THE UN-CIVIL WAR

America is in a war.  It's getting rather un-civil these days.  Perhaps the fight isn't as uncivil as the things for which we fight.  This is a spiritual war, to be sure.  And it is all about the "right" (not freedom) to be uncivil.  For instance, the rights being demanded on one side alone are wicked - and deadly.  Abortion.  Euthanasia.  Cop-killing.  Rape.  Etc.

I know, you say the last two are not what people are fighting for.  But is that really the case?  Aren't people, by using these methods and demanding impunity for them, fighting for the right to practice them toward whomever they choose at the moment?  Right now, it's in vogue to kill cops and rape conservative women.  Muslims demand to be able to rape any non-Muslim woman they choose.  Yes, this is all pretty uncivil. 

But to make matters worse, protections are being stripped away.  The death of Justice Antonin Scalia, America's staunchest advocate for constructionist interpretation of the Constitution, removed a huge pillar of protection in the fabric of American government.  Rumors of foul play surround his death - and for good reason.  The timing, the actions taken since his death, and the political goals of his adversaries have converged to tell a story that deserves investigation, yet receives cover-up.  If he was murdered, the un-civil war has reached new heights (or lows).  Protections at the nation's highest court are lost as the balance of the justices swings decidedly left in his absence.  Accountability toward those who will use any means of thuggery to advance their agendas (as opposed to legal, above board means) disappears.  And the un-civil war rages on. 

It might seem like this battle is lost.  Indeed, insofar as life on earth is concerned, it may be.  But that doesn't mean Christians should give up.  Our prayers for revival have been answered.  It is not going to happen.  However, that doesn't mean our friends and neighbors won't turn to Christ, won't be saved, and won't die hopelessly like the rest of America.  It does mean that the battle will be costlier toward Christians.  Rather than simply being marginalized, we will be attacked.  We won't just be ostracized, we will be persecuted.  Eventually, we will be hunted for extermination as in the Middle East and Africa today. But, we don't fear those who can kill the body - we fear the one who can kill the body AND the soul!  For those who don't know, that's God!  We fear God. 

The un-civil life America has chosen will be our nation's doom - and that is God's declaration, not mine.  It might not be popular, but it is powerful - because God is all-powerful.  Unbelief doesn't make it go away or stop it from happening.  God has already declared the condition of the end, and America is making that happen - even as we slide further from civilization into an uncivil society.  God said, "Sin is a reproach to any nation."  Our land won't heal because the only hope of healing comes from God - and we have rejected that course of action.  Rather than move toward civility, we move toward un-civility.  And the war to do so rages - with all forces arrayed against all who would oppose that move. 

Christians, our answer is not in our government.  It lies with our God.  Our hope is not in revival, but in the resurrection.  Earthly life will not get better.  But Eternal life will.  We must look forward, and live above our circumstances until the day of redemption arrives.  It will come.  The author of our faith - Jesus Christ - will also finish it in His perfect time.  Until that day, let us stand up and serve Him today!

AMERICA: RECOGNIZE YOUR REAL ENEMY

As I sit down to write this blog post, I do so with great trepidation.  Why?  Because our country is so divided right now.  I hope to shed some light on why, but I want to say up front that I am very well aware that I have friends who have politically, theologically, and/or are racially different from me - and I value my friends - even in spite of any differences we may have.  With our hypersensitivities, we are insulted these days way too easily.  We don't take an honest look at things and discuss them in such a way that we value our friendships more than our personal perspectives.  

I also know that my little readership is likely not going to share my blog post too far.  Fortunately, that means that few people I DON'T know will enter the discussion; and unfortunately, few will likely benefit from it (if any benefit may be forthcoming).  But for those who care,  I will proceed.

Our nation's problems, at the deepest level, come from a worldview divide.  That divide is deep.  Our solutions are dependent upon our worldview, and when our solutions collide, it is directly related to our worldview collision.  Unfortunately for our nation, we have splintered into far too may differing worldviews to find an acceptable middle ground - or means of arriving at solutions to our modern-day national struggles. Sometimes, the worldviews are so opposite there is no compromise possible.  How we got to this point is a history lesson, and would take too long for me to put that into this post.

THEOLOGICAL WORLDVIEWS

At the core of everyone's worldview is his theology.  In our day of individualism, theological worldviews are becoming many and widely variant.  There's no way to address them all, so I'll lump a few together in my discussion of them.

There are, as I see it, the following theological worldviews:  Theism, Atheism, Mysticism, and naturalism.  Within each of these three worldviews come a myriad of variants.  For instance, Christianity and Islam are both theistic, but widely different.  Christianity itself has differing worldviews.  Evangelicals take the Bible pretty literally.  Liberal denominations are often more in line with secular humanism couched in Christian terminology.  Buddhism and Hinduism may be similar mystical worldviews, yet the afterlife concepts can vary widely.  Native American animalists are part of the naturalistic worldview that depends on nature, but many secular humanists hold worldview ideas regarding the animal aspects of humanity.   Atheism varies only somewhat, and for the purposes of this discussion (I'm not being dogmatic about it), includes gnostic and agnostics as well. 

We cannot claim that America is a people of any of these worldviews predominantly.  We do not hold a national theological worldview.  That directly affects the solutions we propose and the ones we will accept.  It also means that the political process of finding the acceptable compromises we need to face our challenges takes longer than we have because those challenges are changing too quickly.  Before we've solved the first, a second and possibly third has become urgent.

POLITICAL WORLDVIEWS

Our nation is also divided politically - and I don't mean Democrat vs. Republican vs. Independent.  We also have Constitutionalists, Tea Party, and rapidly becoming a significant portion of our country's population - Muslims (who believe that their theology should be law of the land - Sharia Law).  It has always been tough trying to solve the political problems of our day when we were purely a two-party nation.  But, try as we might, we are becoming more fragmented than that.  The variety of theological differences is working out into a variety of political differences - so much so that we cannot compromise.  No faithful Muslim would ever compromise in the first place; patiently endure something else while working for national Sharia, they may do.  Constitutionalists are diametrically opposed to liberals regarding the 1st and 2nd Amendments - while some liberals want the entire Constitution abolished.  We also have Socialists, Communists, and fascists among our population.  The upheaval is huge, and unity seems so very far away.

HISTORY VS. CONTEMPORARY

It hasn't always been this way.  Our nation was founded at a time when Christianity was so prevalent that the Judeo-Christian ethic of right and wrong was nearly universal.  The ten commandments were seen as beneficial for any society - especially one that was just taking off.  When the issue of slavery became a national conversation, coupled with expansion, our nation soon found herself in war.  During the reconstruction years and into the industrial era of our country, a second Great Awakening occurred, and whatever slide from committed Christianity we may have faced during the early to mid-1800's was becoming increasingly either evangelical Christian or secular.  The drive for money soon grew until the bubble burst during the Great Depression.  Then our nation began to see that materialism is not as important as survival.  Uniting our nation was the Second World War.  America - military as well as civilian - went to battle together against common enemies.  Our neighbors became essential to national and global survival.  If a person didn't fight overseas, they worked to manufacture equipment for those who did.  The whole country entered the fight.  Never since have we fought as a nation.  

Now we fight by sending our military while we try to remain self-centered back home.  Now, we have those in power trying to remove any conversation of a God from the public square - especially evangelical conversation: Bibles, Jesus, heaven, hell.  Our nation is trying to turn on its Christians.  The Judeo-Christian ethic is giving way to the new morality - eroticism and liberalism.  The battle for predominance is in full swing here in the USA.  But there is one more battle taking over our land - Sharia Law.  Sharia Law is opposed to the Judeo-Christian ethic, and encourages overthrow at all costs - violent when possible, more subtle approaches when it is not.  The Sharia-proponent considers all non-Sharia proponents to be "infidels" who are targeted for extermination.  That puts the humanist, mystic, atheist, or theist (non-Muslim) at odds with Sharia.  Unfortunately for America, the subtlety of Sharia-proponents includes lies that they really want peace.  The liberals and too many Constitutionalists find their world-views working against them.  The other theists (Christians, Jews, etc.) all differ in their solutions.  Therefore, the only thing left is the continued Shia advancement - via violent or other means.  Until our nation faces our enemies together, we cannot win.  But America must come together.  We must first acknowledge our enemies.  If we continue to battle over just WHO our enemies are, we render ourselves incapable of defending ourselves. 

America, we may not agree on much - but can we at least agree that those who support and seek to advance Sharia Law are our enemies?  They have declared WE are theirs!  And they have said they wish to kill us.  If we don't acknowledge this, all that is left is for us to lay down to be slaughtered.  When we agree on who our enemies are, then we will be able to identify them if they are foreign OR domestic - and defeat them.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I know my readers likely know I am a Christian - an evangelical Christian.  I have learned first-hand that these issues have a root far deeper than mere religion or politics.  That root is called "Sin" in the Bible.  Sin comes in many forms.  A simple definition of sin is "that which is against the nature or will of God."  Mankind is born sinful - we naturally do and think that which is against the nature or will of God.  Mankind, according to the Bible, must be born again by faith in Jesus Christ.  The person who puts their trust in Christ will find their wants changing from doing what our feelings or cravings push us to do to doing what our Lord wants us to do.  We who experience that change of desire are experiencing the new life that comes through Jesus Christ.  Our works/deeds don't save us; Jesus does.  

When our nation - filled with states, communities, families, and individuals - once again has enough people who have experienced that new life through Jesus Christ, we will once again become unified theologically and more unified politically (there will always be some disagreement about solutions to problems in a country).  We will have made a choice to reject Islam.  We will recognize that our real enemy is really sin - in all its forms: theological, political, and social.  We will again be one nation.

Will YOU accept Jesus Christ as YOUR Savior over YOUR sin today?

OREGON SCHOOL SHOOTING REVEALS AMERICA'S DEEPEST NEED

Umpqua Community College alumnus Donice Smith (L) is embraced after she said one of her former teachers was shot dead, near the site of a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, October 1, 2015. STEVE DIPAOLA/REUTERS

fROM THE wEB:  http://www.newsweek.com/active-shooter-reported-umpqua-community-college-oregon-378758 

I don't usually write a blog post, but yesterday's news is quite troubling for our nation, and I just can't keep quiet.  Look at all the pain, broken hearts, death, and destruction.  It all started long before that young hate-filled young man got a gun and went to the school.  But, like a volcanic eruption, everything poured out yesterday.  The details only show us the problem - if we'll look at it honestly.

Our president and many liberals are quick to declare an answer to these things - gun control.  Conservatives respond saying that's not the answer.  While it isn't the answer, the real answer is something that neither side is saying.  There IS an answer!  And this particular shooting reveals it as the news of what happened comes out.

Before I get to that answer, let me explain what happened (as I understand it).  The gunman came in and asked "Christians" to stand.  Those who did were killed!  That should tell us quite a bit.  There are a lot of people saying that this guy had a heart consumed with hate!  And that hate was and is directed toward Christians!  Yesterday's events reveal the hate in our hearts toward Christ and His followers.

That hate is EVIL.  Evil is the antithesis to Christianity.  What we need in this country is to return to Christianity.  We need to stop being atheistic, and start acknowledging the God of the Universe.  We need to stop being secular, and start being truthful.  We need to stop being arrogantly anti-Christian, and start examining the Bible for its truth again.  We need to stop avoiding prayer, and start spending time praying.  We need God in our hearts, not evil!  We need a love that runs deeper than anything WE can conjure on our own.  We need grace, not guns.  

Sin is destructive

I'm all for self-defense and the 2nd Amendment.  But if we, as a society, would embrace Christian values more and secular values less, there would be fewer people running around angry, hate-filled, and hurting.  Sin is destructive.  Sin filled the gunman's heart.  Sin fills the hearts of all who deny God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible.  Sin makes fools of man.  "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' "  (Psalm 14:1).  But the Bible also says that secularism (trusting in our OWN hearts) is sin (Proverbs 28:26).  The Bible teaches us to trust in God - that means to follow Him, seek Him, obey Him, and want what He wants for us.  We can't do this on our own - life, that is.  We can't turn our country back to the "good ole USA" on our own.  We need God's grace and help.  How can that happen if we won't even acknowledge that He is the answer or that HE even exists?

Our nation is plagued by selfishness  

That is sin as well.  We want sex when, where, and however we want it, and no one better say anything to the contrary.  We want infanticide to be a right.  We want to kill our cops, embrace our enemies, and treat our defenders as national enemy #1 when they leave the military.  We are a long way from being "one nation under God."  

Main Stream Media Hates Christians

Hating Christians is NOT being reported by the Main Stream Media.  They want guns gone, but they don't want knees bent, hearts changed, or God honored here in our nation.  They, and their elitist crowd of intellectual, power-broker cohorts, want a country where Christianity is destroyed.  They want all mention of God removed from the public eye.  They want kids taught in schools of secular thought.  They want parents removed from the process so these kids aren't "infected" with Christian truth.  Then we are flabbergasted that such children could possibly not know right from wrong and do such violent things.  Gun control isn't the answer - these kids can make bombs (just ask the teachers and administrators in Texas who thought that's what a kid had done!).

We NEED Christ

When our nation returns to Christ, we will find far fewer of these and similar crimes across our land.  Christ died to clean our hearts of sin.  When we share that truth with others, their hearts can be cleaned of the sin they hold. The ability to deal with sin will be renewed when that happens, because with the return to Christ, we'll understand what sin does to a person, and we'll work to stop it in them before it grows so great they explode in a wave of violence, death, and destruction such as happened yesterday.  Loving one another will be the norm, not defensiveness and hatred.  Hope and trust are found in the Lord, not in politics.  Where the Lord is, peace is.  Not in secularism and selfish humanism.  

The answer is something for all of us - individually - to consider.  "Will I follow the God of the Bible and trust His Son, Jesus Christ, to lead MY life?"  When enough of us say "YES" to that question, and begin to do it, the tide will turn in our nation.  Everything will change for the better.  Everything!  God will once again bless the USA!  He promises to do so in the Bible!

And that's the answer, As I See It.

I welcome your respectful comments.  Please share this and pass it on!

"PROGRESS" THAT DESTROYS

Catch phrases abound in our day.  After all, Political Correctness depends upon it, as the PC police decry certain words and "suggest" better choices which are supposed to tend to the "sensitivities" of others.  Among those catch-phrases is the term progress, the label progressive, and the moral revolution that such "progress" is intended to bring about (or is it the moral revolution that brings about the progress?). 

My focus today is on the signs of "progress" the moral revolutionaries celebrate - and the socially destructive power their "progress" brings on us all.  I am not simply a "conservative" or a "Christian" trying to preserve the old.  I am a conservative AND a Christian, but I am trying to show that what the liberal, progressive, moral revolutionaries suggest to be "good" for our society are actually more like Trojan Horses, filled with crippling, killing forces that are unleashed on our society.

1. Gun Control.  This one is simple - you have a gun, you can defend yourself.  You have a phone, and you're dead before the ones with the guns can get to you.  Crime done.  Cost to society:  One less law-abiding citizen, one more criminal (to consume precious time, funds, and energy in the capture and housing in jail - complete with medical care, food, and a token employment for life (in the case of murder).
2. Abortion.  Even the pro-abortionists (who like a more progressive term, "pro-choice") have to admit that when the attention is on the "fetus" (Latin for "baby"), suddenly their arguments become very selfish and immoral.  The destruction is huge - and the cost to society.  Every abortion is the end of a life.  Society may not count that life as something valuable - until the sheer number of lives lost impacts the society.  Sociologists and Psychologists may not think there is an issue there, but the cost to mothers who have aborted their babies is growing with each abortion.  Either there is a cold-hearted attitude that values no life at all (in the case of the "unaffected" mother with no problems incurred from murdering their unborn children) or the guilt, shame, and depression that comes from abortion in the feeling hearts of mothers is a real cost to society.  Hard-heartedness or guilt-ridden mothers are the only two outcomes - and the social implications are staggering when the numbers are counted.
3. Same-Sex Marriage.  This form of "progress" is really a social construct based on license, rather than self-control.  It is legalized debauchery, and runs counter to social stability.  It's all about "self" and less about love.  Marriage, by the way, isn't just about love, either.  However, same-sex marriage destroys the society.  Two men or two women cannot procreate.  They must steal from those who do - by some means.  Eventually, should enough same-sex marriages take the culture, the society cannot maintain.  This is already happening in the USA with the degraded view of traditional marriage found in other forms such as cohabitation, later pregnancies, and abortion (above). 
4. Secularism.  The idea that religion has no place in the public square is secularism.  Eventually, the concept moves to the point where no mention of God, the Bible, or any product of faith is tolerated in public - anywhere.  This is the ultimate aim of the secularist.  This will destroy a society that hopes to have peace among its people.  The moral ambiguity of the secularist cannot help but turn one selfish secularist against another when those desires collide.  After all, peaceful relationships and tolerance come from the Christian worldview - the Bible.  That must be abdicated at all costs.  It is happening in our nation in so many ways, but the removal of the 10 Commandments from courts and prayer/Bible studies in the classrooms are creating a lawless society.

These four "Trojan Horses" of progress are killing our country, our communities, and our families.  This is NOT progress.  It is Destruction. And that's how it is - As I See It.  

Before you write this article off as another "stupid conservative Christian's rant," consider whether these things be so.  If they are, then share it with others.

Your comments are always appreciated, but I ask that you refrain from hateful, vitriolic speech, foul language, and intolerance.  Thanks.

INVERTING RIGHT AND WRONG

I know it's been quite a while since my last post.  I've been extremely busy taking care of family - vacations, projects, and many other things.  I've also been helping our church with our Vacation Bible School - by leading it.  I am Bi-vocational - at least I have another part-time job as well to supplement our income - and have also been busy during "down-times" with that.  I'm back today, taking time out of other needed things to post this.  I only hope it makes someone think about their position.  Nevertheless, things have gotten to the point that I need to "vent" on some things, and so I must post this - As I See It.

Morality in America is inverted, and it has been for quite some time.  People are posting the craziest things on Facebook, the MSM (Main Stream Media) reports from the most inverted value system I've ever seen, and our governmental leaders are more out of touch with reality than ever before.  Today, I just want to publish a bullet list of these inversions.

• A marine defends himself and others under fire by returning fire on a Muslim extremist seeking to kill them.  He is under investigation and threatened with imprisonment for firing a weapon on a military installation. He is a field grade officer charged with leading and caring for his men and women.
• A protected lion is killed and the world wants his killer caught, extradited, and punished while an entire business is thriving based on the murder, dismemberment, and sale of body parts is protected by MSM and liberal congressional representatives.
• The police are encouraged and honored for their "undercover sting operations" against organized crime mobs, drug rings, etc., while a citizen's group is denigrated as "biased" for conducting its own "undercover sting operation" revealing indisputable proof that criminal conduct is taking place daily in a taxpayer-funded business that sells baby body parts for profit.  
• Police officers who, in the line of duty, have to physically take down a criminal that will not submit are considered racist if the criminal is black and the cop is white.  
• Police officers who, in the line of duty, must use deadly force to apprehend a criminal that is black, are called "killer cops," while nothing is said in the MSM when a "cop killer" uses deadly force to resist apprehension.
• License and Liberty are now synonymous, meaning that freedom (liberty) guaranteed by the Constitution offers complete legal, social, and governmental protection to all who seek an immoral lifestyle (license) regardless of who it may offend, and that protection will include the removal of all who protest for any reason.  This is done through the IRS, FBI, MSM, SCOTUS, POTUS, HSA, BATF, and politically correct liberal professors throughout our land.  
• Criminals have guns, politicos have people with guns to protect them from criminals, and citizens may not defend themselves from neither - the criminal or the overpowering politico.

And the list goes on.  Those in favor of these inversions are also in favor of these perversions.  Our very nation's foundation, the Constitution, is threatened by the ideologies that are behind these inversions.  That, in itself, is the most dangerous of inversions today, with one exception.

• The Bible-believing Christian is now considered as dangerous to our nation as a Muslim Extremist, if not more so - a belief held by those who support the inversions mentioned above.  Why?
• Because the Bible-believer has a moral foundation not found in the immoral, godless, inverted beliefs of others.
• Because the Bible-believer will vote and stand for right and wrong, constitutionally based policies, and demand justice in the case of these inversions.  This threatens the agenda of these liberal, godless, immoral power-hungry people.
• Because the Bible-believer offers a real remedy through peaceful means as the gospel demands.  This is effective beyond the wildest imaginations of the power-hungry, immoral liberals.  Therefore, they must be ostracized, outlawed, and outcast before they actually can influence the masses under the control and sway of the liberal MSM, politicos, and educators.

Ronald Regan's Supreme Court nominee, Robert Bork, is quoted as saying, "A society deadened by a smothering network of laws while finding release in moral chaos is not likely to be either happy or stable."  He has hit the nail on the head, and explains what is happening in America today.  He also hints at the answer.

I was asked the other day what I thought was wrong with America.  I was asked by someone who is very conservative - but NOT a Bible-believer.  My answer was simple: We have removed God from the American Marketplace.  Too many people no longer trust the Bible, God, or Jesus Christ.  Instead, each does what is right in his own eyes, thinking that freedom is license to serve self at all costs.  But God says, "Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34 (NKJV)  If we will not acknowledge the righteousness set forth by God, we will become a nation that sins in the sight of God - and we will be come a reproach to all people.  That is why "our enemies no longer fear us and our friends no longer trust us."  We have left the God who has blessed us, and we expect Him to continue to bless us for leaving Him.  "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" (Psalms 14:1; 53:1).  

Because America has inverted its allegiance to the One True God and Savior of Mankind, America can no longer help but invert its understanding of right and wrong.  Each person will do what is right in his own eyes, having no understanding of the consequences.  Unless we return to the foundation of justice, mercy, Truth, and eternity found in the Bible, we will only drift further from sanity.  That's America As I See It.

WITHOUT CHANGE, YOU ARE PART OF THE DECLINE OF AMERICA – AND SO AM I

It is happening right in front of us.  You are watching it happen.  You may even be a part of the process.  I’m talking about the fall of a nation.  Gumby used to say, “I have found the enemy, and he is us.”  We are all willing and unwilling participants in the fall of the United States of America.  And that has been the plan for our nation for some time now.

The first part of the fall of the USA is when the nation was truly divided.  We were no longer the United States of America.  We went to war over issues that divided us.  I’m not pro-slavery in any fashion.  But I AM a patriot, and I want our nation to remain UNITED.  To remain united, we need to deal with some deeply divisive issues.  We can’t do that by disrespecting one another, ostracizing one another, or marginalizing one another.  Those things divide, they do not unite.  Disagreements can best be handled by “agreeing to disagree” and pressing forward together.

However, in a nation, it is a bit more complicated than that.  Agreeing to disagree takes a great deal of help when two parties, states, or regions of the country have world-views that are polar opposites.  It is very hard to do when two parties, states, or regions cannot even agree about what the problem is, much less the solution.  Let me give you an example.  The Christian believes that there is a God, He sent His Son to die to save man from his sin, and he rose again from the grave to return again in glory.  The Atheist, agnostic, Gnostic, alternative religion, and the humanist all disagree with this perspective.  The Christian sees the division problem as stemming from Satan, who is the spirit-leader opposing God and His plans.  All others deny Satan’s existence and so his methods as surely as they deny God and His ways.  These beliefs go to the core of those who hold them.  Agreeing to disagree does not help us move any closer to solutions agreeable to both parties.  The Christian solution is offensive to the others; and vice versa, the others offend the Christian.  Both hold their views as TRUTH.  And they are willing to die for it.  That does not bring unity.

So unity in our country needs something else.  We have a Constitution born out of compromise and conviction.  Before ratification, it was amended five times.  We call those amendments the “Bill of Rights.”  Now, our nation stands on the brink of destroying those “rights,” rejecting our Constitution.  If our nation’s highest court does so, it will pull the yarn of our nation apart, unraveling our unity by destroying our foundation, like a knitted sweater, row by row, coming apart and leaving a ball of string without form or usefulness.

And we all play a part of this destruction. We are politically correct, and so afraid to “offend anyone” except those who we have socially deemed worthy of offending (Christians, conservatives, and constitutionalists).  We are trusting our biased media to tell us the truth, allowing our ideologies to be shaped by their twisted truth rather than insisting we hear both sides before coming to conclusions.  We are voting for politicians who will promise things to benefit our pockets knowing that for every dollar they put in, they take two more as a means of providing the one for everyone.  We are easily distracted from the truth by knee-jerk reactions rather than measured analysis of crises.  We have lost our will to succeed, work hard, and thrive.  Instead, we have gotten lazy and expect others to do for us, to live off the government dole.  We hate the word “discipline.”  It means we choose what to do without: entertainments, excitements, etc.  Discipline means saying “NO” to ourselves as we choose the best over the good.  Our education policies reflect a “dumbing down” rather than a disciplined approach to learning that served our fore-fathers very well.  Our reliance on technology to do what we used to do the “old-fashioned way” will cripple us if our energy sources ever dry up.  We destroy our families by redefining marriage, aborting our children, euthanizing our parents, and legalizing drugs.  We have forgotten the heart of man and fight among ourselves over flags after a senseless, racist massacre by one man in one town, in a single church.  We are outraged over any harm done to animals while we destroy one another in bitterness, anger, and hatred or we butcher our babies in the womb for no reason at all.  When we disagree with these things, we turn a blind eye to them and go on as though they don’t happen.  But we all contribute at some point or another. 

When one side stands and declares “these things ought not to be,” the other side tries to ostracize, criticize, demoralize, belittle, denigrate and destroy them for calling them out.  Taking sides based on popularity rather than common sense only exacerbates the problem.  We are divided.  And Divided we fall!  We cannot stand unless we stand together.  Clearly, we are NOT doing that.  And so we will, as a nation, fall.  We all are watching it happen.  And we all are contributing – unless we start working together to deal with our problems as a nation, as states, as communities, and as citizens.  Let’s return to statesmanship, respect, and integrity in every aspect of our lives.  And let’s not wait until our neighbor does it.  Let us EACH choose NOW to be the time we do it ourselves.  I, Greg Yount, commit to being this kind of American.  Will you, too?

And that’s America, As I See It.  Your comments are welcome, appreciated, and invited.  

THE TWISTED GOSPEL OF "IDENTITY" LOGIC AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., this morning on his "Briefing," discussed two articles in the New York Times: 1) The New Girl in School: Transgender Surgery at 18 and 2) Rachel Dolezal, in Center of Storm, is Defiant: I Identify as Black


Mohler wisely shares how these stories are linked. He points his listeners to the idea that in the case of the transgender, their "identity" supersedes their biology. The same is true in cases of racial "identity" as in Rachel Dolezal's case. The difference right now is social acceptability. Sexual identity that runs counter to biology is acceptable. Racial identity that runs counter to biology is not. But that may be changing. The logic of both are the same - and that logic is a fallacy that goes back to the Bible. It is a twist on the gospel and it is evidence of the fallen nature of humanity in need of the true salvation that can only come from the Divine Transformation God provides to the Believer through His Holy Spirit at the point of faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Please, let me explain.

The Beginning
When Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden of Eden, they were deceived into believing that God somehow was withholding something good: the knowledge of good and evil. Satan convinced Eve to eat the fruit which would bring this knowledge to her. It did, indeed. It revealed to her that she was not good, but evil, having disobeyed her creator. Not to be undone or left alone in her fallen state, she convinced the only other person alive, her partner, to join her by also eating the fruit. When they were both aware of their sin and nakedness, they hid from God.

And hiding from God is what these who hold to "Identity" logic do. They refuse to obey God, accept God's authority, or live by the "identity" God gave them as man or woman, black or white (or any other race one wants to shed). Identity logic states that with modern technology, what is biological need not be undone. Humanity can manipulate what God has created. Genetic research allows genetic manipulation and can make a man become woman, a pale-skinned person become darker, etc. Humanity, hiding from God, insists that there is no accountability for this rebellion, for they are so hidden from God in their hearts, that they declare God to be dead. In reality, it is THEY who are dead to God. They cannot respond to Him in any way; they cannot see Him, hear Him, observe His hand in creation, etc. They are separated from God.

The Gospel of God and Jesus Christ
The gospel says that mankind is a sinner. Everyone is a sinner. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). And "the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). But "God is not willing that any should perish, but come to repentance" (2Pe 3:9) and so He has given the "gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ" (Rom 6:23). The problem is that with repentance comes belief in Jesus Christ as Lord (John 3:16). Lostness, death, judgment, and ultimately eternal condemnation and separation from God comes from unbelief and unwillingness to allow God's authority over our lives (John 3:18). When one DOES believe, one is transformed from being a sinner, separated from God, to being a child of God, eternally united with Him through Jesus Christ (2Corinthians 5:17). That transformation is important - and Satan has usurped it in the lies of "Identity" logic.

The Lie
To repent is to recognize that something is not right, and needs to be changed. The twist on the gospel is that Satan has substituted our understanding of what is "not right." He uses it for many situations, and will use it for more and more as our society listens and believes his lies. These two cases today reveal that some people believe their desires for the same sex is not right and the transformation that will heal it is sexual transformation surgery.

The gospel says repentance from same sex desires, given to the Lord, can be transformed into opposite sex (heterosexual) desires. Likewise, when one enjoys and embraces another race's culture, as in the case of Rachel Dolezal, the thing needing transformed is her "racial identity" and the transformation can be brought about by a darkening of her skin color, rather than repenting of not embracing her God-given race and simply living in a different culture than that of her childhood. The REAL transformation needed by those of either of these two cases is the transformation that God, not biology, can provide. And that is how Biotechnology provides a false transformation and so a false Gospel.

 
And that's how "Identity Logic" and Biotechnology are teamed up to present humanity with a twisted Gospel, dooming all who fall prey to its deception to an eternity of real hell - God's judgment for not trusting Him when they should have. God loves us all, but not all love Him back! And that's the twist of the gospel As I See It.

May the Lord shine His perfect light on you today. If you would like to know more about how the Lord can save YOU, please feel free to comment or email me. I'd be glad to help you.

POSITIVE BIBLICAL PROOF THAT LIBERAL THEOLOGY IS SATANIC

I chose that title to get your attention. Since you are reading this, it must have done its job.

I know it sounds extremist to declare liberal theology to be satanic.  I must explain what I mean, and the reader would be wise and patient to hear me out before casting this thought aside. 

I'll start my explanation with a simple truth: the Bible is absolutely true on every count, in every way, for all time.  It is without error; it cannot fail; and it is the supreme authority on all things spiritual, moral, and psychological.  It was written by our Creator, and the words were first told to Godly men who were faithful to pen the words according to the Creator's instructions - with diligence and without mistake.  Of all ancient documents, it is the most tested, copied, verified, and unfortunately it is also vilified by those who refuse to accept its veracity and authority.  And that is why I believe liberalism to be satanic.

In the first encounter between man and Satan, the very successful ploy of Satan to lead man astray, as recorded in the Bible in Genesis 3:1-8, was to convince Eve that God didn't really mean what He said; the consequences wouldn't be as bad as God said; and in fact, God was withholding what was good from her: the knowledge of good and evil.  And what a deception it was then.  It still is the deception that more and more are falling for - that God didn't mean what He wrote in the Bible.  The problem is, according to the liberals, our interpretations are askew.  Satan said that to bring the fall - and people are falling for it by the millions today.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., in his "Briefing" this morning (see link below), highlighted a recent development in "evangelical Christianity."  Tony Campolo, a left-leaning evangelical, has finally come out in favor of the church changing its position on gay marriage, encouraging churches to embrace as members people who are "married" to same sex partners.  This falls in direct contradiction to the clear teaching of the Bible in several places, both Old and New Testament.  In order to make such a claim, there must be some change in theological position regarding the authority, clarity, and content of the Bible - the Word of God.  Theological liberalism has long doubted these things.  Why?  It is Satan's argument from the beginning.

The destruction to the church, the marginalization of the church, the authority of the church is weakened at its core when the church turns from the truth to follow the lies of Satan.  Those lies are expressed as theological liberalism in all forms and doctrines that deviate from the clear teachings of scripture.

So Satan is behind theological liberalism, As I See It.  What do you think?  Your comments are always welcome.  Post them here or on Facebook. 

http://www.albertmohler.com/2015/06/09/the-briefing-06-09-15/

3) Tony Campolo affirms gay couples in the church, continuing in predictable trajectory

Tony Campolo: For the Record, TonyCampolo.org (Tony Campolo)

Holding It Together, Sojourners (Tony Campolo)

Homosexuality: Campolos discourse on their disagreement, Calvin College Chimes (Nathan Vanderklippe)