This piece was written by Don Wildmon, who is more than just my boss -- he is a true American hero who has stood strong in defense of the family. I believe these words ring truer today than they did when it was first written in the late 1990s.
In 1973 THE SUPREME COURT said it was OK to kill unborn babies. Since then, we have killed more than the entire population of Canada. And it continues. A woman's choice? Half of those who have died in their mothers' wombs have been women. They didn't have a choice. It is called abortion.
Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That's what Christians do now.
First it was in dingy, dirty theaters. Then, convenience stores. Then, grocery stores. Then on television. Now it is in the homes of millions via the Internet. It is called pornography.
Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That's what Christians do now.
They called it no-fault. Why should we blame anyone when something so tragic happens. Haven't they already suffered enough? Half of the marriages in America end this way. The children suffered. The family broke down. It is called divorce.
Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That’s what Christians do now.
At one time it was a perversion. We kept it secret. We secured help and hope for those who practiced it. Now it is praised. We have parades celebrating it, and elected officials give it their blessing. Now it is endowed with special privileges and protected by special laws. Even some Christian leaders and denominations praise it. It is called homosexuality.
Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That's what Christians do now.
It used to be an embarrassment. A shame. Now a third of all births are to mothers who aren't married. Two-thirds of all African-American children are born into a home without a father. The state usually pays the tab. That is why we pay our taxes, so that government can take the place of parents. After all, government bureaucrats know much better how to raise children than parents do. It is called illegitimacy.
Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That's what Christians do now.
At one time it was wrong. But then the state decided to legalize it, promote it and tax it. It has ripped apart families and destroyed lives. But just look at all the money the state has raised. No longer do we have to teach our children to study and work hard. Now we teach them they can get something for nothing. We spend millions encouraging people to join the fun and excitement. Just look at the big sums that people are winning. They will never have to work again! It is called gambling.
Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That's what Christians do now.
Not long ago, Christians were the good guys. But now any positive image of Christians in movies or on TV is gone. We are now depicted as the bad guys - greedy, narrow-minded hypocrites. The teacher can't have a Bible on her desk, but can have Playboy. We don't have Christmas and Easter holidays - just winter and spring break. We can't pray in school, but can use foul language. It's called being tolerant.
Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That's what Christians do now.
Yes, all these things came to pass within 30 years. Where were the Christians? Why, they were in church. All these things are for someone else to deal with. Times have changed. Involvement has been replaced with apathy.
But don't blame me. I didn't do anything. I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That's what Christians do now.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
An Open Letter To...
There’s something burning in me that I have to get out! Rob Bell’s new book has ignited a firestorm of debate among Christians and non-Christians alike. The thought that God is so loving and compassionate that He would never send a poor, innocent person to hell is one that people can grab and cuddle like a cute teddy bear. It’s so warm and fuzzy to believe that way, but, alas, it is also wrong! Not only that, it is heresy, and even blasphemous to try to make people believe that God is going to bend the rules and give them a second chance after death for them to avoid the punishment for sin. Why? Let’s look at the real source for truth. Not “Love Wins,” but “Love Is” aka. The Bible! First, we need to look at the reason why we are in danger of going to hell.
Romans 3:9-18 9. What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11. there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13. “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” 14. “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15. “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16. ruin and misery mark their ways, 17. and the way of peace they do not know.” 18. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Verse 23 also lets us know that absolutely everyone has sinned and has fallen short of the glory of God! But, why, how and when have we sinned?
Romans 5:12 12. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
The very first sin in the Garden of Eden resulted in sin being applied like a skin to every person who lived from that time until now! Not only that, but it has been made perfectly clear that there is a penalty for sin.
Romans 6:23a 23. For the wages of sin is death…
It sounds pretty hopeless, doesn’t it? Thankfully, our loving, compassionate God didn’t want it to remain that way!
Romans 5:6-8 6. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God loved us so much that, even though we are born into sin, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us! Stop and think about that. It would be the same as you sending your innocent child to death row in order to die so that not just one, but ALL convicted murderers, rapists, molesters, addicts, thieves, cheaters…every last one of them could have the chance to go free! Would you do that? I doubt there’s enough love in the entire human race combined to make someone want to do that. So, why did God do it?
Because God is love! (1 John 4:8)
That’s pretty self-explanatory! God demonstrated that by offering His Son, Jesus, as the sacrifice for our sinful condition. I know it has been stated that the need for an animal or a person to die so that we can gain our freedom is so foreign to us today! The truth is, it doesn’t matter if we’re accustomed to the idea of blood sacrifice or not. That’s the way GOD ordained it – it’s HIS standard! The problem with the church today is that we are trying to pass things through our filter, and that just isn’t how it works! In interviews with Rob Bell, I heard him talk about “his” way of processing it, of reasoning it out. It’s all about what HE thinks it should be and how HE thinks it will turn out; however, our ways of doing things, and our ideas of what is right and fair don’t count!
Isaiah 55:8 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
Sadly, though, Rob isn’t the only one who is on this bandwagon, which is why I’m not writing this as an open letter to Rob Bell. Rather, it is an urgent plea to the Church today!
There are more and more people who call themselves Christians, who are embracing the things of this world. They are trying to make God’s Word conform to their lusts and their lifestyles, instead of making their lusts flee and their lives conform to God’s Word. The simple truth is this:
There is no way to get to Heaven with sin in our lives, because sin separates us from God! There is no way to overcome sin without the blood of Jesus! There is no way to apply the blood without accepting Jesus as the Messiah and repenting from our sinful ways!
There’s nothing we can do to earn it! His sacrifice is a gift that can only be gained by faith, not by our works! Some modern “teachers” want to make us believe that we are able to do what we want, and, as long as we are good to each other, and lead lives that the world considers to be upstanding, we’re not going to have any problem getting into Heaven. Sorry, that’s just not true!
Ephesians 2:1-9 1. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2. in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — 3. among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5. even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — 6. and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7. so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9. not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
That passage shows that there is a difference between the world’s system and God’s! When we are saved, our lives must reflect that difference. It also shows that God is merciful and gracious. The thing we need to realize is that sending sinners to hell isn’t due to a lack of mercy, and it isn’t unfair! God’s mercy doesn’t come at the end! He has already given us mercy! It was given at the cross, through His Son, Jesus. All we have to do is accept it by accepting Jesus, then, live in the relationship that God wants to have with us! You see, it isn’t about God making a way for us to “get into Heaven.” It’s about a relationship that was broken by one man, Adam when he gave in to the temptation that originated with satan. Adam disobeyed the loving Father that created him, the very One who breathed the breath of life directly into him. Our sin is just as disobedient, and it still separates us from having that relationship with God!
I know this is getting pretty long, and I certainly appreciate you hanging in there to this point. Trust me – it could be much longer, because there is so much the Bible has to say that is being twisted by man in an attempt to appease the conscience. Let me try to wrap it up in the next short paragraph.
We need to return God’s Word to the place it should be – as the standard for everything we do. It’s not there to be twisted for our convenience. Lying, stealing, pride, murder, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, (and the list could continue) are all sin, not because of narrow-minded people who want to impose their beliefs on others, but because GOD said so in His Word. Our lives MUST conform to God’s standard, and we MUST stop trying to justify our sin, because, in the end, God’s standard is all that will matter!
Romans 3:9-18 9. What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11. there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13. “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” 14. “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15. “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16. ruin and misery mark their ways, 17. and the way of peace they do not know.” 18. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Verse 23 also lets us know that absolutely everyone has sinned and has fallen short of the glory of God! But, why, how and when have we sinned?
Romans 5:12 12. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
The very first sin in the Garden of Eden resulted in sin being applied like a skin to every person who lived from that time until now! Not only that, but it has been made perfectly clear that there is a penalty for sin.
Romans 6:23a 23. For the wages of sin is death…
It sounds pretty hopeless, doesn’t it? Thankfully, our loving, compassionate God didn’t want it to remain that way!
Romans 5:6-8 6. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God loved us so much that, even though we are born into sin, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us! Stop and think about that. It would be the same as you sending your innocent child to death row in order to die so that not just one, but ALL convicted murderers, rapists, molesters, addicts, thieves, cheaters…every last one of them could have the chance to go free! Would you do that? I doubt there’s enough love in the entire human race combined to make someone want to do that. So, why did God do it?
Because God is love! (1 John 4:8)
That’s pretty self-explanatory! God demonstrated that by offering His Son, Jesus, as the sacrifice for our sinful condition. I know it has been stated that the need for an animal or a person to die so that we can gain our freedom is so foreign to us today! The truth is, it doesn’t matter if we’re accustomed to the idea of blood sacrifice or not. That’s the way GOD ordained it – it’s HIS standard! The problem with the church today is that we are trying to pass things through our filter, and that just isn’t how it works! In interviews with Rob Bell, I heard him talk about “his” way of processing it, of reasoning it out. It’s all about what HE thinks it should be and how HE thinks it will turn out; however, our ways of doing things, and our ideas of what is right and fair don’t count!
Isaiah 55:8 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
Sadly, though, Rob isn’t the only one who is on this bandwagon, which is why I’m not writing this as an open letter to Rob Bell. Rather, it is an urgent plea to the Church today!
There are more and more people who call themselves Christians, who are embracing the things of this world. They are trying to make God’s Word conform to their lusts and their lifestyles, instead of making their lusts flee and their lives conform to God’s Word. The simple truth is this:
There is no way to get to Heaven with sin in our lives, because sin separates us from God! There is no way to overcome sin without the blood of Jesus! There is no way to apply the blood without accepting Jesus as the Messiah and repenting from our sinful ways!
There’s nothing we can do to earn it! His sacrifice is a gift that can only be gained by faith, not by our works! Some modern “teachers” want to make us believe that we are able to do what we want, and, as long as we are good to each other, and lead lives that the world considers to be upstanding, we’re not going to have any problem getting into Heaven. Sorry, that’s just not true!
Ephesians 2:1-9 1. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2. in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — 3. among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5. even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — 6. and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7. so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9. not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
That passage shows that there is a difference between the world’s system and God’s! When we are saved, our lives must reflect that difference. It also shows that God is merciful and gracious. The thing we need to realize is that sending sinners to hell isn’t due to a lack of mercy, and it isn’t unfair! God’s mercy doesn’t come at the end! He has already given us mercy! It was given at the cross, through His Son, Jesus. All we have to do is accept it by accepting Jesus, then, live in the relationship that God wants to have with us! You see, it isn’t about God making a way for us to “get into Heaven.” It’s about a relationship that was broken by one man, Adam when he gave in to the temptation that originated with satan. Adam disobeyed the loving Father that created him, the very One who breathed the breath of life directly into him. Our sin is just as disobedient, and it still separates us from having that relationship with God!
I know this is getting pretty long, and I certainly appreciate you hanging in there to this point. Trust me – it could be much longer, because there is so much the Bible has to say that is being twisted by man in an attempt to appease the conscience. Let me try to wrap it up in the next short paragraph.
We need to return God’s Word to the place it should be – as the standard for everything we do. It’s not there to be twisted for our convenience. Lying, stealing, pride, murder, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, (and the list could continue) are all sin, not because of narrow-minded people who want to impose their beliefs on others, but because GOD said so in His Word. Our lives MUST conform to God’s standard, and we MUST stop trying to justify our sin, because, in the end, God’s standard is all that will matter!
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