“A Deluding Influence” X

“Mr. Potato Head-like spiritual identities….”

{I have decided, from time to time, to post certain items that I sense (through my Spirit, hopefully) speak to many of the issues I write on. These will be short snippets, and I’ve decided to call them, “A Deluding Influence” (2 Thessalonians 2: 11)}

What’s wrong with the “religious” picture painted in the following Pew Forum article?

January 3, 2010

Opinion: The fact of the matter. Or not.

by Barry Goldman

Los Angeles Times

I once asked my Aunt Mary what her beliefs were on the subject of life after death. She said: “Whatever Jews believe, that’s what I believe.”

Aunt Mary’s view was that there were people whose job it was to consider such things. She was not such a person herself, but she was completely confident that the guys assigned that task were doing their job, and it was all written down in a book somewhere. If you were sufficiently interested, you could look it up.

This view is in decline. A new poll by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life concludes: “Large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, mixing elements of diverse traditions. Many also blend Christianity with Eastern or New Age beliefs such as reincarnation, astrology and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects. And sizable minorities of all major U.S. religious groups say they have experienced supernatural phenomena, such as being in touch with the dead or with ghosts.”

What is striking about the Pew study is not the prevalence of superstition and hocus-pocus, alarming as that is. It is the feeling that we are free to choose from a broad, cafeteria-style menu of superstitious hocus-pocus. Charles Blow in the New York Times called it the construction of “Mr. Potato Head-like spiritual identities….”

Christians, for example, do not believe in reincarnation. At least not according to theology classes in the seminaries. But the population likes the idea. And people like the idea of being Christians too. So they just choose to believe in both. It is a kind of democratization. People feel entitled to make choices about things that used to be within the exclusive purview of the priestly class. That’s fine, I suppose, and consistent with our American mythology. We like to think we are a nation of individualists who make up our own minds. But what are the limits to this inclination? (emphasis added)

via Religion News: Opinion: The fact of the matter. Or not..

The nominal “church” has created quite a “religious” joke among the unregenerate, with all of its “seeker sensitive” and “politically-correct” “outreach” to the “unsaved” world. Unfortunately, it is the Lord’s Way, Truth and Life that suffer the slings and arrows caused by this less than mediocre, hypocritical and Spiritually ignorant religiosity.

In the Spiritual apostasy and deadness of the nominal “church”, many pew sitters, as this article reveals, have turned to ungodly, superstitious beliefs; in order to fill up the Spiritual void left by the priests, reverends, ministers, pastors, and popes, and their distorted ungodly doctrines of Christendom.

Therefore, we, who are earnestly seeking the Lord and His Truth, must come out from this Spiritual blindness and death. We must seek the leading of the Spirit through the word of God, so that we may know what the Lord’s Truth is, and what His will and purpose are for our lives! We may want to start this process by considering these verses:

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4)

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. (2 Peter 2)

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4)

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6)

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ (Matthew 7)

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men (believers, not the unregenerate!) will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these… 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3)

Sound familiar? It should! These scriptures describe, in detail, the ungodly and hypocritical dealings of Christendom, which take place, throughout this country and the world, every Sunday morning!

Conservative, Political-Religiosity: Bringing Shame on Our Lord!

{Note: What I’m attempting to communicate in the following post is not a condemnation of everyone who goes to “church” and/or holds to conservative “values”: I’m not condemning anyone. The people I refer to as conservative religionists are those who, according with my experience, love this country/government, democracy and capitalism more than their Creator. And yet they preach the commandments of God, without Spiritual knowledge or discernment, while, at the same time, breaking those same commandments, especially when it comes to idolatrous behavior, and an unloving spirit. These conservative religionists are either completely Lacking in Spiritual discernment of the Lord’s truth or “religious” charlatans and hypocrites!}

As I’ve stated before, I have nothing invested in this world-system any longer, including this government and its politics. I am not a liberal or conservative, nor am I a democrat or republican: it would have made little difference to me if McCain had won the presidency, since both he and Obama are, in my estimation, part of the problem with this world, not the solution. The Lord, when He comes again, in power and glory, is the only solution to the overwhelming issues that face all of us, and, thus, because of our unbelief and apostasy, these issues will never be resolved in this age.

I am always amazed at the blinded persistence of American liberals and conservatives, when it comes to fighting for their political/”religious” ideologies: they are relentless rebels (without a clue) who chase after a “dream” (an American, manipulative pipe dream) that doesn’t exist. It seems that the nature of the unregenerate and conservative religionists, alike, is to keep pursuing the same old, man-made solutions (political activism, attending “church”, “playing the game”) to man’s immense problems, over and over again, and without ever discerning that the problems they face cannot be solved by man. Thus, these unregenerate and conservative religionists are, when it comes to their political/’religious” ideologies and dogmas, suffering from a type of insanity (according to Einstein).

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God ANY LONGER, God gave them over to A DEPRAVED MIND, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1: 28-32)

I am a stranger and exile here, and I’m longing for a country of my own, a heavenly one. However, after hearing all the hatred expressed by the “Christian” right, over the past eight months, and after receiving hate-filled email, like the one below, I sense I must write what lies so heavy on my heart and mind. I must speak out against the conservative religionists’ hypocrisy, idolatry, and hatred of others, which is based primarily on skin color / first, last and middle names / and political ideology: all of which make a mockery of the Lord, His Truth, and His Love:

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened (true enlightenment) and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, SINCE THEY CRUCIFY TO THEMSELVES THE SON OF GOD AND PUT HIM TO OPEN SHAME. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, AND IT ENDS UP BEING BURNED. (Hebrews 6: 4-9)

This is why I sense I must speak out, because these apostate and hypocritical conservative religionists are “crucifying to themselves the Son of God and putting Him to open shame.” If these people were unregenerate atheists and agnostics, then I wouldn’t be paying any attention to this issue at all, since the unregenerate make no claims of belief in God, and are, therefore, Spiritually blind and dead: but at least they’re honest, for the most part, about what they believe to be true.

The following quote, in my estimation, sums up the unbalanced, patriotic (idol worship) nature and state of the “Christian” right.

“I hate Obama more and more every day. Everything that comes out of his filthy Commie mouth makes me want to scream.”

The "Christian" Right!

The evidence of this type of ungodly nature and condition can be observed almost every night on the evening news (liberal and conservative), as these conservative religionists go about breaking every commandment of God: the very same commandments they attempt to enforce on the unregenerate; which is, of course, the very definition of hypocrisy.

But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22: 34-40)

Love your God, first and foremost, and love your neighbor as you do yourself. These are the commandments the “Christian” right preaches to others, but seem incapable of keeping themselves.

“MAXIMIZE LIBERTY, MINIMIZE GOVERNMENT”

The “Christian” right claims to want less government and more Liberty, and yet, over the last eight years, they never seemed to be all that concerned with the despotic intrusion on their civil liberties brought about by the (“homeland security”) policies of the Bush (Cheney) administration: increased security and scrutiny of American passengers at airports, wire-tapping Americans without a court order, internet invasions of privacy = “The Patriot Act”. Where was the “Christian” rights’ outrage for all of this “maximized”, intrusive (fascist) government, as Bush played the “Big Brother”? Perhaps conservative religionists like the name Bush (or Cheney) better than Obama, or just maybe they like the color of Bush’s skin better?

Could it also be that conservative religionists have simply been brainwashed (over the years), educationally, in the workplace, and by the republican party (owned, “lock, stock and barrel”, by the filthy-rich 1%), just as the Godless, for the most part, left has been brainwashed by the democrats (the same filthy-rich 1%)? Could it possibly be that the filthy-rich 1%, on both sides, are playing the working middle-class liberals & conservatives against each other: the greed-driven powerful ends playing (manipulating, politically) the powerless middle (working class) against itself, and for the sole purpose of achieving complete control?

Conservative religionists claim they want less of the very government they so idolize and worship, and yet, when it comes to certain political issues, they, hypocritically, do a complete about-face. For instance, when it comes to educating their little patriots, conservative religionists seem to have no problem with a “maximized” government (“socialism”): a government which is constantly “minimizing” their “liberties”, when it comes to the education of their children. Conservative religionists rail against any evidence of “maximized” government, until, that is, it comes down to dealing with something they can’t handle, emotionally or intellectually, and then “maximized” government seems to be no problem at all for them.

"No Child Left" Out of the Pit!

Every step the government (federal and state) has taken, over the last century-plus, has been to reduce, or even relinquish, parental control over their children’s education and “values”, and, thus, further the cause of postmodern/Darwinian/atheism (the illegitimate child of deism and “the enlightenment”: removing the Lord from our schools and society (Madelyn Murray O’Hare: “Be gone prayer!”), “valuing diversity” (cultural/moral relativism: “Tommy Has Two Daddies” “There is no good or bad anything!” etc), creating little cogs (the “no-kid-left-behind”, indoctrinated “workers-of-the-future”) for the machinery of the “state”, and the filthy-rich 1% (the “new capitalists”: anti free-enterprise) who own and operate it. Sounds a little like 1917 Russia to me! Only, in this case, the hard-core “Christian” right (the “commie” haters) are supporting the Bolshevik’s (“new capitalists”) takeover, and without any comprehension whatsoever.

The “Christian” right cries, “No socialism,” and yet most of these conservative religionists seem to have no problem whatsoever with CORPORATE SOCIALISM: massive tax breaks for the corporations (the 1%), which amounts, in most cases, to paying no taxes at all; massive financial “bail-outs” of Chrysler and General Motors (not to mention the major banks and AIG), and with middle-class tax dollars that will never be recovered by the middle-class tax payer.

The conservative religionists claim to hate socialized (government controlled) health-care, but they don’t mind government controlled, and republican backed, flood insurance. The insurance industry is paid one billion dollars a year, by the government, to write flood insurance policies. These policies are not guaranteed by the insurance companies that were paid to write them, but, instead, are guaranteed by middle-class tax dollars! After costs are subtracted, these filthy-rich insurance companies get to divide up hundreds of millions of dollars, and with no liability or risk whatsoever. The risk and liability for national flood insurance is placed on the common tax payer! And most of the people covered with flood insurance are wealthy: and these wealthy individuals will, after a devastating and costly flood, continue to rebuild in the same flood zones. And why wouldn’t they, since their socialized flood-insurance will take care of all their needs, and at the expense of the middle-class conservative religionists who blindly support and worship the very (socialistic/capitalistic) system these wealthy individuals own and operate.

The money for this government-operated flood insurance, as with the corporate “bail-out” money, is taken from the working class individual to serve the state, and the wealthy and powerful individuals (1%) who control it. Wake up, conservative religionists, this is simply covert SOCIALISM (for the rich only) under the guise of free enterprise! But evidently insurance companies, houses and property of the wealthy few, as well as failing and corrupted corporations and banks, are more valuable to the republican party, the government, and conservative religionists, than the common tax-payer’s (working class) health and life.

Having written all of this “chasing after the wind”, I am not suggesting, by any stretch of the imagination, any kind of action against this corrupted and evil system, since the ruler of this age oversees it.

{The word of God prophesies of this kind of greed and power, this evil world system. So to suggest taking action against it would be, in reality, to fall into the same political pit as the blinded, apostate religionists!}

The filthy-rich 1%, being blinded by the god of this age, are merely the manipulated pawns (devout followers) of the enemy of God:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For OUR STRUGGLE IS NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6: 10-12)

As I said at the beginning of this post, I sense that I must speak out against the apostate religionists who worship this hypocritical political system and its lies, but solely for the purpose of changing the mindset and heart, if the Lord wills, of those believers who are truly seeking the Lord. My desire is for the Lord, through His Spirit, to lead them away from this system of the world and back to His way, Truth, and Life in (Spiritual) abundance:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14: 6)

So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I CAME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE, AND HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY. (John 10: 7-11)

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. THE WORLD IS PASSING AWAY, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2: 15-17)

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE YOUR HEART WILL BE ALSO. (Matthew 6: 19-21)

I pray for my hate filled friend, and those entrapped like him, that he would come out from the midst of this ungodly, worldly corruption and into the Light and Truth of our Lord. I pray that all who read this would sense the need to turn from this deadness and seek first the Lord’s righteousness and Kingdom:

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, WILL HE NOT MUCH MORE CLOTHE YOU? YOU OF LITTLE FAITH! “DO NOT WORRY THEN, saying, ‘WHAT WILL WE EAT?’ or ‘WHAT WILL WE DRINK?’ or ‘WHAT WILL WE WEAR FOR CLOTHING?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED TO YOU.

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6: 25-34)

Listen and believe the word of our Lord and Savior, through the power and discernment of His Spirit in you. Seek the Lord with all of your mind, heart and soul! Turn from the lies of this decaying world, and its leader, and live in the Light and Life of our Lord! Come out from them, and be cleansed and set free!

Post Modern Christianity: Politically Correct & Devoid of Truth!

Jesus, told His disciples,

…false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. (Mark 13: 22)

Paul, the apostle, told the Ephesians,

“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things… (Acts 20: 29-30)

An old friend sent me this article a while back, so I thought I would share it along with some thoughts.

A Post Christian Vision for Obama
by Robert Knight,
Director, Culture and Media Institute

Since his election, Barack Obama has spent the last three Sunday mornings skipping church and working out in a gym, according to Politico.com.

Well, he could do worse. The president-elect could take Washington Post religion maven Sally Quinn’s advice and attend services at the National Cathedral. There, he would find so much lukewarm liberal hogwash that it might make him long for the conspiratorial but Biblically spiced rants of his old Chicago pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

Quinn, co-moderator of the Newsweek/Post On Faith online column, wrote an op-ed on Nov. 22, “A Church for the Obamas,” calling the National Cathedral “the perfect church for Barack and Michelle Obama to join.”

She’s excited because the cathedral is replete with “pluralism” (read: moral relativism), according a place to all the world’s religions, from Hinduism to Islam and even atheism.

As Quinn puts it, the cathedral “is at once deeply Christian and deeply interfaith.” There’s something deep here, all right.

The National Cathedral, Quinn points out, is where the first female presiding bishop, Katherine Jefforts Schori, was inducted. A longtime practitioner of the faith of radical liberalism, Ms. Jefforts Schori is now busy presiding over the breakup of the Episcopal Church, as more and more Bible-based congregations are fleeing to the Anglicans.

Also on Quinn’s all-star list of cathedral inductions is New Hampshire’s Vickie Gene Robinson, the first openly homosexual Episcopal bishop. Robinson left his wife and kids behind for the gay life, which makes him the perfect “finding oneself” role model for what’s left of the Episcopal Church.

There’s more:

But why stay inside Christianity itself, even with infinitely flexible contours? On Nov. 12, the National Cathedral hosted Deepak Chopra, the Hindu self-help guru. Chopra wrote a searing indictment of politically active conservative Christians in his Nov. 1 On Faith column, “Please Keep God Out of the Voting Booth.” Accusing conservatives of “seizing power,” Chopra gave a cartoon version of their supposed agenda: “God is against Roe v. Wade, God demands that our children pray in school; God condemns homosexuals to hell. It would have been more truthful simply to label themselves as the intolerance faction.”

This is what passes for tolerance in the Post’s weekly On Faith corner, which more accurately should be called “Attacks on Faith.” Only one faith comes in for regular attacks, though. Guess which one? (emphasis mine)

Can anyone imagine a Catholic priest or Protestant minister walking into an Islamic mosque and slamming the Qur’an, Mohammad and Islam and living to tell the story? Of course not, but God and His Christ are always open season.

Of course, this hatred of God, His Son and truth was prophesied by Jesus and other writers of the word of God.

Jesus, told His disciples,

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. “He who hates Me hates My Father also. (John 15: 18-23)

Jude stated,

But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. (Jude 1: 17-23)

How much more evidence do we, as believers, need to realize that the world is going to hate and shun us? So, with this information it shouldn’t be a big surprise to those believers who have taken the time to understand what they believe. Unfortunately, it would seem that informed and therefore, Spirit-led believers are few and far between, as this article shows.

As many as are led by the Spirit, these are the sons of God. (Romans 8: 14)

What has been prophesied cannot be changed by the constitution, the government or man. What has been prophesied by God’s word will come to pass. So fighting against these kinds of issues may seem right in the eyes of worldly-minded believers, but we’re really, if we seek and consider, fighting against the word of God because of our worldly desires.

You can read the entire article here:

A ‘Post’ Christian vision for Obama (OneNewsNow.com).

"A loving Father, A Faithful Husband & Servant to All"

Here is a wonderful testimony by Jason Castro, which I found on the Christian Scribbler site.

I watched Jason Castro on American Idol last year, and there was something different about him. Jason, had a mellow, amiable and peaceful nature about him. His you-tube testimonial explains why.

Please check it out here:

Jason Castro’s testimony… « The Christian Scribbler.

Out With The Old & In With The New Hypocrisy!

Jesus said,

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”(Mark 8: 36-38)

As the following Pew Forum article reveals, It didn’t even take a full twenty four hours for the new version of the “faith-based” hypocrisy to begin flowing out of Washington DC.

Obama refashions America’s old-time (civil) religion

by Daniel Burke

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON — Seeking to revive a dispirited nation, President Obama on Tuesday (Jan. 20) told Americans to get religion — civil religion.

“We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things,” Obama said, quoting St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, in one of the few explicitly Christian references in his address.

Although at times Obama adopted the cadences of the black church that he called home for 20 years, he borrowed little of its content.

Instead, Obama’s inaugural address, like that of previous presidents, drew heavily on what scholars deem America’s civil religion: the transcendent ideals laid out in the Declaration of Independence and other foundational documents.

So, it would seem, according to Obama, that “civil religion” has replaced God and His Christ in the good old U. S. of A.!

“The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit,” Obama said, “to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.” (emphasis mine)

There are no such promises in the word of God. These promises (“precious gifts”) most certainly exist in our secular religion (“Civil”), but God sees things differently.

First: We have no “enduring spirit,” unless we have the enduring Spirit of God through His Son:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life… (John 6: 63)

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.(1 Corinthians 2: 14-16)

Secondly: We can “choose our better history” and “pass on our noble ideas,” but God is sovereign and in the end, His will, not ours, will be accomplished:

For the ways of man are before the eyes of Yahweh. He examines all his paths. (Proverbs 5: 21)

All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose. (Ecclesiastes 1: 2)

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS”; and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.” So then let no one boast in men. (1 Corinthians 3: 18-21)

Thirdly: We are all equal in God’s eyes only. There is no promise of physical freedom found in scripture, but only spiritual freedom through the Christ. There is peace, love and joy mentioned in scripture, but “happiness,” and the “right to pursue it,” will never be found there!

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… (Matthew 6: 19-21)

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16: 33)

What is the outcome of our “civil” religion: worshiping at the alter of the constitution and Capitalism?

It is a trustworthy statement:
For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2: 11-13)

via Religion News: Obama refashions America’s old-time (civil) religion.

“Being Defeated, Decisively!”

The Man Watching

by Rainer Maria Rilke

I can tell by the way the trees beat, after

so many dull days, on my worried windowpanes

that a storm is coming,

and I hear the far-off fields say things

I can’t bear without a friend,

I can’t love without a sister

The storm, the shifter of shapes, drives on

across the woods and across time,

and the world looks as if it had no age:

the landscape like a line in the psalm book,

is seriousness and weight and eternity.

What we choose to fight is so tiny!

What fights us is so great!

If only we would let ourselves be dominated

as things do by some immense storm,

we would become strong too, and not need names.

When we win it’s with small things,

and the triumph itself makes us small.

What is extraordinary and eternal

does not want to be bent by us.

I mean the Angel who appeared

to the wrestlers of the Old Testament:

when the wrestler’s sinews

grew long like metal strings,

he felt them under his fingers

like chords of deep music.

Whoever was beaten by this Angel

(who often simply declined the fight)

went away proud and strengthened

and great from that harsh hand,

that kneaded him as if to change his shape.

Winning does not tempt that man.

This is how he grows: by being defeated, decisively,

by constantly greater beings.

This poem was sent to me, by a close friend, when I was going through a very difficult time in life. I, too, saw the “storm” coming, in those days, and it was a sister who would help me throughout that awful storm. One thing I learned among many others, during those dark days, was I can let affliction and suffering rule and destroy me, or I can allow them to “have their perfect way” and instruct and change me. Thank God, I chose the latter and my “shape” was changed. This poem deals with the same subject matter, to some degree, as the meditation by John Donne: sometimes we gain more when we are being tested severely than when we are content and happy, because it makes us more aware of others and less wrapped up in ourselves. My mountain top experiences have been wonderful, but I’ve learned more about myself, God and others while crawling through the darkest of valleys. “Winning” can be a good thing, but it shouldn’t be our only goal in life, and “being defeated,” in the long run, can be a much better mentor and friend!

A Matter of Faith

Below is a quote from a post on Evolution Expose, which really expresses, in a much better way, what I have tried to say before and that is, faith is as involved in the atheistic naturalist’s point of view as it is in the creationist’s.

Whatever you believe in, evolution, creation, or ID, I cannot help but see a leap of faith in all three positions. — As a Creationist, I freely admit that acknowledging God is the creator involves faith. But what so many evolutionists (and again, I’m not talking about Theistic Evolutionists) do not wish to admit it that their position also involves a leap of faith…

Though there are those who insists that the existence of God is unreasonable and that there is no evidence to support his existence, there is no evidence that 1) he doesn’t exist or that 2) life just spontaneously arose from non-living matter to evolve into modern day creatures and humans. — So basically however you look at it, there is faith on both sides, whether anyone wishes to accept it or not. . .

My reason for rejecting Atheism, like for any Creationist, is that it seems illogical to me that the first life could have possibly have appeared without any previous life before it. It defies all logic. — For any such thing to be true, then one important law of Biology known as Biogenesis would have to be wrong. The law of Biogenesis says that life can only come from life. — There are no exceptions.

“My reason for rejecting Atheism… It defies all logic.” This says it all! I once sought to reject God and become an atheist, but I couldn’t disconnect my mind, heart and senses enough to become one:

…because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1: 19-21

Atheistic Evolution — Why I Reject it « Evolution Exposé.

Connection, Affliction and (Spiritual) Maturity

I was moved by a post, Meditation 17, by John Donne, which really spoke to me on the subject of our connectedness, as human beings, as well as the affect of human affliction and maturity. I have quoted a few sections of the meditation and made comments. If you want to read the complete meditation, then the site is listed at the end of this post.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…” We have become so centered on self, career, family, success and “happiness” today, especially in the US, that, I believe, we have lost our sense of interconnectedness with all of humanity. In a human sense, the whole (societies, nations) may be greater than the sum of its parts (humans), but the whole shouldn’t lose sight of or devalue its individual parts.

“…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.” “I am involved in mankind,” and therefore, the death of any human being takes something away from my life: the stranger who just died, across the street, was connected to me, even though I never really knew him. His passing has left a void in me whether I’m aware of it or not, “it tolls for thee.” We don’t know how are individual lives will affect others, and therefore, every human being should be of importance to us. I believe the author-here-isn’t speaking of compassion alone, but is, to a much greater degree, speaking of the bond that exists between all human beings. We have either forgotten this bond or have chosen to turn our backs on it.

“Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it. Another man may be sick too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me: if by this consideration of another’s danger I take mine own into contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security.”

“Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it…” How far away is this thought from our current state of mind? How can tribulation, or affliction, be a treasure in any way? There is a popular adage that states, “If it doesn’t kill me, then it will only make me stronger.” In most cases, however, this kind of becoming “stronger” simply leads to more self-reliance and reclusiveness. John Donne, on the other hand, is suggesting a different approach to our tribulations, an approach that takes us from self-centeredness and pride to empathy and compassion, as we are blessed at the same time. “Another man may be sick too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me…” My empathy and compassion for this sick man, “…this bell, that tells me of his affliction,” then becomes a gift which “…digs out and applies that gold to me…” What is this “gold” that is applied to me: “…if by this consideration of another’s danger I take mine own into contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security.” The way I interpret this is if I share in this sick man’s suffering, then I become even more aware of my own frailty and mortality, which then draws me nearer to my only real source of security, God: “this gold that is applied to me.” I don’t have empathy and compassion for this sick person in order to recieve this blessing, but I recieve this blessing because I had empathy and compassion.

I hope you will read the entire meditation, by clicking on the link below, and give your opinions.

ActsFourThirtyFour: Meditation 17, John Donne