drastic coercive measure.
Rebuke, Don't Boycott
The righteousness of a cause cannot be imputed to the tactics. Even when we have legitimate concerns about a corporation's activities, boycotts are almost always an improper abuse of power. Rather than being a loving rebuke, boycotts become a form of moral extortion. By cutting off economic ties with a corporation or business, the boycotters are using coercion to force people to do something they would not willingly do on their own. While Christians may have legitimate reasons for not using a certain product or associating with a particular business, banding together to cut off commerce to an otherwise licit venture has no obvious biblical warrant.
To clarify, the term boycott here refers to the act of refusing to use, buy, or deal with a business as an expression of protest or as a means of economic coercion. The concern, for Christians, should be with the coercion part. Simply refusing to participate in an economic transaction with an individual or company is not a boycott. Our choosing not to spend money on lottery tickets is a values-based economic decision, but it is not a form of coercion. As Alan Noble recently said, "Whether it is through votes or dollars, coercing someone to accept our position is nihilistic: it suggests that real change---change of heart and mind---is impossible, or unlikely, and so the safest bet is to make it profitable to adopt our beliefs."
Forcing someone to adopt our beliefs---whether by violence or economic threat---is a questionable use of our economic power. "Nonviolent resistance," Tinder writes in his book Political Thinking, "is a way of using power and is thoroughly political." Tinder's claim brings to mind the claim of the brilliant Prussian strategist Carl von Clausewitz: "War is nothing but a continuation of politics with the admixture of other means." Nonviolent resistance may sometimes be a legitimate political act. But by mixing in the coercive tactic of boycotts we may be turning away from righteousness toward an unjust form of economic warfare.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Is The Church Headed in the Right Direction?
We can look through history and see times when the Church veered off course, took a wrong turn, lost it's direction. Obviously there are the biggies - the Crusades, Nazi Germany, the settling of the U.S. But just as important are the times we often overlook - such as the secularizing of Europe. Given the opportunity to learn and grow from past mistakes, Christianity fails to do so, just as the Jews of the Old Testament repeated their mistakes over and over.
Our mistakes can often be grouped into two categories: forcefulness and apathy. It seems through history we have either committed the crime of trying to force our beliefs on those not interested OR we have become apathetic about those around us, letting society decay. Of course one can lead to another - our apathy lets society decay and then we turn around and become forceful within that same society. I believe that is where we are heading today in this country.
Let's consider what Jesus said on this subject:
"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under peoples feet.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matt 5:13-16
We are to be the preservative and the flavoring in our society. And we are to be the light - the example - to those around us. Good works are not enough in themselves, but it's the glory we give to God that makes the difference. Salt and light. While Christians agree we are to be the salt and the light, it's the implementation we struggle and disagree about.
First, lets note the last part of Jesus' statement - "so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." That tells us a lot right there. Being the salt and the light is how WE live OUR lives, not how nonbelievers live theirs. No where does Jesus suggest we are to force our beliefs on others. But by living as followers of Jesus, we will be like beacons on a hill - shining the way for others to follow.
Let's look at another scripture quoting Jesus:
Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again: Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. Mark 9:50
Note Jesus is telling us to have salt in ourselves - meaning we are the salt, not the laws we pass or our government. He was not telling his disciples to make sure Rome was the salt. We are the preservative and flavoring for the society we live in. How we conduct ourselves and our relationship with our Savior helps to promote either growth or decay in the Kingdom, depending on the path we choose. He also tells us to be at peace with one another. How does it look to the rest of society when Christians are bickering and fighting among themselves? It certainly doesn't foster the desire to follow in our footsteps. We should strive to be at peace with ourselves and others..
So, should we, as Christians, participate in boycotts and petitions? Should we write books and blogs that slam nonbelievers and their lifestyle? Should we have organizations that single out individuals for ridicule? And if we do, what will the end result be? Do we believe we are bringing more people into the Kingdom using this technique? Holding up signs calling a woman who has aborted her baby a murderer is hardly being at peace or serving her the way Jesus came to serve. Singling out Ellen DeGeneres as a homosexual who has no business being a spokesperson for JC Penny only fuels the fire of resentment and anger among nonbelievers. Did Jesus not save the woman from being stoned by the Pharisees and scribes? (John 8:11) Have we become more like those Pharisees?
When we try to force society to live under the ways of Christianity, are we, in effect, telling nonbelievers they must "earn" their way to heaven? That they must live a certain way in order to be worthy of eternity with our God? And are we not hypocrites when we say this, as we ourselves cannot and do not live this way. The result ends up being more of a divide between "us and them." They call us hypocrites - and rightly so - they are angry because we are so forceful - and ultimately we drive them away from the Kingdom instead of bringing them to it.
God's grace does not come to people who morally out-perform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge a need for a Savior. Timothy Keller, The Reason for God.
For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. Romans 2:25-29
In closing I challenge Christians to be more concerned with the saltiness of their own lives instead of the nonbelievers' or society's. The loss of saltiness occurs in the failure of the Christian to daily take up the cross and follow Christ wholeheartedly. By being a light, we help to lead those in the darkness into God's Kingdom. Only by staying focused on Christ and being obedient to Him can we expect to remain that salt and light in the world.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Col 4:5-6
Our mistakes can often be grouped into two categories: forcefulness and apathy. It seems through history we have either committed the crime of trying to force our beliefs on those not interested OR we have become apathetic about those around us, letting society decay. Of course one can lead to another - our apathy lets society decay and then we turn around and become forceful within that same society. I believe that is where we are heading today in this country.
Let's consider what Jesus said on this subject:
The Holy Spirit changes people's lives. He gives them the power to live in the right manner (according to God's will and purpose for them). The law cannot do this. Yes, we need laws to maintain a civil society, but a society full of Christians should be our goal. Non-believers have been blessed with common grace (Matt 5:45) that includes a consciousness of right and wrong (Rom 2:15) which should promote law and order on its own. However this is not the way to eternal life with the Lord. Saving grace, which comes to us when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, is the only way to heaven. Should we find ourselves in a monarchy or a dictatorship tomorrow in this country, our goal as Christians will not have changed. We would lose the ability to strive for our goal openly, but I believe we would probably be more earnest in our efforts.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Ten Signs of a Culture's End
There are ten signs that depict the end of a culture. Great civilizations of the past were destroyed when people saw these signs but failed to act. Each of these indicators is with us today.
The first sign of the end of a culture is that of a society which no longer worships or acknowledges God.
Christianity had played a significant role in the discovery and settlement of America. It had provided a standard in judging education, legislation, and behavior-both public and private. In the 1990s, it has actually become unpopular to advocate traditional Judeo-Christian values, such as the Ten Commandments. Thanks to Political Correctness, the popular culture ridicules those who worship God as the sovereign creator. Instead, it is popular to put our faith and trust in ourselves or in other creations of God.
A second indicator of the end of a culture is the decline of the family.
Just 40 years ago families usually lived close to grandparents. Fathers were responsible for the welfare of the family. Moms generally stayed home. It was safe to walk to school or go to the movies unattended. Today, statistics show divorce is at an all time high in the United States. It is now so common for young people to grow up in divorced households that the term "broken family" is now a forgotten expression in the popular culture. Fathers are living apart from their natural children. Mothers no longer stay at home, but work as a head of the household. As a result, women in our society have lost their feminine identity. As worship has declined, the spiritual values communicated by mothers have all but ended with a generation. The moral authority of fathers is undermined by a society that no longer embraces the structure of the family.
A third important indicator of cultural demise is a society's low view of life.
Today, the popular culture now views abortion as a "right." The failure of our government to outlaw partial birth abortion for such a long time demonstrated how intolerant of life the culture has become. Steadily, society's undermining of life has grown to include calls for legalizing euthanasia, assisted suicide, and scientific experimentation. But history warns no society can last without a high view of life.
Another sign of the end of the civilization is the prevalence of base and immoral entertainment.
In its last days, Rome had become a society with an insatiable appetite for debauchery and immorality. Perverted entertainment translated into perverted speech and behavior. The Roman society began to accept and encourage open homosexuality. The people turned away from God and forgot his commandments and precepts, and Rome crumbled. And today, our culture has begun to embrace the same kind of entertainment. In music, a song eulogizing a murdered rap star has held the top spot on the charts for two months. Many of our movies now feature heroes who triumph by copying the vises of the villains. Television has scuttled its family hour for more dramas and sitcoms that treat perversion as normal behavior. Wholesome entertainment is becoming a forgotten relic.
Still another troublesome indicator of society's demise is the increase of violent crime among young people.
Riddled with gang violence, many of our inner cities have become powder kegs portending future collapse. Today, young people think about death and dying more than any other subject. In fact, surveys indicate they think about death even more than they think about the opposite sex. There's a popular new sport called extreme fighting, in which combatants injure one another like the gladiators of Rome. The demise of the traditional family and absence of religion have combined to create a culture of children who are morally retarded. In the wake of this, our Politically Correct society offers young people no consistent arguments against violence.
Another key cultural indicator is the declining middle class.
Politicians have discovered one of the keys to reelection is to advocate more spending and government programs for the poor. The traditional middle class is now defined as rich. The work of the federal government has become the business of redistributing wealth through taxation and new government programs. After years of bureaucratic growth over the last fifty years, the United States has witnessed shrinking numbers of middle class wage earners, many of whom have become the working poor. The family structure has disintegrated over the last twenty-five years in part because of the economic pressure for women to join the workforce. This has lead to the increased polarization of the working class and the wealthy. Russia witnessed just such a polarization before a revolution ushered in the communist era.
Yet another sign of cultural demise is that of an insolvent Government.
The French Revolution occurred against the backdrop of a bankrupt government. Today, our government has not managed a balanced budget in nearly thirty years. Beneath the annual budget lies a debt of unmanageable proportions. History warns that a government rendered insolvent cannot quell its disenchanted masses.
Related to this, a government that lives off of society's moral decay is another sign of the end of a civilization.
The Roman civilization crumbled under the weight of an immoral and corrupt government. Over the years, our government has devised the creation of whole agencies that exist for no other reason than to manage some of the most immoral aspects of the culture. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Legal Services Corporation are examples of agencies that foster society's decline. Within the judicial branch of government, judges accountable to no one have helped undermine the religious freedoms that were once the centerpiece of our society. Laws once protected children and families. Criminals were punished severely for rape. People were arrested for cohabitation and adultery. Sodomy, outlawed in every state, was listed in the newspaper as a "crime against nature." A couple having a child out of wedlock was ostracized, and homosexuality was as foreign to the world as walking on the moon.
One obvious indicator that a culture is in decline is when the ruling class loses its will.
Our nation's leaders no longer see the world according to right and wrong. Instead, the objective of today's foreign policy Establishment is to maintain the status quo. In like manner, our elected leaders have lost their moral authority. Elected officials no longer seek office for the good of the country but instead seek reelection to further lucrative careers within the Washington Establishment. Also, our nation's defense Establishment has traded military readiness for social experimentation with a feminized military.
The final indicator of the demise of a civilization is the failure of its people to see what is happening.
In nearly every case, citizens of past civilizations which ended witnessed all of the signs of demise but failed to act. Today, the popular culture has helped society forget the lessons of history. In school, teachers used to teach the basics; children received report cards that actually reflected what they had achieved. In 1973, the NEA president said, "The day of basic skills is over . . . we will be the conveyor of national values" Today schools teach self-esteem and is a major tool used to indoctrinate our children. It's not uncommon in science class for children to be taught that humans evolved from a lower lifeform and that trees have the same right to life as humans. Children learn that it is okay to have two mommies and no daddy. Kids today are adept at using a calculator, but have no concept of multiplication or division. They cannot make change but score high in self-esteem.
All of the signs of the demise of our culture are with us today: the hostility toward religion, the breakup of the family, the declining view of life, the appetite immorality, the violence and crime, and the declining middle class are coupled with an federal government on the brink of insolvency, whose leaders are living off of society's moral decay leading to the loss of leadership and moral will. The education system has robbed our of a classic education; seduced them through deceit and outright lies; the court system has given us "rights" we never owned; the criminal justice system does not provide justice for those who are mistreated; legislators have legalized immoral behavior; and our national leaders have set an example of immorality.
In the days of Noah, God warned a faithless, immoral and violent civilization of the imminent catastrophe that was about to take place, but few listened. Tonight, our civilization is at the crossroads, but few are noticing the signs that are before us. It is time to take notice, and to pray for spiritual awakening in this country, before the light of our civilization goes out.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Our Constitution
In 1857 the Supreme Court ruled on the case of a Missouri slave named Dred Scott. Scott's master had taken him into the free state of Illinois. Because of the Missouri Compromise and a law passed by Congress, residents in free states could demand their freedom. So Scott sued for his freedom.
Scott's owner, John Sandford, challenged the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise, arguing that slaves were private property protected by the Constitution against deprivation without due process of law. Therefore Congress lacked the constitutional authority to ban slaver in Illinois or anywhere else.
The Supreme Court ruled in Sandford's favor. Scott was sent back into slavery. And then the Court ruled that Congress lacked authority to forbid or abolish slavery in federal territories.
When Lincoln became president, he was so outraged by this verdict that he ignored and openly defied the ruling. His administration treated free blacks as citizens, issuing them passports and other legal documents - something that was unheard of. Then he signed legislation restricting slavery in the western territories.
The point he was making was certainly one about humanity and God given rights, but Lincoln was also demonstrating the beauty of a system put in place by a group of men who knew about the power grabbing nature of mankind. These men knew the courts were just as susceptible to the corruption of fallen man as the other two branches of government.
Today we seem to have forgotten that the three branches of government are equal in power to each other. There is no one branch that has more authority. And yet the courts seem to believe they have the final word on all matters that lie before them. Not so. We need to support the brave men and women who are courageous enough to stand up to the courts. We need to elect more politicians who know the Constitution and are willing to defend it. If we fail to do so, we can expect things like gay marriage and abortion to be forced upon us - and only ourselves to blame.
Scott's owner, John Sandford, challenged the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise, arguing that slaves were private property protected by the Constitution against deprivation without due process of law. Therefore Congress lacked the constitutional authority to ban slaver in Illinois or anywhere else.
The Supreme Court ruled in Sandford's favor. Scott was sent back into slavery. And then the Court ruled that Congress lacked authority to forbid or abolish slavery in federal territories.
When Lincoln became president, he was so outraged by this verdict that he ignored and openly defied the ruling. His administration treated free blacks as citizens, issuing them passports and other legal documents - something that was unheard of. Then he signed legislation restricting slavery in the western territories.
The point he was making was certainly one about humanity and God given rights, but Lincoln was also demonstrating the beauty of a system put in place by a group of men who knew about the power grabbing nature of mankind. These men knew the courts were just as susceptible to the corruption of fallen man as the other two branches of government.
Today we seem to have forgotten that the three branches of government are equal in power to each other. There is no one branch that has more authority. And yet the courts seem to believe they have the final word on all matters that lie before them. Not so. We need to support the brave men and women who are courageous enough to stand up to the courts. We need to elect more politicians who know the Constitution and are willing to defend it. If we fail to do so, we can expect things like gay marriage and abortion to be forced upon us - and only ourselves to blame.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
A Greater Evil
Be assured that Christianity is under attack in the United States of America. The enemy has drawn a line in the sand and followers of Jesus Christ must take a stand. Up to now there have been strategic battles on Christmas, sanctity of life and our schools (prayer, religious education, etc.). Obama's health care initiative is the latest to assault religious freedom by forcing Catholic institutions that receive federal funding to provide access to contraceptives for their employees - something that goes against their religious beliefs. But it doesn't stop there - and believe me, the evidence that something even more sinister is on the horizon comes from an interview of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has caused a storm of controversy by saying in a television interview that the people of Egypt should not look to the United States Constitution when drafting their own governing document because it’s too old and there are newer examples from which to draw inspiration.“I would not look to the U.S. Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012,” Ginsburg said in the interview, which aired on Jan. 30 on Al-Hayat TV.
Her comments have stunned writers across the conservative blogosphere, though many major media outlets have not given much attention to it.
In the interview, she argued that the United States has the “oldest written constitution still in force in the world,” so instead “you should certainly be aided by all the constitution-writing that has gone one since the end of World War II.”
“I might look at the constitution of South Africa,” Ginsburg said. “That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary.”
Ginsburg, appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Bill Clinton, said South Africa’s constitution is “a great piece of work that was done” and cited other documents outside America’s constitution that Egyptians should read.
“Much more recent than the U.S. Constitution, Canada has a Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Ginsburg said. “It dates from 1982. You would almost certainly look at the European Convention on Human Rights.”
“Yes,” she concluded, “why not take advantage of what there is elsewhere in the world?”
What's happening here is not isolated to Justice Ginsburg. There are other Justices and many liberals who feel the same way about our Constitution. What is most alarming is a principle that on the surface sounds compassionate and humane. Human rights. What caring person would object to human rights? Yet those two words might cause our republic to topple. Not because we shouldn't take care and protect the lowest and poorest in our society, but because those two words take God out of the equation. In our Constitution our rights as humans come from God, not the government. In Justice Ginsburg's world and most liberal secularists' world, rights come from the government.
"Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. Religion is much more necessary in the republic . . . than in the monarchy . . . it is more needed in democratic republics than in any others. How is it possible that society should escape destruction if the moral tie is not strengthened in proportion as the political tie is relaxed? And what can be done with a people who are their own masters if they are not submissive to the Deity?"
Justice Ginsburg causes storm dissing the Constitution while abroad
Her comments have stunned writers across the conservative blogosphere, though many major media outlets have not given much attention to it.
In the interview, she argued that the United States has the “oldest written constitution still in force in the world,” so instead “you should certainly be aided by all the constitution-writing that has gone one since the end of World War II.”
“I might look at the constitution of South Africa,” Ginsburg said. “That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary.”
Ginsburg, appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Bill Clinton, said South Africa’s constitution is “a great piece of work that was done” and cited other documents outside America’s constitution that Egyptians should read.
“Much more recent than the U.S. Constitution, Canada has a Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Ginsburg said. “It dates from 1982. You would almost certainly look at the European Convention on Human Rights.”
“Yes,” she concluded, “why not take advantage of what there is elsewhere in the world?”
What's happening here is not isolated to Justice Ginsburg. There are other Justices and many liberals who feel the same way about our Constitution. What is most alarming is a principle that on the surface sounds compassionate and humane. Human rights. What caring person would object to human rights? Yet those two words might cause our republic to topple. Not because we shouldn't take care and protect the lowest and poorest in our society, but because those two words take God out of the equation. In our Constitution our rights as humans come from God, not the government. In Justice Ginsburg's world and most liberal secularists' world, rights come from the government.
In Democracy in America, Alexis deTocqueville warns that democracy is dangerous. It causes selfish individualism, consumerism, conformity, a disregard for the past and future, and ultimately the establishment of a despotic nanny state. The biggest reason, according to Tocqueville, that the Americans have been able to avoid the pitfalls of democracy is their religion.
"Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. Religion is much more necessary in the republic . . . than in the monarchy . . . it is more needed in democratic republics than in any others. How is it possible that society should escape destruction if the moral tie is not strengthened in proportion as the political tie is relaxed? And what can be done with a people who are their own masters if they are not submissive to the Deity?"
Without God in the equation, our democratic republic will eventually and inevitibally collapse. Our focus must be on the Lord and our strength comes from Him alone - not ourselves or our government. We must get on our knees as a nation, confessing our sin of waywardness and beg for His mercy in order to bring back His hand of protection. God appoints the rulers of the nations and He will appoint our next president. Can we have influence one way or the other on who God appoints? I believe we can. Look at the Old Testament when the Jews wanted a King. God gave them what their hearts desired. What does our heart desire? God or a king?
Great reading:
Friday, December 2, 2011
Misguided Anger
“Be angry, and sin not.”[1] The Scripture goes on to say we are not to let the sun go down on our wrath. This is a clear indication of how adversely animosity, hurt, and resentment can affect us. Although there are numerous occasions when we should be deeply disturbed, even angry, about damaging or evil practices, we must not allow them to lead us into bitterness.
There’s plenty for Americans to be concerned, unhappy, and angry about. It could be because of personal failure, evil actions, bad policies, political leaders, or economic woes. Our nation and most people normally take action because they are mad about something or at someone, or sometimes both. We’ve become a reactionary people instead of a responsive people. Reacting hastily and with anger produces far less than the best or even desired results. We need to respond to truth and act with patience and wisdom.
Our truly blessed and once-great nation will never see the desired and necessary changes until we respond appropriately. Now is the time to take action—not because we are mad at someone or something, but because we love Someone. We should love God and others (the two great commandments of Christ). When this happens, we will recognize truth and see clearly what is best for us personally and nationally to the benefit of all citizens.
Whether anyone agrees with me or believes it, America has drifted from God, our roots and our foundation. It is important to love America, but we must first love God. If we do not, our focus will be misdirected. “Love is patient and kind, not boastful, proud or rude; does not seek its own way; is not irritable and does not keep records of wrongs committed against it and will not allow a root of bitterness to spring up defiling many. Love rejoices when truth wins. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance or challenge. Faith, hope, and love last forever, but the greatest of these is love.”
Now is the time for love-filled and faith-filled people to stand up and lead the way out of this present darkness. Anger will fail – love will not.
People of faith with a God-centered worldview far outnumber those who are committed to the upside-down godless worldview. The sad fact is, however, these groups who oppose God and free expressions of faith are wielding far more influence over our national direction. I agree with C.S. Lewis who said, “We must not remain neutral in the titanic struggle for the hearts and minds of the human race.”
James Russell Lowell shared in poetic style, “Once to every man and nation, Comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth with falsehood, For the good or evil side, Then it is the brave man who chooses, While the coward stands aside.” This is not a time for the timid, but for the bold who are compelled by love, not hatred, anger, and wrath.
In his first inaugural address, George Washington shared, “The propitious smiles of heaven fall only on that nation that does not disregard the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained.” One of our nation’s wisest spokesmen, Noah Webster said, “The moral principles and precepts found in the scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.” Our founding fathers’ three-branch model for our government was patterned after Isaiah 33:22. “For the Lord is our judge [judicial], the Lord is our law giver [legislative], the Lord is our king [executive].”
For years, some Americans were angry at another race of people and lowered their value because of prevailing prejudice. This was not only foolish, it was damaging and dangerous. Today the anger of many is again misplaced. Venomous wrath has been focused on those considered rich—on those individuals who have succeeded and earned material possessions. Many of these create the majority of jobs, opportunities, and investments while meeting many pressing needs and carrying the greatest tax burden. According to the Heritage Foundation, the top 10% of earners paid 70% of all federal income taxes in 2008. A whopping 49% of U.S. households paid no federal income tax at all. The investment of the top wage-producers benefits virtually every American, yet where is the gratitude? The fact is there is ever-increasing hostility.
The anti-God, post modernists, one-world government and leftist liberals have much in common with Islamic radicals in their opposition to everything that made America great. David Horowitz stated, “In word and deed both of these allies [radical Islamists and radical Leftists] make it plain that they consider everything about the United States to be evil and unworthy of preservation, that they wish to see American society and its way of life crushed by any means necessary, including violent revolution.” We need modern-day Daniels who, like the three Hebrew children, refuse to bow the knee to any idol or godless belief system and practice.
To help correct America’s course, those who love God and truly care about others must resist misguided anger and all who are controlled by ingratitude. People are being encouraged to hate the very people who can best help alleviate our economic woes, helping provide jobs and opportunity for vast numbers of people. Attacking productive people is actually a way to commit economic suicide. It diminishes the potential of every citizen. God is no respecter of persons, and in His eyes, we are all equal—but He never promised equal results, outcome or wealth. Wealth is not and has never been a problem for the poor or less fortunate. It is in fact a part of the only hope for alleviating poverty anywhere. Even if a person believes in socialism, they still have to have a source from which to take the means they wish to distribute.
It’s a historic, irrefutable fact that when the state, national government, or leader takes total control, wealth diminishes and is even destroyed, and the entire population suffers in bondage to a form of what amounts to another Old Testament Pharaoh or New Testament intolerable imperial rule. Yet many nations are continually drifting into this pit of hopeless despair. Much of our population and media controlled by misplaced, misdirected anger will help destroy the only possible way out.
Wealth is not the problem of the rich or the poor. Greed and envy are the issue. God is the answer to both greed and lack. God is love, and His love must be expressed through us. It can touch everyone in a positive way. Most people can’t seem to wrap their mind around God. What they need to do is wrap God around their mind. We have a desperate need for “people who have understanding of the times.”
The only way we will correct our course is to love that which is right and shun that which is evil. It is a great detriment to resent or hate others. If we put first things first loving God with all our heart, we will also love truth, sound principles and recognize positive, effective policies. As people of faith, we should not try to get people to oppose an issue such as abortion just because they hate it—but because they love and value life. We resist excess on the part of individuals and government because we love biblical justice and understand the primary role for government is protecting freedom and the innocent while also punishing evil doers. It must never be seen as our source.
We take a stand not because we hate what we are opposed to or because we are against the people doing it, but because we love righteousness and truth. This is the approach necessary to turn things ar capitalism, Christ, church, Christians, Christianity, Christian, Congress, Consititution, deceit, Democracy, desires, election, envy, false idol, freedom, God, government, Lord, leaders, truth, United States, wealthound. Bitterness defiles and destroys. Love heals and restores. It is time to stand for and speak the truth in love. In order to see the highway of success restored in America, we must first come to understand the importance of living on the highway of holiness.
There’s plenty for Americans to be concerned, unhappy, and angry about. It could be because of personal failure, evil actions, bad policies, political leaders, or economic woes. Our nation and most people normally take action because they are mad about something or at someone, or sometimes both. We’ve become a reactionary people instead of a responsive people. Reacting hastily and with anger produces far less than the best or even desired results. We need to respond to truth and act with patience and wisdom.
Our truly blessed and once-great nation will never see the desired and necessary changes until we respond appropriately. Now is the time to take action—not because we are mad at someone or something, but because we love Someone. We should love God and others (the two great commandments of Christ). When this happens, we will recognize truth and see clearly what is best for us personally and nationally to the benefit of all citizens.
Whether anyone agrees with me or believes it, America has drifted from God, our roots and our foundation. It is important to love America, but we must first love God. If we do not, our focus will be misdirected. “Love is patient and kind, not boastful, proud or rude; does not seek its own way; is not irritable and does not keep records of wrongs committed against it and will not allow a root of bitterness to spring up defiling many. Love rejoices when truth wins. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance or challenge. Faith, hope, and love last forever, but the greatest of these is love.”
Now is the time for love-filled and faith-filled people to stand up and lead the way out of this present darkness. Anger will fail – love will not.
People of faith with a God-centered worldview far outnumber those who are committed to the upside-down godless worldview. The sad fact is, however, these groups who oppose God and free expressions of faith are wielding far more influence over our national direction. I agree with C.S. Lewis who said, “We must not remain neutral in the titanic struggle for the hearts and minds of the human race.”
James Russell Lowell shared in poetic style, “Once to every man and nation, Comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth with falsehood, For the good or evil side, Then it is the brave man who chooses, While the coward stands aside.” This is not a time for the timid, but for the bold who are compelled by love, not hatred, anger, and wrath.
In his first inaugural address, George Washington shared, “The propitious smiles of heaven fall only on that nation that does not disregard the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained.” One of our nation’s wisest spokesmen, Noah Webster said, “The moral principles and precepts found in the scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.” Our founding fathers’ three-branch model for our government was patterned after Isaiah 33:22. “For the Lord is our judge [judicial], the Lord is our law giver [legislative], the Lord is our king [executive].”
For years, some Americans were angry at another race of people and lowered their value because of prevailing prejudice. This was not only foolish, it was damaging and dangerous. Today the anger of many is again misplaced. Venomous wrath has been focused on those considered rich—on those individuals who have succeeded and earned material possessions. Many of these create the majority of jobs, opportunities, and investments while meeting many pressing needs and carrying the greatest tax burden. According to the Heritage Foundation, the top 10% of earners paid 70% of all federal income taxes in 2008. A whopping 49% of U.S. households paid no federal income tax at all. The investment of the top wage-producers benefits virtually every American, yet where is the gratitude? The fact is there is ever-increasing hostility.
The anti-God, post modernists, one-world government and leftist liberals have much in common with Islamic radicals in their opposition to everything that made America great. David Horowitz stated, “In word and deed both of these allies [radical Islamists and radical Leftists] make it plain that they consider everything about the United States to be evil and unworthy of preservation, that they wish to see American society and its way of life crushed by any means necessary, including violent revolution.” We need modern-day Daniels who, like the three Hebrew children, refuse to bow the knee to any idol or godless belief system and practice.
To help correct America’s course, those who love God and truly care about others must resist misguided anger and all who are controlled by ingratitude. People are being encouraged to hate the very people who can best help alleviate our economic woes, helping provide jobs and opportunity for vast numbers of people. Attacking productive people is actually a way to commit economic suicide. It diminishes the potential of every citizen. God is no respecter of persons, and in His eyes, we are all equal—but He never promised equal results, outcome or wealth. Wealth is not and has never been a problem for the poor or less fortunate. It is in fact a part of the only hope for alleviating poverty anywhere. Even if a person believes in socialism, they still have to have a source from which to take the means they wish to distribute.
It’s a historic, irrefutable fact that when the state, national government, or leader takes total control, wealth diminishes and is even destroyed, and the entire population suffers in bondage to a form of what amounts to another Old Testament Pharaoh or New Testament intolerable imperial rule. Yet many nations are continually drifting into this pit of hopeless despair. Much of our population and media controlled by misplaced, misdirected anger will help destroy the only possible way out.
Wealth is not the problem of the rich or the poor. Greed and envy are the issue. God is the answer to both greed and lack. God is love, and His love must be expressed through us. It can touch everyone in a positive way. Most people can’t seem to wrap their mind around God. What they need to do is wrap God around their mind. We have a desperate need for “people who have understanding of the times.”
The only way we will correct our course is to love that which is right and shun that which is evil. It is a great detriment to resent or hate others. If we put first things first loving God with all our heart, we will also love truth, sound principles and recognize positive, effective policies. As people of faith, we should not try to get people to oppose an issue such as abortion just because they hate it—but because they love and value life. We resist excess on the part of individuals and government because we love biblical justice and understand the primary role for government is protecting freedom and the innocent while also punishing evil doers. It must never be seen as our source.
We take a stand not because we hate what we are opposed to or because we are against the people doing it, but because we love righteousness and truth. This is the approach necessary to turn things ar capitalism, Christ, church, Christians, Christianity, Christian, Congress, Consititution, deceit, Democracy, desires, election, envy, false idol, freedom, God, government, Lord, leaders, truth, United States, wealthound. Bitterness defiles and destroys. Love heals and restores. It is time to stand for and speak the truth in love. In order to see the highway of success restored in America, we must first come to understand the importance of living on the highway of holiness.
Friday, November 4, 2011
The Trouble with Occupy Wall Street
By James Robison and Jay Richards
For the past month, thousands of Americans have “occupied” a park near Wall Street in New York, as well as many other American cities. The so-called Occupy Wall Street (OWS) throngs have had a hard time agreeing on a coherent list of demands, but they seem to agree that America’s free enterprise system—or what’s left of it—has got to go. They look at America and see greed, inequality, and a top one percent of income earners who take more than their fair share, and leave the rest of the 99% percent, supposedly, in destitution and poverty. If there’s one policy the protesters seem to agree on, it’s that the government needs to confiscate the wealth of this one percent and give it, apparently, to the protesters.
We’ve encountered a few well-meaning Christians who agree with the OWS movement. This concerns us, because Occupy Wall Street has mixed up a few legitimate concerns with envy and economic confusion.
The protestors are right to be bothered by the cozy relationship between the federal government and some businesses and banks. During and after the 2008 financial crisis, Americans sensed that the rules were manipulated and suspended for the politically well-connected. We saw the government protect and bail out certain banks and businesses because they were supposedly “too big to fail.” Whatever you call this—crony capitalism, crony socialism, corporatism—it’s a problem.
Some businesses are only too happy to solicit government favors to protect themselves from competition and to regulate and restrict their competitors. And we saw several keep their private gains but pass their losses on to taxpayers. Politicians for their part often assume the authority to pick winners and losers in the economy, using other people’s money. This is wrong, and we ought to denounce it, just as we would denounce a referee who tried to change the rules to benefit one team in a football game or any athletic competition.
But cronyism is not an example of the free market at work. As Christian friend and economic adviser Dave Ramsey points out in a recent column, the OWS protesters don’t seem to realize that tea partiers and defenders of the free market oppose these policies, too.
OWS is also fueled by the fact that millions of Americans are hurting. Unemployment has been over nine percent for most of the last three years, and most experts think that won’t drop much for the next year. Many of the protesters are disillusioned college students who have tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, but can’t find jobs that pay well enough to repay their debt. Our hearts go out to them.
So what do the OWS partisans propose to do about unemployment? Instead of calling for policies that free up business and entrepreneurs to invest in the future, they have issued scatter shot attacks on free enterprise, business, corporations, and the wealthy in general. Most of their unofficial list of demands calls on Congress to expand its power over business, the economy, and our lives.
Where do they think jobs come from? It’s been said that few people were ever employed by the poor. The last thing businesses and entrepreneurs need is more discouragement from the federal government.
Just because a few businesses seemed to conspire with government to escape the disciplines of the free market, and a few may have broken the law, that doesn’t mean that business, free enterprise, or financial success is the problem. It doesn’t mean that “Wall Street” is the problem. “Wall Street is a street that people drive on,” Dave Ramsey notes.“The New York Stock Exchange is a building where people exchange stocks in New York. This is the flea market of the financial world.” Where do the occupiers think businesses like Apple go to raise the capital to create jobs in the first place? Without a stock exchange, all of us would be much poorer.
Unfortunately, the occupiers don’t seem to understand how a free economy works. They imagine that the only way for Peter to get rich is by robbing Paul. Poverty, they imagine, is a side effect of wealth. Market competition leads to mass destitution.
But as we explain in detail in our forthcoming book, Indivisible, free enterprise does not mean that anything goes. The rich are not free to steal and defraud others. A free market is played according to certain rules. It only exists where there is respect for the rule of law, enforceable contracts, property titles, and the like.
Sure, there are winners and losers when businesses compete for the same customer, but free enterprise is not a zero-sum game overall. It’s a win-win game, where the success of our neighbors often benefits us as well. That doesn’t mean we all end up equally well off. It does mean that we’re all better off in a system that provides opportunities, rather than guarantees or entitlements, and that rewards hard work, ingenuity, entrepreneurship, and creativity.
As Dave Ramsey says: “Sure, there are some scoundrels, but the vast majority of successful men and women got that way by working hard and serving people—lots of people.” Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who recently died from pancreatic cancer, did not get rich by stealing his wealth from the other 99% of the population. He got rich by hard work and ingenuity, which ultimately created wealth for himself and for others. The same is true for many, if not most, successful business people in this country.
Many of the Occupy Wall Street protesters have iPhones and iPads, and benefit in untold ways from the productivity of the reviled “one percent.” In fact, without modern technologies, these protests, staged from New York and Philadelphia to San Francisco and Seattle, would never have gotten off the ground.
Besides their economic confusion, many of the protesters are consumed with the sin of envy. Though their outrage is often camouflaged as moral indignation, if you read the comments of the OWSers, you soon discover that many of them hate people who have more than they do. They should remember what Jesus said: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
Ironically, compared to the poor in the developing world, most of the OWSers are wealthy. We’re not just talking about Hollywood liberals like Michael Moore and progressive evangelical Jim Wallis, whose annual incomes are already close to the top one percent of income earners in the US. The occupiers’ incomes, on average, are almost surely in the top five to ten percent worldwide. They have benefited from free enterprise, whether they know it or not. And now they seek to destroy it.
We should do what we can to make sure that everyone plays by the same rules in the market. Policies that privatize profit but socialize loss have no place in a free and just economy. The OWSers are right to be upset about cronyism and high unemployment. In a time of economic hardship, however, we must resist the false prophets of the politics of envy.
We suggest you take Dave Ramsey’s challenge seriously. “And stop complaining that companies are TOO RICH while also complaining that they aren't RICH ENOUGH to hire you! I've seen a lot of you guys. I wouldn't hire you, either. But if you take all of that energy and excitement and pour it into something new and creative, you'll get the chance to serve a whole lot of people really well, and over a decade or two, you'll get to become the very thing you're now protesting: rich people who actually earned their money.”
We’ve encountered a few well-meaning Christians who agree with the OWS movement. This concerns us, because Occupy Wall Street has mixed up a few legitimate concerns with envy and economic confusion.
The protestors are right to be bothered by the cozy relationship between the federal government and some businesses and banks. During and after the 2008 financial crisis, Americans sensed that the rules were manipulated and suspended for the politically well-connected. We saw the government protect and bail out certain banks and businesses because they were supposedly “too big to fail.” Whatever you call this—crony capitalism, crony socialism, corporatism—it’s a problem.
Some businesses are only too happy to solicit government favors to protect themselves from competition and to regulate and restrict their competitors. And we saw several keep their private gains but pass their losses on to taxpayers. Politicians for their part often assume the authority to pick winners and losers in the economy, using other people’s money. This is wrong, and we ought to denounce it, just as we would denounce a referee who tried to change the rules to benefit one team in a football game or any athletic competition.
But cronyism is not an example of the free market at work. As Christian friend and economic adviser Dave Ramsey points out in a recent column, the OWS protesters don’t seem to realize that tea partiers and defenders of the free market oppose these policies, too.
OWS is also fueled by the fact that millions of Americans are hurting. Unemployment has been over nine percent for most of the last three years, and most experts think that won’t drop much for the next year. Many of the protesters are disillusioned college students who have tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, but can’t find jobs that pay well enough to repay their debt. Our hearts go out to them.
So what do the OWS partisans propose to do about unemployment? Instead of calling for policies that free up business and entrepreneurs to invest in the future, they have issued scatter shot attacks on free enterprise, business, corporations, and the wealthy in general. Most of their unofficial list of demands calls on Congress to expand its power over business, the economy, and our lives.
Where do they think jobs come from? It’s been said that few people were ever employed by the poor. The last thing businesses and entrepreneurs need is more discouragement from the federal government.
Just because a few businesses seemed to conspire with government to escape the disciplines of the free market, and a few may have broken the law, that doesn’t mean that business, free enterprise, or financial success is the problem. It doesn’t mean that “Wall Street” is the problem. “Wall Street is a street that people drive on,” Dave Ramsey notes.“The New York Stock Exchange is a building where people exchange stocks in New York. This is the flea market of the financial world.” Where do the occupiers think businesses like Apple go to raise the capital to create jobs in the first place? Without a stock exchange, all of us would be much poorer.
Unfortunately, the occupiers don’t seem to understand how a free economy works. They imagine that the only way for Peter to get rich is by robbing Paul. Poverty, they imagine, is a side effect of wealth. Market competition leads to mass destitution.
But as we explain in detail in our forthcoming book, Indivisible, free enterprise does not mean that anything goes. The rich are not free to steal and defraud others. A free market is played according to certain rules. It only exists where there is respect for the rule of law, enforceable contracts, property titles, and the like.
Sure, there are winners and losers when businesses compete for the same customer, but free enterprise is not a zero-sum game overall. It’s a win-win game, where the success of our neighbors often benefits us as well. That doesn’t mean we all end up equally well off. It does mean that we’re all better off in a system that provides opportunities, rather than guarantees or entitlements, and that rewards hard work, ingenuity, entrepreneurship, and creativity.
As Dave Ramsey says: “Sure, there are some scoundrels, but the vast majority of successful men and women got that way by working hard and serving people—lots of people.” Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who recently died from pancreatic cancer, did not get rich by stealing his wealth from the other 99% of the population. He got rich by hard work and ingenuity, which ultimately created wealth for himself and for others. The same is true for many, if not most, successful business people in this country.
Many of the Occupy Wall Street protesters have iPhones and iPads, and benefit in untold ways from the productivity of the reviled “one percent.” In fact, without modern technologies, these protests, staged from New York and Philadelphia to San Francisco and Seattle, would never have gotten off the ground.
Besides their economic confusion, many of the protesters are consumed with the sin of envy. Though their outrage is often camouflaged as moral indignation, if you read the comments of the OWSers, you soon discover that many of them hate people who have more than they do. They should remember what Jesus said: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
Ironically, compared to the poor in the developing world, most of the OWSers are wealthy. We’re not just talking about Hollywood liberals like Michael Moore and progressive evangelical Jim Wallis, whose annual incomes are already close to the top one percent of income earners in the US. The occupiers’ incomes, on average, are almost surely in the top five to ten percent worldwide. They have benefited from free enterprise, whether they know it or not. And now they seek to destroy it.
We should do what we can to make sure that everyone plays by the same rules in the market. Policies that privatize profit but socialize loss have no place in a free and just economy. The OWSers are right to be upset about cronyism and high unemployment. In a time of economic hardship, however, we must resist the false prophets of the politics of envy.
We suggest you take Dave Ramsey’s challenge seriously. “And stop complaining that companies are TOO RICH while also complaining that they aren't RICH ENOUGH to hire you! I've seen a lot of you guys. I wouldn't hire you, either. But if you take all of that energy and excitement and pour it into something new and creative, you'll get the chance to serve a whole lot of people really well, and over a decade or two, you'll get to become the very thing you're now protesting: rich people who actually earned their money.”
Friday, September 16, 2011
The Right Way: His Righteousness
This is an excellent article that, in my view, truly explains our role in this country and world - both politically and socially. Without true disciples, all of our efforts to be the light and the salt will eventually fade into darkness.
By James Robison
By James Robison
We have many reasons to be concerned about the national challenges we face, and they go far beyond the economy. We are reaping the consequences of what has been sown in personal and collective lives. Necessary changes will be made by changed people who are led by wisdom from above and purpose-inspired living—God’s purpose. Do not blame a person who has been elected, a party, the media, or any highly-visible person of influence for our problems. And do not be tricked to looking to a politician or party for hope. The Lord is our hope, and the revelation of Christ in the fullness of His life—love, joy, and peace expressed through us—will lead to purposeful, principled choices. We must learn from the past but look to the future while trusting God for wisdom, guidance, protection, and provision. We do not live in fear when trusting the Lord to deliver us personally and nationally from evil and its adverse effects. The following outline of truths, shared by a friend who addressed Leadership Summit attendees this summer, emphasizes the power of Christ’s righteousness and how we can become the “city set on a hill that cannot be hid”:
“When the righteous become great, the people rejoice.”
It is the task of Christ’s people to produce righteous people spread throughout the population of the earth: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19-20)
Righteous people must be made. They must be taught and trained after they are born again.
Righteous people are people who routinely act in the character and power of Jesus Christ, because of transformation of all dimensions of their personality—heart, soul, mind, strength and social relations. (Mark 12:29-31)
They do not work by human force, but by divine influence working all around them through who they are, what they do, and what they say. (John 7:38; Acts 1:8) They are bearers of the kingdom of God to their surroundings. (Luke 10:9-11)
“When the righteous become great, the people rejoice.”
It is the task of Christ’s people to produce righteous people spread throughout the population of the earth: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19-20)
Righteous people must be made. They must be taught and trained after they are born again.
Righteous people are people who routinely act in the character and power of Jesus Christ, because of transformation of all dimensions of their personality—heart, soul, mind, strength and social relations. (Mark 12:29-31)
They do not work by human force, but by divine influence working all around them through who they are, what they do, and what they say. (John 7:38; Acts 1:8) They are bearers of the kingdom of God to their surroundings. (Luke 10:9-11)
1. “If My people, over whom My name is called, humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14)
“Humbling themselves” is not a day but a way. It is not an episode but a life. It is a matter of an identifiable group of people living in dependence upon God, constantly calling out to and listening to Him, making it a point to live in His manifest presence, and doing what they know to be right and good before God. These are the “righteous.” They are the ones who build their house upon the Rock. (Matt. 7:24-25) They “hear and do.”
“Humbling themselves” is not a day but a way. It is not an episode but a life. It is a matter of an identifiable group of people living in dependence upon God, constantly calling out to and listening to Him, making it a point to live in His manifest presence, and doing what they know to be right and good before God. These are the “righteous.” They are the ones who build their house upon the Rock. (Matt. 7:24-25) They “hear and do.”
2. This life must be taught and learned. Today our standard is professing “Christians” who are not disciples (students, apprentices) of Jesus. Many of our congregations and groups are not centers for the production of righteous people who live their lives in the Kingdom of God. That is not what those groups are about. The essential message many present is about escaping punishment from sin, not about escaping sin. The “good news” presented is that Jesus took your punishment, and if you will trust that, you will not be punished. This has nothing essentially to do with the kind of person you should become. (“Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven”—bumper sticker theology.)
3. Is forgiveness good news? Indeed it is, and guilt must be dealt with. But Jesus lives and brings good news about life, not primarily about death and hereafter. The New Testament gospel is about life now in the Kingdom of God. That is what he preached and practiced. (Matt. 4:17, 23) That is what the “birth from above” (John 3) is about. That is what Paul preached and taught. (Acts 20:25 & 28:23-31, Rom. 14:17) Those who are Christ’s have been “delivered [by God] from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of His beloved Son.” (Col. 1:13) This life is for now and eternity.
What is the kingdom of God? It is God in action, God “reigning.” It is where what God wants done is done—the range of God’s effective will. The “good news” is that Jesus, the Door and the Way, has opened this domain to all who trust Him—not just trust something He did or said. And trusting Him naturally leads to becoming his apprentice in kingdom living.
As Jesus’ apprentice I am learning from Him how to lead my life in the Kingdom of God as He would lead my life if He was me. The outcome is that “those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:17) Hence, the picture of the righteous life in Christ is given. (Col. 3:1-17) Take a moment to just imagine what this kind of life would mean for our public life today and for our “church life.”
4. “The blessing of Abraham” (Gal. 3:14, Gen. 28:4) is not just the forgiveness of sins, but whole life lived within the action or kingdom of God. Abimelech (Abraham’s nervous neighbor) said, “God is with you in all that you do.” That is “the blessing of Abraham” spoken of by Paul in Galatians 3. Not just forgiveness of sins by faith, but life covered by the Spirit in the Kingdom of God. Not just miracles. Not just prosperity. These are dimensions of the whole life that Abraham lived “with God.” The “With God Life” is the life of the righteous person.
5. Once again: Where do righteous people come from? From gatherings of disciples in God’s presence, undergoing transformation of every dimension of their being so that they routinely and easily do the things that Jesus commanded.
The people thus formed are, of course, already in “the public square.” That is where they live—“Oaks of righteousness.” (Is. 61:3) There they stand in the character and power of Christ doing what is right and good in every domain, private and public.
To see this happen, we have only to preach the good news that Jesus Himself preached, in the manner He preached it, and make disciples (not “Christians” in name only), and teach them in such a way that they do what Jesus told us to do—not legalistically, but because of who they have become in their companionship with Jesus. These lives make a kingdom impact on our culture.
6. This will be a battle, for it lies at a great distance from what is now accepted practice among Christians, and the forces of evil are arrayed against it at many levels of worldly organization. But the first battle, and the one most important to win, is within the church itself…in our own personal lives.
When we become in Christ what you just read, His light will reveal clearly what we are to turn from and what we must turn toward personally and nationally in order that we can continually be a blessing to our neighbors, our nation, and the nations of the world.Friday, August 26, 2011
Has America Found a King?
This past week when I read the following statement in the gospel of John, I was stunned – even though I had read it before. How could God’s chosen people of faith make such a statement concerning any false god?
With God’s gift of free choice given to each person, people too often choose wrong. God created human beings in His own image, and in the Garden of Eden instructed them to be the caretakers of the bountiful land. Adam and Eve quickly confirmed that all of us wander from the shadow, the shelter of our heavenly Father and the watch care of the Shepherd. Deceived by the serpent, Adam and Eve believed they would actually be wiser and have more knowledge if they disobeyed God and followed the deceiver’s advice. Rebellion set in! Cain killed Abel, and evil prevailed to the point that only the ark of God’s safety built by Noah could preserve life as we know it. Jesus today is that trustworthy ark of safety and security.
The Old Testament journey reveals the results of jealous brothers casting their younger brother Joseph into the pit. He ends up a servant to Pharaoh, demonstrating how God can use what others intended for evil for good. This Old Testament type of Christ counseled Pharaoh and told him how to survive the coming famine. Even the brothers that betrayed him became the recipients of Pharaoh following the counsel that comes only from above. God used Joseph to advise the ruler, avoiding total devastation. But ultimately God’s own chosen people, Israel, sold themselves into Egyptian bondage by foolishly trusting a source other than God (Pharaoh) and they were trapped as slaves.
Even in our day when government is presented or perceived as provident – the provider, the hope – the people will become its slaves. Paul reminds the New Testament believers in 1 Corinthians 10 the things that happened to Israel serve “as an example to us” and that we must “flee from idolatry.” Our trust must be in God. His wisdom is necessary for sound leadership and decisions.
When the plight and pain of Israel became so intense from Egyptian bondage, they cried out for a deliverer. God raised up Moses who led them out, parted the Red Sea, and headed for the Promised Land that God said flowed with abundant blessings and prosperity. After leaving Egypt, witnessing miracles, following the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, they rebelled against God. Out of fear, many wanted to return to Egypt and in unbelief they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Ultimately the only ones who entered into the blessings of the Promised Land were those who believed God and trusted Him for every victory.
Sadly, once they entered the land and received from God all He promised, they again turned away and began to worship idols and desired to become like godless nations. The people asked Gideon or his sons to become their king. Gideon declared, “No, the Lord is your King!” Later they complained to Samuel saying, “We want a king!” When God relented and allowed a human king, He told them how he was to lead. The people rejected God’s ideas and said, “We want a king like the nations of the world.” They got them, and suffered greatly for it. The major and minor prophets continually called them to return to God, trust Him and stop seeking the shadow of Pharaoh or Egypt, along with anything mere men could offer. The story of oppression continued throughout the Old Testament and Jews were subjects of the Roman Empire when the high priests made the awful confession found in John 19:15. Many in present day America desire to be like other nations – God, forbid it, please!
Consider briefly America’s birth. Under the weight of God’s Kingdom influence, our nation was founded by people who wanted to be free. They didn’t want the horrible monarchy and tyrant kings that had crushed free men and families for centuries. Thomas Payne, rumored to be an atheist, helped inspire the revolution that led to the birth of our nation, signing the Declaration of Independence and ultimately the Constitution. Any sound thinker who seriously considers unshakable truth can recognize it! Payne described the powers that prevailed in Europe as “interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men who cannot see; prejudiced men who will not see; and a certain set of moderate men who think better of the European world than it deserves; and this last class by an ill-judged deliberation will be the cause of more calamities to this continent than all the other three.”
Payne knew that governments established by mere men without truth and a sound foundation are doomed to fail. He said to those who asked, “Who is king of America? I will tell you friend, He reigns above and doth not make havoc of mankind like the royal brute of Britain! Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter. Let it be brought forth and placed on the divine law, the Word of God; let a crown be placed thereon by which the world may know that so far as we approve of the monarchy that in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries, the law ought to be king and there ought to be no other.”
Our founders established this nation as a constitutional republic. The founders understood the danger of a mere majority foolishly changing direction on a whim or a sudden urge. We were to be a people bound by the Constitution. They established a sound foundation upon which free people could build and live. Our founders believed this nation and the freedoms we have can only be maintained by people who are responsible and live under control. This nation will only be secure if we live as a nation under the influence of truth, for it is truth that makes us free. Jesus did say, “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” and Paul said that we are to submit to authority. But neither Jesus nor Paul for one moment endorsed or embraced what the coins forged by Rome stated, claiming Caesar to be divine. No one understood the Divine better than Jesus. He was “God with us.” He is “the Son of God” and ever lives at this moment to “make intercession for us at the right hand of the Father.” He still longs to be our Shepherd. God continually invites us into the shelter and shadow of His presence.
Far too many Americans have made Caesar or some other source their god. They depend on it and look to it as their hope. What a tragic mistake. Perhaps more tragic is the fact that many professing Christians are also looking to the wrong source and too many pulpits are silent in pointing us to God as our source – our certain help and our hope. The Manhattan Declaration which I signed closes affirming that we must “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but never render unto Caesar what is God’s.”
Consider again what the High Priests (the big religious leaders) had to say concerning Jesus when Pilate asked, “Shall I crucify your king?” Their answer, “We have no king but Caesar.” They chose to trust a godless empirical government rather than God.
He was asking the very people God had referred to as the family of faith through whom He wanted to bless the nations of the world. These were people He said would be so blessed as a nation they would not have to borrow, but would lend to others. (Not to imply that borrowing was wrong or He never would have told His people they would be blessed to lend.) God teaches those who trust Him that they are not live in bondage to debt or any idolatrous power on this planet.
Many national leaders have led America to borrow even from those who have pledged to overthrow freedom as we know it while denying the existence of God and mocking biblical truth. As Christians, we should be witnesses to all people, while refusing to be owned or controlled by them. We must not trust Caesar or any earthy power as our source. There is but one who is Provident and that’s who our founders referred to as “Divine Providence” and declared our rights as given by “nature’s law” and “nature’s God.”
In our present day, just as when Pilate asked the people and religious leaders if they wanted him to crucify and do away with their King, many seem to be answering as the High Priests did: “We have no king but Caesar,” who represents the god of this world. I must ask, have we allowed our leaders, much of the media, the entertainment community, and greed driven manipulators to determine our king? Will we begin to stamp on our currency “In Gov We Trust” and declare we are looking to “the hill” rather than the “hills whence cometh our help.” Or will believers encourage people to focus on God and His will holding to a foundation and principles that even an atheist and deists recognize as solid ground? May God forgive any priest, preacher, pastor or American who would imply that Caesar is king.
In the face of foolishness and out of control government, I see hope arising! There is the dawning of a new day and the light of God’s glory is coming! I have been in ministry for nearly 50 years and I am witnessing more truly Christ-honoring churches, the greatest expressions of Christian faith and confidence in God with genuine love for their neighbors and those who suffer. I am seeing the strongest desire for true believers to come together in spiritual unity as a mighty army that literally overpowers the influences of deception, division and destruction. I am confident and convinced we are about to see people stand up and become that light that refuses to be covered, will not compromise and will not be conformed to this world.
My heart leaps with joy at the hope God has placed before us if those who know the truth will refuse any message that points to Caesar or any other source as our hope. We must have government of the people resting “on His shoulders”. This suggests that sound thinking, unshakable truth and principles will be carried on the shoulders of godly people, not those who pretend to be righteous, but those who truly “love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and love their neighbor as themselves.” The local churches and pastors are the best way to share the necessary transforming truth and encourage sound thinking within our local communities inspiring citizens to accept personal responsibility.
The federal government although necessary for law and order must never be America’s king. Out of control government masquerading as God consumes the productivity and opportunity created by the people. Paul declared truth to the Philippian Christians when he said, “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This is a God grant, not a Gov grant. May each of us respond to the challenge of Joshua in the Old Testament by answering as he did: “Choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. Transformed people who trust God and take a stand as “salt and light” can correct our course.
“So they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests [the top religious leaders] answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’”
What a tragic confession coming from the leaders of the very people through whom God said He wanted to “bless the nations of the earth.”With God’s gift of free choice given to each person, people too often choose wrong. God created human beings in His own image, and in the Garden of Eden instructed them to be the caretakers of the bountiful land. Adam and Eve quickly confirmed that all of us wander from the shadow, the shelter of our heavenly Father and the watch care of the Shepherd. Deceived by the serpent, Adam and Eve believed they would actually be wiser and have more knowledge if they disobeyed God and followed the deceiver’s advice. Rebellion set in! Cain killed Abel, and evil prevailed to the point that only the ark of God’s safety built by Noah could preserve life as we know it. Jesus today is that trustworthy ark of safety and security.
The Old Testament journey reveals the results of jealous brothers casting their younger brother Joseph into the pit. He ends up a servant to Pharaoh, demonstrating how God can use what others intended for evil for good. This Old Testament type of Christ counseled Pharaoh and told him how to survive the coming famine. Even the brothers that betrayed him became the recipients of Pharaoh following the counsel that comes only from above. God used Joseph to advise the ruler, avoiding total devastation. But ultimately God’s own chosen people, Israel, sold themselves into Egyptian bondage by foolishly trusting a source other than God (Pharaoh) and they were trapped as slaves.
Even in our day when government is presented or perceived as provident – the provider, the hope – the people will become its slaves. Paul reminds the New Testament believers in 1 Corinthians 10 the things that happened to Israel serve “as an example to us” and that we must “flee from idolatry.” Our trust must be in God. His wisdom is necessary for sound leadership and decisions.
When the plight and pain of Israel became so intense from Egyptian bondage, they cried out for a deliverer. God raised up Moses who led them out, parted the Red Sea, and headed for the Promised Land that God said flowed with abundant blessings and prosperity. After leaving Egypt, witnessing miracles, following the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, they rebelled against God. Out of fear, many wanted to return to Egypt and in unbelief they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Ultimately the only ones who entered into the blessings of the Promised Land were those who believed God and trusted Him for every victory.
Sadly, once they entered the land and received from God all He promised, they again turned away and began to worship idols and desired to become like godless nations. The people asked Gideon or his sons to become their king. Gideon declared, “No, the Lord is your King!” Later they complained to Samuel saying, “We want a king!” When God relented and allowed a human king, He told them how he was to lead. The people rejected God’s ideas and said, “We want a king like the nations of the world.” They got them, and suffered greatly for it. The major and minor prophets continually called them to return to God, trust Him and stop seeking the shadow of Pharaoh or Egypt, along with anything mere men could offer. The story of oppression continued throughout the Old Testament and Jews were subjects of the Roman Empire when the high priests made the awful confession found in John 19:15. Many in present day America desire to be like other nations – God, forbid it, please!
Consider briefly America’s birth. Under the weight of God’s Kingdom influence, our nation was founded by people who wanted to be free. They didn’t want the horrible monarchy and tyrant kings that had crushed free men and families for centuries. Thomas Payne, rumored to be an atheist, helped inspire the revolution that led to the birth of our nation, signing the Declaration of Independence and ultimately the Constitution. Any sound thinker who seriously considers unshakable truth can recognize it! Payne described the powers that prevailed in Europe as “interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men who cannot see; prejudiced men who will not see; and a certain set of moderate men who think better of the European world than it deserves; and this last class by an ill-judged deliberation will be the cause of more calamities to this continent than all the other three.”
Payne knew that governments established by mere men without truth and a sound foundation are doomed to fail. He said to those who asked, “Who is king of America? I will tell you friend, He reigns above and doth not make havoc of mankind like the royal brute of Britain! Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter. Let it be brought forth and placed on the divine law, the Word of God; let a crown be placed thereon by which the world may know that so far as we approve of the monarchy that in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries, the law ought to be king and there ought to be no other.”
Our founders established this nation as a constitutional republic. The founders understood the danger of a mere majority foolishly changing direction on a whim or a sudden urge. We were to be a people bound by the Constitution. They established a sound foundation upon which free people could build and live. Our founders believed this nation and the freedoms we have can only be maintained by people who are responsible and live under control. This nation will only be secure if we live as a nation under the influence of truth, for it is truth that makes us free. Jesus did say, “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” and Paul said that we are to submit to authority. But neither Jesus nor Paul for one moment endorsed or embraced what the coins forged by Rome stated, claiming Caesar to be divine. No one understood the Divine better than Jesus. He was “God with us.” He is “the Son of God” and ever lives at this moment to “make intercession for us at the right hand of the Father.” He still longs to be our Shepherd. God continually invites us into the shelter and shadow of His presence.
Far too many Americans have made Caesar or some other source their god. They depend on it and look to it as their hope. What a tragic mistake. Perhaps more tragic is the fact that many professing Christians are also looking to the wrong source and too many pulpits are silent in pointing us to God as our source – our certain help and our hope. The Manhattan Declaration which I signed closes affirming that we must “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but never render unto Caesar what is God’s.”
Consider again what the High Priests (the big religious leaders) had to say concerning Jesus when Pilate asked, “Shall I crucify your king?” Their answer, “We have no king but Caesar.” They chose to trust a godless empirical government rather than God.
He was asking the very people God had referred to as the family of faith through whom He wanted to bless the nations of the world. These were people He said would be so blessed as a nation they would not have to borrow, but would lend to others. (Not to imply that borrowing was wrong or He never would have told His people they would be blessed to lend.) God teaches those who trust Him that they are not live in bondage to debt or any idolatrous power on this planet.
Many national leaders have led America to borrow even from those who have pledged to overthrow freedom as we know it while denying the existence of God and mocking biblical truth. As Christians, we should be witnesses to all people, while refusing to be owned or controlled by them. We must not trust Caesar or any earthy power as our source. There is but one who is Provident and that’s who our founders referred to as “Divine Providence” and declared our rights as given by “nature’s law” and “nature’s God.”
In our present day, just as when Pilate asked the people and religious leaders if they wanted him to crucify and do away with their King, many seem to be answering as the High Priests did: “We have no king but Caesar,” who represents the god of this world. I must ask, have we allowed our leaders, much of the media, the entertainment community, and greed driven manipulators to determine our king? Will we begin to stamp on our currency “In Gov We Trust” and declare we are looking to “the hill” rather than the “hills whence cometh our help.” Or will believers encourage people to focus on God and His will holding to a foundation and principles that even an atheist and deists recognize as solid ground? May God forgive any priest, preacher, pastor or American who would imply that Caesar is king.
In the face of foolishness and out of control government, I see hope arising! There is the dawning of a new day and the light of God’s glory is coming! I have been in ministry for nearly 50 years and I am witnessing more truly Christ-honoring churches, the greatest expressions of Christian faith and confidence in God with genuine love for their neighbors and those who suffer. I am seeing the strongest desire for true believers to come together in spiritual unity as a mighty army that literally overpowers the influences of deception, division and destruction. I am confident and convinced we are about to see people stand up and become that light that refuses to be covered, will not compromise and will not be conformed to this world.
My heart leaps with joy at the hope God has placed before us if those who know the truth will refuse any message that points to Caesar or any other source as our hope. We must have government of the people resting “on His shoulders”. This suggests that sound thinking, unshakable truth and principles will be carried on the shoulders of godly people, not those who pretend to be righteous, but those who truly “love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and love their neighbor as themselves.” The local churches and pastors are the best way to share the necessary transforming truth and encourage sound thinking within our local communities inspiring citizens to accept personal responsibility.
The federal government although necessary for law and order must never be America’s king. Out of control government masquerading as God consumes the productivity and opportunity created by the people. Paul declared truth to the Philippian Christians when he said, “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This is a God grant, not a Gov grant. May each of us respond to the challenge of Joshua in the Old Testament by answering as he did: “Choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. Transformed people who trust God and take a stand as “salt and light” can correct our course.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Function of the Church
I'm currently reading The Peace Maker by Ken Sande and came across some information that is quite interesting. I remember reading scripture that says believers are not to be suing one another and Sande explains it further. 1Cor. 6:1-8 tells us WHY we should not be suing each other and what we should do instead. Paul rebukes the Corinthians because they were suing each other in secular courts which means they were doing this in front of non-believers - certainly not showing the world the love of Christ! And he also states that since the saints will judge the world, we should be competent enough to judge trivial cases. We will judge angels one day - we should be able to judge disputes between each other. He also states that even men of little account in the church should be able to perform this function. He states that it would be better to be wronged and cheated than to bring a lawsuit among each other. Peace and unity among Christians is SO essential to our witness for Christ that God commands us to take unresolved legal issues to the church rather than to the civil courts. Yet how many churches deliberately ignore this passage and do nothing to help their members settle their legal disputes in a biblical manner. I laugh because most churches won't even step up to resolve simple disputes between brothers and sisters much less a legal matter. Instead their main concern is the entertainment planned for Sunday's service and/or the potluck dinner scheduled afterward.
But there is something even more interesting that I picked up on while reading this chapter. It seems Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made this observation:
"I think this passage (1 Cor. 6:1-8) has something to say about the proper Christian attitude toward civil litigation. Paul is making two points: first, he says that the mediation of a mutual friend, such as the parish priest, should be sought before parties run off to the courts . . . I think we are too ready today to seek vindication or vengeance through adversary proceedings rather than peace through mediation . . . Good Christians, just as they are slow to anger, should be slow to sue."
How important it is that our judges - especially a Supreme Court judge - are Bible reading Christians! When our leaders are well versed in the Bible, they know what God expects from His children and how to accomplish it. God has given us everything we need to run our lives, our churches, and our country right in His Word. The instructions are there if we spend the time to read and implement. Unfortunately, as Christians, we have become a "pick and choose" lot meaning we elevate the scriptures we prefer and ignore the rest. This is a dangerous practice and one that will bring not only unbalance but eventually unwanted consequences. Our enemy roams the earth looking to devour those who are not vigilant (1 Peter 5:8).
This makes me wonder if our churches are performing the tasks and functions that God has commanded. Do they even know what all their responsibilities are? When they neglect their duties, the flock suffers. Are our churches today so worried about numbers and dollars & cents that they are hesitant to keep their flock on the path of righteousness?
Monday, June 27, 2011
"What," Not "Who"
Already, many candidates and major media are moving into full swing for next year’s elections. We must first understand what must be done before we can identify who can best help do it. Perhaps as important as any time since our founding, those who believe in divine providence and eternal principles must become well-informed and actively involved in the political process. Christians, pastors, and all church leaders must totally reject the lie that “separation of church and state” means people of faith must remain silent, uninformed and uninvolved. Those who recognize truth and stand for it can turn the tide.
Our nation’s founders knew that the limits of the Constitution were placed on the government, not the people or religion. The right to stand up and support first principles is both a privilege and a responsibility. True freedom grants citizens the right to choose and we have a responsibility to choose right. The Bible declares, “Righteousness exalts the nation”1 The psalmist affirms, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”2 “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice.”3
The only solid ground on which individual lives, families, communities and nations can safely build is the foundation consistent with unshakable biblical truth. When the weight of God’s kingdom impacts planet earth, you will clearly witness the footprints of our Father in heaven revealed through yielded lives, wise leadership, enforceable laws and national policies. The stage is set for a spiritual awakening. Now is the time for Christians to stand together as a mighty army in the face of all evil—even when it masquerades as the source upon which people are encouraged to depend.
The Old Testament reveals that God as Father wanted a family through which He could bless all the nations of the earth. The wise will learn from Israel’s journey. Paul said in the New Testament that what happened to Israel was an example for us.4 When ancient Israel wandered into idolatrous foolishness, they always ended up in oppression and bondage. Search the scriptures and observe the progression from freedom to slavery, from prosperity to poverty. In Genesis, the Israelites sold themselves into Egyptian bondage under the pharaohs. And then, after the Lord led them into the Promised Land, over and over they rejected God’s rule and ended up oppressed, until they repented.5 Once God restored their freedom and blessings, however, the cycle of rejection and oppression would start over again.
Now is the time for all Americans to choose whom and what they will serve. Christians must respond to the invitation issued by the prophet Joel to “return to God…and rend our hearts and not our garments.”6 There’s no time for religious ritual and meaningless tradition, but for the transforming worship of the living God. Truly transformed people have a positive impact on every aspect of life and culture. The profound effect of those living in the light and power of His kingdom is also revealed in history.
The correct question which demands focused prayer and active participation is, “What must we do?” rather than “Who should we elect?” When the citizens know the “what,” they will insist the “who” makes the right decisions or put them out of office as soon as possible. If all professing Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, along with Jewish people and those who believe the Bible is reliable, will stand together, the foundations will be restored, the walls of protection rebuilt and the people will have reason to rejoice.
Along with many national and church leaders, I’m seeking to know what must be done in order to effectively deal with present-day challenges. We must hold fast to moral principles and also make wise decisions concerning fiscal policies and practices. Some legislation and policies may be well-intended and based on sound moral principles, but they don’t work because they are based on bad economics. There is a difference between a principle and a policy.
For instance, you might believe that since God is concerned about the poor (a principle), we should raise the minimum wage to a $1,000 an hour and then everyone would be rich (a policy). But believing won’t make it so. The policy would create massive unemployment whether we like it or not. Permit me to share some of the obvious “what’s” to consider while seeking divine guidance. It is important to recognize:
The sad fact is, many people—including Christians—have not handled blessings and prosperity well. The church has grown in character strengths more through persecution and poverty than in prosperity. Do not make the mistake, however, of interpreting this as the perfect will of God. It is not! He wants us to live as overcomers in this life—trusting Him, living in Promised Land blessing, enjoying all things richly, enduring all things, assisting those who suffer and rejoicing continually when facing all trials or when exalted beyond measure.
I am declaring to everyone with ears to hear: Now is the time to return to God. Stand up like a mighty army! Pierce the darkness, storm the gates of hell, set captives free, correct our course, reclaim the land, make God the “who” in our personal and national life, and point people to the “what.” We will never find the right “who” until we know the right “what.” When the population understands the “what to do,” we can find the “who” to help lead and insist that every “who” does the right “what.”
Be assured when the Lord is our Shepherd, He leads us to lie down in green pastures, not a barren desert and beside still waters, not devastating storms (although He surely helps us overcome their impact). He comforts us in the valley of death, defeat or despair, and even while facing enemies, He prepares a table before us and anoints our head with the oil of His abiding presence. May we together run to the shelter of the Shepherd who will lead us to "what" and "who."
1 Proverbs 14:34
2 Psalm 33:12
3 Proverbs 29:2
4 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11
5 Nehemiah 9
6 Joel 2:12-13
PLEASE SHARE THIS AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO PASS IT ON AND JOIN IN PRAYER.
James Robison is co-authoring the book Indivisible with Jay Richards to be released early next year. They will help clearly identify what must be done spiritually and nationally to restore faith, family and freedom.
Our nation’s founders knew that the limits of the Constitution were placed on the government, not the people or religion. The right to stand up and support first principles is both a privilege and a responsibility. True freedom grants citizens the right to choose and we have a responsibility to choose right. The Bible declares, “Righteousness exalts the nation”1 The psalmist affirms, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”2 “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice.”3
The only solid ground on which individual lives, families, communities and nations can safely build is the foundation consistent with unshakable biblical truth. When the weight of God’s kingdom impacts planet earth, you will clearly witness the footprints of our Father in heaven revealed through yielded lives, wise leadership, enforceable laws and national policies. The stage is set for a spiritual awakening. Now is the time for Christians to stand together as a mighty army in the face of all evil—even when it masquerades as the source upon which people are encouraged to depend.
The Old Testament reveals that God as Father wanted a family through which He could bless all the nations of the earth. The wise will learn from Israel’s journey. Paul said in the New Testament that what happened to Israel was an example for us.4 When ancient Israel wandered into idolatrous foolishness, they always ended up in oppression and bondage. Search the scriptures and observe the progression from freedom to slavery, from prosperity to poverty. In Genesis, the Israelites sold themselves into Egyptian bondage under the pharaohs. And then, after the Lord led them into the Promised Land, over and over they rejected God’s rule and ended up oppressed, until they repented.5 Once God restored their freedom and blessings, however, the cycle of rejection and oppression would start over again.
Now is the time for all Americans to choose whom and what they will serve. Christians must respond to the invitation issued by the prophet Joel to “return to God…and rend our hearts and not our garments.”6 There’s no time for religious ritual and meaningless tradition, but for the transforming worship of the living God. Truly transformed people have a positive impact on every aspect of life and culture. The profound effect of those living in the light and power of His kingdom is also revealed in history.
The correct question which demands focused prayer and active participation is, “What must we do?” rather than “Who should we elect?” When the citizens know the “what,” they will insist the “who” makes the right decisions or put them out of office as soon as possible. If all professing Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, along with Jewish people and those who believe the Bible is reliable, will stand together, the foundations will be restored, the walls of protection rebuilt and the people will have reason to rejoice.
Along with many national and church leaders, I’m seeking to know what must be done in order to effectively deal with present-day challenges. We must hold fast to moral principles and also make wise decisions concerning fiscal policies and practices. Some legislation and policies may be well-intended and based on sound moral principles, but they don’t work because they are based on bad economics. There is a difference between a principle and a policy.
For instance, you might believe that since God is concerned about the poor (a principle), we should raise the minimum wage to a $1,000 an hour and then everyone would be rich (a policy). But believing won’t make it so. The policy would create massive unemployment whether we like it or not. Permit me to share some of the obvious “what’s” to consider while seeking divine guidance. It is important to recognize:
- As the Pledge of Allegiance states, we are a nation under God; and as our currency proclaims, our trust is in God—not “gov.” If national leaders do not acknowledge what America’s founders understood concerning the importance of divine providence, there will be no recovery.
- All life must be protected and seen as precious with unlimited potential however unexpected or planned for. Remember, we can clearly learn from Nazi Germany that something can be legal but also very evil (i.e., the horrific extermination of the Jews and others considered less than perfect or unimportant).
- America must stand in the best interests of Israel against the evil forces calling for its destruction.
- Marriage is between a man and a woman and must be viewed as sacred. The strength of our nation depends on strong families, and national policy must protect marriage.
- There are moral absolutes. No person’s failure reduces or redefines the standards carved in stone by the finger of God and revealed in His Word. We must find a way to stop judges and courts from misinterpreting the Constitution and writing their own laws.
- Success and prosperity may be mishandled by some, but the potential for success that produces opportunity for all and prosperity at different levels is not the problem. Those we elect must keep the free market free, healthy and under the influence of people who understand the importance of personal responsibility.
- There are forces of good and evil, and they must be wisely and rightly defined, discerned and resisted. A strong national defense is critical. Radical Islam and terrorism are serious threats. Extreme environmental activism is, also.
- Depending on the federal government as our source is idolatry. We must control it, or it will control us. Stop the madness! Hitler believed that Germany needed a government over the people, not of the people. God deliver us from this kind of insanity.
- Out-of-control spending, mismanagement of the people’s money and excessive, intrusive regulation is as wrong and immoral as stealing. Spending must be brought under control now, at whatever sacrifice. This does not include foolishly giving the government more of the people’s money to waste or mismanage.
- “We the people” must be understood to mean that we all have a “dog in the show.” We are all responsible. We can’t just lay the load and responsibility on others, no matter how many twisted thinkers try to play the blame game. The opportunities and possibilities to succeed is not the problem. Don’t blame opportunity, begin inspiring and teaching responsibility. We must find a way for every citizen to help in some way shoulder the load. This can be accomplished without being unfair and riding on anyone’s back.
- Deal with excessive, foolish taxation and revamp the tax code along with the IRS so we can rejoice together because it will stimulate economic growth. This would create jobs and ultimately enable us to better assist the suffering, the weak, helpless and poor—not with just a handout, but with compassionate hands extended. The church can and must set the example.
- Let the people go. Turn them loose and behold the miracle made possible when people are truly free to be productive while assuming personal responsibility. Nehemiah rebuilt the wall in 52 days. Impossible? Not with God!
- The church must be delivered from the spirit of religion and filled with the Holy Spirit, leading us to the supernatural unity that produces holy harmony. National leaders must rise above partisanship and reason together, seeking effective solutions to serious challenges.
The sad fact is, many people—including Christians—have not handled blessings and prosperity well. The church has grown in character strengths more through persecution and poverty than in prosperity. Do not make the mistake, however, of interpreting this as the perfect will of God. It is not! He wants us to live as overcomers in this life—trusting Him, living in Promised Land blessing, enjoying all things richly, enduring all things, assisting those who suffer and rejoicing continually when facing all trials or when exalted beyond measure.
I am declaring to everyone with ears to hear: Now is the time to return to God. Stand up like a mighty army! Pierce the darkness, storm the gates of hell, set captives free, correct our course, reclaim the land, make God the “who” in our personal and national life, and point people to the “what.” We will never find the right “who” until we know the right “what.” When the population understands the “what to do,” we can find the “who” to help lead and insist that every “who” does the right “what.”
Be assured when the Lord is our Shepherd, He leads us to lie down in green pastures, not a barren desert and beside still waters, not devastating storms (although He surely helps us overcome their impact). He comforts us in the valley of death, defeat or despair, and even while facing enemies, He prepares a table before us and anoints our head with the oil of His abiding presence. May we together run to the shelter of the Shepherd who will lead us to "what" and "who."
1 Proverbs 14:34
2 Psalm 33:12
3 Proverbs 29:2
4 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11
5 Nehemiah 9
6 Joel 2:12-13
PLEASE SHARE THIS AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO PASS IT ON AND JOIN IN PRAYER.
James Robison is co-authoring the book Indivisible with Jay Richards to be released early next year. They will help clearly identify what must be done spiritually and nationally to restore faith, family and freedom.
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