The American Jesus - God, Country and the Bible

The Apostle Paul warned about accepting "another" Jesus, a Jesus other than the one described in the Bible.

Many churches in the United States have accepted an American version of Jesus.  This  Red, White and Blue Savior cannot be recognized when compared with the description of the true Jesus of scripture?  And most readily look to American government! with it's Roman origins, as the provider of all their needs? 

Is it any wonder that the lives of professing Christians in America look more like popular American society rather than the life called for by God in the flesh?

Postmodernism or Rebellion? Cowards for Jesus in the Church

I just thought I would share this casual day of rest observation.

It shames me to say that most professing Christians are cowards and wimps. They are afraid to seriously study the Word of God and even attempt to live by it simply because the cost of doing so is too great. It will require them to change so much in their lives and make them too different from others around them. The ridicule from such changes is too much for them to bear.
So, they continue merrily along their way living their accommodating life that mirrors this world, espousing the same kind of wimpy, syrupy sweet, live any way you want to because Jesus loves you anyway! kind of life for God. This kind of life sounds great until you compare it with the Bible.
And this goes for the leadership of most churches as well. Of course, the reason these leaders hold these positions is because the people in the pews want it that way. There's nothing like official approval for your disapproval of the Word of God!
The sad part of this reality is that It's pervasive In churches today. It's the norm rather than the exception.
No wonder Jesus asked if He would find faith on this earth when He returned.

Government Shutdown in Heaven?

 The government of the Kingdom of God has never nor will it ever shut down for any reason!

Children are a Blessing, not a Burden

How anyone could look on babies as anything other than precious is beyond me. To do so is a sad commentary on the individual human heart. It must be remembered that only God can change such a condition!

Bible Knowledge Necessary for the Christian

If you are a Christian and aren't very familiar with the Word of God, The Bible, you will probably have difficulty living life the way God would have you. Winging it according to feelings, traditions and the thoughts of men, will not be the same as what the Bible reveals. Conventional wisdom many time disagrees with the Word He has provided for His Disciples.

Nothing substitutes meditation and study of the Word of God for helping us to understand how God would have us think and act while living on this earth.

Jesus and Violence - Understanding the Law

I have found many Christians uncomfortable talking about Jesus throwing the money changers out of the Temple. It's a side of Jesus that proves tough to explain in light of the pacifist image portrayed most about the Son of God.

What Jesus was actually doing was protecting private property. His reference to "My Father's House" gives us the first indication of the basis of His actions. Under the Law a person could take actions to deal with situations on his own property. Being His Father's Son and legal, rightful heir, Jesus also had the right to protect His Father's interests.

When others intrude onto private property or into relationships in which they have no authority, those vested with the proper authority may lawfully respond. God has created life on this earth with certain bounds. When those bounds are violated, the person committing the trespass is subject to immediate action and, eventually judgment.

So, when you take action, especially when protecting or defending the interests of others, make sure you have the legal right and authority to do so. Jesus did!

Jesus always followed the Law!

God, Government & the Bible

In order to understand the US Constitution and American government, one must first understand the Bible. If you misunderstand what the Bible reveals about secular governments, then your political understanding will be at the mercy of those who interpret the Bible to fit their particular worldview instead of allowing the Bible to speak plainly.

Does the Traditional Christian worldview about Government agree with the Bible?

God's Gift of Children - Property????????

It must be remembered this quote of Benjamin Rush, Founding Father and Signer of the Declaration of Independence, "We should teach our pupils that they do not belong to themselves, but are public property."....................­....................If you think the idea that children are property of the State is new, think again. It's been in America for awhile.

What is Your Final Authority for Living Life?

I've noticed that many so called "Christians" don't like the idea of a standard they must live by and be accountable to. When it comes to God's law, that's being legalistic, narrow-minded and judgmental!............ But let the New World Order and their secular Politicians do the same with their laws - or the lack thereof - and these same Christians start screaming about the filthy, immoral lifestyles of some who have seemingly cast off all standards to do what they individually think best! .......Sounds kinda hollow! Sounds kinda double-minded! So, what's it going to be? Ordering your life according to laws or not? If so, whose laws do you choose to be your final authority?

Evolution VS God - Do You Understand Your Own Beliefs?

Do you understand what is happening in American Culture regarding the Beliefs of professing Christians? Do you realize where the attack lies. Can you articulate your beliefs to those who may fundamentally disagree with them. Read this article and watch the video from Ken Ham and Answers  in Genesis.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/get-answers/features/evolution-vs-god?utm_source=aigsocial08072013winning&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebooktwittergooglelinkedin

Does God Rule Over Both Tyranny & Freedom?

  It makes certain people uncomfortable to realize that God also ordains tyrants to rule in secular government.

The Evidence for Christian America - Is Ignorance Bliss?

If the presence of Christian words, phrases and symbols on, in and around government buildings are evidence of the Christian heritage of the United States, what is the presence of many more Pagan words, phrases, and symbols on, in and around those same buildings evidence of?

Are professing Christians ignoring evidence of the origins of America?

Jesus, Politics & Allegiance - Whom do You Serve?

When it comes to involvement in the politics of this World as a Believer in Jesus Of the Bible, it's always good to remember our primary citizenship. After all, we are Ambassadors for Christ to a lost and dying World. We represent the political interests of the Kingdom of God to a World system that hung The King of Kings on a cross.

Does your political allegiance belong to  Jesus and His Kingdom?

Jesus & Life - The Creator Knows His Own

It might be worth your time to realize that God really does rule the universe. That includes you and the life you lead. That's right! You are not in charge!!!!! So, instead of trying to lead, maybe it's time to follow, follow the Great Shepherd. After all, He knows exactly what His sheep need....Him!!!!

Are you Following ???

Jesus is the Standard for Life - How do You Measure Up?

When life is over and all your activities are judged by God according to His Word, just how necessary and important were your actions today?

The Kingdom of God & The World - Spiritual Maturity

                                                   

There are many professing Christians who have yet to acknowledge by their lifestyle that the Kingdom of God and this World system are completely separate entities and at enmity with one another. As Jesus told his disciples, "This world hates me.They will hate you also."

Slavery is not About Race - It's About God and Mankind

Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters."

 The Bible reveals that all on this earth are, ultimately and literally, slaves. We are someone else’s Property. We belong to someone else. Someone else is our master.

The Bible also reveals that you belong to one of only two ultimate masters.

You either belong to the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus as citizens of His Kingdom or you belong to the god of this World, Satan, as citizens of this World and his Kingdoms / nations.

Who is your master?

The Constitution & The Bible - Religious Pluralism - An Inalienable Right From God??

Religious Pluralism - An Inalienable Right Given by God?

  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights....."

These words from the beginning of The Declaration of Independence are among the most well known and revered in all of history. While holding a special place in the hearts of people within many nations of the modern world, in no place are they held higher and closer than within the hearts of American Christians of most stripes.

I found out just how closely they are held and how highly thought of these words are yesterday in a conversation on Facebook. After being invited to the page of Ben Bush Sr, my Father by the way, I posted the following;

• "I've been asking this question for several years and have never received a response other than silence, even when the question was asked face to face. The question is this. ..........."If certain signs, symbols. words and phrases on government buildings and documents are to be considered legitimate evidence for the United States being a Christian Nation, what are the many more pagan signs, symbols, words and phrases on government buildings and documents to be taken as evidence of?"

The entire conversation can be accessed through the link in the above question.

The issue I want to point out regards Final Authority: Who or What is your Final Authority? This vital question has traditionally been answered by resorting to The Bible, self-identified as "The Word of God," as the final arbiter of beliefs and practice for all professing a relationship with God through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The above conversation, though, is a stark example of what takes place when the people of God attempt to interpret History, especially American History, without a prior acknowledgment of The Bible's statements about God, secular politics and the relationship of God's People to each one.

So, here's the rub. The Declaration espouses the particular tenet that all rights, inalienable rights specifically, come from God. That includes the Freedom of Religion, the right to worship God, to exercise their religion according to the dictates of a person's own heart, specified in the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights.

It must be made clear that to believe this is not a problem. For this issue to be a matter of law is not a problem. The problem begins with the fact that God is identified as the origin of this right and approves of a person worshiping Him in any manner that person desires or chooses. The problem is consummated  by the fact that the Bible can never be the source for this supposed right originating from and being approved by God. In fact, the Bible reveals just the opposite.

Exodus 20:4-6

⁴ Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
⁵ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
⁶ And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Soon after the giving of the Commandments to the children of Israel, they put YHWH's Word to the test when they became impatient from Moses' long stay on the mountain with YHWH. They took the matter of worship into their own hands and Aaron made the golden calf for their "feast unto the Lord". (Exodus 32:1-5)

The Golden Calf - Unapproved Worship of YHWH

When Moses returned, he was angry and asked the question, "Who is on the Lord's side?" Three thousand people died as a result of that disobedience as well as a plague being put on the people.

We can see that worship is a serious matter with God. In no way is the  manner of worship left to the thoughts of men. God specifically addresses all aspects so that nothing is left to conjecture. In fact, God specifically mentions the style and type of worship of the pagan nations surrounding them as being prohibited. Furthermore, God saw fit to put it in writing for the Nation of Israel and the rest of the World to know.

Even Jesus said that they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth. There is a right way and a wrong way.  

So, we can see that God in no way sanctions His Worship in any manner seen fit by man to choose. God has set the standards for men to approach Him in worship.

So, it can be seen that in worshiping the God of the Bible in truth, YHWH neither approves of nor agrees with the First Amendment Freedom of Religion according to the dictates of a man's heart. YHWH alone dictates how to worship Him.

For those who may be worried that the Founding Fathers of the United States were mistaken in their assertion that the inalienable rights of the Constitution, specified and unspecified, are given by God, the Bible does provide a certain amount of enlightenment. 

The Prophet Ezekiel tells us how YHWH deals with a people, a nation that despises His judgments and walks not in His Statutes. Chapter 20, verse 25 tells us that, "Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good and judgments whereby they should not live."

So, when the Bible is allowed to speak, it tells us that the inalienable right of Freedom of Religion as articulated in the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is nothing more than the judgment of God upon this nation. It's given to a people that have rejected the Law of God in their lives. In this case, it is given by God as a law, an inalienable right, that is "not good" and  one whereby we should "not live." Contrary to the thoughts of many, it is not given as a blessing from God, nor is it to be taken as a positive. The only way this right can be declared, as the Founders articulated in the Declaration,  as one of the "Laws" of "Nature's God" is as the judgment of God.

Politics - The Way of God, The Way of Man - Are They the Same?

The Bible says that Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, thanks to his request and God's provision.

He made a statement that many times is quoted, but I wonder how much attention is paid to the details.

It begins this way, "There is a way that seems right to a man........"

Many issues today are approached, discussed, argued over, then decided based upon this one premise that "Well, it just seems the thing to do" or "It just seems the right way of thinking" and so on.

I find this true especially when it comes to political discussion. Most people are proceeding from a very similar mindset when the details of politics are discussed.

Among Christians, this way of thinking can sometimes seemingly be supported with a verse or two of Scripture. The result is that many think that, "Well, this way seems right for us as Christians, so that 's the way it's going to be." After all, who can argue against The Bible? That includes the Bible itself. If you bring up a verse that contradicts another verse quoted, many times they will fall back on the "it just seems right."

Couple this with the Subject of American History, specifically the Founding era, and it becomes almost impossible to engage in a true discussion because of the aura surrounding the Founding Fathers. Their wisdom is almost Divine itself, especially because they, too, used the Bible periodically to support certain policies. And, once again, pragmatism wins out. It just seems divinely right, the way God would want things to be. It just makes sense from God's point of View.

The problem with this is that God actually says in Isaiah that His Ways are higher than the ways of men, as far as the Heavens are from the Earth. And God's People are instructed to live according to God's Ways while on this earth, not the ways of men. Try inserting that into a conversation and see how far you get.

The rest of that verse from Solomon? Well, "........for the end thereof are the ways of death."

The Final Authority!

And you wonder why societies are crumbling around you? And you want to keep relying on "it just seems like the right way"? Following the herd will only get you the approval of the herd. I really want the approval of God, not because I think that seems like the right way, but because His Word tells me so. This is the same Word that has proven itself time and time again. It's veracity amazes me and I will continue to trust it and, at least, attempt to live by them, counting on His Blessings in my life. I also trust His Word to provide the understanding for all that is going on in this world, even in political discussions!

Jesus & Taxes - Was Jesus an IRS Tax Protestor?

I've seen the following picture on Facebook recently about Irwin Schiff, Taxes, the IRS and prison. I finally shared it with a preface statement and questions as follows.

"If you, like Irwin Schiff and others, were faced with a government that wanted you to pay taxes you weren't required by law to pay, what would your response be? Would it be the same as Irwin Schiff and others? Would it be the same as Jesus?"

Did irwin Schiff know Jesus' Tax law?

I wonder how many know what the response of Jesus was to the idea of paying a tax He wasn't legally liable to pay? Were you aware that Jesus faced this dilemma? Do you know the choice Jesus exercised? Can you guess?

I assure you that the option chosen by Jesus was not one most of us would have seriously considered, much less actually performed. I will make another post about His choice. In the meantime, see if you can figure it out.