Freedom or Autonomy?

       Freedom or autonomy?

This has been something that people have struggled  with for millennia.

Back in the sixties and seventies the big Freedom Movement was about that they wanted to be totally free or Born Free or Wild and Free or whatever.

It was the same thing, they didn't want freedom. Freedom is what our Founding Forefathers wanted and sought for and lay their lives on the line for.

What they wanted in the sixties and seventies in the cultural revolution as is it called, was autonomy.  They wanted to be totally free of any authority, especially God's Authority and His Word which as any Christian knows, there's no such thing as total freedom without having a loving relationship with Christ and serving him daily! C.S. Lewis has an excellent quote on this "I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of Hell are locked on the inside. I do not mean that the ghosts may not wish to come out of hell, in the vague fashion wherein an envious man "wishes" to be happy: but they certainly do not will even the first preliminary stages of that self-abandonment through which alone the soul can reach any good. They enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved: just as the blessed, forever submitting to obedience, become through all eternity more and more free."
C. S. Lewis The problem of Pain.

He can say it so much better that I can but the fact of the matter is human nature is always been the same. It was what brought down Satan and those who followed him and his rebellion in Heaven. He did not want to be under the authority of God, he wanted to be God himself ! As it clearly says in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. Like the Rich Young Ruler who asked Christ what he must do to be saved, and then once was told, walked away from it. All of these prized something more than serving God and let Him be God in their lives.

Faith healers do the same thing. They know God, but God is not sovereign to them. They did not fear Him and prized what this world can provide more than a loving relationship with Him. Even though they know someday that they will stand for God and be held accountable for every word they speak! They, just like the demons and Satan who rebelled against God in Heaven, prize something more than their reverence and sovereignty of God.

It is one of the hardest things in the world for me to understand that people actually do this, or actually and knowingly do this. I guess that is the best way to say it, but it's just mind-blowing to me. This shows the depravity of man's heart as it says in Jeremiah 29:7 "The heart is desperately wicked and totally evil who can know it?" Indeed that is true. I will close with a quote from Ezekiel 18 why would you die man turn and live

Tabletalk Magazine Jan. 25 2016

The laws of cause and effect tell us that there must be a self existence cause, a first mover that is not itself an effect but the primary cause of all of the things. Because the heavens declare God's glory Psalm 19:2  a truly rational examination of the universe will never lead to atheism. Tabletalk magazine Jan. 25 2016

Moderate Muslims and The Great Commission

   

     Why do Evangelical Christians waste so much time trying to get Moderate Muslims to admit that what the Radical Muslims are doing is wrong? The radicals are doing exactly what the Koran tells them to do, they are the Fundamentalists of their religion. The thing is, the Radicals are not open to discussion of their beliefs, it is convert or die, whereas the moderates are. With a moderate Muslim you can have a dialogue and a chance to witness to them, something you will never have with a Radical/ Fundamentalist.

     We are not told in Scripture that everyone who hears our message will repent and believe, only that we are to preach the Gospel in and out of season.  2 Timothy 4:1 " I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
2 Timothy 4:2  preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." At one time Jesus had thousands following Him, but after His death, only 120 were in the Upper room. Acts 1:15  "And in these days Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, and said (and there was a multitude of persons gathered together, about a hundred and twenty), "

     We should not waste so great an opportunity  to witness to these people. It is not our job as Christians to judge these people, but to witness and to warn them of their error. They are God's children just like we are. God is not a respecter of persons, but loves all equally.  Rom 2:11 " for there is no respect of persons with God." Jesus died for all sinners and that includes Muslims. Therefore we should reach out to the Muslim world just as we would to any other with the Gospel, the only thing that can save them and offer them complete forgiveness from their sins.  

Ryder and Penske make a strong moral stand

Ryder and Penske have both made the decision not to rent trucks to medical facilities that preform abortions! Praise God for the people who sit on the corporate boards of these companies and made this decision. Of all the sins in this nation abortion is one of the most heinous. It affects the most helpless in our society and the most vulnerable. We need to support the companies with our letters, phone calls and also use their trucks when we need to rent one. To let the mainstream media tell it abortion is accepted by a wide majority of the people, a quick Google search will prove otherwise. We need to stand united with these companies and others who share these views and let it be known that this is neither accepted or condoned in this country. The only way this is going to stop is if it is looked upon by society as the horrible procedure it is. Be bold and speak out on this issue as these companies have and with God's blessings this will end. Abortion Clinics Denied Medical Waste Disposal Services - National Watchdog Politics | Examiner.com

A Biblical Famine

" Behold the days are coming" says The Lord God "That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the Words of the Lord." Amos 8:11. This year marks the 15th time for me to have the privilege to read through the Bible. Not that this makes me a scholar or smarter than anyone else, but one thing has became crystal clear to me and that is how far we as a nation have gotten away from God! Revisionist historians would have us believe that most if not all the Founding Fathers were Deists at best and certainly not Christians. Oh yes two or three were ( A Deist is a person who believes this they typically reject most supernatural events (prophecy, miracles) and tend to assert that God (or "The Supreme Architect") has a plan for the universe that is not altered either by God intervening in the affairs of human life or by suspending the natural laws of the universe. What organized religions see as divine revelation and holy books, most deists see as interpretations made by other humans, rather than as authoritative sources.) But even Jefferson who was a deist wrote " God who gave us life,gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?". Indeed God has given us these liberties we enjoy including the right to elect our own leaders, something unheard of in most parts of the world. Jefferson also wrote " Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just;that His justice cannot sleep forever". As I observe the world around me through the media and everyday life I am appalled at the notion that we can behave like this and not endure the Wrath of God. I have heard is said if God does not punish America for it's sins He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorah! That is a sobering thought, though I hope one that does not have to come to pass. As Israel was coming into The Promised Land they were told not to do the things the Caananites did otherwise they would be thrown out of the land. Eventually they did this and were taken from the land, but God said He would not always be angry with them,that He would bring them back and make a nation of them again. God has made no such promise to America, and if we think we can do these things that the Caananites did such as burning their children to their gods Duet. 12:31 we are kidding ourselves. We of course don't do this, we just execute them because they are unwanted! There is no nation that has turned it's back on God and survived, The Greeks, Romans, Medo-Perians and even the Great British Empire which is now in the death throes, it's great churches largley abandoned should be an example for us as a nation. We have gone from all 50 states ackowledging God in their state constitutions to not allowing a Ten Commandments monument to stay on a courthouse lawn in Stigler. As God says in 2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

2Pe 3:11 Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness,".We must repent as a nation if we do God has said in 2Ch 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Christians pray for repentance of this land or we will endure the Wrath of God!

The Absence of Shame

I was listening to NPR on Friday and heard a phrase I had not heard in a long time. The phrase was " shame on you". An almost unheard of thing in this day and time. The lack of shame or embarrassment is almost epidemic in this nation. I see examples of this on a daily basis, such as out of wedlock mothers, profanity especially in front of women much less coming from a woman. Maybe I am just getting old, but I remember when it was embarrassing to be caught doing a lot of things that today are not even given a second thought. Strip clubs were banished to the remotest locations and not in the middle of town as they are now, nor was going to one an accepted "boy's night out". The one that gets me is the billboard on I-244 that says don't give alcohol to minors. Do we really need to be told not to do this?! Or the sign in front of the casino where I pick up every day ( I work for Brinks Inc.) which says " Don't leave children in unattended cars ". Time was if a person did any of these things at the very least most people would let you know some way or the other if not virtually be shunned for such behavior. Fellow Christians we must take back our communities and our nation for God by sharing The Gospel as Jesus commanded us in The Great Commission ( Matt.28:19&20). Our world is experiencing our failure to do this, but with God all things are possible.