To be more specific, what does God think about our terminology, when we use words such as my "religion", my "faith", my "beliefs". Not too long ago, politicians pushed away from the topic of telling the nation what they believed, wanting to use the limp excuse of "separation of church and state", and that it was a private thing. Then, after a couple decades of avoiding the subject, they turned and embraced it in our last election.
What I want to explore has nothing to do with politics, but with God's view on religion. To Him, He is life, He is the impetus behind our faith, our religion, our beliefs. It isn't a separate topic to Him. It is life, since He created all life. I say I am a Christian, but it goes much deeper than that for me. Christ is life to me. I don't separate Sundays from the other days of the week, in terms of connecting with God. God is an everyday relationship for me. I don't visit Him like I would the in-laws, or have Him over for dinner once a week, or a month, or on religious holidays.
I believe God wants us to view Him as our life, not a small part of it. I also believe that we would benefit greatly in adopting this mindset, myself included. God isn't a part of my religion, He is a part of my life, and not in some segregated box I keep around to ward off zealous folks who like to poke around.
- Mood:
contemplative
If we are to believe the April 13, 2009 edition of Newsweek, with it's cover spread entitled, "The Decline and Fall of Christian America", our way of life is about to change here in America. We are on the brink of the end of religious freedom in America, a right given us in our Constitution, given to us by God, and therefore near the end of free expression of our faith as believers. (I still find it odd that non-Christians can disagree with us, but we will not be able to disagree with them)
I am told there is now legislation in place, ready to be passed, unable to be opposed, that will label the denouncement of homosexual practices and ideology as a hate crime. So we will see shortly how long believers will be able to speak their minds before being sent to whatever form modern-day society chooses to be our lions. What else will I no longer be free to say in our new, post-Christian society?
As I think about it, those early believers lived in a society dominated by a country where homosexuality, promiscuity, and the persecution of Christians were commonplace. They saw the debauchery that thrived around them every day. So I should not be shocked, and I am not, in the coming obliteration of my rights as a U.S. citizen.
So as we see the demise of Christianity looming on our near horizon, I have this to offer those who would still believe, and those who would like nothing better than liberal chaos to reign: the only real signs of Christianity are love, forgiveness, and power. The early Christians lived in an atmosphere of power, and miracles were commonplace, everyday fare for them. Do you want to bloom where you were planted, in these United States of America?
I am not promising you a long life, or even a life free of the bars of prison. If you believe, I promise you power, if you seek it, if you love your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. If you place Him above your family and your freedom and opinion, I promise you power. I can do this, because He already has. I am just repeating what His Word says. It is a promise of God I want to live in, to express in this world.
Our society has long lambasted Christians, particularly pentecostals, because their message never lined up with their lives, for the most part. But overall, it was the absence of power, of miracles, in our daily lives, that created the climate we live in. Do you want to see God rise in our nation again? Do you want to see His name lifted up for all to see, to experience His presence in a mighty way?
Power is your path. Not for earthly gain, not for revenge, but for love. For love of our country, our countrymen, our world, for God to receive His just glory, power is necessary. As Christians all over our nation get ready to either shut up or glut the jails and prisons to overflowing, ask for power. Leave all your denominational dogma behind, hold to the basic truths of love, forgiveness, and the law of liberty, which keeps us pure, and reach for Christ, and Christ alone.
"Greater works than these..." This is the promise of our Lord, and yet in our world today there are no reports of miracles breaking out, nothing that can be shown to the world as the undeniable imprint of a sovereign Creator on humanity. We have power, but we do not use it, we do not believe in it, we have settled for a "sinner, saved by grace" mentality that only helps to keep us afloat, instead of swimming in the deep waters of God's immense ability.
I, for one, want to swim in deeper waters. I want power, not to dominate, but to love, and to show the world who the real God of this world is: Jesus Christ.
- Mood: contemplative
To have the liberal sector of our society manipulate public opinion through the media is unconscionable; they white-wash all conservative interpretations of our nation's constitution as being biased and narrow. With the notable exception of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, the authors of our constitution wanted a clear-cut message about religious worship not being controlled by the government.
Today we are being bullied by liberal forces bent on trying to separate individual morality from public service and expression. Up until this election, the religious views of political candidates were squelched and avoided, mistakenly being labeled as a violation of church and state. Oddly enough, because Democratic candidates are trying to woo conservative Christians to align with them, they suddenly have done an 'about-face', wanting to express their religious views in a public manner.
The truth is that no one can govern outside their personal views. It is impossible. You are what you believe. Any view otherwise is ludicrous.
My view of freedom will always be framed by what I am allowed to believe and espouse publicly, without fear of reprisal. This means being able to say others are wrong, and I am right, when our views mix in the public arena.
Freedom means I can say I disagree without being labeled as a hater, or 'phobic'.
What does freedom mean to you?
First question listed was submitted by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
tawhiid. (Follow-up questions, if any, may have been added by LiveJournal.)
- Mood:determined
The principals in these public debates are scientists and theologians, and both parties are armed to the teeth. There is a tacit, stubborn respect for each other, but the lines are drawn, even etched deep between them. Atheists have joined with evolution to argue that there is no God, and theologians are fighting back to show that God does, indeed, exist.
So great is the importance of this war, it has spilled out into the pages of our nation's more prominent, albeit liberal magazines. I even watched a debate between a religious apologist and an atheist, and the mutual admiration between the two was palpable. They disagreed with each other, for sure, but still were very polite in their debate.
For myself, there is no argument. God is real, and I have experienced and witnessed verifiable miracles that cannot be explained away by the unknown powers of the human body that lay still undiscovered by science. But I do understand why there are those, intelligent though they may be, who question the validity of God when no one has seen Him nor known of a supernatural, verifiable proof He exists that can transcend human doubt and logic.
The religious community has failed in communicating the power of God that makes all doubt disappear. I include myself in their number, even though I now stand at the side and discuss our failings. It is easy to disbelieve in the existence of God when most Christians do not believe in the deity of Christ nor believe that we, ourselves, are capable of supernatural acts and living.
We use terms such as "dispensationalism" to explain why certain ages of our existence since the life of Christ are different from each other, and why the apostles saw and performed great miracles when we see hardly any (and when we do, it is in some dark corner where it never becomes public as a witness to the power of God in us). But Christ Himself asserted that we would do greater works than He did, and He did quite a lot of miracles.
I want to live this life, and I want others to live it with me. Power silences critics, and pure, loving power that changes lives really shuts their mouths or makes us martyrs. Either way, the Truth is brought to light, and people see that.
More later.
- Location:God, religions
- Mood: contemplative
Religion is part of who each of us is. This goes for the atheist as well. What we believe shapes our decisions, our ideas, our way of thinking. You cannot separate what you believe about life and how you go about it. Eventually the two merge. The idea that a person can live a portion of his or her life making decisions and acting outside the lines of what they believe is ludicrous. And this goes for a Muslim, a Jew, a Mormon, and yes, even an atheist. If a person does not believe in God, they obviously have a different moral compass than a person who does believe in God.
If I feel it is murder to kill an unborn child based on the fact that the Bible says that life begins in the blood, and science tells us that our dna contains our blood, then that is going to rightly influence my decision to ban abortions as murder. If I do not believe that an unborn child is a living person until after birth, then it will make it easier for me to kill the child and not think it wrong.
We here politicians tell us they are going to legislate based on how they feel they need to, but how they "feel" is based on what they believe about life. And what they believe about life stems from how they believe we arrived here on this planet.
It's interesting to note that the Democrats have learned this, to a degree, and are trying to assuage the fears of conservative Christians by talking about their individual faiths. But faith, or lack thereof, is so integrated into our thinking that it is a part of our normal conversation. Manufacturing sound bites to calm the fears of the people comes across as a bit antiseptic, and comical, instead of sincere. The candidates can talk now, but four years ago they were against such ideas?
You are what you believe. You act by what you believe. Any notion otherwise is foolish. The real intent behind such accusations lies in the liberal fear of control: "I want to live my life the way I want to, regardless the outcome to others, and anyone who says otherwise is trying to control me". Whatever feels good, do it.
Do you want to live promiscously and not pay the price of an unwanted pregnancy? Kill the kid and move on with your life. Do you want to use these same unwanted children to further research and help the sick? Take stem-cell tissues from the child as you kill it, and then move on. Let your lack of conscience be your guide.
The hypocrisy is not in thinking that Christians want to force others to live their way of life. The hypocrisy is thinking that liberals aren't doing that very thing, and have been for years.
- Location:God, politics
- Mood:
calm
Mainstream Christianity has another idol it has been worshipping for years. It is Jesus, God incarnate in the flesh. Like an idol, we have given Him eyes, but do not believe He sees. We fashion ears for Him, but do not believe He hears our prayers or other, more fleshly words out of our mouths. He has a mouth, but we do not believe He can speak to us. We believe He only can communicate through obscure, poignant moments in our lives. "Oh, God's trying to tell us something!"
We read of healing in the Bible, but do not believe God can reach out and touch us in a physical, tangible way. We give Him feet, but do not believe He truly walks with us. We have made Him into an idol, no better than any of these statues littering our lawns and dashboards and churches and towns.
Who is God to you? Have you made Him into an idol? How have you limited Him in your life?
- Location:God, Jesus, religion
I just finished a query letter to an agent that I will be sending out in another day or so. I need to keep at this part of the writing business if I am to see my book in print. To be blunt and real, only God will provide the agent, or the publisher. I do not meet the criteria desired by many agents and publishers in regards to my background. I am a non-graduate from college, I am not an established speaker or known in any realm of my book's category of topic.
I am no one to everyone but God, and I believe He gave me this task to do, this message to speak on, and He will have to open the next door. But I have to do the paperwork, and to keep knocking.
So continuing, more aggressively, at this project is very important this year.
I buy books, and do not read them. I need to turn off the television and read. If I am not writing, and not attending to my family's needs or desires, I need to fill in the time better with reading and writing and getting projects done around the house.
I need to do both of these to move on in my life. Both will bring me closer to my objective.
The only other goal I consider important enough to list would be to get a website designed and up and running to compliment my writing. Since I am not an established personality in any regards, I do not raise a blip on the Internet radar.
Have a Happy New Year, and a blessed one at that!
- Mood: calm
Micah is a future force to be reckoned with in this world. He is a junior in high school, and all of the courses he takes are college-equivalent, which means they will apply to his college credits. He will be at least a year ahead of many of his college classmates when he attends whatever university gives him a full scholarship, or something close. He has a wide array of interests, but his goal is to be involved in aerospace engineering. Math is simple to him, he grasps complex problems easier than most folk.
It has been a good holiday week for me. The boys and I put another coat of paint on the downstairs room, and I have sent off another book query to a literary agent. It would be good if I could send one more out before I head back to work on Wednesday.
Enough of the update. Cody is playing with a new game he was given for Christmas that allows him to train a show dog. He can actually input voice commands on his game, and has trained his dog to do simple tricks. The dog's name morphed from a game-given Maxwell to Cody's more simple Bob. I do not recall Bob's breed.
Off to her sister's for a second round of Christmas. Go LSU Tigers!
- Mood: cheerful
Today I find myself wishing to write, with God in mind and also in the background of my writing. I stumbled upon some stuff I had copied off of another's page, and today I wish to respond in a general way.
He had been rambling on about a dinner he had been invited to, and a woman he had encountered at the dinner table, whose ideas of God were much different than his, to the degree he was offended by her.
She had spoken about bible colleges, and he was a bit perplexed at this idea, the need for a "bible" college when most universities offered their own theological study programs. It is here where I will begin to elaborate, and move on to a wider spectrum of thought about bible colleges in general.
Bible colleges differ from secular schools in that the bible colleges find their foundations in the denomination that funds them. I would be hardpressed to find a bible college that does not fall under the control of a denomination. So that college has its courses all flowing from the doctrines of the denomination it represents. There maybe professors at the college who do not necessarily agree with the doctrines backed by the college, but unless they are in great demand and have a strong influence, their free thought does not stray too far from the denomination.
The strength of this mindset is that the student gets a full barrage of influential training in that denomination's dogma, with a powerful backing and support from its faculty, alumni, and funders. If you truly believe in their doctrines, and intend to pursue ministry in areas supported by the college and denomination, then this is a positive way to get the necessary degree and training to enable you to flourish in the real world outside of the college atmosphere.
The weaknesses inherent in the bible college format are that you have the potential of being funneled through narrow thought processes and forced to walk in their ways, whether or not you feel as they do, your degree is as powerful or weak as the institutions that recognize favorably the particular denominational training you have completed, and free thought is frowned upon within the hallowed halls of these colleges. You must agree, or at least follow closely alongside their doctrines to gain their approval and backing.
To many students this format is comforting. They believe in the doctrines proposed and followed by the college, so the experience can be likened to a safe pasture with fences where the wolves are kept at bay, and food is plentiful.
As for the theological studies at liberal arts colleges as well as all mainstream public and private universities, they are all taught by free thinkers, many of which have either blaise' mindsets about religion or who are so open to outside thought that they have no foundation on which to stand other than they believe that you can believe in anything and anyone that you want. When you enter their classroom, they are god, and it is their brand of religious reality that you have to breathe in and out, to feed upon, to be clothed in, and to live in while you are enrolled in their classes.
Theological classes in these institutions seek to educate you, but do so as the conquerors of their religious domain, where they make the rules and they unravel history as its conquerors.
The strength in this is that you are given multiple views that the intelligent and discerning man or woman can then siphen through to find truth, and also that you are treated to studies that fall outside course lines available at bible colleges.
The weakness is that as the professor believes, so the class goes, and there are some whackos out there. Power goes to the head, and university professors wield great power in shaping the hearts and minds of the student body. I can tell the difference in a bible college student and a university theological studies student very quickly. The theological studies student is more clinical, more detached, and comes very close to falling under the "I'm okay, you're okay" mindset that usually describes a nonbeliever.
My personal view is that life is your college, when it comes to God, and experience your greatest teacher. Both study formats have their weaknesses. I have seen some very intelligent, very sensitive non-student Christians who truly understand the deep things of God, and I have seen some very studied, very degreed people who are so close-minded about God and anyone outside of their influence of studies.
It is hard to believe that in this intellectual society that we live in, miracles are deemed as mythical and science is given a role in shaping our religious minds. We have the capacity to believe in great possibilities, and the Bible affords us a magnificent record of history that supports an awesome God. We want to humanize Him, instead of rising to His greatest wishes for mankind: that we would be like Him.
- Location:God
- Mood: contemplative
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