Those CNN stories of women who “died” and “returned” all seemed to have the idea of a life mission, whether it was a commitment to find one or continue one. So I was thinking. Many years ago, a member of the church group in which I ministered said he was waiting for a sign to begin his ministry, his mission. I think I was a bit harsh, not as pastoral as I’d once been, when I suggested that the Bible provided the all that we needed to hop to it, to go. I recall saying that he was like a pilot awaiting landing instructions from a small field that had no particular flight control center but relied upon written protocol. This fellow was awaiting a word, yet Y’shuaJesus, I’d said, already provided the word:
Then He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
Mark 16:15
As I write this, I think about how I’d responded in a way that wasn’t characteristic of me. I described it as a bit harsh, not as pastoral. . . There are time when I revert to a pastoral way with people. But just as often I find myself just speaking out what I find in me to say. Things change. Our calling doesn’t but perhaps what changes is the way we approach our calling, or how we perform.
The Apostolic Temple, Penygroes, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This subtle change is exemplified a friend who ministered in a church that utilized the five-fold ministry of Apostle, Pastor, Prophet, Evangelist, and Teacher–an Apostolic Church similar to the one founded during or after the Welsh Revival in 1904-05, in Pen-y-groes, Wales. My friend had served in a position of Prophet, as it suited his personality. But the Apostle of the church was reassigning him to a pastoral ministry, which my friend found quite a challenge. My friend, however, agreed that it was necessary for his Christian growth, and good for the Church as well. The difference, I believe was in the way in which he was to relate to those to whom he was called to minister. He wasn’t just speaking the word of G-d, as when he was a prophet. Now my friend would speak to word, yes, but often in a different manner, staying around to pick up the pieces. He was also called, now, to comfort people going though hard times, struggling to stay afloat amid life’s drama.
Here’s the thing, I’m not so sure we have one specific destined task that we’re to complete in our sojourn upon Earth. We are all strangers in a strange land. We all relate to one another in some way. Perhaps our mission is very broad: to relate to each other in a righteous, Messiah-centered manner. At times this may mean we are to be good listener and ask appropriate questions that allow the other person to find his or her direction to Y’shuaJesus. There are other times I know that we are to be like a stone that sharpens a knife by grinding off rough edges.
Perhaps, then, our “mission” is our relationship to Messiah extended into our relationships with those around us–each day, every day.
Lord lead us into Your Truth. Lord extend Yourself through us. Lord let us lead others to You. AMEN.
Last night, on a CNN program my wife watched, several people told of their experiences with death. One individual was sent back to finish her work, to finish the mission she’d been sent to Earth to complete, she said. She’d spoken to Y’shuaJesus. He sent her back, though she didn’t want to go. Another woman, dying of cancer with only a few hours to live, was visited by relatives that had died, and told to forget all that she’d been through, let it go, and complete the mission for which she’d been sent to Earth. In this particular case, she stated that she’d allowed the cancer to eat at her and that her body immediately healed itself once she came to some resolution about herself. There were other people, with other stories.
My wife asked me if I believed the stories. I said something like the people thought they’d experienced the events, but that I though it was more of a dream, an intense dream, that felt real. Even in the moment in which a heart stops beating, the brain is still alive. Why not continue dreaming. Then if the heart is revived, the person recalls the dream and thinks it happened.
That is my explanation.
One thing that rings true that one of these women said: we must forgive ourselves of our past sins. Y’shuaJesus died that we be forgiven. We are made new, so why not let go of the past mistakes, the past sins, and move on with our lives. If ever an enemy wished to defeat us, then that enemy would constantly remind us that we are sinners, we will always be sinners. Okay, so that enemy may be half right. We are sinners. But aren’t we also saved? We are saved by the mercy of G-d, through Y’shuaJesus. The enemy will fail to remind us of that part.
Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead
The other day, a woman asked me what book that was on the dash of my truck. It’s in a book cover that says “This Book is Illegal. . .” I said, “The Bible.” She shook her head. “Really! The Bible is illegal in some countries?”
“Yes,” I said, “it is. Not only is the Bible illegal, but sharing the Gospel message is also. Not only that, but simply holding “church” is illegal in many countries.” She continued to shake her head as if to say, it’s hard to believe.
Is it hard to believe? If you haven’t visited www.persecution.com, the web home of Voice of the Martyrs, you’ve most likely not encountered stories of persecution against Christians. The mainstream media doesn’t tell the tale of faithful Christians attempting to fulfill the mandate given us by our Lord Y’shuaJesus just before he ascended into Heaven.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Matthew 28:19,20
And it isn’t only evangelists and pastors that are persecuted, by the government and others: Too many children are injured or murdered each year. Take Weng Goodluck, for instance: (from Voice of the Martyrs bulletin)
“Weng Goodluck Tshua was three weeks old in March 2010 when Fulani Muslims attacked his village of Dogo Nahawa and slaughtered 501 Christians. All nine members of his family, including his father and mother, were killed. He was rescued from his burning house, but not before the fire had consumed his feet. As Weng has grown over the past few years, he has been unable to run around or even walk. But a VOM prosthetics team is helping change that.
“After studying his feet, the prosthetics team fashioned special shoes for both of his misshapen limbs. They returned several months later with specially fitted shoes that can be adjusted as three-year-old Weng continues to grow. Each shoe is made of three layers. As Weng grows, the inner layers can be removed as needed, to allow more room in the shoes. The team plans to provide new shoes for Weng before he grows out of the final layer of these shoes.
“This week VOM received new video of Weng, proudly walking around in is new, custom-made shoes. You can support blessings like this one to Weng and help provide for other Christians in need of medical care due to persecution by giving to support VOMedical.”
Pray for the persecuted Church. They pray for us. And someday, we may be the ones suffering so intently simply for our choice of believing and following the Lord Y’shuaJesus.
It seems I’ve skipped most of the month of October. It began with the representatives of Americans who wanted their voices heard about the way the Government is spending the people’s money. Lake of enough votes to actually pass a budget left my wife out of work for the first three weeks of the month.
So as the time flew by, my wife spent a lot of time in a corner of our house dedicated to her only real hobby, art. The passed five or so years she’s been gathering up photos, both old and new, and sorting through them, and preparing to build family scrapbooks. It’s really impossible to say exactly what I really did. I piddled around in the shop, did some things around the house that needed to be done.
One thing that we did, during the “furlough” is to go out for lunch together, at a few favorite places as well as trying out a few new ones. We discovered Mambo Jambo cafe, located near an old favorite lunch place. We ended up at Mambo when we arrived at that old favorite late, and confronted a crowd awaiting seats. It was so worth being late, and giving Mambo a try.
Mambo Jambo is subtitled A Nuevo Latino Seafood Cafe. Entering, we were greeted warmly, and lead to a booth or table, our choice, in one of two dining rooms. We chose a booth. Splitting the cafe provided a more intimate experience. The decor is earthly, using lots of dark wood and black iron. My wife had a margarita, while I choose the Dos X beer on tap. My wife commented that her drink was exceptional, with a generous amount of tequila. We both ordered fish tacos. They were served with several sauces, each a marvel. I had the “signiture” salad, that included strawberries, walnuts, and goat cheese. Delicious. My wife had a Greek salad, and loved the delicate, yet spicy dressing. Not only was the food excellent, but the presentation was striking. Everything from having a carafe of water on the table to the plates and bowls that the food was served on made a delight upon which the eyes feasted.
Presentation. It’s an old concept, really. I first read of it in relation to food in a Chinese cook book. It seems to me, that presentation is as persuasive as fragrance when it comes to the enjoyment that one may take from the simple act of eating a meal.
I am reminded of a verse in my morning reading of Revelation:
Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Revelation 19:9
And when I think of The Feast, I think of what we call the Last Supper. I think of how Y’shuaJesus presented Himself. He said we should break bread and drink wine and do so in remembrance of Him. The Body and The Blood. A true presentation.
How do I translate this into Christian Living for the Twenty-First Century? Simple! We are more than the money we give to ministries, we are ministers to those with whom we come into contact. We are living Bibles to people we meet each day. We are a meal to tantalize the senses of the unsaved. We are the Body of Messiah.
Michael Connelly’s character, Detective Harry Bosch, continues to develop throughout the series, especially his mission. Early on in the series, Bosch says, “Everyone counts, or no one counts.” His investigations into the truth are important regardless if the murder victim is someone well known politically or socially, or an unknown street person. Bosch’s own life’s story comes into play here: his own mother, a woman of the night, was brutally murdered, the killer never found. Bosch’s life, then, becomes a crusade for truth that often pits him against people who’d just as well let the truth slide, covering up the death. Bosch’s clashes with superiors cause him to be suspended on occasion, and even be demoted in his position.
As Bosch’s character develops we learn different views of his mission. For instance, we learn that he is becoming a voice for the dead, the murdered, he investigates. Always present is that Bosch is constantly on the edge as he looks deeply into what he terms the abyss where the monsters of our society abide. There is danger in chasing monsters, for it is all to easily to become a monster while deluding himself that he is speaking for the murdered. So Bosch must maintain a high standard in his operating practices. The humanity of Bosch the hero is revealed when he breaks the rules, so to speak, and causes damage to himself as well as others. In one instance he is responsible for the death of a man simply by using that man’s name to get information he wanted but knew he was not authorized to obtain.
Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
John 18:37
While the Character of Detective Harry Bosch does not believe in G-d, he does have one thing in common with those who do: his search for truth; his desire to truth be made known; and his battle against evil. For isn’t that precisely what our general mission is in our life here on Earth? Are we not to search diligently for truth? Are we not to make known that truth? Are we not constantly in a battle against evil?
Michael Connelly writes crime thrillers. The desire to write was born while attending the University of Florida. He studied journalism and creative writing. After working on several newspapers in Florida, on the crime beat, he moved to Los Angeles to cover crime for the LA Times. After three years there, his first novel was published, Black Echo. It introduced the character Harry Bosch, who would become a main character in a series of books. There are now twenty books in that series.
In the first book of the series, the main character, Harry Bosch, is already a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, with many years on the job. We learn Bosch’s background early on in the series: Born in 1950 in Los Angeles to Marjorie Phillips Lowe, Bosch was named Hieronymus Bosch after the 15th century Dutch artist and nicknamed “Harry.” He became an orphan at 11 when his mother, a prostitute, was murdered. He grew up living in a youth hall and foster homes. He joined the army and did two tours in Vietnam. Harry returned to Los Angeles and joined the LAPD in 1972. He became a detective after five years in patrol.
One of the key pieces of an investigation, we learn from Connelly’s Detective Bosch, is the Murder Book. It is a complete record of one particular investigation. We learn that not only does the book contain interviews with witnesses, records of evidence discovered, and reports from scientific analysis, but it contains comments by the detectives. These comments are invaluable, according to Connelly’s character Bosch, as they show the detectives’ minds, tie the evidence together, and give direction to the investigation.
In one of the novels, Connelly’s character Bosch describes going through a particular murder book from a four-year-old unsolved case. He goes over and over the book letting the facts and analysis of the case soak into him. Bosch tells us that the key to any case lies within the details of the Murder Book and doesn’t readily just pop out. He says that the more familiar he is with the book, the easier new pieces of the investigation will fit together. The end result is a moment in which he, the investigator, understands the significance of various details in the book and is able to come to a conclusion about the case.
It occurs to me that this is exactly what we as Followers of Y’shuaJesus do when we read and reread the Bible on a daily basis. I know for myself there are days in which I simply read a book. Yesterday I read Obadiah. It’s not a long book. I wasn’t “studying” it, looking for anything particular. I was just reading. But like Bosch’s Murder Book, the more I read, the more familiar various pieces of the whole work of G-d become to me. It seems to me that throughout my daily life, I’m confronted with new situations. The more familiar I am with the situations and the lessons gleaned from the Bible, the better I am at handling the situations encountered daily.
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
Esra 7:10
Additionally, there is something that changes within me the more I engage with the Bible. It’s no accident that it is called the Living Word. For the Bible, to those whose names are written in the Book of Life, is food that we consume and digest and it becomes part of us. Now that doesn’t mean I’m done. For every day is a day in which I know I am a work in progress. The Lord is our Potter, making us into the person we are to become. And one day, Thank You Lord Y’shua, we will feast with Him at the Great Supper of the Lamb.
In the meantime, we are here and one of our missions is to absorb the Word of G-d so, as the Ezra put it, do the Word and teach it.
Our journey is to take us forward with Messiah pointing the way. We are on the Pilgrim’s Progress. Though to some we appear to wander about, we are blown by the Spirit. We are as the Earth, in constant motion. As one old sailor put it, “If I rest, I rust.” Certainly we linger once and a while, here or there, to help someone or to recover some malady, or even to rest. It’s all spelled out by King David in Psalm 23:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
In John’s Revelation, (2:4,5) the Lord points out to us, however, there are times in which we must take a few steps backward. We must retrace our path, our steps.
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
“Remember – Consider the state of grace in which you once stood; the happiness, love, and joy which you felt when ye received remission of sins; the zeal ye had for God’s glory and the salvation of mankind; your willing, obedient spirit, your cheerful self-denial, your fervor in private prayer, your detachment from the world, and your heavenly-mindedness. Remember – consider, all these.
“Whence thou art fallen – Fallen from all those blessed dispositions and gracious feelings already mentioned. Or, remember what a loss you have sustained; for so εκπιπτειν is frequently used by the best Greek writers.
“Repent – Be deeply humbled before God for having so carelessly guarded the Divine treasure.
“Do the first works – Resume your former zeal and diligence; watch, fast, pray, reprove sin, carefully attend all the ordinances of God, walk as in his sight, and rest not till you have recovered all your lost ground, and got back the evidence of your acceptance with your Maker.”
–Adam Clarke (1760 or 1762 – 1832) British Methodist theologian and Biblical scholar.
There are times when I really want to escape the “modern” life. I want to go back to the Good Ole Days, to return to the Life of Riley. I read Revelation 2, the letter to the Church at Ephesus, and immediately recall the tough yet glorious days I spent in overseas ministries. Nothing about my life then was routine, ordinary. There was struggle, but there were inner rewards. As The Reverend Clarke wrote, “blessed dispositions and gracious feeling” surrounded me. I think back the trucking ministry over the road, traveling the highways of America, meeting people, ministering. Tough, hard. Yes. But oh so wonderful.
Ah, but it’s so easy to forget that retracing steps taken to get me to where I am at this minute doesn’t necessarily mean physical steps. There are spiritual steps taken that have removed me somewhat from the reasons for the glorious feelings of past times. Have I failed to take opportunities each day to do something simple such as pray? When was the last time I sat simply waiting for the Spirit of G-d to fill me, changing my heart? The Reverend Clarke wrote “Resume your former zeal and diligence; watch, fast, pray, reprove sin, carefully attend all the ordinances of God, walk as in his sight, and rest not till you have recovered all your lost ground, and got back the evidence of your acceptance with your Maker.”
It’s not the occupation in the former ministries that brought me closest to G-d, it was the way in which I approached G-d. It was the way I loved and responded to Messiah. The Apostle Paul found the same satisfaction in his Lord, our Lord, in times of terror and imprisonment as he found in times of blessed respite and fellowship. He was content in all things. Contentment isn’t a product of things external, but of what’s going on within.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling[a] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (ESV)
Reconcile is defined as:
rec·on·cile (rkn-sl)
v. rec·on·ciled, rec·on·cil·ing, rec·on·ciles
v.tr.
1. To reestablish a close relationship between.
2. To settle or resolve.
3. To bring (oneself) to accept: He finally reconciled himself to the change in management.
4. To make compatible or consistent: reconcile my way of thinking with yours.
1. To reestablish a close relationship, as in marriage: The estranged couple reconciled after a year.
2. To become compatible or consistent: The figures would not reconcile.
“The renewed man acts upon new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company. The believer is created anew; his heart is not merely set right, but a new heart is given him. He is the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Though the same as a man, he is changed in his character and conduct. These words must and do mean more than an outward reformation. The man who formerly saw no beauty in the Saviour that he should desire him, now loves him above all things. The heart of the unregenerate is filled with enmity against God, and God is justly offended with him. Yet there may be reconciliation. Our offended God has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. By the inspiration of God, the Scriptures were written, which are the word of reconciliation; showing that peace has been made by the cross, and how we may be interested therein. Though God cannot lose by the quarrel, nor gain by the peace, yet he beseeches sinners to lay aside their enmity, and accept the salvation he offers. Christ knew no sin. He was made Sin; not a sinner, but Sin, a Sin-offering, a Sacrifice for sin. The end and design of all this was, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, might be justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Can any lose, labour, or suffer too much for Him, who gave his beloved Son to be the Sacrifice for their sins, that they might be made the righteousness of God in him?” —from the Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
In the great mercy of G-d, we are made compatible with G-d through our belief, our faith, in Y’shuaJesus. This faith, even, is a gift from Him. And thus we are given a task of offering this reconciliation to all people. We also have the task to offer this same reconciliation to ourselves. For in the past we all, and I say again, WE ALL, have not been compatible with the ideals of G-d. We are being perfected, continually being made whole. But there remain past beings that were once us that occasionally come to the surface to haunt us. The person that I was in the past is forgiven, but the actions done by that person are not compatible with G-d, so accuse me today, trying to taint the person I am now. Yet it isn’t to me of today. Perhaps this is, in part, the struggle Paul spoke of when he wrote of the struggle with the old flesh and the new.
It seems to me a proper attitude is needed. I am who I am today by the grace of G-d. That old person that was me is dead, and is best left that way, not resurrected. The person I am today is the person that G-d is working with to bring me to the Feast with Messiah at the head of the table. I am who I am, and G-d has things under control.
Comedian Jack Benny once told a story about how the small town of Cucamonga got its name. He said that there was once a wagon train traveling what is now Route 66 through southern California that was in need of a cook. The wagon master called to settlers in the area where the town now is saying, “Is there a cook among ya?”
City library on Archibald Avenue, in Rancho Cucamonga. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Cucamonga doesn’t exist anymore, exactly. It’s old downtown, if that is what it could be called was leveled. Then Rancho Cucamonga was born, a new creation of modern buildings and stores, its area expanded by grabbing several small unincorporated areas in the vicinity. It looks nothing like the Cucamonga that I remember as a child. I lived on Red Hill, about three miles from the old center of town. Red Hill rose above the old Route 66, with views of surrounding orange groves that extended many miles to the south. For the first year I rode the bus from my house to the small school in Cucamonga.
I remember the school buildings and the rooms. One entire wall of each room was glass windows with black-out draperies that would be pulled closed in the event of an attack. It was the glorious fifties when we feared a nuclear attach by Russia. We practiced pulling the draperies closed and climbing under our desks. Its ironic that today we have no windows on our school classrooms, and there is no fear of a nuclear attach, yet we dread the though of a student or someone else bringing a rifle to school to create chaos, to kill.
At the main intersection of Route 66 as it ran through the old downtown of Cucamonga sat Dee’s Diner. It was an old railroad car with seating along a counter. I got in a little trouble for sneaking out of school during lunchtime one day, going to Dee’s. I remember for the same price as lunch at school, 35 cents, I got a hamburger with fries and a piece of wonderful apple pie. The diner is gone now, and so are lunches for 35 cents. And there aren’t pies made like that anymore, either.
A view of Cucamonga Peak from Victoria Gardens. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The house that we lived in on Red Hill was along a wash that sat dry most of the year. It was only during the rare storms that it filled up with water running down from the mountains to the north. Across the wash there were orange groves. During the late spring, when the temperatures dropped, smudge pots were lit to ward of the frost that would destroy the newly budded oranges. Smudge pots burned oil, and produced an oily smoke that drifted around the groves, and out toward our house.
A couple other memories come to mind about that house. One is that my dog, who had been on the ranch with us, got old and could no longer walk or eat. My mother and I had to take her on her last trip to the veterinarian. I loved Bonnie, a part German shepherd part collie. She’d sat with me, watching over me, while I as an infant slept in a pram in the yard by our ranch house. When my mom wasn’t home, I used to let her inside. Mom always new, for Bonnie shed long brown hair, leaving a bit of a mess.
The other memory is the hobo that came around occasionally. My mother taught the man how to sharpen knives on the cement porch at the back of the house. In trade, he was given a sandwich and a glass of something to drink. I’ve always thought it pretty cool that my mom helped a guy learn to earn his meal, rather than simply giving him something that only filled his stomach for a short while. These days in international development circles–a big business–we used to say, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach him how to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”
That house was rented. We lived there for two-and-a-half years then moved to a house we built on the other side of Red Hill. I don’t recall seeing the Hobo again. I wonder if he continued coming to the old house, and getting a meal for sharpening knives. I always thought that he may have traveled all over sharpening knives for people, all because my mother refused him a free lunch.
I tried doing something similar once. I suggested to a homeless fellow that I’d give him lunch if he’d sweep the back room of a grocery store at which I once worked. He couldn’t be bothered. He didn’t need to work when he could go on to the next place and get something for nothing. Times had changed. It seems sort somehow odd that with the demise of the old Cucamonga, and the rise of an affluent and fancy, upscale city, the old hobos with a sense of personal responsibility and a certain integrity gave way to deadbeat homeless.
It seems to me that Y’shuaJesus wants us to over a safety net to help those who truly can’t help themselves. But certainly Y’shuaJesus doesn’t intend for the nets to become hammocks upon which the lazy can lounge.
Several weeks ago I read an article, reposted at From the Lighthouse Blog that was written by Way of Life Ministries. The articles title asks the question: “What will be illegal when Homosexuality is legal.” I thought, “I don’t know of any laws prohibiting homosexuality; it’s already legal. Though it once was not.”
Sign off Highway: “Homosexuality is an abomination”.(Photo credit: Guillaume Capron)
The author clarifies the question in the first sentence, stating: “If homosexuality is fully legalized, meaning if homosexual activists are given every right they demand, citizens in western nations will be robbed of many liberties they have heretofore enjoyed. This is not a guess; it is a judgment based on current facts. The right to free speech and the right to the free exercise of religion, in particular, will be effectively destroyed.” (emphasis added)
It also occurs to me that the author seems to take it for granted that people who are homosexual are both political and social activists and have something in mind beyond the right to a relationship with a person of their own gender.
Okay, go read the article, then come back. Please.
I put this post aside, not really knowing if I want to approach it, if it’s really something I “need” to write. I’ve been to Pennsylvania on holiday. I’ve thought a bit more on this topic. I’ve read something else interesting, too. Reported on a website that speaks about American Christian’s being persecuted, the author says the United States president made an appeal to African nations while on his trip there, saying that he is proud of America for extending equal rights to homosexuals, and that African nations should do so as well. The equal rights to which the president is speaking is the American Supreme Court ruling that opens the door to redefine what constitutes a legal marriage in the U.S., i.e., two men, or two women, or a man and a woman, all would be a marriage under the government’s authority.
The thing is, whether we as Believers and Followers of Y’shuaJesus like it or not, it’s a secular nation, this America. It’s, according to America’s president, no longer only a Christian nation. That means that Christians no longer are able to determine the morality of the nation. That also means that the nation is no longer, if it ever truly was, a nation, one nation, under G-d, as the “Pledge of Allegiance” says. Although even when that is said, I realize that many consider any religion to be a means to the Christian G-d, regardless of any faith in, or even knowledge of, Y’shuaJesus. We are now a nation of many different people without a single ethical/moral code. And our laws, while perhaps founded in Biblical principles, are all that we have. Now even those are being redeveloped and reinterpreted. How this plays out is that despite Christianity that finds abortion, for instance, despicable and contrary to its religion, Christians, through taxes, must pay for abortions. Furthermore, the secular nation begins making a determination that Christians no longer may practice their religion in their workplace, their religious aversion to homosexuality, for instance, by refusing service to openly homosexual people. This, then, could very well be the end of America’s First Amendment right to religious practices in the U.S.
If there truly is a Gay Agenda operating in America, as many people believe, then there is pressure being applied that will forbid Christian’s the freedom to speak openly against any practice that the Bible forbids and the government approves. It’s really not about the freedom to practice un-Biblical acts, it’s about getting us all to approve of them, and doing so despite our Biblical injunction to condemn them. There goes America’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
To lend some credence to the “Gay Agenda,” a “Gospel” singer, Jennifer Knapp, titled a recent blog post: “Affirming Faith Voices Crucial For Advancing LGBT Civil Rights.” She’s an advocate to “advance LGBT civil rights” into the churches. Unless I’m misreading things, this means that an openly homosexual person would have the “civil right” to join any church he or she chooses, and remain openly homosexual. Nothing could bar the person from membership in a church that follows Y’shuaJesus and the Bible. That seems to mean that an openly homosexual person could not be barred from teaching “Sunday school” to children attending church.
Portal of the Church of Pilgrims, in Washington, DC, with a LGBT banner. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Jennifer Knapp isn’t the only homosexual within the church. As reported at Way of Life, there are many more Gospel musicians that are coming out of the closet, and declaring they are homosexual. There is a movement within many churches to not only embrace homosexuals–G-d loves the person but hates the sin–but to embrace homosexuality itself. Jennifer Knapp wrote, “Author and minister, Rob Bell. . .is one of the most audible voices of modern Christianity, actively influencing an entire generation of Evangelicals. Recently, Bell publicly expressed his support for gay marriage with emboldened clarity yet, outside of faith-based circles, few noticed. He is one in a handful of articulate, compassionate, and influential religious voices willing to be responsible for moving a generation toward LGBT affirmation. Notable believers like Brian McLaren are crucial in helping Christians understand that the language used by their forefathers is one of an inherited and broken theology that must evolve. It’s important to find positive role models who admit to climbing out of the primordial goo and are willing to build a bridge to safety.” LGBT affirmation. That means church support of homosexual lifestyles coming to your church.
I suppose “broken theology” means putting aside the Bible’s “primordial goo.”
Today in the news:
A respected Indonesian Islamic group has called on the government to cancel next month’s Miss World pageant, saying women exposing skin in a competition violates Muslim teachings.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the Pentagon will sell eight Apache attack helicopters to Indonesia for $500 million. The deal includes high-tech Longbow radars.
So, here in the once Christian nation of America, secular agendas are driving church policy. And in Indonesia, a religion is pushing the government to uphold its religious laws. And America is selling that government attack helicopters. Will those helicopters be used to defend the country against Islamists, or will the country become Islamic, and be yet another radical regime against the U.S.?
Jonah’s Song 