The first Queen Elizabeth had an unquestioned personal faith in Christ and Christianity, "the only one Christ Jesus and one faith." To her, the rest of Christianity offered nothing but "a dispute about trifles." That sounds like the usual comment of some Christians today that "having faith in Jesus Christ is all that matters." Elizabeth the Great, 17
But think: how would we know faith in Christ was essential if we didn't read it in God's word? That's like Alexander Campbell in his Lunenburg Letter. He said a person became a Christian by repenting. Why would repentance be essential but not baptism when texts that stress faith and repentance also teach baptism? With examples as Acts 2:38, 3:19; Titus 3:4-7; Galatians 3:26-27 and Ephesians 5:25-26. If we're chewing on "only faith in Christ matters," spit it out. If we've swallowed that nonsense, regurgitate it. The words "faith alone" occur only once in the New Testament, and then to say, "we're not saved by faith alone" James 2:24. Once we confess faith in Christ we obligate ourselves to seek his will and word on any subject relating to the Christian life. Nothing's a trifle if it's in the Gospels or Epistles. Such passages as Galatians 5:22-26, Colossians 3:12-17 and II Peter 1:5-11 as importantly relate to daily discipleship as faith, repentance and baptism to our initial forgiveness. If only faith in Christ had been sufficient, the New Testament would consist of 4 books, not 27. Acts wouldn't be necessary since it wouldn't matter that Christianity soared through its Jewish infancy into an adult of universal faith. Nor would the Epistles be necessary since it wouldn't matter how Christian teaching applied itself to various cultural environments. And Revelation would be irrelevant since it wouldn't be necessary to know that God governs history, events, universe and eternity. Just let each person believe in Jesus. Yours for an always-maturing discipleship that ADDS to faith in Christ the required acts, behaviors and practices inherent to the word CHRISTIAN, meaning Christ-like, meaning belonging to Christ. William Lindsay White, author of They Were Expendable, wrote of the price paid by soldiers in fighting losing battles in WWII. They stayed on the line when staying meant they would die doing their duty; or would be captured, which could be a fate equal to death. They obeyed orders, without knowing why they were issued, or knowing how it would affect the battle's outcome. The "little guys"—the expendables—saw only a frame of the "big picture" while "movers and shakers, decision makers" called Generals and Admirals saw the intended action inside. They Were Expendable, 187
Christians are often themselves "the little guys", the "expendables", expected to simply "tough it out" in serving Christ. Only a few Ministerial leaders get national attention, and they sometimes in negative ways. Few Christ-centered ministries achieve national coverage, and they never in sufficient amounts, given they good they do. But does any disciple, however anonymous, underpaid or unappreciated, go unrewarded? Isn't the sense of doing one's best for Jesus, whatever it is, a reward? Or the awareness of persevering in a task a reward? Or accepting service in a role we'll do only because Jesus wants it a reward? In addition, think of this. While soldiers on the line may not see the big picture known to Generals, every Christian is part of THE BIG PICTURE, even if we have only a small role. The combined effort of all Christians world-wide accumulates a vast storehouse of spiritual Grace that's loosed in communities everywhere. Just as the 31 we had at Cypress Court yesterday, October 24, numbered only an infinitesimal few of the billions worshipping God in Christ world-wide. Be faithful, brothers and sisters in Christ. He who sends us to serve also equips us to succeed. And whatever success we enjoy, KNOWING the Living God and the Christ he sent will always exceed any other apparent reward. Cardinal Wolsey breathed through a rose in public to mask the stench of unwashed bodies and unsanitary social conditions of his England. It may have reduced the problem for him, but what about those who had to live without roses?
Why didn't English leaders consider the obvious alternative: washing with soap and water and removing trash? Neither of which seemed to be a health threat in 16th century England. Capable of producing Shakespeare, England couldn't produce hygienists. Queen Elizabeth urged her American Indians not to bathe so often—as in once a day. Her own people, as the Cardinal's nose-rose proved, could have made civil contact much healthier by such a habit. We too can mask the stench of daily life by roses held under our nose:
Smelling life through such roses make life more tolerable for us, but it doesn't eliminate the harmful issues many can't handle because they don't have Christ in their life. The solution to such stench is elimination by forgiveness of sin, not reduction of stress or bad health habits. Jesus held no roses under his nose when he became human. He breathed the same odoriferous air common to the human condition, exempting himself only from sin while identifying himself with us. He even took on himself in life and at the cross the tragic conditions of mortals:
No eloquence has ever paralleled, let alone surpassed, Paul's declaration of Christ's incarnation in Philippians 2:6-11. He summarized it in what may have been part of a Christian hymn at the time. Jesus:
In reply, God EXALTED Christ:
-- as the Son of God he has always been -- as the Son of Man he became. But equally appreciate another dimension: To Christ's exaltation God added GLORY. As Christ in his Incarnate state perfectly revealed God in bodily form, Christ in his Glorified state reveals to all the forgiven the privilege and pleasure of seeing the otherwise Invisible God Almighty Revelation 1:12-18. Thus, we now know by faith who God is by looking at Jesus John 14:7, 9. In our eternal bodies, we will SEE the Invisible God "materialized" in his Very Visible Glorified Son. Declaration: Ignoring the nihilist's agenda, let us return to the America all law-abiding citizens can accept and defend. There we lived by the slogan, "I disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it." And, to be fair to all, we say the same to those who refuse to let any opinion contrary to theirs be publicly proclaimed. We deny ONLY their right to be the only justified position. They can live within concepts known only in communist societies. But having known personal freedom in America, we insist on having our say, and giving the right of expression to every opposite say. In addition we know God has the FINAL SAY, whether or not we want it, like it or refuse it.
Today's self-appointed monitors of acceptable belief are Hypocrites. For they preserve for themselves privileges they deny others. They freely savage Bible Christians who defend Biblical views on sexuality, marriage and morality. Yet they feel their humanistic views are the ones written in stone on Mt. Sinai! Amazing effrontery, but natural since Satan is their source. He's the essence of arrogance, diverting blame from himself by skillfully shifting it to God and his people. For most in humanity have no way to distinguish between God's truth and Satan's lies. Jon Gruden has the right to make mistakes without losing his career-choice. His critics are certainly no paragons of virtue. They certainly make their share of mistakes: the biggest being their SIN on opposing God; the second biggest being WRONG in saying no one but they have the right to an opinion—Satan again the source. For while God gives freedom of thought to all, even to those hating him, Satan shoehorns his followers into the adamantly false belief of him as the only one worth hearing. In summary, we're all fallen sinners, needing God's forgiveness in Christ. And anyone denying that is an anti-Christ serving Satan. We're all fallen from:
Only by being reconciled to God in Christ:
We'll have beauty again when Jesus forgives our guilt. We'll have knowledge perfected into Wisdom accompanied by:
Beginning with the Korean War, instead of fighting till victory came, we've had our military fight until we're tired and want to quit. Cuba, Viet Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan as examples.
Then, when we withdraw, we bring to America those indigenous people foolish enough to trust us to defend them in their own country. They come here, not by choice, but by fear of staying at home. In coming, they also retain their religion, customs and culture. Not satisfied with that, the very people we invite to live here demand that we surrender our RIGHT to our religious FAITH as the SOLE God-given revelation to humanity through Jesus Christ. Even though it's been the dominant religious FAITH in America since 1607. Later arrivals expect us to include their religions as equals with Judaism and Christianity? That AIN'T ever going to happen! Welcoming HERE so many unfortunates who trusted us to be faithful to them in their society has secularized ours. For once all religions are equal, you lose touch with the ONE Religion From God and True to God in Christ. That not only secularizes society, but it instantly thins our skins so we become super-sensitive to our own feelings. We demand that others treat us with kindness, saying nothing, even in jest, that seems to ridicule or diminish our sensitivities. Christians:
- no faith in Jesus - no faith in Bible Christianity will continue to blaspheme the Trinity and deride all defenders of it as intolerant bigots. Untrue as it is, ignore the lie instead of compromising God's truth—which makes Satan's lies equal to God's truth. Which will NEVER happen! End Part II The headline first:
Jon Gruden Resigns as Coach. All due to 2018 e-mails he sent, using "insensitive remarks," "derogatory language," "homophobic and misogynistic" comments. San Diego U-T, 10/12/21 Question: who are those self-chosen, self-empowered authors and regulators of relational rules? What are their names? What degrees in wisdom do they hold? What spiritual qualifications do they possess? How can they oppress us since God liberates? How can they diminish choices since God expands them? How can they limit opinions since God grants complete freedom of opinion? How can they claim to be right since God, author of ALL RIGHT, gives humanity the Right to be Wrong? And where but from Satan do they have the arrogance to demand compliance, OR ELSE, when God alone has that prerogative? Declaration: What these self-important people now demand is a society impossible to achieve because human sin corrupts us all! Indeed, only Heaven, while granting individuality to all, will find everyone in an indivisible unity of thought and behavior. And many of those now demanding such uniformity in thinking, conclusions, persuasions and declarations DON'T want to be in Heaven at all for a simple reason: they will have NO SAY whatever there. Question: who has the right to ransack a person's past to find....
THEN
What wrong in their past would shame such critics if they were:
Declaration: in a society of free people, we all have the RIGHT to be WRONG, without some self-praising autocrat shaking his fist in our face, shouting, "You must change to MY Belief or you can't hold any position I can't accept." Declaration: Uniformity isn't unity. It's a grab bag of beliefs that reduce colorful differences in humanity to a tedious monotony:
Declaration:
Paul Revere not only made bells that rang in many colonial churches and public buildings. He not only rode his famous, if disrupted by British cavalry, ride to warn colonists of the enemy's approach. He not only served as an emissary of a powerful patriot cause, working closely with committees of correspondence.
Paul Revere embodied the Christian faith. A young woman had been abandoned by her minister-boyfriend. Paul and his wife immediately brought her into their house and kept her till the baby's birth and housed her afterward. Hollywood has never considered such people as examples of the Christ. (Unless it's a Catholic priest. They never get bad press.) At least publicizing efforts of Bible Christians to actively live their faith would reveal the excellence of Christian Faith while admitting the failure of some Christians to live their faith. But...have critics of the Christian Faith ever been objective? And have they even partially embodied the human creed they promote? Christians, expect no change in societal rejection of Christ and, consequently, of those of us who resiliently endeavor to publicly and privately live for him. Only when the great Trouble falls on America will a change occur. May it be soon. Fini The Foundling, a TV Land Gunsmoke show, had Marshall Matt Dillon find a young woman in a cave. She had recently given birth to a child begotten by rape. Not wanting the child, but equally fearful of returning to her very "religious" parents, she resisted when Dillon wanted directions there. He consoled and counseled her, but insisted on returning her.
Their arrival delighted the mother but enraged the father. Only when hearing that his wife would leave him if he didn't accept his daughter did he relent. Nevertheless, neither parent would accept the baby, considering him a cursed "bad seed". When the secular Marshall urged mercy, the religious wife explained: they had too long lived by the book—Bible—to change. Then...here's Satan speaking through Hollywood..."and we're the poorer for it." Satan's fiendish, jaundiced, distorted view of God! While Hollywood would never make such disparaging remarks about Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism, it feels free to lie about Biblical Faith. God will not forget their attacks. End Part I |
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