What is Salvation? Can the gift of Salvation be refused?

     We in Christianity use many words we do not usually use in normal conversation. Salvation being one of them. What does it mean? Can the gift of Salvation in Jesus Christ be refused? I believe it can. All through the Bible I notice that God always gives His people choices to make. To follow Him and obey His Word or refuse and follow Satan. There is no third option.  

     Let's start with an example from the Old Testament "Deu 5:29  I wish they would always worship me with fear and trembling and be this willing to obey me! Then they and their children would always enjoy a successful life.". God always give man a choice, else we would be nothing more than programmed machines with no feelings or choice. We could only respond in the way we were programmed to do. 

     This also applies to Salvation, God's gracious gift to mankind. If we had no choice whether to accept or deny this gracious offer, we again would be nothing more than preprogrammed robots! 

     We are much more than that obviously! A gift is the key word, some gifts can be distasteful to the receiver. Which is why they reject Christ outright. They love their sinful lifestyle and have no interest in changing for any reason. Too many people want to be Lord and Master of their own life! Others think they can wait until their death bed and then play the salvation card and get out of Hell for free! What does the Scriptures say? Isaiah 55:6 "Seek the Lord while He may be found,call upon Him while He is near." (Emphasis mine). We may have the choice to deny Him when He calls, be we do not have the choice to accept Him anytime we so choose. We must call upon Him while He is near.  

     

Why is Evolution so popular?

     I have often wondered why Darwin's theory of evolution took off like it did. Stop and think about it, people always believed before the release of "The Origin of the Species"  that they were made by God as the Bible says they were. Not to mention that there is no evidence of this in the fossil record! Then suddenly all that changed because of some thoughts by a man who had no degree in science, biology, or any other that would lend credibility to his famous theory.

     I have noticed when I have read about Darwin that one thing lacking in his life was a solid Biblical foundation or a solid foundation of any point of view as far as I can tell. What do I mean by that? For starters his grandfather was a Unitarian minister, Unitarians having a very liberal view on Scripture and the Deity of Christ.That hardly makes for a solid theological foundation. His dad was a doctor, a liberal by today's standard. His mother died when he was young, not giving him the stable relationship and home children so desperately need in their formative years. I firmly believe that you have only one chance to lay a track in a child's mind and heart and a brief time to do it. Once they  reach a certain age, say about 10 years old or so and the mold has been set. If we miss the critical period it will be set for the child for the rest of their life.

    Darwin tried several fields of study while in college, medicine, like his dad, but could not stand the patients being traumatized by surgery without anesthetics. Finally he decided to be a clergyman like his grandfather. Again no background in science, only his own self education in the field by reading and doing his own "research".

     Enough about Darwin, let us look at the main point I want to make, which is why were people drawn to this theory.

     It seems to me that for the first time people had a rational ( at least it seemed to them) reason to deny God's existence, and thereby casting off all guilt for sin. Everyone could do what they wanted and be held accountable to no one!

     This is one of the most appealing things to mankind in general! If there is one attitude that crosses all boundaries, races and cultures it is " I am going to do what I want to!".

     People very much want to deny God's existence so they can "be free"  or so they think. But Scripture is very clear on this matter "Rom 1:19  They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them.
Rom 1:20  God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse." They very well may deny Him, but as these verses tell us they are without excuse.

     One of the hidden dangers in embracing evolution is there is therefore no rules other than what is right to me! Another is if we believe we are nothing more than evolved amoeba, why does morality matter? Or as it says in Judges " Jdg 21:25  In those days Israel wasn't ruled by a king, and everyone did what they thought was right. ".We can then justify almost any behavior whether it be abortion, genocide, sexual perversion or anything else. What right do you have to tell me that I am wrong? By the law of man? Man is totally corrupt! Just look at the news anytime, any day and it will tell you that.

     Ravi Zacharias raises this argument " If there is a moral law, there must be a moral law giver which is not man. If there is a moral law giver, there must be a moral God. Because man by his own example is not moral!". Indeed if man has proved nothing else it is that he is not moral. The eagerness of man to cast off God from all aspects of society is more than proof of this!

     As you can see it is no wonder why such a flimsy scientific theory was so heartily embraced and believed by so many even today. Take away the idea that you can deny God's existence from this theory and the scientific world would have shot it down in a second! Everything rises and falls on this one point! Without it Darwin would not even be a footnote in science or history.

The Tee Pee Drive In

     I was out taking pictures recently and stopped at the old Tee Pee Drive In just west of Sapulpa OK. I had saw many movies there when I was younger. The first time was with my parents when I was about 5 years old and the last one when I was first married about 1987. The last one I saw there was Beverly Hills Cop II.

     I can remember the first time I was able to drive myself there to watch a movie, and remember being so excited about it. Lot's of good memories there. Now it is just an empty field left to the grass and weeds. The end of an era I guess. But, at least I had the experience to look back on. Many kids today will not have that opportunity of taking their date there to watch a double feature or see a movie made for that kind of venue. I am talking about the fast car movies of the 60's and 70's that appealed to us as teenagers. Nowadays it is about video games and comic book heroes.

     Everything changes and so do we, but it is still sad to see an old friend slowly fade away. I guess as long as we remember it a part of it will still continue. Enjoy the pictures below.

http://bible.com/59/gal5.13.esv For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

The Death of the Tea Party

It has been my observation that when things political or social get out of balance, people will almost always over correct. Such is the case with the Tea Party. It got it's start because we as a country have drifted away from the principles and ideas our Founding  Forefathers laid out for us in the Constitution.

Now to be fair, do we need to get back to Patriots ideas that they laid out?

Yes I believe we do. But let us keep in mind as to what great lengths the Founders went to to make sure there would always be a balnce of power. After living under a monarchy/theocracy they knew all to well what happens when a person, group or political faction gets too much power.

So with that in mind they set up a form of government with 3 branches. The Legislative, Judicial and Executive. Like a 3 legged stool, if one leg is missing, it won't work. These 3 branches are designed to balance out one another and to provide a healthy amount of suspicion of one toward the others.

The Tea Party tried to get us back to this point and failed. Why? Because they adopted from the start a no comprimise policy when lobbying Congress.

Anyone who has followed politics or served on any kind of board or commitee can tell you that will not work ever.

I went to the first Tea Party rally they had in Tulsa. It was at Veterans park, and they were promoting ideals I closely identify with. While I was there I signed up for some follow up e-mail updates to see what the group had planned.

It didn't take long to figure out this was a right wing extremist group.

If there was one underlying principle the Founders wanted in their new form of goverment it was moderation! They went to geat lengths, as mentiond above, to try to keep things politically centred. In other words in exact opposite of what the Tea Party ideals are.

How can a group that tries to so closely identify with the Founders, yet at the same time be for a point of view politically opposite the Founders?

With such contradictions as this as their platform, the only thing surprising about this group is how long they have lasted!

Enough bashing of Gov. Fallin on Obamacare!

I was reading an article in the newspaper today about Rebecca Ungerman needing surgery, but not having medical insurance. Here is the link http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/health/state-medicaid-rejection-rebecca-ungerman-raising-funds-for-her-surgery/article_12d6352b-2505-5806-ba2f-0fa5432d2b5d.html Now I sympathize with anyone who is in this position. But as usual the writer used this story to bash Gov. Fallin. Gov .Fallin did not accept the MediCare supplement to fund Obamacare because the funding is only for 3 years. After that the state must cover the full cost of coverage. We are already experiencing a major budget shortfall, and by Federal law the state budgets must be balanced. In other words, unlike the Feds, we cannot have deficit spending. So Oklahoma, just like Ms. Ungerman, has to do without what we cannot afford regardless of the outcome. I would like to see a little less criticism and more on ideas on how we as a state can create a funding vehicle so things like this won't happen to fellow Oklahomans.