Though the event displays the wonder of God and His creation, no minister can hand down an edict one way or the other whether a particular earthquake other than the ones foretold in prophetic passages of Scripture such as the Book of Revelation was an act of retribution and judgment.

Countless congregations no doubt heard from the hyper pious among their number how they were disappointed the quake didn’t result in total destruction and that any not so eager for it all to end aren’t even worthy of the chewing gum stuck under the pew.

In response to the earthquake, it has been admonished that it id God and not government that saves you. But should you need to be pulled from the rubble, is it the direct hand of God doing so or, in the vast majority of instances, is it more likely to be a policeman, firefighter, members of the National Guard or a group of average concerned citizens? Taking this mindset to its natural conclusion, is it therefore wrong to express gratitude toward parents if they do something good for you? Is it wrong to verbalize one’s love to one’s spouse if language can only be used in such an exclusivist and univocal manner? Furthermore, if we are to wait on the direct divine intervention of God to determine what happens to us in such calamitous upheavals, does that mean we should not seek medical attention during times of sickness or to even prepare a meal to stave off hunger?

If earthquakes are to be viewed as God’s judgment, is one sinning if one takes steps to save one’s life during such an event? Would hyper legalists such as Christian Reconstructionists and Dominionists advocating the perspective that natural disasters are to be understood as divine retribution insist that criminal charges be filed against those their elaborate spy network discover took steps to protect themselves?

Just because your family and spouse mean less to you than promoting your image as an uberChristian is not sufficient grounds for insinuating a lack of faith on the part of those that left work after the quake to check on loved ones and property.

A number of talk radio hosts and hyper pious individuals actually have their panties in a bundle thinking the response to the earthquake and hurricane indicate America is a nation of wimps. And what if we are? So long as you don’t trample over innocent people or take any undue handouts, it really isn’t anyone’s business. If the President’s life is valuable enough as to be guarded with excessive caution, then why can’t the rest of us exercise such care and concern over our own lives?

Speaking in reference to the earthquake, a host substituting for Rush Limbaugh insisted Sarah Palin was more of a man for killing a feral ungulate on national television than most actual men. Real men don’t get their undies in a bunch if a TV station doesn’t have a bendy straw in a particular brand of bottled water.

In part of his condemnation of the response to the earthquake, the fill in for Rush Limbaugh ridiculed so-called helicopter parents who tend to watch over their progeny rather than hand them over for exploitation by assorted social institutions such as government, education, and I suppose the purveyors of intoxicating compounds such as booze and cigarettes. It must be noted that it is the parents that are the ones that are paying the bills and thus should have ultimate say as to the training of children and what risks their progeny should be permitted to take.

It’s easy, as in the case of these various radio personalities such as Rush Limbaugh, to sneer down their nose at those that may have overreacted at the prospect of losing their homes when you no doubt own several fortified compounds scattered across the United States. Are those outraged over the nation’s alleged lack of courage themselves willing to die to prove that Americans are not wimps?

Do those losing their lives and property think the calls for emergency preparation were overkill? Are these individuals any less dead because predictions regarding the intensity of Irene didn’t pan out?

Do talk show hosts encased in padded studios out of the elements and the hyper pious criticizing “excessive” hurricane preparation intend to pay the expenses incurred in the next disaster by those persuaded by such orators that living up to some arbitrary affectation of machismo is more important than survival? Of course, some of the ostentatiously pious probably salivate at the prospect of a high casualty count in order to validate their rants regarding judgment and such.

Assorted foreigners are accusing Americans of self-absorption for paying attention to the coverage of Hurricane Irene rather than the uprising in Libya. Isn’t it an even greater act of self-absorption to fly into a homicidal rampage when someone pokes fun at your religion?

A number of posts on the Washington Post website are lamenting the fact that consumers have stockpiled their pantries with “too much” food following Hurricane Irene. For starters, who are they to determine how much food is too much for your pantry? Can’t the victuals just as well sit in your cupboard as on the store shelf? What these elitists really oppose is the notion that a food supply of your own makes you less dependent on whatever agenda they may be attempting to implement.

Technically, isn’t it a form of borderline Humanism to assume that the earthquake and hurricane were primarily a response to mankind’s behavior. God may have simply been focusing on natural processes, phenomena, and cycles with humans just being in the area when these events occur as a result of where we ourselves have decided to live.

It is interesting how those arguing that the Book of Revelation is not to be taken literally are among the most insistent that the hurricane and earthquake are God’s judgment when He has not handed down any specific decree as to why these particular events took place. At least those crazed Dispensationalists can point to a text that definitively tells them which earthquakes in history are to be viewed as retributive in nature.

God sets the weather into motion. He’s bright enough to realize why you might not have been in church last week. Church authorities might have the say so whether or not there will be services. However, you are the one that has the final veto as to what transpires from your house to the church. No need to harang a congregation if most thought it more prudent to remain home following a significant storm.

I don’t see how it logically follows that if you did not go to church last week because you did not know what the conditions were from your house to the church that you somehow don’t care about learning about God. Church will still be there the following week. I thought the strength of Protestantism was suppose to be the individual following one’s own conscience in regards to unsettled matters.

If I will be declared a heretic for thinking that the quake was not necessarily God’s judgment, so be it. They can add it as another charge at my Inquisitional hearing.

Frederick Meekins

 

WesternFront America

If the Christian has no assurance that God will triumph from the way the world appears to be going, one would be better off hedging one’s bets by siding with the Devil or sitting the whole thing out all together. There are those that attempt to do just that.

Atheism is the worldview that believes that God does not exist. Those embracing this perspective tend to do so over both objective and existential reasons.

Those claiming to embrace Atheism for objective reasons often concentrate their attacks on the more scientific approaches to the existence of God such as the cosmological argument. The cosmological argument for the existence of God holds that all contingent things must have a cause and that this cause is at the minimum Aristotle’s Uncaused Cause and preferably the God of the Christian faith as expounded by Aquinas when he adapted these propositions for Christian usage. Atheists raise their hands and say hold on a moment to what they see as presumptuous conclusions.

From the Christian perspective, since God exists beyond what we perceive as time, He is sufficient or necessary to jumpstart the universe and get the temporal ball rolling. However, the Atheist has no metaphysical problem with an infinite chain of causality. Yet the laws of thermodynamics might dictate otherwise as these fundamental principles of physics hold that there is only a finite amount of energy available within a closed system.

So even though the Atheist may not have an intellectual objection to a material universe that is infinitely old, such an assumption smashes eventually against the hard wall of reality. However, seldom has that ever stopped anyone adamant about adhering to their favored delusions no matter what the evidence might say.

The next set of arguments for Atheism against belief in God center around a set of moral objections. All must confess these have crossed our minds at low points in each of our lives.

The most objective of these centers around the nature of goodness and God’s relationship to it. This argument was developed by Bertrand Russell (218).

The moral disproof for God states that good must result because either God decrees it or He does not. If good is good simply because God says it is and no one can argue against Him since He is the biggest guy on the cosmic block, good is not really good since God has willed it so arbitrarily. However, if God declares something good because of its own inherent nature or compliance with a standard beyond Himself, doesn’t that mean that the standard rather than God is ultimate? Thus, at best, God ends up being demoted to the status of Plato’s less than omnipotent demiurge.

Geisler counters, though, that this is really putting the ethical cart before the theistic horse. Geisler writes, “Rather than flowing from God’s arbitrary will, the moral law may be seen as rooted in God’s unchangeably good and loving nature, then the apparent dilemma is resolved (226).” Thus, good is something God is rather than something God decides or does. This brings to mind verses such as John 8:58 where God proclaims “Before Abraham was, I am.”

Other moral objections to the existence of God are a bit less ethereal and considerably more visceral and marked by the pain those leveling them have experienced or witnessed living here in an obviously fallen world. One such objection raised by Albert Camus in The Plague uses the backdrop of an epidemic to make the point that theism is inherently anti-humanitarian. The story posits the dichotomy that, if one assists the suffering, one is siding against God by interfering with the work of His judgment, and if one wants to be in His will and not stand in His way, one is therefore opposed to human well being (221).

Other related objections to God over the problem of evil dismiss His existence all together. A number of Atheists deny the existence of God on the grounds that, because people often suffer disproportionately to what they have done wrong, an all powerful and all good God does not exist. It is argued a God possessing these attributes would not allow evil. But because evil is rampant, that is proof that either God is not all powerful and cannot do anything about evil or that He is all powerful but does not do anything about the evil in the world because He is not good enough to care.

Though it is not always a comfort to someone that has befallen an overwhelming tragedy such as the murder of a loved one, the existence of evil does not by default disprove the existence of God. It does, however, toss the apologetic ball into the theist’s court to provide a plausible reason as to why an all-powerful and all-good God would allow suffering to exist.

Known as “theodicy”, these explanations attempt to reconcile the simultaneous existence of both God and evil. It is at this point that the theist must counter claim that the evil in the world is solvable or redeemable. The Christian especially can point out that God has indeed done something about the evil by sending His only begotten Son into the world to do something about this tragedy in the most personable of ways.

If the Atheist presses this objection too vigorously, the wily apologist ought to turn the argument back on his unbelieving compatriot. To even make the claim that God does not exist, because the world is not as good as we think it would be if He really did, is actually an indirect argument that He really does.

For to argue that things are not good enough is to assume some kind of standard exists beyond the earthly fray we find ourselves in. If this material universe was all there ever was, the highest good we could ever know is what we see around us and we’d be unable to criticize anything as the “is” automatically becomes the “ought” in such a context.

Yet there is a deep dissatisfaction that compels most human souls onward towards a better world. Romans 2:14-15 says, “…when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts…”

Secondly, Atheists claiming disbelief in God because, in their view, He has not done enough to stop or prevent suffering in the world often want to have things both ways. These theophobes not only deny God over the imperfections they see in the world but then hypothesize that, if God existed, man would not be free because human freedom would be, as Geisler puts it, “circumscribed by his divine determination (231).”

However, it is because God loves us so much and respects us as individuals that in the vast majority of instances He does not directly interfere with most actions but rather permits their outcome to propel the world onward to His ultimate plan for all of His creation. Geisler writes, “If love is persuasive but never coercive, then allowing men to freely determine their own destiny would seem to be the loving way to make them (231).”

Unfortunately, some are in such a state of rebellion against God that they take this animus out on others. Foremost among such deeds would no doubt rank murder.

Some would respond that, if God really loved the innocent, He would intervene to prevent this crime. However, as C.S. Lewis hypothesizes in The Problem Of Pain, for our own benefit God has created a world that operates in the vast majority of instances by a series of repeatable and verifiable principles.

For example, according to this moral “steady-state theory”, I am able to pick up a knife to either slice a steak or slit my neighbor’s throat for the purposes of providing man with a rational world where we will not go mad. Faced with such, the Christian must embrace Romans 8:28 as a comfort in a world that often does not seem fair to our finite minds.

Frederick Meekins

 

WesternFront America

Congressman Todd Akin is under fire today. The St. Louis Congressman running for US Senate against the dingy blonde in the Republican primary said something today that I don’t find too hard to back up. Yet, he comes under fire today. Here’s the details:

On Tony Perkins conservative radio program Akin said, “I think NBC has a long record of being very liberal and at the heart of liberalism, really, is a hatred for God and a belief that government should replace God. So, they’ve had a long history of not being at all favorable toward many of things that have been such a blessing to our country.”

Is this a valid point that liberals want to replace God with Government? I take you back to the 2008 election where one Barack Obama promising big government was compared to the messiah Jesus Christ himself, and this comparison was especially strong in the mainstream media where Obama even sent tingles up the legs of Chris Matthews, who bowed down to Obama.

Of course, there were all sores of references in art and in magazines of Obama being God-like. Remember these?

Or here is a Newsweek cover calling Obama the God of All Things.

Seriously, what is more offensive? Akin pointing out the far left’s belief in big government as a God or the fact the mainstream media worked hard to turn Obama into a God?
Or how about how photos were manipulated to make Obama appear to be a light in a religious sort of way?

And here is this hand made Obama poster that was at the Obama/Democrat campaign headquarters in Lake City, Florida.

Seriously, what did Akin say that can’t be at least considered in political debate? I don’t think what he said was that far off. The problem is liberals hate being called out. Of course journalists like Barb Shelly of the Kansas City Star have their head too deep in their asses to consider the context of the statement if it means questioning Barack Obama. In religion, it’s not recommended you question the head of the religion.

Originally posted at Bungalow Bill’s Conservative Wisdom © Clay Bowler

 

WesternFront America

By Marie Jon

“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.” — Proverbs 11:10

Should God’s people consider mourning the death of Osama bin Laden? One wonders how people of faith should appropriately respond to his demise.

God’s love

Some Christians do not feel comfortable with the thought of their fellow Americans expressing jubilancy over another’s death. Even a wicked person is very special in God’s eyes. Christ came to this earth to save the sinners of this world.

Christ gave a demonstration to prove His love at Calvary. He died a cruel death on a cross. Jesus died to set free those captivated by evil. He died for the ungodly. He took their place and suffered the punishment they deserved.

By dying on the cross, God proved His supreme love for a world tainted with sin and rebelliousness. There was no other way to clearly demonstrate His love.

However, The Almighty will never force His love or plan of salvation upon humanity. And bin Laden, after all, if viewed biblically, was a lost soul, one who decided to take a wrong path. Bin Laden is now dead without any hope of eternal life. It was his choice to die. Ultimately, the wages of sin is eternal death.

Overcoming evil

But there is much to be said about the thousands of lives lost at the hands of this mastermind of terror.

On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people perished, many of whom lost the opportunity to turn to their Maker. Because we are not promised our tomorrows, our eternal fate can be sealed at a moment’s notice.

Bin Laden inflicted great suffering upon the families of his victims. Without a life infused in God, many will live out the rest of their lives in sorrowful pain. However, in Christ they can be assured of the “Blessed Hope.”

Our country was violated by bin Laden’s wickedness. Yet there was the fortitude and resolution among the American people to move forward with heads held up high. We will never forget what took place as a result of the enormous tragedy and destruction.
Terrorism will haunt the American way of life for many more decades to come.

Child of God — or of Satan?

Who was bin Laden? Was he a child of God, or of the father of lies? What do the scriptures have to say about those who are considered “sons of God”?

In Matthew 5:9, we read, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Romans 8:14 says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” And Galatians 3:26 declares: “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

The above characteristics were definitely not possessed by bin Laden. So what is a Christian to feel or express in a time such as this?

Certainly, death should not be “celebrated” — but an end to evil should! You can rest assured, God’s Word promises that all that is evil will eventually cease to exist. God is good, and eventually only righteousness will prevail for an eternity.

The great controversy is not just a supernatural controversy that occurs in the heavens alone. Not at all! In fact, all humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Christ and Satan regarding the character of God, His law, and His very sovereignty over the universe.

This conflict originated in heaven when a created being, endowed with freedom of choice, in self-exaltation became Satan, God’s adversary. Lucifer led into rebellion a portion of the angels, and introduced the spirit of rebellion into this world when he led Adam and Eve into sin. This human sin resulted in the distortion of the image of God in humanity, the disordering of the created world, and its eventual devastation at the time of the worldwide flood.

Imagine this being observed by all of creation. Our world became, and still is, the arena of the universal conflict, out of which the God of love will ultimately be vindicated.

Eye of the beholder

On Sunday May 2, 2011, evil received a slap in the face — while a human life was also taken. And while the whole spectacle of revelers was a bit distasteful for some, many other Americans thought of our brave troops and the Navy Seals who took out the world’s most wanted fugitive. May God bless America and us all.

Inspired by “Should religious people be mourning the death of bin Laden?” by Pastor Santiago Cuellar

Related Reading: American Thinker: “Interrogation Not Litigation Led to Osama”
EDITORIAL: No Class: Obama snubs Bush, praises himself — Washington Times
The killing of Osama bin Laden: how the White House changed its story — UK Guardian
Marie’s Chosen Song: The National Anthem USA By Tim Davis

© Marie Jon

 

WesternFront America

It may be “secular,” but environmentalism makes “Mother Earth” its object of special devotion.

By Dr. Thomas P. Sheahen

As we reflect on Earth Day 2011 (April 22) and on passionate appeals that we support environmental initiatives almost too numerous to count, we should also reflect on a fundamental new reality.

Environmentalism has replaced religion for many of its adherents.

The ending “-ism” denotes a way of thinking, perceiving and structuring one’s life. Every “ism” is based on underlying assumptions, principles and beliefs that tell its adherents what they ought to believe and do. Providing ethical guidance for its members is a major part of what an “-ism” does.

Followers of Judaism who observe Passover as their ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt – and Christians who commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter – have no problem acknowledging that these are matters of belief.

They would never claim that science provides absolute proof of authenticity – although many find in science valuable support for the validity of their beliefs. Those who can see an underlying compatibility between science and religious faith are comfortable in both realms.

Environmentalism likewise provides ethical guidance. But its followers generally recoil from the suggestion that it’s a religion. The traditional buildings and rituals are absent; moreover, many adherents come from a background of explicitly rejecting “institutional” religions. Nevertheless, a careful examination of the basic assumptions shows that environmentalism indeed meets the criteria of a secular religion.

In environmentalism, “Mother Earth” (Gaia the Earth Goddess) replaces God as the object of special devotion, causing some of environmentalism’s subsequent assertions to be in direct opposition to fundamental teachings of Christianity and Judaism. Another cornerstone belief is that mankind is just one species among many; this view opposes the Judeo-Christian belief that God considers mankind to be very special.

Science appears to play a major role in environmentalism, but actually its role is distinctly secondary: Science is used subjectively, not objectively. After a set of beliefs has been established, various fields of science (and scholarly studies within those fields), are carefully sifted to select facts that support those beliefs. Facts and scientific fields that contravene or fail to support core beliefs are rejected or ignored.

That’s not the way science is supposed to work. However, it happens every day in environmentalism, as reflected in movies, magazines, blogs, television programs, newspapers – and legislative and regulatory initiatives.

In his excellent book, “The New Holy Wars: Economic Religion vs. Environmental Religion in Contemporary America,” Professor Robert H. Nelson likens the contemporary struggle between those two secular religions to John Calvin’s struggle against the establishment of Catholicism 500 years ago.

Nelson’s book concludes: “It is time to take secular religion seriously. It is real religion. In the twentieth century, it showed greater energy, won more converts, and had more impact on the western world than the traditional, institutional forms of Christianity.”

For the believing environmentalist, there is a certain “Garden of Eden” narrative: the beginning of evil came with the development of agriculture, when mankind rose above hunter-gatherer status and began to control and improve on nature to meet his needs. Thereafter came civilization and all its negative environmental effects and associations. The whole story hangs together within a religious framework.

In America today, the religion of environmentalism has the distinct advantage of being taught in the public schools, and receiving plentiful government funding. Some of its beliefs are fairly benign, such as sympathy for polar bear cubs. But other beliefs have had horrible consequences.

The chemical spray DDT is a powerful weapon against malaria. It wiped the disease out in the developed world. Sprayed on walls, DDT acts for six months or more with a single application, keeping mosquitoes out of homes, preventing them from biting, and killing any that land.

However, environmental activism and incorrect scientific interpretations led politicians to believe DDT harmed birds and fish, and the insecticide was banned in the United States in 1972. Since then, it has been largely purged from the disease control arsenal worldwide, even though malaria still infects a billion people in poor countries every year, killing up to one million.

Today, many environmentalists view the alleged dangers of using DDT as being worse than the misery and death caused by the disease. Since 1972, at least 20 million African children have died from malaria.

Throwing trash out of your car window is considered a sin by environmentalism. In other religions, allowing the preventable death of millions of children is a far greater sin.

This year Easter, Passover and Earth Day all came close together. Now may be a good time to ask whether environmentalism can be reconciled with traditional religions.

Most religious people who believe in God as Christians or Jews also want to protect the environment. They see ecological stewardship as part of their responsibility to God.

Indeed, that is the message of another excellent book, “Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition.” Published by the Acton Institute a decade ago, it is a brief collection of essays by Protestant, Jewish and Catholic scholars who have pondered how and why their own faith embraces care for God’s creation.

In all cases, these authors root their arguments in Scripture, abetted by an understanding of modern science. They stress that the word “dominion” used in the Bible does not mean people have a right to wreck the planet. Rather, it means mankind is a partner chosen by God to be a responsible steward of creation.

Emphatically, these Christian and Jewish authors do not regard mankind as just “one species among many.” And they don’t confuse “mother earth” with God.

Tom Sheahen is director of the Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology, the leading Catholic organization that strives to bring faith and science together. Readers who wish to comment on this article may do so on this website, or at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114517700573

 

WesternFront America

By Marie Jon

“God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him.” — Acts 2:24

What started out as another beautiful weekend in May, exactly one week before Mother’s Day, would suddenly turn into a tragic loss of life. Who would ever expect that by the end of a bright and cheery spring day, a family’s happiness would be shattered forever, and a brother’s life would be taken away. It wasn’t just my own family who would feel the loss and devastating pain, but others involved in a senseless tragedy that should have never taken place.

As usual, my brother and I were up very early. We enjoyed taking walks together before the sun lit up the sky to warm the chill of a California morning. It was our habit to have our own devotions together as we read the scriptures before attending church services.

Both Mark and I were blessed with a similar sense of humor. Twins share a very unique relationship. He was the other part of me. We had been laughing and giggling while we chit-chatted about each other’s love life. Everything was light and breezy, and we were just two typical young people barely reaching our twenties.

I remember that very same day looking at my brother as he sat close together in church with the love of his life. Susie and Mark planned to marry after college. Susie was a delightful person, with the prettiest smile and with long, bouncy, strawberry blonde hair that graced her lovely face. The week before, she was baptized in front of the entire congregation. It was a celebration. Susie was a special gift, and we often thought how blest to have her become part of our immediate family.

Our church was in the midst of holding a Revival outreach to the outlying communities. Everyone was excited and pleased to see new people — young and old were attending the meetings. They wanted to learn about Jesus and His imminent Second Coming.

Mark was very devoted in doing God’s work. The day he died, many of his college buddies had been in church because he invited them to hear the presentation on the Book of Revelation. Some had never considered putting Jesus in their lives. But Mark’s witness was very compelling. My brother was a deacon. One of his jobs was to secure the doors after services. We waited for him before sitting down to a wonderful afternoon dinner. Mark and Susie decided to take a scenic drive right after they finished eating.

I was so very proud of all my brother’s accomplishments. He was an honor student. His outgoing personality touched the hearts of many young people with the love he felt for his Savior.

It was sadly ironic. Within that same week, our family would have to make final arrangements. My parents thought it best to have a closed casket at Mark’s service. His face was severely disfigured by the impact of the collision. My family agreed that it was best to allow friends and other family members to think of Mark as they remembered him.

Two others died that day because drinking and driving kills people. Those who disobey both God’s and man’s laws usually end up hurting others. My brother was an innocent victim. Unfortunately, his story is an everyday occurrence.

Mother’s Day came and went, and the gifts Mark and Susie bought mom were given to her by my father. There was no consoling her grief. Susan was still in the hospital suffering from injuries and trying to handle feelings of guilt that often occur with being a lone survivor.

The story is too painful to go into every detail. Even though it’s been over five years, it still seems like yesterday. The days have turned into years, and another Easter Sunday is here.

Because Christ came into this world to save mankind by the shedding of His blood on Calvary’s cross, there is “the blessed hope” and promise written in His Word. One day soon, there will be no more death and pain. There will be no more good-byes. But until then, we have the fondest memories of Mark.

Even during those most horrific and terrible days our family went through, we still had our faith in the God of compassion, love, and re-creation. And because of what Christ accomplished on the cross, our Savior will come again and restore everything that was stolen from us by mankind’s disobedience and sin.

This Easter, envision the Savior praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He did not want to die. “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). He felt the awful fear of being separated from the Father forever. The weight of our sins was laid upon Him. It was His love for us that conquered His fears and led Jesus to the hill of Golgotha. Christ laid down His life so that we may live for an eternity with Him. “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people: and walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you” (Jeremiah 7:23).

And for every living human being who has lost loved ones, they can look forward to seeing Christ return in the clouds of glory. “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation” (Isaiah 25:9).

Give praises and thanks. Our heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son to “set the captives free.” Now we too can have eternal life because He lives. Keep looking up, for Christ is no longer dead. Rejoice: “He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:6) and “sits at the right hand of the Father” (Hebrews 1:2).

Have a blessed and joyous Happy Easter!

Marie’s chosen song: The Easter Song

Related Reading: MADD-Drunk Driving

© Marie Jon

 

WesternFront America

By J. D. Longstreet

Today is Good Friday. Traditionally the Day Christ was crucified. Today is also Earth Day. It is a date set aside to worship the earth (paganism). Today is also the birthday of Vladimir Lenin, (April 22^nd 1870). Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary, author, lawyer, economic theorist, and political philosopher among other things. Lenin created the Soviet Communist Party.

We agree with the folks at “TheBlogProf” who say: “It is no coincidence that Earth Day, April 22, was chosen to coincide with the birthday of Vladimir Lenin. A day that celebrates communism as the gold standard of human civilization. Never mind that it has never worked as advertised, creating disorder rather than order. Environmentalism, the religion du jour of the 21st century, has very similar ends of government control under the guise of being good stewards of the planet.” (We recommend you read the entire article HERE.)

Please note how the writer at TheBlogProf refers to environmentalism:

“Environmentalism, the religion du jour of the 21st century … ”

In our opinion, the writer is dead on. Environmentalism has become a full-fledged religion.

As I have said before: we have a hodge-podge of religions is America. Having said that, we have to admit that some are uplifting while others are, well, just plain goofy.

I learned early on in my education that one of the most interesting discoveries, made by anthropologists, is that the human animal will, somehow, create a religion – or religions. Scientists tell us the human animal must have belief in something that gives meaning to his, or her, existence. We human animals long for a power greater than our own. It seems to come in our wiring. I happen to believe that is true.

If I may be allowed to explain: If one believes in the divine creator, as I do, then one believes the human animal was created by that divine creator referred to simply as God. Just as a child will long for his parents I believe humans long for their parent – God. Seems to me, that is an explanation for the longing man has for a divine being and leads him to create an “idol” of practically anything that will provide him a focus point for that parent he instinctively knows is there — yet remains unseen.

I am not a theologian. But, I must tell you I think my explanation for man’s endeavor to close the gap between man an God, existent since the Garden of Eden, is as good as any. Christians will tell you that Christ, God’s Son, came to this earth and closed that gap 2,000 years ago. He was perceived by the corrupt government of his day as a threat and, as a result, he was executed. Christians believe that three days later he rose from the dead and returned home but not before promising to return and clean up the mess we have made.

That was around 2,000 years ago. Things have changed for the worst. In this century, and the last, so many have turned from the worship of a supreme being, we call God, to what we used to call “paganism”… the worship of nature, or the environment, or… more specifically… Environmentalism.

Yes, Environmentalism HAS become a religion. Well, actually, it always was, it has just come back into favor in the past 100 years, or so.

One thing I want to set straight before continuing, nature is not God. It is my belief that GOD created nature. Now, we can continue.

Michael Crichton, in his “Environmentalism as Religion” remarks made before the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco in 2003, summed it all up rather nicely, I think:

“The believers in environmentalism believe and preach that we should live in unity with nature, or the environment. They believe that in the beginning we did. They believe that we are now living in sin because we have polluted the earth. We will be visited with a judgment day and the judgment will be death, for the whole planet, unless we repent, (which means to turn around and go the other way) and make our way back to sustainability. You see, in the environmentalism religion, sustainability IS salvation.”” … Michael Crichton. See Crichton’s remarks here: HERE.

The environmental religionists are calling for us to repent. We are doomed, they say, as a result of pollution, global warming, running out of oil, the whole list of tribulations the environmentalist faithful are so sure are coming.

They believe that man and nature should co-exist in one accord. Humans have never done that. Why … because it is impossible. Man has always been at nature’s mercy. Nature is unforgiving. Nature will kill you in a split second! The evidence is all around me as I sit here writing in North Carolina where we were ravaged just last weekend by an assault force of tornadoes killing scores and damaging property that will take decades to repair, if ever.

Today, we have all the preachers of the Church of Environmentalism, preaching at us non-stop. They preach fear. They preach gloom and doom. They preach forsaking progress and returning to the days when man lived in harmony with nature, even though no such period ever existed in the history of mankind.

Many feel that inside that outer shell of green, the environmentalists so proudly wear, is the red of communism. Like a watermelon, on the outside it is green. Conversely, on the inside it is red. And therein lies the connection with Earth Day’s observance on the birthday of Vladimir Lenin one of the founders of communism.

The environmental movement is in direct conflict with the Christian religion and, in our opinion; Christians should stir clear of any involvement with the greenies, the “useful idiots” of the Marxists and communists, intent on the destruction of all those rights granted to man by God.

Earth Day is a pagan celebration, and I want no part in it.

J. D. Longstreet blogs daily at INSIGHT on Freedom at: http://www.csadispatch.blogspot.com/

E-Mail: longstreet1862@gmail.com

 

WesternFront America

By Marie Jon

For those Americans who live where there are four distinct seasons, during the winter months you’re probably tuned into your local radio or television station so you’ll know the weather forecast.

Our meteorological forecasters have ways to determine if our days will be sunny and bright, blustering cold, or uncomfortably hot. With that thought in mind, how do most people gauge what is right or wrong? It’s apparent that we’re living in an age when almost anything goes.

Things as they are

It’s safe to say that barometers generally don’t lie. They don’t give opinions, but reveal only the facts. They clearly and accurately record the rise and fall of atmospheric pressure. They are not influenced by anyone’s ideas or opinions. They simply tell it as it is. To reject the barometer’s warning is to reject the state of things as they are.

In 1938, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the east coast of America slammed into Long Island and continued up the East Coast. The winds blew at 120 miles an hour, gusting up to 200. The salty spray was carried by the fierce winds from Long Island 250 miles north to Montpelier, Vermont. The property damage was more than $300 million. At today’s prices, the cost would be over 15 billion dollars. And tragically, hundreds of lives were lost.

I’m sad to have to be the pundit who points out that our generation seems to care very little about right and wrong. Let me give you some straight talk. America’s society is in danger for rejecting God’s moral barometer. We’re leading ourselves to self-destruct, even without the help of the present administration pushing us over the brink. It’s time we begin to toss out every cherished sin that makes us guilty before a loving Father. And to do that, we need to know the game rules.

Man-made “truth”

In 2009, an interesting survey came out by George Barna and his Barna Research group of Americans known as Gen-Xers. What were its findings? Most Gen-Xers (Americans born between 1960 and 1980) have tossed out the idea of absolute truth. This staggering reality does not bode well for our nation’s future. Seventy-five percent of adults and teens reject the concept of absolute moral truth. In other words, there is no right or wrong: right or wrong is what you think in your mind.

Joseph Fletcher wrote a book in 1966 titled Situation Ethics, which popularized this view among America’s university students. His view was simply this — adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, or breaking any one of the Ten Commandments “is not necessarily and always wrong. If the situation is right, the act may be right.”
Today, over half of all teenagers say that lying is sometimes necessary — not just convenient or common. To them, it’s acceptable. This leads me to address some basic and fundamental questions. Are we facing a clash of cultures? Is the moral barometer of the 21st century abandoned and broken? I believe it is. How do we fix the problem?

“Postmodernism”

What is essentially wrong with the idea that everyone must determine what is right for themselves? It’s problematic because everything becomes a blur on the moral radar screen. Just what is the morality of the current “post-modern world”?

According to BBC.co.uk, “Postmodernism does away with many of the things that religious people regard as essential. For postmodernists, every society is in a state of constant change; there are no absolute values, only relative ones; nor are there any absolute truths.

“This promotes the value of individual religious impulses, but weakens the strength of religions which claim to deal with truths that are presented from outside, and given as objective realities.”

In this opinion piece, I will attempt to tackle some of these tough questions. What is the fundamental fallacy in the idea that right and wrong are matters of opinion?”

“If any man think that he knoweth anything…” (1 Cor. 8:2)

What bothers me most about this concept of moral relativism, which is taught in our universities and school systems, is it’s an absolute lie. The entire premise comes from a progressive mindset that demands we not be judgmental. If that is correct, then how do we know right from wrong?

When somebody tells me there is no such thing as absolutes of right and wrong, how can I even evaluate that statement? For me, the stark truth is in the Bible. There is a verse in God’s Word that says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end leads to destruction” (Prov. 16:25). It forewarns me that people may appear to understand things but reject true knowledge, which is needed to be able to determine what appropriate behavior is — that is, behavior that benefits not only themselves, but all of our society.

Take a long look at what is happening to our society as a result of the false belief that there are no moral absolutes. The human mind can’t accurately evaluate what is right and what is wrong. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful and above all things desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9).

When we as a nation filter things to suit our own idea of right and wrong, then there’s nothing but foolishness. Man has a fallen nature. I fully recognize that in our modern world, people reject the concept of a fallen nature. And since people do not want to admit that they possess such a nature, they would rather assume that they somehow have the ability to distinguish between good and evil in and of themselves. But if that were true, why were Americans so outraged when the World Trade Center was attacked? Islamic terrorists who flew those airplanes actually believed that they were morally right in killing innocent people. Both sides can’t be right about that. And why are we outraged that Hitler killed six million Jews — if we believe there is no such thing as absolute right or wrong? When a country filled with churches of all denominations has intermingled God’s holy laws with man-made traditions, we’re left with no basis for feeling outraged at such evil.

When we inform God that His character and moral values are not important, then on any given Sunday morning, if my neighbor decides to go out and mow his front lawn and that bothers me, I could punch him in the nose because I value my peace and quiet. Who is to say that’s wrong? At the same time, we live in a nation of laws. Our judicial laws punish those who would commit assault and battery on their neighbors. These laws stem from our Constitution, which is based on Biblical premises and principles.

If a man or a woman is not content or happy in their home, and there are no moral boundaries, what would be wrong with having an extramarital affair? Without God’s Ten Commandments in the picture, morality becomes easy to rationalize.

Headed for the ash heap

The question then becomes, what is reality — and what are the results of ignoring what is right or wrong? How has an increasingly godless, rebellious mindset affected our society? And where is it leading our country?

Those who want to destroy America pander to man’s human baseness. Progressives understood years ago what would happen if they succeeded in slowly but surely removing moral boundaries from every facet of our lives. And quite frankly, too many of us have become willing participants and given in to their enticements.

Conservatives of all stripes, including Independent voters, should not have a thing to do with the acceptance of gay marriage, abortion on demand, legalization of recreational drugs, or prostitution. Once a civilized nation dissolves its moral code, it ends up on the ash heap of history.

There is no guarantee that we will be able to restore our nation if we don’t have a civil society based on God’s unchanging law. As America’s Judeo-Christian faith becomes ever-more diminished and compromised, our future looks extraordinarily dim. “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26).

“Without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5)

We need to look outside of human beings for sound rules. We need to look to something or someone that does have perfect understanding, perfect empirical knowledge. The Bible reveals God. He speaks of Himself in absolute terms. One of my favorite passages in Scripture is Psalm 111, in which the Psalmist summarizes the relevance of God’s law. The Lord reveals absolute truth in His own character, in His own nature. God Himself is holy, and that truth is revealed in His Word. And God’s truth reveals itself to every generation and every society, in undeniable ways. (See Romans, chapter one.)

The Almighty says, “The works of His hands are verity that is truth and justice. All His precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever” (Psalm 111:7). When speaking about God’s law, the Psalmist points out that the law of God is an eternal revelation of the character of God and is increasingly relevant to every generation. For example, the law that says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” in an age of materialism where material values have become god, speaks positively of placing our priority on the things of eternity. The law that says, “Thou shalt not kill,” goes far beyond the physical act of killing. It deals with respect for human life. His law provides some moral and objective standards.

It seems to me that God’s law is like a mirror. In fact, the Bible reveals that. Take a look at the book of James. You’ll look into its mirror and see that your face is dirty. The Word says: “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). It also says, sin is the transgression, the breaking of God’s law. Sin is not something just in our minds; it’s the breaking of an absolute moral standard that God has given to govern behavior.

Motives of the heart

But is it ever right to break that standard? Would you think that lying, for example, is acceptable?

Let’s suppose that, during the days of the Holocaust, I tried to shelter a Jewish friend and a Nazi asked me if a Jew were there. Would lying in such a situation be right? Let’s use God’s law to find out what would be right or wrong in this case.

I know what the Commandment says. It says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor.” If I were to reveal the existence of my Jewish friend, I would be acting unjustly against my neighbor, in a way that would likely harm him — something the Commandment seems to forbid. This difficult test of my integrity would require me to rely on God, through His Spirit, to know what He would want me to do. I’m pretty certain He would want me to protect my innocent friend from possible death at the hands of a murderous regime.

I believe God weighs the human heart. Not from an absence of moral absolutes, but from an overriding desire that we put His will (and guidance) first in our lives — above our own.

We live in a sinful world where evil forces are working against us. We need to be able to balance everything that is going on and make the best decision in a bad scenario.

There is an example of this in the Bible.

In Exodus, chapter one, the Pharaoh told the midwives to kill every male Hebrew child. He became outraged when he discovered that the midwives refused to follow his orders. They did not want to commit murder. The midwives had the moral fortitude to protect the women. God honored the midwives for their decision. I would suggest that as Christians, we need to look for the honest and true way every time. The true story of the midwives gives us a perfect example. When we make a decision in a bad scenario in a sinful world, God weighs the motives of the heart. What are we trying to do? Are we selfishly trying to cover our tracks and protect ourselves — or are we doing the best we know how to protect and guard somebody else, in harmony with His will? I believe God weighs our motives. Don’t you?

“Legalism”

Some suggest that keeping the Ten Commandments is little more than “legalism” — needless restraint on freedom — and has little relevance for today. They also wrongly believe that if anybody tries to live by the Ten Commandments, they’re trying to work their way into heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth. When I accepted Christ as Savior, I was saved by His shed blood on Calvary’s cross and His abounding grace covers my every sin. I personally believe in God’s laws. The scriptures will prove me correct.

Let’s pretend that I’m the proud mother of two small children, a one-year-old and a four-year-old, and I lovingly restrict their freedom by putting a fence around the backyard. Am I a legalistic, controlling parent? No. If they were to wander from an unfenced yard onto a busy road, they might be run down and killed. God’s Ten Commandments are not a straitjacket. They are an expression of His love.

In chapter five of Deuteronomy, God says of his children, “Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear Me and keep all of My commandments always.” Why?

“That it might be well with them and their children forever.”

The heart of love in God is saying: I want to do my best for you. I don’t want you to live in fear, so thou shalt not murder. My rule says your neighbor is not going to break into your house in the night and murder you or your family. My rule says that you can sleep comfortably at night because your neighbor is not going to come and steal your possessions. God has a guardrail around life. He is not trying to put us in a straitjacket and ruin our fun anymore than me keeping my children from playing in a busy street.

The Ten Commandments are codified love. If you were to summarize the whole law, it is based on one word — love. The first four Commandments tell us how to love God. The remaining six tell us how to love our fellow man. If you want to know how to love God, you look at the first four Commandments. You want to know how to love your fellow man, you look at the last six. I can’t truly love if I steal from my fellow man. If I am angry toward him and want to murder him, I cannot truly love at all. It kind of reminds me, we were talking about the legalism of the law. Is the law restricting your freedom?

In the book of James, the apostle refers to God’s moral requirements as the law of liberty, because we are not truly free unless there are some boundaries. You know, those I’ve run across who say keeping God’s laws is legalistic don’t feel that way when it comes to others keeping them. They would like their neighbor not to kill, steal, or commit adultery. It’s just that they believe they should be able to do whatever they like. But doing what you want is not liberty.

Others say that the high standards of God’s law are impossible to keep. They forget that every human being has struggled with them, including the humble follower of God, the apostle Paul. In Romans, chapter seven, Paul says, “I would love to keep God’s law, but there is this old nature, this sinful nature that I make mistakes and I stumble and I fall.” It is easy to become discouraged, but we cannot excuse ourselves.

Real hope and change

Our nature as sinful human beings is that we don’t do things perfectly. We have become self-centered and selfish, and God’s law is selfless and loving. And so we struggle. However, there is good news. There is hope. We do not have to succumb to that sinful human nature if we allow God to hold our hands.

We need to understand what God says — and what He does for us if we turn our hearts to Him, if we give Him the reins to our life. Accept the promise He gives us in the tenth chapter of the book of Hebrews: “This is the covenant I will make with them after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them” (Hebrews 10:6).

The God of Creation says, I once etched my laws in stone. He says, but I will take my finger, that same finger that wrote in stone, and I will reach into your mind and I will write my laws there. Hold My hand. The more time you spend with Me, the more you will become like Me and learn to love the things I love.

The Word tells me that God will write His law in our minds and in our hearts. He writes it in our minds so we know it, and He writes it in our hearts so we love it. And so we begin obeying Him spontaneously, because Jesus has changed our life. I love what the Lord reveals in His righteous Word: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).

Although the law presents a very high ideal, Jesus offers grace to transform our hearts and change our lives and enable us to live up to that ideal. Every time we fail, we stand at the foot of the cross and we seek Jesus and we begin to understand, it is because I broke God’s law that He is hanging there, and then we stumble and fall, we look at that cross again and we feel small.

We often say, there is no hope for a sinner like me. But The Almighty says in Hebrews, chapter 10, right after He says He will write His laws in our heart and our minds: “And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.” He says, “I can forgive.”

The blood of Christ covers you when you fall. And if any man falls, First John, chapter two, states that we have an advocate with God the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. We have somebody who is perfect, who steps in between and says: These children are mine. I am busy working with them. They have stumbled and fallen, but that’s ok. My blood covers their mistake.

God has an ideal; His law has an absolute moral standard for society. But when we fail, His grace is there to forgive us, to pick us up and to lead us back to live that obedient life. What more could you ask for?

Our God-created nation

America was given birth by a God who loves us and sets His standard to protect us. When we stumble and fall, He does not push us away, but picks us up and helps us on our way.

May I remind you that our society is wracked with crime, ripped apart by violence, and riddled with immorality? Each year, 1.7 million Americans are victims of violent injuries and over 3 million more violent crimes are reported where one victim is accosted but not injured.

Unmarried couples are now living together in unprecedented numbers — ten times the rate of 1970. Abortion — largely the result of unmarried sex — continues unabated, killing 1.3 million unborn children each year. 83 percent of all abortions are by unmarried women, most of whom are under the age of 25.

Our families are disintegrating. For every two marriages recorded in county records throughout America, there is one divorce. The growing epidemic of social problems shouts loudly that this generation is headed for moral collapse.

God has something much better for us. The Lord says — “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Jesus came to give us life in super abundance. Christ longs for us to live a life filled with incredible joy. He longs for us to be happy and fulfilled, to live productive, satisfying lives.

A heart of faith

The Psalmist declares, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Then He adds, “I will run the course of Your Commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart” (Psalms 119:32).

Obedience to God is not a narrow-minded path. It does not restrict our freedom. It does not narrow our joy. A commitment to God enlarges our heart. It opens new vistas of incredible joy. It presents us with opportunities for amazing happiness.

Obeying God is a step of faith. It is saying, God, I trust you. You have written the moral code of the universe. You know more about making me happy than I know. I surrender to your will. I leave my happiness in your hands. I choose to obey you because I’m absolutely confident that you always have my best interests in view.

Americans, will you take stock of what I’ve put forth? Patriots, we have a country to save and a heaven to win. Let’s take hold of every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. The Lord’s Holy Ten Commandments bring us true freedom. Let’s recognize them and try to live our lives upright by going back to God’s basics.

See: What can I do to help preserve America?

© Marie Jon

 

WesternFront America

If Deism is the belief that God is so transcendent from the cosmos He created that He no longer participates directly in it, Pantheism must be the worldview at the other end of the continuum believing that a higher power exists as Pantheism holds that God is so immanent with the universe that God and the universe are one. As a worldview, Pantheism has plagued the religious thought of both the East and West from ancient times on up through our contemporary day.

Though there are various forms of Pantheism, most share a set of common characteristics. Pantheists will agree that ultimately there is but one substance.

Parmenides hypothesized that there is either being or nonbeing and in order to exist there must be being. And if everything possesses this quality, everything is of the same substance as to differ by nothing would be not to exist at all.

Though everything is ultimately one under Pantheism, what we perceive as multiplicity or distinction are either manifestations or emanations of the absolute unity.

In the “Enneads”, the Greek mystic Plotinus said that from this impersonal unity flowed the various levels of reality starting with unity, then inward into mind, then the world soul, then multiple souls, then to the lowest level of matter. It is man, Geisler writes in “Christian Apologetics” of this brand of Pantheism as “the microcosm who possesses mind, soul, and matter” that the journey back to unity and oneness begins (175).

Though slightly different, other forms of Pantheism share considerable similarity. For example, in Spinoza’s pantheism, God is a substance of infinite attributes and we exist as transient manifestations of the absolute that are eventually reabsorbed back into it. And in Hinduism, though that world religion is noted for its multiplicities of divinities, in its philosophically complex variants, the various gods all the way down to the material components of the physical world are the assorted levels of the comprehensive totality known as Brahman.

Though many Pantheists claim to embrace tolerance as they contend all religions are merely human efforts to understand the same all-encompassing God, one is really taking the serpent to one’s bosom when dealing with Pantheism. For example, in much of Pantheist thought, it is held that both good and evil flow from God much in the same way there is both a light and dark side of the Force in the Star Wars epic. Other Pantheists claim that God is beyond good and evil as understood by human beings.

Such positions could be used to not only to justify any number of atrocities but also to view them in a disturbingly detached manner or even positively in an around about fashion. For example, if good and evil are simply just human conceptions useful for ordering social relations, what is so inherently immoral about the Holocaust?

After all, were not the Jews the ones anyway that set the ball rolling on the theism that ended up promoting the conceptual dualism that now hinders the expansion of consciousness? Besides, by liberating them of their physical materiality, aren’t we doing them a favor by reuniting them with universal oneness? Under Pantheism, the “is” becomes the “ought” and that is why one sees cows strutting freely down the streets of India with the baby girls tossed out with the trash.

Frederick Meekins

 

WesternFront America

As you well know, I’m not timid when speaking about my concerns. I’m here to remind grassroots Americans of the undeniable “bottom line” truth that too many “conservatives,” and nearly all libertarians, seem to forget that America can be saved and preserved only by the grace of God.

Political action can help, to some extent, in getting needed changes accepted and instituted. However, America is crumbling materially and militarily because of its loss of moral decency — and this moral “sea change” cannot be undone solely by political means.

Moral freefall

Need I remind you that the family is disintegrating? Unmarried couples are now living together in unprecedented numbers — ten times the rate of 1970.

Abortion — largely the result of unmarried sex — continues unabated, killing 1.3 million unborn children each year. 83 percent of all abortions are by unmarried women, most of whom are under the age of 25.
There is a growing number of Americans who feel entitled to other people’s property — and this sense of entitlement fuels ever-expanding usurpation and theft by the government.

It’s appalling that our schools continue to be the most successful means of propagating atheism the world has ever known (as one Christian writer predicted over a century ago). Our children are being corrupted as never before by mandatory public education that increasingly supplants parental influence.

Unfortunately, to top it off, our elected leaders have approved openly gay behavior in the military, along with likely punishment for those who speak out against it.

And so on. What is going on here?

Jesus said, ‘Come, follow me’

Other similar social trends reveal a nation that is about to implode culturally and institutionally because of its rapid moral decline. And the root cause of this moral demise is disrespect for the existence and authority of God.

Whatever happened to the notion of embracing God’s Holy Ten Commandments? They represent His character and nature, and are a divine invitation for us to become like Him.

Why some pastors turn the scriptures inside-out and upside-down to push away God’s blueprint for living is beyond good sense. We are saved by grace, to be sure, but the Lord expects those who accept salvation to live a godly life. If we ignore His commandments, we’ve tossed the convert out with the baptism water, so to speak — and to prove what?

“If you love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus said, emphatically settling the matter (John 14:15, italics added). We show the depth of our conversion to Christ by behaving as the scriptures teach — beginning with putting God first.

Say no to drug use

As our nation moves increasingly away from reliance upon God and from obeying His voice, we have no promise that He will intervene and protect our country from our enemies — foreign and domestic. Without the assurance of such divine Providence, we’re doomed as a people. We must return to God in large numbers and seek His will.

How does one grasp the foolishness of a prominent religious leader who says that smoking an illegal recreational drug, marijuana, is no big deal? It is unfortunate that Pat Robertson — the self-designated interpreter for our Lord Jesus Christ — spoke out against America’s war on marijuana during a broadcast of The 700 Club. In doing so, he also unabashedly tickled everyone’s ears.

I’m not impressed with Mr. Robertson’s quasi-libertarian views. Most Christian denominations have a prison ministry that also includes those who are addicted to illegal substances. Any good rehabilitation program has to include tough love, or it will not be successful.

Robertson’s rant about pot was very unwise and unbefitting a man of his influence. A recreational drug impairs one’s communication with God. Why would any self-proclaimed Christian want that?

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

How about putting two and two together? Maybe we would have fewer problems with Mexico if we lived our lives without dependence on non-medical drugs. Nancy Reagan had it correct when she uttered these famous words: “Just say no.” Is that too simple an answer for some folks?

Libertarian license for all

I’m not trying to be contrary or divisive. However, libertarianism merely reflects progressive liberalism. While libertarians advocate smaller government, one wonders if they realize that government’s size matters little if morality is lost and our society is left in shambles. Our political pals, the libertarians, are the same people who go along with the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” crowd. They’re — for lack of better words — strange bedfellows.

Libertarians don’t think twice about legalizing prostitution, or making illegal drugs available without government interference. They also have no problem with letting same-sex marriage become the law of the land. Unfortunately, the Republican Party has allowed libertarians to use the Republican name and brand. They cheered when Scott Brown from Massachusetts became a senator. How is Brown working out for the team? He is not scoring well at all with the Tea Party or conservatism.

Some of us have had a difficult time figuring out how this acceptance of libertarianism came about. It appears that libertarians used the anger of the Tea Party movement to put their foot in the door. They have become the third largest political party in America. We’re left with a dilemma. How do we repair our nation with people on both the left and the right who are not “socially conservative?”

Our national legislators — most notably Democrats — don’t care about the will of the people. The majority of the American public understand how degrading it is for young heterosexual men and women to be forced to put up with “openly gay” troops serving side by side with them in the military.

Once again, we find the Democratic Party and their look-alikes doing all they can to help destroy our country’s conscience, and the right-minded decency it has long encapsulated. While RINO Republicans praise Scott Brown for being politically smart, our troops will suffer the consequences. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. There will be a mass exodus from the military over the repeal of DADT. Reinstatement of the draft could result.

It should also be pointed out that this tactic is going to be used as a way for a back-door acceptance of gay marriage. It’s a tad deceitful, but when did lack of virtue ever stop a progressive?

God is real

Here comes a spiritual shout out to my fellow Americans. The ire of God will rise simultaneously with the enactment of laws that allow same-sex marriage.

The Lord has been willing to hold back His mighty, just, and holy judgments until now.

“For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Christ wants to save every living person. But when the Lord’s restraint is no longer, expect what is to come:

Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.
Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (Revelation 22:11-13)

We know that end times are near when a nation is willing to sacrifice people’s health and lives under the guise of some contorted socialistic healthcare plan. And if things weren’t looking bad enough, the death panels are back. How anyone can claim to be of sound mind and yet come up with such policies is truly dumbfounding.

It’s shocking that we’ve reached the point where we’ve allowed big government to force us and our loved ones to be counseled about how to die with dignity. And that, my friend, is nothing less than euthanasia re-worded by the progressives who have hold over our nation. How? By using unelected czars to bypass Congress and impose laws that are wretched, abominable, and uncivilized. View “Obama returns to end-of-life plan.”

What it will take to save our nation

Unlike a few of my fellow colleagues, I do not believe for one moment that President Obama will go away to play golf or any other game at the end of his first term in office. He will try to make a comeback right in time for the 2012 elections so he can continue with his radical agenda.

Deeply-committed communists rarely — if ever — give up their grasp of power.

It’s your choice. It is at this moment that patriots of all conservative stripes need to begin to understand: There is no possible way to defeat evil when we’re not walking upright with the Almighty ourselves. Our country’s morality has fallen. We need to reach down within ourselves and to pick it up. It is the kind of situation that needs to be salvaged and then restored personally within the heart of every man, woman, and child.

Don’t be afraid or confused any longer. Christ is seeking you with all of His heart.

Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man [a sinner] is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:9-10).

If you haven’t already, ask His forgiveness and begin a spiritual rebirth. As Larry Elder often says: “We have a country to save and a heaven to win.”

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Marie’s Chosen Song:: Click — What if My People Pray with LYRICS

© Marie Jon

 

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